Indian Youth more suicide prone?

By Ila Garg

Suicides have lately become a great cause of worry. More and more children are seeing suicide as an easy escape route for their problems. Of late, the suicide rates have been on an alarming rise, especially among Indian youth.

According to a study conducted by WHO, every year about 8,00,000 people commit suicide worldwide. Among these 17% are Indian residents, mostly falling in the 15-29 age group. The reasons for these can be variable. However, the one thing that can be clearly observed is that the Indian youth is under pressure and the high expectations, peer pressure, falling grades, lack of job opportunities, workplace harassment, etc. can be the driving force towards the path of ending their lives.

Akash Shukla, a print journalist from Lucknow says, “One must have the right to end something that they don’t like. They should have the right to reject life. Suicide is, in a way, liberation – a liberty from a screwed-up life that you never wanted but became yours, inadvertently. We all have a sense of responsibility towards ourselves. No matter how close someone is to you, no one can understand the deepest pain that a heart hides, except the self. That’s why a man is responsible for any choice he takes – either life or death.”

The youth thus, fails to understand that suicide doesn’t end the pain, but simply passes it on to those you love. They are so blinded by their sorrow that they see suicide as the means to end it; not giving it a second thought.

source: http://blog.askiitians.com

“Suicide should be the end of extreme problems, but not every problem,” says an ardent blogger, Shwetabh Mathur.

If reports are to be believed, Indian youth residing abroad are most prone to committing suicides. A recent data reveals that majority of suicides in Fiji are among the children of Indian descent. The statistics are nearly same for Indians in Malaysia too, as quoted by the Asia-Pacific Psychiatry journal Indians account for about 40% suicide deaths in Malaysia.

Poisoning and hanging from the ceiling have emerged as the most used methods to commit suicide.
With the number of suicide cases increasing, the Minister for Education Mahendra Reddy has expressed his concern, “There needs to be an investigation… Everyone here is important – the parents, the school.”  In addition, he suggested that passing a law to cut down on volatile substances that may lead to death might help in bringing the suicide rate down among children.
Earlier, in 2003, the draft of Volatile Substance Abuse Decree could not proceed due to constitutional requirements. This draft, spearheaded by the national substance abuse advisory council, stated that the wholesalers and retailers who are found selling the banned products can be punished. Reddy believes that legalising this decree might help to some extent but still the question that remains is why the children are driven to commit suicide!

Social isolation has been found as one of the major reasons for committing suicides. A feeling of being the odd one out or not wanted in the peer group has also compelled some to become self-centered and a victim of depression. A prolonged case of depression then leads to suicide attempt.

“Suicide isn’t something natural. Unless one has conjured up a philosophical reason to die, the person is usually depressed, psychotic, severely impulsive, or is simply crying out for help and doesn’t really want to die. So, it’s almost always an avoidable step,” says Roshni Chakrabarty, who hails from Kolkata.

“We need to be more aware of the people around us in order to notice any behavioral changes and also give them the chance to reach out for the help they need,” she added.

The article first appeared on NewsGram.

Go Solar: The new mantra

By Ila Garg

Opting for renewable energy is fast becoming the new trend. Every other household is finally seeing the benefits of solar energy: a source of electricity that is renewable, off-the-grid, clean, distributed and most importantly, affordable.

India can be most benefited from this renewable energy as more than half of the population still lives in rural areas where the grid cannot reach. These remote areas have therefore never seen electricity. They are lurking in the darkness as the world progresses each day. Now, India can finally move out of the darkness and into light, with at least 55 cities being developed as solar cities.

Taking a step towards solarising India, on Thursday, Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain released a Delhi Solar Energy Policy 2015 draft. This Policy aims at generating 1,000 MW of solar power in the next five years. This will help in resolving power cut worries quite easily.



At an event at the secretariat, Satyendra Jain remarked, “To promote solar energy, solar panels will be installed on the roof-tops of every government building and we’ll start with the Delhi Secretariat.”

The minister also revealed that a tender for 5MW solar power generation has been floated. “We have a target to generate 1,000 MW of solar power in the next five years and 2,000 MW by 2025,” he said.
He further added, “This solar policy will promote a rapid growth of solar power, especially from the roof-top source, via a combination of generation targets, regulations, mandate and incentives. This will also promote net-metering and grid connectivity for all solar plants.”

If all goes well, very soon, every household in Delhi will not only have access to an uninterrupted power supply but also save on the electricity bills.

Earlier, the Rajasthan government had approved of an investment of Rs. 1.56 lakh crore in the solar power sector. Sighting the benefits of solar power, the world’s first 12 MW solar power plant was inaugurated by Kerala’s chief minister at the Kochi airport. No wonder the newest metro line added to Delhi metro is NCR’s first solar equipped metro line.

Overseas, China too has already started building its largest solar plant to meet its voluptuous power needs. That’s not all. The enormous usage of this clean, green energy will leave you astonished; the first solar-powered aircraft Solar Impulse 2, made its first successful flight on 3 July, 2015.



The initial installation cost is a little on the higher side. However, since the cost can be recovered in a span of a few years, it remains a lucrative deal. Also, the enormous benefits cannot be ignored. What makes solar power the talk of the town is the fact that it is 100% eco-friendly and can reach the areas where the grid cannot.

Does that mean we will see a solar world soon?

True Grit: Meet 5 Indian women who have stood tall against Mt Everest

By Ila Garg (for NewsGram)

Mountaineering has always been popular in India. As much as the activity is thrilling, it has a huge amount of risk involved. What is astonishing is that even after keeping their life at stake, how many of these mountaineers actually get the recognition that they deserve!

In an attempt to bring forth some of them, NewsGram features five Indian female mountaineers befitting to the definition of ‘courage’. These mountaineers include Krushnaa Patil, Malavath Poorna, Santosh Yadav, Arunima Sinha, and Premlata Agarwal. These climbers have displayed extraordinary determination and dauntless valour to turn their dreams into reality.

Krushnaa Patil is one such Indian mountaineer who started climbing at the age of 19. Consequently, she became the pioneer woman from Maharashtra, and also the second youngest Indian woman to successfully scale Mount Everest in 2009. Patil is a go-getter and her ambitions led her to be a part of several other expeditions which included an international expedition as well. Cycling, rafting, rowing, paragliding, and horse riding are some of her interest areas.
In her pursuit for action, she became the youngest mountaineer to attempt the Seven Summits Challenge but it was later abandoned pertaining to several technical errors. In Patil’s opinion, sports in India require self-assertion. You need to create opportunities for yourself in order to progress.

“My mother is the strongest woman I know. She was more enthusiastic about my climbing than probably I was! Her strength gives me confidence.” Patil told NewsGram, recently.

A motivated person can accomplish wonders. Raised in poverty, 13-year-old Malavath Poorna scaled Mt Everest on May 25, 2014. She successfully tackled the challenges posed in front of her by the cold weather, discomfort of the attire, and her young age.

Her accomplishment is now an inspiration for all young girls in the country. Hailing from a small tribal village, she learned to climb at her school. For a daughter of a farmer, reaching the height of 29,029 feet seemed next to impossible but her enthusiasm and zeal for life were her constant companions. It was her determination that made her a record breaker at such a tender age.

The sheer love for mountains gave Santosh Yadav the requisite encouragement to scale the Mount Everest twice in one year, leaving everyone in awe. She has also left a mark as the first woman to successfully reach Mount Everest from Kangshung Face. Being a woman, her journey was not a cakewalk at all. The dreams that she cherished in her heart became her only support against the hostility of her family.

Everest attracts a lot of mountaineers from all across the world. In the quest to reach on top, even the amputees are now keenly participating. Arunima Sinha, a former national-level volleyball player lost her leg when she was thrown from a moving train. She later went on to become the first female amputee to scale the heights. It was her unflinching desire that kept her excelling the Mount Everest even with a disability. This created a great stir among the denizens who started seeing her with respect.

While we have records by the young women, at 48, Premlata Agarwal became the oldest woman to dare to scale the Everest. Trained and mentored by Bechendri Pal, the first Indian woman to successfully scale the Mount Everest in 1984, Premlata despite her age showed unparalleled courage and set an example.

This article first appeared on NewsGram.

Indian ‘Flying Coffins’: After 6 plane crashes in 6 months, it’s time to wake up

It is a matter of grave concern that in a span of just six months, Indian Defense Forces has witnessed over six plane crashes while one Dornier aircraft has been missing. Such accidents are common in other Air force camps across the globe as well; however the rate at which Indian aircraft are crashing, has questioned the credibility of defense services in India.


What is more ignominious is that the officials are not much bothered about such catastrophic incidents and have taken no visible precautionary steps in this direction.

The authorities keep blaming each other till the matter is finally closed. The breaking news is soon subsided and the wounded pilots continue to risk their lives in the name of serving the nation.

Here's a list of some of the ill- fated aircraft which have crashed or have been missing, in the last six months.

A Jaguar fighter plane of the Indian Air Force crashed in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh on 16 June 2015. The officials said that it took off for a routine sortie and crashed just few minutes after. Both the pilots ejected safely, though the plane was destroyed.

Just about a week ago, on 8 June 2015, a Dornier aircraft which took off from Chennai airport for a surveillance sortie went missing on its way back. Its last known location, as per Trichy radar, was off Karaikal in Puducherry, 95 nautical miles south of Chennai.

The probable cause for the disappearance of the aircraft is still being debated, as the citizens are left appalled. The officials have so far been unable to disclose any further details. The safety of the aircraft is indeed getting more hazardous with each day.

The month of June has been a rough month for IAF so far as yet another fighter trainer aircraft, Hawk A-3492 crashed in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district on 3 June 2015. Since it crashed during afternoon hours and fell in a paddy field, away from habitation, no civilian causalities were reported. The two pilots ejected safely too.

But the question looming out of this issue is - will the pilots continue to be lucky, with such incidents of crashes being so frequent?

In yet another reprehensible incident on 27 March 2015 a Dornier aircraft met its ill fate. This was the first Dornier of the Indian Navy to crash, since it was inducted into the Navy in the early 90’s.
It was carrying out a search and rescue exercise at night when it crashed, claiming the lives of two naval officers Lt. Kiran Shekhawat and Lt. Abhinav Nagori.

In the same month, on 5 March 2015, an Indian Air Force Jaguar crashed close to Shahbad town in Haryana’s Kurukshetra district due to some technical issues. The plane had taken off from the Ambala Air base. The pilot reportedly gave a distress call before he ejected safely, though he suffered several injuries.

Such crashes continue to plague Indian Armed Forces and there seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel. On 31 January 2015, an Indian Air Force MiG-21, on a training flight, crashed into a sea near Gujarat’s Jamnagar district.

The pilot was able to safely eject before the plane crashed, though he endured minor injuries.
This particular crash had caused a major stir amongst the denizens and a court inquiry was initiated to determine the cause of the crash though as it happens with all such cases, even the investigation for this case too was soon closed.

Earlier, on 27 January 2015, a MiG-27 fighter jet crashed in Rajasthan’s Barmer. The jet fell on a passing motorcycle, badly injuring the young man who was riding it. He suffered minor burns and his hand fractured while his bike was completely burnt.

The IAF later said that the pilot was safe and had ejected few kilometers before the crash.
India thus, has had an appalling record of aircraft mishaps over recent years, and apparently no effective measures have been taken so far.

These unfortunate accidents have brought indifferent attitude of the government officials to the forefront. They continue to be negligent towards the safety of the pilots and use low quality parts in the aircraft.

With 6 plane crashes and a missing aircraft in 2015, time and again questions are raised over the reliability of Indian Defense Forces.

It’s high time that the authorities should start paying heed to this matter before it’s too late. If these events continue to recur, how can the youngsters be motivated to join Indian Armed Forces? The common faith keeps shattering down and yet the officials seem to remain unperturbed.

Illustration By: Ila Garg

This article first appeared on NewsGram.