GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 30, 2003: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, established with the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi, has been awarded the coveted Gandhi Peace Prize for 2002. A five-member jury, headed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, chose Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan because of its “significant contribution towards spreading peace and harmony among all religions and communities on the…
GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON, USA, January 31, 2003: A massive online protest by Indians and pacifists from many countries has forced Maxim, a British and American soft-porn magazine, to apologize for its literal Gandhi-bashing caricatures in its latest issue. In that issue, a martial arts expert is show in a series of cartoons “exercising” by beating up a character that…
GO TO SOURCE VADODARA, INDIA, February 2, 2003: It seems to be a no-win situation for the US fast food chain McDonald’s which has now stirred up activists here for posters saying beef is not sold in its outlets. Sarvadharm Jivdaya Samiti activists entered an outlet on Saturday, asking that the display boards be removed. SJS activists said the boards…
GO TO SOURCE MONTPELLIER, FRANCE, January 16, 2003: Edible bananas, whose botanical forebears are traced back 10,000 years to southeast Asia, may be changing in the next decade. Research conducted by Belgian scientist, Dr. Emile Frison, head of the French-based International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain, indicates that the Cavendish Banana, which is eaten across the planet,…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 31, 2003: An average Indian-American contributes up to US$300 a year for social causes in India. If just half the Indian population in the US donated that much, India would receive more than $250 million for social causes every year, says a survey on the giving patterns of the Indian diaspora conducted by…
GO TO SOURCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, January 21, 2003: The Third International Conference Seminar on Murugan-Skanda will be held in Malaysia, May 1-4, 2003. Scholars and devotees from around the world will be attending the conference as delegates and representatives of the Tamil diaspora from 45 countries are expected to participate. The inaugural function will take place at Batu Caves,…
GO TO SOURCE PATHANAMHTITTA, INDIA, February 2, 2003: Union Minister of State for Defense and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Rajagopal urged the Kerala government to pass legislation curbing forcible conversions and check what he termed the “onslaught” against Hinduism. Inaugurating the 91st Annual Hindu Matha Parishad at Cherukolpula on the banks of river Pamba here, he said the government was duty…
GO TO SOURCE LUCKNOW, INDIA, January 21, 2003: Standing on his feet for thirty days, Pagal Das, a sadhu under personal vows, has attracted huge crowds of pilgrims. Pagal decided to undertake these tapas in Ayodhya near the Sri Ram Janmabhhomi-babri Masjid site and has vowed to keep standing until the proposed Ram Temple has been constructed. Despite cold temperatures…
GO TO SOURCE HOUSTON, USA, February 2, 2003: Mr. B.L. Chawla lit a kuththuvilakku (oil lamp) at the Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, Texas, Sunday in memory of his daughter Kalpana, one of the astronauts who died aboard Columbia. More than 1,000 members of Houston’s Indian community gathered Sunday to mourn and celebrate the life of NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla. Chawla,…
GO TO SOURCE THANJAVUR, INDIA, January 30, 2003: Tiny Vayacheri village, near Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, celebrated Pongal (the season’s first rice harvest) in a big way with a king-size 100-meter-long kolam (rangoli, designs drawn on the ground with colored powders) covering an entire street. Residents believed this may have been the longest kolam in the country. A group of…