Indian Skeptic is the magazine that reports on the Rationalism Movement in India. This movement is spearheaded by the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA), under its president Professor Narendra Nayak. The magazine was founded and for many years published by eminent rationalist and debunker Basava Premanand, along with with Prof Nayak. That original Indian Skeptic was retired after Premanand’s death. Recently, a new avatar of Indian Skeptic was born at the 2009 National level FIRA conference. The magazine still deals with issues concerning rationalists and skeptics of supernatural claims, particularly in India. The editor and publisher of the new Indian Skeptic magazine is T.V. Manoj.

When Basava Premanand passed away last October, the monthly skeptic magazine that was founded by him was also laid to rest as far as the official records were concerned. No new issues had been published since September 2008. At the 2009 FIRA convention, Professor Nayak was reappointed as head of the organization. In his capacity as president of FIRA, Professor Nayak requested Manoj T.V. to revive Indian Skeptic magazine.

Manoj T.V. has been publishing Bangalore Skeptic for 2 years at this point. Since he has accepted Prof. Nayak’s offer, the magazine he now brings out will be called Indian Skeptic, but it will be more like a reborn Bangalore Skeptic in style and content. Here is Manoj in his own words:

During the 7th National Conference of Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA), it was suggested (by Prof Narendra Nayak ) that Bangalore Skeptic should hence forth be published as Indian Skeptic and this was supported by other delegates of the conference . It should however be noted that this ezine Indian Skeptic is not a continuation (in the legal sense ) of the magazine published by Premanand, but a rebirth (!) or a new avatar (!) of Bangalore Skeptic, but surely upholding the spirit of Premanad’s vision of a secular India.

Though this ezine is not an official organ of FIRA, it will nevertheless work as an unofficial one! From the next issue onwards, there will be a column by Prof Narendra Nayak in his capacity as the President of FIRA. This will be in addition to his usual contributions that the readers of Bangalore Skeptic are familiar with.

T.V. Manoj

The new Indian Skeptic magazine can be accessed from here. It can also be accessed from the navigation tab above the site banner. Visit the new Indian Skeptic page now for the first issue of the year!

All published issues of Bangalore Skeptic magazine can also be found at this page.

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