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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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Materialism in India: A Synoptic View
Cārvāka, or Lokāyata, emerged around the sixth century CE as India’s only systematized materialist school, featuring formal sūtras and commentaries. Rejecting supernaturalism, immortal souls, and ritualism, it prioritized matter, perception, and empirical inference. Historical texts lost by the fourteenth century led opponents to misrepresent its teachings as unrefined, hedonistic, and promiscuous.
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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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Saffronisation of Karnataka
State power and religious orthodoxy have merged in Karnataka, transforming a secular democracy into a battleground of political patronage and superstition. From funneling public funds into religious institutions to imposing sectarian texts in public schools, the ruling dispensation has turned elected government into a mere rubber stamp for powerful monastic heads.
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Convention
Indian State and the Art of Fabricating False Casesthe Indian State is using its executive machinery in a brutal way to suppress dissent. Many innocent people are criminalised, branded, and made to suffer for a long time. Dr. Binayak Sen is the most well-known personality in this category of fabricated cases by the Indian State. Due to the active resistance of many groups…
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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…
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Treasure of Faith
Hoards of Wealth in Padmnabh Temple Ram Puniyani It seems that in this profane world, the ‘Holy’ seem to be most monetarily wealthy. Recently the material goods of the men of God have come to be known more openly than before. Bhagwan Satya Sai of Putthaparthy, not only had over 40000+ crores of wealth; some…
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Islam is a Religion of Peace?
Listen to Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Douglas Murray debatIng Zeba Khan and Maajid Nawaz on the subject – “Islam is a religion of peace”. The debate was held on October 6, 2010. Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali, author of the memoir Infidel, is an atheist and secular humanist. She rebelled against the oppressive laws…
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Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
Rationalist, Secularist and Social ReformerDr. Arvind Ganachari’s Gopal Ganesh Agarkar: The Secular Rationalist Reformer offers a comprehensive examination of Maharashtra’s premier nineteenth-century rationalist. Drawing on Western Enlightenment thought, Agarkar fearlessly advocated for scientific humanism, gender equality, and radical social reform, rejecting religious dogma and superstition to champion an uncompromising, reason-based vision for human progress.
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Attack on Kalanathan : Statements of solidarity
U. Kalanathan, Patron of FIRA and State Secretary of Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham Statements of solidarity received following the attack on U. Kalanathan: This is terrible, and I condemn the rowdies, whoever was involved in such a horrible action. I am asking all humanists and rationalists in Europe and the USA to express solidarity with Mr.…
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11 July: International Day Against Stoning
Prof Innaiah Narisetti has forwarded the following mail to us: Dear friends 11 July, the International Day against Stoning, will soon be here. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani As you know Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is still languishing in prison. The authorities recently mentioned her case saying that no final decision had yet been reached on her stoning…
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Kalanathan Attacked
U. Kalanathan, Patron of FIRA and State Secretary of Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham The house of U. Kalanathan, patron of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, was attacked by miscreants yesterday (July 3, 2011). It is reported that the miscreants were angered by Kalanathan’s suggestion during a television debate that the treasure (estimated to be worth…
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Sleeping with the Enemy – Ramdas Athawalay allies with Shiv Sena
Ram Puniyani Electoral politics has its own strange logic. While Gopinath Munde, the leader of BJP was hobnobbing with Congress (June 2011), in recent times the leaders from Shiv Sena, Narayan Rane and Sanjay Nirupam have joined Congress in recent years, Ramdas Athawalay, of Republican Party of India, a party claiming to be the party…
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Why I am an Atheist
Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (1907-1931) [Bhagat Singh wrote Why I am an Atheist while he was spending days in a condemned cell in 1931. In this pamphlet he discusses and advocates the philosophy of atheism. This pamphlet was a result of some criticism by fellow revolutionaries on his failure to acknowledge religion and God while…
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Prabhat Patnaik on Ramdev Phenomenon
Prabhat Patnaik is a well known economist and a political commentator. In an incisive article written in the latest issue of Frontline (June 19 – July 1, 2011) Professor Patnaik says: Prabhat Patnaik Ramdev project is fundamentally anti-democratic, anti-secular and a disturbing throwback to our pre-modernity. This is because while everybody in a democracy has…
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M.F. Husain: Victim of Intolerance
Ram Puniyani On 9th June 2011, M.F. Husain breathed his last in a London Hospital, and was later buried in the cemetery in London as per his wish that he should be buried at a place of his death. The most celebrated painter of India, a thorough Indian and understanding Hindu culture much more than…
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Atheist Centre Celebrates Saraswathi Gora Birth Centenary, Sept.28-29, Vijayawada
We have received the following mail from Vikas Gora of Atheist Centre, Vijayawada, which is celebrating the Birth Centenary of Ms Saraswathi Gora: Greetings from Atheist Centre, Vijayawada. We cordially invite you to the Birth Centenary of Saraswathi Gora National Conference at Atheist Centre, Vijayawada on September 28-29 this year. It will be held at…
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The Vāstu Delusion
Exposing Architectural PseudoscienceArvind Prahlad Pakhale’s Searching for the Sun in Candle Light… forcefully dismantles the myths, superstitions, and commercial exploitation surrounding Vāstu Śāstra. Grounded in real estate experience, this book exposes how obsolete ancient concepts, fear-mongering, and pseudo-scientific dogmas are weaponized to fleece vulnerable homeowners, advocating instead for modern engineering, logic, and rational thought.