Steam Center Blog

http://wikieducator.org/File:Ancient_coins.jpg T he denominations in which the notes and coins of any country exist have an impact on daily financial transactions of that country. Selecting the best possible denominations is by no means a random or casual process. It requires deep study and research. Not all countries have that expertise. Fortunately there is an easy way out, learn from the experience of other successful economies and adapt their selection with any necessary modification. The largest and most dynamic economy in the world over the last century or so has been the American one and lessons may be learned from their selection. The Canadians have not only copied their model but also the design of their coins closely varying the print and logo for their own country. The present note is now confined to India. The denomination of notes and coins as prevail are: Coins: ½, 1, 2, 5, 10 Rupees Notes: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and higher values in Rupees Com...

 https://pixabay.com/en/bengal-tiger-tiger-forestry-bengal-1149535/ Tiger Tiger Save my Fiber A newspaper report today ( see here ) indicated that villagers have expressed a desire to move out of a forest area in order to access more modern infrastructure. In fact many more villages would do so voluntarily provided they are given a good alternative. Herein lies an opportunity for India and the world to achieve three highly laudable goals Expand forests by connecting existing patches that are near to each other thereby improving climate and environment of the planet Create an expanded tiger and other wild animal reserve for rapidly disappearing animals as well as forest flora and bio resources Create model new villages based on innovative new design as suggested earlier by this author ( see here ) Corridors of compassion as described in an earlier post in the blog ( see here ) may then be created for any highways that pass...

Countries that have low levels of corruption have a high quality of life and much beauty I t is widely recognized that corruption is a major cause that holds back development in India and perpetuates poverty. More than ten years ago, this author published a note that described a mathematical relationship between levels of corruption and levels of poverty that prevail in different parts of the world. It is in the public domain online. The new Government of Shri Narendra Modi has been seized of the problem. One of its achievements has been elimination of big ticket top level corruption. While this is sure to have an impact over the long term, in the immediate future it seems that at lower levels corruption shall continue to increase as it has over the last several decades. Today a report in the Times of India described that it has increased by 5% in 2015. Corrupt officials at the lower level are like carnivorous animals that once having tasted human blood cannot live withou...

http://coinindia.com/galleries-britishimperial.html An update on November 2016 demonetization in India added at end of this note H aving lived and worked in both the west and India, one thing has never ceased to amaze this author more than the utter chaos that prevails in the design of Indian notes and coinage ever since a decade or so after independence from British Rule. It was not so when India was part of the British Empire. Then the design of Indian rupee coin remained essentially unchanged for decades. What changed was the image of the ruling Monarch on the coin. Ever since then, the design of the Indian one rupee coin has changed with great rapidity so many times that it is difficult to keep count. So has the design of other coins so that if one was past forty one would have to pull out one’s specs to make out which is which. It is hard to distinguish between a one and two rupee coin without reading what is on it. Compare this to the US where even a blind p...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bhagirathi_River_at_Gangotri.JPG When Ma Ganga flows, pure it brings prosperity to lands it flows through, otherwise it brings misery to the same lands; the more the pollution, the greater the misery.    T he Ganges River has been the foremost lifeline of Northern India ever since the disappearance of the Saraswati River more than three thousand years ago. Lives of millions depend upon it. However, sadly, it has become one of the most polluted rivers of the world. According to Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges ) The Ganges was ranked as the fifth most polluted river of the world in 2007. Pollution threatens not only humans, but also more than 140 fish species, 90 amphibian species and the endangered Ganges river dolphin The Ganga Action Plan, an environmental initiative to clean up the river, has been a major failure thus far due to corruption, lack of technical expertise, poor environmental planning, ...

http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/The-indignity-of-open-defecation-in-the-21st-century/-/957860/2659386/-/9o4ot5/-/index.html D efecation in open is widely prevalent in poorer parts of the world. It leads to inconvenience, torture of making their way to a distant field for sick and aged,  pollution of water bodies, several health problems and security issues particularly for women. There have been cases of women venturing out alone in the dark to ease themselves that have been way laid by a gang, raped and even murdered in the worst of cases. Presently an active program is underway in India led by the Narendra Modi Government to eradicate this practice through the building of squat flush toilets at homes across rural India. The government offers financial help for the purpose. However in talking to villagers, this author discovered that villagers are spending much more than the assistance provided and this is slowing down the program. Huge expenditure is being ...

Image Tweet:   https://twitter.com/joshreef/status/676079690336063488 A t the present time, the world has executives of large companies and banks that have salaries in millions while there are also armies of workers trying to manage with starvation or near starvation wages. Such huge wage inequalities are more common in some countries than in others. It seems that in US, many workers on a full time job cannot manage without additional social help. The problem is not confined to a highly developed country like the US but it also extends into re-emerging economies such as India. Countries with huge wage inequalities lead to societies that are neither humane nor happy. They also tend to promote crime and poor living conditions in cities for all. Therefore the unhappiness is not confined just to the low wage earners but also extends into the lives of the wealthy. Further, the Universe has ways to ensure that whatever we spread around tends to return to us if i...

A Postmodern village, AM Village E arlier notes by this author have described how with proper layout it is possible to bring modern facilities to rural areas. Traditional villages consist of scattered farms and easy access to things like electricity, water, communication, markets etc. becomes difficult. In Asia, villagers have got around this by setting their homes in a village cluster removed from their farms. However this makes management of farming activities difficult or impossible especially if they involve things like diary, poultry or small scale blue water fish farming and the rural economy suffers. The new configuration, named AM village for ease of identification overcomes this by laying farms in narrow strips along roads where construction is permitted in a small portion in front. Thus a farmer ends up with an urban like road in front and a farm in his backyard. Such villages may be regarded as postmodern villages. The configuration described in earli...