SourcePAHALGAM, KASHMIR, June 27, 2003: Kashmir has once again become the destination for Indian families trying to escape blistering summer heat. Kashmir is a stunningly beautiful swath of Himalayan territory, but has been the scene of a brutal 13-year terrorist action and the focus of two wars between India and Pakistan. However, by June 24, 64,000 Indian and 800 foreign…
SourceBHOPAL, INDIA, July 1, 2003: After completing her class 12 examination, Deepti is now training at the Manju Sanskar Kendra to be an “ideal wife” to a boy she has only seen once. Six days a week, Deepti attends sermons at the Kendra, an institution set up to train women to surrender to the more powerful in the family —…
HPICHENNAI, INDIA, July 9, 2003: Sri T.S. Sambamurthy Sivachariar attained the lotus feet of Goddess Kaligambal on July 7, 2003, at 4:15 am in Chennai and was cremated with all rituals on July 8. Sri Sambamurthy was a diabetic, on kidney dialysis and had had heart by-pass surgery. He stopped eating solid food on January 3 of this year and…
SourceKATMANDU, NEPAL, July 4, 2003: H.H. Swami Chidananda Saraswati, affectionately known as Muniji, head of the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, will lead nearly 200 pilgrims from 13 countries to Lake Mansarovar, near Mount Kailash in Tibet, to inaugurate a rest house for tourists and pilgrims. The project, funded by the Rishikesh-based India Heritage Research Foundation (IHRF), includes running a…
SourceBASAR, INDIA, July 7, 2003: The temple town of Basar in Adilabad district, famous for the only temple of Goddess Saraswati in South India, is getting a massive facelift thanks to the combined efforts of various departments which have taken up projects to the tune of over US$200,000. The Forest Department, Panchayat Raj, Roads & Buildings Department, the Hyderabad Urban…
SourceKATMANDU, NEPAL, July 9, 2003: The World Hindu Federation has opposed any move to declare Nepal, a predominantly Hindu nation, a secular state. A country, where 90 percent of its population including Buddhists, Vedic, Jain and Sikhs are the followers of the Arya Sanatan Hindu religion, a secular state is both “ridiculous and against the principles of democracy,” WHF President…
SourceCHICAGO, U.S.A., June 18, 2003: Michael B. Hyman, principal with Chicago law firm Much Shelist Freed Denenberg Ament & Rubenstein, P.C. announced that several prominent members of the vegetarian community filed a notice of appeal related to a suit against fast food giant McDonald’s. At issue in the appeal is a recent court ruling that allows the allocation of US$6…
SourceTRINCOMALEE, SRI LANKA, July 01, 2003: The Trincomalee District Young Men Hindu Association (TDYMHA) brought to the notice of the Hindu Religious Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka, Mr. T. Maheswaran, that lands belonging to several Hindu temples in the Trincomalee district are being unlawfully occupied by the Singhalese, thus depriving the income from the lands to these temples. Mr. Sivapathasundaram…
SourceJAMMU AND KASHMIR, July 8, 2003: About 25,000 Hindus prayed for their ancestors at a shrine in Kashmir following an age-old ritual that has not been performed in 14 years. Many came from refugee camps that are home to several thousand Kashmiri Hindus who left their homes after Muslim terrorism against Indian rule began in 1989. They performed the ritual…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, July 8, 2003: After losing the patents of neem, bitter gourd and basmati rice, the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) and the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) have now decided to strengthen the Indian claim about its traditional knowledge in this area and also help in countering the attempts of other countries to acquire…