Child Marriages Drop By Half In India, Results In Global Decline: UNICEF

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1 Special Status to Andhra Pradesh In news The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has left a troubled legacy. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh s statement of six paragraphs in Parliament on February 20, 2014 contained the promise of according special category status to the successor State of Andhra Pradesh. This has stirred up a hornets nest, with both the ruling party and the Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly upping their ante and demanding that the Union government honour the commitment. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has pleaded inability and has instead agreed to give a generous package. He has placed the blame at the door of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC). This is not the first time that the Commission has been blamed for special category status not being given. There were newspaper reports about Venkaiah Naidu, when he was Union Minister for Urban Development, also blaming the FFC for the Union government s inability to accord special category status. To be sure, the terms of reference of the FFC did not require it to deal with the categorisation of States into the special category and non-special category. Therefore, it was not required to make any recommendation on the issue. Nor is the classification of States into general and special categories the creation of the Constitution and therefore, the Finance Commission, which was formed under Article 280 of the Constitution, has no business to make any recommendations on the issue. Child Marriages Drop By Half In India, Results In Global Decline: UNICEF In news The proportion of girls getting married in India has nearly halved in a decade, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF said, which has contributed significantly to a global decline in child marriage. UNICEF said 25 million child marriages were prevented worldwide in the last decade, with the largest reduction seen in South Asia - where India was at the forefront.

2 India constitutes more than 20 percent of the world's adolescent population and accounts for the highest number of child marriages in South Asia given its size and population. In the current trend, 27 percent of girls, or nearly 1.5 million girls, get married before they turn 18 in India. This is a sharp decline from 47 percent a decade ago. Child marriage adds to health, education and abuse risks, and increases the chance of intergenerational poverty. Campaigners and officials attributed the drop in child marriages to better access to education for women and increased public awareness on the negative impact of child marriage. UNICEF estimates that 12 million girls a year are married globally, and says more is needed to end the practice by the target set under the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals. UNICEF's conclusions on India came after comparing data from its 2006 and 2016 health survey that asked women in the age group whether they had married before they turned 18. It also took into account child marriage data from the 2011 census. The legal age of marriage in the country is 18 for women and 21 for men. Last year the Supreme Court ruled that sex with an underage wife constituted rape. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act imposes a fine of Rs. 1 lakh and two years in prison for parents caught trying to marry off their underage children. Despite the law, child marriage remains deeply rooted and accepted in society, and is widespread in parts of the country. Better awareness of the Supreme Court's verdict would deter child marriages, and declaring them invalid would strengthen India's laws against them. Death with dignity The court has laid down a much-needed legal framework for enforcing living wills The Supreme Court s verdict allowing passive euthanasia and giving legal status to advance directives is that the right to a dignified life extends up to the point of having a dignified death. The outcome of the exercise is a progressive and humane verdict that lays down a broad legal framework for protecting the dignity of a terminally ill patient or one in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) with no hope of cure or recovery. The core message is that all adults with the capacity to give consent have the right of self determination and autonomy, and the right to refuse medical treatment is also encompassed in it.

3 Passive euthanasia was recognised by a two-judge Bench in Aruna Shanbaug in 2011; now the Constitution Bench has expanded the jurisprudence on the subject by adding to it the principle of a living will, or an advance directive. The court s reasoning is unexceptionable when it says burdening a dying patient with life-prolonging treatment and equipment merely because medical technology has advanced would be destructive of her dignity. The court has invoked its inherent power under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant legal status to advance directives, and its directives will hold good until Parliament enacts legislation on the matter. Important Definitions: Living will is a practice whereby a person, while in a competent state of mind, leaves written instructions on the sort of medical treatment that may or may not be administered in the event of her reaching a stage of terminal illness. Passive euthanasia essentially involves withdrawal of life support or discontinuation of life-preserving medical treatment so that a person with a terminal illness is allowed to die in the natural course. Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 The Bill would help in laying down measures to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. A Fugitive Economic Offender is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution. A scheduled offence refers to a list of economic offences contained in the Schedule to this Bill. Further, in order to ensure that Courts are not over-burdened with such cases, only those cases where the total value involved in such offences is 100 crore rupees or more, is within the purview of this Bill. Why was it required? The existing civil and criminal provisions in law are not entirely adequate to deal with the severity of the problem. It is, therefore, felt necessary to provide an effective, expeditious and constitutionally permissible deterrent to ensure that such actions are curbed.

4 It may be mentioned that the non-conviction-based asset confiscation for corruptionrelated cases is enabled under provisions of United Nations Convention against Corruption (ratified by India in 2011). The Bill adopts this principle. Salient features of the Bill: Application before the Special Court for a declaration that an individual is a fugitive economic offender; Attachment of the property of a fugitive economic offender; Issue of a notice by the Special Court to the individual alleged to be a fugitive economic offender; Confiscation of the property of an individual declared as a fugitive economic offender resulting from the proceeds of crime; Confiscation of other property belonging to such offender in India and abroad, including benami property; Disentitlement of the fugitive economic offender from defending any civil claim; An Administrator will be appointed to manage and dispose of the confiscated property under the Act. If at any point of time in the course of the proceeding prior to the declaration, however, the alleged Fugitive Economic Offender returns to India and submits to the appropriate jurisdictional Court, proceedings under the proposed Act would cease by law. All necessary constitutional safeguards in terms of providing hearing to the person through counsel, allowing him time to file a reply, serving notice of summons to him, whether in India or abroad and appeal to the High Court have been provided for. Impact: The Bill is expected to re-establish the rule of law with respect to the fugitive economic offenders as they would be forced to return to India to face trial for scheduled offences. This would also help the banks and other financial institutions to achieve higher recovery from financial defaults committed by such fugitive economic offenders, improving the financial health of such institutions.

5 It is expected that the special forum to be created for expeditious confiscation of the proceeds of crime, in India or abroad, would coerce the fugitive to return to India to submit to the jurisdiction of Courts in India to face the law in respect of scheduled offences. Way Forward While the utility and effectiveness of laws are best assessed in the implementation, it is important to ensure they are fair and reasonable. The shortcomings in previous laws must be avoided, and the new legal regime impartially enforced. What Happens When Tesla Roadster Contaminates Mars Or Other Planets With Bacteria From Earth Some scientists fear that the bacteria from planet Earth brought by Elon Musk's Tesla into space may contaminate other worlds. What would be the problem if this happens? Scientists are raising their concern over the space-cruising red Tesla car. They fear that Elon Musk's car brings a large horde of bacteria from Earth that may contaminate Mars. What Would Happen If Humans Contaminate Mars Or Other Planets? Contaminating another world is one of the things that NASA wants to avoid and for good reason. If Earth microbes are introduced to and survive on a planet such as Mars, scientists searching for signs of life in this worlds may mistake those bacteria for little organisms that originated from Mars. Such a misinterpretation will have a significant impact on how humans would view their place in the universe. In worlds with high chances of hosting microbial life such as Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's Enceladus, contamination would mean that microbes from Earth would interact with the organisms that could be thriving there This could have devastating consequences as suggested by what happens on ecosystems here on Earth after invasive species are introduced into parts of the worlds where they did not originally exist. India s endangered Asiatic lion population increases to 600

6 A recent unofficial count found more than 600 lions in the area, up from 523 in a 2015 census The population is currently growing at about two percent a year The lion was listed as critically endangered in 2000, with its population under threat due to hunting and human encroachment on its habitat Sri Lanka declares state of emergency for 10 days after anti-muslim attacks in Kandy Context: On 6th March, 2018, Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency for 10 days, to curb heightening violence targeting the island s Muslim minority. What has happened? Riots were triggered by the death of a 41-year-old man from the majority Sinhalese community after he was beaten up by a mob, reportedly Muslims, following a road rage incident. After the incident, anti-muslim attacks had taken place in Kandy, located in Sri Lanka s Central Province. Several mosques, shops and homes were set to fire and destroyed over the last few days This had prompted the police to impose a curfew in the town since the afternoon of 6th March Government Response: The government decided to declare a state of emergency for 10 days to prevent the spread of communal riots High-temperature forecast India Meteorological Department has forecasted above-normal maximum and minimum temperatures across the country during the pre-monsoon March-May period There are distinct groups at particular risk for health-related problems during a heat wave

7 A half-degree rise in average temperature in recent decades has resulted in a higher probability of extreme heat waves and caused a lot of deaths A heat event has serious implications for public health: it can lead to fatal heat stroke in a small percentage of people, while many more could encounter exhaustion, cramps, and fainting It is vital for governments to ensure that all stakeholders, including the healthcare system, are prepared to deal with the heat event phenomenon Water stress is a common and often chronic feature in many States and arrangements should be made to meet scarcity Rajasthan passes Bill to give death penalty for child rape Rajasthan became the second State, after Madhya Pradesh, to pass a Bill providing for death penalty to those convicted of raping girls of 12 years and below. The State Assembly passed the Bill seeking to amend the Indian Penal Code with the insertion of new provision by voice vote. A deterrent According to the National Crime Records Bureau s 2016 report, the cases of crimes against children have seen a steady increase in Rajasthan. The State recorded 4,034 such cases in 2016, which was 3.8% of the crimes against children registered across the country. Recent Scenario As an eight-month-old rape survivor from Delhi battles for her life at the AIIMS, the Supreme Court ordered a nationwide inquiry into how many child sex abusers had actually been punished. A three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, ordered data from the High Courts on the number of pending cases of child abuse booked under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, There was a 95% pendency rate, as per the statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau. India, France join hands for Indian Ocean security Context: Fresh logistical agreement to allow closer defence cooperation

8 Keypoints: India and France joined hands in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region along with a new phase of cooperation in space security focussed on the maritime domain and a fresh logistics agreement. This move allows their defence forces to closely cooperate on mutually agreed operations. Common concerns India and France share common concerns on freedom of navigation in the region and will tackle challenges to over-flight and threat of weapons of mass destruction. The agreement has a vast scope stretching from countering maritime terrorism and piracy to building maritime domain awareness. This is the second major maritime agreement India has signed in the last six months following the Quadrilateral agreement with Australia, Japan and the U.S. in October India commits $1.4 billion for solar energy worldwide In news India on Sunday announced one of the world s largest investment plans in solar energy at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The $1.4 billion line of credit will cover 27 projects in 15 countries and boost the muchrequired financial power to the solar sector. India will start a solar technology mission with international focus, which will cover all government technical and educational institutions. 10-point plan The Founding Conference was co-chaired by Mr. Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr. Modi presented a 10-point action plan aimed at making solar power more affordable while raising the share of power generated. Swaminathan committee report Background The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) was constituted on November, 2004 under the chairmanship of Professor M.S. Swaminathan. The Terms of Reference reflected the priorities listed in the Common Minimum Programme. The reports contain suggestions to achieve the goal of "faster and more inclusive growth" as envisaged in the Approach to 11th Five Year Plan.

9 Terms of Reference The NCF is mandated to make suggestions on issues such as: a medium-term strategy for food and nutrition security in the country in order to move towards the goal of universal food security over time; enhancing productivity, profitability, and sustainability of the major farming systems of the country; policy reforms to substantially increase flow of rural credit to all farmers; special programmes for dryland farming for farmers in the arid and semi-arid regions, as well as for farmers in hilly and coastal areas; enhancing the quality and cost competitiveness of farm commodities so as to make them globally competitive; protecting farmers from imports when international prices fall sharply; empowering elected local bodies to effectively conserve and improve the ecological foundations for sustainable agriculture; Key Recommendations Causes for farmers' distress Land Reforms Irrigation Productivity of Agriculture Credit and Insurance Food Security Prevention of Farmers' Suicides Competitiveness of Farmers Employment Bioresources