People & Society News Headlines

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a prominent spiritual guru, was Wednesday appointed as a member of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), a temple trust which was at the centre of communal tension in Jammu and Kashmir last year.

After a mounting row for nearly two weeks over Nepal's revered Pashupatinath temple that saw the Maoist government facing condemnation both at home and abroad, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' Wednesday bowed to the pressure.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Thursday launch three major initiatives to bring India closer with its 25 million diaspora in 130 countries in areas covering knowledge, investment and philanthropy.

True to the Indian credo "athithi devo bhava" or "guest is like god", the Tamil Nadu government has exempted delegates attending the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual convention of people of Indian origin, from paying the luxury tax charged by star hotels.

A day after the death of Gautam Goswami, key accused in the Rs.170 million Bihar flood relief scam of 2004, his father alleged that he died of tension after being trapped in a baseless charge.

After battling Hindu devotees and the apex court for nearly two weeks over the revered Pashupatinath temple that saw violence and an unseemly dispute over the removal of its Indian priests, Nepal's Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda Wednesday finally succumbed to the rising pressure and pledged to cancel all controversial decisions taken about the shrine.

Kochi (Kerala) Jan 7 (IANS) There has been a mixed response in Kerala to the suggestions made by the law reforms commission, which will submit its report later this month. Among other reforms, the commission has asked for a change in the marriage customs practiced by the Muslim community and appointment of non-Brahmins as temple priests.

Though the growing dispute over the ouster of Indian priests at Nepal's revered Pashupatinath temple has saddened some Indians, it would however not hurt India-Nepal ties, India's top envoy in Nepal has said.

A senior Maoist minister, who is also the spokesman of Nepal's government, has alleged that for years the offerings accumulated at Nepal's Pashupatinath temple, one of the most revered Hindu shrines in the world, were grabbed by Nepal's former royal family and its southern neighbour India.

A Taiwan man, fearing deportation of his Indonesian wife, hid her and their three children at home for seven years, an immigration official and a local news report said Wednesday.