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Distribution: yearly

  • Same-Sex Marriages can rock societal values: Centre

    marriage

    Central idea: The Centre in the Supreme Court expressed its disagreement towards same-sex marriage, citing traditional beliefs and values.

    Here are the main points of the affidavit:

    • Heterosexual marriage has been the norm throughout history and is “foundational to both the existence and continuance of the state.”
    • Marriage in India is regarded as a “holy union,” a “sacrament,” and a “sanskar,” and is dependent on customs, rituals, practices, cultural ethos, and societal values.
    • Any “deviation” from the “statutorily, religiously and socially” accepted norm in “human relationship” can only happen through the legislature and not the Supreme Court.

    Basis of Centre’s opposition

    • The 2018 Navtej Singh Johar judgment decriminalised homosexuality, but it did not mention/legitimise same-sex marriage.
    • Same-sex marriage cannot be compared to a man and woman living as a family with children born out of the union.
    • Registration of same-sex marriage would result in a violation of existing personal as well as codified law provisions.
    • There is a “compelling interest” for the society and the state to limit recognition to heterosexual marriages only.

    Reasons behind centre’s opposition

    • Legal revamp required: The registration of marriage of same-sex persons also results in a violation of existing personal as well as codified law provisions — such as ‘degrees of prohibited relationship’; ‘conditions of marriage’; ‘ceremonial and ritual requirements’ under the personal laws governing the individuals”.
    • Definition of spouse: In a same-sex marriage, it is neither possible nor feasible to term one as ‘husband’ and the other as ‘wife’ in the context of the legislative scheme of various personal laws.
    • Against cultural norms:  The social order in our Country is religion based which views procreation as an obligation for the execution of various religious ceremonies.
    • Property and other civil rights: Property rights post marriage is a much-contested issues in India. Same sex marriage will not create any immunity for the law but increase complex interpretations.

    Issues with such marriages

    The issue of homosexual conduct to this fore in recent legal and political debate for main reasons, which are as follows:

    • Morality: This has brought with it a change in social attitudes, so that the stigma attached to homosexuality has to a greater extent disappeared.
    • Rising activism: Campaigns for lesbian and gay rights taken on an increasingly radical character, arguing for an end to all forms of discrimination against homosexuality.
    • Religious sanctions: Same sex acts are punishable by death in Arab countries. No religion openly embraces same sex marriage. More or less, they are considered un-natural everywhere.
    • Social stigma:  Apart from the harsh legal scenario, homosexuals face social stigma as well. Same sex marriages are still unimaginable as any instance of sexual relations between a couple of the same sex draws hatred and disgust.
    • Patriarchy: It must not be forgotten that the Indian society is patriarchal in nature and the fact that certain women and men have different choices, which is not sanctioned by the ‘order’, frightens them in a way.
    • Burden of collectivity: Our society is very community oriented and individualism is not encouraged in the least, any expression of homosexuality is seen as an attempt to renounce tradition and promote individualism.

    Arguments in favor

    • Pursuit of happiness: Homosexuality is not an offence, it is just a way of pursuit of happiness, a way to achieve sexual happiness or desire.
    • Right to privacy: The fundamental right to liberty (under Article-21) prohibits the state from interfering with the private personal activities of the individual.
    • Arbitrariness: Infringement of, the right to equal protection before law requires the determination of whether there is a rational and objective basis to the classification introduced.
    • Issues with definition: Section-377 assumes that natural sexual act is that which is performed for procreation. Hence, it thereby labels all forms of non-procreative sexual act as unnatural.
    • Discrimination: Section-377 discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation which is forbidden under Article-15 of the Constitution. Article-15 prohibits discrimination on several grounds, which includes Sex.
    • Human rights: The universal law of Human Rights states that social norms, tradition, custom or culture cannot be used to curb a person from asserting his fundamental and constitutional rights.
    • Many countries recognizing: According to global think tank Council of Foreign Relations, same sex marriages are legal in at least 30 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada and France.

    Way forward

    • Dissociating from religion: Such marriages are forbidden in almost every religion. Hence no single religion should be considered a hindrance in creating a legal sanction.
    • Doing away with discrimination: The same-sex community needs an anti-discrimination law that empowers them to build productive lives and relationships irrespective of gender identity.
    • Letting the society evolve: The society has to imbibe the doctrine of progressive realization of rights and it cannot be forcibly convinced by law.
    • Creating awareness: Certainly this is not an overnight phenomenon. We are society where practice of Sati and Nikah halala was considered a religious order.

     

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  • States demand that ‘Lightning’ be declared a Natural Disaster

    Central idea: A few states have requested lightning to be declared a natural disaster due to the high number of deaths caused by it in the country.

    Why discuss this?

    • Around 2,500 people die every year due to lightning.
    • Present norms consider cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, fires, floods, tsunamis, hailstorms, landslides, avalanches, cloudbursts, pest attacks, frost, and cold waves as disasters covered under the State Disaster Response Fund.
    • Deliberations are necessary as it is a policy issue.

    What is lightning?

    • Scientifically, lightning is a rapid and massive discharge of electricity in the atmosphere some of which is directed towards earth.
    • The discharges are generated in giant moisture-bearing clouds that are 10-12 km tall.
    • The base of these clouds typically lie within 1-2 km of the Earth’s surface, while the top is 12-13 km away.
    • Temperatures in the top of these clouds are in the range of –35° to –45°C.

    Its formation

    • As water vapour moves upward in the cloud, the falling temperature causes it to condense.
    • As they move to temperatures below 0°C, the water droplets change into small ice crystals.
    • They continue to move up, gathering mass until they are so heavy that they start to fall to Earth.
    • This leads to a system in which, simultaneously, smaller ice crystals are moving up and bigger crystals are coming down.
    • Collisions follow and trigger the release of electrons, a process that is very similar to the generation of sparks of electricity.
    • As the moving free electrons cause more collisions and more electrons, a chain reaction ensues.
    • This process results in a situation in which the top layer of the cloud gets positively charged, while the middle layer is negatively charged.
    • The electrical potential difference between the two layers is huge, of the order of a billion to 10 billion volts.
    • In very little time, a massive current, of the order of 100,000 to a million amperes, starts to flow between the layers.

    Types of lightning

    • Broadly, there are three forms of lightning:
    1. Inter-cloud
    2. Intra-cloud
    3. Cloud-to-ground
    • It is the cloud-to-ground form of lightning that kills humans, as well as animals and livestock, and can substantially damage property.
    • While the Earth is a good conductor of electricity, it is electrically neutral.
    • However, in comparison to the middle layer of the cloud, it becomes positively charged.
    • As a result, about 15%-20% of the current gets directed towards the Earth as well.
    • It is this flow of current that results in damage to life and property on Earth.

    How intensely does it strike?

    • A typical lightning flash is about 300 million volts and30,000 amps.
    • To put it in perspective, household current is 120 volts and 15 amps.
    • A flash of lightning is enough to light a 100-watt incandescent bulb for about three months.

    Why does lightning kill so many people in India?

    • The reason for the high number of deaths is due to people being caught unawares and more than 70% of fatalities happened due to people standing under isolated tall trees.
    • About 25 per cent of the people were struck in the open.
    • Also, lightning is the direct promulgation of climate change extremities.

    Mitigating lightning incidents

    • Lightning is not classified as a natural disaster in India.
    • But recent efforts have resulted in the setting up of an early warning system that is already saving many lives.
    • More than 96% of lightning deaths happen in rural areas.
    • As such, most of the mitigation and public awareness programmes need to focus on these communities.
    • Lightning protection devices are fairly unsophisticated and low-cost. Yet, their deployment in the rural areas, as of now, is extremely low.
    • States are being encouraged to prepare and implement lightning action plans, on the lines of heat action plans.
    • An international centre for excellence on lightning research to boost detection and early warning systems is also in the process of being set up.

  • Bhutan no longer a ‘Least Developed Country’

    bhutan

    Central idea: Bhutan will become the seventh country to graduate from the United Nations’ list of Least Developed Countries (LDC) on December 13, 2023.

    What is a Least Developed Country (LDC)?

    • The LDCs are developing countries listed by the UN that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development.
    • The concept first originated in the late 1960s and was codified under UN resolution 2768 passed in November 1971.
    • According to the UN, an LDC is defined as “a country that exhibits the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development, with-
    1. Low levels of income, human capital and economic diversification,
    2. High levels of economic vulnerability, and
    3. A population that is disproportionately reliant on agriculture, natural resources, and primary commodities.

    Criteria for LDCs

    • The UN identifies three criteria for a country to be classified as an LDC:
    1. It must have a gross national income (GNI) per capita below the threshold of USD 1,230 over a three-year average.
    2. It must perform poorly on a composite human assets index based on indicators including nutrition, health and education.
    3. It must demonstrate economic vulnerability such as being prone to natural disasters and possessing structural economic constraints.
    • Countries must meet a selection from all three criteria simultaneously and are reviewed on a three-year basis by the UN.

    How many countries are LDCs?

    • Currently, the UN lists 46 countries that qualify as LDCs.
    • Of those, 33 are from Africa, nine from Asia, three from the Pacific and one from the Caribbean.
    • At the UN 2021 triennial review of LDC countries, the organisation recommended that Bangladesh, Laos, and Nepal be removed from the list.

    How does a country get off the LDC list?

    • To graduate from the LDC list, a country must meet certain criteria in the three areas stated before namely, income, human assets, and economic vulnerability.
    • A nation must have a GNI per capita of at least USD 1,242 for two consecutive triennial reviews in order to meet the income requirement.
    • The nation must also show that this level of income can be sustained over the long term.
    • A nation also must show that it has improved its ability to withstand external economic shocks like natural catastrophes or shifts in commodity prices in order to pass the economic vulnerability test.

    How did Bhutan get off the LDC list?

    • Bhutan was included in the first group of LDCs in 1971. It fulfilled the requirements for graduation in 2015 and 2018.
    • Bhutan’s economy grew more than eight times in the last 20 years, from under USD 300 million in 2000 to USD 2.53 billion in 2017.
    • The percentage of people living in poverty decreased from 17.8 per cent in 2003 to 1.5 per cent in 2017.
    • The percentage of people living below the national poverty line decreased from 23.2 per cent in 2007 to 8.2 per cent in 2017.

    What economic measures did it take?

    • Hydropower exports: Bhutan increased exports of hydropower to India, which now accounts for 20 per cent of its economy.
    • Brand Bhutan: Bhutan established Brand Bhutan to diversify exports and target high-end markets with specialised exports of high-value, low-volume Bhutanese goods from sectors including textiles, tourism, handicrafts, culture, and natural resources.
    • Tourism promotion: It emerged out to be an all-season tourist destination in South Asia.

    Advantages of being an LDC

    • LDCs enjoy duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) access to the markets of developed countries.
    • LDCs are also eligible for loans with special terms for development, which include loans with a lower interest rate and a longer repayment time than those given to other nations.
    • The term “Official Development Assistance” (ODA) or “aid” is frequently used to describe this form of support.

    Way forward for Bhutan

    • As such, advancing out of the list is often only the first step in overall development.
    • Graduation from LDC status is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a new journey.
    • It is a time when a country needs to redouble its efforts to build its productive capacities, diversify its economy, and create new opportunities for employment and income generation.

    Back2Basics: Defining a country’s ‘Development’

    • There are no WTO definitions of “developed” or “developing” countries.
    • Developing countries in the WTO are designated on the basis of self-selection although this is not necessarily automatically accepted in all WTO bodies.
    • The WTO however recognizes as least-developed countries (LDCs) those countries which have been designated as such by the United Nations.

     

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  • Bengal is tackling fatal Adenovirus Infection

    adenovirus

    Central idea: 19 children below the age of five years have died in State-run institutions due to acute respiratory infection (ARI) caused by Adenovirus.

    What is Adenovirus Infection?

    • Adenoviruses are common viruses that typically cause mild cold or flu-like illness and are usually spread from an infected person to others by close personal contact
    • The virus is transmitted through the air by coughing and sneezing and also by touching an object or surface with adenoviruses on it
    • While the virus can affect people of any age group, children with low and compromised immunity are at a higher risk
    • Symptoms of the viral infection, other than common cold or flu-like symptoms, include acute bronchitis, pneumonia, pink eye (conjunctivitis), and acute gastroenteritis

    Reasons for outbreak in Bengal

    • Doctors claim that it is the recombinant strain which is the reason for the spike in infections and deaths.
    • Most of the children who have been infected by the virus are less than three years old and were born during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • Children who are in the age group of six months to preschool are most susceptible to viral infection.

     

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  • Sickle Cell Anaemia screening meets only 1% of target

    anaemia

    Central idea:  The Health Ministry of India set a target to scan one crore people for sickle cell disease in 2022-23. However, with only two weeks left in the fiscal year, the Ministry has completed only 1% of the target.

    What is Sickle Cell Anaemia?

    anaemia

    • Sickle Cell Anaemia is a genetic blood disorder that affects the haemoglobin molecule in red blood cells.
    • People with sickle cell anaemia have abnormal haemoglobin that causes their red blood cells to become sickle-shaped, rigid and sticky.
    • These abnormal cells can clog small blood vessels, leading to excruciating pain, organ damage, and a higher risk of infections.
    • Sickle cell anaemia is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, which means that a person must inherit two copies of the mutated gene, one from each parent, to develop the disease.
    • There is no cure for sickle cell anaemia, but treatments are available to manage its symptoms and complications.

    How widespread is it in India?

    • Sickle cell anaemia is prevalent in some parts of India, particularly in tribal and rural areas.
    • According to the ICMR, sickle cell trait is present in about 20-22% of the tribal population in central India, and the disease is present in about 3-5% of the same population.
    • It is estimated that there are about 30 million carriers of the sickle cell trait in India, and around 1.5-2 lakh sickle cell disease patients.
    • The disease is most commonly found in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Gujarat.

    Recent discussions

    • India aims to eradicate sickle cell anaemia by 2047, Finance Minister announced during her Budget 2023 speech.
    • Under the new scheme, 70 million people up to the age of 40 years in affected tribal areas will be screened for the disease.
    • The Health Ministry has assigned tentative State-wise screening targets to the States for timely completion of the exercise.
    • The Ministry is working to create and maintain a central registry for all screened persons to prevent patients from slipping through the cracks.

    Current status of screening

    • Only 1,05,954 people have been screened so far, out of which 5959 people, or 5.62% of those screened were found to be carrying sickle cell disease traits.
    • Regular and timely screening of the population is important, as in a previous screening exercise of over 1.13 crore people in 2016, up to 9,49,057 (8.75%) tested positive for the sickle cell trait, and up to 47,311 of these ended up with full-blown sickle cell disease.

    Way forward

    • Increased screening: Achieving the goal of eliminating sickle cell anaemia would involve screening at least seven crore people under the age of 40 years in multiple phases by 2025-26.
    • Creating awareness: The Health Ministry is working to create awareness amongst those who carry the sickle cell trait to refrain from marrying another person who also carries the trait.
    • Targeted assessment: Pregnant women are a priority group for immediate screening, and in the long-term, screening of targeted population of unmarried adolescents between 10 to 25 years will be undertaken.
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  • Scientists devise ‘Glowscope’ to bring fluorescent microscopy to schools

    microscope

    Central idea: Researchers at Winona State University, Minnesota, have created a design for a rudimentary fluorescence microscope.

    Why in news?

    • The development can be put together at a cost of $30-50 (Rs 2,500-4,100) using products purchased on online marketplaces.
    • The device aims to democratize access to fluorescence microscopy.

    What is Fluorescence Microscopy?

    • An optical microscope views an object by studying how it absorbs, reflects or scatters visible light.
    • A fluorescence microscope views an object by studying how it reemits light that it has absorbed, i.e. how it fluoresces.
    • The object is illuminated with light of a specific wavelength.
    • Particles in the object absorb this light and reemit it at a higher wavelength.
    • These particles are called fluorophores; the object is infused with them before being placed under the microscope.

    How does it work?

    • The setup consists of two plexiglass surfaces, an LED flashlight, three theatre stage-lighting filters, a clip-on macro lens, and a smartphone.
    • The smartphone (with the lens attached) is placed on one surface that is suspended at a height (say, a foot above).
    • The second sheet is placed below and holds the object.
    • One of the stage-lighting filters is held between the flashlight and the object and the other two were held between the object and the smartphone.
    • The sources of illumination were also LED flashlights emitting light of correspondingly different wavelengths.

    Key observations

    • With this setup, the researchers were able to image the creatures’ brain, spinal cord, heart, and head and jaw bones.
    • They were able to zoom in and out using the smartphone camera and the clip-on lens.

    How accessible is this?

    • Using a ‘glowscope’ still requires access to fluorophores, suitable biological samples, the know-how to combine the two, and some knowledge of physics to work out which LED flashlight to buy.
    • The Foldscope was truly remarkable because all its required components were simple to understand.
    • However, the fact that a simple fluorescent microscope can be set up with a few thousand rupees means researchers can prepare samples and take them to schools, where students can observe them.
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  • Government amends KYC to add non-profit organisations, ‘politically exposed persons’

    political

    Central idea: The Finance Ministry has amended the Prevention of Money Laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules for widening the scope of Know your Customer (KYC) norms to include Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), non-profit organisations (NPOs) and those dealing in virtual digital assets (VDA) as reporting entities.

    Who are Politically Exposed Persons (PEP)?

    • According to the modified PML Rules, the Finance Ministry has defined PEPs as-
    1. Individuals who have been entrusted with prominent public functions by a foreign country
    2. Includes heads of states or governments, senior politicians, senior government or judicial or military officers, senior executives of state-owned corporations, and important political party officials.
    • Banks and financial institutions must maintain records of financial transactions of PEPs and share them with the Enforcement Directorate as and when sought.

    Other key changes introduced

    Recording of financial transactions of NPOs/NGOs

    • The financial institutions must register the details of their NGO clients on the Darpan portal of the Niti Aayog.
    • They are required to maintain the record for five years after the business relationship between a client and a reporting entity has ended or the account has been closed, whichever is later.

    Tightening of the definition of beneficial owners

    • The amendment to the PMLA rules includes the tightening of the definition of beneficial owners under the anti-money laundering law.
    • As per the amendments, any individual or group holding 10 per cent ownership in the client of a ‘reporting entity’ will now be considered a beneficial owner against the ownership threshold of 25 per cent applicable earlier.
    • The reporting entities include banks and financial institutions, firms engaged in real estate and jewellery sectors, intermediaries in casinos and crypto or virtual digital assets.

    Collection of information from clients

    • Reporting entities such as banks and crypto platforms are mandated to collect information from their clients under the anti-money laundering law.
    • So far, these entities were required to maintain KYC details or records of documents evidencing the identity of their clients, as well as account files and business correspondence relating to clients.
    • They will now have to also collect the details of the registered office address and principal place of business of their clients.
    • Additionally, they are required to maintain a record of all transactions, including the record of all cash transactions of more than Rs 10 lakh.

    Why such move?

    • FATF assessment: The amendments assume significance ahead of India’s proposed FATF assessment, which is expected to be undertaken later this year.
    • Risk-management: In one of its 40 recommendations, FATF recommends that financial institutions have risk-management systems to identify domestic and international PEPs.
    • Remove ambiguities: The broader objective is to bring in legal uniformity and remove ambiguities before the FATF assessment.

     

     

  • ISRO releases Landslide Atlas of India

    landslide

    The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently released the Landslide Atlas of India to identify landslide hotspots in the country.

    What are Landslides?

    • Landslides are natural disasters that occur in mountainous terrains where soil, rock, geology, and slope conditions are conducive.
    • A landslide is the sudden movement of rock, boulders, earth, or debris down a slope.
    • They can be triggered by natural causes such as heavy rainfall, earthquakes, snowmelting, and undercutting of slopes due to flooding.
    • They are extremely hazardous, posing a threat to human and animal lives, damaging property, roads, and bridges, disrupting communication lines, and snapping power lines.
    • Landslides are broadly classified based on the type of materials involved, the type of movement of the material, and the type of flow of the material.

    Why do they occur?

    • Landslides are natural disasters that occur mainly in mountainous terrains due to conducive conditions of soil, rock, geology, and slope.
    • Heavy rainfall, earthquakes, snow-melting, and undercutting of slopes due to flooding can trigger landslides.
    • Anthropogenic activities such as excavation, cutting of hills and trees, excessive infrastructure development, and overgrazing by cattle can also cause landslides.

    Factors contributing

    • The main factors that influence landslides include lithology, geological structures like faults, hill slopes, drainage, geomorphology, land use and land cover, soil texture and depth, and weathering of rocks.
    • Rainfall variability pattern is the single biggest cause for landslides in India, with the Himalayas and the Western Ghats remaining highly vulnerable.

    India’s vulnerability to landslides

    • India is considered among the top five landslide-prone countries globally, where at least one death per 100 sq. km is reported in a year due to a landslide event.
    • Approximately 12.6% of the country’s geographical land area (0.42 million sq km) is prone to landslides, with 66.5% of landslides reported from the North-western Himalayas, 18.8% from the North-eastern Himalayas, and 14.7% from the Western Ghats.

    Risks in specific states          

    • Mizoram recorded the highest number of landslide events in the past 25 years, with 12,385 events, of which 8,926 were recorded in 2017 alone.
    • Nagaland and Manipur also reported a high number of landslide events during the 2017 monsoon season.
    • Uttarakhand and Kerala reported the highest number of landslides, with Uttarakhand experiencing 11,219 events since 1998, and Kerala making inhabitants significantly vulnerable to fatalities, despite fewer events.

    Classification and Mapping of Landslides

    • Landslides are broadly classified based on the type of materials involved, type of movement, type of flow of the material, and whether they spread laterally.
    • The Landslide Atlas of India maps landslides mainly based on events and seasons.
    • The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) used a landslide database created from 1998 to 2022 using aerial and high-resolution satellite images.

     

  • In news: Megha Tropiques Satellite

    sat

    ISRO attempted a controlled re-entry of the Megha Tropiques-1 satellite with leftover fuel to lower the orbit and reduce space debris.

    Megha Tropiques Satellite

    • The weather satellite Megha Tropiques-1 was developed as a joint mission by Indian and French space agencies.
    • It was launched aboard a PSLV by the space agency in 2011.
    • And, although the planned mission life of the satellite was only three years, it continued providing data on water cycle and energy exchanges in the tropics for nearly a decade.

    How was the satellite brought down?

    • With over 120kgs of fuel remaining in the satellite even after being decommissioned.
    • ISRO determined that there was enough to attempt a controlled re-entry.
    • When the satellites re-enter the atmosphere, the friction causes it to heat up to extreme high temperatures of thousands of degrees Celsius.
    • Without a heat shield, 99% of a satellite gets burnt up whether in a controlled re-entry or an uncontrolled one.

    Significance of the move

    • This was the first time that ISRO attempted such a manoeuvre to clear out space debris despite the satellite not being built to do so.
    • Usually, satellites are left in their orbit and because of the gravitational pull of the earth, they come down to the atmosphere over years and years.

    Why did ISRO attempt a controlled re-entry?

    • ISRO attempted the control re-entry to demonstrate and understand the process of doing so.
    • Keeping space clean is crucial with multiple spacefaring nations and private entities launching satellites.
    • Thousands of objects are flying around in low earth orbits, including old satellites, parts, and rocket stages.
    • Even small debris can destroy active satellites due to high speeds.
    • Kessler syndrome is a scary scenario where space debris collisions create more debris.

    What happens to satellites usually?

    • A controlled re-entry like the one attempted by Isro earlier this week is possible only for satellites in the low-earth orbit – at about 1,000 kms over the surface of the earth.
    • These manoeuvres, however, are not usually attempted because fuel reserves have to be maintained in the satellite after mission life is over.
    • And, this is impossible for satellites placed in geo-stationary or geosynchronous orbit – where time taken by the satellite to orbit the earth matches Earth’s rotation.
    • Such satellites are at altitudes of nearly 36,000 kms.
    • For attempting to bring down a satellite from such as orbit, a huge fuel reserve would be needed. This will only make the satellite heavier and costlier at launch.

    Also read-

    [Sansad TV] Perspective: Cluttered Space

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  • What is Digital India Act, 2023?

    india

    The Union government has formally outlined the Digital India Act, 2023 which is a broad overhaul of the decades-old Information Technology Act, 2000.

    Central idea: Reconsideration of Safe Harbour

    • The government is reconsidering a key aspect of cyberspace — ‘safe harbour’.
    • Safe harbour is the principle that so-called ‘intermediaries’ on the internet are not responsible for what third parties post on their website.
    • This is the principle that allows social media platforms to avoid liability for posts made by users.
    • Safe harbour has been reined in in recent years by regulations like the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which require platforms to take down posts when ordered to do so by the government, or when required by law.

    What is the Digital India Act, 2023?

    • The act is a new legislation that aims to overhaul the decades-old Information Technology Act, 2000.
    • The Act covers a range of topics such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybercrime, data protection, deepfakes, competition issues among internet platforms, and online safety.
    • The Act also aims to address “new complex forms of user harms” that have emerged in the years since the IT Act’s enactment, such as catfishing, doxxing, trolling, and phishing.

    Why was this act enacted?

    • Data privacy: The Digital India Act will be implemented alongside the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, which focuses solely on processing personal data in India.
    • Lawful use of data: It seeks to address the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognizes both the right of the individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes.
    • Comprehensive regulation: This Act and the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill will work in tandem with each other.

    Key features of the Digital India Act

    • Creating new regulations around newer technology, including 5G, IoT devices, cloud computing, metaverse, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.
    • Reclassifying online intermediaries to separate categories instead of one general intermediary label, each one with its own set of regulations.
    • Removing “safe harbour” immunity for online intermediaries for purposeful misinformation or other content violations from third parties.
    • Creating digital standards and laws regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology.
    • Criminalizing cyberbullying, identity theft, and unauthorized sharing of personal information without consent.

    Significance

    • The Digital India Act provides a legal framework for promoting the growth of the digital economy in India.
    • It aims to create a conducive environment for the development and deployment of digital technologies across different sectors.
    • The Act also addresses various challenges associated with cybersecurity and data privacy, which are critical issues in the digital age.

    Conclusion

    • The Digital India Act is expected to promote digital literacy and increase access to digital services for all citizens.
    • It will help in creating a digital infrastructure that is secure, reliable, and accessible to everyone.
    • The Act will also encourage the adoption of digital technologies in various sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture, leading to increased efficiency and productivityhow-to-start-upsc-preparation-from-zero-level

     

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