Steam Center Blog

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...