11 July 2024, The Hindu
Divorced Muslim women entitled to secular remedy: SC
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GS 1: Society: Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.
- The Supreme Court on July 10 ruled that a divorced Muslim woman is entitled to a claim of maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, against her former husband — affirming that a parallel remedy under a secular law cannot be foreclosed by existing personal laws.
- A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih pronounced separate but concurring judgments upholding the rights of Muslim women after a Muslim man challenged a Telangana High Court direction to pay ₹10,000 interim maintenance to his former wife.
- He had contended that the maintenance claim in his case would instead be governed by the provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 (1986 Act).
Caste discrimination in prisons must end, says CJI
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- The Supreme Court on July 10 indicated its intention to ask the Ministry of Home Affairs to intervene with States to re-haul their prison manuals and wipe out hardly acknowledged but existing practices of caste-based discrimination of prisoners.
- Though States like Uttar Pradesh denied caste-based discrimination within their prison walls, a Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud read out portions from its prison documents, which use terms like “scavenger class”.
India’s demographic journey of hits and misses
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GS 1: Society: Population and associated issues
- As we observe World Population Day on July 11, there is much to look at in India’s demographic journey over the decades.
- It was in 1989 that the United Nations established the day after Dr. K.C. Zachariah, a renowned demographer, had proposed the concept of a ‘World Population Day’.
- The world population had touched five billion in 1987 and challenges such as poverty, health and gender inequality were plaguing the world, developing countries in particular.
A case of people versus population
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GS 1: Society: Population and associated issues
- July 11 has been observed as World Population Day since 1989 after the global population crossed the five billion mark.
- The population is now estimated to be 8.1 billion, with India as the most populous nation (1.44 billion), which is slightly more than China’s.
- This writer wrote the article, “Myths about Population Growth”, which was published in this daily on World Population Day (‘World Population Day’ page, July 11, 1997) — when India crossed the 100 crore mark.
- The article showed how the doomsday predictions of Malthus, 200 years ago, or that of his present-day followers in the West, that population growth would overtake food production, never came true and never will in the future.
- The aim of this article is to analyse what has changed in 27 years.
Locked in conflict
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GS 2: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States
- In calling for a report from the State government on the action taken against two police officers, West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has escalated the conflict between Raj Bhavan and the State government.
- He has written to the Union government and to the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, about what he perceives as impropriety by Vineet Goyal, Kolkata City Police Commissioner, and Indira Mukherjee, a Deputy Commissioner of Police.
- The Governor is aggrieved that they made remarks pertaining to an investigation into a complaint of alleged sexual harassment that a Raj Bhavan employee had made against him.
- While the complaint has not been acted upon — as Mr. Bose enjoys immunity from proceedings under Article 361 of the Constitution — it has become a thorny issue, with the Governor believing that the police officers had flouted the rules of conduct in speaking about an investigation that cannot be instituted or continued.
Even the odd jobs
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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment
- For India’s gig workers, who are increasing in numbers but are perched precariously on the edge of the unregulated labour pool, the Karnataka Platform-based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024, offers a welcome reprieve, but still stops short of providing them with the security of being employees.
- When app-based gig work was introduced a decade ago, courtesy ride-sharing and food delivery apps, the absence of the word ‘employee’ was actually seen as a positive; it supposedly offered a chance for ‘partners’ to retain their autonomy and earn good money without being locked into a contract with rigid timings.
- That illusion soon dissolved as incomes crashed and working hours lengthened, and the lack of a formal ‘employee’ status left workers at the mercy of the aggregator and all-powerful algorithms, in the absence of safety nets or governmental regulation.
A pathway for the most populous nation
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GS 1: Society: population and associated issues
- The world population is expected to touch 8.5 billion by the end of this decade. While Asia is expected to be overpopulated, Europe, it is said, will be underpopulated.
- Due to falling fertility levels and rising longevity, the future population could have a higher number and share of older people.
- Thus, the two significant transformations are expected to be an imbalanced distribution of the population across regions and a skewed age structure.
- The population today is more centred in urban areas. By 2030, it is estimated that two-third of the people will inhabit urban spaces, which will put a strain on infrastructure and amenities. This, in turn, could compromise the quality of life of urban citizens.
The case for a caste Census
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- Peter Drucker famously said, “Only what gets measured gets managed.” The problems of social groups that have been historically discriminated against (be it by caste, race, religion, gender, disability etc.) cannot be resolved without collecting data group-identity wise.
- Doing so is not a capitulation to identity politics but a vital step towards informed policy making and inclusive development.
- For instance, Germany’s census does not enumerate people by race. This has worked to the disadvantage of its Black people who started a private, country-wide, online survey called Afrozensus in 2020.
- Its results showed that anti-Black racism is widespread and institutionally entrenched in Germany.
Apple alerts users of being targeted by Pegasus-like spyware
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GS 3: Internal Security- Basics of cyber security
- At least two people in India on July 10 reported receiving a Pegasus-like alert from Apple, Inc. on their iPhones.
- The alerts, sent out on Tuesday night, warn them that they have been targeted by a targeted “mercenary” attack.
- Apple previously called these attacks “state-backed,” but changed this in April.
- Such spyware allows attackers to sift through targets’ personal devices, allowing them to view messages, photos, and tap into microphone and camera feeds in real time.
Russia, India agree to go ahead with trade in national currency: diplomat
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GS 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting the Indian interests
- India and Russia have decided to establish a system for national currency settlement, Roman Babushkin, Chargé d’Affaires of the Russian Embassy, said on Wednesday.
- A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his two-day visit to Russia, Mr. Babushkin described the visit as “historic and game-changing”, and slammed the Western powers for supporting Ukraine.
