This Months Article

Starting: Tue May 1, 2001
Ending: Thu May 31, 2001

Messages: 156

• Precarious position
• M B Naqvi, Deccan Herald, May 31, 2001

>>> For General Parvez Musharraf to travel to Delhi to resume the Lahore Peace Process that Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee started in February 1999 is a high-risk activity. Along the way he has to face two separate threats: one is what might be described as the Kargil syndrome; ......
 
• Riots: Shades of brown
• The Economist, May 31, 2001

>>> White Britons are used to thinking of Asian immigrants as those nice industrious people who keep the corner shop and the local curry house. So it was a shock to see youths of Asian descent on the streets of Oldham in Lancashire from May 26th to 28th, hurling petrol bombs at pubs and the police. ......
 
• British Plan to Expand Religious Schools Criticized
• Zenit.org, May 31, 2001

>>> The Labor government's plans for a big expansion of religious schools were condemned by the National Secular Society as grossly discriminatory and an "explosive" threat to community relations, the Guardian reported. ......
 
• Terrorism on Trial
• Daniel Pipes and Steven Emerson, The Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2001

>>> On Tuesday, a federal jury in New York returned a guilty verdict against the four defendants accused of plotting the terrorist bombing, three years ago, of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. ......
 
• Indian spy cries out to free POWs in Pak jails
• Gomantak Times, May 30, 2001

>>> With his body scarred for life but spirit unbroken, Mehboob Elahi Shamshi survived agonising years in a dark and, dingy Pakistan cell to tell his tales of the gaol house. ......
 
• Freed Prisoners bring home torture tales from Pak jails
• Shaheen P. Parshad, The Indian Express, May 30, 2001

>>> More than 100 Indian prisoners are still languishing in Pakistani jails, some of them for 25 years, where they are being subjected to torture and inhuman conditions. ......
 
• Mitchell report missed it
• Daniel Pipes, The Washington Times, May 30, 2001

>>> Former Sen. George Mitchell and four eminent colleagues were asked in October by then-President Clinton to write a report about the outbreak of Palestinian-Israeli violence "to determine what happened and how to avoid it recurring in the future." ......
 
• Taliban and the colour yellow
• Himmat Singh Gill, The Indian Express, May 29, 2001

>>> Khorasan of the Middle Ages and Aryana' in the antiquity', Afghanistan has seen them all pass by. The Aryans who left their Vedic and Avesta songs, behind for posterity, Zoaraster the philosopher from Balkh who preached his religion a thousand years before Christ and Alexander the Greek have at some time or the other all left their footprints in this land of the hospitable Afghan people. ......
 
• Why revising history textbooks is a write move for NCERT
• J S Rajput, The Times of India, May 25, 2001

>>> History is in the news. So is the National Council for Educational Research and Training. (NCERT). Great historians are deeply disturbed about what is happening in NCERT" Some stalwarts are being said to have been dropped out of the NCERT panel of historians' at the 'behest of the Ministry of Human Resources Development'! ......
 
• What Is hidden in the minds of people of Pakistan?
• Muzaffer Hussain, Mumbai Tarun Bharat, May 25, 2001

>>> The programme often discussed in India - "Kaun Banega Crorepati" is also extremely popular in Pakistan.  Not only that, but there is a tremendous fascination in their mind about the Indian Film Stars. We had given some amusing information in this column some days back based on the newspapers in Pakistan. ......
 
• Indian seabed hides ancient remains
• Rajyasri Rao, BBC News, May 22, 2001

>>> Marine experts have discovered a clump of archaeological structures deep beneath the sea off India's western coast. ......
 
• 'Accused in Ayodhya case must not appear to be treated as above the law'
• Akshaya Mukul, The Times of India, May 21, 2001

>>> On Monday the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court will hear a public interest litigation over the Ayodhya notification. ......
 
• Harappa -like sites found in Gulf of Cambay
• The Times of India, May 20, 2001

>>> In what has been as a "major" marine archaeological find, scientists have discovered submerged settlements in the Gulf of Cambay which have "similarity" with the structures found on-land at Harappan and pre-Harappan sites. ......
 
• Christian Missionary Activities
• C. A. Abraham, Organiser, May 20, 2001

>>> All sorts of conflicting versions are circulating in the media in recent times as to what exactly is the mission of Christian missionaries, and why has service in that context become such a loaded word in India? Instead of going to the most direct and obvious sources for the answers, some writers even go to the extent of interviewing a host of theologians and Church dignitaries ......
 
• A temple that lost its glorious crown
• The Pioneer, May 17, 2001

>>> The Gobind Deva temple in Vrindavan, Mathura, is indeed massive; its plinth is 105 to 117 feet. Its height today is about 55 feet. It is estimated that the original height was twice this, without which the mashaal (torch) could not have been possible to be seen either from Agra or from Delhi. The temple was built in 1590 by Maharaja Mansingh of Jaipur. ......
 
• 'Delayed verdict led to Babri demolition'
• The Hindustan Times, May 16, 2001

>>> Home Minister L K Advani today said that Narasimha Rao government's refusal' to request the Allahabad High Court to give an early verdict on land acquisition case was a 'signal' to delay the judgements which resulted in public anger leading to demolition of the disputed structure. ......
 
• VHP plans schools in border areas to counter infiltration
• The Hindustan Times, May 9, 2001

>>> The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has now embarked upon a plan to start its 'Ekal Vidyalaya' (single teacher schools) in the border areas to prepare the local people for countering anti-national activities by infiltrators and subversive elements. ......
 
• Selective memory
• Meenakshi Jain, The Hindustan Times, May 8, 2001

>>> Non Ideological Newspaper readers may be forgiven for wondering if there is more than meets the eye in the high-voltage Leftist hysteria over moves to re-examine the contents of NCERT history textbooks. Indeed, by raising the bogey of 'saffronisation' before an academic review could even begin, Leftist historians have shown nervousness that the biased nature of their work and political agendas may well be exposed. ......
 
• Anjuman worked at the behest of ISI
• The Times of India, May 5, 2001

>>> Contrary to the claims of the Deendar Anjuman that it had nothing to do with the blasts at places of workship at different places last year, inquires have revealed that some of its leaders did know of the plans of some of its members to resort to the subversive activities. ......
 
• Centre bans religious sect
• The Times of India, May 4, 2001

>>> The Union government has imposed a ban on an obscure Hyderabad-based sect, Deendar Anjuman, on the ground that the organisation had engineered bomb blasts in churches in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa between May and July last year. ......
 
• Service to Mankind Is Narayana Seva
• O P Sharma, The Times of India, May 1, 2001

>>> Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission on May 1, 1897 in Calcutta, and, given his great Guru bhakti, it is not surprising that he named the organisation, after his august Master. Not only is it named after him, but all the activities are conducted in the fight of his enlightened, universal teachings - the ideas and ideals that moved him. ......
 
• Risky road to peace - Musharraf mustn't identify the destination before the walk
• Editorial, The Indian Express, May 31, 2001

>>> While politely accepting Prime Minister Vajpayee's invitation to visit Delhi, Pakistan's chief executive, General Musharraf, rather unfairly, tried to mix rhetoric with diplomacy. He specified that the ''root cause of tension'' between India and Pakistan ''is the unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute''. ......
 
• Pakistan sabotaged PM's Kashmir peace initiative: report
• The Indian Express, May 31, 2001

>>> The unilateral peace initiative taken by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sabotaged by Pakistan, the Defence Ministry said in its annual report released on Thursday, ahead of the summit between New Delhi and Islamabad. ......
 
• Musharraf seeks Russia's mediation in talks with India
• The Times of India, May 31, 2001

>>> Weeks ahead of the Indo-Pak summit, Pakistan's military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf has sought Russia's mediation in dialogue with India on Kashmir. ......
 
• 'India suffering from guilt complex' (Interview of K Subrahmanyam, convenor of the National Security advisory Board.)
• Siddharth Srivastava, The Times of India, May 31, 2001

>>> There is a guilt complex in India that since we are a bigger country we should deal with Pakistan by going down to their level. There is too much eagerness on our part, says K Subrahmanyam, convenor of the National Security Advisory Board in an interview with Times Internet Network. ......
 
• Program Finds Success in Reducing Teenage Pregnancy
• Tamar Lewin, The New York Times, May 30, 2001

>>> Shannon White used to assume she would become a teenage mother, like her big sister. But at 17, after three years in an experimental afterschool program intended to prevent teenage pregnancy, her expectations are quite different. ......
 
• Truly a Lost Horizon: Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan Needs Prayer
• Janet Chismar, www.crosswalk.com, May 30, 2001

>>> Nestled in the Himalayan Mountains between Tibet, China and India, the tiny nation of Bhutan is graced with snow-capped peaks and green valleys. Countless rivers course through the land frequently referred to as Shangri-La. Yet this beautiful country is no paradise for the few Christians who live there. ......
 
• Freed Prisoners bring home torture tales from Pak jails
• Shaheen P. Parshad, The Indian Express, May 30, 2001

>>> More than 100 Indian prisoners are still languishing in Pakistani jails, some of them for 25 years, where they are being subjected to torture and inhuman conditions.  ......
 
• 4 Guilty in Terror Bombings of U.S. Embassies in East Africa
• Benjamin Weiser, The New York Times, May 30, 2001

>>> Four men were convicted yesterday of conspiring with Osama bin Laden in a terrorist plot to bomb the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. The blasts killed 224 people, injured thousands and glaringly exposed the United States' vulnerability abroad.  ......
 
• The Chinese will blink
• Rajeev Srinivasan, Rediff on Net, May 30, 2001

>>> It is true that American businesses have invested a great deal in China in the hope of making a few bucks in that supposedly vast market. "What if a billion Chinese were to buy my soft drinks, cell phones, or whatever else I am selling?" has been the mantra. But somewhere along the way, they are beginning to ask, "So where are the profits?"  ......
 
• Indian nukes may lead to stability: US expert
• Aziz Haniffa, India Abroad, May 30, 2001

>>> India's evolving nuclear doctrine is likely to be conducive to, rather than subversive of, strategic stability in South Asia, according to a leading American strategic affairs expert who works for a think-tank affiliated with the Pentagon.  ......
 
• Misgivings stay
• Editorial, The Pioneer, May 30, 2001

>>> Mr Jaswant Singh's reiteration on Monday of the Government's stand that Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) was an integral part of India is good in so far as it goes. The Minister for External Affairs' remark, however, will not remove the misgivings created in the public mind by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's invitation to General Pervez Musharraf to visit India for talks.  ......
 
• Who are we talking to?
• Wilson John, The Pioneer, May 30, 2001

>>> The irony of choosing May 23 to invite General Pervez Musharraf for peace talks seems to have been lost on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.  ......
 
• Chandra Shekhar Azad a 'terrorist' in textbooks
• The Times of India, May 29, 2001

>>> The BJP-led coalition government came in for embarrassment and severe criticism from a treasury bench member in the state Assembly when he alleged that a history and civics book for class eight had described freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad as a member of a terrorist organisation.  ......
 
• Kerala girl sues Arab husband
• The Deccan Herald, May 29, 2001

>>> In another case of ''desi- foreign'' nuptial relation in northern Kerala, a girl has moved a local court in Kannur district, against her husband, who is an Arab national, for allegedly harassing and cheating her after marriage. ......
 
• Dancing with wolves: India and the rogue states
• Rajeev Srinivasan, Rediff on Net, May 28, 2001

>>> This has been an interesting spring; I am generally in a good mood at this time of the year. I was in rural Britain for a while; and both that and San Francisco are excellent places to enjoy springtime. ......
 
• Boom Bolsters Indian Community - Need for Tech Workers Brings New Wave of Immigrants
• Peter Whoriskey, Washington Post, May 27, 2001

>>> The cultural isolation that immigrants from India often experience in the United States has proven acute enough, over the years, to give rise to a telling stereotype. ......
 
• The Lost World
• The Indian Express, May 27, 2001

>>> ".and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud in the way." ......
 
• Appeals for calm after Oldham riots
• BBC News, May 27, 2001

>>> Windows were smashed and cars burned out Community leaders have appealed for calm after hundreds of Asian youths clashed with police during a night of rioting in Oldham. ......
 
• Chori Chori continues, only more Chupke Chupke
• J Dey, The Indian Express, May 26, 2001

>>> This is Chapter 2 of the sordid saga between the underworld and Bollywood. Six months of lying low after The Indian Express blew the whistle on the underworld interest in film financing - Chhota Shakeel's interest in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke - the underworld is back at what it knows best: extortion. ......
 
• Let us all wear the label: Canadian MP
• Ajit Jain, Rediff on Net, May 26, 2001

>>> Derek Lee, Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons, says that as a protest people in Canada, India, Pakistan and elsewhere, even Afghanistan if possible, should wear the special label on their clothing that the Taleban is asking religious minorities in Afghanistan to wear. ......
 
• If the Berlin wall can collapse, why can't Pawar sing paeans to Savarkar?
• Vidyadhar Date, The Times of India, May 25, 2001

>>> Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday made his journey into a political territory uncharted by him earlier. He went to Savarkar Smarak at Shivaji Park and inaugurated a lecture series in memory of V. D. Savarkar, who became controversial for his views on the concept of a Hindu nation. ......
 
• 500 kg of meat confiscated at Dongri
• The Indian Express, May 25, 2001

>>> In a typical Bollywood-style members of the Animal Welfare Board nabbed a jeep carrying illegally slaughtered meat at 5 am at Dongri on Wednesday. The board members noticed blood dripping from a jeep in front of their car. They pursued the jeep from Crawford Market through the narrow bylanes of Dongri, where they finally trapped the jeep at Pala Gali. ......
 
• McDonald's sorry for meaty fries row
• Martin Hickman, The Indian Express, May 25, 2001

>>> Global fast food gust McDonald's expressed its regret on Thursday for a row over the use of meat fat in its French fries that has angered vegetarians around the world and exposed it to legal action. ......
 
• Secessionist drive acquires new dimensions
• B L Kak, The Excelsior, May 25, 2001

>>> The secessionist drive in Jammu and Kashmir is being transformed into a pan-Islamic movement against India, according to an official document. ......
 
• Vatican Ally Favored for U.S. Post
• Zenit.org, May 24, 2001

>>> Aaron Krell was 12 and living in Poland when he was required to wear a yellow star with "Jude," the German word for Jew, on his clothes.  ......
 
• Holocaust survivors sympathize with Afghani Hindus
• The Associated Press, www.hinduunity.org, May 24, 2001

>>> Aaron Krell was 12 and living in Poland when he was required to wear a yellow star with "Jude," the German word for Jew, on his clothes.  ......
 
• 'Accused in Ayodhya case must not appear to be treated as above the law'
• Akshaya Mukul, The Times of India, May 21, 2001

>>> On Monday the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court will hear a public interest litigation over the Ayodhya notification.  ......
 
• Bhujbal calls for national ban on SIMI
• The Times of India, May 20, 2001

>>> Maharashtra's deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Saturday challenged the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) to declare categorically that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India. The organisation's consistent refusal to make such an assertion was proof of its anti-national character, he said.  ......
 
• Dalai Lama to Attend US Conference
• The Associated Press, The New York Times, May 20, 2001

>>> The Dalai Lama, whose teachings emphasize the training of the mind and the interaction between mind and body, will meet this week with scientists who are studying the physical state of happiness and the effects of meditation on the brain.  ......
 
• Advani knows to use offence for defence
• Sankarashan Thakur, The Indian Express, May 19, 2001

>>> To begin with, Home Minister L. K. Advani ducked and dallied for months but when he decided to go to the Liberhan Commission on the Ayodhya demolition, he went there on the front-foot.  ......
 
• Trial by Talaq (Interview of Mujahidul Islam Qasmi)
• Andalib Akhter, The Times of India, May 18, 2001

>>> Muslim women's rights are being discussed openly within the community as never before. First it was the inclusion of women in the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). Now there's a campaign against the misuse of triple 'talaq'.  ......
 
• 'Minorities have a voice not violent veto'
• Agence France Presses, The Indian Express, May 18, 2001

>>> India told the UN sub-commission that minorities in any country must accept the legislation passed in the democratic process and cannot have a 'violent veto' against it though they could criticise the same.  ......
 
• Death to Blasphemers: Islam's Grip on Pakistan
• Barry Bearak, The New York Times, May 12, 2001

>>> Blasphemy is a capital crime in this volatile Islamic nation, so Dr. Younus Shaikh, while teaching at a medical college, might have wisely avoided any discussion of the personal hygiene of the holy Prophet Muhammad.  ......
 
• Dangerous Evangelists
• Aylward Shorter, Renovacao, May 1-31, 2001

>>> To get a flavour of the local African Church, the Missionaries of Africa (or White Fathers) held their plenary council in Nairobi, instead of in Rome, this September. As part of the experience, the members attended the Sunday worship of some of the new religious movements. They dispersed to venues such as the "Majdmum Miracle Centre", the "Winners' Chapel", the "Stop Suffering Church", "Jesus is Alive Ministries", "The Achievers" and others.  ......
 
• quran on stoning to death
• http://iran-e-azad.org/stoning/law.html

>>> "Stoning is not an Islamic punishment and  the Quran makes no mention of it."  ......
 
• But why yellow?
• http://cwis.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/030.qmt.html#030.051

>>> 030.051 YUSUFALI: And if We (but) send a Wind from which they see (their  tilth) turn  yellow,-  behold,  they become,  thereafter, Ungrateful (Unbelievers)!  ......
 
• FISI - Friends of India Society International
• UK General Elections

>>> Voters of Indian origin should consider the following issues before casting their vote in the next general elections to be held on 7th of June:-  ......
 
• Wrong message
• Editorial, The Pioneer, May 25, 2001

>>> The Government's decision to invite General Pervez Musharraf for talks is clearly linked to the one not to further extend its unilateral ceasefire in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) which expires on May 31. The intention is obviously to convey to the world that the calling off of the ceasefire by no means indicates the abandonment of its search for peace in the state.  ......
 
• Afghan Hindus deny asking Taliban for distinguishing mark
• Deutsche Presse-Agentur, May 24, 2001

>>> Members of the Hindu community in Afghanistan denied Thursday that the community had asked the ruling Islamic Taliban to require them to wear a distinguishing mark on their clothing to brand them as Hindus. ......
 
• US has first Vedic City
• The Times of India, May 24, 2001

>>> Washington - A city, built in consonance with the Vedic principles of man-nature relationship, has been set up in the United States. Located at about two km north of Fairfield in southeast Iowa, the "Vedic City is the first city in the modern world to be based entirely on the ancient principles of maharishi sthapatya-veda design and other aspects of maharishi vedic science," the city authorities said in a release. ......
 
• Underworld-JK militants nexus exposed; 3 held
• The Daily Excelsior, May 23, 2001

>>> The Delhi Police has for the first time exposed an underworld-terrorist nexus in the country with the arrest of a member of the Chhota Shakeel gang and two Pakistan-based Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF) terrorists on charges of conspiring to cause blasts in the capital, Mumbai and Punjab and 'eliminating' members of the Sangh Parivar. ......
 
• Lashkar to target Indian temples, religious centres
• B L Kak, The Daily Excelsior, May 23, 2001

>>> In a swift turn of events, the Government has put on high alert the police and other security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. ......
 
• Labelling Hindus is in line with Islam asserts Taliban
• The Times of India, May 23, 2001

>>> Kabul: Taliban's religious police minister Mohammad Wali said on Tuesday that the Militia's decision that Hindus in the country wear identity labels to distinguish themselves from the Muslims was in line with Islam. ......
 
• Pope a prisoner of power elite around him: cardinal
• The Navhind Times, May 23, 2001

>>> Despite a papal call for 'unity', the first signs of dissent emerged as 155 cardinals entered their second day of brainstorming over the future of the Roman Catholic church. ......
 
• The Growing Sino-Pakistan Nexus: Military dimensions are alarming
• G. Parthasarathy, The Tribune, May 23, 2001

>>> All Pakistan's military rulers have invariably professed their commitment to improving relations with India, especially to gullible visitors from India. But their true sentiments about their neighbour are more accurately reflected in the views they voice to their own countrymen and to their western and Chinese interlocutors. ......
 
• Herut MK Michael Kleiner demands an urgent Knesset discussion in the wake of Taliban decrees against the Hindus in Afghanistan
• IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis, May 22, 2001

>>> Herut Chairman MK Michael Kleiner asked the Speaker of the Knesset to hold an urgent session on the policies of the Taliban in Afghanistan that deny basic human rights to the non-Moslem population. ......
 
• Taliban Announces Plans to Make Hindus Wear Labels on Clothing
• Pamela Constable, Washington Post, May 22, 2001

>>> Afghanistan's Islamic rulers decreed today that all non-Muslims must wear distinctive marks on their clothing to set them apart from the country's Muslim majority. ......
 
• Despicable Taliban
• Editorial, The Pioneer, May 22, 2001

>>> In yet another outrageous act, Afghanistan's fundamentalist Islamic regime has prescribed measures that would further isolate the country's Hindu minority and severely restrict their rights. Hindus will now have to wear a yellow cloth to identify themselves and also follow the Islamic shariat code. ......
 
• Bible Belt Battles High Divorce Rates
• Blaine Harden, The New York Times, May 21, 2001

>>> The governor grumbles about how it is easier for Oklahomans to get out of a marriage than a Tupperware contract. The head of the Southern Baptist church complains that pastors are afraid to look love-besotted parishioners in the eye and tell them that they are too immature for marriage. ......
 
• Justice Denied, Delayed Truth Exposed
• Indian Currents, May 21, 2001

>>> On Saturday the 17th of March 2001 as the clock struck 4 in the afternoon, the three of us from the ICAN (Indian Currents Associate News) presented ourselves at the parlour of Rome's prestigious Gregorian University as had been agreed upon. On announcing the name "Indian Currents" prompt came the reply from the other end of the interphone: "Yes, please wait. I am coming down". ......
 
• 'Militants' extortion notices to missionaries increasing'
• The Hindu, May 20, 2001

>>> Militant outfits in Manipur have served huge extortion notices to the educational institutions run by missionaries, authorities said today. ......
 
• Traces of ancient civilisation
• The Tribune, May 19, 2001

>>> The Bhuj quake rekindled the quake theory for the disappearance of the Indus Valley civilisation, and the discovery of artifacts in the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat dating to 4000 to 6000 B.C. has given a new dimension and hope to archaeologists in understanding the Harappan civilisation. ......
 
• Afghan booklet calls for ethnic cleansing
• Derk Kinnane Roelofsma, UPI, May 18, 2001

>>> A tract calling for wholesale ethnic cleansing in Afghanistan is circulating there and in Pakistan, according to the French television station TF-1. The booklet, written in Pashto, calls for the non- Pashtun Tajik and Hazaras populations to be removed from key areas and replaced by Pashtuns from the south of Afghanistan. ......
 
• Utah governor at fundraiser for Indian community center
• Abraham Thariath, India Abroad, May 15, 2001

>>> Utah Governor Mike Leavitt was chief guest at a fundraiser for the construction of a building for the Salt Lake City-based India Cultural Center. ......
 
• TERRORISM
• Sean McCormack - under Prof Aghaie - TerrorismConferenceCourse

>>> Terrorism is an ever-present threat of modern society. In order to find effective counter-measures for terrorism, one must first understand its history, modern tactics and underlying principles. Only then can effective counter-terrorism policies be developed. ......
 
• Allahabad court dismisses PIL on Babri notification
• R.B. Singh, The Indian Express, May 22, 2001

>>> The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court today rejected the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed last Friday by journalist and Rajya Sabha MP Kuldip Nayar and four others in the Ayodhya issue. ......
 
• BJP must bite the bullet
• Sandhya Jain, The Pioneer, May 22, 2001

>>> Although it was widely acknowledged that the BJP had small stakes in the recent state elections, the overall results are cause for concern. The party has fallen victim to a derailed leadership, an infidelity to core values, and flawed decision-making processes. ......
 
• Kashmir's "accession" with Pak. inevitable: Aziz
• The Hindu, May 21, 2001

>>> In what could create further ripples within the 23-party Hurriyat Conference, its leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, today defended his stand of supporting Kashmir's "accession" with Pakistan. ......
 
• Chinese Naval fleet to be stationed in Pakistan waters
• Ishtiaq Ali Mehkri, The Newspaper Today, May 21, 2001

>>> With the tacit decision to station a Chinese Naval fleet in the waters of Baluchistan, near Gawadar Port, Beijing had won what Russian aggression and United States manoeuvering had failed to do over the last many decades. ......
 
• Religion Plays Big Role in Bush Presidency
• Carter M. Yang, ABCNEWS.com, May 21, 2001

>>> The White House says President Bush's Christian faith is a private matter, but the prominent role religion plays in his public life is generating controversy. ......
 
• Taliban issue decrees for Hindus in Afghanistan
• The Pioneer, May 20, 2001

>>> The tiny Hindu population in Afghanistan has been asked by the fundamentalist Taliban regime to wear yellow cloth to identify themselves and follow the Shariat or face prosecution. ......
 
• Teens Protest Campus Steer Slaughter
• The Associated Press, The New York Times, May 18, 2001

>>> A 1,000-pound steer raised at a parochial school was slaughtered in front of students as young as 5 to teach them where meat comes from -- a grisly demonstration that has drawn protests from some quarters. ......
 
• A temple that lost its glorious crown
• Prafull Goradia, The Pioneer, May 17, 2001

>>> The Gobind Deva temple in Vrindavan, Mathura, is indeed massive; its plinth is 105 to 117 feet. Its height today is about 55 feet. It is estimated that the original height was twice this, without which the mashaal (torch) could not have been possible to be seen either from Agra or from Delhi. The temple was built in 1590 by Maharaja Mansingh of Jaipur. ......
 
• JKLF questions Pakistan over accession clause in PoK poll papers
• K J M Varma, Rediff on Net, May 17, 2001

>>> The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (Amanullah faction) Thursday virtually raised a banner of revolt against the Pakistan government for making it obligatory for candidates contesting elections to the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir Assembly to declare their support for accession of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan. ......
 
• Govt's Kashmir peace initiative destined to fail, says Gill
• The Daily Excelsior, May 17, 2001

>>> The Government's present peace initiative in Kashmir does not appear to be based on ground realities and is destined to fail and bringing the Hurriyat Conference to the centrestage of negotiations amounts to repudiation of the fundamental principles of democracy, according to Supercop K P S Gill. ......
 
• Ashwagandha next on patent hunters list
• The Times of India, May 16, 2001

>>> Neem. Turmeric. Now, Ashwagandha. American and Japanese companies have discovered another Indian treasure -- and they are patenting it. ......
 
• Reservations Must Come To An End
• Kuldip Nayar, The Navhind Times, May 16, 2001

>>> Following the norms of democracy, the constituent assembly in India, justifiably, tagged the seats in the Lok Sabha and the assemblies to the number of voters in a particular state. The larger secured more members and the smaller less. ......
 
• Worshipping idols, Breaking idols
• David Schnell, Abrahamic-Buddhist weekend seminar, May 16, 2001

>>> On Friday and Saturday, the 11th and 12th of May 2001, a special Abrahamic-Buddhist weekend seminar "Worshipping idols, Breaking idols" took place, in a very intensive and candid atmosphere, at the ecumenical institute of Tantur. ......
 
• Ethnic cleansing in Bradford?
• Rashmee Z Ahmed, The Times of India, May 16, 2001

>>> A controversial BBC report on Hindus being driven out of the northern English city of Bradford by young Muslims in an act the Vishwa Hindu Parishad provocatively describes as "ethnic cleansing", has evoked sharp reactions all around. ......
 
• Indo-Pak tension "most dangerous" threat to world peace: Report
• The Indian Express, May 16, 2001

>>> Terming the tensions between India and Pakistan as the "most dangerous threat to world peace today", an influential US think-tank has asked Washington to encourage Islamabad to cease its support to Islamic militants in Kashmir and settle its differences with New Delhi peacefully. ......
 
• Militant outfits clinch deal with Musharraf
• Rediff on Net, May 15, 2001

>>> Several major Islamic fundamentalist and militant outfits, which were openly carrying out recruitment and fund-raising drives in different parts of Pakistan, have now "agreed" to the Musharraf regime's appeals to be discreet about their activities with the government promising not to actively pursue them. ......
 
• Home Alone -- a New U.S. Standard
• Zenit.org, May 15, 2001

>>> For the first time, the number of households with Americans living alone surpassed the number of married-couple households with children, the New York Times reported today. ......
 
• Nepal's growing rural revolt
• Daniel Lak, BBC News, May 14, 2001

>>> This is the district headquarters for Rukum, a large and impossibly rugged swathe of the Middle Hills that is largely off-limits to the police these days. Shadowy Maoist rebels control most of Rukum and several neighbouring districts, confining the poorly-armed and trained police to a few places like Musikot. ......
 
• The crisis in psyche of India
• David Frawley, Organiser, May 13, 2001

>>> A defeatist tendency exists in the psyche of many modern Indians that is perhaps unparalleled in any other country today. An inner conflict bordering on a civil war rages in the minds of the country's elite. The main effort of many of its cultural leaders appears to be to pull the country down or at least to remake it in a foreign image. ......
 
• NCERT on the right path
• Aniket Raja, Organiser, May 13, 2001

>>> However recently in an interesting case a former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Shri V.R. Krishna Iyer, who is also a leading champion of human rights and Indian secularism dropped the charge of saffronisation which he had levied against the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). ......
 
• Kashmir jihad at crucial juncture: Lashkar-e-Taiba
• News International, May 12, 2001

>>> The Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Jihadi outfit active in Indian-occupied Kashmir, on Friday asked Pakistan Army to take action in Kashmir to pre-empt alleged Indian designs of engaging Pakistan in a war over the border alongside the Chenab River. ......
 
• When Liberty Was Forsaken
• Adv. Jos. Peter D'Souza, People's Reporter, May 10 -25, 2001

>>> April 28th, 1976 is a day never to be forgotten by any of us Indians who love the pledges of Justice and Liberty which we gave to ourselves in the Preamble of our Constitution. It was on this day when four of the five senior most Judges of the Supreme Court (including the Hon'ble Chief Justice) struck the first mortal blow to these cherished dreams enshrined in our Constitution. ......
 
• Fiji Hindus alarmed by Big Mac's beef controversy
• Shailendra Singh, India Abroad, May 9, 2001

>>> Hindus in Fiji are alarmed after reports that French fries served by US fast food giant MacDonald's contains beef extracts. ......
 
• Anglican bishops in Canada confront government over lawsuits
• Episcopal News Service, May 8, 2001

>>> (ENS) The bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada have warned the prime minister that, unless he gets involved, the church will soon be bankrupt because of a rash of lawsuits brought by victims of abuse at church-run residential schools for indigenous youth. ......
 
• Symbols of Slavery
• N. S. Rajaram, The Organiser, May 6, 2001

>>> In her deposition before the Liberhans Commission inquiring into the destruction of the structure at Ramjanmabhoomi, Smt Umashri Bharati made a pertinent observation. The Babri 'Masjid' was a "symbol of slavery". Her reason was that it was built as a mark of conquest by the invader Babur. ......
 
• A red hat, two bishops, and the lay of the land
• George Menezes, The Times of India, May 6, 2001

>>> By far the most outstanding characteristic of the Catholic Church in Mumbai is Hope. On the Richter scale it is greater in intensity than Faith and Charity. ......
 
• "China and India"
• Amos Perlmutter, The Washington Times, May 1, 2001

>>> China and India, the two most populated states in the world, comprise one-fourth of humanity, dominate South Asia, the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Indian population comes close to that of China, which is more than 1 billion. ......

• Allah's Forgotten Daughters
• Soma Wadhwa, May 21, 2001

>>> There is this woman in Darbhanga whose husband spat out talaq at her because she hadn't cooked liver for him one meal. The Centre for Women's Development Studies came across her while surveying the Bihar district for divorced Muslim women. Kolhapur's Zubeida Khan was divorced because she couldn't add numbers. ......
 
• Far From Dead, Subsidies Fuel Big Farms
• Elizabeth Becker, The New York Times, May 14, 2001

>>> By any measure, Lanny Bezner is a successful family farmer. His eldest son, John, rides herd over his cattle, spread out on pastureland from here to nearby New Mexico. A younger son, Brian, looks after the farm's heavily irrigated cornfields, with help from the husband of Mr. Bezner's daughter, Virginia. ......
 
• 'Pakistan using drug trafficking to finance J&K ultras'
• Rediff on Net, May 14, 2001

>>> Pakistan, during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, had set up a highly developed narcotic producing and trafficking network under the control of the Inter Services Intelligence and its army which it still uses to finance militants in Jammu and Kashmir, a leading Russian daily reported. ......
 
• India's glorious technological future
• Julian Morris, The Economics Times, May 12, 2001

>>> The past few years have seen explosive growth in India's IT industry. At the same time, other knowledge-based industries, such as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, have languished. ......
 
• Not even small change (Letters to the Editor)
• S. S. Bagai, The Economics Times, May 12, 2001

>>> This refers to ``Budget in retrospect'' (ET, May 3) by Dr Shankar Acharya. He thinks that the FM has sacrificed revenue of Rs 5,000 crore by abolishing surcharges. ......
 
• SC issues notice on petition to outlaw polygamy in Muslims
• The Indian Express, May 12, 2001

>>> The Supreme Court today issued a notice to the center on a petition by a Muslim woman, given talaq by her husband, seeking issuance of a direction to outlaw the practice of polygamy in the community. ......
 
• Auroville, the City of Dawn
• Francois Gautier, The Times of India, May 12, 2001

>>> The project of Auroville is now thirty-three years old. This city, a few kilometres north of Pondicherry, was born of a dream that the Mother (1878-1973) had in 1967: There should be somewhere upon earth a place that no nation could claim as its sole property, a place where all beings of goodwill, sincere in their aspiration, could live freely as citizens of the world, obeying one single authority, that of the supreme Truth. ......
 
• Savage slaughter
• Editorial, The Pioneer, May 12, 2001

>>> Poor people who had taken their cattle into a forest for grazing, they were soft, defenceless targets. But then one hardly expected anything from either the terrorists or their patrons, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) which has gained worldwide notoriety for its diabolical ways. ......
 
• Pope confesses Catholics' past sins
• Richard N. Ostling, InfoBeat.com, May 12, 2001

>>> Deep into his reign, Pope John Paul II keeps pursuing a long-held vision of bringing his church closer to other faiths by confessing Roman Catholics' past sins, a rare gesture for a pope. John Paul, undeterred by illness and infirmity, reached out to Eastern Orthodox Christians and Muslims on his trip that concluded Wednesday, just as he had previously expressed contrition to Jews. ......
 
• Russian church blacklists eight India-based organizations
• Arun Mohanty, India Abroad, May 12, 2001

>>> The Russian Orthodox Church, which is playing an increasingly important role in post- Soviet Russia, has blacklisted eight India-based religious organizations, including ISKCON and the Brahma Kumaris who have a strong presence in this country. ......
 
• At Bob Jones, students learn to break bread with Christ and political ambition
• Elizabeth Crowley, The Indian Express, May 11, 2001

>>> At Bob Jones University Tim Keesee uses familiar terms to help teach the practical side of the school's growing political-science curriculum: "We need to be 'wise as serpents and gentle as doves,' as Scripture say." ......
 
• Dispute in Atlanta over black Catholic schools
• Patrick O'neill, National Catholic Reporter, May 11, 2001

>>> When he was ordained a priest in the Atlanta archdiocese 30 years ago, Fr. John Adamski never imagined he would one day join a picket line outside the residence of his archbishop. That's what happened in late March, however, when Adamski joined a group of Our Lady of Lourdes parishioners to protest Archbishop John F. Donoghue's proposal to close the inner-city parish's elementary school. ......
 
• Six Hindus beheaded in Doda
• Binoo Joshi, The Pioneer, May 11, 2001

>>> At least six people, all of them Hindus, were killed by militants in the mountainous Doda district on Thursday morning. ......
 
• I don't care if astrology is a science or not: Fact is it works (The Rediff Interview/ Astrologer Bejan)
• Rediff on Net, May 10, 2001

>>> The debate gathers momentum after the University Grants Commission issued a controversial notification to universities across the country in February requesting them to submit proposals about courses in Jyotir Vigyan or Vedic astrology. ......
 
• US lawmakers needle China over Tibet
• Chidanand Rajghatta, The Times of India, May 10, 2001

>>> The glowing embers of the heated face-off between the United States and China has been stoked some more with the introduction of a bill in the US Congress calling for safeguarding the identity of the Tibetan people and appointment of a special US coordinator for Tibet. ......
 
• China supports foreign leftists
• Bill Gertz, The Washington Times, May 10, 2001

>>> A U.S. surveillance plane flying near China´s coast four years ago picked up secret communications on a meeting between a senior Chinese Communist official and an Irish leftist linked by U.S. intelligence to counterfeit U.S. currency, according to a classified National Security Agency report. ......
 
• Christian mission-run schools to adopt Indian dress code
• The Navhind Times, May 10, 2001

>>> Traditional Indian clothes will soon replace the skirt-blouse or tunic as uniforms for girls in Christian missionary institutions in and around this ancient Hindu town. ......
 
• VHP Schools on border to counter anti-nationalists
• Gomantak Times, May 9, 2001

>>> With an aim of 'ensuring safety' of the country's frontiers, the VHP has ventured onto a grand plan of setting up its schools in border areas to counter 'any type of anti-national activity' there. ......
 
• Bangladesh fears Tagore attacks
• Alastair Lawson, BBC News, May 8, 2001

>>> Police in Bangladesh have stepped up security at arts and cultural centres associated with the revered Bengali author and poet Rabindranath Tagore. ......
 
• Selective Memory
• Meenakshi Jain, The Hindustan Times, May 8, 2001

>>> Non-ideological newspaper readers may be forgiven for wondering if there is more than meets the eye in the high-voltage Leftist hysteria over moves to re-examine the contents of NCERT history textbooks. Indeed, by raising the bogey of 'saffronisation' before an academic review could even begin, Leftist historians have shown nervousness that the biased nature of their work, and their political agendas, may well be exposed. ......
 
• China enters biggest Buddhist statue race
• BBC News, May 6, 2001

>>> China has announced plans to build the world's largest statue - a towering 509ft Buddhist statue which promises to be 9ft taller than its nearest rival. ......
 
• Pope builds new links with Islam
• Matthew Campbell, The Sunday Times, May 6, 2001

>>> Having endured a bad-tempered lecture from the head of the Greek Orthodox church, an exhausted-looking Pope John Paul II yesterday took the road to Damascus where, in an effort to mend fences with the Muslim world, he is to become the first Catholic leader ever to enter a mosque. ......
 
• Pope takes the road to Damascus as millions of Christians quit Holy Land
• Robert Fisk, The Independent, May 6, 2001

>>> The road to Damascus may have been the highlight of the Pope's latest pilgrimage to the Middle East yesterday, but the so-called "Holy Land" is ever less Christian as the region's dwindling number of followers of Jesus Christ stage a mass exodus to the West. ......
 
• Voices from Catholic India
• National Catholic Reporter, May 4, 2001

>>> We have a new cardinal [Ivan Dias, archbishop of Bombay]. When he came here one of the first things he wanted was to do away with the social justice commission and make it a pro-life group. A small group of us came to the conclusion that we must become part of the peoples' movement to do social justice work. ......
 
• Islamists - not who they say they are
• Daniel Pipes, The Jerusalem Post, May 9, 2001

>>> Those Moslems variously known as fundamentalists or Islamists often appear to outsiders to be the most authentic adherents of their faith. They refer constantly to God and conspicuously pray in public. Men sport full beards and women wear veils. They urge Moslem solidarity and demonstrate a suspicion of non-Moslems. ......
 
• Bangladesh fears Tagore attacks
• Alastair Lawson, BBC News, May 8, 2001

>>> Police in Bangladesh have stepped up security at arts and cultural centres associated with the revered Bengali author and poet Rabindranath Tagore. ......
 
• US a civilizational ally
• Sandhya Jain, The Pioneer, May 8, 2001

>>> The aversion of the Congress and the Left parties to the Centre's swift and positive reaction to American President Bush's proposed National Missile Defence Plan is proof that these parties remain in a time warp, and cannot find their way in a vastly changed world order, of which India is destined to be a major pillar. ......
 
• Pak tops crime chart in UK
• The Daily Excelsior, May 8, 2001

>>> Pakistanis top the crime chart among expatriates in the United Kingdom with the country accounting for more than two per cent of the prisoners in British jails. ......
 
• This damned non-policy
• Arvind Lavakare, Rediff on Net, May 8, 2001

>>> It is driving one crazy. New Delhi's meandering non-policy on Jammu & Kashmir is transforming even the loyalists into lunatics. Taking over the decades-old stalemate from all previous governments, it was felt that the BJP-led coalition that displayed the gumption to explode Pokhran II on the world would do something similar with regard to J&K in its second innings that began towards the end of 1998. Miserable to record, it just hasn't happened. ......
 
• 'Social work must be supported by a spiritual foundation'
• S. Balakrishnan, The Times of India, May 7, 2001

>>> When a quake rocked Kutch, among the first persons to reach the devastated areas were volunteers of the Swaminarayan movement. Earlier, when a cyclone hit Orissa Swaminarayan volunteers rushed relief in large measure. ......
 
• The Buddha as an Avatar of Vishnu
• A Seshan, The Times of India, May 7, 2001

>>> The story of Gautama, the Buddha (the enlightened one), is well known. He expounded the four noble truths (Arya Satya) concerning suffering, its cause, its destruction and the way to the elimination of sorrow. He was against the extremes of both self-indulgence and self-mortification. ......
 
• Decimal Point Dementia
• Jay Jina, Asian Voice, May 5, 2001

>>> In the rush to pin blame on the alleged attackers, people are sometimes forgetful of those responsible for real dangers. For, let us not forget that these are the same people who offered us the £10,000 bond for visitors to this country. Not for Kosovo or Canada, mind, but for India, the largest supplier of IT professionals in the export market today. ......
 
• India tops terror count
• Asia Times, May 5, 2001

>>> Asia is now the major focus of global terrorism and it has the highest number of related victims, says a new United States report, the "Global Patterns of Terrorism 2000" compiled by the US State Department. ......
 
• Britain refuses entry to JKLF chief
• Rediff on Net, May 5, 2001

>>> The British government has declined to lift the ban on the Pakistan-based chairman of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front, Amanullah Khan, entering the country, the separatist outfit said in a statement on Saturday. ......
 
• 10 LeT, HM militants shotdead in Poonch, Rajouri
• The Daily Excelsior, May 4, 2001

>>> Army today achieved a major success in their operations against Pakistan-sponsored militants by killing ten hardcore militants in three separate encounters in Poonch and Rajouri districts while two civilians including the one who had contested Panchayat elections were shot dead by the ultras. ......
 
• The Bush Advantage
• Brahma Chellaney, Rediff on Net, May 4, 2001

>>> US President George W Bush's publicly announced plan to push ahead with defences against nuclear missiles reflects his administration's unilateralism to assertively advance national interests and add muscularity to policy. ......
 
• Church asks for £12m collection to pay pensions
• Ruth Gledhill, The Times, May 3, 2001

>>> THE Church of England is facing a £12 million pensions shortfall, meaning that worshippers must increase giving yet again if current clergy are to be looked after in their retirement. ......
 
• Fijian Hindu's condemn sacrilege at temple
• The Navhind Times, May 2, 2001

>>> Two major Hindu organisations have strongly denounced an act of alleged sacrilege involving a temple in the Tacirua area of Fiji's capital. ......
 
• Extracts of the Resolutions Passed Recently In Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha in Delhi
• Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

>>> RSS views with grave concern the recent spate of violent disturbances engineered by Muslim mobs in different parts of the country. A series of communal out bursts in various places such as Sambhal (UP), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Tamilnadu and Karnataka vitiated the peaceful atmosphere in the country when a rumour emanated from Delhi that a copy of the holy Koran was burnt. ......
 
• Inside Jihad U: The Education Of A Holy Warrior
• Jeffrey Goldberg, http://sathyavaadi.tripod.com/truthisgod/id8.html

>>> In a Pakistani religious school called the Haqqania madrasa, Osama bin Laden is a hero, the Taliban's leaders are famous alumni and the next generation of mujahedeen is being militantly groomed. ......
 
• Reconstructing Indian Social History
• Richard W. Lariviere, University of Texas at Austin

>>> Today I want to look at criticisms of Sanskrit philology. This seems an appropriate topic for a lecture series named for Jan Gonda, one of the greatest philologists ever to study the Indian tradition. ......
 
• U.S. ousted from U.N. Human Rights Commission
• CNN, May 3, 2001

>>> United Nations - In what amounts to a stinging rebuke, the United States has been voted off the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva. ......
 
• Embattled nun to receive award
• www.infobeat.com, May 3, 2001

>>> A Roman Catholic nun who was ordered to end her 22-year ministry to homosexuals, then defied the Vatican's attempts to silence her, is being lauded at the nation's largest symposium on gays and lesbians. ......
 
• Russian Orthodox Targets "Totalitarian Sects"
• Zenit.org, May 3, 2001

>>> The Church of Scientology, Jehovah's Witnesses, Moonies and Mormons are among the dangerous "totalitarian sects" infiltrating the East, says a recent conference organized by the Russian Orthodox Church. ......
 
• Catholic civilians killed by Army: victims of grim and tragic conflict
• The Independent, May 3, 2001

>>> Seamus Cusack, 28, and Desmond Beattie, 19, who were shot during a riot in the Bogside. The Army claimed Cusack had a rifle but civilian witnesses denied this. The inquest into the death heard a statement from a soldier who said: "I shot to kill him. ......
 
• China President Among Top World Press Enemies-CPJ
• Reuters, May 3, 2001

>>> The Committee to Protect Journalists on Thursday said China's President Jiang Zemin, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Liberia's President Charles Taylor were among the world's 10 worst enemies of the press. ......
 
• Scientists prove existence of mythical Saraswati river
• The Times of India, May 2, 2001

>>> About 200 scientists and archeologists had undertaken a project to sear the legendary Saraswati river 15 years ago. Their hard work proved that the river, adored in the Rigveda and celebrated in the traditions for thousands of years, is not a myth but a ground reality. ......
 
• Azhar warns India to be ready for worst
• B L Kak, The Pioneer, May 2, 2001

>>> With his aim of wresting Kashmir from the kaafir, Masood Azhar, chief of the dreaded jihadi outfit, Jaish-e-Muhammad, has warned the Government of India that it should "prepare for the worst" if it continued its "brutal" activities in "Muslim Kashmir". ......
 
• Needed: legal enlightenment, please
• Arvind Lavakare, Rediff on Net, May 1, 2001

>>> Ultimately, the Congress had to eat crow. When Parliament adjourned sine die on April 27, Sonia and her sycophants had not got either the NDA government's resignation, or a Joint Parliamentary Committee on Tehelka, or even those half-baked documents known as FIRs against the "villains" of the Tehelka piece. ......
 
• China and India
• Amos Perlmutter, The Washington Times, May 1, 2001

>>> China and India, the two most populated states in the world, comprise one-fourth of humanity, dominate South Asia, the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The Indian population comes close to that of China, which is more than 1 billion. ......
 
• Lashkar vows to disintegrate India
• Rediff on Net, May 1, 2001

>>> After lying low for several months, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) has said it will step up militant activities in Jammu and Kashmir to scuttle the Indian government's peace moves and vowed to continue suicide attacks to disintegrate 'India through armed struggle'. ......
 
• Pope maps out moral battle
• Richard Owen, The Times, May 1, 2001

>>> The Pope has asked cardinals to ponder seven key questions on the future of the Roman Catholic Church ahead of a gathering later this month that is expected to offer a foretaste of the battle between conservatives and liberals at the next conclave to choose his successor. ......
 
• Ayodhya dispute: Joshi faults V P Singh
• PTI, The Hindu, May 1, 2001

>>> Union Human Resource Minister Murli Manohar Joshi today said V P Singh, during his prime ministership, miserably failed on the Ayodhya front despite his promise to solve the problem within four months. ......