Current Affairs Essays

Our economic development is emerging by leaves and bound. It all began with the long journey of single step and miles. Before the advent of the British rule, India had a self-sufficient, village-based economic system pre- dominated by agriculture and handicrafts. The manufacturing industry was confined to making of agricultural tools and implements, utensils, weapons and jewellery. The Britishers had their vested interest. Initially they were interested in the loot and plunder of the country but finally they looked upon India for their further aim. During the 200 years of British rule the land of plenty was reduced to a land of hunger and misery. But the challenge of the removal of poverty was taken up immediately after independence in the shape of five-year plans. We have tried to highlight the fact that our country's economy is in full swing. It is transition from poverty to plenty. The process of this transition has been slow but it has been steady which indicates well for the future. After independence the era was known as 'financial imperialism' India developed its market policy and economy while the objective of self-reliance and self-sufficiently influenced the trade policy formulation in the 1950s and 1960s, factors like export -led growth, improving efficiency and competitiveness of Indian Industries. During the late 1970's and early 1980's the concerns of Indian economy adverse balance of payments. After devaluation of Indian rupee, the Union Budget 1991-92 announced various policies to boost economy. In 1997 the new export and import policy was introduced to accelerate India's economy towards global world. In 1998 the policy was further revised under the World Trade Organization (WTO). There is much hope left for us in future. Our hope lies in the vast store of resources that we possess. These resources can be broadly classified into three parts, a) Natural Resources b) Manpower c) Heavy infrastructure of capital goods and basic industries. It is necessary commitment of the approach that agricultural productions will it self depend on certain industrial output. Thus our achievement in the field, social and economic capital is being laid for quicker growth. This made it possible for India to emerge as a self-reliant economy. The country development can rightfully boast of an indigenously development technology base which is sufficient equipped to meet the need of rapid economic development.  

One of the great themes pervading Indian life is social interdependence. People are born into groups—families, clans, subcastes, castes, and religious communities—and live with a constant sense of being part of an inseparable from these groups. A corollary is the notion that everything a person does properly involves interaction with other people. A person's greatest dread, perhaps, is the possibility of being left alone, without social support, to face the necessary challenges of life. This sense of interdependence is extended into the theological realm: the very shape of a person's life is seen as being greatly influenced by divine beings with whom relationship must be maintained. Social interaction is regarded as being of the highest priority in Indian families, and social bonds are expected to be long lasting. Even economic activities that might in Western culture involve impersonal interactions are in India deeply embedded in a social nexus. All social interaction involves constant attention to hierarchy, respect, honour, the feelings of others, rights and obligations, hospitality, and gifts of food, clothing, and other desirable items. Finely tuned rules of etiquette help facilitate each individual's many social relationships. Western visitors to India are sometimes startled to find that important government and business officials have left their posts—often for many days at a time—to attend a cousin's wedding or participate in religious activities in a distant part of the country. What is going on is not laziness or hedonistic recreation, but is the official's proper recognition of his need to continually maintain his social ties with relatives, caste fellows, other associates, and God. Without being enmeshed in such ties throughout life, a person cannot hope to maintain long-term efficacy in either economic or social endeavours. Social bonds with relatives must be reinforced at family events or at rites crucial to the religious community. If this were not done, people who could offer vital support in many phases of life would be alienated. In every activity, there is an assumption that social ties can help a person and that their absence can bring failure. Seldom do people carry out even the simplest task on their own. From birth onward, a child learns that his 'fate' has been 'written' by divine forces and that his life will be shaped by a plan decided by more powerful beings. When a small child eats, his mother puts the mouthfuls of food into his mouth with her own hand. When a boy climbs a tree to pluck mangoes, another stands below with a basket to receive them. When girl fetches water from the well in pots on her head, someone at her home helps her unload the pots. When a farmer stacks sheaves of grain onto his bullock cart, he stands atop the cart, catching the sheaves tossed up to him by his son. A student applying to a college hopes that he has an influential relative or family friend who can put in a good word for him with the director of admissions. At the age more...

Like footprints on a beach, every age leaves its mark in the form of art that further serves not just as a remembrance of the time gone by but also-as a foundation for the generation to come. Literature, as a whole, asserts the right to mirror the society or the age of which it is a product. While it exhibits the subtle make up of human heart, at the same time it presents before us the intricate workings of human mind that formed history and shaped the future. Driving the vehicle of humour, irony and satire, it span time and often transports the reader's gullible mind to traverse lands in ages that once brimmed with life. While history verifies facts, literature glorifies them with a play of words and binds the readers in its spell. Be it Victorian comprise, illustrating the fusion of science and religion, or Pope's satirical yet humorous lampoon on the English society, literature has at all times and in all ages held readers' attention, even crossing the barrier of nationalities, religion and societies. Not just that literature built castles and streets and towns and counties and crammed them with people and their stories, it also defined beauty in almost its every occurrence. It takes objects that are supposed to be ugly under such conditions of light and shade that every aspect of their exhibits beauty. From novels of manners to encyclopedias of dates and events, literature has contributed much to our generation. Even before psychology spread the wisdom of the intricate workings of human mind, novelists like George Eliot lay bare the sequence of thoughts and the functioning of the heart and brain in front of the readers. The contribution of the novelists, poets and dramatists proved significance not just in the history of literature but also in real life. Thoughts and ideas promoted by them shaped life of not one but many. History bears out the evidence of the significance of literature in encouraging warriors fighting on the battlefield not for a breath of life but for the liberation of their nation, the pride of their king. At the same time as one finds poets with inspirational words, there also exist works of writers that lighten life with humour or obliquely show a track in the else darkened ways of life. Without a doubt, literature remains attached to life not just for cause but also for effect. Be it the cause that affects literature or the literature that causes effect on life, the two remain bonded forever.

What exactly is happiness and what can engender it? Though it is defined as the condition of being content, different people may have their own ideas of happiness. It is commonly thought of as having a lot of money, power, or fame. But can these things actually make people happy? Happiness is actually more than what most people think it is. It can be mysterious and elusive, sought after by many, but not gained by all. Happiness resides not in transient possessions or gold, but instead in the conviction that we are loved. Happiness, which is often thought of as a fairly simple concept, is actually more than what people assume it is. Although this natural mood or feeling is desired by numerous people, it is very elusive and therefore, for some, extremely difficult to obtain. Happiness is frequently sought after but not gained. Though not everybody accepts the utilitarian axiom that happiness is the most essential value, the desirability of happiness is almost undisputed. Happiness is necessary for a successful life. It is absolutely essential to our health and well- being. Statistics have proven that happiness is beneficial to the human race. Happiness, though intangible, is one of the most important aspects of a person's life. Although people can get their happiness from many disparate sources, the most prevalent derivations that engender happiness are family and friends. Friendship improves happiness by doubling our joy and dividing our grief. Though for some people, happiness is money and fame, most would agree that family and friends also bring great joy and happiness. Frequently, people have the wrong idea of happiness. They believe it arises from just material, ephemeral objects. However, for others, happiness may come from things as simple as hanging out with friends or reading a good book. As Joseph Addison once said, "True happiness arises from the enjoyment of one self and the friendship and fellowship of companions and kin." Happiness is a pleasant feeling that is beneficial and yet also intangible and elusive. This elusiveness may come from the fact that some people have the wrong idea of happiness. They believe that the transitory things they seek after, such as money or fame, will give them true happiness, but in actuality they won't. Statistics have shown that the majority of wealthy people are not truly happy. However, other people assert that friends and family are the main sources that bring about happiness. But, whatever the source, happiness is definitely an essentiality and necessity of life. Happiness is easy to define for some, and very difficult to define for others. It can be more easily defined after being split into two types of happiness- mental and material. Mental happiness is the state of pleasure one receives from completing a goal, doing something generally good, getting a good grade on an exam, or reaching a state of mental well-being; while material happiness is the state of pleasure one receives from finding a 100 rupee note or buying a new truck. more...

Within this world that we live on, there is an enormous amount of people. Each of these people belongs to different cultures and societies. Every society has traits and customs that make it unique. These societies follow different moral codes. This means that they may have different answers to the moral questions asked by our own society. What I am trying to say is that every society has a different way of analyzing and dealing with life's events, because of their cultural beliefs. This is claim is known as Cultural Relativism. Cultural Relativism is the correct view of ethics. To continue with the subject of murder, there are many questions about murder that our own society faces. Within our own society there are conflicting views on topics such as abortion, capital punishment and, euthanasia. To some these acts are considered to be murder, to others they are necessary to our society. The point of this conflict is that even within our own society, there is a discrepancy between what is morally right or wrong. There is an exception to every so-called moral absolute. This eliminates the possibility of Moral Absolutism, and proves there is no universal truth. Every society integrates itself with a chosen basis and disregards itself with behaviour deemed uncongenial. This means societies will choose their own moral standards and ethical codes and, disregard actions that do not lie within the boundaries of these moral standards and ethical codes. Our moral codes are not formed by our inevitable constitution of human nature. We recognize that morality differs in every society Our own culture and environment will dictate these codes. This explains why different people have different moral standards because behaviour is culturally institutionalized. A society that does not have laws protecting members from murder has a society where the members respect the act of murder. Within our own western society, there are laws against murder. This is because without these laws it would create complete anarchy. This is when a society respects the power of murder, it can function without laws against it. Cultures have value systems that do not differ that greatly Cultures beliefs are different but the values that they hold toward these beliefs are basically the same. One fault of moral absolutes is that of a closed mind. These are people who are unable to accept any action that they do not believe to be moral. With opening our minds, people will find that our feelings are not necessarily the truth. Our emotions will turn into understanding. What I mean is that with the knowledge of cultural rituals or societies' customs, we will be able to accept the peculiar things they do in comparison to be own society. For example, when we first learn that the Callatians eat the bodies of their dead fathers, people in our society are disgusted and outraged. Then these people learn that this is done out of respect, with the belief that the Callatians dead father's spirit will live inside more...

Liberalisation and globalisation are the catchwords that we assume will lead our country to its pinnacle of success. Such is the euphoria that very often we fail to look at the missing links. This is particularly evident with respect to the working class women of India whose problems and grievances generally go unheard. And further, universalisation tends to gloss over a mass of very vital differences, which are highly relevant in determining the position of women. The negation of their position becomes apparent in the way we treat women worker's double burden of both housework and economic activities. In fact, policy makers at the macro level do not have a realistic perception of the household, and so consequently, the true impact of policies is not identified. Their policies are simply governed by economic parameters which assume that women make only a marginalised contribution to the economy. Only when women form part of the labour force in the market does their contribution enter statistics because a qualitatively weak human resource does not bode well for any kind of development. Hence unpaid domestic work, which forms a considerable contribution to the national product, is not accounted for. Indeed, the definition of economic activity used by both the Census and the National Sample Survey excludes a significant amount of unpaid or non-marketed labour produced within the household, especially by women. Thus, there is a likely to be an underestimation of economic activity within the household as well as of work participation rates. The rule of the economic regime entering valuation within the household is obvious in the instance where boys are viewed as investable resources while girls are wasted investments and this is particularly evident with respect to India. Girls generally move to their husband's household after marriage and thereafter, convention rules that their entire work effort and its returns belong to the latter. Thus an important reason why parents are unwilling to spare scarce resources on educating/training a daughter: even if the returns for the labour of an educated/trained girl are expected to be high, these would not accrue to the bearers of the initial cost. Moreover, they may not accrue to the girl herself since it is the family household which takes the decision about how and when, if ever, to send the woman to the labour market and how to utilize her income. The entry of liberalisation into this arena has not improved the fate of the working women. On the contrary, liberalisation has caused an increasing inequality in employment opportunities and incomes, even though the change in economy has brought about a visibility for the woman worker which did not exist before. But the greatly benefited are those who are better endowed, with more access to skills, and markets, and with more resources or better links internationally. In other words, for women at the upper income, upper skill end, the quality as well as opportunities for employment have improved. For most women workers, however, the quality of employment is more...

At its simplest, E-learning is using the Web to learn. It is the ability of learners or students to learn what they want, when they warn, in the form that best suits them in the  modules or 'chunks' that they want. By accommodating learner preferences, they want" By accommodating fundamentally enhanced the learning experience is more effective. Trained people are more makes the learning more effective. Trained people are more confident which makes them even more effective and productive preferences. By knowing the student is a sales rep, for example, the highly technical information that is actually targeted for an engineer is not delivered. Further, if a preference for audio has been expressed, the delivered lesson can have more audio segments than text. Another key way to focus on the learner is by providing' prescriptive learning. In my example about the call centre rep, the student started his training efforts by first taking a short test. Based on the results of the test, the student was told what training would be most beneficial. That is prescriptive learning, assessing the student's needs and based on the results, prescribing what learning is needed. This is a powerful method because the student only has to learn what they specifically need to. This saves time and makes for a very personal learning experience. E-learning is a paradigm shift and change always takes some time to absorb and accommodate. By starting with known, quality materials, the focus can be on redesigning for e- learning, adding interactive elements and making it learner- centric instead of struggling with the core content itself. Also, by starting with something that exists, there's a fallback position if a deadline looms or issues are encountered. It is tempting to take short cuts to get a feeling of accomplishment, but that usually results in a lesser quality learning experience. One might assume that taking the PowerPoint slides from an existing course and turning them into static HTML is E-learning. But, what kind of learning will it be? There is no instructor to add all that extra knowledge and, by the way, the information on the slide needs to change next month because of a new offering. Think of the content management challenge when you have hundreds of pages of HTML that must be reviewed and Updated when products and services change. Assemble a team that embraces change - When embarking tin your first e-learning initiative, build a team that likes to try new thing. Remember to include all the different roles needed to develop and deploy great E-learning - course developers, media/graphic specialists, editors, subject matter experts and IT. All of these roles are important and by bringing the team together early and often you share ideas, continuously improve the process and create advocates for your mission.  

Racism is objectively defined as 'any practice of ethnic discrimination or segregation'. Fortunately, racial violence is steadily declining as the turn of the century approaches. Now a new form of racism, covert racism, has recently sprung from the pressures of political correctness. This new form of racism, although slowly declining, still shows signs of strong support. Covert racism assumes a form of civil disobedience against politically correct thought and speech. Essentially, covert racism is a 'hidden' racism, or racism not easily detected. The three different basic forms of racism are open racism, violent racism, and covert racism. All express forms of hatred towards distinct ethnic groups. These basic forms of racism, although different in form, all have the same main purpose, to promote racism. Open racism expresses freedom of racial thought and speech. Open racists promote their views through strictly persuasion tactics. Open racism is currently almost nonexistent and steadily declining, because it is considered politically incorrect and socially unacceptable. Violent racism promotes racism through violence, fear, and persuasion tactics. This form of racism is not protected because it promotes violence to express its ideas. Unfortunately many violent racial groups claim they do not promote violence, and therefore these groups are protected because not enough sufficient evidence exists to prove their violent intentions. Covert racism expresses ideas of racism in disguised forms. Sometimes the covert racist is not even aware of the fact that he is racist. People nowadays are reluctant to express openly their dislike of and contempt for minorities, indeed are not prepared to express publicly a sentiment that could be interpreted as racist. Avoiding minorities on the street and denial of a public benefit to a minority which would be awarded to a white are examples of covert racism. Covert racism is the most abundant form of racism in our society today. What causes racism? Unfortunately, the answer is much longer and detailed than the question. The three main causes for racism are: racism has become part of our heritage, right-wing racial and political groups, and pride m one's own race. Practically since the dawn of man's existence man has undoubtedly noticed differences between races. Frequently throughout history the ethnic group with the most power has assumed that its race and culture are superior to others. Racism's roots lie deep within the foundation of our society. These roots undoubtedly are the source for a great many of the racist groups and covert racism ideas found throughout our society. Racist groups now make extensive use of covert racism to extend their message of racism throughout our society. This form of racism has proven quite effective in the past ten years, 'at persuading others to adopt racist ideas. These groups serve as a symbol of racism itself to many in our society. A large source of the racism present in our society stems from one's pride in his own race. Many people, especially those associated with racist groups, find it necessary to put down other ethnic groups in an more...

If you ask a rational thinker - what is politics? He will answer - Politics is a dirty game of scoundrels to make money. Well, this answer might create many arguments. But, unfortunately, this seems to be an appropriate definition of 'today's polities'. Today politics has become a profession. People join it not for serving nation but for serving themselves. It is a mere means of earning and more and more money. They are least bothered with the development of nation. All they are concerned with is their power and bank balances. Earlier politics was considered as a 'responsibility' and today it has become just a 'profession'. Earlier people used to join politics so that they could sacrifice their lives in serving the nation. Now-a-days people join politics to earn power to rule people and become strong monetarily. Earlier we were having leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhle who were ready to make sacrifice of their lives for the country. Now-a-days we don't have 'leaders' we just have 'politicians'. This is because the leader is the one who leads his nation towards progress. On the other hand, politician is the one who plays with politics. So today we don't call them our leaders but they are merely politicians who play politics as a game. Every time in the election public vote for different politicians in the hope that this time they will do some welfare and protect the nation. But every time the political parties come with a bang and go with lots of money and scams in their accounts. Nobody is bothered with the welfare of people. Before election, numerous promises are made with the public. But after election none of them is fulfilled. Politicians with criminal records rule people and nothing is done. It’s not that everyone is corrupt. But nobody hears the cries of honest and sincere persons. Sometimes they are not provided with enough powers to meet their objectives. Even today's public has become mute. People have accepted the corrupt system. They are leading their lives peacefully and are not willing to indulge in any kind of trouble or dispute. If people will not start opposing the wrong actions of politicians boldly then the day is not far when these politicians will rule the public the way Britishers ruled over us.

India at the time of independence was a country beset with great economic problems. It had suffered colonial exploitation for about two centuries' and was recovering painfully from the blight of a distressing famine. The disruption of life caused by the Second World War had aggravated the crisis. Large parts of the country were under the feudal rule of Indian princes and only a miniscule minority had taken any initiative to modernise their states. In any case, the benefits of industrialisation remained confined to a small privileged section be the society. With freedom from foreign rule also came partition and the government was confronted with the awesome task of rehabilitating millions of refugees. Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of India since independence has been to overcome the trauma of partition and forge a unified modern nation from a bewildering diversity. India today can take pride in its federal form of governance that gives full scope to the development of the country's diverse ethnic and linguistic groups within the overall framework of a united nation. The process of political integration was completed in two stages after the adoption of a federal constitution on January 26,1950(the date is commemorated as Republic Day}- The first step was to secure the merger of princely states and second by redrawing the boundaries of the states to accommodate the aspirations of major linguistic or ethnic groups. This political transformation synchronised a revolutionary social change with far reaching consequences. Jawaharlal Nehru, who became the first Prime Minister of India, was influenced by socialist thought. Many young leaders also seriously attempted to give the policies of the Indian National Congress - the party in the vanguard of the anti-imperialist struggle - a socialist ideological orientation. Mahatma Gandhi too was unequivocal in his championing of the impoverished masses. God for him was no other but the Daridranarayan, poorest of the poor. The new government gave top priority to economic planning for development. Land reforms were undertaken to ensure greater social justice and eradicate bondage. Steps were taken to accelerate industrialisation and redress regional imbalances. Progress was slow, as the infrastructure was not there. People had very high expectations and the government had to provide for education, health care and employment for hundreds of millions of people. For more than three decades, India's national income grew by no more than 3.6 per cent a year, one of the slowest growth rates in the developing world. Its per capita income was among the lowest. It took the nation almost half a century to find its feet. Today India is a nuclear power, has launched satellites into space, produces its own steel, and builds its own warships and many of its aircrafts. It has an impressive heavy engineering base, and is one of the few developing countries that is able to bid successfully for heavy engineering turnkey contracts in other developing countries. Its progress m agriculture is equally impressive. India's most impressive achievement is that the Indian economy today is stable and more...