Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts

Monday, May 1, 2023

Labour Day 2023

"It is only through labour and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things." - Theodore Roosevelt

#Veritadyne #Labourday #labourday2023 #laborday #Laborday2023 #workersday #workers #work #working #mayday




Image: Paolo Nicolello

Friday, April 7, 2023

Health for All

Achieving the theme for World Health Day 2023, ‘Health for All’ is a tall order!

While there are many expectations for improvements in our world health, due to promises in AI, innovations in omics technologies, materials & nanotechnology etc., the actual realization of excellence in healthcare will boil down to getting some basics right!

Not only excellence in treatment of common ailments, but also on improvement of diagnostic tools and preventive health care/wellness, including:
·       Availability of vaccines of all kinds to general public
·       Regular, mandatory screening programs for common issues like blood pressure, diabetes as well as cancers & other diseases
·       Increase in rehabilitation resources for recovering patients from various illnesses including development of communities where people & families can find the necessary support
·       Accessibility & resources promoting inclusivity of people with disabilities
·       Quality childcare where children are taken care of and also provided with quality stimulation and excellent nutrition for growth
·       Women’s and children’s health - more research and research funding allocation
·       Rare diseases research and funding allocation has to increase exponentially
·       Organ donation - universal improvements in policies, procedures and their implementation
·       Neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases – increased workforce, research and sensitization
·       Geriatric population studies
·       Health, fitness and wellness education; nutrition & exercise physiology
·       Mental health research, improvement in international policies and sensitization

Some of the biggest challenges will be in implementing all of the above in addition to latest trends in treatment & diagnostics equally among all countries. Ensuring such accessibility, equity and ethics would remain the biggest challenge in our future. Unless new tools and technologies are monitored for safety & ethics, and made available equally for every man, woman and child, we can unfortunately never claim healthcare for all!

#worldhealthday #health #AI #funding #education #healthcare #future #research #menatalhealth #wellness #ethics #fitness #nutrition #development #children #women



Pic: UPenn

Monday, February 20, 2023

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

This year marks the Indian presidency of the G20. India plans to use this to create a unified global health accelerator whereby the world is united in its health preparedness to tackle global emergencies efficiently.

One of the first tweets that I have seen from the government rightfully focussed on antimicrobial resistance and creating an awareness about it in the form of a quiz. Since this is such an important topic, I am writing this article to put down some thoughts on AMR, causes and effective ways of dealing with it. 

What is antimicrobial resistance (AMR)? 

AMR happens when microbes of any kind (bacterial, viral or fungal) develop mechanisms that help them to evolve, thereby resisting the effects of the antimicrobial medicine used against them. That means they can't be easily destroyed and treating them in a patient becomes very hard or sometimes impossible, leading unfortunately to death!

Main cause of AMR?

Mainly overuse or misuse of antimicrobials by individuals for themselves, in farming and livestock rearing are all causes. 
Another major cause is improper disposal of:
  • Unused antimicrobials
  • Water and waste segregation that does not focus on the leaching of medicines into the environment



Why is AMR a cause for concern?

From data in 2019, about 700,000 people die of infections caused due to resistant pathogens every year world over.
In addition to this, the pollution of our environment and water due to improper disposal of unused antimicrobials is also another big problem, leading to further AMR being developed by all kind of microbes leading to creation of 'superbugs'. 

What corrective measures/awareness is required in an individual capacity?
  1. Antibiotics should only be consumed when absolutely required and prescribed by a doctor. They should also be taken in the right way, the right dosage and completion of a full course, as not doing this could also lead to AMR. 
  2. Disposal of antimicrobial drugs - Please read more about the individual drug and manufacturer's recommendations. Some have take-back policies, some have collection sites to receive drugs back, mail-back programs, or recommended safe options to discard at home. 
However, not all countries have these options and many governments do not require pharmaceutical companies to take responsibility for the proper disposal of unused/expired medicines. 

Need of the hour?

Humankind now needs governments, with their policies in place and pharma companies, with their moral & ethical responsibility to step up and do the needful. 

In India for example, The Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) Rules, 2016 categorises expired drugs rightfully as 'domestic hazardous waste' and mandates that they be segregated, stored in separate bins and disposed in line with the Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016 that mandate that the drugs be incinerated at high temperatures.

Unfortunately, due to poor enforcement of the MSWM policies, there is poor management of hazardous waste, including unused/expired drugs & antimicrobials in the country. Waste segregation is an important area for the country where there is a lot of improvement, but policies have to be made clear and their implementation tight to bring everything together to fruition. 

Shared responsibility:

This responsibility for safe discarding of medicines however cannot begin and end with governments alone. Pharmaceutical companies, wholesalers and distributers of medicines, hospitals and any other relevant industry partners should step up and this should be considered a legal responsibility. Very importantly, this properly defined method/flow of medicines will also prevent illegal secondary trade of controlled use medicines.

Other important government stakeholders like pollution control boards, drug regulation boards and other important groups in society are also going to play a vital role in proper implementation of responsibility on the ground! Transparent and well-defined policies and procedures will be vital if this is to be successful.

The above issues are true of many developed and most developing countries, and one would hope that the efforts of the G20 in unifying healthcare response also tastes success in implementing certain universal policies such as safe disposal of antimicrobials to safeguard our environment.

#G20 #G20health #antimicrobials #antimicrobialresistance #antibiotics #antibioticresistance #AMR #governments #policies #law #legal #responsibility #sustainability #socialresponsibility #India #water #land #environment #pollution #waste #wastesegregation #pharmaceuticals #health #implementation #management

Monday, February 13, 2023

Happy Birthday Smt. Sarojini Naidu!

A proponent of civil rights, women's emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, Smt Bharat Kokila Sarojini Naidu was not only an important person in India's struggle for independence from colonial rule but remains one of the most inspiring role models across the world!

Fierce nationalist; freedom fighter; women's emancipation, social welfare, & civil rights proponent; writer; poet; and India's first woman governor!
Tireless crusader and architect of modern India! These below pictures speak volumes about her capabilities and achievements.















#sarojininaidu #civilrights #nationalist #governor #poet #writer #socialwelfare #society #India #rolemodel

Sunday, September 25, 2022

From Darkness to (moon)Light - India's Services Sector in Need of Enlightenment

"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world." - Oscar Wilde

What is Moonlighting? 

Very simply put, people taking up extra work other than their full-time job, which is traditionally expected to be 9 to 5, without informing their current employer, is called moonlighting. 

Recently this whole discussion came to the fore in India when Wipro's chairman Rishad Premji tweeted "There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating - plain and simple."

Following this, last week, Wipro also sacked 300 employees stating the same reason, further explaining that they also worked for Wipro's competitors. Following suit, TCS, Infosys and IBM have also warned their employees that moonlighting is unethical and will lead to disciplinary action or even termination. 



However, Tech Mahindra CEO, C P Gurnani, recently said that it is required to change with the times and also said, "I welcome disruption in the ways we work". 

India's Union minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, yesterday joined this debate by tweeting in support of employees moonlighting if they wish to use their skills and time to expand their work, which will also help the country with talent deficit. He has strongly recommended companies to embrace this change and not to suppress talent & the very intention to innovate.

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Micrsoft, went one step further and coined a new term "Productivity Paranoia", which is companies feeling their employees are not being their productive best, leading to unwelcome activities such as spying on the employees. Microsoft firmly believes that employee surveillance is just wrong and in today's hybrid work models, to bridge the gap between what employers and employees want is of utmost importance. Employers should in fact be more concerned about employee burn-out as worktime and 'other' time have completely blurred following the imposed WFH culture due to the pandemic.

It is my opinion that people must have the freedom to work on what they want in their own time (i.e. time not paid for by an employer). Most companies do have 'Non-disclosure' agreements (NDAs) and ‘Non-compete’ clauses (NCCs) in work contracts which employees commit to, which should cover any ethical concerns. Employees on the other hand could avoid conscientiously working for a direct competitor and should definitely not engage in unethical practices which will only spoil it for everyone as seen in the case of Wipro. 

Of concern, however, is in the loose definition of 'competitor'. Big conglomerates could even consider a start-up as competition and thus stop employees from utilising their private time to work pretty much anywhere within a sector which would otherwise benefit from access to their skills. This could be the primary reason for employees to leave other work undisclosed. 

It should be deemed unethical for companies to have a blanket contract that prohibits employees from taking up any other paid work. Not only is this treatment of employees as bonded labour antediluvian, but it is also plain unconscionable and does not fit in a digitally mobile world, especially post COVID! Employees must stand up for their rights, including that of privacy, and reject such contracts. NDAs and NCCs, on the other hand, need to be rational and clearly articulate a company’s terms, which must be explained to prospective/current employees, giving them a fair chance to accept, come clean, or reject the terms. Such mechanism can help mitigate perceived threats of moonlighting and develop an atmosphere of trust in which employees are self-motivated to ensure ethical conduct and can feel safe disclosing their other commitments. 

 More than policies and policing, it is a company’s culture which will define whether moonlighting becomes a threat or an engine of positive transformation for both employer and the employee.

Sunday, August 15, 2021

Happy 75th Independence Day

Wishing all fellow Indians and others who like India, a happy 75th Independence Day!
Honouring the theme 'Nation First, Always First', let us take a pledge to first be life long learners and be our most productive best everyday, following the glorious path of our freedom fighters!

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, the 75th independence day is not only a time for celebrations, but also for the country to make a decision on the direction to take going forward.
Key takeaways from the PM’s address: • 25 year plan to make all villages and small cities across the country sufficient and scale new heights of prosperity • 100% coverage of roads in rural areas, electricity, bank accounts, Ujjwala gas connections • 1000s of hospitals in the country will have their own oxygen plants, and this requires India’s full strength • No region to get left behind
 all the North Eastern States will be connected by rail to the rest of the country
 Assembly elections soon in Jammu & Kashmir; all districts including tribal districts declared for accelerated development
• Call for the strengthening of the co-operative movement. A separate ministry has been created for this purpose • Strengthening of agriculture by increased support for small farmers and fully supporting the efforts of our research scientists in the agriculture sector • Call for increasing manufacturing and exports in the country, both in quality and quantity • Promise to undertake next generation reforms and to ensure last mile service delivery. citizens need to be freed from unnecessary regulations and laws! • Call for all Central government or State governments to review rules and regulations for much needed upgrades • New education policy:
 Mother-tongue to be prioritized
 Sports have been made a mainstream part of curriculum
• Increased efforts to ensure equal partnership of women in workplace and education; importance of women’s safety and call for increased efforts of law enforcement in this regard • Call for resolve to make India energy independent. Declared a National Hydrogen Mission for making India a hub for production and export of green hydrogen • Self-reliance in the field security and strengthening of our armed forces • The PM also called for prioritizing of duties and every citizen owning a sense of duty.

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate on this special day, the importance of learning. With possible extra time in our hands due to lockdown and work from home, many people have used their time to learn new things, skills or brush up on long-forgotten skills. However, many of us can still be motivated to do even better. We still waste a lot of time on social media and watching all kinds of entertainment online. We owe it to ourselves, our nation and our planet to make our limited time here useful.

Happy Independence Day everyone!




#India #independenceday #freedom #nation #modi #reforms

Sunday, April 25, 2021

COVID, India and multilateralism!

India is struggling with a huge spike in COVID cases in the last few weeks plus dealing with variant versions of the virus. This is not a unique problem to the country, but something all nations are facing. However, the huge population and less than ideal healthcare scenario in some states and pockets have led to current problems. Many of the variants of the virus were not originally from India, but from UK and South Africa. As viruses do, there is however continuous mutations and we no longer know which version we are dealing with or how many versions are going around.

I had feared such eventual results from the start of this pandemic for my country, just due to its sheer population and my fears have now come true. India had handled the pandemic with panache so far and supplied vaccines and other medicines to the rest of the world including HCQ to the US. Many of these were to developing countries at no or very little cost. Some countries of EU had contractual agreements for supply of vaccines as well and these are the countries who started having panic attacks seeing the crisis now in India. Understandable, but their reaction at a time of global emergency is not forgivable. Chancellor Merkel completely forgot to diplomatically sympathize with the people of India, while enquiring about the promised vaccines. Her poor choice of words shocked me and apparently a good many people and governments around the world. 

In case you missed it, here is what she said: “The truth is, we haven’t treated our pharmaceutical industry so well for many years…I am glad that we still have pharmaceutical production in Belgium, Holland, Germany.” Highlighting the issue of vaccine shortage, she said, “We now have a situation with India where, in connection with the emergency situation of the pandemic, we are worried whether the pharmaceutical products will still come to us.”

Merkel also cautioned, “Of course, we have only allowed India to become such a large pharmaceutical producer in the first place, also from the European side, in the expectation that this should then also be complied with. If that is not the case now, we will have to rethink.”

I would very much like to know how Germany and EU have "allowed" India to become a pharmaceutical producer? Did they come up with extraordinary contracts, privileges, tax exemptions on imports and exports or special sanctions? And such criticism after India along with other countries have repeatedly requested and proposed to WTO to suspend the IP rights over COVID medical supplies. This was blocked by the USA and EU among other developed countries. maybe if they did not care so much about profits, India can manufacture and supply more vaccines? USA has blocked a lot of the necessary ingredients being exported to India which affects the vaccine production. So, who is to blame really?

Clearly the Indian government, its people and many around the world did not see Merkel's comments as appropriate or the threat acceptable. Many geopolitics experts around the world have found her comments extremely patronizing and very backwards in thought. The Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India sent out a subtle tweet regarding multilateralism. The Embassy of Germany too sprang into action with a series of tweets expressing concern for the situation and promising full cooperation to fight the pandemic. Of course, they also claimed responsibility and bragging rights for two private companies Linde and TATA coming together to secure and airlift 24 oxygen transport tanks! Few hours ago, the Chancellor herself announced that Germany was in solidarity with India and is urgently preparing a mission of support. What kind of support is not clear yet, but the pressure to support is exposed?

On the other hand, the Biden/Harris government has been under heavy scrutiny for their silence to acknowledge the crisis in India or offer any kind of support. Over the weekend, after being trolled mercilessly on social media for their tepid response to India's situation, the US government has finally released a statement of support and is working to send PPE kits, rapid diagnostic kits and ventilators. I still do not hear about suspending the IP rights to help in producing more vaccines or unblocking export of important ingredients for vaccine production, but hoping good sense and common sense will ultimately prevail! Even American citizens are tweeting their support and asking their government to release unused vaccines in storage and release patents, enabling easier manufacture of vaccines elsewhere. At least at the time of a global pandemic, one would think this should be fast tracked, approved and implemented without much discussion. 

Good luck India in combating this pandemic. This too shall pass and you will once again come out with flying colours. Stay strong!

#India #COVID #Germany #EU #Merkel #Biden #KamalaHarris #USA #Vaccine #vaccinemaitri #pharmaceuticals #SJaishankar #GoI #Externalaffairs #multilateralism #news #politics


Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Web series - "Delhi Crime" my review

I like good web series but am not a crazy fan of television to watch series after series. This might be a reason why I have just watched the series "Delhi Crime" almost two years after it released on Netflix!

I must say I really did love the attempt. It gave me a fresh perspective on many issues regarding this case. I was one more citizen watching with absolute shock as this case was reported on news channels in 2012 and supported fully the protests by fellow citizens. However, I realised how fast this case was actually solved by the police and against potentially how many difficulties. How could it be simple to track six rapists in a city of 17 million plus surrounding states from where most of the culprits were? How could the police have possibly prevented such crimes when the ratio of police to regular citizens is so low? 

The kind of political and social pressures while dealing with an emotionally draining crime was fascinating to know more about. The actors of course going by the ratings, had done a fantastic job and the series kept up the pace and involvement of the audience through all the episodes. Kudos to the director for the background research done and the extremely good presentation.

If you have not watched this, I highly recommend that you do. But before that do expect to continue to be shocked by this crime as that is never going to go away!  

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Catch-up

A long gap again!
Life suddenly got busy again in this eventful COVID-19 year. I became a student again at none other than Yale University and what an experience it has been!!! Deserves another post in itself.....

Following this I was invited as a Guest of honour and key note speaker for the 53rd Engineer's day event organized by the Institute of Engineers in India, Qatar chapter. The selected theme was one of the best I have spoken on - Self-reliant India. 

The event had such an impressive line-up of distinguished guests and eminent speakers including 
H.E the current Ambassador of India- Dr. Deepak Mittal, 
Prof. K.K Aggarwal, Chairman, National Board of Accreditation, India and
Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai (Moon man of India), Chairman of National Design and Research Forum, India.

I thoroughly enjoyed the event and talks and leave you here with some pictures :)





Sunday, August 30, 2020

Prime Minister's address on Indian dogs

I loved the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi's address today that included a bit about dogs. He spoke about their integral contribution to the Indian Army's services and importance in preventing acts of terrorism. He took the time to honour several dogs by their names which makes the whole narrative much more personal. For their trainers and units they were family, so it is only fair that their contribution was acknowledged by name, by none other than the Prime Minister himself. While the list is extremely small and the PM will not have enough time to list all martyred dogs in service, it certainly reflects the respect for all of them. 
The PM had also taken the time to research and list some of the native breeds of India and point out some of their special characteristics. They are so much more suited to the country obviously as they were natives here long before their western counterparts arrived and can handle the conditions and native food much better. He also spoke about research happening across Government agricultural institutes on these dogs. The PM encouraged people to do their research and learn more about all of this information, which is sound advice any day. 
The last bit was the best, where the PM asked every family thinking about adopting dogs to consider Indian breeds. One thing the PM should have added is to say adopt strays from the streets who are basically mixed breeds and are very resilient. But I will add this here. Strays are more loyal than any dog of a particular breed that you might 'buy'. Never buy a dog, whatever the breed may be, while there are so many homeless that you can save. People breed dogs for materialistic benefits and for most part the dogs are misused. Help prevent that, please!

It is important that people who have a voice use it for such matters, so it will be heard by more people. For this thank you Modi ji; animal lovers appreciate you taking the time to talk about this.  

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Even Republicans endorse a Democrat this election!

I am not sure if this has ever happened before but hard core Republicans and three ex-team's staffers have endorsed Democratic candidate Biden!


In their letters, the main thing that jumps out other than the many adjectives describing President Trump of course, is that they would like to see decency return to the Whitehouse and the country!

This election is going to be extremely interesting :)

Monday, August 24, 2020

Daggers drawn for the Duchess of Sussex as usual

I cannot understand the level of hate that goes around for the Duchess of Sussex. Wait, on the other hand, maybe I can. When a woman comes across as confident, self-assured, self-sufficient and is successful in life, it is the duty of society to take her down a notch or more than a notch if possible. Hence all stops are pulled by people who generally have no business poking into her life. Her past career as an actress apparently has people deciding that she does not deserve life as British royal or better yet, she 'got' Harry due to some diabolical plan along with her mother! Seriously? They seem happy and she has handled all crap with more grace and maturity than anyone so please move on people.

Take the most recent outburst for example. Markle merely encouraged the American people to use their vote at an online event that she spoke at. She has reiterated the importance of using one's right to vote and honour the past and future which is a reflection of the care for the community. Some of the statements made include very general statements like "If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem, if you are complacent, you are complicit" etc., Note that Markle did not endorse any specific candidate.

These are very general statements, applicable for any democracy where your vote matters and has to be exercised. As a person who is well known, it is encouraging to see someone who uses their voice to say the right things. It is amazing to see how even this is a fault and has led to a TV show host, Piers Morgan, recommending that their titles be stripped. This after the couple have made it abundantly clear that they do not care for the title, power or responsibilities that come with it. What is his qualification to make such a recommendation in social media to the Queen is beyond most of us. A woman is shamed because she comes from the show world, but media is also show business today and does not provide any value in that case to his opinions.

His argument makes no sense; he thinks that since royals by UK law are not expected to comment, Markle has overstepped. Maybe he is not aware that she is a US citizen, and in the US , she is not expected to abide by UK law? Even in UK, in typical British confusing fashion, the royals have a right to vote but considered unconstitutional if they do (eye roll). What does that even mean?!!! 

Get a life people and please stop trying to make headlines using someone else's fame and name. 

Sunday, August 23, 2020

India's 'Grand Old Party's' impending changes

We have recently had two very fine articles on Rahul Gandhi's leadership of India's Congress party. One is written by Dr. Ramachandra Guha and the follow-up to that by Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi. The links are below and hope you enjoy their well written pieces showcasing their valuable education and experience, as much as I did.



Note that while both are actually in support of the Congress party, the views are more with respect to Rahul Gandhi and how his continuation as the party's representative in any upcoming elections will spell doom. Especially against the Modi government. I feel inclined to agree with Dr. Guha's views. How can we expect different outcomes in any elections when there are no changes to the principal opponent in the largest opposition party? Dr. Gandhi's heart is in the right place as all Congress supporters might agree, but I think the party has to move on in their search for an able and charismatic leader. 

For India's  sake let's hope this happens. The interim party president is said to be all set to resign tomorrow and set the wheels in motion.....fingers crossed!

Friday, August 21, 2020

Dr. Shyamala Gopalan - a thank you

I found this wonderful article which followed the Democratic VP candidate, Kamala Harris's mother's achievements and spoke more about the contribution of immigrant women especially from India to Western countries. 


It indeed made me very proud to read about Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, Harris's mother. She hailed from my State in India, Tamil Nadu and we also seem to have chosen similar fields of study and the very same area of research albeit in different decades. Dr. Gopalan's parents later settled in my city of Chennai following their retirement, pretty much in the same area I hail from! Other than these superficial reasons, there is so much more to be proud of though. 

In fact to better understand both Kamala Harris's and Dr. Gopalan's trailblazing lives, we might need to go one generation back and look at Dr. Gopalan's parents. We are talking about the 1940s and 50s when they have been so broad and open minded, looked to educate their son and daughters equally and in fact were not happy with Dr. Gopalan's first choice of education in Home Science as they were ambitious for their daughters. They wanted them to shine as doctors, engineers or scientists rather than learn just good home science, no offence to the subject at all. It goes on to show from where Dr. Gopalan gained her brains and confidence from. Did they think women were not suited for careers and need to be married off at an early age in order to procreate and be good wives and mothers? No, this does not seem to have featured in their discussions at all!

Later their daughter Shyamala decided to apply to the US and got admitted to Graduate school. It never occurred to them to stop her from travelling so far alone to study. In fact they used their retirement funds to partly fund her first semester of study and housing. Shymala then went on to complete her PhD and continued her important work and career until her last days. What a contribution to society!

Not only professionally, but personally she had joined the Black Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and that's how she met her future husband, not an Indian but a Jamaican. She felt confident in her decision and of her parents acceptance of her decision to go ahead with the marriage. She had two daughters from the marriage and brought them up with so much panache by of course following her role model parents. She was comfortable enough to also divorce and end the marriage when finally it did not work and had no need to worry about society and the 'shame' and stigma that divorce still carries in many parts of the world including India. She retained her maiden name till her death in 2009. Hats off to you mam, Dr. Gopalan, for being such an inspiration for us women everywhere. We are very proud of all your achievements, personal and professional. 

The article in the link I shared above focusses on immigrant women and how their contribution is overlooked. It also touches upon how generally immigrant women tend to be more productive than native women and I believe it is very true. Especially Indian women who reach American shores for an education. A good percentage of us have carved our own paths and owned our chosen careers. A word of request for the Middle East countries - please take note. Most migrant women work here and yet the sponsorship rules tie our lives here with our husband or father who are our 'Sponsors'. We need a 'No objection certificate' from them to work anywhere and I don't think there could be anything more insulting than this for a woman. Please also see the potential misuse possible here. Hope things will change soon. Till then I hope. 

You all go girls, keep rocking until changes become inevitable!


Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Nationality for Gods!

Now this in news:

Thank goodness Gods and their avatars are no longer gracing the Earth with their presence. They might need passports and visas :D


Thursday, July 9, 2020

Little Sisters of the poor? I don't think so!

MyFreeCopyright.com Registered & Protected

Today's US news had my blood boiling. The US Supreme court decided that companies, which find that it is against their religious beliefs, can deny their female employees the right to preventive healthcare! The most amazing thing is that this has been brought about by the case of Little Sisters of the poor against the State of Pennsylvania! It is precisely the poor who need such healthcare measures more than anyone else.

With all due respect to each individual's religious beliefs, a woman's decision to get pregnant, abort or have a child is none else's but her own, as it should be. You don't believe in it? Fine - don't do it, but imposing this on millions of women who might not feel the same is not religious freedom. Quite the opposite!

First and foremost, let's break this down. Preventive healthcare - what does this mean? Prevent something before it happens - including contraceptive pills and morning after pills, which stop pregnancy from happening. Isn't this a win-win situation for everyone? This is valuing life enough that you don't unnecessarily create it if you can't cope with the responsibilities. So do the sisters prefer that we bring in more lives to suffer in this world with overpopulation, no resources, more orphans and much more suffering? 

Abortion - maybe this is ending life, but again the earlier the abortion is done, the more chances that the foetus's heart has not even started beating yet. Then it is not technically a life that has started yet. But forcing women to keep the child will cause undue suffering to the mother and the child. In today's cut-throat competition, I think the kid will thank you for not bringing him/her into a world with no resources! Again slashing funding and giving the option to employers to not provide this as part of healthcare will affect the poorest of the poor the most. 

Now that the Supreme court has given a choice, employers who did not care or have a moral stand on this issue might find it profitable to suddenly become Catholic! let's hope the lower courts have better sense and common sense and justice will prevail in each state. 

If you want to read more, please find below good links:


Fox news is just a propaganda for the Republicans and has been hailing this as a personal victory.

In my opinion, no uterus, no opinion! So men, your opinion does not matter, as simple as that. Nuns fall in this category for me. No children, no opinion too please, as you do not know what it takes. Little sisters of the poor care for elderly. I am not sure why this was made their mandate! 

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Women leaders in the news

I came across this article by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox in the Forbes site and am a new fan! 

It is a well written article regarding countries with women leaders and how they have handled the response to COVID-19 most successfully. The words empathy, humane, simple, innovative, originality, clarity and decisiveness jumped out at me through the article.  

I also loved the way the write-up ended. The author wrote "there have been years of research timidly suggesting that women's leadership styles might be different and beneficial". The word 'timidly' seems like a small word, but actually means so much. Why are we afraid to recognize that women have different styles of leadership and that is ok? Not just ok, but even quite successful? Why can't we agree that both genders can learn from each other and yet have differences? Why can't we agree to disagree and see that it is a good thing? It is indeed time to recognize this and elect more women to various corporate boards, decision making committees and even government offices throughout the world. 

Full link here for people who want to read the article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2020/04/13/what-do-countries-with-the-best-coronavirus-reponses-have-in-common-women-leaders/#50e087883dec 

MyFreeCopyright.com Registered & Protected

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

In the news Dec 5th, 2012

http://news.yahoo.com/women-leaders-less-corrupt-no-shake-things-050546963.html

Interesting article.
Even more interesting to note that Rwanda, generally considered to be one of the backward African countries has 50 % women in parliment. The country is also doing very well in reducing poverty and child mortality rates. Can we say this about most developing and developed countries?

Another interesting fact to note in the article is that women even if elected to administrative positions will not make much difference if they are dependent on their fathers or husbands financially. In India this is the biggest problem. In the first place the government has only so many seats 'reserved' for women. Of that percentage, the wives or other female relatives of corrupt politicians are elected to occupy a majority.

These surveys are helpful and serve as eye-openers, but what use are they of if we continue electing useless people to power? People who do not have the brains or concern to worry about the development of the country or people of the country!

MyFreeCopyright.com Registered & Protected

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Taliban office in my locality!

Have you heard? The Taliban, who in my opinion and understanding are a terrorist organization, are opening an office in Qatar for talks with the US!
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/printArticle.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=479278&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56
I didn't know that organization such as this could


  1. Open an office

  2. Open an office in another country

  3. Open an office to negotiate with another country's government!

Whatever happened to the famous US dialogue that they will never negotiate with terrorists? We have been tortured on any travel around the world in the name of security for the last decade or more due to this organization and today they are opening an office.


Icing on the cake- this office is going to be in Qatar where I happen to live! The safe feeling is priceless. Happy New Year everybody!


MyFreeCopyright.com Registered & Protected

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Responsible reporting?

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2290625.ece

What more can be said about Indira Gandhi, who, almost three decades after her death, still continues to inspire people and instill this tremendous pride in fellow Indians/fellow women?
This article by a Bangladeshi war veteran captures very clearly, the views of a neighbor on India and her political views in history. We have always been a secular democracy, standing up against terrorism and it continues to this day. Hats off to great politicians like Indira Gandhi and her predecessors for setting these initial policies in place. While I was busy reading this article with pride on this great international recognition, the main headlines had not failed to grab my attention.
The new terrorist on the block, Norwegian Breivik, has hailed India’s Hindu Nationalist movement apparently and his manifesto has a lot of nonsense which I don’t want to mention in my blog as there is no need to publicize their terrorist movement. What is amazing is the depth of detail that media chooses to publish the same in! The details include the various countries which could participate, the organizations justifications, and acknowledgements of lives that will be lost etc., much like reporting a political leader’s opinions. One might wonder if it is a campaign for joining this group in their erroneous beliefs! The only good thing that the media have captured is the note on their racists’ beliefs that in spite of wanting to work with extremists from other countries, they hold Asians participating in the long term to be acting as laborers in their future plans. At least it puts everything in perspective for a very naïve person reading the article! He is just basically a Nazi in another era; just to be sentenced for life imprisonment or death rather than publish their manifesto and his smug face all over the news. I really wish journalists and media would practice responsible reporting. All the speculation, wrong reporting, and sensationalized reporting are hurting the world and it is about time to put a stop to this.

I liked this article in the Hindu very much for a fresh and very true analysis of the various political extremists groups and for once even the comments section has very interesting feedback and discussions http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2290619.ece .
Various democracies of the world should stay united and educated in the constant fight against these kinds of extremist terrorists and they should not be given such a big voice by the media in further publicizing their ideals. The strength of India lies in secularism and one can only hope the Hindu extremists do not get too encouraged with this global audience and hints of collaboration with these terrorist groups for “getting Muslims out of India”. They are fellow Indians and have the same rights as any one else in the country. Nothing can be accomplished by killing hundreds of innocent people in the name of religion, race and colour. At least a portion of these troubles can be eliminated by responsible reporting, which is of primary importance. We really request the media not to give a global platform for terrorists and extremists as this is what they wanted, which is being achieved through the media. Due to their irresponsible and sensationalized reporting!


MyFreeCopyright.com Registered & Protected