 Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis session by Shankar IAS Academy dated 17th July 2021. The list of news articles for today's discussion is given for your reference along with the page numbers in various editions of the newspaper. Now let us move to the news articles discussion. The first topic for today's discussion is Ministry clears rules for vintage cars. This article says that the union government amended central motor vehicles rules 1989 to incorporate the special provisions for registration of vintage motor vehicles. With this for the first time India will have rules to register vintage cars. The syllabus covered under the news discussion is given for your reference. See for the first time India is to have rules to register vintage cars. So from now on all the two and four wheelers which have not undergone any substantial overhaul will be defined as vintage motor vehicles 50 years after the date of first registration. Now classical vintage vehicles imported into India would have an identifier VA in the registration number but vintage vehicles would neither be permitted on the road for regular purpose nor would they be used for commercial purposes. Also they would be allowed only during exhibitions. Such vehicles would be exempted from the provisions of high security registration plate recently made mandatory by the government. Now let us discuss in detail about the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and the recent amendments made to it. The syllabus covered under this news articles discussion is given for your reference. See the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 is the principal act for regulating all the activities related to motor vehicles in the country. It has been amended several times in 1994 2000 2001 2015 etc. This was done to adapt it to the technological upgradation emerging in road transport passenger freight movement and in motor vehicles management. This act was amended for the first time in a comprehensive way after 30 years by the Motor Vehicles Amendment Act of the year 2019. This act brought reforms in the areas of road safety, broad citizen facilitation, transparency and also reduced corruption. This was done with the help of information technology and by removing the intermediaries. Know that the amendment act aims to strengthen public transport, safeguard and protect good citizens and reform the insurance and compensation regime. It allows innovations and new technologies such as driver's vehicles to be tested in live environment and increase efficiency in research. Most importantly, the act facilitates deviant or differently able people. It also allows motor vehicles to be converted to adapted vehicle with post facto approval. In addition to it, it also facilitates license to drive adapted vehicles. Apart from these, the provisions of compensation and post accident treatment have also been amended. Now let us see the road safety provisions and penalties. First of all, it facilitates electronic monitoring of vehicles for enforcing traffic rules. In addition to it, it also provides for a refresher training course to obtain the driver's license after its suspension or revocation for certain offenses. Then penalties have been introduced for new offenses and enhanced for existing offenses. For example, for offenses committed by juveniles, there is a penalty of rupees 25,000 and imprisonment up to three years for the owner or guardian. The amendment has also constituted a national road safety board to render advice on road safety and traffic management. The amendment also focuses on digital intermediaries and aggregators such as Ola and Uber. The term aggregator has been defined as a digital intermediaries or market base for a passenger to connect with a driver for the purpose of transportation. As a result, Ola and Uber can be penalized for offenses such as breach of data privacy under the IT Act. Hence, the emphasis is laid on preventing the misuse of personal data of consumers such as the date of birth, debit card details, phone number shared with Ola and Uber, the UPI number in order to use their services. Now let us see the provisions regarding citizen facilitation, transparency and reduction in corruption. See, all forms, fees and documents under the Act can now be submitted online to avoid human intervention. It also provides for dealer point registration for the purpose of registering new motor vehicles. Thus, the responsibility to apply for registration has been shifted to dealers and the requirement to produce vehicle before authority has been removed. With this we have come to the end of this topic discussion. Keeping this in mind, now let us move to the next news article discussion. Moving to the second news article, China starts long awaited carbon trading scheme. See this article from the business column talks about the national carbon trading scheme that is introduced by China. See, China aims to achieve carbon neutrality by the year 2060 and on that line this national carbon trading scheme is viewed to be a key tool in its pursuit to drive down greenhouse gases and go carbon neutral. So in this context, let us see about carbon trading and the China's national carbon emission trading scheme. The syllabus covered by this news article discussion is given for your reference. See, carbon trade refers to the process of buying and selling of credits that permit a company or other entity to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. Usually, the carbon credits and the carbon trade are authorized by the governments with the goal of gradually reducing the overall carbon emissions in the country. Alongside that, the countries also take steps to mitigate the carbon contribution to climate change. Remember, the carbon trade originated with the Kyoto Protocol. Now coming to the working of this carbon trade, see, each nation is awarded a certain number of permits to emit carbon dioxide up to a certain level. If in case it does not use up all of its permit, then they can sell the unused permits to another country that wants to emit more carbon dioxide than its permitted level. And every year, a slightly smaller number of new permits is awarded to each nation. Note that the basic idea behind this is to incentivize each nation to cut back on its carbon emissions in order to have the leftover permits to sell. Remember that in this carbon trade itself, there is a variation called cap and trade system. In this case, the trade while authorized and regulated by the government will be conducted between companies. Similar to carbon trade, each company is given a maximum carbon pollution allowance and unused allowance can be sold to other companies. The idea behind this is to ensure that companies in the aggregate do not exceed a baseline level of pollution. And note that this baseline will be reduced annually. Now moving on to China, know that it is the world's top greenhouse gas emitter. And this emission trading scheme is a part of China's plans to use market mechanisms to help bring emissions to a peak before 2030 and also to net zero by the year 2060. Note that China has already tried to put a price on carbon by setting up a pilot carbon emission exchanges in Beijing, Shanghai and in many regions of the country. Know that in its first phase, the Chinese carbon trading market will cover nearly 2225 power plants. The power sector is prioritized since it contributes more than a third of its total carbon emissions. And the thermal fired power plants including the coal and gas accounts for more than 60% of China's total power capacity. Remember the allocation of permits is based on carbon intensity or the amount of emissions per unit of power generation rather than absolute levels. And according to experts, this measure from China could reduce its effectiveness. As per sources, China aims to expand the emission trading system to cover eight high emission industries through the time scale. Though as per sources, China aims to expand the emission trading system to cover eight high emission industries, though the time scale is not yet known. And note that the financial institutions or individual investors will not be allowed to participate in trading in the early stage of national emission trading system. But the institutional investors will be included once the trading mechanisms matures. So these are some important points that we need to know from this article. In this discussion, we saw about the carbon emissions, carbon emission trading and some important features of national carbon trading scheme of China. With these points in mind, let's move on to the next news article discussion. Moving to the next news article, trainer aircraft crashes in Jalgon, one dead. Recently, a pilot was killed after a training aircraft crashed in Sherpur, Maharashtra. This information was given by the Director General of Civil Aviation. So in this context, let us discuss in brief about the Director General of Civil Aviation. See, the Office of Directorate General of Civil Aviation operates under the administrative control of Ministry of Civil Aviation. Know that the office is the principal regulatory authority in the field of civil aviation. It is headed by the Director General of Civil Aviation. Note that the Directorate has its headquarters in New Delhi. Now, let us see some of the important functions of DGCA. See, DGCA is responsible for regulation of air transport services to and from India and within India. Also, it is responsible for formulation and enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and worthiness standards. In addition, it provides for the registration of civil aircrafts. The other important functions are like granting certificates of air worthiness to civil aircrafts. It is the DGCA that provides licenses to pilots and to aircraft maintenance engineers. In addition to it, DGCA processes amendments to Aircraft Act 1934 and the Aircraft Rules 1937 with a view to implement the provisions of the Chicago Convention. See, the Convention on International Civil Aviation was signed at Chicago on December 1944. Therefore, this convention is called the Chicago Convention which entered into force on 4th April of the year 1947. Based on the provisions of the convention, the International Civil Aviation Organization came into being on April 1947. Later, in October 1947, it became a specialized agency of United Nations linked to the Economic and Social Council. Know that the DGCA coordinates all regulatory functions with the International Civil Aviation Organization. Another function of DGCA is investigating air accidents and incidents and giving technical advice to courts or committees of inquiry. These are some of the important functions of DGCA. With this, we have come to the end of this topic discussion. Let us move to the next news article discussion. Moving to the fourth topic for today's discussion, India needs a renewed health care system. Now take a look at this editorial. This is a comprehensive coverage on what is wrong with our health system and where should the new health minister focus his new policy on. Let us look at it in detail. The syllabus covered under this news article discussion is given for your reference. See, recently, the Nithya Yoke has published the document investment opportunities in India's health care sector. This document promotes further privatization of health care in our country. The report unfortunately explores the pandemic as a business opportunity for the health care industry to grow. So in response, the author has highlighted the importance of public health and then enhanced government's role in the health delivery services. Also, the author opens the discussion by emphasizing the importance of public health infrastructure. To that effect, he has covered two state models in the COVID context. One is Kerala and another is Maharashtra. If you see, both are big states with comparable state gross domestic products. Yet in Kerala, the COVID mortality is 0.48% whereas in Maharashtra, it is over 2%. Understand the magnitude. Maharashtra's death rate is four times that of Kerala's approximately. So what went wrong in Maharashtra and what went in Kerala's favor? It is likely to be the huge differences in the effectiveness of public health system. See, in Kerala, it has a per capita two and a half times more government doctors compared to Maharashtra. And Kerala also has a higher proportion of government hospital bids when compared to Maharashtra. All this is possible because Kerala allocates over one and a half times higher funds on public health every year in per capita terms compared to Maharashtra. See, all this is despite Maharashtra having a large private healthcare sector. So if you see, weak public health system has proved to be a critical deficiency. It proved to be costly in terms of lives in the pandemic times. And note that the additional public spending in Kerala has translated into more effective outreach, timely testings, early case detection and more rational treatment for COVID patients and many more. All these together has reflected reduced fatality rates. So this has sent a clear message where a neglect of public health system means large scale avoidable losses of lives. Aspirants can quote this comparative model in a mains answer pertaining to public health. This is a good value addition. So with that the author proceeds to highlight the lacuna in the healthcare systems in our country. Let us look at it one by one. See the upcoming part of our discussion is also very vital for mains exam perspective. We will frame a question based on that in the end. So pay attention. Firstly, the author talks about resource allocation for that he takes a dig at the Central Vista project where nearly around 20,000 crores is being allocated for the Central Vista project. If that is utilized for setting up oxygen plants, numerous lives would have been saved. Besides, the author also notes that the national urban health mission is one of the pillars of healthcare system in India. More than 30 percentage of India depends on it, but the allocation has been decreasing progressively over years in real parameter. Last time the allocation was rupees 1000 crores, which amounts to just rupees 2 per individual per month. So through these, by highlighting these, author pushes for more allocations in public health sector as recommended by the parliamentary standing committee. See the committee has suggested that for reaching national health policy targets, the government must allocate rupees 1.6 lakh crore for public health during the current year. This is almost doubling of present central health budget, which could enable major strengthening of health services in rural and urban areas across the country. The second case that author is pushing is to regulate the private place in health sector. See as we know by now that COVID-19 care often costs around 1 lakh to 3 lakhs per week in large private hospitals. So the massive hospital bills have caused untold distress even among the middle class. Adding to it, he also highlights the unregulated drug use as well. If you recall the drug Remdesivir which was used in COVID-19 patients without any valid evidence on efficacy and the indiscriminate use of steroids even in diabetic patients culminated in mucormicosis infections which is a pandemic within a pandemic. All this turns the focus on regulating the private sector. But we have to know that for regulation it is not that government has done nothing. It has already enacted the Clinical Establishments Act in the year 2010 but it has two issues in putting it to action. One, only 11 states have implemented the Clinical Establishments Act 2010. Two, this act is not effectively implemented due to major delays in notification of central minimum standards and failures to develop the central framework for regulation of rates. So by this, the author highlights the need to regulate the private hospitals and to invest more in the public health. In other words, he emphasizes the need to establish health as a public good. So with this, we have come to the end of this topic discussion. Keeping this in mind, let us move to the next news articles discussion. Moving to the next news article, Overview Review. This editorial analyzes the need for existence of a draconian section of Indian Penal Code that deals with sedition. So today, let's discuss about this section, how it is misused, and the opinion of the author regarding its existence. The syllabus covered under the news articles discussion is given for your reference. Firstly, let us know what is sedition? See, sedition literally refers to the offense related to the conduct or speech that is inciting or encouraging people to rebel against the authority of state or government. This is punishable under the section 124A of IPC, which defines sedition. Surprisingly, this section was not present when IPC was enacted in the year 1860, but it was inserted to IPC after a decade in 1870. The intent of this section is to punish an act of exciting feelings of disaffection towards the government. But this disaffection was to be distinguished from disabrobation. Disabrobation means strong disapproval. The differentiation was necessary so that people were free to voice their feelings against the government as long as they projected a will to obey the government's lawful authority. Therefore, the definition of sedition under the section 124A is anything which brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt towards the government. Also, anything which excites or attempts to excite disaffection to the government is an act of sedition. Here, anything constitutes words which could have been spoken or written, including signs also visible representations like pictures and images. See, disaffection includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. The punishment for sedition is either imprisonment for life with or without fine or imprisonment which may extend to three years with or without fine. And as per the intention behind this section, it tries to leave out disabrobation from the definition of sedition. This is clear from the fact that the section also states what does not constitute sedition. This includes comments expressing disabrobation of the measures of government or administrative action. These are not to be considered as sedition. But in reality, this is not the case. Often, disabrobation is taken as a reason to charge someone with sedition because of which this topic is frequently news as someone is charged with sedition now and then. So, we also discuss it often. This time, it is under debate due to remarks of Chief Justice of India in open court. He has questioned why the section continues in the statute book by citing the low conviction rate under the section. This is one of the main issues with this provision where government arrests someone under the sedition but fails to convict them because it lacks evidence that the action or speech by that individual led to disaffection towards the government. Based on this, let us see some other issues with this section. First is its vague definition, especially the term disaffection. It is because there is a little line between what constitutes disaffection and what could constitute disabrobation. So, often a simple criticism of government is considered as bringing hatred towards the government rather than considering it as disabrobation. So, it directly leads to suppressing the voices of dissent. Secondly, the section hampers our fundamental right of freedom of speech. See, free speech is one of the most significant principles of democracy, first and foremost the human rights and the first condition of liberty. See, free speech is one of the most significant principles of democracy but there is always a question to what extent state can regulate individual contact as conduct forms the foundation of this freedom. But simply because of this, speech or expression like hate speech cannot be allowed stating that the individuals have freedom of speech. This is why constitution has also imposed a reasonable restriction on this freedom but such restrictions are tried to be justified on the grounds of harm. See, as per an interpretation of harm principle, until and unless a speech does not result into some sort of harm, the same cannot be suppressed. However, the standard on which or the hard stick on which this harm is to be measured has to be very high but that is not the case as often both provocative and harmless speeches or writings are kept on equal footing to charge someone with sedition. So, this is the second issue. Moving to the third issue, it is the previous judicial interpretation of this section that enables the sedition to continue. According to author, in the 1962, the K. Darnath Singh v. the state of Bihar case, the Supreme Court attempted an effort to narrow the interpretation of the provision. See, in this case, the constitution bench upheld the validity of section 124A and held that as long as the criticism or comment of a citizen does not incite people to violence, it would not constitute sedition. So, after this judgment, public disorder has been considered to be a necessary ingredient of section 124A of IPC by the courts. Author is of the opinion that this has lessened the severity of the section because of which restrictions on free speech by the section could not be declared unconstitutional. Fourthly, since the yardstick to measure the harm is not high, it is often misused by the police and the government missionary. This section is used to criminalize strident or hard political criticisms and accuse those who criticize as being anti-national. And according to the author in the recent times, sedition is misused for three political reasons. One, to suppress criticism and to suppress protest against particular policies of the government. Two, to criminalize the dissenting opinion of lawyers, activists and journalists. Three, is to settle the political scores. Finally, the author mentions this provision as a relic of colonial legacy which exists even after 75 years of independence. Along with the above discussion, we can also say that it is unsuited in a democratic political system. So, keeping all these in mind, the Supreme Court and the Chief Justice of India in particular has indicated their intention to consider this sedition provision. The exception is that new guidelines and safeguard might be drawn for ensuring this provision but the expectation is that the new guidelines and the safeguards might be drawn for ensuring this provision to be used meticulously. But however, the author differs in these views and concludes that rather than bringing any new guidelines or safeguards, the provision should be stuck down altogether. This is all about the sedition and the viewpoints of the author mentioned in this editorial. Keeping this in mind, let us move to the next news article discussion. The next news article discussion is based on the topic Don't Seek Surrender of Those on Interim Bill. Supreme Court Tells States. See, this news article talks about the measures taken by the Supreme Court to decongest the prisons in order to safeguard prisoners and prison officials from the pandemic. As a measure, let us discuss the measures that were put forward by the Supreme Court one by one. See, as a first measure, the court ordered to release prisoners on interim bail and they were released based on the guidelines of the National Legal Services Authority. Another measure was ordering the police to limit arrests during the pandemic. This was in order to prevent overcrowding of jails. Another measure was directing magistrates to not order detention in cases involving punishments lesser than 7 years of imprisonment. Along with these measures, the Supreme Court also ordered to ensure proper medical facilities, immediate treatments and regular tests for both inmates and jail staffs. Now, news is that the Supreme Court has directed the states to not ask for surrender of prisoners released on interim bail. Here, note that the aim is to keep prisons less congested until the pandemic ends. Also, the Supreme Court ordered the National Ordered National Legal Services Authority and the state government to submit a detailed report on the criteria or norms considered for releasing prisoners on interim bail. So, in this context, let us know about National Legal Services Authority. See, the NALSA was constituted in the year 1995. It is a statutory body constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987. It aims to provide free legal services to the weaker sections of the society and to organize low-cadalates. Now, let us in brief discuss about low-cadalates before we proceed with the topic. See, low-cadalates is a forum where the disputes or cases pending in the court of law or at a pre-litigation stage are settled. The low-cadalates have been given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987. And note that an award made by the low-cadalates is deemed to be a decree of civil court and is final and binding on all parties. In addition to it, no appeal lies before any court against the award made by the low-cadalates. Now, coming back to the topic, see, the NALSA provides free legal aid to the weaker section as a duty of a state under the Directive Principles of State Policy. See, we are aware that as per the Article 39a, it is the duty of the state to ensure that the opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen due to their economic or other disabilities. Thus, the state shall ensure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity and, in particular, the state shall provide free legal aid to the poor. This has to be done by framing a suitable legislation or schemes or other ways. In addition to it, the Article 14 and Article 22, subclass 1 also makes it obligatory for the state to ensure equality before law and legal system which promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity to all. In this regard, the legal aid provided by the NALSA strives to ensure that the constitutional pledge is fulfilled in its letter and spirit. Therefore, the Legal Services Authorities Act was enacted to give a statutory base to the legal aid programs throughout the country on a uniform pattern. See, under this Act, that is the Legal Services Authority Act, NALSA was constituted to be an apex body for laying down policies and principles for making legal services available under the Act. It is also interested to frame most effective and economical schemes for legal services. In addition to it, it also disperses funds and grants to state legal services authorities and NGOs for implementing legal aid scheme and programs. Importantly, note that the Chief Justice of India is the Patron and Chief for the National Legal Service Authority. In addition to it, let us discuss few other important points about NALSA. See, the NALSA is a central authority. Also, we have state legal services authority in every state and district legal services authority in every district in the country. Alongside that, we have a Taluk Legal Services Committee constituted for each of the Taluk or Mandal or group of Taluk or Mandals. Note that these are constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to give legal services to the people and to conduct low-cadalates. The State Legal Service Authority is headed by the Chief Justice of State High Court, whereas the District Judge of the District is the Ex-officio Chairman of District Legal Services Authority. And if you take the Taluk Legal Services Committee, it is headed by a senior civil judge. And the main functions of the LSA is given for your reference. The aspirants can have a glance of it. It is much similar to what the National Legal Services Authority does, but their level of influence alone differs, where NALSA is a central authority, whereas the State LSA is a state authority. That is all about the National Legal Services Authority and the other authority is constituted in the state level, district level and Taluk level. With this, we have come to the end of this topic discussion. Now, let us move to the next news article's discussion. The next news article for today's discussion, Farmers Front Issues Whip to MPs. See, this news article says that the Samyukth Kisan Mocha, which is a farmer's friend, has issued a voter's whip to all opposition members of parliament. Through the symbolic protest, they urged the MPs to raise the concerns of protesting farmers in the upcoming monsoon session. In this context, let us discuss in detail about whip in Indian politics, its history, relevance and other important points. See, in a parliamentary form of government, the whips draw from various political parties or vital links in the internal organization of parties. This is especially true when in a parliamentary form of government, the whips drawn from various political parties are vital links in the internal organization of parties inside the legislature. The expression whips is derived from the term whipper in which was originally used in the parliament for a member who discharged a duty for his or her party. See, the efficient and smooth working of the parliamentary mission depends to a very large extent upon the office of whip. The whips are responsible for carrying on efficiently and smoothly the organization of the parties inside the legislature. Also note that the whips have to keep a vigilant eye on the proceedings of the House and have to be ready to meet any emergency in the House. By other means, a whip in the parliamentary term is an order that party members be present for an important vote when they have to vote only in a particular way. In India, all parties can issue a whip to their members. Usually, parties appoint a senior member from among their House contingents to issue whips. This member is called a chief whip, where he or she is assisted by additional whips. Now, let us see the kind of whips. The importance of a whip can be inferred from a number of times and order is underlined. A one-line whip underlines once is usually issued to inform party members of a vote. It allows them to abstain in case they decide not to follow the party line. Whereas a two-line whip directs the members of the party to be present in the legislature during the vote. A three-line whip is the strongest employed on important occasions such as the second reading of the bill or at a time of no confidence motion. The third-line whip places an obligation on members to obey the party line. So, what happens if a party defies the whip? See, a penalty for defying a whip varies from country to country. In the United Kingdom, the members of parliament can lose membership of the party but can keep their House seats as independent. Whereas in India, a lawmaker rebelling against a three-line whip can put a lawmaker's membership of the House at risk. As we know, anti-defection laws allows the speaker or chairman to disqualify such a member. In the recent past, the issuance of whips became widespread. They are used to force attendance of members in the House and follow party lines. Since the whip's direction itself was not liable to be reviewed, the direction only got more ambiguous. So, in this discussion, we saw about the functions of the whip and about the importance of the whip that can be inferred from the number of times an order is underlined. So, with this, we have come to the end of this topic discussion. Let us move to the next news article discussion. Now, let us take up this article. No work on Meghadathu, Sands, Cauvery Water Management Authority nod. As we know, earlier this month, the Karnataka Chief Minister unilaterally announced about their plans to go forward with a long-pending Meghadathu project in spite of concerns raised by the state of Thavanadu. And today, this news article reports about the center's assurance in this matter wherein it stated that Karnataka will not be allowed to carry out any construction on Meghadathu Dam project. In addition to it, the central government has assured that no construction on the Meghadathu Dam project on Cauvery River water will be allowed until its detailed project report is approved by the Cauvery Water Management Authority. So, in this light, we are going to learn some important facts about this Cauvery Water Management Authority. See, Section 6A of the Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956 gives the center the power to establish any authority for the implementation of decision or directions of the tribunal. On that line, acting on the Supreme Court's direction, the center constituted the Cauvery Water Management Authority to address the disputes over sharing of Cauvery River water among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. Note that the authority deals with the issue of water sharing in different circumstances like normal and deficient water use in the Cauvery River basin. Some of the functions of this authority are to exercise and discharge its power for securing complaints and implementation of the Supreme Court order. This is in relation to the matters of storage, apportionment, regulation and control of Cauvery water. If in case any government of the party states fail to cooperate in implementing the directions of the tribunal, then authority will seek the help of central government. And with the assistance of the regulation committee, the Cauvery Water Management Authority will supervise the operations of reservoir and regulation of water releases. See, the authority will also look at the regulated release of water by Karnataka at the interstate contact point and discharge station. Apart from these, the authority also determines the total residual storage in the specified reservoir at the beginning of the water year that is on 1st June. And it is also tasked to advise the state to take suitable measures to improve water use efficiency. Now, coming to its composition, the authority comprises of chairman and eight members besides a secretary. And these eight members include two whole time members, two part time members and four other part time members from the party states. Know that the chairman of the authority is appointed by the central government and he or she will have a tenure of five years or will serve till the age of 65, whichever is earlier. Usually the chairman of the committee will be a senior and eminent engineer with wide experience in water resource management, handling of interstate water sharing issues, construction, operation and maintenance of irrigation projects, etc. Also, the chairman of the committee will be an all India service officer in the rank of secretary or additional secretary to the government of India with experience in water resource and interstate water sharing issues. So, in this article, we saw about the origin, functions and composition of Cauvery Water Management Authority. So, with this, let's move on to the next part of the news articles discussion. Now, coming to the last article for today's discussion, time to be brave stretch fiscal deficit goals if need be says Kamath. Now, look at this article. Here, Mr. Kamath is nudging the government to borrow more if the need be to revive the economy rather than shying away from higher fiscal deficits. First, let us understand what is a fiscal deficit in that context. See, any deficit is the condition when you are spending is greater than the money you earn. So, fiscal deficit means the total expenditure minus the total receipts except the borrowings and other liabilities. Simply put, fiscal deficit means the deficit that arises when the government's expenditure exceeds its revenue. But note that here, we must exclude the money generated as revenue from borrowings and other liabilities. We can also call it as the total expenditure minus the total receipts except the debt capital receipts because the borrowings and other liabilities are a part of this debt capital receipts. Or you can also tell in one more way, the fiscal deficit value is nothing but the government's borrowing and other liabilities. As we understand fiscal deficit means that the country is in debt. So, in order to infuse fiscal discipline, the fiscal responsibility and budget management act of 2003 was enacted. Accordingly, this act has set 3% of fiscal deficit as a target and as per the requirement of the act, center needs to limit fiscal deficit to 3% age of country's GDP. Along with this provision, the target date fixed was March 31, 2021. While the government's debt should be restricted, at the same time, the act also makes sure that the government's debt should be restricted to 40% age of GDP by the year 2024 to 2025. See, we have this leeway of 3% because not all fiscal deficit is bad. Note that certain level of fiscal deficit can also be good for the economy. This happens when the money borrowed is spent on the creation of productive assets like infrastructure that boosts economic growth and result in job creation or simply put, debts are good for economy if it leads to capital creation. See, despite the target, given the unprecedented situation and all, the government has targeted a fiscal deficit at 6.8% for the fiscal year 2020 in the budget. But the second wave had different story to tell. The tax collection has been muted so the government's treasury are running dry. In this context, Kamath suggests that the government shouldn't shy away from borrowing and that the fiscal deficit should not be a concern now. In addition, he says that the focus should be on liquidity enhancement that is putting more money with the people. That is all about the fiscal deficit. With this, we have come to the end of the news articles discussion. Now let us move to the prelims practice question session. Moving to the first question under prelims practice question discussion, question one, with reference to the fiscal deficit, consider the following statements. Statement one, fiscal deficit is always bad for an economy. Statement two, the fiscal responsibility budget management act strives to infuse fiscal discipline. Statement three, the FRBM act adopts a target based approach. Which of the statements given above is sir or correct? The options given are option A, one only, option B, one and two only, option C, two and three only, option D, three only. See from our discussion itself, we saw that fiscal deficit is not always bad for an economy. Even in the article discussion, we saw that fiscal discipline was emphasized and it suggested that government shall borrow money and infuse liquidity in the market and not shy away from fiscal deficit. Hence, a moderate deficit is desirable according to some economists. Hence, we can eliminate the first statement. Now we will be left with option C or option D. Coming to the second statement, it says the fiscal responsibility budget management act strives to infuse fiscal discipline. Yes, this statement is correct because central government through its fiscal targets, for example, limiting the fiscal deficit to 3 percentage of countries GDP by March 31 in the year 2021 is one kind of an effort to infuse fiscal discipline. Also, the third statement, which says FRBM act adopts a target based approach is also correct. Hence, the answer for this question is option C, two and three only. Moving to the second question, consider the following statements with reference to International Civil Aviation Organization. The statements given are statement one, it is a specialized agency of the United Nation. Statement two, all regulatory functions with the International Civil Aviation Organization in India is coordinated by the foreign secretary of Ministry of External Affairs under government of India, which of the above statement is or are correct. The options given are option A, one only, option B, two only, option C, both one and two, option D, neither one nor two. See, the first statement which says that the International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialized agency of United Nation is a correct statement. But if you see the second statement, it says all regulatory functions within the ICAO in India is coordinated by the foreign secretary of Ministry of External Affairs. This statement is wrong because all the regulatory functions with ICAO is coordinated by DGCI, that is the Directorate General of Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. So, the answer for this question is option A, one only. Moving to the third question, the doctrine of free legal aid in the Indian Constitution is enshrined in its option A, fundamental rights, option B, Directive Principles of State Policy, option C, fifth schedule, option D, preamble. See, this is a factual question. In our discussion also, we saw an article, we saw about Directive Principles of State Policy and especially regarding the article 39A, which mentions about the duty of the state to ensure that opportunity for securing justice are not denied to any citizen due to their economic or other disability. Hence, the correct answer for this question is option B, Directive Principles of State Policy. Along with this, let us see some important points relevant to this topic. See, the state shall secure that the operation of legal system promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity and in particular, the state shall provide free legal aid. This is what is ensured in the article 39A and in addition, this has to be done by framing a suitable legislation or schemes or other ways. At the same time, we have to know that fundamental rights under article 14 and article 22 subclass 1 makes it obligatory or mandatory for the states to ensure equality before law and a legal system which promotes justice on the basis of equal opportunity to all, but it did not specify free legal aid explicitly. Hence, the correct answer is option B, Directive Principles of State Policy. Question 4. In India, legal services authorities provide free legal services to which of the following types of citizen? Statement 1. Person with an annual income of less than rupee 1 lakh. Statement 2. Transgender with an annual income of less than 2 lakh. Statement 3. Member of other backward classes with an annual income of less than rupee 3 lakhs. Statement 4. All senior citizens. Select the correct answer using the code given below. Option A, 1 and 2 only. Option B, 3 and 4 only. Option C, 2 and 3 only. Option D, 1 and 4 only. See, in 2020 also we had a question based on legal services authorities legal aid which also includes NALSA. So, understand the importance of this topic. The question here is related to section 12 of Legal Services Authorities Act. See, the sections of the society enlisted under section 12 are entitled for free legal services. The list of the eligible persons for free legal services are women and children, two members of schedule cast and schedule tribes, three industrial workmen, four victims of mass disaster, violence, flood, earthquake, drought, industrial disaster, five mentally ill or disabled persons, six persons in custody including custody in a protective home or in juvenile home. Statement 7. Persons whose annual income does not exceed 1 lakh. 8. Victims of trafficking in human beings or beggar. These are the basic eligible persons but note that states also provide free legal services to senior citizens and transgenders. Senior citizens eligibility of free legal aid depends on rules framed by the respective state governments in this regard. For example, in Delhi if you take a senior citizens are eligible for free legal aid subjected to prescribed ceiling of annual income less than 2 lakhs. The same ceiling is for transgender persons also. In the question it is mentioned that all senior citizens are eligible under free legal services. This is incorrect. So, option B and D can be eliminated and we also saw that transgenders are provided free legal services but with a prescribed ceiling of annual income less than 2 lakhs. Hence, first statement and second statement is correct. The answer for this question is option A, 1 and 2 only. Moving to the last question under prelims practice question session. Question number 5. Consider the following statements with reference to Kaveri Water Management Authority. Statement 1. It addresses the disputes over the sharing of river water among Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Statement 2. It determines the total residual storage in the specified reservoir at the beginning of the water year. Statement 3. It functions under the Ministry of Water Resource River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Which of the statements given above is or are incorrect? Option A, 1 only. Option B, 2 and 3 only. Option C, 1 and 3 only. Option D, 1, 2 and 3. See, the first statement is incorrect because Kaveri Water Management Authority was constituted to address the dispute over sharing of Kaveri River water but in our discussion we saw that the dispute over sharing of Kaveri River water is among the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and a Union Territory, Puducheri and not Andhra Pradesh. As we saw earlier, one among the many functions of the Kaveri Water Management Authority is to determine the total residual storage in the specified reservoir. This is the correct statement. Statement 2 is correct. But if we take third statement, the Kaveri Water Management Authority was earlier under the Ministry of Water Resource River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. However, with the forming of Jalshakti Ministry to deal with the water related issues, the center has officially brought the Kaveri Water Management Authority under Jalshakti Ministry. So, this statement is also incorrect. Since the question asks for incorrect statement, the right answer for this question is option C, 1 and 3 only. So, with this way, I have come to the end of Prilim's practice question session. Moving to the main questions, these are few main questions that are given for your reference. The aspirants may write it and post it in the comment section for peer review. That's it for today's discussion. If you like the video, kindly press the like button. Also, comment, share and subscribe to Shankarayesh Academy for further updates. Thank you.