• A recent Parliamentary Standing Committee report on “Review of Guardianship and Adoption Laws” has recommended that the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (HMGA), 1956 should be amended as it discriminates against women.

Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (HMGA), 1956

The act applies:

1. to any person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat or a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or AryaSamaj
2. to any person who is a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh by religion.

Discrimination against women

• Section 6 of the HMGA lays down that in the case of a legitimate Hindu minor boy and a legitimate Hindu minor unmarried girl, the father is the natural guardian and after him the mother.
• In case of an illegitimate boy or an illegitimate unmarried girl, the mother is the natural guardian and after her, the father.
• Section 7 of the same Act provides that the natural guardianship of an adopted son, who is a minor, passes on adoption to the adopted father and 'after' him to the adoptive mother.
• The Act gives preference to father over mother and it goes against the right to equality and right against discrimination envisaged under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.
• The parliamentary panel has also called for a relook at child custody in case of marital disputes and suggested empowering courts to award joint custody to both parents when conducive for the welfare of the child, or award sole custody to one parent with visitation rights to the other.

Cantillon Effect

• It explains how changes in the supply of money in an economy can affect the prices of different goods in different proportions.
• This is because the real purchasing power of individuals is not affected uniformly by the changes in money supply.
• For example, when money supply is expanded, the fresh money does not get evenly distributed across the economy all at once as assumed by most economists.
• The fresh money is rather injected into particular sections of the economy first and thus people in these sections of the economy are enriched when compared to people in the rest of the economy.
• The Cantillon effect has been widely cited by economists who are critical of expansionary central bank policy to tackle economic downturns.
• The theory was proposed by Richard Cantillon, an Irish-French economist, as a counter to John Locke’s crude quantity theory of money, which saw prices of all goods being affected proportionately by changes in money supply.

PM Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna

• The earlier scheme of ‘Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS) was modified to “Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna” (PMAAGY).
• The Scheme is intended for implementation during 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• It aims at mitigating gaps and providing basic infrastructure in villages in convergence with funds available under different schemes in Central Scheduled Tribe Component.
• This scheme envisions to mitigate gaps in prominent 8 sectors of development viz. Road connectivity (Internal and Inter village /block), Telecom connectivity (Mobile /internet), School, Anganwadi Centres, Health Sub-Centre, Drinking water facility, Drainage and solid waste management.
• It is envisaged to cover 36,428 villages having at least 50% ST population and 500 STs across States / UTs with notified STs during the period.
• PM Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) aims at integrated development of villages in which the population of Scheduled Castes is above 50%.

International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)

• It is a unique 15 digit number that is used to identify a device on a mobile network.
• When a person uses the internet or places a call through cellular service provider, then this number is used to verify the identity of that device.
• A dual SIM phone will have two IMEI numbers, one for each slot.
• The IMEI number can help network providers track down a device in case it gets stolen or is lost.
• Once such loss or theft is reported, the carrier/s can deny the device access to the cellular network even with a new SIM card.
• This will practically render the device useless as it won’t be able to make or receive calls.

Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996

• It was enacted to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas.
• Under the PESA Act, Scheduled Areas are those referred to in Article 244(1).
• Article 244 (1) - The provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in states other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
• It recognizes the right of tribal communities, who are residents of the Scheduled Areas, to govern themselves through their own systems of self-government.
• It also acknowledges their traditional rights over natural resources.
• Ten states — Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Telangana have notified Fifth Schedule areas that cover (partially or fully) several districts in each of these states.
• With the objective of effective implementation of PESA, Ministry of Panchayati Raj circulated Draft Model PESA Rules in 2009.
• So far, six states have notified these Rules under their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.
• Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand are yet to be notified.
• Some of the main features of PESA:

1. Every Gram Sabha shall approve the plans and projects for social and economic development before implementation.
2. In the scheduled areas, the reservation for Scheduled Tribes shall not be less than 50% of the total number of seats.
3. All seats of Chairpersons of Panchayats at all levels shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
4. State Government may nominate persons belonging to such Scheduled Tribes as have no representation in the Panchayat at the intermediate level or the Panchayat at the district level.
5. Such nomination shall not exceed one-tenth of the total members to be elected inthat Panchayat.