Russia is celebrating Epiphany on Tuesday...

Russia is celebrating Epiphany on Tuesday, with thousands of believers across the country taking dips in icy cold water - a ceremony believed to cleanse them of sin and heal their illnesses.

ST PETERSBURG, October 6, (RIA Novosti)...

ST PETERSBURG, October 6, (RIA Novosti) - On Wednesday, in the northern capital, as the city on the Neva is figuratively described in Russia, events will be held to mark three anniversary dates in the life of the famous St Petersburg family of the Roerichs: the 130th birth anniversary of Nicholas Roerich (died in 1947), the 125th birth anniversary of his wife, Helena Roerich (died in 1955), and the 100th birth anniversary of their son Svyatoslav Roerich (died in 1993), reported the press-service of the Russian National Library, or RNB. The opening event will be a book illustration exhibition called "The Empire of the Roerichs" in the RNB, which will feature books written by the Roerichs and reproductions of their paintings. Besides, the library will host the representation of a media programme devoted to the Roerich family. The follow-up event will be the 4th international theoretical and practical conference "Roerich Legacy", which will be held from October 7 to 9 in St Petersburg State University, or SPbGU. The theme of this year"s conference will be "Protection of Cultural Property: St Petersburg Traditions". Its participants will discuss legal initiatives in culture and tell of a study of the cities and towns that were included on the itinerary of Nicholas Roerich"s historical and artistic trip undertaken in 1903-1904. It was stressed at the information department of the SPbGU that the conference is included in a programme of anniversary events of the Ministry of Culture and Mass Media of Russia devoted to the 100th birth anniversary of Svyatoslav Roerich and the 130th birth anniversary of Nicholas Roerich. In addition, within the framework of events devoted to the jubilee of the Roerich family, the traditional Nicholas Roerich international prize will be awarded. The St Petersburg Roerich family made a weighty contribution to the preservation of world culture. A result of the study by Nicholas Roerich of world culture was a pact on the international protection of monuments of culture during military operations, which served as the basis for the adoption in 1954 of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. In 1929, jointly with his other son, Indologist Yury Roerich (1902-60), Nicholas Roerich founded the Himalayan Research Institute in Naggar - Urusvati. Nicholas Roerich"s wife Helena took part in his trans-Himalayan and Central Asian expeditions. In 1924, together with her husband, she settled in India, and developed agni-yoga, or the "living ethics" teaching, based on Indian spiritual tradition. The International Roerich Centre has existed in Moscow since 1991.

The National Portrait Gallery will be housed...

The National Portrait Gallery will be housed in the former Lenin Museum, Russian Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev said during a meeting on Tuesday with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Business

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will...

According to the press service of the Russian government, Kosor will discuss among other issues a possibility of Croatia joining the South Stream gas pipeline project.

The South Stream project, designed to annually pump 31 billion cubic meters of Central Asian and Russian gas to the Balkans and on to other European countries, involves Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Italy and Greece.

The pipeline"s capacity could be eventually increased to 63 billion cubic meters annually. The gas pipeline is expected to start operating in late 2015.

The project is part of Russia"s efforts to cut dependence on transit nations. It is a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco, which would bypass Russia.

MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti)

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