Amputated limbs, headless torso, charred body, heart rending sight; our present world! We surely didn't struggle to scale the ladder of civilisation for this result. Terror had always been in this world. Organised and disorganised wars have always caused several human lives to perish. But the global and extremely organised form to terrorism aided with the lethal and sophisticated weapons of mass destruction had never been there in the past history of human civilisation.

From being savage to civilised, man adopted certain new values. These values resulted in the development of certain human tendencies which on one hand unite the people irrespective of their race, culture, caste, creed and religion; while on the other hand create danger for humanity. The former human tendency helps life blossom on this earth but the later assisted by the fanatics, and extremists equipped with the latest inventions of science and technology is posing a serious threat before the World in the form of global terrorism.

Terrorism is an act of terror which creates fear in the mind of the common people. The path resorted by the terrorists is full of bloodshed, massacre and callousness. Today terrorism has become global and its main targets are the democratic countries of the world. Since democracy is the best form of governance, so these attacks are surely deplorable. The situation worsens when some countries join hands to promote terrorism in those countries with which they don't have friendly relation. Sadly these cruel, hard hearten criminals are called freedom fighters by the terrorism promoting countries.

When we talk about terrorism, we need to understand the difference between terrorists, separatists and the naxalites as India is facing external but also internal terrorism. Although, all the three mentioned above, can be defined in three separate definitions yet to keep it simple, separatists are those who wish to get separated from a particulars country, religion or race, while Naxalities are those whose main problem is related to their economy especially the land.

The most serious threat is from terrorists aided by international terrorist organisation who commit heinous crime in the name of holy war. Though different in their form and origin, all the three sooner or later resort to grotesque murder, hijacking and serious threat to the mankind.

India has been facing the problem of terrorism since 1980s and has tried to raise the issue before all international bodies time and again but the complaints fell on deaf ears. This gigantic problem attracted the attention of the whole world only on 11 September 2001 when America was attacked. Today a huge amount of money is spent in fighting against terrorism and the citizens of every country are living in constant fear of terrorist attacks.

Whether it is India or the world, there are certain reasons behind the problem of terrorism. To deal with this problem, it is extremely essential to know the reasons, behind it. It is believed that the main reasons are poverty and backwardness. Besides these, ignorance and illiteracy are also the other causes but can poor people afford sophisticated weapons. Can illiterate people use biological weapons and latest technology? Of course not! These terrorists are neither poor nor backward. In fact, the so called global terrorists are fanatics. They use the unemployed youth to spread terrorism in the world and it is a matter of sorrow that they do so in the name of religions though all of us know that no religion preaches terrorism.

Now the question arises 'what is the solution of this problem?'

Firstly the developed countries must understand that terrorism of one country is no less severe than the terrorism of another country. So, all the terrorist organisations should be dealt strictly. Anyone found guilty of terrorism should be severely punished and adequate security should be provided to the common people. But, terrorism has another aspect also. The policies of developed countries and the inability of the United Nations in restricting them in many matters of international importance have aggravated the already volatile situation and have promoted terrorism. If ‘Might is Right’ becomes norm of life, as seen in the matter of Iraq, it will be surely adopted by one and all including the terrorist organisations.

Secondly, employment opportunities should be given to the youths of terrorism affected states and rehabilitation opportunities should be provided to those youth who were forced to join terrorist organisations due to poverty and unemployment.

Children and youths should be taught that no religion teaches terrorism and education based on modern technique should be promoted all over the world. Children should be taught the importance of tolerance and brotherhood.

This problem requires a permanent solution which demands an honest effort and not just lip service.

"There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread" -Charles Dickens.

So hungry are some people that the minute details of their bones can be easily seen as there is absolute absence of any muscles between the bones and their pale skin. They are even denied the minimum bare necessity of life. Two square meals would sound sumptuous meals to them but alas!

Even after sixty-five years of independence the stark reality is that 20 crore people go hungry every day in our country. This is outright violation of the most important fundamental right- The Right to Life. Hence the need to guarantee and secure this basic right to food which was long overdue has seen a dawn with the passing of Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha.

Food Security Bill provides legal entitlement of cheaper food grains to 67% of the country's population. It ensures the provision of 5 kilograms of rice at Rs. 3, or wheat at Rs. 2 or coarse grains at Re. 1 per kg every month to approximately 82 crore people of India. This scheme will cover 75% of rural population and 50% of the urban population. The cost of scheme is a whopping 1.3 lakh crore rupees but all concerns about a burgeoning current account deficit and falling growth was in abeyance while the vote in favour of the bill was concluded on August 26, 2013 in the Lok Sabha.

This bill is a ray of hope for the millions of deprived and destitute who go hungry every day. Whatever question may be raised by the Opposition regarding the timing of the bill tabled, the benefits are tremendously philanthropic and humanitarian. Certain existing schemes like Antyodaya Anna Yojana (for the poorest of the poor), cheap food to 32 crore people under BPL, ICDS (for kids below 6 years) etc will be subsumed under this humungous project.

Termed as 'game changer' by UPA-2, this bill has sarcastically been termed as Vote Security Bill and ridiculed as a farce and eye wash as on one hand the Government stated that 21% of India's population is below poverty line while on the other hand this scheme will cover 67% of the population. Apart from this, this scheme will push up the Government's spending which will increase the current account deficit not desirable in the present situation of economic slump. There are also other concerns that India's procurement for the scheme will push up world's food prices in case of drought and under-production. There are certain other grey areas and missing links. States will have to identify beneficiaries. This can create problems as exclusion criteria are not clear. Centre is to share transmission and commission cost which needs to be worked out. 20% to 35% possible leakage in PDS needs to be plugged and storage capacity must be improved.

Food Security Bill may be called a small step by the Government but a giant leap towards mankind with its benign objective of wiping out hunger as well as the tears. It is for the people who are less fortunate, condemned to hunger and malnutrition. The end result of this bill is sure to bring a faint smile on the lips of a starving child, the innocent smile which would relieve the conscience of those rolling in riches, at least a little.

‘God cannot be everywhere so he created Mother’. I feel this saying is very old and we all love our mothers. Let me put it differently. ‘Angels cannot be everywhere so God created daughters.’ Strange but true, we desire for a loving mother and a beloved wife but we don’t want daughters. We worship goddesses as and kill daughters. This problem of gender discrimination has been in India and almost all the developing countries for centuries. In our country this problem is aggravating day by day and this is reflecting in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR) which is defined as number of girl per thousand boys between 0 and 6 years of age. The CSR has decreased drastically from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and now to 918 in 2011. This decline in CSR is a glaring indicator of gender discrimination and social mindset of Indian masses. This grey situation drew the attention of almost all the governments of India and the present NDA government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi launched a divine program with great fanfare named ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) to save and empower the girl child. This program was launched on 22nd January 2015 from Panipat, Haryana. BBBP is a tri-ministerial endeavor of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

Through various awareness programs, the government is trying to sensitize the masses about the importance of daughters. The emphasis is to mobilize communities at ground level and bring about a change in the way the society looks at a girl child. Social media too is being utilized to its fullest to share this awareness and we know how selfie with daughters became a world-wide hit overnight.

Under BBBP Scheme, the District Tasks Force and Block Task Force have been formed to reach upto each stratum of the society and disseminate the actual motive of the scheme at a wider level. Villages too are encouraged to come up with ideas and they too are participating enthusiastically. Street plays potraying the problems of sex-selective abortions and issues related to girl child are being organized in Pithoragarh. Mansa district in Punjab launched an initiative ‘Udaan-Sapney Di Duniya De Rubaru (Udaan-Live Your Dream for One Day)’ to inspire people to educate their girl child and the Sarpanch of Bibipur was the one who came up with the idea of ‘Selfie With Daughter’. People are beaming with ideas and this initiative has been received with open arms by one and all.

Under this scheme, a strong effort is being made to save and educate a girl child. A money saving scheme called ‘The Sukanya Samriddhi Account’ has been introduced, the saving amount of which will be free from tax deduction and only the girl can withdraw the amount after she reaches the age of 18. A total of 100 districts have been identified with low CSR and ` 1 crore has been given to the villages for maintaining sex ratio. It is high time, we as a nation paid attention to this grave problem. The government is doing the best it can but we, the common masses, need to introspect. Are we ready to change?

No country in this world has reached the Developed Nation’s Status if the women folk of that nation are not equal partners of their male counterparts in every walk of life. Educated and financially independent women add to the strength of nation but we as a nation is struggling to fix the CSR and it is a distant dream for us to bring the women folk at par to the men of the country. The initiative of Modi government at such a large scale and with so much of enthusiasm can do wonders if we go strong towards implementing this initiative at the grass root level of the country and let the girl child live and prosper and spread wisdom and knowledge for if you educate a man, you educate a man but if you educate a girl you educate generations to come. Let her live at least. Life finds its own way to flourish.

‘Woman' the occupant of sub-ordinate position in the society, one who is still known by her father's and then her husband's name is striving to make her mark in a country where the deprived and exploited classes have been reaping the advantages of reservation since independence and whosoever remained was given this privilege in 1992. Women who were never considered vote bank didn't get the taste of fruits which the exploited and downtrodden got when our constitution incorporated the provision of reservation in our constitution. She was though given some reservation in jobs at State level, yet no honest attempt has been made so far to bring women at par with men. With reservation touching 50% now we cannot expect reservation for women in government jobs but women hoped to see a dawn with women reservation in Parliament.

‘History repeats itself’. So does the act of presenting the Women Reservation Bill every year, Political parties having quite a good number of seats in the Parliament swore their support to the Bill but then a farce was played out by the so-called radical politicians, jumping into the well of the house, tearing copies of the bill and making impossible for proceedings to continue. The house got adjourned and the Bill was thrown into the dustbin till the whole process was repeated again. With great difficulty the Bill has been finally passed in Rajya Sabha but it will become an Act only after the Government succeeds in executing the mammoth task of getting the Bill passed in the Lok Sabha which remains a distant dream.

Women are not asking for grace and charity. Their contribution to the cause of nation building exceeds that of men. International Labour Organization study shows that while women represent 50 percent of the world adult population and a third of the official labour force, they perform nearly two-third of all working hours, receive a tenth of world income and own less than one percent of world property. Therefore reservation for women is not a bounty but only an honest recognition of their contribution to social development.

The Bill in its current form envisages reserving 181 seats in Parliament for women. This means that 181 male members of Parliament would not be able to contest elections if the Bill is passed. Also, there is to be a rotation of seats i.e. a male Member of Parliament cannot represent the same constituency for more than two consecutive terms. Here lies the rub. 181 seats in Parliament is too great a number to be sacrificed for the mere ideal of women empowerment. The clause of rotation of seats is seen by the opponents of Bill striking at the very heart of democracy as according to their logic, the representatives will not get a chance to nurture his constituency nor the electorate will get a chance to reward or punish their representative. The arguments whatsoever cannot be accepted as the sole basis for discarding women's Reservation Bill altogether.

Moreover when the so called backward and fundamentalist society like Pakistan can grant 33% reservation to women in its senate, why should India the largest democracy in the world lag behind? Making amends for its failure to provide 33% reservation for women in Parliament, the UPA governments recently approved a proposal for fifty percent reservation for women in the Panchayats at all levels. Presently there is one third reservation for women in the Panchayats.

It is high time we gave women their due not in jobs then at least in power sharing before the demand turns into a mass movement and women are forced to send out a message to all political parties, warning them that women will withdraw their backing in the next election if they do not support the Bill now.

Media is the fourth pillar of our democracy. Free media marks the stability and strength of a democracy. In India freedom of press is enshrined in Article 19(1) of our constitution, but unlike America it is not expressly mentioned in it. It is said "A pen is mightier than a sword." This saying has time and again proved its authenticity.

Right from the struggle for independence till the recent movement called judicial activism, media has stirred the people, caused revolt and united the people. Freedom strugglers conveyed their thoughts and ideas through local newspapers and compelled the people to think, rise and revolt. Today also, it is media only which forces us to think, rise and demand.

Lately, we saw an active judiciary over ruling their previous judgements and convicting some high profile accused. Media played a very important role in bringing this positive change in our judicial system. The conviction of affluent businessmen, and police officers reinforced our lost faith in the judicial system of India. This was the result of public movements. People rose for those hapless people whom they didn't know personally. The silent march, lighting of candle at India Gate, sudden gush of Adrenalin at the sight of the accused were seen for the first time after the independence of India. We cried for the helpless victims, prayed for the needy and rejoiced at the conviction of high profile criminals. Thanks to Media, we felt like ‘One India’.

No doubt electronic media gives us the latest, updated information; the addiction of print media hasn't faded away. Print media, on one hand, has become an indispensable part of our life while on the other hand the mushrooming news channels, in their attempt to be the best, bring us the latest information from every corner of the world.

Both types of media have their own importance and can co-exist in our society. Both have their merits, but the line of control seems to be perishing with their intrusion into our private lives. Irrelevant news becoming breaking news is common now-a-days and media highlight them more than any other news of national importance. Sometimes the limits of sensibility are also crossed. Amputated limbs, murder of abducted hapless people, charred bodies are shown on the news channels, thus, killing the sensitivity of the people and sometimes causing rude shock.

With sixty years of independence our country as well as media has come a long way. Self imposed censorship up to some extent is expected and advised. TRP and competition should be irrelevant issues for this strong pillar of a matured democracy of the world which has come full circle.

The word ‘Homosexuality’ means, romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex. Homosexual individuals choose members of their sex for sexual relations and domestic partnership. Such people usually hide their feelings and activities out of fear of disapproval and violence. They are often the target of prejudice and sarcasm.

‘Homosexuals’ a word which was sufficient to raise eyebrow, and discussing it was a strict 'no-no' has been the subject of discussion for some time in India, though there has been an increasing trend towards visibility, acceptance and civil rights for gays and lesbians since 1950's.

Section 377 of IPC which is a law 149 year old termed homosexuality a crime punishable with imprisonment for life or with 10 years. Though our country has hardly noticed any convictions in last 20 years, this section is a major cause of fear and shame for the LGBT. On 3 July 2009 India could became the 127th country to take the guilt out of homosexuality, when the High Court of Delhi in its landmark judgment had decriminalized homosexuality terming it violative of Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution. In fact, going beyond decriminalizing homosexuality, the Delhi High Court had widened the ambit of Article 15 of the Constitution of India, which prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex, religion and caste. It had expanded the term 'sex' to include sexual orientation, which means a person cannot be discriminated against on grounds of sexual preference. The verdict opened the door to the Right to life with dignity for homosexuals in India and is termed as nothing but the recognition of equality of every citizen. The ruling has brought a ray of hope for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender of the whole nation.

The judgment aroused strong reactions from religious and political groups which claimed that the ruling would lead to the ruination of society and family values. Social workers and psychologists however welcomed the order, describing it as scientific and humane. However that judgment was overturned by the Supreme Court of India on 11 December 2013, with the Court holding that amending or repealing Section 377 should be a matter left to Parliament, not the judiciary.

Jawaharlal Nehru once said, "If there is one Constitutional tenet that can be said to be the underlying theme of the Indian Constitution, it is that of inclusiveness." In current scenario section 377 of IPC exists unmodified and the rights of LGBT are yet to be recognized. Being 'different' should hence be not a reason for denying them Right to Equality and Right to Life with a ray of hope, hope of acceptance and inclusiveness.

Recently, there has been a spate of honour killings and it has been a burning issue for sometime in India. On one hand we claim that we are progressing by leaps and bounds and becoming an economic Superpower which is more often represented by a so called "shining India” and such other fantastic and well coined phrases while on the other hand it is a matter of shame that we have the laws of Medieval India supporting such heinous crimes still existing in our society not only in rural India but also in metropolitan cities like Delhi.

Perpetrators of honour killing have become bold and are killing their own family members and loved ones in broad daylight without any remorse. What is still worse is that the community they belong to seems to support them and hold them in high esteem for saving the honour of their family and community. Numerous such barbaric acts of honour killing have at last forced the government to consider amending laws to award stringent punishment to offenders involved in honour killing.

Honour killing is defined as a death that is awarded to a woman of the family as well as her paramour for marrying against the parents' wishes, or for having extramarital or premarital relationships, marrying within the same gotra or outside one's caste or marrying a cousin. Sociologists believe that the reason why honour killings continue to take place is because of the continued rigidity of the caste system. Hence the fear of losing their caste status through which they gain many benefits makes them commit this heinous crime. The other reason why honour killings are taking place is because the mentality of people has not changed and they just cannot accept that marriages can take place in the same gotra or outside one's caste or that their sub-ordinates, the girls who obey their each and every order meekly dare to choose their own husbands.

Honour killing has found a great supporter in Khap Panchayat which has great social and political importance. The Khap was a system of social administration and organization in the republics of North-western Indian states such as Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh since ancient times. Khap is a term for a social - political grouping and used in a geographical sense. It is an irony that even in the 21st century the age old tradition, customs and social administration like khap panchayat are so powerful and revered. According to the medieval tradition people living in adjoining villages belong to the same clan, regardless of their gotras, and are ruled by the principle of brotherhood. Marriage between two people in adjoining villages is thus thought of as incest, and prohibited by the Panchayat. The Khap Panchayats are demanding a change in Section 5 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, to disallow marriage between couples from the same gotra and living in the same village. Kangaroo village councils in such States execute 'death sentences' and other acts of violence with impunity even as the hapless administration looks on.

What can we do to prevent such a heartrending thing from happening? Firstly, the mentality of the people has to change. And when we say that the mentality has to change, we mean to say that parents should accept their children's wishes regarding marriage as it is they who have to lead a life with their life partners and if they are not satisfied with their life partner, they will lead a horrible married life which might even end in suicide. Secondly, we need to have stricter laws to deal with these kinds of killings as this is a crime which cannot be pardoned because humans do not have the right to write down death sentences of innocent fellow humans.

Ragging is a word which is sufficient to send shivers down the spine of thousands of students who have undergone horrible and mind numbing experience on their first few days in their College. The legal definition of ragging is "Doing an act which causes or is likely to cause any physical, psychological and physiological harm or shame or embarrassment to a student.” This includes teasing, abusing or playing practical jokes or causing hurt to a student or asking a student to do an act which he/she would not do in the ordinary course of life.

Ragging initially meant the introduction of juniors to their seniors, so that there could be a harmony in their college but gradually this act of introduction crossed the limits of healthy interaction and entered the domain of teasing and then to physical abuse and shockingly even sexual. The abused freshers suffer from serious psychological trauma and continue to carry this pain for the rest of their lives.

Substantial time, words and ink have been spent in discussing - the incidents and ill effects of ragging but we have very recently started initiating the process of rooting out this savage and barbaric form of welcoming students. This problem aggravated with the rapid mushrooming of private Engineering and Medical Colleges in the early 90s. Since quite a good number of such colleges are in South India, this part of India became a hub of brutal activities. One of the worst affected states, Tamil Nadu brought legislation against ragging in 1997 and in 2001 the Hon’ble Supreme Court banned ragging throughout the country. This led to decrease in daytime ragging in campus which was at least a relatively safe mode of interaction while more threatening and virulent forms of ragging in hostels continue to thrive in most of the Colleges.

For a complete and comprehensive solution of this problem, we will have to adopt three forked solution. The first and the deterrent one is to give strict punishment to the culprits. Under this measure, the accused must be immediately handed over to police and stringent legal action should be taken against them by both the college as well as court. Secondly, through awareness it must be spread that ragging is a legal and social crime. This would slowly but surely check ragging and this is the one and only permanent solution. Finally, alternate means of interaction between fresher and seniors need to be nurtured.

Very recently the Supreme Court came to the fore with strict guidelines to prevent ragging in Colleges and educational institutions. The guidelines on ragging are based on the recommendations made by the Supreme Court Committee on ragging headed by R.K Raghvan. This included immediate rustication of senior students indulged in ragging and action against the heads of the institutions where ragging takes place, sensitizing senior students and checking alcoholism in college campus. Even the SHO and SP will be held responsible if any act of ragging takes place in the area that falls in their Jurisdiction.

It's high time we thought ragging is harmless fun and helps students come out of their shell. It is an act of aggression, a social evil, a heinous crime and a cause of shame for a society which otherwise wants to be called civilized.

A famous saying goes like this ‘God cannot be everywhere, so he created mother’ and another reads ‘God dwells where women are worshipped'. It is quite interesting to see that we want either to worship a woman as a Goddess or hate her as a whore. Why doesn't the society let her live as a woman, just a simple living being made of blood and flesh? Why can't she be a normal human being and not a symbol of tolerance and sacrifice?

Our patriarchal form of society made the woman believe that she will carve a niche for herself in the heaven, if she remains chaste, tolerant, sacrificial, faithful and most important of all if she worships her husband and treats him like a God. She was given a subordinate position in the society and was confined within four walls, to help her remain chaste and pure, which was supposed to help her develop godly powers. Time and again she was narrated the stories of Sati Savitri and Sita. It is right "Women are not born, they are made".

In India, female exploitation is reflected in sati, wife beating, dowry deaths, eve teasing, child prostitution, female foeticide etc. Besides defective and ineffective legislation, it is the traditional attitudes towards women and their role and status in the family and the society, which is mainly responsible for the continual suffering of women.

Most of the crimes against women in India are directly traceable to their inferior subservient position supported by religions and social norms. For women empowerment, the first requirement is educating the women. If we educate a man, we educate an individual, but if we educate a woman, we educate a family. Besides this an educated mind can only think and evaluate. Just as the knowledge of English language helped some revolutionists in gaining information about the French revolution and then raising similar demands in India, the knowledge about right to equality and equal opportunity will help the women to come out of their cocoon and occupy equal status in the society.

Women also need to have adequate representation in the seats of power. Sadly the 50 percent population of women has only 20 percent representatives in the Parliament. The Women Reservation Bill is shamelessly resisted by many parliamentarians on one or other frivolous excuse. Adequate representation in the Parliament will be helpful for women as, then they would be able to frame and implement laws for the welfare of the women. Some people oppose this, citing the example of Panchayats where women sarpanch are puppets in the hands of their male counterparts. We need to understand that, this is the transition stage. Today they have the power. Tomorrow they will understand its value and day after tomorrow they will use it. We cannot expect changes overnight.

Secondly they need to be financially independent. In the absence of financial independence she only became a story of suppressed, exploited and impoverished class of the society. As society progressed, a division of labour took place. Women took the charge of rearing the children which was not an easy task at that time, but this led to their financial dependence on men. The earning members of the society became stronger, socially active and all powerful. Women lost their social status. Now the need to be financially independent is felt because if the women are financially independent, the chances of tolerating domestic violence decrease. They are then more confident and are aware of their rights and know how and where to go to seek redressal of their grievances.

Women must demand their rights and must not just wait for any mercy or miracle. They must not tolerate exploitation in any form. In the name of family and honour many women have sacrificed their lives. This has done nothing but worsened the condition of women. They must take care of themselves. They shouldn't let others take them for granted. Women should respect themselves.

Women are the creator of life on this earth. They command respect not as Goddesses but as women, the most beautiful creation of God.

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.

Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”

When India got her independence and the constitution was written, it stated that a portion of educational and civil services seats were to be reserved for scheduled castes and schedule tribes. Originally supposed to last 10 years, reservations are still going on.

There are numerous reasons why so many people are against reservation:

• There are a lot of OBCs, could be more than half of India's population. Giving them extra seats in universities and jobs means they will vote for the party whoever increased their quota.
• Not all, for whom seats are reserved, are poor; and not all the open competitors are rich. Often richer and politically well connected people get into the best jobs and university without trying too hard, thus squeezing out the real poor and backward people.
• Our best institutions are good in part because the government does not interfere with their management. If the policy continues, these institutes would lose their independence.
• No doubt reservation is positive discrimination, but it is still discrimination. And instead of getting rid of caste system, government is making it stronger.
• Despite being in effect since last 65 years, the reservation policy already in place doesn’t seem to have improved the position of the weaker section, so why would more of the same make a difference!

All this may be true, but the government still must do something to improve the position of the weaker section. However, I support reservation, reasons being:

• Reservation is needed to provide social justice to the most marginalized and underprivileged which is their human right.
• Just because life has been made easier for some people do not mean that other people should suffer. Meritocracy is meaningless without equality, so all people must be brought to the same level first.
• Few sections of the society have been kept out of good jobs and higher education only because of their caste, or because of the community they belong to.
• Another positive benefit is that reservations ensure that there is a wide variety of people in offices and campuses. Such 'social diversity' is a positive thing for society as a whole.
• Reservation system provides mean to slow down the process of ‘Forward becoming richer and backward becom­ing poorer’

These are the reasons why, in spite of the arguments against it, governments all over the world still push for affirmative action.

MY TAKE:

• Support reservations at the schooling level, till the 12th standard. Build more schools.
• Support some reservation for EBCs (Economically backward class) and people from rural area.
• Do not spoon-feed people who’ve already made it past the 12th. They should fend for themselves. If they weren’t good at this level, there are very less chances of them becoming better off later.
• Reservations (not based on merit) at the post-graduate level (IITs, IIMs, AIIMS) is ridiculous, no way this should be implemented.
• For EBCs, provide monetary support at any level. (Making sure merit is not compromised)
• Remove the concept of castes. In a learned society, no one is inferior or superior. We have to get rid of this. No one should ask for the castes. Unless it’s for things like statistics that identify how a tribe has been evolving, moving around, etc.

If you want to see Godliness, watch a child smiling. The innocence of a child reveals the purity of his heart. But sadly this world, of cruel human beings and the universal disease called poverty, has not left this beautiful and innocent form of life untouched. The existence of child labour is a ground reality, a social crime and a crime against humanity, which leaves him as machine in this cruel world of human beings, the most savage animal of this world.

A good proportion of children throughout the world, especially in India, form a part of the toiling masses- destitute, deprived and disadvantaged. It is a matter of shame that maximum number of child labourers is in India. As per the Government data the number of child labourers in India is approximately 2 crore. They work in fields and factories, at street corners and in garbage dumps. With low level of education and no sense of social responsibility, these children can do much harm to the society, if they are not given protection and equal opportunities to develop.

The existence of child labour in India is a complex problem. Poverty is the main and parent cause. Ineffective laws and more often, lack of political will to implement them and social unawareness contribute to the continuation of this problem. Child labourers are preferred by many employers as they are available at cheap rates, and come without much liability. They are easy to be moulded to different circumstances but lack of education, games and fun make them mechanical and hamper their all round development .

The Constitution under Article 24 has prohibited the employment of children below the age of 14 in any hazardous industry. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986 was also a welcome step. Recently their employment at homes as domestic help and at Dhabas has also been banned but the reality is far away from what was expected.

Inspite of various safeguards provided in different Acts, the existence of child labour is a shocking reality. Hunger and starvation push the poor children to do odd jobs. More often the parents in greed of some extra income push their children to do various odd jobs but there is also another stark reality that abrupt end to child labour without any solution to the problem of hunger, starvation and poverty may lead to more grim exploitation. The plight of the poor children would be more severe if they are suddenly deprived of their livelihood. Crime, prostitutions and destitutions can hardly be a better fate than child labour but at the same time, with this huge population of child labourers, the dream of a developed India seems distant.

India is among the fastest growing economies of the world and as a natural corollary energy needs too is fast expanding. Recent strike by the workers of Coal India Limited (CIL), the biggest industrial action for any sector since 1977, comes at a time when the power plants across the country are grappling with fuel shortages.

Sources of renewable energy in India as of December 2013, MNRE India

For many intellectuals this strike has been attention calling at least if not a wake-up call, the reason being coal accounts for as high as 70% of the electricity produced and 55% of the country’s total energy supply.

One of the solutions is to concentrate more on renewable energy sources and side by side gradually facing out the depletable sources of energy. These renewable energy sources may include utilizing solar energy, wind energy, hydro-power, biomass energy etc. to meet the growing demand.

The current installed capacity of the hydroelectric power plants is just 1520 MW as compared to the total identified potential of 15000 MW. North eastern states and west coast of peninsular India are potential sites for installing plants. If developed fully, it could account for almost 7% of the peak demands of 226 GW by 2016 as forecasted by Electric Power Survey (EPS).

India has huge solar energy potential because of its prime location between the tropic of cancer and equator. South eastern coast and western desert regions are among the most potent sites for the installment of solar power plants. Nearly 35000 sq.km. area of the Thar desert has been set aside for solar power projects, sufficient to generate up to 2100 GW if developed to the full extend. In January 2015, the Indian government significantly expanded its solar plants, targeting 100GW of solar capacity by 2022.

For wind energy India is second just to Germany, as the world’s fastest growing markets. The installed capacity of wind energy in India is 21136 MW which accounts for 8.5% of the total installed power capacity. Currently it generates 1.6% of the power. Territories of Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra are among the leading producer of wind energy.

Biomass includes solid biomass, bio-gas, liquid bio fuels, and municipal wastes. India is very rich in biomass, it has a recognized potential of around 21000 MW, while about 3500 MW plants only are installed. Developing biomass at small scale as energy sources may help fulfill localized demands of power.

Taking this scenario into consideration, India has identified potential of 180 GW of energy from renewable resources (Hydropower, Solar power, Wind energy, and Biomass energy). If developed fully it can make up to 80% of the power demand of the year 2016.

However, its setup requires huge land, and to this our agrarian economy and huge population acts as obstacles. Also its low efficiency and huge installation prices involved make it unfavourable to use on local scale. Extraordinary efforts, innovative vision and viable solutions to tackle the increasing demand for energy is required, while maintaining an eco-friendly approach.