Kerala: Congress, BJP Oppose Speaker’s Comments on Pseudo Science, CPI(M) Refutes Allegations of Hurting Religious Beliefs Neelambaran A | 05 Aug 2023
The speaker warned students in a school in Kannur recently to be aware of pseudoscience being insisted as facts. Responding to questions from the students, one of which was about the invention of aeroplanes, he said that it was Wright Brothers, but for believers of Hindutva, it is Pushpaka Vimana. Shamsheer also accused the Hindutva ideology of propagating myths in place of science.
Four days later, on July 25, a district-level BJP leader filed a case in Thiruvananthapuram against the speaker for insulting Hindu beliefs. The complainant alleged that the speaker violated the constitutional oath.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) is among the outfits jumping in to condemn Shamsheer, along with their ideological enemies, the Sangh Parivar.
The past nine years since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed power in 2014 have witnessed staggering claims about the existence of genetics, stem cell technology, plastic surgery and aeroplanes in the ancient Vedic period
Dam Safety in HP: Himachal floods have spotlighted the problems with hydropower dams. https://www.newsclick.in/hp-malana-dam-gates-still-not-operational-govt-must-ensure-safety-hydropower-projects
Malana hydropower project in Kullu district is currently in the news for still being unable to open the dam gates, which have been blocked by the considerable muck and debris upstream. It has been over a week, but the gates are still not operational.
There are several hydropower projects in Himachal Pradesh being run by private players; Then there are micro-hydropower projects constructed by private players, also called Independent Power Producers(IPPs). All the IPP hydropower projects are run with a run-of-the-river dam technology, which means these are not large dams. However, malfunction of the dams or their gates being locked can create a cascading effect downstream.
Indians Must say no to Hate-Filled News https://www.newsclick.in/indians-must-say-no-hate-filled-news SN Sahu, the former Officer on Special Duty to ex-Indian President KR Narayanan . 05 Aug 2023, delves into the perilous intersection of media, hate, and violence.
Five days before India’s independence, on 10th August 1947, Mahatma Gandhi, speaking at a prayer meeting at Sodepur, warned, “If this wretched spirit of communalism had entered the police force, the prospect was bleak indeed”. Therefore, he said he “hoped that the police would realise the dignity of their profession”.
Seventy-six years after Gandhi’s dire predictions about the poisonous communal spirit within the police, the nation is witnessing the horrors of communalism guiding this armed force—be it RPF constable Chetan Singh or the police personnel in Manipur who are being accused of having handed over three Kuki women to a hostile crowd that sexually assaulted and paraded them.
Communal hatred's alarming consequences are being exposed in the violent incidents in Haryana and Manipur. The media's role, particularly 'godi' outlets known for their divisive content, is under scrutiny.
A Supreme Court bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy, while hearing a clutch of petitions on alleged hate speech via some TV shows, observed on 22 September 2022 that the visual media is the “chief medium of hate speech” and wondered why the government of India is treating it as “a trivial matter” and “standing by as a mute witness when all this is happening.”
The bench observed that hate speech in different forms “has the effect of ridiculing a community” and can have a “devastating effect.”