New Bills for holistic revamp of Criminal laws

Why in the news?

Three new bills have been introduced in the Lok Sabha seeking to replace the colonial era laws – the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Code of Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act.

News in Detail:

1. An Expert committee was formed in May 2020 to undertake public consultations and make recommendations to the Government regarding the reform of criminal laws in India.
2. Three new bills have been introduced in the Lok Sabha includes,
   1. The Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) bill seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code of 1860
   2. The Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita bill seeks to replace the CrPC act.
   3. The Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam seeks to replace the Indian Evidence Act

3. Changes in the new bill that will significantly impacts the framework of Indian Criminal law:
   1. Introduction of new offences that were absent in the existing framework like
      1. Acts endangering Sovereignty
      2. Terrorism offences
      3. Mob Lynching
      4. Sexual intercourse by deceitful means
      5. False promise to marry
      6. Armed rebellion, subversive and separatist activities
   2. Problematic provisions of IPC provisions have been removed such as Sec.377 (unnatural offences) and Sec.309 (attempt to suicide) and Sedition laws.
   3. Maximum punishment for crimes like mob lynching and rape of minors.
   4. Community service as a punishment for petty offences.
   5. The bill allows trial of absconders and fugitives in absentia.
   6. Visit of a forensic team to a crime scene has been made mandatory for crimes that will attract at least 7 years of imprisonment.
   7. The bill aims to provide justice rather than punishing people and intends to raise the conviction rate to 90%.
   8. A certificate to the family of the arrested shall be given stating that they are responsible for the person, by the police official.
   9. Compulsory video recording of victim’s statement shall be made in cases of sexual violence and a state update has to be submitted by the police within 90 days.
   10. The police custody period of 15 days in the CrPC has been expanded to 60- or 90-day period depending on the offence under the new bill.
   11. Registration of FIR in any police station irrespective of the place of offence committed (Zero FIR).
   12. The onus has been placed on the Prison Superintendent to file an application to the court for the release of undertrials who have completed 1/3^rd or half of their maximum possible sentence.
   13. Computerization of all courts by 2027.
   14. Terrorism has been defined for the first-time allowing clarity in including acts/offence that can be classified as terror acts.

Issues with the proposed bills:

1. 1. 1. 1. Vague criminal law provisions that exacerbate the risk of arbitrary arrests.
         2. Some of the offences such as organized crime and provisions of UAPA has been borrowed from existing legislation without clarifying the reasons or consequences for such borrowing.
         3. Though sedition laws have been removed, the provision of acts endangering Sovereignty creates a fear of being a more draconian provision of the bill due to its wide sense of interpretation of offences.
         4. Problems that plagued the laws have not been adequately addressed.
            1. Overcrowded prisons and large number of undertrials by making amendments to Bail adjudication by emphasizing that bail has to be the norm.
            2. Issues of institutionalized torture of accused by the police has not been adequately addressed as no effective changes in the evidence legislation has been brought changes.

Source URL: Revamp of criminal laws: Centre brings Bills to replace IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act | India News - The Indian Express

The Organized Crime Plaguing Ecuador

Why in the News?

The Presidential candidate of Ecuador, Fernando Villavicencio famously called enemy of drug cartels was assassinated allegedly by organized gangs linked to narco-trafficking in India.

News in Detail:

1. Ecuador is a relatively peaceful country with 18 million population in south America.
2. Located between the major producers of cocaine- Colombia and Peru, it is facing violent crimes due to the activities of the drug cartels recording nearly 4800 murders last year, with drug-related violence surpassing conflict-caused deaths in both Afghanistan and Iraq. 
3. The Drugs cartels operate in the country to ship the drugs to high-demand areas of North America and Europe.
4. Two international crime organizations – Mexican cartel and Balkan cartel have recruited local gangs to build drug networks and control supply chains and have changed prisons into operating bases and ports into fighting zones.
5. Since cartels have built a parallel system, the issue of corruption in the government has also surged.

6. The US forms the largest global market for illicit drugs and the geographical proximity of Latin America serves as the closest source of illicit drugs and the only source of cocaine.
7. Increase of drug use in Europe has resulted in establishment of new trafficking networks that use Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela as transshipment points.

Ideal reasons for existence of drug cartels in Latin America:

1. Growing middle-class population

Growing demand for drugs accompanied by the growing middle class with increasing per capita income.

2. Robust trade flows

Economic integration and democratization across Latin America that has enabled robust trade flows within the region, used by the drug traffickers as well.

3. Weak governmental institutions

Countries with weak governmental institutions including police (e.g.: Venezuela) is used as a breeding ground for drug cartels, making the country vulnerable to corruption and threat of violence.

4. Corruption

Corruption at governmental level perpetuates the issue of drug trafficking as persons from criminal organization can enter the political system and use resources to facilitate the illicit drug trafficking.

Way Forward:

1. Collaborative border security strategies including pre-clearance of goods and people from trusted sources.
2. Joint binational inspection facilities to more efficiently carry out inspection at the transshipment facilities.
3. Immigration reforms to run a Temporary workers program that to channelise law-abiding migrants to access economic opportunities in legal ways.
4. Capacity building in determination of criminal behaviour and deter the violence affecting public security and dipping citizens’ confidence in the legitimacy of the state.

Source URL: Cartel politics: The Hindu Editorial on an assassination and Ecuador’s fight against drugs - The Hindu

Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill,2021

Why in the News?

Lok Sabha has passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill,2021 replacing Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

News in detail:

Rationale for introduction of Biological Diversity Act, 2002:

1. Anthropogenic activities leading to loss of biodiversity and extinction of species.
2. Concerns of bio-piracy- unauthorized appropriation of biological resources and related knowledge belonging to indigenous communities.
3. India became a signatory of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992.

4. Based on the above factors, the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 was passed with the following provisions:
   1. Regulates access to biological resources and associated traditional knowledge.
   2. Establishment of a three-tier structure for regulation:
      1. National Biodiversity Authority at the national level
      2. State Biodiversity Boards at the state level,
      3. Biodiversity Management Committees at the local body level.
   3. Sharing of benefits with conservers of biodiversity and possessors of associated knowledge for its use in Research, Commercial utilization, bio-survey and bio-utilisation for certain entities. The benefits to be shared includes,
      1. 1. Monetary compensation,
         2. Sharing of intellectual property rights (iii) Technology transfer.

The terms for benefit sharing shall be in mutually agreed terms and conditions between the applicant, local bodies concerned, and the benefit claimers.

Key features of The Biological Diversity (Amendment) bill, 2021:

1. Access to biological resources and associated knowledge occurring within India shall require prior approval of the regulatory authorities
   1. . National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)
   2. . State Biodiversity Boards (SBB).
2. Approval for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

3. The bill amends benefit sharing provisions to replace as mutually agreed terms between the applicant and the Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) represented by NBA.
4. The Bill changes punishments into penalties ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh & Continued contravention attracting additional penalty of up to Rs.1 crore.
5. The bill simplifies compliance requirements for domestic companies.
6. Exemption provided for sharing benefits with local communities to users of codified traditional knowledge and AYUSH practitioners.

Benefits of the Bill:

Issues associated with the bill:

1. The term ‘codified traditional knowledge' has not been defined, which leads to a broad interpretation that almost all traditional knowledge will be exempted from the benefit sharing requirements.
2. Direct role of local bodies and benefit claimants in determining mutually agreed terms has been deleted from the provisions of the bill as it is now replaced by mutual terms between the applicant and the Biodiversity Management Committee represented by NBA.
3. There is no provision for prior informed consent of the local and indigenous communities.
   • This negates the framework under Nagoya Protocol which requires the signatory country to ensure that prior informed consent and involvement of indigenous and local communities is obtained for access to genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
4. Provisions regarding penalty for offenses-
   • The adjudicating officer has no guidance on how to assess the penalty as there is no differentiation made based on the type of offence.

○ The adjudicating authority is a government official rather than a judge, which raises questions on the suitability to authorise the use of such discretion by government officials.

Source URL: Amendments to law could make bio-diversity vulnerable- The New Indian Express

G20 Finance Track

Why in the News?

The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked the global community to coordinate on restructuring the debt of Vulnerable low-and middle-income countries in the G20 Finance Track Seminar.

G20 Finance Track:

1. One of the two tracks of the G20 Summit (the other being Sherpa Track) focuses on global macroeconomic issues such as,
   1. Monitoring of global economic risks
   2. Reforms for a more stable and resilient global financial architecture
   3. International taxation agenda
   4. Financing quality infrastructure
   5. Sustainable finance
   6. Financial inclusion
   7. Financial sector reforms
   8. Financing for future health emergencies and investments in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
2. It involves the meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, their Deputies and various working group meetings.
3. Key Achievements of the finance Track post-pandemic Includes:
   1. Debt service suspension initiative (DSSI)
      1. It was announced as part of “G20 Action Plan” to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the significant health, social and economic challenges faced by countries around the world.
      2. The initiative provides for a time-bound suspension of loan repayments (both principal and interest) for countries which places a request.
      3. Eligibility:
         1. 1. 1. 1. The initiative applies to 76 countries that are eligible to receive assistance from the World Bank's International Development Association &
                  2. to all nations defined as "least developed countries" by the United Nations
                  3. Countries should have current debt with IMF and the World Bank and without any history of arrears of payments.
            2. Common framework for debt treatments beyond DSSI
            3. G20 sustainable finance roadmap

1. 2. Two pillar solution to tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy

1. 3. G20 principles for quality infrastructure investment
   4. Financial intermediary fund (FIF) for pandemic PPR

Debt vulnerabilities of low-and Middle-income countries:

1. The debt vulnerabilities of low-and Middle-income countries have been on rise in the recent past.
2. The low-and Middle-income countries face the challenges of combination factors of conflict, weak governance, or commodity-dependence, that acts as drivers of rising debt.
3. Interest payments are forming an increasing proportion of government revenues.
4. Dependence on external debt dominated in foreign currency poses a risk of rise in domestic value of the country’s debt burden and interest payments in the cases of depreciating domestic currency.
5. What needs to done?
   1. Priority to identify and reduce debt-related vulnerabilities
   2. Focus on mobilizing domestic resources
   3. Improving debt transparency
   4. Strengthening debt management practices such as lowering the debt servicing cost, reducing economic vulnerability and enhancing public sector transparency and medium-term planning.
   5. Strengthen fiscal frameworks
   6. Improve the efficiency of public expenditures and public investment management
   7. Develop domestic financial systems

Source URL: Global community must collaborate to restructure debt: Finance Minister | Business News - The Indian Express

National Human Rights Commission of India

Why in the news?

The Supreme Court (SC) observed that the National Human Rights commission (NHRC) of India acted like a ‘Super Election Commission of India’ in a matter related to the West Bengal (WB) Poll Violence.

• The NHRC appointed a ‘special human rights observer’ to gather information regarding the incidents of violence during Panchayat elections conducted in WB.

• The SC has held that supervision and control of Panchayat elections was the sole role of the State Election commission under Art. 243K of the constitution.

The National Human Rights commission (NHRC) of India:

1. Established under the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993 for the protection and promotion of key features of human rights across the country.
2. As per the Act, ‘human rights’ means the ‘rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India’.
3. Composition of the Commission:
   1. A Chairperson who has been a Chief Justice of India or a Judge of the Supreme Court
   2. One Member who is, or has been, a Judge of the Supreme Court
   3. One Member who is, or has been, the Chief Justice of a High Court
   4. Three Members, out of which at least one shall be a woman, to be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge of, or practical experience in, matters relating to human rights.
   5. Ex-officio members shall consist of Chairpersons of
      1. The National Commission for Minorities
      2. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
      3. The National Commission for Women
   6. A Secretary-General shall act as the Chief Executive Officer of the commission.
4. Appointment of Members: The members of NHRC including the Chairperson are appointed by the President of India, on the recommendations of a high-level Committee comprising of,
   1. Prime Minister (as Chairperson)
   2. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha
   3. Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
      1. The Minister in-charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs in GoI
      2. Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (Council of States).
5. Tenure: Five years or until the attainment of the age of 70 years. After their tenure, the chairperson and members are not eligible for employment with the Central or State governments to ensure the independent functioning of the NHRC.
6. Removal of Chairperson or members of the NHRC:
   1. Removed by an order passed by the president on the basis of proved misbehavior or incapacity.
7. 1. The Supreme Court shall investigate the charges and makes recommendations to the President regarding removal, who shall act further.
   2. The chairperson can be removed from office on the grounds if,
8. He is adjudged insolvent, 
9. he is engaged in any paid employment outside the duties of his office during his term of office. 
10. he has become incompetent to continue his office, 
11. he has been declared a person of unsound mind by a court, or 
12. he has been found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which, in the opinion of the President, involves moral turpitude
    1. 1. 7. Powers and Functions of the NHRC:
13. Investigate charges of Human rights violations or negligence by any public official, either proactive or reactively i.e., before or after the incident.
14. To evaluate the prisoners’ living conditions and give suggestions by making visits to jail or any other centre of the state government where people have been imprisoned or held for treatment, reformation, or protection and rehabilitation in order.
15. Protection and advancement of human rights of Individuals by utilizing the safeguards provided by or under the Constitution or any legislation in force and also make recommendations for their successful implementation.
16. Analyse the causes that hinder the enjoyment of human rights, including acts of terrorism, and provide recommendations for appropriate remedies. Establish and foster research projects at colleges, universities, and other professional fields.
17. The conditions or challenges that limit the implementation of human rights in India are evaluated and reviewed on a regular basis.
18. Encourage human rights education among all parts of society, as well as knowledge of the defence mechanisms available to safeguard these rights, through publications, the media, conferences, workshops, seminars, and other activities. 
19. Any view, approval, recommendation, or report on any issue involving the promotion and preservation of human rights should be directed to the government. 
20. Prepare monthly reports on the actual position of human rights in general, as well as other particular issues in the country;
21. Assistance to the government on situations involving human rights violations and strategies for preventing them;
10. Collaborate with the United Nations and other UN-affiliated organisations, as well as regional and national institutions in other countries with expertise in human rights protection and promotion;
11. Participation and assistance in developing and implementing human rights education and awareness programmes for teaching and research, as well as participation in their implementation in schools, colleges, universities, and other professional fields;
12. Increase public knowledge of human rights and attempt to combat all types of prejudice by raising public awareness, particularly via correct information and awakening human rights education, and by utilising all media outlets;
13. Perform any additional tasks that it deems beneficial to the promotion and protection of human rights.
14. To adjudicate in court proceedings involving human rights problems with the permission of the court.

The Khalistan Issue

Why in the News?

The United Kingdom has announced ~1 Crore to tackle pro-Khalistan extremism that has threatened to damage Indian missions and its employees in the UK.

Khalistani separatist activities in Western countries:

Though the issue of pro-Khalistan separatist movements has emerged in the last two decades intermittently, it has gained a new momentum in the last two years.

1. The Indian High Commissioner in London was damaged by pro-Khalistan supporters at the start of the year, promoting India’s strong reaction
2. In July 2023, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco was set on fire by a group of pro-Khalistani separatists.
3. Sikhs for Justice, a separatist organisation
   1. put out posters instigating the radical elements to kill Indian top diplomats in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
   2. Conducted ‘Referendum 2022’ for the establishment of State of Khalistan in the UK, Canada, the US and Australia which led to a tussle between Khalistanis and pro-India supporters at the voting site in Melbourne.

Sikh population distribution across the world

Khalistani separatist activities inside India:

Two major incidents that unfolded recently includes:

1. Active involvement of Khalistan elements during the farmers’ agitation in 2020 which was confirmed by intelligence reports.
2. Emergence of Amritpal Singh as an advocate of a separate state of Khalistan who was arrested in April, 2023.

Khalistan factor in Canadian politics:

1. Canada is home to the second-largest Sikh population in the world, after India, accounting for 2% of the former’s population with ~8 lakh people.
2. They also form the fastest-growing and fourth-largest religious community in Canada.
3. Sikh migration including the dreaded terrorists into Canada was advocated by the country in 1980s as it was guided by the Cold war dynamics.
4. Currently, the actions of the Canadian govt are guided purely by Vote bank politics.
   1. Out of 338 seats in the Canadian parliament, Sikhs are elected on 18 seats which speak of their political influence.
   2. The Trudeau-led government is under political compulsion to not antagonize their coalition partners, thus showing reluctance in confronting the Khalistan separatist’s anti-Indian activities.

Response of the Indian Government:

1. The Indian govt. is rising concerns consistently with respective governments that inaction of the latter can lead to adverse impacts on the bilateral relationships.
2. India strongly urged Canadian Government to take appropriate action against the anti-India ‘Khalistan Freedom Rally’, which was conducted in July 2023.
3. At the 5th India-UK Home Affairs Dialogue, Indian Government reiterated their concern regarding the Khalistan issue and the misuse of UK’s asylum status by the pro-Khalistani elements to aid and abet terrorist activities in India.
4. In response to the inaction of the UK Government against Khalistani separatists in the London incident, New Delhi removed the outer security cover of the British High Commission and High Commissioner’s residence. 

About:

The Khalistan Movement:

1. A separatist movement intending to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing an ethno‐religious sovereign state called Khalistan in the Punjab region.
2. The proposed territories of Khalistan include the entirety of the Indian state of Punjab, while larger claims include Pakistani Punjab and other parts of North India such as Chandigarh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh.
3. The capital has been proposed to be Shimla and Lahore.
4. Though the call for a separate Sikh state began in the wake of the fall of the British Empire. The first explicit call came in 1940 and continued unto 1980 when the movement reached its zenith.
5. Following the Operation blue Star in 1984 and in the 1990s the insurgency was petered out and failed to attain its stated objectives.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Why in the news?

The number of organisations adopting AI technology in India has gone up by 2.5 times with widespread applications in education, health, finance, mobility and e-commerce among others.

What is AI?

AI is the intelligence of a machine to work based on human cognitive skills that has the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize or learn from past experience, do problem solving, perception and using language.

Types of AI learning:

Applications of AI:

Benefits of AI:

1. Reduction in human error
2. Take risk instead of humans

Eg: DAKSH- developed by DRDO to identify and dismantle land mines.

3. Available 24/7

Eg: Chatbots.

4. Help in doing repetitive jobs 

Eg: Banking robot Lakshmi can verify documents in banks

5. Faster decisions making

Eg: chess game in windows

6. Daily applications

Eg: Siri, Google assistant

7. New inventions jobs

Eg: Prediction of breast cancer

8. New AI technologies create entirely new jobs

Eg: Prompt Engineering- New profession

9. Helps in democratization of Knowledge - AI helps in better visualization, effective communication and compiling known facts to all.

Concerns with AI:

1. Creates unemployment in unskilled and semi-skilled category.

World Economic Forum: By 2025, machines will displace 85 million jobs even as they create 97 million new jobs

2. Intrinsic biases of AI creator can underrepresent minority views or take decisions against values of certain communities based on race, caste, religion, etc.,
3. AI can perpetuate inequality in the society and promote concentration of wealth because of AI-divide, more intensive than digital divide.
4. Can demoralize creative talents as recognition to them drops.

Eg: Gofundme Campaign was held to protect artists from AI technology.

5. Ethical concerns - Responsible use, fairness and misuse of AI.

What can be done?

1. Restructure our education system and traditional career trajectories to acquire expertise.
2. Governments should form Advisory groups to formulate AI & data governance policy guidelines for responsible use of AI.
3. Companies should incorporate AI Code of conduct.
4. Restrict AI from using human pronouns such as 'I', to prevent AI's identity to be mistaken as human and cause false sense of reality among users.

Eg: Google's AI technology that auto completes words in Gmail doesn't predict pronouns, to avoid exposing any unconscious gender biases in the model.

Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs):

1. 1. It is an international financial institution established by two or more countries for the purpose of encouraging economic development in poorer nations.
   2. It consists of member nations from both developed and developing countries.
   3. It intends to provide loans and grants to member nations to fund projects to support social and economic development in the areas of infrastructure, energy, education, and environmental sustainability in the poor countries.
   4. It evolved on the background of WW-II to rebuild war-ravaged nations and stabilize the global financial system.
   5. The MDBs are subject to international law.
   6. MDBs do not seek to maximize profits unlike the commercial banks as they prioritize development goals to improve the economic conditions of impoverished or developing nations.
   7. Two types of MDBs:
      1. The first type includes the largest and best-known institutions that makes loans and grants such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
      2. The second type includes MDBs formed by governments of low-income countries that can then borrow collectively via the MDB in order to secure more favourable rates.

Transfer of High court judges

1. 1. 1. 1. The Supreme Court (SC) collegium has recommended transfer of 24 judges across various High courts in spite of requests for reconsideration of the move.
         2. Article 222 of the Constitution: Deals with transfer of a Judge (including Chief Justice) from one High Court to any other High Court.
         3. The proposal for transfer of a High Court Judge originates from the Chief Justice of India, who have a determinative say in the transfer decision.
         4. The Prime Minister advices the President of India for transferring the respective judge upon receiving the recommendation of the CJI.
         5. With regard to the transfer of HC judges, his/her consent is not required in his/her first or subsequent transfer.

Legionella bacteria:

• • The UK govt has put the asylum-seekers on a housing barge after the detection of traces the bacteria causing Legionnaire’s disease were found in the onboard water system.
  • The bacteria can be found in lakes and Ponds and also in other water systems.
  • If such water containing thus bacteria is consumed, the bacteria can reach the lungs and cause pneumonia and a mild flu-like illness called Pontiac fever.
  • Person-to-person transmission of the disease are uncommon.
  • No vaccination has been discovered for the disease yet.