United States Gun Control Essay Example for Free

United States Gun Control Essay Firearms restriction, commonly known as gun control, is a hotly debated subject in and out of the political arena. Advocacy groups propose more restrictions, tighter restraints and harsher punishments for offenses. These proponents claim that violence stems from guns and gun owners, gun manufacturers and gun supporters are to blame. Opposition groups to gun control suggest that lesser restrictions, greater availability of different types of firearms and more moderate punishments should be put in place. History and Background A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be in fringed. This is the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. With this single sentence, laws, debates, fights and controversies have begun, ended and are still being fought. Gun control can be defined as government limitation of the purchase and ownership of firearms. In the early days of our country there was little gun control. Guns were used both as protection from Indian incursions as well as tools for hunting. It wasnt until 1934 with the National Firearms Act, passed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, which prohibited the sale and manufacture of automatic-fire weapons like machine guns, short-barreled shotguns and rifles, parts of guns like silencers, as  well as other gadget-type firearms hidden in canes.(Spitzer 141) This act came about from the lawlessness and rise of gangster culture during prohibition. The most controversial piece of legislation was passed in 1968. called the Gun Control Act, this act expanded licensing requirements to include more dealers, and more de tailed record keeping. Handgun sales over state lines were restricted, as well as the list of persons that dealers couldnt sell to grew to include those convicted of felonies (with some exceptions) mentally incompetent, or drug users.(Spitzer 142) The main purpose of the bill was to eliminate the sale of firearms through the mail, or mail-order guns. Up until this time, customers only had to sign a statement that they were over the age of 21 in order to purchase a handgun and 18 for rifle or shotgun. It wasnt until 1994 that the next two major pieces of gun restriction legislation were passed. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, simply the Brady Act, and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, commonly known as the assault-weapons ban. The Brady Act imposed a five day waiting period and mandatory background check before a licensed dealer could sell a handgun to a licensed customer. Also, there was the new FBI run National Instant Criminal Background Check System. This system was in place on Nov. 30, 1998 and applies to all firearm sales. It allowed background checks to be done over the phone or electronically with most results returned immediately. Spitzer describes the Assault-Weapons Ban being passed in order to ban the manufacture, possession, and importation of new semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices.(152) This means that a large number of semi-automatic rifles were prohibited along with magazines that held over 30 rounds of ammunition. Finally it prohibited juveniles from possessing or selling handguns. In 2002 the Justice Department, under Attorney General John Ashcroft, indicated that it interpreted the Second Amendment as supporting the rights of individuals to possess and bear arms for protection as well as recreation and collection.(Norquist 1) the history of gun control is long and complicated, with recent tendencies swinigin toward more relaxed controls. Pro-Gun Control In recent years, gun control activists, that is, those in favor of more restrictions, have grown and been favored by the media. Some of these groups include handgun Control, Inc., the National Coalition to Ban Handguns, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Violence, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Mothers Against Violence in America and the international Stop Handgun Violence.(Carter 75) With increasing media attention with more and more school shootings, proponents of gun control legislation have often held that only federal laws can be effective. If not, states with few restrictions will continue to be sources of guns that flow illegally into states with more restrictions. These groups believe that the Second Amendment is obsolete, or is intended solely to guard against suppression of state militias by the central government. They ask why a private citizen needs any firearm that is not designed primarily for hunting or other recognized sporting purposes. One mans answer to this question was There is no tradition of civilians owning assault-type guns'(Edel 75) while another man states after much thought, I can see no justification for me or others like me to own a paramilitary assault rifle.(Edel 76) Many proponents of firearm restrictions have advocated policy changes on specific types of firearms or components that appear to be useful primarily for criminal purposes or purposes that pose unusual risks to the public. Fully automatic firearms and short-barreled rifles and shotguns have been subject to strict regulation since 1934. Fully automatic firearms have been banned from private possession since 1986, except for those legally owned and registered with the Secretary of the Treasury on May 19, 1986, the day the ban was passed.(Spitzer 139) The proponents of gun control have presented a strong and sol id case. Many firmly believe that guns should be banned throughout the country. Anti-Gun Control Opponents of gun control vary in their positions with respect to specific forms of control. Generally, they hold that gun control laws do not accomplish what is intended. Many argue that it is as difficult to keep weapons from being acquired by high risk individuals, even under federal laws and strict enforcement. In their view, a more stringent federal firearm  regulatory system would only create problems for law-abiding citizens, bring mounting frustration and escalation of bans by gun regulators, and possibly threaten citizens civil rights or safety. The group leading the battle against gun control is the National Rifle Association, or the NRA. The NRA started as an organization to promote the practice of target shooting. After World War II, while the social outlook on firearms became increasingly negative, the NRA focused its energies on anti-gun control. Using their newly formed ILA (Institute for Legislative Action) the NRA lobbied politicians and inundated the media with literature and facts about the Second Amendment and how those rights were being infringed. Gun control opponents also reject the assumption that the only legitimate purpose of ownership by a private citizen is recreational. (i. e., hunting and target-shooting)(Carter 81) Carter also points out that those opponents insist on the continuing need of people for effective means to defend person and property, and they point to studies that they believe show that gun possession lowers the incidence of crime.(85) Andrews sums up the difference in stance between Red (Republican and pro-gun) and Blue (Democrat and anti-gun) States. He says [t]his is why the Second Amendment is so bothersome to Blue America. The right to bear arms is the right to take a stand, to act on the belief that you are right and someone else is wrong, and as such it is a threat to the amoral collectivism that the New Left embodies.(2) Here, Andrews explains that many anti-gun control activists view the issue from a moral standpoint where the gun control advocates view the issue from an incorrect interests viewpoint. Some opponents believe further that the Second Amendment includes a right to keep arms as a defense against potential government tyranny, pointing to examples in other countries of the use of firearm restrictions to curb dissent and secure illegitimate government power. Whatever the case, the peoples leading the fight against the control and legislation against guns carry on and never give up. They believe morally and strongly that gun control is much too restrictive and infringes upon rights given them by the Constitution. Summary The debate over gun control has been hard fought and intense. To gun control  advocates, the opposition is out of touch with the times, misinterprets the Second Amendment, or is lacking in concern for the problems of crime and violence. To gun control opponents, advocates are naive in their faith in the power of regulation to solve social problems, bent on disarming the American citizen for ideological or social reasons, or moved by irrational hostility to firearms and gun enthusiasts. Guns dont kill people, people kill people.(NRA Slogan, 1980-Present) Works Cited Andrews, Ned. Why Guns Matter. The American Enterprise 01 Sep. 2002: 9+. Bijlefeld, Marjolijn. People For and Against Gun Control. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999. Carter, Gregg Lee. The Gun Control Movement. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997 Cothran, Helen, ed. Opposing Viewpoints: Gun Control. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Edel, Wilbur. Gun Control: Threat to Liberty or Defense Against Anarchy. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 1995. LaPierre, Wayne R. Guns, Crime, and Freedom. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 1994. Norquist, Grover. Lesons of the Fall. The American Enterprise 01 Jan. 2003: 13. Spitzer, Robert J. The Politics of Gun Control. Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham House Publishers, Inc., 1995. The Definition of an Issue: United States Gun Control

Illegal Downloading: Good Or Bad?

Illegal Downloading: Good Or Bad? There have been many arguments on whether illegal downloading is a serious problem or not. Illegal downloading isnt that much of a problem if you take the time out to research into it. Sources have shown that illegal downloading actually promotes and helps artist more, it helps people become more diverse in music genres, artist illegally download music as well as their fans, and that there is zero to no evidence that free online music financially harms anyone. These and many more is just the tip iceberg on the arguments that are for illegal downloading, but for now where did illegal downloading all begin? The history of commercial music distribution is a recent one.(Miller, Web). Music distribution started up about the 1800s when the idea of sheet music was thought of. Later after that during the 1930s, people of the middle class had pianos. They would usually go to the local store, buy sheet music of their favorite artist during that time, and play it at their homes. Soon after there was the invention of the phonograph by Thomas Edison which enabled artist to widely distribute their music. The music was first created on wax cylinders and then vinyl discs. During this time there were about 150 companies creating records. Over time, the record industry evolved from 78 RPM discs to 45 RPM singles to 33 1/3 RPM long playing (LP) albums, and then to 8-track tapes (remember them?) And recorded audiocassette, and then to digital compact discs and finally to downloadable and streaming digital tracks.(Miller, Web). Quality had greatly increased with this evolution and so did the distribution. It was pretty obvious that these recordings could be duplicated, but it wasnt as easy back then. The only things that were known were home wire recorders and discs cutting machines. Not all people knew how to use these devices at the time though. What really started making things easy was the invention of the reel to reel tape recording in the 1950s and the audiocassette recorders in the 1960s. The only problems with these were that the audio grade of copied music was somewhat horrible. It wasnt until the digital era started that we could make extremely good copies of music due to CDs and your computer. Then when the internet came along downloading music became simple for anyone to be able to download any type music for free. (Miller, Web). Napster, which started in 1999, was the first hugely popular music file-sharing services. It was shut down by court order in 2001.(Hamilton, 90). Now a days most music downloading is done by college students. (Jambon, Web). One of the main arguments of the opposing side says that it harms artist by taking money from them, but this is the exact opposite. In a survey shown by opposing viewpoints there were only about 12 percent of artists thought that illegal downloading hurt them. Most of the artists were not convinced that illegal downloading is doing any economic harm. Whats worth noting is that higher educated artist in particular believed that file-sharing is doing them no harm.(Opposing Viewpoints). Also majority of the artist thought that illegal downloading helped promote them. About 50 percent of the artists believe strongly that illegal downloading helps get their work known better in public. There was only about 5 percent who thought the other way around. In particular the younger artists ( Illegal downloading also helps artist by helping people become more subjected to new genres of music. Having the easy accessibility of mp3s means that more people will be listening to different types of music that they havent heard before, and this informs them more on music as a whole. Artists really have nothing to worry about when it comes to losing money in the music industry. From research artist have also been known to download music illegally themselves. the Dutch Government announced plans to outlaw downloading of all copyrighted material and measures to make it easier to block websites that facilitate copyright infringement. An interesting, particularly since a survey they published on the same day shows that artists views on file-sharing are not all that negative.(Opposing Viewpoints). They began a huge survey in order to find out more about the view of artist on the topic of piracy, DRM the digital rights management: technologies that limit access to digital content), and similar opportunities and challenges they had faced in the digital era. The questions that were asked in the article were answered by about 4,000 artists of all ages, which included musicians, filmmakers, authors and photographers. When the results had come out, there was in unparalleled look into the state at which the artists stood on the subject. One of the results that stands o ut directly is that artist are pirates too.(Opposing Viewpoints). While not all of them were pirates, there was a good amount of them that were. About 22 percent of the surveyors responded saying that they had downloaded copyrighted works without the owners permission in the last 12 months. Another 71% told the researchers they hadnt downloaded anything without permission during this period, and the remaining 7% didnt know, or didnt want to answer the question.(Opposing Viewpoints). There was another question ask to the surveyors who had recently owned up to downloading other peoples copyrighted works. These results had shown that music was the most downloaded media type, with 80 percent from music, 40 percent for movies and 5 percent for e-books and games (Opposing Viewpoints). So as well the fans downloading illegally, the artist were no different. Lastly there really is zero to no evidence when it comes to financially harming artist. If you think about, the music industry should be rejoicing at this new technological advance. Heres a foolproof way to deliver music to millions who might otherwise never bought a CD in a store.(Aksomitis,16). There is an exceptional amount of cross-marketing. The cost is extremely low and there is no shipping. The RIAA may be right about their being a lot changes in the music industry, but at the same time there still are a good amount of labels left. Well turn into Microsoft if were not careful, folks, insisting that any household wanting an extra copy for the car, the kids, or the portable CD player, has to go out and license multiple copies.(Aksomitis, 16). People as artist are the ones who have the ear of the masses, and thats who should be trusted. Most of the shame should not be brought on the fans and the people, but on the bad state of the industry of recording companies, radio programmer s. There although is some good arguments that states the fans need to organize themselves in order to better their own lives and morals in illegal downloading. This is true but this is one of few true statements that fall under the cons of illegal downloading. In conclusion to this argument, there is some but not a lot of danger when it comes to illegal downloading its actually a good thing. Whether it be helping the artist, artists illegally downloading or any other reason. Illegal downloading is here to stay, and while there all no ways to completely stop it there are always ways to help it. Work Cited Jambon, Marc M., and Judith G. Smetana. College Students Moral Evaluations Of Illegal Music Downloading. Journal Of Applied Developmental Psychology 33.1 (2012): 31 39. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. Miller, Michael. Downloading Pirated Music: Pros and Cons.Que.com. (2012): n. page. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. Sar, Ernesto Van Der. Copyright Violations Do Not Hurt Artist Income. The Music Industry. Ed. Noah Berlatsky. Detroit: Green haven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. From Artist Dont Think Piracy Hurts Them Financially, Study Shows. TorrentFreak.com. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2013 Aksomitis, Linda. Downloading Music. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Print. Hamilton, Jill. The Music Industry. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Print. Smith, Ethan. Listen to Music Free, but Pay to Carry. Wall Street Journal Eastern Edition 05 June 2007: B1+. Newspaper Source. Web. 19 Apr. 2013. Heigl, Alex. Five Ways to Justify Illegally Downloading Music. Nerve.com. (2011): n. page. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.

Naxalism In India Perception And Responses Politics Essay

Naxalism In India Perception And Responses Politics Essay Widespread discontent apathy among the common populace has plagued the Indian polity since independence. This discontent has often led to unrest and resentment sometimes resulting in violence also. Since independence various statutory enactments and institutional mechanisms for addressing the aspects of deprivation and neglect have been brought into being but the irony is that discontent and unrest continue to surface inspite of the measures undertaken. Today, even after six decades of independence, for a large section of the populace, basic survival and making the two ends meet is still the biggest challenge. As 58 per cent of the Indian labour force is still engaged in agriculture and allied occupations, landlessness is an important root of poverty. The Indian State recognized the vital link between land and livelihood soon after independence and launched land reform measures which included three components: abolition of intermediaries such as zamindars, security of tenancy and a c eiling on agricultural holdings for distribution of the surplus to the landless. However, as time passed the commitment to land reform has weakened and it remains an unfinished agenda of governance.  [1]  The poor population in order to meet their livelihood had to depend upon common property resources such as forests, pastures and water sources. The government having realised such resources as sources of profit started exploiting them, thus resulting in the poor being deprived of the access they had to these resources . 2. Today the nation is boasting of an above 9 per cent growth rate and is aspiring to become an economic powerhorse. But the fact of the matter is that the inequalities between the rich and the poor is increasing. With globalisation, awareness of opportunities and possible lifestyles are spreading but the entitlements are receding. The directional shift in Government policies since the early nineties towards modernisation and mechanisation, export orientation, withdrawal of subsidies and exposure to global trade has been an important factor in hurting the poor and increasing their miseries. Equal status and equal dignity is not only a Constitutional right but also a basic human right. The inherited institutions of caste, gender, religion and unequal property have been depriving the majority of the society of this right. The continued practice of social discrimination, untouchability and atrocities against the weaker sections truly reflects the failure of the promises made to the oppr essed people of this nation by the government. 3. This has led to a situation where in a large section of the people have lost faith in the polity and institutions of this country. However the irony is that there has been no sustained effort to eliminate the causes and reduce the discontent of the masses. It is these causes of discontent among the people that has led to the meteoric rise and spread of the Naxalite movement in the country. The Naxalite armed movement which has been challenging the Indian state since more than four decades is based on Maoist ideology and gains its strength through mobilising the poor, underprivileged, discouraged and marginalised especially in the rural and underdeveloped parts of the country. The Naxalite movement are a serious threat to the Indian state and is fast threatening to engulf almost the whole nation under its influence. The dreams of the nation of becoming a regional superpower and economic giant in the near future seems to be a distant reality with Naxalism challenging the inherent id eals of the state. 4. The menace of Left Wing Extremism after making a modest start in 1967 from remote village named Naxalbari in West Bengal plagues almost 235 districts  [i]  across the country in 2011. In some of these districts, the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that the writ of the government cease to exist and can be termed as liberated zones. The Maoists run a parallel government in these areas and are located in most underdevloped parts of the country. Despite being referred to as the most serious internal security threat faced by the nation by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself in 2006, not much has translated at the grass root level to address the issue. On the contrary, the Maoists have been able to strike at targets with impunity and at will causing panic amongst the state and central security forces. 5. The Naxalites with their control over certain areas and their armed fight against the security forces, are challenging the inherent ideals of the state, namely soverignity and monopoly on use of force. In order to fight this menace, the state is focusing on re-establishing of law and order by encountering the Naxalites violently by use of force. However, this approach of the government seems to lack foresight, since the roots of Naxalism are located within the Indias numerous social and economic inequalities. Without addressing the root causes merely use of force will not help the state in solving the problem. If the country does not belong to everyone, it will belong to no one. Tupamaro Manifesto 17. The nation as a concept is universally recognized and .internationally valid for soverign aggregate of human beings in a modern state. If modern states are nation states, then the territorial integrity, political stability and the legitimacy of the state is a basic prerequisite for political and emotional integration of the citizens.  [2]  The collapse of the communist states in the early nineties point to the truth about this statement. It is the collective will of the population of the state that is the sole and most important determinant of contours of a state. India is a nation with vast cultural diversities and geographical.landscapes. The quote from Gitanjali written by noble laureate RabindraNath Tagore aptly sums up the importance of a nation wherein the true values of nationalism can take root: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; 9. Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action; Into that heaven of freedom my father, let my country awake. 18. The Constitution of India guarantees the protection of all states against external aggression and internal disturbance by the Union of India, however the security being a state subject is rarely given the importance it requires till the situation blows out of proportion and many a times this turns out to be too little too late for the masses which suffer due to these security problems. The nation has faced numerous internal security problems since getting independence in 1947. These have been mainly due to secessionist movements initiated by a certain section of the population, wherein the government failed to provide solutions to their long pending issues. Since independence the country has faced problems in states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam, Tripura, Punjab and JK. Though, as on date these states have not been posing serious existential threat to the worlds largest democracy but before coming to some serious resolution of these conflicts a new danger of Nax alism has plagued vast areas of the country. 19. The Naxal movement presently having its influence over some 231 districts in 21 states of our country has been identified as the single largest internal security threat to the nation by the prime minister.  [3]  The Naxal movement as it is known is essentially an ideological movement and not an ethnic or a religious one. It gets its sustenance from social evils such as poverty, unemployment, exploitation of the poor classes and social discrimination. It has drawn vast support of population from the tribal belt into the movement. Before we can find the ways of tackling this issue, there is a need to understand the reasons why this 10. problem has come into existence. This will not only help in finding the real cause of this problem but also the ways and means to eradicate it. 20. To understand the spread of Naxalism in the country, we will have to analyse communism and its evolution in India. The communist Party of India came into existence on 26th Dec 1925 based on the thought that communism was ideally suited for the country with such vast demographic diversity and difference between the haves have not. However, the ban on communist ideology during the British rule prohibited the rise of the party and its ideology. Two notable movements led by communists during the pre independence era needs a mention are, firstly, the Tebhaga Movement led by peasants front of CPI Kisan Sabha in 1946, with the aim to increase the share of peasants in crops from half to two-third and second being the Telangana Uprising against the brutal repression of peasants by feudal landlords during the regime of Nizam in the Telangana region.  [4]   21. The birth and rapid rise of Naxalite movement can also be traced to the development which took place around the globe during the decade of 1960. This was a period in Europe, Asia and America when new radical struggles were breaking out, marked by the reading of Marx. These trends were reflected in the national liberation struggle of the Vietnamese people; the civil rights and anti-war movements in USA; in the students agitations in Western Europe; Che Guevaras self sacrifice in the jungles of Bolivia; and in Chinas cultural revolution. The Naxalite movement was part of this contemporary, worldwide impulse among the radicals to return to the roots of revolutionary idealism.  [5]   22. The year 1967 marks a turning point in terms of the revolutionary armed struggle in India. On 24 May the persistent social and political tensions in the 11. small village Naxalbari in the Darjeeling District of the West Bengal unloaded after a landlord was attacked which led to a full-scale peasant riot. This event has its deep roots in the socio-economic conditions, namely unequal land distribution and forced labour that had persisted since the British rule. At that moment, the general perception of people in these regions remained that the level of economic development, social justice and quality of governance in the states was plagued with a variety of maladies and there was complete lack of concern of the government towards these downtrodden people of the society . 23. The Naxalites, as they are called today emerged on scene as CPI(ML) after splitting from CPI(M). Their pronounced agenda has been to capture political power through an armed and violent revolution. Within a few years of its formation, the organisational network of CPI(ML) and its propagated violence spread in the whole of West Bengal. The campaign spread to parts of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Jammu Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. In 1971 there was maximum violence with killing of 850 so called class enemies landlords, moneylenders, police informers, political activists  [6]  . However, joint operations launched by the state police of West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa quickly curtailed the movement, leading to serious decline in capabilities and influence of the Naxalites. By mid 1970s, the belief was that the movement was dead in totality. During this phase, however, the ideological motivation was existing in top leadership and middle level activists. The supporters consisted of the political class as well as the student base of Delhi University, who were motivated by their ideology. There were large number of journals in English and vernacular languages which were published periodically during that period to increase the ideological fervour in the common populace. The leaders of the movement were provided training, financial support and guidance by active support from China. However post 1972, the arrest and subsequent death of Charu Majumdar led to the total collapse of the movement. 12. 24. After the period of emergency, the remnants of the Naxalite groups made discreet attempts to revive itself primarily, through an agrarian agitation movement, supporting their woes and highlighting the issues plaguing the poor and the downtrodden. In 1980, Peoples War Group(PWG) was formed in Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah with a violent agenda. The group clandestinely established underground dalams, operating apparatus in North Telangana and Dandakaranya region. Even Bihar was under revival phase with three naxal groups on the forefront.  [7]  These groups had a sizeable ground level base of revolutionary peasants taking part in violent actions. The groups operating in Bihar were Maoist Communist Centre, Unity Party and anti-Lin Piao group. This concerted effort led to revival of the movement in Andhra Pradesh, Dandakaranya and Bihar. However, these groups were affected by dissentions and splits on one side and unification processes occurring simultaneously. This process of splitting though a setback in the intial stages but however it ensured increase of mass support at ground level as each entity tried its best to gain more and more support of the population in the area, thus ensuring organizational progress. The Naxal violence continued to increase from this period and finally reached its pinnacle in 1991 for a second time when they were able to eliminate sucessfully large number of class enemies. Since then, the organized killing of selected targets has continued.  [8]  The targets of Naxal violence also included those people whose agenda differed that of the Naxalites. Since, this has been a ground level movement, the solution too lies in dealing at that level and conceptualizing strategies at higher levels are of little or of no significance. At the moment every year there are more than 1500 Naxal violence incidents from the affected states involving killing of more than 500 class enemies. There has been a soph istication in the means employed by them in detonating the landmines negating their vulnerabilities to electronic countermeasures. The daring means employed by them to attack police posts and patrols has brought out the vulnerabilities of security forces in the area and the growing might of Naxals. The Naxalites have been running a parallel government in these areas by holding jan 13. adalats wherein they resort to on the spot dispensing of justice. These are notundertaken in any covert manner but in full public view and with advance warnings of a few days. This state clearly highlights the failure of govt at the grass root level. The present strength of armed cadre stands at 8000 excluding 15000 cadres of peoples militia who carry on their routine work, but are ready to serve when the situation demands.  [9]   25. The Naxalites have a design of establish a Compact Revolutionary Zone, from Nepal running across Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. These areas will be under their total control with administration and governance of their own. Unlike the first phase of the movement, the present phase entails unification and consolidation. In 1998, Unity Party and PWG merged to form CPI(ML)(PW), thereafter, RCCI-Maoist merged with MCC MCCI came into existence. Later, PW and MCCI came together to form CPI(Maoist). This gave the org a backing on ideological front from the Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist), thus complicating the problem and making it trans-border and trans-national. The party has got international linkages through Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisation of South Asia which includes the Communist parties of Sri Lanka, Nepal Bangladesh and India. The spread of Naxalism has been phenomenal in the recent years. Starting from the peasant movement, the Nax al issue today has a large spatial spread and much better resistance capability. The initiatives undertaken by the Centre and the to contain the movement prevent violence has been a failure. It has not been able to rein in the movement and lower the violence levels. 14. CHAPTER-III SOCIO-ECONOMIC MILIEU OF NAXALISM 26. Poverty and lack of development extract terrible prices and the glaring example of this has been the rapid rise of Naxalism. Naxalite violence in India has claimed thousands of lives till date and the graph is on the upward swing with each passing year. In his address to the nation on 15August 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed Naxalism as a threat to Indias national security. Less than a month after this pronouncement, one of his predecessor former Prime Minister V P Singh came up with a completely different viewpoint. He saw no option but to embrace Naxalism in the present model of development, where forceful acquisition of land and displacement of thousands by the State are the order of the day. Both these statements, however, made in their respective contexts, but , both of them are revealing. They clearly indicate towards the rise of Naxalism as a movement that is giving sleepless nights to the highest echelons of governance of this nation. They clearly indicate towa rds the acceptance of the fact among our leaders of the strength and undisputed popularity of this movement. 27. Naxalism started as a peasant movement in 1967, in the tiny and remote hamlet of Naxalbari in West Bengal. The main demand was that of radical land reform and land to the tiller. The only means of realizing this was seen as the violent takeover of power. However, the govt was completely unwilling to yield to the demands, and the movement was brutally crushed. The character of Naxalism has changed with the times. Forced out of West Bengal, it has now regrouped itself outside the state. The movement is threatening to engulf whole of the nation and has got strong presence, largely in heavily forested areas dominated by tribals in the states of Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, 15. Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. 28. Today,around 42% of Indias total population, lives under the poverty line. One third of the global poor lives in India, 75% in rural areas . The increasing high numbers of farmer suicides because of indebtedness, harassment and discrimination, particularly in the Naxalite affected areas, potrays the miserable condition of large parts of Indias rural population.The lack of human development causes anger and resentments amongst the people. They feel alienated and excluded. In addition often local elites are engaged in exploiting, harassing and even torturing the tribal population  [10]  . 29. Dalits and Tribals form the major support base of Naxalism. The Dalits and tribals together amount for nearly one fourth of Indias population and most of them live in rural India . Their reasons for supporting the Naxal movement are manifold: there is low degree of employment and qualification, new forest policies posing restriction for their livelihoods, cultural humiliation, lack of access to health care, education and power, restriction on access to natural resources, numerous forms of exploitation, social discrimination, frequent displacements, political isolation and suppression. The states which are the most affected have a huge number of people facing deprivation and a high record of crimes that are committed against them as well as displacement owing to economic and development projects 30. In fact 80% of the total displaced persons within the period of 1947- 2000 were tribals. A large number of tribals remained neglected from the various governmental development projects. Attempts by the government to increase its influence in these backward areas resulted in repression of the inhabitants by the various state authorities, such as by the forest department resulting in the destruction of their traditional social bonds. The era of globalization with the liberalisation of Indian economy gave new life to the conflict. There are numerous 16. Indian and foreign companies that are operating in the mineral rich areas of Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa which are among the poorest states in India and show a high degree of Naxal affection. Several of these companies have signed memoranda of understanding with the government worth billions for exploiting the mineral resources. However, the irony is that the inhabitants of these areas generally do not benefit from the mineral wealth of their areas. Besides mining, the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and construction of huge dam projects results in the displacement of thousands of people. 31. Today, the focus of Naxalism has changed from being an agrarian movement to that of fighting for the attainment of tribal self- determination, control over local resource issues and continued neglect of governmentt towards these areas. This cause of theirs has found ready sympathisers among local communities. In tribal-dominated areas development is largely synonymous with the exploitation of forest resources for commercial gains, primarily controlled by the forest department and other govt agencies. This has almost obliterated traditional community control over forests and forest resources. The successive Government policies have made the very existence of tribals in their own areas difficult, and displaced them from their lands. The Forest Conservation Act, 1980 has barred tribals from using the forest resources, thus forcing them to be termed as encroachers on the land they have inhabited for centuries. However, this tribal alienation from land is not only the outcome of the c ountrys conservation policy only but also the development projects including mining projects. The Naxal movement cleverly tapped and exploited the often justified tribal anger and frustration against this oppression of the government. 32. With Indias major mineral resources concentrated under tribal dominated forestlands, mining and related projects have naturally come into the crosshairs of the Naxals. Today, five of Indias top mineral-producing state Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are fighting the rise 17. of the red brigades in most of their mineral-rich districts.Its not development. It is an express highway to speed up exploitationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ What they have left for the local people is just air and water pollution, says Communist Party of India (Maoist) central committee member Kosa, while referring to the mega mining projects in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. The Naxal opposition has unnerved the mining industry in this part of the country. According to a report by the risk management consultancy, Hill and Associates based in Hong Kong the viral spread of Naxalism in India has an adverse impact on the development and has termed it as a grave operational risk affecting investment climate in the core extractive sector. The report also points that Naxalism is likely to impact foreign direct investment in the country. It further says The risk exposure would be greater in pockets where Naxalites have joined the tribals in opposing project-induced human displacement. Areas where industrialisa tion is in the initial stages of development are more prone to stiff opposition by Naxalites. Traditionally, the Naxals have been targeting the govt symbols and its institutions but with the present trend Industrial establishments are likely to bear the brunt in the future. In fact, at their ninth congress held in the beginning of 2007, Naxalites clearly expressed their intention of intensifying their operations in areas where mega development projects including special economic zones, irrigation projects and mining enterprises are coming up. 33. The Naxals have used varied tactics for opposing this industrial investment. The rise of Naxalism can be directly linked to the crisis of faith: Indias marginalised population, the poors including its tribals, have lost their trust on governmentt for their livelihoods. The development projects coming in these areas are threatening the very existence of locals and have become synonymous with poverty and insecurity. With no alternative left, these communities have started believing that the only way they can fight for their survival is by adopting the violent ways of the Naxals. The rapid rise and popularity of Naxalism is not only a crisis of political empowerment but also that of sheer economic backwardness of these areas. The irony is that the marginalized have 18. started believing that it is one of the rare opportunities still available to them to express their aspirations. 34. The government and its planners have described Naxalism, as an internal security threat and are of the opinion that Naxalism and its sympathisers must be to be stamped out decisively by use of the States police and army. On one hand the govt claims that the path of violence is not the solution of the problems of the poor. On the other hand, it strongly advocates use of force to suppress the movement and solve the problems of the govt. It is precisely this myopic vision of the govt and its planners which is the real cause of the problem. Poverty, starvation, malnutrition, unemployment, lack of access to basic necessities like health and education, forced eviction of people from their lands in the name of developmental projects do not qualify as threats to internal security for the government. However, reactions and resistance and protests against them raise the hackles and eyebrows. A prime reason for the spread of Naxalism has been the acute failure of the State to provide remote and underdeveloped areas with facilities for health and education, and the prospect for dignified employment. People in these areas have had to cope with an administration that is indifferent, corrupt, an brutal. Meanwhile, the economic development in these areas has been powered by wood, water and minerals found on these lands, and for whose profitable exploitation the locals are forced to make way involuntarily or by force. It is important to understand the fact that the forced eviction of people from their land and livelihood for projects like mining will only bring more poverty and not prosperity as our planners think. 35. Governments need to be sensitive about these issues. They must work to make people in Naxal-infested areas true partners in the development process by assuring them titles on lands cultivated by them, by allowing them the right to manage forests sustainably, and by giving them a solid stake in industrial or mining projects that come up where they live and at the cost of their homes.Thus the locals are not interested into the so-called development projects by the 19. government and even resort to attacking the employees of these companies. These processes create conducive conditions for the support of Naxals and give them ready cadres and recruits. The Naxals only need to exploit the prevailing frustration . 36. Although the nation is enjoying a steadily solid economic growth during the past two decades but the distribution of these benefits is uneven among various social groups and geographic regions. Income disparities have increased and there is huge distinction between living conditions of the people in the rural areas and the metropolis in India. But these contradictions not only exist between rural and urban areas but also within the cities. The Naxals taking advantage of the situation and have started building up popular support in the cities through infiltrating labour unions and targeting the unemployed and students as well as exploiting the socio-economic disparities. Today, big cities like Delhi, Patna and Kolkata have come up as big hubs for Maoist sympathising intellectuals.According to Ernst Bloch the development of Modernity and capitalism can create contradictions within a society. These contradictions are often a consequence of social progress that is not shared by the w hole population. Bloch calls this asymmetric development the simultaneity of the nonsimultaneous. This process can be conflict-promoting especially when the contradictions are exploited by a political force. This concept can be well applied to the Naxalite conflict. 20. CHAPTER-IV IMPACT OF NAXALISM ON THE NATION 37. The spread and influence of Naxalism has almost captured half of Indian territory. The speed with which this menace is spreading its tentacles, the day is not far when the whole of the nation will be under its firm grip. Today, the violence related to Naxalism is a real cause of concern which is degenerating the security fabric of the country. The under mentioned paragraphs highlight the direct and indirect effects of the menace on the nation. Security Implications 38. Shift from ideology. The facts clearly indicate the rising menace of Naxalism and bring to fore that Naxalism in its present form fail to tow their novel ideology conceptualized in the native years, ie, working with a determined and undivided aim of establishing social equality. In fact Left Wing extremists are transforming the movement from menace to serious threat.  [11]   39. Increasing Influence. The viral spread of Naxalism is a growing concern. The Naxal threat seems to have surpassed all other insurgencies in the nation at least from the geographical point of view. Today the Naxalites are dreaming of establishing a red corridor and are putting all their energies towards fulfillment of their goals in this concern. Going with the present pattern they might soon gain a continuous presence along the length and breadth of the nation. 21. 40. Virtual Control. The situation today is such that If partial the Naxalites ever plan to launch coordinated, simultaneous attacks, they would not only be able to drive a wedge through the vital areas of the country but will also give them complete control over huge deposits of minerals, oils and industrialised territory and put them at a position from where they can bargain on their terms.   Gen Shankar Roy Chowdhury former Army Chief had this to say The Naxalite movement is the main threat which is affecting the states today. It is more dangerous than the situation in Jammu and Kashmir or the situation in the North-East.

Physics of Mining Essay -- physics mining miner

Mining is a necessary component of the world we live in and it has been practiced for thousands of years. The mining industry produces billions of tons of raw product every year. The process of mining is very complicated and involves plenty of physics! Two main components of the mine cycle are: Drilling, and Blasting. Some important factors in mining are the pillars, rock elasticity, and the slope stability of the ground being mined. A basic method for destroying rock is mechanically induced stress, such as drills and erosion jets. A turbine drill for example, uses a turbine to rotate a diamond faced cutter wheel. The power output, p, can be calculated using the equation p=2 Ï€NT where N is the rotational speed of the turbine and T is the torque on the cutter wheel. As the rotary speed increases, the torque decreases. The maximum power output of a turbine drill is when the rotary speed is between 5,000 and 10,000 rev/min. Erosion jets can be classified as low speed or high speed. The low speed jets use abrasive particles, such as sand to erode rock at 10 to 200 m/s and the high speed jets use water at 200 to 1,000 m/s. The high speed jets are used for the hardest rock and require pressures up to 5,000 kg/cm ²! In underground, non coal mining, the excavation of rock is done largely by conventional percussive drills. These break the rock by indentation. The drilling machine applies a force to the drill bit, giving it a velocity which hits the rock and causes it to break. The equation for the peak stress induced by the drill bit on the rock is as follows: ÏÆ' = Ï  cv, where ÏÆ' is the maximum stress induced, and Ï , c, and v are the density, compressional wave length, and velocity of the drill bit, respectively. In coal mining, ... ... Now there is an added force from the water called pore pressure and the normal force is decreased making the slope more likely to fail. The following diagram represents this scenario with 'W' as the gravitational force downward of the upper rock, 'p' as the pore pressure from the water, and 'A' as the area that the water affects. Mines are erected by pillars, which have factors of safety. The factor of safety is the average strength divided by the average stress ratio. When this ration falls below 1.00, there is pillar instability. If one pillar in a mine collapses, the result is greater force acting on the rest which in turn increases their stress and decreases their factors of safety. If all of the pillars are highly stressed, one pillar failure could lead to a domino effect and the collapse of a mine. 1.60 is considered a good factor of safety for pillars.

The Fruitless Search Exposed in Camus’ The Plague Essay -- Camus Plagu

The Fruitless Search Exposed in Camus’ The Plague Amid the feverish horror of rampant sickness and death, The Plague is a parable of human remoteness and the struggle to share existence. In studying the relationships which Camus sets forth, the relationship between man and lover, mother and son, healer and diseased, it can be seen that the only relationship Camus describes is that between the exiled, and the kingdom for which he searches with tortured longing. "Thus the first thing that plague brought to our town was exile."(p.71). The first exile Camus writes is the physical exile of a diseased town from the world, and consequently, the exile of the town's people from the kingdom of everyday. The particular torture of this exile is memory; once expelled from a kingdom, the kingdom ceases to exist, living on only as "a memory that serves no purpose... ha[s] a savor only of regret."(p.73). Thus the townspeople are haunted by memories of their distant loved ones and their interrupted lives, creating islands of their own exile- an exile intensified by years of monotonous selfish habit. "The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits."(p.4). The pea-counter is the ultimate representation of this exile; he is completely removed from the reality of man, measuring his life in the perpetual repetition of an absurd activity. Through the character of Rambert, Camus defines plague as precisely this selfish exile of hab it, this doing "...the same thing over and over and over again..."(p.161). Exile is further compounded by the desperation with which many of the characters fling themselves into the quest of trying to regain their personal remembered kingdoms. Rambert the visiting journalist is the ... ...he reader that Rieux is Camus' hero. It is precisely this sense of "common decency" which sets him apart, renders him uncommon in a town of men exiled from eachother by selfishness. Rieux is not searching for anything, he is merely doing what has to be done to fight the plague. His will to see man healed has freed him from his own search, and thus from exile; no longer in exile, Rieux has found eternal kingdom. For Camus tells us there is no kingdom but present humanity, though we spend lifetimes searching in isolation for assurance in a future or a past. And there is no exile except that which the selfish man imposes on himself. It is by giving up the fruitless search for the non-existent that man can ultimately free himself from exile, and gain the eternal kingdom of present. Works Cited Camus, Albert. The Plague. New York: Vintage International, 1995.

Children in Victorian society Essay

Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812. He lived a happy childhood. Everything was fine until 1824 when Dickens was 12 his father, John Dickens was sent to Marshalsea prison for debt. Dickens was put to work in the Warners blacking factory. When John Dickens left prison Dickens was told by his mother to stay on working at the factory. He found working there a humiliating experience but the good thing is it inspired much of his fiction in later life. Charles Dickens wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’ as a warning to London. London at the time was much divided, it was split into the poor and rich living, and there was no middle class. The rich would be VERY rich, would own masses of land, they would have extravagant clothes and foods with servants serving them their marvellous foods. Whereas the poor was VERY poor! The vast majority would be homeless, probably scavenge for food and all that they owned would be the clothes that they had on. The poor would be living on very dirty streets that were filled with disease and famine. On page 69 we get to see how bad these streets are as Dickens gives us a graphic detail of them. He describes the alleys and arches as cesspools. Cesspools were pits at the end of some (most) streets where all waste products were dumped – including human waste! This paragraph in the novel really shows us as the audience just how bad London was at the time. The warning was that: ‘If the children of today keep on growing up like they are, uneducated and neglected, the outlook for this country and its nation is a very bad one ‘ His very famous play ‘A Christmas Carol’ written in 1842 showed a great reflection of London society e. g. we had the poor and the rich – Scrooge (the main character) and tiny Tim (a disabled poor child. ) The character of scrooge was a very cold and lonely one. We can relate Scrooge to Dickens because scrooge had spent many Christmas’s alone at boarding school just like Dickens had at the factory. The boarding schools were very unpleasant places; they were lonely and very strict! Parents would send their children to them to get them out of the way until they were old enough to work; children were treated very badly in Dickens’ time. On pages 26 – 29 Dickens uses pathetic fallacy to describe Scrooge’s boarding school in his novel. Pathetic fallacy uses surroundings to create images of feelings. Dull red brick tells me that this is place is dull, boring and not the best of places to be. The whole passage uses different images to show us how truly bad this place is. He describes the place as damp, mossy, dreary – all these words are negative points. This shows us how depressing it must have been on the students e. g. Scrooge. The boarding school has had a dramatic impact in Scrooges life and has made Scrooge the way he is! His personality reflects the description of the school – the cold/upsetting environment has left Scrooge with a cold/icy personality. Dickens uses three ghosts to tell the story they show us the past, present and future of Scrooges life. The 1st ghost – Past This ghost takes us back to Scrooges time at boarding school, it shows him alone and neglected as other children go home for Christmas with their warm, loving families. Scrooge is described as a solitary child neglected by his friends (pg 26. ) The ghost also shows that after Scrooge leaves school he is very mean and because he is very lonely his only ‘friend’ is his money. We can see this in a scene with his girlfriend as he has to decide love of money, he chooses money and once again he is alone. The 2nd ghost – present This ghost introduces us to the Cratchit family waiting for Bob Cratchit and tiny Tim to get back from church. Tiny Tim is a young boy, he is very ill and likely to die soon, and this is all due to poverty not neglect because he has a very caring family! Tiny Tim is physically crippled and we see Scrooge as emotionally crippled from his childhood. The ghost then shows some of Scrooges family having a Christmas celebration without him. They are playing a guessing/description game where one person thinks of something and others have to guess what it is or who it is by asking questions. The game starts with someone describing this person as a savage animal living in London. Someone guesses it as ‘Uncle Scrooge’ He shows no emotion towards this and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him. The ghost finally shows Scrooge two children, a boy and a girl. The boy represents ignorance and the girl represents want. Dickens sees the boy as the one to be scared of, he uses the boy to tell us that with the lack of education the boy will turn out much worse than the girl of want (poverty. ) When we are first introduced to the children, Dickens describes them as wretched objects, frightful, hideous, and miserable. From this I get the idea that Dickens is confused about what he wants to portray by these characters. Dickens then describes them as yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostate too. He has now decided to portray both these children as frighteningly scary. These children really bring up dickens’ massage of a poor future The last ghost – future This ghost shows Scrooge some disturbing images in this stave, the stave starts off with people talking about a man who has died but people are quite happy about his death. They then see other people talking about what they have stolen from this dead man, just to get some money. Somebody has even stolen the sheets he was lying on. This shows that nobody really cares about the man that has died! This ghost shows Scrooge the Cratchit family again but they are no longer happy and cheery this is because Tiny Tim has passed away due to the poverty. Finally the ghost shows Scrooge a gravestone with his name on it, this when Scrooge realises that nobody does car about him and that he is alone. He has caused the suffering of the Cratchit’s with his evil greedy ways! Scrooge w.akes up on Christmas day and changes who he is and helps Tiny Tim and the Cratchit’s. I think that this story works very well because look where we are today, there is no longer much harsh poverty and all children are now educated in England. So I believe that this novel could have played a huge part in this transformation because I woke people up to just how bad things were going to be. Charles Dickens passed away suddenly in 1870 without finishing his final novel ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’

Health care Lecture Essay

Summary Dr. Curtis’ lecture was one of healthcare and how it relates to his profession, chiropractic medicine. He also hit on health in general and medications. Dr. Curtis started rather quite abruptly with his self helping theories as to what he does as a profession and also what other medical fields are doing to help him become rich, yet keep the healthcare level of the United States down to the lower levels it has been hovering at for years. This may be in direct contradiction to the fact that even though the United States only has three percent of the world’s population, it still consumes more than half of the drugs produced in the world. What does this tell the reader? Dr. Curtis explained that a lot of these drugs are not needed, and in fact have actually hurt the patients. As proof, he stated some startling facts from the American Journal of Medicine and the New England Journal of Medicine, perhaps the two top most medical specific journals in the world. Some of these facts included that one hundred and sox thousand people die every year from properly proscribed drugs. Per year, there are seven thousand medical errors resulting in someone dying. One point five million people have Introgenic diseases, or physician caused diseases. It is estimated that the United States as a whole is spending seventy seven billion dollars a year fixing these problems. These indeed are very troublesome statistics. Dr. Curtis also goes on to explain that the reason why the United States continues to spend excess amounts of money for drugs and procedures they do not need is because of mainly one thing, advertising. Billions of dollars are spent on advertising for drugs every year. Over one hundred and thirty  two dollars were spent last years on advertising alone. Often companies give kickbacks like trips or bonuses to doctors that proscribe a certain number prescriptions of a specific drug. This practice, which should be illegal, is what is known as Off Label Promoting. The United States populace continues to believe advertising of drugs. The advertisements don’t tell the truth most of the time. For example, twenty percent of antibiotic prescriptions are useless. What is bad is that when people take unneeded antibiotics, they raise their immunity to them, and they will not work next time, or people will have to up the dosage to get it to work. This is extremely bad for health reasons, considering that if patients were to mix two or more drugs, there is an eighty eight percent change of adverse side effects, even more illness and injury. The Food and Drug Administration Agency is not helping matters either. The practice of rushing promising drugs like Fen-Fen to the market without proper timed tests has added to the health problems of the United States. Dr. Curtis is not saying do not go to the doctor, he is just saying to make sure you are doing the correct thing, which included getting second opinions, and doing your own research on drugs and what they can and cannot really do. Sometimes Doctors can not be trusted because of the one hundred and sixty drugs labeled by the FDA as ‘do not use’, people still proscribe them. With only a selection of twenty three out of those one hundred and sixty drugs, there are still one hundred million prescriptions being filled. These are drugs known to do harm, and they are still being prescribed. One must be vigilant in his own healthcare is the message of the day. Reflections At first I didn’t even know what Dr. Curtis was a doctor in, however due to time constraints I understand that the normal introduction and background speech has to be cut. I have listened to many doctors speak and lecture, not nearly enough as professors and other professionals of course, but enough to know that normally there is at least five minutes of talking about oneself before the actual lecture begins. Also, he being young did not add to me actually listening to his opinions that well. However, Dr. Curtis did not  give many opinions and his statements were backed up quite well and documented quite nicely as well. He obviously put in the needed time to prepare the lecture. Time constraints not only cut up his lecture, but also his speech pattern as well. Normally lectures should be flowing, his statements were extremely choppy. He states many things that were actually surprising to me. Not the fact of advertising, I already knew that, but I didn’t realize the actual statistics of these healthcare problems, and that a lot were caused by those in the healthcare field. His explanations as to how his field fitted into his lecture were actually quite easy to understand. The fact that stress messes up your nervous system, which in turns messes up the rest of you, is basically what he was saying without stating his words verbatim. He explains that even though the United States is third best in the world in what we eat, we still have one of the lowest life expectancies. I enjoyed his explanation as to how posture really controls a lot of health problems. He explains that proper diet, mental attitude, exercise, a non-stressed nervous system, and plenty of rest and relaxation are the keys to keeping the body as self healing as it is designed to do. Overall I enjoyed the lecture and learned quite a lot out of it.