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GLOBAL NEWS
WORLDWIDE CELEBRA
NATIONAL SEMINARS
The Department of Philosophy at Gujarat University, Ahmedabad and Bhagwan Mahavir 2600th Janmakalyanak Mahotsav Samiti, Gujarat Pradesh jointly organised a two-day national seminar on Jainism on 10-11 December 2001. More than 60 scholars from all over India participated in this seminar. Prof. Ramji Singh, Prof. Sagarmal Jain, Dr. Hukumchand Bharil, Prof. R.C. Shah, Prof. H.M. Joshi and many other senior scholars of Jainism were amongst them.
UNITED NATIONS
The international community celebrated the 2600th Birth Anniversary of Lord Mahavir at the Church Centre for the United Nations on 2 November 2001 in New York. International Mahavir Jain Mission (IMJM) and the Temple of Understanding (TofU), both of which are non-government organisation (NGO) members of the United Nations, arranged the celebration. More than one hundred and twenty-five people, drawn mostly from the United Nations NGO community and the Inter-faith community, attended the event. The event co-ordinator, Laxmi Shah, advised that the Late Acharya Sushilmuni, the founder of IMJM, wanted to share the life and teachings of Lord Mahavir with the international community.
Dr. Narendra Parson, vice-chair of IMJM, said that it was significant that IMJM and Tofu were jointly sponsoring the celebration and that this accords with the concept of anekanta, as taught by Lord Mahavir. He meditated for twelve and a half years and he prescribed meditation as the path to liberation. Neeta Karani and Roma Patel performed a dance "Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram". Chanting by Shanti Jain Smith, Kathy Kellogg, Sue Graves and Rick Pezzullo followed. Pezzullo explained the effect of sound and mantras, and the group recited mantras. Sister Joan Kirby from TofU offered a vote of thanks to conclude the celebrations.
REBUILDING GUJARAT
The Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund (GERF), which was set up in the UK immediately after the earthquake with the support of nine different organisations has been working very hard to spend the money that they had raised. Major reconstruction programmes at three villages in Gujarat have already commenced. Ninama village in the district of Surendranagar is being assisted in a joint venture with the Times Foundation with a rebuilding programme
which is expected to finish by end March 2002. At another village (Rudhrani) a school is being built in a joint venture with Veerayatan, which will consist of eight classrooms and will cater for over 200 children. Adhoi in Kutch was completely destroyed by the quake. Over 2,500 people were killed here. In a joint venture with BEHT, a new school is being built.
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Jain Spirit March May 2002
Jain Education International 2010_03
BOEDO
New school in Adhoi
In the small town of Eldoret in central Kenya there are less than fifty Jain families, yet they created this beautiful Rangoli to celebrate the 2600 years since Lord Mahavir's birth. People from many nearby towns came to see the Rangoli. Events like these prove that the Jain spirit lies deep in the hearts of most Jains wherever they may live.
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