Arrival of Portuguese in India

The Portuguese State of India was a Portuguese colonial state on the Indian Subcontinent. Vasco De Gama was the first Portuguese to set foot in India in 1498. However, Portuguese control in India is considered to have lasted from 1505 until 1961. Although Portuguese colonialism outlasted its English counterpart, it had little influence outside of its territories. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in India and the last to go.

Portugal’s Early Years in India
When Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut on the Malabar Coast on May 20, 1498, Portuguese colonialism began in earnest. He met with the ruler of Calicut, the Zamorin, and received permission to trade in Calicut. But Vasco da Gama was unable to pay the customs duties and the cost of his merchandise. The Zamorin’s officials detained some of Vasco da Gama’s soldiers when the duties were not paid. This enraged him so much that he kidnapped some Indians and fisherman. However, the voyage was a success in the eyes of the Portuguese authorities in Lisbon. A sea path around the Ottoman Empire was discovered, and the expedition made a profit well in excess of its initial cost.

Expansion of Portuguese Colonialism
Vasco da Gama established a base of operations on the Malabar coast after further conflict with the Zamorin Kingdom. Francisco de Almeida, the first viceroy, placed his headquarters in what is now Cochin. Alfonso de Albuquerque, the second governer of the Portuguese territories in the East, was appointed in 1509. Off the coast of Calicut, a Portuguese fleet led by Marshal Fernão Coutinho arrives. Their orders were quite clear: destroy the Zamorin. The city was levelled and the palace of the Zamorins was taken, but the local soldiers rallied and attacked the invading Portuguese, forcing them to retreat and wounded Albuquerque. In 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the Sultanate of Bijapur, establishing Goa as a permanent settlement. It would later become the viceroy’s seat and the headquarters of the Portuguese colonial conquests in India. Modern-day Mumbai was likewise a colonial possession until 1661, when it was handed over to the British. From 1799 until 1813, the British conquered Goa for a brief while, eradicating the final vestiges of the inquisition. The capital was moved to Panjim, which was later renamed Nova Goa, in 1843, when it became the administrative center of Portuguese India. For the next century, Portuguese control would be limited to Goa and the enclaves of Diu and Daman.

Cause of Decline of Portugal in India
While the British granted independence to most of India, the Portuguese retained colonial colonies in India. Local anti-Portuguese demonstrations in Goa were violently suppressed. Despite repeated pleas from the Indian government, the Portuguese government, led by dictator António de Oliveira Salaza, refused to hand over its colonial holdings, saying that they were an intrinsic part of Portuguese territory. The invasion of Goa by the Indian troops took place in December 1961. The Portuguese attempted to resist against overwhelming odds, but were quickly crushed by the Indian Army. On December 19, 1961, the Governor of Portuguese India signed the Instrument of Surrender, freeing Goa after 450 years of Portuguese domination in India.

Arrival of Portuguese in India

The Portuguese State of India was a Portuguese colonial state on the Indian Subcontinent. Vasco De Gama was the first Portuguese to set foot in India in 1498. However, Portuguese control in India is considered to have lasted from 1505 until 1961. Although Portuguese colonialism outlasted its English counterpart, it had little influence outside of its territories. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in India and the last to go.

Portugal’s Early Years in India
When Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut on the Malabar Coast on May 20, 1498, Portuguese colonialism began in earnest. He met with the ruler of Calicut, the Zamorin, and received permission to trade in Calicut. But Vasco da Gama was unable to pay the customs duties and the cost of his merchandise. The Zamorin’s officials detained some of Vasco da Gama’s soldiers when the duties were not paid. This enraged him so much that he kidnapped some Indians and fisherman. However, the voyage was a success in the eyes of the Portuguese authorities in Lisbon. A sea path around the Ottoman Empire was discovered, and the expedition made a profit well in excess of its initial cost.

Expansion of Portuguese Colonialism
Vasco da Gama established a base of operations on the Malabar coast after further conflict with the Zamorin Kingdom. Francisco de Almeida, the first viceroy, placed his headquarters in what is now Cochin. Alfonso de Albuquerque, the second governer of the Portuguese territories in the East, was appointed in 1509. Off the coast of Calicut, a Portuguese fleet led by Marshal Fernão Coutinho arrives. Their orders were quite clear: destroy the Zamorin. The city was levelled and the palace of the Zamorins was taken, but the local soldiers rallied and attacked the invading Portuguese, forcing them to retreat and wounded Albuquerque. In 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the Sultanate of Bijapur, establishing Goa as a permanent settlement. It would later become the viceroy’s seat and the headquarters of the Portuguese colonial conquests in India. Modern-day Mumbai was likewise a colonial possession until 1661, when it was handed over to the British. From 1799 until 1813, the British conquered Goa for a brief while, eradicating the final vestiges of the inquisition. The capital was moved to Panjim, which was later renamed Nova Goa, in 1843, when it became the administrative center of Portuguese India. For the next century, Portuguese control would be limited to Goa and the enclaves of Diu and Daman.

Cause of Decline of Portugal in India
While the British granted independence to most of India, the Portuguese retained colonial colonies in India. Local anti-Portuguese demonstrations in Goa were violently suppressed. Despite repeated pleas from the Indian government, the Portuguese government, led by dictator António de Oliveira Salaza, refused to hand over its colonial holdings, saying that they were an intrinsic part of Portuguese territory. The invasion of Goa by the Indian troops took place in December 1961. The Portuguese attempted to resist against overwhelming odds, but were quickly crushed by the Indian Army. On December 19, 1961, the Governor of Portuguese India signed the Instrument of Surrender, freeing Goa after 450 years of Portuguese domination in India.

Forgotten Inventions by Indian sages

Many modern-day scientists see themselves as the first to create all the technological advancements we use today. Yet many of the so-called discoveries are nothing more than re-inventions created by examining the knowledge of the ancients. Many things related to science and invention have their origins in the thoughts and imagination of the sages of Ancient India. Indian culture has evolved over the ages by India’s ancient Rishis, who at the banks of its holy rivers had ‘discovered’ the Vedic literature – the very foundation of Indian civilization. The term ‘Rishi’ originally denoted the composers and singers of Vedic hymns. However, the Rishi is also a ‘sage’ to whom the Gods revealed the Vedas (knowledge of the eternal truths about the Creator, His creation and means to preserve it).Some lost works of science by Indian sages are-

Acharya Sushruta – Father of Surgery

Acharya Sushruta was a great Indian Physician and was known to be as the Father of Surgery or Father of Plastic Surgery. The Sushruta Samhita is one of the most important survived ancient texts on medicine and it is considered a foundational text of Ayurveda. He was the world’s first surgeon who performed complicated surgeries 2600 years ago.The Sushruta Samhita has 184 chapters containing descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparation based on animal sources. It describes thoroughly the surgical techniques of making incisions, extractions of foreign body or particles, how to probe, excisions, tooth extraction, how to remove prostate gland, dilation of Urethral stricture, vesicolithotomy, hernia surgery, how to do C-section (Caesarian for baby delivery), laparotomy, management of intestinal obstruction, perforated intestines and accidental perforation of the abdomen with protrusion of omentum and the principle of fracture management. He also classified the eye diseases including cataract surgery.It is interesting to note that when surgery was not even heard and performed by the other parts of the world, here Sushruta was performing Rhinoplasty and many other challenging operations.

Panini – Father of Linguistics

Panini was an ancient Sanskrit philologist, grammarian and a received scholar in ancient India. He is considered as First Descriptive Linguist and is known as the Father of Linguistics. He is well known for his text Astadhyayi, a Sutra on Sanskrit grammar. He analyzed the noun compounds which is still been followed in the theories of the Indian language. Panini’s comprehensive and scientific theory on grammar is conventionally taken to mark the start of Classical Sanskrit.The Astadhyayi is the oldest linguistic and grammar text of any language and of Sanskrit surviving in its entity. His rules have a reputation for perfection – he described the Sanskrit morphology completely. Panini made use of technical metalanguage consisting of syntax, morphology and Lexicon. This metalanguage is organized according to a series of Meta – rules, some of which are explicitly stated while others can be deduced.The Astadhyayi consists of 3,959 sutras in eight chapters. This text attracted many of the ancient authors to upgrade their text in terms of Language.

Acharya Nagarjuna – Master of Chemical Science

Nagarjuna was a great Indian metallurgist and alchemistHe did his research for around 12 years in the field of chemistry and metallurgy. Textual masterpieces like “Ras Ratnakar”, “Rashrudaya” and “Rasebdramangal” are his renowned contributions to the science of chemistry. He also discovered the alchemy of transmuting base metals into gold. He did his experiments especially on mercury. He distinguished between the metals and the sub metals and also between solvents and soluble. He stated that Mercury could dissolve all metals. He also invented the processes of “Distillation” and “Calcinations”. He was the first person in the planet to use a Mercury as medicine. He found five types of mercury: red and grey were good; yellow, white or multi colored had so much of bad qualities and this should use as a medicine after several treatments.Alchemist or today what we called as Chemist was the Gifts for Nagarjuna. He made several discoveries which was the path to the other discovers to lead in this field.

Baudhayana – Discovered Pythagoras Theorem

Baudhayana was a great Mathematician, who was also called a priest. He is the author of the Sulba Sutra which contained several important mathematical results. He discovered the several concepts in mathematics which was later rediscovered by the other scientist in the western world. The value of the pie was discovered by him. Today all know how to use the pie and where to use (calculating the area and the circumference of a circle). He also discovered Pythagoras Theorem in Sulba Sutra. He provided how to find a circle whose area is the same as that of a square. The other theorems includes the diagonals of rectangle bisect with each other, diagonals of rhombus bisect at right angles, area of square formed by joining the mid points of a square is half of original.The mathematics given in the Sulba Sutras is there to enable the accurate construction of altars needed for sacrifices. It is clear from the writing that Baudhayana must have been a skilled craftsman. He was a great Practitioner.

Acharya Aryabhata – Motions of the Solar System

Acharya Aryabhata was the first mathematician astronomer from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy and is not an unknown name. His major work on Aryabhatiya was very successful. It is extensively referred in the Indian mathematical literature and has been survived to modern times.

Acharya Aryabhata correctly stated that the earth rotates about its axis dailyr. He also stated that the motion of the stars are being observed just because the earth is rotating. He was also succeeded in explaining the geocentric model of the Solar System. The positions and periods of the planet was calculated relative to uniformly moving points. He stated that the Mercury and Venus move around the earth at the same speed as of the sun. He was also succeeded in explaining eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on earth. He also mentioned Units of Time or the Sidereal rotation that earth takes 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 second to complete one revolution and the sidereal year has 365 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds which in turn adds an extra one day every after four years which is called a leap year.Calendric calculation which was devised by him is still being used in India for Practical purposes for fixing the Hindu calendar. India’s first satellite Aryabhata and the lunar crater Aryabhata are both named in his honor.

Maharishi Bharadwaj –Invention of the First Airplane of Earth

In 1875, the Vymaanika Shaastra, a 4th Century BC text written by Sage Bharadwaj was discovered in a temple in India. The book greatly deals with the operation of ancient vimanas and included information on steering, precautions for long flights, protection of the airships from storms and lightning and how to switch the drive of solar energy or some other form of energy.

One of the chapter will reveal the secrets of constructing aeroplanes that cannot be broken or cut, that is indestructible, that is fire resistant. It also deals with the secret of making planes motionless and invisible. It also describes how to defeat the enemy planes etc. as per the Sage Bharadwaj the vimanas were classifies as per the Yugas. During the period of Krita Yuga, Dharma was establishes firmly. The pushpak Vimana which was used by Ravan was an Aerial vehicle. He used this vehicle to kidnap Sita from jungle and took him to his Kingdom Srilanka. Ramayana was during the Treta Yug in which the Vimanas were highly discovered. During this period “Laghima” gave them the power to lighten their vehicle do they can travel freely in the air.In present Kaliyuga both Mantra and Tantra Shakti are almost vanished from the earth and so the ability to control vehicle has also been gone. Today the artificial vehicles are built which is called as Kritaka Vimanas.

https://pravase.co.in/gyan-detail/86/indian-sages-scientist-invention-in-science-medicine

Forgotten Inventions by Indian sages

Many modern-day scientists see themselves as the first to create all the technological advancements we use today. Yet many of the so-called discoveries are nothing more than re-inventions created by examining the knowledge of the ancients. Many things related to science and invention have their origins in the thoughts and imagination of the sages of Ancient India. Indian culture has evolved over the ages by India’s ancient Rishis, who at the banks of its holy rivers had ‘discovered’ the Vedic literature – the very foundation of Indian civilization. The term ‘Rishi’ originally denoted the composers and singers of Vedic hymns. However, the Rishi is also a ‘sage’ to whom the Gods revealed the Vedas (knowledge of the eternal truths about the Creator, His creation and means to preserve it).Some lost works of science by Indian sages are-

Acharya Sushruta – Father of Surgery

Acharya Sushruta was a great Indian Physician and was known to be as the Father of Surgery or Father of Plastic Surgery. The Sushruta Samhita is one of the most important survived ancient texts on medicine and it is considered a foundational text of Ayurveda. He was the world’s first surgeon who performed complicated surgeries 2600 years ago.The Sushruta Samhita has 184 chapters containing descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants, 64 preparations from mineral sources and 57 preparation based on animal sources. It describes thoroughly the surgical techniques of making incisions, extractions of foreign body or particles, how to probe, excisions, tooth extraction, how to remove prostate gland, dilation of Urethral stricture, vesicolithotomy, hernia surgery, how to do C-section (Caesarian for baby delivery), laparotomy, management of intestinal obstruction, perforated intestines and accidental perforation of the abdomen with protrusion of omentum and the principle of fracture management. He also classified the eye diseases including cataract surgery.It is interesting to note that when surgery was not even heard and performed by the other parts of the world, here Sushruta was performing Rhinoplasty and many other challenging operations.

Panini – Father of Linguistics

Panini was an ancient Sanskrit philologist, grammarian and a received scholar in ancient India. He is considered as First Descriptive Linguist and is known as the Father of Linguistics. He is well known for his text Astadhyayi, a Sutra on Sanskrit grammar. He analyzed the noun compounds which is still been followed in the theories of the Indian language. Panini’s comprehensive and scientific theory on grammar is conventionally taken to mark the start of Classical Sanskrit.The Astadhyayi is the oldest linguistic and grammar text of any language and of Sanskrit surviving in its entity. His rules have a reputation for perfection – he described the Sanskrit morphology completely. Panini made use of technical metalanguage consisting of syntax, morphology and Lexicon. This metalanguage is organized according to a series of Meta – rules, some of which are explicitly stated while others can be deduced.The Astadhyayi consists of 3,959 sutras in eight chapters. This text attracted many of the ancient authors to upgrade their text in terms of Language.

Acharya Nagarjuna – Master of Chemical Science

Nagarjuna was a great Indian metallurgist and alchemistHe did his research for around 12 years in the field of chemistry and metallurgy. Textual masterpieces like “Ras Ratnakar”, “Rashrudaya” and “Rasebdramangal” are his renowned contributions to the science of chemistry. He also discovered the alchemy of transmuting base metals into gold. He did his experiments especially on mercury. He distinguished between the metals and the sub metals and also between solvents and soluble. He stated that Mercury could dissolve all metals. He also invented the processes of “Distillation” and “Calcinations”. He was the first person in the planet to use a Mercury as medicine. He found five types of mercury: red and grey were good; yellow, white or multi colored had so much of bad qualities and this should use as a medicine after several treatments.Alchemist or today what we called as Chemist was the Gifts for Nagarjuna. He made several discoveries which was the path to the other discovers to lead in this field.

Baudhayana – Discovered Pythagoras Theorem

Baudhayana was a great Mathematician, who was also called a priest. He is the author of the Sulba Sutra which contained several important mathematical results. He discovered the several concepts in mathematics which was later rediscovered by the other scientist in the western world. The value of the pie was discovered by him. Today all know how to use the pie and where to use (calculating the area and the circumference of a circle). He also discovered Pythagoras Theorem in Sulba Sutra. He provided how to find a circle whose area is the same as that of a square. The other theorems includes the diagonals of rectangle bisect with each other, diagonals of rhombus bisect at right angles, area of square formed by joining the mid points of a square is half of original.The mathematics given in the Sulba Sutras is there to enable the accurate construction of altars needed for sacrifices. It is clear from the writing that Baudhayana must have been a skilled craftsman. He was a great Practitioner.

Acharya Aryabhata – Motions of the Solar System

Acharya Aryabhata was the first mathematician astronomer from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy and is not an unknown name. His major work on Aryabhatiya was very successful. It is extensively referred in the Indian mathematical literature and has been survived to modern times.

Acharya Aryabhata correctly stated that the earth rotates about its axis dailyr. He also stated that the motion of the stars are being observed just because the earth is rotating. He was also succeeded in explaining the geocentric model of the Solar System. The positions and periods of the planet was calculated relative to uniformly moving points. He stated that the Mercury and Venus move around the earth at the same speed as of the sun. He was also succeeded in explaining eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on earth. He also mentioned Units of Time or the Sidereal rotation that earth takes 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.1 second to complete one revolution and the sidereal year has 365 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds which in turn adds an extra one day every after four years which is called a leap year.Calendric calculation which was devised by him is still being used in India for Practical purposes for fixing the Hindu calendar. India’s first satellite Aryabhata and the lunar crater Aryabhata are both named in his honor.

Maharishi Bharadwaj –Invention of the First Airplane of Earth

In 1875, the Vymaanika Shaastra, a 4th Century BC text written by Sage Bharadwaj was discovered in a temple in India. The book greatly deals with the operation of ancient vimanas and included information on steering, precautions for long flights, protection of the airships from storms and lightning and how to switch the drive of solar energy or some other form of energy.

One of the chapter will reveal the secrets of constructing aeroplanes that cannot be broken or cut, that is indestructible, that is fire resistant. It also deals with the secret of making planes motionless and invisible. It also describes how to defeat the enemy planes etc. as per the Sage Bharadwaj the vimanas were classifies as per the Yugas. During the period of Krita Yuga, Dharma was establishes firmly. The pushpak Vimana which was used by Ravan was an Aerial vehicle. He used this vehicle to kidnap Sita from jungle and took him to his Kingdom Srilanka. Ramayana was during the Treta Yug in which the Vimanas were highly discovered. During this period “Laghima” gave them the power to lighten their vehicle do they can travel freely in the air.In present Kaliyuga both Mantra and Tantra Shakti are almost vanished from the earth and so the ability to control vehicle has also been gone. Today the artificial vehicles are built which is called as Kritaka Vimanas.

https://pravase.co.in/gyan-detail/86/indian-sages-scientist-invention-in-science-medicine

Doctrines of Indian constitution

India's founders gave us our Constitution. We must prove to them that we  can keep it

Indian constitution is one of the largest constitutions in the world. Even though it is a compilation of borrowed ideas from several parts of the world, it upholds the values and vision of the great freedom fighters who shed their blood for our nation. The constitution has played a significant role in holding together this huge diverse nation for a period of 75 years. On examining each and every aspect of the constitution the vision shared by the visionaries become more evident.

Doctrines of the constitution are general guidelines laid for enabling proper interpretation of the constitution. It is acts as a guide for the law makers as well as implementers.

The doctrines are:

Doctrine of eclipse

The Doctrine of Eclipse states that any law which is inconsistent with fundamental rights is not invalid. It is not totally dead but overshadowed by the fundamental right. The inconsistency (conflict) can be removed by constitutional amendment. This doctrine emanates directly from Article 13(1) of the Constitution that is a part of the fundamental rights, which states, “all laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, i.e. Part III, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void.” The doctrine of eclipse envisages fundamental rights as prospective in nature. It states that a pre-constitutional law inconsistent with the fundamental rights is not nullity or void ab initio but only remains unenforceable, i.e., remains in a dormant state. They exist for all past transactions, i.e., for rights and liabilities that were acquired before the Constitution came into being.

Doctrine of severability

This doctrine of severability is also known as the doctrine of separability.  The word “to the extent of the inconsistency or contravention” makes it clear that when some of the provision of a statue when some of the provisions of a statute becomes unconstitutional on account of inconsistency with fundamental rights, only to the repugnant provision of the law in question shall be treated by the courts as void, and not the whole statute. The doctrine of severability means that when some particular provision of a statute offends or is against a constitutional limitation, but that provision is severable from the rest of the statute, only that offending provision will be declared void by the Court and not the entire statute.

Doctrine of judicial review

The doctrine of Judicial review is basically the power of the judiciary to decide on the constitutional validity of the acts of the other wings of the government (the executive and the legislative). The objective is to regulate any such acts which may contravene the constitution. For instance, if any act of the law-making bodies is such that it negates the provisions given in the constitution, it is important that it should be made null and void. In order to do so an organ is required to have the force or power to articulate such acts as void.

Doctrine of pith and substance

To disintegrate the doctrine to its molecular meanings, Pith denotes true nature or essence of something and Substance means the most important or essential part of something. The definition of this doctrine states, within their respective spheres the state and the union legislatures are made supreme, they should not encroach upon the sphere demarcated for the other. Doctrine of Pith and Substance is applied when legislation made by of the legislatures is challenged or trespassed by other legislatures. This doctrine says that when there is a question of determining whether a particular law relates to a particular subject the court looks to the substance of the matter. If the substance of the matter lies within one of the 3 lists, then the incidental encroachment by law on another lists, does not make it invalid because they are said to be intra vires.

Doctrine of harmonious construction

According to the Doctrine of Harmonious Construction, a Statute should be read as a whole and one provision of the Act should be construed with reference to other provisions in the same Act so as to make a consistent enactment of the whole statute. Such an interpretation is beneficial in avoiding any inconsistency or repugnancy either within a section or between a section and other parts of the statute.

Doctrines of Indian constitution

India's founders gave us our Constitution. We must prove to them that we  can keep it

Indian constitution is one of the largest constitutions in the world. Even though it is a compilation of borrowed ideas from several parts of the world, it upholds the values and vision of the great freedom fighters who shed their blood for our nation. The constitution has played a significant role in holding together this huge diverse nation for a period of 75 years. On examining each and every aspect of the constitution the vision shared by the visionaries become more evident.

Doctrines of the constitution are general guidelines laid for enabling proper interpretation of the constitution. It is acts as a guide for the law makers as well as implementers.

The doctrines are:

Doctrine of eclipse

The Doctrine of Eclipse states that any law which is inconsistent with fundamental rights is not invalid. It is not totally dead but overshadowed by the fundamental right. The inconsistency (conflict) can be removed by constitutional amendment. This doctrine emanates directly from Article 13(1) of the Constitution that is a part of the fundamental rights, which states, “all laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, i.e. Part III, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void.” The doctrine of eclipse envisages fundamental rights as prospective in nature. It states that a pre-constitutional law inconsistent with the fundamental rights is not nullity or void ab initio but only remains unenforceable, i.e., remains in a dormant state. They exist for all past transactions, i.e., for rights and liabilities that were acquired before the Constitution came into being.

Doctrine of severability

This doctrine of severability is also known as the doctrine of separability.  The word “to the extent of the inconsistency or contravention” makes it clear that when some of the provision of a statue when some of the provisions of a statute becomes unconstitutional on account of inconsistency with fundamental rights, only to the repugnant provision of the law in question shall be treated by the courts as void, and not the whole statute. The doctrine of severability means that when some particular provision of a statute offends or is against a constitutional limitation, but that provision is severable from the rest of the statute, only that offending provision will be declared void by the Court and not the entire statute.

Doctrine of judicial review

The doctrine of Judicial review is basically the power of the judiciary to decide on the constitutional validity of the acts of the other wings of the government (the executive and the legislative). The objective is to regulate any such acts which may contravene the constitution. For instance, if any act of the law-making bodies is such that it negates the provisions given in the constitution, it is important that it should be made null and void. In order to do so an organ is required to have the force or power to articulate such acts as void.

Doctrine of pith and substance

To disintegrate the doctrine to its molecular meanings, Pith denotes true nature or essence of something and Substance means the most important or essential part of something. The definition of this doctrine states, within their respective spheres the state and the union legislatures are made supreme, they should not encroach upon the sphere demarcated for the other. Doctrine of Pith and Substance is applied when legislation made by of the legislatures is challenged or trespassed by other legislatures. This doctrine says that when there is a question of determining whether a particular law relates to a particular subject the court looks to the substance of the matter. If the substance of the matter lies within one of the 3 lists, then the incidental encroachment by law on another lists, does not make it invalid because they are said to be intra vires.

Doctrine of harmonious construction

According to the Doctrine of Harmonious Construction, a Statute should be read as a whole and one provision of the Act should be construed with reference to other provisions in the same Act so as to make a consistent enactment of the whole statute. Such an interpretation is beneficial in avoiding any inconsistency or repugnancy either within a section or between a section and other parts of the statute.

All about Article 370

On October 17, 1949, Article 370 was added to the Indian constitution, as a ‘temporary provision’, which exempted Jammu & Kashmir, permitting it to draft its own Constitution and restricting the Indian Parliament’s legislative powers in the state. It was introduced into the draft constitution by N Gopalaswami Ayyangar as Article 306 A.

Under Article 370: The Constituent Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir was empowered to recommend which articles of the Indian Constitution should apply to the state,The J&K Constituent Assembly was dissolved after it drafted the state’s constitution. The article allowed the state a certain amount of autonomy – its own constitution, a separate flag and freedom to make laws. Foreign affairs, defence and communications remained the preserve of the central government.As a result, Jammu and Kashmir could make its own rules relating to permanent residency, ownership of property and fundamental rights. It could also bar Indians from outside the state from purchasing property or settling there.

On 5th August 2019, President of India in the exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (1) of Article 370 of the Constitution had issued the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019. Through this, Government of India has made modifications in Article 370 itself (not revoked it).With this, the Government of India has dramatically altered the relationship between the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Union. Order, 2019 has replaced Presidential Order of 1954.Subsequently, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019, passed by Parliament divides the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two new Union Territories (UTs): Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.This is the first time that a state has been converted into a UT.Of the six Lok Sabha seats currently with the state of Jammu and Kashmir, five will remain with the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, while one will be allotted to Ladakh.The UT of Jammu and Kashmir will have an Assembly, like in Delhi and Puducherry.Instead of 29, India will now have 28 states. Kashmir will no longer have a Governor, rather a Lieutenant .The special status provided to J&K under Article 370 will be abolished. Jammu & Kashmir will no longer have the separate constitution, flag or anthem. The citizens of Jammu and Kashmir will not have dual citizenship. As the new union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be subject to the Indian Constitution, its citizens will now have the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Indian constitution. Article 360, which can be used to declare a Financial Emergency, will now also be applicable. All laws passed by Parliament will be applicable in Jammu and Kashmir, including the Right to Information Act and the Right to Education Act. The Indian Penal Code will replace the Ranbir Penal Code of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 35A, which originates from the provisions of Article 370 stands null and void. Since Presidential Order has extended all provisions of the Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir, including the chapter on Fundamental Rights, the discriminatory provisions under Article 35A will now be unconstitutional.

The Need for Changes in abolishing A370 was dire. Article 370 was added in the Indian constitution to provide autonomy to J&K.However, it failed to address the well-being of Kashmiris who have now endured two generations of insurgency and violence. It contributed to the gap between Kashmir and the rest of the nation. In the newly-formed Union Territory of J&K, the central government is trying to formulate new rules that will give domicile rights to residents over land and in government jobs. This has been a response to the perception that the unemployment rate in J&K is higher than the national average.Domicile rights have also been a long-standing demand of the Dogras of Jammu and the Buddhists of Ladakh. While most of those interviewed by this author chose to remain silent on the issue of domicile rights, a few expressed their fears that such a move will further limit the employment opportunities for the local youth and also lead to a demographic disruption in the Valley.

Possible Consequences include rise in militancy as  Article 370 was seen by Kashmiris as a marker of their separate identity and autonomy. Widespread protests and violence as a reaction to the dilution of Article 370 are bound to take place .Terror elements in Pakistan would find Kashmir to be the most fertile ground for breeding terrorism. The unrest can affect the democratic progress that has been made so far. Opposition political parties could launch a legal challenge but Kashmir is an emotive issue with many Indians, and most parties would be wary of opposing the move lest they be branded anti-India. All in all, Kashmir and the people there are reaching towards normalcy after 2 years of removing article 370, but for how long will peace prevail? India is hoping for a long one.

Is the online teaching mode a worthy substitute for the offline teaching mode?

“If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start educating children”

-Mahatma Gandhi

Pandemic times are desperate times for the people everywhere in the world. The vicious disease disrupted not only the social life of individuals but it also destabilized the mental peace and well -being for many. The sudden shutdown following the virus outbreak has brought about several changes around the globe. One of the most significant change among them is the shift from offline teaching mode to online teaching. In a country like India where a large section of the population still has not got access to the basic digital devices, the adoption of online education was highly experimental. But, the realization that “better to have something than not having them at all” led the government to take this giant step.

Online learning mode is the need of the hour because it helps to ensure productive usage of time by the younger generation who otherwise would have lost the purpose of life during these desperate ages. In the present scenario, stepping out of the houses is considered extremely dangerous and online learning provides children an opportunity to widen their knowledge within the safety of their houses. The availability of several platforms which provide access to certified courses from universities around the world is an added advantage. Widespread access to knowledge without any boundaries has helped the students to choose their area of interest rather than sticking on to the limited scope of school curriculum. The provision of recorded classes either at free of cost or at negligible costs help students to upskill themselves without stepping out from their comfort zones. Online repositories and digital libraries also make the scope of online learning mode wider.

            Even though online teaching has got all these wider applications, it is subject to some limitations. The most significant limitation is that it is devoid of the physical presence of teachers and students, which reduces the effectiveness of the process to a great extent. The increasing number suicides among student population brings out the fact that virtual learning fails to provide psychological support, which the traditional schooling structure offers. As the students do not have the opportunities for relationship building, most of them lack social skills. Tests and examinations conducted in online mode is more like a test of honesty and self-discipline than tests of knowledge. Digital divide and socio -economic inequalities further worsens the problem. Among primary level students, parents play a more important role than teachers in case of online learning, which increases the disparity as many adults are still illiterate and incapable of supporting their children in our nation. Apart from this schools also functioned as a means for implementing social security schemes of government like mid-day meal scheme which got disrupted.

            The offline learning could easily cover up all the above stated limitations of online learning. The presence of teachers and friends will make the learning experience lively. Rather than imparting knowledge it lightens up the wisdom among younger population. It teaches students to face failure, the worth of sharing and to care for their fellow beings. The educational institutions play an important role in shaping the character of each individual because they function as a living library where we could see a wide range of individuals from whom students could adopt moral values for life. It also helps teachers to ensure that children have understood what they have taught through regular tests. The schools narrow the gap between rich and poor and ensure all are getting equal access to education through government support.

            Right to education is a fundamental right as per Indian constitution. Pandemic should not be an obstacle in ensuring that right. Thus, online teaching mode could be used as a supplement for facilitating access to education, but not a substitute. Idle mind is a devil’s workshop. Online mode of teaching helps to ensure that students are not left idle during the pandemic times. It could lend a hand for lifting children from the helplessness and despair created by the disease. This brigs to the conclusion that online teaching could be adopted to meet the current needs but not as a substitute for offline teaching. Ultimately the aim of education is to uplift the students from the darkness of ignorance by shedding the light of knowledge.

Contemporary anarchism

Anarchism is a process whereby authority and domination is being replaced with non-hierarchical, horizontal structures, with voluntary associations between human beings. It is a form of social organisation with a set of key principles, such as self-organisation, voluntary association, freedom, autonomy, solidarity, direct democracy, egalitarianism and mutual aid. Based on these principles and values, anarchism rejects both a capitalist economy and a nation state that is governed by means of a representative democracy. It is a utopian project that aspires to combine the best parts of liberalism with the best parts of communism. At its heart is a mix of the liberal emphasis on individual freedom and the communist emphasis on an equal society. Let’s unpack this a bit. The etymology of the term traces back to the Greek word “anarkhia”, which means “without rulers” or “without authority”. It stands for the absence of domination, hierarchy and power over others.

Whenever public protests ignite into violent behaviour, the mainstream media are often quick to refer to “anarchy” and to “anarchists”. Those who are referred to as anarchists are protesters who burn tyres or engage in battles with the police. In this narrative, anarchists are lawless hooligans and anarchy is about chaos and pointless violence. The political philosophy of anarchisms emerged in the mid-19th century – as part of the thought of Enlightenment. Key anarchist thinkers include Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, William Godwin, Peter Kropotkin, Mikhail Bakunin, Emma Goldman, and Max Stirner. Proudhon is credited as the first self-proclaimed anarchist and is often seen as the founder of classic anarchist thinking. In particular, he developed the concept of spontaneous order in society, where organisations can emerge without central or top-down coordination.

The most common definitions of anarchism stress two points; first, anarchists are opposed to any form of coercive authority; following from this, anarchists are opposed to state power and seek to destroy it. But even this basic definition ignores the important distinction between anarchists who emphasize collective action rather than individualism, or who avoid any strategies focused on the state (even its destruction. The last stand of traditional anarchism, which reached its high point in Spain during the 1930s, suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of Franco’s fascists and the criminal policies of the Stalinized Communist Party. A once vibrant international anarchist movement was in ruins by the end of the Second World War. In the United States, political repression and Red Squad terror decimated the anarchist ranks more than a decade earlier. Small, isolated groups of anarchists survived, but never again reached the influence once attained during the Spanish Civil War.

After World War II, anarchist groups and federations reemerged in almost all countries where they had formerly flourished—the notable exceptions being Spain and the Soviet Union—but these organizations wielded little influence compared to that of the broader movement inspired by earlier ideas. This development is not surprising, since anarchists never stressed the need for organizational continuity, and the cluster of social and moral ideas that are identifiable as anarchism always spread beyond any clearly definable movement.

Anarchist ideas emerged in a wider frame of reference beginning with the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, which aimed to resist injustice through the tactic of civil disobedience. In the 1960s and ’70s a new radicalism took root among students and the left in general in the United States, Europe, and Japan, embracing a general criticism of “elitist” power structures and the materialist values of modern industrial societies—both capitalist and communist. For these radicals, who rejected the traditional parties of the left as strongly as they did the existing political structure, the appeal of anarchism was strong. The general anarchist outlook—with its emphasis on spontaneity, theoretical flexibility, simplicity of life, and the importance of love and anger as complementary and necessary components in both social and individual action—attracted those who opposed impersonal political institutions and the calculations of older parties. The anarchist rejection of the state, and the insistence on decentralism and local autonomy, found strong echoes among those who advocated participatory democracy. The anarchist insistence on direct action was reflected in calls for extra parliamentary action and violent confrontation by some student groups in France, the United States, and Japan. Anarchists also took up issues related to feminism and developed a rich body of work, known as anarcha-feminism, that applied anarchist principles to the analysis of women’s oppression, arguing that the state is inherently patriarchal and that women’s experience as nurturers and caregivers reflects the anarchist ideals of mutuality and the rejection of hierarchy and authority.

The most prevalent current in anarchist thinking during the last two decades of the 20th century (at least in the United States) was an eclectic, countercultural mixture of theories reflecting a wide range of artistic, literary, political, and philosophical influences, including Dada, Surrealism, and Situationism; the writers of the Beat movement; the Frankfurt School of Marxist-oriented social and political philosophers—especially Herbert Marcuse—and post-structuralist and postmodern philosophy and literary theory, in particular the work of the French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault.

Contemporary anarchism has some important differences, but also a great deal of continuity, with historical anarchism. Where it focuses on building an alternative in the “interstices” of capitalism, it accommodates to, rather than challenges, capitalism; and where it fetishizes street tactics, it generates more press than tangible success in either building the struggle or in challenging the state.But struggle teaches, and those anarchists most engaged in struggle and most concerned with finding the most effective means of winning a better world are looking for alternative ideas to make sense of the crises around us. Marxists and these anarchists should stand shoulder-to-shoulder in every aspect of struggle, whether fighting evictions, the far right, or budget cuts. And serious revolutionaries must consider what tactics will strengthen the movement and its chances of victory. Foolish acts of vandalism by unaccountable individuals only serve to disrupt and weaken the movement, and the best anarchists recognize this.

The women’s suffrage movement

The Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920. It declares that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. “The amendment, which granted women the right to vote, represented the pinnacle of the women’s suffrage movement, which was led by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).In their decades-long struggle for female enfranchisement, women’s rights advocates met with strong opposition from anti-suffrage activists.

The women’s suffrage movement has its origins in the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, the first women’s rights convention ever held in the United States. Approximately three hundred activists, female and male, gathered to discuss the condition of women and to devise strategies for achieving social and political rights for women. Though women’s suffrage was a topic of debate at the convention, it was not the main goal of the movement at this early stage, and the convention’s resolution demanding women’s suffrage was the only resolution that was not passed unanimously.

The first women’s suffrage organizations were created in 1869. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), while Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Henry Blackwell founded the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). These two rival groups were divided over the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed African American men the right to vote. The AWSA supported the Fifteenth Amendment, while the NWSA opposed it because it did not include suffrage for women. In 1890, the two competing organizations were merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

During the 1870s, suffragists (women’s suffrage activists) began attempting to vote at polling places and filing lawsuits when their attempts were rejected. This drew attention to the women’s rights movement, particularly after Susan B. Anthony was arrested and put on trial for voting in the 1872 presidential election. Suffragists hoped that the lawsuits would work their way up to the Supreme Court, and that the justices would declare that women had a constitutional right to vote. In 1875, the Supreme Court, rejected women’s suffrage, ruling that the US Constitution did not confer the right of suffrage to anyone.

After the Supreme Court ruling, leaders of the women’s rights movement adopted other strategies for securing universal suffrage. Activists began organizing a drive to pass a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. The National American Woman Suffrage Association launched a campaign to achieve victories at the state level, in the hopes that if enough states allowed women the right to vote, federal legislation would follow. These efforts were so successful that by the time of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, over half of all states had already granted limited voting rights to women.

The Nineteenth Amendment

In January, 1878, Republican Senator Aaron A. Sargent of California formally introduced in the Senate a constitutional amendment to guarantee women the vote. The bill languished in committee until 1887, when it finally went up to a vote, and was defeated. Not until 1914 was another constitutional amendment for women’s rights considered, and again rejected, by the Senate.

Though the movement for women’s suffrage was well-organized and gaining momentum by the early twentieth century, it met with strong opposition from some sectors of US society. Brewers and distillers were opposed to female enfranchisement because they assumed that women would vote for the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, while businesses that employed children feared that women would vote to eliminate child labour. Anti-suffrage organizations sprang up all over the country to oppose the drive for female enfranchisement. Anti-suffrage activists were not just men; indeed, many upper class women joined the movement, arguing that politics was a dirty business that would sully the moral and spiritual authority of women

The National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1900, launched an effort to link the drive for female suffrage to the US war effort in the First World War. Though many of her fellow suffragists were anti-war pacifists, Catt made the controversial decision to support the war and to thereby portray the women’s suffrage movement as patriotic. The effort was a success; in his 1918 State of the Union address, President Woodrow Wilson declared his support for female enfranchisement.

On August 18, 1920, Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, which guaranteed the right to vote to all US citizens regardless of sex. The Nineteenth Amendment represented a major victory and a turning point in the women’s rights movement.

The women’s suffrage movement

The Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920. It declares that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. “The amendment, which granted women the right to vote, represented the pinnacle of the women’s suffrage movement, which was led by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).In their decades-long struggle for female enfranchisement, women’s rights advocates met with strong opposition from anti-suffrage activists.

The women’s suffrage movement has its origins in the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, the first women’s rights convention ever held in the United States. Approximately three hundred activists, female and male, gathered to discuss the condition of women and to devise strategies for achieving social and political rights for women. Though women’s suffrage was a topic of debate at the convention, it was not the main goal of the movement at this early stage, and the convention’s resolution demanding women’s suffrage was the only resolution that was not passed unanimously.

The first women’s suffrage organizations were created in 1869. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), while Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Henry Blackwell founded the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). These two rival groups were divided over the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed African American men the right to vote. The AWSA supported the Fifteenth Amendment, while the NWSA opposed it because it did not include suffrage for women. In 1890, the two competing organizations were merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

During the 1870s, suffragists (women’s suffrage activists) began attempting to vote at polling places and filing lawsuits when their attempts were rejected. This drew attention to the women’s rights movement, particularly after Susan B. Anthony was arrested and put on trial for voting in the 1872 presidential election. Suffragists hoped that the lawsuits would work their way up to the Supreme Court, and that the justices would declare that women had a constitutional right to vote. In 1875, the Supreme Court, rejected women’s suffrage, ruling that the US Constitution did not confer the right of suffrage to anyone.

After the Supreme Court ruling, leaders of the women’s rights movement adopted other strategies for securing universal suffrage. Activists began organizing a drive to pass a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. The National American Woman Suffrage Association launched a campaign to achieve victories at the state level, in the hopes that if enough states allowed women the right to vote, federal legislation would follow. These efforts were so successful that by the time of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, over half of all states had already granted limited voting rights to women.

The Nineteenth Amendment

In January, 1878, Republican Senator Aaron A. Sargent of California formally introduced in the Senate a constitutional amendment to guarantee women the vote. The bill languished in committee until 1887, when it finally went up to a vote, and was defeated. Not until 1914 was another constitutional amendment for women’s rights considered, and again rejected, by the Senate.

Though the movement for women’s suffrage was well-organized and gaining momentum by the early twentieth century, it met with strong opposition from some sectors of US society. Brewers and distillers were opposed to female enfranchisement because they assumed that women would vote for the prohibition of alcoholic beverages, while businesses that employed children feared that women would vote to eliminate child labour. Anti-suffrage organizations sprang up all over the country to oppose the drive for female enfranchisement. Anti-suffrage activists were not just men; indeed, many upper class women joined the movement, arguing that politics was a dirty business that would sully the moral and spiritual authority of women

The National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1900, launched an effort to link the drive for female suffrage to the US war effort in the First World War. Though many of her fellow suffragists were anti-war pacifists, Catt made the controversial decision to support the war and to thereby portray the women’s suffrage movement as patriotic. The effort was a success; in his 1918 State of the Union address, President Woodrow Wilson declared his support for female enfranchisement.

On August 18, 1920, Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, which guaranteed the right to vote to all US citizens regardless of sex. The Nineteenth Amendment represented a major victory and a turning point in the women’s rights movement.

Tips to help you declutter

The idea of living a simple life with less stuff sounds attractive to many but seems almost impossible to get rid of stuff you have. They begin to feel overwhelmed, anxious, and defeated around the idea of owning less. That’s too bad. Learning how to declutter your home and as a result, decluttering your life, doesn’t need to be as painful as some make it out to be. And the benefits are numerous.

The Benefits of Decluttering from time to time.

  • Less to clean. Cleaning is already enough of a chore, but having to clean around things you have zero emotional attachment to (or worse, actively dislike) makes cleaning the house much more stressful.
  • Less to organize. Finding things suddenly become easier. Things don’t just “disappear” anymore. You can actually move around your home and enjoy the space, instead of moving around things that are in the way. You start to find your tiny house more spacious.
  • Less stress. Looking around at the clutter is a nausea-inducing sight once your home becomes cluttered enough. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to look around and see a home you love? You can also do cleaning leisurely and not make rigorous plans.
  • Less debt. Spending less time shopping for material possessions and adding to the clutter means your wallet and bank accounts remain fuller, your credit cards’ statements are lower, and your home doesn’t get filled with costly things you don’t need.
  • More financial freedom. Decluttering, paired with minimalism, will help you build up savings to keep you protected in case of unexpected emergencies. Or you can spend it on invisible items like crypto or travel.
  • More energy for your greatest passions. With less debt, more financial freedom, and a clean home, you can now focus your energy on the things you enjoy instead of worrying about “Keeping up with the Joneses.” This will ultimately make you happier.

If you’re struggling and need guidance on how to declutter, you’ll need to get creative with your plans. Here are several interesting decluttering tips to get you started on decluttering your home:

  • Start with 5 minutes at a time. If you’re new to decluttering, you can slowly build momentum with just five minutes a day.
  • Give one item away each day. This would remove 365 items every single year from your home. If you increased this to 2 per day, you would have given away 730 items you no longer needed. Increase this number once it gets too easy.
  • Donate clothes you never wear. To identify them, simply hang all your clothes with hangers in the reverse direction. After wearing an item, face the hanger in the correct direction. Discard the clothes you never touched after a few months.
  • Create a decluttering checklist. It’s a lot easier to declutter when you have a visual representation of where you need to get started. You can use our decluttering checklist.
  • Take the 12-12-12 challenge. Locate 12 items to throw away, 12 to donate, and 12 to be returned to their proper home.
  • Take before and after photos of a small area. Choose one part of your home, like your kitchen counter, and take a photo of a small area. Quickly clean off the items in the photo and take an after photo. Once you see how your home could look, it becomes easier to start decluttering more of your home.
  • Get help from a friend. Have a friend or family member go through your home and suggest a handful of big items to throw away or give to someone else. If you defend the item and want to keep it, your friend has to agree with your reason. If they don’t agree, it’s time to get rid of it.
  • Use the Four-Box Method. Get four boxes and label them: trash, give away, keep, or re-locate. Enter any room in your home and place each item into one of the following boxes. Don’t skip a single item, no matter how insignificant you may think it is. This may take days, weeks, or months, but it will help you see how many items you really own and you’ll know exactly what to do with each item.

No matter which decluttering tip you choose to get started – whether it be one of these ten or one of countless others – the goal is to take your first step in decluttering your life with excitement behind it.

Removing clutter from our homes and our lives doesn’t need to be rushed or done in a single day. It’s something that can be done over time and may even need to be done on a semi-regular basis. As long as you start the process today, you’re further along than you were yesterday. Simple doesn’t mean sparse or boring. The opposite is true. With fewer mess and distractions, your home can become more peaceful. You can view your home as a space for rest and comfort, instead of a source of stress.

The Anti-Apartheid Movement

Apartheid means separateness. Apartheid was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the South African National Party government between 1948 and 1994. This system created a society of enormous repression for black South Africans. Apartheid was characterized by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation’s minority white population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day.

The anti-apartheid movement was the first successful transnational social movement in the era of globalization. The movement began after a massive turnout by rural Afrikaners gave Rev. Daniel Malan’s Nationalist Party a majority of five seats in the whites-only Parliament of the Union of South Africa on May 26, 1948. The Nationalists won on a racist platform that played on white fears of the “black threat” and promised to establish strict “apartheid” or separate development policies to counter it. British Anglican archbishop Trevor Huddleston was a leader in the campaign against apartheid, an official system of discrimination against non-whites in South Africa. His efforts helped bring that struggle to the world’s attention

What is unique about the anti-apartheid movement is the extent of support it received from individuals, governments and organizations on all continents. Few social movements in history have garnered anywhere near the international support that was mobilized against the racist apartheid regime in South Africa. Although national liberation and Marxism might both be considered as successful, trans-national social movements, neither of these had the global support that the anti-apartheid movement garnered.

There were two main aspects of the anti-apartheid movement: the internal campaign to destabilize the racist apartheid regime in South Africa, and the external campaign for political, economic, and cultural sanctions. At the heart of the movement was the struggle of black Africans to end white supremacy in South Africa. This internal movement was both a catalyst for actions at the international level and the critical link that gave coherence to the movement as a whole. The external effort can be divided into two fronts: (1) regional efforts to provide military bases, material, and diplomatic support for liberation movements; and (2) the diaspora movement, which focused on seeking international sanctions against the regime and providing direct aid to the liberation movements.The internal struggle within South Africa was the core of the movement, and it served as a catalyst for regional and international support movements. This effort emerged to oppose apartheid legislation imposed after the all-white election of 1948.

Nelson Mandela’s contribution

The man we know behind this movement is Nelson Mandela.  Under apartheid, the South African population was divided into four distinct racial groups: white (including Afrikaners, who speak a Germanic language called Afrikaans), black, colored, and Indian. Strict residential, economic, and social segregation was enforced on the basis of these racial categories. Non-whites were not allowed to vote in national election. Moreover, apartheid saw the institution of the “homeland system,” in which the government sought to establish separate states for members of each of the country’s many black ethnic groups. This often involved the forced removal of families from their original homes to the newly-created “bantustans” (or ethnic states). In other cases, it meant breaking up interracial and inter-ethnic families. While non-whites were confined to squalid ghettoes with few decent educational and employment opportunities, whites were afforded the basic privileges of life in a democracy.

 In a 1955 article, Nelson Mandela—then a leading activist in the growing fight against apartheid—described the horrors of the system and the brutal means by which it was enforced:The breaking up of African homes and families and the forcible separation of children from mothers, the harsh treatment meted out to African prisoners, and the forcible detention of Africans in farm colonies for spurious statutory offenses are a few examples of the actual workings of the hideous and pernicious doctrines of racial inequality. To these can be added scores of thousands of foul misdeeds committed against the people by the government: the denial to the non-European people of the elementary rights of free citizenship; the expropriation of the people from their lands and homes to assuage the insatiable appetites of European land barons and industrialists; the flogging and calculated murder of African laborers by European farmers in the countryside for being “cheeky to the baas”; the vicious manner in which African workers are beaten up by the police and flung into jails when they down tools to win their demands; the fostering of contempt and hatred for non-Europeans; the fanning of racial prejudice between whites and non-whites, between the various non-white groups; the splitting of Africans into small hostile tribal units; the instigation of one group or tribe against another; the banning of active workers from the people`s organizations, and their confinement into certain areas.

Because of the injustices it perpetuated, the apartheid system gave rise to a broad resistance movement. The primary organization leading the struggle against apartheid was the African National Congress (ANC). The ANC was founded in 1913 in response to the oppression of non-white South Africans at the hands of the white ruling class. In 1943, Nelson Mandela—then a law student—joined the ANC and co-founded its youth division, the ANCYL. Mandela and other young activists had begun to advocate for a mass campaign of agitation against apartheid. In 1949, the ANCYL gained control of the ANC and a year later Mandela was elected national president of the ANCYL. Around this time, Mandela’s political outlook began to shift: while he had previously opposed cross-racial unity in the fight against apartheid, he came to be influenced by the writings of socialist thinkers who supported organizing across racial lines. He was also influenced by the nonviolent strategies of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was himself a resident of South Africa for more than 20 years, from 1893 to 1914.

Mandela and other political prisoners engaged in many political debates and discussion.  The prison on Robben Island, where Mandela stayed for 20 years, was sometimes called “University of Robben Island.”

Although he was sidelined from direct participation in the movement while in prison, Mandela became a symbol—both in South Africa and internationally—of the struggle against injustice. During his imprisonment on Robben Island,  the fight against apartheid continued. New organizations and leaders emerged to advance the cause, and thousands of average South Africans risked their lives to resist the brutal system.  A powerful international movement included  boycotts and bans of South African goods; protests, including massive civil disobedience; and an explosion of music and art demanding the end of apartheid and the freeing of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners. 

Violence and instability grew within South Africa. The apartheid government faced increasing domestic and international pressure. In 1985, then President P.W. Botha offered to release Mandela from prison if he agreed to “unconditionally reject violence as a political weapon.” Mandela refused the offer. He wrote: “What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts.”

Despite his recognition as a central figure in the fight against apartheid, Mandela has always been quick to note that he was not personally responsible for its overthrow. As he said upon his release from prison in 1990: “I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.” Mandela’s courage is inspiring and his story is dramatic, but he did not end apartheid alone. In South Africa and around the world, people were inspired by Mandela’s example. They recognized that there would never be freedom in South Africa unless many people took action. In South Africa, many died in the struggle for freedom.

The Bhoodan movement-  A Bloodless Revolution

Vinoba Bhave was born in Gagode village, Raigad, Maharashtra. A keen follower of Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave took part in the freedom struggle and started the Bhoodan movement in 1951. He was an avid social reformer throughout his life. Vinoba Bhave, a humble spiritual leader, the first non-violent resister to the Britishers and reformer of Independent India started what we know as the Bhoodan movement – a landmark in Indian history where its mission was to persuade wealthy landowners to willingly give a small share of their land to the landless people .About four years later after india gained independence, Vinoba Bhave carried out a unique movement of his own. He travelled across all of India to convince the wealthy land-owners or land-lords to share a small area of their land with their poor and downtrodden neighbours with the condition that they can’t sell the land. Over a span of 20 years, a total of 4 million acres of land was shared across the country through this movement. Bhoodan literally means a donation of land. As implied by the name, in this movement, landlords voluntarily give up land to be distributed to landless labourers, who would then cultivate the land..

How it started

Bhoodan or Land Gift movement began with Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1951 in Telangana. An inspirational icon, Vinoba Bhave’s work & dedication impacted people all across the country. He vowed to life-long celibacy as well as selfless service for others when he was as young as 10 years old. As it is said about him, “Perhaps none of Gandhi’s followers have created so many worshippers of Truth & Non-violence, so many genuine workers as has Vinoba Bhave.” It all began on April 18th 1951, which we now know as the historic day this movement began. Vinoba Bhave stepped into the Nalgonda district, which was the epicenter of communist activity in the region. He stayed at Pochampalli, a village with about 700 families who have him a hearty welcome. He visited the ‘untouchables’ or Harijan colony, where they asked for 80 acres of land for 40 families. As documented in history, while the discussion was going on, Ram Chandra Reddy who was the local landlord, got up and exclaimed, “I will give you 100 acres for these people.” This made Vinoba come up with an idea, that this may have the solution for possibly resolving land issues across the country. Soon, this movement led to become the Gramdan or village-gift movement and went through many levels of allied programmes and initiatives. In October 1951 rose a demand for fifty million acres of land for the landless in the whole of India by 1957, thus turning a small goal into a mass-scale movement. The success lasted till 1957, post which it slowly faded.

Outcomes

It gained a lot of success, especially in Northern India in UP and Bihar. Over 4.5million acres of land in India was given as a donation by 1957. The core belief of land being a gift of earth which belonged to everyone made its way into minds of everyone. With time, many problems seeped into the movement later such as slow progress, bribery, donating bogus land, greed to get more land or incorrect implementation in some regions. The movement soon failed due to increasing misuse of a voluntary movement for self-serving purposes by a few.

To conclude taking an overall view it cannot be gainsaid that the Bhoodan – Gramdan Movement, despite all its real & apparent limitations, it would ever be deemed as a glorious attempt for a peaceful & non-violent solution of the basic land problem of Indian society & through it for a non-violent reconstruction of the Sarvodaya socio-economic-politico order of universal relevance & significance

https://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/get-inspired/vinoba-bhaves-bhoodan-movement/

All you need to know about an Economic Recession.

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines a recession as “a significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, visible in industrial production, employment, real income, and wholesale-retail trade.” A recession is also believed to be signalled when businesses cease to expand, the GDP diminishes for two consecutive quarters, and the unemployment rate rises. The nature and causes of recessions are simultaneously evident and uncertain. Recessions are, in essence, a cluster of business failures being realized simultaneously. Firms are forced to reallocate resources, scale back production, limit losses, and, usually, lay off employees. Those are the clear and visible causes of recessions. There are several different ways to explain what causes a general cluster of business failures, why they are suddenly realized simultaneously, and how they can be avoided.

What Causes a Recession?

Some recessions can be traced to a clearly-defined cause. For instance, the recession of 1973-1975 began as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. However, most recessions are caused by a complex combination of factors, including high interest rates, low consumer confidence, and stagnant wages or reduced real income in the labour market. Other examples of recession causes include bank runs and asset bubbles.

Psychological Factors of a Recession

Psychological factors are frequently cited by economists for their contribution to recessions also. The excessive exuberance of investors during the boom years brings the economy to its peak. The reciprocal doom-and-gloom pessimism that sets in after a market crash at a minimum amplifies the effects of real economic and financial factors as the market swings. Moreover, because all economic actions and decisions are always to some degree forward-looking, the subjective expectations of investors, businesses, and consumers are often involved in the inception and spread of an economic downturn.

Economic Factors of a Recession

Real changes in economic fundamentals, beyond financial accounts and investor psychology, also make critical contributions to a recession. Some economists explain recessions solely due to fundamental economic shocks, such as disruptions in supply chains, and the damage they can cause to a wide range of businesses. Shocks that impact vital industries such as energy or transportation can have such widespread effects that they cause many companies across the economy to retrench and cancel investment and hiring plans simultaneously, with ripple effects on workers, consumers, and the stock market. There are economic factors that can also be tied back into financial markets. Market interest rates represent the cost of financial liquidity for businesses and the time preferences of consumers, savers, and investors for present versus future consumption. In addition, a central bank’s artificial suppression of interest rates during the boom years before a recession distorts financial markets and business and consumption decisions.

What Are the Indicators of a Recession?

Economists determine whether an economy is in recession by looking at a variety of statistics and trends. Factors that indicate a recession include:

  • Rising in unemployment
  • Rises in bankruptcies, defaults, or foreclosures
  • Falling interest rates
  • Lower consumer spending and consumer confidence
  • Falling asset prices, including the cost of homes and dips in the stock market

All of these factors can lead to an overall reduction in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The European Union and the United Kingdom define a recession as two or more consecutive quarters of negative real GDP growth.

Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Economy

In February 2020, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) announced that according to their data, the U.S. was in a recession due to the economic shock of the widespread disruption of global and domestic supply chains and direct damage to businesses across all industries. These events were caused by the COVID-19 epidemic and the public health response. Some of the underlying causes of the two-month recession (and economic hardship) in 2020 were the overextension of supply chains, razor-thin inventories, and fragile business models. The pandemic-related recession, according to NBER, ended in April 2020, but the financial hardship caused by the pandemic is still impacting Americans.

For simpler understanding-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwaCg7Gwtzw: All you need to know about an Economic Recession.