Report from Puerto Rico

GO TO SOURCE PUERTO RICO, USA, April 4, 2002: Mathangi Sundararajan (“source” above) sends the following items from Puerto Rico: 1. Swami Yogatmananda, who is at present minister in charge of Vedanta Society of Providence, Rhode Island, USA, visited the island for three days from March 23rd to 26th and addressed formal and informal groups. He left a deep impression…

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Gujarat Hindus Taunted With Bangles

GO TO SOURCE GUJARAT, INDIA, April 8, 2002: Intelligence reports from various districts in Gujarat reveal that Hindu activists are stoking the communal tension prevailing in the state by sending bangles to cadres in areas where the level of violence did not match the death and mayhem witnessed elsewhere in the state. The gift of women’s bangles are meant as…

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Tourists to Follow Vivekananda’s Steps

GO TO SOURCE KOLKATA, INDIA, April 6, 2002: The tourism ministry is considering a move to start a “Vivekananda Yatra” for tourists, which would encompass all the places Swami Vivekananda visited spreading his message, Union culture and tourism minister Jagmohan announced. The minister was speaking at the annual convocation of the Ramakrishna Institute of Culture. “In these troubled times, it…

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Five Planets Will Cluster Together From April 15

GO TO SOURCE BANGALORE, INDIA, April 6, 2002: This month Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury will be clearly visible between April 15 and 30, with Mercury joining in to shine in the night sky in the month-end. The best time to see these planets is around seven in the evening, just after sunset in the Western sky. “It will…

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Rice Plants Have More Genes than Human Beings

GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON, U.S.A., April 4, 2002: Two research teams, one from the West and one from the East, have collaborated their efforts as part of an international rice project to determine the genetic makeup of the grain. Both teams, the one in California located at Syngenta International Inc. in San Diego and led by Steven Briggs and Stephen…

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India’s PM Consoles Muslims

GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, April 4, 2002: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday told Muslims of Gujarat that they were not alone at this time of crisis and the entire country was behind them. “You are not alone at this time of crisis. We all are with you. The entire country is with you,” he told the riot…

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Attack Ends Hindu-Muslim Harmony in Abasana Village

GO TO SOURCE ABASANA, GUJARAT, INDIA, April 3, 2002: “You are welcome to Hindu nation’s village…..” — such “welcome” boards can be seen lined all along the road as one drives down to this village in Gujarat State. But Abasana is an exception as no such proclamation of Hindutva greets you to it, states this report in the Hindustan Times.…

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Peacock Sparks Row Over Kavadi Flag in South Africa

GO TO SOURCE DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, March 31, 2002: Feathers have been ruffled in the Hindu community in this country because some temples used a symbol of a peacock rather than a rooster on their flags for Kavadi festivals. The rooster symbol has been widely used for more than a century, but some temples have upset devotees by replacing it…

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Court Battle Over Sikh Dagger in Canada

GO TO SOURCE MONTREAL, CANADA, April 4, 2002: A Sikh family here will soon test the boundaries of religious tolerance with a court battle to win permission for their 12-year-old son to wear his spiritually significant dagger to school. Quebec’s Superior Court will take up the issue next week and its decision will set a legal precedent for the province.…

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