Jurisdiction no bar in dowry harassment case

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections

Context :

Woman abused by husband can file a case of dowry harassment under Section 498A complaint at place where they seek refuge: SC
The Supreme Court’s judgement came on a plea filed by Rupali Devi against the Allahabad High Court judgement which dismissed her plea to file a dowry harassment case from her parents’ house

Cruelty towards women :

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that courts, where an affected woman finds refuge, have the jurisdiction to look to her complaint against her husband or his relatives under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The apex court observed that even if the acts of physical cruelty committed in the matrimonial house may have ceased and such acts do not occur at the parental home, there can be no doubt that the mental trauma and the psychological distress caused by the acts of the husband would continue to persist at the parental home.

Significance :

Hence, from now on, the place of shelter will also have territorial jurisdiction for filing matrimonial cases besides the place where a woman was living before and after marriage.
The verdict came as a big relief to women fighting dowry harassment cases outside the jurisdiction of their matrimonial home as until now their cases could only be heard by courts that fell within the jurisdiction of their matrimonial home.

Section 498A :

Section 498A, which was passed by the Parliament in 1983, states that “whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine’
In 1983, ‘Section 498-A of the IPC was introduced with affirmed object to combat the menace of harassment to a woman at the hands of her husband and his relatives.
The fact that Section 498-A is a cognizable and non-bailable offence has lent it a dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as weapons
The simplest way to harass is to get the husband and his relatives arrested under this provision.
In quite a number of cases, bed-ridden grand-fathers and grand-mothers of the husbands, their sisters living abroad for decades are arrested.
The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Husbands help men at the receiving end of anti-dowry laws.

Source :- The Hindu

Centre denies RTI plea on CIC appointments

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies

Context :

The Centre has denied a RTI request for details of the ongoing recruitment process for four vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC), despite a recent Supreme Court order mandating that such information be made public.

Background :

Earlier,the Supreme Court has directed the Centre and the States to ensure transparency in the process of appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and Information Commissioners.
The apex court had directed the Centre and States to upload on the website the details of the process so that there would be more transparency.
The court also directed the search committee to make the criteria for appointment public to ensure that the appointments are made objectively.Further,court had said that the short-listed candidates should be from across various fields and not just from bureaucracy.

Central information Commissioner (CIC) :

The Central Information Commission (CIC) set up under the Right to Information Act is the authorized quasi judicial body, established in 2005.
It acts upon complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests due to either the officer not having been appointed, or because the respective Officer refused to receive the application for information under the RTI Act.

Members :

The Central Information Commission shall consist of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and such number of Central Information Commissioners not exceeding 10 as may be deemed necessary.

Appointment :

CIC and members are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee consisting of—Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha; a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.

Eligibility :

Section 12(5) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners shall bepersons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance.
Section 12(6) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that Chief Information Commissioner or an Information Commissioner shall not bea Member of Parliament or Member of the Legislature of any State or Union Territory as the case may be, or hold any other office of profit or connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession.

Term of Office :

Section 13 of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the Chief Information Commissioner shall hold office for a term of five yearsfrom the date on which he enters upon his office and shall not be eligible for reappointment.
Section 13(5)(a) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the salaries and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the Chief Information Commissioner shall be the same as that of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Source :- The Hindu

IMF forecasts dip in global growth in 2019

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

Context :

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) moderately scaled down India’s economic growth projection to 7.3 per cent for the current financial year from its earlier forecast of 7.4 per cent.
The IMF also scaled down the global economic growth to 3.3 per cent in 2019 from 3.7 per cent, forecast earlier.

Reason for slowdown of global economic growth :

The escalation of US–China trade tensions, needed credit tightening in China
Macroeconomic stress in Argentina and Turkey,
Disruptions to the auto sector in Germany, and
Financial tightening alongside the normalization of monetary policy in the larger advanced economies

Key Highlights :

The IMF expects growth to pick up in the second half of the year driven by an accommodative policy stance in advanced economies, the prospects of easing of trade tensions between the U.S. and China and ramped up fiscal and monetary stimulus by China to counter the trade war’s effects.
Global growth is therefore expected to return to 3.6%, but this is subject to a rebound in Argentina and Turkey and certain emerging market risks not manifesting.
Beyond 2020, global growth is expected to level out at 3.6% over the medium term, driven by a moderation in expansion in advanced countries (caused by weak productivity growth and slow labour force growth) and the stabilisation of emerging market expansion at 2020 levels.
Advanced economies are expected to slow down to 1.6% growth by 2022 and remain at that rate thereafter.
For emerging markets and developing countries, growth is expected to steady at 4.8% over the medium term and given that these groups are growing faster than advanced economies, their contribution to global growth is expected to increase from 76% to 85% over the next five years.

India’s stand :

India’s growth is projected to pick up (from 7.1% in 2018) to 7.3% in 2019 and 7.5% in 2020, “supported by the continued recovery of investment and robust consumption amid a more expansionary stance of monetary policy and some expected impetus from fiscal policy,” the report said.
Nevertheless, growth forecasts have been revised downward compared with October 2018 World Economic Outlook by 0.1 percentage point for 2019 and 0.2 percentage point for 2020, respectively.

Recommendations by IMF :

In terms of policy priorities, the IMF has called for a “continued implementation of structural and financial sector reforms” in order to lower public debt and aid growth.
A continued fiscal consolidation is needed to bring down public debt, strengthening goods and services tax compliance and lowering subsidies.
The report also notes “important steps” taken to speed up the resolution of Non Performing Assets (NPAs) and a simplified bankruptcy framework — measures that can be reinforced by stronger governance of public sector banks.
Laws need to be formulated around land reform to change, to expedite infrastructure development as well as changes to hiring and firing laws in order create jobs and absorb the country’s large demographic dividend.

Source :- The Hindu

Sri Lanka opens China-financed railway line

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

Context :

Sri Lanka has opened a new railway line, built with China's assistance, connecting its coastal city of Matara and Beliatta in Hambantota, a move that will boost passenger traffic into the island's deep south.

Matara-Beliatta railway extension :

The 26.75-km long Matara-Beliatta railway extension is the first to be constructed in Sri Lanka since 1948, and it passes through the country’s longest and second-longest railway bridges.
The railway extension was financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and the contract was awarded to the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman termed it as a major Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project in Sri Lanka.

More about the news:

Sri Lanka was the major recipient of Chinese loans and investments in recent years totalling to over USD 8 billion.The heavy borrowing by Sri Lanka has raised concerns over its ability to pay back after Colombo handed over the Hambantota port to Beijing for a 99-year lease in 2017 as a debt swap.
The acquisition of the port by China as a debt swap had drew criticism from the US and India which termed the BRI projects as a debt trap for smaller countries.

Source :- Economic Times

India’s gold reserves increase marginally in February: WGC

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Effects of liberalization on the economy

Context :

According to the latest data from World Gold Council (WGC), India has marginally increased its gold holding in February 2019 while maintaining the tenth position among countries in terms of yellow metal reserves

KEy Highlights :

India’s gold holding increased from 607 tonnes in January to 608.7 tonnes in February.
Apart from India, only two other countries among the top 10 in terms of gold reserves increased their holdings in the month of February.
India added 1.7 tonnes in February while most other countries, barring Russia and China, saw their reserves unchanged in the recent past.
Incidentally, India’s overall ranking is pegged at 11 as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) occupies the third position after the U.S. and Germany.

WGC Ranking :

USA ranked first followed by Germany, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Italy and France.
Among Asian countries, Mainland China (7) and Japan (9) ranked better than India.
Pakistan ranked 45th while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ranked 63rd and 66th

World Gold Council :

The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry.
It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, and their aim is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold.
They frequently publish research that demonstrates gold’s strength as a preserver of wealth – both for investors and countries.
They also provide analysis of the industry, offering insights into the drivers of gold demand.
They have also launched various products such as SPDR GLD and gold accumulation plans in India and China.
- SPDR Gold Shares (also known as SPDR Gold Trust) is part of the SPDR family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) managed and marketed by State Street Global Advisors.
- For a few years, the fund was the second-largest exchange-traded fund in the world, and it was briefly the largest.
- As of the close of 2014, it dropped out of the top ten.
It helps to support its members to mine in a responsible way and developed the Conflict Free Gold Standard.
It is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Source :- The Hindu

India becomes YouTube’s largest and fastest growing market

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Context :

YouTube’s CEO has said that India is the largest and fastest growing audience for YouTube.

More about the news:

YouTube has more than 265 million monthly active users in India.
In last one year, YouTube’s consumption on mobile has increased to 85%, with 60% of the watch time coming from outside of the six largest metros in India.

10th APRIL 2019 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

Jurisdiction no bar in dowry harassment case

Centre denies RTI plea on CIC appointments

IMF forecasts dip in global growth in 2019

Sri Lanka opens China-financed railway line

India’s gold reserves increase marginally in February: WGC

India becomes YouTube’s largest and fastest growing market

Jurisdiction no bar in dowry harassment case

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections

Context :

Woman abused by husband can file a case of dowry harassment under Section 498A complaint at place where they seek refuge: SC

The Supreme Court’s judgement came on a plea filed by Rupali Devi against the Allahabad High Court judgement which dismissed her plea to file a dowry harassment case from her parents’ house

Cruelty towards women :

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that courts, where an affected woman finds refuge, have the jurisdiction to look to her complaint against her husband or his relatives under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Significance :

Hence, from now on, the place of shelter will also have territorial jurisdiction for filing matrimonial cases besides the place where a woman was living before and after marriage.

The verdict came as a big relief to women fighting dowry harassment cases outside the jurisdiction of their matrimonial home as until now their cases could only be heard by courts that fell within the jurisdiction of their matrimonial home.

Section 498A :

Section 498A, which was passed by the Parliament in 1983, states that “whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine’

In 1983, ‘Section 498-A of the IPC was introduced with affirmed object to combat the menace of harassment to a woman at the hands of her husband and his relatives.

The fact that Section 498-A is a cognizable and non-bailable offence has lent it a dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as weapons

The simplest way to harass is to get the husband and his relatives arrested under this provision.

In quite a number of cases, bed-ridden grand-fathers and grand-mothers of the husbands, their sisters living abroad for decades are arrested.

The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Husbands help men at the receiving end of anti-dowry laws.

Source :- The Hindu

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies

Context :

The Centre has denied a RTI request for details of the ongoing recruitment process for four vacancies in the Central Information Commission (CIC), despite a recent Supreme Court order mandating that such information be made public.

Background :

Earlier,the Supreme Court has directed the Centre and the States to ensure transparency in the process of appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and Information Commissioners.

The apex court had directed the Centre and States to upload on the website the details of the process so that there would be more transparency.

The court also directed the search committee to make the criteria for appointment public to ensure that the appointments are made objectively.Further,court had said that the short-listed candidates should be from across various fields and not just from bureaucracy.

Central information Commissioner (CIC) :

The Central Information Commission (CIC) set up under the Right to Information Act is the authorized quasi judicial body, established in 2005.

It acts upon complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests due to either the officer not having been appointed, or because the respective Officer refused to receive the application for information under the RTI Act.

Members :

The Central Information Commission shall consist of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and such number of Central Information Commissioners not exceeding 10 as may be deemed necessary.

Appointment :

CIC and members are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee consisting of—Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha; a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.

Eligibility :

Term of Office :

Section 13 of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the Chief Information Commissioner shall hold office for a term of five yearsfrom the date on which he enters upon his office and shall not be eligible for reappointment.

Section 13(5)(a) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the salaries and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the Chief Information Commissioner shall be the same as that of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Source :- The Hindu

IMF forecasts dip in global growth in 2019

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

Context :

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) moderately scaled down India’s economic growth projection to 7.3 per cent for the current financial year from its earlier forecast of 7.4 per cent.

The IMF also scaled down the global economic growth to 3.3 per cent in 2019 from 3.7 per cent, forecast earlier.

Reason for slowdown of global economic growth :

The escalation of US–China trade tensions, needed credit tightening in China

Macroeconomic stress in Argentina and Turkey,

Disruptions to the auto sector in Germany, and

Financial tightening alongside the normalization of monetary policy in the larger advanced economies

Key Highlights :

The IMF expects growth to pick up in the second half of the year driven by an accommodative policy stance in advanced economies, the prospects of easing of trade tensions between the U.S. and China and ramped up fiscal and monetary stimulus by China to counter the trade war’s effects.

Global growth is therefore expected to return to 3.6%, but this is subject to a rebound in Argentina and Turkey and certain emerging market risks not manifesting.

Beyond 2020, global growth is expected to level out at 3.6% over the medium term, driven by a moderation in expansion in advanced countries (caused by weak productivity growth and slow labour force growth) and the stabilisation of emerging market expansion at 2020 levels.

Advanced economies are expected to slow down to 1.6% growth by 2022 and remain at that rate thereafter.

For emerging markets and developing countries, growth is expected to steady at 4.8% over the medium term and given that these groups are growing faster than advanced economies, their contribution to global growth is expected to increase from 76% to 85% over the next five years.

India’s stand :

India’s growth is projected to pick up (from 7.1% in 2018) to 7.3% in 2019 and 7.5% in 2020, “supported by the continued recovery of investment and robust consumption amid a more expansionary stance of monetary policy and some expected impetus from fiscal policy,” the report said.

Nevertheless, growth forecasts have been revised downward compared with October 2018 World Economic Outlook by 0.1 percentage point for 2019 and 0.2 percentage point for 2020, respectively.

Recommendations by IMF :

In terms of policy priorities, the IMF has called for a “continued implementation of structural and financial sector reforms” in order to lower public debt and aid growth.

A continued fiscal consolidation is needed to bring down public debt, strengthening goods and services tax compliance and lowering subsidies.

The report also notes “important steps” taken to speed up the resolution of Non Performing Assets (NPAs) and a simplified bankruptcy framework — measures that can be reinforced by stronger governance of public sector banks.

Laws need to be formulated around land reform to change, to expedite infrastructure development as well as changes to hiring and firing laws in order create jobs and absorb the country’s large demographic dividend.

Source :- The Hindu

Sri Lanka opens China-financed railway line

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

Context :

Sri Lanka has opened a new railway line, built with China's assistance, connecting its coastal city of Matara and Beliatta in Hambantota, a move that will boost passenger traffic into the island's deep south.

Matara-Beliatta railway extension :

The 26.75-km long Matara-Beliatta railway extension is the first to be constructed in Sri Lanka since 1948, and it passes through the country’s longest and second-longest railway bridges.

The railway extension was financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and the contract was awarded to the China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman termed it as a major Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project in Sri Lanka.

More about the news:

Sri Lanka was the major recipient of Chinese loans and investments in recent years totalling to over USD 8 billion.The heavy borrowing by Sri Lanka has raised concerns over its ability to pay back after Colombo handed over the Hambantota port to Beijing for a 99-year lease in 2017 as a debt swap.

The acquisition of the port by China as a debt swap had drew criticism from the US and India which termed the BRI projects as a debt trap for smaller countries.