Crime against women: far more serious and deep rooted than perceived

EDITORIAL:

(This is not a news item)

Human society is sustained by norms which have been altered from time to time according to the needs of its members, but the physical world, which includes all living being, is governed by laws of nature which cannot be changed.

Of-late there has been a sharp increase in crime everywhere (India), especially crime against women. The problem is far more serious and deep rooted than is perceived by most of us. These crimes are related to the changes in societal structure and its development. Earlier in the history, society had developed gradually and slowly, whenever Indian subcontinent was invaded, the invaders brought in with them their culture. The time gap between two invasions played a very vital role, societies got enough time to engage in intercultural exchanges and assimilate the new culture.

This gap began to shrink post industrial revolution, with technological advancements taking place on day to day basis. With various channels of communication at their disposal, Individuals engage in continuous global cultural exchanges round the clock. And with so many people participating, this process of cultural exchange is not going to stop any time soon; it will complete only when a new global culture is created and assimilated.

In such a situation it is the responsibility of every individual to protect fellow citizen irrespective of caste, creed, gender etc. against any crime, though it is very hard to implement on ground. Lately a large section of people have been voicing concerns about safety of women, their rights and freedom. Government has also responded with amended laws and new provisions, but nothing will work until and unless the laws and the provisions conform to the natural law of the physical world, harsh punishment may control crime, but never be able to uproot it. Better governance (in this regard) can only come with an aware government keeping real-time track of the cultural developments taking place in and around the society.

Internet Connectivity for Gram Panchayats

Government in a bid to connect Gram Panchayats to the internet through broadband it has approved laying down of optical fiber cable (OFC). Three pilots have already been launched in three states and 100 Mbps bandwidth has been created at all the 58 Gram Panchayats which are covered in this project started in October last year, said Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology. He further added, 5,81,610 villages out of the 5,93,601 inhabited revenue villages as per Census 2001, have been covered with Village Public Telephones (VPTs) facility by January end this year.

Indian Railways: Purchases 96% indigenous goods

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Railways Shri Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy said that since indigenous sources are not able to meet the requirements of Railways either in quality or quantity, major imports are   rolling stock involving new technology not available in India and their spares along with machines/equipments not available indigenously and also some items of regular consumption.

However, Research Design and Standards Organisation and other production units are entrusted with the responsibility of developing indigenous sources, owing to their efforts, 96% of goods purchased by Indian Railways are indigenous and that import is resorted to in inescapable circumstances only.

UK and India agree to cooperate on earth system science and environmental research

India and UK who have shared interests in research onmeteorology, climate variability and change, oceanography, hydrology, cryosphere, natural hazards and biodiversity have signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) which will facilitate cooperation between the UK and Indian earth system science and environmental research communities. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) of UK and Earth System Science Organization from India were parties to the agreement. The new MOU, will encourage collaboration in these areas by promoting information sharing and identification of new opportunities for collaborative activities such as networking, exchange of scientific and technical capability, and co-funding new research through joint calls with immediate effect. On the occasion Union Minister for Earth Sciences, S Jaipal Reddy said this kind of bilateral cooperative agreement will help us to improve the forecasting capability of various weather and climate related phenomena and natural hazards through sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience. 

Indian Government approves 9 FDI proposals

The Government has approved nine Proposals of Foreign Direct Investment while deferring 11 proposals and rejected two, based on the recommendations of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) in its meeting held on January 21, 2013.The said nine investments will bring in Rs.1140.14 crore approximately.