Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Mains level: Paper 2- Provisions for persons with disability
Legal provisions not turning into reality through their implementation adds to the difficulties faced by persons with disabilities. The article deals with the idea of enabling persons with disability to contribute to society.
Context
- December 3 is the annual International Day of Persons with Disabilities, it is also a stark reminder of how far we in India need to go in meeting the needs of the disabled.
Lack of implementation of provisions
- The World Bank estimates that there may be well over 40 million Indians living with disabilities.
- The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act was passed in 2016 but our country is still largely devoid of ramps on its footpaths or government buildings.
- The law promises them equality of opportunity and accessibility. Our practices deny them what the law promises.
Challenges faced by persons with disabilities
- Indians with disabilities are far more likely to suffer from poor social and economic development.
- 45 per cent of this population is illiterate, making it difficult for them to build better, more fulfilled lives.
- This is compounded by the community’s lack of political representation:
- In our seven decades of independence, we have had just four parliamentarians and six state assembly members who suffer from visible disabilities.
- This lack of representation, and these general attitudes, translate directly into policy that undermines the well-being of people with disabilities.
- Last year, for example, the government inexplicably decided to depart from convention and render people suffering from cerebral palsy ineligible for the Indian Foreign Service.
Initiatives and steps taken by the government
- The government has had some admirable initiatives to improve the lot of Indians with disabilities, such as the ADIP scheme for improving access to disability aids.
- The Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan, or Accessible India Campaign, has aimed to make public transport, buildings and websites more accessible.
- In 2017, the Mental Healthcare Act recognised and respected the agency of persons with mental-health conditions, expanding the presence of mental-health establishments across the country, restricted the harmful use of electroshock therapy, clarified the mental-health responsibilities of state agencies such as the police, and effectively decriminalised attempted suicide.
- In 2007, the UN passed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
- India is a state party to the convention.
Conclusion
It is critical that the government work with civil society and individuals with disabilities to craft an India where everyone feels welcome and treated with respect, regardless of their disabilities. Only then can we welcome the next International Day of Persons with Disabilities without a sense of shame.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Freedom of conscience and conversion to other religion
The U.P. government’s ordinance seeking the prevention of illegal conversion has several provisions that go against the Constitution and restricts the freedom of conscience.
Objective of the ordinance
- The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 seeks to prevent “love jihad” in the state
- The ordinance makes it a criminal offence for a person to convert another by coercion, misrepresentation, fraud etc, which is unobjectionable.
- A marriage solemnised for the “sole purpose” of unlawfully converting the bride or the groom is required to be declared void by the competent court.
- There can be no objection to ordinance’s premise that converting somebody by fraud or misrepresentation is wrong.
- In fact, though the members of the Constituent Assembly included the right to “propagate” one’s religion they considered it a “rather obvious doctrine” that this would not include forcible conversions.
- However, the UP ordinance goes beyond this principle and does something quite strange.
Unconstitutional provisions and issues with the ordinance
1) Lack of clarity
- The ordinance makes it a criminal offence to convert a person by offering her an “allurement”.
- The term “allurement” is defined very broadly, to include even providing a gift to the person who is sought to be converted.
- The use of the words “or otherwise” in the definition of allurement is puzzling.
- The essential prerequisite of a criminal law is that it has to be precise.
- A person cannot be put behind bars for doing something that a penal law does not clearly and unequivocally prohibit.
- On this touchstone, the definition of “allurement” leaves much to be desired.
2) Reconversion to a person’s previous religion is not illegal
- It says that “reconversion” to a person’s previous religion is not illegal, even if it is vitiated by fraud, force, allurement, misrepresentation and so on.
- In other words, if a person converts from Religion A to Religion B of her own volition, and is then forced to reconvert back to Religion A against her will, this will not constitute “conversion” under the ordinance at all.
3) Unfairly treating all women in the same way
- Illegal conversion under the ordinance attracts a punishment of 1-5 years in prison.
- However, if the victim of the illegal conversion is a minor, a member of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or, strangely, a woman, the punishment is doubled — at 2-10 years behind bars.
- In other words, it does not matter who the woman is, if somebody converts her against her will, the punishment can go up to 10 years in prison.
- The ordinance unfairly paints all women with the same brush — assuming that all women are gullible, vulnerable and especially susceptible to illegal conversion.
4) Buden of proof
- The burden of proof in criminal cases is on the prosecution, and the presumption is that a person accused of committing an offence is innocent until proven guilty.
- The Uttar Pradesh ordinance turns this rule on its head.
- Every religious conversion is presumed to be illegal.
- The burden is on the person carrying out the conversion to prove that it is not illegal.
- The offence of illegal conversion is also “cognisable” and “non-bailable”, meaning that a police officer can arrest an accused without a warrant, and the accused may or may not be released on bail, at the discretion of the court.
Time to revisit the past judgement
- In Rev Stainislaus v State of Madhya Pradesh (1977), the Supreme Court held that the fundamental right to “propagate” religion does not include the right to convert a person to another religion.
- In that case, the court had upheld anti-conversion statutes enacted by the states of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
Conclusion
The ordinance puts an incredible chilling effect on the freedom of conscience and state must reconsider it.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Factors responsible for AMR
Mains level: Paper 3- Link between pollution and AMR
Rapidly rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses the threat of the next health crisis if not addressed with urgency. The article examines the severity of the issue.
The severity of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
- Globally, about 35% of common human infections have become resistant to available medicines.
- About 700,000 people die every year because available antimicrobial drugs — antibiotics, antivirals, antiparasitic and antifungals — have become less effective at combating pathogens.
- Resistance to second- and third-line antibiotics — the last lines of defence against some common diseases — are projected to almost double between 2005 and 2030.
- In India, the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world, this is a serious problem.
Responsible factors
- Microorganisms develop resistance to antimicrobial agents as a natural defence mechanism.
- Human activity has significantly accelerated the process.
- The misuse and overuse of antimicrobials for humans.
- Livestock and agriculture but other factors also contribute.
Research points to role of environment and pollution
- Once consumed, up to 80% of antibiotic drugs are excreted un-metabolised, along with resistant bacteria.
- Their release in effluents from households and health and pharmaceutical facilities, and agricultural run-off, is propagating resistant microorganisms.
- Wastewater treatment facilities are unable to remove all antibiotics and resistant bacteria.
- In India, there is capacity to treat only about 37% of the sewage generated annually.
- Water, then, may be a major mode for the spread of AMR, especially in places with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
- Wildlife that comes into contact with discharge containing antimicrobials can also become colonised with drug-resistant organisms.
Initiative to tackle the AMR
- The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) identified antimicrobial resistance as one of six emerging issues of environmental concern in its 2017 Frontiers Report.
- UN agencies are working together to develop the One Health AMR Global Action Plan (GAP) that addresses the issue in human, animal, and plant health and food and environment sectors.
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) issued draft standards which set limits for residues of 121 antibiotics in treated effluents from drug production units.
- The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and MoEF&CC constituted the inter-ministerial Steering Committee on Environment and Health, with representation from WHO and UNEP.
Way forward
- The Centre and State governments in India can strengthen the environmental dimensions of their plans to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
- It is important to promote measures that address known hotspots such as hospitals and manufacturing and waste treatment facilities.
Consider the question “Being the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world, India faces a grave threat from growing anti-microbial resistance. What are the factors responsible for it? Suggest the ways to deal with it.”
Conclusion
We saw how quickly a pandemic can spread if we are not ready. This is an opportunity to get ahead of the next one.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Women in Judiciary
Attorney-General has told the Supreme Court that more women judges in constitutional courts would certainly improve gender sensitivity in the judiciary.
Q.Women judges could bring a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective of gender sensitivity in the judiciary. Discuss.
Women in Judiciary: A dismal figure
- The Supreme Court has only two women judges as against a sanctioned strength of 34 judges.
- There has never been a female Chief Justice. This figure is consistently low across the higher judiciary.
- There are only 80 women judges out of the sanctioned strength of 1,113 judges in the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
- Only two of these 80 women judges are in the Supreme Court and the other 78 are in various High Courts, comprising only 7.2% of the number of judges.
- There are six High Courts — Manipur, Meghalaya, Patna, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand — where there are no sitting women judges.
A short timeline
- The first female Judge appointed in Supreme Court was Justice M. Fathima Beevi from Kerala in 1987.
- She was later followed by Justice Sujata V. Manohar from Maharashtra in 1994 and in the year 2000, Justice Ruma Pal was appointed from West Bengal.
- And in the year 2010, Justice Gyan Sudha Misra from Bihar was appointed.
- In 2014, Justice Ranjana Desai from Mumbai was appointed and currently, Justice R. Banumathi from Tamil Nadu is the only woman judge in Supreme Court.
(Note: This data might be useful for State PSCs or other exams. UPSC aspirants need not remember this.)
What did the A-G say?
- Improving the representation of women could go a long way towards a more balanced and empathetic approach in cases involving sexual violence.
- Judges need to be trained to place themselves in the shoes of the victim of sexual violence while passing orders, said the AG.
- There is a dearth of compulsory courses in gender sensitization in law schools.
- Certain law schools have the subject either as a specialization or as an elective.
Why need more women in Judiciary?
- The entry of women judges into spaces from which they had historically been excluded has been a positive step in the direction of judiciaries being perceived as being more transparent, inclusive, and representative.
- By their mere presence, women judges enhance the legitimacy of courts, sending a powerful signal that they are open and accessible to those who seek recourse to justice.
- They could contribute far more to justice than improving its appearance: they also contribute significantly to the quality of decision-making, and thus to the quality of justice itself.
- Women judges bring those lived experiences to their judicial actions, experiences that tend toward a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective.
- By elucidating how laws and rulings can be based on gender stereotypes, or how they might have a different impact on women and men, a gender perspective enhances the fairness of the adjudication.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Art. 21
Mains level: Interfaith marriage and associated issues in India
An individual’s right to marry a person of his or her choice is a fundamental right that cannot be denied on the basis of caste or religion by anybody, re-iterated the Karnataka High Court.
Discuss the various ethical and rights issues involved in interfaith marriages.
Right to Marriage
- The right to marry is a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
- The right to marriage is also stated under Human Rights Charter within the meaning of the right to start a family.
- The right to marry is a universal right and it is available to everyone irrespective of their gender.
- Various courts across the country have also interpreted the right to marry as an integral part of the right to life under Article 21.
- A forced marriage is illegal in different personal laws on marriage in India, with the right to marry recognized under the Hindu laws as well as Muslim laws.
Other laws that lay down a person’s right to marry in India are:
- The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
- The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890
- The Majority Act, 1875
- The Family Courts Act, 1984
- The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
Back2Basics: Scope of Article 21
- Article 21, considered the heart and soul of the Constitution, states, ‘No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.
It has a much more profound meaning that signifies the:
- Right to live with human dignity
- Right to livelihood
- Right to health
- Right to pollution-free air
- Right to live a quality life
- Right to go abroad
- Right to privacy
- Right against delayed execution,
And anything and everything that fulfils the criteria for a dignified life.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Apiculture and its benefits for farmers
10 out of 13 popular honey brands failed a key test of purity, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has claimed in an investigation.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following kinds of organisms:
- Bat
- Bee
- Bird
Which of the above is/are pollinating agent/agents?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Adulteration in honey
- The CSE has resorted to the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) testing to ascertain the composition of a product at the molecular level.
- The NMR test is not required by Indian law for honey that is being marketed locally but is needed for export.
- Current regulations specify around 18 parameters that honey must comply with for producers to label it ‘pure honey.
- Among the tests employed as per Indian regulations is one to check whether the honey is adulterated with C4 sugar (cane sugar) or C3 sugar (rice sugar).
- Most samples cleared these tests but failed another test called the Trace Marker for Rice test, to test for rice syrup adulteration.
Significance of the CSE study
- Adulteration of honey is a global problem with several countries, including India, devising regulations and new tests to check it.
- It also destroys the livelihoods of bee-keepers who found it unprofitable to make pure honey because sugar-syrup honey was often available at half the price.
- Some Indian companies in the honey business were importing synthetic sugar syrups from China to adulterate honey.
- This shows how the business of adulteration has evolved so that it can pass the stipulated tests in India.
Back2Basics: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
- NMR spectroscopy is a crucial analytical tool for organic chemists.
- It is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus.
- It is widely used to determine the structure of organic molecules in solution and study molecular physics and crystals as well as non-crystalline materials.
- It is also routinely used in advanced medical imaging techniques, such as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Success models of reforestation
Jadav Payeng, known as ‘The Forest Man of India’, takes us through his journey of grit that saw a desert turning into a forest. His story is been depicted through an upcoming trilingual film.
We knew about the mountain man in India. We have also had the Forest Man of India who is also a living inspiration for successful afforestation. We can quote such examples in essays very well.
Who is Jadav Payeng?
- Jadav “Molai” Payeng (born 1963) is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli Island popularly known as the Forest Man of India.
- He was born in the indigenous Mising tribe of Assam.
- Over the course of several decades, he has planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve.
- The forest, called Molai forest after him is located near Kokilamukh of Jorhat, Assam, India and encompasses an area of about 1,360 acres / 550 hectares.
- In 2015, he was honoured with Padmashri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.
His work
- The forest, which came to be known as Molai forest, now houses Bengal tigers, Indian rhinoceros, and over 100 deer and rabbits.
- Molai forest is also home to elephants and several varieties of birds, including a large number of vultures.
- Bamboo covers an area of over 300 hectares.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: E-Sanjeevani
Mains level: Telemedicine and its effectiveness
In a landmark achievement, eSanjeevani, Health Ministry’s national telemedicine initiative today completed 9 lakh consultations.
Although telemedicine brings with it many benefits, there are some downsides to it as well. Discuss.
What is E-Sanjeevani?
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched two variants of eSanjeevani namely – doctor to doctor (eSanjeevani AB-HWC) in the hub and spoke model and patient to doctor (eSanjeevaniOPD).
- E-Sanjeevani OPD (out-patient department) is a telemedicine variant for the public to seek health services remotely; it was rolled out on 13th of April 2020 during the first lockdown in the country.
- It enables virtual meetings between the patients and doctors & specialists from geographically dispersed locations, through video conferencing that occurs in real-time.
- At the end of these remote consultations, eSanjeevani generates electronic prescriptions which can be used for sourcing medicines.
- Andhra Pradesh was the first state to roll out eSanjeevani AB-HWC services in November 2019.
Benefits of telemedicine
Telemedicine benefits patients in the following ways:
- Transportation: Patients can avoid spending gas money or wasting time in traffic with video consultations.
- No missing work: Today, individuals can schedule a consultation during a work break or even after work hours.
- Childcare/Eldercare Challenges: Those who struggle to find care options can use telemedicine solutions.
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