Sewage Systems, Oil Spills, and Oil Fires in Iraq Essay -- Iraq Baghda

Baghdad, Iraq is located on the continent of Asia at a latitude of thirty-three degrees north and longitude of forty-four degrees east near the doldrums. The air in Iraq is typically warm and dry because it is located where air diverges between the Hadley and Ferrel cells. The climate in Iraq consists of hot and long summers that last from May to October. During the summer, temperatures regularly exceed one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. There is no rainfall and the humidity is low. The temperature begins to cool down in October. December, January, and February are the coldest months. There are occasional frosts during these months. There is also rainfall. Winters in Iraq are customarily cool and moist in comparison to the warm, dry summers.1 The rain that occurs in the winter is unpredictable and cannot be depended upon to irrigate crops. The main natural disaster in the area is flooding. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flood unpredictably at harvest time, or ri ght before the harvest time.2 This flooding ensures a continually unstable environment with fertile areas near the rivers and sub-desert areas away from the rivers. The flooding and receding rivers have changed the position of the gulf shoreline along with the fluctuation in sea level. 4 The Tigris and Euphrates rivers have a lot to do with the well being of the region in which Iraq is located. Today the Tigris River is severely polluted. Raw sewage runs throughout this river. The fertile marshlands that once existed have either been destroyed or have dried up due to human interaction. The air in Iraq is polluted due to oil fires resulting from broken oil wells. Iraq, which was famous for its state of the art medical care is now in disarray. The po... ...ulf War. London, U.K.: Greenpeace, 1991. Committee of Officials. Kingdom of Iraq: An Introduction to the Past and Present. Baltimore, MD, USA: The Lord Baltimore Press, 1964. Green, Matthew. â€Å"Languid Tigris Waters Mask Iraq ’s Pollution Menace.† Planet Ark. 13 July 2004. 10 November 2004. http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/25984/story.htm. Helms, Christine Moss. Iraq: Eastern Flank of the Arab World. Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institute, 1984. Pollack, Susan. Ancient Mesopotamia: The Eden That Never Was. New York: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1999. Recknagel, Charles. â€Å" Iraq Wetlands Disappearing.† Green Nature. 15 June 2001. 10 November 2004. http://www.greennature.com/article498.html. The Iraq Water Project. The Iraq Water Project. 1999. 10 November 2004. http://www.iraqwaterproject.com/intro.htm.

Corruption in the Indian Judiciary

Judiciary is in some way at a higher pedestal amongst these three organs because it is the only mechanism to keep the executive and legislature within their jurisdictions by confining them not to abuse or misuse their powers. It controls, corrects or quashes the executive, however high it is, and even sets aside acts of the legislature if it acts contra-constitutionally. Judiciary is the guardian and final interpreter of the Constitution.It is a place of utmost trust as it is last resort for the people. It is not negated that corruption is non-existent in certain judicial systems rather it would be fair to say that in some countries corruption is nominal, infrequent and the result of individual, unethical behaviour. It is also evident from the words of the former Chief Justice of India S. P. Bharucha, when he grieved over the rampant corruption in the higher judiciary and brought to notice that around 20 percent judges of the higher judiciary are corrupt. Now the question remains; ca n the judicial accountability be trusted upon any more?Does the judiciary hold the same value, as it had earlier? Is the judiciary abusing its freedom? Can judges be permitted to do anything in the guise of ‘independence’? These are the questions which still remained unanswered. Judicial Corruption Corruption is the misuse of entrusted power for personal gain. In the context of judicial corruption, it relates to acts or omissions that constitute the use (or it is better to say ‘misuse’) of public authority for the private benefit of court personnel, and results in the improper and unfair delivery of judicial decisions.In corrupt judiciaries, citizens are not afforded their democratic right of equal access to the courts, nor do the courts treat them equally. The merits of the case and applicable law are not paramount in corrupt judiciaries, but rather the status of the parties and the benefit judges and court personnel derive from their decisions. In corrupt judiciaries, rich and well-connected citizens triumph over ordinary citizens, and governmental entities and business enterprises prevail over citizens. No civilised society can command the people’s confidence if the judicature’s verdict is privately purchased at a competitive price.Corruption and Indian judiciary A judicial scandal has always been regarded as far more deplorable than a scandal involving either the executive or a member of the legislature. The slightest hint of irregularity or impropriety in the court is a cause for great anxiety and alarm. In last one decade, there are a number of instances where a judge is found to be involved in corrupt practices. This demands a close look in these scandals because if judiciary itself gets corrupted who will judge others. Before taking these scandals we should know the current legal position on corruption as applicable on judges laid down in Veeraswami case.Veeraswami Case This case is important in many ways. This w as the first case where corruption charges were alleged against a judge of higher judiciary. This case dealt with many issues viz. whether judge of a high court or Supreme Court is a ‘public servant’ or not; who is the sanctioning authority for prosecuting a judge of a high court or Supreme Court under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947; whether Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred as Act) is applicable on judges or not etc. Before taking these issues in detail, let us know background of the case.The appellant had committed offence under section 5(2) read with clauses (b), (d) and (e) of section 5 (1) of the Act. On perusal of the charge sheet the special judge issued process for appearance of the appellant. The appellant thereupon filed a petition under section 482 of Cr. P. C. before the Madras High Court for quashing the prosecution. The Full Bench of the high court by a majority view has dismissed his case. However, in the view that the const itutional question involved in the case the high court granted certificate for appeal to the Supreme Court.A five judge Bench of the Supreme Court heard the matter and four judgments were delivered. Shetty J. authored the leading judgment, with Venkatachaliah J. , signing with him. B. C. Ray J. wrote a separate but concurring judgment. L. M. Sharma agreed to dismiss the appeal but differ on some issues. Verma J. dissented. RECENT EPISODES In the last one decade, a number of instances unveiled by media and other active organizations where judges were involved in corrupt practices, which show that how corruption has crippled Indian judiciary. Some of them are discussed hereafter;Justice Soumitra Sen’s Issue In an unprecedented move by the CJI, wrote a letter to the prime minister, recommending that the proceedings contemplated by article 217(1) read with article 124(4) of the Constitution be initiated for removal of Justice Soumitra Sen, Judge, Calcutta High Court. 25 This reco mmendation was made on the basis of suggestions made by an In-House Committee, in a report submitted to the CJI that Justice Sen be removed from the office. The Committee has in its report accused Justice Sen of breach of trust and misappropriation of Reciever’s funds for personal gain.The in-house committee found that Soumitra Sen did not have honest intention, since he mixed the money received as Receiver and his personal money and converted the Receiver’s money to his own use. The motion for his removal is not yet initiated. It is expected that the history will not be repeated. If it is repeated it would be a dishonor upon the Indian judiciary and its accountability. Cash-for-Judge Scam CJI Balakrishnan is the first Chief Justice of India who has granted permission to an investigating agency to register of a criminal case against judges of Punjab & Haryana High Court.This is for the first time that power conferred by Veeraswami case is exercised by any CJI. He allow ed the CBI to interrogate two judges of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, Nirmaljit Kaur and Nirmal Yadav, in connection with the cash for- judge scam. A law officer sent Rs. 15 lakh to Justice Nirmaljit Kaur’s official residence and later claimed that it was meant for Justice Nirmal Yadav and had been delivered to Justice Kaur by mistake. Apart from these episodes there are few more instances where judiciary got shammed.Like, Justice Jagdish Bhalla, Chief Justice Himanchal Pradesh High Court was also traced in dealing with such mal-practices when he got a plot on nominal price by a land mafia, who was one of the parties to a case before him. In all above stated instances the judges, being a public servant, were alleged to be involved in corrupt practices even though the recourse of the Act was not taken. There is no justification as to why judiciary did not take recourse of the Act and went for process of removal under article 124, which is next to impossible. *** RTI solutio n has not been edited in keeping with the view of other legal essays.

Glossary of Terms Regarding Evolution

Following are definitions of common terms referring to the Theory of Evolution that everyone should know and understand, though this is by no means a comprehensive list. Many of the terms are often misunderstood, which can lead to an inaccurate understanding of evolution. The links lead to more information on the topic: Adaptation: Changing to fit a niche or survive in an environment Anatomy: Study of the structures of organisms Artificial Selection: Characteristics selected by humans Biogeography: Study of how species are distributed across the Earth Biological Species: Individuals that can interbreed and produce viable offspring Catastrophism: Changes in species that happen because of quick and often violent natural phenomena Cladistics: Method of classifying species in groups based on ancestral relationships Cladogram: Diagram of how species are related Coevolution: One species changing in response to changes in another species that it interacts with, particularly predator/prey relationships Creationism: Belief that a higher power created all life Darwinism: Term commonly used as a synonym for evolution Descent With Modification: Passing down traits that might change over time Directional Selection: Type of natural selection in which an extreme characteristic is favored Disruptive Selection: Type of natural selection that favors both extremes and selects against the average characteristics Embryology: Study of the earliest stages of development of an organism Endosymbiotic Theory: Currently accepted theory as to how cells evolved Eukaryote: Organism made of cells that have membrane-bound organelles Evolution: Change in populations over time Fossil Record: All known traces of past life ever found Fundamental Niche: All available roles an individual can play in an ecosystem Genetics: Study of traits and how they are passed down from generation to generation Gradualism: Changes in species that happen over long periods of time Habitat: Area in which an organism lives Homologous Structures: Body parts on different species that are similar and most likely evolved from a common ancestor Hydrothermal Vents: Very hot areas in the ocean where primitive life might have begun Intelligent Design: Belief that a higher power created life and its changes Macroevolution: Changes in populations at the species level, including ancestral relationships Mass Extinction: Event in which large numbers of species died out completely Microevolution: Changes in species at a molecular or gene level Natural Selection: Characteristics that are favorable in an environment and are passed down while undesirable characteristics are bred out of the gene pool Niche: ​Role an individual plays in an ecosystem Organelle:Â  Subunit within a cell that has a specific function Panspermia Theory: Early theory proposing that life came to Earth on meteors from outer space Phylogeny: Study of relative connections between species Prokaryote: Organism made up of the simplest type of cell; has no membrane-bound organelles Primordial Soup: Nickname given to the theory that life started in the oceans from the synthesis of organic molecules Punctuated Equilibrium: Long periods of consistency of a species interrupted by changes that happen in quick bursts Realized Niche: Actual role an individual plays in an ecosystem Speciation: The creation of a new species, often from evolution of another species Stabilizing Selection: Type of natural selection that favors the average of the characteristics Taxonomy: ​Science of classifying and naming organisms Theory of Evolution: Scientific theory about the origins of life on Earth and how it has changed over time Vestigial Structures: Body parts that seem to no longer have a purpose in an organism