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Saturday, April 4, 2026
TopicSuperstition

Topic: Superstition

Snakebites kill more Indians than malaria, dengue. Blame the urban-rural divide

Snakebites in India are mostly brushed away as a rural, poor-people problem. While the numbers are staggering, the bigger story is wrapped up in mythology, superstition, and abysmal public health infrastructure.

Ananya Panday is the latest star to flaunt her ‘guruji’. It signals India’s crisis of faith

Seeking spiritual guidance is nothing to be frowned upon. But the masses flocking to babas should also be read as a symptom of a larger problem—India’s crisis of faith.

‘Those directly involved sentenced, rest let free’ — Narendra Dabholkar’s family on murder case verdict

11 yrs after murder, Pune court hands life sentences to 2 accused, acquits 3 others. Family says they 'welcome' court’s decision & justice has prevailed, but will challenge acquittals.

Black dolls on trees, ‘goddess footprints’ — Maharashtra anti-superstition law barely used in 10 yrs

Anti-superstition activists attribute this to frequent changing of govts, and lack of will on part of every administration. Very few cases lodged, conviction rate also dismal, they add.

Dhirendra Shastri, miracle-maker of MP, is only getting bigger after rationalist challenge

Forced to run from Maharashtra by rationalists' open challenge to prove his 'chamatakar', 'godman' Dhirendra Shastri is back among his believers in Bageshwar Dham. Bail to cancer cure, devotees are flocking him for everything.

VS Astrology is running a campaign against looting

VS Astrology is running a campaign against looting and superstition for many years. The founder, Dr Gaurav Gite says that there are no superstitions in real astrology.

Temple posters, orders to priests: How Telangana district is fighting ‘auspicious’ caesareans

In April, Karimnagar collector issued instructions to doctors & priests against needless surgery. Hope is if 'auspicious date' perk is removed, parents will opt for natural birth.

If you predicted a better 2021, you didn’t take away the one lesson from Covid

Here we are, a few days into 2021, and nothing has become magically better than 2020.

State anti-superstition laws not enough. India needs a central law, focus on victim not crime

Cases of witch-hunting and human-sacrifices are part of systems of oppression that have been culturally and religiously legitimised for centuries.

Liberals blaming Modi for unscientific India should recall Nehru’s pujas at Independence

Nehru never embraced rationality even when he had the right historical moment to do so. Liberals today must not pretend the problem began in 2014.

On Camera

The influencer war that took rural creator Pujarini Pradhan global

As social media debated whether audiences were consuming Pujarini Pradhan as a symbol, The Juggernaut turned her into a story that could circulate globally, with or without her participation.

SEBI proposes return of open market share buybacks to support stocks

Regulator seeks feedback on allowing firms to repurchase shares via exchanges after tax changes, as markets reel from war-led selloff and foreign outflows.

South Korea’s Cheongung-II missile system makes its mark in West Asia war. Here’s why

UAE has been using this defence system, which is similar to America's Patriots, against Iranian missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

China insulated itself against energy shocks. India is ‘all talk, no walk’

China patiently invested capital, skill and technology in coal gasification. Unlike it, we won’t move from words to action. As crude prices decline, we lose interest.