Daily Current Capsules - 8^th AUGUST 2019

Social Justice/Issues
Surrogacy regulation Bill 2019

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the provisions of surrogacy bill) + Mains GS II Social justice)
What's the NEWS

• The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 by a voice vote.
• The Bill, introduced by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, seeks to ban commercial surrogacy and provides for constituting a National Surrogacy Board, State Surrogacy Boards, and the appointment of appropriate authorities for the regulation of the practice and process of surrogacy.

What is surrogacy

• The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand over the child after the birth to the intending couple.
• The Bill prohibits commercial surrogacy and allows "altruistic surrogacy" which does not involve monetary compensation to the surrogate mother apart from medical expenses and insurance coverage during the pregnancy.

Know! more about surrogacy and the new provisions in the bill

• Surrogacy is the practice where by one woman carries the child for another with the intention that the child should be handed over after birth.
• Such a surrogacy arrangement may be altruistic or commercial in nature.

1. Altruistic surrogacy involves an arrangement where the couple does not pay the surrogate mother any compensation other than the medical and insurance expenses related to the pregnancy.
2. Commercial surrogacy includes compensation (in cash or kind) paid to the surrogate mother, which exceeds the reasonable medical expenses associated with the pregnancy.

• The bill seeks to ban commercial surrogacy and it aimed at ending the exploitation of women who are lending their womb for surrogacy, and protecting the rights of children born through this.
• Constituting a National Surrogacy Board, State Surrogacy Boards, and the appointment of appropriate authorities for the regulation of the practice and process of surrogacy.
• The Bill seeks to allow only altruistic surrogacy by infertile Indian couples from a "close relative", while prohibiting foreigners, NRIs and PIOs from commissioning surrogacy in the country.
• The couple intending to commission a surrogacy arrangement must be a close relative of the surrogate mother.
• In addition, the couple have to be Indian citizens who have been married for at least five years and are in the age group of 23-50 years (female partner) and 26-55 years (male partner), and secure a medical certificate stating that either or both partners are infertile.
• The couple also should not have any surviving child (whether biological, adopted or surrogate), except if the surviving child is mentally or physically challenged or suffers from a fatal illness, among other provisions.
• The surrogate mother, apart from proving that she is a close relative of the couple intending the surrogacy, has to married with a child of her own, in the age bracket of 25 to 35 years old, and should not have been a surrogate mother before.
• The Bill states that any child born out of a surrogacy procedure shall be the biological child of the intending couple and will be entitled to all rights and privileges that are available to a natural child.
• Singles , homosexuals and live-in couples cannot apply for surrogacy. A woman can be a surrogate only once in her lifetime.
• Only Indian couples who are legally married for at least five years and possess a certificate from a doctor stating that they are medically unfit to produce a child can opt for surrogacy.

State Specific
Rajasthan Assembly passes anti-mob lynching bill
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the provisions of anti-mob lynching bill)
What's the NEWS

• Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on August 6, 2019, passed a bill against mob lynching and honour killing in the state. In the case of the victim's death, the bill provides a fine up to Rs 5 lakh and life imprisonment to convicts involved in mob lynching

Know! more about the bill provisions

• The bill defines lynching as "an act or series of acts of violence or those of aiding, abetting or attempting an act of violence, whether spontaneous or preplanned, by a mob on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation or ethnicity".
• The anti-mob-lynching bill proposes imprisonment up to seven years and a fine up to Rs. 1 lakh in case of the victim suffering simple injuries.
• The convicts will get jail terms up to 10 years and a fine of Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 3 lakh in case of an assault by mob or victim suffering serious injuries.
• In case of victim's death, the Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Bill, 2019 provides for life imprisonment and a fine from Rs. 1 to 5 lakh to those convicted in cases of mob lynching.
• The Bill was introduced to ensure that the incidents of mob lynching are not repeated in the State. Among the total number of mob lynching cases happened in India after 2014, 86% of cases of mob lynching reported in the Rajasthan.

Economic Development
RBI's Third Bi-monthly Monetary Policy
RBI cuts Repo Rate by 35 basis points

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about repo and reverse repo rate and about the MPC takeaway) + Mains GS III economic development
What's the NEWS

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cuts repo rate by 35 basis points (bps) in its third bi-monthly policy review of the financial year 2019-20.
• It was RBI's fourth continues rate cut in a row. Six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI decided to cut the repo rate on the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation.

Know! more about the Bi-monthly policy statement

• As per the information released by RBI, CPI inflation is projected at 3.1% for Q2 FY20 and 3.5-3.7% for H2 FY20.
• The MPC led by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das decided to reduce the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 35 basis points (bps) from 5.75 per cent to 5.40 per cent with immediate effect.
• Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands revised to 5.15%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 5.65%.
• The MPC also decided to maintain the accommodative stance of monetary policy.
• MPC said that GDP growth for 2019-20 is revised downwards from 7.0 per cent in the June policy to 6.9%.
• As per the information released by the Reserve Bank of India CPI inflation is projected at 3.1% for Q2 FY20 and 3.5-3.7% for H2 FY20.
• The RBI has maintained its accommodative stance on the policy. All members of the committee voted to maintain accommodative stance.
• Four members (Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra, Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia, Bibhu Prasad Kanungo and Shaktikanta Das) voted to reduce the policy repo rate by 35 basis points, while two members (Dr. Chetan Ghate and Dr. Pami Dua) voted to reduce the policy repo rate by 25 basis points.

Repo Rate

• It is a rate at which all other banks borrow funds from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Reverse Repo Rate

• It is the rate at which RBI or central bank of a country borrows funds from commercial banks within the country.

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