SourceCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, May 21, 2003: A Cook County judge has named 24 groups to divide a US$10 million settlement from McDonald’s over beef-laced french fries, resolving a dispute about which organizations would share in the awards. The ruling Monday by Circuit Judge Richard Siebel followed months of legal wrangling since Oak Brook-based McDonald’s agreed to the payment last year. The…
Hinduism TodayKauai, USA, May 26, 2003: Thomson Nelson, a school text publisher in Canada, is including two excerpts from Hinduism Today in its upcoming book “My Place in the World” for ninth graders. The book’s straightforward advocacy of religious tolerance is really quite remarkable, as shown by their choice of excerpts. The first excerpt: “The following was published in Hinduism…
SourceOTTAWA, CANADA, May 13, 2003: Canadian population demographics have been released on religious affiliation from the May 15, 2001, census. While seventy percent of Canadians identify their religion as Roman Catholic, the largest religious group in Canada, the churches’ devotees are dropping steadily. In contrast, the number of Canadians affiliating themselves with religions such as Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism are…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, May 21, 2003: The following revelations coincided with the celebration of the National Vegetarian Week: if Britons continue to turn vegetarianism at the current rate, it is predicted in 50 years the traditional roast and full English breakfast will be consigned to the dustbins of history. Around 2,000 Britons a week are converting to vegetarianism and if the…
SourceSEYCHELLE ARCHIPELAGO, May 23, 2003: Tamil writer, Vijaratnam Sivasupramaniam, tells the world about the Seychelles islands in his new book, “Decade of growth.” The Seychelles are located southwest of India and east of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. Hindus began organized religious gatherings in 1984 when they formed the Seychelles Hindu Kovil Sangham. The Sangham went on to build the…
HPIKAUAI, U.S.A., May 26, 2003: Sadhvi Bhagwati, from Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, has written with additional information regarding yesterday’s story on the cancellation of this year’s Mansarovar Yatra: “Although the Indian Government has indefinitely postponed their yatra due to China closing the land route over Lipulekh Pass, regular yatras to Mansarovar and Mt. Kailash will begin again at the…
SourceWASHINGTON D.C., U.S.A., May 24, 2003: Persistent lobbying by Hindu-Americans, especially after last year’s violence in Gujarat, to have an Indian-American on the US statutory commission which oversees religious freedom worldwide has paid off. Preeta Bansal, who was earlier solicitor-general of New York and a White House counsel in the Clinton administration, was last night nominated to the US Commission…
Times of IndiaNEW DELHI, INDIA, May 24, 2003: It has been officially announced that the Kailash Mansarovar yatra has been postponed indefinitely due to the closure of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). The Indian government was informed by the Chinese authorities that they were not allowing any tourists into the TAR in an effort to keep the area SARS free.…
SourceFREEPORT, TRINIDAD, May 25, 2003: Trinidad’s Dattatreya Yoga Center is currently undergoing a massive renovation, as reported in yesterday’s HPI. H.H. Sri Ganapati Sachidananda Swami of Mysore, India, head of the yoga center will be attending the June inauguration ceremonies. In front of Sri Swami’s residence, a small Karyasiddhi Hanuman under a mandapam has been constructed. Less than 200 feet…
HPINEW DELHI, INDIA, May 25, 2003: Yesterday Swami Chinmayananda, a sannyasin or Hindu monk, was taken into the Vajpayee Government as Minister of State for Home Affairs. Swami has the distinction of being the only saint in the Vajpayee government at the moment and as minister of state for Home Affairs, he will report directly to L.K. Advani.