 Welcome to today's Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A.S academy. The news articles along with their page numbers are displayed here for your reference. The PDF link of the handwritten notes and the time stamping of the news articles is given in the description box as well as in the comment section. Now let us start our news analysis. These news articles mention that the union cabinet has cleared the citizenship amendment bill of 2019. So now the bill is ready to be tabled or introduced in the parliament. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. So in this context, the citizenship amendment bill of 2019 is to be reintroduced in the parliament on December 9th. If you notice that this was not the first time citizenship bill was introduced. The citizenship amendment bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2016. But it was referred to a joint parliamentary committee and this committee submitted its report to the parliament in January 2019. Then the bill was taken into consideration and it was passed by Lok Sabha in January 2019. But before passing by the Rajasabha, the 16th Lok Sabha was dissolved in May 2019. So the previous citizenship amendment bill of 2019 collapsed and this has necessitated to reintroduce the fresh bill. Now after cabinet approval, the bill is going to be reintroduced in the parliament on 9th of December. But the pros and cons of this latest bill is not publicly available. But for our understanding, today we will discuss based on the bill which was introduced in January 2019. This January citizenship bill of 2019 augments the Citizenship Act of 1955. The basic objective of the Citizenship Amendment Bill of 2019 was to facilitate the granting of Indian citizenship to the members of six minority communities who were migrated to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 31st December 2014. And these six communities were minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. And these six communities include Hindus, Sikhs, then Buddhists, Jains, then Parsis and Christians. Kindly note that there is no mentioning of Muslims. Then it was mentioned that those members who migrated without valid documents or the members whose travel documents validity had expired will be given Indian citizenship based on the proposed amendment bill. But if you look at the pros and cons of Citizenship Act of 1955, which treats such persons as illegal migrants and the 1955 act deprived them of the right to apply for Indian citizenship. And this act defines illegal migrants as a foreigner who has entered into India without a valid passport or the other travel documents or staying in India beyond the permitted period of time. So the 2019 January Bill introduced a new pros and that is with respect to these six minority communities who entered into India till 31st December 2014 from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. And these communities shall not be treated as illegal migrants and shall be eligible to apply for naturalization under section 6 of the Citizenship Act of 1955. If you look at the Citizenship Act of 1955, which prescribes five different ways of acquiring citizenship. These are by birth, by dissent, by registration or by naturalization or by incorporation of territory. Here the term naturalization literally means the admittance of a former to the citizenship of a country. So for this purpose the section 6 of the 1955 act has provided for certain pros and then the qualifications for naturalization are also provided in the thought schedule of the 1955 act. Now the present 2019 bill also proposes certain amendments to the classes of the thought schedule of 1955 act. And this bill is going to amend the pros and so of class D of thought schedule. But if you look at the present class D of 1955 act, the qualification for naturalization of a person is provided in this class. As per this class the person has either resided in India or has been in the service of government of India for an aggregate period of not less than 11 years in during the 14 years immediately preceding the period of 12 months from the date of application. Now this 2019 bill changes this aggregate time period to not less than 6 years. That is at least 6 years the person either should have resided in India should have been in the service of government of India in the 14 years preceding the 12 months from the date of application. Then the bill also proposes to amend section 70 of 1955 act and this section deals with the cancellation of registration of OOC citizen of India card holders and we have discussed about OCA card holders and about this section in detail on our 12th November Hindu News Analysis video and you can refer this video for your reference. As per the proposed amendment bill it adds a new pros and for cancellation of registration as OOC citizen of India card holder and if the OOC citizen of India card holder has violated any of the pros and so of this act or violated pros and so of any other law for the time being in force. Then their OCA registration can be cancelled therefore these are the certain amendments proposed by the 2019 bill. In short we can say it amends the definition of illegal migrant it reduces the residency requirement to obtain Indian citizenship through naturalization and it imposes the central government to cancel registration of OCA card. In addition to this the news article mentions that the bill shall not apply to tribal areas of Assam then Meghalaya then Mizoram and Tripura as these are included in the sixth schedule of the constitution. If you look at the sixth schedule which deals with the pros and so of the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam then Meghalaya then Tripura and Mizoram. Then the bill shall not apply to the states of Arunachalapadesh, Mizoram and Nagaland as they are protected by the inner line permit. But if you look at the criticism against this bill there is a lot of opposition for this bill and even the opposition parties have already objected to the pros and so of this bill but still the government appears confident of passing the bill in the Rajasabha too though they don't have the members in Rajasabha to pass this bill. Now if you look at the argument by the opposition parties they are calling this bill as unconstitutional because the bill uses religion as a criteria to extend citizenship. They are saying that the citizenship amendment bill violates the basic principles of the constitution. Another controversy with this bill is that the genuine objective of the citizenship amendment bill is not to protect the minorities but to exclude one particular religion that is to exclude persons belong to Muslim religion thus this bill amounts to religious discrimination. So this is all about citizenship amendment bill of 2019 and the criticism against this bill. With this we have come to the end of the discussion of this news article and the displayed practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Now let us proceed to the next news article. This editorial is about the present status of higher education system in India. In this editorial the author has discussed the present status of higher education system then how it is going to affect India in the future. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. If you see at the central level the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Human Resources Development is responsible for the overall development of the higher education sector in India. The author has noted that the present higher education system in India is facing structurally some challenges and these shortcomings include shortage in terms of faculties then underfunding then the separation of research from teaching. Now in terms of shortage in faculties the author has mentioned that about 50% of the total approved strength in the government institutions in India is vacant. This is because the demand for faculties in teaching and research is increasing in India but on the other hand there is no proposed supply that is enough qualified faculties are not available. The author also mentions that the number of institutions has increased in India since 2000 but at the same time the number of students doing PhD has remained constant. This is the reason why there is a stagnant supply of faculties to the higher education system in India. But if you see that there are about 1 lakh India-born PhD students who are studying across the universities of the world. Now we can think that these 1 lakh research scholars can be employed by Indian institutions but there is a serious problem in terms of underfunding. It means that the government or the private sector is not spending enough money to support the research activities because the author tells that the Indian expenditure for R&D activities is about 0.62% of GDP and this value is one of the lowest in emerging economies. Then if you see the salaries of the faculties at present in India the salaries are low when compared to the salaries that the foreign universities offer. So both these are the reasons why the Indian-born PhDs who have studied in the foreign universities are not willing to work in India. If you look at the example from China which has attracted the Chinese origin PhDs by providing salaries in terms of dollars. Even the Chinese government provides incentives in the form of money for the published research articles. Now if you look at the next problem in our higher education system that is the research and the teaching activities which are separated in India therefore the students are not well aware of the recent innovations and ideas. Therefore because of all these reasons the author tells that Indian universities rank low in both research and teaching. As a result of these structural flaws in the higher education system which can affect macroeconomic indicators such as labour productivity. Now the author suggests that the government should acknowledge the importance of higher education system in India. So in this context the author discusses the recent happenings on higher education sector in India. So in this direction in the month of June 2019 the central government released a draft national education policy and it aims to double education spending to 6% of GDP. The policy also aims to close the research teaching divide in the higher education system in India. To improve the higher education sector in India the government of India has started the program called institutions of eminence in 2018. And it's one of the aims of this program is to give more funding to some of the identified research institutions. The author is suggesting that reforms in higher education system should happen in the form of legislations. She means to tell that there should be proper laws in place to fund research based universities. And this can bring a culture of research discovery and accountability to India's higher education institutions. So in this context we have discussed some of the structural shortcomings in the present higher education system and also suggestions given by the author. Now look at the practice question which will be discussed at the end of the session. Now let us move on to the next news article. This discussion is about the Bharat Bond ETF. The syllabus that can be linked to this discussion is given here for your reference. The news article mentions that the cabinet committee on economic affairs chaired by the prime minister has approved the government's plan to create and launch Bharat Bond ETF. Now before discussing about Bharat Bond ETF let us first know what ETF means. Here ETF stands for exchange traded funds. And it is a basket of securities that are traded on an exchange. And ETFs are in many ways similar to mutual funds. But these ETFs are listed in stock exchanges and ETF shares are just like ordinary stocks. So ETF can be bought or sold like ordinary stocks or shares. And ETFs can contain all types of investments including stocks, commodities or bonds. So in simple manner let us assume ETF is like one basket. And in this basket government puts its own shares of about five public sector undertakings or CPSC because government has shares in public sector enterprises. Now this basket is known as portfolio. Here portfolio is a grouping of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies and cash equivalents. Now this portfolio has some asset value and this is known as net asset value. Now this portfolio is managed by asset management companies such as Barclays or Goldman Sachs. Here the asset management company for example Barclays gives smaller units of ETF out of the portfolio. It is like that Barclays has cut the basket into small pieces which is worth of about say 100 rupees. And now these small pieces are put on sale at stock exchanges so that the people can purchase these smaller pieces. Then after this when the company who shares put by the government ends profit then that profit is shared among those who brought these shares. And this profit will be shared after Barclays takes its own commission. Now the major positive aspect of this ETF is that the units bought by the people can be further traded in the stock exchange. And if they want to sell these units but this cannot be done immediately in the case of mutual funds. That is why the word exchange is included in the ETF. We saw that ETFs can contain all types of investments including stocks, commodities or bonds. So in this way the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the creation and the launch of Bharat Bond Exchange Traded Funds. And it has been approved to create an additional source of funding for central public sector undertakings that is CPSUs, then central public sector enterprises that is CPSCs, then central public financial institutions and other government organizations. And know that Bharat Bond ETF will be the first corporate bond ETF in the country. Now let us discuss the features of this Bharat Bond ETF. First is that this ETF will be a basket of bonds issued by CPSC or CPSU or central public financial institutions or any other government organization bonds. Then these bonds are tradable on exchange. Now let us discuss the features of this Bharat Bond ETF. The first is that this ETF will be a basket of bonds issued by central public sector enterprise or CPSU or maybe central public financial institutions or any other government organization bonds. Then these bonds are tradable on exchange. The next feature is that the ETF basket will be divided into smaller units. In the first step all AAA rated bonds will be issued. Here AAA is the highest possible rating that may be assigned and issuers bonds by any of the major credit rating agencies. And these AAA rated bonds refers to a high degree of creditworthiness and they have lower risk of defaulting. Then the next feature of this ETF is that they will provide for a transparent net asset value. Then the portfolio will also be transparent as there will be daily disclosure on websites. Then the next feature of ETF is that each ETF will have a fixed maturity period. Now let us see the benefits of Bharat Bond ETF to the investors. And these benefits includes like safety because these bonds are issued by central public sector enterprises and other government entities. So there is a less worry of defaulting. Then it will provide liquidity or cash as the bonds are tradable on exchanges. Then it provides for a predictable tax efficient returns because ETF will have a target maturity structure. Then it provides access to retail investors to invest in bonds with smaller amounts. So we don't need larger amounts to invest in these ETFs. Hence it provides easy and low-cost access to bond markets. Therefore it will increase the participation of retail investors who are currently not participating in bond markets because of liquidity and accessibility constraints. So as a whole the Bharat Bond ETF is expected to eventually increase the size of bond ETFs in the country. The key objectives of ETFs are deepening bond markets, enhancing retail participation and reducing borrowing costs. With this information we have come to the end of analysis of this news article. And the displayed practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Now let us proceed to the next news article. This news article says that the union covenant has approved a proposal to extend reservation for schedule cast and schedule tribes in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for 10 years. Then the article also expresses concerns over whether union cabinet has extended reservation for Anglo-Indian community or not. So in this contest we will see the pros and cons of the original constitution then how this reservation was extended then after. If you look at the pros and cons of article 3.34 at present it says that the reservation of seats for the schedule cast and the schedule tribes in the house of the people and in the legislative assemblies of the states. Then clause B of article 3.34 says that the representation of the Anglo-Indian community in the house of the people and also in the legislative assemblies of the states by nomination. And these pros and cons shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of 70 years from the commencement of the constitution of India. But if you look at the original constitutional pros and cons that is on 26th January 1950 this expiration of a period is mentioned as 10 years from the commencement of the constitution of India. It means that the reservation of seats for schedule cast and schedule tribes including Anglo-Indian community would expire by 1960. But this reservation was extended by means of constitutional amendment after every expiration of a period that was mentioned in this article. And the latest being the reservation is going to expire on 26th January 2020. Therefore in this direction to extend the reservation of seats for schedule cast and schedule tribes recently the union government approved a proposal to extend the reservation of seats. But the news article also expresses doubts over whether this extension which was approved by the union cabinet also includes the representation of the Anglo-Indian community in the Lok Sabha and in the legislative assemblies of the states. This decision has assumed significance because at present that is in the 17th Lok Sabha the president has not nominated two seats for Anglo-Indian community. Here the definition of Anglo-Indian community includes a person whose father or any of his male progenitors in the male line is or is from European descent but who is a native of India. Therefore in this contest we have discussed the actual progences of Article 334 of the Indian constitution. Now let us start our practice prelims question session. Now look at this question. This question is with reference to inner line permit system and they have given the states like Karnachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and you have to choose the correct answer from the course given. If you look at the definition of inner line permit system which is a kind of official permit that is prescribed by the government for entering into the states like Karnachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagala. Therefore this inner line permit system regulates the visit of Indians into these states. So for this question option B, 1 and 3 is the correct option. Now look at this question. This question is with reference to Bharat bound exchange trader fund and they have given two statements and you have to choose the statements which are incorrect. First statement says that it will provide an additional source of funding for central public sector undertakings and central public sector enterprises. Then second statement says that these bonds are tradable on exchanges. So in this context we will see the definition of Bharat bound ETF that is exchange trader funds. It is a basket of securities that are traded on an exchange just like your stocks and these ETFs are in many ways similar to your mutual funds but these ETFs are listed on stock exchanges and ETF shares are traded just like an ordinary shares. So ETFs can be bought like ordinary shares and these ETFs can contain all types of investments like stocks, commodities including bonds. Therefore recently the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for creation and launch of Bharat bound exchange trader fund and it has been approved to create an additional source of funding for public sector undertakings, then central public sector enterprises, then central public financial institutions including any other government organizations. And know that Bharat bound ETF will be the first corporate bond ETF in the country. The key objectives include like deepening bond markets in the country, then enhancing retail participation and then to reduce borrowing cost. So these are certain details about Bharat bound exchange trader fund and if you look at the both the statements, both the statements are correct but you have to choose the incorrect statement. So option D neither one nor two is the correct option for this question. Now look at this question. This question is with the reference to the Constitution of India and they have given two statements and you have to choose the correct statements using the courts. Statement one says that there is a reservation of seats for scheduled cast and the scheduled tribes in both houses of the parliament and in the legislative assemblies of the states for such period as mentioned in the Constitution. This statement is incorrect because this reservation of seats for scheduled cast and the scheduled tribes is there only in the case of house of the people that is Lok Sabha and for the legislative assemblies of the states. Now look at the second statement which says that the representation of the Anglo-Indian community in the house of the people and in the legislative assemblies of the states by nomination, Sul sees to have effect on the expiration of a period of 70 years from the commencement of the Constitution. This statement is correct as per the provisions of the Constitution of India. Therefore option B two only is the correct option for this question. Now look at the practice main's questions. Today we are giving two practice main's questions and you can write your answers and can post in the comment section and the posted answers would be evaluated and suitable feedback or suggestions should be given to the aspirants. Now see the first practice main's question. It says that in the light of recent controversy on the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019, critically examine the amendments to the Citizenship Act of 1955 and you have to write in 150 votes and it is a 10 marks question. Now see this practice main's question. It has mentioned the statement made by Vice President of India and it says that keeping the demand of rapidly expanding economy for professional skill manpower we have expanded our professional education sector but what we need to ensure is the quality of higher education. So in the context of above statement critically examine the present status of higher education system in India. For this question you have to write in 150 votes and it is a 10 marks question and kindly post your written answers in the comment section which will be evaluated and suitable feedback will be given to the aspirants. With this we have come to the end of today's news analysis. 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