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16th March 2023 Current Affairs

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DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS BITS

TOPIC – 1 – Eurasian Otter

Three Eurasian Otters were recently spotted in the Neeru stream of the Chenab catchment in Jammu and Kashmir.

About Eurasian Otter:

  • It is a semi-aquatic carnivorous mammal.
  • Scientific Name: Lutra lutra
  • Distribution:
    • It has one of the widest distributions of all Palaearctic mammals.
    • Its range covers parts of three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa.
    • In India, it occurs in northern, northeast, and southern India.
  • Habitat:
    • It lives in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, including highland and lowland lakes, rivers, streams, marshes, swamp forests, and coastal areas.
    • In the Indian sub-continent, Eurasian otters occur in cold hill and mountain streams.
  • Features:
    • It has a long lithe body with a thick tail and short legs.
    • It has sensitive whiskers around the snout to help detect prey.
    • It has two layers of fur: a thick waterproof outer one and a warm inner one with 50,000 hairs/cm 2
    • It has an acute sense of sight, smell, and hearing.
  • Conservation Status:
    • IUCN: Near threatened
    • Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule II
    • CITES:  Appendix I

TOPIC – 2 – H3N2 influenza

Recently, the Health Ministry confirmed that at least two people have succumbed to the H3N2 subtype of seasonal influenza in India.

About H3N2 influenza:  

  • Influenza A H3N2 is a seasonal virus and the occurrence of influenza infections normally peaks during season changes.
  • Symptoms- Fever, body ache, sore throat, cough, runny/blocked nose and a few shortness of breath.
  • It can spread from person to person and while anyone can get infected- older, adults and younger children are at a higher risk from H3N2.
  • The method of testing for H3N2 is also similar to COVID-19 testing – RTPCR.
  • There is a vaccine for seasonal flu that also covers H3N2.

Seasonal influenza:

  • According to WHO, seasonal influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses.
  • There are 4 types of seasonal influenza viruses, types – A, B, C and D. In which Influenza viruses A, B, and C can infect humans.
  • Influenza A viruses are further classified into subtypes according to the combinations of the hemagglutinin (HA) and the neuraminidase (NA), the proteins on the surface of the virus.
  • There are 18 different subtypes of HA, which are numbered H1 through H18. Similarly, there are 11 different subtypes of NA, numbered N1 through N11.
TOPIC – 3 – McMahon Line

 

A recent bipartisan Senate resolution in the United States recognizes the McMahon Line as the international boundary between China and Arunachal Pradesh.

About McMahon Line:

  • It is a geographical border between Northeast India and Tibet.
  • It is the boundary between China and India, although its legal status is disputed by the Chinese
  • It was negotiated between Tibet and Great Britain at the end of the Shimla Conference in 1914.
  • It is named after Henry McMahon, who was the foreign secretary of British India and the chief negotiator of the convention at Simla.
  • The length of this boundary is 890 kilometers.
  • It runs from the eastern border of Bhutanalong the crest of the Himalayas until it reaches the great bend in the Brahmaputra River, where that river emerges from its Tibetan course into the Assam Valley.
  • Though India considers the McMahon Line as the legal national border, China rejects it, contending that Tibet was not a sovereign state and therefore did not have the power to conclude treaties. 

What is The Shimla Treaty of 1914?

  • It was signed in 1914 by delegates from India and Tibetto establish a clear demarcation between the two countries.
  • China was not present in this treaty since Tibet was an autonomous region at the time.
  • According to the treaty the McMahon Line is the clear boundary line between India and China.
  • The British rulers, on behalf of India, considered Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and the southern portion of Tibet to be part of India, which the Tibetans consented to.
  • As a result, Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang region became a part of India.

What is LAC?

  • LAC is a demarcation line that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.
  • India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km.
  • It is currently the de-facto border between the two countries.
  • The Line of Actual Control (LAC), is divided into three sectors:
    • Western (Ladakh, Kashmir),
    • Middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and
    • Eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal): Here, the alignment of the LAC is along the McMahon Line.

TOPIC – 4 – NIPUN BHARAT

Recently, Women and Child Development Minister introduced about NIPUN BHARAT in Rajysabha.

About NIPUN BHARAT:

  • It has been launched as a National Mission called “National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat)” in 2021.
  • Aim: To ensure that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3, by 2026-27.
  • A five-tier implementation mechanism will be set up at the National- State- District- Block- School level in all States and UTs, under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha.
  • It is one of the components of the NEP 2020.
  • Implementing agency: The Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education.
TOPIC – 5 – MQ 9 Reaper
 
An MQ-9 Reaper drone belonging to the United States Air Force recently crashed into the Black Sea due to collision with a Russian Su-27 jet fighter.
 
About MQ 9 Reaper:
  • The MQ-9 Reaper, also known as Predator B, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled orautonomous flight operations.
  • It is developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF).
  • It is remotely operated by a two-person team consisting of a pilot and an aircrew member who operates sensors and guides weapons.
  • The US uses the MQ-9 Reaper for both surveillance and strikes.
  • Features:
    • It is 11 metres long with a wingspan of over 22 metres.
    • Reapers can be armed with air-to-ground Hellfire missiles as well as laser-guided bombs.
    • It carry as many as 16 Hellfire missiles, equivalent to the payload capacity of an Apache helicopter.
    • It can fly at an altitude of 50,000 ft (15 km) and can loiter over targets for for over 27 hours.
    • Top speed: 275 mph.
TOPIC – 6 – Baal Swaraj Portal

 

Recently Women and Child Development Minister introduced about Baal Swaraj portal in Rajya Sabha.

  About Baal Swaraj Portal:

  • It is a portal launched by NCPCR for online tracking and digital real-time monitoring mechanism of children in need of care and protection.
  • The portal has two functions- COVID care and CiSS.
    • COVID Care link caters to the children who have lost either or both parents due to COVID-19 or otherwise post March 2020.
    • Ciss– to help in the rehabilitation process of Children in Street Situations.
  • Portal also provides a platform for professionals and organizations to provide any help for children in need in the form of open shelters, counselling services, medical services, de-addiction services, education services, volunteering etc.
  • It has been launched under a centrally sponsored scheme namely Mission Vatsalya.

Mission Vatsalya:

  • Mission Vatsalya scheme (erstwhile Integrated Child Protection Scheme) launched in 2009-10 for supporting the children in difficult circumstances.
  • Vision: To secure a healthy & happy childhood for each and every child in India, ensure opportunities to enable them to discover their full potential and assist them in flourishing in all respects.
  • Components under Mission Vatsalya include:
    • Improve functioning of statutory bodies;
    • Strengthen service delivery structures;
    • Upscale institutional care/services;
    • Encourage non-institutional community-based care; 
    • emergency outreach services;
    • Training and capacity building
  • Implementing Agency: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
  • Nodal Ministry: Women and Child Development Ministry.

TOPIC – 7 – Wild Ass Sanctuary

Gujarat High Court recently sought a report from the state government on the licenses and permissions it has granted for mining activities within Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch.

About Wild Ass Sanctuary:

  • Location: It is located in the Little Rann of Kutch of the Gujarat State in India.
  • It is the only place where the Indian wild ass, locally called Khacchar, is found.
  • The sanctuary is home to a sizeable population of Rabari and Bharwad tribes.
  • Topology:
    • It can be considered a large ecotone, a transitional area between marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
    • It is a continuum of a dry area of dark silt with salt encrustation.
    • It is dotted with about 74 elevated plateaus or islands, locally called ‘bets’. 
    • During the monsoon, large parts are flooded to depths of up to 2m.
  • Flora:
    • It is full of dry thorny scrub, and there are no large trees except on the fringes and bets.
    • Some of the plants and trees that are found in this sanctuary are Morad, Unt morad, Theg, Dolari, Khijdo, Kerdo, Mithi jar, Kheri pilu, Akado, etc.
  • Fauna:
    • Besides Indian Wild Ass, the other mammals found here include Blackbuck, Nilgai, Bluebull, Hare, Wolf, Foxes, Desert Cat, Indian fox, Jackal, Hyena, Wild boar, etc.
    • There is rich birdlife, including the Houbara bustard, Sandgrouse, Pale harrier, Black-shouldered kite, Pelican, etc.

Key Facts about Indian Wild Ass:

  • It is a sub-species of Asian Wild Ass, i.e., Equus hemionus.
  • Scientific name: Equus hemionus khur
  • It is characterized by distinctive white markings on the anterior part of the rump and on the posterior part of the shoulder and a stripe down the back that is bordered by white.
  • Distribution: World’s last population of Indian WildAss is restricted to Rann of Kachchh, Gujarat.
  • Habitat: Desert and grassland ecosystems.
  • Conservation Status:
    • IUCN: Near threatened.
    • CITES: Appendix II
    • Wildlife Protection Act (1972): Schedule-I

TOPIC – 8 – ATAL VAYO ABHYUDAY YOJANA (AVYAY)

The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment is implementing Integrated Programme for Senior Citizens (IPSrC), a component of Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana.

  About ATAL VAYO ABHYUDAY YOJANA:

  • It is a Central Sector Scheme, which is formerly known as National Action Plan for Senior Citizens.
  • Its vision is to create a society where senior citizens live healthy, happy and empowered life.
  • It has two components – the Integrated Program for Senior Citizens (IPSrC) and the State Action Plan for Senior Citizens (SAPSrC)
    • IPSRC: It entails setting up homes to improve the quality of life of senior citizens, especially indigent senior citizens for writing basic amenities.
    • SAPSRC: Each state/union territories expected to frame its own action plan for the welfare of senior citizens.
  • Under IPSrC component grant in aid is provided to NGOs/ Voluntary Organisations (VOs) for running and maintenance of old age homes, Continuous Care Homes.
  • Five schemes have been launched under this umbrella scheme:
    • Poshan Abhiyan for elderly
    • Livelihood and skilling initiatives for senior citizens
    • scheme on promoting silver economy
    • Awareness generation and capacity building for welfare of senior citizens
    • Channelising CSR funds for elderly care.
  • Nodal Agency: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
TOPIC – 9 – Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act)

 

The Delhi High Court recently disposed of a plea seeking direction to the Bar Council of India (BCI) to make the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) a compulsory subject in all law schools.

About Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act):

  • The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right.
  • RTE Act is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted on 4 August 2009 as envisaged under Article 21-A.
  • Main Features of the RTE Act:
    • Free and compulsory education to all children of India in the 6 to 14 age group.
    • It clarifies that ‘compulsory education’ means the obligation of the appropriate government to provide free elementary education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance, and completion of elementary education to every child in the six to fourteen age group. 
    • No child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education.
    • It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age-appropriate class.
    • It specifies the duties and responsibilities of appropriate Governments, local authorities, and parents in providing free and compulsory education and sharing of financial and other responsibilities between the Central and State Governments.
    • It lays down the norms and standards relating inter alia to Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs), buildings and infrastructure, school-working days, and teacher-working hours.
    • It provides for the appointment of appropriately trained teachers, i.e., teachers with the requisite entry and academic qualifications.
    • It prohibits physical punishment and mental harassment, screening procedures for admission of children, capitation fee, private tuition by teachers, and running of schools without recognition.
    • It provides for the development of a curriculum in consonance with the values enshrined in the Constitution.

TOPIC – 10 – Exercise SEA DRAGON 23

Indian Navy is participating in SEA DRAGON 23 exercise in waters off Guam, USA which has been scheduled from 15-30 March 23.

 About Exercise SEA DRAGON 23:  

  • The Sea Dragon is an annual, multinational anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercise conducted by the United States Navy.
  • Participating Countries: India, USA, Japan, Canada and South Korea.
  • The annual exercise launched in 2014. This is the third edition of the coordinated multi-lateral ASW exercise for Long Range MR ASW aircraft.
  • The Exercise aims to achieve high levels of synergy and coordination between the friendly navies, which is based on their shared values and commitment to an open, inclusive Indo-Pacific.
  • The Exercise would witness representation by an Indian Navy P8I aircraft along with other countries’ aircrafts.
  • This exercise will test the capabilities of participating aircraft in tracking simulated and live underwater targets, whilst also sharing mutual expertise.

Other Exercises between India and USA:

  • Malabar: India and USA with Japan, Australia participate in the naval war gaming exercise named Malabar.
  • Yudh Abhyas: Military Training Exercise
  • VAJRA PRAHAR: Special Forces Exercise
TOPIC – 11 – Willow Project
 
The Joe Biden-led United States administration formally approved the controversial Willow project in Alaska.
 
  • Willow Project is a massive and decades-long oil drilling venture on Alaska’s North Slope in the National Petroleum Reserve.
  • The National Petroleum Reserve is owned by the federal government.
  • It is located about 320 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle.
  • The area where the project is planned holds up to 600 million barrels of oil.
  • The project is yet to be constructed and the oil would take years to reach the market.

willowproject

  • Project Timeline – The project was proposed by ConocoPhillip, a Houston-based energy company exploring in Alaska.
  • It was originally approved by the Trump administration in 2020 for 5 drill pads, which was reduced to 3 by the Biden administration.
  • Controversy – The project is hugely controversial for its likely environmental impact.
  • The project would generate enough oil to release 278 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
  • It also raises concerns about danger to freshwater sources and threats to migratory birds, caribou, whales and other animals that inhabit the region.

DAILY EDITORIAL BITS

EDITORIAL – 1 – Reservation for Women in Politics

Why in News?

  • Recently, more than 10 political parties participated in a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi seeking early passage of the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill.

What’s in today’s article?

  • Background (History, Reservation in Local Bodies)
  • Women’s Reservation Bill (Reservation in Parliament, Stats, For/Against Arguments)

History of Political Reservation for Women: 

  • The issue of reservation for women in politics can be traced back to the Indian national movement.
  • In 1931, leaders Begum Shah Nawaz and Sarojini Naidu wrote, “To seek any form of preferential treatment would be to violate the integrity of the universal demand of Indian women for absolute equality of political status.”
    • This was written in their letter to the British Prime Minister, on the status of women in the new Constitution by three women’s bodies.
  • The issue of women’s reservation came up in Constituent Assembly debates as well, but it was rejected as being unnecessary.
    • It was assumed that a democracy would accord representation to all groups.
  • However, in the following decades, it became clear that this was not to be the case.
  • As a consequence, women’s reservation became a recurrent theme in policy debates.

Reservation for Women in Local Bodies:

  • The National Perspective Plan for Women recommended in 1988 that reservation be provided to women right from the level of the panchayat to that of Parliament.
  • These recommendations paved the way for the historic enactment of the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution which mandate all State governments to reserve –
    • One-third of the seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions and
    • One-third of the offices of the chairperson at all levels of the Panchayati Raj Institutions, and in urban local bodies.
    • Within these seats, one-third are reserved for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe women.
  • Many States such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Kerala have made legal provisions to ensure 50% reservation for women in local bodies.

What is the Women’s Reservation Bill?

  • The Women’s Reservation Bill proposes to reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for women.
  • It was first introduced in the Lok Sabha as the 81st Amendment Bill in September 1996.
  • The Bill failed to get the approval of the House and lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
  • The Bill was reintroduced in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003 and 200. However, the Bill failed to receive majority votes.

How many women are in Parliament?

  • Only about 14% of the members in Indian Parliament are women, the highest so far.
  • According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India has a fewer percentage of women in the lower House than its neighbors such as Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — a dismal record.

Arguments in Favor of the Bill:

  • Proponents of the Bill argue that affirmative action is imperative to better the condition of women since political parties are inherently patriarchal.
  • Second, despite the hopes of the leaders of the national movement, women are still under-represented in the Parliament.
    • Reservations, proponents believe, will ensure that women form a strong lobby in Parliament to fight for issues that are often ignored.
  • There is now evidence that women as panchayat leaders have –
    • Shattered social myths,
    • Been more accessible than men,
    • Controlled the stranglehold of liquor,
    • Invested substantially in public goods such as drinking water,
    • Helped other women express themselves better,
    • Reduced corruption,
    • Prioritized nutrition outcomes, and
    • Changed the development agenda at the grassroots level.

Arguments Against the Bill:

  • Opponents of reservation for women argue that the idea runs counter to the principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution.
    • They say that women will not be competing on merit if there is reservation, which could lower their status in society.
  • Second, women are unlike, say, a caste group, which means that they are not a homogenous community.
    • Therefore, the same arguments made for caste-based reservation cannot be made for women.
  • Third, women’s interests cannot be isolated from other social, economic and political strata.
  • Fourth, some argue that reservation of seats in Parliament would restrict the choice of voters to women candidates.
    • This has led to suggestions of alternate methods including reservation for women in political parties and dual member constituencies (where constituencies will have two MPs, one of them being a woman).
  • Fifth, as men hold primary power as well as key positions in politics, some have even argued that bringing women into politics could destroy the “ideal family”.

EDITORIAL – 2 – Too-Big-To-Fail banks: What are they and what makes Indian banks safe?

Why in News?

  • A decade and a half after the global financial crisis 2008, Indian banks remained unaffected by the other bank failures (SVB, Signature Bank) in the US recently, despite the global interconnectedness in the financial sector.
  • The article emphasises how secure Indian banks are in the age of startups and digitisation, particularly the domestic systemically significant banks (D-SIBs)/Too-Big-To-Fail banks that have operations abroad. 

What’s in Today’s Article?

  • How Indian Banking Differs from Others?
  • What are D-SIBs?
  • How does RBI Select D-SIBs?
  • Why is an Additional Common Equity Requirement Applicable to D-SIBs?
  • Why was it Considered Essential to Establish SIBs?

How Indian Banking Differs from Others?

  • In banking, confidence is important and no amount of capital will save a bank if the trust is lost.
  • During the 2008 crisis triggered by the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers, domestic banks in India backed by sound regulatory practices showed strength and resilience.
  • A reason why an SVB-like failure is unlikely in India is that domestic banks have a different balance sheet structure.
  • Unlike the US, where a large portion of bank deposits are from corporates, household savings constitute a major part of bank deposits in India, which cannot be withdrawn in bulk quantities.
  • A large chunk of Indian deposits is with public sector banks, and most of the rest is with very strong private sector lenders such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.
  • Customers need not worry about their savings, as the government and the regulators (SEBI, RBI) have always stepped in when banks have faced difficulties. For example, the rescue of Yes Bank where a lot of liquidity support was provided. 

What are D-SIBs?

  • A bank is considered a D-SIB if its failure might seriously disrupt the financial system due to the bank’s size, cross-jurisdictional activities, complexity, lack of substitutability and interconnectedness.
  • Under the D-SIB framework announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2014, the central bank was required to –
    • Disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs, and
    • Place them in appropriate buckets depending upon their Systemic Importance Scores (SISs).
  • Depending on the bucket in which a D-SIB is placed, an additional common equity requirement [Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1)] is applicable to it.
    • Tier 1 capital (measured by the capital adequacy ratio (CAR)) is the core measure of a bank’s financial strength from a regulator’s point of view.
  • It means that these banks have to earmark additional capital and provisions to safeguard their operations.
  • RBI has classified SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank as D-SIBs.

  • Similarly, the Basel – Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board (FSB), an initiative of G20 nations, has identified, in consultation with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), a list of G-SIBs.
    • There are 30 G-SIBs currently (no Indian bank), including JP Morgan, Citibank, HSBC, Bank of America, Bank of China, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs. 

How does RBI Select D-SIBs?

  • The RBI follows a two-step process to assess the systemic importance of banks.
  • First, a sample of banks to be assessed for their systemic importance is decided. All banks are not considered, as burdening smaller banks with onerous data requirements on a regular basis may not be prudent.
    • Banks are selected based on an analysis of their size (based on Basel-III Leverage Ratio Exposure Measure) as a percentage of GDP.
    • Banks having a size beyond 2% of GDP will be selected in the sample.
    • Based on a range of indicators, a composite score of systemic importance is computed for each bank.
  • Next, the D-SIBs are segregated into buckets based on their systemic importance scores.
    • A D-SIB in the lower bucket will attract a lower capital charge, and a D-SIB in the higher bucket will attract a higher capital charge.

Why is an Additional Common Equity Requirement Applicable to D-SIBs?

  • The cost of public sector intervention, and the consequential increase in moral hazard, required that future regulatory policies should aim at reducing the probability of the failure of SIBs.
  • SIBs are perceived as banks that are ‘Too Big To Fail (TBTF)’, due to which these banks enjoy certain advantages in the funding markets.
  • However, this perception creates an expectation of government support at times of distress, which encourages risk-taking, reduces market discipline, and increases the probability of distress in the future.
  • It is therefore felt that SIBs should be subjected to additional policy measures to guard against systemic risks and moral hazard issues.

Why was it Considered Essential to Establish SIBs?

  • During the 2008 crisis, problems faced by certain large and highly interconnected financial institutions hampered the orderly functioning of the global financial system.
    • The failure of a large bank anywhere can have a contagion effect around the world.
    • The impairment or failure of a bank will likely cause damage to the confidence in the banking system as a whole (chain effect) → affecting the domestic real economy → interconnectedness/globalisation → affect global economy.
  • Therefore, government intervention was considered necessary to ensure financial stability in many jurisdictions.
  • In 2010, the FSB recommended that all member countries should put in place a framework to reduce risks attributable to Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) in their jurisdictions.

EDITORIAL – 3 – WhatsApp threatening to leave the U.K.

Why in news?

  • Recently, WhatsApp’s head Will Cathcart said that WhatsApp would not comply with the U.K.’s proposed Online Safety Bill (OSB).
  • The proposed bill will in effect outlaw end-to-end (E2E) encryption.

What’s in today’s article?

  • News Summary

News Summary: WhatsApp threatening to leave the U.K.

What is end-to-end encryption?

  • E2E encryption ensures that a message can only be decrypted by the intended recipient using a secure decryption key.
    • The decryption key is unique to each sender-recipient pair and to each of their messages.
  • Decryption, even by the messaging service provider, is impossible.
  • Even if the platform’s servers are compromised, without the intended recipient’s decryption key, only a garbled string of characters will be available.
  • Over the last few years, E2E encryption has been steadily gaining ground.
  • It is offered by default on WhatsApp, Signal, Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime and is an option on Meta’s Messenger and Telegram.

What is the Online Safety Bill (OSB)?

  • The Online Safety Bill is a proposed British legislation that seeks to improve online safety by placing certain duty of care obligations on online platforms.
  • Controversial provision of OSB
    • OSB empowers the British telecommunications regulator to issue notices to most kinds of internet service providers, including private messaging apps and search engines, to identify and take down:
      • terrorism content that is communicated publicly and
      • Child Sex Exploitation and Abuse (CSEA) content that is communicated publicly or privately.
    • The clause also requires the platforms to prevent terrorism and CSEA content from being communicated using the platforms.
  • Why there is controversy around these provisions?
    • Although, these provisions do not mandate removal of E2E encryption.
    • However, it would de-facto mean breaking it as messaging apps would have to scan all messages that are sent on their platform to flag and take down terrorist and CSEA content.
    • Under these clauses, WhatsApp would have to implement a client-side scanning mechanism to scan content on users’ devices before it is even encrypted.
    • For this, they would need to rely on algorithms that presently are not very sophisticated and do not understand context.
      • Eg., in 2021, Google automatically blocked a father’s account in San Francisco and reported him to the local police.
      • This is because he had shot videos of his toddler son’s infection in intimate areas to share with his son’s doctor during the pandemic.
    • Critics view this Bill as a disproportionate step that allows the state to mandate bulk interception and surveillance.

What if the platforms don’t comply?

  • If platforms do not comply, they may face penalties of up to £18 million or 10% of the platform’s global revenue of the preceding accounting year, whichever is higher.
  • Currently, the Bill has been passed by the House of Commons and a House of Lords committee is examining the Bill.
  • Once the committee’s report is ready, it will go back to House of Lords for a third reading.

Did India enact a similar law?

  • Indian government had notified the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
  • Through these rules, the Indian government made it mandatory for messaging platforms with more than five million users in India to enable the identification of the first originator of a message, or what is commonly called traceability.
  • This is not the same as asking for scanning and flagging of all encrypted content.
    • It is about getting to the first person who sent a message that may have been forwarded multiple times.

What has been the response of WhatsApp to Indian law?

  • In India, WhatsApp did not threaten to leave the market. It instead, sued the Indian government over the traceability requirement.
  • This is mainly because India, with 5 million WhatsApp users, is home to 22% of the platform’s 2.24 billion monthly active users.
  • WhatsApp’s penetration rate in India is over 97% while in the U.K., it is at about 75%.
    • Moreover, the U.K., with 40.4 million users accounts has little less than 2% of global users.

EDITORIAL – 4 – Increasing Age of Marriage for girls

Context

Under a recent development, the increase in minimum age of marriage for women to ‘21 years’ as provisioned in the Prohibition of Child Marriage Amendment Bill, 2021 would come into effect two years after the Bill is ‘notified’ following its passage in Parliament.

Background:

  • The Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a task force to look into the correlation between the age of marriage with issues of women’s nutrition, prevalence of anemia, IMR, MMR and other social indices.
  • The Bill, currently with the Parliamentary Standing Committee, envisions making the age of marriage of women at par with men.
  • After examining all aspects pertaining to child marriages, including the recommendations given by the task force, the government has proposed implementation of the amendments after two years from the date of notification, in order to provide ample time to citizens to prepare for this momentous reform.

Jaya Jaitly committee and its recommendations:

  • Aim: The committee was made to look at the feasibility of increasing the age of marriage and its implication on women and child health, as well as how to increase access to education for women.
  • Recommendations Made:
    • Age of marriage to be increased: The committee has recommended the age of marriage be increased to 21 years, on the basis of feedback they received from young adults from 16 universities across the country.
    • Increasing access to schools and colleges for girls: The committee also asked the government to look into increasing access to schools and colleges for girls, including their transportation to these institutes from far-flung areas.
    • Sex education: Skill and business training has also been recommended, as has sex education in schools.
    • An awareness campaign: Undertaken on a massive scale on the increase in age of marriage, and to encourage social acceptance of the new legislation, which they have said would be far more effective than coercive measures.

Need for raising legal age:

  • Gender-neutrality: The government decided to re-examine the age of marriage for women for a number of reasons which includes gender-neutrality.
  • Impacts on overall health and mental wellbeing: An early age of marriage, and consequent early pregnancies, also have impacts on nutritional levels of mothers and their children, and their overall health and mental wellbeing.
  • Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate: It also has an impact on Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate.
  • Empowerment of women: It affects the empowerment of women who are cut off from access to education and livelihood after an early marriage.

Issues:

  • Based on religion: Personal laws of various religions that deal with marriage have their own standards, often reflecting custom.
    • For Hindus, The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.
    • In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.
  • Illegal marriages: Experts have not been in favour of increasing the age of marriage for women on the basis that such legislation would push a large portion of the population into illegal marriages.
  • Child marriages: Even with the legal age of marriage for women being kept at 18 years, child marriages continue in India and a decrease in such marriages has not been because of the existing law but because of increase in girl’s education and employment opportunities.
  • Negatively impact marginalized communities: Law would end up being coercive, and in particular negatively impact marginalized communities, such as the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, making them law-breakers.

Prohibition of Child Marriage Amendment Bill, 2021:

  • The Bill amends the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 to increase the minimum age of marriage of females to 21 years.  Further, the Bill will override any other law, custom, or practice. 
  • Under the 2006 Act, a person married below the minimum age may apply for annulment within two years of attaining majority (i.e., before 20 years of age).  
  • The Bill increases this to five years (i.e., 23 years of age).

Supreme Court’s stand:

  • The Supreme Court has ruled that marriage between adults is a fundamental right.   
The question is whether prohibiting marriage for persons between 18 and 21 years is a reasonable restriction on their ‘right to marry’.

EDITORIAL – 5 – Bar Council of India permits foreign lawyers and law firms to practice in India

Why in news?

  • The Bar Council of India (BCI) has allowed foreign lawyers and law firms to practise law in India on a reciprocity basis.
  • In this regard, the BCI had notified the Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022.
    • BCI had earlier opposed the move.

What’s in today’s article?

  • Bar Council of India (BCI)
  • News Summary

What is Bar Council of India (BCI)?

  • The BCI is a statutory body established under the Advocates Act, 1961, and it regulates legal practice and legal education in India.
    • BCI regulates legal professional standards in India including directing the state bar councils, standardizing law education, and course framework at the universities and law colleges in India.
  • It also conducts the All India Bar Examination to grant ‘Certificate of Practice’ to advocates practicing law in India.
  • BCI also funds welfare schemes for economically weaker and physically handicapped advocates.

News Summary:

  • Recently, the BCI notified in the official gazette the Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022.

What do the new rules allow?

  • According to the Advocates Act, advocates enrolled with the Bar Council alone are entitled to practise law in India.
  • All others, such as a litigant, can appear only with the permission of the court, authority or person before whom the proceedings are pending.
  • Foreign lawyers and law firms can practice in India
    • The notification essentially allows foreign lawyers and law firms to register with BCI to practise in India if they are entitled to practise law in their home countries.
    • However, the foreign lawyers or foreign Law Firms have not been permitted to appear before any courts, tribunals or other statutory or regulatory authorities.
    • They are allowed to practise transactional work /corporate work such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property matters, drafting of contracts and other related matters on a reciprocal basis.
  • Same restrictions for Indian lawyers working with foreign law firms
    • Indian lawyers working with foreign law firms will also be subject to the same restriction of engaging only in non-litigious practice.

How have foreign law firms operated so far?

  • For over a decade, BCI was opposed to allowing foreign law firms in India.
  • Issue was raised in Bombay High Court in 2009 (Lawyers Collective v Union of India)
    • The issue of foreign law firms entering the Indian market came to courts with a challenge before the Bombay High Court in 2009.
    • The Bombay High Court held that only Indians holding Indian law degrees can practise law in India.
    • The HC also held that practice would include both litigious and non-litigious practice, so foreign firms can neither advise their clients in India nor appear in court.
  • Same issue came up before the Madras High Court in 2012 (AK Balaji v Government of India)
    • The Madras High Court also held that foreign firms cannot practise either on the litigation or non-litigation side unless they meet the requirements and rules laid down by the Advocates Act and the BCI rules.
    • However, the Madras HC created an exception. It said that there would be no ban on temporary visits or advising clients on a fly in and fly out basis.
  • Business Process Outsourcing (BPOs) arrived in India
    • By 2012, BPOs had arrived in India on a big scale and did backend work for US-based companies.
    • In the legal profession, these firms, Legal Process Outsourcing (LPOs), carried support operations for lawyers.
    • They operated in uncertain legal frameworks and the Supreme Court had to intervene to settle the law on the issue.
  • SC verdict on the issue
    • In 2018, the Supreme Court upheld both the High Court judgments disallowing foreign law firms and lawyers.
    • It passed the order with some modifications such as holding the expression fly in and fly out to cover only casual visit not amounting to practice.
    • On the issue of LPOs, the SC did not decide on their fate.
      • They argued that they were essentially BPOs that managed secretarial support, transcription services, proof-reading etc.
      • Technically, these activities do not come within the purview of the Advocates Act or the BCI Rules.

What is the significance of recent notification of BCI?

  • Legal clarity to foreign law firms that currently operate in a very limited way in India.
  • Address concerns about Flow of Foreign Direct Investment and make India a hub of International Commercial Arbitration.

EDITORIAL – 6 – Protection of Domestic Workers in India

Why in news?

In recent times, the violence against domestic workers have increased drastically. 

Who are domestic workers?

  • Domestic workers – According to International Labour Organisation, domestic workers are those workers who perform work in or for a private household or households.
  • They provide direct and indirect care services, and as such are key members of the care economy
  • Domestic work – According to ILO, domestic work refers to housework such as sweeping, cleaning utensils, washing clothes, cooking, caring of children and such other work which is carried out for an employer for remuneration.
  • Status of domestic workers in India – As of 2012, 39 lakh people were employed as domestic workers, of which at least 26 lakh were women
  • A Bengaluru-based study in 2016 found 75% of domestic workers were from Scheduled Castes, 15% from OBCs and 8% from Scheduled Tribes.
  • More than 12.6 million domestic workers in the country are minors, with 86% of them being girls.
  • Moreover, 25% of underage domestic workers were below 14 years.

What are the issues faced by domestic workers?

  • Informal in nature
  • Unpaid and underpaid
  • Have no legal contract
  • Have  ill-defined work hours
  • Face discrimination and violence, sexual harassment, and exploitation
  • Face discrimination at the hands of placement agencies (agencies recruiting domestic workers) and/or traffickers
  • Violence against domestic workers
  • Ambiguity over domestic worker’s data

What are the international measures to protect domestic worker?

  • Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) – ILO enacted Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189) in 2011 to protect domestic workers.
  • International Domestic Workers Day – June 16th, celebrating the 2011 passage of the International Labor Organization Convention 189 for Decent Work for Domestic Workers.
  • Your Work Is Important –  ILO has launched a campaign “Your Work Is Important” to generate public awarenes

The ILO Forced Labour Convention, 1930 defines forced labour as work which is “exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty” and which is “not offered voluntarily”.

What are the measures taken by Indian government?

  • There is no dedicated law or policy to regulate people working in the domestic work sector.
  • Unorganized Sector Social Security Act, 2008 – The Act provided the   first legal recognition meant to provide social welfare to workers—including domestic workers.
  • Code on Social Security, 2020 –   The code replaced the Unorganized Sector Social Security Act, 2008 and is yet to take effect.
  • Child Labour Act, 1986 – The Indian government prohibited minors from entering domestic housework in 2006, listing it as a form of “hazardous child labour”.
  • Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 – Includes domestic workers as a specific category of workers – with the house as a designated workplace.
  • Minimum Wages Act, 1948 – Only certain States such as Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil nadu and Tripura have included domestic workers in the schedule of Minimum Wages Act.
  • Domestic Workers (Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Bill in 2008 – The National Commission of Women proposed the bill.
  • Domestic Workers’ Welfare Bill 2016 – Recognised a private household as a workplace, and broader definition of “wages”.
  • Both the 2008 and 2016 bill have not been passed yet.
  • National Domestic Worker Policy – Proposed by the Labour Ministry in 2019 to regulate placement agencies and include domestic workers under existing laws.
  • India is a signatory to ILO’s 189th convention, known as Convention on the Domestic Workers but has not ratified it yet.

What is the need of the hour?

  • The placement agencies need to be regulated.
  • The government need to link up with social workers for protecting the domestic.
  • The domestic workers protection act need to be passed.
  • There is a need for authentic data for domestic workers.