Surat court rejects Rahul’s plea for stay on conviction

Court rejects his contention that the trial was unfair; says complainant is an ex-Minister involved in public life and thus, the defamatory remarks would have certainly harmed his reputation

Defamation

• Defamation is the act of communicating false statements about a person that injure the reputation of that person.
• Any false and unprivileged statement published or spoken deliberately, intentionally, knowingly with the intention to damage someone''s reputation is defamation.
  • History of defamation can be traced in Roman law and German law. Abusive chants were capital punishment in Roman.
• Defamation Law in India:
  • Article 19 of the Constitution grants freedom of speech to its citizens. However, Article 19(2) has imposed certain reasonable exemptions to this freedom such as - Contempt of Court, defamation and incitement to an offense.
  • In India, defamation can both be a civil wrong and a criminal offense, depending on the objective they seek to achieve.
    • A Civil Wrong sees a wrong being redressed with monetary compensation, while a criminal law seeks to punish a wrongdoer and send a message to others not to commit such acts, with a jail term.
    • In a Criminal Offense, defamation has to be established beyond reasonable doubt but in a civil defamation suit, damages can be awarded based on probabilities.
• Free Speech v/s Defamation laws:
  • It is argued that the defamation laws are a violation of Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Article 19 of the constitution.
    • The Supreme Court has ruled that the criminal provisions of defamation are constitutionally valid and are not in conflict with the right to free speech.
  • The SC has also held that it is valid to treat defamation as a public wrong and that criminal defamation is not a disproportionate restriction on free speech, because protection of reputation is a fundamental right as well as a human right.
  • The Court relied on the judgments of other countries and reaffirmed the right to reputation as a part of the right to life under Article 21.
    • Using the principle of ‘balancing of fundamental rights’, the court held that the right to freedom and speech and expression cannot be “allowed so much room that even reputation of an individual which is a constituent of Article 21 would have no entry into that area”.

Previous Defamation Judgements

• Mahendra Ram Vs. Harnandan Prasad (1958): A letter written in Urdu was sent to the plaintiff. Therefore, he needed another person to read it to him. It was held that since the defendant knew the plaintiff does not know Urdu and he needs assistance, the act of the defendant amounted to defamation.
• Ram Jethmalani Vs. Subramanian Swamy (2006): The High Court of Delhi held Dr. Swamy for defaming Ram Jetmalani by saying that he received money from a banned organization to protect the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from the case of assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.
• Shreya Singhal Vs. Union of India (2015): It is a landmark judgment regarding internet defamation. It held unconstitutional Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 which punishes for sending offensive messages through communication services.

Process

• The conviction may disqualify an MP if the offense for which he is convicted is listed in Section 8(1) of the Representation of the People (RPA) Act of 1951.
  • This section includes offences such as section 153A (offence of promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) or section 171E (offence of bribery) or section 171F (offence of undue influence or personation at an election) and a few others.
• Section 8(3) of the RPA mandates that an MP can be disqualified if convicted and sentenced to at least 2 years of imprisonment.
  • However, the section also states that the disqualification takes effect only “after three months have elapsed” from the date of conviction.
  • Within that period, the convicted MP can file an appeal against the sentence before the High Court.

PSLV-C55 mission: ISRO to carry out in-orbit scientific experiments using spent PS4

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is scheduled to launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C55 (PSLV-C55) mission on April 22, will carry out in-orbit scientific experiments by using the spent PS4 as an orbital platform. The PSLV-C55 will have Singapore’s TeLEOS-2 as primary satellite and Lumelite-4 as a co-passenger satellite.
• The PSLV-C55 mission has the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module (POEM), where the spent PS4 of the launch vehicle would be utilised as an orbital platform to carry out scientific experiments through non-separating payloads.
• The TeLEOS-2 and Lumelite-4 satellites are intended to be launched into an eastward low inclination orbit.
• Once deployed and operational, it will be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the Government of Singapore.
• The TeLEOS-2 will be able to provide all-weather day and night coverage, and be capable of imaging at 1m full-polarimetric resolution.

PSLV

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages. After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV emerged as the reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India with 39 consecutively successful missions by June 2017. During 1994-2017 period, the vehicle has launched 48 Indian satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.

• It is a four stage launch vehicle.
• A large solid rocket motor forming the first stage,
• An earth storable liquid stage as the second stage,
• A high performance solid rocket motor as third stage, and
• A liquid stage with engines as fourth stage.
• The vehicle successfully launched two spacecraft – Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013

SCO members must pool resources, expertise on disaster resilience: Shah

• India assumed the presidency of the SCO in 2022.
• Union Home Minister has called upon the nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to adopt a collective approach to disaster resilience by pooling resources and expertise and avoiding the duplication of efforts.
• Mr. Shah said that the SCO would probably be the largest regional organisation in the world, representing 40% of the global population, 25% of the global GDP and 22% of the world’s total land area.
• India-led Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) has 39 members from across the world, the Tsunami Early Warning System for the Indian Ocean Rim countries established by the Indian National Centre for Oceanic Information Services serves not just India but nearly two dozen other countries.
• India has organised two knowledge-sharing workshops for SCO members on mitigating the impacts of earthquakes and floods. The Minister identified five major areas for the SCO to work on: confidence-building efforts in Asia, collective responsibility approach, expanding cooperation in communication and information sharing, identification of priority areas, and the use of newly developed technology in disaster resilience capacity building.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)

• SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization.
• It’s a Eurasian political, economic and military organization aiming to maintain peace, security and stability in the region.
• It was created in 2001.
• The SCO Charter was signed in 2002, and entered into force in 2003.
• Genesis
  • Prior to the creation of SCO in 2001, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan were members of the Shanghai Five.
  • Shanghai Five (1996) emerged from a series of border demarcation and demilitarization talks which the four former Soviet republics held with China to ensure stability along the borders.
  • Following the accession of Uzbekistan to the organization in 2001, the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO.
  • India and Pakistan became members in 2017.
  • On 17 September, 2021, it was announced that Iran would become a full member of the SCO.
• Objectives
  • Strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the member states.
  • Promoting effective cooperation in -politics, trade & economy, research & technology and culture.
  • Enhancing ties in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, etc.
  • Maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region.
  • Establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political & economic order.
• Membership
  • Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan and Iran.
• Structure:
  • Heads of State Council – The supreme SCO body which decides its internal functioning and its interaction with other States & international organisations, and considers international issues.
  • Heads of Government Council – Approves the budget, considers and decides upon issues related to economic spheres of interaction within SCO.
  • Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs – Considers issues related to day-to-day activities.
  • Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) – Established to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.

IAF to join multilateral exercise in Greece

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) will be participating in Exercise INIOCHOS-23,
• A multi-national air exercise hosted by the Greece Air Force from April 24 to May 4.
• This will be the third exercise that the IAF will be taking part simultaneously. The Exercise Cope India with the U.S. is under way at Kalaikunda and four Rafale fighters are taking part in multilateral exercise Orion hosted by France.
• The exercise will be conducted at the Andravida Air Base in Greece and the IAF will be participating with four Su-30 MKI and two C-17 aircraft.
• The objective of the exercise is to enhance international cooperation, synergy and interoperability amongst the participating Air Forces

Faith in children’s vaccines has gone up in India, says UNICEF

• Only China, India, and Mexico, that is three out of the 55 countries studied for popular perception of the importance of vaccines for children, showed improvement as per data collected by The Vaccine Confidence Project (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and published by UNICEF.
• Vaccine hesitancy
• The report warns of the growing threat of vaccine hesitancy due to factors such as misleading information and declining trust in vaccine efficacy.
• The decline in vaccine confidence globally comes amid the largest sustained backslide in childhood immunisation in 30 years, fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The pandemic interrupted childhood vaccination almost everywhere, especially due to intense demands on health systems, the diversion of immunisation resources to COVID-19 vaccination, health worker shortages and stay-at-home measures.
• The report said a total of 67 million children missed out on vaccinations between 2019 and 2021, with vaccination coverage levels decreasing in 112 countries.

UNICEF

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a special program of the United Nations (UN) devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general welfare of children.

History

• UNICEF was created in 1946 as International Children’s Emergency Fund (ICEF) by UN relief Rehabilitation Administration to help children affected by World War II.
• UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations in 1953.
  • The name was shortened to United Nations Children Fund but it is still referred to as UNICEF.
• It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children''s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
• UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.
  • It strives to establish children''s rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.
• Awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1965 for “promotion of brotherhood among the nations”.
• Headquarters: New York City.
  • It works in over 190 countries and territories with 7 regional offices.

Structure

• UNICEF is governed by an Executive Board consisting of 36 members that are elected to terms of three years by the United Nations'' Economic and Social Council.
• The following countries are home to UNICEF Regional Offices.
  • The Americas and Caribbean Regional Office, Panama City, Panama
  • Europe and Central Asia Regional Office, Geneva, Switzerland
  • East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi, Kenya
  • The Middle East and North Africa Regional Office, Amman, Jordan
  • South Asia Regional Office, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • West and Central Africa Regional Office, Dakar, Senegal
• Each region that UNICEF serves is allocated a number of seats on the Executive Board, so all regions are represented.
• There are also 33 national committees across the globe, which are non-governmental organizations that help promote the rights of children and fundraise.

Funding

• The national committees are an integral part of UNICEF’s global organization and a unique feature of UNICEF.
  • Serving as the public face and dedicated voice of UNICEF, the National Committees work tirelessly to raise funds from the private sector, promote children’s rights and secure worldwide visibility for children threatened by poverty, disasters, armed conflict, abuse and exploitation.
• UNICEF is funded exclusively by voluntary contributions, and the National Committees collectively raise around one-third of UNICEF''s annual income.
  • This comes through contributions from corporations, civil society organizations and more than 6 million individual donors worldwide.
• It also rallies many different partners – including the media, national and local government officials, NGOs, specialists such as doctors and lawyers, corporations, schools, young people and the general public – on issues related to children’s rights.

UNICEF and India

• UNICEF began its work in India in 1949 with three staff members and established an office in Delhi three years later.
  • Currently, it advocates for the rights of India’s children in 16 states.
• Nodal Ministries: Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• Work done by UNICEF in India includes:
  • Census support, 2011: Gender issues were mainstreamed into the training and communication strategy for the 2011 Census.
  • Polio Campaign, 2012: Polio cases in India fell from 559 in 2008 to zero cases in 2012.
  • Reduction in MMR, 2013: UNICEF’s support to the National Health Mission (NHM) and the second phase of the Reproductive and Child Health programme resulted in increased access to institutional and community-based maternal, neonatal and child health services.
  • Call to Action, 2013: This initiative was launched to reduce under-five mortality.
  • Maternal and Child Nutrition, 2013: The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) successfully launched a nationwide communication campaign on Maternal and Child Nutrition with UNICEF Ambassador promoting nutrition for children.
  • India Newborn Action Plan, 2014: This is first of this kind in the region, builds upon the existing commitments for newborn under Call to Action, the RMNCH+A (Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child Health + Adolescent).