 Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarayesh Akademi for the date 12th of July 2023. Displayed here are the list of news articles we will be going through today. Now let's start the discussion. Take a look at this article from the editorial page. It focuses on India's demographic journey and its impacts on the lives of Indian women. The article highlights the changes that have occurred in India's population particularly in terms of life expectancy and the fertility rates. It also sheds lights on how these changes have influenced the life of women in various stages of their lives from childhood to voltage. So in this discussion we will try to understand the key points from this article in detail. Before that I have highlighted the syllabus relevant to this discussion so please go through it. Now let's start the discussion. See to understand this article better you need to first understand the concept of demographic transition theory. Demographic transition theory explains the process through which each society experience change in birth and death rate when they undergo economic and social development. This theory says that countries go through distinct stages of demographic changes as they progress. So basically it helps us to understand how population changes over time. It have five stages and each stage represents a different pattern of birth rates and death rates. Now let's understand these stages. Stage one is the high stationary stage. In this stage both birth rate and death rate are high. People have many children because they need them to work on forms and life expectancy is low due to poor health care and sanitation facility. Then comes stage two the early expanding stage. In this stage there will be improvements in health care sanitation and food protection. Death rates start to decline but the birth rate remain high. As a result the population starts to grow very rapidly. This stage occurs during countries industrialization phase and this phase is mostly given a nickname that is population explosion stage. This is about stage two. Moving on to stage three which is none other than late expanding stage. In the late expanding stage birth rates start to decline due to factors like increased education, urbanization and people's access to contraceptives. The economy become more industrialized and people start moving to cities for job. At the same time death rates continue to decline leading to slower population growth. India is currently in the third stage of demographic transition theory. After that we have stage four that is the low stationary stage. In this birth rate and death rates are both low and population stabilizes. This stage is typically observed in developed countries where people have access to good health care, education and high standard of living. Finally there is the fifth stage. In this stage the birth rates may remain consistently low. It may even fall below the replacement level which means the number of birth is insufficient to replace the existing population. For instance say 20 people die in a day due to old age but on the same day only 10 babies are born. So this can lead to population decline or very slow population growth rate. This stage is mainly observed in the Scandinavian countries and Japan. This is about the demographic transition theory. Now in the case of India our population has grown significantly over the years. At the time of independence India had a population of around 340 million and today India's population stands at about 1.4 billion. This growth can be attributed to several factors such as improved health care, reduced starvation and advancement in medical care. This has increased the life expectancy and reduced mortality rates. In the past parents in India had more children because they wanted to ensure at least few of them would survive into adulthood. But with the decline in mortality rates parents in India no longer needed to have many children to secure their future. As a result the fertility rate in India has started to decline. Know that the fertility rate measures the average number of children born to a woman and fertility rate in India dropped from 5.7 in 1950 to 2.1 in 2019. This drastic decline in fertility along with decline in mortality led to the stabilization of India's population. Now let us focus on how these changes in population have affected the lives of Indian women. See as we saw earlier, families started having fewer children. With fewer children the probability of having a male child came down. But Indian families prefer male child because of societal norms, kinship patterns and the expectation of old age support. As a result some parents resorted to sex selective abortions or they even neglected sick daughters. This resulted in the decline in number of girls per hundred boys. That is this resulted in declining childhood sex ratio in India and this effect was mainly noticed in children under the age of 5. Okay, this is the first effect of population decline in India. On the other hand, when fertility rates declined, the role of women in society began to shift. No woman has to care for only fewer children. So women have more opportunities for education and employment. See research so that there is a decline in number of years women spend caring for younger children. According to the National Family Health Survey, the number of years women spend caring for children under 5 declined from 14 years in 1992-93 to 8 years in 2018-20. This change allowed women to pursue education and engage in the labour force. Despite this early marriage and childbearing continued to be a significant factor in shaping women's life in India. Then the article also highlights the implication of demographic change on older women. We saw that there is an increase in life expectancy. So the proportion of female population who are older than 65 and above increased from 5% to 11% between 1950 and 2022. See women tend to marry older men and women are more likely to outlive their husbands. This lead to higher number of widowed older women. These widowed older women often face economic challenges and they depend on their children mainly son for financial support. This is a gendered disadvantage. So what can be done here? Firstly, the author says that the government must enhance women's access to employment and assets. This will reduce their reliance on their son so women can achieve greater independence and financial security. Additionally, the author emphasizes the importance of improving child care access. This is because early marriage and childbearing remain prevalent in India. One striking example of importance of child care is documented in a study based in urban China by Du Andong. The study found that when state support for child care declined, the employment rate for mothers fell from 88% to 66%. So when government provide access to safe and affordable child care, more women will participate in the labor force. This will ensure their financial security. Okay, the author also suggests some practical strategies to enhance child care access. Here the author suggests that the crutches could be staffed with people from the national rural employment guarantee scheme. Here the author feels that the government can leverage the potential of the self health groups to establish neighborhood child care centers in both rural and urban area. This on one hand will increase the employment opportunity and on the other hand will make child care accessible and affordable to women in both rural and urban area, which in turn increase their financial independence and security. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we started by seeing the demographic transition theory. Then we saw about the evolution of Indian population over the years. After that, we saw how this evolution affected women in India. Finally, we saw some steps suggested by the author to address the issues faced by women in India. So with this, let us conclude this discussion. Now let us take up the next news article. Look at this article. This editorial article is about the recent amendments in the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill. Recently, the central government introduced the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha. This bill amends the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. The aim of the bill is to increase the carbon stock by raising plantations. Now first let us take a look at the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. See this act was enacted to prevent large scale deforestation. It provides some restriction on diverting forest land for non forest purposes. The recent amendment bill tries to include and exclude certain types of land from the scope of the act. Now let us see the important features of this amendment bill by comparing it with the original act of 1980. The bill says that two types of land will be excluded from the act. First, the land recorded as forest before October 25, 1980, but not notified as a forest. Secondly, the land changed from forest used to non forest use before December 12, 1996. The amendment also allows forest land within 100 kilometers of India's border to be used for security or strategic purposes. The original act allows only certain non forest activities to be carried out in forest land like establishing check post, fencing and bridges, but the amendment permits zoos, safaris and ecotourism facilities in forest land. Under the original act, the state government must acquire prior approval from the center for assigning forest land to any non-government entity. But the bill says that the state government must acquire prior approval of the central government even for the establishment of government organization. See, these are the highlights of the bill as discussed in the editorial. Now let us see what are the issues with this amendment bill. The first issue is that the amendment is in conflict with the Supreme Court judgment of the 1996 Godavarman case. This judgment provided protection to a vast area of forest against deforestation. As we saw earlier, the bill proposes to exclude certain type of land from the protection, in turn making them vulnerable to exploitation. So this provision in the bill goes against the 1996 Supreme Court judgment in the Godavarman case. So basically this bill tries to dilute the judgment. This is the first issue. The second issue is that the bill restricts the power of the state government. The bill restricts the power of the state government to classify forest land. This is the second issue. The third issue is regarding bordering areas. As we have seen, the bill exempts forest land near border areas for national security projects. This may adversely impact the forest cover and wildlife in the northeastern states. The last issue is regarding tourism. As we saw, the bill proposes to allow for zoo and ecotourism facilities in the forest land. But we know allowing projects like zoos and ecotourism facilities may also affect the forest land and the wildlife in sensitive regions. These are some of the criticisms associated with the recent amendment made by the government. Apart from these criticism, there are some positive aspects associated with the amendment also. Now let us see the positive aspects. Certain amendments in the bill encourage the practice of cultivating plantation on non forest land. This could increase tree cover and help India's ambition of achieving net zero emission by 2017. This is the first positive impact. The second is that the amendments remove the restriction on creating infrastructure in forest areas near border. This would help in enhancing national security and also creates livelihood opportunity for those living on the forest in the bordering areas. These are some of the positive sides of the amendment. Through the amendment, the government tries to create a balance between economic benefits and conservation of forest. Finally, as a way forward, the author of the article says that these conservation laws must be backed by scientific evidence rather than empirical assumptions. Okay, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw some of the highlights of the recent amendment announced by the government in the forest conservation act 1980. We saw the issues with the amendment and some of the positive aspects of the amendment. Now let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this editorial article. This article provides us some data about the criminal records of our elected representatives. It says that in India, 44% of the sitting MLAs have criminal cases on them. Apart from MLAs, the current Lok Sabha also has 43% of MPs with criminal cases. See in 2004, the percentage of Lok Sabha MPs with criminal cases was around 22% only. But now the count has doubled. If you dig deeper into the data in India around 28% of MLAs have been booked for serious criminal cases. Now what are termed as serious criminal cases? To put it in simple words, if a person gets a jail sentence for five years or more on conviction of a crime, then such a crime is termed as serious crime. As I said just now, around 28% of MLAs in India have been booked for serious criminal cases. It is really worrisome, right? The case does not stop just yet. Apart from the serious crimes, there are also quantifiable MLAs with murder cases, attempt to murder cases, and cases related to crimes against women and also with rape cases. The top six states and union territories with highest number of MLAs with serious criminal cases include Delhi, Bihar, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. This is all about the data regarding criminal records of our elected representatives. The news article also states that the gender representation is very low in India. See only around 9% of our elected MLAs in India are women. Then the article further states that around 66% of MLAs in India are college graduates. In addition to this, the article also highlights that the spending on election in India is at a all time high. See to attract voters, clothes, mobiles, cooking equipments, liquor and cash are distributed to voters during election times. This factor has increased election spending. Some estimates show that the expenditure involved in Lok Sabha election is more than that of US presidential election. This is all about the important data provided in this editorial article. You can use this data while writing your main sensor. This will differentiate your main sensor from other answers and it will also boost your main score. OK, now with this data in the context today in our discussion, we will learn all about criminalization of politics. In our discussion today, we will focus on the reasons and effects of criminalization of politics and we will also see the steps that are taken by the government and the Supreme Court to address the issue of criminalization of politics. Before getting into the discussion, I have highlighted the syllabus regarding this discussion. You can go through it. Now let us first understand what is criminalization of politics. The phrase criminalization of politics refers to the participation of criminals in the electoral politics to put it in simple words. If a person with criminal background contest in the election and get selected as member of parliament or member of state legislature, then such a scenario is termed as criminalization of politics. Now once again, we will brush up the data here. See in India, 44% of the sitting MLAs have criminal cases on them and 43% of the current Lok Sabha MPs also have criminal cases on them. This is the basic information about criminalization of politics. Now moving on, we will see the reason behind the criminalization of politics. The first and the foremost reason for the criminalization of politics is the nexus between politicians and the bureaucracy. See during election, some bureaucrats help the politicians to come into power without considering their criminal background. By doing this, the bureaucrats will get the posting according to their choice. On the other hand, it will provide a way for the criminals to enter into the politics. The second reason is poor governance. The poor governance in the country also plays an important role in increasing the criminalization of politics. For example, if the country doesn't have a proper laws and rules for governing the procedure of the election, then the criminals keep on will enter the politics. So the lack of proper governance also contributes to criminalization of politics. The third reason is money power. See the majority of candidates contesting elections require money to spend in election. Some candidates have huge money which they might have earned by committing criminal activities. Such a candidate is able to spend huge money during election process. So the political parties place such criminals into the election process and in turn, these criminals get elected by the people. So the money power also contributes to the criminalization of politics. The fourth reason for the criminalization of politics is the prevailing division in Indian political system. Basically, the Indian political system is functioning based on the divisions in our Indian society like caste, religion, etc. So the criminals take advantage of this division and they enter the political scenario. See the criminals generally portray them as a protector of a particular caste, religion or community. By doing this, they persuade the people. So the people who choose the representatives won't look into their criminal background of the candidate. The people simply vote based on the candidates caste, religion or community. So divisions in the Indian political system also contribute to the criminalization of politics in India. These are the major reason behind criminalization of politics in India. Now moving forward, we will see the effects of the criminalization of politics. Firstly, the criminalization of politics acts as a serious threat to democracy. The criminalization undermines the rule of law and the democratic institutions of India. For example, when politicians with criminal background hold public office, they can use this power to destroy the evidence of crime and they can also influence the judicial system. This poses a serious threat to our democracy. The second effect is a threat to good governance. When politicians with criminal backgrounds hold public office, they are more interested in serving their own interests rather than serving the people. This in turn erodes the good governance of the country. Then the third major effect is corruption. See the criminalization of politics often goes hand in hand with corruption. This is because politicians with criminal backgrounds often use their power for personal gain, which can lead to widespread corruption. The fourth effect is criminalization of political parties itself. Due to the criminalization of politics, the criminal elements may attempt to gain control of their political parties and they use the parties for their own benefit. This in turn weakens the democratic political institution and undermines the rule of law in our country. So criminalization of politics can also lead to criminalization of political parties and the final major effect of criminalization of politics is the loss of public trust in the political system. When politicians with criminal background hold public office, it can erode the public trust in the political system. So people may lose their faith in the democratic institutions and the rule of law in our country. These are some effects of criminalization of politics. Now finally, let us see the steps taken by the Supreme Court to address the issue of criminalization of politics. See, in 2002, in the case of Association for Democratic Reforms West Union of India, the Supreme Court observed that criminalization of politics is a serious threat to democracy. So the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to issue guidelines to ensure that candidates with criminal records are not given tickets to contest election by political parties. Apart from this, the Supreme Court also ordered that the candidates must disclose their criminal records in their nomination papers itself. Then in 2013, in the case of Lili Thomas West Union of India, the Supreme Court observed that allowing convicted criminals to hold public office is against the principles of democracy. The Supreme Court held that any member of parliament or state legislative assembly who is convicted of a crime and sentenced to a prison term of two years or more, then they will be disqualified from holding office almost immediately. These are the two main observations made by the Supreme Court regarding criminalization of politics. The Election Commission of India has also taken some steps to curb the criminalization of politics. Earlier, the ECA has established the expense monitoring cell to look after the election expenses. To some extent, it has reduced the role of money power in Indian political process. Apart from this, the ECA is also efficiently or effectively implementing the model code of conduct during the election times. This is mainly to curb division politics and money distribution. In addition to this, the ECA also made it mandatory for the contesting candidates to furnish the details of assets and existing criminal charges in self swan affidavits. This has brought in some transparency and acts as a kinderance or hurdle to criminalization of politics. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, first we saw various data that are highlighted in the editorial. Then we saw what is criminalization of politics. Then we saw why criminalization of politics occurs. Then we saw the effects of criminalization of politics. After that, we saw the efforts taken by the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India to curb the issue of criminalization of politics. With this, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Take a look at this news article. Recently, the latest update of the Global Multidimensional Power Index was released by the UNDP. The index said that 25 countries, including India, successfully reduced their global MPI values within 15 years. See, in India, a total of 415 million people moved out of poverty within just 15 years from 2005-6 to 2019-21. In 2005-6, about 645 million people were in multi-dimensional poverty in India. But in 2019-21, the number declined to about 230 million. The report also noted that the child mortality in India has fell from 4.5 percent in 2005-6 to 1.5 percent in 2019-21. The report also highlights that India has witnessed significant improvements in other indicators of poverty as well. This is all about the news. In our discussion today, we will understand few points about Global Multidimensional Power Index. The Global Multidimensional Power Index is an annual report developed and released by the UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. Basically, the MPI is a poverty indicator that takes into account the various disadvantages faced by the poor people across the world. The MPI measures both the occurrence and the degree of multidimensional poverty in the world. Now, we will see some points about the indicators. The MPI identifies multiple deprivations at the household and individual level in three dimensions. The three dimensions include health, education and standard of living. These three dimensions in turn comprise of 10 indicators. The health and the education dimension are based on two indicators each, whereas the standard of living dimension is based on six indicators. See, each of the indicator is assigned with a certain weightage. The indicators and the respective weightages are given in the table here. You can go through it. The MPI identifies how people are being left behind across the three key dimensions. People who experience deprivations in at least one third of these weighted indicators fall into the multidimensionally poor category. Now, let us see how the multidimensional poverty index is different from human development index. Before that, let us see some basic points about HDI. The HDI is released annually by the UNDP. It is used to measure a country's overall achievement in its social and economic aspects. The HDI takes into account three dimensions, such as health of people, level of educational attainment and the standard of living. No coming to the difference. The HDI is a composite measure of country's average achievements. This means the HDI does not account for very low level deprivation, such as at the household or the individual level. But if we take MPI, the MPI is calculated using the threshold count approach. The MPI considers the deprivation at the household and the individual level. So the MPI provides a clearer picture than HDI. Now, moving on to the other difference. The other difference is that the HDI shows the performance of the country in achieving human development. But the MPI shows how far a country is from achieving human development. So basically, HDI shows the performance of the country and MPI shows the deprivation in the country. These two are the main difference between HDI and MPI. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the basics about MPI and the difference between MPI and HDI. Now, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. The article says that Azerbaijan has closed the only road that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. This is because Azerbaijan believes that the Armenian branch of the Red Cross is involved in smuggling. In this context, let us quickly learn about the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. See, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is a long-standing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. It all started in the early 1900s. See, in 1920, that then Russian President Joseph Stalin conquered a large portion of the Caucasus. And it included the Christian majority Armenia and the Muslim majority Azerbaijan. By the end of 1920, Armenia and Azerbaijan joined the Soviet Union. At that time, Stalin placed the region of Nagorno-Karabakh into the Azerbaijan. This is where everything started. See, this Nagorno-Karabakh region is an ethnic Armenian dominated region. But it is in Azerbaijan. See the image here and you will understand clearly. The ethnic difference is the major cause of the conflict. In 1988, the regional legislature of Nagorno-Karabakh expressed its desire to join Azerbaijan. This led to increased tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Armenia and Azerbaijan both gained independence. After that, the situation escalated into a separatist movement. So, two countries started playing their role on one hand, Azerbaijan is trying to control this region. And on the other hand, Armenia has started supporting the separatist movement in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. See, there are two reasons for Armenia to support the separatist movement. One is that the Nagorno-Karabakh region contains their people. It contains majority of Armenian ethnic groups. And the second reason is that this region voted to join Armenia only. So, the Armenian government is backing the separatist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result of this, intermittent clashes and ceasefire violations continued. In September 2020, a big clash broke out, resulting in thousands of casualties. Then, mediation efforts were undertaken by the Minsk Group. Here, the Minsk Group is a mediation mechanism established in 1992 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The main objective of the Minsk Group is to encourage negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a peaceful settlement. This group is co-chatted by the United States, France and Russia. But this group failed to produce a permanent solution to the conflict between the region. And the current status is that the peace talks are ongoing, the situation remains tense with confets along the borders. And in this regard, Azerbaijan and Armenia should make sincere efforts to make a peaceful settlement. This is a simple overview of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. With this, we have come to the end of the news article discussion session. Now, let us take up the practice prelims questions. Let us take up the first question. This question appeared in the 2023 prelims paper. Here, three pairs are given. We have to find how many of the above pairs are correctly matched. On one side, regions mentioned in news are given, and the other side, the reason for them being in news are given. Now, let us take up the first pair. North Kyivu and Yitturia provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo that have been in news because of the ongoing conflict there. So, the first pair is wrong. Moving on to the second pair, Nagorno-Karabakh as we saw in our discussion is a disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan. So, the second pair is also wrong. Moving on to the third pair, Karazhan and Zesforia are cities in Ukraine that have been in news because of the 2020 to Russian invasion of Ukraine. So, this pair is also incorrectly matched. Since all the pairs are incorrectly matched, the correct answer here is option D none. Moving on to the second question. This is a three statement question. See, this question is about MPI. This question was asked in 2012 UPSC prelims, but we have changed the options alone according to the recent UPSC trend. Here, three dimensions are given. We have to find how many of them are covered by the MPI. Of the given three dimensions, the dimension of deprivation of education, health, assets and services at household level alone is covered under MPI. The rest two that is purchasing power parity at national level and the extent of budget deficit and GDP growth rate at national level are not covered under MPI. So, the correct answer here is option A only one. Moving on to the last question. This question is about forest conservation at 1980. Two statements are given. We have to find the correct statements. Let us take up the first statement. It requires the central government's approval for any diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes. This statement is correct. For diverting a forest land into non-forest purposes, the approval of the central government is required. So, statement one is correct. Moving on to the second statement. It completely prohibits agroforestry in forest areas. This statement is incorrect. See, firstly this is an extreme statement. So, the probability of this statement being incorrect is very high. Also, note that agroforestry is not completely banned but to perform agroforestry in forest area, approval of the central government is required. So, here statement one is correct and statement two is incorrect. So, the correct answer here is option A only one. The main questions based on today's discussion are displayed here. Aspects can write the answers and post them in the comment section. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPC preparation, subscribe to Shankarayesh Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.