SourceNEW YORK, NEW YORK, December 15 2004: A British philosophy professor who has been a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century has changed his mind. He now believes in God – more or less – based on scientific evidence, and he says so on a video released Thursday. At age 81, after decades of insisting that belief…
SourceCHENNAI, INDIA, December 14, 2004: A vina artist in the United States calls up Chennai on Vijayadasami Day. She wants to listen to the voice of her guru on the auspicious day and learns a complete song over an international telephone call. Anusha of New Jersey came to Chennai during her holidays two months ago and began to learn Carnatic…
SourceLONDON, ENGLAND, December 14, 2004: In its campaign for better understanding and cooperation with various ethnic minority communities Scotland Yard hosted a reception for Britain’s Hindu community members on Monday evening. The designate Commissioner of Police Sir Ian Blair, addressing the members at the New Scotland Yard office in Broadway, said, “I want to clear that there is no hierarchy…
SourceKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, December 14, 2004: The Malaysia Hindu Sangam issued the following announcement today: At a special emergency meeting of Hindu Organization leaders on the above subject held on December 11, 2004, at Malaysian Hindu Sangam Headquarters, it was decided that a special meeting be held to formulate a strategic plan to reduce or stop the rate of conversions…
SourceKAILASH, TIBET, December 14, 2004: (HPI note: We have no independent confirmation of this unusual report from the New Jersey based India Daily.) People in deep Himalayas in Chinese territory have recently reported strange microwave and radio signals. The signals are most prominent around a region called Kailash regarded by Hindus for thousands of years as the home of God…
SourceSINGAPORE, December 15, 2004: (HPI note: This report appeared in the International Herald Tribune.) She was known as the “nightingale of India,” but that scarcely captured what Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi – who died on Saturday at the age of 88 – was all about. Known widely as just “M.S.,” she was the greatest singer of Carnatic music, the South Indian…
SourceBANGALORE, INDIA, December 12, 2004: Madurai Shanmugavadivu “M.S.” Subbulakshmi, an Indian classical singer who mesmerized millions, died late Saturday in the southern city of Madras, a close family friend said. She was 88. She died of a respiratory illness, the friend said Sunday. Born on Sept. 16, 1916, in the southern Indian temple town of Madurai, she recorded her first…
SourceKUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, December 16, 2004: “Kamba Nataka” a dramatized English version book of Kamba Ramayanam by Dr. S.M. Ponniah was released on December 16, 2004, at the K.R. Soma auditorium, Kuala Lumpur, by Minister of Works, Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu. President of Malaysia Hindu Sangam (“source”), Datuk A.Vaithilingam, delivered keynote address. Associate Professor of University Malaya, Mr. Singaravelu,…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, December 13, 2004: There are 3,372 languages in India, but only 216 are spoken by a group of 10,000 persons or more, the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) was informed on Monday. As per the Census of India, 1991, there are 1,576 classified and 1,796 unclassified languages, and out of these 10,000 persons or more speak…
SourceNEW DELHI, INDIA, December 13, 2004: 13: India ranks a poor 106th among 127 nations in its educational reach, according to Unesco’s Global Monitoring Report for 2005, parliament was informed Monday. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh said the Education for All Development Index of India was 0.658 in the 2003-4 Global…