I got new medical knowledge watching ads in American TV the other day.
Being a practicing medical doctor specialised in Internal Medicine, who tries to keep his awareness of medical advancement in his field up to date, this was a surprise for me. The ad I am referring to was about a monthly injection to prevent migraine headache approved last year by US FDA.
P Z Myers recently wrote a post-mortem on “New” Atheism of USA. Reading that I realised what happened in my own state of Kerala in India was very similar, though late by few years.
Can an atheist avail the benefit of affirmative action from the Government in India like reserved jobs which is based on caste into which a person is born ?
Indian (Hindu) society was deeply divided by the hierarchical caste system. It originated around 2000 years ago.
If you want to do something to reduce or end sexual harassment in workplaces you can help in the making of this documentary film based on this subject. The film titled “But what was she wearing ” is looking for funding from public.
She has been making films for the past five years, with a focus on gender issues. She’s also the founder of Lime Soda Films, which makes grassroots films on social issues and documentaries.
Image credit – Newsminute
This week the neighbours of the sub continent , India and Pakistan, are celebrating the 70th anniversary of getting independence from British rule.
The paths followed by the two new nations were divergent , Pakistan becoming an Islamic state and India choosing a secular path with no state religion and many state sponsored support system for minorities and Dalits to ensure they can thrive in the society.
But in recent years the paths are converging. India under Hindutva leader Modi is becoming more and more like Pakistan.
India and Pakistan are also remembering the 70th anniversary of bloody partition which saw millions die. Jinnah, the most forceful proponent of Pakistan insisted on partition warning that Muslims in a predominantly Hindu India would be severely suppressed. Now it seems Modi and the Sangh are proving Jinnah was right.
Leprosy it seems is making a come back at least in some parts of India.
Leprosy may have left the public discourse but it is still prevalent in India: in six months from April to September 2016, 79,000 leprosy cases were detected, according toNational Health Profile, 2017.
Leprosy is a slow progressive disease that damages the skin and the nervous system.Caused due to infection by Mycobacterium leprae, it leads to skin lesions, disfigurement and loss of sensation in limbs
Uttar Pradesh had the most number of cases (13,423) but it was the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli that has the highest prevalence of 7.93 per 10,000, which means nearly 8 people in 10,000 have leprosy.
Great news for patients coming to the out-patient departments of hospitals in Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Along with services of doctors they will also get advice regarding correct diagnosis from top astrologers by paying a small sum of five rupees. Budding astrologists will also get training under seniors in diagnosing patients problems using horoscopes.
Tbe recent by polls in Kashmir saw only around 7% of people exercising their franchise. Fear of violence, boycott call by militants and more importantly resentment against state and central governments played a part.
For last one year or so the local population is becoming increasingly alienated from Indian mainstream.
One shocking image underlined this change. It showed a Kashmiri man tied down to the front of a vehicle of security forces. He was supposed to have been used as a human shield to escape attack by locals with stones.
Excitement is rising among Freethinkers of Kerala, India as the two day event that brings together the humanist Freethinkers of the state for an intellectual feast is fast approaching.
Organised under the aegis of “Freethinkers” Facebook group and Kerala Freethinkers Forum the Freethinkers meet 2017 is scheduled for April 22 and 23 at Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram.
Farooq was an Iron scrap dealer living in the South Indian city of Coimbatore. He was an outspoken ex Muslim atheist who regularly used to criticise all religions including Islam on Facebook and Whatsapp. He was an active member of an outfit called Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhakam, a break away group of Dravidar Kazhakam.
Not able to answer his criticisms, Islamists decided to punish him as per their holy book.
Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment, Quran 5 : 33
