GO TO SOURCE KATHMANDU, NEPAL, JANUARY 31, 2002: The Nepali government will give high priority to religious tourism and make it one of the major components for the tourist attraction campaign, the Kathmandu Post said Thursday. The Nepali government will concentrate its programs mainly at Pashupatinath where a large number of Hindus will come for worship during the Maha Sivaratri…
Source: Afternoon Despatch & Courier MUMBAI, INDIA, JANUARY 31, 2002: Veteran artists and performers are upset about the unfairness of the 10 p.m. deadline for the use of loudspeakers enforced by India’s Supreme Court. The law states that any activity involving the use of loudspeakers or exceeding a decibel level that could be considered disruptive to residents of the area…
GO TO SOURCE LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, January 31, 2002: Hatha Yoga’s intricate system of posturing, posing, bending and twisting is one of the hottest fitness programs offered across the US. According to the Yoga Research and Education Center in Santa Rosa, California, more than 20 million people in the United States practice yoga. Many practitioners praise yoga for its health…
GO TO SOURCE DENVER, COLORADO, July 6-7, 2002: A conference will be held in Denver, Colorado, on July 6 and 7 to note the progress that has been made in eliminating corporal punishment of children worldwide. Sponsored by EPOCH-USA, Save the Children Sweden, and the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children of London, the conference will feature…
GO TO SOURCE COLUMBIA, NEW YORK, January 30, 2002: The Center for International Conflict resolution at Columbia University (http://sipa.columbia.edu/cicr) and the Interfaith Center of New York (http://www.interfaithcenter.org) have been working to study and support the efforts of religiously inspired peacemaking throughout the world. They are combining efforts to create a Religion and Peacemaking Database (RPD) to document and make available…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, January 31, 2002: Shambu Nath Singh, the teacher of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s primary school at Sultanpuri accused of meting out corporal punishment to an eight-year-old girl, was arrested on Thursday by the Delhi Police. Last Monday, Shambhu, 33, had grabbed Rachna’s hair and repeatedly struck her forehead against a table until her…
GO TO SOURCE BAN PA-KWOW, THAILAND, January 28, 2002: Ban Pa-Kwow’s 200 adult villagers, seated in a Buddhist temple, are asked to write the name of persons suspected of involvement in use or trafficking of drugs. After the unsigned papers are put into a box, officials read the names and record them on a blackboard. A person whose name appears…
GO TO SOURCE DEHRA DUN, January 30, 2002: In a serious blow to the BJP, which is trying desperately to retain power in Uttaranchal, the suspended head priest of the famous Badrinath temple has announced that he will campaign against the party. Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari today ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. The priest — “Rawal” Namboodripad…
GO TO SOURCE BANGALORE, INDIA, January 27, 2002: Vanishing from the Northern Indian terrain over 2000 years ago, the river Saraswati’s disappearance has puzzled scientists until traces of it were spotted in satellite photos. Spoken of in the Rig Veda, the mighty Saraswati originated in the Himalayas before flowing through what is today known as Haryana and Western Rajasthan and…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 3, 2002: Soon there will be 21 universities giving lessons in various Hindu rituals such as annaprashan, mundan, mahurat, naamkaran, Karvachauth and more. The new course for aspiring priests, named Paurohitya Pathyakram, will have its own Department of Karmakand to teach students Vedic rituals as varied as observing shraadh, putting up a wedding…