telegraphindia.com

NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 24, 2008: A mammoth effort to analyze genetic variations across Indian populations has blurred the lines that separate caste and religious groups. The Indian Genome Variation (IGV) project analyzed 75 genes from 1,871 people drawn from 55 diverse caste, religious and tribal communities. Scientists also expect the project to throw light on how genes influence diseases, susceptibility to infections, and response to medicines.

The study by a consortium of six Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratories and the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta, has provided the strongest genetic evidence yet to suggest that several populations have intermingled in India over the centuries. Dravidian lineages have mixed with Indo-Europeans, Austroasiatics have mingled with Dravidians, and bridge populations in central India are blends of Dravidian, Indo-European and Himalayan groups. “When people move, genes move with them,” said Partha Mazumder, a senior project scientist at the statistical institute in Calcutta. “Genes carried by migrating humans cluster into groups, and different populations acquire some genetic distinctiveness.”

www.hindu.com

MADURAI: A sea of devotees poured into the four Masi streets in the vicinity of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here on Saturday to witness the car festival on the 11th day of the annual Chithirai festival of the temple. The aesthetically decorated cars were drawn around the streets by devotees who pulled them with the help of thick ropes. Lord Sundareswarar, Goddess Meenakshi and Chandikeswarar were brought to the East Masi Street where special pujas were performed for the deities. Then the and returned to their base after more than five hours. Ambulance and fire tenders followed the cars.

www.hinduismtoday.com

Make your life very exciting, but always think of it as fun. Adversities as well as the harmony should be enjoyable. Don’t become sober and morose and have a castor oil face in the name of spirituality. Just be happy. Even if you make a mistake, say, “Hey, I did this? Great! What a wonderful lesson I learned!”
   Renowned spiritual teacher Swami Satchidananda (1914-2002), founder of the Light of Truth Universal Shrine (LOTUS) in Yogaville, Virginia