Jain Spirit 2005 09 No23

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

Page 11

MERCEDES-BENZ TO OFFER VEGETARIAN OPTIONS FOR ALL FUTURE MODELS
BATTING FOR MODERN
KILLER ON THE
<MEAT FREE MERCS
The British brought cricket
to India and it became a mass sport. It is therefore quite ominous that the
launch of Jain Spirit in India was conducted at one of India's most prestigious cricket clubs, the CCI in Churchgate, Mumbai. Present at the event were Gurudev Chitrabhanu and Mrs. Indu Jain, Chairman of Times of India and Times Foundation. The invited guests included long standing supporters of Jain Spirit in India like our writers Dhara Kothari and Manish Modi, Jagdish Agarwal and Milind Khetka of Dinodia Picture Agency. A special dedication was made to Mr. Pradip Jain, the leading ambassador of the magazine in India. Jain Spirit Editor, Dr. Atul Shah explained that Jain Spirit was a charity which belonged to the community and thanked all its supporters and encouraged others to join this extended family. Everyone felt that India is modernising very fast and there are hardly any quality spiritual magazines in English. Hence there is a large potential market for this..
SRB 6818
ILTON KEYNES: Vegetarian South Asians will be pleased to learn that luxury
carmaker MercedesBenz informed People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that all future Mercedes-Benz models will be available with a leather-free option either at the dealership or via special order in all markets. It takes four cows to make the leather interior for one Mercedes. PETA pointed out that leather is offensive to millions of people, including the many Hindus and Jains who help make up Britain's wealthiest minority community.
photo courtesy of Peta car companies acknowledging today's socially conscious consumers who refuse to use leather. In December 2004, PETA thanked Saab for announcing that consumers can order any Saab model with a leather-free interior. And in recognition of its stand not to equip its hot-selling gasolineelectric hybrid Prius with a leather interior, automaker Toyota recently won PETA's Proggy "Breakthrough" Award (Proggy is short for progress).
"Car companies are learning that offering leather-free options for their range is environmentally and ethically responsible," says PETA Europe campaigner Poorva Joshipura. "We are delighted that Mercedes-Benz will accommodate luxury car consumers who think cruelty is unimpressive."
Campaign supporters included Jain leader HH Gurudev Shri Chitrabhanuji, Indian MP Maneka Gandhi and actor James Cromwell, whose credits include The Sum of All Fears, The Green Mile, The General's Daughter and Babe, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.
Gurudev Chitrabhanu & Mrs. Indu Jain
Other celebrities who ride without the hide include Alicia Silverstone, Kate Pierson of the B-52's and Sir Paul McCartney.
For more information, visit www.PETAUK.org
Mercedes-Benz joins a growing list of in Education International