India- ESET. Elections se Election Tak.

If you have to read just one thing today, let it be this story from the economist. "After India election- Don't waste it"

In fact, only the first para is of significance. So if you are rushed, bored or not interested the minute one mentions 'Economist', then read only the first few lines.

Going further, considering often media links get deleted or broken after some time, let me give below what it says;

"About 27m Indians will be born this year.

Unless things improve, almost 2m of them will die before the next general election.

Of the children who survive, more than 40% will be physically stunted by malnutrition. Most will enroll in a school, but they cannot count on their teachers showing up. After five years of classes, less than 60% will be able to read a short story and more than 60% will still be stumped by simple arithmetic."

Think about it.

Discussion Forums

Discussion Forums : Started June 12, 2009

I recently read an article via twitter, about how twitter is not conducive to discussions. As most of you may know by now, blogging long posts have made way for micro-blogging as one of the reasons for lesser and shorter posts from my end. I end up posting on twitter that otherwise I'd write longer posts here. It is a win-win situation for me as after I post a tweet, if there are any readers who find it interesting they respond, ask a question, critique, agree or argue and if not, then it is left at that. Often within a few days or weeks, I am happy to see the thought picked by some writer or journalist and a more detailed story printed in the newspaper (of course there is never any credit or hat-tip :P ) and I 'm not one to do, 'look I predicted this here or pointed it out here now it is discussed here' etc.

While my blog is still alive and few people who read it sometimes share a thought related to the occasional posts; the twitter article on discussions and conversations got me thinking.

This post flags off a discussion forum for DeeplyDeeps. While twitter suits me well for for micro-blogging and some conversations, I do not always find it conducive to answer questions on twitter (unless of course the answer is a v. short one) due to it's 140 restriction and asynchronous nature. This I feel will also be helpful for readers who may wish to ask questions/debate the topic in general, not specific to any post.

If there is any question that you'd like to ask me or have me answer please use this to ask your question. I'll stick to answering questions here. Of course the questions will have to relate to only the topics that I have as tags (labels) in my blog.

World Environment Day 2009

A beautiful poster from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Evangelize it!

The Ministry has equally great stickers encouraging messages to help, save and nurture the environment.

As the President has mentioned in her speech the shloka from the Atharva Veda,

"O pure Earth, May that we utilize your soil well, Without causing you injury or harm or Disturbing any vital element in you. " _//\\_

How are you celebrating World Environment Day today, or even everyday, in your life and your neighbourhood?