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Heart wrenching letter of hanged Iranian woman to her mother

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Without paying any attention to the plea from the whole world, Iran, on 22nd October hanged 26 years old Reyhaneh Jabbari to death for a crime of saving her own life and dignity by stabbed a man who allegedly tried to rape her.

Here is complete translated text of the letter she wrote to her mother Sholen prior to her death it is loaded with emotions. She calls her death – retribution.

Dear Sholeh, today I learned that it is now my turn to face Qisas [the law of retribution in the Iranian legal system]. I am hurt as to why you did not let me know yourself that I have reached the last page of the book of my life. Don’t you think that I should know? You know how ashamed I am that you are sad. Why did you not take the chance for me to kiss your hand and that of dad?

The world allowed me to live for 19 years. That ominous night it was I that should have been killed. My body would have been thrown in some corner of the city, and after a few days, the police would have taken you to the coroner’s office to identify my body and there you would also learn that I had been raped as well. The murderer would have never been found since we don’t have their wealth and their power. Then you would have continued your life suffering and ashamed, and a few years later you would have died of this suffering and that would have been that.

However, with that cursed blow the story changed. My body was not thrown aside, but into the grave of Evin Prison and its solitary wards, and now the grave-like prison of Shahr-e Ray. But give in to the fate and don’t complain. You know better that death is not the end of life.

You taught me that one comes to this world to gain an experience and learn a lesson and with each birth a responsibility is put on one’s shoulder. I learned that sometimes one has to fight. I do remember when you told me that the carriage man protested the man who was flogging me, but the flogger hit the lash on his head and face that ultimately led to his death. You told me that for creating a value one should persevere even if one dies.

You taught us that as we go to school one should be a lady in face of the quarrels and complaints. Do you remember how much you underlined the way we behave? Your experience was incorrect. When this incident happened, my teachings did not help me. Being presented in court made me appear as a cold-blooded murderer and a ruthless criminal. I shed no tears. I did not beg. I did not cry my head off since I trusted the law.

But I was charged with being indifferent in face of a crime. You see, I didn’t even kill the mosquitoes and I threw away the cockroaches by taking them by their antennas. Now I have become a premeditated murderer. My treatment of the animals was interpreted as being inclined to be a boy and the judge didn’t even trouble himself to look at the fact that at the time of the incident I had long and polished nails.

How optimistic was he who expected justice from the judges! He never questioned the fact that my hands are not coarse like those of a sportswoman, especially a boxer. And this country that you planted its love in me never wanted me and no one supported me when under the blows of the interrogator I was crying out and I was hearing the most vulgar terms. When I shed the last sign of beauty from myself by shaving my hair I was rewarded: 11 days in solitary.

Dear Sholeh, don’t cry for what you are hearing. On the first day that in the police office an old unmarried agent hurt me for my nails I understood that beauty is not looked for in this era. The beauty of looks, beauty of thoughts and wishes, a beautiful handwriting, beauty of the eyes and vision, and even beauty of a nice voice.

My dear mother, my ideology has changed and you are not responsible for it. My words are unending and I gave it all to someone so that when I am executed without your presence and knowledge, it would be given to you. I left you much handwritten material as my heritage.

However, before my death I want something from you, that you have to provide for me with all your might and in any way that you can. In fact this is the only thing I want from this world, this country and you. I know you need time for this.

Therefore, I am telling you part of my will sooner. Please don’t cry and listen. I want you to go to the court and tell them my request. I cannot write such a letter from inside the prison that would be approved by the head of prison; so once again you have to suffer because of me. It is the only thing that if even you beg for it I would not become upset although I have told you many times not to beg to save me from being executed.

My kind mother, dear Sholeh, the one more dear to me than my life, I don’t want to rot under the soil. I don’t want my eye or my young heart to turn into dust. Beg so that it is arranged that as soon as I am hanged my heart, kidney, eye, bones and anything that can be transplanted be taken away from my body and given to someone who needs them as a gift. I don’t want the recipient know my name, buy me a bouquet, or even pray for me.

I am telling you from the bottom of my heart that I don’t want to have a grave for you to come and mourn there and suffer. I don’t want you to wear black clothing for me. Do your best to forget my difficult days. Give me to the wind to take away.

The world did not love us. It did not want my fate. And now I am giving in to it and embrace the death. Because in the court of God I will charge the inspectors, I will charge inspector Shamlou, I will charge judge, and the judges of country’s Supreme Court that beat me up when I was awake and did not refrain from harassing me.

In the court of the creator I will charge Dr. Farvandi, I will charge Qassem Shabani and all those that out of ignorance or with their lies wronged me and trampled on my rights and didn’t pay heed to the fact that sometimes what appears as reality is different from it.

Dear soft-hearted Sholeh, in the other world it is you and me who are the accusers and others who are the accused. Let’s see what God wants. I wanted to embrace you until I die. I love you.

What is Digital India? Explained – Everything You Need To Know

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Digital India Campaign

Digital India is a program to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Digital India Campaign is far more serious and realistic than just providing free internet compromising net neutrality. Let’s have a look at what actually this campaign is all about.

Digital India – History

Digital India campaign is restructured version of National e-Governance Scheme which started in 2006 under Mission Mode Project.

The modest beginning of e-Governance started in India in the early 90s but since those initiatives were yielding no or little results so in 2006 government decided to launch National e-Governance Program on Mission Mode basis but even under NEGP results were on slower pace so that new Government decided to restructure the Program into Digital India Campaign.

The government came with slogan IT + IT = IT which says Information Technology + Indian Talent = India of Tomorrow

Read Also: Digital India (DI) Project: A Mission

Three Key areas under Digital India Campaign

  1. Digital Infrastructure as a utility to every citizen
  2. Governance Services on Demand
  3. Digital empowerment of Citizen

Pillars of Digital India

  1. Broadband Highway
  2. Universal access to mobile connectivity
  3. Public interest access program  – National Rural Internet Mission
  4. e-Governance
  5. e-Kranti: Electronic delivery of services
  6. Information for all
  7. Electronic manufacturing
  8. IT for jobs
  9. Early Harvest Program
Digital India - 9 Pillars
Digital India – 9 Pillars

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Effective monitoring system

Strong monitoring strategy of the program is one of the key features that need to be appreciated, because, in our country, most of the ambitious plans fail due to lack of monitoring and control. There will be three types of committee with well-defined responsibilities. These are –

  • In the form of a monitoring committee
  • In the form Digital India Advisory committee
  • In the form of a committee of Apex committee

The chairman of Monitoring committee by the Prime Minister himself, the advisory committee will be headed by Minister of Communication and IT, Apex committee will be headed by Cabinet Secretary.

Budget and Target Duration

An amount of Rupees 1,13,000 Crore is the total budget of the campaign.

Targets under the campaign to be achieved between 2014 to 2018.

Concerns

Program till so far is very slow thus we may miss most the targets by miles.

We are not focussed on Integrating technology with language. India is a diverse country – in language, culture, laws – which varies from state to state.

Lack of inter-ministerial, inter-departmental, inter-governmental (among states), inter-agency collaboration and collaborative effort.

The initiative started under Nation Optical fibre Network which is very vital and important for Digital-India campaign. need to be accelerated because till so care progress is dead slow.

Internet and cyber crimes are inseparable entities and steps being taken for safe, protected, secure use of cyberspace are not adequate. Digital India must be clubbed with cybersecurity.

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Net Neutrality vs Digital India

There is no way we can allow any compromise with the principle of net neutrality or let anyone redefine it as per convenience. Even if it can give rise in the number of internet user in short-term but in the long run it is not going to help and trigger larger issues such as ownership of the internet.

It is a worth cost to pay for the greater gain in future if net neutrality is slowing the pace of the Digital India Campaign to reach closer to the last user.

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Positive Self-Talk Leading to Your Success

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positive self-talk

Positive self-talk is the dialogue that goes on in your mind. It is where you believe in yourself and are confident in your capabilities to the point that you are certain that you will succeed. Here is a list of steps you can take to create positive self-talk to get ahead in life.  

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Positive Self-Talk Leading to Your Success

It helps boost your confidence

  Positive self-talk can help you get through this – thus making you feel more confident. Confidence is so important to
success that many psychologists believe that it is one of the primary pre-requisites to personal and professional success.  

Must Read: How to Overcome the Fear of Failure?

It can help you improve your performance in anything you do.

  Continuous positive self-talk can help an athlete enhance his overall performance. If you are getting ready for a big presentation or trying to accomplish a personal goal of amassing wealth, positive self-talk will give you the right mindset to do so. You need to know yourself and master your own your thoughts.  

Focus on the facts

Focus your attention on positive, uplifting, and encouraging words to say to yourself. Think about the good things in your life along with the challenges and to give yourself credit for each success, big or small. Each experience counts.

Enjoy the journey

Be wary of words like “should,” “ought,” “must,” and “have to.” Learn to be flexible and compassionate with yourself during your journey, instead of focusing solely on the destination. This will allow you to appreciate the process and your own path of development.

Also Read: 10 Ways to Improve Self-Confidence

Practice persistence.

It is a progress that will require your effort. Continue to find ways to remind you to stop and analyze any negative self-talk and to counter it with a positive message to yourself. Building your positive self-talk will actually become second nature.

Reframe your Thinking

Become aware of having a negative thought, give it a positive spin. Focus on how you can avoid doing the behaviour again.

Stop the Thought.

  While you are in the middle of listening to your negative self-talk, stop your thoughts mid-stream by saying “Stop”. The physical act of saying “stop” out loud will make you better aware of the frequency in which you are stopping negative thoughts, when it happens, where you are when it happens, and what is happening right before it.  

Learn Discipline

There will also be days where you are not motivated to keep track of your negative self-talk or counter it with positive messages. Doing it however helps us develop our discipline and drive.

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National Income of India

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National Income of India

National Income of India is a flow, not a stock. As contrasted with national wealth which measures the stock of commodities held by nationals of a country at a point of time, national income of India measures the productivity power of an economy in a given period to turn out goods and services to final consumption.

According to National Income Committee (1945), “A national income of India estimates measures and volume of commodities and services turned out during a given period counted without duplication.Thus, national income of India measures the net value of goods and services produced in a country during a year and it also includes net earned foreign income. In other words, a total of national income of India measures the flow of goods and services in the economy. In India, National income estimates are related by the financial year (April 1 – March 31).

Read Also: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Concept of National Income of India

The various concepts of national income of India are as follows –

Gross National Product (GNP)

Gross National Product refers to the money value of total output or production of the final goods and services produced by the nationals of a country during a given period of time, generally a year.

1. As we include all final goods and services, produced by nationals of the country during a year, in the calculations of     GNP, we include money value of goods and services produced by nationals outside of the country in calculating           GNP. Hence, income produced and received by nationals of a country within the boundaries of foreign countries         should be added in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. Similarly, income received by foreign nationals within the boundary of the country should be excluded from GDP.

  1. In equation form:
    GNP = GDP + X – M
    where,
    X = Income earned and received by the nationals within the boundaries of the foreign country.
    M= Income received by the foreign nationals within the country.
    If X = M then GDP = GNP
    Similarly in closed economy X = M = 0 then also GDP = GNP
    Gross Domestic Product is the total money value of all final goods and services within the geographical boundaries of the country during a given period of time. As a conclusion it must be understood, while domestic product emphasizes the total output which is raised within the geographical boundaries of the country, national product focuses attention not only on goods and services produced outside the boundaries of the nation. Besides, any part of GDP which is produced by nationals of a country should be included in GNP.
  2. Net National ProductNNP is obtained by subtracting depreciation value (i.e. capital stock consumption) from GNP.

    In equation form: NNP = GNP – Depreciation

  3. National IncomeGNP, explained above, is based on market prices of produced goods which include indirect taxes and subsidies. NNP can be calculated in two ways –

    i) at market prices of goods and services

    ii) at factor cost

    When NNP is obtained at factor cost, it is known as National Income. National Income is calculated by subtracting net indirect taxes (i.e. total indirect tax subsidy) from NNP at market prices. The obtained value is known as NNP at factor cost or National Income.

    In equation form:

    National Income or NNP at factor cost = NNP at Market Price – (Indirect Taxes – Subsidy)

    National Income = NNPMP – Indirect Tax + Subsidy

  4. Personal IncomePersonal income is that income which is actually obtained by subtracting corporate taxes and payments made for social securities provisions from national income and adding to it government transfer payment and net interest paid by the government.
  5. In equation form:Personal Income = National Income – undistributed profit of corporation – payment for social security provisions – corporate taxes + Government transfer payments + Business transfer payments + Net interest paid by Government

    It should always be kept in mind that National Income is a Flow Concept

  6. Disposable Personal Income

    When personal direct taxes are subtracted from personal income, the obtained value is called disposable personal income (DPI)

    In equation form: DPI = Personal Income – Direct Taxes

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Foreign Direct investment (FDI)

Economic Cycle

Functions of Reserve Bank of India

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Functions of Reserve Bank of India
Reserve Bank of India is the Central Bank of the country. The Reserve Bank of India was established in 1935 with a capital of Rs. 5 crores. This capital of Rs. 5 crores was divided into 5 lakh equity shares of 100 each. In the beginning, the ownership of almost all the share capital was with the non-government shareholders. In order to prevent the centralisation of equity shares in the hand of a few people The Reserve Bank of India was nationalised on January 1, 1949.
The general administration and direction of RBI is managed by a Central Board of Directors consisting of 20 members which includes one Governor, four Deputy Governors, one Government Official appointed by the Union Government of India to give representation to important strata in economic life of the country besides four directors are nominated by the Union Government to represent local boards. Apart from the central board, there are four local boards also and their head offices are situated in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi. Five members of local boards are appointed by the Union Government for a period of four years. The local boards work according to the instructions and the orders which is given by Board of Directors, and from time to time they also tender useful advice on the important matter. The office of RBI is in Mumbai.

Functions of Reserve Bank of India

 Issue of Notes

One of the main functions of Reserve Bank of India it that has the monopoly of note issue in the country and it has the sole right to issue currency notes of various denominations except one rupees notes. The Reserve Bank act as the only source of legal tender money because the one rupee note issued by the Ministry of Finance are also circulated through it. The Reserve Bank has adopted the Minimum Reserve System for note issue. One of the main functions of Reserve Bank of India since 1957, it maintains the gold and foreign reserve of Rs. 200 crore, of which at least Rs. 115 crore should be in gold.

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Banker to the Government

The second important functions of Reserve Bank of India is to act as the banker, agent, and adviser to the Government. It performs all the banking functions of the State and the Central Government and it also tenders useful advice to the Government on matters related to economic and monetary policy. It also manages the public debt for the Government.

Bankers’ Bank

The Reserve Bank performs the same function for the other banks ordinarily performing for their customers. It is not the only banker to the commercial bank, but it is the lender of the last resort.

Also, Read: Fiscal Policy

Controller of Credit

One of the most important functions of Reserve Bank of India is that it undertakes the responsibility of controlling credit created by the commercial banks. To achieve this objective it makes extensive use of quantitative and qualitative techniques to control and regulate the credit effectively in the country.

Custodian of Foreign Reserves

For the purpose of keeping the foreign exchange rates stable, the Reserve Bank buy and sells the foreign currencies and also protect the country’s foreign exchange funds.

Read Also: International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Other Functions

The bank performs a number of other developmental works. These works include the function of clearing house arranging  credit for agriculture (which has been transferred to NABARD), collecting and publishing the economic data, buying and selling of Government Securities and Trade Bill, giving loans to the Government, buying and selling of the valuable commodities etc. It also acts as a representative of Government in IMF and represents the membership of India.

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