Centre for the study of Law and Governance

The Societal Impact of Technology. Ashgate, deals with the impact of technology over societal relations, generally as the relationship between sociology and technology. The relation between society and technology depicts the vicious circle of codependence, co-influence, and co-production of technology & society over each other. This relationship, basically, evolved with the invention of simple tools and continues into modern

Can human beings imagine a life without animals, birds and plants? The flora and fauna are interdependent. Ancient Indian scriptures have emphasized holistic views on the concept of life on planet earth. The Isha-Upanishad (1500-600 BC) writes: The universe along with its creatures belongs to the land. No creature is superior to any other. Human beings should not be above nature. Let no one species encroach over the rights and privileges of other species. Agenda 21 of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) brought the issue of biodiversity conservation to the top of developmental priorities. The World Charter for Nature 1982 (UN GA RES 37/7) proclaims that Every form of life is unique, warranting respect regardless of its

The people of Manipur have undergone the affliction of natural disasters in different ways as it is located in one of the most vulnerable and high disaster risk zone. This paper studies how a tribal community namely Paitei tribe in Manipur engaged to tackle natural disasters in their own approach. The Paites (Paites is considered as the plural form of people of the Paite tribe.) living in Manipur have reacted to the recurrent flood and hailstorm that caused damages to lives and property. This paper also highlights the disorganized and ill-approach of the government in reduction of disaster risk and the much needed for social intervention on natural disasters. The local community with its strong bonding on ethnic line is prominent even in disaster relief management. However, the unawareness and unpreparedness of the society as a whole is the challenge that could be immediately addressed to the community in response to events of natural disaster of the study area.

This article draws attention to the culture of compromise that underwrites rape prosecutions. This aspect of rape prosecutions has not been sufficiently discussed either within the women’s movement, the judiciary or the contemporary discourse on judicial reform in India. I argue that the socio-legal process encapsulated in the word ‘compromise’ (or samadhan, the coexisting Gujarati usage) is an exposition of how secrecy may be thought of as ‘indispensable to the operation of power rather than as an abuse of power’ (Taussig 1999: 57). Unlike other forms of out-of-court settlements described as mechanisms of alternate dispute resolution, plea-bargaining or mediation in courts of law, compromise is not legal in rape cases in India. The term ‘culture of compromise’ emphasises how a criminal trial becomes a site for contestation between the accused, the complainant and the prosecuting agencies over how to monopolise the framing of an out-of-court settlement.