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My pathologist colleague believes Canada is harder to match into.In fact, his residency program in the United States included Canadian medical graduates who failed to match in Canada.All the best!2017 NRMP Main Residency Match the Largest Match on RecordMore than 43,000 applicants registered and more than 31,000 positionsoffered.National Resident Matching ProgramWASHINGTON, March 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) announced the results of the 2017 Main Residency Match®, the largest in its history. A record-high 35,969 U.S. and international medical school students and graduates vied for 31,757 positions, the most ever offered in the Match. The number of available first-year (PGY-1) positions rose to 28,849, 989 more than last year.2017 Main Residency Match InfographicMatch Day, celebrated around the world, is when applicants learn the location and specialty of the U.S. residency programs where they will train for the next three to seven years. Seniors at U.S. allopathic medical schools participate in Match Day ceremonies and open their Match letters in the company of family, friends, and advisors."We are honored to be part of this life-changing event for young physicians, and we wish them success in their residency training," says NRMP President and CEO Mona M. Signer. "There no doubt will be wonderful cause for celebration at the nation's medical schools today and for all Match participants as they commemorate this defining moment in their careers." Joint NRMP, American Medical Association (AMA), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) celebrations take place on social media, this year with the #Match2017 hashtag.Program HighlightsResults of the Main Residency Match are closely watched because they can be predictors of future changes in physician workforce supply.Primary CareIn 2012, the NRMP implemented a policy requiring Match-participating programs to place all positions in the Match, spurring significant increases in the number of primary care positions offered. In the six years since implementation of the policy, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Pediatrics have added a combined 2,900 positions, a 25.8 percent increase. Highlights from the 2017 Match include:Internal Medicine programs offered 7,233 positions, 209 more than in 2016; 7,101 (98.2%) positions filled, and 3,245 (44.9%) filled with U.S. allopathic seniors.Family Medicine programs offered 3,356 positions, 118 more than in 2016; 3,215 (95.8%) positions filled, and 1,513 (45.1%) filled with U.S. allopathic seniors. Since 2012, the number of U.S. allopathic seniors matching to Family Medicine has increased every year.Pediatrics programs offered 2,738 positions, 49 more than in 2016; 2,693 (98.4%) filled, and 1,849 (67.5%) filled with U.S. allopathic seniors.Other HighlightsEmergency Medicine offered 2,047 first-year positions, 152 more than in 2016, and filled all but six. The overall fill rate was 99.7 percent, and 78.2 percent were filled by U.S. seniors. Since 2012, the number of Emergency Medicine positions has increased by 379, or 23 percent.Psychiatry offered 1,495 first-year positions, 111 more than in 2016, and filled all but four. The overall fill rate was 99.7 percent, and 61.7 percent were filled by U.S. seniors. Since 2012, the number of Psychiatry positions has increased 378, or 34 percent, and the number of positions filled by U.S. allopathic seniors has increased by 307.Specialties with more than thirty positions that achieved the highest percentages of positions filled by U.S. allopathic seniors, which is one measure of competitiveness, were Integrated Plastic Surgery (93.1% U.S. seniors), Orthopedic Surgery (91.9% U.S. seniors), and Otolaryngology (91.5% U.S. seniors).Applicant HighlightsAlthough the 43,157 Match registrants was the most ever, the increase was due primarily to growth in U.S. allopathic medical school seniors and students/graduates of U.S. osteopathic medical schools.The number of U.S. allopathic medical school senior registrants was 19,030, 362 more than last year; of those, a record-high 18,539 submitted program choices, and 17,480 (94.3 %) matched to first-year positions. The 94 percent PGY-1 match rate for U.S. seniors has been consistent for many years.The number of U.S. osteopathic medical school applicants was a record high 5,000, and 3,590 submitted program choices, an increase of 608 over 2016; 2,933 (81.7%) matched to PGY-1 positions, also a record high.The number of U.S. citizen international medical school students and graduates (IMGs) who submitted program choices declined by 254 to 5,069; however, 54.8 percent (2,777) matched to PGY-1 positions, the highest match rate since 2004.The number of non-U.S. citizen IMGs who submitted program choices also declined, from 7,460 in 2016 to 7,284 this year, but 3,814 (52.4%) matched to first-year positions, 45 more than in 2016 and the highest match rate since 2005.Unmatched ApplicantsApplicants who did not match to a residency position participated in the NRMP Match Week Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program® (SOAP®) to attempt to obtain an unfilled position. This year, 1,177 of the 1,279 unfilled positions were offered during SOAP. SOAP results will be available in the full Match report published in May.View the Advance Data Tables, Match by the Numbers, and infographicThe Match ProcessThe Main Residency Match process begins in the fall for applicants, usually during the final year of medical school, when they send applications to the residency programs of their choice. Throughout the fall and early winter, applicants interview with programs. From mid-January to late February, applicants and program directors rank each other in order of preference and submit the preference lists to NRMP, which processes them using a computerized mathematical algorithm to match applicants with programs. Research on the NRMP algorithm was a basis for awarding The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2012.About NRMPThe National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®) is a private, non-profit organization established in 1952 at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency positions with the preferences of residency program directors. In addition to the annual Main Residency Match® for more than 43,000 registrants, the NRMP conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 60 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service® (SMS®).Contact:Diane [email protected] Performance in the 2017 Match - ECFMG NewsCharting Outcomes in the Match for International Medical Graduates 2016 (www.nrmp.org)[DISHEARTENING DISCUSSION FROM STUDENT DOCTOR NETWORK PATHOLOGY FORUM]2017 Pathology NRMP statisticsDiscussion in 'Pathology' started by Doormat, Mar 17, 2017.Doormat Status: Attending Physician It's official. Pathology is the worst of the worst. The bottom of the barrel. Statistics for the 2017 match are available on the NRMP website. This year, a paltry 231 US medical graduates applied for pathology residency positions. 35.9% of all pathology residency slots were filled by US applicants this year. That’s nearly 10 percentage points less than the next lowest major specialty -- family medicine, with 45.1% of positions filling with US grads. 21% of all pathology training programs in the US went unfilled. In recent years Pathology has been commoditized like no other specialty and US grads are taking notice. They are avoiding our specialty in droves.#1Doormat, Mar 17, 2017jupiterianvibe Status: Post Doc That's why I'm leaving. better late than never.I can assure you that every single one of those unfilled positions is going to be filled with an IMG. This field is a joke. Should be a PhD program.#2jupiterianvibe, Mar 17mikesheree Physician Gold Donor Classifieds Approved Status: Attending Physician Very sad but no surprise at all. #3mikesheree, Mar 17, 2017coroner Peace Sells...but who's buying? Physician Status: Attending Physician I wonder why it was so low this year. I remember when I matched, it was actually majority AMG's i.e. about 55%. This shouldn't be anything to get too depressed about...competitiveness and interest of specialties tend to wax and wane over the years with the exception of the few steady ones at the top e.g. derm, plastics, etc.jupiterianvibe said: That's why I'm leaving. better late than never. Care to tell us your backup plan? For all we know it could be anything from real estate to freelance hacking for the Russians...#4coroner, Mar 18, 2017postbacpremed87 Status:Medical Studentgbwillner said: ↑Definitely a down year and recent downward trend. CAP and other groups should be alarmed by this. When I joined this specialty, it wasn't competitive, but certainly more so than pediatrics and IM. Now it certainly seems like US students are staying away. Think they will consider cutting spots now? 1/5 of all spots didn't fill. I think US students would be open to Pathology if they started limiting Path spots. #6postbacpremed87, Mar 18, 2017Thrombus Member Status: postbacpremed87 said: ↑Think they will consider cutting spots now? 1/5 of all spots didn't fill. I think US students would be open to Pathology if they started limiting Path spots. Big Academia thrives on the labor and the 6 figure pay checks that come with it. No way they cut. We don’t need pathologists for 10 years at least. Pathology is run by fools!!!#7Thrombus, Mar 18, 2017jupiterianvibe Status: Post Doc Thrombus said:Pathology is run by fools!!! I disagree.The pathology rank-and-file are fools, but its overlords are geniuses. #8jupiterianvibe, Mar 18, 2017jupiterianvibe Status: Post Doc gbwillner said: ↑Definitely a down year and recent downward trend. CAP and other groups should be alarmed by this. When I joined this specialty, it wasn't competitive, but certainly more so than pediatrics and IM. Now it certainly seems like US students are staying away.They're gonna do the same thing they do every year. "it's just a bad year, let's get more data".Meanwhile every unfilled spot is going to go to whatever IMG walks through the door. We've no standards in this field. None.I wonder if the ivy leagues like that the rest of the field is populated by dumbasses so that they can have more consults sent to them (kidding, kind of) #9jupiterianvibe, Mar 18, 2017Pathman1000 Status: Resident [Any Field]docprincess said: ↑Please stop spreading rumors about this speciality.if you are not happy, please leave this field and apply for another speciality. But realize that everyone doesn't want to go for Internal medicine or family medicine. People are frustrated in those fields too. Every field has its prons and cons. You can't tract any speciality down based on no reasons. This is a field of interest and skill. US grads don't apply much to pathology because they do not have Pathology in their medical school curriculum. Many of them don't know what this field is about. Foreign grads have extensive exposure and so they do have interest. You show a slide to one us grad and one foreign grad, you will see the difference. Still those US grads who are applying to this field do rotations in path and they really like it. I personally know many who switched from SURGERY or other speciality to Pathology. So please please stop this negativity on this forum. This is still great field for those who have skills to make diagnoses. It's not easy. You look under microscope and you realize it's not easy. People who are new to this field , do not go by any negative posts.We all know it's interesting, but few are hiring. Talk to the fellows; the people on this forum are not lying. Jobs are not plentiful and 2-3 fellowships is common! US medical students aren't stupid. They see the writing on the wall! #12Pathman1000, Mar 19, 2017DrfluffyMD Status: Resident [Any Field]docprincess said: ↑US grads don't apply much to pathology because they do not have Pathology in their medical school Parked at Loopia derm curriculum during my us med school either#13DrfluffyMD, Mar 19, 2017Granular Status:Attending Physician@ docprincess: Are you kidding? In executive suites, pathology is seen as a commodity, regardless of your opinion of the field. Hospitals are contracting out their labs to "industry" or "expert" management teams as mechanisms to reduce costs. They go to the lowest bidders - like they do for food service or cleaning/environmental services. Do the hospitals' electricians need a medical director? Informed US med students do not want to go through all the expense and training for the reality of being viewed/treated like technicians or servants. For US grads, the high cost of med school raises the bar for what fields they should pursue to get the proper ROI; for FMGs, perhaps the financial barriers to entry are lower, so the ROI of becoming a pathologist is adequate.The medical-academic-industrial complex does not want this situation to change. UROs, Derms, GIs, are all profiting enormously from the current situation, at the expense of pathologists and pathology. Train more folks, and "per slide" bids will go lower. The field is doomed, and the problems are not analogous to the situations docprincess is invoking - frustration due to other factors (perhaps documentation, billing, etc). To correlate with path, imagine too many derms. Rather than refer patients to a dermatologist, family practitioners hire them in their practices as non-partners, bill for their work, and pay them 20% of their professional fees. Until they can find one to do it for less. Get real, docprincess!#14Granular, Mar 19, 2017jupiterianvibe Status:Post Doc DrfluffyMD said: ↑No derm curriculum during my us med school either. I know right? Academic pathology likes to attribute the lack of interest in our field to a lack of exposure in medical school (there are tons of articles saying this), all the while ignoring any evidence that refutes their stupid hypothesis, such as the fact that derm/ophthal/uro/anesthesia always do better yet are off the radar in most schools. They also ignore the fact that family medicine is right down there with us yet most schools have a heavy family medicine component in their curriculum. So exposure does not correlate with interest. Dead theory. Put it to rest.Students don't want to become pathologists because we are about as professional as a lab tech nowadays. monkeys.can't live in a decent place.can't get a job with professional respect.always having your income shaved by businessmen.working as a servant for your former classmates.all garbage.docprincess sounds like one of those 'grateful' IMGs. #15jupiterianvibe, Mar 19, 2017Thrombus Member docprincess said: ↑I am US grad for those who have concerns regarding IMG/AMG. But I did rotations in Pathology. I was just trying to say that those rotations helped me to decide my career and I like what I am doing. Everyone might have their own opinions regarding this field but it doesn't have to be bad for all. I am third year resident at prestigious institute and The advances in this field are beyond imagination unless you have worked in top ten institutions in this country.Are you aware of the number of private pathologists and their groups being forced out of their hospitals thanks to the large number of foreign nationals willing to work for pennies on the dollar, a direct result of overtraining thanks to reliance of Big Academia on the welfare rolls?#18Thrombus, Mar 19, 2017 Last edited by a moderator: Mar 19, 2017path24 Status:Attending PhysicianGo into pathology and you have no control/stability over your entire career. The truth is getting out some? A pathologist is just a glorified lab tech that can easily be replaced.#19path24, Mar 20, 2017jupiterianvibe Status:Post DocAZpath said: ↑Our leadership is stupid. Less spots for sure. Membership has got to be more vocal. If practicing docs don't press the issue the status quo will rule.Contact the CAP HOD members. We need to give CAP an enema. How can this be done when the CAPs major revenue source is big labs?i recently read the book 'the rape of emergency medicine'. what happened in that was the emergency medicine national society was corrupt in that corporate interests were superseding the professional interests, so a bunch of emergency docs got together to form their own thing, and it worked out for the field as a whole.Pathologists should follow suit.#21jupiterianvibe, Mar 21, 2017pathstudent Sound Kapital Status: Pre-Health (Field Undecided) I think it was even worse before. I think only a little over 100 applied in the late 90s. But there were 25% less spots back then #22pathstudent, Mar 21, 2017Thrombus Member KeratinPearls said: ↑Man there's a lot of negativity on here nowadays. Starting to think dudes like jupitervibes is Thrombus' second screenname. Nope, not me! Although I have been trying to sound the alarm for 10 plus years now. Now crazy Thrombus is proving to be sage as pathologists are forced to take drastic pay cuts, forced out of their jobs, lose their practices, consolidate, etc all due to the massive overtraining that has been taking place for decades thanks to government/resident subsidized Big Academia.#24Thrombus, Mar 22, 2017WEBB PINKERTON Status: Non-Student It could be our dead outlook on life..Maybe you are right.I really don't care what people believe but I have lost count of the "card carrying" atheists I have ran into in this field. There are other pathology listservs/blogs online with these liberal dbags who love to show their intellectual superiority over the "believers". All they accomplished was chasing away the decent posters on the sites.#28WEBB PINKERTON, Mar 23, 2017gbwillnerPastafarianModerator Emeritus Status:Attending PhysicianWEBB PINKERTON said: ↑It could be our dead outlook on life..Maybe you are right.I really don't care what people believe but I have lost count of the "card carrying" atheists I have ran into in this field. There are other pathology listservs/blogs online with these liberal dbags who love to show their intellectual superiority over the "believers". All they accomplished was chasing away the decent posters on the sites.Don't worry- they won't be renewed at the time of carousel.#31gbwillner, Mar 23, 2017pathstudentSound Kapital Status:Pre-Health (Field Undecided)does anyone have the data? I always like seeing which top tier programs didn't fill.And to the woman above who said that we couldn't believe how advanced they are at a top ten academic facility, I couldn't disagree more. I came from a place like your and am now in a quaternary care private practice and the physicians in my community are way more advanced than the ones from where I trained.#34pathstudent, Mar 23, 2017yaahBoringAdministrator Physician Status:Attending Physician Sometimes institutions technically list that they have "residency spots" even though they don't plan on filling them, I think the reason being that it's a lot harder to get a spot back once you give it up than to just not fill it for a few years. At my residency program, they always had two dermpath spots but only filled one until starting a few years ago. So maybe this is a good thing - some programs are actually shrinking their residency. I am not in academics though, so I don't really know.#42yaah, Mar 26, 2017icpshootyz Status:Attending PhysicianWEBB PINKERTON said: ↑It could be our dead outlook on life..Maybe you are right.I really don't care what people believe but I have lost count of the "card carrying" atheists I have ran into in this field. There are other pathology listservs/blogs online with these liberal dbags who love to show their intellectual superiority over the "believers". All they accomplished was chasing away the decent posters on the sites.When do I get my card? I must have missed when they were handing them out...#43icpshootyz, Mar 27, 2017dr.weiner Status:Attending PhysicianI'd say this forum goes a long way in contributing to the decrease in US grads applying. It's one of the few online resources out there with practicing pathologists. Unfortunately the trolls are the loudest and discourage people from even doing a rotation. The happy people in path (the vast majority) have better things to do than troll this forum. Unfortunately people like yaah who constantly offer the reasonable contrarian opinion are few and far between. I don't blame them. It has to be exhausting.I guess I should relish my personal job security and marketability but I just feel bad for the lack of self respect that people have for their own livelihood and whatever circumstances lead them to this level of self loathing. I also think pathologists have the most free time at a computer than any other field and this contributes to the problem.Life isn't perfect, but path was the only field in medicine I could actually enjoy on a daily basis, I make more money per hour (40-45 hours a week) and have more vacation than most people in medicine. I have absolutely no regrets about my specialty choice. SDN was helpful for me but I had to sift through the doom and gloom 10 years ago to check the field out for myself to really figure it out what it entailed. I recommend that anyone the least bit interested should do the same.But what I do I know, I'm just a practicing pathologist and have been a member of this forum for over a decade.#45dr.weiner, Mar 28, 2017y2k_free_radical gbwillner said: ↑I think a point that is often overlooked is that, despite the market issues/pressures on our field, as noted above, we tend to do better monetarily than most other docs. We might make 70 cents on the dollar sometimes, but those dollars tend to be great in number. Peds and family docs in general don't make anywhere near what we make. Now, of course there are some who own their own practices and make a lot of money, but they are not the norm. We are also not on par with what our most closely interacting docs (oncologists, surgeons) make. But I think we have been very myopic on this forum, and things for the average pathologist are not as dim as would seem.I truly hope you two are correct about our sanguine future and we pessimists are wrong.#47y2k_free_radical, Mar 29, 2017neoevolution Status:Medical StudentI'm a US MD student and we cover normal histology in M1 and pathology in M2, but it's mostly to the extent that's relevant for Step 1. Radiology and derm get similar coverage. I think that's as much exposure as our curriculum can fit considering everything else we need to cover#48neoevolution, Mar 29, 2017razorJust an osteopathic turd awaiting excretion Status:Medical Studentdr. I'm a 4th year DO student matched into pathology. I have nowhere near any of the experience to comment on the status of pathology, but I can tell you I have met several pathologists in my medical school career that echo the above quoted opinion.I have made it a point to visit with the pathologists at the different hospitals I rotate at. Since I'm a DO, we do most of our rotations at private community hospitals so these aren't academic pathologists just trying to fill their program. These are just happy pathologists out working in the community. Off the top of my head I can count 11 pathologists I met from different hospitals in different cities over the last 2 years of clinical rotations (not counting the faculty/residents at academic centers where I interviewed). Every single one of them loved their job, called pathology "the best kept secret" in medicine, and recommended it to me. When asked about the "job market" in pathology they all pretty much laughed and said that has been the word on the street for 20 years. They admitted getting a job isn't as much of a job-seekers market as primary care, but none of them spoke the doom and gloom on SDN. Also, the ages of these pathologist ranged from <5 years out of residency to near-retirement.I only bring this up because my face-to-face experience with 11 out of 11 private practice pathologists in the real world is 180 degrees different than this forum would lead the general medical community to think. So, my recommendation to any interested medical student is to walk into the pathology department at every hospital you go to and introduce yourself to the pathologists (my experience was even easier, most of my attendings would take me to the pathologists or email them to introduce me). Ask them for yourself. I'm not saying ignore the posters on this forum, just take it into consideration as useful information, because I respect the fact that people posting on here probably have very valid and real experiences to back up their dismal outlook. I'm not trying to start a "flee pathology now, path is dead" rant; I just wanted to share my perspective as a student for future young'uns in my shoes. Peace.#49razor, Mar 30, 2017yaahBoringAdministrator Physician Status:Attending Physiciany2k_free_radical said: ↑I truly hope you two are correct about our sanguine future and we pessimists are wrong.Pessimists can never be proven wrong. Their predictions are just delayed awhile, or they will latch on to some specific thing to prove their point. Optimists can have a similar problem although they are at least a lot more pleasant to be around and will typically work hard to keep improving things that they see need to be improved.I have always been an advocate for nuance and realism. Anecdotes can be informative but are not necessarily trend setting. Trends can be informative but are not necessarily easily understandable or predictive.The pessimist has the luxury of always dwelling in the negative. When the negative doesn't happen as much as they thought, they just shift that to further into the future. If they don't want to do that, they identify negative trends to focus on amidst the good.I tend to think it is far too exhausting and useless to be Chicken Little. It gets you nothing. If your fears are confirmed, you don't get a prize, you just get your worst fears confirmed and you can talk about how right you were. That and 25 cents can get you 10 minutes at a parking meter. Personally, I acknowledge the challenges and the difficulties, but work to make the future as good as I can. And I try to surround myself with people who feel the same way. Selfishness only goes so far, and the truly selfish usually end up the most miserable.If I listened to some people on this forum 13 years ago, I wouldn't be in the greatest career I could have imagined, working with a great group of people, and getting paid well to do something I enjoy and have a talent for. But that being said, you do have to listen to all voices. Understand what you are doing, understand who you are and what you want, and always be prepared and vigilant. So I appreciate the naysayers on this forum as well as the optimists, although I have greater respect for the realists.#50yaah, Mar 31, 2017https://www.carms.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2017-CaRMS-Forum-web-deck-EN.pdf

Since Modi government has came into power, n number of schemes have been launched:Financial inclusion schemes:PM Jan Dhan Yojna: aims to provide basic bank account to every family with no minimum balance required. Also, to bring poor financially excluded people into banking system and to decrease corruption in govt. subsidy schemes. It also provides accidental insurance up to 1 lakh and medical Insurance cover of 30,000Social security related schemes:Pradhan Mantri Jeevan jyoti yojna: its a life Insurance scheme worth ₹ 2 lakh at just ₹ 330 per annum.Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna: its an accidental Insurance scheme worth ₹ 2 lakh at just ₹ 12 per annum for accidental death its ₹ 2 lakh and for partial disability- 1 lakh rupeesAtal pension yojna: it guarantees a minimum pension amount at the age of 60 to subscribers depending upon their contributions per month. Amount may range from 1000 to 5000 per month. Minimum contribution period should be 20 years.Urban Reform schemes:Smart cities scheme: Smart city will b equipped with basic infrastructure to give a decent quality of life, a clean and sustainable environment throughout application of some smart solutions. Its for rise of neo middle class who wants better civic amenities.2. AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation): In this 500 cities selected to develop civic infrastructure. Few capital cities, important cities loated in hilly areas and islands and tourist areas are selected.3. HRIDAY ( Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojna): to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country. 12 heritage cities had been identified. Aim is to bring urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation for heritage cities.4. PRASAD (National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) : Aims to create spiritual centres for tourism development within the nation. 12 cities have been identified.5. Swadesh Darshan: Aim is to develop theme based tourist circuit. It should be insured that none of them are in same town, village or city but are not separated by a long distance too.6. Rurban Mission: seeks to develop smart village on the line of smart cities and reduce the burden of migration to the cities through adopting cluster approach.Farmer centric schemes:Deen Dyal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojna: To provide round the clock power supply in Rural areas.2. DD Kisan: India first television chanel dedicated to farmers have been launched to provide onputs new farming techniques water conservation and prganic farming .It will include quiz shows farmers , a bottoms up approach involving agriculturists .This will provide real time interaction with time and farm scientists.3. Soil health card scheme: it aims to help farmers to improve the productivity of farms by providing them basic information for use of nutrients or fertilizers .the card careies crop wise recommendations of fertilizer that are required for farm lands and it also help farmers identify health of soil and judiciously use soil nutrients4. Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna: it is a proposed scheme by the government of India which envisages connecting the irrigation system’s three crucial components - the field application , water sources & distribution network for optimal usage. it also envisage interlinking of perennial rivers to avoid drought and flood situations.5. Pradhan mantri Fasal Bima yojna: it aims to reduce the premium rates to be paid by the farmers so as to enable more farmers avail insurance cover against crop loss on account of natural calamities.Education related shemes:DIKSHA portal: for providing digital platform to teachers to make their lifestyle more digital. This will provide online/offline training to teachers, students and teacher educatorsYUYA: it aims to connect with youth by upgrading their skill as per their competencies.JIGYASA: student-scientist connect programme. Under this programme CSIR (Council of Scientific and industrial Research ) has joined hands with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan. The focus is on connecting schools students and scientists so as to extend student’s classroom learning with that of a very well planned research laboratory based learning. This programme will connect 1151 kendriya Vidyalayas with 38 national laboratories of CSIR and will target 10,000 students and teachers every year.SWAYAM: Its an indigenously designed massive open online course ( MOOC), it will host all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th class till post graduation and can be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time. It aims to bridge the digital divide for students in e-Education.SWAYAM PRABHA: it will provide high quality educational contents, developed by experts, through 32 DTH (direct to home) television channels with an aim to bring uniformity in standards of education. It will cover diverse topics of all levels of education in various languages.National Academic Depository: it will directly integrate with boards/ universities which issue certificates which will be verified, authenticated, accessed and retrieved in a digital depository for purpose of employment, higher education and loansNational Digital library: its a online library containing 6.5 million books in English and the Indian languages.Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojna: stands for Scholarship for promotion of aptitudes and research in stamps as a hobby. It is proposed to award 920 scholarships to students pursuing philately as a hobby. Amount of scholarship would be 6000 per annumEklavya schools will be established for schedule tribe students by 2022 on the lines of Navodhya schools. Though its an old scheme but the government has signalled in budget 2018 that it wants to expand the scope.RISE: Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education scheme. It aims to lend low cost funds to government higher educational institutions.PMRF (Prime ministe’s Research Fellows scheme): This scheme will help tapping talent pool of country for carrying out research indigenously in cutting edge science and technology domains. Under this scheme, 1000 best students who have completed or in final year of B.tech or integrated M.tech or M. Sc in science and technology streams from IISc/ IITs/ NITs/ IISERs/IITs will be offered direct admission in PhD programme in the IITs/IISc. In this, govt. will provide fellowship of Rs. 70,000 per month fornthe first two years, Rs. 75,000 per month for 3rd year and Rs. 80,000 per month in 4th and 5th year.Beti Bachao Beti Padhao yojna: it aims at promoting gender equality and educating girl child.E-basta: created a framework to make school books accessible in digital form as e-books. Books can be read on laptops, tablets and mobiles. It will bring various publishers and schools together on one platform.Padho pradesh yojna: Its a scheme of interest subsidy on educational loan for overseas studies. It assists the students belonging to poor and minority community to acquire loan for subsidised interest rates.Flagship missions:Make In India: to make India a manufacturing hub and to create 100 million jobs and skill enhancement in 25 sectors of economy. Enhancing service sector is also covered under this mission.2. Digital India Mission: to transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy. To create participative, transparent and responsive government. Digital india mission has 9 pilliars:Broadband highwaysInformation for allUniversal mobile accessPublic internet access programmeElectronics manufacturing: target net zero importsEarly harvest programmesE- kranti: electronic delivery of servicesIT for jobsE- Governance: reforming government through technology3. Swachh Bharat mission: its a massive mass movement that seeks to create a clean india by 2019. It aims atElimination of open defecationConversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toiletsEradication of manual scavenging100 % collection and scientific processing/ disposal/reuse/recycling of municipal solid wasteA behavioral change in people regarding healthy sanitation practicesSupporting urban local bodies in designing, executing and operating waste disposal systems4. Namami Gange Project or Namami Ganga Yojana: is an ambitious Union Government project which integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga river in a comprehensive manner. This will cover 8 states, 47 towns and 12 rivers. Rivers covered are: Ganga, Yamuna, Gomti, Damodar, Mahananda, Ramganga, Beehar, Chambal, Khan, Shipra, Betwa and Mandakini.Innovation and entrepreneurship schemes:Start up india: Through the Startup India initiative, Government of India promotes entrepreneurship by mentoring, nurturing and facilitating startups throughout their life cycle. Since its launch in January 2016, the initiative has successfully given a head start to numerous aspiring entrepreneurs. With a 360 degree approach to enable startups, the initiative provides a comprehensive four-week free online learning program, has set up research parks, incubators and startup centres across the country by creating a strong network of academia and industry bodies. More importantly, a ‘Fund of Funds’ has been created to help startups gain access to funding.2. Atal Innovation Mission: It is a Government of India’s endeavour to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, and it serves as a platform for promotion of world-class Innovation Hubs, Grand Challenges, start-up businesses and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology driven areas. In order to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination right at the school, AIM recently launched Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) across India. ATLs are workspaces where students can work with tools and equipment to gain hands-on training in the concepts of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Atal Incubation Centres (AICs) are another programme of AIM created to build innovative start-up businesses as scalable and sustainable enterprises. AICs provide world class incubation facilities with appropriate physical infrastructure in terms of capital equipment and operating facilities. These incubation centres, with a presence across India, provide access to sectoral experts, business planning support, seed capital, industry partners and trainings to encourage innovative start-ups.3. Stand Up India: to support entrepreneurship among women and SC and ST4. MUDRA - Micro Units Development and Refinance Agnecy: Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is a scheme launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on April 8, 2015 for providing loans upto 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small/micro enterprises. These loans are classified as MUDRA loans under PMMY. These loans are given by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, Cooperative Banks, MFIs and NBFCs. The borrower can approach any of the lending institutions mentioned above or can apply online through this portal. Under the aegis of PMMY, MUDRA has created three products namely 'Shishu', 'Kishore' and 'Tarun' to signify the stage of growth / development and funding needs of the beneficiary micro unit / entrepreneur and also provide a reference point for the next phase of graduation / growth.Schemes under Skill India Mission :Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojna: aims to give training to rural youths for jobs. Minimum age for entry is 15 years. Its complementing PM’s Make in India campaign.PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY): aims to provide skills training to youth across the country. It includes class 10th and 12th drop outs.Nai Manzil scheme: to enable students of madrasas to cope up with the contemporary education system and provide them skill training so that they could earn their living once they move out of madrasahUSTTAD ( Upgrading Skill and Training in Traditional Arts/crafts for development) to conserve traditional arts/crafts and build capacity of artisans and craftsmen belonging to minority communities.Nai - roshni scheme: a leadership training program for womenManas: for upgrading entrepreneurial skills of minority youthsSeekho aur Kamao (Learn and Earn): central sector scheme for skill Development of minorities.Schemes related to women:Beti Bachao Beti Bhadao: discussed aboveSukanya samridhi yojna: Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) is a small deposit scheme for the girl child launched as a part of the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign. It is currently 8.1 per cent and provides income-tax benefit.A Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be opened any time after the birth of a girl till she turns 10, with a minimum deposit of Rs 1,000. A maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh can be deposited during the ongoing financial year.The account can be opened in any post office or authorised branches of commercial banks.The account will remain operative for 21 years from the date of its opening or till the marriage of the girl after she turns 18.To meet the requirement of her higher education expenses, partial withdrawal of 50 per cent of the balance is allowed after she turns 18.3. One Stop Crisis Centre: Ministry of Women and Child Development has formulated a scheme for operationalization of minimum 100 pilot projects of One Stop Crisis Centres (OSCCs), a specialized facility for providing all necessary services for women victims/ survivors of violence, in urban areas having population of more than 5 lakh, identified by the States for implementation during the remaining years of the 12th Plan. These Centres will be attached to the District Hospitals of the State Governments.4. SWADHAR - A scheme for women in difficult circumstances: to provide primary need of shelter, food, clothing and care to the marginalised women/ girls living in difficult circumstances who are without any social and economic support. Also, to provide emotional support and counselling to such women.5. STEP - Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women:STEP was launched by the Government of India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development to train women with no access to formal skill training facilities, especially in rural India. The Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and NITI Aayog recently redrafted the Guidelines of the 30-year-old initiative to adapt to present-day needs. The initiative reaches out to all Indian women above 16 years of age. The programme imparts skills in several sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, food processing, handlooms, traditional crafts like embroidery, travel and tourism, hospitality, computer and IT services.6. UJJAWALA scheme: to prevent trafficking of women and children for commercial sexual exploitation. It works on 4 R appoach :RescueRehabilitationReintegrationRepatriationInfrastructure related schemes:Sagarmala project: Sagar Mala project is a strategic and customer-oriented ₹8 trillion (US$120 billion or €100 billion) investment initiative of the Government of India entailing setting up of 6+ mega ports, modernization of several dozen more ports, development of 14+ Coastal Economic Zones and at least 29 Coastal Economic Units, development of mines, industrial corridors, rail, road and airport linkages with these water ports, resulting in US$110 billion export revenue growth, generation of 150,000 direct jobs and several times more indirect jobs. It aims to modernize India's Ports so that port-led development can be augmented and coastlines can be developed to contribute in India's growth. It also aims for "transforming the existing Ports into modern world class Ports and integrate the development of the Ports, the Industrial clusters and hinterland and efficient evacuation systems through road, rail, inland and coastal waterways resulting in Ports becoming the drivers of economic activity in coastal areas."Bharatmala project: is a centrally-sponsored and funded road and highways project of the Government of India. The project will build highways from Gujarat and Rajasthan, move to Punjab and then cover the entire string of Himalayan states - Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand - and then portions of borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar alongside Terai, and move to West Bengal , Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and right up to the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur and Mizoram. Special emphasis will be given on providing connectivity to far-flung border and rural areas including the tribal and backward areas.Setu Bharatam Project: It aims to make all national highways free from railway level crossing by 2019 to ensure road safety.Green highways policy 2015 - to develop eco friendly National Highways with participation of the community, farmers, NGO’s, private sector, institutions, government agencies and the forest department.Gold schemes:Gold monetisation scheme: Gold monetisation scheme is like a gold savings account. You would generally keep your gold without any security at home or store it in bank lockers by paying a maintenance fee. But instead of that, you could keep your gold in any form in a Gold Monetisation Scheme account and earn interest as the price of the precious metal goes up. Also, You do not have to pay capital gains tax on the profits made through the gold monetisation scheme. The capital gains are also exempt from wealth tax and income tax.The Gold Monetisation Scheme is a great opportunity for big Indian households to make profits from the old jewellery lying in bank lockers and at the bottom of safe deposit boxes. Companies, trusts, jewelleries and individuals who have a hoard of gold can also use this scheme to monetise their precious metal. But do not forget that your jewellery will not come back to you in the same form as you put them in – you get the returns in the form of money or gold coins and bars that you can later encash.2. Sovereign Gold Bond : SGBs are government securities denominated in grams of gold. They are substitutes for holding physical gold. Investors have to pay the issue price in cash and the bonds will be redeemed in cash on maturity. The Bond is issued by Reserve Bank on behalf of Government of India.3. Indian gold coin: • The coin will be the 1st ever National gold coin minted in India and will have the National Emblem of Ashok Chakra engraved on one side and Mahatma Gandhi on the other side .• Initially the coins will be available in denominations of 5 and 10 grams; later a 20 gram bullion will also be available through MMTC outlets.Advantages• It would provide gold coins of maximum possible purity and check the supply of counterfeit or adulterated gold sold by jewelers.• While it may not address people looking forward to buy jewellery, but people who buy gold coins for investment purposes can buy these, if they are still reluctant about the Gold bond scheme.• Physical gold coins are more liquid resource compared to gold bonds, as perceived by many people in India.Labour reform schemes:5 labour reform schemes have been launched for the youth, workers and employers to improve ease of business for enterprises while expanding government support to impart skill training for workers.A. Shram suvidha portalB. Random Inspection SchemeC. Universal Account NumberD. Apprentice Protsahan YojnaE. Revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima YojnaSchemes for Banking Reforms:Indradhanush plan for Revamp of Public Sector Banks: The strategy, Indradhanush (rainbow), focuses on systemic changes in state-run lenders, including a fresh look at hiring, a comprehensive plan to de-stress bloated lenders, capital infusion, accountability incentives with higher rewards including Stock Options and cleaning up governance.The 7 Elements includes:a. Appointmentsb. Bank of Board Bureauc. Capitalizationd. De-Stressing Public Sector Bankse. Empowermentf. Framework of accountabilityg.Governance Reforms2. Gyan Sangam : Gyan Sangam is the meet of various banks, financial institutions and insurance companies in order to discuss for enhancing the digitisation of the banking system in India and ways to increase the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems and big data analytics in the banking & financial services industry in India.3. Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code: The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) is the bankruptcy law of India which seeks to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single law for insolvency and bankruptcy.The code could ensure quicker resolution of NPA (Non- performing Assets) problems, especially in PSU banks. In fact, the Financial Stability Report issued by RBI in 2015 indicates that corporate sector vulnerabilities and the impact of their weak balance sheets on the financial system needs closer monitoring. The time-bound insolvency resolution process would definitely help the financial services industry function better.Bankruptcy laws accept that business ventures can fail and allow entrepreneurs to make a new start. While facilitating failed firms to wind up painlessly, the code can pave the way to resurrection also.Schemes for sports:Revamped Khelo India: this marks a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports, as the programme aims at mainstreaming sport as a tool for individual development, community development and national development. Under this scheme, each selected athlete shall receive an annual scholarship worth ₹5 lakh for 8 consecutive years.National Sports Talent Search Portal: to unearth sporting talent from every nook and corner. The portal will be also available as smartphone application. Using this portal, a child or his parents, coaches or teachers can upload their biodata or video on the portal.Schemes for household:SAUBHAGYA: Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana: to ensure electrificationof all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas here today.National Nutrition Strategy: NITI AYOG has launched this scheme aiming at Kuposhan Mukt BharatNational Rural Drinking Water Program Continuation and Restructuring : aim is to provide every rural person with adequate safe water for drinking, cooking and other basic domestic needs on a sustainable basis, with a minimum water quality standard, which should be conveniently accessible at all times and in all situations. Though this was already under NRDWP Started in 2009, Union cabinet has accorded its approval for continuation and restructuring.KUSUM SCHEME: The scheme will work towards promoting solar power production a.k.a. solar farming up to 28,250 MW to help farmers.KEY FACTS ABOUT THE KUSUM SCHEMEKUSUM scheme will provide 1.75 million off-grid agricultural solar pumpsIt will build 10,000 MW solar plants on barren lands for solar farmingFarmers will be given a chance to earn extra income if they help produce additional power by setting up solar power project on their barren landThe energy produced by the farmers on their barren land will be bought by the state electricity distribution companies (DISCOMS)The scheme is likely to decrease the consumption of diesel in the agriculture sector (used in pumps)KUSUM scheme also includes the distribution of 17.5 lakh solar pumps for which 60 per cent subsidy will be given to the farmers.Scheme for Fisherman:Sagar Vani project: is an integrated information dissemination system that will serve the coastal community, especially the fisherman community with the advisories and alerts towards livelihood as well as their safety at seaHealth related schemes:Mission indradhanush and then Intensified Mission Indradhanush: “Let no child suffer from any vaccine-preventable disease". This was stated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi as he launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) at Vadnagar in Gujarat, today. Through this programme, Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme. The special drive will focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018. The achievement of full immunisation under Mission Indradhanush to at least 90% coverage was to be achieved by 2020 earlier. With the launch of IMI, achievement of the target has now been advancedAyushman Bharat project: The Government today announced two major initiatives in health sector , as part of Ayushman Bharat programme. The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitely while presenting the General Budget 2018-19 in Parliament here today said that this was aimed at making path breaking interventions to address health holistically, in primary, secondary and tertiary care systems, covering both prevention and health promotion.The initiatives are as follows:-(i) Health and Wellness Centre:- The National Health Policy, 2017 has envisioned Health and Wellness Centres as the foundation of India’s health system. Under this 1.5 lakh centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people. These centres will provide comprehensive health care, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services. These centres will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services. The Budget has allocated Rs.1200 crore for this flagship programme. Contribution of private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres is also envisaged.(ii) National Health Protection Scheme:- The second flagship programme under Ayushman Bharat is National Health Protection Scheme, which will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization. This will be the world’s largest government funded health care programme. Adequate funds will be provided for smooth implementation of this programme.Other schemes:Ajeevika Grameen Express Yojna: to provide an alternative source of livelihood to members of Self Help Group (SHGs). This scheme has been launched under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojna - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY - NRLM). This scheme will facilitate them to operate public transport services in background rural areas.PENCIL PORTAL - Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour: its an electronic platform that aims at involving Centre, State, District, Governments, civil society and general public in achieving the target of child labour free society.It encompasses various components- Child Tracking System, Complaint Corner, State Government, National Child Labour Project and Convergence. Each district will nominate District Nodal Officers (DNOs) who will receive the complaints. Within 48 hours of receiving complaints, DNOs will check genuineness of complaint and take rescue measures in coordination with police, if complaint is genuine. So far, 7 states have appointed DNOs.3. National Biopharma Mission: this is an Industry- Academia Mission to accelerate bio pharmaceutical development in India.4. VAJRA - Visiting Advanced Joint Research : this scheme enables NRIs and oversees scientific community to participate and contribute to research and development in India.5: Test and Treat Policy for HIV patients: Test-and-treat is an intervention strategy in which the population at risk is screened for HIV infection and diagnosed HIV infected individuals receive early treatment, aiming to eliminate HIV as it reduces the rate of spreading the virus to other people.6. DIGITAL POLICE PORTAL: will enable citizens to register FIRs online and the portal will initially offer seven public delivery services in all states and UTs like person and address verification e.g. of employees, tenants, nurses etc, permission for hosting Public Events, Lost and Found Articles and Vehicle theft etc.It will provide investigator the complete record history of any criminal from anywhere across the country.7. Nationwide campaign - Gaj yatra: A nationwide campaign to protect elephants on the occasion of World Elephant Day.8. SHE BOX portal: The Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi launched an online complaint management system titled Sexual Harassment electronic–Box (SHe-Box) for registering complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace in New Delhi today. The complaint management system has been developed to ensure the effective implementation of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (the SH Act), 2013.This portal is an initiative to provide a platform to women working or visiting any office of Central Government (Central Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Undertakings, Autonomous Bodies and Institutions etc.) to file complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace under the SH Act. Those who had already filed a written complaint with the concerned Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) constituted under the SH Act are also eligible to file their complaint through this portal. The SHe-Box portal can be accessed at the link given below:http://www.wcd-sh.nic.in9. Sankalp and strive schemes:STRIVE scheme: will incentivize ITIs to improve overall performance including apprenticeship by involving SMEs (Small Scale Enterprises), business association and industry clusters. It will develop robust mechanism for delivering quality skill development training by strengthening institutions- National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs), Sector Skill Councils, ITIs and National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) etc.It will support universalization of National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) including National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) across skill development schemes. It will provide required push to National Skill Development Mission 2015 and its various sub missions. It is also aligned to flagship Government programs such as Make in India and Swachhta Abhiyan.SANKALP scheme : envisages setting up of Trainers and Assessors academies with self-sustainable models. Over 50 such academies are to be set up in priority sectors. It will leverage institutions for trainingtrainers in both long and short term VET thereby bringing about convergence. Additional trainer academies will also be set up.It will focus on greater decentralization in skill planning by institutional strengthening at State level which includes setting up of SSDMs and allow states to come up with State and District level Skill Development Plans (SSDPDSDP).It also aims at enhancement of inclusion of underprivileged and marginalized communities including women, Scheduled Castes (SCs)/Schedule Tribes (STs) and Persons with Disabilities (PWD). It will also develop a skilling ecosystem that will support the country’s rise in Ease of Doing Business index.10. Anti Narcotics Scheme: aims to combat illicit trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substance. The purpose is to assist state governments and UTs which are contributing in controlling the inter-state and cross border drug trafficking.11. Atal Bhujal Yojna: to tackle ever-deepening crisis of depleting groundwater level12. Gobar-Dhan yojna: the solid waste and cattle dung will be composed into useful elements such as Bio-CNG and Bio-gas.13. National Bamboo Mission: The Mission would ensure holistic development of the bamboo sector by addressing complete value chain and establishing effective linkage of producers (farmers) with industry.Beneficiaries:The scheme will benefit directly and indirectly the farmers as well as local artisans and associated personnels engaged in bamboo sector including associated industries. Since it is proposed to bring about one lakh ha area under plantation, it is expected that about one lakh farmers would be directly benefitted in terms of plantation.States/ districts covered:The Mission will focus on development of bamboo in limited States where it has social, commercial and economical advantage, particularly in the North Eastern region and States including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.The Mission is expected to establish about 4000 treatment/ product development units and bring more than 100000 ha area under plantation.Impact:Bamboo plantation will contribute to optimizing farm productivity and income thereby enhancing livelihood opportunities of small & marginal farmers including landless and women as well as provide quality material to industry. Thus, the Mission will not only serve as a potential instrument for enhancing income of farmers but also contributing towards climate resilience and environmental benefits. The Mission will also help in creating employment generation directly or indirectly in both skilled and unskilled segments.14. Secure Himalaya project:The Union Government had launched SECURE Himalaya, a six-year project to ensure conservation of locally and globally significant biodiversity, land and forest resources in high Himalayan ecosystem spread over four states viz. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.Key FactsThe SECURE project aims at securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems. It is meant for specific landscapes including Changthang (Jammu and Kasmir), Lahaul – Pangi and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh), Gangotri – Govind and Darma – Byans Valley in Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) and Kanchenjunga – Upper Teesta Valley (Sikkim).The key focus areas of the project is protection of snow leopard and other endangered species and their habitats and also securing livelihoods of people in region and enhancing enforcement to reduce wildlife crime. Under it, enhanced enforcement efforts and monitoring will be undertaken to curb illegal trade in some medicinal and aromatic plants which are among most threatened species in these landscapes.15. Operation Greens: aims to promote farmer producers organisations, agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management. The operation aims to aid farmers and help control and limit the erratic fluctuations in the prices of onions, potatoes and tomatoes.

AmericaLife in 1940s MilwaukeeIn the 1940s Milwaukee was like leave it to Beaver country, an innocent city filled up with the simple life and good times. Milwaukee was a unique among American cities and throughout the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, Milwaukee was the quintessential American town, the best place in the world to call home. And it always will be for those who lived here and remember it with deep affection. Viewers of Happy Days and Lavern and Shirley can only imagine how much fun we had! I grew up in this all American 'Greatest Generation' city, 1930s - 1940s Milwaukee, Wisconsin into a primarily German partly Polish community made up of Catholics, Lutherans and a majority of Jews - and there were a few Irish/Scots and lots of refugees fleeing Nazi Germany too. Milwaukee was a heavy manufacturing, highly academic, European oriented city. When a Jewish holiday took place, my schools were emptied of many students and there would be only a few of us gentiles left attending. I found Jews to be just like anyone else, in fact, my first girl friends were Jewish. After World War II when Jewish refugees from European relocation camps immigrated to Milwaukee, we became intimately knowledgeable of the Holocaust. I gained first hand knowledge about the torture and genocide from survivors of Nazi-German extermination camps like Auschwitz and concentration camps such as Dachau and Belsen, in fact, my next door neighbor was a survivor forced into prostitution at one of the camps.Back then, Milwaukee was all about good union jobs in heavy industries, parks everywhere, beer, Harley Davidson motor cycles, mass transit on electric Trolleys, corner bars, sports - the Braves and The Packers, bowling, poodle skirts and saddle shoes for the girls, leather jackets, spade shoes and pompadour hair for the boys, swing and jitter bug dancing, drive in movies, cruising on Wisconsin Avenue, getting married right out of high school for the girls, getting a skilled apprenticeship union job or the military for the boys - a few went to college. Milwaukee was an immigrant driven city, mostly German, then Polish, the rest were Scandinavian, English, Scots, and my beloved Irish where I got my crazies from. My engineering and warrior side came from my German side. Religion was mostly Catholic, then liberal Congregational types and Jewish. Lots of Jews came from the German concentration work and death camps as refugees after WW II. Milwaukee is a buffet food city, you'll find a lot of beer, sausage, sauerkraut, cheese, and generally carb heavy fried foods and all kinds of fish. By the way, everyone learns to dance the Jewish Horah and Hava Nagila. Being on Lake Michigan and in the center of the country, Milwaukee is an International Sea Port and Transportation Depot for trains with connections to every city in the USA. You can even sail from Milwaukee onto the Mississippi down to New Orleans.Milwaukee was neat and clean, full of parks with lagoons and trees, and huge playgrounds filled with swings and organized activities surrounded every elementary or middle school. Since there were very few apartment buildings, everyone lived in a house and everyone kept their property up. We walked to school or took a city bus, rode our bikes everywhere, spent the week in Washington Park, went on week end camping trips, saw ten-cent movies and bought ten cent comic books. It’s easy enough to see why a lifestyle that embraces cheap beer, hot cars and motorcycles would speak to Milwaukeeans, but there’s also a blue-collar pragmatism inherent in a lifestyle that between drinks allows participants to hold down a job, raise a kid and maybe even pay down a mortgage. Times were so much better then, people were friendly, things were so much more innocent, there was very little crime and neighborhoods raised children. Things were just simpler and easier, back then, the movies were simple and had no fancy special effects. You could go to sleep with your doors unlocked. We didn't have all the technology then, no TV and only radio with Edward R Murrow and Gabriel Heater and JC Kaltenborn interspersed between the Longer Ranger and Shadow programs. It was family type movies with Dan Daily and Betty Gable musical time with Hopalong Cassidy matinees on Saturday afternoons. Children were raised with values and neighborhoods also raised children . . . and we lived in a village where everyone watched out for your kids.With WW II, rationing for food, gas and money curtailed a lot of our running around until the war ended in 1945. There were scrap (metal) drives, war bond drives and stamps for food or shoes and victory gardens on the home front. Young boys with their wagons and teenagers would go from house-to-house collecting aluminum of any sort or any other metals. The average gasoline ration was three gallons a week; the yearly butter ration was 12 lbs. per person 26% less than normal the yearly limit for canned goods 33 lbs., 13 lbs. under usual consumption levels; and people could buy only three new pairs of shoes a year. At school, we had "duck and cover" Civil Defense drills, when we ducked under our desks. We saved and reused all grease from the frying pan and butter was replaced with a tasteless margarine that had to have yellow color mixed into it. We saved tin foil and flattened tin cans for the war effort and of course had a victory garden in the back yard. Small as we were, we were given cardboard sheets showing the silhouettes of different kinds of airplanes so we could identify an enemy plane if it flew overhead. We never saw one, but we always looked. Our games included frequent shouts of "Bombs over Tokyo!" We had blackout curtains in all the windows and had to practice air raid drills, when we'd pull the curtains and turn out all the lights in an attempt to make Milwaukee invisible to enemy bombers.During the War, households often bought their annual supply of coal in April, May and June. If more was required, another half ton was taken toward the end of the season. After the war, and during the winter, the coalman came once a month to deliver coal to our house. They would back the coal truck into our driveway and my dad would watch so they didn’t hit the eves of the house. One time they did and my dad had to fix the broken wood. I can always remember my mom saying to the coalman "Mind the washing!" Coal was delivered by big burly men who hauled it from the truck to your basement window in canvas "buckets" they carried on their shoulder. They dumped it onto a metal chute they put in our basement window and the coal went into one of our two "Coal Bins ” and from there we shoveled it into the furnace. The hard coal went into one bin and the soft coal went into the other. We would get 500 pounds and up to a ton of coal at one time.I remember the coal delivery men, coming round the back of the truck, bent under their hundred pound coal bags, as they walked to our coal chute on the side of the house. The coal men were on piece work and had to deliver at least 15 tons of coal a day, all for just a few dollars per week. My father would offer them a cold beer if he was home and they always accepted. My neighbors were factory workers and all of them were thinking about enlisting. What with the war news, they knew that war is not a game or something to just joke and speak casually about. It was literally hell on earth. Bob Hawkins, a British immigrant, told us about his brother. He was a prisoner of war, and was captured by the Germans in Dunkirk. Bob got a letter from his brother about his march to the prisoner of war camp after he had been captured with the Germans. On his way during the grueling journey, a fellow countrymen fell to the ground no longer able to walk. The Germans not caring about the prisoner’s need for survival un holstered their guns with the intentions to shoot that man on the spot. Bob's brother stepped in the middle of them, and convinced them to allow him to carry the man the remainder of the distance, that distance being three miles. Jack came home on leave. He was dressed in his starched summer Marine uniform and he looked like a recruiting poster and he would soon be off to battle. I knew from that moment that I would enlist too when I grew up. I wanted to wear that proud outfit myself someday. I would have gone down and enlisted right away but there was one big problem standing in my way. I was only eight years old. I never felt so left out in my life. I would just have to wait until I was eighteen to enlist, and that would be in 1955.Kids playing Guns, during WW II was a huge activity, after all, Hitler was bombing London in the Blitz, food shortages, rationing, poverty, family members and neighbors in the military fighting the Germans or Japanese, war news on the radio every night — a hard life for us Milwaukee kids playing in the streets. In the early 40s toys were getting more advanced, but they all had sort of a war slant to them. Guns and military type toys were in every little boy’s hands. My dad made me a wooden Thompson machine gun I used to play 'Guns' with other kids. If there were enough kids out in the street, you could play football. My dad had the football he gave us to play with. It was a beat up old ball he had when he played college ball.After the War the troops came home. Refugees too! We heard all the combat stories after the war when the soldiers and sailors came home with their personal horrors of war. Starting in 1947 refugees from European relocation camps immigrated to Milwaukee and we became intimately knowledgeable of the Holocaust. We learned all about the torture and genocide of Nazi-German extermination camps like Auschwitz and concentration camps such as Dachau and Belsen, in fact, my next door neighbor was a survivor forced into prostitution at one of the camps. Most refugees were Jews, some were Catholics, a few were Gypsies and eastern European types. The Nazis murdered six million Jews gathered from Europe in the gas ovens, millions more were shot down in the fields all over Eurasia - Poland, Russia and anywhere the German army advanced in the Balkans. They murdered anyone they didn't like or felt were a threat to them like college professors, Masons and the academic class. We heard all about this in school, talked to survivors in or classrooms or with our neighbors next door. We all got a greater appreciation of life, morality, a man's ability for brutality and search for justice.At the end of WW II, millions of people were dead and millions homeless, the European economy had collapsed, and much of the European industrial infrastructure had been destroyed. The Soviet Union suffered enormous losses in the war against Germany. The Soviet population decreased by about 27 million during the war; of these, 8.7 million were combat deaths. The 19 million non-combat deaths had a variety of causes: starvation in the siege of Leningrad; conditions in German prisons and concentration camps; mass shootings of civilians; harsh labor in German industry; famine and disease; conditions in Soviet camps; and service in German or German-controlled military units fighting the Soviet Union.What young Milwaukeean did not get his first taste of brown mustard on a County Stadium hotdog sold by a vendor? Was there any better peach ice cream than that sold by Sealtest run by the Luick Dairy on Capitol Drive? Was there any better bottled root beer than Grandpa Graf's Creamy Top? Was there any better cookie than the Twilight Dessert made by Robert A. Johnston? Were there any better candy bars than Ziegler's Giant Bar or Sperry Candy's Denver Sandwich or Chicken Dinner? Was there any better hamburger than the one you could get at the Butter Bun on Wisconsin Avenue? And how about that almost sweet aroma emanating from the Red Star Yeast plant? Or the nose-holding stench coming from the Pfister Vogel tannery or the Milwaukee Road Shops in the Valley? Or the unforgettable odor of the Monkey House at the Washington Park Zoo? Or the sound of a bat hitting a hardball at the Eddie Matthews Bat-a-Way on South 27th?The 1950sIf you stepped into a late 1940s Milwaukee classroom you'd see teachers fostering 'critical thinking' in the classroom on a daily basis. This includes thinker’s guides which focus on the foundations of conceptualizing existential concepts and principles. It was all 'College Prep' education. If a student wasn't gaining anything from a college-prep curriculum they were given "life adjustment education." Basically, that was a 'technical education.' Girls making dresses, hats, learning to do laundry in the correct way and beauty culture and boys trained hard in physical education (football as well) which really kept the boys in shape for war. Growing numbers of young people soon filled technical schools. Schools taught lessons in family life, hygiene and health. The focus at Stueben JR and Washington SR high was academics, with nothing but college prep classes in Math, Science, English, History, Social Studies, and with elective courses in music, shop, sewing, and health. Being smart was the norm and the only standard accepted among us kids in those days. Flunk a course and you would be made fun of. You were always surrounded by creative people from all different ethnic types. It changed my life for the better. There were "sock hops" and the dancing style was "Jitter Bug" similar to the Jive dances of the 1950s. It was also the big band era and the likes of Benny Goodman would get the teenagers up and jitter bugging. Teenagers also learned to ballroom dance! Some girls went nuts over Frank Sinatra -- which I personally could not understand. My music hero was Frankie Lane.The NavyAfter graduating from high school, working 80 hours a week at two different jobs, with restless feet, needing adventure and wanting to see the world, I joined the regular Navy. This proved to be an exciting life, whereupon I experienced thousands of thrills, sailed many seas and oceans, including the waters of the north and south the Atlantic, Indian Oceans, and the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Red, Arabian Seas, and Mexican and Persian Gulfs. I have been to countless exotic ports, and sailed thru hurricanes, severe storms and experienced many high seas’ adventures. My ship was a warship, a Destroyer, the fighting backbone of the US Navy and my shipmates were from all over the United States, particularly the South. I loved the Navy life and still revere those wonderful years to this day. Being at sea for three years gave me the opportunity to indulge in one special pursuit; I collect destinations. I’ve always had wanderlust. It started as a child when I developed a keen interest in the Roman Empire and the mythology of the Knights of the Round Table. Now after many years of traveling, I still experience the excitement of discovery whenever I visit a new place.My high educational level got me very high military test job selection scores and into electronics, computers and high tech weapons. I found southern people were generally nice but not well educated, they had few skills, were very religious and most being bigoted against blacks, Jews, Catholics and Yankees. In fact there was an official government Jim Crow racial segregation practiced throughout the south that was violent and very mean spirited. In fact, there were loots of murders and lynching done against blacks and civil rights workers done by nasty white bigots and none ever got arrested much less went to jail.Life in 1950s NorfolkIt was 1956 and I was in the South now assigned to a Navy Destroyer in Norfolk which was an ugly and mean city. Was this what the south was like I asked? I found every day social life was very different from my home of Milwaukee. While Milwaukee was an open minded working man's society, liberal and socially generous, with thousands of things to do, the South was backward and low brow nasty, with nothing to do and racially legally segregated. If you had to make a comparison between good and evil, the south was definitely evil. Us northerners wondered how anyone could live here in this colorless and dull-witted society, hypocrites - full of Bible Belt evangelical religion but hateful to the core. Whereas in Milwaukee segregation between the races was social and very much class oriented, here in the South the races were separated by law which was vigorously enforced by the police and they seemed to relish harassing Blacks, military or civilian. By civilized Milwaukee standards, these southern police were psychopaths, escaped guards from Nazi Germany prison camps. Any type of non whites, including Asians, Puerto Ricans, Caribbean's, etc., didn’t get any respect and were treated terribly. If your skin was darker, you were legally separated into a lower class and discriminated against. Even the Jews, just like my childhood buddies from my old neighborhood, were held in low esteem and treated like garbage.The week I arrived in Norfolk, the State of Virginia closed down most of its public schools to avoid racial integration, and they remained closed for the next two years. Based on Brown vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court had ruled that the South had to integrate its schools. Virginia refused to comply, instead, they set up private schools for whites across the state and established "Massive Resistance" to any integration plans from the Federal Government whom they hated. What are these Southerners? Evil incarnate or just misguided and stupid? I would never understand them! Aboard ship, I had made friends with many sailors, including Blacks, and when we went to Norfolk, we would experience a totally segregated society. On the ship regardless of race we all got along fine but we could not hang together on shore. There were many Blacks living in Norfolk, and they were cordoned off into very poor areas of town. Norfolk’s main downtown, ‘Granby Street’ and the entire city, with all of its parks and beaches, was available only for Whites. Blacks were allowed only in designated ‘Colored’ - run down - sections and a downtown area called ‘Church Street’ which actually had the character of a New York City street, colorful and full of itself.Even the rowdy East Main Street sailor Bars, known infamously throughout the world, were for Whites only. Bus stations, water fountains, hotels, taxi cabs, movie theaters, restaurants, city parks, swimming beaches, everything and everything were separated by race. The whites had all the best, the blacks - by law - all the worst. What fool invented this madness?! What a sick bunch of idiots thought this one up. This can't be the USA! But it was and I would have to learn to deal with it!Black and WhiteThere didn't seem to be much distinction between blacks and whites on the ship. It was during the Cold War and we were in it together, our guns being manned and ready by both black and white. Heck, James, the best bar room brawler I ever met, who saved my ass many times when I was on Military Police trying to break up Bar Fights in Europe, was black as the ace of spades, small but tough as a Red Oak, and scarier than a grinning Godzilla with gold teeth! Another friend of mine was a homicidal maniac dark colored Puerto Rican from Brooklyn who tipped the scales at around 5'3", had muscles in his breath and who I'm sure stayed up at night thinking of ways to dismember anyone who looked cross eyed at him and make it look like an accident. Other blacks were Cousins, he and I manned the Main Battle Gun Director together and Jack Hawkins who was the best three-inch gunner we had. We had a few tough blacks in Naval Infantry and when I was on desert patrol in the Persian Gulf, Eddie Duncan from Boston was my best friend and fearless war fighter, he was a great gunner and could handle himself in hand to hand. I felt safe with him by my side.1950s New York CityNorfolk was a wasteland of racial bigotry, evangelicalism, and nothing to do for love hungry sailors on weekend liberty, so lots of us northerners went to New York City. New York is all about the monuments and the museums, the pulsing crowds on Fifth Avenue, craziness of Times Square, funkiness of Greenwich Village, opera at the Met and stickball in Spanish Harlem, sardines on the subway, delis and pickle barrels on 8th Avenue, night clubbing in Times Square, dancing to the waltz -swing orchestras at Roseland, raunchiness at the Terminal Bar, ugliness of the Port Authority Bus Station, all night eats at the 11th Street Diner, and the romantic urban vistas of Central Park and its never ending free concerts: the culture (the high and the decidedly, thrillingly low) of Gotham awaits us. When night falls, the city moved indoors: into bars, cabarets, restaurants, nightclubs, and dance halls. War profits and soldiers' pay coursed into Manhattan nightlife and raised it to new heights. There were three main nationalities in the 50's: Italians, Irish and Jewish with lots of Puerto Ricans and Blacks immigrating from the south too; "the city" everyone knew meant, Manhattan, the subway, bus and the trolley were only a thin dime to ride; a great day was going to the beach at Coney Island, where Tuesday night was fireworks, there was no better hot dog then Nathan's in Coney Island and no better French fries than there thick ripple cuts; NYC streets were safe, there was almost no violence; people made a living and, rich or poor, everyone knew how to have a good time no matter of status; there were no divorces and few "one parent" families; there were no drugs or drug problems in the lives of most people; You bought sour pickles right out of the barrel - for a nickel - and they were delicious; for a nickel, you got into Ebbet's Field and saw the Dodgers play; Everyone went to a Bar Mitzvah even if you weren't Jewish and everyone took their date to Plum Beach for the submarine races.The Village was already and an electrifying time for the Bohemian set, and many of the prominent Beat writers were drawn there. During the 1950s, the Village hit its most active time, as musicians, poets, and especially visual artists began to flock there. Folk music blossomed in Greenwich Village, where clubs and coffee houses showcased singers like Pete Seeger and Odetta and nurtured a generation of newcomers, including Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and Peter, Paul and Mary. Two of the most exciting American movements were calling Greenwich Village their home, the Abstract Expressionists, and the New York School of Poets was sharing the same bars, restaurants, and lofts.In the fifties, the most popular places were ice cream parlors, pizza parlors, drive-ins, bowling alleys, coffee houses and record shops. The most popular and economical activity available for teenagers was watching movies. Other places teenagers went for fun were dances, school sporting events, sock hops, malt shops, and amusement parks. Dances, in particular, made up a large part of dating. Society encouraged women to marry young. Many American women, when they graduated high school, perceived that their further career choices were pretty much limited to being either a secretary, a nurse or a schoolteacher. Many women went to college to get a Mrs. degree. Pre-marital sex was considered sinful. "Going steady" was a stage young people took only if they were seriously on the path to marriage. Virginity was still a virtue in the fifties; and sailors on the prowl had to behave themselves.New York was defined in 1957 by the Broadway musical 'West Side Story' which opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in Manhattan featuring a musical score by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim; its story centered on two rival teenage gangs - the all-white Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks - facing off on the streets of New York City. The play’s showcase number, “America,” dramatized the disparities between life in rural Puerto Rico and the opportunities available to immigrants living in the United States. Bernstein’s orchestrations drew heavily on Latin-style percussion and dance rhythms — sounds that had become prominent in New York over the course of the 1940s and 50s, as the city’s Latino population boomed.Available girls were everywhere . . . every color, shape and type, all hungering for a young sailor to pay them some attention. Nothing like evil, segregated, dry, violent and ugly Norfolk . . . which was just like the South everywhere, but not in the north where social freedoms still reined. Northern culture is very diverse and it made us all more tolerant. We could see how things can improve, and we know that most people are decent and good. Young girls crowed the streets and clubs all over Manhattan. They represented the last generation of innocence before it is "lost" in the sixties. When asked to imagine this lost group, images of bobbysoxers, letterman jackets, malt shops and sock hops come instantly to mind. Images like these are so classic, they, for a number of people, are "as American as apple pie."After the NavyAfter the Navy, I got an opportunity to be a Main Frame engineer for IBM, spent 2 and 1/2 years in school - finished first in my class - and was stationed at the naval base and went on never ending special TAD product support assignments all around the USA, especially to New York City which had the most and biggest computer applications in the USA. I also got involved in politics and Civil Rights, worked for Jack Kennedy and marched with Martin Luther King, all to work for equality. You could say that generally southerners: white - by culture, and black - by segregation, were educationally and culturally way behind northern peoples. And the whites were mean too . . . fighting Civil Rights to keep Jim Crow racial segregation in place.In the 60s, I moved to New York to teach Grad School in Greenwich Village. I had a great career in the computer industry as an engineering, sales and marketing manager for Banking and Fortune 500 accounts; went to Harvard Business School, wrote books, taught management development courses; was a national recruiter visiting engineering colleges, tech schools, and military based looking for high performance tech professionals and hired close to a thousand for NYC and Mid Atlantic operations. I was very sympathetic toward blacks since they suffered under racial segregation but found that generally they had poor educations and didn't qualify much for high tech jobs. I did my best to hire blacks and women who were highly inspired but also had to take into consideration job requirements. My companies revenue success and my job continuation depended upon being the best player in a very competitive market place. Kind of like NFL football or any professional sports.There are cultural things I found in different industries. Some parts of high tech industries were union environments, some were enclaves of IVY league educations and military weapons people like me, all requiring educations and skills to get high tech jobs and keep them in a rapidly advancing technology industry. It wasn't a space where I saw blacks - some, yes,. but very few. One of my customers, NYNEX, was filled with old time hard drinking Irish who hired people like themselves. The NYPD and NYFD was mostly Irish and family oriented, it was a father to son environment. Unions required seven year apprenticeships, entry to high tech was assured by ex military, tech school and MIT. Wall Street was IVY league, Harvard en all. Immigrants had the working class hotel jobs. Jews and Indians taught in the universities. The Greeks owned the Diner industry, the French the classy restaurants, the Muslims owned the Halal street carts. Unless it was professional sports where blacks excelled, except for white oriented Hockey, Blacks rarely fit in the business world where they had to have higher educational qualifications . . . and in NYC, family connections were very helpful.Affirmative ActionThen along affirmative action, a policy of favoring members of a disadvantaged group who currently suffer or historically have suffered from discrimination within a culture. But I had to fill high tech positions working in very tough NYC 24 X 7 environments. Was I going to lower the qualifications for a job? I think that at one point in the nation's history "carefully done" affirmative action was needed. That time is past. Is there racism, bigotry, sexism, etc? Of course there is. There always will be. The sane and rational people of the world are more concerned with hiring a person who they think is best suited for the job they are hiring for. When I go to the doctor I want to be confident that they got into medical school because they were the best. Here is a typically affirmative action scenario:Hi, I'm a white student with a 4.0 GPAHi, I'm a black student with a 2.0 GPAThe black man gets accepted into the university medical program based upon his color.Now I'm a patient, why the hell would I want someone operating on me because he got into school because he was black? I don't think so! The person who has the best grades, skills, etc. . . . should get accepted for any job, college, etc. . . . not based upon color of the skin.Pros of Affirmative ActionCreates diversity in college campuses and some businesses.Provides students starting at a disadvantage a boost.Draws people to areas of study and work they may never consider.Some stereotypes are broken with affirmative actionCreates equal opportunity for minorities and women in college admissionsMake up for past discrimination and prevent current discriminationActs as a desegregation program for upper educationHelp lead to a truly color-blind society.Cons of Affirmative ActionLeads to reverse discrimination.Lowers standards of accountability needed to push students or employees to perform better.Some students admitted on affirmative action are often ill-equipped to handle the school.Student chosen based on race and ethnic rather than how qualified they are.It is condescending to minorities to say they need affirmative action to succeed.Unfair, passes over better qualified individuals which leads to reverse discrimination.Race consciousness increases rather than promoting a color-blind justice.America Today in the 21st CenturySo here we are, fifty some odd years later; America has become a different nation; it always changes with the times, today it's high technology and globalism changing the national dynamic. But today something is broken in the American political system. The country is wallowing in pessimism and cultural conflict; Congress has an approval rate somewhere around 7 - 9 per cent and is useless as a governing body. For years technology has replaced blue collar jobs and globalism has increased competitive pressures and painfully changed the rules for economic development. Now demigods push racial reasons like non white immigration for the decline of the economic stability the average American. In today’s America, the predominant emotion among the majority of its citizens is dissatisfaction with not getting what they deserve, fear of the non white mixture brewing in America’s melting pot and anger with established political system. It happened before! Remember the 1960s social revolution? Traditionalists feared and fought it, but it happened anyway with dramatic organizational and moral changes to society and government. Society changed for the better, with things like Civil Rights for African Americans and women. Today the civil rights battles are being fought for woman controlling their own bodies, homosexual rights, and immigrants being recognized as an asset rather than as a problem.The USA is overwhelmed now with left and right crybaby dissenters. They complain and blame instead of exhilarate! Anti everything ideologues coming from a racial blend of black or white, evangelical religious nuts, all uneducated to the issues but full of righteousness, they think the worst of everything. And they are ruining my America! You can easily recognize them right off the bat, they have an enemies list, lots of things they don't like, they have an 'Us or Them' mentality. They believe they are right and non believers are wrong, there can be no compromise, for their views are sacrosanct. And do we ever have demigods! They are not lovers of humanity, innovation, imagination, science, intellect, but are contented with extremism, fears and anxieties, their minds full of conspiracy, threats and end times. They have got us pegged too, to them you are either a socialist, immoral or the worst, someone who is an open minded 'Free Thinker' and believes modernity and in the First Amendment and wants to change the world for the better.Worst of all, in today’s America, we share, in any meaningful sense, frighteningly few moments together. I believe this is a large part of why our politics are so maddeningly deadlocked. Today, it appears that we have divided ourselves into ever-shrinking tribes into silos isolated by our own truths which are encased in the bubble of our own self-serving realities. We are largely no longer the USA, but rather the Divided States of America.Even religion plays an ugly hand. Not a good guy anymore, but a firestorm builder. Once upon a time, the Christian faith had an overwhelming influence on every day life in America. But the evangelicals have soured the taste for religion what with their discriminations and fears towards others not like them. Contrary to popular belief, it was segregation — and not abortion — that mobilized the religious right in the 1960s and ‘70s. Conservative political activists worked to organize evangelicals around segregation as an issue of “religious freedom.” Today they organize to stop abortion and Gay Marriage. Evangelicals are also against non white immigration, free trade, environment and global warming. Prior to the 1970s, the relationship between evangelical Christians and the Republican party was negligible. In 2016, it’s hard to imagine a Republican party without its hard core evangelical voting bloc.I thought America was well past its ugly past - you know that slavery, Jim Crow, Ku Klux Klan thing - and we had grown into a more moral and altruistic nation like we were founded to be . . . that shinning light on the hill that illuminated the glimmers of hope throughout the world that looked to us for inspiration, freedom, better things and ideas.Enter misogynist – bigoted – lying – cheating Trump. The ugly side of America is exposed - something and foolishly I thought as dead, something we grew out of. He is voted into office intent on punishing both the political establishment inside the country and its many outside enemies, scrubbing the pot clean of whatever ingredients are unappetizing to the ordinary folks in the majority, and reinstating the American dream: “Make America great again!” Trump’s promise to scrub the melting pot and reinstate white majority rule was the second reason why Americans voted for him. As he made quite clear during his campaign, he dismissed accepted social norms of “political correctness” toward any minority and, without caring about whether he was accused of racism, misogyny or bigotry, he spoke in the name of the majority of “the forgotten men and women of our country,” vowing that ordinary people who work hard should have a voice, pledging “I am your voice.”America is not perfect and we suffered though great changes, from southern slavery into being a free nation, we manifested ourselves as a liberal democracy, won two world wars, fought a Cold War against communism, won Civil Rights battles, led the world's free economy and were a nation of ideas for the good life and betterment of mankind. That was my America! We were always moving forward and setting an example. It was so easy to see the divide in the USA back then. I think that today these are the same 'bones' for our present day division. It's more subtle today, a cultural, governing, religious, economic divide . . . something like between communism/fascism and democracy. You could even call it our own "Cold War." It manifest in adjectives like optimism verses, pessimism, theocracy verses secularism, progress verses regression, freedom verses restrictions, absolutism and monolithicism verses diversity. But underneath it all were very unhappy and angry people exhibiting a creeping ugliness that was boiling away . . . e.g.: like the Christian Right working on getting the USA to be a theocracy and the removal of separation of church state, the rise of white nationalism, my way or the highway thinking by outlawing other peoples freedoms - born that way homosexuality and women's choice for abortion, practicing religion and voting like you want to, stopping immigration especially from non white or Muslim countries and a paranoia toward modernity and open minded critical thinking.These days we are fighting Islamic terrorism, gun violence and mass shooting at home, a horrific black on black crime wave, nasty populist movements across the world [and in the USA too] seeming to move toward fascism. Our major problems are trying to understand and work with the impacts of highly advancing technology and competitive globalism, the resulting weakening of the old economy and loss of good jobs and the shrinking of the middle class. And enter Donald Trump! He will make America great again! Trump is an ugly person with hateful messaging, he personifies the ugliness, the fear and anger, he feeds it, lives off it, enables ugliness to being the new normal, which is seriously diminishing the greatness of the USA. Our bright light is dimming and only fervently glows now. What we need is a leader who shows us to create the new high tech economy the most people can succeed in.Yes, I have concerns; I think [in general] our government has gotten bloated, bureaucratic fat and sloppy. We have corrupt ideological politicians who work for their own selfish ends and not for the good of the country. There are too many people and corporations on the dole and even looking for more handouts (benefits and tax breaks), some actually expecting bailouts from the government. That includes the unethical "To big to fail" banks, protected government [oxymoron] workers getting can't be fired security with platinum benefits, the Wall Street mentality where anything goes to make a buck, health care that cost to much and provides limited results and misses the poor (we need a single payer system like Europe), the Christian Right that exhibits the worst bigotries, the South looking like the confederacy again and loving it, the bloated military industrial complex - its become a safety net jobs program e.g.: we don't need any more M1 Tanks, southern cultural backwardness Bible Belt mentality that loves the 19th century and is afraid of scientific modernity and social progress.So what happened to my country? We used to be the world's leader and now we follow the devil incarnate. We are terribly divided and our government is totally dysfunctional. What is next?