“If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything.”
Win Borden
“अगर आप कदम उठाने से पहले सब सुनिश्चित करने की प्रतीक्षा करते है, तो संभव है कि आप कभी ज्यादा कुछ कर ही न पाएं.”
विन बॉर्डेन
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Quote of the Day December 12, 2023
YUVAi: Empowering Youth for AI Innovation and Social Impact
YUVAi, an initiative by the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), and Intel India, is set to feature prominently at the upcoming Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit. This collaborative program focuses on equipping students from class 8 to 12 with essential AI skills, fostering a deeper understanding of AI, and encouraging them to become human-centric designers and users of AI.
Current Affairs-December 11, 2023
INDIA
- Vishnu Deo Sai, a prominent tribal face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is set to become the next chief minister of Chhattisgarh.
- A total of six cyclones have taken a heavy toll on the Indian coast this year, with losses worth $2.5 billion and over 500 casualties: Data.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a month-long outreach programme to seek inputs from youngsters on the vision for India in 2047.
- External Affairs Ministry strongly denied that a written order was issued in April to deal with the threat of Khalistani sympathisers in Western countries.
- The PM Vishwakarma Scheme, launched by the Centre in September, has received over 21 lakh applications in two-and-a-half months: Data.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launches ‘Viksit Bharat @2047: Voice of Youth’.
ECONOMY & CORPORATE
- Share of urban women with salaried jobs at 6-year low in the second quarter: PLFS.
- India’s plan for 50,000 electric buses on its roads gets support from United States.
- India defends quality control orders imposed across various sectors at WTO
WORLD
- Draft of a key climate document released calls for progress in adapting to climate change by 2030.
- Javier Milei was sworn in as Argentina’s President.
- The children of imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi accepted this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
- Hong Kong holds the territory’s first ‘patriots only’ local elections.
- Iran unveils combat drones equipped with air-to-air missiles
SPORTS
- Men’s Volleyball Club World Championships: Sicoma Perugia defends title, beats Itambe Minas in the final.
- National Basketball championship final: Railway women retain title after beating Kerala; Tamil Nadu men beat Railways.
Current Affairs- December 10, 2023
INDIA
- Tamil Nadu Government announced ₹6,000 each to all families affected by cyclone Michaung.
- The government said a person who is eligible for Aadhaar can enrol using Iris scan in case fingerprints are unavailable.
- 50 years of diplomatic ties between India and Republic of Korea was celebrated.
- Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI (YUVAi) is set to be featured in GPAI Summit 2023.
- Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah chairs the 26th meeting of Eastern Zonal Council in Patna.
- Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment to present one croreth Unique Disability ID (UDID) card.
ECONOMY & CORPORATE
- Dual Financing Approach being adopted to elevate MSMEs’ contribution in Renewable Energy Transition: IREDA at COP28.
- The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and bank employee unions signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a 17 per cent increase in salary and allowances for five years.
- National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) has acquired two SREI companies under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).
WORLD
- China’s consumer prices fell the fastest in three years in November while factory-gate deflation deepened.
- U.S., South Korea and Japan have agreed on new initiatives to respond to North Korea’s threats in cyberspace.
- EU member states and lawmakers clinched a deal on how to draft historic rules regulating artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT.
SPORTS
- Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur will inaugurate the Khelo India Para Games 2023 in New Delhi.
- Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto enter the final of the Guwahati Masters BWF Super 100 International badminton tournament.
- Ankur Goel won the centre fire pistol gold in the 66th National shooting championship.
What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is marking its 75th anniversary?
A relatively compact document, the declaration consists of a preamble and 30 articles setting out fundamental rights and freedoms.
Seventy-five years ago on Sunday, the UN General Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at a meeting in Paris – laying one of the foundation stones of the international order that emerged following the horrors of World War II.
The declaration was proclaimed as “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.” In practice, it hasn’t always turned out that way over the subsequent decades. As the document turns 75, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said this week that the world is at a “somber moment in history,” wracked by conflicts and crises. But he insisted that “human rights have not failed.”
What is the Universal Declaration?
A relatively compact document, the declaration consists of a preamble and 30 articles setting out fundamental rights and freedoms. Article 1 states that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” And Article 2 says that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms the declaration sets out, “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Other articles state that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person,” and that no one “shall be held in slavery or servitude” or “subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
The declaration says that “all are equal before the law” and that everyone is entitled to “a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.” And it says that “everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” The declaration enshrines the rights to freedom of religion; to freedom of opinion and expression; and to freedom of peaceful assembly. And it says that everyone has the right to education.
Why and how was it drawn up?
The declaration was born of the “never again” sentiment among political leaders after two world wars and the Holocaust. On top of the U.N. Charter, the document that founded the United Nations in 1945, countries decided to draw up what the U.N. calls a “road map” to guarantee the rights of every individual.
A formal drafting committee was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and consisted of members of the new Commission on Human Rights from eight countries, selected to reflect geographical distribution.
Over 50 U.N. member countries participated in the final drafting in 1948, and the U.N. General Assembly approved the result on Dec. 10, 1948, with eight countries abstaining but none voting against. Human rights group Amnesty International notes that the declaration was drawn up at a time when much of the world’s population lived under colonial rule but says that “its drafting ultimately could not be controlled by the powerful alone.” It says that smaller nations “outmaneuvered the large,” ensuring that the final text promised human rights for all without distinction, and that female delegates ensured equal rights for men and women were affirmed.
The declaration isn’t a treaty and isn’t legally binding in itself, but the principles it sets out have been incorporated into many countries’ laws and it is viewed as the basis for international human rights law.
It is recognized as having inspired and paved the way for more than 70 human rights treaties at global and regional levels, according to the U.N. “It inspired the decolonization movement, it inspired the anti-apartheid movement and it inspired freedom fighters all around the world, be it on gender issues, be it on LGBTIQ+ issues, be it against racism,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Türk said on Wednesday.
“If we did not have it, we would be even in a more serious situation because then you would have different standards, and let’s also be very clear: It is the universal standard,” he said. He acknowledged that some have said it doesn’t apply to a specific religion, culture or region, but called that “absolute nonsense.” Türk’s own job emerged from one of the agreements that built on the 1948 declaration: the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action of 1993.
What is the situation now?
The 75th anniversary comes as human rights are challenged in the war between Israel and Hamas, Russia’s war in Ukraine, internal conflicts in Myanmar and Sudan and in a host of other places and situations.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the universal declaration has been “too often misused and abused.” “It is exploited for political gain and it is ignored, often, by the very same people,” Guterres said in a speech in February to the U.N. Human Rights Council – itself frequently criticized because of some member countries’ own poor rights records. “Some governments chip away at it. Others use a wrecking ball.” Still, Amnesty International says the declaration “is living proof that a global vision for human rights is possible, is doable, can be realized.” And Türk says despite the many times the declaration has been ignored or exploited, it is still relevant, and the world should honour its successes and learn from its failures. “Human rights are inherent to every human being. Leaders who ignore this truth imperil the people they are meant to serve,” he said.
Source: Indian Express, 10/12/23
Monday, December 04, 2023
Quote of the Day December 4, 2023
“Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without.”
James Dobson
“विवाह उनसे न करें जिनके साथ आप रह सकते हैं; विवाह उनसे करें जिनके बिना आप नहीं रह सकते।”
जेम्स डॉब्सन
Empowering Women
The analysis of election data about women elected representatives reveals that women have expanded their representation to unreserved seats. The important question that needs to be probed further is the relationship between the ‘politics of presence’ of women and the ways in which these are translated into meaningful processes in the decentralization of democracy and engendering of development and politics
The Indian Parliament has finally enacted a law providing for one third gender quota in Parliament and State Assemblies after a series of unsuccessful initiatives for nearly three decades. UN Women India, a global champion for the empowerment of women and girls, applauded the Reservation Act, and hopes it will “leapfrog India into one of 64 countries” who have reserved seats for women. Conceptually, quotas represent a shift from one concept of equality of opportunity to the concept of equality with emphasis on results, ‘a sort of fast track method’, ‘a qualitative jump into a policy of exact goals and means.’ More than one hundred countries across the world including Pakistan and sub-Saharan African countries have introduced reservation. According to a UN Women report, it has been possible to have 40 per cent women in legislatures in 23 countries through the introduction of a quota system. In countries such as France, South Korea, and Nepal, a quota as high as 50 per cent has been reserved for women. Under-representation of women in democratic bodies like Parliament around the globe has been an issue of open debate and discussion ever since the Women Development Decade (1975-85) initiated at the instance of United Nations, brought to light that the scales of world equality are out of balance ~ men ride high on power while women are endowed with responsibilities. The Human Development Report 1995 made a strong plea for engendering development by correcting gender equality, without which development will be endangered Scholars like Anne Phillips have argued that ‘women bring different types of skill in politics and provide role models for future generations’. Besides, their inclusion in politics facilitates representation of the specific interest of women in state policy, and revitalises democracy by bridging the gap between representation and participation. It can also help in reducing gender inequality, and thus promote one of the key sustainable development goals and bring about an improvement on women’s health, well-being and overall quality of life. In India the protagonists of a quota in Parliament believe that it will add a new dimension to the debates and discussions and it will bring a more ‘civil pattern’ of interactions Besides, larger numbers of women will mobilize and help redirect the political agenda towards greater social good and reduction of corruption. These are proved by empirical studies conducted in panchayats. Historically speaking, Sarojini Naidu and Margaret Cousins led a group of women to demand before the British Parliament equal rights of representation for the fair sex in the Indian Provincial Legislatures long ago. The Second Round Table Conference (1931) took cognizance of it but ended without positive results because of lack of consensus. Our Constitution seeks to guarantee equality in different Articles including provision for positive discrimination (Article 15.3). In the Constituent Assembly women leaders did not demand quota because political equality and complete universal suffrage was now offered to all citizens. Women activists perceived it ‘as a retrograde step’. Despite the absence of the perception of women as actors in development in almost all the Plan documents, it was the National Perspective Plan for Women which argued for introducing a 30 per cent quota for women at all levels of elective bodies. In 1992, twin constitutional amendments accepted one third gender quota in all local bodies. Now there are nearly 46 per cent women in panchayat bodies. More significantly, during the last few years, 20 states have amended their legislations to make room for 50 per cent reservation of seats for women in rural local bodies. The studies have brought quite a few dominant challenges which elected women leaders in panchayats are experiencing. They can be located at three levels, namely individual and family, society and polity and law and institutions. At the individual level lack of experience in participation in political institutions has emerged as an important factor. At the social and political level there is a strong tradition of patriarchy which gives birth to a new class of male village leaders popularly known as sarpanch pati, sarpanch sasur, sarpanch bhai and sarpanch jeth. Political Weekly, Vol 32 (26): WS13-20, April 26-May 2, 19 conducted on women members of 84 GPs in Kerala found that apart from education and land holdings, other variables like age, occupation, and income are crucial for women to enter into politics. Arora and Prabhakar (1997) in their study focused on why some females are more interested in politics and found that women representatives who were highly educated and were from upper caste or dominant castes were more interested in politics. They also pointed out that women representatives who often met and discussed with their friends had significant political interest. Further, Nilekani (2010) found domestic violence against women, wage disparities, sexual harassment and abuse, discrimination in the supplement of nutrition, and low female literacy rates to be widely prevalent in India. Significantly, women have been able to bring about some change in the popular social perception about them ~ that they are incapable of running the government ~ by dint of their remarkable performance. Studies have exploded the popular perception that women are not interested in politics. The analysis of election data about women elected representatives reveals that women have expanded their representation to unreserved seats. The important question that needs to be probed further is the relationship between the ‘politics of presence’ of women and the ways in which these are translated into meaningful processes in the decentralization of democracy and engendering of development and politics. Major obstacles to women’s participation in the public domain in South Asia, as American sociologist Gail Omvedt has observed, can be traced to patrilineal and patrilocal kinship structures where women get ‘socialised to be mothers, wives and workers under others’ authority’. The competitive nature of politics where it becomes a profitable source of income and power that men tend to control appears to be another hindrance. Ideally, what we need are more efforts to collectively mobilise not only women, but also men in support of greater equality. Scandinavia presents the most hopeful case. If we go back 100 years there, we observe a radical activism jump-started by women but with great support from men as well. That was the secret of their success. If properly implemented the gender quotas stand out prominently as an effective strategy of positive discrimination even in the so-called Least Developed Countries in Sub Saharan Africa, such as, Rwanda, Burundi, and Mozambique. According to the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index 2023, women hold 61.3 per cent of Rwanda’s Parliament, a first in the world for women’s representation in the national parliament. The empirical studies on local bodies in India bring out that hard rock patriarchy is the most dominant challenge. True, it cannot be broken overnight but the fact remains as evident from studies on the local bodies that women have started collecting rock-breaking chemicals although the process is still very slow because of patriarchal resistance. The decade of the 1990s marked political churning which led to some mainstreaming of the marginalised sections including women as reflected in the debates on the women’s reservation bills. Earlier undifferentiated reservation was opposed on the ground that reservation would continue the perpetuation of upper caste domination which is the breeding ground of the leaders; while it has some substance, the fact remains that regular democratic seed-drilling at the local level weakens the caste system, and in course of time, women from lower castes will emerge as leaders. The provision for gender quota gives women a piece of land which belongs to them as a group. The construction of houses is now the most challenging job. Rabindranath Tagore raised this issue in Strir Patra and Jogajog. ‘Kumudini and Mrinal needed a house of their own where they will be enjoying some freedom’. Around the same time, in 1929, Virginia Woolf hinted at the same thing in her A Room of One’s Own. Will the ‘patriarchal’ state come forward to help women construct their houses? It is very difficult for the state any longer to ignore the demand of women because democracy is a game of numbers. In the villages and towns where more than one-third women live, the process of challenging patriarchy has already begun. Women, who are more enlightened today, matter.
FR. JOHN FELIX RAJ & PRABHAT KUMAR DATTA
respectively, Vice Chancellor of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Xavier Law School, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata
Source: 2/12/23, The statesman
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