Source: Reuters, November 17, 2000 NEW DELHI, INDIA: More than half of Indian women believe that wife-beating can be justified under certain circumstances, a survey on population and health published this week said. The survey of 90,000 women across the country — conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences at the initiative of the Health Ministry — found that…
GO TO SOURCE AYODHYA, INDIA: After lying dormant for several years, the temple town of Ayodhya in India’s largest state, Uttar Pradesh, is once again simmering with tension. Eight years ago, Hindu zealots tore down the ancient Babri mosque in Ayodhya, which stands upon the birthplace of Lord Rama. Bloody Hindu-Muslim riots followed. Icons of Lord Rama and Sita were…
GO TO SOURCE LONDON, ENGLAND: A rare collection or pre-Harappan ceramics and sculptures being exhibited for the first time in London have been described by dealers as the oldest high quality treasures of their kind anywhere in the world. This collection of pots, figurines and tablets is from a site in the upper Indus, near Mehrgarh in the Pakistani province…
Source: Hindustan Times, November 11, 2000 PATNA, INDIA: In the state capital of Patna, India around the Sahara Indian building on Boring Road, monkeys are accosting smokers who venture into their territory. They have become the moral judge and jury of anyone caught smoking. After getting a few quick slaps, smokers quickly relinquish their fares to the persistent band of…
Source: Hinduism Today, November 21, 2000 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: Lamar Van Dyke, one of two partners of Sittin’ Pretty Designs, offered an unconditional apology to the Hindu community for placing images of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Kali on toilet seats. The company said they would withdraw the items from sale. In her apology for offending the sensibilities of the community, Lamar…
GO TO SOURCE MUMBAI, INDIA: Call it the latest victory for Chatrapati Shivaji. The Maharashtra state government decided Wednesday to rename Mumbai’s Prince of Wales museum after the legendary Indian warrior and king. Shivaji already reconquered the main railway terminal, Victoria Station, and the city’s name itself was returned to “Mumbai” from the Anglicized “Bombay.” There are complaints about the…
Source: The Indian Express, November 17, 2000 VADODARA, INDIA: Increasing popularity of the ancient Indian disciplines like vastushastra (architecture), ankjyotish (numerology), hastrekha (palmistry) and ayurveda (medicine) have come to the rescue of Baroda Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya where enrollments had declined over the past decades. As a result of offering these courses, the college’s enrollment has begun to increase. The very name,…
GO TO SOURCE MADURAI, INDIA: The Indian government has requested ten American missionaries, now staying on Rameswaram Island at the tip of South India, to leave the country by November 19. The ministry said they had not renewed their visas as they are required to do every six months. The American evangelists were working for the Meyyampul church in Rameswaram.…
Source: The Press Democrat, November 15, 2000 SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA: In the Marin Civic Center exhibition hall in San Rafael, the seekers and devotees sat on the floor before Mata Amritanandamayi, or Ammachi, a Hindu spiritual leader and humanitarian from India, waiting for her hug of benevolence. The report in the local Press Democrat treated the Hindu leader with great…
Source: The Fiji Sun, November 16, 2000 SUVA, FIJI: Justice Anthony Gates of the High Court of Fiji ruled today that the 1997 constitution remained valid and ordered the president to summon the Parliament which existed prior to the failed coup of May 19, 2000. The case is going immediately to the Appeals Court, which will have the final say.…