GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON, USA, November 14, 2002: The operators of Miss Cleo’s psychic hot line agreed Thursday to cancel US$500 million (yes, that’s 2,350 crore rupees) in customer bills to settle federal charges that the service fleeced callers while promising mystical insights into love and money. Hindus may find it difficult to believe, but such psychic hot lines are…
Source: PTI GOPESHWAR, INDIA, November 6, 2002: The Hindu shrine of Kedarnath, located in Garhwal, Himalayas, closed Wednesday for the winter. The deputy Rawal (priest) of the shrine closed the Kapat (doors) amidst the chanting of Vedic hymns, as snow and stormy winds started blowing through the region. Hundreds of devotees of Lord Siva, including saints, temple employees and others,…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 9, 2002: Rebelling against their birth, Dalits (“untouchables”) across India are converting from Hinduism to better their lives. To belong a valued members of society and not to be persecuted,or even killed, for being born “untouchable,” this is possible in this lifetime they believe. But possible, a growing number amongst Dalits are saying,…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 10, 2002: Brahmins continue to dominate India’s sociopolitical spectrum, despite Mandalisation (legislation to reduce their influence). Four years after Prime Minister V. P. Singh’s decision in 1990 to implement the Mandal Commission recommendations, it was hailed and reviled with equal fervor. While the upper castes saw it as the death knell of their…
GO TO SOURCE KERALA, INDIA, November 9, 2002: Swami Jyotirmayananda of Karnataka, an independent monk of the Ramakrishna tradition, is the author and publisher of a book on Swami Vivekananda. Swami participated in the 1993 Parliament of Religions held in Chicago, in commemoration of the centenary of the First Parliament held in 1893, and the Global Vision 2000 Program in…
GO TO SOURCE RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, November 9, 2002: After the ban on foreign taxi drivers, Saudi Arabia has now announced that all jobs in gold and jewellery shops, presently dominated by Indians, will be taken over by local people by next year. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif, who is also chairman of the Manpower Council, has ordered the total…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 10, 2002: A human rights group has launched a campaign here against Short Message Services, arguing SMS has become the root of divorces in India where mobile telephones are the latest craze. Activists with the National Human Rights Council staged a demonstration and burned a cellular telephone in a protest against the succinct…
Source: Paras Ramoutar TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, CARIBBEAN, October 25, 2002: The religious festival of Deepavali holds special significance for the people of Trinidad and Tobago. This year to commemorate the 16th annual Deepavali Nagar, Dr. Uma Mesthrie, a great granddaughter of the late Mahatma Gandhi, was asked to speak. Knowledgeable about the experience of East Indian immigrants who were brought…
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, October 27, 2002: Over 125 Hindus gathered at the Salt Lake Public Library to celebrate Deepavali. A performance of sitar and tabla by Shashi Kalaskar and Subhash Kirtane set the tone for the celebrations. Prathibha Marathe, member of the library’s Diversity Committee, from Bangalore, India, remarked, “We had a great response…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 6, 2002: An analysis of the 2001 Census data pertaining to New Delhi shows that more women have taken jobs in the past ten years, though the number is still much less than working men. But, the number of women employed in the agriculture sector and household industries is higher than that of…