Virtual Reality- Netizens vs Citizens

What is virtual reality? In its simplest form, it means ’near-reality’. Reality is what we experience by way of our senses and our brain processing those experiences as information. It thus stands to reason then, that if we can present our senses with made-up information, our perception of reality would alter in response to it. Virtual reality, thus, is that version of reality which is ‘perceived’ as real. But let’s dig deeper. In a very technical and straight-forward definition, virtual reality may be described as a three-dimensional, computer generated environment which can be explored and interacted with by a person. The person becomes an indisposable factor of this virtual world, performing a series of actions conducive to its development. And that gets me to the core of my leitmotif - Citizens vs. Netizens, who are more important?

Citizens are members in a political community (usually a country) and they possess rights to political participation. For example, I am a citizen of India and those who we call ‘green-card holders’ are actually citizens of the United States of America. Netizens on the other hand, are Internet users who utilize the internet networks from their home, workplace, or school (anywhere in the world) and usually have a self-imposed responsibility to make radical changes in its dynamics while encouraging free speech and open access. Thus, it can be noted, that the very existence of the ‘Virtual World’ or ‘Virtual Reality’ is dependent on the existence of its ‘netizens’.

Citizens, are now an old world concept. Though the physical world has not been completely lost, the lines between reality and virtual reality has blurred greatly. The word citizen also has a limitation to it. The moment we utter ‘citizens’, we are limiting their existence within a boundary but a ’netizen’ has validity in every corner of the world, no geographical boundary can restrict its continuance. You can be a citizen of India but you are a ‘netizen’ of the world. Thus, the power or freedom of a ‘netizen’ cannot be curtailed by boundaries. The connecting media - the Internet - plays a significant role in opening up spaces for citizens, regardless of their gender and social status, to participate in political, economic, social and cultural life. In India, the Internet took more than a decade to move from 10 million to 100 million users. However, it took only three years for it to jump from 100 to 200 million. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the Internet user base in the country stood at 190 million at the end of June 2013. These are times of radical and rapid changes!

Governments of nations now chose to stay in touch with their citizens through the internet, thus consciously converting them to ‘netizens’. They are implying the internet to serve their citizens. As technologies continue to evolve, the internet is having a significant impact on all aspects of life-society, economics and politics. To further stress on the aspect of how ‘netizens’ have emerged to be more important than citizens, a very simple yet significant example should be stated. ‘Digital signatures’. Digital signatures have now been introduced and legalized to give digital existence and recognition to every human being worldwide. Slowly but surely, citizens are emerging as ‘netizens’.

Thus, who holds more ground in the present times? The active participants of the physical world or the cyber citizens of the virtual world? The answer is simple. We have stopped living in the physical world. Even though we are physically present here, we have been reduced to victims of digitization. Our existence makes sense to us only when it is validated on public forums and other such internet portals. The very day-to-day actions are governed by how they are or would be perceived by the world of internet.

Virtual Reality is a warped version of the real world and yet we are prudently getting engulfed in this realm of technology and innovations. ‘Netizens’, have thus gained a much more strong hold than Citizens and in the times to come, I can foresee the symbiotic existence of both.

Ankita Chatterjee

( PG MEDIA 2015-2017)

New Political Alliance- a success or a failure story?

Any political journey is filled with the instances of political parties forming an alliance to run the country. Though they don’t always share a common ideology, it’s often for the want of gaining power and meeting the political objectives that bring them together. The trend of forming an alliance with other parties started during the 90s. What started this phenomenon is the gradual empowerment of the regional parties. Unlike in the past, the political discourse today is not restricted to Congress and BJP. While public support for these parties has gradually decreased, the regional parties have continued to gain overwhelming support.

Be it the pre-election or the post election alliance, the fundamental reason behind accommodating other parties’ agenda is the need to hold on to the power, even if it means shaking hands with the one-time rival. Looking at some examples of alliances from 2016 assembly polls to be held we find how these political parties change their support for their own benefit. The once Congress-TMC alliance is this year against each other. Congress is joining hands with CPI (M) whereas BJP which was last elections against TMC, this year is providing an indirect support to this political party. In this game of gaining the power, every political party gets into alliance with each other to defeat their respective rival party. But in the very next elections itself we can see, how they change from friends to enemies just to survive in the race game.

Thus these joining and breaking of alliances have been continuing for years and will still be carried forward in the future. But to comment on the fact that, whether it is a success or a failure story is very controversial. They tend to fail to focus on the people who will be actually electing them. Bunches and bunches of promises during campaigns and after winning the polls forgetting them in a click is the usual trend for these parties during the elections trauma. Therefore any political alliance is a success only if they can work for the people of the state or country to make a better place for the people to live in or else such an alliance is a failure for both the people as well as the parties.

Sneha Menon

( PG MEDIA 2015-2017)

Internet has made us slaves

I am a 90’s kid. Things have changed a lot since then. Not only in technology but there has been a huge shift in the attitude of people too, along with the advancement of technology. In the earlier days, the open field used to be our playground whereas these days we see a child glued to their desktops for hours laboring their fingertips to play all the games that they play.

I remember reading comics, playing cassettes and listening to radio. These things are almost obsolete in this generation. Earlier, friend requests were carried forward by our fellow mates rather than facebook and good news were brought to us through letters on a cycle by a postman rather than by emails. There used to be a time where there was only one television in the whole neighborhood rather than five televisions in one single house. Even though there was only Doordarshan,  people were content with whatever they had. Same was the scenario with telephones but these days on an average, everybody has their own private cell phone.

Internet has changed the whole traditional way we lived our life. It serves as a boon as well as a curse. People stay glued to their cell phones and desktops for hours browsing the social media and neglecting the real world outside. Online games are very popular these days. Children and adults too sit back at home and play for hours with people they don’t even know. But internet has gifted us with instant knowledge of anything and everything that we desire to know. It has given us a platform to share our views, opinions and talents. It has given us the space to expand one’s business and much more. But it has snatched the warmth of friendship and relationships. From citizens we became netizens and live a virtual life; a life guided by our cell phones and desktops. We are highly dependent on these machines for our day to day living.

We have become slaves of the technology we mastered. It gives me a chill when I see the park outside so quiet with no children outside and the swing’s standing still. Are we really turning into a generation of dummies with the virtual world taking us over fully? The question is still left unanswered.

Abhirup Chowdhury

(PG MEDIA 2015-2017)

An Introspection of India's Social Security

A big hoax created by our ‘system’ for the people to prevent sparks of descent and revolt against the organization of the labour market. In India, taking BALCO as the fine example politicians can change overnight an organized sector into an unorganized sector. A concept enshrined in Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stating that society in which a person lives should help them to develop and to make the most of all the advantages of the economic, social and cultural which are offered to them in the country.

Social security may also refer to the government action programs which intend to promote the welfare of the population guaranteeing access to sufficient resources for food and shelter. It also spreads to promote health and well-being for the population (children, the elderly, the sick and the unemployed). Hence, services providing social security are often called social services. After the successful launch of Jan Dhan Yojana, Prime Minister Modi launched the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jivan Jyoti Bima Yojana’, ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana’ and the ‘Atal Pension Yojana’ in Kolkata in the month of May, 2015; to secure the poor population sector under their financial inclusion programme.

Targeting 80% of the people who are not covered by any social security measure, the above mentioned schemes were announced. The ‘Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana’ (PMSBY) and the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana’ (PMJJBY) provide insurance cover in the unfortunate event of death by any cause or disability due to an accident, whereas the ‘Atal Pension Yojana’ (APY) addresses the income and security needs of the aged. Banks have enrolled 50.5 million people in the first seven days of the trail-run including 4.2 million from West Bengal. Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana insurance scheme is where the nominee will get the benefits in case of the death of the policy holder. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana insurance scheme is also worth Rs. 2 lakh at an annual Premium of Rs. 12 which will cover death or permanent disability due to accident. The eligibility to join the scheme is only through one savings bank account and premium will be deducted from it through ‘auto-debit’ facility annually between 1 June, 2015 and 31 May, 2016.

The present scenario of social security in India is that Finance minister Arun Jaitley gave an announcement that the government will be rolling back its tax proposals regarding the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) which were presented in the Budget. The EPF proposal had two major components. The first was the taxation of 60% of the corpus on withdrawal from the fund if it was not invested in annuities. The second component was a pure tax proposal. It is where any amount contributed to the fund by the employer in excess of Rs.1.5 lakh would have been taxable in the hands of the employee, replacing the current limit of any amount in excess of 12% of the employee’s salary. Bringing benefits of liberalization to its people and deleting the curse of poverty, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India will continue on the current path of growth for a couple of decades more on April 1, 2016 at Melbourne. Hence, we are in the steps of hope to make the new generation see a better India; the platform of security and the rise of power in voice over the injustice.

Piuka Majumder

( PG MEDIA 2015-2017)

Freedom of Speech Restricted Only to Article 19 of the Constitution

“Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel” – said Samuel Johnson

Isn’t the path of courage to speak out, if one believes our nation’s policies to be in error, and the path of cowardice to remain silent? Should one sink with the Titanic, if one may have a strategy for keeping it afloat? Is it possible that those who have been demonized for uttering the so called seditious words are in some way assisting our country, whether for right or wrong, giving us an overlooked perspective? There is always a thin line between freedom of speech and patriotism.

The JNU fracas has convulsed the country since 9^th February, 2016 with political leaders, academicians and media personalities vocalizing their opinions vociferously. It was all geared up when the JNU SA organized a meeting at the campus where the students raised the slogans of anti-national hues pertaining to supposed ‘judicial murder’ of Afzal Guru, the perpetrator of the 2003 attack on the parliament and the contentious Kashmir issue. It was met with backlash from the opposers ABVP. A few slogans here and there led to arrests, charges of sedition and further protests.

Lord Krishna, adorably known as Kanhaiya, has racked his devotees in Bhagabat Gita on taking the ‘avataar’ to invigorate the forces of ‘dharma’during clash between ‘dharma’ and ‘adharma’. Communists may not have faith in Lord Krishna since their ideology states that believe in divine is opium of the masses. But the Left parties are considering JNU’s Kanhaiyya, SA President as their saviour incarnate at a time when the credibility of their ideologies- namely Marxism and class war, have suffered indelible decline, and catapulting him in the super hero status, all to win the war against Narendra Modi. But soon the simple gathering was moulded into a national political game!

The February 9 speech of Kanhaiyya was master performance for which he was arrested on the charges of sedition. The political leaders came up hoisting the flag of nationalism that they probably forgot in making inhuman comments on the suicide of the Dalit student of Hyderabad University, Rohit Vermula. This was bolstered by statement of an iron- jawed one from home- minister Mr. Rajnath Singh- “If anyone raises anti-India slogans and tries to raise questions on the nation’s unity and integrity, they will not be spared.” Now, is the hanging of Afzal Guru anti-national, when he was hanged for an indisputably anti-national? But how sure are we that he was involved in that conspiracy? However, how flawless is the judgement of the Supreme Court that defended, that Guru should be hanged because the conscience of the nation demands it? Is it antinational to question the verdict of the highest court of the land?

We would never be in favour of any move to idolise a convicted terrorist, much less approved of those who are given anti- India diatribes. But to arrest a university student who’s involvement in the controversial sloganeering far from proven, on the charge is an outrageous over reaction. Hence, the slapping of the sedition rap on Kanhaiyya is extremely disproportionate to the alleged “crime” and the state becomes paranoid and irrational. Our constitution provides freedom of speech and expression within reasonable limits and slogan at a student meet, albeit ill-judged, volatile, can hardly be deemed to have breached those limits. Besides all this, it is up to the University authorities to carry out disciplinary action, against students violating rules and regulations of the institution. Why then did the police swoop into the campus and the take president of the student union into custody?

Do a couple of slogans really amount to seditious behaviour? It is spawned endless debates and arguments and hypotheticals and hyperboles on freedom of expression, separatists, liberal hypocrisy and nationalistic pride. The permission to conduct a police raid inside the university campus, search, and hound students, arrest and thrash and bypassing the internal mechanism of university is completely preposterous. India’s airwaves today are choking with patriotic fervour and patriots are busy in denouncing anti-nationals, baying for their blood and putting someone behind the bar, to thunderous applause from fellow patriots.

Enakshi Pal

( PG MEDIA 2015-2017)

T20: A massacre of cricket

To talk about the most current issue of the recent days, we will have to introduce the very new format of T20. The format is undoubtedly the most familiar to us as India won the first world T20 cup. T20 has succeeded maximum amongst the youngsters.

Even though we are quite acquainted with this format in this decade, it had its origin years back in the 1960s.  English amateur cricket had similar rules, which bore a close resemblance with today’s T20. Though this format took a long time to get an official declaration but finally the England Cricket Board legalized this format in an attempt to bring back the craze that was missing from the cricketing scene. The first ever T20 international was played between Australia and New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland in the year 2005. 

Interestingly this format has a lot of similarity with that of football and is bound to certain rigid rules. Unlike the one day matches, it takes only 3 hours to finish which implies that each team has got seventy five minutes to complete their session. Batsmen and bowlers have to work extremely hard to restrict the run score. Penalty is also levied if a side fails to finish in time. In such cases, extra points are rewarded.

There are certain advantages as well as disadvantages of T20 cricket. To mention the advantages, people have surely found this format very amusing; the main reason for football to be one of the most famous games is because of its time limit. Lot of action happens within a short time span in T20’s.

There are a certain disadvantages too which are to be taken into consideration. This format is somehow spoiling the other formats of cricket. This gives youngsters a wrong impression on cricket. They feel cricket is all about hitting sixes and fours.

 The worse thing about this format is most of the players retire in their early stages of career just to earn more money playing less matches. They receive more money just by playing two series of T20 rather than playing one day and Test matches.

Thus, I would consider it to be both a boon and a curse, as in a boon in the ground of profit making and it can be a curse as this shorter format can immensely affect the physical fitness and create fatigue amongst the players and to be of my personal concern it also reduces the life span of a player in cricketing terms.

Srota Roychowdhury

( PG MEDIA 2015-2017)

T20: Messiah or Massacre?

First sold as “Twice the action, half the time” the twenty 20 form of cricket, also called T20 was introduced by England and Wales Cricket Board in the year 2003. The much popular form is played with each team playing not more than 20 overs.

We see how the lifestyle of people plays a factor in the evolution of sports. When time availability became a key concern for audiences, test matches which spanned over 5 days, gave way to Limited over Cricket, which were the One Day Internationals (ODI). The ODI cricket officially started in 1971 with a 60 over per innings format. And later changed to 55 over format and then to 40 over. In the late 1980’s, 50 over per innings became the official format of the ODI. But even the ODI’s begin to lose their charm. The 50 over game lasts for some 8 hours. Then came the t20. A typical game of t20 is completed in about 3 hours. 

The main intention of bringing this format was drawing crowds. Getting people who were not die-hard cricket fans and those who neither disliked the game. T20 is an amalgamation of cricket and entertainment. The entire session is full of action. Moving at a fast pace, the situation in the game keeps changing with every ball. This makes the game unpredictable and manages to grab the audience’s attention till the end. If there is a tie, a super over decides the winner.
But this change in format demands a change in technique, skill and temperament. In a test match, where a batsman is required to bat for long hours, T20 allows a batsman to play aggressively from the beginning. The focus, here, is on scoring maximum runs. So we see the bowlers getting defensive, looking for quick wickets and not giving away too many runs. There is no free bowling.
The popularity of T20 is evitable as brands are shifting their advertising budget from tests and ODI’s to T20 matches.

 Is the future of cricket at stake? Not necessarily. All the forms of cricket can exist simultaneously. It depends upon the spectator if he wants to enjoy the classic form of Test cricket or watch the fun loving version of the game.

T20 can be seen as a promoter of cricket, instead of competing with the existing versions of the game. At a lecture at Lords, Australian wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist pushed for T20 to be made an Olympic sport. “It would” he said “be difficult to see a better, quicker or cheaper way of spreading the game throughout the world.” 

 Shagufta Ali

(PG MEDIA 2015-2017)