AN INSIGHT ON THE BEEF BAN AND OUR LOVE FOR THE MOTHER OF ALL ANIMALS

Once In a small village in India, a little fox told it's father of his desire to eat human flesh. Next day father fox managed to get some pig meat and offered to his son. But the little fox didn't have it. Then the father fox managed to get some cow meat and offered it. The little fox declined to eat that as well. The stubborn little fox was adamant that he will not settle for anything other than human meat.
That night the father fox left the pork in the front of a masjid and the beef in the front of a temple. Next morning the entire village was full of dead humans .
The little fox smiled and ate human flesh for a week, full of happiness because  his father managed to get so much of it.
The fable might be fictitious, but the Fox is for real.
The sacrament cow has held a special place in the hearts of Hindus since time immemorial. Dairy products are extensively used in Hindu culture and are a major source of nutrition in their meals. The reverence a cow is given in India is such that it’s status is equivalent to that of a mother’s and hence the term “gau mata”. Hence its not at all surprising that cows were used as a symbol of wealth in ancient times and have become a  symbol of allegiance to the hindu faith in present society. Kill a man, you might walk out free some day; but if someone even has a whiff of you taking so much as a hair off a cow’s body, God save you my friend!
Intolerance in matters relating to the cows safety isn’t a recent trend. Legend has it that the Chola king Manu Needhi killed his own son to avenge a little calf his chariot crushed. No wonder right wing Hindutva activists didn’t think twice before lynching an old man accused of keeping beef in his house. So much is our love for the mother of all animals that many politicians have proposed giving it the coveted position of national animal of India! Ralph Fitch, an ancient British merchant who visited India during the sixteenth century wrote an account, “They have a very strange order among them - they worship a cow and esteem much of the cow's dung to paint the walls of their houses.”. throughout history we have proved our love for cows; even our revolution for freedom began with the rumor that rifle cartridges were lined with cow fat. We could easily take all atrocities against us, but no one could touch our cows. Even Mahatma Gandhi gathered momentum in his agitation against the British by promising to ban beef in India when India was free from British Raj. Politicians even now use the cow card to gather support, its obviously a tried and tested method.
All said and done, while we should indiscriminately protect all animals from slaughter, it's we who need protecting, because the fox is very real, lurking in every corner of every neighbourhood, waiting for the opportune time to strike, that’s who we need to lynch, for while there is an ever increasing number of cow saviours, rational people who can champion humanity are actually the need of the present hours.

Aisha Jain

UNDERSTANDING THE WAR

Syrian crisis.

It all began as part of the Arab Spring. The economic weakening of the Arab states combined with mostly educated youth living in decades of dictatorial rule,  it was the perfect recipe for revolution.
In January 2011 Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown. In February it was the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Libya soon erupted in civil war which killed the longest reigning dictator in the Arab world, Muammar Gaddafi. Yemen followed and president Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in February 2012.

Almost all of the Arab world faced demonstration or revolution attempts, but the most hard-hit states were the autocratic governments. After all of the above mentioned states, Syria was next.
But to comprehend the complexity of the conflict , we have to understand the demographic and political condition of Syria

Demographics :
60% Arab-Sunni, 12% Arab-Alawite, 13% Christian, 9% Kurd-Sunni, 6% others (incl. Druze, Shi’ite).

Politics :
Authoritarian, single-party ruler Alawite  dominated the elite, allowing no opposition and under who there was no free speech as the press was owned by the state . His son Bashar Al-Assad rose to power after Hafez’s death in 2000.

The economy :
Inefficiency, mismanagement, and corruption in the government, public, and private sectors, illiteracy, poor education, particularly in rural areas, the increasing emigration of professionals, inflation, a growing trade deficit, a high cost of living and shortages of consumer goods, high unemployment  & rampant smuggling & black market caused this to become an uncontrolled Socialist economic failure
Free-Market was introduced in 1991 but benefited only those connected with the ruling elite and Sunni merchant class in Damascus and Aleppo. Rural areas remained poor, illiterate, and under-developed.

The minority dictatorship is sitting on this giant powder keg of disenfranchised Sunni majority. And then there was the1982 Hama Massacre.
Syrian support to the Christian in the Lebanese civil war triggered domestic terrorism and urban guerrilla warfare committed by Sunni jihadist targeting government, military, and Ba’ath party.
A campaign of repression against the Muslim Brotherhood was launched, culminated in the Hama Massacre, killing 10.000-40.000 people. Many MB members were killed, tortured, or disappeared.

The Syrian uprising began just like Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain. The demonstrations started as early as January 2011 demanding normal things such as democracy and government reform. But these demonstrations were crushed violently. And the people, who happened to be predominantly Sunni, began taking up arms against the Alawite dominated government.
With the Hama massacre still fresh in the Sunni people's mind, the uprising quickly turned sectarian.

And once the sectarianism reared its ugly head, the minority Alawites, Shiites, and Christians had no choice but to side with the secular government.
On the other hand, the Sunni rebels became more and more Islamist and Salafis.

What made the situation worse was the involvement of Syrian neighbours, namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey who supported the rebels, flushing them with money and weapons.
The Syrian government was heavily supported by Iran and Hezbollah. As Syria also hosts Russia’s only warm naval base , it received support from a global superpower without which the war would have taken a very different course .

Al-Qaeda joined in (Jabhat al-Nusra) and later Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (formerly known as Islamic State of Iraq formerly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq).
The sectarian nature also appealed to jihadist parties from around the world to join in the fight as a religious calling. And the spill over to neighbouring countries with similar demographics was also unavoidable such as Iraq and Lebanon.

Geopolitically Syria, Iraq, Bahrain and Yemen are the frontlines of the cold war between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran and there is no end in sight for now .

The fallout of the war

Thousands of Syrians flee their country every day. They often decide to finally escape after seeing their neighborhoods bombed or family members killed.

The risks on the journey to the border can be as high as staying: Families walk for miles through the night to avoid being shot at by snipers or being caught by soldiers who will kidnap young men to fight for the regime

But escaping a country rife with war is not enough for from the frying pan they end up in the fire as the refugee camps are nowhere close to being able to accommodate everybody .

Jordan’s Za'atari, the first official refugee camp that opened in July 2012, gets the most news coverage because it is the destination for newly arrived refugees. It is also the most concentrated settlement of refugees: Approximately 81,500 Syrians live in Za'atari, making it the country’s fourth largest city. The formerly barren desert is crowded with acres of white tents, makeshift shops line a “main street” and sports fields and schools are available for children.

A new camp, Azraq, opened in April 2014, carefully designed to provide a sense of community and security, with steel caravans instead of tents, a camp supermarket, and organized "streets" and “villages”.

Most refugees must find a way to pay rent, even for derelict structures. Without any legal way to work in Jordan and Lebanon, they struggle to find odd jobs and accept low wages that often don’t cover their most basic needs. The situation is slightly better in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq, where Syrian Kurds can legally work, but opportunities are now limited because of the conflict there and language is still a barrier.

The lack of clean water and sanitation in crowded, makeshift settlements is an urgent concern. Diseases like cholera and polio can easily spread — even more life-threatening without enough medical services. In some areas with the largest refugee populations, water shortages have reached emergency levels; the supply is as low as 30 liters per person per day — one-tenth of what the average American uses.

As if that’s not bad enough the Syrian war has prompted the withdrawal of seeds from the The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built in 2008, which stores more than 850,000 seed samples from nations all over the world.It's intended to safeguard the planet's food supply and biodiversity in the event of a doomsday catastrophe like nuclear war , asteroid strike or crippling disease wipes out varieties of plants. Crop Trust, the company that runs the seed vault, says on its website that the vault is "the final backup".

So the question in all our minds should be if the Syrian War can rival  a Nuclear war or an Asteroid strike , why is the UN not taking definitive action ?

Gurpreet Kaur

CRASHING STATE OF CHINESE ECONOMY

China, the world’s second largest economy after US is has been experiencing an economic slowdown. According to experts, the main reason is that the model underlying the previously rapid growth was unsustainable. China has experienced a stock market crash all summer. It has now been importing fewer raw materials and exporting fewer finished goods. Its ripple effects include a sharp contraction in shipping through Singapore, resulting in general decline in the volume of world trade. It is also one of the reasons for falling price of Australian dollar.
Chinese economy is currently hovering around seven per cent. According to IMF, China's growth is expected to slow from 7.3 per cent in 2014 to 6.8 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent in 2016 as the country struggles with its shift from export to consumption-driven economy. There are various reasons for the falling economy of China.  Authoritarian political system makes it difficult to regard any of China’s economic data as reliable. Hence, it is difficult to make inferences based on data provided to countries which have strong economic relations with China. Chinese economic statistics are not fully computerized, and therefore they are a product of a closed and opaque political system with no press freedom.
Economic growth of China was based on unsustainable levels of investment powered by both public and private sector. Investments produce an ongoing flow of services in the future. But in practice, there is only so much useful investment that can be made in any given span of time. Over-time, diminishing returns set in and level of investment falls. In China, investment had been accelerating even as the country got richer-a trend that needed to be reversed. China needs to have more people working in consumption based systems rather than investment based.
To give the economy a boost, China has announced a series of new steps, including tax cuts, the construction of a multi-tier transport system, involving railway, highway, waterways and aviation-network construction, in the Yangtze river basin, part of economic belt along the waterway, and expanding financing for exporters. More than 10,000 startup firms are being set up every day in China as part of new reforms initiated by the Chinese government to halt the slide of the economy.
China sees more than 10,000 firms born every day amid government support for entrepreneurship and so far about six million new startups have been setup, Xin Guobin, vice minister of Industry and Information Technology said. Most of the firms are small enterprises. Data was collected last March through the end of August this year and about six million firms were registered during the period. According to Xin, the government has been cutting taxes and fees, helping small firms save about 48.6 billion yuan ($7.93 billion) in the first half of the year. Also, lending to small firms stood at 16.2 trillion yuan ($2.7 billion) at the end of June, up 14.5 per cent from last year. However, he admitted that the small firms are facing challenges amid the economic slowdown, slumping product prices, rising costs and production overcapacity.
The new startup campaign has been initiated by the government as the economic slowdown is causing big job losses all over China. The start-ups are expected to revitalize the economy taking advantage of the booming e-commerce. The campaign is also expected to help the government's drive to boost the domestic consumption, changing the orientation of the economy from export dependent to that of the one based on domestic consumption.

Tanya Srivastava

ROLE OF GERMANY IN THE REFUGEE CRISIS

Germany has always welcomed the Refugees with open arms. In the German Constitution, Article 16a of the Basic Law grants victims of immigration, an individual right of Asylum. Hence, the fundamental right of asylum has great priority and has expressed Germany’s willingness to satisfy her humanitarian and historical obligation to admit refugees. The procedure of admitting the Asylum seekers is there in the Asylum Procedure Act. The Asylum seekers who are permitted by the border authorities to enter Germany or the Federal Republic of Germany or those who are found in Germany without a permit for residence are transferred to the reception center nearest, to the relevant state.
Using the Initial Distribution, a nation-wide system of distribution, the seekers are assigned to reception centers of the individual states of Germany, as defined in the Asylum Procedure Act.
THE ASYLUM PROCESS IN GERMANY:
The Asylum application is submitted to the branch of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) for examination and decision. Then the seekers receive a certificate of permission to reside which provides a primary right to stay in Germany during the procedure.  The seekers are personally questioned by the BAMF workers on their travel routes and reasons for persecution. The interview is then recorded in writing and translated in respective languages of the asylum seekers, a copy of which is also provided to the seekers. The decision on the application is based on these interviews and requires further investigations. The Asylum seekers are informed about the decision in writing and are given information on legal remedy.
If the application is accepted, then those granted the Asylum status and those granted the Refugee status are given a temporary residence permit and are given the same status as Germans within the system of Social Insurance. They are provided social welfare, child and child raising benefits, allowances for integration, language courses and other kinds of integration assistance.
If neither asylum nor refugee protection can be granted then the BAMF examines the procedure for asylum as to whether there are grounds for a deportation ban. This obligatory conduct of reviewing extensively is due to the intention to ensure that there is no delay in processing. However, according to the rule, the asylum seekers whose applications have not been accepted are required to leave the country.

* In August 2015, Germany announced that it was suspending Dublin for Syrian asylum seekers, which effectively stopped deportations of Syrians back to their European country of entry. This move by the bloc's largest and wealthiest member country was seen as an important gesture of solidarity with entry-point states. Most of the asylum claims are submitted in Germany, which already has well-established Diaspora communities from the Balkans.

Akshara Bhargava

India-Pakistan Relations: The Road to Friendship

The relationship between India and Pakistan has been a controversial issue since the call for partition in the run-up towards independence from British rule. History speaks for itself and provides us with ample examples that help us understand the intricacies of this relationship. The partition of the subcontinent in 1947, that has resulted in chaos and conflict ever since, has its roots in the divide and rule policy utilised by the British rulers which created fault lines of religion among the populace. Post-partition, the animosity has continued to thrive with three India-Pakistan wars, countless ceasefire violations, conflict over the state of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the existence of external support and bases for acts of terrorism on Indian soil. Ever since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, it resulted in chaos for both nations. This has recently escalated into a dangerous situation.

However, at the level of the individual, society and culture, both countries do have commonalities, albeit ones that are not as prominent given the tendency to focus greater attention on the enmity. Ensuring long-needed peace is possible if more focus were to be directed to the similarities and the building of people-to-people relations. A relook at the way we look at India-Pakistan in history is needed – societal relations need to be the bedrock rather than a uni-dimensional emphasis on conflict between the two countries, conflict between Hindus and Muslims, and data on those who died consequently. In the modern era, possibilities for this paradigm shift do exist and the wheels of change are in motion.

Today, with the liberalisation of societies in India and Pakistan, people are trying to mend relations. Exchange of media content such as movies and soap operas, cultural exports like music and artistes, grassroots initiatives such as having partner schools, and mutual interests such as cricket  are providing us with opportunities to explore previously unseen dimensions of the “other”, to realise the extent of commonalities. Many in the current generation do not believe in having worldviews that divide people as inherently different and opposed to one another. The trend of differentiation is disintegrating. However, relations between two countries cannot be truly successful until and unless there is a sense of true friendship and therefore a faithful bilateral relationship between both must be established.

Sushmita Arunachalam

Domestic violence against women

Women have always been considered to be the weaker sex. Right from the Vedic age to the age of 21st century, Indian women have never experienced the freedom that men have. They have always been considered subordinate to men and thus subjected to inequality. Their situation is quiet severe in terms of the violence they experience in marital home. Behind the closed doors of homes all across our country, women are being tortured, beaten and killed. It is happening in rural areas, towns, cities and even across all social classes. It is becoming a legacy being passed on from one generation to another. The term used to describe this exploding problem of violence within our homes is ‘Domestic Violence against Women’. The main cause of this is the patriarchal mindset of people. Men have always tried to overpower women. Generally women do not raise their voice against men because they have been taught to believe that they are the inferior sex. The possible reasons are many and are diversified over the length and breadth of the country.

According to the national survey, the statistics on violence against women in India are stark. Nationally, 8% of married women have been subject to sexual violence, such as forced sex, 31% of married women have been physically abused in a way defined as ‘less severe’, such as slapping or punching, while 10% have suffered ‘severe domestic violence’, such as burning or attack with a weapon. Also, 12% of those who report being physically abused also report at least one of the following injuries as a result of the violence: bruises , injury, sprains, dislocation or burns, wounds, broken bones or broken teeth and /or severe burns. With regard to emotional abuse, 14% of Indian women will have experienced this at some point in their lives.

There are many factors which lead to differences in the beginning and later take shape of domestic violence. These include: dissatisfaction with dowry, arguing with partner, refusing to have sex with him, neglecting in-laws, alcoholism of spouse, etc. Sometimes infertility in females also leads to their assault by their family members. At times, women are even sexually coerced by their partner themselves against their will. They are brutally beaten and tortured for not conceiving a male child. Incidents like ripping off a women’s womb for killing the female foetus when she disagrees for abortion.

A common Indian housewife has a tendency to bear the harassment she is subjected to by her husband and the family. One reason could be to prevent the children from the hardships if she separates from the spouse. Also the traditional and orthodox mindset makes them bear the sufferings without any protest.

Domestic violence has a severe impact on the lives of victimized women. They remain quiet, agonized and emotionally disturbed after the occurrence of the torment.  Sometimes they may also commit suicide and the number of such cases is increasing. Some women leave their home immediately after first few atrocious attacks and try to become independent. Many such women come under the ambit of rescue-work by women’s welfare organizations. Some of them are forced into trafficking and pornography. Domestic violence not only affects the life of victim, but also the children of that victimized lady. It may have a deeper and gruesome impact in their mindset. They get used to such happenings at home, and have a tendency to reciprocate the same in their lives. It’s common, especially in rural homes in India which are victimized by the evil of domestic violence.

In India not much has been done to protect the rights of women. Women have been the victims of domestic violence since time immemorial, but the domestic violence act was passed by the parliament as late as 2005. Physical, sexual, economic, verbal and emotional abuses are covered by this Act. The Act provides women a right to stay in her matrimonial house, even if she doesn’t have ownership rights over the house. However her rights will extend only to her husband’s property not to the property of her in-laws. Also under the act a women has the right to ask for help or protection. A victim of abuse has rights to seek the help and services of police officers, protection homes, service providers, medical establishments and shelter homes. She also has a right to lodge a complaint under section 498 of IPC for ‘matrimonial cruelty’. However the Act is criticized on the grounds that it is not properly backed up. The government has not implemented the Act effectively. Many important factors such as appointment and training of protection officers, police officers, counselors and judicial officers have been ignored. Public Awareness about its provisions has not been ensured. As a result, sometimes domestic violence goes unreported because the victim doesn’t know whom to turn for help. In some cases, the violence is reported but no case is filed in the court. There is a big difference between the number of cases reported and the number of cases that are actually heard in the court.

The constitution of India treats both men and women at par. So, why should there be any discrimination? Why should they be called the ‘weaker sex’?  Women have equaled men in all walks of life. We have women chief ministers, I.A.S. and I.P.S. officers, scientists, business magnates, advocates, doctor and what not. So, why do they bear such torture and harassment?

As responsible citizens we need to raise our voices. We need more stringent laws to curb domestic violence and protect the rights of women. There are several NGOs which are actively working to assist victims of domestic abuse. These NGOs need to spread awareness regarding the legal remedies that are available to them. They should encourage more and more women to come forward and report instances of violence so that necessary action can be taken against the culprit. Gender training should be made mandatory. The police and protection officers need to be sensitized. Last but not the least, the patriarchal mindset of the people has to be changed. Until and unless women are given due respect in society, no amount of laws will be helpful and no country can progress if due respect is not given to the women of that country.

Bibliography

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/pRpN1KyyEpPUYxTFb7C8MJ/Violence-against-married-women-in-Indiacan-the-data-tell-us.html). (n.d.).

THE CRISIS OF OUR CRISES

At first glance, today’s major international crises seem to have little in common. Some, such as Greece’s debt drama, are economic disasters; others, like Syria’s implosion, are characterized by brutality and political chaos; and still others, most notably Ukraine’s predicament, fall somewhere in between. But, despite what policymakers might like to believe, these events are not unrelated. On the contrary, they reflect a deeper crisis of international integration and cooperation. Over the last 60 years, the world experienced unprecedented peace and prosperity for a simple reason: countries voluntarily integrated themselves into an international community underpinned by shared rules and norms. But this trend has given way to piecemeal crisis responses, whether austerity or localized damage control, that are based on the unreasonable assumption that problems like those in Greece, Syria, and Ukraine will eventually correct themselves.

In relying on stopgap measures to address crises, global leaders seem to have forgotten how interdependent the world has become. Upheaval or stagnation in one part of a complex system can have outsize consequences elsewhere, in the form of, say, a refugee crisis or an uptick in inequality. Creditors cannot be expected to be any more lenient with Ukraine than they have been with Greece, a member of the eurozone. But a hard stance on Ukraine while it fights a war with Russia could threaten Europe’s strategic buffer from the Baltic to the Balkans. Unfortunately, today’s crises so far have seemed largely disintegrative. Consider capital flight, which forced Greece to impose controls. Of course, exit mechanisms like capital flight can have a positive impact. In the eighteenth century, capital flight kept predatory rulers in check. Adam Smith viewed the rise of movable capital as a force that would encourage enlightened public policies that serve the general interest. But, in today’s interconnected world, capital can move much more quickly and to many more destinations, crossing borders with the click of a mouse. Moreover, the global financial industry is largely autonomous, driven by self- interest, rather than a desire to advance the common good. As we have seen in Europe since 2010 as well as in Ukraine and Puerto Rico more recently , the ability to rush for the exit at any time removes investors’ incentive to compromise. As policymakers struggle to create a consensus around a reform agenda, the prospects of rejuvenating the pacts and policies underlying integration and cooperation deteriorate. But the world order is by no means fated to develop into chaos. Today’s crisis of international integration can become the catalyst for the creation of new or revitalized global system. To ensure that a crisis produces such a constructive integrative response, policymakers must change their mindset. Instead of seeing only problems that need to be contained, they should view crises as an opportunity for progress.

Today, some important integrative policies lie within reach. On the economic front, policymakers should stop pouring public money into bailouts that benefit private creditors at the expense of taxpayers, and they should end austerity programs that kill growth prospects and do not address debt overhang. They must also reform tax systems and improve cooperation to reduce tax evasion, using the added revenues to invest in physical infrastructure and education. Such measures will create jobs today, and secure prosperity for tomorrow.  Political measures are also needed. Europe needs a more democratic framework that keeps financiers at the negotiating table. Similarly, with the possibility of admitting Ukraine to NATO a dead letter, the west should take steps to ease tension with Russia, in order to ensure its continued participation in international efforts to address key threats as it did when negotiating the recent agreement to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.

Muddling through can lead to only one outcome: disintegration. Only when world leaders recognize the common source and the interconnectedness of current international crises will they be in a position to address them effectively.

DEVALUATION OF YUAN BY CHINA

CHINA, the second largest economy of the world, brought a shock to world markets last week. The Chinese currency Renminbi (Yuan) lost its value against the US dollar by nearly 3% between 11-13 August. Over two decades this was the sharpest weekly fall in Yuan.

What has actually happened to Chinese Economy?

Chinese stocks surged highly, more than doubling in 12 months. Stocks rose even as the Chinese economy was slowing. The foreigners and domestic institutions bought shares in large companies which had stable business. The working class and middle class families invested in inexpensive shares in small and medium sized companies, and kept buying shares even by borrowing money simply because they were rising. The negative sides of the companies like weak balance sheets and improper corporate governance were ignored. As investors realized that market was getting overheated, the Chinese stocks had brief periods of weakness in recent months. The government kept on regularly reassuring investors, helping to steady the markets. Now, investors started losing faith. After a drop of more than 7% in Shanghai and Shenzhen markets on June 26, the Chinese Central Bank responded the next day with an interest rate cut. But a broad slide in stocks continued, so the government had to take a more concrete step. On July 9, stocks rose even after so many government measures to control market. But on July 27, the main Shanghai share index plunged 8.5%, its steepest one day drop in eight years, casting new doubt on the government’s measures to support share prices.  This erased all the gains it had made in its extraordinary run up this year. In August, China abruptly devalued its currency, and authorities said market forces would play a bigger role in determining the value of Yuan.

What were the reasons for this devaluation?

When this question came on the table, People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, soon stepped in to clarify:

It said that devaluation marked the transition to a flexible, more market based system of determining China’s exchange rates from the system that existed until now in which the value of Chinese currency had largely been fixed by the government. If PBOC’s claims are true, it is likely to be a component of a larger, national strategy to internationalize Yuan. China wants to see Yuan emerge as a currency for international trade and finance, like the dollar. It also plans to build Shanghai into a global financial centre. China is trying to get Yuan included in the basket of currencies in IMF’s Special Drawing Rights.

What impact did this devaluation of Yuan has on the Global Economy?

China is the biggest importer of commodities, from countries like Australia and Brazil. China is also a huge buyer of factory equipment and other machinery in Germany and other places.  Now as the Chinese stock market changes damage the consumer confidence, it would slowdown in these purchases. With the devaluation of Yuan, imports from China will increase, worsening the domestic industries of India.

One interpretation of this devaluation was an attempt by the Chinese authorities to boost export demand for its manufactured goods. Some argue that the Chinese action might trigger a new global currency war- where other countries too devalue their currencies to compete with China in trade. And this devaluation in Yuan actually will change the destiny of companies of China which largely depend on imported goods.

Thus this brings into light the phenomena that one change in any economy is bound to impact the entire global economy.

Ramneek Hooda

OROP

Overview:

1.Scheme aimed to benefit 3 million veterans.

2.PM announced Rs 8,300 crore on defense budget,a 15% increase from the previous one.

3.Jawans constitute major part of army yet suffer pay and pension parity.

4.Need to relook at the retiring age of jawans and officers.

5.Army personnel should be provided lateral opportunities in govt institutes.

6.More representation should be given to them.

They gave their adulthood, their productive years to the nation beleiving  that it will give them  something back. They battled a battle different from the 1962 Sino-Indian or the 1965 Indo Pak war. At 60's they are not afraid to die just asking for their right - OROP-One Rank One Pension.

The scheme expected to benefit three million pensioners would guarantee equal pension to military personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, regardless of their date of retirement. The OROP struggled for decades to be implemented. The UPA government allocated Rs 500 crore to defence budget but was delayed due to the shackles of corrupt politicians. Soon in 2014 when the Modi government came into power it went viral. PM Modi announced the defence budget at Rs 8,300 crore, an almost 15% increase in the existing budget. of Rs 54,000 crore per year. This was rather fascinating but soon started getting delayed yet again and agitations by veterans at Jantar Mantar became a common sight.

The bill was finally passed on 5 September, 2015. But the government was reluctant to add premature retirements in OROP. The fact to consider here is that 90% Jawans in the army apply for this. They are regarded as the backbone of Armed Forces yet given meager pensions, facilities and  promotions which I the sole reason for opting for an early retirement. To quote an example, a Jawan gets Rs 5,500 as pension whereas an officer gets Rs 55,000 which just shows the disparity in their pension.Also Jawans are made to retire at a young age of 35 years and officers at 54 years. This in turn creates a large number of young pensioners - which is the root cause of the high defense pension costs. Veterans demanded a reduction in the pension revision time period. They demanded that pension should be recalculated every 2 years rather than 5 years which will ensure timely increment in their pension. Another demand was to set up a single member Judicial Panel to look into various aspects of OROP consisting of 5 members including 3 veterans.

There is a urgent need to relook  at the pension reforms, including the way armed forces are structured. I think it's a national waste to allow a 35- year old jawan or a 54- year old officer to retire in the prime of his life. The re-skilling of armed forces personnel should be made compulsory so that later on they are provided lateral opportunities in government institutions like paramilitary forces, police etc. The US is a good example of how veterans find themselves serving in police forces and the government around the country after their tenure of duty.

In India, such lateral placements would achieve two objectives - skilled, dedicated and professional men and women will be available to government organisations , and this will reduce the pension bill and costs to the government.

Lastly, the defense forces must start restructuring and transforming into a smaller, nimbler and more mobile force and reduce numbers over the medium and long terms. And norms should be made in which Jawans get the equal rights, regular increment in their pay scale as their counterpart officers.

Veterans are human capital that represent national service at its best. It is sad that they find very little representation in the government machinery post retirement.

Sneha Saini

PM MODI'S 2ND VISIT TO USA: WHAT CAN ONE LOOK FORWARD TO?

Prime Minister Modi is all set to visit the USA again with an outreach to the Indian American community, three themes would animate his journey- entrepreneurship and innovation, digital economy and renewable energy. Landing in New York on 23rd September evening he will conduct an interactive session with the potential investors followed by a dinner with the CEO's of 40 bigs discussing on infrastructure and economy. Then heading to Silicon Valley on Saturday, he will be the only Indian PM to have visited California in 40 years. He is all set to have meetings with Apple CEO, Tim Cook, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and electric carmaker Tesla's iconic CEO. On the invitation of Mr. Mark Zuckerberg he will be heading a Question Answer round at the Facebook HQ. Apart from this, he will have a friendly chat with the Indian American Community at the SAP Centre situated in the San Jose part of California, United States which is expected to give a boost to the morale of the Indian American Community there.

India being a tropical country is an excellent source of solar energy.
To make an efficient use of this energy, the PM is all set to interact with Tesla
CEO and obtain solar equipments and techniques that will help India utilize its abundant solar power resources.

The expected “Rockstar” treatment for our nation’s beloved PM will be a treat to watch. He will be concluding his visit by meeting with President Obama which will further strengthen the bilateral ties between the two nations.

All the discussions are targeted to hit the Bull's Eye, that is, the "Make in India" intiative and India towards Green energy.
Let's s hope for the best.

Stuti Garg

WOMEN: The Best Weapon in the War Against Terrorism

If there has been one common thread shared by extremist movements that have captured the world’s attention in the last year, from northern Nigeria to northern Iraq, Syria to Somalia, and Myanmar to Pakistan, is women being used as a weapon in the war against terrorism and are often seen as a “soft” or an “easier” target in all the nook and corners of the world. There have been various forms of vicious attacks on women and in most of the cases their rights have been violated brutally. There have been horrifying stories of women and girls being traded among fighters, forcibly “married,” forced to convert, and repeatedly raped.
These horrific mass violations are mirrored in the accounts of Nigerian girls who fled from Boko Haram, in the tales of Somali women liberated from the rule of al-Shabab, and in descriptions of life under the Islamist group Ansar al-Din in northern Mali. The common agenda of these extremists groups is invariably to place limits on women’s access to education and health services, restricting their participation in economic and political life, and enforcing the restrictions through terrifying violence.
The truth and the principles about the motivations of terrorists are appealing; if only it were true that, as the saying goes, “what terrorists fear most is educated girls.” But building schools and investing in girls’ education should be long-term investments that are ends in themselves, not knee-jerk reactions to extremist violence. Merely defining the West in contrast to “barbarism” and talking of “rescuing” women fall short at best; at worst, doing so sets women up as symbolic targets for terrorist violence, squeezing them between terror and counterterror.
While extremists place the subordination of women at the forefront of their agenda, however, the promotion of gender equality has been only an afterthought in the international community’s response to extremism. This failure must be remedied. The international community must recognize, as the extremists do, that empowered women are the foundation of resilient and stable communities.
Fifteen years ago the Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on the importance of women’s participation in all areas of peace and security, including conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding. This milestone was the result of decades of activism culminating in one revolutionary idea — that peace is inextricably linked with equality between men and women. Overwhelming evidence from around the world shows that women’s empowerment is a powerful force for economic growth, social and political stability, and sustainable peace.
Gender equality and women’s participation in the workforce and income generation are linked to higher GDP per capita; equal access to land and other agricultural inputs can increase agricultural productivity and slash world hunger; and involving women in peacebuilding strongly increases the probability that violence will end.
Militarized counterterrorism operations disrupt economic and social activity, and destroy civilian infrastructure — the schools, markets, and medical facilities relied on by women in traditional caring roles. When governments focus resources on expensive military operations, social ministries like health, family services, and education are often the first to face budget cuts. Civilian displacement leaves women and girls vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence, including, with grim regularity, crimes committed by the security forces supposed to be protecting them.
The failure to prevent these negative impacts constitutes willful negligence. Terrorists are strategic about using women, in increasingly chilling ways. To fight them, we have to move past simplistic assumptions about gender and terror and get serious about helping women and girls who are on this deadly path, as well as their would-be victims.

Deepti