 Good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar IS Academy for the date 17th of November 2021. So these are the list of news articles chosen for today's discussion. So today we will be discussing two important topics which will be very helpful for your brilliance and mains examination. The first topic will be about the NRC and the second very important topic is about S 400 and we discussed about will there be an exceptional waiver for India or not in the topic and followed by that we discussed about two important topics which will be very helpful for your preliminary examination. So without wasting much time now let us move on to the news article discussion. Today let us begin our news article discussion with this article. See this article talks about ASAM's NRC or the National Register of Citizens. So the news here is that more than 19 lakh people out of the 3.29 crore applicants in ASAM were found to be excluded from the final draft register of the NRC. If you remember this final draft register of the NRC was published on August 31st 2019 and in that more than 19 lakh people out of the 3.29 crore applicants in ASAM were found to be excluded. So now in this background let us see some of the important facts about the NRC like the information related to its origin, background, eligibility etc. And then I will also discuss with you the important points mentioned in the article. The syllabus covered by this article is highlighted below for your reference. Interested aspirants can go through it. Firstly know that the National Register of Citizens that is the NRC is a register which contains the names of all genuine Indian citizens. See at present only the state of the ASAM has got such a register but this exercise may be extended to other states as well. On that line Naha Land is already creating a similar database called the register of indigenous inhabitants. So this exercise is not just limited to ASAM it may also extend to other states and it is a common exercise. And when you take the center it is planning to create a national population register that is NPR which is said to be containing the demographic and biometric details of citizens. So what is the purpose of these registers? See the ultimate purpose is to document all the legal citizens of India so that the illegal immigrants can be identified and deported. So this is the purpose of these kinds of register. Now you may wonder why only ASAM has such a register. See this is because the state of ASAM witnessed large scale illegal migration from east to east Pakistan. I believe you know who am I talking about? It is none other than present day Bangladesh. See after 1971 there was a large scale illegal migration from Bangladesh. This is due to the Bangladesh Liberation War. If you remember during the 1971 Bangladesh genocide there was development of the Bengali nationalist and a self-determination movement which provoked a revolution and armed conflict which is known as the Bangladesh Liberation War. So it took place in 1971 and due to this war there was large scale illegal migration to India from Bangladesh especially ASAM witnessed large scale illegal migration from east to east Pakistan that is the present day Bangladesh. See as we all know the migration of people not only affect the demographic of the state but it also leads to the loss of opportunities. The same thing happened in ASAM as well and it posed a heavy burden on the states resource for the people who are native of ASAM. This is a big problem right? So this led to the famous ASAM agitation that happened between 1979 to 1985. So what is the aim of this agitation? See the aim is simple the people of ASAM wanted an infiltration free ASAM. Remember this movement ended up with the signing of the ASAM accord. Now coming back as I told you earlier the NSE in ASAM is basically a list of the Indian citizens living in the state or you can also say that the register set out to identify foreign nationals in the state. See the only time that the NSE was prepared was in 1951 after the conduct of the 1951 census and the register had the particulars of all the persons enumerated during that census. So this is the story so far now talking about the NSE updation. See NSE updation process started at NSE in 2015 with an objective to keep its ethnic uniqueness unaltered. So to preserve the uniqueness of the state ASAM started the NSE updation process in 2015 and NSE updation is nothing but the process of enlisting the names of those persons or their descendants whose name have appeared in any of the electoral roles up to 1971 or in the 1951 NSE or in any other admissible documents stipulator that would prove their presence in ASAM or in any part of India or before 24th March 1971. You can see an image here so these are the eligibility criteria for a person to be included under the NSE. Please have a look at this image and as per the latest order of the Honourable Supreme Court these are also the eligibility criteria for a person to be included under NSE. Make a note of these points it is very important topic and you may get a mains question. Now coming back and we know citizenship is a subject of the union list right. So therefore the policy decisions guidelines and funds for NSE updation are provided by the central government. So you have to make note of this point. The funds guidelines and policy decisions for NSE updation are provided by the central government. But however its implementation is done through the state government machinery only and it is done under the guidance of the Registrar General of India that is the RGI and the state coordinator who is a secretary rank officer of the ASAM government will be assisting the RGI in this regard. Just have in mind that the provisions governing NSE updation in ASAM or the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Card Rules 2003. Now let us see some of the important points that are mentioned in this news article. See as we saw earlier the news article reports that around 19 lakh persons were excluded from the final list for ASAM. See the Registrar General of India has directed the ASAM government to issue the rejection slips to those excluded from the final draft in a mission mode. See mission mode is nothing but it is a project which have a clearly defined objective scope implementation timeline and a milestone. So that the project will provide a measurable outcome and service levels. So what the Registrar General of India did is he ordered or he directed the ASAM government to issue the rejection slips to those who are excluded from the final draft in a mission mode. But as of now no rejection slip has been issued since they are issued only after publication of the final NSE which is yet to be done. See as of now only the final draft NSE has been published and the final NSE which has to be published by the Registrar General of India is yet to be done. See the non-inclusion of a persons name in the NSE does not totally mean that they are declared as a foreigner because even after the exclusion the individuals will be having the option to present their cases before foreigners tribunal. That is the FT they can present their case before the foreigners tribunal. But then each rejected person should approach the foreigners tribunal within 120 days of receiving the rejection slip. So once the person finds that his name is rejected by receiving a rejection slip he or she has to approach the foreigners tribunal within 120 days of receiving this rejection slip. And even if one loses the case in the tribunal the person can move to the high court and then the person can move to the supreme court. Likewise there is also a provision under the citizenship rules under which any person may object the inclusion or exclusion of any other persons name in the citizen register. So these are some of the take away points from this news article. In this news article we saw about NSE, we saw what is NSE and we saw how it can be extended to other states and we saw different types of registers and then we saw about ASAM Accord and we saw about the updation in the NSE list which began at ASAM in 2015 and we also saw about the eligibility criteria that is who can be included in the list and we saw what if the person is rejected from the list, what the person can do if he or she is rejected from the final NSE list. So with this learned points in mind now let us move on to the next news article. Now our next discussion is going to be based on this news article. If you remember recently the supreme court had directed the center to hold an emergency meeting. What is this emergency meeting is about? It is about to decide on the steps to tackle the air pollution in Delhi. So following that what happened is the commission for air quality management that is the CEA QM has come up with a series of pollution control measures and this article is written in this background. So without wasting much time let us get into the article. I hope you all are very aware of the air quality in Delhi NCR region which tends to aggravate during the winter season. A mixture of factors is responsible for this condition which includes the vehicular or industrial emissions and other factors like dust and weather patterns. They all play a major role in this regard and the air in Delhi turns especially toxic during the winter months since the farmers in neighboring state burn crops during this season and the fireworks during the festival of Diwali further worsen the air quality during the winter months. So this year what happened is the pollution level has become so intense that the supreme court took the issue in its hand and even the commission for air quality management that is the CEA QM itself had regarded that the air quality over Delhi is expected to remain in the very poor category. It has also mentioned or remarked that it has got the potential to slip into the severe category. So this is the reason why we have to pay attention to this article as well and this situation is expected to remain until the 21st of this month. So in order to address this issue the commission for air quality management has come up with series of directions. We will see them before that we will know about what is this commission for air quality management. See this commission for air quality management is a statutory body. So it was created by parliament by law and it was formed under the commission for air quality management in national capital region and adjoining areas Act 2021 and this CEA QM has got the power to take measures to lower the air pollution across all of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh that are parts of the NCR. So now let us quickly see through the measures that are put forward to address the air pollution here. Firstly, all the schools in the Delhi NCR will be shut so that the students will not go to the school to attend their classes. The schools will be shut and that is a restriction on the entry of trucks into the region except those carrying essential goods. Apart from this all the public and private sector organization or director to make sure that 50 percentage of their staff work from home for the rest of the week so that less number of people will be using the vehicle during this week. Adding to these all the construction activities except those involving railways, metro, rail, airport and other activities of national importance will also remain closed until November 21. However, there are no restriction mentioned on transport and only five of the total 11 power plants in a 300 kilometer radius around Delhi would be allowed to function until November 30. Apart from this the state government would also set up an effective enforcement mechanism to monitor air quality compliance. So these steps were recommended or put forward by the Commission for Air Quality Management. See these steps were taken to reduce the vehicle emissions. As schools were shut the children's need not to be going to the school using any vehicle as well as the private and public sector workers. They also don't have to move from their home to their working place using a vehicle. So it is believed that this will be reducing the vehicle emission in the region apart from this the trucks that is the entry of trucks also has been restricted because they also cause heavy air pollution in the region. So apart from this what other steps can be taken to reduce the air pollution in the Delhi NCR region. What other steps can be enforced or encouraged by the government to reduce the impact. See to reduce the traffic based air pollution and congestion government can encourage car pooling. Now you may wonder what is this word car pooling means. See it is an arrangement between people to make a regular journey in a single vehicle typically with each person taking turns to drive the others. So if I have to head to my office I can ask my colleagues to join me and we will have turns to drive among ourselves. We will be traveling in a single vehicle and this will be a regular journey. So that kind of an arrangement is called as an car pooling. See car pooling is a demand management strategy that can reduce congestion emission and fossil fuel dependency. Let me explain how it works. See each person will have a separate vehicle for their transportation right so that they can move from their home to their workplace or their school or college or anywhere. So instead of using a lot of vehicles to reach a single place we can use a single vehicle to reach the place by making an arrangement between our friends and colleagues right. So this is what the car pooling concept is. So government can encourage this kind of management strategy so that this will allow us to reduce congestion emission and it will also help us to reduce the fossil fuel dependency. Apart from this Delhi government can mark out bicycle lanes in residential colonies and they can mark out bicycle lanes on all roads in Delhi region to have a safe travel by bicycle. See citizens should be encouraged to use bicycle because it will reduce the emission level and it also has its own health benefits. Apart from this the government can encourage people to use the public transportation especially the metros overhead rails and bus services so that people can travel by public transport affordably and safely instead of using their own vehicle. So this is also a key step in reducing the emission. Apart from this the government can also encourage the use of CNG in motor vehicles as it is a much cleaner fuel than petrol or diesel. For those who are not aware about CNG see CNG which is also known as compressed natural gas is a gas which is one of the cleanest burning transportation fuel on the market today. See CNG burns clearer than petrol based products because it has lower carbon content. As it contains low carbon it produces fewer emission of all other fuels and contains significantly less pollutants than conventional liquid fuels and very important point to note here is that CNG produces only 20 to 30 percentage fewer greenhouse gases emission and 95 percentage fewer tailpipe emission than petroleum products and we can also ensure that by using CNG fuel system it will be completely sealed which will ensure there will be no evaporative emission. So government can also encourage people to use CNG gas systems. Apart from this government can encourage the people to install solar panels. Installation of solar panels would be encouraged at homes, multi-story buildings and commercial establishments so that the decentralized power is generated with suitable subsidies to make it financially viable for all households. See solar panels work by observing the light from the sun and they do not work by observing the heat from the sun and they turn the light energy into usable electricity. See solar panels work best in direct sun but still they can work in a condition where the direct sun is not available also. Solar panels produce electricity using a combination of direct and indirect sunlight as inputs and know that both the forms of sunlight carry photons which is what the solar panels convert into electric current. See indirect sunlight is nothing but the sunlight that either passes through a medium a window shade or leaves of a tree or reflect off another surface before reaching a plant. So those kinds of energy or those kinds of sunlight are called as indirect light. So solar panel can work best in both direct sunlight and indirect sunlight. So government can encourage people to install solar panels in their residence and they can provide them incentives as well. Apart from this inventors should be encouraged for backup supply and diesel generators should not be allowed to run in Delhi and Sierra so that emissions through these kinds of factors will also be in control. So these are some of the points that you have to make a note of it will be very helpful for your mains answer writing. So in this discussion we saw about some of the factors which contribute to the worst air condition or air quality in the Delhi NCR region and we saw about the Commission for Air Quality Management which is a statutory body and we saw some of the steps that should be taken or some of the steps that should be encouraged by the state government to nudge the people of Delhi NCR region. So with this let us wind up this news article discussion and let us move on to the next news article. Now let us take up this article for our next discussion. See very recently on number 14 a Russian official has confirmed the delivery of the S 400 air defense system. See this deal was signed in the year 2018 when Russia's President Mr. Putin visited India and the first unit is expected to be operational by the end of the year. So this news article talks about the purchase of S 400 by India from Russia and it also talks about the notable incidents that followed after signing the purchase deal. The syllabus relevant to this article is given here for your reference. Please go through it. First what is S 400? See it is considered as one of the most advanced and potent air defense system in the world and this S 400 Triumph has the capability to protect against almost all sort of aerial attacks which includes drones, missiles, rockets and even fighter jets. See this system is intended to act as a shield over a particular area and know that it is a long range surface to air missile system. It can even attack invading aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicle, cruise missile and ballistic missiles. So S 400 is nothing but a long range surface to air missile system and it is capable to protect against almost all sort of aerial attacks including drones, missiles, rockets and even fighter jets. And remember Russia has been developing S 400 since 1993 and Russia started deploying it in 2007. Its mission set and capabilities are essentially equal to the US patrol system. So it has higher standards which is equal to the US patrol system and it has multiple uses as well. And if you remember India has placed an order for five units in October 2018. Initially the delivery was to begin within 24 months but the delivery was delayed for several reasons and in July 2019 the government told parliament that the final deliveries of all the units are likely to be done by April 2023. And now Russia has officially announced that the delivery of first unit will be delivered very soon and it is expected to be operational by the end of this year. So now why S 400 is needed for India? See this deal is very crucial for India's defense system. On considering the challenges on its eastern and western frontiers that is from China on the eastern side and from the Pakistan on the western side to protect against attacks by missiles or fighter jets from China or Pakistan this S 400 is very very essential for India. And from the perspective of Indian air force see on the basis of either capability or cost there is no alternative system capable of serving Indian air force requirement of long range air defense. So there is no alternative system to safeguard the borders and the S 400 can constrain the adversary's air operation even within their own airspace. So considering these advantages India needed S 400 for sure. Now let us see some of the points which is actually discussed in this editorial article. First why US is upset with India for buying S 400 from Russia? See there are several reasons. One is that the US want India to reduce its traditional reliance on Russian defense system. See Russia has been the largest defense partner for India over the decades and the relations between India and US is affecting because of this defense partnership. India also inches closer to the US diplomatically and strategically and imports from the US has gone up largely at the cost of Russian imports. So this is the first reason for the upset of US but on the other side the largest concern about the deal for Indo-American relationship lies in a 2017 law. See this law is named as CATSA which was passed by the US government in 2017. This CATSA is named as countering America's adversaries through sanctions act. See its objective is to counter American adversaries especially Iran, Russia and North Korea through punitive measures. It actually imposes economic and travel sanctions on countries and officials who involve in major military and intelligence contracts with Russia, North Korea and Iran. To be specific the title two of the act deals with sanctions in Russian's interest which includes defense industry. To put it in simple words whichever country has or have ties with Russia, North Korea and Iran will also attract sanction from the US. And very important point to note here is that the act imposes the US president to impose at least five of the 12 listed sanctions mentioned in the section 235 on persons who engage in a significant transaction with Russian's defense and intelligence sector. So here the US president is empowered to impose sanctions on the countries who have significant transaction with Russian defense and intelligence sector and the type of sanctions are mentioned in section 235 that is the section 235 of the CATSA act. So for example the US imposed sanctions on Turkey which is a long-standing NATO ally. US did not spare Turkey itself. They imposed CATSA sanctions on Turkey also in December 2020 over its purchase of the system. And Washington has previously imposed sanctions against China's equipment development department for purchasing Russians, Sukhoi, SU-35, fighter jets and S-400 missiles. So now let us move on to see India's side. See India has faced similar threats in 2019 when India was planning to purchase oil from Iran and at the time India had caved in to the threats of US. But now India has firmly said that the deal is very crucial for India's defense system at a time of challenging on its eastern and western frontier as I said already that is from China on the eastern side and from Pakistan on the western side. But why there is talks about waiver for India alone in this aspect? Let us discuss the significance of India for US. See India is a prized US partner in Quad. You know Quad has four members that is Australia, Japan, India and US and as India inches closer to the US diplomatically and strategically US want India to stop traditional reliance on Russian defense system. So if sanctions are imposed then it might cost rift in India US ties and it could push India more closer towards Russia instead of moving away and India is a key element of US overall strategy in Indo-Pacific and for countering China. So to counter China India is a very important and the key element for US and for this matter India is very important for US. Now as I already said the US president has been authorized to waive the sanctions if it is found to be in America's vital national security interest or if India would reduce future dependence on Russian weaponry. But India is a sovereign country and its defense agreement shouldn't be dependent on sanctions by US. If defense agreements are made by keeping the sanctions in mind India's sovereignty will be affected. So what India should do is instead of attempting to convince the US to grant an exception to its domestic legislations New Delhi must make it clear to Washington that the law must be repealed because it contradicts the rule-based world order. See this rule-based world order is the bedrock of the India US global strategic alliance and in order to safeguard this bedrock New Delhi must make clear that the law must be repealed instead of convincing the US to grant an exception to its domestic legislation. So this is what the article tries to convey here. So in this article we discussed about S 400 its features we also discussed about the importance of S 400 for India and we also saw why US is upset with India for the purchase of S 400 from Russia. So these points will be very helpful for your main answer writing please make a note of it. Now let us move on to the next news article. Now for our final discussion let us take up this article. See this article speaks about the reopening of Kartharpur Saheb Gurudwara corridor. See the operation of this corridor where suspended since March 2020 on account of the COVID-19 pandemic now it is being reopened keeping the view of the improved COVID-19 situation. Apart from this this opening of the corridor is very important because the birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak comes ahead. So before getting to know about the Sikh Guru first let us see some of the basic details about the corridor. See the corridor was inaugurated in the year 2019 and this Kartharpur corridor is known as the corridor of international peace and harmony. See it is a 4.2 kilometer long visa-free passage connection that connects the town of Derababa Nanak in Punjab which is in India with the Kartharpur Saheb Gurudwara in Pakistan. So it is a 4.2 kilometer long visa-free passage and it connects the town of Derababa Nanak in Punjab that is in India and the Kartharpur Saheb Gurudwara in Pakistan. See the village Kartharpur is located at the west bank of River Ravi and this place is very important and it has its own significance because Sri Guru Nanak Devji he spent his last 18 years of life here and the Gurudwara Derababa Nanak is about one kilometer from the Indo-Pakistan border and on the east bank of River Ravi. So know these points these points will be very important for your problems examination. So you may have a question why this corridor is actually needed. See in 1947 the Radcliffe line divided these two important religious site and Kartharpur Saheb became a part of Pakistan's territory and a sad point to note here is that for decades devotees had to travel to Lahore to reach the Gurudwara traveling 125 kilometers despite it being just a kilometer away from the Indo-Pakistan border. So because of this reason to facilitate easy transportation to the Kartharpur Saheb and to the devotees this corridor was inaugurated and Prime Minister Modi he compared the Kartharpur project to the fall of the Berlin Wall and he said that it can become a reason for greater bonding between the people from both the nations. So far we saw about the Kartharpur corridor we saw that it is a 4.2 kilometer visa-free passage which connects the town of Derababa Nanak in Punjab and Kartharpur Saheb Gurudwara in Pakistan and we also saw that the Gurudwara Derababa Nanak which is about 1 kilometer from the Indo-Pakistan border which is on the eastern bank of the river Ravi and we also saw that the Kartharpur Saheb Gurudwara is located at the west bank of the river Ravi. We also saw that in 1947 the Radcliffe line divided these two important religious sites which made difficult for the devotees to reach the Kartharpur Saheb. Even though the Kartharpur Saheb is located a kilometer away from the India-Pakistan border devotees had to travel to Lahore to reach to the Gurudwara. The total length they have to travel is 125 kilometers because of this Radcliffe line. So to facilitate easy access or easy transport to the to the Kartharpur this Kartharpur corridor was inaugurated. So far we saw about the corridor. Now let us see some of the details about the Guru Nanak Devji which will be very important for your prelims examination. See Guru Nanak Devji he is the founder and the first Guru of Sikhism. He was born in the year 1469 in the village Kalvandi near the city of Lahore in present day Pakistan. See he undertook four major spiritual journeys across India, South Asia, Tibet and Arabian Peninsula and he emphasized the worship of one God. He emphasized that one God dwells in every one of his creations and all human beings can have direct access to God without the need of any rituals or priests. He also insisted that caste, creed or gender was irrelevant for attaining liberation and his idea of liberation was not that of a state of inert bliss but rather he emphasized on pursuit of active life with a strong sense of social commitment. So he emphasized worship of one God. He insisted that the caste, creed or gender was irrelevant for attaining liberation and he also emphasized that all human beings can have direct access to God without the need of any rituals or priests. So now let us see some of the teachings of Guru. See Guru Nanak Devji founder and formalized the three pillars of Sikhism. Let us see them one by one. The first one is Naam Japna. See it means to meditate through reciting chanting, singing and consistent remembrance followed by deep study and comprehension of God's name and virtues. So Naam Japna is nothing but meditation through reciting chanting singing and constant remembrance of God's name. The second one is Kirat Karani. It means to live as honorable households that is he emphasized to earn honestly by once physical and mental effort by accepting both pain and pleasures as God's gifts and blessings. So one has to stay truthful all the time and fear none but the eternal super soul. The third one is Vant Chatna. It means to share the wealth within the community and consume together. So these are some of the important teachings of Guru Nanak Devji and in this discussion we saw about the Kartarpur corridor its importance we also saw some of the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev his emphasizes and his ideas of liberation. So with this we came to the end of this news article discussion. Now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the prelims practice questions. There are two practice questions for today. Now look at this first question this question is about year quality management. The commission for year quality management has got the power to take pollution control measures in which of the following area. Statement 1, Delhi, Statement 2, Punjab, Statement 3, Haryana, Statement 4, Rajasthan and Statement 5, Uttar Pradesh. Choose the correct answer from the quotes given below. Option A, 1, 2 and 3 only. Option B, 1 and 2 only. Option C, 1, 4 and 5 only and option D, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. See if you could remember during our discussion I had mentioned that commission for year quality management is a statutory body and it was formed under the commission for year quality management in national capital region and adjoining area Act 2021. And I clearly mentioned that this CAQM has got the powers to take measures to lower the year pollution across all of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh that are part of the NCR. So based on this we can infer that all the statements given here are correct therefore the correct answer here will be option D, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Moving on to the next question, this question is about Kartarpur Corridor. Kartarpur Corridor recently seen in news connects which of the following countries with India. Option A, China, Option B, Bhutan, Option C, Bangladesh and Option D, Pakistan. See in the discussion itself we saw that Kartarpur Corridor connects the town of Derababa Nanak in Punjab which is in India with the Kartarpu Saheb Gurudwara in Pakistan. So the correct answer for this question is option D, Pakistan. Main questions are displayed here interested aspirants can go through it. With this we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video, like, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar IS Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.