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…
GO TO SOURCE NEW JERSEY, August 15, 2001: This major article in the New York Times reports that in recent editions of India Abroad, a weekly newspaper for Indian expatriates in the United States and Canada, advertisements have run soliciting customers for doctors who will tell the parents the gender of their unborn baby. The objective is to insure a…
Source: Straits Times HONGKONG, Aug 16, 2001: Even monks have been hit by the economic slowdown. A dwindling number of tourists has thrust Hongkong’s biggest Buddhist monastery into the red, forcing it to ponder cost-cutting measures such as voluntary retirement. Showing it is not immune to the financial troubles hitting many Hongkong businesses, officials at Po Lin Monastery said yesterday…
Source: Religion News Service USA, August 14, 2001: More than three months after Hindu and non-Hindu vegetarians sued McDonald’s USA, claiming the company failed to disclose that its french fries contained beef, the fast-food corporation announced it would provide more ingredient information to customers. In an Aug. 13 press release, the chain said the company’s Web site, www.mcdonalds.com, now includes…
Source: Kashmir Times NEW DELHI, INDIA, Aug 14 , 2001: There is a proposal to enact the legislation to prevent domestic violence against women, human resource development Murli Manohar Joshi told the Lok Sabha. It is based on the recommendations of the National Commission for Women. The government proposes to set up a Bharat Siksha Kosh to receive contributions and…
Source: Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, August 10, 2001: Deciding that the act of human cloning will be treated as a felony with violators receiving up to ten years in prison, the U.S. House of Representatives has received varying opinions from the public. Other countries have not followed suit to date, and as a result an Italian doctor and…
GO TO SOURCE LONDON, UK, Aug 15, 2001: Being a priest may be the most dangerous profession in Britain, according to the first survey of its kind compiled for the Home Office. Nearly three-quarters of priests in the south-east of England who responded to a questionnaire said they had been abused or assaulted in the past two years. One in…
GO TO SOURCE MAHARASHTRA, INDIA, Aug, 13, 2001: An improved kerosene lantern called “Noorie” has been designed and developed by Anil K. Rajvanshi and Sudhir Kumar of the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute in, Maharashtra, India, but is getting little recognition. It is a pressurized mantle lantern producing a light equivalent to a 100-watt bulb and can run on diesel, ethyl…
Source: Aaj Tak Hindi TV Channel DELHI, INDIA, AUGUST 12, 2001: Over 250,000 devotees waited in long lines to worship at Lakshmi Narayan temple today. There were even devotees still waiting at midnight, but the exhausted priests had to call it a day. The temple’s chief priest, Sri Lakshmi Narayan Shastri, said that the enthusiasm and interest of people in…
GO TO SOURCE USA, Aug. 13, 2001: Researchers have asserted in studies over the last half decade that religion and good health go hand in hand. One study of 596 elderly hospitalized patients, mostly Christians, began in 1996. Each was was asked if they “wondered whether God had abandoned me,” “questioned God’s love for me” or “decided the devil made…