death would indeed die as predicted. But the 75-year-old man survived the day. Kunjilal Malviya, who lives south of the Madhya Pradesh state capital Bhopal, had been meditating in his house after announcing he would die on Thursday between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

A police official confirmed the astrologer was fine and quoted his family members as saying the prediction failed because many of those gathered had prayed for him to live. "We are afraid of his prediction coming true because all his predictions till date have been correct," his son Anirudh said by phone earlier on Thursday. "My father had predicted the death of my grandfather 15 years ago and it came true exactly like he calculated." Police have been posted near the house to prevent the astrologer from killing himself, authorities

said. Millions of Indians consult astrologers about their futures as well as marriage and job prospects. Malviya's prediction is not the first of its type by an Indian astrologer. But in the past, crowds have beaten up astrologers when their predicted demise failed to occur. Reuters