Source: BBC World Broadcasts, November 13, 2000 KATHMANDU, NEPAL: Police arrested Trond Berg and three Nepalis after Lokendra Kuma Jha complained to police that the four tried to allure him to convert on an enticement of Nepal Rs. 40,000. The four were arrested several weeks ago at a local inn in Rajbiraj while preaching. Christian organizations around the world have…
GO TO SOURCE RICHMOND, VIRGINIA: Last year, the Southern Baptists offended in turn Muslims, Jews and Hindus with their prayer booklets designed for each religion. Next, former president Jimmy Carter, a member since childhood, quit the huge Christian church because he no longer agreed with their increasingly fundamentalist stance. Then the Southern Baptists of Texas cut off US$5 million in…
Source: Agence France Presse, November 12, 2000 NEW DELHI, INDIA: “Some 30,000 RSS activists will establish contact with 2.5 million families in New Delhi” in the month-long drive, said Satyanarayan Bansal, chief of the RSS Delhi chapter. “We will tell the minorities (Muslims and Christians) that we are not enemies. We are friends. We want to live together. We are…
GO TO SOURCE BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON: Hindus and Buddhists may have to find a new word for the concept of “dharma,” now that Interactive Objects, Inc., has trademarked the term for a “hardware platform for digital audio appliances.” The company explains that “In Hindu [sic] the word Dharma stands for a principle that orders the universe. Dharma also speaks to the…
Source: The Hindustan Times, November 12, 2000 GHAZIABAD, INDIA: Today, all roads led to Garhmukteshwar where people thronged Garh Ganga for a holy dip on the occasion of Kartik Purnima. More than 2.7 million people took a bath in the holy Ganga today. Due to the heavy rush of pilgrims, all the roads leading to Garh Ganga were blocked at…
Source: The Hindustan Times, November 12, 2000 AMRITSAR, INDIA: A poster brought out by Punjab unit of RSS has raised yet another controversy, as radical Sikh organizations have reacted sharply on it. The poster, both in Hindi and Punjabi, has been seen in various parts of Amritsar. The poster in Punjabi carries the insignia of “Omkar” at its bottom, which…
GO TO SOURCE CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS: Dr. Arvind Sharma has been appointed the Infinity Foundation Visiting Professor in Indic Studies at Harvard University.
GO TO SOURCE OXFORD, ENGLAND: The University of Oxford in central England is launching a new professorship in Indian history and culture. It has been funded by US$3 million from the Indian Government. The new professor will be expected to specialize in the medieval and early modern period – an area the head of Oriental Studies at Oxford, Dr Jeremy…
Source: Interfaith Center, November 12, 2000 NEW YORK, NEW YORK: The Interfaith Center of New York will hold “Hindus of New York” on November 30, 2000 in New York City. The one-day event is part of series on living faith traditions in New York and designed to inform religious leaders, students, and the interested public about important religious communities in…
Source: Hinduism Today KAPAA, HAWAII: According to the Hindu astrological system of jyotish, Al Gore and Gorge W. Bush both have Cancer “lagna,” or ascendant. This means the planets transiting their charts are in identical houses. For example, Saturn and Jupiter are right now in the sign of Taurus, which puts them in the 11th house of both candidates, indicating…