Raghav's blogs

The rise of the automobile transformed modern society. It changed where we live, what we buy, how we work, and who we call friends. As cars and trucks became commonplace, they created whole classes of jobs and made other professions obsolete. We are now on the cusp of an equally transformative technological shift in transportation: from vehicles driven by humans to vehicles that drive themselves. The long-term impact of autonomous vehicles on society is hard to predict, but also hard to overstate. The only certainty is that wherever this technology becomes ubiquitous, life will be different. Google and other companies have been testing self-driving cars for several years now, with good success . ‘ These autonomous vehicles process vast amounts of sensory data from on-board radars, cameras, GPS, and stored maps to navigate routes through ever more complex and rapidly changing traffic situations without any human involvement. Consumer use of vehicles with autonomous capab

Water is a basic necessity, and an important resource for sustaining life. The decline in water quality endangers the health of humans as well as the ecosystem. Clean drinking water, hygiene, and sanitation play a vital part in maintaining health.  Contaminated water causes many water-borne infections like diarrhoea, and also serves as a carrier for vectors such as mosquitoes spreading epidemics. Open defecation means no sanitation. It fouls the environment, and spreads diseases. According to WHO-UNICEF report (2010), India has the highest rate of open defecation . Access to safe drinking water and good sanitation are essential for family well-being. It results in control of enteric diseases, and boosts child health. A healthy child has better learning and retaining ability. Girls avoid going to school where there are no proper sanitation measures. Sanitation makes a positive contribution in family literacy. According to a UNICEF study, for every 10 per cent increase in female l

Watch is actually a timepiece which allows us to be updated with the time. The first model of watch used to work with the sun. The time was measured according to the movement of sun. Later it was developed in a better way and this invention remained in move. As a result millions of models or variety of watches are present in today’s market. With most of us using smartphones these days, you might think wrist watches or clocks are a little old fashioned, since checking your phone every 2 seconds makes you aware of the time anyway.  But, there’s still a certain classiness to wearing a watch. If we look at the recent trend of ‘smartwatches’ they made it look like a wrist watch. It’s because a wrist watch is one of the classiest accessories you can own and has been for centuries. I remember very well the times when I was small and used to get a sense of amazement when I looked at my parents, teachers and other grown ups looking at their watches. Since, those times only I’ve been f

There may have been a good many things Spielberg couldn't show in Schlinder's List, for obvious reasons, like the fact that neither he nor his audience could take them. But the most important omission lies in the absence of the pyrotechnical wizardry that's made him the most consistently popular film-maker in the world. The film is in black and white, and there is no obvious flamboyance whatsoever. Many of the shots are hand-held and, though totally professional. This is the film with which Spielberg ceases to be the supreme entertainer and tries for another, tougher kind of glory. Spielberg has never manipulated us less. If there's no such thing as a film which fails consciously to shape what we see, at least Schlinder's List is a great deal nearer to it than most Hollywood films. Though a great work, the flatness of expression can sometimes make three hours plus seem a very long time in the cinema. Since it has been called a masterpiece so often alre

British humor is often hard to grasp for Indians, with their references and rambling. But  Jerome K. Jerome  hits the nail on the head with ‘T hree Men In A Boat ‘ and brings out British absurdities and traditions in a comic way .  Three Men in a Boat(To say nothing of the Dog) embarks on a journey of three friends Jerome( referred to as J in the novel), Harris and George on the river Thames as a retreat to their monotonous routine and hypochondriac nature. The novel starts with a scene where the three friends are discussing their anxiety over their sicknesses. The three of them consider themselves to be hypochondriacs. The men decide that a vacation will be a good retreat for their health, and after some deliberating, they decide to spend a week rowing up the Thames with their dog,  Montmorency . Although the novel also has portions where various cities residing on the river Thames have been described and thus also acts as a travelogue.  But this, though intended to be the m

As we enter New Delhi, it's a land of towering Five Star hotels, government institutions & residences. But, whenever we pass through the roads of the National capital, one can never miss a panoramic view of huge landfills & massive sight of more than 100 feet tall Garbage Mountains of the decaying trash having an acrid smell and obnoxious gases coming out of it. ''On September 1, 2017, two people died and five people were injured in East Delhi after a large part of the Ghazipur landfill — which should have been closed 15 years ago — collapsed in the afternoon of 2 nd September, sweeping several people on a road nearby into a canal. Heaps of garbage dropped into the Kondli canal running alongside the landfill, creating a giant wave of slushy water that hit the road next to the canal. It washed away four vehicles -an Accent car, a scooty and two bikes -which fell into a drain on the other side of the road.'' This was an extremely unfortunate incident