Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification[4] produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards. The design goals of XML emphasize simplicity, generality, and usability over the Internet. It is a textual data format with strong support via Unicode for the languages of the world. Although the design of XML focuses on documents, it is widely used for the representation of arbitrary data structures, for example in web services. Many application programming interfaces (APIs) have been developed that software developers use to process XML data, and several schema systems exist to aid in the definition of XML-based languages. As of 2009, hundreds of XML-based languages have been developed, including RSS, Atom, SOAP, and XHTML. XML-based formats have become the default for most office-productivity tools, including Microsoft Office (Office Open XML), OpenOffice.org (OpenDocument), and Apple's iWork.
MASER
A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by stimulated emission. Historically, “maser” derives from the original, upper-case acronym MASER, which stands for "Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". The lower-case usage arose from technological development having rendered the original denotation imprecise, because contemporary masers emit EM waves (microwave and radio frequencies) across a broader band of the electromagnetic spectrum; thus, the physicist Charles H. Townes’s suggested usage of “molecular” replacing “microwave”, for contemporary linguistic accuracy. In 1957, when the optical coherent oscillator was first developed, it was denominated optical maser, but usually called laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation), the acronym Gordon Gould established in 1957.
SECAM, also written SÉCAM (Séquentiel couleur à mémoire,French for "Sequential Color with Memory"), is an analog color television system first used in France. A team led by Henri de France working at Compagnie Française de Télévision (later bought by Thomson, now Technicolor) invented SECAM. It is, historically, the first European color television standard.
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (or TIPS) are the inflation-indexed bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury. The principal is adjusted to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the commonly used measure of inflation. When the CPI rises, your principal adjusts upward. If the index falls, your principal adjusts downwards.[10] The coupon rate is constant, but generates a different amount of interest when multiplied by the inflation-adjusted principal, thus protecting the holder against inflation. TIPS are currently offered in 5-year, 10-year and 30-year maturities
Computer-aided design (CAD), also known as computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer. CADD software, or environments, provides the user with input-tools for the purpose of streamlining design processes; drafting, documentation, and manufacturing processes. CADD output is often in the form of electronic files for print or machining operations. The development of CADD-based software is in direct correlation with the processes it seeks to economize; industry-based software (construction, manufacturing, etc.) typically uses vector-based (linear) environments whereas graphic-based software utilizes raster-based (pixelated) environments.
Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is the use of computer software to control machine tools and related machinery in the manufacturing of workpieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most common; CAM may also refer to the use of a computer to assist in all operations of a manufacturing plant, including planning, management, transportation and storage.Its primary purpose is to create a faster production process and components and tooling with more precise dimensions and material consistency, which in some cases, uses only the required amount of raw material (thus minimizing waste), while simultaneously reducing energy consumption
The Common Information Model (CIM) is an open standard that defines how managed elements in an IT environment are represented as a common set of objects and relationships between them. This is intended to allow consistent management of these managed elements, independent of their manufacturer or provider.
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is the premier R&D organization of the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Ministry of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) for carrying out R&D in IT, Electronics and associated areas. Different areas of C-DAC, had originated at different times, many of which came out as a result of identification of opportunities.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest medical research bodies in the world.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator established in 1997 by the Government of India to regulate the telecommunications business in India
Under the grace of Shri Ramana Maharishi, RAMANA STUDY-POINT is a small effort for providing study material for those who are preparing for the Indian Civil Services. (IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, etc)
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Yashpal Committee Report : A Review
DOWNLOAD REPORT :
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16824963/YashPal-Committee-Report
The Yashpal Committee Report: A Review
COURTESY : MAINSTREAM, VOL XLVII, NO 39, SEPTEMBER 12, 2009
Written by : Mr. Bhim S. Dahiya
The key Recommendations of the Yashpal Committee Report is the following:
A holistic view of knowledge, as advocated above, would demand a regulatory system which treats the entire range of educational institutions in a holistic manner. All of higher education has to be treated as an integrated whole. Professional education cannot be detached from general education. It would be, therefore, imperative that all higher education, including engineering, medicine, agriculture and law, is brought within the purview of a single, all-encompassing Higher Education Authority.
Viewed analytically, the proposal is problematic, both logically as well as intentionally. That a “holistic view” “treats the entire range of educational institutions in a holistic manner” is a tautology of the worst type. Besides, didn’t we have this “holistic view” before all these All-India Councils were created? The UGC constituted that “integrated”, “single, all-encompassing Higher Education Authority”. Why does the Report ask for the abolition of that authority, the UGC, treating it as one of the Councils? Let us not confuse the issues! What we need to do is – to abolish all the Councils, not the UGC. Most malpractices the Report speaks of followed after the creation of these Councils, not after the creation of the UGC.
These so-called All India Councils have played havoc with higher education, undermining the authority of both the UGC and the universities, snatching certain vital powers, making them mute spectators to the spectacular growth of substandard institutes of technical and professional education. All this happened solely because of these Councils. The Report’s recommendation to create a Supreme Council, subsuming all Councils, including the UGC—which is not a Council —is ill-conceived, to say the least. The Report, in the first place, insults the UGC by clubbing it with these “unholistic” Councils. Besides, the Report, in asking for abolishing the UGC, demolishes the very mother of institutions that has nourished the entire flock of higher education institutions for over 50 years.
Before we take up the case of the UGC, it may be pointed out that there is a contradiction between the Report’s headline “Reforming the Regulatory System” and the proposed Supreme “Authority”, for a system and an authority are two different things, and this the scientist Yashpal should know better than anyone else. Whereas a system functions through different organs, an authority appropriates all powers to itself, leaving no room for any organ. A system works through steps and stages, whereas an authority acts arbitrarily. For God’s sake, let us not talk of Authority for Higher Education. Let us continue with the Commission.
As for the UGC, what is needed is, not its extinction, but its extension. On the analogy of the judiciary, as already suggested in my book, The University Autonomy in India, under this apex body at the Centre we need to have, like the High Courts, a UGC for each State, call them State University Grants Commissions. But who would do that, and who would allow that? As pointed out in my book, all these reforms are possible only if the universities, all universities, are made a Central subject, not a concurrent subject as it is at present. But is this constitutional amendment possible? If it is not possible, no reform is possible. It is as simple as that.
Here, I am reminded of a short story by Nathanial Hawthorne, a nineteenth-century American writer. The story is named “Earth’s Holocaust”, where the new settlers in seventeenth-century America make a bonfire of everything they had brought from Europe, wanting to make a new, pure beginning. A Hawthorne-like sceptic comes and asks them if they had also thrown their hearts into the bonfire. When they replied in the negative, he remarked: “Then all else would follow.” The point is that so long as the subject of higher education remains an affair of the state, even in the concurrent form, all the woes of higher education so elaborately mentioned by the Yashpal Committee Report would remain in place, and will keep flourishing, getting stronger by the day. I had said it ten years ago in my book on University Autonomy.
The “Objectives of the Commission for Higher Education”—to“prevent chaos”, “ensure autonomy”, “encourage individual uniqueness”, “eliminate the divide between state and central universities”, “enable the rural masses to interact with universities”, etc. – are laudable, indeed.
One would blindly endorse all these palatable platitudes, happily inhale these airy nothings, and dream about a still more glorious future that will follow from the “Authority” of the “Commission for Higher Education”. Here, I am reminded of a scene from Charles Dickens’ first novel called Pickwick Papers: Someone comes to visit Mr Pickwick who, on hearing the bell, comes out in the balcony, looks to the right, to the left, and to the skies, but does not look down on earth where the man is standing. The narrator’s comment is: “It is the quality of great minds not to see the obvious.” The honourable members of the Yashpal Committee share that greatness of mind with Mr Pickwick. They are so set to look to the skies that they seldom look to the ground beneath their feet. Perhaps, they are standing in the balcony, and have no ground (the earth) beneath their feet!
¨
Like most Education Reports we have had a beginning with Dr Radhakrishnan’s; the Yashpal Committee Report also is an impressive rhetorical piece of writing. Note, for instance, the following:
Universities need the autonomy to operate in a healthy competitive setting. The university leadership must be driven by the objects of the institution and draw only macro policies by the government. They need to set their own policies and thereby experiment with strategies on university governance. They need to be accountable to the various stakholders—the society, government, students, recruiters, alumni, etc. It needs a governance system which is engaged with the university and comprising people who understand the ethos of the institutions. The role of the VC is to attract the best of students, faculty and staff to the institution by making their institution very attractive to the talents.
Does it really say anything—specific, I mean? We have heard these words for over half-a-century, and have seen at the same time these institutions going downhill, with all the stakeholders making their valuable contribution. Incidentally, with so many stakeholders calling for accountability, where, in which space, rests the university autonomy? Whose autonomy, by the way? Merely saying, ‘administrative, academic, and financial’ means nothing much. We have to work out in detail bodies which would exercise that autonomy. It is not to be the autonomy of the university—which means different things to different people—certainly not the VC’s autonomy, which it generally comes to. Strangely, the most vital organ of the university, its faculty, does not figure anywhere when it comes to talking about the university and its VC. It is the departments, which means the faculty, who need to have the autonomy to make selections, design syllabi, work out teaching methodology, get direct funding for research and other academic activities.
Why should the government, if the universities are to function autonomously, issue macro policies? And how large is the macro sphere, and what are the micro matters, the small, perhaps insignificant, which the university should have the autonomy to determine? Why doesn’t the Report say a thing about the mode of appointment of Vice-Chancellors, their qualifications? The way the Report keeps repeating the words Vice-Chancellor, university, government etc., it is taken for granted that these species are as cogently clear in our minds as words like man, woman, monkey, mouse etc. Don’t we know that VC’s and governments are individuals and sets of individuals having varied conducts and commitments? Do we presume that as a matter of convention the VC’s would be scholars committed to nothing but scholarship, and the governments would be impartial and non-interfering?
The point is that rather than take shelter behind clichés, we must face the realities as they exist in our time, and define powers and functions, qualifications and characteristics, of each individual officer, more so the Vice-Chancellor, of different bodies, of relations between the government and the university. Why the macro policies from the government? The university structure, in its autonomous form, always includes Education and Finance Secretaries on all its bodies. Here is the concept of autonomy, that whatever the government position, it must find expression within that structure, and should not come to the university as a directive, neither about macro nor about micro matters related to the university. As for the worthy Vice-Chancellors, enough has already been said in my two books, namely, The University Autonomy in India and Higher Education in Haryana, as to how all sorts of species except the scholars are preferred for the post in the universities created and, of course, governed by the state – from a steno to a soldier, from a politician to a policeman, from a baboo to a businessman. Who would ensure proper appointments of VCs? No rhetoric or jargon can cover the bare bones, all of us know, of which the organism called university is made. Let us, therefore, talk about particulars and specificities rather than run away with abstractions and generalities!
Just one more instance of sheer jargon signifying nothing:
The role of a VC is to provide academic leadership, develop and execute the vision of the university including its growth and to ensure that the university is academically and financially healthy. This requires skills that reach beyond academic talent. The VC must enunciate a sound financial model for the university and undertake the fiduciary responsibility of the university. He/she also ensures that the regulatory requirements are met. He/she works with the Pro-VC and the Deans to manage the activities of the institutions.
Do we appoint Commissions and Committees to give us in the name of a Report such stuff, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”? One waits for something specific in these pages penned by ‘sarkari scholars’, ready to be of use, men for all seasons, so long as they are made members of commissions and committees to assume more airs, to remain in the limelight. But, as ever, one only comes upon words, words, words, which would not yield any tangible meaning one can carry home for use. These artists or craftsmen of the cunning reports know how to produce pages after pages, concealing facts, creating new tunes out of old keys.
¨
The concluding portion of the Report carries fourteen commandments, but saying nothing about who and how those commandments are to be concretised.
These ‘Recommendations’ are worded in the style of commandments. Just as the Bible says, ‘Let there be light, and there was light’, so in our blessed country, the Report says, ‘Let there be self-regulatory universities, and there will be self-regulatory universities, assisted by hassle-free and transparent regulatory processes’. This ‘hassle-free and transparent’ assistance is to come from the CHE. Were not the UGC – and, of course, the once much-touted, but now much doubted Councils—created with the same lofty goals and purposes? In fact, every institution is created with utopian aspirations. But with the passage of time, impurities creep in, human nature being such— fallible and imperfect—the reason why human institutions are to be reformed every now and then. In less fortunate nations, they are overthrown and replaced through coups and rebellions. Fortunately, we have been better off, in that rather than adopt the violent ways, we have been following the reformist path. What the Yashpal Committee is suggesting—overthrowing the UGC and all the Councils—is the violent, not the reformist, path. Who would guarantee that the new Super Council would not become impure afterwards, as imperfect as the UGC seems to the worthy members of the Yashpal Committee? In fact, given its aspirations for grabbing all powers now shared by so many Councils, it may become even worse than its poor cousins.
Returning to the style of commandments, who would give the universities the self-regulatory status with the present Constitution of the country in place in which higher education is on the concurrent list, giving both Parliament and State Assemblies the right to enact laws about higher education. Only yesterday the State of Tamil Nadu decided to give individual colleges the status of unitary universities, a State version of deemed universities created by the Centre. The Yashpal Committee’s Recommendations, on the contrary, include (no xi) that the “practice of according status of deemed university be stopped forthwith”. Who would sort out these conflicts and contradictions between the centre and the states? Besides, the Central Government has already accorded the status of deemed universities not only to all IITs and IIMs but also to erstwhile RECs now called NITs. The Report, on the contrary, says that these “institutes of excellence (for some it is more of a myth than reality) are to be converted into full-fledged universities”. (no. vii). How the change will take place one can only wonder!
Chapter XI of my present book titled ‘Remedial Measures’ and the last chapter of my earlier book ‘Conclusion: Other Alternatives’ seem to be more practical than the recommendations of the Yashpal Committee Report, which is rather vague, full of generalities and abstractions. In fact, the UGC has been performing most of the duties described in the fourteen commandments. It is unfortunate that Dr Yashpal and Dr Manmohan Singh, both former Chairmen of the UGC, do not seem to hold a good opinion of the organisation. They got a chance to improve it then, and they have time to improve it now—if it needs improvement, that is. To say that it has served its purpose is not enough. For it is still needed to keep performing those functions. Reforms are, of course, always welcome. Let Yashpal and others make concrete suggestions if they wish well the higher education in this country. Mere verbiage of platitudes and pious words all Committees and Commissions have churned out is not enough. Rather than repeat all that I have already said in the two books mentioned earlier, I would rather recommend that those interested in the improvement of the system of higher education in this country may turn the pages of those books. The second, even though about higher education in one of the States of the Indian Union, reveals the state of higher education in the country, for the conditions, when we move from one State to another, do not change drastically; there may be a difference of degrees, but there is no difference of character.
If for no other reason, the Yashpal Committee Report must be rejected for its attempt to centralise the entire authority to determine the destiny of higher education in this country, concentrating all powers in the hands of a few favourities of the powers that be, for it is the powerful who decide the ‘eminence’ heading important bodies in the field of education as well as in other fields. We know how ‘eminence’ comes handy for appointing substandard and unqualified people to higher positions. We know them all, and we shall not like to have more of their kind. We shall rather call for democratisation of all educational bodies including the universities and the UGC. Besides, we shall like to replace the convenient qualification of ‘eminence’ by some more concrete and specific merit of the persons who should head these bodies.
The author is a former Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, and Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16824963/YashPal-Committee-Report
The Yashpal Committee Report: A Review
COURTESY : MAINSTREAM, VOL XLVII, NO 39, SEPTEMBER 12, 2009
Written by : Mr. Bhim S. Dahiya
The key Recommendations of the Yashpal Committee Report is the following:
A holistic view of knowledge, as advocated above, would demand a regulatory system which treats the entire range of educational institutions in a holistic manner. All of higher education has to be treated as an integrated whole. Professional education cannot be detached from general education. It would be, therefore, imperative that all higher education, including engineering, medicine, agriculture and law, is brought within the purview of a single, all-encompassing Higher Education Authority.
Viewed analytically, the proposal is problematic, both logically as well as intentionally. That a “holistic view” “treats the entire range of educational institutions in a holistic manner” is a tautology of the worst type. Besides, didn’t we have this “holistic view” before all these All-India Councils were created? The UGC constituted that “integrated”, “single, all-encompassing Higher Education Authority”. Why does the Report ask for the abolition of that authority, the UGC, treating it as one of the Councils? Let us not confuse the issues! What we need to do is – to abolish all the Councils, not the UGC. Most malpractices the Report speaks of followed after the creation of these Councils, not after the creation of the UGC.
These so-called All India Councils have played havoc with higher education, undermining the authority of both the UGC and the universities, snatching certain vital powers, making them mute spectators to the spectacular growth of substandard institutes of technical and professional education. All this happened solely because of these Councils. The Report’s recommendation to create a Supreme Council, subsuming all Councils, including the UGC—which is not a Council —is ill-conceived, to say the least. The Report, in the first place, insults the UGC by clubbing it with these “unholistic” Councils. Besides, the Report, in asking for abolishing the UGC, demolishes the very mother of institutions that has nourished the entire flock of higher education institutions for over 50 years.
Before we take up the case of the UGC, it may be pointed out that there is a contradiction between the Report’s headline “Reforming the Regulatory System” and the proposed Supreme “Authority”, for a system and an authority are two different things, and this the scientist Yashpal should know better than anyone else. Whereas a system functions through different organs, an authority appropriates all powers to itself, leaving no room for any organ. A system works through steps and stages, whereas an authority acts arbitrarily. For God’s sake, let us not talk of Authority for Higher Education. Let us continue with the Commission.
As for the UGC, what is needed is, not its extinction, but its extension. On the analogy of the judiciary, as already suggested in my book, The University Autonomy in India, under this apex body at the Centre we need to have, like the High Courts, a UGC for each State, call them State University Grants Commissions. But who would do that, and who would allow that? As pointed out in my book, all these reforms are possible only if the universities, all universities, are made a Central subject, not a concurrent subject as it is at present. But is this constitutional amendment possible? If it is not possible, no reform is possible. It is as simple as that.
Here, I am reminded of a short story by Nathanial Hawthorne, a nineteenth-century American writer. The story is named “Earth’s Holocaust”, where the new settlers in seventeenth-century America make a bonfire of everything they had brought from Europe, wanting to make a new, pure beginning. A Hawthorne-like sceptic comes and asks them if they had also thrown their hearts into the bonfire. When they replied in the negative, he remarked: “Then all else would follow.” The point is that so long as the subject of higher education remains an affair of the state, even in the concurrent form, all the woes of higher education so elaborately mentioned by the Yashpal Committee Report would remain in place, and will keep flourishing, getting stronger by the day. I had said it ten years ago in my book on University Autonomy.
The “Objectives of the Commission for Higher Education”—to“prevent chaos”, “ensure autonomy”, “encourage individual uniqueness”, “eliminate the divide between state and central universities”, “enable the rural masses to interact with universities”, etc. – are laudable, indeed.
One would blindly endorse all these palatable platitudes, happily inhale these airy nothings, and dream about a still more glorious future that will follow from the “Authority” of the “Commission for Higher Education”. Here, I am reminded of a scene from Charles Dickens’ first novel called Pickwick Papers: Someone comes to visit Mr Pickwick who, on hearing the bell, comes out in the balcony, looks to the right, to the left, and to the skies, but does not look down on earth where the man is standing. The narrator’s comment is: “It is the quality of great minds not to see the obvious.” The honourable members of the Yashpal Committee share that greatness of mind with Mr Pickwick. They are so set to look to the skies that they seldom look to the ground beneath their feet. Perhaps, they are standing in the balcony, and have no ground (the earth) beneath their feet!
¨
Like most Education Reports we have had a beginning with Dr Radhakrishnan’s; the Yashpal Committee Report also is an impressive rhetorical piece of writing. Note, for instance, the following:
Universities need the autonomy to operate in a healthy competitive setting. The university leadership must be driven by the objects of the institution and draw only macro policies by the government. They need to set their own policies and thereby experiment with strategies on university governance. They need to be accountable to the various stakholders—the society, government, students, recruiters, alumni, etc. It needs a governance system which is engaged with the university and comprising people who understand the ethos of the institutions. The role of the VC is to attract the best of students, faculty and staff to the institution by making their institution very attractive to the talents.
Does it really say anything—specific, I mean? We have heard these words for over half-a-century, and have seen at the same time these institutions going downhill, with all the stakeholders making their valuable contribution. Incidentally, with so many stakeholders calling for accountability, where, in which space, rests the university autonomy? Whose autonomy, by the way? Merely saying, ‘administrative, academic, and financial’ means nothing much. We have to work out in detail bodies which would exercise that autonomy. It is not to be the autonomy of the university—which means different things to different people—certainly not the VC’s autonomy, which it generally comes to. Strangely, the most vital organ of the university, its faculty, does not figure anywhere when it comes to talking about the university and its VC. It is the departments, which means the faculty, who need to have the autonomy to make selections, design syllabi, work out teaching methodology, get direct funding for research and other academic activities.
Why should the government, if the universities are to function autonomously, issue macro policies? And how large is the macro sphere, and what are the micro matters, the small, perhaps insignificant, which the university should have the autonomy to determine? Why doesn’t the Report say a thing about the mode of appointment of Vice-Chancellors, their qualifications? The way the Report keeps repeating the words Vice-Chancellor, university, government etc., it is taken for granted that these species are as cogently clear in our minds as words like man, woman, monkey, mouse etc. Don’t we know that VC’s and governments are individuals and sets of individuals having varied conducts and commitments? Do we presume that as a matter of convention the VC’s would be scholars committed to nothing but scholarship, and the governments would be impartial and non-interfering?
The point is that rather than take shelter behind clichés, we must face the realities as they exist in our time, and define powers and functions, qualifications and characteristics, of each individual officer, more so the Vice-Chancellor, of different bodies, of relations between the government and the university. Why the macro policies from the government? The university structure, in its autonomous form, always includes Education and Finance Secretaries on all its bodies. Here is the concept of autonomy, that whatever the government position, it must find expression within that structure, and should not come to the university as a directive, neither about macro nor about micro matters related to the university. As for the worthy Vice-Chancellors, enough has already been said in my two books, namely, The University Autonomy in India and Higher Education in Haryana, as to how all sorts of species except the scholars are preferred for the post in the universities created and, of course, governed by the state – from a steno to a soldier, from a politician to a policeman, from a baboo to a businessman. Who would ensure proper appointments of VCs? No rhetoric or jargon can cover the bare bones, all of us know, of which the organism called university is made. Let us, therefore, talk about particulars and specificities rather than run away with abstractions and generalities!
Just one more instance of sheer jargon signifying nothing:
The role of a VC is to provide academic leadership, develop and execute the vision of the university including its growth and to ensure that the university is academically and financially healthy. This requires skills that reach beyond academic talent. The VC must enunciate a sound financial model for the university and undertake the fiduciary responsibility of the university. He/she also ensures that the regulatory requirements are met. He/she works with the Pro-VC and the Deans to manage the activities of the institutions.
Do we appoint Commissions and Committees to give us in the name of a Report such stuff, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”? One waits for something specific in these pages penned by ‘sarkari scholars’, ready to be of use, men for all seasons, so long as they are made members of commissions and committees to assume more airs, to remain in the limelight. But, as ever, one only comes upon words, words, words, which would not yield any tangible meaning one can carry home for use. These artists or craftsmen of the cunning reports know how to produce pages after pages, concealing facts, creating new tunes out of old keys.
¨
The concluding portion of the Report carries fourteen commandments, but saying nothing about who and how those commandments are to be concretised.
These ‘Recommendations’ are worded in the style of commandments. Just as the Bible says, ‘Let there be light, and there was light’, so in our blessed country, the Report says, ‘Let there be self-regulatory universities, and there will be self-regulatory universities, assisted by hassle-free and transparent regulatory processes’. This ‘hassle-free and transparent’ assistance is to come from the CHE. Were not the UGC – and, of course, the once much-touted, but now much doubted Councils—created with the same lofty goals and purposes? In fact, every institution is created with utopian aspirations. But with the passage of time, impurities creep in, human nature being such— fallible and imperfect—the reason why human institutions are to be reformed every now and then. In less fortunate nations, they are overthrown and replaced through coups and rebellions. Fortunately, we have been better off, in that rather than adopt the violent ways, we have been following the reformist path. What the Yashpal Committee is suggesting—overthrowing the UGC and all the Councils—is the violent, not the reformist, path. Who would guarantee that the new Super Council would not become impure afterwards, as imperfect as the UGC seems to the worthy members of the Yashpal Committee? In fact, given its aspirations for grabbing all powers now shared by so many Councils, it may become even worse than its poor cousins.
Returning to the style of commandments, who would give the universities the self-regulatory status with the present Constitution of the country in place in which higher education is on the concurrent list, giving both Parliament and State Assemblies the right to enact laws about higher education. Only yesterday the State of Tamil Nadu decided to give individual colleges the status of unitary universities, a State version of deemed universities created by the Centre. The Yashpal Committee’s Recommendations, on the contrary, include (no xi) that the “practice of according status of deemed university be stopped forthwith”. Who would sort out these conflicts and contradictions between the centre and the states? Besides, the Central Government has already accorded the status of deemed universities not only to all IITs and IIMs but also to erstwhile RECs now called NITs. The Report, on the contrary, says that these “institutes of excellence (for some it is more of a myth than reality) are to be converted into full-fledged universities”. (no. vii). How the change will take place one can only wonder!
Chapter XI of my present book titled ‘Remedial Measures’ and the last chapter of my earlier book ‘Conclusion: Other Alternatives’ seem to be more practical than the recommendations of the Yashpal Committee Report, which is rather vague, full of generalities and abstractions. In fact, the UGC has been performing most of the duties described in the fourteen commandments. It is unfortunate that Dr Yashpal and Dr Manmohan Singh, both former Chairmen of the UGC, do not seem to hold a good opinion of the organisation. They got a chance to improve it then, and they have time to improve it now—if it needs improvement, that is. To say that it has served its purpose is not enough. For it is still needed to keep performing those functions. Reforms are, of course, always welcome. Let Yashpal and others make concrete suggestions if they wish well the higher education in this country. Mere verbiage of platitudes and pious words all Committees and Commissions have churned out is not enough. Rather than repeat all that I have already said in the two books mentioned earlier, I would rather recommend that those interested in the improvement of the system of higher education in this country may turn the pages of those books. The second, even though about higher education in one of the States of the Indian Union, reveals the state of higher education in the country, for the conditions, when we move from one State to another, do not change drastically; there may be a difference of degrees, but there is no difference of character.
If for no other reason, the Yashpal Committee Report must be rejected for its attempt to centralise the entire authority to determine the destiny of higher education in this country, concentrating all powers in the hands of a few favourities of the powers that be, for it is the powerful who decide the ‘eminence’ heading important bodies in the field of education as well as in other fields. We know how ‘eminence’ comes handy for appointing substandard and unqualified people to higher positions. We know them all, and we shall not like to have more of their kind. We shall rather call for democratisation of all educational bodies including the universities and the UGC. Besides, we shall like to replace the convenient qualification of ‘eminence’ by some more concrete and specific merit of the persons who should head these bodies.
The author is a former Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University, and Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla.
DETERMINANTS OF VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN INDIA
COURTESY : SAPTARSHI:MY WORLD,MY VIEW
In a multilingual,multi cultural democratic set up like India,voting behaviour is dictated by a plethora of complex issues.From time and again it has been proved that political parties in India can not rely upon any particular factor to win the trust and confidence of the voters.Such is the complex nature of the voting behavior that even the best of the psephologists or social scientists or even genius politicians failed to read public psychology on numerous occasions.Below is a summary of the determinants of such perplexing electoral psychology.
Caste has been an important factor in Indian politics.Though recent trends show that its impact is more prominent in the state level politics,it plays a crucial role in shaping up the policy of the governments.Wooing a specific caste has been the principal agenda of many a politicians.This has been a retrogressive character of Indian politics and has so far been playing a divisive role.
Religion is another pull down factor of Indian electoral politics.Rather than uniting people,religion has mostly divided India into many watertight compartments.Fundamentalists have taken political mileage of the situation by wooing people belonging to a specific religion and infused the poison of communalism in the electoral psychology.
Regionalism has been a key determinant of Indian voting behaviour since 1990s.Demanding separate state,promoting region specific interests have been the strategies of politicians to capture the vote bank.This has bred separatism and endangered intyernal security of the country.
Language is another important factor in this regard.Although its impact is not prominet in state level politics, in the national level it has played a key role.Dividing India into Hindi and non Hindi belts is an unfortunate outcome of this.
Hero worshipping is another popular trend in India psephology.On numerous occasions political parties have tried to capture popular sentiment by using charisma of their leaders.Therefore many political parties of India today are leader based rather than being ideology based.
Ideology has been a key factor in Indian politics.Communism is a glaring example of this and though recent trends show some changes, Bengal,Tripura,Kerala have long been communist strongholds.
Some important or sudden events or incidences can change the voting behavior as well as political equations.The proclamation of emergency was one such incidence which resulted in the then Congress government being toppled by the Janata Party in 1977.Development works in the most silent yet the most effective manner in determining the popular mandate in elections in India.Developmental slogans like"Roti,Kapda, Makan" ,"Garibi Hathao","Bijli,Sadak,Pani" have long been used to attract the attention of the people.
Apart from the above mentioned factors, race,anti incumbency factor,terrorism etc have been the other determinants.However it must be noted that many a times a number of factors work in tandem to shape up the popular electoral opinion, thus making it further difficult for the politicians to make use of the existing situation and thereby producing unpredictable results as has happened in the national level in 2004 or in several states in the recent Lok Sabha Election.
In a multilingual,multi cultural democratic set up like India,voting behaviour is dictated by a plethora of complex issues.From time and again it has been proved that political parties in India can not rely upon any particular factor to win the trust and confidence of the voters.Such is the complex nature of the voting behavior that even the best of the psephologists or social scientists or even genius politicians failed to read public psychology on numerous occasions.Below is a summary of the determinants of such perplexing electoral psychology.
Caste has been an important factor in Indian politics.Though recent trends show that its impact is more prominent in the state level politics,it plays a crucial role in shaping up the policy of the governments.Wooing a specific caste has been the principal agenda of many a politicians.This has been a retrogressive character of Indian politics and has so far been playing a divisive role.
Religion is another pull down factor of Indian electoral politics.Rather than uniting people,religion has mostly divided India into many watertight compartments.Fundamentalists have taken political mileage of the situation by wooing people belonging to a specific religion and infused the poison of communalism in the electoral psychology.
Regionalism has been a key determinant of Indian voting behaviour since 1990s.Demanding separate state,promoting region specific interests have been the strategies of politicians to capture the vote bank.This has bred separatism and endangered intyernal security of the country.
Language is another important factor in this regard.Although its impact is not prominet in state level politics, in the national level it has played a key role.Dividing India into Hindi and non Hindi belts is an unfortunate outcome of this.
Hero worshipping is another popular trend in India psephology.On numerous occasions political parties have tried to capture popular sentiment by using charisma of their leaders.Therefore many political parties of India today are leader based rather than being ideology based.
Ideology has been a key factor in Indian politics.Communism is a glaring example of this and though recent trends show some changes, Bengal,Tripura,Kerala have long been communist strongholds.
Some important or sudden events or incidences can change the voting behavior as well as political equations.The proclamation of emergency was one such incidence which resulted in the then Congress government being toppled by the Janata Party in 1977.Development works in the most silent yet the most effective manner in determining the popular mandate in elections in India.Developmental slogans like"Roti,Kapda, Makan" ,"Garibi Hathao","Bijli,Sadak,Pani" have long been used to attract the attention of the people.
Apart from the above mentioned factors, race,anti incumbency factor,terrorism etc have been the other determinants.However it must be noted that many a times a number of factors work in tandem to shape up the popular electoral opinion, thus making it further difficult for the politicians to make use of the existing situation and thereby producing unpredictable results as has happened in the national level in 2004 or in several states in the recent Lok Sabha Election.
Domestic Violence Act 2005
Violence and domestic abuse are considered a man’s most heinous, intolerable and deleterious weapon and rightfully, violence in a relationship is inhuman behavior in its most pernicious form, which would be anything but acceptable. There had been a significant lacuna in the legal system to accommodate for cases of everyday domestic violence in the lives of women, something that has been restricted to the private domain. But this Act now seeks to eliminate this lacuna and eradicate the evil of domestic violence. Nonetheless, while providing for remedy, the Act has created various openings and prospects for abuse and misuse of this Act.The Domestic Violence Act is the latest mischievous sprite introduced to conform to the concept of protective discrimination by making special provisions for women. The Act certainly provides for shielding women from any sort of domestic violence in a relationship and the Act has specifies a comprehensive definition of domestic violence. In S.3 of the 2005 Act, domestic violence is defined in terms of mental, physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse. But despite of having such a virtuous intention, its ambiguous realization has paved way for a great controversy with feminist groups and men contributingly harping for equality as this Act has the potential of being used by women to harass men. This law was enacted by keeping in view the rights guaranteed under Articles 14,15 and 21 of the Constitution to provide for a remedy under the civil law, which is intended to protect the woman from being victims of domestic violence and to prevent the occurrence of domestic violence in the society . But this Act on the contrary, has provided for an elaborate mechanism for abuse by women and has certainly become a glaring example of inequality. The feminist groups unequivocally and unanimously hail the implementation of the Act while men think of being ransacked of all of their marital rights. The likelihood of it being misused is so immensely incalculable that it has given wakeful nights to men and has left his fate to the whims and fancies of their counterparts. This article will provide and insight into the Act and highlight the draconian nature of the Act through its anomalies and inherent ambiguities.
Legislative History
Before the inception of this Act, there was no specific Act for protecting women from undue discrimination and unjustified violence.
Though the Indian Penal Code had provisions, namely sections 304B and 498A, but they weren’t adequate and satisfactory in checking the atrocities committed against women. Thus, a desperate need was felt for an Act which could specifically cater to this cause and help women attain a dignified status, and henceforth the bill was passed by the legislature in 2005 and it was brought in application in 2006 and was touted by union minister Renuka Choudhary as a the most progressive gift for women.
Though the Indian Penal Code had provisions, namely sections 304B and 498A, but they weren’t adequate and satisfactory in checking the atrocities committed against women. Thus, a desperate need was felt for an Act which could specifically cater to this cause and help women attain a dignified status, and henceforth the bill was passed by the legislature in 2005 and it was brought in application in 2006 and was touted by union minister Renuka Choudhary as a the most progressive gift for women.
Inception of the Act
Domestic violence is undoubtedly a human rights issue and serious deterrent to development of a nation. This particular Act has been enacted in keeping with the various guidelines given by several International conventions and declarations. The Vienna Accord of 1994 and the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action 1995 have acknowledged this. The United Nations Committee on Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in its General Recommendation No.XII (1989) has also recommended that State parties should act to protect women against violence of any kind especially that occurring within the family.
The phenomenon of domestic violence is widely prevalent but has remained largely invisible in the public domain. This enactment purported to be an additional violence curbing mechanism to the already existing sections 304B and 498A in IPC, which lay down the punishment for dowry death and cruelty and harassment against a women by her husband or his relatives.
Creditable features of the Act
An important advance made by the Act in understanding the nature of domestic violence has been in the combination of civil and criminal remedies. While civil remedies can be tailored to meet the circumstances of each case, criminal sanctions provide a greater deterrent effect among perpetrators.
The preamble to this Act reads like a definition and covers the entire subject matter of the Act. Apart from stating that the Act is intended to effectively protect the rights of a women and to give them a decent and dignified status, it stresses on the need of an ‘aggrieved women’ to seek immediate relief, compensation and also rehabilitation.
The preamble to this Act reads like a definition and covers the entire subject matter of the Act. Apart from stating that the Act is intended to effectively protect the rights of a women and to give them a decent and dignified status, it stresses on the need of an ‘aggrieved women’ to seek immediate relief, compensation and also rehabilitation.
The Act establishes adequate machinery to ensure effective protection. The Act creates an extraordinary post of a Protection officer who is charged with the responsibility of taking expeditious steps for providing timely relief and it also grants authority to the Magistrate to give sufficient relief in the form of maintenance orders, custody orders and compensation. The Act also creates a novel agency called the ‘service providers’ who are entrusted with the job of filing Domestic Incident Reports with the Magistrate. The act by itself does not punish the perpetrator of domestic violence. But if a case discloses any offences punishable under IPC, CRPC or Dowry prohibition Act, the Magistrate may then, frame appropriate charges to either try the case himself or he may commit it to Sessions Court if he may deem fit.
This act contains five chapters and 37 sections. Its main features are firstly that the term 'domestic violence' has been made wide enough to encompass every possibility as it covers all forms of physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse that can harm, cause injury to, endanger the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, either mental or physical of the aggrieved person. This is a genuinely wide definition and covers every eventuality. Secondly, the definition of an 'aggrieved' person' is equally wide and covers not just the wife but a woman who is the sexual partner of the male irrespective of whether she is his legal wife or not. The daughter, mother, sister, child (male or female), widowed relative, in fact, any woman residing in the household who is related in some way to the respondent, is also covered by the Act . The respondent under the definition given in the Act is "any male, adult person who is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person" but so that his mother, sister and other relatives do not go scot free, the case can also be filed against relatives of the husband or male partner.
S.18 of the same chapter allows the magistrate to protect the woman from acts of violence or even "acts that are likely to take place" in the future and can prohibit the respondent from dispossessing the aggrieved person or in any other manner disturbing her possessions, entering the aggrieved person's place of work or, if the aggrieved person is a child, the school. The respondent can also be restrained from attempting to communicate in any form, whatsoever, with the aggrieved person, including personal, oral, written, electronic or telephonic contact". The respondent can even be prohibited from entering the room/area/house that is allotted to her by the court.
The Act allows magistrates to impose monetary relief and monthly payments of maintenance. The respondent can also be made to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered by the aggrieved person and any child of the aggrieved person as a result of domestic violence and can also cover loss of earnings, medical expenses, loss or damage to property and can also cover the maintenance of the victim and her children . S.22 allows the magistrate to make the respondent pay compensation and damages for injuries including mental torture and emotional distress caused by acts of domestic violence.
The Act provides for penalty up to one-year imprisonment and/or a fine up to Rs. 20,000/- for and offence . The offence is also considered cognizable and non-bailable under Section 31 while Section 32 (2) goes even further and states, "Under the sole testimony of the aggrieved person, the court may conclude that an offence has been committed by the accused".
The Act significantly ensures speedy justice as the court has to start proceedings and have the first hearing within 3 days of the complaint being filed in court and every case must be disposed of within a period of sixty days of the first hearing.
A critique of the Act
Women favoring Aspects
In the garb of providing protection, this legislation in fact, strikes at the very foundation of marriage by promoting intolerance and encouraging unnecessary litigation even for petty domestic disputes. The law is based on a totally wrong notion and assumes men as the sole perpetrators of domestic violence. This is altogether a wrong impression and only confirms the gender bias in favor of women created by this law. “Giving of such sweeping legal powers to women while withholding protection to male victims is tantamount to systematic legal victimization of men ”. The law is wholly gender specific and rules out any possibility of domestic violence against a man . The law confers rights in a woman without imposing any liability, while a man is overburdened with discriminative liabilities with total denial of rights.
The slack drafting of this law will allow cunning and unscrupulous women to teach a lesson to any of her male relative at her sole behest. Moreover any such frivolous claims will be treated as words of god or gospel of truth by virtue of this law . This has virtually empowered all women to punish men at their will. This law not only recognizes but also gives legal sanctions to apprehensions no matter how insignificant and fizzy, they are. The mere belief of a person, even a stranger, will be sufficient for reporting the matter to the protection officers. It can very easily become a weapon for women to extort money, as in such cases usually the police arrests the husband and in-laws. “This arbitrary decision of the police to favor the daughter-in-law is a newfound ethic, to protect the rights and liberalization of women, even though it violates the principles of natural justice ”. A bizarre aspect of this Act is that it does not distinguish between actual abuse and threat of abuse and gives equal weightage to even a likelihood of abuse . Also in regards to the notion of “emotional abuse, insults and verbal abuse” enshrined in the Act, the terms in itself are extremely relative and subjective, often depending on one’s mindset and shockingly, the husband does not have any recourse in case of any abuse by the wife.
Unlike other women protection laws, the Act almost gives a legal sanction to extortion of money by women under the guise of economic abuse . Refusal to pay any sum of money for whatsoever reason will attract the provisions of this law. Non-payment of rental related to the shared household will also constitute economic abuse even if the husband himself is devoid of sufficient resources or even if he is in jail. Another pertinent laxity that can be pointed out as also recently reiterated by the Supreme Court is that the definition of “shared household” as mentioned in the Act is vague and laid that
the parents independent property in which the husband does not have any share will not amount to “shared household”.
Other Anomalies in the Act
Another substantiation of the Act being unreasonable and excessive is that in relation to the right of residence wherein by including the divorced wives, former girlfriends and former live-in partners in the list of women facing domestic violence, this Act gives enough leeway to women to harass innocent men and turn the heat on their former partners. Now even a traitorous woman cannot be thrown out of house as she can easily threaten her husband or in-laws of false domestic violence charges as the Act expressly mentions that incase of absence of any other evidence, her sole testimony shall be relied upon by the Magistrate in deciding the existence and extent of violence. The Act almost gives a legal sanction to any relationship, which is not at all socially acceptable like the live-in relationship. In addition to this the respondent is totally deprived of his legitimate rights over his property as he cannot alienate or dispose if an order is passed under the Act. On the contrary there is an added liability on his part to arrange for an alternate accommodation or pay the rent for the same.
Another certain home breaking implication of this Act is that as consanguinity is a necessary aspect of marriage, and as matter of fact a ground for separation under the marriage laws, one of the provisions of this Act bars the husbands from even asking, leave apart pressurizing, their wives for sex . Another perturbing feature is that as a protective measure or more so a biased feature conferred by this Act in the form of prohibition of any sort of communication to be made by the husband if there is a prima facie case
An unusual oddity in this enactment is that the Magistrate has been entrusted with unaccountable power as he is invested with the responsibility to take cognizance of the case and also for executing his own orders in favor of the aggrieved women even without being approached for their execution. An additional disturbing aspect is that the Magistrate trying the case is required to evaluate not the individual incidence of violence, but the overall circumstances as well.
The major inappropriate implication would be that it would play down the chances of reconciliation in future. On one hand the Act punishes a man for forcing her wife to leave job while on other it provides maintenance to the very same wife. But the law does not provide for any such remedy to a male in any similar circumstance.
All the provisions of this Act, however, do not serve the purpose of effective implementation as the above examples, sometimes due to a lack of resources or due to extraneous factors. S.12 (4), for example, is a laudable provision, which makes it mandatory for the magistrate to hear a case within three days of the complaint being filed. The idea of prompt relief is carried on in s. 12(5), which directs the magistrate to finish hearing the case within six months of it reaching court. However, the overcrowding of courts makes it difficult to see if they can be practically realized.
A further criticism of the Act is with respect to S.14, which may prescribe counseling for either of the parties, and delay proceedings up to two months. As has been discussed earlier, addressal of domestic violence has always tended to focus on conciliation between the perpetrator and the victim, even within the criminal justice system. This is due to the judicial perceptions regarding the importance of preserving the family unit, even to the jeopardy of a victim of domestic violence. In recognition of this fact, a provision such as S.14 can be counterproductive in two ways. Firstly, it might jeopardize speedy disposal of the case, and secondly, it may also convince the aggrieved to continue in that situation without taking any further action.
The Act makes provision for the appointment of protection officers. Protection officers, as per the Act, are a group of officers whose duty is to assist the aggrieved party with the processing and completion of the domestic violence suit. The institution of protection officers is a useful one, emphasizing the need for societal intervention in order to prevent domestic violence, by directly addressing from an external standpoint the relationship of power and control in an abusive relationship. The problem however lies with the resources required for the creation of such a rung of officers
The Supreme Court verdict
Since the Act is written in a negative language, it is essential to consider the Supreme Court judgement in respect of such statutes. The SC has aptly stated in a recent case that if a provision of law is couched in negative language implying mandatory character then the Courts shall interpret the provision, keeping in view the entire content in which the provision came to be enacted, and shall hold the same to be directory though worded in negative form.
Since the Act is written in a negative language, it is essential to consider the Supreme Court judgement in respect of such statutes. The SC has aptly stated in a recent case that if a provision of law is couched in negative language implying mandatory character then the Courts shall interpret the provision, keeping in view the entire content in which the provision came to be enacted, and shall hold the same to be directory though worded in negative form.
Also in the first case on this Act before the Supreme Court , the Court has admitted and established certain evident ambiguities in the Act.The court in this particular case discussed the scope of sections 2,12,17 and 19. As provided by section 17,the court can now order that she not only reside in the same house but that a part of the house can even be allotted to her for her personal use even if she has no legal claim or share in the property. The Act also ensures speedy justice as the court has to start proceedings and have the first hearing within 3 days of the complaint being filed in court and every case must be disposed of within a period of sixty days of the first hearing.
The facts of the case were that respondent was married to son of Appellants and after their marriage and Respondent and her husband were staying in house owned by husband’s mother. When Husband filed a divorce petition against the Respondent, the Respondent shifted to her parents place. She was prohibited to enter house of Appellants. She filed a Suit for a mandatory injunction to enable her to enter the house. The Trial Court granted temporary injunction restraining Appellants from interfering with right of Respondent to reside. On appeal, Senior Civil Judge dismissed temporary injunction application. The Respondent then filed a petition under Article 227 of the Constitution. The Single Judge held that Respondent was entitled to reside in house, as that was her matrimonial home. Then the husband’s parents appealed and the SC held that the house in question belonged to mother in law of Respondent and not to Respondent’s husband and Respondent could not claim any right in said house. The Court also redefined the scope of various provisions relating to ‘shared household’ and compensation in the form of residential accommodation by stating that "Wife is only entitled to claim a right to residence in a shared household, and a ‘shared household’ would only mean house belonging to or taken on rent by husband, or house which belongs to joint family of which husband is a member." The Court while deciding on the issue of alternative accommodation laid down that in regards to “Alternative accommodation under Section 19 (1)(f) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, claim for alternative accommodation can only be made against husband and not against in-laws or other relatives.”
Conclusion
The Act presently is heavily in favor of women. Chances of it being misused and scandalously abused are enormous. It can therefore, be well stated here, that this act could become a pawn in the hands of the “so called aggrieved” who can easily manipulate it for her advantage which can be well supported by these statistical researches, the most alarming of it being that in case of married couples, the male to female suicide ratio is 63:37 thus confirming that men are the ultimate targets. This Act should have ideally included stringent penal provisions for curtailing the instances of abuse and mishandling, but herein, instead various opportunities have been made available which can ultimately lead to its grave misuse and can thus act as a catalyst for breaking homes. Thus, this Act does not contain any provisions for creating awareness or for strengthening and preserving family as an institution or even providing chances for reconciliation or even scope for improvement to “the husband”. The main beneficiaries of this Act will obviously be women of propertied upper class. But there is no doubt that given the hypocritical, patriarchal and insensitive nature of the society, this Act would definitely be instrumental in putting an end to all the degradation and brutality meted out to women.
The Act presently is heavily in favor of women. Chances of it being misused and scandalously abused are enormous. It can therefore, be well stated here, that this act could become a pawn in the hands of the “so called aggrieved” who can easily manipulate it for her advantage which can be well supported by these statistical researches, the most alarming of it being that in case of married couples, the male to female suicide ratio is 63:37 thus confirming that men are the ultimate targets. This Act should have ideally included stringent penal provisions for curtailing the instances of abuse and mishandling, but herein, instead various opportunities have been made available which can ultimately lead to its grave misuse and can thus act as a catalyst for breaking homes. Thus, this Act does not contain any provisions for creating awareness or for strengthening and preserving family as an institution or even providing chances for reconciliation or even scope for improvement to “the husband”. The main beneficiaries of this Act will obviously be women of propertied upper class. But there is no doubt that given the hypocritical, patriarchal and insensitive nature of the society, this Act would definitely be instrumental in putting an end to all the degradation and brutality meted out to women.
It is eventually, the neo collectivist and neo socialist approach which is needed in the society that can essentially free both men and women from shackles of brutality and ultimately put them on an equal pedestal in all respects. Women, who have for decades been silent victims of oppression and enslavement will now have a better chance of fighting the injustice without slightest of hesitation and it can be well summed up with the quote by Marx-that equal laws cannot be applied to unequal people . Thus, any enactment, which forcefully subjects a section of society to conduct and “serve” the other section at its willful pleasure, would only enhance the level of oppression in the society and leave incurable marks on the face of the most democratic society.
Some Great but Lesser known Freedom Fighters
Kiang Nongbah ( jayaintia)
Towards the close of 1860 income tax was also levied in addition to the house-tax. There was an apprehension in the air that tax would also be levied on betel and betel-nut. Imposition of these taxes created turmoil amongst the Jaintias and they rose again in a fierce rebellion in 1862. The magnitude of the upsurge was such that as many as seven regiments and detachments of troops were put into action to suppress it. Jowai, which was besieged by the rebels for about 3 weeks, was thus reoccupied amidst heavy casualties. The leader and guiding spirit in this rebellion was a young man, U Kiang Nongbah. In the first rebellion he kept his identity secret and thus avoided arrest. He was extremely shrewd and a great organiser. He contacted all the Dolois and Sirdars without causing any suspicion. He managed to hoodwink the British Intelligence Service. They had no trace of his movements and activities. Yet, ultimately he was defeated because of the superior might of the British. In the unequal fight that ensured, hundreds of Jaintias were killed and U Kiang Nongbah was betrayed, captured and hung publicly to strike terror into the hearts of the Jaintias on December 30, 1862.
Towards the close of 1860 income tax was also levied in addition to the house-tax. There was an apprehension in the air that tax would also be levied on betel and betel-nut. Imposition of these taxes created turmoil amongst the Jaintias and they rose again in a fierce rebellion in 1862. The magnitude of the upsurge was such that as many as seven regiments and detachments of troops were put into action to suppress it. Jowai, which was besieged by the rebels for about 3 weeks, was thus reoccupied amidst heavy casualties. The leader and guiding spirit in this rebellion was a young man, U Kiang Nongbah. In the first rebellion he kept his identity secret and thus avoided arrest. He was extremely shrewd and a great organiser. He contacted all the Dolois and Sirdars without causing any suspicion. He managed to hoodwink the British Intelligence Service. They had no trace of his movements and activities. Yet, ultimately he was defeated because of the superior might of the British. In the unequal fight that ensured, hundreds of Jaintias were killed and U Kiang Nongbah was betrayed, captured and hung publicly to strike terror into the hearts of the Jaintias on December 30, 1862.
Taji mideren
A resident of Elopain village in the Ithun Valley, Lohit District, North-East Frontier Agency (Arunachal Pradesh), Taji Mideren was a farmer and trader. He took part in the activities against British rule and killed three British officers near the Dikran river in 1905. He organized his Mishmi fellow tribals and got them to come together to resist the expansion of British authority. He established a Mishmi Confederacy under Pangon and other Mishmi leaders. A British expedition was sent to his village in 1913 to arrest him for the murder of the three British officers. The British burnt down the houses in the village but failed to arrest him and others. He was finally captured by the British police at Sadiya in December 1917, and was deported to Tezpur in Assam. There he was tried and sentenced to death. He died on the gallows in the Tezpur Jail on January 29, 1918.
A resident of Elopain village in the Ithun Valley, Lohit District, North-East Frontier Agency (Arunachal Pradesh), Taji Mideren was a farmer and trader. He took part in the activities against British rule and killed three British officers near the Dikran river in 1905. He organized his Mishmi fellow tribals and got them to come together to resist the expansion of British authority. He established a Mishmi Confederacy under Pangon and other Mishmi leaders. A British expedition was sent to his village in 1913 to arrest him for the murder of the three British officers. The British burnt down the houses in the village but failed to arrest him and others. He was finally captured by the British police at Sadiya in December 1917, and was deported to Tezpur in Assam. There he was tried and sentenced to death. He died on the gallows in the Tezpur Jail on January 29, 1918.
Govind guru(mangarh hill) 1907
The Bhil tribals, Dalits and others had raised the banner of freedom under the leadership of Dharmacharya Govind Guru, the founder of the Samp Sabha, an organisation dedicated to fighting British rule as well as the feudal Indian princes.Govind Guru’s followers had gathered at Mangarh for the annual conference of the Samp Sabha. They were surrounded by British-led forces and fired at. Though over 1500 Bhils and others died in the firing, the Samp Sabha continued its campaign, laying a firm foundation for the struggle for independence,
The Bhil tribals, Dalits and others had raised the banner of freedom under the leadership of Dharmacharya Govind Guru, the founder of the Samp Sabha, an organisation dedicated to fighting British rule as well as the feudal Indian princes.Govind Guru’s followers had gathered at Mangarh for the annual conference of the Samp Sabha. They were surrounded by British-led forces and fired at. Though over 1500 Bhils and others died in the firing, the Samp Sabha continued its campaign, laying a firm foundation for the struggle for independence,
Padmavathibai Burli,
wife of the renowned freedom figher,Bindacharya Burli, was a silent and piouswoman.Circumstances so conspired against the family that they had to struggle for two square meals a day. Bindacharya breathed patriotism and lived patriotism. The cause and call of Mother India was always above his domestic obligations. Padmavatibai,not only stood by her husband but led a silent agitation herself by feeding the tired and hungry freedom fighters. She used to tell her own children to eat a little less so that the sons of the nation, committed to free Mother India, could be fed. She used to take food to the freedom fighters who were in hiding. Once she was found serving food to Shakuntala Dabade and Shantabai Karamarkar, who were on satyagraha. Padmavatibai was arrested along with Shakuntala Dabade and Shantabai Karamarkar and all the three of them were sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. All these women and many more who lived in huts and hamlets, rose above their ordinary selves and fought for the freedom of our country. It is the duty of every Indian to make India worthy of their noble sacrifice.
KAMALADEVI CHATTOPADHYAYA- Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya was a freedom fighter of the highest order. She led many struggles. A poet and artist of no mean order, she inspired thousands of Indian women through her writings.
CAPT. LAKSHMI SWAMINATHAN SEHGAL-- Laxmi Swaminathan was the commander of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, the Women’s Wing of the Indian National Army founded by Subhash Chandra Bose. She was a member of the INA that fought and defeated the British Army at Rangoon in Burma. .
The Tilting of the Earth: Shaping Our Seasons and Climates
The Tilting of the Earth: Shaping Our Seasons and Climates
Courtesy : (http://ecology.com/features/tiltingearth/index.html)On January 3, 2008, at 2:00 PM (Universal Time), Earth will reach its closest distance to sun. At this time, the northern hemisphere experiences winter while the southern hemisphere experiences summer. The Earth will travel to its farthest point from the sun on July 4, 2008, at 8:00 AM (UT), when it will be summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.
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| Earth travels around the Sun at about 18.4 miles per second while rotating on its axis at about 1,070 miles per hours. Pictured above is Earth during summer for the Northern Hemisphere where the North Pole (center of the Arctic Ice Cap) receives sunlight 24 hours a day. (Image: University of Toledo) |
Hurtling through space at an average speed of 18.4 miles per second, Earth is constantly changing its position with the sun. Not only is the Earth orbiting around the sun , but it also rotating on its axis at 1,070 miles per hour (speed at the equator). It is, however, a common misconception that the Earth's distance from the sun determines how warm or cold the planet gets.
While it is true that Earth does have a perihelion, or point at which it is closest to the sun, and an aphelion, its farthest point from the sun, the difference between these distances is too minimal as to have any significant impact on the Earth's seasons and climate. The average distance of the Earth from the sun is about 93 million miles (which is also referred to as one astronomical unit or AU). At its closest point, the Earth is about 91.1 million miles from the sun; conversely, the sun is about 94.8 million miles away when it is at aphelion. With these numbers it's easy to figure out that the Earth's orbit around the sun is not so much elliptical (oval) as it is circular, and that the Earth's distance from the sun remains relatively constant throughout its annual orbit.
So what does the Earth's orbit around the sun have to do with our planet's constantly changing temperatures and changing seasons? The answer is... everything! Earlier we said that the Earth is constantly changing its position with the sun. That's because the Earth is tilted in relation to the sun. That is what creates the differences in the seasons and the annual warming and cooling cycles of the Earth's Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
| If the Earth was not Tilted... If the Earth's axis were parallel to the Sun and not tilted, the Sun would remain positioned exactly halfway between the North and South Poles, and there would be no seasonal changes on Earth. Each area on Earth would maintain the same relative climate and same amount of daylight throughout the entire year. |
The Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on its axis, a straight line through the planet from the North Pole to the South Pole. The Earth spins around, or rotates, on this axis as it orbits the sun. The key here is that as the Earth orbits the sun, different regions on Earth are tilted both towards and away from the sun depending on the region's respective hemisphere. This causes the sun's light and energy to hit the different regions of the Earth at different angles throughout the course of one orbit, or one full year.
The Seasons
When the North Pole is tilted most toward the sun, the Northern Hemisphere experiences summer. This occurs when the Earth is farthest away from the sun, and begins on June 21-22. Astronomers refer to the arrival of this event as the Summer Solstice. The sun's energy is more concentrated on the Northern Hemisphere where its rays hit the Earth more directly and are thus more intense. At the same time, however, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun causing the sun's rays to hit the region more at an angle and with less intensity. This brings about winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the arrival of which is called the Winter Solstice.
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| This diagram indicates the orbital position of the Earth as it reaches winter, spring, summer and fall. Note the tilt in relation to the Sun. (NOAA Image) |
As the Earth continues along its path around the sun, its angle constantly shifts the North Pole away from the sun and the South Pole toward the sun. On December 21-22 -- called the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth's North Pole is tilted farthest from the sun and the South Pole is pointed the closest to the sun (or Summer Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere). This is also the time when Earth reaches its closest orbital distance to the sun, and winter arrives in the north and summer in the south.
The Equinoxes
Now, just to close the loop on the effects Earth's solar orbit has on its seasons and climates, here's what happens in-between the winter and summer solstices. Spring and Fall (or Autumn) occur midway on the Earth's journey from winter to summer and from summer to winter. These times occur when the sun appears to be directly over the Earth's equator, and the length of day and night are equal over most of the planet. On March 20 or 21 of each year, the Earth reaches the vernal equinox which marks the arrival of Spring in the north and Fall in the south. The autumnal equinox occurs on September 22-23 and marks the arrival of Fall in the north and Spring in the south.
Putting It All Together
So, now, what do we know? Let's review. We now know that Earth rotates on its axis as it travels around the sun in an almost circular orbit. We also know that, because the Earth is tilted on its axis, its seasons change as it orbits the sun. When it is Summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and this has nothing to do with how close or far the Earth gets to or away from the Sun in its orbit. It's all because the Earth is tilted on its axis.
(Now, just to make sure we don't mislead you, the Earth's overall orbit or distance from the sun would make a difference if it were located say where Mercury is or where Pluto is. As Dr. Jack Hall from ecology.com's Dr. Jack's Natural World says: "It's the three bears syndrome. We're not too close to the sun, and we're not too far away. We're j-u-u-u-u-st right!)
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| Venus' surface (pictured) maintains an average temperature of about 882°F due to the extremely high concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in its atmosphere. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that also exists in Earth's atmosphere but at lower concentration levels that help maintain life-sustaining temperatures. (NASA photo) |
Good! But this does not explain why our planet maintains its relatively warm, life-sustaining temperatures and climates that can -- for the most part -- sustain life, does it? It also does not explain why life on Earth doesn't burn up. For Earth to maintain its average temperature of 61°F (16.1°C), it requires a very delicate balance within its atmosphere, oceans and solid Earth. Consider the planet Mercury, which is the planet closest to the Sun at a distance of only 36 million miles. But its temperatures range from minus 280°F to plus 800°F, depending on whether or not its surface is facing the Sun. Venus, on the other hand -- which is the second closest planet to the Sun at a distance of about 67 million miles, maintains an average surface temperature of about 882°F regardless of which part of the planet is facing the Sun. Neither planet is able to sustain life as we know it on Earth, nor is any other planet in our solar system.
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| The Sahara Desert, pictured, records the hottest temperatures on Earth. Located in the northern part of Africa, the Sahara's highest temperatures average around 130°F. (MIT Photo) |
Earth's... coldest temperature averages about minus 60°F (-45°F to -97°F) and its hottest temperature averages about 130°F-plus. While these extremes make most life impossible to naturally exist or thrive, they occur only in remote areas of the planet, such as the Antarctic (coldest average temperatures) or the Sahara Desert (hottest). Still, these temperatures are relatively warm (or cool) compared to other planets.
Earth's "Checks & Balances"
Earth has a built-in, naturally-occurring "force field" around it that creates and helps maintain viable living conditions for its plant and animal inhabitants. The atmosphere contains greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide to keep the Earth warm, and an ozone layer to protect the Earth from harmful and incinerating (burning) radiation.
The Earth also has other checks and balances that help it absorb and retain the sun's heat and energy (such as the oceans) as well as reflect its energy back into space (such as the polar ice caps). Wind and ocean currents also help distribute this heat around the globe, all within the Earth's protective atmosphere. The point is that Earth is unique in its ability to create and maintain sustainable living conditions because all of its systems and influences are connected to each other, from its atmosphere, oceans and land, to its seasons, its living inhabitants and the sun.
Venus' extremely hot temperature exists because of the very high concentrations of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) in its atmosphere. In fact, Venus has the thickest atmosphere of all the planets. Heat gets in, but doesn't leave. Mercury, on the other hand, has no atmosphere and relies totally on direct sunlight for heat. But the side of Mercury facing away from the sun, which experiences extreme cold, loses all this heat because there is nothing there to hold it in. Earth's systems are j-u-u-u-u-st right!
-- Eric McLamb
Did you know....?
- The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth is 136°F in El Azizia, Libya, in Northern Africa on the northern fringe of the Sahara Desert. A close second is Death Valley in California's Mojave Desert which registered 134°F on July 10, 1913. (Source: The Physics Factbook)
- The coldest temperature ever recorded on the planet's surface did not occur at the South Pole but at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 31, 1983. It was -128.6°F!!! (Source: The Physics Factbook)
- It's the Sahara Desert's dryness, not heat, that makes it a desert. The frozen continent of Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth, is so dry that some scientists consider it a desert, too.
- Our solar system orbits around the center of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. It takes approximately 225 million years for the sun to make one revolution or trip around the Milky Way. (Source: US Department of Energy)
- The speed of the Earth is fastest when it is closest to the Sun, in January, and slowest when it is farthest away from the sun, in July. In other words, in January it will be moving faster than average, and in July it will be moving slower than average.
- Earth's solar system is located on the outer edge on the Milky Way, about 28,000 light years from the center of the galaxy. Most of the Milky Way's 200 billion other stars and their planets are clustered in the center. This leads many scientists to believe that if the solar system were located more toward the center of our giant galaxy, life on Earth would be impossible because of the overwhelming heat and energy emitting from those stars.
- Although most planets spin on their axis that are tilted only a few degrees, the third largest planet, Uranus, spins on an axis that is virtually perpendicular to the sun. Still, it is hotter at its equator than at its poles, the reasons for which are unknown.
Why is only one side of the moon visible from earth?
The moon is 'tidally locked' with earth. Planets and moons are not made of purely smoothe, evenly distributed material. They have lots of bumps and bulges, even if their over-all shape is spherical. The side of the moon that faces earth represents the more massive side of the moon. Over a very long time, the mutual tidal and gravitational forces between the earth and moon caused the more massive chunk of the moon to always face earth. All orbiting bodies have a tendency toward this tidal locking, but again, it takes an enormous amount of time and depends also on the rate of rotation of the body.
Interestingly, there is something called 'libration', which causes the moon to apparently wobble from side to side and also a little up and down. [Think Libra, the scale. Imagine a balance scale slowly moving up and down until it settles.] The moon is not actually wobbling. The effect is the result of a practically constant rotational rate for the moon on its axis, and the fact that the orbital velocity of the moon around the earth is not constant. Because the moon's orbit is elliptical, the moon revolves more rapidly when it is closer to the earth. Also, some of the libration happens because the moon does not orbit around the earth exactly in the earth's equatorial plane. This means we can 'peak' a little above and a little below the usual view that we get of the moon. Over a period of about 15 years of lunar observation from earth, we can see very roughly 60% of the moon's surface as a result of all that libration.
Interestingly, there is something called 'libration', which causes the moon to apparently wobble from side to side and also a little up and down. [Think Libra, the scale. Imagine a balance scale slowly moving up and down until it settles.] The moon is not actually wobbling. The effect is the result of a practically constant rotational rate for the moon on its axis, and the fact that the orbital velocity of the moon around the earth is not constant. Because the moon's orbit is elliptical, the moon revolves more rapidly when it is closer to the earth. Also, some of the libration happens because the moon does not orbit around the earth exactly in the earth's equatorial plane. This means we can 'peak' a little above and a little below the usual view that we get of the moon. Over a period of about 15 years of lunar observation from earth, we can see very roughly 60% of the moon's surface as a result of all that libration.
Moon Tides : What Causes them?
THIS ARTICLE IS A COPY PASTE FROM THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE
Courtesy : http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/
Courtesy : http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/
| Moon Tides |
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| How The Moon Affects Ocean Tides... |
| The word "tides" is a generic term used to define the alternating rise and fall in sea level with respect to the land, produced by the gravitational attraction of the moon and the sun. To a much smaller extent, tides also occur in large lakes, the atmosphere, and within the solid crust of the earth, acted upon by these same gravitational forces of the moon and sun.What are Lunar Tides Tides are created because the Earth and the moon are attracted to each other, just like magnets are attracted to each other. The moon tries to pull at anything on the Earth to bring it closer. But, the Earth is able to hold onto everything except the water. Since the water is always moving, the Earth cannot hold onto it, and the moon is able to pull at it. Each day, there are two high tides and two low tides. The ocean is constantly moving from high tide to low tide, and then back to high tide. There is about 12 hours and 25 minutes between the two high tides. | |
 | Tides are the periodic rise and falling of large bodies of water. Winds and currents move the surface water causing waves. The gravitational attraction of the moon causes the oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon. Another bulge occurs on the opposite side, since the Earth is also being pulled toward the moon (and away from the water on the far side). Ocean levels fluctuate daily as the sun, moon and earth interact. As the moon travels around the earth and as they, together, travel around the sun, the combined gravitational forces cause the world's oceans to rise and fall. Since the earth is rotating while this is happening, two tides occur each day. |
| What are the different types of Tides When the sun and moon are aligned, there are exceptionally strong gravitational forces, causing very high and very low tides which are called spring tides, though they have nothing to do with the season. When the sun and moon are not aligned, the gravitational forces cancel each other out, and the tides are not as dramatically high and low. These are called neap tides. | |
| Spring Tides When the moon is full or new, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined. At these times, the high tides are very high and the low tides are very low. This is known as a spring high tide. Spring tides are especially strong tides (they do not have anything to do with the season Spring). They occur when the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon are in a line. The gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun both contribute to the tides.Spring tides occur during the full moon and the new moon. Neap Tides During the moon's quarter phases the sun and moon work at right angles, causing the bulges to cancel each other. The result is a smaller difference between high and low tides and is known as a neap tide. Neap tides are especially weak tides. They occur when the gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun are perpendicular to one another (with respect to the Earth). Neap tides occur during quarter moons. | |
| The Proxigean Spring Tide is a rare, unusually high tide. This very high tide occurs when the moon is both unusually close to the Earth (at its closest perigee, called the proxigee) and in the New Moon phase (when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth). The proxigean spring tide occurs at most once every 1.5 years. | |
| High Tide / Low Tide Examples | |
 | A view of the tides at Halls Harbour on Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy. This is a time lapse of the tidal rise and fall over a period of six and a half hours. During the next six hours of ebb the fishermen unload their boats on the dock. That's a high tide every 12 and 1/2 hours! There are two high tides every 25 hours. |
| A Few Facts About Lunar Tides | |||
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