A ESSAY ON SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Science and religion are commonly perceived to be mutually exclusive-a contradiction in terms, as it were. Both the method and the aims of science and religion seem to be different. While Science is linked to the material, religion is concerned with the spiritual. On the face of it the scope, sphere and the method of science and religion are different and exclude each other. Science is objective while Religion is subjective; Science relies on experiment, Religion on experience.

Science deals with the world that we know, the material world that is comprehended by the senses; religion is concerned with a supra-mundane world, a world that we cannot be said to know. Science believes in things that can be proved; religion is pre occupied with ideas that have to be accepted without proof. Science depends on reasons; religion on intuition. The scientist works in the laboratory of the material world; the religious teacher works within the recesses of his personal experiences. Religion begins where science ends. Science says that the first cause is unknowable. Religion says that it can be known through the discipline of religion, for it is God who is not only self existent but self revealed. Hence, there is bound to be hostility between the man of science and the man of religion. Science end when matter ends. Over the ages the conflict has developed between science and religion. But science does not have the answer of everything. Science without religion gives rise to materialism and other ills of life.

As the words ‘experience’ and ‘experiment’ connote, the worlds of religion and science are pole apart. Science is concerned with ‘how’ of reality whereas religion is concerned with the ‘why’ of reality. Science takes up the tangible entities and analyses them into their minutest parts, and then comes to conclusions regarding the way in which tangible realities are organized. In brief, Science is analytical. On the other hand, Religion takes for granted the reality. The path of religion is metaphysical. The rationalists of religion pursuing the path of metaphysics postulate the concept of God: But even then, at the highest level religious consciousness, the concept of God is a matter of faith. This faith enables the religious man to attribute a design or meaning to the reality. 

Thus, Science is analytical in approach whereas Religion is synthetical. Religion is subjective, as religious enlightenment has to be felt by once own experience. Unless and until religious experience is felt by an individual himself, he cannot reap any pleasure out of it. The morale and religious rule are allied and have to be followed by individuals in appropriate ethical situations. Science, on the other hand, deals with the objective side of the life. Scientific discoveries are common properties. They are open to common man and not shrouded in mystery or haziness. They are truths, universally accepted and subject to scientific calculations. A systematic scholarship and concentration is needed to get at scientific truths which are subsequently tested and approved by hypothesis and experiment.

But so long as scientific knowledge is imperfect, the place of religion and God will continue to be highly relevant. So long as scientific theories do not reach perfections, humans have to fall back upon their own reasoning and secondary powers of their own sole and spirit. In this sense, Science and Religion actually converge. Both scientist and saints have to undertake solitary travels into the regions unknown and to depend on themselves only and nobody else. But once a line is drawn between them, their ways bifurcate and takes separate routes. Religious truths remain essentially the properties of the individuals who experience and realize them through their own inward soul and mind and not through external manifestation of things which have a physical behavior. Scientific truths, on the other hand, become the property of the whole world and goes out to inflate the store house of the human knowledge.

Religion is perhaps as old as mankind. Even in the earliest times man had some idea of the higher power, a superior unknowable force prevailing and controlling the universe. Science is of more recent growth. Earliest phases of science may not be more than four or five thousand years old, while modern science began only in the 15^thcentury.

The conflict between science and religion shows how truth has to suffer in order to establish its claims. Pioneers of science had to face numerous difficulties. Galileo, for instance, was thrown into prison for his new theories about heavenly bodies. No better was the fate of Copernicus who pointed out that it is the earth which moves around the sun. In the nineteenth century Darwin’s Theory of Evolution gave rise to angry opposition from the Christian Church, since his theories cut across the biblical version of the creation of mankind from Adam and Eve. But truth eventually prevailed and science held its ground. Before the nineteenth century had run its course, the triumph of science was complete.

The rapid progress of science changed the face of the world beyond recognition. It conferred unheard of comforts and conveniences on mankind. The wonders of Science bewildered man and he began to enjoy numerous blessings in life. Religion seemed to be unnecessary and began to lose the respect and power it had once enjoyed.

But the path of science did not ultimately proved as smooth as its worshippers had thought it to be. It turned out to be a mixed blessing. It did provide bodily comforts, but at the cost of man’s moral and spiritual development. It ruined man into a sceptic, a creature without any faith and lofty ideals to inspire and guide him. The loss of such faith brought the baser side of his nature into freeplay. Man became dishonest, selfish and proud. It destroyed man’s simple faith, fellow feeling, affection and kindness. Besides, the blessing of science gave rise to new social problems. The gulf between the rich and the poor became wide then ever before. The widespread use of machinery subjected millions of human beins to the evils of economic expoitations, unemployment, crowded congested citiesand the growth of slums. The average worker lost his

independence  and happiness and was reduced with the position of mere clog in the vast organization of modern industry.

        Thus, we notice that there is no anti thesis worth speaking between the two all through the ages. Besides, intuition plays a vital role in the apprehension of God or in any religious belief. Similarly, great scientists never plans what he is about to discover.

The conflict between science and religion is superficial. There approach towards life is ,ofcourse different but their goal is the same. Science follows the path of reason and intellect, religion travels the road of faith and belief. But both aim at the discovery of the truth. Science and religion have apparently different aims and objects, yet in fact they are closely related and act an react on each other.

Science and religion, the two terms have come to signify a contradiction in terms. On the face of it, it seems difficult to find a compromise between science and religion, for their scope is different and excludes each other.

written by -Ravi Sharma,

NOTA in context of India

In the last couple of years India seems to be going through a sort of awakening process. The wide spread reach of internet, proliferation of news channels, newspapers, proactive journalism and mobile phones made social forums and discussions a routine thing in even the far flung areas of the country. This has made the ordinary person aware of the deep routed sickness of corruption in the Indian bureaucratic and political system. Political corruption is more a matter of debate in the nation because of the sheer size of it. 2G, CWG, Land Scams, Coalgate, Adarsh, Porngate, Bhanwri Devi kidnap and murder, Tatra Truck controversy are all household terms nowadays.

Amidst all this a PIL was lodged in the Supreme Court demanding cleansing of politics. The Court has answered the need of the hour by a very much debatable ruling by interpreting the RPA act. Further in a separate ruling the bench headed by CJI himself has declared right to reject implicit in the fundamental rights. These two rulings of the court are supposed to go a long way in changing the face of Indian politics. It can be hoped that once politics is clean the rest of the machinery will improve rapidly.

However these rulings are not without their controversies. The first of the rulings says that any legislator or a candidate for legislature will be disqualified immediately if a court of law has convicted or found accused, such a person, in offences as defined in the RPA act as offences, conviction in which can be awarded for two or more years of sentence and/or fine for the term of the conviction and further 6 years. The existent law gave the convict a window of three months to make an appeal in the higher court and if such an appeal lies, he can carry on as a legislator, as long as the higher court does not find him guilty. The ruling of the court has eliminated the window and the tainted legislator is disqualified immediately.

This ruling will have two major impacts. First after this ruling the old scourge of criminalization of politics will get cured. It is a welcome change. Every citizen wants to see a clean legislature. There has been a resentment of law breakers holding the place of law makers. Second impact is negative, that it gives an opportunity to innovative politicians wage their political war. A politician can just get lodged an FIR against a rival politician and get him disqualified, investigations notwithstanding. Considering the influence a sitting MLA or MP has on the police and other law enforcement agencies, it is a walk in the park for them. This can disrupt the democratic functioning of our system. While in the first system it is easy for a criminal to make his way into the legislature, after the ruling it will be impossible for people with tainted record to reach the legislature, but at the same time hard for anyone to challenge the sitting legislature.

The one side of the coin is so bright that it outshines the other in the eyes of a common man. A clean legislature, MP’s and MLA’s who command people’s respect from their honesty in life and actions seemed to be a distant dream but the ruling of the court has made it realistic. But does a clean legislature guarantee the fulfillment of the nation’s dreams, elimination of poverty, hunger, disease, grievance of the tribals, a dutiful police, early justice, corruption free bureaucracy and so on. In words of Hitler, in politics, the good intentions of a man can not make up for his incompetence. There is no guarantee that even a clean legislature can be competent enough to answer the grievances of this nation, which are so difficult to handle. There is no such guarantee, only a hope. But as long as there are criminals right in the parliament, even such  hope does not exist.

There are costs which the nation will have to pay for such a clean legislature. A really potent politician who is well capable of leading his people out of the misery of circumstances might become the victim of false accusations, engineered investigation, and influenced judgment and his career may get ruined. The ruling has provided powerful people a very dangerous weapon to eliminate their rivals. It is not beyond one’s imagination that many a political careers will be sacrificed for this dream of clean legislature. Furthur a tainted powerful man can always field people on his behalf such as his son or wife and reap all the benefits. This ruling can clean the legislature for the purpose of paper but not necessarily for the purpose of conduct. The prospect of a clean legislature on record are bright by this ruling but a clean legislature in intentions can by no means guaranteed.

In my opinion the criminalization of politics is not a result of loopholes in the law, but it’s a result of bovine and careless nature of the common man. There are criminals in the parliament not because the law has permitted them to contest but because we have chosen criminals to represent us. For decades we have been voting on caste lines, communal lines, language and resemblance. People in India vote an image, not a personality. Without knowing a sinlge thing about the real character of a candidate we have been voting all our lives for his caste, religion and language. At best we vote the party, but only very rarely we vote the man. We all get blown by the propaganda. Propaganda is driven by the finance and muscle of criminals. We never try to look for the real truth for ourselves, we only trust the propaganda. The result is before us, 33% criminal in our apex legislature. Even the new ruling can eliminate the criminals from the legislature but not crime from politics. Criminal may be in the jail, but his son or wife will ride the propaganda and reach the legislature. Nothing will be solved until the common man looks into his own conscience, puts away the lure of caste and religion and votes the righteous irrespective of his background.

The court has given its best by giving this ruling, but I don’t see upside down changes in the political gamut until the voting behavior changes. The role of the media is paramount in unmasking the truth behind the propaganda, and the media is doing a commendable job indeed. However, the drive behind the activeness of the media is not an urge to strengthen the democracy but TRP. I don’t mind this as long as awareness about the real character of those who rule us keeps on spreading.

Lets move on to the second ruling of the court. In a landmark judgment the court has declared that the right to reject all the candidates in an election if the voters don’t find any of the candidate worthy of his vote, is a fundamental right implicit in the right to expression. Earlier, one had to vote at least one of the candidates whether he like it or not. In the ruling the court has directed the election commission to add the choice NOTA as an option. If a voter finds none of the candidates worthy of his support he can reject them all by NOTA. The right to reject exist in many other democracies like USA, UK. However the NOTA will not change in the election results since a person exercising NOTA will amount to not voted for anyone. It will add zero votes to all of the candidates. However, in the true right to reject if a sufficient number of voter choose NOTA, the election will become void and fresh election will be held considering the earlier candidates were hated by so many voters that it will amount to tyranny if any one of them reached legislature.

So in those term the new ruling will not have a substantial impact on the outcome of the election, however many people believe that the coming election will be more democratic because of the NOTA option. Many of the people do not go to vote simply because they do not like any of the candidates. This new option is supposed to increase the ballot substantially. I see the importance if this ruling in paving the way for real right to reject since no big change comes at once but step by step. Once the people at large become aware of the NOTA they will demand the full right to reject. The way I see it, the constitutional duty of the Supreme Court as being the protector of the social revolution has been duly fulfilled in paving the way for a new instrument of democracy. I can imagine the NGO’s and other sections of the people demanding full fledged right to reject once the NOTA becomes a wide phenomenon.

As we have seen the series of ruling by the EC and Supreme Court have come a long way in democratic process in the country. But these rulings like mandatory disclosure by the candidates of their assets and liability, declaration of criminal record if any, monitoring of the election spending, stringent codes of conduct, prohibition of liquor, disclosures of large sums of donations received by parties have not changed by a great dealthe ground realities. Most of the grievances of the people still remain unsolved. Many new grievances appear. The recent rulings of the court are, in my opinion new chapters in the book of electoral reforms. This book is a book after all, it cannot change much until the reader adopts the noblel reading in his life. Not much will change if the common man does not apply his mind and use his vote as if it was a valuable asset, because a vote is valuable indeed.

“What greater luck for the rulers than those whom they rule do not think.” Adolf Hitler

Neeraj Gaur 

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital Punishment or the death penalty is a legal processs whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime.The term capital originates from the Latin capitals literally  means “regarding the head”.

The system of death penalty originated as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C.,in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes .The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C. ‘s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.’s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixation,drowning,beating to death,burning alive &impalement.In the Tenth Century A.D.,hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain.

Now-a-days capital punishment is reserved for murder,espionage,treason or as a part of military justice.In China human trafficking & serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty.

In India capital punishment is given on the basis of ‘Rarest of the Rare ‘cases. What is ‘the Rarest of the Rare’? According to Supreme Court the rarest cases are those in which the collective conscience of the community is so shocked that it will expect the holders of the judicial power to inflict death penalty. The court said where cases in which a murder is committed in an extremely 

brutal,grotesque,diabolical,revolting,or dastardly manner so as to arouse intense & extreme indignation of the community.InIndia,the number of people executed since independence in 1947 is a matter of dispute,official government statistics claim that only 52 people had been executed.However the People’s Union for Civil Liberties cited information from Appendix 34 of the 1967 Law Commision of India report showing 1422 executions took place in Indian states from 1953 to 1963,and has suggested that the total number of executions since independence may be as high as 3000 to 4000.In December 2007,India voted against United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium in death penalty.In November 2012,India again upheld its stance on capital punishment by voting against United Nation’s General Assembly draft resolution seeking to ban death penalty.In India as per Article-21 of the Constitution of India no person can be deprived of his life except according to procedure established by law.Although India is one of a number of countries around the world which still practises capital punishment,it is rarely used.A 1983 ruloing by the country’s Supreme Court stated that the death penalty should be imposed only in the ‘rarest of the rare cases’

Capital Punishment has been used in almost every part of the world,but in the last few decades many countries have abolished it.Among the countries in which highest rate of capital punishment is carried out,China tops the list. Capital Punishment in China has widespread support ,especially for violent crimes,no group in government or civil society vocally advocates for its abolition.The rate of executions in China is higher than Pakistan and U.S.A. Capital Punishment in China is usually administered to offenders of serious and violent crimes such as aggravated murder,drug trafficking etc. 

In 2009 Amnesty International counted 1718 executions as having taken place during 2008,but Amnesty International believed that the total figure is likely to be higher.The region with the second highest number of executions is the Middle East and North Africa.Top 10 countries which still practice the capital punishment are China,Iran,North Korea,Yemen,U.S.A.,sAUDIArabia,Libya,Bangladesh,Somalia.According to Amnesty International,140 countries have abolished the death penalty.In 2012,only one country Latvia has abolished death penalty for all crimes.The countries who have abolished death penalty for all crimes,to name a few are Albania,Andorra,Angola,Armenia,Australia,Bhutan,Bosnia-Herzegovinia,Canada,Cambodia,Denmark,Portugal,Italy,Turkey,Tukmenistan etc.Countries which have abolished death penalty for ordinary crimes are Bolivia,Brazil,Chile,ElSalvador,Fiji,Israel,Kazakhstan,Peru.

On October 21,2009,the World Coalition launched its ratification of United NationaPrtocol on the abolition of death penalty by all state parties to the International Convention On Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR).The international covenant was adopted in 1989 by General Assembly and it is a second optional protocol to ICCPR.The protocol seeks to ensure that executions become definitely illegal and explicitly asserts the principle that death penalty is violation of human rigts and especially right to life.At the end of 2007 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution establishing a moratorium on execution with the goal of abolishing death penalty.Some of the world’s most respected leaders have also called for an end to the death penalty including Pope John Paul,Nelson Mandela and UNHRC.According to Amnesty International’s opinion everyday, all over the world, prisoners – men, women and even children – face execution. The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading.Theyopposed  its use, everywhere in the world, for whatever reason – it is never acceptable, ever.

Whatever form it takes – electrocution, hanging, beheading, stoning or lethal injection – the death penalty is highly condemned.There are many arguments that oppose the heated issue of capital punishment. The first argument that can be made that opposes the death penalty is that there is a possibility for error. There have been many cases around the U.S. and the world where an inmate was falsely accused of murder, rape, and other serious crimes. A justice system that would kill an innocent man or woman is a brutal system DNA evidence can convict someone but it can also free that person penalty is a violent punishment that has no place in today’s criminal justice system.An additional argument against the death penalty is its cost. Financially it just doesn’t make sense to give an inmate the lethal injection. The cost of capital punishment varies from state to state, but as a whole, it costs more than not having the death penalty.

A religious stance can also be taken against the death penalty. Capital punishment is similar to playing God because executing a person kills them before the time of their natural death. Some Christians believe that God places people on Earth for a purpose. Hinduism opposes violence, revenge, and killing. Hindus believe in the principle of ahimsa, which is non-violence. Even though they go against violence and killing India currently has the death penalty in place. Their death penalty is used for very rare cases and not used like it is here in the United States. The death penalty in India is so rare in fact that there are roughly 100 people on death row and the number that are actually executed is very low.

 Like Hinduism, Buddhists believe in nonviolence and compassion for life. They also believe in Samsara, which is the idea of re-birth and the cycle of birth. Because of this, if capital punishment is put into place then it would affect future incarnations of the punisher and the offender.
Views on the death penalty in Christianity run a spectrum of opinions, from complete condemnation of the punishment, seeing it as a form of revenge and as contrary to Christ's message of forgiveness, to enthusiastic support based primarily on Old Testament law.

Among the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew, the message to his followers that one should "Turn the other cheek" and his example in the story PericopeAdulterae, in which Jesus intervenes in the stoning of an adulteress, are generally accepted as his condemnation of physical retaliation (though most scholars[134][135] agree that the latter passage was "certainly not part of the original text of St John's Gospel"[136]) More militant Christians consider Romans 13:3–4 to support the death penalty. Many Christians have believed that Jesus' doctrine of peace speaks only to personal ethics and is distinct from civil government's duty to punish crime.

Historically, women have not been subject to the death penalty at the same rate as men. From the first woman executed in the U.S., Jane Champion (hanged in James City, Virginia in 1632) to the present, the executions of women have only constituted of about 3% of U.S. executions. In fact, only ten women have been executed in the post-Gregg era

‘An eye for an eye makes the world blind’ said by Mahatma Gandhi.Today we feel so true his words were,capital punishment cannot make a convict feel what he has done.It will not give him a chance to realize his mistake and to become a good human being.Capital punishment is not a proper answer to crime.By giving death penalty we are committing the same crime which the criminals have done,taking life of somebody be it a innocent person or a criminal we are not doing justice.Death cannot bring back anything nor it can provide any solace.Scientific studies have also proved that death penalty failed to deter people from committing crime.So for what reason should we involve in this crime.Rather if we give him a second chance he may become a good person and help others to be not involved in criminal activities.

written by - Debalinabiswas

Emotional Intelligence

If being a brainiac was the one and only criterion for being successful , everyone with a superior IQ would have be wildly successful — and obviously, that’s not always the case. Even a genius can waste their intelligence jackpot. But in reality, success is based on a whole lot more than genius alone. 

Persistence, practice, socio-emotional skills, our environment, the way we’re raised, and luck all combine to determine what we will achieve. Our potential isn’t fixed the day we’re born; rather, it's highly fluid and dependent on a number of both external and internal factors.Today’s world is a competitive world, and there is stiff competition, people need to compete. One needs to be competitive athelete in order to be a champion. But there is a catch here. With so many competitors out there, who are as equally as good as the other, whether they might be studying/ working/ in business/ entrepreneur (referexcerpts from TanuPriya’s interview above), the question is that what really creates the difference, what puts someone on the top? What separates one from being ordinary and someone from being unique, being determined? Well it’s the mind, which creates the difference.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is the one of the mostresearched attempt at measuring intelligence and by far the most widely used in practical setting. However, although IQ attempts to measure some notion of intelligence, it may fail to act as an accurate measure of "intelligence" in its broadest sense. IQ tests only examine particular areas embodied by the broadest notion of "intelligence", failing to account for certain areas which are also associated with "intelligence" such as creativity or emotional intelligence.

Concepts: Emotional Intelligence

It’s not the smartest people that are the most successful or the most fulfilled in life. There are people who are academically brilliant and yet are socially inept and unsuccessful at work or in their personal relationships. Intellectual intelligence (IQ) isn’t enough on its own to be successful in life. Ones IQ can get him into college, but it’s the Emotional Intelligence that manages the stress and emotions when facing final exams or during an interview.Salovey andMayer (1990) initially conceived the concept and coined the term Emotional Intelligence, which was derived from Gardner’s (1983) theory of multiple intelligences. These included interpersonaland intrapersonal intelligence which were used by Salovey and Mayer (1990) to form the basis of the theory of emotional intelligence. Salovey and Mayer (1990) used this as a basis for their definition of emotional intelligence, which they define as the “ability to monitor and regulate one’s own and other’s feelings, and to use feelings to guide one’s thinking and action”. This definition identifies five main domains: knowing one’s emotions, managing emotions, self motivation, recognizing emotions in others and handling relationships.

Emotional intelligence affects the performance at work, helps to navigate the social complexities of the workplace, lead and motivate others, and excel in career. It also affects physical health by managing the stress levels, which if left uncontrolled can lead to serious health problems. Alternatively it is also said that the first step to improving emotional intelligence is to learn how to relieve stress which in turn will also improve your mental health. By understanding ones emotions and how to control them, one is better able to express how to feel and understand others feeling. This allows communicating more effectively and forming stronger relationships, both at work and in personal life.

Utility: Emotional Intelligence Leads to Personal Achievement, Happiness, and Professional Success

Research carried out by the Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that 85 percent of your financial success is due to skills in “human engineering,” your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge. Additionally, Nobel Prize winning Israeli-American psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, found that people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don’t, even if the likeable person is offering a lower quality product or service at a higher price.

With this in mind, instead of exclusively focusing on conventional intelligence quotient, one should make an investment in strengthening his/her EQ (Emotional Intelligence). The concepts of EQ may be elusive and difficult to measure, but their significance is far greater than IQ. IQ tests are used as an indicator of logical reasoning ability and technical intelligence. A high IQ is often a prerequisite for raising to the top ranks in any field today it being business, college, entrepreneurship, bureaucracy etc. By itself, a high IQ does not guarantee that you will stand out and rise above everyone else.Emotional intelligence is the single best predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence. And when we increase our effective use of emotional intelligence, we will increase our ability to develop more solid, trusting relationships in theworking arena.

Simply put, emotional intelligence is that “something” within us that help us to sense how we feel and enables us to truly connect with others and form a bond. It gives us the ability to be present and listen to someone when they most need it. It is that sense of internal balance within us that enables us to keep our composure, make good decisions, communicate successfully, and maintain effective leadership even when under stress.Emotional intelligence consists of five main elements - self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation and social skills which are difficult to test for, and certainlyare not as “visible” as technical skills.

Application in administration & governance

Many civil servants are extraordinarily talented, conceptually brilliant and have a very high IQ. They excel in computers, science and mathematics. Sadly though, they are not particularly likeable people. Many of them are aggressive and brutal in their response to the outside world.  They have little or no feeling for people around them. They feel physiologically awkward in their relationships; have no social graces or even a social personal life. Being uncomfortable with themselves and making people uncomfortable becomes a routine response in their life. Comparing the difference between authority and responsibility in the first five years of a career in the civil services and of one in the private sector we find that while private sector types photocopy, draft minutes of meetings, makes cold sales calls and building useless but complex spreadsheets and civil servants run districts, allocate huge amounts of money, handle law and order. But as time marches on, a curious divergence emerges among people the same age — as private sector people get more successful, their risk-taking ability greatly increases. It is noteworthy the civil servants get more successful but civil servants get more their risk-taking ability decreases exponentially which is a problem. It is pertinent to mention that the top jobs in any organization — government, private or non-profit — need courage more than intelligence. This is where the Emotional Intelligence finds its place.

The tale of 2 civil servants will elaborate the point. Ravi and Sunil having same credentials, superb grade point averages from leading schools and universities, going for identical professional training as probationers, moment they join their respective postings as fresh magistrates, all similarity disappear. Though academically brilliant, Ravi believed that it was his administrative and technical proficiency that counted most on the job. Though not brilliant academically than Ravi, Sunil was adept interpersonally. On the job, few years later,Ravi was seen as a better administrator ending up being transferred every 6 months and Sunil, was recognized as a person who could work well in a team and take initiatives, devoting adequate time to his work, know his co-officers, projects and concerns and believed that one of the most effective ways for him to be accepted into the team was by helping out. Ravi failed to realize that building bonds was a crucial competence for his job. His co-officers knew that he was administratively adept, but they had little faith in his ability to work in a team. Sunil showed excellence in several emotional intelligence competencies which Ravi despite having an impressive curriculum vitae needed to master.

There is a crucial difference between declarative knowledge, that is, knowing a concept and its technical details, and practical knowledge, that is, being able to implement these concepts. Knowing does not equal doing, whether in playing a game, managing a team, or acting on essential advice at the right moment or doing an IAS job. Ravi lacked what Sunil had- emotional intelligence.

Name: Ramanjeet Gupta

Stolen Childhood

In an interview to BBC Dr APJ Abdul Kalam said “Birthday is the only one day in your life when you were crying and your mother was laughing”.

This statement says how much parents love to their children. When a child comes out of the mother’s womb, the moment is celebrated by the family and relatives. But in course of time the child is exposed to the real world. The real world is very much different from his mother’s womb.

Difficulties start from his childhood. The problems in the life of a child are linked to the socio-economic condition of his parents. Broadly problems such as child labour, child marriage, childhood diseases, child sexual harassment, busy parents, alcoholic parents, domestic violence, excess study pressure and modern phenomenon like reality shows steal the noble times from a child’s life.

There are people in India, who are not able to earn their basic needs. When food, cloth and shelter are not available to someone, then he works for the survival first. To meet their basic needs, children are forced to work from a tender age.

In rural India, they work in the agriculture fields. In urban areas, they work in road side dhabas, tea shops, leather industry, bidi making factories or glass industries.

Children are preferred by the employers over the adults. Children don’t have bargaining power; they are unaware of their rights; they can be used in any type of works; they can be put into work for long hours. By employing children, the employer maximises his profit.

Sometimes, the employer justifies his act of employing children. Poor children don’t get food to eat. So he employs them for humanitarian cause.

In rural areas girl children are engaged in household works from a very early age. When her parents are out for work, she takes care of her younger siblings. Most of the time her household works are not considered as labour.

The effect of working from an early age is manifold. The children can’t get education. Lack of education affects them for the entire life.

Working from an early age affects their health. Generally, the children work in pathetic working environment. Bad working and living conditions hamper their physical and mental growth. Sometimes they work in hazardous industries such as fireworks, bidi making and glass manufacturing etc.  They become vulnerable to diseases like cancer, respiratory disorders and eye sight problems, due to underdeveloped immune system.

They see the bad side of the world from the childhood. They grow up as bad citizens. When they become capable of doing bad activities like theft, murder, rape, contract killing; they don’t give a second thought, whether to commit the crime or not.

The Indian constitution puts blanket ban on child labour. Below the age of fourteen, no one can be employed for wages. After the enactment of Right to Education (RTE )Act , anti child labour laws became more stringent. Without addressing the root cause of the issue, enactment of Acts will not do anything desirable.

Major portion of the child labour work force is employed in the unorganised and unrecognised sectors. Hence it becomes difficult to catch the employers and help the child.

A recent report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) says more than fifty percent of marriages in India are child marriages. If the bride’s age is below 18 or the groom’s age is below 21 at the time of marriage, it is considered as child marriage.

Child marriage is a mindset issue in rural India. When a girl attains puberty, her parents start searching for a groom. There are many reasons why the parents do that.

The society influences parents to get their girl child married at an early age. The myths like, when the girl gets higher education, the dowry demands from the groom’s side increase accordingly. Parents think of child marriage to avoid the burden of dowry. Another myth, if the girl gets exposure to modern way of thinking, she might elope with someone, which will damage the social prestige of her parents.

When the girl takes a bold decision of marrying outside her caste or religion, she faces the drastic consequences from her own family or kinship group. Dharmapuri incident on inter caste marriage is an example. The higher caste girl married to a lower caste boy, and the so called higher caste people torched the whole village of the lower caste people. The atrocity didn’t end there; the boy had to sacrifice his life in the incident. The Khap Panchayats’ activities against inter caste marriages are no different from the above case. To avoid all these potential future problems, parents think of child marriages.

The consequences of child marriages like high maternal mortality rate, infant mortality rate , bad family life can’t be ignored. In some cases the age difference between the child bride and the groom is more than twenty. The groom attains old age earlier and dies, when the girl is at young or middle age. Life becomes more difficult for her afterwards.

Generally child marriages happen in societies of rural India and uneducated families; where the knowledge about health, child care and nutrition is limited. The girl child after marriage becomes unable to manage family life. She can’t take care of her children as well.  Child marriage doesn’t only ruin the life of the girl child; it ruins the lives of the next generation as well. Government has been trying hard to stop the shameful activity.

From British time, religious reformers and government has been revising the legal age of marriage. Sharda Act (1929) and subsequent Acts on legal marriage age has raised the age bar to 18 for bride and 21 for groom.  However, the law is well in its place, and the reality is something different.

Child sexual harassment is also an inhumane activity practiced in our society. The recent TV show “Satyamev Jayate” showed one report on child sexual harassment. As per the report, most of the time, the family members and the relatives are the culprits who sexually harass the child. When a child becomes victim of such an act, it affects the child for his entire life time. It has deteriorating effect on his mental strength. The self confidence of the child goes down. In those cases, parents should be more vigilant to take care of their children.

Children are more vulnerable to many life threatening diseases. With the advancement of science and technology, children are getting immunization doses for diseases like Polio, Measles etc. But all children are not fortunate to get the doses. Children of tribal areas and far flung areas, where the district administration has not yet reached don’t get the doses. Their bad living conditions and lack of immunization doses make them vulnerable to life threatening diseases. These diseases either take their lives or make them disabled for their life time.

A recent report by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) on internal security says that “children at the age of ten are getting training to join the Naxallite groups in future”. When a child gets training to kill at the age of ten, his childhood and his future actions are detrimental to the society at large.

Though the government is trying hard to setup residential schools in tribal areas, at the implementation level, it is unsuccessful. There is a trust deficit between the tribal people and the government. The trust deficit issue should be addressed first before any developmental initiatives.

The children in the urban areas face different set of problems. One line is coming to my mind from the movie “Three Idiots”-Mera Beta Engineer Banega. Even before the birth of the child, parents start the career planning of the child.

When a child starts his formal education, he sees parents’ pressure, peer pressure and societal pressure to do well in his studies. That makes the child competitive, but in the long run he misses the fun of childhood. The intense competition force the child to spend most of his time in front of the books or computers. School classes and personal tuition classes take his whole day. He is left with no time for socialization and physical activities.

Lack of physical activities in the childhood affects the health the child. The child develops life style diseases like diabetes and hypertension from an early age. There should be an perfect balance between study and recreational activities.

Reality shows are modern day activities. Parents want their children to excel in all fields. He should do best in studies along with extracurricular activities like dance, drama, music etc. This puts enormous pressure on the children.

Society is changing at a fast rate. Influence of western societies on Indian life styles can’t be ignored. Increasing rate of divorce cases is evident from the mushrooming marital dispute resolution centres. Divorce of parents affects the child both psychologically and physically.

Nuclear families do not give a chance to the children to spend time with the grand parents and siblings. Listening to stories from grandmother and falling asleep on her lap is just like fiction for the modern day children. Without siblings, children don’t get a chance to learn the joy of sharing. Children spend their time with electronic gadgets like laptops and social networking sites. This affects their psyche.

Childhood is a precious time. When the time passes, it becomes memory. Without good memories, life seems meaningless. Our scriptures say – Children are sacred. At least they should be allowed to be sacred till their childhood ends. Nowthe question comes to us, who is the culprit here? - The society, the government or their bad luck.

Santosh Kumar Behra

Role of Media in Combating Corruption

In our democratic system we have the role of three important organs i.e. Legislature, Judiciary and Executive. These organs of state are assigned with different roles viz. making laws, deciding legality or illegality and Implementation of laws respectively. These three arms of the democracy are given their respective areas to work on and with the sole objective of service of people or welfare of the common masses. The relative dependence or independence of these organs are always considered a matter of discussion. In some countries there is total separation of these three organs and there are countries like India where the executive is part of the legislature. The constitution has clearly defined the roles of these units and there seems to be no overlapping even in their functioning. But yet we can’t say in our nation all these three organs are performing even to their average capacity. Corruption i.e. using official postion for personal gain is widespread in these institutions. It is difficult to find good and honest people in these institutions but yet there are people who are making our country stronger every coming day.

Can we say that these organs of state democracy are working to the benefit of common masses? We may be sad to know that our answer may be BIG NO. Legislature is given the task of making laws but we all know the quality of debates in Parliament and State Legislature. The number of days parliament functions is even less than 60, however several committies have suggested at least more than 100 days. Judiciary in practical sense is very far away from common man, imagine an institution that is working for the people finding people afraid of it. We all can’t deny that in our heart. Executive who is expected to touch the common man seems to be very high class strata of people who are finding common man untouchables. Untouchability which our constitution ended through article 17 has taken a new form everywhere. Solutions are emerging and problems are changing but the pace is really vary.

What is the solution? Do we need any other organ? Any new pillar of democracy to strengthen it?  We all know that a structure can be strongly supported by four legs then any other combination. So we need the fourth pillar in democracy. Right, with the help of technology and intellectual capacity of individual we have it i.e Media.

Media

We all know what is Media. Media is actually refer to medium which help us to know the unknown thing which otherwise would have remain archaic and hidden. We have different media performing their different stated objectives e.g. Print Media, Television, Social Media through Internet, Mobile Phone and so many new which may be coming in the time to come.

Role of Print Media

The oldest of the modern media is Print Media which comprises of Newspapers, Books, Journals etc. The most common is Newspaper which has the maximum reach to the common man. We are almost imcomplete without our daily newspaper. We should remember that during our freedom struggle the role of newspapers like Gadhiji’s Young India and Harijan, Tilak’s Kesari, and Payam E Azadi, Maulana Abulkalam Azad's Alhilal and many others. They raise people to took part in freedom struggle of India. Print media’s coverage is enormous. Even in the rural end when no other facility is available newspapers reach and they apprise the common man of the happenings in the nation and the world. Because of extensive reach, Print media has the power of making or breaking the government not satisfying the will of the people and it can help in overthrowing any government due to its negative engagements like corruption.

Role of Television

24 X 7 News channels are currently very effective in reaching to the common man. The people can watch their leaders working and can judge themselves what is happening. It really becoming a standard to judge the strenghth and weakness of Political parties. Recently we have seen in the election of USA President how the debates between the contestants for President can be detrimental in winning or losing. Even a megre act of failure or lapse on the part of the government is reaching to the common man and they will be judging them on the basis of that. Elections compaign is done through TV. So open and unbiased Television Coverage can help the nation in shaping the effective public opinion and will help in improving the lapses in our social institutions. Several Exposes by the media these days have become a regular feature and in fact part and parcel of reporting. The scams like CWG, 2G, Coalgate, Vadra-DLF, Poorti-Gadkari etc. may be silent had the Television may not be there.

Role of Social Media : Internet

Social media is latest in the invention of media. The internet has really brought a revolution in reaching and forming independent and authoritative public expression and opinion. Individuals through Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, You Tube etc can express their concern  and can bring huge changes in social setup. We all have seen the Jasmine Revolution in Middle East. This was articulately arranged through Social Networking Websites only.  Social Media has toppled the Governments and can do that in future also. Many Politicians and Government Offices are reaching directly to common public through Facebook and Twitter these days. The news of your good or bad deeds can reach at a viral speed thanks to social media. It really makes many authorities cautious while performing their duties.

Role of Individual imbibed with Technology

Mobile phone today has become an internal organ of Human Body. The most direct and convenient way possible to reach to a person is through Mobile Phone. We all have seen several exposes on Television being brought about by the video recording of the corrupt practices of Government authorities by individual common man. Now corrupt officials fear every mobile phone. Mobile has really become a deterrent in combating Corruption. We can conveniently record the voice while talking to somebody over phone. I don’t think there could be any facility better than this to expel out corruption from the current system. An individual can not be armed better then a mobile in our fight against corruption.

Can be rely on technology or media in our Endeavour against Corruption?

This is really a very serious issue to discuss. We are better with technology in media but is that sufficient. We really need something else. We know that these media institution are doing their job sincerely at large but some serious structural as well behavioral changes are needed. We need to constantly update the various  mechanism which can affect common man and we have to find new ways of dealing with menaces like corruption. Static and Rigid Solutions will not help us in weeding out the corruption. There is no particular remedy for that but a collective fight from different ends has to come in. Since the means of corruption keeps on changing likewise our ammunition has to be updated, media can be used for that.

Behavioural Changes

Public servants are always in limelight thanks to the media. Any wrong deed or misdeed can be lethal to the image of the concerned department or ministry. On many occasions we have seen Ministers clarifying articles printed in the Newspaper. Recently in THE HINDU our Finance Minister Sh. P. Chidamabaram clarified the matter printed in the article of that Newspaper and gave his version of story.  This is a regular issue these days. Many politicians who are appointed Spokesperson are judged on the basis of their handling of Media. Bureaucrats are very formal and cautious while responding to media queries. Political Leaders are also cautious of their image in the media. They know that this medium only can take them to address so many potential voters.

Structural Changes

Internet is a very powerful tool and it has changed the mechanism of service delivery. We needn’t stand in the queues or find favour to get our work done instead one can simple log in to respective website and can enjoy the services whatever one wants e.g. there are public sector banks like SBI which are asking their customers to apply for personal or car loan or any business loan online. The eligibility will be decided based on the information given by the customer and finally after submitting the documents in support of the information loan can be sanctioned within minutes, an assessee can file his RoI online and check his refund status without visiting Income Tax Office. This is happening in India and we can really learn lot more from other organization which are working in this regard and making the life of people easy.

            Internet can be used

 -in disseminating information to the public

 -providing online services as delivery chanel

- taking feedback from the public through social media

-Judging the performance of the Officers and Official based on the social survey

 like on Facebook or twitter.

Even Right to Information, 2005 mandate that maximum information must be provided by the various department online in order to reduce the request of information via paper.So it all depend on the will of the authorities how to harness the resources available to us in the form of media.

We have to rope in more and new methodology to bring in more structural changes that can suit the convenience of people.

Media : Sharp tool to be handle with care

The best advantage of media is that it can help a person to connect to many and develop public opinion. But what happen when media start taking decisions? This can be dangerous to the society. Many honest people can find it tough to take good initiative if the outcome would not be as desired. Media trial i.e. the judgement process and then decide the culprit has become a regular feature of media these days. Innovative mind people who want to take good initiative may find it difficult to work under such circumstances. Media may on the basis of few preliminary reports may culprit the honest authorities and can make them corrupt in the eyes of common man.

Policy paralysis is a very common term in the government sector these days. Higher officers are not willing to take decisions as it may in future be termed as the wrong one and they may be labeled as CORRUPT, first by damp media and then by common man.

Whether 2G was SCAM or NOT?

Recently after the CAG report of 1.76 lac crore 2G scam the auction as per the Supreme court order was done. But to the astonishment that open auction had fetched Rs. 9400 crore only. Ofcourse there are some operational mistakes in allotting the 2G licenses but media had made it the total lost. Care must be taken in reporting such issues and all aspects must be judged properly.

Conclusion:

We all know that corruption is not a new phenomenon it was there during ancient time and it is now also. Kautilya in Arthashastra described forty types of corruption and our Central Vigilance Commission describes some 27 types of corruption. We can all talk about that but the solution lies in the new things that are coming like Internet, Mobile. We have to use the media for the betterment of the people and Media has the capcity to weed out any new malpractices including any form of corruption but our endeavour must be dynamic. We need to develop new solution to the new problems with all the new things and support available. To fight corruption we need a mental revolution rather Moral revolution as well. People have to understand that a nation cannot progress if people will not work for the betterment of it. And corruption can never make our nation strong. Unawareness is the biggest cause of corruption and can play a very important role in spreading awareness about rights and duties of Government officers and officials and public as well. Thus can help in combating corruption.

May we all realize this.

Anwar Ali

Judging Juvenile

Two year ago Amnesty International (Human Rights Organization) started a campaign for increasing the age of juvenile in Jammu  and Kashmir from 16 to 18 years,to press upon the state to bring the Juvenile justice Act in consonance with the UN Convention on the rights of child because except in J&K, all over India the age of Juvenile is 18 Years. But after the heinous act of rape and murder of 23 yr old student, there arise a debate on the justice to the victim or to the Juvenile,as  among the perpetrator was a Juvenile and was convicted and  sentenced according to the Juvenile Act 2000. Unequivocally this act of savagery arose the national conscience, and a vocal and fortitude demand arises for a tough act against the juvenile also, even  debate on the legality  and desirability of the juvenile act itself has been generated.

India’s Underlying Principle

After Independence, The 1960 Children Act was enacted to tackle the repercussion on children with the advent of industrialization which resulted in an  increasing  child delinquency in large city specially petty crimes such as theft. This act for the first time in India, prohibited the imprisonment of children under any circumstances.  It also provided for separate adjudicatory bodies  that is Children court and welfare board to deal with delinquent and neglected children. In addition it added a three tier institution for the children namely a n observatory home for children on whom the proceeding is pending, special school for delinquent children and a children home for neglected children. But it introduced a gender specific determination of juvenile which is 16 for boys and 18 years for girls.

In 1986 Juvenile Justice act was enacted in conformity with other international guideline for the juvenile, that are United Nation Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the 1985 United Nations standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of the Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules).Albeit it took care the rights of the child but still has some lacunae. With India became a signatory of the 1989  Convention on the Rights of Child after ratifying it in 1992, the need for more uniform Juvenile act was felt. After the United Nations Guideline for the Administration of Juvenile Delinquency (Riyadh Guideline) ,and United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juvenile Deprived of their liberty (JDL Rules),the provision of CRC got amplified. India enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act 2000 later amended in 2006 is the current act which deals with the Juvenile offences.

Juvenile Debate

JJ act 2000 is a progressive legislation, which replaced the judicial process with a reformatory regime, favoring supervised probation or stay in observation home over imprisonment. With this, the aim is to reform the young offender rather than putting them behind bar which often work to fan the recidivist tendencies in them. This act has three important  provision different from the other legislations that are: 1  The Juvenile Court is replaced by a three member Juvenile justice Board, secondly it introduced a uniform Juvenile age that is 18 years for both boys and girls and the third is the custodial sentence under section 15(1)(g) was to be limited to three years. The last two provision is contentious among the different section of the societies. And the buzz around its reform got bigger and have multitude voice  with the recent crime engaging young offenders.

Following American  model is being  cited for going strict with the young offenders.  But India’s  crime statistics  is different from that of America. With its open policy the number of  brutal crime including children is  staggering high in America, the rate of Juvenile offender is almost the half of the total crime rate, in  some of the school shooting cases the juvenile age was under 16 years. So all these increasing number of crimes forces the American Congress to amend  their  Federal and state  Juvenile law. In contrast in India, according  the  National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB )  data between 2001 and 2011 the Juvenile delinquency rate has ranged between 1.6 to 2.1  per cent  of total crime, and of these only 5 to 8 per cent are violent crimes like murder and rape . Therefore the US model is  hardly of any significant relevance for India. As we have totally different strata and social problems from that of America, which act to a larger extent for an  upbringing a mental makeup for offences in conflict with the law.

With the shaken conscience after the Delhi rape case, people emotion poured for the  justice to the departed soul. But the demand for a tough Juvenile Punishment need to be rationally balanced. As in a nation governed by the rule of law emotion should not over rule the rational behind the law and a balanced Justice for all.

There is the misconception that Juvenile involved in heinous crime are matured enough as like a adult, which is not exactly the case as pointed by the Brain science expert. MacArthur Foundations undertaken a scientific exploration of the adolescent brain systems, and established that any deviant behavior is a function of two distinct sets of brain systems, namely the socio – emotional system and the cognitive control system that involve different region of the brain which mature along different timetables. Thus competence related abilities matured by 16 years, but the capacity relevant to the  decisionabout criminal culpability continues to mature till young age. These findings are supported by brain science researcher Laurence Steinberg who argue in his paper published in “Issues in science and technology”( Spring 2012)  thus : “Adolescents should be viewed as inherently less responsible than adults and should be punished less harshly than adults ,even when the crime they are convicted of are identical ”.

Required Reform

So scientifically and socially it will be not fair to divert from the reformative approach towards the retributive approach. Instead the reform methods itself need a reform. We have to get rid of the complacent attitude that a mere stint in the remand home or correctional home will reform the Juvenile. This stereotype method needs a gradation as the atmosphere in many such facilities is not conducive for reformation, and in fact may toughen or entrench criminal propensities. Former Chairmen of  Child Welfare committee, a statutory body, S Syed Ahmed said “There is nothing wrong in the Juvenile act , if something need to be changed it is the functioning of the correctional homes run by the govt”. A report in India Today shows the bleak poignant state of the  remand homes, there are 815 remand homes with a capacity of  35000. However there are more than 1.7 million juvenile accused in  India.Merely going by a differential process for juvenile offender is not enough. It is obvious that the social contract underlying a lenient regime require equal attention to be paid to the design and implementation of a rehabilitation process. Juvenile convict of petty crimes and of one convict of serious horrendous crime needs separate treatment in their counseling and reformation as the former may tend toward the latter offence if not guided properly . There is scope of more positive reform and rehabilitation in Juvenile as compared to adult convict subjected proper guidance.

Sikander Khan