Fundamatics

Author: Ali Baba

  • Celebrate New Freedoms in Newly Free New India

    Celebrate New Freedoms in Newly Free New India

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    Source: Image Link

    [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]It is sad to see some people denigrate New India and its newly found Freedom. Since we believe in evidence  based arguments, we will support the call for celebration with hard evidence. As a wise scholar once advised, let us start with the difficult question first – what is the state of the Fourth Pillar of Democracy? Perhaps you have not been watching TV news lately. Let me inform you that our Media has never been as Free as it is in New India. In fact it is so Free that most news programs are Free from News. Instead, TV channels are free to conduct debates anchored by journalists who are free from journalistic ethics. They are free to invite anyone to the debate, particularly if these persons are free of expertise and free of decency. They are no longer bound to report both sides of a story, they are free to report only one side and thereby save valuable time of the viewer.

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  • Science and Non-Science

    Science and Non-Science

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    [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Almost eight years ago, on 20 August 2013 to be precise, Dr. Narendra Dabholkar was shot down while he was on his morning walk in Pune. The provocation was Dabholkar’s campaign to promote rational thinking and eradication of Andh Shraddha or Blind Faith. While those who planned and executed this dastardly murder are yet to face the consequences of their act, it did arouse the Maharashtra government to promulgate an ordinance for Eradication of Blind Faith on the very next day. The ordinance was replaced by the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act in December 2013. It may appear that in this instance the government moved swiftly and decisively, but keep in mind that the original draft for this legislation was submitted by Dabholkar and approved by the Cabinet of Maharashtra in 2003. Its ratification by the Central government was resisted by several organisations including The Art of Living Foundation, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and the Haji Malang Dargah, a truly ‘secular’ front. While Maharashtra has taken the lead, there is still no similar national law against superstition.

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  • The People

    The People

    I suppose one must blame the Constitution. When it starts with – WE THE PEOPLE – is it any surprise then that people begin to believe that it is all about them?

    We could start at the beginning, but let us go even before that to a time when barristers trained in Britain began to return home and found that they were getting no respect. They gathered around a table and demanded a piece of the cake because after all it was baked from ingredients grown in their backyard. This did not cut any cake until they entered the kitchen and talked to the staff and convinced them to join their demand for a slice of the cake since the staff had actually baked it. The squatters, who had occupied the house through trickery and deceit, were forced to vacate once the kitchen staff took away the salt. In the meanwhile, the kitchen staff had been emboldened and wanted a piece of the cake too. This brings us to the beginning. (more…)

  • Note Ban – A Vote Spinner

    Note Ban – A Vote Spinner

    This one was truly a googly, if ever a cricketing metaphor was appropriate to economics. While the impact on India’s economy is yet to be fully realised, there is no doubt that the political dividend has been handsome. What AAP’s resounding victory in Delhi brought home to politicians of all hues, was that India was really Against Corruption. Even the champion of Development was swept away by it.

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  • An Arm and a Leg — Not Just a Thumb

    An Arm and a Leg — Not Just a Thumb

     

    As the hapless Victoria driver from Manto’s short story discovered on the day after, 15 August 1947 did not change anything for him. It would not have changed anything for many of us either, but for education. Education has been the single most powerful and the most reliable engine of social and economic mobility that has transformed the lives of millions of our country’s men and women since Independence. Access to good and affordable education ensures that natural talent, no matter from which strata of our society, can aspire to achieve its potential and contribute to the nation. (more…)