The problem of poverty in India

In India, poverty is presently estimated by fixing a poverty line based on a differentiated calorie-norm. This means that the level of poverty depends upon the capacity of a person to purchase food and a person who can buy specific amount of food to cross the poverty line margin for nutrients and calorie intake is above the poverty line. Whereas, the person who cannot buy enough food to meet the required nutrition value of calories and carbohydrates is below the poverty line. This level is not the correct parameter to check the level of poverty.

A task force of the Planning Commission in 1979 defined the poverty line as that per capita expenditure at which the average per capita per day calorie intake was 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas. Average per capita expenditures incurred by that population group in each State which consumed these quantities of calories, as per the 1973-74 survey of NSSO, were used as the poverty lines.

The debate on the extent of poverty in India has been a matter of global interest in the recent years. The primary reason for the global interest in the debate is that the levels of poverty in India and China have come to exert significant influence over the trends in world poverty itself.

Within India too, there has been growing contestation around poverty estimates, particularly in the period of economic reforms. First, there are persistent disagreements among economists on whether the rate of poverty decline after economic reforms was slower than in the preceding period. Secondly, the shift to targeted, rather than universal, welfare schemes has witnessed the use of poverty estimates to decide on the number of households eligible to access these schemes. The report of the Expert Group on the estimation of poverty, chaired by Suresh Tendulkar, is the latest input to the “Great Indian Poverty Debate.”

It is to be noted here that many subsidies and programs are launched by the government but these additional increments do not reach the actual people that are in need of them. Instead it is sent back to the businessman and thus a lot of profit is earned on these subsidized goods. Thus, to lower the level of poverty in India, schemes have to be launched in order to directly benefit the people in need.

The Hindu states that, “A final issue with the report, of much long-term consequence, relates to the wisdom of abandoning the calorie norm. It is indeed true that the levels of calorie intakes are not well correlated with nutritional outcomes. However, abandoning the calorie norm altogether and taking solace from the fortuitous fact that calorie intakes appear adequate at the new poverty lines is an arbitrary proposition. It is unclear whether there is any basis, theoretical or empirical, for this relationship to hold true across time.”

the Tendulkar Committee has pitched for a policy position that is stranded between the harsh realities of poverty in India and the fiscal conservativeness of a neo-liberal framework. The real challenge lies in preserving the positives from the report, and strongly persisting with the demand for a universal social security system.

– Ananya Kaushal

SEVEN INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT SPACE

1.In 3.75 billion years, the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will collide.

The Andromeda Galaxy is approaching the Milky Way- where our solar system is at a rate of around 110 kilometers per second (68 mi/s) and, the two will collide to form a giant elliptical galaxy.

Milky way
Milky way

2.Andromeda is probably the most massive galaxy in the Local Group.

There are around 1 trillion stars in the Andromeda galaxy, compared with the Milky Way, which has 200-400 billion.

Andromeda galaxy
Andromeda galaxy

3.If two pieces of the same type of metal touch in space, they will permanently bond.

This incredible fact is also known as cold welding, and it happens because the atoms of two pieces of metal have no way of knowing they are separate. It doesn’t happen on Earth because of the air and water found between the pieces.

Fusion of metal on space
Fusion of metal on space

4.The Moon was once a piece of Earth.

The theory is that when Earth was a relatively young planet, was struck by a giant object, and this collision broke a piece of the Earth away to create the moon. This piece then began to orbit the Earth as a result of its gravitational pull.

Earth and Moon
Earth and Moon

5.Space is completely silent.

Sound waves need a medium to travel through. Since there is no atmosphere in the vacuum of space, the realm between stars will always be eerily silent. Astronauts use radio waves to communicate.

Space
Space

6.The Apollo astronauts’ footprints on the moon will probably stay there for at least 100 million years.

Since the moon doesn’t have an atmosphere, there’s no wind or water to erode or wash away the Apollo astronauts’ mark on the moon. That means their footprints, overprints, spaceship prints, and discarded materials will stay preserved on the moon for a very long time. Erosion is still happening on the moon, just very slowly.

Astronaut in Moon
Astronaut in Moon

7.Some planets have no surface to land on.

There are four gas giants in our solar system — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune — where it wouldn’t be possible to land on. Although different in composition, a gas giant is usually made out of hydrogen and helium and has a small rocky center.

Jupiter
Jupiter

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT INDIA

 Indian Culture
Indian Culture
  • India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
  • When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization
  • The name ‘India’ derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.
  • Chess- invented in India.
  • Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus are the studies, which originated in India.
  • The ‘Place Value System’ and the ‘Decimal System’, were developed in India in 100 B.C.
Brihadeswara Temple
Brihadeswara Temple
  • The World’s First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.
  • India has the largest democracy in the world, the 7th largest country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.
  • The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th-century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called ‘Mokshapat’. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices, that is good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.
  • The world’s highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built-in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
  • India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.
  • The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.
University of Nalanda
University of Nalanda
  • The world’s first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
  • Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind. The Father of Medicine, Charaka, consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago.
  • India was one of the richest countries till the time of British rule in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus, attracted by India’s wealth, had come looking for a sea route to India when he discovered America by mistake.
  • The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. 
  • Bhaskaracharya rightly calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the Sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. According to his calculation, the time taken by the Earth to orbit the Sun was 365.258756484 days.
  • The value of “pi” was first calculated by the Indian Mathematician Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century, long before the European mathematicians.
  • Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world(Source: Gemological Institute of America).
Baily Bridge
Baily Bridge
  • The Baily Bridge is the highest in the world. It is located in the Ladakh valley between the Dras and Suru rivers in the Himalayan mountains. 
  • Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataracts, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery, and brain surgeries.
  • The four religions born in India – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world’s population.
  • Jainism and Buddhism were founded in India in 600 B.C. and 500 B.C. respectively.
  • Islam is India’s and the world’s second-largest religion.
  • Jews and Christians have lived continuously in India since 200 B.C. and 52 A.D. respectively.
  • The largest religious building in the world is Angkor Wat, a Hindu Temple in Cambodia built at the end of the 11th century.
  • Sikhism originated in the Holy city of Amritsar in Punjab. Famous for housing the Golden Temple, the city was founded in 1577.
Varanasi
Varanasi
  • Varanasi, also known as Benaras, was called “the Ancient City” when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C. and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
  • Martial Arts were first created in India and later spread to Asia by Buddhist missionaries.
  • Yoga has its origins in India and has existed for over 5,000 years.

For further more facts refer to:

https://knowindia.gov.in/my-india-my-pride/interesting-facts-about-india.php

Top 5 venomous snake species

Snake are deadliest animal. Whenever one encounters it many get hurt or you can easily say they are dangerous to humans. They have aggressive nature. They are very dangerous especially for rural area people’s. There are estimated 3,500 snake species out of which 600 are venomous. Their estimated yearly attacks ranges from 53 lakhs to 54 lakhs, out of which more than 1 lakh people die due to their attack.

1) Inland Taipan

They are also known as fierce snake. They has the most toxic venom in the world. The average quantity venom give by this snake is 44mg while the most given is 110mg, which is enough to kill 100 people. Its venom consists of neurotoxins, Hemotoxins (procoagulants) affecting the blood, myotoxin affecting the muscles, nephrotoxins affecting the kidneys and hemorrhaggins causing hemorrhage. Its venom paralysis the body and cause hemorrhage. It is found in Australia.

2) Dubois sea snake

Dubois sea snake is also known as reef shallow sea snake. It is a species of venomous sea snake. Adult sea snake grows upto 4.86ft but usually grow upto 2.6ft. It is most venomous sea snake and one of the top three most venomous snakes in the world. The venom is lethal and contains neurotoxin that act on the nerve cell, myotoxins acting on muscles. The venom of this snake paralysis the respiratory system which ultimately cause death of the person. They feed on fish and swallow the whole fish. True incident of sea snake bite has not been recorded but they might have caused bite in rural area where taking record might not be possible. They are not aggressive but can bite if feel threatened or surprised. Fisherman’s are more likely to get trapped in their bites often when they try to remove them from fishing net. They are found in Australia, and some parts of Indian Ocean and Timor sea.

3) Eastern brown snake

Eastern brown snake or also known as common brown snake. This snake is highly venomous snake in the family Elapidae. Adult eastern brown snake goes upto 2m or 7ft. The venom of the snake mainly affects the circulatory system, coagulopathy, hemorrhage, cardiovascular collapse and cardiac arrest mainly the death occurs due to cardiac arrest. And one of the main components of venom is prothombinase which breaks down prothrombin. It is responsible for about 60% of snake bite death in Australia. They are native to eastern and central Australia and southern New Guinea.

4) Black mamba

Black mamba also belongs to highly venomous species of family Elapidae. It is second longest venomous snake after king cobra. It grows upto 2m (6ft 7in) and commonly grow to 3m (9ft 10in). Its colour varies from grey to dark brown and it’s species is both terrestrial and arboreal (found on trees). It is native to parts of Sub Sahara Africa. Its venom is composed of neurotoxins and it’s induce symptoms within ten minutes and is frequently fatal. This species of snake is aggressive but only attack when threatened or cornered. It constantly bites more than once and it’s bite derive 100mg-120mg of venom, the highest venom recorded is 400mg. It is considered as snake of medical importance by World Health Organization. Its venom if not treated on time will result in respiratory failure, cardiovascular collapse and ultimately death.

5) Boomslang

Boomslang snake is one of the venomous snake of family Colubridae Average adult Boomslang is 100-160 cm in total length and exceeds to 183cm. Colouration is very different like males are light green with black or blue scale edge while females may be brown. Their weight varies from 175 to 510 g. The Boomslang snake is able to open its jaws up to 170 degree when butting. It is found in sub Saharan Africa, south africa, Botswana and Namibia. Its venom is hemotoxin and disables coagulation process and the victim die as a result of internal or external bleeding. Its venom cause hemorrhaging in to tissue such as muscles and the brain tissue. Its venom is slow acting. This snake is timid and only bite if attempted to handle, catch or kill.

WHAT!! FACTS????

. PANDORA’S BOX

According to Greek mythology, Pandora was the first ever women created by Zeus as a punishment for humankind after Prometheus stole fire for human use. Zeus then asked all the other gods and goddesses to shower gifts on her. She was also presented with a jar which contained all the evils & illness which she was not suppose to open. However she couldn’t resist the urge to open the container which resulted in unleashing evils into the world. Then onwards Pandora box signifies as the origin of troubles or complications. Morden generation criticised the myth an example of misogyny.

. HAPLODIPLOID SEX DETERMINATION

What does halpodiploid sex determination means? This type of sex determination is scene in honey bees. I’m this the sex of an individual is determined by the number of set of chromosomes received. An offspring formed from the the union of sperm and an egg developed into a female (queen or worker) and the unfertilized egg is developed into a male by parthenogenesis, which implies males have half the number of chromosomes that of a female. The female gets differentiated on the basis of food they consume during the development. The female that consumes royal jelly grows into a queen bee and others developes into a worker bees(sterile). The males produces sperms by mitosis so they do not have father and thus cannot have son’s but have a grandfather and can have grandsons.

. LIFE WITHOUT STOMACH?

Do you know that it’s possible to live without stomach? Let’s understand how; suppose a person is having a stomach cancer the recommended treatment would be partial or total removal of stomach termed as gastrectomy. When a person’s stomach is removed completely the esophagus is directly connected to intestine. A person is advised to consume a lot of calories in small bites/meals more times a day to prevent weight loss. A person may experience Dumping Syndrome (experience of nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, sweats) as the the work of stomach is transfer to intestine, so a person is suggested to sit upright after having their food for sometime. It is difficult to adjust to changes but this is how a human tendency to survive.

BURJ KHALIFA: AMAZING FACTS

The Burj Khalifa height is a staggering 828 meters (2716.5 feet) tall, soaring over Dubai. It is three times as tall as the Eiffel Tower and nearly twice as tall as the Empire State Building. Laid end to end, its pieces stretch over a quarter of the way around the world. Its cloud-piercing height is one of the most impressive facts about Burj Khalifa.

Burj Khalifa
Burj Khalifa

The Burj Khalifa took six years to build. Foundational excavation work commenced in January 2004, and the tower was formally opened on January 4, 2010. However, the opening took place before the interior was completed. The Burj Khalifa was built by over 12000 workers, by the peak of construction.

Why famous?

It is famous because of:

  • Highest occupied floor in the world. 
  • The highest outdoor observation deck in the world. 
  • Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world. 
  • Tallest service elevator in the world.
View from the top of Burj Khalifa
View from the top of Burj Khalifa

The building has the longest single-running elevator, which is 140 floors. The Burj Khalifa elevator speed is 10 meters per second, making the elevators among the fastest in the world. The Burj Khalifa elevator time to reach the observation deck on the 124th floor is only one minute.

Flight attendant of Fly Emirates standing on the top of Burj Khalifa for their company advertisement
Flight attendant of Fly Emirates standing on the top of Burj Khalifa for their company advertisement

An advertisement shoot for the FLY EMIRATES recently took place in Burj Khalifa, where a flight attendant stood on the top, shuffling placards with different messages about the services of the airline. After the last placard, the camera zooms out and she is seen standing on top of 828-meter-high Burj Khalifa.

Watch the video here:

In the BTS video, The woman featured in the ad is heard saying ‘Hi mom, I’m on top of the world’. The video then shows a crew surrounding the model and attaching safety ropes. The video also shows how the ad was planned and executed.

Watch behind the scenes video here:

Interesting facts about our Planet Earth

Our planet Earth, which is also known as the Blue planet because 75% of this planet is covered in the ocean and also it has pleasant humanity surviving on this planet. As we know this is the only planet where we are aware of life existence since the very beginning and is currently the only place where we can live in this Universe. There are interesting facts about our mother earth that we dint know about, and that is:- 

Moon is probably a part of the Earth

According to the scientist, approximately 4 billion years ago earth dint has a moon at that point until a big space rock probably the size of Mars collided with our planet which resulted in a big part of the earth broke away and later formed into Moon which we see today in the night time.  

Our planet’s days are increasing 

When our planet was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago, the day was roughly about 6 hours long buy by 620 million years ago it had increased to 21.9 hours long. Today, the average period of a day is 24 hours long but the time is increasing by 1.7 milliseconds every century. The reason may be the moon is slowing down the earth’s rotation through the tides. The spin of our planet results in a position of tidal ocean bulges to be pulled a little ahead of the Moon and earth axis, which makes a twisting force that slows down the Earth’s rotation.

Exploding lakes

Well on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda as well as in Cameroon there are three deadly explosive lakes Nyos, Lake Monoun and Lake Kivu are crater Lakes that are located over volcanic Earth this means that magma lurking below the surface emits carbon dioxide into the waters of the lake this carbon dioxide builds up in a thick layer at the bottom of the lakes until pressure gives way and it’s released in an explosion. It doesn’t happen often but if anyone is unlucky enough to be passing by at that moment they’ll be asphyxiated with the gas.

The Earth’s changing magnetic field 

Our planet has a very strong magnetic field because of two reasons first is Nickel – Iron core and a pretty fast axial rotation, the magnetic field is significant for earth since it protects the planet from the solar winds. We think about our plant’s magnetic field as something constant and stable but the fact is it’s changing. According to some researches, they say that since the 19th century the northern magnetic pole has shifted approximately 685 miles moving towards North West across the Canadian arctic. The southern magnetic pole is also continuously roaming, scientists have known about the migration of the poles for a long time. James Ross an explorer and British naval officer pinpointed the northern magnetic pole for the first time in 1831 he discovered it during his exhausting voyage to the Arctic where his ship got trapped in the ice forcing the crew to spend a harsh 4 years after that nobody went back to that place until the next century in 1904 Roald Amundsen a polar regions Explorer from Norway reached the North Magnetic Pole again and was surprised to find that it had shifted 31 miles since Ross’s discovery. 

Gravity is not the same everywhere

Despite our common belief, our planet isn’t perfectly round it’s more like a sphere, for example how a human head is shaped. So its mass is irregular and differs in various places which causes wobbles of gravity in different areas of the planet one of these gravitational anomalies is found in Canada’s Hudson Bay where the gravity is much weaker than anywhere else on the planet. A 2007 study found the reason for such a phenomenon is melted glaciers that area was once covered with a thick layer of ice when that ice later melted the imprint of this glacier partially pushed aside some of the Earth’s mass in that region is exactly this slight deformation of the crust that can explain the 25 to 45 per cent weaker gravity. Perhaps it’s somehow connected with the movement of magma in the planets mantle, what researchers have predicted in a science journal.

Earth may have a second moon

According to some scientists, they believe that our planet used to have an additional satellite. According to their research, a smaller celestial body about 750 miles wide orbited the earth just like a second moon it most likely crashed into our main satellite later on such a collision could explain why the two sides of the moon look so different from each other one being heavily cratered in ruff scientists also don’t rule out the probability that one day earth will get another satellite. Even today there are tons of celestial bodies that follow the planet they’re mostly temporary companions though but scientists believe that the gravitational field of our planet occasionally captures even quite big asteroids that spin around the earth for several months or about three rotations after that they move on in their journey across the expanses of the cosmos.