Featured

Interesting Facts about Marijuana

Published

7 years ago

December 24, 2014

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world, with an estimated 125 million people consuming it in some form or the other every year. In India, marijuana use has been historically bound to faith and mysticism. It is said to be a drug that helps the user attain “ecstasy in the original sense of the word”. India has consumed and celebrated charas (hash), bhang and weed for centuries.

However, implementation of stringent narcotic laws in 1986 made the sale, consumption, production and transportation of marijuana illegal in the country. 24 years on, here are some interesting facts about marijuana.

Marijuana Addiction Is Rare

An epidemiological study showed that only 9 per cent of those who use marijuana end up being clinically dependent on it. The ‘comparable rates’ for tobacco, alcohol and cocaine stood at 32 per cent, 15 per cent, and 16 per cent respectively.

New Jobs Are Created

Use of marijuana for recreational and medical purposes in Colorado has created 10,000 new jobs in the area. Maybe if some countries make it, legal new drug industry could be created and could help in reducing the unemployment rate of the country. Drugs, Marijuana Industry

Even Government Can Earn

If government legalize and impose taxation on marijuana, it will stand to earn huge amounts of revenue that will otherwise go to the Italian and Israeli drug cartels. In an open letter to US President George Bush, around 500 economists, led by Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman, called for marijuana to be “legal but taxed and regulated like other goods”.

Marijuana as Medicine

Studies have shown that marijuana use has dozens of medical benefits. It treats glaucoma, prevents cancer from spreading to other parts of the body, reduces anxiety, slows the progress of Alzheimer’s disease, improves metabolism and is even said to spur creativity in our brain.

Prohibition Has failed

It is said that 60,000 kgs of hash and 40,000 kgs of opium is produced in Himachal Pradesh. Out of that, only 500 kgs is seized annually. As per reports, “more than 1,600 hectares of cultivable farmland and an additional 500 hectares of illicitly filled public forests are currently under cannabis cultivation”. The rate is only increasing. Moreover, these days, it is pretty easy to buy marijuana in India, and its consumption is widespread among the youth. So it is fair to say that prohibition has failed to curb the ‘problem’.

Marijuana has limited Withdrawal Symptoms.

“I’ve heard you have to smoke something like 15,000 joints in 20 minutes to get a toxic amount of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol,” says Dr. Paul Hornby, a biochemist, and human pathologist. “I challenge anybody to do that.” Not only is it virtually impossible to overdose on marijuana, the users face nominal withdrawal symptoms after consuming it.

Illegal Trade & Crime

Marijuana is an illegal drug, and black-market makes a lot of money in selling it. If the drug could be legalized, the government can actually control the black market, and people could make the trade with the proper background. This could really create a great deal to the criminals. Who knows they might run out of business.

Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol.

Marijuana consumption was never regarded as a socially deviant behaviour any more than drinking alcohol was. In fact, keeping it legal was considered as an ‘enlightened view’. It is now medically proven that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol. Unlike alcoholics, stoners don’t indulge in rash driving or violent fights. They tend to be calm and pleasant under the influence of marijuana.

Quality of Marijuana

In many countries, dealers often mix hash and weed with chemicals or other drugs to improve the taste, colour, texture or ‘high’ of the stuff. For a good quality of marijuana, it should be regulated.

Growth in India

In states like Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where cannabis plants grow, marijuana is the only source of income for many locals. However, being a banned substance, the farmers are forced to sell it at a low price to the drug dealers, and they face additional pressure from the police as well, who are paid to destroy the cannabis plantations.

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Hindi

जम्मू-कश्मीर में गैर-कश्मीरी नागरिकों पर आतंकियों का बढता अत्याचार!

Published

5 days ago

October 23, 2021

Babita Chhupka

जम्मू-कश्मीर में बीते कुछ दिनों से गैर-कश्मीरी नागरीकों पर आतंकी हमलों के मामले सामने आ रहे हैं।

जम्मू-कश्मीर में बीते कुछ दिनों से गैर-कश्मीरी नागरीकों पर आतंकी हमलों के मामले सामने आ रहे हैं। खासतौर से गैर-कश्मीरी मजदूरों को निशाना बनाया जा रहा है। जम्मू-कश्मीर में आतंकियों द्वारा अब तक नौ नागरीकों की हत्या कर दी गई है। 5 अक्टूबर को श्रीनगर में आतंकियो ने वीरेंद्र पासवान की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी थी। वीरेंद्र पासवान बिहार का रहनेवाला था और पिछले दो वर्षों से श्रीनगर में गोलगप्पे बेचता था। आतंकियों ने 6 अक्टूबर को फार्मेसी मालिक एम.एल बिंदू, स्ट्रीट वेंडर और एक टैक्सी ड्राइवर की हत्या कर दी थी। श्रीनगर के ईदगाह इलाके में आतंकियों ने स्कूल की मुख्य अध्यापिका सुपिंदर कौर और अध्यापक दीपक शर्मा की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी।

16 अक्टूबर को अरविंद कुमार साह पर आतंकियों द्वारा गोली चलाई गई, उन्हें गंभीर स्थिति में श्रीनगर के SMHS अस्पताल ले जाया गया जहाँ डॉक्टरों ने उन्हें मृत घोषित कर दिया। अरविंद कुमार बिहार के बांका जिले में रहनेवाले थे और श्रीनगर में गोलगप्पे बेचते थे। 16 अक्टूबर की ही शाम को आतंकियों ने पुलवामा में सगीर अहमद नाम के व्यक्ति की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी। सगीर अहमद उत्तरप्रदेश का रहनेवाला था एवं पेशे से वह एक कार्पेंटर था। 17 अक्टूबर, रविवार को आतंकियों ने दक्षिण कश्मीर के कुलगाम में के तीन मजदूरों को गोली मार दी, जिससे दो मजदूरों की मृत्यु हो गई और एक मजदूर बुरी तरह से घायल हो गया।

कश्मीर के अलग अलग हिस्सों में अनेकों प्रवासी बसे हुए हैं। अधिकतर लोग रोजगार की तलाश में बिहार से कश्मीर आए हुए हैं। लोगों का कहना है कि वे अगले महीने तक अपने घर बिहार जाना चाहते थे मगर दहशतगर्दों के कारण उन्हें काम छोड़कर बीच में ही जाना पढ़ रहा है। लोग डरे हुए हैं कि यदि स्थिति जल्द से जल्द सामान्य नहीं हुई तो उनका रोजगार और बच्चों की पढ़ाई छुट जाएगी।

27 वर्षों से कश्मीर में रह रहे 45 वर्षीय पंकज पासवान का कहना है कि उन्होंने इतने वर्षों में कश्मीर की इससे भी बदतर हालत देखी है। उनका कहना है कि एक के बाद एक हो रही हत्याओं से कश्मीर में दहशत का माहौल बना हुआ है और वे भी इस समय बिहार लौट जाना चाहते हैं। आतंकियों द्वारा निशाना बनाए गए नागरिकों का कहना है कि अनुच्छेद-370 के हटने से और कश्मीर के विकास से आतंकी बौखलाए हुए हैं। इसी वजह से वो लोगों पर हमला कर रहे हैं। नागरिकों का कहना है कि रविवार को हुए आतंकी हमले से पहले उन्हें उम्मीद थी कि हालात सुधर जाएंगे मगर लगातार हो रही हत्याओं से उन्हें भी जान का खतरा बना हुआ है।

पीडीपी अध्यक्षा महबूबा मुफ्ती का कहना है कि, यह घटना निंदनीय है। भोले भाले लोगों को बेवजह मरना और उनका रोज़गार छीनना बेहद दुःख की बात है।

बीजेपी के प्रवक्ता अल्ताफ ठाकुर ने कहा कि यह शत प्रतिशत नरसंहार है, गैर-कश्मीरियों की यह भीषण हत्या बिल्कुल अमानवीय है और यह आतंकियों की बौखलाहट को दर्शाता है।

सीपीआई के नेता मोहम्मद युसूफ तारिगामी का कहना है कि भोले भाले मजदूरों की हत्या एक जघन्य अपराध है, सिर्फ निंदा करना काफी नहीं है, ऐसे समय में सभी को एकजुट होकर इस तरह के अपराध के खिलाफ आवाज उठानी चाहिए और आतंकियों को कड़ी सजा देनी चाहिए।

जम्मू कश्मीर की लेफ्टनेंट गवर्न मनोज सिन्हा ने कहा है की निर्दोषों के खून का बदला इन आतंकियों से लिया जायेगा, कश्मीर की शांति को भंग करने कि कोशिश की जा रही है, लोगों को आगे बढ़ने से रोका जा रहा है, कश्मीर के विकास को रोकने की साजिश हो रही है मगर हम ऐसा नहीं होने देंगे। मनोज सिन्हा ने अपने रेडियो कार्यक्रम ‘आवाम की आवाज’ में कहा “आतंकी हमले में मारे गए के लिए मैं शोक व्यक्त करता हूं, हम सभी लोग आपके साथ हैं और आतंकियों से हार एक हत्या का पूरा बदला लिया जायेगा यह मेरा वादा है”।

मैं परिवार के सभी सदस्यों को भरोसा देता हूँ, आपके एक-एक आंसुओं का हिसाब लिया जाएगा। 130 करोड़ देशवासी सभी परिवारों के साथ कंधे से कंधा मिलाकर खड़े हैं।

हमने सुरक्षा एजेंसियों को पूरी स्वतंत्रता दी हैं और मानवता के दुश्मन इन आतंकवादियों को जल्द ही इसकी कीमत चुकानी होगी।

— Manoj Sinha (@manojsinha_) October 7, 2021

India

Ram Mandir Opening For “Darshan” In 2023

Published

1 month ago

September 20, 2021

Aadhya Venkatesh

The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is expected to allow visitors by December 2023, with the completion of construction only in 2025.

Sources in the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra have revealed that the colossal project of building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, will be opening for devotees towards the end of 2023. In contrast, the project’s entire construction completion is expected towards the end of 2025. The sanctum sanctorum (Garbha Griha), along with the mandir’s first floor, will be ready by December 2023. Devotees will be allowed to visit the long-awaited mandir soon after the construction is completed.

An ANI report said, “The grand Ram Mandir being constructed in Ayodhya will be opened for devotees from December 2023. Sources told ANI that Garbhagriha, all five mandaps and the first floor will be ready by December 2023 and the mandir will be opened for devotees”.

Completion of entire Ram Temple complex in Ayodhya is expected by the year 2025; A museum, digital archives and a research centre also to come up in the temple complex: Sources

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 4, 2021

The sanctum sanctorum will be as high as 161 feet and built using Rajasthani marble and stones. Engineers and architects are taking all measures to ensure the longevity of this enormous project. The second stage of construction is expected to begin in December this year. Currently, the structure is at a standstill as a result of monsoons. Another reason for the delay is the coronavirus pandemic that depleted the force with which the mandir’s construction was expected to go on.

Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be ready in a year or two. Delhi government has decided to take senior citizens to Ayodhya for Ram Lalla's darshan with travel, accommodation, and food expenses to be borne by us: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal pic.twitter.com/MDGeP0k613

— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2021

The announcement of the mandir being opened to visitors in 2023 has brought up questions about the political agenda. It is believed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aims to use the mandir to catapult themselves into a position of advantage during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Opening the mandir to devotees in December 2023 will give the BJP an easy 6-month gap to the general elections in 2024.

The opening of the long-awaited Ram Mandir in Ayodhya could be the factor that diverts the public, at least the Hindu’s in favour of BJP. Thus, securing them a vote bank based on religious sentiments upheld by the party in their previous tenure as the ruling party.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir will be 360 feet long, 235 feet wide, and 20 feet high mandir will be completely ready by the end of 2025. The project will include amenities and structures like museums, archives, research centre, Sant Niwas, gau and Yagya shala, Etc. The main attraction is the Ram Mandir.

Business

How SEBI’s New Margin Rule Is Affecting Retail Traders?

Published

1 month ago

September 16, 2021

Babita Chhupka

Securities and Exchange Board of India has introduced new margin rules for traders. Traders and Brokers are not happy with the new regulations because they will have to invest a large amount of cash in fulfilling margin requirements for trade.

SEBI had introduced the new margin rule in the year 2020 for intraday traders. It is being implemented in a phased manner. Traders were supposed to maintain 25 per cent of the peak margin in the first phase; the margin was raised by 50 per cent in the second phase. In the third phase, as per the new margin rule, intraday traders will have to pay a 100 per cent upfront margin. According to new norms, the margin requirements will be calculated four times during every trading session because the money margin must be greater than the need.

As per the new rule, brokers must collect margin from investors for any purchase or sale, and if they fail to do so, they will have to pay the penalty. Thus, brokers will not receive power of attorney. Brokers cannot use power of attorney for pledging anymore.

Those investors who want to make use of margin will have to create margin pledges separately. As per the new rule, investors will have to pay at least a 30 per cent margin upfront to avail a margin loan. Shares brought today cannot be sold tomorrow. Funds from shares sold today cannot be used for new trades on the same day.

The market experts said that there must be proper adjustments for implementing new rules, or it may create chaos, trouble and disturbance to the market participants. The CEO and founder of Zerodha broking firm, Nithin Kamath tweeted that, “the day when the new rules came into effect was the dreaded day for brokers, exchanges, intraday traders”.

Traders Are Not Happy:

Changes in rules have evoked strong reactions from traders because they will have to invest a large amount of cash in fulfilling margin requirements for trades as per new margin rules. Even the trading in futures and options will become more expensive. Traders are disappointed because they will have to pay up more money to bet in stock markets. As per new margin rules, Traders are also liable for the penalty if the rules are not followed during the trading session. If a trader wants to buy Nifty worth Rs 10 lakh, he will have to pay a 20 per cent margin of around 2 lakh. If the margin of the trader does not meet the need, he will be penalized. Traders will have to pay the minimum amount for opening the Multilateral Trading facility account, and they have to maintain a minor balance at all times.

Why Gas SEBI Introduced A New Margin Rule?

SEBI has introduced new rules to protect retail investors from purchasing difficulty. The intended goal of SEBI behind new margin rules is to bring down the difficult market situation and avoid huge fluctuation in stock markets during extreme stress. The new margin rules are likely to bring transparency to the market; it is expected to strengthen the market’s safety.