 Good evening, aspirants. Welcome to the Hindi News Analysis by Shankara Ace Academy. These are the list of articles chosen for today's analysis. It has been given along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Trivandrum and Hyderabad editions. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the time snapping for the displayed articles is given in the description box below. And for the benefit of smartphone users, the time snapping is also provided in the comment section. Let us move on to our first news article analysis. This discussion is based on this editorial. The editorial article talks about various ways that are required to address the air pollution in Delhi. The article mentions that stubble burning in Punjab is just one of the important culprits among other culprits in degrading the air quality in Delhi. That is why the article is titled as stubble burning is not the only culprit. The author of this editorial article is a former secretary of department of food and public distribution and he is also a former secretary of department of agriculture as well. In this discussion, we will be discussing about stubble burning along with other factors leading to air pollution. Now in this stubble burning refers to burning of crop leftovers or crop residue, particularly the crop residue of paddy crop. We know that after the harvesting, both the rice stalk and rice straw become crop residue. Farmers clear the leftovers by burning because they find burning as the cheapest way to prepare the land for subsequent ruby cropping. So this is the small introduction about stubble burning. Now because of the influence of wind systems, the smoke that is emanating because of stubble burning along with many other factors worsens the air quality in Delhi. The syllabus that is relevant for the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Now the author mentions that whenever air pollution is discussed with respect to Delhi, the media pays attention only to the paddy stubble burning that happens in Punjab and Haryana in the months of October to November. So as a solution to this, only one solution is offered which is the carrot and stick approach that is to be used for the farmers in Punjab. Here the author refers to providing subsidized happy cedars as carrot and he refers to prosecuting and punishing those who carry out stubble burning as stick approach. Now here author's point is that this carrot and stick approach per se that is this carrot and stick approach in itself or on its own cannot save Delhi from air pollution. There are various other contributing factors for the worsening air pollution in Delhi. One of the factor is that the October to November season in Delhi is stifled by some natural conditions. We have discussed these conditions several times. One of the condition is the temperature inversion in winter. Normally with the increase in altitude, the atmospheric temperature falls but in temperature inversion what happens is a layer of warmer air lies over the layer of cool air at the surface. This layer of warmer air acts as a lid thereby it traps the aerosols and as a result of this there is more air pollution in the area. Then the next factor is also a natural factor which is aggravating the air pollution in the region. It is the low wind speed or sometimes no wind speed at all in the region. As a result of this there is no dispersal of polluted air. Now because of this Delhi is the most affected region in North India by air pollution. Now since these are the natural factors that are contributing to air pollution the author mentions that these factors are governed by the laws of science. So now let us see what are the other culprits or what are the other major or important contributing factors for air pollution in Delhi which are not widely discussed to address the pollution situation in Delhi. These factors are man-made factors or anthropogenic activities that play a major role in determining the air quality in Delhi. These factors also play a major role leading to air pollution in addition to stubble burning. One of the factor is burning of biomass in urban Delhi. Then also use of coal fired ovens that is use of tandoors. Then another factor is the pollution from coal based industries and the coal based power plants which are located in the outskirts of Delhi. And then another reason is the exponential increase in the sport utility vehicles or SUVs in the national capital region. Here the problem with sports utility vehicle is that they use more energy than normal cars and they release more pollutants than normal medium sized cars. Recently in October if you see the international energy agency has stated that SUVs were the second largest contributor to the increase in global carbon dioxide emissions since the year 2010. The first major contributor is the power sector. So usage of SUVs in Delhi region is one of the contributing factors for pollution in the fragile winter season. So these are some of the factors in Delhi that are altering the air quality of the capital. Then after this author talks about a law in Punjab which is a contributing factor for the stubble burning to be a cause of air pollution in Delhi. This law was enacted to arrest the fall of groundwater level and to improve the groundwater table in Punjab. This law is called as the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act of 2009. This law actually imposed a delay on farmers to plant paddy. As per section 3 of this act farmers should not sow paddy nursery before 10th May every year and they cannot transplant paddy before the notified date under the law. This date is notified every year. The idea was to discourage farmers from sowing paddy and thereby it aimed to improve the water table. In addition to this by enacting this law the state government also wanted to divert the farmers from paddy to cash crops such as cotton, maize and basmati rice. This is because these cotton, maize and basmati rice require less water and they are also environment friendly if we compare with normal paddy varieties. But whether this law achieved its objectives is a totally different question. This is because paddy was found more rewarding to farmers than other crops or other cash crops. So the farmers stuck with paddy cultivation only and they delayed the cultivation by a period of some two weeks from the usual sowing which is demanded by the law from time to time. Now the delay in paddy cultivation naturally led to delay in harvesting. As a result of this harvesting was possible only by the last week of October or in the early November. This is exactly the time in which the natural factors such as less wind speed and temperature inversion add severely to pollution along with anthropogenic factors that we discussed. Then after this author also talks about the possible way forward in tackling air pollution in Delhi. One is to reduce paddy area or to reduce paddy production at least in water stressed blocks of Punjab. Here the author gives a solution for tackling air pollution in Delhi and also tackling a falling groundwater level in water stressed regions of Punjab. So when we reduce paddy production what could be the consequence? The consequence could be the public distribution system may not get the required rice if production is reduced. Then what amount of rice will the government give to the affected beneficiaries of PDS system? As a solution to this the author suggests cash transfer to the accounts of PDS beneficiaries if the government could not provide rice. So from where the state can take money for implementing this cash transfer? For this also author suggests an idea that is every year around 6000 crores are spent by the government in terms of power subsidy to the farm sector in the state of Punjab. A significant number of users of this power subsidy are paddy farmers only. So if production is reduced then there is less need or no need of this subsidy. So the subsidy amount in total could be diverted for cash transfers. So this was the suggestion provided by the author. Now when production area or production of paddy crop is reduced this means two things that is farmers going for other cash crops or suitable crops that can adapt in water stress areas. Some of the farmers may usually cultivate paddy for relatively better and remunerative prices. Such farmers will face loss of revenue when they go for other crops with respect to difference in net farm returns and market risks compared to the paddy producers. So for this the author calls for the concept of moving from cultivating single crops to multiple or other crops as diversification. So here the government has to step in to take appropriate measures and to provide some compensation. The compensation most expectedly shall be equal to the losses suffered by the farmers while farmers go for diversification. Then the next way is to allow farmers to plant paddy before the mentioned date in the Punjab preservation of subsoil water act of 2009 or allowing farmers to transplant paddy before June. This will help in naturally pre-poning the harvesting season. This is important because if this happens there will not be a stress on pollution levels in Delhi in the high stress period for pollution that is in the last week of October and the first two weeks of November. This suggestion will minimize the contribution to pollution even though farmers may go for sporadic or limited incidents of stubble burning. Then the author also suggests to distribute happy cedars to the farmers so that this can be used by farmers to sow rubby crops without attempting stubble burning. See here happy cedar is a machine these happy cedar machines cut and lift the rice straw then it sows wheat into the bare soil after sowing it deposits the straw over the sown area as mulch or as a soil cover. So farmers need not go for stubble burning to get rid of the crop residue but these machines have some limitations also one is that the cedar has to operate within about 45 days of harvest for better results. Then the effectiveness of this cedar machine totally depends on the moisture that is present in the soil at the time of seeding rubby crops. So the soil has to be not too moist at the same time not too dry also this requires a good understanding of soil conditions. So for efficient use of these machines agronomic practices are needed to be changed particularly with respect to application of fertilizer and education. For this the farmers have to be educated and they should be given awareness regarding the same. Then another factor with this cedar machines is that it may be used only during the 15 day window for harvesting paddy crops that is it will be used just for 15 days in a year. So can farmers who could be small farmer marginal farmer or tenant farmer or sharecropper will they be able to afford such a machine though it is one of the solutions is a big question which we cannot answer. So we can say that the problem is complex at the same time it needs a solution but the solution should take into consideration certain parameters one is the economic condition of farmers then what are the scientific options that are available. Then the solutions will require the willingness of the central government to change policy then the solution also requires the government to fund a major part of the expenditure and the solution for improving air quality in Delhi requires coordinated action to address all the contributing factors in addition to stubble burning. So if all these are carried out then we will be able to mitigate the air pollution in the capital. With this we come to the end of this news article discussion the respect practice question will be discussed in the last session. This discussion is based on fall army warm the syllabus that can be linked to this discussion is given here for your reference. The news article states that around 1.2 lakh hectares of land in the state of Tamil Nadu have been covered against the menace of fall army warm that is it has been protected against this infestation. This year this protection has been carried out because last year around 2.2 lakh hectares were affected by this fall army warm infestation and this accounted for about 60% of maize cultivation in the state. So the state almost lost 60% of its maize cultivation to this infestation. Hence as a precaution various steps have been taken by the agriculture department of the state to keep this infestation under control this year. The steps taken by the agriculture department includes spraying two rounds of plant protection chemicals and biopesticides. Then also an integrated best management strategy have been formulated by the government. In addition to these the affected farmers were also given compensation by the government for the damages last year. Now not only the state of Tamil Nadu was affected by this warm but also other southern states like Karnataka, Dalingana and Andhra Pradesh had endured the fall army warm menace in a big way last year and also in the month of May this year this infestation resulted in crop loss of rupees 20 crore in the state of Mizoram also. So we can see that how much this infestation has affected our country from the southern states to the northeastern state. So hence it becomes important for us to discuss about this fall army warm in the examination point of view. Now scientifically it is known as Podoptera frugipirda. This fall army warm or FAW is an insect and this insect is native to tropical and subtropical regions of America. Now the problem with this insect is its larval stage because it causes more damage as it feeds on more than 80 plant species and these species include maize, rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops and even cotton. So if these many species of crops are affected then obviously it results in yield losses if it is not well managed and just now we discussed about this as it caused about rupees 20 crore crop loss in the state of Mizoram. Now this FAW was first detected in central and west Africa in the early 2016. So even though its native is America it was detected even in Africa now it has spread to Asia. Now this is due to its dangerous trans boundary nature and due to this nature it has high potential to spread continuously and this spread happens due to its natural distribution capacity and it also spreads due to its flying ability and even sometimes due to international trade because by which the pest is also unintentionally passed on through the produce to other countries. Now if you see this map it illustrates the spread of this pest till date. So as of 2019 this pest is present in all countries of sub Saharan Africa except Lesotho and at the end of July 2018 FAW was even detected in Yemen and in India. So it occurred in Asia in July 2018 only. Even though it occurred in July 2018 as of January 2019 that is within the six to seven months gap it was also reported in countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and China. So now you may be thinking if this pest is spreading so fast why no country has taken any initiative to control this. It is because this FAW has several characteristics that make eradication of this species extremely difficult. Firstly this FAW is very mobile and it is said that the adult moths can travel at 100 kilometer in the night and even individuals can fly over 1000 kilometer in their lifetime. So that is how it actually spreads to various regions and the second reason is this FAW is very polyfagus that is it feeds on many different species of plants as we discussed earlier and it can reproduce on different species of plants also. So not only it feeds on different species it can reproduce on many different species. So this means that it can rapidly spread across many environments and cropping systems and it is not even restricted by the diet also because for example if this pest can only feed on one type of plant then other types of plant will not be affected but now this species feeds on some 80 plant species. So it has no restriction on its diet and finally if you see the damage caused by FAW is sometimes confused with farmers with damage from other pests. So this is also a reason that many countries are unable to take eradication measures. So if eradication measures are not taken initially then the reports of presence of this FAW may be slow which in turn allows the species to spread before any action is taken against it. So in reality what happens is FAW rapidly moves across millions of hectares of maize and other plants and it quickly becomes a problem for farmers. So farmers need significant support and this support should make them able to manage FAW sustainably in their cropping systems and this can be done through integrated pest management activities. This integrated pest management or in short IPM is an integrated strategy of pest control which aims at prevention of pests and its damage through a combination of techniques such as through chemical technique biological technique and new cropping systems then modification of cultural practices use of resistant varieties and also through some mechanical methods also. So this integrated pest management emphasizes the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to the agro ecosystems and it also encourages natural pest control mechanisms. So let us see some of the measures based on this IPM. First measure which is taken under this IPM is sowing of treated maize seeds and next intercropping them with red gram. This is a method provided by food and agriculture organization that is FAO. The next measure is use of pheromone traps it is because early detection of FAW can be efficiently done using these pheromone traps. So what is a pheromone? Pheromones are chemicals which are used by insects and other animals to communicate with each other and through these pheromones insects send chemical signals to help attract maize and even through this it wants other predators and it also uses pheromones to find food also. So this pheromone trap will help to lure insects and pests and these traps are used for monitoring purposes and not for controlling the pest. Then another measure is taken by FAO to understand the ecology of fall army bomb and also to take swift action and disperse early warnings. For this purpose FAO has developed the fall army bomb monitoring and early warning system or in short FAMEWS. This system is to help farmers then communities local authorities as well as national and international leaders to make the best use of resources to manage FAW. This warning system is a mobile app and it should be used every time whenever an infested field or a pheromone trap is checked for FAW. So by this app it is very easy to know whether there is a presence of FAW or not. This warning system uses artificial intelligence and it integrates data from many sources including satellites and this data helps the authorities to provide farmers with offline advice and recommendations so that they can control this pest. The next measure is using of natural enemies of FAW. This FAW has many natural enemies that is those organisms that are naturally in the environment and kill FAW eggs, larvae and pupae. These organisms include predators such as ants, eowigs, birds etc. Then also some parasitoids which are tiny wasps are also predator to FAW and even some pathogens like bacteria, virus, fungi and nematodes are also predators to this species. So by making the presence of these species in the agricultural land this FAW infestation can be prevented and also using of natural enemies is advisable because the cumulative effect of these natural agents on FAW can be very high. So farmers can take actions to conserve and attract these organisms to their fields so that they can increase the mortality of FAW. Then final measure which is suggested by Food and Agriculture Organization is the use of sand and lime mixture in the worlds of maize plants. It is said that this mixture acts like a pesticide and it prevents the spread of this FAW. So that is all about this FAW. We discussed about how this FAW has caused damage and which plants are affected and how many countries are affected and what can be done to control this pest. With this we come to the end of this news article discussion. That is great practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next news article discussion. This news article talks about the well-established fact that global warming alters rainfall pattern. The article also mentions lesser understood climatic phenomenon called as Madden-Julian Oscillation or MJO. In this context we will see about MJO in detail and its impact on regular or normal rainfall patterns including Indian monsoon. The syllabus that can be linked to this discussion is given here for your reference. For better understanding of this topic you should know some terms like global warming, greenhouse gases and greenhouse effect and also consequences of global warming such as climate change. It will help you to understand all climate related news articles. We have discussed all these terms in our 27th and November 2019 Hindi news analysis video. So, we advise you to watch it once. In simple terms if we say global warming indicates the rising or increasing the average temperature of the globe over a period of time. The warming of the globe is because of the increasing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etc. can absorb the earth's re-emitted infrared radiation and in return these greenhouse gases emit the radiation in all directions. As a result of this if the amount of these greenhouse gases increases then in turn it increases the temperature of the globe. Therefore over a period of time increasing amount of these greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would have more impact on normal elements of the climate. Here elements of the climate are temperature, pressure, humidity, wind pattern, rainfall etc. Now if there is a significant deviation or change in these elements then it is known as climate change. The consequences of the climate change mainly include change in rainfall pattern, then unpredictability of the weather, then irregular monsoons, then intensive tropical cyclones, raising incidents of floods and severe droughts etc etc. Now in today's news article it is mentioned that global warming has altered key weather systems. For example there is more number of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and there is decreasing winter rain in north India and also it is altering global rainfall patterns. One of the reason that is mentioned in this news article is the Irregular Madden-Julian Oscillation. So what is this Madden-Julian Oscillation or MJO? This phenomenon was discovered in 1971 by Dr. Roland Madden and Dr. Paul Julian of the American National Center for Atmospheric Research. That is why this phenomenon is named as Madden-Julian Oscillation. It is a moving oceanic atmospheric phenomenon which encircles the globe. It is a moving eastward pulse of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure near the equator. It moves at a speed of about 14 to 28 kilometer per hour and it typically records every 30 to 60 days but if it is disrupted then the cycle period is about 90 days. Now the effect of MJO is witnessed mainly in the tropical region that is in the band between 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south of the equator. Though MJO encircles the globe from west to east in the tropical zone near the equator but it is strongly related to Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The strong moving MJO activity often splits the planet into two phases. One is the active phase which is enhanced connection and then comes the suppressed phase. In the active phase which is characterized by relatively warmer area there is a rising of the air column which is known as convection. So when there is enhanced convection it results in more than average rainfall for that time of the year whereas in the suppressed phase the area receives less than average rainfall. Now to have a better understanding you can look at this cycle that is given in this picture. In the stage one what happens is that there is enhanced convection which results in rainfall develops over the western Indian Ocean. Then in stage two and three this enhanced convection moves slowly eastwards over the Indian Ocean and parts of the Indian subcontinent. Then after this in stage four and five the enhanced convection has reached the maritime continent which is Indonesia and west Pacific region. Then in stage six seven and eight the enhanced convection moves further eastward over the western Pacific eventually dying out in the central Pacific. After this the next MJO cycle begins. Therefore the local weather conditions are modified based on the stage of the life cycle of the MJO. So to summarize this MJO we can say that an active phase is generally followed by a weak or suppressed phase in which there is little MJO activity and you should note that three active MJO periods are witnessed every year on an average. Then as we have already discussed that the effect of MJO is witnessed mainly in the tropical region that is in the band between 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south of the equator. The mid latitude regions that is beyond the tropics in both the hemispheres also feel its impact but the impact is negligible. Now you should note that India falls in this tropical band and it is also influenced by MJO. Now in the tropics including India MJO in its active phase brings frequent cyclonic activity and it can also initiate the onset of monsoon and it can also cause one or two weeks of intense rainfall if the onset of monsoon and active phase of MJO coincides. In addition to this news article also mentions that if there is a disruption in the phases of MJO then it will have impact over the global climate including India. Now there was a research paper which is cited in the news article. According to this research paper the MJO clouds are spending only 15 days over the Indian Ocean. Normally they spend 19 days but now they are spending only 15 days over the Indian Ocean. But if you see over the west Pacific this time period has increased by 5 days. It has increased from an average of 16 days to 23 days. Now it is this change in the residence time of MJO clouds that has altered the weather patterns across the globe including India. So the changes in MJO behavior has increased the rainfall over northern Australia, west Pacific, Amazon basin, southwest Africa and southeast Asia including Indonesia, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Now at the same time these changes have brought a declining rainfall over central Pacific along the west and east coast of USA for example in California. Then also it has brought a declining rainfall in north India, east Africa and the Yangtze basin in China. In addition to this the frequent California fires then droughts in Africa and the floods in east Asian countries and the cyclones in the Bay of Bengal may be linked to this changes in global weather. So that is all about this Madden-Julian Oscillation and its impact over the global climate. With this we have come to the end of this news article. That is great practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion which is based on 15th finance commission. The syllabus that can be linked to this discussion is given here for your reference. The news article states that the union cabinet has approved the extension of the term of 15th finance commission. It has been extended till the financial year 2025 to 2026. Earlier the 15th finance commission was supposed to give recommendations for 2020 to 2025 period but now the 15th finance commission will give recommendation that will be applicable for six years as the term has been extended for one more year. So in this context let us first discuss in detail about the finance commission. First remember that finance commission is a constitutional body. It is constituted according to article 280 of the constitution and it provides for a finance commission as a quasi-judicial body. It is constituted by the president of India every fifth year or even it is constituted at an earlier time before the fifth year if the president considers it necessary. So now let us see the composition of finance commission. The finance commission consists of a chairman and four other members and they are appointed by the president. They all hold office for such a period as specified by the president in his order and they are also eligible for reappointment. See the constitution authorizes the parliament to determine the qualification of members of the commission and also the manner in which they should be selected. So accordingly the parliament has specified the qualifications of the chairman and members of the commission through an act. The act is finance commission miscellaneous provisions act of 1951. Under this act the chairman should be a person who is having an experience in public affairs and the four other members should be selected from the following such as a member could be a judge of high court or a member should be selected from the persons who is qualified to be appointed as a judge of high court and also the member should be selected from amongst the persons who has specialized knowledge of finance and accounts of the government and also a person who has wide experience in financial matters and experience in administration can be selected as a member and even a person who has special knowledge of economics can be selected as a member of finance commission. So what are the functions of finance commission? If you see article 280 clause 3 the finance commission is required to make recommendations to the president of India on certain matters such as the finance commission can recommend the distribution of net proceeds of taxes that is to be shared between the center and the states and it can recommend the allocation of respective shares of such proceeds between the states and it also gives recommendations on the principles that should govern the grants in aid to the states by the center which are provided out of the consolidated fund of India and the finance commission also gives recommendations on the measures that are needed to augment the consolidated fund of a state this is to supplement the resources of the panchayats and the municipalities in the state then the finance commission can also provide recommendations on any other matter that is referred to the commission by the president in the interests of sound finance then the commission also submits a report to the president this report is laid before the houses of parliament by the president and it is presented before the houses of parliament along with an explanatory memorandum on the action taken on the recommendations of the finance commission but one important point that you should note here is that the recommendations that are made by the finance commission are only of advisory nature and they are not binding on the government so it is up to the union government to implement its recommendations on granting money to the states so now let us discuss about this 15th finance commission it was constituted in 2017 and it was supposed to give recommendations for devolution of taxes and other fiscal matters for five fiscal year which will start from 1st April 2020 but as we have discussed earlier the chairman and members hold office for such period as specified by the president in his order and today's article is based on this aspect only the news article has mentioned that the 15th finance commission will submit an interim report for the 2020 to 21 financial year and also it will submit a full report for the financial years from 2021 to 2026 if you see the news article it mentions that in the view of reforms and new realities the present move will give the finance commission more time to make effective recommendations for the period 2022 to 2026 what are these new reforms and realities see after the introduction of GST it has significantly changed the financial relation between the center and the states in terms of revenue collection and even revenue sharing and along with this recently we had the reorganization of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories so this amounts to a new dynamic and also the term of 15th finance commission has been extended because recently in many states elections were held so there were restrictions which were imposed based on the model code of conduct and finance commission could not complete its visits previously and now only it has completed then another reason is that the terms of reference of 15th finance commission has been recently changed so all these changes takes additional time for the finance commission to alter its calculations and also you should note that this is not the first time the recommendation period is extended beyond the conventional five years even during the period of ninth finance commission the recommendation period was extended to six years the recommendation period was from 1989 to 95 so that is all you should know about finance commission and the recent changes to the 15th finance commission with this we come to the end of this news article discussion the displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session moving on to the next discussion which is based on SPG amendment bill of 2019 the syllabus that can be linked to this discussion is given here for your reference recently we have been seeing a lot about SPG that is special protection group we have also covered about this group in a detailed manner on November 9th the link is provided in the description box and comment section so you can have a look at it now today's news is with respect to the special protection group amendment bill of 2019 this bill amends the SPG act of 1988 it particularly amends section 4 of the act which deals with the constitution of the special protection group this section talks about the protectees to whom this SPG protection will be provided the act as a whole has been amended from time to time if you see initially the special protection group act of 1988 was enacted to provide for the constitution and regulation of special protection group as an armed force of the union which is for providing proximate security to the prime minister and his or her immediate family members but the act was amended in 1991 then in 1994 then in 1999 and then finally in 2003 to extend the SPG cover to former prime ministers and their immediate family members also and the protection which is offered to the former prime minister and their immediate family members was for different periods depending on the amendment so in 2003 the 1988 act was last amended to extend SPG cover to former prime ministers and their immediate family members and the time period of protection was fixed to be for one year from the date the former prime minister ceased to hold the office of prime minister but this period can be extended more than one year based on the level of threat which is periodically assessed by the central government but if you see in the act based on 2003 amendment there is no cutoff period or maximum period for providing the SPG protection to former prime ministers or even providing protection to the members of their family so based on this the government is saying that the number of individuals who have to be provided SPG cover can potentially become quite large so it can lead to severe constraint on the resources training and related infrastructure of SPG so this can also have impact on the effectiveness of SPG in providing adequate cover to the principal protectee who is the incumbent prime minister so based on these reasons government is stating that there is a need to have more focus on the core mandate of the act that is the security of the prime minister and this should be of paramount importance for government governance and national security to attain this purpose only the bill has been introduced and the news article mentions that it has been passed by the Lok Sabha now based on the amendment to section four of the act the protection is given to the prime minister and members of his immediate family who are residing with him at his official residence then the protection for former prime ministers and their immediate family is also present but the amendment has included the time period of the protection now the former prime ministers and the members of his or her immediate family who are residing with him or her at the residence will be protected for a period of five years from the date he or she ceases to hold the office of prime minister so we can say that now the former prime ministers and their immediate family members will be provided protection to a maximum period of five years only by this special protection group based on this amendment bill so that is all about this SPG amendment bill of 2019 moving on to the last news article discussion this news article is about the return of three culturally significant artifacts from australia to india the article states that both india and australia are party to a 1970 convention this convention is called as the convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import export and transport of ownership of cultural property so from prilams point of view this convention is important then other important things we have to take from this news article is the meaning of terms such as dwarpala and nagaraja which are the artifacts to be returned from australia to india the syllabus that is relevant for this news article analysis is given here for your reference two culturally significant artifacts which are dated to 15th century and an important cultural artifact from rajasthan or madhya pradesh were smuggled from india or taken from india through a illegal route the artifacts from tamilnadu are called as dwarpala dwarpala means door guardians in tilugu that is this artifact represents a guardian who stands by the door to be vigilant and to give protection the artifact whose origin is not yet ascertained between rajasthan and the madhya pradesh represents nagaraja meaning serpent king this artifact is said to be dated to sixth to eighth century these three artifacts were smuggled from india and they have reached somehow to the national gallery of australia the national gallery of australia has purchased these artifacts in good faith thinking these are not stolen from somewhere now the news is that based on certain investigations it has been concluded that the three artifacts in the national gallery of australia belongs to india and its culture after the findings now the australian government has promised to return the artifacts to india by january 2020 so in this context the australian prime minister has even commented that the return of artifacts underscores the world's debt to india's magnificent culture history and legacy these cultural artifacts are important for a country's cultural heritage if you see indian constitution article 51a states that it shall be the duty of every citizen of india to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture so loss of such artifacts means impoverishment of cultural heritage of that country which is the origin of such cultural property or artifacts this point has been acknowledged in article two of the convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import export and transfer of ownership of cultural property of 1970 in this context let us discuss the 1970 convention that is mentioned in the news article this convention was adopted in paris in the year 1970 it came into force on 24th april 1972 india has a state party to this convention and india has also ratified this convention in january 1977 and from this news article you can easily say that australia is also a state party to this convention australia joined in 1989 but it has not ratified this convention yet ratification is important to make the provisions of a convention binding on a state party so in this context australia has accepted this convention but there are some books which are also saying that australia has also ratified this convention but know that countries can voluntarily show their commitments but ratification ensures the binding commitment till the time a state is a party to that convention now in this context you can also remember about one another convention which is a unisco convention called as convention on the protection of the underwater cultural heritage actually india has not ratified this convention and in fact india is not a signatory or a state party to this 2001 convention now with reference to such convention we request you to give priority to the status of india like whether india is a signatory or not or whether india has ratified the convention or not now in terms of our today's news article article seven of the convention that is a 1970 convention is important this is because it deals with return of artifacts belonging to other countries so article seven of this convention states that the state parties to this convention undertake to take necessary measures to prevent museums and similar institutions within their territories from acquiring cultural property originating in another state party so under this article the state parties to the convention undertake to prohibit the import of cultural property stolen from a museum or religious institution or property stolen from secular public monument or even a similar institution of another state party to this convention now the most important provision of this article seven is that it mentions that at the request of state party of origin the requested party has to take appropriate steps to recover and return any such cultural property imported after the entry into force of this convention so this means that the request for recovery and return shall be made through diplomatic offices of the state parties in this context the diplomatic officers refers to the ministry of foreign affairs but know that they will be requesting authority in terms of facilitation under the convention the real groundwork would have been done by the law enforcement agencies of the country of origin the requesting party should provide the documentation and other evidence that is necessary to establish its claims for recovery and return of that artifact or property so in the present case India is the requesting party and Australia is the requested party when such property is returned under this article there shall be no imposition of custom duties and all expenses for the return and delivery of the cultural property shall be borne by the requesting party itself that is in our context it will be borne by India so that is all about this news article with this we have come to the end of news article discussion session the displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session now moving on to our final session for the day that is the practice questions discussion session this first question is based on fall army bomb the first statement states it is an insect native to the tropical and subtropical regions of India now many states in India are affected by this fall army bomb infestation such as the state of Tamil Nadu and state of Karnataka then states like Telangana Andhra Pradesh and even the northeastern state of Mizoram is also affected by this fall army bomb infestation but this insect is not native to India this insect is native to the tropical and subtropical regions of America so this means this statement is incorrect now the second statement states it is a polyfagus that affects maize crops only now if you know the meaning of polyfagus you can easily say this statement is wrong because polyfagus means it feeds on many different species of plants and it can reproduce on many different species of plants and we know that the word poly itself means many so from this you can easily say it does not affect only one crop even though maize is the crop which is majorly affected by this infestation it also affects other crops such as rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton so this means this statement is also wrong now here the question asks for the correct statements here both the statements are incorrect statements so the correct answer to this question is neither one nor two now this next question is based on the finance commission first statement states it is a constitutional body yes this statement is correct because finance commission is established based on the article 280 of Indian constitution which provides for finance commission as a quasi-judicial body and it is constituted by the president of India every fifth year or even before the fifth year if the president considers it necessary so this statement is correct if you see the options the question asks for the not correct statement but here statement one is the correct statement so you can eliminate option a and c no from the remaining options you can easily say statement two is an incorrect statement now we have to only see whether statement three is correct or incorrect it states the member of the finance commission are appointed by a committee headed by the prime minister no this statement is wrong because the members and also the chairman of this finance commission is appointed by the president not the prime minister or the committee headed by the prime minister now the second statement is incorrect because the recommendations of finance commission are not binding on the central government so the correct answer to this question is option d two and three because two and three statements are not correct now this question is with reference to the convention on means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import export and transport of ownership of cultural property now this is a UNESCO convention the first statement states according to the convention all expenses incident to the return and delivery of the cultural property shall be equally shared by both the requesting party and the requested party now the statement is wrong because all the expenses are borne by the requesting party only and not by the requested party the second statement states india has a state party to this convention now this statement is correct because india is a state party and india has also ratified this convention india 1977 but there is one another UNESCO convention which is not yet signed by india it is the convention on the protection of underwater cultural heritage of 2001 so don't confuse here the question asks for the correct statement so the correct answer to this question is option b 2 only now let us see one main question based on gs paper 3 stubble burning poses as one of the biggest threats among others to the air quality in delhi suggest some measures to tackle stubble burning from the states of panjab and hariana now for answering this question you can start by mentioning that stubble burning of paddock crop residues in panjab and hariana acts as a biggest threat threat to the air pollution in delhi and this happens particularly in october to november every year and as a fact you can mention that even economic survey of 2017 to 18 states that the crop residue and biomass burning in late october and panjab hariana and western utha pradesh contributes to around 26 percentage to 29 percentage to the worsening of air quality in delhi in winter now in the statement if you see here stubble burning is mentioned as one of the biggest threats so you can also mention other threats such as vehicular pollution particularly the suv vehicles in ncr region and then the use of coal fired ovens then the burning of biomass then also the pollution caused by the coal based industries and the coal based power plants all these leads to air pollution in delhi now the actual question here is suggest some measures to tackle stubble burning from the states of panjab and hariana so your focus should be more on suggesting the measures as a first measure you can say that states should enable the provision of subsidized happy cedar machines so that farmers need not go for stubble burning then you can also say certain amendments to the laws pertaining to groundwater table to allow farmers to cultivate paddy or transplant paddy before prescribed notified date can be made because due to this law farmers cultivate the paddy crops in the months of october and november and then they burn the crop residue which adds to the air pollution in delhi so if the cultivation period can be changed by the amendment then that burning will not contribute to air pollution in delhi during winter then government can also change the policy which is required with respect to the power subsidy and production of rice from these two mentioned states because if there is less paddy production then there will be lesser contribution to pollution then government can also insist the farmers to move towards more environmentally friendly crops such as maize, cotton and basmati rice and if there are some losses incurred by the farmers due to this diversification then government can provide compensation also then one another important measure is educating the farmers about the consequences of their actions like such as what is the consequence of growing paddy then how it is linked to reduction of water table then what are the ill effects of stubble burning then how soil nutrients are lost because of it like that all these things can be taught to the farmers and this could lead to behavior modification among the farmers and they will easily adapt to more diversified crops now finally you can suggest for having a mechanism of penalizing the farmers who are adopting to stubble burning but this has to be carried out only after educating the farmers so like this you can also add your own viewpoints for answering this question now let us see one main question based on gs paper one what do you understand by madden julian oscillation discuss the life cycle of mjo and its impact on the global climate including india now for the first part of this question you have to just simply define madden julian oscillation which we have clearly discussed during the analysis then for defining the life cycle of mjo you can even use the pictorial representation which we used for today's discussion based on that you can mention stage one stage two what happens in the last stage also then for impacts on global climate including india you can say that mjo in its active phase brings frequent cyclonic activity and it can also initiate the onset of monsoon in india then you can say that due to the changes in mjo behavior there is increased rainfall over the northern australia west pacific and southeast asia etc then at the same time it has also led to decline in rainfall in many regions such as central pacific north india east africa then also in some regions of china then you can also say the frequent california fires drought in africa then floods in east asian countries then cyclones in bay of bengal is also linked to this mjo with this we have come to the end of today's hindi news analysis if you like the video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to shankar is academy youtube channel for more updates related to civil service examination preparation