The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 20 July 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 19 July 2023

• The Indus Waters Treaty (1960), or IWT, that regulates the Indus water courses between the two riparian states of India and Pakistan, is cited by many as an example of cooperation between two unfriendly neighbours for many reasons.
• In January this year, Pakistan initiated arbitration at the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration to address the interpretation and application of the IWT to certain design elements of two run-of-river hydroelectric projects — on the Kishanganga (a tributary of the Jhelum) and Ratle, a hydro-electric project on the Chenab.
• Under the partitioning logic in the IWT, envisaging a vesting of proprietary rights in the eastern rivers (Article II, Sutlej, Ravi and Beas) to India, and in a similar fashion, the vesting of proprietary rights in the western rivers (Article III, the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) to Pakistan

 The Hindu Editorial Today

What is the Indus Water Treaty?

• In 1960, India and Pakistan signed the Indus Waters Treaty with the World Bank as a signatory of the pact.
• Under the treaty, India got control over the three eastern rivers Beas, Ravi, and Sutlej while Pakistan got control of the western rivers Indus, Jhelum, and the Chenab.
• According to the treaty, India has the right to generate hydroelectricity through the run-of-the-river (RoR) projects on the western rivers which, are subject to specific criteria for design and operation.

• When Anushka, a 19-year-old college student, found “morphed” nude images of herself online, she became suicidal.
• Anushka’s story is just one among the countless instances of technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV), a growing problem affecting college students across India.
• TFSV can take many forms, such as morphed nude images, sexualised blackmailing and bullying, digital flashing, rape threats, and explicit comments and messages. It pervades every social media and messaging platform, but Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are the ones especially culpable.

• Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC):
• Section 375 of the IPC defines the acts that constitute rape by a man.
• The provision, however, lays down two exceptions as well.
• Apart from decriminalising marital rape, it mentions that medical procedures or interventions shall not constitute rape.
• Exception 2 of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code states that “sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, and if the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape”.
• In October 2017, the Supreme Court of India increased the age to 18 years.
• The Karnataka government has referred to the report of the Justice J.S. Verma Committee of 2013, which had recommended the removal of the exception for marital rape and proposed that the law should specify that “marital or other relationship between the perpetrator or victim is not a valid defence against the crimes of rape or sexual violation”.

• There are no nursing colleges in 40 percent of districts across India, show Health Ministry data accessed by The Hindu. In fact, 42% of nursing institutions are clustered in five southern States, while three western States have 17%.
• The Centre has attempted to correct the regional disparity with a scheme to co-locate 157 new nursing colleges in medical colleges by April 2025, and provide short-term training for nurses. However, it says that many States have failed to utilise the scheme properly.

• Nursing services form the backbone of any medical establishment. India currently has close to 35 lakh nurses, but its nurse-to-population ratio is only 2.06:1000 against a global benchmark of 3:1000.
• The Central government has announced a scheme to set up 157 new nursing colleges co-located with medical colleges in the next two years, with financial support of ₹10 crore a college.

• India has climbed seven places on the Henley Passport Index, 2023 to the 80th rank from 87 last year, though the number of countries allowed visa-free access to Indian passport holders remains unchanged.
• The Henley Passport Index is the ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. The index includes 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.
• The index is brought out by Henley and Partners.
• In 2014, India ranked 76 with 52 countries allowing Indian passport holders visa-free access, but its performance has not been linear. It ranked 88 in 2015 (visa-free access to 51 countries), 85 in 2016, 87 in 2017, 81 in 2018, 82 in 2019 and 2020, and 81 in 2021.
• Japan, which occupied the top position on the Henley Passport Index for five years, dropped to the third place. It was replaced by Singapore, which is now officially the most powerful passport in the world, with its citizens able to visit 192 travel destinations out of 227 around the world visa-free.
• Germany, Italy, and Spain occupied the second place. Alongside Japan at the third position are Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, South Korea, and Sweden. The U.K. climbed two places to occupy the fourth place, while the U.S. continued its decade-long slide down the index, dropping two places to the eighth spot. Both the U.K. and the U.S. jointly held the first place on the index nearly 10 years ago in 2014.
• Henley & Partners also conducted an exclusive new research resulting in the Henley Openness Index which measures how many nations does a country allow visa-free access to. Here, India was ranked 94 out of a total of 97 ranks for allowing only four countries visa-free access. At the bottom of the Index were four countries for scoring zero for not permitting visa-free access for any passport — namely, Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Turkmenistan.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin will not travel to South Africa to attend the upcoming BRICS summit, his spokesperson has announced. Instead, Mr. Putin will participate in the summit through video conference, Russian President’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declared in a statement on Wednesday.
• South Africa is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which issued a warrant against Mr. Putin in March this year. The action of the ICC put South Africa in a difficult position as it is expected to carry out its obligations as an ICC member.
• President Putin had attended the Bali G-20 summit last year virtually and the latest decision is reminiscent of that event where Russia was represented by Mr. Lavrov. Russia has faced such moments in multilateral engagements repeatedly since President Putin ordered the “special military operation” against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

• About International Criminal Court (ICC):
• It is the only permanent international criminal tribunal.
• Background: It was created by the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (its founding and governing document), and began functioning on 1 July 2002 when the Statute came into force.
• Mandate: It investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
• HQ: Hague, Netherlands.
• Members: 123 nations are States Parties to the Rome Statute and recognize the ICC’s authority; the notable exceptions being the US, China, Russia, and India.
• Funding: The Court is funded by contributions from the States Parties and by voluntary contributions from Governments, international organizations, individuals, corporations, and other entities.

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