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Why are the Streets of India Not Safe for Women?

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Introduction The streets of Indian cities have increasingly become hostile for women and young girls nowadays. Is this due to the break in law and order? Should the law-enforcing agencies be held responsible for this? It is partly due to inadequate infrastructure at various places that gives enough time and space for the antisocial elements to do what they want to do. There are other factors that embolden the culprits to prey on innocent-looking victims. They are disguised culprits, longer trial periods, societal stigma, and an inhuman approach to trial employed. Insufficient Infrastructure in Public Places The common places where people meet or date do not have proper lighting or sitting places, forcing them to move inward. Sometimes, people, especially dating couples, may criss-cross through the public places such as parks to reach the opposite destination fast in the wee hours of the day, where there is no  proper lighting or CCTV camera installed, giving enough space for the mi...
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Why Indian Films Don't Enter in Grammy Race?

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Introduction Though we a ll  make good films at national and regional levels, they fail to cut the cake at the international level due to various factors, which include their failure to appeal to the international audience. Apart from this, there are selection flaws, high campaign costs, and different ways of storytelling that have failed to attract an international audience.  Indian's Tryst with Oscar and Negligence India's fascination for Oscar started with the nomination of Mother India, directed by Mehboob Khan, way back in 1957. This film got the attention as the best international feature film nomination. The other films that got nominations in this category are Salaam Bombay (1988) and Lagaan (2001). However, neither of these films got due attention. While that was the case, FFI's nomination of badly performing films for Oscar awards drew a lot of ire from the film critics. The FFI wrongly picked up a Guarati film, "The Road," instead of the much-appreciate...
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Misconceptions About SIR

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Introduction Since last revision of electoral role back in 2011, lot of duplicates and unwanted names due to persons' death, migration to cities, name in electoral roles of two or more places have been noted. Election Commission of India (ECI) noted this discrepancy and launched Special Intensive Revision of electoral roles across the country. As a result, a large number of names have been deleted from electoral list, resulting in lot of resistance from political parties. Special Intensive Revision (SIT) As the name envisages, this is quick revision of electoral roles, ahead of upcoming elections in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, etc. The ECI found lot of discrepancies in the electoral roles due to complete inaction of State Election Commissions in different states. The Election Commission of India took the cognizance of this and decided to do its quick revision. The ECI appointed employees of local governments in the respective states to visit each household and enumerate t...
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How UPI Aided Financial Inclusion

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  Introduction Some years back a new system was introduced to make financial transactions easy and secured. At that time, many people were cynical about its value. Some politicians even said that the efforts for such a transformation were a futile exercise. The system we are referring to is Unified Payment Interface (UPI). The new financial system, as we know, is a tremendous success. Nowadays, even roadside vendors are using it. No need to carry a huge amount of money. Characteristics of UPI Before it was released, a great deal of work, years of planning, hardware acquisition, and extensive testing were done. It is a common gateway for conducting various financial transactions, as the name suggests. It offers services like fund transfers, withdrawals, deposits, and more while bringing together transactions with various banks under one roof. The following lists the key characteristics of the UPI payment system. 24-hour Availability: UPI services are accessible at all times. As long...
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Satya Niketan Building Crash

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  Introduction Building collapse cases and fires have increased over the past two years. Authorities are not following up on civic problems that arise in residential areas, especially near educational institutions or government offices. People construct buildings that flout rules prescribed by civic bodies. The number of illegal constructions is increasing in different cities across the country. Illegal Constructions Every Indian city, including 1-tier and 2-tier cities, has this problem. Civic amenities are built illegally in front of the law-enforcing authorities. Civic bodies overlook these structures and ask for bribes to ignore whether they are illegally constructed or occupied. Corrupt officials in municipal bodies help people in constructing buildings illegally. The case in point is the recent crash of a Paying Guest accommodation in Satya Niketan, which claimed 7 innocent lives. Civic Apathy Every time these kinds of accidents happen, authorities set up an inquiry committee...
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Can GDP numbers be Fudged?

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Introduction Recently, there is a controversy regarding the GDP number that is projected to reach 7.8% year-on-year.  Some of the politicians from the opposition and economists claim that this number is fudged to inflate GDP. The central government defended that its first quarter number has been calculated following standard methods that are used in other countries. Ceasing the opportunity to attack the government, the opposition parties quickly jumped into the bandwagon, repeating the suspicion aired by the ex-finance secretary of the central government. The ex-finance secretary further said that wrong figures would dent the investor confidence.   Ex-Finance Secretary Claim Some days ago, an ex-finance secretary in the ministry came out with the claim that the first quarter result of the current financial year GDP number was fudged, citing the downward revision of the nominal GDP from Rs 86,000 crore to Rs 80,000 crore in the last quarter of the year before. He alleged that i...
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India's "Not a Single Drop" Policy on Indus Water

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Introduction The Indus River Treaty came into being in the year 1960, helping India and Pakistan to divide the river water equitably between them. At that time, Pakistan was a normal country that happily coexisted with its big brother India. Brokered by the World Bank, the landmark water-sharing agreement was signed in Karachi, Pakistan. India has blocked the treaty after the terror attack in Pahalgam in April 2025 . India is planning to build a dam across the river to completely deprive Pakistan of water. The  "Not a Single Drop" policy  as a weapon is going to affect Pakistan’s economy, as it is primarily an agrarian country. Treaty Details The World Bank-brokered treaty divides the tributaries of the Indus River based on the location that is nearer to them. Based on these criteria, the Indus water was divided into west and east rivers that emanate from their parent river. Eastern Rivers: These rivers are controlled by India. They are Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej. In...
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