Dowry Death.

Lifelong commitment between two people who decides to grow together, to sculpt each other, to selflessly love each other and to support each other throughout, when legally decide to marry each other, then that bond is known as marriage. Marriage or matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally accepted union between people, called spouses, which establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws. Marriage is said to be a new beginning of one’s life. But the reality of some people’s life is way too different in the actual word.

Violence caused in a unique manner against women, which in all ways it is always murder. The major categories of Dowry death is violence against women, alongside rape, bride burning, eve teasing, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing. The most common way to kill the bride was bride burning, which was the most inhuman activity that was done by either the husband or by her in-laws and the most awful part was that, Bride burning was disguised as suicide or accident. In 2015, over 7634 brides were burned to death in India due to dowry disputes which is approximately a bride being burned every hour. In Uttar Pradesh (2335 cases) alone were reported which is 30.6% of total cases of dowry deaths in India, followed by Bihar (1154 cases). According to the Indian National Crime Record Bureau, India has by far the maximum number of dowry-related deaths in the world. In 2012, 8,233 dowry death cases were reported across India. This means a bride was burned every 90 minutes, or dowry issues cause 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India.

Dowry which was always a traditional concept (then) of giving and taking money or gifts from the bride’s family at the time of marriage as a perfunctory of love and acceptance and for the future of the couple, which binds both families into one. Unfortunately, over the years the term has shifted from being an affectionate gesture to a horrifying nightmare. In 1980s, most of the Indian women, who were either newly married or within 2-3 years of their marriage period were spotted dead due to the dowry demands.

Section 304B talks about dowry death, which is defined in IPC, stating:-

304B. DOWRY DEATH. — (1) Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called “dowry death”, and such husband or relative shall be deemed to have caused her death. Explanation: For the purposes of this sub-section, “dowry” shall have the same meaning as in section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (28 of 1961) (2) Whoever commits dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to imprisonment for life.

In other words, if any women who is newly married or is within seven years of her marriage period, is going through cruelty or harassment by her husband or by any relative from his husband’s side and from her in-laws, due to the demand for dowry, which causes her death, either due to the bodily injury or due to burns or which may drive her to commit suicide due to continuous harassment and torture or due to any other circumstance; within seven years of her marriage, then such death shall be called as dowry death. The necessary ingredients to draw Section 304-B IPC, laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in Pawan Kumar v. State of Haryana are :- (1) death of a woman is either by burns or by bodily injury or otherwise than under normal circumstances; (2) it should be within seven years of marriage; (3) it should also be shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by husband or any relative of husband; (4) such harassment or cruelty should pertain to demand for dowry.

Another significant aspect of the definition provided under Section 304-B is that the death should be caused “otherwise than under normal circumstances”.

In Kamesh Panjiyar v. State of Bihar, the Court gave a practical aspect to this. The body of the victim was found by her brother, lying in the veranda of the appellant’s house with blood radiating from her mouth and evident marks of violence on her neck. It appeared that the victim had been murdered by choking in the previous night. The Court counted on the opinion of the doctor, the evidences were recovered and the testimony of the witnesses to hold that the death of the woman had been caused otherwise than under normal circumstances as expressed in Section 304-B, and hence it was a case of “dowry death”.

DOWRY PROHIBITION ACT After 14 years of gaining Independence, a specific Act was introduced that tackled with the problem of dowry called the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. This Act prohibits the practice of giving or taking of dowry by either party to a marriage, that is, not only prohibits the groom’s side to take dowry but also restricts the bride’s side as well. The definition of “dowry” provided by section 2 of the dowry prohibition act is:-

“any property or valuable security to be given directly or indirectly by one party to a marriage to the other party to marriage at or before or any time after the marriage in connection with the marriage of the said parties”.

The Act is also punishable on demanding and advertising dowry, as observed in the case of Shanti v. State of Haryana, the court said that the term “dowry” has not been defined anywhere except in Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

OTHER SECTIONS RELATED TO DOWRY DEATH Section 113B of evidence act: – — When the question is whether a person has committed the dowry death of a woman and it is shown that soon before her death such woman has been subjected by such person to cruelty or harassment for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, the Court shall presume that such person had caused the dowry death.

CLASSIFICATION U/SCHEDULE 1 CrPC The punishment of the offence of dowry death is imprisonment for not less than 7 years, but up to life imprisonment. It is a cognizable and non-Bailable offence. Triable by the Court of Session.

COMPOSITION U/S 320 CrPC Dowry death is an offence which is not listed under compoundable offences.

Job satisfaction and growth in private sector

Job satisfaction is an emotion, feeling, an attitude and a matter of perception. It arises from the employee’s appraisal of experience at work and involving likes and dislikes as well as a need and wants which are internal and external to the employee. Job satisfaction is most frequently variable in organisational behaviour. It is simply how people feel about their jobs and different aspects of their jobs.

Job satisfaction is an emotional response to a job situation. As such it can’t be seen, it can only be inferred. Job satisfaction is often determined by how well outcome meet or exceed expectations. If organisation participants feel that they are working much harder than others in the department but are receiving fewer rewards they will probably have a negative attitude towards the work, the boss and or coworkers. If they feel they are being treated very well and are being paid equitably, they are likely to have a positive attitude towards the job.

Job satisfaction represents several related attitude which are most important characteristics of a job about which people have effective response. Characteristics are: the work itself, promotion opportunity , supervision and coworkers

There are very few chances of growth in private sector. They have fear of job security, policies of organisation and other things which prevent the growth in private sector.

What is transactional sex?

Introduction

Transactional sex refers to sexual relationships where the giving and/or receiving of gifts, money or other services is an important factor. The participants do not necessarily frame themselves in terms of prostitutes/clients, but often as girlfriends/boyfriends, or sugar babies/sugar daddies. Those offering sex may or may not feel affection for their partners. Transactional sex is a superset of sex work, in that the exchange of monetary reward for sex includes a broader set of (usually non-marital) obligations that do not necessarily involve a predetermined payment or gift, but where there is a definite motivation to benefit materially from the sexual exchange. The omnipresence of transactional sex in sub-Saharan Africa, prevalent in non-marital relationships across all income groups, is closely related to gender socio-cultural norms, whereby a man is expected to act as a provider to their partners, and women expect a compensation or reward for “giving” sex. This results in implicit exchange expectations whereby a man could buy a woman a drink for example, and her acceptance implies a willingness to have sex. Transactional sex also becomes a tool for migration in areas where younger women, for example from Europe or North America, have romantic relationships with older men. The general consensus among those studying transactional sex is that it is associated with the combined effects of poverty, the influence of Western consumerism, the differences in economic power between men and women, and the breakdown of traditional African marriage customs involving bride wealth. Some scholars also associate transactional sex with the use of female erotic power and new inter-generational strategies and argue that these are part of a broader moral economy where the money that young women earn from transactional sex is redistributed to kin and peers. It is a prevalent in the relationships of basically young women and adolescent girls. The meanings and notions attached to the exchange vary from one person to person and from society to society, with key motivations being to meet basic needs and to acquire items of modernity. Gender inequalities shape sexual relationships by giving men greater social and economic power than women and create the material and ideological conditions that encourage transactional sex. Though transactional sex is often seem to be connected with the women only but in reality it is associated with all gender, even men also have transactional sex. The practice of transactional sex matters and requires intervention to the extent that it is associated with HIV and related risk behaviours and therefore endangers the health and well-being of adolescent girls and young women and their male partners in sub-Saharan Africa.

Transactional sex through a public health perspective

Transactional sex has been shown to raise the risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases from a public health perspective and can also contribute to unplanned pregnancies as well as other undesirable sexual and reproductive health consequences, such as intimate partner abuse, sexual harassment and increased alcohol consumption among the Adolescent Girls and Young Women. Being in relationship where there is a young girl and an older person, situations can be detrimental and leading to worsen the situation. Most attempts to tackle transactional sex have originated from the area of HIV prevention, typically prioritizing the provision of information and the shift in attitudes as the primary drivers of change. Such approaches have given less attention to psychosocial and economic causes and transactional sex implications for young girls, such as decreased access to services and education, which strengthens the cycle of deprivation in which girls engaged in transactional sex are usually locked up. Likewise, structural, cultural, and community-level variables that could explain these gender roles and relationship power imbalances are typically under-theorized.

Transactional sex through human rights and child protection perspective

It leads to the exploitation of young and adolescent girls, wherein they involve in situations and enter into a relationship where they receive something (money, gifts) for performing sexual acts and indulging into the sexual activities. International frameworks derived from this perspective, such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, consider these exchanges to be a form of child sexual exploitation when the encounter involves an adult and a young person below the age of 18. However, according to a well-established body of literature arising from the African context AGYW involved in these relationships and others within their communities may not perceive these relationships to be exploitative, demonstrating that these definitions are not always as clear-cut in practice.

Original vs. Fake Products

Product counterfeiting is a form of consumer fraud: a product is sold, purporting to be something that it is not. Counterfeit is illegally made products that resemble the genuine goods but are typically of lower quality in terms of performance, reliability or durability. There is a need to learn as much as possible about the counterfeit market and the luxury good’s market, as well as learning about the customers of both of these markets. A large number of counterfeits are purchased online as the customer relies only in the information provided by the seller that is easy to manipulate. The Internet makes it possible for counterfeiters to sell fake goods without prior consumer inspection. Thus, if the presentation of the product online is elaborated and advanced, it would influence the user’s perceptions of the authenticity of products in a positive way, which leads to an increase in the user’s willingness to buy online. Counterfeiting has emerged as a major problem for global marketers. As long as the demand is thriving, counterfeiters will always find new ways to serve customers. As to managerial implications, consumers cherish and value brands (particularly Adidas). So if they had money and would have the trust in the sales outlet they choose to buy an original not a fake, they would select the original. Therefore, selling original brands through authorized dealers AND keeping tight control of them would in still confidence in consumers. Health concerns were quite prominent in our interviews, offering another starting point for a communication campaign of brand manufacturers to counter fakes in these markets. While consumers cherish the German origin of Adidas, they at the same time realize that Adidas products are made in China etc. (as are the fake Adidas products). This undermines their confidence in the brand promise and may decrease their brand loyalty to the original. Go through these tell-tale signs that can help you identify an original from a counterfeit, and make sure you are not taken for a ride. Unreal discount: If you buy something, especially online, at a fraction of the price, or the deal is too good to be true, it usually is. Know how much discount is typically available on branded or luxury items and if the offer is unrealistically low, say, 70-80% of the MRP, then you are definitely buying a fake. Flimsy packaging: This is a dead giveaway as good brands and businesses take a lot of care and spend a lot of money on packaging. If the item is shabbily packed, doesn’t fit properly in the box, uses substandard material like cheap plastic or sagging cardboard, take it as a sign of counterfeiting. Similarly, if you get a product without any packaging at all, know it to be a fake. Grammatical & spelling mistakes: Counterfeit products can be easily identified through wrong spelling (an extra or a missing letter) or grammatical errors. For instance, Hewlett Packard will be written as Hew let, or Louis Vuitton may be spelt as Viton. While these mistakes in brand names are deliberate to lure the careless customer, those in the product information or instruction manual reflects the fraudsters’ lack of education. So read carefully for this clear give away… Fake websites: If you are shopping online, one easy way to counter the purchase of fake items is to check the authenticity of websites. If the site is fake, so are the products. Confirm the URL and ensure that the site is safe by looking for ‘https’ (instead of http) and the lock sign. You can also verify the site’s authenticity by pasting the website address on http://www.scamadviser.com and http://whois. domaintools.com/. These let you know whether it’s a reliable site. Poor quality of products: The quality of counterfeit products is usually suspect, with cheap alternatives used in place of the original. The material can be tacky plastic, fake leather, cheap glass, poor quality cloth, old or used parts in electronic appliances and gadgets. Even the shape of the containers can be slightly different. If the product has a course, used feel to it, do not buy it. Omissions & mismatch: The Company prints several features like codes, serial or model numbers, trademark, and patent information on the package or product. Typically, fake products miss out on a few details while copying the information. You can also crosscheck the numbers with the original products online, especially for electronic items or appliances. Flawed fonts, logos: Much like the spellings, it is easy to detect fake logos, brand names and trademarks, if you are paying attention. If you are observant and know the original logos well, you can catch even the smallest variation. If this is difficult for you, take a picture of the product you think is fake, and compare it with the original online. The font could be slightly different or of the wrong size. Even the colouring could be faded or altered minutely from the orb… No contact details: If the manufacturer’s physical address, e-mail, phone number or contact details are not listed on the product or package, it should be cause for concern. This implies you have no means of contacting anyone for grievance redressed. It is best to avoid such products. If the contact details are mentioned, try to verify these on the website or call to confirm before you make a purchase. Missing accessories: Make sure that all the supplementary parts and accessories that have been mentioned on the package are present in the box. If the instruction manual, warranty card, wires, plugs or other items are missing, get back to the retailer immediately. Better still, open the box and check it in the store before buying. In case of an online purchase, make a video recording of the unboxing while taking delivery. Unauthorised centres: It’s best to buy electronic items, appliances, gadgets and branded ware from authorised retailers, licensed sellers and genuine brand outlets. If you are getting a good discount elsewhere, check the store’s address by going online and make sure you have genuine contact details. The company prints several features like codes, serial or model numbers, trademark, and patent information on the package or product. Typically, fake products miss out on a few details while copying the information. You can also crosscheck the numbers with the original products online, especially for electronic items or appliances.

EMPLOYEE TERMINATION DURING COVID 19

The coronavirus pandemic has caused several problems worldwide. One of the biggest problems caused due to COVID 19 is employee termination from their jobs. Due to lockdown imposed by the Government in many economies the businesses have suffered greatly. According to Times report the World Health Organisation(WHO) on March 11,2020 declared COVID 19 a pandemic situation pointing to the over 118,000 cases of the coronavirus illness in over 110 countries and territories around the world and the sustained risk of further global spread. Since then every economy have been suffered badly. The worldwide depression in the economies has resulted in employee termination on a very high scale. The pandemic situation has also affected the demand and supply chain of several products except a few of them who were able to meet the demand with the supply. FMCG’s and medicines were the one’s which had regular demand and supply in the market. The pandemic has caused major losses in travel, automobiles, aviation and hospitality industry. As a result, these industries have faced large number of employee’s termination. Many companies also adopted for pay cuts from their employee’s salary in order to manage the finance of the company. The big market players of aviation industry such as Air India and Air Asia have either terminated their employees on a very large scale or adopted for pay cuts from their existing employee’s salary. The employees of many big aviation companies have challenged their company’s decision regarding the pay cuts and termination of employees in Bombay High court. The corona virus pandemic has majorly impacted the service sector in various economies. This emergency situation called on worldwide has left many people unemployed. The hospitality industry has also experienced high percentage of employee termination because of lack of demand. The Government of India has also taken several steps to re-start the economy again under Atmanirbhar package. According to the reports the trade impact of the coronavirus epidemic for India is estimated to be about $348 million. The country now figures among the top 15 economies that are most affected by the manufacturing slowdown in China, says a UN report. [3] The corona virus pandemic has also resulted in slowdown in the manufacturing industries which lead to high percentage of employee termination. Employee termination in the service sector has led to increased poverty and starvation in an economy. The United States of America has highest ever percentage of unemployment at this time due to corona virus pandemic. The closure in several economies has affected adversely. The Government of India asked the business firms during the lockdown to avoid pay cut or termination of their employees but the government took its decision back after the same was challenged in the Supreme Court. Many private and Government firms and institutions have either used pay cut or termination in order to manage their finances. The employees union is also taking part actively in the cases where the mega firms and companies are terminating their employees.

From the society point of view the employee termination at a very large scale is totally unethical but on the other hand it may be a necessity of a business to terminate the employees in order to balance their economic condition. But however the employee termination on a very large scale would lead to increase in crime rates and poverty in the society. A business is the means which create employment in the society and if the businesses are not financially sound and strong they will never be able to create employment in the society. So in order to create more employment opportunities there must be well established and financially sound firms in the economy. The government should also take certain steps which benefits the businesses and entire society. One such step initiated by the Atmanirbhar package of 20 lakh crores which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12, 2020. The objective of the package was to provide relief in the response to COVID19 pandemic and revive the economy. This package majorly focused on Macro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and launched several schemes and benefits in order to restart the businesses and industries. This scheme provided collateral free loans up to Rs 3 lakh core for MSMEs, Tax rebate and loans to have 4 years tenure with moratorium of 12 months on principle of repayment. But the major drawback of this package was that it did not directly focus on service sector. But somehow by giving benefits to MSMEs it focused more on creating employment by helping the small and medium scale businesses to bring the economy back on track. According to me, the idea of government of creating employment in the economy, by helping the MSMEs is really appreciable. This move of the Government would ensure that there are enough job opportunities created in the economy. Many specialists appreciated the government initiatives for creating the employment while the other specialists criticized the package too. The employee termination during COVID 19 not only impacted people economically but also psychologically. Due to unemployment many people are suffering from depression or any other mental disease. This period of lockdown and unemployment has left the people across the entire world in mental trauma. The existing employees have also great amount of pressure on them in regard to their job security and may sometime adapt to unethical practices in order to secure their job and future. The job loss has also created frustration and unpleasant environment in the family. The biggest ever economic crisis faced by major economies has high percentage of employee termination and pay cuts.

The high rate employee termination during COVID 19 is the biggest worry for many economies which has puzzled the task for many governments. The government is also trying hard to revive the things back but it is nevertheless a easy task. Reviving the economy and creating the employment opportunities again according to me is the most difficult task to be carried out in the coming future. Therefore it becomes important for the people to have faith in god and the government and keep their mind set positive.

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. – Napoleon Hill

Hence the people must believe that there would be a time when everything would be sorted and economy would perform very well till then all have to do is keep their mind set positive and work more on skill development and time management. This will help them to become a better human being when they get back to work or job.

Minerva Mills Case: Analyzing the battle between Fundamental Rights & Directive Policies

According to the Constitution of India, Parliament and the state legislatures have power to make laws within their respective jurisdiction. This power, though, is not absolute in nature. The judiciary is given by the Constitution powers to determine the constitutional validity of all laws which means that the Supreme Court(SC) has the power to declare any law invalid or “ultra vires” if it violates any provision of the Constitution. Our founding fathers wanted the Constitution to be an adaptable document instead of a rigid framework for governance. Hence, Article 368 (Power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and its Procedure) gave power to the Parliament to amend the Constitution. But the Parliament could not distort, damage or alter the basic features of the Constitution under the excuse of amending it with the intention that the original ideas which were envisioned by the constitution-makers are preserved. Thus, the doctrine through which certain features of the Constitution are beyond the limit of the powers of amendment by Parliament is called the “Basic Structure” doctrine. No part of the Constitution can be so amended by Article 368 that it “alters the basic structure” of the Constitution or any constitutional amendment that violates the ‘basic structure’ would be invalid.

The phrase “Basic Structure” was introduced in the landmark case of Golaknath v.State of Punjab[1] for the first time in 1967 where the SC held that the Parliament has no power to amend Part III(Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution as the rights given are “transcendental and immutable”. According to the SC decision, Article 368 only lays down amendment procedure of the constitution and does not give the Parliament absolute powers to amend any part of the Constitution, but it was only in 1973 that the concept raised in the case Keshvananda Bharti v. State of Kerala[2] . The SC upheld the validity of the 24th Constitution Amendment Act by reviewing its decision in the Golaknath case. It was held that the Parliament has power to amend any provision of the Constitution, but the basic structure of the Constitution is to be preserved. Though the Apex Court held that the basic structure of the Constitution could not be repealed even by a constitutional amendment but it still did not give any clear definition of basic structure. After the declaration of the doctrine of basic structure of the Constitution by the Supreme Court in the case of Keshvananda Bharti v. State of Kerala, it was in the case of Minerva Mills vs Union on India[3]  which involved a further analysis of the basic structure in the context of the limitations to the amending powers of the Parliament and the balance between fundamental rights and directive principles of the state policy.

Minerva Mills Ltd. is a limited company dealing in textiles in Karnataka. On August 1970, the Central Government, after extensive production fall in the company, under section 15 of the Industries (Development Regulation) Act,1951 appointed a committee. This was to make a full and complete enquiry of the activities of the company as they believed that there had been or was likely to be significant fall in the volume of production. The appointed Committee submitted its report in January, 1971 to the Central Government, on the basis of which the Government passed an order on October 19, 1971 under section 18A of the 1951 Act, permitting the National Textile Corporation Ltd., to take over the administration of the Mills on the ground that its activities are being managed in a manner highly harmful to public interest. This undertaking was then nationalized and the Central Government took over the company under the provisions of the Sick Textile Undertakings Act of 1974.

In this case, the validity of the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act,1976 was challenged on the ground that the clauses inserted are destructive of the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution. The Supreme Court struck down the clauses (4) and (5) of the Article 368 on the same ground. The court ruled that a limited amending power itself is a basic feature of the Constitution. The historical judgment of this case laid down that: The amendment made to Article 31C by the 42nd  Amendment is invalid as it damaged the essential features of the Constitution. Clauses (4) and (5) are invalid on the ground that they violate two basic features of the Constitution which is limited nature of the power to amend the constitution and judicial review. The courts cannot be deprived of the power of judicial review. The procedure given in Clause (2) is mandatory. If there is no compliance between the amendment passed and the procedure, then it would be invalid. The Judgment thus makes it clear that the Constitution is supreme not the Parliament. Parliament cannot have unrestricted amending power so as to damage or destroy the Constitution to which it owes its existence and from where it also derives its power. The Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy should be complementary to each other and there should be no conflict between them. Certainly, Part IV is a part of the Constitution. Even though the Directives are not enforceable, Article 37 clearly mentions that it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles. An unjustified importance on civil freedoms and rights in total disregard of the need to bring about social and economic justice, may lead to a mass disorder. Similarly any importance on the Directive Principles alone, in total disregard of the rights and freedoms, may lead to dictatorship. Hence, a harmonious balance should be maintained between Part III and Part IV and the real combination should come out only from harmonizing the spirit of economic democracy with the spirit of political democracy.

This case validated the ‘basic structure’ doctrine by highlighting the importance of the balance between fundamental rights and DPSP as a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. This case also broadened the concept of the ‘basic structure’ of the constitution which has safeguarded the survival of the fundamental features over which the constitution is based upon.

The court also reiterated the judgment in Kesavananda case holding that the power of Parliament to amend the constitution under Article 368 is of restrictive nature. The court relied on the explanation of Basic Structure that the circumstantial features can be changed but the basic features cannot be changed.

Basic structure of the Constitution is of key importance as it prevents the Parliament from having absolute power and becoming the principal of Law itself. It has now emerged in certainty that the struggle between Parliament and Judiciary is that the constitutional amendments and all the laws are subject to judicial review and laws that violates the basic structure are likely to be struck down. Substantially, Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution is not absolute or unconditional and the Supreme Court is the final negotiator and interpreter of all constitutional amendments.

Finally, the Basic Structure of the constitution reiterates that nothing is above the Constitution, neither the Parliament nor the Judiciary.


[1] Golaknath v State of Punjab, (1967) 2 SCR 762(India)

[2] Kesavnanda Bharati v Union of India, (1973) 4 SCC 225(India)

[3] Minerva Mills v Union of India, (1980)AIR SC 1789

Impact Of COVID -19

INTRODUCTION

Pandemics normally aren’t merely serious public health concern, rather these trigger disastrous socio-economic and political crises within the infected countries. COVID-19, other than becoming the best threat to global public health of the century, is being considered as an indicator of inequity and deficiency of social advancement. The COVID-19 pandemic is taken into account because the most important global health calamity of the century and therefore the greatest challenge that the humankind faced since the 2nd war. In December 2019, a replacement infectious respiratory illness emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province, China and was named by the globe Health Organization as COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). A brand new class of corona virus, referred to as SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has been found to be chargeable for occurrence of this disease. As far because the history of human civilization is worried there are instances of severe outbreaks of diseases caused by variety of viruses. According to the report of the World Health Organization (WHO as of April 18 2020), this outbreak of COVID-19, has affected over 2,164,111 people and killed over 146,198 people in additional than 200 countries throughout the planet. It’s rapidly spread round the world, posing enormous health, economic, environmental and social challenges to the whole human population. The coronavirus outbreak is severely disrupting the worldwide economy. Most the nations are struggling to block the transmission of the disease by testing & treating patients, quarantining suspected persons through contact tracing, restricting large gatherings, maintaining complete or partial lock down etc. This paper describes the impact of COVID-19 on society and global environment, and also the possible ways within which the disease is controlled has also been discussed therein. Global warming has its roots in industrial development, with the massive release of CO2 during the commercial revolution and beyond, finally allowing the physical phenomenon to want place. To some extent COVID-19 outbreak could even be considered as an indirect consequence of world environmental changes. Therefore, healthcare personnel, governments and thus the general public generally must show solidarity and fight shoulder to shoulder for prevention and containment of the pandemic. Within the current paper, the main focus is to spotlight the impacts of COVID-19 on environment & society.

COVID 19 PANDEMIC

After hitting China in January 2020, COVID-19 severely out broke in countries like Republic of Korea, Iran, and Italy in late February and early March, 2020. over 200 countries/regions have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases, including China, Italy, Iran, S. Korea, India, Switzerland, Taiwan, USA, Sweden, Singapore, Sri Lanka, France, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, United Arab Emirates, UK, Nepal, Finland, Netherlands, Japan, Belgium, Russia, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, and Germany.

 As far because the number of COVID infected patients is anxious, USA is at the highest of the list followed by Spain. In USA, quite 30,000 people died of this disease. Per the report of the Chinese government and also the WHO, the present outbreak has infected some 84,180 people in China out of which quite 4642 people have died to date as of April 18. The primary case of coronavirus outbreak in India was reported on 30 January 2020 in Kerala’s Trissur district when a student had returned home from Wuhan University in China (Rawat and Mukesh, 2020). The Health Ministry of India has confirmed 14,378 cases of coronavirus infection and 480 deaths within the country thus far on 18.04.2020. On the one hand the very high transmissibility of the virus is answerable for its worldwide spread, the advance and accessibility of international travel & tourism may be a reason for its further worldwide spread on the opposite hand. These varieties of mass gatherings are likely to exaggerate many of the chance factors of COVID-19, and have historically been related to outbreaks of disease both in local and international levels. The emergence and spread of COVID-19 from Asia to the Americas, Africa and therefore the Europe represent a worldwide pandemic threat.

GLOBAL HEALTH

The relationship between human health and disease is neither a brand new concept, nor a replacement subject. The emergence COVID-19 in China at the top of 2019 has caused an oversized global outbreak and could be a major public health issue. This virus is very infectious and may be transmitted through droplets and shut contact. The human to the human spreading of the virus occurs thanks to close contact with an infected person exposed to coughing, sneezing, respiratory droplets or aerosols. These aerosols can penetrate the bod (respiratory system) via inhalation through nose or mouth. The clinical spectrum for people with COVID-19 infection ranges from mild or non-specific signs and symptoms of acute respiratory disease like fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, to severe pneumonia with respiratory failure and septic shock, which are very like other coronavirus diseases (Backer et al., 2020). It’s a matter of great importance to clarify the correlation between COVID-19 and immune-rheumatologic patients. Taking into consideration the short and frantic spread of the epidemic, health of rheumatic patients could be a matter of prime concern. COVID-19 being a disease, damage of the tissues of Lungs is sort of obvious, but there’s report that other organs and tissues may additionally be affected. Since viral shedding in plasma or serum is common in tract infections, there’s an opening of transmission of coronaviruses through the transfusion of labile blood products. COVID-19 may be a major public health concern for the world’s population and could be a leading reason for hospitalization and death, particularly for middle and maturity people within the affected countries.

ECONOMY

But other than this, COVID-19 has severely demobilized the worldwide economy. So as to limit further transmission of the disease within the community, many of the affected countries had decided to undergo complete lock down. Major international flights and also every type of business transports are deferred amid different countries. Thanks to lockdown all domestic flights, railway service (except goods trains), bus, truck, and vehicles transports are suspended with special exemption to those related to essential commodities. In most the COVID-19 stricken countries, entire educational, commercial, sports and spiritual institutions are closed. Industries are suffering plenty as many of those excepting those associated with essential amenities, are closed for a protracted time in many countries. People belonging to the tourism and transportation industry also are facing utmost difficulties. Production level has gone very low. Economy of the many so called powerful countries are now facing the threat of high inflation and increasing unemployment as a results of lack of productivity and excessive). Lockdown will directly affect the GDP of every country within the major economics. For every month there’ll be an approximate loss of twenty-two points in annual GDP growth. In line with World Trade Organization (WTO) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) have indicated COVID-19 pandemic as a major threat because it is the largest threat to global economy right now. A number of the experts are even saying that human civilization has not faced such an unprecedented emergency after the globe War-II.

Global Environment

From the very beginning of civilization, individuals gradually started manipulating the character for its own benefit. So as to satisfy the demand of accelerating population industrialization and urbanization became inevitable, and also the obvious significance was proved to be detrimental on the worldwide environment. Further, environmental concerns include pollution, pollution, global climate change, layer depletion, warming, depletion of well water level, change of biodiversity & ecosystem, arsenic contamination and lots of more. All local and central administrations worldwide have literally put a ban on free movement of their citizens outside their aim order to avoid community transmission the varied religious, cultural, social, scientific, sport, and political mass gathering events like, Hajj, Olympics etc., were cancelled. Various kinds of industries don’t seem to be functioning; all sorts of travels are cancelled.

Thanks to lesser demand of power in industries, use of fossil fuels or conventional energy sources is lowered considerably. Ecosystems are being greatly recovered. In many big cities the inhabitants are experiencing a transparent sky for the primary time in their lives. The pollution level in tourist spots like forests, sea beaches, hill areas etc. is additionally shrinking largely. Layer has been found to own revived to some extent. The pandemic has displayed its consequence side by side on human civilization, within the sense that, on one hand it’s executed worldwide destruction, but created a really positive impact on the globe environment on the opposite hand. 

IMPACT ON POPULATION

Environment change is probably going to possess various impacts on human health. An awfully important factor is rapid human growth, which has been in the midst of enormous economic development and increasing sources of pollution like vehicles and polluting industries. In China, the unstoppable increase in human increment has cause deforestation and therefore the people eat differing types of bats, frogs, snakes, birds, and animals. Revealing exceedingly vulnerable populations to new pathogens by increased human relocation to previously isolated areas may collect infectious diseases. Control of increase is therefore very essential during this regard.

In conclusion, 2019-nCoV infection could also be a disease with low to moderate death rate. Currently, there is not any standard treatment for the disease and supportive treatment was the only real strategy. Although many experimental trials are on the way, the foremost effective we are able to do to prevent a rampant outbreak is stringent infection operation. Clinicians should consider the prospect of 2019-nCoV infection in persons with travel or exposure history with compatible period and presenting symptoms.

JNTUA,JNTUH,JNTUk

The new academic calendar for engineering has been released offically from two unversities JNTUA,JNTUK,the new academic year is going to start from 17 th august 2020,however Cm kcr confirmed JNTUH academic calendar will start from 17 th august 2020

this is year because of covid-19,the academic year will continue in online course until further notices given by central government,the academic calendar has been updated including exams and practicals

The exams of remaining semester are still pending because of supreme court

Time capsule

 
As  stated , In Ayodhya , lord Ram and his place of birth where time capsule will be  placed inside a  copper plate  before placing it before the site. As per chaupal , sanskrit is choosen as per long sentences can be changed into few words.
The first and foremost time capsule is placed by Indira Gandhi  , outside one of the gate of Red forts. It was named as kalpaatra  which contain post independence history on 15 August 1972. It will be opened 
 After 1000 times..
In 2010 , another time, first and foremost  female president of India  to date , prathibha patel  buried on March 6  it was buried near auditorium  of IIT kanpur .
In 2010 another capsule was buried  in Mahatma  Mandir ,Ghandhinagar to mark 50 years of foundation of temple .
In 2014 , Alexandra Girl’s Education Institution buried one time capsule  which is scheduled to be open on sep 1 ,2062 on ocassion of bi- centennial anniversary of Institution.
A time capsule has been placed in Lovely professional University  in the presence of prime minister Modi on occassion of 106 th Indian science congress organised by LPU. It contains 100 different items  that represents cross examination of technology at the time in India for the next 100 years by three distinguised noble laureates-Hungry -Born israeli  biochemist Avram Hershko, British Born American physicist F .Duncan M.Haldane and German-American Biochemist  Thomas christian sudhof.

Actually a time capsule is made from metals such as aluminium, stainless steel  or copper and the message is written on acidic free paper so that paper donot rot even after hundreds of year . The time capsule container is 3 feet longer  and buried deep inside the ground .

The time capsule is a historic cache of information or goods to communicate  with future generations. It also helps  archaeologists , anthropologists  and historians to study about a site. With this capsule the future generation an get total idea of a particular era , society or community . They are generally placed in foundation of buildings.

Is India ready for Digital trade war?

Is India ready for Digital trade war?

Introduction:

Digital Trade:

Digital trade refers to the trade of goods and services using the internet including the transmission of information and data across borders.

It is a broad concept, which includes not only the sale of consumers products on the internet and the supply on online services, but also data flows that enable global value chains, services that enable smart manufacturing and myriad other platforms and applications.

It also involves digitally enabled but physically delivered trade in goals and services.

Example: Purchasing medicines through an online marketing, or booking a stay in a hotel. Impact of digitalisation on trade.

Digitalisation causes improve in scale, scope and as well as speed of trade. Smaller firms have to deal with so much of difficulties in accordance with the sale, purchase margin and benefit. Digitalisation enables firms to use new and innovative digital tools to overcome barriers to growth, helping facilitate payments, enabling collaboration, avoiding investments in fixed assets through the use of cloud-based services, and using alternative funding mechanisms such as crowd funding. The sale of goods is not only internally within the country but also across the borders.

The new technologies and business models are changing how services are produced and supplied, blurring already grey distinctions between goods and services and modes of delivery and introducing new combinations of goods and services.

Rapid technological developments also facilitate the rise of services in international cross-border trade. Information and communication technology services have formed the backbone of digital trade, providing the necessary network infrastructure and underpinning the digitisation of other type of services.

Why trade war matters to India:

India is not the epicentre of the trade war but nonetheless we do see some impact. It’s less vulnerable but not immune to what’s happening globally.

For instance, if you are to look at US and China share is relatively small as compared to its East Asian Partners. But on the other hand, though India makes about 2 per cent of globally trade still it tracks the global trends quite closely.

Besides China and its other trading partners US has also undertaken Substantive action against India.

•US withdrew India from the GSP mechanism (measured impact) and raised tariffs on steel/aluminium, amongst others.

•India retaliated with counter-tariffs on 16 products (e.g. apples and almonds); US-India in WTO dispute and been negotiating India on the outcome.

•Seeking to reduce India’s sizeable services surplus and tighten labour mobility, particularly on software and off sharing business.

•Besides the impact the trade war is having on the goods, we also see pass-through to the financial markets particularly on the moments of the CNY and it is beginning to matter a lot not only to the regional currencies but also India. To establish the linkage between the INR and the CNY, it has been studied as per to 2015, 2016 the influence of the CNY on INR was relatively small or negligible. But as the years have gone by in the past 3 to 4 years that linkage has grown more strongly.

Trade diversion opportunities:

•Trade diversion from China for goods count for the US.

•FPI and FDI diversion.

•Refocus on export potential by investing in infrastructure, human capital and tax incentives, both for manufactured goods and agricultural products.

•India’s possible inclusion into the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (and by extension, the regional supply chain).

•Geostrategic opportunity in deepen relationship with the US (on immigration, education, and security, in particular).

To substantially benefit from this situation of digital trade war, India requires a strategic approach to convert this opportunity into a major gain.

India needs to focus on becoming a new powerhouse as a global hub for exports, with a major positive impact on competitiveness and job creation.

China’s merchandise exports are almost the same as India’s GDP. EVEN a 10% shift from Chinese export to Indian export would imply over 75% increase in India exports.

For this, India needs to develop strategy and vision for itself and the world to make this reality. Its recent tepid export performance suggests that investment from large global companies is the transformative path for India, provided certain key points kept in mind.

Facts to be considered before the digital trademark:

Negative impact of trade war:

  1. India is only one among the alternative countries being considered by major international companies as an investment destination.

E.g. Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand, Vietnam all has relatively easier access to large markets.

  • India as the largest domestic market, but the focus of most large firms with major international brands and global presence is on exports and maintaining their global value chains.
  • India aspirations to double its export and create job depend on its success to link up effectively with GVCS. As the seventh largest global economy and twentieth largest good exporter, India is not yet a significant presence in GVCS.
  • To establish domestic capacity for export hubs and GVCS, strong presence ‘lead firms’ that manage the GVCS become essential.
  • To compete with other nation to attract major investment away from china, India needs to emphasise and improve implementations of support policies, with a new flagship programme. It is noteworthy that even china, in these difficult times, is increasing its incentives and project support to attract additional investment.

Even with a trade war, U.S investment in china during January 2019 reportedly doubled, foreign capital china’s hi-tech industry increasing by 41%.

Positive impact of the trade war:

  1. The trade war will make India self-dependent.
  • At first, the export of many items from India was not possible, but now after tariff hike, India has the edge.
  • Though India has been competitive in many products, but there has been lack of production unit. This is an opportunity to expand the production to meet the global requirement, it bee helpful in boosting up India’s infrastructure.
  • India has 6-35% concession on duty under Asia Pacific Agreement making Indian exports more desirable.

Conclusion:

Considering the positive and negative impact of the digital trade war, it is not a totally win-win situation for India. But it alternatively gives an opportunity to seize the growing market.

Ram Janmbhumi Pujan

Today was a very historic moment for India. The “Bhumi Pujan” was successfully commenced at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Shri Ram. Finally the wishes of many people were fulfilled today. Are honorable prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the pujaand laid the foundation stone. The first place he visited after landing in Ayodhya was Hanuman garhi where he  offered his prayers to lord Hanuman. After this he went to the ram temple and finally to the place where the “Bhumi Pujan” was conducted.

It was not a very easy route for many people who were closely related to the construction of the Ram Mandir. But the past 70 years have been considerably important in this 472 years of struggle between Babri Masjid and Ram Mandir. In July of 1949, the UP state government attempted to set up the Ram Mandir outside the controversial area but it failed. However in December of the same year they were able to keep the statues of Lord Ram Goddess Sita and Lakshman there. After that in 1989, the foundation stone of Ram Mandir was laid, a little away from the disputed area. On 6 December, 1992 disputed structure was broken down. Due to this communal violence broke out between the Hindu and Muslim populations. In September 2010, a three judge panel of the Allahabad High Court gave the Hindu party land to construct the temple and one third of the disputed land was given to the Muslim party to build up a mosque. But none of the parties accepted this decision. Thus, a petition was filed in the supreme Court against this decision. Find me on 9th November 2019 the supreme court announced its verdict. The verdict read by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi stated daag the controversial land belonged to Lord Ram. It also ordered the central government to create a trust for the same within 3 months. This trust was to have the responsibility for the construction of the Ram Mandir. At the same time the court also ordered to give the Muslim party 5 acre land in Ayodhya for construction of a mosque.

For the ceremony today, water from hundred rivers and the sacred soil from 1000 holy places were brought to Ayodhya. Many noted personalities like the Chief Minister of UP Yogi Adityanath, Governor of UP Anandiben Patel, RSS head Mohan Bhagwat, Yog guru Baba Ramdev and many saints were present. Those who not present virtually attended the event like veteran BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani. This moment an event was celebrated not just by people in India but Indiana across the world. In New York’s Times Square, image of Lord Ram was displayed with people chanting Jai Shri Ram in the background. This is indeed a very historical and proud moment for India.

Depressed to be depressed

I don’t why I get hurt to small things. May be our heart can’t recognise the intensity of problem. Why do I get hurt all most all the time? I can’t take because I’m not used to it. O don’t know why am I living? Is it to give back what my parents gave me or it to give what I get to my kids. I don’t understand this cycle. People are here to live for others. We are unknowingly sacrificing our life’s to the people who didn’t born even.

I feel like living my parents life and may be I gonna live my kids life to make their life better. I don’t have a strong reason to live anymore. If I had to live my life the way I want then it’s never gonna happen in this shitty world. Sorry to those who think that you are leading a happy life. I don’t want it because I don’t want it. There are many reasons to be happy but there is only one reason to be sad. Sadness will go away and will keep on hitting us until the moment we die. I feel like feeling is better than reality atleast it does what we can’t. I don’t know what is making me to live because I didn’t find any reason other than making my parents proud and feeling proud of my kids if they exist if I could exist in future. I am bores of doing nothing because I don’t find crazy doing new things since I don’t have capacity to do it. I meant for nothing. I am useless I hope because I didn’t find a way to figure out the reason for my life.

I exhausted to breathe anymore because its making me tired. I am so fed up since my involuntary action also making me sick. I have a choice to live or to die. But why did I choose to live. Neither am I brave enough to die nor brave enough to live. Parents can’t understand because they are parents. They tried to make me to try something hard and make me have a good future. But it’s beyond my capacity to get what they want and they keep on pressuring me to try. I can’t take what they teach and what my parents speak. They wanted me to be like some other kid and try to compare me with every possible fellow. I tried hard to not cry because that makes me feel even mire depressed. I am what I am because everyone are different. I can’t blame parents for being such because they lived in such an atmosphere and we can’t change them until they know it themselves. I can’t blame myself for being a such useless fellow. I can’t share this with any of them because I can’t admit the fact that I cried. Being in such a state and think of own pride makes readers blame me. Everyone are right until you feel it wrong yourself.

5 books that you should read:

Mastery by George Leonard

It is the book that will focus from Zen principles to motivate you with martial arts exercises to grasp how the journey would feel like, what it feels like, the path to mastery. And as you realize the direction you ‘re going to get up, you ‘re going to be able to handle the obstacles, you ‘re going to be able to avoid the pits that 90 percent of the other people are going to slip through and that the route becomes inexperienced.

Atomic habits by James clear

This offers an simple and validated way to develop healthy positive behaviors with the least energy and the greatest incentive.One of the main concepts that james claimer said was that you ought to work out what the minimum viodabe habits are, that mens when you want to build a pattern of getting up early and learning early in the morning, seek to do the most difficult stuff first instead of worrying about what the easiest starting point might be, what the least voidable routine is, what is so easy to do ,, you should manage it in just 2 minutes, and from there, keep the your graduation practices just as you graduated in the classroom, or before you get 2 pushups a day to 1000.

The secret to success by Eric Thomas

It is a presentation novel, its punchy, its inspiring, all you have is ET. So it should help you appreciate a successful path that Eric has guided you to go from high school dropout so homeless to an international bestseller. Yet it can also help you appreciate the actions and values that Eric followed to become the guy he is today.

Big magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Now you realize that becoming a student on the surface seems simpler, but it can be challenging to work. When you sit in the library and watching instagram or some other social network from your camera, how do you keep focused or how do you remain creative? Although Elizabeth goes through the cycle of how terror and imagination you are, and how the two affect yourselves

War of art by Steven pressfield 

In this novel, he talks about the distinction between the amateur part-time player who turns up when they’re frightened like him, and some of you are a part-time player, you test when you’re frightened, you offer a hundred and ten percent when you’re scared,You put your hand up in college as you feel that there is opposition between and like amateurs, or you might use the term procrastination or diversion, but it all applies to the same challenge, so how can we move that these books can help you achieve just this.

Let’s talk on whether you will read this book and let me assure you because it really encourages you a lot in the future. This also gives a huge change to you. And if you respect Eric or either of these authors just hope as you learn, you invest one on one time in the author. But after reading, you can know how much commitment they have put on work on each and every line and inspire them to read.

Science and Superstitions

In this scientific era of many discoveries and inventions, science making the impossible possible with the blink of an eye, there’s no place for superstition. Science and superstitions are poles apart. Yet they are the two sides of the same coin unknown of their interdependence.

Superstitions are self-imposed selfish beliefs, something imaginary yet unimaginable disbelief, or mere beliefs. But science – the most well-known and popular word of this era. Science as is believed to be something realistic which even makes the unreal real; the unachievable achievable.

Science in itself is a sweet beginning and sometimes a bitter ending whereas superstitions have neither beginning nor end; it is complete in itself.

But still, these two unrealistic and realistic, unimaginable and imaginable, never-ending and ever ending concepts are interconnected somewhere beyond the universe by some unpredictable threads of God.  Science completes superstitions in the same way as reasons complete assumptions. Reasons sometimes fail to explain rendering the assumptions to be almost dark and blank. And sometimes baseless reasons succeed in explaining a taboo.

Let’s have a quick look at the following examples:-

1. Eat curd and sugar before heading out                                                   Eating curd and sugar before stepping out for something new and important is considered to be good luck as the consumption of curd has a cooling effect on the stomach and sugar which is added provides instant glucose which makes your work easier and successful. This combination is indispensable for Indians and its consumption was slowly linked to good luck.

2. Don’t wash or cut hairs on certain days                                 Washing or cutting hairs on certain days like on Tuesdays or Thursdays are considered to be bad luck but there’s no truth in this as it was one of the water management practices. And moreover, during those days, barbers got a holiday on those days. So, just to give them a holiday people don’t cut hairs on those days.

3. Swallow tulsi leaves never chew
Tulsi leaves shouldn’t be chewed, it needs to be swallowed. The science behind his is that the tulsi leaves contain a little amount of arsenic. Thus, chewing it directly could result in degradation of enamel.

4. Bathe after attending a funeral ceremony                                               Earlier bathing was necessary after attending a funeral ceremony but today it’s not like earlier as our ancestors didn’t have vaccinations against smallpox, hepatitis and other deadly diseases. So they came up with this ritual of bathing so as to prevent themselves from infection from the dead body.

5. Menstruating women are considered impure and unclean:           In a country like India, it is very prevalent and this gave rise to many other superstitious beliefs. At that time women were not allowed inside the kitchen, temples, mosques, and other religious spots. They are not allowed to perform any household duties. The reason is that at that point of time women are comparatively weak because of a lot of blood loss. So, they are given complete rest. Moreover, ancient stone statues of God maintain a certain equilibrium with the atmosphere and may collapse if any disturbance occurs. As women release a lot of heat during this period, they are not allowed inside the temple since this may cause a disturbance in the natural equilibrium and may result in cracks in the idols.

6. Lizard falling on human is bad luck
It is said to be bad luck but the scientific reasons behind this is that the lizard releases poisonous chemicals from its body in order to protect themselves from enemies and if it falls on human body or food, it is bound to contaminate it. So, bathe is taken after it falls on someone.

7. Using lemons and green chillies to avoid buri nazar                          The nimbhu mirchi tadka is one of the commonly visible superstitions among the society whose use is often encouraged due to the qualities of lemon and chillies as they both are rich in different vitamins Ad create certain acidic odour which helps keep away insects. Thus, our ancestors used this as a symbol during ceremonies which now turned into a tadka.

8. Bats entering the house means death                                                       It is considered to be a bad omen. The real reason behind this superstition is that the bats bring a lot of deadly diseases along with them and when there was no medical facility available during those days, people would die due to rabies, Ebola, Nipah and other illness brought in by the illness.

9. Ghosts residing in peepal trees
This myth continues to prevail even today. But the scientific reason behind this is that the trees use carbon dioxide during the day and releases oxygen but at night, it is the other way round. So, when you sleep under the tree, the excess carbon dioxide level can make you feel heavy in the fist and suffocated which is associated with the feeling of being possessed by some spirits.

10. Throwing coins in fountains and rivers bring good

Most currencies in ancient times were made of copper and by throwing copper coins into rivers, our forefathers apparently ensured that they were consuming pure water. Science has it that copper has antimicrobial property and it can kill 99.9% of infection-causing bacteria. However, today neither do we use copper coins nor do we drink water directly from the river. This belief has brought in more pollution than good luck.

ACCOUNTABILITY OF ELECTION COMMISSION

Keywords:

Election Commission of India ~ Constitution of India ~ Article 324 ~ Supervision ~ Direction ~ Control ~ Accountability

Introduction:

The Election Commission of India is a central, state and district autonomous statutory body responsible and accountable for overseeing electoral process in India. The board administers Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha elections, state assemblies, state legislative councils and president and vice president of the nation. Under Article 324 of the Constitution, the Election Commission does its work, and the Representation of the People Act has been subsequently enacted under it.

The commission has the strength and supremacy, under the Constitution, to engage in behaviour appropriate to the extent, when the enacted laws make insufficient provision for dealing with a given situation in the conduct of an election. As a constitutional body, the Election Commission is one of the limited bodies that operate with both sovereignty and independence, along with the nation’s higher judiciary, the Union Public Service Commission, and India’s Controller and Auditor General.

What is Election Commission of India?

The Election Commission of India (ECI), which was formed in 1950 to promote democratic process in India, is a constitutionally approved body. The headquarters are situated in New Delhi. It consists of three members namely, the Chief Electoral Commissioner and two other Commissioners who are designated by the president of India for a term of six years and who cannot be removed from office except through a parliamentary indictment. The ECI, while almost invulnerable to political pressures and scrupulously neutral, is tasked with ensuring free and fair elections.

The Indian Election Commission is the governing body of the election. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is envisaged by Article 324 of the Constitution of India. It defines the code of conduct for election model in the country.

The Constitution under Article 324 provides for the planning, conduct and supervision for elections to the legislature, the state governments and the president and vice-president offices by the Election Commission. Therefore, both the central and the regional elections are the responsibility of the Election Commission. It is also responsible for preparing, maintaining and updating the electoral rolls, raising political funds, registration of political parties, nomination of candidates, monitoring of campaigns, accelerating media, arranging and organising polling booths, superintending the vote counting and result declaration. The ECI is convincing and determined in matters of elections—for instance, where the law is ambiguous—but it can be challenged in courts of law.

In the early 21st century, the Indian general elections became the world’s biggest democratic exercise. In a number of geographical, political and climate ways, they involved nearly 700 million voters in some 700,000 polls. The ECI functions through a secretariat of some 300 staff members. Each state has a Chief Electoral Officer with a core staff, and civil servants assume the responsibilities of election officials at the district and electoral levels. However, during the general election, an enormous team of temporary workers up to five million people are responsible for the conduct of the poll.

Superintendence, Direction, Control and Accountability for Elections

In Article 324, the term superintendence, direction and control and the conduct of all elections were kept to include certain powers which, although not expressly given, are required to be exercised in order to effectively fulfil the task of holding the elections at their completion. Furthermore, it would be appropriate for the Commission to make general provisions on matters pertaining to symbols, either in anticipation or in the light of practice.[1] For the purpose of free and fair elections and for the protection and security of electors and with a view to avoiding bullying and victimization of electors, the Commission has full authority to guide the way in which ballots are counted and is accountable for the measures taken during the due process.[2] For transfer of those officers (who had completed more than four years of stay in one district) from one district to another, directives are issued by the Election Commission, were adopted pursuant or intra vires to Article 324.

The text conduct of the elections referred to in Article 324 was considered to be broad in scope, which would include the power to make all the necessary arrangements for the conduct of free and fair elections. As every contingency cannot be acknowledged or anticipated beforehand, the Supreme Court in Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms[3], held that the Commission could cope with a situation in which the field had not been occupied by issuing the necessary orders. Article 324 was said to be a reserve of power, giving the Commission its own right to exercise residual authority a creature of the Constitution. The Commission may, therefore, issue instructions asking the candidates to provide information on their assets, their educational qualifications, the background of their lives, etc. Nevertheless, the terms ‘superintendence, direction and control in Article 324 are intended to complement and not replace the law and, therefore, the Commission cannot move against a validly formed electoral law. No power to de-register a political party shall also be bestowed on the Election Commission. Moreover, with the approval of the State, the Commission may control any legal issue not protected by the Rules of Procedure set out in the Legislature.

In the case of Ram Deo Bhandari v. Election Commission[4], the Supreme Court held that the Election Commission was free to take such measures as it deemed appropriate to ensure a free and fair vote, but would not withhold the elections to the Legislative Assembly of a State on the ground that it had failed to complete the process of issuing photo identity cards within the time limit prescribed by the Commission, for it would be contravention of the mandate of Article 168 of the Constitution.

In the case of J.T. Girls Degree College v. State of U.P.[5], it was ruled that the Election Commission and the Election Authorities are both controlled by the 1951, Representation of People Act, and cannot act in a manner inconsistent with the Act. It is also recommended that Article 324 should be read in the context of the Constitutional Scheme and the Act of 1950 and of 1951. In A.C. Jose v. Sivan Pillai[6], some significant errors in the use of EVM had been identified by the Supreme Court. Since these deficiencies had been taken care of by the new improved version of EVM as well as by the Representation of People Act, 1951 and the Rules there under were modified accordingly.

Some Issues for which ECI has to be Accountable

  • The presence of money and criminal elements in politics has risen over the years, along with intimidation and political corruption resulting in elections being criminalized. The ECI could not stop the deterioration.
  • A blatant misuse of power has occurred by the state government, which often makes large-scale transactions on the eve of elections and posts malleable officials in key positions, often employing official vehicles and electioneering buildings, in violation of the ECI model code of conduct.
  • The ECI is not properly prepared to control the parties. The ECI does not have the authority to impose internal party control and to govern party finances.
  • Throughout the past few years, there has been a growing perception that the Election Commission is becoming increasingly independent of the executive that has damaged the institution ‘s reputation.
  • One of the main institutional drawbacks is the lack of accountability in the election of the CEC and two other commissioners and the choice of the presiding government.
  • EVMs have been reported to be malfunctioning, to be hacked and not to record votes that corrode the confidence of the institution of the general masses.
  • Loss of structural governance as a result of decreasing democratic morality norms and deteriorating service ethic and commitment in public life.
  • An inefficient and lengthy judicial method of managing electoral requests, frequently making the whole method meaningless.

Conclusion:

Through the years, a range of commendable electoral reforms have been carried out by the Election Commission to improve democracy and improve the fairness of the elections. These changes are admirable and equally sufficient. Under the EC’s auspices, the election machinery certainly deserves plaudits for free and fair conducting of elections. So many vices still torment our framework. Political parties turn to irrational tactics and unethical practices to win votes. These diseases promote entry of the anti-social elements into the electoral competition. The question is not the lack of legislation but their lack of rigid compliance and enforcement. There is a need to strengthen the EC’s hands and give it more legal and institutional power and authority to root out those unjust tendencies. The EC must be granted powers to discipline the errant politicians who are transgressing and breaching the voting process and code of conduct.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s):

Q.1. What are the advantages of using EVM’s?

A.1. Electronic Voting Machines (EVM’s) have been widely used in important constituencies in restricted areas and also, in by-elections. Throughout the Goswami Committee deliberations, any questions regarding this technology were amply removed. Not only were the EVMs satisfactorily demonstrated to all representatives of parliament, but many electronic experts from the Indian government also testified that the devices could be used without any lingering doubts at all the elections. The benefits of EVMs are very evident in preventing large-scale rigging as the system locks up and will allow just one hit every several seconds. Wherever such EVMs were used in urban and rural areas, there were no large-scale rigging reports.

Q.2. What are successes and failures of ECI?

A.1. Thirteen general elections to Lok Sabha and a much greater number to various State Legislative Assemblies have been held over the last half-a-century. We should take genuine pride in the fact that these were successful and widely accepted as free and equal. But the experience has also brought many misconceptions to the fore, some very severe, which in many quarters has created a profound concern. Links to the toxic position of financial influence, muscle strength, and mob control and criminalization, racism, communitarianism, caste system and corruption are frequent.


[1] K.M. Sharma v. J.B. Singh, AIR 2001 All. 175.

[2] E.C. of India v. Ashok Kumar, AIR 2000 SC 2979.

[3] AIR 2002 SC 2112.

[4] AIR 1995 SC 852.

[5] AIR 2004 All. 267.

[6] AIR 1984 SCR (3) 74.