 Very good evening to all of our friends and welcome to the Hindu News Analysis of Shankar IAS Academy for the date 10th November 2020. The list of the relevant news articles taken up for today's discussion from five different editions of the Hindu newspaper along with their page numbers is given here for your reference. Also, the handwritten notes in the PDF format and time stampings for all the news articles taken up for today's discussion is given in the description box and also in the comment section for the best interest of the viewers. Let us now begin our news analysis for today. Now, this discussion is based on this news article and an editorial that mentions about the directions issued by the National Green Tribunal. See, the NGT directed that there would be a total ban on sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers till November end in all cities and towns across the country where the average ambient air quality fell under the poor and above category in November 2019 that is the previous year. In places where the ambient air quality fell under the moderate or below category, only green crackers would be permitted for sale and also the timings for bursting them would be restricted to two hours. So, what are these categories? Know that these categories form the National Air Quality Index or simply NAQI. So in this regard, let us see about the NAQI and related initiatives that are present in India to curb the menace of air pollution. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. First, let us start with NAQI or National Air Quality Index. See, it was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in October 2014 and AQI acts as one number, one colour, one description so that even a common citizen of India can understand the impact of air pollution in the place where they live in. And through this, the citizens can easily judge the air quality within their surroundings. Know that AQI is released by the Central Pollution Control Board. Eight pollutants will be monitored under AQI. They are the particulate matter 10 or PM10, then particulate matter 2.5 or PM2.5, then nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, ammonia and lead. And as you can see in this table, there are six air quality index categories which are good, satisfactory, moderately polluted, poor, very poor and severe. And as you can see here, one colour is assigned to each of these categories. And based on these categories only, the National Green Tribunal has directed for ban or regulation of firecrackers sale now. And you can also refer to the possible health impacts that can happen to an individual for each of these air quality index category. And in this regard, the National Green Tribunal has emphasised on sustainable development over employment and revenue losses to the fireworks industry. And as per this news article, the National Green Tribunal has also directed the state pollution control boards all over India and also the committees to take special initiative to contain air pollution by regulating all the other sources of pollution apart from the firecrackers ban. And this is because the pollution can aggravate the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, if you look at this editorial, though it has welcomed the decision of National Green Tribunal, there might have been some room for a limited quantity of firecrackers such that the fireworks industry is not affected. See, this editorial has also highlighted the concerns of the fireworks industry of Shivakasi region of Tamil Nadu that produces almost 90% of India's firecrackers. And it has an astonishing 2,300 crore of output. The editorial suggests that a transparent compensation scheme for workers and suitable relief for producers may be necessary in the short term. And the long-term solution is to diversify the economic activity in the Shivakasi region, such that the reliance on firecrackers is reduced. Also, the editorial has mentioned about the National Clean Air Program. In this regard, let us see some other initiatives that are present in India to curb air pollution. And this includes the National Clean Air Program. So, let us start with SUFFER or the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting. See, this initiative was introduced by the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The SUFFER system is developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, which is located in Pune, along with the India Meteorological Department or IMD, and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting. See, SUFFER is implemented by collaborating with local municipal corporations and various local educational institutions and governmental agencies in the metro cities of India, where the air quality data is monitored. And as the name indicates, SUFFER will provide location-specific information on air quality in near real-time and it also forecast one or three days in advance. So, this is for the first time in India. And the AQI parameters which we saw previously are considered for reporting the air quality by SUFFER. And based on these values, the advisories for human health are also released by the SUFFER. See, the pollutants that are mentioned in SUFFER are PM1, PM2.5, PM10, ozone, carbon monoxide, then nitrogen oxides like nitrous oxide and nitrogen dioxide, then sulfur dioxide, black carbon, methane, non-methane hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, benzene and mercury. And the monitored meteorological parameters in SUFFER include ultraviolet radiation, rainfall, temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction and solar radiation. So, this is about SUFFER. Apart from NAQI and SUFFER, we also have the National Air Monitoring Program or NAMP in short, which is executed by the Central Pollution Control Board. See, these are the objectives of the National Air Monitoring Program. To determine status and trends of ambient air quality, then to ascertain whether the prescribed ambient air quality standards are violated, then to identify non-attainment cities, then to obtain the knowledge and understanding necessary for developing preventive and corrective measures, then finally to understand the natural cleansing process undergoing in the environment through pollution dilution, dispersion, wind-based movement, dry deposition, precipitation and chemical transformation of pollutants generated. So, under the National Air Monitoring Program, four pollutants have been identified for regular monitoring at all the locations. And they include sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen as the nitrogen dioxide, then respirable suspended particulate matter that is RSPM, which is nothing but PM10 and then fine particulate matter which is PM2.5. I know that the monitoring of meteorological parameters such as wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity and temperature were also integrated with the monitoring of air quality. So, this is the prescribed air quality standards under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards or NAAQS. You can see it here. And the monitoring is being carried out with the help of the Central Pollution Control Board, then State Pollution Control Boards, Pollution Control Committees and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute which is located in Nagpur. And the Central Pollution Control Board coordinates with these agencies to ensure the uniformity and consistency of air quality data. And it also provides technical and financial support to them for operating the monitoring stations. And as we have seen now, one of the objectives of the National Air Monitoring Program is to identify the non-attainment cities that have not met the targets. And as of now, there are 122 non-attainment cities across India. Now the next initiative which we are going to see is the National Clean Air Program. And know that it was launched in 2019. So, NCAP will be a mid-term five-year action plan with 2019 as the first year. And the goal of the National Clean Air Program is to meet the prescribed annual average ambient air quality standards at all locations in the country in a stipulated time frame. The national level target for 20-30% reduction of the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration is by 2024. And here 2017 is taken as the base year for the comparison of the concentrations. And know that 102 cities across India have been chosen under this program. Now, these are the objectives of NCAP. Please go through it. It includes to augment and evolve effective and proficient ambient air quality monitoring networks across the country for ensuring comprehensive and reliable database. And it is also to have efficient data dissemination and public outreach mechanism for timely measures for preventing and mitigating the air pollution and for inclusive public participation in both planning and implementation of programs and policies of the government on air pollution. And finally, to have feasible management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution. So, these are some of the programs for curbing the menace of air pollution. And see, air pollution is very high in northern India, especially during the winters. And the main reason is the climatic conditions that prevail in the northern India during this season, such as low temperature and low atmospheric circulation. And apart from this, there are anthropological activities such as stubble burning, burning of firecrackers during the festival season and also industrial activities that all aggravate air pollution. Severe air pollution and its effects are seen especially in urban areas such as the National Capital Region of Delhi. So, in order to prevent and control the air pollution in the National Capital Region, in 2017, the Centre notified Graded Response Action Plan or GRAP. And under GRAP, various measures depending on the pollution level will be taken by the concerned authorities. And you can see it in this picture. So, to summarize, we have seen about the National Air Quality Index, then the system of air quality and weather forecasting or SUFFER, then National Air Monitoring Program, and finally about National Clean Air Program and Graded Response Action Plan. So, these are some of the initiatives in India in order to curb the menace of air pollution. With this, we'll move on to the next news. Let us take up this opiate article which was written by an Indian Trade Service Officer. Here, the author focuses on the growth story of Bangladesh and Vietnam and the lessons India can learn from both these countries. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. Know that Bangladesh is the second largest apparel exporter in the world, only after China. Similarly, Vietnam's exports rose from 83.5 billion US dollars in 2010 to 279 billion US dollars in 2019. So, what could be the reasons for this? See, coming to Vietnam, its open trade policy, inexpensive workforce and generous incentives to foreign firms in order to do business in Vietnam are some of the major factors. And see, Vietnam also has free trade agreements with most of its trading partners like the US, the European Union, China and India. So, this ensures that additional import duties are not imposed on Vietnam's goods. Similarly, Vietnam's domestic market is open to its trading partners with minimal barriers. Let us understand this with an example. Know that recently, Vietnam concluded a free trade agreement with the European Union and this agreement will ultimately scrap the duties on 99 percentage of the goods traded between the two sides. Also, doing business in Vietnam will become easier for European companies. That means they will be able to invest and also pitch for government contracts with equal chances to the local competitors. And in the last decade, large brands like the Samsung, Nike and IKEA have moved their manufacturing base to Vietnam. And in 2019 itself, Vietnam received more than 16 billion US dollars as investment. So, this is what helped Vietnam's exports to grow by a massive 240 percentage in the past eight years. Now, coming to Bangladesh, its strength is the export of apparatus, which is led by low cost of production and a cheap but skilled workforce. Know that the trade has created wealth and employment in these countries and lifted millions above the poverty level. So, what can India learn from Vietnam and Bangladesh? See, the author says that Bangladesh models stresses on the need to support large firms for a quick turnover. This is because large firms are better positioned to invest in brand building, meeting quality requirements and marketing. It will also help small firms to grow as they will be the suppliers for the large firms. And apart from this, India could set up sectorial industrial zones with pre-approved factory spaces. And this would enable a firm to start operations in a few weeks and that too without spending much time on searching for the lands and getting approvals. So, this would improve the ease of doing business and promote manufacturing and investment in our economy. But there are some issues as well. India cannot follow the extreme liberal economic policies of one party dominated Vietnam. This is because such policies do not offer protection to the farmers or local producers from imports. Not just that, Vietnam and Bangladesh are heavily dependent on their exports. For example, Vietnam's export to GDP ratio is 107 percentage. Whereas for US it is just 11.7 percentage and for Japan it is 18.5 percentage and India says 18.7 percentage. And also note that heavy dependence on exports makes the country vulnerable to global economic uncertainty. So, what India needs is an organic economic growth. For this, we need a mix of open trade policies, balanced free trade agreements and we should also restrict our unfair imports and have a healthy mix of domestic champions as well as multinational corporations. Finally, let us see about the Economic Complexity Index or ECI which is mentioned in this op-ed article. See the Economic Complexity Index is released by the Harvard University's Growth Lab, which is a centre for international development works to understand the dynamics of growth. And see this index ranks a country based on how diversified and complex its manufacturing export basket is. That means countries can improve their ECI by increasing the number and complexity of products they successfully export. The author says that ECI rank for India is 43. It is for 79 for Vietnam and 127 for Bangladesh. So, this indicates that India's export basket is more diversified compared to Vietnam and Bangladesh. So, in order to have a healthy and balanced economic growth, we should diversify our exports more by incentivising them and at the same time we should also ensure that we have a good industrial strength and also that our domestic market is healthy as well. And for this, as told before, we should have more balanced trade agreements than pro-business policies and restrictions on unfair imports etc. So, this is all about this op-ed article. With this, we'll move on to the next news. Now, let us take up this editorial which talks about the Indo-US bilateral relations in the wake of Joe Biden's victory as the President of the United States of America. In the last two days, we have covered various aspects of foreign policy like India-Iran relations and the US role in climate change etc. So, today we will see how foreign policy of Biden may impact India. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. See, for India, there are two foreign policy issues which are of great concern and interest. One is China and the other is Iran. And for the world, the relations between the United States and China may be the relationship of the greatest consequence. But for India, the most consequential relationship is not with the US, but with China. See, we know that in Trump years, the India and US became very close and India even signed all the four foundational agreements with USA, General Security of Military Information Agreement, then Logistics Support Agreement, then Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement and finally, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Cooperation. And it is also to be noted that India bought billions of dollars worth of military hardware from US instead of Russia. And with respect to China, India resisted in converting the Quad into a military grouping like NATO, mainly not to make India-China relations hostile. But how far this Quad grouping will be successful in containing China is always a worrying question to Indian government. And though we are resisting from making Quad a military alliance like NATO, the US is trying hard to formalize and institutionalize it by adding more members from South Asia and also bringing military dimension to Quad. In other words, the US wants Quad to be institutionalized and expanded by adding additional members such as Taiwan and South Korea. Here the author says that in future, India will be forced to agree to some form of military alliance in South Asia because the other three countries which are US, Japan and Australia are already in strategic alliance with one another and also with the US. Here we should remember that all these initiatives such as the Quad are maritime agreements and do not have much bearing on our disputes with China, which is a continental or land border dispute. The author further says that no external power would want to support India in case of major hostilities with China. On the other hand, if there is a major issue in the South China Sea, the other members of the Quad would expect us to join them in fighting China. And we know that it is far from our borders. As a few policy makers suggest, if Mr Biden adopts a more lenient approach towards China, then India may find herself in a difficult position to counter China. And we know that US is also known for swiftly changing its policies. So if US wishes to get closer to China to reduce tensions, India will be left alone in our confrontation with China. With India already having a permanent enemy in the form of Pakistan, we do not want China to be permanently hostile to us. And this is because it will absorb huge resources, human and material. So smooth bilateral relations with China is more beneficial to India. Next we'll see the issue with Iran. See what happens in greater West Asia will always remain a concern to us, since we have huge stakes in that region. We know that under Trump, US and Iran relations went too hostile and US even withdrew from the JCPO agreement and imposed sanctions on Iran. See the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA was signed in 2015 and it imposes restrictions on Iran's civilian nuclear enrichment program. And China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US, which are the five permanent members of this UN Security Council, negotiated this agreement alongside Germany. And together they were known as the P5-plus-1. It may be difficult for Mr Biden to quickly reverse Mr Trump's policy towards Iran. But know that Joe Biden was the vice president of the US when JCPOA was signed. So it is expected that Mr Biden may engage with Iran in talks and negotiations to reduce the tensions in the region. We should also hope that the new president will not maintain the harsh unilateral sanctions that Mr Trump imposed on Iran. If sanctions are continued, we can't buy Iranian oil or sell our pharma and other goods to Iran. And the government may also feel less constrained in investing openly in oil and other infrastructure projects in Iran, including the rail project in which the Indian railways construction limited has interest in. So the aspects of foreign policy like containing China, then US policy on Iran as well as US role in climate change are the current hot topics across the world. So as Indians, we hope that the US should act more responsibly when it comes to climate change and maintaining stable relations with Iran and China. So this is all about this news article. And in this discussion, we saw how the foreign policy of the new US president, that is Mr Joe Biden, may impact India's relation with other nations. With this, we'll move on to the next news. Now have a look at this question. It is based on this news article, which is regarding the Finance Commission. See, the news is that the Finance Commission has submitted its report to the President of India with separate section on states finances. So in this context, we shall see about the constitutional provisions of the Finance Commission and then about the 15th Finance Commission. See, Finance Commission is a constitutionally mandated body under article 280 of our Indian constitution. And this finance commission shall consist of a chairman and four other members, and they will be appointed by the President of India. See, the Indian constitution authorized the parliament to determine the qualifications of the members of the commission and the manner in which they should be selected. And accordingly, the parliament has specified the qualifications for the chairman and the members of the commission through the Finance Commission Miscellaneous Provisions Act of 1951. And under this act, the chairman should be a person having experience in public affairs, and the four other members should be selected from amongst the following. First one, a judge of a high court or one qualified to be appointed as one. Second, a person who has specialized knowledge of finance and accounts of the government. And third, a person who has wide experience in financial matters and in administration. And finally, a person who has special knowledge of economics. Now, talking about the duty of the commission. See, it is the duty of the commission to make recommendations to the President with respect to the distribution of the net proceeds of the taxes between the Union and the States, which are to be divided between them, and also the allocation of shares of such proceeds between the States. And the Finance Commission can also make recommendations on the principles which govern the grants in need of the revenues of the States out of the consolidated fund of India. Then it can recommend the measures that are needed to augment the consolidated fund of a State in order to supplement the resources of the panchayats in that State. And this should be on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the particular State. And the Finance Commission also recommends the measures needed to augment the consolidated fund of a State to supplement the resources of the municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the State Finance Commission. And it can also make recommendations on any other matters referred to the Commission by the President in the interests of sound finance. So generally the Finance Commission will be constituted at the end of five years or before. And accordingly the 15th Finance Commission was constituted by the President in 2017. The 15th Finance Commission was asked to make recommendations covering a period of five years from the financial year 2020-21 to financial year of 2024-25. And later it was decided that the Finance Commission will submit its first report for the first financial year that is 2021, first by November 2019. And this was because it was difficult to make projections for five years when the economy is slowing down after the structural reforms like the GST and the Insurgency Corp. And the interim report had reduced the State's share in the divisible pool of taxes from 42% to 41% for the current year after Jammu and Kashmir was made a Union territory. And now today's article says that the Finance Commission has submitted its recommendations for financial year 2021-22 to 25-26. But one important point to be noted here is that the recommendations made by the Finance Commission are only advisory in nature and not binding on the government. Hence, it is up to the Union government to implement its recommendations on granting money to the States. Next, the President lays the recommendations of the Finance Commission before both the Houses of the Parliament along with an explanatory memorandum on the actions taken on its recommendations. And once the report is tabled in the parliament, we will get to know more about the new recommendations. So we might be seeing more about news articles related to the Finance Commission in coming days. So this is all about Finance Commission. Now see this question. Consider the following statements. Finance Commission is a permanent constitutional body. See, this statement is wrong. Even though it is a constitutionally mandated body, it is not a permanent body and it is usually constituted at the end of five years or before. Now the second statement reads, The members of the Finance Commission are appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. See, this statement is also incorrect. The members of the Finance Commission are appointed by the President of India. So in this question, we are supposed to identify the correct statement or statements here. Both the statements are incorrect. So the correct answer is option D neither one nor two. With this, we'll move on to the next news. Now have a look at this question. It is based on this news article which talks about the Competition Commission of India probe on Google abusing its dominant position in the digital market. It is alleged that Google has abused its dominant market position primarily with regard to its digital payments application that is Google Pay. So let us discuss in detail about the Competition Commission of India and specifically the Section 4 of Competition Act. First of all, let us understand about the Competition Commission of India. See, it was established under the Competition Act of 2002 and it comes under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and CCA consists of a chairperson and not less than two and more than 10 other members. Coming to the qualification, the chairperson and the members shall be a person of ability, integrity and standing and who has been or is qualified to be a judge of a High Court or they shall have special knowledge and professional experience of not less than 15 years in international trade, economics, business, commerce etc. And know that they are appointed by the center based on the recommendations of a selection committee and this committee is chaired by the Chief Justice of India or his nominee. It also includes the secretaries of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Ministry of Law and Justice. Then two experts from international trade, economics, business, commerce etc. Now coming to the duties of the Competition Commission of India, its priority is to eliminate practices which are having adverse effect on competition and to promote and sustain competition. It shall also protect the interests of the consumers and ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants in markets in India. See, an important section of the 2002 Act subject to 2007 amendment is section 4. It is about preventing abuse of dominant position. Here, dominant position means a position of strength engulfed by an enterprise in Indian market and this position enables it to operate independently of the competitive forces prevailing in the relevant market. In this case, it is Google and we all know about the dominance of Google and its products in the digital market. So, it is clear that this dominant position also affects its competitors or consumers or the relevant market in its favor. So, regulating their predatory activities is essential to ensure fairness in the market and here section 4 clearly states that no enterprise shall abuse its dominant position. See, there shall be an abuse of dominant position if an enterprise directly or indirectly imposes discriminatory condition in purchase or sale of goods or services and this also includes predatory prices. Here, predatory price means the sale of goods or services at a price which is below the cost of production of the goods or services and this is done with a view to reduce the competition or to eliminate the competitors. So, this is all about competition commission of India. Now, see this question with respect to competition act of 2002. Consider the following statements. An enterprise in Indian market is said to enjoy a dominant position if the position enables it to operate independently of competitive forces prevailing in the market. Yes, this statement is correct and the second statement reads an enterprise is said to impose predatory price if it sells goods at a price below its cost of production to reduce competition in the market. Yes, this statement is also correct. So, in this question we are supposed to identify the correct statement or statements. Here, both statements are correct. So, the correct answer is option C both 1 and 2. With this, we have discussed all the relevant articles from today's newspaper. Now, let us move on to the practice questions discussion based on today's news analysis. Now, see this first question. The national air quality index is released by which of the following? Here, the correct answer is option B central pollution control board and see the second question. Consider the air pollutants PM10, PM2.5, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Which of the above mentioned air pollutants are targeted under the national clean air program? See, we have seen that PM2.5 and PM10 are targeted under the national clean air program and the national level target is for 20 to 30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024. And the base here taken for the comparison of concentration is 2017. So, the correct answer is option A 1 and 2 only. Now, see the third question. Consider the following statements regarding the economic complexity index. See, it is a two statements question. The first statement reads, it ranks a country based on how diversified and complex its manufacturing export basket is. Yes, this statement is correct. Now, the second statement reads, it is released by the World Economic Forum. See, this statement is incorrect. See, we have seen that the economic complexity index is released by the Harvard University's Growth Lab. Here, we are supposed to identify the correct statement or statements. Statement 1 is correct and statement 2 is incorrect. So, the correct answer is option A 1 only. Now, we have this means practice question. Please write your answers and post it in the comment section. Our feedback will be given in a reasonable time frame. So, friends, with this, we have come to the end of analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the discussion of practice questions. If you like this video, please press the like button, comment, share, and do subscribe to Shankar Iyer's Academy YouTube channel for more updates related to civil service preparation.