 Good evening friends, I welcome you all to the Hindu Uniscape Analysis brought to you by the Shankar Reyes Academy. Today's date is 22nd December 2023. Before entering our discussion, I have an important announcement to make. Guys, marks your calendar for an unmissable opportunity. Are you gearing up for the UPSC preliminary 2024? Well, we have got the workshop just only for you. Join us from December 23 to December 30 for an exclusive and free UPSC preliminary workshop. Whether you are in Anandagar or connected virtually from any branches, this workshop is tailor-made to propel your preparation to the next level. Or Agenta, it is packed with insights and strategies that you need to crack the preliminary examination. From subject-specific tips and tricks to dissecting the previous equation papers and analyzing the trends, this workshop has it all. If you are worrying about handling unknown areas, fear not. We have got you covered. Learn effective strategies to tackle those unfamiliar terrains with confidence. See, is CSAT stressing you out? Not anymore. Our experts will guide you through proven strategies to ace this session. Plus, get ready for the personalized study plan designed to optimize your learning curve and understand the paramount importance of test series through pre-storming and pre-fit. Secure your spot for this intensive 7-day workshop. Limited offline seats available at Anandagar. So hurry up. Register now and get up to conquer UPSC preliminary 2024. I have attached the registration link in the description box. Don't miss this golden opportunity to set yourself on the path to success. Join us for the UPSC preliminary 2024 workshop and let us crack it together. See you there. So back to our discussion. Here are the list of articles which we are going to discuss today. So without wasting time, let's get into discussion. Look at this article. The devil is back. On Thursday, Kerala announced that it is having around 87% of active COVID cases in the country. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, there were approximately 300 new infections and three deaths in the last 24 hours. See, this is the crux of the news article. So in this context, let us quickly revise about the basics of COVID-19. Firstly, let us see about the basics of COVID-19 disease. See, COVID-19 is an infectious zoonotic disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. See, it is an RNA-based virus with ribonucleic acid or RNA as its genetic material instead of DNA. What does it mean? It means the virus can blend with the DNA of the host and can mutate rapidly. So due to this property of rapid mutation, it has become deadly in nature. Moreover, know that it is a member of the coronavirus family, which includes various other viruses which are being responsible for severe acute respiratory syndromes or SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS infections. The interesting feature of the coronavirus is that it has many regularly arranged protrusions on its surfaces because of which the entire virus particle looks like an emperor's crown. That is how it got its name coronavirus. Now, let us see about the transmission of this virus. See, the virus primarily spreads through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes, talks or breathes. It can also spread by touching the surfaces which are contaminated with the virus and thereby touching the face, particularly the mouth, nose or eyes of a person. Now, let us see the symptoms of the virus. The common symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body ache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, etc. Symptoms may range from mild to severe and can appear 2 to 14 days after the exposure to the virus. Now, let us see the major tests to detect the COVID-19 virus. Firstly, let us see the molecular test. See, the molecular test commonly known as RT-PCR test. It is used to directly detect the presence of the virus in the sample. See, this test detects the virus RNA that is the genetic material of the virus. A nasal or throat swab sample is generally being taken for this test. Secondly, let us see the antigen test. A COVID-19 antigen refers to any foreign material or viral proteins in the body which will trigger an immune response. This test helps to identify the antigens which are related to COVID-19 viruses. This test is also called as rapid antigen test and it gives the results which are faster than the molecular tests. But here also, nasal or throat swab is taken. But there is a drawback. Antigen tests have a high chance of missing the active infection. Thirdly, let us see the antibody test. See, it is also called as serology test and it screens for the COVID-19 antibodies in the blood. It tells if a patient is previously infected with COVID-19 viruses. The antibody test does not look for the active viruses but it checks whether one's immune system has responded to the infection. This test also needs blood samples. See, these are the three major type of tests for COVID-19 infection. See, this is all about the discussion. In our discussion, we saw about the basics of COVID-19 virus and in the second part we saw about the three major tests for the COVID-19 viruses. With this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this editorial article. This editorial is basically a criticism on the union government. This article mainly criticizes the government regarding the use of prevention of money laundering act 2002. Moreover, it also talks about the frequent use of enforcement directorate to arrest the legislators in the opposition ruled states. This article also states that union government uses the PMLA act against various judgments of the Supreme Court. Lastly, it also criticizes the activity of the government by saying that it goes against the federalism which is one of the basic structures of the Indian constitution. See, this is about the editorial article. The article may look so cynical but we as an aspirant who want to enter civil services should develop the virtue of political neutrality and impartiality. So, from this kind of article, we can just take criticism points regarding PMLA and use it in our critical analysis. With this basics, let us get into discussion. So, in our discussion today, let us try to answer a main question about PMLA 2002. Look at the question, what is money laundering and how it is a lifeline to the organized crime operations around the world. Moreover, critically analyze the effectiveness of the PMLA in preventing the money laundering in India. See, the question demands three things. First, we have to write about money laundering. Then, we have to write about the relationship between money laundering and organized crimes. And finally, we have to write about the criticism surrounding the PMLA. In the last part, we must mainly focus on the effectiveness of the PMLA in preventing money laundering in our country. This is a skeleton of how our answers should be. This question can be asked in the GS Paper 3 under the subtopic of challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media, social networking site in internal security challenges, and thereof. We saw the question and the relevant syllabus. Now, let us start answering the question. In the introduction part, you can define money laundering and add some data regarding the phenomenon. Money laundering is the act by which the proceeds of a crime are made to appear legitimate. According to UN Convention against the Transnational Organized Crime, money laundering involves knowingly converting the money or moving property which is obtained from a crime to hide its illegal origin or to assist someone in the original crime to avoid punishment. Money laundering involves a series of steps to disguise the origin of illicit funds. The prime focus of money laundering, as I already mentioned, is to disguise the origins of illicit funds as if it came from the legitimate sources. This typically includes three stages. Placement, that is, introducing illegal funds into the financial system. Layering, creating complex transactions to obscure the money trail. Finally, integration, making the funds appear to be legitimate. See, the Enforcement Directorate is India's primary agency for combating financial crimes. Annually, it publishes the report detailing the value of the proceeds of crimes which were attached and confiscated under the PMLA. Let us see the data. In 2021-22 financial year, the ED attached a POC worth over 55,000 crores related to money laundering. See, this figure, however, only represents a portion of the total laundered money activity which was detected and it does not reflect the broader economic input. For instance, let us see a data. A 2012 report by the Central Bureau of Investigation estimates that India loses around $50 billion annually through tax evasion which is associated with money laundering. See, I have given you an elaborate introduction. You can precise it and use it in a concise manner. Okay, this is about the introduction. Now, let us get into the body part of the answer. Here, we have to write about the money laundering and its link to organized crimes. See, money laundering often has a strong connection to organized crimes. Firstly, the organized crime groups engage in various illegal activities like drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms smuggling, extortion, fraud, etc. These criminal ventures generate substantial amount of illicit money or dirty money. Since these criminal organizations cannot use these illegal funds openly due to their illegitimate origin to make this money appear legitimate and usable, they employ money laundering techniques. After laundering the money, these organized crime groups integrate the laundered money into the legitimate economy. See, money laundering allows the criminal organizations to sustain their illegal activity by reinvesting the laundered fund. See, reinvesting the laundered fund ensures a continuous cycle of generating illegal profit, laundering them and furthering criminal operations. In addition to this, the organized crime groups use the laundered money without drawing attention from law enforcement or financial regulators. They also use the laundered money to bribe officials and fund the other criminal ventures without any suspicion. This is why money laundering is considered as a backbone of organized crime. See, let me explain the linkage between money laundering and organized crime with a simple example. Let us take a fictional character. Let us name it as One Punch Bhavani. Here, One Punch Bhavani is a drug lord. Bhavani makes money by selling narcotics. In fact, he makes a lot of money by selling narcotics. But can Bhavani actually spend this money? The answer is no. Let us say, Bhavani tries to buy a Toyota Fortuner with this dirty money. If he pays the entire sum in cash, the showroom people will not accept it or they will ask for Pancor details. Bhavani cannot provide his Pancor details as the money he is providing is unaccounted one. So, for Mr. One Punch Bhavani to use his drug money, he must launder it first. So, without money laundering, organized crime will not be very lucrative. Here, moreover, I want to quote a dialogue from one of the greatest TV shows, The Wire. The Wire is about a political investigation into crime in the city of Baltimore. While investigating the drug trade, one of the detectives in the show, which is played by Lester Freeman, mentions that if you follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But if you start to follow the money, you don't know where it is going to take you. See, this statement basically sums up the relationship between organized crime and money laundering. We have addressed the first part of the question quite in a elaborate manner. Let us move on to the second part of the question. Here, we have to analyze the role of PMLA in curbing the money laundering. To deal with the dangerous money laundering activity, India enacted the PMLA in 2002. Despite the act being enacted in 2002, it came into force only from 2005. The main objective of PMLA is to prevent and control the money laundering and to confiscate and seize the property which is obtained from laundered money. But is the PMLA effective in achieving the stated objective? The answer is complicated. This is because even though PMLA is a well-intentioned act, it has many issues in it. The first issue is the narrow focus. The PMLA primarily addresses specific crimes associated with money laundering. For example, the Supreme Court in Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary and others versus Union of India case limited the PMLA's application to the wrongful and illegal gain of property which is a result of the criminal activity which is related to scheduled offenses. Here, scheduled offenses are included in Part A, B and C of the PMLA Act. Due to the narrow focus, it excludes several other financial crimes such as tax evasion, corruption, etc. The second issue is the complex legal process. The legal procedures mentioned in the PMLA are very time consuming. These complexities often result in delayed justice and protracted trails. This discourages the law enforcement authorities from pursuing accidents against the various individuals who involve in money laundering. The third issue is lack of collaboration. Insufficient collaboration among the enforcement agencies who are investigating this phenomenon often leads to the duplication of effort and wasteful of resources. The absence of effective collaboration reduces the collective impact in combating money laundering. The next issue is the lack of adequate resources. There is an issue of resource shortage including insufficient personal and outdated technology. This resource deficiency acts as a hurdle to the collective combating of money laundering activities. The next issue is the use of PMLA and ED as a political tool. See, the union government has been using these acts and their authorities to stifle the opposition by mainly targeting the legislators from the opposition states. This goes against the spirit of federalism. Lastly, there is an issue of political intervention. This potentially hinders the PMLA's efficacy in holding those people accountable before law. Such interferences might compromise and the integrity of the legal process. See, these are all some of the issues of PMLA 2002. But on the other hand, PMLA also has some positive aspects. See, the first positive is the burden of proof. According to section 24 of the PMLA, the burden of proof is on the accused to prove his innocence. Normally, in most of the cases a burden of proof must be provided by the government to prove that the accused is guilty. But in PMLA cases the accused is considered guilty and the accused must prove that he is not guilty and innocent. This acts as effective deterrence against the money laundering activities. Secondly, according to section 45 all cases are cognizable and non-bailable. So, ED can arrest an individual without any warrant subject to certain conditions. See, this also provides effective deterrence against corruption. Thirdly, to increase the effectiveness of PMLA certain provisions of the act were amended in 2019. One of the important changes brought by 2019 amendment was regarding section 2. See, section 2 of the acts was amended to expand the scope of proceeds of crime or POC. See, in this juncture, we are to know what does proceeds of crime means. Let me give you an example. Let us consider a person named Sandaram. His profession is dealing drugs, which is an illegal activity. What Sandaram does? He launders the money he makes by selling drugs and he buys a prime real estate in Ananagar, Chennai. This real estate now comes under proceeds of crime. By 2019 amendment, which I had told that it expanded the scope of POC or proceeds of crime. With the expansion of the scope, the enforcement directorate can take action against those property which may directly or indirectly be derived or obtained as a result of any criminal activity related to scheduled offence. This expanded scope of PMLA in turn will effectively curb the money laundering activity. See, these are all some of the positive aspects of PMLA. So, the PMLA has both positives and negative. This is why I earlier mentioned that the answer to the question is PMLA effective is complicated. Now that we have analysed the effectiveness of PMLA in curbing money laundering, we can move on to the conclusion part of the answer. See, you can end your answer on a positive note. You can mention some data to highlight the PMLA in action. You can mention that according to data from FIU or financial intelligence unit, approximately 14,000 suspicious transaction reports and over 1,000 PMLA cases are submitted in 2020. This shows that PMLA is effective but to make it even more effective the ingrained issues of PMLA have to be addressed. See, this can be your balanced conclusion. See, this is all regarding this discussion. In our discussion we have elaborately saw the various provisions of the PMLA and we have discussed about the issues and the positives of this act. So, with this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. With this news article, Namdappa flying squirrel has been found again in Arunachal Pradesh. Know that it went missing for nearly 42 years. It was last seen in 1981 based on a single individual which was found in Namdappa Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh. See, this is the crux of the news article. In our context, let us know some key facts about Namdappa flying squirrel and also let us see about zoological survey of India. See, the Namdappa flying squirrel is a rare and elusive species of flying squirrel found in the northeastern Arunachal Pradesh. This squirrel was discovered in 1981 in the Narunthappa National Park. So, that is how it got its name. This flying squirrel has distant physical features including a membrane called Pata GM that allows it to fly between the trees. Now, let us look at the habitat and distribution of this species. See, it primarily inhabits the high altitude forests of Namdappa National Park. It specifically occurs in the area with dense vegetation and tree cover. Know that it is an endemic species meaning that it is found exclusively in the Namdappa National Park region. Now, let us see about the conservation status. See, it is considered as a critically endangered species under IUCN Red List. If you are conserving it means you should have had threats now. So, let us see what are the threats faced by them. Firstly, with respect to poaching of animals for food. Secondly, with respect to habitat loss and degradation. Thirdly, various geophysicals, phenomenon like landslides and flooding results in the habitat loss of this species. Now, let us see the notable behavior of this squirrel. See, Namdappa species is a nocturnal like most flying squirrels. It means they are active only during the night for feeding and other movements. It diet primarily consists of fruit, nuts, seeds and possibly insects. This is all we need to know about the Namdappa flying squirrel. Now, we shall see about the second topic, Zoological Survey of India. See, Zoological Survey of India is a subordinate organization of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Note that it is not a statutory body. It is a national center for the survey of animals and the exploration of the resources leading to the advancement of knowledge. See, ZSI or Zoological Survey of India was established in 1916. It has its headquarter set, Kolkata and moreover it had 16 regional stations which is located in different geographical locations of the country. See, Zoological Survey of India has been declared as a designated repository for the National Zoological Collections as per the National Biodiversity Act 2002. Moreover, ZSI publishes the red data book on Indian animals. See, it was first published in 1983 and is similar to red data book which was published by IUCN. That is all about the discussion. In our discussion, we saw about two environment topics which are Namdappa Flying Squirrel and Zoological Survey of India. So, with this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article. Anshuman Patnaik has been chosen by the competition commission of India to lead its investigation unit. See, he has an experience in overseeing the various investigations and cases which involved various big companies. Notably, Mr. Patnaik has been involved in examining the various actions of alphabets, inks, gull and other similar companies. See, this is the crux of the news article. So, in this context, let us see about competition commission of India from our example perspective. To see this, we need to go for a flashback. See, in 1960s and 70s, there was an act called Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1969, that is MRTP Act. See, the aim of the act is to control the monopolies and prohibit the monopolistic and restrictive trade practices. He has rolled on and this act was replaced and repealed by the competition act 2002. See, this was replaced based on the recommendation of Raghavan committee. So, in a nutshell, the competition commission of India is a statutory body established under competition act 2002. And moreover, this competition act was further amended by competition amendment act 2007. Now, let us see what is the purpose of this commission. Its main goal is to create and sustain the fair competition in the economy which will provide a level playing field to the producers and to make the markets work for the welfare of the customers. That is it is working for both producers and customers in a market. So, the act prohibits various illegal practices like anti-competitive agreements abuse of domestic position with enterprises etc. Moreover, it will also regulate accusations which cause or likely to cause adverse effect on the competitions within India. Now, let us see the composition. It consists of chairperson and six members which are appointed by the central government. On talking about their qualification the chairperson and every other member should be a person of special knowledge and should have a professional experience of not less than 15 years in areas like economics, law, finance, accountancy and management etc. Let us see the appointment process. See, both chairperson and other members will be appointed by the central government based on the recommendation of a selection committee. See, this committee is headed by the justice of India or his nominee. The other members include the secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs and the secretary in law ministry and justice. Apart from them, there will be also two experts who possess special knowledge and professional experience will also be a part of this committee. Now, let us see what is the tenure of the members. Note that the chairperson and every other member of the team will hold office for a term of five years provided they have not attained the age of 65. Note that they are also eligible for re-appointment. In case of vacancy caused by the resignation or removal of chairperson or any other member, then such position shall be filled by the fresh appointment based on the set committee recommendation. And in case of vacancies in the chairperson's office, the senior most member shall act as a chairperson until the new person is chosen. This is all about the news discussion. In our analysis, we saw about the structural part of the important economic organization called Competition Commission here. With this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article. Recently, both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have passed the post the bill 2023. The bill is now waiting the ascent of the president. Note that the bill aims to replace the Indian Post Office Act 1898. This text and context article 10 here is regarding this bill only. The article covers the important provisions of the bill and the criticism around the bill. So in conclusion, let us cover them in a brief. Let us start with the important futures of the bill. The first major change which is brought by the bill is regarding the exclusive privilege of the central government. The 1898 act provides that wherever the central government establishes the post, it will have the exclusive privilege of conveying the letters by the post. But this bill does not provide for such privileges. The bill also states that India Post will have the exclusive privilege over issuing of the postage stamps. The next future is regarding the appointment of Director General of Postal Services. See, this act provides for the appointment of such authority. Moreover, it provides that the Director General may make regulations regarding the charges for services and supply and sale of the postal stamps and postal stationaries. The third and the most contentious provision is regarding the powers to intercept the postal articles. See, the bill allows for the interception of the postal articles on various grounds. The grounds being the security of the states, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, emergency, public safety or contraventions of the provisions of the bill or any other law. The bill also states that central government may empower an officer of India Post to deliver the postal article to the customs authority or any other specified authority. The said authority will deal with the item in the question. The next important future is regarding the function of liability. See, the post office exempted from the liabilities related to its services. The bill also states that the officers are not liable unless they act fraudulently or cause, loss, delay or misdelivery in a deliberate manner. The last change is regarding the offenses and penalties. See, the bill removed the various offenses and the penalties which are provided under 1898 Act. The bill only provides punishment for amounts not received by the user. These are all various provisions of the bill. Having seen the provisions, let us see the criticism surrounding the bill. The first criticism is regarding the violation of the right to privacy. Critics argue that the bill violates the fundamental rights to privacy. It enables the state surveillance without adequate safeguards which is potentially compromising the privacy of the citizens. The second criticism is regarding the lack of clarity and guidelines. See, there are various issues due to the vague ground for the interception, absence of clear definitions for the terms like emergency and the absence of guidelines for the interception. Critics feel that this vagueness will lead to misinterpretation thereby cuddling the rights of the citizens. The last issue is regarding the absence of a grievance redressal mechanism. The bill lacks a grievance redressal mechanism for citizens who might be subjected to interception. This prevents them from rising concerns about such actions by saying that these are all some of the issues with the Post Office Bill 2023. See, this TNC article quotes two important Supreme Court judgments regarding the right to privacy which you can directly quote in your main censor. Now, let us see the judgments in a brief. The first judgment is regarding the People Union of Civil Liberty versus Union of India case 1996. In this case, the Supreme Court stresses the importance of having protections in place to prevent unfair or random use of surveillance by the government. Basically, the Supreme Court said that there must be no room for vagueness in the guidelines regarding wherever the government can undertake surveillance. The next important judgment is regarding the Justice case Putta Swami versus Union of India case 2017. In this case, the court declared that the right to privacy is a fundamental right. The Supreme Court also stated that any action by the government which is affecting the privacy must meet certain criteria. The criteria being it must be full, it should have a valid purpose, it should be appropriate and necessary and it should not excessively restrict the rights and it must include measures to prevent the potential misuse. See, this judgment underlines the significance of safeguarding the privacy and emphasizing the need for clear cut legislations. This is all regarding this news discussion. In our DNC discussion, we saw about the important provisions of post office bill 2023. In a second part, we discussed about the criticism and the various judgments regarding the right to privacy by the Supreme Court of India. This is all regarding this discussion. With this learned points, let us conclude this and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article. Yesterday, the Rajasabha passed three new bills which after becoming law, will administer the criminal justice system of India. They are Bharatiya Nyaya 2nd Samhita Bill, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha 2nd Samhita Bill and the Bharatiya Sakshya 2nd Bill. See, these three bills are set to replace the existing criminal laws such as Indian Penal Code 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure CRPC 1973 and Indian Evidence Act 1872 respectively. As the bills were now passed by Rajasabha, they will be sent to the president for ascent and soon they are going to become laws. See, this is the crux of the news article. In our discussion, we will understand the key provisions of the three bills. Now, first let us take Bharatiya Nyaya 2nd Samhita Bill 2023. See, this bill seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code 1860. The bill aims to repeal nearly 22 provisions of the IPC. Know that the bill also proposes changes to the 175 existing provisions of IPC. Additionally, the bill introduces 8 new sections to the Indian Penal Code. Now, first let us understand the changes to the existing provisions of our IPC. Firstly, the punishment for all types of gang rape under IPC will be enhanced. As per the new bill, the offenders who commit the gang rape will now get 20 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment. Secondly, the punishment for the rape of a minor under the IPC will also be enhanced. As per the bill, a person who involved in raping a minor will get death penalty. Moreover, note that for the first time the bill introduces capital punishments for the offence of mob lynching. The bill states that the offence of mob lynching would be punishable with seven years of imprisonment or life imprisonment also. Fourthly, the bill proposes to omit the provisions under the offences of adultery. See, this is in line with the Supreme Court's ruling under Joseph Schein v. Union of India case. See, this case declared that section 497 of the IPC was unconstitutional. Note that 497 of the IPC dealt with the criminalisation of adultery. See, these are some of the important changes brought to IPC under the Bharathi and Nyaya Sanhedra Bill 2023. Now, moving on to see about the new sections that are being included in the IPC. Firstly, the bill introduces section 109. See, this new section will deal with the organised crimes like drug trafficking and smuggling so on. Secondly, the bill introduces section 110. This section will deal with a petty organised crime like automobile or jewellery theft. Then, the third section is section 111. See, this is an important section which deals with the offences related to terrorist acts. Fourthly, with respect to section 302. See, this section will deal with the issues. And finally, section 150. See, this section will deal with the acts of a person which will endanger the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Section 150 says that if any person commits an act that injures the sovereignty or unity of India, then such person shall be punished with imprisonment and he is also liable to pay fine. Note that this section 150 has been introduced to deal with the sedition. This new bill will replace the section 124A of the IPC which shares trial dealt with the sedition. Ironically, the bill retains the sedition in another form by introducing a new section called section 150. See, this is all about the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanjitha Bill 2023. Now, let us move on to see about Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha 2nd Sanjitha Bill 2023. See, this bill will replace the criminal procedure code of 1973. The bill seeks to repeal 9 provisions of the CRPC. The bill also proposes changes to 160 provisions of the CRPC. In addition to this, the bill also introduces 9 provisions to the CRPC. Now, let us see some important provisions related to our exam. Firstly, the bill seeks to introduce a new section called section 230. This section mandates that a copy of FIR should be available to the accused and the victim at free of cost. Note that it further states that the FIR shall be made available within 14 days from the date of production or appearance of the accused. This provision ensures transparency in the investigation procedures of the police. Secondly, the bill permits the filing of zero FIR from any part of the country. Now, we have to know about what is the concept of zero FIR. See, when a police station receives a complaint regarding an alleged offense committed in the jurisdiction of another police station, zero FIR mandates that the initial police stations which received the complaint now, it has to register the FIR. And later, it has to transfer the FIR to the relevant police station for further investigation. See, this is what the concept of zero FIR. So, it eases or it permits the filing of zero FIR from any part of the country. Thirdly, the bill allows for the examination of the accused persons through electronic means like videoconferencing. It will help to expedite the investigation process. See, this is all about the Bharathi and Nagarik Surakshasanthi Bill 2023. Now, finally, let us see Bharathi's Shakshya 2nd Bill 2023. See, this bill will replace the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. The new bill proposes changes to 23 provisions of the Indian Evidence Act. It also introduces one provisions to the act. Now, let us see some important provisions in this bill. Firstly, the bill permits the use of electronic or digital records as evidence. As per the bill, the electronic or digital record will have a legal validity as a documentary evidence. So, it can be used as an evidence. Secondly, the bill expands the ambit of secondary evidence. For example, the copies which were made from the original evidence by a mechanical process can also be considered as the secondary evidence. Like this, the bill expands the ambit of secondary evidence. See, this is all about the Bharathi Shakshya Bill 2023. See, this is all about this discussion. In our discussion, we saw about the three new bills regarding our criminal justice system. This is all regarding the discussion. Now, let us move on to the next part of our video, that is to discuss the preliminary practice questions. Today, we are having four questions. Let us solve them one by one. See the first question which of the following symptoms is commonly associated with COVID-19 and distinguishes it from the other respiratory illnesses. See, out of four options, A, C, D are very generic and will be common to all other respiratory illnesses. So, eliminating all of them, the correct option would be option B. See the second question, which of the following about Namdappa Flying Squirrel is correct? See the first statement, it is endemic to India, Nepal and Bhutan. See, from our discussion, we saw that it is endemic only to Arunachal Pradesh, India. So, the statement A is wrong. See the second statement, it is listed as the least concern by IUCN. See, from our analysis, we saw that it is listed as a critically endangered species under IUCN. So, it is also wrong. Third one, it primarily inhibits wetlands and lakes. See, from our discussion, we saw that the Namdappa flying squirrel is commonly found in the high altitude forest of the Namdappa National Park. So, this is also wrong. See, the final statement, it is a nocturnal species known for its ability to glide between the trees. See, this statement is correct. So, the correct option is option D. See, the third question of the day, consider the following statements about Competition Commission of India. First statement, it was established under Monopolis and Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1969. See, it is incorrect, because CCA or Competition Commission of India is established under Competition Act 2002. See, this act replaces the MRTP Act. Let us see the second statement. CCA consists of chairperson and maximum of four members. See, from our discussion, we can easily say that it consists of maximum six members. See, the third statement, the decisions of the CCA can be appealed only to Supreme Court of India. See, this is incorrect, because the appeals from the Competition Commission of India can be made in National Company Law or NCLAT. So, eliminating all of them, the correct option is option D. See, the final question of the day, the Post Office Bill 2023 allows for the interception of the postal articles on various grounds. How many of the below mentioned grounds are stated in the bill? First statement, security of the state. Second one, friendly relations with foreign states. Third one, public order. Fourth one, emergency. Fifth one, public safety. See, from our commentational perspective, we can say that all these five situations will come as a ground for any exception. So, all of them are correct. So, the correct option is option D. See, the main question based on today's analysis is listed here. Interested participants can write and post it in the comment section. If you like today's video, you can like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding civil service preparation, subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy. Thank you.