Importance of Road Safety and following Traffic Rules

Road safety is a crucial aspect of our daily lives, yet it often goes overlooked. It is essential to follow traffic rules to ensure the safety of ourselves and others on the road. Every year, thousands of people lose their lives in road accidents, and most of these accidents are caused by the negligence of drivers who fail to follow traffic rules.

Let me take you through a typical day in a city, where traffic is always bustling. The roads are full of vehicles, and everyone is in a hurry to reach their destination. As I walk down the street, I see people jaywalking, drivers jumping traffic lights, and motorcyclists driving without helmets. It is a chaotic scene, and accidents are waiting to happen.

Following traffic rules is essential to prevent accidents. When drivers follow traffic rules, it leads to a smooth flow of traffic and reduces the chances of accidents. For instance, if drivers stop at red lights, it prevents collisions from happening. Similarly, wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle can save lives in the event of an accident.

Not following traffic rules has severe consequences, not just for the driver but also for the society or community where we live. Road accidents can cause injuries or even death, leaving families devastated. It also leads to economic losses for individuals, businesses, and the government. Traffic congestion caused by accidents can lead to delays, which can affect productivity and daily life. Moreover, accidents can damage public and private property, leading to further losses.

According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, India, road accidents are a significant cause of deaths in the country. In 2019, there were over 4.5 lakh road accidents, resulting in over 1.5 lakh deaths and several injuries. These numbers highlight the need for drivers to follow traffic rules and take road safety seriously.

In conclusion, road safety is a crucial aspect of our daily lives that cannot be ignored. We must follow traffic rules to ensure the safety of ourselves and others on the road. Not following traffic rules can lead to accidents, injuries, and economic losses, which can have severe consequences on the society or community where we live. So, let us all pledge to follow traffic rules and make our roads safer for everyone. 

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Teachers are still using the stick in Indian schools and parents aren't doing anything to stop it by mayank jain

Almost all children surveyed had either seen or faced corporal punishment.

Last week, a nine-year-old girl in Telangana was made to kneel for two hours in class for not doing her homework. The punishment severely reduced blood flow to her muscles as she developed cramps and had to be taken to multiple hospitals for medical attention. While undergoing treatment, the nine-year-old died.

Corporal punishment in schools is a grim reality of education not just in India but many other countries. However, if news reports are to go by the situation of students in classroom has only gotten worse. A recent incident from Chhattisgarh last month highlighted just how teachers can seriously hurt students over trivial issues.

Three students of Class 9 at a school in Raipur were allegedly beaten up by their principal in front of the whole class for wearing fancy hair-clips, leaving them traumatised as the teachers requested that they don’t disclose the incident to their parents.

In reaction to the increasingly common incidents such as these, Young Lives, an international collective of organisations studying childhood poverty brought out a working paper last year specifically on the state of corporal punishment in Andhra Pradesh (now bifurcated into Andhra and Telangana) and the way children and parents think about it.

Frequent and violent

The study surveyed nearly 3000 children in united Andhra Pradesh from 2002 to 2009 and concluded that corporal punishment was not only prevalent but frequent as well in a typical school.

Children aged 7-8 years were part of the younger cohort, 92% of which reported witnessing corporal punishment while 77% said they had experienced it as compared to 34% of the 14-15 years accepting that they faced corporal punishment in schools.

Moreover, boys, those in the poorest quintile or the ones studying in the government schools reported a more frequent experience of physical punishment as compared to their respective counterparts.

It’s not just restricted to Andhra Pradesh as physical punishment has emerged as a norm in schools across the country. A 2007 report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development said that two out of three children are physically abused in India with boys (73%) only slightly more likely to face it than girls (65%).

Condoning the violence

While the report stated that corporal punishment is rampant in Andhra Pradesh with children facing violence routinely and boys experiencing particularly high levels, its shocking insight was the fact parents were often, if not always, found to be condoning it.

“The teachers said they don’t beat the students as strict rules are passed. But we ourselves ask them to beat on their backs or on the hands, otherwise the students will become stubborn, without any fear,” said a mother to the authors of the study.

Another father complained that his son stopped going to school after being beaten up by the teacher and fell sick however, he felt too scared to complain against the teacher and said that his son didn’t understand that punishment was for his “betterment”.

“After spending so much money, my son is not studying. I tried to explain that teacher beats you for your betterment – they are not your enemies – but he does not wish to continue his studies,” he said.

Punishment for punishing?

Even though the Indian government bannedcorporal punishment in schools five years ago, reports have highlighted that it’s rampant and thriving at the behest of teacher and at times parents, who often go too far in ensuring that children toe the metaphorical line.

Moreover, the Right to Education Act lays down a strict definition of punishment but falls short of mandating action against the teachers who resort to physical or mental harm as a means to ‘discipline’ the students.

The solutions, feel activists, is not just in prohibiting these incidents by strict measures but also in training teachers with skills that help them teach more effectively and manage students without having to take the recourse violently.

“Strict penal action would indeed be a deterrent and is needed,” Vimala Ramachandran, Chairperson of ‘Eliminating Corporal Punishment in Schools Committee formed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights told Firstpost. “However, we cannot only focus on the teachers who use corporal punishment against children. We also need to make sure that educational administration enables teachers to develop skills to deal with different situations without resorting to punishment,” she added.

Young Lives’ report, meanwhile, argues there is an urgent need to address the problem of corporal punishment and violence against boys and girls in schools as well as other settings. The power dynamics that allow adults to use humiliating forms of punishment, in some cases leading to the injury or even death of young children, need to be challenged.

“Changes in policy and legislation do not appear to be matched by changes at the school level, and this suggests that other factors, particularly parents’ views about corporal punishment, and larger questions related to how boys and girls are treated by adults in society at large at different ages, also need to be taken into account.”

Red is The Colour

The death toll in Naxalite region in past couple of months has been growing dangerously. It’s not just the paramilitary forces but the innocent villagers and other civilians which have been targeted. The movement which was started by landless peasants, to get their dues from the affluent landlords in late seventies, has taken an ugly shape, in the form of unorganized armed gangs.

As per a report from RAW, Naxalites are active across approximately 220 districts in India accounting for about 40 percent of India's geographical area. They are especially concentrated in an area known as the "Red Corridor", where they control 92,000 square kilometers. They have astrength of around 20,000 armed cadre Naxalites, in addition to 50,000 regular cadres, operative in these regions. The GoI has tagged Naxals as “biggest internal security threat”.

Not going into the glorious history what reds cherish, when they had a motive to pursue and had earned a lot of support and sympathy from the poor. Today the movement has been operating, without any clear demands and motive, and killing whoever dares to cross their way. Their so called leaders have turned to ambitious warlords, who have raised their personal forces by brainwashing the unemployed and money hungry youths.

Since I had an opportunity to work in a naxal affected regions, I was really astonished to see the demands they used to put before the officials to fund them. They wanted the funds that were directed for welfare programs like making temple, school or organizing a health camp to be directly given to them in cash. The so called leaders and the middlemen used to distribute their share and the welfare programs were dumped. They used to demand a security fee from the companies for securing their establishments and employees from a possible Naxal attack. If at all this was denied, the result would be ……..

There is nothing called red brigade remaining in the heart of the naxals, it is just the lust for quick bucks that is driving them to earn via easy ways. There have been several incidents which have been indicating the lack of coordination among the fragmented and fringed Brigades.

The possible link up of these armed outfits, which hide under the name of Red Brigade, with international terrorist organizations like Al – XYZ (there are so many now…) is another big threat which has taken the sleeps away from Indian security agencies. The problem is grieving day by day with every Red-faction coming up its own agenda after killing several. I wonder if the Indian Government would decide on taking a strong decision on eliminating these armed groups, like what Sri Lanka did, would actually solve the problem. But one thing is very clear whoever dies in this internal war the color of his blood is RED….

molesting democracy

I still wonder, how did I got the title for this blog?? while running through the news papers this morning it was a grieve shock to go through two news.

First one was on the killing of two more Kashmiri Youths in Police firing and second one was on the Reddy brothers being issued notice by election commission.

The killing of youths has attracted a lot of media attention and dishonor for paramilitary forces controlling law & order in valley. Even the government seems to be brushing off its hand and pass on the blame to forces claiming them to be “out of control”. But in all the chaos it is clearly evident that the beurocratic bridge to plug the gap between center and state is missing. Off late the besiege to peace in valley has been clouded due to beurocracy trying to make loopholes to protect the corrupt and punishing the innocent (not exactly). I still keep wondering as to till when, we the people will be puppets in the hand of government.

The courage by EC to finally notify the Reddy Brothers seem to fizz out with Reddy’s accepting it as Just another Notice for them. They seem to be completely unperturbed by the actions of State EC and are rubbishing it of stating, “Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah (religion will protect those who protect it)”. With the Reddy brothers and Sriramulu holding shares in the Obulapuram Mining Company, including 40 and 38 percent by Janardhan Reddy and his wife Lakshmi Aruna respectively, it would be interesting to see how they can disprove the charges. But history has proved that they have always escaped such charges without being touched, making mockery of democracy with the help of Money Power and Beurocratic Alliances.

Both the incidence seem related and somehow put democracy to shame. Thinking the same it clicked as to who are molesting democracy…..???

Thanks…

The Economics of Recession and Recovery

Off late I happened to come across a few really good articles which discussed the current recession at Length. I have summarized my views along with the abstracts of the articles which I thought would be of some use to understand the actual working of recession and Economics that steers through the recession.


Measures of Recession!!

We usually identify and measure recessions by 1) the amount of job losses, 2) the reduction in the national production of goods and services (a decline in GDP) and 3) the result of these first two events—a sharp rise in unemployment rates. A recession is a prolonged period of economic downturn.

Employment reports show that the current recession is deepening and there is broad agreement that the economy will decline for at least another six – eight months and probably longer. The national unemployment rate at 7.6% is up from the March 2007 low of 4.4%. Job losses totaling 15 Lakhs jobs were experienced since December 2007. National GDP declined by 3.8% in the 4th quarter of 2008 with a larger drop expected in this quarter.

Why Recessions Happen?

Recessions occur when there is a prolonged drop in spending. When total spending in the economy declines, there is not enough demand to keep everyone employed and as sales and production drop, companies begin to lay off workers. There are not enough customers to keep everyone employed. There are many reasons why total spending can start to decline suddenly. There was an initial event or events that sent spending downward and the following loss of jobs and wealth brought a drop in consumer spending, which is more than 2/3 of total spending.


The Anatomy of the Current Recession

The current recession was started when there was a broad recognition that home prices were far above normal levels and that many borrowers had bought homes they could not now afford. The combination of these events started a sharp drop in home prices and foreclosures that are still continuing.

These two events also created a tightening of home lending criteria and caused a huge decline in home construction and related jobs and spending. The next event was the realization that banks and other financial institutions were severely affected by the losses in home values and were holding loans that would never be repaid. The housing downturn became a financial sector crisis as financial institutions faced large loan losses.

These events resulted in a loss of confidence and decline in the stock market. The large loss of wealth in home and portfolio values caused a slowdown in consumer spending.

At the same time that our domestic economy was turning down, economies all around the world were slowing, which will contribute to a decline in India exports another spending sector to turn down.
Currently these declines in spending are feeding on each other creating large continuing job losses and great uncertainty and fear and further layoffs as businesses are preparing for lower sales in 2009.

What is Different About This Recession?

This recession includes a substantial loss of wealth, continuing uncertainty in where the bottom of housing prices and foreclosures lies, and uncertainty about the solvency and future of our banking system. Our banks were wise enough to hold the cash reserves with them, which have helped them absorb the ripples of recession spread across the sectors.

Economists believe that a successful stimulus package is not enough by itself to restore confidence and spending in the economy—the increased interest rates and banking sector challenges must also be handled carefully.

The Economics of Stimulus Efforts to Fight Recessions

Since recessions are caused and continue as a result of a drop in spending, the antidotes are policies designed to boost spending. There are three main anti-recession weapons—1) interest rate cuts, 2) tax cuts and 3) direct government spending.

Interest rate and tax cuts are designed to provide incentives to increase private sector spending by households and businesses. Direct government spending makes government the “customer” who will increase spending to restore production and jobs.

The theory behind interest rate cuts is to lower the cost of interest to consumers and businesses. If interest rates are lower the cost of buying a home or car or investing in a new plant will be lower. In addition payments on credit card and other consumer debt will be lower.

The theory behind tax rate cuts is that
1. They increase income for consumers and Businesses
2. They increase the incentive to work and invest.

The theory behind direct government spending as stimulus is
1. We can be sure that all the money will be spent
2. We can target the money to “deserving” areas such as Support to Manufacturing and Export based Industries benefits, infrastructure investments.


Beyond the Stimulus…

There is plenty of blame to go around. Investors borrowed money to the limits they could not afford. Lenders made loans without regard to the ability of borrowers to pay back the loans. There was no effective oversight of this collective imprudence. The Banks being prudent enough to play by the rules helped them to hold the liquidity that was badly required. They also came forward to assist the businesses with lower interest rate offering as they are connected with each other. We have learned the language of connectedness and common interest. But in getting to a better future, whether that is next year or the next 20 years, these connections need have greater voice than our differences and we must find ways to deal with blame that do not inflict harm on the economy and the millions of innocent victims of this economic crisis.

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