My Not-to-do-list this new year!

I was super thrilled to read this week’s Blogadda WOW prompt – ‘It’s Not My Resolution’, simply because this is unlike what most people are doing, their so-called 'Things-to-do-from-2016' lists. 

Another major way why I simply loved the idea of this week's WOW prompt is because there are very few people who actually know what they want, and like me know what all they don't want to do. We all might have our major goals in life, but the small things which matter the most remain unclear.

So without further ado, here's the list of things that I will not do from 2016, not in any particular order:

• I will not start a diet. Exercise may be irregular but my love for food will always remain the priority, esp. junk food :p

Ande ka Funda!

What better time than the World Egg Day to voice my opinion about the debate of eggs in school feeding programmes and the lack of information about World Egg Day!

The debate around including eggs in free meals in schools recently resurfaced as the Madhya Pradesh government banned eggs in Mid-Day meals and anganwadis. And today, being the World Egg day, an international event which focuses on celebrating eggs all around the world, I can’t help but wonder what do people consider more important – The nutrition value or the sentimental "value", boiling down to one banned item after the other.

The red part of  measuring tape show acute malnutrition.

According to latest Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates in ‘The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2015’ report, 194.6 million people are undernourished in India. By this measure India is home to a quarter of the undernourished population in the world. Also 51% of women between 15 to 59 years of age are anaemic and 44% of children under 5 are underweight. It is well known that malnourished children have a higher risk of death from common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. India was ranked at 55 out of 76 countries, by the Global Hunger Index 2014 on the basis of three leading indicators -- prevalence of underweight children under 5 years, under 5 child mortality rate, and the proportion of undernourished in the population.

However, the real worry, that I feel, is the lack of knowledge and awareness about this issue. And despite being a nation of what I can only hope to be well-informed and thinking individuals, the benefits are usually forgotten and more focus is given to its religious and political status. 

Ship of Theseus

A movie that disillusions you but still leaves you feeling like something wasn’t altogether right about it either was what the Ship of Theseus did to me.

After exiting the movie theatre I was still wondering about the events that had left me moved and the questions that it had raised but more importantly I was amazed by everyone else’s excitement or maybe it was their indifference towards it that left me a little overwhelmed.

Naroda Patiya massacre : Justice finally served?

On August 31, 2012, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) court sentenced Mayaben Kodnani, BJP leader and former Minister for Women and Child Development of Gujarat, 28 years in Prison, and life imprisonment to Babu Bajrangi or Babubhai Patel, leader of Bajrang Dal, a Hindu nationalist organisation, in the Naroda Patiya Massacre.

On February 27, 2002, a day before the Naroda massacre, the Sabarmati Express, a train which connects Ahmedabad city in Gujarat to the city of Darbhanga in Bihar, was attacked and burnt near the Godhra Railway station, by a mob mainly consisting of Muslims. It was reported that 58 Hindus, including 25 women and 15 children were burnt to death.

Syria : Civil War

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia. Its official language is Arabic. Based on statistical analyses from 2006, the Syrian population mainly comprises of Sunnis including Sufis, about 74 percent, while the rest are Alawites, Twelvers and Ismailis. Basically, Syria is mostly Sunni Arab.

Officially, Syria is a republic. In reality, however, it is an authoritarian regime under the guise of a democratic system. Although citizens vote for the president and members of parliament, they have little choice and electoral results are often adjusted.

The President and his senior aides ultimately make most basic decisions in political and economic life with a very limited degree of public accountability.

Political opposition to the President is not tolerated, and allegiance to the President has become the criterion for loyalty to the state.

Apple v. Google

Apple’s late CEO, Steve Jobs, had felt that Android, an operating system for mobile devices developed by Google, was copied from Apple’s iPhone. But Google maintains it developed Android independently.

So far, Apple has done nothing to Google, directly at least. It sued Samsung, which is being viewed by people and analyst all over, as just a collateral damage. It would be difficult for Apple to prove that Google is benefiting financially from patent infringement, or that Google, and not the hardware manufacturers, is directly responsible for potential damages caused to Apple.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company. It is the world's largest mobile phone maker, world's largest television manufacturer and world's second-largest semiconductor chip maker (after Intel Corporation).

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana : The Perfect Platform for a Scam?

In the past, Government has tried to provide a health insurance cover to selected beneficiaries either at the State level or National level. However, most of these schemes were not able to achieve their intended objectives. Often there were issues with either the design or implementation of these schemes.

Keeping this in mind, the government launched the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (National Health Insurance Scheme) formally on October1, 2007, but its implementation started in April, 2008. Its objective is to provide health insurance coverage and protection from financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization, for Below Poverty Line families.

Beneficiaries need to pay only Rs. 30/- as registration fee while Central and State Government pays the premium to the insurer selected by the State Government on the basis of a competitive bidding.

Mother of all Scams?

India's ruling Congress party has been hit by a series of damaging corruption scandals over the past year. The opposition has made regular calls for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign, over every scam that has gripped the nation.

The major corruption controversies to have beset the government in its second term of office are:-

2G Spectrum scan, 2011: It involved government officials illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would then use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones.

Freedom of Expression

On 6^th of July, The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva passed its first resolution on Internet freedom with a call for all states to support individuals' rights online as much as offline.

It affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice.

Despite opposition on the issue from nations including China, Russia and India, states promoting the resolution hailed the support of dozens of countries ahead of its adoption.

All 47 members of the Human Rights Council agreed upon the right to freedom of expression online, including censorship-prone countries like Cuba and China, whose frequent blocking of websites containing politically sensitive terms is often referred to as the “Great Firewall of China.”

Miss World 2012

As most people must know, today was the Grand Finale for Miss World, 2012. 

The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's wife, Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant.  

Miss china PR was also awarded Miss Talent 2012.

Miss World 2012 Beach Beauty was Miss Wales, Sophie Elizabeth Moulds.

Miss South Sudan, Atong Demach, took away the Miss World 2012 Top Model award.

Finally, Miss World Sports Woman 2012 was awarded to Miss Sweden, 

Finally, Miss World Sports Woman 2012 was awarded to Miss Sweden, Sanna Jinnedal.

Muslims and Terroism

So, I was reading about the Kamra Air base attack in Pakistan, which happened in the early hours of Thursday, on the Times of India website. Well, as much as dreadful that was, what really disturbed me, were the comments that followed afterwards.

It is well known that there is no love lost between the people of India and Pakistan. But reading those comments, it dawned on me, how even the common man, has been sucked into the ever vicious cycle of the political blame game.

Every individual, be it Indian or Pakistani, all were blaming the other country for the attack. Indians were stating this as an irony, that people who have been providing refuge to terrorists finally got a taste of their own medicine. On the other hand, Pakistanis were positive that this attack was organized by the Indian terrorists. Just like the politicians of the world, we were taking sides and blaming the other party for the destruction.

Independence day

When I was a kid, Republic Day and Independence Day were the only two days, when I bothered to get up early, despite the fact the fact that it was a holiday. You know, on Republic day, we have this huge parade, in New Delhi. Anyways, not here to talk about that, are we now?

So, Independence Day, a day which commemorates India’s independence from the British and its birth as a sovereign nation on 15^th August, 1947.

The Independence Day is a national holiday in India. The flagship event takes place in Delhi where the Prime Minister hoists the national flag at the Red Fort, followed by a nationally broadcast speech from its ramparts. The day is observed all over India with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades and cultural events.

Schools and colleges mark the day with cultural activities, drills, flag hoisting and distribution of sweets. Government as well as private organisations celebrate it similarly.

Political Parties in India

I have never really understood the politics of our country. I think its about time that I should have a basic knowledge and understanding about the political system, right?

In the Indian politics, the President of India is head of state and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, the highest national court being the Supreme Court of India. Elections are held at different levels. The two major election levels are at national level, after which the national government is established and at state level after which the state government is established. Elections are also held for city, town and village councils.

The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body, which basically means that it has the power to pass, amend, revoke or annul laws. It has the ultimate power over all political parties of India. It comprises of the President of India, and the two houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

India's Journey in Olympics 2012

Well this is my second entry to the blog, and there’s so much and so many things that I want to write about, that I don’t even know where to start!

But Olympics 2012 seems a pretty good right now, especially considering that its come to an end.

Well I always thought that India never does very well at the Olympics, in comparison to other countries, but being a naïve little person, never really thought about the reason behind it!

This time, Olympics was held in London, and India had sent 83 athletes to compete in 13 sports out of the 26, that were to be held in 2012. Initially the Olympics had only 9 sports when it first started in the year 1896. Boy, have we come a long way since then!