2paisa

As the state faces a drought and farmers committ suicide, the Maharashtra government is busy planning a huge statue of the Maratha warrior king Shivaji in the middle of the Arabian Sea (off Marine Drive in the city of Mumbai). What is alarming about this is the cost of this statue (350 crores of rupees) which is probably enough to save the lives of lakhs of farmers in this drought year.

This is what the Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan remarked about his government’s plan for this statue:-

“The statue of Shivaji will be a great landmark for the city. It will be in the Arabian sea halfway between Chowpatty and Marine Drive. The platform will span 8 acres. And it will be taller than the Statue of Liberty. People can travel to it from nearby jetties.”

This could be yet another election stunt to get the Maharashtrian vote, but the question I think we should all be asking  -  is this what is required of the government to do now, especially when two-thirds of Maharashtra is facing a terrible drought and farmers are committing suicide?

Vishal Dadlani (a musician) who started an online signature campaign and finally filed a PIL against TV news channels covering the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai live on TV,  is planning another one against the erection of this statue.

Also, take a look at an interesting opinion on this issue, from Chinmaye Bhave.

As news of the latest swine flu death (taking the national toll to 20 now) in India came in about an hour ago, I began wondering how to best control rapid spread and prevent deaths.

Upon not finding any easy answers to this I thought of looking at some numbers:-

 
Comparing numbers for some of the countries which have had a higher number of reported cases than India has and no deaths, throws up some interesting questions … 

What makes it so difficult or complex to control rapid spread (esp. urban areas, given that all deaths have been in urban areas) of the virus in India?   And, what has lead to the higher number of deaths due to the flu in India?

Given that a large country like China had almost twice as many cases,  they have been fairly successful in controlling spread after the initial few months  and  preventing deaths due to the flu,   it is perhaps worthwhile trying to think over this and find answers.

Thoughts, comments, views anyone?