Source: HPI TOWER HAMLETS COUNCIL, ENGLAND, April 2, 2003: The following correction was received from Mr. Donald Neam, Head of Communications, Tower Hamlets, regarding the Sunday Telegraph article on “Hot Cross Buns” summarized in the March 21 HPI: “The basis of your news report is an article on page 11 of the March 16, 2003 edition of British newspaper, the…
GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, April 2, 2003: The Straits Times link was incorrect on an earlier story of Gujarat police surveying Christians. For correct link use “source” above.
GO TO SOURCE MUMBAI, INDIA, April 2, 2003: The Maharashtra Nature Park, in collaboration with the Neem Foundation, is celebrating April, 2 2003, (Gudi Padwa day) as Neem Day. The program was held at Kalapradarshini Udyan in Mumbai. The program included a workshop on using Neem for health and happiness and Free Healing session of Cosmopathy. In addition to this,…
GO TO SOURCE PURI, INDIA, March 29, 2003: Gold ornaments, including rings, coins and decorative pieces and expensive clothes were among the gifts the King of Nepal, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, and Queen Komal Rajalaxmi Devi offered to the Deities of the Sri Jagannath temple here on Saturday. A gold coin, a gold thread, three golden eyes, a small…
GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, March 29, 2003: A group of Christian organizations has petitioned the Gujarat state High Court to halt a government survey of Christians on the grounds that it “unlawfully targets” the minority group. The All-India Christian Council said the Christians are being “victimized in the name of collecting census information.” For the past two weeks, police…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 29, 2003: Many people opt for traditional medicines because they are affordable and believed to be less harmful. As a result, the market is flooded with scores of Ayurvedic, Unani and Siddha cures, but there is no official machinery to give them accreditation. Experts have voiced concerns about their safety, quality, licensing of…
GO TO SOURCE AYODHYA, INDIA, March 28, 2003: At least 150 small conches, a stucco stone, a sandstone structure, pieces of bangles, a mud-stove (chulha) and some articles of glazed terra cotta were found during the 13th day of excavation at Ayodhya today. Sources here said five articles were found in the J5 trench, and one each in J3, K6…
GO TO SOURCE KALICOT, INDIA, March 29, 2003: The 148-year-old throne of Goddess Kali at the Dakshineswar temple, where both Ramakrishna and Vivekananda meditated for hours, will be replaced by a new one on Saturday. The new 10-foot-high throne will replace the old wooden structure encased in silver. Kusal Chowdhury, secretary of Dakshineswar Kali Temple and Debottar Estate said, “Devotees…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 24, 2003: When an Islamic insurgency began in Indian Kashmir in 1989, the area’s Hindus became the prime target. Muslim terrorists directed a campaign of assassinations and intimidation against Kashmiri Pandits, as the area’s Hindu brahmins are known, and most of them were forced out of Kashmir. Eleven families stayed on in the…
GO TO SOURCE GANDHINAGAR, INDIA, March 26, 2003: The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Bill, 2003, passed in the state assembly on Wednesday. It states anyone found converting a person from one religion to another “by force or any fraudulent means” can be fined up to US$2,000 or face up to three year’s imprisonment. The imprisonment period would be four years…