People in my conservative town seldom see women drivers , except may be on two wheelers. If they see one, there is always a tendency by men on the road to bully them and pass bad comments on their driving.
The other day they had a huge surprise. They had their eyes jutting out of their sockets in astonishment as a lady drove into our town on a 14 wheel truck with a cargo weighing 30 tonnes ( around 66000 pounds).
She was Yogita Raghuvanshi, the first woman truck driver of India.
Attackers wielding machetes have killed a village doctor and wounded his friend, a university tutor, in western Bangladesh, police say.
Mir Sanwar Rahman, known for offering villagers free homeopathic medicines, was hacked to death early on Friday in Kushtia district.
No group has said they carried out the attack.
There has been a spate of murders of religious minorities, secular activists and academics in Bangladesh recently.
Mr Rahman and tutor Mohammad Saifuzzaman were ambushed as they travelled on a motorbike in their village.More than 20 people have been killed in attacks by suspected Islamists in the last three years.
An elderly Buddhist monk was hacked to death on Saturday while a Hindu priest, two prominent gay activists, a law student and a university professor were also murdered in recent months.
The killings have been blamed on various hardline groups, including so-called Islamic State (IS) and Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladeshi militant group affiliated to al-Qaeda.
The government has denied that IS is present in the country. Instead, it has blamed opposition parties and local Islamist groups, such as Ansarullah Bangla Team and Harkatul Jihad.
The opposition have denied any involvement and say the government’s accusations against them have hampered a credible investigation.
All those killed were nonconformers. They were not strict followers of Sunni Islam. The latest victim, Mir Sanwar Rahman was a follower of Lalon’s philosophy.
As posted by me earlier, there was a raging battle between a coalition of interfaith groups the South Asian History for All and Hindutva groups on the revision of California school history curriculum. It was a high stake battle as many other American states follow Californian curricula.
The “saffronising” of textbooks isn’t limited to Gujarat or Karnataka, or even just India. The American Hindu groups in the California battle include the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), whose founding members have links to the Sangh Parivar; the Hindu Education Foundation, a project of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, and the religious research group Uberoi Foundation. They want to rename the Indus Valley Civilization “Sindh-Saraswati”, delete any mention of Guru Nanak’s challenging of caste, and further what SAHFA calls the “oppressor Muslims vs persecuted Hindus’ narrative of Hindu nationalism”. In one of their most controversial moves, they’ve tried to get the term ‘Dalit’ deleted from the South Asian history taught in school curriculum. One of the Uberoi Foundation’s comments among the edits says, “Dalit is not a term from Sanskrit, nor from Hindu social history but a contemporary political construct to gain leverage mostly in elections and for economic concessions.”
Now the officials in California has come to, it seems, a just and rational decision.
Babu Gogineni , the former executive director of International Humanist and Ethical Union, and a renowned Indian freethinker is addressing the South Asian Humanist Conference in Dallas. He is also speaking in several cities in USA on a lecture tour. Here are the details of his tour and of the South Asian Humanist conference in Dallas. Catch him if he is coming near your place -:)
http://www.humanism.asia/
India, like most other countries, have a deeply patriarchal society. Still there are a few powerful women leaders who command huge popularity.
They proved their mettle once again when results of this round of state assembly elections was declared. Two women chief ministers , who were the lone vote catching faces of their parties, retained power comfortably.
Image from India.com
What should history text books in California call the area of Asia, which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka ? Should they call it India or South Asia ? How should those text books portray caste system? Should they mention family of birth is the most important factor deciding caste or should it say professional excellence also play a big role in it ?
There is a raging battle going on in California on these questions.
A new expert review has confirmed what we suspected all along. GMOs are safe. New report is from the US Academy of Science
Genetically engineered crops are safe for humans and animals to eat and have not caused increases in cancer, obesity, gastrointestinal illnesses, kidney disease, autism or allergies, an exhaustive report from the National Academies of Science released Tuesday found.
Work on the 388-page report began two years ago and was conducted by a committee of more than 50 scientists, researchers and agricultural and industry experts convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. It reviewed more than 900 studies and data covering the 20 years since genetically modified crops were first introduced.
Today was the day of voting to elect members of state legislatures who will form new governments in two southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamilnadu.
Women standing in queue to cast their vote during assembly elections in Coimbatore on Monday. PTI photo
Holidaying in the tallest mountain ranges on the planet earth, the Himalayas, has made me study the incredible history of its origin. It’s a story that will convince you again that there is no intelligent designer designing the universe.
Image as we flew above the mighty peaks
Himalayas, though the tallest mountain range, is also the youngest. The range began to form only about 50 million years ago as a result of collision of Indian plate and Eurasian plate.
About 225 million years ago, India was a large island still situated off the Australian coast, and a vast ocean (called Tethys Sea) separated India from the Asian continent. When Pangaea broke apart about 200 million years ago, India began to forge northward. By studying the history — and ultimately the closing– of the Tethys, scientists have reconstructed India’s northward journey. About 80 million years ago, India was located roughly 6,400 km south of the Asian continent, moving northward at a rate of about 9 m a century. When India rammed into Asia about 40 to 50 million years ago, its northward advance slowed by about half. The collision and associated decrease in the rate of plate movement are interpreted to mark the beginning of the rapid uplift of the Himalayas.
Himalayas, it seems is still growing tall, about a centimetre a year, due to continuing push of Indian plate on to Asian mass. At the same time, erosion due to climatic forces is preventing more rapid growth.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/himalaya.html
We stayed in Leh, Ladakh, at a height above sea level of about 3500 metres (11500 feet ). We went up to a height of 5359 m (17,582 ft) when we visited the snow-covered Khardung la pass.
Many historical and mythological figures are supposed to have got enlightenment by visiting and meditating in the Himalayas. But none, it seems, where aware how dramatic is the history of formation of this mountain range. It was only through the hard work of scientists working in the field of geology that we got enlightened about the origin of Himalayas. Meditation, it proved, can never match evidence gathering and experiments to attain knowledge.
This short visit to the Himalayas has enlightened me about the history of our planet, where I could see different forces of nature shaping the spontaneous unfolding of mega events without any interference of a creator.
To know more about the origin of Himalayas see this informative documentary
Traditional Indian way of becoming a Jnani or a man of wisdom ( yes it was always a man) was to go to Himalayas to meditate. I am also going to do that this week. Beware of very wise articles in coming days -:) .
Ancient Indians thought anyone who have gone to Himalayas and did meditations for months to years knew the answers to deep questions of life. Of course the difficult journey, tough climate and harsh life that make you confront directly with the reality of nature should make you wiser in some way.
But the concept of abandoning life and getting “real” wisdom by meditating in Himalayan caves became a real hindrance to development of Indian society. Instead of respecting those artisans, craftsmen, farmers and physicians who gain knowledge by studying nature and doing experiments while they work, those who do yogic meditation became more respectable and powerful. The ultimate goal of life became attaining moksha and the way to attain it was to meditate. India abandoned experimental falsifiable evidence to “evidences” gathered from thoughts based on personal mental experiences and crude logic. Texts written based on such experiences began to be known as “scientific” and real science was left behind. Thus there came a stand still in development of science and technology for more than 1000 years.
Sad part is even modern India, living under a myth created of past glory, is giving more importance to anecdotal pseudo science than evidence based falsifiable real science.