London's Mahalakshmi Temple Feeds Jobless Indian Doctors
LONDON, UK, January 2, 2006: Standing in the courtyard of the Sri Mahalakshmi Hindu temple in east London, a dozen jobless doctors are eating dhal, rice and potatoes off paper plates. Wrapped against the cold, they come here each evening when the temple serves free food. They are among thousands of overseas doctors who have flocked to Britain in the past five years in response to the NHS's global appeal for more staff. But instead of finding hospitals ready to welcome them, they face unemployment, poverty and discrimination. A growing number of unemployed doctors, most from the Indian subcontinent, are living on the breadline in east London and other British cities. Their numbers have soared from 1,000 who passed the
professional and linguistic assessment board (Plab) test--a requirement for all overseas doctors--in 1998 to 6,666 who passed in 2005. Passing the test is the first of many hurdles this year's doctors must clear. All face months of hardship while they struggle to find work, and many never obtain jobs and return home broke. A survey by the General Medical Council (GMC) shows that less than half of those who passed the Plab test in summer 2004 found work within six months, and a quarter were still unemployed a year later.
Hindu Press International <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hindu Press International <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
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January 9, 20061. Afghan Sikhs and Hindus Regain Cremation Grounds
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN, January 6, 2006: Sikh and Hindu communities here no more have to agonize over finding a place to cremate their dead - a funeral ground vandalized by the Taliban has been restored to them. The Afghan government has given back the possession of the cremation ground in downtown Kabul to the two communities after getting encroachments removed from there. Kabul Singh Sabha president Sardar Ravinder Singh said that cremations there had been resumed, though police protection was always sought as a precaution. He thanked President Hamid Karzai's government for granting them full freedom to practise their religion without any hindrance and restoring the dignity of the community. Hindus and Sikhs were not allowed by the Taliban rulers to cremate their dead in Kabul and the place was vandalized and encroached upon by fanatics. The difficulties faced in taking the dead to as far as Ghazni forced them to make arrangements for cremation within the Karte Parwan Gurdwara, which was the only one to have escaped destruction during the civil war in the 1990s. The place is a pilgrimage for Hindus and Sikhs because it is believed to house the samadhis (burial sites) of two direct descendants of the founder of the Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev. The ground also has the samadhi of a Hindu saint, Misher Jagdish. The population of Sikhs in Afghanistan, once around 50,000, is believed to have dwindled to just over a thousand today because of the ethnic cleaning carried out by the Taliban.
2. London's Mahalakshmi Temple Feeds Jobless Indian Doctors
LONDON, UK, January 2, 2006: Standing in the courtyard of the Sri Mahalakshmi Hindu temple in east London, a dozen jobless doctors are eating dhal, rice and potatoes off paper plates. Wrapped against the cold, they come here each evening when the temple serves free food. They are among thousands of overseas doctors who have flocked to Britain in the past five years in response to the NHS's global appeal for more staff. But instead of finding hospitals ready to welcome them, they face unemployment, poverty and discrimination. A growing number of unemployed doctors, most from the Indian subcontinent, are living on the breadline in east London and other British cities. Their numbers have soared from 1,000 who passed the professional and linguistic assessment board (Plab) test--a requirement for all overseas doctors--in 1998 to 6,666 who passed in 2005. Passing the test is the first of many hurdles this year's doctors must clear. All face months of hardship while they struggle to find work, and many never obtain jobs and return home broke. A survey by the General Medical Council (GMC) shows that less than half of those who passed the Plab test in summer 2004 found work within six months, and a quarter were still unemployed a year later.
3. Christians Wary of Tamil Nadu's Free Feeding Program
NDTVCHENNAI, INDIA, January 4, 2006: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's offer of "Annadhanam," or free meal scheme, has divided the Christian churches in the state. While the Protestants have welcomed the extension of the daily feeding program to seven churches after Hindu temples and dargahs (Sufi saint shrines), the Catholic Bishops Council wants it stopped. They feel that converting a place of worship into a mass meal center will disturb the sanctity of churches as even non-believers could throng churches just for the food. They also fear it may eventually result in the government poking its nose into Church administration. The Catholics run close to 3,000 schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu. "We fear a possibility of the government, of politicians slowly interfering in our administration," said Father Peter Thuma, Chancellor, Archdiocese of Madras. The AIADMK government, which has received a formal letter from the Catholic Bishops Council rejecting the scheme, dismisses the Church's apprehensions. "When there is no problem in temples and dargahs, I don't see why there should be problems in churches," said Dr. V. Maitreyan, Special Representative, Tamil Nadu Government. There are 3.5 million Catholics in Tamil Nadu - that's more than 5 per cent of the state's population.
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