Indian Institute of Students

Recent developments in the political scenario does not point to tranquility, it shows us the obverse. The Central Government has been accused with one of the most undignified allegation of fanning communal hatred among sections. And one of the most vehement, unrelenting critic is the Congress, which seems to be rather justified in its "protest" against the rift that the present government is trying to create. People have witnessed mud-slinging amongst the political parties, and loyalist SRK fans have been bewildered to hear their idol labelled a "Pakistani agent". There has been a lot of highs and lows, a lot of drama, and a pinch of sincere worry between this meddle. However, one burning question remains: should the people be allowed to have beef? (pun intended) I commend the  Delhi High Court's decision to quash a PIL  seeking a ban on the sale of beef and cow slaughter last week. I might just have been prosecuted for seditious propaganda, had the much-...

And the results are clear as light: the Trinamul Congress has once again swept the polls.  This picture by a photojournalist for The Telegraph sums it up all.  The move by the former State Election Commissioner, S.R. Upadhaya to defer the counting of votes for the Biddhannagar polls was appreciable. It was an indirect admission to the fact that the elections were far from free and fair. Although such practices are not new in the state where rigging has been known for decades, it was perhaps the first time that brute force was employed by a party to secure a clean sweep in the corporation polls. It was shocking to read from the reports of some newspapers, how the "foot soldiers" were paid an amount to account for the fake votes. It brings great dismay to learn that this is unfortunately the reality in ground-zero.  However, what is more appalling was the appointment of a temporary election commissioner, Alapan Bandyopadhyay. It is disturbing to learn th...

Recently, Presidency University students took to gherao the esteemed university's vice chancellor, Dr. Anuradha Lohia. As appropriately pointed out by Mr. Swapan Chakbraborty, a professor of the university, there was allegedly no valid basis for the agitation. The University Chancellor, the Honorable Governor of Bengal, Keshari Nath Tripathi was justified in his remark that students attend the university to study, and not to "stage a protest". However, this word of caution has fallen upon the deaf ears of many students who feel their demand for the resignation of Dr. Lohia must be met at the moment. If there is a constitutional right to protest, then there is also a constitutional obligation to observe it peacefully. This trend of taking hostage university officials to enforce their biased demands by students of today is downright wrong. This is detrimental to the already tensed-up educational atmosphere of the state. Do the students not realize that defacing the i...

The recent R.M. Lodha panel judgement on the IPL spot fixing case has left many in a fix. The Court has announced the suspension of two of the teams, the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals. Although the official rule-book could have allowed for harsher punishments, the honorable Court has passed the ruling for a two year suspension only. However, there is a flip side to everything: this decision can bring about adverse effects on the future of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. There are a few ramifications that needs to be dealt with urgently. First of all, the Court has not made it clear whether a separate private entity or an individual can rebuild the management, so as to allow for the city's participation. In the history of the Indian Premier League, such a similar action was taken for the Deccan Chargers. When the Deccan Chargers became non-existential, it was renamed as 'Sunrisers Hyderabad', managed by a different network, but with ...

The following is a guest post by Sinchula Banerjee, and it has been accepted as it meets the guidelines. Certain parts of the original has been edited to bring out a more clear picture.  India- standing on her sixty-seventh year of independence- has undergone drastic changes in society, education, ways of living, financial position and a host of other things. It is not practically feasible to enlist all the changes that man has evolved through, and thus I will make a humble attempt to cover as much as possible. Part 1: Society and Development Change is the only constant. Society changes with change in technology, change in people's outlook, and more obviously, change in generation. The much-revered freedom fighters of yesteryear are only names to memorise today. Subhas Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mahatma Gandhi are names of personalities to be mentioned only on the eve of the Independence day. Do people nowadays actually feel for the nation when they sing t...

To begin with, what is terrorism? According to Oxford, "Terrorism is the use of violent action in order to achieve some political aim or force a government to act". It affects each and every nation, and even us on a personal level. The Middle East and nations of South East Asia are the most infested with the problem of terrorism, as per statistical data. Over the last few decades, the number of terrorist organizations have grown exponentially. As the old saying goes, unity is strength. In Iraq, the Islamic State, nicknamed 'ISIS' is the most brutal of all terror networks till date. It shocked the world with its series of beheadings of Western journalists and resource men. The group has no respect for anyone suspected to be an infidel- that is, anyone who is a non-Muslim is unwelcome. It highlights their policy of intolerance- which is in stark contrast with one of the fundamental pillars of Gandhism. What people should realise is that war cannot be ended...

It is common knowledge that Modi likes to brag about his achievements, comparing them in a "before me" and "after me" style. However, his remarks abroad have not lifted up the pride of Indians, but rather shoved it down. His normally flamboyant Twitter page has been shamed for the first time, with Twitterati reacting strongly against Mr. Modi's downgrading comments in Seoul and Shanghai in his latest string of foreign tours. From archives, it is clear that this habit is no stranger to the PM: Last month itself, the Congress accused Modi of eroding the country's stature by calling it as a "beggar" nation in Germany, and a "Scam India" in Canada. This time though, he has touched new heights. In the recently concluded three-nation tour, the Prime Minister seemed rather happy to announce that Indians, before him, were "ashamed to be born in India". Political complacency is acceptable- but not when it starts to hurt a n...

The recent earthquake of Nepal will certainly go down the annals of history as one of the most devastating quakes. With a death toll that estimates a figure of 6204, the figure is only a rough estimation- there maybe thousands still trapped, and who are desperately looking for help. These natural calamities cannot be predicted beforehand, and as such we cannot take concrete steps to win the battle against Mother Nature herself. Although the situation does seem really gloom, there are a few things that we can (and should) learn. The Government of India must be praised for their sincere effort to help and rescue not only its citizens, but also people of foreign nationality in Nepali soil. The Indian Air Force had dispatched aid and rescue workers on the quick prompt of the government, reportedly within fifteen minutes of the catastrophic tragedy that struck Nepal. #5: Nothing stands before Nature's fury A 7.8 magnitude earthquake releases enough energy equable to 7...

We all have to work. After all, jobs are very much in demand today, given the percentage of unemployed youth in the country. Some are self-employed, having the freedom to do their work according to their convenience. But, what if, someone suffers such a fate that he/she becomes incapable of doing work, how would they sustain themselves? That's where Income Protection Insurance comes into play. As Wikipedia describes, " Income Protection Insurance (IPI) is an insurance policy, available principally in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, paying benefits to policyholders who are incapacitated and hence unable to work due to illness or accident ". Before you get too excited, India doesn't figure in the list of all countries allowing Income Protection Insurance. It certainly doesn't help to have a bankruptcy attorney who would claim a fortune for restoring your accumulated wealth of a lifetime. Neither would it be profit...

Switzerland is the highest ranked nation in the list. A recent report by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, an initiative by the United Nations, has just revealed the list of the happiest countries of the world. Before you start developing suspicions about the freshly published report, it would be good to tell you that the list is compiled by a team of renowned economists, neurologists, and statisticians. It also has a scientific edge to it, too. Happiness is essential for the complete growth of a nation. According to earlier researches, happy people can make a lot of impact- both at workplace and in their personal lives. In the report, India is staged at (almost) the median. Switzerland is rated at the highest position with a mean index of 7.587 out of 10. The United States holds a rank at 15th. Here are the top thirty countries, according to the presented report: There were some nations that didn't really fare all that well in the list. Her...

We all fondly recall "those old days". We love to get back to those days , but alas, only if it were possible. We've all grown up so quick, and in a greedy desire to become a wise person, that we have left behind our unique memories of childhood. Childhood was a mere word that was difficult to spell for us back then, but now, it means a lot more. When we look back with nostalgia, we just want to relive the entire period, once again. I do not blame this tendency of human beings to be nostalgic. We are after all, social beings, and by the time, we change considerably. Only a foolhardy person can deny the sentiments associated with the days when we grew up. After all, isn't childhood days the best days of one's life? It was the only time where we had freedom: where we had leisure time, something that is quite oblivious to us nowadays. In early standards, marks weren't really important. I mean, none of us really had to work for good marks, and it came any...

There is a sudden hype about a term named 'net neutrality'. Frankly speaking, none of us were genuinely bothered all these days about what that term meant. Internet activists have been making a lot of hue and cry that the Internet is in danger- and it needs to be promptly saved. Undoubtedly, they were right; and (unfortunately) for us, we just don't care. However, as they say, time flows by. A large decadal modernization of the telecom sector has also taken place, thanks to key players, like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Tata, and many more. Airtel emerged to be one of the major operators by the end of 2010. Of course, praises should be heaped. However, it would be also worthwhile to mention that every rose has thorns. All that glitters is not gold, netizens. Airtel recently launched their experimental programme, Airtel Zero. Under this scheme, the data used for the apps used would not be paid by you. It would rather be paid by the app developer. This, at first read, se...

There is a lot of buzz whenever the supposed king of Indian rap, Honey Singh, releases a new track. Seems like he is still not able to get over his rather "alcoholic" songs. From a different perspective, how long are the shelf life of these peppy tracks? Maybe a month or two. Is that anywhere near to the olden timeless classics that still remain with us, fifty years after their launch? The answer is very simple to decode: A big no. I have been subject to criticism from my peers as being anti-GenY. I am not so; I'd rather openly declare that I love Mohit Chauhan's music. Or Arijit Singh. To me, party tracks do not appeal. Not because I am a nerd. Not because I am prejudiced to such a genre. The truth is that the crass lyrics and banal songs with repetitive words have a mere purpose of making quick money. The online music playing stations, Saavn and Gaana have contributed much to the revival of the olden music albums. A day ago I was listening to the melody, ...

There is a lot of fuss going on in the upper House of the Indian Parliament. Recently, the House had to be adjourned due to protests by women members of opposition parties that demanded that the screening of the documentary, 'India's Daughter'  be stopped. They have a very valid reason for doing so: Such a film, if broadcast, would put India into poor light in the international community. Leslee Udwin / The Guardian However, BBC went on to broadcast the documentary in UK; and unfortunately, Indian courts have no authority over foreign workings. There were mixed reviews from the Indian community there; and no one appeared to have been particularly pleased with the presentation and handling of such a sensitive matter. Jaya Bacchan, in a recent interview, stated that the film made the rapist a 'national celebrity'- and there's no denial there. There should not arise a misunderstanding here. I am not against free speech. I am not against the freedom of expr...

The 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly polls was probably the most anticipated election of the fresh year 2015. Delhi, after all, is the national capital and the government there plays a vital role. Experts and political strategists argue that this is one of the most fiercely contested electoral battles in recent times- and they're wonderfully correct. From the AAP's revival to the BJP's lackadaisical attitude, it was sure spectacularly appealing to the common electorate. There is a rare unanimity among major exit polls this time. According to the polls, Arvind Kejriwal is all set to occupy the CM's chair yet another time, but his party has adopted a strict watch-and-proceed approach. No one's celebrating as of yet. The BJP might have to do some self-introspection as to what might have went wrong. A few days back I read a good article at Firstpost, titled, " Win or lose, Modi and Shah should learn from their mistakes in Delhi polls ". That essentiall...

A Candle Light Vigil in London condemning the Peshawar school attacks/Wikimedia Commons Over the last decade, there has been a exponential rise in the number of terrorism cases. From 26/11 to the Peshawar school attacks, these are horrific acts of shameless and brutal assault on innocent people. As  The Conversation  puts it, "Terrorism is some form of purposive and planned violence that has a political, religious, or ideological motivation. It is intended to coerce or intimidate and is targeted at civilians or government. Legislation prohibiting terrorism ought to have extra-territorial effect". It is an open fact that the ISI and the Pakistani Army has long nurtured extremist organisations. These organizations harbour militants in the name of Jihad, or holy wars. As long as your pet barks at others, it's fine. However, when that pet becomes a rogue stray and bites you back, that's when you suffer. That is precisely what has happened to the Pakistani Army. The...