Talk:M. V. Ramana

By Sachi Anjunkar

M. V. Ramana is Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA), University of British Columbia. He is also Graduate Program Director of the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA) program. According to his university profile, his research interests are in the broad areas of international security and energy supply, with a particular focus on topics related to nuclear energy and fissile materials that can be used to make nuclear weapons.

He has published no books, papers, or research pertaining to Hindus, the rights of Hindus, the impact or relationship between Islam and Hinduism / Hindutva, India, the Indian Government in the context of BJP government, the Indus Civilization, the impact or relationship between caste system and Hinduism as of October 2022.

In 2021, he endorsed the "Dismantling Global Hindutva" conference and made the allegation

"the current government of India [in 2021] has instituted discriminatory policies including beef bans, restrictions on religious conversion and interfaith weddings, and the introduction of religious discrimination into India’s citizenship laws. The result has been a horrifying rise in religious and caste-based violence, including hate crimes, lynchings, and rapes directed against Muslims, non-conforming Dalits, Sikhs, Christians, adivasis and other dissident Hindus. Women of these communities are especially targeted. Meanwhile, the government has used every tool of harassment and intimidation to muzzle dissent. Dozens of student activists and human rights defenders are currently languishing in jail indefinitely without due process under repressive anti-terrorism laws."

In 2016, he signed a letter addressed to the State Board of Education, California Department of Education, dated May 17, 2016. The letter stated the following:

1. "There is no established connection between Hinduism and the Indus Civilization. The Rg Veda contains numerous mentions of horses and chariots but there is no conclusive material or fossil evidence for either at any Indus valley archeological site."
2. "It is inappropriate to remove mention of the connection of caste to Hinduism."
3. "The geographic location of the Indus Civilization lies in what is now contemporary India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The use of "South Asia" to describe this shared civilizational heritage is thus entirely appropriate in some places of the framework, even though South Asia is a modern term, and some source materials use the term ‘Ancient India.' "

Publications related to India

Book

1. M. V. Ramana. The Power of Promise: Examining Nuclear Energy in India. 2012

Journal Publications

1. Lauren Borja and M. V. Ramana, “Command and Control of India’s Nuclear Arsenal,” Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament. 2020
2. T. S. Krishnan, Annapureddy Rama Papi Reddy, and M. V. Ramana, “Impact of Natural Background Radiation on Health: Understanding the Debate” Economic and Political Weekly, 55(37), (2020).
3. Arjun Makhijani and M. V. Ramana,“Can small modular reactors help mitigate climate change?,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 77 (4) (2021).
4. Downer, J. and Ramana, M.V., Empires built on sand: On the fundamental implausibility of reactor safety assessments and the implications for nuclear regulation. Regulation & Governance (2020).
5. Zia Mian, M. V. Ramana, and A. H. Nayyar, “Nuclear Submarines in South Asia: New Risks and Dangers,” Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament 2, no. 1 (2019), 184–202.
6. M. V. Ramana, Eyes Wide Shut: Problems with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems Proposal to Construct NuScale Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, September 2020.
7. M. V. Ramana, A. H. Nayyar, and Michael Schoeppner, “Nuclear High-level Waste Tank Explosions: Potential Causes and Impacts of a Hypothetical Accident at India’s Kalpakkam Reprocessing Plant,”Science & Global Security, 24 (3) (2016).
8. M. V. Ramana,“Second Life or Half-Life? The Contested Future of Nuclear Power and Its Potential Role in a Sustainable Energy Transition,” in Thijs Van de Graaf, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Arunabha Ghosh, Florian Kern, and Michael T. Klare, eds., The Palgrave Handbook of the International Political Economy of Energy (2016). (Needs to be checked)
9. M. V. Ramana, “Technical and social problems of nuclear waste,” WIREs Energy and Environment (2018).
10. Kumar Sundaram and M. V. Ramana, “India and the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons,” Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, 1 (1), (2018).
11. M. V. Ramana and Zia Mian, “The Courage to Challenge the Nuclear World Order,” Economic and Political Weekly, 52(48), (2 December 2017).
12. M. V. Ramana and Suvrat Raju, “Old Plans, Ongoing Handouts, New Spin: Deciphering the Nuclear Construction Announcement,” Economic and Political Weekly, 52(24) (17 June 2017).
13. M. V. Ramana and Ashwin K. Seshadri,”Negligence, Capture, and Dependence: Safety Regulation of the Design of India’s Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor,”Journal of Risk Research, 18 (8) (2015).
14. Zia Mian and M. V. Ramana, “Asian War Machines,” Critical Asian Studies, 46 (2) (2014).
15. M. V. Ramana and Ashwin Kumar, “Nuclear Safety in India: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Evidence,”OUCIP Journal of International Studies, 1 (1) (2013)
16. M. V. Ramana, “Why India’s Electricity is Likely to Remain in Short Supply: The Economics of Nuclear Power,”Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 69 (6) (2013).
17. M. V. Ramana and Ashwin Kumar, “‘One in Infinity’: Learning from Accidents and Lessons for Nuclear Safety in India,”Journal of Risk Research (2013).
18. Alexander Glaser, Laura Berzak Hopkins, and M. V. Ramana, “Resource Requirements and Proliferation Risks Associated with Small Modular Reactors,” Nuclear Technology, 184 (October 2013).
19. J. Y. Suchitra and M. V. Ramana,”The Costs of Power: Plutonium and the Economics of India’s Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor,”International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 35(1) (2011).