Today’s Women

Women and girls are half the world’s population, do two-thirds of the world’s
work hours, receive a tenth of the world’s income, and own less than a
hundredth of the world’s property. It was to attack this world-wide “apartheid of
sex” that the U.N. launched the Decade for Women back in 1975. At the World
Conference of the U.N. Decade for Women which ended on July 31 at
Copenhagen, delegates from almost every nation assembled to take stock of
what had been achieved in the five-year period starting from 1975. The
conference organisers, working under former Jamaican Ambassador to the
U.N., Lucille Mair, had earlier analysed questionnaires, filled in by 86
governments in an attempt to find out exactly what progress women are making
towards equality.

Some of the results are: Two out of three of the world’s illiterates are women.
Faced with high costs of schooling and limited job opportunity for the educated,
many parents tend to invest only in boys. The importance of girls’ work in the
home and the high incidence of teenage pregnancy are also cited as barriers to
female enrolment. But some countries are trying harder than others – Nepal is
now giving cash rewards to schools which have more girls in their classroom
and Kenya is offering more scholarships and lower fees to women students.

Women are inching forward in politics – a move seen by the U.N. as essential
for every kind of progress. In the last five years, women’s movements have
emerged in almost every nation. One result is that most countries are reporting a
steady rise in the percentage of women exercising their right to vote.

There is also a slight but world-wide increase in the number of women being
elected to public office. Egypt has reserved 30 seats in Parliament for women;
Guinea Bissau has at least 2 women on every 5 person Revolutionary Council;
and the U.S.S.R., a leader of female emancipation, has near equality of the
sexes in its local Soviets and a 34 per cent female stake in the Supreme Soviet.

There is also some evidence that women’s involvement in decision making

might change priorities – in a survey covering three villages in India both men
and women were asked to choose what the village most needed; the men voted
for a new road and the women for a primary health care centre.

The idea that families are invariably headed by a man turns out to be one of the
myths of the modern world, actually a third of all families are now headed by a
woman. One cause is divorce, which has more than doubled in both the U.S.A.
and the U.S.S.R. in the last 15 years. And in the developing countries, nearly
half of the single women over 15 years of age are now mothers.
New figures from the International Labour Organisation nail another myth that
men are the farmers and the food growers. In the developing world today
women are responsible for 50 per cent of total food production. A recent survey
in Tanzania, for example, shows that women work an average of 2600 hours a
year in agriculture as opposed to only 1800 hours a year for men. In Africa as a
whole, 60 per cent of all agricultural work, 50 per cent of animal husbandry,
and 100 per cent of food processing is done by women.

Women are continuing to get a raw deal from the health services. Three quarters
of the health problems of the developing world could be prevented by better
nutrition, water, sanitation, education and immunization, all of which are
usually the responsibility of women. But 80 per cent of medical and health
budgets are devoted to doctors and hospitals promoting curative medicine to a
small proportion of the population. In the rural areas only about 15 per cent of
the population have access to modern health care centres during pregnancy and
child birth, more than half of the world’s women have no trained help. Only a
third have access to family planning.

Overall, a woman’s double burden of bearing and bringing up of children as

well as working outside the home remains the heaviest milestone around the
neck of female emancipation. For millions of women in the Third World – who
cook and clean, sew and wash, plant and weed, care for the old and bring up the
young a 16-hour day is not uncommon. For these women, there is neither the
time nor the energy nor the opportunity to invest in training, careers, or self-
development.

In the industrialized world, pay differentials have narrowed considerably since

1975 but, no average, a woman is still paid one-half to three-quarters of the
money that a man can earn for doing the same job.

Most damning of all the findings is the fact that economic development itself
can be bad news for women. Improving educational opportunities can mean a
worsening of inequalities if it means that the opportunity only go to boys.
Improved agricultural techniques like tractors can shorten the working week of
men who do the ploughing and lengthen the working hours of the women who
do the weeding.

Throughout the developing world, says the Conference Secretariat, a major

problem is that women’s work is often invisible – a man laying a water pipe in a
city is part of the statistics of development. A woman carrying a days supply of
water from a well to a village is not. Her work, though vital to the task of
meeting the daily needs of the family, goes unrecorded and unrewarded.
 Indian Sports
Sports are good for any nation. Various games are played in India. India has
excelled in few games and failed in various other games. Our individual
performances are outstanding in some games but lack of team work can be seen
at various sports. Proper sports policy could have helped in doing better
performances at Olympics and Asiads. Poor performances are also due to lack
of infrastructural facilities. In the last 50 years, the government’s role has not
been quire upto the mark. A country of 90 crore people fails miserably at
important world sports events like World Cups, Olympics, Asiads, etc.

In hockey, India had Dhyanchand popularly known as hockey wizard and late
K.D. Singh Baby who brought laurels to the country by winning hockey golds
at Olympics. But we could nor prolong their legacies of performing the best.
Later on India fell far behind because it emphasized on dribbling. Throughout
the field the game was excellent but when it came to scoring a goal, it used to
remain a distant reality. The grounds in subsequent years became
technologically improved like Astro turf. It took India a lot of time to catch up
on these grounds due to lack of infrastructure and such grounds on home.
Moreover, killer instinct to score a goal was also lacking on various occasions.
That is why Germany, Australia and even Pakistan are able to perform better
than India. Similar is the condition with football, the most popular game. India’s
performance is so dismal that we are not even able to qualify for the World Cup
Soccer Tournaments held every four years.

In athletics again, India’s performance has been poor. The largest team goes to
the Olympics and comes without winning any medal. In the last fifty years India
had not got any gold medal. In 1984, P.T. Usha, the sprint queen remained away
from winning a bronze medal in hurdles race by fraction of a second, though
she did outstanding performance by winning few golds at Asiads. We also had
good performance by Milkha Singh, the flying Sikh of India. Again we are
lacking in Javelin and Discus throws. Limba Ram showed outstanding
performances at Archery championship but he is not consistent.

The reasons for poor performance can be attributed to the non-availability of

economic support to these sports persons. The conditions of some of our
outstanding performers have been very depressing due to poverty. They were
not given enough economic support to live a good life. This kills the motivation
at the entry level to play and later on to excel. There has to be a support so that
the players do not drop out when they are needed the most. Of course, the
proper training and proper nutritions have to be provided at every level but they
are not. Some improvements as regards to policies have been formulated as now
they are suitably rewarded. But lot can be done. Various awards are given to
outstanding sports persons like Arjun awards and Dronacharya awards to the
coaches.

If we look at other sports like cricket and lawn tennis, India’s performance has
been satisfactory and doing well. We have a strong cricket team. India won the
World Cup in 1983 under the captainship of Kapil Dev. Kapil Dev holds the
record of highest wicket taker in test cricket and S.M. Gavasker has highest test
centuries in test cricket to his credit. India has produced world class spinner like
Chandrashekhar and B.S. Bedi. In lawn tennis India has always played better
than its potential in Davis Cup. It reached in the finals once. The contribution of
Ramanathan Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan are worth
noticing. In recent years the duo of Laender Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have
brought remarkable success at world circuit and they are no. 4 in world ranking.
Individually their ranking is far below but when they combine they produce
wonders.

Similarly the country which invented the chess, i.e., India is getting its real
glory in the hands of Vishwanathan Anand. He has defeated almost all the top
world chess players like Karpov, Kasperov. He was the first Indian to get
International Master title. Dibendu Barua[??] and Pravin Thipsay are alos doing
better. On the Badminton front too Prakash Padukone brought laurels to the
country by winning prestigious tournaments like All England Badminton
Championship in 1980. He has also helped in improving the conditions for
improving Badminton in India. The performances of Deep Chand and Rajeev
Bagga have also shown a touch of class. India can do a lot on Table Tennis
front. India has not been able to do better at international levels in Table Tennis.
In another individual sports like Billiard, the names of Willion James, Michael
Ferrera are still counted. In recent years Geet Sethi has been able to win major
international tournaments. The reasons for doing good at individual and costly
games has been better infrastructure and good monitory incentives. Lawn
Tennis gives good amount of money and similarly is the case with Cricket. The
big companies provide enough economic support through advertisement which
are generally denied to traditional games like Hockey, Football and Athletics.

The policy makers have never given a serious thought to the advancement and
popularization of sports. If proper infrastructure facilities and catching the
young at right time could have taken place, there is no doubt that India could
perform better. There has to be an integrated policy to link the sports to national
and youth development because there are various advantages of sports. Sports
help in balancing the physical and mental development. But most importantly, it
inculcates sense of discipline and spirit of sportsmanship which is very vital for
development of youth as well as nation. The conditions should be made
favourable in such a way that more and more youngsters are motivated towards
entering and excelling in sports.

The Importance of Library

Books are a man’s best friends. They give him company in times of happiness
as well as in times of distress. They are one of the main sources of knowledge.
The best place for easy access to books is a library.

A library is a place where not only books but also magazines, journals and
newspapers are well stocked for the benefit of the readers. One can also get the
atlas, encyclopedia, etc. to know even the minute details of a thing. It is a
treasure house of knowledge. It helps the spread of education. A reader can
either read in the library or borrow the books of his choice and take them home.
The library is a popular place in the academic curriculum.

A well stocked library is an asset to a school, a college or a university. There are

also neighborhood libraries and district libraries which benefit the readers of the
area. A student or a reader can increase his knowledge of various subjects by
reading in the library during his spare time. One can update one’s knowledge by
reading regularly in a library.

A library needs a good librarian who should be well qualification in library

science. Such a person can maintain the books properly. He can guide the
students to select suitable books. He should be cheerful and co-operative. He
should interact well with the readers. The readers can easily get the books they
want. If they consult the librarian. Thus the guidance’s of the librarian saves a
lot of time of the readers. A good librarian welcomes suggestions from readers
for the improvement of the library. He purchases new books after taking into
consideration the needs of the readers.

Normally, a library is housed in a very spacious hall but small libraries also
function in small towns and villages. The furniture inside the library should be
comfortable, neat and clean. Student’s readers should maintain strict discipline,
so that others are not disturbed. The atmosphere in a library should be peaceful
and scholarly.

A library has thousands of books in stock. It has books on various topics,

subjects and events. New books are added from time to time. All the books are
kept systematically. They are classified and indexed according to their subjects.
The labeling of books helps the reader to get a particular book without any
difficulty. To find out the library number of a particular book, one can take the
help of the subject and author index. most libraries keep a book display rack
where new arrivals are kept.

A library also keeps magazines, periodicals, newspapers and journals. These are
kept on the reading table of the library. The readers can keep themselves
equipped with current events and latest developments in various fields.

A reader should handle the books carefully so that no pages are torn or no books
are misplaced. He should keep the books at the proper place after reading. The
librarian should see that pin drop silence is maintained in the library. Readers
should abide by the library rules.

A library issues membership cards to its readers. A reader or a student can

borrow a book for home if he has that card. The books are issued for a limited
period. If the reader does not return the book on the due date, he has to pay a
fine as per the library rules. If a reader loses a book, he has to replace the lost
book with a new one or pay the price of the book. The readers are supposed to
keep the books in good condition.

The library is a boon for poor students who cannot afford to buy text books or
other books of their interest. They can borrow these books and read them at ease
at home. A library is thus a help to the society.

Most libraries have notice boards. They are used for writing important news of
the day. A thought for the day is also written here. Tiles of new books added to
the library are also displayed on the notice board to inform the students. Most
libraries are open for a limited number of hours.

In recent years internet has revolutionized the concept of library. Information

technology now plays an important role in improving the library facilities.

Internet makes it possible to deliver information in the shortest possible time at

a required place. Today the entire world is linked through internet. But this
facility is mostly available in urban areas.

With the growing popularity of internet ,which provides loads of information at

just the click of a mouse, one may pause to think about the decreasing
relevance and importance of a library in today’s world. But one should keep in
mind that a person goes to a library not only to search and get information from
books but also to sit and study there. The peaceful and scholarly atmosphere
there helps one to concentrate more on one work and study. Thus libraries will
always serve a useful purpose. They will always be there to indicate the
presence of a well read and educated society.
 Impact of Television on Our Social Values

Culture is the inner core of civilization which in itself is the product of so many
forces, historical, social and even natural. That is shy cultural values must
undergo a change; if they remain static, they become irrelevant for the present
day life. People following orthodox type of culture would lag behind the more
advanced nations and there is a possibility that some of the new institutions
which they adopt in their political and social life may not be in proper harmony
with their cultural values. Such a conflict many times results in the degeneration
of the society. That is why some time external methods are used to change the
cultural values of a society formal harmony of certain ideas is resorted to. That
is why some time external methods are used to change the cultural values of a
society and as resistance to change is too much in an orthodox society formal
harmony of certain ideas is resorted to. That is why television is increasingly
used for tuning the people of India for a new social and political order, as a
means of re-orienting our cultural values in accordance with the demand of the
present day. As far as the impact is concerned there are so many factors which
may be offsetting the impact.

Indian Television is trying to preserve our tradition particularly in fine arts by

presenting the traditional dances and also folk songs on television. As far as the
social values are concerned television is making an earnest effort to make these
values relevant to the present day circumstances. Most of the serials take up the
problems faced by the Indian women while discharging their functions as a
member of the society. Exploitation of the women and their physical weakness
have been the theme of so many serials. They have tried to project woman as an
apostle of peace and non-violence. A woman needed in the present set of
circumstances is a woman who can fight for justice and can face heavy odds
with courage and determination. As a woman should be equal to man in
political and social sphere the serials have tried to serve as a booster of their
morale. No doubt in ancient Indian culture, woman was given equal status to
man yet at a later stage, particularly during the Muslim rule, in India, she was
relegated to the subordinate position. So television is trying to reorient this
social aspect of our culture.

Some of the serials are making us aware of our environment and the changing
political and social conditions of the world. They make us to consider religion
something subordinate to other affairs in life as they wanted it to be a private
affair only. This also is in accordance with the demands of the political set up
we have adopted. Ours is a secular state and religions should not create
differences among us. Communal harmony is more important than anything else
because it may result in the disintegration of state. Otherwise also if the
communal virus goes on doing harm we will never be able to become a strong
country. Naturally many of serials are directed against this evil. Another social
evil of the present times is the caste system. Though Gandhiji fought against it
and though caste distinctions are legally banned yet caste plays an important
role in politics as well as in life. In order to eradicate it completely it is
necessary that the people should be made to think that caste is completely
irrelevant to our day to day life. Our democracy will become a farce if caste is
allowed to have its own way. So this is also one of the reforms which they try to
impress upon people through television.

Television has become easy, simple and a regular source of entertainment for
the people. By telecasting programmes three times a day, they have been able to
keep the people occupies. Obviously this will make them more concerned with
themselves and less concerned with their neighbor, more prone to entertainment
than to even religious meditation and more interested in the latest developments
than in any other thing. This utilization makes them busy with their own affairs.

With the help of effective advertisements television is trying to impress upon

the people that boys and girls should be married only when they are fully
matured mentally and physically. In India early marriage had been one of the
most serious problems, it was responsible for a large number of the deaths,
exploitation of the women and over-population. It is supplemented with some
advertisement which make the people conscious of the need for family
planning.

The conventional thinking of an average Indian has been contrary to what is

advertised; early marriage was a necessity for them, birth of the children was
not considered to be within powers of man. Those social reforms are also
necessary.

How far the television can leave a permanent impact on a wide scale is difficult
to conjecture. In fact poverty is the main hindrance; a large number of people in
the rural areas cannot afford to buy a television. Apart from it they are not
educated enough to understand the real significance of certain serials. They are
simply interested in programmes dealing with agriculture. Moreover till the
television stations are set up to cover even the smaller areas its impact cannot be
felt. Regional programmes should be more artistic and more impressive than
what they are. Diversity of languages spoken in India does not allow the
programmes telecast on the national net work to become popular. Some of the
serious programmes are not understood properly whereas humorous
programmes are simply lost in humour. Television in India has become more a
spokesman of the ruling party than a medium of free expression that is why the
viewers take it as a medium of communication representing the ruling party. No
denying the fact that television can become effective medium in changing the
social and political order yet it can be effective only after it is allowed to
function independently and without being influenced by party politics.