Steam Center Blog

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=147952&picture=hall-with-hundred-pillars Not along ago, about a hundred years ago, Jaipur city had been regarded as a fairy tale city of the world, ranking among the top ten beautiful cities of the world. Unfortunately, an uncontrolled expansion over the last seventy years has now converted it to not just one of the poorly ranked cities of the world but also of India. Tourists still flock to see the charm that lies hidden within its deterioration but that is little solace for those who love the city. Fortunately, with a little effort, the city can be restored and recover its old glory again, Indeed some beginnings is already being made in the direction. In the view of this author, familiar with the city from time of his grandparents, seven things can restore the status of the city to its old glory and more. These are as follows 1. Restoration of Dravyavati River In an older post  ( see this not...

Recent data shows that there has been a slight reduction in corruption in India this year. It is because India has found a very honest Prime Minister in Narendra Modi and his cabinet. However the reduction has only been slight because at lower levels of government, born from years of habit, corruption is still widespread. An older note in this blog described how corruption can be eradicated with speed. It is presented here again with slight modification and simplification including the use of the now widely available JAM, Adhaar card number system in India. This plan is exceedingly simple to implement and cost effective. It involves just two simple steps Passing an ordnance that a bribe by the bribe giver shall not be a prosecutable crime provided the bribe giver files a complaint by post at --- or online at ----   within a month of giving the bribe. A draft design of the simple online form is included with this note. It may be modified to...

A n earlier note in this blog had some suggestions for the Indian Railways and one of them has already been implemented soon after the dynamic new Railway Minister of India, the Right Honorable Piyush Goyal took charge. Thanks have been recorded to him at the end of the note as an update. This note is on a different matter that also needs urgent attention of the Honorable Minister to save Indians from physical damage and huge hurt they undergo daily because of one of their practices. It is best understood from my personal experience two days ago, recorded next. I needed to make a trip from Delhi to Jaipur on the evening of the 23 rd of this month.   Looking up the new improved website of Indian Railways I found that there was a vacant lower berth in sleeper class of train number 14659 from Delhi to Jaisalmer. I chose the boarding destination as Delhi Cantonment since the station was closer to where I was staying. The train had a scheduled two minute stop here and my ...

  T hey say a dog is man's best friend but an unregulated, untrained population of dogs can also become public enemy number one causing misery to both the dog and human. While street dogs have always been part of human civilization, with increasing urbanization and increased population these dogs create many problems for humans, the first being their open defecation on streets, secondly danger to humans especially children. There have been reports of mauling to death. Third is noise pollution by their persistent barking. This barking disrupts sleep and health of all, sometimes fatally in case of elderly persons. It destroys peace during day hours and hugely compromises study hours of children studying for school or exams at times leading to their failing in examinations. Along with stray dogs the problem of pet dogs has become equally huge; they too contribute to open defecation on urban streets creating a stench and health hazard. Their barking disturbs neigh...

A dulteration of food by substances dangerous to life is a fact in many parts of the world including India. Consumers have to be careful in ensuring that food they procure from markets is safe for their health and their families. Food safety inspectors exist in health departments of all countries to check food products and punish unscrupulous food sellers. In India however there is a unique dimension to this inspection that hovers between the irrational and sordid corruption that plays with the health and well being of citizens. Let us first explain what the irrational element is. On October 15 there was a report in the times of India, the prominent daily newspapers that in a village in Chomu district of India, food inspectors from the health department had unearthed a mawa (a concentrated milk product used in many Indian sweet dishes) unit that was preparing it from milk powder and edible vegetable oil products instead of just pure milk ( see here ). They destroyed 120 kg...

May God bless this sweet Child and his mother W hile much of the population in India is still poor and cannot afford private medical care, free government services are hugely limited and overburdened. The most tragic is the huge number of child deaths that are taking place in such hospitals due to inadequate care and it is here the need for improvement most urgent. What is needed now is  new large modern government run Mother and child hospitals to take care of mothers from the beginning of pregnancies as well as children up to the age of five. To begin with one such hospital may be set up in each district across India at a place the population density is highest in the district. Each district may have special departments peculiar to their area such as North Central provinces for encephalitis and meningitis or the western tribal parts for malnutrition. Each district mother and child hospital may also run extension centers and mobile care vans across the district bu...

A newspaper report today in Times of India described how the problem of stray dogs has become huge in India even in previously pristine places like Nainital. Children face the gravest threats from them and some are killed from time to time in an attack. These dogs roam free and fearless in cities and enter all public areas including hospitals. Recently one was found feasting on a dead body in a hospital in Lucknow the capital city of the largest province of India. In Nainital the municipal body said that they had caught hold of some and sterilized them. Municipal bodies have said that for the last thirty years and the problem has only increased. Not only are these dogs a danger and nuisance in urban areas they also create a huge noise problem when they get into long barking matches. They are disrupting the sleep and therefore also the health of hundreds of millions of Indians. The simple question that needs to be answered is that are stray dogs compatible with human li...

Today the daily newspaper - Times of India - described an excellent plan to revive India’s rivers by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of the Isha Foundation. The plan involves planting trees for up to one kilometer on either side of rivers. Applying an engineers mind to the proposal, this author is adding some more suggestions and clarifications for consideration and debate in this note in brief bullet form: The center-line of the river may be used to measure the one kilometer distance, and demarcation pillars similar to road distance signs at similar spacing may be put at this one kilometer point with a twenty feet wide paved road running along the length on either side. The road will help to make the demarcation permanent as well as serve to maintain the area and facilitate movement for villagers and others living nearby. As suggested by Isha foundation, existing farms falling within these limit may plant fruit orchards only whereas in v...

F rom time to time, irrational fears of supernatural spread through human society. There is one going around presently in northern India about a demon that cuts of the hair of women in secret without their knowledge and indeed many such cases have been reported from several northern states of India. One can only guess how this is happening short of an actual demon playing a prank or some weird ritual of their own. It is likely that women are cutting their own hair to adapt the look of some fashion models on TV and using this rumor as a pretext. Most families would not approve the short hair look otherwise or it may be to get attention. Whatever is the reason, the fear is widespread and newspapers report some women going to bed with helmets on. In time the demon will get tired and go away as other such have before in history. In the meantime the possibility of utilizing this fear for public good arises. While the women are busy at prayers to keep the hair loving demons ...

N ews reports have been highlighting the growing problem of use of illegal drugs among youth of India. It is a serious problem that in its worst form can become primary cause of compromising present and future well being of the nation. Once caught in its grip, a human finds it difficult to overcome the problem, even unto death, so pervasive is its influence on human biology. It would be wishful thinking on part of India that it can control this problem through its law and order machinery, when even the strict legal forces of US or the guns and blazes of Duterte of Philippines is facing a hard time controlling it. Against this backdrop, many have suggested that one of the illegal drugs, cannabis be legalized. As compared to synthetic chemical drugs, it is a herbal substance that has been present in India as a wild weed for thousands of years, for the most part as legal as spinach or onions without having caused any notable problem while problems created by the other herb...

W hile due to annual fluctuations some years enjoy a good rainfall in Northern India, the overall trend over the last fifty years as deduced by the India Meteorological department is a falling rain fall. This finding was revealed in newspaper report today http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/imd-analysis-reveals-falling-rainfall-trend-in-north-india/articleshow/59827995.cms This is worrisome all the more since requirements of fresh water has increased greatly in the same period due to a huge rise of population in the last fifty years. The report further says that they cannot pinpoint the cause hence also not a solution. However, a recent NASA study provides both the cause and the solution. According to it, trees and forest help to create rain. https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2608/new-study-shows-the-amazon-makes-its-own-rainy-season/ Declining rainfall has followed the pattern of reducing trees due to increasing urbanization, farming and deforestation in the ...

http://richmondvale.org/effects-of-poverty/ An older article on Inequality by the author has been popular in this blog. It talked of rising wealth and income inequality over the last forty years, primarily in the richest country of the world, US. Suggestions were given as to how the problem may be overcome. This year, 2017, OXFAM carried out a study of inequality in 152 countries of the world including both rich and poor countries. According to a report in times of India   based on the study, India has been ranked 132 out of 152 countries on the basis of inequality. Sweden ranked the highest while Nigeria was at the bottom. The US had the highest level of inequality among developed countries, though it is the wealthiest country in the world. However, most of its budget goes on military spending and maintaining wars and military bases around the world. In India, the new Narendra Modi government has been seized of the problem and his approval rating is one...

Ma Ganga brings peace and prosperity to the lands it flows through when it flows pure .When pollution is added to Ma Ganga, crime and poverty spreads across the lands it flows through in direct proportion to the pollution   It is very sad that the river Ganga that flows through Northern India has become highly polluted since seventy years ever since India became independent. Over these seventy years the pollution has increased every year the government has spent enormous amounts of money to clean it perhaps in direct proportion to the money spent. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is concerned about it as are citizens. This author too has applied his mind to the topic and written notes containing suggestions on how to help clean it. A note can be found at the following link A New Revised Approach to Cleaning the Ganges https://steamcenter.blogspot.in/2016/08/a-new-revised-approach-to-cleaning.html Jai Bhole Nath Jai Shri Hanuman

A couple of decades ago, personal computers became common equipment of offices. While it made many tasks easier, it created problems too. Office workers began to use it for a lot of other things besides work. Soon offices started placing restrictions on its use, some that were on office networks put in firewalls to block some sites. A new age has now arrived, it is the age of the smart phones and one can play around on it almost as much as on a personal computer. This has become a problem in many offices around the world. Recently when in a district of Uttar Pradesh the District Magistrate organized a meeting of all officials to solve problems of public, all arrived with their smart phones. When the DM made a surprise check he found many busy playing games or messaging on social media etc. The DM blew his top and shouted at the staff but it is more or less guaranteed that when he left the smart phones came out again. The problem is more pervasive in government offices tha...