The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. After reading the discussion there appears to be a rough consensus to delete. The only viable WP:PAG based argument presented by those favoring retention looks to hinge on the of interpretation of point 3 of WP:PROF. Unfortunately, I find the interpretive arguments presented by those favoring deletion to be generally persuasive. Ad Orientem (talk) 03:33, 31 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Anand Ranganathan[edit]

Anand Ranganathan (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log · Stats)
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I cannot understand about how this person meets general notability guidelines or any of our subject-specific-notability guidelines.

AFAIS, he is an associate professor (which fails WP:NACADEMIC), born to a may-be-notable chemist, (which fails WP:NOTINHERITED) who is incidentally also a run-of-the-mill journalist columnist over news-portals (which fails WP:NJOURNALIST) and got into a bizarre controversy; that nobody bothered about except a right-wing-non RS (OpEd). He is also supposedly a free speech absolutist who eulogizes Ambedkar but those are not pathways to encyclopedic notability or so I believe. Thus, I'm left with his' writing three books, which hardly made any buzz or were any acclaimed (Fails WP:NAUTHOR; I spot a few reviews of a part. book though) and some trivial mentions in media-reports about his being part of a research group (fails WP:SIGCOV).

I further note that he has given an interview to RepublicTv (FoxNews of India) and was an invited guest at a lit-fest. Has trivial mentions as a right-wing thinker but that's it.

If anyone does a GSearch, he/she might be expected to find several mentions in OpIndia. It's a non-reliable source.WBGconverse 13:25, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I have added more sources from mainstream media, coverage in Republic TV and The Hindu. He has won various awards, as mentioned in the article, with credible sources such as world economic forum, confirming the same.IndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 13:53, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
IndianHistoryEnthusiast, none of those awards remotely confer any notability. WBGconverse 13:55, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I see what you're trying to do here. You allow other articles with worse sources to remain on Wikipedia, as it is written by people you know, you will target me if I apply the same criteria here, but will bully me here to find more sources, you have already made up your mind about it. It doesn't matter how many sources I find, whether it is The Hindu, Republic, India Today, World Economic Forum, TED, Times of India. You are going to delete the article.
The person clearly appears regularly on TV, with the channel having the highest TRP, has more than a 100k followers on twitter, has written multiple books. Newspapers like The Hindu have taken his interview. But that doesn't matter to you, does it? You wouldn't allow me to move similar articles to draft or for deletion, but will delete this because you have an axe to grind. IndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 14:05, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Looks like you guys don't learn from the press coverage.IndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 14:13, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Just going to leave this here.IndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 14:21, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Adding his paper published in nature.IndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 14:27, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Also this oneIndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 14:27, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
IndianHistoryEnthusiast, can you give an example of a worse-written article that we are actively allowing to stay in WP?
I know none over here (in a off-wiki sense) and I have no enmity with either you or the subject.
You need to understand that WP:GNG seeks significant coverage. You need to accept that interviews are not counted towards establishment of notability, because they are almost-always intellectually independent, as over here. And, an interview in RepublicTV which has morphed into a right-wing-propaganda medium does not do any favor.
I would have given some minimal thoughts; if he had spoken over TED; as you claim. But he has spoken over TEDx (which is radically watered-down version of the former).
None of the awards received by him are any revered by the professional community or at the topmost tier of the field.
Having hordes of twitter followers is not a criterion of our notability. Those numbers are ridiculously easy to manipulate.
And, you can nominate any article of your choice at WP:AFD after following WP:BEFORE. WBGconverse 14:31, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
So many academics publish papers in reputable journals and you might wish to see our relevant criterion.WBGconverse 14:35, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
What about interview given to The Hindu and Republic TV. Authorship of three books, and his work on Malaria and Tuberculosis that got covered in multiple national and international media. His page on World Economic Forum and Observer Research Foundation.. He has also appeared as a panelist in ORF discussions.IndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 14:40, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
"an interview in RepublicTV which has morphed into a right-wing-propaganda medium does not do any favor."-Last I remember, Republic TV was described as a News Channel on Wikipedia. Unless you edit it and replace it with "right-wing-propaganda medium", this argument doesn't make sense. IndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 14:42, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
You need to read the stuff that's being thrown at you. Reading WP:INTERVIEW would have given you the answers of your first query. He authored 3 books, so what? There are millions of published authors; do you believe that confers some special notability? I can't get a single review of 2 of his books and that says a lot. Which international media featured him for his work? Every-time somebody claims that they have discovered a noble cure XYZ for disease ABC; media flocks on the person. If you read the relevant sections of newspapers from across the world over the past few years; you will get at-least a few thousand people who have developed the cure to treat AIDS or developed a new drug agsinst malaria/TB/Cancer or made some sort of unimaginable breakthrough. It's almost always an eerie quietness thereafter and years later, they just dis-appear into the void. WBGconverse 15:12, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
And being a speaker at ORF; does not contribute to notability, either. WBGconverse 15:13, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Read Republic_TV#Criticism and the next section too. I can add a host of other sources. WBGconverse 15:17, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, next time I will make sure to take your approval before wasting hours, trying to find sources and write an article, because apparently this gives you a power trip. Coverage from Brookings Institute will also probably mean squat to you, since you have already made up your mind. So let's revise. 1. Interviews (even in national newspaper) don't contribute to notability. 2.Having multiple published papers doesn't contribute to notability. 3. Coverage of research in multiple national and international media doesn't contribute to notability 3. Being a speaker at multiple ORF events, TEDeX or Pondi Lit fest and Mangaluru Lit Fest doesn't contribute to notability. While pages like this enjoy your patronage. Slow claps for your hypocrisy.IndianHistoryEnthusiast (talk) 15:32, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
There are many admins who would be willing to wield Special:Block/IndianHistoryEnthusiast for the above personal attack.
FWIW, (1) interviews seldom contribute to notability (2) multiple published papers doesn't contribute to notability unless at-least 2 or 3 of the papers are heavily cited (3) coverage of research in national media (I'm still clueless, as to the international coverage) usually falls under WP:BLP1E and is almost always a non-significant achievement in the long-run and (4) speakers at these events indeed do not contribute to notability.
MSAR has got multiple obituaries in relevant academic journals; search for them. The current quality of an article is not any relevant indicator of the notability of the subject. WBGconverse 16:03, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Note for contributors and the closing admin: FYI, IndianHistoryEnthusiast has been blocked for 48 h by Bishonen following the above personal attack. Given the response to WBG following the block notice, it is clear that there is an ongoing issue between these editors. EdChem (talk) 02:10, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of India-related deletion discussions. Eastmain (talkcontribs) 13:40, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. Eastmain (talkcontribs) 13:43, 23 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • IP, criterion 3 of WP:PROF states: The person is or has been an elected member of a highly selective and prestigious scholarly society or association (e.g., a National Academy of Sciences or the Royal Society) or a fellow of a major scholarly society which reserves fellow status as a highly selective honor (e.g., Fellow of the IEEE). The Indian Academy of Sciences is not at the level of the Royal Society nor the National Academy of Sciences, though it is a major scholarly society for which Fellowship confers notability. If Ranganathan becomes a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, he will be notable for WP under WP:PROF. You contend that the Associateship he held confers notability in the same way. Certainly it is selective and elected but it is also an early-career opportunity available for potential or likely future Fellows. I do not think it is sufficient for automatic notability, but I will initiate a discussion to see what others think. EdChem (talk) 02:36, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
As promised, I have started a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Notability (academics)#Notability Criterion 3 and the Indian Academy of Sciences. Any and all contributions to that discussion are welcome. EdChem (talk) 03:07, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.