Source: The Guardian UNITED KINGDOM, March 7, 2001: Ruling that the advertisement caused a personal offense to their culture and religion, the Independent Television Commission has banned a recent advertsements promoting Chicken Tonight. It showed a Hindu woman meditating and chanting in front of a chicken. She became upset with the chicken for not joining her. Hindus were offended by…
GO TO SOURCE LEICESTER, U.K., March 18, 2001: The focal point of the Leicester’s Asian community is Belgrave Road known as the Golden Mile because more gold jewellery is sold here than anywhere else in Europe. The road’s display of 6,000 lights during Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights is said to be the biggest outside India. The city’s major…
GO TO SOURCE CAMBODIA, JANUARY 13 2001: In the jungled retreat of Kobal Spien, former Khmer Rouge guerrillas act as tourist guides to point out intricate Hindu and Buddhist carvings such as the River of 1,000 Lingas; the riverbed is dotted with sculpted stone carvings, including Siva Lingas, stone frogs, Buddhas and the many-headed Naga snake, all of which are…
GO TO SOURCE AMRITSAR, INDIA, March 23, 2001: Police commandos were posted in a northern Indian city to prevent religious clashes March 22 after Hindu nationalists desecrated a mosque and burned copies of the Koran. Members of the All-India Hindu Protection Committee entered the 200-year-old Kheruddin Mosque in Amritsar late Wednesday, burned copies of the Islamic holy book, and threw…
GO TO SOURCE HAWAII, OAHU, March 25, 2001: Scientists are having second thoughts about cloning. Since 1997 when the first mammal, Dolly the sheep, was produced by scientists in Scotland, cloning techniques have been perfected by researchers. However even with the utmost diligence only 2 or 3 percent of attempts to clone are successful. Those that do survive often suffer…
Source: Hinduism Today, Ramesh Zawar MUMBAI, INDIA, March 26, 2001: For the first time a long march was organized to mark the beginning of Hindu New Year in Dombiwali, a fast growing northeast suburb of Mumbai area. About 40,000 men and women joined in. Normally, the first day of new year is marked with raising the flag at the top…
GO TO SOURCE STAFFORDSHIRE, U.K, March 27, 2001: Perween Warsi’s S&A Foods curry firm, which began in its owner’s kitchen, now employs 1,000 people. S&A Foods will open a new factory in Staffordshire with the aid of a government grant. The company sells US$112 million chilled and frozen ready-meals through the supermarket chains Safeway, Morrisons and Waitrose. Curry is fast…
GO TO SOURCE COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, March 26, 2001: Sri Lankan Buddhists say they will build replicas of two ancient Buddha statues destroyed earlier this month by Afghanistan’s Taleban rulers. The private Maha Bodhi Society said it was hoping to receive public donations to create the replicas of the giant statues carved from a cliff face in central Bamiyan. The…
GO TO SOURCE JHARKLAND, INDIA, March 22, 2001: Villagers in the state have appealed to the government to help them in controlling the threat wild elephants are imposing on their lives. Terrified of the pachyderms, most villages now offer prayers to Lord Ganesh and keep night-time vigils. Apparently the problem escalates when baby elephants wander into the villages and their…
GO TO SOURCE BOSTON, MASSACHUCETTS, March 25, 2001: Twenty-six first-graders from St. Catherine of Genoa School in Somerville file into the basement chapel of the Roman Catholic church. But Hriday Chawla isn’t thinking about Jesus Christ. He’s speaking to Ganesh, the Hindu God. Classmate Rupinder Kaur, a girl with long dark hair, worships the Sikh Waheguru. Roughly 25 percent of…