That move was aborted following a huge uproar. The stars clearly were not with Joshi.
Likewise, rationalists in Bangalore University’s science faculty have thwarted plans of the State BJP government to introduce astrology as a course at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.
The heads of all science disciplines in the university unanimously rejected the government’s plan to begin “Jyotish Shastra” as a science, citing it as an “obscurantist and unscientific move”. The decision to reject the proposal was taken at a meeting of the faculty on January 6. The Yeddyurappa government’s academic horoscope now reads: stars in retrograde.
Mooted by a former Cabinet minister, the government’s proposal to start astrology as a science course was introduced last year and was recommended for all central varsities in the state.
Sources at the department said the faculty of different departments objected to the proposal on the ground that astrology as a subject was a non-science and had not undergone enough scientific scrutiny.
The faculty’s approval is statutory under the Karnataka State Universities Act 2000 and is critical in introducing new courses. Only after a course is ratified by the faculty can it be presented to the University Syndicate or, for that matter, the Academic Council for approval.
The State Government’s plan is reminiscent of Joshi’s passionate move to introduce “Jyotir Vigyan” or Vedic Astrology as an under-graduate and post-graduate course. That could happen after a UGC committee recommended introducing it as part of the BJP-led NDA government’s decision to revive “ancient science”.
When scientists and academics scoffed at Joshi’s pursuit of the stars and the cosmos and beyond, the proposal was given a quite burial. Joshi’s bid to create generations of star gazers and soothsayers was soundly and predictably thwarted.
Now, as if trying to send across a no-nonsense message to the State Government, Bangalore University’s science faculty ratified introducing six new courses, including a Bachelor of Science programme, to promote pure science.
DH News Service
