V.N. Gopalakrishnan, Mumbai
Guru Purnima will be celebrated on July 15, this year. The period ‘Chaturmas‘ (four months) begins from this day. The full moon day in the Hindu month of Ashad (July-August) is observed as the Guru Purnima day in memory of the great sage Vyasa originally known as Krishna Dwaipayana. Sage Vyasa is described as the son of sage Parasara and Matsyagandhi was born on this day.
Popularity: 5% [?]
The Supreme Court India bowed to pressure from the Christian community and on Tuesday changed the reasons for awarding a life sentence to Dara Singh, a Hindu vigilante convicted of killing Australian christian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons in 1999.
Dara Singh and Mahendra Hembram, convicted for burning alive the Australian missionary and his two minor sons as revenge for forced conversion in January 1999, had on January 21 escaped death penalty with the Supreme Court ruling that the crime was not “rarest of rare” and upheld the life sentence awarded to the duo by the Orissa high court.
A bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice BS Chauhan, which had given the verdict in the Staines case , replaced the original remarks in two different paragraphs with new sentences.
Popularity: 4% [?]
By V.N. Gopalakrshnan Nair
Pilgrimage to Sabarimala, the forest abode of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala begins during the Mandalam period commencing from the 1st day of the Malayalam month of Vrischikam (November 17). Bearded, black-clad men with their forehead smeared with vibhuti and sandalpaste are seen everywhere giving them a radiant and ascetic look. They are the devotees of Lord Ayyappa who undergo 41 days of penance abstaining from sex, meat and intoxicating drinks. All cities and villages are getting ready for receiving lakhs of pilgrims flooding to Sabarimala, abode of universal brotherhood and equality. The latest estimate of their number is around fifty millions.
Popularity: 29% [?]
Branded honey sold in India is likely to be contaminated with harmful antibiotics, according to a new study! Yet another proof of our Government’s careless attitude towards its own people lies in this new study.
That spoonful of “guaranteed pure” sweetness may be hiding a bitter secret. Branded honey sold in India is likely to be contaminated with harmful antibiotics, according to a new study by the Centre for Science and Environment.
CSE’s Pollution Monitoring Laboratory tested 12 leading brands of honey sold in Delhi, including those made by Indian companies such as Dabur, Himalaya, Patanjali, Baidyanath and Khadi as well as by two foreign companies based in Switzerland and Australia. Scientists found high levels of six harmful antibiotics in 11 samples, with only the Indian Hitkari brand coming out clean.
Popularity: 32% [?]
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world. Indonesia comprises 13,677 islands of which over 6000 are inhabited. Of its total population of 20.28 crores, more than 88 per cent are Muslims, and 10 per cent Christians. Its 2 per cent Hindu population is concentrated mainly in the island of Bali, the famous tourist paradise.
Popularity: 4% [?]
