In the 2013-14 budget presented to the Parliament, the Finance minister has announced the formation of a Bank that will cater "mostly" to women and shall also be staffed by women. As it was being announced the women Parliamentarians including Leader of the Opposition, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, were seen greeting it wirh thumping of their desks. In itself their is nothing wrong with the formation of the bank. What is wrong is that yet another social bias is sought to be overcome by the  policy of seggregation.

Our society has through centuries divided the itself into various groups and encouraged the social non interaction between them. We thus have the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Banias and Shudras strictly living within thei rown groups and despising the other groups.Within the individual castes also there are subgroups and so on. Seggregation seems to be the order of our society.

After acheiving independence and with spread of education and increasing urbanization, it was expected that our society will see  more of integration within these different social groups. But as we all know it has not happened to the extent it should have. On the contrary we have further divided the society into Schedule Caste and Tribes ,Dalits,Mandal Commission recognised and so on groups. Reservations and quotas allocation is the order of the day.Thus instead of integrating we have succeeded in further dividing the society into many more groups than before.

Now comes the announcement of yet one more separate group formation in the form of an exclusive Bank for women. It will further deepen the already existing divisions within our society .Women need to be more integrated with men outside their homes so that the divide does not exist. Seggregation leads to much lessening of empathy between the groups.

Instead of developing a mutually inclusive society we seem to be heading towards forming a mutually exclusive society. Another announcement yesterday is that 25% seats in public transport buses will be reserved for women passenges in Delhi. One knows that these are more broken than followed in practice. Our answer to all social evils seems to be more seggregation.

Instead the State should promote awareness among the masses for gender sensitivity and treating all humans with respect. Strict punishment in speedy trials should be awarded to defaulters.There should be more and more occassions for interaction between boys and girls in schools and colleges. The large number of male youth who came out alongside their female colleagues during the protest that followed the recent brutal  rape in Delhi is an excellent example of inclusiveness between the two sexes.

The women of India should oppose the formation of a separate Bank for them and instead demand equal facilities without bias from existing establishments. It is their right and duty of the State to ensure it. Separate facilities creation is bucking the responsibility and admitting failure. It is time that social evils and problems are fought in an inclusive manner and not on an exclusive manner. The State cannot be allowed to abdicate its responsibilities and should not be let off so easily. 

The Indian society is plagued by many practices which unfortunately segments the society into many class divisions. This has been practiced since centuries. Even the coming of newer religions while absorbing many into its fold has not resulted in these segregating practices loosening their hold on our psyche. However it is observed that technology can act as a leveller and help eliminate the artificial class divisions.

One such product of technology is the mobile phone. Its invention and subsequent spread throughout the world has brought in a unparalled revolution in the field of communication. Today mobile sets are available at prices ranging from a few hundred to thousands of rupees and include features that are about to elminate the PC and laptops.

Today in India there are nearly 80 crore mobile sets and it is predicted that by end-2013 India might overtake China as the counrty with the largest number of mobile phones in the world.

The mobile phone has given the power of staying connected to the weaker sections of our society. It is no longer a product that they can only stare at and wonder but they can go to the market and buy it and start using it. It has also given them respect in the sense, they can be now contacted and can give appointment for rendering their services at their conveniene. It is common to see plumbers advertise their mobile numbers. Many autorickshaws also advertise their mobile numbers and have now a regular clientale especially for odd hours.

The mobile sets have also brought music into the lives of the weaker sections and now one can see them listening to their sets after or even during their work hours. We have all heard how the farmers in rural areas now first find the price at the mundi market and only if it suits them they offload their produce. It has given the poor a tool to acquire knowledge and then take data based decisions. 

The other day while I was admonishing the sweeper of our soceity's roads for remaining absent without prior information, he looked at me sheepishly and also with a bit of cunningness asked me my mobile number. I knew then the rules of the game had changed. We exchanged our mobile numbers like two businessmen would have done. While he must have felt empowered and upgraded I also felt happy for him and thanked the creators of the mobile technology.

The other day my fuming wife asked me to give her our mobile number in writing. Upon my asaking the reason she said it is for giving it to the maid servant,who says she will now inform us when she is going to remain absent. I promised to buy my wife a separate mobile.

The mobile phones have achieved what many social reformists have been trying since long but with limited success.The weaker and segregated sections of our society have now access to a modern product which they can not only own but effectively use it and help upgrade themselves and integrate with the existing work culture. For them it truly is a liberating experience in many ways.

What is chastity

The concept is chastity is very significant in religious, social and family relationship. This is closely associated with character of both men and women. The term is derived from 'chaste', which means 'pure, undiluted, unadulterated'. Thus 'chaste English' means standard Queen's English.  'chasten' means correction by punishment. The term is originated from Greek 'castus' that means 'pure'. chastity means virginity. What is virginity? When we talk of virgin land, we mean 'land that has not yet been tilled'.  Similarly, virginity or chastity of a man as well as a woman implies that he or she has so far had no sexual relations.

Hindu Tradition

Chastity is inseparable from Hindu traditional life cycle. Human life is divided in ashrams or stages- Brahmacharya ashram (celibacy or chastity). Every individual till age of twenty five years is a celibate or virgin. He has to abstain from sex during Brahmacharya phase of life. This period is for learning and preparing for next phase viz. Grihasthashram (householder). This is from age of twenty five years to fifty years. During this period, one raises and maintains family. Extra marital relation is prohibited during this phase whereas there can be no sexual relation in the first phase viz. Brahmacharya. The life cycle from fifty to seventy years is Van Prastha. During this phase, one leads a pious life in forest and abstains from sex. But he is available for consultation to his family. The last phase is sanyas ashram in which one severs all links with society and solely devotes his time and energy to attain higher goal of salvation.

Christian tradition 

Chastity is considered as one of the seven virtues. chastity means sexual purity implies utmost fidelity to spouse. Thus extra marital sex is a deadly sin. Sex between unmarried persons was known as fornication. Now this term is out of use and instead premarital and extramarital sex are the terms used. In some circumstances, there is breach of chastity even in marital relation. Many religions consider sexual intimacy unchaste during or shortly after menstruation or birth of a child. There is a form of chastity called 'vidual chastity'  that requires a widow to abstain from sex during the period of mourning. Also some churches consider use of contraceptives as being unchaste. Mother Teresa was also opposed to use of contraceptives. There is tradition of celibacy or virginity in monasteries.

Tradition of chastity biased against women 

In principle, men and women both need to observe chastity. But in practice, this has never been fair to the fair sex. Men can often easily afford premarital and extra marital sex without any difficulty. All they need is maintain secrecy. Many even  boast of their extramarital relation. This is not significant for men unless they are monks, priests or hermits. There is no side affect of loss of chastity on men. They go scot free. But women fear pregnancy. When an unmarried woman is pregnant, every one knows her sin whereas man moves freely.

Besides, woman has always been considered as mere property.  Man's chastity is at his own discretion. Chaste or unchaste, there is nobody rto question. But a woman is not an independent entity. She is considered as a commodity. She must remain chaste or unused for her husband, who owns him. A girl's parents consider her as 'paraya dhan' (other's property) that needs to be handed over intact and chaste to her groom- her rightful owner just as one sells a commodity in brand new condition.

Needless to say, the Sati system is a byproduct of  stress on female chastity. a husband is owner of woman's body. so, nobody may use her even after his death. So, a woman was burnt alive with her husband's dead body. It goes to credit of Rraja Ram Mohan Roy, a great social reformer that this inhuman tradition was checked. The Johar system in Rajasthan ensured that women burnt themselves alive when at risk of capture by enemy. The Rajputs would like their women dead rather than be captured and used by enemy.

A device called chastity belt was used in some countries to ensure chastity of women. The chastity belt ensured that nobody could have sex with a woman. But some used tricks to unlock the chastity belts.  Chastity belts for men were also used but rarely. 

Conclusion 

We may conclude by saying that chastity is a matter of mutual trust between spouses. There should be no double standards about chastity- one for men and other for women. A woman is rightful owner of her own body and it is bizzare to think some one else- even her husband as owner thereof.  

Of all the places in Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam has the distinction of the fastest growing city. Located on the beautiful coastline off the Bay of Bengal, the city hosts a number of major industries. The deep natural harbour  at the Visakhapatnam port has made the import and export of raw materials and finished goods very easy and cost-effective.Recently, an Export Processing Zone was set up at Visakhapatnam. Even as the city was Known for its rapid growth, it is the setting up of the steel plant which earned it the name of the 'city of destiny'. Both intellectual and ordinary people saw immense potential for the development with the advent of the steel plant. And no less an intellectual than the Late Shri Kattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy called it the 'city of destiny'. True to his prophecy, not only has the major integrated steel plant at Visakhapatnam changed the destiny of several thousands of people here, but it has also thrown open new vistas of development. A major power corporation, an additional oil refinery, an aluminium plant, etc., are on the anvil,taking the city into further glory.

History of Visakhaptnam

Visakhapatnam was ruled by King Visakha Varma before the time of Christ , according to puranas . King Visahka built a Temple in the name of lord visakha and hence the name Visakhapatnam.Visakhapatnam was mentioned in the  Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana in the forest of Eastern Ghats .  Rama and Laxaman in the forest of Eastern Ghats went in search of Sita. Hindu texts state that during the fifth century B.C., Visakhapatnam became a part of Kalinga territory, which extended to the Godavari River. The territory of Visakhapatnam came under the Andhra rulers  of Vengi, and Chalukyas and Pallavas ruled the land.

Language

Visakhapatnam is predominantly Telugu speaking, other language like Punjabi,Bengali,Malayalee etc.. are very rarely spoken in this area.

Climate

Visakhapatnam has a tropical savanna climate with very little change in temperature throughout the year.With the city's location on the Bay of Bengal , the humidity is throughout the year.November through February is the best time to visit Visakhapatnam weather-wise, since temperatures are moderate.

Tourism

Visakhapatnam is a collection of natural beauties. It has a range of tourist attractions  including beaches,cliffs ,hilltop parks facing sea, wildlife sanctuary, hill stations, limestone caves etc..

The city is home to several state owned industries, and is one of the largest's seasports of country and has the country's oldest shipyard.