Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6049522.stm

Thousands of people have gathered in London for celebrations to mark Diwali - the Hindu festival of light. Light displays and floating lanterns in Trafalgar Square set the mood for one of the most important religious occasions for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs.

Diwali welcomes the New Year and symbolises the power of good triumphing over evil and the renewal of life.

Mayor...

Source: The Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2201274.cms

The Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB), the government body maintaining properties of minorities, especially Hindus, in Pakistan, reportedly plans to convert a pond which had been used by Hindus since Partition as a sacred place to bathe, into a commercial plaza.

In another controversial case a couple of months ago, the land mafia in Lahore had tried to encroach upon the...

Source: The Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2191837.cms

Has Mulayam Singh Yadav stirred a controversy on the banks of the swirling Ganga in Hardwar by organising an Iftar party in a bid to project himself as a champion of minorities?

The Iftar party at Hari-Ki-Pauri on October 14, organised with an eye to garnering Muslim votes for the forthcoming UP and Uttaranchal assembly polls, has given the BJP and the Congress ammunition...

Author: Russell Working

Source: Chicago Tribune

Author: Rashmee Roshan Lall

Source: The Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2161235,curpg-2.cms

"I was able to put the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune's criticial edition of the Mahabharat on the web in 1999," said Smith, "but all this may soon stop".

To many, the Cambridge decision is an incontrovertible sign of the times and an acknowledgement that most undergraduate Indian...

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6050408.stm

Thousands of people have been attending mass ceremonies in India at which hundreds of Hindu Dalits converted to Buddhism and Christianity. The events in the central city of Nagpur are part of a protest against the injustices of India's caste system, activists say. The Dalits - once known as Untouchables - hope to escape the prejudice and discrimination they often face. Laws designed to protect Dalit rights are...

Author: DEEPTI JAJELA

Source: South Bend Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061019/Lives05/610190473/-1/Lives/CAT=Lives05

It took coming to America for 13-year-old Samyuktha Shivraj to understand what it really meant to her to be Hindu.

Since she and her family arrived five years ago, they've been more...

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/6062358.stm

Warnings about fire safety have been given to people celebrating two major religious festivals this month.

South Wales Fire Service is urging people celebrating Diwali and Eid Ul Fitr to be aware of fire safety in the home during the festivities.

Diwali is associated with candle use, while special meals are prepared for Eid - both of which the brigade says cause a...

Source: Hindu American Foundation

http://www.hinduamericanfoundation.org/media_press_release_uscirf_bangladesh.htm

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) affirmed its focus on the grave human rights abuses faced by adherents of non-Islamic religions in Bangladesh last week in yet another forum. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), created by the federal government to provide policy recommendations to the U.S. State...

Source: Hindu American Foundation

http://www.hinduamericanfoundation.org/media_press_release_deepavali_2006.htm

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) initiated a coordinated plan this week to raise awareness about the upcoming celebrations of Diwali; perhaps the most widely recognized Hindu festival. Celebrated around the world this year on October 21, Diwali, or Deepavali in the original Sanskrit, refers to the rows of earthen lamps celebrants place...

Author: MICHAEL LAFLEUR

Source: Lowell Sun

http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_4475500

Though unwilling to end their practice of opening meetings with a Christian prayer, some city councilors last night offered a potential compromise on the long-held tradition.

Councilor Jim Milinazzo, chairman of the council's rules subcommittee, told members of the Greater Lowell Interfaith Leadership Alliance, or GLILA, that he would consider recommending that his...

Author: Arifa Akbar

Source: The Independent

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1834348.ece

Her devotees include film stars, US senators and world leaders who come from far and wide to be hugged by the smiling Indian lady known simply as Amma.

Yesterday, the spiritual leader who has spent three decades embracing her followers, swapped A-listers for the ordinary British public at the less than glittering venue...

Author: Christy Smith

Source: Gwinnett Daily Post

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=32&url_article_id=20294&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2

After five years of holding services inside Norcross’ Global Mall, Hindu Temple Shiv Mandir will have a home in Sugar Hill. The temple’s 11.34 acres on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard is half paid for....

Author: Nirmala Carvalho

Source: Asia News

http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=7449

More than 100,000 Indian Dalits or outcastes are meeting on Saturday in Nagpur, Maharashtra, to publicly burn copies of the anti-conversion laws adopted by some of India’s states and express their support to anyone who wants to abandon the Indian caste system. The event will also mark the 50th anniversary of the conversion from Hinduism to Buddhism of Baba...

Source: International Herald Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/09/america/NA_GEN_US_Peace_Dorm.php

About a dozen women students, including a handful of Muslims and Jews, are living together at Rutgers University as they work toward ideals that have seemed out of reach for years in the Middle East: peace and understanding.

Rutgers was to hold a dedication ceremony Monday evening for...