 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankaray's Academy. We inform to the viewers and aspirants that Shankaray's Academy is conducting two all India online free mock tests, one on 20th September and another on 27th September 2020. The aspirants are advised to make use of this opportunity by registering for the test through the links given in the description and also in the comments section to test yourself in these mock tests before being tested on October 4 2020. With this let's move on to our analysis. These are the list of news articles taken for today's discussion and they are given along with the page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the timestamping of the discussed articles are provided in the description box and also in the comments section. Now let's move on to the analysis of first news article. This open editorial news article is authored by a former secretary general of Rajeshabha or the council of states. The author talks about the need for changing the tenure of department related standing committees. In this analysis let us see his viewpoints on this matter and also about department related standing committees. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this open article is highlighted here for your reference. First let us briefly discuss about the departmentally related standing committees. See it is a type of standing committee of parliament and we know that in our parliament there are two kinds of parliamentary committees. They are standing committees then ad hoc committees. Standing committees are those committees that work on a continuous basis. However if you take ad hoc committee as the name stands these committees cease to exist when the task assigned to them is completed. In this understanding these can also be called as temporary committees. Actually the need to constitute some kind of subject committees or department related standing committees was felt so as to strengthen the committee system and in the history of Indian democracy establishing such subject committees or department related standing committees is a major initiative. Now let's see why they were established. They were established to make the parliament more effective in exercising its control over the executive to give direction to the executive functioning and in this way these committees make the executive more accountable. So in the year 1989 three subject committees were constituted. One is on agriculture then another on science and technology then another on environment and forests. The functioning of these subject committees were observed and after the observation in the year 1992 general purposes committee and rules committee felt that a full fledged system of department related standing committees shall be created and such committees will be covering all the ministries or departments of government of India under the jurisdiction. So in the subsequent year in 1993 17 department related standing committees were created and this system of department related standing committees was restructured in the year 2004. At this time the number of department related standing committees increased from 17 to 24. So these are given here for your reference. In this the chairperson of first eight committees they are appointed by chairperson of Rajesh Saba or the chairman of Rajesh Saba and the chairperson of remaining 16 committees they are appointed by the speaker of Lokshaba and know that these committees the department related standing committees they are constituted under rule 268 of rules of procedure and conduct of business in the council of states and with respect to Lokshaba they are constituted under rule 331C of rules of procedure and conduct of business in Lokshaba. Now let's see the functions of these committees. So one is to consider the demands for grants of various ministries or departments and to make reports to the houses of parliament. Then to examine the bills that are referred to this committee by the chairperson of Rajesh Saba or the speaker of Lokshaba. It will also consider the annual reports of ministries or departments then the committee considers policy documents that are presented to the houses and finally the committees make report on all these aspects. But we should note one thing here the department related standing committees they are barred or prohibited from considering matters of day to day administration of the related ministries or departments. Now let's come to the composition of these committees. See each department related standing committee it consists of 31 members from both Rajesh Saba and Lokshaba. So it is a giant committee 10 members are nominated by the chairperson of Rajesh Saba from the members of council of states or from the members of Rajesh Saba. 21 members they are nominated by the speaker of Lokshaba from the members of Lokshaba itself and the allocation of seats to all the parties in the department related standing committees is done on the basis of proportional representation. Note that a member of parliament appointed as a minister shall not be nominated as a member and cannot constitute as a member of department related standing committee. Now more importantly a member of department related standing committee holds office for a term not exceeding one year at a time. Now this tenure is our focus area today. The tenure is under debate because recently there was a speculation that the chairperson of Rajesh Saba is keen on amending the rules of procedure so as to give the members of department related standing committees a fixed tenure of two years. So what is the stand taken by author of this editorial on this matter the author supports increasing the tenure and now let's see the reasons behind it. First see the eligible and available members of parliament. They are nominated as members of these committees based on their expertise and preferences. So such a member should be allowed to continue until she retires or discontinues the membership because then only the committee can benefit from her experience or expertise. The second reason is that Rajesh Saba itself undergoes a partial biennial renewal. We say biennial renewal because one third of its members retire every two years. This is according to article 83 clause one of Indian constitution. However if you take Loksh Saba it has a fixed tenure of five years unless it is dissolved sooner. This is as per article 83 clause two. So based on the partial biennial renewal of Rajesh Saba the chairperson of Rajesh Saba is keen to increase the tenure of department related standing committee members to two years. There is one more reason the author states that in Rajesh Saba the annual renewal of department related standing committee is only notional and no major changes are made in the committees which could mean that the same members are appointed again for another term of one year. The author notes that the changes are really made only after each biennial election of Rajesh Saba. So it would be much simple if the tenure of members itself is increased to two years rather than reappointing them every time which we called as notional. Here according to author the same scenario also happens with respect to Loksh Saba where the major reconstitution of department related standing committee takes place when a new Loksh Saba is elected after five years or unless it is dissolved earlier. Here when we say major reconstitution it refers to a fact that during annual renewal there is not much of a change in terms of members. So because of the basic mismatch between the election schedule of Rajesh Saba and Loksh Saba the author provides a crucial suggestion. The suggestion is to alter the existing mandate of having same term for the members of department related standing committees for the both the houses of parliament. So what does this mean? Now this means that the tenure of department related standing committees has to be prescribed differently for the two houses. The term should be altered according to the tenure of the two houses that is two years for Rajesh Saba and five years for Loksh Saba. Now this suggestion is based on the fact that other standing committees of Rajesh Saba have no prescribed fixed tenure. Other committees means other than department related standing committees. Now for these other committees the standard method is that the committee shall hold office until a new committee is nominated and the casual vacancies they shall be filled in by the chairperson of Rajesh Saba the chairman of Rajesh Saba. Now another fact is that the standing committees are permanent as we saw initially. So there should be no difficulty even if the term of members of the two houses on these committees are different. So these are the reasons behind the author's support for the reason speculation that the chairman of Rajesh Saba is considering amending the rules to give the members of department related standing committees a fixed tenure of two years. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This editorial article is about the recent discovery made in the Venus planet. In this context let us see some science facts about this planet then we will see important missions to Venus and then we will discuss this editorial. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this editorial is highlighted here for your reference. Venus as we know is the second planet from the sun and it is earth's neighbor in the solar system. It is the brightest object in the sky after the sun and the moon and it sometimes looked like a bright star in the morning or in the evening sky. Know that Venus has no moons and it also has no rings. From earth we are unable to see the surface of Venus. The reason is that it is covered with thick clouds. However space missions to Venus have shown us that the surface of Venus is covered with craters, volcanoes, mountains and also with big lava planes. Now coming to the surface of Venus it is very hot. The reason being the temperatures are so high that it can even melt lead. The author of the editorial at one point states that with surface temperatures of above 460 degrees Celsius that can melt even a metal like lead. Then the atmosphere of Venus is hot which is mainly made up of carbon dioxide and thick clouds of sulphuric acid that completely cover Venus. The atmosphere of Venus traps the small amount of energy from the sun that reach the surface along with the heat that the planet Venus itself releases. This greenhouse effect has made the surface and also the lower atmosphere of Venus as one of the hottest places in the solar system. Therefore Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system. This is the fact even though Mercury is closer to the sun than Venus. The average temperatures of planets in our solar system is given here for your reference and you can observe that of these planets the average temperature of Venus is the highest higher than even Mercury. Now let's come to some of the important missions to Venus. See since 1960s Venus has been explored by flyby missions, orbiter missions, fuel lander missions and atmospheric probes. More than 40 spacecrafts have explored Venus so far. In the year 1962, Mariner 2 became the first American spacecraft to explore Venus. It determined that temperatures were cooler higher in the clouds but extremely hot on the surface of Venus. Five years later in the year 1967, v near of 4 it became the first USSR spacecraft to measure the temperature of another planet. It detected large amounts of carbon dioxide that causes greenhouse effect in Venus. Then in the year 1975, v near of 9 probe of USSR it became the first to take images from the surface of Venus. Then in 1990, NASA's Magellan spacecraft it entered into the orbit of Venus for mapping the surface and also to look for evidence of plate tectonics in Venus. This mission hinted at significant past and also possible present volcanic activity in the planet Venus. And in 2005, European Space Agency launched Venus Express. This mission in the year 2011 found signs of ozone in the upper atmosphere of Venus. And in 2017, a team of international astronomers they detected trace amounts of a gas called as phosphine in the Venus atmosphere. The scientists detected this gas using a telescope in Hawaii. This telescope is called as James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. In 2019, Venus was further observed precisely using the Atacama Large Millimeter or Sub-Millimeter Array Facility in Chile. In this study of 2019, researchers have confirmed the detection of phosphine reported by a team of international astronomers in the year 2017. The findings of the 2019 study were recently published in a scientific journal called as Nature Astronomy. And this study is the reason behind this news article. Now let's see why this research is significant. See this is because phosphine gas is mentioned as biomarker in this article. So what do you mean by biomarker or biological marker? See these are indicators of life. So presence of phosphine gas in Venus atmosphere, it indicates that microbes may inhabit Venus. That is microbes may be living in Venus. During biochemical processes, some microbes release this gas called as phosphine gas. So discovery of phosphine in Venus atmosphere, it means that there is a possibility of presence of life in Venus. The researchers estimate that phosphine forms about 20 parts per billion of Venus' atmosphere. Having said that, this has to be seen as only a possibility. It is not sure and it is not confirmed whether there are microbes actually present in Venus atmosphere. This is because this discovery has been made with the help of telescopes from the Earth only. This editorial tells that this can be confirmed only by making in situ measurements that is tracing the presence of phosphine directly in the atmosphere of Venus and not through ex situ. Ex situ means observing from environment outside Venus, example observing from Earth. But there are challenges in tracing the presence directly in the atmosphere of Venus because apart from the high surface temperature and dense atmosphere of Venus, the presence of sulphuric acid in the atmosphere of Venus makes it as a highly corrosive environment. So this editorial suggests that perhaps flying at a height and sending down drones or balloons that would be more feasible than landing to confirm the recent discovery of what we saw about the presence of phosphine gas. In this regard, ISRO has planned an unnamed mission to Venus in the year 2023. The objective of the mission would be to study the atmosphere and surface topography of Venus. So in the conclusion, the author suggests that various space agencies should collaborate to efficiently probe the dense atmosphere of Venus to know more about Venus in our solar system. So these are some of the important information with reference to the analysis of this editorial. This news article states that Telangana state government opposes electricity act amendment. In the context of analyzing this news article, let us see some of the contentious provisions between the center and the states in the draft electricity amendment bill 2020. The first point of contention is with the entry of private players into power distribution. Right now, many state distribution companies or discoms, they assign the task of electricity distribution to franchises or sub-distribution licenses in a particular area or city. However, there is lack of clarity regarding the legal provisions related to this matter. So in the amendment, it is proposed that the distribution companies, if they desire, they can engage franchises or sub-distribution licenses to distribute electricity. In such case, the sub-distribution licensee will distribute electricity on behalf of state, discom or distribution company in a particular area. The amendment states that though franchises are authorized on behalf of distribution companies, the ultimate responsibility of ensuring quality distribution of electricity lies with the discoms. Now this provision is strongly contested by the states as this may indirectly allow the entry of private players into power distribution. Many states such as Telangana are not happy with the entry of private players in power distribution. The concerns related to entry of private players in power distribution is the same as the concerns of entry of private players in any other area currently dominated by state services. And there are also concerns that gradually the consumption charges may also increase. Now the next contentious provision is doing away with the power subsidies to farmers and introducing direct benefit transfer. Doing away with means stopping power subsidies to farmers. Currently the state government directly pays money to the distribution companies for the electricity that are used by the farmers. So this acts as a huge relief to farmers who are already reeling under lot of pressure connected with agriculture and also vagaries of the monsoon. But with the new bill the farmers need to pay an amount to the distribution company which is then reimbursed in the form of direct benefit transfer. Now there is a concern that this eventually may lead to withdrawal of support from the government to farmers at various levels of contribution in the form of direct benefit transfer. Then the bill also provides for reduction of cross subsidies to improve ease of doing business. Now when we say cross subsidy it refers to a scenario where one section of consumers is required to pay more for electricity consumption and this is used to provide free electricity or electricity at lesser prices or subsidized prices to other section of people. Here it may relate to farmers. Generally industries they are mandated to pay more and this is used to provide free power to farmers. Now the new bill proposes to remove or drastically reduce such cross subsidies. Now the provisions of direct benefit transfer and the reduction of cross subsidy are not welcome for the state governments. This is because if cross subsidy is reduced the states will find it difficult to provide free farm power. The next important issue is that the bill proposes to have one selection committee for the selection of chair persons and members for both the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. We should note that electricity is a subject under the concurrent list and taxes on the consumption of electricity or sale of electricity is an entry in the state list in the seventh schedule. Now in such scenario a central selection committee or one selection committee to select the chair persons and members of state commissions not only erodes the regulatory autonomy and independence it also affects the concurrent status of the electricity sector. Then the next proposal is to establish a centralized electricity contract enforcement authority. Now the chair person and the members of this authority are also to be selected by the same select committee that is proposed to select the chair persons and members of central and state commissions. Now what is the concern with respect to this electricity contract enforcement authority? Now as a result of establishment of this authority the power to adjudicate upon disputes relating to contracts will be taken away from state electricity regulatory commissions and that will be vested with this new centralized authority. So this provision provides for centralization of regulatory and adjudicatory powers. So these are some of the important provisions that are contentious between the center and the states and as we know farm subsidy is a very sensitive topic in many states that are Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab etc. So states are not happy and okay with the new bill that proposes to remove their power particularly in the context of providing farm subsidies and also in the context of centralization of regulatory and adjudication power. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article mentions that the Central Vigilance Commission has advised the Ministry of Railways to drop action against top officials of the integral coach factory of Chennai. The officials were facing allegations of irregularities in the purchase of equipment. In this context let us see the Central Vigilance Commission in brief. See it was set up by a government resolution in the year 1964 on the recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption. The Central Vigilance Commission was set up to advise and guide central government agencies in the field of vigilance. Now the Committee on Prevention of Corruption is famously known as the Santanam Committee as it was headed by Sri K. Santanam. So the Central Vigilance Commission is conceived to be the apex vigilance or integrity institution. It is mandated to fight corruption and to ensure integrity in public administration. It is free of control from any executive authority because it is not controlled by any ministry or department therefore it is an independent body which is only responsible to the parliament. It monitors all vigilance activity under the central government and advises various authorities in central government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing and also in reforming their vigilant work. While it was initially established through a resolution know that CVC Act was enacted in 2003 that accorded the status of independent statutory authority to this Central Vigilance Commission. Now this commission is a multi-member commission. It consists of Central Vigilance Commissioner as its chairperson and two vigilance commissioners as its members. All of them are appointed by the president. Now coming to its powers and functions, the function is to inquire or cause an inquiry or investigation on the allegation of offense committed under Prevention of Corruption Act by public servant of central government or by public servant of a corporation established by or under any central act or by public servant of a government company or society or any local authority owned or controlled by central government that is why it is called as Central Vigilance Commission. So it has the power to cause an inquiry or investigation into any complaint against any officers of these organizations against group A officers of central government and against members of all India services serving in connection with the affairs of the union. It reviews the progress of applications that are pending with competent authorities for sanction of prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act. It exercises superintendence over the vigilance administration of various ministries of central government or corporations etc. It also exercises superintendence over the functioning of Delhi Special Police Establishment that is CBI if it relates to investigation of offenses under Prevention of Corruption Act or it relates to offenses under CRPC or Code of Criminal Procedure for certain categories of public servants. It has all the powers of a civil court while conducting any inquiry but note that CVC is not an investigating agency it just causes an investigation. It either gets the investigation done through CBI or through departmental chief vigilance officers. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. This news article states that the Aircraft Amendment Bill 2020 was passed by parliament yesterday that is on 15th September 2020. In this context let us discuss some important provisions of this bill. See this bill will amend the principal legislation the Aircraft Act of 1934. What are the amendments? See firstly the bill when becomes an act with the assent of the President. It will make three important attached officers in the Ministry of Civil Aviation as statutory bodies. These are Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau. Each of these bodies will be headed by a Director General appointed by the Center. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation will carry out safety oversight and regulatory functions with respect to the matters under the bill. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security will carry out regulatory oversight functions related to civil aviation security. Then the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau it will carry out investigations related to aircraft accidents and incidents. Note that the Central Government is given power to issue directions to these authorities on matters related to their functions if considered necessary in public interest. Secondly know that under the Principal Act of 1934 the Central Government can make rules on several matters. These include registration of aircraft, regulating air transport services, prohibition of flight over any specified area. The bill adds another provision to this list that is called as the Regulation of Air Navigation Services which include aeronautical information services, aeronautical charting and cartography services, aeronautical meteorological services and search and rescue services as well. Thirdly the provisions in the bill will allow the Center to empower the Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security or any authorized officer to issue directions and make rules on certain matters. These are matters which include conditions under which an aircraft may be flown, then inspection of aircrafts and also measures to safeguard civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference. Now let's talk about the offenses and penalties. See under the Aircraft Act of 1934 the penalty for various offenses is imprisonment up to two years or a fine up to rupees 10 lakh or both. Now this bill it raises the maximum limit of fines for the offenses to rupees 1 crore. In this regard the bill empowers officers from the rank of Deputy Secretary to adjudicate penalties and the persons agreed by an order of a designated officer can also appeal to an appellate officer. The bill also empowers central government to make rules to provide for the manner of suspension or cancellation of license, certificate or approval issue to any person if that particular person contravenes any of the provisions of that or the rules. Then the bill allows for compounding of certain offenses under that or the rules under that. Compounding of offenses include compromise between the two parties on certain terms and conditions. Offenses may be compounded by Director Generals as prescribed by the Center and know that compounding of offenses will not be allowed in case of repeat offenders. So for these kind of offenses there is a facility for correction and know that the courts will not consider any offense under this act unless there is a previous sanction from the Director General of Civil Aviation or the Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security or Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau. So with reference to cognizance of offenses punishable under this act the bill places the positions of Director General of Civil Aviation, Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Director General of Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau to give previous sanction in writing. Finally as of now the aircraft belonging to naval, military or air forces of the Union are exempted from the provisions of the principle act of 1934. Now the amendment bill expands this exemption to include aircrafts belonging to any other armed forces of the Union as well. At present the aircrafts belonging to an armed force other than naval military and air forces are regulated under the present act of 1934. Now this will continue until the rules to give effect are made by the central government in connection with the recent amendment. So these are some of the important provisions of the aircraft amendment bill 2020 which was passed by parliament yesterday. Now let's move on to the next part of the discussion. We have come to the last session the practice questions discussion session. This question is with reference to Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. The question reads consider the following statements with reference to Bureau of Civil Aviation Security in India. Two statements are given they are asking which of the statements given above are incorrect. First statement it works under the administrative control of Director General of Civil Aviation. Now this statement is incorrect this is because Civil Aviation is not under the administrative control of Director General of Civil Aviation rather it is an independent department under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This bureau was initially set up as a cell in this DGCA in January 1978 on the recommendation of Panday Committee. However it was reorganized as an independent department under the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 1st April 1987 and now with the recent amendment bill this body along with DGCA and aircraft accidents investigation bureau will get a statutory backing. So first statement is incorrect second statement it lays down standards and measures with respect to security of civil and armed force aircrafts in India. This statement is incorrect see the main responsibilities of this bureau it includes laying down standards and measures with respect to security of civil flights at international and domestic airports in India not armed force aircrafts. So both these statements are incorrect so the correct answer is option C both one and two. See this question which of the following entries are under concurrent list of seven schedule of Indian constitution taxes on the consumption or sale of electricity. Electricity, bankruptcy and insolvency prevention of cruelty to animals trade unions. If you observe the options you can understand that one of the five entries are not present in concurrent list. The correct answer for this question is option C two three four and five because entry one taxes on the consumption or sale of electricity is not in concurrent list rather in the state list. So the correct answer is option C this question is with reference to departmentally related standing committees three statements are given they are asking which of the statements are incorrect they are ad hoc committees no this is incorrect they are a type of standing committee therefore these are not ad hoc committees which are constituted and cease to exist when the assigned task is completed so a departmentally related standing committee is a permanent committee one is incorrect so you can eliminate option A second statement ministers are nominated as its members this is incorrect ministers cannot be nominated as members and they cannot continue as members in this departmentally related standing committees come to the third statement it consists of equal number of members nominated from Lokshaba and Rajeshabha this again is incorrect a departmentally related standing committee will have 31 members 10 hour from Rajeshabha 21 hour from Lokshaba all the three statements are incorrect therefore the correct answer is option D one two and three now this question is with reference to planet Venus the question reads which of the following statements is correct with respect to Venus it is the hottest planet in the solar system it has moons and rings the surface of Venus is hot but its atmosphere is cold due to greenhouse effect United States of America and Russia are the only countries that have explored Venus till date here the correct answer is option A it is the hottest planet in the solar system if you observe the average temperatures of planet given here could observe that planet Venus has the highest average temperature of around 471 degrees Celsius it has no moons and it has no rings and the greenhouse effect has made the surface of Venus and lower atmosphere of Venus as one of the hottest places in the solar system so option C is also not correct option 4 is not correct because Venus was explored already by European Space Agency and also by Japan other than United States and Russia so the correct answer is option A now this is a main question in GS paper two do you agree with the view that there is a need to increase the tenure of members of department related standing committees give reasons in support of your arguments so you may write answers for this question and post your answers in the comment section will give you appropriate feedback in a reasonable time frame with this we come to the end of today's the Hindu news analysis if you like the video click the like button comment share it among your friends and those who are in need of such resources and subscribe to Shankara AS Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service exam preparation