 A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar Iyer's Academy. Today's date is 12th of December 2022. Displayed here are the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. Today we have 9 different news articles. So without much delay, let's get into the first news article discussion. Now this text and context article speaks about multi-state cooperative societies. Now suddenly it is a news because on December 7 a bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the multi-state cooperative societies act 2002. But the opposition party or opposing the bill, they are saying that the provisions in the bill are taking away the rights of the state government regarding cooperatives. So the opposition parties are demanding that the bill should be referred to a standing committee of the parliament. So because of this issue only the multi-state cooperative societies made news today. And in this background let us understand what are multi-state cooperatives? What are the prevalent issues with the sector? And finally we will see about what is the amendment bill seek to change. Now before that the syllabus relevant to this news article is highlighted here for your reference you can just go through it. Now let us start with the question what are multi-state cooperatives? Now before learning about multi-state cooperatives you have to first know about what are cooperatives. See according to the International Cooperative Alliance the cooperatives are defined as people centered enterprises which are jointly owned and democratically controlled by the people themselves. Which means that the people are part of the cooperatives and they function as members of the cooperatives. Because of such a feature these cooperatives help the members to realize common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations. One of the best example of the cooperative is Amul. Know that the Amul is an Indian daily cooperative society based in Gujarat. This daily cooperative network is owned by nearly 12 million former members. And we all know about its achievement it has achieved in marketing, innovation and had a macro impact. So this is about the cooperatives. Now talking about multi-state cooperatives. See multi-state cooperatives are societies that have operations in more than one state. For example a farmer produces organization which procures grains from farmers from multi-states and we can say them as multi-state cooperatives. Know that the board of directors of these multi-state cooperatives are from all the states where the cooperatives are operating. The board of directors has the power to control all the finances and administration. Know that there are around 1500 multi-state cooperative societies registered in India and the highest numbers are in Maharashtra. So this is about the multi-state cooperative societies. So now moving on to see what are all the prevalent issues with the cooperative societies. See the functioning of the cooperative societies independence and the autonomous powers were crucial for them. What is happening here? See in 2021 a paper was published by a professor at the Institute of Rural Management which is based in Gujarat. In that paper the professor points out that in some states the policy of state governments enabled the government to contribute to the share capital of the cooperatives. So this allowed the state governments to directly intervene in the working of cooperatives in the name of public interest. Now this is affecting the autonomy of cooperatives. Notably this type of political control can be seen in states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Visbengal. So this is the first major issue. That is the state governments are intervening in the working of cooperatives and this is affecting the autonomy of cooperatives. Now coming to the second issue. See the multi-state cooperative societies were formed to ease the operation of collectives throughout the country. But what is happening then? One of the researchers from the Institute of Rural Management points out that the MSMEs are facing issues regarding trust. As we all know trust is the very basis of cooperation. But here this trust issue has brought multi-state cooperative societies under multiple controls from the centre. So this is the second issue. That is multi-state cooperative societies are facing trust issues and this brought controls from the central government. So these two are the main issues faced by the multi-state cooperatives. Now we shall see what does the amendment bill seek to change. See to address the loop holes in the multi-state cooperative societies act 2002 the central government introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha recently. This bill is seeking to amend the 2002 act and it tries to bring more transparency and ease of doing business. The amendment has been introduced to improve governance then to reform the electoral process. Then the amendment also aims to strengthen the monitoring mechanisms and to enhance transparency and accountability. Apart from this the amendment bill seeks to improve the composition of the board of directors and the bill aims to ensure financial discipline by enabling the raising of funds in multi-state cooperative societies. Apart from this the bill provides for the creation of a central cooperative election authority and this is to supervise the electoral functions of the multi-state cooperative societies. Know that the authority will have a chairperson, vice chairperson and up to three members and all of them are appointed by the central government. So objecting these amendments one of the congress MP said in parliament that the amendment bill may lead to the concentration of power of the central government and this could impact the autonomy of multi-state cooperatives and create potential for misuse. So now coming back to the bill, the bill also envisages the creation of a cooperative rehabilitation reconstruction and development fund. This fund is to be created for the revival of sick multi-state cooperative societies. Know that this fund shall be financed by existing profitable multi-state cooperative societies. Here the profitable societies will have to deposit either one crore rupee or one percentage of the net profit into the development fund. Now objecting to this provision also one of the congress MPs pointed out that this mandate would put an additional burden on multi-state cooperative societies. Then the bill also has provisions for appointing a cooperative information officer and a cooperative ombudsman. Now this provision envisages to make the governance of multi-state cooperative societies more democratic. Apart from this the bill have provisions relating to the representation of women and scheduled cast or scheduled tribe members on the boards of multi-state cooperative societies. So remember now this provision aims to promote equity and to facilitate inclusiveness. So that's all you have to know about this news article discussion. See this news article discussion talks about multi-state cooperative societies, the issues faced by them and the provisions of the newly proposed bill in Lokseba. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now this news article talks about the launch of carbon credits trading by the great Chennai corporation. The seven projects to be taken up are LED street lighting, solar panels, bio-methanation, electric vehicles, mangroves, Miyawaki forest and green buildings. So in this news article discussion let us learn about these projects and what is this carbon credits. As I already mentioned the first project is the LED street lighting. See the thing about LEDs is that they use less electricity and emit very little heat. In comparison incandescent bulbs release 90% of their energy as heat and compare fluorescent lamps or CFLs. They release about 80% of their energy as heat. Hence we can say that LEDs are better option for street lightings. Then the second project in line is the installation of solar panels. We know that solar panels capture sunlight as a source of radiant energy which is then converted into electric energy. Also solar energy is a non-polluting source of energy and hence it can earn carbon credits to the organization. Here we should also know that India has achieved fifth global position in solar power deployment by surpassing Italy recently. This is according to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy that is MNRE. The third project is the bio-methanation project. Bio-methanation is a process by which organic material is microbiologically converted under anaerobic conditions to biogas. This biogas which is primarily composed of methane which is about 52-65% then carbon dioxide 30-40% hydrogen sulfide which is 1-2.5% and a tiny fraction of moisture is a renewable source of fuel. Now coming to the fourth project which is e-vehicles. See we know about e-vehicles. They are powered by electric motors as opposed to an internal combustion engine which produces power by burning a mixture of fuel and gases. India seeks to have at least 30% of new vehicle sales be electric by 2030 as it is being supportive of the EV30 at 30 campaign. This EV30 at 30 campaign is a campaign of the clean energy ministerial. This clean energy ministerial is a high level global forum to promote policies and programs that advance clean energy technology to share lessons learned and best practices and to encourage the transition to a global clean energy economy. It was established in the summer 2009 at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties in Copenhagen. Now this CEM or the Clean Energy Ministerial has 29 countries as members. India is also a member country of CEM. So now moving on the fifth project that is mentioned in the news article is the mangroves. See the importance of mangroves cannot be understated especially in a city like Chennai where floods or a common occurrence. Also mangroves are responsible for 10 to 50% of carbon burial despite making up less than 2% of marine environment. Then talking about the Miyawaki forest. See the unique thing about these forests is that they grow much more quickly compared to a conventional forest that may take over 100 years. So this method takes its inspiration directly from processes and diversity in nature. That is 15 to 30 different species of trees and shrubs are planted together. And this plant community works very well together and is perfectly adopted to local weather conditions. So this is about the Miyawaki forest. Now moving on to the last project which talks about the construction of green buildings. See we know that green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout a building's life cycle from sitting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. So these are all the projects for which carbon credits are generated. So here what are these carbon credits? See in simple terms a carbon credit is like a certificate that provides the holder of the credit, the right to emit one ton of carbon dioxide or an equivalent of another greenhouse gas. In general carbon credits are designed to support economic activity while keeping the nation's carbon reduction targets in perspective. Remember between 2010 and June 2022 India issued 35.94 million carbon credits or nearly 17% of all voluntary carbon market credits issued globally. Now the organizations they can purchase additional credits from other organizations who offset emissions through programs that directly remove greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Here such program includes a forestation or other alternative technologies. So in this case increased usage of cleaner technology will ultimately give carbon credits to the GCC. Now the GCC can trade it to other organizations and generate revenue through it. So here remember the process of monitoring the carbon emissions of the projects and its trading will be done by an external agency. This external agency will be hired by the GCC for that purpose so that the GCC can concentrate on its core activities. So this can be seen as a very good example and can be used as a model to be developed in other cities to bring down the carbon emissions. We can even use this case as an example to quote in questions related to sustainable cities. So these are all some of the important points that you have to remember about this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw in detail about the seven projects for which the GCC is going to launch carbon trading. So these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now have a look at this news article. This article provides a crucial data regarding Indian politics. Yes it is talking about the representation of women in Indian parliament and state legislatures. See this topic is very important because women's representation in political sphere is an important metric to evaluate progress in bridging gender inequalities in the country. That is why we have chosen this news article and there are also other reasons why we need such a metric. Firstly it shows whether a country is truly representative of democracy because such a democracy seeks adequate representation of women in politics. Secondly legislative representation is fundamental to political empowerment of women because of which it is even an important SDG under goal 5. Under SDG target 5.5 is to ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political life. So with this basic understanding let us get to the data given in the news article. So we will start with Indian parliament that is women MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajesh Sabha. See as on December 12th that is today 17th Lok Sabha has 81 women MPs and Rajesh Sabha has 33 women MPs. This means present Lok Sabha has almost 15% of representation of women because the total members of Lok Sabha are 5.42. And since the Rajesh Sabha members has 2.39 members the women representation is only 14%. So if you are having a doubt how many of them are in ministerial position see totally 7. Among them 2 cabinet ministers and 5 world ministers of state. Here in this image you can see the details of women ministers. So from this data it is clear that the proportion of women representation is low in comparison to their male counterparts in Indian parliament. Now let's move on to state legislatures. Around 19 legislative assemblies have less than 10% women lawmakers that is less than 10% women MLAs. This includes the states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. So here you can see that all the southern states have low representation of women. So if you have doubt about legislative assemblies that have more than 10% of women MLAs you can see that in the table given here. From this data it is clear that West Bengal has high women's representation but still proportion of women representation is low only. So overall we can agree that there is less women's representation in Indian politics. But what are the reasons for this? The first important reason is historical political marginalization due to the patriarchal social structures and mindsets. Now this includes the societal prejudices where they think women cannot balance private family and political life. So if you can understand the depth of the issue in this reason you can understand that internalized patriarchy is also a reason for low women's representation in Indian politics. So what is this internalized patriarchy? See it is a phenomenon where women themselves consider that it is their duty to prioritize family and households. Therefore they don't think about political ambitions. Apart from this a male dominated political party structure is also a reason which believes that women candidates are less likely to win elections than men. This inaccessibility is also a reason see to get represented in politics first they should win in election. For that they should get the party ticket right? But the problem is political parties give few party tickets to women candidates. Here also only those having family political connections or dynastic politicians get the ticket. So at entry point itself there is hindrance. Apart from this humiliation, inappropriate comments, abuse and threats of abuse further makes women's participation extremely challenging. Financing also acts as a major obstacle as many women are financially dependent on their families. This affect their campaign funding. Other than that family obligations, resource scarcity and various structural hindrances all impede greater participation among women as contestants or winners in parliamentary or state legislative or state assembly elections. And as a final point I would say lack of constitutional mandate is also a reason. Why? Because we saw that constitution provides reservation for women in PRRIs that is Panchayath Raj institutions and municipalities. According to research studies this policy led to a phenomenal rise in the political participation of women at the local level. So the same could also happen at other levels if constitution provides reservation for women. So this is all you have to know about this news article discussion. Very important news article discussion you can make note of each and every point. Even in Main's GS paper 1 you have a separate mention about role of women and women's organization and associated issues. Especially the developmental issues. So when questions are asked with respect to that you can quote all these points. So these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now this news article mentions that tender for smart parking did not attract any bidders in Bangalore. So a new bidder has been floated. Here what is important for us is the smart parking system. So let us know about them in this news article discussion. Here smart parking is an automatic parking system. It is one of the most adopted and fast growing smart city solution across the world. It provides an effortless solution towards hassle free parking by blending technology. The goal is to automate and decrease the time spent for manually searching the parking floor parking spot and lot. So basically its aim is to make the whole process of car parking more efficient and less complex for both drivers and supervisors. Therefore it encompasses online booking of parking slots along with other services like online payments, parking time notifications etc. Even space searching functionalities is available for very large lots. Since it stores the data related to parking area in a cloud it can be accessed from anywhere using internet. By this we get a real time parking map. So for all these it uses various technologies like sensors, microcontrollers, LEDs, LEDs as indicator, LCD display and other technologies. Most importantly it is available for both on-street and off-street parking. So what is this on-street and off-street parking? Off-street parking consists of demarcated area for parking near a street or road. On the other hand on-street parking consists of individual marked parking slots on streets or roads. So if you are asking me how the system exactly works. For example, sensors are installed along roads in various zones which will gather information on the availability of parking slots. This information will be transmitted to a monitoring cell. This cell will relay the same information to motorist through an app. If the motorist want a slot they can pay the parking fee through the app. Otherwise they can also use the smart parking meters installed on the roads. So by this the slot is booked and you can park your vehicle there. So this is how the system actually works. I hope you can understand clearly about smart parking. Now we shall see benefits of smart parking. See the first and foremost thing is public can find the best parking spot available that too by saving time, resource and effort. Secondly this helps in reducing the traffic congestion. Because one of the reasons for traffic congestion is illegal parking that take up road space. Apart from this it reduces human intervention and it helps in effective filling of parking lot and enhances the optimized parking. And finally it helps in preventing parking violations and also suspicious activity by blacklisting suspicious vehicles. Now finally it enables digital collection of parking revenues. So these are all some of the advantages of this smart parking. Since this is something new you can make a note of it. There might be a question and problems or you can quote this as an example in your mains. So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about smart parking system, its aim and then we saw how it works and some of its applications or benefits. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now this news article mentions about the NASA's Orion Space Capsule. It has safely landed in the Pacific. This capsule was part of Artemis 1 mission and it completed a 25 day journey around the moon. So in this backdrop let us understand about this Artemis 1 mission. See Artemis 1 is a mission of NASA. It is the first mission in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the moon and mass. Artemis 1 basically aims to build a long term human presence at the moon. But how it will be made possible? How can long term human presence be ensured? It can be done by demonstrating the systems that will be involved in a mission, right? That is what is done by Artemis 1. It will be an uncrewed light test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. So it will be the first integrated test of NASA's deep space exploration systems. The deep space exploration system include Orion spacecraft which is a next generation spacecraft designed for the demand of human missions to deep space. Second is space launch system that is SLS rocket which is termed as the most powerful rocket in the world that is designed to send humans to deep space. And finally the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. So this Artemis 1 will be demonstrating all these capabilities prior to the first flight with crew on Artemis 2. Under this its primary goal was to demonstrate Orion's systems in a spaceflight environment. So Orion was to stay in space longer than any ship for astronauts has done without docking to a space station and then return home faster than ever before. So through this it was to ensure a safe reentry, descent, splashdown and recovery of the spacecraft. Here splashdown means touch down of a returning spacecraft on the sea with the assistance of parachutes. So today's news is related to this one Lee. Orion had safe splashdown and I think the recovery of the aircraft is going on. It was launched last month and it had splashdown after a record breaking mission. Remember it had travelled more than 1.4 million miles on a path around the moon and has returned safely to earth. After this successful mission in the future the second flight will take a crew on a different trajectory and test Orion's critical systems with human aboard. So that's all regarding this news article discussion. So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about this Artemis 1 mission. Make note of all these points even though this mission is not talking about a mission belonging to India there might be a question in the problems examination. That is why we have chosen this news article. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now take a look at this news article it is a text in context article. The article is that Apple announced that it will be increasing the number of data points protected by end to end encryption on iCloud from 14 to 23 categories. Similarly Elon Musk said that Twitter DMs to be encrypted but the government agencies are not happy with the development. So in this backdrop let us understand what is this end to end encryption and why tech companies are using it. And we shall also see why government agencies are unhappy with this move. Now before that the syllabus relevant to this news article is high data here for your reference you can just go through it. So first of all what is this end to end encryption say end to end encryption is a communication process that encrypts data which is being shared between two devices. Encryption literally means concealing or hiding data by converting it into a code. Let us say that some data is sent from device A to device B. Then here the data will be converted into code before sending to device B. Now if you are thinking why such a conversion is needed here the main reason is that it prevents third parties like cloud service providers, internet service providers that is ISPs and cyber criminals from accessing data while it is being transferred. And this end to end encryption process uses an algorithm and as we already saw this algorithm transforms the standard text into an unreadable format. And this unreadable format can only be read by those with the decryption keys and these decryption keys will be stored only on end points. I hope now you are clear that this decryption keys will not be with any third parties including companies which are providing the service. Now this ensures the safe transfer of data. So if you are asking me why such end to end encryption are used. Firstly it is used to secure communications through apps like Signal, WhatsApp, iMessage and Google Message. So these applications use end to end encryption. And remember instant messaging is not the only place where user data is protected using end to end encryption. It is also used to secure passwords to protect stored data and to safeguard data on cloud storage. And thirdly end to end encryption are used when transferring business documents, financial details, legal proceedings and personal conversations etc. And these big tech companies they use this encryption because of data breach. See a data breach research has been done in this respect. The research is called the rising threat to consumer data in the cloud. It stated that the total number of data breaches tripled between 2013 and 2021. According to Apple around 1.1 billion personal records were exposed in 2021 alone. So as an extra layer of protection tech companies are using this end to end encryption. Also know that another reason to use end to end encryption is that tech companies want to position itself as a provider of secure data storage and transfer services. This is because people like activists, journalists and political opponents want a secure platform to express their opinions. Otherwise the government agencies will snoop and hinder the expression of opinion. So to provide a secure platform for the freedom of expression tech companies are using it. See just now we saw that end to end encryption aids safe transfer of data right? Along with that know this also end to end encryption does not protect metadata. So what are these metadata? It includes information like where a file was created, the date when a message is sent and the end points between which the data was shared. So I hope now you got a clear understanding about this end to end encryption and its applications. Now let us see why government is unhappy with this end to end encryption. See the government is unhappy because several times the government agencies have faced resistance when it attempted to access encrypted data hosted and stored by tech companies. Let me give you some examples to have a better understanding. For example in the year 2018 Australia passed laws that forced the tech companies and service providers to allow secret access to messages on platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. And even in 2019 the US and UK and Australia planned to pressure Facebook to create a backdoor into its encrypted messaging apps. The aim was to allow the government to access the contents of private communications. Here the government says that these legislations are necessary to prevent terrorists and other serious criminals from hiding from the law. Now this does not mean that government is against this end to end encryption. The government is actually an advocate of it. It is only asking for encryption schemes that give lawful access. But the cryptographers and cyber security experts are arguing that if access is given to law enforcement agencies through encryption with backdoors then it will compromise the reliability of the internet. So that's all you have to know about this news article discussion. See in this news article discussion we saw what is this end to end encryption where it is used and why government is upset with this end to end encryption. So these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now have a look at this news article. This news article talks about the clean Ganga mission. The news is that this mission is shifting its emphasis that is from just improving the sanitation levels in the Ganga. It is now geared towards conservation tourism and providing livelihoods. So the Union Janasakthi Minister coordinates with the tourism ministry to develop a comprehensive plan for developing tourism circuits along the Ganga. Now this is in line with earth Ganga, organic forming and cultural activities. Here earth Ganga is nothing but the harnessing economic potential from the Ganga. So to build organic forming and natural forming corridors the agriculture ministry is also taking steps. Apart from this the urban Afais ministry is focused on mapping drains and solid waste management. And the environment ministry is also scaling up afforestation and conservation efforts to protect the Gansitic river dolphins. So this is the entire crux of the news article given here. So in this discussion let us just focus on the national mission for clean Ganga in detail. Before that the syllabus relevant to this news article is highlighted here for your reference. You can just go through it. See this national mission for clean Ganga which is in short called as NMCG was registered as a society. It was registered on 12th August 2011 under the society's registration act 1860. And this mission acted as implementation arm of national Ganga river basin authority which is in short called as NGRBA. Now remember this authority was constituted in the provisions of the Environment Protection Act that is EPA 1986. But this national Ganga river basin authority was dissolved after the constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation Protection and Management of River Ganga. Now this is referred as National Ganga Council. So we can say that this national mission for clean Ganga is the implementation wing of this national Ganga Council. I hope you can get a background detail about this national mission for clean Ganga or NMCG. So what about the aim of this mission? See the aim and objectives of NMCG is to accomplish the mandate of National Ganga river basin authority or NGRBA. So what are they? First is to ensure effective abitement of pollution and rejuvenation of the river Ganga. Now this is done by adopting a river basin approach because it will promote intersectoral coordination for comprehensive planning and management. Secondly its aim and objective is to maintain minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga. This is to ensure water quality and environmentally sustainable development. Okay now talking about the vision of the mission. The vision for Ganga rejuvenation constitutes restoring the wholesomeness of the river. If we can do that we can ensure Aviral Dara which means continuous flow and Nirmal Dara which means unpolluted flow. Then the geologic and ecological integrity of the river. Okay so if you are asking me about its implementation. See the national mission for clean Ganga or NMCG has a two-tier management structure. This comprises of governing council and executive committee both of them are headed by director general NMCG. Okay and this executive committee has been authorized to accord approval for all projects up to rupees 1000 crore. Then at the state level the state program management group or SPMGs acts as implementing arm of state Ganga committees. So the newly created structure attempts to bring all stakeholders on one platform. So that a holistic approach towards the task of Ganga cleaning and rejuvenation can be taken. Now let us conclude this discussion by seeing the key functions of this NMGC. See the first important function is to implement the work program of National Ganga River Basin Authority that is NGRBA. Secondly it implements the World Bank Supported National Ganga River Basin Project. Thirdly this NMGC it coordinates and oversees the implementation of projects sanctioned by Government of India and the National Ganga River Basin Authority. Apart from this it will undertake any additional work or functions that are assigned by the Ministry of Water Resource, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation which is in short called as MOWR, RD and GR. Fifthly it makes rules and regulations for the conduct of the affairs of the NMCG. Also it adds or amends, vary or rescinds the rules and regulations from time to time. Sixthly it provides any grant of money, loan securities and property of any kind. Also it undertakes and accepts the management of any endowment, trust, fund or donation that is consistent with the objective of NMCG. And the last but not the least it takes all such action necessary for the achievements of the objectives of the NGRBA. So that's all you have to know about this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw in detail about this National Mission for Clean Ganga. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now this news article talks about a press note in which the Foreign Minister of Indonesia said that India and other countries should respect and follow the ASEAN's policy on Myanmar rather than taking a different path. So if you are asking me why did the minister make such a comment? See recently a decision was made by the Indian Government to engage with the military government of Myanmar. I hope you all know that in Myanmar the military came to power in February 2021. They came to power after deposing the Electoral Government and jailing thousands of leaders. So the Foreign Minister of Indonesia advised India to respect and follow the ASEAN's policy on Myanmar rather than taking a different path. So this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us understand about ASEAN from a prelims perspective. See the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which is shortly known as ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental organization. It was established on 8th August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. It was established with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration which is popularly known as Bangkok Declaration. Know that the secretariat of the ASEAN is situated in Jakarta. Now talking about its member the founding members of ASEAN include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. And later Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia were joined as full-time members. Therefore at present there are totally 10 full-time members in the ASEAN. Know that India is not a member of ASEAN but it is a dialogue partner of the ASEAN. Now talking about the chairmanship of the ASEAN. See this chairmanship of ASEAN rotates annually according to the alphabetical order of the English names of member countries. And know that Cambodia currently holds the ASEAN chairmanship that is for 2022. Now talking about the ASEAN summit. See this summit is held twice annually. Know that ASEAN summit is the highest policy-making body in ASEAN and it comprises the head of states or government of the member countries. Remember the summit is hosted by the member state holding the ASEAN chairmanship. So this is about the ASEAN. Now let us see some of the important aims and purposes of ASEAN one by one. Firstly the main purpose of ASEAN is to promote economic and security cooperation among its members. Secondly its aim is to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law. Thirdly ASEAN aims to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the Southeast Asian region. And this is done through joint endeavors in the spirit of equality and partnership. Fourthly its aim is to promote active collaboration and manual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical, scientific and administrative fields. And finally it aims to provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities in the educational, professional, technical and administrative spheres. So that is all you have to know about ASEAN. So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about ASEAN, its members, then its chairmanship, then we saw about some of the important aims and purposes of ASEAN. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now for our next discussion let us take up this news article. It says that National Commission for Backward Classes that is NCBC has been functioning without a wise chairperson and members for nearly 10 months. And the chairman was appointed 2 weeks ago after a delay of 9 months. So this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us understand about NCBC in problem's perspective. See when we talk about National Commission for Scheduled Caste we have Article 338. And when we talk about National Commission for Scheduled Tribes we have Article 338A. Likewise while talking about NCBC you have to remember about Article 338B. This article only says that there shall be a commission for the socially and educationally backward classes which is known as the National Commission for Backward Classes. So this NCBC was provided constitutional status by the 1 out 2nd Constitutional Amendment Act 2018. So this amendment act only inserted Article 338B. Now the basis for this action is Article 340. See the Article 340 says that the President may by order appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India. So this is the basis for the existence of NCBC. Now let us see about the composition of the commission. See Article 338B says that the commission shall consist of a chairperson, vice chairperson and 3 other members. And this is the strength of NCBC. The article also says that the condition of service and tenure of office of the chairperson, vice chairperson and other members will be determined by the President by the rule he makes. And remember the chairperson, vice chairperson and other members of the commission are appointed by the President by Warren under his hand and seat. Now moving on let us see the functions and duties of the commission. See here in this column I have given the duties of NCBC that I mentioned in Article 338B. It says that the duty of NCBC is to investigate the safeguards provided for the socially and educationally backward classes to inquire the compliance with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards. Then to participate in the socio-economic development of backward classes that is BCs. Apart from that its duty is to present report to President to make recommendations for the implementation of protection measures and then to discharge other duties specified by President. Okay. So these are all some of the duties of NCBC as specified in Article 338B. Apart from this the article also says that the President shall lay the reports of NCBC before each House of Parliament. And the report should be accompanied by a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations. In case of non-acceptance of recommendations of NCBC reasons for such non-acceptance should be submitted. Suppose if any part in the report is related to any state government then a copy of such report should be forwarded to the state government. Here also the report should be laid before the legislature of the state along with memorandum and the reason for the non-acceptance. Finally know that the commission have all the power of a civil court while investigating matters relating to the safeguards provided for the socially and educationally backward classes. So that's all regarding this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw in detail about NCBC, their composition, their functions and finally we saw about the reports of NCBC. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the practice question discussion. Now look at this first question. Let me read out the question for you. Statement one, ministers are appointed by the president on that base of the prime minister. Statement two, one third reservation is provided for women in Pachayatraj institutions and the municipal bodies. Statement three, female representation in Indian parliament is less than 10 percentage. So you have to choose the correct answer here. Option A, one and three only, option B, two only, option C, one and two only and option D, two and three only. See the correct answer for this question is option C, one and two only. Statement one is actually correct. It is as per article 75 clause one of Indian constitution. Ministers are appointed by the president on that base of the prime minister. Statement two is also correct here. It is also as per constitution which was brought in by 73rd and 74th amendment to the constitution. Now the statement three is actually incorrect. Female representation in Indian parliament is actually more than 10 percentage. That is the 17th Lok Sabha has 81 women MPs and Rajesh Sabha has 33 women MPs. Which means present Lok Sabha has almost 15 percentage representation of women because the total members of Lok Sabha are 542. And since Rajesh Sabha has two 39 members, the women representation is 14 percentage. So the correct answer here is option C, one and two only. Now moving on, this question is about smart parking. You have to choose which of the following are the advantages of smart parking system. Statement one reduced human intervention. Statement two reduced traffic congestion. Statement three avoids on street parking. And statement four enables off street parking. See the correct answer for this question is option D, one, two and four only. It actually does not avoid on street parking. Rather it regulates it. Okay. Now the system actually avoid illegal parking. So the correct answer for this question is option D, one, two and four only. Because the third statement is wrong here. Now moving on, this question is about Artemis one mission. Statement one, it is an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration. Statement two, it's Orion spacecraft landed on moon and safely returned to earth after completing its mission. See here, statement one is actually correct. We saw that in the discussion. It is actually an uncrewed flight test. And statement two is incorrect. Because artisan one or Orion traveled more than 1.4 million miles on a path around the moon and has returned safely to earth. It did not land on moon. So this statement is actually wrong. So the correct answer for this question is option A, one, one only. Because the second statement is incorrect. Now moving on, this is a previous question which was asked in 2018. Here six countries are given and you have to find which among the countries are free trade partners of ASEAN. Statement one, Australia. Statement two, Canada. Statement three, China. Statement four, India. Statement five, Japan. And statement six, USA. See the correct answer for the question is option C, one, three, four and five. The ASEAN's free trade agreement partners are Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. Canada is not a member of it. Okay. So now moving on, the question displayed here is the practice question for you today. Just go through the question and mention the correct answer in the comment section. So the questions displayed here are the main practice questions for you today. Just go through the question, try to write an answer and post it in the comment section. We'll try to review your answer as well. So with this, we came to the end of the news article discussion. 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