Parliament must examine Age of Consent issue: CJI
GS Paper: 2- Judiciary
Important for
Prelims exam: Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act
Mains exam: Age of Consent
Why in News?
In response to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012, CJI DY Chandrachud appealed to Parliament to reconsider the issue of the legal minimum age for consent.
What is the Age of Consent?
- According to the POCSO Act, the legal age of consent for sex in India is 18.
- Physical intercourse with a girl under the age of 18 is considered rape and her consent is not considered to be legitimate.
Issues with consent
- Consent is ignored: When consent is disregarded, the accused is subject to harsh penalty.
- Charges of child abuse are not valid: In a number of cases, rape and kidnapping cases were dismissed by the courts.
- Misuse of the provision: The court is often convinced that the law is being abused to the benefit of one or the other party.
Case Study
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Is the law being misused?
Foiling consensual relations
- A relationship between two adolescents or children on the threshold of adolescence may occasionally be prevented by irate parents who file a case.
- Parents who want to control who their daughters or sons want to marry frequently use POCSO.
Marriage coercion:
- The study found that many times a couple runs away to get married because they are afraid of their parents’ objections.
- The boy is then reported to the police by the parents of the girl for rape in violation of the POCSO Act and abduction with the purpose of marriage in violation of the IPC or the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.
Judicial interpretations favouring a lower consent age
- When dismissing a POCSO complaint in the Vijaylakshmi v. State Rep case in 2021, the Madras High Court stated that the definition of “child” under Section 2(d) of the POCSO Act can be changed to 16 instead of 18.
- The court recommended a maximum age difference of five years in consenting relationships.
- This, it claimed, will prevent a girl who is impressionable from being exploited or sexually misled by an adult who is much older.
Policy measures
- The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which proposes to raise the minimum age of marriage for women to 21 years, is being investigated by a parliamentary committee.
- Raising the age, according to rights campaigners, may cause disadvantaged women to continue to be bound by social and familial expectations rather than benefiting the society.
Way forward
- The government must look into the matter because the courts and rights activists are pushing for a change to the age of consent criteria.
- Adolescents must be made aware of the POCSO Act’s and the IPC’s stringent provisions in the meantime.
Hornbill Festival
GS Paper: 3- Environment pollution and degradation
Important for
Prelims exam: Great Indian Hornbill, Hornbill festival
Mains exam: Hornbill festival, Great Indian Hornbill and their ecological significance
Why in News?
At the Hornbill festival in Nagaland, the logo for India’s upcoming G20 presidency was recently unveiled.
What is Hornbill festival?
- Kohima, Nagaland hosts the Hornbill Festival every year from December 1 to 10.
- During the year 2000, the event was first held.
- It is called after the Indian hornbill, a huge, vibrant forest bird that appears in the folklore of the most of the state’s tribes.
- The traditional Naga Morungs exhibition and sale, food stalls, herbal medicine stalls, flower shows and sales, cultural melody – music and dances, fashion shows, etc. are festival highlights.
About Great Indian Hornbill
- The great hornbill (Buceros bicornis), also known as the concave-casqued hornbill, great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family.
- It occurs in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is predominantly frugivorous, but also preys on small mammals, reptiles and birds.
- It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2018.
- It is known to have lived for nearly 50 years in captivity.
- Due to its large size and colour, it is important in many tribal cultures and rituals.
- The Government of Kerala declared it as the official Kerala state bird.
Ecological significance
- Hornbills, known as “forest engineers” or “farmers of the forest,” for playing a key role in dispersing seeds of tropical trees, hornbills indicate the prosperity and balance of the forest they build nests in.
Threats
- Despite being cultural icons for some ethnic communities in the northeast, particularly the Nyishi of Arunachal Pradesh, hornbills used to be hunted for their casques, or upper beaks, and feathers for embellishing headgear.
- Illegal logging, however, has however led to fewer tall trees where the birds nest.
Badri Cow
GS Paper: 3- Economics of animal rearing
Important for
Prelims exam: Badri Cow
Mains exam: Badri Cow and medicinal benefits of badri cow
Why in News?
The State officials suggested using sex-sorted semen technology to increase Badri cattle productivity. In order to produce more cattle of high genetic stock, they also suggested choosing the embryo transfer method.
About Badri Cow
- Uttarakhand’s native cow species is the badri/Pahari desi cow.
- Because this cow forages on local bushes and herbs in the Himalayas, her milk has a high medicinal value.
- These cattle are well suited to the weather conditions and hilly terrain of Uttarakhand.
- The steep Almora and Pauri Garhwal districts of Uttarakhand are home to this sturdy and disease-resistant breed.
- Since this breed rarely contracts diseases, disease resistance is a very important characteristic of this breed.
Medicinal benefits
- This breed has a strong immune system.
- The milk of this breed contains almost 90% A2 beta-casein proteins – and is one of the highest in any indigenous varieties.
- Antioxidants in pure desi ghee aid in better vitamin and mineral absorption, enhancing immunity.
Economic Significance
- The price of Badri ghee ranges from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000 per kg.
- Cow dung, Panchgavya, and Gaumutra Ark (distilled cow urine) all have enormous marketing potential (the five products of the cow, including milk, curd, ghee, dung and urine).
India-China trade deficit is at $51.5 Bn
GS Paper: 3- Economy
Important for
Prelims exam: India-China bilateral trade, India’s export to China
Mains exam: India-China bilateral trade
Why in News?
During the months of April -October of current fiscal year, the trade deficit—the difference between imports and exports—between China and India reached $51.5 billion.
Widening deficit
- From $44.03 billion in 2020–21 to $73.31 billion in 2021–22, the deficit increased significantly.
- The numbers show that from April to October of current fiscal year, imports were $60.27 billion and exports were $8.77 billion.
- India exported $21.26 billion worth of goods to China in 2021–2022, up from $11.93 billion in 2014–15.
India-China bilateral trade
- Annual two-way commerce reached $125.6 billion in 2021, the first time it has done so, with India’s imports accounting for $97.5 billion of that total, putting the imbalance at almost $70 billion.
- When compared to the level of industrial development in both countries, this deficit is certainly healthy.
A quick backgrounder
- Since the early 2000s, trade links have increased significantly.
- India’s imports of Chinese machinery and other equipment played a significant role in this.
- It increased from $3 billion in 2000 to $42 billion in 2008, the year China overtook the United States as India’s top commercial partner.
The Hindi-Chini buy buy
- China supplies over two-thirds of the organic chemicals and a third of the machinery that India imports.
- Another category where China imports more than 25% of what India imports is fertilisers and automotive parts.
- A number of these products are used by Indian manufacturers to create finished goods, thereby integrating China into India’s supply chain for manufacturing.
- For instance, India obtains about 90% of specific mobile phone components from China.
India’s export to China
- China is a significant partner for India, even as an export market.
- The third-largest country for Indian shipments is China.
- However, the Federation of Indian Export Organisation estimates that India barely contributes slightly more than 2% of China’s overall exports (FIEO).
Should we worry about this?
- A country’s domestic economy is not made weaker or worse off by a trade deficit or surplus; these are merely accounting exercises.
- In this context, it is important to keep India’s trade deficit with China in context.
- For instance, ingredients for Indian pharmaceutical exports to the world must be obtained from China.
- Seafood imports from India to China are one market that has recently experienced strong growth and has room to continue growing.
So, having a trade deficit is good?
- Of course not, two key difficulties are brought up by persistent trade imbalances across all nations.
- Foreign exchange reserves are available to “purchase” the imports.
- Lack of effective production capacity at home.
Can we ban trade with China?
- The impoverished in India will suffer the most since they are more sensitive to price. For instance, unlike the poor, richer Indians would elect to purchase the more expensive choice if Chinese TVs were to be replaced by either more expensive Indian TVs or less efficient ones.
- It will penalise Indian exporters and producers because many companies there import intermediate products and raw materials that are then utilised to produce finished products for both the Indian home market and the international market (as Indian exports).
- The pharmaceutical industry may be the hardest hit: For instance, China supplied around 68 percent of the over $3.6 billion in chemicals that Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers import to produce a number of key medicines.
- It has also been argued that India should break its previous agreements with China. If it does, India will lose credibility in its foreign policy. This could hurt India’s efforts to draw in international capital.
China is our Frenemy. Here is why.
- The first thing to realise is that it is unlikely to resolve a border issue to convert it into a trade war.
- Even worse, this trade war will harm India much more than China because of their relative positions in both the world economy and in relation to one another.
- The Indian economy is already at its worst point ever and is poised to experience a significant GDP decline, so these policies come at the worst possible time.
Way forward
- Long-term self-reliance requires India to expand its domestic capabilities and become more competitive in order to increase its share of world trade.
- But since no nation is entirely self-sufficient, trade is a wonderful notion.
- Long-term, a more successful strategy must be developed to create an environment that overcomes the cost disadvantage of Indian manufacturing that encourages such imports.
Meeting the Rising Tide of Case Pendency
GS Paper: 2- Judiciary
Important for
Prelims exam: Article 224 of the Indian Constitution, Ad hoc judges
Mains exam: Pending cases in India, Article 224 of the Indian Constitution
Why in News?
In order to address the swelling flow of pending cases, the Supreme Court has recommended a less time-consuming and even “out-of-the-box” approach, including enlisting experienced attorneys to serve as ad hoc judges in High Courts.
Ad hoc judges
- Senior attorneys in High Courts might not be eager to permanently give up their lucrative legal practices, but they might be interested in serving as ad hoc judges under Article 224A of the Constitution for a little time, perhaps two years.
- Ad hoc judges appointed by retired judges would bring their expertise in handling arrears to the bench.
Background
The court had outlined five circumstances in April 2021 in which the judiciary can request the assistance of ad hoc judges:
- If the number of vacancies exceeds 20% of the sanctioned strength.
- A certain category’s cases have been unresolved for more than five years.
- Over ten percent of the backlog of open cases is older than five years.
- The percentage of the rate of disposition is lower than the institution of the cases, either generally in the Court or in a particular subject matter.
- Even though there aren’t many old cases still pending, depending on the jurisdiction, if the rate of disposal is continuously lower than the rate of filing over the course of a year or more, a scenario of rising arrears is likely to develop.
Article 224 of the Indian Constitution
- Relates to the High Courts’ ad hoc judge appointments.
- It is rarely used.
- It states that the Chief Justice of the High Court for any State may, at any time, seek any person who has previously held the office of a Judge of that Court or of any other High Court to sit and act as a Judge of the High Court for that State with the prior agreement of the President.
- After consulting with the Governor, the Chief Minister will send his suggestion to the Union Minister of Law and Justice.
Pending Cases
- Up to July 22, there were more than 59 lakh cases pending in the High Courts.
- The majority of the cases, more than 10 lakh, are pending at the Allahabad High Court.
- The High Courts of Rajasthan (slightly over 6 lakh) and Bombay are listed after that (just under 6 lakh).
Way forward
- The High Court will not be appointing any of the ad hoc justices for the first time. They have experience handling the enormous workload because they have served in the past. As a result, their appointment should go more smoothly than other visits.
- Meritorious candidates eventually lose interest if the appointment is not made soon after the Chief Justices of the High Courts acclaim the candidate, and the justice delivery system suffers a significant loss.