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Setbacks To World Peace By Dr Arvind Kumar According to the latest edition of the Global Peace Index, an annual ranking of 153 countries, the world became slightly less peaceful in 2010, punctuated by violent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, but also marked by successes in countries like Slovenia and Georgia. It is further revealed that the average world peace score dropped by just over 1 percent -- a number that may seem small, but which represents the continuation of a steady slide, as well as some dramatic recent events. Published by Australia's Institute for Economics and Peace, the index is the first in the crowded world of think-tank-produced rankings to try and quantify the philosophically challenging idea of peace. The data, obtained from the United Nations, rights groups, and other sources, reflects more than 20 internal and external indicators of peace, including the number of deaths from conflict, the threat of terrorism, the likelihood of violent

Transparency in Aid Policy By Dr Arvind Kumar According to just-published research by New York University Economics Prof William Easterly and Claudia Williamson, as reported by IRIN, Norway, Sweden, Finland and several UN agencies including the World Food Programme, the UN Population Fund, and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) rank among the lowest out of 42 bilateral and multilateral donors measured for aid transparency, The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) scored highest. Researchers measured transparency by analyzing donor reporting data to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC); publicly available information; how fully donors responded to direct requests for information concerning how many people they employed; their administrative costs; salaries and benefits; and total development assistance disbursed. Finland, Norway and Swede

Wither Green Missions! By Dr Arvind Kumar Recent media reports about Prime Minister’s Office in India having found that some of the missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) are ‘slipping from course’ are a serious cause of worry. Launched as part of India’s domestic action in limiting growth of climate changing greenhouse gases, the NAPCC has eight missions – National Solar Mission, National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, National Mission on Sustainable Habitat, National Water Mission, National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, National Mission for Green India, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture; and national Mission for Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change. The mid-term review of these missions has revealed that while some have picked up steam, many have been lagging behind or have not shown any clear results. The review has reportedly brought forth the fact that missions like the one on sustainable agriculture have no

Earth’s New Geological Age By Dr Arvind Kumar The recently concluded the 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium, has adopted the verdict Stockholm Memorandum: Tipping the Scales towards Sustainability, popularly known as Stockholm Memorandum. In particular, the jury of Nobel Laureates concluded that humans are now the most significant driver of global change, and that our collective actions could have abrupt and irreversible consequences for human communities and ecological systems. Professor Mario Molina, who acted as judge and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 : “We are the first generation with the insight of the new global risks facing humanity, that people and societies are the biggest drivers of global change. The basic analysis is not in question: we cannot continue on our current path and need to take action quickly. Science can guide us in identifying the pathway to global sustainability provided that it also engages in an open dialogue with society.” T he Stoc

Buddha Purnima Buddha Jayanti also known as Buddha Purnima is the most sacred festivals of Buddhist. Buddha Purnima also traditionally known as Vaishakh Poornima. Lord Buddha is considered the ninth avatar of Vishnu (Preserver in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer). Gautam Buddha "lived and died in about the fifth century before the Christian era". Buddha means "enlightened one" - someone who is completely freefrom all faults and mental obstructions. It is said that the Buddha originally followed the way of asceticism to attain enlightenment sooner, as was thought by many at that time. He sat for a prolonged time with inadequate food and water, which caused his body to shrivel so as to be indistinguishable from the bark of the tree that he was sitting under. Seeing the weak Siddhartha Gautama, a girl named Sujata placed a bowl of milk in front of him as an offering. Realising that without food one can do nothing, the Buddha refrained from

Urbanization vs. Human Survival Rapid pace of urbanization has become almost ubiquitous phenomenon and India is no exception to it. The present balance of population in favour of rural India is likely to be tilted in the coming two decades in favour of urban areas in India. The Metropolitan cities, particularly Delhi, get paralyzed in monsoons. The urbanization process lacks in making basic amenities available in consonance with the population growth. There is lack of Bijli, Sadak and Pani Facilities owing to absence of proper convergence in between and among different wings of civic bodies. State Governments’ frequent complaints about paucity of funds to keep pace with growing demands of existing urban centre’s seem unfounded because the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission is not lacking in funds. On the other hand, there’s money for the asking. However, there’s little to show by way of utilizing these funds for either renewing our cities or adding to the civic facilities. Thi

Water Scarcity: a Scare We take it for granted, we waste it and even pay too much to drink it from little plastic bottles. And still , today ,nearly 1 billion people in the developing world don’t have access toit. Clean , safe drinking water is scarce. It is the foundation of life , a basic human need. Yet today, all around the world , far too many people spend their entire day searching for it . The importance of access to clean water cannot be overstated. Simply put , water scarcity is either the lack of enough water (quantity) or lack of access to safe water (quality). It is hard for most of us to imagine that clean, safe water is not something that can be taken for granted. But, in the developing world , finding a reliable source of safe water is often time consuming and expensive . this is known as economic scarcity. Water can be found… it simply requires more resources to do it.in other areas the lack of water is a more profound problem. There simply isn`t enough. Th

Drought usually results in a water shortage that seriously interferes with human activity. Draught causes water shortages and crop damage. A drought starts when total rainfall is well below average for several months, low river flows, low groundwater and reservoir levels, very dry soil, reduced crop yields or even crop failure. Its seriousness depends on the degree of the water shortage, size of area affected, and the duration and warmth of the dry period. During a drought period there is a lack of water, and thus many of the people die; Animals that drink from the rivers or streams can become sick and die; swimmers in affected waters may become ill. The ecology of an area may be affected by the drying of wetlands, with wading birds dying out. Crop production will be lower than usual; trees may die. Wildfires spring up; lack of irrigation can lead to famine and disease. Drought differs from other natural hazards in several ways. First, since the effects of drought often accumulate s

Consume Organic Food By Dr Arvind kumar Organic foods are those that are produced without the use of chemicals, including pesticides and fertilizers commonly used in cultivation and drugs, such as antibiotics and hormones given to commercial livestock. Organic food production is a heavily regulated industry, distinct from private gardening. Currently, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan and many other countries require producers to obtain special certification in order to market food as "organic" within their borders. In the United States, organic production is a system that is managed in accordance with the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 and regulations in Title 7, Part 205 of the Code of Federal Regulations to respond to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Processed organic food usually contains

Festival of Gold “Akshay Tritiya” By Dr Arvind Kumar Akshaya Tritiya , also known as Akha Teej is a Hindu and Jain holy day, that falls on the third Tithi (Lunar day) of Bright Half ( Shukla Paksha ) of the pan-Indian month of Vaishakha . As per Hindus, this day is ruled by god Vishnu , the preserver-god in the Hindu Trinity . It is also traditionally celebrated as the birthday of the Hindu sage Parashurama , the sixth Avatar (incarnation) of the god Vishnu. According to Hindu mythology , on this day the Treta Yuga began and the river Ganges , the most sacred river of India, descended to the earth from the heaven. The word "Akshaya" means the never diminishing in Sanskrit and the day is believed to bring good luck and success. It is believed that if you do charity on this day you will be blessed. Nowadays jewellers have turned the purity into a marketing gimmick. The day is considered auspicious for starting new ventures. The legend is that any v

May Day By Dr Arvind Kumar 1st day of May is observed as ‘May day’, also called ‘Labour Day’ and ‘International Workers Day’. The ‘Labour Day’ began with the United States labour movement in 19th century, which was started on May 1, 1886 in United States. Some labour organizations in the country called on strike because they wanted an 8-hour working days. There was carnage in Haymarket Square in Chicago on May 4th; in which near 12 persons died as well as about 100 people were wounded. The protesters did not find an urgent result, bBut they gained a successful result slowly; when 8-hour the working days happened to be the standard in many countries around the world. ‘Labour Day’ was therefore selected as a day for rallies, processions and speeches. ‘Labour Day’ is a most important holiday in United States, Russia and other nations. India celebrated the first Labour Day on May 1, 1927. Many Labour Unions are participated in this celebration with pageants in ‘Mayday’ all over