Archive Posts

Over 25,000 children die every day around the world.That is equivalent to:

1 child dying every 3.5 seconds
17-18 children dying every minute
A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 1.5 weeks
An Iraq-scale death toll every 16–38 days
Over 9 million children dying every year

Some 70 million children dying between 2000 and 2007
The silent killers are poverty, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. In spite of the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

Islamist militant attacks that killed scores in Nigeria this week appear to be abating, but Nigeria's woes show no sign of going away — and in fact are growing deeper. A country that should be rich on prodigious oil reserves is getting poorer by the day, Islamic radicals are seeking to impose a Taliban-style regime in the north, and Angola has surpassed Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer.

The two-day outburst of violence is just the latest wave in a familiar cycle of bloodshed — and a sign that the corrupt government is unable or unwilling to confront the myriad problems that keep Africa's most populous nation mired in unfulfilled promise.

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Islamist militant attacks that killed scores in Nigeria this week appear to be abating, but Nigeria's woes show no sign of going away — and in fact are growing deeper. A country that should be rich on prodigious oil reserves is getting poorer by the day, Islamic radicals are seeking to impose a Taliban-style regime in the north, and Angola has surpassed Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer.

The two-day outburst of violence is just the latest wave in a familiar cycle of bloodshed — and a sign that the corrupt government is unable or unwilling to confront the myriad problems that keep Africa's most populous nation mired in unfulfilled promise.

At the heart of the radical Islamic insurgency that sparked this week's violence is dire poverty and political maneuvering — not religion. The attacks on police that have killed more than 80 people have been committed by frustrated, unemployed youths and orchestrated by religious leaders and politicians who manipulate them to retain power.

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This was stated by former finance minister Sartaj Aziz, while delivering a lecture on ‘Food security for the poor’ organised by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) here on Sunday.  He said an average agricultural growth rate of at least four per cent per annum in the next decade from 2010–2020, implementation of a pro-poor growth strategy and provision of non-farm employment on a substantial scale were must to achieve food security in the country.

In Pakistan, he said, the level of poverty had declined from 34.4 per cent in 2001 to 28 per cent in 2005-6, but the high inflation in the last three years had pushed the figure back to 33 per cent pushing at least 11 million people below the poverty line.

Mr Aziz said poverty was the main cause of food insecurity that in turn perpetuates poverty. ‘But, Pakistan has not so far evolved a comprehensive national food security strategy,’ he added. The former minister said it was indeed unfortunate that during the last few years the level of food security had fallen.

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Chicago, Illinois - Advances in neonatal care enable two-thirds of premature babies born with respiratory problems to be ready for school at an appropriate age, but those living in poverty are far less likely to be ready on time than their better-off peers, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics.
 

Although several medical factors including chronic lung disease, brain hemorrhage, and male gender were associated with lower school readiness, by far the most powerful factor determining school-readiness level was low socioeconomic status.

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Advances in neonatal care enable two-thirds of premature babies born with respiratory problems to be ready for school at an appropriate age, but those living in poverty are far less likely to be ready on time than their better-off peers, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Although several medical factors including chronic lung disease, brain hemorrhage, and male gender were associated with lower school readiness, by far the most powerful factor determining school-readiness level was low socioeconomic status.

"The good news is premature babies are surviving. Neonatology has done a remarkable job in lowering mortality without increasing morbidity," said study co-author Jeremy Marks, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics. "The bad news is poverty leads to huge disparities in school readiness, with poor kids faring four times worse than others."

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Why can't we end poverty in Canada overnight?
We always hear media reports of millions, nay billions, spent by all levels of government and still no end to poverty. What is usually surprising is how little of this cash actually gets to the pockets of the people who really need it. We hear representatives of the poverty industry saying the only solution is to spend more money. Some astute media pundits muse that we might as well just divide up all this money and give it directly to each poor person. The problem would then be solved overnight.

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Any research on poverty should also specifically cover the plight of minorities, as they too are a neglected and marginalised lot like the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes & Backward Classes, expressed Director General of National Institute of Rural Development BK Sinha. He said that mere government policies are not sufficient to eradicate childhood poverty, there is also a need to change the public perception.

“Myths about the socio-economic backwardness of the minorities have been vindicated by the Sachar Committee report,” said Sinha addressing a gathering as a chief guest at a seminar in Maulana Azad National Urdu University.

The seminar, titled, ‘Childhood Poverty & Social Exclusion’ was hosted by Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy, MANUU in collaboration with Young Lives at the University conference hall.  During the course of the seminar he opined that government policy is significant but the essence would be lost if the social base is not taken into account.

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India has always been in the forefront for the good and most of the times for the bad. Recently with the ever increasing terrorist attacks, the vulnerability of the country has increased. The stock markets have crashed and the increasing oil prices have had an everlasting impression plunging the economy.

Well all this is only the tip of the iceberg, the worst is yet to come. All these drawbacks are going to effect every sector of life in India, and if this is yet not intimidating then think of the ever increasing population that will worsen the downward trend.

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More than half of the population in the country, including over 50 million living below the poverty line, is availing the mobile phone facility as cellular subscription has touched the figure of 94.3 million.
According to the latest figures released by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), at present around 94.3 million people are enjoying the facility of mobile phone connections while 1.2 million subscribers were added just in the month of June.

The PTA latest figures revealed that the cellular subscribers rose by 1.3 per cent or 1.2 million in the month of June this year if it is compared to the previous month. Cumulative figure for the fiscal year 2009 shows the total cellular additions of 7.1 per cent or 6.3 million subscribers when it is compared to the last year.

Telecom experts are of the view that subscribers have now risen each month since the start of the calendar year to an all time high of 94.3 million as the cellular density has increased to 58.2 per cent. This cellular density was registered 56.8 per cent in March 2009, 55.9 per cent in Dec last year and also remained in the digit of 50s throughout the year.

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