Eyecatchers-205: Swiss Time Bank

Swiss Time Bank A student studying abroad in Switzerland observed: While studying in Switzerland, I rented a house near the school. The landlord Kristina is a 67-year-old single old lady who worked as a teacher in a secondary school before she retired. Switzerland's pension is very rich, enough not to make her worry about eating and drinking in her later years. However, it is puzzling that she actually found a "work" - to take care of an 87-year-old single old man. I asked if she was working for money. Her answer surprised me: “I did not work for money, but I put my time in the ‘time bank’, and when I couldn’t move at old age, I could withdraw it.” The first time I heard about the concept of "time bank", I was very curious and asked the landlord thoroughly. The original “Time Bank” was an old-age pension program developed by the Swiss Federal Ministry of Social Security. People saved the time of taking care of the elderly when they were young, and waited until they were old, ill or needed care. Applicants must be healthy, good at communicating and full of love. Every day they have plenty of time to look after the elderly who need help. Their service hours will be deposited into the personal accounts of the social security system. She went to work twice a week, spending two hours each time, to help the elderly shopping, finishing the room, taking the elderly out to sunbathe, chatting with the elderly. According to the agreement, after one year of her service expiry, “Time Bank” will count out her working hours and issue her a “time bank card”. When she needs someone to take care of her, she can use her “time bank card” to “time bank” to withdraw “time and time interest”. After the information verification is passed, “Time Bank” will assign volunteers to take care of her to the hospital or her home. . One day, I was in school and the landlady called and said she fell off the stool when she wiped the window. I quickly took leave and sent her to the hospital for treatment. The landlady broke her ankle and needed to stay in bed for a while. While I was preparing to apply for a holiday home to take care of her, the landlady told me that I did not have to worry about her. She had already submitted a withdrawal request to the “Time Bank”. Sure enough, less than two hours, "Time Bank" sent a nursing worker to come to care for the landlord. In the following month, the care worker took care of the landlord every day, chatted with her and made delicious meals for her. Under the meticulous care of the carer, the landlady soon recovered to health. After recovering, the landlady went back to "work".  She said that she intends to save time in the "time bank" when she is still healthy, and wait until she can't move. Today, in Switzerland, the use of "time banks" to support old age has become a common practice. This not only saves the country pension expenses, but also solves some other social problems. Many Swiss citizens are very supportive of this kind of old-age pensions. The survey conducted by the Swiss pension organization shows that more than half of Swiss young people also want to participate in this type of old-age care service. The Swiss government also specializes in legislation to support the "Time Bank" pension. At present, the number of "empty-nest old people" in China is continuously increasing and it has gradually become a social problem. Switzerland's use of "time bank" pension may be a good reference for us. social problem. Switzerland's use of "time bank" pension may be a good reference for us.

In Lighter Vein-15: Money, money

WHITE  money difficult to earn.
BLACK  money difficult to hide.
PINK  money difficult to exchange.

Grateful thanks to Quotes Creator.

Videos to Watch-15: HOW YOU CAN TRAIN YOUR MIND TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE : SADHGURU JAGGI VASUSDEV

HOW YOU CAN TRAIN YOUR MIND TO DO THE IMPOSSIBLE: SADHGURU JAGGI VASUSDEV
100,607 Views



Grateful thanks to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev and YouTube.

A Thought for Today-708: One small positive thought...

One small positive thought in the morning can change the entire outcome of your day 

Anecdotes-1: Interesting Anecdote from Mahatma Gandhi’s Life

Interesting Anecdote from Mahatma Gandhi’s Life from

'An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth'

 “Two other incidents belonging to the same period have always clung to my memory. As a rule I had a distaste for any reading beyond my school books. The daily lessons had to be done, because I disliked being taken to task by my teacher as much as I disliked deceiving him. Therefore I would do the lessons, but often without my mind in them. Thus when even the lessons could not be done properly, there was of course no question of any extra reading. But somehow my eyes fell on a book purchased by my father. It was Shravana Pitribhakti Nataka (a play about Shravana's devotion to his parents). I read it with intense interest. There came to our place about the same time itinerant showmen. One of the pictures I was shown was of Shravana carrying, by means of slings fitted for his shoulders, his blind parents on a pilgrimage. The book and the picture left an indelible impression on my mind. 'Here is an example for you to copy,' I said to myself. The agonized lament of the parents over Shravana's death is still fresh in my memory. The melting tune moved me deeply, and I played it on a concertina which my father had purchased for me.

There was a similar incident connected with another play. Just about this time, I had secured my father's permission to see a play performed by a certain dramatic company. This play Harishchandra- captured my heart. I could never be tired of seeing it. But how often should I be permitted to go? It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number. 'Why should not all be truthful like Harishchandra?' was the question I asked myself day and night. To follow truth and to go through all the ordeals Harishchandra went through was the one ideal it inspired in me. I literally believed in the story of Harishchandra. The thought of it all often made me weep. My commonsense tells me today that Harishchandra could not have been a historical character. Still both Harishchandra and Shravana are living realities for me, and I am sure I should be moved as before if I were to read those plays again today.”

—Mahatma Gandhi, An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth.

Self-Improvement-174: What is maturity

Maturity is learning to walk away from people and situations that threaten your peace of mind, self-respect, values, morals or sself-worth - Lessons learned in life

Grateful thanks to "Lessoms learned in Life"

Letters-97: A child's letter to President Abraham Lincoln

Excerpt of Grace Bedell’s ( age 11) to President Abraham Lincoln 

(TRANSCRIPT – very little punctuation and many errors:)

NY

Westfield Chataque Co

Oct. 15 1860

Hon A B Lincoln

Dear Sir

My father has just [come] home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. [Hannibal] Hamlin’s. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you won’t think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have got 4 brother’s and part of them will vote for you any way and if you will let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husband’s to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try and get everyone one to vote for you that I can. I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty. I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter dir[e]ct to Grace Bedell Westfield Chatauque County New York

I must not write any more answer this letter right off Good bye

Grace Bedell

Lincoln wrote back to Grace just four days later. We will never know whether Grace’s letter was the deciding factor or not, but within a few months, Lincoln had grown a beard and was, according to the National Museum of American History, the first president of the United States to wear whiskers while serving as president. It became his signature look.

Grateful thanks to www.heartspoken.com

India Watch-137: Punjab government announces free education to girls from nursery to PhD

Punjab government announces free education to girls from nursery to PhD – June 2017

The state’s chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh announced that the government would sponsor the education of girls from nursery to PhD in all government institutions. The CM said that the reason behind this move is that only the privileged are able to send their kids to good schools and the less fortunate girls are deprived of quality education. The government has also proposed pre-primary classes, provide free internet services in 13,000 primary schools and 48 colleges.

Excerpt from

30 great things that happened in India in 2017

Grateful thanks to gqindia.com

Q&A-12 : What are Stem Cells and Why they are important

Stem cells represent an exciting area in medicine because of their potential to regenerate and repair damaged tissue. Some current therapies, such as bone marrow transplantation, already make use of stem cells and their potential for regeneration of damaged tissues.

Grateful thanks to Google.

Websites to Watch-16: Mental Floss

Mental Floss

http://mentalfloss.com/

Mental Floss is a cool website which tells you the hidden stories behind the popular happenings around the world. They cover everything from science to history to technology to pop culture. Prepare your mind to blown away by learning fascinating facts and hidden elements behind things which you thought you already know of.

Excerpt from

40 Cool And Interesting Websites To Kill Time

https://beebom.com/cool-interesting-websites/

Grateful thanks to beebom.com

Facts and Figures-100: The Water Scarcity Problem That’s Destroying Countries

The Water Scarcity Problem That’s Destroying Countries

by John Hawthorne | Nov 16, 2017 | clean water, Crisis |

Clean water. It’s something almost all of us take for granted. We turn on the tap, fill our cup, let some spill over, and then guzzle it down. It’s a privilege we fail to recognize.

There is a colossal water scarcity problem in the world. Millions of people struggle to find enough clean water to survive.

In order to move toward a solution, we need to first understand the problem. In this post, we’re going to help you understand the how, what, and why of the water scarcity problem.

The Staggering Lack Of Clean Water In The World

Over 884 million people worldwide live without clean water.

In order to better comprehend that staggering number, that’s the equivalent of:

•1 in every 10 people on the planet’s surface.
•Twice the population of the United States.
•The whole of Europe.

And as the years fly by and overpopulation becomes an increasingly difficult problem to solve, that number continues trending upward, inflating and growing, but never going down.

Water scarcity is a harsh reality.

By the year 2018, some 1.1 billion people worldwide will lack access to any sort of water, and a total of 2.7 billion will find water scarce for at least one month of the year.

Out of those figures, 2.4 billion will have inadequate water sources and have to deal with a series of life threatening diseases. A vast majority of the world population will regularly experience outbreaks of typhoid, cholera, malaria, zika, and dozens of other water borne illnesses and parasites.

In the year 2014, two million people died from diarrheal viruses and the ensuing complications. Out of those numbers, 43 percent were pre-adolescent children, most under the age of five.

Access to basic sanitation and clean affordable water, can save over 17 thousands folks a week.

The majority of people afflicted by this problem live in desolate, isolated, poor regions. These are often rural places that in often find themselves embroiled in some sort of political challenges.

In many cases, water, not oil, is the most precious commodity for these disenfranchised citizens, with warlords and local mafias using the resource as a means of power and political pressure.

Access to clean water is of paramount importance for those without it. There are millions of people risking their lives and spending hours just for a clean gallon of water. Children go without any education, their sole responsibility trodding dozens of miles a day and fetching water.

In essence, a community without a viable source of clean water is destined for extinction. Clean water means economic growth, education, better income and healthy neighborhoods.

And the outlook isn’t any better:

By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. Although the surface of our planet is covered mainly by water, over 73 percent to be exact, only 3 percent of it is considered drinkable. And, to complicate matters, only ⅓ of that scant number is accessible to humans (the rest is tucked away in glaciers, and remote regions). Finding fresh water sources is an incredibly rare thing.

Overpopulation and consumption has put a strain on an already depleted ecosystem. Many water systems, like lakes, rivers and aquifers are drying up an alarming rate or, due to our meddling, becoming far too polluted to use.

Agriculture, above all other practices, consumes enormous amounts of water, more than any other industry. These precious resources are consumed in an ineffective manner.

Additionally, in impoverished regions, such as Africa (where thousands die from a result of having zero access to clean water) or in Pakistan (where the shortage has claimed ⅓ of its population), a different set of problems assaults the region: economic water scarcity.

In most of these districts, water treatment plants and “soluble” wells and aquifers are nothing more than open holes in dry river beds. In Tanzania, this last practice led to devastating epidemic that slashed their population by 75% in the late 2013.

What Is Economic Water Scarcity?

shutterstock 562895764

In order to understand the water crisis, we need to understand the concept of economic water scarcity.

Economic water scarcity is a term that begun having a wide range appeal in mid-2007. It was defined, after a rather long and investigative essay, as a condition caused by the lack of investment in water infrastructure.

The concept first came into play after researchers and policymakers, overseen by the International Water Management Institute in Sri Lanka, conducted a 50 year study to determine the viability of sustaining life on Earth with the growing population problem. Their findings were less than hopeful.

One on the prime symptoms of economic water scarcity is a region’s capacity, both technological as well as human, to satisfy the area’s demand for drinkable water. It is a critical and typical manifestation of underdeveloped countries.

The main aspects of economic water scarcity are:
•A lack of infrastructure with poor sanitation policies. The population has no other choice but to rely on rivers and lakes for their hydration.
•Much of the water is used for agriculture and domestic chores. Evidence suggests that in many cases the water is “recycled” for different uses. Bathing, laundry, livestock, cleaning and cooking water not only comes from the same source but is oftentimes reused from one chore to another.
•Large parts of the world, particularly in Africa, suffer from economic water scarcity. Developing the right infrastructure would lower the poverty line.
•Terrorist groups and local warlords use their own wealth and resources to create the needed infrastructure, the major caveat being that they control the pipeline and in turn use it for their own goals – mainly recruitment.
•Developing infrastructure in these areas not only requires funding but a complete overhaul of socio-political doctrines.

Consequences of water scarcity:
•Using unclean water, in many areas, leads to an upswell of different disease, some of which are fatal.
•In Africa, women spend half of their day walking and hauling up water from a clear source. The same goes for sections of India and Latin America. It is estimated that in the remotest parts of Africa, the female population spends a combined total of 40 billion hours a year walking to and from a well.
•Communities don’t have the time to grow. Most families waste a great deal of their productive hours dealing with the problems that arise from water scarcity. Access to clean water gives families time to go to school and earn an adequate income, helping them fight off poverty.
•Women are mainly responsible for water collection in these areas. In Sub Saharan Africa, 72% of the water collected is done by women.
•It takes an enormous amount of water to grow crops, maintain livestock and ultimately feed a nation. Less water means a rise in endemic and localized famine.
•Less water means less sewage flow and more stagnant water. These pools, particularly in tropical and subtropical environments, often become fast breeding ground for insects and parasites. One of the most far reaching and prevalent insects is the mosquito, a known carrier of West Nile Virus, malaria, zika and other infections.
•Economies that, due to their natural landscapes could easily increase their gross income and national wealth through a busy tourist trade, have had no other choice but to closethis venue of revenue. Hotels, restaurants, shopping stores and other attractions no longer are able to maintain an adequate level of sanitation for visitors.

Countries with a high degree of water scarcity:

shutterstock 648093169

All countries suffer from water scarcity in one way or another.

For example, the United States, a nation that takes for granted the gift that is drinkable tap water, is in the midst of a major water crisis. The Western States, among them California, are having to cut back on water delivery to certain areas. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the region’s water supplier, will deliver 15% less water to cities in the greater Los Angeles area starting in July 2018.

Nonetheless, the US and other first world nations have the advantage of a growing and confident economy, one that can acclimate itself to any sort of natural woe by investing heavily in infrastructure.

Others are not so lucky. 3 countries standing on the brink of complete water related collapse are:
•Yemen: According to UPI, Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, is expected to be the first major city in the world to experience full water scarcity, a direct result of the many turmoils and local military brews of the area.
•Libya: Another war torn country that’s facing a full sanitary cataclysm, the constant regime changes and wild political upheavals are taxing the nation’s capacity to create a viable water policy.
•Jordan: The country of Jordan finds itself in one of the driest geographical latitudes in the planet. Its only source of water is the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. Transforming saltwater to fresh is a financial hurdle that’s hurting their weak economy.

Conclusion

The United Nations considers water scarcity to be one of the most detrimental and crippling crisis attacking struggling economies and communities.

The Millennium Development Goals (8 fundamental objectives established by a committee of different nations within the United Nation) established the necessity of making water scarcity a key problem to eradicate. The United Nations Millennium Declaration, following the Millennium Summit, aimed by 2015 to “halve the proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water.”

While we may not have solved the problem of water scarcity, we’re certainly making an effort to minimize the problem in as many ways as possible.

Audrey Hepburn said, “Water is life, and clean water means health.”

She knew what she was talking about.

Eyecatchers-204: The Bystander Effect

The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help.

The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation. Social psychologists Bibb Latané and John Darley popularized the concept following the infamous 1964 Kitty Genovese murder in New York City. 

In Lighter Vein-14: Old man with 8 hair

An Old man has 8 hair on his head.

He went to Barber shop.

Barber in anger asked:

shall i cut or count ?

Old man smiled and said:

"Colour it!"

LIFE is to enjoy with whatever you have with you, keep smiling. 

Videos to Watch-14: FOUR THINGS THAT MAKE THINGS HAPPEN - Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

FOUR THINGS THAT MAKE THINGS HAPPEN - 
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
39,945 Views



Grateful thanks to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, "Indian Saints" and YouTube

A Thought for Today-707: Life has no remote

Life has no remote, GET UP and change it yourself.

Grateful thanks to Ziglar.com

Letters-96: Einstein's Letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Einstein's Letter to President Roosevelt - 1939

Albert Einstein

Old Grove Road

Peconic, Long Island

August 2nd, 1939

F.D. Roosevelt

President of the United States

White House

Washington, D.C.

Sir:

Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and if necessary, quick action on the part of the Administration. I believe therefore that it is my duty to bring to your attention the following facts and recommendations.

In the course of the last four months it has been made probable through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America--that it may be possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated. Now it appears almost certain that this could be achieved in the immediate future.

This new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable--though much less certain--that extremely powerful bombs of this type may thus be constructed. A single bomb of this type, carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory. However, such bombs might very well prove too heavy for transportation by air.

The United States has only very poor ores of uranium in moderate quantities. There is some good ore in Canada and former Czechoslovakia, while the most important source of uranium is in the Belgian Congo.

In view of this situation you may think it desirable to have some permanent contact maintained between the Administration and the group of physicists working on chain reactions in America. One possible way of achieving this might be for you to entrust the task with a person who has your confidence and who could perhaps serve in an unofficial capacity. His task might comprise the following:

a) to approach Government Departments, keep them informed of the further development, and put forward recommendations for Government action, giving particular attention to the problem of securing a supply of uranium ore for the United States.

b) to speed up the experimental work, which is at present being carried on within the limits of the budgets of University laboratories, by providing funds, if such funds be required, through his contacts with private persons who are willing to make contributions for this cause, and perhaps also by obtaining co-operation of industrial laboratories which have necessary equipment.

I understand that Germany has actually stopped the sale of uranium from the Czechoslovakian mines which she has taken over. That she should have taken such early action might perhaps be understood on the ground that the son of the German Under-Secretary of State, von Weizsacker, is attached to the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, where some of the American work on uranium is now being repeated.

Yours very truly,

Albert Einstein

Source: AtomicArchive.com

India Watch-136: Indian Mars-Craft, Mangalyan

Indian Mars-Craft, Mangalyan

Also known as Mangalyaan, or Mars-Craft, this program by our very own space research organisation has been lauded as one of the most low cost but high functioning space missions till date. We can now proudly claim to be the only nation to reach Mars orbit on its first attempt. The brain behind the operation is actually credited to 14 scientists at ISRO (Mr.K.Radhakrishnan and his team, In charge of the Mars Orbiter Mission)

Excerpt from

10 Amazing Indian Achievements In The Field Of Science And The People Behind Them

Gratefuls thanks to Scoopwhoop.com

Q&A-11: Why does moon have no atmosphere?

Why does moon have no atmosphere?

Prasanna Aug '16

CBSE Class 11 Physics

Moon has no atmosphere because the value of acceleration due to gravity ‘g’ on surface of moon is small. Therefore, the value of escape velocity on the surface of the moon is small (only 2-5 km ${{s}^{-1}}$). The molecules of the atmospheric gases on the surface of the moon have thermal velocities greater than the escape velocity. That is why all the molecules of gases have escaped and there is no atmosphere on moon.

Grateful thanks to Ask.learncbse.in

Websites to Watch-15: Top 10 Websites of India

Top 10 Websites of India

Google.com

Enables users to search the world's information, including webpages, images, and videos. Offers unique features and search technology. 

Google.co.in

Indian version of this popular search engine. Search the whole web or only webpages from India. Interfaces offered in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil. 

Youtube.com

YouTube is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide! 

Facebook.com

A social utility that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos. 

Yahoo.com

A major internet portal and service provider offering search results, customizable content, chatrooms, free e-mail, clubs, and pager. 

Amazon.in

Onlinesbi.com

OnlineSBI is SBI’s Internet banking portal, which provides secure access to your accounts from anywhere in the world! At OnlineSBI , you can perform almost all transactions for which you need to visit a branch. ... OnlineSBI offers value added services 

Wikipedia.org

A free encyclopedia built collaboratively using wiki software. (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License). 

Flipkart.com

Flipkart is a leading destination for online shopping in India.

irctc.co.in

Offers online rail ticket booking, and checking of ticket reservation status. Includes train schedules, availability of tickets, and a travel planner. 

Excerpt from Alexa.com

Grateful thanks to Alexa.com

Facts and Figures-99: Unemployment in India

From Google:

Unemployment Rate in India increased to 3.52 percent in 2017 from 3.51 percent in 2016.Unemployment Rate in India averaged 4.11 percent from 1983 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 8.30 percent in 1983 and a record low of 3.41 percent in 2014. 

From The Times of India:

The number of job-seeking people in India has always been on a high. As per information available on the official website of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), there are currently nearly 31 million unemployed Indians looking for jobs. CMIE is a board that tracks business and economic data of the country.

It was noted that in the week ended on February 25, the unemployment rate increased to 6.1 per cent as compared to 5 per cent in January. This 6.1 per cent unemployment rate is noted to be the highest monthly rate in the past 15 months

The numbers went as low as 3.4 per cent in July 2017, unemployment rates have been increasing gradually, the CMIE data further confirmed.

While the government claims that the unemployment rate in the country is falling, this data reveals an altogether different story.

Ironically, the unemployment rates was observed to have decreased after demonetisation in November 2016, as jobseekers focused on acquiring new skills instead of waiting for jobs in a hard-hitting economy.

During that period, the labour participation rate ranged between 46 and 48 per cent before demonetisation. By July 2017, it fell to below 43 per cent. Now the CMIE expects it to go past 44 per cent by the end of February 2018.

This brings us to the conclusion that as a new batch of students is set to graduate in May 2018, India will face a yet another jolt of unemployment. While there are about 31 million unemployed youth in India as of February, the number of job creation in 2018 is limited to an estimated 6,00,000.

Excerpt from The Times of India (TOI-Online, March 6, 2018).

Grateful thanks to Google and The Times of India.