Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS | 14th May 19

Table of Contents

MCQ 1

Criminal offences can also be classified as compoundable and noncompounable offences. COMPOUNDABLE OFFENCES are those

Where punishments can be added with time
Nonbailable offences
Where no appeal lies before supreme court
where, the complainant enters into a compromise, and agrees to have the charges dropped against the accused.

MCQ 2

The State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill, 2017.

It seeks to repeal the two Acts: (i) State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959, and (ii) State Bank of Hyderabad Act, 1956.
Now SBI will act as an agent of RBI for SBI subsidiary banks

Choose correct

(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

The State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Arun Jaitley, on July 21, 2017.
Repeal: It seeks to repeal the two Acts: (i) State Bank of India (Subsidiary Banks) Act, 1959, and (ii) State Bank of Hyderabad Act, 1956. These Acts established the State Bank of Bikaner, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Travancore, and State Bank of Hyderabad. These banks were subsidiaries of the State Bank of India (SBI).
This is consequent to the Union Cabinet granting its approval in February 2017, which allowed the SBI to acquire these subsidiaries.
Amendments to the SBI Act, 1955: The Bill seeks to amend the State Bank of India Act, 1955 to remove references related to subsidiary banks. These references include: (i) the definition of a subsidiary bank in the 1955 Act, and (ii) powers of SBI to act as an agent of the RBI for a subsidiary bank.

MCQ 3

Rape of women and minor children is an offence under the Indian criminal procedure Code (CrPC), 1973 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012
On April 21, 2018, the government promulgated the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018. now Definition of rape is not gender neutral

Choose correct

(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018 Ministry: Law and Justice

Highlights of the Bill
The Bill amends the IPC, 1860 to increase the minimum punishment for rape of women from seven years to ten years.
Rape and gang rape of girls below the age of 12 years will carry minimum imprisonment of twenty years and is extendable to life imprisonment or death.
Rape of girls below the age of 16 years is punishable with imprisonment of twenty years or life imprisonment.
Key Issues and Analysis
The Bill amends the IPC, 1860 to increase the punishment for rape of girls. However, punishment for rape of boys has remained unchanged. This has resulted in greater difference in the quantum of punishment for rape of minor boys and girls.
The Bill imposes death penalty for rape of girls below the age of 12 years. There are differing views on death penalty for rape. Some argue that death penalty has a deterrence effect on the crime and therefore helps prevent it. Others argue that death penalty would be disproportionate punishment for rape.

PART A: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BILL

Context
Rape of women and minor children is an offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. In 2016, 21% of the total 39,068 cases of rape were against minor girls below the age of 16 years.
Over the last year, several states have introduced or passed Bills to allow death penalty for rape of girls below the age of 12 years.
On April 21, 2018, the government promulgated the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018.
Key Features
The Ordinance amends the IPC, 1860, POCSO Act, 2012 and other laws related to rape of women. The POCSO, Act states that the punishment which is higher between the POCSO Act and the IPC will apply to rape of minors.

Major changes proposed in Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018

Under the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 investigation into the rape of a child must be completed within three months. The Ordinance reduces this time period to two months for all rape cases.
The Ordinance bars anticipatory bail in cases of rape of minor girls below 16 years of age. Further, any appeal against a sentence for rape cases must be disposed of within six months.

PART B: KEY ISSUES AND ANALYSIS

Gender-based differences in the definition of rape and punishment
Definition of rape is not gender neutral
In the case of rape of minors, according to the POCSO Act, the victim may either be male or female (and the offender could also be of either gender). However, in cases of adults under the IPC, rape is as an offence only if the offender is male and the victim is female. The Law Commission of India (2000) and the Justice Verma Committee (2013) had recommended that this definition of rape should be made gender neutral and should apply equally to both male and female victims.
The Ordinance does not address this issue.
Widening difference in punishment between rape of girls and boys
The POCSO Act states that the higher punishment specified in it or in the IPC will apply for rape of minors. The POCSO Act has the same penalty for rape when the victim is a boy or a girl. However, the IPC provisions which apply only to rape of female victims carry a higher punishment. The Ordinance further widens this difference. Table 2 summarises the differences in punishment for rape of minor boys and girls.

Differences in punishment for rape between minor boys and girls

Differing views on death penalty as punishment for rape

The Ordinance amends the IPC to allow for death penalty as punishment for rape of girls below the age of 12 years. While there is a larger question on allowing capital punishment, we discuss here the narrow question of introducing death penalty for the offence of rape.
While examining punishment for the offence of rape, the Justice Verma Committee (2013) deliberated on whether death penalty should be awarded.4 The Committee acknowledged that though rape was a violent crime, the punishment should be proportionate, as it was possible to rehabilitate the survivor. The Committee supported enhanced punishment extending up to life imprisonment for rape, but not death penalty.4 The Law Commission (2015) observed that in cases related to rape and murder of minor boys and girls, courts have differed in awarding death sentence.
In March 2013, Parliament passed the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 to amend the IPC to allow death penalty only in rape cases where the accompanying brutality leads to death or leaves the victim in a persistent vegetative state, and in cases of repeat offenders.
On the other hand, it has been argued that imposing death penalty for rape crimes could deter individuals from committing the offence and therefore help reduce its incidence.6 Further, awarding death penalty allows for retributive justice for the victims.
Over the years, various court judgements have narrowed the application of death penalty to the ‘rarest of rare’ cases and issued criteria to determine whether the accused deserves a death sentence.
This implies that courts can award death sentence for rape only in exceptional circumstances, which include where the reformation and rehabilitation of the convict is not possible.

MCQ 4

Tamil Eelam is a proposed independent state that some Tamils in southern India want
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE was designated as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries, including the European Union, Canada, the United States, and India. 3. Recently the Ban is removed by Govt of India

Choose correct

(A) 1 & 2
(B) 2 only
(C) All
(D) None

Tamil Eelam is a proposed independent state that Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka. Tamil Eelam, although encompassing the traditional homelands of Sri Lankan Tamils, has no official status or recognition by world states. Sections of the Eelam community were under de facto control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for most of the 2000s.
The name is derived from the ancient Tamil name for Sri Lanka, Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers)was a Tamil militant and political organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka. Its aim was to secure an independent state of Tamil Eelam in the north and east in response to the state policies of successive Sri Lankan governments towards Tamils.
Founded in May 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, it was involved in armed clashes against the Sri Lankan state forces and by the late 1980s was the dominant Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka.
The escalation of intermittent conflict into a full-scale nationalist insurgencyhowever did not commence before the countrywide pogroms against Tamils.
Since 1983, more than 80,000 have been killed in the civil war that lasted 26 years, a large number of them who were Sri Lankan Tamil civilians.
The LTTE which started out as a guerrilla force, over time, increasingly came to resemble that of a conventional fighting force with a well-developed military wing that included a navy, an airborne unit, an intelligence wing, and a specialized suicide attack unit. The group was also known for using women and children in combat.
The LTTE was designated as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries, including the European Union, Canada, the United States, and India. The Indian state’s relationship with the LTTE in particular, was complex, as it went from initially supporting the organization to engaging it in direct combat through the Indian Peace Keeping Force, owing to changes in the former’s foreign policy during the phase of the conflict.
The LTTE is recognized for having carried out a number of high-profile assassinations, including the assassination of Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993 and the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
Over the course of the conflict, the Tamil Tigers frequently exchanged control of territory in north-east Sri Lanka with the Sri Lankan military, with the two sides engaging in intense military confrontations. It was involved in four unsuccessful rounds of peace talks with the Sri Lankan government over the course of the conflict. At its peak in 2000, the LTTE was in control of 76% of the landmass in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.
Velupillai Prabhakaran headed the organisation from its inception until his death in 2009.

Ministry of Home Affairs

Central government extends ban on LTTE for five years
The Central Government has extended the ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for another five years under sub-sections (1) and (3) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967) with immediate effect. The notification in this regard was issued here today.
The notification states that the LTTE’s continued violent and disruptive activities are prejudicial to the integrity and sovereignty of India; and it continues to adopt a strong anti-India posture as also continues to pose a grave threat to the security of Indian nationals.

MCQ 5

DRDO Abhyas is a high-speed expendable aerial target (HEAT) being built by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Indian Armed Forces
It’s an air to air missile

Choose correct

(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

Ministry of Defence

DRDO Successfully Conducts Flight Test of ABHYAS
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted successful flight test of ABHYAS – High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from Interim Test Range, Chandipur in Odisha today. The flight test was tracked by various RADARS & Electro Optic Systems and proved its performance in fully autonomous way point navigation mode.
The configuration of ABHYAS is designed on an in-line small gas turbine engine and uses indigenously developed MEMS based navigation system for its navigation and guidance. The performance of the system was as per simulations carried out and demonstrated the capability of ABHYAS to meet the mission requirement for a cost effective HEAT.

MCQ 6

The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 seeks to remove _____as a ground for divorce or separation

Tuberculosis
HIV
Leprosy
Impotency

The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018

Ministry: Law and Justice
The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister for Law and Justice, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, on August 10, 2018. It seeks to amend five Acts. These are:

(i) the Divorce Act, 1869,
(ii) the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act, 1939,
(iii) the Special Marriage Act, 1954,
(iv) the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and
(v) the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956.

These Acts contain provisions related to marriage, divorce, and separation of Hindu and Muslim couples. Each of these Acts prescribe leprosy as a ground for seeking divorce or separation from the spouse.
The Bill seeks to remove this as a ground for divorce or separation.

MCQ 7

National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) was as a government advisory body (and not as a separate institution) to look after development and progress of “teacher education”.
National Council for Teacher Education Bill, 2017 has been passed and it has become a statutary body

Choose correct

(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is a statutory body of Indian government set up under the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993 (#73, 1993) in 1995 is to formally oversee standards, procedures and processes in the Indian education system.
This council functions for the central as well as state governments on all matter with regard to the Teacher Education and its secretariat is located in the Department of Teacher Education and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Despite the successful functioning in terms of educational field, it is facing difficulties in ensuring the maintenance of the standards of teacher education and preventing the increase in the number of substandard teacher education institutions in the country
Before 1995, the NCTE had existed since 1993 as a government advisory body (and not as a separate institution) to look after development and progress of “teacher education”. The NCTE was then only a department of the National Council of Educational Research and Training.
As per the NCTE’s own admission, it failed in its objective of overlooking and, to an extent, regularizing norms and processes in teachers’ education in India because of lack of formal jurisdiction. To that effect, the National Policy on Education, 1986 allowed the setting up of a government authorised institution with formal powers
The National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced by the Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr. Prakash Javadekar in Lok Sabha on December 18, 2017.
The Bill amends the National Council for Teacher Education Act, 1993. The Act establishes the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). The NCTE plans and co-ordinates the development of the teacher education system throughout the country. It also ensures the maintenance of norms and standards in the teacher education system. Key features of the 2017 Bill include:
Retrospective recognition of certain teacher education institutions: The Bill seeks to grant retrospective recognition to institutions: (i) notified by the central government, (ii) funded by the central government or state/union territory government, (iii) which do not have recognition under the Act, and (iv) which must have offered teacher education courses on or after the establishment of the NCTE until the academic year 2017-2018.
Retrospective permission to start new courses: The Bill also seeks to grant retrospective permission to start a new course or training in teacher education to institutions: (i) notified by the central government, (ii) funded by the central government or state/union territory government, (iii) which have satisfied certain conditions required for the conduct of a new course or training in teacher education, and (iv) which must have offered teacher education courses on or after the establishment of the NCTE until the academic year 2017-2018.