October Hindu Heritage Month in Ontario

Toronto: A Bill to proclaim October as Hindu Heritage Month annually in Ontario province has been introduced in the provincial assembly here. Ontario is home to more than 700,000 Indo-Canadians. Joe Dickson, a Member of the Provincial Parliament (MPP), said that by doing so, Ontario will recognise the “important contributions that Hindu Canadians have made to Ontario’s social, economic, religious, political and cultural fabric”. IANS

Japan’s oldest imperial family member dies

Tokyo: The 100-year-old uncle of Japanese Emperor Akihito, Prince Mikasa, died on Thursday, leaving only four heirs to the Chrysanthemum throne. Mikasa’s death coincides with renewed attention to the future of the ageing and shrinking imperial family and whether women should be allowed to inherit the throne, breaking a males-only tradition. Mikasa was the youngest brother of Hirohito, in whose name Japan fought World War II. Reuters

Museum to display original set of 176 emojis

New York: Emojis, the popular new-age graphic communication, will be displayed alongside masterpieces by Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh at The Museum of Modern Art. It has acquired the original set of 176 emojis from Japanese national carrier NTT DOCOMO. Released under the supervision of designer Shigetaka Kurita for cell phones in 1999, “these pixel humble masterpieces of design planted the seeds for the explosive growth of a new visual language”. PTI