SC asks centre to treat crimes against women with utmost .
The
sole and trustworthy evidence of a woman, who is a victim of a sexual offence,
is enough to find her assailant guilty, the Supreme Court has held.
“A
woman, who is the victim of sexual assault, is not an accomplice to the crime
but is a victim of another person’s lust and, therefore, her evidence need not
be tested with the same amount of suspicion as that of an accomplice,” a
three-judge Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan observed.
The
court was confirming the punishment awarded to a man found guilty under the
Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act of sexually assaulting a
13-year-old child in Tamil Nadu. The Madras High Court had upheld the trial
verdict of guilt. The verdict was based on the evidence of the victim though
her mother had turned hostile.
Justice M.R. Shah drew attention to the long train of judicial precedents from the apex court which have all held that “evidence of the victim of sexual assault is enough for conviction” in a sexualoffence case unless there are serious contradictions. Cases of violence against women should be treated with “utmost sensitivity”. Minor contradictions in her testimony should not derail an otherwise water-tight case.
“To
hold an accused guilty for commission of an offence of rape, the solitary
evidence of the prosecutrix is sufficient, provided the same inspires
confidence and appears to be absolutely trustworthy, unblemished and should be
of sterling quality,” the judgment said .
New Rules for Digital News Media.
The
Centre Announced New Rules for News Aggregators and News Agencies.
New
Rules on Digital News Media:
•
News aggregators, news agencies which supply information to digital media firms
uploading news and current affairs on websites will have to comply with the 26
% foreign investment cap. In August 2019, government approved 26 % FDI (foreign
direct investment) under Government Route for uploading/streaming of news and
Current
Affairs
through digital Media, on the lines of Print Media.
Categories:
•
Permitting 26% FDI through government route would apply to certain categories
of Indian entities:
•
Entities uploading/streaming news and current affairs on websites, apps, other
platforms.
•
News agencies which gather, write and distribute/transmit news, directly or
indirectly, to digital media entities and/or news aggregators.
•
News aggregators which, using software/web applications, aggregates news
content from various sources, such as news websites, blogs, podcasts, video
blogs, in one location.
•
The company would also have to adhere to certain conditions
•
The compliance with the FDI policy would be the responsibility of the investee
company.
•
Majority of directors on the board of the firm shall be Indian citizens.
•
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) shall be an Indian.
•
All foreign employees working for more than 60 days would need security
clearance in a year by way of appointment, contract or consultancy or in any
other capacity for functioning of the entity prior to their deployment
•
In the event of security clearance being denied for any reasons, the investee
firm will ensure that the concerned person resigns/terminated.
Benefits:
•
Address the threat of fake news and foreign influence in India`s Domestic
Affairs.
•
Provide a level playing field for domestic digital Media Companies.
•
Help create an Accountable Digital News Media Ecosystem.
Concerns:
•
There is ambiguity in Language and in interpretation of who qualifies as a news
aggregator or a news agency.
•
Increased Government Influence on Media.
Overview
of FDI:
•
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment from a party in one country
into a business or corporation in another country with the intention
ofestablishing a lasting interest.
•
There are 2 Routes through which India gets FDI:
II)
Government route: The government’s approval is mandatory.
•
FDI is an important monetary source for India’s economic development. The 1991
Economic Reforms led to a steady increase of FDI into India.
Pakistan to remain in FATF grey list.
Pakistan
will remain on the grey list of global anti-terror financing watchdog,
Financial Action Task Force, FATF as it has not been able to fulfil six out of
the 27 mandates to check terror funding. The decision was announced by the
President of FATF Marcus Pleyer.
The
FATF strongly urged Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by
February 2021. It said, Pakistan needs to do more to check terror funding,
adding that the 6 items which Pakistan is yet to address are serious deficiencies.
The
implementation plan to curb money laundering and terror financing was supposed
to be put in place by the end of 2019. However, the dead line was extended in
the wake of COVID pandemic.
The
FATF is an inter-governmental body set up in 1989 to combat money laundering,
terror financing and other related threats to the international financial
system. It currently has 39 members.
These
include two regional organizations- the European Commission and Gulf
Cooperation Council.
Eighth Edition SLINEX-20 Held.
Recently
the 8th edition of annual India – Sri Lanka bilateral naval maritime exercise,
SLINEX-20 will be held at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka from 19 to 21 October 2020.
Highlights:
•
It exemplifies the deep engagement between India and Sri Lanka which has
strengthened mutual cooperation in the maritime domain.
•
The Indian Navy will be represented by Indigenously built ASW corvette Kamorta
and Kiltanunder. Indian Navy Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and Chetak
helicopters and Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft will also be participating.
•
The Sri Lanka Navy will be represented by SLN Ships Sayura (Offshore Patrol
Vessel) and Gajabahu (Training Ship).
•
The maritime exercise will also showcase capabilities of India’s indigenously
constructed naval ships and aircraft. Surface and anti-air exercises including
weapon firing, seamanship evolutions, manoeuvres and cross deck flying
operations are planned during the exercise, which will further enhance the high
degree of interoperability already established between the two friendly navies.
•
The exercise is being conducted in a non-contact ‘at-sea-only’ format in the
backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic.
•
The 7th edition of SLINEX was conducted off Visakhapatnam in September 2019.
SLINEX series of bilateral maritime exercises were initiated in 2005.
Centre borrows funds worth 6000crores for GST
compensation.
Kicking
off its borrowing plan to meet the GST compensation shortfalls faced by States,
the Centre on Friday borrowed and transferred ₹6,000 crore to 16 States as well
as the Union Territories of Delhi and J&K.
The
government indicated that it planned to release ₹6,000 crore every week to the
States till the approved borrowings to meet the shortfall are met.At this rate,
it could take about 13 weeks or about three months to complete the envisaged
borrowing.
With
seven States including Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab yet to convey their
acceptance to the Centre’s proposed solution to meet the GST shortfalls, the
Finance Ministry has so far granted permission to raise about ₹78,500 crore to
meet the shortfall pertaining to 21 States.
The
interest on these borrowings, as well as the principal, is to be repaid from future
GST cess collections, with the GST Council extending the applicability of the
cess levied on sin or luxury goods over and above the highest GST rate of 28%,
beyond the original deadline of June 2022.
Earlier
this month, the Centre had released ₹20,000 crore to States from GST
compensation cess collections garnered so far this year.
MoEs Develops Flash Flood Guidance services for South
Asian countries.
Secretary,
Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. M. Rajeevan dedicated Flash Flood Guidance
services, first of its kind for South Asian countries namely India, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
In
his inaugural address, Dr.Rajeevan, brought out the need for enhancing the
observational network for rainfall and soil moisture to improvise the
performance of the system.
An
automated mode of dissemination is to be established with the stakeholders
along with the use of social media, so that the information reaches the
concerned disaster authorities in a timely manner.
Dr.
M. Mohapatra, Director General of IMD and Permanent Representative of India
with WMO assured the member nations that the Guidance for flash floods in the
form of Threats 6 hours in advance and Risks 24 hours in advance will be
provided by Regional Centre to National Meteorological and Hydrological
Services, National and State Disaster Management Authorities and all other
stake holders for taking necessary mitigation measures.
Anti-ulcer drug shows promise in suppressing coronavirus.
The Novel Antiviral Strategy:
•
Researchers have found that a class of existing drugs, which are currently used
in the treatment of other infectious diseases, can suppress replication of
SARS-CoV-2 and relieve Covid-19 symptoms in an animal model.
•
Their findings are published in Nature Microbiology.
•
These are metallodrugs, which consist of metal compounds.
•
Generally, metal compounds are used as anti-microbial agents, but their
antiviral activities have rarely been explored, the researchers said.
•
Their findings now provide a new therapeutic option for treatment of Covid-19.
•
The researchers screened metallodrugs and related compounds including
ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC), a commonly used anti-ulcer drug which
contains the metal bismuth.
•
They identified RBC as a potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 agent.
•
RBC targets a protein called Nsp13, which is essential for SARS-CoV-2 to
replicate.
•
The experiments showed that RBC reduces viral loads by over 1,000-fold in
SARS-CoV-2-infected cells.
•
In a golden Syrian hamster, RBC was found to suppress SARS-CoV-2 replication
and reduce viral loads by 100-fold in both the upper and lower respiratory
tracts, and to mitigate virus-associated Pneumonia.
National Authority for Recycling of Ships.
Central
Government has notified the Directorate General of Shipping as National
Authority for Recycling of Ships under the section 3 of the Recycling of Ships
Act, 2019.
National Authority for Recycling of
Ships:
•
DG Shipping will look after the sustainable development of the Ship Recycling
industry, monitoring the compliance to environment-friendly norms and safety
and health measures for the stakeholders working in the ship recycling
industry.
•
DG Shipping will be the final authority for the various approvals required by
the Ship-Recycling yard owners and State Governments.
•
Under Ship Recycling Act, 2019, India has acceded to Hong Kong Convention for
Ship Recycling under International Maritime Organization (IMO).
•
DG Shipping is a representative of India in IMO and all the conventions of IMO
are being enforced by DG Shipping.
•
National Authority of Ship Recycling will be set up in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The location of the office will benefit the Ship Recycling yard owners situated
in Alang, Gujarat which is home of Asia’s largest ship breaking and ship
recycling industry in the world.
Focus on Mains;
Road to Zero Hunger
Context:
•
Several poor countries have suffered a severe setback to their developmental
aspirations due to the COVID-19 pandemic which compounds the threats already
faced by 690 million People around the World.
Pandemic
– A Threat to Zero Hunger:
•
In India, the COVID-19 containment measures have brought out the
multi-dimensionality of India’s food challenges.
•
In this context, countries can draw inspiration from the World Food Programme
(WFP) which has been awarded with Nobel Peace Prize, 2020.
Significance
of Nobel Peace Prize to WFP:
•
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Programme (WFP) is recognition
of its role in combating hunger and malnutrition across the developing world.
•
According to the WFP, 132 million more people could become malnourished as a
consequence of the pandemic.
•
This counts for a major world-wide catastrophe and unless the conscience of the
world is aroused, we will be condemning vast pools of humanity to living in
wretchedness and deprivation.
•
It is also a warning that the novel corona virus pandemic is reversing the
substantial gains made in the fight against poverty.
•
Thus, the Nobel Prize to the WFP will hopefully nudge collective conscience
across the globe to come together and relieve this Looming Humanitarian Crisis.
Associated Challenges in Combating
Global Hunger:
•
Retreat of Multiculturalism: Challenges like Global Hunger are cross-domain but
also cross-national in character, and hence demand greater multilateral
cooperation in order to succeed. However, paradoxically as the salience of
cross-national and global challenges has significantly increased, nation states
are less willing to cooperate and collaborate in tackling them.
• Threat of Climate Change: Climate change continues to be a real and potent threat to agro-biodiversity, which may impact everything from productivity to livelihoods across food and farm systems. Intensified food production systems with excessive use of chemicals and unsustainable farming practices cause soil degradation, fast depletion of groundwater table and rapid loss of agro-biodiversity.
•
Inter-Linked Challenges: Food, energy and water security are inter-linked with
strong feedback loops. Enhancing food security may lead to diminished water and
energy security. It will also have collateral impact on Health Security.
Case of India:
•
Positive Side —Tackling of Food Crisis During Pandemic
✓ India has gone from
being a net importer to a net exporter of food grains. This strength has been
evident through the pandemic.
✓ Central and State
governments were able to distribute around 23 million tonnes from India’s large
domestic food grain reserves, during lockdown, through the Public Distribution
System (PDS).
✓ Thereby, providing
much-needed emergency assistance to families around the country.
•
Flip Side — Prevalence of Malnutrition & Threat to Food Security
✓ Prevalent Malnutrition:
Even as malnutrition in India has notably declined over the past decade, the
Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016-18 revealed that over 40 million
children are chronically malnourished, and more than half of Indian women aged
15-49 years are anaemic.
✓ Threat to Food
Security: India is dealing innovatively with climate change through programs
like the development of drought and flood tolerant seed varieties, weather
based agricultural advisories, promotion of millets, and small-scale irrigation
etc.
However,
this year, India witnessed how climate-related shocks made it difficult for
farmers to deal with pest and locust attacks, as well as Floods and Cyclones.
✓ Further, these
challenges multiply with an increase in fragmentation of landholdings.
Way
Forward:
•
Improving Agricultural Productivity: Agricultural productivity has improved significantly
in recent decades, yet more than two billion people globally still lack access
to sufficient, nutritious and safe food. Therefore, to achieve zero hunger by
2030 (SDG 2), there is a need for Collaboration among Global Players.
•
Need for Global Cooperation: Global solidarity is needed to help all
populations and especially the most vulnerable, to recover from the crisis, and
to make food systems more resilient and robust. Thus, there is a need to
mobilise a global fund on the lines of the Green Climate Fund of UNFCCC.
•
Adoption of Food System Approach: Food System Approach is a framework that
includes every aspect of feeding and nourishing people from growing, harvesting
and processing to packaging, transporting, marketing and consuming food. To be
sustainable, a food system must provide enough nutritious food for all without
compromising feeding Future Generations.
China passes new law Restricting Sensitive Exports.
The
law, which will apply to all companies in China, was passed by the National
People’s Congress Standing Committee and will take effect on December 1.
•
Under the law, China can take reciprocal measures toward countries or regions
that abuse export controls and threaten its national security and interests.
•
Export controls under the law will apply to civilian, military and nuclear
products, as well as goods, technologies and services related to national
security. A list of controlled items will be published in a timely manner in
conjunction with relevant departments, according to the law.
•
The new law allows Beijing to retaliate against the U.S., which in recent
months has attempted to block Chinese technology firms such as
telecommunications gear supplier Huawei, Bytedance’s
•
Companies and individuals who endanger national security by breaching the new
export control law, including those outside of China, could face criminal
charges.
•
Violations of the law, such as exporting items without a permit, could result
in fines of 5 million Yuan ($746,500), or up to 20 times the business value of
the illegal transaction.
•
The new law adds to the growing uncertainty of Bytedance’s deal to sell its
video app TikTok to U.S. firm Oracle Corp.
•
President Donald Trump had earlier ordered Bytedance to sell its U.S.
operations of TikTok to an American firm or face a block in the country.
•
The new export control laws add to China’s growing regulatory toolkit that
allows it to take action against countries such as the U.S.
Why this Move?
•
The economic relationship between Beijing and Washington has been roiled by
Trump's unprecedented campaign of tariffs, threats of bans and sanctions on
Chinese tech firms.
•
With Trump facing a tough re-election campaign ahead of polls next month, US
officials have described measures against China as national security safeguards
-- prompting a backlash from Beijing.
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