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The 4 Wives with the hindu vocab .....story 1

There was a opulent(rich,धनी) merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and embellished(beautify,सवारना)  her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.
He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He’s very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great trepidation(fear,डर) that she might run away with some other men.

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant’s confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through arduous(difficult,मुश्किल) times.

Now, the merchant’s 1st wife is a very stalwart(loyal,निष्ठावान) partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his sumptuous(luxurious,विलासी) life and told himself, “Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I’ll be alone. How lonely I’ll be!”
Thus, he asked the 4th wife, “I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No way!” replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.


The answer cut like a acute(sharp,तेज़) knife right into the merchant’s heart. The melancholic(sad,उदास) merchant then asked the 3rd wife, “I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No!” replied the 3rd wife. “Life is so good over here! I’m going to remarry when you die!” The merchant’s heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, “I always turned to you for help and you’ve perennially(always,हमेशा) helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?” “I’m sorry, I can’t help you out this time!” replied the 2nd wife. “At the very most, I can only send you to your grave.” The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated(wasted,बर्बाद).

Then a voice called out : “I’ll leave with you. I’ll follow you no matter where you go.” The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, “I should have taken much better care of you while I could have !”

De facto(Actuallyवास्तव में), we all have 4 wives in our lives

a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it’ll leave us when we die.

b. Our 3rd wife ? Our possessions(property,संपत्ति), status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we’re alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and voluptuous(sensual,आनंदी) pleasure.

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it’s a good idea to cultivate and reinforce(strengthen,मजबूत बनाना) it now rather than to wait until we’re on our deathbed to lament(sorrow,विलाप).

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The bane of a bumper crop

Every day, around 3 p.m., hundreds of lorries loaded with onions queue up at the new agricultural market complex at Lasalgaon, around 45 km from Nashik, waiting for the afternoon auction to begin.

As a group of traders approach, the farmers drop their produce at their feet, as if to tempt them into bidding high. The traders halt and look over the merchandise. A market committee employee calls out the reserve price: “400!” Eyes roll, unspoken words seem to pass between the traders. Then the bidding starts: “1!” “11!” “13!” “17!” In less than 30 seconds, the auction is over. The farmer gets 17 rupees over the reserve price, Rs.417 per quintal (100 kg). A pittance(small amount,अल्प भाग) at any given time, more so now when compared to prices last year.

A trader-controlled market

No matter how united the farmers are, no matter how hard they fight for a better price, they turn into mute spectators in front of the traders when auction begins. The auction is dictated by the traders with money and considerable political clout. Traders decide the price, farmers accept it without protest.

The market complex has a huge parking space for the lorries. Sometimes there are up to 1,000 vehicles at a time. The otherwise deserted place comes alive twice a day. The first auction of the day starts at around 10 a.m. and the second at 3 p.m. Depending on the number of vehicles, the auction can stretch from an hour to three hours.

Once the rate is fixed, the group of traders moves immediately to the next vehicle. The farmer, left with the price decided by the group, starts collecting the onions he has dropped on the ground. An official from the market committee approaches him with a receipt, bearing the auction rate, trader’s name and farmer’s name. With a receipt in hand and onions in the vehicle, the farmer then proceeds to the godown where the weighing process takes place. As per the rules laid down by the market committee, the farmer must get the payment before the end of the day, which is largely followed.

After the produce is dropped off at a shed in the complex, the traders take control of it. Workers start segregating(separate,अलग) the onions according to the quality and the packaging begins. Vehicles are loaded with the produce to be sent off to cities or to different States. Traders then get into a huddle to firm up the retail price of the produce — adding their profits — with nary a concern for the farmer and the price demanded by him. The operation is bloodless and smooth.

Barely breaking even

While onion is one of the major crops in this belt, farmers also cultivate grapes, soya bean, sugarcane, and ginger. Speaking out against the cartel of traders is not easy when the farmer is dependent largely on the onion crop, as it may result in traders ganging against him (or her) by dropping rates for his produce.

Official data from the Lasalgaon Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) says that this year’s prices — between Rs.500-Rs.800/ql., down from Rs.970-Rs.3,786/ql. — are the lowest in the last five years. This year, Rs.1,020/ql. (in June) was the highest rate given to farmers, compared to Rs.6,326/ql. in 2015-16, and Rs.2,626 in 2014-15.

Growing onions costs between Rs.50,000 and Rs.80,000 per acre, and a cultivated acre yields(give,देना) not more than 100 ql. With this year’s average selling price at Rs.728/ql., an acre’s worth of onions would get the farmer around Rs.72,800. This sees some farmers barely break even; many lose money.

Small wonder that Milind Darade, who owns 13 acres of land, is furious(angry,गुस्सा). “This is the only industry where producers have no right to decide the price of their product,” the onion farmer from Karanjgaon, Nashik district, says. “Isn’t it cruel? Shouldn’t we get angry?” The week before The Hindu caught up with him at the Saikheda sub-market committee, Darade was given a humiliating price for his produce: Rs.5/ql., or 5 paisa/kg. If that was not bad enough, Maharashtra’s Minister for Co-operation, Subhash Deshmukh, said on a live television show that his onions were rotten. “Let me give you some information,” he says indignantly(angrily,गुस्से से), “this is the onion you eat at a restaurant. Just peel off two layers and you would wonder whether it was really rotten.”

Darade has preserved the official paper from the market committee with the offered rate; he has laminated it to ensure it doesn’t get dog-eared. He says that he was so angry that he refused to sell his onions and brought the load, some 10-11 ql., back to his farm to use as fertiliser. But, he says, “When I calmed down, it dawned upon me that I must use it to highlight the plight of onion farmers.”

Supply-demand mismatch

Simplistically put, there was a shortage last year, and this year has seen record onion cultivation. Abundant(plentiful,प्रचुर) supply has brought the prices down. The farmers, though, are used to this kind of fluctuation. They don’t blame the bumper crop and supply-demand equation; they say it’s the traders who are conspiring(plot,साजिश) against them and the government has done little — or the wrong things — to help.

To understand the current crisis for farmers, we need to step back a little.

India has three onion crops a year. Early kharif (the crop sowed in the monsoon) onions come to market between October and December. Onions from the rangda, or late kharif, crop arrive from January to March. The winter or rabi crop is up for sale from April to May. Usually, some parts of the rabi crop are stored for a few months to fill the gap from May to October. Traditionally, prices rise from July to October; official data show that wholesale rates rise by as much as Rs.1,000/ql., even Rs. 1,500, later reflected in the retail market with an increase of Rs.5-Rs.10/kg for consumers.

In 2014-15, the onions took a hit following a hailstorm in North Maharashtra which, in turn, affected their storage value. With many rotting, the onions that did make it to market commanded high prices.

Then the drought of the summer just past played a role too; many sugarcane farmers switched to the less thirsty onion this year. “The onion cultivation area in the State has almost doubled in year 2015-16,” says Nanasaheb Patil, Director, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED). “Farmers hoped that they will get last year’s rate — close to Rs.3,000-Rs.4,000/ql. — which did not happen, as production increased in huge proportions.”

India is the world’s second-largest onion producer (after China) with 26.79 per cent of the planet’s land under onion cultivation and 19.90 per cent of its production. Maharashtra is India’s largest producer, with a 32.45 per cent share of total onion production, and in turn, Nashik district in north Maharashtra accounts for with 41 per cent of the State’s onion harvest. According to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), India produced 203.33 lakh metric tonnes (MT, 1,000 kg) of onions in 2015-16, up from 189.28 lakh MT in 2014-15. Lasalgaon, Asia’s biggest onion market, received around 32,680 MT in the previous fiscal year. Five months into this year, it has received 10,874 MT.

To make matters worse for Maharashtra’s farmers, other States — notably Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka — have reported higher onion yields.

Holding on for a better day

Aside from the production glut(overload,भरमार), another important factor was a 40-day strike by traders in July and August, opposing the State government’s decision to free agricultural market committees from government regulations. With no outlet for their rabi onions, farmers had no option but to store them and wait for the strike to end. In addition, thanks to the low prices, some farmers are choosing to not bring their onions to the markets, and instead are storing them away hoping an artificial scarcity(shortage,कमी) later in the year will pay off for them.

This strategy, however, comes with its own dangers: that of the crop rotting or the onions sprouting. Malti Bodke of Bhuse village points to her rotten onions with disgust. “How long can we store them? It’s been almost four months. Once the onions start sprouting, they lose weight, and it becomes difficult to get a higher price.”

The farmers also say that the traders are colluding(plot,षड्यंत्र) to cheat them. “It’s a cartel of traders which decides the rates and once the market reopened, they ensured prices didn’t cross Rs.1,000/ql.,” says Rajaram Fafale, from Maralgoi village.

The strike gets blame for the glut. But did trade actually stop? Officials and traders seem to want consumers to believe that, but farmers say it never really stopped. Darade says that opportunistic traders discreetly(carefully,सावधानी से) approached farmers and “quoted lowest possible rates. Farmers, thinking it was better to sell, even at a low price, rather than keep them and let them rot, did sell”.

Three years ago, when the farmers were getting Rs.4,500-Rs.5,000/ql., retail onion prices reached Rs.90/kg., which resulted in protests from the then-opposition parties, as well as consumer organisations, in Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities, accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of failing to protect consumers.

The government’s first step was to increase the Minimum Export Price (MEP) to $1,150/MT. This made it difficult for Indian exporters to compete in international markets; whatever stock was available was diverted to the domestic market, which brought prices down. By March 2014, when the late kharif crop got to market, prices had dropped to less than Rs.1,000/ql. in the wholesale market, and consumers got theirs at Rs.20-Rs.25/kg.

This may have played out well for consumers, but has had other consequences(result,परिणाम) for the industry. “There is absolutely no consistency in our approach towards onion exports,” says NAFED’s Patil. A look at MEPs between December 2010 and December 2015 bears him out: the figure has fluctuated wildly, dropping to $0 in May 2012, and with a high of $1,150 in November 2013. “It only enrages our customers overseas,” says Patil. “They are left with absolutely no guarantee of quantity and price of onions exported from India. These customers have instead chosen Pakistan, China and Iran, and we have lost guaranteed markets.”

Patil says that the government’s decision to placate(calm,शांत) enraged(angry,नाराज़) urban customers has lost it both its farmers’ support and its overseas markets. The onion, he says, is no longer an agricultural commodity, it has become a political symbol.

An MSP for onions?

Assuming the government has to balance the needs of consumers with those of producers, what else could it have done to ensure that farmers get some return on their labour?

The National Horticulture Research & Development Foundation (NHRDF) keeps track of potential harvests by collecting information on each district. This year, despite being aware of the possibility of a bumper crop, the government appears to have failed to take any measures to protect farmers. The NHRDF’s estimates say the rabi onions should be selling at around Rs.818/ql., which is significantly higher than what farmers are managing to get. If the government chose to use its Price Stabilisation Fund, it could subsidise the crop, paying, say, Rs.500/ql.

What the State government has announced this week by way of relief — Rs.100 per quintal, up to a maximum of 200 quintals, or a maximum of Rs.20,000 — has, to put it mildly, failed to enthuse farmers. Every farmer The Hindu spoke to called the measure not just inadequate(insufficient,अपर्याप्त) but practically a mockery of their plight.

Fafale, who sold 10 ql. at Lasalgaon for Rs. 220/ql., or Rs 2.2/kg., greeted the news with scorn. “Now I will get one rupee more. What a relief!” he says sarcastically. “We aren’t begging in front of the government. What we are asking is our right. How does this government conclude that this much of money is sufficient as financial aid? Who advises them? Have they bothered to check the ground reality?”

One of the major demands the farmers have is for the government to introduce a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for onions, as it has for sugarcane. “Why don’t the officers understand that we are not independent and traders enjoy a free run here?” says Darade. “Unless an MSP is announced, we cannot be sure of a certain minimum profit. Why this neglect?”

Western Maharashtra, the State’s sugar belt, has seen, in recent times, sugarcane farmers agitating(incite,उत्तेजित for an increased MSP. It became an electoral issue in 2014 when the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) suffered major defeats in the Assembly polls in the region considered a bastion for both.

The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS; its name means ‘organisation for farmers’ self-respect’), led by Raju Shetti, which was in the thick of the agitation, is now part of the State government and Shetti is an MP. While the SSS has stage limited protests in the State’s onion belt demanding an MSP, it has not been able to take the protests to a wider audience. With the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena regime, as with the previous Congress-NCP rule, the MSP for onions issue is far from being solved.

In the village of Bhuse, Ramdas Bodke, 65, is philosophical. “I have seen many seasons and farming has never been easy. We know how to tackle nature. What do we do with man-made problems? We farmers feed the world, but now we wonder whether we will have food cooked at home.” He lapses into silence for a minute, and then his tone turns bitter: “Did the government discuss its proposal to hike MLA salaries for even a day? The government takes an instant decision to increase the salary of MLAs, but it takes a long time to decide about farmers. This is injustice. But there is no one to give justice to farmers.”

As for the urban consumers and their agitations, farmers mince no words when the topic comes up for discussion. Turning towards me, one of them asks, “You get agitated when prices skyrocket, but have you ever wondered what happens when prices hit rock bottom? Why don’t you come out on the streets demanding a fair price for us?”

courtesy:the hindu

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know your english

What is the meaning of ‘moxie’? (K Rajesh, Delhi)

First, let us deal with the pronunciation of this word. The first syllable rhymes with ‘box’, ‘fox’ and ‘pox’, and the ‘ie’ in the second sounds like the ‘i’ in ‘bit’, ‘sit’ and ‘hit’. It is pronounced ‘MOK-si’ with the stress on the first syllable. The word is mostly used in informal contexts to mean determined. A person with moxie is a fighter; he does not give up easily - no matter how often he is knocked down, he gets up. He is courageous in adversity.

Suraj showed a lot of moxie when he questioned some of the CEO’s decisions.

The girl has a lot of moxie in her. There’s no way she’s going to give up now.

The word comes from the name of a soft drink that was quite popular in the States in the early twentieth century. The advertisements claimed that the drink would ‘build up your nerve’. It is possible to buy a can of Moxie even today.

What is the difference between ‘terrified’ and ‘petrified’? (V Radhika, Madurai)

Both words suggest that you are extremely scared or frightened of something or someone; you are in a state of panic. When you are ‘terrified of’ something, you may choose to run or you may stand still because you are too scared to move. When you are petrified, you become paralysed; you stand there like a stone. You are too scared to move. The word ‘petrified’ comes from the Latin ‘petra’ meaning ‘stone’.

When they saw the tiger, the terrified villagers ran into their houses.

When the villager saw the tiger, he was petrified.

What is the meaning of ‘in the groove’? (Ajit Kumar, Vizag)

The ‘oove’ in ‘groove’ rhymes with the ‘ove’ in ‘prove’ and ‘move’. A ‘groove’ is a long, thin cut on a hard surface. For example, sliding doors and windows have grooves cut into them. They make it possible for a person to slide the door/window easily. When you say that you are ‘in the groove’, what you are suggesting is that you are doing something quite easily, without any real effort.

When Federer returns in 2017, it’ll probably take him time to get in the groove.

Anand didn’t like being a Manager at first; but now, he’s getting in the groove.

When you are bored of doing something over and over again, you say you are ‘stuck in a groove’. You have been doing the same thing for a long time and have become very set in your ways.

Anita’s job no longer excites her. She’s stuck in a groove.

Is it okay to say, ‘It’s high time you clean the motorcycle’? (M Priya, Chennai)

No, it is not. It should be ‘cleaned’ and not ‘clean’. The expression ‘high time’ is mostly used in informal contexts to mean that it is time to do something that should have been done a long time ago. In other words, you have unnecessarily delayed doing something. It’s high time Laxman bought a new car.

It’s high time that the children went to bed.

courtesy:the hindu

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Lend aggressively but responsibly

Developing countries today target high growth through investments in infrastructure, modernization and expansion of manufacturing and service facilities, and in agriculture and allied areas. At the same time, they seek to enable disadvantaged sections to upgrade their standard of living. In this, the developing countries expect financial institutions to act aggressively as well as responsibly.

The global financial structure, as it is evolving, is a technological marvel. Assets originating at the base are securitized, packaged in different forms for sale to investors all across the globe. These assets, if infected with a high probability of default, will always carry the germs of a systemic crisis. The lending agencies therefore have an enormous(large,विशाल) responsibility; while a high-growth economy offers opportunities for profits, lenders need to be (despite insistent pressures from powerful borrowers and politicians) extremely cautious and desist from taking on high-risk assets.

A good example in this regard is the subprime crisis in the US during the decade just gone by. The lending ambience was congenial(favourable,अनुकूल) : a continually rising property market, a flood of liquidity fed by an upsurge in global savings and an accommodating credit policy. The lenders had two options: low profit, low risk from sound but relatively few mortgage assets, and high profit, high risk from high risk but abundant(excessive,अत्यधिक) mortgage assets.

Lending agencies chose the second option—a choice dictated by the inexorable(harsh,कठोर) logic of a profit-driven market economy. They lured(entice,लुभाना) subprime borrowers with a slew of “innovations” to create assets at any cost: progressively relaxing margin money, dispensing with the requirement of income investigation and dismissing borrower concerns about unexpected shortfalls in their disposable incomes. All this they did, not out of any philanthropic(generous,परोपकारी) zeal but out of the urge(force,मजबूर) (given the opportunity) to make quick profits. The major premise underlying their behaviour was that if the property market collapsed, leading to a systemic crisis, the state could not but step in, as it had indeed done several times in the past.

State intervention in a crisis is a must, but the challenge before any polity is to intervene before the crisis erupts and to do so in a manner that helps the lending agencies generate a sustainable level of good assets. Such intervention must be planned and designed such that a balance is struck between the aspiration of marginal borrowers (to create and own assets) and the continued viability of lending agencies—critical for the efficiency and stability of any financial system. If we are to grapple(fight,लड़ना) with the recurring problem of non-performing assets and continue uninterruptedly with pushing social sector lending and infrastructure development, the polity has to act innovatively: There has to be a partnership, so to speak, between the state and the financial system.

But what kind of a partnership? Two points need to be made here. The plea for state participation is not to seek a return to the “loan mela” days of political patronage, to open the purse strings for subsidies, to interfere with the credit decisions of lending agencies, or to justify the oft-talked about practice of lending at political behest. This is a plea for selective public investment aimed at enhancing(increase,बढ़ाना) the viability of private sector projects and the income and employment potentials for the disadvantaged sectors.

Take housing, for instance. Our desire to have a pool of affordable houses has hardly made any headway, primarily because of the prohibitive cost of land. The state has to do some out-of-the-box thinking to clear the hurdles(problem,बाधा) in the availability of land at a reasonable price. The flow of funds from the state and the lending agencies, made available in tandem(one behind other,एक के बाद एक) and planned and targeted at select locations, should be the basis for this partnership.

A second point. Admittedly, we have to push private sector investments into different types of infrastructure projects, industry and agriculture for sustaining growth and generating employment. In this regard, a good many projects are clearly viable and remain good candidates for institutional funding, even as several others continue to inhabit the penumbra zone. Given the technological complexities and demand in today’s dynamic global economy, and with the kind of in-house skills currently available, the projects of the latter variety do not lend themselves to easy appraisal. It is also next to impossible for individual lending agencies to cost-effectively build in-house skills for the accurate evaluation of these projects. If investments in all key sectors are to be pushed aggressively, we must have special institutions with the mandate to assess these projects and to provide such critical financial assistance as can induce the lending institutions to lend appropriately to them.

We had set up development finance institutions in the early stages of our industrialization in the 1950s and early 1960s; nearly 75% of the cumulate private investment was canalized through these. However, we committed the grievous(serious,गंभीर) mistake of scrapping these institutions in the 1990s. On the other hand, China, years after it had switched over to a market economy, set up its National Development Bank in 1995; the institution is estimated to have financed over 60% of the total private investment in that country since then. Brazil is another illustrious example in this regard, while even Germany and Japan are continuing with these types of development banks.

Back home, in India, we must recognize that, without the critical support, financial and otherwise, that such national-level development finance institutions can provide, our objective of creating a sustainable level of good assets and maintaining a steady rate of growth is bound to remain hamstrung.

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An uneasy buzz

“That which bends up” is what the word “Chikungunya” means in Kimakonde, an African language. It’s quite an apt word considering the effect this infection has on those affected by it!

Chikungunya is a fever spread by a virus that is transmitted by the female mosquito. Female mosquitoes need proteins from mammalian blood for their eggs to develop, which is why they bite humans. Certain viruses like the dengue and chikungunya viruses collectively called arboviruses (ARthropod BOrne viruses) make use of this requirement of the mosquitoes to ensure their own survival. These viruses were originally present only in the forest areas infecting primarily monkey species. Humans were just incidental hosts. But now due to the impact of industrialisation and loss of forest cover, these viruses have made humans as their permanent hosts. The virus cannot spread from one human to another but can spread only by mosquitoes which get infected while biting an infected individual, thereafter transmitting the virus by biting an uninfected individual.

So, how does chikungunya virus spread and act on the body? Once a mosquito bites, the virus spreads through the epidermal cells of the skin and reaches the inside of the body through the blood stream. The virus primarily targets muscle, joint and skin fibroblasts where the maximum damage occurs. This is the reason why patients experience intense joint pain and swelling along with rashes and acute(intense,तीक्ष्ण) fever. Apart from the tissues, a person’s immunity-mediated response is another important factor that dictates the severity of the disease. This explains why immune-compromised individuals such as very young children and elderly persons are more severely affected by this virus. This is also the reason why individuals with other underlying health complications such as like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases experience have more drastic effects due to the infection. It has to be emphasised at this point thatwhile chikungunya results in extreme morbidity(illness,रुग्णता) and a prolonged(long,लम्बा) phase of physical disability, it is not a fatal disease.

Patient management

A primary concern with respect to chikungunya treatment is effective diagnosis. At present there are no virus-specific detection methods and we have to resort to employing antibody-specific testing which delays diagnosis by a great extent. A study conducted by our group and our collaborators at Nair Hospital in Mumbai showed that almost 10 per cent of dengue patients were co-infected with the chikungunya virus but they were not even treated for the disease. This is a big blow to patient management and disease management. While we were able to detect these co-infections because we employed reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect both the viruses, this is not practical in a hospital setting with a huge patient load and the lack of trained personnel. One may argue that dengue is more dangerous than chikungunya due to the complications of dengue as opposed to the non-fatal condition of chikungunya. But one must remember that patient management is quite different for both these infections and has several implications on disease prevention.

The vector plays an extremely important role in the spread of the chikungunya virus. When chikungunya struck in 2005, the reason it was such a huge pandemic was because the virus had mutatedtransform,रूपांतरित) its outside coat protein by a single amino acid that allowed it to replicate faster in another species of Aedes. This allowed the vector to transmit the virus more effectively. In the 2010 outbreak, virus strains sampled from different parts of the country were found to contain mutations on precisely(clearly,स्पस्थ्तया) three sites on their genomes. Sequencing the genome of the virus associated with the current outbreak in North India may reveal new information as to why the outbreak has been so explosive this time. Has the virus mutated again to become more virulent(poisonous,विषैला)?

Control the key

Whatever be the nature of the virus, the only effective method to control this hugely debilitating(weak,दुर्बल) infection is intense vector control and public health awareness programmes. The Mosquitoes serve as reservoirs for these viruses where the viruses survive in low amounts until they can infect a population. Having said this, we are talking of multiple issues here — the number of mosquitoes in nature at a given point in time and the amount of chikungunya virus within these mosquitoes. We recently conducted a survey where we addressed both these issues. We observed that the Aedes mosquitoes were present in small numbers even during the dry season and the viruses were present in these mosquitoes through generations. A single heavy shower was enough for the mosquito population to explode and along with it the virus populations within the mosquitoes. Every time it is a disaster waiting to happen. When the mosquito and the virus population reach a critical number, it results in outbreaks. Therefore, the only way to prevent this by is curbing(control,नियंत्रण) the mosquito population before the monsoon starts.

We face multiple issues with respect to chikungunya disease control in our country. A lack of sensitive virus-specific diagnostic tools, an absence of drugs/vaccine, poor vector control measures and public awareness contribute tremendously in escalating the problem. It is no surprise then that India is considered as the hub for chikungunya spread across the globe.

 courtesy:the hindu

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Forced out by a funds squeeze

It isn’t the fever and chikungunya symptoms that perturb(anxious,चिंतित) Ompal Singh so much. Resting in his one-room flat in a nondescript colony in Mandoli, north-east Delhi, the 50-year-old agonises(worry,व्याकुल) more about his persistent(continuous,निरंतर) cough and weight loss. He has lost seven kilograms in just two months and his immunity levels are dropping — alarming given his condition.

Meanwhile, his wife, Anita Kumari (48), has become addicted to painkillers. She cannot straighten her back or stretch her arms. She knows it is the big lump on her back causing all the pain and doctors have advised her surgery. But the doctors keep referring her to other hospitals, she says.

Both Mr. Singh and Ms. Kumari tested HIV positive in 2006 — after she contracted(reduce,संकुचित) the virus during a premature delivery-linked blood transfusion — but it is now that they have started feeling its pinch. Especially with their jobs snatched away. “Our diet is not the same and even treatment is suffering,” rues Mr. Singh.

Disclosure and discrimination(unfair treatment,भेदभाव)

In 2008, when the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) launched the Prevention of Parent-to-Child Transmission Programme (PPCT), the husband-wife duo enlisted with an NGO as outreach workers for the HIV awareness initiative along with 13 others. Their job was to help HIV-positive pregnant women with their medication and monitor newborn babies. “We have seen discrimination in hospitals against HIV-positive women from such close quarters. Doctors would refuse to carry out C-section, nurses hurl abuses even while the woman is crying in pain,” says Ms. Kumari. “Our role was to help such women.”

However, in December last year, the scheme was abruptly(suddenly,अचानक) ended citing(mentioning,उल्लेखित) lack of funds, rendering(give,देना) the outreach workers jobless. This, when all 15 workers are themselves HIV-positive and on antiretroviral therapy. In order to effectively carry out their roles as outreach workers, these individuals were asked to disclose their condition to the community and their families at the risk of social marginalisation. With people around them knowing about their HIV status, these workers are now not only struggling to get alternative employment but have had to move house. “Earlier, we were staying in different colonies in east Delhi. But with no money and neighbours boycotting us, eight of us are now living in the same locality to help each other,” says Rajesh Kumari, another outreach worker, who has been working as a maid for the past three months.

In the lurch

The outreach workers have tried it all to have their voices heard — from writing letters to the Health Ministry to protesting at Jantar Mantar. The PPCT scheme was halted in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab at the same time but Punjab restarted the scheme in June. “When Punjab can, why can’t Delhi and Himachal Pradesh,” asks Anjali Singh, showing a dossier of letters written to Ministers, officials and protest clippings.

“Budget cuts started in 2013 under the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) regime; the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government may end it completely in their term. Whatever was achieved in all these years is being undone,” says Ganesh Acharya of Mumbai AIDS Forum.

On August 16, these workers met Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal for help. The commission subsequently(after,बाद में) wrote to the Delhi State AIDS Control Society (DSACS) and was informed that the latter had no NACO funding to support these persons. “This forced me to write to Health Minister J.P Nadda about the issue,” says Ms. Maliwal. Mr. Nadda replied stating that he will personally look into the matter.

“He should do something, or else give us permission to kill ourselves,” says Kanhaiya Kumar, one of the affected. It’s fingers crossed for the group of 15, for now.

courtesy:the hindu

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For power to reach all, it will need a multi-pronged strategy, collaboration between Centre and states

That the government of India’s recent initiatives in the power sector have started bearing fruit is undeniable(unquestioned,निर्विवाद). It is for this reason that the ministry of power and renewable energy (RE) has been graded as one of the most performing ministries at the Centre.

With the increasing availability of power in the country resulting in a fall in prices and the gradual easing of transmission constraints, it is clear that the milestone of 24×7 supply to all parts of the country is around the corner. The big question, however, is to ensure supply of power, even if it is not 24×7, to all and here, the objective of “power for all” set by policymakers comes under scrutiny(examine,जाँच).

Both Central and state governments have recently been applauding their rural electrification programme. As per government of India estimates, out of 5,87,464 villages in the country, only 18,542 were not electrified at the beginning 2015-16. Of these 14,813 were to be electrified through the grid while 3,639 were to be electrified off-grid through RE sources. Till March 2016, 6,479 villages have already been electrified and the rest are to be electrified by December.

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In the states, this figure stands between 95 to 100 per cent with the exceptions of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. States like Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu are already claiming 100 per cent electrification. Even states like Bihar, UP and Rajasthan claim to be touching 99 per cent. The glaring issue in the light of these figures is that by the Centre’s own admission, the number of households without electricity in the country stands at a staggering seven to eight crore. In UP, this figure is about two crore.

This contradiction(opposition,विरोधाभाश) comes from the definition of electrified villages adopted by the government of India. According to the rural electrification policy guidelines of 2004, a village is classified as electrified if basic infrastructure like distribution transformers, poles and distribution lines are provided in the locality, including one “Dalit basti”, and if electricity is provided in one of the public places like schools, panchayat offices, health centres etc and the number of households electrified are 10 per cent of the total number of households in the village.

Prior to October1997, the definition was that a village should be classified as electrified if electricity is being used within its revenue area for any purpose. After October 1997 and till the arrival of the present policy in 2004, a village was deemed to be electrified if the electricity is used in any of the inhabited localities, within the revenue boundary of the village, for any purpose. Thus, even though a village may appear in the electrified list of villages, the actual number of households getting power may be a mere 10 per cent.

The recent controversy over whether Nagla Fatela village in Hathras district, now famous because of its mention by the prime minister in his Independence Day speech, was electrified in 1985 or 2015, is, in a way, an outcome of this bureaucratic juggling.

Further, as per the existing practices of the electricity supply code applicable in different states, all households within 40 metres of an electrical pole are supposed to take their connection from the pole. This leaves a colossal(large,बड़ा) chunk of the population located within the “electrified village” but outside this 40-metre limit. Coupled with this is the problem that even in electrified hamlets, not all the households within 40 meters of the distribution lines/poles, take the connection.

Thus there is a situation where people wanting to take connections cannot get it because they are situated more than 40 meters away and those within the area refuse to take connections and instead use what is commonly known as “katia” to take clandestine(illegal,अवैध) connections. This results in double the trouble: First, the revenue of discoms does not increase and second, the dissatisfaction among the villagers grows.

If you look into the numbers as per the census, there were 22.66 crore households in the country out of which only 16.58 crore had connections. Of these, 30-40 per cent are unmetered. Those with unmetered connections get electricity at very cheap or subsidised rates as they are billed either on a per connection basis or a per kilowatt basis. The discoms, it is widely believed, use this as an opportunity to load most of the stolen electricity into the consumption of this category. This is also the cause for the poor financial health of several discoms.

A three-pronged strategy is required to tackle this problem: One, people who fall within 40 metres of the poles should be persuaded to take the connections. Apart from persuasion(encouragement,प्रोत्साहन), a legislative approach could be to charge the households within the 40 meters an electricity cess, as is done in the case of water provided by the municipal corporations.

Two, power department officials should ensure that people within the 40 metres range take connections. One impediment(barrier,बाधा) to taking these connections is their cost, which should be reduced and charged in instalments, especially from low-income applicants. Three, an extensive assessment of how much investment is required to let the electricity network go up to all the households. This investment should be made on priority basis, as it would bring more revenue to the discoms and it may reduce the tariff burden on existing consumers.

If the investment on expanding the network to each household is too high, governments may consider encouraging private micro-grids and mini-grids. In several states, off-grid micro and mini-grids are a reality. In UP and Bihar, where the grid coverage is poor, 70-80 such projects have already come up. Many other states are following suit.

Simultaneously, the Central government has come up with a draft mini-grid policy which should give a big boost to them in the country. The need is to have a coordinated plan to extend the existing grid and to set up more mini-grids in remote villages. This would require not just coordination but active collaboration among the states and the Centre. Only this can turn the dream of “power for all” into a reality.

 courtesy:indian express

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Chronicles in unlearning

When organisations of the Sangh Parivar periodically rail against “Macaulay’s children” and propose a review of the hold of western knowledge systems over Indian education, it should be widely welcomed. After all, indigenous(native,स्वदेशी) knowledge, as preliterate communities in India, for instance, have begun to point out, and as those who know our rich literary traditions have shown, have been monstrously ignored in the education system we have inherited. Why then does this announcement produce disquiet?

This is because the overall context of such pronouncements is one that is markedly anti-intellectual. Before this is decried(condemn,निंदा) as a baseless charge, let me provide some examples. Earlier this year, several “academics” denounced the overall editorship of the Murty Classical Library series under Professor Sheldon Pollock because he was not sufficiently “imbued with a sense of respect and empathy for the greatness of Indian civilisation.” Neither Prof. Pollock’s formidable(fierce,दुर्जेय) knowledge of Sanskrit and other Indian languages nor his acknowledged stature as an academic could pass the litmus test of a worshipful loyalty to “Indian civilisation” as the foundational ground of all pursuits of knowledge. Were the signatories of the petition alarmed that Buddhist women poets have been allowed to be heard in that series? That Sufi singers have found new audiences? That Akbar’s life and times are being read by more than medieval historians?

A ‘cultural revolution’

Of late, many distinguished intellectuals have been replaced by dubious(doubtful,संदिग्ध) dabblers(lovers,शौक़ीन) as chiefs in premier institutions of higher education and research across the country.

It would be a lazy error to read this as a mere change of guard, of places once ruled by some version of the luxuriantly varied Indian Left falling under the rule of the monotonous(dull,नीरस) Right. No doubt, English-speaking intellectuals owing allegiance(loyalty,निष्ठा) to one or another stripe of the Left/Congress enjoyed disproportionate power for decades, particularly in Delhi institutions, but normally no one doubted their intellectual abilities. The same cannot be said of the new appointees, who are taking major Indian institutions in directions that are not necessarily dedicated to the production and promotion of knowledge.

The home-grown “cultural revolution” that is under way is increasingly encouraging only obedience. The distinction between former leaders and the new heads lies not only in formal academic credentials; they must be placed within the larger framework of “national intellectual warming” that too loudly expresses doubt and distrust about intellectual life as we know it.

A senior Minister has openly called for an isolation of those he identifies as “intellectual terrorists”, internal enemies of the state who may critique the actions of governments and their armies. A good sign of the new hostility(enmity,शत्रुता) was the breathtaking declaration, in a pamphlet issued by the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad unit to welcome new students, that departments of social sciences and humanities, whether in the Indian Institutes of Technology or in other universities, are the source of all agitators and should therefore be closely surveilled.

Now, for the first time in the last two centuries, we are witnessing a virulent(poisonous,विषैला) form of anti-intellectualism which will leave a lasting impact on the future of a wide range of activities from filmmaking and art to other forms of knowledge-production. The visions that have been spelled out for programmes of research and for educational institutions put a low premium on open-ended, rigorous(strict,सख्त), creative intellectual activity of any kind.

Some recent examples will suffice(enough,पर्याप्त), but they can be multiplied. The newsletters of the Indian Council of Historical Research are generously peppered with photographs of the current Chairperson and his pious(holy,पवित्र) homilies on a wide range of subjects. Here is a sampling of what appears more like a moralising discourse in a temple courtyard: “Our ancient literature vouchsafes(decorate,विभूषित) that Indian social institutions enjoy solid cultural base reinforced(strengthen,सुद्रढ़) by Dharma unlike modern intellectual propositions. As argued today, social institutions like marriage, family, community, tribe, society and state should not be understood as contractual… the Vedic marriage system is qualitatively different from the marriages of other religious belief systems or modern social marriages or live-in relationships where both enter into a conditional agreement unless they bind themselves for life.”

Generally, what does the Chairman see as the purpose of historical knowledge? “To shape the character of the people and in turn the nation.” Here we have a rather frank admission of what higher educational and research must be made to foster(encourage,प्रोत्साहित): nationalism of the kind dictated by the ruling party. No wonder, asProf. Kumkum Roy has shown in her analysis of Rajasthan textbooks, Gandhi doesn’t get killed at all; he merely disappears from the book.

Obedience was on full display in some universities during the celebration of India’s Independence. Enjoined by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to record their “compliance”, the heads of premier educational institutions showed zeal at rangoli as well as national song renditions, as if to atone for the possibility of the university otherwise living up to its duty of encouraging critical thinking.

In other more predictable quarters, the attack on intellectuals has been reduced to unadorned(plain,सादा) abuse, as in the Organiser’s recent “review” of the book co-authored by Professor Romila Thapar on nationalism. When the “review” denounces the book’s “stinky logic of provincialising(narrowness,संकीर्णता) the otherwise wide-ranging cultural nationalism or Hindutva”, we realise that even intelligibility has become a dispensable virtue in such excoriating(scratch,रगड़ना) attacks.

Some robust memories

This is very bleak(colourless,बेरंग) scenario. Still, we are left with some robust(strong,मजबूत) memories of how institutions could think under inspired leaders. In the 1990s, early years yet of the National Law School University in Bengaluru, Professor Madhava Menon invited human rights lawyer Nandita Haksar and feminist legal scholars Flavia Agnes and Ratna Kapoor to teach and conduct research. He recognised, in short, the intellectual importance of engaging with those whose views he may have cordially(willingly,मन से) disliked, even opposed.

A more recent instance was that of the former Vice Chancellor of JNU, Prof. Sudhir Sopory, a celebrated biologist who respectfully followed not just the rules, but the norms that govern the university. He showed the greatest respect for disciplines, methods, and perspectives he knew not much about. In a farewell that endeared him to the teaching community, he declared his desire to return as a student of the School of Arts and Aesthetics at JNU, a relatively new and flourishing department. No greater compliment could be paid to the intellectual culture of the institution.

The current insistence on obedience, and the impoverished ideas of nationalism which university spaces are beginning to propagate, have already dented the intellectual agendas of such spaces. By turning universities and institutions of learning into places of unquestioning worship, we run the risk of being brought to our knees, in more ways than one.

courtesy:the hindu

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