ISKCON NewsThe News Agency of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Environmentalism has certainly been on people’s minds lately. Governments around the globe are teaching their constituents about the need to conserve resources. School children are taught the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle. And of course advertisers are keen to tout the environmental benefits of whatever product they are trying to peddle.

Food for Life Vrindavana, not content with simply making an effort this Earth Day (April 22) is running several full-time environmental projects to beautify Krishna’s birthplace.

First up is Project Varahadeva, launched in April 2003.

HONG KONG: By day, Kenneth Valpey dons his academic robes to elevate his students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to a higher orbit of understanding about Indian religions and cultures.

But come evening, he assumes another avatar. He slips into something a little more comfortable — like a pristine white dhoti-kurta and a wrap-around angavastram — and sermonizes on the Bhagavad Gita to the devotees of Krishna in Hong Kong.

Hundreds of students find their way to the Plaza of the Americas every weekday to eat a $4 vegetarian meal served by the Hare Krishnas.

Some are interested enough to pick up a book off the self-service rack. A few attend classes on yoga or meditation at the Hare Krishna House on Northwest 14th Street.

GENEVA (AFP) - Plants deserve respect, a group of Swiss experts said Monday, arguing that killing them arbitrarily was morally wrong -- except when it comes to saving humans or maybe picking petals off a daisy.

Here’s a recipe for crisp, urad dal-based and cabbage-laced finger foods. The ingredients are few but the taste is stunning. They are served with fabulous coconut chutney, seasoned with, among other things, fried urad dal.

A couple from Chennai decided to live simply - by a stream in a one-room hut. The man, Magari, would forego his occupation of hunting while his wife Madhavi would cultivate Tulasi instead of selling baskets. Magari would also give up non-vegetarian food.

Religious devotees around the world enjoy expressing their faith with customized cell phones, which may play religious ring tones; carry scriptures; or provide guidance, content filtering and other services specific to each religion. These phones are customized and marketed directly to religious communities in various parts of the world.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Dr. Ravi Gupta, a professor of Hinduism at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, and an initiated brahmana priest of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), presented a gift of an elaborate OM symbol to Pope Benedict XVI at an interfaith gathering in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Hindu American community on Thursday, April 17.

Leading policy makers for the Prince’s Trust, a British charity that helps young people aged 14-30, visited London’s Bhaktivedanta Manor on April 11.

Formed by Prince Charles of Wales in 1976, the charity provides training, business start-up support, and ongoing mentoring and advice to young people who would benefit from additional help.

This summer, as they do every year, ISKCON Youth Ministry volunteer Manu Dasa and fifty-five youth will travel across the United States and Canada, performing at and helping set up eight Rathayatras around the country.

But for the past three years, they’ve been upping their game.

Washington, D.C. – Dr. Ravi Gupta, 25-year-old college professor, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on April 17, and will present His Holiness with an incense burner in the shape of the sacred Hindu symbol, Om. Grateful for the opportunity, Gupta hopes that the meeting will go beyond a formality, and will lead to a deeper exchange between Catholics and Hindus.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of "new" sins such as causing environmental blight.

Devotees and Deities at Sri Sri Radha Gopinatha temple in Sydney, Australia, joined an estimated 50 million people worldwide in making a statement on climate change and energy consumption.

On Saturday, March 29th people across the world acted together to switch off their electric lights for an hour.

An unusual sight presented itself at ISKCON Manila, in the Philippines this February: Franciscan monks chanting and dancing along with Hare Krishna devotees.

The 75-strong group visited the temple as part of ISKCON Manila’s ongoing interfaith outreach, taking part in an interactive discussion on the teachings of Bhagavad-Gita.

Those Denizens of Cyberspace who are either young, young at heart or have teenagers will undoubtedly have heard of World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment, or WoW as its commonly known amongst those initiated in its mysteries. WoW is not the latest of what is called MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) but it is certainly the most popular.

Preparation time: about 10 minutes

Makes about 2½ cups

SOMETIMES light begins to shine into corners where there has been darkness for a long time, perhaps generations. Today, in Australia, the public is being offered much more information on the causes, side-effects and consequences of abortion.

A HARE KRISHNA who videotaped the aftermath of Shane Warne crashing his Mercedes into a Melbourne tram says "nothing happens by chance".

And as part of his unexpected Karma, devotee Danda Karanya Das, 33, plans to sell the shards of broken brake lights for a Krishna food charity.