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The recent case of allegations of sexual harassment that some of India’s sportswomen (wrestling) are said to have faced have shocked us. Those affected had to sit in protest in the capital to make themselves heard.
This shows that any internal complaints committee (if there is one) does not function. Or, the wrestlers were not aware about it.
The Vishaka guidelines on reporting harassment are meant to be followed by government and private institutions equally. In view of the sensitivity of the issue, the Union Sports Minister constituted an ‘oversight committee’ headed by a lady Olympic medal holder to investigate the charges levelled against the president of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Earlier, in February 2021, a leading woman journalist celebrated her victory — not because the accused person who has harassed her sexually was convicted, but because she was acquitted of accusations of defamation that have been levelled against her by the accused.
The ‘truth’ of victimisation prevailed and it was held that a woman cannot be punished for raising her voice against abuse. She had raised her voice against her employer and a powerful politician.
Though a specific offence relating to ‘sexual harassment’ (under Section 354-A) was inserted in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2013, the allegations largely fell under Section 509 (i.e., to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC.
The victim chose not to report the matter to the police, and there was no internal mechanism in place for the redress of complaints of sexual harassment as the Vishaka guidelines were framed by the Supreme Court of India in 1997. But this did not give the employer any liberty to violate the fundamental rights of a woman at the workplace.
Violence, in the form of sexual harassment at the workplace, is both direct and structural. While an enabling environment for reporting direct violence has shown a gradual improvement, indirect violence remains poorly addressed because it is embedded deep in our social and economic structures.
It is more visible in the employment imbalance prevalent between men and women, in the organised and unorganised sectors.
With more men at the workplace, they feel entitled and empowered to take undue advantage of the historical fact that the society is still patriarchal and women are not only in a minority but also occupy a few of the higher positions.
A ‘democratisation’ that is more a fallacy (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Role of Social media)
The recent case of allegations of sexual harassment that some of India’s sportswomen (wrestling) are said to have faced have shocked us. Those affected had to sit in protest in the capital to make themselves heard.
This shows that any internal complaints committee (if there is one) does not function. Or, the wrestlers were not aware about it.
The Vishaka guidelines on reporting harassment are meant to be followed by government and private institutions equally. In view of the sensitivity of the issue, the Union Sports Minister constituted an ‘oversight committee’ headed by a lady Olympic medal holder to investigate the charges levelled against the president of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Earlier, in February 2021, a leading woman journalist celebrated her victory — not because the accused person who has harassed her sexually was convicted, but because she was acquitted of accusations of defamation that have been levelled against her by the accused.
The ‘truth’ of victimisation prevailed and it was held that a woman cannot be punished for raising her voice against abuse. She had raised her voice against her employer and a powerful politician.
Though a specific offence relating to ‘sexual harassment’ (under Section 354-A) was inserted in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2013, the allegations largely fell under Section 509 (i.e., to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC.
The victim chose not to report the matter to the police, and there was no internal mechanism in place for the redress of complaints of sexual harassment as the Vishaka guidelines were framed by the Supreme Court of India in 1997.
But this did not give the employer any liberty to violate the fundamental rights of a woman at the workplace.
Violence, in the form of sexual harassment at the workplace, is both direct and structural. While an enabling environment for reporting direct violence has shown a gradual improvement, indirect violence remains poorly addressed because it is embedded deep in our social and economic structures.
It is more visible in the employment imbalance prevalent between men and women, in the organised and unorganised sectors.
With more men at the workplace, they feel entitled and empowered to take undue advantage of the historical fact that the society is still patriarchal and women are not only in a minority but also occupy a few of the higher positions.
The numbers matter when it comes to power emanating from the majority. One musters courage to voice one’s grievance when there are sufficient numbers in support of the affected person.
Also, much would depend on the tooth-to-tail ratio of any organisation. When the number of women in leadership positions are not enough to generate confidence in subordinates, women in lower positions feel reluctant to air their grievances.
Reform reluctance (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Meeting in person after nearly eight months, the GST Council last Saturday reached a broad consensus on establishing GST Appellate Tribunals to resolve disputes under the tax regime launched in July 2017.
After some fine print changes in consultations with States, the Finance Ministry hopes to include the legislative backing for the tribunals in the Finance Bill likely to be passed next month.
This raises hopes of quicker disposal of GST disagreements that are adding to courts’ caseloads, but the reason for delaying this vital cog of the ‘One Nation, One Tax’ promise is difficult to fathom.
A few rate changes that could make, among other things, pencil sharpeners a tad cheaper, and lower penal charges for delayed filings by smaller taxpayers also got the Council’s nod.
The implications of some other moves, like a new system for evasion-prone sectors such as gutkha, will depend on the minutiae in their notifications. A much-deferred review of the GST on online gaming and casinos remains stuck.
The stated reason for not taking it up this time was that the chief of the ministerial group entrusted with the issue had Assembly poll work.
With nine Assembly elections scheduled this year, that does not augur well for the Council’s ability to resolve prickly issues faster this year.
Of greater concern is the stalling of the rationalisation of the complex GST rate structure with multiple slabs, and critical inputs left out.
A Group of Ministers (GoM) was tasked, in late 2021, to propose a fix for anomalies in GST levies such as inverted duty structures, and propose revised rates with fewer slabs.
The Council was informed that GST was still not delivering enough revenues — with the aggregate tax rate close to 12% rather than the 15.5% revenue-neutral rate envisaged originally, “knowingly or unknowingly” due to rate cuts on some items between 2017 and 2021.
While some anomalies flagged by the GoM were fixed last June, the Centre had signalled the rates’ rejig would be deferred as inflation had surged and any revision would mean higher taxes for some items.
Opinion
Law to raise marital age is not enough as enforcement is poor (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
On Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to increase the minimum age of marriage of women in India from 18 years to 21 years. The Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, noted that the power to amend the law lies with Parliament.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2021. The Bill proposes to raise the age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years.
But after Opposition MPs demanded greater scrutiny of the Bill, it was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
The MP from Kollam, N.K. Premachandran, wanted to know “whether this law was enforceable or not”; the MP from Thoothukkudi, KanimozhiKarunanidhi, sought opinions from civil society; and the MP from Baramati, SupriyaSule, wanted the House to “unanimously pass reforms related to women”.
Back then, MPs had raised questions about the enforceability of the law, the Bill’s attack on personal laws, and the poor labour force participation of young women.
The caution exercised by the Supreme Court and the advice of the Opposition MPs to scrutinise the Bill before passing it is well grounded.
This is because, despite the legal age of marriage for women being 18 years, almost 23% of women who were aged between 20 and 24 years in 2019-21 married before their 18th birthday.
Text &Context
The microbiome link to autism disorders (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the term for a group of neurodevelopmental disorders. Researchers are yet to fully understand the aetiology of ASD. (Aetiology is the study of factors that cause a condition or disease.) However, they are beginning to find that a disorder in the gut-brain axis could have a prominent role.
According to the WHO, ASD affects one in 100 children. Children with ASD have impaired social interactions, lack verbal and nonverbal communication skills, and display restricted and repetitive behaviours.
These characteristics can adversely affect one’s cognitive abilities and, over time, diminish one’s quality of life. A relatively under-researched aspect of ASD is the gastrointestinal problems associated with a subset of children with ASD.
Limited research findings as well as anecdotal evidence indicate the presence of various gastrointestinal problems, like constipation, diarrhoea, flatulence, and bloating, among others, in children with ASD.
But even as researchers have proposed several theories to explain the aetiology of ASD, the pathophysiology of the disorder remains largely unknown. (Pathophysiology is the study of a condition’s impact on biological processes.) At present, there are no known cures and therapeutic interventions available to treat or reverse ASD.
Increasingly profound exploration of the human microbiome by researchers, aided by advances in gene-sequencing technologies and high-end bioinformatic analysis, is dramatically reshaping our understanding of the connections between human health, diseases, and microbiomes.
The gut microbiome is believed to have a big impact on immune modulation and metabolic activities in the human body. Immune modulation refers, among other things, to the efforts of the immune system to ensure its response is proportionate to a threat.
Investigations of the dynamic cross-talk between the gut microbiome and the host environment have revealed potential connections to ASD symptoms.
For example, aberrant antigen trafficking through an impaired intestinal barrier could allow these antigens to eventually pass through the barrier surrounding the brain, triggering a chain of events that worsen ASD symptoms.
Can we use moon dust to slow down global warming? (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Space)
There is some reason to believe that the ‘summerless year’ that followed the eruption of Mt. Tambora in 1816 inspired the novels Frankenstein and The Vampyre.
A sufficiently powerful volcanic eruption can spew sulphates and other aerosols into the stratosphere, cooling the air there. This fact has motivated people to artificially do the same thing to slow global-warming.
A recent media buzz on this front is from a paper published in the journal PLoS Climate on February 8. Researchers from the U.S. have proposed that billions of tonnes of dust can be launched from the moon to a point in space where the earth’s and the Sun’s gravitational fields cancel each other out.
The dust will thus be ‘parked’ there, casting a shadow on earth and dimming sunlight to offset carbon emissions.
While aerosols in the stratosphere, especially radiation-scattering ones such as sulphates, do have a cooling effect, let’s not forget the consequences of the 1816 eruption.
The ‘cool’ summer sent crop yields plummeting worldwide, leading to disease and starvation. Many climate models have confirmed that dimming the amount of incoming sunlight with stratospheric aerosols will have similar outcomes. Some studies have argued that the resulting drought won’t be as harmful and that the GDPs of most countries will be positively affected by such solar radiation management (SRM).
But even state-of-the-art climate models are skilled only at simulating the temperature response to changes in solar radiation.
These projections are also best at the continental scale and not at the regional scale, which matters when it comes to heatwaves and drought.
More sabre-rattling, more isolation: militarisation of the South China Sea (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
The Philippines invoked the dispute settlement mechanism of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2013 to test the legality of China’s ‘nine-dash line’ regarding the disputed Spratlys.
In response, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague decreed in its July 12, 2016 judgment that the line had “no legal basis.” China dismissed the judgment as “null and void.”
The South China Sea (SCS) is important not just to its littoral countries. It has been a transit point for trade since early medieval times, contains abundantly rich fisheries, and is a repository of mineral deposits and hydrocarbon reserves.
The PCA award undermined the Chinese claim. It held that none of the features of the Spratlys qualified them as islands, and there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights and to the resources within the ‘nine-dash line’.
The UNCLOS provides that islands must sustain habitation and the capacity for non-extractive economic activity. Reefs and shoals that are unable to do so are considered low-tide elevations.
The award implied that China violated the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). It noted that China had aggravated the situation by undertaking land reclamation and construction, and had harmed the environment and violated its obligation to preserve the ecosystem. China dismissed the award as “a political farce under the pretext of law.”
Given the power equations, the Philippines did not press for enforcement of the award and acquiesced in the status quo. Not one country challenged China, which agreed to settle disputes bilaterally, and to continue work on a Code of Conduct with countries of the ASEAN.
Given that their economic ties with China are deepening, it may appear that the ASEAN countries are bandwagoning with China.
In reality, there is growing discontent. While avoiding military confrontation with China, they are seeking political insurance, strengthening their navies, and deepening their military relationships with the United States.
News
India and Italy eye defence pact during Meloni visit (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
India and Italy are expected to put nearly a decade of tensions over the arrest of Italian marines and other issues firmly behind them with discussions about a bilateral defence cooperation that is likely to be announced during Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s visit to India.
Ms. Meloni, the far-right Italian leader who is travelling to Delhi as chief guest of the Raisina Dialogue conference on March 2, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, three months after they met on the sidelines of the G-20 conference in Bali.
Last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with Italian State Secretary for Defence Matteo Perego Di Cremnago in Bengaluru on the sidelines of the Aero India show, the first such visit in several years.
Ms. Meloni will be the third Italian Prime Minister to visit India in the past decade after Paolo Gentiloni in 2017 and Giuseppe Conte in 2018, but the defence agreement, which is also tied closely to Italy’s Indo-Pacific strategy, will be a first.
Significantly, during 2012-2015, when Italy-India ties nosedived over the arrest of two Italian marines for the killing of Kerala fishermen off the Indian coast, Ms. Meloni and her party, Fratellid’Italia (Brothers of Italy), had taken a hard line, calling for the Indian Ambassador to be expelled over the issue.
In 2015, Italy also vetoed India’s application to join the exclusive club of countries in the Missile Technology Control Regime, and lobbied for India to be designated a human rights violator at the European Parliament.
Centre may notify emissions trading scheme by June (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
After the passing of the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill last December, the Centre is now in the final stages of notifying an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that will require polluting industries to achieve certain standards of energy efficiency and permit them to ‘trade’ these improvements.
The notification specifying which sectors will be covered and the targets they will be set will be announced latest by June, two officials, affiliated to the Power and Environment Ministries, separately confirmed to The Hindu on condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a Power Ministry body, would be the nodal coordinator of the scheme. Sectors (for example, aluminium, cement, fertilizer) would be given energy efficiency targets and the companies that were able to exceed these targets would get ‘credits’ or certificates that they could bank or sell to companies that failed to meet the targets. Emissions trading schemes, as they are called, are deployed in the European Union and Korea.
Since 2015, the BEE has been running the ‘Perform, Achieve, Trade’ scheme under which 1,078 industries spanning 13 sectors have been getting energy security certificates if they exceeded certain targets.
While similar in principle, the credits generated under the forthcoming mechanism will force companies to invest substantially more in deploying alternative, cleaner sources of energy to meet efficiency norms, as they will likely have to meet a higher bar for emission reductions.