Hindu Press International

Source: http://news.bn.gs/article.php?story=20081017113117661

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, October 17, 2008: The Divali Nagar (Village of Lights) festival, held annually here during the nine days preceding Divali, is well under way and will culminate on October 27, the night before Divali, with a tremendous fireworks display.

Divali Nagar is the flagship project of the National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC). It centers around the festival of Divali and features the best of Indian culture as practiced in Trinidad and Tobago. Indian culture is showcased through religious songs (bhajans), dances, folk songs, theater, bhajans, and religious dramatizations. Worship to Mother Lakshmi is conducted each night.

Other attractions include annual displays by various Hindu sects and Non Governmental Organizations; the food court where Indo-Trinidadian vegetarian food in all its forms can be bought; art exhibitions of painting and sculpture; and the commercial area where one can purchase Indian clothes, jewelry, furniture, art, and religious items, including books, tapes, CDs, and DVDs. Divali Nagar has gradually become a tourist attraction, with average attendance exceeding 100,000 persons.

Divali is observed by 3 religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism. In addition to its strong religious significance (Rama returned to Ayodhya, Shakti joined Shiva, etc.), it is also a cultural festival, marking the New Year in some parts of India.

(For the rest of this lengthy and informative article, click the link above.)

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/magazine/26animal-t.html?_r=2&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

CALIFORNIA, USA, October 26, 2008: California’s Proposition 2, which goes before voters November 4, has the potential to eventually improve the lives of farm animals nationwide.

The ballot initiative focuses on what are considered the worst animal-confinement systems in factory farms. It requires that by 2015 farm animals be able to stand up, lie down, turn around and fully extend their limbs. No longer would veal calves and pregnant pigs be kept confined in two-foot-wide crates so that they cant even turn around; no longer would four or more laying hens live their lives in a space about the size of a file drawer.

Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University and a leading figure in the animal rights movement, says this is a historic ballot. If passed, it will affect more animals almost 20 million than any ballot measure has in U.S. history. Because California is the largest agricultural state in the country, and often a trend-setter on social issues, many experts predict that if Proposition 2 becomes law it will create a ripple effect.

Proposition 2 also marks a seminal moment for Wayne Pacelle, the first vegan to become president of the Humane Society of the United States. Since he became the head of the Humane Society four years ago, he has transformed the group from a kindly but timid protector of the nations dogs and cats into a savvy, unapologetically aggressive player. He has made the Humane Society the richest and most powerful animal-welfare group in the country, with its own in-house investigation, litigation and campaign teams.

It was Pacelle and his organization who shuttered the $100 million Westland/Hallmark Meat Company slaughterhouse in Chino, with the help of an undercover investigator wearing a hidden video camera. Over six weeks last year, the investigator filmed workers using chains to drag cows too sick or too injured to stand, using also other cruel practices.

Pacelle has made farm animals a top priority.” Nine billion animals are killed for food every year, and most of them are confined in intensive conditions,” he told his staff in 2004. “It is the greatest abuse of animals that occurs on this planet. Cruelty is cruelty, he says, and its been our assumption that if decent people see images of these farm animals suffering, they will have a similar reaction.”

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/25/stories/2008102551860300.htm

COIMBATORE, TAMIL NADU, INDIA, October 25, 2008: Jagathguru Sri Jeyendra Saraswathi Trust is organizing a special golden alankaram to Goddess Annapurni and a special laddu chariot for the Gods to be taken on a procession on Deepavali day.

Devotees can get special Ganga water taken from Kashi Holy Ganges after abishegam in the morning at the temple premises on Thiruvenkatasamy Road, R.S. Puram.

Source: http://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2008/10/27.shtml

We all love animals. Why do we call some pets and others dinner? K.D.
   Lang, pop singer