 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Ayes Academy for the date 16th of May 2019. Displayed are the list of news articles taken up for today's analysis, along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion is available in the description section below and also in the common section below. Let us now start our discussion. The first article of the day is the editorial title The Need for Judicial Restraint. This news article appears in page number 9 in all the four editions. The analysis of this editorial will be relevant in your main examination in General Sili's paper 2 under separation of powers and also under structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary. The central theme of this editorial which the authors insist is that lawmaking is not the job of the judges but of the legislature. Here the author speaks about two concepts which are judicial restraint and judicial activism. So from this editorial you should know about these two concepts. Also some judgments by the Supreme Court on various issues have been given throughout the editorial. You can use these judgments for explaining these two concepts of judicial restraint and judicial activism. Additionally, we shall also see the challenges that are faced in India because of judicial activism. We saw that the central theme of this editorial is that lawmaking is not the job of the judges but of the legislature. The authors view is that the Supreme Court is resorting to more judicial activism rather than judicial restraint. The authors view this as a problematic approach. In this context, let us see what is meant by judicial restraint and judicial activism. We know that there are three arms of the government namely legislature, executive and judiciary. Indian constitution has provided for the powers to each of these three arms of the government and also for the separation of powers between these three arms of the government. Now one of the powers given to the legislature is to enact the laws for the welfare of the people and one of the powers given to the judiciary is to interpret the existing laws and provide justice. If the judiciary is limiting itself to this exercising this power of interpretation then it is called as judicial restraint. Here the judges should not have the thinking to strike down the laws as per their wishes unless they are unconstitutional. So, the center of gravity should be based on the law that is enacted by the legislature. Now if the judiciary is going beyond this judicial restraint and starting to enact laws then this is called as judicial activism. Judicial activism is justifiable only in few instances when the court is in favor of progressive and new social policies. For example, the authors have mentioned about striking down of the section 377 of the Indian penal code in this editorial. This is an acceptable act of the judiciary. Here just know that section 377 of Indian penal code deals with unnatural offenses which also includes your homosexuality. But the authors have mentioned three recent judgments in this editorial which are number one on ordering time limits to burst firecrackers on Diwali. The authors note this as a function of the legislature and not the judiciary. Next, they have mentioned the judgment on linking the rivers for which as of now there is no parliamentary legislation. And finally, they have mentioned the very recent judgment in which a political party leader was asked in the bail order to apologize for sharing a meme on the Chief Minister of West Bengal. This judgment is, despite the guarantee in Article 191A of the Indian Constitution, note that this Article 191A is a fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. The authors note this judgment of Supreme Court as an unpredictable decision. In this editorial, the authors have mentioned judicial restraint as a positivist jurisprudence and judicial activism as sociological jurisprudence. Also, the authors have quoted some eminent jurists' names across the world. You do not require all these names for exam preparation. So, just from main examination point of view, let us see the challenges that India can face because of judicial activism. Now, the main challenge to this judicial activism because of this judicial activism is the separation of powers. We saw that the legislature legislates laws and judiciary interprets the laws created by this legislature. When judiciary starts to perform the legislatures and also the executives functions, this will definitely affect the separation of the powers. Next, in a huge country like India, there is no necessary expertise or resources to solve the major problems in the society. So, when the judiciary activism is more, it would only hinder the day-to-day activities of the government. So, here the government means the executive. Next, judiciary will not have an idea about the practical ground difficulties in implementing its orders. This will again replicate or burden the executives work only. So, the authors have also quoted this issue in the last paragraph of the editorial, telling that it is not the function of the judge to do the administrators' activities because the judiciary do not have the expertise in any of such jobs. Also, when the judiciary is involved in judiciary activism, its original duty to ensure justice to the people is hindered. And finally, judicial activism will lead to legal anarchy. Here, legal anarchy refers to the judiciary's activities that undermine the legislature's powers such that there is no hierarchy followed in exercising the powers. And the judges pass judgments according to their own notions. This would seriously undermine the legislature's powers. We know that the legislatures represent the people. The authors have explained this legal anarchy with the two judgments that is given here in the editorial. First is the collegium system. Here, the authors tell that the second judge's case in the year 1993 and third judge's case in the year 1998 which created the collegium system of appointment of judges were not based on any provision in the constitution. Also, they added that article 124 which prescribes how Supreme Court judges had to be appointed does not talk of any collegium system. The authors call it as legal anarchy since the founding fathers of the constitution have not envisaged the collegium system anywhere in the constitution of India. Secondly, the authors have discussed about National Judicial Appointments Commission in short the NJAC. The NJAC was passed by the unanimous will of the parliament. But the Supreme Court declared this NJAC act to be unconstitutional on the grounds that it would affect the judiciary's independence. The authors of this editorial call this as legal anarchy as well. Finally, the authors of this editorial have commented that the Supreme Court must limit its judicial activism to only the most exceptional situations like the striking down of section 377 of IPC only and the judiciary must exercise judicial restraint as far as possible. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this editorial. Now have a look at the practice main question we shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. Let us now move on to the next news article. In this, we are going to analyze two articles which are on the same lines. The first article is Facebook to curb live streaming and the next article is India Science Christchurch Call to Action. This article is appeared on page number 12 in all the four editions. The discussion based on this article is relevant in your prelims preparation under the current events of international importance. This discussion can also be linked to your main syllabus in General Studies Paper 2 under global groupings and agreements involving India and or affecting India's interests and also in General Studies Paper 3 under challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges. The first article discusses about the social networking site Facebook's decision on banning the users who shared the extremist content. Here, note that militancy and extremism are sometimes wrongly and interchangeably used. So, first let us understand the difference between these two. A militant is simply an aggressive person who takes active part in a struggle or cause or who is combative in nature. But extremism means an individual or a group's intolerance towards all others views and then advocating severe or extreme measures instead of moderate measures. In the political context, extremism is a very vague term which means taking a political idea to its extreme limit regardless of the repercussions and impracticalities. The decision of Facebook came as part of the Christ Church Call initiative to tackle the spread of extremism online. So, Facebook has told that it would tighten the access to its live streaming feature. The second article states that India signed the Christ Church Call to Action Agreement. Now, in this context, let us understand what is Christ Church Call to Action Agreement. Before getting on to the agreement, let us see the background of this. On 15th March 2019, in the Christ Church city of New Zealand, a terrorist attack happened in two mosques. It continued for almost 17 minutes in which 51 people were killed and 50 people were injured. The most horrific part was that the terrorist attack was live streamed in the social networking site Facebook. Now, live streaming is a feature of Facebook which allows live telecasting of the events. We are aware that a free, open and secure internet is a very powerful tool to promote connectivity, enhance social inclusiveness and foster economic growth. But the internet is not immune from abuse by terrorist and violent extremist actors. This was tragically highlighted by this terrorist attack on the Muslim community of Christ Church which was designed to go viral. This terrorist attack made clear about the harms that can be caused by terrorist and violent extremist content online. This is a threat that still continues to evolve. The attack was live streamed, then it went viral and still remains of the live stream are available on the web despite the measures taken to remove it. So, as a measure to tackle this threat, after two months of the attack on 15th May 2019, leaders from many countries adopted the Christ Church call for action. The countries which initiated the call were New Zealand and France. These countries brought together the heads of state and the government and leaders from the technology sector to adopt the Christ Church call. This Christ Church call is a commitment by governments and tech companies to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. It rests on the conviction or an opinion that a free, open and secure internet offers extraordinary benefits to the society. We also know that respect for freedom of expression is very much fundamental. However, no one has a right to create and share terrorist and violent extremist content online. The dissemination of such content online has adverse impacts on the human rights of the victims, on our collective security and on people all over the world. The call outlines collective and voluntary commitments from governments and also from online service providers. This commitment should be intended to address the issue of terrorist and violent extremist content online and to prevent the abuse of the internet as occurred in and after the Christ Church attacks. Further, all action on this issue must be consistent with principles of a free, open and secure internet without compromising human rights and fundamental freedoms which also includes a freedom of expression. The commitment must also recognize the internet's ability to act as a force for good including by promoting innovation and economic development and fostering inclusive societies. So, on this basis the governments of the supporting countries committed to do the following. Firstly, to counter the drivers of terrorism and violent extremism by strengthening the resilience and inclusiveness of the societies. This is to enable them to resist terrorist and violent extremist ideologies through education and then building media literacy which will help to counter the distorted terrorist and violent extremist narratives. Then, to ensure effective enforcement of applicable laws that prohibit the production or dissemination of terrorist and violent extremist content in a manner consistent with the rule of law and international human rights law including freedom of expression. Now, let us see the companies, countries and organizations that support the Christ Church call. Until now, 18 countries have shown support and signed this particular agreement. This also includes India, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom, European Commission etc. But, if you see USA has declined to join the call. Here, also note that European Commission is the executive arm of the European Union which takes decisions on the Union's political and strategic direction. Additionally, so far 8 companies have supported the call. This also includes the tech giants such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft etc. Now, have a look at the practice problems question we shall discuss at the end of the session. Let us move on to the next news article. The next news article of the day is Pestrack Miserum Farmers Hit by Lack of Crop Insurance. This article appears on page number 3 of the Delhi edition. The content of this article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current events of national importance and under economic and social development. The content will also be relevant in your mains preparation in your general studies paper 2 under welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the center and states and the performance of these schemes and also in your general studies paper 3 under marketing of agricultural produce issues and related constraints. This news article states that a pest by name fall army worm is attacking the crops in the state of Miserum. More than around 3000 million tons of maize was damaged in around 2000 hectares of land. It is estimated that the loss could be around 6.47 crore rupees. This fall army worm is an insect that is native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Its larval stage causes more damage as it feeds on more than 80 plant species which also includes maize, rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops and cotton. Fall army worm can cause significant yield losses if it is not well managed. Recently on 8th May we had a news related to this fall army worm infecting the crops in Miserum and also the threat caused by this pest in Adilabad in the state of Telangana. For more information on fall army worm just refer to our 8th May the Hindu news analysis, the link is provided in the description section below. Today we shall focus on the news article and Fasal Bhima Yojana. In an act of adding insult to injury the farmers of the state of Miserum have not been covered under Prime Minister crop insurance scheme or Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana. Have they been covered by the scheme they would have been able to mitigate their financial risks. In Hindi Fasal means harvesting of crops and Bhima means insurance. This article states that the scheme is not being implemented in Miserum since the insurance companies are unwilling to participate under the scheme for the state of Miserum. The reasons why the insurance companies are unwilling to participate are given here. First is because of the small land holding, next because of the low scale production of farmers and finally also because of the bad system of marketing. With respect to land holding imagine there are two farmers. One farmer is having one acre and the other farmer is having 40 acres. In case of unforeseen events the farmer with small land holding will be facing a complete loss in his entire land whereas in the case of a large farmer with a large land holding maybe just one acre of his crops would have been suffered from damages. But here the insurance company thinks every small farmer has to be compensated fully. This may not be the case with large farmers. Now coming on to low scale production say for example one acre of land normally gives a production of 200 kilograms of maize. Imagine that the guidelines for the scheme says that if there is a loss of 50 kilograms per acre then the farmers has to be compensated from insurance companies. If there is a land where the normal production itself is less than 150 kilograms then in the absence of clear provisions just because of the low production there might be claims. And the farmers have to be compensated here because according to the guidelines since there is a loss of 50 kilograms. See this is how an insurance company will think. The article also mentions about bad marketing of farm produce. If proper marketing is not done there may not be proper sale of all the farm produce and if sale did not happen well the farmers will face post harvest loss. Now because of bad marketing farmers are facing loss and insurance company may not consider these farmers as their customers and they will not mitigate their risks by providing insurance cover. This is why the insurance companies are not interested to injure farmers in the state of Mizoram. In this context let us see some facts about Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana. This particular scheme was launched in the year 2016 and the main objective of the scheme is to support sustainable production in the agriculture sector. This is to be done by the activities which are mentioned here. First by providing financial support for crop loss or damage in case of unforeseen events. Next by stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure that they continue in farming. Next by encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices. And finally by ensuring flow of credit to the agriculture sector. All these activities would contribute to food security, crop diversification, enhancing growth and competitiveness of agriculture sector, along with protecting farmers from production risks. Note that this scheme covers all notified food and oil seed crops and annual commercial and horticultural crops. This particular scheme is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and it is implemented by M-Panel insurance companies. The scheme states that the insurance cover under the scheme is compulsory for farmers who have obtained loans who are also called as loanee farmers. It is voluntary for those farmers who have not obtained any loans, they are also called as non-loanee farmers. Note that only those farmers whose data is uploaded on the National Crop Insurance Portal are eligible for insurance coverage under this particular scheme. Loanee farmers are those farmers who have been sanctioned seasonal agricultural operations loans from financial institutions such as banks. Now have a look at the practice prelims question which will be discussed in the end of the analysis session. Let us move on to our next news article. The fourth news article is titled Organic Certification for Jackfruit Soon. This news speaks about the Kerala government's efforts to obtain Organic Certification for Jackfruit produced in that state. In this context, we shall discuss about the Organic Certification Program that currently exists in India. Also, we shall see in short about Jackfruit. This news article appears in page number 3 in Thiruvananthapuram edition only. The analysis of this article will be helpful in your prelims preparation under current events of national and international importance and also in your mains preparation in general studies paper 3 under major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country and different types of irrigation and irrigation system storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints. Let us now see in brief about the organic farming. Organic farming is a system of agriculture which does not use chemical fertilizers and pesticides. So, it follows an environmentally and socially responsible approach. When fertilizers and pesticides are not used, it preserves the reproductive and regenerative capacity of the soil. Organic farming will ensure good plant nutrition in a very natural way. So, the food produced will also be nutritious. If you see, India ranks ninth in world's organic agricultural land globally. Also, India is first in terms of total number of organic producers globally. Now, let us see in brief about national program for organic production. The Indian government has implemented this national program with an aim to streamline the organic farming in India. This program ensures that the organic products produced in India are of export quality. If you see, this national program for organic production involves all these which I mentioned here. They are accreditation program for certification bodies, standards for organic production, promotion of organic farming and also data collection regarding organic farming. These standards are now accepted by developed countries that import India's organic products. These include USA, Switzerland and also European Commission, which is the strategic and political arm of European Union. If you see, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority in short APEDA functions as the secretariat for the implementation of this NPOP. APEDA comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Please have a note. Now, when you are studying about organic farming, also note that Sikkim is the first fully organic state. The entire cultivation of Sikkim is organic. They do not use any fertilizers or pesticides in their cultivation. Just have a note. And also note that Madhya Pradesh is the largest state which produces organic products and also it is the largest state with organic certification. Now, this news also speaks about jackfruit. Let us know about jackfruit in very brief manner. The scientific name of jackfruit is Atocarpus etyrophilus. It is a wild fruit that grows on jack trees. The major producing states of jackfruit are Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Assam. Also, jackfruit is grown in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. And there are generally two types of jackfruits that are found. One is the soft flesh variety and the other firm flesh variety. Now, let us move on to the next news article. The final news article of the day is RBI Envision's Fourfold Growth in Digital Transactions by the year 2021. This article appears on page number 13 in all the editions taken up for today's analysis. This news article is relevant in your prelims syllabus under current events of national importance and also under economic development and also in your mains in general studies, paper 3 under Indian economy and also under infrastructure, digital infrastructure in particular. The article appears on the newspaper because of the recent publication of the vision document which is titled Payments and Settlement Systems in India, Vision 2019-2021, which has been released by the Reserve Bank of India. The core theme of the vision document is Empowering Exceptional E-Payment Experience which aims at empowering every Indian with the access of e-payment options which shall be safe, secure, convenient, quick and affordable. The vision envisages to achieve highly digital and cashlight society through foresees that is through competition, cost effectiveness, convenience and confidence. A cashlight society is a society where most of the purchases of goods or services are made by electronic funds transfer rather than with cash or checks. Also, a cashlight economy is an economy where there will be reduction in usage of cash in circulation that is reduction in the use of physical rupee denominated notes and this encourages the use of electronic payment channels and it also reduces the cost of cash production and transportation. Now, Reserve Bank of India states that the hallmark or the special nature of the vision document is no compromise approach towards safety and security of payments systems. The news article states that the RBI has forecasted a four-time growth in digital transactions by the year 2021 and accelerated growth is expected in individual retail's electronic payments systems as well. RBI has targeted 35% growth in the use of digital modes for payment for the purchase of goods and services. How? Through increase in debit card transactions at point of sale terminus during the vision period that is 2019 to 2021 and also by 2021 there will be around 50 lakh point of sale machines. In short, it is called as POS machines. Also, payment systems such as unified payments interface and immediate payment service. In short, IMPS are likely to register average annualized growth of over 100% by the year 2021. Now, you may use all these points as answers if you need to project the India's expectation to achieve cashless economy or a cash-led economy in any of your main sciences. It has been observed that there is no specific target to reduce cash in circulation and experts say that there may be reduction in demand for cash notes if a point of sales infrastructure is to be strengthened by increasing the availability of POS machines. Now, have a look at the practice problems question. With this, we come to the end of the analysis session. Let us now move on to the practice questions discussion session. The first question, the term Christchurch call to action recently seen in news is related to which of the following. Now, this is a direct question because if you have the habit of regularly watching news or reading newspaper, you can directly know that Christchurch word is linked to terrorist attack. So, you can simply eliminate option A and D from here, but now the confusion may arise between option B and C as both states about terrorism. Now, if you have paid close attention to the discussion, you would have noticed that the horrific part of the Christchurch terrorist attack is that it was live streamed on Facebook, which means here the option should be containing the statement that is related to online. Here, only option B has that particular statement. So, the correct answer to this question is option B. Moving on to the second question, consider the following statements with reference to Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana. The first statement is the scheme aims to achieve and sustain desired annual growth rate of agriculture and allied sectors for a period from 2017 to 2021. And the second statement is the scheme is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the question is asked for the correct statement here. So, here the first statement is incorrect. It is very easy if we literally know the meaning of the term Fasal Bhima. Fasal means harvesting of crops and Bhima means insurance and neither crops nor insurance are found in this particular statement. So, logically you can say that the first statement is wrong or if you know the objective of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana, you can say that this particular statement is wrong as well. Now, this scheme provides a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping and stabilizing the income of the farmers. So, this is the main objective of this particular scheme. The second statement here is correct as this particular scheme is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The question here as asked for the correct answer, the correct answer is option B 2 only since the first statement is wrong here. Moving on to the third question, consider the following statements. Statement 1 is a cash light economy encourages the use of electronic payment channels and reduces the cost of cash production and transportation. And statement 2 is a cash light society is a society where most of the purchases of goods or services are made by electronic funds transfer rather than with cash or checks. And this question is asked for the correct answer. So, here just read both these statements. Both the statements are correct as in a cash light economy there will be reduction in usage of cash in circulation that is reduction in the use of physical rupee denominated notes. And a society where most of the purchases are made by electronic funds transfer is called as cash light society. So, here the question is asked for the correct answer. Both these statements are correct. So, the answer is option C both 1 and 2. Moving on to the main question, the question is judicial exercise of judicial restraint is paramount in the evolving activism of judiciary in India discuss. Now, this question speaks about the necessity of exercising judicial restraint and it also indirectly mentions the recent happenings of judicial activism in India. So, explain what is meant by judicial restraint and judicial activism and how the recent examples of judicial activism are becoming a challenge. So, you can mention the challenges that India faces because of judicial activism as well and also the examples of judicial activism that we have discussed in our editorial. And finally, conclude the answer about the necessity for the judiciary to exercise judicial restraint rather than exercising judicial activism. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of the news articles taken up for today's discussion. Please do like comment and share the video and please subscribe to Shankar IA's academy channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.