So, today, we’ll look at The Two-Finger Test, Sedition, Amendments to the IT Act 2021, and the Tiangong Space Station.

Prelims Specific Questions

1. Consider the following statements with respect to ‘Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act’

1. It will apply to the offenders in the same manner even if a crime is committed outside India
2. There is a provision for default bail but normal bail rules do not apply to an accused under this Act
3. An investigating officer does not require any approval to seize properties that may be connected with terrorism under this Act

So Choose the correct answer using the code given below

a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) All the above

2) With reference to ‘Kalanamak Rice’, consider the following statements

1. Kalanamak is a traditional variety of paddy with black husk and strong fragrance.
2. It is usually grown in Terai region of north-eastern Uttar Pradesh and in Nepal

So Select the INCORRECT statement(s).

a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2

3) Glyphosate’ considered harmful is most likely used in which one of the following?

a) Food preservatives
b) Plastic Manufacturing
c) Industrial solvent
d) Herbicides

Prelims Specific News Items

1. Supreme Court put an end to the Regressive Two-Finger test.

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that anyone found guilty of misconduct for performing the intrusive “two-finger” or “three-finger” vaginal test on rape or sexual assault survivors.

Hon. Justice D.Y Chandrachud pointed out that The sole to use the “regressive” test on traumatised sexual assault survivors is to determine if the woman or girl was “habituated” to sexual activity. As per him such a “worry” was unimportant. “Previous sexual experience is not relevant for determining the rape.”

Also, Section 53A of the Indian evidence act says that previous sexual experience is not relevant in determining consent.

Two-Finger Test related facts

2. Amendments to IT act 2021

India in 2021, replaced its decade-old regulations on SMIs with the IT Rules, 2021 which were primarily aimed at placing obligations on SMIs to ensure an open, safe and trusted internet. Now, these are the new amendments.

Who are Social Media Intermediaries

The Rules define a social media intermediary as an intermediary which primarily or solely enables interaction between two or more users and allows them to create, upload, share, disseminate, modify or access information using its services.  

This definition may include any intermediary that enables interaction among its users. This could include email service providers, e-commerce platforms, video conferencing platforms, and internet telephony service providers.  

Key Amendments to IT Act 2021

Key changes effected in the rules are as under:

(a) Currently, The 2021 rules require the SMIs to inform users about not uploading certain categories of harmful/unlawful content. These amendments impose a legal obligation on intermediaries to take reasonable efforts to prevent users from uploading such content. The new provision will ensure that the intermediary’s obligation is not a mere formality.

(b) For effective communication of the rules and regulations of the intermediary, it is important that the communication is in regional Indian languages as well.

(c) The grounds in rule 3(1)(b)(ii) have been rationalized by removing the words ‘defamatory’ and ‘libellous’. Whether any content is defamatory or libellous will be determined through judicial review.

(d) Some of the content categories in rule 3(1)(b) have been rephrased to deal particularly with misinformation, and content that could incite violence between different religious/caste groups.

(e) The amendment requires intermediaries to respect the rights guaranteed to users under the Constitution, including a reasonable expectation of due diligence, privacy and transparency.

(f) The amendment al so requires the establishment of Grievance Appellate Committee(s) to allow users to appeal against the inaction of or decisions taken by intermediaries on user complaints.

However, users will always have the right to approach courts for any remedy.

3. Sedition Cases

So Section 124A of IP deals with sedition. SC has cleared out that there should not be any arrest under sedition until Govt. comes out with a new policy.

4. Tiangong Space Station

So as we all know china is building a space station of its own. This space station will have 3 modules.

The Tiangong space station consists of Tianhe, Mengtian and a module called Wentian.  The T-shaped Tiangong will host three astronauts for six months at a time, or six crew members for a brief time during crew handovers.

So Now China is almost ready with its space station.

Read more details about Tiangong Space Station and other facts from here

Al so Read : Endangered Languages of India

So Read about two-finger test

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