Supreme Court passed judgement to strengthen Juvenile Justice Act, 2015

• Supreme Court’s judgement in “Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) through his mother v. State of Karnataka” case dealt with act’s provision for preliminary assessment of CCL in heinous offences. 

About Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (JJ Act) 2015

• Scope: It consolidates and amend the law relating to CCL and Child in need of Care and Protection (CCP). 
  • CCL means child below 18 years of age who is alleged/found to have committed an offense.
• Board: It mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in every district to deal with cases of CCL. 
• Preliminary Assessment: In case of heinous offences alleged to have been committed by a child above 16 years of age, JJB shall conduct a preliminary assessment to assess capacity of the child. 
  • After preliminary assessment, the Children’s Court may decide that whether the child can be tried as adult. 

Key Highlights of Judgement 

• An appeal against the preliminary assessment order of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) would be filed before the Children’s Court (not Sessions Court) wherever available. 
  • Also, court has prescribed 30 days’ time limit for preferring such appeals.
• The time period of 3 months prescribed for completion of preliminary assessment is not mandatory but merely directory in nature

In several studies, it has been found that screen time among children is more than 2 hours a day. 

Reasons for Rise in Screen time among children: 

• Role Modelling: Children usually imitate their parents/other family members and peer group.
• Educational or recreational purposes: With the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, use of Mobile has witnessed rapid and widespread acceptance.
• Working parents: They usually provide mobile phones to children’s for different purposes such as safety.
• Increased Accessibility: Proliferation of smartphones, tablets, computers, and other digital devices in recent times.

Concerns: 

• Mental and Physical Health Issues:  High exposure may lead to anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances.
  • Sedentary lifestyle may lead to physical health issues like obesity. 
• Cognitive ability and social skills: High screen time can hinder the development of important Cognitive, social and emotional skills, such as empathy.
• Cyber Bullying and Child Abuse: Incidents of bullying and abuses are rising. Young girls are more prone to them.

Way Ahead:

•  Emphasis on physical activities, limiting screen time by creating awareness etc. 

International Organization for Migration (IOM) released World Migration Report 2024. 

Key Findings at Global level

• Factors driving global displacement: Conflict and climate change remain the most significant. 
• Total international migrants:  about 281 million worldwide, of which 117 million are displaced, marking the highest level recorded.

India related findings

• In India, strong influence of climate impacts on internal migration from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
• India hosts the world's largest number of international migrants (18 million), residing notably in UAE, USA, and Saudi Arabia.
• In 2022, India remains the top remittance recipient country, receiving more than USD 111 bn, the first country to reach and even surpass the USD 100 bn mark.

Issues faced by Migrants

• Reduced migration pathways for individuals from less developed countries is driving more people to resort to irregular migration pathways.
• Migrants are subjected to racism, xenophobia, criminalization, gender based violence and other human rights violations.