 Good evening dear aspirants and viewers, we have great news to share with you. As you know Shankar IAS Academy is a coaching partner for the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of Government of India for its free UPSC coaching scheme. Every year a select sector of students will receive free UPSC civil service coaching at Shankar IAS Academy under the government scheme. We are glad to inform you that one of the candidates who received the free coaching under the scheme has successfully cleared a UPSC civil service examination 2022. He is none other than Mr. D. Ranjith from Tamil Nadu. We are happy to inform you that he secured the 750th rank in UPSC civil service examination 2022 and a special fact is that he attempted the GS mains optional paper and interview in the Tamil medium. As usual we are extremely happy to announce that more than 360 students from Shankar IAS Academy has cleared the prestigious UPSC civil service 2020 examinations. The list of articles that we are going to discuss today are displayed here. Without wasting much time let us get into today's discussion. Let us start today's discussion with this article. This article mentions about the framework for gold exchange. See the security exchange board of India that is the SEBI conducted a board meeting yesterday and the board proposed this framework for gold exchange along with the SEBI vault managers regulation 2021. After the deliberation the board approved the framework. As a result the yellow metal that is the gold will be traded in the form of electronic gold receipts. So in this context let us know about the framework for gold exchange and what is gold receipts and the reasons for creation of a separate exchange for gold. The syllabus regarding today's discussion is displayed here. Please go through it. First let us start by discussing what is a financial market. See a financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities. Now let us see what is a need for a financial market. Why a financial market exists? See to start a business you need capital. Imagine you are going to set up a coffee shop and you require 5 lakh rupees but you only have 3 lakhs with you. What will you do for the remaining amount? Obviously you will try to borrow it from the bank. There is also a second option that is you can raise the remaining capital from the financial market. The financial market enables resource mobilization in the country. Now let us see what are the securities. Securities are an instrument to raise capital in the financial market. It is a financial contract or evidence of transaction signed between a lender and borrower. To understand better let's take the same example. You are planning to raise the entire 5 lakhs capital from the financial market itself. How will you do that? You can issue your securities by listing your company in the Bombay stock exchange or any stock exchange of your choice. Interested investors will buy your security and invest in your coffee shop. It is as simple as that. Now let us see the types of securities. There are primarily 3 types of securities. First is equity. This provides ownership rights to the stakeholder. For example, when you are investing in Infosys stocks, this makes you a part shareholder of the company. You don't earn interest here but you will earn dividends and you will also earn money by trading this stocks in the secondary market. Second is debt. This involves borrowing. They are issued by any private company or government and it is sold to another party for a certain amount with the promise of repayment with interest. This includes a fixed capital that is the principal amount, a specified rate of interest and a maturity date. The maturity date is nothing but the date when the total amount of security that must be paid. This debt instrument can also be traded in the secondary market. Now the third is the hybrid instrument. See this combines the aspect of both debt and equity. The most common example of hybrid security is called a convertible bond. This is a bond that comes with an option to convert the instrument into a different type of security at a future date. Ordinarily, the bond will convert into shares of stock in the issuing company. The above mentioned are the tradable financial instrument that can be used to raise capital in the financial market. In addition to that, even raw material and precious metals which are known in the financial market as commodities are also traded using securities. Now coming to the article that is framework for gold exchange. See the instrument representing gold will be called electronic gold receipt. That is EGR and it will be notified as securities under securities contracts regulation act 1956. The electronic gold receipts will have trading, clearing and settlement features similar to other securities. So like a normal security, a recognized institution will sell gold securities and the interested investor can invest in these securities. To put it in simple words, you can buy gold digitally using electronic gold receipts. Okay. Now let us see who can issue these electronic gold receipts. See, any recognized stock exchange existing as well as new can launch trading in electronic gold receipts in a separate segment. Also note that the denomination for trading of EGR that is the electronic gold receipts and the conversion of electronic gold receipts into gold can be decided by the recognized stock exchange with the approval of SEBI. The electronic gold receipt holder can continue to hold the receipt as long as intended, since the electronic gold receipts will have perpetual validity. The electronic gold receipt holder at his discretion can also withdraw the underlying gold from the walls upon surrender of the electronic gold receipts. The clearing corporation will settle the trades executed on the stock exchange by transferring EGR and funds to the buyers and sellers respectively. Okay. Apart from this, there will be a vault manager for providing vaulting services meant for gold deposits to create electronic gold receipts. The vault manager will be registered and regulated as SEBI intermediary. That is SEBI accredited vault managers would be responsible for the storage and safekeeping of gold deposits, creation of electronic gold receipts, withdrawal of gold, grievance redressal and periodic reconciliation of physical gold with the records of depository. Let me say that again, the functions of vault manager are storage and safekeeping of gold deposits, creation of electronic gold receipts, withdrawal of gold, grievance redressal and periodic reconciliation of physical gold with the records of depository. Some of the salient features of vault manager are given here for your reference. Please go through it. Now let us see what is the reason to create a separate exchange for gold. Okay. See India is a net importer of gold. We are price takers and not price setters. The whole idea is to move from being price takers to be price setters. Price discovery at the exchange will lead to transparency in gold pricing. That is, it will help in having a transparent domestic spot price discovery mechanism. Apart from transparent price discovery, the exchange would enable investment liquidity and assurance in quality of gold. This is the main goal of this initiative. The added advantages are this will create a vibrant gold ecosystem in India, since India after China being the second largest consumer of gold globally. This also has the advantage of cost detection due to interoperability. That is, gold deposited at one location with one vault manager can be withdrawn from a different location of the same or different vault manager subject to availability of physical gold. This will reduce the cost for buyers. Okay. And setting up of a separate spot exchange has added advantages like reduced market fragmentation and improved liquidity. So these are the advantages for establishing a separate exchange for gold. Okay. With this, let us also discuss two obstacles to this initiative. First is Indian households who are the primary gold buyers are largely physical gold buyers and the domestic bullion market is still in an elementary stage. Okay. Second is the reluctance by the gold owners to melt their holdings while depositing the gold with the vault managers. In this part, we discussed about the financial market, the three types of security instrument, the recently launched gold exchange. We discussed a little bit about electronic gold receipts, the role of vault managers and the need for separate gold exchange. And we also discussed two obstacles to this idea. With this, let us wind up this discussion and move on to the next article. Now let us take up this editorial. This editorial talks about the recent plea made by the Chief Justice of India, N.V. Ramana to Indianize courts and to make them responsive to the needs of the Indian citizens. So this is the context behind this editorial. In this editorial, we are going to discuss the pendency of cases in our judicial system. We are also going to discuss the measures which can solve this problem. Now let's see the important points highlighted in this editorial. Syllabus regarding this editorial is given here for your reference. See the nation's judiciary is moving towards a disaster and needs immediate attention. This is because in India we have a high pendency of cases in courts across the country. The grave status of our judiciary is shown here in the table. See, in the first six months of 2021, the number of cases in pendency has increased by 23 lakhs. This is a sorry state of affair. In India, more than 40% of the cases are decided after three years. What about other countries? In many other countries, less than 1% of cases are decided after three years. That is, 99% of the cases are decided within three years. So we can observe a huge difference here. Okay, and if India does not act decisively and quickly, this percentage will keep on increasing. The rich, the powerful and the wrongdoers will exploit this delay and escape from justice. It will also increase corruption and crime in our country. Also, the delay in judicial proceedings will severely affect the poor and marginalized. Now let us see what can be done to reduce the pendency in the judicial system. See the author in this editorial suggests two measures to tackle this issue. These measures can be implemented within two years. Now let us discuss these measures. Okay, the first measure is we can reduce the pendency of cases by filling sanctioned judicial positions. That is, we can fill the vacancy in judicial appointments. See, according to various analyzes, the average increase in pendency was less than 2% per year. This analysis was done for the period 2006 to 2019. See, but in the same period, that is 2006 to 2019, the average vacancy in the sanctioned judicial position was about 21%. Note the difference. The pendency increased by only 2%, but the vacancy increased by 21%. So if the sanctioned positions had been filled, our pendency of cases would have gone down each year. And according to the author, our nation needs to increase the number of judges by 20% to reduce the pendency of cases. See, the responsibility of selecting judges and ensuring near zero vacancy is largely with the judiciary itself. But this responsibility of filling judicial vacancies is not considered as a matter of priority. This is why there are a lot of vacancies in our judiciary, which ultimately results in high pendency of cases. So our first measure in reducing the pendency of cases in the judicial system is by filling the sanctioned judicial position. Moving on to the second one. See, the second measure is to improve the working of the judiciary with the use of technology. This solution was given by the E Committee of the Supreme Court. See, the E Committee of the Supreme Court has made some outstanding recommendation. Let's take up these recommendations one by one. The first recommendation is according to the E Committee, computer algorithms should decide on case listing, case allocation and adjournments with only 5% over rate given to judges. By doing this, we will reduce the arbitrariness of our judicial proceedings. It will also bring a level playing field to all people. See, by reducing the arbitrariness, we are removing the unfair advantage enjoyed by powerful people. Moving on to the second recommendation. According to the E Committee, the court should focus on e-filing of cases. See, e-filing will reduce the travel expenses for the litigants and it will also save about 3 lakh trees annually. Okay, now moving on to the final recommendation. According to the E Committee, we should focus on virtual hearings. See, we can create a hybrid virtual hearing model. A hybrid model is a combination of virtual and physical hearing so we can take the advantage of both the systems. See, by creating a hybrid model, we will make access to justice easier for the litigants. This will also bring down the cost and we will also give a fair opportunity for young lawyers from small towns to appear in courts. So these are the recommendations given by the E Committee of the Supreme Court. From these recommendation, we can observe the importance of technology in our judicial system. So this is the second measure given by the author to improve the working of the judiciary with the use of technology. See, these measures are very important. The thing is, they are also very easy to implement. This is because these measures would require no change in laws. They can be easily made at a conference. We can reduce the tendency by implementing these simple changes. By doing so, India's judicial system can rank among the top 10 countries in the world. These changes would make India a preferred nation for international investment and also fulfill the fundamental rights to speedy justice for the citizens. Okay, see, these points can be used in your main censor rather than writing regular solution to reducing judicial pendency. If you write these points mentioned by the author, your answer will be more rounded off and appear as a well researched answer. So try to make a note of these two points and try to use it in your answers. Only by using it in your answers, you can remember these points when you are appearing for your main exam. You can write these points. Okay, so with these points in mind, let us take up the next article for our discussion. Now take a look at this new segment. This article mentions that Mr. Sumitra Kumar Halder has been appointed as the full time chairman of the Cauvery Water Management Authority. Mr. Halder is also acting as the head of the Central Water Commission. Although this appointment and the names are not important for our examination, the two bodies mentioned, that is the Cauvery Water Management Authority and the Central Water Commission are important for the problems. Questions might appear from them. Okay, now let us take these organization one by one for our discussion today. First, let us take Central Water Commission. Looking into various aspects of the Central Water Commission is important because the Central Water Commission has entered the 75th year of its foundation recently, and it has organized several seminars, workshops and other activities to celebrate the 75th anniversary. So our discussion here will cover three aspects of Central Water Commission that is CWC like the origin of Central Water Commission, its organizational structure and the roles and responsibilities of this organization. Let us take up these aspects one by one. Now the first aspect, that is the origin of the Central Water Commission. See the Central Water Commission was established in 1945 by the government of British India on the advice of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. See, B. R. Ambedkar was a part of Viceroy's Executive Council at that time. Dr. Ambedkar was so instrumental in the establishment of this technical body that he not only stated the need for such an organization, but he also laid down the organization's objective and organizational structure. OK, he was very important for the establishment of this organization. So this organization that is when it was established in 1945, it was initially called Central Waterways Irrigation and Navigation Commission, and later its name was re-christined as Central Water Commission. OK, now having covered the origin of Central Water Commission, now let us look into its organizational structure. See, the Central Water Commission is a premier technical organization of India in the field of water resources. OK, presently it is functioning as an attached office under Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, which is under Ministry of Jalsakthi. OK, the CWC has three members who are headed by a chairman. The chairman has a status of ex official secretary of the government of India. So the CWC has three wings under it. They are the design and research wing, river management wing and the water planning and projects wing. The work carried out by the Central Water Commission is divided among these three wings of the organization. OK, now moving on to the third aspect, that is the roles and responsibilities of the Central Water Commission. The most important function performed by the Central Water Commission is hydro meteorological observation. So before going into the functions of CWC, let us know a little bit about hydro meteorology. Actually, hydro meteorology is a branch of meteorology and hydrology that studies the transfer of water and the energy between land surface and troposphere. It also deals with the problems involving hydrologic cycle, the water budget and the rainfall statistics. For example, a meteorologist might forecast that a particular place might receive a certain amount of rain in the next couple of days. And the hydrologist might forecast the impact of the rain in the local landscape. Whereas the hydro meteorologist will compile the work of both meteorologist and hydrologist. OK, and he provides the compiled information how the rainfall will affect the landscape where the rainfall has occurred. OK, I hope you can understand coming back to the roles and responsibilities of Central Water Commission. See the Central Water Commission through its hydro meteorological observation helps in dealing with various issues like flood forecasting, river inflow forecasting, reservoir regulation for dam safety, flood inundation mapping and development of mathematical models. See with the effects of climate change we are facing the functions performed by the CWC help us in mitigating various meteorological disasters. So in the mains, if there's a question relating to mitigation and adaption to climate change, you can mention about Central Water Commission and its function and how empowering the organization will help in minimizing the damage caused by meteorological disasters. See, adding points like this will add legitimacy to your answer and help you differentiate your answers from your competitors. OK, now moving on. The Central Water Commission also provide necessary water related data for better research, planning, development and management in the area of water resources. In addition to the functions that I mentioned, the Central Water Commission also performs assessment of the navigational potential of inland waterways. OK, in relation to the state government, the Central Water Commission carries out techno economic appraisal of irrigation, flood control and multi-purpose projects as proposed by the state governments. OK, the organization also provides advice to the Central and state governments regarding river valley development and base in wise development of water resources. So to recap the main functions of Central Water Commission, it helps in flood forecasting, river inflow forecasting, reservoir regulation for dam safety, creating flood indentation maps, development of mathematical models, providing data for better research regarding water resources and give advice to the Central and state governments regarding river valley development and base in wise development of water resources. So these are the main functions of Central Water Commission. Now having gone through the origin, the organizational structure and the roles and functions of the organization, let me give one initiative of the union government in relation to the Central Water Commission. You guys can recall the drip project that is the dam rehabilitation and improvement projects, right? If not, let me help you guys recall. OK, see actually phase one of this project was initially launched in 2012. But recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister renewed the project for phase two and three. The main objective of the drip project, as the name suggests is rehabilitating old dams. That is, this scheme is mainly focused on mitigating the risks of dam failure and ensuring the safety of people. And it also tries to maintain the river in ecology and protecting the property located downstream of the selected dams through structural as well as non structural measures like physical rehabilitation, preparation of operation and maintenance manual, emergency action plans, early morning system and various other methods. In all, it just tries to maintain the safety of the dams, OK? Some other components of the drips project are like strengthening the institutional framework of dam safety. It also tries to help in revenue generation for sustainable operation and maintenance of dams. And finally, for the newly proposed dam, it helps in the project management aspect also, OK? See this dam rehabilitation and improvement project is implemented with the help of the Central Water Commission. Under the dam rehabilitation and improvement project initiative, the Central Water Commission has launched the Dharma application, OK? The Dharma application is nothing but dam health and rehabilitation monitoring application. This application helps in the effective collection and management of dam safety data in respect to all large dams in India. See India ranks third globally after China and the United States of America with 5334 large dams in operation. In addition, about 411 dams are under construction at present. So, ensuring dam safety is of utmost importance, thus making the drip initiative very relevant, OK? These are the various aspects relating to Central Water Commission and dam rehabilitation and improvements initiative. So, before moving on to the next article, let us get to know a little bit about the Cauvery Water Management Authority also, OK? See the Cauvery Water Management Authority was created as per the Cauvery Management Scheme which was framed by the Center and approved by the Supreme Court. So, now looking at its organizational structure, the Cauvery Water Management Authority consists of a chairman, a secretary and eight members. Out of the eight members, two will be full-time while two will be part-time from the Center side and the rest four will be part-times from the State side. So, there will be eight members, two full-time members, two part-time members from Center side and four part-time members from State side, OK? So, now coming to the functions of the Cauvery Water Management Authority. See the main function of the Cauvery Water Management Authority is the implementation of Supreme Court's order in relation to storage, appropriation, regulation and control of Cauvery Water. This is its main function. So, it also has additional functions that is to advise the States in improving its water use efficiency by promoting use of micro irrigation, change in cropping patterns and improved form practices, OK? So, it has two functions. First is implementing Supreme Court's order. The next is advising the States to improve its water use efficiency. So, these are some facts relating to Cauvery Water Management Authority, OK? See, in this discussion, we saw about the origins of Central Water Commission, the functions of Central Water Commission and its organizational structure. We also saw about a Central Government Initiative that is Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project that is implemented by the Central Water Commission, OK? We also saw a little bit about Cauvery Water Management Authority, how it was created, its composition and finally the functions of Cauvery Water Management Authority. So, with these points in mind, let us conclude this discussion and move on to the next article. Now, look at this article. See, the United Planners Association of Southern India has requested the Spice Board to take up with the Ministry of Food Processing Industry the need to include spices in the Protection Linked Incentive Scheme, OK? This is the crux of the article. So, in this context, let us discuss about the Spice Board and the Protection Linked Incentive Scheme, OK? Now, let's start with the Spice Board. See, the Spice Board was constituted on 26th February 1987 under the Spice Board Act of 1986. See, this is a statutory body. In 1986, the Cardamom Board and the Spice Export Promotion Council were merged to form this Spice Board. The Spice Board is one of the five commodity boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is an autonomous body responsible for the Export Promotion of the 52 Scheduled Spices and the Development of Cardamom. Now, let us look at the main functions of Spice Board. See, the main functions of the Spice Board can be placed under three hits. First is the Pre-Horvest Stage. Here, the Board is involved in Technology Upgradation, Quality Upgradation, Research and Product Development, Provision of Inputs to the Central Government on Policy Matters relating to Imports and Exports of Spices, Promotion of Organic Production and the Certification of Spices. Now, moving on to the second stage, that is the Post-Horvest Stage. Here, the Spice Board is involved in Post-Horvest Value Edition, Provision of Quality Evaluation Services, Provision of Quality Certification and Control Services. These are the functions performed by the Spice Board in the second stage. Now, moving on to the third stage, that is the Marketing Stage. Here, the Board is involved in Research Development and Regulation of Domestic Marketing of Small and Large Cardamom, Brand Promotion, Registration of Exporters, Collection and Documentation of Trade Information and finally, the Spice Board is also involved in the Development of Spices in the North Eastern Region. In addition to the functions, the Spice Board is also involved in various multi-faceted activities like providing guidance to farmers on getting higher and better quality yields through scientific agricultural practices. It is also involved in providing financial and material support to growers. The Board also provides infrastructure for processing and value addition of spices. And finally, for the Capacity Building, the Spice Board is involved in the protection of promotional and educative materials in a variety of media for the benefit of exporters and importers. These are all the functions that the Spice Board performs. So, with this, let us conclude about Spice Board and let us briefly discuss about the Production Linkly Incentive Scheme. In the 2021 budget, the government mentioned that the Production Linkly Incentive Scheme will be extended to eight more sectors to boost domestic manufacturing. Since this appeared in the last budget, this scheme is very important. See, the Production Linkly Incentive Scheme is an outcome under output-oriented scheme where incentives will be paid only if the manufacturer makes the goods. The scheme will provide cash incentives for the next five to seven years. Now, let us see what are all the sectors where the Production Linkly Incentive Scheme is applicable. The sectors are industries involved in drug intermediaries and active pharmaceutical ingredients production. It also covers large-scale electronic manufacturing industries, industries involved in manufacturing of medical devices, electronic and technology product industries, pharmaceutical drugs industries, telecom and networking product industries, food processing industries, white goods industries like industries involved in the production of air-conditioners and LED, high-efficiency solar photovoltaic cell production industries, automobiles and auto components production industries, advanced chemical cell that is battery production industries, textile industries and industries involved in the production of specialty steels. So, right now, totally this Production Linkly Incentive Scheme covers 10 industries. Now, let us see why this scheme is implemented. See, according to experts, the idea of Production Linkly Incentive is important as the government cannot continue making investment in these capital incentive sectors as they need longer times to start giving the returns. So, instead, the government through this scheme will attract global companies with adequate capital to set up capacities in India. Next is, this will give a boost to domestic manufacturing and cut down on import bills. This scheme aims to give companies incentives on incremental sales from products manufactured in their domestic units. So, this will boost domestic production. Apart from inviting foreign companies to set up shop in India, the scheme also aims to encourage local companies to set up or expand existing manufacturing units. So, all these will help realize the dream of Atma Nirbar Bharat, that is self-reliant India. In this discussion, we discussed about the origin of spice board and the various functions that the spice board performs. We also saw briefly about the Production Linkly Incentive Scheme, the industries to which this scheme is applicable, and the reason why this scheme is implemented. Now, with the above discussed points in our mind, let us conclude this part and take up the next article for our discussion. No, we have come to the final article for our discussion today. So, look at this editorial article. Recently, the United Nation World Happiness Report was released for the year 2021. When you take the performance of India this year, India was ranked 139 out of 149 countries, which shows that a significant number of people are not happy in our country. However, there has been a slight improvement. See, since last year, India was ranked in the 148th position. So, since India was ranked 139th position this year, there was a slight improvement. So, this particular editorial is written in that background and the author here attempts to highlight the role played by Indian law and its institutions in the unhappiness prevailing in the country. This is the basic crux of the editorial. Now, with this idea in mind, let us approach this discussion. The syllabus covered by this editorial article is highlighted here for your reference. First of all, let's briefly know about the United Nation World Happiness Report. See, the United Nation World Happiness Report is published by Sustainable Development Solution Network. Okay, note this point. This is important in Plim's perspective. Okay. The World Happiness Report ranks 149 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. Note the point perception here. See, this rank is not objective measure of happiness, but a subjective measure of how the citizens of the country perceive their happiness. Okay. The rankings that the World Happiness Report provide are based on polling, which looks at six variables. Now, let us see the six variables. The variables are gross domestic product per capita, purchasing power parity. Note here, purchasing power parity. The second variable is social support. The third variable is healthy life expectancy at birth. The fourth variable is freedom to make life choices. The fifth variable is generosity. And the last variable is perception of corruption. Okay. And the people who participated in the polls are asked to rate their own current life on the scale of one to ten. Okay. The 2021 report focuses on the effects of COVID-19 and how the people all around the world have responded to the COVID induced disruptions. The report shows that COVID-19 induced social distancing had a severe impact on happiness as people's social life were hugely affected during the pandemic. Okay. So, now, when you come across any ranking or index, when you are reading a newspaper, you have to note three points. First is India's position. The second is the best performer and the third is the worst performer. So, as discussed, India ranked 139th and Finland has been ranked as the happiest country in the world for the fourth consecutive year. And Afghanistan at 149th position is the most unhappy country in the world. Note the three countries. Okay. See, this report has been in practice since the year 2012. Before that, happiness was not considered as a objective of governance. But then in the course of time, this notion has changed. And the connection between law, governance, and happiness started gaining some attention. According to the author, one of the main reason why India performed poorly in the happiness report is happiness has never been considered as a goal of public policy in India. Okay. The author feels that the following four aspects, that is guarantee of rights, participation, dignity, and social justice are important for India to fare better in the happiness ranking. The author in this article also talks about the potential of law or governance in enhancing the happiness of the nation. See, we tend to limit the role of law by looking it through the prism of retributive justice. See, retributive justice is a theory in justice disposal that states that people who break the law must suffer in return. And response or punishment to the crime must be proportional to the crime committed. This retributive justice doesn't believe in the concept of rehabilitation. See, retributive justice is nothing but the revenge mindset we have. See, if someone hurts me, my immediate response will be to hurt him back. This is the core of retributive justice. It doesn't believe in the concept of rehabilitation. Okay. The author also feels that the law has inherent in itself an ability to create a positive application. Here, the author talks about distributive justice to achieve a positive outcome and thereby happiness. See, according to American philosopher John Rawls, distributive justice is a form of social justice which gives main emphasis to fairness. That is, the society and all its aspects must be fair to all. That is, from the most talented to the most disadvantaged section. The reservation system in our country that ensures social justice is also an aspect of distributive justice. Hope you are clear with the terms retributive justice and distributive justice. So, no moving on. The pendency in the judicial system is also a concern. See, in India, an estimated figure of about 3.5 crore pending cases are present in various courts of the country. This scenario of pending cases causes anxiety to the litigants. That is, in other words, the justice system for the people remains to be a source of unhappiness. So, steps must be taken to address the pendency in the judiciary and make justice delivery smooth and fast. The author also points out that happy countries have lower crime rates. Or in other words, the individuals living in nations with high crime rates less happy and satisfied than those living in nations with comparatively low crime rates. So, the country scoring high on rule of law index also score well on the index of happiness. And for those who are not aware, the rule of law index is released by the World Justice Project, which is an independent organization. The index covers 128 countries. See, the index measures the country's rule of law performance across eight factors. The factors are constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice. In the recently released rule of law index, India ranked 69th position out of the 128 countries analyzed. Denmark topped the rule of law ranking and the last position was occupied by Venezuela. Note the three countries here. No coming back to the article. The author also mentions some examples from other countries which Indian policy makers can use to make the Indian citizens happier. See, already many countries have been responding to the happiness index. For instance, the United Arab Emirates has become the world's first country to have set up a ministry of happiness. And the major function of this ministry is to monitor the impact of the policies through a happiness meter and also take measures to ensure a better life for its citizens. Similarly, on that line, Bhutan has introduced gross national happiness as a measure of good governance. So, India can also come up with similar plans and devise suitable framework in this regard. Because doing so not only increases India's position in this report, but will also make India a happier and a safe place to reside in. At the end of the day, honest and effective government can create happier citizens. And not just that, it also results in government gaining more trust among the people. In this discussion, we saw various aspects of how happiness can be achieved by better public policy making. We saw about World Happiness Report, which organization publishes it, and how the ranking is made. And similarly, we saw about the rule of law index. So, now having done with the newspaper article discussion, let us take up the practice prelims questions. We have two prelims-based questions for discussion today. Let's take up the first question. Let me read it out first. Consider the following statement with reference to the spice board. First statement, it is an autonomous body. Second statement, it functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. So, from our discussion, we know both the statements are correct. The spice board is indeed an autonomous body. It is one of the five commodity boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. And it is responsible for the export promotion of the 52 scheduled spices and the development of cardamom. The correct answer is option C, that is both 1 and 2. Now moving on to the next question. This question is regarding the National Water Academy. It has four statements. Let me read out the statements first. It was set up in Central Water Commission in the year 1988. It is funded by the Ministry of Jalshakti. Third statement, it aims to impart training to the in-service engineers involved in the development and management of water resources. Fourth statement, it is located in Punjab. Actually, the first three statements that is 1, 2 and 3 are correct. Only the fourth statement is wrong. This academy is not located in Punjab but it is located in Pune. Another point regarding this academy, this academy is also involved in the developing and maintaining linkages with leading institutions in India and abroad dealing with training activities in water resource sector for sharing the expertise. Okay, so this is an additional information today regarding National Water Academy. The correct answer is option C, that is 1, 2 and 3. The main questions are displayed above. Today we have three main questions. Try to write the answers for that question. All the questions are based on the topics we discussed today. So kindly try to attend the answers and post it in the comment section for the peer review. Now with this, we have come to the end of the session. If you like this video, do like and share it with your friends and don't forget to subscribe to Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.