Millennium Development Goals and India

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Economic development of the Third World countries is a matter of concern not only for the developing countries but also the developed West. With almost one-third of the total population of the developing countries still languishing under abject poverty, with per capita income of less than 1 US dollar per day, the need has become even more pronounced. World community thus has a major role to play in enabling the Third World countries achieve reasonable levels of development with equitable distribution of the wealth and economic resources.

The world community has expressed its grave concern at several occasions about the issues relating to equitable and sustainable growth in the developing countries. In addition to various other steps like grants-in-aid and actions through various country specific development agencies like the USAID, DFID and AUSAID, the United Nations is playing a major role in assisting the Third World countries develop primarily through various organizations like WHO, UNDP, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNESCO etc. It was in 2000 when the United Nations resolved to adopt Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for taking care of the deprived sections of society in the world. Having a time frame extending mostly up to the year 2015 (2020 in a few cases), the millennium development goals are among the major instruments to coax the developing world to achieve some fixed targets.

The MDGs are eight in number and there are eighteen targets within the MDGs which are sought to be achieved by the year 2015. The targets are not uniform in terms of a particular benchmark to be achieved over the given period of time but are general in terms of percentage reduction or increase to be achieved in the developing countries. The World Bank and the UN have agreed to 48 indicators to monitor the progress of the MDGs in the developing countries. The MDGs are aimed at reducing hunger, deprivation, illiteracy, gender inequalities and the incidence of disease in the developing world and providing the people in these countries with better life.

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Essay: Is Modern Life Making Children Unhappy?

There is a growing consensus that modern childhood today is in a somewhat parlous state. Experts world over contend that the fast-moving, hyper-competitive modern society is damaging children mentally and emotionally. Growing children confront the tyranny of consumer and moral choice. The society at large, however, appears to be ambivalent on the issue. “Our children are in danger, fattened on fast food, corrupted by commerce, traumatized by testing. And, other children are dangerous…., chaotic in the classroom, bestial in the bedroom”, according to an analyst.

We need to look hard into the changing consumerist environment that surrounds the growing child today. The electronic media is held as a corrupting influence on modern childhood. We cannot ignore the fact that the imaginative life of children is full of violence. A visit to a playground any time will uphold this perception. But the adult world’s concerns generally are about the proliferation of technology, particularly in the home, and the challenge to adult authority that it represents.

Surely, children’s access to media, and the prevalence of sex and violence in such media, has vastly increased. Research has been documenting for years the nexus between electronic media and a medley of developmental horrors. Though some analysts believe that these studies are flawed in as much as they take violence as an objective category and fail to investigate what audiences themselves define as violent.

Read the complete Essay in May 2007 issue of The Competition Master. You can download the file from Archives section at http://www.competitionmaster.com

Advertising: The Brandwagon Story

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Just imagine: if one was to go to a store to buy tooth paste, soap, oil, shampoo, computer, refrigerator—all covered in drab white or brown paper reading only just as much! No idea of richness and exclusivity backing them, no appeals working on the mind. The result would be no more desire to buy something exceptional, no more hankering for a great shopping experience, no more retail therapy for the parched souls! And subsequently, limited sales, slumped markets and extremely dejected entrepreneurs. This is what an un-exciting, un-informed world would be like if there were no branding, no advertising—the two processes that work on the minds quite invisibly and lead us to the stores wanting this fairness crème or that exquisite watch even if there is no need for the same.

Advertising has played a major role in consumer marketing, and has enabled companies to meet communication and other marketing objectives. Typically, advertising is used to inform, persuade, and remind consumers. It importantly reinforces their attitudes and perceptions. Advertising has been a target of criticism for decades, as also been hailed as a capitalistic virtue, an engine of free market economy, a promoter of consumer welfare.

To begin with, an advertisement is in fact a public announcement with the avowed purpose not so much to inform as to coax the public into buying a product, subscribing to a service or accepting an idea. The origins of advertising can be traced to the times when the services of the town crier were used to convey the messages to people. The messages could be a rulers proclamations or information about the market days.

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MAT 2007 solved paper available online

The MAT 2007 solved papers is now available online at http://www.competitionmaster.com. The solved paper has also been published in the September 2007 issue of the magazine (Print Edition) which is available with newspaper vendors/shops all over India.

The magazine in print form or through its online version offers excellent study resources for various competitive exams, like MAT, CAT and other Management admission tests, Civil Services Exam, Defence Services exam, Bank PO/Clerk Cadre exam etc. There are solved papers on Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, Objective English, General Awareness. There are essays, features, articles, personality development tips, quick revision notes and lots more.

All you need to do is to register to be able to access this vast study resource.

In the coming October 2007 issue The Competition Master will carry a cover story on Management as a career and how to prepare for it. There will also be a Mock Cat paper and lots of other useful information.