Freethought News: Weeping Mary (Mathavu) to be Investigated by Rationalists (Video)

Freethought News: Weeping Mary (Mathavu) to be Investigated by Rationalists (Video)

Virgin Mary’s Tears to be Tested for Authenticity

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Rationalists from the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, headed by president professor Narendra Nayak, will be testing the veracity of the claims made by locals and priests alike that the image of the Catholic religious figure is shedding tears. The Bishop has invited the Rationalists to make sure that this phenomenon being hailed by locals as a miracle is not a scam. This event will take place on the 6th of March, 2010 at Alleppey in Kerala.
After this event, the rationalists are holding a press conference in which the flex print of Premanand is going to shed tears, because he is very sad that cheap narendra-nayak-3x3stupid tricks are being passed off as miracles.

It is not shedding tears now, but will do so on the 6th

Also please note that there will be a rationalist training program by Dr. Nayak on the 7th, at Alleppey.

The contact person for details on all three events (miracle investigation, press conference and training program) is Anil Kumar of the Kerala Yuktivadi Sangam. Phone no:+919846126080.

Update: The follow-up after the conclusion of the official investigation has been posted here.

Posted in Debunked, General News, Secular EventsComments (3)

Basava Premanand Video: Posted on youtube by Sajith C of Science Trust

This is a video of Basava Premanand, founder of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations and Indian CSICOP which published Indian Skeptic magazine. Premanand has been featured in many documentaries, notably ones by the BBC.

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Proposal For A Management-Oriented Non-Profit Organization To Promote Freethought In India

Proposal For A Management-Oriented Non-Profit Organization To Promote Freethought In India

A group of activists, academics and leaders of the Freethought Movement have come together to propose the foundation of a well-organized, non-profit, freethought organization in India.

Summary: This is a proposal for a management-oriented approach to a Nirmukta organization. It is in three parts- (1) establishing why such an approach is needed, (2) presenting a mission statement and (3) proposing clear objectives to be implemented immediately.

Introduction

Nirmukta had its first online “meeting” on Saturday the 23rd of January, 2010. The members of the Nirmukta team who participated in this meeting include Prof. Narendra Nayak president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations (FIRA), Dr. Prabhakar Kamath, Pankaj Kulkarni, Siddharth Singh, Ajita Kamal and Kedar Kulkarni. We also had a guest panelist, Blair Scott, the National Affiliate Outreach Director for American Atheists, to help bring us a unique perspective from an established freethought organization in the United States. While the meeting was beset with technical problems, some avoidable by refining protocol and familiarizing ourselves with the format, and some unavoidable (such as the bandwidth issue), we were still able to come up with some good ideas and share them with the group. Read the full story

Posted in General News, Secular EventsComments (3)

BANGALORE SKEPTIC is Reborn as The New INDIAN SKEPTIC Magazine

BANGALORE SKEPTIC is Reborn as The New INDIAN SKEPTIC Magazine

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. Read the full story

Posted in Creative Arts, General News, Secular EventsComments (1)

Nirmukta Live: Video Panel Discussion And Interactive Chat Conference

Nirmukta Live: Video Panel Discussion And Interactive Chat Conference

Greetings Friends!

Members of the Nirmukta team will be broadcasting a live meeting and interactive discussion in the Nirmukta chatroom on Saturday the 23rd, at 21:30 IST (16:00 London, 11:00 New York). You have the chance to participate online by asking questions and presenting suggestions to our panel of activists, skeptics, writers and academics.

The chatroom is located at : http://tinychat.com/nirmukta

RSVP for this on facebook, here.

This event is open to all. A full agenda will be posted very soon along with the list of panel members.

The web-based platform we are using is tinychat.com. This service allows upto 8 panelists to broadcast simultaneously. The text-chat function is open to all audience members who sign in using their facebook or twitter accounts. If you don’t have one yet, consider getting one before the event (although if you don’t have one yet you’re probably here by mistake).

nirmuktacon1

The main subject of the discussion will be the future of the movement, and our panelists will present their views on Nirmukta and its potential role in advancing reason in India. However, there will be other subjects discussed as well. There are many areas to be covered since this is the first meeting and broadcast. In the future we will have scheduled broadcasts of shows on various subjects and in various formats.

So, come talk with us at the chatroom next Saturday. Make a note of it on your calendar. Send us an email and tell us what you’d like to see discussed. Join us and become part of the Nirmukta community.

Important: Please RSVP for this event on the facebook page.

Ajita Kamal

Editor

Send Email to:

info [at] nirmukta.com

or

ajita [at] nirmukta.com

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Critical Thinking: A Video By QualiaSoup On Youtube

This is an excellent short video by youtube user QualiaSoup that explains the nature of and the need for critical thinking.

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Posted in VideoComments (0)

Astrologer Bhaskar Shetty Accepts Rationalist/Skeptic Narendra Nayak’s Astrology Challenge

Astrologer Bhaskar Shetty Accepts Rationalist/Skeptic Narendra Nayak’s Astrology Challenge

We have reported on many of the past challenges issued by rationalists to purveyors of supernatural beliefs. The challenger in many of these cases (1,2,3,4,5), Mr Narendra Nayak, president of the Federation of Rationalist Associations of India, has a long-standing challenge issued specifically for astrologers. Here it is in his own words:

“We shall provide the date, time and place of birth of 10 individuals along with the appropriate solutions. The challenger can cast the horoscope and state the following within 90% limits of accuracy- is the individual male or female, dead or alive. ” Read the full story

Posted in Con-Alert, Debunked, General News, PseudoscienceComments (13)

Carl Sagan featuring Stephen Hawking- A Glorious Dawn

This is an incredible piece of work by youtube user melodysheep.

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Here are the notes that were posted with the video:

My own musical tribute to two great men of science. Carl Sagan and his cosmologist companion Stephen Hawking present: A Glorious Dawn - Cosmos remixed. Almost all samples and footage taken from Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Stephen Hawking’s Universe series.

RIP Dr. Sagan, you will be missed!!

Please, click HQ to watch in better quality.

Go here to download the track:
http://www.symphonyofscience.com

And here for another scientist remix:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84P…

And my website for more original music:
http://www.colorpulsemusic.com/

Posted in VideoComments (0)

Annual “Best Scientific Outlook Award” Ceremony And Rationalist Program

Annual “Best Scientific Outlook Award” Ceremony And Rationalist Program

This event was organized by the Orissa Rationalist Association in Rourkela on 10 and 11 October, 2009.

Prabir Ghosh, General Secretary of Science & Rationalist Association of India was invited as the chief guest to handover the certificates and mementos to the winners of the inter-school competition on scientific outlook being arranged by the Orissa Rationalist Association for the last 10 years. Read the full story

Posted in Culture, Featured Posts, Paranormal, Secular EventsComments (1)

Watch BBC Video: Supernatural Revealed in India

This video is self-explanatory and almost no introduction is needed. All I will say here is that the rationalist in the video is Narendra Nayak, president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations. If you watch closely, the late Basava Premanand appears for a second or two, providing support (and advise, no doubt) to the younger rationalists.

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The rationalist movement in India needs more volunteers. If you like what these brave folks are doing, please consider joining and helping in the effort. Together let’s fight these superstitious ideas that pervade our culture.

Posted in VideoComments (5)

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Nirmukta is looking for astrologers and astrology software to predict the year ahead for noted skeptics from around the world, as well as for the contributors at Nirmukta. If you are interested or have information that could help, please contact us using the form on the Contact Us page. We are interested in having Chinese, Western and Vedic astrologers demonstrate and prove to us the validity of their claims.

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Check out our Q & A section for advice and information from our panel of contributors and resident skeptics. You may use the Contact Form or email your questions to info@nirmukta.com. Anonymity is guaranteed on request.

Nirmukta Shoutbox

Last Message
1 week, 4 days
 ago
  • Siddharth Singh : Prove it, Guest_1770.
  • Guest_1770 : god is real
  • Guest_3360 : guess not...
  • Guest_3360 : helloooooo?
  • Guest_3360 : is anyone online right now??
  • Guest_3360 : wow a shout box! awesome!!!
  • Ajita Kamal : Sid, my faith in Cheesecake gives my life meaning... You cannot prove it, you must experience the holy Cheesecake
  • Siddharth Singh : Ajita, you blasphemer! Cheescake is a false god.
  • Ajita Kamal : Cheesecake is my god.
  • amit waghmode : gagangiri baba is my god
  • Guest_3120 : I meant, "the onus of proof".
  • Guest_3120 : Deepak, please do a google search for "Russell's Teapot". The onus of belief is always on the believer.
  • deepak : please answer this simple question.How can you prove God does not exist
  • deepak : just like if someone only keeps looking at crows and tells that there are no swans existing on this earth, his whole observation is completely wrong. there is no basis for it.
  • deepak : just by looking at some fake relegionists we cannot say there are no real ones.
  • deepak : you all have told you are a disbeliever in God
  • Ajita Kamal : OK, let's bring that up at one of our meetings.
  • Siddharth Singh : Ajita, I think he means we should have a form to discuss rationalist books. We have that on the cards.
  • Ajita Kamal : @Last commentator: What exactly do you mean? Please use contact page!
  • emailtoid.net/i/31 : Exchanging information about intersting rational books
  • emailtoid.net/i/31 : I am thinking rational books forum in this site.
  • Samrat : Great Work Ajitha..
  • Ajita Kamal : Check home page for Nirmukta organization proposal!
  • GuestX : Everyone set for the conference?
  • tate : great work guys !!! keep it up
  • Guest_2879 : 456513
  • Ajita Kamal : 6 panelists!
  • shobhitg : Wow we have a shoutbox !
  • Siddharth Singh : Chris, it is at January 23, 2010, at 16:00 GMT (21:30 New Delhi, 11:00 New York)
  • Chris : Has the discussion date been fixed?
  • Guest_4340 : great site
  • Ajita Kamal : «link»
  • Ajita Kamal : Yeah, Qualiasoup rocks! I've found out he actually has a site

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