Religion News Service LONDON, ENGLAND, December 14, 2006: The production of frankincense — used in Catholic, Orthodox and many Anglican service — is threatened by extracting too much of the precious substance from the trees that produce it, according to a study by Dutch and Eritrean scientists and published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Frankincense is a resin produced…
www.nytimes.com SOUTH NAKNEK, ALASKA, December 9, 2006: “The National Geographic Society, IBM, geneticist Spencer Wells, and the Waitt Family Foundation have launched the Genographic Project, a five-year effort to understand the human journey–where we came from and how we got to where we live today. This unprecedented effort will map humanity’s genetic journey through the ages. The fossil record fixes…
www.ibnlive.com KENDRAPADA, ORISSA, December 15, 2006: Following the court ruling declaring their rights to enter the Jagannath temple regardless of the upper caste ban, Dalits on Thursday, with police protection, entered the temple in Keradagarh village and worshipped. A day after the 200 Dalits worshipped, the Jagannath temple’s priests said they would perform purification rituals before the temple reopened. The…
www.ibnlive.com KENDRAPADA, INDIA, December 11, 2006: Overruling caste-bound tradition and years of discrimination, hundreds of Dalits will enter a Jagannath temple in Kendrapada on December 20 after the high court last week gave a ruling in their favor. The upper caste community had barred Dalits from entering the 18th century shrine dedicated to Lord Jagannath in Keradagarh village, 28 miles…
www.hindujagruti.org TAMIL NADU, INDIA, December 13, 2006: Stemming from the Periyar statue dispute, on Friday 38 people were arrested and booked for encouraging communal tension by damaging religious symbols or religious places in connection with attacks on temples in Tamil Nadu. The granite Ganesha Deity from a temple at Sankarapuram in Villupuram was found removed and broken. In addition, the…
news.bbc.co.uk SOUTHHAMPTON, ENGLAND, December 14, 2006: Intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life, a study conducted by a Southampton University team. They found those who were vegetarian by 30 had recorded five IQ points more on average at the age of 10. Researchers said it could explain why people with higher IQ were healthier as a…
www.thehindu.com CHENNAI, INDIA, December 8, 2006: The total number of manuscripts in the country was at least 10 times the initial estimate of five million, said Neeraja Gopi from the National Mission for Manuscripts at the Government Museum on Monday morning. Around one million should be available online soon. Placards with a step-by-step guide to the preservation of metal manuscripts,…
timesofindia.indiatimes.com CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA, December 11, 2006: Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams blasted into space Sunday carrying a Lord Ganesha Deity, the Bhagavad Gita and a packet of samosas, in addition to what the well traveled astronaut packs for a six-month stint on the International Space Station. In addition to Sunita, the shuttle Discovery is carrying Sweden’s first astronaut, Christer Fuglesang,…
www.rediff.com SABARIMALA, INDIA, December 11, 2006: The famous Ayyappa temple in Kerala has witnessed a 30 per cent increase in pilgrims arriving during the current mandala puja season which began in mid-November, compared to the corresponding period last year. Because of the heavy rush to the hill shrine since last weekend, the police and security contingent deployed for crowd management…
Religion News Service WASHINGTON, D.C., December 11, 2006: (HPI note: This rather lengthy article is included in HPI for the informative snapshot it gives of the ever-changing American religious scene.) The new US Congress will, for the first time, include a Muslim, two Buddhists, more Jews than Episcopalians, and the highest-ranking Mormon in congressional history. Roman Catholics remain the largest…