Female attendees are very few in atheist meetings in Kerala. Many concerned male atheists are thinking deep about the reasons for lack of participation of females in their “noble” ventures. They are also very concerned about lack of support for male atheist activists from their wives.
One after another, the bodies arrived on the steep hill in western Kabul.
For much of Sunday afternoon, an excavator was flattening the dusty area as men with shovels and pickaxes dug graves — four rows of 20 or so, packed so close that if the dead could stretch out their arms, they would touch those next to them.
The ethnic Hazara man cries next to empty caskets on Sunday during burial ceremonies at a cemetery in the Omid-e-Sabz Township near Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit Adam Ferguson for The New York Times
An upcoming writer was brutally assaulted in Kerala, India yesterday. It happened near my place around 40 miles from here. Twenty six years old P Jimshar was waiting for bus at the bus stop in Kootanad. An unknown person started a pleasant conversation with him. Few others joined and suddenly they began beating him. Luckily they did not had any weapons. Though severely beaten he survived without any critical injuries.
Jimshar.P (from Facebook)
Most Hindus are very superstitious, especially the business class. So when they invest in shares or a project they usually give a part of it to temples as donations believing foolishly that it will bring them luck. Until now they were giving such donations as cash. Now the most famous Hindu temple in India’s commercial capital Mumbai is having something new to offer. Instead of cash they have started accepting equity shares of companies as donations. The temple authorities hope to cash in on the superstition of Indian investors and there by get several blue chip shares.
Dalit Organisations have called for state wide protest shut down on Wednesday in Gujarat, India. They have decided not to take it lying down anymore.
The inhumane violence on them, clearly depicted by a video which had gone viral in which a group of upper caste Hindutva goons were seen thrashing Dalit youths mercilessly in full public view in the town of Una was perhaps the breaking point.
Image credit – NDTV
Two college students,studying in the same class, 20 years of age, fall in love. They decide to live together. They leave the college hostel and live in a rented room. The college authorities come to know about it. A five member committee of senior faculty members is formed for a detailed enquiry. The students are summoned. They admit before the committee that they are living together. The committee decides to take disciplinary action against the couple. Both are expelled from the college.
The girl approaches the court asking to quash the expulsion order.
Diphtheria is coming back with vengeance in parts of Asia where it had been well controlled. Malaysia and Vietnam has reported several cases of Diphtheria in last two months along with Kerala state in south India. There has been 5 deaths in Malaysia, 3 in Vietnam and 2 in Kerala. Both in Kerala and Malaysia, adults some as old as 65, are among suspected cases.
All three areas had similarly good control of Diphtheria for several years now , with only a handful of cases yearly and no deaths. In Malaysia and Kerala, religion based superstitions about vaccinations was found to be a major driving factor for poor vaccination coverage and there by reemergence of the disease. In Vietnam too, the propagation of myths about vaccines has reduced its acceptance.
This week-end saw medical students of Kerala’s medical colleges on a campaign trail. They were at the epicentre of anti vaccine campaign in the state, in the rural areas of Malappuram District.
They were at Tanalur, a place near Tirur. People here are fairly prosperous and well-educated. But they feel vaccines are bad for their kids. Here the percentage of children fully vaccinated was well under fifty percent. The families here used to close their doors at health workers who come to their homes urging them to vaccinate.
Some believe naturopath quacks when they say taking vaccines and preventing “harmless” diseases is anti nature. Others believe their political leaders who say vaccines are an imperialist conspiracy to produce sterility in the third world population. Many believe their religious scholars who tell them that Allah is giving complete protection from the womb itself and humans trying to usurp him is not only absurd but against “god”. There are also other allegations against vaccines like they are produced from pig meat and they result in paralysis and mental retardation. In several families, women who wanted their kids to be protected by vaccines had to face tough resistance from men.
It really happened more than 20 years ago at my Alma mater, Calicut Medical College.
It was around 5 pm and I was walking through the hospital corridor when I heard a huge commotion. I could see people scurrying all around in panic. I asked a Hospital attender about the reason.
“Sir, a Rabies patient somehow got out of his cell and is roaming around the Hospital. Everybody is afraid he will attack.
“Did he attack or bite anybody?” I asked.
“No Sir, but you know how violent these patients can be”.
Do I really know? No I have not seen any violent Rabies patient. But folklores say these patients behave like dogs and bite everyone in sight.
Then I noticed hospital staff bringing big buckets of water and placing it in front of entrance to each ward. They were using their knowledge of science to prevent entry of the Rabies infected patient into their ward. They knew that Rabies patients do have fear of water [hydrophobia].
I was curious and wanted to see this man who was causing so much commotion. I found him standing just outside the hospital near the front gate.
Turkish troops said on Friday they had seized power but President Tayyip Erdogan vowed that the attempted coup would be put down and crowds answered his call to defy a curfew order and take to the streets to support him.
Sad to see instability in the region continuing. Erdogan is not a saint but military coup is not the answer.
