DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

The criminalization of Marital Rape

The Supreme Court has requested the Center's response on the criminalization of marital rape.

Details about the news:

Petitions:

• Regarding the question of making marital rape a crime, the top court is now hearing several petitions.
• The marital rape exception under Section 375 IPC (rape) was challenged by the petitioners on the grounds that it discriminated against married women who are sexually attacked by their husbands.
• The appeals come after the Delhi High Court issued a divided ruling on whether or not to charge spouses with having extramarital affairs with their wives.

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The problem:

• The problem centers on the Indian Penal Code's exception to the general rule against rape, which disallows the notion of rape within marriage.
• Whether or not a married woman has bodily autonomy is one of the issues brought up.
• In other words, whether a husband should respect his wife's "no means no" rule and recognize that any infraction would be considered rape.

Delhi High Court decision

• In a divided decision, the Delhi High Court Bench favored eliminating the marital rape provision as "unconstitutional."
• The court ruled that it would be "tragic" for a married woman's request for justice to go unanswered even after 162 years following the IPC's passage.

Arguments against making rape in marriage a crime

• Destabilize the institution of marriage: It can bring about complete anarchy in families and undermine the institution of marriage.
• Misuse of the law: It might be utilized in the same way that section 498A of the IPC, which prohibits harassment of married women by their husbands and in-laws, is increasingly being misapplied to harass husbands.
• After carefully reviewing the issue, the Indian Law Commission and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs did not recommend making marital rape a crime.

Implementation issues:

• Criminalizing marital rape will lead to significant implementation problems with witness credibility and courtroom evidence, among others.
• Diversity in Culture: Before making marital rape a crime, it is important to take into account that India faces special issues related to its large diversity, low literacy rate, and lack of financial empowerment for the majority of women.
• Simply making marital rape illegal may not be enough to put an end to it because "moral and societal awareness" is crucial to putting an end to such an atrocity.

Arguments In Favor of Making Marital Rape A Crime

Women's Security:

• It will make sure that women are protected from violent husbands, that they can get the support they need to recover from marital rape, and that they can protect themselves from domestic abuse and sexual assault.

Marriage is not a license:

• A husband should not be allowed to brutally rape his wife without consequences just because they are married. A married woman also enjoys the same autonomy over her body as an unmarried woman.

Body Integrity is a fundamental part of Article 21:

• Since Article 21 of the Constitution inherently protects a woman's right to bodily integrity and privacy, she has the right to refuse to have sex with her husband.

• The Supreme Court has expanded the scope of Article 21 to encompass the sanctity of women and the ability to make decisions about sexual conduct.
• Article 14: According to article 14, Indian women should be treated equally, and anyone, even a person's spouse, has no right to disregard their human rights.

Continual Torture:

• In contrast to a woman who is raped by her spouse, a woman who is raped by a stranger bears the memories of a terrible attack for the rest of her life.

Global Application

• There are some post-colonial common law nations that are aware of marital rape immunity.
• Marital rape is now a crime in Australia (1981), Canada (1983), and South Africa (1993).
• In 1991, the House of Lords in the UK overturned the exception.
• The Lords held that the moment had come for the law to state that a rapist remains a rapist subject to the criminal law, irrespective of his relationship with his victim, in their historic judgment in the case known as R v. R.
• After reviewing the decision, the European Court of Justice affirmed the Lords' judgment, describing it as a "foreseeable progression" of the law.
• Marital rape was subsequently made illegal by UK law in 2003.

Rape in marriage:

• When one spouse engages in sexual activity without the other's agreement, this is known as marital rape (or spousal rape).
• Even though more than 100 nations now have laws against marital rape, India is one of only 36 nations that still do not.

Marital rape law

• Rape is defined in IPC Section 375.
• The section enumerates seven consent principles that, if violated, would be considered rape by a male.
• However, a significant exemption is included in the provision:
• It is not rape when a man engages in sexual activity with his own wife, provided that she is over the age of 18.

Way Forward

• The belief that the wife is the husband's sole property is maintained by the continued exclusion of marital rape from the reach of criminal law.
• Can the state actually intrude into a person's home?
• Why keep the most horrific crime outside the reach of the State and its laws when it already does in cases of cruelty, divorce, and dowry demands? Why does the topic of marital rape continue to be unacceptable?
• The Indian Penal Code has to be amended to make marital rape a crime.

Green Fins Hub

• Recently, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), along with the UK-based charity Reef-World Foundation, launched the Green Fins Hub.
• Green Fins Hub is a global digital platform for diving and snorkeling operators worldwide.

About :

• The Green Fins Hub is the world's first platform for the marine tourism sector.
• It would "significantly promote" environmentally conscious sea travel.
• From roughly 700 operators spread over 14 countries, it is anticipated to scale up to perhaps 30,000 operators globally.
• Through membership in Green Fins, a revolutionary change toward sustainability in the marine tourism industry is meant to be sparked.
• At least 25% of marine life lives on coral reefs, which are also the centre of marine-related tourism and can account for 40% or more of the GDP in some island countries. Reefs are a particularly fragile ecology, though; the difference between an increase in the world temperature of 1.5 or 20C would be fatal to them.
• Coral reefs and other vulnerable marine ecosystems may live on in the future due to the Green Fins Hub's increased accessibility to knowledge, best practices, and citizen science.
• The platform will assist diving and snorkeling operators globally by utilizing tried and true solutions to make simple, affordable improvements to their daily procedures.
• They may engage with their communities and clients and keep track of their yearly improvements.

Sustainable Coastal and Marine Tourism (CMT): What is it?

Sustainability in and by the tourism sector is referred to as sustainable practices. It refers to addressing the problems associated with a greener tourist industry from both the supply and demand sides.

The following should be included in sustainable tourism, according to the UN:

• Utilize environmental resources as effectively as possible to support sustainable tourist development while preserving vital ecological processes and promoting biodiversity and natural heritage preservation.
• Respect the sociocultural authenticity of the host communities, preserve their traditional values and built and live cultural assets, and advance intercultural tolerance.
• Ensure long-term economic viability, equitable distribution of socioeconomic advantages among all stakeholders, steady job and income-earning opportunities, social services for host communities, and a reduction in poverty.
• At least 50% of all tourism worldwide is comprised of Coastal and Marine Tourism (CMT). For many coastal states and most Small Island Developing States (SIDS), it is the major economic sector.
• Coastal and marine tourism is predicted to be the greatest value-adding sector of the ocean economy by 2030, with growth rates of more than 3.5% expected on a worldwide scale.

What are the CMT-Related Challenges?

• The sustainability and viability of the sector, as well as the local populations that rely on it, are at risk due to the ongoing depletion and degradation of natural resources.
• The Covid-19 Pandemic seriously disrupted the travel and tourism sector. Around 75 million job losses and a $2 trillion global GDP decline due to tourism have been predicted by the World Travel and Tourism Council.
• High anthropogenic susceptibility coastal areas will be particularly affected by climate change, which will result in temperature increases, more frequent environmental events, water scarcity, and sea level rise (SLR)???????

Additional Coastal and Marine Tourism Initiatives:

• In order to generate nature-positive tourism, where all supply chain actors come together to create value for people, nature, and companies, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and World Wild Fund (WWF) are cooperating with hotels, cruise ships, tour operators, and the industry.
• The Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative is an UN-organized international group that promotes the application of the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles and focuses on the relationship between private finance and ocean health.
• The cornerstone for investing in the ocean economy is the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles. They were introduced in 2018, and they serve as the first worldwide framework for financing a sustainable blue economy for banks, insurers, and investors. They support the adoption of SDG 14. (Life Below Water)
• The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, run by the UNEP and World Tourism Organization in conjunction with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, now counts Ocean Recovery Alliance as a signatory.
• The goal of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative is not to totally phase out plastic from all aspects of the tourism industry, but rather to encourage a transition toward a circular economy of plastics in tourism operations where plastics never become garbage.

Web3.0

The Finance Minister recently discussed the usage of Web3 and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in fraud detection and to produce early warning indications in an unforeseen incident while addressing the 75th Annual General Meeting of the Indian Banks' Association in Mumbai.

What is Web3?

Web 3.0 is another name for it.

• A decentralized internet that uses blockchain technology will be created.
• The phrase "Web3" was initially used in 2014 by Gavin Wood, the creator of Ethereum, a blockchain technology business. Over the following years, many other people have contributed to the concept of Web3.
• It would be distinct from the current Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 versions.
• In contrast to today, when tech giants dominate the platforms, in web3, people will have ownership shares in platforms and applications.

Advantages of Web3

• A "decentralized and fair internet where users manage their own data" will be provided via Web3.
• Web3 makes it possible for sellers to buyer (peer to peer) transactions by doing away with the need for an intermediary.
• Currently, for a seller to conduct business with a buyer, both the buyer and seller must be registered on an e-commerce portal or "shop" like Amazon, Ebay, or another similar site.
• Platform verifies the legitimacy of the buyer and seller as the parties to the transaction.
• The goal of Web3 is to eliminate the "platform" function.
• The core idea behind Web3 is Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), which states that all business and regulating rules for every transaction are transparently available for anyone to see and that software will be created in accordance with these rules.
• A central authority is not required in the case of DAO for authentication or validation.

The state of its development at this time

• There is no agreement on whether Web3 will take off as Web 1.0 or Web 2.0 did because it is still in its very early stages.
• Top tech minds in the industry and the academic community are highly skeptical about Web3, believing it does not address the issues it claims to.
• For instance, Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk do not see a future for Web3.
• In terms of technology, Web3 will necessitate a change from the front-end, middle layer, and back-end architecture that is now in use.
• For processing blockchain, persisting and indexing data in the blockchain, peer-to-peer connections, and other tasks, Web3's architecture will require backend solutions.
• In a similar vein, managing a blockchain-based backend will be required of the middle layer, also referred to as the business rules layer.
• Although it is not yet clear if Web3 will take over as the primary method of using the internet, the issues it presents are important.

Cryptocurrency technology

• A distributed database that is shared by all of the nodes in a computer network is known as a blockchain.
• A blockchain serves as an electronic database for storing data in digital form.
• The most well-known use of blockchain technology is for preserving a secure and decentralized record of transactions in cryptocurrency systems like Bitcoin.
• Without the aid of a reliable third party, it ensures the security and authenticity of a data record and fosters confidence.

National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Energy Storage

Recently, NITI Aayog presented a report on the current status and future trends in the ACC battery sector.

About

• The report emphasizes the potential role of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme on ACC energy storage in creating domestic economic value.
• The policies and incentives recommended in this report could pave the way for top-level battery manufacturers to invest in India.

National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Energy Storage

• Nodal Ministry: the Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Government of India
• Budget allocation: Rs. 18,100 crores
• Target: Manufacturing capacity of 50 GigaWattHour (GWh) of ACC and 5 GWh of niche ACC.

Key Features:

• The cash subsidy will be offered on output, i.e. the volume of cells manufactured and sold by the beneficiaries.
• Technology agnostic initiative - only cells with higher performance specifications (i.e., Energy Density & Cycle Life) will be eligible to avail of the incentives.
• There is an optimal sharing of risk between the beneficiary firm and the Government and thus will bolster investors’ confidence.

Benefits:

• Direct investment of around Rs. 45000 crore in ACC Battery storage manufacturing projects.
• It will give a boost to the Make in India Programme and attract global investments into the setting-up of ‘Gigafactories’ here.
• Promoting newer and niche cell technologies.
• The manufacturing of ACCs will facilitate the production and use of Electric Vehicles.
• Import substitution of around Rs.20,000 crore every year.
• Exploitation of non-renewable resources and dependency on oil imports will reduce.
• It will assist in reducing emissions and hence enabling us to achieve our INDCs.
• It will encourage the manufacturers to invest into Research & Development and to manufacture such cells in India.