FOR REAL, NEXT TIME!

I still remember waking up that day. It was 25^th January 2016. I remember it very well because of the date. The date means a lot to me, as its my birthday. We all expect our birthdays to be very surprising and very happening. And here was I about to experience the most surprising birthday ever. I stood up and started walking down stairs. The floor was unusually cold. Felt like I was walking on the snow. It was a bit weird. Apart from the chilly floor, I could also hear the noise of the television set from downstairs. It was set on a high volume than usual. And it was playing nothing but a single advertisement repeatedly. I was wondering father has left the television set turned on and went for a bath. So, I ignored it as well. I finally made it to the bottom of the stair case and was expecting warm wishes from my mother. But instead I noticed a foul burning smell. I wasn’t sure whether it was from the inside or someone was burning the trash outside. I rushed into the kitchen to greet my mother but she wasn’t there. The burning smell was the milk which was boiling on the stove. Well, this was unusual. I turned off the stove and the television set. I looked for the vehicle it was still there but I was not able to find my parents. Everything was in its place except the two. My mind was burning with just one question where is everybody?

I rushed outside and rang my neighbour’s door bell. Nobody was answering it. I looked from the window and couldn’t find anyone there. The departmental store next to my house was open but the shopkeeper was nowhere to be found. Now I started to panic. I was not able to think what was happening. I rushed back to my house and thought of calling dad. But knew it was futile as his phone was lying on the desk in the hall. I called the emergency number instead but nobody picked up. I was instead put on hold to hear that stupid sound of the hold music. I thought of going into the city and searching for answers about what had really happened. I left my house on my foot and started towards the city to search for the answers.

There was dead silence. It felt like I was the only person in the town. I remembered wishing for that to happen one day but now I was terrified. I was desperately hoping to find someone who could answer my questions about what was happening. The streets which used to be busy at that time of the day were deserted. I arrived at the market place and started looking inside every shop for the answers and was miserably failing at it. I was about to lose my mind but I saw a woman standing in front of a store. It was like a ray of hope for me. Finally, I was going to get answers of all the questions. I went near her and started asking about what was happening in the city today. I was so panicked that I bombarded all my questions onto her. I was speaking so fast and I was hungry for answers that I didn’t even realized that I was actually talking to a mannequin in front of a shopping mall. It broke my heart. I was losing patience now. It felt like I was actually out of my mind. I hoped this was all a dream and I just had to find an exit. I remembered when ever I used to experience a nightmare, I was actually waking up by falling off from higher ground. For one moment I thought I could escape this bad dream by doing the same. I was not sure whether it will work but I had to some how escape from this madness. I didn’t think for a moment. I climbed a building and was about to jump off, but I heard a sound of a telephone ringing in one of the stores. I rushed as fast as I could to receive the phone call but couldn’t make it on time. I picked up the phone and thought of calling the last dialled number but nobody was ready to answer on the other side. All I could think of just one question, where is everybody?

I saw an ice cream parlour and thought of having an ice-cream. I checked the store but there was no one to take my order. I jumped over the counter and mixed all my favourite flavours together and created the tastiest ice-cream of my life. But soon the taste of the ice-cream started fading off and I started worrying about what was happening in the city. After having my ice-cream, I left some money on the counter, didn’t know for what? but I guess I was expecting someone will take that money and appreciate my honesty. The plan about jumping off a building was still haunting me and I was still thinking about sticking to it or not?

Suddenly a poster caught my eye. The poster was of a movie which was playing in our city theatre. The title of the movie was ‘The Last Man on Earth’ and I was flabbergasted by the picture of the actor who was on the poster. For a while I thought is this some kind of joke? It was my picture printed on that poster. I was completely losing it now. I rushed to the theatre and there was already a show going on in one of the auditoriums. I entered inside the theatre and was desperately searching for the show. The door of one of the auditoriums was left open. And when I entered, the scene which was currently running on the screen gave me chills. It was me looking at a huge screen inside an empty theatre. The man on the screen was imitating me. I tried raising my left hand and the man on the screen copied me. I was terrified to the bones. It was the end of my patience. I thought about ending this right at that moment. I climbed the stairs of the theatre and stood at the edge of the terrace. I wasn’t sure whether this will work, but I had to wake up from this bad dream. I was just looking for an exit from this place and my mind was not ready to give me any other sanest option. So, I jumped and when I hit the surface, I blacked out.

I wasn’t sure whether it worked, I was hearing some indistinct chattering going on around me. I felt like I was inside a room with no doors and windows. I shouted for help. There was not much energy left inside me but I tried. I thought I would wake up on my warm bed but I was at some other place. I struggled to wake up but couldn’t. I was restrained. I kept shouting and suddenly the door opened and the room got filled with light. I was not able to see for a moment but when my pupils adjusted, I saw a group of people surrounding me and staring at me. I lost my patience. Finally, I was looking at some real faces. But suddenly I realized that I knew these people. I heard one of them say,” This was the longest time you lasted in there”. And then I realized it wasn’t actually 25^th January 2016. The year is 2046. I am a space ranger who is about to go on a mission to find a planet just like earth. And as it is a solo mission, I will have to keep my mind stable throughout and there will not be any interaction with the outer world. My nightmare was just a simulation to train my mind to live on my own. Man is a social animal, he needs someone to interact or else he could lose his mind. And here was I preparing to defy all the laws of nature and preparing for a mission which could lead to a greatest discovery of all. When I was lost in my thoughts, I heard one of the officers say, “You did good kid, you lasted very long in that nightmare, but remember it will be FOR REAL, NEXT TIME!”   

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

1. Men and women are like two wheels of a carriage. There is no chance for a country to progress unless the condition of women improves. Swami Vivekananda said ,it is not possible for a bird to fly with only one wing but still the society tries to cut off one wing by denying women from their right full place .

2. Our ancient scriptures assigned women a place higher than man. They were allowed to freely participate in all the Yagna and religious ceremonies along with men. The custom of ‘swaymvar’ gave full liberty to girls to choose their life partner in those days. However, in the middle age women were only used for procreation and for raising kids. They were restricted within the four walls of the house. ‘satiprata’ was one of the major tragedy in a woman’s life in those days. Fortunately after independence, women have actively worked for bureaucracy and helped the nation progress.

3. In modern scenario, even after 65 years of independence, where women are contributing 48.2%of the total population they contribute only 10.6% seats in Lok Sabha election. However, 33% women reservation bill is on its way to be passed from 1996. The present reservation percent is much lower than many of the developed and developing nations.

4. The condition of women has been improving year by year. NGO'S are playing a significant role to empower women through vocational training. Many government policies like “STEP” in 1987, “SWASHAKHI” in 1998 and SWAYAM SIDHA” in 2001 have been launched to empower women.

5. The year 2001 was declared as ‘women empowerment year’ and women are proving their efficiency in various fields but still have miles to go in order to achieve any significant results. Many amendments have been made in the laws related to women. In 2010, the union ministry, proposed a few changes in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1995. The most important change was that by the end of a divorce, a woman will get a share in her spouse’s property that was acquired after their marriage. However, implementation, is the most important part, even the illiterate woman should be made aware of this amendment. In Oct 2012, the Mumbai High Court passed a judgment that every father should take care of his daughter till she gets married despite being a major.

6. Only education will help women compete with men. They should be liberated from atrocities and for this the psychology and attitude of men towards women should be changed and judiciary should be strengthened. Women have always shown steady progress in the last decade. Some of the women who have set their mark are Priya Jhingam (the first woman to join the Indian Army), Pratibha Patil (the first woman to become the president of India), Punita Arora (the first woman to don the highest rank of lieutenant general) and many more.

7. Conclusion: In the present scenario there is a crying need of equalization of women in India, because women can write the destiny of any nation. However, women are still neglected from their fundamental rights. The literacy rate of women is still low as compared to men. We must make sure that every girl is educated because it is rightly said that when a man is educated he alone gets literate but when a woman is educated the entire family gets literate. A literate woman will help control population, fulfill SSA and educate their children to strengthen the nation’s future. Finally I want to say that once women get their due respect and rightful position in society, then no one can stop India, march on the road of prosperity and become a superpower in near future.

INDIA IN NEXT 5 YEARS

There are many ways by which I can explain that this country will be a superpower in coming 5-10 year.

Analyzing the current scenario, there are 3 areas where India spends the most, which are:-

(a) Defence Equipment purchase; (b) Gold & (c) Crude Oil

Talking about Defence Manufacturing; Sir, today, India is the largest purchaser of weapon in the world. About 60% of its defense requirements are met from foreign countries, costing a huge burden on our economy. To cut this expenditure down, the Govt has opened defense equipment manufacture to the pvt sector. The FDI has also been expanded. This has encouraged the mega manufacturers of the world to collaborate with the Indian manufactures to produce weapon on Indian soil. Besides bringing in technology to this country, it will also provide thousands of job at all levels. This will also help in building domestic capabilities, bolster exports and add experience and expertise to the workers. Manufacturing in our own country will lower down the cost price of the product and also reduce dependencies. If one man get employment, he generates employment for nine others and GDP picks up momentum. More jobs mean lesser Naxalism and Terrorism. People living standard will also improve and they will provide good education to their children. When people start getting good education and improve their skill, it will also help our country to manufacture goods in our country. It will also save foreign exchange and because of which, the Govt will be able to build sufficient infrastructure, adding further impetus to growth.

As for Crude oil; India is dependent on other countries for crude oil. A lot of crude oil is spent in running motors, & generators to generate electricity & in transportation sector. To overcome generation of sufficient electricity, we are going for large scale nuclear, Solar and Wind energy. Nuclear Power is the 4th largest source of electricity in India after thermal, hydroelectric, and renewable sources of electricity. As of 2016, India has signed civil nuclear agreements with 13 countries. India now envisages to increase the contribution of nuclear power for electricity generation capacity from 2.8% to 9 % within 25 years. By 2020, India’s installed nuclear power generation capacity will increase to 20 GW. Solar power is also a fast growing industry in India. In Jan 2015, the Indian govt expanded its solar plans. We invested US$100 billion which will increase our present capacity from 8.6 GW (2016) to 100 GW by 2020. When ample amount of energy will be produced, then requirement of crude oil will decrease & we will save lot of money Which will enhance our GDP.

Now talking about Gold; Traditionally, India is the second largest purchaser of Gold in the world. Presently the country is working on Monetization of Gold. The Govt is on the path to motivate people to put their Gold in Banks. The govt wants to wean away people from physical holding of gold and has already implemented liberal gold monetization scheme and sovereign gold bond scheme. The moment we will control this gold purchasing, then we will also be able to curb the smuggling of gold.The temples in India hold huge quantum of Gold. Once gold reaches the bank, India will be in a position to raise its economy also check huge amount of corruption.

Few Other Indicators

(a) Road Constructuion: It has risen from 2 Km/day to 28Km/day since May 2014.

(b) Electrification of Villages: All villages will be electrified by the end of 2017.

NOTE: The cumulative effect of the above two will be humungous growth of rural India. A well connected Village with sufficient electricity, will shift the Industry to rural area, as land, labour and raw material will be available in plenty and at a fat far cheaper rate. Apart from agriculture, the farmer will have a second source of income i.e, Industry.

(c) Coal: Within a year of this govt coming to powers, we have moved away from coal importing nation to coal sufficient nation. This is an example of good governance.

(d) GST is on the verge of implementation. One Nation one Tax is likely to boost the GDP by at least 2 %. It will cut down prices as also corruption as no one will like to under-invoice their produce.

(e) Make in India, Skill India, Start up India, Stand up India and Digital India will make India a place to invest.

(f) Demonetization: A bold and much needed move by the Govt, which although, has been badly implemented, is bound to give us a rich dividends. There is always a great pain in transition stage, especially when it is not executed well. But this is the first mega step towards a clean and corruption free India and it will clean us a lot.

These are only a few Indications, which makes me believe that India will be a super power in 5 to 10 yrs.

ROLE OF MEDIA

1.The mass media today comprises newspapers, books, radio, television, cinema, internet, E-Mail, Fax etc.  Although the use of Internet, E-Mail and Fax seems to be a recent phenomenon, the other mediums have existed with each other for many decades. Though the audio visual medium scores over the written words still the latter holds it’s own advantages.  The media has the NEWS (North, East, West, South) the ability to go through the remotest part of the earth and can make us feel its pressure in every place.  In 1990's Americans and her allies waged wars on Iraq and it was televised world over.  One could see the effect of deadly weapons, reaction of the masses and the final outcome.

2. The print media enjoys great readership.  The advent of the audio – visual media has never threatened its existence.  Some of the journalists, in-fact enjoy great fan following and are respected for their work.  Indians have the credit in winning noble prizes, the booker prize and other awards from the literacy circles.

3. It is no doubt the job of the media is to inform readers about everything about everybody, but the media should also remember that people need some privacy too.  Another criticism is that some newspapers indulge into yellow journalism. The print media have to understand their power and responsibility.  The media could make great impact on its readers.  So it should shoulder the responsibility of presenting the true picture and not scandalize it.

4. The audio-visual media scores over the written media because it takes the viewer at the place of action.  Developing countries like India can rely on media for the mass communication.  The media can be used to disseminate information and impart and to illiterate masses. The media can aid public involvement through advocating and transforming knowledge, skills and techniques to the people.  Awareness about the various rural development programs can be achieved by using the media.  Lack of awareness about the different programs is responsible for the low key progress, which binders the national development process.

5. Gentlemen, media enjoys a wide reach, it is also helping in national development.  It should present news in unbiased manners before the audience, dispassionate in presenting the actual story for the benefit or information of masses.

RIGHT TO EDUCATION

1.The historic bill-Right to Education was passed in parliament on 4th August 2009. It confers upon every Indian child between the age of 6 and 14 years, to access free education in govt. elementary schools.

2. It provides 25% reservation of seats for the students of disadvantaged groups in all schools. This rule is also applicable for private run schools for whom the govt. will pay the expenses.

3. It calls upon each school to provide play fields, drinking water, toilets and library as well as to ensure 1:40 teacher student ratio. It bans capitation fees and the screening and interview of parents and students before admission. It has also declared corporal punishment to students unlawful.

4. However, it has been observed that the law implementation has been very sluggish. For example many schools in Maharashtra have not provided the basic facilities mentioned in this act like drinking water, upgrading the curriculum, etc. It is one of the nine lagging states who have not taken stern steps to implement the law. In Goa, 27,639 students are not covered under the RTE. Many of the Pvt schools are not showing interest in being a part of this movement at the time, when the deadline set for them by the govt. is coming close.

5. To implement this law in the entire nation, we need huge budgetary allocation. We must promote parent teacher association to be monitored by a strict bureaucracy. Absenteeism of teachers and inefficient methodology must be taken care of so that we could provide better education to our children. The pay for teachers which is very low now must be upgraded so that the best brains take on the profession of teaching. This law, if implemented efficiently, can change the fate of the entire nation.

NATIONAL DISASTER

1. National disasters do occur sometime or the other and are common to mankind .But in our country the frequency of disaster are quit often certain disasters are quit often. Certain Disasters are beyond the control of human beings and some can be controlled by planning and taking adequate Measures. These can be Classified as:-

(a) Natural calamities like earthquakes, typhoons and hoods.

(b) Epidemics.

(c) War like Situations.

2. Natural Calamities

India is highly prone to natural calamities. It has the glaciers on Himalayas in the north, Thar Desert in the west, thick jungles in the North-East, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Ocean in the South. State like Bihar and Assam are highly prone to Hoods with result in loss of life and property in large seat. Large Typhoons affect eastern coastal state like Orissa, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh, Uttranchal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are prone to earthquakes.  All these disasters are expected to be minimized by our National Disaster Management Committee which comprises of ministers, Bureaucrats, eminent scientists and experts. The job of this committee is to study these areas and suggest suitable measures to minimize the loss. Contingency plans have been drawn giving the resources and responsibility to meet these types of disasters.  Also general public, student at Schools and colleges are to be taught, how to react in such situations.

3. Epidemics

Spread of epidemics or large scale diseases are not unknown to India. These can assume very dangerous proportions and wipe out the whole village or a large area within a short span of time. Polio, AIDS, Birds Flue, Swine Flue, Malaria or Dangue seem round the corner at all times. These can be prevented and controlled by the adoption of proper methods of hygiene sanitation proper medicines. Public awareness campaign should be organized to educate the public about hygiene and sanitation and proper medicines.

4. War Like Situations

Every time we fight a war, it hits our economy. Since independence, first war with Pakistan generally known as kabaili (Tribes of Kabul) action took place in 1948. In 1962, the Second was fought between India and China. Three more which followed were again between India and Pakistan in1965 was code named as 'op Riddle' of 1971 was 'OP CACTUS LILY’ and of 1999 was `OP VIJAY’. As and when the war taxes place resources are diverted to defence during the war, the economy of the country suffers. In addition, low-intensity conflicts (LIC) or insurgency which we are being fought in Jammu and Kashmir and north East is also a drain to our resources So during the war in LIC situations, the civilians should be trained so that they can be employed as part of the civil defense in border areas or in areas or in areas in depth.

5. Managing the disaster is very important as it can be reduce casualties and chaos, we should have contingency plan at each level and practiced from time to time.

NATIONAL HIGHWAY AUTHORITY OF INDIA

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is an autonomous agency of the Govt of India, responsible for the development and maintenance of National Highways, totalling over 92,851.05 kms in length. It is also responsible for the toll collection on several highways. The current Chairman of NHAI is Mr Raghav Chandra (IAS).

Recent developments in NHAI

1. To cut down on delays in highway projects, NHAI has decentralised power, by authorising regional officers to undertake urgent repair works of up to Rs 1 crore, besides hiring of equipment and workers of up to Rs 10 lakh in a given project.

2. India has over one lakh kilometres of national highways (NHs), but there is no scientific road network pattern and drivers can't take a straight road to reach from one place to the other. To address this, NHAI has prepared a grid of 27 horizontal and vertical national highway corridors at a distance of every 250 km crisscrossing the entire country. All these stretches will be of four lanes and will provide more road space for seamless transport.

3. NHAI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Space Research Organisation for satellite mapping of highways.

Conclusion
Road construction in India has accelerated to an all-time high pace of 30 kilometres per day. Investor interest in the roads and highways sector has grown in recent months after the govt resolved four major issues responsible for stalled projects or slow progress. Land acquisition has been expedited and in the first five months of this financial year 4,272 sq km have been acquired.

Good roads mean easier proximity & faster development