 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankara IS Academy. Today's date is 9th of November 2023, displayed here are the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. So before getting into the news article discussion I have an important announcement for you, it is regarding our pre-storming test series. See the pre-storming test series is going to start on 22nd November 2023. The orientation for the test will begin a week ago that is on 16th November 2023. That mission is all open for the test batch. The series will cover 48 tests. So what are you waiting for? Just get enrolled and check your progress through the pre-storming test series of Shankara IS Academy. So with this positive note, let us move on to the news article discussion. This news article talks about the tax devolution authorized by the union government to the states. This devolution was based on the 15th finance commission recommendation. Remember the taxes will be devolved in 14 installments among states in a year. This is the crux of the news article given here. So in this news article discussion we shall see what is tax devolution and some of the key recommendations of 15th finance commission. So it is a very important topic. It can be asked both in the prelims and main. Okay. So what is tax devolution? Generally tax devolution means a distribution of tax revenues between various units of government. That is both central government and the state government. Remember it is a constitutional mechanism under article 280 to allocate the proceeds of tax revenues between union and the state in a far and equitable manner. So it is a cornerstone of fiscal federalism. Remember there are two types of devolution. They are vertical devolution and horizontal devolution. Vertical devolution means the devolution of taxes between union and the states. And horizontal devolution means the allocation of taxes between the states. Indian constitution under article 280 clause 3A mandates that the finance commission should make recommendations regarding the division of net proceeds of taxes between the union and the states. So this basic understanding. Now let's move on to the key recommendations of the 15th finance commission. Firstly with respect to vertical devolution. So 15th finance commission recommended the share of state in the central taxes for the 2021 to 26 period will be 41 percentage. Know that this is lesser than 42 percentage recommended by the 14th finance commission. This adjustment of 1 percentage is to provide resources for the newly formed union territories of GM 1, Kashmir and Ladakh from the resources of the central government. Secondly with respect to horizontal devolution. See the 15th finance commission recommended the allocation amongst the states based on the various weightages. For example for income distance 45 percentage for population according to 2011 census 15 percentage, area 15 percentage, forest and ecology 10 percentage, demographic performance 12.5 percentage and tax effort 2.5 percentage. See remember all the six items very very important and remember for which item more weightage is given. Okay it is very important. It will be asked in problems question. Thirdly with respect to various grants which are given to the states. Know that 17 states will receive grants worth of 2.9 lakh crore rupees to eliminate revenue deficit. So this is regarding the revenue deficit grants. Now moving on to sector specific grants. See sector specific grants of rupees 1.3 lakh crore will be given to states for 8 sectors which includes health, school education, implementation of agriculture reforms and etc. Moreover there is also a provision for state specific grants and the 15th finance commission had recommended the state specific grant of 49,599 crore rupees to the states to work in the areas like social needs, administrative governance and infrastructure, water and sanitation and etc. Finally grants which are given to local bodies include the total grants of 4.36 lakh crore rupees which includes 2.4 lakh crore rupees for rural local bodies, 1.2 lakh crore rupees for urban local bodies, 70,051 crore rupees for health grants through local governments. Finally with respect to disaster management funds 15th finance commission has recommended the existing cost sharing patterns between the center and the state to continue between them. Know that the existing cost sharing pattern between center and state is that 90 is to 10 for northeast and Himalayan states and 75 is to 25 for all other states. The 15th finance commission say that the state disaster management funds will have a corpus of 1.6 lakh crore rupees and the center will have a corpus of 1.2 lakh crore rupees. So these are also some of the key recommendations of 15th finance commission. Make note of all the points very very important. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this text and context article. This article talks about the importance of loss and damage fund. So first we shall see what is loss and damage and then we shall see what is loss and damage fund. So what is loss and damage? Say according to IPCC the term loss and damages refers to the adverse impacts of climate change. This includes extreme events resulting in economic damages, destruction of biodiversity, loss of lives and etc. These events happen particularly in developing countries that are most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. Note that LND is destructive, irreversible and cannot be addressed by mitigation and adaptation measures of the world. So this is what the word loss and damage mean. Now what is this loss and damage fund? Say LND fund refers to the cost that rich and developing countries should pay to the poor countries. This is because rich countries are primarily responsible for historical emissions that polluted the environment. However the poor nations made negligible contribution to pollution but are more vulnerable to extreme climate events. So the cost paid for the loss and damages of the poor nations by the rich nations is called loss and damage fund. Now let us see the timeline of establishment of loss and damage fund. See the least developed countries group LDC has previously demanded to establish accountability and compensation for loss and destruction which they are facing due to climate change. In pursuing this LND was brought up as a demand in 1991 by the island countries of Vanuatu which was representing the alliance of small island states AOSIS. Moreover this has been discussed for a long time since the establishment of UNFCCC. Later at the 19th conference of parties COP to the UNFCCC in Warsaw Poland in 2013 member countries formally agreed to establish the LND fund. It was created to provide financial and technical assistance to economically developing countries that are facing LND due to the adverse impact of climate change. Later at COP25 the Santiago network for LND was set up but countries did not commit any funds. Subsequently at COP26 the Glasgow dialogue on finance for LND was established. Its aim is to continue discussion over the next three years on the fund. Finally at the historic COP27 summit which was held in Sram El Sheikh in Egypt member states established LND fund. However a transitional committee has been set up to figure out how the new funding mechanism under the fund would function. It would also make recommendations that would be discussed in COP28 Dubai summit. So here comes the question who will be funding the LND funds. See the fund will initially derive contributions from developed countries and other private sources like international financial institutions. But according to the final text of COP27 the nations that are both high polluting and considered developing under the criteria should also pay into the fund. It means that developing countries with negligible historical emissions like India, China should also contribute to the fund. This is particularly opposed by India as it demands historical responsibility and polluter pay principle. So this is about the discussion regarding loss and damage fund. This year COP28 will be taking place from 30th November to 12th December in Dubai of United Arab Emirates UAE. So we will see what is going to happen in the conference. So these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article it talks about the corruption allegations of the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh. These allegations were charged by the opposition leader of Madhya Pradesh. Now the issue here is not very important but studying about corruption is very important in our exam perspective. So in today's discussion we shall see some of the measures taken by Indian government to combat corruption. Firstly we shall see some of the legislative measures. See the prevention of corruption act 1988 is a primary weapon to punish the corrupt officials. According to this act if a public servant takes gratification other than his legal remuneration then he or she will face minimum presentment of six months to maximum punishment of five years and a fine. The government in 2018 further enhanced the fines and it also criminalized both bribe taking and bribe giving. Now the second important legislative measure is the right to information act RTI 2005. So it is a watershed act to provide transparency and accountability in governance. This act empowers citizens to seek information from public authorities know that it provides further disclosure of various information related to the functioning of the government and its various departments. The implementation of the RTI act has made various information related to the working of the government as public and it unearthened various corruption scans. Now the third important legislative measure is the prevention of money laundering act 2002. See PMLA aims to prevent money laundering activities. Remember often the corrupt money is laundered through various activities like round tripping, benami transaction and etc. So this act provides for confiscation of such a property. Apart from this the Lokaikta and Lokpal Act of 2013. This act appoints an independent authority Lokpal at center and Lokaikta at states to probe into the complaints of kickbacks, bribes and corruption by the public servants. Apart from this there is a act called a whistle blowers protection act 2014. It allows any person including a public servant to make a public interest disclosure before a competent authority. It is also called whistle blowing. This act prevents such whistle blowers from any further harm to them. So these are also the legislative measures. Now let us see the administrative measures. See first is the e-governance. The digitalization of government services has reduced the minimal interference between state and citizens and thus preventing the incidences of bribery and corruption. For example the introduction of faceless assessment of various income tax cases and appeals has reduced the interface between officials and citizens and thereby reducing the harassment of citizens at the hands of officials. Apart from this the introduction of a direct benefit transfer. Jam trinity comprehensively changed the service delivery system. They are reduced to the scope of corruption by depositing the money directly into the bank accounts. So these are all some of the important steps that are taken by the government to combat corruption. So these learn the points and let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this opinion page article. It talks about the issue in EFIR. See to register an EFIR the police officer must obtain the physical signature of the complainant within three days. If the signature is not obtained the EFIR is not registered and the information is deleted after two weeks. So the article here points out that some states in India are already registering EFIRs for property offenses. The law commission recommends EFIRs to all cognizable offenses where the accused is not known. So the article raises concerns about the need for human interaction especially in cases where timely action is critical like in kidnapping cases. The author suggests the use of E authentication techniques or digital signatures to streamline the EFIR process and make it legally valid. This is the crux of the news article given here. So in this news article discussion we shall understand digitalization process in India through a mains answer writing approach. Before that you can take a look at the syllabus under which this topic can be asked in the mains examination. Now let me read out the question for you. The question is what is the status of digitalization in the Indian economy? Examine the problems faced in this regard and suggest improvements. See the question is very straightforward. We have to explain the status of digitalization in the Indian economy. It means we should write about how much impact the digitalization created in economy and we must provide relevant data to support our argument. Then we have to list out few problems in digitalization process and in conclusion we have to suggest some steps to be taken to improve the digitalization in India. So this is how we have to write the question. Now let us see how to write the introduction. In the introduction you can write that digitalization means the increased use of digital technologies to transfer traditional economic activities, process, enhancing efficiency, productivity and overall growth. In this regard government of India launched the digital India program which aims to facilitate the delivery of government services through digital means and promote digital literacy. You can write this in the introduction part for the question. Moving on to the main body of the answer. So here we are going to divide the body of the answer into two parts. In the first part we are going to explain the status of digitalization in Indian economy and in the second part we are going to explain the problems in digitalization process. First we shall see the status of digitalization in the Indian economy. Here you can mention about digital India campaign. See this has empowered citizens through digital technologies. For example Digilocker has simplified document access and sharing contributing to greater digital inclusion. It has over 15 crore registered users and 60 million monthly active engagements. Secondly Aadha system. See it is the world's largest biometric ID platform with over 1.3 billion enrollments. Aadha also helps to provide services like direct benefit transfer Thirdly unified payment interface. In short called as UPI. UPI has revolutionized digital payment in India enabling C plus and real-time money transfers. The historic milestone of 10 billion monthly transaction in August 2023 emphasizes the widespread adoption of digital payment solution. Fourthly you can talk about GSTM that is goods and services tax network. The introduction of GSTM simplified India's indirect tax system under this network tax complaints has become more structured and transparent. At least 1.2 crore businesses are registered under GSTM. Lastly smart city mission. This mission envisions the development of 100 cities with advanced digital solutions. For example Pune's smart city project focuses on enhancing urban mobility and solid waste management through the application of digital technology aiming to improve the quality of life in urban areas. So these developments imply India's commitment to digital transformation and the positive impacts of digitalization on various sectors. Now moving on we shall see some of the problems faced in digital transformation. Firstly you can talk about the digital divide. See there is still a big gap between urban and rural side when it comes to digital infrastructure and access. Only about 50% of the population has an internal subscription indicating that a substantial portion of the population still lack access to the digital economy. Currently over 55,000 villages remain deprived of mobile connectivity. Secondly cyber security issues. The increasing reliance on digital platforms has elevated the risk of cyber attacks. In 2020 India faced the second highest number of cyber attacks in the Asia Pacific region. Thirdly regulatory challenges. Recent issue with Twitter and the Indian government over regulatory complaints shows the lack of proper regulatory mechanism in digital platforms. Fourthly you can write about infrastructure challenges. See poor digital infrastructure including slow internet speeds and inconsistent connectivity in some areas affects the full potential of digitalization. So these are all some of the problems associated with digitalization of Indian economy. So in the conclusion part you can suggest some measures that can be taken to improve the digitalization process. Firstly you can write that government should increase investment in digital infrastructure. Then there should be active collaboration between government, private sector and academia in promoting digital services. Thirdly the government must create policies to address data privacy and security issues. Finally steps should be taken to boost digital literacy especially in rural areas through awareness campaigns. So in summary India's digital transformation has majorly contributed towards economic growth. We must address digital literacy infrastructure and data privacy to ensure complete digitalization. So that's all regarding this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw in detail about what is digitalization. We saw some of the positive aspects of digitalization and we also saw some of the issues associated with it. And in the conclusion we saw some of the suggestions that can be taken to improve the digitalization process of India. So these learned points and now let us move on to the next news article discussion. According to the news article the Election Commission of India is holding a conference in Chennai to assess the readiness for the 2024 general election. Chief electoral officers and police nodal officers from all southern states will participate in the conference. This is about the news article given here. So in this context let us revise some of the basics about election commission of India ECI. So election commission is a constitutional body. This is because it is directly established by the constitution of India under article 324. So what is the purpose of election commission? The purpose of the election commission is to ensure free and fair election in the country. So the election commission is responsible for the election of parliament, state legislature, the office of president and vice president of India. So we can say that the election commission is an all India body as it is common to both central government and state governments. Talking about its composition, say the election commission of India was a single member body when it was established in the year 1950. Later in the year 1989 the election commission transformed into a multiple member body. Article 324 says that the election commission shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such members of other election commissioners as fixed by the president. That is the election commission consists of a chief election commissioner and other election commissioners. They are appointed by the president of India. Talking about their tenure the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners have a tenure of six years or up to the age of 65 years whichever is earlier. Remember to ensure the independence of election commission article 324 contain the following provision. Firstly the tenure of the chief election commissioner is secured. This is because the chief election commissioner can only be removed by the parliament through impeachment. To make it clear the CEC can be removed by the president on the basis of a resolution passed in the parliament. Secondly, when we look into the service condition of the chief election commissioner it cannot be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment. Another important thing you should note here is that the other election commissioners or regional commissioners cannot be removed from the office except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner. So this is how the constitution secures independence of election commission of India. So these learnt points and I will just move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. Look at this first question about 15th finance commission three statements are given and you have to find how many statements are incorrect here. Look at this first statement income distance has the biggest weightage among the criteria for devolution to the states. This statement is correct. Look at the second statement it has recommended performance based grants and sector specific grants. This statement is also correct. Now look at this third statement the 15th finance commission has increased the share of states in the divisible pool of central taxes by one percentage. This statement is incorrect because it has reduced the share of taxes by one percentage. So the correct answer here is option A only one because only one statement is incorrect other two statements are correct. Moving on who of the following is not a member of the committee that recommends the appointment of the central vigilance commission. The correct answer for this question is option D speaker of the Lokshaba. Moving on look at this question about laws and damage fund. Three statements are given and you have to find how many statements given here are correct. Look at this first statement it works on the area of adaptation to climate change activities. This statement is completely wrong. It is a fund to compensate for the laws due to climate change. Look at this second statement the donation of the fund will be from government sources only. This statement is also incorrect. Private and multilateral institutions can also donate to the fund. Look at this third statement it was established during COP 27 summit in Egypt. This statement is correct. So the correct answer for this question is option A only one because others two statements are incorrect here. With this we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video hit like do comment and don't forget to subscribe to Shankar AIS Academy YouTube channel. Now thank you so much for listening.