 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarayesh Academy for the date 22nd April 2019. Displayed are the list of news articles selected for today's analysis and their page numbers in Chennai, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Delhi editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes and time stamping of news articles is provided in the description box. For the benefit of smartphone users, the time stamping of news articles is also provided in the comment section. Moving on to the first article, this editorial article appears on page number 8 in all the relevant editions for analysis. The article deals with the way in which the Chief Justice of India has acted on a complaint against him on sexual harassment charges by a former junior court assistant. The aspects of this news article is relevant for your exam preparation by becoming part of Indian polity and governance in prelim syllabus and in mains under the functioning of judiciary in GS2 and in impartiality and non-partitionship and in laws, rules, regulations and consigns as sources of ethical guidance in GS paper 4 of Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude. Before entering into the news article, let us first discuss about the Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee in the Supreme Court. See the Gender Sensitization and Sexual Arrestment of Women at the Supreme Court of India, Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Regulations of 2013 and the Guidelines 2015 have constituted a Gender Sensitization Internal Complaints Committee in which the majority of members shall be women. When a complaint is received with not less than 15 days from receiving the complaint, an ordinary or an emergency meeting shall be called by the CHAP person of this Internal Complaints Committee of the Supreme Court. Then an internal subcommittee has to be constituted to conduct a fact finding inquiry and even in this the majority of the members shall be women. See within 90 days of the constitution of this internal subcommittee, the fact finding inquiry has to be completed by the subcommittee. Within a period of 10 days from the date of completion of inquiry, the inquiry report shall be submitted to the Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee. See if the internal subcommittee arrives at a conclusion that the allegations were proved, then it shall recommend the internal complaints committee and appropriate action. If not proved, it shall recommend not to take action. However, if two-third of this internal complaints committee differ from the conclusion of internal subcommittee, it shall record the reasons and take action accordingly and it shall pass orders either accepting or rejecting the inquiry report given by the internal subcommittee and thereafter pass consequent orders to put an end to sexual harassment and take all steps to secure justice to the victim of sexual harassment within 45 walking days from the submission of inquiry report of internal subcommittee. Now the internal complaints committee may recommend to pass orders to file a criminal complaint or disciplinary act complaint to take appropriate action. And if the victim is aggrieved by the order of this internal complaints committee, then she shall make a representation to the Chief Justice of India. See this is like an appeal and the Chief Justice shall have the powers to issue such orders necessary to secure complete justice to the victim of sexual harassment. Now coming to the present scenario, see the complaint of sexual harassment it is against the Chief Justice of India. The charges were made by a former junior court assistant who made her charge in the form of an affidavit supported by evidence and have sent it to 22 judges of the Supreme Court. It has also referred to witnesses to the alleged sexual harassment and victimization states the author. It is therefore a matter to be placed before the Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee under the Gender Sensitization and Sexual Arrestment of Women at the Supreme Court of India, Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Regulations of 2013 and Guidelines 2015 states the author. The Chief Justice of India, the alleged person in this complaint of sexual harassment has constituted a special bench with only male members and taken this matter and held an open court which is questionable when there is an internal process to initiate an inquiry mandated by the sexual harassment of women at workplace prevention, prohibition and redressal act of 2013. Now the author says clearly the Chief Justice of India should not have presided over the special bench that took up the matter concerning the allegations on himself and this is not the way to deal with the complaint of sexual harassment. The author finds the behavior of the Chief Justice of India ironical because the present Chief Justice of India was one of the four senior judges who laid a series of questions on then Chief Justice of India, Mr. Deepak Mishra's functioning in assigning certain cases to particular benches. Now the present Chief Justice of India has constituted a special bench to take matter of allegation against himself. He formed this special bench without the two senior most judges after him. The author also states it's deplorable to blame the victim and her credibility. Now this is usually the case when a woman files a complaint of sexual assault or sexual harassment in a patriarchal setup. Reporting of offenses is just the beginning of a long legal process. It is better to allow the established procedures to take its course rather than blaming the victim. Finally, the author concludes that the matter is serious and requires careful processing and to send the complaint of the victim to the Internal Independent Complaints Committee. And that is the only reasonable and fair means of establishing the innocence asserted by the Chief Justice of India. With this, let us now take analysis to the next news article. The next article for the day is about the newly spotted birds in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This article appeared on page 7 in all the relevant editions. The information covered in this article will be helpful for your prelims preparation in the current events of national importance and under general issues on the environmental ecology. Now let's move on to the discussion. See in the last few years, a few birds of Southeast Asian origin have been recorded in Andaman and Nicobar Islands during their migration. Andaman and Nicobar Islands with just about 0.25% of India's landmass, it is home to about 350 species of exotic birds or birds of foreign origin according to an official estimate. Researchers are intrigued or fascinated by the fact that number of new sightings has increased after the tsunami 2004. First let's see about this diminutive horse-field bronze coco. See it is distinguished by the green and brown plumage on its back. It is a native of Australia and New Guinea. The speciality is that the sighting was the first recorded instance of the bird in India and the IUCN status of the bird is in the least concerned. Two other first time visitors were also recorded on the islands during the period 2017-18. One is the zappy flycatcher. The zappy flycatcher is a song bad that breeds in China and spends the winters in Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java was spotted six times in different areas of Andaman and Nicobar Islands between December 2017 and March 2018. The IUCN status for this bird is near threatened. See this is because much of the forest and the potential range of the species has been cleared and as a result of this clearance the breeding populations of this particular bird are now fragmented. Visitors also recorded the presence of another bird which was also spotted for the first time, the Javan Pond Heron. It is usually found in Thailand and Cambodia. This bird is larger than horse-fields bronze coco and zappy flycatcher and the IUCN status of this bird in the red list is least concerned. Other birds which also use Andaman and Nicobar Islands for a few week rest before they can fly along the East Asian-Australian flyway are the Mugimaki flycatcher, Blue Winged Pitta, Chinese Egret and the Chinese Paradise flycatcher. The routes followed by the migratory birds on their journeys between their breeding and wintering places are known as flyways. Three migratory flyways cross Asia, the West Pacific flyway, East Asian-Australian flyway and the Central Asian flyway. From the prelims perspective it is crucial for us to know about the East Asian-Australian flyway. Now the EAAF extends from within the Arctic Circle through East and South East Asia to Australia and New Zealand stretching across 22 countries including Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Hundreds of thousands of birds of at least 178 water bird species use this migration path every year. You should note that East Asian-Australian flyway is used by more water bird species in total and more globally by threatened or near threatened species than any other of the world's flyways. In this context it is also important to know some factors that are affecting these migratory birds. See Asia's migratory birds are rapidly losing their critical stopover sites where they normally rest and recover for the next leg of their journey. Wetlands are being drained and enormous areas of intertidal mudflats are being lost to infrastructures such as aqua culture and other farming activities and also to land reclamation. Intertidal mudflats can be defined as shallow sloped shoreline with expanses of fine sediment. They are often components of estuaries and are revealed when the tides go out. Despite their empty appearance, mudflats are valuable as habitat and feeding grounds for many species of wildlife. Several countries in Asia have already lost over half of their intertidal areas and land reclamation is the process of creating new land by raising the elevation of a water bird. Land reclamation is also the process of creating new land by raising the elevation of low lying land or creating new land by pumping water out of muddy areas. Now there are many other disruptions along the flyways that are affecting migratory bird populations. See physical obstacles such as power lines or wind forms kill many birds and despite legal protection in many countries hunting remains quite common and also many existing threats are likely to be exacerbated or amplified by climate change. For example, habitat loss in Arctic Tundra. The displayed prelims question will be discussed in the last session with this let us move on to the next article. This open editorial article appears in page number 9 in all the editions for analysis. See the article talks about proposed amendments to the Indian Forest Act of 1927. The information covered in this article will be helpful for your prelims preparation in current events of national importance and in rights issues in Indian polity and governance and in general issues on environment ecology and in mains it comes under GS2 in government policies and issues arising out of their design and implementation and in GS3 under inclusive growth land reforms conservation spread of extremism and security challenges. The author states that the colonial legislation Indian Forest Act of 1927 is a remarkable piece of expropriation in the name of conservation. Here by expropriation the author means the act of taking away forest property rights of scheduled tribes and other traditional forest rulers in the name of conservation. While the colonial law served the interests of British government by taking the land rights from the forest rulers, the proposed amendments by the present government to the colonial era legislation is also doing the same or even worse says the author. Thus the proposed amendments also intend to expropriate in the name of conservation. The author states that the expropriation using the Indian Forest Act somehow brought down or ameliorated by the enactment of two legislations. One the Panchayat's extension to Scheduled Areas Act of 1996 as it gave the power to Grama Sabha to safeguard and preserve the community resources. The PISA Act was enacted based on report of Burya committee submitted in the year 1995. Other legislation is the recognition of forest tribes of the scheduled tribes and other traditional forest rulers act of 2006 which recognizes the forest tribes and occupation in forest land among the forest ruling scheduled tribes and traditional forest rulers. Now coming to the central theme of the article the author mentions some of the proposed provisions in the draft amendment bill. The provisions for preventive detention which the author calls as preventive arrest. If any person beat a forest ruler or other, if alleged to be an encroacher, he or she can be arrested without warrant and forest officials can use firearms for violation of legal provisions. The issue with these provisions is that these sections could easily be misused by forest officials against the forest rulers. The draft also expanded the definition of forest to any flora, thus the central government will now be able to change the classification of unprotected forests to reserve forests or protected forests. In reserve forests no rights could be claimed by indigenous communities whereas in protected forests some rights could be claimed by them. The proposal also seeks to limit the discretion of officers to withdraw the offences which will make the conclusion of legal processes a long time and also prolonged imprisonment of forest dwellers. A new category of forest is to be included called as production forest. Now these are forests to produce timber, pulp, pulpwood, firewood, non-timber forest produce, etc. The author expresses concern that this will lead to corporatized forest by handing over to private operators. A section is also included to suspend the right to collect the forest produce from the primarily adiwasi communities residing in the forest, thus creating panic among the communities about their livelihood and relationship with the environment, customs and tradition. Also the draft states that the government can acquire the right of a forest ruler if it is inconsistent with the conservation of a reserve forest. Now the definition of inconsistent is not given, hence the provision could be misused. It was expected from the proposed amendments that it will somehow address the settlement of issues that are related to dispossession of forest dwellers and genuine claims by providing the patas which the draft fails to address. The author also discusses the negative impacts that might happen if such an amendment or a proposal become a law. It could turn forest into a more draconian police state as the law has provisioned to criminalize the forest dwelling communities, preventive detentions, non-bailable offenses, suspension of right to collect forest produce and use of firearms by the forest officials and provisions such as arrest without warrant. Some of the methods draconian police state may use. The stated provisions take away the livelihood and the deep relationship the forest dwellers have with their environment, customs and traditions. And this will further the provisions that are here will further centralize the management of forests as it takes away the state government's discretion to manage forests even more thus creating a conflict in federalism. Now this may also lead to radicalization of Indian citizens particularly those who are living in forests. The author notes how Karl Marx was radicalized by the policy of the government by the use of law to punish people for collecting firewood in the forest and the curtailment of customary rights with increased industrialization. Much of the tribal and forest dwelling communities live in the Red Corridor. See the Red Corridor denotes the geographical area which are affected by the left wing extremism and criminalizing tribal forest dwellers will work in favor of Maoist propagators as the tribal population may join these extremist forces because of the anger with Indian government as a result of curtailment of their forest rights and other basic human rights. The proposed legislation will further burden and enforce stricter and undemocratic control on indigenous communities who are for a long time expecting a relief from the government so that the government to take its foot off their neck meaning that the government should not curtail their forest rights and no more any control. The displayed practice main question will be discussed at the last part of this analysis with this we shall now move on to the analysis of next news article. The next news article of the day is warming up to the heat from the sun. This news article has appeared in page number 13 in Chennai, Bangalore, Trivandrum and Delhi editions. See the content of this news article will be helpful in your president's preparation under current events of national and international importance and general science. Also it would be helpful for your mains preparation in GS paper 3 under infrastructure energy in particular and next under science and technology, developments and their applications and effects in everyday life. This news article discusses about the solar thermal systems market in general such as what is meant by solar thermal system, the advantages of solar thermal system against the solar photovoltaic system and the advantages of solar thermal system against the conventional energy and some of the systems challenges and suggestions to improve them. Let us now see about the differences between solar thermal system and solar photovoltaic system. See in solar thermal system heat received from sun is used as an energy source. As you see in the picture this part is called the collector whose size is measured in terms of square meters. They come in different forms but primarily as tubes flat plates or reflectors that focus sunlight onto a heat picking thermic fluid. Generally glycol is used as this thermic fluid here. In solar photovoltaic system this part is called as photovoltaic part which are called PV modules or PV panels. They generally face towards the sun. These PV arrays receive the sunlight and convert them into energy. The energy is either stored in a battery source or transferred to the grid for distribution. See there is no loss in conversion of solar heat to energy in case of solar thermal systems which is an advantage but there is a loss during conversion of solar light to energy which is seen in the case of solar photovoltaic systems. Coming to the advantages of solar thermal systems against conventional energy systems, two statistics are mentioned in the news article. The first statistic is that the collector with an area measuring 100 square meter can produce 40 kilowatts of heat energy. The cost of production of this 40 kilowatts of heat energy would be 7.5 lakh rupees whereas the cost of production to produce 40 kilowatts of electricity would be 20 lakh rupees. Using this electricity that is produced heat energy is then generated. See in other words our requirement is the heat energy. We gain heat energy directly from solar thermal systems whereas it involves using electricity to generate heat in conventional system which is an extra process. The second statistic is the cost of production of 100 kilowatt hour of energy generation using diesel is 100 dollars approximately 7000 rupees whereas the cost of production of the same 100 kilowatt hour of energy generation using solar thermal system is just 15 dollars which is approximately 1050 rupees. Thus cost savings is quite evident in the case of solar thermal system. See some of the famous temples that use solar thermal systems in its mass kitchens include Shirdi in Maharashtra and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Also industries such as T1 cycles company located in Chennai and TTK pressure cooker company located in Salem in the state of Tamil Nadu use solar thermal system as a heat source in their manufacturing process. Now the next part of the news article discusses about the reasons for low business of solar thermal system. The earlier versions of these solar thermal systems were quite expensive but the later versions became cheaper but by the time it became cheaper the solar photovoltaic systems became more successful in the market. Huge investments were made in solar photovoltaic systems which led to a low growth of solar thermal systems market. If you see this table the growth of solar thermal industry was 26 percent in the year 2017 but it got reduced to 18 percent in 2018. Now here are some of the suggestions for improving the solar thermal systems industry. See firstly the government support is crucial for the industry's growth similar to the support given to solar photovoltaic systems industry. The existing 30 percent subsidy system available to the industry is quite complex hence it needs a change source to encourage indigenous production. Next the OPUS model can be expanded in the industry. OPUS means operational expenditures. It simply means the equipments would be owned by the solar thermal manufacturers or business houses and the users would pay for the heat that is delivered to them. This would be a win-win situation especially for small scale and medium scale industries where there is a lack of space. Now the next suggestion is to set up a center for solar drying by the government of India. Manufacturing industries would be the biggest gainers of this solar thermal system. The solar thermal manufacturers should convince the industries to adopt solar thermal systems. Industry's role in adapting to solar thermal systems is well recognized that it has given birth to an acronym SHIP, SHIP which stands for solar heating for industrial purposes. But solar thermal system is space consuming and in a given space industries tend to use it for the old familiar solar photovoltaic system. A move to convince the industry to give solar thermal a shot has emerged in the form of a solar payback project which is funded by the German International Climate Initiative. This project aims to promote SHIP in countries such as India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil. So the potential sectors identified are dairy industries, food processing, pharmaceuticals and auto component sectors for early adoption of solar thermal systems. The displayed problems question will be discussed in the last session. With this, let us move on to the next analysis of the next article. The next news article of the day is the editorial being fair and transparent. See this editorial has appeared in page 18 relevant editions. The content of this news article will be helpful in your mains preparation in GS paper 2 under powers, functions and responsibilities of various constitutional bodies. Since election commission is being discussed and next under important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability in particular. It can come as a case study in general studies paper 4 under probability in governance, codes of conduct and codes of ethics. The author of this editorial is the former chief election commissioner of India, Mr. Navin B. Chawla. See during his tenure, 2009 general elections were successfully conducted. In this editorial, he has given his viewpoints on four burning issues in the current time with respect to the 2019 general elections, namely money power, political funding, candidates with criminal cases and model code of conduct. And he also has one appreciation regarding the 33% reservation to women extended by few political parties without any constitutional or legal requirement in candidate selection process. Let us now analyze all the five that have been elaborated in the editorial. The first issue is the money power in election. The author has noted that there have been seizures of cash, liquor, bullion for example, gold bar and drugs were 2600 crores. Drugs have largely been seized in the state of Gujarat, liquor in the state of Uttar Pradesh and money in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is to be noted that almost 20% of the total money seized from all over India is from the state of Tamil Nadu alone which worth around 514 crores. The author has commented that from the above actions, it is clear that the seizures represent only a fraction of the spending and that the political players have refined their methods in handling the illegal money. He has noted that the political parties move money to their destinations even before the election announcement is made. All these actions make a mockery of the rules framed by the election commission especially the poll expenditure limit in the local elections for every candidate which is fixed at 70 lakh rupees states the author. Secondly, the author has discussed the way how the political funding is handled in India. He has stated that there is no transparency in collecting the funds and spending them for campaigning. The author asks to re-examine the rule of spending limit since the spending of the candidates is always higher than the limits that are laid by the commission. Also, the supervision of election commission to monitor the campaign funding is done by deploying the central and state government officials. It is done at the cost of their regular work where they are deputed on special duty. The author predicts that the campaign spending by all the political parties put together would exceed 50,000 crore rupees which is a very high amount. Finally, the author has commented about electoral bonds that is nothing but a camouflaged funding. What was thought to have brought in transparency and legitimacy had resulted in the reverse illegal activities. Now, this fact has very much been admitted by the election commission as well. See, the author clearly suggests that the election commission should convene a meeting after general elections with all stakeholders that should also include the best constitutional and legal minds of our country. Thirdly, the author has discussed about the issues of candidates appearing for elections with criminal background. He has given a fact that 30% of the total outgoing Lokshaba members have a criminal background. He also added a fact that the declaration of criminal cases, wealth and educational background was made compulsory by the Supreme Court as a result of its two orders in the year 2002-2003 in the cases of association of democratic reforms versus union of India. The author is strictly against the view of fielding candidates with pending criminal cases for the election. The fourth and the final issue that the author has discussed is about model code of conduct which is the burning issue of the ongoing 2019 general elections. The election commission is facing immense pressure for its actions taken on violations of the model code of conduct. The author has quoted the words of T. N. Session who was the 10th election commissioner of India. T. N. Session had said that election commission already has enormous powers enshrined in article 324 of Indian constitution that will exceed the power of the executive in all the election related issues during the course of elections. Now, this is a power given to election commission which no other countries in the world has. These powers have to be judicially exercised in a fair and equitable manner by the election commission such that its decisions are viewed by the general public as fair and transparent. So, these are the four main issues that have been discussed by the author of this editorial. The author has a point of appreciation in the case of 33% reservations given to women in candidate selection process for the 2019 general elections by certain political parties without any constitutional or legal requirement. See, despite repeated promises by the major political parties, two regional parties have achieved this reservation. They are Trinamul Congress party from West Bengal, Baiju Janadal from Odisha. Both are the ruling parties of the respective states. See, the author has finally concluded that it would lead to political empowerment of women. The displayed main question will be discussed in the last session of this video where this we come to the end of this editorial discussion. The final news article of the day is about the serial bomb blast that have devastated the country of Sri Lanka yesterday. It has appeared in the first and 12th page in all the editions. This news article is just explained as a news. Some facts about Sri Lanka to be discussed now would be helpful in your mains preparation to be quoted as statistics in your GS paper 2 and India and its neighborhood relations. See, the series of blasts have been reported across Sri Lanka on Sunday in the cities of Colombo, Nagombo, Dehiwala and Batikola. The attack has happened on Easter, a festival celebrated by Christians across the churches of these four cities and also in some of the five-star hotels in the city of Colombo. This attack is the most lethal attack since the civil war ended a decade ago, killing almost over 200 people and enduring more than 500 people. The civil war was fought between the Sri Lankan government and the liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam shortly called as LTTE who wanted a separate country for Sri Lankan Tamils. Post yesterday's attack, that is after yesterday's attack, access to social media sites such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, etc. have been blocked to prevent the spread of misinformation or fake news. Curfew has also been declared till today for the relief and security forces to act faster, to restore peace in the affected areas. Sri Lankan government is yet to disclose the names of the suspects or the alleged perpetrators behind the attack. Around 27 foreigners have been killed in this attack including four Indians who had been on a vacation to the island nation. See, India has expressed strong solidarity with Sri Lanka in condemning the attacks and has also offered assistance in treating those who are injured in the attack. Sri Lankan police has received information around 10 days before the attack from a foreign intelligence agency that a group called National Tauvid Jamad is planning to attack the prominent churches in Sri Lanka and also Indian High Commission in Colombo. After the attack, Indian Coast Guard, police and coastal agencies have stepped up security to prevent infiltration through the sea route. Let us now see some facts about Sri Lanka. The total population of Sri Lanka is estimated to be 22 million as of the year 2018. The religious composition of Sri Lanka includes 70 percent Buddhists, 12.6 percent Hindus, 9.7 percent Muslims and 7.6 percent of Christians of Catholic and other faiths. If you come to the ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka consists of almost 75 percent Sinhalese population, 11.2 percent for Sri Lankan Tamil population, 9.2 percent of Sri Lankan Moor population and around 4.2 percent of Indian Tamil population. Now, these Indian Tamil population are those who have been taken during the British rule to work in the tea plantations of candy. With this, we come to the end of today's analysis. Now, let us move on to the final session, revision come practice session. Now, the first question is with reference to Zappi's flycatcher. They have given three statements and are asking which statement are correct. See the first statement, it is a migratory bird which has been newly spotted in India. Now, keep in mind that we have to choose the correct statement. The first statement says Zappi's flycatcher is a migratory bird. We know it is correct for more analysis and it also states that it has been newly spotted in India, which is also true. They are newly spotted in Andaman and Nicobar islands for the first time. And the second statement, they fly along East Asian, Australasian flyway. Now, the second statement states the bird fly along East Asian, Australasian flyway, which is also correct. Third statement, it is listed as near threatened in IUCN Red List. Again, this is a correct statement for Zappi's flycatcher. So, the correct option is option D, Delhi, one, two and three, since all the statements are correct. Now, question two, they have given two statements and again are asking which of the statements are correct. Now, the first statement as solar thermal system converts solar light into electrical energy, whereas a solar photovoltaic system converts solar heat into energy. Second statement, collectors in the form of tubes or flat plates are used in solar thermal systems, whereas photovoltaic panels are used in solar photovoltaic systems. Now, see the first statement is wrong. A solar thermal system converts solar heat into energy, whereas a solar photovoltaic system converts solar light into electrical energy. Remember, photo means light. Therefore, photovoltaic system converts solar light into electrical energy. The second statement is correct. Therefore, the correct answer is option B, two only. Now, the first practice main question, critically examine the proposed amendments to the Indian Forest Act of 1927. See, in the answering part, you may include the points we have discussed in the news analysis of the article expropriation in the name of conservation. State the impacts alongside the discussion such as linkage to extremism, the challenge to federalism, making the forest more draconian polo states, how it may affect the livelihood of the forest dwellers, etc. See, for enriching the content for this question, you may refer to our previous analysis on the articles, How to kill a forest on 14th April 2019 and humanize the law on 20th April 2019. The links have been given in the description. The second main question, influence of money, muscle, violation of model code of conduct, etc. has been derailing election commission's efforts to conduct a free and fair 17th Lok Sabha elections. Discuss, the answer for this topic has been detailed in our editorial analysis. Issues such as money, power, political funding, candidates with criminal cases and model code of conduct have been discussed elaborately in our analysis. You frame the content according to this question. With this, we have come to the end of today's analysis. For daily updates and notifications about the Hindu news analysis, subscribe to our Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel.