Friday, March 30, 2012

37 per cent Delhi government school toilets very dirty: Report - India News - IBNLive

37 per cent Delhi government school toilets very dirty: Report - India News - IBNLive:

New Delhi: Thirty seven percent of toilets in the capital's government schools are "very dirty" and in "subhuman" condition, a survey done by the NGO CRY has revealed.
The study by Child Rights and You (CRY) on Thursday said 318 toilets were scrutinised in 44 schools across the city and the situation was the worst in schools in the northwest, northeast and outer districts of Delhi.
Interestingly, the survey revealed that 15 percent of the toilets in all the schools were reserved for staff and were much cleaner.
37 per cent Delhi government school toilets very dirty: Report
"Due to the poor state of toilets, children of these schools have to urinate in the open," said the study.
"Toilets reserved for school staff can't be used by the students…the gates of these toilets remain locked. These toilets were cleaner," said the study.
Further, despite most schools having permanent staff for cleaning toilets, only 39 percent did their job while the remaining 61 percent toilets were cleaned twice or thrice a month, it said.
The survey said 76 percent toilets had unhygienic and dirty water supplied in their taps while 21 percent had blocked sewerage or broken doors or cracked walls in need of immediate repairs.
"India has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 21 years ago and introduced the Right To Education Act, (but) the above findings show that the dream of achieving a child friendly state is still far and how policies are being violated in government institutions itself."

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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

ଶିଶୁ ରାଇଜ | Shishu Raija : An e-Learning system using Odia Language for the kids

ଶିଶୁ ରାଇଜ | Shishu Raija : An e-Learning system using Odia Language for the kids:

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Friday, March 16, 2012

The Hindu : Columns / Sainath : In 16 years, farm suicides cross a quarter million

The Hindu : Columns / Sainath : In 16 years, farm suicides cross a quarter million:

In 16 years, farm suicides cross a quarter million

P. SAINATH
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Marutrao Dhoke looks at the mangalsutra of his wife Babytai, the main farmer of their household, who had pawned it to raise cash before committing suicide. A January 2011 photograph by P. Sainath.
The HinduMarutrao Dhoke looks at the mangalsutra of his wife Babytai, the main farmer of their household, who had pawned it to raise cash before committing suicide. A January 2011 photograph by P. Sainath.

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Maharashtra leads in statistic of shame17,368 farm suicides in 2009Census findings point to decade of rural distressDecadal journeys: debt and despair spur urban growthFarm suicides: a 12-year sagaHow to be an ‘eligible suicide’Of luxury cars and lowly tractors

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Past eight years show rising trend
Click here to view/download table on Farm Suicides: All India Totals, 1995-2010
It's official. The country has seen over a quarter of a million farmers’ suicides between 1995 and 2010. The National Crime Records Bureau’s latest report on ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India’ places the number for 2010 at 15,964. That brings the cumulative 16-year total from 1995 — when the NCRB started recording farm suicide data — to 2,56,913, the worst-ever recorded wave of suicides of this kind in human history.
Maharashtra posts a dismal picture with over 50,000 farmers killing themselves in the country's richest State in that period. It also remains the worst State for such deaths for a decade now. Close to two-thirds of all farm suicides have occurred in five States: Maharashtra, Karnataka, A.P., Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The data show clearly that the last eight years were much worse than the preceding eight. As many as 1,35,756 farmers killed themselves in the 2003-10 period. For 1995-2002, the total was 1,21,157. On average, this means the number of farmers killing themselves each year between 2003 and 2010 is 1,825 higher than the numbers that took their lives in the earlier period. Which is alarming since the total number of farmers is declining significantly. Compared to the 1991 Census, the 2001 Census saw a drop of over seven million in the population of cultivators (main workers). The corresponding census data for 2011 are yet to come in, but their population has surely dipped further. In other words, farm suicides are rising through the period of India's agrarian crisis, even as the number of farmers is shrinking.
While the 2010 numbers show a dip of 1,404 from the 2009 figure of 17,368, there is little to cheer about. “There was a similar dip in 2008, only to be followed by the worst numbers in six years in 2009,” points out Professor K. Nagaraj, an economist at the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, who did the largest ever study of the farm suicides covering a decade (The Hindu, November 12-15, 2007). “This one-year decline does not in any way indicate we have turned the corner. This dip happened mostly because of one-off falls in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. In fact, a look at the ‘Big 5' who drive the numbers shows the fallout of the agrarian crisis to be as grim as ever. They have actually increased their share of the farm suicides.”

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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Odisha: At least 37 million Odias, that is almost 90 per cent of people, defecate in the open daily!, Orissa Current News

Odisha: At least 37 million Odias, that is almost 90 per cent of people, defecate in the open daily!, Orissa Current News:


Report by OrissaDiary.com bureau; Sambalpur: The Census 2011 figures for water and sanitation are just out.  It confirms how the industry crazy Odisha state has earned another dubious distinction of being the state with highest percentage of households without having toilets.

Based on these figures, Water Initiatives Odisha (WIO) arrives at a rough calculation to find out that at least 37 million people of the state that accounts for almost 90 per cent of the state would be defecating in the open!  The total households of the state as per the Census 2011 is 9661085, out of which 7535646 (78%) do not have toilets.  Counted at an average of 5 persons per household this comes to 37678230 people. 

The rural Odisha figures are worst.  Households without any form of a latrine in the rural areas of the state are a whopping 85.9 per cent.  In urban areas the figure is 35.2 per cent.  Obviously the health and hygiene of the rural population is more at risk than that of the urban areas, WIO asserts.  A state which is boasting of investments in industries and mining all in the name of development fails miserably in providing sanitation cover to its people.  We need urgent attention of the government to convert the state from an ‘open defecating state’ to a ‘defecating with dignity state’.
Among the states and union territories of the country, Jharkhand shares this dubious distinction with Odisha.  That state’s 78 per cent households too do not have latrine facilities.  Bihar with 76.9 per cent of non-coverage occupies the second position.
In so far as drinking water availability is concerned, only 13.8 per cent of the households have tap water at their homes.  The rest depend on wells (19.5%), hand pumps & tube wells (61.4%) and other sources (5.2%).  The decadal trend has shown a decrease of dependence on well by 9.1 points and that of ‘other sources’ by 2.1 points.  However, the increase in provisioning of tap water that has increased by only 6.1 points compared to the figure of 2001 is not at all encouraging.  In the rural Odisha only 7.5 per cent of households have tap water.  What is more important to note here in a state which is always in news for malnutrition, diarrhoea, etc. is that only 10 per cent of all the source of water used in the state for drinking is treated!  This is because only 72 per cent of the mere 13.8 per cent tap water accessed by households in the state is treated.  Besides, a meagre 11 per cent of all the wells used for drinking water are covered.  It is not therefore unnatural to find out severe health hazards in the state.
The survey also points out to another painful reality.  While only 22.4 per cent households of the state have water sources within their premises, the rest about 77.6 households still have to bring water from outside.  At least 35.4 per cent households still have to bring water from sources that are away from their habitations.  This is still worse at about 38.5 per cent in Odisha’s rural areas.  In many places of the state we see women walking kilometres to fetch drinking water.  This speaks volumes how the women of Odisha are the most vulnerable to drudgery and health problems due to this day to day struggle they have to face.
WIO believes the way we are industrializing with almost all our rivers and other water sources getting overstressed, water and sanitation woes of the state is going to increase further.  This is high time the government recognizes ‘Water and Sanitation’ as a basic human right and gears up to provide cent per cent water supply and sanitation – in ample quantity and acceptable quality – to all citizens of the state.


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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

US-India Friendship About US India Relations

US-India Friendship About US India Relations:
US-India Friendship.netOn-line resource for friends of India
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US India Relations

Deepening India-U.S. Strategic Partnership

Speech by Foreign Secretary of India, Mr. Ranjan Mathai at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington DC on February 6, 2012 on "Building on Convergences: Deepening India-U.S. Strategic Partnership"

Joint Statement issued after the conclusion of US-India Strategic Dialogue at Washington

June 3, 2010: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and India’s External Affairs Minister, Shri S.M. Krishna, met in Washington on June 3, 2010 for the inaugural meeting of the “India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue.” President Barack Obama welcomed the Indian delegation and emphasized his commitment to strengthening the growing U.S.-India partnership.
[read full statement]

President Obama's New National Security Policy
(May, 2010)

"The United States and India are building a strategic partnership that is under- pinned by our shared interests, our shared values as the world’s two largest democracies, and close connections among our people. India’s responsible advancement serves as a positive example for developing nations, and provides an opportunity for increased economic, scientific, environmental, and security partnership. Working together through our Strategic Dialogue and high-level visits, we seek a broad-based relationship in which India contributes to global counterterrorism efforts, nonproliferation, and helps promote poverty- reduction, education, health, and sustainable agriculture. We value India’s growing leadership on a wide array of global issues, through groups such as the G-20, and will seek to work with India to promote stability in South Asia and elsewhere in the world."
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US-India
Strategic Partnership: Where is it Headed?

Presentation delivered by Ram Narayanan of US-India Friendship at a roundtable on "US-India Relations" organized by SAPRA India Foundation on January 16, 2007 at the India International Center, New Delhi.
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Saja Forum's Review of Ram Narayanan's Work

SAJA (South Asia Journalists Association) Forum has published on November 17, 2006 a web description of the work I do in promoting US-India relations.
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We are at the crossroads of international partnerships. The Cold War is a fading memory, and while military power remains important, political, economic and cultural structures around the world are increasingly the true foundations of cooperation.
In this regard, India and the United States could not be more alike. Although in economic terms India is only now experiencing faster economic growth, many of us are optimistic that this path will lead to the kind of vibrant and responsive economic structures that now support American markets. Alongside this economic parallel is the natural bond that flows from being the planet's largest democracies.
What role can Indian Americans and friends of India play in ensuring that these opportunities grow to their full potential?
We must be heard in the corridors of power, and for that to happen, we must speak to those who would act on our thoughts. Every representative in Congress must be made aware that funding support as well as support at the voting booths is at least partly contingent on the voting records of congressmen and women in matters relating to US-India relations.
On these pages, US-India Friendship will help make your voices for strong Us-India relations heard with purpose and conviction. We hope that you will use the links and the information we provide to participate with vigor. Together, we will fulfill both the promise and the obligation of our free societies.
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Indian Population Explodes in the U.S.: 2000-2008

According to Washington-based think tank, Migration Policy Institute, the United States is home to about 2.3 million Indian origin people (including those born in the U.S.). Indians are the third-largest immigrant group after Mexicans and Filipinos.
Between 2007 and 2008, the number of Indian immigrants surpassed the number of Chinese and Hong Kong-born immigrants for the first time since at least 1960, said the Migration Policy Institute in its latest report.
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Saturday, March 10, 2012

Ignorance Is Strength - NYTimes.com

Ignorance Is Strength - NYTimes.com:

OP-ED COLUMNIST

Ignorance Is Strength

By 
Published: March 8, 2012
One way in which Americans have always been exceptional has been in our support for education. First we took the lead in universal primary education; then the “high school movement” made us the first nation to embrace widespread secondary education. And afterWorld War II, public support, including the G.I. Bill and a huge expansion of public universities, helped large numbers of Americans to get college degrees.
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But now one of our two major political parties has taken a hard right turn against education, or at least against education that working Americans can afford. Remarkably, this new hostility to education is shared by the social conservative and economic conservative wings of the Republican coalition, now embodied in the persons of Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.
And this comes at a time when American education is already in deep trouble.
About that hostility: Mr. Santorum made headlines by declaring that President Obama wants to expand college enrollment because colleges are “indoctrination mills” that destroy religious faith. But Mr. Romney’s response to a high school senior worried about college costs is arguably even more significant, because what he said points the way to actual policy choices that will further undermine American education.
Here’s what the candidate told the student: “Don’t just go to one that has the highest price. Go to one that has a little lower price where you can get a good education. And, hopefully, you’ll find that. And don’t expect the government to forgive the debt that you take on.”
Wow. So much for America’s tradition of providing student aid. And Mr. Romney’s remarks were even more callous and destructive than you may be aware, given what’s been happening lately to American higher education.
For the past couple of generations, choosing a less expensive school has generally meant going to a public university rather than a private university. But these days, public higher education is very much under siege, facing even harsher budget cuts than the rest of the public sector. Adjusted for inflation, state support for higher education has fallen 12 percent over the past five years, even as the number of students has continued to rise; in California, support is down by 20 percent.
One result has been soaring fees. Inflation-adjusted tuition at public four-year colleges has risen by more than 70 percent over the past decade. So good luck on finding that college “that has a little lower price.”
Another result is that cash-strapped educational institutions have been cutting back in areas that are expensive to teach — which also happen to be precisely the areas the economy needs. For example, public colleges in a number of states, including Florida and Texas, have eliminated entire departments in engineering and computer science.
The damage these changes will inflict — both to our nation’s economic prospects and to the fading American dream of equal opportunity — should be obvious. So why are Republicans so eager to trash higher education?
It’s not hard to see what’s driving Mr. Santorum’s wing of the party. His specific claim that college attendance undermines faith is, it turns out, false. But he’s right to feel that our higher education system isn’t friendly ground for current conservative ideology. And it’s not just liberal-arts professors: among scientists, self-identified Democrats outnumber self-identified Republicans nine to one.
I guess Mr. Santorum would see this as evidence of a liberal conspiracy. Others might suggest that scientists find it hard to support a party in which denial of climate change has become a political litmus test, and denial of the theory of evolution is well on its way to similar status.
But what about people like Mr. Romney? Don’t they have a stake in America’s future economic success, which is endangered by the crusade against education? Maybe not as much as you think.
After all, over the past 30 years, there has been a stunning disconnect between huge income gains at the top and the struggles of ordinary workers. You can make the case that the self-interest of America’s elite is best served by making sure that this disconnect continues, which means keeping taxes on high incomes low at all costs, never mind the consequences in terms of poor infrastructure and an undertrained work force.
And if underfunding public education leaves many children of the less affluent shut out from upward mobility, well, did you really believe that stuff about creating equality of opportunity?
So whenever you hear Republicans say that they are the party of traditional values, bear in mind that they have actually made a radical break with America’s tradition of valuing education. And they have made this break because they believe that what you don’t know can’t hurt them.


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