Source: www.thehindubusinessline.com MUMBAI, INDIA, November 4, 2010: Today, it is almost impossible to get a priest to perform the all-important Lakshmi Puja on Diwali day. The situation is so dire that it is not uncommon to see people literally running for a priest. Dr Vivek Hebbar, Chairman, Firstobject, says residents of Mumbai alone require nearly 1.75 lakh priests this Diwali.…
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com KANPUR: Despite skyrocketing prices of crackers, Diwali was not quieter and cleaner. It may be due to lack of awareness about environment amongst the masses. This festival witnessed higher levels of air and noise pollution. According to Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) officials, more crackers were burnt this year in comparison to last year. The sound and…
Source: getahead.rediff.com USA, November 4, 2010: Indian Americans in inter-faith marriages also celebrated Diwali with pomp. “It’s our Christmas,” is how many Indian immigrants explained Diwali to American co-workers and neighbors. As more and more Indian immigrants and their children enter mixed-faith marriages, they already have a Christmas on the family holiday schedule. These are, as one Brooklyn group calls…
Source: HPI KAUAI, HI, USA, November 7, 2010: Some Hindu organizations are participating in the World Peace Prayer Society Peace Pole initiative, dedicated to spreading the following universal peace message and prayer in all languages (originally “mantra” or “words of power” in Japanese): “May Peace Prevail On Earth.” Their web site issues translations in 83 languages, which only includes three…
Source: www.hinduismtoday.com USA, November 7, 2010: The popular Hindu festival of Diwali was celebrated all over the globe on November 4-5, by Hindus and many of their non-Hindu friends. Diwali (or Deepavali, “row of lights”) is celebrated by Hindus worldwide to commemorate the triumph of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, hope over despair. If you rolled a bit of…
Source: www.nytimes.com MUMBAI, INDIA, November 7, 2010: Obama was dancing around questions in India– figuratively speaking — on Sunday, he also participated in some literal dancing, showing off some moves that, to the delight of photographers traveling with him, are likely to provide iconic images of his trip. President Obama danced with students during a Diwali Candle Lighting and Performance,…
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/ “Schedule tribes or endogenous communities are amongst the most ecologically evolved communities amongst the world, but sadly also amongst the most economically backward ones in India,” says Darren Lobo of Grassroutes. He informs that most tribal villages just receive two-three hours of electricity per day, hampering a child’s ability to read or play once the sun sets. Lobo…
Source: www.timeslive.co.za SOUTH AFRICA, October 26, 2010: An East Coast Radio comedy program caused a stir among some South African Hindus. The broadcaster said it was no use killing Hindus because they “keep coming back”, a sentence that constituted hate speech, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission has ruled. The ruling was despite the fact that the August 16 broadcast – a…
Source: www.nytimes.com NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 2, 2010 (By Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist): Having traveled to both China and India in the last few weeks, here’s a scary thought I have: What if — for all the hype about China, India and globalization — they’re actually underhyped? What if these sleeping giants are just finishing a 20-year process…
Source: www.organiser.org THE PHILIPPINES, October 29, 2010: In 1989, a man in the concrete business was dredging sand at the mouth of the Lumbang River near Laguna de Bay when he uncovered a blackened roll of metal. He unfurled the roll he saw that it was a sheet of copper with strange writing on it, about the size of a…