 Very good evening everyone. Welcome to the Hindi news analysis brought to you by Shankara AS Academy. Here are the list of news articles provided along with the page numbers chosen for discussion today and our video is time-stamped for your convenience. Now, let us start our discussion with this particular news article. See, recently the speaker of Iran's parliament said that Iran will never hand over images from Iranian nuclear sites to IAEA. So in this context, let us know about IAEA. See, we all know what IAEA stands for. It is the International Atomic Energy Agency. The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In addition to that, it also inhibits the use of nuclear energy for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. And see, the IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29th of July 1957 and autonomous means the organization is carried on without outside control. The IAEA was independently established outside United Nations through an international treaty called the IAEA Statute. So that is what is called as autonomous. But the IAEA is very closely associated with United Nations General Assembly as well as United Nations Security Council. How the IAEA reports to these two bodies of the United Nations. Now, let us see about its office. See, the IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, which is in Austria. And in addition to that, the IAEA also has two regional safeguards office. They are located in Toronto, Canada, and in Tokyo, Japan. And the IAEA also has two liaison offices, which are located in the city of New York and in Geneva of Switzerland. And in addition, the IAEA also has laboratories and research centers at various locations. And these are the important offices of IAEA. So why is an institution like IAEA very significant? See, IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation. So specifically for the peaceful uses of nuclear technology and the nuclear power throughout the world. And the program of IAEA encourages the development of the peaceful application of nuclear energy science technology. And they also provide safeguard, international safeguards against misuse of nuclear technology and nuclear material. And apart from that, they also promote nuclear safety, which also includes radiation protection and nuclear security standards and their implementations as well. So an institution like the International Atomic Energy Agency is a vital organ in today's world, especially with the rise of nuclear debt and all. Now talking about the membership, the International Atomic Energy Agency has 173 member states as of April 2021. And when did India become a member? India became a member in 1957 itself. And remember this, and these are the important points regarding the International Atomic Energy Agency. With these points in mind, let's move on to the next part of our discussion. Now, let us take up this news article, The Power of an Apology. See, this article is very important from the ethics perspective for our GS paper. All right? So as we know, some of today's developed countries have committed grave mistakes during the colonial period. We have also seen some countries apologizing for their past mistakes. Today, let us discuss this opid which talks about why countries shall apologize for the past mistakes. Here is the syllabus for your reference. See, recently Germany had apologized to Namibia for the massacres of the Herrero and Nama people in 1904 to 1908. France also apologized to Rwanda for its role in the genocide. And if you note in 2016 very recently, the Canadian president famously apologized before the descendants of the passengers of the Komangatamaru ship. At the same time, France had refused to apologize for its acts during the 1954 to 62 Algerian War of Independence. And same is the case with Turkey regarding the Armenian genocide during the 1915 and 1923. So we all know the impacts of European colonialism on the third world countries. It ranges from theft to racism to cultural destruction, slavery, and worst at sometimes is genocide. So the question is, should a nation apologize for the crimes of its past? See, there are arguments and counter arguments on this issue. See, note the arguments and counter arguments for your answers in the ethics paper. So to begin with, former Australian Prime Minister John Howard had opposed the idea of apology. So what was his justification? He maintained that today's generation cannot or should not be held accountable for the behavior of their predecessors. So it is like the present is apologizing for the past. And also the idea of holding people responsible for the crimes of their ancestors is deeply unsatisfactory, he believes. So what is the counter argument? Though the current generation did not actually commit the crime, many within it still reap the rewards of a colonial world. That is because even today, the Europeans and the descendants of the white settlers remain disproportionately privileged in comparison to the people they once conquered. That is why people throughout the world are looked upon with more respect and they are more privileged, right? And as you can see, this is an ethical question. So what is the solution for it? A potential solution for this is to acknowledge that the current generation did not do any wrong. But the state did in the past. So in this sense, the political leaders as representatives of the state should apologize on the behalf of the state. But this only works when it was the state that committed the violations. And this cannot be the case when settlers or organizations acted independently of the state during the colonial period. Also, we cannot assume that the same state that perpetrated the crimes remains intact today. For example, can Turkey be asked to apologize for the Armenian genocide when the event occurred even before the establishment of Turkey as a country in 1923? So will that be a valid question? And the issue of the intergenerational injustice is further complicated by our multicultural societies. So pay attention here. Let us take an example. Can a French citizen of Algerian descent apologize for France's colonial atrocities in Algeria? So what would it mean for an African American president of the US to apologize for slavery, right? And these examples create situations where one could be both recipient as well as a giver of apology. Now, coming to the op-ed, the author believes that such gestures can generate a lot of positive effect. How? One, it will strengthen the relationships between the countries involved. And there are also demands of giving tangible compensations for the genocide victims. For example, when the US apologized to the Japanese Americans for World War II atrocities, each surviving victim received a compensation of US$20,000. And most importantly, such apologies will help, especially the survivors to reconcile with the past. And it would also avoid some similar strategies in the future as well. And this is very important because today many leaders across the world are persecuting their own people to remain in power. So for example, the Rohingyas are persecuted in Myanmar to remain in power, and the sufferings of Yazidis in Iraq and the persecution of Uyghur Muslims in China, etc. So these are the two justifications that the author gives. One, to strengthen the relationship between countries and thereby it will also pave way for compensation for the survivors. And secondly, it will help the survivors reconcile with the past and it will avoid similar tragedies in the future. So these are the two supporting points that the author cites in favor of the countries apologizing for their past deeds. And apart from that, another argument that supports the countries apologizing for their past actions is that the effects of their past actions are reflected in the present. So making it mandatory for them to apologize for their past and thereby laying down the foundation for setting the past actions for correcting the injustice caused due to the past actions. So these are the three potential arguments in favor of a country apologizing for their past actions. So remember this, with this in mind, let's move on to the next segment of today's discussion. Now our next news discussion is going to be based on this editorial article titled On the Margins with Full Equality Still Out of Reach. See this article presents us a comprehensive analysis on how the section minorities are still far away from their dream of equality. So in this regard, let us see some important points mentioned in the article. So the syllabus relevant for this topic is highlighted. So now moving on to the discussion. So we know our constitution framers have provided us with fundamental rights and the fundamental rights are extolled to be highly liberal, right? But in spite of having such a liberating constitution which recognizes the right of every individual, certain marginalized segments are still far away from enjoying its benefits. And one among them is the queer community which still remains as a stigmatized and a invisible minority. So as we all are aware in the post-colonial India, the constitution has become a space for individuals and the states to converse with each other. And as per the author, the little gains that was attained by the queer community so far was a result of the role played by the judiciary only. And to support his arguments, he gives example of the two major court judgments which came in the favor of queer community. And aspirants note that these two cases has to be courted but on any questions pertaining to the gender minority, all right? So remember that and pay attention. So first let us deal with the Navtej Singh Johar and others, this is Union of India case 2018. So this was very famous because it dealt with the section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Remember on Indian Penal Code that is IPC. So this dealt with the consensual homosexual behavior between the adults. So in its judgment, the Supreme Court held that the section to be unconstitutional that is it held section 377 as unconstitutional. Apart from that it also held it is irrational, indefensible and manifestly arbitrary. And this served as a remarkable step for an Indian individual in his or her quest for identity and dignity. And in fact, this judgment served as a bedrock on which the rights of the LGBTQ plus community thrived. And another important judgment you will have to remember is the NAS Foundation which is Government of NCT of Delhi 2009 judgment. You will also have to quote this case in your answers. So this case NAS Foundation case came much before the previous judgment. And in this case, the court held that the section 377 leads to the creation of an unreasonable classification and that it targets the homosexuals as a class. So this was the judgment that first identified the draconian nature of the section 377. Therefore, the section 377 was found often the guarantee of equality that is enshrined under article 14 of our constitution. And here it should be noted that despite having such judgments in favor of the community, they are still far away from attaining full equality. So especially in matters of employment, health and personal relationships. Now moving on to the next part of our discussion, the author brings in the discussion of same sex marriage which is yet to gain acceptance in India. And this is evident when the center had rigorously opposed any move to accord any legal sanction to the same sex marriages in India. And it further stated that the decriminalization of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code does not automatically translate into the right to marriage of the same sex couples. So to contradict the views of the union government, the author brings in the example of the judgment made by the US Supreme Court in Obergefell vices Hodges cases 2015. Please remember this case also. So this judgment asserted that the universal human rights of marriage should not be denied to the same sex couples. So they highlighted by according value to the emotional and the social aspects of the institution of the marriage. And note that as of 2021 same sex marriage is legally performed and recognized in about 29 countries is legally performed and recognized only in 29 countries which is a sad state of affair. Now coming to the last part of the discussion, so we know about article 15. So it is it pertains to equality. So what it does is it tries to secure the individuals and citizens from every sort of discrimination by the state. So author here says that these grounds of non-discrimination should also be expanded to include gender and sexual orientation in addition to the mentioned grounds in article 15. And to this he gives the example of South Africa and United Kingdom which are already contributed in this regard. See remember South Africa and UK quoting these countries in your answers will also add value to your answer. Therefore as a way author suggests the need for the government to take initiatives to sensitize the general public and officials to reduce and eliminate the stigma associated with the LGBTQ community. So what can be done? This can be done through mass media channels and official channels. And further the schools and university students should also be sensitized about the diversity of sexuality. That is the schools and universities should make effort to break out of the gender binary notion that is existing in the society. So what is this gender binary notion? The general thought that there are only two genders either male or female. So there is a spectrum of genders in the existence and that is what the students need to be sensitized about. And there is also a need to break down the myth around heteronormativity. So what is heteronormativity? So heteronormativity means only heterosexuals are normal and that homosexuals are considered are normal. So that is what is called as heteronormativity and this myth needs to be broken down. And author concludes by insisting on the need for the Indian state to enact a law on these lines to do justice to the prisoners of sexual consigns. Since it is time for the change and the owners of the change reminds with us the civil society the citizenry and the LGBTQ community itself. So with this we have come to the end of this discussion. Keep this in mind. Now let us move on to the next part of the discussion. Now let us move on to this article regarding the small saving scheme. Know that the quarterly reset of interest rates on small saving scheme is due on June 30. That is every quarter of the year the interest rate changes and that is due on June 30. And if you remember the government had announced sharp cuts in the rates in the scheme such as public provident fund and national saving certificate before. But this was rolled back due to the assembly elections in several states and know that small saving schemes are set of saving instruments launched by the government of India. So they include instruments such as PPF, NSE, the senior citizen saving scheme, the Sukanya Samriti scheme and others. See the small saving schemes are popular with fixed income investors as they offer much higher interest rates than the bank fixed deposits. As we know a cut in small savings rate would be unpopular and the lowering of the interest rates will help the government reduce costs also. But it will hurt the investors particularly the senior citizens and the middle class. So with banks to reducing rates on fixed deposits income avenues have shrunk for small investors and apart from these lowering interest would worsen the lives of common people who already suffer from inflation. And the article says that retail inflation was around 6.2% in 2020-2021 and inflation is expected to stay around 5.5% to 6% which is on the higher through the year 2021 and 2022. So a rising inflation and a declining savings rate and a loss of income all these together could be disastrous and that is why such a move should be discouraged. And not just that the fall in small savings rate may discourage the small investors from investing in future also. So this won't be good for the government as the small savings have emerged as the key source of funding for the government deficits also. For example in 2021 and 2022 if you see the borrowings through small savings have been pegged at 3.91 lakh crore. See when you say borrowings through small savings it is nothing but when the investors when the small investors put their money inside with the government the government has liability to pay it back so that is considered as a borrowing from the small investors and that apparently was pegged at 3.91 lakh crore in 2021 and 2022. Now coming to the small savings schemes the public provident fund reminds as the most sought after in the investment option and it was introduced in India in 1968 itself so it was introduced with the objective to mobilize small savings in the form of investment coupled with a return on it. So what is the return the government will pay certain amount of interest for the amount you keep with the government all right and know that PPF offers tax benefit also which means the interest earned on the public provident fund is tax free and if you consider bank deposits the interest earned from them is taxable remember that and see the tenure of the account is for 15 years and can be extended for a block of about five years and a subscriber can make one withdrawal during the financial year after five years excluding the year of accounting year of account opening and also the amount of withdrawal can be taken up to 50 percentage of the balance at the credit at the end of the fourth preceding year or at the end of the preceding year whichever is lower so in this discussion we saw about this news article and the government's move to cut the interest rate and the criticism following it and we also saw about the public provident fund see this is an important topic that you'll have to remember these saving schemes can also be a popular UPSC segment for the preliminary point of view so with that information in mind let's move on to the next segment of our discussion now take up this news article this news article is regarding the state preparedness to manage the possible third wave of COVID-19 and this discussion provides a real-time analysis of data alongside few suggestions and strategies for an effective management so we are provided with the syllabus that is relevant to this topic so before we deal with the strategies and suggestions let us begin with the discussion by learning the delhi administration's policy responses during the first and the second wave of COVID pandemic and this will throw light on the seriousness of the issue see the first wave of the pandemic subsided in delhi and the need for hospitalization of the COVID-19 patients fell drastically so this happened during the month of jan 2021 so because the cases were down delhi administration was using only 20 percentage of the bed capacity for COVID-19 patients because in during the first wave it had ramped up the capacity and only 20 percentage of them were using the facilities in january 2021 then in the month of february delhi government reduced the bed capacity to the level of just about 5000 because the rest of the things are vacant so why to waste money that was their rationale although this decision had temporary success the health system collapsed by the month of march itself because the number of cases started increasing and the second wave started hitting the capital and as a result the bed occupancy went from 33 percentage to over 90 percentage in the first three weeks of april and government also responded rapidly but it could not keep up pace with the rise in the COVID cases but after an 18 day period that was during the month of may 2021 the utilization of the hospital beds also came down when the peak was hit and it started when the cases started descending so it was rapidly back to 30 percentage due to decrease in the COVID-19 cases but we have to know that at that point of time many other areas in the country were experiencing a rise in the case see this experience has two takeaways first COVID-19 wave requires the health infrastructure to be elastic that is it should be able to expand whenever it is needed and it should be able to contract whenever it is not in need so simply put the policy responses should be based on the needs now second the demand for COVID-19 specific health infrastructure is spatially varied so as we discussed before when delhi witnessed a decrease in the cases the other parts of the country experienced a rise also we know that the second wave hit the southern states at different occasions compared to the northern states hence the health capacity at a fixed location will not be sufficient and in addition to this scenario it is highlighted to convey the difficulty that several administrations in the country face and also this clearly demonstrates the fact that it is extremely hard to increase the capacity in response to the kind of surge that we saw in April 2021 and we are all well aware that the key health infrastructures don't exist in all areas in our country hence there is a lot of challenges that need to be addressed to prepare ourselves before the third wave sets in and alongside the delhi scenario the real-time analysis of data provides further information see when we look at the data it provides evidence that many of the districts that were hit by the first wave affected in the second wave to a greater extent see there were 145 districts that accounted for 75 percentage of the cases during the first wave and strikingly the same districts accounted for up to 80 percentage of the cases during the second wave so this group of districts are called as permanently at risk and know that the characteristics of these districts in terms of population size density and mobility make them prone to rapid spread thus permanently at risk districts need reserves capacity and resources to be expanded to prevent any risk associated with a possible third wave of COVID-19 hence actions to track and detect potential surges and early stage should be taken for these specific districts so keeping this in mind the author gives suggestions to address these challenges let us discuss it one by one so the first one is related to mobility framework that is the capacity to move a health care facilities from one area to another so there are two key aspects to moving infrastructure firstly identifying what resources can be moved based on mobility costs and supply elasticity so to make it more clear consider beds and concentrators see the cost of moving it is very less and supply of it has no issues but if you want to move an entire ICU unit to a different locality it needs a large number of equipment and a lot of cost as well and also the availability of equipment is another issue and in addition to it the article suggests policy innovations in three areas firstly it is in the field of personnel management so inducting trained final year medicine and nursing students as health care workers is recommended and rehiring of retired medical personnel is also effective way to address the lack of manpower so with vaccines in hand this can be a potential option and another strategy is to use paramedical workers to monitor patients provide oxygen and assist in telemedicine and secondly resources with high mobility costs need to be evenly distributed in order to ensure equity in access in poorly areas keep that in mind and thirdly it is about spatial equity so it can be done in two ways let us understand it one by expanding the health infrastructure covering all regions of the country which brings resources to the patient if not the other way is by providing accessibility through enhanced regional and area connectivity this brings patients to the resources and this ultimately leads to the sharing of resources within the country to reduce inaccessibility and inequity and in addition to this the article highlights that efficiency of resource sharing increases with the area coverage see when states or districts know that the benefits of resources sharing is going to be larger they would automatically coordinate and build trust among themselves so this ensures efficiency in policy actions but greater institutional coordination for a long run is necessary so bodies such as national disaster management authority nithya yo could play a vital role to bring these players in one platform and finally the article concludes by saying that meeting the success of waves requires enabling governance structures so with that information we are concluding the discussion on this particular editorial this is a very informative editorial not just about the COVID-19 and the third wave but this information can also be used know about the health infrastructure in our country and how this health infrastructure can be shared among the people so with that in mind let's move on to the next segment of our discussion now let us take up this news article this talks about a minor rape victim so what happened is a local court handed over a minor rape victim to her local guardian but the local guardian is a relative of the accused and the court is criticized for that and the court was also accused for its refusal to let a member of the local child care institute in while hearing the girl who is possible victim of child trafficking from Nepal as well so in this light let us see some important points from the statute poxo or the protection of children from sexual offenses act 2012 see this act has been enacted to protect the children from offenses of sexual assault sexual harassment and pornography and it also provides for the establishment of special courts for trial of such offenses and the related matters of the incident and note that the act is gender neutral so this is not just for the female children this act is gender neutral and it aims to ensure the healthy physical emotional intellectual and social development of the child or any person below the age of 18 and know that the act defines different forms of sexual abuse also so it recognizes penetrative and non-penetrative assault and it also recognizes sexual harassment and pornography as we saw earlier and the act further deems sexual assault to be aggravated under certain circumstances such as when the abused child is mentally ill or when the abuse is committed by a person in a position of trust or authority and now coming to the punishments under this act penetrative sexual assault on a child can lead to an imprisonment for not less than 10 years and may extend even up to the life imprisonment and fine and as you can see in the clipping whoever commits a penetrative sexual assault on a child with 16 years of age shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 20 years and may extend to the life imprisonment and or the imprisonment of the reminder of the natural life of that person fine is also a part of this statute and similarly the use of child for pornographic purposes can lead to imprisonment for not less than five years and it also includes fine component and if you take the case of subsequent conviction of the same person the imprisonment can be up to seven years along with fine for the same offense and see in order to prevent the misuse of the law the punishment has also been provided for making false complaints or proving false information with malaysia's intent and usually such punishment has been kept relatively light like six months or so to encourage the reporting but in case the complaint is made against a child the punishment is higher up to one year and note that the act provides for the establishment of a special codes for the trial of the offenses under the act and it incorporates child friendly procedures for reporting recording of evidence investigation and trial of offense for instance the statement of the child can be recorded at the residence of the child or at the place of his or her choice and this recording of the statement shall be preferably by a woman police officer not below the rank of sub inspector and likewise the police officer should not be in uniform while recording the statement of the child so these are some of the important points about the Poxo act so with these details in memory let's move on to the next segment now look at this news article from the Trivandrum edition so this talks about the achievement of the Pradhan Mantri Avasyogana so the only takeaway that we'll have from the UPSC point of view is about Pradhan Mantri Avasyogana we had already discussed this on our 30th march class regarding the scheme so I request you to go through that for better understanding so with that let's move on to the next segment that is practice preliminary question so we have three questions for discussion today let's go over it one by one so this first question is our three statement question and it is about international atomic energy agency see the first statement says the international atomic energy agency is an international organization that seeks to ban the use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purposes including nuclear weapons see this statement is incorrect because it does not try to ban the use of nuclear energy but it tries to regularize the use of nuclear energy so statement one is wrong so we are eliminating statement one we are now left with option b and option d so international an atomic energy agency was established through a united nation statute and in the discussion we also saw that it is not established through a un statute but it has its own statute called the international atomic energy agency statute but however it is closely associated with the united nation how it reports to the united nation general assembly as well as the united nation security council so statement two is also wrong so the correct answer why elimination is option b now let us also go to the third statement international atomic energy agency reports to both the united nation general assembly and security council yes we just saw that so the correct answer is option b moving on to the next question so consider the following statement regarding the public provident fund so it is a two statement question and the question asks us to identify the correct statement so first statement is this it was introduced for the first time in the budget of 2021 2022 with an objective to mobilize small savings in the form of investment see statement one is incorrect because it's a very old scheme the public providence fund scheme and it was introduced way back in 1968 so that makes the statement incorrect now considering the second statement the interest earned on the public provident fund is tax free and we saw this in the discussion as well we have the tax benefit here and it is tax free the statement two is correct and the correct answer is option b now moving on to the third question so it's a three statement question and we are asked to identify the correct statement so the first statement is this the ministry of women and child development champion the introduction of the protection of the children from sexual offenses act 2012 so we know statement one is correct and we saw this in the discussion as well coming to the second statement the act has been enacted to protect only the female children from offenses of sexual assault sexual harassment and pornography is it true no because we saw in the discussion that this piece of statute is gender neutral and covers everyone below the age of 18 so statement two is incorrect and coming to statement three the act provides for the establishment of special codes for trial of offenses under the act by keeping the best interest of the child as of paramount importance at every stage of the judicial process so this is a correct statement and with that we arrive at option c as the right answer so here are some of the mains questions inspired from our discussion today write the answers and posted in the comment sections for the peer review see writing few mains answers is very very important for your mains preparation so with that let's wrap up our discussion today if you like the video like share comment and subscribe stay home stay safe good day