www.nytimes.com LONDON, U.K., August 21, 2005: In 2001, President Bush restricted federal financing for stem cell research. The decision, which was shaped at least partly by the Republican Party’s evangelical Christian base, provoked joy in India. The weekly newsmagazine India Today spoke of a “new pot of gold” for Indian science and business. “If Indians are smart,” the magazine said,…
www.newsobserver.com NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.A., May 30, 2005: The North Carolina Hindu community recently held the official ground-breaking ceremony for their Sri Venkateswara Temple that will be modelled after the temple in Tirupati, India. With US$500,000 in pledges, the community is planning to build a 4,000-square foot structure that is expected to cost $1.5 million when it is finished two years…
www.pib.nic.in INDIA, July 5, 2005: When the General Conference of UNESCO met in Paris in 2003, the 32th session adopted an International Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The convention defined intangible cultural heritage as follows, “The practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – of…
www.sfgate.com CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., August 1, 2005: David Ian Miller conducts an interview with Marilyn Schlitz, vice president for research and education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and senior scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center, on the controversial subject of prayer and healing. Researchers at Duke University have recently published research that indicates that cardiac patients showed no improvement…
www.vrg.org USA, August 25, 2005: Being an airline passenger has never been more challenging than it is now. This is even truer for vegetarians as many airlines have eliminated some or all meal options to cut costs in this extremely budget-focused environment. Thus, we called major airlines to determine which offer vegetarian meals. The results were highly variable. In some…
edition.cnn.com DENVER, COLORADO, August 18, 2005: After publishing his team’s proposal in a recent issue of Nature, Cornell University ecologist, Josh Donlan, has had to stand his ground. Donlan has proposed that certain African species, including elephants, that are close to extinction as a result of diminishing habitats could be relocated to North America. CNN founder, Ted Turner, who owns…
news.webindia123.com KOLKATA, INDIA, August 12, 2005: Kolkata’s new generation sculptors are adapting new methods to explore foreign markets through the Internet to cater to a growing demand for Durga icons by Indians living abroad during Durga festivals. Websites detailing varying sizes and styles of Durga icons beckon Bengali associations from across the globe. There is a considerable number of Bengali…
www.hindu.com CHENNAI, INDIA, 18 August. 2005: Eighty-one-year-old Saidai D. Natarajan belongs to the vanishing tribe of the Oduvars — professional temple singers. He has taught hymns from the Tirumurai to about 500 students in the city. Mr. Natarajan conducts classes in Thevaram and Carnatic music in his house at West Mambalam. But now their number has dwindled and he is…
www.hindu.com KARNATAKA, GADAG, INDIA, 18 August, 2005: An altercation between Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste groups over drinking water in a village hotel has led to the social boycott of 80 Dalit (“Untouchables”) families at Hallikeri village of Mundargi taluk in Gadag district for the past four days, according to delayed reports reaching here. As a consequence, none of those…
www.mercurynews.com SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA, May 30, 2005: Sixth and seventh grade students in California are required to study world religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and others as part of the state’s educational program. Studying world religions should make students from all kinds of backgrounds aware of the philosophy and culture inherent in each of the world’s great religions.…