Society

A society is a group of people involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members. In the social sciences, a larger society often evinces stratification or dominance patterns in subgroups.

Insofar as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would not otherwise be possible on an individual basis; both individual and social (common) benefits can thus be distinguished, or in many cases found to overlap.

A society can also consist of like-minded people governed by their own norms and values within a dominant, larger society. This is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term used extensively within criminology.

Hemant Goswami

Hemant Goswami (born 1971) is an Indian social activist working on child rights, child labour, public health and civil right issues. He is known as a voice against tobacco. He is credited with creating the first smoke-free city in any Third World country with the effective use of the Right to Information Act. He was awarded the "Global Smoke-Free Partnership Award" in 2008 and also THE "Extraordinary Activist Award" for the innovative use of legal action and activism resulting in the smoke-free Chandigarh initiative. Hemant Goswami is the great-grandson of Swami Rama Tirtha the 19th-century spiritual leader and social reformer. Hemant is the founder of many NGO's including Burning Brain Society,Tobacco Free India Coalition and Citizens' Voice which were till recently managed by him from Chandigarh. Hemant has also been closely associated with Servants of the People Society too and till 2013 also worked as the Chief Executive officer (CEO) of The Samaja, one of the largest-selling Oriya daily newspaper founded by Gopabandhu Das in 1919.

Genetic engineering

Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of an organism's genome using biotechnology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms. New DNA may be inserted in the host genome by first isolating and copying the genetic material of interest using molecular cloning methods to generate a DNA sequence, or by synthesizing the DNA, and then inserting this construct into the host organism. Genes may be removed, or "knocked out", using a nuclease. Gene targeting is a different technique that uses homologous recombination to change an endogenous gene, and can be used to delete a gene, remove exons, add a gene, or introduce point mutations.

An organism that is generated through genetic engineering is considered to be a genetically modified organism (GMO). The first GMOs were bacteria generated in 1973 and GM mice in 1974. Insulin-producing bacteria were commercialized in 1982 and genetically modified food has been sold since 1994. GloFish, the first GMO designed as a pet, was first sold in the United States in December 2003.

Burning Brain Society

Burning Brain Society (BBS) is a non-governmental organisation based in India and USA working on the issues of civil rights and public health. In public health, Tobacco Control is one of the main areas of work for BBS. Headquartered in Chandigarh and Delaware, it was founded in 2001 by Hemant Goswami who is now its chairperson.

References

Supreme court

A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, apex court, and highest court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are not subject to further review by any other court. Supreme courts typically function primarily as appellate courts, hearing appeals from decisions of lower trial courts, or from intermediate-level appellate courts.

However, not all highest courts are named as such. Civil law states do not tend to have singular highest courts. Additionally, the highest court in some jurisdictions is not named the "Supreme Court", for example, the High Court of Australia; this is because decisions by the High Court could formerly be appealed to the Privy Council. On the other hand, in some places the court named the "Supreme Court" is not in fact the highest court; examples include the New York Supreme Court, the Supreme Courts of several Canadian provinces/territories and the former Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales, which are all superseded by higher Courts of Appeal.