Reliance Life Insurance launches Project School on Wheels

Project ‘School on Wheels’ aims to bring a mobile school close to children living in the slums of Mumbai. Before any intervention, every child is counseled to ascertain his or her profile

Reliance Life Insurance, one of the fastest growing life insurance companies in the country, today launched its project ‘School on Wheels’ in association with Project Crayon, an NGO focused on Child Rights and Youth Development.

The project, which is a part of Reliance Life Insurance’s Corporate Social Responsibility endeavor, was launched by Tina Ambani here today.

Ambani inaugurated the mobile school amid a large group of children, parents, project coordinators and senior officials from both Reliance Life Insurance and Project Crayon.

Project ‘School on Wheels’ aims to bring a mobile school close to children living in the slums of Mumbai. Before any intervention, every child is counseled to ascertain his or her profile. The overall approach is to prepare these children for admission to a formal education stream, impart appropriate moral and social values, and bring them to the mainstream of society.

“Education equals empowerment, the ability to craft a better future,” said Mrs Ambani. “Our vision is to provide access to basic education to underprivileged children and open their eyes to their own potential and the world that awaits them. This initiative is in line with the Group’s commitment to bring value to the lives of underprivileged children across India.”

The focus of the project will initially be on the slums around Chembur and Mankhurd. The mobile school will cater to the slums in and around these areas in the first phase with more than 50 children having been already identified and selected for this project.

“It is a small but important step towards making a difference in the lives of these children and thereby leading them to a better future,” said Mr. P. Nandagopal, CEO, Reliance Life Insurance. “We are sanguine that the success of this project will serve as a precursor to many such wonderful opportunities for us to truly make a difference in the lives of a wider segment of society.”

The bus, customized to function as a school, is fully equipped with a computer and library, and has dedicated teachers to conduct classes. In the course of its daily routine, it will cover a few selected slum areas and will run a three-hour class at each of these centres. The teaching methodology will be non-formal and largely based on the Avehi Abacus syllabus.

The computer will provide a platform for educational software, movies, music and other entertainment-based educational programs to be delivered to the children. Activities such as clay making, card designing, theatre/play acting and art classes shall form a part of the overall curriculum.

“We are extremely pleased to see leading organizations such as Reliance Life Insurance take up their socio-economic responsibilities with such zeal and enthusiasm,” said Devika Kulavoor, Founder Trustee, Project Crayon. “It is of interest to note that as a result of the preparatory work for this project, five children have already joined a formal education stream and have been enrolled with a private English medium school in the vicinity. We are sure that this project will be a great success and have a positive impact on the lives of many children.”

These children will also be provided with toys and educational games as incentives to keep them motivated to attend the school. Various other support services such as first aid, transportation to schools and health camps will also form a part of the programme.

‘School on Wheels’ is a one-year project, which will be monitored and reviewed quarterly.

Boosting Population a Vague Science

11 July 2008
By Nabi Abdullaev / Staff Writer
The fact that Russia's population is shrinking should come as a surprise to no one. According to the State Statistics Service, 12 million more Russians died than were born from 1992 to 2007, with the arrival of 5.5 million immigrants only partially compensating for the loss.

It is clear from statements by political leaders that the government is aware of the problem and the serious threat that it poses to future economic growth and security as the country's work force shrinks.

What is also clear, according to demographers and public health experts, is that the government hasn't made enough effort to get to the root of the problem or to measure whether the policies it has put in place to deal with the demographic crisis are really helping. Although some financial incentives have been created to help couples have more children, experts say a much more comprehensive approach is necessary.

Given existing trends, demographers say the population will shrink from the current level of 142 million to something between 125 million and 135 million by 2025, and could fall to as low as 100 million by 2050.

This demographic decline has serious economic consequences -- there will be as many as 8 million fewer people in the work force by 2015 and possibly 19 million less by 2025, according to study by a group of Russian demographers sponsored by the United Nations and released in late April.

Population change is dependent on three main factors: the birthrate, the death rate and immigration rates. Last October, then-President Vladimir Putin approved a government demographic strategy through 2025 that sets targets in each of these three categories. But while this strategy shows that the government is concerned about the current situation, the program's goals suggest that it has little interest in understanding the roots of the problem, preferring to throw money at it instead.

Demographers have calculated that, in Russia, the replacement fertility rate -- the number of births per woman necessary to maintain the current population -- is 2.15. In 2006, the fertility rate was 1.3 children for every woman.

The number of babies born last year jumped to about 2 million -- up 8.3 percent from the year before and a post-Soviet record. Still, the fertility rate rose only to 1.4 children per woman.

State officials wasted no time in claiming that government policy was to thank for a new baby boom, with Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova only the most recent example.

"It is a true demographic explosion that no other developed country has generated," Golikova said in a speech on April 26. "We are proud that ... Russians have had the right reaction to the measures to encourage births."

The measures introduced by the government included an increase in monthly social payments to mothers, making it easier for young families to get mortgages, and "mother's capital" -- a one-time payment of around $10,000 for those women giving birth to a second child. Access to the money comes only three years after the child is born, and it must be used for the child's benefit, such as improving the family's living conditions or paying for education.

Demographers doubt, however, that government perks were the sole or even the main cause of the rise in births.

Vladimir Arkhangelsky, of the Research Center for Population Problems at Moscow State University, said the latest spike in births is the result of an increase in the number of women reaching their peak childbearing years. These women were themselves products of an early 1980s baby boom, which followed increases in Soviet-era social payments and an anti-alcohol campaign.

Arkhangelsky and other demographers say the number of children being born will likely fall off again in about five years as the women of the 1980s baby boom move out of their most fertile years and are replaced by the much smaller generation born in the 1990s.

According to the State Statistics Service, in 2007 there were 24.1 percent fewer females from the age of 10 to 19 than in the 20 to 29 age group. There were 44.1 percent fewer females under the age of nine than in the 20 to 29 group.

An added concern is that, even if the new benefits are partially responsible for the increase in births, they may still have a negative effect on the country's wealth disparity in the future. Women living below the poverty rate experienced a more significant rise in birthrate than any other segment of the female population, said Valery Yelizarov, head of the Research Center for Population Problems.

According to the Social Insurance Fund, the government body that issues birth certificates, about half of the women who gave birth last year reported a monthly income below the poverty line for Russia -- 3,500 rubles ($150). About 70 percent of the mothers reported a monthly income of less than 7,000 rubles ($300).

"The government needs to think of how to stimulate [births among] those who are more successful in life," Yelizarov said.

According to the government demographic strategy, incentives designed to get families to have more than one child should boost the birthrate by 50 percent by 2025. But the global trend, and particularly in developed countries, has been away from larger families, leading some experts to express doubts that the target can be met.

Karl Kulessa, the UN's population agency chief in Russia, said there were many social and economic factors that work against bigger families.

Benefits for larger families introduced by the French government have played at least some part in a jump in the birthrate from 1.7 babies per woman in 1994 to almost 2.0 in 2006. But to achieve similar results in Russia, the government needs not only to provide families with the financial resources to provide for more children but also to influence attitudes in a country where one-child families are the norm, Arkhangelsky said.

Attention all agents: Japan Airlines international fuel surcharge increase

NOTE:
• International Insurance surcharge is USD3.20 per person for each segment. This should also be collected as YQ’.
• Insurance surcharge for Japan Domestic sectors is as follows: JPY300 - When Japan Domestic fares are purchased separately from international fares, the insurance surcharge will not be applied. When Japan Domestic sectors are included in international fares, the insurance surcharge will be applied. This should also be collected as ‘YQ’.

Applies to: All fares and tickets (including child, and JMB award tickets.) Infants without seat are exempted from fuel surcharge.

Collection Method: Fuel Surcharge and Insurance surcharge will be collected on international air tickets or MCOs. The Special fees and Charges code ‘YQ’ will be used and entered in the TAX/FEE/CHARGE/BOX. The current BSR at time of ticketing will be used to convert from USD to AUD.

Ticket Reissue/1St Intl Flight Change: When the first international sector of the ticket is changed or rerouted (regardless of fare type), difference between previous Fuel Surcharge and the revised Fuel
Surcharge will be collected. (All tickets must be reissued). If reissue is due to any other sector than the 1st international flight the fuel surcharge increase is not charged.