Source: Hinduism Today, Paras Ramoutar

TRINIDAD, January 26, 2001: Members of the Satya Kabir Nidhi Organization hosted the 6th Centenary International Conference at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre, Couva in January 2001. The conference lasted for three days. Countries represented at this annual event included India, USA, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Czech Republic, Belgium, Suriname and Romania. The Satya Kabir Nidhi Organization which was founded in 1988 has been instrumental in the propagation of the teachings of the India born saint, Sadguru Kabir Saheb (1398-1518).

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LONDON, ENGLAND, January 15, 2001: Natural therapies are hugely popular in Britain and an estimated 20 million people use them every year. An increasing body of evidence shows these therapies can help the battle against stress. A 15-minute massage session can reduce tension and improve mood and relaxation while yoga breathing techniques (pranayama) can affect a wide range of bodily responses, from cardiovascular activity to hormone balances and shifts in the nervous system, all of which influence our ability to deal with stress. The above site offers a look at seven effective ways of beating stress; meditation, aromatherapy, yoga and pranayama, head massage, shiatsu, sound therapy and floating. Each method carries a brief explanation and often a simple technique you can follow.

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DENVER, COLORADO, January 24, 2001: Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite has taken a detailed, one-meter resolution color photograph of the largest human gathering in the history of the world, the Maha Kumbh Mela. The IKONOS image, which was collected the day before the most sacred and busiest bathing day on Jan. 24, is available for free to the media. However, anyone can visit the above web site and download the 2.5 MB jpeg files of before and after images. While they didn't capture the main day, the shot on the 23rd is spectacular! The Indian satellite IRS-ID has also taken a photo, but at five meter resolution.

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KUMBH NAGAR, INDIA, January, 2001: Protesting the availability of passes given out by the police to cover the Kumba Mela, journalists called a meeting at the national media centre. After a no-show by Mela officials orchestrating the event who were invited to discuss the police badgering, the journalists blocked traffic outside the center. With a show of force, the police assaulted the members of the media. Last report has it that 12 persons were injured, six of them seriously. Attempting to receive justice, journalists locally and in Varanasi have refused to cover the sacred event. See also www.kashmirtimes.com

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ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 20, 2001: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today gave an ultimatum to all parties involved in the Ram Janmabhumi-Babri Masjid dispute and the Vajpayee government to clear all obstacles to the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya by March 12, 2002, for VHP to move in to start temple construction on any given day after that. The Sansad today was presided over by Swami Jayendra Saraswati of Kanchi Kamkoti and attended by around 300 Hindu religious leaders.

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LUCKNOW, INDIA, January 20, 2001: Reacting strongly to VHP Dharma Sansad's decision to start construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya after one year, All-India Babri Masjid Action, Committee has threatened to storm Ayodhya on that day. The BMAC Convener Zafaryab Jilani said they would mobilize Muslims from all over the country to converge in Ayodhya in March 2002 to stop the construction of temple.

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ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 21, 2001: Environmentalists are monitoring the Ganga's source, the Gangotri glacier. Receding at a rate of 6 to 12 meters every year and thinning in depth, the glacier is the primary source of water feeding the Ganga River. Information for a UN-sponsored study on snow and ice collected by satellite imagery predicts that, "If the present scenario does not change, most of the Himalayan glaciers will disappear by 2035." The reduction of the glaciers has been attributed to global warming, increased pilgrim and tourist traffic, use of generators in towns located on the river, deforestation and the release of green house gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and fluro carbons.

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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, January 25, 2001: This website maintained by the Vegetarian Resource Group is an amazing summary of ingredients in many fast food restaurants, which are aggressively researched by the group. For example, in 1997, McDonalds confirmed to the group that the natural flavor in their french fries came "from an animal source." This information comes after the company stopped frying the fries in animal fat, leading many vegetarians to think the fries were now vegie. There are more revelations too, such as the beef base in Pizza Hut pizza sauce. But despair not, at least the Taco Bell bean burrito is pure vegie.

Source: The Hindu

MADURAI, INDIA, January 20, 2001: A digital version of an English-Tamil dictionary is making waves in the fast expanding sphere of Tamil computing. With meaning and related information for 22,000 main words and 35,000 derived words, the Pals e-Dictionary CD-Rom packs all that's available in a conventional version 1,160 page dictionary.

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ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 19, 2001: The Allahabad High Court has directed the Kumbha Mela authorities to strictly follow the United Province Mela Rules which specifically state that no one can take photographs of the bathing ghats of the mela. The ruling was in response to a public interest petition seeking ban on photos and telecasts of the bathing area after several Indian and foreign TV channels were freely telecasting shots of nude women and naga sadhus taking holy dip in the Sangam. Festival official Journalists and amateur photographers rushed in when a horde of naked, ash-smeared holy men charged into the Ganges on Sunday. While some pilgrims enjoyed the attention, others complained. Photographers will now have to stay at least 500 meters from the waters edge. See also www.hindustantimes.com/ nonfram/ 200101/ detNAT01.asp

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INDRAPRASTH, INDIA, January 21, 2001: Can anyone have exclusive right to use the name of a Hindu God as trade mark? The issue has been brought before the Delhi High Court in a writ by a software company challenging Maruti Udyog Ltd's (MUL) claim over the trade mark "Maruti", another name of God "Hanuman." Maruti Software Pvt Ltd (MSPL) has challenged a recent decision of Switzerland-based international arbitrator World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) quashing the registration of domain name "marutionline.com" by it with US Network Solution Inc on the grounds that "Maruti" is a trade mark of MUL. WIPO had ruled that the domain "marutionline.Com" was identical or similar to the service mark of the automobile company.

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, January 19, 2001: Fueled by a growing and increasingly affluent Indian population, construction at Chicago area Hindu temples is booming, with two established temples expanding and new structures in the works. The Hindu temple in Lemont is building a $4.5 million community center, in Aurora workers have renovated the towers atop the Balaji Temple, and Bartlett recently finished a 100,000 square-foot Indian community center, the first phase of a plan to build one of the largest Hindu facilities in the country. The structures, elaborate and expensive, are the most visible sign of the Indian-Americans' growing influence in the Chicago area. According to recent census figures, the number of Indians living in the area has increased from 58,000 in 1990 to 150,000. All of the projects are funded by contributions from area Hindus, a combination of established families and newcomers often lured to the area by high-paying jobs in information technology. A fundraiser has been scheduled for construction of another Hindu temple in DuPage county and as many as six other groups are looking for funding.

Source: Religious New Service

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, January 18, 2001: After 18 years of civil war, Norwegian diplomats have attempted to bring peace to the island nation of 19 million by initiating talks between the Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Unlikely adversaries to stopping the conflict, Buddhist conservative monks are vocally promoting the war. Fearful of loosing their place as the most "Prominent country in the world for Orthodox Buddhism," they view the war as necessary to protect their 2,300-year-old faith historically and culturally. Rather than granting the Hindu Tamils autonomy over affairs in their northern homeland, the monks are pushing for a complete military victory.

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ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 20, 2001: Members of the press from India and other countries of the world suffered abuse at the hands of the police force present at the grand Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. Protesting the press facilities available at the sacred event, the journalists sit-down according to a police inspector provoked the police. Several were injured, some critically.

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ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 18, 2001: Kumbh Nagari has become the focus of intense politicking over the Vishwa Hindu Parishad sponsored Dharam Sansad. The VHP is attempting to use the Maha Kumbh Mela to advance its Ram Temple agenda. By setting up a camp that towers over the camps set up by the akharas (traditional monastic orders, several with tens of thousands of monks), Shankaracharyas and assorted savants, the VHP is attracting lines of pilgrims to view the Ram temple model as 24-hour pujas and non-stop bhajanas are led by VHP-supporting sadhus. The VHP is attempting to use the association of the Kumbh to sanctify the project and win support of religious leaders at the gathering, and this is where the controversy lies. The Akhara Parishad, an apex body of the traditional orders, had decided to boycott the Dharam Sansad. The VHP has been suspected of funding several akharas to gain their support. Earlier this month three senior Shankaracharyas blasted the VHP for politicizing the issue of temple construction and dissociated themselves from the Dharam Sansad. However, the VHP's diplomatic politicking has since weakened their united stance. (see next, more recent HPI item)