Law is the body of principles recognised and applied by the State in the administration of justice. It is a body of rules which guides human conduct in the society and is a means of social control. Every society has its own legal system and is imposed by the authorities. Those who deviate from the law are usually given the punishment of various kinds such as fines, imprisonment, exile, or death. Law means justice, morality, reason, order, and righteousness from the view point of the society. It is term used to define legal order which represents the regime of adjusting relation, and ordering conduct by the systematic application of the force of organized political society.

It is a whole body of legal precepts which exists in a politically organized society. The function of law is to achieve justice, stability, and peaceful change. It is helpful to control natural tendencies and certain human instincts. It ensures co-operation. It acts as social rule and as an instrument of state. It is used as a means to reduce disharmony in the society.

Law is a social function, an expression of human society concerning the external relations of its individual members. The purpose of society and social relations determine the nature, purpose and function of law. In a static society, law can be used as a powerful means of social change. Law introduces a new pattern of social behavior which is more conducive to the prosperity of the society. When there are odious customs, they can be put down by the law which abolishes those customs, and make it an offence to practice them, as seen in the case of Triple Talaq. Thus, law can be used as an instrument to achieve peaceful social change.

Social legislations in India before and after the independence clearly shows the efforts of the state and the society to bring the legal norms in line with the existing social norms as well as to improve the social norms on the basis of new legal norms. 

Encounter killings is a term used to describe alleged extrajudicial killings by the police or the armed forces, supposedly in self defense, when they encounter suspected gangsters or terrorists. In India, the term became popular in the late 20^thcentury because of a very high frequency of encounter killings by police in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. The Mumbai police used encounters to attack the city’s underworld, and the practice spread to other large cities. However, there is always a speculation behind the police motivation of these reported incidents, and further complain that the wide acceptance of the practice has led to incidents of police staging fake encounters to cover up the killings of suspects when they are either in custody or are unarmed.

After the encounter of Vikas Dubey and the 4 people accused by the Telengana police in the Hyderabad rape and murder case, questions have been raised over the legality and appropriateness of the police action leading to the debate that ‘whether a democratic country should follow the constitutional norms and adhere to the due process of law or shall it adopt the measure of retributive justice to bring instant and speedy justice to the victims.

On such extra judicial killings, the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court have laid down proper guidelines and procedures that must be followed in order to prevent any abuse of the power by the law enforcement agencies. In its landmark judgment, the Supreme Court had warned the policemen that they would not be excused for committing murder in the name of encounter on the pretext that they were carrying out the orders of their superior officers.

Article 21 of the Indian constitution states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except in accordance with the procedure established by law. This means that before depriving a person of their right to life, the person must be informed about the charges against them and must be given the opportunity to defend themselves. However, fake encounters step aside these legal procedures as it essentially means killing a person without a trial.

The police force has the right to injure or kill the criminal for the sole purpose of self defense but nothing must be done to settle personal feuds or with mala fide motives. NHRC guidelines in 2010 highlight that if the use of force cannot be justified and the death falls outside the jurisdiction of the above mentioned reasons, it is a crime and police officer would be guilty of culpable homicide.

Cold war is a state of tension between two big powers. It is used to describe the period which emerged after the Second World War. When the Second World War ended, both the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic were clearly the masters of the world. The main cause of this tension was the difference in the opinion of these superpowers as the US was in the favor of Capitalism and the USSR was in the favor of Socialism. The hostility continued for the next 45 years. It is not an actual or direct war but is a diplomatic war fought with potent weapons like formation military alliances, spying, propaganda, and economic and military alliances.

The US was of the ideology that all industries, business and agriculture should be owned by private people or firms. Competition between rival factories or shops or firms will cause the prices to fall and will make them more efficient. The USSR on the other hand believed that everything belongs to the state and should be run by the government on behalf of the people. A classless society can be achieved by overthrowing capitalism by revolution.

Another cause for the cold war was that both the nations wanted domination over the world as both the nations were considered to be super powers. They also wanted control over the entire Germany as it was divided into two parts on the basis of ideology they followed. This war between the superpowers influenced the foreign policies, political institutions, and economic systems in almost every corner of the world.

Each side thought that the other one was trying to rule the world and neither of them would give up and it was feared that another war would erupt. This time it could have been a nuclear war. as both the nations were well equipped in ammunition, and it would destroy the whole planet. The countries began to form alliances to protect themselves. This led to the formation of NATO and Warsaw Pact.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established by a treaty in 1949 which established a system of collective defense whereby it member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. Its original members were – United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Later Greece and West Germany also joined.

The Warsaw Pact was the socialist response to NATO and was signed on May 1, 1955 in Warsaw Poland. Military treaty, which bound its signatories to come to the aid of the others, should any one of them be the victim of foreign aggression. Its original members were – Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Romania, the USSR, and the Czechoslovak Republic.

 The cold war ended in 1990 when the soviet was defeated from Afghanistan and the Soviet Union was divided into different countries. 

Social media is a helpful tool to raise awareness about various social issues that happen all around the world. One such awareness campaign that is going all over the instagram is the Black and White photo challenge, where the person who is challenged has to put a black and white photo of them on the social media platform with the hash tags #blackandwhitephotochallenge and #challenge accepted. More than 53,00,000 people have participated in this challenge and posted their photos. Women, including the celebrities, are posting their pictures as a sign of women empowerment.

The challenge is said have began in Turkey where there was a sudden spike in gender based violence, along with nearly 474 murders of women in a society that has already normalized honor killings and domestic violence; not just at the hands of partners or husbands but also from the male members of the family.

In an article is was said that, ‘what is now a light hearted expression of female solidarity was originally, in Turkey, a campaign inspired by both the soaring rates of violence against women and the brutal murder of a 27 year old student named Pinar Gultekin. Turkish women wake up every day and see a black and white photo of women who has been murdered, either on their instagram feed or their newspapers or television. This challenge was thus started as a way for women to raise their voices and to stand in solidarity with the women we have lost.

The Turkish government has failed its women, so they need to take this matter in their own hands to create awareness. In 2011, the Istanbul convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence was signed by a number of European countries however, the Turkish government is now backing out of this. Thus we need to back the power and use our voices or whatever small or big privilege we have and effectively use the challenge to raise our voices to create awareness about gender based violence.

 Assertiveness is a skill for effective communication and negotiation while respecting the thoughts and feelings of others. Assertive people are clear about their wants, needs, and boundaries to others and there remains no question to where they stand. Being assertive means being able to stand up for what is right, and to say no to something that does not pleases in a confident, calm, and respectful way which is neither too aggressive nor passive. It is an important personal and interpersonal skill as in all our interactions being assertive helps us to express ourselves in a clear, open, and reasonable way, without undermining our own or other’s rights.

An aggressive communication can ruin relationships for us because no one likes to be in the company of a person who constantly judges, argues, disagrees, and does not allow others to share their opinion. While a passive communication may lead to us feeling misunderstood or unheard and we may also feel that no one truly listens to us or value our input. However an assertive communication is way to present our thoughts and beliefs in a clear manner. Assertiveness is seen as a balance between aggressive and passive types of personalities.

Assertive behaviour includes –

• Being open in expressing wishes and encouraging others to do the same
• Listening to the views of others and responding appropriately, whether in agreement with those views or not
• Accepting responsibilities and being able to delegate to others
• Regularly expressing appreciation of others for what they have done or are doing
• Being able to admit to mistakes and apologise
• Maintaining self control
• Behaving as an equal to others

BENEFITS OF BEING ASSERTIVE

• Assertive people feel empowered to do whatever it takes to find the best solutions for their problems that they face.
• They get things done by treating people with fairness and respect and are treated by others in the same way.
• They are self assured and don’t feel threatened or upset when things don’t go as planned or as expected.
• They are able to recognize the value of their opponent’s position and can quickly find common ground with them.
• They are able to express themselves in a better and calm way which makes the communication effective.
• They are confident enough to show that they are brave enough to stand up for what the resonate with as well as are in control of what they say.
• Trust is an important part for any communication to take place and being an assertive person helps to you get their easily. 

 In the year 1997, Indian women celebrated a landmark judgment which was passed by the supreme court of India where they formulated the VISHAKHA GUIDELINES and made it mandatory for the institutions all over the country to take up these guidelines to prevent and redress sexual harassment at workplace. These guidelines laid the foundation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Women in India comprise of almost 50% of the population of India and work in almost all the sectors and areas, even in those professions which were believed to be exclusively reserved for men and women never even thought to enter those.

This change was followed by a series of incidents where women were raped and harassed by men, and were subjected to a lot of physical and mental torture at the workplaces. This was a violation of the fundamental rights of the women such as art 14 i.e. right to equality, art 15and 16 which states that there shall be no discrimination on the basis of gender, caste, religion etc. and equality of opportunity respectively. Thus there was a necessity for the women to be treated properly at their workplace. The Vishakha Guidelines came into existence after the horrifying case of Bhanwari Devi, a government employee who was harassed by a group of people at her working hours.

FACTS OF THE CASE

Bhanwari Devi was a social worker in Rajasthan, who was brutally raped by a number of upper class men as she tried to stop a child marriage. She filed a complaint against those men but was not taken seriously by the policemen and it took 52 hours to file the complaint. The Rajasthan High Court acquitted all those men of rape on the context that a woman cannot be raped in front her husband and that the head of the village would never indulge in such acts. They convicted those men for the offence of assault, the degree for punishment of which is quite lesser than that of rape. In her support, many women’s groups and NGOs filed a PIL in the Supreme Court under the collective platform of Vishakha asking the court to give certain directions regarding the sexual harassment against women at the workplace. On 13^th august 1997, the Supreme Court gave the Vishakha Guidelines which included the basic definition of sexual harassment at workplace and guidelines to deal with it.

NEED FOR THESE GUIDELINES

After the Bhanwari Devi incident, many women groups protested as they demanded recognition of their rights as the citizens of India and urging the government to take necessary actions to prevent harassment of women at their workplace. At that time, the legal system of our country did not have proper legislation that would ensure the safety of the women at their workplace or provide just and fair punishment to the offenders who would indulge in the heinous crimes of rape and sexual harassment. Also there was no rule regarding the obligation of the employer to provide support and assistance to his employee who might be a victim of harassment rather they would just throw the employee out of their jobs in order to escape the liability. Thus there was a need for a new set of laws that would punish the wrongdoers and ensure the safety of the women at their workplaces.

FEATURES OF THE VISHAKHA GUIDELINES

1. Definition of sexual harassment– the guidelines issued by the supreme court widens the meaning and scope of sexual harassment and defines it as an unwanted sexual determination which is direct or implied and is intended to cause physical contact or advances, demand or request for sexual favors, sexually colored remarks, or any other unwelcome conduct whether it is physical, verbal, or non verbal.
2. Providing a safer working environment– it is the duty of each employer to provide a safe working environment for each and every employee working in the company, which involves taking measures towards protecting the interest of the women employees and ensuring that none of the employees indulge in any practice of sexual harassment.
3. Duty of the employer– the guidelines lay down that it is the obligation of the employer to file a complaint if the conduct of any of its employee amounts to a criminal offence which is punishable under the Indian Penal Code.
4. Complaint Redressal Committee– it was made mandatory for all the organization to set up a complaint redressal committee in order to ensure that the complaints of the employees are dealt properly and suitable action is taken.

 Mental health has always been an under-rated topic in India. People don’t like the idea of talking about their mental illness let alone the mental illness of others. However, it is one of the most important parts of any individual’s live because if someone suffers from a mental illness, an impact is caused on their day-to-day working. Mental illness is a health condition that affects the emotions, thinking, or behaviour of a person. It is associated with distress or problems related to the functioning in social, work, or a family set-up. Sometimes mental illnesses can run in the family and can pass on from genes to the future generations.

One such mental illness is Cyberchondria. The term was first coined in 2001in an article in the United Kingdom newspaper to describe ‘the excessive use of the internet health sites to fuel health anxiety. Cyberchondria refers to a person’s anxiety regarding their health which is created by the use of internet to search for medical information. It is believed to affect more as the use of internet among people has been increased a lot. Many people with the access to internet turn to it for their self diagnosis as a vast of amount of information is available with only a few clicks. For some the information may be true and relatable but for others it can cause severe anxiety as the information they find online can get them to worry too much.

CAUSES OF CYBERCHONDRIA

It is likely for people with pre-existing anxiety and depression to experience Cyberchondria. There is an enormous amount of information available online however it is not always true or factual. Blogs or online support groups provide information about any disease or any other topic based on other people’s experiences which may not be fit for all. Many websites prey on the fears of the people to deliberately sell them unapproved treatment and earn loads of money. New mothers may also Google about their new babies and find information that can be stressing making them prone to this disease.

These are the factors that convince people that they suffer from some disease based on the common or vague symptoms. Sometimes such symptoms can be of some normal flu but the internet and provide an exaggerated result due to which people get anxious. People who suffer from Cyberchondria are known to be hyper aware of their bodies and the misinformation can increase their anxiety which can make their symptoms worse.

COPING WITH CYBERCHONDRIA

There are some simple steps that people with Cyberchondria may use to cope up with the illness like the first being to restrict the use of internet and avoiding it to search information regarding your health problems or to only look for information from trusted sites that provide data which is scientifically and medically approved. Also it is important to lead a healthy lifestyle which includes proper sleep, regular exercise, good nutrition, and other things for good health; one can also schedule a routinely checkup with their doctor and if they face symptoms that linger on for a few days, then they should go and seek help from a doctor rather than going to internet and performing a self diagnosis as a doctor is a more reliable source than internet.

The pandemic of Covid-19 has greatly affected not only the health of the people but also their lives. There is a daily increase in the cases of patients who are being infected by the virus along with the rise in the recovered patients. There has also been an impact on the economy of the country as businesses have been shut, and people are facing unemployment. The living standard of the people has also seen quite a change as people are now opting for the lifestyle that is far from luxurious because of the financial crunch they are facing. The pandemic has also taught us the importance of self hygiene as well as hygiene around us. It also made us realise the need to spend the time with our families which we were unable to do with regard to our busy schedules. As there was a lockdown, as a preventive measure against the virus, people had the opportunity to try out new things as well as work on their hobbies.

During the lockdown, proper hand washing techniques as well as keeping a sanitizer handy were the policies adopted and preached by the people. Wearing masks while going out and practicing social distancing were also two important measures that each individual opted for and is abiding by it. However, these measures are something that we should be continuing to use even when the complete lockdown is lifted; as the virus is something that is not going away anytime soon and we need to learn to live with the virus instead of living in the fear of it.

The concepts of work from home as well as online classes were the new methods that companies and schools/colleges opted for so that neither the working nor the education stops. These concepts quickly gained popularity among people as well as have been the preferred method for them. Many schools have even resumed the online classes for the session of 2020-2021 as normal wherein the children are taught the lectures online and are given assignments as homework. Many employees are willing to continue this mode of work as they feel that they are more relaxed while working from home and the environment for work is also easy-going.

Many individuals have inculcated cooking skills in them as they are everyday trying to learn new recipes and sharing them on the social media to inspire others. The people have also learned the importance of home cooked food and the fashion of eating fast food is also seeing a decrease. People are also inclined to learning new things and are enrolling themselves in various online courses, workshops, seminars etc.

Many people are and will be facing a new type of issue i.e. Adjustment Issue. Most of us might be apprehensive to go out due to the fear of virus or many would and are finding it difficult to wear masks or adapting to the new lifestyle. However, they must understand that these measures are for our own benefit and for our protection from the virus. Thus, people must wear masks whenever they go out and must also practice social distancing. They should also maintain personal hygiene by constantly washing hands for 20 seconds and avoid touching any surface when they are out. 

Tick-borne SFTS virus  has re-emerged in China, killing around  7 people and has infected almost 60 people. This was reported on August 5 ,2020. As the virus  is infecting several people , it has also set warning of transmission of virus from human to Human.