ABORTION LAWS IN INDIA

Why in the News?

The Supreme Court has referred a case to a larger Bench involving a 26 weeks pregnant married woman seeking abortion citing her inability to take care of the child due to post-partum depression and other health issues.

• She has two other children.
• The SC initially agreed to her plea but 2 days later, a two-judge Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and B.V. Nagarathna delivered a split verdict based on AIIMS report that the foetus was viable and had a heartbeat.
• the case is now referred to a larger bench headed by CJI citing that the highest court of the land cannot overlook the rights of an unborn child.
• This has ignited the pro-life versus pro-choice debate.

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Amendment Act 2021:

1. The act requires the opinion of one registered medical practitioner for the abortion of a foetus up to 20 weeks of gestation.
2. Termination of pregnancy from 20 to 24 weeks of gestation would require the opinion of two registered medical practitioners.
3. Abortions over 24 weeks, in case of suspected foetal abnormalities shall require the opinion of a state-level medical board.

How is the MTP, 2021 different from the earlier 1971 MTP Act?

1. The upper gestation limit was increased from 20 to 24 weeks by the 2021 act for special categories of women, including survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women like differently abled and minors.
2. Addition of a confidentiality clause:

• The name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated cannot be revealed except to a person authorised by law. 

3. Mandate of Marital status removed
   1. The MTP services has been extended to unmarried women under the clause of failure of contraceptive.
   2. This is intended to provide access to safe abortion based on a woman’s choice, irrespective of marital status.

The global trend on abortion laws:

1. So far, ~60 countries across the world have eased abortion laws to expand the ambit of legal abortion.
2. Only 4 countries have removed legal grounds for abortion since 1990s. They include,
   1. U.S., (The U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in 2022)
   2. El Salvador
   3. Nicaragua
   4. Poland 
3. However, the overall global trend involves liberalisation of abortion laws and increased access to abortion services.

What arguments did SC judges give while delivering a split verdict on the case?

1. The split verdict was based on a medical report from AIIMS that said that,
   1. The foetus was viable and had a heartbeat
   2. The foetal heart would have to be stopped as part of the procedure or delivering the baby prematurely
   3. This might lead to severe complications both mental and physical for the child.
2. Justice Kohli delivered the verdict abortion cannot be proceeded as it will stop the heartbeat of a foetus that has life.
3. Justice Nagarathna differed stating that the petitioner was determined about her decision for abortion which is her rights under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty), which overrides the MTP Act.
4. This has triggered a pro-life versus pro-choice debate.
5. Indian laws do not clearly state whether the foetus is a living being or not.
6. The CJI-headed bench asked the woman to reconsider her decision to ensure that the child isn’t born with any deformities stating that both rights of the unborn child and woman’s autonomy are important.

THE INDIAN OCEAN RIM ASSOCIATION

Why in the News?

Recently, the Indian Ocean Rim Association’s (IORA) Council of Ministers (COM) was held in Colombo under the banner theme of ‘Reinforcing Indian Ocean Identity’.

What is the IORA and how was it formed?

1. IORA was formed in 1997 as Indian Ocean Region-Association for Regional Cooperation, as a brainchild of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
2. IORA is an association of 23 countries from Africa, West Asia, South Asia, South East Asia, Australia and littoral states situated in and around the Indian Ocean.
3. The 23 countries include: Australia, Bangladesh, the Comoros, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, the UAE and Yemen. 
4. There are 11 dialogue partners: China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Türkiye, the U.K. and the U.S. 
5. The Council of Foreign Ministers, the apex body of the grouping meets once a year, which moves by rotation through members every 2 years. 
6.  The troika of IORA is within the South Asian region currently, with Sri Lanka took charge as the chair from Bangladesh and India is the Vice-Chair.

Why does the Indian Ocean Region matter?

1. IOR consists of
   1. A third of the world’s population
   2. 80% of global oil trade
   3. 50% of the world’s containerised cargo
   4. 33% of its bulk cargo passes through it
   5. Produces a combined total of $1 trillion in goods and services
   6. The intra-IORA trade stands at $800 billion.
2. India’s other regional organisations (SAARC, BIMSTEC, etc., ) have their own challenges.
3. QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) remains as U.S.-led, along with military allies Australia and Japan. 
4. China’s active involvement in roping in India’s neighbours in its groupings such as,
   1. Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
   2. China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation
   3. China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Centre
5. Therefore, IORA acts as a “safe space” for India and other countries of the region to keep out the constant challenge of big-power rivalries.
   1. Pakistan, though applied for the membership in 2001, it has not been admitted as it has not extended MFN (most favoured nation) status to India.
   2. Thus, the grouping shall act as a less contentious space for India compared to groupings like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

What does IORA focus on?

1. The IORA’s seven priority areas include:
   1. Maritime safety and security
   2. Trade and investment facilitation
   3. Fisheries management
   4. Disaster risk management
   5. Academic, science and technology
   6. Tourism and cultural exchanges
   7. Gender empowerment.
2. The IORA has a special fund of $80,000-$150,000 for project grants to members with a particular focus on climate change. 
3. The IORA has made free and open sea lane, guarding against piracy and other strategic issues as their integral part of the discussions.

ISRAEL’S MISSILE DEFENCE SHIELD- IRON DOME

Why in the News?

Around 2,200 rockets were fired towards southern and central Israel through a multi-pronged attack by Gaza-based militant group Hamas from land, sea and air, which was shot down by ‘Iron Dome’ defensive shield of Israel.

Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system:

1. Iron Dome is a short-range anti-rocket, anti-mortar, and anti-artillery system with an intercept range of 2.5 to 43 miles.
2. It was developed by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems of Israel.
3. Israel has at least 10 Iron Dome batteries deployed throughout the country, each being designed to defend a 60-square-mile populated area.
4. Working of the Iron Dome:
   1. Its targeting system and radar first track the trajectory of incoming projectiles.
   2. Then Tamir interceptors will be fired which will only target at those which are likely to land in populated areas or important areas/targets.
   3. In the past, Israel has put Iron Dome’s interception rate at as high as 97%.
5. In the current Hamas attack and Israeli military options, the interception rate might have degraded given the high number of rockets fired and their launch frequency may have overwhelmed the system.

Layered air defence:

1. Israel has a four-layered air defence network that can effectively tackle a range of projectiles, short-range mortars, rockets and long-range ballistic missiles.
2. The layered air defence mechanisms shall include:
   1. Iron Dome for short range
   2. David’s Sling for low to mid-range
   3. Arrow II for upper-atmospheric
   4. Arrow III for Exo-atmospheric
3. The US has funded nearly $3 billion batteries, interceptors, co-production costs, and general maintenance to Israel for Iron Dome.
4.  The U.S. began financially supporting Israel’s development of Iron Dome in 2011.
5. The US and Israel set up a joint venture ‘Raytheon Rafael Area Protection Systems’ in 2020:
   1. The Tamir interceptors (the U.S. version is called SkyHunter) are manufactured at Raytheon’s facility in US and then assembled in Israel. 
   2. Israel also maintains the ability to manufacture Tamir interceptors within Israel.

Israel’s extensive presence in the Indian military ecosystem:

1. Especially in air defence, Israel has a great presence in India’s military ecosystem.
2. Iron Dome was pitched to India in the past to tackle threats from across the Line of Control (LoC), especially by terrorist groups, which was turned down as India does not face such extremely close-range threats.
3. Instead, Indian military had expressed interest in the Arrow system.
4. India has procured some air defence elements and radars to for its indigenous Ballistic Missile Defence system.
5. Israeli-made weapons, including the Iron Dome has increasingly been procured by Ukraine repeatedly in the current war.

SILK ROADS AT A CROSSROADS-OBOR

Why in the News?

The Belt and road Initiative of China has marked its 10-year anniversary and is set to host more than a dozen world leaders in Beijing including Russian President Vladimir Putin in the third Belt and Road Forum.

The BRI plan as per China’s White paper:

1. It is committed to the concept of open, green and clean cooperation with zero tolerance for corruption.
2. It aims to revitalise railway connections to Europe, along with investments in ports around Asia, and building high-speed railways in Africa and Southeast Asia, among other projects.

3. The BRI comprises two parts:
   1. Land-based Silk Road Economic Belt focusing on energy, infrastructure and connectivity projects in Eurasia.
      1. It has envisaged six corridors:
         • China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
         • New Eurasian Land Bridge Economic Corridor
         • China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (for instance, Indonesia’s high speed train ‘Whoosh’ developed through China’s assistance)
         • China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor
         • China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor
         • Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor
   2. Maritime Silk Road
4. The initial name of ‘One Belt, One Road’ was changed to BRI to convey a more open and inclusive initiative as opposed to a Chinese-dominated one.

The BRI stands at a crossroads:

1. Debt burdens faced by many BRI partners, from Sri Lanka to Zambia with no one lender as multiple funders covering various state-owned banks extend funds that includes China’s EXIM bank, and other players across the spectrum of China’s financial system.
2. India refrained from joining the BRI as the CPEC runs from Xinjiang in China’s west, through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), to the Arabian Sea port of Gwadar. 
3. With India’s non-participation the BCIM got stopped and made China to launch China-Myanmar Economic Corridor later.
4. BRI projects in reality are a majorly stand-alone energy or infrastructure projects in partner countries barring a few transnational projects, creating its multilateral tag as a misnomer.
   1. For instance, the China-hosted Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has no governing structure by the BRI and thus, it is not a multilateral initiative but a collection of disparate bilateral ones.
5. BRI 2.0 (second phase):
   1. Sharp reduction in lending with reports citing no take up of new projects.

1. 2. Attention has focused on debt problems in two BRI partners — Sri Lanka and Zambia.
   3. China has planned for rolling out 5G networks through Digital Silk Road with its BRI partners.

Green Credit

1. It is a special programme that allows an individual or entity to earn Green Credit and trade it on a dedicated exchange.
2. Green Credit refers to a unit of an incentive provided for specified activities that deliver a positive impact on the environment.
3. It is launched at the national level to leverage a competitive market-based approach for incentivising environmental actions of various stakeholders
4. It is also a follow-up action of the ‘LiFE’ (Lifestyle for Environment) campaign and is a voluntary programme for adoption.
5. The programme shall include eight types of activities:
   1. Tree plantation
   2. Water management
   3. Sustainable agriculture
   4. Waste management
   5. Air pollution reduction
   6. Mangrove conservation and restoration. 
6. The Green Credit generated or procured to fulfil any obligation, shall not be tradeable.
7. The Green Credit programme is independent of the carbon credit provided under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023 under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.

CHERIYAPANI

1. Cheriyapani is a high-speed craft will ply from Nagapattinam in T.N. to Kankesanthurai in the northern province of Sri Lanka.
2. It shall involve a 4-hour journey between India and Sri Lanka.
3. The vessel can accommodate 150 passengers on board and the one-way ticket for travel will cost around ₹7,670.
4. The Nagapattinam port
   1. It is one of the non-major ports under the maintenance of the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board.
   2. It is located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal at the estuary of the Kaduvaiyar river.

HEPATITIS C

1. Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver, a type of viral hepatitis.
2. HCV is spread primarily by
   1. Blood-to-blood contact associated with injection drug use
   2. Poorly sterilized medical equipment
   3. Needlestick injuries in healthcare
   4. Transfusions
3. Egypt became the first country to achieve “gold tier” status for elimination of hepatitis C by adopting the “100 Million Healthy Lives” initiative.
4. The “gold tier” status is given on meeting specific criteria such as:
   1. Ensuring 100% blood and injection safety
   2. Maintaining a minimum of 150 needles/syringes per year for people who inject drugs (PWID)
   3. Diagnosis of over 80% of people living with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV)
   4. Treating of over 70% of individuals diagnosed with HCV
   5. Establishing of a sentinel surveillance programme for hepatitis sequelae, including liver cancer.