 A very good evening to all of our friends and welcome to the Hindu News Analysis of Shankar IAS Academy for the date 4th February 2021. Before we begin our news analysis, we have an announcement. Shankar IAS Academy is launching a special program called Prefit to help the aspirants to effectively use the time which is available for the upcoming UPSC preliminary examination. Before we describe this program, know that the entrance exam for joining this new initiative will be conducted online on 7th February 2021, that is, on coming Sunday. You can take the entrance exam using your mobile phones also. Also, you can take the entrance exam while you are at home. The time of the test is from 8am to 12pm. The entrance test will have a total of 100 questions and these 100 questions will be having questions from both General Studies and CSAT. We have received numerous requests from various aspirants from many parts of India to waive the fees for this entrance exam. Therefore, we have made the entrance exam for this Prefit program completely free. Therefore, it will not direct you or take you to the payment section. The only thing you have to do is that you should enroll for this entrance test. The link for the enrollment is given in the description box and also in the comment section. So, in this program, the Academy will provide a micro-skill that is broken into monthly, weekly and daily targets. The program will provide high-intensity interval training for the upcoming preliminary examination. It will help you not only to complete the syllabus, but also to enhance your skills in solving questions. And know that the program is modeled on the scientific principle of active recall and spaced repetition in order to ensure maximum output. The participants will solve around 4000 questions in the period from February 15th to May 16th. In the training, the participants will be given 50 questions on a daily basis on 6 days in a week. The 50 questions will be based on the steady targets of that particular day. Each test will be followed by a daily detailed discussion. And once a particular subject area is completed, the daily test will be followed by a full test of 100 questions. And under this program, students will develop a daily routine which is specific to prelims preparation. We have also used gamification principles in order to incentivize the regular test taking and also the improvement of performance. Now, by enrolling in this program, you will get a detailed schedule for 3 months. The schedule will cover both micro and micro targets for your preparation. You will be getting 5 weekly half-tests from Monday to Friday for the general studies topics. And as stated already, one full revision test will be there upon the completion of the subject. After the completion of the syllabus, you will get 4 GS and 4 CSAT MOOC tests. Now, in order to ensure that the participants should qualify the CSAT paper for sure, the program includes a CSAT test every week. And this test will be having 50 questions each. In addition to this, you will be given access to the detailed solution and also the discussion upon the completion of each test. To understand where you stand, there will be a daily and monthly leaderboard. And for the assessment of performance, Shankar IAS property test analytics will also be shared. And know that the program also covers current affairs. See, Prefit divides current affairs of past one year into monthly or weekly and also daily targets. And these targets will be covered across multiple tests. Know that this is a totally different program from that of the pre-storming prelims test series of Shankar IAS Academy. If you have already registered for pre-storming and now say you are enrolling in Prefit, then the tests under the Prefit are in addition to the tests taken under pre-storming. The link for the brochure and detail schedule is given in the description box and also in the comment section. Now, how does Prefit work? Firstly, an entrance exam will be conducted on 7th February 2021. The syllabus for the entrance exam is the UPSA Prelims syllabus for general studies and CSAT paper. Participating in this entrance exam is completely free. And students who secure top 100 ranks in this entrance exam will be eligible for Prefit Prime. Under this Prefit Prime, the top 100 rankers will be given 50% subsidized monthly fee structure of Rs 750 plus GST. Students other than Prefit Prime will have a monthly fee structure of Rs 1500 plus GST. And the subsequent months of access to Prefit Prime will be subject to securing a position in the top 100 in the previous month. Students who secure a position in Prefit Prime will also be eligible to avail 25% concession on main storming 2021 upon their qualification of prelims 2021. For more details, please visit the links given in the description and also in the comment section. Now, we have another important announcement on coming Saturday that is on 6th February at 7pm in the evening. A class on how to approach essay paper in civil service examination will be premiered on YouTube. The session will be explained by Mr. Sathya Krishnan Sir. Sir has secured all India rank 116 in UPSA civil service exam 2014. And he is a renowned expert in approaching essay paper. The session will be explained based on the main 2020 essay question paper and the class will throw a light on how to manage essay questions, then the guiding principles for the next year's essay paper, then on the methods of preparation and other related aspects. He will also detail the difference in strategy for Section A essay questions and Section B essay questions. And he will discuss on the skills that matter for securing good marks in essay paper. So, we strongly recommend our viewers to attend this class on YouTube at 7pm on Saturday and also share the information about this class to those who are in need of orientation and guidance for handling essay paper. With this, let us move on to today's news analysis. The list of the relevant news articles taken up for today's discussion from five different editions of the Hindu newspaper along with their page numbers are given here for your reference. Also, the handwritten notes in the PDF format and time stampings for all the news articles taken up for today's discussion is given in the description box and also in the comment section for the best interest of the viewers. Let us start with our first news article. Now, this news article is based on the DNA Technology Use and Application Regulation Bill 2019. The bill was examined by the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The committee has submitted its report and noted the contentious provisions in the bill. So, in this discussion, we'll see the aspects of this bill and also its contentious provisions. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. See, the bill has been formulated after recognizing the need for regulation of the use and application of deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA technology. As you know, the DNA is the genetic or hereditary material in most of the organisms, including humans. And the bill is for establishing identity of missing persons, then identity of victims, offenders, undertrials and also the identity of unknown deceased or dead persons. The purpose of this bill is to expand the application of DNA-based forensic technologies so that they can support and strengthen the justice delivery system of our country. See, already the utility of DNA-based technologies for solving crimes and to identify missing persons is well-recognized across the world. And this bill wants to institute the same mechanisms in India. Now, let us see the key components of this bill. See, it includes the establishment of a DNA regulatory board, then accreditation of DNA laboratories which are undertaking DNA testing, analyzing, etc. The next is the establishment of the National and Regional DNA Databanks. See, the DNA Databanks are for the maintenance of the National Forensic DNA Database for the purposes of identification of different categories of persons which we saw in the beginning. So, this bill envisages these banks to assist in forensic-related investigations. And this will aid in scientific upgradation and streamlining of DNA testing activities. Now, with respect to the provisions of this bill, the retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan Lokur has observed that allowing the investigating agencies to collect DNA samples of suspects will give them unbridled power that is easily capable of misuse and abuse. And this will amount to a threat to the life, liberty, dignity and privacy of a person. See, the preamble of this bill states that it aims to provide for the regulation of the use and application of DNA technology for the purposes of establishing the identity of certain categories of persons, including the victims, offenders, suspects, under trials, missing persons and unknown deceased persons. And in this regard, Justice Lokur has questioned the need to collect the DNA of a suspect. See, in a crime involving many persons such as a riot, everybody is a suspect. And this is without any real basis. This would mean that thousands of persons could be subjected to DNA profiling on a mere suspicion. Such an unbridled power is easily capable of misuse and abuse by targeting innocents. And this will result in the threat to life, liberty, dignity and privacy of a person. Now, let us see the other contentious provisions of this bill. See, first is about DNA profiles. It means the result of the analysis of a DNA sample for establishing human identification. Simply put, it contains the DNA data. So, the DNA profiles can reveal extremely sensitive information of an individual such as the pedigree, ancestry, descent, skin color, behavior, illness, health status and susceptibility to any kind of diseases. Hence, access to such intrusive information can be misused to specifically target individuals and their families. That means the DNA sampling and profiling could be misused for certain kind of activities like caste or community-based profiling. That is, it could even be used to incorrectly link a particular caste or community to criminal activities. Now, another issue with respect to the bill is that it allows the National DNA Data Bank to store the DNA profiles which are received from the DNA laboratories. That means the DNA profiles of the suspects, under-trials, victims and the relatives is stored for future investigations. The committee report noted that there is no legal or moral justification for a database with DNA for the categories other than the convicts since there is a high potential for the misuse of this data. The next is with respect to the security of DNA information. In this regard, the report noted that as of now our country does not have robust data protection legislation. So, the security of a huge number of DNA profiles in banks becomes questionable. The next issue is with respect to the consent provisions. See for DNA profiling, first the collection of DNA samples has to be done. Here, the DNA sample means bodily substances of any nature collected for conducting DNA testing. And according to the bill, the bodily substances of a person may be collected by the investigating authorities and they are required to obtain the consent for collection in certain situations. Here, for arrested persons, the authorities are required to obtain the written consent if the offense carries a punishment of up to 7 years. This means if the offense carries more than 7 years of imprisonment or death, then the consent is not required. Further, if the person is a victim or a relative of a missing person or a minor or a disabled person, then the authorities are required to obtain the written consent of such person. Here, the problem is, wherever the bill stipulates consent, if the consent is not given by the persons in those cases, then the authorities can approach a magistrate who may order the taking of bodily substances of such persons. So, a magistrate can override individual consent. Hence, the committee report called these consent provisions has pre-functury. That is, they are just superficial. Further, the bill does not provide for guidance regarding the grounds and reasons on which the magistrate can override consent. So, the committee feels that this provision could become a fatal flaw. So, these are some of the contentious provisions that needs modification in the bill. Now that the bill has been submitted to the parliament by the committee, the parliament has to deliberate and revise these contentious provisions. And importantly, before that, the data protection law needs to be enacted. So, in this discussion, we saw about the DNA Technology Use and Application Regulation Bill 2019 and the contentious provisions with respect to them. With this information, let us move on to the next news. Now, let us discuss this opiate article which stresses on the need for an economic system which takes into account biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This is because there will be no economy without a natural environment. Let us discuss this in detail. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. See, this article assumes significance as the ongoing pandemic has taught us the need to protect the ecological functions of our biosphere. It has also proved that our health and economic prosperity depends on the overall health of our planet. For example, due to the pandemic, the global GDP contraction is expected to be around 2.4 percentage to 8 percentage in 2020. Not just that, the World Economic Forum or WEF estimates the global cost of dealing with the pandemic to be around 8.1 trillion US dollars to 15.8 trillion. Interestingly, if we try to prevent this pandemic instead of dealing with it, there are two advantages. First of all, there is no human suffering. The second is that the cost incurred is around 22.2 billion US dollars to 30.7 billion dollars a year, which is just a fraction of the cost to deal with it. Now, let us see India's position. See, the author says that India is vulnerable to various catastrophes, especially pandemics. This is because there is a significant decline in the wildlife population of India and also our natural ecosystems are getting converted for other uses. India's high population density coupled with its rich biodiversity makes it vulnerable to zoonotic pathogens of wild origin and other infectious diseases. Now, the author discusses the recently released Global Risks Report of 2021 by the World Economic Forum. Know that this report analyzes the risks from societal fractures which are manifested through persistent and emerging risks to human health, then rising unemployment, widening digital divides, youth disillusionment and geopolitical fragmentation. Now, as per the report, the environmental risks continue to threaten the global economy. In that extreme weather, climate action failure, then environmental damage caused by human infectious diseases and also the biodiversity laws are the leading causes. All these indicate just one thing. That is, we shall not justify the destruction of environment for economic prosperity. So, from Prillin's perspective, we must know the important reports which are published by the World Economic Forum. See, it publishes the Global Competitiveness Report, the Global Gender Gap Report, Global Social Mobility Index and also the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report. Now, coming back to the article, we should accept that we are disturbing nature's balance by destroying the natural habitats by intensifying agriculture and animal husbandry and also by developing infrastructure. So, these activities over a period of time has increased the contact between wildlife, livestock, pathogens and people. In this regard, we should know that if we have tried to limit the human aggressiveness to nature in a sustainable way, we would have prevented new diseases like the ongoing COVID-19. But still, we have time to prevent another pandemic in making. Now, as per a recent study, almost 20% of the countries including India have fragile ecosystems. Also, 55% of the global GDP depends on high functioning biodiversity and ecosystem services. So, by protecting our ecosystem, we are ensuring both our health and the nature's health and also the economic prosperity. So, this indicates that biodiversity and ecosystems shall be considered by the governments while framing the economic policies. It is high time that our government shall come up with a system which accounts for the depletion of nature and natural resources. An important step in this direction is the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Well-being. See, it was approved by the Prime Minister's Science and Technology and Innovation Advisory Council. It is an ambitious initiative that aims to bring biodiversity and conservation to the forefront of Indian science, policy and society's attention. The mission has been visualized to be as inclusive as possible with components that involve scientific institutions, government agencies and non-government organizations at the national, state, as well as local levels. So, in this discussion, we saw about the importance associated with the conservation of biodiversity and natural ecosystems. And we also saw about the Global Risks Report 2021 of World Economic Forum and the other reports which are published by WAF. With this information, let us move on to the next news. Now, see this article which talks about enhancing the urban infrastructure, schemes announced by the government in this regard and the issues with it. Let us discuss these aspects now. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. See, urban infrastructure is under debate due to the provisions and fundings announced by the government in the budget 2021-22. Under the urban infrastructure sector, the government has announced for raising the share of public transport in urban areas. And this will be done through expansion of metro rail network and through augmentation of city bus service. Now, for expansion of metro rail network, two things have been announced. One is deploying two technologies namely MetroLight and MetroNeo. And this is to provide the metro rail systems at much lesser cost with same experience, convenience and safety in entire two cities and peripheral areas of Taiwan cities. In this, the MetroLight is a light urban rail transit system with lesser capacity at much less cost. MetroLight also acts as a feeder system to high capacity metro. So, it has a less capital cost and also less operation and maintenance cost. Next, MetroNeo is a unique concept. It has rail guided rubber-tired electric coaches that are powered by overhead traction system and they run on a road slab. It has lesser cost and it is state of art, comfortable, energy efficient, minimal noise pollution and environment friendly system. Now, the second announcement is related to providing central funding to Kochi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Nasik Metro projects. Now, under augmentation of city bus service, the government has announced for launching a new scheme at a cost of Rs. 18,000 crores that will support augmentation of public bus transport services. The scheme will facilitate deployment of innovative public-private partnership models and this is to enable private sector players to engage in facilitating the urban transportation through financing, acquiring, operating and maintaining over 20,000 buses. The scheme will aim to enhance the ease of mobility for urban residents. So, these are welcome moves. Firstly, because bus and metro are core components of urbanization as they provide comfortable, safe and affordable commuting. They provide clean and green mass mobility and they also act as multipliers. See, a multiplier broadly refers to an economic factor that when increased or changed causes an increase or change in many other related economic variables and these components of urbanization have a multiplier effect for the economy. Secondly, already India has low buses to population ratio. See, according to the Niti IOC's 2018 report from Transforming India's Mobility, India has 1.2 buses per 1000 people and this is even below the developing nation's benchmarks. As you can see here, India has a very low ratio than other developing nations like Thailand and South Africa. We can also witness a vast disparity between states where some states are even ahead of national average. Karnataka and Chattisgarh have double the national average while Bihar, Odisha, Tripura, West Bengal and Rajasthan has a very low bus per 1000 people ratio. So, this scenario mandates the government's move for augmenting public bus transport services. But what are the issues with respect to this decision of the government? First issue is that whether these transport facilities for which the government is spending so much will be used by public in future at large numbers. This question arises because the COVID-19 has enhanced the need for personal health safety which has to be taken care even while commuting. So, now people are preferring personal car and two-wheelers for safety reasons. So, whether the people will extensively use the transports providing mass mobility such as bus and metro even when the pandemic is under control is a big question. The second issue is that state monopolies in transport services coexist with unregulated paratransit. Here, the paratransit mode of travel is an intermediary facility which falls between traditional public transport and the personalized automobile. It is also referred to as intermediary public transport emphasizing that it is more of a public transport. In India, this type of travel is more synonymous with the auto rickshaw travel because of its predominance. And we all know about the state monopoly in transport services where in many states the state road transport corporation runs buses including the interstate buses. And this means there are very less private fleet buses. And when these two factors such as the state monopoly and unregulated paratransit coexist then introducing private participation becomes a politically sensitive issue in states. And this could lead to unwarranted protests by these entities. The next issue which author feels is that central funding for enhancing metro and bus systems are mere standalone interventions which will not address the challenge of urbanization. So in this regard, the author says that other issues in urbanization needs proper attention such as operationalizing umbrella authorities in order to regulate transport. Many state governments have failed to do this. Additionally, a large area of urban categorization does not have facilities of an urban area. See for census purpose that is for compilation of population data the geographical areas are delineated as urban and rural. In this, India's 2011 census has included census towns as urban areas. So even though the census towns are termed as urban for the census purpose, the author has noted that census towns lack access to many things like funding infrastructure and the capacity to meet the needs of the large populations. So for proper urbanization first these issues need to be addressed rather than just funding transport facilities. Also this trend shows the presence of exclusionary urbanization. See exclusionary urbanization means benefiting certain social groups to the detriment of others. It includes directing the resources to large metro policies but depriving funds to small and medium towns that are needed for infrastructure and essential services. See this is almost true because metro and bus services are expensive for majority of the population of India and it is particularly expensive for people living in suburbs. And this is due to high housing costs in urban areas. So they are forced to use personal transport as they feel that the cost of fuel is much cheaper than metro and bus services. Thus the government's move may not benefit the majority of population of India. Here as a conclusion the author has provided a suggestion the center has to work with the state governments to integrate key areas with its transport vision. Here key areas include affordable inner city housing access to civic services and health care then enhanced sustainability, greenery and walkability. Then only the urban infrastructure along with these lead to an inclusive urbanization. So this is all about this article. With this information let us move on to the next news. Now this opiate article is about the need for a virtual surveillance system in India's borders. The concept of smart walls was in use as the Biden regime has scrapped the physical border which was proposed by the Trump regime at the US Mexico border. See a smart wall replaces the physical and armed patrolling with advanced surveillance technologies. So the author says that this smart wall is the proposed future of border security now. The wall would use sensors, radars and surveillance technology to detect and track border breakings especially in remote areas. The author says that along with surveillance towers and cameras thermal imaging would be used which would help in the detection of objects. So such a system would even be capable of distinguishing between animals, humans and vehicles. As we all know India has been struggling along to curb the cross border infiltration of terrorists and smugglers. So it is high time that we shall envisage the use of such a technology to help India secure its borders. As we know we have border disputes with our aggressive neighbors like China and Pakistan and this makes erecting fences, walls or any physical structures extremely difficult. Not just that most of our border areas are rugged terrains. For example, India shares almost 4097 kilometer long border with Bangladesh and it is running through forests, hills, paddy fields and riverine areas thus making it very difficult to fence these borders physically. So in such scenarios the smart walls are of great help as it makes the use of systems which can operate even in rugged areas. Other benefits of smart wall are cost effectiveness, less damage to the environment, fewer land seizures and speedier deployment. Now even if such a system is not possible in our long borders we can effectively use it to enhance the security of our critical security establishments. If our armed forces and security establishments are equipped with the latest technologies it will definitely give them an upper hand over our enemy. So the author stresses that it is high time for India to test a security system that clubs technology with traditional setups. In this context let us discuss in brief about the international borders of India. See India has 15106.7 kilometers of land border and a cost line of 7506.6 kilometers including ILM territories. See the length of our land borders with our neighboring countries is given here for your reference. Please go through it. In that we can see that Bangladesh shares the longest border with India followed by China, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan and Afghanistan. So with this information let us move on to the next news. And now this news articulates with reference to the tax session proposals in the current and the new budget. In an interview with the chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes the chairperson talked about easing the tax complaints process and also about the Vivaatsay Vishwas scheme. See the Central Board of Direct Taxes is a statutory authority which is functioning under the Central Board of Revenue Act 1963. The officials of the board in their ex-officer capacity also function as a division of the ministry dealing with the matters related to levy and collection of direct taxes. The Central Board of Revenue as the apex body of the department which is charged with the administration of taxes came into existence as a result of the Central Board of Revenue Act 1924. Know that initially the board was in charge of both direct and indirect taxes. However, when the administration of taxes became too wide for one board to handle the board was split into two that is the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Excise and Customs in 1964. And this Central Board of Excise and Customs that is CBEC was renamed as Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs that is CBIC in 2018 after the rollout of the Goods and Service Tax. So remember that GST matters are handled by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. Know that both the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs are statutory bodies which are established under the same Act and both function under the Department of Revenue under the Finance Ministry. Matters relating to the levy and collection of all the direct taxes are looked after by the Central Board of Direct Taxes whereas those relating to levy and collection of Customs and Central Excise duties and other indirect taxes fall within the purview of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. Now, let us talk about the Vivaatse Vishwas scheme. See, it was brought out by the Government of India in order to put an end to the pending direct tax disputes. Here, the taxpayer can simply pay the disputed tax and can save the interest levied and leviable and further, they can save any penalties which are levied or leviable. So in order to get the maximum benefits the taxpayers have to pay the disputed tax on or before 31st March 2021. Simply put, the scheme gives an option to settle the tax disputes if the tax is paid before this March and in this regard, the interest and penalty will be completely waived off. So here in this interview, the Chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes said that this scheme that is Vivaatse Vishwas is a great success. So far, almost 1.32 lakh disputes with a quantum of nearly 95,000 crore rupees have been resolved under this scheme. So this is all about this news article. With this, we have analyzed almost all the relevant news articles from today's The Hindu newspaper. Now let us move on to the Practice Questions Discussion section based on today's news analysis. See this first question. Consider the following statements. The first statement reads, In India, the administration of direct taxes are handled by the Central Board of Direct Taxes and indirect taxes by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. Yes, this statement is correct. The second statement reads Both CBDT and CBIC are established under the Central Board of Revenue Act of 1963. Yes, this statement is also correct. We have to identify the correct statement or statements. Here, since both the statements are correct, the correct answer for this question is option C, both 1 and 2. Now, see the second question. India shares 4096.7 km of its land border with Bangladesh. Which of the following states of India shares the largest border with Bangladesh? Here, four states are given. Know that West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are the states which share the border with Bangladesh. But the options given here does not have West Bengal. So, in the four states which are given here, Tripura has the largest border with Bangladesh. The border is of a length of 856 km. Now, see this third question. Consider the following. Here, three reports and an index is given. Which of the above reports or indices is or are released by World Economic Forum. See, during our discussion, we saw that the World Economic Forum publishes the Global Risks Report, the Global Competitiveness Report, Global Gender Gap Report, Global Social Mobility Index, then Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, etc. So, in the reports which are given in the question, the World Development Report is released by World Bank. So, the correct answer for this question is option C, 1, 3 and 4 only. Now, this fourth question is related to Metro Rail Transport. Consider the following statements. The first statement reads, Metro light is a light urban rail transit system with lesser capacity at much less cost. Yes, this statement is correct. And the second statement reads, Metro Neo is a rail guided, rubber-tired electric coaches powered by overhead traction system running on a road slab. Yes, this statement is also correct. So, in this question, we have to identify the incorrect statement or statements. Since both the statements are correct, the correct answer for this question is option D, neither one nor two. Now, we have two main practice questions. Please write your answers and post it in the comments section. Our feedback will be given in a reasonable time frame. Now, we have come to the end of analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the discussion of practice questions. If you like this video, please press the like button, comment, share, and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for more videos and updates related to civil service preparation. Thank you.