Solutions to Change

Dipika Mohinani, Image source: Boston University Diminishing readership of the print media and the entry of smartphones have strengthened social media’s role in shaping political narratives. In a way, it has become a linkage between the governing body and those who are governed, with people feeling increasingly that they can connect on an individual basis with their chosen representatives. In recent years, many politicians have taken to social media to connect with the general masses. Sites like twitter and Facebook have managed to change the political culture setting new trends in politics and also being used as spaces for open debates. Agendas are progressively being mobilised through tweets, posts and visual effects that are designed specifically to diverge a person’s attention to a specific narrative. The activities on social media, despite being engaging and informative, are unregulated. There is close to negligible surveillance of the information spread over the ...

Manas Kakumanu Image source: newshiksha.com The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has gained a lot of attention because of various ongoing trade wars around the world. The agreement can even bolster ties among the participating nations. So, does India’s withdrawal from the RCEP affect its Act East Policy? India’s withdrawal from the RCEP is significant and is based on its national interest. The RCEP agreement certainly raised questions on India’s credibility as a reliable economic and strategic partner. India because of its strategic geographical location, huge market and being one of the largest spenders of defence in the region has been a prominent player in the region. With liberalisation and globalisation, India has emerged as a player with the potential of changing balance of powers in the international system and cannot be ignored by the international conglomerates. India’s withdrawal from the RCEP can have overarching impact on its Act East Po...

Gazi Hassan When one hears the word ‘critical thinking’, the first thing that comes to the mind may be the negative connotations attached to it. This is because the focus is on the word and one assumes that thinking critically must be negative, requiring to criticise or be critical of something one reads, hears or watches. Critical thinking should not be assumed to be synonymous with criticising. Once a person learns to think critically, he/she might criticise an argument or claim but the thinking will be thoughtfully reasoned, considerate, quick and not reflexive. The term critical thinking refers to a way of thinking, an analytical stance one takes with regards to assessing claims that he/she has read, heard or seen. It is “the careful application of reason in the determination of whether a claim is true.” “Judicious reasoning about what to believe and therefore, what to do.” It requires a careful intentional thinking using reason and logic and applying that to real-worl...

Mona Thakkar Image source: Daily Mail In the recent meeting between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Haseena and Narendra Modi, both the leaders agreed on the need for greater efforts to facilitate the “safe return of Rohingya refugees”. This declaration came even after the UN fact-finding mission reaffirmed that the Tatmadaw has committed genocidal crimes and crimes against humanity and the conditions are not conducive for Rohingya’s safe return. Bangladesh, which hosts around 750,000 refugees from Rakhine State, has been complaining about the overwhelming pressure on its resources, environment degradation due to the sprawling camps and Rohingya taking hold of the marginal jobs. It has also been blaming Myanmar for the failure of the recent attempt to repatriate Rohingya refugees, showing its frustration over the lack of resolution of the issue. Instead of backing Bangladesh on the repatriation deal, India has chosen to help by providing financial assistance to Rohingya ...

Image source: The Hindu Businessline Gazi Hassan Tansgender is defined as a person whose gender does not match with the gender assigned to that person at the time of his/her birth. Tansgender includes trans man or trans woman, a person with intersex variations, queer and a person having known by identities such as kinner, hijra and aravani. Transgenders have been living in India since time immemorial and exist in the Indian historical records since the 9th century BC. They have held prominent positions in the society like political advisors to King and administrators. However, their status started degrading when the British government, after the fall of the Mughal Empire, passed Criminal Tribes Act in 1871 which targeted them. Although after the independence of India the Act was repealed, the damage it had caused is still visible. History of the Bill The first version of Transgender Rights Bill was introduced in August, 2016. The Bill defined transgender individua...

Image source: The Hindu Gazi Hassan The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register maintained by the Government of India containing names and relevant information for identification of Indian citizens of the state of Assam. The first NRC was compiled in 1951, after the Census was completed that year. The aim is to identify the so-called “illegal immigrants” believed to have entered Assam after the Bangladesh War of 1971. In 1979, eight years after the war, the State saw an anti-foreigner agitation led by the All Assam Student Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP). In 1985, the anti-foreigner agitation led to the signing of Assam Accord. The accord was signed between the AASU, the AAGSP, the Government of India and the Assam government. Under this accord, those who entered the State between 1966 and 1971 would be deleted from the electoral rolls and lose their voting rights for 10 years, after which their names would be restored to the rolls. ...

Image source: LiveMint By Devika P V, The term ‘congestion pricing’ is used to describe a distance, area or cordon-based road user charging policy around congested areas to reduce the use of private vehicles and increase the use of public transportation. Congestion pricing is also known as electronic road pricing. Drivers usually ignore the social costs of using the road and only calculate their benefits which result in traffic congestion and air pollution. Singapore was the first country to implement Congestion pricing in 1975, followed by London in 2003 and Stockholm in 2007. The need for congestion pricing is increasing every year due to many reasons, the main being population growth which affects the number of vehicles on the roads and causes delays, air pollution and increased fuel consumption. While the number of vehicles is increasing, the size of the roads remains the same. As of now, Delhi is considered to be the highly congested state followed by Mumbai, Bangalore a...