Vol. No. 02 September, 2000 Issue
Editors :P.L.Jain, Dr.Sulekh Jain, A. K. Jain	First News Magazine of Jainism on Internet Circulation 6500 Copies ( Jains Only )	www.jainsamaj.org

"Gajmoti" Telecasted by Doodarshan
A T.V. programme, "Gajmoti" based on Jain mythological stories, produced by Indra Kiran Arts, New Delhi was telecast by Doordarshan recently. Another series, "Nag Ka Haar" produced by the same company will be telecast soon by the Doordarshan at 7.30 P.M. (IST) on every Thursday. This series consists of 6 episodes. Shri Ravindra Jain has given the music in these programmes.

Mahavir Jain Library
On the occasion of 101th birth day of Acharya Shri Anand Rishi Ji Maharaj, Sadhwi Ji Shri Chandana Ji inaugurated Mahavir Jain Library at Hyderabad.

Another Jain achieves the milestone - Asulal Sancheti
Jodhpur 1 Sept. 2000 : It is a matter of pride and pleasure to note that one of the celebrities amongst the Jain community, Dr. Asu Lal Sancheti has earned the distinction of having his great book, Translations of Mahakavi Kalidasa,s world famous ballad, MEGHADUTAM, chosen for inclusion in the Guiness Book of World Records. The book has been brought out in three volumes and contains translations of the original  work in 36 It is a matter of pride and pleasure to note that one of the celebrities amongst the Jain community, Dr. Asu Lal Sancheti has earned the distinction of having his great book, Translations of Mahakavi Kalidasa,s world famous ballad, MEGHADUTAM, chosen for inclusion in the Guiness Book of World Records. The book has been brought out in three volumes and contains translations of the original  work in 36 languages, all in verse form. These languages include 12 European languages and 24 Indian languages and dialects. Congratulations to Dr. Sancheti from Jainsamaj.org and Ahimsa Foundation. Dr. sancheti happens to be an honorable member of the Editorial Board of this web site.

Veer Ji Raghav Scholarship - North America
Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) has institute Veer ji Raghav ji Scholarship for students following studies sand research in Jainism. The scholarship will be awarded for a period of four years at the rate of Rs. 15,000 to 17,000 per annum.

Acharya Pravar Shri Hira Chandra Ji Maharaj 
Jalgaon: Acharya Pravar Shri Hira Chandra Ji Maharaj (9 Thana) along-with Mahasati Shri tej Kunwar Ji Maharaj (7 Thana) are having their Chaturmas stay at Jalgaon. The entire Jain community of the town is thronging the place of stay of the sadhus and sadhwis to have their darshan. People from far and near are also visiting the place  in huge numbers every day to have the privilege to listen to the holy scriptures and darshan of the saints.

Acharya Dr. Shiv Muni Maharaj
Surat : Acharya Dr. Shiv Muni Maharaj, Head of the Sthanakwasi Sraman Sangha is having his Chaturmas at Surat accompanied with 10 other sadhus. Residents of Surat feel highly gratified and motivated by this unique opportunity and showing great interest in the activities and programmes being held every day. Religious prayers and camps are being held regularly. In particular, during the period of Paryushan Parva.

Upadhayay Pravar Shri Kanahaiya Lal Ji Maharaj
Mount Abu : Upadhayay Pravar Shri Kanahaiya Lal Ji Maharaj (Kamal) is having his chaturmas at this palce. Apart from regular programmes of pravachan, tapasya etc., an Accupressure and Magneto-therapy camp was organised recently by him for a period of 16 days. Dr. Rajendra Muni, disciple of Acharya Shri Devendra Muni is also having his chaturmas along-with other saints at Mt. Abu. He organised a dhyan camp for a period of 8 days in which people showed great interest and were highly benefitted. Sadhwi ji Shri (Dr.) Muktiprabha ji , Divyaprabha ji (7 Thana) are also spending their four months stay at Mt. Abu and the community staying at Mt. Abu and Abu road, as well as visitors from outside visit them in large numbers to pay their respects.

Religious camps
Religious camps were held at various places, namely, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Aligarh, Gangapur city and Sheopur Kalan for the education of young children, wherein they were imparted lessons on Samayik and Pratikraman and other basic principles of Jainism.

Toronto (Canada) Jain Temple
In the month of August two idols of Jain Tirthankars were stolen from Jain temple at Toronto and till date no clues are available about the culprits.

Within a few days of this incident, someone  has  painted the walls of the temple with  slogans offensive to the  entire Jain society.  The Toronto, Jain society which consist of about 5000 members is taken by shock. These activities appear to have been carried out  on behalf of organization against the minorities.

The premises of present Jain temple used to be a church once. In 1986 this place was purchased for US $ 1.0 million by the Jain community.

Source  :- Monthly Magazine (Sept. 2000), Shri Vidya Sagar Times, Ashok Nagar

SONGIR HILLS ALLOTTED TO JAIN SAMAJ
The Government of Madhya Pradesh in an order released on 19th July has allotted a part of land situated on Songir hill (vill. Sinnawal, Dist. Datia.) to Jainsamaj. The land measuring 45.053 hectare has been transferred in the name of Shri Digambar Jain Siddhakshetra Songir Sanrakshani Committee . Declaring the news in Gwalior Shri. Gyanchand Jain said the remaining approximately 1 hectare land in which a Shiv Mandir, Son lake & the approaching road are located, belonged to the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh.

Mr. Suresh Pachori, President, Congress Sevadal, Mr. Hridhay Mohan Jain (Vidisha) & Mr. Punam Chand Sethi (New Delhi) have been amongst the many people who have made this possible by their tireless efforts.

Mr. Ramesh Chandra Jain, President Bhartiya Digambar Jain Tirthakshetra Committee has thanked Mr. Digvijay Singh, Chief Minister, of Madhya Pradesh for his role in making it possible on behalf of the entire Jain Samaj.

From : Shri Vidyasagar Times, Ashok Nagar

A WAKE UP CALL FOR JAINS
Jain religion has the distinction of being the only scientific religion which gives right to live to human beings and also recognizes the existence of plants & animals. This has lead to many people living in Canada, England, America, Germany, France, Australia to accept Jainism. 

But what are we doing in India regarding propagating our religion? In the nation which boasts of population count of a hundred crores only 40 lakhs are Jains. Once we were 15 crores, which came to being 4 crores & now only 40 lakhs. The day will not be far off when the Jain religion becomes extinct.

Our brothers belonging to different sects like Swetamber & Digambar are busy dividing a great religion & its religious heritage.

Certain constitutional rights given to Jains regarding educational trust etc. are also withdrawn by the Central Govt. The Government also proposes to remove Jainism as a religion of India in the next population count. All this is going to happen in the 2600th birth anniversary of Lord Mahavir. Indian constitution had given us some special rights according to which we could admit 50% Jain students & 100% of Jain staff in Jain Educational Institutions. We could have made use of this golden opportunity & produced thousands of doctors, engineers and other professionals. We have failed to do so. But all is not lost as yet, because there are some devoted & committed community members who take pride in being Jains and  are committed to form a strong & able Jain community in which sectarianism & inter religious fights will have no place. They will be committed to protect the social, educational & political rights of the Jains.

If this article invokes a desire in you to contribute constructively in any way towards the service of your great religion which truly has the merit of being a global religion. 

Please write for more details. Secretary, Rashtriya Samata Dal Post Box No. 58 ,Chinchwad-East Pune-411019, Phone: 7488960 (Mohan Dole), Email: msanglikar@hotmail.com , From : Shri Vidyasagar Times, Ashok Nagar

Technology Summit : The Economic Times
NEW DELHI : Vineet Jain, managing director, Bennett, Coleman &Co, Who called him a strategist, a visionary and an adventurer, put i t: "The  Gates and Microsoft story is about reinventing the corporation to craft the future." He was welcoming Gates at a technology summit co-hosted by Microsoft and The Economics Times. 

As Mrs. Indu Jain, chairman of Bennett, Coleman & Co, illustrating the enormity of the impact he has made to business and life, said: "While ancient seers of India discovered that there are three kinds of spaces - the outer space, the inner space where thoughts and emotions flow and the absolute space of consciousness where the other two spaces exist - Bill Gates has contributed the fourth space Cyberspace."

Jains are a Minority Community
Landmark Judgement by Justice Rajesh Balia Jodhpur High Court
In a landmark judgement, the Rajasthan High Court has ruled that Jains are a minority community. The court has said that Jains cannot be deprived of the rights and privileges accorded to minority communities in the Constitution. 

The order also stated that the non-issue of the notification relating to the Jains' inclusion as a minority community should not deprive them of the rights and privileges enjoyed by the minority communities. 

Justice Rajesh Balia passed this order after admitting a writ petition filed by Vijayshanti Educational Trust of Udaipur. The judge said Jainism was a separate religion and as this community had a limited population, the Jains should be treated as a minority community. 

The petitioner had pleaded that in Rajasthan, the population of Jains was a meagre 1.28 percent according to the 1991 census, but it was not given the status of a minority community while Muslims, having a population of 8.01 percent and Sikhs with a 1.48 percent population had been included as minority communities. 

The petitioner had also stated that the Jain community had a right to reserve 50 percent seats in vocational and educational institutions run by the community. Jains should be given the rights and privileges of a minority community as provided under Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution, he had said. 

The petitioner had pointed out that the state minority commission had also recommended that Jains should be included in the list of minority communities, but the state government had rejected. ( from: Times of India, New Delhi dt: 17th September, 2000)

Millennium Ahimsa Award to 
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan 
The Jain Mahasabha, Delhi, has suggested to the Centeral Government and also to the UN that the Mahavir Centenary Year 2001 be designated as Ahimsa Year. The Mahasabha has sought a declaration to this effect as early as possible.

Rikhab Chand Jain, president of the 2600th Janam Kalyanak Mahotsav Samiti, has informed President K. R. Narayanan of the Samiti's decision to establish an international Ahimsa Academy in Delhi to propagate ahimsa as a means for attaining world peace.

The Samiti has also decided to present the Millennium Ahimsa Award to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The President has reportedly welcomed the decision. The President K. R. Narayanan described ahimsa as the soul of Indian culture and said Mahavir's philosophy of "live and let live" has acquired greater relevance in the world today.

Earlier, leaders of the Jain Mahasabha, Delhi, an apex organisation of all Jains, led by Dilip Gandhi, MP, met President K. R. Narayanan on the eve of Kshamavani Divas.

Seven Jain Students Clear UPSC Examination
Jabalpur : Acharya Shree Vidya Sagar Training institute - Every year several institute join acharya's institute for preparatory training for various competative examinations held in the country.

This year seven students trained at Acharya Vidya Sagar Academy have been declared successful.

The names of the successful candidates are as follows:

1. Shobit Jain - Indore

2. Sanjay Jain - Delhi 

3. Rajeev Jain - Delhi

4. Manoj Jain - Kota

5. Amit Chaudhary - Damoh

6. Vaibhav Bajaj - Damoh

7. Rajesh Jain - Delhi

Ahimsa Foundation wishes good luck and bright future to all the successful candidates. 

Diksha
The Diksha ceremony will be held at Jalgaon on 7th October, 2000 to grant diksha to the following persons by Ratnavanshiya Acharya Shri Hira Chand Ji Maharaj in the holy presence of Upadhyay Shri Man Chand Ji Maharaj:

1. Shri Yogesh Kumar Jain son of Shri Shanti Lal Jain of vill. Choura, Distt. Tonk (Raj.). Age:25 years.

2. Sushri Sanju Jain Daughter of Sri Prabhu Dayal ji of Sawai Madhopur (Raj.) Age: 21 years.

3. Sushri Sharmila Guglia daughter of Shri Sukan Raj Ji of Hyderabad. Age: 20 years.

4. Sushri Nitu Kumari daughter of Sri Sukan Raj Ji of Hyderabad. Age: 18 years.

Paryushan Celebrations
Celebrations on the occasion of Paryushan Parva and Samvatsari were organised at various places in the country and abroad with great fervor and enthusiasm. Specially, where holy saints and sadhwis are holding their Varsha-vas, these were solemnised by the community with all religious practices for self-purification, liberation from miseries and victory over karmas. Samvatsari was observed as a day of confession, repentence and forgiveness.

Smt. Sushila Bohra and Shri Anand Chopra eminent religious figures from Jodhpur (Raj.) visited the Jain community at Hongkong and stayed with them during the entire period of Paryushan Parva. They inspired the Jain Community through a series of lectures and discussions and observing religious practices, loke Pratikraman, Poushadh, Daya, fasting and meditation and spread the message of Mahavir.