Solutions to Change

Assumptions and misconceptions run huge when we ignore facts or are ignorant about them. The same stands true especially when mumbaikars are treated as north indians, assameese called as nepalis and south indians given the nomenclature of madrasis. State citizens have a tendency to create countries within their states to show their dominions over them, in fact forgetting the Shakespearean quote ' all the world is a stage and all the men and women are mere actors' .. the functionality of statehood was aimed at uniting people, communities and beliefs. Unfortunately, we create fiefdoms within ourselves, to form a bigger state entity called 'individuality'.   Raj Thakareys and the MNS, Tamil Elams and regional groups is gaining momentum in this 21st century   where West Asia is fast becoming democratic and grouping itself to form a state entity. I am awed at the challenges which our Iron Man, Vallabhai Patel was faced, with dignity and grace. Recalling one ...

Introduction The passing of Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010 also forms part of the ‘To Do’ List for Indian Parliament this winter. Unfortunately, the bill seems to have evoked minimal discussion within the legal community and civil society, may be because it is clubbed with titans like the Lokpal Bill. No one has a case against the relevance of this bill which requires judges to declare their assets, lays down judicial standards, and establishes processes for removal of judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts. This bill which has been pending for a while was also in the limelight in recent times, especially during instances of allegations of misconduct against judges, both sitting and retired. Appointment of Higher Judiciary - Present System of Collegium The Supreme Court of India in the case of Supreme Court Advocates –on Record Association v. Union of India (AIR 1994 SC 268), also known as Second Judges Case, introduced the collegium system of judicial...

As the proactive role of courts are being seriously debated and many argue for drawing boundaries for the seemingly undefined ‘judicial activism’, the recent decision of Kerala High Court ( Hemant Kumar’s Case,2011 ) imposing preconditions for grant of bail, in cases involving destruction of public property, deserves attention. The judgment states that accused in cases involving destruction of public property should deposit the value of the property destroyed as security to be eligible for bail. Call it ‘judicial activism’ or a case of ‘judicial innovation’, recent media reports suggest that the judgment has started making repercussions, as major political parties in the state have instructed their cadres to be cautious on the streets. The judgment has also initiated a public debate, as the Kerala Government is trying to prepare a detailed valuation of public property destroyed in past few years and also intending to set up fast track courts to specifically deal with such cases. ...

Negating Negative news By Madhu.S “The question of negative news arises out of negation of moral principles” Negative news have two dimensions, one in which is portrays a matter in a negative manner (context specific) and other which gives a negative view of a matter (content specific). For example, the death of a person can be given a negative outlook by incorporating ‘suspicious circumstances of the cause of death’ equal to that of a murder. This is the context specific negativity. Content specific negativity arises in case where news is shown to believe on the bad reputation of a country or a person. This type of negative news is used usually to cause discomfort or throw bad light on a person or a country, something which the western media usually does while portraying Afghanistan or like countries. Interestingly the scope of negative news is immense, as there exists a class of people who take interest of such news and another set who uses it as an opportunity. The co...