 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarayesh Academy. The displayed articles have been chosen for today's analysis from Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Tiruvannanthapuram Editions. Now let us start our discussion. Here this is an editorial topic written by the former Indian National Security Advisor. The syllabus relevant for this analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. Here the author talks briefly about Ohan's summit. Then he also talks about the newly strengthened strategic alliances of India. Then he also talks about the Chinese concerns on some of the proposed and also other actions of India. Finally, he also discusses all these dimensions in the context of the upcoming second informal summit between the two nations. This second informal summit is scheduled to be held in the historic coastal town of Mahamallapuram in Tamil Nadu state. We should know that the first informal summit between India and China was held in April 2018 in the Chinese city of Ohan. That is why the first informal summit is called as Ohan's summit. So from the last year, this new dimension of informal summit was added to India and China relations. We are calling these meetings as informal meetings or summits mainly because there will be no official joint statement that will be issued and also there will be no joint press conference or agreements will be signed and also there will be no delegation level talks. But know that such informal summits are important trust building exercise between the two nations and they have the potential to smoothen the concerns and the issues in the relations between the two countries. This year, the second informal summit is going to happen in the historical coastal town of Mahamallapuram in the second week of October. The author mentions that the Ohan city was selected by the Chinese side last year to demonstrate China's economic resilience. Ohan is the capital city of Hubei province of China and Hubei province is one of the 23 provinces of China. This province is known for largest comprehensive transportation hub in central China. Hubei possesses strong regional advantages by having strong scientific and education institutions. The region also rich in the natural resources and also this province is having strong industrial base. This year, India has chosen Mahamallapuram as venue for this informal summit. The author says that Mahamallapuram symbolizes India's soft power. Mahamallapuram is a coastal town in the state of Tamil Nadu located near Chennai. In the context of this article, the soft power refers to having non-material capabilities such as reputation, culture, historical significance that can help and also aid in attaining the strategic objectives of the present state. The author highlights that a historical significance of Mahamallapuram with respect to China. Way back in early 8th century AD, a security agreement was made between China and India. The author recalls that this is the earliest recorded security agreement between India and China. The Indian side involved the Palava king whose name is Narasimha Verma II. He was a Palava king but in case of China, they sought the help from South Indian king in those days to counter the influence of Tibet regional power which was threat to China at that time. Also know that the author mentions that Mahamallapuram is known for its architecture and this part of South India was ruled by Palava dynasty between 275 AD to 897 AD. So by holding significant summit of leaders of two countries in this coastal town, India projects history associated with this location. One another reason for the venue could be the the government's objective to conduct important events across the locations in various states as part of its outreach program. One of the most important decisions taken at the Wuhan summit last year was to conduct more such summits aimed at higher levels of strategic communications. It is in this Wuhan spirit the next summit is going to take place. In addition, the author discusses about the India-China relations and the various issues surrounding India-China relations. The author mentions that not much or only little has changed as far as India-China relations are concerned. Now that the border disputes between India and China are still a matter of concern and no significant outcome it. This is about India-China relations not much changed since Wuhan summit of 2018. But many things have changed after Wuhan summit which have altered the circumstances surrounding India-China relations. One is that we could see a sharp deterioration of China-US relations particularly in trade sector. Secondly, the strengthening of India-Russia ties and next is with respect to East Asia. In 2018 China and Russia had huge influence in East Asian region. But now because of strengthening of India-Russia ties and the triangular relationship among Russia, India and Japan India 2 exerts considerable influence in East Asia. Way back in 2018 China's Belt and Road Initiative was heavily welcomed across the nations. Now this initiative has been heavily criticized even by those nations which view China as a very generous nation. Even the domestic scene of China has been undergoing weakness compared to previous year. This has been sensed in its equity and currency market, declining growth rate, internal security concerns because of Tibet undist and also in Hong Kong. So yes the India-China relations as such has not changed much. The circumstances surrounding the relations have changed pretty well compared to 2018 or since Wuhan summit in April 2018. Now let us see the concerns of China with respect to recent strategic alliances and the concerns with respect to the proposed and other actions of India. Well China has concerns over India's interest in four eastern region in Russia. India has added economic aspect in India-Russia relations. We know that India-Russia relations is known for long-standing military relationship. But recently India has added this fresh dimension by announcing 1 billion US dollars of line of credit for the development of Russian-Foreastern region. The author also mentions this aspect as they fundamentally altered the nature of India-Russia relations. India has also strengthened its relations with respect to Japan. We also know that the informal dialogue mechanism among India, USA, Japan and Australia is called as QUAD. This grouping has been revived in 2017 after the first dialogue in 2007. QUAD has also met in 2018. The QUAD meetings take place at the level of senior officers of these four nations. See China has concerns with respect to India because India has been improving its relations with respect to the countries which are located near to China or neighboring China. Japan is located in the east of China and Russia is located in the north of China. Simply China don't want India becoming closer with these nations. So we can understand that Indian diplomats have carefully crafted the diplomatic relations of India with respect to Russia or with respect to USA or with respect to Japan. The author also mentions that the Chinese efforts will primarily be to disrupt or disturb its strategic alliances that India has made and to disturb the alliances that India has strengthened recently. Three more things are likely to aggravate the Chinese concerns because India has recently conducted an all arms integrated exercise in a super high altitude region near Chuchul in eastern Ladakh region. This exercise is carried out in September 2019. This exercise was codenamed as Changtung Prahar which means that an attack. There had been featuring of tanks, artillery guns, drones, helicopters and troops in this region which is bordering China. This exercise will be seen suspiciously by China. We also know that in last month the Indian Air Force has reopened the advanced landing ground at Vijayanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. This is for the use of military aircrafts there. The government has also proposed a major combat exercise in Arunachal Pradesh. It is expected that the new integrated battle groups will be seen in operation in this combat exercise. These are some of the actions of Indian side that will add to an aggravate China's concerns. So in the background of all these issues which may aggravate the concerns from Chinese side, the author asks that India to move with caution or walk with caution with proper handling. This is required to take Indian-China relations forward but without harming the other positive diplomatic developments of Indian side. With this, we have come to the end of the analysis of this editorial topic. The displayed questions will be discussed at the end of the session. This news article states that Union Minister of State for Power, New and Rendable Energy has approved amendments in electric vehicle charging guidelines and specifications. The revised guidelines are more consumer friendly because they incorporate a various suggestions that received from various stakeholders. It is hoped that these revised guidelines will encourage the faster adoption of electric vehicles in India. It is because India has targeted to achieve 30% of electric vehicles by 2030 in the overall composition of the vehicles and in the next 5 years India has targeted to achieve 15%. Now in order to address the range of issues which will be faced by the electric vehicle owners, a phase wise installation of an appropriate network of charging infrastructure has been approved. The installations will be carried out throughout the country. According to the guidelines for cities, at least one charging station should be available in a grid of 9 square kilometers in the cities. And for highways, one charging station should be available at every 25 kilometers on both the sides of highways or roads. The first phase will be carried out for 1, 2, 3 years in which all existing expressways that are connected to the mega cities and the important highways that are connected with each of these mega cities will be taken up for coverage. The mega cities will be with a population of 4 million plus that is the population of 40 lakh and above as per the census 2011. So the mega cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat and Pune. In the second phase, big cities like other state capitals, Union Territories headquarters will be covered. Then the revised guidelines also address the concerns with intercity travel and the concerns with long range electric vehicles and heavy duty electric vehicles like buses and trucks. Under the guidelines, it has been provided that fast charging stations for long range electric vehicles and heavy duty electric vehicles shall be installed at every 100 kilometers. Then obviously after electric vehicles becomes operational, most of the charging of electric vehicles would take place at homes or at offices. The guidelines have clarified that private charging at residences or places or offices will be permitted. These private charging will be facilitated by the DISCOMs. Here the DISCOM refers to power distribution companies. Next the guidelines talks about public charging stations in short PCS. PCS is a type of electric vehicle supply equipment or EVSE. An EVSE is a wall mounted box that supplies electric energy for the recharging of electric vehicle batteries. The PCS is for charging outside the home premises. In this PCS, for using the electric power, payment will be collected. You can compare this PCS with petrol bunks. The guidelines has also clarified that setting up of PCS shall be a de-licensed activity and then any individual or entity is free to set up public charging stations subject to the conditions as specified in the guidelines. Now also know about nodal agencies that will act as the key facilitator in the installation of the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles throughout the country. The central nodal agency is the Bureau of Energy Efficiency which is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power. Then for the state level, according to the guidelines, the state government has to nominate a nodal agency. Generally the state DISCOM shall be the nodal agency or else the state government is free to select a central or state public sector undertaking or the urban local body or such other body as the nodal agency. In this context of this news article, let us discuss about the Fame India 2 scheme. The scheme was approved by the union cabinet in February 2019. It has come into effect since 1st of April 2019. This Fame India 2 scheme is the expanded version of Fame India 1 scheme. The Fame India 1 scheme was launched in April 2015 and it was in effect until Fame India 2 scheme was started. Know that Fame India scheme in general is a part of national electric mobility mission plan. In this the acronym Fame India stands for faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles in India. The scheme will be implemented by Department of Heavy Industries under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. The scheme was introduced to promote electric mobility in India. Fame India 2 scheme will be implemented for a period of three years until 2022. Now let us see the objectives of Fame India 2 scheme. The scheme will support the electric vehicle industry with incentives. The incentives are nothing but the subsidy benefits given to the electric vehicle industries in order to promote their manufacturing and their sales. The main criteria for subsidy allocation in Fame India 2 scheme is that the vehicles must use lithium ion batteries or any new technology batteries. The second objective of the scheme is to establish a charging infrastructure in the major cities of the country that includes metros, other million plus cities, smart cities and cities of hilly states across the country. It is to ensure that there will be availability of at least one charging station in a grid of nine square kilometers. The next objective is to establish charging stations on major highways of India for every 25 kilometers. So from this we can see that the guidelines have incorporated the major objectives of Fame India 2 scheme. With this we end the discussion of the topic. The displayed practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. The news article states that the CPR Environmental Education Center has presented the best teacher award for the year 2019 to a Chennai Corporation school teacher. The teacher created awareness among the school children on environment for over two decades. The news article states that this award was presented on 4th October. According to the news article in the past, this day was celebrated as the International Wildlife Protection Day. But remember that October 4th is celebrated as the World Animal Day or World Animal Welfare Day. The mission of this day is to rise the status of animals in order to improve the welfare standards around the globe. So the celebration of World Animal Day unites the animal welfare movement and mobilizes it into a global force to make the world a better place for all animals. And also please note that this week is Wildlife Week of India. The wildlife week is celebrated all over the country in the month of October from 2nd to 8th October every year. It is celebrated with the view to preserve the wildlife. It was first started in the year 1952 with the great vision of saving the life of Indian animals by taking some critical steps. It involves the planning to save animal extension of any species of India. The Indian government established an Indian Board of Wildlife in 1952. This board worked to improve the awareness as well as consciousness of the Indian people towards the wildlife preservation. But remember that this board was replaced by the National Board for Wildlife in the year 2003. The National Board for Wildlife is a statutory board set up under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The National Board for Wildlife has 47 members and the Prime Minister is the chairperson of it. Also, the Minister in charge of the Union Ministry of Environment is the Vice Chairperson of the Board. The National Board for Wildlife is also responsible for the promotion of conservation and the development of wildlife and also the forest. Now in the context of the topic, it is important to know about the center that is CPR Environmental Education Center. Here the center or in short, CPR EEC is a center of excellence of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. This center is established jointly by the Ministry and the CP Ramaswamy Iyer Foundation. The center has been a pioneer in environmental education efforts in South India and the center is also conducting a variety of programs to spread the awareness and interest among the masses. The main mission of the center is to create awareness and knowledge of key target groups about various aspects of the environment. The key target groups are the school children, local communities, women, and also other sections of the society. The annual award is given to a teacher generally mostly who contributed to the field of environmental education and also the award mostly selected based on the rural area as a criteria. This is the award we discussed in this article. With this, we have come to the end of this article discussion. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session of the video. This news article is about the commutation of death sentence by the President of India. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. The news article mentions that based on the recommendations received from the Home Ministry, the President has commuted death sentences to life imprisonment in at least 20 criminal cases. One among the death row convict whose death penalty was commuted was from Sikh community. And the article mentions that his commutation is a humanitarian gesture with respect to the 558th birth anniversary of Sikh founder Guru Nanak. The news article also talks about special remission given to various prisoners on the important occasion of birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. These are done by the central government based on the powers under the sections 432-453 of Code of Criminal Procedure. For your today's discussion, let us restrict to the pardoning power of the President. This is based on article 72 of Indian Constitution. So this power of the President to commute death sentence is based on Indian Constitution. Article 72 deals with the power of the President to grant pardon. And the power of the President to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases. The article states that the President shall have the power to grant pardon, reprise, respite or remission of punishment or he can suspend, remit or commute the sentences of any person convicted of any offense. This power of the President is applicable in all cases where the punishment or the sentence is by a court martial. The power is also applicable in all cases where the punishment or the sentence is for any offense against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of union extends. And it is applicable in all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death. Know that the power of President under article 72 is part of the constitutional scheme and it is not a private act of grace on the part of the President. So in the context of exercise of powers under article 72 the President is not supposed to act on his or her own judgment. The President is mandated to act in accordance with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers in accordance with the article 74 of the Constitution. Okay, the article 74 deals with the subject of Council of Ministers to aid and advice the President. In this context, let us see the meanings of these important terms. Pardon refers to removing of both the conviction and the sentence of the convicted individual. The moment a person is pardoned, it means he or she can walk free. This is because the pardon will absolve all sentences, punishments and the disqualifications of the conviction. Reprive refers to temporary stay of the execution or implementation of a sentence. Normally it is done to enable the convict to get time so that he or she can seek pardon or commutation from the President. Here, respite refers to awarding a lesser punishment in place of original punishment. Here, respite will be granted by the President due to some special facts, such as pregnancy of a woman offender. Further, the term remission refers to reducing the period of sentence without changing its original character. For example, a sentence of rigorous imprisonment of five years can be reduced to rigorous imprisonment of two years. Impresonement is the nature of the sentence and it is not changed, only the period of the sentence is reduced. This is normally the case, but one should note that the President can limit the whole or part of the sentence of the convicted. Further, the award suspension of the sentence refers to making the convict to not undergo imprisonment or the sentence. He may be warned and asked not to repeat the behavior. Generally, this will be done in case of first offenders and in case of offenses that are less serious in nature. Commutation refers to substitution of one form of punishment for a lighter form of punishment. Here, the best example is that commutation of death sentence into life imprisonment where the person will spend the rest of his life in the prison. Now, in this context, we have to know that the governor of a state is also has similar powers under Article 161 of the Indian Constitution. But there are two main differences. One is that the President can pardon, reprive, respect or suspend, remit or commute the sentences that are given by the court marshals or military courts. But in case of governor, he don't have these powers with respect to the sentences and the punishment given by the court marshals. The pardoning power of the President is also applicable in all cases where a sentence is sentence of death. In case of governor, this is not the case with respect to governor. That is, a governor cannot exercise these powers for a death sentence. Therefore, with respect to this article, we have discussed the prosens of Article 72, the prosens of Article 74, as well as the prosens of Article 161 of the Indian Constitution. And also, we have discussed the differences of the pardoning power of President as well as the governor of a state. So with this, we end the discussion of this topic. The practice questions will be discussed at the end of the session. The newest article is about taxation on incorporated clubs and also on unincorporated members' clubs. With respect to this article, we will discuss the important keywords like the difference between the incorporated clubs and also the unincorporated clubs. The fundamental requirement in order to impose the sales tax and finally, we'll be discussing the doctrine of mutuality. According to the news article, the Supreme Court has held that the supply of food, drinks and beverages by the incorporated members' club to its permanent members is not liable for imposition of the sales tax as well as service tax. Further, the judgment has said that the sales tax cannot be levied on the clubs, whether these clubs are incorporated clubs or unincorporated clubs for the supply of food and drinks to its permanent members. Here, the crux of the judgment is not important, but the contest of the judgment is very relevant for your preparation. So, what do you mean by the terms like the incorporated clubs also the unincorporated clubs? Here, the incorporated club is a legal process used to form a cooperative entity. Here, the incorporation makes an association a legal entity and gives its a legal structure independent of its individual members. Whereas, in case of an unincorporated association, it is an association that is not legally separate from its owners. It is set up through an agreement between a group of people who comes together to form a particular purpose other than to make a profit. For example, social clubs. Now, let us come back to the news article. Here, the judgment has said that the supply of goods between the members' club and its permanent members lacks the one essential aspect of a sale that is, a seller and a buyer. It means that in such transactions, there are no buyers and also no separate sellers because in this case, the legal entity called the club and its members are one and the same. So, one cannot sell something to oneself. Now, we need to understand the doctrine of mutuality here. This doctrine is based on a principle that a person cannot make profit from himself. In one of its judgment, the court has said that the relationship between an incorporated member's club and its permanent members would be dominated by the principle of mutuality. It means that the relation between the club and its members cannot be treated as profit-oriented. As we have discussed earlier, an incorporated entity is a distant legal entity here. The article says that though it is a separate legal entity, it is only an agent of its members that are involved in the process. It further has said that there is no transfer of property between the club and its members. Here, there is no sale eligible for the taxation. In addition, this article also mentions about the 46th Constitutional Amendment. This amendment has introduced the clause like 29A in the article 366, which defines about the tax on sale or purchase of the goods. Here, those students with law optional can study these clauses in detail. But for general studies and problems preparation, this information is sufficient. Therefore, to conclude this article, we have discussed the fundamental requirement to impose the sales tax and the difference between the incorporated clubs and also unincorporated clubs. Further, we have discussed the doctrine of mutuality and the Prozincs of 46th Amendment Act. With this information, now let us test your understanding of the topic with the help of the questions. Now let us discuss the practice questions. Here, the first question is based on the Fame India scheme. In this question, there are two statements given with respect to the scheme. And just to read the first statement, the statement one is the objective of Fame India scheme, whereas the second statement is asking that which body is the central nodal agency? And the question is that you have to select the correct option of the given two statements. From our discussion, we have seen that the objective of Fame India 2 scheme is to establish a charging infrastructure in the major cities of the country. And that too, within a grid pattern of three kilometers by three kilometers. That ensures that the statement one is correct. But in case of second statement, here the statement is asking that which is the central nodal agency? Note that it is not Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency, but Bureau of Energy Efficiency is the central nodal agency. Therefore, the second statement is incorrect, but the first statement is correct. Therefore, the correct option is that option A, one only. Now, concern this question. Here, the three statements are given with reference to National Board for Wildlife. In such kind of questions, you just to go through the statements from statement three to statement one. Because in the statement three, it is asking that who is the ex-officer chairman of this board? You know that from our discussion, it's not Union Minister for Environment who is the chairperson of this board, but it's the Prime Minister of India is the chairperson of this board. Therefore, the statement three is incorrect. From our options, you can easily see that option C and D are incorrect. Now see that you have to know that whether the statement one is correct or incorrect in order to choose the correct option from this question. Furthermore, we have seen that this National Board for Wildlife is a statutory body under the Prozins of Wildlife Protection Act. Therefore, the statement one is correct. Now, this question also requires that whether the statement two is correct or incorrect. In addition, we have already discussed that this National Board for Wildlife is also coming under the Ministry of Environment. Therefore, the second statement is also correct. So, for this question, just to take out the statement three. Therefore, the correct option for this question is that option B one and two. Now, consider this question. Here, there are two statements are given with reference to CPR Environmental Education Centre. Here, the statement one says that it is the centre of excellence of Minister of Environment and the statement second says that its mission is to increase the awareness. Kindly note that here, you have to select incorrect statements. So, from our discussion, we have seen that the CPR Environmental Education Centre is the centre of excellence from the Ministry of Environment. Therefore, the statement one is correct. And also, you know that the mission of this centre is to increase the awareness and also knowledge promotion of key target groups such as school children, women and some other sections of the society. Therefore, the second statement is also correct. Therefore, both the statements are correct but you have to select incorrect statement. So, thus the option D is correct because neither one nor two are incorrect with respect to this question. Now, consider this question. This question is based on the power of President to commit the death sentence. You are expected to select the correct article with respect to commutation of the death sentence. You know that Article 74 deals with the Council of Ministers. In case of Article 123, it deals with the power of President to promulgate the ordinance. In case of Article 143, it is a consultation power of the President with respect to the judicial matters. But in case of Article 72, we have exclusively discussed that this article deals with the power of President to grant the pardoning of the sentences, including the death sentences. Therefore, for this question, the correct option is that option B, Article 72. Now, consider this question. Here, the question is with reference to incorporation. Here, the two statements are given and you have to select the correct option for this question. So, in the first statement, it says that incorporation makes an association a legal entity. Yes, it is correct. Whereas, in case of incorporated entity, the question is that whether we can impose the sales tax or not. From our discussion, we have seen that such kind of entities are not applicable in order to impose the sales taxes. Therefore, the second statement is also correct because the imposition of sales tax is also not applicable because if the transaction is between the incorporated entity and also between its permanent members. Therefore, both the statements are correct. The correct option is that option C, both 1 and 2. Now, let us discuss the practice man's question. Here, the question is that there is no much change in the relations between India and China since Wuhan Summit of 2018. But after the summit, many things have changed, altering the circumstances surrounding India-China relations. Let us explain with suitable examples. So, for this question, you should write with suitable examples. Within the question, if you observe carefully, there are two statements. For both the statements, you have to substantiate with relevant examples. For first half of the statement, like there is no much change in the relations between India and China after Wuhan Informal Summit of 2018. Here, you can give the examples like the border disputes between the two nations still have not been resolved and also the state issues still have been pending. Such kind of examples you can give in order to substantiate the statement like that there is no much change in the relations between the two nations. Now, for second half of the question, that after the summit, many things have changed. Here, the suitable examples like the deterioration of India-China relations and also for second half of the question, you can give examples like the deterioration of the relations between China and USA relations, particularly in the trade sector. And also you can mention that there is a strengthening of India-Russia relations. And even there is a growing influence of India in East Asia region. And even you can mention the quadrilateral grouping arrangement. Here, you can also mention that there is a growing criticism of Chinese-led initiative, Belt and Road Initiative and also the failure of China in order to deal effectively the issues like the Hong Kong crisis, dealing the Tibet issues. These issues have been changing with respect to China per se. And these examples you can give for the second half of the question. At the end of your answer, you can write that the upcoming informal summit between India and China is expected to change or improve the relations between India and China. So, with this, we have concluded the practice prelims question as well as main question. So, dear students, one kind information, tomorrow being a Sunday, there won't be Hindu News Analysis video for tomorrow. Thank you.