Solar eclipse scares Indian mothers-to-be

By Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN
NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- While many now recognize the scientific explanation for a solar eclipse, the phenomenon is still marked with tradition and sometimes suspicion in Hindu-majority India. continue reading

When a soldier prays ~~ India's Composite Culture Visited Again

Tuesday, 30 December , 2008 @ Sify.com
Major General Mrinal Suman, AVSM, VSM, PhD,
"In the wake of allegations being made in the Malegaon blast case, aspersions are being cast on the secular credentials of the Indian Army. "

Extract:
"The Army has proved its secular credentials repeatedly during the last six decades of independence. It has been called for aid to civil authority to maintain law and order on numerous occasions. Not once has any finger been raised at its fair and just conduct. Even today, all citizens under duress demand presence of the olive green. Their faith in the neutrality of Indian soldiers is total.
The Army’s edifice of religious unity is too strong to be threatened by political expediency and divisive agenda of some self-serving entities. On the contrary, it is time all countrymen imbibe Army’s ethos of according supremacy to larger national interests.
Although religion is a matter of individual faith, emulation of Army’s practice of promoting jointness will help develop mutual understanding. Religious dissentions must be curbed as they weaken the country by giving rise to fissiparous tendencies." continue reading

Race divide fears over first Hindu state school

Tim Ross, Education Correspondent, Evening Standard. 01.09.08
England's first Hindu state school opens its doors to pupils this month amid fears that it will fuel racial segregation. continue reading

See also on the same shelf:

• Hindu state school opens- Uk to teach !! Black is bad karma


• BARNET: UK's first Hindu school opens


• Opening of first Hindu state school sparks fears it will fuel ...Daily Mail, UK - 1 Sep 2008


• Hindu state school beginning work - BBC NEWS / EDUCATION:
  FAITH SCHOOLS in UK
  > 6,850 out of a total of 21,000 schools, large majority either Church of England or Roman Catholic
  > 37 Jewish, 7 Muslim, 2 Sikh, 1 Greek Orthodox, 1 Seventh Day Adventist
  > 1.7 million pupils
  > 21% of faith school secondary pupils from ethnic minorities - 17% in non faith schools

Funeral Etiquette

When a friend or colleague (or a colleague's family member) dies, it's human to consider 'what can I do to make him / her feel better?' And, in the case of others, we need to ask or know: is there a specific practice, custom or behavior that I should be aware of?

And, for this if you are looking for Funeral Etiquettes (To Do and NOT to Do, Dress, What to say, Gifts and other expressions of sympathy, appropriate behaviors to observe) in Islam / Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Baha'i, or in any faith, religious / spiritual group, Ask me