Blacktown Advocate (Australia)MARSDEN PARK, AUSTRALIA, May 7, 2003: The Australian Hindu Multicultural Association is planning to build a cultural center at Marsden Park for its 80 members. The plan includes an L-shaped building large enough for between 200 and 300 people and parking for up to 60 cars. It will be funded by donations from members and the community. “We…
SourceHYDERABAD, INDIA, May 8, 2003: In India, childless couples wanting to adopt are often left heartbroken after months and years of waiting. Prospective Indian parents are unlikely candidates as adoption agencies receive more money from foreign parents. Child rights activist Gita Ramaswamy says, “In March 2003, no objection certificate was given to over 100 children going abroad. Are there not…
Religion News ServiceWASHINGTON, D.C., May 8, 2003: The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that allows church-run job training programs to use federal money to hire only people who share their faith. The provision, included in the US$6.6 billion Workforce Investment Act, reverses 20-year-old rules to allow religious groups to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion.…
SourceLONDON, U.K., May 12, 2003: Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), a British group which accepts that farm animals will be killed for their meat but argues they should be treated humanely, is holding a conference in London on May 10. Understanding animals, animal awareness, emotions and intentions is the theme of this year’s conference. The concept that animals are sentient…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, May 13, 2003: Considering that India is historically credited with giving the world paisley, seersucker, calico, chintz, cashmere, crewel and the entire technique of printing on cloth, it is anybody’s guess why India barely registers on the global map of fashion. In the Western imagination India continues to represent fabric but not fashion, tradition but rarely innovation.…
SourceTHRISSUR, INDIA, May 10, 2003: Thousands of people witnessed the famous Thrissur Pooram, the festival of festivals comprising a day and night carnival of colorful pageantry, a parade of caparisoned tuskers and a profuse exhibition of Kerala’s traditional art forms. The Pooram started with the convergence of processions from eight temples in and around at the famous Vadakkumnathan Temple located…
SourceWASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A.., May 9, 2003: A broad coalition of religious groups is pushing a bill that would protect religious expression in the workplace, but civil liberties groups are concerned the bill could be used to increase on-the-job proselytizing. The Workplace Religious Freedom Act would force employers to “reasonably accommodate” employees who want to wear religious articles or take time…
SourceCHICAGO, U.S.A., May 11, 2003: Cross-cultural exchange and understanding were graciously woven through “21 AD Asia” — a pared-down festival devoted to the evolution of traditional Chinese, Indian and Indonesian dance styles — which opened Friday night at Links Hall. More than a concert, “21 AD Asia” became an experience for audiences to absorb and meditate on. The five artists…
HPINEW DELHI, INDIA, May 10, 2003: On May 5, 2003, Swami Tejomayananda, Head of the Chinmaya Mission worldwide, inaugurated the Chinmaya Chetna at the Chinmaya Center of World Understanding, 89 Lodi Road, New Delhi. The Chinmaya Chetna is a multimedia experiential gallery. With its different soundtracks, interactive media, special purpose lighting and aesthetic visuals, it evokes, at manifold levels, a…
SourceBERKELEY, CA, April 30, 2003: Eighty years after his death, mathematician Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan is still surrounded in mystery. Ramanujan is one of India’s great intellectual heroes, a brahmin who defied tradition to travel to England in order to study at Cambridge; a mathematical genius who attributed his brilliance to a personal relationship with a Hindu Goddess. His work has…