Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with the Bombay High Courts Judgement in POCSO Act
The recent Bombay High Court judgement has raised controversy for its interpretation of certain Section of the POCSO Act. The article deals with this issue.
Object of the POCSO Act
- The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was enacted in 2012 especially to protect children (aged less than 18) from sexual assault.
- The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Act admitted that a number of sexual offences against children were neither specifically provided for in extant laws nor adequately penalised.
- The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by India in 1992, also requires sexual exploitation and sexual abuse to be addressed as heinous crimes.
Issues with Bombay High Court’s Judgement
- The Bench acquitted a man under the POCSO Act found guilty of assault on the grounds that he groped his victim over her clothes and there was no skin-to-skin contact between them.
- As this judgment was likely to set a dangerous precedent, the apex court stayed the acquittal.
- Section 7 of the POCSO Act, along with other things, says that whoever with sexual intent touches the breast of the child is said to commit sexual assault.
- Whereas Section 8 of the Act provides minimum imprisonment of three years for sexual assault.
- Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) lays down a minimum of one year imprisonment for outraging the modesty of a woman.
Difference between IPC and POCSO
- The difference between POCSO and IPC, as far as the offence of sexual assault is concerned, is two-fold.
- One, the definition of ‘assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty’ given in the IPC is generic.
- Whereas in POCSO, the acts of sexual assault are explicitly mentioned such as touching various private parts.
- ‘Sexual assault’ in POCSO specifically excludes rape which requires penetration; otherwise the scope of ‘sexual assault’ under POCSO and ‘outraging modesty of a woman’ under the IPC is the same.
- Two, whereas the IPC provides punishment for the offence irrespective of any age of the victim, POCSO is specific for the protection of children.
- Higher punishment is provided under POCSO not because more serious allegations of sexual assault are required but because the legislature wanted punishment to be more deterrent if the victims are children.
Conclusion
In the absence of any specific provision in the POCSO Act which requires skin-to-skin touch as a mandatory element of an offence, any interpretation which dilutes protection to children must be declared ultra vires.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Judicial scrutiny of the laws
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for strict scrutiny of the laws by the Parliament
Farmers’ protests against the farm laws and staying of implementation of these laws by the judiciary have once again brought into focus the process followed in the passage of laws by the parliament. This article highlights the importance of parliamentary committees.
Need for introspection on the role of parliament
- The Supreme Court’s order on the farm laws staying their implementation crossed the line of separation between the legislature and judiciary.
- The order should trigger introspection in Parliament.
- Since 2019, the constitutionality of statutes passed by it, like the abrogation of Article 370, the Citizenship Amendment Act and recently the farm laws, has been challenged before the SC.
- The highest lawmaking body should be asking itself whether it rigorously scrutinises the constitutionality of bills.
Three mechanisms to examine the constitutionality
- Parliament has three mechanisms for examining whether a government bill adheres to constitutional principles.
- First, any member of the Parliament can oppose the introduction of a bill by stating that it initiates legislation outside the legislative competence of the Parliament.
- Second, MPs also get an opportunity to discuss a bill’s constitutionality while debating it in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
- But on both these occasions, the strength of the argument does not determine the legislative outcome.
- The Parliament’s decision depends on the numbers that the treasury and opposition benches command on the house floor.
- Third, the opportunity for probing a bill’s constitutionality arises when a parliamentary committee is examining it.
Advantages of scrutiny of the bill by parliamentary committee
- The most important opportunity of the above mentioned three opportunities is scrutiny by the parliamentary committee.
- In the past too, the parliamentary committees have subjected the bills to strict scrutiny on the issue of constitutionality.
- For example, the committee examining the land acquisition bill 2011 was concerned about the bill infringing upon the state governments’ power.
- Similarly, during the deliberations on the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016, the joint committee explicitly asked the government whether the bill would violate the spirit of Articles 14 and 25 of the Constitution.
- The committee process also has the advantage of drawing on constitutional expertise outside of the law ministry.
- The government has also fielded the attorney general to appear before parliamentary committees.
Weakness of parliamentary committee process
- Our parliamentary committee process has a fatal flaw.
- Government bills do not automatically go to committees for examination.
- Ministers get an option to refer their bill to a select committee, they often don’t exercise this option.
- While countries like Sweden and Finland pass their bills through two parliamentary committees.
- One committee looks at the technical aspects of a proposed law, and a specialised committee focuses on a bill’s constitutional validity.
Consider the question “Several laws passed by the government have been challenged before the judiciary on the ground of unconstitutionality. This highlights the importance of strict scrutiny of the bills by the Parliament. In light of this, examine the role played by the parliamentary committees in the scrutiny of the bills.”
Conclusion
Lack of robust scrutiny processes weakens Parliament’s image as the highest legislative institution and encourages judicial encroachment on its powers. After all, lawmaking should not be a mechanical stamping of the government’s legislative proposals but their careful examination by the Parliament.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: How dams exacerbate disasters
Mains level: Paper 3- Role of dams in exacerbating disasters
The article explains the link between the disasters in the Uttarakhand and the construction of dams.
How dams exacerbate disasters
- The use of explosives has repeatedly been questioned for dam construction, and the construction of other infrastructure projects, such as roads, in the fragile Himalayan State.
- Other than this, deforestation takes place when dams are constructed.
- The construction material that is supposed to be dumped on separate land is often dumped into the rivers.
The Chopra Committee report after Kedarnath flood
- The Chopra Committee report of 2014 brings more clarity on how dams exacerbate a disaster such as floods.
- Its report mentions how dams exacerbated the 2013 deluge, mainly as riverbeds were already raised from the disposed muck at the dam construction sites.
- The report presents evidence to prove that dams are not only damaged in floods, they also cause immense damage in downstream areas.
- This is because as floodwaters damage a barrage, they increase the destructive capacity of the water that flows downstream of the barrage.
- In an affidavit submitted on December 5, 2014 in the Supreme Court, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change acknowledged the adverse impact of dams in the 2013 floods.
Impact of climate change and threat of earthquakes
- Himalayan glaciers are receding and disintegrating as a result of climate change, and the snow cover in the Himalayas is also thinning.
- Research shows an increase in number and volume of glacial lakes as a result of of increased temperatures.
- For dams, this means rapid increase or decrease in the reservoir water level.
- It also means that the projections on the life of a dam reservoir may not stand due to erratic events, such as floods, that could rapidly fill a reservoir with muck and boulders brought along with the floods.
- In terms of earthquake risk, Uttarakhand lies in Seismic Zone-IV (severe intensity) and Seismic Zone-V (very severe intensity).
- Ignoring this, many dams have been constructed in zones that are under high risk of witnessing severe earthquakes.
Consider the question “Examine the role played by the dams in exacerbating the disasters in the Himalayan states”
Conclusion
It is clear that dams worsen disasters, and for this to be ignored by the State authorities is unfortunate.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Flash floods
Mains level: Flood management
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in the Indian Express.
What are Flash floods?
- A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions.
- It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, tropical storm, or meltwater from ice or snow flowing over ice sheets or snowfields.
Take a glimpse of the series of disasters in Uttarakhand
Chamoli example
- Flash flood incident in Uttarakhand is another warning of the dangers that a Himalayan state like Uttarakhand faces from natural processes like landslides, snow avalanches cloudbursts or lake bursts.
- As we saw in 2013 in the same state, such processes can trigger much bigger disasters and cause massive destruction.
- But it is possible to work towards minimising the threat of such incidents and reduce their impact.
Role of glacial lakes
- There are over 1,000 glaciers in Uttarakhand. Almost all of them are receding. Most of the glaciers also have debris cover.
- When glaciers retreat due to rising temperatures, the snow melts but the debris remains. This debris aids in the formation of lakes.
Cause: Retreat of glaciers
- Glaciers have reduced considerably in mass and surface area since the little ice age period.
- This has led to the formation of a large number of glacial lakes all across the Himalayas.
- Many of these high-altitude lakes are potentially dangerous, because of their potential to cause flash floods in the event of a breach.
How big is the threat?
- Over the years, the frequency of formation of these lakes has increased.
- But despite that, there are not many GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood) events happening in Uttarakhand.
- Not as many as in Sikkim, for example. This is because Uttarakhand has very steep slopes, and the water manages to find a way out.
What should be done?
(a) Coherent research
- There are a lot more glaciologists and others who are working in the area and generating data.
- Multiple scientific groups and institutions are involved. But there is no coherent output. Lots of data are being generated but not being put to good use.
- There has to be one agency dedicated to the job.
(b) Monitoring
- The first step in tackling the threat from these glacial lakes is to start monitoring them and the glaciers more actively and regularly.
- There is a need to monitor every glacier. Glaciers in one basin do not have remarkably different properties.
- Relying only on satellites and remote sensing is not going to be enough.
- What is required is a consolidated state of glaciers in India, with the ability to zoom in on any of them and track the changes happening year by year.
(c) Planning
- Construction-related activities in the state might not have a direct link to Chamoli incident, but these are not entirely benign.
- The Himalayas are very young mountain systems, and extremely fragile and a minor change in orientation of the rocks can be enough to trigger landslides.
- It is important to include glaciers in any environment impact assessment for major projects such as the construction of dams.
- The entire catchment areas should be made part of the impact assessment.
(d) Mitigation
- If we monitor the glaciers regularly, it would enable us to identify the lakes that need mitigation solutions.
- Several structural and geotechnical measures can be applied, and there are successful examples where the threat from these lakes has been reduced.
- It is possible to construct channels for the gradual and regulated discharge of water from these lakes, which will reduce the pressure on them, and minimise the chances of a breach.
- At the same time, it also reduces the volume of water that goes into the flash flood. Also, alarm systems can be set up at the lakes that will warn the community downstream whenever an overflow happens.
Way forward
- It is not possible to completely prevent these kinds of incidents. But their potential to cause destruction can certainly be minimized.
- Scientists can find a way to let the lake waters slowly drain at the nearby river at a regulated rate so that there is no flooding, and the pressure on the lake does not become unbearable.
- Such solutions can be applied in Uttarakhand, and some work is being done.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dams in Uttarakhand
Mains level: Risks posed by Hydel projects
The flash flood that claimed several lives in Chamoli has caused Uttarakhand’s hydroelectric projects (HEPs) to be scrutinized closely.
Q.How do hydropower projects pose geological and topographical threats to the ecosystem? (150W)
Why Hydropower in Uttarakhand?
- Uttarakhand has a tricky relationship with electricity.
- With a landscape that’s inhospitable to thermal power grid lines and with people too poor to pay for electricity, micro and mini hydro-electric power projects were seen as the answer.
- Between the government’s long-standing ‘power for all’ objective, and environmentalists pushing for a cleaner, renewable energy, setting up dozens of hydel power plants seemed ideal.
Impacts of HEPs
Limitless quarrying, deforestation, stopping the flow of rivers, and mushrooming of hydropower projects have made the Himalayas unstable.
- Existing and under-construction hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand have led to several deleterious environmental impacts (Char Dham Committee).
- Among the significant impacts are on the river ecosystem, forest and terrestrial biodiversity, geological environment and social infrastructure.
- More than seven years later, some experts believe that over-exploitation of rivers and rampant damming for hydroelectric projects (HEPs) could be one of the big factors responsible for the Chamoli disaster.
- The ‘river-bed profile’ across the major HEPs of Uttarakhand has changed significantly, suggesting the possibility of disasters in future.
The Kedarnath floods
- Between June 13 and 17, 2013, Uttarakhand had received an unusual amount of rainfall.
- This led to the melting of the Chorabari glacier and the eruption of the Mandakini river.
- The floods affected large parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Western Nepal.
- The heavy rainfall caused massive flash floods and landslides resulting in the death of residents and tourists as well as extensive damage to property.
- Over 5,000 people were killed in the floods
Construction still persists
- Neglecting all warnings of the experts, rampant construction was carried out in the sensitive zones even after the 2013 Kedarnath deluge.
- Notably, two dozen hydropower plants of Uttarakhand were rejected by the Supreme Court after the expert panel report.
HEPs in Uttarakhand
The rivers and basins in the state are dotted with 43 micro hydel projects. Some of them are:
Alarms have been raised earlier
- The Kedarnath expert committee had warned about the excessive exploitation of vulnerable regions and the need to re-study and re-evaluate the HEPs of Uttarakhand.
- The report also objected to HEPs at an altitude of over 2000 metres.
- The report pointed out that the potential threat of landslide, cloudburst, subsidence, flash floods has increased tremendously in the past few years and many critical zones need immediate attention.
- The study also mentioned that a lot of anthropogenic pressure due to different activities related to HEPs was alarming and needed checks.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Immunity Passport
Mains level: Issues with Immunity Passport
In a bid to ease travel restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, countries like Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Chile, UK have announced a new ‘immunity passport.’
Try this question form mains:
Q.Discuss various ethical issues evolved during the outbreaks of pandemics (of the scale of COVID-19).
Immunity Passport
- They are the recovery or release certificate or a document attesting that its bearer is immune to a contagious disease.
- The concept has drawn much attention during the COVID-19 pandemic as a potential way to contain the pandemic and permit faster economic recovery.
- The can be used as a legal document granted by a testing authority following a serology test demonstrating that the bearer has antibodies making them immune to a disease.
Ethical issues involved
- Issuing ‘immunity certificates’ to people who have recovered can be an ethical minefield.
- Doctors do not generally prefer immunity to be induced by natural infection compared with vaccines. It seems logical, but there are multiple challenges.
- There might be long-term health complications in those who had COVID-19, whereas the vaccine will have minimal or no adverse health consequences.
- There is a danger that similar arguments will be made for other vaccine-preventable diseases for which we have a universal immunisation programme.
Public health risk
- People whose livelihood has have been affected would be encouraged to adopt risky behaviour so as to get infected rather than taking precautions to stay protected from the virus.
- This would lead to a sharp increase in cases across the country with huge numbers requiring hospitalization.
- Such a situation would lead to testing capabilities getting overwhelmed, crumbling of the health-care systems and increased deaths.
Threats over malpractices
- Immunity certification will include a system for identification and monitoring, thus compromising privacy.
- Other contentious issues would be profiteering by private labs performing tests, and the menace of fake certificates which we have already seen in some Indian states.
- In the end, an immunity passport will further divide the society with different ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.
Way forward
- We need to look at COVID-19 with a sense of balance and not hysteria.
- Terms such as immunity passports may not have relevance as we do not know anything about specific kinds of immune responses and the duration of protection in people.
- There is currently not enough evidence about the effectiveness of antibody-mediated immunity to guarantee the accuracy of an ‘immunity passport’ or ‘risk-free certificate’.
- The permission to travel or work should be decided on a case by case basis, according to the principles of ethics while dealing with a pandemic.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dickensonia, Bhimbetka
Mains level: Stone age paintings in India
Researchers have found the first-ever fossil in India of a Dickinsonia —the Earth’s ‘oldest animal’, dating back 570 million years — on the roof of what’s called the ‘Auditorium Cave’ at Bhimbetka.
Dickinsonia
- Dickinsonia is an extinct genus of basal animal that lived during the late Ediacaran period in what is now Australia, Russia and Ukraine.
- The individual Dickinsonia typically resembles a bilaterally symmetrical ribbed oval.
- Its affinities are presently unknown; its mode of growth is consistent with a stem-group bilaterian affinity, though some have suggested that it belongs to the fungi or even an “extinct kingdom”.
- The discovery of cholesterol molecules in fossils of Dickinsonia lends support to the idea that Dickinsonia was an animal.
What are the new findings?
Like the awe-inspiring rock shelters themselves, this fossil was discovered by chance.
- Dickinsonia fossils have shown that they could exceed four feet in length but the one found in Bhimbetka is 17 inches long.
- Eleven feet above the ground, almost blending with the rock and easily mistaken by laymen for prehistoric rock art, they found imprints of the Dickinsonia.
- It is believed to be one of the key links between the early, simple organisms and the explosion of life in the Cambrian Period, about 541 million years ago.
Cambrian Explosion and Dickinsonia
- The ‘Cambrian Explosion’ is the term given to the period of time in history when complex animals and other macroscopic organisms such as molluscs, worms, arthropods and sponges began to dominate the fossil record.
- Researchers from Australian found the Dickinsonia fossil since its tissue contained molecules of cholesterol a type of fat that is the hallmark of animal life.
Do you know?
Cosmogenic nuclide dating is deployed to determine time of earliest human culture. India’s oldest stone-age tools, up to 1.5 million years old, are at a prehistoric site near Chennai.
About Bhimbetka
- The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the prehistoric Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period.
- It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age starting at the site in Acheulian times.
- It is located in the Raisen District in Madhya Pradesh about 45 kilometres (28 mi) south-east of Bhopal.
- It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of seven hills and over 750 rock shelters distributed over 10 km (6.2 mi).
- At least some of the shelters were inhabited more than 100,000 years ago.
- Some of the Bhimbetka rock shelters feature prehistoric cave paintings and the earliest are about 10,000 years old (c. 8,000 BCE), corresponding to the Indian Mesolithic.
- These cave paintings show themes such as animals, early evidence of dance and hunting.
- The Bhimbetka rock shelters were found by V S Wakankar 64 years ago. Since then, thousands of researchers have visited the site, but this rare fossil went undetected.
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