Implementation Factor Affecting E-governance in Uttarakhan

Implementation Factor Affecting E-governance in Uttarakhan Jitender Kumar Sehgal, Dr. Priti Dimri, Krishna Nand Rastogi Abstract e-Governance is the utilization of Internet and the world wide web for delivering government Information and services to the citizens and the other organizations. Uttarakhand is one of the leading states in implementation of e-Governance but still there are lot of challenges in effective and efficient implementation at rural level or hilly areas. This paper highlights the factors that are affecting the implementation of e-Governance in Uttarakhand it also includes a survey which takes all the factors into an account and before starting a actual survey a preliminary study conducted in order to evaluate feasibility for this questionnaire was done which confirms its acceptance. Keywords: E- governance, Common Service Centers, M-Government Introduction E-Governance refers to approach â€Å" How government utilized IT, ICT, and other web based telecommunication technologies to improve and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery in public sector. Government of Uttarakhand has implemented a number of projects implementation of e-governance. The website of almost every government department has been launched so as to provide as their services online, for this purpose Government of Uttarakhand has launched www.uk.gov.in where we can access a short description of a particular government department and its related website links. The description of 46 departments is available on this website. In addition to large no. of Common Service Center (CSC) are also provided for convenience of rural and hilly areas of citizens . But there are some hurdles due to which hilly area/rural area citizens are not able to access e-Governance services. In this survey an attempt to collect the factors that affect the implementation of e-Governance is done so that the necessary actions can be made for its efficient and effective implementation. Common Service Centers The CSC is a strategic cornerstone of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programmed to introduce e-governance on a massive scale. The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment as well as other private services. A highlight of the CSCs is that it will offer web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and water bills. The Scheme creates a conducive environment for the private sector and NGOs to play an active role in implementation of the CSC Scheme, thereby becoming a partner of the government in the development of rural India. The PPP model of the CSC scheme envisages a 3-tier structure consisting of the CSC operator (called Village Level Entrepreneur or VLE) the Service Centre Agency (SCA), that will be responsible for a division of 500-1000 CSCs and a State Designated Agency (SDA) identified by the State Government responsible for managing the implementation over the entire State. M-Government M-Government, is the extension ofe-Governmentto mobile platforms, as well as the strategic use of government services and applications which are only possible using cellular/mobile telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) andwirelessinternet infrastructure. M-Government is now evolving on four dimensions transforming e-Government services directly to the mobile platform, providing access to mobile technologies and application for the field workers of the public sector, enabling smart / flex working and providing citizen services any time, any where. Analysis Factor This survey considers all the factors affecting the services of e-governance at urban and rural or hilly areas. It includes major factors and all those factors are taken as question which can be answered in two different ways (yes or no) according to which we take better services and form government and suggests some specific points to government of Uttarakhand for better implementation of e-governance services. According to the survey the respondents can be classified into two categories are as follows: Rural/ Urban Citizens Hilly areas citizens Category Factors General Questions Do you access internet in your daily life? Do you have internet connection? Is there any CSC in your village ? Do you have electricity in your village? Do you have proper road facility in your village? E-governance Have you heard about e-governance and its services? Do you prefer to use governance services online? Is the access to government links or websites (c.1) Easy? (c.2) Time Saving? (c.3) Accessible from Home? (c.4) Secure and safe? Common Service Centre (CSC’s) (a) Have you ever visited CSC centre? (If Yes, Please attempt the following) (b) Where do you access CSC ? (b.1) In your city or village (b.2) Nearby your city or village (b.3) Is it easy to access that CSC (If No, Please mention the reason/reasons) (b.4) Distance to be travelled in KM (b.5) Is Proper road facility available (b.5) Is the travel expensive? (b.6) Is there any Misguidance by agents (b.7) Is the procedure Complicated ? (b.8) Are all the staff members of CSC centre available at your visiting time? (b.9) Which medium of instructions are used by the staff? (b.9.1) Hindi (b.9.1) Garhwali (b.9.1) English (b.10) Do you think the staff members at the centre are well trained? (b.11) Are the staffs co-operative? (b.12) Do the staffs ask for more money than the prescribed fee? (b.13) Are you satisfied with the cooperation of the CSC staff on duty? (b.14) Is there any delay in submission of forms at the counter? Common Service Centers Facilities (a) Do you know common service centre provides following services? (Check Yes if already known) (a.1) Issue of Birth Certificate (a.2) Issue of Death Certificate (a.3) Issue of Licenses (a.4) Issue of Dependent Certificate (a.5) Issue of Bus Passes (a.6) Issue of Dependent Certificate (a.7) Issue of Unmarried Certificate (a.8) Issue of ID-Card (a.9) Registration of Vehicle related services (a.10) Issue of Affidavits (a.11) Submission of Passport Applications (a.12) Issue of No Objection Certificates (a.13) Services to Pensioners (a.14) Issue of Marriage Certificate (b) Do you know the procedure to get the services from Common Service Centre? (c) Which services have you ever accessed from CSC centre? (c.1) Issue of Birth Certificate (c.2) Issue of Death Certificate (c.3) Issue of Licenses (c.4) Issue of Dependent Certificate (c.5) Issue of Bus Passes (c.6) Issue of Dependent Certificate (c.7) Issue of Unmarried Certificate (c.8) Issue of ID-Card (c.9) Registration with Road Transport Office(RTO) (c.10) Issue of Affidavits (c.11) Submission of Passport Applications (c.12) Issue of No Objection Certificates (c.13) Services to Pensioners (c.14) Issue of Marriage Certificate (c.15) Issue of Bus/ Train Passes. (d) Do you know that you can check the status of your queries at website of CSC centre? (If Yes, attempt the following) (d.1) Are you satisfied with the services provided by CSC’s centre? (d.2) Do you think some other services should be available at CSC centre ? If Yes, Please mention: E-Governance in Hilly Areas (e) According to you, what are the reasons due to them e-Governance is not successful implemented in Hilly Area? (Please tick from the given factors) (e.1) Illiteracy (e.2) Digital Divide (e.3) Improper Infrastructure (e.4) Shortage of funds (e.5) Government policies (e.6) Available at Short Distance (e.7) Not proper road to reach the CSC (e.8) Cost involved to visit a CSC (e.9) Non-existence of kiosks in Villages. Helps in Controlling Corruption (f) CSC is helps in controlling corruption? (If Yes, Please choose from the reasons given below) (f.1) Single window system to apply (f.2) Applying directly to CSC (f.3) Work completed with in a time period (f.4) Government officials are responsible for their assigned work (f.5) No person will have to come face to face Interaction with a government officials Which helps in to reduce corruption. General terms about Uttarakhand (g) General terms about Uttarakhand, are you already familiar? (g.1) Population 10,086,292 (g.1) Literacy rate is about 78.82% (g.2) Rural population is 69.77%. (g.3) Urban population is 30.23%. (g.4) Number of CSC centres at Uttarakhand level is 1641. (g.5)Name of Project Consultant:- Unit A – M/s Nekton IT India Private Ltd. (NIIPL) Unit B – M/s Reliance Communication Ltd Unit C – M/s Reliance Communication Ltd (g.5) Roll out of CSCs as under in – Unit A (Dehradun, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag and Tehri ) 706 Unit B (Haridwar, Chamoli,Pauri Garhwal, Almora, Bageshwar) 1394 Unit C (Nainital, Pithoragarh, Champawat, Udham Singh Nagar) 704 (g.6) Total cost of implementing a CSCs is about Rs 2.56 crores Role of Uttarakhand Government (h.1) All government services will be put online. (h.2) Common service centres will be opened throughout the state to give single window for all government work. (h.3) State Data Centre would provide many functionalities like Central Repository of the State, Secure Data Storage, Online Delivery of Services, Citizen Information/Services Portal, State Intranet Portal, Disaster Recovery, Remote Management and Service Integration etc. (h.4) The e-District project is developed to improve the efficiency of the various Departments under the district-level to enable seamless service delivery to the citizen . (h.5) Uttarakhand State Wide Area Network (UK-SWAN) UK-SWAN project is almost in the final stage of completion by 13 establishing around 135 POPs in all the Districts, 84 Tehsils and 95 Blocks in the state. (h.6) Many Uttarakhand departments like Forest Department, Police Department, Finance Department, Tourism Department and Cooperative Department etc. are taken up for formulation of MMPs initially. Some projects are as- Gyanotkarsh (low-interest/easily repayable loans to all government employees and teachers for purchase of computers for the home segment), Aarohi (distribution of Computers in schools), Shikhar (Computer education through colleges), Shiksha (Provide training to teachers of government/ non government schools) Conclusion Improvement in the e-Governance services in rural or hilly areas is needed for its overall effective and efficient implementation. This questionnaire also helps to find some factors are considered due to which rural or hilly area people are not able to access e-Governance services and setting the stage for the transformation from e-Government to m-Government. References: Home.nic.in/projects/e-district-uttarakhand www.uk.gov.in Egov.elesonline.com/2013/03/e-governance-in-dev-bhoomi Itda.uk.gov.in/pages/displays/995-csc http://www.census2011.co.in/census/state/uttarakhand.html http://itda.uk.gov.in/pages/display/995-csc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Wide_Area_ Network https://sites.google.com/site/uttarakhandswan/ Appendix A questionnaire on survey of Implementation Factor That Affect E-Governance In Uttarakhand. Please take few minutes to fill out the questionnaire. 1.Name: 2.Gender: Female: 3.Age: 18-25 25-35 35-45 45-55 55-65 65-70 4:City/Village: 5:State: (b.10) Do you think the staff members at the centre are well trained? (b.11) Are the staff co-operative? (b.12) Do the staff ask for more money than the prescribed fee? (b.13) Are you satisfied with the cooperation of the CSC staff on duty? (b.14) Is there any delay in submission of forms at the counter? Common Service Centre Facilities (a) Do you know that common service centre provides following services? (Check Yes if already known) (a.1) Issue of Birth Certificate (a.2) Issue of Death Certificate (a.3) Issue of Licenses (a.4) Issue of Dependent Certificate (a.5) Issue of Bus Passes (a.6) Issue of Unmarried Certificate (a.7) Issue of ID-Card (a.8) Registration of Vehicle related services (a.9) Issue of Affidavits (a.10) Submission of Passport Applications (a.11) Issue of No Objection Certificates (a.12) Services to Pensioners (a.14) Issuance of Marriage Certificate (b) Do you know the procedure to get the services from Common Service Centre? (c) Which services have you ever accessed from CSC centres? (c.1) Issue of Birth Certificate (c.2) Issue of Death Certificate (c.3) Issue of Character Certificate (c.4) Issue of Licenses (c.5) Issue of Dependent Certificate (c.6) Issue of Bus Passes (c.7) Issue of Dependent Certificate (c.8) Issue of Unmarried Certificate (c.9) Issue of ID-Card (c.10) Registration with Road Transport Office (RTO) (c.11) Issue of Affidavits (c.12) Submission of Passport Applications (c.13) Issue of No Objection Certificates (c.14) Services to Pensioners (c.15) Issue of Bus/ Train Passes (d) Do you know that you can check the status of your queries at website of CSC ? (If Yes, attempt the following) (d.1) Are you satisfied with the services provided by CSC’s ? (d.2) Do you think some other services should be available at CSC ? If Yes, Please mention: E-Governance in Hilly Areas According to you, what are the reasons due to them e-Governance is not successfully implemented in Hilly Area? (Please tick from the given factors) (e.1) Illiteracy (e.2) Digital divide (e.3) Improper infrastructure (e.4) Shortage of funds (e.5) Government policies (e.6) Available at Short distance (e.7) Not proper road to reach the CSC (e.8) Cost involved to visit a CSC (e.9) Non-existence of kiosks in Villages. Helpful in Controlling Corruption (f) CSC is helpful in controlling corruption? (If Yes, Please choose from the reasons given below) (f.1) Single window system to apply (f.2) Applying directly to CSC (f.3) Work completed within a time period (f.4) Government officials are responsible for their assigned work (f.5) No person will have to come face to face with government officials which helps in reducing corruption.

Terrorism in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan :: essays research papers fc

Terrorism in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan One boy tried to escape, but he was caught. They made him eat a mouthful of red pepper, and five people were beating him. His hands were tied, and then they made us, the other new captives, kill him with a stick. I felt sick. I knew this boy from before. We were from the same village. I refused to kill him and they told me they would shoot me. They pointed a gun at me, so I had to do it. The boy was asking me, "Why are you doing this?" I said I had no choice. After we killed him, they made us smear his blood on our arms. I felt dizzy. There was another dead body nearby, and I could smell the body. I felt so sick. They said we had to do this so we would not fear death and so we would not try to escape. I feel so bad about the things that I did . . . . It disturbs me so much--that I inflicted death on other people . . . . When I go home I must do some traditional rites because I have killed. I must perform these rites and cleanse myself. I still dream about the boy from my village who I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me and saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying. - Susan, sixteen Susan is not speaking of a well known atrocity. She is not talking about the holocaust, apartheid, or slavery. She is speaking about a situation going on right now in this day and age. She is telling the story of her time with the Lord’s Resistance Army, a terrorist group operating in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. Timothy tells of his time as well: I was good at shooting. I went for several battles in Sudan. The soldiers on the other side would be squatting, but we would stand in a straight line. The commanders were behind us. They would tell us to run straight into gunfire. The commanders would stay behind and would beat those of us who would not run forward. You would just run forward shooting your gun. I don't know if I actually killed any people, because you really can't tell if you're shooting people or not. I might have killed people in the course of the fighting .

The Place of Strategic Dialogue in Collaborative Learning :: Peer Tutoring Tutor Tutors Essays

The Place of Strategic Dialogue in Collaborative Learning The tutorial interaction in writing centers provides beginning writers with an essential element not found in other types of student-helper interaction. Unlike the usual colloquium that occurs in most classrooms, tutoring offers a one-on-one setting whereby a student can directly consult with, discuss, and turn to an experienced peer for help with as many steps of the writing process as possible. This unique setting offers a chance for tutors to address students’ individual needs using strategic dialogue. Kenneth A. Bruffee talks about the important facets peer-to-peer dialogue brings to the tutorial setting. In his essay, Peer Tutoring and the ‘Conversation of Mankind,’ he discusses conversation and its place within the context of â€Å"collaborative learning.† Bruffee argues that â€Å"thought and writing are special artifacts grounded in conversation. As such, both are fostered by teaching that emphasizes conversational exchange among peers† (Intro, 3). He believes that thought originates in conversation. In general, conversation is a social artifact that can be internalized to encourage thought. Bruffee values peer tutoring so much because, as he said, it "provides a social context in which students can experience and practice the kinds of conversation that academics most value† (7). The dialogue that takes place between tutor and student fosters this kind of thought-provoking conversation. The interaction is one of a kind because it provides a uni que setting whereby â€Å"status equals, or peers† (Bruffee, 8) can discuss matters that are closely at the heart of the writing process. Emily Meyer and Louise Z. Smith, writers of The Practical Tutor, agree with Bruffee on the special contribution peer-to-peer tutoring grants to the process of writing. In their chapter called ‘Engaging in Dialogue,’ Meyer and Smith support Bruffee when they say, "the tutorial conference is an ideal format for such stimulation because it is truly dialogical† (28). This aspect is unique in two ways in that first, it provides the necessary one-on-one component that beginning writers don’t get when they sit in class among several other inexperienced writers. Second and more important, the dialogue that takes place between tutor and tutee stimulates thought that is originated in conversation. According to Bruffee, â€Å"The kind of conversation peer tutors engage in with their tutees can be emotionally involved, intellectually and substantively focused, and personally disinterested" (7). Conversation, in this sense, becomes an ideal way by which inexperienced wr iters can let out their thoughts, opinions, and feelings on a given topic.

Database Project Ideas Sql Server Essay

Project Proposal: This document suggests a few projects that’ll be interesting enough to work on, it will surely be a vast learning experience for me. 1 – E-School Management System E-School Management System is a web-based School Management application. It will design for better interaction between students, teachers, parents & management. The main purpose of building this application is, the parents of students are very busy now days, so they can’t monitor their children and them activities properly and regularly. This E-School management system helps the parents monitor their children from anywhere. They can check their children’s academic performance from a remote location. 2 – Hospital Management System Hospital Management System project is to provide better hospital management services to both the doctors as well as patients. This Java based Hospital Management System will store all patients record and doctors details and it view patients bill. It can be used in any Hospital, Clinic, Polyclinic or Pathology labs for maintaining patient details and their test results. 3 – Central Library Management System The Central Library Management System project is developed to store record. The aim of the research work is to develop the system for issuing books to students, teachers, add books, issue books, and return books, Fine calculation. 4 – Office Management System The software Office Management Systems objective is to provide a system which manages the office activities using a computer within a fraction of seconds. The software stores all the important data’s like a manual file keeping system through a database. This automated system is user friendly and error free. Paper work and manual power can be reduced using this automated system. 5 – Hostel Management system Hostel Management system is the system that manages the student data, staff data, students admission process and create receipt for the fees paid by the student who stay in the hostel and also help in maintaining visitor’s messages. Though BSE 3D is still at the very beginning of its exposure to the database environment, I’ll try my level best to overcome the hurdles and present a best developed project. FA12-BSE-177 Aimal Khan Note: The project ideas that are mentioned above are taken from http://www.freestudentprojects.com/

Harry Potter Essay

Harry Potter is a series of seven novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books is the chronicle adventures of awizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School. The main story concerns Harry’s quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort, whose aims are to become immortal, conquer the wizarding world and destroy all those who stand in his way, especially Harry Potter. Since the release of the first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone on 30 June 1997 and the last on July 2007, the books have gained immense popularity, commercial success worldwide As of June 2011, the book series has sold about 450 million copies, making it the best-selling book series in history, and has been translated into 67 languages. The last four books consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. Question 1: To what extent was the Harry Potter series simply a loss leader for the hypermarkets? Harry Potter simply a loss leader for the hypermarkets because it’s just a marketing strategy which was used to gain enormous market share of the Harry Potter books with the acceptance of millions dollars loss. Question 2: Should such price cutting be outlawed or regulated to protect smaller retailers? Price cutting should be regulated to not only protect smaller retailer but also prevent market from many consequences such as leading to loss profit and price war, cheapen a brand, etc when price cutting is not controlled. Question 3: Bookstores in Kuala Lumpur withdrew the book in protest. Was their reaction justified? The action of bookstore in Kuala Lumpur withdrawing seventh Harry Potter in protest is justified because it protects their own benefit from being loss and claiming their objection attitude toward the loss leader strategy of other giant retailer.

Reviewing my Christian service charity activity Essay

1) Identify the details on your Christian service: Where? When? How? For whom? My Christian service was at the Markham Food Bank near Main Street, Unionville. I volunteered during May 21st, where I was one of the only few people who got up in the early morning in order to take the initiative to serve the community as well as Christ. By packaging and organizing food for the poor, we were serving the less fortunate people of Markham, who visit the food bank as a means of obtaining food. 2) Some of the Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations that I examined in my grade ten year were: – Recognizing there is more grace in our world than sin and that hope is essential in facing all challenges – Thinking reflectively and creatively to evaluate situations and solve problems – Setting appropriate goals and priorities in school, work and personal life – Thinking critically about the meaning and purpose of work One specific expectation that related directly with my service work this semester was relating to family members in a loving, compassionate and respectful manner. I gave the same type of effort and care into the poor people who needed my help, essentially making them a part of my â€Å"extended family.† I tried demonstrating compassion and love towards them through my hard put effort in organizing, packaging, and sorting an assortment of different food for them. I also contributed to the common good by helping these poor people. In modern society, most people would bypass on the less fortunate people of our communities without offering any aid. These types of inconsiderate people are not supporting the common good of our world. By ignoring and dishonouring God’s precious creations, we are directly going against God himself. Thereby, my actions in helping these poor people are an act to expand and establish common good in our community. THINKING 3) The Golden Rule, â€Å"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you† is a theme that is demonstrated in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. In two paragraphs, answer the following questions as they pertain to the Christian Service work that you have completed during this semester. Analyse how your Christian service: a) Promotes human dignity My Christian service promotes human dignity because I am restoring pride and hope in the hearts and minds of the poor by helping them carry out a normal, everyday life. The less fortunate suffer everyday due to their lack of money, homes, and as well as human essentials. They are sometimes abused verbally and physically by those that think they are â€Å"superior† than them, which causes them to lose their righteous human dignity. By providing these people would proper food and water, I restore a small portion of their dignity as a human being. They should not feel low or bad to have to come to us for help, because that is what we do for each other. In this essence, I am able to help promote human dignity through my services at the Markham Food Bank. b) Challenges any personal religious and/or social biases. Often people in society do not associate with other people or help them out because they think that they are not on the same â€Å"social status† as the other. These social biases are particularly true with homeless people who seem to be suffering more and more simply due to their social status. These judgemental remarks make it even more difficult for these poor people to obtain food and get jobs. Therefore, through my Christian service, I am challenging the boundary of any social biases by offering free food packaged and boxed for the poor and suffering in our communities. APPLICATION 4) In a paragraph, demonstrate how your Christian service fulfills some aspect(s) of the Corporal works of Mercy. My Christian service perfectly fulfills the first Corporal Works of Mercy that is to feed the hungry. By going to the food bank, and packaging/organizing a variety of food in boxes for the poor people, I am helping to â€Å"feed† the hungry people of our society. All these less fortunate people wait in line everyday in order to be fed, and I was just fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be able to help serve the poor by providing their food. Therefore, my Christian service successfully fulfills this aspect of the Corporal Works of Mercy. 5) In a paragraph, evaluate the effect your Christian service has had on your moral and your faith development. This Christian service has indeed had a significant impact on my moral and faith development this semester. By experiencing the difficulty of getting up so early in the morning and going through traffic in order to arrive to the food bank, I realized the level of dedication and love these people must have to come out there every day to help less fortunate civilians. Furthermore, I learned that I should never look down on someone simply because they are not as blessed us, rather I should be more compassionate and understanding of these people. Not only that, but the simple fact that there is such an organization out there, such as the Markham Food Bank, that serves free boxes of food for the poor and less fortunate, makes me truly believe that God exists and he only wants good in our world.

Islam, Terrorism and the Role of Media Essay

Terrorism – Islam, the Most Widely Misunderstood Religion and the Role of Media Increasing terrorism across the globe can be contributed to many factors such as extremism, poverty and literacy rate just to name a few; however, widely misunderstood religions have been the focus of the blame, disregarding the root causes. It has been over a decade since Islam is being openly criticized for promoting terrorism. Islam is the only religion that has been constantly associated with terrorism; however, it does not promote terrorism, but actually condemns it. The only possible way to eliminate terrorism is if media and super powers such as United States, China and Russia stop taking advantage of general public and start playing a positive role in this whole blame game. Individuals from the west view that Islam promotes terrorism, have their own point of view. They trust that western values are in conflict with the Islamic values, resulting in a clash of eastern and western cultures. According to the western view point, Muslims have an aversion to the west for its successful secular state and therefore, express their hatred in the form of terrorism. There is no doubt that the values of western people are in conflict with the values of Islam. Muslims do not seem to like the idea of secularism; however, this is not the main reason for terrorist activities carried out by Muslims. First, we need to understand how terrorism arises. What is the main cause of terrorism? As Woodberry J. Dudley (2002) points out, â€Å"Terrorism is a response to built-up grievances, real or imagined. Therefore, one cannot drive out terrorism without dealing with the grievances that have led to it. The most obvious of these issues is the Israel-Palestine conflict.† Another major point raised by Western media is the doctrine of Jihad in Islam. They claim that the doctrine of Jihad in Islam plays an important role in promoting terrorism. Raphael Israeli argues in ‘The Islamic Doctrine of Jihad Advocates Violence’ and Jennifer Hurley quotes him, â€Å"Jihad has principally one meaning: a military action designed to expand the outer borders of the realm of Islam or to protect the borders of Dar al-Islam from encroaching unbelievers† (Hurley, 2000). Although it would easily appear that Jihad advocates violence, and thus results in terrorist activities from Muslims, this is untrue. One cannot come to the conclusion that Jihad  promotes terrorism just by looking at the actions of Muslims, but instead need to understand the concept of Jihad. First of all, Jihad does not mean Holy War. It means to strive for something. As Mohammed Abdul Malek points out in the following: â€Å"In reality jihad is a duty of Muslims to commit themselves to a struggle on all fronts – moral, spiritual and political – to create a just and decent society. It is not a ‘holy war’ against the Muslims during the time of the Crusades (a war instigated by the Church for religious gain). There are other words in Arabic which are more appropriate to use in a war situation, if war was the principal purpose of Jihad. Examples of such words are ‘harb’ (war) and ‘maaraka’ (battle).The Holy Quran could have used these instead of Jihad, if the intention was the declaration of war.† (Hurley 2000). Hence, it is clear that it is the misinterpretation of Jihad that has led Muslims and Non-Muslims to believe that Jihad advocates terrorism. It is understandable if the doctrine of Jihad is misinterpreted by Non-Muslims, because they may not have enough knowledge about the laws of Islam or they may not have an understanding of the teachings of the Holy Quran, the holiest book for Muslims. Yet how come various Muslims misinterpret the doctrine of Jihad? As Pervez Amir Ali Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani nuclear physicist, notes that, â€Å"Maulana Abdus Sattar Edhi, Pakistan’s preeminent social worker, and the Taliban’s Mohammad Omar are both followers of Islam, but the former is overdue for a Nobel Peace Prize while the latter is an ignorant, psychotic fiend.† (Schafer, 2002). These two men represent the two ways of understanding Islam. One understanding is what Islam says. The other is the way it can be explained so that it fits in with one’s own beliefs. The difference between the two is very obvious. Many Muslims tend to believe or explain things that fit in their beliefs. Unfortunately, this approach of understanding Islam has led to the misinterpretation of not only jihad, but the whole of Islam. On the other hand, right after the terrorist acts of 9/11, journalists were seen as being biased. Apparently, they were just doing their jobs but the after effects of the incident put them into a severe patriotic state. There is nothing wrong with being patriotic about your country and hating your enemies but while doing a job that makes you stand in front of the millions, patriotism came out as a controversial factor. (Hess, Kalb, Brookings & Shorenstein, 2003). As John McWethy, the chief national security  correspondent for ABC News, responded: â€Å"When you are on television, you are a symbol for your network. I would no more wave an American ï ¬â€šag while I am trying to report in a nonbiased way about conï ¬â€šict overseas than I would a Canadian ï ¬â€šag or a British ï ¬â€šag if I were a citizen of those countries. I’m a reporter.† (Hess, Kalb, Brookings & Shoranstein, 2003). At the same time, a majority of population residing in the Middle East and South Asia, condemn the western media for being biased against Islam. One has to agree to a certain level that American Republicans, who are known to be conservative, have control over few news channels and those channels only show one side of the story. In these critical times, the media’s role should be to help resolve the conflicts and show its audience the real face of terrorism. As Red Batario writes, â€Å"From where I stand, as a citizen and media consumer, the stories that come my way are bereft of one important thing: context and empowering information. They do not allow me to make sense of what is happening around me. The stories tell me of problems, they do not tell me that something can be done. They tell me that everything is wrong but nothing about what’s working. Other stories cite Muslim terrorists but I have yet to come across a news item identifying para-military groups who assassinated their victims as Christian terrorists.† (Batario, 2012). Western media is also responsible for not appreciating the efforts made by Muslim community on daily basis. Those journalists and new anchors have totally ignored the anti-terrorism, anti 9/11 and anti Al-Qaeda attitude shown by Muslim patriots of the west. How come they do not see how it is like to grow a beard or wear hijab and curse the terrorists; the enemies of the west at the same time. As Kamran Pasha, an author and a Hollywood filmmaker writes, â€Å"Thomas Friedman wrote an outrageous column in The New York Times claiming that no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama Bin Laden.† (Pasha, 2009). Fatwa means a legal pronouncement in Islam usually given by an Islamic scholar to clarify a question. (Wikipedia, 2013). The surprising part is that a ‘fatwa’ had already been issued by some Spanish Scholars in March 2005 yet Friedman chose to lie and misguided his fellow Americans and an unknown number of souls all over the world. Pasha further elaborates, â€Å"There is a real political agenda inside the media itself to keep Islam as the enemy, and to portray mainstream Muslims as a fifth column inside America. The idea that  your Muslim neighbors are silently supporting Bin Laden sells newspapers. It captures the attention of viewers of the nightly news. And it furthers the ambitions of politicians who need a rallying point to get votes.† (Pasha, 2009). It is true that most of the actions taken by the Muslims in the west go unnoticed. For example, Pakistan, a country located in South East Asia, has been fighting the war on terror for last 12 years and has lost the lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians but still media keeps portraying Pakistan as a terrorist country. My question is, what would make their voices get heard? What exactly do they have to do in order to justify that they equally condemn terrorism? I guess no one better than media can answer these questions. Media definitely needs to play a more positive role instead of neglecting the real facts. The great minds in the media who create controversial stories should emphasize on coming up with creative ideas to illuminate the audience with truth. With the help of them and general public, many atrocities can be avoided by conveying the right message to the public. As Cerge Remonde said and Batario writes, â€Å"We (the broadcast media) generate a lot of heat but very little light.† (Batario, 2012). In conclusion, Islam has widely been misinterpreted both in the western world and the Islamic world. To solve this problem, one cannot resort to war as a resolution or change the values of Islam, but instead there needs to be a change in western diplomacy to take into account the grievances held by many Muslims. The United States needs to change its foreign policies, especially concerning the Arab-Israeli conflict, which would help many Muslims believe that the United States really wants to solve the issue at hand. Not only does the responsibility lie in the hands of United States, but also the Muslim Umma (society), who as a whole need to step up and realize that what they believe in is wrong and they need to find out the truth. The authorities of Islam need to step up and take a stand. They need to educate the Muslim society and create more awareness about the true meaning of Jihad and other similar complicated concepts. If not, certainly this is only the beginning of terrorism in Islam. Not to mention, if media cooperates and stops being biased and one sided, issues bigger than terrorism could be overcome without wasting billions of dollars and many innocent civilian lives. References Batario, Red. (2012, May 21). Media’s Role in Conflict and Terrorism. Center for Community Journalism and Development. Retrieved from http://ccjdphils.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/medias-role-in-conflict-and-terrorism/ Fatwa. (2013, March 8). Wikipedia, . Retrieved September 26, 2013 from http://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fatwa&oldid=4211834. Hess, S., Kalb, M. L., Brookings, I., & Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, P. (2003). The Media and the War on Terrorism. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. Hurley, J. A., & Hurley, J. (2000). Islam: opposing viewpoints. Greenhaven Press. Israeli, Raphael. (2001). The Islamic Doctrine of Jihad Advocated Violence. Jennifer A. Hurley (Eds.). Islam Opposing Viewpoints. (20-115) San Diego: Greenhaven Press. Malek, Mohammed A. The Islamic Doctrine of Jihad Does Not Advocate Violence. Jennifer A. Hurley (Eds.). Islam Opposing Viewpoints. (24-121). San Diego: Greenhaven Press. Pasha, Kamran. (2009, April 20). The Big Lie about Muslim Silence on Terrorism. The Huffington Post. 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