Source UNITED STATES, June 20, 2011 (NY Times): In the early 1970s, 25 percent of Americans were nearsighted; three decades later, the rate had risen to 42 percent, and similar increases have occurred around the world. Although genes do have an influence, they are not the only factors at play. In this case, the rapid increase in nearsightedness appears to…
Source People rarely disclose their character so clearly as when they describe someone else’s.
Source INDIA, May 26, 2011: Did the Konkan coast from Shrivardhan in Raigad to Vengurla in Sindhudurga host a human habitat around 8000 years ago? Did that population have well-developed engineering skills? Was there a unique Konkan culture in existence in 6000BC? A new archaeological discovery, below sea level along the Konkan coast (off Goa and Karnataka), could give answers…
Source ROMANIA, April 13, 2011: Today the Dimitrie Cantemir Library hosts the launch of the first “Sanskrit Manual” in Romania, authored by Amita Bhose and released by the Cununi de stele Publishing House. Amita Bhose (Calcutta, 1933 – Bucharest,1992), a researcher of Eminescu’s work, Doctor of Philology (1975, with the thesis “Indian Influences on Eminescu’sThought”), writer, translator and university professor,…
Source Once upon a time a man whose ax was missing suspected his neighbor’s son. The boy walked like a thief, looked like a thief and spoke like a thief. But the man found his ax while digging in the valley, and the next time he saw his neighbor’s son, the boy walked, looked and spoke like any other child.—…
Source PUNE, INDIA, June 26, 2011: Over 10,000 warkaris from the southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are attending the wari this year. Some have been a part of this centuries-old tradition of Maharashtra for the last several years by studying the works of Sant Tukaram and Sant Dnyaneshwar, and encouraging their friends and family to be…
Source PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA, June 24, 2011: An arangetram is the solo debut of an Indian classical dancer. It is the culmination of years of study and a family gathering of such importance that hundreds often attend, including relatives from overseas. The dancing and preparation have become a way for parents and teachers to pass down culture and tradition, particularly in…
Source [HPI Notes: Oduvars are singers who offer songs of praise to the temple deity during ceremonies.] TIRUCHY, INDIA, June 20, 2011: “I am satisfied with being an oduvar in this temple and want to be the same until my death,” declares S Angayarkanni (29), a dalit, the only woman oduvar in Tamil Nadu. With her devotion to God and…
Source KALAKKAD, THIRUNELVELI, INDIA, July 7, 2011: The Sri Satya Vageeswarar temple has a wealth of inscriptions, sculptures, murals, music pillars and a towering rajagopuram with about 1,500 stucco figures. The temple has features that go back to the Chola period and so could be more than 800 years old. For its upcoming kumbabishekam later this month, the temple has…
Source INDIA, July 2011: A fierce debate brewed about what to do with billions of dollars worth of treasures in a popular 16th-century Hindu temple in southern India, even as the trove of newly revealed riches was growing. Inside the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, investigators were counting the staggering hoard. But the legal position seems to be very clear on this…