NEW DELHI : Under fire for gruesome rapes cases in Kathua, Unnao and other parts of the country, the Union Cabinet has approved an Ordinance to amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to grant death penalty for the rape of children under the age of 12.

The Ordinance has been sent to the President for assent and will have to be approved by Parliament within the next six month.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012 was formed to protect children from offences of sexual abuse, sexual harassment and pornography and to provide a child-friendly system for the trial of these offences. The Act received the President’s assent on June 19, 2012.

The amendments provides for death penalty or life imprisonment for gang-rape of a girl below the age of 12. In case of rape of a girl below the age of 12, the punishment will be- death penalty, life imprisonment or a minimum imprisonment of 20 years.

For rape of a girl below the age of 16, the punishment has been enhanced to 20 years as against the earlier 10 years. This will be extendable for rest of life while in case of rape of a woman, the minimum punishment has been provided to be 10 years (earlier 7 years) which is extendable to life imprisonment

Importantly, investigation of all cases of rape will have to be completed within 2 months while the trial of all rape cases will have to be completed in 2 months. A time limit of 6 months has also been provided for disposal of appeals in rape cases

There will be no provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of rape or gang rape of a girl under 16 years. Before deciding bail applications in case of rape of a girl under 16 years of age, the court has to give notice of 15 days to the public prosecutor and the representative of the victim.

To help the victim of rape, the present scheme of One Stop Centres for assistance to the victim will be extended to all districts in the country. Dedicated manpower will be provided for investigation of rape cases to speed up the investigation and special forensic labs will be set up in each State/UT exclusively for rape cases.

Special forensic kits will be provided to all Police Stations and hospitals for rape cases and new Fast Track Courts will be set up in consultation with States/UTs and High Courts.

National Crime Records Bureau will maintain a national database and profile of sex offenders which will be shared with states/UTs to better track, monitor, investigate and verification of antecedents.

However, Haq, child rights organisation has expressed deep anguish over the Ordinance to introduce death penalty for child rape as the best solution to the problem. It is, once again, a knee-jerk reaction that by-passes every other democratic and Constitutional process of law making, it has said.

China and India together were responsible for over half of the total global deaths attributable to air pollution, a new study has said. The study also finds that increasing exposure and a growing and aging population have meant that India now rivals China for among the highest air pollution health burdens in the world, with both countries facing some 1.1 million early deaths from outdoor air pollution in 2016.

China has made initial progress, beginning to achieve air pollution declines; in contrast, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India have experienced the steepest increases in air pollution levels since 2010. Seven billion people, more than 95% of the world’s population, live in areas of unhealthy air. Air pollution is the leading environmental cause of death worldwide according to the State of Global Air 2018, the annual report and interactive website published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI).

The report said long-term exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed to 6.1 million premature deaths from stroke, heart attack, lung cancer, and chronic lung disease. That makes air pollution the 4th highest cause of death among all health risks, exceeded only by high blood pressure, diet, and smoking.

For the first time this year’s report and website include worldwide estimates of exposure to and health burdens of burning of solid fuels in their homes; in 2016 a total of 2.5 billion people — one in three global citizens — were exposed to household air pollution from the use of solid fuels (for example, coal, wood, charcoal, dung, or other biomass) for cooking and heating. Most live in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and Africa, and face a double burden: exposure to both indoor and outdoor air pollution.

And household air pollution can be a major source of impact in outdoor air: with indoor pollution emitted to the outdoor air the largest cause of health impacts from among all sources in India, contributing to 1 in 4 air pollution-related deaths India, and nearly 1 in 5 such deaths in China.

“Air pollution takes a huge personal toll worldwide, making it difficult to breathe for those with respiratory disease, sending the young and old to hospital, missing school and work, and contributing to early death” said Bob O’Keefe, Vice President of HEI. “The trends we report show real progress in some parts of the world – but serious challenges remain to eliminate this avoidable affliction,” he added.

The State of Global Air 2018 annual report and accompanying interactive website are designed and implemented by the Health Effects Institute in cooperation with the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia. IHME is an independent population health research center that coordinates the annual Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, a systematic scientific effort to quantify the magnitude of health loss from all major diseases, injuries, and risk factors in populations across the world.

One of the most sought after tourist destinations in India, Rajasthan is dotted with majestic palaces, captivating forts, museums and more that rightly makes it the most indispensable part of India.

However, there are things more colorful that await tourists. The State now presents a palette of entertainment with its ‘Night Tourism Projects’ with special focus on cultural activities in forts and museums. These activities make every visitor experience the true colors of the culture and history of Rajasthan.

Mr Hridesh Sharma, Director of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Rajasthan, says that museums are increasingly being used as cultural motifs in the destination-tourism projects.  More than just monuments and buildings, they also tell stories through their collections, exhibitions, events and narratives. “We have been organizing cultural programmes in these monuments to draw more crowds’’, he said.

On these lines, ‘Museum of Legacies’ has opened its door to visitors. With 5 primary galleries, the museum exclusively displays the rich cultural heritage of Rajasthan with a diverse collection that includes textiles, jewellery, stoneware and inlay work, painting, pottery and more. It is a very inclusive space that caters to locals and tourists alike. One can view the best of Rajasthani art and craft under one roof at the Museum of Legacies.

The magnificent 16^th century Amber Fort is enhanced with lights, fixtures, additional security and a café to provide a fulfilling experience to the visitors. Not only this, tourists visiting Amer and Nahargarh forts have an add-on adventure experience of riding a Segway scooter other than elephant rides. 

Further, the Vidyadhar Park of the city has been revamped with the facilities and attractions suitable for night tourism. The 350-year-old Vidyadhar garden attracts tourists with sparkling yellow and blue lights, water harvesting system, lush green garden, plantation near walls and beautiful fountains.

Mr. Sharma added that since the monuments started operating for night viewing, the segment has attracted footfalls of 12.2 lakh and revenues of Rs 12.2 crore, as against the total capital expenditure of Rs. 4.27 crores made on the installation of lighting fixtures. 

The Department of Archeology and Museums, in its endeavour to make the monuments and museums alive and vibrant, organises Kathak performances at Jaleb Chowk in Amber fort as well as in Albert Hall on Poornima.  

Performances are also made by school students at Albert Hall. To bring more and more visitors in Hawa Mahal, Rajasthani folk dance performance are held every weekend. 

Historical gates like Sanganeri gate, New gate, Ajmeri gate, Tripolia gate, Chandpole gate and Hawa Mahal have been taken up as part of the new exercise. Chaura Rasta, Tripolia Bazaar and Johri Bazaar, which are a must for tourists, have also been added to the night tourism plan.

NEW DELHI : Today, some Members of Parliament initiated proceedings for the removal of the current Chief Justice of India by submitting a notice to the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.  A judge may be removed from office through a motion adopted by Parliament on grounds of ‘proven misbehaviour or incapacity’.  While the Constitution does not use the word ‘impeachment’, it is colloquially used to refer to the proceedings under Article 124 (for the removal of a Supreme Court judge) and Article 218 (for the removal of a High Court judge).

The Constitution provides that a judge can be removed only by an order of the President, based on a motion passed by both Houses of Parliament.  The procedure for removal of judges is elaborated in the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968.  The Act sets out the following steps for removal from office:

• Under the Act, an impeachment motion may originate in either House of Parliament. To initiate proceedings: (i) at least 100 members of Lok Sabha may give a signed notice to the Speaker, or (ii) at least 50 members of Rajya Sabha may give a signed notice to the Chairman.  The Speaker or Chairman may consult individuals and examine relevant material related to the notice.  Based on this, he or she may decide to either admit the motion or refuse to admit it.
• If the motion is admitted, the Speaker or Chairman (who receives it) will constitute a three-member committee to investigate the complaint. It will comprise: (i) a Supreme Court judge; (ii) Chief Justice of a High Court; and (iii) a distinguished jurist.  The committee will frame charges based on which the investigation will be conducted.  A copy of the charges will be forwarded to the judge who can present a written defence.
• After concluding its investigation, the Committee will submit its report to the Speaker or Chairman, who will then lay the report before the relevant House of Parliament. If the report records a finding of misbehaviour or incapacity, the motion for removal will be taken up for consideration and debated.
• The motion for removal is required to be adopted by each House of Parliament by: (i) a majority of the total membership of that House; and (ii) a majority of at least two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting. If the motion is adopted by this majority, the motion will be sent to the other House for adoption.
• Once the motion is adopted in both Houses, it is sent to the President, who will issue an order for the removal of the judge.

(Source – PRS Legislative Research)

NEW DELHI : Prompted by the public outrage over Kathua and Unnao rape cases, Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister for Women and Child Development has suggested that all police officers be re-trained on various aspects of sexual offences, particularly those related to collection and preservation of evidence.

In a letter addressed to Chief Ministers of all the States/UTs, Ms Gandhi  has outlined various steps to be taken by the States/UTs in preventing and curbing the crimes against women and children. These include re-training of all police officers  on various aspects of sexual offences particularly those related to collection and preservation of evidence, issuing instructions that utmost priority is to be given to complete the investigation of cases of sexual offences against children strictly as per the timelines of law, and that the State governments must take strict action against those police officers who are found to be obstructing the investigation or colluding with the perpetrators of such cases.

A quick and timely professional investigation is the only method in which a potential offender can be deterred but this can be done only by the States as the police department is the State subject. Forming a special cell only for sexual offences or specially for sexual offences on children, would be a significant step in this regard, she said in her letter.

The Women and Child Development Minister offered help to State governments in establishing Forensic Laboratories in States which can be used for forensic analysis of evidence in the investigation of sexual offences.

The WCD Minister has requested the states to generate awareness among the children in using the e-box set up under POCSO with child-help line number 1098. The Minister also highlighted that till date 175 One Stop Centres for women affected by violence have been set up by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. One Stop Centres are to help those women who have no access to either police or medical facilities or are not able to visit a police station in times of distress.

The letter also stressed that Section 21 of the POCSO Act may be invoked in all cases wherever failure to report or record is noted. Section 21 states that any officer who fails to report or record the commission of an offence under section 19/20 of the Act is liable for punishment.

The WCD Minister has also called for suggestions from the state Governments on dealing with the crimes against women and children.

Even as the country rages over the horrid instance of the gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old in Kathua, and similar incidents that were reported from other parts of the country, an analysis by CRY – a child rights group– suggests that for a long time now sexual offences against children have been on a steady rise.  

A sexual offence is committed against a child in India every 15 minutes, the analysis has suggested.

In a cumulative analysis, it revealed a significant increase in crimes against minors of more than 500% over the past 10 years (1,06,958 in 2016 over 18,967 in 2006). Further, retrospective comparison within the mentioned timeframe points at a sharper rate of rise between 2012 and 2016 than that recorded between 2006 and 2011.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data suggests that crime against children in India has increased by a staggering 14% between 2015 and 2016.

As per a 2016 analysis of crimes under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, sexual offences accounted for 1/3^rd of all crimes against children in India.

Going by the nature of crimes and categories those were booked under, child rape is the second largest category of crime against children in terms of number of reported cases, amounting to more than 18% of all crimes, while kidnapping and abduction (K&A) tops the list accounting for more than half of the total number of crimes (51.1%, number of crimes 54723) as recorded in 2016.

All crimes under POCSO Act constitute around 33% of total crimes against children. The number of sexual offences registered against children increased by an alarming 300% over the last 5 years.

Speaking about the worrying trend of crime against children, Komal Ganotra, Director Policy and Advocacy at CRY said, “Though the topic has been debated and deliberated at length for quite some time now, in the wake of increased incidences of crime against children, what we really lack is an all-encompassing concerted action by all duty bearers. We have consistently fallen short with not having robust prevention mechanism, poor awareness on the issue, failure in rolling out rigorous policies and programs, poor conviction rates and in inadequate budgetary allocation for child protection.”  

“It is non-negotiable for the state and other duty bearers to equip themselves in recognising the risks involved, and put robust preventive and responsive systems and processes to assess and eliminate the same,” she added.

Looking at the concentration of reported incidents across the States, more than 50% of crimes against children have been recorded in just five States, such as Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi UT and West Bengal. While Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 15% of recorded crimes against children, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh closely follow with 14% and 13% respectively. It is also a matter of grave concern that in 11 out 36 States and UTs, more than 50% of the offences against children are sexual offences and in 25 out of 36 States and UTs more than 1/3^rd of the crimes against children are sex crimes.

New Delhi:  Afghanistan has expressed disappointment over Pakistan’s attitude  to its  latest initiative for bringing an end to conflict  through offer of unconditional peace talks with Taliban.

It has also asserted that there will be no reduction of  India’s engagement with the country under pressure of Islamabad. So far there had been no response from Pakistan to act on the important points agreed to during their Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s recent visit to Kabul, Ambassador Shaida Mohammad Abdali  said here, adding that  one of these points was making the Taliban agree to engage in negotiations with the Afghanistan government                  

”We are still awaiting a positive step forward from Pakistan even as border violations were continuing,” Mr Abdali said during an interaction with members of the  Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents here yesterday. It may be pointed out that Kabul and Washington have been putting pressure on Islamabad to deny safe havens to insurgents blamed for attack in Afghanistan.

The Afghan Ambassador said his country has now to see how far Pakistan goes to push Taliban towards peace talks. In this connection, his government had adopted a two-pronged approach- one to engage at  government to government level with Pakistan,  and the other to deal with the Taliban as a group, the Ambassador said.

So far,  the Taliban had not got back to our government over the unconditional peace talks offer, which means they were pondering over it, he said. The Afghan envoy also accused the Taliban of  deceiving and creating confusion among his country’s friends  by projecting a  Taliban vs Daesh  tussle in his country. ”The fact was that this Daesh had not come from Iraq or  Syria but was part of  the Pakistani Taliban, consisting of local people across the Duran Line, ” he said.

The Afghan envoy stressed there was a consistent effort to prolong war in Afghanistan by creating distrust between regional and international partners of the country. He also said the Afghan people would never like to see the Taliban back, as these groups were imposed from without.

Replying to a question, Mr Abdali said his country  would not come under pressure of Pakistan to reduce India’s role in his country. ”For Afghanistan ties with India are very important and this partnership is very special.” He said besides economic engagement, India  was also playing a very substantive role in strengthening his country’s defence forces.

India was obtaining four fighter helicopters for Afghanistan through Belarus as an interim help. This help was urgent to bolster  the air force for the coming summer fighting season. This was an interim arrangement before  the four -year US plan(1918-22) for strengthening Afghan defence is completed, he said. ”Besides, our defence minister attended the Chennai Defence expo where he has seen new products, and we will soon be giving our new list ,” he said .

Guwahati : The Group of Ministers on Transport constituted by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has recommended a uniform structure of road tax for vehicles across states. In its meeting held  in Guwahati today, the GoM observed that a uniform tax structure will put a  check  on people registering their vehicles in low tax states and running them in other states.  This would also bring necessary relief to genuine cases requiring transfer of vehicles.

The GoM, headed by Yunus Khan, Minister for Transport, Rajasthan and comprising State Transport Ministers, seeks to find solutions to the various problems plaguing the road transport sector in the country so as to improve road safety and facilitate ease of transport. Today’s meeting in Guwahati, inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, was held to deliberate upon One Nation- One Tax and One Nation- One Permit proposal.

The GoM has also recommended a national bus and taxi permit on lines of such permit for goods transport. Public transport in the country is growing annually at a rate of just about 2 percent, as against a 20 percent annual growth in private transport.  A national permit will give the much needed fillip to public transport and help reduce road  congestion and its attendant problems.

In order to promote alternate fuel for vehicles the GoM had proposed liberalization of permit system for electric vehicles. In addition, it has recommended raising the tax on diesel vehicles by 2 percent while lowering the tax on electric vehicles.

The Most Film Friendly State Award was announced today by the Chairman of the Jury, Ramesh Sippy. The Most Film Friendly State Awards would be presented by President of India on May 3rd, 2018 during the presentation of the National Film Awards.

Madhya Pradesh was conferred the award for the Most Film Friendly State for its efforts towards easing filming in the State by creating a well-structured web site, film friendly infrastructure, offering incentives, maintaining databases, undertaking marketing and promotional initiatives, unanimously by the Jury from among the 16 States that participated. Madhya Pradesh also received positive feedback from established filmmakers who have shot there.

The efforts taken by the State to present their case for the Awards were also appreciated. State of Uttarakhand is given a Special Mention Certificate to recognize the efforts made by the State of Uttarakhand towards creating a film friendly environment.

Speaking on the occasion, Ramesh Sippy Chairman of the Jury said “The Jury members laud the continuing efforts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat towards creating a film friendly eco system in their States and hope that they keep up the good work. This year Madhya Pradesh where a lot of filmmakers have shot over the years, has won the award due to the ease of filming that the State offers along with excellent on ground support and filmic infrastructure, an informative website and incentives for film making. Their entry was also presented beautifully with all required documents given in a very comprehensive manner. The jury would like to acknowledge the sincere efforts made by Uttarakhand in this direction, despite it being a relatively new State with a difficult terrain and hence has been given the Special Mention.”

The jury for selecting the Most Film Friendly State Award 2017 was chaired by acclaimed filmmaker Ramesh Sippy and comprising of renowned filmmakers, Nagraj Manjule, Raja Krishna Menon, Vivek Agnihotri, and Shri Uday Singh, MD, Motion Picture Distributors Association.

Home-based Care for Young Child (HBYC) would be a crucial component of POSHAN Abhiyaan. Under this, ASHAs supported by Anganwadi workers (AWW) will visit the homes of children aged between 3 to 15 months and sensitise mothers on energy density and diet of child.

The HBYC would be rolled out within a month as will the social and behaviour change road map and action. The focus of the National Nutrition Mission will be on the first 1000 days of the child. 

These announcements were made at the first meeting of National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan was held today. The Council which has been set up under POSHAN Abhiyaan is the apex body to formulate overall policies, guide and monitor all nutrition based schemes. 

It was announced that the first lot of 40 Swasth Bharat Preraks is being dispatched by end of the month and would be available at district level to assist the staff in smooth roll-out. Under the Abhiyaan, Swasth Bharat Preraks will be deployed one in each District for coordinating with District officials and enabling fast and efficient execution of the Abhiyaan across the country. Swasth Bharat Preraks would function as a catalyst for fast tracking the implementation of the Abhiyaan. By July 2018, 315 Swasth Bharat Preraks are likely to be deployed in 315 districts of Phase I of the POSHAN Abhiyaan.

The mandate of the Council is to provide policy directions to address India’s nutrition challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action, coordinate and review convergence among ministries, and to review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis.

The meeting also decided to include another 235 districts as part of phase 2 of Poshan Abhiyan in 2018-19, taking the total number of districts to 550. The selection of the districts has been made on the basis of level of stunting, all left wing extremism (105) and aspirational districts (117), and whenever a gap of 1 district was left to achieve saturation in States/UTs.

As many as 315 districts were already covered under the first phase of Poshan Abhiyan. The remaining 167, out of a total of 718 districts will be covered under phase 3.

Taking cognisance of the problems in procurement of tablets for Anganwadi supervisors raised by the participants, the Council decided to procure Smartphones instead of tablets.

Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman Niti Aayog stressed on the need for ground level work and participation from all sectors, for converting the mission into mass movement and achieving the goals. 

Dr. Vinod Paul, Member, NITI Aayog in his address highlighted that the focus is on the first 1000 days of the child and preventive care for adolescent girls, women and mothers. He also said that the meeting decided to conduct pilot in 10 districts for conditional cash transfer (CCT) through direct benefit transfer but States/UTs to continue their existing system of providing supplementary nutrition under Anganwadi services.

Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Joint Secretary, said that various incentives have been made a part of POSHAN Abhiyaan. To encourage Anganwadi workers to use mobile phones for real time monitoring (ICT-RTM), incentive funds shall be provided for each Anganwadi worker per month. It will be linked to the achievements of certain targets.

Centralised call centre will be established for monitoring, grievance redressal and interventions. Speaking on the importance of ICDS-CAS, he said that it will help in collecting real time data enabling supportive supervision and timely intervention by department officials. He also added that it would further create robust monitoring, evaluation and analysis platform at all hierarchical levels, through an integrated dashboard. E learning module has also been created for Anganwadi workers. Comprehensive Guidelines and Manuals are now available at State Level for all Abhiyaan Components.

Mr Rakesh Srivastava, Secretary, WCD Ministry said that there is a need to ensure convergence of various programmes spread across Ministries such as Anganwadi Services, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Scheme for Adolescent Girls of Ministry of Women & Child Development; Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), National Health Mission (NHM), Home-based New born Care, Home-Based Yong Child Care, Anemia Mukt Bharat  and Rashtrya Bal Swasth Krayakram of MoH&FW;   Swachchh Bharat Mission, Construction of toilets and WASH of Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DW&S);    Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS),  of Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD); and  Drinking Water & Toilets with Ministry of Panchayati Raj.