GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, April 4, 2002: In an emotionally charged speech, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave a categorical assurance to the riot victims of Ahmedabad that they will be taken care of by the government and that refugee camps will go on as long as needed. He said he was “ashamed” at what had happened in Gujarat…
GO TO SOURCE LENASIA, JOHANNESBURG, April 5, 2002: He used to be a devout Christian until curiosity took him to a Hindu temple in Lenasia town, 25 miles south of this South African city. Four years later, Meshack Jantjies, 35, is South Africa’s first black African Hindu priest. Not only does the deputy resident priest at the Siva Gnana Sabay…
GO TO SOURCE BANGALORE, INDIA, March 31, 2002: With 925 software firms and 80,000 software engineers, Bangalore has become the Silicon Valley of India, accounting for one quarter of the country’s $6.2 billion in software exports. Bay Area notables Cisco, Apple and Hewlett-Packard all have sites here. When the original Silicon Valley sank into recession, Indians were optimistic. With 60…
Source: The Hindu SRINAGAR, INDIA, March 31, 2002: The gory incident of Saturday at Jammu’s historic Raghunath temple led to the closure of its doors for the first time in 150 years. Upset over what happened at the place of worship the head priest, Pandit V. Shastri, said, “The doors had to be closed for the first time in 150…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 3, 2002: In a recognition of their separate identity, the Constitution Review Commission has recommended that Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism should be treated as religions distinct from Hinduism. Presently, a constitutional provision groups them together. The existing explanation II of Article 25 of the Constitution (Freedom of Conscience and Free Profession, Practice and…
Source: The Hindu KARIMNAGAR, ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA, March 31, 2002: The local administration prevented the marriage of a 15-year-old girl here. The authorities got the marriage postponed while they explain to the family that there are laws against marriage at that age in India. The legal age for marriage for girls in India is 18 and for boys 21. In…
GO TO SOURCE NEW ZEALAND, March 30, 2002: As Christians celebrate Easter, latest census figures show there are fewer of them, but the diversity of faiths among New Zealanders is growing. Over a million people (27.5 per cent) described themselves as having no religion in the 2001 census compared with about 670,000 people a decade ago. New Zealand’s changing population…
GO TO SOURCE AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, Mar 23, 2002: Asians are coming to New Zealand in numbers not seen since the mid-1990s and the latest figures show that most of the migrants are Chinese or Indian. In a reversal of trends, the inflow of people outnumbers the outflow, sparking a real estate boom. According to Statistics New Zealand, the number…
GO TO SOURCE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, March 30, 2002: In Indian culture, societal and family pressures to find someone of similar backgrounds and sometimes caste often produce quick nuptials, reports the Boston Daily Globe in this insightful article. Arranged marriages, in which teenagers are introduced on their wedding day, are declining among a new generation of Indians. But the alternative is…
GO TO SOURCE CHINA, April 1, 2002: During the annual week-long Chinese New Year holiday, Buddhist and Taoist temples across China are always brimming with worshippers burning joss-sticks and praying to Buddha and other deities for good fortune. Come Christmas, young Chinese pack the Nantang Catholic Church in Beijing to soak in the Christmas feel and listen to carollers. Religious…