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With over 2.43 lakh POCSO cases pending trial in Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) as of January 31, 2023, a new research paper by the India Child Protection Fund (ICPF) has estimated that each of the over 1,000 such courts in the country are currently clearing just 28 cases on average every year, as opposed to the initially envisioned 165 cases per year.
The FTSCs were set up in 2019, specifically for trying cases related to sexual offences, those under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The idea was to allow these special courts to deal with these cases to fulfil the mandate of finishing the trial in one year. However, the research paper, titled ‘Justice awaits: an analysis of the efficacy of justice delivery mechanisms in cases of child sexual abuse in India’, estimated that under the current pendency rates, Arunachal Pradesh would take 30 years for trial in all pending POCSO cases to come to a close.
Science
Green turtles nesting range expands under warming climate (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Rising global temperatures could lead to an increase in the nesting range of green turtles in the Mediterranean Sea, as per a study in Scientific Reports.
Under the worst-case climate scenario, the nesting range could increase by over 60% points, spreading west from the current area to include much of the North African, Italian, and Greek coastlines.
Human-caused climate change has caused sea surface temperatures to increase globally, with severe impacts on some marine life.
Sea turtles are potentially particularly susceptible, as the sex of their offspring is dependent on incubation temperature.
Although previous research has investigated the effects of climate change on several different populations of sea turtles worldwide, there has been very little research into the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) population in the Mediterranean Sea.
FAQ
What does a special package mean for PVTGs? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
On December 6, the Tribal Affairs Ministry told the Rajya Sabha that the population of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) was not in decline, citing information provided by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (ORGI).
This was in variance with the State-wise Census data provided by the Ministry to a Parliamentary panel last year showing that the numbers of these tribal groups fell almost 40% in at least nine States and Union Territories in the first decade of this century.
Initially known as Primitive Tribal Groups, the PVTGs are defined by the government as tribal communities that show either a declining or stagnant population, use of pre-agrarian technology, economic backwardness, low literacy etc.
They are found to be living in some of the remotest and most inaccessible areas in the country. There are 75 such communities which are spread over 18 States and Union Territories, according to government figures.
A book, The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in India: Privileges and Predicaments, published by the Anthropological Survey of India in 2016 and edited by K.K. Misra and others, says the highest number of PVTGs are found in Odisha (15), followed by Andhra Pradesh (12), Bihar and Jharkhand (9), Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (7), Tamil Nadu (6) and Kerala and Gujarat (5 each).
The rest, the writers said, are scattered in Maharashtra and West Bengal (3 each), Karnataka and Uttarakhand (2 each), and one each in Rajasthan, Tripura and Manipur.
All the four tribal groups in the Andaman, and one in Nicobar Islands, are recognised as PVTGs. The last available Census that counted all 75 communities was from 2001, which put their total number around 27.6 lakh.
Are crimes against women on the rise? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
The crime rate may have declined in 2022 (258.1 per lakh population compared to 268 per lakh population in 2021), but crimes against women rose 4% in 2022 compared to 2021, according to the annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released on December 4.
The majority of crimes against women were of cruelty by husband or his relatives (31.4%), kidnapping and abduction of women (19.2%), assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty (18.7%) and rape (7.1%). Further, 13,479 cases were registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act.
Activists and lawyers attribute this to a patriarchal society. “Despite high levels of education, male mindsets and societal attitude remain unchanged,” says Supreme Court lawyer Shilpi Jain.
According to women’s rights activist Mariam Dhawale, India over the last few years has witnessed a strengthening of regressive value systems which women’s movements had struggled to overcome for decades.
There is a glorification of anti-women practices,” she points out. According to Jayashree Velankar, director of women’s organisation, Jagori, “dowry or bride price both connote commodity status of women who are traded between families for their productive and reproductive labour.
What we need is a strong political will, and not mere rhetoric, to bring in policies and programmes that will focus on creating conditions to elevate women’s status.”
Why did Michaung bring so much rain? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
On December 5, Cyclone Michaung (pronounced mig-jaum) made landfall over Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh, after a week-long journey over the Bay of Bengal that also brought heavy rains over north Tamil Nadu.
On November 29, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) identified a well-marked low pressure area in the southwest Bay of Bengal.
It was expected to become a depression by November 30, a deep depression on December 2, and a cyclonic storm by December 3.
Thereafter, the IMD forecast that the system would move north towards coastal Andhra Pradesh, bringing rain to north Tamil Nadu on December 3 and 4.
It was expected to make landfall between Nellore and Machilipatnam as a cyclonic storm by December 5. On December 2, it had come to within 400 km of Chennai and induced rain over the city’s south. By December 3 morning, the system had become cyclonic, and received the name ‘Michaung’.
Business
‘Multiple factors to redefine semiconductor landscape’ (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The semiconductor industry is on the verge of a transformative era with multiple factors converging to redefine its landscape in 2024.
Already chips are reaching 2nm, transistors are approaching the size of a few atoms, and the ever-growing investments in R&D and cutting-edge fabrication facilities are becoming challenging for even the largest chipmakers, as per company’s tech experts who spoke on key trends to watch in 2024.
To stay on the top of the tech curve, Capgemini’s teams were scanning the technology landscape on a daily basis to harness the power of innovation for our clients and anticipate key technology breakthroughs on the horizon, the company claimed.
Pascal Brier, Chief Innovation Officer at Capgemini said Capgemini’s teams were scanning the technology landscape on a daily basis to harness the power of innovation for its clients and anticipate key technology breakthroughs.
World
EU strikes a deal on how to draft rules to regulate AI models (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
EU member states and lawmakers clinched a deal on how to draft “historic” rules regulating artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT — after 36 hours of negotiations.
Meeting in Brussels, negotiators nailed down curbs on how AI can be used in Europe, which they said would not hurt innovation in the sector nor the prospects for future European AI champions.
The “AI Act” has been rushed through the European Union’s legislative process this year after the chatbot ChatGPT exploded onto the scene late 2022.