• India: Meet Kerala's 'rainforest gardeners' creating a Noah's ark for endangered plants
• AP PHOTOS: With a kaleidoscope of colors, the festival of Holi signals the arrival of spring
• Millions of people celebrate Holi, the festival of colors

• Transcendental Meditation India celebrates International Yoga Day
• 'Veda for World Peace' - Live International Webinar 10 September - Dr Tony Nader to give keynote address
• India: Prime Minister Modi releases commemorative stamp honouring Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

• More than 1,100 dead sea turtles washed up along southern India's coastline
• Delhi air pollution blankets India's capital in dense smog, sparking emergency measures
• India evacuates hundreds of thousands of people and shuts schools as a tropical storm nears

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

India: Meet Kerala's 'rainforest gardeners' creating a Noah's ark for endangered plants
1 July 2025 - In one of the world's 'hottest hotspots' of biodiversity, an all-female team have turned a patch of forest into a haven for orchids, ferns, succulents, and carnivorous plants. (more)

AP PHOTOS: With a kaleidoscope of colors, the festival of Holi signals the arrival of spring
14 March 2025 - Millions of Indians on Friday [14 March] celebrated the festival of Holi, dancing to festive music, exchanging food and drink, and smearing each other with red, green, blue and pink powder, turning the air into a joyful kaleidoscope of color. Widely known as the festival of colors, Holi marks the arrival of the spring season in India, Nepal, and other South Asian countries as well as the diaspora. (more)

Millions of people celebrate Holi, the festival of colors
14 March 2025 - Millions of people in South Asia celebrated Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, on Friday [14 March] by smearing each other with brightly colored powder, dancing to festive music, and feasting on traditional sweets prepared for the occasion. (more)

The traditional sari is on colorful display at a massive Hindu festival in India
17 February 2025 - The traditional colorful Indian fabric worn by women is ubiquitous to the world's largest religious gathering in northern India's Prayagraj city, where millions of Hindus are gathering to seek absolution from their sins and take dips in the holy waters. ...Saris have remained traditional dresses for women in India and other South Asian countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. (more)

Study finds India doubled its tiger population in a decade and credits conservation efforts
30 January 2025 - India doubled its tiger population in a little over a decade by protecting the big cats from poaching and habitat loss, ensuring they have enough prey, reducing human-wildlife conflict, and increasing communities' living standards near tiger areas, a study published Thursday [30 January] found. (more)

China and India agree to resume direct commercial flights for first time in five years
28 January 2025 - China and India have agreed to resume direct commercial flights for the first time in five years, in the latest sign of warming relations between the world's two most populous countries. Flights between India and mainland China were suspended at the onset of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, and remained halted following subsequent political tensions. (more)

The Indian teen who became the world's youngest chess champion
13 December 2024 - Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju shocked the world of chess on Thursday [12 December] when he became the youngest world champion at the age of just 18. The Chennai-born prodigy defeated defending champion, China's Ding Liren, in a dramatic match staged in Singapore which he had entered as the challenger. The FIDE World Chess Championship carries a $2.5m prize fund. It marked the peak to date of his career, his greatest moment in a long string of achievements. (more)

Indian teen becomes youngest world chess champion
12 December 2024 - Indian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju has become the youngest-ever world chess champion after beating defending champion China's Ding Liren in a dramatic turn on Thursday [12 December]. Dommaraju, 18, is four years younger than the former record-holder, Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he won the title in 1985. The Chennai prodigy has long been a superstar in the chess world, having attained the status of chess grandmaster at the age of 12. (more)

The last full Moon of 2024 is set to rise: All you need to know
11 December 2024 - The next full moon [is] called the Cold Moon, Frost Moon, Winter Moon, of Long Night Moon. ...This moon has names tied to global traditions, including the Moon before Yule in Europe, the Child Moon for its early evening visibility, and the Datta Jayanti Festival Moon in Hindu culture. (more)

In southern India's tea country, small but mighty efforts are brewing to bring back native forests
25 November 2024 - Scattered groves of native trees, flowers and the occasional prehistoric burial ground are squeezed between hundreds of thousands of tea shrubs in southern India's Nilgiris region -- a gateway to a time before colonization and the commercial growing of tea that reshaped the country's mountain landscapes. ...The teams bringing back the forests -- home to more than 600 native plants and 150 animal species found only here --know that they still need to work around their neighbors. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Transcendental Meditation India celebrates International Yoga Day
21 June 2022 - Every year people across the globe observe International Yoga Day in June to celebrate the benefits of yoga. The Sanskrit word yoga means 'union'. This year's theme is 'Yoga for Humanity'. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has brought to light that the process of unifying starts from the field of Unity, which is our own Self, silent and blissful, deep inside every one of us, and which is directly experienced during Transcendental Meditation practice. 'Only a new seed will yield a new crop': It is time for the seed of unity, Yoga, to be sown in every heart to bring peace to the world. (more)

'Veda for World Peace' - Live International Webinar 10 September - Dr Tony Nader to give keynote address
9 September 2020 - A live international webinar on 'Veda for World Peace' will be held Thursday, 10 September on Facebook and YouTube among other online platforms. The event will be held in the auspicious presence of Hon. Education Minister, Government of India, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, and Tony Nader, MD, PhD, MARR - International President of Maharishi Universities worldwide, and head of the international Transcendental Meditation organisations in over 100 countries. Dr Nader will give the keynote address. The event will be attended by vice-chancellors, scientists, professors, Vedic scholars, students and representatives from more than 35 countries. (more)

India: Prime Minister Modi releases commemorative stamp honouring Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
31 August 2019 - On 30 August, His Excellency the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, released a commemorative stamp honouring the founder of the Transcendental Meditation programme, His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, as one of the 12 'Master Healers of the modern era'. The Indian government's Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy) announced the presentations, and AYUSH Minister H.E. Shripad Yesso Naik participated with the Prime Minister. Commenting on the event, Tony Nader, MD, PhD, MARR, said, 'Maharishi dedicated his life to reviving effortless experience of transcending as the basis of 40 areas of Vedic knowledge. His world tours were instrumental in globally popularising Transcendental Meditation - the essence of Yoga - and Ayurveda [health care], two key areas of Vedic knowledge.' As Maharishi's successor, Dr Nader is head of the international Transcendental Meditation organizations in over 100 countries. (more)

Indian Medical University invites collaboration with Maharishi University of Management
18 August 2018 - India is increasingly showing an interest in Maharishi AyurVeda, including the country's Minister for Ayurveda and Yoga and the chancellor of a leading medical university, who is eager to collaborate with Maharishi University of Management (MUM) in the USA. Professor Robert Schneider, MD, FACC, Dean of the College of Integrative Medicine at MUM, was invited to give a keynote presentation at an international Ayurveda congress at D.Y. Patil University in Pune, India earlier this year. While there, in addition to university officials, he met with His Excellency Shripad Naik, India's Minister for traditional systems of health (AYUSH), who pledged his support for MUM's programme of Maharishi AyurVeda research and clinical practice. (more)

India: Maharishi University of Management faculty speak to 2,000 professors at conference
8 April 2018 - College professors in India recently heard presentations by Maharishi University of Management (MUM) Professors Anil Maheshwari and Scott Herriott at the Second National Teachers' Congress, hosted by Maharashtra Institute of Technology-World Peace University (MIT-WPU) in Pune, India. The MUM faculty were invited to give plenary addresses, along with the Dalai Lama and about 30 other eminent educators and political leaders. Over 2,000 teachers took part in the Congress. (more)

Maharishi Effect featured in The Times of India
23 February 2018 - The practice of Transcendental Meditation brings coherence and harmony to create a healing effect, writes Aditi Shrivastava in The Times of India: Research by scientists across the world has shown that when a specific number of people in an area practise Transcendental Meditation (TM) and its advanced techniques together, the influence of coherence and positivity generated is so phenomenal, that it can improve the quality of life of the area, improving the collective consciousness of the people. This leads to an invincible state for society, that is, a state of progressive growth, of stability where no negative influences will disrupt societies and they will be able to rise to true sovereignty and harmony amongst themselves. This phenomenon of increased social coherence was termed the Maharishi Effect in honour of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Founder of the Transcendental Meditation programme, who predicted it in 1960. (more)

Building a business for peace: Maharishi University of Management alumnus
6 September 2017 - Amit Hooda is the co-founder and CEO of Heavenly Organics, an Iowa, USA-based business that imports raw honey made by wild bees in the remote forests of northern and central India. This unique business model helps sustain the economic and cultural survival of indigenous people. In 2005, while Amit was earning his MS in computer science at Maharishi University of Management, he and his father, a renowned agronomist in northern India, founded Heavenly Organics. 'I wanted to create an economic model that created ethical jobs in conflict areas,' said Amit. 'That is the only way to have long-term sustainable peace.' (more)

India: Widespread press coverage of Second International Ayurveda Congress in London
27 May 2017 - The recent Second International Ayurveda Congress, held last month in London, received widespread press coverage in India. Press Trust of India reported in the Financial Express: 'Researchers from across the world have vowed to work with India to promote Ayurveda globally, saying the ancient Indian system of natural and holistic medicine can help address major health problems.' The Congress was also featured in many British publications for the Asian and South Asian community. The International Maharishi AyurVeda Foundation, Netherlands, was one of the organizers of the Congress, whose theme was 'Ayurveda - the Pursuit of Health, Happiness and Long Life through Prevention-Oriented Health Care.' (more)

Maharishi University of Management: Dr. Robert Schneider gives keynote at India conference
15 March 2017 - India continues to show interest in Maharishi University of Management's science-based approach to traditional systems of prevention-oriented health-care. Most recently Dr Robert Schneider, dean of Maharishi College of Perfect Health, was invited to deliver the keynote address at an international conference of the World Association of Vedic Studies. He described how Maharishi AyurVeda programmes may slow or reverse ageing in Western and Indian populations. His audience included scholars, officials, and leaders who are integrating Vedic science and technologies into modern society. (more)

India: International Maharishi AyurVeda Foundation participates in 7th World Ayurveda Congress and Arogya Expo
31 January 2017 - The International Maharishi AyurVeda Foundation (IMAVF) participated with three presentations at the 7th World Ayurveda Congress, which was held last month in Kolkata, India. Over 3,500 delegates, mainly from various Asian countries, participated in the Congress. About 150,000 visitors came to the accompanying Arogya Expo, a trade show of many companies and institutions offering products and services in the field of Ayurveda. IMAVF was also present at the Arogya Expo, at the booth of Maharishi AyurVeda Products India, with an exhibition for the next International Ayurveda Congress, to be held in London, 1-2 April 2017. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

More than 1,100 dead sea turtles washed up along southern India's coastline
10 February 2025 - More than 1,100 dead olive ridley sea turtles have washed ashore on the beaches of Tamil Nadu state in southern India this January. 'I never heard [of] such large numbers of turtles stranded at any beaches of Tamil Nadu at least in the last three decades,' Kuppusamy Sivakumar, an ecology professor at Pondicherry University said. (more)

Delhi air pollution blankets India's capital in dense smog, sparking emergency measures
14 November 2024 - Thick smog blanketed India's capital Thursday [14 November] as ... incredibly polluted winter air took hold of New Delhi yet again. Authorities ordered many students to stay home as the smog delayed more than 300 flights and prompted health warnings and a halt to all construction activity in the city. (more)

India evacuates hundreds of thousands of people and shuts schools as a tropical storm nears
24 October 2024 - Indian authorities have shut schools, evacuated hundreds of thousands of people and canceled trains in parts of the country as rescue teams braced on Thursday [24 October] for a tropical storm brewing in the Bay of Bengal. ...Climate scientists say severe storms are becoming more frequent in South Asia. Global warming driven by planet-heating gases has caused them to become more extreme and unpredictable. (more)

India: Froth covers Yamuna River in Delhi ahead of festive season, posing health hazards
19 October 2024 - On Friday (October 19, 2024), the Yamuna River in Delhi was covered with a thick layer of white froth, which experts say poses health hazards, especially as the festive season approaches. ...The pungent foam contains high levels of ammonia and phosphates, posing serious health risks, including respiratory and skin problems, according to environmental experts. (more)

As India ages, a secret shame emerges: Elders abandoned by their children
2 August 2024 - In its traditions, in its religious tenets, and in its laws, India has long cemented the belief that it is a child's duty to care for his aging parents. But in a land known for revering its elderly, a secret shame has emerged: A burgeoning population of older people abandoned by their own families. (more)

How decline of Indian vultures led to 500,000 human deaths
30 July 2024 - More than two decades ago, India's vultures began dying because of a drug used to treat sick cows. By the mid-1990s, the 50 million-strong vulture population had plummeted to near zero because of diclofenac, a cheap non-steroidal painkiller for cattle that is fatal to vultures. Birds that fed on carcasses of livestock treated with the drug suffered from kidney failure and died. (more)

'My body can't take it': Brutal nighttime temperatures give Delhi residents little respite from India's searing heatwave
25 June 2024 - Nights are getting uncomfortably and dangerously hotter in India's capital as people in the world's most populous nation feel little respite from unrelenting temperatures. Northern India has endured a scorching summer, with one part of Delhi reaching 49.9 degrees Celsius (121.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in late May -- the capital's highest temperature on record. But the stifling heat persists even after the blazing sun has set. (more)

Climate change makes India's monsoons erratic. Can farmers still find a way to prosper?
24 June 2024 - Each year from June to September, a heavy band of rain makes its way from India's southwest coast to its northeastern borders, quenching farmers' thirsty fields. India's monsoon season is arguably the single most important weather phenomenon for the country, and a good monsoon can noticeably boost the nation's economy and the livelihoods of its 120 million farmers. But human-caused climate change is making the rainfall more erratic, making it difficult for farmers to plant, grow, and harvest crops on their rain-fed fields. (more)

Heat stress: how soaring temperatures are taking their toll on migrant workers in India's garden city
22 May 2024 - With heatwaves becoming more frequent in Bengaluru and other cities across India, climate planning must look to people on the margins, experts say. In a country known for its scorching heat, Bengalureans have, until recently, enjoyed summers that were comfortable and short, running from March to May, with temperatures peaking at an average of 34.1C (93F) in April. But now it is getting warmer. (more)

India's Bengaluru is fast running out of water, and a long, scorching summer still looms
16 March 2024 - Bengaluru in southern India is witnessing an unusually hot February and March, and in the last few years, it has received little rainfall in part due to human-caused climate change. Water levels are running desperately low, particularly in poorer areas, resulting in sky-high costs for water and a quickly dwindling supply. (more)