 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IAS Academy. The list of news articles along with the page numbers of five different editions is given you for your reference. Let us now begin our analysis. This FAQ article discusses about the recent decision of Indian Railways to admit private players in running trains. So in this context we will see about the advantages and disadvantages of this move of Indian Railways. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given you for your reference. See Indian Railways has invited proposals for private participation for the operation of passenger train services. It is basically for scrutinizing vendor capabilities that is to see who can bring modern trains for operations on existing rail infrastructure. And this project would require around 30,000 crore private sector investment. See this move aims to expand the railway sector as suggested by the Bebeke-Debroy Committee in the year 2015. This committee is called as the Committee for Mobilization of Resources for Major Railway Projects and Restructuring of Railway Ministry and Railway Board. See this committee recommended expansion of railways by allowing private players but it noted that this means liberalization not privatization. So the move by Indian Railways which has invited proposals is seen by many as privatization of railway sector but it is not so rather it is liberalization. How come it is liberalization? See liberalization is a tool used to remove the restrictions and open up various sectors of economy. Sometimes the rules and laws which are aimed at regulating the economic activities become major hindrances in growth and development. And liberalization puts an end to it by easing the rules or regulations. And in liberalization other players in addition to the government also operate in a particular sector. But if you see privatization this implies the change of ownership or management of a government owned enterprise. In privatization if you see the government companies are often converted into private companies. So you can see that this recent move of Indian Railways is clearly the liberalization in railway sector as it allows the entry of new operators that is the private operators into railway operation in addition to the government organization which is Indian Railways. Now why such a move is needed now? First and foremost if you see Indian Railways is one of the biggest organizations which has monopoly in railway sector. Even if you see IRCTC which is Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation limited which is an extended arm of Indian Railways which is also a mini Ratna category one. Central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Railways started running two trains last year only. See the monopoly is not advantages to Indian Railways because Indian Railways offers other services in addition to operating trains like it provides subsidized fare for sleeper and second classes then fare concessions are also offered to various sections of society like senior citizens, freedom fighters, students etc. So all these affect the revenue of Indian Railways. Further if you see Indian Railways is engaged in various other activities which are non-remunerative like provision of security to customers and railway property then providing social services such as medical and educational facilities to its employees etc. Then if you see Indian Railways also provide services like catering, manufacturing of locomotives, coaches, wagons, their parts etc. So all these activities and services puts a huge financial burden on Indian Railways and this in turn affects the efficiency. And not just this even the pension that is being given out by the Indian Railways to its retired employees forms a huge component of its financial burden. Next if you see from passenger perspective there is a need for more train services particularly between big cities. According to railway board during 2019-20 5 crore passengers could not be accommodated due to lack of capacity in the existing trains that are running in Indian Railways. And also if you see there is an increased travel demand than the supply especially during the summer seasons and during the festival seasons. So expansion of Indian Railways and its network is necessary in order to meet these demands. Next if you see according to World Bank and International Union of Railways in 2018 India was one of the four countries which add the largest rail networks in the world. But if you see every kilometer of track in India covers a geographical area which is much lesser than the geographical area of Germany or Russia or China. So expansion is needed to cover more geographical area by the railways. So due to all these reasons and along with the growth of road transport the share of railways and transport service is declining in passenger as well as freight operations. According to the author of this FAQ article the steady shift to other modes of travel for both the categories is affecting the economic growth which is almost equivalent to 4.5 percentage of GDP. So all these necessitate the expansion of railway sector in India and this is the reason why the government is inviting private players with these objectives like introducing modern technology rolling stock then reducing the transit time to boost employment to provide enhanced safety to provide world class travel experience etc. Now if you see one argument is always put forward by those who oppose this move of Indian Railways which is the private operators will focus more on revenue. See even though the private operators will obviously be charging more they would have to raise their level and number of services offered to outstanding so as to justify higher fees. See it is a benefit only because if you see the 2015 BIBRAI committee also noted that passengers are willing to pay more if they had guaranteed and better quality of travel. So there is always a segment of population which is ready to pay higher for better services and these private players will cater to their needs and this in a way will increase the share of railway transport and passenger services which in turn will contribute more to Indian economy. So the author of this FAQ article concludes that the private trail operations can be seen as a government led pilot plan to enhance the railway sector in India. So you can make use of all these points that we have discussed now in any of your main answers when a question on this topic arises. This is all about the discussion of this news article to summarize we have seen the advantages and disadvantages over the recent decision of Indian railways to admit private players in running trains across its network. Now have a look at this practice question let us move on to the next news article. This news article is with reference to the ban of 59 mobile applications. As reported in news most of the banned apps are of Chinese origin or belong to Chinese companies. See in analyzing this FAQ article we will discuss why the apps for banned the Chinese response to the ban the effects on India the legal options available to ban such public access and finally we will see can they ought to be challenged in Indian codes. The syllabus relevant to the analysis is given here for your reference. See the government of India's invoked the ban to safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users and to ensure the safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace. As per the intelligence received by the government these apps were involved in stealing user data and secretly sending such data to servers that are located outside India. So how it can become a threat to India and Indians this is because any server located in a foreign country will be normally bound by the laws and rules of that foreign country. In such case servers located in China could be asked by Chinese government to share data of Indian users and Indian cyberspace. There are reports that some Chinese apps do spy work as required by the intelligence missionary of the Chinese government. As we know anyone could become a user for such apps it could be a military officer at a strategic location. In such case the app may steal all information related to a military base of India and other details. All this will be shared with Chinese government. In this way these apps are dangerous to India. So the government invoked its powers under section 69A of the IT Act of 2000 read with the relevant provisions of the IT rules of 2009. In addition to intelligence on threats to India the government also received threats of such apps from various other stakeholders like other government agencies, cyberspace experts, users also from Indian cyber crime coordination center of the Ministry of Home Affairs. See the international experts agree that there is a clear case of emergency for India in international relations to take such actions. This is because of the attempts made by China to intrude into Indian territory and the loss of 20 Indian soldiers during a violent standoff on 15th of June. So these are some of the reasons for the ban of such apps in India. Now let us see the Chinese response to the ban. See China observed that India's measures selectively and discriminatorily aims at certain Chinese apps on arguable unconvincing grounds. It states that the action by Indian government runs against fair and transparent procedure requirements and that the action violates the vaulted organization rules. Here under transparency China may be referring to the fact that the government order on this matter is not published in the public domain. Government has only released a press release on this matter and at the head violation of WTO rules China may be talking about violation of the general agreement on trade and services. See the experts say that India has not violated this agreement. This is because of article 14 this of the agreement that deals with security exceptions. It states that the agreement does not prevent any member from taking any action which it considers necessary for the protection of its essential security interests. In addition we should also know that China's own record in this regard is poor as it has banned several mobile applications in its territory for public use. Now let us see about the effects on India. The positive effect is that Indian cyberspace and its citizens are relatively safer now if we compare with the situation prior to the ban. Other effects include impact of investments coming to India from China. India should also handle actions that could be taken by China in bilateral trade and sectors where India is dependent on China. Now let us see the legal basis for the government to issue such ban with reference to section 69A of the IT Act of 2000 read with the relevant provisions of the information technology rules of 2009 such an order to block public access can be issued under normal and emergency circumstances as the name indicates the procedure is given in the rules. In normal situation a request to block access will be received by the designated officer from any government organization. This request will be examined by a committee consisting designated officer as chairperson and representatives of ministry of law and justice, home affairs, information and broadcasting and Indian computer emergency response team. This committee will give reasonable opportunity for the alleged intermediary to present its points. After this the recommendation of the committee will be forwarded to the secretary of the department of information technology in the ministry of electronics and information technology. If the secretary approves the recommendations then appropriate action will be taken by the designated officer. Say if the secretary approves recommendation to block access then designated officer issues direction to intermediaries to block the access. In case of emergency situations the designated officer receives a request and this officer first examines the request and submit recommendations to the IT secretary in mighty. If the secretary is satisfied to block such access then after recording and writing the secretary may issue directions as an interim measure without giving an opportunity of hearing for the alleged intermediary and this order will be placed within two days before the committee to get its recommendation on the matter. The recommendations will be placed before the IT secretary who will pass the final order blocking or unblocking the access. See as of now many stakeholders are assuming that the government would have passed only an interim measure in an emergency on 29th of June and further developments about this final order is yet to be received from the government side. Now let us see whether this order can be challenged in Indian courts. The FAQ article reports that the order can be challenged either by the app hosting company or by an affected individual. Once the order or action taken as challenged the court will decide the validity of the order whether it satisfies the conditions under section 69A of IT Act or not and then the court will pass appropriate judgment. But this will come to the end of the analysis of this article. In this analysis we have discussed why the apps were banned, the Chinese response to the ban, the effects on India, the legal basis for the government to ban such public access and finally we saw whether the order can be challenged in Indian courts. Now have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about the concerns of states regarding the changes approved by the central government to Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana. In this context we will be discussing in brief about the revised Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana, the syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. So, first let us discuss in brief about Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana. It is a crop insurance scheme launched in 2016. The scheme is implemented under the overall guidance and control of the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers' Welfare which comes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. Note that this scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme. Note that its objectives include providing insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers, stabilize their income and to encourage them to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices. So, which are all the crops that are covered under this scheme? It is to be noted that food crops which are cereals, millets and pulses, oil seeds and annual commercial horticultural crops are covered and in addition to this perennial horticultural crops for which standard methodology for yield estimation is available are also covered. So, who are all eligible under this scheme? All farmers growing notified crops in a notified area who have interest to get insured in the crop are eligible for coverage. All farmers who have taken seasonal agricultural operation loans from financial institutions that is loaning farmers for the notified crop season are covered compulsorily. But farmers who have taken non-standard Kisan credit card or crop loans can voluntarily opt for this scheme. Previously it was compulsory for them. Now, they will be considered as non-loaning farmers and all non-loaning farmers including sharecroppers, tenant farmers can voluntarily opt for this scheme. Now, let us discuss the types of risks covered under the scheme. It covers failure of standing crops due to non-preventable risks like natural disasters like fire, adverse weather, flood, drought, also pests, diseases, etc. It also covers losses because of prevented sowing due to adverse weather conditions. The scheme also covers post harvest losses due to specific perils like cyclone and unseasonal drains. And now the states may consider providing add-on coverage for crop loss due to attack by wild animals wherever the risk is perceived to be substantial and is identifiable. This is included recently. But see, there are some exclusions, losses due to war, nuclear risks, malicious damage and preventable risks, etc. are not covered. Now, let us discuss the premium rates for the scheme. There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%. And for perennial horticultural crops on a pilot basis, it is 5%. So, have a look at this image for better understanding. Here the premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the centre and state on a 50 is to 50 basis. And now the central government has introduced the element of the status of irrigation in a given district for determining the premium amount. See, premium is an amount paid periodically to the insurance companies by the insured person for covering his risk. So, it divided each state into irrigated and non-irrigated districts. In respect of the irrigated districts, centre will give its 50% share of subsidy only up to a premium of 25% of the sum insured. And in non-irrigated districts, it will be 30% of the sum insured and it will be 90% for the North Eastern states. Note that districts having 50% or more irrigated area will be considered as irrigated area or district. Now, coming to the news, it says that this exclusion of status of irrigation will put more burden on the states if the insurance companies increase the premium to more than 30% of insured amount. In that case, the states will have to bear the additional amount. For example, if premium becomes 33% for a non-irrigated area, then centre and states will bear 14% each and 2% is borne by the farmers. Now remaining 3% should be borne by the states. So, this is in brief about the discussion of this news article. To summarize, we have seen the concerns of states regarding the changes approved by the central government to Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana. Now, have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article reports the recent findings of the Office of Registrar General India regarding infant mortality rate in India. In this context first, let us see about infant mortality rate. We will also see the mandate of United Nations under its sustainable development goals with respect to reducing infant mortality rate. And then we will discuss on the current trends in India which is mentioned in this news article. First, let us see what is meant by infant mortality rate. It is the number of infant deaths recorded under the age of 1 per 1000 life births. Under the age of 1 means from the date before the child reaches the age of 1. With regards to sustainable development goals of United Nations, note that infant mortality rate is covered under the sustainable development goal number 3, which is about ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being at all ages. See under this we have the target number 3.2. It says that by 2030 the world needs to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age. So, all the countries have to aim to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1000 life births. The countries should also reduce the under 5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1000 life births. Here, note that neonatal mortality rate is the number of death of children before 29 days after they are born per 1000 life birth and under 5 mortality rate means the number of deaths of children who are under 5 years of age per 1000 life births. Now, let us see the current trends by analyzing the report that is highlighted in this news article. According to the reports of sample registration system published by the office of the registrar general of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the state of Madhya Pradesh has performed the worst in the country with respect to infant mortality rate in 2018 and Uttar Pradesh has had the second highest infant mortality rate. Note that Kerala has the lowest infant mortality rate among the biggest states and the country's average rate has dropped single point to 32. India's average stands at 36 deaths for rural areas and 23 for urban areas. Now, what are the major reasons for high infant mortality rate? As per the officials, major causes of high infant mortality rate include increasing premature deliveries, low birth weight, babies, infections, birth asphyxiation and delay in securing treatment leading to complicated deliveries. Poor maternal health also was a reason for high infant mortality rate and also poor maternal and prenatal, neonatal care is another reason for high infant mortality rate in states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chattisgarh etc. This is all about the discussion of this news article. Now, have a look at this question. Let us move on to the next news article. This question has been framed based on this news article which tells that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is considering to replace the existing multimodal transportation of GOODS Act of 1993 with full-fledged National Logistics Law which is to be called as National Logistics Efficiency and Advancement Predictability and Safety Act. This new act is expected to lead to the growth of logistics sector because if you see at present, logistic sector is a very complex sector. It has a lot of stakeholders involved. As you can see here 20 government agencies, partnering agencies, then export promotion councils etc. and it is a highly fragmented sector. And because of this, the logistics cost in India when compared to the other countries of the world is quite high, it is about 14 percentage of India's GDP. So the government aims to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14 percentage to less than 10 percentage. So the present government took various measures even in the recent years. If you see in 2017, logistic sector was granted infrastructure status which enabled the logistic sector to avail infrastructure lending and also to have access to huge amount of investments as external commercial borrowings. So this brought in more investments into the logistic sector and the government is aiming to further improve the logistic sector in India. So as a part of this new act will be introduced in the future. And due to various reforms by the government of India, if you see India's rankings improved in the Logistics Performance Index which is a biennial report released by the World Bank. India ranked 54 in the year 2014 whereas in 2018 its rank improved to 44 due to various measures taken by the government like we saw granting infrastructure status etc. So in the same lines introduction of this new act is also expected to increase the rankings in Logistics Performance Index. We have discussed about this Logistic Performance Index in detail in our Target UPSC Prelims 2020 series for the month of February 2020. We request the viewers to have a look at it to know more about this Logistics Performance Index. So this is in brief about the discussion of this news article. Now look at this question. The question is Logistics Performance Index is released by which of the following World Bank International Monetary Fund, World Economic Forum, World Trade Organization. Here the correct answer is Option A World Bank. Now let us move on to the practice questions discussion session. Look at this question. It is a two statement question and you need to choose those statement or statements which are correct. Look at the first statement. It tells that under the IT rules of 2009 in normal circumstances the central government decides on the request to block public access of any information through computer resource after giving opportunity of hearing into the alleged intermediary. Yes, this statement is correct. It is as per rule 8 of this 2009 rules. Now look at the second statement. It tells that under emergency circumstances the final order is made by the central government after receiving recommendations from the examining committee. Yes, this statement is also correct only for the interim order the committee is not consulted. So the correct answer here is Option C both 1 and 2. Now look at this question on Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana. Four statements are given and you need to choose those statements which are correct. Look at the first statement. It tells that the objectives of the scheme include providing insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers. Yes, this statement is correct. Look at the second statement. It tells that it covers failure of standing crops due to non-preventable risks like natural disasters but crop loss due to attack by wild animals are not covered. This statement is incorrect. Look at the third statement. It tells that the central subsidy for the scheme is limited for premium rates up to 30% for unirrigated area crops and 25% for irrigated area crops. Yes, this statement is correct. Look at the fourth statement. It tells that farmers who have taken non-standard Kisan credit card crop loans should compulsorily enroll in the scheme. This statement is incorrect. So, the correct answer here is Option C 1 and 3 only. Look at this question on infant mortality rate. It is a three statement question and you need to choose those statement or statements which are correct. Look at the first statement. It tells that infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths recorded under the age of one year per thousand life births. Yes, this statement is correct. Look at the second statement. It tells that as per the reports of sample registration system published by office of registrar general in 2018 Haryana performed the worst and Kerala performed the best with respect to IMR that is infant mortality rate. Yes, this statement is incorrect because we saw that Madhya Pradesh performed the worst. Look at the third statement. It tells that India's average rate of IMR that is infant mortality rate has dropped in 2018 compared to previous years. Yes, this statement is correct. The correct answer here is Option C 1 and 3 only. Now, look at this main question. The question is operation of passenger train services in railways is now said to be liberalized. Discuss the need for it. What influence this is expected to have on railway sector? It is a 15 marks question. Try to answer this question in 250 words. If you see in 2015 there was a question on foreign direct investment in the different sector. The question was foreign direct investment in the different sector is now said to be liberalized. What influence this is expected to have on Indian defense and economy in the short and long run? So, you can expect such sector specific questions. In this case, it is about the railways. Try to note down the advantages and disadvantages which we discussed during our discussion. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion. If you like the video, press the like button, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for more videos and updates. Thank you.