 I welcome you all to the Hindu Newspaper Analysis brought to you by the Shankara IAS Academy. Today's date is 10th November 2023. Before entering our discussion, I have an important announcement to make. This is regarding preliminary test series. Batch 3 of the Shankara IAS Academy's pre-stamming is about to begin. The orientation session of the Batch 3 will be conducted on 16th November and the first test will be on the same date. It includes 48 tests including the mock test and CSAR test. The test will be conducted in both online and offline mode. So, go and register and enrich your problem score. Here are the list of articles which we are going to discuss today. So, without wasting time, let us get into discussion. Look at this economic article. RBI Governor says that the headline inflation will decline from 6.7% in 2022-23 to 5.4% in 2023-24. However, the governor highlights the vulnerability of inflation to potential food price shocks. Additionally, he notes that the challenges for global economy have increased in recent times. This is particularly due to the various geopolitical tensions in West Asia. See, this is the crux of the article. So, in this context, we will briefly learn about the various core economic topics like inflation, consumer price index and wholesale price index. First, let us see about inflation. Inflation refers to the increase in the price of goods and services. In other words, we can say that inflation is the condition where the purchasing power of money decreases and the value of goods and services increases. You would have seen in news about the rate of interest. What does it mean? The inflation rate simply means the rate at which the prices have been increasing and often it is expressed as a percentage value. CPA and WPA are among the few indices used to measure the inflation rate. Now, let us see about CPA and WPA. First, we will look at CPA. CPA refers to the inflation at retail level and the data about CPA is compiled by National Statistics Office of the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation. The value of CPA is calculated from the increase in the price of goods which includes food and beverages, clothing, footwear and housing etc. Note that the highest weightage among these goods is given to the food and beverages which accounts for 45.86% of the total weightage. Moving on, let us see about WPA. WPA generally refers to the inflation at wholesale market and the data about WPA is compiled by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, DPIIT under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The value of WPA is calculated from the increase in the price of goods of some basket of commodity which includes primary article, fuel and power and manufactured products. The highest weightage among these goods is given to the manufactured products which accounts for 64.23% of the total weightage. Guys, know that the base here for the calculation of both CPA and WPA is 2011-12 and know that they are released on a monthly basis. Here, one important point to be noted is that the changes in the price of services like health care and banking transaction are taken into account while calculating the consumer price index and know that they will not be included in the calculation of WPA. This is about this news discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the basis of inflation and we also saw about the two commonly used indices that is CPA and WPA. With this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Take a look at this news article. Yesterday, the Supreme Court directed the Chief Justice of all high courts to form a special bench in their respective high courts. The purpose of the special bench is to monitor the criminal trials of people representatives that is MPs and MLAs. This will ensure that the justice is delivered in those cases. Know that this step has been taken by the judiciary to expedite the disposal of cases against the MPs and MLAs. As per this news article which is given, nearly 40% of MPs and MLAs have criminal backgrounds. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through what is criminalization of politics and their impacts Indian democracy using our mains answer rating approach. Let me read out a question for you. Indian democracy faces various challenges due to the criminalization of politics. Examine the reasons, challenges and step taken in this regard. See, this is the question which is asked for 15 marks and you have to write within 250 words. This question can be asked in the GS paper 2 under the syllabus of parliament and state legislatures, structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers and privileges and issue arising thereof. Now, moving on to answer. Now, let us see how to approach this question. The only keyword in this question is Examine. We know that when the keyword Examine is given, we are expected to present the clarity about various perspective of the issue. And in the conclusion, you have to take a balanced answer. This is how we are going to approach this question. Now, in the introduction part, you can write what is criminalization of politics and provide suitable data to substantiate your answer. For example, you can write like this. The criminalization of politics refers to the phenomenon where individuals with criminal backgrounds or those who are charged or convicted of criminal offenses actively participate in the politics. Let us see a data to understand it better. According to the report by Association of Democratic Reforms or ADR and National Election Watch NEW in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 43% of the winners had declared criminal cases against themselves. And know that 29% of them had serious criminal offenses like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crime against women. This increasing number of members with criminal antecedents threatens the survival of true democracy in India. You can write like this in your introduction part. Now, moving on to the main part of the answer, here you can split the body part into three parts. In the first part, you can list the reasons for increasing the criminalization of politics. In the second part, you can write about the challenges posed by it. And in the third part, you should write about the steps which are taken to combat the criminalization of politics. Okay, now let us start with the first part of the body. Here, what are all the reasons for increasing the criminalization of politics? Guys, you can write like firstly, the reasons is the nexus between politicians and criminal elements. See, politicians seek support from the individuals who are generally involved in criminal activities for many reasons. The reasons like buying of votes and other illegitimate practices in exchange of the political pattern which can be given by the politician. This connection often leads to backing of candidates with criminal backgrounds during the elections. Secondly, use of money and muscle power. Candidates with serious record seems to do well despite the public image. This is largely due to the ability to finance their own elections and bring substantive resource to the respective parties. And sometimes, voters are left with no option as all the competing candidates have criminal records against them. Thirdly, vested interest. People generally vote through a narrow prism of community interest and neglect the criminal background of politicians. This can lead to a situation where politicians with criminal backgrounds are elected simply because they are the members of their particular community. To put it simply, according to the old saying, Indians don't cast their vote, they cast their votes. Now, let us go to the fourth point. Slow judicial process provides opportunity for politicians to thrive even though with the criminal background. For example, in the Lily Thomas v Union of India case, Supreme Court declared that any MP or MLA who is convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison for a term of two years or more would be disqualified from holding office. The court also declared that a convicted lawmaker could not contest an election or continue as a member of legislature while the appeal was pending. But as we all know, the slow judicial process gives enough time and immunity to the accused MP or MLA until she or he completes his office. The fifth important reason is the absence of proper laws and rules for governing the procedure of election. We know that there is only model code of conduct or MCC, which is in being operation during elections. And we also know that they are not enforced by any statute. These are the reasons or factors which are contribute to the increase in the criminalization of politics. Moving on to the second part, here you have to write about the challenges which are posed by the criminalization of politics. The first two challenges, it causes threat to democracy. When politicians with criminal background holding the office, they can use their power to subvert the various systems including judicial system. And this will create a culture of impunity. This poses a serious threat to democracy as it undermines the rule of law and democratic institutions. The second challenges, it limits the voter to elect a suitable candidate. So, it is against the ethos of free and fair elections, which is a bedrock of democracy. Thirdly, it creates governance issues. When the politicians with criminal backgrounds when they are holding office means, they are more likely to be interested in serving their own interest rather than the interest of people. This can lead to the lack of good governance and failure to address important issues which are hinging our country. In the fourth challenges, it leads to a situation where corrupt practices are getting normalized in the society and becomes part of the political system. This makes it difficult for honest people to work efficiently and it will ultimately erode the public trust in the government institutions. Fifthly, it causes social disharmony by introducing a culture of violence in the society and sets a bad precedent for the youths to follow. This again reduces the people's faith in democracy as a system of governance. Guys, you can write these points as the challenges posted by the criminalization of politics. Okay, now moving on to the third part. Here, you have to list the steps which are being taken to combat the criminalization of politics. Firstly, you can write about the legal steps which are taken. The first step is section 8 of the Representation of People Act 1951. See, this act provides further disqualification and being convicted for certain offenses. According to this act, an individual punished with a jail term of more than two years cannot stand in the election for the next six years after his or her jail term gets over. But sadly, the law does not bar individuals who have criminal cases pending against them for contesting elections. So, this disqualification of candidates depends on their conviction in their cases. Secondly, you can write about the government initiatives. See, in 2017, the union government started a scheme to establish 12 special courts to fast track the trial of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs. Third, you can write about Supreme Court judgments. In 2002, in the case of ADR or Association of Democratic Reforms versus Union of India, the Supreme Court directed the election commission to issue guidelines to ensure that the candidates with criminal records were not given tickets to contest in the election. The court also ordered that the candidates must disclose their criminal records in the nomination papers. Moving on to the second judgment, in 2018, in Public Interest Foundation versus Union of India, the Supreme Court directed political parties to publish the criminal records of their respective candidates on the websites, social media handles and newspapers. The court also directed the election commission to create a framework to ensure that the information on candidates' criminal records were disseminated effectively. Thirdly, in 2019, Mahipal Singh Rana versus the State of UP, the Supreme Court directed the central government to set up special courts to expel the cases against politicians. See, these are some of the steps taken to combat the criminalization of politics. Finally, in the conclusion part, you can write that addressing the criminalization of politics in India requires a multifaceted approach through legal, electoral and social reforms. It demands a collective effort from political parties, civil society and judiciary to strengthen the democratic institutions and restore the public faith in political process. See, that's all about this news discussion. In this discussion, we saw about what is criminalization of politics, we saw about the reasons for increase in the criminalization, we also saw about the challenges which are posed by the phenomenon, we also saw about the challenges posed by those phenomenon and finally we saw about the steps taken to combat the criminalization of politics. See, with these learned points, we shall complete this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article, U.S. Secretary of Defense, Leon J. Astin visited India for the 2 plus 2 ministerial dialogue on Friday. He told that there will be discussions about the rising tensions in West Asia. Moreover, know that there are two significant defense deals which are in progress between India and U.S. These deals will also be discussed in the 2 plus 2 summit. The first deal involves the purchase of 31MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance Drones. The second deal is about manufacturing General Electric of 414 jet engines in India. See, these engines will power the indigenous light combat aircraft LCA-MK-2. The ongoing process for these deals is expected to be completed next year. This is all about the news which is given here. In this context, let us see about 2 plus 2 dialogue and various defense agreements between India and U.S. First of all, what is 2 plus 2 dialogue? The 2 plus 2 dialogue refers to a diplomatic and strategic meeting which is usually held between the top defense and foreign officials of two countries. In this dialogue format, the defense minister and foreign minister of one country meet with their counterparts of another country. They will discuss and coordinate on various bilateral, regional and global issues. The name 2 plus 2 signifies the two key areas which is involved in this discussion. They are foreign and defense affairs. This format allows for comprehensive discussion on security, defense cooperation and diplomatic matters. And thereby, these discussions will enhance the strategic communication between the two nations. The U.S. often conducts 2 plus 2 dialogue with the key partners. This includes India. See, U.S. is India's oldest and most important 2 plus 2 talk partner. The first 2 plus 2 dialogue between the two countries were held during Trump administration in 2018. With these dialogues, India and U.S. have signed 3 foundational packs for deep military and strategic cooperation between the two countries. These foundational packs are Logistic Exchange Memorandum of Agreement or LEMOA in 2016, Communication Compatibility and Security Agreement, COMCASA in 2018, Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement, BECCA in 2020. Besides USA, India also has 2 plus 2 dialogues with other 3 strategic partners. They are Australia, Japan and Russia. See, this is all about the discussion on 2 plus 2 dialogue. With these learned points, let us move on to the next news article for our discussion. Look at this news article. The Supreme Court of India has given the government a four-week deadline to finalize a menstrual hygiene policy of India. This policy will be focusing on the distribution of sanitary napkins. The CJA directed the government to establish a national model for the number of girls' toilets in government aided and residential schools. See, despite many advancements, affordability and access hurdles to menstrual health still affects many women. This is evident in semi-urban and rural areas of India. See, let us see the data to understand it better. The National Family Health Survey 5 indicates that 73% of rural women and 90% of urban women use hygienic method of menstrual protection. This shows that there has been an improvement in menstrual hygiene practices. But still, Lakune exists in rural and semi-urban areas. This is the crux of the article. In our discussion, we are going to see various initiatives taken by the government to ensure women's health. Before that, first look at the status of reproductive health of women in India. At the adolescent age, 70% of the girls are anemic and their problems related to menstrual health and hygiene often go unaddressed. Also, more than 70% of women are suffering from reproductive tract infections which may lead to infertility, abortions, etc. As per the National Family Health Survey 5, Tripura recorded the highest AFR or adult fertility rate with 69 births per 1000 women. The lowest adolescent AFR was recorded in Goa with 14 births per 1000 women. Here, the adolescent fertility rate or AFR means annual number of births to a woman who is aged between 15 to 19 years for every 1001 population in India. Let us put the data into perspective. See, in India, 1 in 3 women are undernourished and 1 in 2 women are anemic. In addition to this, due to poor economic background, many women in India work up to the last days of their pregnancy. This also adds to their undernourishment. Know that an undernourished mother almost inevitably gives birth to a low birth weight baby. That is, undernourishment is intergenerational. To address these issues, the government launched various initiatives. Let us see them one by one. The first initiative is Laxia. It means Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative. The aim is to improve the quality of care in the labour room and maternity operation theatres. Know that the Laxia program will be implemented by all medical college hospitals, district hospitals, first referral units, and community health centres. The second initiative is Janani Suraksha Yojana. It is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Health Mission. See, JSY is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme and it integrates the CAS assistance with delivery and post delivery care. The aim of Janani Suraksha Yojana is to reduce the maternal and neonatal mortality among pregnant women, especially from the marginalised section of the society. See the third initiative. It is Pradhan Mantri Matruvandana Yojana or PMMYY or PMMVY. See, Matruvandana Yojana is a maternity benefit program. It is also a centrally sponsored scheme which is implemented by Ministry of Women and Child Development. See the scheme has two objectives. The first objective is to improve the health-seeking behaviour of the pregnant and lactating mothers. Here, the health-seeking behaviour means the actions people take to look after their health. The second objective is to provide partial compensation for the wage loss which are faced by mothers during their pregnancy. Both these objectives will in turn aims to address the undernourishment in pregnant and lactating women. See, the fourth initiative is Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Matrita Abhyan. See, this initiative provides pregnant women a free of cost quality, anti-natal checkup by a specialist or medical officer on the ninth of every month. See, this is about the news discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the data regarding the reproductive health of women of India. And in the second part, we saw about the various steps taken by government to improve the reproductive health and maternity health of Indian women. See, with these learned points, let us take up the next news article for our discussion. Take a look at this news article. Yesterday, the Union government climbed in the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBA has its own boss. And the government has no say in the registration, investigation and prosecution of cases. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through the basics of CBA and its independence. Before that, let us see a historical background about CBA. See, during the period of World War II, a special police establishment or SPE was constituted in 1941. It was established in the Department of War of British India to inquire into the allegations of bribery and corruption related to war-related procurements. After independence, later on based on the recommendation of the Sandhanam Committee on the Prevention of Corruption, the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946 was enacted. Based on this act only, CBA was formalised as an agency of the Government of India. See, the mandate of CBA is to investigate the allegation of corruption in various wings of government. So, in this juncture, let us see an important fact that the CBA is not a statutory body but derives its power from Delhi's Special Police Establishment Act 1946. On moving on our discussion, currently the CBA is functioning under the Department of Personnel, under Ministry of Personnel, Pension and Public Grievances. Know that it is the premier investigation police agency of India. In functioning its duty, it also provides assistance to other investigation agencies like Central Vigilance Commission, Lokpal, in doing their respective duties. Know that it is also the nodal police agency of India which coordinates investigation on behalf of the Interpol member countries. See, this is all about the basics of CBA. Now, let us see the type of cases which are handled by CBA. First is anti-corruption cases. See, CBA investigates cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988. Under this act, CBA will investigate against the public officials and the employees of the central government. It also investigates the employees of various central public sector undertakings. Other corporations or bodies won't or controlled by the government of India. Secondly, with respect to economic crimes. See, CBA investigates major financial scams and economic frauds of India which includes crimes related to fake Indian currency, bank frauds, cyber crimes, large-scale smuggling of narcotics and antics, etc. Thirdly, CBA investigates special crimes which includes serious and organized crimes under IPC or other related acts. Know that this will be based on the request of state governments or on the orders of high courts or supreme courts. Let us see the Paris example to understand better. See, the special crimes including the cases of terrorism, bomb blast, kidnapping for ransom and other crimes which are committed by the Mafias. Finally, let us see the next function of CBA with respect to Suomoto powers. See, CBA can Suomoto take up investigation for offenses which are happening only in union territories. In cases of states, the central government can authorize CBA to investigate a crime in the state. But note that it will be based on only with the consent of the concerned state government. But there is also an exception. If there is a supreme court or high court orders, then the CBA can investigate the crime anywhere in the country even without the consent of the state. Now, let us move on to the next part of discussion that is about the independence of CBA. See, the agency is completely independent with respect to the own cases where CBA is the only investigating agency. But the problem is that the agency is dependent on home ministry for staffing and it also relies on ministry of law for lawyers. And moreover, CBA does not have functional autonomy to some extent in various cases. Moreover, the CBA acts as per the procedure prescribed by code of criminal procedure which makes it as a police agency. Because of this reason only, the CBA needs the consent of various state governments before it can make a present in that state. This loophole can lead to a certain cases not being investigated at all and those cases seeing a silent deadlock. Moreover, it is not financially independent as administrative and financial control of CBA rests with the ministry of personnel. This is all about the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the genesis of CBA and we saw about the functions of CBA. That is all about the news discussion. With this, let us move on to the next part of your video that is to discuss the preliminary practice questions. Today, we are having four questions. Let us solve them one by one. Look at the first question. It is a previous SIR Prelims question which appeared in 2020 Prelims. The question is, consider the following statements. The first statement, the weightage of food in CBA is higher than that of in WPA. See, the first statement is right because from our discussion, we know that the food holds the highest weightage in the calculation of consumer price index. See the second statement. This WPA does not capture the changes in the price of services which the CBA does. See, from our discussion, we also know that the second statement is also right because the changes in the price are taken into account only in CBA. See the third statement. Reserve Bank of India or RBI has now adopted WPA as a key measure of inflation and to decide on the key policy rate changes. See, the third statement is wrong because RBI adopted consumer price index or CPI as a key measure of inflation. See, this is taken as per the recommendation of Urjit Patel committee. So, we can say that the third statement is wrong. So, by eliminating the third statement, we know that the correct option is option A. Let us see the second question. What is the primary focus of basic exchange and cooperation agreement, BECCA, which is often seen in the international news? See, out of the four options, from our discussion, we know that BECCA stands for Defense and Security Collaboration between India and United States. See, we also know that this is one of the foundational agreements between India and US. So, the correct option is option C. See the third statement. Consider the following schemes. Janani Swaroksha Yojana, Janani Sishu Swaroksha Karyakam, and the third one is Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana. The question is which of the above schemes provide cash incentives to pregnant women? Look at the first statement. Option one is correct because statement one is correct because Janani Swaroksha Yojana is a safe motherhood intervention under national health mission. Know that it provides cash assistance with delivery and post delivery care. So, the first statement is correct. See, the second statement is wrong because JSSK was launched to assure free and cashless services to pregnant women for deliveries like normal or caesarean operations. See, JSSK also provides treatment for newborns up to 30 days after birth. We have to be aware that this scheme does not carry cash assistance programming. So, the second statement is wrong. As we have already discussed, statement three is correct as it also provides cash assistance. So, by eliminating statement two, we know that both one and three are correct. So, the correct option is option B. Look at the final question of the day. The question is who among the following is consulted on the appointment of director of CBI? See, the four options are given. We know that the director is appointed by the central government on the recommendation of committee. This committee consists of prime minister as a chairperson and leader of a portion of Lok Sabha and the chief justice of India or judge of supreme court as nominated by CJI. See, this does not carry union home minister as one of the member. So, by eliminating the statements three and four, we know that the correct option is option D. 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