 Good morning, aspirants. Welcome to the Indian Express Weekly News Analysis. This is a new initiative of Shankar A. Sakadami. Actually, the plan is this. We are going to select some important news articles from the Indian Express paper and post it as a compilation on Sunday. This is a new initiative, so your valuable feedback in the comment section would be very helpful. Also, subscribe to our YouTube channel. The list of articles we are going to discuss today are displayed here. Make note of it. Now, without wasting time, let's start the discussion. Now, look at this article from the 2nd October newspaper. This article here highlights three issues in the Draft Digital India Bill 2023. In this discussion, we will see the basics about the bill and also the points highlighted in the article. See, India currently has 850 million internet users. This number is going to increase to 1.2 billion by the year 2025. While the increase in internet penetration has provided various opportunities, it has also raised various challenges. Increase in internet penetration has brought in new challenges like cyber trawling, gaslighting, hate speech and spread of misinformation. India currently has the IT Act 2000 to address these issues. But a lot has changed in the past two decades. So, to address these new challenges, a new comprehensive legal framework is required. It is in this context the government drafted the Digital India Bill. Now, we will see some of the important provisions of the Digital India Bill. See, the bill classifies the intermediaries on the internet. Here, intermediaries are various platforms that help the user access various services on the internet. See, earlier, all these intermediaries were clipped together. So, the rules and regulations were common for all intermediaries. But this was counterproductive as rules for social media intermediaries like Twitter must be different from e-commerce sites like Flipkart. This is why the Digital India Bill classifies the intermediaries and the bill classifies various intermediaries like social media platform, e-commerce platform, AI platform, fact-checking platform and each of these platforms will be guided by its own set of rules. This is the first important provision. Secondly, the new bill also proposes to create a new regulator for the internet like the TUF, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or the Security Exchange Board of India. The bill also proposes to make deliberate misinformation, doxing, impersonation, identity theft, catfishing and cyberbullying of children as offenses. The bill also proposes that the government would regulate the deployment of emerging technologies like AI so that the interest of the people are not affected. Finally, the bill proposes to make some changes to the safe harbor norms. Here, safe harbor is the legal immunity that online intermediaries enjoy against content posted by users on their platform. This legal immunity is provided under section 79 of the IT Act 2000. For example, say a person acts post misinformation on Facebook. In this case, Facebook cannot be held responsible for the misinformation posted by Mr. X. This is the safe harbor norms and through the Digital India Bill, the government is planning to make some changes regarding this. These are some of the important provisions of the Draft Digital India Bill. Now, let us look at the issues highlighted in the article. The first issue is regarding the changes made regarding content blocking orders. See, currently section 69A of the IT Act regulates orders regarding content blocking. Under 69A, orders to block a content can be issued only when there is a necessary or expedient to uphold national security or public order. The draft bill removes the term necessary or expedient. This change will make the government all-powerful. Already, government request for removal of content from social media platforms has risen in the past couple of years. It has risen from 471 requests in 2014 to 9849 requests in 2020. If the new bill is introduced without any changes, this number will increase exponentially. This will seriously affect the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the constitution. This is the first issue. The second issue is regarding the changes made to the safe harbor norms. According to the Digital India Bill, the government will decide which intermediary will receive safe harbor protection. Giving such a discretionary power to the government will result in government forcing all the intermediaries to post only pro-government content so that it can enjoy the safe harbor protection. Such an arm-twisting of intermediaries by the government will negatively affect our democracy. The third issue is regarding the control over the deployment of new technologies. This provision might worry investors. Instead of having regressive provisions like this, India must be more nurturing towards the new technologies so that it can enjoy the fruits of innovation. These are the three issues in the draft Digital India Bill highlighted in the article given here. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw some of the important provisions in the draft Digital India Bill and we also saw some issues with the bill. Now, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Before moving on to the next news article, let us look at this question. The question asks us how many of the species given here are invasive species? The species given are Lantana, Kamara, Conocarpus, Erectus, Leucaina, Leucosaphala, and Prosopis, Julephlora. The correct answer here is Option D, all four. I framed this question because the states of Gujarat and Telangana have recently banned these species. And this article here from the second October newspaper is about this only. The article also highlights the issues with the invasive exotic species and also highlights steps that can be taken to address the issue. Now, in this discussion, let us see the points highlighted in the article. First, let us see few facts about the Conocarpus Erectus. They are also called Buttonwood trees. These trees are native to South America. It is generally found growing in brackish water in tidal lagoons and bays, but they can also grow in inland habitat. They are used as ornamental plants in India due to its beautiful silver leaves and its ability to grow in high temperature and brackish water. Also, they can be easily propagated and multiplied in nurseries through stem cuttings. The issue with the species is that it spreads rapidly and does not allow room for the growth of native species. In addition to this, they also cause pollen allergies in people living nearby the trees. It is due to these two reasons efforts are now taken to ban these trees. And like I said earlier, Gujarat and Telangana have become the states to ban the Conocarpus Erectus trees. Now, you may have a question. Why do most of the exotic plants like Eucalyptus or Conocarpus used in urban greening initiatives turn ingesive? See, for urban greening initiative, policy makers mostly choose plant species that require a minimum amount of maintenance. The exotic plants fits this need perfectly. See, the exotic plants have no local test or pathogens. In addition to this, the local animals do not feed on the exotic plants as they are not accustomed to its taste. These two characteristics makes the exotic plants ideal choice for urban greening initiatives. But this way of thinking is very short-sighted because sooner or later these plants will turn ingesive. Once it turns ingesive, no amount of effort will curb its spread. For example, India already lost its fight against the ingesive species Prosopis julephlora. So, what can be done? The solution is very simple. For urban landscaping and green initiatives, ecologically appropriate native species must be chosen. Although choosing native species would be costly in the short term, the benefits will become enormous in the long term. So, government must make guidelines regarding this so that it can be easily adopted. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw some basic points about konocorpus erectus. Then we saw the reason why exotic plants turn ingesive in India. And finally, we saw the steps that can be taken to address the ingesive species crisis. Now, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article from October 3rd newspaper. This article is about India-Canada relations. In this article, the author traces the evolution of India-Canada relationship since India's independence. Before getting into the discussion, look here. The title has the word moral politic. What does it mean? To know about moral politic, we must first know about Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck, a former chancellor of Germany, played an important role in the unification of Germany. He is the main proponent of real politic. Real politic is a German word. Real politic, in simple terms, refers to the practical approach to politics and diplomacy where the leaders make decisions based on what is more beneficial for their country. While pursuing real politic, leaders often set aside morals and idealistic concerns. It is all about pursuing the country's self-interest and power. Let us quickly understand real politic with an example. Otto von Bismarck was from Prussia. And Prussia was one of the many states that made Germany before the German unification. The other important German states were Wurttemberg, Bavaria, and Saxony. Prussia, before German unification, was very weak. It was surrounded by potential enemies, and it was geographically very vulnerable. But Otto had a dream of making a unified militaristic German empire with the king William I of Prussia as the emperor. To achieve this aim, Otto compromised on his morals and ideals. For example, Otto von Bismarck was a strong right-wing conservative. But to get the support of the working class, he created a welfare state. This is real politic at work within the country. In the case of foreign policy, the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 is the prime example of the application of real politic principle by Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck engineered a diplomatic crisis by manipulating the dispute over candidacy of Hogan's order and prince for the Spanish throne. He knew that this move would provoke the French and it would lead to a war. This calculated provocation allowed Prussia to portray France as the aggressor. Gaining international sympathy. Before the war, Bismarck worked skillfully to diplomatically isolate France. He secured Russia's neutrality and kept other European powers like Britain and Austria from intervening on France's side. This diplomatic maneuver ensued that Prussia could focus its military efforts on France without fear of a broader European conflict. As I already mentioned, Bismarck's ultimate aim was the unification of Germany under the Prussian leadership. The defeat of France in 1870 allowed him to achieve this objective. The war led to the proclamation of the German Empire with King Wilhelm I of Prussia becoming the emperor or caser of the united Germany. In addition to this, Bismarck was careful to maintain a balance of power in Europe even after the German unification. He took careful steps to avoid conflict with other major European powers. Through this, he ensured Germany's position in the continent. This is how Bismarck used the principle of real politic in foreign policy. So in conclusion, what I am trying to say is, real politic is going to any extent necessary, I mean even doing immoral thing to achieve your aim. Now compare this with moral politic. Moral politic means politics based on moral ethical concerns. It refers to a political strategy that places a strong emphasis on moral principles and values when making policy decisions. It involves integration of ethical consideration into the political decision making process. People supporting moral politic often argue that political decision should not be only based on pragmatic conditions or pursuit of self-interest but should also reflect a commitment to ethical values and promotion of a greater good. Now I hope you understand the difference between real politic and moral politic. Real politic is more pragmatic and moral politic is more ethical. See, Canada for most of the history adopted moral politic. The country pursued moral principles over self-interest. Now why did Canada choose moral politic over real politic? And is Canada more noble than other countries for choosing moral politic? See, the first reason why Canada chose moral politic over real politic is because it can afford to do so. It basically has no rivals nearby. The only country that it shares border with is the United States, which is a friendly nation towards Canada. Due to such a secure nature, Canada can afford to be moral. Now compare Canada with Israel. Israel is very vulnerable. It is surrounded on all sides by adversaries. So Israel cannot be moral. So to ensure its survival, it has to be a moral sometimes. So what I'm trying to say is, Canada's safe location and lack of vulnerability helped it choose moral politic over real politic, okay? The second reason why Canada chose moral politic is that it has no responsibility. Post the World War I, the USSR took efforts to spread communism. And the United States on the other hand took efforts to contain the spread of communism. So both these superpowers had to play dirty to spread their ideology. But Canada had no such responsibility. So it can afford to stay moral. The third reason is the availability of natural resources. Canada is the second largest country in the world. It is the fourth largest producer of oil in the world. And it also has plenty of other natural resources. In addition to such a large availability of natural resources, it has a miniscule population. Canada's population is around 3.8 crores. And a New Delhi's population alone is around 3.2 crores. This low population density coupled with large amount of natural resources made Canada economically very stable. Due to such economic stability, Canada can afford to be moral in its foreign policy. The last reason is that moral politic gave an identity for Canada in the global stage. This identity helped Canada to get out of the shadow of the United States. By choosing moral politic over real politic, Canada created a narrative with US as a mischiever and Canada as a problem solver. These are some of the reasons why Canada chose moral politic over real politic in its foreign policy. Now having covered the basics, now let us look at the evolution of the India-Canada relations. Post-independence mainly during the Nerovian era, India also adopted moral politic in its foreign policy. This is because Nero believed that India had no security threats. Turns out, Nero was wrong. As the foreign policy of India and Canada became similar, both countries enjoyed a period of friendly relationship. During the Korean War and during the Suez Canal crisis, both Canada and India were on the same page. They criticized the actions of the superpowers and tried to diffuse the tension in these areas. The convergence of the foreign policy of India and Canada further brought these two countries closer. In the 50s and 60s, India viewed Canada as a valuable partner to have in the West. And Canada tried to act as a bridge between India and the West in general and between India and US in particular. Canada even provided developmental assistance to India. Canada trusted India so much that it helped India build nuclear research reactor SIRAS in Trombay. Canada also helped India develop its heavy-water natural uranium power reactor. This acted as a foundation for India's nuclear power generation capacity. But the India-Canada relationship turned bad when India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974. Canada felt betrayed. Since then, India-Canada relationship has been mostly stagnant. In addition to this, in the past two decades, Canadian local politics pushed the India-Canada relationship further soar. The liberal Canadian politician's minority appeasement policy has strained the already fragile India-Canada relationship. This is all about the evolution of India-Canada relationship since India's independence. But all is not lost. India and Canada must work together to not bring local politics in its foreign policy. India for its part must cooperate with Canada in its investigation of the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. And Canada for its part should stop providing safe haven for pro-Kalistani anti-Indian elements. Only this will ensure long-lasting friendship between India and Canada. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is real politic in foreign policy. Then we saw what is moral politic in foreign policy. After that, we saw the reasons why Canada chose moral politic over real politic in its foreign policy. After that, we saw the evolution of India-Canada relationship from India's independence to till date. I hope this discussion was helpful. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article from October 3rd newspaper. Through this article, the author highlights the flawed agricultural policy of the government. Before getting into the discussion, let us cover some basics. Do you know who decides the price of commodities in the market economy? It is the forces of demand and supply that decide the price of commodities in the market economy. Here's a simple explanation to help you understand better. Let us say you are looking to buy 1 kilogram of rice. The price of the rice depends on demand and supply of rice. Now, what is the demand? Demand represents how much of a product consumers are willing to buy and able to buy at various prices. The law of demand states that as the price of the product decreases, the quantity demanded will increase and vice versa. When 1 kg of rice is priced at rupees 80, there will be only few people willing to buy it because it is relatively expensive. This results in low demand for rice. As the price drops to rupees 60, more people will be interested and are willing to buy rice. At rupees 40, even more people are willing to purchase 1 kilogram of rice. Finally, at rupees 20, almost everyone who wants to buy 1 kilogram of rice is willing to buy one. This is how quantity demanded changes with price. Now, moving on to supply. What is supply? Supply represents how much of a product producers are willing and able to produce and sell at various prices. The law of supply states that as the price of the product increases, the quantity supplied by the producer also increases. When 1 kilogram of rice is priced at rupees 20, only a few farmers will be able to produce and sell rice at a profit margin because the profit margin when rice is sold at rupees 20 per kg is very low. As the price increases to rupees 40, more farmers find it profitable to produce 1 kilogram of rice. So the quantity supplied will increase. At rupees 60, even more farmers enter the market to take advantage of the higher prices. When the price reaches rupees 80, a large number of producers are willing to supply 1 kilogram of rice because they can make a substantial profit. This is how quantity supplied changes with price. Now, what is the equilibrium price? The equilibrium price is the price at which the quantity demanded equals the quantity supplied. In other words, it is the price for which buyers and sellers settle. In our example, the equilibrium price might be rupees 40. At this price, the quantity demanded for 1 kg of rice matches the quantity supplied. This is the point where the supply and demand curve intersects. The equilibrium price effectively becomes market price. Now, what happens when the price of rice in the market is above equilibrium price? If the price is above equilibrium, say rupees 60 in our example, in such a scenario, farmers will be motivated to produce more rice to make more profit. Due to this, there will be more supply in the market than the quantity demanded. As the supply exceeds the demand, there will be excess rice in the market. Due to this, sellers might lower the price to sell their excess stock, that is excess inventory. So slowly, market price will come down and it will match the equilibrium price, which is rupees 40. Now, what happens when the market price of rice is below the equilibrium price? That is, rupees 20 in our example. When the market price is rupees 20, farmers will find no motivation to increase rice production. Due to this, supply of rice will come down. This results in shortage of rice because the demand exceeds the supply. At such a time, sellers might increase the price to take advantage of the higher demand. Due to this, the market price again comes back to the equilibrium price of rupees 40. This is how the price of the commodities are determined in the market economy. If left alone, the market functions like this and everyone, that is both the consumers and the producers, will benefit. But in India, particularly in the case of agricultural commodities, this does not happen. Mainly due to government intervention. The government manipulates the price of agricultural commodities through MSP policy. Here, what is MSP? Minimum support price or MSP is the minimum price set by the government for certain agricultural products. The government will buy commodities directly from the farmers if the open market prices are less than the cost incurred by the farmers. So, from this itself, we can infer that MSP is a form of government intervention to manipulate the price of agricultural commodities. Now, why does the government provide MSP? See, the price of the agricultural commodities often vary due to various factors in our country. If a crop has seen a good harvest during a particular year, it may see a sharp fall in its prices. Fall in price means lesser profit for the farmers. So, farmers may not sow the crop in the next year which will affect the supply. To counter this, MSP is fixed by the government which is supposed to encourage higher investment and production of crops. It also protects farmers from the steep decline in agricultural commodity prices. See here, on paper, the MSP policy appears good. But through faulty implementation of MSP policy, the government sometimes protect the common people from price raise at the expense of the farmers. This is the major issue highlighted by the author in the article. The author give examples to highlight the issue. Now, let us see one example. Let us take wheat cultivation. In 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war started. Government anticipated that the war would cause price of wheat to increase. To arrest the price inflation of wheat, the government took the following measures. First, it brought down the amount of wheat procured at MSP. In 2022, the total wheat procured by the government under MSP was just 19 million metric tons, which is a 50% reduction compared to the previous year. Secondly, the government placed a ban on wheat exports. Finally, the government also nudged the food corporation of India to sell its stock of wheat in open market at the rate way below the economic cost. In March-February period alone, the food corporation of India sold 3.4 million metric ton of wheat in open market. All these resulted in increase in supply of wheat in the market. Due to an increase in supply, the price of the wheat in the open market started falling. The fall in wheat prices will make the consumers happy. But what about the poor wheat farmers? He will definitely face a loss. According to the author of the article, the manipulated price drop caused due to government intervention has resulted in a net loss of rupees 40,000 crore rupees for the farming community. The argument of the author is that the interest of the consumers and producers must be balanced. A plain consumer bias, as the government is doing right now, will hurt the farming community even further. The author also says that 80 million people in India get free rice or wheat under the PDS system. People not covered under the PDS are mostly upper middle class and upper class people. By keeping the price level of rice and wheat artificially low through government intervention, the government is choosing the interest of upper middle class and upper class people over the interest of poor farmers. This faulty policy, according to the author, will not be sustainable in the long run. So the government must allow market forces to operate without intervention so that the interest of both the consumers and the producers is balanced. This is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the basics about the law of demand and supply. Then we saw a few points about the MSP policy. Finally, we saw the government's faulty agricultural policy that is highlighted by the author in this article. Now with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article from the October 4th newspaper. Recently, the Bihar government published the comprehensive caste survey. This article here is written in this context only. The author of the article presents various points highlighting the need for a caste census. Now let us see various points highlighted by the article, which you can use in your main censor supporting the need for a caste census. Firstly, a caste census will help evaluate the progress we have made so far. Our government through the caste census can evaluate the well-being of the population. It will also help the government identify the inequalities in the society. Secondly, the caste census will help us identify the realities of caste inequalities that happens right now. Only by acknowledging the present day caste inequalities we can address it. And only by addressing the present day caste inequalities, we can build a caste-less society in the future. These are the two main points highlighted in the article. The author also says that publishing a caste census will cause inconvenience in a short term, but it will help ensure accountability of the political class in the long run. These are some important points mentioned in the article that you can use in your main censor supporting the need for a caste census. Now with this, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. This article is also from the 4th October newspaper. I chose this article for discussion to revise about mRNA. In addition to this, I chose this article to share with you the story of Katalin Karikou and her perseverance which led to her winning their noble prize for medicine. First, let us cover the basics. What is an mRNA? Messenger RNA is a type of RNA molecule that plays an important role in the process of protein synthesis within the cells. mRNA acts as a messenger that carries genetic information from the DNA in the cell nucleus to the ribosomes. It is in the ribosomes where protein synthesis takes place. The first step in the protein synthesis process is transcription. In transcription, a specific segment of DNA is used as a template to synthesis a complementary RNA molecule. This RNA molecule is called mRNA. The transcription process takes place in the cell nucleus. After the transcription process, the mRNA molecule leaves the cell nucleus and enters the cytoplasm. In the cytoplasm, it carries the genetic information encoded in the DNA to the ribosomes. In the ribosomes, the mRNA molecule is read by another type of RNA which is called a transfer RNA or tRNA. This is where translation takes place. Translation is the process by which genetic information carried by the mRNA is converted into protein. This is how protein synthesis takes place. Having understood the basics about mRNA, now let us see some points about mRNA vaccines. We all know that vaccines help repair our body to fight foreign pathogens like bacteria and virus. All vaccines introduce a harmless piece of particular bacteria or virus into the body and this will trigger an immune response. Most vaccines contain a weakened or dead pathogen. The mRNA vaccine, on the other hand, do not use any part of the pathogen to stimulate immune response. Instead, it instructs our cell to produce some harmless protein of the pathogen to initiate immune response. Now, let us see how it works with the example of coronavirus. Firstly, the mRNA vaccines are given in the upper arm muscles. The mRNA will enter into the muscle cells and instruct the cells missionary to produce a harmless piece of spike protein. After the spike protein is made, our cell breaks down the mRNA and removes the mRNA. This is the first step. With this, the role of mRNA vaccine is over. In the next step, the cells display the spike protein pieces on their surface. Now, our body's immune system recognizes that the protein does not belong to our body. This triggers the immune response to produce antibodies and activate our immune cells to fight the proteins. So, through mRNA vaccines, we are indirectly helping our immune system learn about the COVID-19 virus without actually injecting ourselves with the virus. This is about the working of mRNA vaccine. In our previous discussion, many times we have covered the advantages of mRNA vaccine. So, today, let us focus on the disadvantages. See, firstly, the critics of mRNA vaccine are worried that mRNA might intrude and make alteration to our cells' DNA. This is the first concern. Then, in some rare cases, mRNA vaccine have resulted in myocarditis and thrombosis. Here, myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscles and thrombosis means formation of blood clot within the blood vessels. This is the second concern. The last and the major concern associated with mRNA vaccine is the issue of immune evasion. Now, let us try to understand this with the example of mRNA corona vaccine. Through the mRNA corona vaccine, our body is trained to recognize the spike protein in the coronavirus. But what happens when the coronavirus, through a mutation, changes its spike protein? In such cases, there is a possibility of immune evasion. But in the case of an inactive virus vaccine like COVAXIN, our immune system is trained to recognize many parts of the inactive virus. So, even if there is a mutation that resulted in change in spike protein, our body can still recognize the mutated coronavirus. So, the possibility of immune evasion in case of inactive virus vaccine is very low compared to mRNA vaccine, which is pretty high. This is the major concern associated with mRNA vaccine. Now, having covered the basics about mRNA and mRNA vaccine, let us look at the story of Kettle in Kariko. First, know that Kettle in Kariko and Drew Wasteman received Nobel Prize for Medicine not for discovering mRNA vaccine, but for devising steps to stop our body's inflammatory response associated with mRNA. No coming to the story. Kettle in Kariko was a Hungarian immigrant in the United States. In the 1990s, she pursued research in the mRNA technology in the University of Pennsylvania. People in the 1990s lost hope on the mRNA technology because at that time, lab-grown synthetic mRNA evoked inflammatory immune response in the human body. Due to this, both the University and other funding agencies stopped providing fund for Kettle in Kariko to her research, but this did not demotivate her. She even had to take a pay cut and demotion to continue staying in the University and do research in mRNA technology. All this did not shake her confidence in her research. As the popular saying goes, luck favors the brave. The brave, Ms. Kariko by chance, met Mr. Drew Wasteman. Mr. Wasteman was also a fellow researcher in the University of Pennsylvania who was working on the mRNA technology. Ms. Kariko and Mr. Wasteman started working together. They modified the chemical composition of the lab-made synthetic mRNA to resemble natural mRNA. This modified lab-made mRNA did not evoke inflammatory immune response in our human body. They published their finding in a 2005 paper, and it is for this paper, they received the Nobel Prize. Their research totally revolutionized the mRNA technology. It also created renewed interest in the field of mRNA technology. So, I wanted to share this story here because Ms. Kariko's story is one of perseverance and bravery. And you can use this story in your essay paper or in the GS paper 4. You can also take this story as an inspiration for your UPSC preparation journey. The UPSC preparation journey is a long and hard-dressed journey. Only people who persevere and smile in the face of adversity will make it to the final list. So, keep that in mind. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the basics about mRNA and mRNA vaccine, and we also saw the story of Katelyn Kariko. Try to use the story in your essay paper and in GS paper 4 when the question is regarding confidence, bravery, or perseverance. I hope this was helpful. Now, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. This year, there has been poor rainfall in the Kaveri catchment area. And as expected, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have locked horns once again over the sharing of the Kaveri water. It is in this context this article here is written. The author here highlights the lessons that can be learned from the Kaveri River dispute. In this discussion, let us look at the points mentioned by the author. First, let us start with the basics. Let us see some important provisions of the Interstate River Water Disputes Act. According to Article 262, Class I of Indian Constitution, Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any disputes related to interstate water sharing issues. Under this, Parliament has enacted the Interstate Water Disputes Act, 1956, okay? See, if there is a dispute between states in sharing a water, they have to take this up with the central government. The central government, if it is convinced that the issue cannot be resolved using negotiation, then a water dispute tribunal is constituted for the adjudication of water dispute. Note here that this provision here means unless the states ask for it, the center has no role to play in case of Interstate River Water Dispute. The water dispute tribunal shall consist of a chairman and two other members nominated for this by the Chief Justice of India. The chairman and the members, while nominated, should be judges of the Supreme Court or the High Court. The central government may, in consultation with the tribunal, may appoint two or more persons as assessors to advise the tribunal in its proceedings. Once the tribunal pronounces its decision or award, the central government should publish it in the official guisette. See, the award here that is provided by the water dispute tribunal is binding on all the parties concerned. The decision of the tribunal, after its publication in the official guisette by the central government, will have the power as an order or a decree of the Supreme Court. After this, the central government shall form an authority to implement the order of the tribunal. This is how the water disputes tribunal function. And these are some points that you have to know about the Interstate Water Disputes Act 1956, okay? Now coming to the issue at hand, which is the Cauvery Water Sharing Dispute. Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal was constituted in 1990. The tribunal was constituted to adjudicate the water dispute between the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. In 2007, the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal issued its final award. In this award, it specified the amount of water that each state should receive during different periods of the year. But the Karnataka government did not follow the decisions of the tribunal. So, the Tamil Nadu government had approached the Supreme Court with the special leave petition under Article 136. Now briefly about Article 136. Article 136 makes the Supreme Court the highest appellate court. The Supreme Court delivered its judgment regarding this appeal in 2018. And as per the judgment, the central government constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority, that is CWMA, and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee. These two bodies hold meetings regularly and make decisions for water allocation. The Cauvery Water Management Authority ensures the compliance and implementation of the award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal. And the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee monitors the daily water levels inflows and storage position at major reservoirs storing the Cauvery Water. It ensures data collection and implementation of the final award. The current issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka is due to deficit in monsoon in the Cauvery Catchment Area. See, Tamil Nadu initially asked for a release of water at the rate of 24,000 Q-Sex, that is 24,000 cubic foot per second. After long negotiations, the Karnataka government agreed to release 3,000 Q-Sex of water. And when Karnataka government started releasing this water, there were protests in Karnataka. There was a ban in Bangalore in 26th September and there was a statewide ban in Karnataka on 29th September. This is the important timeline of events in regards to the Cauvery Water Dispute. Having revised the basics, now let us look at the points mentioned in the editorial. See, flare-up between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka due to Cauvery sharing dispute has happened many times in the past. But what is unique this year is that this is the first major flare-up since the Supreme Court judgment in 2018, okay? Now, has the Supreme Court intervention and the Constitution of Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee helped resolve the Cauvery dispute? See, the answer here is both yes and no, okay? The SC intervention and the Constitution of Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee help diffuse tensions to some extent. Although there was a ban in Karnataka due to the flare-up this year, the tensions were less compared to the previous years. For example, according to Asocham, the 2016 flare-up or tension between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu due to Cauvery dispute caused a loss of Rs. 25,000 crore for Karnataka alone. In this note, we can say that the Supreme Court intervention and the Constitution of Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee helped diffuse tension, but it did not bring everlasting peace. The author of this article feels that nothing could bring a complete solution to the Cauvery water sharing dispute. But the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee is the step in the right direction, even though it is not 100% perfect. This is why I mentioned the answer is yes and no for the question has Supreme Court intervention and the Constitution of Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee helped to resolve the Cauvery dispute, okay? Now, what are the lessons that we can learn from this? Firstly, we must accept the fact that bringing a permanent solution to a river water dispute is a myth and it cannot be achieved. We must learn to accept the fact that both conflict and cooperation will coexist even in the future. The second lesson that can be derived from this saga is that the legal adjudication must be supplemented with the institutional mechanism, like in the case of Cauvery dispute where the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee are created to implement the orders of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal, okay? This is the second lesson. Thirdly, steps must be taken to improve the workings of the institutional mechanisms like Cauvery Water Management Authority and the steps here must be based on consensus. This will ensure cooperation even during periods of conflict. Lastly, the whole saga will help us appreciate the wisdom of the Constitution makers. See, Article 262 bars the jurisdiction of courts over interstate river disputes. The Supreme Court also adhered to this. Only in 2016, the Supreme Court insisted that it had appellate jurisdiction in case of interstate river disputes. The Supreme Court believed that its intervention would bring lasting solution since it is the apex court of our country. The Supreme Court also believed that if the orders came directly from the Supreme Court, the states would have to implement it inward. But in reality, it did not happen. Even after the Supreme Court intervention, the conflict due to interstate river dispute still exists between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Maybe this is why the Constitution makers barred the jurisdiction of the courts over the interstate river disputes. So these are some of the lessons that we can learn from the Kaveri River dispute. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw few points about the Interstate Water Dispute Act 1956. Then we saw the timeline of event in the Kaveri Water Dispute. And then we saw the lessons that can be learned from the Kaveri River dispute. Now with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. See, your main sanser needs data. The amount of marks you receive for your main sanser depends on the amount of data you present to substantiate your opinion. The RTL here has lots and lots of data that you can use in your main sanser. The article here highlights the issue faced by the rural women in India. As UPSC frequently asked question about the challenges faced by women and gender inequality, the data given in this article is very useful. So in this discussion, we will look at the various data highlighted in the article. First, what is labor force participation rate? The labor force participation rate measures the proportion of working age population who are either employed or actively seeking employment. It is the ratio of labor force and working age population. Here, the labor force include all the individual who are either employed or actively seeking employment. And the working age population refers to the total number of individuals in the given population who are in the working age, that is, between the ages 16 and 59. The labor force participation rate provides insights into the proportion of population that is economically active and are engaged in the labor market. Now, having covered the basics about labor force participation rate, let us see some data regarding women's labor force participation rate. According to the periodic labor force survey, the labor force participation rate for women in India is 35.6%. This is one of the lowest in the country. Compared to our neighboring countries, India is performing better than only Pakistan and Afghanistan. Within India also, there is a disparity between rural and urban areas. The labor force participation rate is 39.3% in case of urban women and it is only 26.5% in case of rural women. Next, between 2017 and 2022, the labor force participation rate of rural women witnessed an increase compared to men. But this is not something to be proud about because this increase happened during this period, mainly because women were involved in agricultural and allied activities. These are some data regarding labor force participation rate of women. Next, we will see some data about wage gap. Women who are self-employed received less than half of the men's earnings. In the wage gap also, there is a rural-urban divide. The rural women working as regular or casual workers faced a higher wage gap than their urban counterparts. The next data is regarding women's unpaid labor. The time you surveyed 2019 data revealed that women spend five hours every day on unpaid domestic work. In addition to this, women spend more than two hours every day on unpaid caregiving services. A significant trend was noticed in women's unpaid labor. In the 2017-18 period, 60% of the women were engaged in unpaid labor. This number has reduced to 46% in the 2021-22 period. And this is a positive trend. Next, we will see some data regarding land holding. Only 14.7% of the operational land holding in India are held by women. Within this 14.7% also, more than 50% are small and marginal lands. So, not only women are having less land on their hand, their land they hold is either small or marginal. This is a major issue because currently most of the government's agricultural programs are individual centric. For example, take Pradhan Mandiri Kisan Saman Nidhi. Under this, government provides cash incentive to land holding farmers. Due to poor land holding, women in India receive only 25% of the financial support under Pradhan Mandiri Kisan Saman Nidhi. These are some important data provided in the article that you can use in your main censor. So, that's all regarding this discussion. Now let us take up the last article for our discussion. Look at this article from yesterday's newspaper. This article is about the hawkish monetary policy of the Monetary Policy Committee. Here, what is a hawkish monetary policy? Hawkish monetary policy is the extreme form of dear money or tight money policy. While adopting hawkish monetary policy, the central bank raises the interest rate to fight inflation. Even though the high interest rate is impacting economic growth and employment. The article here highlights various reasons due to which the Monetary Policy Committee adopted hawkish monetary policy. In this discussion, we will cover the points mentioned in the article in detail. First, let us cover the basics. As per the RBI Act of 1934, the Monetary Policy Committee of India is vested with the responsibility of conducting monetary policy. And the Monetary Policy refers to the use of monetary instruments by the MPC to ensure price stability and economic growth. Under the Monetary Policy, there are two methods of credit control. One is quantitative or general credit control policy. The other one is qualitative or selective credit control policy. In quantitative credit control policy, the MPC uses instruments like repo and reverse repo rate, marginal standing facility, CRR, SLR, open market operation, and bank rate to control the amount of credit provided. Under qualitative credit control policy, the MPC may impose ceiling on credit. In this, it uses tools like rationing of credit, moral situation, and direct action. Using these tools, the MPC will restrict the lending capacity of the banks. The Monetary Policy of the MPC is divided into two types. One is Expansionary Monetary Policy and the other one is the Contractionary Monetary Policy. Now let us take up Expansionary Monetary Policy. Expansionary Monetary Policy is also called as Cheap Money Policy. This is because during Expansionary Monetary Policy, loans become cheaper, that is, the interest rate on the loans will come down. In case of Expansionary Policy, the MPC takes steps to increase money supply in the economy. The MPC brings down the policy rates to increase money supply. MPC follows Expansionary Monetary Policy to help the economic growth. See, during the COVID epidemic, the economy in India stagnated. This is because there was less demand in the economy due to less money supply. To put the economy in the growth path, the MPC followed Expansionary Monetary Policy. The MPC brought down the report. This resulted in increase in money supply and demand in the economy. This increase in demand resulted in increasing economic growth. Now let us move on to Contractionary Monetary Policy. It is also called as Deer Money Policy or Hockish Money Policy. It is called Deer Money Policy because during Contractionary Policy, loans become costlier. That is, the interest rate on the loans become higher. MPC follows Deer Money Policy to bring down inflation. In case of Deer Money Policy, the MPC increases the policy rate, that is the report rate. See, presently, inflation in India is very high. This is because there is excessive money supply. It is due to this reason, the MPC has been maintaining the report rate at 6.5% for quite some time. Such a high report rate makes loans costlier. This brings down money supply, which in turn brings down the inflation in the economy. So, the MPC and the Central Bank use monetary policy to try to find a balance between economic growth and inflation in our country. Okay, having covered the basics, let us see the reasons why the MPC has adopted the Hockish Monetary Policy that is provided in the article. First, let us see the global reasons. The Russia-Ukraine War has not concluded yet. Due to this, the global crude oil prices are very volatile. Not only this, due to this, the global wheat prices is also increasing. To shield our country from this volatility, the MPC has adopted a Hockish Monetary Policy. Next, the developed world is reeling under inflation. To arrest inflation, the central banks of the developed countries are following type money policy. Due to this, foreign investors are pulling investment out of emerging economy, including India. This is leading to rupee depreciation. As India depends mainly on imports for its oil needs, the depreciation of rupee has made import costlier. This in turn is causing inflation. To arrest this, the MPC is maintaining a Hockish stance. Now, coming to the domestic reason. See, in India, food inflation is currently very high. Only recently, the price of tomato has come down. But the El Nino condition is expected to exist in the eastern Pacific Ocean till the end of the year. Due to this, the prices of cereals, pulses, and spices may increase at any time. So, to shield our country from the forthcoming inflationary pressure also, the MPC has taken a Hockish stance. So, these are the points mentioned in the article regarding the reasons why MPC has chosen a Hockish monetary policy. So, that's all regarding this discussion. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. I hope this new initiative of our academy is very helpful for your preparation. We expect your continued support for this program so that we can take it forward in the future also. Also, if you like this video, like, comment, and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPC preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.