 A very good evening aspirants welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar IAS Academy. Today's date is 2nd of November 2023 displayed here or the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. So without much delay let us get into the news article discussion. Now before getting into the news article discussion I have two announcements to make. First is regarding Shankar IAS Academy's initiative Chakra. This program exclusively covers current affairs and the classes will be held every Wednesday and Saturday from 2.30 pm to 5 pm. The classes started yesterday itself so if you have not enrolled yet hurry up and enroll as soon as possible. The second announcement is regarding our pre-storming test series Batch 3. It will be starting on 16th November 2023. A total of 48 tests will be covered in the series and the first test will be on 22nd November 2023. So what are you waiting for get enrolled and just lead the race. So these two announcements let's move on to the news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. According to the news article the Greater Chennai Corporation's Gender and Policy Lab is working on few projects to make the city safer for women. One of these projects is to study 250 bus stops along the top 10 bus routes used by women. They went to figure out what improvements are needed to enhance women's safety. The lab also plans to run campaigns that teach people how to help when they see someone in trouble. They want the community to be actively involved in making sure women are safe. This is the crux of the news article given here. So in this context let us quickly revise some of the basic measures taken by the government to improve the safety of women. See the issue of crimes against women in India has been a matter of concern for several years. In 2021 the National Commission for Women had informed that there was a rise of 46% in complaints of crimes against women in the first 8 months of 2021 over the corresponding period of proceeding here. In order to reduce the crimes against women and to ensure the safety of women, government has taken various steps. So we are going to see them one by one. First is the Nirbaya Fund. See the Nirbaya Fund framework provides for a non-lapsable co-op fund for safety and security of women. It was established in 2013. It is administered by the Department of Economic Affairs, DEA and the Ministry of Finance. The fund is utilized for projects and initiatives related to women's safety. Secondly, Mahila Shakti, Kendra scheme. See this scheme promotes community participation through the involvement of student volunteers for the empowerment of rural women. District level centers for women in short called as DLCW has also been created for 640 districts. These centers serve as a link between the village, block and state level in facilitating women-centric schemes. Thirdly, one-stop centers for women. See these centers they support women affected by the violence that they may face within the family or at the workplace or within the community in private or public places. So it functions specially for women who face sexual, physical, psychological, emotional and economic abuse. Fourthly, sexual harassment electronic box in short called as SHI box. See it is an online compliant management system for registering compliance related to sexual harassment at the workplace. The SHI box portal was launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Fifthly, swadhar grey. See the scheme envisions a supportive institutional framework for women victims of different circumstances. Women survivors of natural disaster, women prisoners released from jail, victims of domestic violence, they all can benefit from the scheme. It ensures shelter, food, clothing and health as well as economic and social security for such women. Lastly, women's helpline have been established. It includes dial 1091 and dial 181. The helplines provide immediate assistance to women in distress and report incidents of violence. National database on sexual offenders NDSO has been established to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies. So in order to coordinate various initiatives for women's safety, Ministry of Home Affairs has also set up a women's safety division. These are also some of the very important steps taken by the government to ensure safety and protection of women. So these learnt points and let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. Recently, our Prime Minister and his counterpart from Bangladesh jointly launched three projects virtually. The three projects are AHORA, AHARTALA, CROSSBORDER RAIL LINK, THEN KULNA, MONGLA, PORT RAIL LINK and UNIT 2 of the MI3 Superthermal Power Plant. So in this occasion, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India is proud to be the biggest development partner of Bangladesh. So this is the crux of the news article given here. So in this news article discussion, we shall focus on the rising ties between India and Bangladesh. To be very specific, we are going to see about the economic ties between India and Bangladesh. See, first of all, know that Bangladesh is the largest trade partner of India, especially in the South Asian region. Know that in order to boost bilateral trade between both countries, India has provided several concessions like duty-free access for Bangladesh's product in Indian market and etc. Secondly, in 2022, bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh reached 18.2 billion US dollar, even though it has dipped to 14.2 billion dollar in 2022-23 period. Still, Bangladesh is the India's top trading partner in the region. So let us quickly see what are all the items that are being traded between the countries. See, India's key exports to Bangladesh includes petroleum, cotton yarn, wheat and other commodities, whereas Bangladesh exports pure vegetable oil, non-knit men's cloth and etc. to India. Thirdly, both the countries in July 2023 made an agreement. The purpose of the agreement is to do trade transactions in rupees to bypass so it is done with the twin aim of reducing the dependence on the US dollar and strengthening regional currency and trade in South Asia. Fourthly, know that both the countries enjoy preferential treatment like tariff concessions in each other's markets. This is due to their participation in the South Asian free trade area SAFTA. In addition to this, Indo-Bangla Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, CEPA is also in the negotiating process. Here CEPA is nothing but a kind of free trade agreement. In this particular agreement, both the trading partners significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods which are traded between them. So these are all some of the economic ties related to the trade. Now the second area in the economic ties is cooperation in investment. See India has invested over $3 billion in Bangladesh while Bangladesh has invested $1 billion in India. Bangladesh ranks 12th among investing countries in India. Moving on, the third area of economic ties is with respect to the cooperation in energy and connectivity. See there are various connectivity projects between India and Bangladesh. For example, the India-Bangladesh Friendship pipeline. This connects Siliguri in West Bengal, Parvatipur of Bangladesh. Remember this pipeline will transport 1 million metric tons per annum MMTPA of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh. The other cross-border infrastructure projects, as we saw in the introduction itself, it includes Ahura-Ahartala rail link. If this rail link comes into operation, then it will re-establish the rail connectivity between Bangladesh and Tripura. So in the introduction itself, we saw the other projects. It includes Hulna-Mongala Port-Maitri Super-Termal Power Project. See make note of all these points. These can be asked in problems or in mains. Now remember the data that I just mentioned in the article discussion. It will help you in substantiating your answer in your mains. So with these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article. Recently, Tamil Nadu government has formed a fact-check unit in the state. This body will deal with misinformation and disinformation related to the state government. The body will check the news which are produced for all media platforms to find the veracity of the news. Know that the unit can take action in a sumoto manner or it can take action based on a complaint from various sources. Moreover, the FCU will also disseminate fact-checked information through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X which is formerly known as Twitter and YouTube and etc. This is the crux of the news article given here. So in this context, let us see in detail about what are these fact-check unit FCU. Before that, we shall see about the genesis of FCU in India. See fake news Menace was initially dealt by the Press Information Bureau, PIB. In November 2019, PIB established a fact-check unit FCU with the purpose of compacting the fake news related to the government of India and its various ministries, departments and public sector undertakings. It has been operational since then. In January 2023, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in short called as MET proposed amendments to the draft IT rules 2021. The rules said that any news that has been identified as fake by the PIB's fact-checking team should not be permitted by online intermediaries. But the final draft which was released in April 2023 dropped reference to PIB and a new FCU was created. So talking about the new FCU, see on April 6, 2023, the Union government made amendments to the Information Technology, Intermediary, Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code rules 2021. This amendment created a provision for FCU to flag fake, false and misleading online content related to the government. So in giving effect to this amendment, recently the government announced the formation of FCU know that it will have four members. It includes representative from the IT ministry, representative from the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, a media expert and a legal expert. So what are the process included in combating FCU? See according to the new rules, FCU will identify fake or misleading content related to the central government on the internet. Then it will mark it as fake. Know that if a content is marked as fake by FCU, then the online intermediary like social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and internet service providers like Airtel, Geo and Vodafone idea should make reasonable efforts to not host such content on their platforms. So to put it in simple words, if an information is marked as fake by the FCU, then the social media sites will have to take down such posts. Moreover the internet service providers will have to block URLs of such content as well. So this is the process involved in combating fake news. Here you might have a question. What happens if the intermediaries does not take any action based on the report of FCU? See if such a thing happens, then they may lose their safe harbor protection under section 79 of the IT Act. Here safe harbor is nothing but the exemptions which are given to the intermediaries. These exemptions will protect them from liability for any third party information that was being posted on them. Hope you could get it. Now moving on, what are all the need for FCU? See fake news will spread false or misleading information about any government policies. It leads to the distortion of fact and events, which is a serious problem for any government. For example, you would have heard about the rumors of children fainting due to polio drops. This led to boycott of polio drops by parents. Secondly, manipulation of public opinion. See, fake news will often manipulate public sentiment about any sensitive topics. It may shape public opinion on specific issues like election and etc. Thirdly, fake news may create polarization and panic among the people who would have forgotten the mass exodus of northeastern people from Bengaluru. This happened due to a fake news that people from northeast are getting attacked in Bengaluru. So considering all these FCU is a necessary mechanism required to combat the spread of fake news and misinformation. These are also some of the important points that you have to remember about FCU. With these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this front page article. See, even after so many steps taken by the government and various social reformers, violence against members of SD and SC community is still prevalent in India. The news article also highlights the same. Internal Valley District of Tamil Nadu, six persons of an intermediate caste assaulted and urinated upon two SC youth. So a case has been registered under the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Try Prevention of Atrocities Act. While this being the crux of the news article, we shall try and solve a main question related to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Try Prevention of Atrocities Act. Let me read out the question for you. Despite the recent changes made by the government in regards to the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Try Prevention of Atrocities Act, the crime against SC, SD communities continue to rise. Comment. See, this question can be asked in both GS1 and GS paper 2. In GS paper 1, it can be asked under society and in the GS2, it can be asked under the governance part. Now we shall move on to the question discussion. See, the only keyword in the question is comment. When the question has the keyword comment, you have to share your opinion based on evidence. So in the question for the introduction part, you can write some data from the NCRB. Then in the body of the answer, you have to write about the changes made to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Try Prevention of Atrocities Act and also express your opinion recording these changes. So with this basic understanding, now let us try to answer this question. So in the introduction part, you can highlight some of the data from the NCRB. You can write that according to the Crimes in India 2021 report by the NCRB, Atrocities or Crimes against Scheduled Caste SCs have increased by 1.2% in 2021. In addition to this, Atrocities against Scheduled Tribe have increased by 6.4%. In case of Atrocities against Scheduled Caste, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of cases of atrocities against SCs accounting for 25.82% followed by Rajasthan with 14.7% and Madhya Pradesh with 14.1%. In case of Atrocities against Scheduled Tribe, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of cases accounting for 29.8% followed by Rajasthan with 24% and Odisha with 7.6% in 2021. Violence against Dalit and Adivasi Umen has also risen. Cases of rape against SC Umen including minus account for 7.64% and SC Umen account for 15% out of the total cases reported. According to the report by the end of 2021, there were 70,818 cases of atrocities against SCs and 12,159 cases of atrocities against SCs awaiting for investigation. A total of 2,63,512 cases of atrocities against SCs and 42,512 cases of atrocities against SCs were taken to court. So, the conviction rates were 36.0% for SCs and 28.1% for SCs. As the year ended, 96.0% of SC cases and 95.4% of SC cases were still awaiting trial. These are all some of the important information regarding crimes against SC or SC as per the NCRB report. See here, it is not necessary to mention all the data. If you could remember any one or two data, it is sufficient. Now, we shall move on to the main body of the answer. Here, you can split the body into two parts. In the first part, we have to write about the changes made to the SC or SC prevention of atrocities act. See, the SC and SC prevention of atrocities act 1989 prohibits the commission of offenses against members of the scheduled cast and scheduled tribes. Act also establishes special codes for the trial of such offenses and the rehabilitation of victims. Act was amended in 2015 and recently in 2018. So, first, let us see the changes brought out by the 2015 amendment. Firstly, the 2015 amendment added new categories of actions to be treated as offenses. New offenses added under the act or displayed here, you can go through it. Next, the 2015 amendment specifies the duties of the non SC or SC public servants. The duties include firstly, registering a complaint or FIR, then reading out information given orally before taking the signature of the informant. So, if the public servant neglects these duties, they are punishable with imprisonment for a term of six months to one year. The 2015 amendment mentions the creation of an exclusive special court. This court must be established at the district level to try offenses under the POA Act. Exclusive public prosecutor must be appointed for these courts. Also, steps must be taken to dispose of the case within two months. The appeals against the decision of the exclusive special court can be made in the High Court. The High Court must also make a decision within three months. The 2015 amendment also mentions that it is the duty of the state to make arrangements for the protection of victims, their dependents and witnesses. So, these are all the changes made by the 2015 amendment. So, as I mentioned earlier, that was again amended in 2018. The 2018 amendment added Section 18A. Section 18A removes the need for conducting preliminary inquiry for registration of a first information report against any person accused under the Act. The Section 18A also makes all offenses mentioned under the Act as cognisable. So, presently the investigating officer can arrest the accused person without a warrant and start an investigation into the case without taking any order from the court. Finally, Section 18A bars the application of Section 438 that is anticipatory bail in regards to cases filed under the POA Act. So, these are all some of the changes made to the POA Act which you can write in the first part of the answer. In the second part of the answer, you have to write why despite these positive changes, the crimes against SC or ST community continue to rise. See, the first reason that you can highlight here is the increased reporting of cases due to rising awareness. See, earlier even though crimes happened, it was not properly reported. But currently due to awareness, more and more crimes are reported. The second reason that you can highlight is the low conviction rate. See, as per NCRB data, the conviction rates were 36% for crimes against SC and 28.1% for crimes against STs. Even if there are stringent provisions, but if they are not properly implemented, what is the use of such provisions? The low conviction rate is one of the main reasons why crimes against SC or ST continue to increase. The Leo can mention about the reducing income from agriculture. See, most of the perpetrator of caste based violence in India are land holding caste. On one hand, the income from agriculture has reduced significantly. And on the other hand, since the LPG reforms, SC or ST community have witnessed upward social mobility. So, the recent increase in violence against SC or ST communities can be seen as a backlash from the historically privileged community. Lastly, you can mention about the mindset of our society. See, law can only be an instrument of social change. Any real social change must come from within the society. The caste system has been followed in India for so long that it is ingrained in us. Due to this, caste based violence and discriminatory practices has been normalized in our culture. So, a good law alone will not change this. Only a social change from the grassroots level will reduce caste based violence. So, you can highlight these points for the increasing caste violence in India. In the conclusion part, you can mention Ambedkar's view on caste. Ambedkar considered caste as a poison. He quoted that the taste of anything can be changed but poison cannot be changed into nectar. So, he argued for the annihilation of caste. For this to happen, good laws must be complimented by good social work in grassroots. So, only this will bring about a long term solution to the issue. So, that's all regarding this news article. In this news article, we saw in detail about governments made to the POA app and we saw why crime against SC or ST community continue to rise even after such legal framework. So, with these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. This news article talks about the changes made by UPSC regarding the appointment of state DGPs. Firstly, UPSC has mentioned that police officers with at least six months of service left before retirement will only be considered for appointment as the director general of police of a state. This change was made to prevent the state government from appointing officers who are favorable to them as DGPs and extend their tenure. Secondly, UPSC has mentioned that IPS officers who are on central deputation will not be considered for post of state DGPs if the Home Ministry is of the opinion that the particular officer cannot be relieved of his or her duty. Then UPSC has also reduced the experience required. Earlier, to be considered for the position of DGP, a minimum of 30 years of experience was required. This has now been reduced to 25 years. UPSC also mentioned that the number of officers shortlisted for the position of DGP should not exceed 3. In exceptional cases, less than 3 officers can be shortlisted. Finally, UPSC has mentioned that officers who are willing to be appointed as DGPs alone will only be shortlisted. So, these are all some of the changes made by UPSC in regards to appointments of state DGPs. So, in this news article discussion, let us see some of the important points about UPSC in prelims perspective. As you all know, UPSC is a constitutional authority. Its main function is to act as an independent central recruiting agency. It conducts examinations and does recruitment for various central and all India services. First, let us see some of the constitutional provisions related to UPSC. See article 315-323 in part 14 of the constitution contain elaborate provisions regarding UPSC. You can see them here. The UPSC consists of a chairman and other members, both the chairman and the members are appointed by the president. The number of members in the UPSC is not specified in the constitution. Instead, it is the discretion of the president. Presently, the total strength of the UPSC is seven, which includes one chairman and six members. The constitution also does not mention about the qualification of the members of the UPSC. It just mentions that at least one half of the members should have served the government of India or the state government for at least 10 years. Article 316 provides for the term of the UPSC members. See the chairman and the members of the commission hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. Both the chairman or the members can relinquish their offices at any time by addressing their resignation to the president. Article 317 deals with the removal of chairmen and the members of the UPSC. The president can remove the chairman or the member of the UPSC if they are adjudged insolvent, if they engage in paid employment outside their office and they are of informed mind. Apart from these three provisions, the president can also remove them due to misbehavior. In this particular situation alone, the president must forward the issue to the Supreme Court for investigation. The Supreme Court following its inquiry gives a decision. According to the constitution, the guidance provided by the Supreme Court in this matter is legally obligatory for the president. Moving on, Article 318 provides power to the president to make regulations in regards to the members of the commission. As per this article, the president can determine the conditions of service of the members and other staffs of the commission. Then Article 319 ensures the independence of the chairmen and the members of the UPSC. According to Article 319, the chairman of the UPSC is not eligible for further employment in the government of India or a state. The member of the UPSC on the other hand or eligible for appointment as the chairman of UPSC or a state public service commission but not for any other employment in the government of India or a state. Moving on, Article 320 deals with the functions of UPSC. The UPSC plays an important role in personal management. Under this only, UPSC makes shortlist candidates for the appointment of state DGP as we saw in the news article. The UPSC also consulted on all disciplinary matters affecting a person serving under the government of India but note here it is not mandatory for the government to consult UPSC. Article 321 mentions that the parliament may by law extend the powers and functions of the UPSC. Article 322 mentions that expenses of the UPSC including any salary, allowance and pension payable will be charged on the consultative fund of India. Finally, as per Article 323, UPSC has to submit a report to the president annually mentioning the work done by it. So these are all some of the constitutional provisions related to UPSC. So these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article. Recently the department of post organized a rally for celebrating national unity day. Know that it is celebrated for commemorating the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel. So in this news article discussion we shall see some of his contributions to the freedom struggle of India and his contribution in the nation building. Before that, know that Vallabhai Patel was born on October 31, 1875 to a self-sufficient landowning family. He was mainly a self-taught man. He set up an independent law office in Godra. As a lawyer, Patel is very unique in presenting the case in a precise manner. He also challenged the police witnesses and British judges. Know that until 1917, Patel was indifferent to Indian political activities. But in 1917, Patel found a life changing moment. He got influenced by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Most importantly, Patel got adhered to Gandhi's Satyagraha policy of fighting the British colonial government. Talking about some of his contribution to the freedom struggle, see 1918, Patel actively participated in Kedah Satyagraha. Kedah Satyagraha was aimed at suspension of the revenue collection from farmers due to a drought in the Kedah area. Here Patel took the responsibility of leading the farmers of Gujarat. Secondly, we know that Mahatma Gandhi started the non-cooperation movement in 1920, right? So Sardar Vallabhai Patel actively participated in the movement. To show non-cooperation, Patel gave up his law practice. He also set up the Gujarat Vidya Peeth for children. This is to boycott students from attending government schools. Apart from this, in 1928, he participated in Badoli Satyagraha, his student Solidarity with the People of Badoli. These people were suffering from the devastating effects of famine and the increased land taxes imposed by the British government. It was after this Satyagraha Vallabhai Patel was given the title Sardar, meaning Leader. Then in 1931, he became the President of Indian National Congress in the Karachi session. See, this session is very important because a resolution on fundamental rights and the national economic program was passed in this session. Moreover, the resolution guaranteed basic civil and political rights to the people. Now, moving on to the second part of the discussion, here we shall discuss about the contribution of Sardar Vallabhai Patel to Independent India. See, after independence, Sardar Patel became the Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was given the charge of Home Affairs and the Ministry of States. Remember, he was given the task of integrating the 562 princely states into Indian Union. Patel, through his skills and strongness, achieved this task. It is because of these strong steps, he is called Iron Man of India or Bismarck of India. Secondly, he played a crucial role in creating a unified administrative service of the country. Patel even referred civil servants as the Steel Frame of India. He addressed the probationers of administrative service officers on April 21. This day is celebrated as the National Civil Services Day of India. So, these are also some of the important points that I have to remember about Sardar Vallabhai Patel. So, these learnt points and now let us move on to the next part of the new article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. Now, take a look at this question. This question asks you to find which of the statements given is related to safe harbor. See, the correct answer here is option B, immediately given to social media companies from the legal action. Moving on, this question is about Partholi Satyagraha. Three statements are given and you have to find how many statements given here is or are correct. Statement 1, it was against the withdrawal of plague bonus by the mill owners of the region. See, this statement is incorrect because here the statement is talking about Ahamadabad mill strike. So, the statement is incorrect. Second statement says Maxwell broom field commission was appointed due to this Satyagraha. This statement is correct. Now, the third statement says during the Satyagraha Vallabhai Patel was given Sardar title by Gandhi. See, this statement is actually incorrect as the woman of Partholi gives this title to Vallabhai Patel. So, the correct answer for the question is option A, only one statement. See, fourth question is about joint state public service commission. Four statements are given. You have to find how many statements given here is or are correct. Statement 1 says it is a constitutional body. No, JSPSE is the statutory body and not a constitutional body. Statement 2 says the president appoints the chairman as well as the members of JSPSE. The statement is actually correct. The third statement says an annual performance report is presented by a joint state public service commission to president. The report is placed by the president in front of the state legislature. This statement is also incorrect because an annual performance report is presented to respective governors and the governor will place it in front of the respective state legislature. Now, the fourth statement says currently in India there is no functional joint state public service commission. This statement is correct. The two states of Punjab and Haryana had a JSPSE for a short period after the creation of Haryana out of Punjab in 1966. So, currently there are no JSPSE. So, the correct answer for the question is option B, only two. Displayed here is the main practice question for you today. Just go through the question, try to answer it in the comment section. With this, we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video, hit like, do comment and don't forget to subscribe to Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel. Now, thank you so much for listening.