Submission of rape victim will not make the act consensual: HC
Use externment orders with caution: SC
India, Oman to hold 10th military cooperation meeting
GS-3
Kerala to revamp tourist destinations
Parasitic plant found in Nicobar eco hotspot
SBI withdraws rule on hiring pregnant women
Following widespread outrage, the State Bank of India on Saturday withdrew a controversial order that termed women into their second trimester of pregnancy as “unfit” for recruitment and promotions. The country’s largest public sector bank said it would return to status quo in appointments.
However, its employees union is not satisfied with the response as the earlier norms too discriminate against pregnant women.
In an e-circular issued on December 31,2021, the SBI had informed its local offices across the country of its revised medical standards. According to these norms, a woman who is pregnant for more than three months would be considered temporarily unfit and would be allowed to rejoin work only four months after delivering a child.
Banks’s earlier rules, too barred recruitment of pregnant women. The rule stated that pregnant women, “may be appointed in the Bank upto six months of pregnancy, provided the candidate furnishes a certificate from specialist gynecologist that her taking up Bank’s employment at that stage is in no way likely to interfere with her pregnancy or the normal development of the fetus, or is not likely to cause her miscarriage or otherwise to adversely affect her health.”
Pregnancy should not be a bar. Our demand is that even the rule for women who are pregnant over six months should be progressively changed as pregnancy is not a disease, K.S. Krishna, General Secretary, All India State Bank Employees Association.
The Union also says that the new rules are an attempt to deny women their right to maternity benefits under the Code of Social Security, 2020. This entitles a woman to payment of average daily wage for upto 26 weeks of maternity leave, nursing breaks, permission to visit a creche four times a day as well as renders unlawful any attempt by the employer to discharge a pregnant employee.
Background
Discriminatory policies are not new for the nationalised bank. Until 2009, the SBI used to insist that women undergo a medical examination at the time of recruitment and promotion to determine whether they were pregnant and submit a declaration giving details of their menstrual cycle, an undertaking on any evidence of pregnancy and history of dieases of the uterus, cervix, ovaries or breasts. Following a letter to the Prime Minister from then Chief Minister of Kerala, V.S. Achuthanandan, and efforts by the Staff Union, the SBI decided to do away with this declaration and give postings to woman upto the six month of pregnancy.
Noted activist Bandukwala passes away
Human rights activist and former physics professor Juzer S Bandukwala passed away on Saturday morning at his residence in the Pratapgunj area of Vadodara following prolonged illness.
Bandukwala, who had been an advocate for reforms in the Muslim community, was 77.
Bandukwala was a graduate of Bombay University and a Doctorate in Physics. As the President of the Union of Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara in 1981, Bandukwala stood up for the rights of Dalit students at MSU.
He had been opposed to the concept of ghettoization of the Muslim community and led a crusade from 2015 to rehabilitate nearly 450 displaced Muslim families of Kalyannagar slums in Vadodara who had been left in a lurch after the civic body cancelled a housing draw following communal protests in the Sayajipura area of Vadodara.
The crusade, which went on for nearly five years, took a toll on his health.
Bandukwala was also conferred with the honour of the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration in 2006 for promoting communal harmony.
Snow ‘bomb’ unleashes blizzard on eastern U.S.
Blinding snow whipped up by near-hurricane force winds pummelled the eastern United States on Saturday, as one of the strongest winter storms in years triggered severe weather alerts, transport chaos and power outages across a region of some 70 million people.
With multiple blizzard warnings in effect, cities like New York and Boston bore the brunt of the storm, which the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed Saturday morning had intensified into a bomb cyclone -- characterized by the explosive power of rapid drops in atmospheric pressure.
What is a Bomb Cyclone?
A bomb cyclone is a large, intense midlatitude storm that has low pressure at its center, weather fronts and an array of associated weather, from blizzards to severe thunderstorms to heavy precipitation. It becomes a bomb when its central pressure decreases very quickly—by at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. Two famed meteorologists, Fred Sanders and John Gyakum, gave this pattern its name in a 1980 study.
When a cyclone “bombs,” or undergoes bombogenesis, this tells us that it has access to the optimal ingredients for strengthening, such as high amounts of heat, moisture and rising air. Most cyclones don’t intensify rapidly in this way. Bomb cyclones put forecasters on high alert, because they can produce significant harmful impacts.
The U.S. Eastern Seaboard is one of the regions where bombogenesis is most common. That’s because storms in the midlatitudes—a temperate zone north of the tropics that includes the entire continental U.S.—draw their energy from large temperature contrasts. Along the U.S. East Coast during winter, there’s a naturally potent thermal contrast between the cool land and the warm Gulf Stream current.
Over the warmer ocean, heat and moisture are abundant. But as cool continental air moves overhead and creates a large difference in temperature, the lower atmosphere becomes unstable and buoyant. Air rises, cools and condenses, forming clouds and precipitation.
Intense cyclones also require favorable conditions above the surface. Particularly strong upper-level winds, also known as “jet streaks,” and high-amplitude waves embedded within storm tracks can help force air to rise.
When a strong jet streak overlies a developing low-pressure system, it creates a feedback pattern that makes warm air rise at an increasing rate. This allows the pressure to drop rapidly at the center of the system. As the pressure drops, winds strengthen around the storm. Essentially, the atmosphere is trying to even out pressure differences between the center of the system and the area around it.
Submission of rape victim will not make the act consensual: HC
The fact that a rape victim did not physically and violently resist the accused will not make the act consensual. If the sexual intercourse was against the will of the prosecutrix and against her consent, it will amount to the offence of rape, the Madras High Court has held.
Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy wrote: “Submission would not amount to consent.” He confirmed the minimum sentence of seven years of rigorous imprisonment imposed by a Tiruvannamalai court on Gopi, alias Saravanan, for having raped a 17-year-old girl in 2002. The victim is no more.
Assailing the conviction, the convict’s counsel argued that the girl had actually consented for sex but did a volte face after her brother saw them in a compromising posture. However, the judge said though the argument appeared to be convincing at the first blush, the evidence was otherwise.
He pointed out that the girl was grazing her cows when the convict dragged her to a nearby teak farm. “Yes, she walked along but one has to step into the shoes of the victim and see the entire episode from her perspective. She was 17 and all alone,” the judge said.
He went on to state that the victim wanted to and was trying to shout and resist when the accused forced himself upon her but he and his acts prevailed. A proper reading of Section 375 of the IPC would clearly convey that if the act was against the will of the prosecutrix, it would amount to rape.
Further, Section 90 of the IPC makes it clear that a consent should not have been given out of fear or misconception and as per Section 114-A of the Evidence Act, there would be a presumption of absence of consent with respect to the offence of rape if the victim deposes that she did not consent.
To rebut this presumption, the accused must let in positive evidence and mere absence of a valiant and violent effort on the part of the victim would certainly not amount to consent, the judge concluded.
Use externment orders with caution: SC
The Supreme Court has held that a person cannot be barred by authorities from entering a place on mere suspicion. The court said authorities can pass an order of externment against a person only under extraordinary circumstances.
‘Very sparingly’
The discretion should be used “very sparingly” as it deprived a person of his or her right of free movement in the country. An externed person may not even be able to stay with his family or home.
“There cannot be any manner of doubt that an order of externment is an extraordinary measure. The effect of the order of externment is of depriving a citizen of his fundamental right of free movement throughout the territory of India,” a Bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Abhay S. Oka observed in a recent judgment.
There is even a possibility that an order of externment would deprive a person of his livelihood.
SDM order
“Such an order also prevents the person even from staying in his own house along with his family members during the period for which this order is in subsistence. In a given case, such order may deprive the person of his livelihood,” Justice Rastogi observed.
The court was hearing a challenge against a Sub Divisional Magistrate’s (SDM) order of a two-year externment against the appellant, Deepak, under the Maharashtra Police Act. Two years is the maximum period of externment under the Act. The Bombay HC had refused to intervene, following which Deepak had moved the apex court.
Fundamental right
Noting that clause (d) of Article 19(1) of the Constitution provides citizens a fundamental right to move freely throughout the territory of India, the court said an externment order “must stand the test of reasonableness”.
“These reasons which necessitate or justify the passing of an extraordinary order of externment arise out of extraordinary circumstances,” the court noted, quashing aside the SDM’s order.
India, Oman to hold 10th military cooperation meeting
After a gap of three years, India and Oman are set to hold a meeting of the Joint Military Cooperation Committee (JMMC) during the visit to New Delhi of Secretary General, Ministry of Defence of Oman, Mohammed Nasser Al Zaabi, from Sunday to Tuesday.
This would initiate a series of high-level defence engagements between the two countries next month, officials said.
The JMCC is the highest forum of engagement between India and Oman in the field of defence that evaluates and provides guidance to the overall framework of defence exchanges between the two sides.
India Oman Relations
While India’s defence engagement with the Gulf region has significantly expanded in the last few years, Oman remains India’s closest defence partner in the region. It is the only country in the region with which all the three services of India conduct regular bilateral exercises and staff talks. Defence exchanges between the two countries are guided by a framework MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), which was renewed in 2021.
As part of its anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Navy has deployed its P-8I long-range maritime surveillance aircraft for anti-piracy patrol sorties from Salalah in Oman on few occasions, extending the reach and operational turnaround. Oman also actively participates in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS).
Kerala to revamp tourist destinations
(Just remember name of Destinations)
The Tourism department will revamp a string of major destinations, including Bekkal, Thekkady, and Munnar, as part of its efforts to stimulate and strengthen the sector.
Kovalam, Varkala, and Fort Kochi are among the other destinations that will be reviewed and revamped as part of the ongoing process. “Since promoting domestic tourism is a priority, there is also a plan to bring tour operators from other States to see the revamped facilities,” he adds.
Parasitic plant found in Nicobar eco hotspot
A new genus of a parasitic flowering plant has recently been discovered from the Nicobar group of islands. The genus Septemeranthus grows on the plant species Horsfieldia glabra (Blume) Warb. The parasitic flowering plants have a modified root structure spread on the stem of the tree and are anchored inside the bark of the host tree.
The plant was found on the periphery of the tropical forest in one of the biodiversity hotspots referred to as the Nicobar group of islands separated from the Andaman group of Islands by a wide gap of 160 km with heavy tidal flows.
Heart-shaped leaves
The genus Septemeranthus has a distinct vegetative morphology, inflorescence architecture and floral characters. The leaves of the plant are heart-shaped with a very long tip and the ovary,fruit and seeds are ‘urceolate’ (earthen pot-shaped).
The flowers have five persistent bracts having conspicuous margins.
The name Septemeranthusis derived from the Latin word ‘septem’ meaning ‘seven’, referring to the arrangement of flowers.
The genus belongs to the family Loranthaceae, a hemi-parasite under the sandalwood order Santalales and is of widespread importance. Plants which are hemi-parasites are partially dependent on their host plants for nutrition.For instance, the newly discovered plant that derives nutrients from its hosts has green leaves capable of photosynthesis.
Loranthaceae is currently represented by nine genera and are found all across the country. What makes the new genus unique is that it is endemic only to the Nicobar group of islands.
Hemi-parasites include are commonly referred to as mistletoes that contain 18 families, 160 genera and over 2,200 species. They need a host tree or shrub in order to thrive and exhibit a worldwide distribution in tropical as well as temperate habitats that evolved approximately five times in the order and are important in forest ecology, pathology and medicine.
They play an important role as they provide food for frugivorous birds.
In addition to Septemeranthus, four other genera on non-parasitic plants, Nicobariodendron (Hippocrateaceae), Pseudodiplospora (Rubiaceae), Pubistylis (Rubiaceae), Sphyranthera, (Euphorbiaceae) have also been discovered earlier from Nicobar group of islands, highlighting the ecological significance of the region.
Recently a new species in the hemiparasitic family Loranthaceae, Dendrophthoe laljiihave also been discovered from the Nicobar group of islands.
