ISKCON NewsThe News Agency of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Kolkata: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) has lived up to its image of a true iconoclast. After questioning the existence of Lord Ram, the party has now trained its guns on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon), describing it as a "major threat" to Communists.

According to Vedanta [summative Vedic techings], the Supreme Lord expands and accompanies each and every living entity in order to guide his/her activities. This is seen in the form of inspiration or a sudden flash of insight experienced by scientists at the time of discovery, and by poets and artists in different circumstances.

People who eat a lot of red meat and processed meats have a higher risk of several types of cancer, including lung cancer and colorectal cancer, US researchers say. The work is the first big study to show a link between meat and lung cancer. It also shows that people who eat a lot of meat have a higher risk of liver and esophageal cancer and that men raise their risk of pancreatic cancer by eating red meat.

Serious news organizations often run stories that have no impact on world affairs but merely showcase some of the zany things happening in far-flung corners of the earth. It’s fun to read about the man who was forced to marry a goat in Sudan — a somewhat tragic story since his goat-wife apparently died soon after when she choked on a piece of plastic — but when a Western media organization reports on the odd happenings in parts of the developing world, is there an implicit moral judgment?

This year, Bhaktivedanta Gurukula and International School of Vrindavan, India, celebrated Gita Jayanti in a unique and as one guest observed, “Most novel!” way. Three weeks before the day, the students and staff hand wrote each of the 700 verses of the Bhagavad-Gita onto colourful pieces of fabric. Each square was then sown together to make a beautiful quilt measuring 12 X 20 feet!

ISKCON Vaisnavas Atmarama das and Viracandra das have taken the first and third place in the National Best Philosophy Essay Competition, organized by the Philosophical Society of Macedonia and publishers Az-Buki.

Fox Entertainment Group have announced the acquisition of Beliefnet, an interfaith Web site that offers a wide variety of resources including social networking tools, articles, quizzes, text searches, photo galleries, forums and interviews.

Newport News, Virginia – The latest issue of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies (JVS) – a highly respected biannual, interdisciplinary refereed publication dedicated to the in-depth study of Vaishnavism – takes on the theme of the “Bhagavad Gita Coming West” and includes an exploration of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is authored by ISKCON founder-acarya Srila Prabhupada. 

A Ratha Yatra parade festival in Delhi resonated all the way to Puri in Orissa. There the devotees say that the Jagannatha Ratha Yatra recently organised by ISKCON in Delhi is untimely.

Hundreds of Hindus, whose temple cow was deceitfully killed by the RSPCA held a peaceful protest today outside the RSPCA headquarters in Horsham, Sussex and simultaneous prayers were conducted at Bhaktivedanta Manor in Hertfordshire where the cow known as Gangotri was slaughtered by lethal injection. This killing came despite the RSPCA's assurances that nothing further would happen until legalities had been explored.

Mayapur Academy, a school to train devotees in deity worship, was inaugurated on 7 December in Mayapur. Jayapataka Swami and Jayadvaita Swami inaugurated the Mayapur Academy classrooms and the course in the Chaitanya Bhavan complex.

While the news that Japan has announced it has scrapped plans to kill 50 humpback whales on its yearly whale hunt is welcomed by all, there is deafening silence in the mass media about the fate of millions of other animals who are not the subject of intense diplomatic lobbying, and who will, without any fanfare, be put to death to satisfy the palettes of Christmas revelers this year.

Australia's LifeStyle FOOD Channel has conducted a survey (based on a public voting system) to determine Australia's most popular restaurants.

Of the top 15 vegetarian restaurants in Australia, four are Hare Krishna restaurants.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, dismissed the Christmas story of the Three Wise Men yesterday as nothing but “legend.”

There was scant evidence for the Magi, and none at all that there were three of them, or that they were kings, he said. All the evidence that existed was in Matthew’s Gospel.

Need more evidence that the spirituality and awareness of the East has gone mainstream? Look no further than Santa Claus himself. An ISKCON News staff member spotted this humorous illustration in the Delta Airlines in-flight Sky magazine recently.