Hindu Press International

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/08/27/india.religion.violence/index.html

ORISSA, INDIA, August 27, 2008: The remote east Indian state of Orissa — historically a tinderbox of Hindu-Christian tensions — erupted in violence this week after gunmen killed a Hindu leader and mobs burned churches in retaliation.

Police have been deployed in the state in the past to quell protests and violence between religious groups. Four days of communal clashes left at least nine people dead. Authorities have imposed a curfew and ordered security forces to shoot violators on sight. The Hindu leader, Laxmananda Saraswati, and four others were killed Saturday in the Kandhamal district when up to 30 gunmen barged into a Hindu school and opened fire, Orissa’s chief minister’s office said. Authorities have not definitively determined who killed Saraswati, but they detained five Christian people after the incident, said Sukanta Panda, spokesman for the chief minister.

The government also said the killings may have been the work of Maoist rebels, but some Hindus blamed the Christian minority. Protesters took to the streets in anger, rampaging through predominantly Christian neighborhoods, ransacking shops and torching houses. They chopped down trees to block roads, making it difficult for police to reach trouble spots. Christian residents fought back. By Wednesday an eerie calm prevailed, but both Hindu and Christian leaders said they were bracing for the worst.

Source: http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=89950

MANGALORE, INDIA, August 22, 2008: Several organizations, temples and cultural bodies of Mangalore and Udupi have planned several cultural activities and competitions, particularly the ‘Mosaru Kudike’, on the occasion of Sri Krishna Janmasthami on Sunday.

Several Hindu associations have erected wooden towers to hang decorated earthen pots from top at various places in the city. Pots of various colors contain milk products, coins and fruits. Members of various youth clubs form human pyramids to break the pots hanging from towers.

The Kalkura Foundation has decided to hold a Sri Krishna competition at Kadri on Saturday on the eve of the festival. It also conducts “Yashoda Krishna” competition for woman who should dress like Yashoda.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/washington/14census.html?hp

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, August 13, 2008: Ethnic and racial minorities will comprise a majority of the United States’ population in a little more than a generation, according to new Census Bureau projections. The transformation is occurring faster than anticipated just a few years ago.

The census calculates that by 2042, Americans who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian (including Indians), American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will together outnumber whites. The main reason for the accelerating change is significantly higher birthrates among immigrants. Another factor is the influx of foreigners, rising from about 1.3 million annually today to more than 2 million a year by midcentury, according to projections based on current immigration policies. “No other country has experienced such rapid racial and ethnic change recently,” said Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a research organization in Washington.

So-called minorities, the Census Bureau projects, will constitute a majority of the nation’s children under 18 by 2023 and of working-age Americans by 2039.

“What’s happening now in terms of increasing diversity probably is unprecedented,” said Campbell Gibson, a retired census demographer. Several states, including California and Texas, have already reached the point where members of minorities are in the majority.

Source: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2008/8/27.shtml