 Good evening aspirants welcome to the Hindi news analysis by Shankar Ayes academy. These are the articles that has been chosen for today's analysis It has been given along with the page numbers from different Hindu editions the link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the Timestamping for the displayed articles is given in the description box below and for the benefit of smartphone users It is also provided in the comments section. Let's move on to the first article analysis This discussion is about criminalization of politics the discussion can be linked to the syllabus that is given here for your reference This news article has appeared on the wake of the order that was made by Supreme Court regarding criminalization of politics Let me say criminalization of politics. We are referring to two things one at the political party level criminalization of politics is when the politics are done by those who had or who are having criminal cases against them Here we are worried about mainly the serious offenses such as murder sexual assaults kidnapping Extortion corruption etc. These are people who were convicted in criminal cases by the courts or these are people Against whom the cases are still going on in the court of law or these are the people against whom Criminal cases are registered in the police station or at appropriate enforcement authority when these conditions satisfied We say it is criminalization of politics and secondly It is a criminalization of politics when the persons with criminal Antisidents are contesting in an election. They are winning the elections and becoming legislators or ministers of various departments or ministries We had detailed discussion on this matter on our 28th January in the news analysis Kindly watch it to add more points regarding the criminalization of politics now again We are discussing this issue because the Supreme Court has issued directions to the state and central political parties Regarding the criminalization of politics. This is not the first time the court is giving directions in this matter already in the case law public interest Foundation and others versus union of India and another of 2019 case law the Supreme Court has issued some direction in this judgment The court noted that there is increasing criminalization of politics in India and there is a lack of information About such criminalization amongst the citizenry So in order to solve this information gap the court issued some Directions and the first direction was each contesting candidate shall fill up the form as provided by the election commission And the candidate shall state in bold letters with regard to the criminal cases that is pending against the candidate And second direction is that if a candidate is contesting an election on the ticket of a particular political party Then she or he is required to inform that party about the criminal cases pending against her or him And the third direction is that the political party which is concerned has to put up the information on Criminal cases that is pending against the contesting person and the fourth direction is the candidate as well as the political party Which is concerned shall issue a declaration in the widely Circulated newspapers in the locality about the criminal antecedents of the candidate And they should also give wide publicity to this information in the electronic media here Wide publicity means that the same circulation of the information shall be done at least Thrice after filing of the nomination papers So these were the direction given by the Supreme Court in the 2019 case law to bridge the gap in the information regarding Criminalization of politics now again court has given directions Because it was found that no such information was provided by the political parties as Demanded by the Supreme Court and even based on the documents that is available on record The court found that over the last four general elections There has been an alarming increase in the incidents of criminals in politics the court noted that in 2004 24 percentage of the members of parliament had criminal cases pending against them and if you see in 2009 this number went up to 30 percentage that means 30 percentage of the members of parliament had criminal cases pending against them and in 2014 This again went up to 34 percentage and in 2019 this value went up to 43 percentage That means 43 percentage of the members of parliament had criminal cases pending against them now such Such increase in the criminals in politics was even made clear by a study that was conducted by the Karnataka Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms, which are NGOs. They conducted this study during the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections in 2018. This study showed that 391 candidates were with criminal cases out of the analysis of 2,560 candidates. And it was even found that around 254 candidates cases were serious in nature. This study also showed that assembly elections in Karnataka had increasing number of candidates with criminal cases every time. In 2008, there were 195 such candidates, which was increased to 334 in 2013. And further it was increased to 391 in 2018. The study also noted that there were 56 red alert constituencies in the assembly elections of Karnataka in 2018. This means 25% of the constituencies in the Karnataka were declared as red alert constituencies. See according to this study, red alert constituencies are those which have 3 or more candidates with declared criminal cases. So we can see that criminalization of politics is becoming a serious issue in our country. But still it is not clear why political parties choose candidates with pending criminal cases. So to get such information and to know why the court has given directions in the case law, Rambabu Singh Thakur versus Sunil Arora and others. This is the case law which we are discussing today based on the news article. In this case law the first direction that was given by the Supreme Court is that it shall be mandatory for the political parties at the central election level and also at the state election level to upload on their website about the detailed information regarding individuals with pending criminal cases who have been selected as candidates. This information should include the nature of offenses and the relevant particulars such as whether charges have been framed, the concerned court in the set case, then it should also include the case number etc. And this information has to be uploaded in the website of the political party along with the reasons for such selection. That is why that person who is having a criminal background has been selected as a candidate. In addition to this the political parties should also mention the reasons so as to why other individuals who are without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates. So these reasons for selection of candidates shall be with reference to the qualifications, achievements and merit of the candidate who is concerned and it should not be on mere winnability at the polls. That is the candidate can win election that is why she or he was selected should not be the reason rather their qualifications, achievements and merits based on which the candidate was selected should be mentioned in the reasons. So in short we can say that the political parties have to publish the entire criminal history of their candidates for the assembly and looks of elections and it should be published along with the reasons that encourage the political party to field suspected criminals over decent people. Then next direction is regarding the publishing of such information. As you saw in the first direction the information should be first published in the website. Now along with this it should also be published in one local vernacular newspaper and one national newspaper and then it should also be published on the official social media platforms of the political party including the Facebook and Twitter. So Supreme Court is making sure that the criminal antecedents of the selected candidates by the political parties should reach the people in one way or the other. Then more importantly these details shall be published within 48 hours of the selection of the candidate or it shall be published not less than two weeks before the first date of filing of nominations. Whichever period is earlier among these two periods at that time the details have to be published. After this the concerned political party shall also submit a report of compliance with these directions of Supreme Court and they have to submit this report to the election commission and this report has to be submitted within 72 hours of the selection of the set candidate and most important of these directions is the next one which mentions that if a political party fails to submit such compliance report with the election commission then the election commission shall bring such non-compliance by the concerned political party to the notice of Supreme Court and such non-compliance will be deemed as contempt of the Supreme Court's orders or directions. So that means if this report is not filed by the political parties then it will be taken as contempt of the court. So the Supreme Court shall punish such political party. On 28th January in the news analysis we said that Supreme Court has taken many steps to decrease the criminals in politics and this is one another step towards achieving a politics that is without criminals. With this we come to the end of this discussion. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion. This discussion is based on the Sun Temple of Konark. The discussion can be linked to the syllabus that is given here for your reference. This news article mentions that a plan will be drawn up soon to restore and preserve the nearly 800 year old Konark Sun Temple in Odisha. According to the news article for stabilizing this structure this monument had been filled with sand and it was sealed by the British authorities in 1903. And a recent study found that the sand which was filled in more than 100 years ago had settled and it had led to a gap of about 17 feet. But according to the archaeological survey of India authorities currently this monument structure was found to be stable. So while restoring and preserving the temple, the government may fill in more sand or it may remove all the sand and an alternate support may be put in place for supporting the structure. Restoring and preserving this structure is important because it is one of the outstanding examples of temple architecture and art in our country. This Sun Temple at Konark is located on the eastern shores of Indian subcontinent in the eastern state of Odisha near the sacred city of Puri. It is dedicated to the sun god who is known as Surya from the Hindu mythology. Even the name of the place Konark has been derived from the presiding deity Konark which means the sun god of the corner. Because in this word, Arka denotes Surya and Kona means corner and it sometimes even means southeast corner. Hence Konark means the corner sun. And that is why this place was given the name Konark. Now this Sun Temple is the culmination of Kalingan temple architecture as it consists of all the defining elements of Kalingan temple architecture in complete and perfect form. It was built in 1250 AD. It is an outstanding evidence of the 13th century kingdom of Odisha under the reign of eastern Ganga king Narasimha Deva I. And this temple is a monumental example of the personification of divinity. So it formed an invaluable link in the history of the spread of the sect that worshiped the sun god Surya. In this sense, this temple is directly and materially linked to Brahmanism and Tantric belief systems. Now let us see the architecture of this temple. This temple represents a chariot of the sun god. It has 12 pairs of wheels that is drawn by 7 horses. And this temple is decorated with sophisticated and refined iconographical depictions of contemporary life and activities. Actually, if you see on the north and south sides, there are 24 carved wheels totally and each wheel is about 3 meter in diameter. And these wheels are symbolic motifs referring to the cycle of seasons and the months. That is, there are two rows of 12 wheels on each side of the Konark Sun Temple. Some say that the wheel represents the 24 hours in a day and others say it represents 12 months. And they say that the 7 horses are said to symbolize the 7 days of the week. Now, between these wheels, the base of the temple is there. And this base of the temple is entirely decorated with reliefs of fantastic lions, musicians and dancers and even erotic groups. Like many Indian temples, the Sun Temple comprises several distinct and well-organized spatial units. This temple also consists of Vimana, which is the principal sanctuary. And this Vimana is surmounted by a high tower with a Shikara. Shikara is nothing but the crowning cap, which looks like the Kupala or Gopura. Then this temple has a Jaya Moghna, which is the audience hall. And it has Natmandir, that is the dance hall. In addition to this, this temple is associated with all kinds of legends based on its artistic creation. It is said that the construction of this temple took 12 years and it was completed using 1200 artisans. So, this is one of the legends surrounding this temple. And this temple is also known as Black Pagoda. See, Pagoda refers to a Hindu or Buddhist temple, which is typically in the form of a many-tired tower, as you can see in this picture. And it was called Black Pagoda by early European sailors. You would have heard that the Jagannath Temple of Puri, which is also in Odisha, is known as White Pagoda. And this temple, that is the Sun Temple, is known as Black Pagoda. See, the general color of this stone that is used for building the Sun Temple is not black. But it is called as Black Pagoda because this temple was deserted and it assumed a black color when looked from a distance. Even in this picture, you can see that it looks like black. And this black color is due to the lack of proper care and absence of periodical white washing, like it was done in the case of Jagannath Temple. And most important fact about this temple is that it is a World Heritage Site. This temple was declared as a cultural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the year 1984. So these are some of the information that you should know with respect to Sun Temple of Konark. In this discussion, we saw about the importance of this temple, the architecture of this temple, and why this temple is called as Black Pagoda. With this, we come to the end of this discussion. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion, which is based on this editorial. This editorial is related to an ongoing case in the Supreme Court regarding the granting of permanent commission and commanding posts for women officers in the Army. Last year, the Supreme Court had ordered the center to look into granting of permanent commission to the serving women officers in the Indian Army. So the Ministry of Defense has announced some changes accordingly. At present, women officers will be granted permanent commission in the Indian Army in all the 10 branches where women are indicted for short service commission. And few days back, the Supreme Court had said that women in Army could be given command posts. This simply means women should be empowered to command a unit of the troops along with the male counterparts. In response to this, the center had said that there were physical and physiological limitations in granting of command positions to the women officers. But the Supreme Court's reply to the government was more progressive. It had said that granting command posts is possible with administrative will and change in mindset. So in this editorial, we will analyze the opinion of two former Army officers on this issue. The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. First, let us see about the significance of commanding posts. As we know, the Army has two elements. They are the arms and the services. The arms are the combatants in the field. They include the infantry, the gunners and the Army, Air, Defense, et cetera. The next element is the services. It provides administrative, logistical, medical and educational support to the Army. And this includes Army services course, course of electronics and mechanical engineers, et cetera. So the commanding functions are different for arms and different for services. In the arms, a commanding post means responsibility such as commanding a troop. While in the services, a commanding post gives responsibility such as managing the financial and human resources under the department. Now, let us understand the present situation with women officers in the Army. See, till September 2019, the Permanent Commission for Women was restricted to only two departments of the Army. And they were the Army Education course and the Judge Advocate General's branch. As you saw in the beginning of this discussion, the Ministry of Defense has extended this to 10 branches where women are already inducted for short service commission. This includes course of signals, engineers, Army air defense, electronics and mechanical engineers, et cetera. But this is not enough for women officers to reach higher rankings. As you know, Indian Army is a command-oriented Army. It means in order to go up in the ranking, an officer needs commanding power. So far, the power to command a unit is denied to the women officers. So what can be done? First, efficient women officers should be selected and they should be given commanding posts in the services. If they prove their ability to command, then they can be given the power to command units or arms. Here you should note that in the Army, there is a Board of Officers to decide whether promotions to the rank of Colonel can take place or not for a particular officer. According to some sources, an officer needs to be in the rank of Colonel to command a unit. So in this regard, one of the authors of this editorial mentions that all male officers will not get promoted as colonels, just because they are males. In some services, less than 30% of male officers are promoted to the rank of Colonel. So the same Board of Officers can decide whether a woman officer is fit to command a unit or not. And this will ensure equality. When we discuss about giving power to women officers to command, one doubt arises, like it arised to the central government. That is whether women officers are capable to take care of the responsibilities and manage male troops if they are given commanding posts. See earlier, we have discussed some of the functions of the commanding officer. And already women officers in the services who are in the rank of Major or Lieutenant Colonel have around 100 to 120 men working under them. And these women officers have done extremely well in doing their responsibilities. So the decision of the Supreme Court and Minister of Defense to give permanent commission to women is also a recognition that, and they are equally good as men officers. Hence there is nothing wrong if they are given the commanding responsibilities. See, we are not saying that it will be an easy task for a woman officer to take commanding and combating roles. It is clear that women will have to face more difficulties in combating roles. For example, they will have to live along with other combatants in the same bunker in the line of control. But with proper training and by providing more facilities in combat fields, such issues can be resolved. Given in the editorial, the officers have shared some of their experiences with women officers. They have said that there are women officers who have proved their capability in handling crises such as an earthquake. They have said that the women officers have even proved their efficiency in fighting while facing ambushes by militants also. So it is clear that women officers are also equally performing good as men officers. But still the center in the Supreme Court has said that motherhood, child care, physiological and psychological limitations affect the service of women officers in the armed forces. The center has also told that women may not be suitable for commanding roles in the Indian army as male troops are not prepared to accept women officers. These comments are nothing but regressive. These were the issues that were raised 30 years back when women were inducted into the army. But over a period of time, women officers have proven their worth. So as a conclusion, we can say that in any field, one should be judged based on their professionalism and merits rather than gender stereotypes. Also, the rank and file in the army, mostly men, should be taught to accept decisions of a leader who have proved her or his capability and leadership qualities. So instead of judging women based on prevalent social norms, we must provide them platforms to achieve their personal and professional aspirations. So granting permanent commission to women was the first step in this direction that was taken by the Supreme Court and the government. So giving them commanding roles will be the next step in the right direction. So let us hope that it will happen soon. With this, we come to the end of this editorial discussion. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion, this news article discusses about one of the main consequences due to the misuse of pesticides. And that main consequence is the disappearance of parasitoids and pollinators. So in this context, to understand this news article, we will discuss about parasitism, parasitoids, and then we'll also see about biocontrol agents. The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. See organisms living in the earth are interlinked to each other in one way or other. The interaction between the organisms is fundamental for its survival and it is fundamental for the functioning of the ecosystem as a whole. This interaction between the organisms is called as biotic interaction. There are many types of biotic interactions. Some are beneficial or harmful to both the organisms which interact and some benefits or harms either one of the organisms that interact. Now, one such biotic interaction is parasitism. In parasitism, one species benefits and the other is harmed. For example, a tick which interacts with an animal benefits by sucking the blood of the animal. But the animal which is the host is harmed by losing blood. Similarly, in agriculture, when certain insects interact with the agricultural crops, the insects are benefited because they get food, whereas the plant which is the host for that insect, it is harmed because the plant is damaged in this process. Such insects are called as insect pests. See, there is always a natural mechanism to eliminate such pests, although not completely. And one such method occurs where a parasitoid insect naturally destroys the insect pests in plants. So, what are these parasitoids? Parasitoids are organisms which lay eggs in their hosts or on the bodies of their hosts and they complete their life cycles on host bodies. As a result of this, the hosts which is the insect pests, they die. And this parasitoid may be of different type, depending on the developmental stage of the host. One such parasitoid is mentioned in the news article, which is the insect called Campulitis Chloridae. This parasitoid has the ability to kill the insect pests which are parasites in the plants. This was found in a research conducted by the present director of National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources. And you should note that this is a natural control. That is, it is a natural process where the population of the insect pests are kept in check without any intervention. So, in this regard, the director of National Bureau of Agricultural Insect Resources has noted that there is a clear reduction in the population of natural pollinators and parasitoids due to irresponsible use of insecticides and chemical pesticides. And here, as we know, a pollinator is an animal that causes plants to make fruit or seeds. A pollinator does this by moving pollen from one part of the flower of the plant to another part. And B is one such pollinator. So, the irresponsible use of insecticides and chemical pesticides not only affects parasitoids, but it also affects natural pollinators. So, the director has stressed for judicious use of chemicals because in several cases, the nature itself takes care of the pesticides like the parasitoid example which we just saw. In addition to this, the director has also stressed for precise documentation and real quantification of the diversity of insects. So, as to explain to the world about what was happening due to the intensive agriculture practices and irresponsible use of chemicals and insecticides. Because as we know, not only these chemical pesticides and insecticides are reason for the reduction in the population of natural pollinators and parasitoids, they have some other common disadvantages also. And one such disadvantage is that chemical pesticides had destroyed honey bees and spiders which are natural pollinators. Next, they kill the bacteria that is responsible for the decomposition. Also, chemical pesticides are harmful to humans. It affects the farmers because they get direct exposure to such chemical pesticides and insecticides. So, it causes blisters and wounds on farmers. Also, the residue of the pesticides that are found in the agricultural products is harmful to the humans when it is consumed by humans. So, these are some of the common disadvantages of using chemical pesticides and insecticides. So, that is why the director has mentioned the use of parasitoid as a biological control. In the beginning, we saw that the insect campulitis chloridae is a natural control. And it is a process where the natural enemies like parasitoids control the population of the insect pests without any intervention. On the other hand, if you see the biological control, it requires intervention. This biological control is defined as the reduction of the pest populations by natural enemies. Such natural enemies can be parasitoids or predators or pathogens. And these are called as biological control agents or biocontrol agents or bioagents in short. And there are also different biological control procedures. One such method is introduction. In this method, the biocontrol agents are introduced to a place where they did not previously occur. And the next method is augmentation. In this method, the large number of biocontrol agents which are already present in the area are reared in large numbers and then they are released when required. Even in the news article, one such biocontrol agent is mentioned, which is a parasitoid named goniosis nephantidis. This parasitoid is used as an effective biocontrol agent to control the blackhead caterpillar in Kerala in Tamil Nadu as this caterpillar damages the coconut trees. So not only the parasitoids or the biocontrol agents protect the farm produce, but they could also save money because normally farmers spend on chemicals and pesticides. But if they use the natural biocontrol and augmented biocontrol method, then they could save money instead of spending them on chemicals and pesticides. So this is one advantage of the natural biocontrol and augmented biocontrol. In addition to these methods, there is one another news article which mentions about a bio-oil that helps to tackle the pesticides. It is a new bio-oil formulation which is called as Puneem. It has been developed and patented by the Entomology Research Institute of Laila College in Chennai. This Puneem, which is a bio-oil formulation, has Pungum oil and neem oil in equal ratio. In addition to this, an emulsifier has also been added to this formulation for stabilizing the formulation. This bio-oil formulation has been developed as a plant-based pesticide and it has a strong repellent activity. It can control fall-armyworm and cotton ballworm that causes widespread damage to major crops in Tamil Nadu. And we have discussed in detail about the fall-armyworm in our 28th November Hindi News Analysis. You can have a look at it for better understanding of this fall-armyworm. So this bio-oil formulation that is Puneem is expected to benefit the farmers in addition to the natural biocontrol and augmented biocontrol methods. So that is all about this discussion. In this discussion we saw what do we mean by parasitism, parasitoids, and we also saw about biocontrol agents. And then finally we saw about a bio-oil formulation that is helpful to control pests. With this we come to the end of this discussion. The complete practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion. This news article is related to an administrative decision taken by the United States of America. The Office of the United States Trade Representative, that is in short, USTR has published a notice. In this notice, USTR has amended the list of developing and least developed countries that are eligible for preferential treatment with respect to the countervailing duties investigations. So to understand this news article, in this discussion we'll be seeing about what do we mean by countervailing duty. Then we'll see about the subsidies and countervailing measures agreement of WTO. Then we'll see about USTR 1998 rule. And finally, we'll see about the amendments made to this rule, which is discussed in this news article. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. First let us see what do we mean by countervailing duty? Let us understand this term with reference to Indian government. As per Directorate General of Trade Remedies, which comes under the Department of Commerce and Administrative Commerce and Industry of Government of India, countervailing duties are duties that are imposed by India when India finds that a government in the exporting country provides subsidies or assistance to its local industry. The subsidies or assistance can be in the form of subsidized loans, tax exemptions, indirect payments, et cetera. For example, consider USA as the exporting country, that is the goods from USA are exported to India. Now when US provides such assistance, then the foreign suppliers and manufacturers in USA would be able to potentially export and sell the goods for a price less than what the companies from India can manufacture and reasonably sell the goods in India. So in order to neutralize the adverse effects of these subsidies that is allowed for a particular product in exporting member country, countervailing duties are imposed by India. Similarly, any country can impose countervailing duties on any of the countries from which it exports if it feels that it is affected by the actions of the exporting country. This is the concept of countervailing duty. So naturally we have regulations for countervailing duty, but it is not our focus today. We will be focusing on the global level countervailing duties agreements. At the global level, we have an agreement for countervailing duties under World Trade Organization. It is called the agreement on subsidies and countervailing measures or in short, SCM agreement. As the name indicates, this agreement covers two topics. One is subsidies and the other is countervailing measures. This agreement regulates the provisions of subsidies by the member nations. And it also regulates the use of countervailing measures that is taken by the countries to address the damages caused by the subsidized imports. See the subsidies and countervailing measures both are separate, but they are closely related topics. Because as we saw in the definition of countervailing duty, the subsidies of the exporting country can affect any country to which it exports. One important thing that you should know from this agreement is that there are special and differential treatment for the developing countries related to countervailing measures. With respect to the countervailing measures, exporters of developing country members are entitled to more favorable treatment with respect to the termination of investigations that is relating to countervailing measures. If the level of subsidization or volume of imports of exporting countries is small. For this purpose, WTO recognizes three categories of developing countries members. One is least developed members. Second is members with gross national product per capita, that is GNP per capita of less than thousand US dollars per year, which are listed in NX7 to the SCM agreement. And then the third category is the other developing countries. Now as per this NX7, India is also a developing country with GNP per capita of less than thousand US dollars per year as of February 2019. So have this fact in mind. We will discuss this later. Next also as per this SCM agreement when cases are filed in WTO where the amount of subsidy is de minimis that is when the amount is too trivial or minor to be considered or where the volume of the actual or potential subsidized imports is negligible then such cases shall be immediately terminated. Here you should note that generally the amount of subsidy shall be considered to be de minimis if the subsidy is less than 1% at Valoran. That is the subsidy is less than 1% in proportion to the estimated value of the goods and transactions concerned. But for the developing countries the overall level of subsidies granted upon the product that is in question must not exceed 2% of its value calculated on a per unit basis. So this is the background about countervailing duties and the agreements related to it. Let us discuss the news article now. This news article mentions that in order to harmonize its laws with the SCM agreement of WTO, USA classified the lists of countries as per their level of development and this happened in 1998. And these lists were used to determine whether those countries were potentially subject to use countervailing duties or not. So in line with SCM agreement, USA gave certain special considerations against a countervailing duty investigation. USA also followed the 2% de minimis standard as per SCM agreement. USA used these criteria to determine whether a country was eligible for 2% de minimis standard or not. And first criteria is per capita gross national income. Second is share of world trade. And then finally other factors such as membership or application for membership for organization for economic cooperation and development that is in short OECD. Then membership or application for membership for EU membership or for G20 membership. So based on these criteria, USA listed certain countries of the world as developing countries and least developed countries. In this list, India was listed as a developing country. So India got special considerations and high levels of protection against a countervailing duty investigation. But now the news is that a notice has been issued by USTR saying that this 1998 rule is obsolete. And some countries including India are no longer listed as developing countries. So there are no more relaxed standards for India. So let us see on what basis India and certain other countries were removed from the list. Along with India, countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam were also taken off the developing countries list. The first reason for this is an arbitrary reason. US has stated that these countries have at least 0.5% share of global trade even though they have less than $12,375 of gross national income per capita. So when you saw SCM agreement, we asked you to keep a fact in mind. We saw that as per annex seven of SCM agreement, certain countries like India are listed as developing countries. Since their GNP per capita was less than thousand US dollars per year. But here USA has taken other calculation which is given by World Bank. It has not taken the calculation given by WTO. So instead of GNP per capita, USA has considered GNI per capita which is based on World Bank. And the World Bank has set the threshold of $12,375 gross national income per capita to determine whether a country is developed or not. Now USA has considered this threshold calculation only for determining whether a country is developed or not. But if you see the GNI per capita of India, the latest data is available for 2018 and it is $2020. So based on World Bank criteria, India is in the lower middle income country and India is not in the upper middle income or high income country. So even though India is belonging to lower middle income country, till USA has arbitrarily removed India from the developing country list. So this is the first reason given by USA. Then the second reason is that India and some other countries like Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa are part of G20 grouping. In this regard, USTR has said that considering the global economic significance of G20 and the collective economic weight of its membership, G20 membership of these countries indicates that they are developed countries and they are not developing countries. And since India is also a part of G20 grouping, along with other countries, India has been removed from USA's list of developing countries. So the consequence of this move by USTR is that there are no more relaxed standards and preferential treatment for India. So for countries like India, which are not given special consideration anymore, they will have lower levels of protection against the countervailing duty investigation that is carried out by USA here onwards. Now this move by USA is important because the US president has reportedly complained about WTO's classification of developing countries. And as you know, this month US president is said to visit India. So we need to wait and watch the developments and let us see whether India seeks a waiver. So that is all about this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what do we mean by countervailing duty. We saw about the SCM agreement and we also saw about the USTR 1998 rule and the amendments to that rule. With this, we come to the end of this discussion. The respective practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion. This discussion is based on this news article which talks about a festival known as Artukal Pongala. The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. The news article mentions that the use of loudspeakers will be strictly regulated in the city during the Artukal Pongala festival. The police have been instructed to take stern action against those who violate noise pollution norms in these festival days. So what is this festival? This Artukal Pongala is held in the Artukal Temple of Tiruvannandapuram in Kerala. This festival is the largest congregation of women for a festival in the world. That is why this festival is important to know. And in this Artukal Pongala, Pongala means to boil over. It is a ritual in which women prepare sweet payasam, which is nothing but a pudding that is made from rice, jaggery, coconut and plantains which are cooked together. And they offer this sweet payasam or pudding to the goddess Bhagavati of the Artukal Temple. Now this ritual can only be performed by women and the streets of the city are known to be jam-packed with faithful devotees during the time of this festival. And the goddess of this temple is fondly referred to as Artukal Amma. And it is said that the goddess is appeased or satisfied by this ritual. The entire Tiruvannandapuram city lights up in the festive fervour or emotion during this festival period. And it is a 10 day long celebration. And the number of devotees who are attending this festival has increased to a point that it has been recorded in the Guinness World Book of Records also. And this festival involves music. Even the festival commences with the musical rendering of the story of the goddess, which is known as Kannagi Charitham. So in this discussion, you should know to which state this festival belongs to. And you should know some important facts related to this festival. With this, we come to the end of this discussion. Moving on to the next discussion. This discussion is based on these two news articles and this editorial, which is based on the recent conviction of Hafiz Saeed by the anti-terrorism court in Lahore, Pakistan. So in this discussion, we'll be discussing about the background and the significance of this conviction. The discussion can be linked to the syllabus that is given here for your reference. See Hafiz Saeed was the alleged mastermind of the 2611-2008 Mumbai terror attacks. He is the head of Jamath Uddawa terrorist organization. And he is also an UN designated terrorist. And remember that he is among one of the four persons who are designated as an individual terrorist under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967 after the recent amendment in 2019. What happened was on 12th February, 2010, the anti-terrorism court in Lahore found Hafiz Saeed as guilty of being part of banned terrorist outfit and for having illegal property to finance terrorist activities. He was convicted in two terror related cases with a prison sentence of five and a half years and a fine of rupees 15,000 in each case. The sentences of both cases will run concurrently. Now according to the investigation, Jamath Uddawa was financing terrorism from the massive funds that was collected through non-profit organizations and trust including Al-Anfal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust, Muazbin Jabal Trust, et cetera. These non-profit organizations were banned as they were found to have links with the Jamath Uddawa and its top leadership. So currently Hafiz Saeed is lodged at Lahore's High Security Court, Lakhpat Jail. However, legal experts say that Saeed can appeal the verdict. But the conviction of Hafiz Saeed assumes significance because the sentencing of Hafiz Saeed comes days ahead of the crucial meeting of financial action task force. This financial action task force is an intergovernmental organization that is combating money laundering and terror financing. And more importantly, FATF has put Pakistan on its gray list. See, we have discussed about FATF, its mandate, what do we mean by gray list or black listing and why Pakistan is gray listed, et cetera, on many discussions, especially if we have discussed these topics on 23rd June, 2019 in the news analysis and 24th August, 2019 in the news analysis. So please have a look at it for better understanding about these issues. Now, the next meeting of FATF is scheduled on 16th February, 2020. And in this meeting, it is expected that FATF will review the measures taken by Pakistani government. And in this meeting, Pakistan is expected to appraise the measures taken by it to combat terrorism. So in this meeting, FATF will decide on whether to keep Pakistan on the gray list or not, or whether to move Pakistan to the black list. That is why the conviction of Hafiz Said is significant step in the right direction for Pakistan because it will show that Pakistan is doing its part in combating terrorism. Even US has welcomed the conviction of Hafiz Said. US has described the conviction as an important step forward for Pakistan in meeting its international commit to combat terror financing and not allowing non-state actors to operate from its soil. US has welcomed this step of Pakistan because US also designated Hafiz Said as the global terrorist and announced $10 million bounty on his head in the past. So this is the background about this conviction. Now, let us see the editorial which is based on this conviction. This editorial talks about the significance of Said's conviction. The editorial raises the genuine doubts on Pakistan's actions because these actions in the past, which were against terror outfits, have hardly been convincing. And Pakistan started cracking down on Said's group in 2018 only after it was threatened to be put on the gray list by FATF. And even in 2019 October meeting, FATF had warned Islamabad, that is Pakistan, to take extra measures for the complete elimination of terror financing and money laundering. And if the FATF is not satisfied with Pakistan's action, then Pakistan will face the risk of being downgraded to the blacklist. If Pakistan is blacklisted, then it will bring tough sanctions on its financial systems. So that is why this editorial questions the conviction of Said and his aides just a few days ahead of the another crucial FATF meeting. Here the question is whether Pakistan's actions are half-hearted steps or whether they are focused on avoiding the wrath and sanctions of international community or whether they are part of a genuine drive against terror. In addition to all these questions, the editorial also exposes the fundamental policy of Pakistan, which is nothing but exporting terrorism to its neighbors for geopolitical leverage. See, historically Pakistan has adopted a dual policy towards terrorism. That is, on one hand, it fights terrorism at its home, but on the other hand, it exports terror through proxies to its neighbors. This is what the author calls as dual policy towards terrorism. So the author calls for change in this dual policy of Pakistan. And the author calls Pakistan to join the regional drive against terrorism so that peace and stability can be maintained at the regional level and also at the global level. So these are the information that you should know with respect to these news articles and this editorial. Now, since the FATF meeting is going to be held the day after tomorrow, we'll get more news articles based on this issue. So we will discuss the developments as and when it happens. With this, we come to the end of this discussion. That is split practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion, which is based on this news article and it is about the inclusion of Siddhi community in the scheduled tribes list of state of Karnataka. The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. This news article mentions that the bill to amend the constitution scheduled tribes order of 1950 has been passed by the parliament. Now, this amendment was to modify the list of scheduled tribes in the state of Karnataka. Particularly this bill aims to include the Siddhi community from two more districts of Karnataka. See, not only Siddhi community, other two communities or tribes have also been included in this bill. The names of the other two tribes are Parivara tribe and Talavara tribe. We have discussed about these tribes and the procedure behind the amendment and also about the constitution scheduled tribes order of 1950 in our 13th December Hindi news analysis. Please have a look at it for better understanding of this topic. Today, we'll be concentrating on Siddhi tribe only. We will see some important facts related to prelims examination. See, just remember that Siddhi tribal community of Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka was already included in the constitution scheduled tribes order of 1950. It was included by an amendment act of parliament in 2003. Now, this year, the proposed amendment is to extend the range of districts for the Siddhi community. Now, if the president gives assent, then the Siddhi community in two more districts will be deemed to be scheduled tribes in the state of Karnataka. These two districts are Darwad and Belagavi districts. And if you note that Siddhi tribe in the state of Gujarat has already been declared as the particularly vulnerable tribal group by the union home ministry. Now, this move is of importance to the Siddhi community because after this, they will be able to get the benefits of the government schemes that are particularly for the scheduled tribes. So, this amendment will help hundreds of children to realize their dreams. So, these are the information that you should know with respect to this news article. With this, we come to the end of this discussion. Now, we have come to the last session for the day. That is the practice questions discussion session. This question is with respect to countervailing duties. The first statement is, countervailing duties are duties imposed by a country when a government in the exporting country provides subsidies or assistance to its local industry in the form of subsidized loans, tax exemptions, indirect payments, et cetera, in order to potentially export and sell goods at a lesser price. This is the actual definition of countervailing duty. So, this statement is correct. Now, the next statement is, in India, countervailing duties are levied by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Now, you should note that in India, as per section 9 of Customs Tariff Act of 1975, the central government may impose a countervailing duty, not exceeding the amount of subsidy that is given by the exporting country. And this may be done based on a notification in the official gazette. So, based on this, the central government notified Customs Tariff Identification Assessment and Collection of Countervailing Duty on subsidized articles and for determination of injury rules of 1995. Or you can in short say, Customs Tariff Rules of 1995. These rules govern actions that are related to countervailing duties in India. So, the countervailing measures, along with the anti-dumping and anti-subsidies in India, are administered by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties. And this office functions in the Department of Commerce, in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. And this office, that is the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties is the designated authority, as per the 1995 rules, to conduct the countervailing duty investigation. And also to make recommendations to the government for imposition of anti-subsidies measures. But such duty is finally imposed or levied by a notification of the Ministry of Finance. So, the Department of Commerce recommends the countervailing duty, but it is the Ministry of Finance which levies such duty. So, this statement is wrong. Here the question asks for the correct statement. Here statement one is the correct statement. So, the correct answer to this question is option A, one only. Now, this question is based on Sun Temple at Konar. First statement is, it represents a chariot of God Surya of the Hindu mythology. This statement is correct. God Surya is the Sun God according to Hindu mythology. And this temple represents the chariot of this God only. So, this statement is correct. Here the question asks for the incorrect statement. So, you can eliminate option A and D. Now, based on the remaining options, you can say statement three is wrong because it is present in both the options. Now, let us see whether statement two is correct or not. Statement two states it represents the chariot containing 12 wheels drawn by seven horses. Now, you should be careful while answering this statement because the chariot contains 12 wheels on both the sides. So, it contains 24 wheels or 12 pairs of wheels which is drawn by seven horses. So, this statement is a wrong statement. So, the correct answer is option C only. Let us see why statement three is wrong. It states it is known as white pagoda. It is wrong because the Jagannath temple of Puri is known as white pagoda while the Sun temple at Konark is known as black pagoda. Now, this next question is based on biotic interactions. Consider the biotic interactions, parasitism, commensalism, mutualism, competition. In which of the biotic interactions given about one species benefits and the other species is harmed. So, for that you should know about these biotic interactions. In a parasitism one species benefits and the other species is harmed. Because as we know biotic interactions are the interactions between the organisms and sometimes some interactions are beneficial or harmful to the both the organisms while in some interactions they are beneficial or harmful to either one of the organisms. So, in this in parasitism one species benefits and the other species is harmed. So, this is correct. Now, the second is commensalism. Now, commensalism means one species is benefited while the other species neither benefits nor it is harmed. So, second should not be in the option. So, you can eliminate option C and D. Now, from the remaining options you can easily answer this question which is option A, one only. Let us see about three and four also, mutualism. Mutualism means both the species are benefiting from the biotic interactions. Now, the fourth one is competition. In a competition neither of the species benefits rather both the species are harmed. That is why the correct answer to this question is option A, one only. Let us see one main question based on GS paper two. What do you mean by criminalization of politics? What are the measures taken by the Supreme Court in addressing this issue? Now, for answering this question first you have to define criminalization of politics then you have to mention the measures or directions given by the Supreme Court in its two judgments. The first judgment is public interest foundation and others versus Union of India of 2019 judgment. In this judgment the Supreme Court gave directions to get the criminal antecedents of the candidates of a political party. Then the second case law is the Ram Babu Singh Thakur versus Sunil Arora and others. In this case law, Supreme Court made it mandatory for the political parties to mention the reason for the selection of a candidate who is having criminal antecedent and the political party also have to list out the reasons for why they did not select any candidate without criminal antecedents and the political party also has to submit a report to the election commission within 72 hours of the selection of the said candidate. If it does not do so, then it amounts to contempt of the court. So like this you have to mention some of the directions given by the Supreme Court in these two case laws. Let us see one main question based on GSP Pavan. The ability of women officers in the army should be judged based on their professionalism and merits rather than gender-based stereotypes. In the light of this statement, express your opinion on granting permanent commission and commanding posts to women officers in the Indian army. Now for answering this question, you can mention about the case which is going on in Supreme Court and you can mention the center's decision to grant permanent commission in 10 departments of the army to women officers. Then you can mention some points, then you can take a progressive stand on granting commanding posts to women and you can substantiate with points such as granting permanent commission itself proves the ability of women officers, then experience giving commanding posts in services so they can be given commanding posts in arms also. So like this you can mention some other points. Then you can conclude this by saying that the ability of women officers in the army should be judged based on their professionalism and merits only and the rank and file in the army, mostly the men should be taught to accept the decisions of a leader who have proved her or his ability and leadership qualities. Let us see another main question based on GSP Pavan 2. Discuss the mandate and the relevance of FATF in the light of recent conviction of UN designated global terrorist Hafiz Said by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Lahore. Now for answering this question, first you have to mention about the recent conviction of Hafiz Said. Then you have to mention about FATF, its mandate and why it is relevant in this matter. You can say that by convicting Hafiz Said, Pakistan has taken a step in the right direction of combating terrorism. So in the coming meeting of FATF, Pakistan may be retained in the gray list itself and Pakistan has to take more measures like this if it wants to come out of the gray list and if it wants to stay away from the black list of FATF. So like this you can add more viewpoints and you have to answer this question in 150 words. With this we have come to the end of today's Hindu News Analysis. 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