. No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	About the Brahmos Missile	Prelims & Mains
2.	Details of the Benami Property Law in India	Prelims & Mains
3.	About the Plea of Remission	Prelims & Mains
4.	Details of the Defamation in India	Prelims & Mains

1 – About the Brahmos Missile:GS III

Topic à Science and Technology Related Issues

·       Background:

·       The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme was started by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam at the beginning of the 1980s, and it went on to produce a variety of guided missiles with a wide range of capabilities and ranges, including the Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash, and Nag.

·       Early in the 1990s, India’s strategic leadership understood the need for cruise missiles, which are guided missiles that precisely deliver heavy payloads over great distances while travelling almost constantly for the majority of their flight paths.

·       The need was primarily made clear by the use of cruise missiles in the Gulf War.

·       An international agreement was signed in Moscow in 1998 by Dr. Kalam, the head of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and N. V. Mikhailov, the Russian Federation’s deputy defence minister at the time.

·       As a result, BrahMos Aerospace was developed by DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM), a joint venture in which India and Russia each own 50%.

·       In 1999, the two governments provided cash to the DRDO and NPOM laboratories, which they used to begin building missiles.

 

·       About:

·       The booster engine of the two-stage BrahMos missile uses solid fuel.

·       Before disengaging, the first stage of the missile drives it to supersonic velocity.

·       The liquid ramjet or second stage of the missile accelerates it as it travels, bringing it closer to three times the speed of sound.

·       The missile is stealthy because it may travel in a variety of directions and has a very small radar signature.

·       The “fire and forget” type missile can reach the target from a cruising altitude of 15 km and as low as 10 m.

·       Cruise missiles like the BrahMos are launched at a distance that allows the attacker to avoid defensive counterfire and are referred to as “standoff range weapons.”

·       The BrahMos has a top speed that is three times quicker than subsonic cruise missiles, a flying range that is 2.5 times longer, and a higher range.

·       An improved-range BrahMos air-launched missile was recently tested using a Sukhoi-30 MKI.

·       The recently launched INS Visakhapatnam recently tested a sophisticated sea-to-sea BrahMos variant.

 

·       Future:

·       As a result of the evolving requirements of multi-dimensional warfare, the BrahMos is undergoing significant advancements, and efforts are being made to build variants with higher ranges, manoeuvrability, and accuracy.

·       The models that are now being tested have ranges of up to 350 km as opposed to the original’s 290 km.

·       Versions with hypersonic speed and even greater ranges—up to 800 km—are allegedly in the works.

·       Additionally, efforts are being made to improve the functionality of the present versions while reducing their size and signature.

 

Source à The Hindu

2 – Details of the Benami Property Law in India:GS II

Topic à Corruption Related Issues

·       What is benami property?

·       Benami (without a name) property is defined as real estate acquired in another person’s name. The person who made the purchase is known as the benamdar, and the asset is known as the benami asset. The person who provided the financing is the real owner.

·       What actions are considered as benami transactions?

·       Examples of assets include anything that is moveable, immovable, tangible, intangible, any right or interest, or legal documents. As a result, benami could include even gold or financial assets.

 

·       The Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act of 1988 governs:

·       The Act outlines methods for seizing benami assets and prohibits benami transactions.

·       When someone acquires or transfers property that has been purchased or supplied for by another person, it is known as a benami transaction.

·       What does the 2016 Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act aim to accomplish?

 

·       Amendments to the 1988 Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act include:

·       Benami transactions should be redefined to encompass a wider array of prospective legal remedies.

·       What are the penalties for using Benami transactions?

·       Establish tribunals and adjudicating bodies as well as an appellate court to handle Benami transactions.

·       The Bill exempts anyone from the Benami Act who reveal their benami properties through the income disclosure system.

·       According to the bill, “property” refers to both movable and immovable, tangible and intangible things. If a property is jointly held, the tax payer must present financial documentation.

 

·       Prohibition of Benami Transactions Amendment Act 2016:

·       Violators of benami transactions risk a fine and up to 7 years in prison.

·       Dissemination of false information is punishable by a fine and a maximum five-year jail sentence.

·       Government expropriation of Benami properties is permitted without compensation.

·       The starting officer may order that property be kept in possession. The initiating officer may then refer the situation to the adjudicating authority, who will consider the evidence and make a determination.

·       The appellate tribunal hears appeals against judgments rendered by the adjudicating body. The High Court may hear appeals regarding decisions made by the Appellate Tribunal.

 

·       Why were these amendments required?

·       To effectively criminalise Benami transactions and so discourage law-breaking through unethical behaviour, allowing the Union Government to seize Benami property through legal means.

·       The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill was developed to tackle domestic black money.

Source à The Indian Express

3 – About the Plea of Remission:GS II

Topic à Judiciary Related Issues

·       Context:

·       Recently, utilising the 1992 remission policy rather than the 2014 one, a commission constituted by the Gujarat government released all 11 defendants in the Bilkis Bano case.

 

·       The Laws That Regulate Remission:

·       According to the Prison Act of 1894, remission is a system of “rules for the time being in force directing the awarding of marks to, and the resulting shortening of sentences of inmates in incarceration.”

·       According to the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, State governments are responsible for managing and administering prisons.

·       The State’s attempts to protect human rights and restructure the criminal justice system are largely reflected in the legislation for remission.

·       There are three different categories of remissions recognised by the law: statutory, constitutional, and those obtained in accordance with jail guidelines.

·       Article 72 of the Constitution grants the President the power to pardon, whereas Article 161 of the Constitution grants the Governor the same power.

·       According to Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the “relevant government” has the authority to modify or postpone a prisoner’s sentence.

·       According to Section 433A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a prisoner who was convicted of a felony carrying a death sentence and whose death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment under Section 433 cannot be released before 14 years.

·       In matters investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment or by any other agency that has looked into an offence under a Central Act other than the CrPC, the States are required by Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to communicate with the Central government before taking any action.

·       In D. Krishna Kumar v. State of Telangana, the High Court decided that, before ruling on the remission claim, the competent authority “may” also ask the sitting judge for his view on whether the application should be granted or denied, along with his reasoning for such judgement.

 

·       Concerning the Bilkis Bano Case:

·       During the post-Godhra communal riots in Gujarat in 2002, Bilkis Bano, who was 21 years old and five months pregnant, was brutally gang-raped while attempting to flee with her family.

·       The mob attack on her resulted in the deaths of 14 family members, including her 3-year-old daughter.

·       Bilkis Bano was abandoned by the crowd naked and lifeless since they thought she had passed away, but she survived to take revenge on the cruelty she had to undergo.

 

Source à The Indian Express

4 – Details of the Defamation in India:GS II

Topic à Indian Laws

·       What exactly is defamation?

·       The dissemination of a false statement that damages the reputation of a particular person, company, item, group, government, religion, or country is referred to as defamation.

·       Defamation is both a criminal and a civil wrong in India.

·       Due to their diverse goals, the two are different from one another.

·       A criminal law tries to punish an offender and deter future misconduct, but a civil law frequently permits the redress of wrongs through the payment of compensation.

 

·       Legal requirements:

·       Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code explicitly defines criminal defamation as a crime (IPC).

·       The basis for civil defamation is tort law (an area of law which does not rely on statutes to define wrongs but takes from ever-increasing body of case laws to define what would constitute a wrong).

·       According to Section 499, defamation may take the form of spoken or written words, signs, or other visible representations:

·       Exceptions are also stated in Section 499. These include the “imputation of truth” regarding the deeds of public servants, the deeds of everyone involved in a public issue, and the standard of the public performance, all of which must be made public because they are necessary for the “public welfare.”

·       Anyone who defames another person is subject to simple imprisonment for a time that may not exceed two years, a fine, or both under Section 500 of the IPC.

·       People have only ever been harassed when criminal provisions have been used.

·       Regardless of the merits of the case, Indian legal procedures are so drawn out that the process itself ends up being punished.

·       Opponents contend that civil defamation alone is sufficient to right such wrongs and that laws against defamation violate people’s basic rights to free speech and expression.

·       Because it enables the state to deploy self-censorship and self-control against the media and political rivals, criminal defamation is bad for society.

 

·       What conclusion did the Supreme Court reach?

·       In Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India (2014), the court emphasised that no one’s fundamental right to a life of dignity and reputation “cannot be ruined solely because another individual can have his freedom” while upholding the constitutionality of Sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) of the Indian Penal Code.

·       The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa received strong warnings from the court in August 2016 for abusing the criminal defamation statute to “suffocate democracy” and was told that “public personalities must face criticism.”

Source à The Hindu