Sex Ratio in India

A small discussion with my dad regarding the worsening of sex ratio in India… It took thirty minutes for him to elucidate but thirty hours for me to understand..!!

Here it goes:

RAGHU: Girls dominating the SSLC and PU results yet again and the child sex ratio has dropped from 927 to 914 girls per thousand boys.. Two extremes..!!! Any comments..???

DAD: The population Census survey 2011 has put question marks on the policies of the successive governments in the country. The survey says, Indian girls are vanishing despite the improvements in the sex ratio and literacy rates among them. The sex ratio figures reflect a depressing and growing trend among even the middle-class Indians to abort girl children, and a long-continued tradition among India’s vast underclass to nourish their boys and neglect, even abandon or kill, their baby girls. Boy children are still seen as the only security against an old age spent in penury, while a girl child is a drain on the household, who will require an expensive dowry.

The Census is the sole data base in the country that the government uses to formulate its policies. The survey comes out with a database on demography, economic activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanization, fertility and mortality, social structure, language, religion and migration. Disappearance of the girl child is a matter of grave concern today. The population survey reaffirms a fact, which is so disturbing that it has cast a blot on the country. Girls seem to have no place in the so-called country’s growth story.

Though the southern states, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, all have stronger sex ratios when compared to the national average of 914, they are worse off when compared to 2001. This pattern continues although the government has prohibited hospitals from disclosing the gender of an unborn child. Parents abort female fetuses and murder young female children for financial reasons. Incidents like this occur more frequently in the better educated and the richer Indian states, including Punjab and Gujarat. Even the Capital city of the country is not free from the bias against the girl child.

RAGHU: Are we really a nation that so hates its female population that, despite being aware of what the absence of women can mean for any society, we continue to kill them even before they are born?

DAD: Many parents still prefer to have male children, since men are traditionally the breadwinners in society. Men also perpetuate the family name and having boys relieves families of the expense of providing dowries for girls and protecting their virtue.

Therefore despite laws against pre-natal tests for determining the sex of a child, the practice of aborting female foetuses is still widespread throughout the country, with many parents prepared to pay for illegal abortions carried out by private doctors. The fact that female foetuses continue to be aborted in significant numbers can clearly be seen in the findings of the latest census. It shows that sex determination continues to be practiced robustly and rampantly. As is sex discrimination — girls are given less food, less health care, less education and even less affection. Also, it seems policies for the girl child haven’t done much to improve the situation.

MORAL:

The truth is that a country that so devalues its women does not deserve to pride itself on its economic growth, if it’s a growth built on the mass murder of its girl children

Morning Raga

Ho! Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Ha!

This is one common reverberation which you listens when you enter to few parks in Bangalore, I was not exception. I had been to morning walk with my MOTHER today, though the reason was to take her to walk but the intention was to scrutinize few girls who will be strolling around there.

You might be now thinking how much spoiled brat I must be..!!! Hold on, this was an autonomy given by my parents to get myself married soon. Now you can envisage what I was doing there. I was looking at few girls who can take good care of me and my parents..!!! Now I can feel that your impression on me is slightly changing.

Let’s come to main topic, THE REVERBERATION.

The park I am in at this fiendishly early hour of the morning is anything but quiet and peaceful. The reason is that I am surrounded by well dressed professionals in expensive labeled clothing and beautiful silk saris and trouser suits going absolutely, shouting loud.

They the have fallen under the spell of one of the most charismatic coach. I don’t know his name but for his followers he has unlocked the secret of never ending happiness. His formula is simple. When we are happy we laugh. So if we laugh it will make us happy.

It sounds simple and I entered their world with deep cynicisms. On greeting me, as I approached, he nearly shook my hand but then stuck his fingers up his nose shouted like a Zulu, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

This had him in convulsion and had me chuckling at his silliness before I knew what I was doing. "You are most welcome Mr., Join me and my friends and become the happiest man in the world!" His theories are actually firmly based in yogic medicine. Laughter therapy or "Hasya Yoga" which has been proven to stimulate the mind and the body. According to the giggling guru it also repairs the spirit.

As the conversation continued, he started to explain the importance of morning walk. A morning walk is a rewarding experience. In the morning, Nature is at her best. The dewdrops on the green grass and leaves of plants look like pearls. The flowers laden with dew merrily wave their heads and spread their fragrance and colors everywhere. The birds sing cheerfully. An early walker feasts his eyes and ears on such sights and sounds.

And about the laughter therapy, he elucidates how this will help to the mankind. But few points which caught my attention are, laughter adds spice to life; it is to life what salt is to a hard-boiled egg, pepper to chicken kebab and pickles to whiskey..!!! It also develops your sense of humor and you will find you are more productive, a better communicator, and a superior team player. Everyone loves someone who can make them laugh. The more you share your sense of humor, the more friends (Girls) you will have.

The good Doctor has a point.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Corruption in India

INDIA, a country of love, happiness, festivals, people and CORRUPTION. Yes the word corruption seems to be small but in INDIA it has a great and vast impact on INDIA. Now everything in India seems to be corrupt whether it is or not. Now a days when anything happens that was not expected Indians feel it as a result of corruption.

Just like the famous saying “charity begins at home”, In India “we say corruption begins with politics”. Politicians are the worst at corruption, they are assigned to remove corruption but they are the sowing seed for the same.

It is a no brainer that Corruption in India is at its rampant best. There is not one section of the society that is spared from it. Corruption in the form of bribery takes the cake and given that it begins at the grass root level makes it even more difficult to monitor and control

Corruption is one problem that has been highlighted far and wide by the media over the past many years. Corruption not only has become a pervasive aspect of Indian politics but also has become an increasingly important factor in Indian elections. The extensive role of the Indian state in providing services and promoting economic development has always created the opportunity for using public resources for private benefit.

Now India is so addicted to corruption that everything goes roundabout money and corruption. Without giving money to corrupt people you just cannot have your work done. Everything, every work and every one needs money to do every work. Like if you want to get a government or private job, give bribe, If you want to get your child into a college for studies you need to bribe, give money and win your cases in judicial courts, give money and get your driving license, give money and get yourself transferred to a better place, give money and get yourself promoted, and that money goes to everyone, it is like a chain, every person is involved in that system of corruption.

It is embarrassing that billions of dollars are being spent on electing leaders who do nothing more than succumbing to taking bribes after getting elected.

Everybody says that every individual should start their war against corruption individually but practical it is not possible. Because now corruption has started to flow like blood in veins of corrupted people. Once Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of a Great INDIA, full of values and without corruption but he might not be happy after watching the scenario

What an individual can do is to create awareness of any corruption event happened with him/her and let more and more people know what had happened to them. In this way more and more people will come to know where things are going wrong so well the media will know.

Despite all this, the main problem with enforcement of the strict laws for corruption is because the political parties in power, even though they are ever enthusiastic to curb this problem, are helpless till the time the common man strives to eradicate this problem.

As long as there will be people willing to pay under the table, the demand for the same would exist, and the country would never be able to get rid of this PROBLEM.

A trek to remember

I want to give a huge write up… my complete experience. It was a roller coaster ride and I don’t want to miss a moment of happiness. I just have one question; if I do a write-up for 10000+ words will anyone sue me…???

I still wonder how I made this trekking possible with my big tummy… but yeah, that was the truth. Skandagiri hills, 75km from Bangalore, one of the finest things to trek. I enjoyed a lot and I have had a fresh breath on the hill top. My soul, mind got fresh new thoughts after climbing for hours to reach the top.

We were 21 of us and started from majestic bus stop, Bangalore at 9 in the night and reached to Skandagiri hills at around 11.30am. It was good because of moonlight. The moon was in a little oval shape and the dim light from it was so pleasant to walk under. We started walking towards the hill top. People were crawling, talking, making funny sounds every now and then we take rest to make up ourself for the rest of the trekking.

We were walking through giant rocks, dark bushes but some how we had a torch light which helped us. Some times, you could see a steep way and some times rocky and bushy path way. Did not actually miss anything above!! We went out for gazing at the clear sky with thousands beautiful twinkling stars.. My friends were explaining to me the constellation. I was listening to them and trying to understand at one moment and at the same time I was just wondering about the next day.

What’s special about climbing the mountain/hill? There’s nothing special you can find here until you experience by yourself but few things I can say here

• Good exercise to your physical body
• You will get fresh thoughts in your mind and soul
• You will simply enjoy the beauty of nature even though you experience physical pain.

After reaching to hill top, we started eating buns, oranges, tea and what ever have had.

Rajesh was the one first initially brought sticks and stuff for bonfire, after some time I was able to bring some and added to it. You know, its very difficult to make fire on hill top because you might experience heavy cold breeze in the early morning, but some how we were able to do it and made crazy sounds and enjoyed few minutes..

Then we were waiting for the sun rise, sun became shy I think because of we waiting for his appearance without sleeping. After some time, his shyness gone away and he made his appearance and little bit hiding behind the dew like the young girls do hide behind their mother, but some how I was able to capture the beauty in him.

Another good thing you can notice on hill top is that tea shop. They provide tea, bread, omlet and bajji etc… skandagiri hills is a business opportunity too…!! I can see a little entrepreneur there selling a tea.

I can say there are about 200 people on hill top in the early morning as light came, I can see the crowds. You can even see a temple on the hill top(Don’t ask me about god..!!).

After some time, we started coming down and I was wondering that I have walked via these path way and bushes in the moon light without any fear. Walking back was not difficult in fact my pace increased or maybe that’s the way it is. I forgot to get some snaps… was dealing a lot with fatigue and recovery and enjoying the last trails.

All I had in my mind is to reach to (hill) top and experience the diverse mode of sun rise. That kind of confidence is what I got now.

Apocalypse of Indian Cricket Team

The loss to South Africa in Nagpur on Saturday exposed many frailties in the hosts' line-up. TOI lists a few problems and possible solutions that Team India can pay attention to if they want to feature in the business end of the tourney

Problem 1: No method in powerplays

In the two matches that India haven't won, against England in Bangalore (tied) and against South Africa in Nagpur (lost), India messed up with the batting powerplays big time. Against England, they could score just 32 runs for the loss of one wicket, while against South Africa, they lost four wickets for 30 runs. On both occasions, the batsmen were guilty of aiming for too high a score and ended up paying the penalty. A more circumspect approach will do the job.

Possible solution: The batsmen can ask themselves a simple question: Do we go hell for leather in the first 10 overs which are the mandatory powerplay overs? If the answer to that question is no, then the approach should change in the game against West Indies.

Problem 2: Faulty batting order?

Virat Kohli, who was India's most successful batsman in ODIs in 2010 and who scored a hundred in India's first match of the World Cup against Bangladesh, has been sacrificed at the cost of getting more runs. In the match against England, he batted at No. 7 as Yusuf Pathan and MS Dhoni batted higher. Against South Africa, too he batted at No. 7. Is he paying the price for his success?

Possible solution: Even in a powerplay scenario, Kohli at No. 4 is a safe bet as he is a very good stroke player and a powerful striker of the cricket ball. No. 4 is three spots too high for Pathan. Kohli can attack and in case there is a collapse, he can also graft and work the ball around for singles. He would have been an ideal man for the situation on Saturday.

Problem 3: Stubborn selection

R Ashwin and Sreesanth must be wondering what wrong have they done to not feature in the playing XI. India are struggling with spin-bowling back-up for Harbhajan and pace-bowling back-up for Zaheer.

Possible solution: There is no theory in the world that says you can't have two off-spinners in the playing XI. Ashwin is a man with plenty of variations and must get in as Piyush Chawla just hasn't looked the part. Ashish Nehra too hasn't been consistent post his injury problems and in the death overs, he tends to leak runs. Time for the captain to overlook Sreesanth's antics and give him a game.

Role of Science in INDIA

The strength of a nation is no longer determined merely by the might of its armies. It comes from the quality of its collective knowledge, the productivity of its working people, the creativity of its entrepreneurs and the dedication of its professional work force.

A country’s prosperity too is a function of the knowledge its people possess and acquire. Indeed, it has always been so. But, what has changed in the last few decades is the access to knowledge. We live in an era of greater equity and equality as far as the acquisition of knowledge is concerned.

In an increasingly globalized world and with the ease of modern communications, it is possible for researchers to work in multiple environments even as they stay stationed at one place. But the great merit in being located in one place for a reasonable length of time is that new generations of researchers can benefit from the intellectual leadership provided by talented people. And India surely needs such leadership in ample measure.

Many young persons today may think it is not exactly wise to leave the comfort of well funded institutions abroad to return home to work in India. The infrastructure our universities and research institutions provide may not be world class, though, some institutions in the private sector, do provide world class facilities but we need many such facilities all over the country.

But, having accepted all the inadequacies of India’s research infrastructure, if there are young men and women who are willing to work here and produce world class research despite all the constraints they may face, we must salute their wisdom, their grit and determination and their love for their country. Therefore, I join each one of you in saluting the distinguished researchers of today.

But researchers are not just servants who do the bidding of their paymasters. They are driven by curiosity and seek knowledge often for its own sake. The fundamental discoveries of physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and biology have come from this thirst for understanding rather than from any social compulsion.

I belong to a generation that worried about the links between science and society. Scientific temper, we believed, would help India make the transition from a traditional to a modern society. We saw the development of science as intrinsic to the advancement of modernism, pluralism and liberalism.

But, it is true that science has made strides even in societies that were neither modern nor liberal. It is true that the products of science have been put sometimes to illiberal uses. I sincerely believe we must guard against such tendencies, especially in our own blessed country.

Take modern developments in the bio-sciences for instance. We are now acquiring the capacity to manipulate the human genome. But we have yet not developed an ethical framework that defines red lines that we must not cross as we do this.

The question is whether researchers should step beyond their discipline and at least guide the social discourse on the use of scientific knowledge. Should they develop a code of conduct that defines the limits within which they will work on the application of their discoveries? Should there be a collegial process for deciding difficult cases? I leave these as questions because the very idea of ethics for science needs further discussion.

Kaddayavagi budhivantarige mathra..!! (Strictly for intelligents)

I am asking a question – is it possible to clean up the politics from the muck?? My answer is simple – NO..!! I know many will jump at me to call me "worse than a Jihadi" I believe politics in India cannot be cleaned up unless we all become clean. I know none of you wants to hear that a very significant percentage of people are corrupt. Like it or lump it, but it is a hard fact.For a moment let me consider some one has the magic wand and all politicians suddenly become clean and decide to clean the society. Can you imagine what will happen to millions of people of this Country whose aspiration and life style depend on ill gotten money?

Black money is an integral part of our economy. Some experts call it "Parallel Economy” because they believe the size of this is as big as our economy is. I personally believe we need to clean up our own houses first before talk about CLEANING UP THE DIRTY POLITICS. What will you call these dirty politicians? 1. They take away the food from the bowl of the poorest of the poor. Are they beggars?
2. They terrorize and kill the poor in the name of naxalism. Are they serial killers?
3. They loot national wealth worth trillions and keep in swiss bank. Are they looters?
4. They create communal riots. Are they terrorists?
What are they?
There is a saying that you get politicians and media you deserve. I believe firmly that this is TRUE.

I have some observations. People may agree or disagree but I think it is TRUE and hence I believe them. They are -


1. Those who scream about corruption often are not clean themselves. It is true for all sections of the Society.

2. Those who talk about Hinduism as a religion often do not practice principles of good “Karma”. Those who talk about "Dharma" are engaged in "Adharma".

3. People do not seem to understand that you have to be "honest" to demand honesty from others. Preachers often do not succeed because they do not practice.

I believe these rhetorics do not mean any thing. We are willing to bribe hence there are corrupt people. Politics has been dirty for a long time. It has not been exposed very often. Few instances are always discussed and quoted but some have been pushed under the carpet

Cleaning up can only start with self "cleansing". We all must adopt resolution - "We will not bribe, we will not accept bribe and we will object if others bribe or accept bribe "

How many will sign in and practice this. Otherwise it will remain as "rhetoric" and World will laugh at us... Can we not do some thing about it?

India is infamous for its corrupt politicians. Due to the disintegration or weakening of national parties, they have no other choice other than to support these corrupt among them. When I was young, the time when I did not have the voting, always wondered why people are voting for the corrupt. I thought the uneducated and illiterate are the majority and they are unaware of these facts and vote the corrupt politicians to the legislation. But when I grew up I realized the fact that in the fast growing economy of India most of the people are either educated or literate, and moreover the media has grown so fast that everyone is aware of all these dirty corruption. Then I wondered why these people are elected. Then most of the corporate media came with the fact that, the educated and people who got job, especially who works in corporate sector never vote. They say the reason as what is the use of voting all are corrupt. The uneducated who vote shown the same trend of voting the corrupt as they are unaware of the facts.
As Gandhiji said during freedom fight, “You should be the change you wish to see in this world”. But we want the change but will not work, current situation is like that. We blame other for voting, forgetting the fact we did not vote, so that the corrupt will not come to power. Not everyone is corrupt, there are a few who still holds some moral and political values. At least one will be there who is better than the corrupt candidate.
Another fact is, now the country India got the status of secular only in the constitution. Most of the political parties are playing the card of ‘vote in the name of religion and caste’. This has to be changed first. If one religion is appeased by a party, the rival party will be support another religion. Some feel they had been left out in all these canvassing and appeasement. These groups will finally form some radical group and so on the story continues.
The only way to change all these things, cast your vote next time. Blame, but work to stop this along with blaming. Vote for a change. Always think, ‘I am the change I wish to see in this world’, rather than to say or think, ‘he should be the change I wish to see in this world’.

WATER

Summers are here and the cities in India are already complaining about water shortage not to mention many villages which lack safe drinking water. In the list of 122 countries rated on quality of portable water, India ranks a lowly 120.Although India has 4% of the world’s water, studies show average availability is shrinking steadily. It is estimated that by 2020, India will become a water-stressed nation. Nearly 50% of villages still don’t have any source of protected drinking water.

According to 2001 census 68.2% households have access to safe drinking water. The department of drinking water supply estimates that 94% of rural habitations and 91% urban households have access to drinking water. But according to experts these figures are misleading simply because coverage refers to installed capacity and not actual supply.

The ground reality is that of the 1.42 million villages in India, 1,95,813 are affected by chemical contamination of water. The quality of ground water which accounts of more than 85% of domestic supply is a major problem in many areas as none of the rivers have water fit to drink.

37.7 million People –over 75% of who are children are afflicted by waterborne diseases every year. Overdependence on groundwater has brought in contaminants, fluoride being one of them. Nearly 66 million people in 20 states are at risk because of the excessive fluoride in water. While the permissible limit of fluoride in water is 1 mg per liter in states like Haryana it is as high as 48 mg in some places. Delhi water too has 32 mg. But the worst hits are Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Nearly 6 million children below 14 suffer from dental, skeletal and non-skeletal fluorosis.

Arsenic is the other big killer lurking in ground water putting at risk nearly 10 million people. The problem is acute in Murshidabad, Nadia, North and South 24 Paraganas, Malda and Vardhaman districts of West Bengal. The deeper aquifers in the entire Gangetic plains contain arsenic.

High nitrate content in water is another serious concern. Fertilizers, septic tanks, sewage tanks etc are the main sources of nitrate contamination. The groundwater in MP, UP, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu has shown traces of nitrates.

However it is bacteriological contamination which leads to diarrhea, cholera and hepatitis which is widespread in India. A bacteriological analysis of the water in Bangalore revealed 75% bore wells were contaminated. Iron; hardness and salinity are also a concern. Nearly 12,500 habitats have been affected by salinity. In Gujarat it is a major problem in coastal districts. Often babies die of dehydration and there are major fights in villages for fresh water. Some villages have seen 80% migration due to high salinity.

There is an urgent need to look for alternative sources of portable water in places where water quality has deteriorated sharply. Community based water quality monitoring guidelines should be encouraged. People should be encouraged to look at traditional methods of protecting water sources. Also in places where groundwater has arsenic or fluoride, surface water should be considered as an alternative.