Other pandemic: Does India leading towards women outraging?

Society is comprised of men and women but the respect and values that men gain are comparatively higher than women. Why is this so? Does the woman have less capacity?  Or Did God make women inferior? 

The answer is still far far away to know.  Several centuries have been passed since the period women started feeling aside by society and it's now the 21st century, the modesty of women is ruining day by day, minute by minute. 

BACKGROUND 

You must have heard the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata when you were a kid from your grandmother or mother. At that time, these stories look so fantastic to us that we never took a second to look into the bad flows of it or you can say we had no that much maturity to understand the wrong depicted stories of it.  

Ramayan:  Sita was forcibly taken away by Ravana, who wanted to make her his queen. Sri Rama killed Ravana.

Ahalya was deceived into having sex with Indra. As a result,  her husband Rishi Gautama cursed Indra that he would have 1,000 vaginas all over his body. Indra was so ashamed of the vaginas that sprouted all over his body that he went into hiding. 

Mahabharata:  Duryodhana and Draupadi -  When Dushasana told Draupadi to sit on Duryodhana's lap, Bheema announced in the court he would cause Duryodhana's painful death by breaking his thigh bones and he fulfilled his vow.

Quoting these stories from epics Ramayana and Mahabharata does not mean that I'm against them but it's like picking up cactus among roses. 

Types of outraging women face

1. Acid attack

2. Child marriage 

3. Domestic violence 

4. Forceful Domestic work

5. Child abuse

6. Female feticide 

7. Dowry death

8. Child labor

9. Honour killing 

10. Rape

11. Sexual harassment at the  workplace

12. Forced for prostitution 

Acid attack: India today Data Intelligence Unit ( DIU) has found that between 2014 and 2018, there have been 1,483 victims of acid attacks in the country.  This is according to the data released by National Crime Records Bureau. 

Child marriage:  Child marriage means when either a girl or boy marriages under the age of 18 or 21 respectively. Causes are many like the poor economic condition of the family. Jharkhand state is leading in child marriage. 

Domestic violence:  In 2020, between March 25 to May 31, 1,477 complaints of domestic violence were made by women. I think domestic violence is another pandemic in  India.

Forceful Domestic work: 54% of working women between the ages of 15 to 59 are not available for works because of household responsibilities or domestic work. 

Child abuse:  Child abuse can be physical,  mental, or sexual.  53% of children face sexual abuse. 

Female feticide: Women are murdered all over the world but the most brutal murder of females happened with babies who are not even born yet. Especially in rural areas where parents don't want to give birth to a baby girl. According to the UNFPA report, about 4.6 crore females missing in India due to son preference. 

Dowry death: In India, 20 women die every day as a result of harassment over a dowry.  They are murdered or compelled to commit suicide. A flight attendant Anissa Batra who jumped off the terrace, her parents say, was tortured emotionally for dowry.

Honor killing: In simple words,  honor killing can be defined as disobeying the honor of a family by a woman for marrying a man belonging to another caste or religion. In India, as per the latest available published information with National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 28 cases in 2014, 251 cases in 2015, and 77 cases in 2019 were reported with the motive of honor killing. 

Rape: According to the National Crime Records Bureau  ( NCRB), 32033 rape cases were registered across the country, or an average of 88 cases daily.

sexual harassment at workplace: sexual harassment at the workplace is considered a violation of women's right to equality, life, and liberty. 

Vishakha and others V. State of Rajasthan 

In the case of the Vishakha and others V. State of Rajasthan and others. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has laid down guidelines and norms to be observed to prevent sexual harassment of working women. 

Causes of offenses against women 

1. People think women are made to confined to the house only

Accept it or not but so many people still believe that women aren't made to work outside the home. When we ask them why do they think this way, the answer we get is physical strength.  Women are not capable or strong enough to work outside. There are preconceived notions prevalent in the society that women are weak. Gender roles being assigned to women that generally categories them as the caretaker of the family.

 

2. Educational backwardness 

Generally, women are not as much or not at all educated as men. There are a bunch of reasons. There is a myth that if a woman gets an education,  she will not listen to her family or husband. 

3. Wrong assumptions of people 

If a girl is raped,  people think apparently it was her short dress, consuming alcohol, and having a party at night are the reasons that she got raped.

4. Intoxication

Consuming alcohol is not harmful to males only but also for women when their husbands come back home at night and start beating them because she didn't cook food tasty or for some other reason, 

5. Patriarchal society

Patriarchal society is the main reason for women being harassed everywhere, whether it is home or office or anything else. 

WAY FORWARD

1. Government should focus more on women safety especially at night so that women don't face the same problem as Nirbhaya rape case or Bangaluru rape case. 

2. Providing employment,  water supply,  sanitation should not the only options for politicians to get votes from citizens, they should also include the option of women safety.  I think, it's not just an option,  it must be a criteria for common people to vote politicians upon. 

3. Citizens and government should not to be more focused, alert or aggressive at that time only when a rape case happened. They should learn to work as a caretaker when a girl is walking on the road alone or being raped by so many. 

4. Nirbhaya fund came into existence after a historic rape case happened in Delhi 2012. It was started with 1,000 crore and only 36% of the fund has been used so far. Now you can imagine how unutilized this fund is. Government should coordinate among ministers and bring this fund into utilization. 

5. Girl students should be trained in self defense/martial arts. Government should provide free trainers of martial art in government schools and colleges.  Private institutions should also work upon it. 

6. Street lights and CCTVs should not installed just for showing but it must work everytime. 

7. Citizens should also learn not to see a raped girl with suspicion. It may be possible this time she's the victim,  some other times, victim can be me and your mother or sister also. We should learn not to see a victim with sin but with a blessing of God whom he sent on the earth to make her dreams come true.

8. Students should be taught about gender equality,  respecting women at an early age so that they can inculcate these values in their minds. 

9. Increase the number of female police officers so that they can only file complaints of the victims, or can visit at the very spot where a rape happened, or can reach where ever a female police officer is needed.

10. The Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) provides that investigation relating to offences punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years must be completed within 60 days. 

The proposed Maharashtra Shakti Act of 2020 will have a provision to complete investigation within 15 days.

Among given dealines of investigation showing the concern of the government towards the victim. But, however, we should forget that these timelines can work against a woman. What if, the lawyer of the victim cannot find enough evidences to proof the allegations right? So, in my humble opinion,  government should make a provision through which a magistrate will listen to an anecdote of the case, and will decide the timeline of investigation after that he will give his final opinion. 

11. Government should work on infrastructure.  They should provide enough public toilets so that women don't need to go in open.  

12. Moreover,  women should also know about their rights if they want to use a toilet,  they can even use a toilet of 5 star hotel, even if she is not having lunch or dinner there. 

13. Not family, nor even school teachers are ready to talk about sex openly. Sex education is must needed education,  we should all work more upon. Men must be taught women are not toys with whom you can play anywhere and anytime. Women have dignity and modesty and everybody should respect them.

The suggestions given above are enough to end this other pendemic of India or is there anything else you're keeping in mind? 

 

FRESH VISTA

On december 10, 2020, our honourable PM Narendra Modi delivered a speech on new parliament by saying "Today is a milestone in India's democratic history. The launch of the construction of the parliament House of India, with the idea of Indianans by Indians, is one of the most important milestones of our democratic traditions. We the people of India will construct this new Parliament building together". 

  BACKGROUND

It's not a sudden act being performed by the Central Government. Actually, a joint parliament committee (JPC) was set up in 2009 by Meira Kumar, the then Speaker of Lok Sabha. The ex-officio members included then deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha K. Rahman Khan, then home minister P. Chidambaram and then urban development minister Jaipal Reddy. The Lok Sabha members included L.K. Advani, Mamata Banerjee, Ram Sundar Das, Baliram, Pranab Mukherjee and Revati Raman Singh, and special invitee Pavan Kuman Bansal, then minister for water resources and parliamentary affairs.

 

The JPC was set up to discuss, plan and oversee the “maintenance of heritage character and development of parliament house complex”. 

 The committee was also set up to decide the budget required and the creation of the special corpus for the purpose. 

 During her term as Speaker, Meira Kumar also created a new “Heritage Management Plan to assist the two committees. This branch reviews all Central Public Works Department (CPWD) proposals for maintenance, renovation and upgrade of the parliament house prior to the work being carried out. In 2013, the JPC had reportedly decided to ask CPWD to hire consultants “to prepare a masterplan which would ensure that only “core activity” is carried out in the 85-year-old building.” In 2014, after the formation of a new government, the JPC was reconstituted by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in consultation with the chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The members of this JPC included prominent Lok Sabha members such as L.K. Advani, Sudip Bhadopadhyay, Thambi Durai, Anant Geete, Mallikarjun Kharge and Bhartruhari Mahtab. The Rajya Sabha members included Rahman Khan, C.P. Thakur and Sharad Yadav. 

  OLD PARLIAMENT

• The parliament, a circular edifice, 560 feet in diameter. 

• Designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert • Started on February 12, 1921 and the construction took for six years at the cost of 83 lakh. 

• The opening ceremony was performed on January 18, 1927, by the then Governor-General of India, Lord Irwin.

  NEW PARLIAMENT

• The new parliament building, estimated to be spread over 64,500 square metres, will be earthquake-resistant. 

• There will be a basement, ground, first and second floors in the new building and its height will be same as the old building so that both are in symmetry.

 

• The Lok Sabha chamber will have a seating capacity for 888 members, while Rajya Sabha will have 384 seats for the members. 

• The estimated cost rs971 crore.

 • Included a new Central Secretariat, the offices, and the residence of the Vice – President and the Prime Minister. 

  WAY FORWARD 

 

• The construction of a new parliament is a good step taken by the Government, but does it really the very time to do so during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Think. 

• Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri asserted that this is the dream of the PM, does the dream of the PM is more important than the lives of 130 crore? Think again.

 • Does having a new parliament will help or improve the working of the parliamentary system in India?

 • What is the point of having a new parliament where there are severe cash crunch. Do not you think that government should utilize those funds to procure ventilators and liquidate cash to jobless migrant laborers stuck in various parts of the country. 

• The short time frames within which this project was conceived may come at huge social, environmental and economic costs. 

• The construction of new parliament will benefit 2000 people directly and 9000 people indirectly by providing employment. 

• Between 1940 and 1941, the House of Commons destroyed by German bombs, A true conservative, Churchill wanted the House to be “restored in all essentials to its old form, convenience and dignity”. He went on to add, “I am, therefore, proposing in the name of His Majesty’s Government that we decide to rebuild the House of Commons on its old foundations, which are intact, and in principle within its old dimensions, and that we utilise so far as possible its shattered walls. That is also the most cheap and expeditious method we could pursue to provide ourselves with a habitation.” Now compare the British Government’s attitude towards its parliament with the India. 

• There is a need to renovate the parliament not to rebuild it. 

• Government should utilize those funds to increase the consumption expenditure because it has been below that of the corresponding period in the previous year.

FARM BILLS, 2020

The Indian Farm Bills, 2020, consisting of three agricultural bills,  

a. Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce ( Promotion and facilitation), 

b. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill and 

c, The Essential Commodities (Amendments) Bill.

  On 27 September, they got approval from the President of India,  Ram Nath Kovind and became acts.  Now you must be thinking what are these bills about ? Why so many farmers are protesting across the nation especially in Haryana and Punjab?

So, let me make it easy for you.  We will start from beginning to end.

History 

A. Pre - Independence India

Permanent  Settlement 

The Permanent Settlement came into effect in 1793 by General - Governor Lord Cornwallis. This was an agreement between the company and the Zamindars to fix the land revenues. This system was also called Zamindari system.  The fixed amount was 10/11th portion for the government and 1/11th for the Zamindars.  In this settlement, we can see that peasants were left at the mercy of Zamindars as Zamindars were now owners of the lands.  The peasants had no rights over land and they could be replaced by Zamindars anytime. 

B. After Independence 

Green Revolution 

A program under which high - yield varieties of wheat and rice were planted in the fields of poor farmers in order to eliminate hunger and poverty.  Nevertheless, this program led to decline in the production of indigenous crops such as millets. 

Land Fragmentation 

The concept of land fragmentation means breakdown of a bigger land into small units. This is done when the land of a father breaks down into small units among his sons,  which ultimately leads to low agricultural productivity and backward state of our agriculture.  A lot of time and labour is wasted in moving seeds.  The farm mechanization cannot be installed in the small lands. 

These are all about history that how farmers of India were exploited by government, zamindars and British India Government.

Now we talk about farm bills, 2020.

1. FARMERS' PRODUCE TRADE AND COMMERCE (PROMOTION AND FACILITATION) ACT, 2020 : 

MAIN PROVISIONS 

A. The farmers and traders will enjoy freedom of choice of sale and purchase of agri-produce. 

Earlier farmers were supposed to sale its products in the APMC ( Agricultural Produce Market Committee) only, but this provision is allowing farmers to sale its products as per own whims. There is no boundary of selling agri-products. 

B. Will promote barrier- free inter - state and intra-state trade and commerce outside the physical premises of markets notified under State Agricultural Produce Marketing Legislations.

Now farmers are supposed to sale its products from one state to another,  from one place to another within a state. 

C. The farmers wil not be charged any cess or levy for sale of their produce and wil not have to bear transport costs. 

The farmers will not suppose to pay any cess or levy that is good but what about transport cost? Do you really think that is it possible for farmers because farmers will,  obviously have to pay the transport costs if they want to sale their products to APMC or some other place?

D. The bill also proposes an electronic trading in transaction platform for ensuring a seamless trade electronically. 

This is not a new provision made by government because there are already a platform E-NAM where all APMCs are connected and the prices of all products are listed,  where farmers can easily sell their products. 

E. In addition to mandis, freedom to do trading at farmgate, cold storage, warehouse, processing units etc. 

F. Farmers will be able to engage in direct marketing thereby eliminating intermediaries, resulting in full realization of price. 

CLARIFICATIONS 

There are some clarifications made the government of India:

A. Procurement at Minimum Support Price will continue. 

B. Mandis will not stop functioning. 

C. The e-nam trading system will continue in the mandis. 

2. THE FARMERS (EMPOWERMENT AND PROTECTION)AGREEMENT ON PRICE ASSURANCE AND FARM SERVICES ACT, 2020

MAIN PROVISIONS 

A. Farmers will be empowered for engaging with processors, wholessalers, aggregators, large retailers, exporters etc.  On a level playing field Price assurance to farmers even before sowing of crops.  In case of higher market price,  farmers will be entitled to this price over and above the minimum price. 

Through this provision government of India empowering the farmers of India to sale their products at higher prices, if the market price of the products are high. For instance,  McDonalds visits a farmer and asks to produce that much quantity of the potatoes as much asked in the contract. And, if the market price of the potatoes are higher than the price listed in the contract then the farmer is entitled to sell its products at the market price. 

B. It will also enable the farmers to access modern technologies, better seed and other inputs.

This provision is not possible until and unless the buyers of the products do not support the farmers because in accessing modern technologies,  there are needed a lot of funds to spend in acquiring electricity,  machines for irrigation etc.  So there is will and desire of the buyers to provide all those facilities which enable the farmers to work smoothly. 

C. It will reduce cost of marketing and improve income of farmers. 

Here farmers are not supposed to market their products because there are already someone who are going to buy the products.  Moreover, there is an assurance of the products. 

D. Efferctive dispute resolution mechanism has been provided with clear time lines for redressal.

E. Impetus to research and new technology in agricultural sector.

CLARIFICATIONS 

There are also some clarifications made by government. 

A.  The farmers wil have full power in the contract to fix a sale price of his choice for the produce. They will receive payment within next 3 days.  It means that both the farmers and the buyers are standing on the same base. 

B. 10000 farmers producer organizations are being formed throughout the country.  These FPOs will bring together small farmers and work to ensure remunerative ricing for farm produce. 

C. In case of dispute,  there will be no need to go to court repeatedly.  There will be local dispute redressal mechanism. 

3. THE ESSENCIAL COMMODITIES (AMENDMENTS)ACT,  2020

MAIN PROVISIONS 

A. Provisions to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onions and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. 

It means that earlier when these products were listed in The Essential Commodities,  there were some restrictions that you can not buy products above than a particular quantity of a product.  This is so because if a buyer starts buying a particular product in a large quantity,  it may be possible the supply of that particular product will go down and the price of that product will tend to rise. 

B. The government, while liberalizing the regulatory environment, has also ensured that interest of consumers are safeguarded.  It has been provided in the amendment,  that in situation such as war,  famine,  extraordinary price rise and natural calamity, such agriculture foodstuff can be regulated. 

EARLIER REFORMS IN AGRICULTURE SECTOR BY THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT 

A. Agricultural Produce And Livestocks Marketing ( Promotion and facilitation) Act (APLM), 2017

a.  It would be a major agricultural reforms as it provides wider options for farmers to sell produce and get better prices.  As this provision is also provided in the 1st bill. 

b. At present,  farmers can sell their produce at regulated APMC ( Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee) mandis only.  They are subjected to different kinds of fees. 

c. The Government's aim is to set up a wholesale market at every 80kms.  The new law will end the monopoly of APMC and allow more players to set up markets and create competition so that farmers can discover prices and sell their produce accordingly.  Do we really have a wholesale market at 80kms or it is written in the law only?

B. Doubling the farmers Income by 2022.

C. Significant changes in fixation of MSP. 

Whatever the recommendations made by the Swaminathan Committee in 2006. It said that whatever the weighted average cost of capital plus 50% profits would be MSP. 

CRITICISM 

1. As in the first bill,  farmers produce trade and commerce ( promotion and facilitation) act, 2020. The farmers and traders will enjoy freedom of choice of sale and purchase of agri-produce.  The same provision was also written in the Agricultural Produce And Livestocks Marketing ( Promotion and facilitation) Act (APLM), 2017. Now do you really think  it is performed practically that there is a freedom for farmer to sell their products wherever they want to sell.

2. As also in the first bill,  it is written that the farmers wil not be charged any cess or levy for sale of their produce and wil not have to bear transport costs.  It is perfectly good for the farmers that they will not have to any cess but, on the other hand, it is not an easy task for farmers to carry their products from one place to another.  Moreover,  they will not have to pay transportation costs. 

3. In the first bill,  the government of India clarified that the MSP will remain to continue but my question is, MSP system has been working for 3 years, so let me know in how many products the MSPs are being provided to the farmers except Bajra? So even according to the existing law,  the MSP is still not properly provided to the farmers, so what is the guarantee that MSPs will remain to continue when farmers will supposed to sell their products outside mandis?

4. Government should talk or consult to farmers union before making these bills into act. 

WAY FORWARD 

1. MSP must continue to exist not only in the mandis but also outside mandis.  It will make farmers free from exploitation.  As we know the cost of productions vary from region to region, for instance,  cost of production of potatoes in Bihar is rs100,  it may be rs120 in Tamil Nadu.  So  the MSPs of different regions should also vary according to the cost of production of that particular region. 

2. The government should decrease control as they did through LPG.  But,  the government should also establish agencies and control mechanism so that farmers don’t get exploited but as per the requirements needed in 21st century.  For instance,  who will bear the cost if exports to be cancelled. 

3. The APMC act came into existence to avoid farmers from exploitation because initially, farmers had not that much money to produce so they used to take loans from moneylenders.  Farmers were unable to repay their loans,  as a result,  moneylenders used to take all their produces in own possessions.  Now so many cartels of traders who are exploiting farmers.  By removing APMC system,  there is possibility that farmers would again get exploited by moneylenders. However, government should start a program with banks to provide financial assistance to farmers. 

4. The government of India should provide subsidies in transportation cost to farmers. 

5. Government should start an initiative to spread awareness among farmers about their rights.  Educate them to read contracts because as per data revealed there are so many farmers who do not even know about MSPs.  Like TV advertisement or media. 

6. Government should wide spread the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana ( RKVY), Sub - mission on Agricultural Mechanization  (SMAM) etc.

7. Farmers unions and government should come to a negotiation table to come to some conclusions. 

Unification of Germany

BACKGROUND

Germany had 1789 independent sovereign powers in the medieval times.

Napoleon had won much areas of Germany and converted it as 39 states and created Rhino Federation. 

The Settlement Congress of Vienna led to the formation of German Confederation which still consisted 39 states. 

German Confeďeration consisted of two largest states : Austro - Hungarian Empire and Prussia.

Causes of unification of Germany 

1. Role of Bismarck

Otto Von Bismarck was the Chancellor of Prussia. His main goal was to strengthen the position of Prussia in Europe. He had also several goals alongwith:

a. to unify the north German states under Prussian control.

b. to weaken Prussia's main rival, Austria, by removing it from German Federation. 

c. to make Berlin, not Vienna, the centre of German Federation. 

2. Decline of Austria

Austria had been an ally of Russia but refused to help Russia in Crimean War against France and Britain. As a result, Austria lost a major ally.

3. Prussian economic strength 

Prussia was producing more kry resources such as coal and iron than Austria. Prussia was building roads and train network to help promote trade.

4. Prussian military power

Prussian military was better than Austria.

Why Prussia dominated over Austria ?

1. The population of Prussia : The people living in Prussia were mainly German speaking, those people, on the other hand, living in Austria were having different ethnicity. 

2. Napoleon : Nepoleon were the main reason of German unification because Napoleon were dominating in the territory of German and Prussian people where firmly opposing.

3. Prussian had also shared the glory of victory at Waterloo.

4. Liberal ideas.

5. Industrialized and economically developed Prussia.

6. Role of Otto Von Bismarck. 

Reforms to help the workers and peasants 

1. Taxes were lowered. 

2. Government started helping people in taking out loans.

3. Less regulations for the coal and iron industries. 

4. Workers experienced better working conditions. 

The decline of Austria

International issue : As we have discussed above that Austria denied to help Russia in Crimean War. As a result, Austria was not getting support from Russia. 

Economic issues: Austria could barely compete with the economic benefits of the Zollverein. Southern Europe had not benefitted as much from the Industrial Revolution and spread of the railways.

The Linguistic Reorganization of the state

Situation before Independence 

British used to divide the states as per their convenience. They didn't even about Indian people. For instance,  partition of Bengal (1905) which curved the feeling of Nationalism.

But after Independence, there was a need of reorganization of states because:

A. Administrative reason : some states of large in area.

B. Integration of new 562 princely states.

But the Indian government was in a dilemma of what basis the states of India should divide on ? Available option, at that time, was linguistic basis. There were also some arguments in favor of reorganizing the states on the basis of language. 

A. Language act as a centre point for any culture.

B. Students can get education in their own language. 

C. Local people will get more representation & feeling of direct democracy. 

D. In 1917, congress supported demand for Linguistic provinces.

E. In 1921, congress created regional congress committee based on language. 

F. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was also in favour of Linguistic reorganization of states.

After Independence,  Nehru stand changed and he thought reorganization on the basis of language wouldn't work out because it's time of India to be united. But there were riots going on between different Linguistic people. For instance,  Madras was demanded by both Tamil speaking people and Telgu speaking as well.  Demand of the formation of Punjab,  Maharashtra,  Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. 

At last, Dhar committee constituted, which suggested not a right time to reorganise the states on Linguistic basis. People were not satisfied with the suggestion of Dhar committee. 

JVP committee, stands for Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and P. Sitaramayya (1949), which submitted its report to All India Congress committee.  It again rejected the demand of reorganization of states on Linguistic basis but said that if demands were very popular, we would consider it on one condition, which was the people living in a states speaking different language had not any problem to it. 

In Madras, there was a big movement going on to create a state for Telgu speaking people. Reasons :

A. Low irrigation facilities. 

B. Region was dominated by Tamil speaking people.

C. Less political representation. 

D. Economical backwardness. 

E. Lack of Universities. 

This led to a situation of civil war because there was a gandhian leader, Potti Sriramulu decided to protest and chose to fast until death. Who, at last, died.

To maintain peace, Nehru accepted the demand of the creation of Andhra Pradesh state. But, by this act, people belonging to other regions also started demanding for separate states. So, Nehru formed State Reorganization Commission to complete the reasonable demands of people. The committe was consisting of :

A. Fazal Ali

B. H. N Kunzru

C. K. M Panikkar

On the basis of State Reorganization Commission many states created but one thing keeping in mind that the integrity, sovereignty and unity of the country shouldn't be harmed.

Such as:

A. Mysore ( Karnataka)

B. Kerala 

C. Madras Province ( Tamil Nadu)

D. Andhra Pradesh

E. Uttar Pradesh

F. Madhya Pradesh 

G. Bihar

H. Rajasthan 

Formation of Maharashtra 

S.R.C rejected the proposal of formation of Maharashtra as a state but again the movement started by Shankar Dev Rai from Smyukta Maharashtra Parishad. Nehru told to make Maharashtra as an Union Territory for 5 years but it was opposed by many people. The pressure of forming Maharashtra as a state was increasing day by day, so, atlast Nehru accepted and Maharashtra became a state of India with Bombay as a capital with the assurance that linguistic minorities would be provided proper facilities and security. 

This led to the formation of two states:

1. Maharashtra 

2. Gujarat 

India - Pakistan war and creation of Bangladesh

India got Independence in August 15, 1947, India is situated between western and eastern Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Earlier,  Bangladesh was a colony of Britishers and after the independence of India, it became the colony of western Pakistan.  Eastern Pakistan used to be exploited by western Pakistan.  For instance,  at the time of droughts and famine, no resue operations held by Western Pakistan. Moreover, the revenue generated from jute productions used by western Pakistan in purchasing weapons. 

Eastern Pakistan struggled a lot to recognize the Bengali as the official language. They didn't even had any political representation and a ruler always elected from the western Pakistan. At that time, Yahya Khan was the ruler of Western Pakistan, he thought to conduct an election. The movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (father of current PM Sheikh Haseena of Bangladesh) and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ( father of Banazir Bhutto) from eastern and western Pakistan respectively. Luckily, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won the election because he got 167 seats out of 169 from eastern Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, on the other hand, got just 88 seats out of 144 seats. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was about to rule in the eastern Pakistan but Yahya Khan arrested both of them ( Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) and sent Rahman to a secret place in Pakistan. 

These incidents drived to start riots in eastern Pakistan. Later on, the western Pakistani army arrived in eastern Pakistan and an operation searchlight ( a planned military army carried on by western Pakistani army to squash the nationalist movements) started by them. More than 10 lakhs refugees entered in the Indian territory. As we all know India has a soft corner for refugees and even today, India has many refugees from Afghanistan and many other countries. 

Why did India entered into the war ?

Pakistan was putting charges on India and Israel for interfering in the eastern Pakistan.  India just asked Pakistan to sort out everything as soon as possible because the number of refugees were kept on increasing. India had a doubt that Pakistan may not start the war again like 1965 because according to a report of RAW ( Research  Analysis Wing), Pakistan was collecting weapons and at that time, the friendship between Pakistan and China were on the peak. Eastern Pakistan had an organization naming Mukti Bahini ( armed organization) which was opposing Western Pakistan too. So, India started providing weapons to it and even BSF started training and later on, Indian army controlled them for army tactics. Indian cabinet ministers travelled to various countries to explain the situation and requested them to ask Pakistan to solve the issue soon because the burden of refugees in India was increasing. 

India - USSR Friendship Treaty 

1. Before the war, India started developing a good relationship with USSR.

2. Pakistan had already a good relations with the U.S.A and China.

3. A triangular relation was observed between USA , China and Pakistan. 

4. India required a good friend which was USSR.

5. So In 1971, a friendship treaty was signed between India and USSR. This was possible because the relationship between China and USSR, at that time, wasn't good enough because both countries adopted communism and for both countries the ideology of communism was different. Moreover,  there was a boundary dispute was going on between China and USSR.

India - Pakistan War in 1971

Now Pakistan started shelling in the eastern Pakistan and India started covering firing to save refugees which ultimately, turned into a full-fledged war. From western Jammu & Kashmir to Easter Pakistan, war was started. Now India went to eastern Pakistan for liberation of Bangladesh. 

Pakistan was expecting help from China & USA, China didn't help Pakistan but USA did by sending a ship to Bay of Bengal but couldn't help Pakistan because of India - USSR Friendship Treaty. Indian army entered into the territory of Eastern Pakistan and forced to surrender 90,000 Pakistani soldiers. This happened because Pakistani thought that Indian army had captured the whole area. Atlast new country Bangladesh formed.

Reasons why did we win the war

1. The Pakistani army had already low morale because of fighting with their own people.

2. Leadership of India Gandhi was strong enough.

3. The country was unified during the war and the Indian government helped Bangladesh to form the government. 

4. RAW was introduced which helped to find the secrets of Pakistan. 

5. Indian military was superior as compared to Pakistan. 

6. Mukti Bahini was aware of all the routes and ways and there were also trained by the Indian army.

7. Neither USA nor China supported Pakistan whereas USSR fully supported Indian during the war.

India - Pakistan War

As we all recall September 23 as the day of anniversary of war fought between India and Pakistan. Now you must be thinking what circumstances brought India to fight with Pakistan. I'll let you know.

Circumstances before 1965

1. Death of Nehru

The death of Nehru created political uncertainty in the INC because people, at that time, used to think that there was no other best leader as Nehru. There was a fight going on for the PM.

2. Indo - China War

Pakistan was thinking that India had recently badly defeated by China and it may be possible India gets defeated this time too. So its a right time to take Jammu & Kashmir away from India.

3. Naga problem

The people of Nagaland were demanding for their separate country. 

4. Two back to back drought 

There were droughts occurred one after another and this lead Indian economy in slowdown.

5. Jabalpur riots

There was a riots happened between Hindu & Muslim in Jabalpur.

Dispute over Sir Creek

As you can see the above image, showing the map of state Gujarat of India. Sir Creek is situated in Gujarat.  This was a disputed area at that time between India and Pakistan. Pakistan started firing and captured 40 miles of that region. This leads to enhance the confidence of Pakistan and they thought to capture Kashmir in the same way.

Operation Gibraltar 

Now Pakistan planned an operation named operation Gibraltar because of some past story. 

In past, Muslims traveled through strait of Gibraltar and got victory in Spain. So Pakistan also wanted the same to happen in India. 

In this operation, Pakistan sent its armies in civilian uniform to start an uprising in Kashmir. They reached and started attacking on government building and destroyed communication and created chaos. The hidden purpose of them was to show that Kashmiri citizens wanted Independence but fortunately, even Kashmiri people started helping Indian government in the process of identifying Pakistani armies. So this operation was shutdown completely, at last.

Operation Grand Slam

In the operation Chamb, Pakistan sent armies and started fighting. There was a very intensive fight going on between India and Pakistan in J&K.

1965 WAR

This time Pakistan wanted to capture Akhnoor war, so that Indian supply of POONCH RAJOURI SECTOR can be stopped. So the army General met to Lal Bahadur Shastri and requested about to open western front and warned about the consequences that after opening western front, full scale war would be started. As Lal Bahadur Shastri was a strong leader, all he said was given his permission to do so even after knowing the result. The fight on the second front was fought with tanks and India successfully won the war.

1965 WAR : Ceasefire and Tashkent Agreement 

1. Pakistan were thinking that China would help them but China didn't help Pakistan and criticised India.

2. The secretary General of U.S.A,  U.Thant  travelled to capitals of both countries and declared ceasefire.

3. After sometimes,  the USSR invited the President of Pakistan Ayub Khan and Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri to Tashkent to sign on an agreement. 

4. The agreement talks about returning back the important captured area of Lahore to Pakistan and India got the area of Sir Creek back.

The reason behind this agreement was International pressure and economic development of India.

Reason behind winning the war

A very important question coming in your mind is what made India won the war over Pakistan whereas India lost the war with China in 1962. There were more factors and lessons learned India during and after Indo - China war. 

1. 2nd front opening 

The decision taken by Shastri proved the right one because opening of second front led to decrease the pressure on Kashmir.

2. Air force use

During Indo - China war, India had comparatively weak Air force at that time but during India - Pakistan war, Indian air force played a vital role in winning the war.

3. Support from Kashmir 

Kashmiri citizens supported Indian government a lot. Pakistan were thinking that Kashmiri people would support them but unfortunately, they didn't work in favour of Pakistan.

4. Military weapons shopping 

After losing with China in 1962, India learned that investing in military equipment is very essential for winning a war. So Indian foreign minister travelled to various countries and purchased so many during 3 years which ultimately,  helped India in winning the war with Pakistan. 

5. Jai Jawan Jai Kisan 

The slogan was a huge motivation for the country and it helped in uniting the states.

Consequences of the war

1. Morale boosting 

After losing the war with China, India faced humiliation but later on, after winning the war with Pakistan, the morale of India upsurge.

2. USSR friendship treaty 

The relationship of India with USSR became cordial because of India's winning the war with Pakistan. In 1971, India signed a treaty with USSR.

3. Military importance 

After losing the war with China, India understood the importance of military but after winning the war with Pakistan, India started maintaining a good military. 

Below given some previous years questions asked in UPSC examination regarding above given topic. You must go through it to get a deep insight of it.

Q. Analyse the circumstances that led to Tashkent Agreement in 1966. Discuss the highlights of the agreement.  UPSC 2013.

Q. Write a critical note on the evolution and significance of the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kishan" . UPSC 2013.

Citizenship

Synopsis 

The concept of citizenship came into existence since November 26, 1949. The citizenship is mentioned in part II of The Indian Constitution under Article 5 - 11. "Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law of a sovereign state as a member of or belonging to the state". Basically Citizenship can be categorized as Citizens and Aliens.

Citizens: those people who enjoy all civil and political rights.

Aliens : Aliens, on the other hand, are those people who belong to some other state.

The citizenship brings:

* Rights

* Duties

* Privileges

* Obligations

Article 5 : Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution: Domicile 

Article 6 : Right of citizenship of certain persons migrated from Pakistan to India.

Article 7 : Rights of citizenship of persons migrated to Pakistan but later returned to India

Article 8 :  Rights of citizenship of  Indian origin persons who are residing outside India

Article 9 : Persons voluntarily acquired citizenship of other country.

Article 10 :  Continuance of rights of citizenship 

Article 11 :  Parliament to regulate the rights of citizenship by law.

Article 5

This article provides that a person is eligible to become the Citizen of India 

1. if at the time of commencement of the constitution he has his domicile in the Indian territory OR

2. Either of his/her parents were born in India OR 

3. He has been ordinarily resident of Indian territory for not less than five years immediately before the commencement of the Indian Constitution. 

Note: The term 'Domicile' here is not defined in The Indian Constitution. 

Article 6

This article provides citizenship to the migrants of Pakistan before the commencement of the Constitution

1. The person migrating to India before July 19, 1948 And 

2. The person migrating to India after July 19,1948.

Note: Permit system for migration was introduced on July 19,1948. 

Article 7 

A person who migrated to Pakistan from India after March 1,1947, but later returned to India for resettlement could become a Citizen of India.

For this the person must to be the resident of India for 6 months before the date of his application for registration. 

Note: The person migrating from Pakistan to India after January 26, 1950 are governed by The Citizenship Act,1955.

Article 8

This article provides that:

A person OR

Any of his/her parents OR

Any of his/her grand parents born in India as defined by The Government Of India Act,1935 but ordinarily residing outside India shall become a citizen of India if registered as a citizen of India in that country. 

Note: with respect to before or after the commencement of India Constitution. 

Article 9

This article provides that if a person voluntarily acquire the citizenship of another country, he shall forfeit the right of citizenship of India.

Note: The above mentioned clause is applicable to cases arising before the Commencement of Indian Constitution. 

Such casese arising after the commencement of Indian Act shall be dealt by Citizenship Act,1955.

Article 10

This article provides that a person who is or deemed to be a citizen of India shall continue to be a citizen of India.

Article 11

This article provides the Parliament to enact legislations pertaining to the acquisition and termination of the citizenship. 

The citizenship can be acquired by 5 ways:

1. By birth

2. By descent

3. By registration 

4. By naturalization 

5. By incorporating a territory 

A. BY BIRTH

* amended in the year 1986.

*  a person is the citizen of India by birth if :

a. He is born in India on or after January 26,1950 but before June 30,1987 OR

b. He is born in India on or after July 1,1987 but at the time of the birth either of his parents was a citizen of India.

Note: The children of foreign diplomats posted in India and enemy aliens cannot acquire the Indian citizenship by birth.

B. BY DESCENT 

A person born outside India was entitled to Indian citizenship if his father was an Indian citizen.

Note: Not mother

So, this was amended in the year 1992. A person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950 is a citizen of India by descent if, at the time of his birth either of his parents was an Indian citizen. 

C. BY REGISTRATION 

1. Persons of Indian origin who are ordinarily resident in India for 5 years immediately before making an application for registration. 

Some must known facts about the Preamble of the Indian Constitution

 Preamble is a philosophy or summary of The Indian Constitution. This is the modified version of The Objective Resolution moved in by Jawaharlal Nehru on December 13, 1946 and adopted by the Constituent assembly on January 22, 1947. Initially, the concept of preamble came into existence in the USA. It is not mandatory for every country to have a preamble but you can say it is an optional. If you want to know a little bit about Indian Constitution, you can take an insight through preamble.

Explanation:

1. In the above given image, you can clearly see the Preamble is started with WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA means each and every person of India, not talking about a particular person. 

2. SOVEREIGN: Means independent authority of a state. This is an absolute and supreme power.

3. SECULAR: Added through 42nd Constitution Amendment Act,1976. This means the state has no official religion.

4. REPUBLIC: Means the head of the state is elected. In India, the head of the state is President. 

5. SOCIALIST: Also added through the 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1976. The word Socialism means placing means of production and distribution in the hands of public control.

6. DEMOCRATIC: Means rule by the people. The people of the country elect their own representative.

Some eye catching questions frequently asked in the various examinations: 

1. Is preamble a part of the Indian Constitution ?

• In the berubari case, 1960: the supreme court ruled that the preamble is not a part of Indian Constitution.

• In the Keshwananda Bharti vs State of Kerala,1973 : the supreme court rejected the former opinion and said it is a part of Indian Constitution.

• In the LIC of India vs Consumer Education and Research Centre case:  the supreme court said that the Preamble is an integral part of Indian Constitution.

2. Can Preamble be amended ?

Yes, it can be amended. It has been amended only one time so far in the Indira Gandhi Government as 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1976. It included Socialist, Secular and Integrity.

4 simplest and easiest way to start for the civil service examination

 1. Start with mapping

As we have seen many students start preparation for the upsc examination, they just start reading the reference books. Please don't do this, it will not provide you something productive but discourage you. It will demotivate you. Start with something which help you to increase your interest for the preparation. Mapping is the best solution for starting preparation for upsc because there are mapping works whether you start with history, geography or polity. 

2. Start with NCERT books 

Starting with NCERT books is the best way for starting preparation for upsc examination because it will provide you the first insight of syllabus and contents which you have to study throughout the preparation journey. 

3. Read NCERTs in an arranged manner

Here arranged manner means reading NCERT books of the same subject from standard 6 to 12 and so on. For instance, if you start with history subject then you make sure that you study only the history books from standard 6 to 12 then  more towards the other subjects like geography or polity. It will provide you the best insight of a particular subject at a time.

4. Be patient

I made this a main topic because I feel it is because while reading NCERTs you may feel demotivated, you will face difficulties in understanding some concepts. But don't afraid because it is normal. It happens with everyone. Thats why be patient while reading NCERTs. In reading you will understand less topic but trust me you start reading the topic again after completing your first reading, you will able to grasp more and more concepts and it will easy for you to understand the things to the fullest.