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📰 News: Amendments to marriage age contradict other laws. • The amendments proposed to the anti-child marriage law defines a child as someone under the age of 21 years and contradicts laws where the legal age of competence is recognised as 18 years. This may criminalize young people say experts. • The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which seeks to raise the age of marriage for women to 21 years, amends the definition of child to mean “a male or female who has not completed twenty-one years of age”. It over-rides personal laws of Hindus, Christians, Muslims and Parsis, as well as the Special Marriage Act, 1954. • The Lok Sabha has referred this Bill to the Standing Committee. □ Who is a Child according to different Acts? • The Majority Act, 1875, defines the age of majority as “"the age of eighteen years and not before”, and as 21 years if a guardian is appointed. • Under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 a person should have attained the age of majority in order to be able to enter into a contract. • The law to punish sexual crimes against children, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 too recognises a child as someone under the age of 18 and thereby implies that the age of consent for sex is also 18 years. • The law that deals with juvenile offenders (or children in conflict with law) and children who need care and protection, that is, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 does the same. • The 61st Constitutional Amendment Act of 1988 defines the voting age for elections to the Parliament and Legislative Assemblies as 18 years. • Under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education, 2009 that guarantees access to education, a child is someone between the ages of six to 14 years. • Whereas under the anti-child labour law or the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016, which prohibits the engagement of children in all occupations and bans adolescents in hazardous occupations, a child is “a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age” and an adolescent means “a person who has completed his fourteenth year of age but has not completed his eighteenth year.

📰 News (23-12-2021): ■ Indian Army inducts indigenously built Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicles (AERVs). • The first batch of next-generation Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicles (AERV), indigenously designed and developed by DRDO, and manufactured by the Pune unit of Bharat Electronics Limited, was formally inducted into the Indian Army. • AERV is manufactured by BEL at Pune with more than 90% indigenous content. It is a versatile BMP-IIK amphibious Infantry Combat Vehicle (ICV) fitted with instruments for water reconnaissance, land reconnaissance, navigation and data backup. • AERV is capable of measuring soil bearing capacity on riverbanks to determine if they are motorable for military vehicles on Go-No Go basis (critical parameters for bridge laying), dry and wet gaps in day and night conditions, slopes and height of river banks or canals.” • AERVs can navigate terrain using Military Grid Co-ordinate System, measure and plot underwater beds and water currents of rivers or canals, store data from various instruments on Control Console for further analysis and decision-making. ■ Effort to conserve legendary Kannimara Teak. • Efforts are on to conserve the legendary Kannimara Teak of Parambikulam Tiger Reserve for the generations to come. • The Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundation, which manages the tiger reserve, has planned a collaborative move with the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) in its conservation. • Kannimara Teak, one of the largest and oldest living teak trees in the world. • For the tribespeople of Parambikulam, it is still a ‘virgin tree’. That was why they named it Kannimara (meaning virgin tree). • The Kannimara Tree had won the Union government’s Mahavriksha Puraskar in its first year of introduction in 1994. The award brought more attention to the tree, and its glory spread further with people from different parts of the globe taking a pilgrimage to pay their homage to it. ■ Troubled waters: More efforts should be made to wean away fishermen from trawlers. • The bone of contention between the two countries has been the use of bottom trawlers by the Tamil Nadu fishermen, a practice opposed in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province on the ground that trawling damages the marine ecosystem. • This practice has been banned in Sri Lanka and there have been agitations for stringent enforcement of the law. • Given that an ambitious ₹1,600 crore scheme of replacing in three years 2,000 bottom trawlers with deep-sea fishing boats equipped with long lines and gill nets continues to be a disappointment, both the Central and Tamil Nadu governments need to take up fresh initiatives to get the fishermen on board. • The main reason for failure is the component of cost to be borne by the fishermen, accounting for 30% of the unit cost of ₹80 lakh; the two governments take care of the remaining 70%. • Apart from increasing the unit cost at least to ₹1.2 crore, which will be at the same level as that of a similar scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), the Governments must increase their share of subsidy. They should also motivate the fishermen to adopt sea cage farming and sea/ocean ranching, which were all covered under the PMMSY. • Bottom trawling - Bottom trawling is an industrial fishing method where a large net with heavy weights is dragged across the seafloor. When the weighted nets and trawl doors are dragged along the seafloor, everything in their path is disturbed or destroyed, including seagrasses, coral reefs or rock gardens where fish hide from predators. It destroys the marine ecosystem.

📰 News (22-12-2021): ■ House panel to review Bill on raising marriage age of women: • The Lok Sabha on Tuesday sent the proposed law raising the age of marriage for women to 21 to a Standing Committee, Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani said it would ensure uniformity across all religions and communities. • 19th century, the age of marriage of girls was 10 years. In 1940, this was raised from 12 to 14. In 1978, girls could be married at the age of 15 years. Today, for the first time both men and women on the basis of equality can take a decision to get married at the age of 21. • From 2015 until 2020 we have stopped 20 lakh child marriages, according to research. The NFHS-5 data tells us that nearly 7% girls between 15 years to 18 years have been found pregnant and 23% girls under 18 years were married though the law doesn't permit it,” the Minister said. • The Bill will also amend the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1972, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936, Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, Special Marriage Act, 1954, Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and Foreign Marriage Act, 1956. • An IUML’s member urged that the Bill be withdrawn as “it was unwanted, unconstitutional and in violation of Article 25 of the Constitution. This Bill will have far-reaching consequences in the country. It is an attack on personal laws and the fundamental rights in the country.” • Article 25 - Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. ■ 'Anti-national' not defined in statutes: Centre. • The word 'anti-national’ has not been defined in statutes, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha. • The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976 inserted in the Constitution Article 31D (during Emergency) which defined “anti-national activity” and this Article 31D was, subsequently, omitted by the Constitution (43rd Amendment) Act, 1977. • The Minister said that ‘Public Order’ and ‘Police’ were State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and the “data about number of people arrested for indulging in anti-national activities is not maintained centrally.” • The responsibility of maintaining law and order, including investigation, registration and prosecution of crimes, protection of life and property, rested primarily with the respective State government, it pointed out. • In 2019, when the National Crime Records Bureau released the annual Crime in India report for year 2017, it included for the first time a new chapter on “Crime Committed by Anti National Elements.” • The chapter listed - “North East insurgents, Left Wing Extremists and Terrorists (including Jihadi terrorists)” as the three anti-national elements. ■ Ranjankudi fort wall damaged in rain. • The fort is one of the prominent tourist attractions at Perambalur in Tamil Nadu, is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). • The fort, believed to have been constructed by a Jagirdar of the Nawab of Carnatic during the 17th century, was the site of a Battle of Valikondah between the English and the French in 1751. • In 1752, the fort was also the scene of surrender of French troops under D’Auteuil, which was sent to relieve the garrison at Srirangam.  ■ Hero stone unearthed in Tamil Nadu: • A Hero stone was unearthed at Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu. • Palaeographic analysis of the inscription on the stone indicated that it was from a period when the script was transitioning from Tamil Brahmi to Vatteluttu script, ASI officials said. “While some of the letters were in Tamil Brahmi, others were in Vatteluttu. • It is based on this palaeographic analysis that we are dating the stone to be from the 4th to 5th Century CE said Assistant archeologist. • Apart from this, sculptures of Goddess Maheshwari and Lord Vinayaka from 10th century CE were also found in this village. • What is Hero stone? - A hero stone is a memorial commemorating the honorable death of a hero in battle. 

📰 News (20-12-2021): ■ Priority for bill on voter ID-Aadhaar link. • The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 that seeks to link electoral rolls to Aadhaar number has been listed for introduction in the Lok Sabha on Monday. • The Bill allows electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar numbers of applicants wanting to register as voters to establish the identity of the applicant. • It also seeks to allow the officers to ask for the number from “persons already included in the electoral roll for the purposes of authentication of entries in electoral roll, and to identify registration of name of the same person in the electoral roll of more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency”. • According to the Bill circulated to the Lok Sabha members ahead of its introduction, various Sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951 will be amended. • Section 23 of the RP Act, 1950 will be amended to allow linking of the roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem “to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places”. • Amendment to Section 14 of the RP Act, 1950 will allow to have four “qualifying” dates for eligible people to register as voters. • As of now, January 1 of every year is the sole qualifying date. • People who turn 18 on or before January 1 can register as voters. Those turning 18 after that have to wait for one whole year to register as voters. Now, “the January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 in a calendar year” will be the qualifying dates in relation to the preparation or revision of electoral rolls. • Amendment to Section 20 of the RP Act, 1950 and Section 60 of the RP Act, 1951 will allow the elections become gender-neutral for service voters. It will also help replace the word “wife” with the word “spouse” making the statutes “gender neutral”. ■ Private hospitals to be tagged for being breastfeeding-friendly. • A new initiative will now help mothers identify “breastfeeding-friendly” hospitals before they give birth. • The Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India(BPNI) in collaboration with Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI), which comprises more than 12,000 private hospitals, has launched an accreditation programme that will enable hospitals to get a “breastfeeding friendly” tag. This programme is called “Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI)”. • The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) programme is a worldwide programme of the WHO and UNICEF. Though India adopted it in 1993, it fizzled out by 1998 and is now being revived after more than two decades. • Chennai's Bloom Healthcare has become the first hospital to be recognised as “Breastfeeding Friendly” under this programme. • Early initiation of breastfeeding continues to be low in the country. • According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2021), while there were 88.6% institutional births, only 41.8% of infants were breastfed within the first one hour, which has improved only marginally from 41.6% during NFHS-4 (2015-2016).  • The initiative is only for private hospitals and is based on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's MAA programme for government hospitals launched in 2016.  • The tools for this evaluation process have been developed in partnership with the Health Ministry and World Health Organisation.

■ Ramsar sites in India (Statewise list): • Ramsar sites are those wetland sites that are considered of international importance. These sites are protected under the Ramsar Convention. • Currently, India has 47 Ramsar sites. • Recently, Haiderpur wetland in Uttar Pradesh became the 47th Ramsar Site in India. • Uttar pradesh has the highest number of Ramsar sites in India. It has 9 Ramsar sites. □ Andhra Pradesh (1): • Kolleru lake. □ Assam (1): • Deepor Beel. □ Bihar (1): • Kanwar Lake or Kabal Taal lake. □ Gujarat (3): • Nalsarovar Bird sanctuary. • Thol lake Wildlife Sanctuary. • Wadhvana Wetland. □ Haryana (2): • Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary. • Sultanpur National Park. □ Himachal Pradesh (3): • Chandra Taal. • Pong Dam Lake. • Renuka lake. □ Jammu and Kashmir (3): • Hokera Wetland. • Surinsar-Mansar lakes. • Wular lake. □ Kerala (3): • Vembanad Kol Wetland. • Sasthamkotta lake. • Ashtamudi Wetland. □ Ladakh (2): • Tso Kar Wetland Complex. • Tsomoriri Lake. □ Madhya Pradesh (1): • Bhoj Wetlands. □ Maharashtra (2): •  Nandur Madhameshwar. • Lonar Lake. □ Manipur (1): • Loktak lake. □ Odisha (2): • Chilika Lake. • Bhitarkanika Mangroves. □ Punjab (6): • Beas Conservation Reserve. • Harike Wetlands. • Kanjli Wetland. • Keshopur-Miani Community Reserve. • Nangal Wildlife Sanctuary. • Ropar Wetland. □ Rajasthan (2): • Keoladeo National Park. • Sambhar Lake. □ Tamil Nadu (1): • Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary. □ Tripura (1): • Rudrasagar Lake. □ Uttarakhand (1): • Asan Barrage. □ Uttar Pradesh (9): • Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary. • Parvati Aranga Bird Sanctuary. • Saman Bird Sanctuary. • Samaspur Bird Sanctuary. • Sandi Bird Sanctuary. • Sarsai Nawar Jheel. • Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. • Upper-Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch). • Haiderpur Wetland. □ West Bengal (2): • East Kolkata Wetlands. • Sunderbans Wetland.

■ Ramsar wetlands : • The International Treaty for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wetlands was signed at a city in Iran called Ramsar in 1971. It came into force in 1975. • Ramsar sites are those wetland sites that are considered of international importance. These sites are protected under the Ramsar Convention • Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, 1971: It is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value. • The main theme of the Ramsar philosophy is the “Wise use of wetlands". • February 2 is celebrated as International Wetlands Day, as the Ramsar Convention was signed on February 2, 1971. • It entered into force in India on 1 February 1982. • Currently, India has 47 Ramsar sites. • Recently, Haiderpur wetland in Uttar Pradesh became the 47th Ramsar Site in India. • The Largest Ramsar site in India is Sundarbans wetland (4220 sq-km) of West Bengal. • The Smallest Ramsar site in India is Renuka Wetland (0.2 sq. km) of Himachal Pradesh. • Uttar Pradesh has the highest number (9) of Ramsar sites in India. • The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is the Nodal agency. • There are about 2400 Ramsar sites globally, covering around 2.5 million sq km. • The Cobourg Peninsula in Australia was the first Ramsar site identified in 1974. • The United Kingdom (175) has the highest number of Ramsar Sites in the world. • Bolivia has the largest area with 148,000 square km under the Convention protection. • The largest Sites are Rio Negro in Brazil (120,000 square kilometres), and Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Queen Maud Gulf in Canada; these Sites each cover over 60,000 square km • The Ramsar Convention act works in collaboration with the following agencies. Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), WWF International, Birdlife International, Wetlands International.

📰 News : RBI ushers in corrective action scheme to better control NBFCs. • The Reserve Bank of India introduced a Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) Framework for Non-Banking Monetary Corporations (NBFCs), to strengthen applicable supervisory tools. • This is in line with the PCA framework for banks, whose aim was to help improve their financial condition and governance issues. • The framework will apply to all deposit-taking NBFCs, all non-deposit taking NBFCs in the middle, upper and top layers, including investment and credit firms, core investment firms, infrastructure debt funds, infrastructure finance firms and microfinance institutions. • It has excluded NBFCs not accepting or not intending to accept public funds, primary dealers and housing finance firms, along with government-owned ones. • This will take effect October 1, 2022, the RBI said in a circular. • The objective of the framework is to enable supervisory intervention at the appropriate time and require the supervised entity to initiate and implement remedial measures in a timely manner, so as to restore its financial health, the RBI said. • Among large NBFCs (assets exceeding ₹25,000 crore), rating agency ICRA noted that three entities were in breach of the net NPA criterion as of September. However, all the entities have established parentage.

📰 News (16-12-2021): ■ Union Cabinet approves ₹76,000-crore push for semiconductor makers. • The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a ₹76,000 crore scheme to boost semiconductor and display manufacturing in the country, taking the total amount of incentives announced for the electronics sector to ₹2.30 lakh crore, a government statement said. • The comprehensive programme for the “development of sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem in the country” was aimed at making India a global hub of electronic system design and manufacturing. • The scheme would provide fiscal support of up to 50% of the project cost for setting up semiconductor and display fabrication units. • In addition, the Centre would work with the States to set up high-tech clusters with the necessary infrastructure such as land and semiconductor-grade water, the government clarified. • A specialised and independent ‘India Semiconductor Mission’ will be set up. • The India Semiconductor Mission will be led by global experts in semiconductor and display industry. • It will act as the nodal agency for efficient and smooth implementation of the schemes on semiconductors and display ecosystem,” the statement read. ■ President Kovind to inaugurate renovated Ramna Kali Mandir in Dhaka. • In a symbolic gesture, President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate a famous Hindu shrine that was destroyed by the Pakistani forces during the war of 1971. • President Ram Nath Kovind will inaugurate the renovated Sri Ramna Kali Mandir, which was completely destroyed by Pakistani forces during heinous Operation Searchlight in 1971. ■ Durga Puja in Kolkata gets UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage tag. • Durga Puja in Kolkata, one of the largest cultural carnivals and street art festival of the country. • It received an important international recognition by making it to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. • With the inclusion of Durga Puja, the number of elements in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage from India has increased to 14. • The latest inclusion in the list prior to the Durga Puja is the Kumbh Mela, the largest peaceful congregation of pilgrims on earth, which was inscribed in 2017. Yoga was included in 2016. ■ Rustom-2 indigenous UAV crosses a milestone. • The indigenous Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) development programme by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has crossed a milestone by reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet and an endurance of 10 hours. • A programme for a more capable High Altitude Long Range (HALE) UAV is also in the works. • The Rustom-2 last year successfully flew for 8 hours at an altitude of 16,000 feet. It has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru with production partners being the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and the Bharat Electronics Limited • It is being developed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles and is capable of carrying different combinations of advanced payload and capable of auto landing among others • The armed forces rely heavily on the Israeli Searcher and Heron drones and need more such UAVs • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had handed to the Home Ministry over a structural fire-fighting suit developed by DRDO’s Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi. • Such a suit has been developed for the 1st time in the country and meets European standards while at the same time lowering import costs. ■ U.S. tests laser weapon in West Asia. • The U.S. Navy announced that it tested a laser weapon and destroyed a floating target in West Asia, a system that could be used to counter bomb-laden drone boats deployed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. • The USS Portland test-fire its Laser Weapon System Demonstrator at the target in the Gulf of Aden, the body of water separating East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula. • 6 countries share borders with Red sea - Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Yemen.

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