International women’s day is celebrated on the 8th of March all around the world, a tradition started in Soviet Russia as the soviet women gained suffrage in 1917. In some places, it is a public holiday, in some places, it is not; in some places, it is used as a day of protest and in some places, a day of celebration. Overall, it is a global celebration of women, their struggles and their contributions to the world.

This year’s UN theme for International Women’s day is ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,’ in the light of how female heads of state like Jacinda Ardern have responded to the pandemic in a way that should be inspiring for the rest of the world, proving that women are not fundamentally incompetent and in fact even serve as better leaders than men in many circumstances.

Women’s day everywhere should not serve as a day to simply contribute to appreciative gestures to women in men’s lives as the function they serve in their lives, but a day spent to also commemorate the struggles women have faced in establishing their human rights and how there is a long way to go before they achieve it. In this day and age, wherein brands have co-opted feminist messaging and boiled feminism down to taglines and discounts, it is important to realize how we need more women in leadership positions and important roles so our polity is not androcentric.

Today, we should celebrate women and their struggles and materially contribute to their liberation from their patriarchy. Women are an important element of any society, their oppression being a blemish on the world, their continual strength a source of energy for the world and justice. And that deserves to be commemorated every single day of the year.

 The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF), in a notification of January 6, 2011, stated that it wanted to secure the livelihood of the fishing communities and other local communities living in the coastal areas, conserve and protect coastal stretches, their unique environment and marine area and promote development in a sustainable manner. 

The CRZ notification 2011 declared that the coastal stretches of the country and India’s territorial waters, excluding Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands, as Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and restricted the setting up and expansion of any industry, operations or processes and manufacture or handling or storage or disposal of hazardous substances there.

It then directed the respective state governments and Union Territories to prepare Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMP) by identifying and classifying the CRZ areas. The Goa state department of environment handed over the responsibility of preparing the CZMP to the NCSCM in 2014. The NCSCM’s draft report made public earlier this year states that the primary purpose of a CZMP is to describe proposed actions to be implemented by administrative or other public authorities and potentially by the private sector to address priority management issues in the coastal zone over a defined implementation period.

Environmentalists, local bodies and opposition parties have all voiced their opposition to the draft CZMP report. According to environmentalist and Goa Foundation director Claude Alvares, they had informed the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), that the 30-day limit for suggestions and objections to the draft was not legal, as it was contrary to the 60-day limit provided by the Environment Protection Rules, 1986. Activists also say that 254 maps that were to cover the state but certain villages and municipal areas have been missing from the maps. Locals and fishermen from South Goa villages have claimed that structures including some homes and churches have been left out of the CZMP. 

This is a serious concern because of the growing lack of democratic consultation in processes that involve changing the environment’s classification, which can have adverse consequences. The public hearing on the finalisation of the draft CZMP will be held on Sunday from 10:30 am to 5 pm in Panaji for North Goa and in Margao for South Goa. Let’s hope that a consensus favourable to both the environment and the parties involved is arrived at democratically.

The only environmental issue to have caused as much debate and discussion as climate change was probably human population growth. But that is, in some ways, clearer to deal with. We can count how many we are, more or less, and can see a direct effect of more people wanting to use more resources from a fixed stock. Climate change and global warming have become very emotive issues where national and international politics, global economics and the fate of national economies are all bound up with scientific debate about the evidence and cause and effect. Added to this are the questions of whether millions or billions will suffer, whether there wit be losers and winners if climate shifts to a new equilibrium and whether the power bases of different nations will be affected; you can begin to see what a complex issue this is. There are facts that are not in debate: 

• There is a greenhouse effect 

• GHG emissions are increasing due to human activities and are probably increasing the greenhouse effect

 • There has been a recent pattern of increased average global temperature. 

There is not total agreement about the cause of the rise in temperature our over what we should be doing about it. The vast majority of scientists working in this field accept the correlation between increased GHG emissions and increased temperature, causing climate change and different weather patterns. But there is a minority who question the cause and effect. some citing the earth’s rotational wobble, sunspot activity or that increased temperature is causing increased GHG, not the other way round. And there are climate change deniers. But all agree that the feedback mechanisms are very complex in such complex system as the Earth and that our models, though much improved, may not exactly model the climate. 

Adding the question of what should be done — prevention or cure or no action and the inertia that individuals and nation states have in managing change, you can begin to see why there is so much to discuss and how actions lag behind what we think we know. Here, according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in their fifth assessment report in 2014:

 • Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, any of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. 

• Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide have increased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years.

 • Continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further [global] warming and changes in all components of the climate system. Limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. 

• Human influence on the climate system is dear. It is extremely likely (95-100% probability) that human influence was the dominant cause of global warming between 1951-2010.

This is why we must take immediate steps to address the dilemma and counter unscientific claims that try to make climate change appear as a distant problem. Our future generations will thank us for it.

Every year since 2009, 4^th March has been designated as World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation. Although there are exceptions, sexual exploitation overwhelmingly involves women and children, and it is a problem of worldwide proportions. It has been estimated that every second of the day an average of eight women, girls and often young boys, are trapped by international criminal networks where the sole aim is to sexually exploit them, traffic them and enslave them.

This process obviously robs them of their basic human rights, including their right to freedom, their dignity, their right to live where they choose and the right to control their own bodies.

Although the problem is a worldwide one, some places are more vulnerable than others. These include areas in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and some Latin American and Caribbean countries. Trafficked women from these areas are generally taken to destination countries in the so-called developed world for the purposes of prostitution.

Although older teenage girls can be involved in this traffic, younger girls and boys who are involved in sexual exploitation will generally stay close to their region of origin. UNICEF estimates that more than 3 million children worldwide are affected by prostitution and that children make up more than a third of all sex workers in Asia.

Often this situation arises when poorly informed and ill-educated parents, who have no resources, are unable to raise their children under acceptable conditions. They are approached by shady characters who give them assurances that if the children are voluntarily entrusted to them they will be guaranteed a bright and better future away from their present impoverished environment.

Once they are cut off from their families and friends, the children lose their identity and become the easy prey of crime syndicates who exploit them by forcing them into sex work.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that nearly a million people are trafficked every year for purposes of sexual exploitation. Although 98% are women and girls, this number also includes a significant number of boys and young men.

The major international crimes are trafficking in drugs and weapons, but sexual trafficking follows closely behind and is now a highly lucrative international criminal industry. According to the ILO, human trafficking for sexual exploitation makes between US$ 7 billion and $12 billion a year on the initial “sale”. However, once the victims of trafficking arrive in the destination country and are exploited, a further US$32 billion will be generated by the “industry”.

Although huge sums of money are made, the victims rarely receive any of this, making human trafficking a modern form of slavery.

Prostitution is just one element in the sexual exploitation industry. Another is sexual tourism. In some countries, notably in Southeast Asia, restrictions have traditionally been less restrictive than in other parts of the world. This encouraged the growth of an industry where tourists, chiefly men, would travel to countries where they could indulge in sexual activity with under-age boys and girls.

In October 2012 the BBC reported that the problem of sex tourism was getting worse, with Child Protection charities warning that worldwide an estimated 250,000 people travel abroad every year for the purpose of having sex with minors. Sexual tourism is increasingly responsible for child prostitution around the world.

In the past many paedophiles were helped to escape justice by a lack of cross border legal co-operation, but in recent years there has been a crack-down on this problem as charities, the travel industry and international law enforcement agencies have been increasingly working together. In many cases it is now possible to prosecute paedophiles in their home countries for offences that have taken place overseas.

Yet another issue is child pornography. Depiction of pornographic acts involving minors is universally considered to be a major form of child abuse and for this reason it is considered to be immaterial whether the pornographic act is forced or consensual.

In most countries it is illegal to use the Internet to access material showing images of certain sexual acts, particularly those involving children or young people. In addition to its abusive nature, the bulk of this material would only have been produced following some form of coercion. Whenever such material is viewed, producers are encouraged to produce more, which in turn results in more children being abused.

World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation sets out to draw attention to this major worldwide problem. As so often happens with matters that thrive in the darker parts of society and teeter on the brink of illegality, sexual exploitation often goes unnoticed.

Even rich countries are affected. A report published in 2001 suggested that in the United States 300,000 children were running the risk of sexual exploitation that could be considered as commercial.

The sad truth is that this unpleasant trade is capable of destroying the lives of countless people every year, but it is a trade that can only function as a result of the perverse demands of others. The answer is to eliminate these demands and there will no longer be any need for supply, but that is a very uphill task.

At least by having a special day there is a chance of raising the international profile of the problem and that surely is a step in the right direction.

 Zero Discrimination Day is an annual day celebrated by the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations. The day aims to promote equality before the law and in practice throughout all of the member countries of the UN. The day was first celebrated on March 1, 2014, and was launched by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé on 27 February of that year with a major event in Beijing.

The day is particularly noted by organisations like UNAIDS that combat discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. “HIV related stigma and discrimination is pervasive and exists in almost every part of the world including our Liberia”, according to Dr. Ivan F. Camanor, Chairman of the National AIDS Commission of Liberia. The UN Development Programme also paid tribute in 2017 to LGBTI people with HIV/AIDS who face discrimination.

Campaigners in India have used this day to speak out against laws making discrimination against the LGBTI community more likely, especially during the previous campaign to repeal the law that used to criminalise homosexuality, before that law was overturned by the Indian Supreme Court in September 2018.

On zero discrimination day this year, UNAIDS is highlighting the need to bring an end to income, sex, age, occupation, disability, sexuality, gender, race, class, ethnicity and religious inequality. Inequality is growing for more than 70% of the global population, exacerbating the risk of division and hampering socioeconomic development.

As a consequence, COVID-19 is hitting vulnerable people the hardest – poor and socially marginalised communities throughout the world will be the last to receive vaccines for the coronavirus. Many have equated this to vaccine apartheid.

Discrimination and inequalities are closely intertwined. Intersecting forms of discrimination, be it structural or social, against individuals and groups can lead to a wide range of inequalities—for example, in income, educational outcomes, health and employment. However, inequalities themselves can also lead to stigma and discrimination. It is critical, therefore, when looking to reduce inequalities to address discrimination. Members of key populations are often discriminated against, stigmatized and, in many cases, criminalized and targeted by law enforcement. Research has shown that this social and structural discrimination results in significant inequalities in access to justice and in health outcomes.

On this day, everyone should stand up for those who are at the receiving end of societal and institutional discrimination to create a better and safer world that teaches its children love before hate.

 Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, seized control of Myanmar on February 1, 2021, detaining the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her party that won the November 2020 elections, citing election fraud, a claim that was refuted by the UEC (United Elections Commission of Myanmar). 

Military coups are not unknown to Myanmar, having spent more than 50 years under military rulers – it was the military that facilitated Myanmar’s transformation to democracy by drafting the 2008 Constitution, touted as a ‘roadmap to democracy.’ But it only created an institutional set-up prone to misuse wherein the Burmese Constitution ensured the military of its supremacy in national affairs, with a political party that contested elections as its proxy. The results of the 2020 election gave the NLD a majority significantly bigger compared to previous elections, serving as a mandate for potential constitutional reform and dismantling military rule.

All of this was effectively undone by the events of February, with mass arrests of political leaders and internet blackouts and the establishment of an executive body called the State Administration Council lead exclusively by military leaders and non-NDP civilians, and it isn’t likely that the Tatmadaw will abide by its promise of holding a new election anytime soon. However, there is still hope for a change in the status quo, with massive resistance from Burmese both within Myanmar and outside it and large mobilizations and strikes by healthcare workers, civil servants and industrial workers, with calls for boycotting products related to the military through the ‘Stop Buying Junta Business’ campaign. A visible sign of the protests is the three-finger salute that was also seen in October last year at demonstrations against the monarchy of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in neighboring Thailand, and the usage of red ribbons as symbols of solidarity. 

The international response has been quite strong with the United States embassy and diplomatic missions of 15 other countries and the European Union issuing a joint statement ‘opposing any attempt to alter the outcome of the elections or impede Myanmar’s democratic transition.’ Nevertheless, the fight for Burmese democracy has spanned many bloody decades of protest, and the military coup has not yet undone all the substantial gains made by the movement for democracy.

 First launched in 2009, Bitcoin is a kind of cryptocurrency or digital currency that exists completely online. It is decentralized without a single central bank to administer it and the currency is stored in digital wallets. These wallets are backed by private and public keys for security, and the public key is what lets users transact with each other. Because of its decentralized nature and the anonymity associated with it, the currency can be easily traded across users and countries without identifying the person who holds the bitcoin. The popularity of bitcoin has spurred a range of alternate crypto currency including Etherium, Dogecoin and Binance.

The major problem with these private cryptocurrencies is that they create an alternate to real money, which may lead to the problem of ‘double spending.’ Hence, the government had set up a committee in 2017 led by the then Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg to study the issues related to virtual currencies. The committee, in its final report made public in 2019, had drafted a Bill to impose a complete ban on private cryptocurrencies after the regulators expressed their concerns over it.

It is not known what effect this step will have, but many have opposed it because of the inherent flaws in the argument of ‘double spending’ and since Tesla has renewed interest in cryptocurrencies by investing in bitcoin. Only time will tell whether this action will impact the markets significantly or not.