Gay ruling unites diverse religious leaders

August 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - President Pratibha Patil will give away the National Communal Harmony Awards for the years 2007 and 2008 here today. For the year 2007, Dr.

July 19th, 2009 BANGALORE - Religious leaders have asked the government not to leagalise gay sex after a recent court verdict that decriminalised homosexuality in India. Harminder Singh, a Sikh leader said his community would not allow gay marriages.

July 17th, 2009 COIMBATORE - Members of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has said that they would speak and persuade the religious leaders, who are opposed to homosexuality. In its recent landmark verdict, the Delhi High Court had ruled that gay sex was no longer a crime, a verdict that will bolster demands by gay and health groups that the government scrap a British colonial law, which bans homosexual sex.

July 9th, 2009 India Supreme Court steps into gay sex law disputeNEW DELHI — India's Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear a petition from a Hindu astrologer who is seeking to annul a recent landmark ruling that decriminalized gay sex. In his petition, Sushil Kumar Kaushal said "even animals don't indulge in such activities," adding that allowing gay sex would help spread HIV/AIDS.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - After the Delhi High Court's landmark verdict decriminalising gay sex, the matter is now in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's court - on whether to amend the archaic law dealing with the issue. "The prime minister has asked all three ministries - home, law and health - to sit and take a view," Law Minister M.

June 9th, 2009 JALANDHAR - Special summer camps have been set up for kids in various Gurdwaras in different parts of Punjab, where they are being taught about the essence of Sikhism. Summer camp curriculum includes, imparting proper guidelines to recite Gurubani from the holy scriptures.

May 10th, 2009 GORAKHPUR - A Muslim in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur area has acquired big popularity for his inclination to sing praises of Lord Rama from Ramayana, the religious text of Hindus, with utter devotion. Drawn to study Hindu religious texts since high-school days, 38-year-old Sadiq Ali is presently a charm for people to listen hymns and religious prayers from in public gatherings.

April 20th, 2009 VARANASI - Buddhist monks and other religious leaders from all across the country gathered here for an all-faith meeting. The one-day conference on Sunday mainly deliberated on the similarities between Buddhist and Vedic cultures.

April 6th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's son-in-law and evangelist Anil Kumar Monday surrendered to police following accusations that he campaigned for the ruling Congress at a religious meeting.

April 6th, 2009 DHARAMSALA - The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama presided over a conference on world peace in Dharamsala on Sunday. Organised by voluntary group 'India Splendour', the conference looks at theIndian View for Global Peace.' Hindu spiritual leader, the Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Divyanand Teerthji Maharaj of Bhanpura Peeth, Buddhist leader Gyalwang Karmapa Orgyen Drodul Trinley Dorje, and many others attended the conference.

March 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Tuesday described its fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a clash between 'two competing visions' of India -- while one 'instinctively' unites, the other divides. The Congress stood for 'secular, liberal nationalism', but the BJP's 'narrow communalism' denied equal rights to large sections of people, the Congress said in its manifesto released by party president Sonia Gandhi at its headquarters here.

March 22nd, 2009 LUCKNOW - The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate from Santkabirnagar Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and two politicians of the Samjawadi Party have been booked for defying the model code of conduct by giving money to people at a religious function, an official said Saturday. 'A case has been registered against the BSP nominee Bheeshm Shankar Tiwari alias Kushal Tiwari, for giving money to people at a religious gathering,' Sub Divisional Magistrate Nagendra Nath Dwivedi told IANS over telephone.

January 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Dominic Emmanuel SVD, who has been working on inter-religious dialogue, and Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan, known for its annual 'Phool Walon ki Sair', have been selected for the National Communal Harmony Awards for 2008, according to an official announcement Monday. The award jury, headed by the vice-president, selected Delhi-based Dominic Emmanuel SVD in the individual category and Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan, also based here, in the organisation category, the home ministry said in the statement.

January 19th, 2009 BANGALORE - A group of techies in India's IT hub of Bangalore canvassed for Barack Obama through emails and SMSes during the election campaign last year, but they could not make it to Washington to witness his inauguration as they have projects to finish and deadlines to meet. Staying full 13,000 km away from Washington, they raised a few thousand dollars for his election campaign and took out rallies to inform fellow Bangaloreans on why he is good for India and the world.

January 14th, 2009 SRINAGAR - Kashmiri Islamic scholars and leaders Thursday condemned the continuing brutalities against Palestinian people by Israel. 'We appeal to the Muslim world and also to other civilised nations to intervene and move beyond mere lip-service to stop the massacre of the Palestinian people by Israel,' Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the moderate Hurriyat group, told reporters at the end of a conference of the local Muslim 'Ulema' (scholars) here today.