GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 8, 2001: Today the Rajya Sabha introduced legislation to ban smoking in public places. The bill, introduced by Health and Family Welfare Minister C.P. Thakur, seeks to put a total ban on advertising of cigarettes and other tobacco products and to prohibit sponsorship of sports and cultural events by the manufacturers, as well…
Source: The Times Of India News Service LUCKNOW, INDIA, March 7, 2001: UP chief minister Rajnath Singh announced that the historic Allahabad city would be renamed “Tirth Raj Prayag.” Prayag is the ancient name of the city. The announcement was made at a function attended by sadhus and sants to congratulate the chief minister for the success of the recent…
GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, March 6, 2001: This recent article discusses the attempts of the Tibetan people to preserve their culture as new immigrants to the United States. Tibetan children enrolled in a Sunday language course in Manhattan have never seen Tibet, nor have many of their parents, exiles who were born and raised in refugee settlements…
GO TO SOURCE BODH GAYA, INDIA, March 9, 2001: Authorities in eastern India have ordered an investigation after teen-age Tibetan leader Ugyen Thinley Dorje, the 17th Karmapa Lama, was accused of wearing his shoes when he visited the sanctum of the Mahabodhi Temple in the state of Bihar. The Karmapa is one of the highest-ranking monks in Tibetan Buddhism, recognized…
GO TO SOURCE KABUL, AFGHANISTAN, Sat, 23 Sep 1995 – This article in the Far Eastern Economic Review details how the National Museum of Afghanistan was first damaged by rocket fire in May, 1993, and then looted. The rockets caused a fire which melted supporting beams holding up the ornate vaulted roof, sending it crashing down on the upper galleries.…
GO TO SOURCE MANCHESTER, NH, March 7, 2001: Inventor Dean Kamen’s invention, called “IT” or “Ginger,” is a two-wheeled hydrogen-powered scooter that is emission-free. The print publication of Inside.com says, “Ginger represents the first generation of a new mode of transportation that will compete with and possibly replace automobiles. The ramifications of a ‘hydrogen economy’ would be profound on everything…
GO TO SOURCE SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, March 11, 2001: The Hindu community in Australia’s premier harbor city is up in arms after the left-wing Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) stormed the Sri Venkateswara Temple here in Helensburg, taking eight construction workers with them on the charge they were being underpaid and exploited. The Hindu Council of Australia (fax: 011…
Source: The Hindu LONDON, ENGLAND, March 7, 2001: A plan to build 2,108 quake-proof houses in Gujarat, proposed by the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir — the biggest Hindu temple outside India —has been launched by Prince Charles, bringing instant sponsors. Swami Atmaswarupdas, temple chief, said 6,500 volunteers of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanatha had rushed to the aid of the quake victims…
GO TO SOURCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, March 11, 2001: Tension remains high in a squatter settlement on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, following clashes between Muslim Malays and Hindu Indians which have left at least five people dead. More than 150 people have been arrested in the troubled squatter district of Kampung Medan since trouble first erupted…
GO TO SOURCE BAMIYAN, AFGHANISTAN, March, 11, 2001: The two giant Buddha statues had stood guard over the Bamiyan valley for centuries until they were destroyed by Afghanistan’s ruling Taleban. Foreign minister, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Pakistan that demolition was still continuing, and all the country’s moveable statues had been destroyed. While the Taleban say…