Back to the classroom
(Evidence based policing is gaining credibility day by day – Indian police force must be exposed to it).
Evidence based policing refers to an improved decision making and action on the basis of real time data and analytics. It is critical in prediction and prevention of crime. Identifying hotspots of crime, monitoring patterns of behavior of individuals and level of citizen participation are crucial to predict and prevent them.
The famous broken windows paper explains that where there is a public apathy and civic neglect there the prospects of the crime are high. This paper is an example for evidence based understanding. It can make India to gear up to 21st century challenges of policing.
Hanging contours of the Darjeeling agitation.
(It is important to recognize how the current stir has a dynamic different from those of the past)
Gurkha agitation for a separate state has a long history and present spell of agitation is quite different from previous spells as sikkim has positioned itself in the emerging political dynamics. The developments are a manifestation of a larger pan Nepali phenomenon with its own set of dynamics in a geopolitically sensitive region. The hills of North Bengal, sikkim and Nepal share common borders, the last two share borders with China.
On the other side, political parties and their role is also coming under question. The autonomous bodies like Gurkha territorial administration appears no solution for the problem.
The Past catches up
(The SC rightly rules that extra-judicial killings cannot be overlooked owing to lapse of time)
Supreme Court of India has reiterated that the principle of accountability as an essential part of rule of law. So, lapse of time can not be a reason or alibi for not conducting an investigation in human rights violation cases. Last year, the court had ruled that the armed forces cannot escape investigation for excesses even in places where they enjoy special powers, and that the legal protection provided by theArmed Forces (Special Powers) Act, or AFSPA, will have to yield to the principles of human rights.
The worrying aspects of the status of human rights in India are
- National human rights commission is reduced to a toothless paper tiger.
- In most of the cases related to Human rights violations, investigations are delayed.
A looming threat.
TB among children is an indication for the failure of treatment and disease surveillance. Any house that have a TB patient shall screen the children for TB. Contact tracing is also an important aspect of diagnosis. These appears to have failed in India as more and more MDR TB is diagnosed among the children. Using the Xpert molecular diagnostic test to screen children with TB is a positive step and should be welcomed, but all the diagnosed children should be guaranteed paediatric FDCs. It would be unethical to deny them this lifeline.
When too much is too little
(The issue of food wastage must be fully understood, so that an effective strategy can be drawn up)
India ranks 97th among 118 countries in global hunger index report 2016. In such a state of affairs food wastage is a crime and is of disproportionate levels in India. As per the estimates of FAO, one third of food produced for human consumption is lost globally.
The waste of food happens at the level of storage, supply chain and due to behavioural patterns of the people. India a needs to draft a policy and a law to counter these.Bill Emerson Good Samaritan act in the USA was intended to encourage donation of food and grocery products. France has banned super markets from destroying unsold fold.
In India, civil society is very active in saving food and Government shall give its supporting hand. It is essential in the context of social, economic and environmental hardships India faces.
News
- Crack down on cow vigilantes, says Prime Minister
- Government panel to study cow derivatives - SVAROP, which stands for Scientific Validation and Research on Panchagavya, and says it is a“national program”that’s being conducted by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, and the Council for Scientificand Industrial Research(CSIR) of the Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with IIT-Delhi.
- It is now an opportune time to restart talks with separatists. – CM Mufti
- Defiant Erdogan ups the ante against EU.