By Adv. Govind Chaturvedi ,Legal Advisor– HelpingBrainz.In

The “Common Man” is confusing and abstract term.  A common man is what you see in the mirror, it is any individual living in the society coming from diverse economic background, race, ethnicity, religion or even region. But at times this simple duty and insecurity can result in a lifetime of fight. Each individual has been provided certain rights, a common man greatest responsibility lies in the fact that he has to respect the rights of the others, his only problem is that others do not respect his. That is his biggest insecurity. The same innocent soul who abides by the law to protect himself and his loved ones can turn vulnerable when wronged or cheated. However it must be remembered that the law is not the one whop would ever cheat, it is the law maker who at times bend, beat and worse breaks the rules to suit his/her own selfish needs. Therefore the same common man, who is the law-maker, is also the law abider and at times the law breaker.

The latest additions by the judiciary for benefiting the “aam admi” and creating a user-friendly legal assistance is commendable. First in this context is The Right to Information Act effective from 12th October, 2005. The said act aims at promoting transparency and accountability of officials working for the Central or State Information Commission by making them answerable to common man’s question ranging in the premises of public services on filing of a petition, thereby making an attempt to negate corruption, aptly using the tool of democracy.  The next initiative aims at spreading awareness among citizens to combat consumer fraud in an inexpensive and hassle-free manner namely Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Based on the legal dictum “Caveat Emptor”- Consumer’s beware; the act protects the customers by providing simple precautions they should take while buying goods or getting services and the documentation they should preserve in case of a need to approach the consumer court.

Yet again, to some “law” and “justice” are synonyms- two sides of a same coin, the cause and the effect. Law is the tool by which Justice is preserved. And here arises the Question, For Whom? And the answer lies in the saying “Law exists on purpose of Common Man”

Such is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change: the change itself is nothing; when we have made it, the next wish is to change again. The world is not yet exhausted; let me see something tomorrow which I never saw be”- Samuel Johnson.

Winston Churchill, once said “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction”, Helping Brainz is working to create a difference or a change in the society (or in the thought process of people) by:

• Educating all;
• Motivating the youth;
• Spreading social equilibrium – security and equality ;
• Encouraging Speech;
• Respecting Elders;
• Empowering the Women and Children;
• Engaging fast running  corporates into community service

Now when we start working in the ground-roots, roadblocks or hindrances becomes our best friends, as by eliminating them we can reach so called Social Salvation or Social Equilibrium.

We began our journey just 1 year back as a Facebook page, now we’re present in 4 countries (& in 8 Indian Cities-Metros). We started with Women Safety as our first projects, encountered numerous roadblocks in establishing security (still encountering…), these roadblocks also helped us to think about various projects .

Eliminating roadblocks to reach social salvation have become a culture/best practice over here. The team comprises of folks from various walks of life (Students, Engineers, Doctors, Professors, Lawyers, Auditors, Human Resource Professionals, Policemen, Policewomen etc….)

By a  Sonam Gupta ,Pune

Are the women in India safe????…

This ques is now hanging in every mind.But why we always act after something happens ??. That’s another ques which goes unanswerable.But as it is said “der aye durusat aye”, so what is now taking the form of revolution, it is the responsibility of each of us to be a part of it. Its time for taking serious consideration regarding the safety of women.Onone hand government is taking initiative (which as we know will take its time..;) on the other hand it is not only the responsibility of women to be aware of the certain things like :

1. What to do if you have been misbehaved.
2. What if someone around you have been/is being assaulted.
3. The common help line numbers especially for women.

but also it is the responsibility of a man to behave like a human and bring up a change in mentality because only by improving laws a change cannot be brought.For a change to occur, the thinking of the society as whole must change.

By  C V Sudheendran, Advisory Panel Member, Helping Brainz – Live from Calicut, Kerala

To begin with, let me put down a few lines about myself. I am an engineer by education and profession. I had been a writer for the past twenty years, writing on women’s issues and other sociological topics. I could win an award from the Kerala Sahitya Accademy in the year 2000. I have so far published seven works.

My suggestions on the issue are as below:-

1. School education is now bent on imparting knowledge; it has withdrawn from its prime responsibility of moulding good human beings. At the bare minimum, every child has to be taught that he or she cannot harm another, just as he or she does not want to be harmed by another. The golden rule ” Do unto others…….” has to seep into every young mind.

2. Co-education has to be promoted. Boys and girls should mingle in a healthy way. Boys would then come to know that girls are individuals with a mind and an intellect and not mere bodies.

3. A basic look in to the human natures could help. Mankind had been hunter-gatherers for 362 days and farmers for only 3 days — the hunter-gatherer period lasted 1.4 million years; agriculture began just 12000 years ago. ’362 days’ of hunting has made the male physically stronger and more prone to aggression. Also, the eyes were the most important sense-organ of the hunter as he had to locate both prey and predator with sharp eyes. This dependence on eyes and sights has made him vulnerable to the visual stimuli. One end result is his obsession with the female form and beauty. As we all know, world art and literature is studded with numberless male-authored works which glorify the female form, limbs and features.

The female, over the ages had been aware of this male frailty and had made use of it by dressing up. But for the last two or three decades, commercial forces combined with the now omnipotent visual media, is exploiting this vulnerability to the limits. The result is that generations of males and females have come to believe that the greatest asset or virtue of a female are her physical attributes. This trend has to be deliberately countered and such false notions dismantled. The enlightened female has to assert that she is not a body but a full-fledged individual. And calling attention to the body does not pay because, as stated, the male is so vulnerable.

4. Some leading film-heroines have depicted sex-hungry characters on the screen,spreading the mistaken notion that the average female is sex-hungry. Earlier ‘vamps’ were playing such roles but now the heroines, who are supposed to represent the mainstream are doing it. This is dangerous and greatly encourages the delinquent. He would simply refuse to take a no from the woman to be a real no. The heroines have to be made aware that when they are depicting sex-crazy characters and going through inciting motions, it is the defenseless who is going to pay the price. The concerned directors have also to realise their responsibility.

Before concluding, it has to be admitted that the issue is deep-rooted and complex. I have just tried to mention a few points which many others would not have mentioned.

5. Pornography and alcohol are social menaces which are doing great harm. Pornography, both online and otherwise has to be rigorously hunted out.

Alcohol consumption has to be controlled – those who have consumed alcohol should not be allowed in public places. While moves against tobacco are bearing fruit; alcohol which is a much greater menace, is not being discouraged at all by most of the States and the Centre.

By Bhanu Praveen, Karnataka State Secretary – Helping Brainz

“Powerful” doesn’t really do this amazing (and VERY controversial) structure justice. Since the $30 billion project was announced, Chinese officials have faced heavy scrutiny from both scientists and environmental activists like. Many believe that the dam will ultimately result in catastrophe. Some concerns include the dam trapping pollution, spawning earthquakes and landslides, uprooting citizens (more than 1.3 million people have already been forced to relocate), and destroying historical locations – along with the habitats of endangered animals. (The government finally conceded that the project was ill conceived – after years of dubbing the dam one of the most spectacular pieces of engineering in Chinese history – but the damage is already done.)
The last 32 generators (each capable of generating 50 MW of power) went into action at the end of July last year. The gushing water produced by the dam has enough power to generate about 22.5 million kilowatts (22,500 megawatts) of energy (the estimates vary), which is equivalent to about FIFTEEN nuclear reactors and, of course, it doesn’t cause concerns about radioactive materials being unleashed (which is a very good thing, especially after events like the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear disasters) – so the disastrous effects can be negated by most, mainly due to the fact that it’s a clean, effective way of rendering energy for a booming population.

Wondering how this could possibly have an impact on the Earth’s rotation? Here’s a wonderful source that breaks it down further:
“Three Gorges Dam crosses the Yangtze River in Hubei province, China. It is the world’s largesthydroelectric power station by total capacity, which will be 22,500 MW when completed. When the water level is at maximum….it will flood a total area of 632 km2 of land. The reservoir will contain about 39.3 cubic km (9.43 cubic miles) of water. That water will weigh more than 39 trillion kilograms (42 billion tons).
A shift in a mass of that size will impact the rotation of the Earth due to a phenomena known as “themoment of inertia”, which is the inertia of a rigid rotating body with respect to its rotation. The moment of inertia of an object about a given axis describes how difficult it is to change its angular motion about that axis. The longer the distance of a mass to its axis of rotation, the slower it will spin. You may not know it, but you see examples of this in everyday life. For example, a figure skater attempting to spin faster will draw her arms tight to her body, and thereby reduce her moment of inertia. Similarly, a diver attempting to somersault faster will bring his body into a tucked position.
Raising 39 trillion kilograms of water 175 meters above sea level will increase the Earth’s moment of inertia, and thus slow its rotation. However, the impact will be extremely small. NASA scientists calculated the shift of such a mass will increase the length of day by only 0.06 microseconds, and make the Earth only very slightly more round in the middle and more flat on the top. It will also shift the pole position by about two centimeters (0.8 inch). Note that a shift in any object’s mass on the Earth relative to its axis of rotation will change its moment of inertia, although most shifts are too small to be measured (but they can be calculated).”
Source: http://theenergylibrary.com/node/11435
Not to worry, though. Earth’s rotation changes frequently, with many different variables added into the equation. First, we have the moon gradually receding from the Earth changing Earth’s rotation ever-so-slightly. Earthquakes (like the mega quake in Japan back in 2011) also help along the process (the same quake changed Earth’s rotation by 2.68 microseconds). Furthermore, every 5 years (or so), the length of the day increases and decreases by about a millisecond, or about 550 times larger than the change caused by the Japanese earthquake.
Still, this knowledge begs many interesting questions. Namely, how far is too far? Individually, these things don’t make much of a difference one-way-or-another, but together, who knows. So FQTQ readers, what are your thoughts?

For Further Reading:
“China’s Monster Three Gorges Dam Is About To Slow The Rotation Of The Earth:”
http://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-three-gorges-dam-really-will-slow-the-earths-rotation-2010-6#ixzz2gLFLVmuJ