 Welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankar Ayesakarmi. The news articles along with the page numbers are displayed here for your reference. The PDF link of the handwritten notes and the time stamping of the news articles is given in the description box as well as in the comment section. Now let us start our today's news analysis. This news article is about the Democracy Index of 2019. So in this analysis we will be discussing in brief about the Democracy Index, then the global scenario and finally the India specific data. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now let us understand in brief about the Democracy Index which is released annually by the Economist Intelligence Unit. It is a sister company of the UK based Economist Group. Know that the Economist Intelligence Unit has released the Democracy Index of 2019 under the title that is a Area of Democratic Setback and popular protest for 167 countries across the globe. This index is calculated based on 5 parameters that is electoral process and pluralism, then the functioning of government, political participation, then democratic political culture and civil liberties. So based on these indicators each country's score is calculated out of 10. Then based on the scores on a range of indicators within these categories each country is then classified as one of the four types of resins that is full democracy or flat democracy or hybrid regime or authoritarian regime. So as per the index about 22 nations out of 167 countries or just 5.7% of the world population lives under full democracies and more than one third of the world's population still lives under authoritarian regimes. Now if you look at this figure you can see the number of countries which are under full democracies or flat democracies or hybrid regimes or authoritarian regimes. Now let us see at the overall global data that is as per Democracy Index the average global score for democracy fell from 5.48 in 2018 to 5.44 in 2019. This is the worst average global score since the index was first produced in 2006. So the index mentions the important reasons for the retreat of democracy and these reasons include increasing emphasis on expert governance rather than popular participatory democracy, then growing influence of unelected, unaccountable institutions and expert bodies, then the removal of substantive issues of national importance from the political arena to be decided by politicians, experts or supranational bodies behind the closed doors. Other reasons mentioned are widening gap between political elites and parties on the one hand and the national electorates on the other hand. Then the other reasons includes decline in civil liberties including media freedom and freedom of speech. Now let us come to the India specific data that is India's score is about 6.90 and is ranked at 51st position out of 167 nations. This is worrisome as the world's biggest democracy has slipped 10 places within a year that is India's rank fell from 41 in 2018 to 51 in 2019 and India's overall score also fell from 7.23 to 6.90 on a scale of 0 to 10 that too within a year. This score is country's lowest since 2006. Now let us compare India's score in each category that is on five dimensions in 2018 and 2019 as shown in the table. So it is clear that India's score has come down in three categories that is on electoral process and pluralism, political participation and civil liberties. The index says that the primary cause of the democratic regression was an erosion of civil liberties in the country. That is we know that 2019 was a tumultuous year for India as we have seen changing status of German Kashmir by deleting article 370 then the local leaders were placed under house arrest and restrictions were also imposed on internet access in German Kashmir. All these have contributed to a low score in civil liberties. As we know that India is still witnessing large scale protests following the passes of Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 and call for national wide implementation of national population resistance. So with a score of 6.90 out of 10, India reminds a flawed democracy like in 2018. The index defines a flawed democracy as countries with free and fair elections and even if there are problems such as infringement on media freedom basic civil liberties are respected. However there are significant weaknesses in other aspects of democracy and these include problems in governance and an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation. So in the context of this news article we have discussed in brief about the democracy index then who releases this democracy index that is released by Economist Intelligence Unit. Then we have discussed different parameters on which this index is computed that is electoral process and pluralism then functioning of government political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties. Then based on the scores of different countries the countries were classified into four different types of regimes and these regimes includes full democracy or flawed democracy or hybrid regime or authoritarian regime. Then we have also discussed data for India that is India's rank and India's score in 2019. With this we have come to the end of analysis of this news article the dispute practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Now let us proceed to the next news article analysis. Now let us see few news articles regarding citizenship amendment act of 2019. See there is a huge opposition to this amendment act and many petitions were filed in the Supreme Court to stay this act. Yesterday that is on 22nd January 2020 the Supreme Court took up this issue but Supreme Court refused to stay this citizenship amendment act of 2019. So in this contest let us see the basic objective of this amendment act then why there is opposition to this act and we shall also see the relevant news articles regarding this issue in our analysis. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of these news articles is highlighted here for your reference. Now let us see the basic objective of this citizenship amendment act of 2019 which amended the citizenship act of 1955. See the basic objective of this amendment act is to facilitate the granting of Indian citizenship to members of 6 minority communities who migrated to India from 3 countries up to 31st December 2014. See these 3 countries are Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and the minority communities that are mentioned are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians. Now you need to know 2 important amendments which help in facilitating and fast tracking the citizenship status of these persons. Now we will see the amendment which is to establish that these persons will not be treated as illegal migrants. Section 2 of the citizenship act of 1955 was amended by inserting a new clause for not treating these persons as illegal migrants. Then the next important amendment is to reduce the time period in acquiring citizenship or in other words to fast track the citizenship through the process of naturalization. See the citizenship amendment act of 1955 prescribes 5 ways of acquiring Indian citizenship that is by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalization and by incorporation of territory. See the term naturalization literally means the admittance of a foreigner to the citizenship of a country. So section 6 of the citizenship act of 1955 contains provisions to acquire Indian citizenship by naturalization process and the necessary qualification for naturalization is provided in the thought schedule of this act. Now let us focus more on this thought schedule which discusses in detail about the necessary qualifications for naturalization of a person. So one qualification is that preceding the date that is when the person applies for the acquiring citizenship by naturalization, the person shall have either resided in India or been in the service of a government in India that is through the period of two months preceding the application or the person could have partly resided in India and partly been in service of a government in India and during the 14 years that is immediately before this period of two months the person shall have resided in India or been in the service of a government in India or partly resided in India and been in the service of a government in India for an aggregate period of not less than 11 years that is in this period of 14 years the person must have resided in India or been in the service of a government in India are both for not less than 11 years. Now come back to the amendment act of 2019 that is for these six minority communities from three countries that is from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh a pros and has been inserted in the third schedule and as per this amendment act this period of not less than 11 years has been reduced to not less than 5 years. So we can see that this citizenship amendment act of 2019 helps in facilitating and fast-tracking the citizenship status of these six communities. So remember that only for these set of persons the time period to acquire citizenship by naturalization has been reduced. So this is all about this amendment act. Now you can see that Muslim community is excluded in this amendment but know that persons from Muslim community from these three countries can also acquire Indian citizenship by naturalization through the regular route which will take of minimum 12 years. So this is the reason that why the union minister for information and broadcasting has said that naturalization process is still available to all. However exclusion of Muslim community from this citizenship amendment act of 2019 has become a major concern among the Indian society and also among the opposition political parties who are against this amendment act. Therefore many petitions were filed in the Supreme Court to stay this citizenship amendment act of 2019. Now if you look at today's front page news article it says that a three judge bench led by Chief Justice of India has refused to stay this citizenship amendment act and the bench has given the central government four weeks time to file its response for the file petitions. Meanwhile the Chief Justice of India has given indications that this citizenship amendment act may be referred to a constitutional bench. Now we will see the sum of the arguments made in the Supreme Court. One of the arguments made by a senior advocate is that issuing the final certificate of citizenship by naturalization should be stayed since the issue is in the court of law. His argument was that once the Indian citizenship has been granted it cannot be revoked if the amended act is stuck down by the Supreme Court. But the Attorney General of India argued in the Supreme Court that there are pros and sin in the law that allowed for the revocation of citizenship. Know that as per the Citizenship Act of 1955 termination of citizenship is also possible. That is a citizen of India can renounce his citizenship as mentioned in section eight or any person who became an Indian citizen by naturalization or registration can be deprived of citizenship by an order of the central government as per section ten of the Citizenship Act of 1955. This section 10 discusses in detail about the conditions based on which a person's citizenship who has acquired citizenship by naturalization and certain other processes can be deprived of Indian citizenship subjected to the pros and sin mentioned here. So from this picture we can see that as per this subsection three of section ten if the central government thinks that it is not conducive to the public that a person should continue to be a citizen of India then it can deprive that person's citizenship. So we can see that there are pros and sin in the Citizenship Act of 1955 where the persons who acquired citizenship by naturalization can be deprived of their citizenship. So on this basis the Attorney General of India might have argued in the Supreme Court that there are pros and sin in the law that allowed for the revocation of citizenship. So this is evolving current affairs. We need to wait and watch for the final judgment of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile one more news article tells that there are student protests happening in North East India especially in the state of Assam again is the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019. And in another news article the ruling party has said that the Supreme Court's refusal to stay amendment act of 2019 is a setback for the opposition parties who are reasons for violence across India. So this is all about the discussion regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019. To summarize these news articles we have seen the objectives behind the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 and the recent order of the Supreme Court to not to stay this act. With this we have come to the end of analysis of these news articles. Now let us move on to the next news article analysis. These news articles are about the novel coronavirus originated in Wuhan province of China. In this contest we will be discussing in brief about the novel coronavirus, its symptoms, treatment and other related details. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of these news articles is highlighted here for your reference. See for the last few days we have been hearing the news of novel coronavirus outbreak in the Wuhan province of China. Since then the virus has been spreading even outside China. As of now the novel coronavirus has been reported in more than 450 people in China alone. Cases have also been confirmed by Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and US as shown in this map. Know that coronaviruses are a large family of viruses. They are known to cause illness which range from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome. So what is this novel coronavirus? See it is a new strain of coronavirus that is found in the Wuhan province of China. WHO has named this novel coronavirus as 2019 NCOV. Know that generally coronaviruses are genotic viruses which means that they are transmitted between animals and people. Now we will see the origin of Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome. See the origin of SARS that is SARS coronavirus and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus is believed to be bats. In case of SARS it is reported that from bats it is transmitted to civets and then to human beings. It first infected human beings in China in 2002. It is reported that SARS has killed many people in China between 2002 and 2003. Now in case of MERS coronavirus that is Middle East respiratory syndrome it is reported that it is transmitted from bats to camels and then from camels to human beings. Know that Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus was first reported in human beings in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Now we will see in case of new strain of coronavirus that is novel coronavirus which is named as 2019 NCOV by the WHO. According to some reports it might have spread from bats to snakes like Chinese crate and Chinese cobra and then to human beings. The news article says that the virus originated in a wildlife trading market in Wuhan. This further strengthens the scope of origin from snakes but as of now there is no official sources confirming the origin of NCOV virus. Now let us discuss the signs and symptoms of this coronavirus in human beings. The common signs of this viral infection includes respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. And in more severe cases the viral infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even it can lead to death of human beings. When China reported the outbreak of novel coronavirus many people were suffering from pneumonia and some people are also experiencing difficulties in breathing. As per Chinese reports about 17 people have died because of 2019 NCOV virus. Know that the novel coronavirus is a genetic virus and as per WHO some coronaviruses can be transmitted from person to person that is usually after close contact with an infected patient. It was reported that that is in China more than 10 medical workers were infected from an infected patient. This is important considering fact that now the 2019 NCOV might spread to another country along with infected travelers from China. For example in case of SARS coronavirus that is during 2002 and 2003 it has killed nearly about 800 people across the world. Another issue is that millions of people are expected to travel in and out of China for celebrating the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival in coming days. So as a part of curbing the outbreak, Wuhan has temporarily shut down the public transport system. See the symptoms and the death toll associated with the new strain of virus is less severe than the SARS coronavirus. The new virus seems milder in majority of the people and this is worrying because as it might allow people to travel further before the symptoms are actually detected. Now let us discuss the treatment that is available for 2019 NCOV virus based on WHO recommendations. See there is no specific treatment for the novel coronavirus as of now but many of the symptoms like fever and pneumonia can be treated in intensive care units. And also there is no vaccine that is available for this virus because this virus is newly identified strain of coronavirus. Therefore there is no specific medicine that is available against the novel coronavirus so prevention is the best strategy for checking the transmission of this novel strain of coronavirus. Therefore WHO has issued standard recommendations to prevent the spread of this novel coronavirus infection. This includes regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, then eating thoroughly cooked meat and eggs, then avoiding close contact with anyone who shows symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing. Now we will see the preventive measures taken by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India. The ministry has said that thousands of flight passengers have been screened for the novel coronavirus then the center has already alerted all the state governments regarding the preventive measures about the novel coronavirus. Passengers travelling from China are also requested to report to the nearest public health facility if they felt any symptoms of this virus. See the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would lead the country's effort to review the preparedness, identify the gaps and strengthen core capacities that are needed to prepare, detect and respond to the possible outbreaks. Know that the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is aimed to strengthen disease surveillance system for epidemic prone diseases. It also has the objective of monitoring disease trends and to detect and respond to outbreaks in early rising phase through the trained rapid response teams. It is also mentioned that the Viral Research and Diagnostics Laboratory Network under the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Viral Zipune is fully prepared to test samples of novel coronavirus. So in the context of these news articles we have discussed about the novel coronavirus which originated in the Wuhan province of China, then its symptoms, treatment and other related details. With this we have come to the analysis of these news articles. The displayed practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Now let us proceed to the next news article analysis. This editorial is based on the actions that can be taken for addressing the climate change. The author of this editorial discusses about what can be done at the global level and national levels to address the climate change. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this editorial is highlighted here for your reference. This editorial has been authored by the author after the conference of parties that is COP25 which was held in Madrid which is the capital city of Spain in December 2019. And the COP25 turned out to be a failure. See in our 17th December Hindu News Analysis video we have discussed why it was a failure and you can watch this video for better understanding. Now since the COP25 summit was a failure the author has given some measures that can be carried out at the global level in the next conference of parties. See the next conference of parties will be held at Glasgow city of UK in 2020. So what can be done by the political leaders who want to work towards addressing the climate change. At the global level the countries which are the largest carbon dioxide emitters can take actions first. For example we know that US is one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide. So according to the author the green new deal could be passed in USA maybe it can be passed in 2021. So a resolution has been introduced in the USA parliament which is about recognizing the duty of federal government to create a new green deal. This green new deal resolution outlines the framework for an ambitious plan to reverse the climate change. This is to be done by creating millions of highway jobs in new green industries and by building new infrastructure. One of the goals in this green new deal is to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers. So this resolution for the green new deal could be passed in US which will eventually enable to address the climate change problem. This is one of the measures that can be taken at the global level. Then the next measure suggested by the author is about climate activism know that climate activism is about increasing awareness regarding climate change and its consequences. As a result of climate activism some of the countries are already moving towards use of more green energy that is from non fossil energy resources. Now we will see about a parallel action of conference of parties which is suggested by the author. See a parallel action COP that is conference of parties could be held at future summits where sub-state actors, civil society groups, non-governmental organizations including academicians can share their ideas and can encourage climate change mitigation actions. But the problem with this measure is how such an alternate meeting will be integrated with policy processes of the countries is still unclear. But still it is a welcome idea of having a parallel action conference of parties. Now we will see the measures which are suggested by the author that is measures at national levels then at the state levels under the sub-state levels. So in case of India that is at the national level we have national action plan on climate change then at the state levels we have state action plans on climate change or in short SAPCC. Therefore having the national action plan on climate change at the national level then at the state levels that is state action plans on climate change represents a proactive stance in decentralizing the efforts towards climate change mitigation efforts. Know that the national action plan on climate change emphasizes on adapting a co-benefit approach that is taking measures that promote development objectives in achieving the additional benefits for mitigating climate change. So in this context author gives some of the reasons why the attention to climate change offers co-benefits to India for development. The first reason is that improving energy efficiency in industry reduces the cost as well as pollution levels. In the second reason is that improving public transport towards greener technology and using greener public transport such as mid-true reduces congestion then it reduces pollution levels and it also improves access to transport systems. Then the next reason is that using natural forming methods. These methods reduce use of fossil fuel based fertilizers that is for example the nitrogen fertilizer production uses large amounts of natural gas and also some coal which are fossil fuels. So agriculture remains dependent on fossil sources of energy therefore food production will remain a significant contributed to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and this can be reduced if you use natural forming methods for the use of fossil fuel based fertilizers. Further natural forming methods improve soil health and biodiversity. So it is a win-win situation. Now we will discuss some of the problems or drawbacks in the state action plans on climate change. These problems includes that is the states require guidance from the center. This is because the states together are to deliver the nationally determined contributions that is NDCs that India has promised under the Paris Agreement. The problem with this guidance is that most of the state government departments are handling climate change as a fringe issue that is a less important issue as the guidance is given by the central government and they don't seem to recognize the urgency which the climate change poses and they themselves are not taking any initiatives. So this attitude must be changed. Then the next problem is that the funds that are needed for the implementation of state action plans on climate change. That is it is not clear that how funds for the implementation of these plans will be obtained. As per the author there will not be enough funds from the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund and other bilateral agencies to support all these state plans. So we need new sources of funding for implementation of these state plans. As a solution to the funding problem the author mentioned about the coal says in India. See the coal says is nothing but the clean energy says which is a kind of carbon tax and it is levied in India as a duty of excise under section 83 of the finance act of 2010. It is levied on coal, lignite and peat. This says is levied to finance and to promote clean environment activities and for funding research in the area of clean environment or for any such related purposes. Know that the clean energy says was renamed as clean environment says in 2016. Therefore the author suggests that the coal says could be used for environment and climate related expenses under state action plans on climate change. So as a conclusion author mentions that ultimately climate should be part and parcel of all thinking on development which can be achieved by proper implementation of required policies at the global level then at the national level then at the state levels. With this we have come to the end of analysis of this editorial article. The disciplinary practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Now let us start our practice question session. Look at this question. The question says the democracy index is released by which of the following. They have given four options like the Economist Intelligence Unit, Transparency International, Amnesty International then World Justice Project. So this question is based on the Democracy Index which is released annually by the Economist Intelligence Unit which is a sister company of the UK based Economist Group. Know that the Economist Intelligence Unit has released the Democracy Index 2019 under the title a year of democratic setback and popular protest for 167 countries across the globe. And this index is calculated based on five different measures that is electoral process and pluralism then the functioning of government, political participation, then democratic political culture and civil liberties. Based on these parameters each country's score is calculated on the scale of 0 to 10. Then based on the score value the country is again further classified into four types of regimes. These regimes include full democracy, flawed democracy, then hybrid regime or authoritarian regime. So based on the Democracy Index which is released by the Economist Intelligence Unit, India is positioned at 51st place out of 167 countries and India's score is about 6.90 out of 10 and India is categorized as a flawed democracy. So for this question they're asking that the Democracy Index is released by. So for this question option a that is Economist Intelligence Unit releases the Democracy Index. Know that to transparent international releases corruption perception index then World Justice Project releases rule of law index. Now this question is based on which of the given diseases or zoonotic diseases they have given diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome, then Middle East respiratory syndrome, then 2019 NCOV that is novel coronavirus then anthrax. For this question you should know about what is meant by zoonotic diseases. As per WHO zoonotic diseases are diseases and infections that are naturally transmitted from vertebrate animals and humans. A zoonotic agent may be a bacterium, a virus, a fungus or other communicable disease agents. So to answer this question you should know about coronaviruses. These viruses are a large family of viruses known to cause illness from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome. Know that the novel coronavirus which is a new strain of coronavirus was recently discovered in the Wuhan province of China. WHO has named this novel coronavirus as 2019 NCOV. Generally coronaviruses such as Middle East respiratory syndrome then severe acute respiratory syndrome then novel coronaviruses are zoonotic viruses that is they can be transmitted between animals and people. Now we will see about anthrax whether it is a zoonotic or not. See anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by rod-shaped bacteria known as bacillus anthracis. Anthrax can be found naturally in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals around the world. Know that anthrax is also zoonotic disease that is people can easily get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. See contact with anthrax can cause severe illness in both humans and animals and it is a major cause of fatal disease in cattle. So for this question they are asking that which are the given diseases or zoonotic diseases. So for this question all the given diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome, 2019 N coronavirus then anthrax are examples for zoonotic diseases. So for this question option D1234 is the correct answer. Now consider this question which was asked in 2015 UPSC Prillin's examination that is which are the following statements regarding green climate fund is or correct. Statement 1 says that it is intended to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change. Then second statement says that it is founded under the ages of ENEP, OECD, Asian Development Bank and World Bank. So for this question you have to choose correct statements using the quotes given. So to answer this question you should know about green climate fund which is a new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenges of climate change. It helps developing countries to limit or to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. It seeks to promote a paradigm shift to low emission and climate resilient development then taking into account the needs of nations that are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. This fund was set up by the countries who are parties to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2010. Therefore the given second statement is incorrect because it was set up under ENFCC. So for this question option A one only is the correct answer. Now let us take up Main's practice question. The question is India should focus earnestly on developing its climate change action at state and sub state levels. In the light of the other statement discuss the importance and drawbacks in the state action plans on climate change. Suggest measures for improvement. So for this question you can post your written answer in the comment section. The posted answers would be evaluated and suitable feedback will be given in the reasonable time. With this we have come to the end of analysis of today's Indian News Analysis. If you like the video please do like share comment and subscribe Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel for daily updates for civil services examination. Thank you.