www.deccan.com HYDERABAD, INDIA, July 9, 2007: To prevent the possibility of religious conversions at the village level, the endowments department has decided to revive pujas and rituals in all old temples. As a first step, the department would extend financial support to 4,000 temples out of 32,000 in the State. It will give US$24.40 for pujas and $36.58 as honorarium…
ar@hindu.org KAUAI, HAWAII, July 10, 2007: Yesterday, HPI pointed out that even after the big class action lawsuit against McDonalds in America, their French Fries continued to use beef flavoring–contrary to the assumption of most vegetarians. Now reader Suresh Venkat asks if the French Fries served by McDonalds in India are vegetarian? We found this one reference, here, stating, “The…
www.hinduismtoday.com KAUAI, HAWAII, July 6, 2007: HPI reader Ranji Singh points out that, following the US$10 million judgment against McDonalds in 2005, Hinduism Today warned that: “Hindu vegetarians around the world may wish to take note of the little-publicized fact that McDonald’s made no changes in their fries, which are still beef-flavoring saturated. Sure, the oil is vegetable. But make…
www.csmonitor.com CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSSETS, July 9, 2007: Deep inside the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a Wednesday evening recently, a class of about a dozen students were speaking an arcane ancient tongue. “It is time for exams, and I play every day,” says one. “Perhaps, you should study, too,” counters another at the conversation table. The others laugh. No, this isn’t…
varadananda@sbcglobal.net CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA, JULY 1, 2007: (HPI note: Swami Varadananda sent the following press release.) Over 250 people attended the consecration ceremony to celebrate the completion of Phase 1 of the Sri Ramakrishna Universal Temple on July 1. Perfect weather helped to make the event an outstanding success. Under the guidance of Chandrasekar Gurukul, a priest well-versed in Vedic…
abc.net.au JAMMU, INDIA, July 6, 2007: Hindu pilgrims who hugged the ice Siva Lingam in Kashmir may have caused it to melt, experts say. “Hugging and touching the stalagmite definitely generates heat and can lead to its melting,” said Mohammed Ismail, the head of the geology department at the University of Kashmir. Hundreds of thousands of devotees make the gruelling…
www.hindu.com KASHMIR, July 1, 2007: Cutting across religious lines, thousands of Muslims joined Kashmiri Pandits to celebrate the Mela Khanbaran festival of Tripursunderi shrine here, which was reopened after 17 years. Rebuilt by the army and local Muslims in 2002 after the shrine was set afire by militants, the temple was reopened for the festival from June 20 to 24.…
news.bbc.co.uk KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, July 6, 2007: A Malaysian woman held for months in an Islamic rehabilitation centre says she was subjected to mental torture for insisting her religion is Hinduism. Revathi Massosai, the name by which she wants to be known, says she was forced to eat beef despite being a Hindu. Miss Massosai was seized by the Islamic…
cities.expressindia.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, July 6, 2007: the 19th annual mango festival will begin at the Talkatora stadium in the Capital on Saturday. Several contests, including mango culinary, mango eating competitions, quizzes, apart from fruit and vegetable carvings by leading chefs and cultural programs will be held during the two-day festival. Delhi Tourism Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said the festival…
ar@hindu.org KAUAI, HAWAII, July 6, 2007: Hinduism Today magazine is seeking one (or more) enterprising young people with some journalism experience to both solicit and contribute articles by and about youth to the magazine. If you would like to participate, kindly e-mail ar@hindu.org.