 Good evening aspirants, I have a happy announcement. Today is the third anniversary of daily Hindu news analysis by Shankar I.S academy. On this special occasion, I want to thank the academy for starting the civil speedy team and the daily Hindu news analysis program. And I also want to thank our viewers for showing their continued support to the program. For the past 3 years through this program, we, the members of the civil speedy team have been bringing you quality news analysis videos daily. I hope all our viewers find the program useful for their exam preparation. We are glad that you have accepted as a part of this journey. I once again want to thank our viewers, well-wishers and Shankar I.S academy. Thank you all. With this happy news, now let us get into today's Hindu news analysis. That is the Hindu news analysis for the date 8th of April 2022. Displayed here are the articles we will be discussing today. Now let us start the discussion. Take a look at this text and context article. As the title itself hints, this news article talks about manual scavenging. Taking this as an opportunity, let us quickly go through what is manual scavenging, some reasons why this practice is still prevalent in India and we shall also see some of the government initiatives to prevent this practice. Before getting into the discussion, the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. Now let us get into the discussion. Firstly what is manual scavenging? Manual scavenging refers to the practice of manually cleaning, carrying, disposing or handling human excreta in any manner from tray lettering and sewers. Here manually means by hand rather than automatically or electronically. It often involves the most basic of tools such as buckets, brooms and baskets. To understand the severity of this practice, we must know a little bit of history about it. We will see about them. See, the practice of manual scavenging in India goes long back in history. Its roots lie deep within the caste based occupation system in India. Mughal women under Furudha had enclosed toilets that needed to be scavenged. Under British India also, when the first municipalities were introduced, manual scavengers were employed to collect waste from public toilets. Within a century, these toilets were equipped with fresh system and by that time most homes had outhouses or tray letterings that required human scavengers. Whom do you think they used as escape code to perform all these work? See, the so called lower caste were expected to perform this job. It is Dalits where and continued to be employed as scavengers. Even within the Dalit community, it is the lowest among the subcasts who undertake manual scavenging work. They are known as Bangais in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, Pakhis in Andhra Pradesh, Balmikis in Haryana and Sikaliyas in Tamil Nadu. The term Bangi literally means broken identity and the word itself is considered derogatory. See, it is even difficult for us to imagine this scenario right? So, such inhumane treatment is meted out to the manual scavengers. In addition to this, our wretched society considers manual scavengers as unclean and untouchable. Due to such backward thinking of the society, the manual scavengers face social exclusion and deprivation of the society. Due to this, finding an alternative vocation is almost impossible for them. There are three more reasons that prevent the marginalised people to look for alternative employment. Firstly, it is due to the fact that power and caste hierarchy are intertwined in a complex whip. For example, most scavengers have inherited the work of the Dalit community. Secondly, this economic and social deprivation for generations has given them little opportunity to be trained for something else. Thirdly, those who dared to question the situation were met with social marginalisation, exclusion from village resources, and in rare but not uncommon cases, they were subjected to physical trash, which is a very rare case. See, this is really a sad thing to admit that manual scavenging still prevails among the poorest and the most disadvantaged communities in India. Now, that doesn't mean that Indian government did not take any step to prohibit the practice. The employment of manual scavengers and construction of Drey Letrin's Prohibition Act 1993 formally prohibited the use of manual scavengers. Additionally, the National Commission for Safai Karma Charis Act 1993 was a welfare legislation passed to monitor implementation of schemes for sanitation workers and also address their grievances. However, it was only in 2013 that the practice of manual scavenging was outlawed. The practice was outlawed by the National Commission for the Development of Education, the practice of manual scavenging was outlawed. The practice was outlawed when both the Houses of the Parliament unanimously passed the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013. Now, let us see some important features of this act. See, this act, that is the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013, was an umbrella legislation that aimed to look at the issue holistically. The 2013 act prohibits the employment of manual scavengers, construction of Drey Letrin's and manual cleaning of septic tanks and severs without protective equipments. It became the first legislation that identified the links between scavenging as a profession and the societal caste hierarchy. And it became the first act that places the responsibility on the owners to demolish Drey Letrin's and build proper toilets. See, the act overrates all previous state laws on manual scavenging. There is a strong vigilance mechanism in place and offenses under this act are non-bailable. It is also the first legislature to have some concrete notion on Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers. In addition to this, there are several constitutional provisions that can be invoked to abolish this inhumane practice of manual scavenging. They are Article 14, that is right to equality. Article 17, that is abolition of untouchability. Article 21, that is protection of life and personal liberty. Article 42, that deals with just and humane conditions of work. And finally, Article 46, that deals with promotion of educational and economic interest of scheduled caste, scheduled traips and weaker section of the society. These articles further strengthen the constitutional right of a person to seek justice when they are mistreated. See, despite so many legislation, this practice continues unabated for the most part. The so-called lower caste still face difficulty. Now, why is this practice still prevalent in India? As we all know, the first reason is the social cost. As I already said, the practice is driven by caste, class and income debates. Even though in 1993, India banned the employment of people as manual scavengers under the employment of manual scavengers and construction of dry lettering prohibition act in 1993, but still the stigma and the discrimination associated with it still lingers. Even if they want to leave their professions, their untouchability and uncleanliness tag that the Fretcher society has associated with this profession resulted in social stigma which makes impossible for them to find alternative jobs. This is the first reason why the practice is still prevalent in India. Secondly, manual scavenging exists mainly due to the continued presence of unsanitary letterings where human waste has to be cleaned physically rather than by a machine or sewage system. The majority of such unsanitary letterings are dry letterings that does not use water. The third important reason is the continued reluctance on the part of the state government to admit that the practice of manual scavenging is still practiced under their watch. Apart from this, poor enforcement of existing laws is also a reason for the continued existence of this medieval age practice. See, though the construction of dry letterings has drastically reduced, the number of deaths in manholes, sewers and septic tanks continue to remain high. And this is the reason why the present government has plans to amend the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and the Rehabilitation Act 2013 to completely mechanize the cleaning of sewers and manholes and build new sewers. This is exactly what the news article talks about here. But according to the author, neither the past nor the present amendments addresses the issue of labor safety. This moves us forward to a question that is way forward. So, what actually can be or should be done to abolish this practice? Firstly, there should be proper identification of the workers. States need to accurately enumerate the workers engaged in cleaning toxic sludge. Secondly, schemes like the Swachbara Thabiyan should make expansion of sewer networks as a top priority. It should come up with a scheme for scientific maintenance that will end the manual cleaning of septic tanks. Thirdly, there is a need for social sensitization. See, to address the social sanction behind manual scavenging, it is required first to acknowledge and then understand how and why manual scavenging continues to be embedded in the cash system. This has to be done. Only by making the society sensitized, we can make a holistic change. Fourthly, there is a need for a stringent law. If a law creates a statutory obligation to provide sanitation services on the part of the state's agency, it will create a situation in which rights of these workers will not hang in the air. Last but not the least, the laws should be enforced vigorously to eliminate manual scavenging in its entirety. Even if amendments are made, there should be provisions for better healthcare facilities, insurance cover, pension plans and regulations on preventive and social education for the manual scavengers. Apart from this, there should be trials and testing of protective gears provided to the sanitary workers. That's all regarding this discussion. Before concluding this discussion, let us do a quick recap. See, in this discussion, we saw what is manual scavenging. Then we saw how the society treats manual scavengers. Then we saw why it is difficult for the manual scavengers to leave this profession. Then we saw some measures taken by the government to prevent the practice of manual scavenging. In that, we saw about the employment of manual scavengers and construction of Drey Letterin's Prohibition Act 1993, the National Commission for Suffice Karma Cherries Act 1993, and the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and their Rehabitation Act 2013. After that, we saw some features of the 2013 Act. Some important features of this 2013 Act are, this Act prohibits the employment of manual scavengers, construction of Drey Letterin's and the manual cleaning of septic tanks and severs without protective gears. And it became the first Act that places the responsibility on the owners to demolish Drey Letterin's and build proper toilets. And it is also the first legislation to have some concrete notion on rehabilitation of manual scavengers. Then we saw some constitutional provisions that can be invoked to stop this practice. The articles are Article 14, Article 17, Article 21, Article 42, and Article 46. See, these articles of the Constitution may be invoked to stop this practice. Then we saw why manual scavenging is still prevalent in the society. Some reasons are social stigma, presence of unsanitary Letterin's, government apathy, and poor enforcement of law. Finally, we saw some suggestions to stop this practice. Some suggestions are proper identification of sanitary workers, expansion of sewer network, social sensitization, strict implementation of laws, and finally, provision of better health care facilities, insurance cover, and pension plans for manual scavengers. So that's all regarding this discussion. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this editorial article. This editorial talks about India's neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war. India is neither a clean state of a great power nor a member of any alliance system. Hence, India retained the right to take policies based on pragmatic realism and its core national interest. See, India's neutral position does not mean that India supports the war. But the United States and few western countries are not liking India's neutral stand on this Russia-Ukraine issue. So in this context, let us discuss about the historical evidences of India's neutrality. Then the three reasons why the United States is selectively targeting India for its neutrality. Then we will discuss why neutrality is the best available options for India. And finally, let us discuss how the NATO failed Ukraine. Okay? Before getting into the discussion, the syllabus regarding this discussion is highlighted here for a few seconds. You can go through it. Now, let us start our discussion. First of all, what is meant by neutrality? See, neutrality is a state of not supporting either side in an argument or war. Okay? So, now talking about India's neutrality, there are historical evidences to prove it. Let us see few of them. Firstly, take the Soviet intervention in Hungary. It happened in the year 1956, when the Soviet Union invaded Hungary to stop the Hungarian revolution. At this time, the Prime Minister of India was Jawaharlal Nehru. See, India remained neutral, saying that India disliked the happenings but will not condemn it. This was how India was guided to approach any conflicts, mainly those involving its partners. Not only this, even in the Soviet interventions in Czechoslovakia in 1968 or Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979 or in the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, India more or less followed this line of neutrality. That is, India followed the neutrality principle in all these instances. See, leave the past. Even when you take the current situation, that is, Russian invasion of Ukraine, India remained in its neutrality principle only. This can be very well understood from the unnamed condemnation of the civilian killings. That is, though India condemned the civilian killings that is taking place in Ukraine, India did not mention that it was due to Russia. Also, it can be understood from India's absenteeism from the U.N. votes against Russia. So, India's neutrality principle has not differed from its history. Since we talked about absenteeism from U.N. voting against Russia, let me tell you few others who did the same. South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Israel abstained from the voting in the United Nations Security Council. Here, United Arab Emirates and Israel are closest allies of the West, mainly the United States. South Africa is a democratic country and Turkey which is a NATO ally also abstained from the voting against Russia. See, none of these countries have come under the kind of pressure and public criticism from the West when compared to India. This pressure was well felt when the deputy national security advisor for international economics warned India of consequences that may arise due to India Russia trade continuation. This happened during his recent visit to New Delhi. So, now comes a question in everyone's mind. Why is this selective targeting of India done? Now, let us analyze three broad reasons behind this pressure or selective targeting of India by the Western countries, mainly the United States. There are three broad reasons that is political, economic and statutory reasons. First, let us see the political point of view. See, US President Joe Biden calls the Russian action against Ukraine as the attack on the free world. But if this is not supported by the world's largest democracy here I mean India, it remains a blunt knife that is useless. So, India's support is necessary for the West. Only when India takes the side of the Western countries, the West can take a moral high ground in this issue. This is the political reason why India is cornered. Second, let us see the economic point of view. See, we know that there are several sanctions put on Russia in that most of the sanctions on Russia were imposed by the Western countries. These sanctions were backed by only three Asian countries. Who are they? They are Japan, South Korea and Singapore. We know that Russia, which is the world's second largest economy would not abide by the American sanctions. And we know that India is the second populous country in the world. So if India also continues its trade with Russia, the effect of the Western sanctions on Russian economy would not be very significant. Am I right? So, only if India takes the side of the West, the Western sanctions will make a dent in Russia's economy. This is the economic reason behind selective targeting of India. The third reason behind the pressure put by the United States on India is on the strategic point of view. See, India has improved its strategic partnership with the United States and the West. This is since the end of the Cold War, that is 1991. Note that in the last 30 years India has also retained warm ties with Russia. This balancing was not tested in the recent past. But in the present, that is the Russian attack on Ukraine is testing India's careful maneuverability between the West and Russia. Rightly so, India has not picked any sides. This is going against US plans for the Indo-Pacific region. See, the United States views India as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific region. So, this is the strategic reason why the West is pushing India to take their side. See, these are the three reasons for the West in general and the United States in particular, targeting India. Having seen the reasons for India-specific targeting now let us see why neutrality is the best available option for India. See, every country formulates its foreign policy based on its national interest. Am I right? That is it does not make foreign policy merely on moral commitments. When you take US which condemns Russia in the present situation has itself performed immoral activities. Right? For example, NATO led by the United States bombed Yugoslavia for 78 days in 1999. See, there are so many such examples of the United States doing immoral activities to uphold its national interest. Okay? When we talk about India's national interest, India is a continental power as well as a maritime power. So, India needs Russia not only for defense and energy purchases but also for geopolitical reasons. This is because Russia, Iran and the Central Asian countries are important for India's continental security and interest. Then when you take India's ties with the United States, Japan and Australia, it is for its own maritime security and interest. This is the reason why neutrality is the best among the bad options that is available for India. Okay? So, India looks neutrality as the way to grow among the three major powers of the world. That is, the United States, China and Russia. Now, let us discuss how that NATO failed Ukraine. See, Ukraine was promised NATO membership in 2008 itself but it never got the membership. This NATO membership promise itself was enough to trigger Russia's aggressiveness. So, Russia annexed Crimea and started supporting militancy in the Donbas region. At this time, you continued to provide money and limited weapons to Kiev. But you should note here that the United States never took any meaningful measure. Here, meaningful measure is the NATO membership which Ukraine was promised in 2008 itself. Okay? But why is this NATO membership important? See, NATO would not be in a position to defend a country that is not a member of its alliance. And Ukraine was denied NATO membership. But the very thought that NATO membership could be offered to Ukraine in the future gave Russian president enough reasons to send his troops into Ukraine. See, although in the popular media it appears that Russia is backing down, Russia actually achieved its objectives. Very soon, Russia will force Ukraine to accept neutrality and not to accept NATO membership. When the war finally ends, Russia will definitely end up controlling more Ukrainian territories than it did before February 24. So, in the end both Russia and the West will be winners. It is only Ukraine that will be facing significant loss. This is the tragedy Ukraine is facing. And this tragedy is mainly due to NATO's unfulfilled promise. So, this is how NATO failed Ukraine. Okay? Now, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw some historical examples where India had sticked to its position of neutrality. Then we saw three reasons why the United States has been specifically targeting India, though some other countries like South Africa, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the Turkey have not taken the side of the West. And then we saw why neutrality is the best available option for India. And finally, we saw how the NATO failed Ukraine. That's all regarding this discussion. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. This news article talks about the Central Bank-backed digital currency or CBDC. See, the Reserve Bank of India is planning to come out with a Central Bank-backed currency using blockchain technology in 2022-23. So, knowing the importance of data privacy and monetary policy, the RBI Deputy Governor says that it should not do any harm. Also, the RBI Deputy Governor emphasized that RBI was looking at Central Bank digital currency just as a digital form of paper currency. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let's discuss what is a Central Bank digital currency. Then we will see what are all its features. Okay? First, what is a Central Bank digital currency? See, Central Bank digital currencies are digital tokens. They are similar to cryptocurrencies but they are issued by a Central Bank. They are pegged to the value of the issuers fiat currency. What is a fiat currency? See, fiat money is backed by a government instead of a physical commodity or financial instrument. For example, the Indian rupee backed by the Indian government is an example of a fiat currency. Okay? Now, coming back to CBDC. What is RBI planned CBDC? See, CBDC or Central Bank digital currency is a legal tender. And the issuer here is the Reserve Bank of India. As I said, RBI CBDC is an electronic record or a digital token of India. See, it will serve as a official currency which fulfills basic functions as medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value and standard of deferred payments. Okay? According to RBI, CBDC is same as currency issued by the Central Bank but takes a different form than paper. Okay? So, it is a sovereign currency in an electronic form. Note that it will appear as liability on Central Bank's balance sheet. That is, it is currency in circulation. Now, let us see how the features of CBDC or Central Bank backed digital currency is advantageous. See, CBDCs will be made exchangeable at par with cash. So, it helps in reducing the cost of cash. The next is, CBDC will help improve the speed of transaction. This is because it will significantly bring down time taken for cross-border transaction and make transactions in real-time. So, we can say that CBDC will have cost and distributional efficiency. The next is that CBDC will eliminate the need for inter-bank settlement. So, it helps in improving the cross-border transaction. To put it in simple terms, introducing CBDC helps in bringing settlement efficiency. Okay? The next thing is, CBDC will provide users with a sovereign option. So, it is safe when compared to other less safe digital currencies like Bitcoin and Eritreum. Okay? One important point to be noted here is that blockchain technology that is to be used in RBI-planned CBDC. See, blockchain technology is present everywhere with the potential for beyond just digital currencies. Also, it helps in removing the need for intermediaries in various processes. This will help creating a transparent, fast and efficient systems overall. Okay? See, these are some features of the central bank-backed digital currency. Now, we have come to the end of the discussion. With these learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. According to this news article, the union government has confirmed reports that Chinese hackers continue to target Indian power plants, mainly those close to the line of actual control. And the Minister of Power, Mr. R. K. Singh, told reporters that at least two attempts by Chinese hackers were made on electricity distribution centers near Ladakh, but they were not successful. He also informed the reporters that the ministry has already strengthened the different system to counter such cyberattacks. So, this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through some of the steps taken by the Indian government to prevent cyberattacks and cybercrime. Firstly, what is cyberattacks? Cyberattacks are malicious attempts to access or damage a computer or a network system. Government has taken few steps to prevent such cyberattacks and cybercrimes. Such steps are CERTIN i.e. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, Cyber Surakshit Bharat Yojana, Cyber Swachhatha Kendra i.e. Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Center and finally, Indian Cybercrime Coordination Center. Now, we will see in brief about all these initiatives in Prillim's perspective. Firstly, let us take CERTIN i.e. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. It is an organization of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Its main objective is to secure Indian cyberspace. Also, it is the nodal agency which deals with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. Its main function is to collect, analyze and decimate information on cyber incidents and also issues alerts on cyber security incidents. By doing so, it is actually strengthening the security later defense of the Indian Internet Domain. Apart from this, CERTIN provides incident prevention and response services as well as security quality management services. Most importantly, CERTIN has overlapping responsibilities with other agencies such as National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Center, i.e. NCIIPC. These are some points about CERTIN, i.e. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team. Now, let us take Cyber Surakshit Bharat Yojana. The Cyber Surakshit Bharat initiative was launched in January 2018 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. It is the first public-private partnership of its kind that leverages the expertise of the information technology industry in cyber security along with METIS organization. Its main objective is to create awareness around cyber security and develop an empowered and strong cyber ecosystem in government organizations in India. How will they attain this objective? Through the deep dive training program. See the program aim to prepare the chief information security officers and frontline information technology officers to face challenges of cyber security and handle the cyber crisis. This type of training empowers them to secure their organizations from cyber threats and for smooth delivery of e-governance services and functioning of the protection units. Remember, these programs will be organized by the National e-governance division under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. See, these are some points about the Cyber Surakshit Bharat Yudhna. Moving on, let us take the Cyber Swasatha Kendra that is botnet cleaning and malware analysis center. It is the part of the Government of India's Digital India Initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. It aim to create a secure cyberspace by detecting botnet infections in India and to notify enable cleaning and securing systems of end users so as to prevent future infections. The Cyber Swasatha Kendra or the botnet cleaning and malware analysis center is set up in accordance with the objectives of the National Cyber Security Policy which envisages creating a secure cyber ecosystem in the country. This center operates in close coordination and collaboration with internet service providers and anti-virus companies. This website provides information and tools to users to secure their systems and devices. Now, this center is being operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team that is CERTIN. These are some points about Cyber Swasatha Kendra or the botnet cleaning and malware analysis center. Finally, let us take the Indian Cyber Creme Coordination Center. Indian Cyber Creme Coordination Center is an initiative of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Note that, okay? It is mainly established to combat cybercrime in the country in a coordinator and an effective manner. The scheme duration is for the period of 2018 to 2020. The overview of the scheme is given here for your reference. Please go through it. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we discussed about some of the initiatives of the government to combat cyber security threats and cyber crimes. With this let us conclude the news article discussion and take up the practice prelims questions. We have two practice prelims questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question. This question is about the RBI Planned Central Bank Pack Digital Currency. That is CBDC. Two statements are given. We have to find the correct statement. Let us take up the first statement. CBDC will eliminate the use of paper currency permanently. See, this statement is wrong. Actually when CBDC is implemented it will reduce the use of paper currency but it will not completely eliminate the use of paper currency. So statement one is incorrect. Now let us take up the second statement. It is a legal tender that is to be issued by the RBI. See, this statement is correct. Yes, CBDC is a legal tender in electronic form that is to be issued by the RBI mostly in 2022-23 period. So statement one is incorrect and statement two is correct. So the correct answer is option B two only. Now let us take up the second question. In this question four functions are given. We have to find which of the four given functions are the functions of Indian computer emergency response team. That is CERTIN. Let me read out the functions. First function is collection, analysis and decimation of information on cyber incidents. The second function is forecast and alert of cyber security incidents. The third function is emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents. And the fourth function is coordination of cyber incident response activity. See, all the given four functions are functions of Indian computer emergency response team. So since all the statements are correct the correct answer here is option C one, two, three and four. The main question based on today's discussion is displayed here. Write the answers and post them in the comment section. If you liked today's video like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation subscribe to Shankara AIS Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.