GO TO SOURCE GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, April 16, 2002: Lakes in the Himalayas are filling so rapidly because of rising temperatures melting more snow that they could burst their banks within a decade, sending walls of water crashing down into valleys, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said a scientific study in Bhutan and Nepal had…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 16, 2002: A group of medical professionals have urged the government to immediately stop mining and milling of asbestos in India, as it can cause lung cancer in those exposed to it. At an international symposium on health effects of hazardous material in New Delhi, participants urged the government to provide medical follow-up…
GO TO SOURCE NEPAL, April 15, 2002: Nepal’s King Gyanendra has called for national unity to fight the long-running Maoist rebellion. In a message to mark the Nepalese New Year, King Gyanendra said the continuing violence and destruction of the infrastructure had ruined the economy. His statement followed one of Nepal’s worst outbreaks of violence on Friday, in which more…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…