 Good evening aspirants, welcome to Daily Hindu News Analysis brought to you by Shankarai's Academy for the date of 29th July 2023. Displayed here are the list of articles we are going to discuss today. So without any delay, let's get into our discussion. Take a look at this front page article. The news is that, yesterday Supreme Court has asked the central government and several state governments to respond to a petition about repeated mob lynchings and mob violence. The petition highlighted that, incidents of mob lynchings and cow vigilantism continue to happen in several states despite Supreme Court judgments. See in 2018, Supreme Court stated that, government machinery is wholly accountable for protecting the lives of victims in mob lynchings. But despite this judgment, the incidence of mob lynching is rising continuously. Because of this only, yesterday Supreme Court has asked the governments to respond to this petition about repeated lynchings and mob violence. This is all about the news. In this discussion, let us understand about mob lynchings and cow vigilantism and then we will see about 2018 Supreme Court judgment regarding this matter. Now first let us start with mob lynchings. Mob lynching refers to killing someone by aggressive crowd of people. See the mob kills a person based on the assumption that he is a criminal. Now the problem here is that, the mob kills a person based on mere assumption and there is no chance for legal trial. So an innocent person may also be killed by the crowd based on mere assumption. Now what is the reason for mob lynching in India? The first reason is intolerance. See some set of people in India are intolerant in accepting the acts of law. So they punish the alleged person themselves rather than relying on legal trial. The second reason for mob lynching is biases. As we all know, India is a diverse country with diversity in religion, caste, class and so on. Here arise the bias. See some people's mindset is oriented towards the religion or caste. So they don't tolerate another religion or caste. If any hatred arises then such people organize themselves and indulge in mob lynching. The third reason is lack of speedy justice. See in our country the courts are loaded with large number of cases. So it would take long years to get justice and it also undermines the efficient working of judicial system. Because of these reasons the people don't get afraid of judicial outcomes. So they take up the law in their hands and commit various offenses like lynchings. The final reason is inefficiency of police administration. As we all know the police officers plays an important role in protecting the life of people but there are no speedy investigative methods. Sometime it would take long time for police to complete an investigation. So such an ineffective investigation procedure does not create fear among the people who do mob violence. Because of this fact also the incidence of mob violence is rising day by day. Now coming to cow vigilantism. See cow vigilantism refers to lynching of an individual that is usually carried out in the names of cow protection. So why does cow vigilantism happen in India? In some states or parts of India cows are considered as sacked animals. In such states slaughter of cows or consumption of cow meat is prohibited or restricted by law. Here comes the cow vigilantes. Cow vigilantes refers to group of people who are committed to protect the cows. See in the areas where cows are considered as sacked animals the cow vigilantes volunteer themselves to monitor and enforce the laws related to protection of cows. This often results in violent activities like lynching and destruction of property. This is all about cow vigilantes. Now moving on to see about the 2018 Supreme Court judgment regarding mob lynching. See in 2018 a petition was filed against the mob lynchings by 3 individuals. The petition challenged the cow protection laws in 6 states such as Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The petitioners wanted those 6 states to take necessary and instant actions against all cow protection groups who are involved in violence. They also wanted the states to take necessary steps to remove the violent content posted on social media by the cow protection groups. This is all about the petition. Now we will see about the Supreme Court's judgment. See the Supreme Court gave guidelines to take various measures like preventive, remedial and punitive measures regarding mob lynchings. Under the preventive measures Supreme Court asked the state governments to appoint a senior police officer. This police officer would act as a nodal officer in each district. He will hold regular meetings to identify any chances of mob lynching. Apart from this, the nodal officer should also take necessary steps to stop the spread of violent content on different social media platforms. And then the Supreme Court also gave the remedial measures. Under the remedial measures, the court advised that an FIR should be immediately lodged without any delay. Apart from this, it also directed to establish fast track codes to deal with the cases of mob lynching and mob violence. In addition to this, the Supreme Court also directed the government to take necessary steps to protect the identity of high witnesses regarding mob lynching. Now coming to the punitive measure, the Supreme Court said that if a police officer has failed to follow the directions of court regarding mob lynchings, then it means that the officer has acted out of deliberate negligence and misconduct. So the court said that such an act of negligence and misconduct must be punished by the government. Additionally, a departmental inquiry must be initiated against the individual. This is all about the 2018 Supreme Court judgment regarding mob lynching and mob violence. But the government is yet to follow these regulations and that's why Supreme Court has asked the government to take necessary steps. This is all about our discussion. Let us move to our next topic. Have a look at this article. Yesterday, heavy rains caused flooding in Munneru river and it overflowed on Vijayavada Hyderabad highway. This has cut off road transportation in Andhra Pradesh and trapped 48 villagers in the flash flood. The disaster management team quickly responded and rescued all the villagers. This is the crux of the news article. In this context, let us quickly go through National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force. Before we begin this discussion, let us know about this Munneru river which is in news. The Munneru river is a tributary of Krishna river and it flows in Andhra Pradesh state. It originates in Nallamala hills that is part of eastern gods. The river is prone to flooding especially during monsoon season. In recent years, Munneru river has been polluted by industrial effluents and agricultural runoff. Now, coming back to our discussion. Let's see about NDRF, National Disaster Response Force. NDRF is a specialized force under government of India to provide quick response to natural and manmade disasters. The NDRF was formed in 2006 under Disaster Management Act of 2005. The NDRF has been deployed to respond a number of disasters including floods, cyclones, earthquakes and terrorist attacks. Originally in 2006, NDRF has 8 battalions. At present, NDRF has a strength of 15 battalions. Of these 3 battalions, each from BSF and CRPF and 2 each from CASF, ITBP and SSB. Each battalion has specialized search and rescue teams including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads and paramedics. All 15 battalions have been equipped and trained to respond to all natural as well as manmade disasters. These battalions of NDRF are also trained and equipped for chemical, biological, radiological and also nuclear emergencies. Here in this image, you can see 16 different locations in country where the battalions are located. The locations are selected based on the vulnerability profile of the country and to cut down the response time for their deployment during disaster. Now let us see about the organizational setup. The apex body for disaster management in India is National Disaster Management Authority NDMA. The chairman of this NDMA is Prime Minister. NDRF functions under NDMA. The head of NDRF is designated as Director General. The Director Generals of NDRF are usually IPS Officers on Deputation from Indian Police Organizations. Now moving on to SDRF, State Disaster Response Force. See, as per the National Policy on Disaster Management 2009, the state governments are also required to raise their own SDRF for quick response to disasters. As for now, 24 states have raised their own SDRF. Similar to NDRF, these SDRF are also placed strategically at suitable locations. The SDRF are also involved in capacity building and awareness generation programs within the state. During these programs, SDRF can make themselves familiar with the terrain, critical buildings and other existing infrastructure. And simultaneously, they can work with the school children, village volunteers and other stakeholders on what to do during disasters. That's all about this topic. Let us move to our next discussion. Take a look at this article. According to the article, yesterday our Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on the G20 nations to work for ending the plastic pollution. While addressing the G20 Environment Minister's meeting, he referred to the small island states as large ocean countries. He also stressed the importance of responsible use and management of ocean resources. This is the crux of the article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through some of the measures taken by Indian government to curb the plastic pollution. First such measure is National Dashboard on Elimination of Single Use Plastic and Plastic Waste Management. India launched a nationwide awareness program on single use plastics. A mobile app for single use plastic grievance redressal was also launched to empower citizens on information about single use plastics. Secondly, certain changes were made to plastic waste management rules in 2022. The government has implemented EPR regulations, extended producer responsibility regulations for plastic manufacturers and businesses. This policy made them responsible for managing the plastic waste generated from their products including collection and recycling. The goal was to incentivize producers to use more sustainable and recyclable materials. This will establish a better waste management system. Thirdly, India Plastics Pact was officially launched at annual summit of Confederation of Indian Industry in 2021. This plastics pact is an ambitious and collaborative initiative to bring the stakeholders together to reduce, reuse and recycle the plastics within the materials value chain. Next important measure is ban on single use plastics. Indian government has imposed partial or complete ban on single use plastics in various cities and states. These bans aimed to reduce the consumption and disposal of items like plastic packs, straws, cups which were major contributors to plastic pollution. Finally, to spread awareness among masses, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the mascot called Prakrithi. That's all about this discussion. Let us move to the next topic. Look at this news Recently, a military coup happened in Niger. This was in news for several days, so we cannot miss this. In this discussion, we are going to see about Niger and what are the coups happening in that area and some important points about Sahel region. See, Niger is a landlocked country located in West Africa. It is bordered by 7 countries, Nigeria, Chad, Algeria, Libya, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali. The capital of Niger is Niyame. Since 2020, many countries in West Africa are experiencing military coups, so this entire region is in conflict. In 2020, a coup happened in Mali, then it spread to Chad in 2021. Again in 2021, a military coup occurred in Guinea. Last year, a military coup happened in Burkina Faso. In addition to these successful coups, there has also been several failed coup attempts in West African countries since 2020. So the region is declining in democracy and is in constant conflict due to presence of several extremist and terrorist organizations. Niger is predominantly covered by Sahara desert and it also has Savannah grasslands. Niger River, one of the country's major water sources, flows through it. Niger faces security challenges due to presence of extremist groups linked to Al-Gaeda and Islamic State that are operating in Sahel region. Here, Sahel is one of the important regional names that we should study for Prelims exam. In previous year problems, UPSC has asked about the term Levant. This Levant refers to geographical area of eastern Mediterranean region. Likewise, Sahel is a transitional zone between Sahara desert and Savannah grasslands of Central Africa. The region stretches from Atlantic coast to Red Sea coast. So below the Sahara desert lies this region called Sahel. It extends for about 11 African countries. This is all about this discussion. Let us move to the next topic. Take a look at this article. Recently, there has been a news about Union government going to set up 16th finance commission by November this year. It is in this context the editorial is written. It is written by Mr. C. Rangarajan and Mr. D. K. Srivastava. As you all know, Rangarajan is a former governor of RBI and Srivastava served as a member of 12th finance commission. Through this editorial, two authors give various suggestions that can be taken into consideration for upcoming 16th finance commission. So in our discussion today, let us see about the basics of finance commission and also some points mentioned in the editorial. Before getting into the discussion, I have highlighted the syllabus regarding this discussion. You can go through it. Let us start with the basics. So first we will cover about the finance commission. A finance commission is constituted every five years by the president under article 280 of the constitution. This means it is a constitutional body. Besides this, it is also a quasi-judicial body. The main purpose of this body is to give recommendations on distribution of tax revenues. The commission basically determines the method and formula for distributing the tax proceeds between the center and the state. The finance commission also decides the share of taxes and grants to be given to local bodies in the states. Now we shall take a look at the composition of the commission. The finance commission has a chairman and four members, they are appointed by president. The members and the chairman serve for a length of time as determined by the president. Also note that they have a chance to be reappointed again. Now we shall see what are the main functions of the finance commission. According to article 280, the finance commission make recommendations to president on the distribution of net proceeds of tax which are to be divided between union and the states. The finance commission also make recommendations to the president on the allocation of net proceeds of tax between states that is between state governments. And secondly, finance commission gives suggestions regarding principles which should govern the grants in aid for the states out of consolidated fund of India. Thirdly, finance commission will also consider any other subject that the president refers to the panel in the interest of sound financial management. These are some of the important functions of finance commission. Here another important thing you have to note is the recommendations made by finance commission are only advisory in nature, they are not binding on the government, right? It is up to the government to implement its recommendations on granting money to the states. To put it in simple words, it is nowhere laid in the constitution that the recommendations of the commission are binding on government of India. These are some of the basic points you need to know about finance commission. Now coming back to the editorial, like I already mentioned, today's editorial is like a guide to 16th finance commission which is going to be set up in near future. So now let us see the important points mentioned in the editorial. The first important point is the share of taxes from the divisive tax pool. Here the divisive pool is the portion of gross tax revenue of the center which is distributed between center and the states. From tax, corporate tax, customs, duty, CGST, IGST are the part of divisive tax pool. The amount is shared between the center and the state based on the recommendations of finance commission. The 14th finance commission raised the share of states in divisive tax pool of central taxes to 42% from 32%. Then 15th finance commission reduced it a little bit. The 15th finance commission kept the share of taxes in divisive pool at 41%. Also the 15th finance commission argued that the reduction in share is due to Jammu and Kashmir losing its statehood. Now coming to 16th finance commission, the authors of the editorial state that the share should not be increased any further. This is because the financial condition of central government is not very good. The second suggestion is regarding the issues of SIS and surcharge. See the SIS and surcharge are not part of central divisive tax pool. The SIS and surcharge are collected and appropriated by the central government only. It need not to be shared with the states. For couple of years, the share of SIS and surcharge in the center's tax revenue has been increasing. It was 12.8% during 2015 to 2016 and it increased to 18.5% during 2021 and 2023. The authors feels that this increase is a worrying trend because an increase in share of SIS and surcharge decreases the amount in divisive tax pool. So the authors suggest placing the upper limit to share of SIS and surcharge as a percentage of central gross tax revenue. The authors suggest that the upper limit to be 10%. They also suggest that if the share of SIS and surcharge crosses the upper limit of 10%, then the vertical devolution between the center and state must be increased to 42%. These are the suggestions provided by the authors regarding SIS and surcharge. The next one is regarding GST. GST collections have maintained good buoyancy in last two years. Here the buoyancy refers to responsiveness in tax collection. The authors feels that even though GST collection has remained buoyant, the GST must be further simplified and restricted to reduce compliance burden. The next suggestion is regarding horizontal devolution. As I mentioned earlier, the Finance Commission gives recommendations regarding how the funds should be allocated between the states. Every Finance Commission gives different criteria to determine the fund collection for individual states. Here I have displayed the criteria by 15th and 14th Finance Commission. Here if you notice the income distance which carries the most weightage in both 14th and 15th Finance Commissions. Here the income criteria is a measure of relative backwardness of a state in terms of economic development. As the income distance has the highest weightage, poor states receive higher share from the center. Many of the richer states have argued for lowering this weightage so that they can get more funds. But the authors of the article suggested that the income distance must be maintained at current level. In addition to this, they also suggest that more funds should be given to poor states as a grants from the center. This will help India in long run as a poorer states will contribute relatively higher to India's demographic dividend in the future. The next suggestion of article is regarding the rationalization of criteria for horizontal allocation. Currently, the horizontal devolution is guided by various criteria like population, area, demographic performance, income distance, forest ecology and tax effort. This feels that it must be simplified and criteria should be limited to population, area and income distance. But this must be supplemented by a suitable scheme of grants. The authors also feel that the equalization principles in fund allocation must be followed to bring in equity. Here the equalization principle is the act of redistributing funds from wealthier governments to poorer governments in order to bring equity. The next suggestion is regarding the increase in debt to GDP ratio of center and states. The debt to GDP ratio for combined account of central and state governments was 89.8% in 2021 of which center's share was 58.7% and state's share was 31%. This is not in accordance with physical responsibility and budget management norms that is FRBM norms. According to FRBM 2018 amendment, the center's share should be within 40% and state's debt to share should be within 20%. But the current shares exceeds this limit as prescribed by FRBM Act. To address this issue and reduce the debt to burden of center and states, the authors of this article suggest setting up a loan council. This loan council was recommended by 12th finance commission. It is an independent body that would look after the debt to burden and financial profiles of center and state governments. The loan council will also provide suggestions about reducing the debt and limiting the non-merit subsidies. Lastly, the authors suggest that the steps should be taken by 16th finance commission to reduce the physical debt of the states. In this discussion, we saw the basics about finance commission and we also saw suggestions made by these authors regarding upcoming finance commission. This is all about this discussion. Let us move towards the next part of our discussion. Look at this article. It is about the ongoing climate crisis. In our discussion, we will see about important points mentioned in the article. United Nations Secretary General Antony Guterres recently mentioned that the world has moved from era of global warming to the era of global boiling. He mentioned this because this July is said to become the hottest month in last 12,000 years. According to world meteorological organization, the average July temperature so far reached 16.95 Celsius, which is 0.2 Celsius warmer than 2019. Such high temperatures have impacted the climate all over the world. Now let us see some impacts mentioned in the article. Firstly, the global temperatures are increasing. The ocean temperature is also on the rise. This has resulted in La Nina conditions turning into El Nino in Pacific Ocean. Secondly, the temperature in northwest China reached 52 degrees Celsius. The United States southwest also experienced some high temperatures this year. Then there were forest fires in Spain and Greece. In India, particularly in northern and northwestern region, there were floods this year. All these are direct result of increasing global temperatures. According to Mr. Guterres, if the world nations did not take immediate action, the global temperature would rise to more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. This could create future climate catastrophe. The United Nations mentioned that the developed countries should be more ambitious with the emission cuts to achieve the needed climate change goals. And finally, as India marches on to become the third largest economy, India must also have greater responsibility in greenhouse gas mitigation. This will also help in controlling the overall global warming of the world. This is all regarding this discussion. Let us move on to our next part of discussion. Take a look at this Pralim's practice question. The statement 1 is incorrect because the primary responsibility of disaster management lies with the states. The central government only supports the efforts of state governments by providing logistical and financial support. The statement 2 is correct because the nodal ministry for management of natural disasters is Ministry of Home Affairs. Look at the third statement. This statement is incorrect because the chairman of NDMA is prime minister as we have seen in the discussion. So the correct answer is option A, only one. Now moving on to our next Pralim's question. Which of the following project was launched by KVIC to make carry bags by mixing processed and treated plastic waste with cotton fiber racks? The correct answer is D, replant. Replant stands for reducing plastic in nature. In this project, plastic waste is collected and treated into new material. And this is mixed with the cotton fiber racks and processed into carry bags. So the answer is replant. Moving on to our next practice question. Consider the following statements. Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol and Paris Agreements aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. This statement is incorrect because the Montreal Protocol was established to face out the substances that cause ozone depletion. See the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement deals with the reduction of greenhouse gas. So this statement is incorrect. Now the second statement. This statement is correct because this is the aim of Paris Agreement. It is to reduce the global greenhouse gas emissions within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. So the correct answer is 2 only. This is the quiz question for today. Try to answer it and post the answer in comment section. Now moving on to the mainst practice questions. Displayed here are the mainst questions for today. Try to write the answer and post it in the comment section. We have come to the end of our discussion. If you like the video, please share it with your friends and don't forget to subscribe to Shankar Ayes YouTube channel. Thank you.