Current Affairs Essays

"Is there anything like Fate ? Are our lives planned out beginning to end? Well, many people believe that there is something bigger than us. Thai there is a reason for everything. Some believe the everything is a coincidence. It all depends on if one believes in things of more importance to us. Some believe that coincidence is real and not Fate. However, none of this can ever be truly proven ". Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms compares them. Fate suggests inevitability. Fate is the most evocative synonym. It derives from the Latin fari, "to be spoken."The spoken word is powerful. The word has the power to respell and ensorcelled you. Coincidentally or not. the word "spell" derives from the Old English spelled, "to be spoken," the same word as fari. When one speaks, one casts a spell and cast one's fate. Coincidence is appropriately more mundane: "a seemingly planned sequence of accidentally occurring events." One might think the collision of events was fated to occur, but one is mistaken. It signified nothing. But searching like we all do for an explanation and a sense of importance, one creates his fate by spelling out meaning from a jumble of coincidences. We've all had it happen to us. We think about someone who we haven'(seen in a while, and later that same day, we bump into them. We have an ominous feeling that something bad is going to happen and it does. We have a dream that predicts our future. We look back at events in our lives and we see them fitting to get her like a puzzle. You think to yourself, "If I hadn't been in that exact place, at that exact moment, my life would have gone in a totally different direction. I wouldn't have met this or that person. I wouldn’t have done this thing or that thing. I would have taken that job instead of this one. I would have married that boy instead of my husband." Is it all connected somehow? Or is it just coincidence? The notion that Death itself might actually be capable of "stalking its prey" ; with a prepaid-out plan as to where, when and by what means our ends will be met is an intriguing one to ponder. Most are familiar with the long list of unexplained "coincidences" related to the assassinations of presidents Lincoln and Kennedy, but less are familiar with those other equal, but no lessened, examples of fate in its most obvious form. While it may sometimes be alluded to in certain situations, it is also often ignored for the most part, outweighed by common logic and rational explanations of reason. Coincidence is the term usually applied to ironic aspects of a happening, , The superstitious fear of the numbers 3 and 13, when applied to certain situations for I example... In the 1997 car crash that took the life of Princess Diana, another car (never located) was thought to have side-swiped the Princess' vehicle as it entered more...

"The poor give us much more than we give them. They 're such strong people, living day to day with no food. And they never curse, never complain. We don 'I have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them."                                                                                                                                                                                            —Mother Teresa   Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu later on known as Mother Teresa was bom into a middle class Albanian family in Skopje, then Yugoslavia, on Aug. 26, 1910. As a child she was called Gonxha. Her father, a businessman and member of the community council, died when she was only nine years old. Her mother, Drana, raised Gonxha and her siblings, Aga and Lazar, alone. Drana Bojaxhiu earned a living by sewing, and was much conscientious about the religious education of her children.  Mother Stresses Piety : The family prayed every evening and attended church daily. "I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve Him among the poorest of the poor. It was an order. I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them."                                         —Mother Teresa The children were taught to treat the poor and needy who came to knock at their door with respect and to practice charitable works. On holidays, the family made pilgrimages to Let nice, where the Holy Virgin was venerated. Gonxha attended the lyceum, where she sang in the choir and played the mandolin. When she was just 18 she made a vow to the church and began to work at several religious retreats in Let nice. Deciding to work in India, in 1928 she joined the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto, who were active in India. Gonxha travelled to an abbey close to Dublin, to the Loreto sisters headquarters. There she learned to speak English and began her formal religious training. She renamed herself Teresa, after Sister Teresa de Lisieux, a 19th century French nun and advocate of the little way"—accomplishing good through menial tasks. In 1929, Teresa arrived in Calcutta. She continued on to Darieeling, at the foot of the Himalayas, where she was further trained in religious life. On May 23,1929, she was accepted as a novice and two years later made her first vows. She spent the next 17 years teaching at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, an elite school for the privileged, eventually serving as its principal. She fell ill in 1946 and went to Darjeeling to recuperate. “It was in the train 1 heard the call to give up all and follow Him to the slums to serve Him among the poorest of the poor," she recalled.”  In 1948, Pope Pius Xll permitted her to leave her order and she began teaching children in the Calcutta slums. Then in 1952, she found a woman "half-eaten up by maggots and rats" lying in the street in front of a hospital. She sat with the woman until she died. Mother Teresa appealed to authorities for a building more...

"India has emerged from a long period of economic libber alit. The country's economic scene appears excellent in all spheres, This year can be taken as the most flourishing year that India has ever had after India attained freedom."  India's GDP growth in the eighties averages 5% per annum. The growth rate during métier save raged at 6%, despite some adverse developments. All the prospects of economy have seen a tremendous boom this year. People are said to have experiencing 'Feel Good Factor' of the emerging economy. Today Indians command a high respect throughout the world. Many foreigners have started coming to India for medical treatment. Wal-Mart, the biggest company  in the world, making plans to purchase more than $5 billion worth of goods from Indian companies. The emergence of the country as an important player in the software and IT sector has led to recognition by all developed countries ,of the ability,  reliability and competence of the educated Indian youth. See the changed scenario, just ten to fifteen years ago, one has to wait in the long E queue to get a telephone connection and today a poor man in a remote village of India, get a telephone connection within a week. The availability of mobile or cellular phones has changed the situation to such an unimaginable position that now even a carpenter vegetable seller is having cellular phone. Access to things which once considered a luxury are being used by a common man frequently. The quality and way of life has changed miraculously.  It is a universally accepted fact that growth for one year looks better, when it is on a low base. To this extent, advance estimates by the CSO (Central Statistical Organization) suggesting a 8% GDP growth for the current fiscal need to be seen in proper perspective. The latest figures suggest not only welcome turnaround in agriculture but greatly encouraging symptoms in both service and industry also. The latest figure for agriculture, an estimated 9.12% growth, needs to be seen against an actual decline of as much as 5.2% last year. Apart from booming agricultural output, there is sustained growth in high income services like trade, hotels, transport and communication. Commercial services also reflected a handsome growth during the year. Moreover the spurt in credits, the hyper increase in sensex and primary share market in booming spree all reflects emerging of Indian economy at a fast pace, never seen after independence. The encouraging industrial growth, better traffic growth in ports, railways, and air, U turn in chemicals, and petrochemical sector, all are being judged by the world with awful eyes. The rise in capital goods output, accelerated growth in auto and JHS light goods segment with demand for steel and cement remain firm. all shows sign of emergence of new India. The infrastructure sector get fillip due to the recent enable  measures and tax rationalization. The bottom line investment rates for the economy to make further confidence building among the Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) "The more...

The Supreme Court defined ragging in following words: "Any  disorderly conduct whether by words spoken or written or by an act which has the effect of leasing, treating or handling with rudeness any other student indulging in rowdy or indiscipline activities which causes or likely to cause annoyance, hardship or psychology- cal harm or to raise fear of apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student or asking the students to do any act or perform swellings which such students will not do in the ordinary course and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of a fresher or a junior student." The apex court has taken into consideration, while defining ragging all kinds of acts faced by a fresher or a junior while subjecting to ragging by the seniors.  Ragging has become a menace, cause of fear and shock not only for a fresher but to his parents too who are sending the loved ones for pursuing higher education by investing a lot of hard earned money. Several intellectual youth have become the martyr of ragging, some have suffered a nervous breakdown, some left the institutes after being suffered of ragging, some have committed suicide and some were murdered by the seniors on the pretext of ragging. The court, the authorities, the principal and every concern, have described the ragging a heinous practice, but a very paradoxical situation is, it still persists in spite of all the rules, regulations and directives of courts, and authorities. None could claim to have stopped it 100%. The most gruesome incidence of ragging came into light in Nov. 1986, when Navarasu a 17 year old first year medical student of Annamalai University, Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, was brutally, murdered by a senior named "David" who was said to be a Karate expert. He killed Navarasu because he refused to submit to his whims of ragging. In Aug. 2003, an engineering student of Engineering College Jalpaiguri in West Bengal was admitted to hospital after he was subjected to night long brutal ragging by his seniors. The victim was beaten up with iron rods and cycle chains for refusing to strip before the seniors. In Aug. 2003, it, IIT Delhi expelled five senior students for they were found indulged in ragging of a fresher who left the college after being ragged by these seniors. In the same month a student of Pune Institute quit, just a few days after joining it in July due to the same reason of being subjected to inhumane ragging. The government’s .Central as well as States has taken positive steps again to stop this practice. In 1997, the HRD Minister, Mr. S.R. Bommai. Apprised the Rajya Sabha that steps were being taken to ensure that those found guilty of ragging can be treated as guilty of gross misconduct and subsequently, the penalty of rustication or removal from the rolls of the universities could more...

"After more than 56 years of independence, with launching and implementing many jive years plans, the cities of modern India, are on the verge of collapse. The cities epitomes an area wherein the habitants, whether rich or poor, are bound to face the scourges of exploding population, air pollution contaminated water sources, blimps solid wastes, intolerable noise pollution, inadequate transport system, creaked road unable to cope with the proliferation of private and public vehicles, shortage of water, breakdown of electricity, choked sanitary, drainage and sewage system, increasing crime against fair sex and unsafe senior citizens, with criminally indifferent attitude of government officials to every kind of problems." One more peculiar thing about cities is the scant regard for keeping the cities clean and tidy. The indifferent attitude and deliberate neglect by the civic authorities have caused the cities a bump of solid and other wastes choking and overflowing sewage and drains, resulted into mud, water storage and dirt everywhere, giving nst to epidemics like malaria, typhoid, dengue every alternate year.  Various reasons and factors are responsible for the sordid state of cities. Unplanned growth of colonies, ill management of resources, lack of prudency in planning, sidelining the issues like pollution, education, slums, cleanliness, are to a great extent responsible to make the cities a nightmare.  We can find temple, mosque or shrine at every nook and comer, even in the middle of a road while the basic amenities like water tab or electric pillar are not made available. Resources are not properly managed, corruption in institutions responsible for providing basic amenities are of the highest order. Public funds are being mis-utilized for the aggrandizement of" personal or political benefits. Any positive developmental action for replacing or removing the slum or removing the illegal, encroachments has immediately become a political issue and vehemently opposed and sabotaged by the politicians. There are approximately 350 cities, having population more than one lac, proper sanitary. Drainage health care seems to be the privileges of a handful of people, living in the posh colonies.  New Delhi, the Capital of India, a metropolitan is passing through the worst crisis of inadequate mass transportation and pollution caused by the vehicular traffic. It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court has to issue very strict directives lo keep the city free from vehicular pollution as the earlier advice of the apex court, were not acted upon by the Delhi Govt. More than forty lacs vehicles run daily on the roads of Delhi, more than the total number of vehicles in Mumbai. Kolkata and Chennai, all together. Delhi is growing day by day with more people streaming in search of their livelihood. "I’ he city is on the verge of bursting with population explosion and authorities are least concern to make provisions for the eventuality. The plight of Mumbai is no better than other metropolitan cities. The Suburban rail network of Mumbai, which carries over six million commuters daily, is not perfect and whenever it failed a violent reaction as more...

"For any coalition, the hidden enemies within the Government are more unpredictable lliiin the outsiders. The trouble started even before the ship was to set sail and captain knew well that a rough voyage and hidden icebergs are ahead of him ". It appears that the chapter of a single party rule. in India has become a matter of past. The most significant development in Indian political scene since 1996. Has been the emergence of coalition era in Indian Politics. Till 1989, the stable Government at the centre under the leadership of Smt. Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi did well. In 1989, the country was amidst instability as Rajeev Gandhi lost power and Mr. V.P Singh took over as the next Prime Minister of Minority Government. Mr. V.P Singh had to step down as BJP withdrew its support. Mr. Chandra Shekhar assumed power and formed Government with Congress support from outside. But it was a matter of four months that Congress-I also withdrew its support and the President announced fresh polls. Congress came back and stayed in Power from 1991 to 1996. In 1996 the Congress was voted out of power and the United front which mustered support of 14 parties formed a unique Coalition Government with Congress—I, once again decided to support from outside. Again the coalition failed and election for 13th ok Sabha held and the Coalition Government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee look the reign of the country .The 14th Lok Sabha is also a coalition government under the Prime Minister ship of Dr. Man Mohan Singh, with number of partners supporting either from outside or inside the government, took oath on 22nd May 2004 with 68 ministers. Many a time, coalition partners resort to political blackmail to further their personal political interests, taking advantage of the fragility of the Coalition Government. AIADMK leader Mrs. Jayalalita's lists of demands to Mr. Vajpayee kept the coalition government to ransom and finally led to eventful fall of the BJP coalition .How much the elections cost to this poor country? By the time the elections were held tor 13th Lok Sabha, the cost spiraled to Rs. 900 crores. Often the instabilities prevail, when the Coalition Governments are formed on the basis of negative reasons for example, the United Front was conceived with the sole objective of preventing the BJP from forming the Government, the BJP-BSP Alliance in U .P was formed to keep the Mulayam Singh Yadav away from the power, the Rashtriya Janta Party - Congress Combine in Gujrat had the sole objective to keep the BJP out of Power. The 14th Lok Sabha again a Coalition Govt. named United Progressive Front has but one aim to keep the BJP out of power. Having coalition with such an objective and motive, the government has nothing positive to offer. Most of these alliances were post poll pacts without any ideological compatibility and once power was gained the intra as well as inter - party differences over more...

"All kinds of communalism are dangerous. Just before 1947, the main damage to national unity was inflicted by Muslim communalism which led to the partition of India. After 194 7 it is the Hindu communalism which poses great threat to India's democracy and its unity.                                                                                                    —A Thinker. India is a secular State. Secular means non-religious, but in the context of Indian polity, it means the co-existence of all religions without any kind of discrimination. Though our constitution safeguards for the minorities, the actual implementations of the provisions is a complex one. Indian people are generally known for their "on- violence. tolerance, brotherhood characters, that is why number of religion has flourished in Indian society. After the traumatic partition and bloodshed, du; 11 partition, has given the political parties, several inflammable issues for exploiting passions for their political gains. Not only the politicians, but also the religious heads of minorities and majority community instead of trying to mitigate the communal fringy, flared it up with their speeches and actions. The destruction of Babri Masjid and burning alive the Hindu Kar Sewaks in Godhra (Gujrat) and the incidences of violence in Gujrat after Godhra massacre, have torn the Secular Fabric of Indian Democracy to uncountable pieces. One incidence after another creates more hatred, more incidences, more communalism in the country. During struggle for independence, several reformers and freedom fighters were committed to the task of modernizing the religious practices in India but what is seen now a days? Communal violence’s have become the order of the day- The socioeconomic backwardness, illiteracy, poverty of the vast population of our country, both Hindus and Muslims, have always remain a fertile ground for fanaticism, aim communal hatred. The hard-1 inners or extremists on both sides, never try to educate the common people, about the demerits of their communal feelings, so that they m;; continue to exploit them for their vested interests. Such attitude on the part of religious leaders, contributed to a great extent in the growth and development of communalism Indian society which surely will sometime work as a nuclear war head and destroy'-H the while country. In India, throughout the past century, communal forces have tried to capture the political centre stage. By various means they have sought to disrupt the unity and integrity of the country ,tried to gnaw at the very secular foundations of Indian culture; and history. But every time they have failed. Yet. the consequences of such thou;;: have often been traumatic. One has to but mention the holocaust of 1947. Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, demolition of the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya and the no; accompanying it etc. to get a feel of the trauma. The Muslim fundamentalists have made it an issue of their identity and existence. The Hindu fundamentalists are also not behind inciting the gullible masses, to rise against the Muslims. by making them I believe that Hindus in Hindustan are being treated as second class citizens. The Rashtriya Swayam sevak Sangh (RSS) and the more...

One thing that the politicians have learnt is to reserve quotas in education and employment for al I those communities that stick together to form vote banks. So the communities that are very well-knit such as the tribals, many occupational castes, and the lucrative chunk of Muslims get covered. The politicians are just trying again to divide the castes further in the name of reservation. The Congress tells Muslims that Hindus are ill-treating them; BSP, RJD, DMK etc., tell the ' lower' castes that they have to fight the 'higher' castes; regional parties ask their people to fight those from other states such as Shiv Sena is against Biharis; and DMK asks the Tamilians to fight Hindi-speaking North India! And yet we have the temerity to harp on 'Unity in Diversity'. Whither unity? With what in mind are we flooding every page of school textbooks with this meaningless phrase "Unity in Diversity'? .   The new fever to have gripped India is Ariun Singh's or Congress Party'sya  another silly gimmick. Hiking reservations to 49% in HMs, HTs and Central Universities - the cream of the country. There are presently reservations in these institutions, but hiking them to 50% of the total seats will lead to incredible devaluing of the country's top institutes. If students were denied seats on merit, that is the greatest injustice in humanity next to  denying food. Education is the birthright of every citizen of the world, more so ii India where it is valued highly. Supposing students are denied seats based on merit and admitted based on their caste, this will greatly dilute the talents in the HTs and the IIMs. The presently well-regarded institutes will fall in the eyes of all Indians as well as the world. It has become quite a common headline to read of the high starting salaries that IIM graduates are paid. But now the recruiting companies may start to discriminate against the Lower castes because they gained an IIM degree through the back door. Or world-renowned universities may stop admitting IIT graduates because their quality is no longer assured. On the other hand, reservations have done a great deal of good to India. They have levelled the playing field for the SCs and STs and even the BCs. Now we see more and more of the so-called 'lower' castes in mainstream education and employment, not only in govt. but also in private sector. But then again, our crass politicians have been digging Indians yet another hole by declaring OBCs, MBCs etc. and including more and more castes in these 'lower' caste groups to gain petty votes during elections. And we also see the caste| leaders lobbying for their caste to be called 'lower'. Due to OBC reservations, now some cast-like YADAV have highest percentage in government jobs, MLAs and MPs in comparison of upper castes. Some sections of OBC (for example Yadav's) are enjoying power of administration and politic since last one decade. They should be treated as upper caste more...

Recess plays very important role in the learning, social development, and health of school children. Because recess is one of the few times in the school day when children can interact freely with other students. It is a valuable time in which we can observe children's social behaviors, their tendency to bully and fight, as well as their leadership and prosaically behaviors. Seeing how the students interact socially can help teachers intervene in situations involving aggression or social isolation. Physical inactivity poses health threats for children as well as for adults. Inactivity is associated with the tripling of childhood obesity accompanied by increases in health problems such as tension and depression. The most obvious characteristic of recess is that it constitutes a break from the day's routine study. For people of all ages and in all fields, breaks are considered essential for sound health and alertness. Experimental research on memory and attention found that memory is improved when learning is spaced rather than presented all at once. The findings are compatible with what is known about brain functioning; that attention requires periodic novelty that the brain needs downtime to recycle chemicals crucial for long-term memory formation. Both the teachers and the students feel exhausted after working for four periods. So they eagerly wait for recess. As-soon-as the recess bell goes the students rush out of the class-room. There is much noise and laughter. Some students rush to the urinals. Some go to the water taps and some go to the school canteen. Some rush to the play ground; some go to the library to read magazines and newspapers.   Play is an active form of learning that unites the mind, body, and spirit Children's learning occurs best when the whole self is involved. Play reduces the tension that often comes with having to achieve or needing to learn. In recess, adults do not interfere and children relax. Children express and workout emotional aspects of everyday experiences through unstructured play. Children permitted to play freely develop skills for seeing things through another person's point of view—co-operating, helping, sharing, and solving problems. The development of children’s perceptual abilities may suffer when so much of their experience is through television, computers, books, work-sheets, and media that require only two senses. The senses of smell, touch, and taste, and the sense of motion through space are powerful modes of learning. Children who are less restricted in their access to the outdoors games, gain competence in moving through the larger world. Developmentally, they should gain the ability to navigate their immediate environs and lay the foundation for the courage that will enable them eventually to lead their own lives. In the present time when students are mainly engaged in viewing television serials, find little time to play, recess gives them opportunity to develop freely and they learn a lot through the playing and enjoying during recess.                 Vocabulary 1. aggression—assault, onslaught, foray; 2. compatible—in harmony, reconcilable; 3, interfere—check, block, hamper, handicap; 4. triple—triumvirate, triad, trine, trinity; more...

In recent times, fashion has acquired new dimensions. The spawning satellite channels have opened the floodgates for a cultural invasion and fashion is holding the centre stage at the moment. Fashion is synonymous with rapid changes. Fashion has taken a dangerous dip into the realms of vulgarity and lasciviousness. One is not considered 'hip-and-happening' if he or she doesn't sport the in-thing like boot cuts, bell bottoms, tight fits, parallels, tank tops and low cuts. The industry has become lucrative for lot of youngsters and models. But the emphasis on carnal beauty is effecting the moral and ethical values. The clothes that men wear and even their shoes and wrist-watches keep changing with every passing day. But the changing fashion in the men's world is more to do with the utility in day-to-day life. But that is not so with the women's world of fashion. The fashion in their world is more to do with attracting others than utility. If skin is God's gift then beauty is only skin deep. Over exposure is nauseating at times. Women do not realize that beauty comes with good health, body condition, behavior and etiquette and not with style and over exposure. Women clad in threadbare dresses portray a harmful image on society especially leading the male youth astray. Some people take the concepts of women empowerment and gender equality in the wrong route of scantily clad fashion shows. Fashion now-a-days has exceeded the cultural limits. Over-exposure is the latest trend in fashion, and that is a gross social violation. The skin is God's gift that goes to the dust with us, whereas character is talked of even after death. So that is more important. Girls should be cautious while dressing, as provocative dressing could land them in trouble. Wearing dangerously low-cut tight jeans would certainly call for a few superlatives like 'wow’ and 'sexy', but that is not what our culture prescribes. Dignity should not be compromised at any cost. Fashion has succumbed to many unwarranted changes lately- In the pretext of bringing new impetus to the lives of the youth, fashion industry is promoting indecency. The penchant to be the offbeat guy or gal is making them mere imitators of their screen heroes and heroines. The new age fashion has overtaken decency and civilized styles. People perceive how they find us and we Indians are known for the strong culture that we inherit. The young generation, of late, is lured by the burst of fashion shows and video albums in the electronic media. It's better to spend the same time in doing something useful like studies. To look good or to get noticed one need not wear exposing costumes. To arrive at Vision 2020 of a developed nation, the younger generation should concentrate on creative and constructive ideas and not on such fashions that will take us nowhere. The younger generation likes to associate itself with the American culture more than the rich culture that they have inherited. They tend to forget more...