The Russian 'Blogger Law'

    Just weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the Russian government's already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what's become known as the "bloggers law," which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is required to register with the Roskomnadzor, Russia's media oversight agency.  

Just weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the Russian government's already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what's become known as the "bloggers law," which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is required to register with the Roskomnadzor, Russia's media oversight agency. According to Reporters Without Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any inaccurate comments, and they're forbidden from harming the reputation of a person or group or using their platform to "hide or falsify information of general interest."  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous anymore.

A senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country for refusal to cooperate.

The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000 or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However, the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based outside Russia.
Deputy head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov said that this would not matter.
“The law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.

Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of strength in Ukraine.

The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for democracy in Russia and even ran for president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.

The law does not specify how the government will count site visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media outlets.

The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.

But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.

It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain popularity. There are those who use ‘pen names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to be fined, with individual violators being fined between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange rate), while "legal entities" will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).

While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.    

Just weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the Russian government's already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what's become known as the "bloggers law," which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is required to register with the Roskomnadzor, Russia's media oversight agency. According to Reporters Without Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any inaccurate comments, and they're forbidden from harming the reputation of a person or group or using their platform to "hide or falsify information of general interest."  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous anymore.

A senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country for refusal to cooperate.

The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000 or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However, the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based outside Russia.
Deputy head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov said that this would not matter.
“The law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.

Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of strength in Ukraine.

The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for democracy in Russia and even ran for president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.

The law does not specify how the government will count site visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media outlets.

The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.

But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.

It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain popularity. There are those who use ‘pen names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to be fined, with individual violators being fined between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange rate), while "legal entities" will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).

While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.    

Just weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the Russian government's already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what's become known as the "bloggers law," which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is required to register with the Roskomnadzor, Russia's media oversight agency. According to Reporters Without Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any inaccurate comments, and they're forbidden from harming the reputation of a person or group or using their platform to "hide or falsify information of general interest."  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous anymore.

A senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country for refusal to cooperate.

The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000 or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However, the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based outside Russia.
Deputy head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov said that this would not matter.
“The law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.

Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of strength in Ukraine.

The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for democracy in Russia and even ran for president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.

The law does not specify how the government will count site visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media outlets.

The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.

But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.

It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain popularity. There are those who use ‘pen names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to be fined, with individual violators being fined between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange rate), while "legal entities" will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).

While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.    

Just weeks after he disparaged the Internet as “a special C.I.A. project”, Valdimir Putin, borrowed a page from the restrictive Internet playbooks of many governments around the world that have been steadily smothering online freedoms few of them had once tolerated. The idea that the Internet was at best controlled anarchy and beyond any one nation’s control is fading globally amid determined attempts by more and more governments to tame the web. If innovations like Twitter were hailed as recently as the Arab uprisings as the new public square, governments like those in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and now Russia are making it clear that they can deploy their tanks on virtual squares, too.

President Vladimir Putin has signed a law tightening the Russian government's already strong hold on the internet. Russia passed what's become known as the "bloggers law," which requires popular internet writers to follow rules normally reserved for larger media outlets. Under it, any blogger with more than 3,000 readers is required to register with the Roskomnadzor, Russia's media oversight agency. According to Reporters Without Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any inaccurate comments, and they're forbidden from harming the reputation of a person or group or using their platform to "hide or falsify information of general interest."  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous anymore.

A senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country for refusal to cooperate.

The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000 or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However, the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based outside Russia.
Deputy head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov said that this would not matter.
“The law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.

Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of strength in Ukraine.

The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for democracy in Russia and even ran for president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.

The law does not specify how the government will count site visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media outlets.

The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.

But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.

It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain popularity. There are those who use ‘pen names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to be fined, with individual violators being fined between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange rate), while "legal entities" will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).

While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.   According to Reporters Without Borders, the law covers not only traditional blogs but micro blogs and social networks. In addition to following existing laws, writers will be responsible for fact-checking any information they post and removing any inaccurate comments, and they're forbidden from harming the reputation of a person or group or using their platform to "hide or falsify information of general interest."  Also bloggers are not allowed to remain anonymous anymore.

A senior official from Russian control agency Roskomnadzor says new restrictions would apply to all bloggers who write in Russian, even if they live abroad, adding that whole platforms can be blocked inside the country for refusal to cooperate.

The new law defines ‘popular bloggers’ as those having 3,000 or more visitors per day and demands that such people were registered under their real names and follow some basic rules similar to those mentioned in the Law on Mass Media – verify their reports and abstain from posting slander or anything that can be described as ethnic, religious or social hatred. The law will come into force on August 1, 2014.

However, the law has no provisions connected with the global and trans-border nature of blogs and the internet as a whole. The document does not specify if it applies to cases in which both the authors of blogs and the blog platforms are based outside Russia.

Deputy head of Roskomnadzor, Maksim Ksendzov said that this would not matter.

“The law is not tied to the territorial registration or passport data. If someone writes in Russian or any other language used by the peoples of the Russian Federation, if he or she is seeking to attract the Russian audience’s attention and if they use Russian sites for this, such people will have to observe the law,” the official said in an interview with popular daily Izvestia.

Critics of the law have complained that the law is specifically designed to stamp out growing political voices opposed to Putin and would give the Russian government the ability to easily decipher who was driving online conversation and take appropriate action against trouble makers.

Though such criticism is nothing new, Russia seems to have taken a step further and stepped up its ante within months of its show of strength in Ukraine.

The Kremlin recently blocked access to the websites of Russian dissidents and noted former chess champion, Garry Kasparov and Alexei Navalny because it claimed both sites asked Russian citizens to break the law. Kasparov, who after retiring from chess, has since become an advocate for democracy in Russia and even ran for president in 2007. Navalny had previously led demonstrations against Putin and has continued to oppose the government through his blog.

The law does not specify how the government will count site visitors. According to the New York Times, blogging platforms LiveJournal and Yandex have decided to halt their public traffic counters below the 3,000-visitor threshold, making it unclear how the government will prove those sites garner enough traffic to qualify as media outlets.

The law also does not make clear whether platforms primarily run outside Russia such as Google or Facebook will also have to store data on Russian soil if they want to continue operating in the country.

But leaving all this apart the biggest problem our counterparts in Russia will face is the loss of their right to let the world know of their views without revealing themselves. While it is true that the law might protect officials from slander and baseless accusations, the law does more harm them good. In the name of safeguarding private interest, the Russian Government found a way to keep an eye on all Government dissidents at once.

It is well known that not all writers write merely to gain popularity. There are those who use ‘pen names’ because of various reasons. A writer does have the right to publish their articles under any name they want and as long as they don’t break any existing laws, no new law should prevent him from expressing himself. It should also be noted that in case of default of this law by a blogger, they would be liable to be fined, with individual violators being fined between 10,000 to 30,000 rubles (roughly $280 to $850 at the current exchange rate), while "legal entities" will face fines of 300,000 rubles ($8,500).

While the Russian bear goes on a rampage across Europe and the Internet, it is aware of the small voices of dissent which is gaining momentum in its own backyard. It would do well to remember that not many countries have been very successful shutting down all forms of dissent through oppressive methods. Sometimes, ‘kind words and stick’ work better then the stick alone.   

Reference:- 

1) Reuters.

2) mashable.com

3) The Verge.

About The Author:-

Sourya Banerjee

Read more »

Atrocities Against Women in India: An Analysis.

A woman is the one with whom this whole world came into existence. As per thus, today she should have been occupying the most important and respectable position in the whole World. But this is not the case, because of lack of understanding and male dominance she occupies a low position when compared to men and is confined to kitchen rooms and restrictions. A woman despite of all of these restrictions has tried coming out of her shell and is craving to compete with the world. And what are we doing committing offences against her. Here she is not only a Woman, this women can be your mother, sister, wife and even your daughter.

Defining violence against Women?

Violence against Women has been recognized, at both the national and international levels, as a serious and ongoing impediment to gender equality and women’s human rights and fundamental freedoms (United Nations 1993).The 1993 UN declaration on elimination of Violence against Women has defined violence against women as:

Any act of gender- based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life (UN 1993).

This definition encompasses all types of violence against women and includes the wide array of violence perpetrated in both the public and private spheres of women’s lives.

Recent crimes showing Violence against Women:

The problem of gender-based violence is getting worse. National Crime Record Bureau statistics show crimes against women increased by 7.1 percent nationwide since 2010. There has been a rise in the number of incidents of rape & are recorded too. In the year 2011, 24,206 incidents were recorded, a rise of 9 percent from previous year. More than half of the victims are between 18 to 30 years of age. Figures indicate that 10.6 percent of total victims of rape were girls under 14 years of age, while 19 percent were teens between the ages of 14 and 18.  Alarmingly in almost 94.2 percent of cases offenders were known to the victims and those involved included family members, relatives, and neighbors.

Under the IPC (Indian Penal Code) crimes against women include rape, kidnapping and abduction, homicide for dowry, torture, molestation, sexual harassment, and the trafficking of girls. Kidnapping and abductions are up by 19 percent and trafficking rose by 122 percent in the same period. Crimes that include the Indian term "eve-teasing" or harassment and heckling and sexual innuendoes against women in public places including streets, public transport, cinema halls, along with the rape of minors and women in tribal and villages often go unreported and unrecorded.

According to records, Madhya Pradesh, a state with a large population of tribes, has recorded 3406 rape cases, the highest number of incidents in the country in 2011.

India's profile as an emerging modern nation has taken a beating by the recent rape cases.

Recent rape cases:

One of the biggest rape cases which has shaken the nation is one of a 23-year old female physiotherapy intern in Munirka, a neighborhood located in the southern part of New Delhi. In this case the victim was raped at the night of 16th December 2012. In this incident the victim was brutally tortured, beaten, raped. The criminals had used iron rods and bare hands to commit the crime. In this crime she was treated inhumanly that her intestines were damaged badly. The victim cried for help but did not get any from the passersby, even her male friend could not save her because he was also beaten up badly.

The partially clothed victims were found on the road by a passerby at around 11 pm (IST). She was found with injury marks all over her body and only 5% of her intestines remaining inside of her abdomen. This shows how brutal and heinous the crime was. This crime lead to many protests demanding speedy justice. Many organizations made candle light vigils in and around Delhi to pray for the victim, but all of this did not bring much of justice to the victim.

After this rape case there were many other rape cases across the Nation, some of them again happening in our capital New Delhi, and rest in other states. One such other case which is gaining importance after the Delhi rape case is of a small 5-year old girl in Delhi. In this case the little girl was brutally raped by two criminals. The condition of the little girl is improving slowly.

These are the only two cases which I have mentioned still there are many such cases going on now. There needs to be a serious need of Fast track courts to look after women issues. A death penalty needs to be given as a punishment to these criminals because they don’t stand a chance to live their life after depriving one innocent person of her Right to Live which is guaranteed to every Indian citizen under Article 21 of our Indian constitution. There are many constitutional provisions for upliftment and protection of women in our constitution but are not being implemented properly. An anti-rape bill needs to come up. There needs to be fear of law among people. Because since the Delhi rape case there are many more cases taking place. It looks like there is no proper humanity today in society. Each and every place is filled with criminals. And after these cases all we get to hear is that for crimes against women, women themselves are responsible and blame game goes on. And women are so helpless we can’t even carry a knife along and butcher them on the spot and say we were exercising Right to private defense. And if we do this we will not be given justice and taken behind the bars as criminals and not freed also. Why are these criminals given acquittal then? Is the judiciary also part of this? Whenever these crimes take place all we need to do is take them behind the bars, and not let them out and give them as stricter punishment as possible so that these crimes don’t repeat in future. And what we do is take ages for investigating and then pressurize the victim asking how it took place? Where all did he touch you, are all these scars made by the culprit and all. We don’t see how traumatized is the victim and just go on traumatizing her more badly. And luckily if we get witnesses for the incident we also trouble them. If we do this way we will not be able to solve any cases. Every morning I take up News paper to check the headlines and there is no page where I do not find a headline relating to offences against Women. I wonder when there will be a time when we the women will be able to roam out freely at any moment of time. I wonder when there will be a news paper without reports dealing with women issues. I wonder when crime rate in India goes down because soon India will be one among the most famous criminal countries. We dream of being a developed country and competing with the US, UK .All of this is possible only if we concentrate on giving speedy justice and stricter punishments because curbing crimes against women will help us concentrate on other international issues and fight against it and achieve Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam Sir’s dream of 2020.

If you think that sex-education is necessary, then stricter laws to curb crimes against women are also necessary.

The reasons which we are given for rape are:

1. The girl got raped because she was wearing a short skirt.

2. Western Culture.

3. Pub-culture

4. Male friends.

They wear short skirts because they feel comfortable in it. Well we cannot ask everyone to dress in suits or sarees. What happens when a 2 year old or a 3 year old is raped?  Would we ask them also to wear sarees? We object on the pub-culture, is there a restriction saying No entry for women’s? And the biggest thing which we do is blaming the western culture. What does western culture do? Nothing. People try new cultures because they are used to the old ones and just want to give a try to a new culture. Well it is always said that something new is worth a try. You can also see various western people trying out Indian outfits like sarees, so when they can take it why can’t we? When western people were busy figuring out about gravitational force, moon and what not we were thinking all about how man gets attracted to women and vice-versa. It is we whose worship places depict Sex as divine and not theirs. Outside the temple it is Kama sutra and inside it is Ram sutra. It is not that I support western culture I am just trying to say that Stop giving reasons for it and try to bring change. Be the change. If you are getting so attracted seeing a female why don’t you indulge yourself in self entertainment? If you are dreaming seeing a female why are you dragging her into it? What’s her fault in it; you cannot force someone to be part of your dream.

In conclusion, the children in the beginning itself should be taught to respect the women and treat them equally. At the same time the girls should be trained in self defence so that in case of eventuality they are fully prepared for it.

About The Author:-

Preetika Duggal

Post Graduate College of Law, OU, Hyderabad.

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Knowlegesteez Slogan Writing Competition: 1K Cash Prize.

Knowledgesteez is running a Slogan Writing Competition.!!

Check out the website theme to get idea of what it should be through this link:http://www.knowledgesteez.com 

Requirements: 

1. The slogan must not be copied from anywhere else. 

2. Copyrighted or trademarked content must not be used. 

3. Any submission after the submission date will not be entered into the competition. 
4. All entries will be posted on facebook page of knowledge steez  www.facebook.com/theknowledgesteez .

1 Like = 1 Vote

5. Any entry which shall not be able to gain votes shall be disqualified. 

6. Only one submission per user is allowed Last date for submission is 10/June/2014. 

7. Submissions using fake accounts, fake likes , click fraud etc will automatically disqualify. 

8. Top 5 voted slogans will be reviewed by our team and the one winner will be announced on 20-june-2014 on our website. 

9. We have the right to announce the winner of the competition without any declaration to the participants. 

10. We will contact the winners by email to ask them for their account and other details for verification purposes. The 

winners will be guided through these emails for further steps. 

11. By entering into the contest you hereby transfer and assign all intellectual property rights (including, but not limited 

to, copyright and trademark) in and to the drawing and description, to knowledge steez.com.  

12. By entering in the contest you also agree to abide by the above rules and grant us the right to edit, publish, display,

promote, broadcast and otherwise use your entry, along with the your name without further permission, notice, or 

compensation, in any media now known, or hereafter developed. 

13. The finally selected slogan becomes our property and may be used for any purpose determined by us.

14. All disputes related to the contest will be taken care by team knowledge steez.

15. Knowledge Steez retains the write to disqualify any participant not following above guidelines.

Important Dates:

(1) Deadline for submission of slogan : 10/June/2014

(2) Voting Starts on 11/June/2014

(3) Voting Ends on 18/June/2014

(4) Final selection and results on : 20/June/2014

Please submit Your entries at niteesh_marshal@yahoo.co.in (including full details about name, college name , email address of the participants  )

win cash award (worth 1000 INR) , and acknowledgement for your work and opportunity to work with us.

The Knowledge Steez  current tagline: Opportunities knocking the door

 For more visit: http://knowledgesteez.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/knowledge-steez-slogan-writing-contest-win-cash-prize-and-chance-to-work-with-us/

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Ukraine Crisis: What it could mean for the rest of the World.

The current on-going battle between Russia and Ukraine over the accession of the Crimean Peninsula has inarguably become one of the most controversial matters of the year. But is this a conflict which is only constricted to the Crimean Peninsula or could the Russian Accession of Crimea through its contentious referendum bring about a renewed Cold War? The Cold War immediately brings to mind the intense American soviet rivalry that plagued the better part of the 20th century. Ever since 1991, with the dissemination of the Soviet Union, we have seen the taming of the Russian federation as such, the United States has widely been regarded as the sole superpower and NATO as an unquestionable military alliance. While Russia still remained a potent power, with a powerful nuclear arsenal at its disposal, even an untrained observer knew

Putin has been widely criticised for this and one cannot help but wonder if Russia’s actions in Crimea and now its intentions towards Ukraine are in the larger picture actually aimed at bringing back the Russian supremacy of old, reminding the international community of what the Russians are capable off and showing the United States that they alone cannot intervene, unquestionably. 

Is what Russia doing however acceptable by any means? While most will quote the 96% Majority Referendum, was it actually fair? Think for a Minute, There is a puppet government in Crimea that seized power almost literally at gunpoint and is run by a party that won 4% of the vote at the last election. The streets are filled with menacing militia given arms but no training, supported by a variety of lethal-looking paramilitary groups and thousands of Russian soldiers Add to that the closure of critical television channels, the beating of a few journalists, the intimidation of opposition activists, the lies about "provocations", and you get some of the backdrop to Crimea’s vote

With large brigades of the Russian Army deployed along the Russia-Ukraine border, Russia’s intent to invade southern Ukraine is all but certain. Given the presence of the huge Tartar population in the region, It is almost certain that Ukraine will not yield.

The NATO has taken its first step in the matter, by asking Ukraine to host the NATO war games. This action of the World’s strongest Military Alliance shows that it will not sit by and watch quietly as Russia continues it actions and has clearly picked a side in the conflict. India has openly advocated its support for its age-old ally and while the Chinese stance has remained ambiguous and remained pro-Russian at times, It will always remain anti-US and by extension anti-NATO  

The coming months may see Ukraine as a battlefield which could see active engagement of two of the most powerful military powers in the world for the first time this century. Is this something the International Community can deal with and come-back from? What will happen to more than half a century of the United Nations efforts for World Peace? How will this affect existing conflict-prone areas likes Iran and Syria where Russia and the United States already have differing views? Can diplomacy solve what may be the biggest and most engaging conflict of the 21st century yet? Or will the Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have to resort to armed conflict?

About The Author:-

Sanjit Ganguli

Symbiosis Law School, Pune.

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