Jain Spirit 2002 06 No 11

Author(s): Jain Spirit UK
Publisher: UK Young Jains

Page 14

GLOBAL NEWS
WORKSHOP
ACHIEVEMENTS
AT LONDON
UNIVERSITY
• PADMA BHUSHAN AWARD FOR U.S. CONGRESSMEN PALONE AND ACKERMAN: Two best friends were awarded with the Padma Bhushan on India's Republic Day on United States' Capitol Hill, 26 January 2002. Congressmen Frank Pallone and Garey Ackerman, both Democrats representing New Jersey and New York, were recognised for their contribution in improving ties between the two nations by conferring to them one of the highest civilian honours. Last year Pallone organised a Jain prayer in the Congress as part of the American celebrations of the 2600th Mahavir Birthday. - MR. GYAN CHAND JAIN,
The world famous School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London hosted an international workshop on 15 March where speakers flew in from all over the world. Dr Peter Flugel organised the meeting and there were 40 delegates from the local Jain community. Speakers included Dr. Paul Dundas, Dr. Fujinaga Sin from Japan, Olle Qvarnstrom from Sweden, Professor N. L. Jain from India, Dr. Whitney Kelting, Dr. Kristi Wiley and Dr. Sherry Fohr from the USA. Professor John Cort gave the inaugural lecture. All participants found it a rather stimulating event and the scholars were very impressed by the participation and enthusiasm of the local Jain community.
. MR. PANNALAL SURANA has been elected 50th President of Bharat Jain Mahamandal (BJM), the 102-yearold All India Jain Organisation for the next three years. An industrialist, Mr. Surana is actively associated with several social, educational and religious organisations. BJM is a leading national organisation engaged in developing fraternity amongst Jains, offering social services, promoting vegetarianism and propagating the principles of Tirthankara Mahavir, such as peace and non-violence. . DR. N. P. JAIN was one of the 16 scholars in Sanskrit, who was awarded the Certificate of Honour for his contribution to the language. . DR. NAGESH JAIN of Delhi was honoured as Samaj Ratna (community jewel) for his contribution to the society at the All India Shvetambara Sthanakwasi Jain Conference. • PROF. MANUBHAI SHAH, founder and managing trustee of the Consumer Education and Research Centre, Ahmedabad, Gujarat was presented with the Great Son of the Soil Award by the All India Conference of Intellectuals. The citation for Prof. Shah referred to his tireless work for consumer rights and their protection. He is now concentrating on the promotion and protection of public interest, law and legal services to disadvantaged groups. The AICOI is proud to have a genius, a man of calibre. He has also recently been appointed to the Three Members Consumer Disputes Appellate Committee of the Bombay Suburban Electricity Supply Company representing consumer interests. - MR. AMIT RAJAT PATEL 23, Crew Chief of USA's UH-60 Black Hawk 101 Aviation Squad, has been declared "Soldier of the Year". Amit joined the US Army in 1998 after completing his studies in New Delhi, India. He currently studies Aeronautical Science at Daytona Beach in Florida.
Scholars from all over the world came to London. The picture above shows them enjoying a dinner after the conference at Diwana Vegetarian Restaurant in London
Chairman of Shri Chintamani Parshvanath Jain Shvetambara Mandir Trust, Haridwar has been awarded Padma Shri by the President of India on Republic Day 2002. He was born at Gidderbaha, a small town in Punjab. During his school and college days he used to write short stories in the leading Urdu dailies like Pratap, Milap and Tej. Nearly forty of his stories were published in these dailies. Although he was trained as an electronic engineer, his love for writing made him a publisher. He wrote the first forty books on electronics, published by his company BPB Publications. This was in 1958 when such books were not published in India. BPB is the top publisher of computer books in the whole of Asia.
TORONTO: NO VOLUNTEERS! An unusual situation arose at the recent annual general meeting of the Jain Society of Toronto. The society invited nominations for the 15-member executive committee (EC), but no one came forward voluntarily to serve it! In the past, an election was a great event. However, this year interest amongst the 460 families (and about 90 present?) dwindled considerably. After a great deal of persuasion, only the Vice-president and the Treasurer positions were filled and as many as thirteen positions remained vacant. The outgoing EC could not hand over the charge and therefore had to continue as the Caretaker Committee. Consequently, the election process will be repeated within ninety days. Other regular items such as reports and financial statements were approved.
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Jain Spirit • June - August 2002