NEW YORK, February 28, 2011: Rising temperatures, drought and the spread of destructive insect pests will shrink the North American range of the lodgepole pine nearly 10 percent in the next 10 years, a new study finds. Observed ecosystem changes date back to 1980. The study was conducted by forestry researchers at Oregon State University and the Department of Forest…
USA, October, 2010 (by Ramdas Lamb): In the August, 2010 ruling which overturned California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, a witness asserted, ‘Religion is the chief obstacle for gay and lesbian political progress.’ Why does religion play such a central role in debates about homosexuality? The first question that should to be addressed is ‘What functions do sex and sexuality…
INDIA, February 25, 2011: The Minister for Railways, Mamata Banerjee has said that ‘Sanskriti Express’, a special exhibition train to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, is set to go on a cultural exchange program to Bangladesh on an invitation by Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. The Sanskriti Express launched in May 2010 is showcasing artistic works,…
INDIA, February 27, 2011: Indian authorities plan to expel Russian Kirill Pomerantsev from the country. Pomerantsev has spent 15 years in India without a visa or any identity papers. Pomertantsev’s story is unique not only because he has been living illegally in India without identity papers for 15 years, but because those 15 years have been spent as a cave-dwelling…
KATHMANDU, NEPAL, March 1, 2011: Tens of thousands of devotees, mostly from India, have arrived at Nepal’s world famous Pashupatinath temple to celebrate Mahashivratri, one the most popular Hindu festival in the country. One hundred Naga sadhus are scheduled to worship at Pashupatinath tomorrow, said officials at Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), which manages the the fifth-century Hindu shrine. The…
BALI, INDONESIA, February 26, 2011: The provincial government of Bali plans to equip its most sacred Hindu temples with information centers to assist visiting tourists. Chief among those temples targeted for information centers are the largest religious sites most frequented by visitors, such a Bali’s Mother temple of Pura Besakih. Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika said on Wednesday that the…
I would love to find that my future army contained a vast preponderance of women over men. If the fight came, I should then approach it with much greater confidence than if men predominated. I would dread the latter’s violence. Women would be my guarantee against such an outbreak. Mahatma Gandhi Source
MANGALORE, INDIA, February 21, 2011: The countdown for the formal dedication of silver ratha (chariot) to Sri Gokarnanatha Kshetra at Kudroli here on March 2 is underway. The ratha weighing 9,920 lbs and gifted to the Sri Kshetra by the Ramesh Kumar family was brought to the Kshetra with pomp and splendor on February 18. Rituals stretching for five days…
NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 25, 2011: Mataji Nirmala Devi, who popularized the Sahaja Yoga form of meditation around the world, has died at the age of 88. She died in Genoa, Italy last evening, the Mataji Nirmala Devi Sahaja Yoga Trust said here on Thursday. Born in a family of freedom fighters in 1923, the spiritual guru also participated actively…
BANGLADESH, February 2011: Pre-Partition, Hindus in Bangladesh constituted 28 per cent of the population. The Hindu population of Bangladesh has been slowly declining over the years since it got independence from Pakistan, but questions of how much it has declined and why it has happened generates heated debate . According to the census website of Bangladesh, in 2001, Hindus were…