Rahul Bhola, 29, is from Kanpur and works two jobs while he finishes his Masters in Mechatronics (Mechanical and Electronic Engineering) at Tallinn Technical University (TTU). He divides his time between ABB, a Swedish multinational company, and the university’s hub of innovation, the Mektory, where he is working on sending a Nanosatellite to outer space. “I found out about Estonia and TTU in 2015 at an education fair in New Delhi. I didn’t want a regular education and the university offered me something different,” Bhola told Hardnews. In 2016, he made his way to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and fully immersed himself in the student life at the university, which offers him the freedom to find work along with the classes, “The course provides real-life experience and encourages us to work by ourselves,” he continued. After finishing his course, Rahul will be allowed to work for 9 months, and after those, he can apply for a (two year) five-year temporary resident permit.

Indians are coming from all regions – to be part of the digital moment that has transformed the country’s fortunes – to study all things digital from engineering, computer programming, cyber security, life sciences, semointics and game design. In the early 2000s, the Baltic Country underwent a miracle, reams and reams of newsprint have been devoted to Estonia becoming world’s first fully digital society – 99% of all government services are digitised and almost the entire country has easy access to the internet. To the extent, citizens can file their taxes in a matter of minutes through their phones and this ease also extends to doing business.

Estonia is hungering for business and through it talent. It is fast becoming one of the largest hubs for start-ups all over the world. It is after all home to some of the most successful companies in the world, one can find the likes of Skype, Transferwise, Pipedrive and Jobbatical in Tallinn. These companies are some of the most exciting places to work anywhere in the world, with their inclusive hiring practices and willingness to innovate are attracting talent from all over the world. Moreover, ‘Work in Estonia’ a government-led initiative is trying to attract talent from all over the world to come to the country to work permanently. Now, Estonia hopes to attract Information, Communication and Technology related talent from India, both as students and workers.

As the Estonian Ambassador to India Riho Kruuv says, “Estonia is an innovative digital society that offers excellent opportunities for study at world-class universities at affordable prices. We look forward to see Indian students come to Estonia for study and work for trend-setting companies.” 

Study in Estonia

Studying in Estonia is easily accessible and while the programmes are highly selective they are 150 English programmes across the 8 universities in the country. In total, there are six public and two private universities which provide education at costs which are far lower than other parts of Europe. Some of the best programmes such as Digital Learning Games have a fee of Euro 1250 a semester, which is as cheaper than some Indian private universities. In addition, most programmes in Estonia are ahead of the curve: all universities offer the unique opportunity to work alongside with their studies. Secondly all their programmes are tailored for the future of work, all programmes have a ‘digital component’ across disciplines from business administration programmes to design, social sciences; and all technical programmes go above and beyond just teaching the students applied skills giving students a holistic approach to education. All of these courses are concerned with the future of work moulding the next generation of management, coders, analysts, designers, cybersecurity workers, designers and entrepreneurs.

Recently, a horrific and gruesome incident happened in Kathua district of J&K whereby an eight-year old minor was raped, assaulted and killed by those who claim to be in so-called authoritative position. It was the clear example of anger and power assertive rape where perpetrators wanted to create fear in the Bakerwal community. However, it became more shocking when it started taking the shape of political vessel and religious blasphemy.

In such an orthodox and stereotyped society of ours, women has been prey of social turbulence in various forms like humiliation, harassment, torture both physical and mental, in the most egregious ways despite having stringent laws. After Nirbhaya incident, an attempt was made to enact harsher laws through Criminal Law (Amendment), 2013. Of course, the law-enforcing agencies have done a commendable job but in our country, the wave of trend is flowing in other direction because people are still entangled in the ‘web of patriarchy’. Patriarchal societies provide a strong background to felony’s coming under this category. Moreover, the spirit of toleration and lack of safety at public places have given rise to such incidents more frequently. 

A big lacuna that is imminent in our country is that in cases of sexual assault, we do not work on the principle of “Prevention is better than cure” rather we first wait for the things to happen and then react on it. It is only after witnessing some new form of sexual assault, we try to penalize it and here lies the potential dilemma which asks for rectification. In the light of growing incidents, public outrage, media covering and statements made by our so-called beloved politicians will have the least impact.

Moreover, enacting more and more laws is not going to be a successful step because without their implementation, they prefer themselves as ‘dead-cells’.

Nevertheless, the most agitating facet is that people are polarizing the incident by using the weapon of religion. This is of utmost concern because in long term, this propaganda can be as harmful as was Rwandian mass rape violence of women belonging to Tutsi group. Thus, it’s a high time to change the mentality, prevent dissemination of hate ideology and to wait for the justice to happen irrespective of the caste or religion of such perpetrators. With this hope, we need to stop objectifying the women, otherwise it would be too late to assure the safety and dignity of women.

(The author Megha Purohit is Advocate, M.P. High Court)

NEW DELHI : Under fire for gruesome rapes cases in Kathua, Unnao and other parts of the country, the Union Cabinet has approved an Ordinance to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to grant death penalty for the rape of children under the age of 12.

The Ordinance has been sent to the President for assent and will have to be approved by Parliament within the next six month.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012 was formed to protect children from offences of sexual abuse, sexual harassment and pornography and to provide a child-friendly system for the trial of these offences. The Act received the President’s assent on June 19, 2012.

The amendments provides for death penalty or life imprisonment for gang-rape of a girl below the age of 12. In case of rape of a girl below the age of 12, the punishment will be- death penalty, life imprisonment or a minimum imprisonment of 20 years.

For rape of a girl below the age of 16, the punishment has been enhanced to 20 years as against the earlier 10 years. This will be extendable for rest of life while in case of rape of a woman, the minimum punishment has been provided to be 10 years (earlier 7 years) which is extendable to life imprisonment

Importantly, investigation of all cases of rape will have to be completed within 2 months while the trial of all rape cases will have to be completed in 2 months. A time limit of 6 months has also been provided for disposal of appeals in rape cases

There will be no provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of rape or gang rape of a girl under 16 years. Before deciding bail applications in case of rape of a girl under 16 years of age, the court has to give notice of 15 days to the public prosecutor and the representative of the victim.

To help the victim of rape, the present scheme of One Stop Centres for assistance to the victim will be extended to all districts in the country. Dedicated manpower will be provided for investigation of rape cases to speed up the investigation and special forensic labs will be set up in each State/UT exclusively for rape cases.

Special forensic kits will be provided to all Police Stations and hospitals for rape cases and new Fast Track Courts will be set up in consultation with States/UTs and High Courts.

National Crime Records Bureau will maintain a national database and profile of sex offenders which will be shared with states/UTs to better track, monitor, investigate and verification of antecedents.

However, Haq, child rights organisation has expressed deep anguish over the Ordinance to introduce death penalty for child rape as the best solution to the problem. It is, once again, a knee-jerk reaction that by-passes every other democratic and Constitutional process of law making, it has said.

China and India together were responsible for over half of the total global deaths attributable to air pollution, a new study has said. The study also finds that increasing exposure and a growing and aging population have meant that India now rivals China for among the highest air pollution health burdens in the world, with both countries facing some 1.1 million early deaths from outdoor air pollution in 2016.

China has made initial progress, beginning to achieve air pollution declines; in contrast, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India have experienced the steepest increases in air pollution levels since 2010. Seven billion people, more than 95% of the world’s population, live in areas of unhealthy air. Air pollution is the leading environmental cause of death worldwide according to the State of Global Air 2018, the annual report and interactive website published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI).

The report said long-term exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to 6.1 million premature deaths from stroke, heart attack, lung cancer, and chronic lung disease. That makes air pollution the 4th highest cause of death among all health risks, exceeded only by high blood pressure, diet, and smoking.

For the first time this year’s report and website include worldwide estimates of exposure to and health burdens of burning of solid fuels in their homes; in 2016 a total of 2.5 billion people — one in three global citizens — were exposed to household air pollution from the use of solid fuels (for example, coal, wood, charcoal, dung, or other biomass) for cooking and heating. Most live in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, and face a double burden: exposure to both indoor and outdoor air pollution.

And household air pollution can be a major source of impact in outdoor air: with indoor pollution emitted to the outdoor air the largest cause of health impacts from among all sources in India, contributing to 1 in 4 air pollution-related deaths India, and nearly 1 in 5 such deaths in China.

“Air pollution takes a huge personal toll worldwide, making it difficult to breathe for those with respiratory disease, sending the young and old to hospital, missing school and work, and contributing to early death” said Bob O’Keefe, Vice President of HEI. “The trends we report show real progress in some parts of the world – but serious challenges remain to eliminate this avoidable affliction,” he added.

The State of Global Air 2018 annual report and accompanying interactive website are designed and implemented by the Health Effects Institute in cooperation with the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia. IHME is an independent population health research center that coordinates the annual Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, a systematic scientific effort to quantify the magnitude of health loss from all major diseases, injuries, and risk factors in populations across the world.

One of the most sought after tourist destinations in India, Rajasthan is dotted with majestic palaces, captivating forts, museums and more that rightly makes it the most indispensable part of India.

However, there are things more colorful that await tourists. The State now presents a palette of entertainment with its ‘Night Tourism Projects’ with special focus on cultural activities in forts and museums. These activities make every visitor experience the true colors of the culture and history of Rajasthan.

Mr Hridesh Sharma, Director of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Rajasthan, says that museums are increasingly being used as cultural motifs in the destination-tourism projects.  More than just monuments and buildings, they also tell stories through their collections, exhibitions, events and narratives. “We have been organizing cultural programmes in these monuments to draw more crowds’’, he said.

On these lines, ‘Museum of Legacies’ has opened its door to visitors. With 5 primary galleries, the museum exclusively displays the rich cultural heritage of Rajasthan with a diverse collection that includes textiles, jewellery, stoneware and inlay work, painting, pottery and more. It is a very inclusive space that caters to locals and tourists alike. One can view the best of Rajasthani art and craft under one roof at the Museum of Legacies.

The magnificent 16^th century Amber Fort is enhanced with lights, fixtures, additional security and a café to provide a fulfilling experience to the visitors. Not only this, tourists visiting Amer and Nahargarh forts have an add-on adventure experience of riding a Segway scooter other than elephant rides. 

Further, the Vidyadhar Park of the city has been revamped with the facilities and attractions suitable for night tourism. The 350-year-old Vidyadhar garden attracts tourists with sparkling yellow and blue lights, water harvesting system, lush green garden, plantation near walls and beautiful fountains.

Mr. Sharma added that since the monuments started operating for night viewing, the segment has attracted footfalls of 12.2 lakh and revenues of Rs 12.2 crore, as against the total capital expenditure of Rs. 4.27 crores made on the installation of lighting fixtures. 

The Department of Archeology and Museums, in its endeavour to make the monuments and museums alive and vibrant, organises Kathak performances at Jaleb Chowk in Amber fort as well as in Albert Hall on Poornima.  

Performances are also made by school students at Albert Hall. To bring more and more visitors in Hawa Mahal, Rajasthani folk dance performance are held every weekend. 

Historical gates like Sanganeri gate, New gate, Ajmeri gate, Tripolia gate, Chandpole gate and Hawa Mahal have been taken up as part of the new exercise. Chaura Rasta, Tripolia Bazaar and Johri Bazaar, which are a must for tourists, have also been added to the night tourism plan.

NEW DELHI : Today, some Members of Parliament initiated proceedings for the removal of the current Chief Justice of India by submitting a notice to the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.  A judge may be removed from office through a motion adopted by Parliament on grounds of ‘proven misbehaviour or incapacity’.  While the Constitution does not use the word ‘impeachment’, it is colloquially used to refer to the proceedings under Article 124 (for the removal of a Supreme Court judge) and Article 218 (for the removal of a High Court judge).

The Constitution provides that a judge can be removed only by an order of the President, based on a motion passed by both Houses of Parliament.  The procedure for removal of judges is elaborated in the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968.  The Act sets out the following steps for removal from office:

• Under the Act, an impeachment motion may originate in either House of Parliament. To initiate proceedings: (i) at least 100 members of Lok Sabha may give a signed notice to the Speaker, or (ii) at least 50 members of Rajya Sabha may give a signed notice to the Chairman.  The Speaker or Chairman may consult individuals and examine relevant material related to the notice.  Based on this, he or she may decide to either admit the motion or refuse to admit it.
• If the motion is admitted, the Speaker or Chairman (who receives it) will constitute a three-member committee to investigate the complaint. It will comprise: (i) a Supreme Court judge; (ii) Chief Justice of a High Court; and (iii) a distinguished jurist.  The committee will frame charges based on which the investigation will be conducted.  A copy of the charges will be forwarded to the judge who can present a written defence.
• After concluding its investigation, the Committee will submit its report to the Speaker or Chairman, who will then lay the report before the relevant House of Parliament. If the report records a finding of misbehaviour or incapacity, the motion for removal will be taken up for consideration and debated.
• The motion for removal is required to be adopted by each House of Parliament by: (i) a majority of the total membership of that House; and (ii) a majority of at least two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting. If the motion is adopted by this majority, the motion will be sent to the other House for adoption.
• Once the motion is adopted in both Houses, it is sent to the President, who will issue an order for the removal of the judge.

(Source – PRS Legislative Research)

NEW DELHI : Prompted by the public outrage over Kathua and Unnao rape cases, Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister for Women and Child Development has suggested that all police officers be re-trained on various aspects of sexual offences, particularly those related to collection and preservation of evidence.

In a letter addressed to Chief Ministers of all the States/UTs, Ms Gandhi  has outlined various steps to be taken by the States/UTs in preventing and curbing the crimes against women and children. These include re-training of all police officers  on various aspects of sexual offences particularly those related to collection and preservation of evidence, issuing instructions that utmost priority is to be given to complete the investigation of cases of sexual offences against children strictly as per the timelines of law, and that the State governments must take strict action against those police officers who are found to be obstructing the investigation or colluding with the perpetrators of such cases.

A quick and timely professional investigation is the only method in which a potential offender can be deterred but this can be done only by the States as the police department is the State subject. Forming a special cell only for sexual offences or specially for sexual offences on children, would be a significant step in this regard, she said in her letter.

The Women and Child Development Minister offered help to State governments in establishing Forensic Laboratories in States which can be used for forensic analysis of evidence in the investigation of sexual offences.

The WCD Minister has requested the states to generate awareness among the children in using the e-box set up under POCSO with child-help line number 1098. The Minister also highlighted that till date 175 One Stop Centres for women affected by violence have been set up by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. One Stop Centres are to help those women who have no access to either police or medical facilities or are not able to visit a police station in times of distress.

The letter also stressed that Section 21 of the POCSO Act may be invoked in all cases wherever failure to report or record is noted. Section 21 states that any officer who fails to report or record the commission of an offence under section 19/20 of the Act is liable for punishment.

The WCD Minister has also called for suggestions from the state Governments on dealing with the crimes against women and children.

Even as the country rages over the horrid instance of the gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old in Kathua, and similar incidents that were reported from other parts of the country, an analysis by CRY – a child rights group– suggests that for a long time now sexual offences against children have been on a steady rise.  

A sexual offence is committed against a child in India every 15 minutes, the analysis has suggested.

In a cumulative analysis, it revealed a significant increase in crimes against minors of more than 500% over the past 10 years (1,06,958 in 2016 over 18,967 in 2006). Further, retrospective comparison within the mentioned timeframe points at a sharper rate of rise between 2012 and 2016 than that recorded between 2006 and 2011.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data suggests that crime against children in India has increased by a staggering 14% between 2015 and 2016.

As per a 2016 analysis of crimes under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, sexual offences accounted for 1/3^rd of all crimes against children in India.

Going by the nature of crimes and categories those were booked under, child rape is the second largest category of crime against children in terms of number of reported cases, amounting to more than 18% of all crimes, while kidnapping and abduction (K&A) tops the list accounting for more than half of the total number of crimes (51.1%, number of crimes 54723) as recorded in 2016.

All crimes under POCSO Act constitute around 33% of total crimes against children. The number of sexual offences registered against children increased by an alarming 300% over the last 5 years.

Speaking about the worrying trend of crime against children, Komal Ganotra, Director Policy and Advocacy at CRY said, “Though the topic has been debated and deliberated at length for quite some time now, in the wake of increased incidences of crime against children, what we really lack is an all-encompassing concerted action by all duty bearers. We have consistently fallen short with not having robust prevention mechanism, poor awareness on the issue, failure in rolling out rigorous policies and programs, poor conviction rates and in inadequate budgetary allocation for child protection.”  

“It is non-negotiable for the state and other duty bearers to equip themselves in recognising the risks involved, and put robust preventive and responsive systems and processes to assess and eliminate the same,” she added.

Looking at the concentration of reported incidents across the States, more than 50% of crimes against children have been recorded in just five States, such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi UT and West Bengal. While Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 15% of recorded crimes against children, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh closely follow with 14% and 13% respectively. It is also a matter of grave concern that in 11 out 36 States and UTs, more than 50% of the offences against children are sexual offences and in 25 out of 36 States and UTs more than 1/3^rd of the crimes against children are sex crimes.

New Delhi:  Afghanistan has expressed disappointment over Pakistan’s attitude  to its  latest initiative for bringing an end to conflict  through offer of unconditional peace talks with Taliban.

It has also asserted that there will be no reduction of  India’s engagement with the country under pressure of Islamabad. So far there had been no response from Pakistan to act on the important points agreed to during their Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s recent visit to Kabul, Ambassador Shaida Mohammad Abdali  said here, adding that  one of these points was making the Taliban agree to engage in negotiations with the Afghanistan government                  

”We are still awaiting a positive step forward from Pakistan even as border violations were continuing,” Mr Abdali said during an interaction with members of the  Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents here yesterday. It may be pointed out that Kabul and Washington have been putting pressure on Islamabad to deny safe havens to insurgents blamed for attack in Afghanistan.

The Afghan Ambassador said his country has now to see how far Pakistan goes to push Taliban towards peace talks. In this connection, his government had adopted a two-pronged approach- one to engage at  government to government level with Pakistan,  and the other to deal with the Taliban as a group, the Ambassador said.

So far,  the Taliban had not got back to our government over the unconditional peace talks offer, which means they were pondering over it, he said. The Afghan envoy also accused the Taliban of  deceiving and creating confusion among his country’s friends  by projecting a  Taliban vs Daesh  tussle in his country. ”The fact was that this Daesh had not come from Iraq or  Syria but was part of  the Pakistani Taliban, consisting of local people across the Duran Line, ” he said.

The Afghan envoy stressed there was a consistent effort to prolong war in Afghanistan by creating distrust between regional and international partners of the country. He also said the Afghan people would never like to see the Taliban back, as these groups were imposed from without.

Replying to a question, Mr Abdali said his country  would not come under pressure of Pakistan to reduce India’s role in his country. ”For Afghanistan ties with India are very important and this partnership is very special.” He said besides economic engagement, India  was also playing a very substantive role in strengthening his country’s defence forces.

India was obtaining four fighter helicopters for Afghanistan through Belarus as an interim help. This help was urgent to bolster  the air force for the coming summer fighting season. This was an interim arrangement before  the four -year US plan(1918-22) for strengthening Afghan defence is completed, he said. ”Besides, our defence minister attended the Chennai Defence expo where he has seen new products, and we will soon be giving our new list ,” he said .

Guwahati : The Group of Ministers on Transport constituted by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has recommended a uniform structure of road tax for vehicles across states. In its meeting held  in Guwahati today, the GoM observed that a uniform tax structure will put a  check  on people registering their vehicles in low tax states and running them in other states.  This would also bring necessary relief to genuine cases requiring transfer of vehicles.

The GoM, headed by Yunus Khan, Minister for Transport, Rajasthan and comprising State Transport Ministers, seeks to find solutions to the various problems plaguing the road transport sector in the country so as to improve road safety and facilitate ease of transport. Today’s meeting in Guwahati, inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, was held to deliberate upon One Nation- One Tax and One Nation- One Permit proposal.

The GoM has also recommended a national bus and taxi permit on lines of such permit for goods transport. Public transport in the country is growing annually at a rate of just about 2 percent, as against a 20 percent annual growth in private transport.  A national permit will give the much needed fillip to public transport and help reduce road  congestion and its attendant problems.

In order to promote alternate fuel for vehicles the GoM had proposed liberalization of permit system for electric vehicles. In addition, it has recommended raising the tax on diesel vehicles by 2 percent while lowering the tax on electric vehicles.