A survey of 1,100 scientists across 130 universities and research institutes across the country threw up interesting results as 29 per cent believed in the philosophy of 'karma', 26 per cent accepted the principle of life after death and seven per cent researchers gave credence to existence of ghosts.
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Arundhati Roy is like a ballerina performing on a high wire, cool, supremely at ease but conscious of all the adoring eyes on her,' notes P Vijaya Kumar.
His reflections on the origins of mass sparked a nearly five-decade, multi-billion dollar search for a subatomic particle, later known as the 'Higgs boson', which was thought to hold the key to understanding the nature of the universe.
The five-decade-long hunt for the elusive Higgs boson or the 'God particle' has reached a milestone, with scientists at the CERN claiming on Wednesday that they have discovered a new subatomic particle that looks like the one believed to be crucial for formation of the universe.
In an order dismissing the bail plea of a man accused of cow slaughter, Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court also said that 'Panchgavya' prepared using cow's milk, curd, ghee, urine and dung helps in treating several incurable diseases.
Gandhi said the govt "tried everything to stop" his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', but nothing was working against the "effect" of the foot march.
After being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump started his inaugural address with a sentence that echoed Modi's coinage some years ago, notes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
With Vinesh Phogat's heartbreaking disqualification over discrepancies in weight at the Paris Olympics just when India was keeping its fingers crossed for a sure shot victory at the finals, spirits have hit an all-time low. Art mirrors life and it won't be a surprise if our sports biopic obsessed film-makers turn this dramatic change of events into a movie one day.
'...but subjecting our heritage to rigorous evidence-based understanding.'
In a 'quantum' leap in physics, CERN scientists on Wednesday claimed to have spotted a sub-atomic particle 'consistent' with the Higgs boson or 'God particle', believed to be a crucial building block that led to the formation of the universe.
India can launch a rocket into space, grow its own food and make its own dams. That's something to be proud of, and I certainly am. I grew up believing all religions lead to the same God. You can have yours, I can have mine, and we can enjoy each others' festivals. I believe this India still exists in the majority of hearts, says bestselling author Rashmi Bansal on Rediff.com's special series on what we love most about India.
After spending over 14 months in jail, 80-year-old ailing Pakistani scientist Mohammed Khalil Chisti was on Wednesday released on bail from Ajmer jail in a two-decade-old murder case and said he wanted to return to his homeland soon.
Indore-based Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, a Department of Atomic Energy facility, has played a major role in the supply of vital parts for Large Hadron Collider of European Organisation for Nuclear Research.
Ice? Volcano? Or Alien life? The discovery of two bright spots on Ceres -- the dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that happens to be the largest body in that asteroid belt -- has baffled scientists and space enthusiasts.
'The irresistible charm of Indian politics is it can always throw up surprises -- even when it looks as predictable as in Tamil Nadu,' discovers Shekhar Gupta.
'The Weather Channel argues that India faces the gravest challenge: Climate change-induced health vulnerability.' 'This is an issue often neglected, alerts Claude Arpi: "Prolonged summers, unpredictable rains, floods, droughts, and rising sea levels are the harsh realities of climate change in the country. These factors increase the frequency and severity of illnesses, pushing people into poverty, and forcing migration".'
Readers have responded resoundingly to our invitation to congratulate the ISRO team for Chandrayaan-3's successful Moon landing.
'I was amazed at how tasty it was.' 'They did a good job with millets and lentils, which Mr Modi liked.'
December 22 marks the 129th birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the greatest Indian mathematician of our time. Just 32 when he died, Ramanujan has fascinated mathematicians, writers and filmmakers for nearly a century.
Ahead of Mother's Day, Rediff readers write about their mothers and tell us what they mean to them.
'My wife was asked to get out of an autorickshaw because she was married to me. My children were targeted and branded a traitor's children. In spite of the Supreme Court and the NHRC having cleared my case, the state government is yet to close it. Local politicians are behind this. Why can't they close the case, give me compensation, accepting gracefully that they have wronged me?' Dr S Nambi Narayanan, the scientist who was accused and then exonerated in the 1994 ISRO spying case, speaks to Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier about his continuing travails and his recent meeting with Narendra Modi.
Scientists believe the unique geological locations where they are situated makes them worthy of veneration.
Scientist are flabbergasted by the video showing an alleged human sacrifice near a Chola period statue gifted to CERN by India.
'When Covid first struck, the lockdown resulted in clean air in major Indian cities.' 'You were able to see the Himalayan range from Ludhiana.' 'In Delhi, you were seeing deer and stags all over the city because there was no traffic.' 'It was incredible. Nature was waiting to come back.'
'Farmers must get Maximum Support Price instead of Minimum Support Price.'
'Instead of developing the capacity, capability and strength to fight our external enemies, we are turning our own people against each other.'
Renowned scientist Prof C N R Rao on Saturday said the Bharat Ratna had come to him as a "complete surprise" and he could not believe that he had been awarded the country's highest civilian honour.
We have let a woman of Italian origin rule us through a clever divide of administrative power centres, but far too many of us have not accepted her Indianness. We have every right to reject her politics and her corrupt government, but shouldn't her living most of her life here make her Indian enough?
'In the Middle Ages, when Muslims were around 15 per cent of the population of the world, they accounted, according to one estimate, for 90 per cent of scientific advancements.' 'And today, when Muslims are around 22 per cent of the population of the world, their share in scientific writings is less than 1 per cent!' point out Ziya Us Salam and M Aslam Parvaiz.
'Even among scientists and technology mavens -- typically communities that tend to view the world through the lens of logos or reason and not mythos, there is a shiny-eyed enthusiasm for the mythical world,' says Arundhuti Dasgupta.
'Mahesh Bhatt put his foot down during Ghulam and did not allow Aamir Khan to dictate a particular moment in my performance.' 'He just ignored Aamir's objection to something I did in a shot we had together.'
Double Olympic champion Caster Semenya's future was in doubt on Friday after she said she would not take medication to lower her testosterone levels to comply with new rules for the 800 metres.
'The only good thing that has come out of our current situation is that it has brought communities closer.' NRIs describe the impact coronavirus is having on their lives.
This Khan superstar told Gulshan Grover, 'Go ahead, become a star in Hollywood.'
The Congress forget Modi has demigod status in Gujarat and there is no way he can be defeated in the state, argues Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Some Indians take the extreme view that everything was known to our ancients, but others go to the opposite extreme and consider everything Indian was superstition and rubbish.' 'Indian science was perhaps more rational than the European science of the time.'
India is too diverse to be governed centrally and with a single system. The way forward is for the central government to keep the monopoly of military power and a share of national resources while the provinces must have greater autonomy, recommends Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'"The end" depends on two things.' 'Either you develop a vaccine which is effective or if you have a drug, you can terminate this infection very quickly.' 'Otherwise, you have to depend on herd immunity.' 'I think it should happen earlier. Far earlier, than we can imagine or achieve 'herd immunity'.'
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