 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarayesh Academy. Displayed our list of news articles taken for today's analysis and their page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the time stamping of the discussed articles are provided in the description box and also in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let us move on to the analysis of first news article. This editorial article talks about what could be the consequences of withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. In this discussion we will also see why the matter is in news, what is the background and other related things along with the consequences. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this editorial is highlighted here for your reference. See the matter is in news since on Wednesday the U.S. military announced that it would be reducing its presence in Iraq by reducing the troops. U.S. has around 5,200 troops currently deployed in Iraq to fight Islamic State militant group. Now this is to be reduced to 3,000 troops in this month. Now this move of U.S. was long expected. The reason for this as given by officials in the U.S.-led coalition is that the Iraqi forces are now mostly able to handle the remnants of Islamic State on their own. Now we know that though this is the reason that is given, the real reason is the culmination of a series of events in the West Asian region which led to tensions between U.S. and Iraq in the beginning of 2020. Now these tensions led to the killings of General Qasem Soleimani and Abu Makhti al-Muhandis by the United States of America. Both the individuals were killed in January 2020 by United States. Now Qasem Soleimani was the head of Iranian elite Quds Force and Abu Makhti al-Muhandis was a top Iraqi military commander. Now the killing of Soleimani, it brought great outrage both in Iraq and Iran. This is because Iraq is an ally of Iran and General Soleimani was a senior and popular military figure in Iran. He was also the architect of Iran's military expansion in the West Asian region. This was able to do through creating and sustaining armed militias that acted as Iran's proxies in this region. Now for example, you can take Hezbollah about which we discussed few days back. It is an example through which Iran exerts significant influence in the politics of Lebanon. Now similarly, the Quds Force of Iran was behind the creation of Hashal Shabi or what is called as the popular mobilization force in Iraq. Now this PMF was instrumental or it was involved in defeating Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and it also played a very important role in establishing Iran as an invincible, powerful political and military force in Iraq. Now this means Soleimani was a part of elimination of IS in Iraq. Now even then he was assassinated. This is because of the tensions in the region. Now the events began with US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May 2018. This JCPOA is what we call as the Iran Nuclear Deal. And the events also began with the re-imposition of unilateral sanctions on Iran by the United States after its withdrawal from JCPOA. Then what happened in June 2019 was the United States and Iran were on the verge of a war particularly after Iran shot down an unarmed US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormone. And since October 2019, there was simmering situation meaning that a situation which is controlled but may burst out at any time and the escalation of events since then had led to the killing of the two individuals one from Iraq, other from Iran. See Iraq witnessed a series of protests against corruption, against ineffective governance and against economic hardships. And there were protests against Iranian and American meddling or interference in Iraq's government and politics as well. We saw that Iran has great influence in Iraq. So as a part of this, protesters targeted Iranian consulates in different Iraqi cities many times. So this popular discontent had to be countered by Iran. So for that purpose, there is an Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite militia in Iraq. The name is Khatayb Hezbollah. It organized a protest in Baghdad that ended in or culminated in the attack and arson at the US Embassy on December 31, 2019. US blamed Soleimani for authorizing the attack on its embassy. After this, US administration ordered an attack that killed Soleimani and Iraq military commander on 3rd January, 2020. Now after the killings, many senior Iranian and Iraqi leaders, they condemned the American strike and called for avenging the death of Soleimani. Subsequently, on January 5, 2020, the parliament of Iraq, it passed a resolution which called for ending the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and to prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason. Now this resolution was mainly targeted as we know United States. As a result of this only, USA has decided to cut its troops in Iraq. So this is the background. Now there are few other main reasons for the recent decision of United States to cut down its troops. One is that the policy of current US administration of bringing back American troops back to United States. Then there is increasingly difficult situation and there is also increasing risk for the United States to station a large number of troops in Iraq. Now there are two reasons. One is partly because of hostile political environment in Iraq, then it is partly due to growing influence of Iran and Shia militias in Iraq which are attacking US troops. Now according to the author of this editorial, the decision of USA to cut down its troops in Iraq is both a relief and also a challenge to the Iraqi government. First let us see why it is a relief to the government in Iraq. This is because as we saw already, the public opinion in Iraq is increasingly against the presence of US troops in the country. Now this popular discontent increased after the assassination of Soleimani. So now the people of Iraq will be pleased because one of their wishes has come true. But here note that the new Iraqi government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Qadimi, it has stated that Iraq does not want US troops in combat operations only. But he has asked for support relation to training services and other assistance. So by this Iraqi government will argue to its people that the government is committed to the full withdrawal of US troops and this will bring some relief to the Iraqi government and even get the support of its people. Now secondly, US decision to cut troops in Iraq is a challenge to the Iraqi government. Now one reason why it is a challenge is because US troops played a very important role in the war against Islamic State. If you remember in October 2019, USA eliminated Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who was the founder of ISIS. The author states, now if USA withdraws, the Iraqi forces would have to share a greater burden in their fight against Islamic State and other extremist insurgent groups. But we may hope that through the training services by US troops, Iraqi forces might empower themselves. Then it is a challenge because this might again lead to the rise of IS in Iraq. Already a same scenario happened in Iraq in the year 2011 according to the author. At that time, the then United States President, Barak, he set a timetable for withdrawal of most troops. This allowed Al Qaeda in Iraq to build the IS in the first place. Al Qaeda already had battle experience in Syria which was affected by civil war. With the experience, it also exploited the resentment among Sunni Muslims in northern Iraq and built Islamic State in Iraq as well. See, Iraq and Iran both are Shia majority countries. So as a result, USA had to send thousands of its soldiers back to Iraq to fight the Islamic State. And currently, IS has been driven out of major population centers of Iraq. But if this has to persist, Iraqi government has to be careful to not leave any security vacuum. Otherwise, the vacuum could be filled by the Islamic State once again. So these are some of the important information with reference to the analysis of this editorial. In this editorial, we discussed about the decision of United States to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Then we saw the background of the events. We saw what could be the consequence of this decision of United States, how it may act as a relief and also as a challenge to the Iraqi government. Now let us move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article is about the Logistics Agreement signed between India and Japan. In this context, let us discuss the geography of Japan and then some important milestones in India-Japan bilateral relationship. And then we will see the latest agreement. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. See, Japan is an island country that lies off the east coast of Asia. Now it has string of islands in a northeast southwest arc that stretches through the western north Pacific Ocean. Now Japan has four main islands. From the north to south, we can see Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. Honshu is the largest among these four. And apart from these four main islands, Japan has more than 3,000 small islands that extend more than 2,000 kilometer in total length. But if you take the width, it is around 300 kilometers. Now Japan is bounded to the west by the Sea of Japan. Now this Sea of Japan separates Japan from the eastern shores of South Korea and North Korea and also from the southeastern Siberia of Russia. Then there is Laperu Strait and Sea of Okhotsk in the north. These separate Japan from the Sakhalin Island which is held by Russia. The east China Sea separates Japan from China. Then there is an island called as Sushima Island. This island, it lies between northwestern Kyushu Island and the southeast South Korea. Now this island, it defines the Korean Strait on the Korean side and the Sushima Strait on the Japanese side. See Japan is predominantly mountainous region. About 75% or 3 fourths of the total land is mountains. We also know that Japan is located in the circum-Pacific ring of fire. The ring of fire is the area where Pacific Plate meets many surrounding tectonic plates. Therefore it is the most seismically and volcanically active zone in the world. Japan has around 200 volcanoes of which around 60 are active. Therefore earthquake and volcanic eruptions are common in Japan and Japan is also blessed with abundant precipitation with generally mild temperatures. Therefore, despite the mountainous terrain and poor soils, it is possible to raise a variety of crops. Now let's come to India-Japan bilateral relations. As we know the exchange between the two countries began in the sixth century when Buddhism was introduced to Japan. Indian culture filtered through Buddhism into Japan and this has had a great impact on Japanese culture. Now this is also the source of the sense of closeness expressed by the people from Japan towards India. Now in the year 2000, the then Prime Minister Vajpayee established the global partnership between Japan and India. This is called as global partnership. In 2006, under the Prime Minister's ship of Sriman Mohan, Japan-India relationship was elevated to global and strategic partnership. Then in the year 2014, Prime Minister Srinarendra and Japanese Prime Minister Shinsho Abe they concurred to upgrade the bilateral relationship to special strategic and global partnership. They also announced Japan and India Vision 2025 special strategic and global partnership working together for peace and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and the world. So when it comes to Indo-Pacific region, Japan is a very important partner from the strategic side for India. Now let's come to the security aspect. In the year 2008, the leaders of both countries issued joint declaration on security cooperation between Japan and India. Then other frameworks related to security and defense, we have security and defense dialogue between Japan and India in terms of two plus two meeting. Then we have annual defense ministerial dialogue then coast guard to coast guard dialogue. This regard recent development took place in November 2019 when the first two plus two meeting or the first foreign and defense ministerial meeting was held in New Delhi. Now coming to defense cooperation, both sides have agreed to continue to deepen and broaden defense cooperation by enhancing the scope and complexity of their defense military exercises. Both sides have also agreed to increase military interoperability through defense exercise through their arrangement concerning mutual logistic support. Now presently the news is that India and Japan signed an agreement concerning reciprocal provision of supplies and services. Now such an agreement it enables a closer cooperation between the armed forces of two countries in the area of reciprocal provision of supplies and services. This will be helpful when they are engaged in bilateral training activities, when they are engaged in United Nations peacekeeping operations, when they are engaged in humanitarian, international relief and other mutually agreed activities. Particularly, strategically it strengthens the relationship between India and Japan in the Indo-Pacific region. So these are some of the important information with reference to the analysis of this news article. We saw about the geography of Japan in brief. Then we saw some important milestones, the upgradation of relationships since 2000 till the present times. And we saw about the latest agreement signed between India and Japan. Now let us move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article talks about the ongoing issue in Lokshaba where the opposition parties are urging to fill the vacancy of deputy speaker. We should note that the post of the office of deputy speaker has been vacant for the past 15 months. In this context, let us discuss about the office of deputy speaker of Lokshaba. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this article is highlighted here for your reference. Now first let us discuss about the history behind the post or office of speaker and deputy speaker. See before the year 1921, the Governor General of India used to preside the meetings of Central Legislative Council. Now the institution of speaker and deputy speaker originated in India under the provisions of Government of India Act 1919. As we know this act was a result of Montag Clemsport reforms. And through this act, a central legislative assembly was created as the lower house of Imperial Legislative Council. At that time the speaker was called as the president and deputy speaker was called as deputy president. But this was changed by Government of India Act 1935 to speaker and deputy speaker. But remember that the federal part of the Government of India Act 1935 was not implemented. So the usage of the names president and deputy president it continued until the year 1947. The first deputy president of Central Legislative Assembly was Sachidanand who was appointed in the year 1921. The first speaker of Lokshaba was G.V. Mahabalankar and the first deputy speaker of Lokshaba was Ananda Sainam. Now until 10th Lokshaba, both the speaker and the deputy speaker were from the ruling party. But since the 11th Lokshaba, there had been a consensus that the speaker comes from the ruling party and the post of deputy speaker goes to the main opposition party of the house. Now let's talk about the procedure of election of deputy speaker. See like the speaker, the deputy speaker is also elected by the Lokshaba itself from among the members of Lokshaba. The majority required is simple majority of members present and voting in the house. The deputy speaker is elected after the election of the speaker and the date of election of deputy speaker is fixed by the speaker. Now in the constitution, articles 93 to 97 deal with the offices of deputy speaker. Now what if a vacancy occurs for the office of deputy speaker? See whenever the office of deputy speaker falls vacant, the Lokshaba elects another member to fill the vacancy. Now how can a vacancy occur? There are three cases. One is that the deputy speaker ceases to be a member of Lokshaba. Secondly, the deputy speaker resins by writing to the speaker. And thirdly, if the deputy speaker is removed by resolution which is passed by, majority of all the then members of Lokshaba. But such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days advanced notice. This is as per article 94 of the constitution. And note that when the office of speaker is vacant, the duties of speaker shall be performed by deputy speaker. And when the officers of both the speaker and deputy speaker falls vacant, the duties of the office of speaker are performed by a member of Lokshaba appointed by the president for this purpose. Now let's come to the duties of deputy speaker. See a deputy speaker performs the duties of speaker's office when the office of speaker is vacant. The deputy speaker also acts a speaker when the speaker is absent from the sitting of the house. In both the cases, the deputy speaker assumes all the powers of a speaker. See like a speaker, when a deputy speaker presides the house, she cannot vote at the first instance. She can only exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie. The deputy speaker also presides, joins sitting of both the houses in case the speaker is absent for such a sitting. Also know that when the resolution for removal of deputy speaker is under consideration of the house. At that time, deputy speaker cannot preside over the sitting of the house, though she or he may be present in the house. And when the speaker presides the house, the deputy speaker is like any ordinary member of the house. The deputy speaker can speak in the house, participate in its proceedings and vote on any question before the house. Now let's come to salary and allowances for the deputy speaker. See the deputy speaker is entitled to regular salary and allowances which are fixed by parliament. Through a law called as the salaries and allowances of offices of parliament act 1953. Then under article 112, the salary and allowances of deputy speaker is charged on the consolidated fund of India. And as we know, even the salary and allowances of chairman and deputy chairman of council of state, Satharadishiva. And the speaker of the house of people are also charged on the consolidated fund of India. Now let's come to other powers or authority of deputy speaker. See, whenever deputy speaker is appointed as a member of a parliamentary committee, she automatically becomes its chairman. Then the speaker resins from her office by writing to the deputy speaker. And note that deputy speaker is not subordinate to the speaker. Deputy speaker is directly responsible to the house. And also know that when the speaker and deputy speaker, when they assume office as speaker and deputy speaker, they do not make and subscribe any separate oath or affirmation other than the oath or affirmation to be made by a member of parliament under article 99 of Indian constitution read with the third schedule to the constitution. So these are some of the important information with reference to the deputy speaker. In this analysis, we saw the historical connection with the offices of speaker, deputy speaker. We saw the procedure of election of deputy speaker. We saw duties, salary and allowances and powers of deputy speaker. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article states that defense ministry has appointed consultant on corporatization of ordinance factory board. See the Indian ordinance factories under the ages of ordinance factory board is the oldest and also the largest industrial setup in India. It functions under the department of defense production of the ministry of defense with headquarters in Kolkata. It has more than 200 years of experience in terms of defense production. It is the OFB is engaged in production, testing, research, development and marketing of a comprehensive product range in the area of land, sea and air systems. The history and development of Indian ordinance factories is directly linked with the British colonial rule in India. The East India Company considered military hardware as a very important element for their economic interest in India and also to increase their political hold. In their 1775, the British authorities accepted establishing a board of ordinance in Fort William at Kolkata. Now this marked the official beginning of the army ordinance in India. However, the first ordinance factory was established at Kausipur in Kolkata on 18th March of 1801. This factory is now known as Gannon Shell Factory. Now that there were 18 ordinance factories before Indian independence. While many factories came before Indian independence, the Apex Board called us the ordinance factories board was constituted on 2nd April, 1979. Now the ordinance factories, they form an integrated base for indigenous production of defense hardware and equipment. Now their primary objective is to achieve self-reliance in equipping the armed forces with state of the art battlefield equipment. See the primary customers of Indian ordinance factories are the Indian armed forces. Apart from this, they also meet the requirement of other customers, such as the central paramilitary forces and also the state police forces. Their supply includes arms, omniscient, bulletproof vehicles, et cetera. It is also involved in sale of civilian products within India. Here in the civil sector, the customers would be central or state government departments, public sector undertakings, even private companies and private individuals. And as an extension to its functioning, OFB also aims to increase the volume of export as well. So to around more than 30 countries, ordinance factories board export defense products. So the industrial setup under OFB has around 41 factories, nine training institutes, three regional marketing centers and four regional controllers of safety. The 41 factories are geographically distributed all over the country at 24 different locations with 10 of them located in the state of Maharashtra. So it mainly provides a broad and versatile production base with multi-technology capabilities and state of the art manufacturing facilities with strict adherence to quality standards. Now coming to the article, the corporatization of OFB was announced earlier in this year so as to improve its autonomy, accountability and efficiency. Corporatization occurs when a government attempts to reorganize the structure of a government-owned entity into one that resembles a private entity. So at present OFB is facing many issues. These are regarding quality of equipment and omniscient that are delivered. And about high cost of orders, high maintenance charges, which lead to drain of resources of military, then another issue is with respect to lack of adhering to timelines as well. So when we corporatize OFB, it is expected to resolve all these issues and to establish a reliable defense manufacturing organization. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this article. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. This news article talks about the appointment of chairperson of National School of Drama Society by the President of India. In this context, let us have a brief discussion on Sangeet Natak Academy and National School of Drama. First let's see about Sangeet Natak Academy. See it is India's national academy for music, dance and drama. It is the first national academy of the arts which is set up by Indian government. It was created by a government resolution in the year 1952. It is the apex body of performing arts in the country. Example for performing arts could be traditional music, dance, theater. Now the Sangeet Natak Academy is presently an autonomous body and a ministry of culture fully funded by the central government. The ministry of culture has declared this academy as the nodal center for coordinating India's nomination for various lists at the international level with reference to developing and maintaining intangible cultural heritage with UNESCO. Then the academy gives fellowships like Academy Ratna, then awards like Sangeet Natak Academy Awards, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Yuvapuraskar, et cetera. The aims and objectives of the academy is displayed here for a reference. Know that the academy establishes and looks after institutions and projects of national importance in the field of performing arts. One such institution looked after by this academy is what we call as the National School of Drama. Now coming to National School of Drama, it was set up by the Sangeet Natak Academy in New Delhi in 1959. The school became an independent entity in the year 1975 and it was registered as an autonomous organization under Societies Registration Act of 1860. It again is also fully financed by the Union Ministry of Culture. Now it has regional resource centers across all over the country. Now this school of drama, it has two performing wings. One is Repertory Company, then the another is Theater and Education Company. The Repertory Wing was set up with objective to provide a platform where the graduates of National School of Drama could perform the plays professionally. The Theater and Education Wing, it is one of the most important Theater Education Resource Centers in India. It consists of group of actor teachers who are working with or who are performing for children. The main focus of Theater and Education Company are these wings to perform creative plays, curriculum-based plays and participatory plays in schools for children of different age groups. So these are some of the information with reference to Sangeet Natak Academy and National School of Drama. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. We have come to the last session, the Practice Questions Discussion session. See this question which is with reference to Deputy Speaker of Lokshaba. Three statements are given. They're asking which of the statements given above are correct. The first statement, the term Deputy Speaker is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution of India. This statement is correct as it is explicitly mentioned under Article 93 to 97 in connection with Deputy Speaker of Lokshaba and in Articles 178 to 181 and in Article 186 in connection with State Legislature. So you can eliminate option C. Second statement, here she is elected to the office by the members of both Houses of Parliament. So this statement is incorrect because Deputy Speaker is elected by Lokshaba itself from among its members by a simple majority of members present and voting in the House. So you can eliminate option D also because it says statement two is correct. Third statement, here she remains in office at the pleasure of the President. This statement is incorrect because both Speaker and Deputy Speaker they cannot be removed at the pleasure of the President. She or he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the Lokshaba. So here only the first statement is correct. Therefore the correct answer is option A, one only. Now this question is with reference to Indian Ordinance factories under the Ordinance Factory Board. Three statements are given. They are asking which of the statements given above are correct. Indian Ordinance factories were formed for the first time immediately after the 1962 India-China war to equip the armed forces with state of the art battlefield equipment. Now this statement is incorrect because Indian Ordinance factories exist even before Indian independence. The very first factory was established in the year 1801. The first statement is incorrect. You can eliminate options A and D. Second statement, the Ordinance factories under the Ordinance Factory Board also meet the arms and omniscient requirement of central paramilitary forces and state police forces. Now this statement is correct. Under the civil sector they even sell products to private companies and individuals. Then to state departments and public sector undertakings as well. Second statement is correct. Third statement, the Indian Ordinance factories under the ages of Ordinance Factory Board functions under the Ministry of Defense. Now this statement is correct. Therefore the correct answer is option B, two and three only. Now this question is with reference to Japan. They have given C of Okot, La Peru Strait, East China Sea, Pilipine Sea. Which of the given C's or straits Japan-Shar's border? See Japan-Shar's border with all of them. So the correct answer is option D, one, two, three and four. Now this is a previously asked question by UPSC in Prisons 2017. Mediterranean Sea is a border of which of the following countries? Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria. Here we should note that Jordan and Iraq, they do not share border with Mediterranean Sea. So the correct answer is option C, three and four only. Lebanon and Syria, they share border with Mediterranean Sea. See this question, consider the following pairs. They have given group often seen in news in LHS and in the affairs of in the right hand side. They're asking which of the pairs given above are matched incorrectly. See, Khast al-Shabi, it is associated in the affairs of Iraq. The Quds force of Iran, it successfully established a big coalition of Iraqi Shia militias in Iraq. This is named as Khast al-Shabi, which is called as the popular mobilization forces. So the first pair is correct. So eliminate option B. The Quds force, as we saw, it is associated in the affairs of Iran. It is an elite clandestine wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary God cops and it is responsible primarily for foreign operations. So pair two is also correct. The moment you know that the second pair is correctly matched, you can arrive at the correct answer, option C, three only. Because all the other options, they say second pair is incorrectly matched. Correct answer is option C, three only because Khatayb Hezbollah, which is also known as Hezbollah brigades, it is a Shiite Iraqi insurgent group which was founded in the year 2007. Now this can be linked to the affairs of Iran and Iraq because it is an Iran backed group. We should be careful and we should not confuse it with Hezbollah, which is related to Lebanon, which also is again backed by Iran. Correct answer, option C, three only. Now this question is with reference to Sanket Natak Academy. Three statements are given. They're asking which of the above statements are correct. First statement, it functions as the apex body of all art forms in the country. Now this statement is incorrect. It functions as apex body of performing arts. For example, traditional music, drama, theater. First statement is incorrect. So that makes us to arrive at the correct answer, option B, two only through eliminating options A, C and D as these options say that the first statement is correct. Third statement is incorrect because it is not a statutory body rather established through a resolution at present functioning as autonomous organization and a ministry of culture. The second statement is correct. It is the nodal office for matters relating to the intangible cultural heritage, including for preparation of the nomination dosiers for the representative list of UNESCO. So here the correct answer is option B, two only. With this, we come to the end of today's the Hindu News Analysis. If you like the video, click the like button, comment, share and subscribe to Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service exam preparation.