The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 16 June 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 15 June 2023

• About the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act:
• The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development led the introduction of the POCSO Act in 2012.
• The Act was designed to protect children from sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography offences, as well as to provide for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offences.
• The Act was amended in 2019 for enhancing the punishments for specific offences in order to deter abusers and ensure a dignified childhood.

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Salient features:

• A gender-neutral law: The POCSO Act establishes a gender-neutral tone for the legal framework available to child sexual abuse victims by defining a child as “any person” under the age of 18.
• Not reporting abuse is an offence: Any person (except children) in charge of an institution who fails to report the commission of a sexual offence relating to a subordinate is liable to be punished.
• No time limit for reporting abuse: A victim can report an offence at any time, even a number of years after the abuse has been committed.
• Maintaining confidentiality of the victim’s identity: The Act prohibits disclosure of the victim’s identity in any form of media, except when permitted by the special courts established under the act.

POCSO Act’s performance in comparison to global standards:

• A 2019 Economist Intelligence Unit report ranked India’s legal system for safeguarding children from sexual abuse and exploitation as the best of the countries surveyed.
• On this metric, India outranked the United Kingdom, Sweden and Australia.

• India’s merchandise exports fell 10.3% to $34.98 billion in May, while imports contracted at a slower 6.6% rate to $57.1 billion, lifting the trade deficit to a five-month high of $22.1 billion.
• This is the sixth time in the last eight months that goods exports have declined year-on-year, although May’s decline was lower than the 12.6% fall recorded in April.

• Awareness and debate on these issues are largely absent in India. The adoption of AI systems is low in the country, but those used are mostly made in the West.
• We need systematic evaluation of their efficacy and shortcomings in Indian situations. We need to establish mechanisms of checks and balances before large-scale deployment of AI systems. AI holds tremendous potential in different sectors such as public health, agriculture, transportation and governance.

• As we exploit India’s advantages in them, we need more discussions to make AI systems responsible, fair, and just to our society. The European Union is on the verge of enacting an AI Act that proposes regulations based on a stratification of potential risks.
• India needs a framework for itself, keeping in mind that regulations have been heavy-handed as well as lax in the past.

• S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET).
• There was the launch of a new initiative, Indus-X, which is to provide a new impetus to the defence innovation engagement between the two countries.
• During the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in April 2022, the U.S. Defence Secretary referred to the U.S.-India defence partnership as the cornerstone of their engagement in the Indo-Pacific.
• The sky, it seems, is the limit in the emerging defence partnership between two of the world’s leading democracies.

• The 21st Commission had released a consultation paper in 2018 that categorically said a uniform civil code was “neither necessary nor desirable” at that stage.
• The document was progressive in nature, inasmuch as it emphasised non-discrimination over uniformity, and recognised that there could be diverse means of governing aspects of personal law such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption instead of imposing a single set of rules on society.
• This would entail the removal of discriminatory provisions, especially those that affect women, and adoption of some overarching norms rooted in equality.

• The United States said earlier this week that it was rejoining the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• In 2017, the Trump administration withdrew from the organisation after the Obama administration ceased funding, in 2011.
• The reason for the U.S’.s return is ostensibly ‘China’, with senior U.S. administration officials stating that the U.S.’s absence had helped China gain “more influence” in setting the rules around artificial intelligence and the ensuing technological shifts.

What is UNESCO?

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN). It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.
• It is also a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG), a coalition of UN agencies and organizations aimed at fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• UNESCO’s Headquarters are located in Paris and the Organization has more than 50 field offices around the world.
• It has 193 Members and 11 Associate Members (As of April 2020) and is governed by the General Conference and the Executive Board.
• Three UNESCO member states are not UN members: Cook Islands, Niue, and Palestine.
• While three UN member states (Israel, Liechtenstein, United States) are not UNESCO members.

• About MQ 9 Reaper:
• The MQ-9 Reaper, also known as Predator B, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled orautonomous flight operations.
• It is developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF).
• It is remotely operated by a two-person team consisting of a pilot and an aircrew member who operates sensors and guides weapons.
• The US uses the MQ-9 Reaper for both surveillance and strikes.
• Features:
• It is 11 metres long with a wingspan of over 22 metres.
• Reapers can be armed with air-to-ground Hellfire missiles as well as laser-guided bombs.
• It carry as many as 16 Hellfire missiles, equivalent to the payload capacity of an Apache helicopter.
• It can fly at an altitude of 50,000 ft (15 km) and can loiter over targets for for over 27 hours.
• Top speed: 275 mph.
• About Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):
• What is it? The DAC is the highest decision-making bodyof the defence Ministry on procurement.
• Objective: To ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the armed forces.
• Formation: It was formed after the Group of Minister’s recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, in 2001, post-Kargil War (1999).
• Composition:
• The defence minister is the chairman of DAC.
• Its members include the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit at end of this year will adopt Bangkok Vision 2030, according to Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs.
• He also stated that a marine transport cooperation agreement is expected to be concluded at the summit. He said that the Bangkok Vision 2030 would be an overarching kind of document and would give direction to the organisation.
• The grouping comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional multilateral organisation.
• This sub-regional organization came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
• Initially, it was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri-Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
• It became renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ in 1997, following the inclusion of Myanmar.
• With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan in 2004, the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC).

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