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
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In this sequel to what I had written about my last trip to Uttarakhand, I am reporting on my latest visit to this state. This is my third visit to this area; the first was in 2006 when I had been to Kotdwar and Pithoragarh and the second was in April,2009 when I had been to Uttarakashi and Hardwar.
Like the previous two this visit is also to train youngsters in developing scientific temper in connection with what we call as our “Miracle Exposure Program“. We have been conducting hundreds of these in collaboration with various organizations, mainly the National Council for Science and Technology Communications, popularly called the NCSTC. This organization had started supporting our mentor Premanand in his training programs and had already published a book called “Seeing is not Believing” in Hindi and English. They had also made a kit for presenting the same, and have been engaged in such activities for nearly three decades. Read the full story
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These challenges were released to the Nepal press on the occasion of a press conference at Kathmandu on the 25th of October and the same are applicable to those in India too! Read the full story
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A few days ago we published a report on Basava Premanand’s deathbed statement, in anticipation of the lies that usually follow the passing of great men of reason. Not to be undone, the liars are at it again. A blog dedicated to the conman, fraud and alleged rapist Sai Baba has begun the work of misrepresenting Premanand’s legacy. The first thing to remember before analyzing the events here is that such declarations as made by Premanand are a precautionary measure against exactly the type of attacks that we are seeing from these folks. The second thing to remember is that Premanand was one of the most influential critics of Saibaba. Keeping these two things in perspective, let us take a look at the facts. Read the full story
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Bangalore, 11/12 August 2009
The “Indian Silicon Valley” is now in ‘panic’. The pandemic of swine flu hasepts got the better of the outwardly modern Bangaloreans. You see boys and girls promenading through the air-conditioned malls in their trademark tight jeans, with inane slogans blazed across their t-shirts. Now, after the swine-flu, they have an extra-fitting added - a mask. It looks like they have taken a fancy for this stuff. With the mask, they now look exactly like pigs!
The morning newspapers scream that the swine flu toll has risen to seven. According to one newspaper the total number of positive cases of the viral disease detected in the country as on 10 August 2009 stood at 864 and the number of confirmed cases in Karnataka stood at 92. (Deccan Chronicle, Bangalore, 11 August 2009). Schools in the city are reported to have been closed.
After having had a light-hearted discussion in the morning with a colleague about the irrational behavior of those who are affected by the fear of swine-flu, I was jolted in the afternoon by a cell-phone SMS that reads: “Pass this message to everyone. Use ‘Nilgiri Oil’ drops on handkerchiefs and masks as one of the preventive measures against swine flu (NIV) - National Institute of Virology.”
The National Institute of Virology in Pune is a pre-eminent institution in India, doing solid research in viral infections and other related fields. And here is a message straight from the horse-mouth advising me to panic and make others panic! As a common man with scanty knowledge of viral infections and the possible medical properties of Eucalyptus Oil (commonly known as Nilgiri Oil in this part of the world, though the tree is not indigenous to Nilgiri Hills, or even India), what should I do? Should I forward the message to my colleagues, friends, and relatives to save them from an imminent attack of the deadly swine-flu? Here is a simple remedy available even in provision stores and with street peddlers! These were the thoughts that flashed across my mind in an instant. Read the full story
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June 2009. Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh.
I was accompanying Prof. Narendra Nayak on his tour of MP and Bihar, conducting workshops exposing the miracle-men (and women!). Itarsi was reeling under scorching heat. We regularly gulped chilled bottled water to get some relief from the debilitating heat. Power cuts and load shedding - scheduled and unscheduled - added to the misery of the people. Business establishments - including roadside juice parlors - had installed diesel generators to get over the frequent power cuts. Sitting there in a tiny room in President’s Hotel, opposite Itarsi Railway Station, I could hear the booming sound of generators. I read in the newspapers that the whole of the State was similarly affected from a delayed monsoon. Wells and lakes had dried up. The Hitavada reported (June 19, 2009, Jabalpur edition) from the state capital, Bhopal, that the water level of Upper Lake, the life-line of the city, was at 1674ft- the lowest in its recorded history. In many parts of the city, police were called in to control the crowd collecting drinking water. It is thus only natural that the state government explored all available avenues to lessen the hardships of its people or at least to divert the wrath of its citizens.
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The Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations had announced a challenge to astrologers to predict the results of the 2009 elections. On the 15th of May, I received an unsolicited email from info@dhyanfoundation.com stating that:
“astrology is a perfect science but if tied wid maya (charges, power etc.) then it looses its power so people who sell dis art in no way go beyond probability…….Ther r forces which run creation and also u n me n also this so called rationalist” these forces in do form of an energy field r visible around an individual or his pic its possible to tell his emotional and physicall(sic) state. I invite this Mr.rationalist to give us at DHYAN FOUNDATION ten pics of his choice of seriously ill n healthy people as a mix n we will tell how many of them r seriously ill n how many r healthy.if he wants to give pic of lok sabha candidates then its possible to tell if we have date n time of d election results, wether he is winning or loosing all dis wid 90% accuracy.”
All this from a person (?) who says:
” u wrote an interesting article, normally I don respond mself but this being a serious issue n u being a serious journo I thought dat I should bring some things to your notice”.
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A Skeptic Vs. Psychic event is set to take place in Bangalore on the 31st of this month. The meeting will attempt to resolve a challenge proposed by Yogi Ashwini of the Dhyan Foundation to rationalist Narendra Nayak, president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations. The Yogi claims that his representative from the foundation can accurately diagnose the health-condition/disease of people from just their photographs. Here are the details of the event:
Date: 31st May, 2009 at 11:00 AM.
Venue: Ashoka Shishu Vihara at Shankarapuram, Bangalore.
Description: The psychic will attempt to accurately diagnose the current health of 10 people, from their photographs alone.
Contact: Narendra Nayak: 94482 16343
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Posted on 13 May 2009
Scroll below for results. Also published at www.srai.org and www.thefreethinker.tk
INR 25,00,000 challenge to astrologers who accurately forecast result of Parliament Election 2009.
May 11th 2009
Science and Rationalists’ Association of India (Bharayatiya Bigyan o Yuktibadi Samiti) challenges all astrologers to forecast following results / information regarding Parliament Election 2009:–
1. How many seats will be acquired by Congress, BJP, TMC, CPI(M), BSP, RJD, Samajbadi Party, DMK, AIDMK?
2. How much differences in votes will remain to win/lose for Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Lalkrishna Advani, Mamata Bandopadhyay, Laluprasad Yadav, Rambilas Paswan from their respective nearest opponents?
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Posted on 17 April 2009
Update: This is the fifth part in the series. Here are links to all the parts of Narandra Nayak’s rationalism tour of India: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 6.
As I am sitting in an Ashram and writing this, eating ‘satwik bhojan‘ devoid of all intoxicants and tamasik foods like onion and garlic, I am reminded of an old adage- if you want gay nights and good dinner, board with saints and bed with sinners! Some of the Ashrams where I am staying as of now at Haridwar could put five star hotels to shame, except that there would be no bars and the food restricted to that of the Satwik variety. It is not that this category of food is bad- it is very tasty and quite filling, but the saturated fat and cholesterol content would be enough to clog the arteries of the leanest of the saints! Those things apart, I am here to conduct training programs for young people in collaboration with an organization called SPECS and sponsored by NCSTC for miracle exposure. That means that I have to train people to create scientific temper among a population whose main means of sustenance is a money order economy for the year round and pilgrimage tourism during the season from May to September. In the state of Uttarakhand, which is called as Devabhoomi, the other source of income are the hydroelectric projects on the river Ganga. In fact it is this river that provides the means of living for the most of the population including the hordes of priests waiting to fleece the gullible tourists who come to these places seeking salvation for the souls of their departed ancestors. Haridwar where I am at present has numerous ghats where in the river Ganga has been diverted to facilitate a dip in the holy waters. I am also enjoying bathing in the holy waters of this sacred river in the safety and comfort of my hotel room! In fact, right from the day I stepped into this state my bathing has been in the water of the sacred river, first in Dehradun, then in Uttarakashi and now in Haridwar.
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