Social Issues

Life and Social Security Insurance Schemes Available in Rural Areas
December 5, 2012 11:31 am Social Issues/ Human Interest no comments
The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) has informed that out of the total 4,41,91,864 Life Insurance policies issued in the year 2011-12, 1,39,83,265 constituting 31.64% of the total number of policies, were issued in the rural areas. In addition to this,1,45,31,183 lives were covered by all Life Insurance Companies from social sector groups including unorganised sector, economically vulnerable or backward classes and informal sector groups during the year 2011-12. Further Government of India has launched following social security insurance schemes especially for rural and urban economically backward people: i. Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY) II. Janashree Bima Yojana (JBY) iii. Rashtrya Swastha Bima Yojana (RSBY) iv. Mahatma Gandhi Bunkar Yojana (MGBY) IRDA has issued IRDA (Obligations of Insurers to Rural and Social Sectors) Regulations 2002 wherein every life insurance company shall fulfill the norms towards its obligations (Percentage of Policies on the total number of policies written direct in that year) in the rural and social sector. As per IRDA, 26.84% of the total policies issued by private insurance companies during the year 2011-12 were issued in rural areas. This was stated by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha
Amending Forest Laws for Empowering Tribals
November 24, 2012 12:20 pm Social Issues/ Human Interest no comments
It had been noticed that traditional rights of forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers of ownership and management over forest resources had been constrained. The Union Government enacted the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, to correct this historic injustice and guaranteed rights to hold and live in the forest land under the individual or common occupation for habitation or for self-cultivation for livelihood; community rights such as nistar or by whatever name called, including those in erstwhile Princely States, Zamindari or such intermediary regimes; right of ownership, access to collect, use and dispose of minor forest produce which has traditionally been collected within or outside village boundaries; other community rights of uses or entitlements such as fish and other products of water bodies, grazing and traditional seasonal resource access of nomadic and pastoral communities; rights including community tenures of habitat and habitation for PTGs and pre-agricultural communities; rights in or over disputed lands under any nomenclature in any States where claims are disputed; rights for conversion of Pattas or grants issued by any local authority or any State Government on forest lands to titles; rights of settlement and conversion of all forest villages, old habitations, unsurveyed villages and other villages in forest, whether recorded, notified or not into revenue villages; right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use; rights which are recognized under any State law or laws of any Autonomous district Council or Autonomous Regional Council or which are accepted as rights of tribals under any traditional or customary law of the concerned tribes of any State; rights of access to biodiversity and community rights to intellectual property and traditional knowledge related to biodiversity and cultural diversity; any other traditional right customarily enjoyed by the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes or other traditional forest dwellers but excluding the traditional right of hunting or trapping or extracting part of the body of any species of wild animal; right to in-situ rehabilitation including alternative land in cases where the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers have been illegally evicted or displaced from any forest land of any description without receiving their legal entitlement to rehabilitation prior to the 13th day of December,2005. Appropriate changes in Rules have been brought about on 6/9/2012 and Guidelines have been issued on 12-7-2012 to ease out the problems and hindrances encountered in the implementation of the Act, and to provide unencumbered access to rights already conferred by the Act. The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Amendment Rules, 2012, notified by the Ministry on 6.9.2012 provide for (i) disposal of minor forest produce within and outside forest area through appropriate means of transport, (ii) modification of the transit permit regime in relation to transportation of minor forest produce and issue of the transit permit by a Committee constituted by the Gram Sabha or the person
authorized by Gram Sabha, and (iii) making the collection of minor forest produce free of all royalties or fees or any other charges. The guidelines issued by the Ministry on 12.7.2012 interalia require the State Governments to ensure recognition of the forest rights relating to minor forest produce and to bring the State policies in alignment with the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional forest Dwellers(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, do away the monopoly of the Forest Corporations in the trade of minor forest produce in the States, play the facilitating role in not only transferring unhindered absolute rights over minor forest produce to forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers but also in getting them remunerative prices for the minor forest produce collected and processed by them.
Demographic Status of Scheduled Tribes

Land being a State subject, its management and related aspects are the responsibility of the respective State Governments as provided under Entry No. 18 of List II (State List) to VII Schedule to the Constitution of India. Total numbers of tribals inIndia and total numbers of landless tribals State-wise in Percentage are as under:
State-Wise Demographic Status of Scheduled Tribes as per Census 1991 & 2001
State Wise Estimated Percentage of Landless Scheduled Tribe (NSS Report No. 543)
S.No
India/State India Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh*
1. 2 3 4 5
Total ST Population Census 2001 84,326,240 5,024,104 705,158 3,308,570 758,351 6,616,596
Percentage of the landless ST 9.1 17.8 2.6 2.3 3.1 5.9
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh J&K Jharkhand* Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttarakhand* Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Andaman & Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra & Nagar Haveli Daman & Diu. Delhi Lakshadweep Puducherry
566 7,481,160 244,587 1,105,979 7,087,068 3,463,986 364,189 12,233,474 8,577,276 741,141 1,992,862 839,310 1,774,026 8,145,081 7,097,706 111,405 651,321 993,426 256,129 107,963 4,406,794 29,469 137,225 13,997 57,321 -
10.1 0 8.6 15.3 6.5 3.6 5.5 5.7 19.4 2.2 5.5 2.1 1.3 8.9 30.0 2.3 22.3 21.8 4.2 2.3 8.2 13.6 Group of UTs.: 11.8
This information was given by the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Smt. Ranee Narah in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha
India: Sonali Mukherjee Rises From The Ashes, Fights Violence Kamayani Bali Mahabal

As I went to meet Dhanbad-based Sonali Mukherjee, who was visiting Mumbai to be in special episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati, various emotions raced through me. Then the door opened and a peppy voice broke through, Didi aa jaye, aaj khana late ho gaya, aap bhi kha lo (I am having a late lunch, please join me). I had heard about Sonalis case. She had been subjected to an acid attack nine years ago when she was 17, but I had not expected this bright young woman who stood before me. I smiled back and told her I will wait until she ate. As her father guided her into the room after lunch, I realised her eyesight loss was total. I hugged her before we began our conversation on the struggles of her life. She started with an irony: It was her call for euthanasia that gave her a new lease of life. Until July this year I was a victim. Now I am a survivor. My friends and family had abandoned me when I needed them most. But the media and people I didnt even know came forward to help me live, she said. The Mumbai-based NGO, Beti, in association with the media group, Headlines Today, has raised Rs 30 lakh as part of Project Hope, which aims to give Sonali a new identity with the help of facial reconstruction. The 22 surgeries will be carried out at the B.L. Kapur Super Specialty Hospital in Rajendra Place, New Delhi. Clad in a white salwar kameez with a colourful collar white is a favourite hue she wore goggles before getting photographed. I dont want the world to see me this way because I hope to be like any other woman soon, she said referring to her impending surgeries. She added, Yeh aadhi adhorri zindagi aadhe chehre ke saath nahi jeeni hai mujhey (I dont want to live half a life, with half a face). She grew up in Dhanbad, Jharkhand. History and Hindi had enthused her as a school student and the freedom movement and Indian scriptures inspired her. I loved being a National Cadet Core (NCC) recruit, she remarked. College followed. She opted for sociology and planned to pursue a Ph.D, and go into academics. She also enjoyed films and was a big fan of Aishwarya Rai and
Shahrukh Khan. I saw all their movies loved dancing to Aishwaryas numbers. She stopped here to poignantly remark that she hoped one day to re-gain her vision and watch films again. Sonali, having experienced the horrific consequences of violence against women, had obviously thought deeply on the subject, In India, women are advised to avoid sexual predators. But, think about it, society is directly responsible for the sexual harassment women face. Its patriarchal approach encourages men to tease women, its seen as a manly thing to do. In my case, we had complained to the parents about the behaviour of their children, but they did nothing. She also referred to the epics, Take the Ramayana. You have Rama denouncing his pregnant wife and ordering her to spend her life in exile even though she had accompanied him to the jungle to share in his afflictions. Why did Ram rescue Sita if he was going to subject her to an agnipariksha (trial by fire)? Rewinding to the dreadful night on April 22, 2003, she revealed that the family was sleeping on the open terrace of their home, Around 2.30am I woke up with a sharp, burning sensation. She felt her face, neck, right ear, the right part of her chest, and lower torso melt away. Three men, who had been harassing me for weeks, had jumped over from the neighbours roof and doused me with acid. I suffered 70 per cent burns while my sister who lay nearby suffered 20 per cent burns, she recalled. The words she used were searing. Us raat laga main maut ke aalingan main pighal gayi, zindagi mano thaher gayi, woh ek lamha zindagi aur maut ke beech atak gaya (that night I felt I was engulfed in the arms of death and life stood still; in that one moment I was stuck between life and death). It was a huge crisis for the family. Her father, Chandidas Mukherjee, employed with a private company, had to quit his job to be with her after the attack and the family shifted to their ancestral home in Kasmar, in Jharkhands Bokaro district. All the three youths involved in the attack were sentenced to nine years of imprisonment by the district court. They later managed to secure bail from the high court and began threatening the family. A paltry sum of Rs 200 per month (US$1=Rs 53) was made available to her from the government as a disability allowance. The entire sum went in medicines. The pain was overpowering. For the first six months, I would scream in pain and sometimes fall unconscious. I would plead with God to kill me, Sonali recalled. She then decided to search for justice. My father and I met the chief minister, all the legislators, NGOs. I even approached the National Commission for Women after all, it was not just my case but that of hundreds of other women who face violence every day. The NCW gave me assurances, but apart from providing quotes to the media they did nothing. It was then that I decided to demand my right to die. Legally, there is no separate provision for acid attacks in the existing law. They are dealt with through Sections 320, 322, 325 and 326 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Of these only Section 326 refers to being attacked with a corrosive object but categorises it as grievous hurt.
Although this section allows punishment up to life imprisonment, most convicts get only a jail term of three to four years. Compensation, if ordered, is often paltry. Says Sushma Varma of Campaign & Struggle Against Acid Attack on Women (CSAAAW), Bangalore, CSAAW has documented around 75 cases from 1999 to 2012 in Karnataka. But there are many unreported cases. The National Crime Records Bureau cannot provide data because these attacks are not registered under a separate law or section. We want to stress that this is gendered sexual violence and needs to be recognised under a separate section of 326A. Shruti Pandey, a Delhi-based Human Rights lawyer, agrees that there is an urgent need to amend the IPC and Criminal Procedure Code to specifically recognise acid attacks as a crime. But it must also be seen as a sexual offence. Most acid attacks are made on women and for sexual reasons. Equally importantly we need legal provisions for compensation and rehabilitation. There should be a dedicated fund set up for immediate and assured availability of monies for the survivors medical treatment as well as for their psycho-social support, reparation, and rehabilitation. Also, the trial needs to be fast-tracked keeping in view the severity of the crime, states Pandey. Sonali also believes that the sale, use and storage of acid should be strictly regulated. She wants women to step up their campaign against violence. Campaigns like One Billion Rising (OBR) are important because they signal global solidarity on the issue. We need to come together beyond borders to battle such violence. Look what happened to Malala in Pakistan. But, apart from social campaigns, we also need justice delivery. Only then can we have a gender just society, she said. Two lines from a song penned by Kabir Suman, a Kolkata-based singer and political activist, expressed my thoughts as I emerged from my meeting with Sonali: One day you will see the face, smiling in the mirror, Sonali/Till then this song remains, waiting in your favour
Schemes & Facilities for the Senior Citizens

A demographic revolution is taking place throughout the world indicating a phenomenal rise in the population of the elderly. According to a UN estimate, the population of the people aged 60 years and above is expected to grow to 1.2 billion by 2025 and to 2 billion by 2050. Today, about two thirds of all the older people are living in the developing world. As per the Census 2001, in
India, there were 77 million persons above 60 years constituting 7.5% of the total population of the country. This number is projected to go up to 12.4% of the population in 2026. Such an increase obviously will throw up numerous challenges in designing old age specific programmes and schemes and addressing their issues in a comprehensive manner. The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment announced a National Policy for Older Persons in January, 1999. This policy reaffirmed the commitment of the Government to ensure the well-being of the older persons in a holistic manner. The National Policy for Older Persons essentially envisages support from the State to the older persons to ensure their financial and food security, health care, the need for shelter as well as other needs of the older persons, providing them an equitable share in development, giving them protection against abuse and exploitation, and ensuring the availability of services to improve the quality of lives of the older persons. Thirteen years have elapsed since this policy was announced. Keeping in view the changing demographic pattern, the socio-economic conditions and the technological development in the country, the Government is in the process of bringing out a new National Policy. The draft of the new policy is ready. The new Policy is expected to cover a wider spectrum of the issues and challenges facing the elderly. An institutional mechanism has been put in place to monitor the implementation of the existing national Policy for older persons and to advise the Government regarding the formulation and implementation of the policy and programmes for the aged through a National Council for Older Persons, under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment. The Council was first constituted in the year 1999 for a period of five years. It was reconstituted for another period of five years in the year 2005. However, the composition of this Council was not comprehensive enough as it did not contain sufficient non-official members to maintain regional balance. Besides, it also did not include the representatives of some of the Ministries/Departments dealing with issues related to the senior citizens. With a view to address these issues, the Council has been re-constituted and has now been renamed as the National Council of Senior Citizens. A Resolution to this effect has been issued in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) on 22ndFebruary 2011. The Parliament enacted the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act in December 2007, a landmark development. This Act has made themaintenance of parents and senior citizens by children, and where there are no children, then by the relatives, obligatory and justiciable through Tribunals. The Act has to be brought into force by the individual State Governments. It is not applicable to the State of Jammu & Kashmir, while Himachal Pradesh has its own Act, with the concerted efforts made by the Ministry, all the States and UTs have been persuaded to bring the Act into force in the respective States. For the effective implementation of the various provision of the Act, the States and UTs are required to take further steps, such as framing Rules, appointing Maintenance Officers, and constituting the Maintenance and Appellate Tribunals. As per information available in the Ministry, 14 States and 5 UTs have taken all these necessary steps.
The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment is also implementing the Integrated Programme of Older Persons since 1992 with a view to improve the quality of life of older persons by providing basic amenities like shelter, food, medical care, entertainment opportunities, etc. Under this Scheme, financial assistance up to 90% is provided to Governments/NonGovernmental Organizations/ Panchayati Raj Institutions/ local bodies etc. for running and maintaining old age homes, day care centres, mobile medicare units, day care centres for Alzheimers disease/Dementia patients, physiotherapy clinics for older persons, sensitization programmes for children, particularly in schools and colleges, Regional Resource and Training Centres, etc. About350 NGOs are being supported every year for running and maintaining around 550 projects. In order to address the increasing demand for care givers, the National Institute of Social Defense (NISD), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has been conducting One-Year, Six-Month and One-Month Courses on Geriatric Care. Besides, the Institute also collaborates with reputed institutions for organising short term training programmes for the caregivers. To ensure effective implementation of the policies and programmes of the Ministry and also to augment the activities of the NISD, the Ministry presently supports 3 Regional Resource Centres (RRTCs) namely, (i) Anugraha, New Delhi, which caters to the requirements of the northern States, (ii) Nightingale Medical Trust, Bangalore, which caters to the requirements of the southern States, and (iii) Integrated Rural Development and Educational Organization (IRDEO) which caters to the requirement of the north eastern States. These RRTCs undertake (i) Training of functionaries of grantee organizations under IPOP and monitor their work; (ii) Advocacy and awareness generation; (iii) Liasion with the concerned State Governments in the field of old age care, with specific reference to the implementation of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act, 2007, and the National Policy for Older Persons, 1999 and the other programmes and interventions for the senior citizens; (iv) Maintain a data-base of the institutions working in the field of old age care; and (v) Research and such other functions as the Ministry may assign from time to time. The need of the hour is to create a caring society, especially for the ageing population with the help of representatives from the Central Ministries and Departments, the State Governments, experts, academicians and many other stakeholders.
National Conference on Ageing

The population of senior citizens in the country is growing fast due to general improvement in the standard of living and availability of better health care facilities. This has resulted in consequential challenges related to ageing which need to be addressed on very urgent basis. The main issues concerning the senior citizens in the country are: protection of life and property, health care, financial security, protection against ill-treatment, independent and productive living and care and support for the needy senior citizens. The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, as the nodal agency on matters relating to the welfare of senior citizens is organizing a National Conference on Ageing on 6th and 7th November, 2012 at Vigyan Bhawan. The objective of the Conference is to sensitize all on ageing issues, review the various interventions of Central Government, State Governments/ UT Administrations, NGOs and the Civil Society with a focus on best practices and to prepare a Plan of Action for more effective implementation of various programmes for the welfare of senior citizens, so that their concerns are better addressed. The deliberation will be on the four identified themes (i) Financial and Social security; (ii) Health Care; (iii) Family and Community Care and (iv) Special Elderly Groups (such as older old, rural elderly, widows, persons with disabilities, Alzheimer, dementia, etc.). Representatives from the concerned Central Government Ministries/Departments; Welfare Ministers of all State Governments and Union Territories (with Legislature); Social Welfare/Social Justice Departments, Health Departments, Human Rights Commissions, and Planning Boards of all State Governments and Union Territories; International Organizations like WHO, UNFPA, FAO, ILO, World Bank, ISSO, NGOs; reputed Academic Institutions; Senior Citizens Associations, Corporate Houses, Experts and Activists working in the field of senior citizens, etc. will participate in the Conference.
Iron Lady of Manipur Sharmila completes 12 years fast today

November 5, 2012 10:11 am Social Issues/ Human Interest no comments
The Iron Lady of Manipur Irom Chanu Sharmila, who has been on a hunger strike since 2000 demanding repeal of Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), will complete 12 years of fast on Monday.
Sharmila, a civil rights activist, began her hunger strike after the death of ten people in an alleged encounter with the Assam Rifles at Malom in Imphal valley on November 2, 2000. She has been demanding repeal of AFSPA which the human rights activists hold as a draconian law. Currently she is in judicial custody where she is forcibly fed through her nose. Several candle light demonstrations by civil rights activists and members of social organisations are expected throughout Manipur on Monday to express their solidarity with Sharmila.
Urban Housing Shortage (2012-17) Report

November 4, 2012 10:47 am Social Issues/ Human Interest no comments
A Technical Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Amitabh Kundu, Professor of Economicsim JNU was set up by Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation to estimate the Urban Housing Shortage for the 12th Five Year (2012-17). The Committee submitted its final Report to the Kumari Selja, Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Minister of Culture here today. The highlights of the Report are as follows: The housing shortage has been estimated by putting together (a) the number of households residing in unacceptable dwelling units computed by considering the obsolescence factor, (b) those residing in unacceptable physical and social conditions -worked out using overcrowding/congestion factor, and (c) the houseless households. Housing shortage would not be a major problem if there is no mismatch between the people for whom the houses are being built and those who need them. Indeed, if the newly built houses were available to the houseless, squatters, slum dwellers and those living in extremely congested conditions, the shortage would be small. It would, however, be unrealistic to assume that the houseless HHs and those living in unacceptable conditions in other words, those who could be described as in Housing Poverty would have the affordability and access to the burgeoning supply in the market. The rapid increase in the number of vacant houses, the fierce competition among the private builders and aggressive advertisements to woo the prospective buyers, clearly underline the mismatch. Almost all the buyers of the new housing stock already live in acceptable dwelling units and either plan shifting from rented to self owned houses or are only attempting to improve their living conditions by going to a bigger house. There will be a few among them who would be buying for owning a second house, for future/occasional occupancy, rental earning or for pure speculative reasons. On the other hand, those in Housing
Poverty mostly do not have the means to enter the housing market to claim ownership or acquire rental housing. The Technical Group has estimated that at the start of the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), the total housing shortage in the country is 18.78 million. The below table exhibits the components that contribute toward the estimated urban housing shortage at the start of the 12th Five Year Plan, as of March 2012: Requirement/ Shortage (in Mn) 0.99 2.27 14.99 0.53 18.78
Households living in non-serviceable katcha Households living in obsolescent houses Households living in congested houses requiring new houses Households in homeless condition Total
The earlier concern regarding a mis-match between the people from whom the houses are being built and those who need them is clearly underlined in the following distribution of the estimated shortage across different economic categories. It exhibits that the maximum shortage exists for the EWS/LIG Section of society whose need is unable to get translated into demand due to issues of affordability. Economic Category % Distribution of 2012 Housing shortage among Economic categories (in Millions) 10.55 7.41 0.82 18.78
56.2 (EWS) 39.5 (LIG) 4.3 (MIG +) TOTAL
Kumari Selja while unveiling the Urban Housing Shortage figures of All India and State level have said that to reduce this gap in demand and supply of housing, Centre State/ULBs and the real state sector should work in tandem and built a low cost affordable housing. The report further recognizes that eliminating housing shortage during the period of the Twelfth Five Year Plan, over and above maintaining the current rate of construction, will be a challenging task, even with full involvement and cooperation of private sector and builders
lobby. It is, therefore, proposed to meet this challenge through alternate and complementary strategies;
Housing to be made a part of infrastructure sector or declared to be an industry, so that it is possible to incentivise the construction activities to deliver an appropriate mix of dwelling units to meet the needs of the people in housing poverty
Bring in the vacant houses into the housing market through taxation and incentive policies
Households that have the problem of congestion must be enabled to create extra space or build extra rooms through support from public agencies
Shifting the households living in houses built before 80 years to new units.
Motor Transport Workers Act to provide minimum benefits and social security to the drivers

October 30, 2012 12:32 pm Social Issues/ Human Interest no comments
In a communication to the Labour Ministry, ASSOCHAM has stated that in the absence of essential facilities and benefits, the industry is faced with 20 per cent of shortage of drivers resulting out of 90 lac trucks, 23 lac remain in the stand every day.
The nationwide study by the chamber, found that unfortunately even the basic benefits like life insurance, and ESIC facilities are missing and they have to face through rough treatment by police, RTO, mafia group etc. The chamber Secretary General D.S. Rawat has recommended that drivers should be treated as messengers and not the owners of the carrier or the goods loaded in it by the inspecting authorities. Mr. Rawat lamented that though timely delivery of goods depends upon the efficiency of a transport driver, yet their contribution is not recognized at any level. They have to constantly take the risk of their lives as long as they drive. There is no provision for rest houses, refreshment, bathing facilities starting from loading houses to unloading destinations. Insufficient sleep and pressure of moving goods on time causes undue stress, ill health and drinking habits, resulting in accidents. Increasing rate of accidents means increasing loss to lives, goods and also national wealth apart from leaving dependants of such crews helpless and with uncertain future as in most cases their family depends entirely on a drivers income. He said social security system, healthcare, insurance, training, uniforms, resting places at manufacturing and en route were some of the necessary requirements to be provided for drivers. State Governments should construct resting places for drivers on their highways. Finances for this facility could be met from the collections made from check posts and tolls, etc. The ASSOCHAM said, industry as a whole should ensure that drivers do not get overdose of work and they are provided with essential facilities and benefits. This will raise work efficiency resulting in enhancing the profit margins. Creation of facilities for drivers should become a part of CSR activity of the manufacturing industry. Moreover, drivers should be provided with facilities like installation of GPRS in the carrier and mobile phones so as to have constant touch with them. The Government has constituted a National Skill Development Council for providing funds and facilities for skill development in different areas including driving skills. Also Delhi University is providing diploma course in driving. Industry should take advantage of such facilities. Issue of skill development should be taken up on priority. Short time diploma courses for driving profession should be stated by Small and Medium entrepreneurs on the lines of computer training so as to produce the trained manpower and reduce the existing gap of this demand in the industry. Drivers should be made eligible for getting some financial assistance for the purpose of constructing their houses.
Phone app featuring sex tips for teens slammed as irresponsible

Children as young as 13 are being advised that they can flout the age of sexual consent by a sordid NHS website. The service, which is partly funded by EU and publicised in schools, even offers tips on sex acts. In total defiance of the law, it advises that while sex under the age of 16 is illegal you are the only one who knows when you are ready. MPs and family groups say the service, which costs 56,000 pounds and is inspired by Dutch sex education techniques, should be halted because it encourages sexual experimentation among children. The Respect Yourself website and smartphone app is the first service of its kind in the UK and has just been rolled out across 39 secondary schools in Coventry and Warwickshire. The site contains sexually explicit images, diagrams of erogenous zones, a sextionary of explicit terms and advises that there is very little stopping you accessing hardcore pornography from the comfort of your sofa.
Rehabilitation of Children Under NCLP Scheme

Under the Child Labour Policy, Government of India follows a multi-pronged approach with the following three major elements:

Legal Action Plan Focus on general development programmes for the benefit of the families of child labour; and Project-based action in areas of high concentration of child labour.
The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 18 Occupations and 65 Processes. The Act regulates the working conditions of children where they are not prohibited from working. In pursuance of the National Child Labour Policy, the National Child Labour Project Scheme was started in 1988. The scheme seeks to adopt a sequential approach with focus on the rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations and processes in the first instance. The scheme is being implemented in 266 districts. Under the Project, children rescued/withdrawn from work are enrolled in the special schools, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, nutrition, stipend, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into formal education system. As per census 2001, there were approximately 12 lakh children working in hazardous occupations/processes which are covered under Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act. Under the Scheme 8,95,529 children have been mainstreamed so far. This figure does not include the children rescued below the age of 5 years and above 14 years. Further, the Ministry launches awareness generation campaigns against the evils of child labour and enforcement of child labour laws through electronic and print media at the centre as well as at the district level. As per 2001 census, the total number of working children between the age group 5-14 years in the country was 1.26 crore. However, in the Survey conducted by NSSO, in 2004-05 the numbers of working children were estimated at 90.75 lakh. As per NSSO survey 2009-10, the working children are estimated at 49.84 lakh which shows a declining trend. This shows that the existing legislation and policy framed by the Ministry have yielded positive results. The official data regarding child labour pertaining to census 2011 has not been received so far.
As per information available, the State-wise number of inspections, prosecutions launched and convictions made during the last five years is as follows:
Number of inspections, prosecutions launched and convictions made during the last five years:
No. of Inspections
2007 261 2008 222 2009 363 2010 108 2011 56 2007 0
No. of Prosecution
2008 0 2009 0 2010 0 2011 0 2007 0
No. of Convict
2008 Nil 2009 Nil
20
Nil
1063 NA
1299 NA
803 NA
741 NA
NA NA
146 NA
138 NA
88 NA
74 NA
1275 NA
57 NA
5 Nil
23 Nil
22
Nil
4056 24720
3213 33686 453 1413 NA
3172 22918 1000 1273 NA
2332 12288 1497 1780 NA
4785 5741 1329 NA NA
4 1391 6 101 NA
11 1217 8 0 NA
1 1481 2 39 NA
12 632 33 62 NA
30 576 18 NA NA
69
3 0 Nil Nil 0 Nil 1 0 Nil 2 2
. 1475 1629 NA
Nil
150
378
NA
NA
NA
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
2587 1754 26292
426 164 8995
508 72 13711
NA 756 12640
NA 225 18442 2934 NA
248 Nil 276
355 Nil 302
389 Nil 195
581 Nil 112
614 Nil 240 82 44
8 Nil 27 3 1
14 Nil 17 43 0
4 Nil 16 33 Nil
Nil
Nil
23
3302
2986
3430
2321
2739
NA
2537
NA
Nil
3 0
251
16
35
22
210
81
Nil
2623
2931
2144
4681
82
44
38
13
37
16
1048 17333 11128
1450 27944 5312
4281 13454 1761
5215 13609 NA
NA 5478 NA
11 732 2
31 287 4
21 356 3
14 479 NA
NA 232 NA
4 180 Nil
1 89 4
5 311 Nil
11
Nil
2
5817 9189 3963 11388 7707 7908 5772 8472 NA 8617
Nil 5817 263 0
Nil 7264 220 0 NA Nil Nil 194 Nil 76 9 Nil 218
Nil 7707 166
Nil 5772 146
Nil 170 120
Nil 58 6 0
Nil 68 9 0 Nil Nil Nil 2 Nil 100 2 Nil 295 Nil 99 Nil 0
Nil 447 3 Nil Nil Nil Nil 1 Nil 29 15 Nil 178 Nil 198 1 0
Nil
32 8
4
NA Nil Nil 99 Nil 83 6 NA 79 NA Nil Nil 16 Nil 415 18 NA 38 2 Nil Nil 46 10 1011 38 NA 26
Nil
211
NA
NA
NA
388
0 Nil
0 Nil Nil 2 Nil 32 15 Nil 206 0
Nil
1(1997 to 2011)
NA 1769 NA 1536 14183 10953 5677 4233 NA 891 12200 14308 5631 NA NA 325 9932 12616 2024 NA 26386 2930 NA NA NA 766
Nil
Nil 27 Nil 212 26 Nil 789
Nil 1
. 10671 12728 7737 4163
Nil
13 5
Nil
204374 195826
187101 142668
56
5439 (1997 to 2011)

6432 493 2118 5682 66 2285 5519 187 1138 2135 404 380 NA NA 620 592 Nil 7 678 9 2
1(1997-2011)
643 Nil 3 356 2 0 NA 5 9
Nil
0 Nil 0
44 2 0
NA= Not available. ******
GLOBAL HUNGER REPORT 2012 : Executive Summary
October 21, 2012 6:30 am Social Issues/ Human Interest no comments
Updating U.S. Food and Farm Policies

On the eve of 2012, Congress is negotiating dramatic cuts in the federal budget. Cuts to programs designed to overcome the effects of poverty are in neither the short- nor the long-term interests of the nation. The recommendations in the 2012 Hunger Report are all the more relevant because the budget decisions are so urgent. People may disagree about what items in the federal budget are necessary for the public good, but we take for granted that its in everyones interest for the government to fight hunger. In fact, there should be zero tolerance for hungerno matter what the size, ideology, or other responsibilities of the government may be, it must do what is necessary to keep people from going hungry. The 2012 Hunger Report recommends ways for the federal government to better respond to the agriculture and nutrition challenges of today and tomorrow. Normally, change in food and farm policy occurs incrementally. The 2012 Hunger Report calls for bolder, more determined thinking about how U.S. food and farm policies can meet the global and domestic challenges of the 21st century. With one in four Americans participating in a federal nutrition program, the nations nutrition and farm policies absolutely need to be aligned. Farm policies should significantly increase production of healthy foods. But farm policies alone cant automatically improve access to nutritious foods for low-income families. Strengthening the nutrition safety net is also critical. Nutrition programs need to do more than provide food for hungry people; they must ensure that healthy food is available to all. The 2012 Hunger Report recommends ways for U.S. development assistance and food aid programs to work together more efficiently. Food aid programs should follow the lead of Feed the Futurethe new U.S. Global Hunger and Food Security Initiativeby focusing more deliberately on improving nutrition outcomes for the most vulnerable people, especially pregnant and lactating women and children under the age of 2. This will help achieve the strongest possible nutrition and development outcomes with the limited resources available.
Target for Employment Growth
As per results of the two most recent rounds of quinquennial labour force surveys conducted by the Union Labour & Employment Ministry on employment and unemployment conducted by National Sample Survey Office during 2004-05 and 2009-10, about 20 million additional job opportunities were created at an average rate of growth of around 1 per cent per year during 2004-05 to 2009-10. It is noteworthy that Eleventh Five year Plan aimed at creating 58 million additional job opportunities for skilled and unskilled labour force on current daily status basis at an average rate of growth of 2.73 percent per annum from projected employment of about 402 million at the beginning of the Eleventh Five Year Plan to about 460 million at the end of the Plan. Gross Domestic Product has grown at a compound growth rate of 8.6 percent per annum during 2004-05 to 2009-10 whereas employment estimated on current daily status basis has grown at the rate of about 1 percent during the same period. Approach Paper to Twelfth Plan highlights that for the growth to be inclusive; it must create adequate livelihood opportunities and add to decent employment commensurate with the expectations of a growing labour force. There is a potential for an accelerated pace of creation of more durable rural non-farm jobs/livelihood opportunities. Such job opportunities could come from faster expansion in agro-processing, supply chains and the increased demand for technical personnel for inputs into various aspects of farming that is undergoing steady modernisation, and also the maintenance of equipment and other elements of rural infrastructure. The services sector too has to continue to be a place for creation of decent jobs/livelihood opportunities, in both rural and urban areas.
India: Goodbye, Hello: Migrant Indias Brave New Daughters Preet Rustagi

Women have always migrated. But the change to note is that whereas earlier this migration was largely related to marriage or conducted as part of the family, now more and more women are also migrating alone. The negative aspects of such migration are well documented. It is known that womens labour is often exploited; that there are low economic benefits in the jobs they do; that the terms and conditions of such employment are not clearly laid down. But there is also a more positive aspect, which may not be very significant as far as proportions or numbers go, but is nevertheless important to highlight. For instance, a large number of women in India today are migrating alone for education. They move from small towns and even remote villages to metropolises like Delhi or Chennai, to study all kinds of courses. Once having adjusted to the urban milieu, and perceiving broader horizons, many among them are reluctant to go back to their places of residence and live as they once did. They prefer to seek employment and pick out those social avenues that could entail a change of social perspective which, in turn, translates into different social outcomes in the context of marriage, in the context of personal relationships, in the context of ways of life. There are other developments too that are providing a fillip to migration in India. Take the present crisis in the agricultural sector. On the one hand, the costs of input have risen exponentially; on the other, an array of factors from variable weather conditions to degradation of land have resulted in declining returns for the farmer. This has seen men move out of agriculture in large numbers, leaving the women behind to tend to the farms and resulting in what we term as the feminisation of agricultural operations. Nowadays, women too are joining the men in such migration to urban areas. In this context, a study I had done on women and migration, based on Census and National Sample Survey (NSS) data, was particularly interesting. The NSS data actually provides information as to how many women migrate and for what reason. Obviously, it revealed that a large section of female migration can be attributed to marriage and only a very small proportion, to work. While very few women report that they are going for work at the point of departure, a large number eventually does end up working. This shows that, to some extent, migration is giving women the opportunity of entering the labour market and increasing their public participation in a manner that they themselves could not have originally envisaged. If we look at womens employment again from the statistical point of view, the largest segment within the regular womens workforce, especially in urban areas, is in the segment of domestic work. This is a peculiar and particular kind of pattern as far as womens work is concerned. If one looks further at what this means for women, one comes across a very interesting scenario. Although a large number of studies view domestic work purely from the negative perspective in terms of lack of opportunities and rights, I tend to look at it more from the point of view of the potential for economic empowerment that domestic work offers to women. The fact that these women are actually able to go out of their homes creates opportunities that they otherwise would not have had, given their lack of education or access to skill developing avenues. In other words, domestic work allows for an easy entry into the work market.
We would generally tend to look at such work, from the womens status point of view, as something quite demeaning and which entails a loss of social status. But once one starts earning money and contributing quite a substantial share to the household income, a new dynamic is set into motion. These women then begin to be seen as contributors, both at the family level and within the social context in which they are located. From the surveys we have undertaken in the jhuggis (shanties) of Delhi, for instance, a large number of women did report that they had at first concealed from their husbands and other family members the fact that they were working as domestic help. But some of them also reported how, subsequently, that once the nature of their work came out into the open, it was generally appreciated. Women also talked about the demonstration effect they had on other women. Some of these women where, in fact, in families that were going through immense economic hardships because of the poor avenues of employment that were available to the men and because the women themselves held the traditional view that leaving ones home and working in somebody elses would undermine their social status. Such notions were discarded once the benefits from domestic work came to be perceived. Remember, also, that the very act of entry into the labour market enables a woman worker to interact with the world in a way she could not have done earlier. Even the perception of inequalities and injustices that mark her situation get clearer through this process, and some women are able to leverage their individual and collective strength to get a better deal for themselves. In cities like Mumbai, one sees the emergence of fairly strong domestic workers unions. As workers, the women begin to realise what they had missed out on in life, perceive what is feasible, what is available and form their own ideas about how they and their families could do better for themselves. We find, for example, that these women tend to take specific and particular interest in educating their children, not just the boys but the girls, because they dont want them to go through what they themselves had to experience. Such education ushers in generational change. We now hear of a maids daughter scoring the highest marks in a board examination, or getting into jobs that would have been impossible to access a generation earlier. So we are really talking of remarkable transformations. The movement from a rural to an urban setting no matter what the job at the other end is unleashes many significant developments in a womans life. Most notably, it somewhat loosens the hold of social conventions and compulsions. In rural India, the hierarchies of caste and religion, family traditions and norms, dictate everything from inter-personal relations to the broader social milieu. Given the deeply entrenched feudal social structures, one cannot do certain things even if one is educated and has very different perceptions about whom one would like to marry and what one would wish to do with ones life. After all, even going with the husband to see a movie in a rural setting is sometimes difficult to envisage. In a study undertaken in NOIDA, a city in the National Capital Region, a large number of women workers who had migrated from rural regions of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar actually said that they are now able to articulate many things they could not have done earlier even with regard to tabooed subjects like their own sexuality.
So clearly the urban milieu, with all its problems and frustrations, does entail a kind of freedom for the woman migrant. It provides her with some space to do things her way and imagine a new life for herself.
Rape horror in Haryana continues despite Sonias visit, warning

The rape horror in Haryana continues even after Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited Jind to meet rape victims and called for action. Just a day after Sonias visit, another gangrape has been reported from Kaithal in Haryana. A Dalit girl was allegedly gangraped in Kaithal. Two people have been arrested in the case. This is the 14th rape case to be reported in a month in Haryana. This came even as Sonia Gandhi took on Khap Panchayats and called for the strictest action against the culprits in rape cases. Voicing concern over a spate of rape incidents, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights also stressed on delivering speedy justice to such victims and demanded strong action against perpetrators. Taking up the issue with Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, NCPCR said that it feels that each of the cases is to be reviewed periodically and taken to its logical conclusion. On Tuesday, Sonia sent out a sharp message to Khap panchayats saying they cannot supersede the judiciary. Sonia also said that strictest action will be taken against the culprits in the rape cases. She said those guilty of such heinous crimes, which take place not only in Haryana but elsewhere too, must be severely punished. FOR MORE READING. . .
Poster campaign launched against factionism and ragging
A novel campaign aimed at dissuading youth from indulging in faction-related violence and ragging was launched by the Guntur Rural Police on Monday. Superintendent of Police, Guntur Rural, J. Satyanarayana who released posters on faction violence and ragging at Umesh Chandra Conference Hall, said that the police would play a proactive role in curbing faction related violence and ragging in colleges. The posters would be displayed in all towns and villages under the Guntur Rural Limits. The police have already launched an initiative Badhitulaku Bharosa, (reassurance for victims) for the next of kith and kin of families affected by faction violence. At two programmes held at Gurazala and Sattenapalli, the police with the help of NGOs extended financial, medical and educational aid to the members of families. We have identified 45 families who have lost their bread winners in faction related violence during the last 10 years and we will help to stand on their own feet, Mr. Satyanarayana said at a media conference. Further, an NGO has come forward to meet educational needs of children, who have lost their parents in road accidents with a financial outlay of Rs.25 lakh. The Police would play an important role in identifying the beneficiaries. The S.P has also come out strongly against drug menace and said that the police teams have been working on some clues about a gang distributing drugs to college students. He also released posters on the harmful effects of overdose of drugs.
The Tragedy at Sivakasi A.K.Padmanabhan

October 7, 2012 10:54 am Social Issues/ Human Interest no comments
The shocking fire accident on 5 September in Sivakasi which resulted in loss of 38 lives and injuries to many has once again exposed the failure of the authorities to ensure the safety of the people working in this most hazardous sector of fire crackers. Sivakasi and surrounding areas in Tamilnadu is famous for its firecrackers. 90 per cent of the requirements in Indian market is met by this area. Turnover is reported to be over Rs.350 crores. The criminal connivance of the employers, contractors and the concerned officials results in huge loss of lives to the workers, as all the safety regulations remain only on paper, in almost all the manufacturing units. The safety issue becomes a point of discussion, only where an accident takes place and is forgotten till another gastardly one takes away more lives. During the last 12 years, 237 persons have lost their lives in fires in 88 fire cracker manufacturing units in the area. These happenings can not be called an accident at all. These were waiting to happen at any moment. Those are the type of violations that go on in these units. CITU has been in the forefront of the struggles in the area in organizing the workers, conducting struggles on ensuring implementation of safety rules and also for proper wages and benefits. Even compensations were not being paid to the families of those who lost their lives in these so called accidents. The accident on 5th September has resulted in the largest loss of lives in a single incident. At the same time, only 5 of the 38 dead on that day were workers. All the other 33 dead and many of the injured had rushed to the site on hearing about the fire. All of them were workers from other factories and from the surrounding villages. Vigilance on the part of some who had reached the spot saved many lives from the blasts after the fire. As usual, there is a blame game going on after these shocking incidents. Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO) officials said that they had cancelled the licence of the factory on 4th September itself. But the orders had not reached any of the higher officials of District Administration like the Collector or Superintendent of Police. PESO officials say that they conducted inspection on 28th August and found 40 serious violations but they did not find it necessary to stop production immediately. It is not much of a secret that inspections and listing of violations are not for stoppage of work! But to make the employer to approach them to get it withdrawn! According to reports, that has happened here also.
LPG price hiked; petrol, diesel rates may go up

Cooking gas (LPG) price was on Saturday hiked by Rs. 11.42 per cylinder following government decision to raise commission paid to the dealers. Subsidised LPG in Delhi will now cost Rs 410.42 per cylinder, up from Rs 399. In Kolkata the new price is Rs 412.42, in Mumbai Rs 434.42 and in Chennai Rs 397.92. Petrol and diesel prices too may go up marginally as the Oil Ministry considers raising dealers commission by at least 23 paisa and 10 paisa a litre respectively. The Ministry on Saturday issued orders raising commission paid to LPG dealers from Rs 25.83 per 14.2-kg cylinder to Rs. 37.25, government officials said. The 44 per cent or Rs. 11.42 per cylinder increase in the commission on the subsidised cooking fuel is being passed on to consumers, they said. For the consumer, subsidised LPG in Delhi will now cost Rs. 410.42 per cylinder, up from Rs. 399. The hike comes within weeks of the government deciding to restrict supply of subsidised cooking gas to 6 cylinders of 14.2-kg size per household in a year. The remaining supplies would have to be sourced at market rates. Officials said the commission paid on market price or non-subsidised LPG too has been raised by Rs. 12.17 to Rs 38 per cylinder. Accordingly, a non-subsidised LPG cylinder price will go up from Rs. 883.5 to Rs. 921.5. A similar exercise is on to raise commission paid to petrol pump dealers on sale of petrol and diesel. The Ministry is proposing to raise commission paid on petrol by 23 paisa to 1.72 and that on diesel by 10 paisa to Rs. 1.01 a litre. The hike being considered for petrol and diesel is less than 67 paisa and 42 paisa respectively being demanded by petrol pump dealers in view of their working capital cost going up substantially due to frequent price changes and sharp rise in overheads like electricity charges. The government has also raised commission paid on 5-kg cylinders by Rs 5.33 to Rs 18.63. Currently, petrol pump dealers get Rs 1.49 a litre commission on sale of petrol and Rs 0.91 a litre on diesel. Pump operators have demanded that this be raised to Rs 2.10 a litre on petrol and Rs 1.33 per litre on diesel reasoning that unlike LPG agencies, petrol pumps open 365 days a year on 24 hours basis thereby incurring higher operating cost. LPG agencies are closed on national holidays as well as once a week.
Besides, petrol pumps provide free facilities such as toilets, water and air-pressure for tyres, while LPG dealers do not provide any such service, Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT) general secretary Ajay Bansal said. Also, LPG rates havent increased in over a year but petrol and diesel prices have seen frequent changes. Increase in prices mean our working capital (money used to buy fuel from oil companies) goes up. Also, our losses increase because of evaporation of fuel, he said questioning the Oil Ministrys rationale of hiking LPG dealers commission by almost 50 per cent and offering only 10 per cent to petrol pumps. Officials said the hike in LPG rates comes within days of oil firms raising price of nonsubsidised cooking gas (LPG) by Rs 127 per cylinder to Rs 883.5 on account of increase in international oil prices. The government has granted exemption from customs and excise duty on non-subsidised LPG cylinders only for domestic consumption to reduce the price burden on the common man. The price of commercial 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in Delhi will be Rs 1,062, while that of a 19-kg bottle would be Rs 1,536.5.
"Behavior Architects" Tackle India's Social Problems

By David Shaftel on October 25, 2012

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The bureaucrats running Mumbais suburban rail network had a problem: Commuters and people living and working close to train stations were taking shortcuts across the tracks. This reckless behavior was causing 6,000 deaths in the metropolitan area every year. The transit authorities asked FinalMile, a local marketing consultant, to find a solution. FinalMile had experience in applying behavioral economics to sell consumer goods; the city hoped it could use similar techniques to save lives. FinalMile would do the work for free.
The four founders of FinalMile, who among them have degrees in business administration, engineering, and economics, have worked with Hindustan Unilever (HUVR), Philips Electronics (PHG), Merck (MRK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and others. Co-founder Ram Prasad figured the best behavioral strategy was to make track trespassers less complacent by going beyond the existing warning signs to instill a deep sense of danger. So at Wadala station in central Mumbai, FinalMile hung graphic photos of a train about to run down a screaming man. FinalMile researchers also realized that approaching trains typically began to honk their horn too far away. In densely populated Mumbai, the honking blended in with the aural landscape. So Prasad persuaded the train engineers to blow their horns closer to the station in sharp bursts, making the warning stand out from the cacophony. FinalMile and M.C. Chauhan, chief electrical traction engineer with the Northern Railways, say that deaths at Wadala declined 75 percent, from 40 in 2009 to 10 in 2010. Since the success at Wadala, the national rail system has commissioned FinalMile to improve safety at Indias 16,000 unmanned rail crossings, where motorists court disaster by racing to cross before trains pass by. FinalMile has picked up other work, too: instruction in safe driving, a plan to keep tuberculosis patients on their medications, and the promotion of toilet use so people
wont defecate in the open (there are more cell phones than toilets in India, according to the United Nations).
No bank account for people with disabilities

Ramya Kannan Share Comment print T+
The Hindu The issue of accessing bank accounts by people with disabilities, physical, intellectual and psychosocial, looms large. File photo:H. Vibhu
TOPICS
India Tamil Nadu social issue disabled social issues (general) social conditions social problems welfare welfare
Rule says banks can refuse to start accounts for people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities When Rajiv Ranjan applied for a bank account, the bank denied him the facility point blank. Rajiv, a major, is the coordinator of the Disability Law Unit (DLU) at Vidya Sagar. They threw the rule book at him: The rule said banks could refuse to start accounts for people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. I cannot operate a bank account by myself and must depend on a guardian to have a bank account, I was told, Rajiv says. This despite the fact that Rajiv is active on the disability access and legal front. He has cerebral palsy, which affects his speech, explains Smitha S.S, who is also with DLU. Rajivs is not a single case, the issue of accessing bank accounts by people with disabilities, physical, intellectual and psychosocial, looms large. On International Human Rights Day, the disability rights lobby chose to bring this crucial problem to the forefront again. The norms are that such persons can open only joint accounts, with a guardian, who will operate and maintain the account including signing of cheques, Rajiv explains. The problem is with the Contract Act, which is discriminatory. The same rules apply to post offices too, and cases of post offices denying certain categories of disabled people have occurred too, he adds. Only recently, Vadivelan, a student of Vidya Sagar, who was over 18 years, applied for a postal ID. But officials refused to issue him the card, based on his condition, Smita explains. They do not bother to check if the applicant is capable of operating the bank account by himself or herself. The risk of the account being mishandled is often the reason we are given. But we are ready to be responsible for the operation of our accounts, just as everyone else she says. With government welfare schemes moving into the cash transfer to beneficiaries mode, it has become all the more important to be able to own and operate a bank account by oneself, Meenakshi B of the DLU points out. Even the monthly maintenance allowance disbursed by the government is credited to the bank. The students of Vidya Sagar, many of whom have gone on to open their own businesses, still find it difficult to access bank loans, or register businesses in their own names. Everything has to be done through a guardian, while they are equally capable of doing so, explains Smitha. It is also learnt that pursuant to a communication from the National Trust Act (for Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities) unit, the RBI did send out a circular advising banks to rely upon guardianship certificates issued under the Mental Health Act or the above Act for opening/operating bank accounts. Besides, it also makes recommendations on improving customer service in banks to various categories of disabled people. T.M.N. Deepak, vice-president, Federation of Tamil Nadu Physically Handicapped Association, says this sometimes also extends to the physically disabled. Recently, a physically disabled person was prevented from opening an account. Often ATMs and banks themselves are not
accessible to wheelchair users, preventing them from using the facilities. How is this inclusion at all Meenakshi adds, Even I do not get an ATM card because I use crutches. The logic is that I cannot access the ATM, no discussion on making access possible. But the disability rights lobby is not keeping quiet about this any longer. On Disability Day, earlier last week, solidarity booths were set up in a couple of branches in the State Bank of India in Chennai. Further, the team is in the process studying existing regulations of the RBI, comparing them to international standards and examining what can be done to get reforms in, says Rahul Jacob Cherian of Inclusive Planet. Perhaps when these reforms are set in place, Rajiv can actually issue a cheque by himself. Today, he has to depend on his partner who operates the joint account with him.
NHRC worried over bonded labour

Bindu Shajan Perappadan Share Comment print T+
TOPICS
labour labour legislation work relations social issue slavery social issues (general) discrimination social conditions social problems social services
Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan continue to register the largest number of cases reported on bonded labour from across India, noted National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Justice (Retd) B. C. Patel while speaking on Friday at a meet on bonded labour and encounters by police in India. Mr. Justice Patel noted that often in the case of bonded labour people do not want to follow laws because exploitation is the motive. There is often no transparency of the loans given to labourers and the pay they get. The law imposes responsibility on the owners to take care of the employees working with him which is rarely done, he added. Justice Patel also noted that the Commission has received almost 1,700 complaints of alleged encounters by police across the country since 1993 with Uttar Pradesh topping the list. We arent getting adequate assistance from State executives in disposing encounter cases with several officials opting not to adhere to established rules and practices. With regard to encounters
intimated by police, again Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 948 cases followed by Assam (229), Maharashtra (124) and Andhra Pradesh (120). If officers with the State Government follow the recommendation process honestly, then the issue of handling the cases and providing compensation will be easy. Not all officers are discharging their duties in accordance with the law, added Mr. Justice Patel.
Gujarat 2012: Rich State, Poor People Archana Prasad

December 15, 2012 2:01 pm Features/ Articles, Focus no comments
GUJARAT chief minister, Narendra Modi, released the BJPs election manifesto or a sankalp patra (a pledge to the people) for Gujarat 2012 on December 3, 2012. Recounting the achievements of the Gujarat growth story, the patra claims that Gujarats administration has been admired nationally as well as internationally with more than 250 awards, at an average rate of one award every fortnight. It also claims that in its 11 years in power, the Narendra Modi government has excelled itself by doing all inclusive, all pervasive and all round development in the state, thus providing a replicable model to the entire country. However, these claims need to be evaluated on the basis of hard empirical evidence that has been collected, published and analysed by a team of researchers and published in a recent book, Poverty Amidst Prosperity: Essays on the Trajectory of Gujarat (Aakar, 2012). The book uses current comparable data and shows how the Gujarat growth story has been much exaggerated and has perpetuated growing inequities within the state. Hence the evidence provided by the book needs to be counterposed with the claims and future pledges of the Gujarat BJP.
JOBLESS GROWTH AND
CORPORATE SUBSIDIES The BJP manifesto claims the growth and expansion of a neo-middle class as one of the major impacts of the Gujarat growth story. Consequently the party promises several measures to meet the aspirations of this middle class through pledges of making cheap houses, providing power, cheap loans and insurance. However, the emergence and expansion of the middle class is dependent on the expanding income and employment opportunities and this is belied by the evidence with regard to the employment as well as the character of the economic growth within the state. In terms of the overall performance of the economy, the Gujarat growth story has been described as unspectacular, especially in comparison with states like Maharashtra and Tamilnadu which have similar growth rates. While the state comes first in terms of attracting investment, but it is only seventh in terms of the growth of employment. Conversely, a state like Tamilnadu ranks seventh in terms of the investments it attracts but is on the top of the rankings as far as employment is concerned. Further, the concentration of investment in particular sectors has created unbalanced development and has had negative implications for employment. Of particular significance in this textile, petroleum and chemical sectors which constitute more than 60 per cent of the total investment and provide half the employment. Still further, the states record of project implementation is itself abysmal. At the time of the first vibrant Gujarat summit 73 per cent of the projects garnered were implemented, but in 2011 this proportion came down to about 13 per cent (Poverty amidst Prosperity, pp 6-7). This effectively meant that industrialists have been given cheap land and infrastructural facilities to make investments and dump their money in nonproductive projects. The recent revelations on the links between the Adani Group and Narendra Modi only provide more evidence for this pattern.
GROWING INEQUALITIES Given this scenario, it is hard to explain the claims of the BJP manifesto that growth has led to the growth of a large middle class. This is exemplified by the growing inequities within the economy. In 2009-2010, one third of the people in the state lived below the poverty line with 18 per cent of the urban and 27 per cent of the rural households being poor. Though this proportion was lower than the all-India average, these figures were not better than those of the high growth states of Tamilnadu and Haryana (Poverty amidst Prosperity, p 20). This means that the benefits of the investment were not being transferred to the ordinary people despite the claims of overall development. The distribution of income (gauged by the per capita consumer expenditure) amongst social groups reveals another dimension of the growing
inequities. The gap between the rate of change in income for the scheduled tribes and others has grown exponentially between 2005 and 2010 especially in the rural areas. Further, in the same period income has declined for both scheduled caste and tribes in the urban areas. For both these social groups the head count of poor people has also increased at a higher rate than for other social groups (Poverty amidst Prosperity, pp 22-23). These inequities manifest themselves in the poor educational and health status of the state.
EDUCATION In its pledge, the BJP has given primacy to youth and education. It announces that it has achieved 100 per cent enrolment in primary school and reduced the dropout rate to two per cent. These claims are belied by the data collected through the 52nd (2000-2001) and 64th (20072008) NSSO rounds of survey, which show that the overall educational ranking of Gujarat fell from 21 to 26 amongst all states in this period for children going to school at the primary level. At the level of all youth and children attending any educational institution from the ages of 6-29, the ranking of Gujarat declined from 9 to 14 amongst 15 states with which it was compared (Poverty amidst Prosperity, p 182 and Table 9.2, p 269). This abysmal condition is further exemplified by the fact that the school going children between 5-14 years constitute 85.5 per cent of all school-going children, a proportion lower than that of states like Tamilnadu, Maharashtra and other states with similar growth rates. Only 31.6 per cent of all school-going children between the ages of 15-20 attended secondary and high school in 2007-2008 (Poverty amidst Prosperity, Table 9.14, p 272). At the same time, almost a third of the children in Gujarat had no formal education whatsoever and only 13.5 per cent of the children had secondary or high school education and 2.6 per cent of the youth were college-going as compared to the all-India figure of 4.2 per cent in 2007-2008 (Poverty amidst Prosperity, Table 9.15, p 272). These figures clearly show that the claims made by the Gujarat BJP are inflated and untrue. This abysmal situation in this crucial social structure is to be seen in the context of the declining state expenditure in education within the state. In 2007-08, where as the Gujarat governments per head expenditure in rural areas was Rs 984, the expenditure of private aided institutions Rs 3509 and private unaided institutions was Rs 5015 per head. This gap between public and private institutions is also reflected in the urban areas where the per head government expenditure on education was Rs 2815 and by private aided and unaided institutions was Rs 7509 and Rs 8037 respectively. In both (the urban and the rural) cases, the per head government expenditure in Gujarat has been much less than the average all-India expenditure whereas the expenditure by private unaided schools in rural areas is higher than the all-India expenditure by the same agencies. The level of per head educational expenditure by private aided institutions in rural and urban areas and by unaided institutions in urban areas is comparable to the all-India spending in 2007-2008 (Poverty amidst Prosperity, Table 9.20, p 274). This indicates that the level of privatisation of education in Gujarat was higher than that of the rest of India and this is reflected
in the low and unsatisfactory indicators in the education sector. A cursory look at the future educational agenda of the Gujarat BJP as revealed in the manifesto also shows that this trend is unlikely to change as most of its promises are about providing scholarships to students attending private schools rather than basic educational infrastructure.
HEALTH The BJP manifesto claims that it will provide decentralised health services to all. It also makes a step towards a greater privatisation of medical education by promising the setting up of government self-financing medical colleges in each tribal district, and providing monetary assistance to students in these self-financing colleges. This focus is in line with the current role of the state government in the health sector where the total health expenditure in Gujarat decreased from 4.25 per cent of the total budget in 1990-95 to 0.77 per cent of the total budget in 2005-2010. In the period between 2005-2010, Gujarat was ranked fourth from below as far as its health status is concerned (Poverty amidst Prosperity, pp 208-10). The Human Development Report 2011 also highlighted Gujarat as one of the states where about half its children were malnutritioned, and the rate of decline of the infantile mortality in the state was lower than that of other states with similar growth rates. Even here the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes showed a higher mortality rate as compared to the national average and the mortality of girl children is also higher than that of male children (Poverty amidst Prosperity, pp 204-05). This clearly shows that the disparities that exist within the economy have affected the access of ordinary people to social infrastructure. This is especially so since the Gujaratmodel of development is largely relying on private capital for the growth of these sectors. Seen in this context, the BJPs sankalp patra is nothing but an eyewash and seeks to hide the failure of the Modi government on many developmental fronts. Though the BJP may claim that Modi is a model chief minister who has brought the politics of development to Gujarat, evidence based studies show that the pace of progress of the state slowed down during the eleven years of the BJP rule. Further, the hollow slogans of inclusive development are nothing but a way of attaining the hegemony of Hindutva forces as well as corporate capitalism, both of which strengthen each other within this state. As the state goes to the polls, the people of Gujarat would do well to remember these facts and defeat their current non-performing and tyrannical chief minister.
Information Security Education and Awareness Project
December 5, 2012 11:18 am
Immigration /Law/ Rights no comments
The Information Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) project is aimed at human resource development in the country in the area of Information Security. The academic activities of the ISEA project are implemented by 6 Resource Centers (including Indian Institutes of technology, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai) & 33 Participating Institutes (including National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Information Technology, Govt Engineering Colleges, select centers for Development of Advanced Computing and National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology). A scheme for participation of private institutes under ISEA Project was introduced on 23.2.2006 under which the following benefits to the AICTE/UGC approved non-profit private institutes were envisaged: Access to their faculty/staff to attend Faculty Training Programmes or any other training programmes conducted by Resource Centers/Participating Institutes on payment or requisite fee and meeting all other expenditures. Access to the training material, courseware developed under ISEA project. This information was given by Shri Milind Deora, Minister of State for C&IT in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha
Honour killing in India: A shameful act on the name of false prestige!

Social issues by Editor India is a country of mixed cultures and heritages. Our country is an epitome of equality and bonds of love and affection. The adage Unity in Diversity aptly suits our nation. But, the unfortunate thing is that all these things are now becoming matters of the past. As we are heading towards a future that is darkened with things like religion and caste, killing someone in the name of prestige is gaining precedence over love and affection towards others.
Honour Killing in India:
The frequency of honour killings have been on the rise in the northern regions of India, with the states of Punjab, Haryana and UP topping the list. These honour killings are directed towards women or girls, and are a result of marriages that happen without the permission of the family, or those that happen with the girl and boy belonging to two different caste groups or religions. In contrast to this, honour killings are close to null in the south Indian states as well as north western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Statistics have given extremely painful and sad results. Over 1000 young people are killed in India in the name of honour killing
Honour killing in India Chakreview.com every year. Punjab has got the credit of having the highest number of honour killings in the country, with 34 honour killings being reported in the state between 2008 and 2010.
Khap Panchayats and Honour Killing: Khap panchayats are self driven setups that have gained wicked popularity for having paved a way for honour killing. Boycotting families from villages that chose to allow their childrens marriages to their choice, supporting the families in honour killing are some of the nave activities of these so called panchayats. The unlawful laws of the Kap panchayats are imposed through social boycotts where the victims are killed or forced to commit suicide. All these inhumane activities are done in the name of brotherhood and honour. Love marriages are considered taboo in these areas, which is highly unfortunate.
Few Examples of Inhumanity: In the town of Jhajjar in Haryana, a father allegedly strangled his 21 year old daughter to death just for the trivial reason that she was in love with a guy.
In Uttar Pradesh, a youth who was opposed to his sisters love beheaded her and threw her head in her lovers house. This shows how inhumane and devilish one can become when their minds are possessed with spirits like religion and caste. In yet another brutal act of tyranny, a man in Rajasthan had beheaded her daughter with a sword. The killer father was found roaming on the streets holding the severed head of his daughter.
Where are we heading? 65 years of independence, development in the fields of science, technology, business, films and sports, etc. and yet, there are these dumb practices that threaten to push our nation backward to a few million years. Our nations dignity is being poisoned by religion and caste differences. People, who seem to be modern and broad minded, arent really so. Though honour killings are not prevalent in cities and metros, still love marriages are looked down. People tend to allow religion and caste to dominate the very meaning of love, which is a universal language. This mindless practice is not confined to a particular class. Both the educated and the uneducated, the rich and the poor, have this habit of honour killing in practice.
Land acquisition and Corruption: How to stop this looting?

Current Affairs & Politics, Social issues by Editor Till now it was Mother India, and now it is also Mother Earth. Land, earth, or whatever, is held at a high regard in our country. The land we live on is equated to a goddess and a mother. But hold on, opening our doors to reality gives us an entirely different picture. The corrupt devils havent hesitated to rape our nation even in the most pathetic way.
LAND ACQUISITION PROCESS AND CORRUPTION INVOLVED Land acquisition basically refers to the process of acquiring of land by the government for various infrastructure as well as economic
Land acquisition and Corruption How to stop this looting -Chakreview.com related developments. In our country, acquiring of land has got some additional definitions, i.e, it involves the hands of political bigwigs, and hence there is lot of black money involved, thereby accelerating our nation in the corruption race. When a land is acquired by the government, it most of the times results in the displacement of a considerable chunk of the particular areas population. The poor, who have been having their livelihood in an area, their houses, businesses etc. all have now to be shifted to some other place. The question here is, does the government help these displaced people after they have lost their trades? I guess, our government doesnt even care to look back at them, let alone help! Looking at the cases of Noida extension, or Rober Vadra-DLF deals or Maharashtras Lavasa land scams, its clearly visible that politicians and businessmen are looting poor farmers and the country itself, these people are responsible for increasing housing rates and poor condition of farmers, as farmers voice is crushed under the power pressure and twisted laws.
LAND ACQUISITION BILL The land acquisition bill of 2012, which is to be tabled in the winter session, looks like it is going to initiate the abolishment of the issues related to the land acquisition in India. The bill has a provision for consent of two-third of the land owners, and only after the consent, can the government proceed further in acquiring the land. In this bill, the priority is given to the land owners. One more progressive thing about the bill is that no acquisition of land will be made in Schedule Areas, that is, areas where the tribal population is very high. Still, though the elements of the bill seem to be sensible and meaningful, there is something we shouldnt forget. There were times when our government had introduced such attractive bills, only to either result in further degradation of the system, or the reality turning out to be quite the opposite to what the original bill had promised.
FEW SHOCKING LAND ACQUISITON SCAMS OF INDIA
The Lavasa land acquisition scam of Maharashtra was one scam that shook the state. According to the reports, over 600 hectares of land was purchased by the Lavasa Corporation from the Maharashtra state farmers. As per the government rules, three fourths of the purchase price was to be paid to the state. But, only 2 percent of the price was paid back by the Lavasa Corporation. The rest of the money? We can bet that the money definitely didnt go for the welfare of the state. The Aadarsh housing scam is the next on the list. It is the biggest land scam of Mumbai, and one of the biggest multi crore housing scams in India. Way back in 2002, a request to build a housing complex was put forward to the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Unfortunately, over the years, many politicians and bureaucrats have come under the scanner for having violated several housing norms and misusing the houses that were meant for the martyrs families and Kargil heroes.
HOW THE PROCESS OF LAND ACQUISITION IS GOVERNED The process of land acquisition is governed by the LAND ACQUISITION ACT of 1894. It becomes imperative for the government to declare the land that is going to be acquired, notify the people who are interested, and acquire the land only after paying the compensation.
COMPENSATION FOR LAND ACQUISITION The new land acquisition act which is to be tabled in the winter session requires the government to pay the land value, plus the value of any other property on the land. In addition to this, the government also has to pay the expenses that have to borne by the people for leaving the land and settling in some other place. And if the land that is acquired is an agricultural land intended for industrial use, then the government is required to pay the price of the industrial land. HOW TO STOP THIS LOOTING? Lands are one of the biggest sources of money, or rather, black money, for the government. The degradation is not really visible at the top or mid levels, but the poor are the worst hit because of such land scams. And moreover, since it is the economically weaker sections that are getting hit, the enormity of the scams is not clearly visible to the everyday public. All we think is that it is just like any other scam, but we dont see the lives of the poor getting rotten and ruptured. A clean government, in the first place, is very much required. This is because it is the government that is purchasing the lands, and if the government is clean and efficient, then the law breakers and corrupt rogues can be whitewashed from the society. Strict laws should be introduced, which allows heavy penalties to be levied on those middlemen who eat the money that is meant for the poor who live on the going-to-be-acquired lands.
Only then can the lands of the country can be both clean and corruption free.
Acid Attacks and increasing Crime against Women: Strong laws required!
Social issues by Editor Our country is the one where women are given utmost respect. A woman is considered as a great soul in our nation, and in our national language, we name India as Bharat Mata (Mother India). But wait, here is where we got to open our eyes to the present reality; the very reality which subverts the essence of the first few lines above.
Acid Attacks and increasing Crime against Women Chakreview.com
A few shameful instance of Acid attacks on Women: In the town of Sonipat, Haryana, a 17 year old girl died after she became the unfortunate victim of an acid attack by three motor cycle borne youth. Three minor school girls also make a displeasing entry into the victim list. In Rohtaks posh sector 1 locality, some unknown motorcyclists threw acid on these minors when they were on their way back home from tuition. What is more pathetic in this regard is that the police had failed to crack the case, but had put forth false claims of nabbing the culprits. When the grassroot system itself is dishonest, it is the foremost responsibility of our government to take immediate and appropriate action. But, is that happening? We got to think.
CRIME AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA: Our country is becoming an epitome of crime, and the sad thing is that women are turning out to be the worst hit. Crime against women in our nation is on the rise, year by year. Here are a few appalling statistics. In the year 2006 alone, over 32,000 murders, 19,000 rapes, 7,500 dowry deaths and 36,500 molestation cases were reported against women. And to make things worse, there are many more cases that go unreported in our country. Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh are the states where crime against women has been sky rocketing. And yes, our national capital Delhi is also not far behind. In the year 2006, the national crime rate decreased negligibly by 0.2 percent, where Delhis rate grew to 357.2 percent, which is above the double of the national crime rate of 167.7 percent.If there is a crime that merits to be called the fastest growing, then it is rape. As many as 18 women are assaulted in some way or the other every hour in our country. Gang rapes of young women, minors etc. are some of the phrases that are having their place in the daily headline nowadays. And this is a shame; an absolute shame for our country, and for our government, for keeping its mouth shut and let the lives of women rot in the ditches of crime. It is awfully pathetic that the convicts get no more than a day in the prison plus some capital punishment, whereas the raped victims, in addition to their physical torture they have endured, now get raped again and again by the society and the media. And as usual, our so called democratic government stays silent over criminal issues and raises its voice against revolutionary ideas.
What Should be done to Stop such Acid Attacks and Crime against Women in India? The government has to wake up to the silent cries of torture of the women in our country. Strict laws have to be formulated, not only for the safety of women within the country, but also for those who have come from other countries. (Sadly, even the assaults of foreign women are on a drastic rise). What is unfortunate in our country is that the cases where women are victims are looked down. This has to change by higher priorities being given to those cases where women have suffered. The action has to be fast and justice should be instant. Such sick people should be given live sentence of death sentence since they destroy girls whole life. Such animals don;t have any place in society The dormant meaning of women rights have to be surfaced again. Rural women should be educated of what they are capable of, and what they can do to shake the nation. Only then will this shame of crime will retreat.
Rich getting richer and poor getting poorer: Where are we heading?
Social issues by Editor India was the richest country in the world until the British invasion in the early 17thcentury.
Rich getting richer and poor getting poorer Where are we heading -Chakreview.com We were the most developed in terms of economy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics and science. Our riches attracted millions to build trade bonds with us, and one fine day the British seeped into our nation to suck our nations wealth, dignity and reputation. Well, I have said all this not to blame the British for our present state of misery. If there is anyone to blame for the way we are today, it is us. We are like this only because of us and we are completely responsible for it. A couple of centuries ago, the British began to suck our wealth, and now we ourselves are doing so.
The ever widening economic inequality The economic equality in our nation has doubled in our country in the last two decades. And this has made India the worst performer amongst the developing nations. What is more contributing to this widening phenomenon is that the top 10 % of the economy earn 12 times more than the bottom 10 %. When it comes to the middle line of the economy, that is the middle class, it is again the top 10 % that calls the shots. They make 5 times more than the median people, while the medians make just 0.4 % more than the bottom 10 %.
The rich becomes richer, the poor becomes poorer this is a common inclusion in political speeches and socio-centred films and documentaries. But the reality that is hidden behind those words is one of misery, despair and agony. The fact of rising inequality is not really surprising, as the government offers a massive 4.6 lakh crore in tax exemptions while subsidies for the poor and the farmers harbour an amount of 1.5 lakh crore.
Can we rely on our Government? Definitely no. Relying on our government is what has kept us still developing, despite the fact that its already 65 years since our independence. If we have to be dependent on anyone, that is our own self. Let us see what has been happening to our nation under the present government. Of all the developing countries, India has the highest proportion of informal employment.
Our country spends much less than 5 % of its GDP on social schemes as compared to Brazils more than 15 %. Indias Gini coefficient, the official measure of economic inequality has gone from 0.32 to 0.38, the ideal score being 0. About 42 % of the Indian population lives on less than 65 rupees a day. This is the highest poverty rate in the seven developing countries. Out of our countrys workforce of about 460 million, 92 % work in the unorganized or informal sector, i.e, they dont have job security. These are just a few, but there are many more facts which are very much painful when we compare our present state with what we were a couple hundred years ago.
Two different worlds: One is hell, the other is heaven
One major reason for this economic inequality is corruption. Though India is not amongst the top 50 most corrupt countries, the problem is rampant in our country. And if not put under immediate control, we would soon make a shameful move not into the top 50, but into the top 10 itself.
Most of the politicians are corrupt. They support and welcome the rich, thereby putting more pressure on the poor. The poor are levied with unreasonable taxes, while the rich politicians are
exempted from them. While the poor are jailed for no mistake of theirs, the rich escape punishment and are out on bail though the mistake lies on their side. While the poor have to struggle to get things done, the rich toss bundles of rupee notes and things happen in seconds. The rich live on alcohol and expensive wines, while the poor have a hard time finding water for a day. By saying rich, I dont mean the wealthy ones, but the ones who are wealthy in a corrupt way. This is the state of our nation, and we sit back in our houses and behave as though we have sacrificed much for the country.
The other reason is freebies. Our leaders never want the poor to develop. They want the poor to remain poor, and make them beggars by offering things for free. Corruption and freebies: two devils of our nation that make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
We have been called a developing nation since ages; but we can attain the developed state only when the economic differences amongst the people can be subverted completely.
Child Sexual abuse in Shelter Homes: The horrible Truth!

Social issues by Editor If there is something that is deeply traumatizing and hurting, something that is unpardonable and indigestible, then the first in the list
Child Sexual abuse in Shelter Homes Chakreview.com comes Child Abuse. And when this abuse is sexual, the repercussions have to be extreme and the guilty should undoubtedly be hanged.
The inside story of Child Sexual abuse The number of child care homes and institutions is on the rise, and so are the cases of sexual abuse. And what is more pathetic is, the cases that havent come into the limelight largely outnumber the ones that have come under the police scanner. According to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, there are over 640 shelter homes across the country (child care centres and institutions) registered under the Juvenile Justice Act 2000. And over 30,000 children live in such homes. But when it comes to the number of homes unregistered under the act, the data and information is null.
There are two such shelters that had come under the media eye. One, a shelter home named Apna Ghar in Rohtak, Haryana. One of the many mind-stagnating things happening here is that the caretakers used to put the colours of Holi on the private parts of the children. In the case of Apna Ghar, three inmates escaped to narrate their horror stories. And other one, is the Arya Orphanage in Delhi. The medical examination of a 11 year old girl who died here confirmed rape.
Child abuse facts : Now lets take a brief look at what actually is happening in most of the CCIs (Child Care Institutions).
The girl children are forced to strip off their clothes. There was forced abortion happening by inserting objects in their private parts. Every inmate, irrespective of their age and gender, were forced to consume liquor every night. The kids are forced to watch porn and the so called caretakers use foul language at them. This is just the brief, which itself is sickening. The activities and atrocities that havent come under the scanner are many more, and what is even more painful is the fact that a few cops are also involved in this abuse and torture towards children.
How the inside incidents spill out The public comes to know of all such incidents only when an insider manages an ingenious escape and reports to someone, or when a rare and exceptional event exposes the sex tyrants. It has come out through many experts that for every reported case of sexual assault in a CCI, there are ten unreported cases. The JJ Act, 2000, demands regular inspections by the inspection committee, monthly meetings of the management committees and quarterly inspections by the Child Welfare Committee members. When a child care home is not registered under the JJ Act, it gets the chance of escaping all this scrutiny. There are cases when the members of the inspection committee are bribed by the caretakers of Child Care Institution`s upon accidental exposure of the inside activities, and the result is the innocent children losing their very chance of freedom from the hellholes of sexual abuse. Some appalling facts on Child sexual abuse in India A huge number of children in our country go missing every year. Some are kidnapped, some are sold by their families in return for money, and some are lured for the promise of a better life. The following are the statistics provided by NGO CRY (Child Rights and You) About 9,000 children go missing in India every year. Over 5 lakh children are forcefully pushed into sex trade every year.
Approximately 2 million commercial sex workers are between the ages of 5 and 15 years, and over 3.3 million are between the ages of 15 and 18. 40 percent of the childrens population in our country is into commercial sex working; and 80 percent of these children are found in the five metros Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. 71 percent of these children are illiterate, that is, they are not aware of what is being done to them.
We got to think Todays children are the products of tomorrows India, but when the lives of these children are sailing on the waters of sexual abuse, we can anticipate our nation walking towards darkness. The children who have escaped from these homes of horror had put it that their lives had been extremely painful and agonizing, not just mentally but also physically. In most cases, they dont have a chance to even interact with the staff of the CCIs. They are beaten badly in the name of inculcating discipline, insulted and molested, abused verbally, physically and sexually. Young girls are gang-raped in such homes, again and again; they are tormented and tortured to an extent where they heart-fully feel death is a better option. Child sexual abuse prevention Our government had produced a bill (Prevention of Sexual Offences Against Children) in 2011, but there have also been reports stating that the present legislation is not sufficient to curb child sexual abuse. We do not know how far the government is serious regarding this issue. We do not know if the government, in the first place, has bothered to think about this matter. All we got to know is, we just cant rely or wait for our government. To make things change, we got to move.
A Review of Satyamev Jayate: The Show on Real issues!

Social issues by Editor Aamir Khans flagship show Satyameva Jayate may not have garnered as many T.R.Ps as Mr.Bachchans K.B.C., Yet it is unique in many respects, the core concept of the show being one of them. It claims to embark on a quest- one where truth is looked at, not with rose-tinted glasses but with the understanding that reality is often harsh and grim. How far it managed to strike a chord is somewhat of a debatable issue. The Marketing Genius named Aamir The award for the most-talked about maiden venture on Television without a doubt goes to Mr. Aamir Khan. If nothing else, he has ensured that people sit up and take notice of his foray into television. Famous for being off-beat in his choice of films, a majority of his fans were surprised at his choice of an out-of-the-box subject for marking his debut in Telly Land. By choosing an unconventional slot of a weekend morning instead of primetime television weekly slots, he not only set the critics tongues wagging but also upped the curiosity levels in the Indian audience, who were accustomed to watching mythological series in the 90s during this slot. The marketing was typically Aamir-style. In-your-face hoardings of the star with the backdrop of a rising sun,
channels broadcasting the pilots of the show without letting the cat out of the bag, the beautiful composition sung by Kailash Kher blared every time you switch on the radio are just a few examples to go by. He managed to gather viewership plainly by raising the curiosity levels, sustaining it was another issue altogether. Did truth finally triumph? Every episode has a central theme dedicated to one particular issue, usually ones that are put on the back-burner in light of more important ones like deficits, losses and corruption. Examples of some of the issues include the skewed sex-ratio due to infanticide, child-marriage etc. Guest speakers either authorities or victims/families of victims are featured in every episode to talk about their experiences or figure out solutions for the said problem. Every show ends with a theme song which Aamir claims is to increase the people-connect of the show. Whether it actually made any effect on the masses is hard to say, but it has certainly made the politicians wary of the star-power an actor yields on this democracy. After an episode on the infanticide issue leading to a skewed sex-ratio, the Government in Madhya Pradesh has ordered for the cancellation of 64 sonographs registered under it. Also a petition signed by Sridevi, another yesteryears actress has been forwarded to the parliament for passage of a bill that enforces strict action against child abuse. The very recent episode on honor killing also shed light on the brutality of inter-caste marriages- somewhat of a taboo topic in the country. Brickbats galore Social networking sites like Facebook, had misinformed detractors targeting the hypocrisy Aamir portrayed with viral photos circulating after the very first episode itself. It claimed that Aamir who divorced his first wife and remarried, locked up his schizophrenic brother had no right to poke his nose into others matters. As a matter of fact, some even went on to stretch the truth and target his personal life. The episode on doctors earned Aamir the wrath of doctors and medical students alike, for its lopsided and amateurish view on the stagnancy of the medical association in India as also the malpractices involved. Akin to the first case, effects were witnessed on the Internet along with personalized hate mails forwarded from aspirants and professionals alike.
The Verdict It is a well-known fact that to wake up our dormant, stagnant and overtly conventional government is a Herculean task. Whatever people say or think about Satyamev Jayate but at least there is a platform which is raising these real issues, which otherwise never discussed. If we arent good-spirited enough to laud a person working for the elimination of the issue, we shouldnt be a spoilsport either dissuading him. We appreciate this effort.
Devadasi System: The Flesh Trade on the name of God, Exposed!

Social issues by Editor The word Devadasi originates from two Sanskrit words- Deva which means God and Dasi which means female servant. So Devadasi is a girl who is dedicated for the service of God and hence has no personal life as such. Her mind, body and soul belong to the God and can never be possessed by any mortal human being. What is Devadasi system? The Devadasi system was popularly in practice in ancient India. In this system, pre-pubertal young girls were married off to the God or local deities of any temple. Since they were married off to the temple, they were not allowed to marry anyone else throughout their lives. However in this system, these girls became the property of the priest, other inmates of the temple and also local landlords and Zamindars. The service primarily meant providing sexual pleasure to the powerful cult of the society and there was no escape for the Devadasis throughout their lives. Even if they attempted to escape, the society never accepted them. The Devadasi system was always and till date the institutionalized method of exploitation of women who belong to the poor, less powerful and sometimes lower class of the society. It was basically the religious sanction for prostitution of socially and economically challenged women in India. The priests who hold a special position of reverence and superiority in the Indian society cajoled and enticed the poor rural families to fall for the trap of miserable prostitution of their daughters. The ill-fated women who were trapped in the nexus of evil-minded powerful people and priests network were never allowed to live a normal and free life. They were abandoned by the society and there was no happiness, will or independence left for them in the mortal life. The only escape from the trap was death or an even miserable life after their youth is gone. Where is Devadasi system operational? Although the Devadasi system was much in practice in Ancient periods, it still exists in several parts of India. Ironically some of the much progressed states of India including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have the Devadasi system running in temples based at remote rural parts. In 1934 Indian Government passed the Devadasi Protection Act which was further reinforced in 1980. However the act and ban of the system is violated and evaded every other day as the pre-pubertal girls are sacrificed in the name of religion and God at the temples. Some Facts about Devadasi system in India:
Although this practice is highly restricted to the untouchables and poor cult of the country, the approximate number of women trapped in the Devadasi nexus is more than 45000. The figure vividly showcases the plight and quandary of Indian women in this age of Internet, Progress and Prosperity. National Commission for Women, India recently unveiled a report that showcases some shocking facts about the Devadasi system. More than 250,000 girls and women from the Dalit and untouchable group of the Indian society have been sacrificed in Karnataka and Maharashtra. They are compelled to enter this misery and most of them end up becoming prostitutes with no social or economical security. A survey conducted in Bangalore by Joint Womens Programme revealed that of the 375 Devadasis, 38% entered the profession following their family traditions and 63.6% were forced into it. The scheduled castes in southern India like Samgars, Holers and Madars have the maximum prevalence of this system amongst them. Of all the Devadasis almost 92.5% have children and although many of them are associated with patrons, their children are not able to register their fathers name. Are Govts doing anything to eradicate Devadasi System in India ? Although the government has laws to protect the Devadasis in India, no significant measures are taken to eradicate the system from the society. As a matter of fact, it is only mass awareness and education that can help people overcome detrimental taboos that have been in practice for centuries. Women at the rural part of India should be provided with basic education, food and employment opportunity so that they can support themselves economically and live a respectable life in the society. States should put stricter laws in force and punish anyone who compels women to this religious prostitution. The country must show respect and care for their women and this is the only way to get rid of a detrimental practice like Devadasi system.
Falak case and Human Trafficking : Dying humanity and Social exploitation
Social issues by Editor The most recent series of incidents leading to the physical and mental trauma of a two year old infant named Falak who was brought to the AIIMS Delhi in a severely injured condition by a fourteen year old girl, a victim of human trafficking herself. The harrowing stories of Falaks mother and the fourteen year old girl are disgusting reminders that ruthless flesh traders do not think twice before destroying innocent human lives. Falaks mother Munni hails from Muzaffarpur in Bihar and at the tender age of sixteen she was married off to a criminal named Muhammad Shah Hussain and had three children, the youngest
being Falak,he left her. Her plight was exploited by two flesh traders from Delhi, Shankar and Lakshmi. A chance meeting with Shankar led to Munni leaving her village and going to Delhi where she was lured by Shankar on the pretext of securing decent employment. On reaching Delhi, Munni was horrified to know that Shankar, Lakshmi and two other accomplices named Kanta and Saroj wanted to push her into the flesh trade. She refused; hence they sold her to a rich Rajasthani named Harpal for 3 lakh rupees after telling him that Munni was a single woman who wanted a husband. The marriage took place and when Munni was finally tracked down by the police she was residing in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. Harpal was also trying to sell her to a client when he was caught by police.
Lakshmi, Kanta and Saroj lied to Munni that they would take care of her children and after she settled down in Rajasthan they gave the children to different people. Thus Falak came to be in the possession of Raj Kumar in 2011. Raj Kumar stayed with a fourteen year old girl in the slums of Mahipalpur. This girl was also a distressed victim of a violent childhood. Her father used to beat her regularly and left her at the tender age of fourteen, only to fall prey to a lascivious couple named Sandeep and Arti who forced her into prostitution after she was continuously mauled and raped for three days by Sandeep. She met Raj Kumar after some months and lived with him until he deserted her in November 2011. By that time Raj Kumar had already left the toddler Falak in her possession. Naturally the fourteen year old child was inept at looking after the two year old Falak and the agonized cries of the child led the fourteen year old girl to subject the child to physical beating which included biting the child too. Ultimately In the third week of January she brought an unconscious Falak to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in a bruised and injured condition, when child become unconcisious one day. When the investigation began the girl confessed to the Child Welfare Committee, which exposed shocking things about whole dirty game of human trafficking and small girls exploitation to flesh trade, in which police also helped by ignoring the things. The police have arrested Vijender, the father of the fourteen year old girl, Raj Kumar who took Falak into his custody and is also charged with raping the fourteen year old girl and seven other people. Falak is no more in this world. The case is just one out of millions of atrocities which female offspring are subjected to in illiterate areas of India. These unfortunate children, snatched from their households by vicious gangsters, are doomed to agonizing enslavement under duress which means forced labor, begging, amputation, sexual exploitation, diseases,and violent retribution for refusing to comply with the wishes of the psychopaths.
Why Govt. not acting on such inhuman crimes, why not strong laws had been implemented, our politicians only care about their positions and are busy with collecting black money. Who cares about these children who are future of India?
Its shameful that such crimes are being flourishing in Capital of country which should be safest place, and where chief-minister is itself a women.Shame, Big shame!
Human Trafficking in India: Complete Report

Social issues by Editor
Human Trafficking in India Human Trafficking in India is the most heinous crime committed not only by criminals indulging in inhuman activities to satisfy their degenerate desires and for fiscal profits but also by illiterate denizens of a depraved society steeped in poverty and illiteracy. Hence they become vulnerable to false promises of good jobs, decent marriages made by unscrupulous racketeers and traffickers without conscience.
After sixty four years of independence our government would like us to believe that sanctity of life and protection of natural and fundamental rights of every citizen are guaranteed by law and the Indian Constitution, regardless of caste, creed and social status. However this illusion is shattered by slave traders and organized gangs who snatch unfortunate children from their families either by coercion or false promises or violent force and condemn them to a fate worse than death. Several Instances of Human Trafficking in India. Incidents of bestiality have even been known to take place in dubious shelters for children and at residences where young children are obtained from dubious sources for domestic enslavement and also exploited for carnal satisfaction. Most shocking and inhuman case is that of baby Falak, which exposed the prostitution and human trafficking network operating in Delhi and connects to other parts of country.Full story on Falak case and Human trafficking racket. An instance of such immoral and physical carnage was exposed in 2011 when a home for orphans, the infamous Kalyani Mahila and Balak Seva Sanstha at Panvel was discovered to be a charnel house of unspeakable horror where children were subjected to hunger and physical torture by the caretakers and seven young women were raped when they did not comply with the lecherous demands of the supervisor and custodians of the orphanage. In 2010 Siria Orphanage Home was raided by the police when they received complaints that the founder was misbehaving with the female orphans. During the investigation eleven girls revealed to the police that the founder used to call them to his quarters at night and molest them physically. He also threatened them with severe consequences if they complained to the police or anyone else. The girls were under such severe trauma that they could not even attend their academic classes. The Anchorage at Mumbai was a respected shelter for orphans till the owner Duncan Grant and his friend Alan Waters were charged with indulging in paedophilia with the boys in their charge. They have been convicted on this charge by the Supreme Court. The manager, William DSouza, was arrested for forcing Hindu children to indulge in carnal acts with British paedophiles. Causes of Human Trafficking in India. The fundamental causes of human trafficking in India are poverty, hunger, illiteracy and the sheer gullibility of innocent human beings who fall prey to the false promises of racketeers. Other causes of human trafficking in India are the neglect and rejection of girls especially in rural villages of India where social education has not reached. The complacent attitude of our protective authorities, the attitude of apathy by society at large and perverse demands by people who exploit the victims of human traffickers also contribute towards rampant human trafficking in India.
Human trafficking in India is encouraged by the flawed legal framework which allows perpetrators of human trafficking to avoid prosecution and conviction. Statistics of arrests are extremely low in comparison to the regular incidents of human trafficking. Despite the existence of a well defined legal process to prosecute human traffickers, there is no cohesive definition of human trafficking in the law and this hinders implementation of the laws. In cases where the laws have been implemented, the punishment is not severe enough to prevent recurrence of such crimes against humanity. Solutions to curbing Human Trafficking in India. The international Institute for Trafficked, Exploited and Missing Persons (ITEMP) has demonstrated an ideal solution to stopping human trafficking by assigning active workers to areas where individuals could be most prone to the ruses of human traffickers. Awareness, education and removing poverty: In India the Ministry of Women and Child Development has been the impetus for the growth of several NGOS like the Indian Council of Child Welfare, the Indian Community Welfare Organization, Child rights and You (CRY) and many others. Their members are constantly striving to promote awareness of human trafficking and endeavor to foster respect and love for girls in prone rural areas. These NGOS are hindered by challenges like lack of political commitment, funding, difficulty in having prone areas protected by law enforcement agencies and high levels of corruption and threat by bodies of organized crime. However NGOS are now patronized by social luminaries and celebrities who encourage and fund the efforts of these NGOS. Strong Laws against Human Trafficking: Indias central government need to have commitment to prevent human trafficking in India by way of improving legislation to enable effective prosecution of offenders and launching new administrative cells like the Integrated Anti Human Trafficking Units, the Anti Trafficking Nodal Cell State Programs and the Integrated National Plan of Action. These organizations can coordinate with various NGOS, thereby enabling effective exposure and destruction of many human trafficking networks. More steps like inter state coordination and inter departmental coordination in the government, complemented by public awareness and outrage, will definitely result in the permanent destruction of human trafficking in India.
Aadhar Card Project: Can it help in removing Corruption and Social Problems?
Aadhar project is the latest initiative by the Indian government to create a unique identification for every citizen of the country and digitize all citizens database at single point. It will act as one stop proof that will serve all purpose. So different type of proofs will not be required. It will ensure that all Indians have individual identity that cannot be faked by others. Indeed this system will contribute to the citizens security in all aspects of life. What is Aadhar card? Aadhar is a 12 digit numerical identification that is unique for every Indian citizen. The sole aim of Aadhar unique identification number is to provide Indians a proof of residence and unique identify in the country. As it is linked with every citizens individuality, no one else can have a duplicate Aadhaar number. Some Facts about Aadhar card During the course of processing the number, an individuals biometric and demographic information will be collected to ensure uniqueness, access one click information. Any resident of India, irrespective of what all documents he/she has, can obtain the Aadhar card number. Aadhar is not another card that is given on a per family basis. Rather it provides every single Indian citizen with a unique number which cannot be duplicated or changed for any reason. A universal identify infrastructure will be setup by the UIDAI and the Aadhar number can be used in that system like passport or ration cards. All card authentication queries will be validated by UIDAI.
Can it help in removing Corruption and Social Problems? This project will create one single database of all citizen in India, thus any information about a person would be one click away. Thus providing lot of benefits and solving social problems in India.
Here are Benefits of Aadhar Card Project India: Removing corruption and effective implementation of social welfare programs Another benefit of Aadhar number is that it will help to reduce corruption .Since this will digitalize the whole process, so enable the Govt. to transfer money related to social benefit schemes directly to beneficiarys account. Thus bypassing the middle men who use to eat large amounts of funds given to social benefit schemes. Poor/rural people in India who did not have any proof of identification can now get unique Aadhar number and demand all fundamental facilities they are entitled to. In future the Since all people do not have necessary ID proofs specially in rural areas, so they suffer in the hands of middlemen, specially the farmers. Aadhar card will certainly facilitate online interaction between the citizens and government. Stopping illegal immigration in India The Aadhar project has been introduced to reduce the problem of illegal immigration in India. This unique ID will ensure that all residents (temporary or permanent) can be lawfully identified at any point of time. Also Indian citizens can use this card as their national identity at universal level to avoid any identification problems in India or abroad. Fighting Terrorism and Crime, Improving Security Thus it will also help in tracing terrorists and criminals coming from outside the country who are using fake ID proofs to stay here and spread violence. Since their information will be available on single click. Removing hassles of Mobility and keeping different proofs for different purpose It will serve as one Proof for all purposes, so no need to keep different proofs for address verification, Age verification or Identity. Thus solving lot of problems of moving into another place, where you have to show address proof for availing any service. Thus it will also remove fake Identity proofs, which infact is a greater threat to National security.
How to apply for Aadhar card? Following are the steps to get Aadhar number:
Enrollment camps for Aadhar has been setup at various localities in all cities and Indian residents need to visit the enrollment camps to get the Aadhar card form and at the same time he/she will be provided with a token number for a scheduled appointment on a particular day.
Applicants need to visit the enrollment camp on the scheduled appointment date and carry all original documents for residential proof, relationship proof, proof of date of birth and identity proof along with the photocopies. The operator or enroller at the camp will collect and enter all data to the system upon verification. Then the data entered is again validated by the applicants. Clear face photograph of the applicant is taken. Iris scan is performed for unique identification. Fingerprint of both left and right hands are captured. Thumb prints of both hands are captured. Enroller signs the data and puts his/her signature and fingerprint. An acknowledgement receipt is provided to the applicants in print. The unique Aadhar number is mailed to the applicants residence with 60-90 days of the procedure.
Aadhar is free and any resident can apply for it irrespective of his/her cast, creed or religion. Every Indian should get their Aadhar verification done not only to ensure their personal interests but also to ensure the countrys security.
Bhopal gas tragedy: victims still waiting for justice!

Social issues by Editor Bhopal gas leak disaster which is often referred as the Bhopal Gas Tragedy was a disastrous gas leak accident that took place in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and it is considered one of the most horrible industrial catastrophes in the history of the world. The incident took place on December 2nd and 3rd in 1984 at the pesticide manufacturing plat of Union Carbide India Limited. Bhopal gas tragedy causes: Toxic Methyl Isocyanate gas and several other chemicals emitted from the plant exposed people residing at the surrounding area to death and fatal injuries. This incident occurred due to negligence towards security measures by company. According to national records, 2,259 people died immediately and approximately 3,787 people died within a few weeks of this incident. However another 8,000 people died of disease caused by the gas leak. A government report revealed that it caused 558,125 injuries of which 3,900 were disabling and 38,478 were temporary. Who was responsible for Bhopal gas tragedy?
UCIL is a subsidiary to the US based organization Union Carbide Corporation. Criminal cases are pending till date against the company at District Court of Bhopal and District Court of United States, Manhattan. Warren Anderson, who was the CEO of UCC at the time when this disaster took place, is one of the major accused people of this case. He was allowed to escape India at that time. In June, 2010 the Supreme Court of India declared the UCC chairman and seven exemployees of the plant as guilty for negligence causing death of masses. They were sentenced for two years imprisonment and $2000 fine per person. The verdict is seen as a major injustice to the victims and their families. 25 years have passed after the nightmarish incident took place but the relentless suffering is not yet over. Lack of efforts and will by Govt. to provide relief and justice to victims: Keeping an eye on the preceding legal activities on the Bhopal gas tragedy case, it was quite evident that the victims were deprived of their lawful right of justice at the very beginning and throughout the process. When the Bhopal gas tragedy occurred, India had no particular punitive law in constitution to deal with the accused members as intensely as they should be. However the government passed an act to present the government as the sole representative of all victims against the UCC in the court of United States. Thus the right of the victims to seek individual justice for this incident was eliminated completely. This was the first and foremost injustice occurred to the much awaited Bhopal gas tragedy victims. The US district gave judgment that UCIL was a completely separate entity operated and managed by Indian citizens and they have no affiliation or connection with UCC. Though Bhopal district court justice Deo passed an interim judgment notifying UCC to pay 350 crores INR as provisional relief of the victims, the order was not decreed for being interim. Hence as expected UCC refused to pay the amount. In 1989, on 14th February, the Supreme Court of India ordered UCC to pay 470 million USD as the full and final settlement amount for all liabilities, claims and rights associated with the fatality of the gas leak case. However neither the heirs of the dead people nor the direct victims were ever notified about the settlement before it occurred. The UCC was given no orders to remove the toxic elements present from the disaster site. Also the Supreme Court never considered the UCC liabilities absolute and unquestionable. Also the case took too long to proceed. Hence UCC had ample time to get relief from the public pressure and also saved lump sum on the amount to be paid as compensation. Though there is nothing much for the victims in this case, still a writ petition from a fresh trial can be filed under section 304 Pt 2 of IPC. Both the governments and UCCs civil liabilities should be questioned once again. The Bhopal gas tragedy is considered one of those nightmares that have no end. The years long legal activities directly benefitted the accused party which was setback Bhopal gas tragedy victims.
National Capital or Crime Capital: How safe is Delhi-NCR ?

Social issues
by Editor Delhi, the capital city of India that bears the legacy of Mughal as well as British reign is blatantly termed the crime capital of India! Certainly there are adequate reasons why the city is looked up as the most unsafe place for people especially women. No doubt Delhi holds a very significant position in the political map of India and this is one of the major reasons why criminals and terrorists flock here with an intention to affect the countrys socio-economical stability. Now a common question must arise hereIs it only the terrorists and criminals to be held responsible for the ever increasing crime in Delhi? Well, taking a look at the most recent crime scene that took place in the capital it can be easily concluded that residents of Delhi have become highly prone to commit crimes mindlessly. Leaving apart terrorists activities and bomb blasts, the soaring rape and murder cases induced by personal grudge has startled the nation. Crimes in Delhi are no more limited to scattered incidents caused by outsiders; instead it is more about the citys deteriorating moral values and loose laws. Some Facts about crime in Delhi: A report released by the National Crime Records Bureau stated that Delhi is one of the top four crime affected cities in India. Incidents like kidnapping for ransom, rape, molestation, abduction and attempted murders has seen sharp increase compared to the previous years. According to the report, about 44.6% of arrested criminals fall into the age group of 18 to 30 years. Recent crime incidents taken place in Delhi: It is just the third month of the New Year and almost innumerable crime incidents have already taken place in Delhi which is no doubt shocking to any civilized society! Also most of these incidents are cases of rape or offenses against women.
A minor girl studying in 10th standard was allegedly gang raped by five men in a car at around midnight. She met the accused at a birthday party and they offered her lift to home. On the way, they forced her to drink alcohol and then took her to a deserted area and took turns to raping her. When the minor filed an FIR to Noida police, they treated the matter most insensibly and increased her trauma be revealing her name and identification. A 20 years old Manipuri girl was allegedly raped by a 30 years old sales executive in Delhi which offended the North-East community severely. The accused Anuj Saini was traced through his ATM card transactions. He not only raped her but also tried to murder her after the incident. One and a half year old Ishaan was kidnapped by a housemaid and was rescued by the Delhi police from Faridabad area. A mobile recharge coupon acted as the major clue for this case. A three year old infant baby Falak was brought to AIIMS Delhi with multiple fractures, bone injury and marks of human biting. She, along with her mother and two siblings fell prey to a large human trafficking racket operating in Delhi and all over India.
These are just a handful of recent incidents that took place in the crime capital of Indiawho can ever forget cases like Model Jessica Lal murder and Nithari mass killing! Causes and Solutions: The city being one of the most important metros of India should have been much secured for its citizens. However the main causes behind the increased crime rate in Delhi are the lack of awareness of its residents, careless approach of Delhi Police and indifference of Delhi chief minister who is herself a lady. Delhi police can put an end on the crime incidents by responding more promptly and sensibly to each and every case reported at the police stations. Also political intervention in criminal incidents should be strictly cut off to ensure the citys safety and security.
How Corruption and Scams give birth to all your social problems?
Current Affairs & Politics by Editor Its been around 20 years since chain of scams started in 1993. Since then graph of corruption is only growing, every now and then we come across a new scam, and it has become a common practice to listen such news. But have you ever thought what loss you suffered whenever a scam emerged. Lets understand this for below listed scams.
How Corruption and Scams give birth to all your social problems? Chakreview The Coal Scam:
The coal scam clearly shows our nations shot to shame. It has already been termed as the mother of all scams, as the black money involved here has swallowed all the other previous scams. The report on coal scam by CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), an authority established by the Govt. of India, who audits all the receipts and expenditures by the central government as well as the state governments) of India, has accused the Government of India for illegally and irregularly providing our nations coal deposits to private and state run entities instead of auctioning them in the public. And this has resulted a loss of a whopping 1,86,000 crore rupees to our national treasury in the period 2004 2009. There have been estimates released by the media that the actual loss was 10,60,000 crore rupees. And what is more sickening is, in that period of five years, all the major coal dealings in the country went right under the nose of our Prime Minister.It has been in the news that in this five year period (2004-2009), 142 coal fields were illegally allotted to the private and state run entities, instead of being auctioned. Yes, they are Coal Fields. One of the richest natural resources of our nation; which now has landed in the hands of the corrupt leaders. How is the common man affected from Coal Scam? Coal mines are the gold mines of our nation. Coal amounts to 56 percent of electricity production in our country. In the December of 2011, over 300 million Indian citizens lacked access to electricity. To add to the bitterness, over one third of our countrys rural population sunk in blackouts, and so did 6 percent of the urban populace. All this had badly disturbed irrigation and the manufacturing processed across the length and breadth of the country. What is more painful is, despite our country being the fourth largest energy consumer after USA, China and Russia, it presently suffers from acute shortage of electricity generation. The IEA (International Energy Agency) had drawn out estimates and stated that India needs an investment of around $135 billion in order to provide 24/7 power supply to its entire population of 1.2 billion. Yes, $135 billion, still less than the loss acquired because of the Coal scam. The 2G scam: This infamous 2G scam has been a fraud of over 1.76 lakh crore in the Indian telecom industry. According to the reports, the former telecom minister who had to go behind the bars, A. Raja had evaded the rules and regulations at every step as he illegally distributed the 2G license awards in 2008 at a throw away price. And as usual, the case is still pending the court. How is the common man affected from 2G scam? Telecom licenses were allocated to some companies who do not had necessary infrastructure and do not fulfill the minimum criteria, at very low prices by taking bribes. So that those companies can offers low service quality, cheat customers and Govt. has no option but to just act as viewer. This also put a burden on exchequer due to which inflation, corruption rise and fiscal deficit widen. Indias foreign investment demotivated, credit rating has been decreased and we had to suffer all this burden of inflation. The business environment gets a bad image and FDI may affect, this will lead to loss of jobs.
The Commonwealth Games Scam: This Commonwealth Games Scam has proved to be a big blow on the future of sports and games in our country. We were to boast about hosting the CWG, but what happened after left our nation hanging down her head in shame. According the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) reports, it came dawning in the media that out of the 7000 crores that was allocated to be spent on the Indian sportspersons, only half was spent. The rest went into the pockets of the corrupt politicians and beaurocrats.
How is the common man affected from The Commonwealth Games Scam? Since half the money was dwelled by corrupt politicians and beaurocrats so this money was recovered from peoples pockets. Tax were increased, bus fares were increased 2times in Delhi and inflation increased. The development schemes and infrastructure that was to be developed and thus jobs and economic boom which was expected in delhi-ncr region was never happened. Auto and Taxi fares were increased; houses which were meant for common people were captured by politician. Thus public remained empty handed and national pride was compromised. Now, lets question ourselves once. Shouldnt these leaders be kicked out of our nation?
Right to Information Act Your weapon against corruption and lousy system: Complete Analysis
Current Affairs & Politics by Editor In spite of the fact that India has won its battle of independence in the year 1947 making democracy its weapon, unfortunately, the truth was something else. The power was handed over to the politicians and democrats, not to the common man then. There were multiple instances to question the right to information as it was in practice with the backdrop of the society we lived in. Some Information about Right to Information Act in India: On 12th October, 2005 the scenario had changed as through the right to information RTI act, common people got their right to raise question. It gives the power to throw question to the government directly and the concerned authority has to reply back within 30 days with proper explanation.
RTI Act not only covers the executives rather the judiciary and legislature are also under its strict regulations. There is no gap in the process of formatting a corruption free and transparent government. It defines the term public authority as the government is answerable to the supreme authority of common people. Lets know Right to Information Act:
What is RTI act? Democracy makes a country answerable to the common people. People elect the power to lead not to rule over. Without any province to answer any power can be misused and common people can be victimised easily. Right to information Act makes the elected power answerable to common people. To answer what is rti act, one simple phrase can be used- law of transparency. It is the weapon of a citizen to question so that the answer can throw light into the matter. Government is bound to answer if any question arises on the functioning. The accountability of any government can be questioned. The act not only has empowered citizens to answer government authorities but also reduces corruption a lot. Citizens have the power to inspect and take notes on several tasks on the part of authorities so that they can analyze the performance. Even they can have copies of documents if they need to prove some unethical provisions.
What Makes RTI Act Beneficial? Indian constitution permits its citizen to speak and express without any fear. How can a person speak against the government if he or she does not have enough information? A victimized citizen can feel but without information he or she is helpless to do anything. Right to information act in india is a recognition of democracy that requires informed citizenry and transparency of information just for a better functioning. How to use RTI act?
This revolutionary act gives immense power to the hands of common people but still its been completely utilized. They stay away from utilizing this powerful tool just because of some wrong information regarding the process of implementation. But this is not so tough to know how to get information under right to information act.
Just a single handwritten query is enough from your end to get your concerned. Information from the government authority. Even this act makes a common man so powerful that the person doe not need to show any reason why he or she needs such information.
Wastage of grain and Indian farmers suicides: why Govt. is so sleepy?

Social issues by Editor The land of Indian subcontinent has been known for its prosperous farming endeavor since time immemorial. Countless people in rural India survive on farming and growing crops for the nationwide population. The farmers sustain all weather extremities, poverty and physical challenges to continue with the hardships of farming and still they are greatly deprived of all sorts of basic facilities of being an Indian citizen that includes food, residence and cloths. This is indeed a matter of shame to the entire country; however this is not the end of the story. In the past few years, farmers suicide in India has become one of the most speculated topics in policy analysis, academic narratives and newspaper bulletins. The severe agricultural crisis in India is certainly the primary cause of farmers choosing suicide as their last resort. Furthermore it vividly reflects the governments negligence and indifference to the issue of food grain storage in India which requires much importance. Facts about Indian Agriculture and grains production: Demand and Supply According to various estimations, India is the home to one fourth of the entire worlds distressed and hunger-stricken population. Almost 218 million people in India suffer from malnutrition and related diseases. However on the other side of the scenario, millions worth of food grains simply get wasted at the government warehouses! Shocking indeed but unfortunately it is true. This has been a common affair in India that almost 38% of food grains rot while stack up in the Government go downs every year. If only these grains were saved, the entire country could have received their lawful share of food. Instead of putting light on this problem government officials and ministers often suggest unreasonable remedies. India itself produces enough grain to feed the entire population without importing grains from neighboring countries. But unfortunately one third of the total production is wasted as the government go downs lack proper storage facilities. What is the Reason behind Wastage of grain and farmers suicides? In this case, the immediate question that passes ones mind is that why isnt the government distributing the excess grains among people who are starved to death every year? Since Govt. has no proper go downs and cold stores so they could not store extra grains and vegetables, so one side farmers has no buyer for their crops and they are exploited by middlemen forced to sell their crops at dirt cheap rates and other side market has huge demand but less supply ant you get these things at higher prices, which saw rise in food inflation. Recent example is , farmers in Punjab throw potatoes on roads since there was no buyer for these or buyers giving them dirt cheap
rates. This all happen because lack of proper cold stores and corruption of middlemen, who are also responsible for increasing the prices of vegetables and hence food inflation. Farmers in India are oppressed by all means. They are compelled to take loans from the moneylenders who are shrewd enough to loot the farmers of their minimal possessions. Still these hardworking rural cults of India do not get their share of money, facilities and food, thanks to the middle mans who act as an intermediate communicator between the farmers and buyers. Hence the farmer families are forced to starve day after day with their kids and women. This is the root cause of overwhelming frustration and depression of the farmers that make them choose suicide as the last resort. What can be done? The food and agriculture ministry should take immediate initiative to prevent grains and crops wastage by making proper cold stores and go downs where grain and vegetables can be stored and make sure that the farmers get easy loans and suitable price for their crops.FDI in retail sector(vegetable and food retail) could help in improving situation because this will give farmers contract farming opportunities and they will make proper cold stores to store this, so farmers will not suffer wastage of their grain due to unavailability of storage which cause their crops go wasted with no buyer. It will not only resolve the problems of Indian agriculture but also bestow the poor peasants with a life to live!
What is FDI and why there is so much hype about it?

Business and Economy by Editor The company has its main headquarters in USA, the factories are set up in China and the labour and the BPO originates in India. Isnt this very common to hear? these companies that work in different areas with each area being involved in a task are known as MNC or Multinational Companies. These companies are the ones who invest in Foreign Direct Investment. That is, either they expand their working area from the mother country throughout the world as in above example or they buy companies based in different countries or they also collaborate with other companies making them a MNC too. What is FDI exactly? FDI is Foreign Direct Investment. This pertains to the direct investment made by a company in another country by buying or by collaboration with any other company of that nation.
EXPANSION OF WORKING AREAS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES This means that the companys official headquarters are in the mother country from where the company emerges and then the company for the different departments like say factories located in a country and the telecommunication services in another country. The selection of different countries is mainly targeted upon the skill and cost of labour and also the infrastructure. Hence we find companies that provide home based online work to people in another country where they find the labour cheap. These kind of companies also set up their BPOs or Call centres in other countries where they find the labour cheap. They also give work to the unskilled poor who can do certain tasks at a cheaper rate than the mother country. PURCHASING COMPANIES OF OTHER COMPANIES TO EXPAND BUSINESS The MNCs here buy the local settled companies and give the owners a good amount of money. Then these MNCs use the companys factories, labour and help to increase the productivity at a cheaper rate. They benefit people by giving them increasing the number of employees and their services. COLLABORATION OF MNCs WITH OTHER BIG LOCAL AND NATIONAL COMPANIES Here MNCs try to collaborate with the local companies either for labour or infrastructure. They take partnerships with these companies and collaboration works well together as the MNCs bring the latest technology in and the local companies provide the MNCs with cheap labour. The number of jobs increases hence there is an increase in the rate of employment in the country. Companies like Tata Motors and Infosys are a result of successful collaborations with MNCs. Why there is so much Hype about FDI in India? The answer of this particular question lies on the status of the economy and development of the target country. There are many benefits and opportunities for the target nations when they indulge into such a project. They derive the much needed technological and economical development. They observe development in the aspects of the economy like aviation and retail. BENEFITS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE TARGET NATION 1. Increased number of jobs, hence people are at least employed and can bring or take in a certain amount of money every month to their homes. 2. Successful collaborations of local companies with the MNCs give India a new peek into the latest technology and new ventures. 3. The competition from the MNCs located in other countries makes the local companies work in a more productive manner. 4. The consumers are guaranteed of better quality products as the MNCs produce world class quality products. 5. The prices of products in the local and international markets tend to become equal due to competition.
6. These kind of business ventures make relations between two or more countries more amicable and cordial.
FDI IN INDIA India is considered the most important FDI target after China. The sectors like telecommunication, hardware, software, hospitality, education, medications, Real estate, Jewellery and construction have attracted most of the MNCs for FDI in India. Also read about FDI in Retail and its analysis THE CURRENT SITUATION 1. One of the largest retailer of the world, Wal-Mart made a decision to do a Direct Investment in India and its assets to develop their services and products. India has permitted 51% FDI in the retail of multi brand products But there was a great clash on this as the alliance parties of the government are not ready to accept FDI investment of Wal-mart in India. 2. Recently, the Union Civil Aviation minister Ajit Singh met the PM of India, Dr. Manmohan singh and also the finance minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee for discussing FDI in the aviation sector. The government is probably going to bring the matter of FDI in aviation in the union cabinet. It is been said that as much as seventy percent of FDI is proposed for private general aviation and cent percent FDI is proposed in Cargo airlines.
ASPIRATION TO SEE A BRIGHT FUTURE AHEAD Government should permit more and more MNCs into our country with some control, ensuring that it benefits local businesses and increase employment. As what the MNCs need is labour in surplus amounts both skilled and unskilled which our country has in plenty. We in turn are in requirement of the latest technology and infrastructure which the MNCs will provide us with. We need to satisfy all the political parties and pressure groups with the fact that MNCs will provide people of our country with a lot of benefits like providing them employment and they will also provide the country with economical and technological benefits through latest technology and infrastructure.
FDI in Retail sector in India: How does this affect you?

Health & Lifestyle
by Editor Retailing defines the direct interface between the manufacturers and the end users who are basically individual consumers. The retail business owners stock up all goods after purchasing it directly from the manufacturers and then sell it to individual customers keeping a profit margin for themselves. Of late the retailing industry in India has bloomed with much coveted success causing positive impact on the national economy. As per the recent revelations by the popular International Management Consultancy AT Kearney, India has been considered the second most lucrative destinations of the world for retail business. Read what is FDI and buzz around it In India, retailing industry is segregated into two classes- organized retailing and unorganized retailing.
Organized retailing entails trading conducted by licensed retailers and unorganized retailing includes all types of low cost trading like local shops, small roadside stores and temporary shops or door to door selling of various goods.Until now, according to the Indian retailing laws, Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail market was prohibited. But government is thinking to open the FDI in retail in India which implies that foreign investment in retailing is possible up to 51%. Now the announcement of retail FDI in India has triggered a series of debates on both positive and negative notes and become political issue. So lets discuss these things, what all this means to you through advantages and disadvantages: Advantages of FDI in retail sector in India:
Growth in economy: Due to coming of foreign companies new infrastructure will be build, thus real estate sector will grow consequently banking sector, as money need to be required to build infrastructure would be provided by banks.
Job opportunities: Estimates shows that this will create about 80Lakh jobs. These career opportunities will be created mostly in retail, real estate. But it will create positive impact on others sectors as well. Read about career options in Retail sector.. Benefits to farmers: In most cases, in the retailing business, the intermediaries have dominated the interface between the manufacturers or producers and the consumers. Hence the farmers and manufacturers lose their actual share of profit margin as the lions share is eaten up by the middle men. This issue can be resolved by FDI, as farmers might get contract farming where they will supply to a retailer based upon demand and will get good cash for that, they need not to search for buyers.
Benefits to consumers: Consumer will get variety of products at low prices compared to market rates, and will have more choice to get international brands at one place.
Lack of infrastructure in the retailing chain has been one of the common issues in India for years which has led the process to an incompetent market mechanism. For example, in spite of India being one of the largest producers of vegetables and fruits, lack of proper count of cold storages has significantly affected the selling of these perishable items. FDI might help India overcome such issues by channelizing the resources in the right manner.
In the last years, the Public distribution system is proved to be significantly ineffective. In spite of the fact that the government arranged for subsidies, the food inflation has caused its negative impact continuously and it can be handled by FDI.
Disadvantages of FDI in retail sector in India:
According to the non-government cult, FDI will drain out the countrys share of revenue to foreign countries which may cause negative impact on Indias overall economy.
The domestic organized retail sector might not be competitive enough to tackle international players and might loose its market share.
Many of the small business owners and workers from other functional areas may lose theirjobs, as lot of people are into unorganized retail business such as small shops.
However the government is quite stringent on this issue and determined to allow FDI in India. The actual impacts would be observed over time and till then the laymen have nothing but to hope for the best! Walmart Lobbying and Political Corruption in Retail FDI: Recent reports presented by Walmart to US Govt. revealed that it spend Rs. 125 cr in lobbying Indian lawmakers to get access to Indian market. These facts are serious, if Govt. is doing all this in favour of bribery and money then results might not be good as it is projected. Since Walmart will continue to mould things in their favour by lobbying and bribery as political corruption is well known in Indian politics. They can be purchased easily.
Congress Govt. proved to be biggest looser on the issue of corruption.

Current Affairs & Politics by Editor In recent few weeks the war against corruption and allegations on Govt. are picking up. First 2G spectrum and then common wealth scam, these are two big daddy of scams done in Congress Govts time. Instead of curbing these things the Govt. is shamelessly giving excuses and saving their culprit ministers. Other big issue is that of Black money in Swiss Bank. Even Wikileaks have disclosed that in Swiss Bank Indians have most of the money. And the amount is so big that it could change the financial condition of 120 plus billion Indians, even there is no need to collect taxes for 10 years, poverty could reduce drastically. Corruption is coming out to be one of the major among Indian social issues. Action against Social activists: Social Activists like Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev were continuously demanding strong actions against corruption and black money. But instead of acting on this Govt. had taken action against Baba Ramdevs Satyagraha and tried to dismantle the wave of anti-corruption campaign. The recent actions against Baba Ramdevs peaceful protest against corruption was a shameful act and that day was a black day in the history.They are not doing anything on this issue and if a person is standing against corruption, they are harassing him. Weakest PM Manmohan Singhs innocent image has been exposed and he is proved to be the weakest PMs India ever had, working as a toy on that hands of Sonia Gandhi. They are finding new ways to stop Ramdevs campaign by putting a ban on his herbal medicines. What a shame! For a country of people like Mahatma Gandhi whom Congress presents as their Idle, this shows that it has lost its values. The reason behind Govt.s resistance to take necessary steps against corruption and formation of Lokpal bill is the fact that most of their ministers are corrupt. They dont want to bring black money back because they have also their share in this black money. It seems India is loosing tag of being biggest democracy. The days for Congress Govt. are also not too much. But, main thing is that when can that change happen when all these corrupt Idiots will get punished and corruption will end? Politics and corruption are becoming siblings. All such social issues in India should be taken care off immidietely.
Hawala system: The Lifeline of political corruption in India, how does it works?
Current Affairs & Politics by Editor What is Hawala System? Hawala system is an alternative money remittance system primarily practiced in South Asia, Middle East and North Africa. This informal fund transfer system is also addressed as Hundi and it operates via a large network of brokers, also known as Hawaladars. The origin of the Hawala system remains in classic laws of Islamic religion. In general the basic Hawala transactions take place by transferring money without actually moving it. How does Hawala System works? It has emerged as a popular process of money laundering, a method through which the black money earned from illegal sources are converted into white money. This process has no doubt grown into popularity amongst the corrupted cult of politicians and business men in India and abroad. In short Hawala meaning is an undercover alternative banking method for global money transaction that is primarily based on trust. NGOs and Trusts are being used as safest method to do Hawala Transactions.Since money received by these organizations is tax free and no investigation is done. Why it is used and by whom? It is also used to transfer money from the owners country of domicile to a foreign country. Often people transfer their illegally earned money from one part of world to another without entering the normal banking procedure. Thus Hawala transaction works as a perfect alternative money transacting method much sought by people involved in illegal trades. Also it is a much coveted money transferring method amongst illegal workers residing at highly developed countries. Corruption and Hawala system in India : Some real Facts Unfortunately, in India many of the eminent politicians and business tycoons use the same means to transfer lump sum to their foreign accounts. The Hawala transaction is quite straight forward and convenient for those who are aware of it. In fact it is a centuries long practice that seem to remain in popularity in future. Politicians in India earn large sums of money from illegal sources and the black money is neither recorded nor taxed by the government. Since this is risky to invest the money inside the country, they resort to the Hawala system to transfer it to some safe haven. Thus Hawala method is the best suited process for the corrupted political cult to siphon the countrys funds to foreign countries. Most of their much speculated secret Swiss bank accounts are funded by money laundered through the Hawala channels. There are several alarming situations associated with this system as well. In Jammu and Kashmir, India, terrorist groups use this method to fund their detrimental projects. A recent study by the US Treasury Department revealed that the money
laundered through Hawala system is the largest source of investment for human or drug trafficking and other ghastly crimes in India and Pakistan. The much speculated Hawala scam remains to be one of the most upsetting and biggest scams in Indian history. The bribery scandal was worth $18 million and it was revealed in 1996. The amount of payment received by some of the leading politicians in India via the Hawala brokers shocked the country. It was the very first time in the history of Indian politics the open loot executed by the countrys most respected political leaders took the entire country aback. It was also opened in public that a large sum of the money was used to support the Kashmir based militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. The Hawala brokers involved in this scam were the Jain brothers. Vineet Narain was the eminent journalist who revealed the scam in public. Some politicians accused in the Hawala case,however no significant legal action was taken against the accused leaders. Most of they were acquitted of the charge in 97 and 98 as the evidences seemed insufficient for the charges. The role of CBI was highly criticized in this matter. Unfortunately no significant legal action taken in this case simply proved that no one is bothered about the countrys funds being drained by the political system. The only way to put a stop on such offences is a mass revolution. Since the political leaders are never concerned about such issues, it is the Indian citizens who draw attention to similar issues. The Hawala money is nothing but the hard earned funds of the countrymen and it should be used for the development of the country and not for funding some terrorist organization. The soon Indians become aware of their social rights and responsibilities, the better it is for their future.
Issues that dominate Indian elections: Emotional or practical?

Current Affairs & Politics, Social issues by Editor Overview of Indian Politics and Elections: India is one of the biggest democracies in the world and it is very sad to dictate that since independence India and Indian politics is still revolving around issues such as cast, religion, food, electricity, water and roads. Despite being economically stable and having one of the largest youth force globally, still the election process in India is a cause of concern for many true Witt Indians. This is not an exaggeration but looking at the diligent tendencies of Indian citizens to practice their utmost citizen right of voting what more shall we expect. Overall unwillingness to cast their votes and enjoying voting day as family outing is a mere sign of antipathy by most able, educated and privileged citizens of India. Issues dominating Indian Elections
Whenever we want to analyze certain issues that dominate Indian elections, one of the foremost things to consider is mindset of Indian voters. This leads to incremental shift of issues from national politics to regional politics creating a deluded foresight about future of nation as a whole. For years due to wide retrospective approach of Indian politicians to manipulate people minds and lure them to vote in their favor has witnessed wide emotional appeals and manifestos that are focusing caste, religion, reservation etc. which works as divide and rule principle i.e. divide people based upon these emotional things and enjoy power. These emotional outcries often lead to weak government strengths that are ruling as coalition based bureaucracies. Utter Pradesh is example of caste based politics where BSP used this issue., whereas in Maharashtra recent elections were dominated by regional and language issues which benefitted MNS party. Analyzing Emotional and Practical Issues It has been noticed that for years that Indian elections are manipulated and augmented by certain emotional issues whether it is cross border terrorism or issues that concern religious liberties and caste based reservations. For every election, there are emotional issues that help in creating emotional outcry amongst voters for regional politics. It is considered that Indian population has low knowledge about reality and threats in the country. Where as nations like America and England are fighting elections on issues that concern global threats of terrorism, development, economical indifferences and issues related to nation as whole, India is indulged in issues that are related to local or emotional politics. No one in India seems to be concerned about the prevention of economical recession, development, increasing forbearance of terrorist groups or changes happened within last five years of ruling partys extravaganza. Moreover, many practical issues are sidelined like health issues, general safety and security, corruption and subtle increase in prices of daily-required amenities. It is necessary that as a developing country, Indian population should think of development and more practical issues. Time has come for people and politicians in India to understand about different practical social issues that should be put forth other than religion, region, language, caste and race. It is necessary that elections issues should be practical like poverty, unemployment, development, education and neo-liberalization. India is a country with huge diversity and ethnicity struggling for basic needs wherein regional and emotional issues are very narrow indeed; on the other hand, what it needs is national participation and developing nationalism from grass root.
Lack of transparency, lousy laws and corruption are not allowing poor people to get benefits of Welfare schemes in India
Social issues
by Editor Recent survey shows that no of millionaires increased in India, whereas no of people below poverty line also rose. So rich are becoming richer and poor are becoming poorer.There were approximately 350 million people in India who live on less than $1 a day. According to World Bank people who earn less than $1 i.e. Rs 45 (approx.) per person are poor or below poverty line. Whereas according to Govt. of India this limit is Rs. 10 per day.Now how much is that justified? This means that people who earn Rs.11 per day will not get benefits of welfare schemes. Even then BPL (below poverty line) people are not getting the benefits of welfare scheme due to corrupt and lousy system. It is pertinent to understand that what the welfare schemes in India are. The Govt. of India has many schemes for the poor and for their welfare. Overall assessment of the CAG and other governing bodies has found, the scheme that has been implemented by the Indian Government has many loopholes where the executives and operatives take the benefit. A known NGO has pointed out certain districts which have been subject to such corruption and opine in Orissa, it is rampant and cannot be controlled by the respective departments and even the Govt. The corruption is one of the main social issues in India. Indian Politics and corruption goes hand in hand. When there are many people involved, a single man cannot do anything but to submit to their desire. And that is what is happening in India. The regular news in the newspapers you will find the death because of starvation and that perhaps more due to monsoon failure then other factors. One of the most insecure states in India for food is according to survey is Jharkhand. As per FAO ( Food and Agricultural Organization) Food security exists when all people, at all times have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. As an Indian we should contemplate that our country which we call as developing country is listed as 66 among 88 as the poorest food and hungry country. The report exemplifies that MP is equivalent to Ethiopia and Chad and that is followed by Bihar and Jharkhand which is appraised to be worst than Zimbabwe and Haiti. But incidentally, Jharkhand is the worst affected state in India that has maximum hunger, malnutrition and food crisis. In those places the basic food is difficult for low level people to get. The reason is many people are landless and rely upon the part cultivation system that prevails in the locality. There is lack of irrigation facilities and the government benefit does not reach them purposefully. To talk about the entire country the most disturbing thing is the intention of the Central Government to implement their declared benefits to the downtrodden people. The mid day meal scheme in India is one bright example of corrupted supply and manipulation of the sanctioned food grains and cereals. The Central Government has provided many lucrative schemes for the people for educational improvement and for uplifting the people below poverty line. The public distribution system has suffered because of lack of identification of the specified people. Today, if we analyze we will find the entire nation has only 35% of cards distributed among the BPL families under BPL card scheme. But the quota is coming in full to all the covered states.
Where the rest 65% of supply does go? Is the district administration not responsible for it? It is within their jurisdiction and implementation. Under this pretext can we blame that the center has not done for the deserved people? Many policy makers want to separate themselves from the crisis. But the crux remains that the cards which has been distribute among the BPL families most of it has landed up on the hands of rich segment. People thought that food subsidy is the best provided method by the government, but unless it is efficiently administered who will shoulder the responsibility? These indian social issues should be taken care on priority basis.
National food security bill: Will it provide food to every Indian?

Social issues by Editor What is National Food Security Bill? The National Food security bill or NFSB aims at resolving the issue of improper food distribution among Indian citizens which implies that the countrys significant economic growth during the past decades have not reflected in its health and nourishment ratio. About 22% of Indian population is still undernourished and suffer from ailments caused by lack of nutrition. The National Family Health Survey conducted in 2005-06 showed that 40.4% children under the age of 3 years are underweight; 78.9% children in the age group of 6 months to 35 months are anemic and 33% women in the age group of 15-49 have BMI less than normal limit. The NACs proposal for National Food Security Bill is certainly one of the most commendable initiatives by the Indian government that is expected to do something about these shocking statistics of national nutritional deficiencies. The food security act is being considered as a potentially ground-breaking initiative which will also have positive impacts on the national economy of India. It can actually transform the standard of living of Indian populace if executed effectively and rationally. Features of National food security bill 2010 are as follows:
Subsidized food grains, legally entitled to be distributed among countrys population will be increased up to 75% (90% to be distributed in the rural parts and 50% at the urban parts)
Priority households (28% in urban areas and 46% in rural areas) will be entitled to get 35 kilos grains every month (7 kilos per person basis) at a specially subsidized rate (Millet: 1INR/kg.; Wheat 2 INR/kg.; Rice: 3 INR/kg).
General households are entitled to 20 kilos (4 kilos per person basis) grains per month at a price not to be exceeded by 50% of the lowest support prices of rice, wheat and millet.
The minimum price, entitlement and coverage should remain unchanged until the end of five year program. The categorization of general and priority household are to be decided by the government of India.
During the first phase, entitlement of food will be extended to 72% of total population and in the final phase, complete coverage i.e. 75% will be finished (probable timeline: 31st March, 2014). Reformation of Public Distribution System. Legal food entitlements for maternal nutrition, child nutrition, destitute and other groups vulnerable to poverty and malnourishment.
Expected outcome from National food security bill: According to estimations, food security bill in India will resolve the food distribution problem significantly. The bill is likely to ensure that the people of India living under the poverty limit will get access to cheap food grains owing to the proposed coverage and entitlement terms of the food security bill. The large volume of grains that get wasted at the government go downs will no longer get rotten or decayed due to lack of supervision. The excess food will be given to people who actually need it and are lawfully entitled to it as citizens of India. People who are unable to purchase grains due to the ever increasing and frequently fluctuating price of grains, will be able to procure adequate food and nutritional elements for themselves. It will not only alleviate the countrys socio-economic status but also help Indians get optimum nutrition for themselves and their family members. But still there are certain ambiguities about the implementation and after effects of India food security bill, as follows: The effects of this bill on the open market, from where a section of the population will still purchase the grains for their consumption, is still uncertain. Moreover the production of grains in India is highly dependent on the weather conditions and natural calamities if any. Thus the
fluctuations in grain production will significantly affect the projections and estimations of National food security bill. Also with respect to the increasing population of India, the approximate statistics and data must be revised by the government before making any promises about the outcome of the bill. Though the much speculated about Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha, the effects are yet being anticipated. However, if the positive aspects of the bill are implemented or exploited to the fullest, India can become a healthier and happier country with every single Indian getting adequate food to survive!
Overpopulation: The main cause of poverty in India?

Social issues by Editor Overpopulation and poverty have become synonymous to Indian subcontinent like many of the third world countries round the globe. Now overpopulation remains to be a relative term as there is no specific criterion with respect to which a country is considered excessively populated. However conceptually it is a comprehensible term that signifies that when a group of population depends on a particular region and its productivity, the place is assumed as overpopulated. In case the productivity of that area is unable to meet the needs of the number of residents, it causes poverty, illiteracy, corruption and other problems. Problems of overpopulation in India: Some facts Overpopulation in India is not just a myth but a crude fact to both the nationals and the government. According to an estimation, around 53% of the below 5 years Indian population is malnourished and 37% had no access to safe drinking water. In Mumbai, about 15 million people are compelled to reside at the sidewalks and more than 25% of Indian populace falls under the poverty line. This scenario is good enough to prove that overpopulation problems in this country have become extremely concerning. Another survey revealed that India is one country that contributes largest daily counts in the total world population which sums up to an increase of 12 million people every year. Slums of India are simply over boarded with countless children taking birth every day. People, who are unable to arrange for two times foods on regular basis, do not refrain from giving birth to babies. These street children simply grow up without adequate food, facilities and education. Thus they contribute to the overwhelming unemployment in India. It is almost impossible for the government to award all the young people of India with a job and sufficient food. Reasons behind over population:
The government has certainly taken initiative to increase awareness among the slum dwellers and rural society about family planning. But owing to the widespread illiteracy and taboos, till date people at many parts of India consider family planning a sin and feel that giving birth to children is like accepting Gods grace and blessings. Another reason is gender discrepancy and preference of boys, people prefer to have boy child over girls and hence they dont mind 3-4 children until they got a baby boy. There are various instances wherein people from well-off families including political leaders and celebrities have broken the ethics of family planning and have served as negative influence for common people. A large section of Indian population is ready to suffer from poverty and indescribable distress but do not agree to undergo vasectomy or ligation thinking that it will deprive them of their natural vigor and youth. Also the government officials have shown lenient approach to such ideologies which is another reason why population explosion in India could not be stopped.
What can be done? The poverty-stricken people often indulge in crimes, corruptions and illegal professions to survive which is a common affair in any overpopulated country. To kill the roots of this deepseated issue, Indian government must take strict measures including judicial punishments for those who dismay the rules and recommendations of family planning. Spreading literacy at the remote parts of the country and arranging for more awareness campaigns are two necessary steps to be taken to control population overload. It is 21st century and still people crave for their own blood and hesitate to adopt children. But if every affluent family could adopt at least one kid, the population problem could have been under control. If possible strict population control laws should be created. It is high time the Indian government address this issue at the earliest to bay off further problems like poverty in India.
Issues that dominate Indian elections: Emotional or practical?

Current Affairs & Politics, Social issues by Editor Overview of Indian Politics and Elections: India is one of the biggest democracies in the world and it is very sad to dictate that since independence India and Indian politics is still revolving around issues such as cast, religion, food, electricity, water and roads. Despite being economically stable and having one of the largest youth force globally, still the election process
in India is a cause of concern for many true Witt Indians. This is not an exaggeration but looking at the diligent tendencies of Indian citizens to practice their utmost citizen right of voting what more shall we expect. Overall unwillingness to cast their votes and enjoying voting day as family outing is a mere sign of antipathy by most able, educated and privileged citizens of India. Issues dominating Indian Elections Whenever we want to analyze certain issues that dominate Indian elections, one of the foremost things to consider is mindset of Indian voters. This leads to incremental shift of issues from national politics to regional politics creating a deluded foresight about future of nation as a whole. For years due to wide retrospective approach of Indian politicians to manipulate people minds and lure them to vote in their favor has witnessed wide emotional appeals and manifestos that are focusing caste, religion, reservation etc. which works as divide and rule principle i.e. divide people based upon these emotional things and enjoy power. These emotional outcries often lead to weak government strengths that are ruling as coalition based bureaucracies. Utter Pradesh is example of caste based politics where BSP used this issue., whereas in Maharashtra recent elections were dominated by regional and language issues which benefitted MNS party. Analyzing Emotional and Practical Issues It has been noticed that for years that Indian elections are manipulated and augmented by certain emotional issues whether it is cross border terrorism or issues that concern religious liberties and caste based reservations. For every election, there are emotional issues that help in creating emotional outcry amongst voters for regional politics. It is considered that Indian population has low knowledge about reality and threats in the country. Where as nations like America and England are fighting elections on issues that concern global threats of terrorism, development, economical indifferences and issues related to nation as whole, India is indulged in issues that are related to local or emotional politics. No one in India seems to be concerned about the prevention of economical recession, development, increasing forbearance of terrorist groups or changes happened within last five years of ruling partys extravaganza. Moreover, many practical issues are sidelined like health issues, general safety and security, corruption and subtle increase in prices of daily-required amenities. It is necessary that as a developing country, Indian population should think of development and more practical issues. Time has come for people and politicians in India to understand about different practical social issues that should be put forth other than religion, region, language, caste and race. It is necessary that elections issues should be practical like poverty, unemployment, development, education and neo-liberalization. India is a country with huge diversity and ethnicity struggling for basic needs wherein regional and emotional issues are very narrow indeed; on the other hand, what it needs is national participation and developing nationalism from grass root.
Reality or vulgarity: MTV Roadies portrayed two participants nude on the name of taskGovt. should take action on such content
Social issues by Editor India has been grooming a lot of reality TV shows recently and most of them have been controversial to some extend with certain scenes and episodes abusing the traditional and cultural values of the country. There are different viewpoints from people belonging to different walks of life and the impact of reality shows is paving its way today. The reality shows debate being held through different mediums has found more criticism against such crude shows on many national television channels. The strongest question that is blooming in the air against these is that should reality shows be banned? The responsible body for all these controversies giving rise to some sort of disturb in some society is the government itself. Numbers of reality shows are being streamed on Indian televisions and the government should have set better laws curbing expression of many sensitive issues that are being shown. It is known by the people that all these shows are crazily being produced just for the sake of TRPs and huge sum of money they earn. If the government is not able to take care of these issues that is causing bad influence in the society, it can be assured that the government is corrupt. There are lots of local organizations and groups pointing the vulgarity and insanity of these shows. Recently, one of the popular reality shows called MTV Roadies portrayed two male participants nude on international TV in Brazil on the name of task! This is an insane behaviour to a society where traditional and cultural norms are highly respected. They have neither cared about the social disturbance it would cause nor about the effects of reality shows on children. The truth of reality shows in television in India is that they care only about the money they could earn. An article on reality shows has described the fact behind how the actor or the real performer would face their real life. They have bear high risk of falling into mental disorders, depression and regret too because these tasks take place in just an instant in a flick of minute on TV but they face consequences throughout their life. Still the producer of the show says that they have helped the actors overcome the biggest fears in their life! The truth of mtv reality show is that they have not taken good care of all such possibilities in front of money. Similarly, UTV bindass is also streaming such reality shows that are controversial in India. One of the most popular reality shows of the channel Emotional Atyachaar, attracted lots of controversies and disturbances in Indian society. These shows had taken control of privacy of some people and streaming on the national TV. This is just one part of the offensive show. Sony TVs comedy circus and Star pluss comedy ka maha muqabala are some of the worst adult shows which are telecast on prime time when whole family watches show.
The effects of reality shows in television in India are highly immoral and abusive. These are a kind of shows are giving a bad influence to the youth of the nation and destroying the conventional norms of the society. There are no certain restriction between the adult reality shows and childrens reality shows. The major part of the earning from such reality shows are gone to the hosts and the behind the scene people but the ones actually performing the daring scenes are given just a small part of it. This kind of offensive shows should be restricted by the government and taken good care of such Indian social issues. Either these shows must be banned or they should be declared adult shows and should be telecasted after 12pm in night.There should be strong guidelines for content telecasting on TV, a Govt body should keep eye on this and take strict action against those who violate these guidelines.
10 biggest corruption scams in Indian history

Current Affairs & Politics by Editor India got its independence in 1947, more than three decades back. But barely Indians have been able to make use of their independence and rights. One of the major and probably the most important obstacle in the path of growth and prosperity of the nation is CORRUPTION. If you keep your eyes wide open, you get to see thousands of corruption induced scams taking place
10 biggest corruption scams in Indian history-Chakreview.com around you. Today we will take a look at 10 biggest corruption scams in Indian History. They have been known as the milestone corruption cases of India which caught mass attention but did not have any corrective effects on the society as the series is continuing till date.
1.) The Coal Scam: The coal scam clearly shows our nations shot to shame. It has already been termed as the mother of all scams, as the black money involved here has swallowed all the other previous scams. The report on coal scam by CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), an authority established by the Govt. of India, who audits all the receipts and expenditures by the central government as well as the state governments) of India, has accused the Government of India for illegally and irregularly providing our nations coal deposits to private and state run entities instead of auctioning them in the public. And this has resulted a loss of a whopping 1,86,000 crore rupees to our national treasury in the period 2004 2009. There have been estimates released by the media that the actual loss was 10,60,000 crore rupees. And what is more sickening is, in that period of five years, all the major coal dealings in the country went right under the nose of our Prime Minister. More on Coal Scam corruption.
2.) Stock Market scam by Harshad Mehta: Harshad Mehta, the former employee of New India Assurance, entered the stock market and soon became one of the most reliable and revered icon of the market. He alone decided the fate of the stock market and even banks trusted him with their ready forward deals. However Harshad managed to produce seamlessly original looking fake bank receipts and many banks lent him huge amounts of money assuming that they were doing this in return of government securities. In short he siphoned lump sum from the banking system and raised a large fund for himself. Though he was convicted and banished from the stock market scenario, he had already caused loss worth more than 4000 corers INR.
3.) Bofors Scam: Bofors scam is accepted as the hallmark in the list of top 10 corruption in india. It took place in the 1980s and Prime Minister of that time Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and several powerful names were found involved in it. The well-known NRI family Hindujas connection was identified in the Bofors scam. They were accused of taking bribe from Bofors, the largest arms manufacturing corporation of Sweden for a contract they won to supply 155 mm field howitzer to India. A shocking report was broadcasted by the Swedish radio to reveal the scam wherein Rajiv Gandhis congress accepted $16 million as kickback. This was a sensitive issue as the matter was related with Indias security. However, with the political heads involved in this scam, no proper punishment was given to the offenders.
4.) Fodder Scam: Fodder Scam, popularly known as the Chara Ghotala took place in 1996, in Bihar. In this major corruption in india an uncouth connection was detected in the production of vast herds of fictitious livestock for which animal husbandry gears, medicine and fodder worth 900 crore INR was allegedly procured. It was indeed a major waste of nations funds and caused severe damage to the legal and economic situation of the country.
5.) Hawala Scam: Hawala Scandal is another much talked about incident of politics and corruption in india which came to mass notice in 1996 and it was all about a bribery at the national level worth $18 millions. Indias well-known politicians accepted hefty bribes from the hawala brokers. Opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani was involved in this scam. This scam was an evidence of open political loot taking place in the country. Also Read Hawala System in Indian Politics.
2.) Ketan Parekh Scam: Ketan Parekh also executed similar scam and looted Bank of India of around $30 million. It evidently shows the efficiency of the Indian banking system and marks the failure of the judiciary set up that failed to prevent two similar scams that took place consecutively.
7.) Satyam Scam: The recent scam that took place in Satyam computer Service which is considered one of the most promising IT companies in India, certainly startled the investors, foreign clients and Indian masses. The 14000 crore worth Satyam fraud is the largest corporate scam in the history of India. The companys chairperson Ramlinga Raju executed his fraudulent endeavors throughout a decade and kept everyone else in dark. However Indian governments intervention in this matter saved a number of young workers from unemployment and finally the company was taken over by Tech Mahendra.
8.) Telgi Scandal: Abdul Karim Telgi, the maestro of conning, managed to print fake stamp papers and then he sold them to various financial institutions and banks. It affected various states and the scam was worth more than 20000 crore INR. This scam became possible because the offender has strong connections with high government officials and this is indeed the major failure of the Indian political and judiciary system.
9.) Commonwealth Game Scam : The open scam and loot that took place during the Commonwealth Game is probably one of the most shameful incidents in Indian history. It certainly disgraced the nation in front of other countries and an international audience. According to estimations, 70000 crore INR was spent on the game of which only half the amount was actually spent for the event. The investigation performed by Central Vigilance Commission revealed that various hefty payments were made in the name of non-existent parties and voluntarily delay was made in the preparation process which collective lead to misuse of the funds.
10.) 2G Spectrum Political Scam : The much speculated about 2G Spectrum Scam has been one of the most expensive scams in the nations record. Former telecom minister Mr. A. Raja was the person who skillfully siphoned 1.76-lakh crore INR by evading the 2G licensing norms. He awarded the 2G accounts at the price rate of 2001 instead of the increased rate in 2008. As a result India lost an unbelievable huge amount of money and this might have severe effect on the countrys economy.
An analysis of US vs. Indian election process and Parliamentary system!

Current Affairs & Politics by Editor Politics is one thing that can change the world, for the better or for the worse. And election is process is the backbone of politics in any country. The better the election process in a country, the better will be the political rule in that country. Here, lets compare the political scene in two of the biggest democracies in the world, US and India. What the difference between a political election in US and the same in India? Where do we lack?
US election Process It is said that the American way of elections is one of the most open and democratic. In most countries, the election phase lasts only for a few weeks, but the American elections go on for months, that is, the presidential candidates have to run a marathon. The US presidential elections are also one of the simplest, as the candidates are directly voted by the people. The US election process
An analysis of US vs. Indian election process and Parliamentary system! Chakreview.com spreads in four steps:
The Primaries: This is the first step in choosing the candidate. In most of the countries, including India, the political party chooses its candidate. But in US, it is the people who choose the candidates. The presidential elections are always held in the month of November in the US. The primaries actually start in January, the preceding.
The Convention : This is one of the most important steps in the presidential process. Each state in the US has its own delegates. During the convention every state arrives to the hall with its own delegates and banners. At this stage, it declares which presidential candidate it supports. The delegates from each state choose their candidate to go ahead in the presidential race. At this point, the candidate with the most delegates wins, and progresses to the campaign.
The Campaign : This is where the rival candidates face each other in a heated debate. This stage of elections is much shorted and more interesting than the long primaries. There is huge publicity for the campaign and lot of money is spent, and the debates between the candidates are televised.
The Election Day: The presidential elections of America are always held on the first Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in the month of November. The votes are counted and an initial
result is announced within 12 hours of the close of the polls. After the counting of votes is done, the whole process moves to the Electoral College. Each state has a number of Electoral College members. The candidate who wins the most votes in a particular state wins the states entire bunch of Electoral College members. The moment a candidate gets the majority of votes across the states, the elections are over. But still, the formal culmination of the elections happens when the Electoral College members vote for the president. This is how the election process happens in the USA. Whereas in India, it is not the people, but the political parties that elect their candidate. And we call ourselves a democracy.
A brief about US parliamentary system The senate of the United States is the upper house of the legislature. This senate, together with the United States House of Representatives forms the United States Congress. The Senate has several powers, which include confirming appointments of federal judges, cabinet secretaries, other federal officials, military officials and ambassadors. The Senate is also known as the worlds greatest deliberative body.
A glance at Indian parliamentary system The Indian Parliament comprises of the President and the two houses ( Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha ).The President is elected every 5 years. The Lok Sabha, which is also known as the the House of the People, consists of 545 members. Out of this 545, 543 are elected for a 5 year term and the remaining 2 members are to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The other house o the Indian legislature, the Rajya Sabha, which is also known as the Council of States, has 245 members, of which 233 are elected for a 6 year term.
The election process in India Pre Elections: Before the elections happen, the polling and counting take place at a large scale. It is a national norm that no political party should use the governments resources for campaigning. Voting Day: The government schools and most colleges are chosen as the polling stations, and the collector of each district is in charge of the polling in that district. Post Elections: The electronic voting machines, (EVMs) are stored in a safe and secured room. Once the different phases of elections in different districts are done, a day is chosen for the counting of votes. The candidate with the most votes is declared the winner of the constituency, and the party that has won the most seats will be forming the government.
Where are we lacking? One drawback of the Indian election system is that the people dont have the choice to elect their leaders directly. The problem is, in our country people dont have a proper idea about the power of politics. And it is this ignorance about politics that the politicians try to take advantage of, and thats the point where corruption is born. To be a true democratic country, we should try to understand what politics can really do, rather than looking at it in a negative eye.
The Rise of Anna Hazare: Wake up politicians! You are just public servants
Current Affairs & Politics by Editor Here comes the Anna Hazare or Kisan Baburao Hazare or second Mahatma Gandhi whatever you call him, a social activist who had brought a wave of patriotism and anticorruption in whole India. People have found a new ray of hope and seeing him as a leader who doesnt comes from the league of dirty politicians, same as Mahatma Gandhi. The things introduced in proposed Lokpal bill by Anna, such as CBI, Judiciary and Prime Minister should be under Lokpal, are very correct, as of now these people think that they are king and nobody can challenge them, whatever wrong they do. So time has come to reduce their powers and bring a Daddy over them. The thing that inspired people to participate in this movement is that fact that when a 74 years old man is standing there for them, fighting for the noble cause and doing hunger strike at this age, then why cant they. This gives them a way to bring out the frustration that they had with the politicians and system over corruption and inflation. Common man doesnt have the way to communicate his anger to Govt. and system but here is their chance to tell politicians and Govt. that public is the king and they are just servants send to parliament to do public welfare. The formula applied by Anna is similar to Satyagraya, protest with non-violence and thats why people are supporting him. The idea to protest against individual MPs MLAs and ministers is very correct and these people should also feel the heat. This is a wake up call for politicians and Govt. as they have lost faith and credibility among people and time is not far away when public may ignore parliament and constitutional system. There should be qualification criteria also for politicians and ministers to hold a particular position or stand in election, so that its confirmed they have qualified to hold that position. As of now illiterate are sitting in parliaments and fighting elections. These people use to play divide and rule game and save culprits, as seen in many scams a committee is formed to do investigation and then things were compromised. There is need of strong laws and change in constitution which is very old and unpractical in todays environment
which only protects criminals and terrorists like kasab.The Jan Lokpal bill which Anna is proposing is a start to clean of the system and this process should not stop. Politicians beware! Here comes the Real King i.e. public: time to leave or get changed.
Bangalore: The IT hub of India!

Science and Technology by Editor Of the four metros of India, which are also one of the biggest in the world, Bangalore is one city whose name is being taken by corporate and multinational companies all over the world. Undoubtedly, Bangalore is the IT backbone of India, and below are a few reasons to prove the statement! The employment in Bangalore is what makes it a IT hub basically. Bangalore is one of the top ten most preferred entrepreneurial locations on the globe, and its 83 billion dollar GDP contributes immensely to the country. It is listed 4th in the top 20 cities that contribute to the GDP of India. Bangalore is not just the IT capital, but also one of the employment capitals of India. Between 2004 and 2005 alone, IT companies had hired over 2,00,000 workers. There were articles in news that stated the question if Bangalore is bigger than the tech giant Silicon Valley.
Bangalores IT infrastructure: The IT infrastructure of Bangalore is amazing and world class. Every year, Bangalore exports over 18,000 crore rupees worth
Bangalore The IT hub of India Chakreview.com software. The real estate is one thing which has played a major role in perking up the citys IT infrastructure in a big way. Bangalore is an opportunity galore for employees and employers, and especially entrepreneurs. The office of i-flex solutions, for an instance, is one of the coolest buildings in India. I-flex solutions is a world leader in providing solutions in the financial sector.
IT companies in Bangalore: In a way, we can say Bangalore is a conglomeration of many IT companies, most of them being one of the largest in India and also in the world. A few examples are : Accenture, IBM, Cisco, HP, Dell etc. The marvelous infrastructure and quality education, plus the technological flair of young people have attracted many MNCs to make Bangalore their primary hub. The constant improvement in the field of education and infrastructure too had played a pivotal role in boosting the economy of the city on a global scale.
Why is Bangalore the IT hub of India? Bangalore is also nicknamed as the Silicon Valley of India, like Silicon Valley located in California, a mega hub for IT companies in the USA. The beginning of 21st century saw the mammoth growth of internet based multinational companies in Bangalore. The IT industry of Bangalore grew rampantly in this phase, as many regional, national as well as international IT companies began establishing their offices in the city. The 2001 edition of BusinessWeek magazine showcased the various developments and highs of Bangalore by tracing its IT industry, and titled Bangalore as the Silicon Valley of India. It is a very known fact that most of the IT companies in and around the globe are housed in Bangalore, in areas that are named as Software Technology Park of India (STPI), Electronics City, International Tech Park of Bangalore (ITPB). And not only IT companies, but many of Indias public sector as well as private sector companies have their head offices stationed in Bangalore.
Mostly, development is seen over years or even decades. But in the case of Bangalore, development is happening month by month, with dozens of IT companies setting their feet in Bangalore, the IT hub of India.
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Jan Lokpal Bill

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Not to be confused with The Lokpal Bill, 2011, an anti-corruption bill pending before the parliament of India. This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (January 2012)
The Jan Lokpal Bill, also referred to the Citizen's Ombudsman Bill, is an anti-corruption bill drafted and drawn up by civil society activists in India seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body to investigate corruption cases.[1] This bill also proposes improvements to the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill 2011,[2] which was to be passed by Lok Sabha in December 2011.[3] The Jan Lokpal Bill aims to effectively deter corruption, compensate citizen grievances, and protect whistle-blowers. The prefix Jan (translation: citizens) signifies that these improvements includes inputs provided by "ordinary citizens" through an activist-driven, non-governmental public consultation.[4]
Contents
1 Background o 1.1 Lokpal Bill 1.1.1 Timeline and cost o 1.2 Current anti-corruption laws and organizations 1.2.1 Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) 1.2.2 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) o 1.3 Inspiration 2 Key features of proposed bill 3 Difference between government's and activists' drafts o 3.1 Highlights o 3.2 Details 4 Governments approach about Whistleblower protection & Citizen-charter 5 Campaign for the Jan Lokpal Bill o 5.1 Fast & agitation Phase 1 o 5.2 Drafting committee o 5.3 Fast & agitation Phase 2 o 5.4 Notable supporters and opposition o 5.5 Logjam of Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill 2011 6 Criticisms of the Jan Lokpal Bill o 6.1 Nave approach o 6.2 Extra-constitutional o 6.3 Scope o 6.4 Criticism from Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and NCPRI o 6.5 Criticism from the Director of CBI 7 Support for the bill o 7.1 Surveys o 7.2 Legislator support o 7.3 Social media o 7.4 Online surveys 8 Parliamentary actions on the proposed legislation 9 See also 10 References 11 External links
Background
This section has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (February 2012)
The word Lokpal was coined in 1963 by L.M. Singhvi, a Member of Parliament during a debate in Parliament about grievance redressal mechanisms. His son Dr. Abhishek Singhvi was head of the Parliament standing committee reviewing the bill[5] but later resigned from the post after a sex-tape controversy.[6]
In order to draw the attention of the government, a focused campaign "India Against Corruption" (IAC) was started in 2011. Anna Hazare is the head of civil society and the IAC movement. Being a foreground for Jan Lokpal campaign. Through these collaborative efforts till August 2011, IAC was able to upload the 23rd version of Jan Lokpal Bill draft.[7]
Lokpal Bill
The Lokpal Bill was first introduced by Shanti Bhushan in 1968[8] and passed the 4th Lok Sabha in 1969. But before it could be passed by Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha was dissolved and the bill lapsed.[9] Subsequent versions were re-introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008,[10] but none of them were passed. In 2011, during the Parliament's Winter Session, the Lok Sabha passed the controversial Lokpal Bill, but could not be passed by Rajya Sabha due to shortage of time in the winter session of 2011. Government has not put Lokpal bill again in Rajya Sabha [11]
Timeline and cost
The Lokpal Bill has been introduced in the Parliament a total of eight times since 1968.

1968 1971 1977 1985 1989 1996 2001 2011 2012 -
3 lakh[12] (300,000) 20 lakh (2 million) 25 lakh (2.5 million) 25 lakh 35 lakh (3.5 million) PM under lokpal 1 crore (10 million) PM under lokpal 35 crore (350 million) PM under lokpal 1700 crore[12] (17 billion) 2000 crore[12] (20 billion)
Current anti-corruption laws and organizations Main article: Corruption in India#Anti-Corruption Laws in India
While India currently has a number of laws intended to stem corruption, supporters of the Jan Lokpal Bill have argued that the current laws are inadequate in light of the large number and size of scandals in India.
Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Main article: Central Vigilance Commission
CVC has a staff strength of between 200 and 250 employees.[13] If one went by international standards, India needs 28 anti-corruption staff in CVC to check corruption of 57 lakh employees.[14]
There has been considerable delay in many cases for grant of sanction for prosecution against corrupt government officials. The permission to prosecute such officials acts as a deterrent in the drive to eradicate corruption and bring transparency in the system.[15]
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Main article: Central Bureau of Investigation
Because the CBI is under the control of the central government, it needs a go-ahead from central agencies to initiate criminal proceedings. By then, the accused can take advantage of such a situation. He can get time to pressure the complainant and intimidate him so that the case be withdrawn.[16][17] In the Jan Lokpal Bill, it is proposed that both of these wings be merged into the Lokpal.[18] This would enable the Lokpal to be completely independent of the government and free from ministerial influence in its investigations in.
Inspiration
The bill was inspired by the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).[19][20] In the 1970s, the level of corruption in Hong Kong was seen so high,[citation needed] that the government created the commission with direct powers to investigate and deal with corruption. In the first instance, the ICAC sacked 119 out of 180 police officers.[where?][citation
needed][21]
Key features of proposed bill

Some important features of the proposed bill are:[1]
1. To establish a central government anti-corruption institution called Lokpal, supported by Lokayukta at the state level. 2. As is the case with the Supreme Court of India and Cabinet Secretariat, the Lokpal will be supervised by the Cabinet Secretary and the Election Commission. As a result, it will be completely independent of the government and free from ministerial influence in its investigations. 3. Members will be appointed by judges, Indian Administrative Service officers with a clean record, private citizens and constitutional authorities through a transparent and participatory process. 4. A selection committee will invite short-listed candidates for interviews, the video recordings of which will thereafter be made public. 5. Every month on its website, the Lokayukta will publish a list of cases dealt with, brief details of each, their outcome and any action taken or proposed. It will also publish lists of all cases received by the Lokayukta during the previous month, cases dealt with and those which are pending. 6. Investigations of each case must be completed in one year. Any resulting trials should be concluded in the following year, giving a total maximum process time of two years. 7. Losses to the government by a corrupt individual will be recovered at the time of conviction.
8. Government office-work required by a citizen that is not completed within a prescribed time period will result in Lokpal imposing financial penalties on those responsible, which will then be given as compensation to the complainant. 9. Complaints against any officer of Lokpal will be investigated and completed within one month and, if found to be substantive, will result in the officer being dismissed within two months. 10. The existing anti-corruption agencies [CVC], departmental vigilance and the anti-corruption branch of the [CBI] will be merged into Lokpal which will have complete power authority to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician. 11. Whistle-blowers who alert the agency to potential corruption cases will also be provided with protection by it.
Difference between government's and activists' drafts

Highlights Difference between Jan Lokpal Bill and Draft Bill 2010[22] Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill) Draft Lokpal Bill (2010)
Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo motu action or receive Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo complaints of corruption from the general public. It can only motu action or receive complaints of probe complaints forwarded by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or corruption from the general public. the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Lokpal will have the power to initiate Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body with a role limited to prosecution of anyone found guilty. forwarding reports to a "Competent Authority". Lokpal will have police powers as well Lokpal will have no police powers and no ability to register an FIR as the ability to register FIRs. or proceed with criminal investigations. Lokpal and the anti corruption wing of The CBI and Lokpal will be unconnected. the CBI will be one independent body. Punishments will be a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of up to life imprisonment. Details Punishment for corruption will be a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of up to 7 years.
The following table details differences between the Government and activist backed versions.[23][24][25] Comparison SlideShow uploaded by India Against Corruption.[26]
Issue
The Jan Lokpal Bill[7]
Government's Lokpal Bill[2]
Prime Minister
PM can be investigated with permission of PM can be investigated by Lokpal seven member Lokpal bench.[clarification after she/he vacates office.[27] needed][23] Can be investigated, though high level members may be investigated only with permission of a seven member Lokpal bench.[clarification needed][23] Can be investigated with permission of seven member Lokpal bench.[clarification
needed][23]
Judiciary
Judiciary is exempt and will be covered by a separate "judicial accountability bill".[24] Can be investigated, but their conduct within Parliament, such as voting, cannot be investigated.[24] Only senior officers (Group A) will be covered.[24]
Conduct of MPs
Lower bureaucracy All public servants would be included.[24]
Anti-Corruption wing The Anti-Corruption wing of the CBI will be The Anti-Corruption wing of the CBI of the Central Bureau merged into the Lokpal.[24] cannot be merged into the Lokpal.[23] of Investigation (CBI) Any person can bring a complaint to the Any "aggrieved party" can raise a Removal of Lokpal Supreme Court, who can then recommend complaint to the President, who will members and Chair removal of any member to the refer the matter to the CJI.[23] [23] President. Complaints against Lokpal staff will be handled by independent boards set-up in Removal of Lokpal each state, composed of retired staff and officers bureaucrats, judges, and civil society members.[23] Lokayukta and other local/state anticorruption agency would remain in place.[24] Whistleblowers are protected by Lokpal.[23]
Lokpal will conduct inquiries into its own behaviour.[23]
Lokayukta
All state anti-corruption agencies would be closed and responsibilities taken over by centralised Lokpal.[24] No protection granted to whistleblowers by Lokpal.[23]
Whistleblower protection Punishment for corruption
Lokpal can either directly impose penalties, Lokpal can only refer matters to the or refer the matter to the courts. Penalties courts, not take any direct punitive can include removal from office, actions. Penalties remain equivalent
imprisonment, and recovery of assets from to those in current laws.[23] those who benefited from the corruption.[23] Lokpal can obtain wiretaps (to make a connection to a telegraph or telephone wire in order to obtain information Investigatory powers secretly), issue rogatory letters, and recruit investigating officers. Cannot issue contempt orders.[23] Lokpal can issue fines for frivolous False, frivolous and complaints (including frivolous complaints vexatious complaints against Lokpal itself), with a maximum penalty of Rs 100,000.[23] NGOs NGOs not within the scope due to their role in exposing corruption.[25] Lokpal can issue contempt orders, and has the ability to punish those in contempt. No authority to obtain wiretaps, issue rogatory letters, or recruit investigating officers.[23] Court system will handle matters of frivolous complaints. Courts can give 25 years imprisonment and fines of Rs 25,000 to 200,.[26] NGOs are within the scope and can be investigated.[25]
Governments approach about Whistleblower protection & Citizen-charter

In a bid to narrow differences on the anti-graft legislation and provide itself some political cover against the threat of a public protest, the Government introduced Citizen's Charter and Grievance Redressal Bill 2011 or Citizen-charter bill in Dec 20, 2011 along with the already introduced Whistleblower Protection Law or Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Information) Bill 2010 back in August 2011.[28] Responding to this move, Team Anna issued a statement that: The government proposes to remove CBI, judiciary, citizen charter, whistle blower protection, Group C and Group D employees from the Lokpal jurisdiction. Wouldn't that reduce Lokpal to an empty tin box with no powers and functions?.[29] This issue remains open between Team Anna & Government.
Campaign for the Jan Lokpal Bill
Lokpal activist Anna Hazare Main article: 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement
The first version of the Lokpal Bill drafted by the Government of India headed by United Progressive Alliance in 2010 was considered ineffective by anti-corruption activists from the civil society.[30] These activists, under the banner of India Against Corruption, came together to draft a citizen's version of the Lokpal Bill later called the Jan Lokpal.[30] Public awareness drives[31] and protest marches[30] were carried out to campaign for the bill. However, public support for the Jan Lokpal Bill draft started gathering steam after Anna Hazare, a noted Gandhian announced that he would hold an indefinite fast from 5 April 2011 for the passing of the Lokpal/ Jan Lokpal bill.[32][33] The government has however accepted it. To dissuade Hazare from going on an indefinite hunger strike, the Office of the Prime Minister directed the personnel and law ministries to see how the views of social activists can be included in the bill.[34] On 5 April, the National Advisory Council rejected the Lokpal bill drafted by the government. Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal then met social activists Swami Agnivesh and Arvind Kejriwal on 7 April to find ways to bridge differences over the bill.[35] However, no consensus could be reached on 7 April owing to several differences of opinion between the social activists and the Government.
Fast & agitation Phase 1
On 7 April 2011 Anna Hazare called for a Jail Bharo Andolan (translation: Fill jail movement) from 13 April to protest against the Government's rejection of their demands.[36] Anna Hazare also claimed that his group had received six crore (60 million) text messages of support[37] and that he had further backing from a large number of Internet activists. The outpouring of support
was largely free of political overtones; political parties were specifically discouraged from participating in the movement.[38] The fast ended on 9 April, after 98 hours, when the Government accepted most demands due to public pressure. Anna Hazare set an deadline, 15 August, for the passing of the bill in the Parliament,[39] failing which he would start a hunger strike from 16 August. The fast also led to the Government of India agreeing to set up a Joint Drafting Committee, which would complete its work by 30 June 2011.[39]
Drafting committee
Salman Khurshid, the Minister of the Law and Justice is part of the drafting committee
The drafting committee was officially formed on 8 April 2011. It consisted of the following ten members, including five from the government and five drawn from the civil society.[40][41]
Member Qualifications and status Shanti Bhushan Former Minister of Law and Justice, Co-Chairman
P. finance Minister Chidambaram Sushil Kumar Minister of Home Affairs Veerappa Moily Minister of Corporate Affairs Kapil Sibal Minister for Human Resource & Development
Salman Khursid Minister of Law Anna Hazare Prashant Bhushan N. Santosh Social Activist Lawyer Former Lokayukta (Karnataka) and
Hegde
Supreme Court Justice
Arvind Kejriwal RTI Activist.
The Government's handling of the formation of the draft committee, involving the civil society in preparation of the draft Lokpal bill, was criticized by various political parties including Bharatiya Janata Party, Biju Janata Dal, Telugu Desam Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (U) and Samajwadi Party.[42][43] The committee failed to agree on the terms of a compromise bill and the government introduced its own version of the bill in the Parliament in August 2011.[44]
Fast & agitation Phase 2
Hindi Sign at Ramlila Grounds
According to Anna and his team, the Government's version of the Lokpal bill was weak and would facilitate the corrupt to go free apart from several other differences. To protest against this, Anna Hazare announced an "Indefinite Fast" (not to be confused with "Fast until death"). Anna and his team asked for permission from Delhi Police for their fast and agitation at Jantar Mantar or JP Park. Delhi Police gave its permission with certain conditions. These conditions were considered by team Anna as restrictive and against the fundamental constitutional rights and they decided to defy the conditions. Delhi Police imposed Sec 144 CrPC.[45][46] On 16 August, Anna Hazare was taken into preventive custody by Delhi Police. Senior officers of Delhi Police reached Anna Hazare's flat early in the morning and informed him that he could not leave his home. However, Hazare turned down the request following which he was detained.Anna in his recorded address to the nation before his arrest asked his supporters not to stop the agitation and urged the protesters to remain peaceful.Other members of "India Against
Corruption", Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Kumar Vishwas and Manish Sisodia were also taken into preventive custody. Kiran Bedi described the situation as resembling a kind of Emergency (referring to the State of Emergency imposed in 1975 by the Indira Gandhi Govt.).[46] The arrest resulted in a huge public outcry and under pressure, the government released him in the evening of 16 August. However, Anna Hazare refused to come out of jail, starting his indefinite fast from Jail itself. Manish Sisodia explained his situation as, "Anna said that he left home to go to JP Park to conduct his fast and that is exactly where he would go from here (Tihar Jail). He has refused to be released till he is given a written, unconditional permission". Unwilling to use forces owing to the sensitive nature of the case, the jail authorities had no option but to let Anna spend the night inside Tihar. Later on 17 August, Delhi Police permitted Anna Hazare and team to use the Ramlila Maidan for the proposed fast and agitation, withdrawing most of the contentious provisions they had imposed earlier.[47] The indefinite fast and agitation began in Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi, and went on for around 288 hours (12 days from 16 August-2011 to 28 August-2011).[48] Some of the Lokpal drafting committee members became dissatisfied with Hazare's tactics as the hunger strike went on for the 11th day: Santosh Hegde, a member of Hazare team who headed the Karnataka Lokayukta, strongly criticised Hazare for his insistence of "having his way", concluding I feel I am not in Team Anna any more by the way things are going. These (telling Parliament what to do) are not democratic things.[49] Swami Agnivesh, another central figure in the Hazare group also distanced himself.[50]
Notable supporters and opposition
Union HRD[clarification needed] Minister Kapil Sibal, a notable critic of the citizens' version of the Bill
In addition to the activists responsible for creating and organising support for the bill, a wide variety of other notable individuals have also stated that they support this bill. Spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar[51] and Yog Guru Ramdev[52] expressed support. Notable politicians who indicated support for the bill include Ajit Singh[53] and Manpreet Singh Badal[54] as well as the
principal opposition party, Bharatiya Janta Party.[55][56] In addition, numerous Bollywood actors, directors, and musicians publicly approved of the bill.[57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] Notable opposition to the activists' version of the Bill was expressed by HRD minister Kapil Sibal and other Congress leaders; Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamta Banerjee; Punjab Chief Minister and Akali Dal leader Prakash Singh Badal; Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Jagdish Sharan Verma.[65] Although Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) showed their support earlier, there were reports that BJP shared Congress's concern "over letting the civil society gain the upper hand over Parliament in lawmaking".[66] The All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, representing the Dalits and backward castes, also expressed opposition to the bill proposed by Anna Hazare as well as to the government's version of the bill. The confederation opposed Hazare's proposed bill saying that it will be above the constitution and that proposers of the bill have support from elements who oppose reservation.[67]
Logjam of Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill 2011
On 27 December 2011, Lok Sabha Parliament winter session passed controversial Lokpal Bill under title of Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill 2011,[2] but without constitutional status. Before passing this bill it was introduced in Lok Sabha with key amendments moved. The 10 hour house debate, number of opposition parties claimed introduced bill is weak and wanted it withdrawn. Key amendments that were discussed but defeated were following:

Including corporates, media and NGOs receiving donations Bringing CBI under the purview of Lokpal
Amendments that the house agreed upon were:

Keeping the defence forces and coast guard personnel out of the purview of the anti-graft ombudsman Increasing the exemption time of former MPs from five to seven years[3]
Team Anna rejected the proposed bill describing it as "anti-people and dangerous" even before the Lok Sabha gave its assent.[68] The key notes Team Anna made about rejection were:

Government will have all the control over Lokpal as it will have powers to appoint and remove members at its will. Only 10 per cent political leaders are covered by this Bill Bill was also covering temples, mosques and churches Bill was offering favor to corruption accused by offering them free lawyer service. Bill was also unclear about handling corruption within Lokpal office. Only five per cent of employees are in its ambit, as Class C & D officers were not included.
Team Anna was also disappointed over following inherent exclusions within tabled government bill.[69]
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should be merged with the Lokpal, and the anti-corruption bureaus and the Vigilance Departments of the State governments with the Lokayuktas.
The Lokpal and the Lokayuktas should have their own investigative wings with exclusive jurisdiction over cases filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Lokpal should have administrative and financial control over the CBI, and the appointment of the CBI Director should be independent of any political control. The jurisdiction of the Lokpal and the Lokayukta should cover Class C and D officers directly.
This bill was then presented in Rajya Sabha where it hit log jam again.[70]
Criticisms of the Jan Lokpal Bill

Nave approach
The bill has been criticised as being nave in its approach to combating corruption. According to Pratap Bhanu Mehta, President of the Center for Policy Research Delhi,[71] the bill "is premised on an institutional imagination that is at best nave; at worst subversive of representative democracy". The very concept of a Lokpal concept has received criticism from Human Resource Development minister Kapil Sibal in that it will lack accountability, be oppressive and undemocratic.[72]
Extra-constitutional
The pro-bill activist Arvind Kejriwal rejects the claim of Lokpal being extra-constitutional with the explanation that the body will only investigate corruption offences and submit a charge sheet which would then tried and prosecuted through trial courts and higher courts, and that other bodies with equivalent powers in other matters exist. The proposed bill also lists clear provisions for the Supreme Court to abolish the Lokpal.[73] Despite these clarifications, critics feel that the exact judicial powers of Lokpal are rather unclear in comparison with its investigative powers. The bill[74] requires "...members of Lokpal and the officers in investigation wing of Lokpal shall be deemed to be police officers". Although some supporters have denied any judicial powers of Lokpal,[75] the government and some critics have recognised Lokpal to have quasi-judicial powers.[76] The bill also states that "Lokpal shall have, and exercise the same jurisdiction powers and authority in respect of contempt of itself as a High court has and may exercise, and, for this purpose, the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 (Central Act 70 of 1971) shall have the effect subject to the modification that the references therein to the High Court shall be construed as including a reference to the Lokpal."[77][78][79] Review of proceedings and decisions by Lokpal is prevented in the bill by the statement "...no proceedings or decision of the Lokpal shall be liable to be challenged, reviewed, quashed or called in question in any court of ordinary Civil Jurisdiction.". As a result, how the trials will be conducted is unclear in the bill, although the bill outlines requiring judges for special courts, presumably to conduct trial that should be completed within one year. The critics hence express concern that, without judicial review, Lokpal could potentially become an extra-constitutional body with investigative and judicial powers whose decisions cannot be reviewed in regular courts.[80]
Scope
The matter of whether the Indian Prime Minister and higher judiciary should or should not be prosecutable by the Lokpal remains as one of the major issues of dispute. Anna's own nominee for co-chairing the joint panel Justice Verma, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, has expressed his constitutional objections for including the Prime Minister and higher judiciary under Lokpal.[81] According to him, "this would foul with the basic structure of the constitution".[82]
Criticism from Aruna Roy, Arundhati Roy and NCPRI
Critic Aruna Roy
Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy who has said "Vesting jurisdiction over the length and breadth of the government machinery in one institution will concentrate too much power in the institution, while the volume of work will make it difficult to carry out its tasks". She and her colleagues at the National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI) have proposed an alternative mechanism consisting of five institutions.[83] Noted author and social activist Arundhati Roy was highly critical of Lokpal, stating "you could say that the Maoists and the Jan Lokpal Bill have one thing in common they both seek the overthrow of the Indian State", and "While his means may be Gandhian, Anna Hazare's demands are certainly not. Contrary to Gandhiji's ideas about the decentralisation of power, the Jan Lokpal Bill is a draconian, anticorruption law, in which a panel of carefully chosen people will administer a giant bureaucracy,.."[84][85][86]
Criticism from the Director of CBI
The CBI Director, in a presentation before the Standing Committee of the Parliament, has strongly argued against the vivisection of the CBI and merger of its anticorruption wing with the Lokpal, noting that this would seriously cripple the core functioning of the CBI and reduce it to irrelevance. An organization built over last 60 years comprising competent professionals should not be subsumed under Lokpal. CBI officers concede that in some sensitive political cases there is of course interference from the government, but in respect of an overwhelming majority of cases CBI functions, unfettered and uninfluenced by extraneous considerations. For this reason
there is an ever increasing demand for CBI investigation from all-over the country in respect of important cases.[87] However, in a contradictory TOI article in August 2011, it has been revealed that one its own report says that the CBI is still finding itself waiting for a go-ahead from central agencies so that it can initiate criminal proceedings against high-ranking officials.[88]
Support for the bill

Surveys
India Against Corruption conducted a survey on the draft Lokpal Bill presented by the Indian Government in Parliament. It showed that 85% of the participants were opposed to the government's bill. The team especially cited the results from the Chandni Chowk constituency, the constituency of Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, who is a vehement voice for the government's version of the bill.[89][90] According to a nationwide survey conducted by CNN-IBN & CNBC-TV18 and published in early August, only a shade over a third of respondents have heard of Lokpal. 34% of all respondents said they have heard of the ombudsman and only 24% knew what it actually meant[91] Prashant Bhushan, one of Anna Hazare's associates and a drafter of the Jan Lokpal Bill, has demanded a nation-wide referendum on the Jan Lokpal Bill to gauge the mood of the nation.[92]
Legislator support
Post the massive support to Anna Hazare's movement, several MPs across party lines have come out in support to the Jan Lokpal Bill. Most notable are Congress MPs from Maharashtra, Priya Dutt and Datta Meghe.[93][94] Datta Meghe also demanded that his party spokesperson Manish Tiwari should apologise to Anna Hazare for his uncharitable comments.[93] This support started coming as over 150 MPs and Ministers from different states were forced to remain confined to their houses as Anna supporters protested outside their houses. Protests were also seen outside the residence of Sheila Dixit CM of Delhi, Kapil Sibal, Pranab Mukherjee amongst others.[93][94][95] BJP MP Varun Gandhi is introducing Jan Lokpal Bill as a private member's bill in the parliament.[96]
Social media
As per reports, Anna Hazare's fast was successful in mobilising the support of thousands in the virtual world of social media. On Independence Day, Anna had over 500,000 mentions through
status updates and comments across top social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter in the country. Two days later, the number had shot up to 9 million.On YouTube, over 40,000 people watched the video shot by Kiran Bedi inside Tihar Jail in which Anna has addressed his supporters. Facebook has 542 fan pages by Anna's name.[97][98] A portal www.iacbranding.org has also been launched by the IAC activists to provide design logistics for movement's publicity as banner, poster, handbill to be used by the IAC Activists all over India and abroad. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_hazare-s-team-launches-website-for-campaignpublicity_1575633
Online surveys
According to the survey conducted by STAR News and Nielsen, 87% of the 8900 respondents of the survey supported the Jan Lokpal Bill. The survey conducted in 28 cities across the country, including all four metros mainly dealt with three important points: publics knowledge about the Lokpal Bill; awareness about Annas campaign; and the perceived problems with the Jan Lokpal Bill.[99] Over a million people joined the Times of India online anti-graft campaign, in one of the biggest ever voting exercises in the virtual world. The news analysis points that citizens want to make their voices heard and have found the platform offered by the campaign a viable one to do so.[100]
Parliamentary actions on the proposed legislation

On 27 August 2011, a special and all exclusive session of Parliament was conducted and a resolution was unanimously passed after deliberations in both the houses of Indian Parliament by sense of the house.[101][102] The resolution, in principle, agreed on the following subjects and forwarded the Bill to a related standing committee for structure and finalise a report:[103][104]

A citizen charter on the bill An appropriate mechanism to subject lower bureaucracy to Lokpal The establishment of Lokayuktas (ombudsmen at state level) in states
On being informed of this development, Anna Hazare, civil rights activists along with protestors at the site of the fast welcomed this development, terming it as a battle "half won" while ending the protest.[103]
Even Death penalty for Rape is not good enough!

Rape the word itself sends across chills down the spine! Only a woman who has undergone such brutality understands the pain, dismay and disgrace that it beholds. Rape or forcible sexual contact is indeed the most shameful facet of humanity. It causes ultimate social and psychological dissuasion of a woman. Indian society still lacks the compassion and humanity to treat raped women with grace and sympathy. Even though women are no way guilty for the sexual offense they have gone through, neighbors, relatives and friends blame her for her circumstances. It makes their life even more unbearable. Understanding the disgraceful after-effects of an incident like Rape, women are often afraid to seek legal assistance on this matter. Instead they keep such matters under secrecy which often instigate the offenders to commit the same crime over and over again. Currently the legal punishment allocated to rapists is 7 years jail sentence. Apart from cases featuring exceptional brutality, often rapists do not face death penalty sentences. Now the death penalty debate is one of the most controversial matters being churned in India . Personally I feel rape death penalty should be implemented with strictest possible terms of logic and common sense.Following are the reasons why there should be death penalty for rape: Indeed rape is one of the most heinous crimes out there but it has become a common practice in Indian society. Nowadays, you would find at least one (sometimes more than one) crime news covering rape every day on Television or Newspapers and crimes against women are increasing. It implies that the 7 years imprisonment penalty assigned for rape is not good enough to put a stop on this brutality. Generally death penalty is exercised for rarest cases in India. Rape death penalty, if implemented will ensure that people would think twice before committing this crime which will in turn reduce the statistics significantly.
This will bring down the crime ratio and sexual harassment against women, people would certainly not take the chance. Till date death sentence is considered the most critical punishment possible. And when a woman is raped, it turns out to be social death for her. Hence the offender, who causes such destitution to the victim, should also suffer the same consequence.
If death is allocated as rape penalty, it will instill the fear in people, often in rural parts of India; people use rape as a common method to settle personal scores. If they know that raping a woman might take its toll of their own lives, they might refrain themselves from committing rape.
A healthy legal system should strive to provide justice to the victims of crimes. The motto of Indian constitution is to help the nation with proper verdict that will improve their condition by ending the misery. Death sentence is generally given to criminals who have gone far away from being reformed and RAPE is one crime which implies that the convicted has lost his humanitarian qualities and turned into a brute. Hence they should be punished to death for their misdeed.
DEATH SENTENCE is the strictest of all punishments given to offenders. If death penalty is assigned to rapists, it will set example for those who commit such a crime. Moreover, if a person is set free after 7 years confinement, he will certainly feel even more confident to commit the same crime over and over again which can cause severe threat to the entire legal system of the country.
Death penalty sentences cost a lot of turmoil, questioning and solid proofs. If the country and its legal system are serious about putting an end to a raped womans suffering for good, it should consider assigning death penalty for rapists. Not only it will provide proper judgment for the worst and brutal crime but also it will cause significant drop in rape statistics andcrimes against women in India. If you have better solutions than this then do share.

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