 Good evening aspirants I welcome you all to the Hindu daily news analysis brought you by Shankar IAS Academy for the newspaper dated 21st of July 2023. Displayed here is a list of articles that we will take up for discussion. Go through it. Now we will start with the first article discussion. Look at this article from the opinion page. It explores various issues regarding the delay of the delimitation process that is scheduled to take place in 2026. Here we shall discuss what is delimitation process, how it will impact the electoral politics in India and we will also see what are the challenges regarding the delimitation process. First let us see what delimitation is. See basically delimitation is the process of redrawing the boundaries of Lokshava and state assembly constituencies based on our recent census. This is done to ensure that each seat has an almost equal number of voters. Why is it necessary to redraw boundaries? See boundaries need to be redrawn periodically for several reasons. First the population of different areas changes over time. Some regions may experience rapid growth in population while others may see slower growth or even a decline in population. So if we don't update the boundaries it could lead to unequal representation. Some areas will have too many representatives for their population and others will have too few. Let me give an example. See there is a town called EX and there are 15,000 residents in this town. Now there are two cities A and B. A has a population of 10,000 and B has a population of 5,000. There is a local council and each of these cities A and B have one representative each. Both cities have same number of representatives. So A's representative speaks for 10,000 residents while B's representative speaks for only 5,000 residents. With a smaller constituency the representative from B may have easier time addressing the concerns and needs of their residents. On the other hand the representative from A may find it more challenging to effectively represent the interest of all 10,000 residents. As a result the voice of residents from A is not effectively here in the council. So to ensure fair representation delimitation is carried out based on the population. So after redrawing the boundaries EX is divided into two equally populated areas and each has 7,500 residents. Now both A and B have one representative and each of these representative speaks for an equal number of residents that is 7,500. This ensures that every resident's vote carries equal weight regardless of their city. So delimitation has made the representation more equitable and reflective of the town's actual population distribution. See delimitation is not a frequent process. The last time it happened in India was in 1976. At that time the boundaries were redrawn based on the population data from the 1971 census. After that a decision was made to freeze delimitation based on population for 25 years. This is to allow time for population growth rates to level out between different states. Now why did they decide to freeze it? See the decision to freeze delimitation was taken because of the imbalances in the population growth between the north and southern states. Some northern states were experiencing high population growth rates compared to the southern states. So in order to address this imbalance the delimitation exercise was frozen. Then again in 2002 there was a delimitation exercise but it did not involve the changing of total number of seats in Lokshava or the state legislative assemblies. The boundaries of constituencies were redrawn based on the 2001 census data but note that the total number of seats for each state reminded the same as in 1976. Now article 82 speaks about the delimitation of Lokshava seats. It says that Parliament is empowered to readjust the allocation of seats in the Lokshava and the division of each state into territorial constituencies after every census. This is done by enacting a delimitation act after every census. So after the commencement of the delimitation act the central government constitutes a delimitation commission and this delimitation commission will demarcate the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies as per the provisions of the delimitation act. So this is about the delimitation for Lokshava elections. Note that article 170 speaks about the delimitation of state legislative assembly in states. So article 170 says that Parliament is empowered to readjust the total number of seats in the legislative assembly of each state and the division of each state into territorial constituencies after every census. So both the delimitation exercise is performed by the delimitation commission constituted by the parliament based on the delimitation act. Also note that central government has set up the delimitation commissions in 1952-1962-1972 and 2002 under the respective delimitation commissions act for a readjustment of Lokshava seats. See we saw that after the 1976 delimitation exercise it was kept frozen for 25 years. Ideally it should happen after every census. The reason why we kept it frozen was due to imbalances in population growth between the northern and southern states. In 2002 we had a delimitation exercise but even after the 2002 delimitation the concern about population imbalance persisted. So it was decided that the first census after 2006 will be used for delimitation. Statistical data show that northern states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have decennial growth rates of 12% to 15% whereas in the southern states the growth rates ranges from 6% to 10%. So it is presumed that after 2026 the population leveling will take place but there are issues. See when they redraw boundaries during delimitation some regions may lose seats because their population did not grow as much. This can make these states unhappy. Delimitation can also become political with parties trying to change boundaries to help them win more elections even if it is not fair. So this is called gerrymandering. See gerrymandering is when politicians redraw the boundaries of voting areas to help their own political party win more election. They do this by manipulating the shape of the constituencies so they include more voters who support them. Also India's diverse cultural and linguistic landscape complicates the delimitation process. Political parties often advocate for the creation of constituencies based on ethnic, linguistic or religious identities and this can lead to tensions and conflicts. There is also a fear among political parties that migration between states might impact the electoral politics after delimitation. The next issue is that delimitation requires accurate and up-to-date data on population demographics but the central government is delaying the process of census which may have an impact on delimitation process. The states that may lose representation could be unhappy and there is a significant presence of regional identity in many states. Therefore the delimitation process could have significant political consequences and must be approached with caution. Despite all these challenges, delimitation is a crucial aspect for maintaining a robust democratic system in India. It seeks to uphold the principle of one person, one vote and it ensures that every citizen's voice is heard and they are represented fairly in the legislative bodies. So in this discussion we saw about the delimitation process, its constitutional provisions and finally we saw what are the challenges ahead of the delimitation process. So this is all that I wanted to discuss regarding this news article. With the learned points in mind now we will move on to the next article discussion. Take a look at this article from the editorial page. This article is speaking about the issues surrounding the National Research Foundation Bill 2023. See this new bill is going to be tabled in the current monsoon session of the parliament. The NRF Bill and it suggests to create the National Research Foundation which is a centralized body that will look after the funding of research in our country. See despite the government taking such good initiatives to boost the research, there are some issues that need to be sorted out. This editorial article is also speaking about such issues. So in this discussion we will understand about the NRF Bill 2023 and then about the issues surrounding the bill. Now let us start with the NRF Bill 2023. See the NRF Bill 2023 has been introduced by the government as a part of the National Education Policy 2020. As we saw earlier, the bill envisages the creation of the National Research Foundation. The proposed NRF will function as a central coordinating agency in the field of research in our country. The agency will bring together researchers, government bodies and industry to promote research and development in the country. As we all know, currently the central educational institutions like IITs, IASC and KennITs are getting a huge chunk of funds from the central government for research purposes. But if we take the state universities, they are lacking behind in research activities due to insufficient funds. So the NRF aims to facilitate research in state universities. For this purpose, research grants will be provided to state universities by the NRF. Apart from this, funds for research infrastructure will be allocated. Now, where the funds would come from? See the government said that the NRF will operate with a budget of 50,000 crore for over five years. Out of this, 28% of funds that is 14,000 crore will be contributed by the government and the remaining 72% of funds that is 36,000 crore will come from the private sector. See out of the government share of 14,000 crores, 4,000 crores will be allocated from the existing budget of the Science and Engineering Research Board. Currently, we have a Science and Engineering Research Board. This body provides financial assistance to scientists, academic institutions, R&D laboratories, industrial concerns, and other agencies for research purposes. Note that this SCRB will now be integrated into the NRF. So the existing budget of the SCRB will be also allocated to the NRF. With this information, now let us understand the issues surrounding NRF. See, as we just now saw, the NRF will get the bulk of its funds from the private sector. That is 36,000 crore or 72% of the funds to the NRF will come from the private sector. But the problem here is that there is no clarity regarding how the government is going to leverage such huge funds from the private sector. See, in countries like China, US, and Israel, the private sector contribution to the research is more in the past few years. In such countries, around 70% of the research funds would come from the private sector. But if we take India, the private sector contribution was only about 36% of the total research expenditure in 2019-20. Therefore, there is no clarity regarding how the government is going to attract more private money. For this issue, the author of this article provides some suggestions. The author says that the annual corporate social responsibility obligations of the private companies would be directed to the NRF. This will be very helpful for the government to get funds from the private sector without adding extra burden on them. If you look at the data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, it shows that the private companies spend around 14,588 crore rupees as part of their CSR obligations during financial year 2022. The trend further shows that nearly 70 percentage of such CSR funds were spent in education, healthcare, and sanitation projects. But the problem here is that many of the private companies spent this fund within their own communities. So if the government diverts some of these funds into the NRF, it will help to attain the goal of boosting research in our country. So to conclude, the government must devise suitable legislation to attract funds for the NRF from the private sector. This will ensure smooth funding and in turn boost research in our country. This is all that I wanted to discuss regarding this news article. With the learned points in mind, now we will move on to the next article discussion. See, the GST Council on its meeting held on July 11 decided to impose a GST of 28 percentage on the full face value of the pets placed in horse racing. The turf authorities of India has expressed its disappointment towards the decision of the GST Council. Thai has also highlighted certain issues in its play. We will see all that in this article discussion. Before that, we will learn some points about Thai. See, horse racing in India is over 200 years old. The first race goes in the country was set up in Madras in 1777. Today, India has a very well established racing and breeding industry and the sport is conducted on nine race tracks by six racing authorities. You can see the six racing authorities in the image given here. The turf authorities of India integrates all these six authorities. The turf authorities of India regulates racing events, paramusual gambling booths and track site bookkeepers as well as managing and overseeing India's licensed race tracks. Know that in India only Indian bred race horses can participate in racing. India also has a well established breeding industry with stallions, that is adult male horses imported from all over the world. The Indian stud book maintains records of all breeding activity in India. India has a mixture of both pool bedding and traditional bookmakers. So, this is about Thai. Now, let us quickly go through the issues mentioned by Thai in its plea. Firstly, Thai said that the turnover of the industry has dropped significantly from 17,000 crore rupees before the introduction of GST to approximately 6,400 crore rupees after the introduction of GST. Secondly, after the introduction of GST, the level of dividends paid to the race covers has decreased by almost 50 percent. This in turn has resulted in decline in patronage for horse racing. The absence of investment in the sport with reduced returns to the race horse owners or posing a significant threat to the sustenance of the agro veterinary industry as well. Thirdly, since the revenues to the clubs have dropped, the overhead cost has increased. Overhead costs are those that are not directly related to the production of goods or services but are necessary for the operation of the business. Example of overhead costs include rents, utilities, insurance, legal fees, office supplies, advertisements and all these. According to Thai, labors have also been displaced in order to meet the increased overhead costs. The issue here is specialists like trainers, jockeys etc. cannot be employed elsewhere. Like that, employment to nearly 2 lakh workers both direct and indirect and mainly rural based are in danger. Fourthly, many great channels of betting came up which has led to the erosion of the very foundation of racing and has cost tremendous loss of revenue. So considering all these issues, Thai has asked the GST council to reconsider its decision to impose 28% GST on the full face value of the bets placed in horse racing. So this is all that I wanted to discuss regarding this news article. With the learn points in mind now we will move on to the next article discussion. Look at this news article. It talks about Project Sheetha. According to the news article, yesterday the Supreme Court told the union government to move the big cats to a more conducive environment if required. Supreme Court said this because already 40% of the 20 Sheethas brought from South Africa and Namibia to the Kuno National Park has died within a year. This is a crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through Project Sheetha. See, Project Sheetha is India's Sheetha relocation program. The objective of the program is to bring in 5 to 10 animals every year until a self-sustaining population of about 35 Sheethas is established over the next decade. Unlike Sheethas in South Africa and Namibia that are living in fenced reserves, India's plan is to have them grow in natural unfenced and wild conditions. As of now, 11 of the translocated Sheethas are in the true wild with four in specifically designed one square kilometer enclosures called bombas. These bombas will help the animals in adjusting to the conditions in India. Five of the translocated animals and three of the four cups born in India have died so far. Now, we will talk about Sheethas. See, Sheethas are the fastest mammal on land. They can reach up to 64 miles per hour in just three seconds. Altogether, there are five subspecies of Sheethas which includes Northwest African Sheetha, East African Sheetha, South African Sheetha, North East African Sheetha and Asiatic Sheethas. See, all Sheetha species are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN except the Northwest African and Asiatic Sheetha which are critically endangered at present. The Asiatic Sheetha population in India was declared extant in 1952. Presently, only around 100 Asiatic Sheethas survive in Iran. The project Sheetha actually aims to introduce African Sheethas into the historical range of Asian Sheethas. African Sheethas are chosen because of their genetic makeup which is very similar to the Asiatic Sheethas. Talking about their habitat, see, they typically inhabit grasslands and samanas but they may also be found in various habitats such as mountain areas and valleys. These big cats' bodies grow to between 1.1 meter and 1.4 meters long. Their tail measures 65 to 80 centimetre. Their weight ranges from 34 kgs to 54 kgs and the males are slightly heavier than the females. Then, Sheethas have a pale yellow coat with black dots on the upper parts and are white on the underbelly. Their faces are distinguished by prominent black lines that curve from the inner corner of each eye to the outer corners of the mouth. This black line keeps the sun out of the Sheetha's eye while they hunt. They usually hunt during the day to avoid competition from other powerful predators like lions, hyenas and leopards. Female Sheethas hit sexual maturity around 20 to 24 months. After a three month or 93 days gestation period, a female Sheetha usually gives birth to 3 to 5 cups at a time. Adult females give birth in intervals of 17 to 20 months but if the cubs are lost or killed, she may mate and give birth sooner. Sheethas in the wild have an average age span of 10 to 12 years. Sheethas are social animals. They are usually found in groups consisting of either a mother and her young siblings or a coalition of males who live and hunt together. Adult females, however, tend to be solitary and only meet with males to mate. Sheethas own genes post a challenge to their continued survival. Sheethas have a low rate of reproductive success, meaning that as a species, they are not always able to reproduce. With few offspring, the population can neither grow nor adapt to changes in the environment. This is all that I wanted to discuss regarding this news article. With the long points in mind, now we will move on to the next article discussion. This text and context article talks about the cursed bridge. See, this bridge links the Russian mainland to the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea. Last week, this bridge came under attack by two sea drones. One section of the bridge was damaged. The Russians hauled this and attacked by Ukraine. But Ukraine has not taken any direct responsibility for the attack. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through the importance of the cursed bridge. See, the cursed bridge, which is across the cursed Strait, is a 19-kilometer long bridge that has two parallel rail and roadways. It was opened in 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin exactly after four years from the annexation of Crimea. See, Crimea was technically a part of Ukraine since 1954. Later, in 2014, Russia annexed it after a controversial referendum in Crimea in which the majority of the population voted to join Russia. The referendum took place after a period of political turmoil in Ukraine, which led to the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Russian president and the installation of a new pro-Western government in Kiev. After this annexation, there was no direct connectivity between the Russian mainland and Crimea. So, Mr. Putin immediately ordered the construction of the cursed bridge. But Ukraine's military power increased over the following years with the support from the West. So, the bridge continued to be a weak link. The land bridge connecting Russia to Crimea now runs from the north-eastern Ukraine through the Donbas and Kerson, and it has proximity to the war zones. So, the cursed bridge reminds a critical, logistical supply link for the Russian troops in the south. This is the significance of the cursed bridge. Now, here comes the show. See, last year, Mr. Putin ordered a full-scale war on Ukraine, and one of the military objectives was to secure a land bridge from mainland Russia to Crimea. At the same time, Ukraine targeted the cursed bridge when it was planning an counter-attack on Russia to retake Kerson. The plan was to disrupt the supplies when Ukraine attacked Russian troops on the western bank of the Neipar river. The Russian troops withdrew from the Kerson city in November to the eastern bank of the river. According to experts, last week's attack on cursed bridge was also a counter-attack by Ukraine to disrupt Russian supplies to the southern Ukraine. Ukrainian troops also want to make deep invasions into the Russian health territories of the southeast, reaching the Sea of Us of Coast. This would leave Crimea more vulnerable to future Ukrainian attacks. For this reason also, the cursed bridge is more significant. With respect to this article, note down the important locations in and around this region. With the learned points in mind, now we will move on to the next article discussion. Look at this news article. It is about the NHRC statement on human rights violation in Manipur. As we know, the ethnic conflict in Manipur started on May 3rd and continued for two and a half months. But this is the first time NHRC issued its statement on this matter. Recently, a shocking video of mob violence on two women in Manipur surfaced on internet. It was really heartbreaking. So regarding this incident, NHRC issued notices to the Manipur chief secretary and the director general of police seeking reports. In this context, let us discuss about NHRC and its achievements. First, let us see some important points about NHRC. See, the National Human Rights Commission is a statutory body. That is, it was established under an act called as the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993. Note that, the commission acts as the watchdog of human rights in the country. That is, the rights relating to life, liberty, equality, and dignity of the individual. Because these rights are guaranteed by the constitution or embodied in the international governance. Now, talking about the composition of the commission. Remember, the commission is a multi-member body consisting of a chairperson and five members. The chairperson could be a retired chief justice of India or a judge of the Supreme Court. Then among the full-time members, one should be a serving or retired judge of the Supreme Court and another should be serving or retired chief justice of a high court. And other three persons should be having knowledge or practical experience with respect to human rights. Out of these, at least one should be a woman. So totally, there will be one chairman, five full-time members, and seven ex-officio members. With this information, now we will see some of the achievements of NHRC. See, NHRC has a wide mandate for better protection and promotion of human rights. Even though it is a recommended body, the reports of the commission are placed in the parliament with the action taken report by the government. For the past 14 years, the commission has been working relentlessly to mitigate the sufferings of those who have been subjected to human rights violation. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institution, a UN-based body in Geneva, has given A status, which is a perfect score. Cases regarding human rights violation are resolved within months and compensation is granted in 90% of those cases according to the reports of NHRC. The commission has successfully disposed of more than 17 lakh cases and payment of more than rupees 1 billion have been paid to the victims of human rights violation. It also conducted over 200 conferences to spread awareness of human rights across the country. Its role in compacting, encounter killings and custodial deaths is also notable in recent times. The commission issued guidelines that every custodial death and encounter killing be reported to it within 24 hours. It also recommended police and prisons reforms in order to reduce custodial deaths. Note that the commission also introduced a fast-track system for handling complaints. Its intervention in the 2007 Nandigram violence in West Bengal and Salwa Judoom related incidents in Chhattisgarh have been instrumental in developing India's human rights. Then, NHRC also played an important role in monitoring the misuse of terrorist and disruptions prevention act of 1987. The commission also conducted human rights training for civil servants, army personnel, judges and prison officials in collaboration with other organizations. These are some of the notable achievements of NHRC. Make a note of these so that you can use in your main's answer writing. This is all that I wanted to discuss regarding this news article. Now we have come to the end of today's analysis. With the learned points in mind, now we will move on to the next part, which is practice questions. Question number one, consider the following statements about National Human Rights Commission. State number one, the chairman and members are appointed by the president on the recommendations of prime minister and the chief justice of supreme court. State number two, the members hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years. State number three, recommendations of the commissions are binding on the government. How many of the above statements are correct? See, statement number one is incorrect. The chairman and members are appointed by the president on the recommendations of first six member committee consisting of the prime minister as its head, the speaker of the Lok the deputy chairman of the Rajasabha, leaders of the opposition in both the houses of parliament and the union home minister. Here statement number two is also incorrect. The members hold office for a term of three years or until they attain the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier. Here statement number three is also incorrect. Recommendations of the commission are not binding on the government. They are only recommendatory in nature. So the correct answer for this question is option D, none of the above. Question number two, any act or proceeding of this GST council will not become valid on how many of the following grounds. One, any vacancy or deficit in the constitution of the council. Statement number two, any defects in the appointment of a person as a member of the council. Statement number three, any procedural irregularity of the council not affecting the merits of the case. See GST council is a constitutional body constituted under article 279 A of the Indian constitution. GST council is a joint forum of the center and the states which recommends the union and the state government on the issues related to GST. Composition of GST council includes union finance minister as her person, union minister of state in charge of revenue or finances members and the minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other minister nominated by each state government as members. The decision in the GST council is taken in accordance with votes. The vote of the central government shall have a weightage of one third of the total votes cast in the meeting. The votes of all the state governments combined shall have a weightage of two thirds of the total votes cast in that meeting. And the act or proceedings of the GST council cannot be invalid based on all of these grounds. So the correct answer for this question is option C, all three. Question number three, which of the following statements is correct regarding the Kerch Strait Bridge? The correct answer for this question is option D. The Kerch Bridge is a 19 kilometer road rail bridge between Kerch Peninsula in Ukraine and Russia's Thamen Peninsula. The construction of the bridge began in 2016 and got completed in 2018. It is a controversial bridge considered by many as a violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity. Now this is the quiz question for you. Read the question carefully and post the answers in the comment section. Display here are the main questions for your practice. Interested as Prince can write the answer and post it in the comment box below. If you have found a video to be useful, hit the like button, share it with your friends, subscribe to the channel, happy learning.