Notable Role (10/1000): Abhay Deol (Shanghai)

Unlike his siblings Sunny and Bobby, Abhay Deol is much known for the roles based on ground realities, be it Oye Lucky Lucky Oye or Dev-D or Socha Na Tha. The year 2012 movie Shanghai adds to his understanding and adaptability to the roles, that no one can perform better than him. 

In this movie, he has portrayed the character of an honest IAS officer, involved in the inquiry of an accident that was suspiciously murder attempt of a leader. Although much credit to the quality of the movie goes to Dibakar, its director, roles played by Abhay and Imran Hashmi have maintained the same.
One of the reasons to watch this movie is the actors itself.
Here is an example: 

Can failed affair lead to rape charges: SC

Looking into the trail of cases, wherein the women have used rape as "a weapon for vengeance and vendetta" to harass and even force a man to marry, the Supreme Court has asked a question raising a doubt on a failed consensual relationship between adults lead to filing of rape charges against the man.

Last year, the Delhi HC noticed the issue and said rape cases were being used as "a weapon for vengeance and vendetta" to harass and even force a man to marry.

The case before the apex court concerned a failed relationship between a top IDFC banker and a former cabin crew member with an international airline. The man said the highly educated and net savvy woman knew all along that he was married with two children and it was impossible to hide his marital status. He said he could not have induced sexual relationship on the promise of marriage.

The woman in her complaint accused him of sexually abusing her on the promise of marriage and threatening to circulate an indecent video of her prepared by him.

A vacation bench of Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice SK Singh asked: "Why did you take the indecent photograph? You say it was a selfie. Is it possible to take selfie of a whole body?

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the accused, said: "People get carried away in such relationships. They had a peculiar relationship. The bench asked, "Peculiar? It can be called a cupid relationship not a stupid relationship."

When Luthra said that "breach of promise to marry" was not an ingredient for rape charges, the bench asked: "Where is it held (by a court) that if you had a relationship for two years (with a woman), it becomes rape when it failed?"

It was quite appreciable on the side of the Supreme Court, which has looked into the rising misuse of the rape as a weapon for girls to get the relationship converted into marriage. It can be noticed that though the women protection laws have the noble ideas of their protection, they are being misused as a weapon to get their means served. This hampers the basic goal served by these laws and by the law-makers.

Pen's vision (rather pencil's vision): 4X4 Jeep created by me.

This is my latest creativity in screenshot form. CLICK HERE for enlarged image.

Crisis in Iraq: Reasons behind.

The conventional wisdom now is that Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki's flaws and wrong policies, especially his alienation of the Sunnis and dictatorial style of governance, are at the root of Iraq’s problems, including its latest troubles with extremist Islamic militants.

The most significant factor behind Iraq’s problems has been the inability of Iraq’s Sunni Arabs and its Sunni neighbors to come to terms with a government in which the Shias, by virtue of their considerable majority in Iraq’s population, hold the leading role. This inability was displayed early on, when Iraq’s Sunnis refused to take part in Iraq’s first parliamentary elections, and resorted to insurgency almost immediately after the U.S. invasion and fall of Saddam Hussein.

All along, the goal of Iraqi Sunnis has been to prove that the Shias are not capable of governing Iraq. Indeed, Iraq’s Sunni deputy prime minister, Osama al Najafi, recently verbalized this view. The Sunnis see political leadership and governance to be their birthright and resent the Shia interlopers.

The Sunnis’ psychological difficulty in accepting a mostly Shia government is understandable. After ruling the country for centuries, both under the Ottomans and after independence, and after oppressing the Shias and viewing them as heretics and dregs of society, the Sunnis find Shia rule to sit heavily on them. It is thus difficult to imagine what any Shia prime minister could have done — or could now do — to satisfy the Sunnis. For example, during the early years after Saddam’s fall, once they had realized their mistake of abstaining from politics, the Sunnis made unreasonable demands as the price of cooperation, such as taking the defense portfolio. Yet considering what the Shias had suffered under Saddam, there was no possibility that they could agree.

Iraq’s Sunni Arabs have not been alone in undermining the authority of the country’s Shia leadership. Masood Barzani, who dreams of an independent Kurdistan, has also done what he can to undermine the authority of the government in Baghdad, by essentially running his own economic, oil, and foreign policies. A factor in Barzani’s attitude has been his anti-Iran sentiments, which go back to the troubles that his father, Mulla Mustafa Barzani, had with the Shah.

Iraq’s Sunni neighbors, notably Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but also Qatar, also cannot countenance a Shia government in Baghdad. In addition to the anti-Shia impact of the Wahhabi creed that is dominant in Saudi Arabia and among the Qatari leadership, this Sunni animosity has derived from the perception that a Shia government in Iraq would change the balance of regional power in Iran’s favor. Yet Maliki is the least pro-Iranian of Iraq’s Shia leaders, with the possible exception of the now-notorious Ahmed Chalabi. During Saddam’s time, Maliki belonged to the Dawa party, a rival of Iraq’s Islamic Revolutionary Council that was supported by Iran, and he spent more time in Syria than in Iran. This is one reason why the United States preferred Maliki to personalities like Ibrahim Jafari.

Moreover, Maliki tried to reach out to Turkey and to other Arab states, including Saudi Arabia. But Turkey snubbed him and supported his rival, Tariq al-Hashimi. The Arab states have also shunned him. Under these circumstances, Maliki had no choice but to move closer to Iran. Yet the idea that he has thus become an Iranian pawn is a myth with no foundation in reality. Even now, Iraq has not reestablished the Algiers Agreement of 1975 that regularized Iraqi-Iranian border disputes, an agreement which, before attacking Kuwait in 1990, Saddam had accepted. Iraq has not signed a peace treaty with Iran and competes with it in courting clients for oil exports. Iraq also has more extensive trade relations with Turkey than with Iran.

In short, by exaggerating the sectarian factor, Iraq’s Sunni neighbors have exacerbated Shia fears and made it more difficult for them to pursue a more inclusive policy vis-à-vis the Sunnis. Further, most killings in Iraq have been in Shia areas, undertaken by Sunni extremists of various kinds who are funded by Sunni governments in the region. The plight of the Shias has also not been limited to Iraq. Similar mistreatment in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan has gone unnoticed by the West, while the exclusion of Iraq’s Sunnis from leadership posts in Baghdad has been blown out of proportion. Western and especially U.S. dislike of Iran has been a major cause for the disregarding of mass killings and assassination of Shias.

Conflicting U.S. policy objectives in the region have also led it to pursue policies in Iraq that have contributed to current U.S. dilemmas. The most glaring example was the U.S. courting of Sunni insurgents and tribal leaders, both of which were thus emboldened to commit acts such as attacking the Shia shrines in Samara in 2006 and frightening the Shias that the United States would again betray them as it did at the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Wanting to isolate Iran and perhaps to bring about regime change there, the United States has also done virtually nothing to reign in the Saudis and others, including Turkey and Qatar, to prevent them from funding Sunni insurgents. Instead, Washington has blamed Iraqi unrest solely on Iranian meddling. Even today, there is no acknowledgement by the United States that the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) cannot achieve what it has been doing without outside help.

At an even more fundamental level, U.S. efforts to achieve too many contradictory and incompatible goals have been at the root of Iraq’s crisis. To date, it has proved to be difficult — indeed impossible — to eliminate Saddam but produce a stable Iraq; to isolate Iran and possibly change its regime; to get rid of Assad in Syria without exacerbating its civil war; to forge a Sunni-Israeli alliance against Shia Iran; and to convince other Shias throughout the region to continue playing second fiddle to the Sunnis.

To summarize, Nouri al-Maliki is certainly flawed and has made many mistakes. But the real culprits have been Iraq’s considerable fault lines, contradictory policies pursued by the West, and the predatory approach of Iraq’s neighbors. Thus even if Maliki is removed from office, Iraq’s situation will not improve unless these fault lines are dealt with and the policies pursued by outside states in Iraq are remedied. Rather, the situation will get much worse because the Shias are most unlikely to once again accept living under a regime that can be characterized as “Saddamism without Saddam” or, worse, what they would consider a Salafi-Takfiri government that considers them heathens deserving death.

Music on my mind: Do or Die (THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS)

"Do or Die" is a song recorded by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars and written

by lead vocalist Jared Leto for the band's fourth studio album Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams. The song appears as the ninth track on the album and was released as a promotional single on July 1, 2013. A remix of the song by Dutch music producer Afrojack was digitally released in March 2014 and later included on the deluxe edition of his debut studio album Forget the World.

Lyrics.

In the middle of the night, when the angels scream,
I don't want to live a lie that I believe.
Time to do or die.

I will never forget the moment, the moment.
I will never forget the moment, the moment.

And the story goes on... on... on...
That's how the story goes.
That's how the story goes.

You and I will never die.
It's a dark embrace.
In the beginning was life, a dawning age.
Time to be alive.

I will never forget the moment, the moment.
I will never forget this night.
We sing, we sing...

On... on... on...
That's how the story goes.

Fate is coming, that I know.
Time is running, got to go.
Faith is coming, that I know.
Let it go.
Here right now
Under the banner of heaven , we dream out loud
Do or die, and the story goes
On... on... on...

And the story goes on... on...
This is the story

Fate is coming, that I know (this is the story)
Time is running, got to go (this is the story)
Fate is coming, that I know (this is the story)
Let it go.
Here right now,
Under the banner of heaven, we dream out loud
Dream out loud!
Fate is coming, that I know (time to do or die)
Time is running out (time to do or die)
Fate is coming, that I know (time to do or die)
Let it go...

Holiday: nightmare for Indian espionage movies

Watching the movies like Khiladi 786, Tees Maar Khan, Blue, I came to conclusion that the worst era of Akshay Kumar has begun as it was the case of Mithun Da in late 90s. However, the movies like Oh My God sent a ray of hope that Mr. Khiladi can still survive the heat of modern day competition on our box-office. 

The similar ray of hope flourished after I watched the trailer of the movie Holiday-A Soldier is Never Off Duty.

I went to watch the movie, considering that it will fall in category of movies like 16th December, Madras Cafe, D-Day, Vishwaroopam - the movies depicting the reality of espionage. 

But I was disappointed to see how a movie on the issue of grave problems like sleeper cells can be given the shape of a comedy flick. In fact this falls in line with conventional Indian movies, which are famous for the climax, showing how hero is beaten up by the villain and how he stands up and a mano-a-mano fight takes place. It was quite amusing to see the scene, when Akshay Kumar stands in the office of DIA and says "BOOM", because of his abrupt posture.

In my opinion, the real culprit is the audience, who wants the crap movies and who rejects the quality espionage movies.

Interview on Article 356: post-Bommai situation

Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy, former judge of the Supreme Court, had a key role in the March 11, 1994 judgment in the Bommai case. He was part of the apex court's majority opinion and wrote an eloquent judgment, along with Justice S.C. Agrawal, dealing with both federalism and secularism that is widely appreciated. He was interviewed in Hyderabad by R.J. Rajendra Prasad:

• What in your assessment is the essential difference between the situation pre-Bommai and post-Bommai?

What Bommai did was to lay down certain guidelines and certain standards in exercising power under Article 356. In fact, it is the case where we elucidated the meaning of the Article, consistent with the spirit of the Constitution and the background in which the Article was enacted. It was brought to the notice of the Supreme Court, and it was an undeniable fact, that the Article was used indiscriminately, or misused as one may call it, on a number of occasions, before the judgment in the Bommai case. Even at that time, it was said that on more than 90 cases, the power was exercised; and in most of the cases, it appeared to be of doubtful constitutional validity.

That power was exercised to dismiss the State Governments controlled by a political party opposed to the ruling party at the Centre. The Supreme Court wanted to introduce a certain clarity to regulate the power, by defining the power, by laying down standards according to which the power is to be exercised.

Since the judgment of the Supreme Court becomes the law of the land, it is obvious that the Central Government is bound by the judgment. It is therefore clear that after the Bommai case, the governments have been more careful, more on guard, more wary of exercising this power, lest their exercise should be set aside by the Courts.

As we all know, in the case of the dismissal of the Uttar Pradesh Government, the proclamation by the President was set aside by the Allahabad High Court following the Bommaijudgment. But for the Bommai judgment, it is obvious the High Court could not have set aside the order of the President. That is the difference between pre-Bommai and post-Bommai.

• Do you think Article 356 should be abolished?

I don't think Article 356 should be simply abolished. Maybe it can be amended to make it more difficult for the President, or the Union Council of Ministers, to dismiss State Governments. But abolishing the Article itself is not advisable. You cannot say what situation, which cannot be conceived today, may arise in the future, in which the Central Government will have to step in in the larger interests of the nation. But we must develop a constitutional culture in which any power given by the Constitution to any Authority should be used only for the purpose intended, and not to achieve some other extraneous purpose.

• Can you explain what amendment would be in order?

By the Constitution 44th Amendment, this Article has been tightened a little. The amendment can be on the lines of the judgment in the Bommai case, in which the President, soon after issuing the Proclamation dismissing a State Government, was required to place it before Parliament for approval.

• Looking at it historically, under what circumstances would the use of Article 356 be just, if at all?

It is not possible to catalogue the grounds under which the power may be exercised. The standard is that the situation exists in which the State Government cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. The particular situation cannot be identified.

• In the 90-plus instances where the power under Article 356 was exercised till now, were there any instances where the power was exercised in a just manner?

We did not go into a review of the earlier cases, but generally, in most cases, it appears that the power was exercised arbitrarily.

• How can Bommai be better enforced in the rough and tumble of Indian politics?

The Governor has no power to dismiss a State Government. It is only the power of the President, which means the Union Council of Ministers. So far as the exercise of the power by the Union Council of Ministers is concerned, the Constitution is itself meant to regulate and to determine, to standardise, the political conduct. Politicians should learn to conduct themselves according to the spirit of the Constitution. Otherwise there is no purpose for the Constitution. If you want to act, you must act in accordance with the Constitution.

Take the example of the United Kingdom. It is a very developed country but the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, they all function in accordance with the constitutional provisions. That is why we speak of the need to develop a political culture of functioning in accordance with the Constitution. We should develop such a culture.

• Would use of Article 356 be mala fide if there is an agreement to dismiss an elected Government as part of a pre-electoral understanding?

It is a political question. I do not want to answer it.

• What do you think can be done about the problem of a Governor being a political agent of the Centre?

Governors do not realise the importance, significance and the functions of the office they hold. They think they are merely the agents of the Centre. No. The State Government is his Government. When the Governor speaks in the Assembly, he talks of "his" Government. At the same time, he has taken the oath to uphold the Constitution. When he discovers that the State Government is not functioning according to the Constitution, it is his duty to report the matter to the Central Government.

As we said in the judgment on Bommai, the Governor is like a person wearing two hats. With one hat, he is the head of the State Government and with the other, he is a representative of the President. He is not a mere agent of the President.

That is why we made some strong comments against the Governor of Karnataka in the Bommai case. We said that the President's proclamation should be placed in Parliament within two months and approved. These are all the checks, placed in the interests of the Constitution, in the interests of the nation, and for the public good.

NATGRID: Reasons and repercussions.

The National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID is an integrated intelligence grid that will link the databases of several departments and ministries of the Government of India so as to collect comprehensive patterns of intelligence that can be readily accessed by intelligence agencies. It was first proposed in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008 and is to become operational in 2013-14.NATGRID will integrate 21 categories of data from agencies like banks, railways and airlines, Income tax department, credit card companies etc., visa and immigrationThis combined data will be made available to 11 central agencies including the R&AW, the National Investigation Agency, the CBI, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, the Narcotics Control Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate to help them prevent terrorist attacks and criminal activities.

Reasons for formation.

The 26/11 attacks on Mumbai led to the exposure of several weaknesses in India's intelligence gathering and action networks. NATGRID is part of the radical overhaul of the security and intelligence apparatuses of India that was mooted by the then Home Minister P. Chidambaram. 

• The National Investigating Agency and the National Counter Terrorism Centre are two organisations established in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks of 2008.
• Before the attacks, the American Lashkar operative David Coleman Headley had visited India several times and done a recce of the places that came under attack on 26/11. Despite having travelled to India several times and having returned to the US throughPakistan or West Asia, his trips failed to raise the suspicion of Indian agencies as they lacked a system that could reveal a pattern in his unusual travel itineraries and trips to the country. 
• It is argued that had a system like the NATGRID been in place, Headley would have been apprehended well before the attacks.

Two phase implementation.

1. NATGRID is being implemented in four phases, the first two of which will be operationalised by 2014 at a cost of 1,200 crores and the first data sets will be retrievable by early 2013. The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the first two phases in 2011. The same year, P. Raghu Raman was appointed the Secretary and CEO of NATGRID and tasked with the establishment of the grid. 
2. The implementation of the third and fourth phases are expected to require amendments to several laws to allow for the sharing and transfer of data on items such as property and bank transaction details and internet usage.

Concerns.

Some people are concerned about the protection of individual privacy and misuse of information by law enforcement agencies. However, The Government has tried to calm down the fears by assuring that

1. NATGRID is only the technical interface for intelligence agencies and not an organization in itself. If the agency initiating the inquiry is not authorized to get that information, it cannot get it.
2. NATGRID has strong information protection technology and external audits
3. Security and intelligence agencies will not be able to use the NATGRID system to access information for any purpose other than that of countering terror.
4. NATGRID will not “store” any personal data, but only facilitate transfer.

Situations.

1. SIPRNET is a computer network connecting US Defense and State Departments (similar to our NATGRID)
2. One Soldier Bradly Mannins, accessed the SIPRNET, copied all the US diplomatic documents and sent them to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
3. Similar fiasco could happen with India’s NATGRID.

IB Report: Developed world's intentions exposed.

An Intelligence Bureau report has accused "foreign-funded" NGOs such as Greenpeace, Cordaid, Amnesty and ActionAid of "serving as tools for foreign policy interests of western governments" by sponsoring agitations against nuclear and coal-fired power plants across the country. 

The NGOs, said to be working through a network of local organizations such as PUCL and Narmada Bachao Andolan, have negatively impacted GDP growth by 2-3%, claims the IB report sent to the PMO and other government agencies. 

Environmental activists joined Greenpeace in rubbishing the IB report. Greenpeace said it was a conscious attempt by the country's premier intelligence agency to crush and stifle opposing voices in civil society. The organization also wrote to the home minister, requesting him to share a copy of the report "to know and understand impacts of this labeling". 

"It is disturbing to know that information of the IB report has been leaked to a media house and not been shared with the party concerned," said executive director of the Greenpeace India, Samit Aich, in his letter to the home minister. 

Cauvery file: Impact of 1956.

The year 1956 has a very profound impact on the political history of India as it witnessed passing of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 as a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines.

The Act came into effect alongwith the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, which (among other things) restructured the constitutional framework for India's existing states and the requirements to pass the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 under the provisions of Artcles 3 & 4 of the constitution.

Impacts on the concerned states.

1. Kerala: formed by the merger of Travancore-Cochin state with the Malabar district of Madras State.
2. Madras State: The southern part of Travancore-Cochin (Kanyakumari district) was added to the state. (The state was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1968.)
3. Mysore State: enlarged by the addition of Coorg State and the Kannada speaking districts from southern Bombay state and western Hyderabad state. (The state was renamed Karnataka in 1973.)
4. Puducherry had already become a de facto Union territory in 1954. It entered into the dispute in 1978.

All these changes further changed the equations as Kerala and Puducherry also jumped into the fray. Kerala staked its claim as one of the major tributaries of the Kaveri, the Kabini, now originated in Kerala. The Karaikal region of Puducherry at the tail end of the river demanded the waters that it had always used for drinking and some minimal agriculture.

Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956.

The Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956 was legislated to deal with conflicts, and included provisions for the establishment of tribunals to adjudicate where direct negotiations have failed. However, states have sometimes refused to accept the decisions of tribunals.

Cauvery water dispute: the history behind.

Introduction.

Kaveri river flows in South Karnataka and then to Tamil Nadu. The sharing of waters of the river Kaveri has been the source of a serious conflict between the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. 

• The genesis of this conflict, rests in two controversial agreements—one signed in 1892 and another in 1924—between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and Princely State of Mysore. 

• The 802 km Kaveri river has 32,000 sq km basin area in Karnataka and 44,000 sq km basin area in Tamil Nadu. 

• The state of Karnataka contends that it does not receive its due share of water from the river as does Tamil Nadu. Karnataka claims that these agreements were skewed heavily in favour of the Madras Presidency, and has demanded a renegotiated settlement based on "equitable sharing of the waters". 

• Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, pleads that it has already developed almost 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km2) of land and as a result has come to depend very heavily on the existing pattern of usage. Any change in this pattern, it says, will adversely affect the livelihood of millions of farmers in the state. Decades of negotiations between the parties bore no fruit. 

• The Governmentof India then constituted a tribunal in 1990 to look into the matter. After hearing arguments of all the parties involved for the next 16 years, the tribunal delivered its final verdict on 5 February 2007. 

Background of the Conflict.

During middle of the 19th century, numerous plans were drawn up for the utilization of the Kaveri waters by the Princely State of Mysore and the Madras Presidency, of which Tamil Nadu was a part. However, the drought and subsequent famine in the mid-1870s put a hold on the implementation of these plans. The plans were revived by Princely State of Mysore in 1881.

Mysore's plans to revive the irrigation projects met with resistance from the Madras Presidency. Mysore state made a representation to the then British government, after which, a conference was held in 1890 and the Agreement of 1892 was signed.

Agreement of 1892.

This recognised the need for an agreement which would on the one hand allow Mysore reasonable freedom in dealing with its irrigation works and also give Madras practical security against injury to its interests.

In June 1891, Mysore forwarded a set of rules to Madras defining the limit within which no new irrigation works were to be constructed by Mysore across the 15 main rivers without previous reference to Madras.

Some minor changes in the rules suggested by Madras were accepted by Mysore which later resulted in the 1892 agreement which vested prescriptive rights to Madras in sharing the waters of Cauvery.

Construction of dam.

Things came to a head in 1910 when Mysore, under Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar as the king and Sir. M.Visvesvaraya as Chief Engineer came up with a plan to construct a dam at Kannambadi village (in Mysore) to hold up to 41.5 TMC of water. 

• The dam was planned to be built in two stages. In the first stage a capacity of 11 TMC was envisioned, while in the second stage the full capacity was set to be realized. 
• Madras however, refused to give its consent for this move as it had its own plans to build a storage dam at Mettur with a capacity of 80 TMC.

After a reference to the Government of India, permission was accorded to Mysore, but for a reduced storage of 11TMC. During construction, however, the foundation was laid to suit the earlier desired full storage. This raised Madras' hackles and the dispute continued.

• The then British Government of India referred the matter to arbitration under Rule IV of the 1892 Agreement. The Kaveri dispute thus had come up for arbitration for the first time.

Award of arbitration was given on 12 May 1914. The award upheld the earlier decision of the Government of India and allowed Mysore to go ahead with the construction of the dam up to 11 TMC.

Madras appealed against the award and negotiations continued. Eventually an agreement was arrived at in 1924 and a couple of minor agreements were also signed in 1929 and 1933. The 1924 agreement was set to lapse after a run of 50 years.

Agreement of 1924.

The 1924 agreement was set to lapse after a run of 50 years. As a result of these agreements Karnataka claimed that Mysore was forced to give up rights to over 80% of the Cauvery waters. However both Mysore and Madras were able to complete their projects at Kannambadi and Mettur respectively. According to the Agreement of 1924, Mysore Government constructed the Krishnarajasagara dam at Kannambadi to a capacity of 45 TMC, Madras Government built the Mettur dam to hold 93.5 TMC. If the 1892 agreement could last only for 32 years the 1924 agreement which should have been declared no more operative in 1947 continued till 1974.

Must Watch: Apaharan

If any one can focus on social issues surrounding the Indian common people, specially hailing from the BIMARU states like UP and Bihar, it is none other than Prakash Jha. Here I present before you my review about the year 2005 movie Apaharan, starring Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan, Yashpal Sharma and Chetan Pandit. 

After the much hype of social issue- based movies after the success of his Gangajal (2003), Mr. Jha has successfully delivered this movie on the theme of corruption that compels an innocent person to get involved in the whole systematic network of kidnapping mafia, prevailing in Bihar.

If talk about the performances of the actors, this time, unlike in Gangajal, the majority share for the success of this movie has to be credited to Nana Patekar. Apart from it, Ajay Devgan has given his best in presenting the youth who gets trapped in the whole network of kidnapping mafia, which is headed by Gaya Singh (Yashpal) and nurtured by Tabrez Aalam (Nana).

Also, I will not lag behind in appreciating the performance of Mukesh Tiwari, who has played the role of an honest IPS officer.

Journey to our Constitution: Charter Act 1853

This was the last Charter Act. It brought about significant changes in the Governor General's Council. It marked the expansion of the Council of the Governor General for legislative purposes. The council for legislative purposes which had 6 members now was expanded to 12 members. The additional 6 members were called Legislative Councellors These 12 members were : 

1. The Governor General (1)
2. The commander in Chief (1) 
3. Members of the Governor General's Council (4) 
4. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Calcutta) (1) 
5. A regular judge of the Supreme court Calcutta (1) 
6. Representative members drawn from the company's servants with 10 years minimum tenure and appointed by the local governments of Bengal, Madras, Bombay and North Western provinces (4)

The fourth member (Lord Macaulay) was placed at an equal status with other members. He was also made entitled to sit and vote in the meetings of the Executive Council of the Governor General.

Other changes.

Birth of Indian Civil Services (ICS) Examination.

The previous charter act of 1833 had laid down that the Court of Directors should nominate annually 4 times as many candidates as there were vacancies, from whom one should be selected by competitive examination. The charter act of 1833 also provided the Haileybury college of London should make quota to admit the future civil servants. However, this system of an open competition was never effectively operated. 

A The Committee under the chairmanship of Lord Macaulay had prepared the regulations in this context. 

1. The report said that Haileybury should cease to be maintained as higher education college for the ICS.
2. There should be a broad general education rather than specialized education for the ICS recruits.
3. The recruitment should be based upon an open competitive examination to bring out the best candidates and not through mere superficial knowledge.
4. The appointments should be subject to a period of probation. 
5. Charter Act of 1853 deprived the Court of Directors of its right of Patronage to Indian appointments and now it was to be exercised under the regulations. 

This was the Birth of Civil Services which was thrown in 1854 for open competition.

Separate Governor for Presidency of Bengal.

The Charter act of 1853 provided for appointment of a separate Governor for the Presidency of Bengal, distinct from the Governor General. However, the court of Directors and the Board of Control were authorized to appoint a lieutenant governor, till the appointment of a Governor was made. 

However, the Lieutenant governor was appointed in 1854, but no Governor was appointed for Bengal till 1912.

NEXT: Indian Councils Act 1861

Journey to our Constitution: Charter Act 1833

Impact on trade.

The Charter Act of 1833 was the 20 years renewal of the charter in 1813. As per this Charter, the company was asked to close its commercial business. 

• Thus, this time the charter was renewed on the condition that Company should abandon its trade entirely, alike with India and China, and permit Europeans to settle freely in India. 
• The company lost its monopoly in China and also the trade of tea, granted by Charter act of 1813.

Legislative journey of India.

• This act made the Governor General of Bengal the Governor General of British India and all financial and administrative powers were centralized in the hands of Governor General-in-Council. Thus with Charter Act of 1833, Lord William Bentinck became the “First Governor General of British India”. 

• The number of the members of the Governor General's council was again fixed to 4, which had been reduced by the Pitt's India act. However, certain limits were imposed on the functioning of the 4th member. The 4th member was NOT entitled to act as a member of the council except for legislative purposes. 

• First fourth person to be appointed as the member of the Council was Lord Macaulay.

• It deprived the Governor of Bombay and Madras of their legislative powers. The Governor-General was given exclusive legislative powers for the whole of British India.

Enhanced power of Governor-General of India.

He could repeal, amend or alter any laws or regulations including all persons (whether British or native or foreigners), all places and things in every part of British territory in India, for all servants of the company, and articles of war. 
However, the Court of Directors acting under the Board of control could veto any laws made by the Governor-General-in-Council.

Governor-General's Government was referred to as the Government of India for the first time.

Codification of laws.

The charter act of 1833 is considered to be an attempt to codify all the Indian Laws.

• The British parliament as a supreme body, retained the right to legislate for the British territories in India and repeal the acts. 

• The act of 1833 provided that all laws made in India were to be laid before the parliament and were to be known as Acts. 

• In a step towards codifying the laws, the Governor-General-in-Council was directed under the Charter act of 1833, to set up an Indian law Commission.

First Indian Law Commission. 

The first law commission was set up by the Charter act of 1833 and Lord Macaulay was its most important member and Chairman. 

• The other members of this commission were English barrister Cameron, Macleod of Madras service, William Anderson of Bombay Service and Sir William McNaughton of the Calcutta Service. Sir William McNaughton did not accept the appointment. 
• The objectives of the law commission was to inquire into the Jurisdiction, powers and rules of the courts of justice police establishments, existing forms of judicial procedure, nature and operation of all kinds of laws. 
• It was directed that the law Commission shall submit its report to the Governor General-in-council and this report was to be placed in the British parliament.

Indians in the Government service.

The Charter act of 1833 was the first act which provisioned to freely admit the natives of India to share an administration in the country. 

Mitigation of Slavery.

This act also directed the Governor General-in-Council to adopt measures to mitigate the state of slavery, persisting in India since sultanate Era. The Governor General-in-Council was also directed to pay attention to laws of marriage, rights and authorities of the heads of the families, while drafting any laws.

More Bishops.

The number of British residents was increasing in India. The charter act of 1833 laid down regulation of establishment of Christian establishments in India and the number of Bishops was made 3. (Bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight).

NEXT: Charter Act 1853.