AMENDMENTS TO INDESCENT REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN (PROHIBITION) ACT (IRWA), 1986

• The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved amendments to the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act (IRWA), 1986, which also proposes to slap hefty fines on persons found guilty of such acts.

 ABOUT IRWA:

• The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 (IRWA) focuses on indecent representation of women and brings under its ambit references that are derogatory to the dignity of women.
• It was enacted with the specific objective of prohibiting the indecent representation of women through advertisement, publication, writing, and painting or in any other manner.

 AMENDMENTS:

• The amendments enhance the amount of fine to be slapped against persons found guilty of such acts from Rs 2,000 to a minimum of Rs 50,000 going up to Rs 1 lakh for the first conviction

• Imprisonment would not be less than two years which may extend to seven years

• It also lays down a fine between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh for second conviction.

SC JUDGEMENT ON PRESIDENTIAL REFERENCE

• In a major relief to the Centre, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by outgoing Chief Justices SH Kapadia virtually gave it a free hand in the allocation of natural resources, clarifying that the judgment mandating auction was restricted to the 122 telecom licences the SC had cancelled in February this year.
• Through the reference, the government had sought a clarification as to whether auction was the only route available under the February 2, 2012 SC verdict for allocation of all natural resources.

 HIGHLIGHTS OF ADVISORY OPINION:

• The Supreme Court judgement has clarified that auction is not the only permissible method of allocating natural resources across all sectors. It will depend from sector to sector. 
• It is for the executive to make the policy regarding disposal of natural resources but this should always be done keeping in mind the public good.
• Further it explained, “Revenue maximization is not the only way in which the common good can be sub-served. Auction would be one of the preferable methods, though not the only method”.
• There is no Constitutional mandate for auction of all forms of natural resources 

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FISSILE MATERIAL CUT OFF TREATY

•  The Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) is a proposed international treaty to prohibit the further production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other explosive devices.
• The treaty has not been negotiated and its terms remain to be defined.
• According to a proposal by the United States, fissile material includes high-enriched uranium and plutonium (except plutonium that is over 80% Pu-238).
• According to a proposal by Russia, fissile material would be limited to weapons-grade uranium (with more than 90% U-235) and plutonium (with more than 90% Pu-239). Neither proposal would prohibit the production of fissile material for non-weapons purposes, including use in civil or naval nuclear reactors

 PRESENT STATUS:

• Pakistan has repeatedly blocked the Geneva based Conference on Disarmament (CD) from implementing its agreed program of work, despite severe pressure from the major nuclear powers to end its defiance of 64 other countries in blocking international ban on the production of new nuclear bomb-making material, as well as discussions on full nuclear disarmament, the arms race in outer space, and security assurances for non-nuclear states.

 PAKISTAN ARGUMENT:

• Any deal must also require India to reduce its existing stockpile

 INDIA’S STAND:

• India, has taken the stand that if the existing stockpiles were to be made part of the negotiations at Geneva, the proposed deal would no longer remain the FMCT but become the nuclear weapons convention.

Geneva disarmament conference can only move forward by consensus. Until Pakistan is on board, the negotiations can't be concluded.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE ACT 2012

• The Lok Sabha has passed a historic draft legislation which, for the first time in India's history, prohibits sexual harassment of women at workplace and prescribes penalties for employers who fail to offer the mandated protections. 

 NEED FOR LAW:

• India ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) but didn't have a law to address sexual harassment at workplace
• The IPC only covers outrage to "modesty"; not hostile workplace situations
• The apex court in 1997 Vishaka judgment sought such a law

 DEFINITION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT:

• The law defines sexual harassment as unwelcome behavior towards women such as physical contact and sexual advances; seeking sexual favors; passing sexually colored remarks; showing pornography or acts (direct or by implication) of sexual nature.

 SALIENT FEATURES:

• Titled "Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2012,” the Bill contains provisions to guard every woman, employed or not, against sexual harassment at workplace which has been defined as any establishment, government or private, including nursing homes/hospitals, sports stadium, training centers/games venue and even places a woman visits while on job
•  Domestic workers have been included in the law as working women
•  Every employer is required by law to constitute an "Internal Complaint Committee" in each branch with 10 or more employees. The district authorities must set up Local Complaints Committees to accept complaints from women working in organizations with less than 10 employees or women who are accusing the employer himself.

• In India eve-teasing is the most common form of sexual harassment. Unfortunately, there is no specific law under which offenders can be punished for this crime. About 40 to 60 per cent women become victims of eve-teasing, yet the conviction rate is just 5 per cent in such cases. The passing of the Bill on sexual harassment at workplace in the Lok Sabha, which also included domestic workers for the first time, and a record 45 amendments to the existing law is a welcome step.

NAM SUMMIT 2012 (16th Summit of the Non Aligned Movement)

•  Venue: Tehran (Iran)
•  Date: 26–31 August 2012
•  Theme: ‘Lasting peace through joint global governance.’
•  Previous Summit: Sharm-El-Sheik in 2009

 ABOUT NAM:

• The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2012, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries.
• The organization was founded in Belgrade in 1961, and was largely the brainchild of Yugoslavia's president, Josip Broz Tito; India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru; Egypt's second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser; Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah; and Indonesia's first president, Sukarno.

 PRESENT STATUS:

• Most nations now regard NAM as a bit of sham. Born in 1961, when the Cold War was red-hot, the movement had lost its clout long before the world turned uni-polar with the US emerging as the sole superpower in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

 HIGHLIGHTS:

• Iran assumes 3-year presidency, hopes for solidarity on sanctions imposed by the West on the Islamic Republic to punish it for its nuclear activities.
•  Syrian crisis dominated talks
•  Egypt's new president, Mohammad Mursi, the first Egyptian leader to visit Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, gave the meeting diplomatic heft.

 INDIA’S PRESENCE:

• India’s presence at the summit gave a boost to the sagging and tattered image of Iran which is struggling to regain international credibility and approval after the UN and the US imposed crippling sanctions to thwart its nuclear ambitions.

Government forced to lift ban on cotton exports

• The government has decided to lift the ban on cotton exports following widespread criticism of the move, even by some of its key allies.

 The Ban

• On March 5, the Commerce Ministry had imposed the ban on cotton exports on grounds that the country had already shipped 10 lakh bales more than the exportable surplus and that had reduced domestic availability.

 Opposition to ban:

• States of Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra as well as Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar

• Their argument- The ban will lower domestic prices and hurt planting prospects in next crop season.

 Impact:

• The Centre s decision is expected to benefit farmers of Punjab s Malwa belt. They had suffered big losses this season with their produce sold at almost half the price of what it saw last year. Last year, farmers had sold their produce at Rs 7,200 a quintal last year as against Rs 4,100-Rs 4,200 a quintal this season.

 Country’s main cotton-producing states:

• Maharashtra, Gujarat & Punjab

 Largest cotton producing countries:

• China and India, with annual production of about 34 million bales and 24 million bales, respectively

 Leading exporters of cotton in 2011:

• United States
• India
• Brazil
• Australia
• Uzbekistan

 The largest non-producing importers:

• Korea, Taiwan, Russia, Hong Kong and Japan

 About Cotton:

Cotton is a natural fiber of vegetable origin, like linen, jute or hemp and composed of cellulose. Cotton is the fruit of cotton plant.

The cotton is a variety of plants of the genus Gossypium, belonging to the Malvacae family.

Varieties of Cotton:

• There are four major cotton species of cultivated cotton, of which two are diploid (Gossypium arboreum and G herbaceum) and the other two tetraploid (G hirsutum and G barbadense).
• India is the only country to grow all four species of cultivated cotton.

 Bt Cotton:

• The Bt cotton variety contains a foreign gene obtained from bacillus thuringiensis. This bacterial gene, introduced genetically into the cotton seeds, protects the plants from bollworm (A. lepidoptora), a major pest of cotton.
• The worm feeding on the leaves of a BT cotton plant becomes lethargic and sleepy, thereby causing less damage to the plant.
• Use of Bt cotton has led to a 3% 27 increase in cotton yield in countries where it is grown.

 New Bt Cotton seed:

• Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of the Government of India has approved commercial distribution of a new variety of Bt Cotton seed, developed jointly by US multinational Monsanto, Gujarat Seed Supply Corporation (GSSC) and Navsari Agricultural University.
• The new seed is expected to raise cotton productivity by up to 30 per cent as against the current Bt Cotton yield of 11 quintals per acre.
• The new seed has been developed by injecting Bt genes into two premium local cotton seed varieties called Sankar 6 and Sankar 8.
• With Monsanto's Bt genes being injected into Sankar 6 and Sankar 8, farmers will no more have to depend on private players for getting Bt cotton seeds. They will get cheaper and better variety of Bt cotton seeds from the state-owned GSSC, forcing the private players to bring down present high seed prices

 Importance of Cotton in India:

• Cotton is one of the principal crops of India and plays a vital role in the country s economic growth by providing substantial employment and making significant contributions to export earnings.
• The cotton cultivation sector not only engages around 6 million farmers, but also involved another about 40 to 50 million people relating to cotton cultivation, cotton trade and its processing. 
• The Government of India fixes the Minimum Support Price for cotton and in this price several government agencies like Cotton Corporation of India and Maharashtra State Co-operative Cotton Growers' Marketing Federation procure cotton. 
• The Indian cotton cultivation sector has not only been increasing its productivity, but also has been undergoing a drastic improvement in terms of quality of cotton. Cultivation of hybrids, Bt cotton varieties, latest production technology and plant protection technologies, adoption of scientific and agronomic practices by farmers, increase in area under irrigation seed, Government policies such as giving greater force to research and development in cotton, encouraging use of quality seeds and pesticides and price support, are all responsible for the present drastic changes in Indian cotton scenario.