LGBTQ+ community: Full equality still out of reach
Context: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. Relevance: GS-II: Social Justice (Social Empowerment, Issues Related to Transgenders, Government Interventions and Policies, Issues arising out of the design and implementation of Government Policies), GS-I: Indian […]
Assam’s two-child policy will stall development goals
Context: A coalition of civil society groups engaged in reproductive health has said Assam’s move to adopt a two-child policy for availing benefits under government schemes will hurt the poorest besides hindering the development goals of the State. Relevance: GS-I: Indian Society (Population and Associated Issues), GS-II: Polity and Governance (Government Policies and Interventions, Issues […]
The gender technology gap has to end
Context: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has swept South Asia in recent months, existing inequalities have come to light. One aspect stands out: access to technology has never been so crucial to ensuring public health and safety. Around the world, information and access to health care have largely moved online, and those […]
Looking beyond the binary to a spectrum on same sex marriage
Context: Recently, when the cases surrounding the question of same-sex marriages came up before the High Court of Delhi, the Union Government had the matter adjourned and overlooked the basic notion that the plight of persons in same-sex and queer relationships looking after each other — without the legal protection of marital relationships — was […]
NGT notice for rehabilitating displaced Brus
Context: The Eastern Zonal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought response from the Tripura Forest Department and the North Tripura district administration on a public complaint regarding the state government’s move to resettle over 40,000 displaced Brus of western Mizoram in the reserved forest. The NGT asked the state to submit the […]
Dowry deaths: SC widens scope of Section 304-B
Context: The Supreme Court indicated in a judgment that a straitjacket and literal interpretation of a penal provision on dowry death may have blunted the battle against the “long-standing social evil”. Relevance: GS-II: Social Justice (Issues related to women, Government Policies and Initiatives) Dimensions of the Article: Dowry system in India Defining Dowry Dowry Prohibition […]
Social Justice Ministry: Financial aid to transgender people
Context: The Social Justice Ministry would give transgender persons a one-time financial assistance of ₹1,500 at a time that livelihoods have been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Immediate subsistence assistance to trans persons would be given through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), for which beneficiaries can register with the National Institute of Social Defence (NISD). […]
Covid-19: Vulnerable tribes infected
Context: Many members of eight different Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) got infected in the second wave of Covid-19 in Odisha. The infected PVTGs include the Bonda tribe of Malkangiri hills and Dongaria Kondh tribe of Niyamgiri hills. Relevance: GS-I: Indian Society, GS-II: Social Justice (Health related issues) Dimensions of the Article: Particularly Vulnerable Tribal […]
Activists in Karnataka on Child Marriages in Lockdown
Context: Some activists and organisations of Karnataka have raised the issue of increased child marriages in Lockdown with the Ministry of Women and Child Development. According to a report published in December 2020 by ChildLine India, the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have proved to be new drivers of child marriages in rural Madhya Pradesh. […]
China’s population growth lowest rate in decades
Context: The seventh census released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Beijing, noted 12 million babies were born in 2020, the lowest number since 1961. Relevance: GS-I: Indian Society (Population and Associated Issues) Dimensions of the Article: About the recent census and trend in China’s Population About the Problem of China’s dropping Population […]