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Current
Affairs 07-12-2017
Uniform
Civil Code
Context: Observing that the Uniform Civil Code cannot be
violative of any provision of the constitution, the Law Commission has said that
it is planning to recommend religion-wise “piece meal” amendments to family
laws if it finds it difficult to come out with a composite uniform civil code.
The commission is in the process of segregating the nearly 45,000 suggestions
it has received on its questionnaire on the uniform civil code.
Background:
Amid a raging debate on uniform civil code, the law panel had in October last year sought public views on the subject to revise and reform family laws, saying the aim is to address social injustice rather than to do away with the plurality of laws. In an appeal issued then, the commission had said the objective behind the endeavor is to address discrimination against vulnerable groups and harmonize various cultural practices.
What is uniform civil code?
Uniform civil Code is a proposal to have a generic set of
governing laws for every citizen without taking into consideration the
religion.
What the
constitution says?
Article 44 of the Constitution says that there should be
a Uniform Civil Code. According to this article, “The State shall endeavor to
secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of
India”. Since the Directive Principles are only guidelines, it is not mandatory
to use them.
India
needs a Uniform Civil Code for the following reasons:
§
A secular republic
needs a common law for all citizens rather than differentiated rules based on
religious practices.
§
Another reason why
a uniform civil code is needed is gender justice. The rights of women are
usually limited under religious law, be it Hindu or Muslim. The practice of
triple talaq is a classic example. Many practices governed by religious
tradition are at odds with the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Indian
Constitution.
§ Courts have also often said in their judgements that the government should move towards a uniform civil code including the judgement in the Shah Bano case.
Salient features of
Indian Society, Diversity of India.
Minority
tag for Hindus: NCM forms committee
The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has formed a three-member
committee to look into whether Hindus should get minority status in eight
states where they are not the dominant religious group. The committee will
submit a report on this in three months.
Background:
Hindus are in a minority in Lakshadweep (2.5%), Mizoram
(2.75), Nagaland (8.75), Meghalaya (11.53), J&K (28.44), Arunachal Pradesh
(29) Manipur (31.39) and Punjab (38.4). It is argued that in the absence of the
“minority” tag, benefits meant for the minority communities were being given
away to majority community in each state in an illegal and arbitrary manner.
About NCM:
The Union Government set up the National Commission for
Minorities (NCM) under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Six
religious communities, viz; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Zoroastrians
(Parsis) and Jains have been notified in Gazette of India as minority
communities by the Union Government all over India. Original notification of
1993 was for Five religious communities Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians
and Muslims.
The NCM adheres to the United Nations Declaration of 18
December 1992 which states that
“States shall protect the existence of the National or Ethnic, Cultural,
Religious and Linguistic identity of minorities within their respective
territories and encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.”
Welfare schemes for vulnerable
sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of
these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the
protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
Courts can turn down child repatriation, says Supreme Court
A recent Supreme Court judgment has accorded courts in
India unlimited discretion to determine which parent should have the custody of
minor children involved in international parental child abduction. The verdict
holds that Indian courts can decline the relief of repatriation of a child to
the parent living abroad even if a foreign court, located in the country from where
the child was removed, has already passed orders for the child’s repatriation.
The judgment observed that welfare of the child came
first over the repatriation order of the foreign court as India was not a
signatory to the Hague Convention of “The Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction”.
Background:
The judgment came in a case where the father took the
younger of the two sons from his wife’s custody in the United States and came
to India. The mother’s version was that he had taken the boy on the pretext of
visiting the neighbourhood mall. A U.S. Court upheld her lawful custody and
ordered the man to return his son to his wife.
What is
Inter-country parental child abduction?
Inter-country parental child abduction is a situation
that is attained when one parent takes a child or children to a foreign country
to prevent the other parent from seeking custody of the child.
Indian
scenario:
India’s case-load (regarding IPCA) is second largest in
the United States which is followed by Mexico. At least 90 children from 80
Indian-American families were affected by separating parents and the legal
problems involved. As more and more Indians are studying and working in the
U.S, such cases are growing in number and it is necessary to get a better
mechanism to deal with this.
About
Hague Abduction Convention:
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction or Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral
treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH)
that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted
by a parent from one member country to another. The Convention entered into
force between the signatories on 1 December 1983.
§
The Convention was
drafted to ensure the prompt return of children who have been abducted from
their country of habitual residence or wrongfully retained in a contracting
state not their country of habitual residence.
§
The primary
intention of the Convention is to preserve whatever status quo child custody
arrangement existed immediately before an alleged wrongful removal or retention
thereby deterring a parent from crossing international boundaries in search of
a more sympathetic court.
§
The Convention
applies only to children under the age of 16.
Effect of policies and politics of developed and
developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
US recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
In a major announcement, United States President Donald
Trump has officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel night and
has directed the State Department to initiate the process of moving the
American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which many Arab leaders warn can
trigger an upheaval in the already volatile Middle East. Israel considers the
“complete and united Jerusalem” its capital, but Palestinians claim East
Jerusalem for the capital of their future state.
What is the international status of Jerusalem?
The walled Old City of Jerusalem, at just one square
kilometer, is home to sites that are among the holiest in Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam. Because of its unique cultural and religious
significance, the UN General Assembly set aside Jerusalem to be a corpus
separatum, or separated body, under UN trusteeship when it voted in 1947 to
divide the British mandate of Palestine into two states, an Arab one and a
Jewish one.
That position remained the international consensus even
after the partition plan itself was preempted by Israel’s declaration of
independence in 1948 and the subsequent invasion by Arab powers. An armistice
the following year divided the mandate along what has become known as the Green
Line, which cuts through the middle of Jerusalem. Israel established its seat
of government in the western half of the city, while, across a no man’s land
lined with barbed wire, Jordan took control of the city’s eastern half,
including the Old City.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in 1967 and subsequently
annexed it, redrawing its municipal borders to include surrounding Arab
villages. In 1980, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, designated the united city
as Israel’s capital. By contrast, the West Bank, also captured in 1967, was not
annexed; it remains under military occupation and Palestinians have partial
self-government there, through the Palestinian Authority (PA). While Israel
controls the city, the Oslo Accords, signed by Israel and the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993, stipulated that Jerusalem’s disposition
would only be decided on in permanent-status negotiations between the parties.
Other major issues under negotiation concern refugees’ right of return,
security arrangements, borders, and mutual recognition.
Who lives in Jerusalem?
Jerusalem is home to nearly one million residents. West
Jerusalem’s population of some 330,000 is almost entirely Jewish. The eastern
half of the city, which comprises the Old City, Palestinian neighborhoods, and
refugee camps, along with some newer Jewish settlements, is home to about
320,000 Arabs and 212,000 Jews. Unlike Palestinians who live elsewhere in
Israel, most Palestinian East Jerusalemites have permanent residency, but not
citizenship, since they do not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the city.
How have
other countries reacted?
The Islamic world is outraged. Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas has warned of “dangerous consequences”, Jordan’s King Abdullah II
and Saudi King Salman have cautioned the US, Turkey has threatened to cut ties
with Israel, Iran has declared that “the Palestinian nation will achieve
victory”, China has said it “could sharpen regional conflict”, Egypt, the Arab
League and several European nations have expressed grave reservations, and the
Pope has pleaded for status quo. Hamas has threatened an intifada, and
Hezbollah could react aggressively. India, friends with both Palestine and
Israel, could face a quandary.
Way
ahead:
Trump’s announcement is likely to compound a broader
crisis of confidence among Palestinians that President Mahmoud Abbas, who has
been in office for many years beyond his electoral mandate, can deliver
statehood. Fatah and Hamas have called for protest.
Important International
institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.
Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG) membership
Context:
Even as China continues to stall India’s Nuclear
Suppliers Group (NSG)
membership, Russia has come out strongly in support of India saying that
India’s application cannot be “interlinked” with that of Pakistan and that
Moscow is discussing the issue with Beijing at different levels.
China has favoured a criteria-based approach for
expansion of the 48-member group, which controls international nuclear
commerce, instead of one based on merit, in what India sees an attempt to draw
a false equivalence between India’s case and Pakistan’s.
What is NSG?
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational body
concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and
re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development
and by improving safeguards and protection on existing materials.
Interestingly, the NSG was set up in 1974 as a reaction to India’s nuclear
tests to stop what it called the misuse of nuclear material meant for peaceful
purposes.
Background:
India sought membership of the NSG in 2008, but its
application hasn’t been decided on, primarily because signing the NPT or other
nuclear moratoriums on testing is a pre-requisite. However, India has received
a special waiver to conduct nuclear trade with all nuclear exporters.
India, Pakistan, Israel and South Sudan are among the
four UN member states which have not signed the NPT, the international pact
aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
Why India
should be granted NSG membership?
In this game of developing nuclear weapons India has not
indulged in any dubious/clandestine activity and its programme has been
developed solely by years of hard work indigenously. By this single act India
has shown that developing a credible nuclear weapons programme through honest
and civilian means is possible for any country having high-level scientific
manpower and materials.
Besides, by declaring a voluntary moratorium on further
underground nuclear tests India has effectively acted in sense and spirit of
NPT/CTBT provisions. By steering its programme only as a minimum deterrence and
pledging NFU unless faced with an attack of weapons of mass destruction (WMD),
India has established itself as a responsible nuclear state.
Benefits associated with NSG membership- Once
admitted, an NSG member state gets:
§
Timely information
on nuclear matters.
§
Contributes by way
of information.
§
Has confirmed
credentials.
§
Can act as an
instrument of harmonization and coordination.
§
Is part of a very
transparent process.
Pollution.
UNICEF
report on air pollution
The UNICEF has released the report on air pollution
titled- ‘Danger in the air: How air pollution can affect brain
development in young children’. The report has once again set alarm bells
ringing about high levels of air pollution and its likely impact on brain
development among infants.
Highlights of the report:
§
Nearly 17 million infants
worldwide live in areas where outdoor air pollution is at least six times
higher than international limits. These babies are at a risk of suffering brain
damage. Air pollution-related ailments has led to the deaths of over 920,000
children under the age of five every year.
§
The threat is much
higher in Asia. Nearly 16 million infants belong to Asia. Moreover, 75% of them
live in the Indian subcontinent, which has three of the world’s 10 most
populations countries in the world — India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In fact,
India topped the list of countries with babies at risk, followed by China, the
most populated country in the world.
§
Focusing on the
adverse effect on the development of brain among infants, the UNICEF report has
found a direct relationship between exposure to air pollution and cognitive
outcomes. Affected infants faced problems of low verbal and nonverbal IQ and
memory, reduced test scores, gradepoint averages among school children, along
with neurological behavioral issues.
§
As per the report,
Ultrafine pollution particles (particulate matter that is equal or less than
2.5 microns in diameter) pose an especially high risk because they can more
easily enter the blood stream and travel through the body to the brain.
§
The report also
notes that harmful particles from magnetite, a form of an ore, is a leading
cause for pollution in urban areas. As its particles are small, they easily
penetrate humans through olfactory nerves and the gut. Magnetite nano particles
are highly toxic to the brain due to their magnetic charge and their ability to
help create oxidative stress – which is often the cause of neurodegenerative
diseases.
§
The report said
that poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a kind of pollutants formed from
fossil fuel combustion is responsible for loss of or damage to white matter in
infant brains. As PAHs are commonly found in areas of high automobile traffic,
the UNICEF report believed that urbanisation without adequate protection and
pollution reduction measures will put more children at risk.
Solutions offered by the UNICEF:
§
The UNICEF report
urged citizens, especially in the developing world — South Asia and China — to
be aware of the quality of air they breathe, and protect children from exposure
to unhealthy air through protective masks or air filtration systems.
§
Putting the onus
of safety on the parents, the report urged them to provide their children with
healthy and balanced diets to mitigate the threat from air pollution. But while
parents can provide the first line of defence to vulnerable children, the
UNICEF report also urged macro-level measures to tackle the menace of air
pollution.
§
In an apparent
signal to municipal and political authorities to take action against the issue,
the report also said that reducing air pollution means replacing fossil fuel
combustion with cleaner, renewable sources of energy, including appropriate use
of solar, wind and thermal sources.
§ The report also urged modern-day town planners to focus on creating new models of urbanisation, which will take care of the rising pollution levels. Rapidly urbanising areas have an opportunity to bypass some of the older planning models and take advantage of sustainable, cleaner innovations. They can also lay the right foundations from the onset.
Facts for Prelims:
OP
Sahayam:
What is it? It is an Indian Navy exercise for undertaking
Search and Rescue (SAR) and providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster
relief (HADR) material support, over Southeast Arabian Sea and L& M islands
in the aftermath of Very Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘OCKHI’.
Current Affairs
·
Union Health
Ministry and Rotary India sign MoU for achieving immunization target on - 6th
December 2017
·
MoU signed for
enhanced cooperation in health sector between India and - Cuba
·
India
successfully tests surface to air missile ‘AKASH’ on - 5th December 2017
·
Charges on debit
card transactions rationalised by - RBI
·
Narendra Modi is
most tweeted about world leader after Trump on - 5th December 2017
·
Indian,
Italy sign new MoU for cooperation in Agriculture and Phytosanitary issues on -
6th December 2017
·
Current Affairs
Union Health Ministry and Rotary India sign MoU for
achieving immunization target on - 6th December 2017.
The Union
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Rotary India on 6th December 2017
signed a MoU for intensive practices towards attaining the immunization target.
The MoU was signed by Vandana Gurnani, Joint Secretary and Deepak Kapur,
Chairman of Rotary International India National Polio Plus.
Highlights of
the MoU
·
The MoU will
supply support and speed-up the efforts under Polio Eradication Program,
Routine Immunization including Mission Indradhanush and Intensified Mission
Indradhanush.
·
Both the sides
will associated for social mobilization of beneficiaries, mainly in urban slums
and in underserved areas having no mobilizes.
·
The MoU will
help aid the members of NCC, NYK and NSS in their efforts for community mobilization
through incentives including refreshments and mementoes during the meetings.
·
It will require
private practitioners and local leaders for Polio Eradication Program, Regular
Immunization like Mission Indradhanush, Intensified Mission Indradhanush and
Measles-Rubella.
More about
Rotary International India National PolioPlus Committee
·
In 1988, the
Rotary International formed a committee known as the India National PolioPlus
Society for polio eradication efforts in the Nation.
·
Located in
Delhi, the Committee arranges large teams of committed Rotary volunteers who
help in vaccine supply to infants and children and safeguard social
mobilization around the cause.
·
It serves in
close collaboration with the Indian government, the WHO, the UNICEF and other organizations
including the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
MoU
signed for enhanced cooperation in health sector between India and - Cuba
The MoU is
significant for interchanges in the health area and to develop institutional
structure for cooperation in the health sector between the two Nations.
One potential recognized area of cooperation is pharmaceutical and
biotechnology, as Cuba has made remarkable steps in both the fields.
Objective of the MoU
·
The main
objective of the MoU is to establish a complete inter-ministerial and
inter-institutional cooperation between the two nations in the health sector.
·
This is focused
to be done by combining the technical, scientific, and financial and HR with
the ultimate aim of upgrading the quality and reach of human, material and
infrastructural schemes involved in health care, medical education and training
and research in both Nations.
·
A combine
Working Group will be formed for the implementation of the MoU.
·
·
India
successfully tests surface to air missile ‘AKASH’ on -5thDecember 2017
India carried
out successful test launch of land to air missile ‘AKASH’ with indigenous radio
frequency seeker on 5th December 2017. The missile was targeted from Launch
Complex-III at ITR Chandipur.
The radars, telemetry and electro-optical systems along with coast have tracked
and monitored all the technical parameters of the missile. The missile would
soon be initiated into the Indian army as Short Range Surface to Air Missile.
Significance-
This is the 1st Surface to Air Missile with indigenous seeker that has been
tested.
With the achievement, India has attained the capability of manufacturing any
type of Surface to Air Missile.
More about Akash Missile-
·
It is a
medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile defense system constructed by the
Defense Research and Development Organization under Integrated Guided-Missile
Development Program.
·
It is multi
target, all directional and all weather air-defense missile system including
surveillance and tracking radars for defending vulnerable sectors against
medium range air targets piercing from low, medium and high altitudes.
·
The missile
system can target aircraft up to 30 km away, at height up to 18,000 m.
·
It has the
ability to neutralize flying targets like fighter jets, cruise missiles and
air-to-surface missiles along with ballistic missiles.
·
The missile
carries a 60 kg high-explosive, pre-fragmented warhead with a proximity fuse.
·
The Akash system
is fully mobile and proficient of protecting a moving convoy of vehicles.
·
The launch
platform has been integrated with both wheeled and tracked motor-vehicles.
·
The system gives
air defense missile coverage for an area of 2,000 km.
Narendra Modi is most tweeted about world leader after
Trump on - 5th December 2017
According to the
figures published by Twitter on 5th December 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has came out as the most tweeted about world leader after US President Donald
Trump present year.
The social site explained that Modi with 37.5 million fans is the 2nd most
tweeted about world leader, after Donald Trump who has 44.1 million fans.
Other world leaders in the top-10 list are Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro,
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Argentina's President Mauricio Macri,
British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macro, Mexican
President Enrique Pena Nieto, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the
President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo.
Among the most-liked tweets of 2017, the one that got the much likes belonged
to earlier US President Barack Obama. Obama’s twitter account has approximately
97.6 million fans; making him the 3rd most followed human being on Twitter,
after Justin Bieber and Katy Perry.
On the other side, not even a single tweet of Trump appeared as the top-10 of
either most-retweeted posts or most-liked in 2017.
Charges
on debit card transactions rationalised by - RBI
The RBI, In
order to facilitate digital payments, came out with differentiated merchant
discount rates for debit card spending, advising separate caps for small and
big traders.
The shift is focused at giving a support to the digital payments in the nation,
as the government is not finding any expected result in spite of giving a major
thrust to digital transactions.
It is believed that introduction of differentiated MDR will aid increase the
acceptance of debit card usage and it will also decrease the cost of
transactions for small traders.
Highlights of RBI decision-
·
As per the
latest notification, MDR charges for small traders with a yearly turnover of up
to Rs 20 lakh has been fixed at 0.40% with a cap of 200 rupees for each
transaction by debit cards through Point of Sale machines or online payments.
·
However, the
charge will be 0.30% subject to a cap of 200 rupees for each transaction for
receiving payments via QR code based payments.
·
If the annual
turnover of a merchant is more than Rs 20 lakh, 0.90% MDR charges would be
applicable with a cap of Rs 1000 for each payment. And the charges will be 0.80
percent with a same cap if the transaction is through QR code.
·
These directions
will come into effect from January 1st 2018 onwards, and it would be the
management of the banks to make sure the MDR imposed on the merchant does not
go above the recommended cap.
·
Objectives of these guidelines-
According to the RBI, rationalization of the charges is being undertaken with a view to achieving the small objectives of boosting debit card acceptance by a whole set of merchants, especially small traders, and ensuring maintenance of the business for the entities involved.
Indian, Italy sign new MoU for cooperation in Agriculture
and Phytosanitary issues on - 6th December 2018
India and Italy
signed a new MoU for collaboration in Agriculture and Phytosanitary matters on
6th December 2017. The agreement will replace the earlier signed MoU in 2017.
MoU was signed by Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Radha Mohan
Singh and the visiting Italian Minister for Agriculture Food and Forestry
Policies, H E Maurizio Martina.
Significance
·
India and Italy
enjoy traditionally friendly and cordial relationships.
·
India connects
great importance to the development of bilateral ties between the 2 Nations and
focuses to further expand and strengthen ties between the 2 nations in various
sectors including in the Agriculture area.
·
Objective of the MoU
·
The agreement
basically focuses to provide a good structure for cooperation in the area of
agriculture and phytosanitary matters.
· Few potential areas for cooperation are agriculture machinery, institutional linkages, precision farming, training, investment, cattle breeding and fisheries.
Context:
As the world encounters crime and
criminality of a more and more complicated nature, as new kinds of crime
surface and become the norm, record-keeping must be seen to keep pace with the
changes. Adequate and up-to-date records on crime are necessary to tackle crime
effectively.
Low conviction rates and a lack of a
lawful definition of crime mark criminal administration in India.
The National Crime Records Bureau, which comes under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, has released its annual publication, “Crime in India 2016”. The NCRB is responsible for the collation of annual data on crime in the country
‘Crime
in India’ report, 2016
The latest report is the 64th edition
of “Crime in India”, which has been published since 1953. The annual report provides
information on all the FIRs registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as
well as under Special and
Local Laws (SLL) by the police in all of
India’s states and Union territories. Information is also provided on the
disposal of the FIRs registered.
Latest report from NCRB has several
additions – new entities, new accounting, new chapters, and new kinds of crime
and/or new records on crimes hitherto undocumented in the report.
Together, these new features appear to show that an effort has been made, under the current administration, to evolve, expand and prioritise effective and adequate record-keeping, which will only help to bring India closer to global best practices in maintaining criminal and crime records.
What’s
New in ‘Crime in India 2016’?
City-Wise
Data
For the first time, city-wise incidence of
crimes and disposal for 19 metropolitan cities having a population above 2
million) has been included under different chapters like Crime against Women,
Cyber Crimes and Economic Crimes. The analysis itself shows that Delhi
accounted for 38.8% of total IPC crimes reported in the cities, followed by
Bengaluru (8.9%) and Mumbai (7.7%).
Why
is City-Wise Crime Data Necessary?
India is in the middle of rapid and
large-scale urbanisation. Even as more and more people tend to live in India’s
cities – based on both past and present migration — semi-urban and rural areas
are also undergoing urbanisation, often without movement of people. The net
result is that more and more Indians are living, or beginning to live, in urban
areas.
Now, with rising populations and the
increasing importance of metropolitan cities, it is necessary to collect crime
data specific to a particular city.
§ Such data incentivises city
administrations to make a sense of their law and order situation.
§ It also helps them strategize
effectively for the maintenance of the same.
§ Nationally collating city-wise crime data
would offer lessons to urban law-keeping authorities across the country that can also
immediately learn from relevant examples elsewhere.
§ It further creates a healthy
competition among metropolitan cities to fare better in future records. For
instance, if Delhi has high crime statistics, it can take its cue from specific
crimes, such as crime against women, where it fares poorly and
frame its strategy accordingly.
Seizure
of Arms, Ammunitions, Drugs & Currency
It is also for the first time that
statistics on the seizure of arms, ammunition, drugs and currency by the
CAPFs/CPOs (Assam Rifles, CISF, BSF, CRPF, NIA and SSB) have been included.
§ It is extremely important to collate data
on arms and ammunitions to curb insurgency, gun violence, and other
arms-related crimes.
§ The fact is that, gun-running and arms
smuggling is a very big problem globally.
§ Added to that, the persistence of terror
and terror-related treats make it imperative for security forces and
law-keepers to have data on arms at their disposal.
New
Chapter on Missing Persons
A new chapter on Missing Persons
& Children has been included in the “Crime in India 2016”. A total
of 5, 49,008 individuals (2, 34,334 male and 3, 14,674 female) were reported
missing in 2016.
§ This data is available state-wise, which
makes it easier for the administration to target specific states and counter
problems like human trafficking, kidnapping, etc.
§ Also, there was a Supreme Court direction
regarding data on “missing (and traced) persons and children”. This, too, has
been met in the latest NCRB report.
Analysis
of “Crime in India 2016” report
“Crime in India 2016” presents a
dismal picture of the key performance statistic with only 47% convictions in
Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes at the national level.
Reporting
and recording
§ Delhi provides an interesting case study,
where there is no political interference and the Police Commissioner reports to
the Lieutenant Governor, and not the Chief Minister.
§ With a population smaller than Mumbai, it
has two times the number of police stations. Yet, in Delhi, while 1, 90,876
persons were sent to trial last year, there were only 9,837 IPC convictions in
the year. In Delhi only 58% of those arrested were charge sheeted, while in
Mumbai, more persons were charge sheeted than were arrested for IPC crimes.
§ The key statistic of police performance is
not merely correct reporting and recording but charge sheets and convictions,
as this impact on criminal behaviour.
DNA
testing
§ DNA testing, which can secure higher
conviction rates, is, inexplicably, a low priority.
§ Delays in this crucial evidence, which
plays an important factor in acquittals, are a setback as samples deteriorate
with time.
No
of Crimes reported
§ Delhi accounts for 38% of the total crime
under the IPC.
§ Delhi accounts for five times the IPC
crime when compared with Mumbai, and 33% of violent crime in metros when
compared with 13% in Mumbai.
§ Crime prevention is affected by conviction
rate, beat patrolling, and by the police and community working together.
Unresolved
issues
There is a need to distinguish between
accountability and operational responsibility with focus on clear performance
measures. In addition to those related to roles and responsibilities, there are
also systemic issues.
§ Despite the recommendations of Law
Commissions and the Supreme Court, as well going by experience in the developed
world, we do not have separate wings for investigation of crime and for
law and order.
§ Related to this reform is the debate
whether the police are a functional “service” based on skills of investigation
or a “force” oriented towards “effect” which on command will operate regardless
of the cost to itself or the social fabric.
§ Similarly, in most countries, the
prosecutor, and not the police, has discretion on whether to press charges as
they involve adjudication. Years ago, the Law Commission had suggested
a directorate of prosecution independent of the police to guide investigation.
§ There is still controversy over which
kinds of conduct are best controlled by the application of criminal law and
which kinds by other means.
§ Cases related to liquor and motor vehicles
account for more than a third of all cases.
§ The criminal justice system may be limited
to crimes under the IPC, while enforcement of administrative law and social
legislation requires a different approach involving summary trials, changing
societal attitudes and modes of behaviour.
§ The effectiveness of prisons is now being questioned.
§ Nearly two-thirds of the prison population
is awaiting trial and half the number of under trials is normally acquitted.
§ Over 80% of prisoners are sentenced to
terms less than three months, 40% are under 30 years old, semi-literate and
convicted under special and local acts.
§ Criminologists now feel that short-term
sentences expose such prisoners to criminal indoctrination in jail and social
condemnation on release, with a strong case for greater reliance on
compounding, probation and parole.
Conclusion
Expanded crime records have been a
necessity for India, with its vast population and size. It was also necessary
as we inhabit a world witnessing increasingly complex kinds of crime.
The expansion itself points at an evolving
idea of crime and in record-keeping vis-à-vis crime. If law and order agencies
as well as security forces are to keep apace crime and criminals and bring them
to book, they must have the right intellectual and instrumental resources.
A large part of that is fulfilled by
improved record-keeping, which helps authorities – as well as ordinary citizens
– understand better the crime scene and tackle the same, even as they adapt
their behavioural patterns accordingly.
To maintain law and order and defeat
crime, first of all, crime must be known in its totality to the extent
possible. It is encouraging to see steps being taken towards this as evidenced
in “Crime in India 2016”.
One liners
Repo Rate
_xed by RBI in its 5th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review (MPR) 2017-18 - 6.0
per cent
• First
state to endorse Triple Talaq Draft Bill -
Uttar Pradesh
• The
International Children’s Peace Prize 2017 was conferred upon - Mohamad Al Jounde
• Operation
launched recently to rescue the people aected by Ockhi
Cyclone in India – Operation Synergy
• This country was banned by IOC from Winter Olympics
in Pyeongchang – Russia
India
signed MoU on cooperation in Health Sector recently with - Cuba
• This
country’s airline, Avior Airlines, has been banned from European Union skies - Venezuela
• Russia
has been banned from competing at next year’s Winter Olympic Games, which will
be held in - Pyeongchang
• China has
temporarily halted funding of road projects in - Pakistan
• This
state government has signed a MoU with IT giant Hewlett Packard to provide tele-medicine
facilities in the remote areas of the state – Uttarakhand
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