GO TO SOURCE DENVER, COLORADO, January 24, 2001: Space Imaging’s IKONOS satellite has taken a detailed, one-meter resolution color photograph of the largest human gathering in the history of the world, the Maha Kumbh Mela. The IKONOS image, which was collected the day before the most sacred and busiest bathing day on Jan. 24, is available for free to the…
GO TO SOURCE KUMBH NAGAR, INDIA, January, 2001: Protesting the availability of passes given out by the police to cover the Kumba Mela, journalists called a meeting at the national media centre. After a no-show by Mela officials orchestrating the event who were invited to discuss the police badgering, the journalists blocked traffic outside the center. With a show of…
GO TO SOURCE ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 20, 2001: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today gave an ultimatum to all parties involved in the Ram Janmabhumi-Babri Masjid dispute and the Vajpayee government to clear all obstacles to the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya by March 12, 2002, for VHP to move in to start temple construction on any given day after…
GO TO SOURCE LUCKNOW, INDIA, January 20, 2001: Reacting strongly to VHP Dharma Sansad’s decision to start construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya after one year, All-India Babri Masjid Action, Committee has threatened to storm Ayodhya on that day. The BMAC Convener Zafaryab Jilani said they would mobilize Muslims from all over the country to converge in Ayodhya in…
GO TO SOURCE ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 21, 2001: Environmentalists are monitoring the Ganga’s source, the Gangotri glacier. Receding at a rate of 6 to 12 meters every year and thinning in depth, the glacier is the primary source of water feeding the Ganga River. Information for a UN-sponsored study on snow and ice collected by satellite imagery predicts that, “If…
GO TO SOURCE ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 19, 2001: The Allahabad High Court has directed the Kumbha Mela authorities to strictly follow the United Province Mela Rules which specifically state that no one can take photographs of the bathing ghats of the mela. The ruling was in response to a public interest petition seeking ban on photos and telecasts of the…
GO TO SOURCE INDRAPRASTH, INDIA, January 21, 2001: Can anyone have exclusive right to use the name of a Hindu God as trade mark? The issue has been brought before the Delhi High Court in a writ by a software company challenging Maruti Udyog Ltd’s (MUL) claim over the trade mark “Maruti”, another name of God “Hanuman.” Maruti Software Pvt…
GO TO SOURCE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, January 19, 2001: Fueled by a growing and increasingly affluent Indian population, construction at Chicago area Hindu temples is booming, with two established temples expanding and new structures in the works. The Hindu temple in Lemont is building a $4.5 million community center, in Aurora workers have renovated the towers atop the Balaji Temple, and…
Source: Religious New Service COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, January 18, 2001: After 18 years of civil war, Norwegian diplomats have attempted to bring peace to the island nation of 19 million by initiating talks between the Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Unlikely adversaries to stopping the conflict, Buddhist conservative monks are vocally promoting…
GO TO SOURCE ALLAHABAD, INDIA, January 20, 2001: Members of the press from India and other countries of the world suffered abuse at the hands of the police force present at the grand Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. Protesting the press facilities available at the sacred event, the journalists sit-down according to a police inspector provoked the police. Several were injured,…