Hariyali - An Initiative for Development

  Zero Discrimination Day  is an annual day celebrated by the  United Nations  (UN) and other international organizations. The day aims to promote equality before the law and in practice throughout all of the member countries of the UN. The day was first celebrated on March 1, 2014, and was launched by  UNAIDS  Executive Director Michel Sidibé on 27 February of that year with a major event in  Beijing . The day is particularly noted by organisations like UNAIDS that combat discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. "HIV related stigma and discrimination is pervasive and exists in almost every part of the world including our Liberia", according to Dr. Ivan F. Camanor, Chairman of the National AIDS Commission of Liberia.  The  UN Development Programme  also paid tribute in 2017 to LGBTI people with HIV/AIDS who face discrimination. Campaigners in India have used this day to speak out against laws making discrimination against the LGBTI community more likely, especially

  Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw, seized control of Myanmar on February 1, 2021, detaining the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her party that won the November 2020 elections, citing election fraud, a claim that was refuted by t he UEC (United Elections Commission of Myanmar).  Military coups are not unknown to Myanmar, having spent more than 50 years under military rulers - i t was the military that facilitated Myanmar’s transformation to democracy by drafting the 2008 Constitution, touted as a ‘roadmap to democracy.' But it only created an institutional set-up prone to misuse wherein the Burmese Constitution ensured the military of its supremacy in national affairs, with a political party that contested elections as its proxy. The results of the 2020 election gave the NLD a majority significantly bigger compared to previous elections, serving as a mandate for potential constitutional reform and dismantling military rule. All of this was effectivel

  Years of research and studies have shown that positive and optimistic thinking helps us be happier, healthier and more productive in any field of work. It is the key to living a satisfactory life and ensuring the well-being of the people around us as well. However, it's very difficult to practice positivity and optimism every day, so here are some tips. 1. Guide your energy. Positive energy invites positive deeds and events, and vice-versa. According to quantum physics, our thoughts have a frequency and a corresponding unique vibration that attracts similar frequencies into our lives. So negative thinking attracts negative energy; positive thinking attracts positive energy. This also applies to group thinking or collective consciousness. When a collection of people together guides their mental energy for a positive outcome, the likelihood of their success is usually lot higher and than otherwise. Their collective energy attracts positivity or negativity. 2. Develop resilience. Po

The government recently released a set of guidelines to regulate social media and OTT content providers like Netflix and amazon prime. The prime concern behind this was an alleged misuse of social media, especially for the events that unfolded on January 26, 2021. What exactly is the rules' impact? Section 79 of the Information Technology Act provides a 'safe harbour' to intermediaries that host user-generated content, exempting them from liability for the actions of users if they adhere to government-prescribed guidelines. However, the new guidelines prescribe an element of due diligence to be followed by the intermediary, failing which the safe harbour provisions would cease to apply to these platforms and they could be held liable. The guidelines also prescribe a grievance redressal mechanism by mandating that the intermediaries should establish a mechanism for receiving and resolving complaints from users. These platforms will need to appoint a grievance officer to dea

 It is appalling that in this day and age, India still remains a part of the 36 countries in which marital rape is not legal.  About 70 per cent of women in India are victims of domestic violence. National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) ‘Crime in India’ 2019 report shows that a woman is raped every 16 minutes, and every four minutes, she experiences cruelty at the hands of her in-laws. An analysis of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 data indicates that an estimated 99.1 per cent of sexual violence cases go unreported and that the average Indian woman is 17 times more likely to face sexual violence from her husband than from others. This is because of the rape culture that is still entrenched in Indian society. Women are considered to be their husbands' chattel in marriages rather than equal partners, and this reflected itself in the skewed adultery law that was amended because it was discriminatory towards women. Whilst there is great outrage over stranger rapes that are

  First launched in 2009, Bitcoin is a kind of cryptocurrency or digital currency that exists completely online. It is  decentralized without a single central bank to administer it and the currency is stored in digital wallets.  These wallets are backed by private and public keys for security, and the public key is what lets users transact with each other.  Because of its decentralized nature and the anonymity associated with it, the currency can be easily traded across users and countries without identifying the person who holds the bitcoin.  The popularity of bitcoin has spurred a range of alternate crypto currency including Etherium, Dogecoin and Binance. The major problem with these private cryptocurrencies is that they create an alternate to real money, which may lead to the problem of 'double spending.' Hence, t he government had set up a committee in 2017 led by the then Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg to study the issues related to virtual currencies. Th

In the new year 2021, as India comes out of a year of lockdown and paused public life, it is going to, by degrees, go back to the pre-coronavirus normalcy. This involves conducting regular elections as well. We can't expect the new elections to be as difficult to organise and conduct as the Bihar elections of 2020, but elections in a pandemic are yet a new phenomenon and it has to be observed how their handling can impact their results. This year, we have legislative assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal (in April) and later Jammu and Kashmir. There are also a few bye-elections scheduled. Politicians have already begun campaigning aggressively for all these elections - large crowds in West Bengal attend rallies as the top contenders have a fight of ideologies, and Assam sees an increase in the wages of the tea-growers in light of the upcoming election. The field has gotten even more competitive as E. Shreedharan, also known as the 'Metro Man&#

Often, in the coverage major trials, we hear the legal terms cognizable and non-cognizable offences. But legal knowledge of the average Indian is average at best and it prevents us from understanding our rights and privileges. Hence, everyone should know what these terms mean. Under section 2(C) of the CrPC, a cognizable offence is an offence in which a police officer may arrest a person without a warrant issued by a magistrate. Section 2(I) details the converse, i.e., a non-cognizable offence in which a police officer has no authority to arrest without a warrant. It can be checked whether an offence is cognizable or not by checking the first schedule of the code. However, they are also classified by gravity of the offence - serious offences like rape and murder punishable with imprisonment for not less than 3 years are considered cognizable, and less serious offences like nuisance punishable with imprisonment for less than 3 years are considered non-cognizable. There are some exceptio

Ever since the Green Revolution, farmers' dependence on intensive inputs like water and fertilizers has resulted in the serious depletion of the underground water table, in many states across the country.  Farming is becoming increasingly unsustainable in these regions, as the map shows, and there is a heavy need to switch to more sustainable alternatives. However, the reverse has happened. Policymakers have only incentivized more groundwater usage through credit and subsidies for groundwater extraction equipment as well as low electricity tariffs that lead to excessive water usage. This is catastrophic - good for short-term profit, but soon the marginal output of farms will start decreasing and the environment would be beyond recovery.  The choice of crops is also important - b eing water-abundant, the east is more suited to growing water-intensive crops like sugarcane and paddy. But differences in electricity supply have ensured that such crops have not found a place in their nat

Coronavirus has put the world into a stage it has never seen before - where all activity has to be done without human contact, which is a staple of life. Even though the strict lockdowns have started to ease up and life is gradually coming back to normal, we must acknowledge the impact the pandemic has had not just on people's physical health and daily routines but on their mental health. Withdrawing from all social interaction and using electronic gadgets for performing the most basic tasks, as well as the inevitable immobility that accompanies a lockdown, has taken a toll on people's mental health. Additionally, most people have experienced the effects of the global economic recession which has worsened their condition. A KFF Health Tracking Poll from July 2020 found that many adults are reporting specific negative impacts on their mental health and well-being, such as difficulty sleeping (36%) or eating (32%), increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and wors

Everywhere in the news, there are different refrains about the protests and opinions for and against the new farm laws. But what exactly are these laws and how do they change the status quo? These laws are: The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act. They were passed in June as ordinances before being approved by Parliament during the Monsoon Session by a voice vote. The  Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act  provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produces outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Before this law, they could only sell it in the government APMCs or 'mandis.' Now, any licence-holding trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices, which will be free of the 'mandi tax' imposed by st

Humanity has gone down a downward slope over the recent years because of the growth of consumerism and capitalist selfishness. Being considerate of the welfare of others is almost an anomaly, especially in urban environments where the concepts of privacy and individualism have eroded the natural human instinct to care for fellow human beings.  In such a scenario, we must take it upon ourselves to be kind to others and to not let our lives turn into a crude competition of self-service. Every act, every gentle word and every tangible contribution to someone else's life with no desire for self-enrichment is a way to regain the lost selfless character of humanity.   This random acts of kindness day, we should all pledge to go out of our way to aid our fellow human beings in any way we can. This can be done through helping our someone with their work, donating to the underprivileged, helping an old woman cross the street and so many other ways! Even the smallest contribution to someone