Source: The Pioneer

BANARAS, INDIA, January 6, 2001: The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led state government surprised Hindus by curtailing the annual budget of the famous Kashi Viswanath Temple. The curtailment may pose many difficulties to the management as the charges of various prayers and rituals may have to be hiked higher. According to sources against the proposal of US$434,782 for the year 2001, the state government has sanctioned only $89,630. Whereas the budget for the temple last year was $402,174. The temple pays more than $2,174 in the form of salaries to it's 40-odd employees every month and monthly expenditure on three officials posted at the temple was around $1,304 per month. Suspicions of corruption may be behind the cuts.

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NEW DELHI, INDIA, December 30, 2000: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has taken up the cause of convincing the masses that the Christian new year is no cause for celebration. VHP senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore told News Today: "The Hindu new year falls in Chaitra, the month of April, and that is when it should be celebrated. The VHP contends that Shristi (Earth) was created long before Jesus Christ was born and therefore it is the creation that should be celebrated and not a new year that has been thrust on India by the West. VHP cadres have been given instructions to oppose New Year's Eve celebrations and to educate the masses about the actual or the original Hindu new year. According to Sheshadri Chari, editor of the Organiser, "New Year's Eve, Valentines Day and other such festivals are increasingly being celebrated in India. These are essential platforms for multinationals to sell their wares." Chari maintains such celebrations are adversely influencing Indian culture and traditions and this is the reason the VHP is opposed to it.

Source: Reuters

LONDON, ENGLAND, January 8, 2001: East Indian Amma's will be delighted to hear that a company in London has produced a curry pill whose main constituent is the beloved herb Turmeric.This pill, known as P54 by the company researching its benefits, has been tested on patients with colon cancer. Proven to help prevent bowel cancer, it will be on sale later this year as a food supplement. Or you can just buy the spice.

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TAMPA, FLORIDA: The tenth annual conference of "Yoga of Positive Health" was enthusiastically attended by doctors, scholars and practitioners in December, 2000. Collaborating to orchestrate the exchange of knowledge and philosophy were the University of South Florida, the College of Public Health's Center for Positive Health and Swami Vivekananda's Yoga Research Foundation. Highlights included such topics as the "Future of Yoga Therapy," the "Relationship of Yoga to Ayurveda," "Yoga for Cardiac Patients" and the "Gods Within."

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After the partition of India in 1947, Sindhis from Pakistan immigrated to many countries of the world. If you have any information about this migration first or second-hand, it may be used for a new book called "Sindhi Jottings" or as reference material in the archives of India. Contact: hiroshroff@hotmail.com

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Inspiring devotees and instilling in them, the ideology that every home is a temple, along with the meaning of and method of effective prayer has been the basis of the teachings of Shree Maa Ji of the Devi Mandir located in California. Along with Swami Satyananda Saraswati, she will be will be on a joint lecture tour of Europe and the United States this summer of 2001. Her itinerary is at http://www.shreemaa.org.

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LONDON, ENGLAND, January 11, 2001: Hindus in the United Kingdom slammed a London television channel's reportage of the Maha Kumbh as distorted and inappropriate. Footage included shots of naked ascetics performing acts of penance on the banks of the Ganges in Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. The National Council of Hindu Temples (NCHT), which represents 600,000 Hindus and more than 140 temples in Britain, has reacted to last weekend's one-hour documentary of the Mela. A letter was being sent by NCHT to Channel 4 protesting the focus on bizarre practices which were not representative of the principles and tenets of mainstream Hinduism. "It's like depicting Christianity through the Inquisition," the NCHT declared. "That's not Christianity and what they're showing is not Hinduism." The NCHT says it does not deny the practices depicted in the television footage, but repeats this is not mainstream Hinduism, which has not been covered and deserves a proper hearing. "No explanation was given about what the Kumbh Mela is all about." A spokeswoman for Channel 4 said the footage broadcast was not representative of the overall coverage that would continue until the end of January. "What has been seen is a small part of what we are broadcasting," she told IANS. "All that people have seen is 58 minutes out of an entire month's programming. It's difficult to represent the Kumbh in that period of time."

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ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 11, 2001: Over 2,500,000 devotees and reports of a possible militant strike kept the police and mela authorities on their toes on the first day of the Maha Kumbh. The paush purnima snan (bath at full moon) at the Sangam attracted a record gathering of devotees, giving the police cause to worry over the scope of arrangements to be made for the two biggest bathing days yet to come. Tuesday's crowds were almost double the official estimates before the Mela began. Intelligence sources said they had received information about a possible subversive strike during the Kumbh. The Uttar Pradesh police officially denied any new threat, but stepped up their security to face any eventuality. A report from Lucknow said Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for a recent Army camp strike, had planned similar attacks at the Maha Kumbh. Allahabad has increased the number of police covering the event from 15,000 to 20,000 in the last two days. The force will be backed by 150 river patrol officers, 20 specially trained commandos and 10 Army teams specializing in anti-mine operations. Bomb disposal squads are also stationed at the mela complex.

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KLANG, MALAYSIA: January 8, 2001: Tampin born V. Rathakrishnan, noted by the Malaysia Book of Records as the man with the strongest teeth, successfully set another record yesterday. He used his teeth to pull a 37.35 ton train coach for a distance of 8.37m at the Klang railway station, surpassing his first effort in 1995 where he pulled a 10.8 ton bus a distance of 5.12m. When Rathakrishnan started his attempt, the coach refused to budge. After several starts and stops and attempts to focus, he finally succeeded and the coach inched forward. With encouragement from the crowd, he reached just past the 8m mark in about 4 minutes then collapsed, exhausted, on the track. Later, Rathakrishnan revealed to the press he had been suffering from a cold and a slight fever. Officers from the Malaysia Book of Records confirmed his accomplishment.

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ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 7, 2001: Pilgrims have begun arriving in the northern Indian town of Allahabad for Hinduism's most important spiritual gathering, which is expected to attract at least 70 million people over the next 42 days. The Kumbh Mela takes place every 12 years and sees millions of devotees bathe in the Ganga to purify their sins. The numbers in Allahabad are steadily growing as Tuesday approaches, itself an auspicious bathing day. For many, the bathing has already started, as they immerse themselves in the river, despite the bitter cold. Police posts have been set up and security measures have been drawn up to ensure the safety of the pilgrims.

Source: Free Press Journal, Mumbai

ALLAHABAD, INDIA, December 15, 2000: Saints of various religious orders are upset with the mela administrators, alleging discrimination in allotment of land. They say fake saint committees have been given land, and object to the construction of 5-star facilities for foreigners and VIPS, which they said was against the religious sentiments linked with the Mela. For example, one camp is charging foreigners US$100 per day per person.

Source: Religious New Service

VANCOUVER, CANADA, December 30, 2000: With a multitude of multicultural flavors, Asian immigrants, 50% of whom attend regular religious services, have rescued three of Canada's largest cities. Previous to the wave of immigration, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto were considered places where there was an indifference to, or even of, rejection of religion. Now Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Christian institutions are flourishing with devotees.

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DEHRADUN, INDIA, January 5, 2001: ISI agent Ankur Sharma was apprehended by security guards on January 4 after attempting to steal a cherished statue from the sacred shrine of Badrinath. After some resistance, the culprit was handed over to the local authorities.

Source: India Abroad News Service

ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 2, 2001: Taking precautionary measures for the estimated 70 million devotees who are expected to pilgrimage to the holy "Sangam" at Allahabad, the Uttar Pradesh government is providing insurance coverage. Allahabad commissioner Sada Kant, who has orchestrated the huge event, is reported as saying, "Each of the visitors in the 20- to 60-year age group would be insured for US$ 2,174. Others will get an insurance coverage of US$1,087." Insurance will be paid to the pilgrim's surviving family. The cause of death must be other than natural and occur during the festivities. Sacred dips in the river at Allahabad will start January 9th and end on Maha Sivaratri, February 21st.

Source: Amnesty International Press Release

January 5, 2001: The Bangladesh High Court made a landmark ruling that fatwas -- religious edicts issued by the Muslim clergy --are illegal. The court also ruled that such edicts, mainly issued against women, must be made punishable by an act of parliament. Usually imposed against women who assert themselves in village family life, dozens of fatwas are issued each year by the rural clergy, who justify their deed in the name of religion. The clergy impose flogging and stoning, and other humiliating punishments, and they are often involved in directly inflicting the punishment. In many cases there is a financial motive involved as fatwas can be a source of income for the local clergy.