Evolution, Science & Education in India

I have always admired how Indians seemed to have accepted and understood evolution better than most developed nations. I used to attribute it to Indian belief systems being more flexible and not as bound by scriptures.

But then the country’s education minister said this yesterday… “Nobody, including our ancestors, have said or written that they ever saw an ape turning into a human being.” and later called for removal of evolution theory from textbooks! #FacePalm

So thought of penning this quick note.  Hope to soon enhance this piece or write a new detailed piece based on my understanding of evolution.

Learning From History – At Peace With History (The Sceptical Patriot)

Just finished reading “The Sceptical Patriot”, a book that examines the veracity of popular “India Facts” like Invented the zero, Sanskrit is the best language for computers, India never invaded another country, India was once the most prosperous nation, Plastic surgery was developed in India … The author deals with several such “facts” that gets bandied over email, facebook, dinner conversations and more. He deals with them in a layman-friendly and mildly-funny text of 200 odd pages.

The aim of the book and also this post is not to mock, belittle or ignore India’s past achievements but to take a realistic view based on the evidence available.

Astrology vs Science & Reason | Which side are you on?

A few months back came the shocking news of the Palkar family suicide in Pune, where Arun Palkar(40), a well off electrical contractor consumed sleeping pills along with his wife (37) and children aged 11 & 6. He did so because he believed that Shani (Saturn) and Mangal (Mars) were so unfavourably placed in his horoscope that irrespective of what he did, he & his family would never be happy. It is likely that he even planned the suicide so as to rescue his family from present & future suffering.

Interview About Java at JavaOne India, 2011

Embedded below is a video of a short interview I did with the Oracle Asia Pacific team at JavaOne India, which was held in Hyderabad in May 2011. I answered questions on Java today, Java Enterprise & Java for Cloud Computing.

I also presented a session “An independent, ‘ear to the ground’ report on Java” at the same conference. I will soon be posting an article based on that presentation at IndicThreads.com.

Lavasa City – Scam Or Development?

I attended an event titled the “Lavasa Mahaghotala Sabha” or the “Lavasa Scam Meet” on 27 Nov 2010. This event was meant to launch a widespread protest against the Lavasa project. The speakers at the meet were prominent social activists Medha Patkar, Anna Hazare & many others linked to the protest. I have live tweeted at length at http://twitter.com/harshadoak (tweets reproduced at end of article) about who said what at the meet. Thought it would make more sense to go beyond the tweets & blog my take on Lavasa. 

Vasant Vyakhanmala (Spring-time Lecture Series), Pune, India – Since 1875!!!

Vasant Vyakhanmala (Spring time Lecture series) is a most remarkable undertaking. It’s an annual event that was first held in 1875 in Pune by social reformer Justice Ranade and is being held every year since. Many of India’s top leaders & visionaries have spoken at the event and I am told that it was especially popular in the pre-independence era, with 1000s attending the lectures.

Notes & Speeches From Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (Anti Superstition) Founder Dr Dabholkar’s Book Release

Yesterday I attended the book release of ‘Timiratuni Tejakadey’ by Dr Narendra Dabholkar, founder of Anti Superstition movement in Maharashtra, Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti. My notes & recordings from the event. I appreciate that the tweets / notes are currently in fairly raw form, hope to edit into more readable paras when I have some more time on hand. Do check out the recordings of the speeches by Narendra Dabholkar & Mohan Agashe.

Internet For Business Development, Internet Entrepreneurship & IT Security & Compliance Courses – By IndicThreads Education

From the IndicThreads Education Press Release. You are welcome to link – share >>

IndicThreads, a technology media pioneer, creators of the IndicThreads.com software developer portal & the IndicThreads Technology Conferences, announces the  launch of  ‘IndicThreads Education‘ a novel initiative in business & technology education. The courses are path-breaking in their content  & way ahead of their time as compared to curriculum of traditional education courses in India.

IndicThreads Education kicks off with three courses, all of which are a first for education in India – 1) Internet For Business & Development 2) Internet Entrepreneurship 3) Information Technology Security & Compliance