Indian Laws on Abortions
Context:
In a significant step backwards for women’s rights in the U.S., the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade judgement of 1973, which gave women in America the right to have an abortion before the foetus is viable outside the womb or before the 24-28 week mark. With the setting aside of the historic judgement on abortion in the U.S, here’s a look at the laws that govern abortion in India.
Relevance:
GS II- Government policies and Interventions
Dimensions of the Article:
- How did abortion laws come about in India?
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
- Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Act, 2021
- Significance of the amendment
- Criticisms of the 2021 amendment to the MTP act
- Have there been judicial interventions in cases of abortions?
How did abortion laws come about in India?
Shantilal Shah Committee:
In the 1960s, in the wake of a high number of induced abortions taking place, the Union government ordered the constitution of the Shantilal Shah Committee to deliberate on the legalisation of abortion in the country.
Indian Penal Code (IPC) provisions of 312 and 313:
- In order to reduce maternal mortality owing to unsafe abortions, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act was brought into force in 1971.
- This law is an exception to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) provisions of 312 and 313 and sets out the rules of how and when a medical abortion can be carried out.
- Section 312 of the IPC, a person who “voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry” is liable for punishment, attracting a jail term of up to three years or fine or both, unless it was done in good faith where the purpose was to save the life of the pregnant woman.
- Section 313 of the IPC states that a person who causes the miscarriage without the consent of the pregnant woman, whether or not she is the in the advanced stages of her pregnancy, shall be punished with life imprisonment or a jail term that could extend to 10 years, as well as a fine.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 provides the legal framework for making CAC services available in India.
Termination of pregnancy is permitted for a broad range of conditions up to 20 weeks of gestation as detailed below:
- When continuation of pregnancy is a risk to the life of a pregnant woman or could cause grave injury to her physical or mental health;
- When there is substantial risk that the child, if born, would be seriously handicapped due to physical or mental abnormalities;
- When pregnancy is caused due to rape (presumed to cause grave injury to the mental health of the woman);
- When pregnancy is caused due to failure of contraceptives used by a married woman or her husband (presumed to constitute grave injury to mental health of the woman).
The MTP Act specifies
- who can terminate a pregnancy;
- till when a pregnancy can be terminated; and
- where can a pregnancy be terminated.
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Act, 2021
- The Act increases the gestation period of women seeking abortion up from 20 weeks to 24 weeks – It allows abortion to be done on the advice of one doctor up to 20 weeks, and two doctors in the case of certain special categories of women between 20 and 24 weeks.
- The “special categories of women” include rape survivors, victims of incest, the differently-abled and minors.
- In case of the gestational period beyond 24 weeks, pregnancy may be terminated only in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by the Medical Board or if there is a threat to the life of the mother.
- Opinion of only one provider will be required up to 20 weeks of gestation and two providers for termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks of gestation. (Opinion of only one doctor will be required up to 20 weeks of gestation and two doctors for termination of pregnancy of 20-24 weeks of gestation.)
- Under the Act, a pregnancy may be terminated up to 20 weeks by a married woman in the case of failure of contraceptive method or device. It allows unmarried women to also terminate a pregnancy for this reason.
- All state and union territory governments will constitute a Medical Board. The Board will decide if pregnancy may be terminated after 24 weeks due to substantial foetal abnormalities.
Significance of the amendment
- It will provide greater reproductive rights and dignity to women as abortion is considered an important aspect of the reproductive health of women.
- Deaths and injuries from unsafe abortions are largely preventable provided services are performed legally by trained practitioners.
- The rape victims and vulnerable victims will also be benefitted from Privacy Clause.
- Many cases which were filed in High Courts to seek permission for abortion beyond 20 weeks will be reduced. Also, often 20 weeks were spent in completing the legal procedures and formalities – hence, there was a need to increase the upper limit of time.
Criticisms of the 2021 amendment to the MTP act
- One opinion is that terminating a pregnancy is the choice of the pregnant woman and a part of her reproductive rights. Another is that the state should protect life and hence should provide for the protection of the foetus.
- It enhances the gestational limit for legal abortion from 20 to 24 weeks only for specific categories of women. A woman who does not fall into these categories would not be able to seek an abortion beyond 20 weeks.
- The Act does not provide a time frame within which the Board must make its decision. Also, the shortage of specialised doctors will further delay the case.
- There may be cases where persons who identify as transgender (and not women) can become pregnant even after receiving hormone therapy to transition from female to male, and may require termination services. The Act is silent over this.
- The boards are unnecessary and an invasion of privacy of the pregnant women which pushes the laborious process a woman had to undergo in order to get an abortion.
- Many are still not aware of their reproductive rights and the amendment does not show concerns towards the need for awareness.
Have there been judicial interventions in cases of abortions?
- Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India:
- Despite the fact that existing laws do not permit unconditional abortion in the country, in the landmark 2017 Right to Privacy judgement in the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India and others, the Supreme Court had held that the decision by a pregnant person on whether to continue a pregnancy or not is part of such a person’s right to privacy as well and, therefore, the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
- Foetal abnormality:
- Several women annually approach the apex court and High Courts, when medical boards reject their application to access MTP beyond the gestational upper limit (now 24 weeks), seeking permission to abort a pregnancy, mostly in cases where it is a result of sexual assault or when there is a foetal abnormality.
- Recently, the Calcutta High Court allowed a 37-year-old woman, who was 34 weeks into her pregnancy, to get a medical abortion as the foetus was diagnosed with an incurable spinal condition. This judgment allowed abortion for the furthest gestational in the country so far.
India’s New VPN Rules
Context:
Recently, Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) passed a rule mandating VPN (virtual private network) providers to record and keep their customers’ logs for 180 days.
Relevance:
GS III- Science and Technology, Cyber Security
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is a VPN?
- Why do people use VPN?
- Why is anonymity or privacy so important for VPN providers and users?
- Cert- In latest Directive
- About CERT- In
What is a VPN ?
- Any and all devices connected to the internet are a part of a large network of computers, servers and other devices spread across the world.
- To identify each device connected to the internet, service providers globally assign a unique address to each such device called the internet protocol address or IP address.
- It is this IP address that helps websites, law enforcement agencies and even companies track down individual users and their accurate location.
- A virtual private network, when switched on, essentially creates a safe network within the larger global network of the internet and masks the IP address of the user by rerouting the data.
- Acting as a tunnel, a VPN takes data originating from one server and masks it in a different identity before delivering it to the destination server.
- In essence, a VPN creates several proxy identities for your data and delivers it safely without disturbing the content of the data.
Why do people use VPN?
- Safe encryption: A VPN connection masks your internet data traffic and guards it against unauthorised access. Anyone with network access and the desire to examine it can access unencrypted data. Hackers and online criminals are unable to decode this data when using a VPN.
- Hiding your location: VPN servers essentially serve as your online proxies. Your precise location cannot be identified since the demographic location data originates from a server located in another nation.
- Data privacy is upheld: The majority of VPN providers don’t keep records of your online activity. On the other hand, some providers track your behaviour but do not disclose this information to outside parties. This ensures that any possible records of your user behaviour are kept secret at all times.
- Secure data transfer: If you work from home, you might need to access crucial files on the network of your business. This type of information needs a secure connection for security reasons. A VPN connection is frequently necessary to access the network.
Why is anonymity or privacy so important for VPN providers and users?
- The main reason why privacy or anonymity is important for both VPN service providers and users is that it helps to avoid being tracked, mostly by websites and cybercriminals.
- Since VPN masks the location of a device from everyone, it also prevents government and law enforcement agencies from accurately identifying the location.
- VPN has also been of vital importance in countries that try to suppress dissent.
- By using VPNs, dissidents are able to spoof their location and stay safe.
Cert- In latest Directive:
- As per the latest directive, Cert-In has asked VPN service providers to maintain for five years or longer details such as the validated names of their customers, the period for which they hired the service, the IP addresses allotted to these users, the email addresses, the IP addresses and the time stamps used at the time of registration of the customers.
- Cert-In also wants VPN service providers to maintain data such as the purpose for which the customers used their services, their validated addresses and contact numbers, and the ownership pattern of the customers.
- One of the main reasons that Cert-In provided for seeking these details is that it will help to effectively trace anti-social elements and cybercriminals indulging in various nefarious activities online.
- These details are necessary to prevent incitement or commission of any “cognisable offence using computer resources or for handling of any cyber incident” which may lead to any disturbance in the “sovereignty or integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order”.
About CERT- In
- CERT-In is the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents as and when they occur.
- The constituency of CERT-In is the Indian Cyber Community.
- CERT-In was established in 2004 as a functional organization of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Functions of CERT-In:
The Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008 designated CERT-In to serve as the national agency to perform the following functions in the area of cyber security:
- Collection, analysis and dissemination of information on cyber incidents.
- Forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents
- Emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents
- Coordination of cyber incident response activities.
- Issue guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes and whitepapers relating to information
- security practices, procedures, prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents.
- Such other functions relating to cyber security as may be prescribed.
NITI Aayog
Context:
Parameswaran Iyer, a senior official who helmed the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, will be the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NITI Aayog.
Relevance:
GS II- Polity and Governance
Dimensions of the Article:
- About NITI Aayog
- Composition
- Objectives
- Related Concerns and Challenges
About NITI Aayog
- The NITI Aayog serves as the apex public policy think tank of the GoI.
- It was established in 2015, by the NDA government, to replace the Planning Commission which followed a top-down model.
- It advises both the centre and states on social and economic issues.
- It is neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body but the outcome of an executive resolution. It was not created by the act of parliament.
It has two Hubs.
- Team India Hub acts as interface between States and Centre.
- Knowledge and Innovation Hub builds the think-tank acumen of NITI Aayog.
Composition:
- Chairperson: Prime minister
- Vice-Chairperson: To be appointed by Prime-Minister
- Governing Council: Chief Ministers of all states and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
- Regional Council: To address specific regional issues, Comprising Chief Minister and Lt. Governors Chaired by the Prime Minister or his nominee.
- Ad-hoc Membership: Two members in ex-officio capacity from leading Research institutions on a rotational.
- Ex-Officio membership: Maximum four from the Union council of ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
- Chief Executive Officer: Appointed by the Prime-minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to Government of India.
- Special Invitees: Experts, Specialists with domain knowledge nominated by the Prime Minister.
Objectives:
- To generate a platform for national development, sectors and strategies with the collaboration of states and centre.
- To boost the factor of cooperative federalism between the centre and the states. For national development, it is necessary for both wings to work in synergy.
- To develop such mechanisms which work at the ground root level for progressive growth. A nation develops when its regions and states develop.
- To work on long term policies and strategies for long-term development.
- To set up a system for monitoring progress so that it can be used for analysing and improving methods.
- To provide a platform for resolving inter-departmental issues amicably.
- To make it a platform where the programmes, strategies, and schemes can be monitored on a day to day basis, and it could be understood which sector needs more resources to develop.
- To upgrade technological advancements in such a manner that focus can be made on initiatives and programmes.
- To ensure India’s level and ranking at the worldwide level and to make India an actively participating nation.
- To progress from food security towards nutrition and standardised meals and focus on agricultural production.
- To make use of more technology to avoid misadventures and corruption in governance.
- To make the working system more transparent and accountable.
NITI Aayog – Seven Pillars of Effective Governance
NITI Aayog works on principles like Antyodaya (upliftment of poor), inclusion (to include all sections under one head), people participation, and so on.
NITI Aayog is a body that follows seven pillars of governance. They are:
- To look after pro-people agenda so that the aspirations and desires of no one are compromised.
- To respond and work on the needs of citizens.
- Make citizens of the nation involve and participate in various streams.
- To empower women in all fields, be it social, technical, economic, or other.
- To include all sects and classes under one head. To give special attention to marginalised and minority groups.
- To provide equal opportunity for the young generation.
- To make the working of government more accountable and transparent. It will ensure less chance of corruption and malpractices.
Related Concerns and Challenges:
- NITI Aayog has no powers in granting discretionary funds to states, which renders it toothless to undertake a transformational intervention.
- It acts as an advisory body only that advises the government on various issues without ensuring the enforceability of its ideas.
- NITI Aayog has no role in influencing private or public investment.
- Politicization of the organization has been in recent times.
- NITI Aayog has been transformed into a glorified recommendatory body which lacks the requisite power to bring positive change in the government’s actions.
GST Compensation Cess
Context:
The Centre has extended the time for levy of GST compensation cess by almost four years till March 31, 2026.
Relevance:
GS-III: Indian Economy (Taxation, Government Policies and Initiatives)
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is GST?
- What is GST Compensation Cess?
- Issue with GST Compensation Cess
What is GST?
- GST is a destination-based indirect tax and is levied at the final consumption point.
- Under it, the final consumer of the goods and services bear the tax charged in the supply chain.
- GST is a transparent and fair system that prevents black money and corruption and promotes new governance culture.
GST Act
- Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act came into effect in 2017.
- Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced by the Government of India to boost the economic growth of India. GST is considered to be the biggest taxation reform in the history of the Indian economy.
- The power to make any changes in the GST law is in the hands of the GST Council. GST Council is headed by the Finance Minister.
- One hundred and first amendment act, 2016 introduced the GST in India in July 2017.
What is GST Compensation Cess?
- Due to the consumption-based nature of GST, manufacturing states like Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu feared a revenue loss.
- Thus, GST Compensation Cess or GST Cess was introduced by the government to compensate for the possible revenue losses suffered by such manufacturing states.
- However, under existing rules, this compensation cess will be levied only for the first 5 years of the GST regime – from July 1st, 2017 to July 1st, 2022.
- GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 was enacted under which:
- The percentage of annual revenue growth of a State has been projected to be 14%. If the annual revenue growth of a State is less than 14%, the State is entitled to receive compensation under the statute.
- The compensation payable to a State shall be provisionally calculated and released at the end of every two months period.
- The generation of revenue under the Act would happen through a GST Compensation Cess:
- The cess comprises the cess levied on sin and luxury goods for five years.
- The entire cess collected during the year is required to be credited to a non-lapsable Fund (the GST Compensation Cess Fund).
- The collected compensation cess flows into the CFI and is then transferred to the Public Account of India, where the GST compensation cess fund has been created.
Issue with GST Compensation Cess
The issue arose when payments due for August-September 2019 were delayed. Since then, all subsequent payouts have seen cascading delays. The problem has aggravated and further compounded due to following reasons:
- Persistent Economic Slowdown: The slowdown has impacted the demand and consumption levels and has thus dented the overall GST collections (both Centre and States).
- Effect of the Pandemic: The pandemic has given an economic shock to the Indian Economy which has dented the tax collection expectations (including the collections from GST Compensation Cess) of both Centre and States.
- Estimation of 14% revenue growth unrealistic: The high rate of 14%, which has compounded since 2015- 16, has been seen as delinked from economic realities. In the initial meetings of the GST Council, a revenue growth rate of 10.6% (the average all-India growth rate in the three years preceding 2015-16) was proposed but 14% revenue growth was accepted “in the spirit of compromise”.
- As a result of these issues, the stalemate reached at a point where States were looking at the GST shortfall of Rs. 30,000 crore and the Centre being in no position to provide for it.
Group of Seven (G7)
Context:
Prime Minister is in Germany to attend the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at Schloss Elmau, a century-old retreat in a nature reserve in the Bavarian Alps.
Relevance:
GS II- International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is the G7?
- History of the G7
What is the G7?
- The Group of 7 (G7) is an informal group of seven countries — the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, the heads of which hold an annual summit with European Union and other invitees.
- Unlike other bodies such as NATO, the G7 has no legal existence, permanent secretariat or official members.
- It also has no binding impact on policy and all decisions and commitments made at G7 meetings need to be ratified independently by governing bodies of member states.
- The major purpose of the G-7 is to discuss and deliberate on international economic issues.
- G7 is capable of setting the global agenda because decisions taken by these major economic powers have a real impact. Thus, decisions taken at the G7 are not legally binding, but exert strong political influence.
- It sometimes acts in concert to help resolve other global problems, with a special focus on economic issues.
Other details:
- As of 2022, G7 countries make up 10% of the world’s population, 31% of global GDP, and 21% of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to the Summit website.
- China and India, the two most populous countries with among the largest GDP figures in the world, are not part of the grouping.
- In all G7 countries, annual public sector expenditure exceeded revenue in 2021.
- Most G7 countries also had a high level of gross debt, especially Japan (263% of GDP), Italy (151%) and the US (133%).
- The G7 countries are important players in global trade.
- The US and Germany in particular are major export nations. Both sold goods worth well over a trillion US dollars abroad in 2021.
History of the G7
- A meeting between the current G7 members, excluding Canada, in 1975 laid the basis for the formation G7. At the time, the global economy was in a state of recession due to the OPEC oil embargo.
- As the energy crisis was escalating, the then US Treasury Secretary decided that it would be beneficial for the large players on the world stage to coordinate with each other on macroeconomic initiatives.
- After this first summit, the countries agreed to meet annually and a year later, Canada was invited into the group which marked the official formation of the G7 as we know it.
- The President of the European Commission was asked to join the meetings in 1977 and following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and a subsequent thaw in relations between the East and West, Russia was also invited to join the group in 1998. Thereafter the group was named the G8 until 2014, when Russia was expelled for its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
- The presidency of G7 meetings is held by each of the seven countries in turn, each year. The country holding the presidency is responsible for organising and hosting the meeting
