In News:
The Supreme Court has directed the government to  unclog the prisons and trial courts as a mark of celebrating 75 years of India's independence.

About the News:

• The SC suggested that the first-time convicts of minor offences could be released on a bond of good behaviour.
• Similarly, after having gone through one-third or more of a possible jail term, an under-trial should also be released on bail.

State of Prisons in India:

• The Prisons Statistics of India (PSI) 2020, released recently, provides a disappointing picture of the prisons in India suffering from overcrowding, delays in trials and unavailability of proper medical health facilities to the prison inmates.
  • Between December 2019 and December 2020, prison occupancy reduced marginally from 120% to 118%.
  • The pandemic year (2020) witnessed nearly 900,000 more arrests than in 2019.
  • In absolute numbers, in December 2020, there were 7,124 more people in jail than in December 2019.
  • The increase in the share of under-trials in prisons was at an all-time high. PSI 2020 puts the percentage at 76% in December 2020: An increase from the earlier 69% in December 2019.
  • The people who are undertrials are those yet to be found guilty of the crimes they have been accused of.

How a lack of effective criminal laws is affecting under-trial prisoners in India?

• According to the Prisons Act of 1894, prisons come under the exclusive responsibility of State governments. Over the years, despite being upgraded to the status of correctional homes, these prisons are facing the challenge of Congestion of Under Trial Prisoners (UTPs).
• According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s report for 2019 out of 4.5 lakh prisoners, 3.3 lakh are ‘under-trial prisoners’, i.e., investigation or trial is supposed to be ‘in progress’.
  • These UTPs are detained under Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) which provides for “Procedure when investigation cannot be completed in 24 hours”.
• The original CrPC of 1898 specified the period of detention as 15 days. Later, through amendments, it was extended to periods that can go up to 90 days and, in some exceptions, to an indefinite period.
• Out of 3 lakh, about 2.2 lakh are either not likely to be even charge-sheeted, or they are likely to be acquitted.”
• This is a huge violation of the basic human rights of UTPs, who are already facing the issue of inadequate healthcare facilities and torture by other rowdy prisoners.
• Moreover, it is a huge injustice to the families of the UTPs. For example, their children are denied a normal childhood, proper education, and are exploited by a cruel section of the society and are forced to take to the path of crime.

Way Forward

• Recommendations of Law Commission of India in its 268th report: The Commission recommended that those detained for offences that come with a punishment of up to seven years of imprisonment should be released on completing one-third of that period and for

• those charged with offences that attract a longer jail term after they complete half of that period.
  • It also recommended that the police should avoid needless arrests, while magistrates should refrain from mechanical remand orders. 
• Open prisons Concept: The All-India Committee on Jail Reform constituted in 1980 recommended the government to set up and develop open prisons in each state and UT similar to the Sanganer open camp in Rajasthan 
  • It also recommended that life convicts who offer a good prognosis should be transferred to semi-open & open prisons.
• Justice Amitava Roy Committee Recommendations:In 2018 The Supreme Court constituted a three-member committee, to be headed by former apex court judge Amitava Roy, to look into the aspect of jail reforms across the country and make recommendations on several aspects, including overcrowding in prisons.it recommended 
• In 1980, a Committee on Jail Reform, under the chairmanship of Justice AN. Mulla was constituted to review the laws, rules and regulations keeping in view the overall objective of protecting society and rehabilitating offenders.
  • Lodging of undertrials in jail should be reduced to the bare minimum and they should be kept separate from the convicted prisoners. 
    • Since under trials constitute a sizable portion of the prison population, their number can be reduced by speedy trials and liberalization of bail provisions.

Source:

• https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/unclog-jails-to-mark-75thyear-of-independence-supreme-court-to-centre-101659726980417.html

In News:

Initiating from less than 10 MW in 2010, India has added significant solar PV capacity over the past decade, achieving over 50 GW by 2022.

About the News:

• The Government of India has set the target to expand India’s renewable energy installed capacity to 500 GW by 2030, out of which around 280 GW is expected from solar PV. 
• India is also targeting to reduce India’s total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes by 2030, reduce the carbon intensity of the nation’s economy by less than 45% by the end of the decade, achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

Status of renewable energy in India at present?

• India has a total installed capacity of 151.4 GW for renewable energy.
• Present Solar Power capacity

• • 45 solar parks of aggregate capacity 37 GW have been approved in India.
  • Solar Parks in Pavagada (2 GW), Kurnool (1 GW) and Bhadla-II (648 MW) are included in the top 5 operational solar parks of 7 GW capacity in the country.

Challenges

• Higher Imports: At present, India does not have enough module and PV cell manufacturing capacity. Hence, Indian solar deployment or installation companies depend heavily on imports.
  • India’s current solar module manufacturing capacity is limited to only 15 GW per year.
  • India only produces 3.5 GW of cells currently.
  • Also, India has no manufacturing capacity for solar wafers and polysilicon ingots, and thus imports 100% of silicon wafers and around 80% of cells even at the current deployment levels.
• Size and technology: In terms of cell technology, most of the manufacturing still uses Al-BSF technology, which can typically give efficiencies of 18-19% at the cell level and 16-17% at the module level.
  • On other hand, cell manufacturing worldwide has moved to other newer technologies, yielding module efficiency of >21%.
• Raw materials supply: Silicon wafer, the most expensive raw material, is not manufactured in India. More than 90% of the world’s solar wafer manufacturing currently happens in China.
  • Other key raw materials such as metallic pastes of silver and aluminium to form the electrical contacts too, are almost 100% imported. India is more of an assembly hub than a manufacturing one.
• Lack of Investment: India has hardly invested in creating high-quality high-TRL technology centres that can help the industry to try and test the technologies in a cost-effective manner.
  • Example: IMEC Belgium or the Holst Centre in the Netherlands.

Government Initiatives ·       There is a 40% duty on the import of modules and 25% duty on the import of cells, and a PLI scheme to support manufacturing capex. ·       It is mandatory to procure modules only from an approved list of  manufacturers (ALMM) for projects that are connected to state/ central government grids; so far, only India-based manufacturers have been approved. ·       Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS): o    It's a scheme of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. o    The scheme mainly provides a subsidy for capital expenditure on PV cells and modules – 20% for investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and 25% in non-SEZ.

Content Source link:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/experts-explain-what-it-will-take-to-fulfill-indias-solar-power-dream-8078876/

Image Source Link:

• https://ccbs.news/

In News:

According to the report, 'Outbound Travel and Tourism - An Opportunity Untapped', the outbound tourism from India is projected to surpass $42 billion by 2024

About the News:

• Nangia Andersen LLP in association with FICCI has recently released a report titled 'Outbound Travel and Tourism - An Opportunity Untapped'
• In 2021 alone, Indians spent approximately USD 12.6 billion in outbound trips, compared to USD 22.9 billion in 2019.
• The Indian tourism and hospitality industry have emerged as one of the key drivers of growth among the services sector in India.
• Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange in India as the exchange earnings from 2016 to 2019 grew at a CAGR of 7% but dipped in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The report also highlights need to bring about certain policy changes to boost this growing market and capture the huge value that can be generated from Indian outbound travellers.
• With the positive response of foreign delegations and their policies, India can surely establish bilateral relations with tourist-friendly countries for both inbound and outbound tourists.

Major highlights of the report:

• About: The report highlights the up-and-coming Indian travel market and outline a framework for creating a more value for money experience for Indian tourists and travellers.

• Steps needed: To facilitate ease of doing business and promote the interests of Indian firms dealing in outbound travel the government could look at multiple steps including:
  • Increasing direct connections to popular and upcoming destinations.
  • Allowing foreign cruise vessels to operate on Indian waters to increase revenue for Indian ports.
  • Taking concerted and coordinated efforts on multiple fronts to propel the outbound tourism market.
• Advantage demography: With approximately 80 million passport level of purchasing power, especially among the middle class, Indian outbound travel market will soon be among the fastest growing markets globally.
• Aggressive market: With a growing economy, young population, and growing middle class, India is ideally positioned to become one of the most lucrative outbound tourism markers in the world.
• Traveller’s pattern: Europe sees 20 per cent of the travellers from India's outbound traffic followed by 10 per cent to Australia and New Zealand and the rest of the traffic is towards South east Asia.

Source:

• https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/india-s-outbound-tourism-to-surpass-42-billion-by-2024-says-report-122080700415_1.html
• http://www.ttindiaexpo.com/images/outbound-tourism.pdf

Image source:

• https://www.ibef.org/industry/tourism-hospitality-india

• Context: As per the recent report by the Finance Ministry, the value of the counterfeit currency in the banking system has reduced from ₹43.47 crore in 2016-17 to about ₹8.26 crore in 2021-22.
• Counterfeit money is currency produced without the legal sanction of a state or government, usually in a deliberate attempt to imitate that currency and so as to deceive its recipient.

• Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud or forgery and is considered illegal. 
• It is the oldest technique used by fraudsters to cheat unsuspecting individuals of their money.
• Because of the value conferred on money and the level of technical skill required to imitate it is high, counterfeiting is singled out from other acts of forgery and is treated as a separate crime under section 489A of the Indian Penal Code.
• The probable threats of counterfeiting include: economic terrorism, inflation and loss of public trust/confidence.
• A Terror Funding and Fake Currency Cell in the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been constituted to conduct a focused investigation of terror funding and fake currency cases. 
• The other methods to have a check on counterfeit currencies include demonetization, Bi-Luminescent Security Ink of CSIR, etc.

Source:

• Parliamentary proceedings | Value of fake notes in banking system recorded over 80% decline

Image source:

• https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/police-suspect-role-of-fake-currency-rackets/articleshow/55422826.cms

• Context: The National Institute of Ocean Technology, an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)will be establishing an Ocean Thermal Energy Conservation Plant in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep.
• eThe plant is the first of its kind in the world as it will generate drinking water from sea water using indigenous technology, green energyand environmentally friendly processes.
• It will have a capacity of 65 kilowatts (kW) and will power the one lakh litre per day low temperature thermal desalination plant, which converts seawater into potable water.

• Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a process for producing energy by harnessing the temperature differences (thermal gradients) between ocean surface waters and deep ocean waters.
• India has a huge scope for OTEC as it is geographically well-placed to generate ocean thermal energy, with about 2000 kms of coast length in the South,where a temperature difference of above 20°C is available throughout the year.
• The total OTEC potential around India is estimated as 180,000 MW, considering 40% of gross power for parasitic losses.

Source:

• ‘Ocean thermal energy conversion plant coming up in Lakshadweep’

Image source:

• https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Several-advantages-of-OTEC_fig4_315330941

• Context: With rising cases of mobile phone snatching in the national capital, the Delhi Police is planning to direct internet service providers and the department of telecommunications to block stolen or robbed phones, by using the device’s (IMEI) number.

• The International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI is a unique 15 digits number that is used to identify a device on a mobile network.
• When we use the internet or place a call through a cellular service provider, then this number is used to verify the identity of our device.
• If one has a dual SIM phone, then there will be two IMEI numbers, one for each slot.
• The IMEI number can help network providers track down a device in case it gets stolen or is lost.
• The carrier/s can deny the device access to the cellular network even with a new SIM card. This will practically render the device useless as it won’t be able to make or receive calls.
• However, mobile phones which don’t have a flexible operating system can be broken into.
• There is a software that can change IMEI numbers of the phones, which might cause trouble for law enforcement agencies in blocking stolen devices.

Source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/imei-number-how-can-police-use-it-in-cases-of-mobile-phone-theft-8078438/

Image source:

• https://starofmysore.com/imei-number-changing-racket-kingpin-arrested/

• Context: Recently, a political party has promised the “strict implementation” of The Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA Act).
• The PESA Act was enacted to ensure self-governance through Gram Sabhas for people living in the Scheduled Areas.

• It recognises the right of tribal communities, who are residents of the Scheduled Areas, to govern themselves through their own systems of self-government, and also acknowledges their traditional rights over natural resources.
• The Act was enacted in 1996 “to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas”. (Other than Panchayats, Part IX, comprising Articles 243-243ZT of the Constitution, contains provisions relating to Municipalities and Cooperative Societies.)
• Under the PESA Act, Scheduled Areas are those referred to in Article 244(1), which says that the provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in states other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
• The Act empowers Gram Sabhas to play a key role in approving development plans and controlling all social sectors. This includes the processes and personnel who implement policies, exercising control over minor (non-timber) forest resources, minor water bodies and minor minerals, managing local markets, preventing land alienation and regulating intoxicants among other things.
• State governments are expected to amend their respective Panchayati Raj Acts without making any law that would be inconsistent with the mandate of PESA.

Source:

• Explained: The PESA Act, and the background of the AAP’s election promise in Gujarat

Image source:

• https://cfdra.in/implementation-of-the-provisions-of-pesa-act-in-the-state-of-odisha/

Essence – The editorial discusses about  India’s security concern over the visit of Chinese Spy Warship to Sri Lankan port. It mentions that the spy ship can gather the critical intelligence from the Indian territory. But on the other hand, it also argues that this visit is justified in terms of legal, security and diplomatic perspective. Towards the end it presses that India should understand the inevitability of these visits, considering the political meltdown in Sri Lanka and changing global power balance.

At the end it presents an optimistic view that this visit might be for legitimate research purpose and in future India itself may need to station its research and reconnaissance vessels in distant waters/ports.

Why should you read this editorial?

• To know about various legal, security and diplomatic dimensions related to international laws.

Source:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/step-back-from-waters-edge-sri-lanka-china-india-8081108/

Essence- The article talks about the failure of the maiden flight of ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV). The rocket was carrying two satellites – AzadiSat and Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-2). The Indian space agency was prompt in acknowledging the causes behind the failure and highlighted that the problem was with a sensor used to place the satellite in the proper orbit.

SSLV is a solid fuel-propelled rocket and is designed to place small satellites into orbits. The idea, despite the current failure, is to have economic and launch-ready rocket systems to deploy small satellites on demand. Till now ISRO has been using PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), which has liquid fuel prolled stages, to launch satellites. Compared to PSLVs, SSLVs are a better option due to their smaller size, economic viability, and greater control from the control centers.

The article claims that, though the maiden flight has failed, the potentials are huge; and ISRO has been prompt in acknowledging this, which indicates that the mission was to an extent successful and the data obtained will be used to perfect the SSLVs and use them for ISRO’s commercial purposes.

Why should you read this editorial?

• The article gives insights into ISRO’s plan to have a separate rocket for small satellite launches.
• The article compares the PSLVs and SSLVs.
• The article outlines India’s capability in launching Satellite Missions.

Source:

• https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/space-to-learn-the-hindu-editorial-on-the-failure-of-isros-maiden-small-satellite-launch-vehicle-mission/article65750371.ece

Background

In 1952, India became the first nation to include a nationwide family planning campaign in its first five-year plan. And it was Avabai Wadia, a lawyer who made this happen.

About Avabai Wadia

• In India, Wadia’s name is synonymous, with family planning and birth control.
• She was born in 1913 to a Parsi family in Colombo, and moved to London for Education.
• Later, she worked in London and Colombo as a lawyer, facing constant prejudice for her gender.

• As World War II began, she came to India in 1939.
• Besides working as a lawyer, she also volunteered with organisations such as Women’s Political Union and the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC).
• In the late ‘40s, while working with the AIWC, she began collaborating closely with family planning advocates, which first introduced her to reproductive and health rights.
• Despite the threat of social ostracization, she ventured into the field of Family Planning, and believed that family planning could improve the lives of women.
• For Wadia, family planning was a means of helping women to get out of the trap of biological compulsion and of societal pressures for frequent childbearing, which could ruin their health, cause neglect of their children, impoverish families, and keep women tied to procreation.
• Further, in 1949, this understanding led to the establishment of the Family Planning Association of India (FPAI), where she served as president for 34 years.
• As a result of her efforts, the Indian government became the first in the world to officially include family planning policies in 1951-52 in its first five-year plan.
• Along with others, she was responsible for bringing out the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) into existence, where she worked to include more countries, formed autonomous associations under the federation, and raised funds.
• Thus, realising how closely family planning was linked to law and politics, Avabai emerged as one of the core architects of the family planning movement in India.

Source:

• The Lawyer Who Led India To Adopt World’s First Nationwide Family Planning Programme

Image source:

• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62033246