Do you think people will ever live in Space?

Do you think people will ever live in Space? If not, why not? If so, where will they live and how will they do it?

I do not think it is possible for people to live in Space mainly because it is difficult and costly. Access of oxygen (there cannot be continuous supply of oxygen in the shuttle), disposal of waste, supply of water, shelter, clothing are some of the basic reasons. These are easily availble on Earth but not in Space. It will be difficult because of reasons such as lack of space to move about (because people who venture into space will have to live in a shuttle or a space station). It is not possible for adding a new space to live in.

Living in space may sound exciting but not just any person can fly to space. They need to be astronauts (excluding Richard Branson's idea of taking 410 people on a flight to space). This means that children cannot fly to space. Where will they get education from if they fly to space? How will they survive the launch from earth?

It is also time consuming because people wishing to live in space must survive a series of tests thrown at them. Moreover, I have no reason why people would choose to live in space. Till date there is only one couple living in space and I think they will be coming back to the earth soon (if they haven't returned yet). Space may seem as an option if "the earth ends" but I think it is impossible even for a group of people to live in space till their lives end. 

Economic Policy Of India During Recession

Monetary and Credit Policy

Monetary and Credit Policy is essentially managed by central bank (known by different names in different countries; in India it is the Reserve Bank of India). In a nutshell, this policy is linked with the control of the supply of money and its availability to the people, and the cost of money or rate of interest to bring about economic stability in the system. Monetary policy can be either expansionary or contractionary. The first one increases the total supply of money to face unemployment and recession by lowering the interest rates, and the second one decreases it by raising interest rates to control inflation.

In essence, The Monetary Policy and Credit Policy regulate the supply of money and the cost and availability of credit in the economy. It deals with both the lending and borrowing rates of interest for commercial banks. The Monetary Policy aims to maintain price stability, full employment and economic growth.

The Monetary and Credit Policy is the policy statement, traditionally announced twice a year in India, through which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeks to ensure price stability for the economy essentially by controlling money supply, interest rates and the inflation. This policy also contains norms for the banking and financial sector and the institutions which are governed by it. These would be banks, financial institutions, non-banking financial institutions, money markets foreign exchange market.

Fiscal Policy

The second way to influence the money supply lies in the hands of the government with the Fiscal Policy. The fiscal policy consists of two main tools - The changing of tax rates, and changing government spending. The main point of fiscal policy is to keep the surplus/deficit swings in the economy to a minimum by reducing inflation and recession.

A change in tax rates is usually implemented when inflation is 

Un-usually high, and there is a recession with high unemployment. 

With high inflation, taxes are increased so people have less to spend, thus reducing demand and inflation. During a recession with high 

Un-employment, taxes are lowered to give more people money to spend and thus increasing demand for goods and services, and the economy begins to revive.

A change in government spending has a stronger effect on the 

Economy than change in tax rates. When the government decides to fight a recession it can spend a large amount of money on goods and services, all of which is released into the economy.

Despite the effectiveness of the Fiscal policy, it does have 

drawbacks. It is hard to predict inflation and recession, and it can be a long period of time before the situation is even recognized. As a tax cut can take a year to really take effect, the economy could revive from the recession and the new unnecessary tax cut could cause inflation.

Monetary and fiscal policies are what helps keep the nation’s 

economy stable. With them it is possible to control demand for 

services and goods and the ability to pay for them. It is possible to 

manipulate the money in private hands without directly affecting 

them. The policies are simply a myriad of tools used to prevent a long 

period where there is high unemployment, inflation, and prices, along 

with low wages and investment.

Role Of Monetary And Fiscal Policies During Recession

The RBI has taken many measures since mid-September 2008, to augment domestic liquidity and to ensure that credit continues to flow to productive sectors of the economy. Since then, the RBI has reduced the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 9.0 per cent to 5.0 per cent and the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) from 25.0 per cent to 24.0 per cent.

The various fiscal stimulus packages as announced by the government during the last few months or so, have raised the market borrowing programme of the government for the year 2008-09. In terms of the amendment to the memorandum of understanding on ‘Market Stabilisation Scheme’ (MSS) on February 26, 2009, an amount of Rs 45,000 crore was transferred from the MSS cash account to the normal cash account of the Government of India by March 31, 2009. An equivalent amount of government securities issued under the MSS would also form part of the normal market borrowing of the government. This arrangement has surely given a boost to the market.
Furthermore, the RBI has conducted purchase of government securities under its open market operations. The Government has given liquidity support to the housing sector and particularly to Housing Finance Companies (HFC), which have been adversely affected by the recent financial market developments. The government is also helping the overseas financial companies in many ways for financing imports to India. Attempts are being made to ensure adequate liquidity in order to maintain the flow of credit for all productive purposes in the housing, export and small and medium industry sectors.                              


Effects

Despite slowing from highs of 8% to 9% growth, India’s economy will grow close to 6% in 2009. Amid domestic and global liquidity crunch, large domestic savings and corporate retained earnings are financing investment. Sluggish labor market and wealth effects have hit urban consumption. But low export dependence, a large consumption base and the high share of employment (two-thirds) and income (one-half) coming from rural areas has helped sustain consumption. Pre-election spending, especially in rural areas, and high government expenditure, are also pluses. Timely monetary and credit measures have played a key role in improving private demand, liquidity and short-term rates and reducing the risk of loan losses. Credit is largely channeled by domestic banks, especially state-controlled ones, which have low loan-to-deposit ratios and little exposure to toxic assets

On the other hand, the fiscal house is in terrible shape. Just because domestic banks are state controlled does not mean they have low NPAs. Growth rates in the future are also murky. Times were good for the last several years, coasting on good monsoons, tough decisions made by politicians in the past, and a very favorable global climate. Now, global demand has fallen, US/Europe are set to balance away from consumption for some time, and the government has not only produced no major reforms in the last five years, but seems unlikely to produce major reforms in the next five as well.

So relative to the rest of the world, yes India will probably do better. But it also seems unlikely to match the record of the last few years, unless serious steps are taken to curb the deficit, promote infrastructure and human capital, and usher in serious economic reforms.

Are our zoos cruel to wild animals?

Zoos contain animals which are caged. Hence it is evident that zoos are cruel to wild animals. These animals have been moved from their true home to a caged habitat and in these caged habitats they get teased by people who come to watch them and get disturbed. Their natural instincts are disturbed (I am not sure about the grammar in this sentence) when they are confined to an enclosure. Their ability to move freely is prevented. Another reason as to why zoos are cruel is because they have specific timings for feeding the animals whereas animals in the wild eat, sleep, drink water etc. as and when they want to. In some cases, a cage is seen to contain more than 2 animals. This again is bad as the animals have a tendency to fight for space - especially in the case of carnivores - and this may result in deadly injuries to the animals. There is also the problem of lack of space to move about the cage.

Another problem faced by these animals is that, people who come to the zoos to see animals don’t just stop with seeing. They tend to feed the animals items like chips, popcorn etc. A typical example of this would be the Guindy Zoo.

One should learn from the Africans how to treat animals. They have what they call as game reserves (game reserves are more popularly known as sanctuaries in India). Here, the people get to see the animals in the wild, in their natural habitat and there is this happy feeling we get when we see them in their homes as compared to animals in zoos. Although India has a number of wildlife sanctuaries, the problem of poaching still exists. Villagers in remote areas of states where the sanctuaries are situated set up protective measures some of which are harmful for animals. The forest department of that state should take efforts in teaching these villagers on how to protect themselves without harming the animals.

I would like to conclude by saying that zoos should be closed and the animals in these zoos should be released into the wild, their true home.

Development (What is development according to you?)

What is development? Development is a term used to highlight the growth of something. In a way, development means growth. Anything can develop in our world. A place can develop, a company can develop and so can a human being. But this development we see happens only if there is a lot of work being done to improve the present situation of the subject. Development is not something that happens over a day not a week, not even a year. It takes place over a period of time and the stages in development can hardly be seen. In this process, only the start and end result can be seen. No one knows how this change is brought about. Development is thus intangible.

The concept of development is also used as an index for the growth of a nation. Countries have been classified as developed, developing and under-developed countries. How can you tell whether a country is developed or not? The measure of development of a country is its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). I would say that the concept of development does not work well in the scenario of growth of countries. A country is developed only when all its resources are used till its optimum utility but in the world of economics, resources is the main problem faced because of the fact that they are scarce and also because they have alternative uses. When a resource is used for one purpose, its ability to satisfy another purpose is lost. So no country can be fully developed. There will be drawbacks in every country which are hindrances to development.

Development can also be a source of disturbance. For example, Advancement in weaponry- advanced weapons like nuclear missiles etc. in the wrong hand could cause a lot of damage. Therefore, development has to take place with extreme caution and the concerned authorities need to ensure that the products of development do not fall in the wrong hands. Development should take place in a way that does not harm the environment nor cause un-comfort to the people. Lastly and most importantly, development should be controlled.

Controlling the Prices of Essential Commodities

Essential commodities are products like rice, wheat etc which are required for everyday consumption. Since these commodities are consumed even by the poor, their pricing becomes very important. They should be priced in such a way that both the rich and the poor can buy them. Essential commodities are related to edible products on a major scale but it also includes items like soap, water etc.

 Pricing of essential commodities is very important. The government plays a major role in the pricing of these products. The government should ensure that all the people have equal access to these commodities and hence should price the products in such a way that it allows both the rich and the poor to buy them. The concept of equilibrium price plays an important role in price determination. The equilibrium in the market is determined by the interaction between market demand and market supply. Market demand refers to the quantity of commodity which the consumers are willing to buy and market supply refers to the quantity which the suppliers can sell.

When the product is sold at this price, more consumers will buy the product as market demand consists of the demand of both the rich and the poor. However, the government can fix a price which is suitable for the producers (support price) or it can fix a price which is preferred by the buyers (control price).

Support price (floor price) is the minimum price at which a commodity can be purchased by the consumers. It is higher than the equilibrium price and it is done in order to safeguard the interests of the producers (for example: farmers). Control price is the maximum price at which a commodity can be sold in the market. It is lower than the equilibrium price and it is done to safeguard the interests of the producers.

Other factors that influence the price of the commodity are inflation and recession. Inflation is an economic situation where the general price level in the economy goes up. This results in all products becoming costly. The prices during inflation are higher than the equilibrium price and hence in order to restore equilibrium, the prices will have to fall. Since the demand for essential commodities is INELASTIC, the consumers will have to buy the commodities at the prevailing prices but in this case the demand for the products goes down after a while which brings down the prices. Government intervention can also help reduce the inflationary pressure in the economy by reducing the prices of the commodities until normalcy is restored. Recession (excess demand) is an economic situation where the general price level in the economy falls. During times of recession, the producers will not produce up to their maximum capacity as the prices are low. Hence, the demand also starts falling and finally it become equal to the supply thereby restoring equilibrium.

Advertising: - Information or Manipulation

Advertising is that aspect of marketing which involves the sellers persuading the customers to buy a product. There are various methods of advertising. For example:-  advertising through TV, newspaper advertisements, personal selling to name a few. Advertising is done with the sole aim of selling the product or service to earn profits.

The concept of advertising is quite simple. It is mainly to make the customers buy a product using novel ideas. But, advertising is not just about fancy designs and pictures. A detailed information about the product is also required. Essential details like date of manufacture, expiry date, contents of the product, harmful ingredients, ‘best before…’, instructions for use etc should be provided.

Advertising is advantageous because it has a wide reach as it is done through media like TV and newspapers. People also develop trust in the product. However, advertising can also manipulate the customers to buy a product. This is done mostly by providing false information about the product. Advertising is also forceful. For example:- personal selling. Another drawback of advertising is that fake or poor quality products can also be advertised without the difference being known to the customer. There are other drawbacks to advertising. Some of them are: bad quality of advertisement, undermining of social values, confusion of buyers due to wide choice of products which adds to the cost incurred by the business.

Although advertisement has a lot of drawbacks, there is a need to advertise because- 1) the market is competitive and in order to survive, companies need to advertise. 2) To make customer buy it is necessary to attract them. 3) To earn profits by selling the product.

Advertisement is therefore essential in today’s world.

Growing up in a small town: Advantages and disadvantages.

It must be really nice growing up in a small town. No pollution, no traffic and mainly there’s no noise like that in a city. The air is clean and sweet and one becomes fresh by taking in the smell of this fine air. However, these are not the only things that define a town. Schools are one with nature and this makes learning more interesting. There are lots of open spaces for the children to run around and play which is good for the health. The quality of education has also improved by leaps and bounds in small towns due to the advancement of technology (eg :- Personal computers help get information from the Internet).

Although a town may have these advantages over a city, the students and people in these towns are not exposed to much of the world as compared to the students and people in a city. Today, competition selects the best among the best and has become the only way of survival. Hence, a person who has grown up in a small town would have had very little exposure to the outside world. This is where people brought up in cities have the edge over the town people.

 Survival in the 21^st century mainly depends on education and the quality of education that people get in cities is far better than the quality of education in towns. As a result person in the city is considered “better” than the person in a town. The technology in towns might be outdated as compared to the technology in the cities. The students in city-schools get to attend and participate in many inter-school culturals and expo’s which increases their level of knowledge and this helps them in future. This is one major disadvantage faced by the students in the small towns. Growing up in small towns would be a lot of fun given proper exposure and extra-curricular activities. I wouldn’t mind being brought up in a town like that.