GO TO SOURCE BAN PA-KWOW, THAILAND, January 28, 2002: Ban Pa-Kwow’s 200 adult villagers, seated in a Buddhist temple, are asked to write the name of persons suspected of involvement in use or trafficking of drugs. After the unsigned papers are put into a box, officials read the names and record them on a blackboard. A person whose name appears…
GO TO SOURCE DEHRA DUN, January 30, 2002: In a serious blow to the BJP, which is trying desperately to retain power in Uttaranchal, the suspended head priest of the famous Badrinath temple has announced that he will campaign against the party. Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari today ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. The priest — “Rawal” Namboodripad…
GO TO SOURCE BANGALORE, INDIA, January 27, 2002: Vanishing from the Northern Indian terrain over 2000 years ago, the river Saraswati’s disappearance has puzzled scientists until traces of it were spotted in satellite photos. Spoken of in the Rig Veda, the mighty Saraswati originated in the Himalayas before flowing through what is today known as Haryana and Western Rajasthan and…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, February 3, 2002: Soon there will be 21 universities giving lessons in various Hindu rituals such as annaprashan, mundan, mahurat, naamkaran, Karvachauth and more. The new course for aspiring priests, named Paurohitya Pathyakram, will have its own Department of Karmakand to teach students Vedic rituals as varied as observing shraadh, putting up a wedding…
GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON, USA, January 26, 2002: It is coming up to a decade now, Jan. 29, to be precise, since India and Israel established formal diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. Since then, this report surprisingly states, Israel has become India’s No. 2 arms supplier (after Russia) and now Jerusalem is planning to sell it Phalcon airborne early-warning…
GO TO SOURCE NORTH CAROLINA, USA, February 3, 2002: As far back as the Revolutionary War, America’s religious leaders have taken to their pulpits to galvanize their followers on the political issues of the day, from taxation to slavery to abortion. But since 1954, when Senator Lyndon B. Johnson pushed a little-noticed law through Congress, ministers have been barred from…
GO TO SOURCE For those who had difficulty with the URL for this story yesterday, clicking on “source” above should get you to the BBC report.
Source: New Zealand Herald CHAMLIYAL, INDIA, January 23, 2002: Located 40 kilometers south of Jammu, the holy mud shrine dedicated to Chamliyal Baba, a 17th century saint having mystical powers, has been honored by Muslims and Hindus alike during the on-going conflict in the region. According to devotees, Baba was returning home from work in his fields one day when…
GO TO SOURCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, January 30, 2002: More than 1.5 million Hindu devotees and tourists visited temples nationwide to participate in Thai Pusam celebrations. More than a million converged at the Sri Subramaniaswamy temple in Batu Caves, the main venue for the celebrations. Many visitors, including about 100,000 tourists, were at the temple before dawn to participate in…
Source: South Africa Independent On Line JERUSALEM, JANUARY 31, 2002: Israeli researchers said on Thursday they had made progress towards developing what could be a test to detect the gender of a fetus only 16 days after conception. Currently the gender of a fetus can only be determined by ultrasound about 14 weeks after conception, or at 16 weeks by…