www.pib.nic.in NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 13, 2007: National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has directed to the State Governments to take effective steps to check incidents of corporal punishment in school. Expressing concern over recent incidents of violence in schools, the Chairman of the Commission, Smt. Shantha Sinha, in a letter to the chief Secretary of State Government/UT has…
www.thejakartapost.com JAKARTA, BALI, August 16, 2007: Mario Koch broaches the subject of Balinese identity in this short concise editorial and casts light on the topic. Koch was motivated by attendance at the Kuningan-Galungan, a grand celebration honoring ancestors last June in Bali. Koch writes, “Avenues of lamak (woven palm leaves) and penjor (decorated bamboo poles) stand witness to never-ending processions;…
www.hindu.com BANGALORE, INDIA, August 16, 2007: All through its 60 independent years, free India had one national icon to encapsulate all that which stood for freedom: Mahatma Gandhi. But the Bangalore University Center for Gandhian Studies could not attract a single student for its postgraduate diploma and certificate courses on Gandhi. There are just no takers for an infrastructure worth…
www.sewausa.org USA, August 18, 2007: (HPI note: Following is a press release provided by Gautam Desai.) Sewa International USA released US$20,000 for relief and rehabilitation of flood victims in India. Many states in India are reeling from the aftermaths of a devastating flood. The floods have wrecked so much havoc and destruction that United Nations has called it the worst…
news.bbc.co.uk CAMBODIA, August 16, 2007: The great medieval temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia was once at the center of a sprawling urban settlement, according to a new, detailed map of the area. Using Nasa satellites, an international team have discovered at least 74 new temples and complex irrigation systems. The map, published in the journal PNAS, extends the known…
hinduismtoday.com KAUAI, HAWAII, August 18, 2007: Hinduism Today is planning a second and third installment of its lesson on Hindu history for sixth grade published in the April, 2007 issue (see URL above). The second lesson will cover the history of Hinduism from 300ce to 1800 ce, and the third from 1800 ce to the present. We are seeking a…
www.indeonline.com GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, August 17, 2007: Evangelical groups have joined efforts spearheaded by Roman Catholic, Orthodox and mainstream Protestant churches to create a common code of conduct for religious conversions that would preserve the right of Christians to spread their religion while avoiding conflict among different faiths. The World Council of Churches, which joined the Vatican last year in launching…
www.asiantribune.com JAFFNA, SRI LANKA, August 19, 2007: The annual festival of Nallur Kantha Swamy temple here commenced yesterday with Kodi Etram – the ceremony of flag hoisting to mark the beginning of the festival in the temple. Nallur Kantha Swamy Temple is said to be one of the few temples in the Peninsula that all the festivals, rites and observances…
www.physorg.com UNITED KINGDOM, August 17, 2007: A little-known school of scholars in southwest India discovered one of the founding principles of modern mathematics hundreds of years before Newton according to new research. Dr. George Gheverghese Joseph from the University of Manchester says the Kerala School identified the infinite series–one of the basic components of calculus–in about 1350. The discovery is…
www.usakumbhamela.net NORWALK, CALIFORNIA, August 17, 2007: The Kumbha Mela USA this year will be held on Sunday, September 9, in Norwalk, CA, followed by a peace prayer on September 11, continuing in the tradition of the first ever Kumbha Mela in the United States held in 2006. This festival is based on the rich Vedic tradition which heralds in collective…