Missing Daughters [The Hindu - Editorial Pg:12 (May-28,2011)]

Question:
           The Census of 2011 revealed that sex ratio in the 0-6 age group is worse now than in any decade since Independence. It is indisputable that this distressing trend is the result of more people having easier access to medical technologies that reveal the sex of the foetus, and opting for sex-selective abortions. New research published by The Lancet provides further insights into the phenomenon of ‘missing women': as family size in India declines over time, there is a bias against having a second female child when the first is a girl. Based on data drawn from the National Family Health Survey between 1990 and 2005 and the Census of 1991, 2001, and 2011, the paper estimates that for second-order births where the first is a female, the conditional sex ratio fell to an abysmal 836 girls per 1,000 boys in 2005. It is equally a matter of concern that most of India's population now lives in States where selective abortion of girls is common. What stands out in the findings is the positive correlation that education and affluence seem to have with a decline in the sex ratio; the decline was higher in the case of women with ten years or more of education than for mothers with no education. Such a trend calls for closer study of the factors that reinforce the son preference, especially in States and districts with a worsening ratio.
           What is fundamentally underscored by the research is the failure of the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act even in its amended form, and the need for a multi-pronged strategy to remove the prejudice against the girl child. Any serious review of the law in the States with the worst child sex ratios should begin with the quarterly reports they are required to file on diagnostic centres, laboratories, and clinics, the action taken against unregistered bodies, search and seizure, and the outcomes of awareness campaigns. Not all States have been filing such reports regularly.
           The level of involvement of laggard States in implementing the PNDT Act can be gauged from the fact that in Haryana, a crucial notification on setting up Appropriate Authorities was not published in the gazette for 12 years from 1997, and it had to be reissued as an ordinance with retrospective effect. But then, while enforcement measures may have a salutary effect, the more challenging task is to make India a less male-dominated society. The place to start for that mission would be Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies. Political parties must lead by enabling 33 per cent representation for women in legislatures and raise their visibility. Liberal scholarships for all levels of study and improved economic security may tilt the balance for the less affluent sections.


Answers:

1. Abysmal  - Very bad.
2. Prong - Pointed, Projecting part.
3. Prejudice - An unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge;  to judge prematurely and irrationally; An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.
4. Laggard - Someone or something that is very slow.
5. Ordinance -  An authoritative command or order.
6. Retrospective - Looking back on, contemplating, or directed to the past; Looking or directed backward; Applying to or influencing the past; retroactive.

May-27th's Word List

Questions:

1. Your body language is your autobiography in motion. On the stage of real life, every physical move you make subliminally tells everyone in eyeshot the story of your life.
2. Women - Did your women's intuition make you accept or reject an offer? On a conscious level, we may not be aware of what the hunch is. But like the ear of the dog or the eye of the bat, the element that make up subliminal sentiments are very real.
3. With the zillions of subtle actions and reactions zapping back and forth between two human beings, can we come up with concrete techniques to make our every communication clear, confident, credible and charismatic? Intrepid social scientist left no stone unturned in their quest to find the formula.
4. Dale Carnegie's How to win friends and influence people says, "The success is in smiling, showing interest in other people, and making them feel good about themselves". "That's no surprise," I thought. Dale Carnegie and hundreds of others offer the same astute advice.

Answers:

1. Subliminal -  not recognized or understood by the conscious mind, but still having an influence on it.
2. Hunch - An intuitive feeling or a premonition (A presentiment of the future; a foreboding). An idea which is based on feeling and for which there is no proof. 
3. Subtle -  So slight as to be difficult to detect or describe; elusive; Difficult to understand; abstruse.
4. Zap - to destroy or kill something or someone, especially intentionally.
5. Charisma - a special power which some people have naturally which makes them able to influence other people and attract their attention and admiration. 
6. Intrepid - Resolutely courageous; fearless. 
7. Astute - clever and quick to see how to take advantage of a situation; Having or showing shrewdness and discernment, especially with respect to one's own concerns.

May-26th's Word List

Questions:

1. Over the years, people who seem to "have it all" have captured the hearts and conquered the minds of hundreds of others who helped boost them, rung by rung, to the top of whatever corporate or social ladder they chose. 
2. Wanna-bes wandering around at the foot of the ladder often gaze up and grouse that big boys at the top are snobs.
3. When big players don't give them their friendship, love or business, they call them "cliquish" or accuse them of belonging to an "old-boy network". Some grumble they hit their heads against a "glass ceiling".
4. The complaining Little Leaguers never realize the rejection was their own fault. They'll never know they blew the affair, the friendship, or the deal because of their own communication fumbles.
5. Many years ago, a drama teacher, exasperated at my bad acting in a college play, shouted, "No! No! Your body is belying your words.
6. Every tiny movement, every body position, he howled, divulges your private thought.

Answers:

    1.       Rung  - A rod or bar forming a step of a ladder; A crosspiece between the legs of a chair; The spoke in a wheel.

    2.       Wanna-bes - Some-one who acts like and wishes they are of a certain clique, but in truth aren’t, often they fill the more complex criteria of the clique, but miss the defining quality. Their character often seems forced.

    3.       Gaze – (n) A steady, fixed look. (v) To look steadily, intently, and with fixed attention.

    4.      Grouse – (n) A cause for complaint; a grievance. (v) To complain; grumble.

    5.       Snob – (n) One who tends to patronize, rebuff, or ignore people regarded as social inferiors and imitate, admire, or seek association with people regarded as social superiors. One who affects an offensive air of self-satisfied superiority in matters of taste or intellect.

(N1): a) a person who strives to associate with those of higher social status and who behaves condescendingly to others Compare inverted snob. B)  (as modifier) snob appeal

(N2):  a person having similar pretensions with regard to his tastes, etc. an intellectual snob.
6. Cliquish - behaving like a clique, not making other people feel welcome.
7. Fumble - To proceed awkwardly and uncertainly; blunder: fumble through a speech;  To touch or handle nervously or idly; To grope awkwardly to find or to accomplish something;  To touch or handle clumsily or idly; to do something awkwardly, especially when using your hands; 
8. Exasperated - To make very angry or impatient; annoy greatly.
9. Belying -  To give a false representation to; misrepresent; contradict.
10. Divulge - to make something secret known