Page 50 - Religion Belief

After shock retirement at 23, Missy Franklin finds peace in Hinduism

Learning Hinduism and reading the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata have taken a chunk of Missy Franklin's time ever since the five-time Olympic gold-medallist swimmer announced a shock retirement in December last year. Chronic shoulder pain forced the 23-year-old to call time on her career but on the bright side, it allowed her to do things that she couldn't do as an active athlete. Earlier, she did Yoga for fun but after exploring Hinduism, it became a spiritual experience for the bubbly American, who is majoring in religion at the University of Georgia. "I have been studying religion for a year now and it is so fascinating and eye opening. I love learning different cultures, people and their faith," Franklin told PTI on the sidelines of the 'Laureus World Sports Awards'. "My own religion is Christianity but two classes I have found so intriguing are Hinduism and Islam. Because those are the two religions I did not know a lot about and after reading and learning about them, I think .

Kovind, Modi pay tributes to Guru Ravidas

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tributes to mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti Movement Guru Ravidas on his birth anniversary that has crossed over six centuries.

Modi remembers Chhatrapati Shivaji on birth anniversary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji on his birth anniversary describing him as a "warrior for truth and justice".

World bishops head to Vatican for sex abuse summit

Pope Francis gathers bishops from around the world at the Vatican this week for a hotly-awaited summit on tackling the wave of child sex abuse scandals assailing the Catholic Church. The heads of around 100 bishops' conferences from every continent will convene from Thursday to Sunday for the meeting on the protection of minors, with victims' groups demanding that a concrete action plan on fighting paedophilia be drawn up. The pope, who asked the bishops to speak to victims of abuse in their respective countries before the Rome convention, has tried to dial down "inflated expectations" for a cure-all. Several victims were also invited to the Vatican. "I ask you to pray for this meeting," the pope said Sunday, adding that he wanted the meeting "as an act of strong pastoral responsibility in the face of an urgent challenge of our time." The conference aims to be an opportunity to improve awareness of the global phenomenon of sexual abuse of minors within the Church, despite many in ...

Macron condemns anti-Semitic abuse by 'yellow vest' protesters

French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned anti-Semitic abuse directed at a prominent intellectual by a group of "yellow vest" protesters in Paris.

McCarrick defrocking 'a clear signal' abuse won't be tolerated: US bishops

Pope Francis's decision to defrock former cardinal Theodore McCarrick "is a clear signal that abuse will not be tolerated", the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said Saturday. McCarrick, 88, who resigned from the Vatican's College of Cardinals in July, is the first cardinal ever to be defrocked for sex abuse. "No bishop, no matter how influential, is above the law of the Church," Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the bishops conference, said in a statement. "For all those McCarrick abused, I pray this judgment will be one small step, among many, toward healing. "For us bishops, it strengthens our resolve to hold ourselves accountable to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to Pope Francis for the determined way he has led the Church's response." The church has long been criticized for protecting predatory priests from the law -- but the bishops' statement appeared to signal a shift. "If you have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of someone within the Catholic Church, I urge

Ex-US cardinal defrocked over sexual abuse charges

The Vatican on Saturday said it has defrocked former US cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the high-profile Catholic figure, of the priesthood rights after a Church trial found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adult seminarians over decades.

Kerala nun rape case: Nun who protested against Bishop receives dismissal threat, warning letter

Sister Lucy Kalapura, one of the nuns who had participated in the protest against rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal has received a second warning letter threatening her with expulsion from Congregation unless 'she changes her mind'.Franciscan Clarist Congregation Superior General has issued this second canonical warning letter to Sister Lucy Kalapura.The letter states '... invite you to change your mind and attitude sincerely...If you don't respond positively I will be constrained to proceed with your dismissal from Congregation."In January this year, she was served a warning letter by the Superior General of the Congregation.The letter to Sister Lucy Kalappura of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), who has been an outspoken supporter of the nuns' protest at Ernakulam to demand the arrest of Bishop Mulakkal, said this was "the first canonical warning with the threat of dismissal from the Congregation."A previous letter to Sister Kalappura, on January 1, alleged that the nun .

Special prayers for martyrs at ISKCON Mayapur

Devotees at the headquarter of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) at Mayapur in Nadia district Friday prayed for the peace of departed souls of the 40 CRPF personnel who were martyred in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday. Devotees along with visitors, guests and pilgrims from many countries participated in the special prayers and kirtan, and ISKCON spokesperson said. They offered lamps in front of the deities and prayed so that God may give strength to the grieving families, the spokesperson said.

Kerala takes part in IMTM, to tap tourism potential of Israel

: For the first time in its history, Kerala Tourism participated in the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel. With this, Kerala Tourism is foraying into the largely untapped Israeli market to increase footfalls from the Middle- East. Director of Kerala Tourism P Bala Kiran, led the state delegation to the two-day event which concluded Thursday. The IMTM is the largest annual professional tourism fair of its kind in eastern Mediterranean and the official and only professional exhibition for the tourism trade market in Israel. To mark the occasion, Kerala Tourism launched a sleek and glossy coffee-table book, the first-of-its-kind visual odyssey of the Jews who decided to make Kerala their home before several of the diasporic community returned to Israel, their fatherland, a press release said. The book was formally launched by Indian Ambassador to Israel Pavan Kapoor, who also visited the Kerala stall at the event. Expressing ...

Karnataka to give job to CRPF trooper's widow

Karnataka will provide a job to the widow of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper H. Guru, who was among those killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Friday.

SC refuses to withdraw judicial work from Meghalaya High Court judge over controversial remarks

The Supreme Court Friday refused to withdraw judicial work from Meghalaya High Court judge Justice Sudip Ranjan Sen who had created controversy by his remarks that India should have been declared a Hindu country at the time of partition in 1947. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked the petitioner, who has sought withdrawal of judicial work from Justice Sen, to amend the prayer and seek expunction of the controversial remarks in the judgment. Justice Sen had written in his judgement, "Pakistan declared themselves as an Islamic country and India since was divided on the basis of religion should have also been declared as a Hindu country but it remained as a secular country. "Even today, in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis, Khasis, Jaintias and Garos are tortured and they have no place to go and those Hindus who entered India during partition are still considered as foreigners, which in

Religious practices should be 'respected': Smriti Irani on Sabarimala row

Amid a row over the entry of women of menstrual age into Sabarimala temple, Union Minister Smriti Irani said Friday that religious practices should be "respected" and anyone breaching them just to "make headlines" would do a great disservice to the country's diversity. She said this during an event on Delhi University campus in response to a question from a student on Irani's recent comments on the issue where she said that the right to pray did not mean the right to desecrate. "I speak from personal experience. And, I said that publicly when I made that comment.I am married to a Zoroastrian, i.e., a Parsi, and by law, I am not allowed (to enter fire temple). And, by law means not by the Constitution but by laws that govern that particular religious practice," she said. "Irrespective of how empowered I am, I am not allowed to enter a fire temple," Irani told a gathering of students at a business conclave event at Shri Ram College of Commerce here. The textile minister said her earlier

Security tight for Bangladesh 'mini-Hajj'

Security was tight Friday in Bangladesh as hundreds of thousands of people gathered for a Muslim gathering rivalling the Hajj in Mecca for size. The Biswa Ijtema, or the World Congregation, draws up to three million Muslims from Bangladesh and abroad on the banks of the river Turag at the factory town of Tongi. The annual gathering, which takes place some 25 kilometres north of Dhaka, was launched by the Tablig Jamaat group in 1964. However, tension has been running high ahead of this year's four-day event after violent clashes between two Bangladeshi rival factions left one person dead and dozens injured in December. The congregation, which is normally held in January, was postponed following the violence, prompting Bangladesh authorities to hold several rounds of meetings with rival factions to broker peace. Police said they would deploy hundreds of officers including many in plainclothes at the congregation ground to prevent any repeat of the clashes. "We have adequate ...

Sabarimala: Attaching impurity to menstruation, an abrasion: Kerala govt to SC

Attaching impurity to a woman during menstrual period is an abrasion to entire humanity, said Kerala government in a written submission in the Supreme Court on Sabarimala review petitions. "Attaching impurity to a woman during menstrual period is an abrasion to entire humanity and abhorrent to civilised society as menstruation is a natural process and is essential for procreation," the state submitted. Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, on behalf of State of Kerala submitted that since there can be no human beings without women's menstruation "hence, argument for exclusion of women during menstruation period on ground of impurity is a worst kind of exclusionary practice and is an anathema to humanity itself apart from being stigmatic and oppressive". It also said that the protection under Article 26 of the Constitution to manage religious affairs was available only to "every religious denomination or section thereof" and not to devotees of a particular temple or deity. The written ...

Punjab Assembly passes resolution seeking SGPC polls

Despite opposition from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Punjab Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution seeking to expedite elections to the cash-rich Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

Kanchoth festival, symbol of ancient Nag culture, concluded in J&K's Doda

Dressed colourfully, women observed a fast and thronged temples in knee-deep snow to offer prayers on Wednesday, marking the conclusion of the week-long "Kanchoth festival", a symbol of the ancient Nag culture here. The age-old festival is celebrated across the hilly Chenab valley as Hindus believe that on this day of Gouri tritiya, Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati got married and the latter insisted on a throne made of snow as her wedding gift. Thus, snow during the festival is considered a good omen. The main programmes were reported from Kotli, Ghata, Khakhal, Gupt Ganga, Chinote, Chinchora and other temples of the area, officials said, adding that the festival was celebrated by married women to pray for the long life of their husbands. The locals have been demanding that this unique and colourful festival should be included in the tourism calendar by the Bhadarwah Development Authority and the tourism department.

Vatican, Microsoft team up on artificial intelligence ethics

The Vatican says it is teaming up with Microsoft on an academic prize to promote ethics in artificial intelligence. Pope Francis met privately on Wednesday with Microsoft President Brad Smith and the head of a Vatican scientific office that promotes Catholic Church positions on human life. The Vatican said Smith and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia of the Pontifical Academy for Life told Francis about the international prize for an individual who has successfully defended a dissertation on ethical issues involving artificial intelligence. The winner will receive 6,000 euros ($6,900) and an invitation to Microsoft's Seattle headquarters. The Vatican says Smith discussed artificial intelligence "at the service of the common good" during the papal meeting. The theme of the Pontifical Academy' of Life's s 2020 plenary assembly is AI.

Swami Vivekananda statue unveiled in TN Raj Bhavan

A life-size statue of spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda was unveiled by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami at the Raj Bhavan here. Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who presided over the ceremony, said"Vivekananda was a symphony of many melodies... He was a yogi, nation maker, world builder, divine dreamer, man of action and many more." Referring to Vivekananda's iconic speech in the Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893,the Chief Minister said it attracted the attention of the entire world toward India. "I am proud to tell that it was Raja of Ramanathapuram Bhaskara Sethupathi who helped Vivekananda take part in the Parliament of Religions at Chicago over a century ago," he said after unveiling the nearly seven-foot-tall statue. Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said Vivekananda lived just for 39 years and but in such a short life learnt extensively about India's culture and heritage, about Hinduism. "...I am much happy being present on this occasion," he ...

Amit Shah takes dip at Kumbh, deliberates with saints

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Wednesday took a dip in the Sangam - the holy confluence of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Sarawasti - at Kumbhnagar in Prayagraj.