UNITED STATES, March 2011: The Hindu-American Foundation is sponsoring a traveling speaker series in the U.S. featuring Waytha Moorthy, Malaysian Human Rights activist, lawyer, and founder of Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF). In November 2007, HINDRAF organized a mammoth rally of 50,000 Hindus and ethnic Indians in peaceful protest against the Malaysian government for its mistreatment and marginalization of Indians.…
INDIA, March 19, 2011: Kancheepuram’s Shankara Math is setting up a pathshala on the outskirts of Chennai city, affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. Spread over five acres, the pathshala was inaugurated by Kanchi Shankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi on March 16 at Rajakilpakkam, 9.3 miles from Chennai. Boys and girls of any faith are welcome to get enrolled…
O God of mercy who performs the dance of illimitable happiness in the hall of inconceivable intelligence! The Rig and the other Vedas are thundering forth in words, announcing to us that all are thy slaves, all things belong to thee, all actions are thine, that thou pervades everywhere, that this is thy nature. Such is the teaching of those…
NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 9, 2011: The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed a gathering on the launch of the film ‘I Believe’- universal values for a global society on the philosophy and vision of Dr. Karan Singh for India and the World in the 21st Century. He also released the book ‘Kashmir and Beyond: 1966-84’ – select correspondence between…
DUBAI, March 13, 2011: People queue in tens of thousands each week to pray at the Hindu Temple in Bur Dubai’s Old Souk. They must pass through an alleyway so narrow, one could almost put a hand on either wall. Once inside they have to proceed quickly through their rites, supervised by hired security guards. There is no time –…
BANGALORE, INDIA, March 17, 2011: Taking healthcare to the masses will be India’s biggest challenge in the next two decades, and the ancient medicinal system of ayurveda is the only reliable way of doing so, Sam Pitroda, adviser to the PM, said. ‘We can’t adopt the western model to deliver that to the masses,’ he said at the inauguration of…
KATMANDU, NEPAL, March 2011: An official says a fire has swept through a refugee camp housing Bhutanese refugees in east Nepal. There are no immediate reports of casualties. Chief government administrator in the area Shahi Shekhar Shrestha says authorities are investigating the cause of Tuesday’s fire that destroyed 600 of the 750 huts and left thousands without a roof. The…
AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA, March 22, 2011: Prakashanand Saraswati, founder of Barsana Dham, was convicted of 20 counts of indecency with a child, sentenced to 14 years in prison on each count and also fined $200,000. He has not been seen ever since the day when he was expected to attend court to hear the verdict, delivered in absentia. The missing…
The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage. Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves but are like the haze of heat. — Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha (563-483bce) Source
USA, March 21, 2011 (RNS): Air travelers want to feel safe, and federal security officials want to make sure they actually are safe. If only it were that simple. Misunderstandings over religious expression have led to recent incidents that prompted apologies from airlines. When does a prayer, a garment, or religious paraphernalia constitute a threat? ‘We are sensitive to travelers’…