GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, June 9, 2001: Pursuit by potential candidates of more lucrative and less emotionally demanding careers in a booming economy has led to a shortage of clergy to serve in Christian congregations across America. Seminary graduates are often teaching spirituality outside the confines of institutional religion at seminars, retreats and in lay Bible study…
Source: The Hindu THANJAVUR, INDIA, June 5, 2001: Low-income temples in India are at long last receiving help from the government. Each qualifying temple will receive US$357 and contribute an additional $53 from their own coffers. Priests of the each of nearly 2,000 temples will conduct a grand “Kala Puja” that will generate shakti to attract devotees and additional funds…
GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, June 8, 2001: India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa each have at least two million adults suffering from AIDS or infected with the HIV virus, according to a new UN statistical analysis released on Thursday. And in five African countries — Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe — at least 20 percent…
Source: India Tribune BANGALORE, INDIA, May 26, 2001: A 40-foot long green granite block weighing 100 tons destined for carving into a statue of Lord Hanuman fell off its 96-wheel trailer onto the roadside while negotiating a turn near Bangalore. Upon learning the huge stone’s sacred destiny, the local villagers immediately began worshipping it. The popularity of the stone is…
GO TO SOURCE CALCUTTA, INDIA, June 9, 2001: While we in India battle each other on the streets on whether Sanskrit should be revived in the school curricula or not, top notch Western universities have been busy churning our one esoteric dissertation after another on Panini’s Ashtadhyay and comparing Bhartihari’s and Patanjali’s grammatical logic. The irony has been in place…
Source: The Hindustan Times NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 29, 2001: The subcommittee set up in 1997 to prepare a status report on the condition of cremation grounds in New Delhi and to formulate a policy for their improvement is yet to finalize its report. Lack of interest on the part of members and health officials is cited. The committee was…
Source: Religion News Service VENTURA. CALIFORNIA, June 7, 2001: Tithing, the ancient practice of contributing one-tenth of your income to the religion of your choice, is on the decline in America. According to the Barna Research Group who conducted a telephone poll on 1,005 adults, 17% claimed to tithe but in actuality only 6% donated one-tenth of their income to…
GO TO SOURCE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, June 8, 2001: Malaysian police said yesterday a Muslim militant group which has been behind a trail of bomb blasts, armed robberies and attempted murders was planning to wage a “holy war” to turn Malaysia into a “purist” Islamic state. Nine members of the group, all Malaysians who were arrested recently, had fought with…
Source: United News of India NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 21, 2001: Once wealthy merchant families numbering around 50,000 who lived an honorable life contributing to their society for thousands of years, the plight of Hindus has been reduced to a slum-like existence in Afghanistan. After the Taliban hard-liner regime took over power in the country, they imposed a fundamentalist approach…
GO TO SOURCE SINGAPORE, June 7, 2001: The Economic Development Board (EDB) has joined forces with an Indian multimedia company to make an animated film about Buddha. The US$5.5 million production entitled “Buddha,” due to be finished next year, will be the first full-length animated film to be co-produced here. The 90-minute story about Prince Siddharta’s journey towards enlightenment will…