Wal-mart in news – 7 billion is the population

Wal-Mart is in news – for the small purchase of frozen pizzas, beer and bananas at California and for some wrong reasons !

The most oft read complaint is that of mad crowds everywhere – be it a Mall, a Cricket match, cinema theatre or a shop in T Nagar.  The World Population is growing by leaps and bounds and acccording to UN calculations, today is an important day – for on 31^st Oct, 2011,  the world population reaches 7 billion people.

 crowds, heads everywhere

Not sure as to how to numbers are reckoned and how or whether a particular birth might get tagged as the 7 billonth is not understood by me !.  Statistically,  over 350000 newborns share the same birthday and in India almost 75000 children are born every day – lot more than China (46000) and Nigeria (17000)

Then there is the human sex ratio – the ratio of Males V Females considered important by anthropologists and demographers.  Ronald Fisher in his 1930 book ‘The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection’ is credited with a theory that sex ratio of most species is approximately 1:1.  Of course most theories and statistics are based on too many probabilities !!  According to the recent census of India, the Sex ratio (of females per thousand males) is 933.  In rural it is 946 and in Urban it is 900 (rural should be lower, one thought !).  In Kerala there are 1058 women to 1000 men and in Haryana it is 861 for 1000 men.  In UT of Daman & Diu it is only 710.    A commonsense understanding of ‘Demand & Supply’ would mean that women would most sought after and men will have to compete to find a women for marriage !!

There are places where you find more women and tend to think that they are preferred in employment, especially in Retails shops and malls and establishments where sales activity is predominant. One tends to think that they get their job easily and get paid more ! for less work !!

Wal-Mart Stores, the company founded by Sam Walton in 1962 is a very famous department store touted to be the biggest private employer.  Most like any other Departmental store, there certain would be higher no. of female employees.  There are reports that women in workers in California are pursuing law suit of discrimination claim that women workers are systematically treated unfairly.  The reports state that the suit is on the grounds that the Coy denied female employees pay raises and promotions because of gender bias.  It is also stated that this could the first in a series of complaints that will be filed in different regions.  Earlier, the  U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Wal-Mart’s argument that  female employees in different jobs, with different supervisors, at 3,400 stores nationwide do not have enough in common to be lumped together in a single class-action lawsuit.

Prince of Wales currently on training in US visited the Wal-mart in California and made those purchases..  Prince Henry of Wales (Henry Charles Albert David)  is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and the late Diana.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.