Buy ten women for the price of a buffalo

The statement of Punjab Health minister Laxmikant Chawla that a woman could be bought for less than a price of buffalo and that a woman can be 'purchased' for Rs 3,000 while a buffalo is sold for Rs 30,000 describes the State of affairs in this country.

Chawla wasn't making a casual comment. He was speaking at seminar 'Doctors for daughters' organised by Punjab chapter of IMC. Health Secretary Tilak Raj said that the female foeticide has reached such alarming level that brothers are sharing a woman as common wife.

But a good initiative now. The Gurudwaras in Punjab are going to have cradles at their door all over Punjab. Anybody who doesn't want to raise a daughter can leave the child after birth and the Gurdwara will take care of the kid.

It is a commendable step. Balwant Garg has reported in Times of India that Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) has announced that it will henceforth mother the abandoned girls. Punjab has a sex ratio of 793 females for every 1000 males and if the trends continue, the State is going to suffer terribly.

It will cause a demographic imbalance that will be impossible to correct. It is a national crisis. Though the problem is most acute in Punjab and Haryana. The temptation for 'son' and the belief that he carried forward the family lineage, is a reflection of our collective hypocrisy and the ills of our society.

South America gets three wonders out of Seven, Taj and Great Wall selected

Whether it was unofficial selection of Seven wonders of the World or not is debatable but the fact that 100 million votes selected the new 7 wonders, is enough to give some legitimacy to the selection.

What amazed everybody in the end was selection of 3 wonders out of seven from Latin America. The Machu Pichhu in Peru, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil and the Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico are three wonders of the New World.

Call it bias against Africa or favouritism for South America but the list will stay in minds for long though UNESCO may have distanced itself from the choice of global wonders.

Asia walked away with three viz. Jordan's Petra, India's Taj Mahal situated at Agra and the Great Wall of China. For Europe the sole consolation was Colosseum at Romse (Italy). Africa, with over 50 countries, doesn't have a wonder. Or the judges couldn't see it. Shall we always be politically correct and could have selected one for better representation.

Or they had at least a few wonders but Africans don't have as many cell phones as Indians or Chnese or Brazilians have. Whatever, North America and the mini continent Australia have also been left wonderless! The announcement was made at Lisbon (Portugal) and India's Bipasha Basu announced the name of Taj Mahal amidst thunderous applause.

The New Seven Wonders list and links (Photos and description)
Machu Pichu
Taj Mahal
Pyramid of Chichen Itza
Christ the Redeemer
Great Wall of China
Petra
Colosseum

Meanwhile, the list of contenders (21) out of which seven were selected included the following 14 others including Egypt's Pyramids:

Acropolis, Athens, Greece
Alhambra, Granada, Spain
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Easter Island Statues, Chile
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
Hagia Sophia, Instanbul, Turkey
Kremlin St Basil's, Moscow, Russia
Timbuktu, Mali
Sydney Opera House, Australia
Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom/England (Britain)
Kyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Turkey
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany
Statue of Liberty, New York, USA

Above the photos show all the 21 contenders.