SourceWASHINGTON, April 1, 2004: The Department of Justice has filed a complaint against a local school in the U.S. state of Oklahoma for suspending an 11-year-old Muslim girl for refusing to remove her head scarf. The complaint alleges that Muskogee, Oklahoma, Public School district violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bars states…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, April 3, 2004: The Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi will publish a series of books and monographs covering the nations of the Subcontinent. The first set of volumes will concern the provinces and territories of Pakistan, India’s neighbor to the West. These publications are part of ORF’s Institute of Asian Studies, that will house a…
SourceINDIA, April 3. 2004: A reader asked about the issue of renaming Indian cities, such as Mumbai for Bombay or Kolkata for Calcutta. The website at “source” discusses the issue at some length (though with an unfavorable attitude, one against the changes). They list the following cities which have officially changed their name: Bombay became Mumbai Madras became Chennai Trivandrum,…
SourceFLUSHING, NEW YORK, March 29, 2004: There is a stretch of Flushing, Queens, where Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims and Hindus worship within blocks of one another without a hint of sectarian strife. When it comes to parking spaces, though, it is not so peaceful. Every Sunday, a flood of cars descends on the neighborhood. City law requires houses of worship…
Sunday TimesUITENHAGE, SOUTH AFRICA, March 28, 2004: The president of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, Ashwin Trikamjee, will officially open the first Hindu temple in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape next month. The Uitenhage Hindu Mandal, built at a cost of US$235,000, will be opened on April 11. A trustee of the temple, Chottu Karsan, said the building took…
Press ReportNEW DELHI, INDIA, April 31, 2004: VIP’s have been asked not to come for a holy dip at the Kumbh Mela on the main bathing dates of April 5, April 22 and May 4, 2004. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Sadhvi Uma Bharati said this is because “requisite arrangements for their security cannot be made. The police and para military…
SourceTORONTO, CANADA, March 28, 2004: The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP) at its Fourteenth Plenary Meeting on March 18-20, 2004 held at Virginia Beach, Virginia, conferred the Certificate of Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor to Pandit Suraj Persad. He is the first Hindu person to receive certification from CPSP since its inception in 1990. Pandit Suraj Persad is…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, April 1, 2004: Family conflicts, domestic violence, failed romances and mental illness have pushed the suicide rate of young people in southern India to the highest in the world, researchers said on Friday. Suicide accounts for one-half to three-quarters of all deaths in young women and a quarter of deaths in young men in the region. “We have…
Religion News ServiceWASHINGTON, D.C., April 2, 2004: A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled a US$100 million bill Thursday (April 1) that they say will help protect “soft targets” such as churches and synagogues from terrorist attacks. The High-Risk Non-Profit Security Enhancement Act would open $50 million in government grants to allow hospitals, theaters and houses of worship to beef up…
SourceUJJAIN, INDIA, March 28, 2004: The countdown for the Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela, has begun in the holy city of Ujjain. The festival will be held from April 5 till May 5. It is estimated that about 30 million people will attend the event. The mela is held every 12 years, in Ujjain, Allahabad, Hardwar and Nasik in rotation.