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Institution of Engineers Peddles Astrology to Improve Productivity!
When the Bangalore Chapter of the Institution of Engineers hosted a lecture on astrology to boost productivity, P. L. Rao, an engineer and member of Bangalore Vicharavadi Sangham, protested against promoting pseudoscience. Highlighting the constitutional duty to foster a scientific temper, this article exposes the compromise of scientific principles within a premier engineering body.
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Casteism in God’s Own Country
Carvaka Devaswom Membership Open To All Castes: Court The Thrissur Principal Munsiff Court on Tuesday issued an order stating that members of all castes of the Hindu community are eligible to be members of the managing committee and general body of the Thiruvambady Devaswom. Till now, membership to these bodies of the Thiruvambady Devaswom was…
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Petition against Puja in Government Offices
Carvaka Notice on Petition against Puja in Government Offices The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered notice to the State government on a writ petition seeking a direction to authorities not to permit Ayudha Puja celebrations in government offices. In the petition, filed through counsel S. Doraisamy and V. Elangovan, petitioner T.S. Mani, president of…
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Why I Am A Humanist?
Innaiah Narisetti During my childhood I was exposed only to religious custom, traditions and beliefs. This was between 1937-1950. When I entered college at Guntur town in Andhra, India, I come across two persons who influenced me. One is Yelavarthi Rosaiah, my teacher in English at Andhra Christian college, Guntur and another Avula Gopala Krishna…
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Atheist Varsity in Vijayawada
We reproduce a report from The Hindu (27 September 2011) filed by its correspondent from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh:: The Atheist Centre here will open the country’s first atheism university and research centre, coinciding with the centenary celebrations of social activist Saraswathi Gora on Wednesday. The centre had been promoting a casteless society with a scientific…
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September 30 – International Blasphemy Rights Day!
Founded in 2009 by the Center for Inquiry, International Blasphemy Rights Day seeks to establish September 30 as an International Day to promote the right to criticize (lampooning not excluded!) religion without inviting reprisals from religious bigots and governments. Blasphemy laws the world over (that is, wherever the laws exist) have been used to suppress…
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Why I Am An Atheist
Ramesh Nagaragere Like any child born into a middle class, upper caste family in India I was also part of the traditional ways of thinking and living, but with a touch of liberalism. I was initiated to be a dwija (twice born) at a very young age as it happens in the case of most…
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Gujarat’s Wounds: Can Fasting Bring Harmony?
Ram Puniyani Life is full of strange paradoxes. Narendra Modi undertook fast for three days for Sadbhavna (Harmony), to mark complete peace, unity and harmony (Sept 2011). This came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict which has asked the trial court to examine all the evidence and amicus curie’s report so that his…
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Is there a communal angle to Anna Hazare Upsurge?
Ram Puniyani The nation heaved a sigh of relief when Anna Hazare broke his fast (August 2011). The breaking of the fast with coconut water offered by a dalit and a Muslim girl was an attempt to project as if Anna’s upsurge represents all the sections of society and is not just having a narrow…
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….and one from the followers of Baba Ramdev!
On June 7, 2011, soon after Baba Ramdev’s ‘fast unto death’ was disrupted by the Delhi Police, I received a similarly absurd mail as the one I mentioned in my last blog. LOKPAL BILL : JUST A MISS CALL AWAY +912261550789 Govt. of India put a condition that 25 CRORES of people support is needed…
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Irrationality of Anna’s Camp Followers
Carvaka One of the most distressing aspects of the ongoing anti-corruption movement in India is the absolute lack of skepticism among a significant section of the camp followers of Anna Hazare (and, is there any need to say, among the followers of the contortionist Baba Ramdev). In their effort to get others in their bandwagon,…
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Anna Upsurge and the Social Movements
Ram Puniyani Anna Hazare’s second fast (August 2011) in Delhi, demanding the acceptance of his teams’ draft for Janlokpal bill has raised many different debates about the nature of this upsurge and how the social action groups, engaged in the process of struggle for Human rights of different sections of society, should relate to such…
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Atheists and Agnostics of Pakistan
Atheists and Agnostics of Pakistan have recently started a website to, we quote from their website, “promote secular causes and the separation of religion and state. We advocate the rights of women and minorities, as well as secular humanist values and free speech. PAA is about rational thought, compassion, science, freedom and education. Above all,…
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Science versus Miracles – Download
Premanand’s popular book, “Science versus Miracles”, has not been available for some time now. Since Premanand himself was the distributor of the books he published and since he did not make any specific arrangement to print and distribute the books he brought out under Indian Skeptic logo, after his death there was nobody to carry…
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Dr. Swamy, Friends and Limits of Freedom of Expression
Ram Puniyani It is not a very easy task to decide as to where the freedom of expression ends and Hate speech begins. A lot of perception about this depends on one’s convictions about the underlying ideologies which are being talked about. At another level how democratic space is subverted for anti democratic agenda is…
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Why I Am a Secular Humanist
An Interview with Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka [Akinwande Oluwole “Wole” Soyinka (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man “who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence”, and became…
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Terror has political Goals: Religion should be for Humanism
Ram Puniyani After being attacked by the bombs of the terrorists (13/7, 2011), we are facing the barrage from the ideologues of Hate and divisiveness. Many a ideologues of religious nationalism have come out with outpourings associating religion, Islam and so Muslims with terrorism and the need to confront this attack of terror by uniting…
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Science Communication & Science Popularisation
XXXV INDIAN SOCIAL SCIENCE CONGRESS Wardha-2011 Prof. S.P. Verma, Chairman , Panel on Science communication( Indian Social Science Congress -Wardha-2011) has sent the following mails to us. Those who are interested in contributing to the topic mentioned in Prof Verma’s mail may contact him for further details. Prof SP Verma’s email ID is verma1946@gmail.com I…
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Rationalist Association of India
Kerala State ConferenceThe Kerala State Conference of the Rationalist Association of India will take place in Kollam on 14 and 15 August 2011 at Chaarvaaka Puri (Public Library Hall, Quilon). The event will feature a series of seminars and lectures focusing on critical contemporary issues, including ‘Resurgence of Casteism and the Necessity of Reservations for the Casteless’,…
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United Colors of Fundamentalisms
Terror Attack Hits Norway Ram Puniyani India hardly recovered from the ghastly terror attack of 13th July, 2011 Mumbai that terrorism struck in Norway. In Norway on 22nd July, Friday, around 3.20 PM in the afternoon the high-rise, where Prime Minister’s office is located in central Oslo, was targeted resulting in blowing out windows and facades of…
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Why I Am A Rationalist
The Rational Habit Of Mind Is A Rare One Bertrand Russell Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) I am, in this age when there are a great many appeals to unreason, an unrepentant Rationalist. I have been a Rationalist ever since I can remember, and I do not propose to cease to be so whatever appeals to unreason…
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Terror visits Mumbai yet Again
Ram Puniyani The three blasts in Mumbai on 13th July 2011 not only killed nearly 20 innocent people but shook the city yet again. The previous attack on Mumbai 26/11 2008 was horrific enough to have killed over 200 people. The tragedy was followed by the great resilience of Mumbai citizens to rehabilitate the victims…