Source: Press Trust of India NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 19, 2001: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Saturday said there was a “conversion motive” behind the welfare activities being carried out by some Christian missionaries in the country’s backward areas and that it was “not proper,” though conversion was permissible under the law. Speaking at a function here to release…
GO TO SOURCE ZIMBABWE, AFRICA, February, 24, 2001: Whites were not the only race coming under attack in the racially-motivated parliamentary election campaign currently ravaging Zimbabwe. Asians, in particular, are being targeted, through a hate-filled document sent to prominent businessmen in the community and believed to have originated from the offices of black economic empowerment organization, the Affirmative Action Group…
Source: The Sunday Times UNITED KINGDOM, June 17, 2001: Several British institutions are to make the study of astrology mainstream again. Southampton University has formed a research group for the critical study of astrology and three students are to investigate links between the planets and various aspects of human behavior. Researchers from universities in Manchester and Plymouth are testing data…
GO TO SOURCE WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND, August 13, 2001: Interested HPI readers may find the entire interview of V.S. Naipual at the above website. A short summary appeared in the August 17 issue of HPI. Our thanks to Ashok Chowgule for finding this site.
Source: The Hindu LONDON UK AUG. 12, 2001: “The full text of Mr. V.S. Naipaul’s interview to the Literary Review is now available and Indian writers are not likely to be amused by what Sir Vidia thinks of them. In short, he says Indian writing exists in a historical vacuum. R.K. Narayan is singled out for “lacking a sense of…
GO TO SOURCE KATMANDU, NEPAL, Aug, 16, 2001: The Nepalese government said it would outlaw discrimination against lower-caste Hindus and pledged to pass a law ending the centuries-old system that deems certain people “untouchable.” “Effective from this day the practice of untouchability and any discrimination based on it will be considered a crime punishable by a severe sentence,” Prime Minister…
Source: News Reports SUVA, FIJI, August 13, 2001: Thieves broke into two Hindu temples in Suva today during the night and stole musical instruments from both places worth US$1,152. Committee member Satish Deo of the Ram Krishna Mandir said, “We request assistance in replacing the musical instruments as we are borrowing from other temples during prayers.” Police spokeswoman Sergeant Unaisi…
Source: India Tribune BANGALORE, INDIA, August 11, 2001: Software engineers here used to have their pick of brides in the very competitive arranged marriage market. No more. With the fall of the dot-coms worldwide has gone the premium formerly placed on the engineers. Said one engineer, “For the past four months, I have seen the majority of parents hesitating to…
GO TO SOURCE LIDCOMBE, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA, August 17, 2001: The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union announced today the consecration of a statue of Lord Ganesha at their new head office here on August 22, Ganesha Chaturthi. This union had intervened on behalf of a group of Indian stone carvers at a Hindu temple under construction, ultimately winning…
GO TO SOURCE ANDHRA PRADESH, INDIA, August 13, 2001: A clever tactic has been adopted by the boss of a chemical company in the state of Andhra Pradesh. To discourage smoking and drinking alcohol, the company pays the wife of a male employee a bonus of ten dollars a month when her husband abstains from the two habits. According to…