Ram Puniyani With elections looming over Uttar Pradesh horizon, recently (Nov 2011) UP Chief Minister Mayawati declared that her cabinet has approved the proposal to divide the UP state into four smaller states. She declared that only a dalit-OBC Chief Minister should be able to solve the problems of dalit-OBCs. There is also the talk…

Here is report on a disgusting annual ritual practised at Kukke Subrahmanya, a prominent temple in Karnataka. This temple, located in one of the most forward districts in Karnataka and patronized by such luminaries from the Indian sports and the cine world as Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Aishwarya Rai, and Shilpa Shetty, attracts lakhs of devotees…

Pushpa M Bhargava The following is the Preface written by Dr PM Bhargava to the book “Science versus Miracles” of Premanand. We reproduce it as part of our effort to upload the entire book online in html format. We have already uploaded a few chapters of the book. The remaining chapters will be uploaded in…

B Premanand The early miracles were performed by shamans acting as oracles. Through incantations they brought the spirit of god on themselves, swaying and dancing, and making fearful sounds to prove to their followers that punishment meted out by the clan leader of the rulers could not harm them. Among self-inflicted punishments were ship lashes,…

Ram Puniyani   Ravi Shankar AS ELECTIONS in Uttar Pradesh are nearing, so is the number of travels by spiritual gurus. These gurus are giving their discourses against corruption. (November 2011). The major ones amongst them are Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Sri Sri). Sri Sri has shared space with Anna and played a…

Ramesh Nagaragere   Time was when a king got angry with one of his subjects and said, ‘Off with his head’ and it was done. Not just that. He would also order the chopped off head to be hung on the walls of the fort. At the gates. The intent was not merely to punish…

Here is a mail we have received from the organizers of a Freethinkers’ Meet to be held in Kerala. Friends, Science trust-Calicut and Yukthiyugam magazine ( to commence publication shortly) invite all interested friends to attend a meet at Thrissur, Kerala on 20th November. For details, please see the attached brochure. Science trust, Calicut

Ram Puniyani Nine youth accused in Malegaon blast case of 2006 have been granted bail by the MCOCA court. (Nov 6 2011). These Muslim youth were arrested after the bomb exploded on the Shab-e-Barat, killing several people. Immediately after that the Anti Terrorist Sqaud, arrested nine Muslim youth, there was really no evidence worth its…

Carvaka “Love is stronger than hate” says the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in its latest issue – of course, in their own inimitable acerbic style. The magazine was firebombed on November 2, 2011 for satirizing radical Islamists. The cartoon on the cover page of the magazine had depicted Muhammad promising “100 lashes if you don’t die from laughter.”  After…

We reproduce a mail received from Nava Karnataka Publications, Bangalore: /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} ಪ್ರಿಯರೆ, ಭಾನುವಾರ, 2011ರ ನವಂಬರ್  13ರ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ 10  ಗಂಟೆಗೆ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಚಾಮರಾಜಪೇಟೆಯ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೃಷ್ಣರಾಜ ಪರಿಷನ್ಮಂದಿರದಲ್ಲಿ  2  ಕೃತಿಗಳು ಲೋಕಾರ್ಪಣೆಯಾಗಲಿವೆ .  ಅದೇ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಡಾ.…

B Premanand Agni – God of Fire If we go through the history of the gods and religions organized around them, we find that the human mind created these gods and religions by propagating miracles and the belief in fate. The ruling classes and the priestly classes made gullible people believe in miracles and fate…

Carvaka Mountain of flowers for the Lord (The Hindu, November 4, 2011) The annual ‘Pushpa Yagam’ festival was held on Thursday at the famous hill temple of Lord Venkateswara amid religious fervour. Over seven tonnes of a wide variety of bright and aromatic flowers were used in the festival. Earlier in the morning ‘Snapana Thirumanjanam’…

B Premanand Our sense of touch comprises of five mechanisms registering pain, heat, cold and pressure, as well as physical contact with object at the most basic level. The innermost working of the complex network of nerves that communicates signal to the brain from all part of the body’s surface and the way in which…

<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>  B Premanand Every object that we smell throws of molecules, which are wafted by air towards the approximately ten million olfactory cells…

P L Rao       Image Courtesy: creations.blogspot.com “Why I am a rationalist?”  Each time someone asks me this question, it sets me thinking: “Is it a right question?”  As human beings, we are gifted with a brain largest among all species, which has been tremendously researched upon and according to this, the left side of…

B Premanand The four primary sensations of taste are sweet, sour, salt and bitter. Although some taste buds are situated on the palate, tonsils and in the upper throat, the tongue is the central stage. Its tip is more sensitive to sweetness than any other part because the highest concentrations of sweet taste receptors are…

B Premanand The outer ears designed to collect sound waves, and channel them through a can one inch in length until they reach the ear drum, a thin membrane that vibrates in response. These vibrations pass directly on to the adjacent middle ear, a cavity no more than a third of an inch wide and…

B Premanand What happens when we see? Information in the form of light waves is projected from the external world via the opening in the iris onto a highly sensitive screen called the retina, a layer of cells extending over virtually the whole of the inside of the eye. These cells translate the light stimuli…

Chapter II Illusion of the Senses There may be millions of devotees of godmen and avatars who have witnessed the apparent creation of objects from “nowhere” and are prepared to stand witness to the alleged creation. Can their testimony be taken at face value as true? No, because they are unable to see the phenomena…

Experiment -2 Effect: Making a match box disappear and appear Props: One match box Method: With the movement of the hands and the fingers one can make an object appear, disappear or change to another. Take a match box in the palm between the small finger and the index finger. While moving the hand vertically…

Experiment – 1 Effect: Creating Holy Ash – Sai Baba Style Props: Perfumed Vibhui, starch water extracted from cooked rice, a plate to make the pellets with vibhuti. Method: The perfumed ash is mixed in the starch water and made into small pellets and dried. This pellet is hidden between the thumb and the index…