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The link for the handed in notes in the PDF format and the timestamping of the discussed articles are provided in the description box and also in the comment section. Now let's move on to the analysis of first news article. This open editorial article is about current political situation of Bilaris. The author tries to explain two important culminating points in Bilaris' policy based on recent developments. One is end to Bilaris in independence, then the other is an end to the current Bilaris' president's rule. So let's discuss these aspects today to understand the global policy surrounding this matter. So as we know, Bilaris is a European country known for its polity as the last remaining true dictatorship in the heart of Europe. This is because from 1994 till date, Bilaris is run by the same president, reportedly authoritarian and autocratic Alexander Lukashenko. In the recently held elections, which happened in August 2020, he has won 80% of the vote. However, because of allegations of vote rigging, the election results led to protests in the country and his main rival, Swetlana Tikhanovskaya, she refused to accept the results. The demonstrators want Lukashenko to resign, therefore, since August protests and democratic actions are going on, we have discussed in detail about the election, protests and the geographical and political aspects of Bilaris on our Hindu news analysis on 12 August 2020. Now the issue is the Bilarisian government is brutally suppressing the peaceful marches. This suppression has also led to deaths and injuries to the demonstrators. More than 600 people have been arrested in the recent unrest and already many opposition leaders of Lukashenko, they were subjected to abduction, they were forced to flee the country and some of them even forcibly deported from the country. One among them was Miss Tikhanovskaya. Now this is the ongoing situation of Bilaris. Now with respect to Lukashenko's rule, two entities have a major say. One is Russia and the other is the European Union. Now see, Bilaris was part of USSR, that is the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until the 1990s. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, Bilaris retained close ties to Russia. Russia is Bilaris' most dominant neighbour and this has led to saying Bilaris as the junior partner of Russia. This relation has now helped Lukashenko splendidly and one more reason is because Lukashenko was able to portray the present unrest in Bilaris as a test run for overthrowing Putin of Russia in the future and this has helped Lukashenko to gain the support of Putin that in a recent meeting Putin pledged $1.5 billion loan to Lukashenko. Putin also promised to conduct security and join military exercises every month for a period of one year because due to protests Mr Lukashenko asked for military assistance against the protesters to Russia. But as we can see this clearly shows that Putin's moves are in the self-interest because previously Russian parliament was reluctant to help the Bilarisian president as they feared that anti Lukashenko tide might turn against Russia, particularly against Putin. But now this stance has changed because of the seemingly weakening opposition. Some of the reasons are the crackdown, arrest and deportation of opposition leaders. The issue is Russian President Vladimir Putin has a vision of closely integrating Bilaris to Russia. This means Putin wants Bilaris to be under Russian influence or under Russian rule. Here you should note that already both countries have signed many treaties to integrate both of them. Some of the treaties include Treaty on the Union of Bilaris and the Russian Federation of 1997. This gave impetus or force to comprehensive integration of Bilaris and Russia. Then there is treaty on the establishment of the Union State 1999. This legislation is elaborate. This aims to establish a Union State that will mark a new stage in the process of unification of peoples of two countries Bilaris and Russia into a democratic state ruled by law. Now the agreement also calls for cooperation on foreign policy, defence, social and economic policies with the aim of setting up a unified parliament and a single currency in the future. After these treaties there was no development in this regard for many years because of significant differences between the two sides on various issues. And only in last year in the month of November that is in November 2019 both countries came up with 31 roadmaps for the vision of a Union State out of which 21 points or roadmaps were agreed. Now this means the moves of Putin that is the loan and military assistance to Bilaris are the steps in the direction of integration. But this threatens Lukashenko's assertion and ideology of Bilaris' national sovereignty. This means if Lukashenko wants Russia's support he has to agree to integration. If this happens Bilaris will lose its independence. But if Lukashenko wants to retain his affirmation to protect his country's sovereignty then Bilaris will remain independent yes but at the same time it could be an end to Lukashenko's rule as he might lose Russia's support and there could be another president in Bilaris. Now on the other hand if you take European Union Bilaris is not a member of European Union in fact it has not even asked for joining European Union. But if you see the neighbors of Bilaris say Poland, Latvia, Lithuania they are members of European Union. Also European Union supports demonstrators of Bilaris and it has voiced against the suppression of demonstrators by the Bilarisian government. Therefore European Union has asked authorities to stop disproportionate and unacceptable violence against the peaceful protesters and they have called to release the detained protesters. If this is not happening then European Union threaten to impose sanctions on the people who are responsible for the rigging of the ballot and also who are responsible for the suppression, repression and unacceptable actions on peaceful protesters. But the latest development which happened yesterday is that European Foreign Ministers failed to agree on sanctions against Bilaris because of lack of unanimity. The disagreement was mainly caused by Cyprus which is a member of European Union. It continued to block the sanctions on Bilaris. Now what makes Cyprus to disagree with putting sanctions on Bilaris? It is reported that one of the reasons is Cyprus has precondition. That is it asks European Union to impose sanctions on Turkey Fest so as to get its support to impose sanctions on Bilaris. We know that between Turkey and Cyprus there are lot of disputes, major being the disputed energy exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. However other European leaders they are determined to impose the sanctions because the situation has raised the question on the credibility of European Union towards democracy, towards human rights and the capacity of sanction Lukashenko. So European Union feels that its dignity is at stake. So if Lukashenko wants to have a friendly relation with the West that is with European countries and United States of America, it has to agree to the demand or ultimatum of European Union which will lead to retaining of independence of Bilaris. If he does not agree with the West will lead to retaining of Bilaris independence. Otherwise European Union might put pressure which may lead to overthrowing of Lukashenko. As a conclusion we can say Lukashenko has less number of options to choose from. One could lead to ending independence of Belarusian if he accepts the integration option of Russia else it might lead to end of his rule in Bilaris. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this OPED article. In this article we saw the ongoing situation in Bilaris and how two entities Russia and European Union is having a major say in the current development in Bilaris. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article mentions that IIT Madras researchers have developed a nano-coated magnesium alloy to repair bone fractures in rabbits. When we say alloy it refers to combination of metals. Now because of the success in rabbits researchers are exploring to use the same method to repair bones in other animals and also in human beings. Now this is considered as an important invention because large fractures they take longer time to heal and they need support. If you see at present titanium is being used as implant to support the healing of fracture. But there is a challenge titanium does not degrade and therefore it remains in the body permanently. It also leads to stress shielding because it has mechanical strength much more than that of the bone. When we say stress shielding it refers to reduction in bone density because of removal of typical stress from the bone by an implant. Now this leads to bone diseases such as osteoporosis which cause bones to become weak. In this regard let us know few information about magnesium. Generally it is one of the abundant alkaline earth metals in the earth's crust. With respect to human body it is the fourth abundant metal in the body. An adult body contains approximately 25 gram magnesium of which 50% to 60% are present in bones. It is an essential mineral for human nutrition. It is naturally present in many foods and it is also added to food products as a dietary supplement. They are also present in some medicines. So it has therapeutic uses as well. Magnesium is a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical reactions in the human body. When we say cofactor we are referring to the substance whose presence is essential for the activity of an enzyme. So magnesium helps in protein synthesis, muscle function, nerve function, blood glucose control and also in regulation of blood pressure. It is also required for the synthesis of DNA and RNA. It also contributes to the structural development of bone and it is also known to accelerate the healing of bones. Alloys of magnesium are being considered as a good option for orthopedic applications because magnesium is biocompatible, biodegradable and has other important mechanical properties closer to that of the bone. So magnesium degrades and it is reabsorbed by the body but this biocompatibility and biodegradability makes it difficult to use magnesium in bone repair because it degrades fast. So to slow down this degration and for matching it to the growth of the new bone, researchers coated it with a slowly degrading polymer. Now this is what is referred to as nano coated magnesium alloy in the article. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this article about nano coated magnesium alloy to repair bone fractures. Now let's move on to the next part of the discussion. This news article talks about financial action task force. We know that Pakistan is placed under jurisdiction under increased monitoring which is also called as GRAYLIST. FATF gave a 27 point action plan to Pakistan so as to curtail money laundering and to curtail terrorist financing. It was reported that the Pakistan's progress in implementing the action plan is not up to the mark and Pakistan is likely to stay in the GRAYLIST and very unlikely to be downgraded to blacklist in the upcoming FATF plenary meeting in October. In this context let us see few important information with reference to FATF in prilams perspective. FATF was established in 1989 by a group of 7 summit or G7 summit in Paris. Initially its purpose was to examine and to develop measures to combat money laundering. However in the year 2001 the mandate of FATF was expanded to incorporate efforts to combat terrorist financing in addition to money laundering. Then in the year 2012 it added efforts to counter the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as well. So it is a global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, an intergovernmental body which sets international standards to prevent illegal activities and the harm they cause to the society. FATF has developed FATF standards or FATF recommendations and these ensure a coordinated global response to prevent organized crime corruption and terrorism. And it also works to stop funding for weapons of mass destruction as well. FATF has 39 members. It comprises 37 countries and 2 regional organizations representing most major financial centers in the world. The regional organizations are European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council. In this regard one of the recently joined members was Saudi Arabia which is an FATF member since June 2019. I also know that FATF continuously strengthens its standards to address new risks. For example the regulation of virtual assets, cryptocurrencies. It also monitors countries to ensure that they implement FATF standards fully, effectively and holds countries to account which do not comply these standards. Plenary of FATF is very important as decisions related to blacklisting or greylisting or removing from greylisting, removing from blacklisting is taken at these plenary sessions. I know that FATF plenary year it begins in July and ends in June and in a plenary year FATF holds three plenary meetings. The plenary meetings usually take place in October, February and June of every year. And these plenary meetings are not open to the public. They are only open to delegations from FATF members, observer jurisdictions and observer organizations only. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article about FATF. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. This news article talks about the United Nations Seventy-Fifth Commemoration which recently took place. You know that the United Nations Charter was signed by representatives of 50 countries on June 26, 1945. And even officially came into existence on 24th October 1945, when the Charter had been ratified by China, France, Soviet Union, UK and US and also by a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24th October each year. In September 2020, as per the update on the work of the Office on the Commemoration of UN Seventy-Fifth Anniversary, a report titled as the future we want, the United Nations we need was published. In this context, let us discuss some key findings mentioned in this report. We will also see what do we mean by five eyes which is mentioned in this article and finally we will also see some important points affirmed in this UN Seventy-Fifth Declaration. The syllabus relevant for the analysis is highlighted here for your reference. This report was prepared after extensive global consultation, surveys and dialogues. People from all walks of life, they were asked about their hopes and fears for the future. What are their priorities for international cooperation and for the United Nations in particular? Firstly, the report states that the immediate priority of most respondents is improved access to basic services which are like healthcare, safe water and sanitation and education. The next two main priorities greater international solidarity and increased support to the places that are hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now this includes tackling poverty, tackling inequalities and also boosting employment. With respect to health, with respect to access to education and women's rights, most respondents were hopeful that these areas will improve in future. Now at the same time, many participants across all regions, they were worried about one aspect that is the future impact of climate change. We know that climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our world as of now and according to the report, the inability to stem the climate crisis and the destruction of natural environment is viewed as the most over the medium and long term concern. Now other major priorities for the future includes ensuring greater respect for human rights, settling conflicts, tackling poverty and reducing corruption. Now coming to the support to the international cooperation, 87% of participants in survey believed that international cooperation is vital to deal with today's challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic. Then there was called for United Nations to be more inclusive of the diversity of actors in the 21st century. There is a need for greater inclusion of civil society, women, youth, vulnerable groups, inclusion of cities and local authorities, businesses, international organizations, etc. Now in this regard, we should note that Indian Prime Minister in his message to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the signing of UN Charter and the adoption of commemorative declaration, Prime Minister stated that the declaration acknowledges the need for reform of the United Nations itself. We cannot fight today's challenges with outdated structures without comprehensive reforms the UN faces a crisis of confidence. Now we know that we have been pushing for a reform at the level of permanent members of UN Security Council. India deserves a position at the UN Security Council as a permanent member. The statement made by Prime Minister is significant as India will occupy an elected non-permanent two-year term on the UN Security Council from January 2021. Then with respect to this report, the participants in dialogues urged for United Nations to have strong leadership, more consistency, increased accountability, transparency and impartiality, then better engagement and communication with communities and also strengthening the implementation of programs and operations. So these are some of the important findings of this report. The news also states that some of the phrases used by Chinese President was objected by India and the Five Eyes Nations. So what do we mean when we say Five Eyes Nations? See it refers to UK-United States Agreement which is a multilateral agreement for Signal Intelligence Cooperation. The Five Eyes Network is an intelligence alliance between five countries which are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and the United States. You'll see the history behind this alliance. See in 1943, the United States and United Kingdom signed an agreement to continue sharing the intelligence inputs between them. That agreement was known as British-U.S. Communication Agreement, shortly called as BRUSA. This was later renamed as UK-U.S. Agreement. The purpose of the agreement was to streamline the intelligence sharing process between two nations sourced to handle global threats from the Soviet Union, China and other communist nations. The addition of Canada, Australia and New Zealand led to the Five Eyes Alliance. Now Canada became part of this group in the year 1948, while Australia and New Zealand became its part after eight years in the year 1956. Now if you come to the declaration on the commemoration of 75th anniversary of the United Nations, it affirms that it will leave no one behind. Then it will protect our planet. We will promote peace and prevent conflicts. Then it states we will abide by international law and we will ensure justice. And then we will place women and girls at the center. It aims to accelerate actions to achieve gender equality, women's participation, empowerment of women and girls in all domains. It says we will build trust by addressing the root causes of inequalities, addressing root causes of violence, human rights abuses, corruption, marginalization, discrimination, as these inequalities lead to mistrust between countries and also leads to people's mistrust in the institutions of governance. Then it states we will improve digital cooperation. It also states we will upgrade the United Nations. It states that we will instill new life in the discussions on reform of Security Council and will revitalize the General Assembly and will strengthen the Economic and Social Council. Then it states it will ensure sustainable financing, boost partnerships, listen to and work with youth. And also we will be prepared to tackle the future challenges, like the one we face in present, that is the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, we come to the end of analysis of this news article. This open editorial column talks about new bills that are introduced in parliament related to labor laws. Now we know that in the recent years, government has come up with four labor quotes so as to replace many labor laws in the country. And these are codon wages, codon industrial relations, labor codon occupational safety, health and working conditions, and then labor codon social security. Of which the codon wages was passed by the parliament last year. It has also received the assent of the president. According to section one three, it shall come into force on such date as the central government may by notification or point. So over the last few months, other than the codon wages, the Standing Committee on Labor presented its reports on the other three bills. It is these three bills that the government has replaced and introduced in Lokshaba in 2020. Now there are many changes in the 2020 bills compared to the bills that were introduced last year. Now let's see some of the significant differences between the bills that were introduced last year and the bills introduced last week. First, the bills introduced this year, they raise several For instance, if you take Factories Act, it defines any manufacturing unit as a factory if it employs 10 workers and uses electricity or if it employs 20 workers without using electric power. Now these thresholds are being raised to 20 and 40 workers. If you come to Industrial Disputes Act, it requires that any establishment employing over 100 workers to get or to seek government permission before any retrenchment or before any layer for reduction in employees. But the new bill has raised this threshold to 300 and the government is empowered to raise it further through notification. Now these changes have been debated for more than two decades but were not proposed in last year's bill. But 2020 bill includes the raise of this threshold. Then if you come to Industrial Employment Act, it requires that employers to formally define the conditions of employment under them if they have at least 100 workers. The 2020 bill has increased this threshold to 300 workers. So as you can observe and understand, the small factories or small firms are excluded from these regulations by raising the thresholds. So the safeguards such as protection from retrenchment or layoffs are not applicable to labor in such small firms or factories. Now then there is a second major difference is that the new bills provide the government with the power to exempt establishments from any or all provisions. If you take the Code on Industrial Relations, which is to govern the working conditions, trade unions, retrenchment and layoffs, et cetera, here the government may in public interest exempt any industrial establishment from the provisions of this Code on Industrial Relations. Similarly, with reference to the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, it specifies leave and maximum working hours requires health and safety norms, including adequate lighting and ventilation and welfare measures. This Code subsumes 13 legislations, including the Factories Act, but the 2020 bill allows the state government to exempt any new factory from its provisions in the interest of two things, increased economic activity and employment generation. As setting up of every new factory may lead to incremental employment, this provision gives wide discretion to the state government so as to exempt new factories from basic safety and welfare norms. Note that the Factories Act permitted such exception, but for a very limited period of three months, that too only during a public emergency. So these provisions give wide powers to center and state governments, so as to relax various rules and regulations, so as to boost economic activity. But if you see, such relaxations are not good for the labor. Thirdly, there are some changes related to contract labor. If you see the 2019 Bill on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, it was proposed to be applicable to the establishments that employed at least 20 contract workers and applicable to contractors applying at least 20 workers. Here also the thresholds have been raised to 50 workers for both establishments and to the contractors. The 2020 Code prohibits the employment of contract workers in any core activity and it specifically permits employment of contract workers in a specified list of non-core activities including canteen, security and sanitation services. Fourthly, the 2019 Bill on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, it allowed the government to prohibit employment of women in undertaking operations that could be dangerous to their health and safety. But as a welcome step, the 2020 Bill removes this power to prohibit employment. Instead, it allows the government to require employers to provide adequate safeguards for women. So instead of putting a ban on employing women, the new code provides for providing safeguards. And finally, if you see all the three bills of these codes both introduced in 2019 and 2020, they show a major shift in the approach from the earlier legislations. For example, many essential features of earlier laws are no longer specified in the codes, rather have been delegated to the government. For example, some of the delegated items include setting the thresholds for application of various social security schemes, then specifying safety standards and working conditions and also the power to increase the threshold for establishments that have to seek permission before retrenchment. So most of the delegated items affect crores of laborers in our country. An important question here is whether such features should be hard-coded into legislations, that is whether law themselves have to speak it very clear in written format or whether they should be delegated to the government. It is reported that Lokshapa has allocated three hours for these bills to be discussed and passed this week. The bills contain more than 400 clauses and 300 pages. So a question is raised whether is it possible for a member of parliament to understand these clauses in a short time and to effectively discuss these provisions and these are the provisions that are going to affect one of the largest labor forces of the world. So therefore, the bills need much scrutiny and should be discussed and deliberated in depth before they reach the president for his ascent. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this oped article that talked about the new bills that were introduced in parliament related to labor. We have come to the last session, the practice questions discussion session. See this question. Consider the following pairs, terms often seen in news in the affairs of power of Siberia, Isthmus of Kra, Drusba pipeline. Here, power of Siberia project is a unified gas transmission system. Now it involves development of 3000 kilometer long gas pipeline to transfer natural gas from eastern Russia to far east of Russia and China. It was in news last year because in December 2019 this pipeline became active. Our second pair Isthmus of Kra is correctly matched with Thailand. We discussed about Isthmus of Kra yesterday in the context of discussing demonstrations against the present head of the government in Thailand and also asking for reforms in monarchy. Third pair, Drusba pipeline is also correctly matched with Russia. See this pipeline is one of the biggest crude oil pipeline networks in the world. Total length, including all its branches is around 5500 kilometer. It begins in Almatyosk in the Russian Federation. It extends to Belarus, in Mozer refinery and then enters into the northern branch, which feeds refineries in Poland, Germany. Then the southern branch feeds, provides supplies to Hungary, Slovakia and also Czech Republic. This is also an important pipeline in the affairs of Belarus because geographically, Belarus serves as an important transit route for this pipeline between Russia and Europe, especially western Europe. Correct answer for this question is option D, 1, 2 and 3. Now this question is with reference to financial action task force. Three statements are given. They're asking which of the statements given above are correct. First statement, it was established by the G7 summit that was held in Paris in 1989. The statement is correct. Even if you don't know about this statement, if you observe the options given, all options say first statement is correct. So need not worry about this. Second statement, currently it has more than 100 members across the world. This statement is incorrect because it currently has 39 members, which includes 37 member nations and two regional organizations, which are European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council. Among the member nations, Indonesia serves as FAT of observer and some of the important international organizations like World Bank, World Customs Organization, Interpol, UN Office on Drugs and Crime. These are all FAT of observer organizations. So second statement is incorrect. You can eliminate options D and B. Third statement, it works to stop funding for weapons of mass destruction. This statement is correct. Since 2012, FATF is working to counter the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. So the correct answer for this question is option C, 1 and 3 only. Now this question is with reference to countries bordering Black Sea. Which of the following countries borders with Black Sea? Greece, Belarus, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine. Here the trick is Belarus. If you know Belarus is a landlocked country, you can easily arrive at the correct answer. Option C, 3, 4 and 5 only. Belarus shares border with Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine. See the Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Turkey and it is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Mediterranean and agencies and through various straits. The Bosporus Strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara. The Strait of Dardanella connected to agency region of Mediterranean and these waters separate Eastern Europe and Western Asia. If you observe countries bordering the Black Sea, we can find Turkey to the South, Bulgaria and Romania in the West, Ukraine and Crimean Peninsula to the North, Russia to the Northeast and Georgia to the East. Correct answer, option C, 3, 4 and 5 only. Now this question is with reference to Five Eyes Alliance recently seen in news. Two statements are given asking which of the statements are incorrect. It is a multilateral agreement for Signal Intelligence Cooperation. The statement is correct. Second statement, its members include India, USA, Japan, Australia and Canada. This statement is incorrect because it is an intelligence alliance between US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. India is not part of this Five Eyes Alliance. So the correct answer for this question is option B, 2 only because only the second statement is incorrect. This question is with reference to the applications of magnesium and its alloys. The correct answer for this question is option D, magnesium and its alloys have applications in all these things. Magnesium is one third less dense than aluminium. Magnesium aluminium alloys are light in mass. So magnesium improves mechanical fabrication and welding characteristics of aluminium when used as an alloying agent. Therefore, they are useful in aeroplane and car construction. Magnesium ignites easily in air and burns with a bright light. Therefore used in flares, fireworks and sparklers. A suspension of magnesium hydroxide in water is called as milk of magnesium used as antacid in medicine. Then it has other therapeutic users as we discussed in the analysis. Correct answer, option D. We have given a main question in GS Paper 3. You may write answers for this question and post your answers in the comment section. With this, we come to the end of today's The Hindu News Analysis. If you like the video, click the like button, comment, share it, subscribe to Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil services exam preparation.