North India’s Obsession with the Male Child Unchanged

According to the latest data available with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indians continue to show a preference for a male child.

• Haryana, followed by Rajasthan and Punjab continue to top the list of offenders seeking to illegally ascertain the gender of the unborn baby. This practice manifests in a low child-sex ratio.
• At present, India has a child sex ratio (0-6 years) of 919 females per 1,000 males.
• Convicted offenders have been registered under Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC & PNDT) (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994.
• The Ministry is expanding the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme now on a pan-India level. Implementation of the PC-PNDT Act is a part of this programme.
• The registration of cases and convictions have increased gradually because of the government’s stringent action and zero tolerance towards the issue.

Choosing a Partner is a Person’s Fundamental Right: SC

The Supreme Court has observed that choice of a partner is a person’s fundamental right, and it can be a same-sex partner. The observation came on the first day of hearing by a Constitution Bench of petitions challenging the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 377 criminalises private consensual sex between adults.

Key Observations

• The right to sexual orientation was meaningless without the right to choose a partner.
• The observations were drawn from the March 2018 judgment in the Hadiya case, which held that influencing an adult’s choice of partner would be a violation of the fundamental right to privacy.
• It is to be further tested whether Section 377 stood in conformity with Articles 21 (right to life), 19 (right to liberty) and 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.

Background

• Section 377 of the IPC dates back to 1861 and criminalises sexual activities against the order of nature and the ambit of this law extends to any sexual union involving penile insertion.
• In 2009, in a landmark judgment, the Delhi High Court had described Section 377 as a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Following this, religious groups moved the Supreme Court for a direction against the verdict.
• However, the Supreme Court in 2013 overruled the Delhi High Court’s order and reinforced criminalisation of homosexuality stating that changes to the legislation should be made by the Parliament
• This judgment was highly criticised by the LGBTQ community in India and was seen as a setback for human rights.
• In January 2018, the Supreme Court observed that the 2013 judgment requires to be reconsidered because of the constitutional issues involved.

‘New India’ will be Realised with the Vision of a ‘New North East’

At the concluding session of the 67th Plenary Session of the North East Council (NEC), the Union Home Minister said that the road to ‘New India’ will go through a developed and peaceful ‘New North East’.

Measures to Achieve a ‘New North East’

• Realising the economic potential of the region through better road connectivity and Information Technology.
• Quality broadband services in the region to help the youth of the North East find the employment opportunities closer to their home.
• Setting up the Regional Institute for Skill Development was suggested to the NEC.
• The impetus to employment and income generation 
• Creating a conducive environment for private investments to make the investors feel safe and that their problems are addressed - to give a big boost to investments
• Focus on growing low volume-high value crops for export to accelerate the growth of agriculture.
• Railway Ministry can help in exporting the perishable commodities and horticulture produce like kiwis and flowers through superfast AC wagons.
• Revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC) for marketing of agriculture produce.
• The North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) with the Self Help Groups can extend help for increasing the income and employment generation in the region to help contain the problems like the insurgency in the North Eastern Region.

Korean President on a State Visit to India

President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Moon Jae-in paid a State Visit to India from July 8-11, 2018.

Key Highlights

• Chief on the bilateral agenda was improving business and investment ties, including taking bilateral trade from $20 billion to $50 billion by 2030.
• With its huge market and emergence of India as a key economic partner for South Korea, the latter is committed to raising its relations with India to the level of those with China, Japan, Russia and the US.
• India and South Korea have sought to expand trade and economic ties with each other in areas such as shipbuilding, aerospace, manufacture of medical devices and food processing.
• The two sides signed 11 agreements covering a broad spectrum of areas for cooperation, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, railways, culture, and trade.
• It also included a statement on expanding the 2010 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and a joint vision statement that committed to more military exchanges and enhancing defense projects together.
• India and South Korea also have agreed to cooperate on a ‘tripartite’ basis in development assistance in third countries, beginning with a project in Afghanistan.
• Both the countries also committed to strengthening the “special strategic partnership” in the region and aligning India’s Act East Policy with South Korea’s New Southern Policy.
• South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics inaugurated the world’s largest mobile factory in India that will have a capacity of 120 million handsets a year.

Analysis

• President Moon’s India visit marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties.
• Though India had dispatched a medical mission during the 1950-53 inter-Korean war, the ties between the two countries remained tepid during the Cold War era.
• With the advent of democracy in South Korea in 1987 and initiation of India’s Look (now Act) East Policy (AEP) and economic reforms in 1991, the relationship began to acquire momentum.
• The two concluded a CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) in 2010, a civil nuclear cooperation agreement in 2011 and established a defense wing at the Indian Embassy in Seoul in 2012.
• Korean majors like Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and Kia have invested over $5 billion in India and are looking at scaling things up further.
• Indian FDI has crossed $3 billion in ROK.
• However, bilateral trade between Asia’s 3rd (India) and 4th largest economies, remains below par at around $20 billion, essentially because talks to upgrade CEPA have remained inconclusive, more due to opposition from Indian industry.
• Given that India mostly exports primary products and imports electronic and manufactured items, ROK enjoys a trade surplus.
• During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to South Korea in 2015, the bilateral relationship was upgraded to 'special strategic partnership'.
• More recently, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s maiden visit to India aims to strengthen relations between the two countries as part of his New Southern Policy as there is a great complementarity between it and India’s Act East Policy.

• On the geopolitical front, the importance of the Indo-Pacific region is increasing. With increased Chinese assertiveness in the region and the developing US-China trade war, it is in their mutual interest for India and Korea to strengthen relations and face those challenges together.
• On the economic front, India offers Korea a more predictable business environment as it seeks to diversify beyond its biggest export destination, especially after its businesses were hit hard last year by China suddenly turning against them following Seoul’s deployment of the US missile shield – THAAD.
• For India, Korea offers a potentially game-changing partnership in manufacturing, high technology industries, and infrastructure building.

India not making Promised Investments in Chabahar Port: Iran

Iran has criticized India for not fulfilling its promise of making investments in the expansion of the strategically located Chabahar port.

• It further said that India might also stand to lose ‘special privileges’ if it cuts import of Iranian oil and instead tries to source oil from countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the US, and others to offset cuts in Iranian oil.
• Iran is India’s third-largest oil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
• The US recently told India and other countries to cut oil imports from Iran to “zero” by November 4 or face sanctions.

Background

• In May 2016, India, Iran, and Afghanistan had inked a pact which entailed the establishment of Transit and Transport Corridor among the three countries using Chabahar port in Iran as one of the regional hubs for sea transportation.
• It was also to be used for multi-modal transport of goods and passengers across the three nations.
• The Chabahar port is being considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran, and Afghanistan with Central Asian countries in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to New Delhi.

Where is Chabahar Port?

• Chabahar port is located on the Gulf of Oman and is only 72 km away from the Gwadar port in Pakistan which is being developed by China.
• The port serves as the only oceanic port of Iran and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Beheshti and Shahid Kalantari.

Significance of the Chabahar Port for India

• India’s ambition to reach Afghanistan since Pakistan has blocked land transit and access through its territory fuelled the need for developing the strategic project of Chabahar.
• The development will provide India an alternative and reliable access into Afghanistan and a more direct sea-road access route into the central Asian region.
• China is aggressively pursuing its own Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) under the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project. The port can act as a counter to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port, which is being developed with Chinese investment.
• The location of Chabahar port at the Arabian Sea would enable India to counter any challenges posed by developments in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
• In future, the Chabahar project and the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) will complement each other by optimizing Indian connectivity with Russia and Eurasia.

Ease of Doing Business Index

The Central Government released the third edition of the annual ease of doing business rankings for states and Union territories.

• This annual reform exercise for all states and Union territories is conducted by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion( DIPP) in collaboration with the World Bank (WB) under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP).
• The move is aimed at triggering competition among states to attract investments and improve business climate.
• Most states see their performance as a key factor in helping companies select their investment destination.

Background

• Earlier in 2014, the Government of India had requested the World Bank Group to support India’s efforts to enhance India’s competitiveness and increase manufactured exports. ‎
• DIPP then decided to start similar initiative to promote competitiveness among states by taking cue from World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business Index” and subsequently the ranking exercise for States was launched in 2015.

Strict Clinical Trial Rules will Drive Away Drug Firms: WHO

The World Health Organisation has informed India that its work in the country would be hampered and drug companies are driven away if the government goes ahead with stringent draft rules for compensation in case of death or injury from clinical trials.

Background

• In 2013, 2,644 people died during clinical trials of 475 new drugs between 2005 and 2012. There were 11,972 serious adverse event cases in the same period. Of these, 506 cases were related to clinical trials.
• In February 2018, the Union Health Ministry released a proposal on clinical trials that included a provision for the deceased party in a trial to be compensated in event of any mishap.

What has the Centre proposed?

• Drug firms to pay 60% of the compensation within 15 days if a patient dies or suffers disability in the course of a clinical trial.
• Compensation to be given taking into account the age, health risk of the patient.
• If a patient suffers from any other illness during the trial, the sponsor will provide medical management and ancillary care.
• The ethics committee will complete the probe within 30 days from the date of death of a patient or a serious adverse event or permanent disability suffered by him/her.  

Concerns of WHO

• Many sponsors of clinical trials are likely to consider the proposals harsh and unacceptable. Hence, there is a possibility that sponsors will not conduct clinical trials in India and go elsewhere.
• Also in a likely scenario whereby the ethics committee determines a death or permanent disability is related to the product - the 60% fee has to be paid upfront by the sponsor and is not reimbursable regardless of the decision of the expert review process.

Important Facts for Prelims (July 11th, 2018)

Rajasthan signs MoU with Microsoft

Rajasthan became the first State to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to provide digital training to 9,500 students of government colleges. It will also train 500 faculty members.

Google’s Launchpad Accelerator

• Google launched its India-focused programme “Launchpad Accelerator” to mentor startups that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
• Google will shortlist 8-10 start-ups that will go through three-month mentorship wherein they can avail support from Google in AI/ML, Cloud, Android, web, product strategy, and marketing. They will also get up to $100,000 of Google Cloud Credits.
• The application criteria are:
  • The technology start-up should be based in India.
  • Start-ups should have seed funding.
  • They should focus on building a solution that addresses a real challenge for the country, and
  • They should use advanced technology like AI/ML to power the solution.
• The initiative comes after the Google ran a pilot project in Bengaluru last year named “Solve for India”.
• The Google accelerator team includes a network of investors, industry experts, and technical professionals who will train the startups.

Rajya Sabha Members Can Use All 22 Scheduled Languages

• The members of Parliament in Rajya Sabha can now speak in any of 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India from upcoming Monsoon Session.
• The Rajya Sabha has added simultaneous interpretation facility in five more languages: Dogri, Kashmiri, Konkani, Santhali and Sindhi.
• Of the 22 scheduled languages, Rajya Sabha already had Simultaneous Interpretation Service for 12 languages.
• The interpreters of the Lok Sabha are being deployed for five languages: Bodo, Maithili, Manipuri, Marathi, and Nepali.
• However, the members have to give notice of a reasonable period for the interpreter.

Eat Right Movement

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched ‘The Eat Right Movement’ which aims to engage and enable citizens to improve their health and well-being by making the right food choices.
• The programme is built on two broad pillars of ‘Eat Healthy’ and ‘Eat Safe’.
• It aims to cut down salt/sugar and oil consumption by 30% in three years.

Western Ghats: Best Tourist Spot

• The Western Ghats bagged the fourth place in Lonely Planet’s “2018 Best in Asia” list, a collection of 10 of the best destinations to visit in Asia for the year.
• Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana), which has started blooming after 12 years in the famed hill station of Munnar (Kerala) has also found mention in the report.