Parliament passes Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill
Context
- Parliament passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, with the Rajya Sabha approving it. The Lok Sabha had already passed the bill.
News in detail
- The Bill defines a transgender person as one whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth. It includes trans-men and trans-women, persons with intersex variations, gender-queers, and persons with socio-cultural identities, such as kinnar and hijra.
- It prohibits the discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to education, employment, healthcare, access to, or enjoyment of goods, facilities, opportunities available to the public.
- Every transgender person shall have a right to reside and be included in his household.
- No government or private entity can discriminate against a transgender person in employment
matters, including recruitment, and promotion. - Educational institutions funded or recognised by the relevant government shall provide inclusive facilities for transgender persons, without discrimination.
- The government must provide health facilities to transgender persons including separate HIV surveillance centres, and sex reassignment surgeries.
- A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’.
- The Bill imposes penalties for the offences against transgender persons like bonded labour, denial of use of public places, removal from household & village and physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse.
- The NCT chaired by Union Minister for Social Justice, will advise the central government as well as monitor the impact of policies with respect to transgender persons. It will also redress the grievances of transgender persons.
Polydactyly
Why in news?
- Several news organisations in India and overseas reported the story of a 63-year-old woman in a village in Odisha who had been ostracised by the community as a “witch” because she was born with 12 fingers and 20 toes. The woman’s condition is known as polydactyly.
Important Facts
- Polydactyly/polydactylism or hyperdactyly is a birth defect in which humans and animals have supernumerary fingers or toes. In other words, a person suffering from the congenital anomaly of polydactyly will have more than five digits in a particular hand or foot.
- Polydactylism is reported in perhaps one or two children per 1,000 live births, and could be the most common abnormality of development seen in newborns worldwide. The defect is also seen in cats, dogs, cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, geese, and sometimes horses.
- The defect develops during the sixth or seventh week of gestation, when an irregularity occurs in the splitting of the fingers from the hand or foot, creating an extra digit. Causes are believed to be genetic, in some cases hereditary.
- In most cases, the extra digits can be surgically removed; the procedure gets more challenging if there is bone with the skin and tissue, and most difficult when the bone has a joint.
Combat global warming inadequate
Context
- UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released its annual Emissions Gap Report for the year 2019.
Important Facts of the report:
Anticipated emissions:
- Greenhouse gas emissions have risen 1.5 per cent per year over the last decade. Emissions in 2018, including from land-use changes such as deforestation, hit a new high of 55.3 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent.
- Even if all current unconditional commitments under the Paris Agreement are implemented, temperatures are expected to rise by 3.2°C over pre-industrial levels.
Culprit countries:
- The United States is the highest producer of greenhouse gases when measured on a per capita basis. Overall, China is the world’s largest producer.
- India is the third-largest emitter behind the United States and China respectively. India’s per capita emissions, however, are significantly below the United States, China and many others.
- G20 nations collectively account for 78 per cent of all emissions, but only five G20 members have committed to a long-term zero emissions target.
Way ahead:
- To meet the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions must fall by 7.6 per cent each year between 2020 and 2030.
- To deliver on these cuts, the levels of ambition in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) must increase at least fivefold for the 1.5°C goal and threefold for the 2°C.
Contract’ for the World Wide Web
Why in news?
- Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has announced a “Contract for the Web” — aimed at saving the future of his invention.
News summary
- The idea is to create a global plan of action for all stakeholders to together commit to building a “better” Web.
- The World Wide Web Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Tim Berners-Lee worked on it with Representatives from over 80 organisations, including governments of France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Ghana; tech majors Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc, civil society activists, and academics.
- The Contract consists of following 9 principles, three each for governments, private companies, and individuals and civil society to endorse
- Governments will “Ensure everyone can connect to the Internet”, “Keep all of the Internet available, all of the time”, and “Respect and protect people’s fundamental online privacy and data rights”.
- Companies will “Make the Internet affordable and accessible to everyone”, “Respect and protect people’s privacy and personal data to build online trust”, and “Develop technologies that support the best in humanity and challenge the worst”.
- Citizens will “Be creators and collaborators on the Web”, “Build strong communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity”, and “Fight for the Web so that it “remains open and a global public resource for people everywhere”.
Implementation:
- The principles are lofty, and implementation will not be easy.
- The ‘Contract for the Web’ is not a legal document, or a United Nations document — though the organisation is in talks with the UN. It cannot currently bend governments or companies — even those that are on board — to its will.