Source: Associated Press MOSCOW, RUSSIA, August 17, 2002: Police in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Saturday arrested about a dozen members of a Hindu group who were protesting alleged religious persecution, Russian news agencies reported. The reports said between 10 and 13 members of the Shiva Society were arrested. Belarus authorities could not be reached for comment. In mid-July,…
Source: Hindustan Times BEIJING, CHINA, August 19, 2002: A group of Chinese girls are excelling in the niceties of Indian classical dance in Beijing. “I can’t believe this. I am highly impressed. The Chinese children are performing much better than some of their Indian peers,” said renowned Indian dancer, Mallika Sarabhai after she saw a live performance of Bharatnatyam and…
Source: Hindustan Times HYDERABAD, INDIA, August 17, 2002: Tourists planning to visit the pilgrim town of Tirupati should take note; shorts and bermudas are not permitted at the shrine of Lord Venkateswara. Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD), administrators of the Hindu temple, is planning a dress code for visitors. Anything that shows flesh — either male or female — or causes…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 12, 2002: Jaiprakash Gupta is a seller of kites, though his business nowadays is not flying high. Gupta is quick to point out the reason for the downturn in the kite business. “It is not about the money, people have money to spend. It is just that their interests have changed. Children would…
Source: San Francisco Chronicle SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, August 4, 2002: Indian immigrants are often overlooked in the large wave of East Asian immigrants that came through Angel Island in the early 20th century. For the first time, writings from the Punjabi region of India have been found on the walls of the former detention center. Indian-American historians hope that the…
GO TO SOURCE YOGAVILLE, VIRGINIA, August 19, 2002: One of the world’s most beloved spiritual masters passed away on Monday, August 19, 2002, at 5:45 am, Indian time, in Chennai (Madras), South India. Swami Satchidananda died of cardiovascular complications. He had just attended the Global Peace Conference in South India as its keynote speaker. Invited to come to the US…
Source: Hindu Press International INDIA, August 19, 2002: Swami Satchidananda, founder of the Integral Yoga Institute headquartered in Yogaville, Virginia, USA, is reported to have attained Maha Samadhi yesterday in India at age 87 as the result of an aortic bleed. Swamiji was honored by Hinduism Today in 1994 with the Hindu Renaissance Award as “Hindu of the Year.” The…
GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, August18, 2002: The government of India, with the assistance of hydrologists, geologists, archaeologists and space scientists, is trying to bring back the Saraswati River, which dried up in Vedic times. The dry bed of the “mythological” river was spotted in satellite photos, five miles wide, coursing from the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Some water…
GO TO SOURCE MUMBAI, INDIA, August 18, 2002: Televangelists are an increasing tribe of secret icons in modern India, states this informative — though overly sarcastic — article. “All over the Indian diaspora and in the lush ashrams and spiritual camps across the country,” it goes on, “assorted gurus, gurumaas and preachers play the spin-offs of their praxis.”
GO TO SOURCE NORTH CAROLINA, USA, August 7, 2002: A US university that included a book on the Koran in a class for new students is being sued by a Christian organization and a group of students. The case began when the University of North Carolina chose professor Michael Sells’s book, “Approaching the Qur’an” for one of its courses. Students…