GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 4, 2001: Twenty thousand Dalits assembled at the Ambedkar Bhawan in Delhi today and took a verbal oath converting to Buddhism. The Dalits, Hinduism’s lowest caste, were told they are Buddhists just by attending the rally and having wanted to convert to Buddhism. The ceremony was held despite being banned by the Delhi…
GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, November 1, 2001: Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s international general secretary, Dr. Pravin Togadia, was arrested by the Maharashtra government at Bhusaval town in Khandesh in the backdrop of communal riots in Malegaon and anti-national rhetoric of some Muslim groups in the country. Togadia was arrested on Wednesday morning when he arrived in Bhusaval to grace a…
GO TO SOURCE TRINIDAD, November 1, 2001: When asked about whether he was surprised by Osama bin Laden’s support in Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Iran, V.S. Naipaul, Nobel-prize winning author commented, “No, because these are the converted peoples of Islam, these are the people who are not Arabs. Part of the neurosis of the convert is that he always has…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, November 1, 2001: More than half the genetically modified “bt cotton” grown illegally over thousands of acres in Gujarat is suspected to have entered the market. The company which sold the seeds to Gujarat farmers has also sold the same seed to farmers in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. If Indian farmers completely adopt…
GO TO SOURCE USA, October 27, 2001: A little-known weapon in the U.S. Army’s arsenal is a mobile house of worship that could be called “The Stealth Sanctuary,” according to a report by smh.com of Australia. The “containerized chapel” can be dropped from a cargo plane and within six hours be transformed into a multi-denominational religious center serving Christians, Jews…
GO TO SOURCE WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, October 30, 2001: Danish toy maker Lego has agreed to halt production of a range of toys based on ethnic cultures after protests about its use of indigenous Maori names for some toys. Lego senior executive Brian Soerensen has just returned to Denmark after meeting Maori lawyers in Auckland where he acknowledged that Lego…
Source: Los Angeles Times CALIFORNIA, October 30, 2001: “We can be grateful we are here in such a safe place,” Hatha Yoga instructor Tara Guber says in a soothing tone. “We can be happy to be here together to stretch, let our bodies open and our minds be set free, so that perhaps when we leave our yoga class we…
GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON DC, October 29, 2001: The US Supreme Court, confronting again the vexing issue of school prayer, rejected a challenge Monday to a state law requiring students to observe a daily minute of silence. The court did not comment in turning down an appeal from opponents who claim Virginia’s minute of silence is an unconstitutional government encouragement…
GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, October 29, 2001: The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of the nation’s leading charities reports the Salvation Army raised US$1.44 billion in 2000, an increase of 3.1 percent since 1999, making it the number one charity. Overall, the top U.S. charities saw donations increase 13 percent from 1999 to 2000. The Philanthropy 400 survey…
GO TO SOURCE SWITZERLAND, October 29, 2001: Alice Miller, a 1986 recipient of the Janusz Korczak Literary Award by the Anti-Defamation League, has sought to find answers to the tragedy of terrorism and the people who perpetrate it. She believes, “On the basis of the research I have done into the childhood histories of the most ruthless dictators, like Hitler,…