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http://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2003/3/9.shtml

Government To Resettle Displaced Kashmir Pandits Source: NDTV.com

NEW DELHI, INDIA, March 6, 2003: The Jammu and Kashmir government is working on

a plan to develop an area in Anantnag district, in the Kashmir Valley and 40

miles southeast of Srinigar, for resettling around 300,000 displaced Kashmiri

Pandits to the valley. The government plans to build around 500 apartment flats

with provision of security and essential facilities in the vicinity of Mattan

temple, a pilgrimage center in Anantnag, for the Pandits to stay until they can

repair their own houses. If the experiment succeeds here, it will be replicated

at another prominent pilgrimage center -- Kheer Bhavani. The Mufti Sayeed-led

state government is also making efforts to persuade the displaced people to

return. About 300,000 Pandits, constituting almost the entire community, moved

out of Kashmir valley in late 1989 after militancy erupted there. Many have

been living in squalid camps around Jammu for more than a decade.

Ban On Smoking Fails To Reverse Cigarette Sales Source: NDTV.com

HYDERABAD, INDIA, March 5, 2003: The number of cigarettes being smoked in India

is going up, despite the ban on smoking in public places. The consumption has

increased by seven billion cigarettes this year -- from 87 billion sticks in

2001-2002. "People who have been smoking bidis may graduate from bidi smoking

to cigarette smoking if their economic condition improves. My fear is that some

college-going youth may also resort to smoking. That is another kind of new

entry," said P. Dayachari, Tobacco Board Chairman. The Supreme court's

directive banning smoking in public places had an immediate impact and the sale

of cigarettes was reduced by 15 percent in 2001-2002. But the reversal of the

trend this year has worried health activists. Today many people can be seen

smoking in public places as there is little policing and no punitive measures

-- just a $2 fine. India's tobacco industry is the second largest in the world

and accounts for one-third of the total three million

tobacco-related deaths in the world.

UK "Crisps" Ads Stereotype Indians GO TO SOURCE

LONDON, ENGLAND, March 8, 2003: Southall, the British capital's mini India, was

taken aback to see British soccer star Gary Lineker dressed as an Indian

bridegroom, with his hair dyed black and sitting on a white horse. There were

women in saris dressed for the wedding, and a proper baraat, or marriage party,

in tow. So was he marrying a girl from Southall? Not quite, he was modeling as

an Indian bridegroom for an advertisement for crisps (potato chips.) Going to

the bride's house, he discovers her to be an elderly woman, but she has a dowry

for him -- the keys to a corner shop with crisps inside. Not everyone in

Southall, located in west London, was pleased. "It is bizarre and terribly

stereotyped to suggest that the bridegroom would never have seen the bride

before because it is an arranged marriage," said Piara Singh. "And it gives the

idea that Indians marry only for dowry, whatever the woman may be like." Many in

the UK wish the "Indian flavor" was something other than the

Bollywood advertising image of elephants, curries and arranged marriages.

Contacts Needed for Angor Wat Research GO TO SOURCE

KAUAI, HAWAII, March 9, 2003: HPI has been asked to help find someone in

Cambodia, or closely associated with the Angor Wat temple, who could assist

with the visit of a renowned Hindu temple architect of South India who will be

there visit June 11 and 12 of this year. If you could help, or could suggest a

contact, kindly e-mail "source" above.

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2003/3/9.shtml

 

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