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different countries including late Dr. L. M. Singhvi, a prominent jurist, a Jain scholar, Indian parliamentarian and a former Ambassador of India to U. K. who had prepared the final draft. Among other activities of the institute the translation of the Jain scriptures under the Jain Sacred Literature Trust is important. This included the translation of the 5th century Tatvartha Sutra (a compendium of Jain philosophy and ethics by Vachaka Umasvati) into contemporary English under the guidance of late Dr. Nathmal Tatia and published by Harper-Collins Publishers in 1994. In 2006 the lOJ in collaboration with the British Library also published a Catalogue of the Jain manuscripts of the British Library (in three volumes) compiled by Nalini Balbir, Kanubhai Sheth, Kalpana Sheth and late C. B. Tripathi (2004).
Jain Academy of the United Kingdom was founded in 1991 which has been offering an undergraduate course in Jain philosophy and religion from De Montfort University in Leicester. The Academy is also associated with an educational and research centre at Bombay University. The School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London has also started M. Phil. and Ph. D. programmes in Jain Studies in recent years.
Besides U. K., Belgium hosts a well-organised Jain community consisting of about 400 families, numbering about 1,500 persons. They have been there since about the middle of the 20th century. The majority of the Jains lives in Antwerp, and they are engaged in the diamond business. A Jain temple and a meditation centre (upashray) exist in Wilrijk (near Antwerp) which was completed in August 2010. There are two cultural associations in Belgium: one is called Jain Cultural Centre and is located at Hoventerstraat 2, Room 345, 2018 Antwerp, and the other is Jain Ashram located at 15 Ahornen Laan, Wilrijk, Antwerp.
United States Sri Virchand R. Gandhi is credited as the first Jain visitor to North America when he attended the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago in 1893. He stayed with the Howard family for two years and lectured extensively on Jainism. His next visit to the U.S. occurred in 1896. Another Jain to have visited the U.S. was Barrister Champat Rai
98 | Jains in India and Abroad
