Debating religious conversions

The operative word in ‘freedom of religion’ is ‘freedom’, and not ‘religion’. Religious conversion is thus a matter of individual choice guaranteed as a fundamental right under the Constitution, and not a collective right of any religious community to proselytise. What matters is not whether such conversions are necessary but whether the individual is allowed the freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of a religion of his or her choice provided under Article 25. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in calling for a debate on religious conversion, framed his argument poorly: “Is conversion necessary? Can social service not be performed in India without resorting to conversion?” Conversion may not be necessary for anyone but the person converting, but that is no reasoning at all against religious conversion. And, of course, social service can be performed without resorting to conversion. Christian missionaries have combined propagation of religion with social service but unless cases of force or fraud are proven, there can be no objection to such a combination of religious and social work. True, as Mr. Singh said, it should be possible for members of all religions to prosper in India without promoting conversions. But this is not to say that promotion of religious conversions is in itself wrong. That there is no socio-economic need for religious conversion cannot be used to push through any restrictive anti-conversion laws. Existing laws are more than adequate to prevent forcible or fraudulent conversions.

Curiously, Mr. Singh used the possible changes in demographic profile and character of India that religious conversions would entail as an argument against religious conversion. Any restriction on religious conversion, whether on ground of social tension or changing demographics or national character, will amount to a serious violation of the fundamental right to freedom of religion. What is important is that India survives as a secular nation, and not that it remains a country with an unchanged religious mix. As a senior Minister in the government, Mr. Singh should not have called upon the religious minorities to debate anti-conversion laws in the context he set out. Anti-conversion laws cannot be a means to protect religious communities, whether they are a minority or they constitute the majority. It is people who need legal protection and not religions. The threat to the idea of India is less from changes in demographic profile than from attempts to impose a rigid, unifying ‘national’ culture.

Keywords: Rajnath Singh, Freedom, Religion, Religious conversion Constitution, 

Amitav Ghosh is only Indian on Booker list

CAPE TOWN





Amitav Ghosh on Tuesday emerged as the only Indian author among 10 finalists for this year's Man Booker International Prize for his contribution to English language writing.Kolkata born, 58-year-old Ghosh, had narrowly missed out on the Booker Prize back in 2008 when he was shortlisted for his work Sea of Poppies. The international version of the popular literary prize, to be held in London on May 19, is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in English translation.
The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel and there are no submissions from publishers. “This is a most interesting and enlightening list of finalists,“ said Jonathan Taylor, chairman of the Booker Prize Foundation.
“For the first time authors included in the list are from 10 countries with six new nationalities,“ said Taylor. They are from Libya, Mozambique, Guadeloupe, Hungary, South Africa and Congo and the proportion of writers translated into English is greater than ever before at 80 per cent.
“The judges have had an exhilarating experience reading for this prize we have ranged across the world and entered the vision of writers who offer an extraordinary variety of experiences,“ said Professor Marina Warner, chair of the judging panel. The awards comes with a £60,000 cheque and can be won only once in an author's lifetime.

Vedanta

SRI CHINMOY





The Secret Key to Life
The world exists just because love still exists on earth. If this one divine quality left the world, then there could be no existence on earth. Where there is love, pure, divine love, there is fulfilment. What is love? If love means possessing someone or something, then that is not real love, that is not pure love. Real love is giving and becoming one with everything, with humanity and divinity .
Where there is Oneness, it is all pure love. If we give someone something and expect something in return because we feel that the person is under obligation to give us something back, this is human love. is human love.But if we can do something unconditionally, that is divine love.
Divine love makes no demand. It is spontaneous is unlimited and constant. It is unlimited in every way . It is like the Sun.The Sun is for everybody . Everybody can use sunlight, but if we keep our doors and windows shut, what can the sun do?
Divine love at every moment illumines us, and in illumination, we see total fulfilment.There is no possession, only a feeling of oneness. This is the easiest path. This love is most convincing, most effective.
It is here on earth that we shall hear the soul-stirring flute of immortality . We do not have to go to Heaven or any other realm of consciousness. Right here, now, we can hear the message of liberation, enlightenment and divine fulfilment if we love for love's sake, love for God's sake.

Study on mobile radiation begins

DurgeshNandan Jha

New Delhi





AIIMS, IIT-D Among 17 Top Bodies Asked By Centre To Probe Its Health Impact

At least 17 top scientific institutions in the country, including AIIMS and IIT Delhi, have been commissioned by the Union government to address concerns about radiation emitted from mobile phones and phone towers causing illnesses.Sources said funds ranging from Rs 22 lakh to Rs 2 crore, as demanded, have already been allocated for the research by the department of science and technology .
TOI spoke to officials who said the move is aimed to review different aspects of the health impact at the earliest so that action or remedial measures can be taken to save peo ple from potential consequences. The Indian Council of Medical Research is also conducting a study but that is a prospective one and may take longer, said an official.
“The projects awarded to the 17 institutions are to be completed in a maximum of 36 months while the minimum time period is 18 months,“ a senior official said. He added that local-level research is needed as those conducted abroad may not determine the effect on Indians due to varying climates.
In 2011, an inter-ministerial committee had said mobile phone towers should not be installed near high-density residential areas, schools, playgrounds and hospitals after reviewing then available research some of which held that radiation from mobile phones and towers posed serious health risks, including loss of memory , lack of concentration, disturbance in the digestive system and sleep disturbances.The committee pointed to research which claimed that dis appearance of butterflies, bees, insects and sparrows from big cities had been due to radiation from mobile phone towers.
The World Health Organization also labelled exposure to radiation emitted from cellphones as “possibly carcino genic to humans“. However, cellphone operators have been resisting curbs on installing towers saying there is still no evidence on the cause-and-effect relationship between the exposure and health hazard, a fact conceded by many senior scientists.
There is fear among the public who blame exposure to radiation for rising incidence of cancer. Recently , residents in some parts of Noida snapped off power connection to some mobile phone towers. Connectivity was badly affected. “If cellphone towers are targeted without evidence, it will hamper business as well as lead to public inconvenience. We must wait for results of the study before coming to any conclusion,“ said a cellular operator.

IIT-BOMBAY M.PHIL. IN PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT: ADMISSION FOR 2015-16 BATCH 

Offered by: The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), Mumbai.

M.Phil. programme in Planning and Development: The M.Phil. Programme with specialization in Planning and Development is a 4 - semester interdisciplinary course, was launched in July 1993. The programme with a theoretical-practical thrust provides the students with a holistic understanding of socio-economic reality and the impact of technology. It also acquaints them with the various stages and levels of expertise involved in the formulation and implementation of development policies that can bring about a sustainable, stable, and desirable development. With such training which includes coursework, thesis writing and field trip, it is expected that the students coming out of this programme will be able to help steer the national, state and regional planning and developmental processes. There is a paucity of such personnel in India at present and I.I.T. Bombay is the first to start such a programme. There are about 10-12 students pursuing the M.Phil. programme every year.

Eligibility and Selection Procedure: Admission to this programme is open to those who qualify in MET/GATE/UGC-JRF/UGC-LECTURERSHIP. Master's Degree in Arts, Commerce (with 55% marks), or M.Sc., B.Tech (with 60% marks with adequate background in Social Sciences) is essential. Those appearing for the above exams may also apply. Those who are in service can apply as sponsored candidates. The selection will be based on the qualifying test and interview.

The programme aims to educate and train personnel in various aspects of Development Policy in the Indian Context. The Programme is interdisciplinary with a theoretic-practical thrust, and is not in an area offered by the universities. The students will be trained to help steer the national, state and regional plans.

Social reality and development are complex phenomenon. They can be understood in their entirety only by adopting the multidisciplinary approach. A holistic understanding of socio-economic reality and of the various stages and levels of expertise involve d in the information and implementation of development policies can bring about a sustainable, stable, and desirable development. There is a paucity of such personnel in India at present. It is in this context that the HSS Department has launched its multidisciplinary M.Phil. programme.

Programme duration: The duration of the programme is four semesters.

Semester 1: 4 courses + Seminar I

Semester 2: 3 courses + First stage of Dissertation

Semester 3: 1 course + R & D Project

Semester 4: Second and Third stages of dissertation

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Mar 24 2015 : The Economic Times (Delhi) Vedanta - You're What You Think ANUP TANEJA   Every masterpiece in the making requires a lot of effort.However, in some cases, despite sincere efforts, the art simply remains art; it does not become a masterpiece. This can lead to frustration, low self-esteem and reduced self-confidence. The path to achievement is never easy . Every task or goal has its unique challenges and roadblocks.Why do negative thoughts hold sway at times? Perhaps because uncontrolled thoughts render the mind weak. If you carefully observe your thought patterns, you will find that many thoughts are inconsistent. The mind wanders at random aimlessly . There will be some thoughts of household issues, some thoughts of bank balance, of eating and drinking, of going to a mo vie, and so many others. When you are absorbed in studying a book at 7:00 p.m., the expectation of pleasure of watching a cricket match on television at 8:00 p.m. distracts you every now and then. When it is time to meditate, one thinks instead of sleep. You have within you the power to accomplish everything you want; that power lies in the will. Dispassionately analysing our thought patterns for at least 15 minutes daily , preferably early in the morning, could help us focus better. Introspection will tell us that each of our habits creates a specific `groove' in the brain, and that these patterns make us behave in a certain way , often against our wish. However, through the practice of concentration and meditation, we can neuter bad habits by creating more thought patterns of good habits.

PIO students steal the show at US science fair

Chidanand Rajghatta

Washington:





President Obama on Monday recognized immigrants' contribution that has enabled continued US dominance in science and technology , while specifically calling out Indian-American students during a White House science fair.At least five of the 30 projects selected nationwide for the annual White House science fair this week were from students of Indian-origin.Their high visibility and immediate relevance appeared to strike a chord with the US President as he gave a shout out to Anvita Gupta, Ruchi Pandya, and Nikhil Behari, after examining their projects and questioning them closely. “Their parents came here as immigrants and we are glad they did,“ Obama re marked at a time Washington is trying to craft immigration policies to attract and retain the best and the brightest among potential immigrants while keeping out those it feels will simply take away American jobs and undermine the US economy .
Obama was particularly impressed by the project of Nikhil Behari, a Pennsylvania high-schooler whose father is a well-known physician in Pittsburgh.
Having heard about data breaches at retail chains, Behari created a security system that uses people's distinctive typing speed and style as a means of secondary authentication for safer passwords. He connected sensors to a microprocessor he had programmed to detect keystroke pressure, and used a separate programme to measure action and pause-time as users type. By analyzing data from these devices, Nikhil discovered that keystroke-based authentication is a potentially powerful technique for distinguishing and authenticating individuals.
His invention won a second place at the 2014 Broadcom MASTERS national finals, and even President Obama was visibly impressed by the technology.
Ironically, his administration has been under scrutiny for privacy violations. Oba ma was also impressed by the work of San Jose high-schooler Ruchi Pandya, who combined nanotechnology , biology and electrochemistry to devise a method to test specific cardiac biomarkers with a single drop of blood. Again, given his enormous interest in healthcare costs, Obama spend considerable time on her project.
The US President also gave a shout-out during his speech to Arizona teenager Anvita Gupta who used machine learning to “teach“ a computer to identify potential new drugs for cancer, tuberculosis, and Ebola. For the full report, log on to http:www.timesofindia.com