Current Affairs 17 September 2022 – IAS Current Affairs

Current Affairs 17 September 2022 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :

Criminalisation of Marital Rape

Source : The Hindu
GS II : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

What is discussed under Criminalisation of Marital Rape?

1. About Criminalisation of Marital Rape
2. Marital Rape Issue global practice

Why in News ?

The Supreme Court recently sought the Union government’s response to the pleas arising out of the Delhi high court’s split verdict on the criminalisation of marital rape.

Key Facts

• The high court’s decision was based on PILs that were brought by the NGOs RIT Foundation, All India Democratic Women’s Association,and a man and woman who wanted to abolish the exception to the Indian rape legislation that is given to husbands.
• The matter has been pending since 2018.
• A split decision was reached on May 11, with one judge favouring the repeal of the legal provision shielding husbands from prosecution for engaging in extramarital sex with their spouses while the other declined to declare it unlawful.

Under the exception given in section 375 of the IPC, sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife, the wife not being minor, is not rape.

• Petitioners before the high court had challenged the constitutionality of the marital rape exception under section 375 IPC (rape) on the ground that it discriminated against married women who are sexually assaulted by their husbands.

Criminalisation of Marital Rape

Why it is needed?

1. Constitutional : Bodily Integrity is intrinsic to Article 21 and Article 14
2. Ensure that women remain safer from abusive spouses
3. Marriage should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape

What is the possible negative impact?

1. It might turn become a simple method for stalking husbands through abuse of the legal system.
2. Indian Law Commission and the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs after thoroughly examining the matter did not recommend the criminalization of marital rape.
3. Implementational issues due to evidences. 

Marital Rape Issue global practice

• Subsequently, in 2003 marital rape was outlawed by legislation in the UK.
• Australia (1981), Canada (1983), and South Africa (1993) have enacted laws that criminalise marital rape.

Asiatic Caracal

Source: Indian Express
GS II: Environment and Conservation

What is discussed under Asiatic Caracal?

1. Key facts about the Asiatic Caracal
2. Habitats

Why in News?

Although both species once had a comparable distribution, the caracal, which was used by India’s nobility in the sport of coursing like the cheetah, is currently in danger of extinction.

Key Facts

• The medium-sized, elusive Asiatic caracal (Caracal caracal schmitzi), a felid (cat) species that is locally vulnerable, has been widely claimed to be on the verge of extinction in India.
• The reasons are that the species is thought to be seriously threatened by widespread hunting, illegal trade, and habitat destruction.
• The caracal is currently listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act of 1972.
• It is considered to be Near Threatened in India according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Conservation Assessment and Management Plan.

About the Research

• The research was conducted by a team of researchers from:

  

  • The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation, Ahmedabad
  • The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and the Leo Foundation, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
• Based on fine-scale ensemble modelling of the caracal’s distribution, they sought to identify the prospective places where the caracal might occur in India.
• The researchers wanted to analyse different protected areas where caracal conservation activities might be organised from the management and conservation standpoint as well.

Habitat

• The researchers found the most significant potential habitat for caracals in:
  • Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra
• On a district level, it was discovered that the Kutch district in Gujarat, Sheopur, Morena, and Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh, and Sirohi, Jalore, Alwar, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Dhaulpur, Bundi, Baran, Jaipur, Tonk, and Dausa in Rajasthan, were the best places for caracals to live.
• The areas of Kutch, the Malwa Plateau, the Aravalli hill range, and the Bundelkhand region in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh are the best habitats for caracals.
• A significant portion of India’s habitats that were ideal for caracals were found within protected areas, offering the fantastic potential for its conservation under the country’s current management and conservation framework.
• The protected areas which provided high conservation potential for caracals included:
  • Kachchh Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) in Gujarat
  • The tiger reserves of Ranthambhore
  • Mukundra hills and Sariska and the WLS of Kumbhalgarh
  • Mount Abu and Todgarh-Raoli in Rajasthan
  • Gandhi Sagar WLS in Madhya Pradesh

Conservation Initiatives

• Under the critically endangered species recovery programme, the National Board for Wildlife and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change added the caracal to the list of critically endangered species in 2021.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2022

Source: Indian Express
GS II:  International Relation

What is discussed under Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2022?

1. Upcoming SCO Presidency of India
2. Varanasi as the first SCO cultural and tourism capital
3. About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Why in News?

The 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit took place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022.

Key Facts

• Samarkand is a city in Uzbekistan on the ancient trade route of Silk Road that connects China with the Mediterranean.
• This is the first in-person summit since 2019 SCO summit held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
• Without a bilateral meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit came to a conclusion on Friday.

Upcoming Presidency of India

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) rotating presidency was given to India by Uzbekistan during this session.
• India will therefore host the following SCO summit in 2023 while serving as the organization’s chairman.

Ukraine War

• Chinese and Indian leaders voiced their worries to the Russian President about the conflict in Ukraine.
• It reflects the widespread concerns about how Moscow’s aggression may affect the rights of people all throughout the world.

About Indian Economy

• Indian economy will grow by 7.5% this year, making it the fastest-growing among the world’s major economies.
• India is moving closer to being a manufacturing centre in his speech.

India’s Bilateral Meetings on the Sidelines of SCO Summit

India-Russia

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to resolve the situation in Ukraine quickly during a bilateral meeting in Uzbekistan, claiming that “today’s era is not of war.”

  

India-Turkey

• The leaders of India and Turkey discussed their relationship and praised recent developments in their trade.
  They also discussed regional and international developments.
• India and Turkey have had tense relations as a result of Turkey’s criticism of the Kashmir conflict.

India-Iran

• India and Iran discussed energy cooperation and connectivity through Chabahar.
• However, they did not state whether India expected to resume its oil imports, which were suspended in 2018–2019 under the threat of American sanctions.

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