Source: The Hindu GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, August 10, 2001: With the backing of China, South Korea and some other countries, India frustrated the attempts of non-government organizations to get the issue of caste discrimination included on the agenda for the coming conference on racism. Despite consistent efforts by the Human Rights Watch and several NGOs, the issue of caste-based discrimination failed…
GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, August 10, 2001: Coming on the heels of a young couple being publicly hanged in Uttar Pradesh over caste differences, a young girl Bharti Barot, 19, committed suicide in the Hindu Mahasabha office here following pressure from one of its activists, Dasrath Soni, to desert her husband and reconvert to Hinduism. Bharti and Salim were…
GO TO SOURCE GANDHINAGAR, INDIA, August 11, 2001: The BJP-ruled Gujarat Government will soon pay monthly salaries to priests of Hindu temples in the State. In the first phase, one priest of the 354 Government-controlled “devasthans” temples would be entitled to a monthly salary of US$21.74 from September. When queried why Hindu priests were singled out for this provision, Minister…
GO TO SOURCE GOGAMADI, INDIA, August 11, 2001: Thousands of devotees flocked to one of the prominent fairs of Northern India, Gogamadi Fair, on Saturday evening. Devotees donning yellow clothes could be spotted separately in the rush of mela. They first of all had a bath in the sacred Gogana pond and then had a one-and-a-half kilometers round of the…
GO TO SOURCE PUNJAB, INDIA, August 11, 2001: Dozens of Sikh priests in the district of Fatehgarh Sahib in the northern Indian state of Punjab joined forces with aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations today, to start a campaign against the practice of aborting female foetuses. Clerics representing some 450 villages in the Fatehgarh Sahib district listened to health workers and…
Source: INDIA HERALD HOUSTON, TEXAS, August 4, 2001: At a gathering of over 1,000 Hindus, Hindu Dharma and culture were advocated by the formation of the “Hindu Sangam.” Representatives from Chinmaya Mission Houston and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were speakers at the inauguration. Coordinator of the RSS activities, Shankarrao Tattvavadi, expounded on several points. His remarks included the fact that…
Source: Sunday Leader SRI LANKA, August 5, 2001: In response to humanitarian disasters both natural and man-made, victims are usually resettled in their place of origin, or at least compensated for their loss. One project has created a furor, bringing to light divisions among religious communities in Mannar, Sri Lanka. The 300-320 families to be resettled under this project are…
GO TO SOURCE DELHI, INDIA, Aug. 9, 2001: A spokesman for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) have strongly protested against the publication of a book which says that ancient Indians ate beef. the VHP claimed that the motive behind the book was to insult Hindus, who revere cows as part of their religion. But experts say the book…
GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 10, 2001: Dr. B.K. Modi announced today that a group of Hindu leaders traveling to 40 counties and 50 cities will be in Los Angeles on August 26 at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. According to the press release, “The Forum is a global network of prominent women and men of Hindu…
GO TO SOURCE LONDON, ENGLAND, August 1, 2001: A controversial Italian embryologist Professor Severino Antinori is preparing to impregnate up to 200 women with cloned embryos in November. The move will reignite a debate about the ethics and safety of cloning as an infertility treatment. Antinori, whose clinic in Rome enabled a 62-year-old woman to have a baby in 1994,…