Indian sex ratio tilt shows up in US, Canada, debate ultrasound

Toronto, February 6: Not just in Punjab or Haryana and not just about boy versus girl economics - female foeticide seems to travel with some Indian parents. A recent editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) talks of female foeticide via selective abortion in Canada’s Asian immigrant communities, sparking off a debate about the prevalence of this practice among Indians in North America.

The CMAJ editorial, by the journal’s outgoing interim editor-in-chief Rajendra Kale, cited studies to show that female foeticide in Canada and the US occurs in large enough numbers to distort male-female ratios in some immigrant groups, including ethnic Indians and Chinese.

Kale, a physician, recommended that “health care professionals should not reveal the sex of the foetus to any woman before, say, 30 weeks of pregnancy because such information is medically irrelevant and in some instances harmful”. After about 30 weeks, an unquestioned abortion would be “all but impossible”, he pointed out.

A working paper for the US National Bureau of Economic Research in 2009 showed that the sex ratio for first births among Indians in the US was close to the norm of 105 boys for every 100 girls. But the ratio got increasingly skewed for subsequent births if the previous children were girls. In cases where the first 2 children were girls, the sex ratio for third births among Indians was found to be nearly 190 boys for 100 girls.

Another study published last year and led by Sunita Puri, a physician at the University of California in San Francisco, looked at 65 Indian immigrant women in the US who had opted for foetal sex selection between September 2004 and December 2009. The paper found 40% of those women had previously aborted female foetuses, and 89% of women carrying girls during the period of the study went on to abort them. The women came from a diverse range of income and education levels, and from different Indian states.

Kale’s opinion has drawn sharp reactions. A nationwide poll by the agency Angus Reid, conducted after the editorial was published, found that 60% of the Canadians, including two-thirds of women, supported laws governing the use of abortion as a means of sex selection.

But several health care experts, both in Canada and the US, have argued against withholding information from parents. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada said that while it does not condone pregnancy termination for non-medical reasons, under Canadian standards of care, “it is the right of the patient to be informed of the gender of their foetus”.

It also pointed out that biochemical testing available in the market now can help determine the sex of a foetus with a high degree of accuracy as early as 8 weeks, right at home, and Kale’s solution would be irrelevant in such instances.

“There should not be any barriers in the way of women being able to access legitimate ultrasound tests,” said Prabhat Jha, Director of the Centre for Global Health Research at the University of Toronto. “The response must be commensurate to the scale of the problem, which I suspect is very small in the US and Canada.”

Jha is the author of a well-known study published in 2006 in The Lancet that estimated that India had lost over 10 million girls to female foeticide in the 2 preceding decades. He estimates that even now about 600,000 female foetuses are aborted in India every year.

According to him, the problem among Indians worldwide is less one of discrimination against girls than the desire to have at least one boy, as studies show parents did not abort their first born children even if they knew it was a girl. But if a family was going to have only 2 children and they already had a girl, they would try to ensure the second child was a boy. “It’s a subtle nuance, but it’s relevant,” said Jha. (Courtesy: IE)

‘42% of India’s youth have paid a bribe’

New delhi, February 6: Demographically, India is one of the youngest countries in the world, with over 50% of our population under 25 years of age. This young generation - with its thriving aspirations and new-found money power - was at its vocal best in 2011.

Anna Hazare may have led the anti-graft movement, but these net-savvy, slogan-chanting youth set Twitter and other social media abuzz and came out in vast numbers to support the retired army man.

Yet, a majority sees corruption as a ‘necessary evil’, and has not shied away from paying a bribe - 47% in the 18-21 age group said that they have done so, according to a survey conducted by Hindustan Times.

The survey, which covered over 7,000 youth across 15 cities in India, painted an unflattering picture of the youth’s views on corruption. Almost 40% said that they would not feel ashamed if they had to pay a bribe.

This is the same generation which was chanting mera neta chor hai at Delhi’s Ramlila ground not so long back.

“Without paying bribes, you can’t get your licence, passport, ration card. Everybody knows paisa bolta hai,” said 24-year-old Archana Bhatnagar, a pharmacist in Bhopal.

In India, you pay all your life for things which are essentially free - from a birth certificate to a death certificate. Maybe that’s why many think it is ok to get things which one must pay for, for free.

46% don’t bat an eyelid while downloading music or movies for free off the internet and nearly the same number said that they have purchased pirated software.

Recently, software icon NR Narayana Murthy lamented that youngsters are seeing the dishonest become “wealthy and powerful, and are thinking this is the way to success.”

Let’s hope he is wrong.(Courtesy: HT)

No question of censoring social media: Sachin Pilot

Bangalore, February 6: Social media sites have to operate within the framework of the law, said Sachin Pilot, Union Minister of State for Telecommunications and Information Technology, on Monday. Speaking to the media on the sidelines of an event organised by the Indian Semiconductor Association, Mr. Pilot said, “After all, these entities do the same when they work in other nations.”

Refraining from commenting on the proceedings against Google and other websites in a Delhi court, Mr. Pilot said, “We have had discussions with these companies even when the law was being made, and there is no question of censorship.”

Pilot said when content is perceived by some to be “objectionable,” there must be a “redressal system” that makes these companies “accountable” for what is posted on their sites. “There must be responsible behaviour at both ends,” he said.

Pilot said the recent Supreme Court ruling on the 2G spectrum issue has not “affected investor confidence.” He said the government will “very soon” be finalising the new policies for telecom, electronics manufacturing and IT and is “working on a new postal policy.

He said the IT industry is likely to grow at 15% in the current year, down from 30 per cent per annum in the last decade. “The IT sector remains a sunshine sector and does provide job opportunities to lakhs of people,” he added. (Agencies)

Facebook files compliance report before court

New Delhi, February 6: Facebook India today filed its compliance report before the Delhi court which had ordered it and 21 other websites to remove objectionable content from their websites.

Google India also told the court that it has removed certain web pages from the Internet on which objections were raised by the petitioners.

Meanwhile, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft told the court that they have no role to play in the case and there is no cause of action against them in the matter.

Additional Civil Judge Praveen Singh also posed a query to the counsel appearing for petitioner Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi, as to whether the blog service-providing companies can be made a party to the case for any content posted by the users on the blogs.

The court, which will further hear the matter in the afternoon, also asked Google Inc as to why it was not coming up “properly” with a reply and brushed aside its contention that it had received the copy of the judgement and other documents related to case only on last Friday.

“Why are you (Google Inc) not coming properly with your reply?” the court said.

“Don’t tell me you have been served only on Friday. After all this hullabaloo that has been created in the last few months you should have been prepared,” it stated. (PTI)

PMO to address people's problems on Twitter

New Delhi, February 6: With over 38,500 followers in just two weeks, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is now looking forward to addressing problems of common people on the increasingly popular microblogging site Twitter and is also exploring the possibility of getting on to Facebook, official sources said Monday.

A small office will soon be set up in the PMO to effectively handle communications through social media.

Besides, the PM's media team is planning to make its Twitter account @PMOIndia more interactive by answering questions of people.

"We will take up the matter of people in distress on Twitter. The process of social media is very new for us and things will take time," the source said, adding that PMO could offer monetary help through the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

The PMO is also exploring the option of Facebook. According to the source, the existing PMO account on Facebook is not official and is being run by some fans.

The PMO came on Twitter on Jan 23 and has since gathered 38,585 followers.

"It has been very successful. We are seeing 3,000-4,000 followers each day," the source said. (Agencies)

Awards for social scientists soon: Kapil Sibal

New Delhi, February 6: The government proposes constituting an award for social scientists who excel in their field on the lines of the Bhatnagar awards for scientists, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said on Monday.

"For scientists we have the Bhatnagar awards, but nothing for social scientists. We have proposed ten annual awards to recognize advancement in the field of social science," Sibal said.

The minister was speaking at a conference organised by the Indian Council of Social Science & Research.

Talking about the education scenario in the country, the HRD minister said the government is contemplating making huge investments in universities under state governments in the 12th plan.

Stating that the problem lies in universities under state governments, Sibal said: "That is why we are planning to allocate a large amount of money to bring quality in state-funded colleges."

The minister also said that increased investment in school education is needed for taking university education to higher levels.

"All recent reports show how important it is for us to invest in elementary and secondary education. The real difference between developing and developed countries is that of the gross enrolment ratio (GER)," he said adding that the aim is to increase the GER to 30% by 2020.

Speaking at the conference, veteran scholar and professor of Economics at the University of California (Berkeley) Pranab K Bardhan stressed that the quality of research in social sciences in the country was poor.

"We have a bad culture of social research, objective research is missing," he said.

The HRD Minister, however, said that the level of research in India at present should not be compared with western countries, as the scenarios are different. (Agencies)