Reading Suggestion-7 (Level-1)

Reading Suggestion-1

Article Name:Live life in a moderate and balanced manner
Author Name:Geetika Jain
Source:The Times of India
Category:Spirituality

Summary for this article:

This article focuses on the importance of Balance of everything in our life .

The author starts with how Balance in various aspects of life is conducive to smoothness and happiness in life. Even Buddhism advocates the ‘Middle Path’ or the path of moderation which means that It exhorts one to avoid extremes. Adherence to this path results in happiness for oneself and others, yielding the greatest value to human existence.
Moderation is the key to an ideal life. Even our day-to-day mundane activities , pursuit of wealth, acquisition of knowledge, setting life-goals, relationships, virtues , practising religion everything requires a balanced approach to yield desired results.

The author emphasises that although Love is a prerequisite for all personal relationships but an excess of it can wreak havoc. Even charity and knowledge should be in a proportionate manner . Either extremes are not good for any individual. She feels that Yoga provides us with an infallible solution as the mind attains clarity and sharpness. The author concludes that a healthy, well-synchronised body and mind help one to be in peace with oneself and consequently in balance. Yoga helps us to be in a state of perpetual awareness that in turn keeps us anchored in the present rather than worrying about past or future.

Words to learn from this article:

Conducive: having or likely to have the effect of proving a case; decisive
Moderate: average in amount, intensity, quality, or degree
Mundane: lacking interest or excitement; dull
Sublime: of very great excellence or beauty
Inimical: tending to obstruct or harm
Dearth: a scarcity or lack of something
Parochialism: a limited or narrow outlook, especially focused on a local area; narrow-mindedness
Bigotry: intolerance towards those who hold different opinions from oneself
Panacea: a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases
Lopsided: with one side lower or smaller than the other
Metamorphosis: the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages
Anchored: secure firmly in position

Reading Suggestion-1: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-2

Article Name:My Patriot Versus Yours
Author Name:Sanjay Joshi
Source: Outlook
Category:Politics

Summary for this article:

This article discusses the authors opinions on the article Patriotism v/s jingoism written by Ramachandra Guha (Indian historian).

The author expresses that although he has always admired Mr. Guha’s work but this time it is not the same . He feels that although Guha’s dismay at our current state of affairs is understandable and necessary, even crucial, at this point in our history. But doing so by celebrating the superiority of Indian nationalism over other nationalisms robs his argument of its moral authority and historical gravitas. My nationalism is better than yours attitude undermines the point about distinguishing between patriotism and Nationalism and compels him to marshal an argument open to historical questioning.

The author concludes that for Guha, the failure of the Indian Left to celebrate Indian heroes is the primary reason for the rise of jingoism in our times. This not only betrays an ethnocentricism similar to the European-style nationalism he criticises, it also echoes the critique made of the Left by those he would term jingoistic. The author feels that Guha’s article does not considerate other virtues of the noble men he discusses but sticks on what he prefers and in his article other than a passing reference to Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay’s shame, no women other than Indira Gandhi figures in his essay.

Words to learn from this article:

Patriotism: the quality of being patriotic; vigorous support for one’s country
Jingoism: extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy
Prestige: widespread respect and admiration felt for someone or something on the basis of a perception of their achievements or quality.
Snipe: make a sly or petty verbal attack
Ethnocentrism: evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one’s own culture

Reading Suggestion-2: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-3

Article Name:Medicare is not healthcare
Author Name:R. Srinivasan
Source: The Hindu
Category: Healhcare

Summary for this article:

This article deals with the topic of the problems that need to be adjusted before this insurance plans (National Health Protection Scheme) works out for the country .

The author starts with how this programme is the world’s largest healthcare programme as envisages providing medical insurance cover of up to Rs.5 lakh each to 10 crore families or averaging to 50 crore individuals but the Finance Minister did not allocate any money for this; he only promised to raise the resources when required. The author states that for a moment he hypothetically believes the finance minister’s words that they would find the resources to support this and this support would amount to only around 40% of the total required, with the balance to be funded by the States. Even considering here that the states too find their resources and the insurance policies go live in a year or two, does this mean that a significant chunk of the population will be able to afford quality healthcare when they need it as it is a fact that our out of pocket expenditure on healthcare is nearly 63% of the country’s total healthcare expenditure . This is one of the highest in the world.

Then the author gives us figures about the current healthcare infrastructure state and how even if the buildings exist, they are often without the requisite staff. The author concludes that given this scenario merely providing the amount is not enough and creating a potential addressable medical services consumer base worth Rs.50 lakh crore will create infrastructure for the private sector but this take time. He emphasises that the main challenges still remain unchanged that are to create the physical healthcare infrastructure on the ground, equip it, staff it, run it and providing them 24/7 power and water supply.