Indo Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Supply Chain Agreement (GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- The third Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting was held in San Francisco, California recently hosted by the US.
About IPEF:
- IPEF was launched jointly by the USA and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23, 2022 at Tokyo.
- IPEF has 14 partner countries including Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam & USA.
- It seeks to strengthen economic engagement among partner countries with the goal of advancing growth, peace and prosperity in the region.
Pillars:
- The framework is structured around four pillars relating to
- Trade (Pillar I);
- Supply Chains (Pillar II);
- Clean Economy (Pillar III); and
- Fair Economy (Pillar IV).
- India had joined Pillars II to IV of IPEF while it has an observer status in Pillar-I.
Details:
- At this Ministerial Meeting, negotiations under the IPEF Pillar-III (Clean Economy), Pillar IV (Fair Economy) and the Agreement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (which seeks to establish a ministerial-level council and a commission) were substantially concluded.
Clean Economy:
- Under the Clean Economy (Pillar-III), IPEF partners are aiming to advance cooperation on research, development, commercialization, availability, accessibility, and deployment of clean energy and climate friendly technologies, and facilitate investment towards climate-related projects in the region.
- India emphasized the need for increased collaboration among partners on research and development of innovative and affordable climate friendly technologies.
- Further, it stressed the need to prioritize implementation of Cooperative work programmes envisaged under this pillar, including hydrogen supply chain initiative and other proposals in the pipeline such as India’s proposal for biofuels and e-waste recycling.
Fair Economy:
- Under the Fair Economy (Pillar-IV), IPEF partners aim to strengthen implementation of effective anti-corruption and tax measures to boost commerce, trade, and investment among IPEF economies.
- India highlighted enhancing information sharing among partners, facilitating asset recovery and strengthening cross-border investigations and prosecutions as the key benefits to emerge from the Agreement.
- This will strengthen the joint resolve to fight against corruption, money laundering and terror financing.
Way Forward:
- Following the substantial conclusion of the negotiations on the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement in May 2023, the IPEF Ministers signed the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement during the Ministerial Meeting.
How the mandatory reporting provision under POCSO works
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
Why in news?
- Failure to report sexual crimes against minors is a bailable offence, the Himachal Pradesh High Court recently ruled.
Highlights of the judgement:
- A single-judge bench allowed pre-arrest bail to a hotel manager accused of failing to report an offence committed against a minor, as mandated by Section 21 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
- He said that since the Act is silent on whether the offence is bailable or not, the nature of the offence must “be determined with reference to the Code of Criminal Procedure.”
- The classification of offences under the CrPC “clearly” states that offences punishable with imprisonment of less than three years are bailable and non-cognizable. Section 21 of the POCSO Act prescribes imprisonment of 6 months to a year, thus making it a bailable offence.
What was the case before the HC?
- In the present case, the main accused raped and recorded a video of a minor schoolgirl in a hotel in September 2022.
- He was booked by the police under Sections 376 (Rape) and 506 (Criminal Intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as under Sections 6 and 21 of the POCSO Act, which punish aggravated penetrative sexual assault and failure to report sexual crimes against children.
- Moreover, the FIR also named the manager of the hotel in which the offence was committed, owing to the mandatory reporting provision under the POCSO Act.
POCSO and mandatory reporting:
- Section 19 of the POCSO states that anyone having “apprehension” that an offence under POCSO is likely to be committed, or knowledge that such an offence has been committed, “shall” provide such information to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) or the police. The term “any person” also includes a child who may report an offence.
- This reporting provision becomes binding due to Section 21 of the POCSO Act, which prescribes punishment for failing to report the commission of an offence under Section 19. Imprisonment of six months to one year, or a fine, or both is prescribed under Section 21.
- However, that children cannot be held liable for failing to report the commission of a sexual offence. Similarly, children making false complaints or giving false information are also exempt from punishment under Section 22 of the Act.
What has the SC ruled?
- In a series of decisions, the Supreme Court has held that failure to report such cases amounts to a serious crime.
- In 2013, a two-judge bench of the SC in Shankar Kisanrao Khade vs. State of Maharashtra ruled that “the non-reporting of the crime by anybody, after having come to know that a minor child below the age of 18 years was subjected to any sexual assault, is a serious crime.”
- It put an even greater obligation on certain categories of professionals, such as medical practitioners and those in charge of educational institutions to report cases of child sexual abuse to the nearest Juvenile Justice Board, or Special Juvenile Police Unit.
- This created a conundrum for medical practitioners, since their professional ethics require them to maintain the confidentiality of their clients.
Striking a balance
- Led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, a three-judge SC bench in September 2022 tried to strike a balance between the mandatory reporting provision under POCSO and the confidentiality provision under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.
- In X vs The Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Govt of NCT of Delhi, the bench pointed to cases where minors might approach a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) for a medical termination of pregnancy arising out of consensual sexual activity.
- It recognised that minors or their guardians might be wary of the mandatory-reporting requirement, to avoid entangling themselves with the legal process, and thus approach an unqualified doctor for abortion instead.
- The court said that by insisting on disclosing the minor’s name in the report under Section 19(1) of POCSO, minors may be reluctant to seek out RMPs for safe termination of their pregnancies under the MTP Act.
- Pointing to Rule 3B(b) of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules 2003, as amended on October 12, 2021, which allows minors to terminate their pregnancy up to 24 weeks, the court said that to ensure its benefit to minors engaging in consensual activity, “it is necessary to harmoniously read both the POCSO Act and the MTP Act”.
- For the limited purposes of providing medical termination of pregnancy under the MTP Act, the court said that the registered medical practitioner, only on request of the minor and their guardians, can be exempted from disclosing the minor’s identity and personal details under Section 19(1) of the POCSO Act or in any criminal proceedings that may ensue from the RMP’s report under Section 19(1).
Indian miniature painting tradition
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
Why in news?
- Indian art historian and critic Brijinder Nath Goswamy, best known for his scholarship on Indian miniature painting tradition recently passed away.
Details:
- A Padma Bhushan recipient and former IAS officer, Goswamy first came under the spotlight after the publication of his ground-breaking 1968 article, ‘Pahari Painting: The Family as the Basis of Style’.
- In this he was able to unearth family lineages of renowned artists who played an essential role in the development and continuation of miniature painting, the revelation was one of his biggest contributions to the history of miniature paintings in India.
Tradition of Indian miniature painting:
- Miniature painting is an intricate form of art involving highly detailed paintings on a small scale.
Origin:
- The roots of the miniature painting tradition go back to the Buddhist Pala dynasty, which ruled Bengal and Bihar from the 8th century until the end of the 11th century.
- The paintings during this era existed in the form of illustrations of religious texts on Buddhism and Jainism.
- The illustrations were made on palm leaf until paper was introduced between the 11th and 13th centuries.
Mughal period:
- The tradition didn’t begin to thrive until the rise of the Mughal Empire in the early 1500s.
- It was only through the emphasis and funding provided by Humayun and his descendants that court painting in the form of Mughal miniatures came to be seen as the highest form of sophistication and elegance.
- Mughal miniatures were not bigger than a few square inches and featured brightly coloured paintings used to illustrate manuscripts and art books. They were astonishingly accurate, with some lines painted using brushes composed of a single hair.
Migration to regional courts:
- The tradition of Mughal miniature began to decline during the reign of Aurangzeb. This led to the migration of skilled miniaturists to the princely courts of Rajasthan and lower Himalayan hill kingdoms of North India and the plains of Punjab.
- It’s in places like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Tehri-Garhwal that a new tradition of miniature painting took birth and came to be known as Pahari painting, Rajasthan too witnessed the rise of different schools of miniature painting.
- Pahari paintings featured both religious and secular subjects. Detailed paintings based on religious epics such as Mahabharat and Ramayana, Puranas, and Gita were frequently painted in the style.
Deccan painting:
- Miniature painting also flourished in the Deccan region between the 16th and 19th centuries. It emerged after the break-up of the Bahmani Sultanate in 1520.
- Known as Deccan painting, the style initially developed independent of Mughal influences and took cues from European, Iranian and Turkish influences.
- Deccani miniature paintings showcased illumination and decoration of text from the Holy Quran and the Surahs. Indigenous art forms and romantic elements were later amalgamated into this art form.
B.N. Goswamy’s about miniature paintings:
- Goswamy in his 1968 article, which focused on Pahari painting, illustrated that the style of paintings didn’t depend on in which state they were being produced. The style was dependent on the family of painters.
- He then went on to reconstruct the entire family networks of some of the most renowned Indian miniature families, including that of Pandit Seu, who worked in Himachal Pradesh’s Guler, and his sons, Nainsukh and Manaku (together they dominated one of the most exciting periods of Pahari painting), as well as their numerous artist grandchildren.
- The historian did this by “employing a combination of detective work and intuition, he managed to marry the evidence from inscriptions on the back of miniatures with 18th-century pilgrim records kept in the Ganges holy town of Haridwar.
- Although he initially focused on the artists of the Punjab hills, he gradually broadened his research scope by including more regions from northern to southern India.
- He has succeeded in reconstructing whole dynasties of previously obscure artists, given them names, and restored their identities and honour.
