A Russian court has dismissed a call to ban an edition of the Hindu holy book Bhagvad Gita, in a case that triggered protests in India.

Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk wanted the edition to be ruled “extremist”.

Swami Bhaktipada, a former leader of the American Hare Krishna movement who built a sprawling golden paradise for his followers in the hills of Appalachia but who later pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges that included conspiracy to commit the murders-for-hire of two devotees, died on Monday in a hospital near Mumbai, India. He was 74.

Britain’s pampered cattle, which wear garlands and are milked by hands to the sound of sacred mantras, are said to produce the most expensive milk in the land at 1.70 pounds per pint.

The cows are being reared on a farm run by Hare Krishna followers, and as per Hindu beliefs, none must come to harm or be slaughtered after they stop producing milk.

Firefighters have said that it was an “absolute miracle” no-one was killed in an explosion at a Hare Krishna temple.

The blast rocked the building after cylinders of gas powering a large cooker leaked during a festive meal.

About 30 people escaped from the temple in Leicester when the organiser raised the alarm just seconds before the explosion yesterday. A third of the building in Thoresby Street was destroyed in the blast.

Worshippers had been cooking in the kitchen area during the afternoon for a religious festival.

The festivities were organised by Iskcon Leicester – the International Society for Krishna Consciousness – to mark Lord Krishna’s “Appearance Day”.

The president of a Hare Krishna temple in Letchmore Heath has been forced to resign after being found guilty of beating students in India.

The first wave of allegations against Gauri Das was investigated in May 1995 by ISKCON. At the time, it acknowledged the beatings but said they were not “serious”.

After the founding of the organisation’s child protection branch, based in Florida, the investigation into Gauri Das was reopened in 2006, resulting in Monday’s report.