Morari Bapu on Peace in Gujarat

GO TO SOURCE GUJARAT, INDIA, April 15, 2002: Morari Bapu is among the country’s foremost preachers on the Ramayana, traveling around the globe preaching in Gujarati or Hindi interspersed with joyous song. He was also one of the few prominent religious figures to join peace efforts (in Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Mehsana) during last month’s sectarian disturbances in Gujarat. In an…

Continue reading

Bali Observes Day of Silence

GO TO SOURCE JAKARTA, INDONESIA, April 14, 2002: Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali was eerily quiet yesterday, with the international airport closed and tourists confined to their hotels as residents observed the Hindu New Year or Day of Silence. Flights, including those passing over the island, were banned for 24 hours starting at 6:00 a.m. for Nyepi, a day of…

Continue reading

Bali’s Day of Silence Marred by Clashes

GO TO SOURCE JAKARTA, INDONESIA, April 14, 2002: Bali’s normally solemn Day of Silence, a Hindu religious day of introspection, turned rowdy at the weekend when devotees went on a rampage in two villages. Brawls broke out during processions of the giant Ogoh-Ogoh puppets late on Friday, the eve of the Nyepi festival, leaving at least four people injured, including…

Continue reading

History of Celibacy

GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, April 14, 2002: “For a species that has transformed mating into an obsession, human beings over the centuries have shown an abiding interest in the opposite of sex — celibacy,” begins this interesting article. “The practice is in the spotlight these days because of the molestation scandal which has rekindled debate over whether…

Continue reading

PETA Ranks Oakland A’s Ballpark Four for Meatless Fare

GO TO SOURCE SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, April 8, 2002: While the hot dog (a beef sausage in a bread roll, not a cooked canine) remains the overwhelming favorite at American ballparks (where baseball and American football games are played), fans are increasingly snacking on broiled tofu, boiled soybeans and other vegetarian fare. So big is the trend that People for…

Continue reading

Request for Articles for Trinidad’s Indian Heritage Day

GO TO SOURCE TRINIDAD, WEST INDIES, April 14, 2002: The Indo-Caribbean Cultural Council (ICC) is inviting writers to submit their work for publication in its Indian Arrival Day 2002 magazine. This Indian heritage day, which commemorates the arrival of indentured laborers from India to Trinidad, will be observed as a national holiday on May 30, 2002. Writers who wish to…

Continue reading

Counterfeit Drugs Are a Problem in South-East Asia

GO TO SOURCE UNITED KINGDOM, April 5, 2002: Alarming research published recently in the British Medical Journal has revealed that a significant number of medical drugs sold in south-east Asia are counterfeit. Scientists have found that drugs used to treat malaria are fake, that a vaccine to prevent meningitis was made from tap water and that birth control pills were…

Continue reading

Kashmir Pundits Criticize Silence on Their Plight

GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, April 14, 2002: As political parties vie with each other in expressing concern over the plight of communal violence victims in Gujarat, Kashmiri Pandits today criticized the political spectrum for “maintaining a deafening silence” over the sufferings faced by a populace of more than 350,000 after their migration from the Kashmir Valley due to militancy…

Continue reading

Gujarat Politician Stabbed for Helping Minorities

GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, April 14, 2002: When communal violence tore the state apart, Someshwar Pandya attempted to keep the social fabric together, according to this report in the Times of India. On Saturday morning, Pandya, of Sardarpura, a village where 32 members of the Muslim community were burnt alive on March 1, was attacked by six persons armed…

Continue reading