SourceSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, December 4, 2003: A growing number of Americans simply answer “none” or “no religion” when pollsters ask them their religious affiliation. Some “nones” identify themselves as atheists or agnostics, but the vast majority believe in God, pray and often describe themselves as “spiritual, but not religious.” Nones are one of the fastest growing religious categories in the…
Sify NewsLUCKNOW, INDIA: December 2003: Dr. Chandra Balasubramanium’s living room looks like a museum. She boasts of having the largest collection of Lord Ganesha idols in India — 480 exquisite Ganeshas collected over 22 years. The collection includes Lord Ganesha’s icons made in gold, silver, copper, ivory, marble, amethyst, plastic, mud, rose wood, fibre, sandal, crystal, Bohemian glass, log wood,…
SourceAHMEDABAD, INDIA, December 6, 2003: Junk food, obesity and lifestyle diseases are not confined only to hamburger-eating US but have spread to vegetarian Gujarat as well, with a staggering 7.5 million people suffering from diabetes. The statistics are intimidating. Of Gujarat’s 50 million people, 15 percent suffer from diabetes. Of these, 10 percent are in urban areas and five percent…
SourceJAMMU, INDIA, December 6, 2003: Simultaneous with thaw in Indo-Pak relations, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims in record breaking numbers are pouring into Jammu and Kashmir. For the first time in the month of November, the number of pilgrims visiting the revered Hindu shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi in Trikuta hills in north of Jammu has crossed the five…
SourceMADURAI, INDIA, December 5, 2003: The Tamil Nadu Government’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) has approved the unprecedented sale of lands of the famed Arulmighu Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple to the Mother Teresa Women’s University, Kodaikanal. The university has purchased 2.29 acres of lands owned by the temple in Valayangulam at a cost of US$20,000 to house its extension center…
SourcePUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA, December 4, 2003: Beginning next year, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Christian priests on visit passes need not make fresh applications to extend their services after serving in the country for one year, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung said Wednesday. Instead, they only need to inform State immigration directors and they would be given extensions automatically, he…
SourceCHENNAI, INDIA, December 2, 2003: The Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha, an apex body comprising all acharyas and mandaleswars (both leaders within Hindu monastic orders), was formed here today with the objective of having a coordinated effort on issues concerning Hindus. The convener of the Acharya Sabha, Swami Dayananda Saraswathi, talking to newsmen here today, said the monastery leaders were for…
SourceUSA, November 30, 2003: To the dismay of health experts, diabetes is becoming a global problem. In the next couple of decades, the prevalence of diabetes is expected to triple in Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, to double in the western Pacific and to nearly double in Europe. With an estimated 33 million cases, India…
Rajiv MalikDELHI, INDIA, December 5, 2003: Dr. Ravi Kapur, a psychiatrist, trained in India and UK, is currently the JRD Tata Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. He has been the Deputy Director of the same institute and before that the Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry at the prestigious National Institute of Mental Health &…
SourceBELGIUM, December 4, 2003: Noted Indologist Koenraad Elst of Belgium wrote an excellent biography of Sita Ram Goel, who passed away yesterday at age 82. Following are excerpts from the biography, “India’s Only Communalist,” which is available in full at “source.” Elst writes: There is only one man in India whom I have ever known to say: “I am a…