In Pakistan, it’s middle class rising

General perception still, and unfortunately, held by many people, foreigners and Pakistanis, is that Pakistan is largely an agricultural, rural economy, where “feudals” dominate the economic, social, and particularly political space. Perhaps the single most signifiant consequence of the social and structural transformation under

way for the last two decades has been the rise and consolidation of a Pakistani middle class, both rural, but especially, urban.Research in Pakistan -at least 70% of Pakistanis live in urban or urbanising settlements.Class categories transformedSocial categories such as “class” are no longer fashionable and we work in an environment which

no longer theorises about classes of any kind.The political category of class has been replaced by numerous other categories such as

“institutions” .The previous, more simplistic and simplified class categories such as feudals, industrialists, and

“the working class”.

Girls shiningPakistan have risen to around 60%, perhaps more important has been the significant rise in girls’

literacy and in their education.Their enrolment at the primary school level, while still less than it is for boys, is rising faster than

it is for boys.Rise of the ‘youthiasThe “naya Pakistan” of today is dominated by middle class voices and concerns.Social and structural transformation-Internet access to girls’ education and social media activism.A politic s hardly progressiveNot interested in the working classes or their issues- making economic and political alliances with

large capitalist landowners and industrialists, many of whom have close links with the military.It is the multiple fractions within the middle class which have been dominating the political and

developmentalist agenda in Pakistan.It is going to be the contradictions within this middle class which will now set the future course

for Pakistan’s economy and its politics. Perhaps from the fringes of this middle class, one could possibly expect the emergence even of

progressive forms of politics.

Q-The None Of The Above (NOTA) voting option introduced by the Election Commission has given rise to interesting outcomes in recent elections. Throw light on these outcomes and examine if NOTA option has met its original objectives.

NOTA and the Indian voter

Intro-Three years, one Lok Sabha election and four rounds of Assembly elections have passed since the introduction of ‘None ofThe Above’ (NOTA) option in the Indian electoral system.

Which allows voters to express their dissent against all the contestants. In Kerala, a group of women activists hit the road urging people not to elect any candidate if no

woman was present in the fray. In Tamil Nadu, a youth group campaigned for NOTA as a protest vote against corruption.The patternsNOTA polling figures are still small- not crossed 2.02% of the total votes polled in any election

cycle.However, it is worthwhile to look at the patterns of NOTA voting to find out how the voters have

used this option of negative voting.

NOTA was introduced in India following the 2013 Supreme Court directive in the People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India judgment.

Thus, India became the 14th country to institute negative voting. However, NOTA in India does not provide for a ‘right to reject’. The candidate with the maximum votes wins the election irrespective of the number of NOTA

votes polled.NOTA button saw its debut in the 2013 Assembly elections held in four States — Chhattisgarh,

Mizoram, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the former Union Territory, Delhi.In these States and Delhi, NOTA constituted 1.85% of the total votes polled.The average NOTA vote share dropped to 0.95% in the 2014 Assembly elections held in eight

States — Haryana, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra.

It increased to 2.02% in the 2015 Assembly elections held in Delhi and Bihar. While Delhi polled a mere 0.40%, Bihar saw 2.49% of NOTA votes, which remains the highest NOTA votespolled so far in any State in Assembly elections.

In the 2016 Assembly elections held in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu, NOTA vote share dropped again to 1.6%.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, NOTA constituted 1.1% of the total votes.Across the elections, the number of NOTA votes polled was larger than the winning margin in 261

Assembly constituencies which went to the polls since 2013, and in 24 constituencies in the LokSabha elections.

One can argue that in these constituencies the NOTA votes did make a difference to the electionresults assuming that in the absence of this option a majority of NOTA voters would have preferred one or the other candidate in the fray.

A quick analysis of NOTA usage in all elections so far does suggest some interesting early pointers. 1)-First, reserved constituencies have seen a relatively larger number of NOTA votes, which points

to the continued social prejudice against political reservation for SC/STs. 2)-Second, constituencies affacted by left-wing extremism have also recorded higher NOTA

performance and here probably it served as an instrument of protest against the State itself

It is important to note that these voters have used the democratic means of NOTA to express their resentment rather than boycotting the polls outright.Overall, Indian voters seem to be using NOTA not just to show their disapproval of the candidates

in the fray but to express their protest against many things they perceive wrong in the political system.

ConclusionThe early trends of NOTA need to be explored further with more elaborate statistical This electoral option will become a meaningful means of negative voting only if it becomes a

‘right to reject’ rather than being a symbolic instrument to express resentment as it is now. A PIL has already been filed in Madras High Court seeking the full right to reject in place of

NOTA.

Seeing the lightIndia and the U.S. have been filing a number of disputes against each other, challenging the

other’s domestic content requirement in the renewable energy sector.Washington are providing renewable energy subsidies similar to those of the domestic content

requirement under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), which, the U.S. claims, violates World Trade Organisation (WTO) law.India seems to be charging the U.S. of the same issues in the same field to leverage a settlement in

the case that it lost.The WTO ruling JNNSM required that 20 gigawatt (GW) of solar power should be generated from domestically

produced modules or solar cells.The WTO found that the mandatory domestic content requirement under JNNSM violated the

National Treatment provision of Article III:4 of the WTO agreement.The Indian government has significantly reduced the domestic content requirement after the

initiation of proceedings at the WTO

At the beginning of the mission, the domestic content requirement in the auctioned contracts was as much as 50% of the total output generating capacity.

This value dropped significantly through the auctions and is currently down to 5%. The U.S. is still unsatisfied with the measures undertaken by the government.Eight U.S. states were giving “performance-based incentives” for generating renewable energy.ConclusionEven though India has requested establishment of the panel, is it still possible that an

Amicable(मैत्रीपूर्ण) solution may be found. However, with the new Trump administration and its ‘America First’ policy, there is a good chance

that the panel will be established and the case argued before the WTO. This would affect relations between the U.S. and India. Both the cases are in fact the same, so it would be in the best interest of both nations to settle it.

89th Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, or "Oscars", is a group of twenty-four artistic and technical honors given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements.

Officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname "Oscar.“

The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS.The awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953.The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest entertainment awards ceremony.Its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, The Tony Awards for theater, The Grammy Awards for music and recording

FACTS

Asghar Farhadi, whose The Salesman won in the Best Foreign Film category…Beyond borders

“None Of The Above,” or NOTA for short, also known as “against all” or a “scratch” vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in a voting system.The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (also known as the National Solar Mission) is an initiative of the Government of India and State Governments to promote renewable energy, especially solar power. Named after Jawaharlal Nehru, the Mission is one of the several initiatives that are part of National Action Plan on Climate Change.The program was inaugurated on 11 January 2010 with a target of 20GW by 2022 which was later increased to 100 GW in 2015 Union budget of India.United States filed a case with WTO against India for restricting the critical materials used to domestic content.

The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to honour the best British and international contributions to film

People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by socialist leader Jayapraka Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights (PUCLDR).Jayaprakash Narayan was a Gandhian leader in India after independence.When Indira Gandhi was found guilty of violating electoral laws by the Allahabad High Court,

Narayan called for Indira to resign, and advocated a program of social transformation. He asked the military and police to disregard unconstitutional and immoral orders. However, Janata Party opposition leaders and dissenting members of her party, Congress (I) were

arrested, beginning The Emergency. Narayan was detained at Chandigarh, and when released in 1976, formed the PUCL to oppose the

suppression of civil and political rights during the emergency. The organization was thrown into disarray by his death and the election of the Janata party to

power, which promised to enact the PUCL platform