Recently there was a question raised in Quora on “which is the most racist country you visited as a tourist”. There were different answers depending on the race and travel experience of individuals concerned.
April 10 is celebrated as World Homeopathy Day as that day is birth day of the founder of that pseudo science, Samuel Hahnemann.
Though it is faith-based and not evidence based, homeopathy is very popular in Indian sub continent. Its popularity is sustained by heavy government funding. India, it is believed, have 195 homeopathy teaching institutions and around 250 thousand registered practitioners. To know the level of state support you need only to see the details of this national event that is being held in New Delhi.
As more details of the horrendous tragedy at a temple in Kollam, Kerala, India during fire works display that resulted in death of more than 100 people is coming out, it is becoming clear that it was a very well fore-seen and avoidable disaster.
An old woman living 25 meters away from the site had given a written complaint to the authorities asking them to ban fire works. She had mentioned that she is suffering from heart disease and cannot withstand loud sounds. She had also complained that her house regularly gets damaged due to this annual event.
Woke up this Sunday morning to hear the shocking news of death of more than 80 people in a fire works accident in my state of Kerala in India, around 170 miles from my town.
Temples in Kerala usually have big fire works display along with its annual festivities. Some temples will even have a fire works competition between two neighbourhood communities. Around 100 meters from my house also such a fire works display take place, though at a much smaller scale. Many of these explosive material are handled very carelessly and accidents do happen very often.
Temples are located in very populous areas and huge crowds throng during this time at the premises. Any minor fire can cause massive damage. Being an issue related to religion and tradition, safety concerns take a back seat. Human lives have low value when it comes to festivities related to god.
Does the mythical gods require such dangerous fire works displays for them to bless us?
Let me condole this tragic loss of life, which might have been prevented if safety of human lives were given much more importance than the pomp and splendour of religious festivals.
The lower house of French Parliament has passed a bill that make it illegal to pay for sex. It will become a law when upper house also approves it. A person who is caught paying for sex will have to pay a fine of 1700$. Repeat offenders will have to pay 4270$.
Finally it happened. Age old discriminatory practice of women being prohibited from entering the core area of Shani temple in Maharashtra in India ended today as activists were allowed to offer worship close to the deity.
Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai offering prayer at the Shani Shingnapur temple after the gates were opened for women, in Ahmednagar on Friday, April 8, 2016. (PTI)
The other day one of my atheist friend called me. The conversation went on like this.
Friend: “Doctor, I want you to take care of my son. I am bringing him to your hospital.”
Me: “Hey wait, that may not be a good move. Your city has much better facilities than mine. What happened ?”
Friend: “My son is admitted here for last 3 days with Dengue fever. He is not getting better. I feel the doctors here do not know their job. They are asking me to pray for his recovery. Any one who has studied science should know prayers are useless.”
The World Health Organization has confirmed that the available scientific evidence is strong enough to arrive at a consensus that Zika virus infection is indeed the cause for the recent increase in number of cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome and foetal microcephaly.
Guillain-Barre syndrome produces acute, usually ascending, flaccid paralysis of muscles and can be life threatening when it affects respiratory muscles, though most recover with prompt treatment.
Today, April 7, is the World health day and this year the World Health Organization is focussing on Diabetes. “Beat Diabetes” is the slogan and WHO aim is to increase the awareness on prevention and treatment of Diabetes throughout the world.
Sadly the first news that I heard on this day was that of the demise of a 25 years old man in Kattappana in Kerala, India due to this disease. Unfortunately it is the lack of awareness in how to go about treating his Diabetes that resulted in this unnecessary loss of life.
I am also scared, Sir, scared of getting killed. But what else can I do? It’s better to die rather than living by keeping my head down.