State of World Population Report 2021 by UNFPA

• The State of World Population report is (UN Populations Fund) UNFPA’s annual flagship publication.
• Published yearly since 1978, it shines a light on emerging issues in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, bringing them into the mainstream and exploring the challenges and opportunities they present for international development.

Findings of the Report

• Nearly half of women in 57 developing countries are denied the right to decide whether to have sex with their partners, use contraception or seek health care.
• For the first time, a United Nations report focuses on bodily autonomy: the power and agency to make choices about your body, without fear of violence or having someone else decide for you.
• This lack of bodily autonomy has massive implications beyond the profound harms to individual women and girls: potentially depressing economic productivity, undercutting skills, and resulting in extra costs to health care and judicial systems.
• Through this groundbreaking report, UNFPA is measuring both women’s power to make their own decisions about their bodies and the extent to which countries’ laws support or interfere with a woman’s right to make these decisions.
• The data show a strong link between decision-making power and higher levels of education.
• The report shows that in countries where data are available:

1. Only 55 % of women are fully empowered to make choices over health care, contraception and the ability to say yes or no to sex.
2. Only 71 % of countries guarantee access to overall maternity care.
3. Only 75 % of countries legally ensure full, equal access to contraception.
4. Only about 80 % of countries have laws supporting sexual health and well-being.
5. Only about 56 % of countries have laws and policies supporting comprehensive sexuality education.

• The report also documents many other ways that the bodily autonomy of women, men, girls and boys is violated, revealing that:

1. 20 countries or territories have “marry-your-rapist” laws, where a man can escape criminal prosecution if he marries the woman or girl he has raped.
2. 43 countries have no legislation addressing the issue of marital rape (rape by a spouse).
3. More than 30 countries restrict women’s right to move around outside the home.
4. Girls and boys with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be subjected to sexual violence, with girls at the greatest risk.

Solutions: the power to say yes, the right to say no

• The report shows how efforts to address abuses can lead to further violations of bodily autonomy.
• For example, to prosecute a case of rape, a criminal justice system might require a survivor to undergo an invasive so-called virginity test.
• Real solutions, the report finds, must take into account the needs and experiences of those affected.
• In Mongolia, for example, persons with disabilities organized to give direct input to the government about their sexual and reproductive health needs.
• In Angola, young people educated about their bodies, health and rights have been able to seek health care, use family planning, decline sex and petition for justice after sexual violence.

Critical Analysis

• “The denial of bodily autonomy is a violation of women and girls’ fundamental human rights that reinforces inequalities and perpetuates violence arising from gender discrimination,” says Dr. Kanem “It is nothing less than an annihilation of the spirit, and it must stop."
• “By contrast,” Dr. Kanem says, “a woman who has control over her body is more likely to be empowered in other spheres of her life. She gains not only in terms of autonomy, but also through advances in health and education, income and safety. She is more likely to thrive, and so is her family.”

Regional New Year's Days

Context

Puthandu Pirappu, Rongali Bihu, Naba Barsha and Vaisakhadi, Ugadi, and Gudi Padwa will be celebrated in different parts of the country on 14^th and 15^th April 2021.

In the month of Chaitra (March-April) of the Hindu calendar, most of the regional New Year Days are celebrated.

• Ugadi is the Telugu New Year that usually comes in March.
• In Punjab the year starts with the first of Vaisakh, coinciding with the ripening of the rabi harvest Baisakhi (April 13).
• At the same time, the Nava Varsha of Bengalis begins.
• Puthandu, also known as Puthuvarudam or Tamil New Year, is the first day of the year on the Tamil calendar. The festival date is set with the solar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, as the first day of the Tamil month Chithirai.
• The Assamese celebrate their New Year, Goru and Rangoli Bihu, as a cattle festival.
• The people of Kerala celebrate Vishu with the Kani (preparation of an auspicious omen the preceding night so that it is the first thing one sees on waking up on New Year’s day).

These New Year festivals are celebrated in various ways in different parts of our country with renewed hopes and enthusiasm, symbolising our diversity and pluralistic tradition. These festivals also denote respect towards our farmers’ tireless hard work.

Sushil Chandra -24^th CEC

Context

Sushil Chandra assumed charge as the 24^th Chief Election Commissioner of India, succeeding Sunil Arora.

About:

Shri Sushil Chandra has been serving in the Commission as Election Commissioner since 15 February 2019. He is also Member of the Delimitation Commission since 18^th February 2020 looking after the Delimitation of Jammu Kashmir UT. Having held several posts in the Income-Tax Department for nearly 39 years, Sh Sushil Chandra had also been CBDT Chairman from 1stNovember 2016 – 14^th February 2019.

Emphasized the concept of “Inducement-Free” elections and it has become an important aspect of monitoring the electoral process in all ongoing and forthcoming elections.

Various initiatives are taken up by the Commission during the tenure of Sh. Arora:-

• Providing optional postal ballot facility to senior citizens and PwD electors,
• Setting up of India A-WEB Centre, and
• Voluntary Code of Ethics.
• Special emphasis on ensuring inclusive and accessible elections during the term.

Election Commission of India

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India.
• The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country.

Structure of the Commission

• Originally the commission had only one election commissioner but after the Election Commissioner Amendment Act 1989, it has been made a multi-member body.
• The commission presently consists of one Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners (ECs).
• The secretariat of the commission is located in New Delhi.
• The chief election commissioner is provided with the security of tenure. He cannot be removed from his office except in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court. In other words, he can be removed by the president on the basis of a resolution passed to that effect by both the Houses of Parliament with the special majority, Either on the ground of proven misbehaviour or incapacity. Thus, he does not hold his office till the pleasure of the president, though he is appointed by him.

Why in news?

Recently, the Supreme Court had agreed to hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners be done by a three-member collegium. The collegium will comprise of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. The PIL also seeks to ensure more autonomy for the office of Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners and an independent secretariat for the Election Commission of India.

Historical Demand for Appointment

• This demand was first raised in 1990 when the Dinesh Goswami Committee suggested the need for a selection committee or a panel to appoint the CEC (at that time ECI was a single-member body).
• Based on this recommendation, 70^th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 1990 was introduced in the Parliament which demanded for the selection committee comprising of the Presiding Officers of both Houses and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.
• However, due to lack of political will, it was not passed and was withdrawn in 1993. Till date, no such bill was formed.
• Global Practise: In the USA, South Africa, Canada, etc. there is a mechanism for outside consultation with expert body for making suitable appointments.

Way Forward

Deficiencies in the present system of appointment process needs to be removed. And adequate safeguards must be put into place to ensure that ethical and capable people head the concerned positions.

There must be similar election and removal procedures for CEC and ECs, and they must exercise the same powers unless specifically prescribed by law. Also, the expenses of ECI must be charged expenditure on the Consolidated Fund of India.

Appointments through collegium or any other system as discussed in constitutional debate can bring more transparency in the appointment process.

Even, the Law Commission in its 255^th report on electoral reforms (2015) for ensuring greater autonomy to the ECI, recommended for the constitution of a selection committee.

There is a need for debate and discussions in the Parliament on the issue of independence of ECI and consequently passing of required legislation.

34^th Foundation Day of C-DAC

Context

This 13^th of April is the 34th Foundation Day of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the premier R&D organization of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)

Three novel innovative technologies –

1. Cyber Security Operation Centre (CSoC) as a service ,offering end to end security solutions including managed security services.
2. C-DAC’s indigenous High-Performance Computing software solutions- Parallel Development Environment (ParaDE) .

ParaDE is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for creating parallel applications on HPC platforms.

3. Automatic Parallelizing Compiler (CAPC) were launched by C-DAC. CAPC is an innovative software which provides a fast and effective solution for code parallelization by automatically converting a sequential C code to a corresponding parallel code suitable for the target parallel hardware.
4. Another App based system called MANAS, Mental health And Normalcy Augmentation System is also being earmarked separately by the Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt. of India. MANAS is a comprehensive, scalable, national digital wellbeing platform to augment mental well-being of Indian citizens and aimed to ‘reach the unreached’ through Digital India initiatives.
5. The first Supercomputer designed and built under Build approach of National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) by C-DAC- Param Shivay.
6. In Meity’s National Policy on Electronics 2019 (NPE 2019) C DAC envisions positioning India as a global hub for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM). It's progressing in this direction very well by developing a portfolio of 32/64 bit processors named VEGA as a part of its Microprocessor initiative .

CDAC is engaged in core research in High Performance Computing, Artificial Intelligence, 5G, Blockchain, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, Cyber Security, Indian language computing, etc. while on the other hand, it has successfully transformed the lab outcome to benefit the grassroots creating societal impact. Representative such national level rollout include Emergency Response Support System for elderly, women and people in distress, e-Sanjeevani telemedicine, National Common Mobility Card for ease of transportation, etc.

Notable researchers and alumnus

• Vijay P. Bhatkar, founding director, recipient of Padma Bhushan award
• Srinivasan Ramani, contributed in bringing the internet to India in 1987 through the academic network ERNET, served as an adviser on UN ICT Task Force, and was the first director of HP Labs, India

Know more about C-DAC inventions.

Aahaar Kranti Mission

The Union Minister for Science and Technology will launch a mission called `Aahaar Kranti’.

About Aahaar Kranti Mission:

• Vijnana Bharati (Vibha) and the Global Indian Scientists’ and Technocrats’ Forum (GIST) will launch Aahaar Kranti Mission.
• The mission will aim to spread the message of the need for a nutritionally balanced diet.
• It will highlight the importance of being accessible to all local fruits and vegetables.

Key Features of the Mission:

• The mission will work on multiple dimensions simultaneously. It will seek to promote:
  1. Better awareness
  2. Better nutrition and
  3. Also, better agriculture
• These messages will be imparted through the curriculum in the form of `what’s and `why’s of nutrition, or through the forms of games.
• The content will be available both online and offline and in all vernacular languages besides English and Hindi. It will aim to reach out to as many as possible.
• The mission will especially focus on training teachers. Who in turn will pass on the message to the students and through them to their families and finally the society at large.
  • This strategy was adopted for the eradication of Polio, and it turned out to be a grand success.
• The mission will also utilize India’s rich knowledge of Ayurveda-based nutrition to practice.

Aim of Aahaar Kranti Mission

• The mission will address the current situation of hunger in abundance. It will work to arouse the people to the values of India’s traditional diet, local fruits and vegetables, and a balanced diet.
• Also, the United Nations also declared 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables & is in line with UN sustainable goal # 3- “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.”

Women and Men in India Report, 2020

The National Statistical Office released the Women and Men in India report, in 2020.

About Women and Men in India Report, 2020:

• NSO produces this report annually. This is the 22nd issue in its series.
• The report consolidates the crucial socio-economic indicators that portray gender situations in the country.

Key Findings from the Report:

Population and Related Statistics:

• India’s projected population in 2021 is 136.13 Crore with a 48.65% female population.
• The projected average annual exponential growth rate of the population declined from 1.63 in 2011 to 1.27 in 2016. It is likely to further decline to 1.07 in 2021.
• The projected sex ratio is likely to increase from 943 in 2011 to 948 in 2021.
• An increase in the sex ratio was recorded in Delhi (5.7%), Chandigarh (5.3%), and Arunachal Pradesh (5.0%). Contrary to this, Daman & Diu recorded a decline of 13% in the sex ratio.

Participation in Decision Making

• Women Council of Ministers: The representation of women in the Central Council of Ministers declines over the years. The proportion of women ministers is 9.26% in 2020.
• Female Electors: The percentage of female electors participating in General Elections went up from 65.6%in the 16th to 67.2% in the 17th Lok Sabha Elections.
• Women MPs: Further, a total of 78 women members, constituting 14% of the house of parliament (MPs) elected for the 17th Lok Sabha. It is the highest number since independence.
• Judiciary: In the judiciary, the highest number of women judges is 10 in Punjab & Haryana High Court followed by 9 in Madras High Court. There are no female judges in the High Courts of Patna, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Uttarakhand.

Participation in Economy:

• The share of workers in the Agriculture Sector is on a declining trend since the 43rd round of NSS to (1987-88) to PLFS (2018-19).
• On the other hand, in the Trade, Hotel & Restaurant sector, the share of workers has shown an increasing trend.

Health-Related Statistics:

• The Infant Mortality Rate(IMR) decreased from 39 in 2014 to 32 in 2018.
• Also, the Maternal Mortality Rate(MMR) decreased from 212 in 2007-09 to 113 in 2016-18.
• Further, the Total Fertility Rate of rural India was 2.3 in 2018. It was 1.7 in urban areas in 2018.
• According to National Family Health Survey-5(NFHS-5), almost 100% of institutional delivery was observed in the states of Goa, Kerala, Lakshadweep.

Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier is Melting

Researchers at a Sweden University released a new finding related to the melting of the Thwaites Glacier.

About Thwaites Glacier:

• Thwaites Glacier is a 120 km wide, fast-moving glacier located in Antarctica.
• Because of its size (1.9 lakh square km), it contains enough water to raise the world sea level by more than half a meter.
• It’s melting already contributes 4% to global sea-level rise each year. It is estimated that it would collapse into the sea in 200-900 years.
  • Studies have found the amount of ice flowing out of it has nearly doubled over the past 30 years.
• Thwaites Glacier is important for Antarctica as it slows the ice behind it, from freely flowing into the ocean. However, because of the risk it faces — and poses — Thwaites is often called the Doomsday Glacier.

About the Study:

• The study used an uncrewed submarine called “Ran” to go under the Thwaites’ glacier front to make observations.
• The researchers measured the strength, temperature, salinity, and oxygen content of the ocean currents that go under the glacier.
• The study found that warm water is approaching the glacier from all sides. It is impacting the locations where the ice connects to the seabed and where the ice sheet finds stability. This has the potential to make things worse for Thwaites, whose ice shelf is already retreating.

Earlier Studies:

• A cavity in the Glacier: A 2019 study discovered a fast-growing cavity in the Thwaites glacier. Its size was roughly two-thirds of the area of Manhattan.
  • A cavity is created by relatively warm ocean water melting the ice shelf. As the glacier becomes exposed to more warm-water currents, the ice will probably melt faster.
• Detection of Warm Water at Grounding Line: In 2020, researchers from New York University(NYU) detected warm water at Thwaites’ “grounding zone” or “grounding line”.
  • The Grounding Line is the place below a glacier at which the ice transitions between resting fully on bedrock and floating on the ocean as an ice shelf. The location of the line is a pointer to the rate of retreat of a glacier.
  • When glaciers melt and lose weight, they float off the land where they used to be situated. When this happens, the grounding line retreats. That exposes more of a glacier’s underside to seawater, increasing the likelihood it will melt faster.
  • This results in the glacier speeding up, stretching out, and thinning, causing the grounding line to retreat ever further.

e-SANTA

• The term e-SANTA was coined for the web portal, meaning Electronic Solution for Augmenting NaCSA farmers' Trade in Aquaculture.
• e-SANTA is an electronic marketplace providing a platform to connect aqua farmers and the buyers.
• It will enable the farmers to get a better price and the exporters to directly purchase quality products from the farmers enhancing traceability, a key factor in international trade.
• National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA) is an extension arm of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Govt. of India, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
• e-SANTA is a completely paperless and end-to-end electronic trade platform between Farmers and exporters.
• The farmers have the freedom to list their produce and quote their price while the exporters have the freedom to list their requirements and also to choose the products based on their requirements such as desired size, location, harvest dates etc.
• This enables the farmers and buyers to have greater control over the trade and enables them to make informed decisions.

Procedure on the e-SANTA portal

• The platform provides a detailed specifications of each product listing and it is backed by an end-to-end electronic payment system with NaCSA as an Escrow agent.
• After crop listing and online negotiation, a deal is struck, advance payment is made and an estimated invoice is generated.
• Once the harvest date is fixed, the buyer goes to the farm gate and the produce is harvested in his presence.
• Once the harvest is completed, the final count, and quantity of material is verified, the final amount is decided and the delivery challan is issued.
• Once the material reaches the processing plant, the final invoice is generated and the exporter makes the balance payment.
• This payment is reflected in the escrow account. NaCSA verifies it and accordingly releases the payment to farmers.

Impact of e-SANTA

• e-SANTA will RAISE the lives & income of farmers by:

1. Reducing Risk
2. Awareness of Products & Markets
3. Increase in Income
4. Shielding Against Wrong Practice
5. Ease of Processes

• The Minister said that e-SANTA is a Digital Bridge to end the market divide and will act as an alternative marketing tool between farmers & buyers by eliminating middlemen.
• It will revolutionize traditional aquafarming by providing cashless, contactless and paperless electronic trade platform between farmers and exporters.
• e-SANTA can become a tool to advertise collectively the kind of products the buyers, fishermen & fish producing organisations are harvesting, so people in India & internationally can know what is available & in the future, it can become an auction platform.
• Farmers were facing monopoly and exploitation, exporters were facing inconsistency and quality gaps in the products purchased, and traceability is a big issue in international trade.

Raisina Dialogue 2021

What is Raisina Dialogue?

• It is a multilateral conference held annually in New Delhi, India.
• Since its inception in 2016, the conference has emerged as India’s flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics.
• The conference is hosted by the Observer Research Foundation, an independent think tank, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
• The conference is structured as a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral discussion, involving a variety of global policymakers including heads of state, cabinet ministers and local government officials.
• It also welcomes major private sector executives, as well as members of the media and academia.
• It is designed on the lines of Singapore's Shangri-La Dialogue.
• The name "Raisina Dialogue" comes from Raisina Hill, an elevation in New Delhi, seat of the Government of India, as well as the Presidential Palace of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan

Raisina Dialogue 2021

• The 6th Edition of the prestigious Raisina Dialogue, jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation,will be held virtually from 13-16 April, 2021.
• Theme for the 2021 Edition is "#ViralWorld: Outbreaks, Outliers and Out of Control”.
• Current edition of the Raisina Dialogue is taking place at a watershed moment in human history in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic which has been ravaging the world for more than a year.
• The Prime Minister called upon the global community to introspect on some pertinent questions in the present context.
• He also emphasized that global systems should adapt themselves, in order to address the underlying causes and not just the symptoms for keeping humanity at the centre of our thoughts and action, and creating systems that address the problems of today and the challenges of tomorrow.