Compiled by LIEW JIA XIAN and R. ARAVINTHAN

       THIRTY Tamil books penned by local authors have been selected to be included in public libraries in Selangor this year through the efforts of the Super Mind Dinamik (SMD) institute, Makkal Osai reported.

       The effort to make Tamil books available through libraries in Selangor began 13 years ago, SMD coordinator and motivational speaker M. Ganesan said.

       The effort has received good support from director of Selangor Public Library Corporation Datin Mastura Muhamad and her team. This has led to about 50,000 Tamil books becoming available to the public.

       > The daily also reported that ceremonial ponds in all 2,359 Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu, India, are filled to the brim following heavy downpours over the past week.

       Many districts in the state have been inundated and hundreds of thousands have been displaced due to the monsoon.

       However, the rain has been a boon for the temples, many of which saw their ceremonial ponds filled to the brim for the first time in years. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department which manages the temples said the ponds had been undergoing renovation.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.