SourceKOLKATA, INDIA, April 29, 2003: An ordinary middle-class Hindu family with a real estate business and a kerosene shop runs a mosque in Barasat near Kolkata. “I feel good that the Basu family looks after the mosque on their compound,” Muslim priest Mohammed Abu Bakkar says. “It shows that despite all the religious hatred, Muslims and Hindus are basically one.”…
SourceKABUL, AFGHANISTAN, April 25, 2003: Hindus make up only a small fraction of Afghanistan’s predominately Muslim population of around 25 million, however a member of the Hindu minority has been appointed to a commission that will review a draft constitution for Afghanistan. Businessman Leek Raj will be the first non-Muslim participant in the 35-member Scrutinizing Commission. “The idea is to…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, April 5, 2003: Planetary alignments have put the wedding business in the doldrums. Astrologers say this particular planetary alignment between July 23 and October 7, occuring once every 12 years, is extremely inauspicious and marriages should be put off until this phase passes. Jupiter enters Leo on July 23. While malefic Jupiter stays in Leo until August…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, April 26, 2003: With a current population of 14 million and growing by at least 500,000 each year, New Delhi’s need for water has become paramount. If current rates of water consumption continue, conservationists predict that groundwater will be depleted by 2020. In an effort to find a solution, municipal water authorities are encouraging everyone to participate…
SourceDURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, April 6, 2003: Former South African singer Shashika Mooruth is back in the country to release two new CDs. Mooruth, who has toured the world performing devotional music, will release “Vraja — Sounds Beyond Time” and “Swagatam Krishna” at the Festival of Chariots, which ran from April 18 to 21. “It is different from the kind of…
SourceSAN FRANCISCO, USA, April 13, 2003: According to the Bay Area Yoga Guide, there are more than 70 yoga studios in the nine counties around the San Francisco Bay, and most have opened since 1999. Yoga practitioners say that in the uncertain aftermath of the tech crash and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, many unemployed dotcomers and jittery urbanites are…
SourceAYODHYA, INDIA, April 23, 2003: A bank was founded in 1971 by Mahant Nritya Gopal Das in the Ram Janam Bhoomi temple. However, money is the last requisite for opening an account in this bank because the lockers safeguard deposits in the form of the name of Lord Rama written on various media. Currently the bank holds 3,500 billion deposits…
The PioneerNEW DELHI, INDIA, April 27, 2003: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi issued a demolition notice to Shri Sanatan Dharam temple for having allegedly constructed area in excess than the authorized “Floor Area Ratio” — the allowable area for building construction on a given lot size. The notice requires the temple authorities to demolish almost the whole temple complex, spread…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, April 26, 2003: Dr. Karan Singh, Member of Rajya Sabha and Chairman of the “Temple of Understanding,” a global interfaith association, recently released “Education for a Global Society: Interfaith Dimensions.” Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Singh said that the Temple of Understanding was an attempt to foster harmony among various religions of the world and that the…
SourceNEW JERSEY, U.S.A., April 4, 2003: Stepping through the hand-carved marble arches in Arvind and Bhagwati Amin’s home in Bernardsville, New Jersey, is like being transported to a palace in their native India. The Amins have a suite on the main floor while their two sons and families occupy separate wings of the house. Each day everyone gathers to pray…