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. Read more

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. Read more

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. Read more

What Is Scientific Temper? What is the Scientific Method?

Article 51A(h) of the Indian constitution says: “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform“. 

However the reality on the ground is that despite rising prosperity and literacy rates, there are no signs of Indians adopting a scientific temper. Orthodoxy, superstitions & pseudo sciences continue to be an integral part of an Indian’s life.

Science is mugged up during exams, and technology is used to earn a living and ease everyday living. However we are a long way from embracing science and adopting the scientific way of logic, reason, critical examination and evidence-based beliefs.

In this talk, I look at a) What is Scientific Temper b) The evolution of the idea of Scientific Temper c) How does one adopt a scientific temper? d) What is the scientific method of Observation, Hypothesis, Prediction and Experimentation e) How we can nurture young analytical minds and pull India out of the quagmire of superstitions and towards a scientific approach to life.

The talk “Scientific Temper : The Forgotten Duty” was delivered at the Takshashila Shala conference held on 29th May 2011 in Pune, India.

Related:

Our constitution says that “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”. However the fact on the ground is that even with rising literacy rates, there are no signs of Indians adopting scientific temperament as a way of life.  India actually seems to be heading the other way, with orthodoxy, superstitions & psuedo sciences becoming an integral part of an Indian’s life.

In this talk, I will look at what scientific temper entails, what’s gone wrong & why there’s still hope that we can nurture analytical minds and pull India out of the quagmire of superstitions.

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.

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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.  Read more

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. Read more

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. Read more

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

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Internet For Business Development

My presentation on ‘Internet For Business Development’ at Barcamp Pune, Nov 2009. The learning was part of my preparations while designing the Internet For Business Development & Internet Entrepreneurship course for IndicThreads Education.The session gives an overview of how the Internet has changed business and business development activities forever & how today’s entrepreneurs & business development professionals need to harness the power of technology and the Internet to deliver better sales, stronger brands & a larger customer base for the enterprise.

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Maharashtra Election Results – Vidhan Sabha 2009

The election results for the Maharashtra state assembly elections are supposed to be announced tomorrow (22nd Oct). Like every prior election, the Election Commission has again failed to provide a proper & functional website where you can get the election results. However your best bet still would be to try the Chief Election Commissioner for Maharashtra website http://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/ or the Election Commission India site for the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha Results.

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Maharashtra State Assembly Elections – Pune Shivajinagar Seat Contestants

No Indian has anywhere near as much scope to change the destiny of other Indians as an elected representative in government. So like it or hate it, we have to take our netas and elections seriously. The assembly elections (Vidhan Sabha) for the state of Maharashtra in India are upon us and 13th Oct 09 is voting day. My vote lies in the Shivajinagar constituency in Pune. So here’s my analysis of the top 3 contenders for the ShivajiNagar seat in Pune city. I do not think I have any deep rooted party loyalties and my choice of party in past elections has varied based on the quality of the candidate. I am attempting to provide my analysis of the candidates & not their parties. Also I do not claim to be unbiased, so please apply your judgement. Read more

Frankfurt Airport Incident – Ignorant / Insensitive / Rude Or Racist?

I recently traveled to the US and back to India. On my way to San Francisco I had a connecting flight at Frankfurt, Germany. The following is an experience at Frankfurt that I can’t quite categorize. Is it ignorance / insensitivity / rudeness / racism or maybe even an over reaction on my part? Read more

Voter Apathy Or Election Commission Incompetence?

At just 40%, Pune saw it’s worst ever voter turnout for the Loksabha elections. Mumbai was slightly better at 44%. The dismal voter turnout numbers have shocked most of educated India. Political leaders are smirking on TV saying things like “You blame us politicians for not caring about the country, but even the ordinary citizen does not care.” I have no insider info on the matter, but am just trying to apply some common sense to figure out what could have gone wrong. Read more

India Loksabha Election Issues – Candidate Attributes

Watching politicians debating about what seemed like non-issues to me, got me wondering about what are the real election issues and what are the qualities that the electorate look for in a MP.  Thought why not create a simple ranking based survey to get the info from friends and readers of HarshadOak.com.  Please fill out the survey – India Loksabha Election Issues – Candidate Attributes Survey . It will take not more than 3-4 min to complete the survey and you will help us all better understand what matters to Indians. I will make the statistics collected through this survey freely and publicly available at http://www.HarshadOak.com on 1st May 2009. Thank you.

Wealth & Assets Of Candidates In India General Elections 2009

Below are the affidavits of the candidates contesting for the Pune Loksabha Seat in India’s General Elections 2009. Click on the names to open the scanned PDF documents. You can check the details of the wealth, holdings, assets of the candidates and their criminal record, if any. Use these links to have a look at candidate affidavits across – Pune, Maharashtra and  India . Read more

What’s The Impact Of The Economic Slowdown On The Software Business?

Rightrix Research & IndicThreads.com have undertaken a research to gauge sentiment of the insiders to the software business (the developers, architects and managers) and know what they think about the slowdown and its impact. Participating in the survey also gets you 15% off on registrations for the 3rd IndicThreads.com Conference On Java Technology

>> Click to enter the survey