GO TO SOURCE INDIA, August 23, 2001: Pakistani and Indian officials have pledged to work together in a growing battle with the US about rights to basmati rice. A decision in the US this week to grant patents to a US company for new strains of rice similar to basmati has provoked an angry reaction. Commerce ministers from the two…
GO TO SOURCE USA, August 19, 2001: At close to 1.5 million, Hindus now form the fifth largest religious group in America after Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. Recently, the increased attention to Hinduism has come from a clash with an American icon — McDonald’s. This PBS radio segment conducted by Fred de Sam Lazaro illustrates how the McDonald’s french…
GO TO SOURCE COLOMBO, Sri Lanka Aug. 20,2001: Some 3,000 Sri Lankan Buddhist pilgrims in India cannot afford to fly home because airlines are demanding a $40 war-risk insurance surcharge. The pilgrims left the island before the LTTE attack, and were due to return this week. The pilgrims, who had saved to raise the money for the journey of a…
GO TO SOURCE INDIA, August, 13, 2001: Under a new program launched by the Indian Postal Department, the country’s villagers will be able to send and receive letters through email accounts set up in their name. The Postal Department has begun this novel scheme on an experimental basis in five southern and western Indian states. The department’s secretary, BN Som,…
GO TO SOURCE KATHMANDU, NEPAL, Aug 21, 2001: India has assured Nepal that it will not build a dam that could flood the birthplace of the Buddha, Nepalese officials said on Sunday. Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, who arrived in the Nepalese capital on Friday seeking closer trade ties, wants to soothe anger in this Himalayan nation over the dam…
GO TO SOURCE SINGAPORE, Aug 20, 2001: South-east Asia has become the new theatre for terrorist operations by Muslim extremist groups, and experts warn this makes Singapore a possible target. They said that the number of supporters of Saudi billionaire-fugitive Osama bin Laden and his global terrorist network Al-Qaeda is growing in countries like the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. As…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 17, 2001: Divorce laws are about to change dramatically for Christian women. The Cabinet has accepted all recommendations of the Law Ministry on major changes in the Indian Divorce Act. The changes, which have been approved by the most prominent church groups, will be passed in Parliament next week. Under the new provisions,…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, Aug 22, 2001: Controversy has erupted in India over what opponents are calling the federal government’s bid to change the secular nature of the education system by introducing new syllabi glorifying Hindu culture and leaders and emphasizing Sanskrit, Vedic studies and astrology. The move has upset intellectuals and liberal political parties, including some allies…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 19, 2001: A National Commission for Children (NCC) will soon become reality as the Center is said to be giving final touches to the Commission, which will look into all the problems faced by the children. A Supreme Court or High Court judge is likely to head the Commission, which will be set…
GO TO SOURCE LOTHAL, INDIA, August 19, 2001: The Harappan site of Lothal in Gujarat whose name means “mound of the dead” has conservationists worried. The ancient site is suffering the vagaries of weather and neglect by the institution that’s meant to preserve it: the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The Harappan site was discovered by the ASI in 1954,…