SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, December 13, 2003: Mizoram is set to become the first state in the country to ban the use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture and encourage organic food produce. “I have asked the government to introduce a legislation in the forthcoming Assembly session to ban fertilizers and pesticides and encourage organic food,” Mizoram Governor A R Kohli told…
SourceRISHIKESH, INDIA, November 18, 2003: “It’s dusk. the air is filled with 200 voices chanting Hindu scriptures to the beat of clapping hands. I am sitting on marble steps facing the holy river Ganges. In the fading daylight, the pewter-colored water reflects some tiny, fist-sized ‘boats’ that carry brightly flickering candles down the fast flowing river,” begins this article by…
SourcePANAUTI, NEPAL, December 11, 2003: The ancient icon of Brahmayini in Panauti, about 40 km to the east of Kathmandu, has been stolen for the second time, the Rising Nepal newspaper said Thursday. The icon was lifted Tuesday evening after curfew was over, the daily quoted police as saying. The icon was reinstated seven years ago after having been stolen,…
SourceSEATTLE, WASHINGTON, December 12, 2003: This Reuters report reads: “Microsoft Corp. said on Friday that its latest version of Office software inadvertently contained a font featuring two swastikas, and said it would offer tools to remove and replace the offending characters from the program. The swastika, which was made infamous by Nazi Germany, was included in Microsoft’s ‘Bookshelf Symbol 7’…
SourceKONARK, INDIA, December 7, 2003: The Konark dance festival in Orissa once attracted a huge number of tourists. But attendance is poor despite its awe-inspiring setting. An open air theater with the famous Sun Temple as its backdrop has been the site of the Konark Dance Festival organized by the government for the last 14 years. The idea is to…
SourceKATHMANDU, NEPAL, DECEMBER 12, 2003: In the Nepalese capital, 29-year-old Surendra Shaha and his mother are sitting in prayers with a Hindu priest. Surendra Shaha says his weekly prayer ritual is helping him. Surendra is HIV positive and this is a weekly ritual organized by his mother to keep his spirits up. By all accounts, it’s working. The role of…
SourceWASHINGTON, D.C., December 9, 2003: Bangladesh has taken some steps to protect its religious minorities but discrimination continues, particularly against Hindus, says a new report. It says communal violence and discrimination have displaced up to 20,000 Hindus in recent years, with the most serious violations occurring in 2001. Most Bangladeshi Hindus who seek refuge in India have received little support…
SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, December 10, 2003: The S.M. Krishna Government’s proposal to take over management of all private and trust-managed temples have raised hackles. Says Sri Vishveshwara Theertha of Udupi Pejawar math: “This would only give scope for corruption.” Others are equally upset. Hindu Dharmika Samsthe Hitharakshna Samiti spokesman G.R. Suresh accuses the Government of diverting US$15 million collected from nearly…
PacnewsFIJI, December 8, 2003: Indo-Fijians, who make up almost half the population of Fiji, are five times more likely than indigenous Fijians to attempt or commit suicide, recent police statistics indicate. The trend has been consistent for at least five years. Along with the youth of Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Guam, Palau and Samoa, Indo-Fijian youth make up…
SourceSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, December 02, 2003: GangaGen, a company in the biotechnology industry, is committed to the discovery and development of biologically specific bacteriophage (bacteria eaters) for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of bacterial infection in medical, veterinary, and agricultural applications, says this company website. The biotechnology industry is only just beginning to boom and companies like GangaGen aim to…