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In a significant ruling on reproductive rights, the Supreme Court extended the right to safe and legal abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy to unmarried and single women, saying it is the “right of every woman to make reproductive choices without undue interference from the State”.
Now, all women in the country, regardless of marital status, can undergo an abortion up to 24 weeks into pregnancy.
The bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud, A S Bopanna and J B Pardiwala, ruling on a plea by an unmarried pregnant woman who had been in a consensual relationship but was denied the right to abortion because she was past the 20-week limit, made it clear that provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act cannot be interpreted to deny that right to single women beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy.
If the Act and Rules, the bench said, were “to be interpreted such that its benefits extended only to married women, it would perpetuate the stereotype and socially held notion that only married women indulge in sexual intercourse, and that consequently, the benefits in law ought to extend only to them”.
This artificial distinction between married and single women is not constitutionally sustainable. The benefits in law extend equally to both single and married women.
Article 21 of the Constitution “recognises and protects the right of a woman to undergo termination of pregnancy if her mental or physical health is at stake.
Importantly, it is the woman alone who has the right over her body and is the ultimate decision-maker on the question of whether she wants to undergo an abortion… Depriving women of autonomy not only over their bodies but also over their lives would be an affront to their dignity.
The bench also said that the meaning of rape must include marital rape for the purpose of the MTP Act.
The meaning of rape must… be understood as including marital rape, solely for the purposes of the MTP Act and any rules and regulations framed thereunder.
Any other interpretation would have the effect of compelling a woman to give birth to and raise a child with a partner who inflicts mental and physical harm upon her,” it said.
The bench, which went into provisions of the MTP Act of 1971 and its 2021 amendment, said “the Act of 1971 was largely concerned with ‘married women’… Significantly, the 2021 Statement of Objects and Reasons does not make a distinction between married and unmarried women. Rather, all women are entitled to the benefit of safe and legal abortions.
Express Network
Southwest monsoon this season brings below normal rainfall in 6 states (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
Rainfall in six states have been below normal for the entire duration of this year’s southwest monsoon season, which ends on Friday.
The rainfall deficit has persisted since June. As on Thursday (September 29), rainfall in Manipur stood at -47 per cent, which means it was 47 per cent below normal.
The other states that got below normal rainfall for the duration of the southwest monsoon are Bihar (-31 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (-28 per cent), Tripura (-24 per cent), Mizoram (-22 per cent) and Jharkhand (-21 per cent).
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had, in June, predicted below normal rainfall over the eastern regions of the country, and it has been largely realised. Sikkim, where rainfall stood at 19 per cent above normal, has been the exception.
The Indo-Gangetic Plains, as a region, suffered from poor rainfall throughout this season. Rice is the major kharif crop here and the cultivation is rain-fed. Declaration of a drought situation in the region is imminent.
An average of around 75 per cent of the total area of UP, Jharkhand and Bihar recorded below normal rainfall this season.
IMD officials said that almost all low-pressure systems or depressions, formed in the Bay of Bengal, maintained and followed a west-northwestward track and headed towards Rajasthan and Pakistan. As a result, these rain-bearing systems largely skirted past the Indo-Gangetic plains.
Moreover, the monsoon trough remained to the south of its normal position for the most number of days during this season, thus opposing the monsoon active-break phases. The plains, thus, remained devoid of good and widespread rainfall.
The continuing La Niña — cooler than usual sea surface over equatorial Pacific Ocean — during the monsoon season and overall, for the third consecutive year, is also being blamed for the highly uneven rainfall distribution over the country this season.
This year, Bihar faced its sixth driest monsoon season since 1901. In the state, 34 of the total 38 districts (89 per cent area) reported deficient rainfall between June and September this year.
The most rainfall deficient districts in the state were Bhagalpur (-59 per cent), Lakhisarai (-54 per cent), Sitamarhi (-53 per cent), Sheikhpura and Saran (-50 per cent, each) and Saharsa and Katihar (-48 per cent, each).
The 2022 monsoon will go down as Uttar Pradesh’s 10th driest in 122 years. Of the state’s 70 districts, 53 (70 per cent area) received below normal rainfall this season.
Eastern UP had larger dry areas, with only 10 out of 42 districts recording normal or above rainfall. Twelve of 33 Western UP districts this season recorded normal rainfall.
Editorial Page
The chief task (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The appointment of Lt General (retired) Anil Chauhan as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is a welcome move and ends a period of intense but needless speculation about the future of the post and whether the government was contemplating on experimenting with a naval or air force officer, or doing away with it altogether.
The experience gained by General Chauhan during his stint as the Military Advisor to the NSA will stand him in good stead as it is certain to have not only widened his understanding of national security but would also have offered him deep insights into the often articulated transformation road map that the Prime Minister is so keen to roll out by 2024.
A confidante of the previous CDS, Chauhan has had a bird’s eye view of the hits and misses of his predecessor. He needs to objectively and impartially evaluate them if he wants to win the trust and confidence of the three services on the inevitable road to integration and transformation.
The armed forces in a mature democracy are normally seen as a constitutionally empowered instrument of the state under the umbrella of civilian supremacy.
If one draws on the Clausewitzian paradigm of “war is a continuance of policy by other means”, they are also seen as political instruments of the state.
In his seminal work, The Soldier and the State, Samuel Huntington spoke about subjective civilian control over a professionalised military, where the latter operates with a great deal of autonomy and is largely trusted by the politicians to offer sound policy advice.
This has largely been the model followed in the West with different degrees of control exercised by the political executive.
In several ways, India’s armed forces have also followed this model with the difference that a powerful layer of bureaucracy has catered to the sporadic interest among politicians in matters related to national security and acted as a policy interface between the two.
Considering that India’s track record of building national security capability and responding to national security crises has been at best modest over the last 75 years, it was only a matter of time before a transformative government would start asking questions and suggesting to this professional albeit cumbersome and bloated organisation that it needed to change with the times and keep pace with the demands of the contemporary security environment.
The first challenge for the new CDS is in terms of prioritisation and building a bridge between a government in a hurry and an organisation that is resistant to change, shackled by tradition and plagued by continued turf battles that cannot be wished away.
Idea Page
A jolt to a dream (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 1, Women related issues)
For educated girls from rural areas, urban pockets are centres of hope with promised potential for social and economic independence and upward mobility.
Many cannot make it to the metros, and for them, small towns are places to fulfil their dreams and aspirations. The murder of 19-year-old Ankita Bhandari, a receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand, has jolted the dreams not only of Ankita, but of many young girls all over the country.
There is a fresh wave of anxiety and fear that is generated in the minds of girls who have such dreams and their parents.
Young girls of all strata aspire to move out of the social control, which combined with the lack of jobs in the local area, leads to their migration to urban centres for employment.
In many cases, their contribution to family incomes are critical for survival, especially at a time rural household incomes are dwindling. Migration to big cities is a hard task for those coming from the economically weaker strata, given the difficulties in finding jobs and places to stay. For such women, services sector jobs in small towns are the only possible option. Ankita, was one such girl, took up her first job as a receptionist – a job which is highly stereotyped and feminised the world over.
At a time when low participation and decline of women’s employment have been matters of much concern and policy discourse, such incidents are bound to affect young women’s entry into work.
However, the bigger picture is that in urban areas, there has been a long-term trend of more women in employment. It is important to note, though, that while there has been a greater diversification of occupations as a whole in cities, women’s employment shows concentration in a few occupational segments and sectors.
This reflects the broader discriminatory components of the urban labour market and the manner of women’s exclusion/inclusion in urban employment.
The age profile of the urban-bound women has also seen a change towards younger age brackets with increased education among girls and the emergence of new services and occupations in urban centres.
For a good section of these urban-bound migrants, many of who are not highly educated, the usual options other than paid domestic work is employment in informal services, which are highly unregulated.
Such women are thus forced to negotiate the volatilities in the labour market and simultaneously fight against gendered notions both at the workplace and outside.
Navigating the headwinds (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
With global central banks battling persistent inflationary pressures, nurturing India’s domestic demand will require a fine balancing act, especially as global growth slows down.
The foreign exchange reserves accumulated because of the ultra-loose global monetary policies are being utilised as the same global monetary policies now rapidly reverse.
Recalling the impossible trinity, defending any levels of the exchange rate on a sustained basis, given the global context, could unduly impinge on monetary policy.
Given an incomplete domestic growth recovery, a nascent credit growth cycle and an encouraging inflation outlook, letting the rupee adjust gradually could help reduce the burden on fiscal-monetary policies for calibrating both external (CAD/BOP) and internal (inflation/growth) balances.
On the external front, India’s merchandise exports registered a record high of nearly $430 billion in 2021-22. Global demand, driven by loose fiscal and monetary policies during the pandemic, was a prominent driver. India capitalised on this demand by marginally increasing its share in global exports through sharp growth in the exports of metal products, machinery, gems and jewellery, and textiles, among others. A part of the increase was also due to commodity price increases.
However, record-high exports were accompanied by record-high imports. The domestic demand recovery, along with a high energy import bill (coal, crude oil, and natural gas imports of $194 billion) pushed imports to around $620 billion in 2021-22.
In addition, the impact of a recovery in domestic demand was visible in the sharp increases in imports of electronics and gems and jewellery along with elevated prices of edible oil. Overall, the trade deficit also registered a record high of around $190 billion.
The external sector pressures were kept at bay due to a combination of steadily improving services exports and steady capital inflows.
The current account deficit stood at 1.2 per cent of GDP in 2021-22, after a surplus in 2020-21. RBI’s FX reserves rose by over $165 billion since the start of the pandemic, reaching a peak of $642 billion in September 2021. However, since then, the central bank has sold nearly $100 billion across spot and forward markets to defend the rupee.
The external environment has, after all, changed, especially since the Russia-Ukraine war. Global inflation, particularly in developed markets, has forced central banks to push interest rates higher and faster.
Economy
Interest rates on some small savings schemes increased (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
After keeping small savings rates unchanged for nine consecutive quarters, the Finance Ministry hiked interest rates on some of the small savings schemes for October-December.
Interest rates were marginally hiked for 2-year and 3-year time deposits, senior citizens savings scheme and KisanVikasPatra, while rates for other schemes remained unchanged.
The changes have come amid higher inflation rate and a rising interest rate cycle. The recent retail inflation print for August came in at 7 per cent, marking the eighth month above the upper threshold of the RBI’s target of 4 +/- 2 per cent, and almost three years (35 months) of staying above 4 per cent. The repo rate currently stands at 5.4 per cent, after a raise of 140 basis points since May.
The view within the ministry for hiking rates is to “balance the interests of senior citizens, persons saving in instruments without tax benefits along with keeping the interest rate for small savings in check”, which essentially translates into a higher interest cost for the government when it borrows against the National Small Saving Fund.
Interest rates on small saving schemes are reset on a quarterly basis, in line with the movement in benchmark government bonds of similar maturity.
Typically, small saving rates are linked to yields on benchmark government bonds but despite the movement in G-sec yields, the government had not reduced the interest rates over the last two years.
Among the most popular fixed income products, the Public Provident Fund (PPF) will fetch 7.1 per cent, while the National Savings Certificate yields 6.8 per cent. Rates on the girl child savings scheme SukanyaSamriddhiYojana are 7.6 per cent.
The interest rate on savings deposits will continue to be 4 per cent per annum. EPF continues to have a higher interest rate for its subscribers despite the rate being reduced to 8.1 per cent for FY22 – the lowest in four decades.
The interest rates were earlier revised for the first quarter of 2021-22 (April-March) and reduced sharply by 40-110 basis points, but the decision was later rolled back, with the finance minister saying that the “orders issued by oversight shall be withdrawn”.
The reduction of interest rates and the subsequent withdrawal had happened in the run up to the West Bengal assembly elections. Prior to that, the interest rates were revised two years ago for the first quarter of 2020-21.
Explained Page
Volatile INR still relatively stable; what now? (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
As central banks continue to raise interest rates amid rising inflation, the US economy has seen a sharp inflow of funds, leading to the dollar strengthening against other currencies. This has increased worries in countries about further import of inflation on account of their dollar imports.
The rupee breached two key psychological marks this week — 81 and 82 against the dollar — as fund flows into US markets gathered pace following the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise rates by 75 basis points last week.
While the rupee has lost 2.6% against the dollar this month, it has been among the more stable currencies in the current environment that has impacted, in varying degrees, almost all currencies and economies.
Thus, the Korean won has declined about 6 per cent against the dollar this month, and the British pound has lost almost as much.
The Australian dollar has declined 4.8% this month, and the Swedish krona, Chinese yuan, and Philippine peso have fallen 4.6%, 4.1%, and 4.1% respectively. (See chart)
The 2.6% decline in the Indian rupee is comparable to the decline in the euro, which has lost 2.4% in September so far.
The decline has been primarily on account of outflow of funds, especially over the last six trading sessions.
NSDL data show that over the last six trading sessions, FPIs have pulled out a net of Rs 18,279 crore from Indian capital markets, pushing the rupee down against the dollar. As more than 80% of this outflow, or Rs 14,890 crore, was from the equity markets, it also put pressure on the stock markets, leading to sharp declines.
“Risk averse sentiments due to heightened probability of global recession, higher domestic inflation, FPI outflows, depleting forex reserves and a widening trade deficit continue to weigh on the Rupee,” Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Bank of Baroda, said in report.
The Sensex fell 5.1% over the last six trading sessions. Experts say that if inflation continues to rule high in the US and the Fed goes for a couple more rate hikes this year, continuing fund outflows may keep the pressure on equity markets and bond yields.
Three more months of free food grains: economics & politics of PM-GKAY (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The government announced an extension of the Pradhan MantriGaribKalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) for another three months until December 2022. The decision was taken in the meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur told reporters that the Cabinet had approved the seventh phase of PM-GKAY for three months (October-December 2022).
Thakur said that a total of Rs 3.45 lakh crore had been spent on the six phases of PM-GKAY so far, and another Rs 44,762 crore will be spent on the seventh phase. A total 122 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains will be distributed to over 80 crore beneficiaries across the country, he said.
The PM-GKAY is a scheme under which the government provides free foodgrains — 5 kg per person per month — to eligible beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. This is over and above their monthly entitlement under the NFSA.
The scheme was started as one of the components of the government’s Rs 1.7 lakh crore Covid relief package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26, 2020 — two days after the country went into national lockdown following the outbreak.
Initially, the scheme was only for three months — April to June 2020. However, on July 8, 2020, it was extended for another five months from July to November 2020.
After the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 hit the country in March-April 2021, the government restarted the PM-GKAY. The third phase of the scheme was approved for two months — May and June 2021.
Subsequently, the government extended the scheme for another five months — from July to November 2021. This fourth phase of PM-GKAY was supposed to end in November in view of the ebbing of the second wave of Covid-19, but on November 24, 2021, the government decided to continue it till the end of March 2022.
The decision to extend the scheme into a fifth phase was widely seen as a response to the Assembly elections in key states such as Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
After the elections ended, however, the government announced another extension — on March 26 this year, the Union Cabinet chaired by Modi approved the sixth phase of PM-GKAY, until September.
In the six phases of the scheme from its inception in early 2020 up to July 2022, the government has allocated 998 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of foodgrains — including 635.1 LMT of rice and 362.86 LMT of wheat — of which 826 LMT has been lifted by states and Union Territories.
It is estimated that the government has spent around Rs 3.4 lakh crore on the implementation of all six phases of the PM-GKAY.
Supreme Court’s abortion ruling (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court in a significant judgment said it is unconstitutional to distinguish between married and unmarried women for allowing termination of pregnancy on certain exceptional grounds when the foetus is between 20-24 weeks.
The decision follows an interim order in July by which the court had allowed a 25-year-old woman to terminate her pregnancy. The ruling, incidentally delivered on World Safe Abortion Day, emphasises female autonomy in accessing abortion.
A three-judge Bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud, A S Bopanna, and J B Pardiwala framed the interpretation of Rule 3B of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Rules, 2003, as per which only some categories of women are allowed to seek termination of pregnancy between 20-24 weeks under certain extraordinary circumstances.
The challenge to the provision was made in July by a 25-year-old unmarried woman who moved the court seeking an abortion after the Delhi High Court declined her plea. The woman’s case was that she wished to terminate her pregnancy as “her partner had refused to marry her at the last stage”.
She also argued that the continuation of the pregnancy would involve a risk of grave and immense injury to her mental health. However, the law allowed such change in circumstances only for “marital” relationships.
The Supreme Court, holding that the law had to be given a purposive interpretation, had allowed the petitioner to terminate her pregnancy in an interim order. However, the larger challenge to the law, which would benefit other women as well, was kept pending.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act allows termination of pregnancy by a medical practitioner in two stages. After a crucial amendment in 2021, for pregnancies up to 20 weeks, termination is allowed under the opinion of one registered medical practitioner.
For pregnancies between 20-24 weeks, the Rules attached to the law prescribe certain criteria in terms of who can avail termination. It also requires the opinion of two registered medical practitioners in this case.
IMEI number and why govt wants it from all handset makers (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has made it mandatory for mobile phone manufacturers to register the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) – the 15-digit numbers that uniquely identify each mobile device – of all handsets made in India with the government. Importers, too, will have to register with the government the IMEI number of each phone before importing it.
In a gazette notification Monday (September 26) amending the prevention of tampering of the Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number, Rules, 2017, the DoT said, “The manufacturer shall register the international mobile equipment identity number of every mobile phone manufactured in India with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal of the Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications prior to the first sale of the mobile phone”.
It added that the IMEI number of mobile phones imported in India for sale, testing, research or “any other purpose” will also have to be registered on the same government portal “prior to the import of the mobile phone into the country”.
The IMEI is a unique number that is used to identify a device on a mobile network. It has 15 digits and is like a phone’s unique identity.
The number is used to verify the identity of a device when a user uses the Internet or places a call through it. Phones with a dual-SIM option have two IMEI numbers, one for each SIM.
The IMEI number can help network providers track down a device in case it gets stolen or is lost. Once such loss or theft is reported, the carriers can deny the device access to the cellular network even with a new SIM card.
In a bid to curtail the rampant cloning and theft of mobile phones, the Communications Ministry had earlier rolled out a Central Equipment Identity Register.
The identity register categorises mobile phones based on their IMEI status in three lists – white, grey and black. Mobile phones with IMEI numbers on the white list are permitted for use, while those on the blacklist are the ones that are reported stolen or lost and are not be allowed to access the network.
Devices with IMEI numbers in the greylist do not conform to standards but are permitted to connect under supervision. The register also allows the DoT to carry out IMEI-based “lawful interception”.
In 2017, the government had notified rules to prevent tampering with IMEI numbers of phones by making it a punishable offence which could also attract a jail term. The DoT had announced its plan to implement this project in July 2017 and a pilot was conducted in Maharashtra.