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Civic Sense

Life is a journey from beginner to a pro. It drives us from a million ways through which we live, learn, seek, embrace and grow. The growth of a human being into a person is what involves the entire journey of a lifetime. For every second a person lives, he grows in a million uncounted, un-felt ways. The greatest mechanism for the transformation of a human being to a person is education. Education is the power that can change the world.

Education is an integral part of human development and there exist an essential need for the same. But as always said, Growth is always multidimensional. Education teachers of person theoretically. There is a need of social recognisation and realisation in people which we call the Civic sense. The sense of responsibility and concern towards being a good human is what constitutes to an important branch of growth. Teaching makes people intelligent but civic sense makes people gentleman. Also, What point is it to have an education system which lacks the basic education?
people lack in having civic sense as they were never taught about the importance regarding the same. In rushing after our ambitions, we often forget that we need to be responsible and sensible about our living too. There are many strategies and steps which could be followed in order to improve the current situation of our generation as lack of civic sense does not only pulls human away from being a complete person but also exploits the environment. Instances like dumping garbage in the middle of high speeding road, leaving over the packages marks how can professional and uncivilized this generation is.
There should be a systemised remedy provided for the same. As qualities like these are developed in the early stages, the schools should have a subject about Moral Education or  Values to Uphold to highlight the importance of being a good human being and how to pursue it.
Only if we start it from the initials, we will make it to the finals too. It is high time for the generation to step out and see the ways to turn their imperfection into areas of improvement. Besides, awareness programs should be held, laws should be made for betterment of the same. When the people will come together, the environment, ethics and morals will never have to be compromised.
Education drives human to a person but civic sense a person to the person.

Flourishing Poverty

Lost are the days when the happiness abide
The humans- not the distinction..
To witness the bare feet and the aching stomach
Is what the flourishing poverty brought to us.

The glory of India has evolved through jewels of wisdom and royale but on the other hand it has been through a lot of bleak ways which spread their way now too even after ages of the start.
The ways being talked about are the ways through which poverty, with every passing tenure widens its arms and stretches farther on all the left out communities of India. Technically, poverty refers to the lack of monetary facilities which obstruct a citizen to satisfy his needs or wants. If given a detailed look,it will be realised that this evil poverty not only lies in terms of money but has a great extension when it comes to opportunities development performance and preferences especially for the left out communities of India.
Not only the inferior community experience poverty but they witness poverty at even worse when it compelled them to scrounge their glitter of life.
They are poor for not being able to withstand the glorified people. They are even poorer for not being able to witness  the politics and policies and false promises made to each one of them from endless of mediators come true. 
Poverty in India not only describes itself as lack of money but teaches a lot too. The people of slums are not bothered at all for not having a royal living but all the pray is to ‘not have’ empty stomach. When a rich kid is witnessed excluding his tattered shoes from wearing, these tender kids find the world of happiness from the same. The poor kids are not at all in complex with them being in a state of loan desolation but they count on it as a bouquet of wonders which they encounter with every ride they take to accomplish their tasks.
Poverty vanishes the abilities, worth and consideration of people and entancled in it.
No matter how much we try to deny this fact but Poverty is eating the growth of our country. It is because of this, that a country still needs ages to grow completely, inside out.
The Government of India should take decisions and actions to safeguard and protect the future talents and shining stars of the country. All of us have to initiate spreading empathy, colours and equality instead of flourishing poverty.

Technology in Today's legal world

As things stand today the employment opportunities may shrink for those who are rolling stones but vastly  expand for those who are who keep pace with the turns and twists of technology in day to day Human quest ,aspirations and achievements. This technology transform legal practices, even  the way the law professor teach , Each lawyers to use a Laptop or some other computer  to work effectively. Students must be taught the following technologies in law school.

Legal Research has now moved from Hard copy to digital systems  such as west law, lexisnexis, cloud -based systems of Google scholar and wikipedia. More statutes are now available online . There are many changes in disclosing documents and filing documents in court . Keeping pace  with the changing world , courts in western countries have adopted modern technology . The most important document that took place in England over the least decade was modernization of Judiciary.
Some technologies that should be taught to law students in the law school are-
E-discovery -responsive information is digital on phone, websites, Facebook , E mail and voice mail messages. They should be aware of E-discovery tools and how to make efficient use of them. Powerpoint presentations/ presentation skill need to be learnt  . Attorneys are told to  deliver a much better  presentation to their listener.
Marketing / web design / social media-unbundled legal services in which potential clients increasingly choose online self help options, more than half of the law firms donot have website. Other spend thousand on web development.
Case management lawyers – lawyers utilize various tools to help manage client  and case information .all aspects like indexibg, sharing contacts and calendars , billing clients.
Hardware / software/Mobile- lawyers, especially those in solo environments have  numerous choice of technology.
Transformation changed the way law professors teach , many are changed averse and use the methods that their own professors employed  a generation before. Alose technology is unreliable.  Noone likes to have technology fail when calss is under their control thus element of uncertainity and stress in comfort zone .
 Students are encouraged to take class notes on a laptop , or tablet , using  Ms Word  ,Ever note or Google docs because its synthesizing  those notes later in the term.
Understanding technology , one important skill like fact invest, negotation, communication lawyer must be acquainted with. For law , more clients, strong work product,  more effective use of time, better job prospects, smoother transition into practice . Clients can talk to attorneys in way while traveing.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence or emotional quotient is the ability of an individual to recognize and manage their emotions as well as the emotions of others around them, in a private or a in a group. It is a modern concept and was developed by Daniel Goleman. Managing emotions in a positive manner can help relieve stress, communicate effectively, build strong relationships, achieve success at school or colleges, and to fulfill our goals. A person who is emotionally stable finds it easier to communicate with new people, make better decisions, and to connect better with others.  It is a part of our personality that we can develop and learn at any age with the help of various techniques.

Components of Emotional Intelligence are:

  1.  Self Awareness – it is a skill where a person is aware of his/her emotions and the affect their emotions have on them. The person is also aware about what causes their emotions to occur and what effect emotions have on them.  A person should always have an accurate self assessment of their emotions as it can help develop the feeling of being confident in them.
  2. Self Regulation – it is a skill where a person is able to manage their emotions and their impulsive behavior. It also means that a person is able to channel their emotions in a healthy way. It also requires a person to be adaptable to the changes in their surrounding rather than having impulsive feelings about the change. A person should always make an action based on what is appropriate and what is not appropriate.
  3. Self Motivation – it is a skill where a person is motivated to achieve their personal goals that they have set for themselves, or improve their personality. A person is committed to their goals and it always ready to act whenever the opportunity is present. A person who is self motivated always makes an initiative towards things and always has an optimistic approach towards things.
  4. Social awareness – it is a skill where a person has empathy towards other’s emotions and situations. They have the ability to understand others better as well as help them to develop their emotions. It is fairly difficult skill to achieve as it requires understanding both the verbal as well as non verbal communication of the other person. it also requires a person to be politically and socially aware about their surroundings.
  5. Social Skills – it is a skill where a person has the ability to have an influence over others, has better communication skills, and has a better ability to manage the conflicts that arise. They are good leaders as they are better at handling the situations as well as have good communication skills.

These components are the skills that a Emotionally stable person has achieved over time. They have a better understanding of their emotions as well as the emotions of the others and know how to regulate them in a positive manner. They are aware about the reasons that cause their emotions to become impulsive and know how to channel them in a positive manner.  

Why is Emotional Intelligence Important?

It is important to have an understanding of our emotions as it can lead to better management of those emotions. Having a good IQ is not enough to achieve success, or to fulfill your goals, having a good EQ is equally important as it helps us to manage ourselves in situations where we can have immense stress or our emotions becoming overwhelming.
Emotional intelligence has an effect on –
  • Our performance at school/college/work as it helps individuals to overcome the complex situations in the social life.
  • Our health as if we are not able to manage the stress or our emotions, it can lead to some physical health problems like heart attacks, weak immune systems, etc.
  • Our mental health as uncontrolled stress can often lead to serious mental illnesses like depression and anxiety which can hamper the daily life of a person.
  • Our relationship as a person who is emotionally stable is able to understand the other person better and is able to resolve the conflict in a better way.

The Social issue of Child Labour

 

The children should not have to work is universally accepted, but there are no universal answer why the problem of child labour persist and how it needs to be tackled. India is faced with the crucial task of eliminating the child labour which is prevalent in all spheres of life. Thousands of children are engaged in the carpet factories, glass factories and other hazardous industries all over the country.

The term child labour has generally two-fold interpretations. Firstly, it is implied to be an economic necessity of poor households and secondly, the explosive aspect in children‟s work concerned with the profit maximizing urge of commercial establishment wherein children are made to work for long hours, paid low remuneration and deprived of educational opportunities.

International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines child labour to “… include children leading permanently adult lives, working long hours for low wages under conditions damaging to their health and physical and mental development, sometime separated from their families, frequently deprived of meaningful educational and training opportunities that could be open up to them a better future”.

Reasons For Child Labour:
There are many reasons for the existence of child labour and it varies with place and place to place. In India, poverty is one of the important factors for poverty, but it‟s not the sole factor. Children provide cheap labour, the person who wants labour has to pay less to them than adult labour. The child can be commanded more than an adult. The pull factor of the child labour is the profit maximization.

The main causes to failure to control the child labour are; poverty, low wages than adult, unemployment, absence of schemes for family allowance, migration to urban areas, large family size, children being cheaply available, non existence of strict provisions for compulsory education, illiteracy, ignorance of parents and traditional attitudes.

Child Labour In India:
India accounts for the second highest number where child labour in the world is concerned. Africa accounts for the highest number of children employed and exploited. The fact is that across the length and breadth of the nation, children are in a pathetic condition.

Child labour in India is a human right issue for the whole world. It is a serious and extensive problem, with many children under the age of fourteen working in carpet making factories, glass blowing units and making fireworks with bare little hands. According to the statistics given by Indian government there are 20 million Child labours in the country, while other agencies claim that it is 50 million.

The situation of Child labours in India is desperate. Children work for eight hours at a stretch with only a small break for meals. The meals are also frugal and the children are ill nourished. Most of the migrant children, who cannot go home, sleep at their work place, which is very bad for their health and development. Seventy five percent of Indian population still resides in rural areas and are very poor. Children in rural families who are ailing with poverty perceive their children as an income generating resource to supplement the family income. Parents sacrifice their children‟s education to the growing needs of their younger siblings in such families and view them as wage earners for the entire clan.

In Northern India the exploitation of little children for labour is an accepted practice and perceived by the local population as a necessity to alleviate poverty. Carpet weaving industries pay very low wages to Child labours and make them work for long hours in unhygienic conditions. Children working in such units are mainly migrant workers from Northern India, who are shunted here by their families to earn some money and send it to them. Their families dependence on their income, forces them to endure the onerous work conditions in the carpet factories.

While experts blame the system, poverty, illiteracy, adult unemployment; yet the fact is that the entire nation is responsible for every crime against a child. Instead of nipping the problem at the bud, child labour in India was allowed to increase with each passing year. And today, young ones below the age of 14 have become an important part of various industries; at the cost of their innocence, childhood, health and for that matter their lives.

Indian Constitution And Child Labour:
Article 23 of Indian Constitution prohibits the trafficking in human beings and forced labour. And Article 24 prohibits the employment of children in factories. It says that No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.

The general understanding was that right secured by Article 24 will hardly be effective in the absence of legislation prohibiting and penalising its violation. However, Supreme Court clearly stated that Article 24 “must operate proprio vigour” even if the prohibition lay down in it is not “followed up by appropriate legislation.” In Labourers, Salal Hydro Project v. State of J&K it was again held that the employment of children below 14 in construction work violates Article 24.

It was noted in M C Mehta v. State of Tamilnadu, that menace of child labour was wide spread. Therefore it issued wide ranging directions in the context of employment and exploitation of children in Sivakasi, prohibiting employment of children below the age of 14 and making arrangement for their education by creating a fund and providing employment to the parents or the able bodied adults in the family. These directions were reiterated in Bandhu Mukti Morcha v. Union of India, concerning the employment of children in carpet weaving industry in U.P.

The State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength. Also the State shall, direct its policy towards securing the given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity and that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment to the children.

Article 45 of Indian Constitution made provision for early childhood care and education to children below the age of six years. As per this Article the State shall endeavours to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.

Intellectual Property Rights

A form of property called Intellectual property has come into existence and its importance is growing  the immaterial products of a man’s brain may be as valuable as his land or his goods. the law ,therefore, gives him a proprietary right in its, and the unauthorised use of it by other person is a violation of his ownership , no less than theft or trespass is.

 

According to article 2 (vii) of the convention establishing the world Intellectual property organisation(WIPO) ‘Intellectual Property’ shall include the rights relating to- 
-literary, artistic, scientific works
-preformance of performing artists,phonograms and broadcasts
-invention in all field of human endeavour,
-scientific designs ,
– industrial designs,
– trademarks , service marks And commercial names and designations ,
– protection against unfair competition.
And all together rights resulting from intellectual activity  in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields. 
Intellectual peoperty rights (IPRs) are legal rights governing the use of creation of the human mind. 
The mundane .object of IPR , generally , is to exclude third parties from exploting protected subject -matter without explicit authorisation of the right holder,for a creation duration of time.Intellectual property rights help creative and inventive activities of orderly marketing of proprietary goods and services.
Categories of Intellectual property Rights
According to the TRIPs , the intellectual property rights are:
1.copyright and related rights
A)rights of artists, printers,musicians, sculptors, photographers,and authors for copyright in their works.
B)  Rights of computer programmers whether in source or object code for a copyright in their programmes and compilation data
C) Rights of performers, producers of phonogrammes, and broadcasting organizations in respect of fixation on their programmes for a copyright in their work 
2.Right of traders in their trade marks.
3. Right of manufacturers and producers  on gegraphical indication in relation to such products and produce.
4.Rights of designers for their distinctive design  striking to the eye.
5. Patents-
A) rights of inventors for patent to his invention
B) rights of plant breeders and farmers
C) Right of biological diversity
6. Right of computer technologists for their layout design of integrated circuits
7.Right Of businessmen for protection of their undisclosed information on technology and management i.e.,business secrets.
  
To ensure that software Development  does not violate the cyber laws and enforces IPR calls for paradigm shift in analyzing and modeling nonfunctional and domain requirements in order to deliver quality and legal software product..

Racism in India

‘In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist.’ – Angela Davis.
The #blacklivesmatter movement and protests can be seen happening all around the world after the death of George Floyd by a police officer outside a shop in Minneapolis, following many more deaths of black people by the police in the US. People around the world also started taking part in this movement by peacefully marching and making donations to organizations that work to support this movement. However, it was us who started discrimination in the first place by believing that people can be divided based on their race and ethnicity. In Nazi Germany, there was discrimination between the Jews and the Germans, so much so that there were different schools for the Jews and the Germans. The Jews were considered to be sub-humans to the Germans and were deprived of their civil services, Jewish businesses were boycotted, anti-Jewish laws were legislated, and only Germans were subjected to the civil and political rights whereas Jews were just mere subjects of the state. 

This is just one of the many examples of racial discrimination around history. In North America and South Africa, during the apartheid movement, it was established that there should be segregation of the races, i.e. the blacks and the whites. They should have their churches, schools, hospitals, etc. and it was considered unnatural for the people to marry someone outside their race. During colonial India, there was a clear distinction between the whites (the colonial leaders) and the blacks (the Indians). There were separate towns for the British and the Indians to live. 
With modern times and the new generations, there is racial tolerance in people and we see people mingling with others around them irrespective of their race and ethnicity. In the Indian constitution, one of the fundamental rights i.e. Article 15, prohibits discrimination of Indians based on religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. It implies that every person has an equal right on all the opportunities and no one can prohibit a person from doing something on the grounds mentioned in the article. 
However, there are still many cases in India, where some people make fun of others because they belong to a particular race. For instance, the people in the northeast are made of fun because of their looks and called names. There is also constant competition between the north Indians and the south Indians to prove that either of them are the best kind of people. There is a common perception in people’s minds that if a person is fair skinned then he/she is from north India and if they are dark-skinned then they are from south India. It is also believed that people from south India are extremely intelligent, which might be true; but north Indians are equally intelligent too. All these misconceptions are created by us only, however, what was started as a joke has now become a serious problem that has been rooted deeply in the minds of the people. Due to the spread of the Covid-19, the people of the northeast are facing another set of remarks being aimed at them like, ‘Are they from China’ or ‘have they got their country’s disease’. Many times, people belonging to the northeast are refused accommodations if they travel to another state for their studies. African people in India also face a similar kind of a situation as they are being made fun of, pointed out in the public, or are called names. The prejudice around Africans is that they are poor or that they come from a country that has a history of slavery. People think that calling an African a “negro” or a northeastern “chinki” is just a matter of fun and not something that needs to be taken too seriously; however what they don’t understand is that these types of jokes are the first stepping stone towards racial discrimination, which not only affects the other person but also creates conflicts between people. 
HOW CAN WE STOP RACISM?
Stopping racism is our responsibility and each one of us should make an effort on our part to stop ourselves from commenting about others as well as stop others from doing the same thing. The most important step to stop racism is that we need to be ANTI RACIST not NON RACIST. We need to strongly oppose racism and promote the idea of racial tolerance among people. There is also a need for strong laws against discrimination towards people who belong to different races. It is the responsibility of the person who is abused to not sit silently rather they should report it to their higher authorities or if necessary, then they must opt for legal action. Also, it is our responsibility to support our friends or any other person who faces racial discrimination and helps them to take necessary legal actions for the same. But if a person thinks that they have a right to not face any racial discrimination, then they should also know that it is also their responsibility to never discriminate other people if they belong to a different race.
The changes that we want to see in the world will only be made once we decide to change ourselves!  

Honour Killing

 

‘Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce — even from an abusive husband — or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that “dishonors” her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life.’

‘Honor killings are not new to the rural India especially in the regions of Hariyana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. But then such cases are not just restricted to the rural areas. They are also heard of in our capital and in the southern states like Kerela, Tamil Nadu etc. The Aarushi Talwar Case and the killing of Kuldeep and Monica are speculated to be such killings.

Our country has been very selective about the kind of development she has undergone. On an international level with the nuclear deal, 8% growth rate and the recognition India is enjoying to voice its opinion, it seems that ‘India is shining’. But dig deeper into the dark secrets of this developing nation and we still find rampant killings of young couples by their own family members to save their honor because of the incest committed by the couple. Their crime: living in the same village and getting married.

According to the ‘conservative’ khap panchayat, marriage between people of the same village is considered incest as they are siblings and hence these marriages are not valid. So the panchayat orders the murder of the couple and hangs their body in the village crossing as an example to other straying couples.

In India, with its patriarchal society, women are considered as property and the vessel of family’s honor. And any act which might blot the family’s prestige renders an absolute right to the male members to murder the girl, undo her wrongs and win back the honor.

Such crimes as well as such criminals have been breeding under the political blessings of the political parties mainly interested in the vote banks of these villages and the support of the khap panchayat. 

In order to find a solution for such killings, it is necessary to analyze it from the very core. The solution to this problem mainly lies in the eradication of myths in the minds of people. They need to be educated with the provisions given in the Hindu Marriage Act and what kinds of marriages are actually considered invalid. Khap Pachayats should at last be ripped out of all its power so that it is unable to wrongly influence the naïve people and to instigate them to commit such inhuman acts.

It is time India finally developed in the real sense. Building malls and increasing the standard of living of the common man is not really development. Cases on Honour killing show that more than half of the Indians still lead lives within the strong crutches of caste system and even today youths don’t have the power to make decisions regarding their own lives. To see that even today, people blindly commit such barbaric crimes and consider it as an act of sanctifying the impure shows that India has really not modernized.   Development has to be from the very base, the core. Or else it’s just a hollow wooden structure eaten on the inside by the termites that eventually comes crashing down.

Rights of a Consumer

 

Every year 15th of March is celebrated as National Consumer Rights Day marking the day when Bill for Consumer Rights were moved in the US Congress. The Consumers International (CI), recognizes eight rights, which in a logical order reads:

1. Basic Needs
2. Safety
3. Information
4. Choice
5. Representation
6. Redress
7. Consumer Education and
8. Healthy Environment.

However the Consumer Protection Act (COPRA) in 1986 in India recognises only six of these eight rights:

1. The right to be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property i.e. Right to Safety:
The Consumer Protection Act 1986 defines this right as the ‘right to be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property’. The right are significant in areas of healthcare, food processing and pharmaceuticals and spans across any domain that could have impact on consumers health or well being. Violation of this right is mostly in medical malpractice lawsuits in India. Every year in India not less than millions of Citizen are killed or severely hurt by unscrupulous practices by hospitals, doctors, pharmacies and the automobile industry yet the Indian Government due to its callousness fails to acknowledge this fact or make an attempt at maintaining statistic of these mishaps. The Government need to have world class product testing facilities to test drugs, cars, food, and any other consumable that could potentially be life threatening.

In developed countries such as the United States, stalwart agencies oversee the safety of consumer product. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for food and drugs, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for automobiles and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for all other consumer products, just to name a few. This right requires each product that could potentially endanger our lives to be marketed only after sufficient and complete independent verification and validation.

2. The right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case may be, so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices:
This consumer right is defined as the ‘the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case may be so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices’ in the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. In the Indian market place, consumers get consumer information through two popular, yet unreliable means, namely advertising and word of mouth. Due to this, the consumers in India seldom have accurate and complete information to assess the true value, suitability, safety or reliability of any product. Mostly we find out hidden costs, lack of suitability, safety hazards and quality problems only after we have purchased the product. Another right again trumpeted by our government on paper, this right should ideally ensure that all consumable products are labelled in a standard manner which contains the cost, the ingredients, quantity, and instructions on how to safely consume the product. Unfortunately, even the medicines in India do not follow a standard labelling convention. Unit price publishing standards need to be established for consumer market places where costs are shown in standard units such as per kilogram, or per litre. We, as consumers, should be informed in a precise yet accurate manner of the costs involved when availing a loan. For benefit to the society from this right, advertisers should be held against the product standards in the advertisements, pharmaceuticals need to disclose potential side effects about their drugs, and manufacturers should be required to publish reports from independent product testing laboratories regarding the comparison of the quality of their products with competitive products, just to name a few.

3. The right to be assured, wherever possible, of access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices:
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 defines this right as ‘the right to be assured, wherever possible, to have access to a variety of goods and services at competitive prices’. Competition, invariably, is the best regulator of a market place. Existence of oligopolies, cartels and monopolies are counterproductive to consumerism. Our natural resources, telecommunications, liquor industry, airlines have all been controlled by a mafia at some point. Coming from a socialistic background, tolerance of monopolistic market forces are ingrained in the blood of Indian Consumers. It is not very often we can say we are going to switch the power company, when we have a blackout at home! Interestingly, even micro markets such as the fish vendors in particular cities have known to collude to drain the bargaining power of the consumers. In any size, any form, or any span, collusion of companies selling a similar type of product is unethical, less illegal. India has about 20 years more of stride to empower our citizens fully in this right.

4. The right to be heard and to be assured that consumers’ interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums: According to the Consumer Protection Act 1986, ‘the right to be heard and to be assured that consumer’s interests will receive due consideration at appropriate forums’ is referred to as the right to be heard. This right is supposed to empower Indian consumers to fearlessly voice their complaints and concerns against products and companies to ensure their issues are handled efficiently and expeditiously. However, to date the Government of India has not created a single outlet for the consumers to be heard or their opinions to be voiced. If a consumer makes an allegation about a product, the onus is on the dealer, manufacturer or supplying company to disprove that the allegation is false. In other words, the consumer is heard, and the burden of proof rests with the company. Feeble attempts have been made by the government to empower our citizens with this right.

5. The right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers:
The right ‘to seek redressal against unfair trade practices or restrictive trade practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers’ is defined as the right to redressal in the Consumer Protection Act 1986. The Indian Government has been slightly more successful with respect to this right. Consumer courts such as District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forums at the district level, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions have been established through the consumer protection act. Each of these consumer grievance redressal agencies has fiduciary and geographical jurisdictions to address consumer cases between consumers and businesses. Consumer cases less than 20 lakhs are heard in the district consumer forum, between 20 lakhs and one crore are heard in the state consumer court and cases more than one crore are heard in the national consumer court. On paper these sound nice; but hold on before you rejoice. Once started as the guardians of consumer protection and consumer rights in India, these courts have today been rendered ineffective due to bureaucratic sabotages, callousness of the government, clogged cases and decadent infrastructure. Very few of the district forums have officials appointed in a timely manner, and most of them are non-operational due to lack of funding and infrastructure. Estimates put the open legal cases in India at 20-30 million, which will approximately take 320 years to close. With the legal system in this manner compromised, consumer cases that form mere civil litigations will be pushed down the bottom of the priority list.

6. The right to consumer education:
The right of each Indian citizen to be educated on matters related to consumer protection and about his/her rights is the last right given by the Consumer Protection Act 1986. This right simply ensures that the consumers in India have access to informational programs and materials that would enable them to make better purchasing decisions. Consumer education may mean both formal education through school and college curriculums and also consumer awareness campaigns run by both governmental and non governmental agencies (NGO). Consumer NGOs, with little support from the Indian government, primarily undertake the ardent task of ensuring this consumer right around the country.

INTERNET HARMFUL FOR CHILDREN

WE all are now connected by the internet, like neurons in a giant brain
The internet is the decisive technology of the Information Age and with the explosion of wireless communication in the early 21st century, we can say that humankind is now  almost entirely connected,albeit with great levels of inequality  in bandwidth,efficiency and  pride.our current “network  society” is a product of  digital revolution and some major sociocultural change. The reach of the internet is  indeed worldwide. It reaches all over countries and places. Kids are also nowadays getting addicted to  this internet. Internet causes children / teenagers not doing well in school. Over last decades almost 20% more kids get increased in socila media . 
This internet addiction gave rise to aggression, disordered eating, behaviour and  academic performance. Internet access affects children in health, affects children psychologically, as soon as they start accessing violent  and dangerous video games and software.
The use of internet especially at age 13  have increased too much. More than thirty million children visit  online sites . The use of internet became a very essential part of  homes, schools ,libraries etc.
Merits –
 If seen in positive way, children can make effective use of internet in positive way. Through wikipedia children may come to know much more about topics with taught in school. Reading many types of documents and   researches , children can improve skills. Their creativety also found in way they play games  via online. The internet have created a platform for studying, introducing e-mails,  social media thus created a ground for  communication. It increases communication skill and thus increasing efficiency in  making friendship.
DEMERITS-
 The internet had also effected children communication. As people are using  internet   it abodons children  face to face interactions. It has led to damage relationship with families ,friends, and other relatives. While using internet for long hours, it effect their health too and eye vision which may become poor. It may give rise to headache. This internet make children unsocial and  give habit to live alone.
The constant  use of hated  messages on the internet, the presence of pornographic  videos and images misleads children and make them addicted and negative vibes created.
Internet usage enslaves the current generation of children who are underage. It  increases knowledge, creativety. similarly it  makes children addicted to  this things affecting their studies.

Lok Adalat/People’s Court

 

Lok Adalat is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms, it is a forum where disputes/cases pending in the court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled/ compromised amicably. Lok Adalats have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Under the said Act, the award (decision) made by the Lok Adalats is deemed to be a decree of a civil court and is final and binding on all parties and no appeal against such an award lies before any court of law. If the parties are not satisfied with the award of the Lok Adalat though there is no provision for an appeal against such an award, but they are free to initiate litigation by approaching the court of appropriate jurisdiction by filing a case by following the required procedure, in exercise of their right to litigate.

There is no court fee payable when a matter is filed in a Lok Adalat. If a matter pending in the court of law is referred to the Lok Adalat and is settled subsequently, the court fee originally paid in the court on the complaints/petition is also refunded back to the parties. The persons deciding the cases in the Lok Adalats are called the Members of the Lok Adalats, they have the role of statutory conciliators only and do not have any judicial role; therefore they can only persuade the parties to come to a conclusion for settling the dispute outside the court in the Lok Adalat and shall not pressurize or coerce any of the parties to compromise or settle cases or matters either directly or indirectly. The Lok Adalat shall not decide the matter so referred at its own instance, instead the same would be decided on the basis of the compromise or settlement between the parties. The members shall assist the parties in an independent and impartial manner in their attempt to reach amicable settlement of their dispute.

Nature of Cases to be Referred to Lok Adalat

1. Any case pending before any court.

2. Any dispute which has not been brought before any court and is likely to be filed before the court.

Provided that any matter relating to an offence not compoundable under the law shall not be settled in Lok Adalat.

Which Lok Adalat to be Approached

As per section 18(1) of the Act, a Lok Adalat shall have jurisdiction to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlement between the parties to a dispute in respect of –

(1) Any case pending before; or

(2) Any matter which is falling within the jurisdiction of, and is not brought before, any court for which the Lok Adalat is organised.

Provided that the Lok Adalat shall have no jurisdiction in respect of matters relating to divorce or matters relating to an offence not compoundable under any law.

How to Get the Case Referred to the Lok Adalat for Settlement

(A) Case pending before the court.

(B) Any dispute at pre-litigative stage.

The State Legal Services Authority or District Legal Services Authority as the case may be on receipt of an application from any one of the parties at a pre-litigation stage may refer such matter to the Lok Adalat for amicable settlement of the dispute for which notice would then be issued to the other party.

Levels and Composition of Lok Adalats:

At the State Authority Level –

The Member Secretary of the State Legal Services Authority organizing the Lok Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the High Court or a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of- a member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

At High Court Level –

The Secretary of the High Court Legal Services Committee would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judge of the High Court and any one or both of- a member from the legal profession; a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes.

At District Level –

The Secretary of the District Legal Services Authority organizing the Lok Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

At Taluk Level –

The Secretary of the Taluk Legal Services Committee organizing the Lok Adalat would constitute benches of the Lok Adalat, each bench comprising of a sitting or retired judicial officer and any one or both of either a member from the legal profession; and/or a social worker engaged in the upliftment of the weaker sections and interested in the implementation of legal services schemes or programmes or a person engaged in para-legal activities of the area, preferably a woman.

National Lok Adalat

National Level Lok Adalats are held for at regular intervals where on a single day Lok Adalats are held throughout the country, in all the courts right from the Supreme Court till the Taluk Levels wherein cases are disposed off in huge numbers. From February 2015, National Lok Adalats are being held on a specific subject matter every month.

Permanent Lok Adalat

The other type of Lok Adalat is the Permanent Lok Adalat, organized under Section 22-B of The Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Permanent Lok Adalats have been set up as permanent bodies with a Chairman and two members for providing compulsory pre-litigative mechanism for conciliation and settlement of cases relating to Public Utility Services like transport, postal, telegraph etc. Here, even if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat gets jurisdiction to decide the dispute, provided, the dispute does not relate to any offence. Further, the Award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding on all the parties. The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is upto Rs. Ten Lakhs. Here if the parties fail to reach to a settlement, the Permanent Lok Adalat has the jurisdiction to decide the case. The award of the Permanent Lok Adalat is final and binding upon the parties. The Lok Adalat may conduct the proceedings in such a manner as it considers appropriate, taking into account the circumstances of the case, wishes of the parties like requests to hear oral statements, speedy settlement of dispute etc.

Mobile Lok Adalats are also organized in various parts of the country which travel from one location to another to resolve disputes in order to facilitate the resolution of disputes through this mechanism.

As on 30.09.2015, more than 15.14 lakhs Lok Adalats have been organized in the country since its inception. More than 8.25 crore cases have been settled by this mechanism so far.

‘WILL’ under Indian Law

 

Meaning:

A Will is a solemn document by which a dead man entrusts to the living to the carrying out of his wishes. Section 2(h) of Indian Succession Act, 1925 provides that Will means the legal declaration of the intention of a person with respect to his property, which he desires to take effect after his death Will has been defined in Corpus Juris Secundum as A ‘Will’ is the legal declaration of a man’s intention, which he wills to be performed after his death, or an instrument by which a person makes a disposition of his property to take effect after his death.

Essential Features of a Will

A Will can be made at any time in the life of a person. A Will can be changed a number of times and there are no legal restrictions as to the number of times it can be changed. It can be withdrawn at anytime during the lifetime of the person making the Will. A Will has to be attested by two or more witnesses, each of who should have seen the testator signing the Will.
The essential features are:

1.     Legal declaration: The documents purporting to be a Will or a testament must be legal, i.e. in conformity with the law and must be executed by a person legally competent to make it. Further the declaration of intention must be with respect to the testator’s property It is a legal document, which has a binding force upon the family.

2. Disposition of property: In a Will, the testator bequeaths or leaves his property to the person or people he chooses to leave his assets/belongings. A Hindu person by way of his Will can bequeath all his property. However, a member of an undivided family cannot bequeath his coparcenery interest in the family property

3. Takes effect after death: The Will is enforceable only after the death of the testator

Under section 18 of the Registration Act the registration of a Will is not compulsory. Also, the SC in Narain Singh v. Kamla Devi has held that mere non-registration of the Will an inference cannot be drawn against the genuines of the Will. However it is advisable to register it as it provides strong legal evidence about the validity of the Will. Once a Will is registered, it is placed in the safe custody of the Registrar and therefore cannot be tampered with, destroyed, mutilated or stolen. It is to be released only to the testator himself or, after his death, to an authorized person who produces the Death Certificate

Since a testamentary disposition always speaks from the grave of the testator, the required standard of proof is very high. The initial burden of proof is always on the person who propounds the Will.

Kinds of Wills

Ø Conditional Wills: A Will maybe made to take effect on happening of a condition. In Rajeshwar v. Sukhdeo the operation of the Will was postponed till after the death of the testator’s wife. However if it is ambiguous whether the testator intended to make a Will conditional, the language of the documents as well as the circumstances are to be taken into consideration.

 

Ø Joint Wills: Two or more persons can make a joint Will. If the joint Will is joint and is intended to take effect after the death of both, it will not be admitted to probate during the life time of either and are revocable at any time by either during the joint lives or after the death of the survivor.

 

Ø Mutual Wills: Two or more persons may agree to make mutual Wills i.e. to confer on each other reciprocal benefits. In mutual Wills the testators confer benefit on each other but if the legatees and testators are distinct, it is not a mutual Will. Mutual Wills are also known as reciprocal Wills and its revocation is possible during the lifetime of either testator. But if a testator has obtained benefit then the claim against his property will lie. Where joint Will is a single document containing the Wills of two persons, mutual Wills are separate Wills of two persons.

 

Ø Privileged Wills: Privileged Wills are a special category of Wills and other general Wills are known as unprivileged Wills. S.65 of ISA provides that a Will made by a soldier or a airman or a mariner, when he is in actual service and is engaged in actual warfare, would be a privileged Will. S.66 provides for the mode of making and rules for executing privileged Wills. Ss. 65 and 66 are special provisions applicable to privileged Wills whereas other sections relating to Wills are general provisions which will be supplementary to Sections 65 and 66 in case of privileged Wills.

 

Who Can Make A Will
S.59 of Indian Succession Act provides that every person who is of sound mind and is not a minor can make a Will.

Execution of a Will

On the death of the testator, an executor of the Will (executor is the legal representative for all purposes of a deceased person and all the property of a testator vests in him. Whereas a trustee becomes a legal owner of the trust and his office and the property are blended together) or an heir of the deceased testator can apply for probate. The court will ask the other heirs of the deceased if they have any objections to the Will. If there are no objections, the court grants probate. A probate is a copy of a Will, certified by the court. A probate is to be treated as conclusive evidence of the genuineness of a Will. It is only after this that the Will comes into effect.

Signature of The Testator

S.63(a) of ISA provides that the testator shall sign or affix his mark. If the testator is unable to write his signature then he may execute the Will by a mark and by doing so his hand maybe guided by another person. In another words a thumb impression has been held as valid.

Attestation of Will:Attesting means signing a document for the purpose of testifying the signature of the executants. Therefore an attesting witness signing before the executants has put his mark on the Will, cannot be said to be a valid attestation. It is necessary that both the witnesses must sign in the presence of the testator but it is not necessary that the testator have to sign in their presence. Further it is not necessary that both the witnesses have to sign at the same time. It is also not necessary that the attesting witnesses should know the contents of the Will.

THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 2019

A consumer is a person who avails services and purchases goods for their own use and not for reselling those goods. Consumer Protection is the act of safeguarding the rights of the buyers/consumers of those goods and services. It provides protection to the consumers from frauds and damaged goods. It also helps the consumers to file complaints and make the process of the trail fast.

Consumer Protection Act to be implemented from July 20; here's how ...

For safeguarding the rights of the consumer, the Consumer Protection Act 1986 was introduced. The act aims to provide easy and fast compensation to consumer grievances. This act also encourages the consumers to stand up and fearlessly speak up against the damaged goods and flawed services. This act deals with all the goods and services of public, private, or cooperative sectors, except those which are exempted by the central government.

The act provides certain rights and responsibilities of the consumers. The Rights of the Consumers are –Right to Safety, Right to Choose, Right to be Informed, Right to Consumer Education, Right to be Heard, Right to Seek Compensation. The Responsibilities of the Consumer are – Responsibility to be Aware, Responsibility to Think Independently, Responsibility to Speak Out, Responsibility to Complain, Responsibility to be an Ethical Consumer.

Under this act, every district has at least a consumer court or a consumer redressal forum. Above the district forums, there are state commissions. At the topmost level is the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in New Delhi. These consumer courts are given a wide range of powers to enforce their orders. The courts have the power to decide the matter in the absence of the defaulter. These forums can issue warrants and use the police to produce the defaulter and to impose its decision. The defaulter can be sentenced to a maximum of 3 years of imprisonment and fined for the amount of Rs 10,000.

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT 2019

The Consumer Protection Act 2019 is a replacement for the Consumer Protection Act 1986. The Consumer Protection Bill 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 8 July 2019 by the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on 30 July 2019 and was later passed in Rajya Sabha on 6 August 2019.

The aim of the act is to ensure that the rights of the consumers are secured by the establishment of the authorities for effective and speedy settlement of the consumer’s disputes. It provides strict penalties, including jail term for adulteration and misleading advertisements by firms.

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE ACT

1. This act proposes the establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority. This authority will have the power to regulate cases related to unfair trade practices, misleading advertisements, and violation of consumer rights. They also have the power to penalise the violators, order them to refund for the damage, or to withdraw their services.
2. It has established a simpler way for dispute resolution, has provisions for mediation and e-filing of cases. It also allows the consumer to file their complaints in the nearest commission from their residence. There also no need to hire lawyers to represent the cases of the consumers.
3. In case of misleading advertisements, there is a provision for jail term and fine for manufacturers. The celebrities, who are found to endorse the brands that provide misleading advertisements, will be banned from products endorsements.
4. It is for the first time that a law dealing with Product Liability. The manufacturer or the product service provider or the product seller shall now be held responsible to compensate for the injury or damage caused by the damaged goods and flawed services.
5. The act also deals with businesses that are owned by the public and private sectors. It also deals with businesses that provide services and goods either offline or online.

PENALTIES UNDER THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 2019

For the offence committed for the first time, the defaulter is penalised with an imprisonment of 6 months or fine upto Rs 1 lakh, in case the consumer does not suffer any injury. In case the consumer is injured, the term for the imprisonment is upto 7 years and the fine is upto Rs 5 lakh. In case of the death of the consumer, the defaulter has to pay a minimum of Rs 10 lakh as a fine and has to face imprisonment for 7 years which can be extended to life imprisonment.

In case of misleading advertisements, the manufacturer or the endorser of the brand is penalised for the fine of upto Rs 10 lakh and imprisonment for upto 2 years.

In case of repeated offence, the defaulter may be fined for the amount of Rs 50 lakh and imprisonment of upto 5 years. 

Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

 

Corporate engagement with society, also termed corporate social responsibility (CSR), has become a commonly used term in contemporary society and refers to one process by which an organization expresses and develops its ‘corporate culture’ and social consciousness.

CSR has been receiving lots of attention from various backgrounds of researchers worldwide, it has attracted a great deal of attention over the past decade and according to some researchers, has gathered great momentum over the past number of years and is now regarded to be at its most prevalent. Therefore business leaders, government officials, and academics are focusing more and more attention on the concept of “corporate social responsibility”.

Almost all corporate websites/ policies/reports talk about their endeavors for CSR, which has become a way of ensuring that the organization is fulfilling all the obligations towards society and thus is eligible for the license to operate. It assures that the organization can grow on sustainable basis. There are also societal pressures with respect to social issues such as human rights and the environment on the corporations and CSR is widely regarded as the response of corporations to this pressure and according to Bénabou & Tirole (2009), responding to such pressure, business leaders, governments and academics are now also emphasizing the notion of CSR.

In CSR, the central issue is the appropriate role of business that overlaps, almost completely, with its reference area and now business organizations have waked up to the need for being committed towards CSR because the role of businesses in society is no longer focused on creating wealth alone but is also focused on acting responsibly towards stakeholders.

Everyone agrees that firms should obey the law. But beyond full compliance with environmental regulations do firms have additional moral or social responsibilities to voluntarily commit resources to environmental protection. To be specific, why companies do CSR? For this, it is answered that CSR is situations where the firm goes beyond compliance and engages in “actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law” and it is also due to various reasons such as to attract new investors, part of branding strategy, an obligation from the government and the lists go on. However, CSR does not mean just taking part in charitable activities and events; it means holding the responsibility to develop the society by envisioning future plans for socio-economic justice and be conscious about their responsibility for the welfare of society around them. Therefore, according to Zu & Song (2008), a large number of companies appear increasingly engaged in a serious effort to define and integrate CSR into all aspects of their businesses.

Corporate executives have also encountered demands from multiple stakeholder groups to devote resources to CSR. This may be partially due to the pressure generated by a union of ethics-oriented campaigners including NGOs, anti-capitalism activists, labor unions, and news media; and partially due to the demand for doing so by their customers, employees, suppliers, communities, governments, and even stockholders. Ismail (2011) stated that CSR is supported by the case whereby the government alone is definitely cannot afford to have a sole responsibility in improving the lives of their people as it exceeds their capabilities. If the government is unable to fulfill the increasing demand of their people thus this is where the corporations should support the government. However, those who opposed this statement saw the situation as unfair to the business corporations, such as Friedman’s (1970) famous statement that ‘the only responsibility of a business is to maximize shareholders’ wealth’. But according to Krishnan & Balachandran, companies are beginning to realize the fact that in order to gain strategic initiative and to ensure continued existence, business practices may have to be molded from the normal practice of solely focusing on profits to factor in public goodwill and responsible business etiquettes.

An examination of some of the factors, which have led to the development of the concept of CSR, would be ideal starting ground for the conceptual development of suitable corporate business practices for emerging markets. Krishnan & Balachandran also expressed that in the last twenty years, there has been a sea change in the nature of the triangular relationship between companies, the state and the society.

No longer can firms continue to act as independent entities regardless of the interest of the general public. The evolution of the relationship between companies and society has been one of slow transformation from a philanthropic coexistence to one where the mutual interest of all the stakeholders is gaining paramount importance. Bénabou & Tirole (2009) asserted that CSR is somewhat of a “catch-all” phrase for an array of different concepts.

Transgenders = HUMAN

India is a country where stereotypes exist in every other street. From ages and ages of society, there has been an ongoing tradition and culture of blindly persuing the stereotypes formed by the formers without even considering the causes and basis for the same. 

‘Transgender’, commonly pronounced shamelessly as ‘chakka’, ‘hijda’ and what not in the Indian society are a target for always being stereotyped.
Transgender refers to people who have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their sex assigned at birth.
The only difference between a male/ female and a transgender is that the latter doesn’t resemble the gender expression assigned to him at birth. THAT’S IT. Anybody having some medical or biological issue doesn’t mean that they do not belong to the society nor they are to be treated as a taboo. All of it is fine. There is nothing to be disgusting about the term ‘trans’. 
It is really heartbreaking to see the pathetic lifestyle and living condition these people have to be in. Not being able to openly move like a normal person, not being able to have somebody to talk to like others, neither somebody to be called as a friend because ofcourse our society is already so busy finding flaws and put ‘them’ at fault when their fault in all of this(being how they are) is absolutely NOTHING. Rather than understanding the normality and coincidence behind this happening, they compel such people to be isolated and to be resided somewhere away from their city so that their children or any younger generation do not get influenced by those trans. 

The existence of humanity is what matters, regardless of the gender label on it.

People need to understand that there exists a HUMAN BEING behind every anthropoid stereotype we have created. For it be anyone from the LGBT community, THEY ALL DESERVE RESPECT. There is a lot that a person can learn from them. The way they struggled to have their life, the way they dare to feel alive and foremost, the way they are proud to be themselves. 

In the world where we hide our identities inside out, with make up on outside and a mask on inside, these beautiful people are far better than who don’t even own whoever they are. 
They accept and they proudly flaunt it, without letting the world break them. Transgender are needed to be treated as equal as any normal person is being treated. They deserve to have society with them who supports and cherish them.
They are a piece of art with million of worlds hidden in them. Where, there exist the beauty of a sparkling smile which just awaits to find a way out. Somebody who longs for us to welcome them to their real home, the world. They are us. There is nothing that can differentiate them from a human because they are human too. They should live the life like every other person do. They should be respected, they should be loved. They should be cherished for who the are and how strong, powerful and beautiful they are. They are a creation of God so profound that the mankind can’t miss the chance to be with. 

They are the people of God just like us

Who ought to be loved

More and more every other day,

To be welcomed with our open arms

to bless the society of mankind

With unusual generosity, kindness and love they carry along.

Let us all come together to break this stereotype and see everybody with a vision of humanity. Let’s welcome them in our world and accept them and spread smiles.