Source: The Hindustan Times, November 29, 2000 DELHI, INDIA: The United Nations Information Centre organized a ceremony today to recognize the unique effort of Prajapita Brahmakumari Ishwariya Vidyalaya in collecting 35 million signatures for the Culture of Peace Manifesto.
GO TO SOURCE VERMONT, USA: The noted publisher of Eastern books, Inner Traditions, announced today the release of “Vastu: The Indian Art of Placement” by Rohit Arya. The book explains how to design and decorate homes to reflect eternal spiritual principles using the ancient practice of vaastu, the Hindu art of environmental design. The book elucidates principles that orient and…
GO TO SOURCE LAKEWOOD, COLORADO: Native American Mark Lewis the the No Boundaries Project appealed for translators to help with a web project listing “Let’s all work together” in as many of the world’s 6,700 languages as possible. So far they have 350, and would like help with translating this phrase into Hindi, Sanskrit and other Indian languages. They are…
GO TO SOURCE CALCUTTA, INDIA: A Hindu lower-caste “untouchable” family in eastern India is to appeal to the human rights commission after being fined for touching a statue of the Goddess Kali. According to villagers, one family member, Malati Sith, entered a Kali temple and touched the forehead of the statue, angering the upper caste brahmin community in Pursurah village,…
GO TO SOURCE THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS: In a majority vote of 104-40, the Dutch parliament endorsed a bill on Tuesday, November 28, that will legalize the practice of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Since 1993, doctors have followed approved guidelines set out by parliament, but euthanasia was still considered a crime. These guidelines professed that a patient of sound mind and…
GO TO SOURCE LONDON, ENGLAND: “Goodness Gracious Me” is the BBC’s Asian comedy show. They all went to India to film a special, and large crowds gathered to watch as the show’s stars — Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nina Wadia and Kulvinder Ghir — along with Dave Lamb, the actor they affectionately call “TWB” (token white bloke). The show is…
Source: Hindustan Times, October 25, 2000 NAGPUR, INDIA: A city doctor is set to enter the Guiness Book of Records for creating the tallest lamp on Earth — 48 feet. The electric lamp is 12 feet in diameter and features four elephant heads around the base and a series of yakshas, mythical figures, which appear to carry the lamp. It…
Source: Hindustan Times, November 27, 2000 VARANASI, INDIA: Vedic scholars in Varanasi have taken exception to a scene in the film “Mohabbatein” by Yash Chopra, now under production, in which Amitabh Bachchan recites the sacred Gayatri Mantra with his shoes on. Just last year another movie production company (“Water”) was chased out of Varanasi for complaints over insults to Hinduism.…
Source: Hindustan Times, November 27, 2000 RANCHI, JAHRKHAND, INDIA: Now that the new state of Jahrkhand has been formed, the Jahrkhandi tribals want government outsiders to leave and tribals to take their posts. The newly formed government, they felt, left them out. “Only the tribals fought for a separate state and not the outsiders. Due to all the injustices they…
GO TO SOURCE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: There are demons here, some people say, the kind that torment and manifest themselves through the people they possess, evil spirits that can trap people inside themselves and utter foreign languages. That belief was at the root of a decision by the archdiocese of Chicago to appoint a full-time exorcist last year for the first…