Read Current Affairs
- Why in News?
- The Prison Statistics India (PSI) 2023 Report, released by NCRB, reveals a grim picture of India’s correctional facilities, underlining the urgency of comprehensive governance reforms.
- Key Concerns in Prisons
- Overcrowding: National occupancy rate stands at 120.8%, severely exceeding capacity.
- Undertrial Crisis: Nearly 73.5% of inmates are undertrials, exposing systemic judicial delays.
- Mental Health & Deaths: Rising custodial deaths, especially suicides, point to inadequate psychological support.
- Women Inmates: Though only 4.1% of prisoners, women face poor hygiene, medical neglect, and lack of gender-sensitive infrastructure.
- Reform Measures
- The Model Prison and Correctional Services Act, 2023 shifts focus to rehabilitation. Other efforts include Undertrial Review Committees, the E-Prisons Project for digitized records, and the Supreme Court’s FASTER system for speedy communication.
- Way Forward
- Justice Amitava Roy Committee recommends fast-track courts, use of video conferencing, gender-sensitive facilities, welfare schemes for transgender inmates, and mandatory segregation of undertrials, convicts, and first-time offenders.
- Why in News?
- The Mumbai-based docu-series The Resurrection Quest has won the prestigious Gold Dolphin at the 16th Cannes Corporate Media and TV Awards, showcasing India’s growing presence in global storytelling. Among its most moving narratives is the Northern White Rhino IVF project, captured in the four-part series.
- About Northern White Rhino
- Once roaming widely across Central Africa, the Northern White Rhino is a subspecies of the white rhinoceros, distinguished by its large build, wide mouth, and dual horns. It is now classified by the IUCN as Critically Endangered—possibly extinct in the wild.
- Only two females, Najin and Fatu, survive today at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, while the last male, Sudan, died in 2018, ending natural reproduction. Conservation efforts now rely entirely on assisted reproductive technologies, especially In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), using cryopreserved sperm and Southern White Rhino surrogates, keeping a glimmer of hope alive for the subspecies.
- Why in News?
- India has announced two new cross-border railway projects to strengthen connectivity with Bhutan. The projects include the 69-km Kokrajhar (Assam)–Gelephu (Bhutan) railway line and the 20-km Banarhat (West Bengal)–Samtse (Bhutan) line.
- Strategic Importance
- The Kokrajhar–Gelephu route will provide direct rail access to Bhutan’s upcoming Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a Special Administrative Region envisioned on the principle of “One Country, Two Systems” with greater autonomy. This link will foster sustainable development and open new avenues for investment and tourism in both countries.
- The Banarhat–Samtse line is equally significant, as Samtse is an important industrial hub of Bhutan, known for the export of resources such as dolomite and quartzite. Enhanced rail connectivity will reduce logistics costs, boost bilateral trade, and facilitate movement of goods.
- India, which already accounts for nearly 80% of Bhutan’s total trade, will further consolidate its role as Bhutan’s largest and most reliable economic partner.