Wednesday, December 21, 2022

You are a Buddha

Zen says Buddhahood is not somewhere far away. You are just sitting on top of it. You are it!... It has already happened. Nothing has to be achieved, nothing has to be practised. Only one thing: you have to become a little more alert about who you are.

A man came to a Zen master and asked, 'I would like to become a Buddha.' The master hit him hard. The man was puzzled. He went out and asked an old disciple, 'What kind of man is this? I asked such a simple question and he got so angry. H ..

However, the man asked, 'But what is the message?' The disciple replied, 'The message is simple. If a Buddha comes and asks how to become a Buddha, what else is there to do? You can hit him and make him aware that you are it. What nonsense are you talking!'

IIT-Bombay, Delhi and JNU most sustainable institutes in India: QS World University Rankings

IIT-Bombay emerged as the best educational institutions in India in the first of it’s kind QS World University Rankings: Sustainability released on Wednesday. With a total of 15 Indian universities getting a place in the list, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) featured in the 281-300 rank range, followed by IIT-Delhi (321-340 rank) and Jawaharlal Nehru University at the third rank (361-380).

In order to assess how universities are taking action to set the world’s most pressing environmental and social issues, QS World University Rankings: Sustainability ranking has been started this year.

As of this year, experts took view of over 1300 higher education institutions meeting particular eligibility requirements, out of which 700 institutions made it to the final ranking list.

Fourth rank has been saved by the University of Delhi which marks in the 381-400 rank range and the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) took on the fifth spot (451-500).

However, not just these but many other Indian universities like the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR), Aligarh Muslim University, Jadavpur University, Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP), Banaras Hindu University, Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) also featured in the list.

Meanwhile globally, the University of California, Berkeley (from the US) has taken the lead in the sustainability frame as it has achieved top scores in both the Environmental Impact and Social Impact categories, each providing 50 per cent of the all-around score. It is followed by two Canadian institutions, the University of Toronto securing the second place and the University of British Columbia making it to third spot.

Source: The statesman, 27/10/22

Regress report: Editorial on ever-increasing rape cases in India

Almost ten years on after the Delhi rape case, 4,28,278 cases of crimes against women were registered in 2021, almost double when compared to the 2,44,270 reported cases in 2012.

The gang rape of a woman in a Delhi bus on December 16, 2012 is seen, for many reasons, as a watershed moment in the discourse of crimes against women and relevant deterrence. A decade is perhaps an adequate time to take stock of the situation. A year after the horror, the rape law was amended — the definition of sexual assault was expanded, the quantum of punishment for rape increased, the unscientific ‘two-finger test’ discontinued, and filing police complaints made less bureaucratic — at least on paper. Almost ten years on, 4,28,278 cases of crimes against women were registered in 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, almost double when compared to the 2,44,270 reported cases in 2012. These are just official figures. The ground reality could be far worse because sexual crimes often go unreported owing to shame, ostracisation, fear of perpetrators, and an expensive, long-drawn-out and often fruitless legal process. After 2012, a dedicated corpus called the Nirbhaya Fund was established, partly to get rape victims easy access to justice — 30% of this fund remains unutilised; in Maharashtra, the money was used to provide security to legislators. The conviction rate of rape cases stood at a poor 28.6% in 2021. This can be attributed to institutional warts: poor investigation, procedural flaws that weaken prosecution and so on. Combined with institutional failures is the attendant social regression: rapists being asked to marry their victims by quasi-judicial authorities is not unheard of; these days, there seems to be tacit political support for certain instances of transgression — Bilkis Bano’s tryst for justice is a case in point. The popular endorsement for instant retribution — the death penalty remains in place in India — is an outcome of larger failures.

NCRB data also throw up a more potent source of threat — the home — but the law remains non-committal. Even though 32% of all crimes against women were committed by their husbands, there is a dogged refusal to address, even recognise, marital rape. The regression on women’s safety is also evolving. India saw a 45% increase in rapes of Dalit women and girls between 2015 and 2020, many of these were punishments for ‘violating’ caste lines. An NGO working to provide legal aid to rape survivors has noted that the nature of the crime itself has changed — the rise in gang-rapes bears evidence of the transformation. Things have certainly changed in 10 years — but for the worse.

Source: The Telegraph, 21/12/22

Monday, December 19, 2022

Quote of the Day December 19, 2022

“The first recipe of happiness - avoid too lengthy meditations on the past.”
Andre Maurois

“खुशी का पहला उपाय - पिछली बातों पर बहुत अधिक विचार करने से बचें।”
एन्ड्रे माऊराउस

Current Affairs- December 18, 2022

INDIA

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates and lays foundation stones for projects worth over Rs 6,800 crore in Meghalaya and Tripura.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya inaugurates ICMR-NARFBR (National Animal Resource Facility for Biomedical Research) at Genome Valley, Hyderabad

Union Minister for Science & Technology Jitendra Singh launches CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research) “One Week, One Lab” countrywide campaign

Deadline for public comments on draft ‘Digital personal data protection bill’ till January 2

Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) to organise a nationwide campaign during the Good Governance week (December 19-25)

ECONOMY

World Trade Organization (WTO) Council defers decision on TRIPS waiver extension

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council keeps tax rate same, but defers key reforms

Government said that sufficient food grains stocks are available under Central Pool to meet the country’s requirements.

WORLD

IMF approves deal with Egypt for USD 3 billion support package to support its economy

Indian-origin Leo Varadkar returns for a second term as Ireland’s Prime Minister

Seven children, thirteen women among 24 dead in Malaysia landslip

Azerbaijan agrees to supply European Union with electricity via a subsea cable

Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday inaugurated Germany’s first liquefied natural gas terminal

International Migrants Day is being celebrated on December 18

SPORTS

Croatia beat Morocco 2-1 in the World Cup third-place playoff

India defeats Bangladesh by 120 runs in the final of the third T20 World Cup for the Blind

Indian Women’s Hockey Team beat Spain 1-0 to lift FIH Nations Cup in Valencia

Current Affairs- December 19, 2022

INDIA

Indian Railways received 800 proposals from startups to solve 11 problems under the ‘Startups for Railways’ initiative.
Railways to roll out Vande Metro train by 2023 for middle class and poor
Bird Flu outbreak in Kerala’s Kottayam; several thousand ducks culled in the state
Aviation regulator DGCA introduces new features on its e-governance platform- eGCA
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate India Energy Week 2023 in Karnataka in February 2023.
Sela Pass tunnel is being built by BRO, to provide all-weather connectivity to China border in Arunachal Pradesh.
Telangana to disburse ₹7600 crore to farmers under ‘Rythu Bandhu’ scheme
Government plans to put on sale six mineral blocks in the states of Odisha and Rajasthan

ECONOMY

Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) will spend ₹7,930 crore under PLI scheme for specialty steel
Net direct tax revenue rises 20%, gross revenue rises 26% to ₹13.63 lakh crore in 2022-23
CCPA issues notices to Flipkart, Meesho for sale of acid on their platforms

WORLD

North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles: Seoul
UN nature deal proposed calls to protect at least 30 percent of the planet by 2030
European Union (EU) reaches deal on major carbon market reform

SPORTS

Argentina becomes FIFA World Cup champion; beats defending Champion France 4-2 in penalties
FIFA World Cup 2022: Lionel Messi wins Golden Ball for best player; Mbappe wins Golden Boot

Followers

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Monday, December 19, 2022

INDIA

ECONOMY

WORLD

SPORTS

INDIA

ECONOMY

WORLD

SPORTS

Vol. 57, Issue No. 51, 17 Dec, 2022

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