Author: Luhrs & Associates

Hackensack, New Jersey — The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s (NNJCF) The DeAnna Stark Pasciuto Memorial Fund awarded a grant of $5,000 to the Wayne Council of PTOs to support local youth and provide for healthy and mindful opportunities with a generational impact.  This support includes a new climbing playground at the Packanack Elementary School, a public school in the Wayne Township Public Schools Systems, serving the students in preschool to fifth grade from the suburb of Packanack Lake. The Wayne Council of PTOs, a non-profit organization, works with 15…

Hindus are urging Texas’ all Houston area independent school districts; and private/independent, charter, parochial schools; to close on their most popular festival Diwali. Besides the largest Houston Independent School District (ISD), they are seeking Diwali holiday in 24 other area ISDs (Aldine, Alief, Channelview, Clear Creek, Conroe, Crosby, Deer Park, Fort Bend, Galena Park, Galveston, Goose Creek, Huffman, Humble, Katy, Klein, La Porte, Lamar, New Caney, North Forest, Pasadena, Sheldon, Spring, Spring Branch, Tomball); and few hundred private/independent, charter, parochial schools. Currently, only Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in the area has announced…

Hindus are urging Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège (ORW) in Belgium to withdraw “Lakmé” opera; scheduled for September 20 to October one; which they feel seriously trivializes Hindu religious and other traditions. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that reportedly taxpayer funded ORW should not be in the business of callously promoting appropriation of traditions, elements and concepts of “others”; and ridiculing entire communities. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that this deeply problematic opera was just a blatant belittling of a rich civilization and exhibited…

Welcoming three Connecticut public school districts closing schools on Diwali this year, Hindus are urging all public school districts and private-charter-independent schools in the state to close on their most popular festival Diwali. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that it was simply not fair with Hindu pupils of most of the Connecticut schools, as they had to be at school on their most popular festival while there were holidays to commemorate festivals of other religions. Diwali falls on October 24 this year; and…

Hindus are urging Bayerische Staatsoper (Bavarian State Opera) in Munich (Germany) to discard its upcoming production of “La Bayadère”; scheduled for May-June 2023; which they feel seriously trivializes Eastern religious and other traditions. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that taxpayer funded Bayerische Staatsoper, “one of the world’s leading opera houses”, should not be in the business of callously promoting appropriation of traditions, elements and concepts of “others”; and ridiculing entire communities. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that this deeply…

Upset Hindus are urging Phnom Penh (Cambodia) based Hanuman Beverages to apologize and withdraw beer named after Hindu deity Hanuman and carrying his image, calling it highly inappropriate. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that inappropriate usage of sacred Hindu deities or concepts or symbols or icons for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that Lord Hanuman was highly revered in Hinduism and he was meant to…

Area religious leaders belonging to diverse religions and denominations are holding candlelight vigil and offering prayers for May 24 Texas elementary school mass-shooting victims at Saint Catherine of Siena Episcopal Church in Reno on Sunday morning. According to reports, nineteen students and two teachers died and many injured in Robb Elementary School in Uvalde (Texas) by this mass-shooting. It is the third-deadliest US school shooting, after the Virginia Tech shooting (2007) and the Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012) shooting; and came days after the Buffalo (New York) supermarket shooting. To be organized…

Russian troops on Friday approached the strategic city of Severodonetsk in a sustained offensive to control the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine, sparking a historic rift between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its Russian Patriarchate. Pro-Russian separatists said they had captured the town of Lyman between Severodonetsk and Kramatorsk, on the road leading to the key cities still under Kyiv s control. Russian forces were also closing in on Severodonetsk and Lysychansk in the Lugansk province, with conflicting reports about the extent of their advance. To further help Ukraine fight back…