 Good evening friends. I welcome you all to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by the Shankar AIS Academy. Today's date is 16th November 2023. Before getting into discussion, I have an important announcement to make. This is regarding preliminary test series. Batch 3 of the Shankar AIS Academy's pre-stiming is about to begin. The orientation session of the Batch 3 will be conducted on 16th November and the first test will be on the same date. It includes 48 tests including the mock test and seesaw test. The test will be conducted in both online and offline mode. So go and register and enrich your problem score. Here are the list of articles which we are going to discuss today. So without wasting time, let's get into discussion. Take a look at the science page article from 14th November. This news article talks about dark matter and dark energy. Recently, European astronomers released their first images from the newly launched Euclid Space Telescope. This images gives us a clarity about dark matter and dark energy. So in this news article discussion, let's quickly go through these two basic science terminologies dark matter and dark energy. Before that, let us have a basic understanding. See, the visible universe makes up only 5% of all matter. Dark matter and dark energy makes up the remaining 95% of the universe. Okay, let's get into discussion. Firstly, let us see about dark matter. See, dark matter is made up of particles that do not have charge. We call these particles as dark because they do not emit light, which is an electromagnetic phenomenon. And they are called matter because they possess mass just like normal matters and they interact through gravity. Remember, even though they interact with gravity, since they do not have charge, they do not interact through electromagnetic interactions. This future of the dark matter makes it very hard to detect them. See, dark matter's existence is inferred from only from the gravitational effects on the visible matters. Know that even though dark matter affects the structure and evolution of the universe, the composition of the dark matter is still unknown. This is about the dark matter. Now, let us see the second phenomenon, dark energy. See, dark energy is a hypothetical form of energy that exerts a negative repulsive pressure behaving like opposite of gravity. Know an important fact that it is responsible for the accelerating the expansion of the universe. Remember, dark energy is far more dominant force compared to dark matter. And dark energy accounts for 68% of the universe's total mass and energy. Similar to dark matter, dark energy also cannot be directly absorbed. But rather, it is also inferred from the observation of gravitational interactions between the various astronomical objects. See, in simple words, dark matter and dark energy are the in and yang of the cosmos. Dark matter produces the attractive force, example gravity, while dark energy produces the repulsive force, that is, anti-gravity. While dark matter holds our universe together, dark energy is why our universe expands. See, this is all about the facts about dark matter and dark energy, which is very important from our example's perspective. With this learned points, let us finish this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this editorial article. It talks about reforming the judicial system by removing the death penalty. A parliamentary committee recently reviewed the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or BNS Bill, which aims to replace the Indian Penal Code. But the committee did not suggest the ending of death penalty. Instead, it left it to the discretion of the government. Know that the experts argued against the death penalty by quoting a fact. They said that the trials courts were giving more death sentence, but the Supreme Court was moving away from the death sentence. The article also mentioned that death penalty is not effective against reducing crime. In this article, the author gives a cross-country perspective to favor the ending of death penalty. It also poses a fact that from 2007 to 22, the Supreme Court gave death penalty to only 7 people. In 2023, all the death sentences were changed into life imprisonment. The article also points out that the life imprisonment might be a strict punishment and it offers chances for at least a reform. Lastly, the article points out a fact that many on the death row are from the marginalized background. The article highlights the need for reconsidering the abolition of death penalty. So, in this discussion, we will understand why the capital punishment must be abolished and the challenges of abolishing the capital punishment. We will approach this topic in our usual mains-answered income interactive approach. Before entering our discussion, let us look into syllabus. This topic will come under the General Studies paper 2 and it falls under the syllabus topic of structure, organization and functioning of executive and judiciary, government policies and interventions for the development in various sectors and issues arising out of their implementation. This is the syllabus. Now, first let us look at the question. The question has been a statement. The statement is, the death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question is, do we deserve to kill them? In the light of above statements, discuss the argument in favor of the abolition of the death penalty and what are the challenges need to be addressed in implementing this reform. See, this question is a straightforward question. First, we have to list out the arguments in supporting the abolition of capital punishment. Then, we have to mention few challenges which are in the way of abolishing the death penalty. Finally, we shall provide a conclusion that justifies the statements which was given in the question. Now, let us get into discussion. Let us start with the introduction. Since the question is about the abolition of death penalty, we can provide some basic points about death penalty and its status in India. We can also mention about any cases or reports regarding the death penalty. Let us see the introduction. Capital punishment stands for the most severe form of punishment. It is the punishment which is awarded for the most heinous and graviest crimes against the humanity. In India, death penalty is guided under section 53 of the Indian Penal Code. In Bachchan Singh v. State of Punjab, 1980, Supreme Court stated that the death penalty should be avoided only in the rarest of the rare cases. According to the death penalty in India report, trial courts imposed a total of 144 death sentences in 2021. Out of this 144 death sentences, the high courts confirmed only 39. Moreover, on appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed only 6 cases in 2021. See, by using the simple logic, you can say that less than 5% of the death sentence which was imposed by the trial court, got confirmed in the Supreme Court. Moreover, nearly all of the death penalty convicts at present are undergoing life imprisonment. This shows that the capital punishment is fading away from the Indian judicial system. This is all about the introduction. Now, coming into body part. In the body part, we should list out the arguments to support the abolition of capital punishment. Let us see the arguments. Firstly, there is a high degree of subjectivity in capital punishment. Know that the judges find it difficult to balance between the mitigating and aggravating factors. For example, if you look at the death penalty in India report, approximately 75% of the all they convicted are from the underprivileged category. The second argument is regarding the irreversibility of the death penalty. Usually, courts give compensation to individuals who are wrongly convicted due to an error of the state. However, if a person is wrongly hanged, then no amount of compensation can bring back a death person back into life and mitigate the error. Thirdly, it is inhuman. Human rights and dignity are incompatible with death penalty. The death sentence is a violation of right to life, which is the most fundamental of all human rights, and it cannot be taken away by other men. For example, if you look at the Scandinavian countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, they have one of the lowest crime rates in the world and know that they don't have death penalty. So what is special about them? They focus on reforming the criminal rather than deterring them with strict and harsh punishments. The fourth argument is death penalty does not deter crimes. Statistical evidence shows that the deterrence does not work. Some of those executed may not have been capable of being deterred because of their defects or mental illness, etc. Moreover, some of the capital crimes are committed in such an emotional state that the perpetrator did not think about the possible consequences. Moreover, know that death has been prescribed in rape cases since 2013, but still rape continues to be happened and in fact the brutality of rapes has increased a manifold. This compels us to think about the effective deterrence of death penalty to such heinous crimes. This is about the first part of the body. Now in the second part, we shall see about the challenges in abolishing the death penalty. The first challenge is maintaining the deterrence. Know that the foremost argument given in support of the capital punishment is the level of deterrence maintained in the society. See, many people believe that a person may restrain himself from committing many heinous crimes like murder, rape, if death penalty is awarded for it. Without serious punishments like death penalty, deterrence against such crimes will be lost in the society. The second challenge is national security. See, some acts like waging war against the state, terrorism, erodes the sanctity of our national security framework. Such acts threaten the very existence of the country and its sovereignty. For example, Ajmal Kausab was awarded the death sentence for carrying out 2611 Mumbai attacks. The third challenge is the safety of citizens. Proponents of capital punishment often argue that some criminals commit most terrible of crimes and they are beyond redemption, that is, some accused of multiple rapes or child rape, etc. Know that such criminals show no remorse or repentance. There is no chance of reform and should be awarded death sentence for the safety of citizens. The fourth challenge is with retribution. See, one of the key principles of retribution is that people should get what they deserve in proportion to the severity of the crime which they have committed. This argument states that the real justice requires people to suffer for their wrongdoing and to suffer in a way which is appropriate for the crime. So, many argue that death penalty should not be abolished. See, this is all about the body part. Now, we have come to the conclusion of our answer. The conclusion can be like this. More than 100 countries have abolished the death sentence for all the offenses. This includes most European countries, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The focus of deterrence or punishment should not be on eliminating the criminal but should be on the elimination of the crime. The purpose of the punishment in a criminal law if looked from the wider perspective and the broader range is to achieve the goals of orderly society. There is a need to ensure that the restoration of peace and to prevent further occurrence of the crime by balancing the competing rights of the criminal and the victim. See, this can be balanced conclusion for this answer. If you have any alternative conclusion, feel free to write and post it in the comment section. And also post your view on the death penalty in India. See, this is all about today's discussion. With this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article. This news article talks about the on-site meeting of Financial Action Task Force or FATF in India. Know that the team of FATF arrived in the first week of November and they are expected to hold meetings with the senior government officials for around two weeks. See, during this meeting, the FATF team will evaluate whether the authorities have effectively implemented the required legal framework against the menace of money laundering and terror financing. This article also talks about the FATF plenary meeting. See, this is the crux of the article. So, in this context, let us quickly go through the basics of FATF and the various lists. First of all, what is FATF? See, Financial Action Task Force or FATF is the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog. It was established in 1989 during the G7 summit in Paris. Currently, FATF has 39 member countries which are the major financial powers of the world. Know that India became a member in 2010. The initial objective of FATF was to examine and develop measures to combat money laundering. But after the 9-11 attacks of USA, the FATF expanded its mandate to include the efforts to stop terror financing under its agenda. Apart from this, FATF also works to stop funding for weapons of mass destruction. This is all about the basics of FATF. Now, let us see about the working of this body. First of all, FATF sets international standards that aims to prevent illegal activities like money laundering, terror financing. By doing this, FATF is strengthening the world peace. Secondly, as a policy-making body, FATF works to generate necessary political will which is needed to bring in more national and regulatory legislations in this area. Now, let us see about the modest operandi of FATF. See, FATF currently has jurisdictions over 200 countries of the world. The commitment of these countries to its accommodations will be monitored through a global network of 9 FATF-style regional bodies or FSRBs and FATF memberships. Know that FATF also maintains the list of non-compliant countries. That is, those countries which have not yet complied to the recommendations of this body. For example, if a country appears to have major deficiencies in AIML or CFT regime, it will be put on a list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring or it is also called as grey list of FATF. Here, AIML or CFT refers to the anti-money laundering or combating the financing of terrorism. See, the grey list includes the countries that are considered safe heaven for supporting terror financing and money laundering. It also serves as a warning that the country may enter blacklist in future. See, to be pulled out of the grey list, the country has to fulfill the tasks which are recommended by FATF. These steps are like confiscating the properties of terrorists, arresting the terrorists, etc. If a FATF is satisfied that the country made progress, it will remove the country from the grey list. But if the country fails to address the concerns of FATF, it will be put on high-risk jurisdiction or blacklist. The blacklist includes non-cooperative country or territories. These territories will support terror funding and money laundering activities. Know that as of now, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar are the three blacklisted countries. Myanmar has been recently added to the list due to the actions by military leadership after 2021 coup. This is all about the list maintained by the FATF. See, this is all about the basics of FATF. Now, let us see about the plenary sessions of FATF. Talking about the sessions, the FATF plenary is the decision-making body of the FATF. So, during the plenary session, it considers the mutual evaluation reports, policy and governance matter. Know that usually it meets three times per year. Apart from this, they meet once in a year at an annual typology workshop. See, FATF also meets out-of-session for variety of purpose, including private sector consultation, etc. See, this is all about the discussion regarding FATF. In this discussion, we saw about the basics of FATF. We saw about the two lists which are maintained by FATF that are gray and blacklist and also about the plenary sessions of FATF. See, with these learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Take a look at this news article. See, every year, November 15 is celebrated as the Janjathya Gaurav Divas. This is to commemorate the birth anniversary of notable tribal icon, Brissa Munda. So, yesterday, our Prime Minister visited Ulihatu in Kunthi district of Jharkhand. Know that this is the birthplace of Brissa Munda. On this occasion, Prime Minister also announced two important schemes related to tribal development. See, this is the crux of the article. And in the news discussion, we shall see about the schemes one by one in exam perspective. The first scheme is Vikshit Bharath Sankalp Yatra. See, it is a national wide program aims to reach out to the citizens. These citizens are those who are generally eligible for various central sector schemes but have not yet benefited from it. The Yatra will facilitate the efficient information dissemination regarding various government schemes and initiatives. For this purpose, specially designed IEC van or information, education and communication vans will be sent to various grand panchayats. Know that, apart from information dissemination, registration of eligible beneficiaries of various government schemes will also be takes place in the course of the journey. Know that, this Yatra provides special emphasis to the districts which has significant tribal population because those were the areas which are generally left out of the various schemes due to the problems in accessibility. This will make sure that no one is left behind in the coverage of schemes. Here, in this image, you can see about the objective of the Yatra. You can pause the video and go through it. Remember, the entire campaign will be planned and implemented with the whole of government approach. That is, where the state government district authority, urban local bodies and grand panchayat will actively involve and participate in the programming. See, this is about the Vixit Bharat scheme. Moving on to the second scheme, it is called Prime Minister Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Mission. But before looking at the scheme, let us understand some facts about PVTG. See, particularly vulnerable tribal group or PVTG or certain communities in India that are identified as the most vulnerable among the scheduled tribe population. The scheme PVTG was first used by Devar commission in 1960. Later, in 1975, Government of India identified 52 particularly vulnerable tribal groups. They were identified based on some criterias. These criterias are pre-agricultural level of technology, low level of literacy, economic backwardness, a declining or stagnating population. Later, in 1993, 23 more communities got added into the list. So, currently as of now, there are 75 particularly vulnerable tribal groups in India which spread across 18 states and one union territory of Andaman and Nicobar. Guys, know that the highest number of PVTG reside in Odisha. Now, back to a discussion with a basic understanding of PVTG. Let us see about the Prime Minister Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Mission. See, the mission was announced under Union Budget 23-24. The aim of the mission is to improve the socio-economic status of the particularly vulnerable tribal group. This will be improved by providing basic facilities even to the most remote, scattered and inaccessible tribal areas. The best facilities include road and telecom connectivity, electricity, safe housing, clean drinking water sanitation, improved access to education, health, nutrition, etc. Remember, the scheme will be implemented through convergence of eleven interventions of nine ministries. For example, under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sathak Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Gramin Avas Yojana, Jal Jeevan Yojana, some scheme norms will be normalized or relaxed to cover these remote habitations. See, the central government has allotted 24,000 crores for this purpose and the mission will be implemented over the next three years. See, this is about the two schemes that is Viksit Bharat Sankalpiatra and Pradhan Mantri particularly vulnerable tribal group. With these learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. See, November 14 is observed as a World Diabetes Day. In this context, let us quickly understand some of the basics about Diabetes Militias. First of all, Diabetes is a chronic disease. Here, the term chronic disease refers to the disease that has complications and such disease can be controlled but cannot be cured. So, as Diabetes is a chronic disease, we can control it but we cannot cure it. See, Diabetes occurs when our body cannot process the blood sugar or glucose properly. As we all know, our body breaks the food into glucose. This glucose is used as a fuel by the cells in our body. See, when glucose enters the bloodstream, the pancreas will release a hormone called insulin. This insulin hormone helps the glucose to enter the cells. This is the normal metabolic process in our body. But in the case of Diabetes, the pancreas does not make enough insulin. This leads to the high level of glucose in the blood which interns causes Diabetes. This is how Diabetes occurs. Now, we will see about the causes of Diabetes. The primary cause of Diabetes is the insulin resistance. As we saw just now, when our cells in the body don't use insulin properly, it increases the level of glucose in the blood and this causes Diabetes. Now, what are the major causes of insulin resistance? See, several factors and conditions such as obesity, lack of physical activity, eating unhealthy food, hormonal imbalance, genetic disorder or some of the reasons that can cause insulin resistance. So, insulin resistance is the major reason for Diabetes. Secondly, pancreatic damage can also cause Diabetes. See, if our pancreas get damaged due to any injury, it can't produce insulin properly. So, there is not enough insulin to regulate the glucose in the blood. This can also cause Diabetes. These are the two major causes of Diabetes. Now finally, let us see some of the steps taken by the Indian Government to support Diabetes patients. Firstly, the Government is providing free essential medicines to Diabetes patients under some of the Government's basic, Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jaun Aushati Pariyojna or PMBJP and free Drug Service Initiative of the National Health Mission. See, under PMBJP scheme, the quality genetic medicines including the insulin are given to all Diabetes patients at affordable prices. Then, under the Free Drug Service Initiative of the National Health Mission, financial support is provided to the States Union Territories. They, in turn will provide free essential medicines including insulin for the poor and needy people. Secondly, the Government has extended the treatment for Diabetes patients under the Aushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jaun Aushati Pariyojna and under the scheme, the Diabetes patients may avail inpatient care in any of the approved hospitals. These are all some of the measures taken by Indian Government to support Diabetes patients. See, in our discussion, we saw about the basics of Diabetes and steps taken by Indian Government to support Diabetes patients. That's all about the news discussion. With this, let us move on to the next part of our video that is to discuss the preliminary practice questions. Today, we are having four questions. Let us solve them one by one. See the first question. Which of the following statements regarding dark energy and dark matter is correct? See, out of the four options given, we can say from our discussion that dark energy constitutes the majority of total energy whereas dark matter only constitutes a small fraction of the total content of the universe. See, the first statement is correct. See, the statement one which we can infer from our analysis so we no need to check the other three options. So, the correct option is option A. See the second question. In which of the following groups all four countries are the members of financial action task force? See, out of the four options we can say that option B and D are eliminated because option D contains North Korea which is not possible and option D contains Myanmar which is recently added to the black list of the FADF so B and D won't come so we are left with option A and C. See, we can say that option A contains Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia and China which is very much correct. So, the correct option is option A. See, the third question of the day. Consider the following statements regarding the Pradhan Mantri particularly vulnerable tribal group mission. See, the first statement. It was launched during the union budget 2023-24 under one of the seven priority initiative. For the next 20 years see, from our discussion we can say that the scheme is for the next three years so this statement is wrong. Second statement. It aims to provide basic facilities like housing, water, health in PVTG areas across the country. This is very much correct. See, the third statement. The scheme follows the strategic approach of the Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana. See, this statement is also correct because the scheme follows the strategic approach of the Van Bandhu Kalyan Yojana which is a need based scheme strives to optimize utilization of the resources available under various programs. So, the third statement is also correct. So, here the first statement alone is wrong. So, the correct option is option B. See, the final question of the day. Diabetes happens because of which one of the following reason. See, the four statements are very colloquial and both on all of them seems to be correct. But know that the third statement your body cannot use blood sugar properly is very much relevant and it properly fit in the basics of the diabetes. So, the correct option is option C. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPC preparation, subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy. Thank you for listening. Thank you.