The New York TimesNEW YORK CITY, U.S.A., January 18, 2004: New York City’s Hindu population of 171,000 is asking the city to recognize the Hindu celebration of Deepavali. Deepavali is a five-day festival of lights marking the end of the Hindu year. The city already recognizes the Muslim holiday of Id al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. President of the Jackson…
The Ottawa CitizenOTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA, December 28, 2003: Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is setting an example of interfaith harmony for the rest of the country and perhaps the world. Two organizations, the Capital Region Interfaith Council and Interfaith Ottawa, are cited as the initiatives responsible for the interfaith harmony. The article explains the functions of the two organizations, “Capital…
SourceSRI LANKA, February 2, 2004: This press release reads: “FOCUS is a website (“source” above) that examines Christian evangelism in South Asia, with a particular focus on Sri Lanka. This website was created to function as a forum where people of all religious persuasions can communicate with each other over the issue of evangelism. This website also provides exposure to…
SourceCHANDIGARH, INDIA, January 16, 2004: Established three years ago in India with a grant of US$4.3 million, the National Innovation Foundation has received ideas from over 16,000 people. The mission of the foundation is to give grassroot inventors an opportunity to submit their innovations, patent their ideas, and if they are developed the inventor would receive credit and perhaps financial…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, January 26, 2004: Thanks to a campaign initiated by Peta and supported by Hollywood filmstar James Cromwell and Maneka Gandhi, DaimlerChrysler India now offers a non-leather car seat cover for all its Mercedes Benz models sold in India. However Peta was not satisfied with this victory and the article says, “Peta and Cromwell are taking the campaign…
SourceKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, February 1, 2004: The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple Committee is advising kavadi bearers for the Thaipusam festival on February 5 to maintain it as a religious festival and not a fun party. Kavadi is the practice of devotees carrying large decorated arches on their shoulders a long distance a temple. They usually pierce their skin with many…
SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, January 28, 2004: The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) is wooing people for next month’s Mahasivaratri at the shrine of Lord Pashupathinath near Kathmandu. The Chief Executive Officer of the board, Tek Bahadur Dangi, admitted that tourism had been affected by the Maoist insurgency in the Hindu kingdom during 1999 and 2002 but things improved in 2003 when the…
SourceCHICAGO, U.S.A., January 2004: Not many brides can say their weddings stopped traffic. But that’s exactly what happened to Mita Jain last May as friends and family followed her fiance down State Street in Chicago on their way to the ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton. Of course, it’s not every day that passers-by are treated to a man in…
SourceKAUAI, HAWAII, February 1, 2004: The April-May-June ’04 issue of Hinduism Today (coming out early March) will contain a special 16-page article giving very good and full answers to the 10 questions Hindus hear most often — generally with embarrassment for lack a strong, clear answer. “Are Hindus idol worshippers?” can be quite disturbing, even damaging, when the answer is…
SourceLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, January 26, 2004: After experiencing heart palpitations Jon Mejia’s doctor diagnosed abnormal heart rhythm and sent him to a specialist at a prestigious Los Angeles medical center. Although his doctor told him that beta blocker drugs could control the symptoms, Mejia, 49, didn’t want to take them because of concerns about side effects. So Mejia turned instead…