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Rich Getting Richer By Dr Arvind Kumar A ccording to recently released Forbes magazine’s annual survey, the combined net worth of the 400 richest Americans climbed 8% this year, to $1.37 trillion. Wealth rose for 217 members of the list, while 85 saw a decline. For instance, Charles and David Koch, the energy magnates each gained $5.5 billion of wealth over the past year. Each is now worth $21.5 billion. The super-rich got even wealthier this year, 109 of the richest 400 are in finance or investments. Only twice before in American history has so much been held by so few. Another survey reveals that the 25 top hedge-fund managers got an average of $1 billion each, The number in poverty in America rose to a post-war high. The median wage continues to deteriorate. And some 20 million Americans don’t have work. And yet the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, which conferred almost all their benefits on the rich, continue. Democrats have decided to delay voting on whe

Localism vs Globalism By Dr Arvind Kumar The recently concluded three-day international conference on environmental issues held in the French city of Lyon under the aegis of Sustainable Planet Forum, has called for: “Stop economic growth in its tracks, start living locally, at a slower pace.” The radical French thinker Paul Ariès’ idea of economic growth, or rather degrowth, set the debates going with a bang. The French thinker is not just opposed to economic growth, but actively wants to stop it, seeing it as the root of all our evils. In fact, he is opposed to sustainable development, and for him, the development bit cancels out the worth of the sustainable bit. According to Ariès, economic growth inevitably leads to social inequality and he wants a new sort of society, organised locally, at a slower pace, based on sharing rather than exploitation, and if you take his thought to its logical conclusion, virtually shrinking. On the other hand, Peter Ainsworth, a Conservative, wh

Deteriorating Human Values By Dr Arvind Kumar Deterioration in human values has seemingly become a ubiquitous phenomenon, particularly in India. It is not to say other countries are not affected by decline in human values but situation is really getting more serious which has resulted in giving rise to lots of problems on the account of loss of human values. This trend of decline in human values does not only pose serious threat to the future course of development of the country but even for its survival, respect and authority itself. The Indians migrating abroad are generally faced with all types of problems in each and every corner of the world. Cases of Indians being continuously isolated, attacked, expelled, and forced to leave countries all over the world are increasing day by day. It is all due the reason that young generation of Indians are migrating to other countries with mentality of unwanted competition, corruption, indiscipline and in-humanity. Our predecessors were re

Do Politicians Serve People? By Dr Arvind Kumar M ost of politicians say that the aim of their entry into politics is to serve the people while common perception is that it is their gainful profession, not even a vocation, and that they are paid very handsomely and taken care of fully, by the people through the taxes. Interestingly, while campaigning and asking for votes, politicians claim to serve the people and promise to make concerted efforts consistently to better their lot. But they never fulfill these promises.Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Pt Nehru, Sardar Patel, Lal Bhadur Shastri, Dr Ambedkar, Jai Prakash Narayan and the like, were in politics with an aim only to serve the people. The new brand of politicians agitates for salary revision and stall parliament proceedings. It is interesting to observe that on various issues concerning the country, MPs are very rarely seen in unison with one another but on salary hike, their full unity and speakin

Planting More Trees By Dr Arvind Kumar In the midst of the recent havoc wrought out by unprecedented rains, lamdslides and floods, and challenges such as peak oil and climate change; there is a dire need to plant more trees. Trees help in controling floods. Trees not only provide shade, but in groups and clusters, they cool an area down. Various sources estimate that trees shading a home can cut air-conditioning costs by 30-50%, which will also decrease the strain on our aging electrical grid. Trees produce many different types of fruit (apples, mangoes, peaches, pears, oranges, plums, figs) and nuts (pecans, almonds, chestnut, walnut), which offer an important source of fat, nutrition, taste and sweetness. Unlike annual crops, trees only need to be planted once, minimizing soil and nutrient loss, and are easy to integrate into an urban landscape. Trees can provide income year after year. A well managed forest can yield wood not only for personal use, but also for sale as fir

Need for Convergence By Dr Arvind Kumar The messy state of affairs pervading preparations for the Commonwealth Games just before 9 days from the commencement of the CWG has compelled the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to take the command into his own hands at the eleventh hour. None of the authorities assigned with the task of these preparations – CWG Committee, Ministry of Sports, Urban Affairs Ministry and the Delhi Government – is prepared to share the blame. This shows that multiple authorities lacked proper coordination, cooperation and monitoring of the ongoing preparations. This resulted in scams, fall of foot overbridge, fall of some portion of ceiliing in a hall in the Nehru Stadium and lack of basic amenities in the Sports Village complex. However, it has brought the nation into disrepute as many participating countries and their players have cast aspersions about the adequacy and viability of the entire programme. There is a dire need of overhauling the entire struct

Need for Caution By Dr Arvind Kumar Some defects or defeciencies should not demean the entire show and the same analogy applies to the Commonwealth Games which are symbolic of nation’s pride, courage and determination.The CWG represent combined spirit of the government and the people. Media’s hype over highlighting some incidents in a tone and tenor of casting aspersions on the entire system of the CWG seem uncalled for because such an exercise may be beneficial for the Media in terms of hogging limelight or enhance TRP rates owing to inter or intra-rivalries, but brings disrepute to the nation as a whole. Not only the Government, the people are also enmeshed in Media-generated quagmire. The bulk of Media in India is privately-owned and they cater to the vested interest at the cost of public interest without realizing that by doing so they are harming the interests of their patrons as well. It would have been in the fitness of things if the Media could have started pinpointing d

Relief for Flood Victims By Dr Arvind Kumar The unprecedented rains, landslides and floods have wreaked havoc in terms of causing heavy loss of lives and property in many states of North India, particularly Uttarakhand, UP, Haryana, Punjab and Bihar. The nation has yet to recover from the damage caused by cloud burst in Leh area of Ladakh when these calamities have visited some parts of the country to add salt to wound. Government help alone is not sufficient to mitigate the sufferings of the victims of these calamities. It is our bounden duty to help those who are in distress. Government relief measures take time to reach the affected persons because of bureaucratization and procedural wranglings. The Private Sector can play vital role in this regard by arranging food, medicines and other relief items through civil societies or of their own arrangements. Apart from shouldering their Corporate Social Responsibility, the Private Sector enterprises will earn people’s good will for

Water Key to MDGs By Dr Arvind Kumar Recently concluded World Water Week, held in Stockholm, has drawn attention to water as means of achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on alleviating poverty and hunger by 2015. The MDGs were agreed in 2000 and include halving by 2015 the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. But the Stockholm Statement stresses that in addition to these specific water-related MDGs, water is a core cross-cutting element for reaching every other development goal. Access to water and sanitation is a prerequisite for ending poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality and improving health and environmental sustainability, and should therefore be put higher on the agenda. The statement calls for improved water management to avoid drastic increases in hunger caused by more floods and drought, and says access to water and sanitation is vital to increasing women's opportunities

By Dr Arvind Kumar All of us are living in an era where environmental issues have loomed large and the ill-effects of environmental crisis are being experienced by all and sundry. Youth has key role in mitigating the adverse impact of climate change because the future belogs to the youth. It is expected that the number of youth living in developing countries will grow to 89 per cent by 2025. Half of the population of India is already under 25 years of age. Thus youth would be the largest human resource available in coming years. Concurrently, it would be the key agent for technological innovation, social change and ecological equilibrium. The youth is admittedly better equipped to create environmental awareness through social network sites and it has a resource to go global with ideas, concerns and innovations. Environmental problems should no longer be perceived as abstract concerns that can only be addressed by governments or businesses; it devolves on the youth to play a greater ro

By Dr Arvind Kumar* *President of India Water Foundation, New Delhi. [Water security has emerged as a significant component of national security globally. While probling linkages betwee water security and national security, this article appraises current national and international scenario in this context.] There has been growing public and policy preoccupation in recent years with potential climate impacts on water security in the wake of the worsening risk of global warming. In 1991, then–UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali pronounced that “the next war will be fought over water, not politics.” In 2001, Kofi Annan warned that “fierce competition for fresh water may well become a source of conflict and wars in the future.” And present UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon has argued that the ongoing Darfur crisis grew at least in part from desertification, ecological degradation, and a scarcity of resources, foremost among them water. Apart from this chorus of concern, many policy s

By Dr Arvind Kumar The movement of food around the world is reportedly destroying the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries. Globally, small producers endure economic policies that pit them against the whims of consumers and profit-hoarding transnational corporations. Nevertheless, the world is headed for a ‘global food apocalypse.’ It is often claimed that there is an overabundance of food in the world, but the reality is millions of people die from hunger and malnutrition every year and unsustainable farming practices are destroying arable land. Governments and policymakers need the political will to defend their citizens against short-sighted and unjust trade policies that favour agribusiness and treat food as just another commodity. The global food crisis has implications far beyond hunger. The global farmland grab, the result of private investment in agriculture, was triggered by the global food crisis. Until consumers embrace community food systems, and regain their rel

By Dr Arvind Kumar The Earth is frequently called as the water planet because 70 percent of its surface is covered by water. However, only 3 percent of that water is potable, and two-thirds of that fresh water is trapped within glaciers. Twenty percent of the world’s population does not have sustained access to safe drinking water and 40 percent do not ordinarily utilise appropriate sanitation facilities. In that sense, everyone is equal. But, there is extreme inequality in the location of water, access to water and the quality and quantity of water that is available on a daily basis. There is also a burgeoning gap between the haves and have-nots in terms of water. Water is also closely tied to food, energy and climate change. In that sense, water is a key component of national security. If the 20th century witnessed the rise and fall of nations over oil, the 21st century could be one in which the rise and fall of nations is determined by water. Further global warming will lead to clim

By Dr Arvind Kumar Hand-hygiene is a vital part of infection control. The process of drying hands after washing constitutes an important part of the process. Not drying one’s hands thoroughly after washing them entails the risk of the spread of bacteria. A study by researchers at the University of Bradford and published recently in the Journal of Applied Microbiology looks at different methods of hand drying, and their effect on transfer of bacteria from the hands to other surfaces. The different methods include paper towels, traditional hand dryers, which rely on evaporation, and a new model of hand dryer, which rapidly strips water off the hands using high velocity air jets. The study further reveals that human bodies naturally have bacteria called commensals all over them. However, bacteria from other sources can also survive on hands, and can be easily transferred to other surfaces, increasing the risk of cross-contamination. When hands are washed the number of bacteria on the surf

By Dr. Arvind Kumar President, India Water Foundation, New Delhi. Abstract This article examines the issue of plight of the Dalits, their social exclusion in different sectors in India in the background of brief appraisal of the notion of social exclusion and its prevalence in India. It also takes into account various legal measures prevalent in the country and their implementation which is designed to bring the Dalits from social exclusion to social inclusion. Introduction Viewed in a broad spectrum, the notion of ‘social exclusion’ denotes the systematic exclusion of individuals and groups from one or more dimensions of society, such as structures of power and privilege, opportunities and resources. Social exclusion also describes as to what happens when people or areas are excluded from essential services or every day aspects of life that most of us take for granted. Socially excluded people or places can become trapped in a cycle of related problems such as unemployment, poor ski

By Dr Arvind Kumar Financial inclusion is the delivery of financial services at an affordable cost to low-income households. Broadly speaking, about half of the population in India is not served well (or even at all) by the current financial system. There is a close connection between poverty and financial exclusion, which can lead to estrangement, disaffection and reduced participation in society by low-income families. The magnitude of the problem of financial exclusion can be daunting. Nearly half of the population and a majority in rural Indians do not have bank accounts. Less than 10% of India’s 600,000 villages have a bank branch. Nearly 80% of the Indian population is without life or health insurance. Penetration of mortgages, mutual funds and pension products is also very low. The Reserve Bank of India has taken many initiatives to spread banking services such as expanding the number of rural bank branches as well as allowing the banking correspondent model. Apart from Governme

By Dr Arvind Kumar India’s pharmaceutical market is worth $25 billion a year. According to broad estimates, every second child vaccinated in the world uses a vaccine made in India, and that 45% of India's pharmaceutical production is exported to more than 200 countries. However, the proliferation of fake drugs is one of the greatest dangers facing India today. Fake drugs not only threaten lives, they also discourage patients from using life-saving innovations and deter much-needed pharmaceutical investment. However, the "Report on Countrywide Survey For Spurious Drugs" released by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in July this year has come out with findings that of 24,136 samples, 11 or 0.045%, were fake. Experts feel that there is something wrong with this report. Previous research reports have reported fake drug rates ranging from 3% to 35%. Past media reports show Delhi's Bhagirath Palace and certain markets in Agra and Aligarh as major loca

By Dr Arvind Kumar A decade ago the world governments in 2000 under the aegis of the United Nations agreed to the 15-year antipoverty plan, which came to be known as Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, to be achieved by 2015. However, a recent report released by the Geneva-based U.N. Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) has stated that the United Nations is ignoring the critical role of jobs and income equality in its strategy to fight world poverty and hunger, to the detriment of developing nations. Nevertheless, the U.N. has said it is on track to halve the number of people living on less than $1 a day by 2015, but the picture is mixed for other MDGs, particularly in the fields of health, education and the environment. Emphasizing that the people need jobs to combat poverty; the UNRISD report has called for adoption of new approaches to address mounting income inequalities. The report further observes: “Despite an ambitious agenda, the MDGs nonetheless represent a ca

By Dr Arvind Kumar Recent years have seen pollution becoming rampant in major rivers of India and the level of pollution of ground and underground water is also reaching irreparable intensity. Industries located on the banks of rivers release industiral wastage and effluents into the rivers or bury them underground. Much of the pollution goes unnoticed thanks to the apathy of authorities or nexus between the concerned authority and industry. Pollution is a national problem and it should be dealt with seriously. The very fact that the polluters remain undeterred by the existing laws makes it apparent that these existing laws are not tough enough to bring the polluters to books. Therefore, the Union Government should consider a law that provides for stiff penalty against those who pollute underground and surface water and country’s vast coastline with human waste, industrial pollutants and dumped or leaked oil. The judicial intervention has resulted in relocation of some polluting indu

By Dr Arvind Kumar Many ecologists believe the sea will be devoid of fish and other large marine organisms sometime in the 2040s. Burning of fossil fuels results in release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. The oceans act as an enormous carbon ‘sink’ which absorbs as much as 1/3rd of the released carbon dioxide. So the CO2 is no longer acting as a greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, but unfortunately, the problem of dealing with the excess gas has been shifted from the air to the oceans. The oceans are becoming more acidic as a result. In other words, through a natural process, the ocean becomes a giant waste dump for fossil fuel emissions. The ocean’s interaction with CO2 mitigates some climate effects of the gas. The atmospheric CO2 concentration is almost 390 parts per million (ppm), but it would be even higher if the oceans didn’t soak up 30 million tons of the gas every day. The world’s seas have absorbed roughly one third of all CO2 released by human activities. This ‘si

By Dr Arvind Kumar* *President, India water Foundation, New Delhi Recent years have witnessed growing public and policy preoccupation with potential climate impacts on water security in the wake of the worsening risk of global warming. In 1991, then–UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali pronounced that “the next war will be fought over water, not politics.” In 2001, Kofi Annan warned that “fierce competition for fresh water may well become a source of conflict and wars in the future.” And present UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon has argued that the ongoing Darfur crisis grew at least in part from desertification, ecological degradation, and a scarcity of resources, foremost among them water. Apart from this chorus of concern, many policy scholars have asserted that, as population growth and economic development raise pressures on demand and environmental pressures degrade supplies, resource scarcities could precipitate violent international conflicts, with shared rivers an especia