GO TO SOURCE KUMBHNAGAR, ALLAHABAD, February 25, 2001: Some of the pilgrims who attended the recently concluded Maha Kumbh Mela would soon receive compensation for injuries sustained during the 42-day-long religious extravaganza, due to the automatic insurance coverage given to every pilgrim. The compensation ranges from US$2,173 to be paid to the relatives of the family who died in an…
GO TO SOURCE PAKISTAN, February 27, 2001: Afghanistan is rebuffing international demands to rescind a government order to destroy all Buddhist statues in the country. Some governments pointed out the statues had not been destroyed under the past 1,200 years of Islamic rule in the region. The Taliban’s ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said on Tuesday, “We don’t care…
GO TO SOURCE SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, February 26, 2001: Indian workers at a Hindu temple in Helensburgh, south of Sydney, have been taken away from the site, where it is alleged they are being paid $45 (US$23.60) a month for their labor. The men are stone masons from the Indian province of Tamil Nadu, working in Australia on temporary visas, who…
GO TO SOURCE JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, Feb 25, 2001: Former South African President Nelson Mandela has condemned “arrogant” members of the country’s African majority who have suggested that minority groups have no role to play in South Africa. The interview with the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times, came in response to a report in the same paper last week about a prominent…
GO TO SOURCE BIRMINGHAM, U.K., February 22, 2001: Coming from a culture where the marrying of first cousins is acceptable, the practice is prevalent among the Pakistani Muslim community. The only reason these marriages are being questioned by Birmingham health authorities is because of the high mortality rate of children born from these unions. In a community where 80 percent…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 2, 2001: The release of Francois Gautier’s book has been postponed till March 14 or 16 march. Contact “source” email for a final date.
GO TO SOURCE SUVA, FIJI, February, 25, 2001: An uproar in Fiji’s Hindu community in the capital over another family being stopped from scattering the cremated remains of a family member along a shoreline, has police saying that they prevented the customary ritual in the interest of the public as the venue is a popular picnic spot. The family of…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 22, 2001: If you live on less than ten dollars U.S. per month, a pre-determined arbitrary national cut-off figure, then in India you would be one among 260 million people. However, according to Abusaleh Sharif, chief economist for the National Council for Applied Economic Research, “This is a national cut-off, and this figure…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 24, 2001: A separate electoral system introduced in 1985, where non-Muslims can only vote for candidates belonging to their own communities, is being boycotted by Hindus and Christians in Pakistan. Hundreds of electoral seats were left unoccupied during a similar December election boycott.
GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON D.C., February 23, 2001: When marriages break-up the individuals involved and the community at large pays the price. Emotionally and intellectually, children from broken homes suffer and comprise a large percentage of school dropouts, drug abusers, teenage pregnancies and depression victims. Hoping to intervene before the “I do” and marriage vows, states across the U.S. are…