Freakonomics on India

[RiazHaq]

In a recently published book "Superfreakonomics", the authors cite two American economists' finding that cable TV in 2700 households empowered Indian women to be more autonomous. Cable TV households had lower birthrates, less domestic abuse and kept daughters in school. Here are some more highlight from the book about India:

1. If women could choose their birthplace, India might not be a wise choice to be born.

2. In spite of recent economic success and euphoria about India, the people of India remain excruciatingly poor.

3. Literacy is low, corruption is high.

4. Only half the Indian households have electricity.

5. Only one in 4 Indian homes has a toilet.

6. 40% of families with girls want to have more children, but families with boys do not want a baby girl.

7. It's especially unlucky to be born female, baby boy is like a 401 K retirement plan, baby girl requires a dowry fund.

8. Smile train in Chennai did cleft repair surgery. A man was asked how many children he had. He said he had 1, a boy. It turned out that he also had 5 daughters which he did not mention.

9. Indian midwives are paid $2.50 to kill girls with cleft deformity

10. Girls are highly undervalued, there are 35 million fewer females than males, presumed de ad, killed by midwife or parent or starved to death. Unltrasound are used mainly to find and destroy female fetuses. Ultrasound and abortion are available even in the smallest villages with no electricity or clean water

11. If not aborted, baby girls face inequality and cruelty at every turn.

12. 51% of Indian men say wife beating is justified, 54% women agree, especially when dinner is burned or they leave home without husband's permission.

13. Unwanted pregnancies, STDs, HIV infections happen when 15% o the condoms fail. Indian council of med research found that 60% of Indian men's genitalia are too small by international standards.

14. Indian laws to protect women are widely ignored. The government has tried monetary rewards to keep baby girls and supported microfinance for women. NGOs programs, smaller condoms, other projects have had limited success.

15. People had little interest in State TV due to poor reception or boring programs. But cable television has helped women, as 150 million people between 2001-2006 got cable
TV which gave exposure to world.

16. American economists found that the effect of TV in 2700 households empowered women to be more autonomous. Cable TV households had lower birthrates, less domestic abuse and kept daughter in school.

http://www.riazhaq.com/2010/05/superfreakonomics-on-status-of-indian.html

http://www.chowk.com/ilogs/77799/48173

http://www.riazhaq.com/2010/03/girl-feticide-in-chinindia-cuts.html

 

[JonAsad]

5. Only one in 4 Indian homes has a toilet.

i dont know but why this point automatically rises when we discuss india.

 

[JonAsad]

Anything new? … we already know all these and more

Did you know about the point no. 13?

 

[navtrek]

To talk abt the status of women here in India you really need to come and see But i do agree we are a developing society there is a lot of scope for improvement and as far as i know things are a lot better than what it was.

hope this dosent end up as a waste thread pls leave a comment only if u have something very credible to add

 

[Jade]

To talk abt the status of women here in India you really need to come and see But i do agree we are a developing society there is a lot of scope for improvement and as far as i know things are a lot better than what it was.

hope this dosent end up as a waste thread pls leave a comment only if u have something very credible to add

Have you heard about the term “Indophobia”. Even if we add anything credible, it is not going to make any difference.

 

[Jade]

Did you know about the point no. 13?

Don’t become so happy. You are also from the same stock

 

[ramu]

In a recently published book "Superfreakonomics", the authors cite two American economists' finding that cable TV in 2700 households empowered Indian women to be more autonomous. Cable TV households had lower birthrates, less domestic abuse and kept daughters in school. Here are some more highlight from the book about India:

1. If women could choose their birthplace, India might not be a wise choice to be born.

2. In spite of recent economic success and euphoria about India, the people of India remain excruciatingly poor.

3. Literacy is low, corruption is high.

4. Only half the Indian households have electricity.

5. Only one in 4 Indian homes has a toilet.

6. 40% of families with girls want to have more children, but families with boys do not want a baby girl.

7. It's especially unlucky to be born female, baby boy is like a 401 K retirement plan, baby girl requires a dowry fund.

8. Smile train in Chennai did cleft repair surgery. A man was asked how many children he had. He said he had 1, a boy. It turned out that he also had 5 daughters which he did not mention.

9. Indian midwives are paid $2.50 to kill girls with cleft deformity

10. Girls are highly undervalued, there are 35 million fewer females than males, presumed de ad, killed by midwife or parent or starved to death. Unltrasound are used mainly to find and destroy female fetuses. Ultrasound and abortion are available even in the smallest villages with no electricity or clean water

11. If not aborted, baby girls face inequality and cruelty at every turn.

12. 61% of Indian men say wife beating is justified, 54% women agree, especially when dinner is burned or they leave home without husband's permission.

13. Unwanted pregnancies, STDs, HIV infections happen when 15% o the condoms fail. Indian council of med research found that 60% of Indian men's genitalia are too small by international standards.

14. Indian laws to protect women are widely ignored. The government has tried monetary rewards to keep baby girls and supported microfinance for women. NGOs programs, smaller condoms, other projects have had limited success.

15. People had little interest in State TV due to poor reception or boring programs. But cable television has helped women, as 150 million people between 2001-2006 got cable
TV which gave exposure to world.

16. American economists found that the effect of TV in 2700 households empowered women to be more autonomous. Cable TV households had lower birthrates, less domestic abuse and kept daughter in school.

Chowk: Personal: Superfreakonomics on Indian Women\'s Plight

Haq's Musings: Girl Feticide in Chinindia Cuts Population Growth

I have both the books at an arms distance and let me tell you what the book is not about. The book is not about India bashing.

Let me talk about the second book here:

Introduction: Putting the Freak in Economics
Chapter 1: How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
Chapter 2: Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance?
Chapter 3: Unbelievable stories about apathy and altruism
Chapter 4: The fix is in---and it's cheap and simple
Chapter 5: What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in common?

As clearly seen, the theme is nothing to do with India but a large set of facts are used to sprinkle substance in to the source.

India is treated as an exception in terms of growth inspite of the problems and that is the main idea when describing India.

Riaz is clever and he has done a significant amount of research to highlight the negatives but at times has forgotten to complete the sentence that Steven Levitt has set out to make.

Those who want to read the book start with Part 1 and move on to the next.

In short, what is written falls well short of what the book tries to present. As usual, giving a spin to something straight forward is the hobby of a few bloggers to achieve selfish objectives.

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/freak-shots-price-war-or-phantom-bargain/

 

[rubyjackass]

13. Unwanted pregnancies, STDs, HIV infections happen when 15% o the condoms fail. Indian council of med research found that 60% of Indian men's genitalia are too small by international standards.

Chowk: Personal: Superfreakonomics on Indian Women\'s Plight

Haq's Musings: Girl Feticide in Chinindia Cuts Population Growth

This ones my favourite. A nice chat of fact and masala.

 

[Bhushan]

ha..ha..ha......RiazHaq is back.

Riaz is a Pakistani based in US,writes a nice blog but..... most of his posts are related to India.... never saw him anything about Pakistan.

Infact Pakistan has more and bigger problems but never saw him writing about those problems. Is it obsession???? NOOOOOO....

Some people are so kind that they burn there house to show others path. Riaz uncle has taken the responsibility of pointing out India's problems so we can rectify them.So kind of you.

BTW you are a creative person Riazhaq.Whatever creative funny you have written reminds me creative MTV promos of late 90s.

 

[vishal_gutsy]

ha..ha..ha......RiazHaq is back.

Riaz is a Pakistani based in US,writes a nice blog but..... most of his posts are related to India.... never saw him anything about Pakistan.

Infact Pakistan has more and bigger problems but never saw him writing about those problems. Is it obsession???? NOOOOOO....

Some people are so kind that they burn there house to show others path. Riaz uncle has taken the responsibility of pointing out India's problems so we can rectify them.So kind of you.

BTW you are a creative person Riazhaq.Whatever creative funny you have written reminds me creative MTV promos of late 90s.

ya .. they people keep living in thier own cocoon of lies to satisfy thier inflated ego.

i have read many blogs of this so called pakistani intellectual...
these guys have been writings these blogs for so many years .. and we are developing continously .... i really feel pity on thier desperation.

 

[RiazHaq]

I have both the books at an arms distance and let me tell you what the book is not about. The book is not about India bashing.

Let me talk about the second book here:

Introduction: Putting the Freak in Economics
Chapter 1: How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
Chapter 2: Why should suicide bombers buy life insurance?
Chapter 3: Unbelievable stories about apathy and altruism
Chapter 4: The fix is in---and it's cheap and simple
Chapter 5: What do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo have in common?

As clearly seen, the theme is nothing to do with India but a large set of facts are used to sprinkle substance in to the source.

India is treated as an exception in terms of growth inspite of the problems and that is the main idea when describing India.

Riaz is clever and he has done a significant amount of research to highlight the negatives but at times has forgotten to complete the sentence that Steven Levitt has set out to make.

Those who want to read the book start with Part 1 and move on to the next.

In short, what is written falls well short of what the book tries to present. As usual, giving a spin to something straight forward is the hobby of a few bloggers to achieve selfish objectives.

FREAK Shots: Price War or Phantom Bargain? - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com

You are right in saying that the book "Superfreakonomics", the latest in the series, is not specifically about India.

It does, however, states and uses the facts I have laid out to prove what it calls the "Law of Unintended Consequences".

What the authors argue is that access to cable TV, not originally intended to help liberate women, has done more to improve the lives of Indian women than the many laws and government programs designed to help them.

 

[ramu]

You are right in saying that the book "Superfreakonomics", the latest in the series, is not specifically about India.

It does, however, states and uses the facts I have laid out to prove what it calls the "Law of Unintended Consequences".

What the authors argue is that access to cable TV, not originally intended to help liberate women, has done more to improve the lives of Indian women than the many laws and government programs designed to help them.

Why did you forget to use the facts that are in favour of India ? Why the selective cherry picking ?

And why am I even asking Riaz to be neutral

 

[RiazHaq]

Why did you forget to use the facts that are in favour of India ? Why the selective cherry picking ?

And why am I even asking Riaz to be neutral

Read it again. You clearly missed the first and the last parts of the post.

Let me reproduce these for you:

"In a recently published book "Superfreakonomics", the authors cite two American economists' finding that cable TV in 2700 households empowered Indian women to be more autonomous. Cable TV households had lower birthrates, less domestic abuse and kept daughters in school."

"16. American economists found that the effect of TV in 2700 households empowered women to be more autonomous. Cable TV households had lower birthrates, less domestic abuse and kept daughter in school."

Haq's Musings: Superfreakonomics on Status of Indian Women

 

[nForce]

I have noticed that most of the time Mr. Riaz Haq talks about rural India.He himself being a Pakistani,shows a bit too much concern for a country to which he does not belong.Well,we should thank him for his concern.We must learn a lesson from him.Anyways,for us,charity begins at home,and we r taking positive steps to do what is necessary.


Lets start with today's news...

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on the occasion of completion of one year of the UPA Government in its second term said on Monday that the flagship programmes launched by his government are progressing well.

"I will briefly highlight some of the important steps we have taken over the past year and also the pressing challenges that confront the nation,' Dr. Singh said during his opening remarks at the national press conference held in New Delhi.

"Our flagship programmes such as the Bharat Nirman, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the National Rural Health Mission and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission are progressing well. We are on a learning curve and we can and will do more to strengthen these programmes and improve delivery," he said.

Dr. Singh said that the Right to Education Act enacted last year is a historic step forward in making every Indian a literate and empowered citizen.

"We are undertaking a comprehensive review of our system of higher education, including medical education. A draft National Council for Higher Education and Research Bill has already been put in the public domain," he said.

To strengthen political inclusion, Dr. Singh said that the government has introduced bills to provide 50 percent reservation for women in all panchayats and urban local bodies.

"Nearly one crore scholarships have been granted last year to students belonging to the SCs, STs, other backward classes and minorities. A large proportion of these scholarships have gone to girls," he said.

"We launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission in January this year. It aims to create a capacity of 20,000 MW grid solar power by 2022. We have decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for workers in the unorganized sector with an initial corpus of Rs. 1,000 crores.

"A draft National Food Security Bill is under preparation," Dr Singh added.

Source

A few schemes are already in place which have shown good results in recent past..


Rural Development in India-Schemes

* Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY): This is a scheme launched and fully sponsored by the Central Government of India. The main objective of the scheme is to connect all the habitations with more than 500 individuals residing there, in the rural areas by the means of weatherproof paved roads.

* Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY): This was implemented as a total package with all the characteristics of self employment such as proper training, development of infrastructure, planning of activities, financial aid, credit from banks, organizing self help groups, and subsidies.

* Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana (SGRY): This scheme aims at increasing the food protection by the means of wage employment in the rural areas which are affected by the calamities after the appraisal of the state government and the appraisal is accepted by the Ministry of Agriculture.

* Indira Awaas Yojana (Rural Housing): This scheme puts emphasis on providing housing benefits all over the rural areas in the country.



Some government led organizations are working already for the uplift of the rural poor,not to mention the numerous NGO's.....

Rural Development in India-Organizations

* Department of Rural Development in India: This department provides services such as training and research facilities, human resource development, functional assistance to the DRDA, oversees the execution of projects and schemes.

* Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank Limited: The main purpose of the Haryana State Cooperative Apex Bank Limited is to financially assist the artisans in the rural areas, farmers and agrarian unskilled labor, small and big rural entrepreneurs of Haryana.

* National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development: The main purpose of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is to provide credit for the development of handicrafts, agriculture, small scaled industries, village industries, rural crafts, cottage industries, and other related economic operations in the rural sector.

* Sindhanur Urban Souharda Co-operative Bank: The main purpose of the Sindhanur Urban Souharda Co-operative Bank is to provide financial support to the rural sector.

* Rural Business Hubs (RBH): RBH was set up with the purpose of developing agriculture. The Rural Business Hubs Core Groups helps in the smooth functioning of the Rural Business Hubs.

* Council for Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART): The main purpose of this organization is to promote and organize the joint venture, which is emerging between the Government of India and the voluntary organizations pertaining to the development of the rural sector.


There is an entire website dedicated to the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(NREGA)
The latest developments can be tracked there....

Assoc for India's Development - Home

Some of the social evils highlighted in this thread must be encountered strongly.As an Indian,Im happy to see that proper steps are being taken.But,'time is God's way to keep things happening from all at once.'Changes do not happen overnight.In real World scenario,they take time.Bring the World's second largest populated country to the picture,and things are bound to take some time.But its good to see that changes are taking place,rapidly and progressively...

 

[nForce]

Did you know about the point no. 13?

lol..that did not stop India from being the World's second most populous country...

"God gave us a penis and a brain, but only enough blood to run one at a time."......

--Robin Williams

I cant assume u were not using ur brain,otherwise u would have realised that.I will suspend my assumptions beyond this point...

anyways..that was a joke..never mind..