GO TO SOURCE PATHANAMTHITTA, KERALA, INDIA, December 25, 2000: A woman pilgrim was killed and 150 others were injured when the iron barricade along the Marakkoottom-Saramkuthi section of the Sabrimala trekking path gave way under crowd pressure. The deceased has been identified as Samrajamma, age 55 of Andhra Pradesh. Sabarimala has been witnessing a high volume of devotees since Sunday…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, December 31, 2000: Conversion and reconversion to and from Christianity has been the source of contention between families and neighbors in India’s state of Gujarat. However, the holiday season passed with no violent incidences among the tribals where the clashes between Hindus and those converted to Christianity are most predominant. Receiving lots of encouragement…
GO TO SOURCE GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, December 31, 2000: Well respected Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, spoke candidly about the issue of conversion. He is reported as telling the Swiss weekly “Dimanche,” “Above all, let us not try to convert one another.” This was in response to the flourishing of Buddhism in Europe and proselytizing by Christians in Asia. The…
GO TO SOURCE WASHINGTON, D.C., January 3, 2001: According to a recent study, teenagers who take virginity pledges, promising to abstain from sex until marriage, often delay intercourse significantly longer than those who do not make a public commitment to chastity. The study, financed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, analyzed the answers of 6,800 students…
GO TO SOURCE ORISSA, INDIA: Hindu girls are forced to tuck their bangles and bindis into their school satchels before entering the premises of St. Mary’s Convent to attend school. Individuals have protested against the ban, including the mother of a young girl who said her daughter was beaten for wearing the traditional Hindu women’s attire to school. The state…
GO TO SOURCE CHENNAI, INDIA, January 1, 2001: Finnish composer and pianist, Eero Hameenniemi, has been taken with Carnatic music ever since he first heard it. Eero and his ensemble, aptly named “Nada,” are now in Chennai and were scheduled to perform with mridangam maestro Karaikudi Mani’s “Srutilaya” January 4 at the Narada Gana Sabha.The Finnish group has been experimenting…
GO TO SOURCE MOSCOW, RUSSIA, December 30, 2000: The mythological Grandfather Frost rooted in Indo-European culture delights children during New Year festivities in Russia by delivering presents. According to a Russian scholar, Grandfather Frost as the dear old man will be shedding his mask to reveal his true identity as Varuna, the Hindu Vedic God of the Seas. This revelation…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, December 30, 2000: With one life every ten seconds being claimed by fatal diseases such as lung cancer and chronic bronchitis, the Delhi government has decided to forbid the sale of tobacco products to youth under the age of 18 years. It is hoped that the new law will curb the wide-spread use of…
Source: Hindustan Times SANTINIKETAN, INDIA, December 28, 2000: Imagine tuning in to your favorite radio station and hearing Rabindranath Tagore’s verses sung to a catchy pop tune. The Visva Bharati Trust, to which Tagore willed all his words, is trying to interest young singers and musicians in over 2,300 verses penned by Tagore. According to Trust chairman, Dilip Kumar Sinha,…
GO TO SOURCE MUMBAI, INDIA, December 30, 2000: The Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Swami Jayendra Saraswati is in Mumbai to present the National Eminence Awards instituted by the South Indian Education Society. In an interview the seer spoke of his support of Bal Thackeray’s brand of Hindutva — regarded as extreme even by Hindu nationalists — and why he’s forgiven…