 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Ayes Academy for the date 9th November 2020. These are the list of news articles that have been taken up for today's discussion. The page numbers of five different editions of these news articles is given here for your reference. Today majority of the discussion is related to the bilateral relations between India and the major neighboring countries of the world. So today's analysis is more of India's international relations. Now let us begin our analysis. This news article is about the recently held general elections in Myanmar. In this context, let us discuss about Myanmar from Trillium's perspective. The relevant syllabus is given here for your reference. Know that Myanmar was formerly called as Burma. It is a country located in the western portion of the mainland Southeast Asia. The capital of Myanmar is Napitha. As you can see here, Myanmar is bordered by China to the north and northeast, Laos to the east and then Thailand to the southeast and then the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal to the south and southwest, then the country of Bangladesh to the west and India to the northwest. It is one of the important countries in the southeast Asian region. Now coming to the physical features of Myanmar, Myanmar as a whole can be divided into five physiographic regions. The northern mountains, the western ranges, the eastern plateau, the central basin and lowlands and the coastal plains. The northern mountains consists of series of ranges. Mount Kakabu is the highest peak in Myanmar. The mountain ranges of Myanmar are the sources of a number of Asia's great rivers such as the Ayuravadi which is rising in Myanmar itself and then Salveen which rises to the north in China. This region is also known for its plate tectonics. Why? Because the north eastern limit of the Indian-Australian plate collides with the southern edge of the Eurasian plate. Next coming to people, Myanmar is a country of great ethnic diversity. The Burmans who formed the largest group account for more than half of Myanmar's population. The other ethnic groups include Khar and Shan, Chinese etc. Now if you look at the religion of Myanmar, almost 90% of Myanmar's population follows Buddhism and the remaining population follow religions such as Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. So this is in brief about the geography of Myanmar. Now let us discuss the history of Myanmar. Know that various ethnic Burma and other ethnic minority kingdoms occupied the present borders of Burma through the 19th century. Even today, several minority groups with independent armies control the territory within Myanmar. Later Britain conquered the then Burma through the three Anglo-Burmese wars which began in the year 1824. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate self-governing colony. After World War II, in the year 1948, Burma attained independence from the British Commonwealth. After that, Burma was under military rule for decades. Know that General Navin dominated the government from 1962 to 1988. He was a military ruler first, then he became a self-appointed president. And in the year 1989, the name of Burma was changed to Myanmar. Then if you see in 1990, multi-party legislative elections were held and the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory. One of the notable leaders of this party is Aung San Suu Kyi. So this National League for Democracy under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi won the elections. But instead of transferring power, the military government put Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. And in the year 2007, Myanmar witnessed a series of political and economic protests which is famously known as the saffron revolution. Later the government initiated a series of political and economic reforms leading to a substantial opening of the long isolated country. Thus Myanmar opened itself to the world. Then if you see in the 2015 National Legislative Elections, the National League for Democracy again won a landslide victory and Aung San Suu Kyi became the state councillor or the de facto head of the state. In the year 2018, Vin Meinck, a long-time ally of Aung San Suu Kyi was elected as president. Meanwhile, if you see the Arakhan Rohingya Salvation Army, which is a Rohingya militant group, attacked the security forces in Myanmar. The military crackdowns which followed this attack was quite brutal and this led to the infamous Rohingya crisis. This 2017 violence is considered as an ethnic cleansing and genocide of Rohingyas. So this is in brief about the history of Myanmar, especially the recent political history of Myanmar. Now coming to the government of Myanmar, the president of Myanmar is both the chief of state and head of the government. The cabinet appointments are shared by the president and the commander-in-chief. Myanmar has a bicameral assembly, the House of Nationalities and the House of Representatives. And now the news is that the elections were held to the assembly. And this news article tells that Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy is expected to win again in these elections. This is all about the discussion of this news article. From this discussion, try to know about the geography, history and polity of Myanmar from exam perspective. Now have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This discussion is based on this editorial and few more news articles, which are with reference to the recent US elections, especially with reference to the President-elect Joe Biden, then about the US-India relations and how US is going to combat climate change. This discussion will give you an idea about the US-India bilateral relations from Maine's perspective. The relevant syllabus is given you for your reference. In the past one week, there has been a lot of news about the US presidential elections. And it is almost sure that Joe Biden from the Democrat Party is going to become the next president. He would be sworn in as the next president by January 2021 once all the formalities are completed. In this regard, the Indian administration is also ready to work with the new administration of US under Joe Biden. Previously, if you see the Indian prime minister and the outgoing US president, Donald Trump enjoyed very close relationship and they even organized Howdy Modi and Namaste Trump events in a bid to support Trump's reelection. Also, if you see the external affairs minister of India, Jay Shankar, refused to meet the Democrat-led foreign affairs committee last year. So, the defeat of Trump is truly a shock to the present Indian government under Modi. In this editorial, the author notes that Mr. Biden is a long-time supporter of the US-India relationship. So, it brings both the comfort of his understanding of foreign policy and the promise of future strategic ties. It is also expected that he will make moves to reverse some of the Trump era policies. For India, these could include the return of the United States to the Paris Climate Accord, which would help with its energy transformation. If you see there is also related news article that the climate experts want more action by the new US government on climate issues. The climate community in the US also supported Joe Biden in this regard. So, it is expected that US will act more towards the climate issues. Also, for India, US's return to Iran nuclear negotiations will facilitate its regional connectivity ambitions. And there is also a related news article today. Iran has stressed that US under the new presidency of Joe Biden should come back to the negotiation table. Here, it should be noted that when Joe Biden was the vice president, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was signed. So, if Joe Biden starts acting and if US lifts the sanctions on Iran, then India would benefit a lot as India-Iran relations have strained after the US-imposed sanctions on Iran. We have also discussed about both these climate agreement and Iran deal issues in our yesterday's Hindu news analysis as well. So, US's actions will be in favor of India. And apart from this, it is also said that Biden may take a hard stand on India's Jammu and Kashmir issue and about the Citizenship Amendment Act. Why? Because previously, he had a critical view on the human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. And once again, as I just said now, under the presidency of Joe Biden, US is expected to rejoin Paris Agreement and it will be at the forefront of climate change negotiations. This is a great relief to India. Why? Because India itself was persuaded by the then US president, Barack Obama, to join and ratify the Paris Climate Agreement. So, India can expect huge support and funding from US to fund its climate resilient initiatives. Apart from this, if you see several developed countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, Japan, and the European Union, have all committed to achieve net zero emissions by the year 2050. China too has committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2060 with greenhouse gas levels peaking by 2030. But so far, the United States, which is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has not committed to a deadline. And as I told before, Joe Biden won in part because of the climate waters. He got significant donations from the climate community and young people turned out in unprecedented numbers to vote for him. So, he has a strong mandate now to govern on this issue. And given how much the campaign focused on climate, the experts are of the opinion that Mr. Biden will make a significant move in combating climate change. And if you come to the developing countries, India has consistently maintained that it was doing more than its fair share towards achieving the Paris Climate Agreement targets. Here it is to be noted that India's emission share in the world is only 6%. But India is taking good care of nature and it is doing well. India has increased its tree cover. It has converted the vehicles to meet BS6 standards, then reduce the emissions, then prepare the land restoration plan, and it has taken various related initiatives. So, we can see that India is performing well when it comes to combating climate change. At present, India is the only G20 country whose Paris pledges for 2030 plays it on a two-degree Celsius pathway. So, out of all the tasks on the US-India bilateral agenda, the climate task is at the forefront. So, India should urge the new US administration to adopt the climate change goals that place it on a path to a lesser than two-degree Celsius warming target. And we have seen India-US partnering in many strategic areas like nuclear power, defence exports, and recently, Guar. So, now it's time for India and US to partner for combating climate change. This is all about the discussion of this editorial and the related news articles. Now, have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. Next, let's take up this news article. The news is that the families of seven kidnapped Rohingyas have approached the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees seeking intervention. There are around 120 Rohingyas who are living in a slum at Dasarahalli in Bengaluru, and they are working as rack pickers. They are subjected to harassment and they are forced to pay money to stay in the slum and work as rack pickers. And sometimes refusing to pay would end in physical harassment, and it might also take serious turns like the recent kidnapping of seven Rohingya youths. Hence, the families of the seven kidnapped Rohingyas have approached the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. So, in this context, let us have a brief discussion on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from Trillum's perspective. See, it is the United Nations Refugee Agency and a global organisation that is dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people. It is headquartered at Geneva, Switzerland. See, UNHCR was created in the year 1950 during the aftermath of the Second World War in order to help millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes due to the Second World War. It had three years to complete their work and then disband, but it has been functioning even after those three years. It has been 70 years now almost and it is still hard at work protecting and assisting refugees around the world. In their 1954, UNHCR won the Nobel Peace Prize for its groundbreaking work in Europe. The efforts are continuing even today as there are as many refugees as in after Second World War. See, there are two key legal documents that form the basis of the work of this UNHCR. One is the 1951 Refugee Convention and the second is the 1967 Protocol. Both these legal documents define the term refugee and they outlined the rights of refugees as well as the legal obligations of states to protect them. The core principle of these agreements is non-refoulement, which means that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. Here, you should have an idea that India neither signed the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol. Why India didn't sign because India is worried about the refugee crisis from the neighboring Asian countries like Myanmar, especially you can relate in the context of the recent Rohingya crisis and also refugee crisis from countries such as Bangladesh. And one more reason why India didn't sign because of the security reasons. We know that India's porous borders and it may affect the local demography. So, due to both these reasons, India did not sign the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol. So, remember this fact. Whenever you are studying about any international conventions or its related protocols, try to know if India is a signatory, whether it has exceeded or ratified. This is in brief about the discussion of this news article. In the context of this news article, we have seen in brief about the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Now, have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This discussion is based on this editorial which is again about the recent US elections. This editorial has been written by the former chief election commissioner of India. In this editorial, the author compares the election commission of India with its US counterpart, that is the federal commission of the United States of America. So, this discussion is from the polity angle. Let us compare the election commission of India with that of the federal election commission of the United States. And then let us see the important points mentioned by the author of this editorial. The relevant syllabus is given you for your reference. Know that the election commission of India is a permanent and an independent constitution body that was established in 1950 to enter free and fair elections in India. It draws its power from Article 324 of Indian Constitution. This article says that the power of superintendence, direction and control of the elections to the parliament, state legislatures, the office of president of India and the office of vice president of India shall be vested in the election commission. So, from this you can tell that the election commission of India is a constitutional body. Now, if you look at US, US has two federal bodies related to election. One is the federal election commission and the next one is the US election assistance commission. Here, both these federal bodies have been created based on a statute that is a law. So, they are basically statutory bodies not constitutional bodies. Know that the federal election commission of US is an independent regulatory agency which was created in 1974 by an amendment to the federal election campaign act. It is charged with administering and enforcing the federal campaign finance law of USA. See federal campaign finance laws or those laws which regulate the use of money in federal elections. And remember that the federal election commission has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the election to the United States House of Representatives, then the US Senate, then for the office of presidency and then the office of vice presidency. Now, if you look at US election assistance commission, it was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The US election assistance commission is an independent bipartisan commission that is mandated to adopt voluntary voting system guidelines. And it serves as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration. So far from the discussion, you can tell that the election commission of India is a constitutional body whereas both the federal election bodies of US are statutory bodies. Next, let us compare the composition and the appointments made to election commission of India as well as the federal election commission. When it comes to election commission of India as per article 324, the election commission of India shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners, if any as fixed from time to time by the presidents. And the appointments of both these offices are made by the president. And at present, the election commissioner of India has one chief election commissioner and two election commissioners. Now, if you look in case of the federal election commissioner of USA, there are six commissioners. Here, three each are appointed by the two political parties which are the Democrats and the Republicans. And as per the law, no more than three commissioners can represent the same political party. So, this wholly means the US commissioners represent the political parties unlike India's case where the chief election commissioner and the other election commissioners are nonpartisan. Next, let us compare the tenure. In case of India, article 324 states that the conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners shall be determined by the president. At present, they hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years whichever is earlier. But they can resign at any time or can also be removed before the expiry of their term. So, it means the chief election commissioner is given a security of tenure. Now, coming to US, the commissioners are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. And they also serve for a six-year term but two seats are subject to appointment every two years. The chair of the commission changes every year with no members serving more than once per term. However, if you see the members continue to serve after their terms would expire until a replacement is confirmed but they may resign at any time. Next, let us compare the powers of the commissioners. In case of the election commissioner of India, the chief election commissioner and two other election commissioners have equal powers. In case of difference of opinion among any matters between the chief election commissioner and or two other election commissioners, the matter is decided by the commission by majority. Now, if you look in case of US's federal election commission, a quorum of four members and at least four votes are required for any official commission action. This ensures non-partisan decisions. So, these are some of the important comparisons between the election commissioner of India and the federal election commissioner of United States of America. Now, let us look at some of the important information that is mentioned in the editorial. The author of this editorial tells that the election commissioner of India has enormous power during the course of elections with almost all matters related to election that comes under the election commission of India's domain. But if you look in the recent US elections, the federal election commission was missing from the scene. It did not even pass a single order. So, you can see that the federal election commission has much narrower powers or mandates than its Indian equivalent. Why? Because there is one more thing, as we saw earlier, the federal election commission is represented by both the majority parties in USA, whereas the election commission of India is non-partisan. That is, it is not connected with any particular group or any particular political party. The author also tells that during the US elections, appeals to the federal election commission was hardly seen. But the appeals went to the US Supreme Court. In sharp contrast, if you see, the Indian constitution limits the role of the judiciary in India when election petitions are filed. So, this shows the power of the election commission of India. Next, the author of this editorial also talks about the postal ballots. See, US is extensively using this system. So, India should also adopt postal balloting with foolproof mechanisms so that it will be advantageous to many citizens who are not able to go to election booths in order to cast their votes. So, these are some of the important points mentioned from this editorial. And this is all about the discussion of this editorial. Now, whenever you get such editorials, where comparisons are made between the polity-related approach between India and the major countries of the world like US, France, UK, etc., try to take down the important points from such articles. Why? Because in 2019, UPSC main examination in your general studies paper 2, there was a question, what can France learn from the Indian constitution's approach to secularism? In the past 2-3 years, there are many issues related to secularism that is going on in France like the Charlie Hebdo issue or rising cases of Islamophobia, then ban on Islamic dress like Burqa, etc. So, there was a question in 2019 mains. And this year, it's election time in USA. So, definitely, you can expect a question beat on India-USA bilateral relations or questions indirectly referring to USA or even questions related to the comparison of polity-related approach between India and USA. This is all about the discussion of this editorial. Now, have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This oped article talks about the recent developments in India-Maldives relationship. First of all, let us understand the background of India-Maldives relationship. Know that the former president of Maldives, Abdullah Yameen was defeated by Ibrahim Ahmed Soli in the year 2018? Yeah, means policies were viewed as anti-India and pro-China. But once Soli's government came into power, Maldives reaffirmed its India-first policy several times. So, this is in brief about India-Maldives relationship. With this information, let us see the important points mentioned by the author of this editorial. The author says that Indian Maldives have had bilateral relations for centuries. For example, Maldivian students attended the educational institutions in India and patients came to India for super-speciality healthcare. And if you look at Maldives side, it is a major tourist and job destination for many Indians, especially related to tourism sector. The author says that India has extended a liberal visa-free regime to Maldives and it exempted it from export curbs on essential commodities. Know that India was the first to help Maldives in case of emergencies. An example is in 1988 when armed mercenaries attempted a coup against the then-president, Maumoon Abdul Gayum. It was the Indian intervention known as Operation Cactus which restored the legitimate leadership in Maldives at that point of time. Also, if you see, India was the first to assist Maldives during the 2004 tsunami, as well as the water crisis that happened at Malay, the capital of Maldives in the year 2014. During that time, under Operation Neer, India immediately rushed bottle drinking water to Malay, utilizing its air force, aircraft and Navy ships. Most recently, India announced $250 million special financial assistance to Maldives to cope with the economic strain that was aggravated by COVID-19. The recent issue is the India Out campaign which was organized by Yamin supporters. The campaign is against India's massive developmental funding for creating physical, social and community infrastructure. The protesters also wanted the Maldives government to return to India gifted helicopters and their operational military personnel. The author feels that these are the continuations of the biased view of Yamin against India. Though Soli's friendly attitude provides strategic comfort to India, there are some concerns. First one is the ongoing India Out campaign. Another concern is the occasional issue within the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party of Mr. Soli. So, balancing the power equation between Ibrahim Mohammad Soli and the former President, Mohammad Nasheed, both are now with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party. So, this is yet another issue. So, such occasional issues that are happening within the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party also needs to be settled. In this context, the recent visit of India's foreign secretary, Harshvardhan Sringhla to Maldives is significant for taking forward bilateral relations. So, this is in brief about the discussion of this editorial. In this editorial, we have seen about the recent bilateral developments between India and Maldives. Now, have a look at this map based prelims question. We shall discuss it at the end of our session. Now, let us move on to the next news article. Now, let us look at this news article about Ethiopia. If you remember, in our 6th November, the Hindu news analysis, we discussed about how the Ethiopian MPs back the Tigray emergency. In this regard, you need to know about this particular Tigray crisis. Now, regarding this crisis, there is this related news article today. The news says that Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Abhi Ahmad, replaced his army chief, the head of intelligence and the foreign minister. There are speculations that this particular crisis could erupt into a civil war in Ethiopia. Here, one thing which you need to know is that Tigrayans dominated the Ethiopian politics for decades. When the new Ethiopian government was formed under the leadership of Abhi Ahmad, who is currently Ethiopia's Prime Minister, the Tigray People's Liberation Front refused to join the ruling coalition. And since then, this crisis has brewed, which could lead into civil war. So, just have a brief idea for now. You might be expecting more news articles and editorials related to this crisis in the days to come. Now, let us move on to the practice questions discussion session. This question is a map-based question about Myanmar. The question is, Myanmar shares border with which of the above countries, China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand. From this map, you can see that Myanmar shares its land borders with the countries of Bangladesh, India, China, Lavo and Thailand. And to its south and southwest, we have the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. So, the correct answer here is option D, 1, 2 and 5 only. Myanmar does not shares its borders with Malaysia and Cambodia. If you look at Malaysia, it shares its land border with Thailand and Cambodia with Thailand, Lavo and Vietnam. This question is about our discussion on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The question is, to which of the following international conventions, protocols or covenants, India is a signatory? Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, UN Refugee Convention of 1951, UN Refugee Protocol of 1967, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Now, if you remember our analysis, we told that India was not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its protocol of 1967. So, if you can eliminate the second and third item, you can eliminate options B, C and B. Hence, the correct answer is option A, 1 and 4, 1B. India is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Post in the comments section, in which years India signed both these conventions? This next problem's question is about the Election Commission of India. It is a two statement question and you need to choose those statements which are correct. Look at the first statement, it tells that Election Commission of India is a permanent and independent statutory body established to ensure free and fair elections in India. This statement is incorrect. During our discussion, we saw that the Election Commission of India is formed as per Article 324 of Indian Constitution. So, it is a constitutional body, not a statutory body. So, the first statement is incorrect. Look at the second statement, it tells that the conditions of service and tenure of office of the Election Commissioners are determined by the President of India. Yes, this statement is a correct statement. So, the correct answer here is option B, 2 only. This is yet another map based question. Consider the following cities, Malay, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Port Louis. What is the correct order of the above cities from north to south? In the north, we have Malay. To the south of Malay, we have Nairobi, which is the capital of Kenya. Then we have Dar es Salaam, which is the port city of Tanzania. And then we have Port Louis, which is the capital of Mauritius, which is located southeast of Dar es Salaam. So, the correct answer here is option A, 1, 2, 3 and 4. You have to arrange the cities from north to south. So, be careful when you attempt the question. Next, let us look at two practice main questions. This first main question is about India-U.S. bilateral relations. The question is, if directed properly, the Indo-U.S. proximity could be greatly effective in combating the climate change. Examine. It is a 10 marks question. Answer this question in 150 words. This next main question is also about India-U.S.A. It has been framed based on the 2019 UPSC main question, which appeared in General Studies paper 2. The question is, the constitutional forefathers of India wanted to create a powerful and independent body free from regional prejudices to supervise elections, which gave birth to the Election Commission of India. In this context, what can U.S. learn from Indian constitution's approach to conduct free and fair elections? It is a 10 marks question. Answer this question in 150 words. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the practice questions discussion session. If you like the video, press the like button, comment and share. And do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.