Miffed's Scribblings

WHAT IS THE CITIZENSHIP BILL? The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, is an attempt to amend India’s citizenship law to ease the process of obtaining Indian citizenship. However, in its present form, the Bill would make undocumented migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians, eligible for citizenship. The Third Schedule of the Citizenship Act provides for conditions to obtain citizenship by naturalisation. Two relevant points in this regard are that it does not apply to illegal immigrants, and to obtain citizenship one has to have resided in India for 12 years consecutively. The proposed amendment would reduce this time to six years. The Bill presumes that all persons who belong to the mentioned religions and come from the specified countries are persecuted minorities. Considering that atheists too have come under attack in the list of countries, one could wonder why atheists are not included. The problem with...

“Joy always follows on the heels of pain. If a person escapes a mindset that current events represent an ongoing tragedy, they will encounter and comprehend all the beauty that surrounds them. We find bliss by living alertly and unequivocally accepting whatever is occurring in the present moment. If a person realizes that the present moment is all that matters, they will gain an inner stillness and appreciate the beauty and joy of each day.” ― Kilroy J. Oldster The only requirement for eternal bliss is the desire to attain it. Bliss is an essential part of what we know as spiritual enlightenment—bliss is the state of total peace, contentment, and joy that is experienced when we are one with the Universe, or our chosen Higher Power. It is a state of total transcendence where all the ebbing and flowing of life moves around the blissful individual, never impairing their divine state. We’ve come to know that enlightenment does not always mean feeling great, but bliss can coexist even with ...

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God can bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. Corinthians 9:6-8 Christmas is popularly known as a season of celebration and rejoicing. It truly is however it gains more meaning when the season is added with more of giving and sharing. This season is all about giving and that should not just stop with your family and friends. It is important to spread the joy of the holiday season to others. The holidays are always a time of year when people from all walks of life take time to celebrate each other, their children, and better days to come.   The Christmas holiday is about people’s thoughts and hearts surrendering to the season of giving.   Sharing w...

Secularism as defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary is the belief that religion should not be involved with the ordinary social and political activities of a country. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it is the "indifference to, or rejection or exclusion of, religion and religious considerations." In the political context, secularism is the principle of separation of government institutions and states from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. That means the government should remain neutral on the matters of religion and should not enforce nor prohibit the free exercise of religion, leaving religious choice to the liberty of the people. In short, the state would not discriminate against people based on religion. Indian secularism was not only a result of historical circumstances as a British colony but also a necessity. India is a diverse country with people of almost all major religions of the world (needless to mention that four major religi...

Yes, it is a myth that the level of air pollutants increase during summer. Air Pollution is actually worse during winter. It is generally misunderstood by the people of urban areas may be due to suffocating environment they face every day. In reality, it is in winter when earth’s level of air is affected by pollutants. Globally it has been found that during winters more fuels and biomass are burnt. However, industrial pollution remains constant throughout the year. Perhaps people also believe that summer air quality is worse because of the long day hours and ultraviolet radiation. It becomes more suffocating in a sun-baked concrete weather. People may also believe this because of the high temperature of summer which feels like something huge and bad occurring above the earth layer. When winter arrives these cities can expect air that is more than twice as polluted as during the spring and summer. In a lower income country where they burn garbage and coal for heating, the levels ...