Healthy society
Inactivity is a major threat to a healthy society. While the elderly are often more conscious about their health, lifestyle diseases such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes are now affecting people at a much younger age – often before 25. The younger the age of onset, the greater the burden, as individuals may spend a lifetime living with illness, pain, reduced quality of life and psychological distress.
A World Health Organisation (WHO) study conducted a few years ago revealed that more than 80% of adolescents worldwide were physically inactive. India was among the countries with particularly high levels of inactivity among both, boys and girls. Whether it is active play, sports, household chores, walking, cycling, swimming, planned exercise or physical education, young people appear to be falling behind across almost every category. At the current pace, the WHO’s goal of reducing physical inactivity to below 70% by 2030 may remain difficult to achieve.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Wealth imbalance
What is truly hurting India’s economy is the growing concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. The top 1% of the population holds nearly 40% of the country’s wealth, while the bottom half possesses just 3%. This reflects a stark wealth imbalance. Those at the top are often unwilling to invest or expand production because weak consumer demand limits sales. When ordinary people have less spending power, industries hesitate to build capacity or increase manufacturing. Manufacturing currently accounts for around 14% of the GDP, far below the government’s target of 25% under the Make in India initiative. This creates a vicious cycle. Reduced investment leads to fewer jobs, which, in turn, lowers incomes and weakens consumption further. To break this cycle, the government must increase spending in ways that directly put money into the hands of ordinary people. Greater purchasing power at the grassroots can revive demand and stimulate growth. Large infrastructure projects may bring visibility, but economic growth must also translate into broad-based benefits for the common citizen. Unless growth becomes more inclusive, inequality will continue to deepen.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Deeper problems
The Finance Minister’s response to concerns over fuel, fertiliser and foreign exchange risks overlooks serious macroeconomic challenges. Blaming external factors alone masks deeper structural vulnerabilities. The rupee’s decline in recent months, coupled with foreign portfolio outflows and pressure on reserves, reflects concerns that cannot be ignored. Relying only on domestic indicators while broader external pressures mount may prove risky. Instead of urging citizens to cut spending on items such as gold or travel, the government should focus on strengthening manufacturing, diversifying energy imports and taking timely policy measures to control inflation. Economic resilience requires long-term structural planning. Without it, current challenges could deepen into larger economic stress.
Vijaykumar H K, Raichur
Longer days
Many headlines recently claimed that we may soon have to say goodbye to the 24-hour day. While these reports are based on real science, the actual change is happening extremely slowly and will take millions of years. Earth rotates on its axis, and this rotation gives us our 24-hour day. However, the Earth’s spin is gradually slowing down. For a very long time, the main reason for this slowdown has been the Moon’s gravitational pull. Moon creates ocean tides, and the movement of these tides causes a small amount of friction against the ocean floor. This friction acts like a tiny brake, slowing the Earth’s rotation little by little. Scientists have also discovered that human-caused climate change is adding to this effect. Large ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are melting and the water from this melting ice spreads across the oceans. Much of this water moves away from the poles and toward the equator. When mass moves away from the Earth’s centre, the planet spins slightly more slowly. A simple example is a figure skater who slows down when extending their arms outward while spinning. Although these changes are scientifically important, they are too small for people to notice in daily life. The length of a day is increasing by only a few milliseconds over long periods of time. However, even such tiny changes matter for highly accurate systems such as atomic clocks, satellite navigation, telecommunications networks and scientific measurements. The combined effects of the Moon’s tidal forces and climate-related changes are making the Earth’s rotation slower than before. Even so, the process is extremely gradual. Scientists estimate that it could take about 200 million years for the Earth’s day to become a full 25 hours long. Therefore, there is no need to worry about longer days affecting our lives anytime soon. Science simply reminds us that our planet is constantly changing, even if those changes happen so slowly that they are almost impossible for us to notice.
Vinayak D Porob
