The Land Acquisition Act of 2013 is a legal Act in India which allows the Government of India to acquire any land in the country. As per Constitution of India land belongs to some individual or group of individuals have legal rights to own the land. These individuals are free to use their land according to their will or to sale their land for monetary or other advantages. However, at times land is needed for some community purpose, like roads, canals, government offices,military camps, SEZ, etc. Government can acquire the individuals land.Land Acquisition literally means acquiring of land for some public purpose by government/government agency as authorized by the law from the individual landowner (s) after paying some compensation in lieu of losses occurred to land owner(s) due to surrendering of his/their land to the concerned government agency. Land acquisition is currently governed by the right to fair compensation and settlement act 2013 which comes in effect from January 2014 prior, to that it was governed by land acquisition act 1894.
Appropriate Government would mean the Central Government if the purpose for acquisition is for the Union and for other purpose it is the State Government. It is not necessary that all the acquisition has to be initiated by the government alone. Local authorities, societies registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and Co-Operative Societies established under the Co-operative Societies Act can also acquire the land for developmental activities through the government.
Land Acquisition Act of 2013
The 2013 Act focuses on providing not only compensation to the land owners, but also extend rehabilitation and resettlement benefits to livelihood looser from the land, which shall be in addition to the minimum compensation. The minimum compensation to be paid to the land owners is based on a multiple of market value and other factors laid down in the Act. The Act forbids or regulates land acquisition when such acquisition would include multi-crop irrigated area. The Act changed the norms for acquisition of land for use by private companies or in case of public-private partnerships, including compulsory approval of 80% of the landowners. The Act also introduced changes in the land acquisition process, including a compulsory social-impact study, which need to be conducted before an acquisition in made.
The new law, also has some serious shortcomings as regards its provisions for socioeconomic impact assessment and it has also bypassed the constitutional local self governments by not recognizing them as "appropriate governments" in matters of land acquisition.
The executive order , or ordinance tries to make it easier for industrial land the ordinance chips away a major obstacle to industrial investment the ordinance makes land acquisition much simpler from several provisions of current laws .
What does the ordinance of land acquisition means basically?
It make acquisition easier in five areas industrial corridors,social infrastructure such as education, rural infrastructure such as road,powers housing for poor, defense etc
Such project will not need consent of 80% of landowners as in requirement in other sectors.
Multi-crop irrigate land can be acquired for these purposes.
Mandatory provision of jobs for whose land is acquired for industry corridors
Reasons for ordinance; governments stand:
In past Indian industry and foreign companies have faced problems in acquiring land for projects. In 2013 Mittal, largest steel maker put down plan to build factory in Orissa.
The changes now introduced for PM Narendra Modi for "Make In India".
General Issues with Land Acquisition:
Displacement of people from their native places, leading to distress. Local markets, grass root businesses & micro economies disturbed. Unemployment issues due to above two factors.
Inappropriate compensation for farmlands.
Economic Imbalances in societies.
Agricultural land shrinks leading to farm shortages at places.
No benefits for livelihood losers who are usually far greater in number than the land owners.
Exploitation of poor people in name of acquisition.
Proliferation of Land mafia.
So What's New in New Bill Proposed by BJP Government?
The BJP government has now introduced amendments to this act, which have been opposed by all political parties, including their ally Shiv Sena in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP's argument has been that the UPA's land acquisition law makes it impractical to acquire land for any public purpose and endlessly delays infrastructure projects.
While the amendments were passed in the lower house of the Parliament where BJP enjoys a vast majority, it has been unable to pass this in the Rajya Sabha. Instead, it took recourse in an ordinance to pass the amendments to the bill in December 2014.
Why Are The Political Parties So Opposed To The Amendments?
The amended act does not require consent from 80 percent of the land owners, if the purpose is for five sectors — national security, defense, rural infrastructure (including electrification), industrial corridors and housing for the poor. Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is also not required for these projects, according to these new amendments. This would mean that only the land owner would be compensated, since the SIA, used to track how many people depend on the land, is now being done away with.
According to the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a national platform of tribal and forest dwellers' organizations in ten States, the bill has far too many loopholes to swing it in favour of industrialists and private interests.
Even though 80 percent consent from land owners is required when the project does not fall into the five categories stated earlier, the group claimed that there were two easy ways to circumvent the rule. One was in cases when a private group had acquired part of the land, then the government could acquire the rest of the land and would not require consent from land owners.
Second, government could acquire land for their own purpose, "to hold and control", and then change their mind and hand it over to a private company. According to the organisation, under section 1A(1)(a) of the amended act, what mattered was the intent of the government at the time of acquisition, which could change afterwards.
The members from Congress, Left, Trinamool Congress, SP, BSP and JD-U have all opposed the government over provisions of the land ordinance calling it "anti-farmer" and aimed at "benefitting corporates".
What Does The BJP Have To Say?
BJP has completely denied allegations that the amended act is anti-poor and anti-farmer.
"Opposition parties like Congress, Trinamool, Samajwadi Party and BSP have been carrying out a relentless campaign to create an impression that the ordinance is anti-farmer. We want to make it clear that contrary to their claims, the provisions in the ordinance will provide huge long-term benefits to the farmers of the country," BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh has said.
The have also claimed that it is a "pro-farmer" bill as it has included 13 so far excluded Acts under the Land Acquisition Act, and land acquired from these existing central pieces of legislation will also require the same form of rehabilitation and compensation.
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Symbolically, “where’s the beef?” is a challenge or claim indicating that an Idea is without sufficient substance. Exactly similar is the situation in Maharashtra where a ban on beef has been enforced. While there are stringent law, legitimate provisions for restricting cow slaughter houses are very common: 26 states in India have laws which regulate slaughter houses.
By irony, India is largest exporter of beef worldwide following Brazil The government of Maharashtra has brought amendment to protects animal right in state. It will affect life of millions of people in state. People at both end of spectrum those who consume and those who trade will Butchered by decision of government.
The slaughter of cows was prohibited in state under Maharashtra act of 1976. However passage of above animal will impose ban on bullocks which was given a green certificate. On contrary to that above provision will allow slaughter of water buffaloes, which provide car beef-generally of mediocre quality. Maharashtra has Asia’s largest abattoir. Some of the implications of the ban are:
The beef lovers have to make changes in their food habits.
The multi cuisine hotels serving foreign have to change their major Items in the menu. It may affect their business and directly revenue.
It has led to shutting of major beef producing factories & slaughter Houses and many have gone out of business.
It is also likely to surge the cost of other types of meat, as Demand reaches up.
More than "One Crore Maharashtrians" are rendered without a source Of livelihood.
The worst hits are Qureshi caste in Maharashtra, which largely Work as butchers and is there daily livelihood.
It will affect the leather industry and there business sales is likely to dip.
Hence, the cow here seems to be just 'Political Funda' with which to attack the minority & age-old communal stereotype of associating Muslims with beef consumption. It is more of political issue than an issue of faith. Cow protection sentiments are exploited by the state and politicians to mobilize people and catch votes, targeting poor 'Muslims' and 'Dalits' by accusing them of cow slaughter.
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The King called his vizier and told him to fill it with
precious stones: with diamonds and rubies, emeralds. Let this beggar
know with whom he is talking!
But then there was difficulty. The bowl was filled but the
king was surprised -- as the stone fell into it, it would disappear. It
was filled many times and each time it was again empty.
Now he was in a great rage, but he told the vizier, 'Even
if my whole kingdom goes, if all my treasuries are emptied, let them be
-- but I cannot allow this beggar to defeat me. This is too much.'
And all the treasures, it is said, disappeared. By and by
the king became a beggar. It took months. And the beggar was there and
the king was there and the whole capital was there and everybody was
wondering what was going to happen, what would happen in the end.
Everything was simply disappearing.
Finally the king had to fall at the feet of the beggar and
he said, 'Forgive me, but before you leave just tell me one thing. What
is the secret of this begging bowl? All has disappeared in it.'
The beggar started laughing. He said, 'It is made of human
ego. I have made this begging bowl of a human ego: everything disappears
in it, nothing ever fulfills it.'
It is a tremendously beautiful story. That's what is happening to you. It is not a story, it is your life.
You go on putting in your begging bowl houses, cars, bank balances -- everything disappears.
Again you are empty. Never any satisfaction, never any contentment. Again you are begging.
You have been doing it for many lives. It is your story. It is literally true, it is not just symbolically true.
It is a truth in everybody's life, in every man's life.
We remain a beggar. The begging bowl remains empty. It seems it has no bottom to it. You drop anything, it simply disappears.
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual
intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration perpetrated against a person
without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion,
abuse of authority or against a person who is incapable of valid consent, such
as one who is unconscious, incapacitated, or below the legal age of consent.
The term rape is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sexual assault.
The rate of reporting, prosecuting and convicting for rape varies considerably
in different jurisdictions. Internationally, the incidence of rapes recorded by
the police during 2010 varied between 0.2 in Azerbaijan per 100,000 people and
92.9 per 100,000 people in Botswana with 6.3 per 100,000 people in Lithuania as
the median. According to the American Medical Association (1995), sexual
violence, and rape in particular, is considered the most under reported violent
crime. Rape by strangers is usually less common than rape by persons the victim
knows, and several studies argue that male-on-male and female-on-female prison
rapes are common and may be the least reported forms of rape.
South Africa
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offenses
and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 is the relevant legislation in South
Africa. Despite the fact that this act provides modern and progressive laws,
that ban rape and other forms of sexual abuse, including sexual violence within
marriage, South Africa remains a country where sexual attacks are common. The
country has some of the highest incidences of child and baby rape in the world
with more than 67,000 cases of rape and sexual assaults against children
reported in 2000, with welfare groups believing that unreported incidents could
be up to 10 times higher. In 2001, a 9-month-old was raped and likely lost
consciousness as the pain was too much to bear. Another 9-month-old baby was
raped by six men, aged between 24 and 66, after the infant had been left
unattended by her teenage mother. A 4-year-old girl died after being raped by
her father. A 14-month-old girl was raped by her two uncles. In February 2002,
an 8-month-old infant was reportedly gang raped by four men. One has been
charged. The infant has required extensive reconstructive surgery. The
8-month-old infant's injuries were so extensive, increased attention on
prosecution has occurred. A significant contributing factor for the escalation
in child abuse is the widespread myth in HIV-ravaged South Africa that having
sex with a virgin will cure a man of AIDS. According to official figures, circa
11% of South Africans are infected with the virus. Edith Kriel, a social worker
who helps child victims in the Eastern Cape, said: "Child abusers are
often relatives of their victims – even their fathers and providers."
One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by the Community of Information,
Empowerment and Transparency said they had been raped in the past year. More
than 25% of South African men questioned in a survey admitted to raping
someone; of those, nearly half said they had raped more than one person,
according to a new study conducted by the Medical Research Council (MRC). A
2010 study led by the government-funded Medical Research Foundation says that
in Gauteng province, more than 37 percent of men said they had raped a woman.
Nearly 7 percent of the 487 men surveyed said they had participated in a gang
rape. Among children, a survey found 11% of boys and 4% of girls admitted to
forcing someone else to have sex with them while in another survey among 1,500
schoolchildren in the Soweto township, a quarter of all the boys interviewed
said that 'jack-rolling', a term for gang rape, was fun.
Sweden
A frequently cited source when comparing Swedish rape
statistics internationally is the regularly published report by the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), based on official statistics
provided by each member state.In 2012, Sweden had 66 cases of reported rapes
per 100,000 population, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime
Prevention. This was unequivocally the biggest number reported to the UNODC in
2012. However, widely differing legal systems, offence definitions,
terminological variations, recording practices and statistical conventions
makes any cross-national comparison on rape statistics difficult, which is why
the UNODC itself caution against using their figures. It should also be noted
that many countries do not report any rape statistics at all to the UNODC, and
some report very low numbers, despite studies that indicate otherwise.
The Swedish police record each instance of sexual violence in every case
separately, leading to an inflated number of cases compared to other countries.
Sweden also has a comparatively wide definition of rape. This means that more
sexual crimes are registered as rape than in most other countries. For example,
in 2005 Sweden reformed its sex crime legislation and made the legal definition
of rape much wider, which led to a marked increase in reports. Additionally,
the Swedish police have improved the handling of rape cases, in an effort to
decrease the number of unreported cases. For this reason, large-scale
victimization surveys have been presented by criminologists as a more reliable
indicator of rape prevalence. An EU-wide survey on sexual violence against
women, published the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in
2014, placed Sweden below Denmark and Finland, and a previous assessment by Brå
have placed Sweden at an average level among European nations.
USA
A 1997 study on the non-institutionalized, non-military
population by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, which defines rape as
forced penetration by the offender, found that 91% of reported rape victims are
female and 9% are male.
A 2011 report on prison rape by the BJS stated that "in 2008 there were at
least 69,800 inmates who were raped under conditions involving force or threat
of force, and more than 216,600 total victims of sexual abuse, in America’s
prisons, jails, and juvenile detention centers."
The majority of rapes in the United States go unreported. The FBI recorded
85,593 rapes in 2010, while the Centers for Disease Control counted nearly 1.3
million incidents in that same year.
Data on the prevalence of rape vary greatly depending on what definition of
rape is used. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey, 1 in 6
U.S. women and 1 in 33 U.S. men has experienced an attempted or completed rape
in her or his lifetime. A 2007 study by the National Institute of Justice found
that 19.0% of college women and 6.1% of college men experienced either rape or attempted
rape since entering college.
England
Rape in the United Kingdom is not a gender neutral offense:
it is an offense that can only be committed by a male against a person. Also
the UK has not to date followed the trend in many countries of classifying acts
other than penetration with a penis (e.g. penetration with an object, finger)
as rape. (Rape statistics United Kingdom). According to the BBC reports, the
number of rapes reported to and recorded by police is at its highest ever
level, increase by 29 percent as overall crime falls in England and Wales.
According to a study by the NSPCC on young people (aged between 13–18), a third
of girls and 16 percent of boys have experienced sexual violence and that as
many as 250,000 teenage girls are suffering from abuse at any one time. 12
percent of boys and 3 percent of girls reported committing sexual violence
against their partners.According to a report entitled “An Overview of Sexual
Offending in England and Wales”, released in 2013, by the Ministry of Justice
(MoJ), Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Home Office; Approximately
85,000 victims of rape per year in England and Wales – 73,000 females and
12,000 males, equating to about 230 cases every day. The report stated that 1
in every 5 women has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of
16. See the full report, a summary and/or the data tables here.
India
Rape in India is one of India's most common crimes against
women. Marital rape that occurs when spouses are living together can only be
dealt under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 which only
provides civil remedies to victims (it is a form of non-criminal domestic
violence). Marital rape is not a criminal offense, except when spouses are separated.Penile
and non-penile penetration in bodily orifices of a woman by a man, without the
consent of the woman, constitutes the offense of rape under the Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act, 2013.
Adjusted for population growth over time, the annual rape rate in India has
increased from 1.9 to 2.0 per 100,000 people over 2008-2012 period. This
compares to a reported rape rate of 1.2 per 100,000 in Japan, 3.6 per 100,000
in Morocco, 4.6 rapes per 100,000 in Bahrain, 12.3 per 100,000 in Mexico, 24.1
per 100,000 in United Kingdom, 28.6 per 100,000 in United States, 66.5 per
100,000 in Sweden, and world's highest rate of 114.9 rapes per 100,000 in South
Africa.
New Zealand
In 2013, The Roast Busters scandal exposed the truth about
rape in New Zealand. A group of young men from West Auckland, calling
themselves “Roast Busters”, who allegedly sought to intoxicate underage girls
to gang rape them.
According to a report by British medical journal The Lancet sexual assault rate
in New Zealand is far higher than the world average. It placed the country at
the third highest rate with 16.4 % of its female population, alongside
Australia.
According to the Minister of Justice Publication Report; Every two hours an
attack involving sexual violence is happening in New Zealand. Statistics now
suggest that 1 out of 3 girls and one out of six boys are likely to be sexually
abused before the age of 16.
Sexual assaults rose 15% in a year, and at schools the number doubled. Only 9
percent of sexual offenses are reported (registered by police) in New Zealand.
Of all the reported cases, only 13% end in a conviction. 91 % of the rapes
either go unreported, or the victims are intimidated by the police to drop
complaints.
Canada
In Canadian colonies, rape was an offense at common law. The
conceptualization of rape was based on English common law understanding of this
offense. English legal precedent was very important. Canada got its first
statutory definition of rape in 1892, under the 1892 Criminal Code, which read:
"Rape is the act of a man having carnal knowledge of a woman who is not
his wife without her consent, or with consent which has been extorted by
threats or fear of bodily harm, or obtained by personating the woman’s husband,
or by false and fraudulent representations as to the nature and quality of the
act." A boy under 14 could not be convicted of rape. The rape law remained
virtually unchanged until 1983, when the criminal offense of "rape"
was abolished and replaced by three sexual assault offenses. Unlike the previous
rape offense, the sexual assault offenses are applicable in marriage and are
gender neutral. These three offenses are:
Sexual assault
Sexual assault with a weapon, threats to a third party or
causing bodily harm
Aggravated sexual assault.
Australia
Non-consensual sexual penetration is termed "Rape"
in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and Tasmania; "Sexual
Assault" in New South Wales; "Sexual intercourse without
consent" in the ACT and the Northern Territory; "Sexual penetration
without consent" in Western Australia. All these offenses are gender
neutral and applicable in marriage. The laws in Australia have evolved from the
English common law offense of rape, but have gradually changed, especially in
the late 20th century.
In Australia the reported rape rate per 100,000 people is relatively high,
although it is in a decreasing trend, coming down from 91.6 in the year 2003 to
28.6 in 2010. This stands in contrast to reported rape rate of 1.2 per 100,000
in Japan, 1.8 per 100,000 in India, 4.6 rapes per 100,000 in Bahrain, 12.3 per
100,000 in Mexico, 24.1 per 100,000 in United Kingdom, 28.6 per 100,000 in
United States, 66.5 per 100,000 in Sweden, and world's highest rate of 114.9
rapes per 100,000 in South Africa.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is at 9th position with
maximum rape rates. At least one woman is raped every 90 minutes in Zimbabwe.
According to the latest statistics by Zimbabwe National Statistics (ZimStat),
500 women were sexually abused monthly – about 16 women being raped daily.
A total of 1 524 cases were reported during the first 3 months of the year, up
from 1 285 recorded in the same period last year. Of these reported case, 780
are children (ages from 11 to 16 years) while 276 were children aged between 5
and 10 years. However, there are fears that the number could be higher as some
cases go unreported.
According to UNICEF, Child rape up 42 percent in Zimbabwe. It said the number
of cases of rape of minors reported to police surged from 2,192 in 2010 to 3,112
in 2014. Many other cases likely went unreported in a climate of secrecy and
denial.
Finland And Denmark
Although only approximately 500 rapes are reported to the
Danish police annually, several studies estimate that only a small minority of
all rapes are actually reported, and only one in five reported rapes result in
a conviction in court.For example, according to a 2014 study published by the
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Denmark had the highest
prevalence rate of physical and sexual violence against women in Europe.
The Danish government was harshly criticized for inadequate laws in regard to
sexual violence in a 2008 report produced by Amnesty International. The Danish
criminal provisions regarding sexual crimes had remained nearly unchanged for
30 years, which lead Amnesty International to declare that "legislation on
rape and sexual violence [conflicted] with human rights principles concerning
the need to protect an individual's sexual and physical integrity and right to
self-determination." The organization repeatedly urged Denmark to bring
legislation on rape in line with international law over several years, which
lead to an amendment to the sexual offenses code in 2013, following a change in
government after the 2011 elections.
In Finland, the legal regulations on
sexual offenses were revised with a law that came into effect on 1. January
1999. Under this revision, sexual offenses were divided into three levels:
rape, aggravated rape and forcing someone into a sexual act. The revision also
affects the cause of action. The law on rape states that:
A person who forces another into sexual intercourse by
the use or threat of violence shall be sentenced for rape to imprisonment for
at least one year and at most six years.
Also a person who, by taking advantage of the fact
that another person, due to unconsciousness, illness, disability, state of fear
or other state of helplessness, is unable to defend himself or herself or to
formulate or express his or her will, has sexual intercourse with him or her,
shall be sentenced for rape.
The Finnish government does not produce data on rape on a regular basis, beyond
the raw numbers of reported rape to Finnish police. The laws and guidelines
have been criticized for not making specific reference to "consent"
and for offering the possibility of mediation between the victim and
perpetrator. Specific information on women victims of rape can be found only
from separate studies, the last one made in 2004, and that study was based on
reported rape offenses during the years 1998–1999. The study showed that of 468
rapes or attempted rapes reported to the police, only 47 rape charges were
made, or that merely 10 per cent of the rapes reported to the police lead to a
prosecution. In most cases the rape victim and the offender knew each other,
only in every fourth case was the woman attacked by a stranger. Almost half the
rape occurred among acquaintances (corresponding to a date rape), and intimate
or family relations were involved in 13 per cent of the cases.