 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindi News Analysis by Shankar I.C. Academy for the date 1st of September 2021. These are the list of news articles that I have chosen today for discussion. And today we have one editorial and one open article and in this news article we are going to discuss about China's transport corridor and in this news article we are going to see about biofuels. And this next news article is about the NCR's Regional Plan of 2041. And in this 6th news article we are going to discuss about the recent United Nations Security Council resolution that is with respect to Afghanistan. And in this last news article we are going to discuss about depositories and their significance. Now along with that we also have a special session today which is the comments and clarification session. In this session I will be clearing two of your doubts so don't miss this session. And along with that we have four practice questions in the prelims format and three practice questions in the main format. So with this now let us move on to the first discussion which is based on this editorial article. Our first discussion for today is going to be based on this article. It is about democratic deliberations in the modern era of internet. So taking this opportunity let us have a brief discussion about democracy and its features and then we look into the editorial. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. Remember that this discussion is particularly important for essay writing and also important for the preliminary examination. So first let us know what is democracy. Democracy as a term is derived from the Greek word democracy. This word has been coined from two terms. One is demos. Demos means people and the other term is kratos it means rule. This term was derived in the middle of 5th century BCE. It was derived to denote the political systems that was existing at that time in some Greek city states especially the one that was existing in Athens. So what it actually means see in simple terms we can say that democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people. And this is just a narrow definition of democracy but in wider terms democracy actually means a form of government where the citizenry is powerful. So to understand this let us see some of the essential features of democracy. The first important feature is effective people participation. So what does it mean? It means that before a policy is adopted or before a policy is rejected the members of citizenry have the opportunity to make their views about that particular policy to be known to other members. So this means that there should be deliberative decision making and this could be affected by seeking public opinion. For example you can see that our governments seek public opinion on certain bills. So for this purpose government puts the bill in public domain for public opinion. And apart from this this effective participation of public can also be ensured through direct democratic devices like referendum, plebiscite etc. So this is the first feature. The second inevitable feature of democracy is free, fair and frequent elections. Note that citizens may participate in such elections both as voters and as candidates. And this is the basic and fundamental feature of democracy. We know that election is the process in which people decide who should rule them and how they should be ruled. And this process that is free of interference, free of corruption is essential to ensure the vibrancy of democracy. But note that not all governments that have elections are democracy. Just because someone or some government holds election doesn't mean that they are a democracy. Because an autocratic government can also hold elections just for namesake. And that doesn't make it a democracy. Remember this fact it is very important. So this is the second feature. Now comes the third one. It is regarding equality in voting. See members of citizenry have the opportunity to vote and select the government. So under this feature it means that all the members may have equal opportunity to vote with minimal exceptions. So this is a part of inclusive democracy. Now the next feature is about informed electorate. It means within a reasonable amount of time members of citizenry have the opportunity to learn about the policy and also about possible alternative policies and their likely consequences. Now in India this feature is effectuated through robust media architecture. Apart from this we also have the Right to Information Act. This helps the citizenry to keep itself informed. And also the judiciary especially the Supreme Court has from time to time made it possible that the citizenry is informed. Now this particular feature is actually closely associated with another feature. It is the independent sources of information. This means that a source of information should not be distorted. Why because only a information that is not distorted will expose the citizenry to the truth. Now the next and the most important feature of democracy is inclusion. Which means that each and every member of citizenry is entitled to participate in democracy. This is a feature that is against discrimination and it shuns majoritarianism. Now the next essential feature of democracy is the fundamental rights. We know that in our country it is defined in our constitution under part 3. Even US also has fundamental rights which is sanctioned under its bill of rights. The next important feature is freedom of expression. It means that citizens may express themselves publicly on a broad range of politically relevant subjects and they can do this without fear of punishment. This is essential in a democracy because only when the ideas are freely circulated the pros and cons of the ruler can be brought to the knowledge of the ones who are ruled. This in turn will help the citizenry to take an informed decision during the elections or during some direct democratic processes. So these are some of the important and essential features of democracy. So keeping the basics about democracy in mind now let us look at the essence of this editorial article. See here author talks about democracy in the internet age. Let us take an example to understand this. We have the forums like Facebook or Instagram and those who use these platforms they either like or follow some pages. Now these pages provide you with content that is relevant to a particular topic or that is in support of a particular topic. So when you like a particular page for example let us assume that you have liked a page about a political ideology. Then from that moment onwards you will be fed with similar ideologies only by that platform and when you make a post in support of that particular ideology then it will be well reassured in that particular platform. So basically what happens is one idea echoes between a limited group of people or it echoes between the like-minded individuals. So this makes the individuals who are using such platforms being trapped in one echo chamber where they validate their idea as infallible that is as being never failing or as being error free. They think that their idea is the correct one. But we know that this kind of scenario and thinking has risks it has mainly two risks. One risk is that we will tend to exclude the groups or we will even develop enmity towards those who oppose these ideologies. And second risk is that the people who don't have access to these digital platforms they are at the risk of being excluded from the ideological discourse. And this is essentially a reflection of an already existing socioeconomic divide. So in these two scenarios democracy takes a back seat. While discussing about the features of democracy we saw that democracy should have untrammeled flow of information. That is it should have unrestricted or unhampered flow of information. But in this digital age it gets distorted in this first scenario. And the second scenario leads to exclusion because there is lack of digital speculation. And that is why as a conclusion author has suggested us to learn from history and he has emphasized the importance of public deliberations. Here through history author has asked us to learn from the emperors such as Ashoka and Akbar. See in the 1590s the great Mughal emperor Akbar he believed in pluralism at that time and he also believed in the constructive role of public discussions. And he was even making pronouncements throughout India on the need for tolerance and he was even arranging dialogues between people of different faiths. So on a whole we can say that he believed in public deliberation. And when we talk about Ashoka he also believed in the tradition of public discussion. He believed that public discussion should happen without violence or even without animosity. He proposed social deliberations and we can even find that his belief in public discussion is well reflected in the inscriptions on the pillars that he has placed across India and even outside India. So based on these two emperors author is suggesting that even when centuries ago the emperors had untrammeled deliberations that were open to public. So author is suggesting that taking example of these two emperors we should learn and we should not forget the importance of public deliberations. This will help us to keep the democracy vibrant. So these are some of the points that you can take note from this editorial article. In this discussion we had a brief discussion about democracy and we also saw some of the features of democracy. And finally we discussed about the public deliberations and its importance in the internet era. We saw the examples of Mughal emperor Akbar and Ashoka. See all these points will help you in writing a good essay answer. So now let us move on to the next discussion. Now let us take up this news article which is important from international relations perspective. This news article mentions that a test cargo has arrived at the Chengdu rail port in China. It arrived on August 27. Now this cargo arrived through the China Myanmar new passage. So through this passage China has apparently tested a railroad transport link or transport corridor. And it is believed that this passage will serve as China's gateway into Indian Ocean. So that is why it becomes important for us to know about this corridor. So in this discussion first let us understand the areas which is connected by this corridor. And we'll also see the modes of transport. Look at these maps. Follow these maps as I talk. So primarily note that the transport corridor involves a sea road rail link. That is it involves a sea route, road route and railroad. In other words all three modes of transportation are involved in this transport corridor. So this makes the route multimodal in nature. Now in this map you can see Singapore. Now this transport corridor will help China to transport goods from Singapore. The goods from Singapore will reach the Yangon port in Myanmar. And this will be arriving by ship that will be passing through the Andaman Sea. As you know Andaman Sea is in the North Eastern Indian Ocean or it is in the Bay of Bengal. Now after the goods reach the Yangon port it will further be transported to the Lingkang. This Lingkang is situated in the Myanmar-China border. It is situated in the Yunnan province of China. Now from the Yangon the goods will be transported to Lingkang through road. Now next is the link between Lingkang and Chengdu. See Chengdu is a key trade hub in western China. And the new railway line has been constructed to connect the Lingkang and Chengdu. So this completes the corridor. So understand that the first link is the waterways, second roadway and then the newly constructed railway that ends in Chengdu completes this transport corridor of China. So now let us understand why this project is important. See Indian Ocean is India's backyard. And strategically speaking it can be said that China now has access to India's backyard through Myanmar after establishing this rail link. And if you look closely China is actually accessing Indian Ocean through India's friendly neighbour itself. So this is a strategic and a diplomatic setback for India. Why because already we have the setback with respect to Gwadar port. As you know Gwadar port is in Pakistan and this port opens into the Arabian Sea. And this port was built through Chinese assistance. And this port is also seen as a strategic threat to India because of its vicinity to Indian Ocean. We know that India flaunts maritime invincibility in the Indian Ocean. So the Gwadar port was becoming a strategic threat to India. And now this transport corridor is also becoming a threat. Because now another port in Myanmar with Chinese access has become a direct threat to India. Apart from that India's interest in the Malacca Strait will also get reduced because of this transport corridor. See Malacca Strait is a major trading route for China. So India has been investing its diplomatic outreach to design a choke point in this Malacca Strait. See choke points are the strategic narrow passages that connects two larger areas to one another. So India was planning to design a choke point in the Malacca Strait. But now since China has successfully constructed another trade route, the significance of this choke point could be reduced for India. Apart from this, we can also assume that this new project will become a part of China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. And don't forget that India is opposed to China's Belt and Road Initiative. And more importantly, this trade route is expected to become the lifeblood of international trade for both China and Myanmar. For China, it becomes important because it will save a travel time of about 20 days. So this will give a big push to Chinese economy. So basically we can say that this trade corridor and this rail link has put India at disadvantage. So these aspects are important from a mains perspective because a question can be asked in which you will be asked to analyze the implications of this transport corridor. And the map places, which we saw, that is the Gwadar Port, Yangon Port, these are all important from the prince perspective. Know that where these ports are located and where these places are located. So with these facts in mind, let us move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this article. This article talks about a center of excellence in Meghalaya. And the purpose of the center of excellence is that it will act as a one stop center for natural resources management. So in this regard, the author of this opiate article has explained the physical geography of Meghalaya and what is the reason for launching this center. So today, let us discuss the physical geography of Meghalaya and the reasons mentioned by the author and also some of the way forwards. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. See, as you all know, Meghalaya is one of the northeastern state of our country. It borders Assam in its north and east. And in its south and west, it borders Bangladesh. Its capital is the hill town of Shillong. And if you talk about the topography of Meghalaya, note that it is an upland area that was formed when a block detached from the Deccan plateau. Here the upland area we're talking about is the Garo Hills, Kasi Hills, and the Jayantia Hills. And these all belong to the Peninsular Patu, actually, and they were a part of eastern Ghats. So remember, Garo, Kasi, and Jayantia Hills are not the extension of Himalayas. Now among these three, the Kasi Hills and Jayantia Hills, they form the central and eastern part of Meghalaya. And the Garo Hills form the western part of Meghalaya. So many rivers and streams flow out of this plateau and they create deep, narrow, steep-sided valleys. And among them, the most important river is the Umiyam River. This river is the major source of hydroelectric power for Assam and Meghalaya states. And from the cultural perspective, you should note that Meghalaya is predominantly a tribal state. And most of its inhabitants are of Tibetan Burmese origin or Mon Khmer origin. For example, the Garos are of Tibetan Burmese origin and the Khasis are of Mon Khmer origin. Now coming to its climate, you should note that Meghalaya is known for its clouds and rainfall. Actually, in the name Meghalaya, Meg literally means clouds in Hindi. And the term Meghalaya means the abode of clouds. And it is known for rainfall. Here you can remember that during school days, we have studied a village which receives the world's highest rainfall. This village is situated in Meghalaya only. The name of this village is Mohsindram. It receives about 750 centimeters of rainfall on an average. Apart from this, note that nearly 37 percentage area of the total land is under forest in this state. And therefore, it also has rich natural resources like limestone and coal. But beyond its richness of natural resources and biodiversity, the state faces some issues. It is said that in the recent years, the forest cover and the natural resources in the state are rapidly deteriorating. So you should understand that the state has been designated as the wettest places on earth. But still, the state is now facing a severe water crisis. So this shows the improper and irregular management of natural resources in the state. And that is why Center of Excellence will address this issue of management of natural resources. So now, what is the actual reason for deterioration of forest cover and natural resources? See, the first reason is the slow decline in the usage of traditional practices in the state. See, as we already saw, Meghalaya is predominantly a tribal state. It is a state where the traditional practices on sustainable use of natural resources, they are passed from one generation to another. For example, many villages have dedicated part of the forest and they have named these forests as sacred groups. So in these places, the extraction of any kind of forest produce is actually forbidden. In addition to this, they also follow the traditional agricultural system of zoom cultivation. So for a longer period of time, this agricultural system has maintained the forest cover of the region. See, we know that zoom cultivation involves slash and burn off forest patches. But even then, it does not result in large scale deforestation. Because in this type of cultivation, the forest patches are allowed to recover for a longer period of time. Therefore, in the state at a given time, these forest patches are in various stages of recovery. And this is one of the reasons why in hilly states, zoom cultivation is preferred compared to the permanent conservation of land for rice, fruits and other cash crops. But now the problem is that the indigenous knowledge about these traditional practices has begun to slowly fade away and the current generation is becoming unaware of these practices. So this was the first reason. Now the second issue is the growing population. So it is having an impact on the available resources. That is the available resources is not enough for this growing population. Now this also gave birth to unsustainable development activities. For example, we saw that using zoom cultivation is fading away. So this is leading to fragmentation of forests and it is also leading to depletion of soil nutrients. See here you should understand that in the original zoom cultivation, the zoom cycle allowed the maintenance of forest cover through a process of restoration and this process was allowed to continue for about 10 to 15 years. But now this time period has been reduced to three to five years. So this shortening of zoom cycle has depleted the soil nutrients and therefore it has reduced production and it is also affecting the recovery of forests. Apart from this coal and limestone mining in many parts of the state, especially in the South Garo Hills, Khasi Hills and Jayantia Hill districts, these have affected the native biodiversity to a larger scale. We know that rat hole mining is very popular in Meghalaya. Apart from this other developmental activities such as urbanization, this has also caused damages to the existing ecosystem because in urbanization we construct buildings so they not only cause forest loss but they also fragment the forests. Now along with all these, there is also indiscriminate exploitation of the available natural resources. We saw that there is growing population in the state. So in addition to this, already the both existing rural and urban population, they are heavily dependent on the forest for their daily needs of water, food and other services. So the growing population has now led to this indiscriminate exploitation of these natural resources. And that is why we are saying that there is problem in the management of existing natural resources. And one of the reasons for this problem as mentioned by the author is that there is lack of knowledge among the rural communities. And they are unable to access the knowledge also. And the local communities, they lack technological empowerment also. And this is also creating an issue in the management of existing natural resources. So in this regard, author has suggested certain measures to resolve this particular problem of accessing knowledge and technologically empowering the local communities. So first author suggests that the government can provide correct knowledge so that the local communities, they can themselves conceive a solution and implement it to solve the local problems. Then the state must ensure reactivating the community's connection to the natural resources so that the communities can tackle the resource crisis. And for this, author is suggesting the use of MGNREGA, that is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. So we know that this scheme provides employment and under the scheme, many activities are undertaken. So this scheme provides for a systemic convergence of all line departments. And it brings together the agriculture, horticulture, soil and water conservation departments. So author is suggesting that using this scheme, the state can leverage various technologies and it can use the youth population to reintegrate them with the indigenous knowledges and they can reestablish their connection to rejuvenate the natural resources. Now with respect to digital empowerment, author has suggested for the use of some digital applications such as participant digital attestation. See this application allows community cadders to record their attendance by scanning QR codes. It provides them content, it provides them training sessions and even digital certification. So these tools help them to create a free flow of knowledge without hierarchy. And using this knowledge, the communities can empower themselves and they can overcome the existing knowledge barriers. So to enhance such kind of measures only, the center of excellence has been launched and this will act as a one stop center for the natural resources management. And these are said to be the mandate of this center of excellence. So that is all about this OPED article. In this discussion, we saw about the physical geography of Meghalaya. We discussed the issue of depleting natural resources in the state and we also saw the reasons behind it and we saw some of the suggestions given by the author to overcome some of the issues. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Now our next discussion is going to be based on this news article from the business page. The article reports about a statement made by the union minister regarding the use of biofuels. As per this statement, India is going to make a mandatory provision in the next six months. The provision is that it will be mandatory for auto manufacturers to offer vehicles that run 100 percentage on biofuels. See this particular move is going to be mutually beneficial for the consumers as well as for the environment because this move is not only cost-effective but it is also a less polluting source of energy. So in this context, we're going to see about biofuels and their manufacturing. So this topic is very important because already in 2020 problems, we had a question on biofuels. So after discussing this news article, we'll discuss this question in the practice questions discussion. So first, what are biofuels? You should understand that any fuel, whether it is liquid or gaseous, that is primarily produced from biomass is termed as a biofuel. What is a biomass? It refers to the plant waste, algae material waste or animal waste. Then what about the fuels which we currently use? See currently we use the fuels like petroleum, coal, natural gas. These are all called as fossil fuels. So generally the biofuels which are produced from biomass, they are used to replace these fossil fuels or they are used in addition to the diesel, petrol or other fossil fuels which are being currently used. So similar to fossil fuels, these biofuels also have many applications including they are used as fuels for transports. Now this biofuel is considered a source of renewable energy. Why? Because it is produced from biomass and this biomass or the feedstock material they can be replenished readily. So this makes it biofuels as cost effective and it also becomes an advisable environmental alternative. See we know that in the current scenario petroleum prices are rising and there are also concerns about the greenhouse gas emissions made by the fossil fuels which are contributing to the global warming and climate change. So these aspects increase the importance of biofuels. It is cost effective than fossil fuels. For example, a litter of bio ethanol costs about 65 rupees and a litter of petrol costs about 110 rupees. So you can see the difference between these two fuels. So now how they are manufactured? So usually the crops which are either high in sugar, starch or oil these are used in making biofuels and based on the raw materials used for its production these biofuels are generally classified into three categories. The first one is the first generation biofuels second is second generation biofuels and third is third generation biofuels. Now in these the first generation biofuels are usually made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil or animal fats using conventional technology and these first generation biofuels include bio alcohols, biodiesel, vegetable oil and bio gas. Now next comes the second generation biofuels these are produced from non food crops such as like the cellulosic biofuels and the waste biomass. See here waste biomass refers to the materials like stalks of wheat and corn and even the wood. So the second generation biofuels includes some advanced biofuels such as bio hydrogen, bio methanol etc. Now the third type is the third generation biofuels. Now these are produced from microorganisms like algae. See these algaes are grown and they are harvested to extract oil within them and this oil is then converted into biodiesel through a similar process that is used for producing first generation biofuels. So in this discussion we saw about biofuels and we also saw how different categories of biofuels are produced. Notice more to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this news article which has been taken from the daily edition of Hindi newspaper. This news article reports about the draft regional plan 2041 which has been drafted for the national capital region. So when we say regional plan it refers to the urban planning strategy and this strategy focuses on the social, economic and environmental development of a specific area. So this specific area includes the urban areas, rural areas and also the undeveloped areas. And already the national capital region that is the NCR it has a regional plan. It is the regional plan of 2021. Now the vision of this plan is to develop the entire NCR by promoting economic growth along with balanced development of the region. And now the government has drafted a new regional plan which is the regional plan 2041. It is said that this will amend several environmental safeguards that is currently present in the 2021 regional plan. So this has created fear of possible long-term disastrous implication for the natural conservation zone in the region. Therefore many criticisms have taken shape because of this. And this news article also discusses such criticism. Now before discussing those criticisms let us first briefly understand the natural conservation zone. See it is a natural area with plantations. This zone serves the crucial function of recharging the groundwater and it maintains the water table. Its major importance is that this natural conservation zone is earmarked for conservation rather than for real estate purposes. And for this purpose only in these areas that is in the natural conservation zone areas construction is allowed only for about 0.5 percentage of the total area. I note that this construction is also allowed only for regional recreational activities for like constructing regional parks or constructing sanctuaries. But when a region is declared as natural conservation area or zone then construction for other purposes such as commercial purpose, residential purpose, tourism purposes and other real estate purposes are strictly prohibited. So in this regard the regional plan 2021 respects these features of natural conservation zone and it also includes major natural features such as extension of Aravili Ridge that is present from the Rajasthan Haryana to Delhi. It includes extension of forest areas then reverse centributaries of major rivers sanctuaries, lakes and water bodies, et cetera. So it provided certain environmental safeguards but now these safeguards are proposed to be changed by the new draft of 2041. So let us see what are the conflicting provisions in this draft. See the first and foremost one is that it provides for categorization of natural conservation zone. See even the regional plan of 2021 has categorizations and those categorizations are also continued in this draft plan also and they will be continued to be conserved. But the problem here is that the draft plan categorizes the natural conservation zones as forest and green cover areas and among these the conservation of green cover has been made optional. Now in addition to this there is also another main concern which is that a large portion of the Aravili is not categorized as forest. That means they are classified under green cover and just now we saw that conservation of green cover has been made optional in this draft plan. That means the areas or the portion of Aravili that have been categorized as green cover they may not be conserved. There will not be any mandatory conservation. So other development and construction activities may take place in these areas. So this is the first major concern. Now another major issue with the draft is that it allows 0.5 percentage of the total area under the natural conservation zone for related compatible development and it seems that it doesn't mention what does it mean by this compatible development. See we saw that the 2021 plan allowed regional recreational activities but with no construction exceeding 0.5 percentage of the area and even this was to be done with the permission of competent authority. But it seems that the draft has omitted these aspects and apart from this several other important provisions with regards to the forest cover and conservation of monuments, conservation of man-made heritage sites and conservation of riverbeds have also been dropped by the draft. For example, the regional plan of 2021 directed that the total forest cover has to be 10 percentage of the total area of the region. But now this has been dropped by the draft plan. In addition to this, the 2021 plan had a mandate to keep the water bodies free from any encroachments or development and now this provision has also been dropped. And that is why it is feared that this draft plan will bring long-term disastrous implication for this natural conservation zone. So that is all about this regional plan of 2021 for the national capital region. In this discussion we saw about this plan in brief. We saw what is natural conservation zone and we also saw some of the contentious provisions in this draft. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this front page article. It talks about the recently adopted UNSC resolution which is related to Afghanistan. See, this resolution condemns the deadly attacks in Afghanistan and it also addresses the key concerns in the region. On a whole, it insisted on upholding the human rights. So in this context, let us know what are the important points mentioned in this resolution. Before that, you should understand about UN resolutions. See, these resolutions are formal expressions of the opinion or the will of United Nations organs. And we know that the United Nations Security Council has 15 members. And among them, five are permanent members. They are called as the P5. It includes China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and USA. And the remaining 10 members are elected by the General Assembly. I know that correctly, India is a member. That is India is a non-permanent member. Now when it comes to United Nations Security Council, we should know that the permanent members have certain powers. The first power is that they have the power to veto. This veto power enables them to prevent the adoption of any draft resolution. They can prevent a resolution regardless of the level of international support. Apart from that, the P5 countries, they can also abstain from voting. That is, they can decide not to vote. But abstaining from voting does not affect the adoption of the resolution. So understand that veto is different and abstention is different. So when P5 countries abstain from voting, even then also the draft resolution can be adopted if nine or more of the 15 council members vote for this resolution. And it will be adopted only if it is not vetoed by any of the P5 members. And now the resolution, which you are talking about that is related to Afghanistan, it also witnessed abstention by the two P5 countries. These are the Russia and China. But around 13 members voted in favor of this resolution. So finally, the resolution was adopted. So what is the crux of this resolution? See, the resolution insisted that Taliban has to keep their focus regarding their commitments on preventing terror groups in Afghanistan. So based on this resolution, now the Afghan territory should not be used to threaten or attack any country. And the territory must not be used as a shelter to train the terrorists. Apart from this, the territory also must not be used to plan or finance terrorist attacks. And then the Taliban must ensure the commitments they made in this regard. The resolution also mentioned the terror outfits individually. That is, it mentioned about the Al-Ashkari Taiba and Jashem Muhammad. Apart from this, the resolution also urged Taliban to assist the safe evacuations of all Afghan nationals who wish to leave the country. So this is the crux of the resolution. Now, if you look at this news article, it also mentions that India is expected to chair the 1988 sanctions committee. And it mentions that India will participate in the meeting where decision to extend the mandate of UN assistance mission in Afghanistan will be taken. So let us now see about this 1988 sanctions committee and about Onama. So this 1988 sanctions committee is also called as the Taliban sanctions committee. It was formed through resolution number 1988. And that is why it is named like this. And it was formed in 2011. The purpose of this resolution was to address the concern about the raising levels of violence in Afghanistan, which is caused by Taliban. So these are the listed objectives of this resolution. You can just go through it. Now, talking about Onama, that is UN assistance mission in Afghanistan, it is a special political mission of United Nations. It was established to assist the people of Afghanistan in laying the foundation for sustainable peace and development. It was established in 2002 by another resolution of UNSC. And this mission is reviewed annually. And its mandate is altered from time to time to reflect the needs of the country. And this mission can be extended for another year if required. So if there is a question in mains, which asks you to write the measures taken by the international community to address the issues in Taliban, you can mention about these 1988 sanctions committee and also about the Onama. And don't forget to mention about the recent resolution, which is the headline today. So now with this, let us move on to the next discussion. Now this news discussion is going to be based on this news article from the business page. The article reports about the International Central Securities Depositories. The news is that Reserve Bank of India has planned to enable international settlement of transactions in government securities. And this will be done through this International Central Securities Depositories. And this measure is expected to help to expand the investor base for India's government securities. As you know, government securities, they are tradable instruments and they are issued by both the central government and the state governments. And these acknowledge the government's debt obligation and such securities can either be short term or even long term. We have discussed many a times about government securities. So today let us focus on these International Central Securities Depositories, that is ICSDs. To understand that, first we need to know what are depositories. So these are the institutions that hold investors' securities like shares, debentures, mutual funds and they hold these securities in an electronic form in a DMAT account. So already there is a central securities depository. This is a financial organization that specializes in holding securities. And note that a central securities depository, in short, CSD, it may exist for a specific type of security also, such as for government bonds that can be a CSD. And such CSDs can be both national or international. And today we are concerned with the international one. Now when we take the International Central Securities Depository, they settle trades in the international securities such as Euro bonds. But it is not just limited to that because many also settle trades in various domestic securities and they do this through local agents or even directly. So why such ICSDs are important? What is its significance? See in the depository system, securities are held in depository accounts. And this is more or less similar to holding funds in bank accounts. Now under this the transfer of ownership of securities is done through simple account transfers. That is such ICSDs paves way for the ownership to be easily transferred electronically without the need for physical certificates. So this means that brokers and financial companies can hold their securities at a single location for clearing and settlement. And this method also eliminates the risks and hassles that is normally associated with the paperwork. Here I should note that some CSD organizations, they carry out centralized comparison and transaction processing such as clearing and settlement of securities. So consequently, these leads to lower cost of transactions in the depository environment as compared to the transaction in certificates. So these are some of the points that you need to know about ICSDs. Now let us move to the next discussion. So viewers, with this news article, now we are moving to the next session which is the comments and clarification session. In this session, I'm going to clarify two of the doubts that were raised in my last discussion that happened on 26th August. I thought that other aspirants would also have had the same doubts while listening to the discussion. And that is why today we have this special session. Now let us see these two doubts one by one. The first doubt is that the viewer has asked that the full form of PAN which was mentioned in the first topic of tokenization on that day, whether it refers to permanent account number or not. Because on that day, I said that PAN stands for primary account number. So the viewer has asked for clarification regarding this PAN. See, whenever we say PAN number in our country, the only thing we remember is the one that is associated with our transaction using the bank accounts. Now this PAN, the one which I'm saying, stands for the permanent account number as the viewer has correctly said. But this one is different from the one which I discussed on that day. Because on that day, we discussed about another PAN which is called as primary account number. So now let us see what is the difference between these two. Moving about these two will enrich your general awareness. See the first one, the permanent account number is a 10 digit unique alphanumeric number. It is issued by the income tax department of our country. And this PAN is issued in the form of a laminated plastic card, as you can see in this image. And this card is what we call as PAN card. And this is the alphanumeric number which I'm mentioning. Now each of these digits mentioned in this alphanumeric number have a meaning. It is not relevant for our examination. Now just know that this PAN card is issued as per the rules and criteria mentioned in the income tax act of 1961. So now what is the purpose of this PAN? That is the permanent account number. See it enables the department, that is the income tax department, to identify or to link all the transactions of the PAN holder with the department. So what are the transactions which we are mentioning here? It includes the tax payments. It includes the tax deducted from source credits or tax collected at source credits. In short we call this as the TDS or TCS credits, then returns of income, then other specified transactions, correspondence related to them, et cetera. All these transactions are identified and linked to the PAN holder using this PAN number. And therefore the permanent account number acts as an identifier for the person with the tax department. Now why is it necessary? See it generally facilitates easy retrieval of information of the PAN holder. It matches various investments, their borrowings and other business activities of that particular PAN holder. So we can say that it facilitates linking of various documents including payment of taxes, assessment, tax demand, tax areas, et cetera. These are the documents which are related to the PAN holder. And it also helps in detecting and combating tax evasion and it helps to widen the tax base. And that is why in many places we are required to code or mention the PAN details such as when you are purchasing or selling a motor vehicle, you are asked to mention the PAN details or the PAN number. Then while opening an account with a banking company or even with a cooperative bank, you are asked to give the PAN details. And then while making an application for issuing a credit card or a debit card or so, you need to mention the PAN number, that is the permanent account number. And when deposits of cash which exceed 50,000 rupees in a particular day, that is if you are depositing 50,000 rupees in a particular day, then without PAN number you cannot deposit. So like this for many other purposes, PAN details and PAN number are required. So this was about the permanent account number. Now what is this primary account number? See it is also in a way related to transactions only. It refers to the number that is generated as a unique identifier. This number is designated for a primary account in a bank. So this number is linked to the information about the card holder, such as the name, balance or credit limit. But what is the card which we are mentioning here? It is the credit card and debit card. See the digits which are found on your debit card and credit card, it is the primary account number. And because of this reason, these numbers are also called as the payment card numbers. And this number also has reference to the issuer. So this primary account number actually identifies the issuer as well as the particular card holder account. And depending on the card and depending on the bank, your card may have 14 digits, 15 digits, 16 or even 19 digit number. So for example, let us take this card. As you can see here, the number which is embossed or encoded on this plastic card, this number is the primary account number. Now what is its use? It actually supports account record keeping and it is also of great help in resolution if there are issues with the account. But there was an issue with this primary account number. It was that the merchants, they used to store this pan number and that too they used to store this in an unencrypted format. So therefore these merchants, they were at the risk of becoming breached by hackers. And when the hackers gain access to their system, they can not only potentially put their entire network at risk, but they also pose a threat to the card holder because when they can hack into a system of the merchant and the merchant has already saved this pan number in an unencrypted format, then the hacker will get the details of this pan number and through that they can identify the card issuer, they can trace the bank account and they can get other transaction details very easily. And that is why it is necessary that this information has to be protected and not to be stored by the merchants. This was what I told on that day. I said that the token requester cannot store the primary account number. So this is the basic difference between the permanent account number and the primary account number. Simply you can understand that if you need a credit card or debit card, you have to give your already registered pan number, that is the permanent account number. And the credit card which is issued, it has a certain set of numbers, this one is the primary account number. Okay, so this is the difference. Now let us move to the next doubt. Now this doubt is regarding the discussion on the 26th of August, which was based on the OBC criteria notified by the Haryana government, which was later nullified by the Supreme Court. So in this, the viewer has asked that whether the income limit is six lakhs or eight lakhs. See here, you should not get confused because the vacancies in civil posts and services that fall under the central government, for that we have the annual income threshold of rupees eight lakh per year. But some state governments, what they do is through notifications or through legislations, they either relax this criteria or they make this criteria more stringent, like the Haryana government, which aim to fix the income ceiling at six lakhs. On that day we saw that those who earn up to three lakh rupees, they will first get the benefit of reservation services and admission educational institutions in the Haryana. And the remaining quota will go to those from the backward classes who earn more than three lakhs but who earn less than six lakhs. So that means those who earn above six lakhs, they will be not given any reservation and they will be considered as cream layer of the backward classes. So this income limit was set by the Haryana government for reservations in its state services and admissions in its educational institutions. So don't get confused. This is the one which you have to keep in mind while applying for UPSC. The eight lakh annual income limit will be applicable for you. That is for the children of those individuals who are not in the government employment. And for the children of government employees, the threshold of this annual income, actually it is based on their parents rank. It is not based on their income. So keep this in mind with this. Now let us move on to the next session. Now we have come to the last session, the practice questions discussion session. These questions have been framed based on the areas which we covered in the news articles discussion. Now this is a previous question. The question is based on biofuels. This question appeared in problems 2020. Question asks, according to India's national policy on biofuels, which of the following can be used as raw materials for the production of biofuels? Cassava, damaged wheat grains, groundnut seeds, horse gram, rotten potatoes, sugar beets. See first let us have a brief about India's national policy on biofuels. It was introduced to promote the biofuels in our country. It was introduced by the ministry of new and renewable energy. Primarily it was introduced in 2009 and later in the year 2018, it was upgraded to adapt to the changing times. And in its national policy on biofuels, the central government expanded the scope of raw materials for biofuel production. And under this it allowed use of many products for biofuel production. This included sugarcane juice, sugar containing materials like sugar beet, sweet sorghum, starch containing materials like corn, cassava. Then it also included damaged food grains like wheat, broken rice, et cetera. Then rotten potatoes unfit for human consumption were also allowed for biofuel production. But actually if you see, all of these can be used for producing biofuels. But here the question asks particularly about the raw materials that is allowed by the national policy on biofuels. If you go through the document of this national policy, there is no mention of horse gram or groundnut. And that is why we are going to eliminate these two options. And by eliminating these two options, we arrive at the correct answer, which is option A, one, two, five and six only. So be careful before marking the correct answer to a question like this. Now let us take one practice question. This is a two statement question. The first statement is, green belts are man-made landscape plantations that primarily have an aesthetic function. See green belt is an area that is kept in reserve for an open space. It is kept most often around larger cities. And the main purpose behind maintaining these green belts is to protect the land around larger urban centers. They protect these lands from urban spread or urban influence. It has also another purpose of maintaining the designated area for forestry and agriculture, as well as it provides habitat to wildlife. But note that there are differences between a green belt and a natural conservation zone. These two are not interchangeable. It is because green belts are artificial, whereas the natural conservation zones are natural. See these green belts are man-made landscape plantations that primarily have an aesthetic function. So this makes our first statement as correct. But if you take the national conservation zones, they are natural area that not only has plantations, but it also serves the crucial function of recharging the groundwater and it maintains the water table. So these both are primarily different as green belts are artificial and NCZs are natural. And that is why statement two is incorrect because it mentions that green belts are also known as natural conservation zone. Now here the question asks for the correct statement. So the correct answer is option A, one only. Now this next question is based on depositories. The question asks, with reference to depositories in India, consider the following statements. First statement, it is an organization that holds securities of investors in electronic form through a registered depository participant. This statement is correct. The securities are held in electronic form and this held through a registered depository participant. See these depository participants, they are an agent of depository through which the depository interfaces with the investor and it provides the depository services. So statement one is correct. Now statement two, foreign banks operating in India cannot be registered as a depository participant. Now this statement is incorrect because public financial institutions, schedule commercial banks, state financial corporations, custodians, stock brokers, clearing corporations or clearing houses, then NVFCs and in addition to them, the foreign banks operating in India, they can also be registered as depository participant. But with respect to foreign banks, they have to get approval from the HSO Bank of India. And that is why statement two is incorrect. Now this statement three, national security is depository limited and central depository services are the depositories in India. Now this statement is correct. These two are the depositories currently functioning in India. And there are certain basic differences between a bank and a depository. Here for your reference, we have given these differences. You can take note of these differences. Now coming to the question, the question asks for the correct statements. Here statement one is correct and statement three is correct. And that is why the correct answer to this question is option B one and three only. Now this next question is based on United Nations Security Council. It is a two statement question. First statement, all the members of UNSC has veto power. The statement is incorrect. We saw that UNSC has 15 members five are permanent members and 10 are non-permanent members. And permanent members have certain exclusive functions and powers. And one of the important powers is their veto power. And this veto power is not conferred on the non-permanent members. So all the members, this terminology is incorrect. And that is why statement one is incorrect. Now the second statement, abstention from voting by P5 countries on the draft resolution will not prevent it from being adopted. We saw in the discussion that abstaining from voting will not prevent draft resolution being adopted. But adoption of a draft resolution can be prevented if one of the P5 countries vetoes the resolution. So this statement is correct. And here the question asks for the incorrect statements. And that is why the correct answer is option A one only. So viewers, we have another practice question. This question has been framed based on biofuels. Now, this question is based on our discussion. So go through this question and try to answer this question. You can post the answer in the comment section. And I will tell you whether your answer is right or not. And along with this, now we have three main questions. If you are willing to write answers, you can write the answers and post them in the comment section for peer review. So viewers, if you like this video, don't forget to like, comment and share. And to subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for more updates related to civil services preparation. Thank you.