Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
The Supreme Court said it is "tragic what we have reduced religion to" in the 21st century and a "climate of hate prevails in the country", while directing police and authorities to immediately and suomotu register cases against hate speech makers without waiting for a complaint to be filed.
A Bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy ordered that any “hesitation” to comply with the direction would attract the proceedings for contempt of the Supreme Court against the erring officers.
The court directed that First Information Reports (FIRs) should be registered and criminal proceedings initiated against the makers of hate speech "irrespective of their religion so that the secular character of the country is preserved".
The interim directions were primarily for the benefit of the police of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The court has issued notices to the three States and asked them to submit reports on action taken on hate speech cases.
The petitioner had highlighted the rising incidents of hate speeches targetting the Muslim community. The petitioner said the “total inaction” on the part of the police in the three States have given rise to “despondency and angst” within the Muslim community.
The petitioner alleged that events organised in Delhi and Haridwar in 2021 hosted hate speeches by leaders who made open calls for the genocide of Muslims.
The order even highlighted some of the specific provisions of the penal law under which hate speech offenders ought to be booked.
These include Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 505 (public mischief), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code.
The court, in its order, said, “The Constitution envisages Bharat as a secular nation and fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and unity and integrity of the country is one of the guiding principles enshrined in the Preamble”.
It said there cannot be fraternity unless members of the different communities and castes were able to live in harmony.
We feel that this court is charged with the duty to protect these fundamental rights and also protect and preserve the constitutional values, in particular the rule of law and secular and democratic character of the nation,” Justice Joseph read out from the order.
The court directed that the police heads of the three States should issue directions in compliance with its order to their subordinates so that “appropriate action is taken at the earliest”.
Pakistan is out of FATF ‘grey list’ on terror funding (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Grouping)
Four years after it was placed on the “grey list” and penalised with severe financial strictures by the Financial Action Task Force, Pakistan won a major reprieve, as the international watchdog on terror financing and money laundering agreed to remove Pakistan’s name from the list of countries under “increased monitoring”.
Reacting to the decision, the Ministry of External Affairs said that Pakistan must continue to take “credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustainable” action against terror groups on its soil.
In all, the FATF said Pakistan had completed two action plans comprising a 34-point tasklist in the period since 2018, and in a statement said that it “welcomes Pakistan’s significant progress” in its AML/CFT mechanisms.
We are satisfied after a FATF inspection team went down, spoke to the authorities took a look and verified, and they were satisfied that there’s a high level political commitment on the part of the Pakistani authorities to not just implement the current set of action steps that they need to take, but they’re also committed to ongoing reform.
India has protested Pakistan’s lack of action against cross-border terror groups responsible for attacks on India, but sources said went along with the final decision, as there was consensus in the room, and Pakistan had submitted “documentary evidence” of its actions against designated terrorists.
As a result of FATF scrutiny, Pakistan has been forced to take some action against well known terrorists, including those involved in attacks against the entire international community in Mumbai on 26/11 attack” MEA spokesperson ArindamBagchi said, referring to the 2008 attacks in which 166 people were killed, and 294 injured belonging to 24 different nationalities.
It is in global interest that the world remains clear that Pakistan must continue to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustained action against terrorism and terrorist financing emanating from territories under its control.
FATF Asia-Pacific Group rates Pakistan low on 10 out of 11 international goals on anti-money laundering, combating terror-finance: Report
Hailing the decision, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said exiting the FATF grey list was a “vindication” of Pakistan’s “determined and sustained efforts over the years”, and thanked Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Army Chief Gen QamarBajwa for their diplomatic efforts.
Pakistan’s removal from the list was announced after a consensus decision of all 39-members, including India to accept the review of Pakistan’s efforts on strengthening its anti money laundering and combating terror financing (AML/CFT) mechanisms.
Among the action plan tasks were that Pakistan align its laws to international laws on AML/CFT and pursue UNSC banned terrorists, including the prosecution of a number of terror groups and leaders including the Lashkar e Toiba’s (LeT’s) Hafiz Saeed, 26/11 handler Sajid Mir, commander Zaki Ur Rahman Lakhvi and others. While Pakistan failed to imprison Jaish e Mohammad Chief Masood Azhar, authorities pursued cases against him, declaring him “missing”.
Are critically endangered Great Indian Bustards now migrating to Pakistan? (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The recent sighting of three Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) deep in Pakistan’s Cholistan desert has given rise to speculation that the endangered birds might have flown across the international border from India’s Desert National Park (DNP). GIBs are critically endangered in Pakistan because of lack of protection and rampant hunting.
An Islamabad-based wildlife photographer, Syed RizwanMehboob, released pictures and a video of the GIBs after spotting them in southern Punjab province’s Cholistan game reserve earlier this month.
Though Mr. Mehboob did not claim that the GIBs had arrived from India, environmental activists in Jaisalmer district have postulated that the birds might have migrated due to their shrinking habitat.
A Great Indian Bustard captured on camera in Pakistan’s Cholistan game reserve by wildlife photographer Syed RizwanMehboob.
The GIB, which is the State bird of Rajasthan, is also considered India’s most critically endangered bird and is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.
Its population of about 150 in Rajasthan accounts for 95% of its total world population. The captive breeding of GIBs was taken up in the DNP through a project executed by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India in 2019.
As many as 24 GIB chicks are in hands now and are being reared in DNP by a team technically supported by the International Fund for Houbara Conservation of United Arab Emirates.
As Rajasthan shares the international border with Pakistan’s Sindh and Punjab provinces, it is suspected that the GIBs might have flown across to the neighbouring country’s desert amid fears that they could become easy prey for the poachers there.
DNP Deputy Conservator of Forests Ashish Vyas told The Hindu that several GIBs had been tagged for behavioural studies and monitoring of their movements. They forage in the Thar desert area, which is their natural habitat, and no GIB from the Indian side has migrated to Pakistan.
The GIBs in Thar desert have been facing threat to their survival because of intensive agricultural practices, laying of power lines and industrialisation.
Experts have observed that the endangered birds have raised their families within the DNP and outside in the rural pockets, where the feed and grassland habitat is available. They also move in the crop fields to pick up insects and lizards and like to hide there.
Editorial
An online fight where children need to be saved(Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
Last month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches across States and Union Territories as part of a pan-India operation, “Megh Chakra”.
The operation, against the online circulation and sharing of Child Sexual Abusive Material (CSAM) using cloud-based storage, was supposedly based on inputs received from Interpol’s Singapore special unit, in turn based on the information received from New Zealand.
In November 2021, a similar exercise code-named “Operation Carbon” was launched by the CBI, with many being booked under the IT Act, 2000.
In India, though viewing adult pornography in private is not an offence; seeking, browsing, downloading or exchanging child pornography is an offence punishable under the IT Act.
However, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are exempted from liability for any third-party data if they do not initiate the transmission. As the public reporting of circulation of online CSAM is very low and there is no system of automatic electronic monitoring, India’s enforcement agencies are largely dependent on foreign agencies for the requisite information.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), a non-profit organisation in the United States, operates a programme called CyberTipline, for public and electronic service providers (ESPs) to report instances of suspected child sexual exploitation.
ISPs are mandated to report the identity and the location of individuals suspected of violating the law. Also, NCMEC may notify ISPs to block transmission of online CSAM. In 2021, the CyberTipline received more than 29.3 million reports (99% from ESPs) of U.S. hosted and suspected CSAM.
In the United Kingdom, the mission of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a non-profit organisation established by the United Kingdom’s Internet industry to ensure a safe online environment for users with a particular focus on CSAM, includes disrupting the availability of CSAM and deleting such content hosted in the U.K.
The IWF engages the analysts to actively search for criminal content and not just rely on reports from external sources.
Though the U.K. does not explicitly mandate the reporting of suspected CSAM, ISPs may be held responsible for third party content if they hosts or caches such content on their servers.
In 2021, the IWF assessed 3,61,062 reports, (about 70% reports had CSAM) and seven in 10 reports contained “self-generated” CSAM.
INHOPE, a global network of 50 hotlines (46 member countries), provides the public with a way to anonymously report CSAM.
It provides secure IT infrastructure, ICCAM (I- “See” (c)-Child-Abuse-Material) hosted by Interpol, and facilitates the exchange of CSAM reports between hotlines and law enforcement agencies.
ICCAM is a tool to facilitate image/video hashing/fingerprinting and reduce the number of duplicate investigations.
In 2021, the number of exchanged content URLs stood at 9,28,278, of which 4,43,705 contained illegal content. About 72% of all illegal content URLs were removed from the Internet within three days of a notice and takedown order.
Ground Zero
A crisis is brewing in the coffee industry (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Bose Mandanna was devastated when torrential rains in September thrashed the coffee plants in his plantation and left tender berries and leaves strewn everywhere.
The plants stood partially submerged in water for weeks at Subramanya Estate in Suntikoppa in Kodagu district of south Karnataka. Soon, the plants began to rot. Mandanna was among the hundreds of coffee growers in the region to suffer this plight.
In the coffee heartland of Karnataka, comprising the Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Hassan districts, big and small planters narrate stories of destruction caused by heavy rains between July and September.
The impact of the rains continues, with diseases affecting plants, and estate infrastructure suffering long-term damage. Plantations in Wayanad in Kerala and Palani in Tamil Nadu have also suffered similar losses.
Erratic weather conditions are helping pests to breed and new diseases to emerge,’’ says H.T. Pramod, former Chairman of Karnataka Planters’ Association (KPA) and owner of Hulikere Estate in Chikkamagaluru.
Drastic changes in climate patterns over the last few years have adversely impacted India’s coffee production and the quality of the crop.
There were dry spells between 2015 and 2017 and unseasonal heavy rains, floods and landslides between 2018 and 2022.
According to the Coffee Board of India’s post-blossom estimate, production for the 2022 crop year was estimated at 3,93,400 metric tonnes. But given the extreme climatic conditions, it is anticipated to be some 30% lower.
The KPA reported fruit rot, stalk rot, root rot and other irreparable damage due to heavy rainfall and landslides. “Affected by stalk rot and root rot, berries turned black and dropped,” says KPA Chairman N. Ramanathan.
Coffee growers are facing a severe financial crisis due to the vagaries of nature.” The KPA expects this year’s production to be down by 35%.
Coffee, which is supposed to be harvested by December, is largely damaged,” says Mandanna, who is also a former member of the Coffee Board.
Most growers fear that the frequently occurring pattern of droughts and floods could wipe out plantations. “Sturdy and weather-resistant varieties of coffee may help, but sadly the government is not providing adequate funds to coffee research stations to develop these,” says Pramod.
Climate change has only compounded the financial issues of growers that have been in the making for long. The volatility in market prices and the reduced influence of producers in the value chain render coffee cultivation an increasingly loss-making proposition.
Producers are gettingmarginalised. This is rapidly turning out to be a buyer-driven commodity market,” says AjoyThipaiah, Coffee Committee Chairman of the United Planters’ Association of Southern India (UPASI).
More than 75% of Indian coffee production is exported. This has an impact on the cost competitiveness of Indian coffee vis-à-vis the coffee that is exported from other producer regions, especially since those growers get their finances at very low interest rates.
News
India tests medium range ballistic missile Agni Prime (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
India successfully test-fired indigenously-developed new generation medium-range ballistic missile Agni Prime from the Odisha coast.
The sleek missile was test fired from a mobile launcher from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island.The solid-fuelledcanisterised missile met all mission parameter during the test, they added.
All its navigation was tracked and monitored by radars and telemetry equipment positioned along various points, the officials said.
The missile's strike range is between 1,000 km and 2,000 km.The last trial of the missile was conducted on December 18 last year from the same base, which was also successful.