GO TO SOURCE TIRUPATI, INDIA, February 17, 2003: Forest Department officials have been asked to take up a comprehensive study on conservation of medicinal plants in South India and document the endangered plants before initiating steps to conserve them. At the inaugural session on “Policy consultation on threatened medicinal plants of Eastern and Western ghats, trading and promoting their cultivation”…
GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, February 16, 2003: An unruly crowd estimated at 1,500 people stormed the famous Swaminarayan temple on Sunday, damaging furniture and burning posters following a dispute over who will head the trust which runs the shrine. This resulted in an indefinite curfew. District superintendent of police (Kheda) Manoj Agrawal said that the mob in Vadtal village…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 19, 2003: Brushing aside opposition criticism of its program to distribute tridents as a “misinterpretation,” the VHP on Wednesday vowed to go ahead with it, describing it as part of religious practice. After distribution of the tridents at Jaipur on Tuesday and Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, the Sangh Parivar plans to…
GO TO SOURCE LISBON, PORTUGAL, February 21, 2003: The World Philosophical Order Vidya Yoga Ashram inaugurated its international headquarters in Lisbon February 10, 2003. The Ordem Filosofica Mundial Vidya Yoga Ashram is a philosophical-spiritual, cultural, educational and assistance congregation. Established by H.H. Shri Swami Vyaghrananda Pashup·¥© Bhagwan, Master Shri Uberto Gamma and others, their focus is serving as an instrument…
GO TO SOURCE CHICAGO, U.S.A., December 2, 2002: Hours of playing violent video games can affect the way the brain works on a cellular level, causing misfiring of signals between nerve cells or slowing brain activity, researchers have discovered. The adverse effects are most apparent among teens that are diagnosed with a condition called disruptive behavior disorder or DBD. These…
GO TO SOURCE ZIMBABWE, AFRICA, February 15, 2003: President Robert Mugabe’s “war veteran” militia is changing its land-grabbing campaign in Zimbabwe from white-owned farms to Asian-owned businesses. The move has echoes of the policy pursued by Idi Amin in Uganda 30 years ago, which saw 60,000 Asians expelled while their land, money and businesses were seized. Last week, the veterans…
Source: The Daily Post, Fiji SUVA, FIJI, February 18, 2003: The beach along Queen Elizabeth Drive, on the Suva foreshore, is designated to the Hindu community to be used to dispose of the ashes of their loved ones following cremation, Multi-Ethnic Affairs Minister George Raj said. Mr. Raj yesterday said he would make a detailed statement on the matter today…
GO TO SOURCE EUGENE, U.S.A., February 21, 2003: Arun N. Toke, executive editor of Skipping Stones Magazine, has been honored by The Writer magazine with the 2002 Writer Award. The Writer Awards celebrate and recognize writers who, through their work, contribute to the community of writers, bring about changes in the publishing field, or use their writing to make a…
GO TO SOURCE JAIPUR, INDIA, February 14, 2003: In a unique Valentine’s Day celebration, eleven couples married for more than 50 years renewed their marriage vows in front of the holy fire, reaffirming their love for each other. Brain child of Mitroday Gandhi, President Rashtriya Yuva Chetna Parishad, the decision to celebrate these couples was taken to motivate the younger…
GO TO SOURCE UNITED STATES, February 21, 2003: This very extensive website offers insight into India’s secular constitution and what it means to be a secular nation as compared to a nation where religion and government power reside in the same hand. The authors comment that “the word Secular has not been defined or explained under the Constitution in 1950…