GO TO SOURCE PUNE, INDIA, June 24, 2002: The ambitious Sanskrit dictionary project – arguably the largest lexicographical work ever — at the Deccan College in Pune has become a hostage of time as the work, though under way for 45 years, has not even completed the first letter of the alphabet as yet. The monumental project, titled “Deccan College…
GO TO SOURCE INDIA, June 23, 2002: The age-old tradition of a solely male-dominated profession is slowly giving way as more women are trained for the priesthood. In Maharashtra’s orthodox brahminical order, Pune-based Shankar Seva Samiti has trained over 7,000 women priests from all castes since its inception in 1976. In Kerala, until a few years ago, anything related to…
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, June 18, 2002: In her new book, “Tiger Ladies” ($24, Beacon Press), Sudha Koul tells of growing up in the beautiful Valley of Kashmir where Muslims and Hindus coexisted in peace for centuries. Born in 1947, the year of India and Pakistan’s partition, Koul writes of a land of unparalleled beauty where people admired learning,…
GO TO SOURCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, June 10, 2002: Sixty-eight young males and one-hundred and seventy-four females looking for a marriage partner participated in the Malaysia Hindu Sangam’s matchmaking event on June 10th. To take part in the event, participants paid RM 20 each which allowed them to look at photographs of potential life partners. A male pharmacist from Penak…
GO TO SOURCE DEHRA DUN, INDIA, June 16: Twenty-six pilgrims were drowned and six injured, two of them seriously, when a private bus in which they were returning from Badrinath shrine skidded off the road and plunged into the Alaknanda river at Baldora area in Chamoli district last night, police said today. The bus, going to Hardwar from Badrinath, was…
GO TO SOURCE THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA, SOUTH INDIA, June 9, 2002: A VHP recruitment drive here got off to a slower-than-hoped start, but the local leaders were still satisfied with the results. Though the drive was aimed at enlisting youth in a program to check conversion in tribal areas, half those enrolling were older. VHP organizing secretary Kummanam Rajasekharan said he…
Source: Times of India LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, April 28, 2002: Ever since Dolly the cloned sheep hit the news in 1997, her progress and life has been watched world-wide. Cloning, using the DNA of an adult cell and injecting it into an egg, has been attempted by scientists around the world. Ian Wilmut, co-creator of Dolly the sheep, has analyzed…
Source: The Hindu BHUBANESWAR, ORISSA, INDIA, June 18, 2002: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has reconverted over 5,000 tribal Christians to Hinduism in the Sundargarh district during the past two years. The VHP’s local unit conducted a ceremony after the converted Christians filed affidavits expressing their willingness to reconvert, either before the court or the notary. On June 16, about 143…
Source: The Hindu BHUBANESWAR, INDIA, June 19, 2002: The Global Council of Indian Christians has demanded an enquiry into the alleged conversion of 143 tribal Christians into Hinduism by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Orissa’s Sundargarh district on June 16. In a statement issued today, the national convener of the council, Sajan K. George, alleged that the conversions were done…
GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON, May 11, 2002: Hospitals, and in particular maternity wards, have had to adapt to multicultural traditions and practices in an attempt to meet the needs of immigrant mothers in the last ten years. In the last decade half of all births in the U.S. have been to mothers born outside the country, compared to one in…