 A very good evening aspirants welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar Iyer's Academy for the day 17th of August 2022 displayed here are the list of news articles that we have chosen for today's discussion. So today also as I always assure you there is a relevant for both your preliminary preparation and mains preparation okay. So kindly pay attention and make note of each and every discussion. Now without wasting much time let's get into the first news article discussion. Now have a look at this news article. The news article is about the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Banu case of the 2002 Gujarat riots. They got released yesterday following the direction of the Supreme Court. See we are not going into the depth of this case instead using this as an opportunity. Let us quickly go through the pardoning power of the president. See take article 72 of the Indian constitution. It empowers the president to grant pardons to persons who have been tried and convicted of any offense in all cases. See here all cases includes punishment or sentence for an offense against a union law punishment or sentence by a court martial that is a military court and sentence of death. So the president can even pardon a person who is punished or sentenced by a military court okay. If you are wondering why such a power is given there are two reasons for it. First reason is to keep the door open for correcting any judicial errors in the operation of law. Secondly to provide relief from a sentence which the president feels it is too harsh okay. So the pardoning power of the president includes pardon, commutation, remission, respite and reprieve. We will see them one by one. Firstly take pardon. See it removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely exempts the convict from all sentences, punishments and disqualifications. Okay. Secondly take commutation. It denotes the substitution of one form of punishment for a lighter form. For example a death sentence may be commuted to rigorous imprisonment which in turn may be commuted to a simple imprisonment. Okay. Thirdly take remission. It implies reducing the period of sentence without changing its character. For example a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for two years may be remitted to rigorous imprisonment for one year. Here you can see that only the period of sentence is reduced. Now the character of imprisonment. Am I right? Then fourthly take respite. It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded due to some special fact like the physical disability of a convict or the pregnancy of a women offender. Okay. Now lastly take reprieve. It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence especially that of death. See this is for a temporary period. Its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to seek pardon or commutation from the president. So that's all about the pardoning power of the president. See this is a very important topic for your preliminary examination. So understand each and every pardoning power of the president. With these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. This news article talks about Project Cheetah. As per this plan India will be importing 12 to 14 wild cheetahs from Africa especially from Namibia or South Africa. And it will be introduced in the Kuno-Palpur National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Even though agreements have been concluded with both South Africa and Namibia the translocation is getting delayed due to the presence of leopards in the Kuno-Palpur forest reserve. And there are administrative delays as well. See the translocation should have happened by August 15, 2022. But sources says that the wild cats are likely to arrive in India within this year. So this is the Kruxokin news article given here. In this context let us see some of the important points about Project Cheetah. Firstly know that India historically had Asiatic Cheetah population. But the Asiatic Cheetah population in India was declared extinct in the year 1952. In India the Asiatic Cheetah got extinct due to habitat loss and hunting. See currently Asiatic Cheetah is declared critically endangered according to the IUCN Red List. Presently only around 100 individuals survive in Iran. So 70 years after the Cheetah's extinction the Indian government is planning to reintroduce them into their historical range. Here the term historical range is the areas where these majestic bees once roped freely. Also note that here the term reintroduction is a misnomer. Because as we saw in the introduction what our government plans to do is not actual reintroduction. In case of reintroduction the same species must be introduced back. But what is happening here? Our government plans to reintroduce African Cheetah instead of Asiatic Cheetah. So technically the correct way to say is introduction of African Cheetah into the historical ranges of Asiatic Cheetah. So here you might have a doubt why African Cheetah is introduced instead of Asian Cheetah. It is because both African Cheetah and Asiatic Cheetah have the same genetic make up. They are present all over the African continent in term of size compared to their Asian cousins. They are slightly larger also their forests slightly darker and black spots are more prominent. While IUCN classifies Asiatic Cheetah as critically endangered the African Cheetah is classified as vulnerable and that is why African Cheetah are selected. And displayed here are the aims of translocation of Cheetah to the Kino National Park. Please go through it. So in this news article we discussed about Project Cheetah and we saw what is the reason for this reintroduction of African Cheetah into the Asiatic Cheetah's historical range. So aspirants if you get main's questions like analyze the project cheetah you can utilize these points to enhance your main's answers. With these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now have a look at this editorial article. This editorial article is related to environment. It mostly talks about the need to balance India's developmental needs with ecological sustainability. See the author of the article quoted many environmental movements such as Chippco, Silent Valley that changed the policies and priorities of India. Here read about these movements and know what they are. Having said that now let us see the list of environmental protection laws in India. See even before India's independence several environmental legislation existed but the real need for bringing about a well-developed framework came only after the UN conference on the human environment. See it took place at Stockholm in the year 1972. After this a national council for environmental policy and planning was set up in 1972 and this council only later developed into a full-fledged ministry of environment and forest in the year 1985 and today it is the apex administrative body in the country for regulating and ensuring environmental protection. Know that after the Stockholm conference constitutional sanction was given to environmental concerns through the 42nd amendment of the Indian constitution. See it is incorporated as director principles of state policy that is in the DPSP and also in the fundamental duties. Now let us see the list of the important environment laws in India. Firstly take the Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Act 1974 then the Water Prevention and Control of Pollution CIS Act in 1977 then the Air Prevention and Control of Pollution Act 1981 the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 then the Forest Conservation Act 1980 then the Environment Protection Act 1986 then the Biological Diversity Act 2002 and there are separate rules for hazardous waste, biomedical waste and municipal waste. See I just listed out these acts so that you will be knowing the chronological order of these acts and this itself might be a preliminary question for you. Now having seen that let us move on to see about the editorial. The author says that in the 1970s and 1980s both people and the government prioritized environment and as we saw earlier many laws were enacted in that period only. So there existed a hope that India will be able to balance its development as well as environment. But now the author's question is that has this hope sustained as India celebrates its 75 years of independence? So in this discussion we are going to see the conditions prevailing in India environment-wise and what is the reason for the environmental problems that we are facing and finally we are going to see what needs to be done okay. See pay attention because all these points know you can directly use in your main senses because we are not ending up with just discussing the problems. At the end we are suggesting few solutions also. Now before starting the discussion just have a look at the syllabus relevant to this news article okay. First of all let us start the discussion with the conditions prevailing in India. See as per the article India is not in a good condition environment-wise. As per the article 480 million Indians face the world's most extreme air pollution levels. See according to Nithya Yo 600 million people in India face high to extreme water stress. The report also says that nearly 70 percentage of water is contaminated. One more worrying factor is that India is placed at 120th position out of 122 countries in the water quality index. Here you should see who is releasing the water quality index and take note of it. I will give you the answer for this one the water quality index is released by water aid. Now coming back it is said in the article that as per ISRO land degradation and the certification are taking place over 30 percentage of the land and it is found that the average levels of land productivity are only one fourth of what it was before. See side by side measures are taken to improve the productivity of land by using fertilizers. But we know that fertilizers will degrade the quality of soil over the years and ultimately this will also result in lower productivity of land. Apart from this food items in most cities are pesticide residues which is above the human safety levels. See these are the prevailing ground level scenario. The most needed wake up call came after the Burlbank report in the year 2013. It said that India is losing 5.7 percentage of GDP due to environmental damage and most recently India's rank in the environment performance index 2022 is a big shocker for all. India was ranked at the bottom the index ranked 180 countries and India was ranked 180. See all these data reflects what is happening on the ground level. Viewers take note of all these data you can use it in your mains answer. See whenever you complain that these are the problems you must back up those problems with the perfect data especially it should be a authenticated data. Okay now that we have seen the ground level scenario let us see what is the reason for such conditions. See according to the author the main reason is the obsession with economic growth and this obsession leads to the exploitation of natural environment. We all know that the economic growth measured in the terms of GDP is not an indicator of human well-being. We also know that without land, water, biodiversity and air we will all be dead and that is exactly why we have sustainable developmental goals but despite knowing all these still there is obsession regarding economic growth and still we are continuing to ignore or exploit the environment. See this is seen in many measures of the government. See governments proposal to amend the environment laws and the latest environment impact assessment notification shows that the government is favoring corporates. This is done to provide access to land and natural resources to the corporate companies. See it is evident that the priority programs of the government include building massive physical infrastructure. For instance in the 2022 to 2023 budget the allocation for highways is 40 times greater than the budget of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and slowly mining projects are finding its way into previously safe areas such as wildlife protected areas and adivasi territories. Next in this list is the oceans. They are also becoming a target for major commercial extraction. This is evident from the depotion mission of the government and the author is saying that this obsession of the government about the economic growth is the main reason for the environmental degradation. The other reason for the bad environmental condition in India is the economic reforms that began in 1991. See the economic reforms has paid way for many changes such as integration of Indian economy to the global economy, entry of multilateral corporations into every sector, then increase in the exports of natural materials and imports of toxic waste. See all these reforms they are good only. Now you may ask then why are we talking about this? This is because all these developmental projects they are taking a toll on environment. This year's super hot summer is evidence for this. Apart from this we have had experienced events of extreme temperatures, erratic rainfall, cloudbursts and cyclones. And know that many villages in Ladakh are abandoned due to water shortages that are caused by receding glaciers. See according to Lansen Planetary Health Journal it is said that extreme temperatures in India are responsible for 740,000 excess death annually. Apart from this the developmental projects are also having severe socio-cultural costs. As per the article about 60 million people have been physically displaced and this is caused by developmental projects in the last few decades. And among these people the most affected percentage include tribal and socially disadvantaged people. So what is the solution for all these problems? See already we have made many irreversible changes to the environment. What we should do hereafter is we should prevent exploiting the nature anymore and we also should work towards the adaptation measures. India should ensure ecological sustainability while generating livelihood security. Now how can this be done? There are several examples that showcase the possibility of maintaining balance between ecological sustainability and economic development. The first example include women farmers of the Deccan Development Society. They have demonstrated the benefits of organic rain food farming with traditional seed diversity. It is evident from initiative that even organic methods can provide full food security and sovereignty. So such practices should be encouraged more. And the second example include hand loom weavers in Kutch that is in Gujarat. They have shown the creative livelihoods can be revived based on organic kala cotton and this is done with a mix of traditional and new skills. Thirdly we know that India's crops have sustained the livelihood of millions of peoples in the past and there is no doubt that it can be done now also without harming the environment. This will be possible if traditional and new skills in textiles, footwear, cleaning agents, vessels, pottery, furniture, construction and water related technologies are given priority. So apart from this community led ecotourism such as homestays in Uthakand, Ladakh and Sikkim have proved that it can increase earnings. This is important because community conserved areas have shown a democratic approach to wildlife protection. See this is different from the top down protected area model. When the whole community is made aware of the situation and when they are aware of the consequences of climate change they work hard for the protection of the environment. This is better than government declaring a particular area as protected area and banning activities in those areas and this is why author is saying that democratic approach is better than protected area model that we use now. And the United Nations Environment Program says that the projects that ensure the protection of environment can significantly enhance job creation also. This includes organic farming, land and water regeneration projects, renewable energy projects, community health, eco-friendly construction, ecotourism and small-scale environment-friendly manufacturing. So these are the examples which showcase the possibility of maintaining balance between ecological sustainability and economic development. See all these measures what are they conveying? It says that there is need for fundamental restructuring of economy and governance. It means that there is need for shifting away from large infrastructure and industrialization then replacing mega corporations with producer cooperatives then ensuring community rights and giving decision making powers to gram sabers. See all these measures they cannot be done through government action alone. It needs the collective mobilization of all stakeholders such as industrial workers, farmers, crafts person, urban and rural youth, women in all sectors, then the disabled and the LGBTQ. Then only according to the author it can be said that India will finish its century of independence as a nation that has achieved genuine well-being okay. So that's all about this news article. See in this news article we just started with what are all the environmental laws that are present in India. Then gradually we moved on to see the present condition of the environmental protection then we saw what are the reason for the present conditions and we ended up with the solution for it. So in your main sensors you can utilize these points directly and I have discussed few facts because you have to back up any point with at least one data okay. That is why I have displayed here few datas. So with these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now see this article here in this article union minister of state for health said that India has taken many steps in reducing child mortality since 2014. See it was reduced from 45 per thousand life births to 35 per thousand life births in the year 2019. The minister was speaking after the virtual launch of the Palan Tausen a national campaign and parenting app. So this is the Kraksood news article given here in this context let us understand more about child mortality. See child mortality or the under 5 mortality rate refers to the probability of a child dying between birth and exactly five years of age. It is expressed per thousand life births okay. Now that we have seen the definition of it let us see the trend shown in national family health survey five. See this graph here it shows the comparison of under 5 mortality rate between national family health survey four and five. See it is comparing different states and union territories. Apart from this there are also other mortality rates related to children. One among them is the neonatal mortality rate. It is the probability of dying within the first month of life as per WHO it gives the number of deaths during the first 28 completed days of life per thousand life births in a given year. This neonatal deaths may be subdivided into early neonatal deaths which occurs during the first seven days of life and late neonatal deaths that occurs after the seventh day but before the 28th completed day of life okay. And then there is this infant mortality rate. It is the probability of a child born in a specific year dying before reaching the age of one okay. It is also expressed as rate per thousand life births. And the trends of these neonatal and infant mortality rates are also given in national family health survey five okay. See in India the sample registration system the SRS provides reliable annual estimates of infant mortality rate, birth rate, death rate and other fertility and mortality indicators at the national and subnational levels. And the work of SRS in a state or union territory is done by direct rate of census operations concerned under office of the registrar general of India in selected units. And also know that the mortality trends related to children is given in national family health survey five also. Have a look at this image here. See from this image you can see the trends of under five mortality infant mortality neonatal mortality from national family health survey one up to national family health survey five. See in general we can observe from this graph that the mortality rate is decreasing okay. Now that we have seen the definition and data related to child mortality rates let us move on to see about the steps taken by the government to reduce the mortality rates. First of all let us see the initiative that is mentioned in the article. See Palanthuzen focuses on the cognitive development of children in the first two years of their life. Additionally DAP will provide practical advice to caregivers regarding everyday routine. See this will help in clearing doubts. And some other initiatives include mothers absolute affection then facility based newborn care then social awareness and actions to neutralize pneumonia successfully that is sans in short. Then you can consider universal humanization program that is UIP then rastriya bal swastya karyakaram then take the nutrition rehabilitation centers that is nrcs then intensify diarrhea control fortnight or defeat diarrhea then anemia mukt barath that is AMB program. See this is a strategy which is a part of portion abyan okay. So all these are initiatives that held to reduce the mortality rates. Here I am meaning the child mortality rate infant mortality rate and the new natal mortality rate okay. So that's all about this news article. So with these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now have a look at this news article. This news article talks about minor forest produce. See for many tribal communities in western gaths it's a season for honey harvest but this year they are seeing a decline in availability and the dip is not restricted to any single forest produce. In some parts of the forest trees are not blooming well and the yield is very low. Now this is a concern because the last wild honey season was also poor and now the tribes were forced to walk farther into the forest in search of products with commercial value. So this is creating difficulties to the community since many of them were forest dependent. So this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us quickly go through water minor forest produces. See any non-timber forest produce of plant origin which includes bamboo, canes, fodder, leaves, gums, waxes, dyes, resins and many forms of food including nuts, wild fruits, honey, lac etc are called minor forest produce. Importantly they should be available in the forest and they should form major source of livelihood to tribal communities in India. Only those non-timber forest produce are called minor forest produce and it is defined under Forest Rights Act 2006. Further section 3 clause 1 sub-clause C or Forest Rights Act 2006 confers ownership rights over minor forest producers to the forest dwelling, scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers. Here forest rights include right of ownership, access to collect, use and dispose of minor forest produce which have traditionally been collected within or outside village boundaries okay. So individuals, communities and gram sabas having rights under this particular section of the act will not only have the rights to use but also rights of ownership over these products is granted okay. Also remember the role of gram saba is crucial in implementing the forest rights act 2006. See to transit minor forest produce a transit permit is required and under the rules the transit permits for transportation of minor forest produce should be issued by the committee constituted by the gram saba or the person authorized by the gram saba. So if there is no permit you cannot transit any minor forest produce okay. Also remember forest dwellers face some of the issues like perishable nature of the produce, lack of holding capacity, then lack of marketing infrastructure, then exploitation by middlemen and low government intervention are the required time. So as a solution to these problems and to ensure fair returns to forest dwelling schedule tribes or and other traditional forest dwellers the scheme mechanism for marketing of minor forest produce through minimum support price and development of value chain for MFP that is minor forest produce was formulated by the ministry of tribal affairs. See it was implemented in the year 2013. So what you can understand from this paragraph MSP that is minimum support price is there for some of the minor forest produce also okay. See the objective of the MSP or minimum support price for the minor forest produce scheme is to establish a framework for ensuring fair prices for the tribal gatherers, primary processing, storage, transportation etc etc. thereby we can ensure the sustainability of the resource base also. Presently 87 minor forest producers are covered under minimum support price for the minor forest produce scheme okay. So that is all about this news article. See in this news article we understood what our minor forest produce and we saw which act is providing the rights for the forest dwellers or other traditional tribes to utilize the minor forest produce and lastly we ended up by seeing that there is minimum support price for the minor forest producers also okay. So with these key points in mind now let's move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. See today we have four questions in which three I will be discussing and one will be a quiz question for you okay. Now look at this first question see it is regarding the pardoning power of president and governor okay. Since it is a two statement question I am going to go through both the statements before arriving at the answer and note that this question is demanding for incorrect statements okay. See both the statements given here are correct so your answer here will be option D neither one nor two. Now let me explain you in detail this question okay. See under article 161 of the Indian constitution the governor of a state also possesses the pardoning power okay. So the governor can also grant pardons, reprives, respites and remissions of punishment or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offense against a state law okay. But the pardoning power of the governor differs from that of the president in two respects. Now let me tell you what is that two respect okay. Firstly the president can pardon sentences inflicted by court martial that is by military courts while the governor cannot do that. Secondly the president can pardon death sentence while governor cannot do that. Even if a state law prescribes death sentence the power to grant pardon lies with the president and not with the governor okay. And however the governor can suspend, remit or commute a death sentence but he cannot pardon a death sentence okay. In other words both the governor and the president have concurrent power in respect of suspension, remission and commutation of death sentence okay. Having seen the detail now go through both the statements and you will understand that both the statements given here are correct. Yes a president can pardon sentences inflicted by court martial governor cannot do it that statement is also correct then the president can pardon death sentence while governor cannot that is also correct. But since the question is demanding for incorrect statements your answer here is option D neither 1 nor 2 okay. Now look at the second question it is regarding the cheetah translocation project. See now have a look at the first statement we did not see about this in our discussion right. So let us learn through this question itself that also. See the first statement is correct yes the cheetah translocation project has come under the management of national tiger conservation authority that is NTCA. So that statement is correct. Now look at second statement regarding this we saw in our discussion itself right. Is it Kanha tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh that has been selected for the relocation no right. So that statement is incorrect. Then what is the place that is selected for the relocation it is you know national park that is present in the state of Madhya Pradesh okay and note that it was home to their Asiatic counterparts over a hundred years ago and has been selected for the relocation okay. Since we came across NTCA in this question let us know about it very briefly okay. See the national tiger conservation authority or NTCA is a statutory body and it is under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. It is constituted for strengthening tiger conservation as per powers and functions assigned to it under the SED Act. What is that act? It is the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 okay under that act only we had set up the national tiger conservation authority okay. So now coming back to the question the question is demanding for incorrect statement. We already saw that statement one is correct and statement two only is incorrect. So what is the answer here? Yes the answer is option B two only okay. Now look at the third question. See it is a three statement question am I right. So if possible let us try to apply elimination technique okay. Now look at statement one as per recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act 1927 forest dwellers have the right to fell the bamboo grown on forest area. See this statement is not correct let me explain you now. The Indian Forest Amendment Bill 2018 permits felling and transit of bamboo grown in non-forest areas okay. However bamboo grown on forest lands would continue to be classified as a tree and would be guided by the existing legal restrictions. Now you understood right it is for the non-forest areas only and not for the forest areas. That is why statement one is incorrect. Now if you know statement one is incorrect you can eliminate two options here. What are they? You can eliminate option A and option D because the question is demanding for correct statements okay. Now what are the options that are left over? Option B and C and if you know whether statement two is correct or incorrect you can easily arrive at the answer am I right. So now let's concentrate on the second statement. Let me read out the statement two now as per the scheduled tribes and other tribal forest dwellers that is recognition of Forest Rights Act 2006 bamboo is a minor forest produce. See this statement is correct according to the Forest Rights Act of 2006 bamboo is recognized as minor forest produce and note that this act was the right of ownership access to collect use and dispose of minor forest produce with scheduled tribes and traditional forest dwellers. So statement two is correct okay. So just by knowing that statement one is incorrect and statement two is correct you can arrive at the answer which is option B two and three only. Now let me explain you why statement three is correct. See in the year 2006 the Forest Rights Act for the first time define minor forest producers including bamboo and tendu and many other things and note that it also gave tribals and other traditional forest dwellers the right of ownership access to collect use and dispose of minor forest produce. And this has been traditionally collected within or outside village boundaries that only is given permission okay. So what is the answer for the last question the answer is option B two and three both statements are correct okay. Now displayed here is a quiz question for you see this is such a easy question if you are listened carefully about the mortality rate discussion you can easily arrive the answer for this question go through the question if you are not able to answer it just go back and see the discussion and then come back again to the question and post your answers in the comment section also for your convenience we are just posting the quiz question on the poll okay. So interested aspirants can attend the poll also and displayed here is some main question for you go through the question and try answering the question it will help in improving your writing skills especially for your maids okay. So that's all for today's discussion if you like this video do like share and comment and don't forget to subscribe to the Shankar IAS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.