 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IAS Academy. Displayed are the list of news articles selected for today's analysis and their page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes and the time stamping of the news articles are provided in the description box and the time stamping for the benefit of mobile phone viewers has also been provided in the comments section. Now let us move on to the first news article. This open editorial article is about the political and financial empowerment of women in the state of Odisha. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here. The news article mentions that women's empowerment helps in achieving critical development goals. If women are not empowered, they will not be in political sphere or in economic sphere and government policies could be made with the exclusion of women. So when women are included in the nation building process, that means inclusive growth. That means all round and inclusive development. So when we say critical development goals, it could be eliminating poverty or it could be eliminating maternal mortality or child mortality or it could be even achieving universal health care or even universal access to education or any other critical development goals. So what helps in achieving critical development goals? It is women's empowerment. So when we say women empowerment, it means providing an environment for the all round development of women that ultimately leads to women themselves taking decisions. That is women taking decisions of their own in all walks of life, let it be political or economic or social or even civil or spiritual. So one of the important tools for political empowerment of women is increasing the political participation of women. When we say political participation of women, it could mean more women contesting for elections. It also means more women being present in the legislative bodies, for example, state legislative assembly or even at the national level in the parliament. The news article mentions that when the number of women in politics increases, there will be a corresponding increase in the gender specific policies and gender specific planning. So when we say gender specific policies, these are policies that are aimed at particular gender, mostly for women and also for transgenders, so as to give special focus to their needs. And these needs are different from the needs of men because of various factors such as physiology, emotional requirements, etc. Now with respect to political participation, the number of women taking leadership role in India is small compared to the global average. If you take 17th Lokshaba, the proportion of women member of parliament is around just 14%. This is actually an improvement over the previous Lokshaba where it was approximately 11%. But what is the global average? It is around 24%. Therefore, the author mentions that the number of women taking leadership role in politics in India is small or lesser compared to the global average. Also, if you have a look at the number of candidates who contested in the 2019 general elections, that is 2019 elections for the 17th Lokshaba, women candidates were around 700. But if you see men candidates, there were around 7000 who contested for the 17th Lokshaba. So that is the status with respect to participation of women at the level of contesting the elections. Now let's come to the state of Odisha. The author mentions that Odisha is seen as one of the underdeveloped states in the country and it stands backward in some of the human development indicators. But the state's model of women empowerment is remarkable and it has actually become a model that can be emulated or simulated by other states. It is mentioned that the state government was one among the first states in India to provide 50% reservation in seats for women in Panchayati Raj institutions. The ruling party has fielded women candidates for one third of the seats in the recent general elections. That is out of 21 seats, they have allotted women to stand in seven seats and it is found that the success rate among women candidates was higher than that of men. Now this is because five women out of the total of seven women who contested in Odisha for the general elections won the election. And for the purpose of economic empowerment or financial empowerment, the Odisha government has organized women into self-help groups. And within the state of Odisha, we can find around 6 lakh self-help groups with around 70 lakh women. Under the flagship scheme of Mission Sakthi, this Mission Sakthi actually provides an interest free loan of Rs. 5 lakh to women self-help groups. Earlier it was 3 lakhs and article mentions that this has been increased to 5 lakh before the general elections. This Mission Sakthi aims at empowering women by helping them to start income generating activities. That is this Mission Sakthi aims at economic empowerment of women through the formation of women's self-help group. And these groups were linked to financial institutions so as to receive the credit facility. That is receive the interest free loans. And these self-help groups are actually linked to Odisha livelihood mission and also Odisha rural development and marketing society. And the members of self-help groups are also encouraged to participate and sell their products in state-organized fairs and exhibitions. So these things actually provide them an opportunity to travel across the state and also to gain greater exposure. And in order to mark the importance of Mission Sakthi program, the government of Odisha has altered or modified the name of the Department of Women and Child Development to Department of Women and Child Development and Mission Sakthi. As an example, the author also quotes the development of a self-help group leader, Srimati Pramila Bisoy, who was actually nominated as a candidate for 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The victory of Pramila Bisoy, by a margin of more than 2 lakh votes, has huge potential to encourage more women's self-help group members into active public life. Here we actually mean the participation of women in politics. So the success of Pramila Bisoy has actually proved that even rural women and women who are members of self-help groups can also aspire to reach higher echelons in politics. And you can see the photograph of Srimati Pramila Bisoy in this news article. The government has also announced several appeasement measures for women in order to win the trust of women and also to empower them. And these are initiatives to provide smartphones, awarding work contracts to women, also providing higher entitlement in state's health insurance scheme and also providing accidental insurance scheme for all members of self-help groups. And the author notes that the entitlement for women in state's health insurance scheme is actually better than the national health protection scheme of the government of India. Here the author refers to the Pradhan Mandri Jan Aarogya Yojana under the Aishman Bharat that aims to provide financial protection to the poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational categories of urban workers families. And the beneficiaries has to be identified based on socioeconomic and caste senses. It aspires to provide a benefit cover of about 5 lakh per family per year. We are talking about Pradhan Mandri Jan Aarogya Yojana. The author notes that the state's health insurance scheme is better than the Pradhan Mandri Jan Aarogya Yojana. The ultimate point of the author is that other states has to take the model of Odisha as an example for women empowerment, at least in the field of political empowerment and financial empowerment. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. Now let's move on to next news article. This news article is about Pakistan granting visa to a special group of Sikh pilgrims from India to visit Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. Now there is syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here. On 15th July, while analyzing the second round of discussions that happened between India and Pakistan with respect to Kartarpur Corridor, we saw that India has urged Pakistan to allow Nagar Kirtan from Delhi to Nankana Sahib in Pakistan in July. This Nagar Kirtan was considered as part of celebrations to mark the birth of first Sikh Guru. And generally when we say Nagar Kirtan, it is a procession among the people belonging to Sikh fraternity and it involves chanting, hymns, singing bhajans. And in the course of the procession, they will also remembering the founder of Sikhism, Sri Guru Nanak Dev. So not only in July, the Indian government has also requested Pakistan to allow the same during the month of October and November. So this news article is about Pakistan implementing a request made by India with respect to this Nagar Kirtan. So Pakistan has allowed a special group of Sikh pilgrims to enter into Pakistan and to visit the Sikh shrine of Nankana Sahib. So this is part of celebrations for the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak. Guru Nanak Dev Ji is the founder of Sikhism and he is the first of the 10 Sikh Gurus. So it is expected that the celebrations will continue from Nankana Sahib to the Gurdwara of Kartarpur Sahib. Guru Nanak was born in Nankana Sahib and died at Kartarpur. Both these locations are in present day Pakistan. So the pilgrims were given the visas by Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and it is said that the present number of 500 visas is over and above the usual number of visas issued under the 1974 protocol called as India Pakistan protocol on visits to religious shrines. This 1974 bilateral protocol is the protocol constituting an agreement between India and Pakistan on visit to religious shrines. Shortly called as protocol on visit to religious shrines. It facilitates actually the visits by nationals of India and Pakistan to a list of religious shrines agreed by the two countries and Nankana Sahib is one of the agreed shrines that is located in Pakistan so that Indians can visit this particular shrine under the 1974 bilateral protocol. And with respect to Kartarpur Corridor both India and Pakistan are on the final stage of finishing this work. This corridor connects Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur with the Deira Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur in our country. And this Kartarpur Corridor will provide a visa free access for Sikh pilgrims to visit Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur. So Pakistan is building the corridor in its side and India is building the corridor in its side. So this corridor was actually agreed between India and Pakistan in November 2018 so that it will facilitate Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Holy Kurdwara in Pakistan. As discussed already in July 2019 the second round of discussion for Kartarpur Corridor has happened between two countries. In this meeting the discussions of modalities of operationalization of the corridor was discussed and Pakistan has agreed for a year long visa free access to Indian pilgrims. So this Kartarpur corridor was called by the news article as a peace corridor. We know that India-Pakistan bilateral relation has been on a low for some time particularly since the Pulwama terrorist attack. The problems between the two countries have originated since their birth in 1947 itself but diplomats and experts say that this Kartarpur corridor offers a chance to establish peaceful and cooperative neighborhood that will help the prosperity of two nations and also will pay good for regional stability. The cooperation and willingness of the two countries in the Kartarpur corridor is actually a provides a path to minimize the existing tensions. And the 1974 bilateral protocol though not used very often with so much commitment it still offers lot of ways to improve the people-to-people contact and also the cooperation at the level of government. Now some experts also suggest there is possibility of establishing few more corridors similar to Kartarpur corridor. Even if a corridor is not possible there can be a possibility of people-to-people exchanges based on some agreements by establishing certain tourist locations or certain tourist hotspots for such pilgrim visits. There are few important Hindu holy shrines in Pakistan and they are Katas Raj temple in Punjab province, Shahwala Tej Singh temple in Sialkot and there is also a Sun temple in Multan and we can also see some Islamic holy places in India such as Jammah Masjid in Delhi and Tomb of Moinujin Chisti in Ajmer and there is also demand to link Sharda Peeth in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Hinglach temple in Balochistan and Anandpur temple in Kaibar, Putankhwa as well. So both governments can develop tourist and religious circuits so as to connect these holy places and also to ensure huddle-free access to people from both countries. So it is understood that these measures would increase people-to-people cooperation and that is one of the available avenues to reduce the hatred and prejudice that people have against each other but certainly such measures also require government-to-government cooperation to ensure safety of people from both the countries and all these measures should ultimately bring down the bilateral tensions but we should also know that while saying these measures can be as easy as it might sound both the governments and particularly Indian government should also take care of ensuring security of the corridor and also security for the pilgrims and also safeguarding the territory against infiltration of illegal and terrorist elements. So these are the points that has to be taken care of by the governments with respect to such proposals. So with this we come to the end of the analysis of this news article the displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. These articles deal with the recently passed triple-talog bill which got passed in both the houses of the parliament and news reports are saying that the president has already given ascent for the passed bill. Now the syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here. So recently on 31st July 2019 the Muslim woman protection of rights of marriage bill of 2019 was passed in the Rajesh Abba. It is this bill they are commonly referring as triple-talog bill. Triple-talog or talaqi biddat is a form of divorce that is said to be practiced among certain Muslim husbands. It is not found in all Muslim husbands found among certain Muslim husbands. It refers to the practice of pronouncing talog three times immediately by a husband like talaqi talaqi talaqi to his wife. That is three pronouncements of talaqi at one and the same time. It is said that the mere pronouncement itself results into an instant and irrevocable divorce giving no room for talks or mediation or conciliation or arbitration between husband and wife. In 2017 in the case law of Shaiarao Bano versus Union of India Supreme Court has declared the instant triple-talog as unconstitutional and also as null and void. Supreme Court has stated that talaqi is instant and irrevocable and therefore it gives no chance of reconciliation between the husband and the wife. It also held that this pronouncement is an arbitrary act and it violates article 14 of Indian constitution. Now one way how we can say how it violates article 14 is that this is resorted by the husbands to get divorced from the wife not otherwise wives are not saying talaqi talaqi talaqi to get divorced from the husband. And also Supreme Court stated that the section 2 of Muslim Personal Law Sharia application act of 1937 that deals with talaqi is void that means according to section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law application act of 1937 in all questions related to the provision of personal law, marriage or dissolution of marriage including talaqi if the parties involved are Muslims then the rule of decision shall be based on the Muslim Personal Law which is also called as Sharia. It is this part that was struck down in 2017 by the Supreme Court. So immediately after the pronouncement of the Supreme Court the practice of getting divorced by talaqi has become illegal. Now let's see some of the important provisions of the recent bill that was passed by the parliament. Here if you see section 3 that is section 3 of Muslim Women Protection of Rights of Marriage Bill 2019 it states that the pronouncement of talaqi by words either orally or by written communication or in electronic form shall be void and illegal that is if a Muslim husband utters triple talaqi to his married Muslim wife that becomes an illegal divorce for which the Muslim husband can be punished or it becomes a criminal offense. So this amounts to discussion of wife but we can see for other religions for such discussion of wife we do not have any criminalizing aspect with respect to the laws governing to marriage or dissolution of marriage with respect to those religious communities. And according to section 7a this declaration of talaqi becomes a cognizable offense that can attract up to 3 years of imprisonment and fine. And it is mentioned that the offense is cognizable only if information is given by the suffering woman or her relative by blood or marriage. When we say cognizable offense we mean those offenses for which the police officer may arrest the accused without warrant. This is according to schedule 1 of code of criminal procedure. And according to section 7c of this bill the magistrate has the power to grant bail to the accused. But he can grant bail only after hearing the woman against whom this talaqi has been pronounced. And know that it is a cognizable non-bailable offense and if the married Muslim woman upon whom talaqi is pronounced is requesting to the magistrate to settle the matters between the husband and the wife. Then the offense can be made as compoundable offense. This can be done only with the permission of the magistrate. When we say compoundable offense it means those offenses for which legal proceedings can be stopped with the consensus of both parties in exchange for a settlement. These cannot be considered for serious or heinous crimes. There are certain offenses that are classified as compoundable offenses by the code of criminal procedure. Only for those set of offenses compounding can be done. Similarly, illegal divorce by pronouncing talaqi is also compoundable at the request of the married Muslim women. And these terms of settlement would be made by the magistrate. What could be the terms of settlement here? Either they will agree before the magistrate to forget the difference between them and to live as husband and wife together or the husband may say that he will apply for divorce legally. Other than legal method other than by pronouncing talaqi. According to section 5 of this bill the agreed women or the victim is entitled to seek subsistence for herself and her dependent children from her husband after the pronouncement of this talaqi. And section 6 of this bill tells that the agreed women shall be entitled to the custody of her minor children in the event of pronouncement of talaqi. It is argued that when marriage is a civil contract illegal revoking of marriage cannot be criminalized. And with respect to the protection of rights of Muslim women we have two significant supreme court judgments one in 1985 in the case law of Shah Bano and other in 2017 with respect to Shia Rabano versus Union of India. In the first case with respect to Shah Bano the supreme court favored for providing proper maintenance to the agreed women in case of 2017 verdict the supreme court held that the instant triple talaqi is illegal, null and void. The author here tells that certain areas of the bill are still unclear while the bill says that triple talaqi is void and illegal. If someone pronounces it the wife has the right to seek maintenance from her husband and also right to seek the custody of her children. But here when triple talaqi is illegal it does not mean when it is pronounced the marriage comes to an end. Even now when triple talaqi is pronounced the man and the woman are still legally in marriage. So the author says in such a scenario how can the married women claim for custody of the children and claim for maintenance while the marriage is still valid. And one another term is that after the pronouncement of triple talaqi say the husband was arrested and he is imprisoned after the judgment. Then in such a situation how will the imprisoned husband is supposed to pay for the maintenance. So these are the questions that till now remains unanswered. The author mentions that the proponents of the bill they are comparing triple talaqi with dowry harassment and cruelty towards female spouses. The author mentions that this is a wrong comparison because according to the author there will be an element of violence in dowry harassment and cruelty towards female spouses. But in the declaration of triple talaqi it's a mere pronouncement where there will not be any violence. So it should not be treated on par with the dowry harassment or cruelty towards female spouses. There is also criticism with respect to the manner in which the bill was passed in the parliament. The parties in the opposition are saying that it was hastily passed without proper discussion and also without proper scrutiny. They are claiming that the bill should have actually sent to a select committee that would have scrutinized all the provisions in detail this particular bill alone. And they are saying that though the government, though the present ruling party or the ruling alliance may have a majority in both houses it should send bills of such importance to the select committee for detailed discussion and scrutiny so that this may reduce the fear of opposition and also enhance the quality of the bill. In the lines of this editorial article let's also see few legislations that govern certain matters related to marriage among various religious communities in our country. For Hindus it is the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. This law of the Hindu Marriage Act also applies to the Jains and the Buddhists. And for Sikhs it is the Anand Marriage Act of 1909. For Parsis it is the Parsis Marriage and Divorce Act of 1936. And for Christians it is Indian Christian Marriage Act of 1872. And for Muslims as of now we will be having two legislations. One is Muslim personal laws that are managed by Muslim Personal Law Shariat application Act of 1937. And the other is this bill that is the Muslim Women Protection of Rights of Marriage Bill of 2019 that has now become an enforceable legislation after the ascent of the president. The author is telling that discussion of female spouses is a common problem that persists across all religious communities in our country. So it is not just happening only in the Islamic community. It happens everywhere. It is a common problem. Therefore government should have brought a law that addresses abandonment of spouses rather than focusing on a practice that is already declared as a illegal practice by the Supreme Court. And the suggestion is that the law to address discussion of female spouses or the abandonment of spouses should be non-sectarian. And it also has to be gender neutral. When we say gender neutral here it means even in some cases a male spouse could be abandoned or deserted by the wife. So the author is demanding when the government is to enact a law for addressing the problems of abandonment of spouses. It has to be non-sectarian and it has to be gender neutral. So this is with respect to this news article. Now let us move on to next news article. This news article is about the Interstate River Water Disputes Amendment Bill of 2019. The syllabus that can be related to the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. So recently Lokeshaba has passed the Interstate River Water Disputes Amendment Bill of 2019 by way of voice vote. So when we say amendment it means that the original bill is being subjected to some modification or some correction or some change. So this Interstate River Water Disputes Bill has proposed to amend the Interstate River Water Disputes Act of 1956. Now we can see those subjects for which the parliament can enact law in the union list in Schedule 7 of Indian Constitution. According to Indian Constitution under Article 246 there are three listed in the seventh schedule of Indian Constitution. The first list is called as Union List which consists of matters for which the parliament can enact a law. Then the second list is the state list for which the state government is empowered under normal circumstances to enact a law with respect to the matters mentioned there. The third list is Concurrent List where both center and state can enact appropriate legislations. So according to entry 56 of this union list in 7 schedule the regulation and development of interstate rivers and river valleys comes under the jurisdiction of parliament to enact a law. When we say interstate rivers it means those rivers which originate in one state and pass across different other states before it finally reaches into the sea. Or it can simply mean those rivers that travel from one state to another. Therefore the parliament can enact laws on regulating such interstate rivers relating to sharing of water and also with respect to construction of dams so that all riparian states be benefited out of it. Now let's see some of the important provisions with respect to the amendment bill. See according to section 4 of the bill the central government can establish interstate river water disputes tribunal for the adjudication of water disputes. So once this tribunal is established all the existing interstate river water disputes tribunal will be dissolved that is they will not function anymore. And whatever disputes that are pending for adjudication before existing tribunals shall be transferred to the interstate river water disputes tribunal that has been proposed by the bill to be established. And if established the tribunal will have different benches to resolve different river water disputes. Now the next important provision is that the bill talks about disputes resolution committee. The present legislation that is the interstate river water disputes act of 1956. There is no such provision for disputes resolution committee. So as per section 4 capital A of the amendment bill if any state government approaches the central government regarding any water dispute then the central government shall set up a dispute resolution committee in order to resolve the dispute in a peaceful manner. And this DRC shall consist of a chairperson expert members who have at least 15 years of experience. It will have one member from each state who will be nominated by the appropriate state government that is party to the particular dispute. Know that the chairperson and the expert members of this dispute resolution committee will be nominated by the central government. So the predominant say with respect to the dispute resolution committee arrests with the central government according to this bill. This dispute resolution committee will try to resolve a water dispute through negotiations within a period of one year. And this may be extended to further six months. The final report of this committee has to be then submitted to the central government. Here if the disputes cannot be settled through negotiations by dispute resolution committee then the central government will refer the disputes to the Interstate River Water Disputes Tribunal. So we can see a two-tire dispute resolution mechanism that can be adopted if the bill becomes an enforceable legislation. So once the matter comes to the tribunal the decisions of the dispute has to be given by the tribunal within two years. If the report cannot be given within a period of two years due to say some unavoidable reasons then the central government may extend for one more year. This is according to section 5 to capital A of the bill. And in any legislation whenever you see some provision with capital letters that means that particular section has been inserted into the act through an amendment. Now let's come to the discussion. In the news article we can see the statement of Minister of Jalsatthi who has explained what is the necessity to bring an amendment to the existing legislation. Now this is because the existing tribunals that have been constituted to resolve disputes had actually failed. He has said that even after 33 years some tribunals have not given any verdict on the disputes. So as per the present legislation of 1956 the tribunals constituted for the disputes have to give decisions within a period of three years. If the report cannot be given within the period of three years then the government may extend two more years. So it is in total five years. But with the amendment bill it has been proposed to reduce from five years to three years in total. So what about the final decision that is given by the tribunal? See according to section 6 of the amendment bill it states that the decision of the tribunal bench shall be final and it shall be binding on the parties to the dispute. It also states that the decision given by the tribunal will have the same force similar to an order or a decree of the supreme court. Now let's see the composition of this tribunal that is the interstate river water disputes tribunal according to section 4 capital B 1 of the bill. This tribunal shall have a chairperson, a vice chairperson not more than three judicial members and three expert members. All the members will be appointed by the central government based on the recommendations of the selection committee and the chairperson for the tribunal must be or must have been a judge of the supreme court or a chief justice of a high court. And with respect to the selection committee based on section 4 capital B 2 of the bill shall consist of prime minister or any other minister nominated by the prime minister and it also consists of the chief justice of India or any other judge of a supreme court nominated by the chief justice of India and it will also have the minister of law and justice and also the minister of Jalsakthi. Now who is the chairperson of this selection committee? It is the prime minister and not the chief justice of India. So other than prime minister all the three are just the members of the selection committee. There is one more important provision in this bill about the maintenance of data bank and information. Section 9 capital A of the bill tells that a data bank and information system at the national level shall be maintained for each river basin. So the central government may appoint an agency for this purpose to maintain data related to water resources and river basin etc. So with respect to the bill it is said that it has some two advantages. One is with respect to the two-tire dispute resolution mechanism. That is only when the dispute resolution committee is not successful the dispute will be referred by the central government to the tribunal. So they are saying there is a chance for resolving the disputes in the first tire itself. So this will reduce the burden on the tribunal if the disputes can be resolved through negotiations by the dispute resolution committee. We saw that according to the present legislation the tribunals constituted have to give decisions within a period of three years. It can be extended to not more than two years. So in total it is five years. According to the amendment bill it has been reduced to three years including the extension that is two plus one. The minister of Jalasekthi has said that irregular sittings of the tribunals were one of the reasons for the delayed orders. So with the passage of the amendment bill and making it an enforceable legislation it is believed that the functioning of the tribunal will be regularized and the disputes will be resolved in a time-bound manner. And the creation of data bank will also help the government to keep track of ecological and land pattern changes in the river basins. Now let's see some concerns. At present the members of the river water tribunals will be nominated by the Chief Justice of India. But now we are seeing about a proposal for a selection committee that will consist of Prime Minister and Central Ministers of Law and Justice and Jalasekthi with the Prime Minister being the chairperson. This also includes Chief Justice of India or any other judge of the Supreme Court nominated by the Chief Justice of India. So this means now the executive will be having the effective say in the selection process instead of the judiciary because of the number we see Prime Minister from the Executive we see the Law Minister from the Executive we see the Minister of Jalasekthi. So three and only one person from the judiciary that is either Chief Justice of India or any other judge of Supreme Court nominated by the Chief Justice of India. So it is also criticized that the executive will exercise influence in the selection process instead of the judiciary. And there is also criticism that except the provision for inclusion of one member from the state in the dispute resolution committee there is actually no provision for the consultation with the states. So these are with respect to the analysis of this news article. We have to wait and watch how far this bill be implemented once it becomes an enforceable legislation and how far it will be able to resolve the disputes in the time bound manner. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. Now let's move on to next news article. This news article is about the Motor Vehicle Summonment Bill of 2019. The syllabus relevant to the analysis has been highlighted here for your reference. The Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has stated that the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill of 2019 did not infringe, that is it did not violate the rights of the state governments. Now let's see some of the provisions that may infringe the rights of the state governments. The bill actually proposes to amend or modify the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. The news article mentions that the bill has increased the penalties for traffic violations in order to improve the road safety. See, when the bill was introduced, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways has stated that maximum road accidents in the world has occurred in India and of around 5 lakh road accidents that took place in India, more than 1.5 lakh accidents have led to death of an individual because of the accident. The news article mentions that the amendment bill aims to streamline the licensing process. Section 25, Capital A of the Amendment Bill tells that the central government shall maintain a national register of driving licenses. So, under this national register of driving licenses, all the registers of driving licenses maintained under the state governments will be subsumed, that is it will be coming under the central government. And once the national register of driving licenses is established, a unique driving license number will be issued under the national register of driving licenses. Then the news article mentions the amendment bill aims to streamline the road permit process. Now, let's see Section 66, Capital A introduced by this bill. It tells that the government may develop a national transportation policy in consultation with the state governments and other stakeholders. Now, let's see objectives mentioned under this proposed national transportation policy. Now, one important objective is to establish a framework for grant of permits and schemes. So, we can see according to the bill, the government is aiming to increase the role of private participation in the transport sector. So, there is one more amendment that has been made to empower the role of private sector, that is an amendment to Section 41 of Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. The bill tells that in case of a new motor vehicle, the application for registration shall be made by the dealer of the motor vehicle in a particular state. So, this will be applicable if the registration is done in the same state where the motor vehicle dealer is also located. Now, this dealer of a motor vehicle is a private player. Now, he has been empowered to register the vehicle according to the bill. So, we can see the increased role of private participation in the transport sector and the state's right to register the vehicle and earn income accordingly will also be now affected if the bill becomes an enforceable legislation. So, these are some of the provisions that has created some kind of fears or uncertainties with respect to the rights of the state governments being affected by this particular amendment bill. So, some of the opposition parties have criticized the bill on two issues. One with respect to increased participation of private players in the transport sector, that is increased privatization and also then the infringement of rights of the states. There are also fears that in future, in carrying out the powers given under some of the provisions in this bill, the central government may gradually shut down some of the existing state transport corporations. Now, for this particular question, the minister of road transport and highways have clarified that there were no plans to close any of the existing state transport corporations. So, these are some of the points with respect to the analysis of this news article. Now, this question is with reference to Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji. They have given three statements and are asking which of the statements are correct. They have asked to select the correct answer from the quotes given below. So, the first statement, he is the founder of Sikhism. Now, this statement is correct and he is the first among the 10 Sikh gurus. So, the second statement is also correct. Kartarpur Corridor is constructed by India and Pakistan as part of his 550th birth anniversary celebrations. Now, this statement is also correct. So, all the three statements are correct. So, as we know already from Indian side, this Kartarpur Corridor will start from Dehrababa Nanak town in Gurudaspur district in Punjab till the international border between India and Pakistan. So, this is from Indian side. And from Pakistan, this corridor will extend from the international border till it connects the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur in Pakistan. So, the correct answer for this question is option D, one, two and three. Now, this question is with respect to Interstate River Water Dispute Act of 1956. They have given three statements and are asking which of the above statements are incorrect. So, the first statement, the central government shall constitute a water dispute tribunal for adjudication of water disputes that arises between the states. So, this statement is correct. This is based on section four of the Act of 1956. See, when any request is received from a state government with respect to any water dispute. And also, when central government is of the opinion that a dispute cannot be settled by negotiations, the central government shall constitute a river water dispute tribunal. So, the central government will notify in the official gazette that a water dispute tribunal has been constituted to adjudicate the particular water dispute. So, this statement is a correct statement. Now, we know the question is asking for incorrect statement. So, when statement one is correct, it cannot be in the answer. So, easily you can eliminate option A, option B and option C. So, the correct answer for this question is option D, two and three only. Now, let's come to the second statement. It tells that the chairman of the tribunal is nominated by the president of India. But according to the Act, based on section four, subsection two, the tribunal shall consist of a chairman and two other members who are nominated by the chief justice of India. So, it is not the president who nominates the chairman of the tribunal, it is the chief justice of India. Therefore, the second statement is wrong. Now, the third statement, the decision of the tribunal is non-binding on the parties to the dispute. Now, this is also wrong because according to section six of the Interstate River Water Dispute Act, the central government will publish the decision of the tribunal in the official cassette and this decision shall be final and binding on the states who are parties to the dispute. So, here we find that the statements two and three are incorrect. So, the correct answer will be option D, two and three only. Now, let's see the main question. It has been widely acknowledged that women's empowerment will help in the achievement of critical development goals of a country. How Indian women can be politically and financially empowered? Discuss it in the light of Odisha model of women empowerment. To answer this question, first we have to know the Odisha model of women empowerment. During the analysis, we saw in what way the Odisha government and the present ruling party has politically empowered and also how they financially empowered the women. So, we saw that the state government of Odisha was one among the few states that initially granted 50% reservation for women in the seats in Panjayati Raj institutions. One another point we discussed that the ruling party has fielded women candidates to one third of the seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections for the 17th Lok Sabha. And we also saw the success rate among women candidates was higher than that of men. So, this is the Odisha model that we have discussed along with the analysis but we can say that in the similar lines of enhancing or providing reservation to the tune of about 50% in Lok Sabha and also in Rajesh Sabha and also in state legislative assemblies by way of bringing a women reservation bill will also help in empowering women politically. And also there has to be certain framework to field more women to contest elections, to fight among themselves so that certain seats can be reserved only for women to stand in the particular constituency or particular place. And coming to financial empowerment, we saw that in Odisha, the government has organized women in terms of self-help groups. And these self-help groups are linked to credit-providing institutions or in other words, banks. And these self-help groups are provided interest-free loans to the tune of rupees 5 lakh so that these self-help groups can start some kind of income-generating activities for their empowerment. So, by accessing the credit from these institutions, the women can show their kind of, their capability and entrepreneurship and also business ability and can aim for financial empowerment. These are some of the points that you can take from the analysis of the open editorial article that came yesterday to answer this particular question. With this, we come to the end of today's analysis. If you like the video, press the like button, comment, share and subscribe to Shankar A.S. Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service exam preparation.