Prelim Bits 14-07-2022 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Assessing Juvenility

The Supreme Court suggested the basis for deciding how juveniles aged between 16 and 18, accused of heinous offences such as murder, can be tried like adults.

• The Court said that the task of deciding whether juveniles aged 16 to 18, accused of heinous offences such as murder, can be tried like adults should be based on “meticulous psychological investigation”.
• It said that the basis should not be left to the discretion and perfunctory wisdom of Juvenile Justice Boards and Children’s Courts in the country.
• Initial assessment - The task of preliminary assessment under section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 is a delicate task that is done to assess the mental and physical capacity of these accused juveniles.
• The assessment is meant to gauge a child’s ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances in which he or she allegedly committed the offence.
• Trial - If the Juvenile Justice Board is of the opinion that the juvenile should not be treated as an adult, it would not pass on the case to the children’s court and hear the case itself.
• In that case, if the child is found guilty, he would be sent to juvenile care for 3 years.
• On the other hand, if the Board decides to refer the case to the children’s court for trial as an adult, the juvenile, if guilty, would even face life imprisonment.
• SC Ruling - The Supreme Court said that process of taking a decision, on which the fate of the child in conflict with law rests, should not be taken without conducting a meticulous psychological evaluation.
• It also discovered that there were neither guidelines nor a specific framework in place for conduct of the preliminary assessment.
• So, the court asked the Centre and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights to consider issuing guidelines or directions in this regard.
• The court said the Board that assesses the child should have at least one child psychologist. It should further take the assistance of experienced psychologists or psychosocial workers.

Reference

1. https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/assessing-juvenility-a-delicate-task-sc/article65637366.ece
2. https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2022/jul/13/sc-asks-centre-to-consider-passing-guidelines-on-preliminary-assessmentof-children-in-conflict-wi-2476224.html
3. https://www.ndtv.com/gurgaon-news/gurgaon-schoolboy-murder-recheck-accuseds-juvenility-issue-says-supreme-court-3155481
4. https://theprint.in/india/sc-asks-centre-to-consider-passing-guidelines-on-preliminary-assessment-of-children-in-conflict-with-law/1037920/

Cervical Cancer & Cervavac

The Serum Institute of India (SII)’s vaccine Cervavac received the Drugs Controller General of India’s (DGCI) approval for market authorisation.

Cervical Cancer

• Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix — the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.
• It is a common sexually transmitted infection. It is caused mainly due to the long-lasting infection with certain types of HPV.
• It is preventable as long as it is detected early and managed effectively.
• Worldwide, cervical cancer is the 2^nd most common cancer type and the 2^nd most common cause of cancer death in women of reproductive age (15–44).
• As per the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC-WHO), India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden, with 1.23 lakh cases and around 67,000 deaths per year.

Cervical cancer kills one woman every eight minutes in India.

• Prevention - Screening and vaccination are two powerful tools that are available for preventive cervical cancer.
• All women aged 30-49 must get screened for cervical cancer even if they have no symptoms and get their adolescent daughters vaccinated with HPV vaccine.
• Existing vaccines - Two vaccines licensed globally are available in India - a quadrivalent vaccine (Gardasil, from Merck) and a bivalent vaccine (Cervarix, from GlaxoSmithKline).
• Although HPV vaccination was introduced in 2008, it has yet to be included in the national immunisation programme.
• To know more about the Cervical Cancer, click here.

Cervavac

• Cervavac is India’s first quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) vaccine, and intended to protect women against cervical cancer.
• This vaccine is based on VLP (virus like particles), similar to the hepatitis B vaccine.
• It provides protection by generating antibodies against the HPV virus’ L1 protein.
• The DGCI approval will allow the government to procure enough HPV vaccines to vaccinate nearly 50 million girls aged 9-14 years in India who are waiting to receive the vaccine.

Reference

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/what-indias-first-hpv-vaccine-could-mean-for-fight-against-cervical-cancer-8027690/
2. https://www.financialexpress.com/healthcare/news-healthcare/indias-first-domestically-produced-hpv-vaccine-by-sii-to-improve-affordability-says-globaldata/2569740/
3. https://www.firstpost.com/health/why-serum-institutes-qhpv-vaccine-indias-first-against-cervical-cancer-is-a-game-changer-cervavac-10904281.html

I2U2

Indian Prime Minister participated in the first-ever I2U2 Virtual Summit along with the heads of state of Israel, the UAE, and the US.

• ‘I2U2’ group, which has been called the “West Asian Quad”, comprises of India, Israel, the U.S., and the UAE.
• This idea was articulated by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
•  ‘I2U2’ group can become a feature of the Middle East region or the West Asian region, just like the Quad is for the Indo-Pacific.
• Aim - I2U2 grouping’s aim is to discuss “common areas of mutual interest, to strengthen the economic partnership in trade and investment in our respective regions and beyond”.
• The aim is to encourage joint investments in the six areas of cooperation - water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security.
• With the help of private sector capital and expertise, the countries will look to
  1. Modernise infrastructure,
  2. Explore low carbon development avenues for industries,
  3. Improve public health, and
  4. Promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies.
• Both the I2U2 and the Abraham Accords will focus on increasing Israel’s integration into the region.

Abraham Accords 2020

• The Abraham Accords 2020are a joint statement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
• Subsequently, the term was used to refer collectively to agreements between Israel and the UAE (the Israel-UAE normalization agreement) and Bahrain (the Bahrain-Israel normalization agreement).
• These Accords had led to Israel formally normalising diplomatic ties with the UAE and two other countries in the region, marking an important shift in the stance of West Asian countries on Israel.

Reference

1. https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/i2u2-can-become-a-regional-feature-like-quad-sullivan/article65637839.ece
2. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/everyday-explainers/what-is-i2u2-holding-first-ever-leaders-summit-8027574/
3. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/like-quad-i2u2-can-become-a-central-feature-of-middle-east-nsa-sullivan-101657769038856.html

Global Gender Gap Index 2022

The Global Gender Gap Index for 2022 was released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

• The Global Gender Gap index benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across 4 key dimensions,
  1. Economic Participation and Opportunity,
  2. Educational Attainment,
  3. Health and Survival, and
  4. Political Empowerment.
• The WEF is the longest-standing index, which tracks progress towards closing these gaps over time since its inception in 2006.
• On each of the four sub-indices as well as on the overall index the GGG index provides scores between 0 and 1, where 1 shows full gender parity and 0 is complete imparity.
• Sub-indices - Political Empowerment sub-index includes metrics such as the percentage of women in Parliament, the percentage of women in ministerial positions etc.
• Economic Participation and Opportunity sub-index includes metrics such as the percentage of women who are part of the labour force, wage equality for similar work, earned income etc.
• Educational Attainment sub-index includes metrics such as literacy rate and the enrolment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education.
• Health and Survival sub-index includes two metrics: the sex ratio at birth (in %) and healthy life expectancy (in years).
• India is worst performer in world in ‘health and survival’ sub-index where it is ranked 146.
• Findings - According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2022, it will take 132 years to reach gender parity, with only 68% of the gender gap closed.
• The Global Gender Gap Index 2022 ranks India at 135 out of 146 countries. In 2021, India was ranked 140 out of 156 countries.
• Although no country achieved full gender parity, the top 10 economies closed at least 80% of their gender gaps, with Iceland (90.8%) leading the global ranking.
• Iceland was the only economy to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap.

Reference

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-ranks-135-out-of-146-in-global-gender-gap-index/article65636167.ece
2. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-how-gender-equal-is-india-as-per-the-2022-global-gender-gap-index-8026983/
3. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/07/gender-equal-countries-gender-gap/

Interest Abeyance

The Mysuru City Corporation has announced a new interest abeyance scheme to collect pending water bills by keeping the interest on outstanding dues in abeyance.

As per the scheme, if the bills are paid in one go, the interest on the amount will be kept in abeyance for six months and compound interest and additional interest will not be levied on that amount.

• Abeyance is a condition of undetermined ownership, as of an interest in an estate that has not yet vested.
• It is a condition of being temporarily set aside.
• Abeyance orders are used in cases where parties are interested in temporarily settling litigation while still holding the right to seek relief later if necessary.
• This allows an organization to ‘settle’ with the party without officially binding its actions in the future.

Reference

1. https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/water-bill-mcc-announces-interest-abeyance-scheme/article65633159.ece
2. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/abeyance-order.asp#:~:text=Abeyance%20orders%20are%20used%20in,its%20actions%20in%20the%20future.
3. https://starofmysore.com/mcc-moots-new-plan-to-collect-water-bill-dues/