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  • Personal freedom and the panel on Intercaste/Interfaith Marriages

    Interfaith

    Context

    • Following a report in this newspaper, the Maharashtra government has decided to limit the mandate of the recently constituted Intercaste/Interfaith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee (state level) to gathering information on interfaith marriages.

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    Intercaste/Interfaith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee

    • Work under Women and child development: The renamed Interfaith Marriage-Family Coordination Committee will be under the state Women and Child Development Ministry.
    • Will Track frauds: The committee besides providing support and rehabilitation, when necessary, ostensibly track fraud committed in the name of love jihad.
    • Development come after walker case: The development came after the Shraddha Walkar case came to light in November. Walkar, 26, was murdered by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawalla in May, 2022
    • Other states with anti-conversion legislation: With states such as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand already having brought in anti-conversion legislation.

    What is love jihad?

    • “Love jihad” is a term often used by activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.

    Interfaith

    How the initiative will work?

    • Will collect and keep details of interfaith marriages and ensure communication: This initiative will provide a platform for the women in intercaste/interfaith marriages and their families to access counselling, and communicate or resolve issues.
    • Committee will hold regular meetings: The committee has been assigned to hold meetings with district officials, and review work on seven parameters, including, gathering information about interfaith or inter-caste marriages from stamp duty and registrar offices, and collect information on such registered or unregistered marriages, among others.

    Interfaith

    What are the concerns raised?

    • Control over the lives of individual citizens: Such vigilance remains yet another indication of the State’s disproportionately burgeoning and utterly unacceptable interest in, and demand for, control over the lives of individual citizens.
    • Denial of women’s own choice: It is not just violative of one’s rights of freedom and equality, it also reeks of misogyny in its steadfast denial of a woman’s choice of partner as her own free will and not an act of coercion.
    • Committee can be armed: There is the IPC for all genuine complaints so the committee could be weaponised.
    • It will limit the freedoms of men and women: In every aspect, monitoring of a citizen’s life for her own supposed benefit is a cautionary tale, a limitation of the freedoms of men and women, designed to deter them from leading fuller, freer lives.

    Interfaith

    Basics: Right to Marriage

    • Comes under Right to life: The right to marry is a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
    • As an integral part of Right to Life: Various courts across the country have also interpreted the right to marry as an integral part of the right to life under Article 21.
    • Stated under Human rights Charter: The right to marriage is also stated under Human Rights Charter within the meaning of the right to start a family.
    • Universal right: The right to marry is a universal right and it is available to everyone irrespective of their gender.
    • Forced marriage is illegal: A forced marriage is illegal in different personal laws on marriage in India, with the right to marry recognized under the Hindu laws as well as Muslim laws.

    How is religious freedom protected under the Constitution?

    • Article 25(1) of the Constitution guarantees the “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”.
    • It is a right that guarantees a negative liberty which means that the state shall ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercise this freedom.
    • However, like all fundamental rights, the state can restrict the right for grounds of public order, decency, morality, health and other state interests.

    Conclusion

    • The marriage between politics and communalism is not a new phenomenon but to try to inhibit that idea of openness and possibility by casting communal aspersions on personal choice might be a travesty. There needs an innovative and inclusive approach to address the issues arise out of interfaith marriages.

    Mains question

    Q. Recently the Maharashtra government has set up a panel named “Intercaste/Interfaith marriage-family coordination committee (state level)” to gather information about couples in such marriages. Discuss the utility and concerns of such initiative?

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  • Private Member’s Bill for women’s reservation

    Bill

    Context

    • As strong advocates of more representation of women in politics, looking at the number of women elected in the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assemblies has been saddening. With just 14.9 per cent women elected to our Lok Sabha, India ranks 144 out of 193 countries in the representation of women in parliament according to Inter-Parliamentary Union’s latest report. Among our immediate neighbours, India falls behind Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal.

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    Background: Recent elections and women’s participation

    • Gujrat: Gujarat elected just 8 per cent of women legislators in its 182-member assembly.
    • Himachal Pradesh: Himachal Pradesh, where every second voter is a female, has elected 67 men and only one woman.
    • National Average: The national average of women in all state assemblies remains around 8 per cent. The figure is grim
    • Representation of women in local governments increased: After the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments, the representation of women in local governments increased from a mere 3-4 per cent to nearly 50 per cent now.

    Bill

    History of Women’s Reservation Bill

    • First introduced in 1996 but lapsed with the dissolution of Lok Sabha: The Women’s Reservation Bill was first introduced in 1996 by the Deve Gowda government. After the Bill failed to get approval in Lok Sabha, it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee, which presented its report in December 1996. However, the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and had to be reintroduced.
    • Bill reintroduced in 1998 but failed and lapsed: PM Vajpayee’s NDA government reintroduced the Bill in the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998. Yet again, it failed to get support and lapsed. In 1999, the NDA government reintroduced it in the 13th Lok Sabha.
    • One-third reservations for women: Subsequently, the Bill was introduced twice in Parliament in 2003. In 2004, the government included it in the Common Minimum Programme that said that the government will take the lead to introduce legislation for one-third reservations for women in Vidhan Sabhas and in the Lok Sabha.
    • The bill introduced and passed in Rajya Sabha: In 2008, the government tabled the Bill in the Rajya Sabha so that it does not lapse again. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice recommended the passage of the Bill in December 2009. It was cleared by the Union Cabinet in February 2010. On March 9, 2010, the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 186-1 votes after immense debate. History was created.
    • Lapsed again in 2014: The Bill, then, reached the Lok Sabha where it never saw the light of day. When the House was dissolved in 2014, it lapsed. Now we are back to square one.
    • Renewed push: In the current Winter Session of Parliament, there is a renewed push from most Opposition parties to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill.

    Bill

    The case study: Political parties and Women representation

    • Political parties that reserved seats for women for election candidature: So far only two regional political parties in India, Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) have reserved seats for women for election candidatures.
    • Candidature and results of 2019 general elections: TMC and BJD fielded 40 per cent and 33 per cent women candidates respectively. Interestingly, 65 per cent of the TMC’s women candidates won in comparison to 44 per cent of their men, whereas 86 per cent of the BJD’s women candidates won in comparison to 43 per cent of their men.

    Private Member’s Bill for women’s reservation in all legislative bodies

    • Acknowledging the inequality and barriers: Women have historically suffered due to systemic inequality and barriers. Without a gender quota, women’s representation will continue to remain marginal causing a massive deficit in our democracy.
    • Reserved seats for women: Understanding this reality, there is a need to introduce a Private Member’s Bill demanding women’s reservation in all legislative bodies Lower and Upper Houses, and also reserved seats within that for women who come from historically marginalised communities.
    • Ensuring greater representation: It is a single step that will, if passed, immediately ensure at least 33 per cent representation of women.

    What is Private Member’s Bill?

    • Piloted by member other than minister: A private member’s Bill is different from a government Bill and is piloted by Member of Parliament (MP) who is not a minister. A Member of Parliament who is not a minister is a private member.
    • To draw governments attention: Individual MPs may introduce private member’s Bill to draw the government’s attention to what they might see as issues requiring legislative intervention.

    bill

    Way ahead

    • The case for women’s reservation emanates from their lack of representation in legislative bodies. We cannot rely on incremental changes.
    • We cannot let another generation fight for what is fundamental to participating in a democracy the right to be heard and make decisions.
    • Women’s reservation will jump-start the democratic process. It will allow a significant majority to have a say in how their lives must be governed.
    • Over the years, though, women’s vote share has increased significantly, but the number of women in positions of power has not.

    Conclusion

    • Victor Hugo famously said, “No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come”. Women’s reservation in legislatures is one idea which has been discussed, debated, and agreed upon by most political parties. It is now time to take it to fruition. With its massive women population, India has a huge reservoir of potential which, if unleashed, will take the country much ahead.

    Main Question

    Q. Women reservation bill has introduced and lapsed no of times. In this context discuss why it is necessary to have reserved seats for women in all legislative bodies?

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  • Missile destroyer INS Mormugao commissioned into Indian Navy

    mormugaon

    Indian Naval Ship (INS) Mormugao (Pennant 67), a P15B stealth-guided missile destroyer was commissioned into the Indian Navy.

    INS Mormugao 

    • This was the second ship to be inducted as a part of the four ‘Visakhapatnam’ class destroyers.
    • It is indigenously designed by the Navy’s in-house organisation Warship Design Bureau and constructed by Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in the country’s financial capital Mumbai.
    • The ship was named after a key port in the Indian state of Goa, it was inducted on the eve of Goa Liberation Day.
    • The ship was first launched in September 2016 and began sea trials last year on December 19 which coincided with the day that Goa was liberated from Portuguese rule six decades earlier with December 18 marking the launch of Operation Vijay by the Indian Armed Forces in 1961.
    • Singh also paid tributed former defence minister, the late Manohar Parrikar who had launched INS Mormugao in 2016.

    Features of INS Mormugao

    • The ship measures 163 metres by 17 metres and has the ability to fight in nuclear, biological, as well as chemical (NBC) warfare due to its total atmospheric control system (TACS).
    • Additionally, with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes, the INS Mormugao is loaded with state-of-the-art weapons.
    • It will be operated by a crew of at least 350 which would include 50 officers and 250 sailors.
    • Over 75 per cent of the ship’s content was manufactured and developed in India, either directly or designed and developed by Indian Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) or through strategic tie-ups.
    • It is capable of achieving speeds of 30 knots (55 km/hour) as it is propelled by four powerful gas turbines in a ‘combined gas and gas’ (COGAG) configuration.

    Combat weaponry

    • INS Mormugao includes weapons like BrahMos surface-to-surface missiles and Barak-8 surface-to-air missiles.
    • It is also fitted with a modern surveillance radar which helps provide target data to the ship’s weapon system.
    • Additionally, the ship’s weaponry also includes indigenously-developed rocket launchers, torpedo launchers and ASW helicopters like Sea King or HAL Dhruv.

    Historic significance of Mormugao Port

    • Even as a port, Mormugao has contributed significantly to the growth of India’s maritime trade.
    • Even today, it is one of the oldest and largest ports in the country and will retain this special place due to the services it provides be it Mormugao fort or Mormugao port.
    • It is landmark since the 17th century Maratha campaign against the Portuguese under Chhatrapati Sambhaji (Ch. Shivaji Maharaj’s son).

    Back2Basics: Project PB15

    • P15B destroyers is a class of four ships built by the country’s MDSL with INS Visakhapatnam (Pennant D66), commissioned last year in November as the year.
    • These ships are set to be more advanced than the Kolkata class under the project named 15A which comprised INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, and INS Chennai.
    • The contract for the ships was signed back in 2011 and under Project 15B they were to be named after four major Indian cities like Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal, and Surat.
    • A group of ships with similar tonnage, usage, capabilities, and weaponry are referred to as a ship’s ‘class’.
    • P15B destroyers incorporate new design concepts for improved survivability, seakeeping and manoeuvrability.

     

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  • Why banyan, peepal trees live longer?

    banyan

    Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have found out the carried out whole genome sequencing of banyan and peepal from leaf tissue samples.

    Science behind long life: Multiple Signs of Adaptive-evolution (MSA)

    • Scientists identified 25,016 coding gene sequences in banyan and 23,929 in peepal.
    • Both trees faced a population bottleneck around 0.8 million years ago and evolved genes with multiple signs of adaptive evolution (MSA).
    • In banyan, the MSA genes are mainly involved in root growth, pollen tube and seed development, leaf formation, cell wall synthesis, metabolism and other developmental processes.

    How MSA prolongs the life?

    • Disease resistance and other stress tolerance gene families showed expansion as well as high expression, contributing to the plants’ long lifespan.
    • The MSA genes of peepal are associated with root cell elongation, cell proliferation, seed and pollen tube growth, lateral organ development, controlling flowering time, metabolism and intracellular transport.
    • The team zeroed in on 17 MSA genes in banyan and 19 MSA genes in peepal that are mainly related to well-developed morphology, and tolerance against drought, oxidative stress and pathogens.
    • Genes involved in growth-regulating auxin signalling and plant senescence-regulating pathways also showed evolutionary signatures.
    • Also, 88% and 89% of the MSA genes in banyan and peepal trees, respectively, are associated with tolerance against biotic and abiotic stress responses.
    • This, in turn, helps these plants to survive when faced with environmental challenges.

     

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  • How can mRNA vaccines help fight cancer?

    mrna

    The results of a trial of an experimental cancer vaccine built on the mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) platform, made by Moderna and MSD (Merck&Co.), have shown promising results.

    What is mRNA?

    mrna

    • Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a single-stranded RNA (Ribo Nucleic Acid) molecule that is complementary to one of the DNA strands of a gene.
    • The mRNA is an RNA version of the gene that leaves the cell nucleus and moves to the cytoplasm where proteins are made.
    • During protein synthesis, an organelle called a ribosome moves along the mRNA, reads its base sequence, and uses the genetic code to translate each three-base triplet, or codon, into its corresponding amino acid.

    What are mRNA vaccines?

    • mRNA vaccines work by introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein, usually a small piece of a protein found on the virus’s outer membrane.
    • Individuals who get an mRNA vaccine are not exposed to the virus, nor can they become infected with the virus by the vaccine.
    • As part of a normal immune response, the immune system recognizes that the protein is foreign and produces specialized proteins called antibodies.
    • Antibodies help protect the body against infection by recognizing individual viruses or other pathogens, attaching to them, and marking the pathogens for destruction.
    • Once produced, antibodies remain in the body, even after the body has rid itself of the pathogen, so that the immune system can quickly respond if exposed again.

    How does the vaccine work?

    • The personalized cancer vaccine uses the same messenger-RNA technology that was used to produce the COVID vaccine.
    • It allows the body’s immune system to seek and destroy cancerous cells, in this case melanoma, but with the hope that it could lead to new ways to fight other types of cancers too.

    Why is it a significant feat?

    • The cancer vaccine showed a 44% reduction in the risk of dying of cancer or having the cancer progress.
    • As a personalized cancer vaccine, it is tailor-made for every patient.
    • As a consequence, it is expected to be very expensive to make.
    • But oncologists across the world have welcomed this as an exciting new opportunity in cancer care.

     

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  • Disparities in Climate Change Financial Responsibility

    Financial

    Context

    • Extreme weather events are becoming more prevalent with each passing year and countries are increasingly taking cognizance of this. Yet, there remains a rift between developing and developed countries, largely on account of asymmetries between the incidence of and the financial responsibility assumed for climate change.

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    Background: Rift between developed and developing countries

    • Historical emission by developed countries: It is estimated that 92 per cent of excess historical emissions are attributable to developed countries.
    • Burden on developing countries: Yet the economic impact of climate change is disproportionately borne by vulnerable developing countries. The 58 vulnerable countries (or V20) account for 5 per cent of global emissions while the costs incurred are significant.
    • UNEP estimates that efforts on climate adaptation would require $160-340 billion by 2030. But, current financial flows are inadequate, with developing countries receiving only a third of what is required.
    • The dual costs of shifting away from fossil fuels and that of climate catastrophes are expected to further chip away at fiscal resilience as developing countries reel under the pressures of slowdown, inflation and excess sovereign debt.

    Financial

    COP27 decisions on accelerating finance

    • Recognized the need of transforming the financial system: In its draft decision, the UN highlighted that to meet the scale of funding will require a transformation of the financial systems, structures and processes. It will require engaging with all financial actors.
    • Recognized discontent of green climate fund: In the past there have been funding facilities such as the Green Climate Fund, which were meant to support adaptation and mitigation. But there is wide discontent with the pace and extent of access to such facilities.
    • Announcement of Loss and Damage (L&D) fund: The announcement of a Loss and Damage (L&D) fund stole the attention. However, reflections from past experiences are essential.

    Challenges on developing inclusive financial structure

    • Visible reluctance to contribute among big economies: The institutional architecture of multilateral funds has been demonstrably slow to deliver. Then there is the visible reluctance to contribute among the big economies. To restore its lost legitimacy, the US made several announcements at COP27 but its lack of support to the L&D fund and financing of the global shield meant to support vulnerable countries to address risks of climate change must be factored in.
    • Mismatch between financial expectations, regulations and society’s requirement: As the demands placed on economies dwarf public finances, it is intuitive to expect private capital to step up. For decades, developing countries have competed to attract private capital leading to frail legal and tax systems. Even as private capital shifts to the green sectors on account of regulatory action, it is reasonable to expect that its pace will be tempered by financial expectations.
    • National carbon tax is rarely discussed: Interestingly, experts are beginning to see climate actions connected with tax policy. This is evident from the revival of the repeatedly shelved Financial Transaction Tax in the EU. Every package announced involves a redistribution of incomes within and across countries. Therefore, a general overhaul of tax architecture is inevitable. Yet, a dedicated national carbon tax is rarely discussed.

    Financial

    Hypocrisy of developed countries and India’s call of Phase down

    • Policy makers discussed the inadequacies of the system: COP27 was a spectacle of distractions. Experts from around the world assembled in the comforts of their echo chambers, reciting the promise of the transition, as policy makers reiterated the inadequacies of the system.
    • Growing pressure on developing countries to abandon access to fossil fuel: There is also growing pressure on developing countries to abandon their access to fossil fuels, overlooking the view that a hastened transition can have adverse consequences for growth.
    • Systematically sidelined India’s Phase down Call: There have been repeated questions as to why India chooses to use the term “phase down” and its slow response. The hypocrisy of the developed countries was stark as countries chose to sideline India’s call to phase down all fossil fuels.

    Way ahead

    • While the release of the long-term low carbon development strategy is a fitting response from India, there needs to be better guidance on the pathway to net zero.
    • With India chairing the G-20 this year, the question of phasing down coal will be asked repeatedly.
    • There is already growing interest in signing a just energy transition partnership with India.

    Conclusion

    • The learnings from COP27 must inform the G-20 presidency. It is also important to remain conscious that dramatic shifts in policy are pursued domestically and not all change is pursued by consensus. The principle of common but differentiated responsibility should not be traded for the promise of finance.

    Mains question

    In the context of COP27, The principle of common but differentiated responsibility should not be traded for the promise of finance. Comment

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  • A milestone in fusion energy

    fusion

    Context

    • For more than nine decades scientists have tried to replicate the process that produces energy for the sun and the stars fusion. On Tuesday, researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California, USA, announced a milestone in this endeavor.

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    fusion

    What is the research?

    • Merged two nuclei to produce a heavier nucleus: They merged two nuclei to produce a heavier nucleus. Their reactor produced about 1.5 times more energy than what was used in the process. In all the earlier attempts to harness the power of fusion, the reactors used up more energy than what was produced.
    • It will take at least two decades to be pioneered: But scientists say that it will be at least two decades before the process pioneered in the California laboratory can be scaled up.
    • Still a great leap where the world is in search of green technologies: Even then, in a world desperately searching for technologies that can power the developmental needs of nations without adding to the GHG load, the breakthrough at NIF has generated excitement.

    What is Fusion?

    • Fusion works by pressing hydrogen atoms into each other with such force that they combine into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy and heat.
    • This process occurs in our Sun and other stars.
    • Creating conditions for fusion on Earth involves generating and sustaining a plasma.
    • Plasmas are gases that are so hot that electrons are freed from atomic nuclei.

    fusion

    What is Fusion Energy?

    • The process releases energy because the total mass of the resulting single nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei.
    • The leftover mass becomes energy.

    Why is it perceived as energy of the future?

    • Carbon free: Fusion Reactions could one day produce nearly limitless, carbon-free energy, displacing fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources.
    • Efficient: Net energy gain has been an elusive goal because fusion happens at such high temperatures and pressures that it is incredibly difficult to control.
    • Clean: Unlike other nuclear reactions, it doesn’t create radioactive waste.

    fusion

    Why it is considered as significant research, though it will take at least two decades to be commercialized?

    • Countries are shifting towards renewable energies: Several countries are shifting to renewable energies to meet their international climate-related commitments. Yet, power generation currently is responsible for 25-30 per cent of global GHG emissions.
    • Unstable nature of renewables: The inherently unstable nature of renewables means that countries find it very difficult to jettison fossil-fuel energy sources.
    • Nuclear energy is relatively cleaner: Conventionally-produced nuclear energy that uses fission technology is relatively cleaner. But accidents at Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011 have raised serious questions over the safety of fission-powered plants. According to the IEA’s best-case scenario, the world’s nuclear energy generation capacity is likely to double by 2050 compared to 2020.

    Conclusion

    • The global body has repeatedly flagged concerns about the efficacy of the nuclear reactors by and large in the US and Europe given that about two-thirds of them have been in operation for more than 30 years. It has also maintained that the realisation of the best-case scenario would require significant investments in innovative nuclear technologies.

    Mains question

    Q. Recently researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in USA tried to replicate the process that produces energy for the sun and the stars fusion, discuss the significance of this research.

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  • Acid Attack in India

    acid attack

    An acid attack in in Delhi has once again brought back to focus the heinous crime of acid attacks and the easy availability of corrosive substances.

    What is Acid Attack?

    • An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another.
    • It intends to disfigure, maim, torture, or kill.
    • Perpetrators of these attacks throw corrosive liquids at their victims, usually at their faces, burning them, and damaging skin tissue, often exposing and sometimes dissolving the bones.
    • The most common types of acid used in these attacks are sulphuric and nitric acid.
    • Hydrochloric acid is sometimes used but is much less damaging.

    How prevalent are acid attacks in India?

    • Though heinous, acid attacks on women are not as prevalent a crime as others against women.
    • According to data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), there were 150 such cases recorded in 2019, 105 in 2020 and 102 in 2021.
    • West Bengal and UP consistently record the highest number of such cases generally accounting for nearly 50% of all cases in the country year on year.
    • The charge-sheeting rate of acid attacks stood at 83% and the conviction rate at 54% in 2019.
    • In 2020, the figures stood at 86% and 72% respectively.
    • In 2021, the figures were recorded to be 89% and 20% respectively.

    What is the law on acid attacks?

    • Until 2013, acid attacks were not treated as separate crimes.
    • However, following amendments carried out in the IPC, acid attacks were put under a separate section (326A) of the IPC.
    • Such attacks made punishable with a minimum imprisonment of 10 years which is extendable to life along with fine.
    • The law also has provisions for punishment for denial of treatment to victims or police officers refusing to register an FIR or record any piece of evidence.
    • Denial of treatment (by both public and private hospitals) can lead to imprisonment of up to one year and dereliction of duty by a police officer is punishable by imprisonment of up to two years.

    Creating deterrence against acid attack

    (1) Clear rules

    • In 2013, the Supreme Court took cognizance of acid attacks and passed an order on the regulation of sales of corrosive substances.
    • Based on the order, the MHA issued an advisory to all states on how to regulate acid sales and framed the Model Poisons Possession and Sale Rules, 2013 under The Poisons Act, 1919.
    • It asked states to frame their own rules based on model rules, as the matter fell under the purview of states.

    (2) Regulation of acid sale

    • In 2015, MHA issued an advisory to all states to ensure speedy justice in cases of acid attacks by expediting prosecution.
    • According to the MHA’s directions and the model rules, over-the-counter sale of acid was not allowed unless the seller maintains a logbook/register recording the sale of acid.
    • This logbook was to also contain the details of the person to whom acid is sold, the quantity sold, the address of the person and also specify the reason for procuring acid.
    • The buyer must also prove he/she is above 18 years of age.

    (3) Effective monitoring

    • Sellers are also required to declare all stocks of acid with the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) within 15 days and in case of undeclared stock of acid.
    • The SDM can confiscate the stock and suitably impose a fine of up to Rs 50,000 for a breach of any of the directions.

    Rules for victim compensation and care

    • Free treatment: States are supposed to ensure that treatment provided to acid attack victims in any hospital, public or private, is free of cost.
    • Aftercare and rehabilitation: Based on Supreme Court directions, the MHA asked states to make sure acid attack victims are paid compensation of at least Rs. 3 lakhs by the concerned State Government/UT.
    • Funding to NGOs: MHA suggested states should also extend social integration programs to the victims for which NGOs could be funded to exclusively look after their rehabilitative requirements.

    Preventing such attacks

    • Still on rise: The regulations on acid sales largely help in tracking the accused and not so much in prevention.
    • Regulatory bottlenecks: Acid is still easily available in many places. Then these are crimes of passion. In a majority of cases the accused is not even thinking about consequences.

    Way forward

    • Things improve as social attitudes are changing and the focus of the police in dealing with crimes against women can cause some deterrence.
    • But the key to solving this problem will always remain in society.
    • We must create more awareness. Parents must teach their children the importance of boundaries and consent.

     

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  • What is DNA Fingerprinting?

    dna

    Delhi Police has established identity of a victim of brutal murder and mutilation by DNA fingerprinting.

    What is DNA fingerprinting?

    • DNA fingerprinting was first developed in 1984 by Alec Jeffreys in the UK, after Jeffreys discovered that no two people could have the same DNA sequence.
    • Within three years of the discovery, the UK achieved the world’s first conviction based on DNA evidence in a case of rape and murder.

    How is DNA fingerprinting done?

    • Each person’s DNA, except for identical twins, is unique.
    • By analyzing selected DNA sequences (called loci), a crime laboratory can develop a profile to be used in identifying a suspect.
    • DNA can be extracted from many sources, such as hair, bone, teeth, saliva, and blood.
    • Because there is DNA in most cells in the human body, even a minuscule amount of bodily fluid or tissue can yield useful information.
    • Samples may even be extracted from used clothes, linen, combs, or other frequently used items.

     

    Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)

    • DNA is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a person’s body has the same DNA.
    • Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA).
    • Mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use.
    • The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T).
    • Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people.
    • The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.

    How it is used in criminal investigation?

    • DNA evidence is used to solve crimes in two ways:
    1. If a suspect is known, that person’s DNA sample can be compared to biological evidence found at a crime scene to establish whether the suspect was at the crime scene or whether they committed the crime.
    2. If a suspect is not known, biological evidence from the crime scene can be analyzed and compared to offender profiles in existing DNA databases to assist in identifying a suspect.
    • Beyond its accuracy, DNA fingerprinting can also sift through crime scene evidence in different ways, previously unavailable to investigators.
    • For instance, advanced DNA fingerprinting can make separate prints of various individuals even from a sample mixture found at the crime scene — this is of help during gang rape investigations as each perpetrator can be individually identified.

    DNA fingerprinting in India

    • By 1988, Lalji Singh, who had been in the UK from 1974 to 1987 on a Commonwealth Fellowship, developed DNA fingerprinting for crime investigations in Hyderabad.
    • Today, Lalji Singh, who passed away in 2017, is known as “the father of DNA fingerprinting in India.”
    • In 1989, DNA fingerprinting was first used in a case by the Kerala Police.
    • By the early 1990s, the technology had begun to be used for establishing paternity, and to link criminals and identify victims in sensational crimes.
    • From the 2000s onwards, the technology became a staple in rape cases where vaginal swab samples were matched with semen samples from suspects.

    Challenges with DNA fingerprinting in India

    • It is vital to ensure that the DNA of the investigators does not get mixed with that of the victims or the suspects.
    • Thus, picking up samples from a crime scene with sterile tools and storing samples in a proper manner are crucial for the evidence to stand a judicial test.
    • While India has rules and guidelines regarding this, India’s police forces have a lot of catching up to do with counterparts overseas.
    • While central agencies such as CBI have the expertise to ensure that crime scenes are protected and correct procedure is followed, state police forces are inadequately trained or fully equipped.

    Issues with such technology

    • The problem is not limited to the police awareness.
    • The capacity for DNA fingerprinting in the country itself is lacking.
    • DNA fingerprinting is available only at a few places — Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.
    • Advanced practices in the technology are limited to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) in Hyderabad.

     

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  • Indian student at Cambridge decodes Panini’s Language Machine

    panini

    A grammatical problem by Panini that has defeated Sanskrit scholars since the 5th Century BC has finally been solved by an Indian Ph.D. student at the University of Cambridge.

    Who was Panini?

    • Panini was a Sanskrit philologist, grammarian, and revered scholar in ancient India, variously dated between the 6th and 4th century BCE.
    • Since the discovery and publication of his work by European scholars in the nineteenth century, Panini has been considered the “first descriptive linguist” and even labelled as “the father of linguistics”.
    • Panini’s grammar was influential on such foundational linguists as Ferdinand de Saussure and Leonard Bloomfield.

    Major literary works

    • Panini is known for his texts- Astadhyayi, a sutra-style treatise on Sanskrit grammar, verses or rules on linguistics, syntax and semantics in “eight chapters” which is the foundational text of the Vyakarna branch of the Vedanga.
    • His text attracted numerous bhashya (commentaries), of which Patanjali’s Mahabhashya is the most famous.
    • His ideas influenced and attracted commentaries from scholars of other Indian religions such as Buddhism.

    What is the recent breakthrough?

    • Panini had an extraordinary mind and he built a language machine unrivaled in human history.
    • The 2,500-year-old algorithm decoded by him makes it possible, for the first time, to accurately use Panini’s so-called “language machine”.
    • This discovery makes it possible to “derive” any Sanskrit word, to construct millions of grammatically correct words, using Panini’s language machine.
    • This is widely considered to be one of the greatest intellectual achievements in history.

    How does this language machine works?

    • Panini’s system – 4,000 rules detailed in his renowned work, the Astadhyayi, which is thought to have been written around 500 BC – is meant to work like a machine.
    • Feed in the base and suffix of a word and it should turn them into grammatically correct words and sentences through a step-by-step process.

    Significance of this development

    • A major implication of the recent discovery is that now there is an algorithm that runs Panini’s grammar.
    • We can potentially teach this grammar to computers.
    • Computer scientists working on Natural Language Processing (NLP) gave up on rule-based approaches over 50 years ago.
    • NLP is a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.
    • So teaching computers how to combine the speaker’s intention with Panini’s rule-based grammar to produce human speech would be a major milestone in the history of human interaction with machines.

     

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