Category: social issues

Cyber Security: Cyber Crime

Source: Google

Technology and New Media has been a revolutionary medium in human life communication. But, the implementations of cyber security are being the hardest obstacle and leading students to dig their own grave. Sometimes the higher cyber security in academic campuses restricts students like a giant to access the number of websites, portals of quality information, and knowledge by blocking them, though there are ethical concerns as well. Now our daily using medium, Facebook, WhatsApp now under thread. The Data Security Council of India has established many practices and initiatives in data security and privacy. As the most established Industrial Control Systems Cyber Security Event in Europe, the ICS cyber security conference brings together leading practitioners, operators, and decision-makers from across Europe to share a wealth of practical experience in implementing cyber security in organizations, and best practice on defending against cyber security risk to Industrial Control Systems. Cyber attacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes. Implementing effective cyber security measures is particularly challenging today because there are more devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative. India can play a major role in global security. It also can build a cyber security data and services industry of USD 35 billion by 2025 and can cope up with the world booming demand.
In this era of technological emergence, it has become very essential to protect the data. The ethical hackers and the bug bounty program all find a way of vulnerability into the system before the cyber criminals to do unauthorized access. Now the companies do hire ethical hackers to secure their data privacy. When the illegal and unauthorized hacking is popping up constantly, the companies are trying to put ethical hackers to ensure their data privacy.
Now many applications have been banned in India to secure data privacy. There are different types of cyber security like critical infrastructure security, application security, network security, cloud security, internet of things security, etc. Though many sites have been blocked by the mobile network companies itself to prevent the data leakages and to avoid the miserable consequences.
Research says, 27.24% of cyber attack to be initiated by China. Moreover, it is also said that from the various estimation, 41% of the world’s cyber attacks trace their genesis back to China. Whereas the USA initiated 17.12% cyber attacks, Turkey has a 4.7% share to global cyber attack trafficking and 10.24% cyber attacks are done by Turkish hackers. There are countries like Brazil, Russia who comes under the list of potential hackers. Though most of the hackers are unknown the major attack sources are coming from these countries.
Cyber attacks are being in course as far back as the internet has come to the identification. But with time it has got exponential growth which brings the thread to governments and all other institutions all over the world. But the unrestricted access of different sites by the students on the phone is leading to serious hamartia to their life. The youngsters are also being the victim of cyber crimes.
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The Fates of Chinese Uighur Muslims

Uighur (Uyghur) Muslims are among the oldest Turkic-speaking people mostly residing in the northwestern part of China, in Xinjiang. The main Uighur populated cities are Kashgar, Silk Road, and Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

When China re-established control after crushing the short-lived state of East Turkestan, a large population of Han Chinese (the majority ethnic Chinese) migrated to Xinjiang. This move caused a lot of economic disparities and ethnic tensions grew as the Uyghurs were mistreated and discriminated against.

A 2009 protest in Urumqi turned violent, killing 200 and injuring about 800 people. Violence increased soon after including knife-attacks, suicide-bombers, and bomb blasts. Most of these attacks were pinned to Uighur Muslims and they were tied to overseas Muslim terrorist groups.

China identifies itself as a “socialist state under the people’s democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants.” The current political leadership has been termed a “consultative democracy,” “people’s democratic dictatorship” and “socialism with Chinese characteristics” by its leaders.

In recent years, with the disclosure of the mistreatment of Uighur Muslims, China has been criticized for a lot more trouble. The UN and other Human Rights activists have been trying to help protect the oppressed.

Uighur Muslims have been subjected to many constraints. Those who’ve fled the country have many stories of torture to speak. Those who’ve returned have been separated and punished.

A New York Times article wrote about Abdurahman Tohti, who left Xinjiang and immigrated to Turkey in 2013. “When his wife and two young children returned to China for a visit a few years ago, they disappeared. He heard that his wife was sent to prison, like many Uighurs who have traveled abroad and returned to China. His parents were detained too. The fate of his children, though, was a mystery. He spotted his 4-year-old son, years later, in a video on Chinese social media that had apparently been recorded by a teacher. The boy seemed to be at a state-run boarding school and was speaking Chinese, a language his family did not use. Mr. Tohti, 30, said he was excited to see the child, and relieved he was safe — but also gripped by desperation. “What I fear the most,” he said, “is that the Chinese government is teaching him to hate his parents and Uighur culture.””

Many countries including but not limited to Saudi Arabia, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan have written to the UN in support of the way China is handling the terrorizing groups, the Uyghurs. The letter these countries signed and sent included, “Faced with the grave challenge of terrorism and extremism, China has undertaken a series of counter-terrorism and deradicalization measures in Xinjiang, including setting up vocational education and training centers.” They attested to not finding any Human Rights violations in the “training centers” and added that since the people have been institutionalized, there hasn’t been even a single terror attack. Going as further as saying that the people “now enjoyed a stronger sense of happiness, fulfillment, and security.”

The Uighur activists have stated otherwise for decades, maintaining that the discrimination has persisted long before the “terror” attacks started. They have stood by their innocence in their involvement in the attacks and have also denied all ties to overseas terror organizations.

Below, is the timeline of a few (not all) key protests, attacks, and other decisions made with respect to the Uighur Muslims.

These are incidents that have been publicized internationally. It is quite possible that much more has been kept under wraps.

2003 

  • 21st December – Uighur “terrorists” demand freedom of expression and internet access
    • A Muslim separatist group branded as “terrorists” by China has said it was willing to disband if the communist state offered freedom of expression and internet access to Uighur Muslim minorities.

2009

  • July – Urumqi Han Chinese vs Uighurs Riots kill 200 and injure 1700
    • Several hundred were arrested and students were shot at by the police
    • More than 260 vehicles and 200 shops and houses were attacked and damaged.
    • “False” news of claiming 6 boys raping two innocent girls made the rounds prior to the riots and as a response internet and messaging services were shut off.

2010

  • June – Gheyret Niyaz, an Uighur journalist sentenced for 15 years
    • Gheyret Niyaz was sentenced for 15 years for speaking to a foreign-journalists during the 2009 Urumqi riots.
  • 30th July – 3 Uighurs jailed for website work
    • Uyghur American Association (UAA) said that 3 men were sentenced to 10, 5, and 3 years respectively.
    • Officials have not confirmed the charges despite already sentencing them.
    • Their main offense is to found and manage an Uyghur-language website.

2011

  • 18th July – – A knife and bomb attacks in Hotan
    • Suspected to be Uighur terroritsts
  • 30th – 31st July – A series of knife and bomb attacks in Kashgar
  • 15th September – China sentences 4 to death over Xinjiang attacks
    • The four Uighur men were found guilty of murder, arson, and running a terrorist organization.
    • Accused to incidents in Kashgar and Hotan in July.

2012

  • 2nd August – China jails 20 Uighurs for terrorism and separatism
    • Charges against the accused include making explosive devices, promoting religious extremism and plotting “holy war”

2013

  • October – 3 Uighur men sentenced over a fatal car crash in Tiananmen Square, Beijing
  • December – 16 people killed in a riot in a village. Another 8 were killed later near Yarkland county.

2014

  • 27th January – 12 dead in Xinjiang violence caused by “terrorists”
    • Xinhua news agency described the incident as “organised, premeditated terrorist attacks”. But the report gave no reason why the hair salon and the market were targeted.
  • February – Chinese authorities have shot dead eight people trying to attack police officers in Xinjiang,
  • 1st March – mass knife attack at the Kunming train station.
  • 30th April – knife and bomb attach at Urumqi’s central train station
  • 22nd May – suicide-attack on an open-air market in Urumqi’s predominantly Han-populated Shayibake district killed 31 people and 94 injured.
    • Officials blame Uighur Muslims
    • Claim these “terrorists are swollen with arrogance.”
  • 27th May – Chinese Police arrest Xinjiang “terror gang”
  • 21st June – Police kill 13 assailants of the Xinjiang attackers
    • Linking them to the October 2013 attacks, where 3 men were already sentenced.
  • 30th June – China jails 113 Uighurs for terrorism
  • 2nd July – China bans Uighurs Muslims from fasting for Ramadan.
    • Not the first time.
  • 5th July – Chinese Uighurs defy Ramadan fasting bans
  • 11th July – Muslim students forced to eat during Ramadan
  • 31st July – Imam of China’s largest mosque killed in Xinjiang
    • Jume Tahir, 74, was reportedly stabbed after he led the early morning prayers at the Id Kah mosque.
    • Reason of the death remains unclear
    • A hasty burial was performed the same afternoon
    • Police sealed off roads and cut internet and text messaging links.
  • 3rd August – China claims Xinjiang “gangs” killed 37
    • 59 of the 215 attackers were killed by security forces.
  • 12th October – Kashgar attack killed 22.
  • 18th November – Shache attack in which 15 were killed, including 11 attackers.
  • 11th December – Xinjiang Officials hold debated to ban veils for Muslim women.
  • 8th December – 6 people linked to the May 2014 market attack sentenced to death

2015

  • 27th May – Chinese authorities claim having busted 181 terror groups in a yearlong operation.
  • 14th July – 3 “Xinjiang Terrorists” shot dead by police
    • A woman was also injured
    • Police found “terrorist” suspects shouting Anti-China slogans
    • Police also detained 28-year old Uighur woman, and 3 children.
  • China police checkpoint attack kills 18 in Xinjiang
    • China refused to comment
    • Hospitals informed that many police officers here hurt
    • Local radio reported that the attackers used knives and bombs while speeding through the checkpoint.

2016

  • 7th June – police ordered residents to provide DNA samples and other biological data to apply for travel documents
  • 19th October – Notice was issued, warning citizens
    • Those who failed to turn in their passports risk being barred from leaving the country.
  • 20th October – China confiscates passports of Xinjiang People
    • Apparently aimed to combat terrorism.
    • Hand in their travel documents to the police for “safekeeping”
    • All residents must not apply for permission to leave the country before they can retrieve their passports

2017

  • 15th February – Eight assailants dead in a knife attack after killing 5 and injuring 10.
  • 1st April – no beards, no veils
    • Only older men are allowed to have beards
    • Women are not allowed veils as part of the “project: Beauty”

2018

  • 10th August – China mosque demolition issue in Ningxia
    • Hundreds of Muslims in north-western China are engaged in a standoff with authorities to prevent their mosque from being demolished.
    • On 3rd August a notice was posted outside the mosque that it would be forcibly demolished
    • Reason: it had not been granted the necessary planning and construction permits.
    • Many asked why the construction hadn’t been halted during the 2 years of construction
  • 31st August – UN alarmed by reports of China’s mass detention.
    • UN criticized the “broad definition of terrorism and vague references to extremism and unclear definition of separatism in Chinese legislation”
    • The UN committee called on Beijing to:
      • End the practice of detention without lawful charge, trial and conviction;
      • Immediately release individuals currently detained under these circumstances;
      • Provide the number of people held as well as the grounds for their detention;
      • Conduct “impartial investigations into all allegations of racial, ethnic and ethno-religious profiling”.
  • 10th October – China Uighurs: Xinjiang legalises ‘re-education’ camps

2019

  • February – Uighurs kids and youth ask china to show them that their parents are still live in the detention camps
  • 2nd May – Chinese police monitor Xinjiang Citizens using an app
  • 24th October – Jailed Uighur academic Ilham Tohti wins Sakharov Prize
    • The Sakharov Prize for free speech is awarded by the EU Parliament annually in memory of Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov.
  • 28th November – Uighur activists claim China is running hundreds of more camps than it claims
  • 23rd December – Hong Kong protesters rally in support of Uighurs
  • 23rd December – TESCO finds a Christmas card with a cry for help message from the Uighur makers in China
  • 28th December – In China’s Crackdown on Muslims, Children have not been Spared.
    • Children of parents who have either been killed or detained are taken away from relatives and placed in state-run boarding schools.
    • These schools are designed to “assimilate and indoctrinate children at an early age, away from the influence of their families.”
    • These schools are tightly guarded and are off-limits
    • Media and official documents cover this up by claiming “education is a key component of President Xi Jinping’s campaign to wipe out extremists’ violence in Xinjiang.”
    • Many Xinjiang activists have described these schools as “incubators of a new generation of Uighurs who are secular and more loyal to both the party and the nation.

2020

  • 15th January – Leaked reports reveal China’s human rights violations against Uighurs
  • 27th February – UN demands unfettered access to China’s Uighur region
  • 3rd March – Uighurs forced to work in Chinese factories for meagre pay
  • 29th June – reports surfaced that China forced birth control on Uighurs to supress population.
    • Chinese scholar, Adrian Zenz’s report prompted multiple international called for the United Nations to investigate
    • Mr. Zenz’s report was based on a combination of official regional data, policy documents, and interviews with ethnic minority women in Xinjiang. It alleges that Uighur women and other ethnic minorities are being threatened with internment in the camps for refusing to abort pregnancies that exceed birth quotas.
    • Women with fewer than 2 children were forced to get fitted with an IUD
    • China denies allegations and calls them baseless.
    • Uighur growth rates fall 84% since 2015.
  • 13th August – China denies detaining 1 million Uighurs
    • Uighurs enjoyed full rights but “those deceived by religious extremism… shall be assisted by resettlement and re-education”, officials said.

SUICIDE NOTE: FROM THE PAVEMENT OF ABETMENT TO THREAT

Suicide note is a document, not a mere goodbye or a mode of remembering, but one which has the potential to give access to the person’s inner thoughts and feelings even after they are long gone.  From people who want their story to be told, often the person lives behind mentioning different people who might have affected their lives. Though the reasons can never be brought into a particular set but it can bring two sorts of people into the picture. One in a positive light and the other completely opposite. Most of the lost hopes varies from reacting to the feeling of burden on the relatives or close ones to giving up on repetitive trauma from a set of people or any one person specifically. Both the scenarios, however, bring in questions. The controversies regarding discourse on suicides in India is huge. The judicial system scrutinizes the action and grasps every loophole that could have had led the suicide. As suppose, could have abetted the suicide.

Abetment to suicide is a crime. Not namesake but one of the legal provisions as well. Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code criminalizes the offence. A person is considered guilty of abetment upon three instances. If he instigates the person, if he has been a part of the conspiracy behind it or if he has intentionally helped the victim to commit the act. And importantly, direct evidence is required against the accused to show the alleged crime. It definitely looks a two-way pavement until here but what lies beneath the surface are the eyes of the world around the suspect. The one in the middle of a mere mentioned name and a criminal- the one in middle of the trial.

A name mentioned in a suicide note includes the person as an accused under a non bailable offence where the person receives a summon or notice from the local police station. The investigation goes on and a charge sheet gets filed against the mentioned name. Post all of these, a trial stands before the court. This is a tedious and defaming process for any prudent person. And thus, gets abused more often than not. The process gets tamed every hour in India when a person uses different phrases as to ‘cut nerves’, ‘kill themselves’, ‘the police will take you’, ‘it will be your fault’, ‘you will be guilty forever’, in order to get something to which the other silently agrees because what lies on the other hand is unknown.

However, one does not need to worry about the process at any point of time if they are not guilty. Truth has prevailed for the entire history of manhood and if put forth in the investigation process shall as well help gain way out from the difficult times as such.

It is important to notice that most threats usually come to partners who look to end a relationship to which the co-partner cannot come to terms with. There stands no-win situation in a case like this. The level of uncertainty is huge and the loss could be unbearable.

The thin line between the law for actual abetment to the abuse of the law is not foreseeable. A person at the edge for the same should not misjudge the actual cry for help to the attention seekers. However, for a person who knew about the suicide and decided to not help the cause or did not make attempts to stop or discontinued the cause could become more than just regretful. They are probable criminals in the eyes of law.

 It is true that once the threat turns the other way, there’s no turning back. However, one should always keep a few points in mind. First of all, a compassionate behavior with a person who we are no longer in terms with can go a long way. Next, professional advice should always be taken. One as it could save the person in question and also give you the green card of innocence even if mentioned in the note for any cause. It also gets very important to understand the habitual offenders and to take them seriously. The ridiculing of it being an everyday affair is not a healthy mentality. The repeated threats often bring in personal derangement which increases the risks. While one might consider obliging to all the demands put forward during such a crisis, it gets very important to involve very close and dear ones and let them to know about the threat.

The above-mentioned points are not just mere suggestions but also points out as “duty” in the law. The principle is evidentially prevalent in both civil and criminal matters. However, duty differs in different cases. From the perspective of duty in threatened suicide, if a help is promised in the form of care or companionship, it gets binding since there is an established duty of care. But the duty of care also depends on the type of relationship with the person at stake.

Summing up, the best way to get out of a situation is truth and actions which would leave no room for regret in the future. It is worth keeping in mind that, ‘to save another life, you must safeguard yours first’.

Marital Rape:Culture or Consent?

Patriarchy, often perceived as a “culture” by the Indian society, strives to be protected at all costs, even if that means to strip off the “vulnerable”, of their basic human rights. All concepts that threaten this so-called culture, are categorised as “western concepts”, and are further refused to be acknowledged. Living in denial and refusing to acknowledge the problems, does not mean that they don’t prevail in the Indian Society. In fact, this means that a significant chunk of the society is not ready for the particular problem, but, that does not in any way, give them the right to disregard other people’s safety and security, just because their’s is intact.
One such controversial concept is ‘Marital rape’, often perceived as an oxymoron. Although, ‘rape’ has been clearly defined by most of the criminal codes of almost every country recognised by the United Nations, yet the understanding is rather subjective varying on the culture and relationship of the accused and the victim.  As Estelle B. Freedman points out in Redefining Rape,”At its core, rape a legal term that encompasses a malleable and culturally determined perception of the act…The meaning of rape is thus fluid”. One such factor is ‘marriage’, which supposedly rules out the possibility of forceful sexual conduct upon a wife, since a wedlock provides  immunity to the husband, sociologically as well as on legal grounds in 10 nations of the world.
Well, one of the most difficult challenge faced by people opposing marital rape, is the lack of acknowledgment of this sin. The surprising fact is that this is probably the only crime , where the victim does not recognise her violation of the rights, because control of a woman’s body is foundational to patriarchy. As British jurist, Lord Mathew Hale, states that,”The husband cannot be guilty of rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband, which she cannot retract.” This orthodox thinking is deep rooted in our society and is a shame to our so-called judicial progress, because if we see the section 375 of the Indian Penal Code,1872, although it defines rape, yet there is an exception in the statute which states, that, ’Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape.’

Arguments generally used to justify the non existence of this crime in the IPC, are that there are other sections like domestic violence and cruelty that protect the wives from the oppression and dominance.“there are other provisions that safeguards the rights of a wife, like domestic violence which covers cruelty, so why do we need another law? So greedy, these ‘feminists’ have become!”. This shows us the biggest problem in not recognising marital rape as a form of rape ,that is, the society is ready to accept the husband as an offender of  domestic violence, since the ‘anger issues’ are just unstoppable and ‘he is a man’, but are not ready to accuse the husband of rape of his own wife.Such beliefs are imbedded in notions such as the idea that a woman’s sexuality is a commodity that can be owned by her father or husband, the belief that what happens between husband and wife in the bedroom is a private matter, that a man is entitled to sexual relations with his wife, and that a wife should consensually engage in sex with her husband, thus making rape “unnecessary.” 

The ways in which marital rape is condoned varies cross-culturally. In India, Supreme court ruled in February 2015, that marital rape is not a crime.A government minister then told the parliament, that it could not be criminalised in India, since “marriages are sacrosanct”.(BBC News,2015). Like, in United States of America, although it is a criminal offence, yet a significant amount of attitudinal surveys show that Americans regard the rape of a wife far less than a similar assault by an acquaintance or a stranger. “Marital rape is a western concept, it is not possible in the Indian Society”, as stated by Maneka Gandhi, minister of women and child development, Ironical? It’s a crying shame, that people still have to be convinced, that there is ‘no difference’ between rape and marital rape. A wedlock, does not take away the bodily rights of a woman, she is still an individual and her rights must be protected. This mindset cannot be changed solely by judicial activism, but by educating men and women, and making them sensitive towards each others sentiments.

One of the ignored reason of the exclusion of this crime, is the anthropological aspect of research. As Gabriella Torres points out in her book, ’Marital Rape: Consent, Marriage, and Social Change in Global Context’, that first and foremost, this issue is not been given the level of public importance that it deserves. The  arguments for keeping the exemption have included, first,  keeping the marital relationship private,  second,  protecting husbands from vindictive wives, third, because it is nearly impossible to prove, and fourthly because a charge of rape would discourage reconciliation between husband and wife.

The reason for the less public attention given by the people to this inhuman and heinous act is that, the society is so blinded with culture and customs, that now the customs are not according to the behaviour of the people, but the behaviour is according to the culture and customs. This is where anthropologists come into power, since the society has nicely, adapted the crime to the custom, it’s important to understand what the culture or customary practice originally stated.There can be two possible scenarios, that is, one, culture does not state to violate any right, then society’s mindset can be changed with the right information regarding their culture  and second possible scenario is, if the culture succumbs to the violent and dominant ideology and even after reading the accounts of the victim, the dominance of the culture has a possibility, then it is high time we make a choice between ‘Culture or Consent’.

Paper Bag Day

What a newly discovered thing I have come across, Paper Bag day which is celebrated on the 12th of June, but did we really knew about this? We people only celebrate Valentine’s Day because that is the only day in the whole year which is very important to us. I am not saying that start celebrating paper bag day but at least give some importance to these things also. Stop using plastic bags, use jute bags or cloth bags, whats the harm in it.

History of Paper Bag

For many years jute bags were used, they were the primary method of moving goods across the British Empire but on the other hand paper bags were more portable and cost-effective and soon it became the leading material for portable bags along the trade route. American inventor, Fracis Wolle invented the first paper bag machine in 1852 and “The Mother of the Grocery Bag”– Margaret E. Knight designed the square, the flat bottomed and the machine that can fold in into a bag and paste them.

Advantages of using Paper Bags

1.Paper bag day is celebrated inorder to save the climate from harmful things, it is celebrated to create an awareness in the society so that we can switch to paper bags from plastic bags.

2. Paper bags are biodegradable, reusable and recyclable.

3. As for stray animals plastic bags are more harmful and suffocating, paper bags pose lesser chances of suffocation.

4. Paper bags are inexpensive and can be composted at home and they are also easy to handle.

5. It helps to conserve natural resources.

So from today stop using plastic bags, use paper or cloth bags to save your Mother Earth and to save yourself from more natural calamities. We are already facing so many things, so why not take an initiative from today and make things better.

Transgenders still not accepted

Whether they’re homosexual or someone from LGBTQ, they ‘re all trying to be acknowledged by humans.Because of us humans who want to deceive them quickly, abuse them with terms like hijra, kinner, jogta, and so on, they find it more difficult to survive in this world.They do not have sufficient housing, enough food , clothes, and because of their identity they are not recognized in any employment, but they have not given up on themselves.They ‘re only struggling to live through raising money by begging or whatever means is accessible for them.They are still fighting for their freedom by morchas, introducing laws, and eventually, although they succeeded in passing the law in 2019, taking their identity to the third class, they somehow did not fail to satisfy their other rights.

Failure of 2019 bill:

Since the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 passed, none of the transgender persons were pleased.And immediately on the 4th day after the bill passed, the leaders of the transgender group marched through Delhi’s queer pride parade to raise their complaints over the new legislation..The problems with proposed legislation are:

1.The first limitation they objected to was to appeal to the District Magistrate for an Identification Certificate showing their gender as “transgender” and to seek a modified Certificate While a transgender individual is having surgery to change their gender either as a man or as a female, they said that it would be a direct breach of NALSA, which upheld the right to self-determination of gender .

2.Moreover, whether a transgender person decides to pursue sex-reassignment surgery and be classified as a male or a woman, this legislation does not make explicit that sex-reassignment surgery will be given free of charge or at a discounted rate. besides that, since they can not bear an immense amount of money, this is the only justification for identification verification without which a transgender person will not be eligible to receive official documentation.

3.Although the purpose of this law was to prohibit discrimination, it did not even provide any concept of discrimination addressing the scope of discrimination experienced by transgender people.

4.This bill only makes “sexual abuse” punishable, with a prison term of up to two years, does not define acts that constitute sexual offences, making it more difficult for transgender people to report such crimes as victims of sexual abuse. However, this bill legally penalizes discriminatory behaviour and denies equal protection in law.

5.This bill also does not provide reservation in education and employment for transgender persons.

6.This legislation did not mention their civil rights, such as marriage, civil unions, adoption and property rights, as well as social protection and pension benefits, thereby seeking to deprive transgender people of their human rights and the legal assurance provided by NALSA’s Supreme Court.

Despite of these limitations transgenders also do not entirely gain their civil and human freedoms, so they are now protesting to the courts about the same, but the courts have not yet accepted their appeals and are trying and prolong the deadlines and allow more amendments to the legislation.

For years, transgender people have been exposed to violence and it is dehumanizing that they are deprived their identity, appearance and, above all, their basic human rights.. The Act, in its current form, seeks to drive them into obscurity, insulting their sacrifices while refusing to protect their fundamental freedoms for them. While the group is concerned because the Bill has become a law without any attempt to make legitimate or appropriate adjustments to its original structure, it is worried with whether it can meet the community’s immediate issues.

It only hopes that the National Council for Transgender People would allow the legislation to be applied more favourably and thereby have further forearm space for legitimate cultural members that the Bill itself failed to accommodate. The Rajya Sabha will consider the significant differences in this inadequate Bill and submit it for further analysis.

Police Brutality: a socially accepted crime?

A “JUSTIFIED” CRIME :

Police brutality is depicted as a method promoting the idea of “instant justice”. However, the concept of Quo Warranto (latin maxim for “by what authority”) comes into picture, considering the fact that it oversteps on the fundamental roles of courts or quite literally known as the “justice system” of the country. Although, the latter doesn’t seem to be doing its duty quite efficiently as we are very well aware of the great history of the piled up cases and the never ending loopholes that sort of comes complimentary to any Government organisation. However, this in no way justifies the inhumane culture of police brutality, that has been so widely accepted by the people that it seems as an alternative dispute resolution to the long lasting court trials.

HYPOCRITICAL APPROACH:

There have been various protests against this rising injustice, especially during the worldwide lockdown period. However, I do feel there is some sense of hypocrisy attached to the opinions of the so called “woke” people who tend to have a different opinion when it comes to raising their voice on social media and a completely different reaction when the same concept is showcased and applauded in the entertainment sector, for example, in Bollywood movies like Singham, Simba, Dabbang etc. When the same concept is portrayed in an entertaining way, it is well praised. The protagonists of these movies are idealised and followed, since the encounters or torture that they succumb, is towards the “guilty”. But again, the police is not the deciding authority.

CONCEPT OF FAIR TRIAL:

There is a reason why, “statements given by the accused while under police custody are inadmissible in the court of law”. One of the principles of natural justice,” Audi Alteram Partem” which states that, no one should be condemned unheard. Irrespective of how strong evidence is there, against the accused, each party deserves a fair and formal trial with a proper legal representation. For example all the police encounters that take place may appear to be fair prima facie, however, these cannot only be used as a tool for “instant justice” but also for instant promotions or sudden increase in the credibility of the police department. We all lashed out at George Floyd’s case, but what about the recent Hyderabad rape case of Priyanka Reddy where the accused were shot dead in a “police encounter”. Most of us felt relieved saying “inke saath toh yeh hi hona chahiye”. Although, the “accused” were unarmed in that case, there was no threat to the police, so what was the need to kill them? The rage in a heinous crime like rape is justified, however, we forget the fact that they were the “accused” and not the “convicts”, again the basic principle of law saying “innocent until proven guilty”.

CONCLUSION:

The Priyanka Reddy rape case (encounter) is one such example, there are hundreds of such cases that occur every day. Fake encounter, torture while in custody ( Jairaj and fenix) or oppression based on race ( George Floyd) are daily occurring and only few make it to the limelight. One of the basic steps that has to be taken by us is to sensitise people about the lawlessness of this act and how power does not give you the right to misuse it and exploit the vulnerable. Stop promoting this inhumane behaviour by being aware of your rights and calling out these personnels on such acts.The essence of our constitution and the judiciary is “May the 100 guilty be free but one innocent should not be convicted or punished“.

SHOR IN THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

The Krakatoa volcanic eruption in Indonesia created the loudest sound ever reported at 180 dB in the year 1883. Do you know what’s louder than that? My mind thinking, producing thoughts faster than the blink of an eye. ‘Writer must be some mad scientist solving scientific equations in her brain’, one might think. On the contrary, the equations my brain analyses are the thousand possibilities of one single situation.

Everyone is looking at me. They are talking about me. Is it my hair? Is it the shirt I’m wearing? I think the world knows about that one time when I mispronounced the word ‘laminate’ as ‘lemonade’ in 6th grade. This is it. Life gave me lemons and the lemonade I made is SOUR.

An organ made of soft tissues and approximately two clenched fists in size has the power to make and break one’s life is a big accusation on our Brains. But who is to be blamed then?

I would like to someday adopt a Fish and a Cat and a Dog. But what if the cat eats the fish and the dog chases the cat and then they all flee my house and I’m left alone with my thoughts again. You would call it unnecessary paranoia and you would be right. I don’t really reside in my body; I’m simply paying rent to it. This rented house of mine has two windows, I call them my eyes. I guess my mind is the prison and I’m never going to get out of it.

I’m a visitor inside my brain and now my thoughts have chained me to my bed and I’m stuck. Hello, is anybody there, you got keys to my cell?

Wait a minute there is nobody here miles and miles away then who really locked the cell from outside? I give it one small push and it opens with a creak. The door to my prison was never locked? I was staying there voluntarily!

The Brain is powerful. How many doors in your life, you think are locked but aren’t? How many times have you been stuck in the mental prison of overthinking? Something that really had a simple solution. There is an old African line that says, ‘When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.’ Cerebral Cortex is that part of the brain which produces thoughts, the capability of imagining things beyond reality. It is the strongest force in your life. It will force its opinions on you – ‘you are not good enough’, ‘you cannot do it’, ‘what will they say about you?’,’ stop, you are not made for this.’

Dear Mind of mine, thank you for your opinions but every overthinking thought you produce is equivalent to nothing. We bring it to life with the attention we give it. Stressful thoughts knock on our doors and we tell them ‘STAY OUT’. But that makes them knock louder.

BUT HOW DO I CONTROL AND DESTROY THOSE THOUGHTS?

The secret is – don’t mind the mind. This is the natural state of existence. This is the law of universe. In Science, the first law of Thermodynamics states that, ‘You cannot create or destroy energy but you can transfer it from one thing to another.’ Thoughts will arise and yes you will fill them but you don’t have to fight, control or defeat you mind. Just stay neutral in between those thoughts and it will dissolve into silence. A peaceful state of mind.

Or we can order a pizza and transfer the energy we spend on overthinking into the process of eating this slice of cheesy heaven. But why does the circle pizza come in a square box? And why is a slice of pizza triangle? Did mathematicians invent the pizza? Is pizza the SYMBOL OF ILLUMINATI?! WHAT IF…..and just like that the writer fell into her rabbit hole of overthinking and the Shor (noise) in her Cerebral Cortex was louder than the Shor in her city.

Sanitary Napkins – Problems Of Usage In India

“Menstrual blood is the only source of blood that is not traumatically induced. Yet in modern society, this is the most hidden blood, the one so rarely spoken of and almost never seen, except privately by women.”

– Judy Grahn

Throughout our society there is a common lack of knowledge about menstruation. There are also a lack of resources needed for proper hygiene during times of menstruation. These factors lead to a lack of understanding about what the menstruation process actually is. Fear is developed over the topic of menstruation because of the various misconceptions that surround it. Advertisements and commercials are greatly impacted by the high levels of fear and stigma attached to the menstruation. This causes them to lack anything relevant to real life experiences and often encourage secrecy around menstruating. Ways this is conveyed include, emphasizing no leakage and using liquids that aren’t red to display blood. With all these social media influences, there is a consistent level of menstruation taboo because people are being exposed and primed to think that menstruation should be kept secret and they are often led to believe the opposite of what real life women experience during menstruation. The taboo around menstruation continues due to the absense of education, realistic promotion and resources.

Research indicates that these menstrual taboos have negative effects on women, specifically their likelihood to self-objectify. One article looked into the menstrual knowledge and taboo advertisements and their effects on self-objectification. The researchers found that the lower level of menstrual knowledge a woman had the more likely they were to self objectify. They also found that women with negative attitudes toward menstruation were more likely to self objectify than those with positive attitudes.

Menstrual hygiene still continues to be amongst the most challenging developmental issues that women face today, especially in the developing countries like India, the mindsets, customs and institutional biases prevent women from getting the menstrual health care they need.

Let us have a look on the problems of using sanitary napkins in general :

Physical aspect

  1. The pads are scented which can cause infections in vagina.
  2. The skin around the vagina is thin with numerous blood vessels and chemicals can directly enter the bloodstream from the
  3. Prolonged contact with SAPs has been also linked with skin reactions such as rashes.
  4. Synthetic and plastic restricts air flow and traps heat and dampness, causing yeast and bacteria growth in the vaginal area.

The environmental aspect

According to Solid Waste Management(SWM) rules, sanitary pads waste comes under the category of Domestic Hazardous Waste.

As the use of sanitary pads increases, so does the amount of sanitary waste generated. The primary concern, for now, is how these pads are disposed of and their impact on the environment.

According to a joint report by Water Aid India and the Menstrual Hygiene Alliance of India, depending on the materials used in the manufacture of the sanitary pads, it could take up to 800 years to decompose a single sanitary napkin.

Right now there is no separate way prescribed to dispose of them. So, out it goes with all the household garbage. This causes serious health issues for the waste pickers when they segregate the waste; exposing them to infection-causing microbes, leading to diseases like Hepatitis, E.coli infection, Salmonella infection, Typhoid, etc. Recently, the Red Dot Campaign was launched in Pune which encouraged women to throw sanitary pads in a ‘red dot marked’ packet, so that they could be easily identified and segregated.

The used pads are then finally moved to landfills on the outskirts of the city, where they stay for hundreds of years. SAPs are petroleum-based materials that do not degrade easily. Let’s just say, a pad used by a woman will not be decomposed in her lifetime or her kids or their kids. Now, imagine the extent of plastic pollution we are creating/have created, especially when one pad is said to be equivalent to 4 plastic bags. Every sanitary napkin carries two grams of non-biodegradable plastic. Multiply that with an average of 8-10 pads per menstruating women every month and let that sink in.

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 report, around 48% rural women use sanitary napkin while in urban areas the percentage is around 77%. Recent data provided by Menstrual Health Alliance India states that menstrual waste collected across the country, primarily consisting of sanitary napkins which is disposed of as routine waste along with other household garbage, is 45%.

According to the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2,000 soiled napkins and blood-soaked cotton are disposed of after segregation into biodegradable and non-biodegradable components. However, the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, says that items contaminated with blood and body fluids, including cotton, dressings, soiled plaster casts, lines and bedding, are bio-medical waste and should be incinerated, autoclaved or microwaved to destroy pathogens. The longer used pads are kept in the open and kept in contact with air, the more they are prone towards becoming pathogenic.

Now, throwing light on the problems of using sanitary napkins specifically in India :

Genital hygiene

The study found an urgent need for intensive health education on genital hygiene. According to the Census of India 2011, more than 41% of the households do not have bathrooms and of those that do, 16% of the rooms did not have a roof.

Because of the poor conditions of the bathroom or lack of proper toilet facilities, women in rural areas do not have the privacy to wash their genitals.

Poor genital hygiene has been found to be an important factor for the development of dysplasia and cervical cancer, and the use of pads made from reused cloth increases that risk, studies have shown.

Poverty reasons

Many people below the poverty line cannot afford the sanitary napkins. Homeless people, mendicants are deprived of the facility of using sanitary napkins. Though many government schemes are introduced to give free supply of sanitary pads in rural areas. Still there are people who use piece of cloth, rags, ash, or husk.

Lack of Sanitary Napkins and Adequate Facilities

In a city, availing a sanitary napkin for a woman aware of menstrual hygiene is a normalised process. Not only are sanitary napkins available in pharmacies and grocery stores in cities, they are commercialised via advertisements so that they are treated as any other product. In rural areas, sanitary napkins are found with difficulty. Most girls rely on home-grown or other readily available material, the latter often being unhygienic and unsanitary. Only 2 to 3 per cent women in rural India are estimated to use sanitary napkins. The lack of demand results in storekeepers not stocking up on sanitary pads. This results in women resorting to unhygienic practices during their menstrual cycle, such as filling up old socks with sand and tying them around waists to absorb menstrual blood, or taking up old pieces of cloth and using them to absorb blood. Such methods increase chances of infection and hinder the day-to-day task of a woman on her period.

Superstitions & Lack of Awareness

Lack of awareness makes for a major problem in India’s menstrual hygiene scenario. Indian Council for Medical Research’s 2011-12 report stated that only 38 per cent menstruating girls in India spoke to their mothers about menstruation. Many mothers were themselves

unaware what menstruation was, how it was to be explained to a teenager and what practices could be considered as menstrual hygiene management. Schools were not very helpful either as schools in rural areas refrained from discussing menstrual hygiene. A 2015 survey by the Ministry of Education found that in 63% schools in villages, teachers never discussed menstruation and how to deal with it in a hygienic manner.

There are also many superstitions regarding menstruation which stops woman from using sanitary napkins.

Lack of penetration & poor quality

India has one of the lowest levels of penetration of sanitary pad usage in the world. At 20%, India lags behind Thailand, Indonesia and China, all of which have over 50% usage. Social norms, cultural taboos and superstitions associated with menstruation have meant that Indian women continue to rely on unhygienic practices.

The quality of napkins used in a government scheme which was to promote menstrual hygiene was poor in Odisha, Rajasthan and Kerala. This means that they had a low absorption rate or inadequate dimensions that increased the likelihood of leakage. Sanitary napkins reportedly ran out of stock in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, and Maharashtra. However, a satisfactory uptake of sanitary napkins was noted in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, according to the 10th common review mission (CRM), an annual progress report published by the National Health Mission (NHM) in 2016.

The uptake of sanitary napkins under the scheme was low in Himachal Pradesh and Odisha due to mediocre quality. Delhi was reported to have faced an irregular supply of sanitary napkins, as per the ninth CRM report in 2015. Moreover, no sanitary napkins were distributed in Chhattisgarh in that particular period, revealed a 2015 Comptroller Auditor General (CAG).

From a ban on advertisements on sanitary napkins in 1990, to a full-fledged feature film, PadMan, on a low-cost sanitary napkin entrepreneur in 2018, India has indeed come a long way. It was eight years back in 2010, when the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the Freeday Pad Scheme, a pilot project to provide sanitary napkins at subsidised rates for rural girls. The scheme was launched in 152 districts across 20 states and sanitary napkins were sold to adolescent girls at the rate of Rs. 6 per pack of six napkins by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs). The estimated cost for the entire scheme was Rs 70 crore.

A year later, the Union government launched the SABLA scheme across 2015 districts in the country. The scheme aimed at improving health conditions for adolescent girls with menstrual hygiene as an important component. Two years later, under the then ongoing Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, focus on menstrual hygiene was added as a key component of the sanitation mission. In 2014, the Union government launched the Rashtriya Kishor Swashthya Karyakram, aimed at improving the health and hygiene of an estimated 243 million adolescents. Menstrual hygiene was also included as an integral part of the programme.

Under the ongoing Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, menstrual hygiene has been given high importance. The Swachh Bharat (Gramin) guidelines explicitly state that funds allocated for information, education and communication (IEC) maybe spent on bettering awareness on menstrual hygiene in villages. Adequate knowledge of menstrual hygiene and development of local sanitary napkin manufacturing units is encouraged by Swachh Bharat Mission (rural) and self-help groups are to help in propagating such efforts.

Many Government schemes are introducing, which each passing day people are becoming more conscious about the menstrual hygiene. We can now see a ray of hope.

Lockdown:Still a Horror Show For Minor Girls

 While living within four walls in our house due to lockdown,everyone is having hard time adapting to the new normal of 2020. Everything has changed since the spread of a pandemic. India is  managing to revive the economy by following Online trend. Schools and Colleges have shifted to Online platform to complete work from home and attending online meetings, we have seen a huge change in our lifestyle due to lockdown. We have seen people indulging in their hobbies as well as people struggling to reach their home.

While world is glorifying the technological achievements as well as trying to mitigate the crisis, ironically women are still struggling to be recognized as human beings. Even in the situation of pandemic, the phase of increasing acceptability of human rights, the crime of rape is an accute and persistent problem in India.

Despite the national and international focus on women’s rights, women are still victimized largely in the Indian society. Cases of Rape and sexual violence/assault cases are still being reported in the time of lockdown. This article will be focusing on cases that have been reported recently.

The Odisha Tribal girl case

A 13 year old girl in odisha’s biramitrapur was reportedly gang-raped over 4 months at the local police station. The inspector in charge of the station was allegedly one of the perpetrators, and also forced her to terminate a pregnancy.

This is the second such case in Odisha over the span of 2 months. In may, A tribal woman was raped inside a police canteen in malkangiri district. She later died from her injuries.

Both cases are shocking reminders of the crimes against people belonging to Tribal communities and lower castes in our country.

In 2018, The NCRB recorded over 42,700 crimes against members of scheduled castes or Tribes. Women and children are the most vulnerable to these crimes.

Jayapriya Case

A 7 year old girl was brutally raped and killed by three unidentified men in Tamilnadu. The minor’s body was found in a shrub at the Anbal Village in the pudukottai district.

As per the prima facie evidence, she was last accompained by a neighbour who said that he was taking her to a nearby temple. Investigation is still going on. Neighbour is arrested on suspicion as he did not correctly answer in the police questions. Further investigation is under way.

The social media started trending #justiceforjayapriya to adress the concern of child rape and to seek justice.

Father-daughter Case

In the last three months, may cases have been reported of fathers raping their daughters across India. A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her father in Tamil Nadu last week. A cab driver, the accused hails from Nagapattinam district, and was arrested by the area’s all-women police force . He raped and impregnated his minor daughter repeatedly until the mother discovered the horror and took action.

He has two daughters and according to the police, the entire family shares one room to sleep. A Times Now report said the survivor complained of stomach ache and vomiting to her mother and that’s when she was taken to the hospital for check up. She was discovered pregnant and later the mother found out that her father had been reportedly raping the girl for three months.

The accused has been arrested under the POCSO Act and is in judicial custody. As per reports the girl will be admitted to one of the government homes and after that she will be sent to the child welfare committee (CWC) for counselling.

EFFECTS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE/ASSAULT ON  SURVIVORS

The sexual violence leaves a multipled effect especially when it leads to pregnancy or when the violence is passed from one generation to the other. Only few survivors or victim actually report the offence and seek medical and legal support making  it difficult to determine the prevalence of child sexual assaults. It requires an empowered victim, a supporting  reporting environment and a responsive legal system to report such offences.

The most heinous of all crimes against women is rape. Rape is not merely an offence, but it creates a scar in the marrows of the mind of the victim. In fact, an act of rape is an attack on her individuality and creates a permanent dent causing irreparable loss to her life. In spite of the legislative measures adopted for protection of women, the intensity of rape offences has not been reduced in any country. Numerous factors are considered to be responsible for this deplorable prevailing scenario, such as, poverty, widespread illiteracy, lack of awareness, extensive economic dependence and unbridled cultural male domination, etc.        

LEGAL SYSTEM AND PEOPLE

Many are hoping for a thorough reform of India’s judicial system, police procedures, social norms, and laws relating to violence against women. These hopes suggest that government intervention and the creation of new institutions is necessary to protect women. The truth is that India’s laws and stated policies are actually adequate to safeguarding the rights of its citizens. The gap lies in their implementation.

If the protests do not lead to any legal changes in the short run, we should not consider them to have failed. The social norms that are being created right now as a result of this national and international dialogue will be the true legacy of the victim and her supporters. The protests are two steps forward for women, to hope for change in the environment, to seek acceptance in the society.

India announced that more than 50 helplines have been started across India to help women facing domestic violence during the ongoing lockdown. The helplines are run by police, women welfare departments and NGOs working for the rights of women, the official said. The domestic abuse national helpline number is 181 while women police helpline numbers are 1091 and 1291.

NEED FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

Humans by nature are not violent. They are social animals. It is the society that shapes their attitudes and beliefs that give rise to their aspirations. Centuries of patriarchy have conditioned men to believe in their superiority and to look down upon women as inferior beings. The cosmetic industry, media, entertainment even sports thrive on the objectification of women. We have songs comparing women to ‘Tandoori Murgi’, ‘coca-cola’ or ‘gud Ki dali’ beckoning men to consume them. The caste system is another slur on our culture and needs to be abolished. Lower caste women are raped with impunity by men belonging to higher castes. Pornography is the leading industry. Presenting women as saleable commodities, consumer culture is encouraged. Since women are reduced to mere bodies so they can be violated and ravished sans any guilt.

CONCLUSION

Laws alone cannot provide a solution for this problem. In the last decade, reporting has increased, FIR registration has been made mandatory in rape cases. We have gender-sensitive protocols for medical examination and recording of statement of the victim. Law provides for speedy investigations and fast track of trials in rape cases. What we need is better policing, making public spaces safer for women, ensuring round the clock surveillance of isolated areas and deployment of police at all strategic points. It is not harsher punishments that will deter. It is the fear of being caught and not being spared. A system that ensures that no accused can manipulate or manage to wriggle out of the clutches of law. A system that deals with rape cases expeditiously from arrest till the execution of sentence and no one is spared. The message should go out loud and clear that ‘no one is above the law’.  We need to prevent rapes from happening. Prevention and not punishment is the solution and that requires concerted efforts on part of all the stakeholders.

Every Individual must respect the value of social binding,social morals and social responsibility to secure social justice.

sources:

1.timesnews

2.thehindu

3.shethepeople

Ragging – A punishable offence

Ragging is a disturbing reality in the higher education system of our country. Despite the fact that over the years ragging has claimed hundreds of innocent lives and has ruined careers of thousands of bright students, the practice is still perceived by many as a way of ‘familiarization’ and an ‘initiation into the real world’ for young college-going students.

Meaning and definition of ragging
The Supreme Court defined ragging in the Vishwa Jagriti matter (1999) as, “Any disorderly conduct whether by words spoken or written or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness any other student, indulging in rowdy or undisciplined activities which causes or is likely to cause annoyance, hardship or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student or asking the students to do any act or per form something which such student will not in the ordinary course and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of a fresher or a junior student.” ( Raghavan Committee Report, 2007)
Other organisations/bodies working in this field have also attempted to define ragging, the variety of definitions being reflective of differences in perspective and interpretation. In 2007, the Committee of Consultants to Raghavan Committee considered ragging “neither a means of familiarization nor an introduction with freshers, but a form of psychopathic behaviour and a reflection of deviant personalities. Further, ragging reproduces the entrenched power configurations prevalent in civil society.”
According to the UGC Regulation on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Institutions, 2009, ragging constitutes one or more of any of the following acts:


• Any conduct by any student or students whether by words spoken or written or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness a fresher or any other student.
• Indulging in rowdy or undisciplined activities by any student or students which causes or is likely to cause annoyance, hardship, physical or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in any fresher or any other student.
• Asking any student to do any act which such student will not in the ordinary course do and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame, or torment or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of such fresher or any other student.
• Any act by a senior student that prevents, disrupts or disturbs the regular academic activity of any other student or a fresher.
• Exploiting the services of a fresher or any other student for completing the academic tasks assigned to an individual or a group of students.
• Any act of financial extortion or forceful expenditure burden put on a fresher or any other student by students
• Any act of physical abuse including all variants of it: sexual abuse, homosexual assaults, stripping, forcing obscene and lewd acts, gestures, causing bodily harm or any other danger to health or person;
• Any act or abuse by spoken words, emails, post, public insults which would also include deriving perverted pleasure, vicarious or sadistic thrill from actively or passively participating in the discomfiture to fresher or any other student.
• Any act of physical or mental abuse (including bullying and exclusion) targeted at another student (fresher or otherwise) on the ground of colour, race, religion, caste, ethnicity, gender (including transgender), sexual orientation, appearance, nationality, regional origins, linguistic identity, place of birth, place of residence or economic background.
Government steps against ragging

The anti-ragging campaign got an impetus in 1999 when the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in response to a PIL filed by the Vishwa Jagriti Mission, asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to issue guidelines to universities to curb ragging. The UGC formed a four member committee under Prof K.P.S. Unny, Registrar of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, to examine and submit a report on ragging. In their recommendations, the Unny Committee put forward a Prohibition, Prevention and Punishment proposal i.e. prohibition by law, prevention by guidelines and punishment if the prohibition and punishment do not work. They recommended that central and state governments should enact laws against ragging. They suggested punishments ranging from cancellation of admission to a monetary fine of up to Rs. 25,000 and rigorous imprisonment of up to three years. The Committee also recommended various measures to be undertaken for sensitisation against ragging and highlighted the need for incentivizing wardens and students for their good conduct and anti-ragging activities. It was also suggested that institutions failing to curb ragging should be disaffiliated.


In 2006, the issue of ragging was once again brought to the forefront when the Supreme Court expressed its disappointment in the implementation of its previous guidelines and constituted another committee under Dr. R K Raghavan, Director CBI, to suggest means and methods to prevent ragging; to suggest possible action that can be taken against persons indulging in ragging; and to suggest possible action against institutions that fail to curb ragging. The committee made several important observations. It noted that ragging has many aspects, including psychological, social, political, economic and cultural, and that it adversely impacts the standards of higher education. It considered ragging as our failure to inculcate human values from the schooling stage. The Committee made some strong recommendations to curb ragging.

UGC Regulation on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009
In order to address the issue of increase in ragging cases in campuses, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has brought out the UGC Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009. These regulations are to be followed mandatorily by all Higher Educational Institutions. UGC has established an Anti-Ragging toll free “helpline” 1800-180-5522 in 12 languages for helping victims of ragging. The UGC has developed an Anti-Ragging Website – http://www.antiragging.in. The Portal contains the record of registered complaints received and the status of the action taken thereon.

Punishments accorded


According to the UGC Regulation on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009, depending on the nature and gravity of the guilt established by the Anti-Ragging Squad, those found guilty may be awarded one or more of the following punishments, namely;
• Suspension from attending classes and academic privileges.
• Withholding/ withdrawing scholarship/ fellowship and other benefits.
• Debarring from appearing in any test/ examination or other evaluation process.
• Withholding results.
• Debarring from representing the institution in any regional, national or international meet, tournament, youth festival, etc.
• Suspension/ expulsion from the hostel.
• Cancellation of admission.
• Rustication from the institution for period ranging from one to four semesters.
• Expulsion from the institution and consequent debarring from admission to any other institution for a specified period

D. Punishments under Indian Penal Code against acts of Ragging
• Every single incident of ragging or abetting in ragging puts an obligation on the institution to get the FIR registered. There are provisions in the IPC, which can be used by a student to register an FIR in the nearest Police Station. These provisions are:
• 294 – Obscene acts and songs
323 – punishment for voluntarily causing hurt
324 – voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon or means
325 – punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt
326 – voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon
339 – Wrongful Restraint
340 – Wrongful Confinement
341 – Punishment for Wrongful Restraint
342 – Punishment for Wrongful Confinement
506 – Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder

Publishing ragging is banned : The institutions are required to publish that the ragging is totally banned in the institution and anyone found doing/abetting ragging would be suitably punished.
Brochures/Application Form/Enrollment Form :The college brochures are required to mention these guidelines in full. The prospectus would include all directions of Supreme Court/Central and State Government as applicable. The application/enrollment form for admission will have an undertaking in English and Hindi and preferably one in regional language to be signed by parent/guardian. The school-leaving certificate should reflect the behavioral pattern of the student.
Affidavit of Student : A student during the admission process has to file an affidavit along with his parents/guardian’s signature, stating that he will not be ragging other students directly or indirectly.
Anti-Ragging Committee : Every institution shall constitute a committee to be known as the Anti-Ragging Committee. To be nominated and headed by the Head of the institution, and consisting of representatives of civil and police administration, local media, Non-Government Organizations involved in youth activities, representatives of faculty members, representatives of parents, representatives of students belonging to the freshers category as well as senior students, non-teaching staff; and shall have a diverse mix of membership in terms of levels as well as gender.


Contact detail of Anti Ragging Helpline/Anti Ragging Committee/Anti Ragging Squad : Every fresh student admitted to the institution shall be given a printed leaflet detailing to whom he/she has to turn to for help and guidance for various purposes including addresses and telephone numbers, so as to enable the student to contact the concerned person at any time. Identity of informants of ragging incidents is fully protected.
Anti ragging squad : Anti ragging committee would also monitor and oversee the performance of the Anti-Ragging Squad. It shall be the duty of the Anti-Ragging Squad to make surprise raids on hostels, and other places vulnerable to incidents of, and having the potential of, ragging.

Ragging is a problem of the students and by the students; and therefore, the solution to it also lies with the students. With ragging becoming rampant in colleges, it is about time that the the student community awakens its conscience to this inhuman practice before more and more innocent students become victims of it and before more and more educational institutes are degraded by it.

Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act – A great step to eradicate child labour

Children are one of the vulnerable groups in the society. Child labour is socio-economic phenomenon. This phenomenon is trapped in vicious circle by poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, demographic expansion, deep social prejudices and above all the government interest are commonly consider as the most prominent causative factors for large scale employment children.

As per the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, amended in 2016 (“CLPR Act”), a “Child” is defined as any person below the age of 14, and the CLPR Act prohibits employment of a Child in any employment including as a domestic help. It is a cognizable criminal offence to employ a Child for any work. Children between age of 14 and 18 are defined as “Adolescent” and the law allows Adolescent to be employed except in the listed hazardous occupation and processes which include mining, inflammable substance and explosives related work and any other hazardous process as per the Factories Act, 1948.

Indian constitution provides many provisions to the child, prohibited child labour and it also mention the rights of the child. They are,

The Article 15 : The state shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of race, religion, caste, sex and place of birth.


Article 23: prohibition of employment children from factories


Article 39: certain principles of policy to be followed by state that are referring to the secure of children that the health and strength of workers, men and women and the tender age of age children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter evacuation and unsuited their age and strength.


Article 45: provision for early childhood care and education to the children below the age of six years.


Article 21-A: right education the state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children age of six to 14 year.


Article 24 of Indian Constitution says Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc. which means child below the age fourteen years should not be employed in work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.

Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee


The Central Government may, if it thinks it to be necessary can constitute an advisory committee i.e. the Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee by giving notification about it in the Official Gazette. It is the duty of the Committee to advise the Central Government if there’s a need to add occupations or processes to the Schedule. The Central Government appoints the members of the Committee but the Committee should not exceed more than 10 members. The Committee shall also consist of a Chairman. There isn’t any limitation on the number of meetings Committee shall have. The Committee shall meet whenever they feel necessary and the meetings shall be regulated according to the procedure which shall be decided by them.
The Committee may itself constitute one or more sub-committees if they feel a need to do so.
The Chairman and other members of the Committee are entitled to an allowance.

THE CHILD LABOUR (PROHIBITION AND REGULATION)AMENDMENT ACT, 2016

Objectives of the Act

Prohibit the engagement of children in all occupations and to prohibit the engagement of adolescents in hazardous occupations and processes and thematters connected therewith or incidental thereto

Under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, children younger than 14 years can now work in family enterprises and farms after school hours and during holidays. Children working as artists in the audio-visual entertainment industry, including advertisement, films, television serials or any such other entertainment or sports activities, except the circus, have also been granted exemption, provided the work does not affect their school education.
Besides, the Act provides banning employment of children between 15-18 years in hazardous works, in sync with the Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009.

The Bill enhances the punishment for employing any child in an occupation. It also includes penalty for employing an adolescent in a hazardous occupation.

The penalty for employing a child was increased to imprisonment between 6 months and two years (from 3 months-one year) or a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 (from Rs 10,000-20,000) or both.


The penalty for employing an adolescent in hazardous occupation is imprisonment between 6 months and two years or a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 or both.
anyone repeats offences like employing child or employing adolescents in hazardous occupations mentions in this act under section 3A, they shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to three years.

[section 2] of The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986 defines, ‘child’ means a person who has not completed his 14 years of age.

[section 2 (i)]
(i ) “adolescent” means a person who has completed his fourteenth year of age but has not completed his eighteenth year;

[section 3] No child shall be employed or permitted to work
in any occupation or process (The Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2012 ) under this section, no child shall be employed are permitted to work in any establishment, occupation or process. Which means child should not be employed are permitted to work anywhere. but according to the [section 3 (2)] child is permitted to work at their own family business and audio & visual industry. provided that such work should not hamper or effect School education of a child.

[section 3 (2)]
According to the new amendment, child is allowed to work at certain places mentioned below.
(a) helps his family or family enterprise, which is other than any hazardous occupations or processes set forth in the Schedule, after his school hours or during vacations;

(b) works as an artist in an audio-visual entertainment industry, including advertisement, films, television serials or any such other entertainment or sports activities except the circus, subject to such conditions and safety measures, as may be prescribed: Provided that no such work under this clause shall effect the school education of the child.

Explanation.—
For the purposes of this section, the expression,

(a) ‘‘family’’ in relation to a child, means his mother, father, brother,sister and father’s sister and brother and mother’s sister and brother;
(b) ‘‘family enterprise’’ means any work, profession, manufacture or business which is performed by the members of the family with the engagement of other persons;

(c) ‘‘artist’’ means a child who performs or practices any work as a hobby or profession directly involving him as an actor, singer, sports person or in such other activity as may be prescribed relating to the entertainment or sports activities falling under clause (b) of sub-section
(2).section 3A] No adolescent shall be employed or permitted to work in any of the hazardous occupations or processes set forth in the Schedule:

THE SCHEDULE

(1) Mines.
(2) Inflammable substances or explosives.
(3) Hazardous process.

Explanation.—
For the purposes of this Schedule, “hazardous process” has the meaning assigned to it in clause (cb) of the Factories Act, 1948.’
(cb) “hazardous process” means any process or activity in relation to an industry specified in the First Schedule where, unless special care is taken, raw materials used therein or the intermediate or finished products, bye-products, wastes, or effluents thereof would-
(i) cause material impairment to the health of the persons engaged in or connected therewith, or
(ii) result in the pollution of the general environment:

[section 7] Hours and period of work (adolescent only)

(1) No adolescent shall be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of such number of hours, as may be prescribed for such establishment or class of establishments.

(2) The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed three hours and that no adolescent shall work for more than three hours before he has had an interval for rest for at least one hour.

(3) The period of work of a adolescent shall be so arranged that inclusive of his interval for rest, under sub-section (2), it shall not be spread over more than six hours, including the time spent in waiting for work on any day.

(4) No adolescent shall be permitted or required to work between 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.

(5) No adolescent shall be required or permitted to work overtime.

(6) No adolescent shall be required or permitted to work in, any establishment on any day on which he has already been working in another establishment.

[section 8] Weekly holidays (adolescent only)
Every adolescent employed in establishment should be allowed to have a holiday for a whole day once in a week.

[section 9] Notice to Inspector
Every employer who employed adolescent at his establishment should intimate to the inspector appointed by the government within 30 days from date of employment of child.

[Section 10]. DISPUTES AS TO AGE. (adolescent) –
If any question arises between an Inspector and an occupier as to the age of any adolescent who is employed or is permitted to work by him in an establishment, the question shall, in the absence of a certificate as to the age of such child granted by the prescribed medical authority, be referred by the Inspector for decision to the prescribed medical authority.

[section 11] Maintenance of register any establishment where adolescent is employed or permitted to work, a register should be maintained by the owner of establishment and should be made available all the times during working hours for inspection by Inspector appointed by the government for this purpose. The register should contain following details

  1. Name of the child
  2. date of birth of the child
  3. number of working hours and internal for rest to child
  4. nature of work dealing child
  5. any other particulars
  6. Section 13 ] Healthy and Safety (adolescent )

Appropriate government is having power make rules on the following matters for the health and safety of the children employed or permitted to work in any establishment or class of establishments.

(a) cleanliness in the place of work and its freedom from nuisance;
(b) disposal of wastes and effluents;
(c) ventilation and temperature;
(d) dust and fume;
(e) artificial humidification;
(f) lighting;

  1. (g) drinking water;
    (h) latrine and urinals;
    (i) spittoons;
    (j) fencing of machinery;
    (k) work at or near machinery in motion;
    (l) employment of children on dangerous machines;
    (m) instructions, training and supervision in relation to employment of children on dangerous machines;
    (n) device for cutting off power;
    (o) self-acting machines;
    (p) easing of new machinery;
    (q) floor, stairs and means of access;
    (r) pits, sumps, openings in floors, etc.;
    (s) excessive weights;
    (t) protection of eyes;
    (u) explosive or inflammable dust, gas, etc.;
    (v) precautions in case of fire;
    (w) maintenance of buildings; and
    (x) safety of buildings and machinery

Constitution of Child and Adolescent Labour Rehabilitation Fund

Section 14B. (1) The appropriate Government shall constitute a Fund in every district or for two or more districts to be called the Child and Adolescent Labour
Rehabilitation Fund to which the amount of the fine realized from the employer of the child and adolescent, within the jurisdiction of such district or districts, shall be credited.

(2) The appropriate Government shall credit an amount of Rs. 15000/- to the Fund for each child or adolescent for whom the fine amount has been credited under sub-section
(1).

(3) The amount credited to the Fund under sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be deposited in such banks or invested in such manner, as the appropriate Government may decide.

(4) The amount deposited or invested, as the case may be under sub-section (3), and the interest accrued on it, shall be paid to the child or adolescent in whose favour such amount is credited, in such manner as may be prescribed.

Explanation:—


For the purposes of appropriate Government, the Central Government shall include the Administrator or the Lieutenant Governor of a Union territory under article 239A of the Constitution.

Rehabilitation of child or adolescent
14C. The child or adolescent, who is employed in contravention of the provisions of this Act and rescued, shall be rehabilitated in accordance with the laws for the time being in force.

Fails to pay


Section 14D (2) If the accused fails to pay such amount for composition of the offence, then, the proceedings shall be continued against such person in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Inspite of all the measures taken by the government, child labour still prevails in the society. Let us hope for a better future where child labour will be eradicated completely.

Graduates of WhatsApp University

My phone chimes with a notification sound, while the birds from the trees and skies chirp outside, my phone twitters me awake at 5:30 in the morning. My alarm is yet to wake me up but I turn it off nevertheless and reach for my device or ‘WhatsApp’ to be specific. It is now 5:45am, the Sun is not out yet but my mobile screen is brighter than ever. The world has entered my room bombarding me with wisdom and a flower wishing me good morning. It is demanding my attention, comments, jokes, wits, opinions and some fun emojis.

Continue reading “Graduates of WhatsApp University” →

Friend is a friend

Why can’t I spend the time with friends who are with me? Why am I speaking to some other friends who are far apart and spending time? Today I observed that one of my friend felt sad and shared his sadness to some other friend who is also a friend of mine. That mutual friend said it would be better to spend time with the person who is beside us rather than speaking to someone else and talking about past.

Enjoy the present with the people who are present before us. Why can’t I see what’s infront of me and try to figure out a way to spend some time here. I don’t know why I like to spend the time there in the past but not in the present. I think of spending some time but it just stops at thinking. I should speak to the people who are with me whether I like them or not. I should atleast pay attention if not so give some importance for a period of time. May be everyone forget their surroundings when they speak on phone. It’s not the problem with me, it’s everyone’s. Atleast try to give a reply if not respond.

Speaking for speaking isn’t replying, it’s just nodding. Have time for everyone. Know where to spend the time and with whom. Living in the moment doesn’t mean staying alive. It’s the choice you make yourself to spend effective time with the person. Postpone your things and live with the person who is living beside you. Have a clear thought on your life and live there. Living in the past can also be done in future but living in present can be done only in present. Present is a present to your life.

I am thinking not to speak in phone while I am with my friends. He can also do the same but he didn’t and he tries to spend the time with the people around hin ine way or the other. Speaking with old friend might make you happy but leaving behind your friend and speaking to him makes the guy with you sad. You should have a balance between the friends and know when to spend with whom . The priority isn’t the person, it’s time. The person with you shouldn’t feel alone when he is with you. Atleast he might feel uninterested but feeling lonely isn’t acceptable.

Lead a life where you should give a lead to others on how to lead a leading life. Have a thought, give a pause and make a decision with your brain because heart will definitely choose your closest friend and makes you to speak with him. Brain makes you think in a logical way and makes a calculative decision. Decide before you do because after that your decision won’t reflect your doings. I am hoping to change myself and treat everyone in same manner when they are with me. If you have a friend beside you and trying to spend some time with you, then be patient if he’s uninterested, be calm if he’s too talkitive. Spend some time with your peers.

Who delivers the Amazon cardboard boxes???

Cardboard boxes that have been used for generations and thrived in the age of e-commerce continue to flourish or could the cardboard box be facing a new challenger? Cardboard boxes are a very big deal within the U.S. The United States is the Saudi Arabia of trees. Someone’s going to make the first box and that’s almost inevitably a mill generally in the Southeast United States. China certainly doesn’t have trees and India the extent they do have trees they’re not necessarily the right types of trees and shouldn’t be dedicated towards making boxes for us. The box business grew rapidly up through 1999 when the U.S. coordinated box market had its peak shipment. Starting in the early 2000s the U.S. corrugated box market faced multiple economic obstacles.

The great recession dragged on box demand and even after the recession demand continued to slow for commodity like soda and for the boxes that transport them. The move to digital devices also coincided with a drop in demand for copy paper and newsprint. But box makers found a grace in e-commerce sales and Amazon sale specifically which were growing at mostly integer rates within the recession and post-recession years. Those e-commerce sales have become a significant market for the containerboard industry. In 2018 told a U.S. e-commerce sales were estimated to be $512 billion almost 50 percent higher than in 2015. Amazon captured 48 percent of those sales. Most estimates are that e-commerce accounts for about 10 percent of the U.S. box market. Amazon accounts for close to 5 percent of U.S. box demand. By our estimates they are clearly the single largest box user in the US. International Paper with a third of the market I think does closer to 50 percent of all the amazon boxes evidently they got a bit more share than perhaps some of the smaller players.

Amazon's incredible, vanishing cardboard box - CNN

Amazon said they deal with most of the big box makers across the U.S. according to analysts. Those manufacturers include International Paper, WestRock, Packaging Corporation of America and Georgia-Pacific. Some investors were turning to these companies as a way to invest in the e-commerce giant without having to purchase Amazon’s pricey stock. People didn’t really start talking about buying International Paper or WestRock as a secondary investment in Amazon till about the last five years. Despite the boost from e-commerce sales the box business still isn’t growing all that much. And since 2018 their stocks have mostly underperformed the S&P 500. In 2018, 69 percent of International Papers total revenue came from the box business and that sales volume has been mostly flat for the past five years. Although the big producers sold less boxes in 2018 than in 2000, industry consolidation has dramatically narrowed the fields.

The handful of big players remaining are based in Memphis, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia and Lake Forest, Illinois. Analysts have told CNBC that substantial industry mergers have made it easier to collectively hike prices and those price increases have helped drive revenue. There are portions of the business that are in indisputable secular decline but if you’re in the brown part of the business, making these boxes, that’s been some very welcome growth. But those extra boxes piling up on people’s doorsteps have led to a backlash from disgruntled customers who are sick of receiving golf ball sized products in supersized boxes. It used to be that you’d order a toothbrush and it would come in three giant boxes and you’d say to yourself, what is this? Well, Amazon is trying to rectify that by using fewer boxes and using other types of packaging where appropriate. With e-commerce packaging underfire Amazon decided to change the way they do shipping. In 2008, Amazon introduced the Frustration Free Packaging program. It aims to reduce the extra packaging created when retail packaged products are placed inside Amazon boxes to be shipped. Instead, products certified in the program that are roughly the size of a blender or larger need to be packaged in their own ready to ship boxes. And those boxes also need to be made of 100 percent recyclable materials. For customers that means that the packaging is easy to recycle and the box is easy to open without all the excess packaging materials.

Use That Pile of Empty Amazon Boxes to Do Something Wonderful ...

Amazon offered vendors an incentive of a dollar per shipment to modify their packaging. And starting August 1st 2019 Amazon is charging a $1.99 penalty for each product shipped that needs to be reboxed. And basically the point of this deadline is for Amazon to get out of the business of packaging. They want their vendors to send them boxes that Amazon doesn’t have to touch or rebox. Over the last two years we have invented two different kinds of flexible mailers. One is the blue and white all plastic mailer. We’ve recently launched in the last six, eight months a paper padded mailer that’s actually fully recyclable with the paper stream. Amazon said they made about 10 million shipments using the paper padded mailer and depending on the month the plastic mailer is used about 20 to 30 percent of the time. So really when we come down to deciding if the product is of the size it can go on a mailer, it’s not likely to be damaged by going in the mailer, the mailer is always the better fitting option and frankly is easier for the customer to choose to recycle than breaking down a corrugate box. We’re driving in that direction for many different reasons. But those plastic mailers generally are not accepted in municipal recycling programs and you’ll need to bring them to a store that accepts plastic bags. The latest stats from the EPA show that corrugated boxes were recycled at a rate of 92 percent in 2015 while plastic bags, sacks and wraps were recycled at a rate of 13 percent in 2015.

AMAZON E-COMMERCE SELLERS, IT'S TIME TO REVIEW YOUR ADVERTISING ...

When you think about what is the greatest pain point for the consumer after having it get there safely arrive on time people are concerned about receiving something that is plastic or made a poly because of the environmental concerns. Some waste management companies say plastic packaging also causes problems for the recycling systems. Plastic mailers get caught in the recycling machinery slowing down the process and raising the costs for recyclers and sometimes contaminating entire bundles. Until Scotty on the Enterprise can beam the products from the warehouse to your living room I think Amazon’s going to be good for the corrugated business. I think there’s going to be noise I think you’re going to have challenges from time to time where people say, “Should we try and the plastic pouch?”, in the long run plastic is going to be on the wrong side of history. Because Amazon is a market leader in the U.S. e-commerce sector any move away from cardboard to plastic mailers could signal a shift for the entire industry. The corrugated box could be about to undergo a major facelift. We’re seeing some major trends among consumers and what they’re expecting from e-commerce and the first one is actually this desire for increased engagement with the package. In 2015, Amazon partnered with Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment to ship orders in bright yellow delivery boxes featuring cartoon characters from the movie Minions. The boxes promoting the movie and a special Amazon U.R.L. dedicated to shopping for merchandise from the film.