SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, April 28, 2004: British school students should be taught the basics of the country’s six principal religions: Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism, as well as Christianity and Judaism — states a report by the government’s curriculum and examinations watchdog. Education Secretary Charles Clarke said: “Religious education plays an important part in our children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural…
Press ReportLONDON, ENGLAND, May 2, 2004: Pub goers in England have been discovering the crunchier side of Indian cuisine. In most British pubs, the humble poppadum from south India has become the favoured fritter, nudging ahead of french fries. Spurring the poppadum success is a Chennai-based company which exports two million poppadums a day to retail chains like St Michael,…
SourceINDIA, April 26, 2004: The following editorial was sent to HPi by G.C. Asnani (“source” above) and credited to The Hindu Renaissance, Varsha Pratipada-Yugabda 5106. There is one “side-effect” of the feel-good factor, which neither the “India Shining” nor the “India Cheated” peddlers seem to have noticed. The increasing confidence with which many Hindus are owning up their dharmic identity…
Press ReportVIJAYAWADA, INDIA, May 3, 2004: Sri Swaroopanandendra Saraswathi, the Sankaracharya of Sarada Peetam, on Monday demanded security to mutt heads and ashrams in the wake of the alleged attempts by Tridandi Sriman Narayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeer to impose Pancharatra system of rituals in all Vaishnava temples, including those following the Vaikanasa tradition. Addressing a press conference here, the Sankaracharya…
SourceUJJAIN, INDIA, May 4, 2004: The Shahi Snan (royal bath) on the last day of the ongoing month-long Simhast (Kumbh) mela began here on Tuesday, with sadhus belonging to various akharas commencing the bath by reaching the banks of river Kshipra in a royal procession and a record number of devotees arriving for the holy dip. The bath began at…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, April 29 2004: Mina Parmar of the Hindu Council UK is concerned that, despite the requirement of tradition and religious practice, the Lord Rama icon damaged by miscreants at the Ealing Road temple has still not been replaced. “I went dutifully to offer my prayers to Lord Rama on His birthday, Ramnavami, enthused with thoughts of His glorious…
SourceNEW YORK, NEW YORK, April 30, 2004: A United States court has asked the New York police department (NYPD) to reinstate a Sikh traffic policeman who quit after he was barred from wearing a turban while on duty and allow him to wear the religious headgear. Jasjit Singh Jaggi, a traffic officer, was “discriminated against based on his religious beliefs”…
SourceDENVER, COLORADO, May 6, 2004: The Denver Post received more than 60 letters as of Friday afternoon from angry Hindu Americans protesting the column by Pius Kamau (see HPI, May 1) reports Ved Chaudhary (“source” above). One letter read, “Like Pius Kamau, I am a first-generation immigrant to America. As I read his sweeping putdown of Hindus and Indian immigrants,…
SourceDURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, April 25, 2004: Hindus in Phoenix have welcomed a recommendation that treated effluent be piped instead of being diverted into a river used for prayer rituals. An earlier plan by the eThekwini municipality to dispose of treated effluent from the Ohlanga catchments area in the Eastbury Drive River in Phoenix drew sharp criticism from Hindu organizations. Common…
SourceTAMIL NADU, INDIA, April 30, 2004: A proposal by the Union Ministry of Culture and Tourism to have the Government of India implement improvement “For the protection and conservation of the Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, dedicated to Lord Siva, as a national heritage monument,” has been rejected by the Tamil Nadu government. The Tamil Nadu government responded…