[escepticos] Mala noticia. La astrología se enseñará en Universidades de la India

[Francisco Perfectti <fperfect@...>]

Hola, hola

El otro día leí esta noticia y como creo que es de interés para la corrala aquí la pego.
Está en inglés, sacada de Nature, y básicamente trata de lo que he comentado en el
subject.
En fin, más alimento para las astrólogos foraneos y locales:

=============================
Nature 411, 227 (2001)
Angry researchers pour scorn on astrology classes
K. S. JAYARAMAN

[NEW DELHI] A proposal by the Indian government to encourage
universities to teach astrology has sparked a storm of protest among scientists.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has offered to
fund fully fledged departments of astrology with five teaching
posts, a library, computer laboratory and horoscope bank. To
be called Jyotir Vigyan ('astrological science' in Sanskrit), the
departments are to be set up for the 2001?2002 academic
year. They will offer bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees.

The proposal is the brainchild of science minister Murli
Manohar Joshi, who is also minister for education and a
powerful figure in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Joshi, a
physicist, believes that all answers sought by scientists are
buried in the ancient Sanskrit writings called Vedas and
Upanishads.

Leading researchers have condemned the move as an attempt
to legitimize pseudo-science and superstition, and some have
said that it undermines India's scientific credibility. The National
Science Academy has expressed strong opposition. But there is
no sign of the government relenting.

Meanwhile, 35 of India's roughly 200 universities have sought permission
to set up courses, with more expected to follow.

"At a time when research in fields of pure science is being affected for
want of funds, there is no justification in spending huge amounts on
pseudoscience called Vedic astrology," said Pushpa Bhargava, founding
director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad.

Defending the move, UGC chairman Hari Gautam said that astrology qualifies
as a science, which he defined as "a subject that needs probing, investigation and
research".

Two prominent UGC members ? S. K. Joshi, a physicist and former director
general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, and Sipra Guha-Mukherjee,
a plant molecular biologist from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi ? seem to
have consented to the move. And some researchers, including Vijay Bhatkar, who
developed India's first supercomputer, have publicly backed it.

"There is no doubt that the move is tantamount to giving [a] certain amount of formal
recognition to
astrology as a science," said Valangiman Ramamurthi, secretary to the Department of
Science and
Technology. "I do not want to comment whether it is right or wrong, but if anyone comes to
me with a
research proposal on astrology we will evaluate it to see if it makes sense scientifically
before funding it."






--
Saludos
Paco