 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar Ayes Academy for the date 28th of September 2022. Displayed here are the list of news articles that we have chosen for today's discussion and today we are going to see 5 articles. Now without wasting much time, let's get into the news article discussion. See this article here, it says that election commission has proposed to reduce the anonymous political donations from 20,000 to 2,000 rupees. Also it has proposed to limit the cash donation at 20% or at a maximum of 20 crore. These proposals are means to cleanse election funding of black money. And this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us revise about the election commission of India. While studying about election commission of India, the important article that you should remember is article 324. It has 6 up clauses and in this discussion we are going to see that only. The first clause talks about the superintendents direction and control of the preparation of the electoral roles. The clause says that the superintendents for all elections that is to parliament to the legislature of every state then to the officers of president and vice president shall be vested in a commission referred to as the election commission. Now the second clause is about the composition of election commission. The clause says that election commission of India shall consist of chief election commissioner and other election commissioners whose number is fixed by president from time to time. And the third clause says that when election commissioners are appointed other than the chief election commissioner then the chief election commissioner acts as the chairman of the election commission of India. And the fourth clause says that president may appoint regional commissioners after consultation with the election commissioner. And this is done to assist the election commission of India in the performance of their functions. Now the fifth clause is about the conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners. So regarding this the clause says that the condition of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be determined by the president by rule. And the constitution provides a provision here for the independent functioning of the election commission of India. See this independent functioning is very much important to conduct free and fair election. Okay even though the clause says that the condition will be determined by president it also says that chief election commissioner shall not be removed from office except in a manner like a judge of the supreme court. Okay so whatever procedures we are following for the removal of supreme court judge the same thing is going to be followed for the chief election commissioner. Okay and apart from this the clause also says that the conditions of service of the chief election commissioner shall not be varied to his advantage after his appointment. Okay and it is also said under this clause that election commissioner or a regional commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner. Okay see all this is done to make the body independent. Okay and now coming to the final clause the president and the governor of the states should make available staffs for the election commission or to a regional commissioner. Okay and these staffs are requested for discharging the functions conferred on the election commission by clause one. So that's all regarding this news article and you have to remember that the election commission of India is a permanent constitutional body why because it is mentioned in article 324 of the Indian constitution. Okay and also keep in mind that it was established in the year 1950 as an independent autonomous authority. Why because ECA is responsible for administering union and state election process in India. Okay so these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Have a look at this news article. This news article talks about the criminal procedure identification act shortly called as CPA of 2022. Okay see in the Madras High Court a public interest litigation petition was filed to challenge the constitutional validity of certain provisions of this act that is why this act is in use. Okay see this act no allows in collecting personal samples from the accused. Okay and the PIL petition is also saying that particular provision of the act is against the right to privacy under article 21 and the right against self-incrimination which is mentioned under article 20 of the Indian constitution and now the High Court is asking central governments response to the PIL petition. So this is the crux of the news article given here and in this context let us learn about this criminal procedure identification act of 2022 then let us see about its significance and the issues in it. Okay before that the syllabus relevant to this news article is given here for your reference kindly go through it. Now let's start our discussion see the criminal procedure identification act 2022 has replaced the British era act that is the identification of prisoners act of 1920. Okay and now coming to the CPA 2022 it provides legal sanction to the law enforcement agencies for taking measurements of convicts as well as the accused persons. This is for the purpose of identification and investigation of criminal matters see the main motive is to create a usable database okay here the section 2 clause 1 sub clause b of the act defines measurements to mean finger palm print and food print impressions then photographs iris and retina scans then physical biological samples and their analysis okay all this comes under measurements then also the behavioral attributes including signatures and handwriting is also included under this okay and under the act each state and union territory is required to notify an appropriate agency to collect and preserve this database of measurement okay also know section 4 of this act empowers the National Crime Records Bureau that is NCRB to store preserve and destroy or process then share and disseminate the records collected at state or the union territory level know that the records can be stored up to a period of 75 years so this is about the act now coming to the significance of it see the act provides for obtaining diverse evidence from the accused person so this will help to establish the crime of the accused person and the act also helps to make the investigations more efficient and faster because there is nationwide data that is available and that is managed by NCRB okay then the act provides scope for the use of modern devices in obtaining evidence and this may act as a foolproof in investigating process okay and the act will also help to reduce heinous crimes and provides for better maintenance of law and order so this is all about the significance of this act now let us come to the issues in it see the act does not provide any provision regarding seeking permission to collect data in specific cases that is we are not going to get the permission of the accused for collecting their data that is what mentioned here okay so the police know are allowed to collect this data from anyone this is a clear indicator of violation of the right to privacy which is a fundamental right under article 21 of the Indian constitution also the evidence is collected from the accused person may be used as evidence against the same person so it violates the right against self-incrimination which is enshrined in the article 20 clause 3 of the Indian constitution it means no person accused of any offense shall be compelled to be a witness against himself or herself okay so that's all regarding this news article and in this news article we saw about an important act which is the criminal procedure identification act of 2022 then we saw about the significance and the issues in it okay so today let me ask you all to give suggestion for the issues faced in it okay so that let's take this as an interactive section okay so these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion now let us take up this editorial article see this news article talks about the hijab issue and suddenly it is in news because currently a two judges bench of the supreme court is hearing arguments on the correctness of a karnataka high court judgment okay here they are talking about the karnataka high court judgment that upheld the ban on the use of hijab by students in karnataka okay and over the last few days council for the petitioners have addressed a variety of issues starting from the rights of students to freedom of expression consigns and religion to how the ban has impact on muslim women's right to education okay so in this background let us quickly go through some of the important points mentioned in the news article but before that the syllabus relevant to this news article is given here for your reference kindly go through it okay now let's start a discussion see let's start with the findings of karnataka high court see the karnataka high court made three primary findings in its judgment firstly the court held that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice so the ban does not violate the protection provided under article 25 of the Indian constitution here you must note three things firstly unlike western secularism Indian secularism is based on the positive concept of secularism that is we give equal respect to all religions or we protect all religions equally okay so this does not mean that anyone can do anything in the name of religion Indian secularism allows for principled state intervention in all religions okay this is not something i'm saying it is actually enshrined in the Indian constitution in the form of article 25 so this is the first one you have to know now coming to the second point article 25 ensures freedom of consigns freedom of profession practice and propagation of religion but still the state can enforce reasonable restriction on this article and that is how the ruling of karnataka high court is relevant here now the third thing that you have to know is the essential religious practice so what is this essential religious practice see essential religious practice mean all those practices that are fundamental to a religion and not following them would result in the change of religion itself for example kara a steel bracelet then kanga a wooden comb kaccha kacchera cotton underwear or even you can take the kirpan all these are called as essential religious practice see these are the essential religious practice of Sikhs okay so denying these essential religious practices would violate article 25 but the high court said that the hijab is not an essential practice of Islam and so its ban does not violate article 25 now second justification is muslim students had argued the hijab ban violated their right to religious expression under article 25 but for that the karnataka high court ruled that there is no such right like right to freedom of expression or privacy inside a classroom and in the high court's view classrooms are qualified public spaces where individual rights must give way to the interest of general discipline and decorum therefore it held that these rights were not at issue in this instance okay and the third justification given by the karnataka high court is see a government order was issued with respect to the issue but it only called for a uniform dress code that has to be prescribed by the state or school management committees so the ban did not directly result from the government's order because of this reason no the high court held that the ban did not discriminate against muslim students either directly or indirectly okay so these are the three findings of the karnataka high court and here no in this news article the author says that to decide on the correctness of this verdict the supreme court does not have to answer all the questions posed before it instead it can do two things what is that firstly it can reverse any of the three findings made by the karnataka high court see this will automatically result in a nullification of the ban second possibility is if the petitioners can establish that muslim women have been discriminated if such a thing happens then the bench can reverse the high court's judgment similarly if the petitioners can establish that there exists no right to freedom of expression within the confines of an educational institution then the burden to prove that the ban is proportionate and legal shifts to the state okay so here the supreme court should decide on these questions based on settled norms of constitutional law or it should conduct a study of scriptures and conventions to establish how important the practice is to the faith okay now let us look into the effect of this essentiality test see according to the author the test is violation of right to ethical independence of people belonging to a particular religion see this test has allowed the court to limit the extent of safeguards available to religious customs you may ask how see it is through the test the supreme court is directly intruding on the autonomy of groups to determine what they find valuable so this violates their right to ethical independence so to conclude the author says that for the time being any court that hears a case involving a question of faith must do the unpleasant burden of serving as both a legal and the religious expert and he suggests that it is also the right way to deal with the matter so that's all about this news article in this news article discussion we saw about article 25 then we saw about essential practices of religion and finally we saw about the effect of the essentiality test that has to be run by the supreme court so these points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion see this article here it says that chief secretary sumesh kumar issued directions to the officials to make elaborate arrangements for the upcoming vatakamma festival as per the article improvement of roads barricading at emotion points provision of uninterrupted power supply cultural events all were discussed by the officials so this is the crux of the news article given here and in this context let us understand more about this vatakamma festival and how it serves as an icon of unity okay see the vatakamma is a colorful and vibrant festival of telangana it is celebrated by women with flowers that grow exclusively in the region okay so this festival is a symbol of telangana's cultural identity see this vatakamma festival comes during the later half of monsoon that is before the onset of winter okay as we all know the monsoon rains brings plenty of water into the fresh water bonds of telangana and it is also the time when wild flower bloom all across the plains of the region for one complete week women make small vatakammas using these flowers you may wonder what is this vatakamma see this image here this is only vatakamma here the flowers are carefully arranged row after row in a brass plate called thambalam in circular rows and in alternate colors okay and they play around with them every evening and immerse them in a nearby water pond and on the last day which is called as the sadalla vatakamma which is the grand finale of the vatakamma festival entire family makes a big vatakamma and as the evening approaches the women folk dress colorfully place the vatakamma in their kotiya and the women of neighborhood also gathered around it and they start singing songs by circling it repeatedly this symbolizes circle of unity love and sisterhood finally before the onset of dusk the women folk carry them on their heads and move as a procession towards bigger water body near the village or town when they reach the water pond the vatakammas are slowly immersed into water after some more playing and singing then they share the mallida a dessert made with sugar or raw sugar and cornbread okay and this is shared among the family members and others they return to their homes with empty thambalam singing songs in the praise of vatakamma with this the vatakamma festival comes to an end now let us see what is the significance of this festival see why i'm talking about the significance is this is where you can use it in your mains answer writing okay see firstly the vatakamma celebrates the inherent relationship between earth water and the human beings secondly during the entire preceding week women make boddhamma the deity madadurga which is made with earthly mud and immerse them in the pond this helps reinforce the ponds and helps it retain more water so you can understand how a religious thing is connected with environment okay thirdly the flasks used in vatakamma have a great quality of purifying water and such flowers when immersed in abundance into the pond have the effect of cleansing the water and making the environment much better so these are the important significance of this festival see the festival know signifies a beauty of nature collective spirit of telangana people the indomitable spirit of women folks and also the scientific approach of the agrarian people towards preserving the resources of nature in a celebrative way hence vatakamma is the icon of cultural identity of telangana so that's all about this news article see in this news article we came to know about what is vatakamma festival which is helpful for your preliminary examination and when we discussed about the significance we took the discussion further to the mains perspective okay so these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion take a look at this news article it talks about world banks private sector investment arm the international finance corporation that is IFC it also reports that our finance minister has asked for the additional investments from IFC so this is the crux of the news article given here and in this context let us learn more about this world bank in preliminary perspective okay see this world bank is an international organization that offers financial assistance to developing nations this is done to fight poverty and the mission of the world bank is to increase the income of the poorest 40 percentage of people in every country okay now moving on to the history of world bank the world bank was founded in the year 1944 as a part of the britain utz agreement okay here note that as a part of this agreement both international monetary fund that is IMF and the bank for international reconstruction and development that is IBRD were established okay this international bank for reconstruction and development no was soon called the world bank today it has expanded to a closely associated group of five development institutions what are they they are firstly the international bank for reconstruction and development that is IBRD and the second one is international development agency IDA so these two institutions know focuses mainly on working with the developing state governments okay and the third institution of world bank is international finance corporation that is IFC we just now saw about this in the news am I right see this IFC is the largest global development institution primarily focused on the private sector it finances investments to the private sector in the developing countries okay now coming to the fourth and fifth institutions they are multilateral investment guarantee agency and the international center for settlement of investment disputes okay here note that the last three institutions of world bank mentioned here works with the mandate of strengthening the private sector in the developing countries okay so these are the five institutions of world back okay now let's see about some of the reports released by world bank see ease of doing business and the world development reports where the major reports published by world bank here note that ease of doing business report was recently discontinued by the world bank alleging mal practices in the ranking okay so through this discussion we came to know about the world bank then it's objective and also about the five institutions of it okay so these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion so these key points in mind now let's move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion see today we have three questions in which two I'll be discussing and one will be a quiz question for you and today's quiz question is all about a pair based question okay in which two pairs had been already discussed and you very well know about one pair also okay and regarding the other two pairs try searching for the information and learn about it it will be very much helpful for your preliminary examination okay now let's start with the first question see this question is regarding the world bank discussion here three statements are given and whenever we have multiple statements we can go ahead for the elimination technique now here let me take the third statement because it is available in all the options okay see the world economic outlook report is published by world bank this statement is absolutely incorrect because the world economic outlook report is released by IMF that is international monetary fund and not by the world bank okay so if you just know that this statement is incorrect you can easily arrive at the answer which is option A1 only okay now let me tell you why second statement is incorrect see the headquarters of world bank is located in Washington DC and only the headquarters of united nations is located in New York okay so statement 2 is incorrect now what is the answer for this question option A1 only okay now moving on to the second question see the second question is about the election commission of India and it is a two statement question okay now look at statement one statement one is incorrect since its inception in 1950 until 15th October 1989 the election commission functioned as a single member body consisting of the chief election commissioner then on 16th October 1989 the president appointed two more election commissioners to cope with increased work of the election commission on account of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years thereafter the election commission functioned as a multi-member body consisting of three election commissioners however the two posts of election commissioners were abolished in January 1990 and the election commission was reverted to the earlier position then again in October 1993 the president appointed two more election commissioners so since then that is from 1993 until today the election commission has been functioning as a multi-member body consisting of three election commissioners okay so statement one is incorrect now coming to statement two this is correct see the chief election commissioner and the two other election commissioners have equal powers and receive equal salary 11 cells and other prerequisites which are similar to those of a judge of the supreme court and they hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years whichever comes earlier okay and know that the constitution has not prescribed the qualifications of the members of the election commission and the constitution has not specified the term of the members of the election commission see the constitution has not deba the retiring election commissioners from any further appointment by the government okay so now what is the answer for the second question the question is demanding for correct statements so your answer here will be option b two only okay now displayed here is the quiz question as I said four pairs are given and you are asked to find the correctly matched pair okay so go through the question and comment your answers okay displayed here are two main practice questions go through the question and try writing answer for these two questions and post your answers in the common section okay that's all for today's news article discussion if you like this video to like share and comment and don't forget to subscribe to the Shankar IS Academy's YouTube channel thank you for listening