 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A.S. Academy, displayed on the list of news articles taken for today's analysis and their page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes is given in the PDF format, in the description box and also in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let us move on to the analysis of first news article. This news article states some of the observations made by the Supreme Court in various judgments where the Supreme Court stood for dignity of the individual against the tyranny of the majority. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. Now we are discussing the observations made by the Supreme Court because these observations are important with respect to article 141 of Indian constitution. The article mentions that the law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding on all courts within the territory of India. Here the law refers to the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court. Now if you take the case law of government of NCT of Delhi versus union of India. In 2018 the Supreme Court observed that the court should follow its constitutional morality to check state power and the tyranny of the majority. In 2018 in the case law of Navtaj Singh Johar versus union of India this case is popularly known with respect to decriminalization of homosexuality. In this case law the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court upheld the concept of identity with dignity. The Supreme Court mentioned that destruction of individual identity means crushing intrinsic dignity of a human being. That is destruction of individual identity would tantamount to crushing of intrinsic dignity that cumulatively encapsulates the values of privacy, choice, freedom of speech and other expressions. It also mentioned what are the intrinsic and core elements of identity of an individual under article 15. Religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth are to be the core elements and intrinsic identity of an individual. In the year 1952 in the case law of the state of West Bengal versus Anwar Ali Sarkar Habib the Supreme Court mentioned that if at all the state ventures to classify people on the basis of religion it should be reasonable, it should be based on intelligible differentiate and it should have a rational basis. And these have to be in line with the objective that is sought to be achieved by the law. There one component of intelligible differentiate is that there should not be inequality of treatment. That is one cannot be differentiated on the basis of religion by violating the right to equality or the right to equal treatment. And in the case law of SR Bombay versus Union of India, the Supreme Court observed that state cannot favor any particular religion and it is the government's duty to accord equal treatment to all religious sects and denominations. And in the case law of Syarobano versus Union of India and others, in the year 2017 the Supreme Court laid down a set of principles called as test of manifest arbitrariness. It observed that if a legislation is made in a capricious manner or in an irrational manner or without adequate determining principle or if done excessively and disproportionately such a law can be struck down or invalidated. Here the term capricious refers to a sudden change of stand taken by the government in this context. It also refers to an unaccountable behavior that goes along with the sudden change of stance. The news article mentions that these are the statements observed by constitutional benches of the Supreme Court. What do we mean by a constitutional bench? If you see article 145, clause 3, it states that there should be a minimum number of five judges to sit for the purpose of deciding any case that involves a substantial question of law that requires interpretation of constitution or for the purpose of hearing any reference under article 143. We know that article 143 deals with the power of precedent to consult Supreme Court. So such a bench where the minimum number of judges shall be five and that involves a substantial question of law requiring interpretation of constitution or hearing any reference under article 143 is called as constitutional bench normally. So these are some of the statements made by Supreme Court that have been highlighted by various petitions that are filed in Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 and we know that this Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 has received the assent of the President on 12th December 2019 and one of the important provisions for which the petitions are filed in Supreme Court is with respect to the provision that any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from three countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan who entered into India on or before 31st day of December 2014 shall not be treated as illegal migrant for the purposes of Citizenship Act 1955. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now let us move on to next news article. This news article is about Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana the syllabus that can be linked to and that is related for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. See the news article it talks about the drawbacks in this Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. So as we know Pradhan Mantri means Prime Minister, Matru means Mother in Hindi, Vandana in Sanskrit it means worshipping and Yojana means scheme. So this is a scheme for worshipping the motherhood by providing maternity benefits. So what constitutes the benefit? See the benefit here is that the intended beneficiaries they will receive a cash benefit of rupees 5000 in three installments and the eligible beneficiaries will also receive cash incentive under Janani Suraksha Yojana. See this Janani Suraksha Yojana is a centrally sponsored scheme and this scheme integrates cash assistance with delivery and post delivery care. Therefore on an average the beneficiary woman receives rupees 6000. So that is why in the newspaper you can find a mention that the maternity benefit program promises 6000 to new mothers. Now we have discussed about this Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana in detail on 19th November news analysis. For better understanding about the provisions of the scheme we request you to have a look at it. Today we will be just focusing about the drawbacks in the scheme. Now the main drawback of the scheme is about the exclusions in the scheme that is about the women who are excluded from getting the benefits under this particular scheme. If you see presently who are the beneficiaries? See all pregnant women and lactating mothers who have had their pregnancy on or after 1st January 2017 are eligible beneficiaries for first child in family. See the scheme outrightly excludes pregnant women and lactating mothers who are in regular employment with the central government or the state government or in public sector undertakings and also those pregnant women and lactating mothers who are receiving similar benefits under any other law for time being enforced. And the beneficiary is eligible to receive benefits under the scheme only once which means they can get the benefit only for their first child. We saw that under PMMVY the cash incentive is totally 5000 rupees. See the first installment is Rs. 1000. A pregnant woman and lactating mother is eligible for first installment when she completes registration within 150 days of last menstrual period. That is simply within 150 days of pregnancy. Then the second installment is Rs. 2000. The beneficiary will become eligible provided she has at least one anti-natal checkup for availing the second installment. Since the pregnancy, this second installment can be claimed after 6 months. That is it can be claimed after 6 months of pregnancy. Now the third installment which is Rs. 2000 it can be received after child birth registration and the completion of first cycle of vaccinations. See the incentives provided directly into the bank account of the beneficiaries. Now there is a common question that what will happen when there is a case of miscarriage or stillbirth of a child? Here when we say miscarriage we are referring to death of a fetus during pregnancy and stillbirth refers to a baby who is born with no signs of life. So in these cases according to the scheme the beneficiary would be eligible to claim the remaining installments in future pregnancy. For example if after receiving the first installment if the beneficiary has a miscarriage then she would only be eligible for receiving second and third installment in the event of future pregnancy. Now this is also subject to fulfillment of eligibility criterion and other conditionalities of the scheme. Now the conditionalities are registration of pregnancy then at least one antenatal checkup during pregnancy then registration of child birth and vaccinations to the child. So this means if a woman has undergone painful miscarriage this scheme does not addresses the pain undergone by this woman by giving any financial assistance subsequently after undergoing miscarriage or stillbirth. Now we have to note that even the women who undergo painful miscarriage or stillbirth their physical health has also to be improved but at present there is no concentration within the scheme for such disadvantaged women. Then if you see the beneficiary is eligible to receive benefits under the scheme only once so in case of infant mortality then the woman will not be eligible to claim benefits under the scheme. This is applicable if she has already received all the installments of maternity benefit under the scheme. So this means even if the child does not survive then the woman will not be given any benefit for the next child. Now this fact is disturbing because we can never know whether the child will survive or not. If you see the objective of the scheme it clearly states that the objective is to provide partial compensation for the wage loss because of the pregnancy period. Now this compensation will be given in terms of cash incentives so that pregnant women and lactating mothers can take adequate rest before and after the delivery of first living child. So the objective also clearly states that the benefit will only be continued if the first child leaves. Now this is important because the third installment of Rs 2000 will be given after the birth of the child. Now one another objective is that the cash incentive that is provided would lead to improved health seeking behavior among the pregnant women and lactating mothers. So if the child does not live then based on the scheme the improved health seeking behavior of the woman need not be ensured after that. Now this is the same situation with respect to those pregnant women and lactating mothers who undergo stillbirth or miscarriage. What about their deteriorating physical health? Now this is like shifting importance from the mother so in the beginning mother was given financial incentive but at the end only if the child survives the mother will be given the last installment. Now this has to be addressed and at least there has to be some prescribed time limit so that within which if the woman loses her child so that at least for such women in their next pregnancy such financial assistance would be extended. Now we know that as the scheme states that in the event of future pregnancy remaining installments can be claimed but the pain undergone by the pregnant women and the lactating mothers cannot be sorted out in installments. She has to undergo the complete procedure of pregnancy, labor, giving birth and all other requirements with respect to health. So based on all these conditions and some other conditions it is blamed that the scheme is not universal. We are saying it is not universal because the scheme also excludes single women, newly wed women, young brides and also other women who are in need of this cash assistance during and after pregnancy. See the problem is based on registration of the scheme. If you see the registration application it requires an applicant to provide her husband's other details along with her own other details. So this clearly means that the single women who are pregnant cannot avail the benefit. Here when we say single women we mean unwed mothers, deserted wives and also widows. So in addition to this the application form requires separate undertakings from the woman and her husband that the child for whom they are seeking the benefit will be the first living child for both of them. So this means that the single women cannot avail the benefits. Now this is how the scheme excludes single mothers. Now there is one another example or situation. If the woman is the second legal wife of a man and if that man has already one living child with first wife then the second legal wife of the man cannot avail financial benefit even for her first pregnancy. And the scheme also curtails widow remarriage. Here when we say about women you cancel about those women who are in desperate need of such financial assistance to undergo pregnancy and also to give birth to a child. Now coming to the problems faced by newly wed women. Here the application requires to provide proof of address of residence. We know that in our country immediately after marriage woman most of the women move from maternal home to marital home which could be a new residence or address of her husband. So we know that here there is registration for three installments three separate registrations during pregnancy. Mostly the woman will be in for some time the woman will be taken care in her maternal home the after birth the woman mostly they will be going to marital home. Here there is complexity with respect to providing address proof in the implementation stages of the scheme. So most of the newly wed women are undergoing undue pressure and there is also pressure with respect to other giving other details when the address change other address has to be subsequently changed. Here the updating the proof of address at this stage for a woman is difficult because already she is undergoing the process of pregnancy. So here what is required is there has to be simplification of procedure that has to be supporting mechanisms for the beneficiary. And there is one criteria that in registration if they could not provide other details if they do not have other details within 90 days they have to register and receive the other number and other card. The next problem is that the scheme excludes young brides. Now this is because the registration application requires that the applicant woman has to be at least 19 years old. Now we know that legal age for women to get married is 18 years. Based on this the scheme has fixed the minimum age to get the benefit as 19 years. Now we know this is the legal requirement of 18 years but we also know that the reality is far from this. This is because many women who get pregnant are under the age of 18 years. This was even noted by the general secretary of national federation of Indian women according to this general secretary around 30 to 35 percent of first time mothers are under the age of 18 years. Therefore young brides are unable to get the benefit under the scheme. And most of the first time mothers we can say they are financially disadvantaged position who are in dire need to get financial assistance under such a scheme. Now there are other women who are left out from being beneficiaries under the scheme because of detailed documentation process. These women are called as women who are living on the margins. Here living on margins refer to the women who do not belong anywhere completely or those women who do not fit into a single group of people completely or those women who live outside of socially accepted norms or those women who lack social power. For example we can say female sex workers women who are in custody that is who are in prison or other custodial institutions. Migrant women and those women who are living in conflict situations or post conflict situations. See these women are not able to fulfill the documentation requirements and process. So they are unable to claim benefits. Though they are in dire need of monetary compensation. Now there is another problem that is corruption. It is said that women have to pay a bribe during the application process. So this directly takes away the main objective of the scheme in providing monetary compensation. Now we know that corruption or abuse of power will be there whenever a process is heavily documentation oriented. Whenever such a process includes much detailed documentation process. So if all these are simplified if all these are some of them are made online. The corruption involved could be minimized to a large level. Now there is one another thing that is the third installment that is a beneficiary is eligible for the third installment of rupees 2000 provided the child lives for six months. If the child dies before six months after the birth then the beneficiary is not eligible to get the third installment. So for all these drawbacks and restrictions the human rights defenders and activists they are demanding for reviewing this to include all women and they are also demanding for removing various restrictions. One is the restriction on number of children. Then there is also a demand to increase compensation amount under the scheme. They are demanding that the sum the total assistance should be at least on par with minimum wages for women in self employment. So we can say that at least the compensation assistance should be at least around some 10,000 rupees from the present level of 5000. So these are some of the important drawbacks. So these are some of the important points with respect to the analysis of this news article. We saw about the scheme in general and some of its important provisions. Then we saw some of the important drawbacks with respect to the scheme and we discussed along with some of the provisions. Now this discussion will be with respect to Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana in connection with one of the comment that has been received from one of our regular viewers. On 19th November when we discussed about Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana the viewer has commented that there is a provision to give 6000 rupees under National Food Security Act 2013 and there is no limit on the number of children whereas under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana there is a provision to give 5000 rupees and the number of child should be one. Then what NFSA has been terminated? Now the viewer's question is that whether the provision under NFSA has been nullified or terminated. Now if you see the news article that we just now discussed it also mentions that getting maternity benefit is a woman's right under the National Food Security Act of 2013. Now in this context let's see the link between the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana and the National Food Security Act of 2013. Firstly the maternity benefit program that is Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana is being implemented in all districts of the country and this implementation is in accordance with the provision of National Food Security Act of 2013. So what is this provision in the National Food Security Act of 2013? This is section 4 of National Food Security Act which is a separate and special provision with respect to nutritional support to pregnant women and lactating mothers. This section deals with the schemes framed by the central government for providing nutritional support to pregnant women and lactating mothers. So according to section 4 if government is to frame a scheme to provide nutritional support to pregnant women and lactating mothers the beneficiary shall be entitled to meal which is free of charge during pregnancy period and also for the period of 6 months after the childbirth so as to meet the nutritional standards and this meal has to be provided through local Angan Vadi. Now this provision is presently being implemented by the Integrated Child Development Services scheme. The beneficiaries under the scheme are children in the age group of 0 to 6 years and also pregnant women and lactating mothers. Now here you note subsection B or class B here every pregnant women and lactating mother shall be entitled to maternity benefit of not less than 6000 rupees in installments as prescribed by the central government. Here note the term as may be prescribed by the central government. Now based on this provision the scheme of Pradhan Mantri Matruvantana Yojana is being implemented. The section also mentions who are not entitled to benefit from this provision as we discussed with respect to Pradhan Mantri Matruvantana Yojana they are all pregnant women and lactating mothers who are in regular employment central government or state government or in public sector undertakings or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any other law. They are not entitled for the benefits under the scheme that is to be based on subsection B of section 4 of National Food Security Act of 2013. So this section 4 has not mentioned anything about the number of children and just because it does not mention about the limit or the number of children it doesn't mean that this provision under the National Food Security Act has been terminated or nullified or invalidated. So what is actually happening it is the Pradhan Mantri Matruvantana Yojana that incorporates the clause B or subsection B of section 4 and as may be prescribed by the central government it has some conditions on its own. One among the condition is getting benefit only for the first living child. Now this is the clarification made with respect to the comment made by one of our regular viewers. Now let us move on to next news article. This news article talks about a bug which is named as Strandhog. See this drug allows a malware to hijack legitimate applications that are used in Android devices. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. See we know that Android is an operating system that is developed by Google and this operating system is used in several smartphones and also tablets. Now when we say bug it refers to a vulnerability or a coding error that is in a program that causes a program or a device to misbehave or to behave in a way it was not intended to. Now let's come to the news article. It states that Union Home Ministry has sent an alert to all states. This alert is to warn the states about vulnerability of Android operating system to a particular bug called as Strandhog. It also mentions that this bug is able to allow real time malware applications to pose as genuine applications and such a bug can also access user data of all kinds. It could be an audio recording or a photograph or it could access contact details. Now we know that when we say malware we are referring to Malaysia software. This is an umbrella term. It describes any Malaysia's program or a Malaysia's code that is harmful to computer systems or mobile devices or electronic devices. Now if you see the characteristics of a malware it is first hostile in nature then it is intrusive that is it seeks to invade computer systems computer networks or mobile devices to get access to personal information. It can damage and disable computer systems and gadgets and frequently it will also take partial control or sometimes entire control over the operation of a particular device. Some of the variants of malware for example we can say viruses, ransomwares, spywares. Recently we also discussed about the spyware Pegasus and we know that Pegasus as a spyware it exploited a vulnerability in the WhatsApp's video call feature. So we have explained it on 1st November 2019. Now the information mentions that all versions of Android operating system even including the latest Android 10 these are vulnerable to this Strandhog bug. The worst part with respect to this bug is that most of the affected users they even do not know that malware applications are already in their device posing as a genuine applications and such a malware or this bug can finally potentially listen to all the conversations and it can access photo album, it can read or send messages, it can make calls, record conversations and even get the login credentials to various accounts even some of them could be bank account or Gmail account or any other account for that matter and it can also access private images, files, contact details, call logs and location information including. So how does this particular malware gets activated? See while using our phones we could have seen pop-ups that are asking for permission to send notifications or messages etc. And for Strandhog bug these pop-ups are one of the main entry points to launch the attack into someone's device. Another symptom we can say if a user is already logged in to a particular application then the user will be getting a request to log in again in the same application this points to one of the possibility of a cyber attack by this bug. Once users approve such request and carry out the task of logging in then the malware would instantly access the mobile phone or the tablet. So this is another threat to the privacy of individuals across the world putting the personal data into vulnerability. According to the threat analytical unit of Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center at least 500 popular applications they are at risk because of this malware. Now let's see a few information with respect to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center. See it is also called as I4C. It was launched by Ministry of Home Affairs for the period 2018 to 2020. The objective here is to combat cybercrime in the country in a coordinated and effective manner. Note that I4C it acts as nodal point in the fight against cybercrime. Now some of the other important objectives of this Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center. See one is to take up research and analysis activities in developing new technologies and forensic tools to prevent misuse of cyberspace. This they will be doing in collaboration with academia or research institutes within India or those institutes abroad as well. And one another task is to prevent misuse of the cyberspace so that the space shall not be exploited by extremist and terrorist groups. Then the center can also suggest amendments in cyber laws so as to keep pace with fast changing technologies and also to promote international cooperation in this area. Then to coordinate all activities leading to implementation of mutual legal assistance treaties with other countries related to cybercrimes. The coordination will be carried out by the center in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs and concerned departments of other countries. See this mutual legal assistance treaty. It is between two or more countries. Here the purpose is to gather and exchange information in an effort to enforce criminal laws or any other public law in a country. Here the cooperation will be sought with respect to cyber laws and this I4C or the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center it has seven components. One is National Cybercrime Threat Analytics Unit. We have seen one information given by this analytics unit with respect to the fact that more than 500 popular applications are at risk because of Strandhog and then National Cybercrime Reporting Portal then Platform for Joint Cybercrime Investigation Team, the National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem, National Cybercrime Training Center, Cybercrime Ecosystem Management Unit, National Cyber Research and Innovation Center. So these are the seven components of this Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center that was launched by Ministry of Home Affairs for the period 2018-2020. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. Now let us move on to next news article. This news article is about FASTAC. Syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now we know that FASTAC is a device that is used for making toll payments directly when the vehicle is in movement. See since yesterday that is 15th of December FASTAC has come into operation in our country. So let's see how FASTAC works. See it works with a passive RFID technology that is passive radio frequency identification technology. We are calling it as passive because FASTAC here works with no internal power source or with no battery. Then how are they powered? They are powered by electromagnetic energy that is transmitted from an RFID reader. So what about active RFID system? See it is battery powered system. We have seen in our earlier classes that active RFID system is expensive than passive RFID system. However, active RFID system has higher range of operation when compared to passive RFID system. See the FASTAC ID will be affixed on the vehicles. This ID will be linked to a particular account. This could be a prepaid account or a savings account or a current account of the customer. So that when the vehicle crosses the toll booth the payment will be directly deducted from the FASTAC that is linked to the customer's account. If an account does not have required or enough balance so as to make a payment while moving through a toll booth then the vehicle will be blacklisted and therefore the person on the vehicle has to manually pay the toll payment. See FASTAC is vehicle specific that is once it is affixed to a vehicle it cannot be transferred to another vehicle. Then where from one can purchase the FASTAC. See it can be purchased from any of the member banks of a program called as National Electronic Toll Collection Program. Some of the banks are SBI, Paytm Payments Bank, Aftal Payments Bank and some other designated member banks of NETC program. So what about this program? See National Electronic Toll Collection Program is developed by the National Payments Corporation of India. Yesterday we saw that IMPS infrastructure is managed by National Payments Corporation of India and yesterday we also saw that the unified payments interface based on which there was two problems question in the year 2017 even that UPI was also developed by National Payments Corporation of India. Now come to National Electronic Toll Collection Program. Now this program offers an interoperable nationwide toll payment solution. Now this includes clearing toll booth house services for payment settlement and it also includes dispute management with respect to toll payment and payment settlement and all the matters connected with toll payments. Earlier we have discussed that there will be one hybrid lane at every toll plaza. When we say hybrid lane here we are referring to that lane in which other modes of payment will be accepted. That lane that is made to facilitate and monitor oversized vehicles and it was announced that even the hybrid lane at present would be converted into a fast tag lane in a time bound manner. See when we say fast tag lane in the toll plaza it is reserved exclusively for the movement of fast tag users. This is according to national highways fee rules of 2008 to be specific national highways fee determination of rates and collection rules 2008. If you see rule 6 sub rule 3 it states that non fast tag users are to be charged double the fee if they pass through fast tag lanes. Now some of the special features particularly one special feature that they have announced as the short term incentive so as to enable quicker adoption is that there will be a 2.5% cash back on all toll payments made at the national highways for the financial year 2019-2020 that is up to 31st March 2020. Now another feature is that increased transparency of toll payments and this will also be a step towards less cash economy. Because there is no need to pay in terms of hard cash. Now let's come to the news article. See there is confusion among the travelers. Now this is with respect to a notification issued by ministry of road transport and highways. It said that 25% of declared fast tag lanes should be converted into hybrid lanes at every toll plaza. This has to be carried out till January 15 that is for 30 more days from 15th December 2019. Now if you see in true sense this is not an extension of deadline however it is perceived as a deadline extension for mandatory use of fast tag among the travelers or among the drivers. Now some of the issues faced by commuters with respect to fast tag implementation is that there is shortage of RFID stickers in the market. Therefore many travelers could not get the stickers and one another complaint is that fast tags bought online were not delivered at time. So there has to be some mechanism to handle this particular complaint in the present time. One another issue is that lack of supply of fast tags near toll plaza. So had there been such a provision it would have been easier for many vehicles to easily adopt to this scheme. There is one another requirement that even though the vehicle may have been affixed fast tag but if there is no sufficient balance then the objective itself is defeated. The objective is to make seamless travel but when there is insufficient balance hard cash to be paid at the toll booths. News article mentions that as of now only around some 37 vehicles that are using toll plazas have affixed fast tags. Now some of the solutions could be that providing timely delivery of fast tags on time in all mode be it in online or offline. A supporting mechanism could be providing fast tags near toll plazas itself for quicker adoption and travelers from the side of citizens they should purchase fast tags at the earliest and they should also ensure that they have enough balance so as to achieve the objective of fast tag because at some kind of scale there is also laxity in adhering to the standards that have been specified by the government some time ago with respect to fast tag. So there is also commitment that is required from the side of citizens as well. So these are some of the information with respect to the analysis of this news article now let us move on to next article. This news article is about the 45 Vande Bharat Rex or Vande Bharat trains and the news mentions that the railway officials are skeptical or having doubt of making 45 Vande Bharat trains in a period of two years. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. We'll discuss about the train 18 that is called as Vande Bharat Express then the present status of the train and also the future targets. See it is the first semi high speed train of India. It was designed and manufactured under the Make in India initiative. It will have a maximum service speed of about 160 kilometer per hour though it can attain a speed of 180 kilometer per hour. When we say service speed that is the operation speed in the prescribed routes. Now coming to the important features of this Vande Bharat Express. See it was manufactured by integral coach factory in Chennai. It's a self propelled engine less semi high speed multiple unit train set that has a service speed of 160 kilometer per hour. Here when we say engine less we are mentioning that it will not have a separate locomotive engine that we can see in other locomotive trains. It has quicker acceleration ability and it also has better passenger amenities or facilities than the conventional or other locomotive trains and the toilets in these coaches. They are fitted with zero discharge vacuum based bio toilets. One another specialty is that it provides comfort and speed to the passengers and all coaches here are like chair car type for day travel and 180 degree revolving seats in the executive class of this train and all coaches of the train are also provided with onboard Wi-Fi facility and GPS based passenger information system. Now this is helpful for the passengers and their guardians to be informed about the travel status and another difference with respect to the conventional trains is that the train 18 will have a driving cabin at both ends. Therefore there is no need to reverse the train set once it reaches its final destination. So a lot of time and energy and work and labor is saved here. So these are some of the special or main features of Vande Bharat Express. So simply we can say that it is an engineless semi-high speed train that requires no separate locomotive engine. It is like metro trains that run in cities or that runs in suburban networks without a locomotive engine hauling them. But comparing to a metro train here in case of train 18 it is able to achieve such a speed because of complex technological evolution associated with this Vande Bharat Express. Objective behind having such express trains is to replace intercity express trains which having the travel time of around six hours of range. If you see at present two routes are operationalized with Vande Bharat Express by the Indian railways. These routes are New Delhi to Varanasi and New Delhi to Katra in Jammu and Kashmir. Now Indian railways want to increase the number of routes with the Vande Bharat Express. Therefore it requires more number of coaches to be manufactured to be operated in these new routes. In line with this requirement recently new specifications were issued by the railway ministry. These specifications are to upgrade the technical specifications that exist at present with respect to Vande Bharat Express. Now the objective is to overcome the reported technical glitches for example power consumption issues and some other issues like allegations over favoritism and lack of transparency maybe with respect to awarding tender or issuing tender and all other related processes. The news article mentions that the railway ministry directed the integral coach factory of Chennai to continue making Vande Bharat Express trains with the revised specifications. The ministry is planning to roll out about 45 trains by the year 2021 to 2022 and this will actually require the number of coaches to be around 720. But it is said that the target may not be achievable within the prescribed time frame and this is because a new prototype is yet to be designed according to the new specifications and they are saying that even the development of a new prototype would take at least till November 22 and with respect to development of new prototype and developing rakes in new specifications or revised specifications new procedure is required. This will include calling for tenders awarding the tender and testing the safety measures for example oscillation assessment other safety tests and it will also require certification for operation this will be given by commissioner of railway safety. So to include all these processes with respect to developing trains as per revised specifications they are saying it will be possible only by November 2022 so that the first prototype can be put into service a month later. Based on this assessment they are saying that the mass production of remaining trains will is expected to be completed by the year 2024 as per the revised specifications but one solution or one common suggestion given by experts is that the target can be met provided two factories joined with integral coach factory of Chennai in achieving this mission. These factories could be the rail coach factory of Kapoorthala in Punjab and modern coach factory in Rai Birrali however the chairman of the railway board Mr. V.K. Adho has opposed the various allegations with respect to the delay in achieving the target and he has said that the target of complete production of all the 45 REX or trains by 2022 can be accomplished. Now if you see the year 2022 is significant this is because it is going to be the 75th year of Indian independence and by the time the nation completes 75 years of its independence it has already prescribed certain targets that are to be achieved by that time. If you take with respect to farmers the target is doubling farmers income by 2022. If you take in the sector of energy the target is to install 175 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity by the year 2022 and if you take with respect to housing or water connection, toilet facilities, electricity supply here the objective is that every family will have a paka house with water connection, toilet facilities, anytime electricity supply, all-time electricity supply by the year 2022. Even under the Poshan Abhyan for children the vision is to ensure attaining malnutrition free India by the year 2022. In this context the target of developing 45 Vande Bharat trains or REX by 2022 is a crucial target for the ministry of railways. So these are some of the information with respect to the analysis of this news article. Now let's move on to next news article. This news article is with respect to few provisions or rules from the manual of parliamentary procedures in the government of India. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now if you see rule 11.4 of this manual of parliamentary procedures in government of India once the rules are finalized the concerned ministry or department has to publish them in the gueset and then these rules had to be laid on the table of each house of the parliament and according to rule 11.5.1 once the rules are published in the gueset these rules has to be laid on the table of each house as soon as possible within a period of 15 days from the date of their publication in the official gueset if the house is in session and within a period of 15 days from the date of commencement of next session provided the house is not in session. The news article generally mentions that rules state these are the time limit these rules are nothing but the rules from the manual of parliamentary procedures in the government of India document. Now this news article states that there are some issues with respect to laying down these rules on the table of each house and therefore it states that there are some issues with respect to accountability in this matter from various ministries to the parliament and according to a study by a parliamentary panel it has found that there is a delay of around 1 to 10 months in laying down various statutory notifications which contains rules and regulations have been placed on the table of each house but after a delay of around 1 to 10 months. So this means there is a lackadisical approach which negates the principle of accountability of the executive to the parliament. This is because of the delay in laying down the notified rules or statutory notifications on the table of each house and it was found that in most of the cases the reasons for delay were not recorded while the notifications are tabled on the houses of the parliament. Here you know about this rule and also that the rules are from the manual of parliamentary procedures in the government of India know about this time frame and in terms of means this can come under the accountability issues particularly the accountability of executive to the parliament. You can highlight this example in your main's question provided the question is with respect to the principle of accountability of executive to the parliament. Now let us move on to the practice questions discussion session. Now look at this question what is strandhawk which was recently seen in the news. First it is a spyware developed by an Israeli technology firm. We have seen some news articles talking about Pegasus software which is a Malaysia software which exploited the vulnerability in video call feature of WhatsApp and it is alleged that it was developed by an Israeli technology firm called as NSO group. This is not the right description for the strandhawk bug. Now come to option D which is the correct answer. See it is a bug that allows malware to hijack legitimate applications in our Android devices. So recently Ministry of Home Affairs has alerted all the states that Android operating systems are vulnerable to this particular bug called as strandhawk. Now the second option it is joint military exercise between India and Australia. Now India and Australia we have a joint bilateral Navy exercise called as OS index. In this year it was conducted in the month of April. So the correct answer for this question is option D. Now this question is with reference to Indian cyber crime coordination center. They have given three statements and are asking which of those statements are correct. The first statement I4C will act as the nodal point in the fight against cybercrime. See this Indian cyber crime coordination center which is also called as I4C was launched by Ministry of Home Affairs for the period of 2018 to 2020 and it is to act as the nodal point in fight against cybercrime. So the first statement is correct. So you can eliminate option B. Now second statement mentions that one of its objectives is to coordinate all activities related to implementation of mutual legal assistance treaties with other countries related to cyber crimes. Now this statement is also correct. Now the third statement it was launched by Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for a period of two years. Now this statement is wrong. See once you are sure that this statement is incorrect you can easily arrive at the correct answer because you can find statement 3 in three options option B option C option D. We know that it is launched by Ministry of Home Affairs so the correct answer is option A one and two only. Now let's see this main question in G.S. paper 2 Pratan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana is not a universal scheme. In the light of the above statement discuss the salient features and drawbacks of the scheme suggest measures for improvements. Now for salient features of the scheme you can mention that it provides partial compensation for wage loss to pregnant women and lactating mothers by way of financial assistance in terms of three installments. This assistance is provided so that the beneficiaries can take required and enough rest before the delivery of first living child and also after the delivery of first living child. And the idea behind the cash incentive is that to lead to improved health seeking behavior among pregnant women and lactating mothers and in the scheme rupees 5000 is given as financial assistance in three installments. Then this scheme is also a centrally sponsored scheme. It is implemented through the platform of Anganwadi centers, accredited social health activists and also through axillary nurse and midwife workers. Now coming to drawbacks you can mention that there is tiring and tedious documentation process during every installment. There is separate application form because of this there is also an element of corruption. Many people are unable to reap the benefits mainly because of the documentation process itself and in case of miscarriage or stillbirth the beneficiary can claim the remaining installment only in future pregnancy. So that means to claim the remaining installment the woman has to get pregnant in the future. The main point as given here it is not a universal scheme is because that it excludes lot of pregnant women and lactating mothers who are in disadvantaged positions. For example single women who are unwed mothers, deserted wives and widows. This is because it requires an undertaking by husband and wife that they are going to receive this benefit for their first living child only because for single women they cannot ensure such a declaration or undertaking together and there is also a provision that only if the child lives six months after birth then only the third installment will be given and what about the case of infant mortality. In that case women will not be eligible for climbing benefits under the scheme. Imagine a case where the child who was born dies within a period of six months or there is miscarriage or there is stillbirth. Now in this case the woman would have already received first two installments but the baby has died but when she goes for next pregnancy then she will not be eligible to claim first two installment even though she is undergoing the same process of pregnancy and pain for the next pregnancy. So that is one of the drawback in the scheme and there is also a drawback with respect to difficulty in availing benefits under the scheme for newly wed women and young brides because we know that under the scheme the lower limit of age to enjoy benefit has to be 19 years and newly wed women are facing challenges because of requirement of address proofs because they will be moving from maternal home to marital home and then back to maternal home then again to marital home during and after the process of pregnancies in our country. So here there is procedural difficulties that have to be simplified and then this scheme is not taking care of those women who are living on the margins or those women who are marginalized sections for example sex workers or migrant women and those women who are living in areas of post-conflict situations. This is because they may not be having all the required documents all the requirements in the documentation processes etc. So these are some of the points that you can use for sale and features and drawbacks. Now for improvement review of the scheme is required so as to include all women and also to remove restriction with respect to number of child at least for those women who face loss of first living child say within a prescribed time limit or those women who undergo painful miscarriage or those women who experience stillbirth and at the end note you can say that many women who are in dire need of receiving such cash incentives or very poor in legal literacy and they do not have adequate awareness to enjoy the benefits filling registration forms and various other even grievance reversal mechanism with respect to the scheme so conducting awareness campaigns will definitely benefit the women who are in need of such financial assistance program. So with this we come to the end of today's Hindu news analysis if you like the video click the like button comment share and subscribe to Shankaray's academy youtube channel for more updates and content on civil service exam preparation