Essays For Competitive Exams: With Detailed Knowledge on Different Topics for Civil Services Exams & Others

By Purvi Jain

The book 'Essays for Competitive Examinations' is useful for aspirants of civil services and other competitive and entrance exams held at state and national level. It has been designed to meet specific requirement of contestants such as explaining the thoughts in order effectively, thorough knowledge on different topics, detailed information with examples and facts related to the concerned topic, and writing in a simple and lucid language. The book has been strategically planned in order to be user-friendly. The primary goal is to fulfil the quest for knowledge on different areas of study at national and international levels. Not only does this book contains a lot of information on general awareness but also can be a facilitator of change in life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: V&S Publishers
• Release date: Apr 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9789357942843

Book preview

Women Empowerment

Insight Review

✍Gender inequality is an age old and a usual phenomenon of the accepted male-dominant culture.

✍Women were considered an attraction in the form of sex object and the society believed their only function was to produce kids.

✍Many social evils such as dowry, illiteracy among women, killing of a girl child in the womb, ignoring the hygienic values etc. can be well tackled by the active involvement of women.

✍While empowerment of women is necessary for creating a significant half of our society, at the same time it has also become mandatory for grass root movements in development of the country.

✍The Indian government has passed various legislations to safeguard the constitutional rights of women. These legislative measures include such as the Hindu Marriage Act (1995), the Hindu Succession Act (1956), Dowry Prohibition Act (1961), Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971), Equal Remuneration Act (1976), Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act (1986) and final Pre-natal Diagnostic Technique (Regulation and Prevention of Measure) Act, 1994 etc.

✍Women’s equality in decision making, power sharing and active participation in political process including the legislative, executive, judicial and advisory committees should be ensured.

Women empowerment is the presence of a society, where women can make their own decisions and choices regarding their development, and can enjoy equal status with men in the society. Swami Vivekananda once quoted, there is no chance of welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved.

Ever since we evolved as human beings, our society has been patriarchal in nature. Gender inequality is an age old and a usual phenomenon of the accepted male-dominant culture. According to the conventional mindsets, a woman’s position is nothing more than that of a care taker, who would look after the household and the children. Women were considered an attraction in the form of sex object and the society believed their only function was to produce kids. Their knowledge was always counted as inferior to men in all spheres. The results of such discrimination towards women led to the unreasonable practices like ‘sati pratha’, dowry system’ ‘child marriage’, ‘parda system’ etc. There have been several heinous crimes, like female feticide, rape, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, eve teasing, abuses and female infanticide, which are just born out of the reprobate mentality of society towards women.

Women constitute about 50% of the population; if they are given a due chance and charge to develop the society, they will unfailingly perform wonders. Women by nature are dedicated and hard working. They carry inborn sincerity and sensitivity towards a cause. Many social evils such as dowry, illiteracy among women, killing of a girl child in the womb, ignoring the hygienic values etc. can be well tackled by the active involvement of women. Women want to be treated as equal to that level where their due position is respected. If a woman rises to the top of her field, it should be a commonplace occurrence which should be treated the same way as her male counterpart’s promotion. This would only happen if there is a proper scenario for women development in our country. If we see the current treatment given to women of India in 21st century, it is not difficult to conclude that women empowerment in India is superficially discussed upon without any real action on the ground. The violence and maltreatment towards women continue without respite.

While empowerment of women is necessary for creating a significant half of our society, at the same time it has also become mandatory for grass root movements in development of the country. Though as passive recipients, women have achieved facilitation of government policies to some extent but still if one analyses the way all the policies have been framed down the years, it will be observed that they do not conform to the idea of women empowerment as a liberating condition generated by active collective activity.

Even after sixty seven years of independence women are still not free, they are powerless, dejected and marginalized. The 2001 census shows that the sex ratio of India is 933, which is so far the lowest in the world. The literacy percentage of women in India is 54.16% against the male literacy of 75.85%. Mere 2.3 % of women are administrator and managers. In parliament and state assemblies only 8 and 10 women representatives are present respectively. Most of the women work in unorganized sectors. The empowerment of women by itself cannot place woman on equal footing with men. The need of the hour is to change social attitudes towards women. The crime against women, like eve teasing, domestic violence and rape are to be dealt with a severe punishment. Evil practices like female feticide, female infanticide and dowry have to be stopped. The belief that women are helpless and need protection has to be rooted out completely from mental blocks at homes and workplaces.

Empowerment, therefore, is a process aimed at changing the nature and reaction of systemic forces which marginalize women and other disadvantaged sections in a given context. Issues of equality and rights for women were always projected as crucial components in state policy. All the discussions and need for rights, justice, and equality for women came from the urge for liberation of women.

The democratic setup of India created the awareness among the women about their pitiable condition. The constitution not only grants equality to women, but also empowers the state to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favour of women. The 73rd and 74th amendments (1993) to the constitution of India provided for reservation of seats, at least one-third in the local bodies and panchayats and municipalities for women, another constitutional amendment talks about the reservation of 33% seats in parliament and state legislatures for women.

The Indian government has passed various legislations to safeguard the constitutional rights of women. These legislative measures include such as the Hindu Marriage Act (1995), the Hindu Succession Act (1956), Dowry Prohibition Act (1961), Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971), Equal Remuneration Act (1976), Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act (1986) and final Pre-natal Diagnostic Technique (Regulation and Prevention of Measure) Act, 1994 etc.

Apart from these, various welfare measures have been taken up by the government from time to time to empower women. There are various schemes like Mahila Samriddhi Yojna 1993, Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (1992-93), Indira Mahila Yojna (1995), DWACRA plan (1997) and Balika Samriddhi Yojna (1997). A self help group ‘Swayam Siddha’ was created by merging the Mahila Samriddhi Yojna and Indira Mahila Yojna on 12th July, 2001. National Commission for Women was created by an Act of Parliament in 1992. India missed the 2005 deadline of eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education. However, the country has made progress; and the Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratios (GER) in primary and secondary education has risen. Given current trends, India is moderately or almost nearly on track. However, as the Government of India MDG (Millennium Development Goal) Report 2009 notes, Participation of women in employment and decision-making remains far less than that of men. Achieving GPI in tertiary education also remains a challenge.

The roles that men and women play in society are not biologically determined but are socially determined, it’s only the society which forms it and is responsible for changing it. There may be justifications given on the grounds of culture or religion, but these roles vary widely at different places and change over time. The issues which remain as a challenge till now are:

Reproductive health: Women are more vulnerable than men for both physiological and social reasons to reproductive health problems. Reproductive health problems, including maternal mortality and morbidity, represent a big cause of death and disability for women in developing countries. Failure to provide information, services and conditions to help women protect their reproductive health therefore constitutes gender-based discrimination and a violation of women’s rights to health and life.

Stewardship of natural resources: In most of the developing countries it’s the woman of the house who takes care of procuring food, water and fuel. It is considered her sole responsibility to oversee the family’s health and diet. It should also be the responsibility of the man to supervise and fulfill the family needs.

Economic empowerment: More women than men live in poverty. Economic disparities exist because much of the unpaid work within families and communities falls on the shoulders of women. Also they face phenomenal discrimination at their work places in terms of both money and treatment.

Educational empowerment: About two thirds of the illiterate adults in the world are women. Higher levels of women’s education are strongly associated with both lower infant mortality and lower fertility, as well as with higher levels of education and economic opportunity for their children.

Political empowerment: Both social and legal institutions still do not ensure women equality in the context of fundamental legal and human rights. Women still do not have proper access to or control of land, employment, earning, in the functioning of society and politics. Laws against domestic violence are often not enforced on behalf of women. Experience has shown that addressing gender equality and women’s empowerment requires strategic interventions at all levels of programming and policy-making, and their implementation.

Women’s working conditions and economic empowerment: Whether developed or developing, in nearly all the countries women suffer in offices, they work longer hours than men, but receive less remuneration. In developing countries, women spend more than half of the day to maintain the household and complete domestic chores. In many countries women are also responsible for agricultural production and selling of the produce. Often they take on paid work or entrepreneurial enterprises as well. Whether a woman is working or not , but in subsistence economies they have to perform unpaid domestic work like food preparation and care giving, as this directly affects the health and overall well being and quality of life of children and other family members. The need for women’s unpaid labour often increases with economic shocks, such as those associated with the AIDS pandemic or economic restructuring. Yet women’s voices and lived experiences – whether as workers (paid and unpaid), citizens, or consumers – are still largely missing from debates on finance and development. Poor women do more unpaid work, work longer hours and may accept degrading working conditions during times of crisis, just to ensure that their families survive. Women’s lower access to resources and the lack of attention to gender in macroeconomic policy adds to the inequity, which, in turn, perpetuates gender gaps. For example, when girls reach adolescence they are typically expected to spend more time in household activities, while boys spend more time on farming or wage work. By the time girls and boys become adults; females generally work longer hours than males, have less experience in the labour force, earn less income and have less leisure, recreation or rest time. This has implications for investments in the next generation. If parents view daughters as less likely to take paid work or earn market wages, they may be less inclined to invest in their education -women’s fastest route out of poverty.

Empowering women through education: "Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process.

The emancipation of women is not easy and requires attitudinal change in the family members, especially husband, father and society as a whole to the women.

The community consciousness and bureaucratic efforts are integral parts of the implementation of the women oriented programmes. The first and foremost priority should be given to the education of women, which is the grass root problem. The struggle for gender justice will be slow, strenuous and protracted as the change cannot be brought about easily. It has to be fought at emotional, cognitive and action levels. The struggle has to be carried within caste, class, religion, everywhere in which man-woman relationships figure and matter.

Empowerment is the very basic and quintessential factor in the development of women’s position in society. As a solution to the crime, problems against women, some necessary steps should be initiated to make the legal judicial system more responsive and gender sensitive to women’s needs, especially in the cases of domestic violence and personal assault.

Women’s equality in decision making, power sharing and active participation in political process including the legislative, executive, judicial and advisory committees should be ensured.

For the enhancement of women’s access to consumption and production, the establishment of new and strengthening micro-credit mechanisms and micro finance institutions should be undertaken so that the outreach of credit is enhanced. Reducing the gender gap in secondary and higher education should be a focus area. Women should have access to comprehensive, affordable and quality health care to effectively meet problems of maternal and infant mortality. All forms of violence against women, physical and mental whether at domestic or societal levels, should be dealt with effectively with a view to eliminate any such incidence. Discrimination against the girl child and violation of her rights should be eliminated by undertaking strong measures both preventive and punitive within and outside family.

♦♦♦

Yellow Journalism

Insight Review

✍Yellow journalism is the practice of writing and presenting news stories with sensationalism.

✍The sole purpose of yellow journalism is to boost newspaper sales and in exciting public opinion.

✍Currently rather than simply stating the truth and making people aware of meaningful changes around us, the media focuses on presenting an aggregated and perverted version of the most frivolous and trivial events.

✍The media in the modern era has left no stone unturned to infringe the privacy of people. It is because of the media and the rampant growth of yellow journalism that the private life of an individual has come in the public domain, thus exposing him to the risk of an incursion of his space.

✍The fact is that the law has given enough scope to journalism to do its job with full rationale and sincerity. In spite of that, out of sheer desperation for more fame and money, journalists have misused this freedom for their own vested interests.

✍Yellow journalism has created a hue and cry in society and because it is a fact that the media has become a very powerful and influential tool, which has a reach throughout the country. It has the power to either ‘make or break’ a person as it possesses the power to both making a news and breaking a news.

The term ‘yellow journalism’ came into vogue in the 19th century for the first time, due to the war between the two leading newspapers of USA. To increase the readership both of these newspapers added spices to their stories for making them sensational. They also increased vivid use of cartoons, illustrations and drawings. As historians believe, the onset of the rapid industrialization was responsible for making yellow journalism popular. The Industrial Revolution on the whole affected the entire newspaper industry, allowing newspapers access to machines that could easily print thousands of papers in one night. This is believed to reveal one of the most important characteristics of yellow journalism – the endless drive for circulation. And unfortunately, the publisher’s greed was very often put before ethics.

Yellow journalism is the practice of writing and presenting news stories with sensationalism. So often stories are presented in a distorted form and they carry misleading images. The sole purpose of yellow journalism is to boost newspaper sales and in exciting public opinion. It was mainly popularized as a media culture in the late 19th century by the two very prominent papers, The New York World, run by Joseph Pulitzer and The New York Journal, run by William Randolph Hearst.

The initial practice which created the trend of yellow journalism was a series of peculiar circumstances, from a cartoon by the famous 19th century cartoonist, Robert Outcault called The Yellow Kid. The cartoon was first published in The New York World, owned by Joseph Pulitzer until Hearst (owner – New York Journal) hired him away to produce the strip in his newspaper. Pulitzer then hired another artist to produce the same strip in his newspaper. This comic strip happened to use a new special, non-smear yellow ink, and because of the significance of the comic strip, the term yellow journalism was coined by critics. News was tampered, dramatized, and altered to the extent where publisher and editor believed that it would sell like hot cakes and capture public attention.

They often used the Yellow Kid to sensationalize stories and discredit the stories of other newspapers. The Yellow Kid became a symbol which swayed public opinions on important issues such as the Spanish-American war. Newspapers today strive for objectivity, but it wasn’t the scenario in the previous era.

Many historians believe that Hearst in particular played a major role in the American involvement with Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Hearst saw the war as a prime opportunity to boost his newspaper sales. He stationed a team of reporters in Cuba to observe the occurrences there, and he was the first to do so. Hearst covered reports and features of brutality, cruelty and the trauma of people. With this he swayed the opinion of masses regarding America’s involvement in the war. This period of sensationalism in journalism does stand out as a predominantly dark era in journalistic history. Americans demanded absolutely free press which further allowed many newspapers to take a tabloid form, which often appealed to the shorter attention spans and interests of the lower class. They printed whatever they desired and thought as a way to capture public attention. This also started a lot of fabrication and plagiarism of headlines and news stories.

As per the statistics, by the year 1910, circulation of these yellow tabloids dropped down sharply. But this did not mean that yellow journalism simply faded away, it would be right to say that it did absorb itself into the very heart of our newspapers. The currently present newspapers appear with eye-catchy headlines, humorous comic strips, special interest sections, invasive investigative reporting, etc. these serve as a constant reminder of the peculiar yellow journalism. Impartial and analytical reporting is being overshadowed by a flamboyant and irresponsible approach to the presentation of news.

The presses which were indulged into hard core journalism, have now turned to media houses. The role of being a watchdog of the society is subordinate to the aim of achieving ratings and acquiring profits. Journalism is no less than a discipline. It is an entire process of gathering, writing and reporting news in the purest form without any fabrication. Broadly it is the art of editing and presenting news reports into interesting readable stories. But currently rather than simply stating the truth and making people aware of meaningful changes around us, the media focuses on presenting an aggregated and perverted version of the most frivolous and trivial events. If plague is an epidemic for our world, similarly yellow journalism is also one big epidemic spreading widely in media circles. Journalism has now stooped down to the level of scandal- fabrication, sensationalism, chauvinism and many other unethical or unprofessional practices by news media organizations and journalists. With the advent of yellow journalism, paid news and advertorials have also started trending.

Now, various public relations (PR) agencies are paying newspapers to maintain brand images and promote their brand or firm. Editorials in some of the newspapers are advertorials where you can easily figure out the one sided, biased and fancy opinions about the occurrences. Henceforth, journalists especially newspaper reporters are not trusted by the public. A survey conducted by the market research company, Moriin in February 2003 rated that the trust on journalists is even less when compared to the government ministers. They found that 75% of adults would not trust a journalist to tell them the truth. Even the death of Lady Diana, is an offshoot of yellow journalism. Paparazzi were following her car and the car had been chased through a Paris underpass by freelance photographers working for British and other newspapers, levying the accusation on publishers of having ‘blood on their hands’. This is the level at which the press can lower down in order to sell a few extra copies of its edition!

The responsible ‘news hunter’ does not hesitate to blow a news out of proportion. The recent MMS scandal of a 17 year old, from a renowned school of Delhi, forced not only the principal to throw her out of the school but also made it difficult for her to stay in India. Not even a single detail of the event was hidden, including names and details of those involved, which left permanent scars on her character making it impossible for her to face society. This instance along with innumerable others, stand for an explicit invasion of the law of privacy which is recognition of the individual’s right to be left alone and have his personal space inviolate.

The media in the modern era has left no stone unturned to infringe the privacy of people. It is because of the media and the rampant growth of yellow journalism that the private life of an individual has come in the public domain, thus exposing him to the risk of an incursion of his space. It is unfortunate that no country until now has a specific constitutional right called right of privacy. In India, the right to privacy cannot be called a specific fundamental right but it has gained constitutional recognition. But it is still believed that ‘right to privacy’ is not a reasonable restriction. There are various case examples which prove the violation of privacy by journalists and other media. In Kaleidoscope (India) (P) Ltd. vs. Phoolan Devi, the trial Judge restrained the exhibition of the controversial film Bandit Queen both in India and abroad. The trial court reached a prima facie view that the film infringed the right to privacy of Phoolan Devi, as they can’t stage up an act of rape of a living woman. The question was to what extent the private matters relating to her rape or the alleged murders committed by her could be exploited commercially, and not just as news items or matters of public interest. Thus, justice was rendered by preventing by intrusion of privacy into the life of the one and only Bandit Queen.

In the feud between the Journalists and the Law, a flimsy argument put across by the journalists when reprimanded for their wrong doings is that there are too many restrictions put on them making a hostile environment for them to work and forcing them to cross their boundaries. They conveniently blame the legal set up and the people for curtailing their right to spread awareness. The fact is that the law has given enough scope to journalism to do its job with full rationale and sincerity. In spite of that, out of sheer desperation for more fame and money, journalists have misused this freedom for their own vested interests. Another rightly presented argument which is put across is that the audience of today demands what is being catered by the media to them. One can’t really put the whole blame on the journalists for the deterioration of the standards of reporting. The reason for the ever-rising Television Rating Point (TRP) ratings of the entertainment industry are actually the viewers who prefer watching Rakhi Sawant basking under all the publicity courtesy her controversial kiss with Mika or the immortal Baa of one of the K serials which gave a boost to the gossip-mongers in media and giving more footage to junk news. So the first step to fight the amplification of Yellow Journalism would be to purify our thought process and to differentiate between right and wrong.

It is not astonishing that yellow journalism has created a hue and cry in society and because it is a fact that the media has become a very powerful and influential tool, which has a reach throughout the country. It has the power to either ‘make or break’ a person as it possesses the power to both making a news and breaking a news. In introspection let’s be aware that we as a common man have all the power to decide what we want to view, what we prefer to read and it is actually in our hands whether we choose to become a puppet in the hands of the fame-hungry journalists or not . Moreover, we need to understand, balance between rights of an individual to be let alone and the fundamental right (of the press) to freedom of speech, expression and information.

♦♦♦

Trust Yourself to Get Success

Insight Review

✍Most people fail to achieve their goals, because they do not trust themselves. Self trust is that milestone, which can make miracles happen and can turn the tide in another direction. Self trust is the powerhouse of regaining control of your life.

✍Recognize the skills that you have and the good things about yourself. There are lots! You may not always recognize them but they are there.

✍Remember you never actually fail when you receive failure. Failure is success turned inside out; you actually fail, when you have given hope of winning.

✍People do not succeed because they are destined to; they succeed because they are determined to. Be diligent, have perseverance and that ray of hope and trust that however bad things will fall apart, you will still sail through.

✍Having a good network with good and enthusiastic people boosts up your life and opens you to many possibilities. Also develop interest and seek you hobbies.

✍Most importantly keep trusting yourself, no matter how tough things turn because tough times do not last tough people do.

Ihave not failed. I’ve just found 10, 000 ways that don’t work, quoted Thomas Alva Edison, after failing consecutively 10, 000 times in making a bulb. But had he not trusted himself, it’s sure he would never have invented the bulb. It’s the trust which is the basic key to achieve something, to believe something, and to make it happen.

Most people fail to achieve their goals, because they do not trust themselves. Self trust is that milestone, which can make miracles happen and can turn the tide in another direction. Self trust is the powerhouse of regaining control of your life. When we trust ourselves, we are first of all mustering all our energy to become strong within ourselves, and then to fight with the opposing forces seems much easier. Never let pessimistic opinions affect you, whether it is your family or your friends, because at a point of time these negative feelings keep on piling in your head and make you believe that you cannot do a certain task or cannot get what you want to achieve.

Trusting yourself also mean that you need to stay away from mean people who emit negative energy, are convinced that everything is impossible, and they are quick to shoot down ideas. They’ll put your mind into a state of hopelessness. Don’t let them steal your energy just because they’ve lost theirs.

There are certain points of times where you lose faith in yourself because you received a certain set back. Rebuilding self trust is difficult but not impossible. Recognize the skills that you have and the good things about yourself. There are lots! You may not always recognize them but they are there. One way is to look for the things that you don’t struggle with or to look for the things that people compliment you even if you aren’t very good about accepting the compliment. When you look at the things you do well, you’ll feel more comfortable doing other things too. Sometimes we feel like we shouldn’t do something new because we might do it wrong. This is a bad mindset. Instead, give yourself permission to try something, even if you might get it wrong. If you never try new things you’ll never be able to make progress. Another thing you can do to help yourself – believe in yourself is to do something that you believe in. Do something that you know is incredibly important and that you know needs to be done. Getting good grades in academics, protecting your younger sibling from bullies, taking part in a protest for your cause, it doesn’t matter what you believe in, just believe in it. You will be so caught up in knowing that it has to be done that you will just do.

Instead, surround yourself with supportive and passionate people who can both inspire you and bring out the best in you. They will lift you up when you feel down and help you see the bright side of your darkest fears and doubts about your own self.

Do not hesitate to try again for something, in which you didn’t succeed earlier. For this try of yours really matters. Remember you never actually fail when you receive failure. Failure is success turned inside out; you actually fail, when you have given hope of winning.

Whatever may happen, never give up? You need to remember that you are your own best judge, friend and critic. When you lose trust in yourself, why would others trust you at all? Hence, you need to trust yourself, who else will if you don’t.

To achieve something, trust yourself enough that you nurture big dreams. Allow your imagination to dare and float in the blue wide sky of possibilities. Things would definitely take time, so never give up on your dreams and aspirations. Dreams require a lot of effort and dedication to turn into a reality. Keep moving on and trusting yourself in the journey of your efforts to make them come true.

People do not succeed because they are destined to; they succeed because they are determined to. Be diligent, have perseverance and that ray of hope and trust that however bad things will fall apart, you will still sail through. Self efficacy and belief is as much necessary as food and water to live a good life. Whomever you see leading in today’s world has somewhere faced failure, despair and disappointment. Be it Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs or Sachin Tendulkar. The greatest men have gone through sheer agony and tiring times. The difference is that they trusted themselves and didn’t let go this trust even in adverse times.

Trusting yourself also means that you need to take risks in life. Without risk you can’t really grow or develop. People who have reached somewhere in life, have always dared to take a risk at some point. In this competitive world there are only two possibilities – one is you lose, second is – if you want to win you change. Change here means growth, developing of one self.

And this growth and development can also happen only if you trust yourself. In this world where anyone can be anything, why don’t you be yourself? Make yourself your own favourite. Know yourself and work hard to achieve your passions. Respect your own self, for you are unique in yourself and different from others. Be your own well wisher. Think what is good for you. Set up targets where you want to reach. And put in all your energy, resources and actions to complete your target. Think more, think right, read good materials, get in discussion with intellects, put your views across. Never be afraid of being judged for the right ones will always stay with you. Having a good network with good and enthusiastic people boosts up your life and opens you to many possibilities. Also develop interest and seek you hobbies. Eat healthy, watch good movies. Be alert of your surroundings. Stay motivated to soar high. And most importantly keep trusting yourself, no matter how tough things turn because tough times do not last tough people do.

♦♦♦

World Financial Crisis

Insight Review

✍The problem occurred when the U.S. markets gave loans without bothering about the collateral or adequate income status. As a result sub-prime mortgages were sold to large group of consumers who had no ability to pay it back.

✍Investment bankers and lenders in happy spree gave home loan to buyers at minimal or zero down payment without proper credit verification. Hence the house prices began to rise. The interest cost in general started making the borrowing costly.

✍Since the summer of 2008 the world has experienced the greatest destruction of wealth – paper losses measured in the trillions of dollars – in history.

✍One magical phrase emerges from experts and that’s stricter regulations for the banking industry. Once governments succeed in restoring consumer’s and investor’s confidence, they should focus on designing regulations that encourage responsibility and a long-term outlook.

✍Policymakers have to recognize the need for global oversight of the banking industry, either by strengthening existing institutions or by creating new international authorities.

The first real financial crisis emerged in the year 1929; it led to the great depression and hence it was the world’s biggest financial crisis until then. History repeated itself and the world again witnessed a major financial crisis during the early and mid 2000’s. When analyzed, it was found that the primary cause of the economic and financial crisis was the United States’ mortgage market. The problem occurred when the U.S. markets gave loans without bothering about the collateral or adequate income status. As a result sub-prime mortgages were sold to large group of consumers who had no ability to pay it back. These mortgages were bundled into securitized paper investments, and sold by Wall Street to major financial institutions across the globe. Then came a time when these mortgages turned into bad debts and hence these bad debts like a toxic acid infected the entire worldwide financial system. The crisis has reduced people’s trust in banks, in all the prime economies of the world. Now even the banks dread borrowers. Depositors do not want to deposit huge sums of money; they rather prefer to invest it in land and metals. Many big depositors have withdrawn their money from uninsured and even insured accounts. Many of the world’s best managed financial institutions went bankrupt and rest is dying for a bail out.

The entire crisis occurred due to the ideology of one man that is Allen Greenspan. He encouraged lower interest rates, to make the loans more saleable and thus creating a high credit society. Now these low interest rates encouraged US consumers to spend and housing prices soared. The imbalance began because of the excessive loans to all kinds of people without analyzing their financial creditability to repay loans back. The mortgages for home lost their value and hence the crisis arose. While few predicted the financial catastrophe, almost everyone has an explanation as to why it happened. For the economists, it is very obvious that too much foreign money was flowing into the US from the Asian countries especially China. The availability of easy credit meant that too many people borrowed to buy properties that they could not afford. The bankers bundled up these loans and sold them to investors that could not understand the complexity of these bundles and the risks inherent in them. Once US borrowers started defaulting on their mortgages, they lost their houses and investors all around the world, including banks and hedge funds, lost their investments. The government failed to regulate the activities of the banking behemoths. For the Fed critics, the crisis resulted from Alan Greenspan’s policy of keeping the interest rates low for an extended period of time. Given the ongoing nature of the crisis, many complicated explanations surfaced. Yet the root of the economic depression might very well lie in one fundamental human instinct: greed.

The subprime lending refers to the lending to house borrowers with weak credit. Investment bankers and lenders in happy spree gave home loan to buyers at minimal or zero down payment without proper credit verification. Hence the house prices began to rise. The interest cost in general started making the borrowing costly. As a result borrowers started defaulting. Between 2004 and 2006 a sub- prime mortgage worth $1.5 trillion constituting 15 percent of the total housing loan in U.S. were booked. These loans did not rise and the reality sector grew. Besides subprime lending by mortgage funding agencies and banks, in order to raise money, the banks packaged these loans into securities and sold them to investment bank. This again amounted to voluminous percentage shares that added up to $3 trillion in 2005 of the total of $10 trillion. When the recession started in the financial markets, the house prices raised also the interest rate that increased the cost of borrowing. First few borrowers started defaulting in categories that were exposed to higher rate of interest and higher risks. This had a spillover effect to other risk borrowings thus adding to the number of defaulters. This led the mortgage banks and real state agencies that were in the lending business to start suffering huge loss. This crisis became very prominent in June 2007.

Since the summer of 2008 the world has experienced the greatest destruction of wealth – paper losses measured in the trillions of  dollars  –  in history. No industry in the world has been left untouched. The financial powerhouses of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers have gone bankrupt and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be bailed out. Attempts made by the US government to save industries led to an increased budget deficit. According to the experts, the global power epicentre might shift away from the US before the crisis ends. By now the Asian countries have understood that they cannot continue to rely on credit-fuelled American consumption to promote growth. They really need to restructure their domestic economies to encourage consumption. Consumer confidence’s remains low with fears of a double-dip or an anemic recovery being voiced daily. Some poor countries, insulated from foreign finance, suffered from reductions in tourism, remittances and foreign aid. What began as a local problem of excess credit in the United States likely has affected every member of the global community. All crises in the twentieth century have had world-wide consequences but the crisis of 2008 will go down in history as the first full-blown global crisis.

Economists and central bankers are still struggling to find a way out of the subprime mortgage crisis. If Japan’s lost decade teaches lessons, then deflation must be averted at all costs if there is to be hope for a recovery. But for the long-run, one magical phrase emerges from experts and that’s stricter regulations for the banking industry. Once governments succeed in restoring consumer’s and investor’s confidence, they should focus on designing regulations that encourage responsibility and a long-term outlook. Furthermore, policymakers have to recognize the need for global oversight of the banking industry, either by strengthening existing institutions or by creating new international authorities. The timing of the rescue is uncertain, and the certainty of its efficacy remains in question. To analyze the matter from historical perspective, there is still no consensus on whether government’s spending policies helped or the effect of increased demand for goods created by Second World War pulled the United States out of the Great Depression. The only probable long term solutions are to reduce the growth of capital and assets , decrease in the valuation of total financial assets, and decrease in long term investments both inflows and outflows.

♦♦♦

Child Labour – A Boon or Bane

Insight Review

✍Child labour is not only the domestic help found in upper middle class or even rich class households, but it also comprises of the children who are forced to indulge in begging or stealing, selling gutkas and cigarettes, working in toxic factories for long erratic hour , and the poor servants cleaning utensils at the age of studying and pursuing knowledge.

✍Child labour is one of the social evils that have been crippling the Indian society since a very long time. Its presence can be felt everywhere you go, be it a rural village or a metropolitan city the child labours are working in mines, carpet, match, fireworks, brass and automobiles industries.

✍Article 45 requires the State to endeavour to provide within a period of ten years from the commencement of the Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years.

✍The child labour in the country now numbers an alarming 99 millions which means that they constitute almost 9% of the total population.

✍Tell the adult workers in your house about school, education and their benefits and also bring out them to the evils of child labour, urge them not to compel their children into work at a very tender age for it can spoil their children’s future.

Whether you see bus stands or go to railway stations, visit slums or posh colonies, pass by the footpaths or a super market, the disease of child labour still thrives, risking India’s future. Child labour is not only the domestic help found in upper middle class or even rich class households, but it also comprises of the children who are forced to indulge in begging or stealing, selling gutkas and cigarettes, working in toxic factories for long erratic hour , and the poor servants cleaning utensils at the age of studying and pursuing knowledge. This problem is a significant social evil, where the rights of a child are not being granted. In the precious period of childhood he or she is either compelled to earn a livelihood or is left astray to look after his own survival.

It is believed that childhood is an evidence of faith of God in human being. Nature if it is the gift of god to human being, then why not it should be entitled to live freely and happily.

It has been more than six decades that we have been independent but the question that still haunts is have we really achieved independence in true sense because the children who are considered as the future citizens of the country are not allowed to enjoy their valuable childhood and it is in the condition of a child that becomes the future of any society or nation. Children are the mirrors of the society. The kind of life given to a child will reflect how progressive a society is.

Healthy children are the mark of a healthy society. The basic necessity of every child is to get proper nutrition, education, training guidance and protection etc., but even today in India there are millions of children who are in the dearth of basic necessities of life (especially age group 5-14), the evident reasons are poverty, unemployment, migration to urban areas, illiteracy, large family size etc. if these problems remain unnoticed than the society will only regress and not progress.

Child labour can be defined as the work done by a child who has not yet attained the age of 14 years and whose physical, mental and social development has suffered due to pre-mature employment. Child labour is a curse. Child labour is one of the social evils that have been crippling the Indian society since a very long time. Its presence can be felt everywhere you go, be it a rural village or a metropolitan city the child labours are working in mines, carpet, match, fireworks, brass and automobiles industries.

At the age of holding their father’s hand, the Young India has a bowl to beg. At the age of learning to write, instead of pencil, the Young India has a rickshaw to pull. At the