What is Article 370? Article 370 of the Indian Constitution used to give special status to the region of Jammu and Kashmir. The article was drafted in Part XXI of the Constitution: Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions. Under this article all the provisions of the constitution which are applicable to other states are not applicable to J&K. For example, till 1965, J&K had a Sadr-e-Riyasat for governor and prime minister in place of chief minister. This article along with Article 35A defined that the J&K state's resident live under separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to resident of other Indian states. As a result of this provision, Indian citizens from other states cannot purchase land or property in Jammu and Kashmir. History of Article 370 In October, 1947, after signing on the Instrument of Accession by the then Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, three subjects on...

What is Unemployment? Unemployment refers to a situation in which the workers who are capable of working and willing to work do not get employed or fail to secure work or any other activity which gives them income or means of livelihood. People who are unfit for work due to physical reason or do not want to work are excluded from the category of unemployment. Basic Definitions 1. Workforce: A worker is one who participate in any economic activity. 2. Labour Force: It refers to the segment of population which supplies or offers to supply labour for production and therefore includes both employed and unemployed persons. 3. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): It is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population. 4. Work Participation Rate: It is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population. 5. Unemployment Rate: Is is defined as a number of unemployed people divided by th...

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented Budget 2019-20 on 05.07.2019 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman became second women in the history of Independence India to present the Union Budget . She presented the maiden budget of Narendra Modi 2.0 government in the Lok Sabha. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE BUDGET 10-POINT VISION FOR THE DECADE Building Team India with Jan Bhagidari : Minimum Government Maximum Governance Achieving green Mother Earth and Blue skies through a pollution-free India Making Digital India reach every sector of the economy Launching Gaganyan, Chandrayan, other Space and Satellite programmes Building physical and social infrastructure Water, water management, clean rivers Blue Economy Self-sufficiency and export of food-grains, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables Achieving a healthy society via Ayushman Bharat , well-nourished women & children, safety of citizens Emphasis on MSMEs, Start-ups, defence manufacturing, automobiles, el...

A Closer Look at India’s languages (Infographic), Credit: daytranslations.com The compulsory imposition of Hindi in schools under the draft National Education Policy (NEP) 2019 displeased non-Hindi speaking states like Tamil Nadu. After much backlash the clause was revised to make it non-mandatory. This was not the first time in the independence history of India that the issue of languages has arisen. It arose in the past, it will arise in the future. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND India has a rich heritage in terms of languages and every language spoken, even by the most remote areas, is respected by the Constitution. “History demonstrates that, from times immemorial, India has been a multilingual country, each language having a certain region in which it was supreme, but none of these regions truly constituted unilingual kingdom or principality.” In ancient India, Sanskrit was most prevailing language by the 'elites' and Pali was the medium of communication for 'lo...

Youth UNESCO Definition: Best understand as a period of transition from the dependence on childhood to adulthood's independence and awareness of our independence as a member of a community. Youth is a more fluid category rather than a fixed age group. Youth being enthusiastic, vibrant, innovative and dynamic in nature is the most important section of the population. They are the most valuable segment of the population and are not a ready laboratory to test the finished products of the state apparatus. Rather, they are the variables that should be utilized for creating new opportunities based on the skills of contemporary relevance. The youth of the nation are the trustees of prosperity. Youth force is dynamic in nature as most skills and orientations are acquired in this age. The youth can act ideally as a bridge between two generations. It is an age cohort that, if explained properly, can understand the need of flexibility in order to smoothen its own growth and development...

Source:  https://www.eci.gov.in/ General Election, the biggest Democratic 'Festival' (comes every five year) was ended on 19.05.2019. This festival was observed in 543 constituencies across 29 states and 7 Union Territories (UTs), spread over a month, in seven phases. About 900 million citizens were eligible to vote in one of the seven phases depending on the region. More than 350 political parties of various sizes and ideologies contested to win the trust of the people and vie to win seats in Lok Sabha. The finale (counting of votes) will be concluded on 23 May, 2019. Some of the important national issues (according to me) on which General Election - 2019 was fought on are as follows: National Security India in the recent times have been struggling with the problem of terrorism. Action against terrorism and extremism was the main focus by the majority of the political parties. The issue of lousy procurement policies in defense and declining defense budget was als...

I have already written a post on Media and its role in a Democracy , in which I concluded that unbiased media is a must for Democracy to operate efficiently (a very well known fact) . Now we are going to analyse how the highly skewed or biased media intentionally or unintentionally can change the course of natural flow of any news, or change the flow of news in a particular direction. It is wrong to say that every-time every-thing has to be unbiased, because its not. The closest thing to unbiased I have witnessed is the scientific studies which are designed to be void of all emotional associations while presenting data and information. To be human is to have biases as we all individuals have our prejudices, preferences and positions; to write or think without reflecting them in some way or the other is nearly impossible. In media sector, however, we have to try. Media person or journalists should be factual and as fair as the facts allow them to be. Well-executed journalism allows...

Pulwama Terror attack. Photo: PTI A convoy of  Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was targeted by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants (claimed the responsibility of the attack) with a car bomb in Awanripora in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday, February 14, 2019. This is a worst-ever terror attack on the security forces in the state in the last few years. At least 38 security personnel were martyred and three were missing. This dastardly attack was strongly condemned by the Indian government and has given a stern message to isolate Pakistan globally. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, on Friday 15, 2019 pledged that perpetrators of the cowardly attack will "pay a heavy price for it". Now, all the government machinery is focusing on Pulwana attack and have no intention to forgive Pakistan. The Central Reserve Police Force in its statement said, "We will not forget, We will not forgive-We salute our martyrs of attack and stand with the families ...

Democracy is a system of government in which all the citizens/ people exercise their power by voting their representatives. Thus, public opinion is an important aspect. The people, in turn, could have the government accountable and change it, if they knew what it is/ was doing. So, there is a need to inform the people of them so that there is a check on the government. There are three main pillars of Democracy - Executive, Legislature and Judiciary - on which it stands. But there is the fourth one, which is kind of hidden, Media which keeps eyes and ears on these three, and informs the people about their policies and actions. Media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy. Media makes people aware of various social, political and economic activities happening around the country and the world. It is like a mirror, which shows us or strives to show us the bare truth and harsh realities of life. Media came into existence in 1780 with the introduction of a newspape...

Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs, Railways & Coal, Shri Piyush Goyal, presented his maiden budget; last budget for NDA before the general election. This budget seems to be attracting the poor and middle-class section of the society, who feel betrayed by the present government. New  Announcements : Several New Schemes and other announcements were there in this interim budget. Pradhan Mantri KIsan SAmman Nidhi (PM-KISAN): Ahead of the Lok Sabha election present government is trying to woo the farming community by announcing ₹ 6,000 per annum direct cash transfer for farmers owning land less than two hectares. Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Scheme: Mega pension scheme for workers in the organised and unorganised sectors who have a monthly income below ₹ 15,000, after 60 years of age. Setting up of  Rashtriya Kamdhenu Ayog to improve sustainable genetic upgrading of cow resources, and to enhance production and productivity of cows!...

The threat of -       a) Growing Automation,       b) The widening divide of wealth between the rich and the poor (concentration of wealth),       c) Reducing/Limited Formal sector jobs,       d) Informal sector jobs with no instability, and       e) Limited skilling and re-skilling of people pushed the world to consider different income redistribution concepts in the past few years. And one of the concepts that have received the most attention is the idea of Universal Basic Income or UBI. It is not a new idea, this idea of state-run Basic Income dates back to the early 16th century when Sir Thomas More argued in Utopia that every person should receive a guaranteed income, which was seconded by many scholars in coming years. Universal Basic Income, or UBI, is a model for providing all citizens of a country with a given sum of money, regardless of their income, resources or employment status. The purpos...

Agriculture is a backbone of any economy, and it is the activity by which food is produced by the optimal use of territorial resources such as land and water. Agriculture in simple terms can be defined as "the cultivation and/ or production of crop plants or livestock products" . A growing global population and changing diet are driving up the demand for food. Production is struggling to keep up as crop yields level off in many parts of the world, ocean health declines, and natural resources - including soil, water and biodiversity - are stretched dangerously thin. The food security challenge will only become more difficult, as the world will need more food for the growing population. This rising concern of food security coupled with output productivity of lands and crop yields made scientist think something about smart agriculture/ climate-smart agriculture. Climate-smart Agriculture   is a revolution in the agriculture industry that helps to guide actions required to...

The history of the world, human history to be precise, is very long and composed of events and details which anyone could remember. Fewer and fewer details are available when we go back in history. Here we are not talking about the history which is not written or vaguely written or rarely/ not available to us. In the earlier centuries, the inventions of agriculture, fire, megalithic construction and speech became the foundation of human life, as well as the development of arts and sciences. With the 'rediscovery' of Classical learning, the invention of new economic models (like mercantilism) and increased contact around the globe started to shape the world it is today. Early modernity will see the creation of the nation-state, the rise of capitalism and colonialism and the beginning of industrialization. The World at the end of 19th c. The fruits of capital intensive and cheap-labor-driven industrialization were enormous for nations who can do it. Some impacts are: ...