Category Archives: Education and Society
FDI in Retails in India …
FDI in retail will hurt Muslims most
November 21, 2012:
The general belief is that Muslims came into India with their invasion of the sub-continent and the formation of the Mughal Empire from the early 16th century.
However, historical facts show that Arab traders visited the Malabar coast of Kerala as early as the 7th century, brought Islam with them, and engaged the local population in a robust and profitable trade in pepper and other spices. They intermarried with the local people and this resulted in the evolution of the large Muslim Maplah community of Kerala.
The Muslims of India thus have a rich tradition of engaging in trading activities for over 1,300 years. Trading is a major source of sustenance for them all across the country.
Will history repeat itself?
Sanskrit As A Language Of Science
By : Justice Markandey Katju, Judge, Supreme Court of India
Speech delivered on 13.10.2009 in the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
Friends,
It is a great honour for me to be invited to speak in the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, which is renowned as one of the foremost scientific institutes in India, and which indeed is recognized as a great centre of science throughout the world. Your institute has produced great scientists of international repute.
The topic which I have chosen to speak on today is `Sanskrit as a language of Science’. I have chosen this topic for two reasons:
- You are yourselves scientists, and hence would naturally like to know about your scientific heritage and the great scientific achievements of your ancestors. Read the rest of this entry
ATHEISM & REASON
The theist claims his humbleness before his god while bartering with priests to live forever.
The ass and the priest are both stubborn and neither knows that they are asses, but only one is born with the ability to lie to children.
Revisions are the religious man’s best friend and the acceptance of their fraud deliver him bound and tied before the throne of ignorance.
When beliefs become certainties for the believers, then its sincerity in them appears to relieve men of their responsibilities to measure their worth.
Scientific discoveries and their truths will never satisfy the mind that feeds on the mystery of awe to excite its desires to live forever.
The evolutionary process is the replication of all organic life and the man, that will not understand it is forced to substitute a face and name for it so he can pray to it.
One ignorant man is but a blemish on society, but several ignorant men united can become a weapon of mass destruction that endangers all of humanity.
Spiritual slavery relieves men of their intellectual integrity so that they are free to prey upon its disadvantages.
Bribery Culture of India
1) Religion is transactional in India. Indians give God cash and anticipate an out-of-turn reward. Such a plea acknowledges that favours are needed for the undeserving. In the world outside the temple walls, such a transaction is named- ‘ Dakshina’ (bribe). A wealthy Indian gives not cash to temples, but gold crowns and such baubles. His gifts can not feed the poor. His pay-off is for God. He thinks it will be wasted if it goes to a needy man. In June 2009, The Hindu published a report of Karnataka minister G. Janardhan Reddy gifting a crown of gold and diamonds worth Rs 45 crore to Tirupati. India’s temples collect so much that they don’t know what to do with it. Billions are gathering dust in temple vaults. When Europeans came to India they built schools.
2) Indian moral ambiguity towards corruption is visible in its history. Indian history tells of the capture of cities and kingdoms after guards were paid off to open the gates, and commanders paid off to surrender. This is unique to India. Indians’ corrupt nature has meant limited warfare on the subcontinent. It is striking how little Indians have actually fought compared to ancient Greece and modern Europe. The Turks’ battles with Nadir Shah were vicious and fought to the finish. In India fighting wasn’t needed, bribing was enough to see off armies. Any invader willing to spend cash could brush aside India’s kings, no matter how many tens of thousands soldiers were in their infantry. Little resistance was given by the Indians at the “Battle” of Plassey. Clive paid off Mir Jaffar and all of Bengal folded to an army of 3,000. There was always a financial exchange to taking Indian forts. Golconda was captured in 1687 after the secret back door was left open. Mughals vanquished Marathas and Rajputs with nothing but bribes. The Raja of Srinagar gave up Dara Shikoh’s son Sulaiman to Aurangzeb after receiving a bribe. There are many cases where Indians participated on a large scale in treason due to bribery. Question is: Why Indians have a transactional culture while other ‘civilized’ nations don’t? Read the rest of this entry
Economics & Spiritualism
Socialism, communism, capitalism or any other “ism” that you can think of is a product or a subject of economics. Everyone understands income & expenditure, purchase & consumption etc. and their interconnectivity for managing the individual’s life. It however gets complicated progressively when it comes to managing lives collectively – of families, groups, societies and even a nation at large.
We all know that the urge to survive drives all our thinking and actions – but it cannot be viewed in isolation for an individual alone – as the individual is also dependent on others and external factors for survival. Now, that individual cannot have capitalism for self and strongly advise socialism or communism for others – being the part of whatever the ism he prefers as a member of that society. Luxury for self and austerity for others will not stand or work for too long – without creating problems. The wealth that provides security will need security to sustain & maintain – making you a security guard for it finally!
This drives us to the conclusion that preference for any ism is situational and no ism is perfect in itself – as people behave differently in different situations and that too quite non-uniformly! Economics is defined as the judicious management of scarce material for optimal utility. Wealth means the ownership, authority & control over large quantum of material. Survival is enhanced by wealth and threatened by the absence of it. Pleasure is pro-survival & pain is contra survival. Wealth is the means to pleasure and poverty is the cause for pain. Can you see the growing conflicts & complications?
What is the solution? The unquestionable answer is – “Spiritualism”. Read the rest of this entry
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