‘Protect rights of accused in sexual abuse cases’                                   

SC: filthy language not criminal intimidation                                            

BCIM - Economic Corridor no longer listed under BRI umbrella               

Social media fraud rose 43% in 2018: report                                            

Forces prepare to deal with cyber attacks in key infra                             

Global Food Policy Report-2019                                                               

‘Protect rights of accused in sexual abuse cases’

GS PAPER - 01 SOCIETY - Role of women and women's organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and their remedies.

Context :

• A petition has been filed by Youth Bar Association of India in the Supreme Court to frame guidelines to protect the reputation and dignity of persons accused of sexual offences.

Concern:

• Due to the fast-changing nature of the society and easy access to the social media, people nowadays restrain themselves using their logical mind behind any news and rumors and reach the consequences instantly.

• The protection of "integrity" in the modern times goes, protection is lent only to the "victim" and not the "accused", who might have been falsely or maliciously implicated and same goes against the well-settled principle of criminal jurisprudence that "a person is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt."

• False accusation could ruin a person's life, - false accusation sometimes destroys the entire life of an innocent person and there has been instances where the person who has been falsely implicated have even committed suicide.

• The Section 228-A of the Indian penal Code provides punishment for disclosing the identity of the victims but does not provide any safeguard for protection of the identity and integrity of the accused in case of false accusation.

Loss of Reputation :

• If a person was falsely accused, his reputation would be lost forever and exposed to public ridicule and this would be a violation of Right to live with dignity as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

• The disclosure of an accused’s identity, especially during trial would lead to media trials and expose identity of him and his family on social media. This is a violation of a person’s fundamental right to privacy as guaranteed under Article 21.

Similar Incident :

• S.Nambi Narayanan (who is an Indian scientist and aerospace engineer and also awarded India’s third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan) was falsely charged with espionage and was later on cleared of all charges and had to put up a long fight to save his reputation. However, no amount of compensation could restore what he had lost in the process.

Need of hour :

• Need of the hour demands that some preventive measures must be taken so as to avoid and to deal with such situations in the interest of justice.

• Court should frame the guidelines like it had earlier framed in Vishaka & Ors. v. State of Rajasthan to protect the integrity of victim and to safeguard the victim from facing the social stigma.

                                                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

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SC: filthy language not criminal intimidation

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections .

Context :

• The Supreme Court has observed that mere act of abusing a person in filthy language does not satisfy the ingredients of the offence of Criminal Intimidation (Section 506 IPC).

More about the news:

• The judgement came in the backdrop of an appeal filed by an insurance claim surveyor in Uttar Pradesh, who was accused of criminal intimidation by a factory owner in Mathura district.

• Criminal Intimidation and punishment for criminal intimidation are defined under Section 503 and 506 of the IPC.

• The Supreme Court has observed that mere expression of any words (e.g. Use of filthy languages) without any intention to cause alarm does not amount to criminal intimidation.

Section 503 :

(i)      That the accused threatened some person.

(ii)     That such threat consisted of some injury to his person, reputation or property; or to the person, reputation or property of some one in whom he was interested;

(iii)    That he did so with intent to cause alarm to that person; or to cause that person to do any act which he was not legally bound to do, or omit to do any act which he was legally entitled to do as a means of avoiding the execution of such threat.

                                                                                                                                                             Source :- The Hindu

Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor no longer listed under BRI umbrella

GS PAPER -02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests, Indian diaspora.

Context :

•  India’s decision to skip the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) may have led to the exclusion of the Bangladesh- China- India- Myanmar (BCIM) Economic corridor from the list of projects covered by the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella.

Issue :

• Citing “sovereignty” concerns, India, for the second time, has not officially participated in the BRF, as CPEC—a flagship of the BRI—passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

• India’s decision to skip the BRF may have led to the exclusion of the Bangladesh- China- India- Myanmar (BCIM) Economic corridor from the list of projects covered by the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella.

• South Asia is covered by three major undertakings—the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), the Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network, including Nepal-China cross-border railway, as well as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

                                                                                                                            Source :- The Hindu

Social media fraud rose 43% in 2018: report

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention.

Context :

• According to a report titled ‘Current State of Cybercrime — 2019’, released by RSA Security, social media fraud has increased by 43% in 2018.

Key Highlights :

• According to the Report, cyber criminals are increasingly relying on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other legitimate social media and messaging platforms to communicate with each other and sell stolen identities, credit card numbers and other ill-gotten gains.

• According to researchers, fraud in the mobile channel has grown significantly over the last several years, with 70% of artifice originating in the mobile channel in 2018.

• In particular, fraud from mobile apps increased 680% between 2015 and 2018, said the study, adding the use of rogue mobile applications to defraud consumers was on the rise.

• With one out of five cyber attacks attributed to rogue mobile apps in 2018, RSA identified an average of 82 rogue mobile applications a day last year across popular app stores.

• Further the researchers also said, Given the ease of use, absence of fees and other benefits of these platforms, continuation of this trend in 2019 .

                                                                                                                                                           Source :- Livemint

Forces prepare to deal with cyber attacks in key infra

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and  its prevention.

Context :

• The Indian armed forces has decided to conduct a major cyber exercise called Cyberex.

Cyberex:

• It is the first such major joint exercise of the Army,Indian Air Force(IAF) and Indian Navy under the aegis of integrated defence staff with participation from several other organisations.

Aim :

• The aim of the exercise is to assess the situation,seek responses, damage control and requisite actions required for a synergised response during cyber attacks.

• It will also include scenarios connected to cyber attacks on critical Indian infrastructure like strategic networks and power grids.

Organisations Involved :

• National Security Council Secretariat(NSCS)

• National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO)

• Defence Research Development Organisation(DRDO)

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team(CERT-In)

• National Informatics Centre(NIC) and

• Computer Security resource centre.

Details :

• India with the help of Cyberex and other such endeavours wants to be prepared for challenges in the fifth dimension of warfare after the first four battlefields of land,air,sea and space.

• However,India has lagged far behind in developing cyber warfare capabilities despite having a robust civilian information technology sector.

• On the other hand,China has steadily upgraded its cyber weapons to degrade or destroy an adversary’s military assets and to keep strategic assets safe.

• Indian Government has also decided to establish a small tri-service Defence Cyber Agency(DCA) much like the ones for space and special operations under a two star general.

• The DCA led by a naval officer will undertake defensive cyber operations with the offensive ones being left to other agencies under the national security advisor.

                                                                                                                       Source :- Times Of India

Global Food Policy Report-2019

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Food security related issues.

Context :

• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has recently released Global Food Policy Report-2019.

Global Food Policy Report-2019:

• IFPRI’s flagship report reviews the major food policy issues, developments, and decisions of 2018, and considers challenges and opportunities for 2019.

• This year’s Global Food Policy Report highlights the urgency of rural revitalization to address a growing crisis in rural areas.

• Food Policy report says that rural people around the world continue to struggle with food insecurity, persistent poverty and inequality, and environmental degradation.

• Policies, institutions, and investments that take advantage of new opportunities and technologies, increase access to basic services, create more and better rural jobs, foster gender equality, and restore the environment can make rural areas vibrant and healthy places to live and work.

Key Highlights :

• Rural population account for 45.3% of the world’s total population and at least 70% of the world’s population remains extremely poor.

• The rural population suffers from rapid population growth rates, inadequate job and enterprise creation, poor infrastructure, scarce financial services.

• In addition, rural communities bear the brunt of climate change impacts.

• Nearly 50% of rural youth all over the world do not have any formal job they are either unemployed or under-employed.

• Rural revitalization is important to end hunger and malnutrition.

• The Changing consumption patterns driven largely by urbanization, demographic transitions, increasing income, and growing integration of food supply chains and food systems in India offer new opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment in rural areas.

• The world is not yet on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Poverty and malnutrition rates are falling in many places, but not fast enough.

• An estimated three quarters of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and most are among the 2.5 billion people who work in small-scale agriculture in developing countries.

• Energy is crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring durable rural growth and development. But almost one billion people, most living in rural areas of Africa and South Asia, still lack access to electricity

South - Asia Specific Findings :

• South Asia remained the fastest growing region in the world in 2018, as economic growth continued to strengthen.

• However, growth rates varied greatly across the region—exceeding 7.0 percent in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, and Nepal, and reaching 5.8 percent in Pakistan, but only 2.6 percent in Afghanistan.

• Rice and wheat are the region’s major staple crops, accounting for about two-thirds of total dietary energy. But food consumption patterns have changed in the region over the past few decades.

Measures to Boost Rural Economy :

• India, home to 70 percent of the region’s rural population, has unveiled a number of measures to bolster the rural economy:

• The government will maintain minimum support prices for major crops (25 at present) equal to at least 1.5 times their production costs.

• India plans to upgrade 22,000 rural haats (local informal markets) to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), and upgrade agri-marketing infrastructure.

Challenges:

• Despite progress, India is continuously facing the challenge of climate change, risks on land degradation, deterioration of soil quality, and loss of biodiversity has potentially slowed the rural transformation.

                                                                                                                            Source :- Hindu Business Line

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