INFORMATION / IDEAS / INDIA

2012-01-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

INDIA / 2011 / 11-15 /

5.11 A crisis impoverishing millions

(AP) ALIGARH, India (AP) — When Nasir Khan cried out at night from the searing pain of kidney stones, the entire slum could hear him.

A magic healer promised an inexpensive cure through chanting while pinching his side where the kidney stones were lodged, but it only made it worse. His condition became life-threatening, and doctors said he would need surgery for a fourth time.

The operation cost him — and his extended family — their home.

Without insurance and unable to get a loan, they sold the broken brick shack in the industrial north Indian city of Aligarh for 250,000 rupees, or about $5,500. It had been home to the 35-year-old Khan, his four brothers, three wives and 11 children.

"There is no choice. It is my life," Khan said in gasps, writhing atop a crude wooden cot as his relatives hovered helplessly nearby. He screamed for his mother. He screamed for Allah. He screamed for anyone to deliver him from the pain.

His story is repeated so often across India it evokes little sympathy, yet it represents one of the biggest threats to India's battle to lift its poor up from squalor.

Each year, the cost of health care pushes some 39 million people back into poverty, according to a study published in the Lancet medical journal. Patients shoulder up to 80 percent of India's medical costs. Their share averages about $66 (3,000 rupees) annually per person — a crippling sum for the 800 million or so Indians living on less than $2 a day.

A diagnosis of asthma, a broken leg or a complicated childbirth can mean having to choose between medicine or food, spending on treatment or relying on prayer.

"We are too poor," Khan's uncle Bhuere Khan said. His aunt Rafiquan Mohammed offered another justification for selling the house, as if one were needed: "He has to live. He has small children."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/04/ap/health/main20068992.shtml

5.12 For mothers, India not a happy place: study

India has been ranked at 75th among 79 "less developed" countries, even below some of the poor African nations, in a study on 'best place to be a mother' released to mark the Mothers' Day being celebrated across the world on Sunday.

'The 2011 Mothers' Index' by international child rights NGO 'Save the Children' has actually seen India slipping two positions down from the 73rd spot in last year's study, bringing to fore the need for focus on critical areas like maternal and child mortality, say civil society activists.

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It may not be all about money, we have to also think smartly.....

My suggestion would be, that it should be made compulsory for all hospitals and health care providers to provide free consultancy and advice to expectant mothers, and mothers having children below the age of three.

The service must be boldly advertised:

*********************************************************

*..... FREE CONSULTANCY FOR MOTHERS &..................*

*..........CHILDREN BELOW AGE OF THREE......................*

*.......................(General checkup)...........................................*

*.....................(Nutritional information, Etc.)........................*

*********************************************************

I have not seen such targeting in any hospital so far.

Selvaraj

5.13 India's population to surpass China's by 2025

“One fails to understand why some experts and policy makers have stated that India's population is its strength,” the analysts point out.

http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/17/stories/2011041766062000.htm

2012-01-05T15:31:00.000-08:00

INDIA / 2011 / 6-10 /

5.6 Saving 30,000 MW

Water heating is extremely imperative and common in residential and commercial sectors of our country. According to a recent report that appeared in Outlook, there are nearly 3 crore geysers in use in India. As per calculations made by Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources, 1000 solar water heaters decrease the peak load by 1 MW. Thus, by having solar water heaters in its place or with 3 croros of geysers in use in our country, we can reduce the peak demand by as much as 30,000MW theoretically.

... Though some of the states like Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat are actively supporting solar water heating systems, certain legislative moves and aggressive support can accelerate adoption of solar water heaters all over the country in a big way.

http://www.sintex-solar.com/other/aboutus.htm

Solar cookers (parabolic reflector):

Cooks food in 30 minutes
Saves 10 LPG cylinders in a year
Uses conventional pressure cooker
http://www.sintex-solar.com/Cooker/cooker_models.htm

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Just rang up Sintex representatives in Trivandrum to find out whether I could purchase a parabolic reflector. Apparently they are not stocking the item here.

Selvaraj

5.7 Muslims, by any other name

Surely every religious minority has unique problems, and requires different interventions? Sikhs have the worst sex ratios (786 in 2001 compared to 950 for Muslims), and need exclusive, targeted interventions for that. Parsis, among our most prosperous communities, are impoverished by a declining population, and need to improve fertility rates, rather than avail of educational scholarships. Dalit Christians suffer bias and a development deficit. But Plan after Plan, ‘Minorities' it is. So should we just stop gathering disaggregated data for religious communities, since it is ‘unconstitutional' to plan interventions when the data is in?

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2328433.ece

5.8 Soil fertility

Nitrogen - the most important of nutrients - is deficient in half of Uttar Pradesh, parts of Punjab, all of Haryana, most of Bihar and parts of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. In most states, said Mr Rawat, phosphorous deficiency is in the range of 20 per cent and micro nutrients like zinc, potassium, copper and sulphur are deficient in almost all soils. This may rise to an alarmist level and affect agricultural output. He said large parts of the country are deficient in two or more critical nutrients.

The situation is steadily worsening because the close relationship between farm animal and agriculture being replaced by modern farm practices where economic value rather than environmental concerns are determining factors in farm practices. About 128 million hectares of cultivated area is also suffering from various degrees of water erosion which is due to lack of proper humus on top soil of the farms. Besides, there is wind erosion. Satellite imagery shows that as much as 25 per cent of the cultivable land - that is 81 million hectares - is facing desertification due to top soil being lost to water and wind and other erosion. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/assocham-advocates-soil-fertility-index-to-secure-agriculture-sector-industry-chamber/articleshow/9407098.cms

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A course on agriculture should be included in all graduate courses.

Selvaraj

5.9 GDP of Indian states

GDP of Indian states:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_states_by_GDP

5.10 Affordable housing 0.1% of housing loans

"It is very difficult to get buyers for such projects as there are no formal income and ID proofs, such as pan card, to avail loans," said Anil Bakeri of Bakeri Engineering. In the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, housing shortage in urban India is expected to be 26.53 million units. The total home loan disbursed in the last fiscal was around Rs 1,70,000 crore, affordable made a mere 0.1% of the total loan given out by banks.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/realty-trends/lodha-developers-indiabulls-real-estate-pull-out-of-affordable-housing-projects/articleshow/9145911.cms

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Just an excuse, what better collateral is there than a piece of land and a house on it. For affordable housing to take off bankers must have a heart and a soul and must be prepared to leave their air-conditioned offices.

Selvaraj

2012-01-05T15:21:00.000-08:00

INDIA / 2011 / 1-5 /

5.1 TN students poor at Maths, Science, Reading

It was observed that half of Tamil Nadu’s students do not possess basic standard in maths, 43 per cent cannot perform basic science assessments and a whopping 80 per cent have very low reading proficiency. Himachal fares equally badly in reading.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tn-students-poor-at-maths-science-reading/214443-60-118.html

5.2 The importance of proper nutrition for babies

.. We cannot ignore this demand, even for a moment. A few minutes without oxygen may not do too much damage to our muscles but can irreparably harm the brain. The brain also requires a constant supply of food. Twenty-five percent of all the calories you eat each day end up fueling the brain. For a newborn infant, with its little body and relatively large and fast-growing brain, that figure leaps to 87 percent.

http://discovermagazine.com/2011/jul-aug/06-body-fit-for-freaky-big-brain/article_view?b_start:int=0&-C

5.3 Child health risks

Save the Children chief executive Justin Forsyth said: "A child's survival depends on where he or she is born in the world. No mother should have to watch helplessly as her child grows sick and dies, simply because there is no-one trained to help."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jHqH-V-B8LWQ4eRwN4WeuRX4z7vQ?docId=N0191131315188072482A

5.4 Is Hazare’s Village Still the Model for Rural India?

Could such an experience be replicated nationwide? And what methods did Mr. Hazare employ to achieve this?

A study by economist Aasha Kapur Mehta, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development, and based on field research and conversations with Mr. Hazare, painstakingly documents how this was accomplished.

Look at a few representative statistics. In the decade following Mr. Hazare’s arrival on the scene, per capita income in Ralegan Siddhi increased eightfold. From having a school that only went up to grade 4, high school completion rates are now over 85%. The infant mortality rate in 2007 was 27.42 per 1,000 live births, significantly lower than the national average of 50 in 2009.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/08/22/is-hazares-village-still-the-model-for-rural-india/

5.5 Innovation of this century!

Innovation of this century

Can some one please forward this to Chairmen of the Innovation and Knowledge commission of India, Sam Pitroda. May be we can abort Broad Band and laying miles of Optical Cables nation wide leaving pot holes as in Bangalore that are there to stay :-)

Cheers

Ram

Ram Krishnaswamy, Sydney, Australia
http://aadhararticles.blogspot.com/
http://saynotoaadhaar.blogspot.com/
http://questioningaadhaar.blogspot.com/

2012-01-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

INDIA / 2011

Dear Friends,

The purpose of this blog is to make available to a larger audience my posts, mainly in the IIT Global Current Affairs Group and a few other groups.

Most of these posts refer you to the store house of knowledge - The Word Wide Web. A few of the posts are also my 'bright?' ideas.

This blog is for posts in the category 'India'.

5. INDIA

5.1 Tamil Nadu students poor in Maths, Science, Reading(23/12/2011)

5.2 The importance of proper nutrition for babies (21/10/11)

5.3 Child health risks (6/9/11)

5.4 Is Hazare’s village still the model for rural India?(22/8/11)

5.5 Innovation of this century (18/8/11)

5.6 Saving 30,000 MW (12/8/11)

5.7 Muslims by any other name (7/8/11)

5.8 Soil fertility (29/7/11)

5.9 GDP of Indian states (26/7/11)

5.10 Affordable housing 0.1% of housing loans (8/7/11)

5.11 A crisis impoverishing millions (5/6/11)

5.12 For mothers, India not a happy place: study (9/5/11)

5.13 India’s population to surpass China’s by2025 (18/4/11)

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