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My Daily Prayer

When we reflect on who we are and how we have become what we are, we must remember that whatever knowledge we have is not just due to our own efforts, it is partly due to learning from those who are around us and those who have been around us from chilhood, to adulthood to manhood to old age. With this in mind, my daily prayer which I have recited for decades since my childhood inspired by my religion which is Jainism is as follows:

Namo Arihantanam

I bow (Namo) to all enlightened beings (Arihants) who have attained perfect knowledge, vision, bliss and power; who have shown perfect path to knowledge, perception and conduct; this will continue the story of life, death and the joys of life in never ending cycles.

Namo Siddhanam

I bow (Namo) to perfect beings (Siddha) that have attained the state of perfection and immortality by following the path of liberation from all temptations to commit sin(s).

Namo Ariayanam

I bow (Namo) to the heads (Achariya) of all religious congregations who follow the path of liberation, preach the principles of religion, and inspire us to lead moral and spiritual life.

Namo Uvajihayanam

I bow (Namo) to the religious teachers (Uppadhyayas) who explain the true nature of the self, conscience and sub-conscience from the religious scriptures; who inform us that spiritual life is as important as material life if not more so.

Namo Loe Saava Sahunam

I bow to all good citizens (Sahunams) who follow the five great vows of conduct: non-violence; truthfulness; non-stealing; self-control and non-possession; they inspire us to live a simple life.

Eso Punch Namo Karo, Savva Pava Panasano, Mangala Namcha Savvesim, Padhamam Havai Mangalam

To these five groups of great souls (enlightened beings; perfect beings;religious heads; religious teachers and good citizens), I offer my obeisance.

May such obeisance diminish my transgressions and my sins; giving this praise is the most auspicious way to start the day to bring happiness.

For a deeper understanding of the Jain religion, please CLICK HERE CLICK HEREwww.jainuniversity.org.

India is divided into "Districts" for "management" by central government, state government, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and the village inhabitants themselves.

The role of the District Officer at district level is vital in making sure that there is accountability on all the resources that are spent at the village and the district level, the right amount of taxes are collected by the Revenue Collector and law and order is maintained throughout the District by the District Police Commissioner, and the very week and vulnerable are not left out.

There has been a gradual and steady progress along all these lines over the past 60 years since independance. But more needs to be done.

The population of a district may vary from as low as 150,000 to as high as 8 million. Similarly, in terms of area, a district may encoumpass a few kilometres or more than 40,000 km. There may be half a dozen languages and more than 10 dialects in one district. Yet, if disctricts have one thing in common, it is the machinery of administration.

During the 1971 Census, there were 360 districts in India. By 2005, the figure rose to 604. In each district, the number of state and central government offices may vary between 25-35 and 5-10 repectectively.

Examples of sections covered within the District Office are: election, excise, national child labour project, land acquisition, jails, treasury, certificates, citizenship registration and passports, social welfare, public grievance cell, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and the protection afforded to them by the 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution, food supplies, literacy and immunisation mission, etc. (total sections 41 in a specific district).

60% of Indian population depends on agriculture

Recent growth has been in the service sector with backing from the manufacturing sector. Agricultural sector has lagged behind at under 2% annual average growth. Future growth in India needs to be in agriculture and better water management for a more equal society.

United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI) combines measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment as well as income to assess progress more realistically. India still ranks 127th in a list of 177 countries in this index, which is not good enough.

Compared to 2002, India needs to reach by 2020, the following targets:

1. Percentage of population below poverty line 26% to 13%. (UK also 26%)
2. Gini index 100=equality (Income distribution index) from 38 to 48.
3. Unemployment rate as a percentage of working population to improve from 7.30% to 6.80%.
4. Male adult literacy rate to improve from 68% to 96% of male population.
5. Female adult literacy rate to improve from 44% to 84% of female population.
6. Net primary school enrolment ratio to increase from 77 to 100.
7. Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP from 3.20% to 4.90%.
8. Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births to go down to 22.50 from 71.00.
9. Child malnutrition as percentage of children under five years based on weight for the age to be reduced from 45% to 8%.
10. Public expenditure on health as a percentage of GNP to be increased from 0.80% to 3.40% of GNP.

India's energy consumption and life style

According to "India Vision 2020, Planning Commission, GoI 2002, the Tenth Plan (2002-03 to 2006-07 and further 3-Five Year plans aim for the following growth in energy consumption and life style:

a. Commercial energy consuption per capita (kg of oil equivalent) to increase from 486 kgs in 2002 kgs by 2020.
b. Electrical power consumption per capita (kWh) from 384 kWh in 2002 to 2,460 kWh by 2020.
c. Telephone per 1,000 population to increase from 34 in 2002 to 203 by 2020.
d. Personal computers per 1,000 population to increase from 3 computers in 2002 to 53 computers in 2020.

ES - Eating veggie burgers won't save the planet - 1

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

Evening Standard article by Alastair McKay on page 15 called "Eating veggie burgers won't save the planet"

Times recent headline "Give up meat to save the planet" yesterday's call by Lord Stern of Brentford summarized by the Times

There is so much misinformation about meat, fish and vegetarianism in the mainstream media as it relates to Climate Change and Global Warming; about CO-2 and methane emmissions, etc. that I hope I shall put the record straight for those who want to be more educated on these issues.

The Food Standards Agency has not done its job properly for decades: if it did, UK would not have all those fat and obese and unhealthy children and adults (about 25% of population).

The Food manufacturers, the big boys number only a handful, have not been sufficiently caring and have not behaved responsibly for decades in return for fat profits they have made from millions of their children and adult customers each and every day.

The Government has been asleep. Media has been half-hearted and half ignorant of factual information.

Vegetarians are increasing by about 1% per annum world wide and in the Western world including Europe and U S A, it has gone up from about 8% 20 years ago to about 15% now among the white Christian population of 2.2 billion.

Europeans and Americans have been eating about 500 to 1000 calories per day more than what they need, forgetting that their jobs are sedenatary and not like manual or unskilled workers jobs, many of the latter being performed by immigrant citizens like nurses, bus drivers, cleaners, supermarket shelf fillers, cash till monkeys, etc.

The same Europeans and Americans have been taking in their daily diet 20% to 30% protein while the optimum intake of protein in ones daily diet should have been 10% to 15% protein over the past 5 decades.

These modern civilized people do not realize that the meat and fish they eat daily forces their digestive system to work double hard to break all that fat and digest it, only for 50% of the daily protein to be flushed into the toilet every day!

Vegetarians have won the war, carnivores have won small battles with the likes of Evening Stardard and Times journalists

ES - Eating veggie burgers won't save the planet - 2

Thursday, 29 October 2009

Further comments on the Evening Standard article on page 15 on "Eating veggie burgers won't save the planet" by Alastair McKay.

I agree with Alastair McKay on the fact that "There is nothing better for a man than he should eat and drink" [Ecclesiastes 2]. But eat what? when?

All of us consume food and drink that turns into animal protein, vegetable protein, fat, sugars and starches.

While it is true that protein is the principal building material for the growth in children and maintenance of our bodies in adults, it comes in varying amounts from meat and fish, from cereals and pulses (dry beans, peas, broad beans, lentils and chick peas) and from nuts, oil seeds and oil containing fruit. Milk, closely followed by eggs, is a complete food.

All nations differ on their TYPICAL DAILY DIET on how what and when they eat and obtain protein from:

North American diet: meat 19.4%; fish 0.8%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 11.9%.

Central American diet: meat 5.1%; fish 1%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 10.1%.

South American diet: meat 8.5%; fish .5%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 10.3%.

North European diet: 13.4%; fish 1.4%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 11.3%.

South European diet: meat 6%; fish 1.3%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 12.1%.

African N M & E diet: meat 3.1%; fish 0.2%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 11.1%.

African tropical diet: meat 2.3%, fish 1.3%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 9%.

Indian diet: meat 0.3%; fish 0.2%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 10.3%.

Indonesian diet: meat 1.1%; fish 1.1%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 8.9%.

Australasian diet: meat 20.7%; fish 0.7; final protein actually absorbed by body: 11.6%.

Russian diet: meat 9.9%; fish 0.5%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 11.4%.

Japanese diet: meat 2.2%; fish 3.5%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 12%.

Chinese diet: meat 6.6%; fish 0.7%; final protein actually absorbed by body: 11.6%.

ES - Eating veggie burgers won't save the planet - 3

31 October 2009

The article by Alastair McKay in ES on p15 28/10/2009 has so much misinformation that the reader is misguided about climate change.

Mr McKay states that "environmentally, methane has 25 the impact of CO-2". That is true but what he fails to mention is that methane remains in the atmosphere for 10 years only while CO-2 remains in the atmosphere for 100 years.

Human produced gases and their effect is measured in parts per million molecules in the air (ppm). Contributions are CO-2:53%; Methane 17%; near ground level where animals and plants live = "near surface ozone" 13% (ozone forms when sunlight hits other pollutants and triggers ozone-making reactions; Nitrous oxide 12%; CFC