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‘Don’t mix mythology & Science’ : Tripura scientists protest irrational comments at Science Congress
TIWN Jan 7, 2018
‘Don’t mix mythology & Science’ : Tripura scientists protest irrational comments at Science Congress
PHOTO : Protest staged before Tripura University against Science Congress's wrong claims. TIWN Pic Jan 7

AGARTALA, Jan 7 (TIWN): BJP Govt’s Dark Era is attempting foul to reel back India into primitive culture and insulting scientists with mythological claims almost have been licensed to BJP motormouths. On Monday morning, a small group of acutely embarrassed Indian scientists and research scholars gathered at the Tripura University to protest against the irrational statements made by some speakers at the Indian Science Congress underway in Punjab. On Friday, Andhra University vice-chancellor G Nageswara Rao claimed at one session that the Kauravas from the Mahabharata were test-tube babies, that Ravana, from the Ramayana, possessed 24 aircraft and that Sri Lanka at the time had airports. Rao is a professor of inorganic chemistry. At the same session, KJ Krishnan, a scientist at a centre in Tamil Nadu , said that Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein were both wrong and that gravitational waves would soon be rechristened “Narendra Modi waves”.

Recent editions of the Indian Science Congress have witnessed similar unscientific claims. But this time, the irrationality has “gone beyond all limits”, said Prajval Shastri, a retired professor from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics who joined the protest on Sunday.

The Indian Science Congress does not have particularly exacting standards, said Shastri, explaining that “high quality” scientists from within India tend to shun it. She recalled that Nobel winner Venkatraman Ramakrishnan had called the forum a circus. But it continues to be a high-profile event because it has the government’s endorsement and funding, she said. Inaugurated by the prime minister, it invites well-known scientists, even Nobel laureates, from abroad.

This intense attention only compounds the problem, said Shastri. “But scientists are not doing anything with their embarrassment,” she said. “The science academies have not said anything but scientists cannot not claim responsibility. How are these papers getting cleared for presentation?”

In a speech last Friday, Andhra University Vice Chancellor G. Nageshwar Rao said that the Kauravas of the Mahabharata were born due to stem cell and test tube technologies and that India possessed knowledge about guided missiles thousands of years ago.

Mr. VijayRaghavan said, “When lay people, including politicians, make random and erroneous statements linking religion, culture, history etc, to science, the problem must be addressed by collegial communication. When scientists make such links, they should be addressed more squarely. If there’s a chance that such views may enter policy, the amount of engagement needs to go up.”

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