 Good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu Daily News Analysis for the date 4th of December 2023 brought to you by Shankar Iyer's Academy. Displayed here are the articles which we are going to discuss today. With this, let's start with the first article for the day. Take a look at this news article. It talks about the UNSC reforms. See, our external office minister is currently visiting Austria. In an interview to Austria's television, he talked about the slow pace of reforms in the UN. He said that the slow pace of reforms is because of the permanent members of UN Security Council who want to continue enjoying their extraordinary powers. He also mentioned about the lack of representation in the UN Security Council. This is about the news article. Firstly, let's see about how to bring reform in the UN. Any reform like the increase in the number of permanent members of the Security Council would require the agreement of at least two-thirds of vote in the General Assembly and this vote must be ratified by at least two-thirds of the member states. In addition to all this, all of the permanent members of the UN Security Council must also agree to the reform. So, even after a reform proposal is passed and ratified by two-thirds of the UN General Assembly members, it can be vetoed by the permanent five members, such as the humongous nature of power which is given to the permanent members of the UN Security Council. So, we can say that basically just five countries have total control over an important multilateral organization like the UN. This excessive control by the permanent members is one of the main reasons why various countries are asking to reform the UN. The second reason is the infighting among the permanent members themselves. Currently, the permanent members include the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China. The United States, China and Russia represent the three poles in the present multipolar world. In most important issues, their values don't synchronize. This is affecting the effective functioning of the United Nations as a whole. The next major reason to reform United Nations is the underrepresentation of countries. The UN Security Council was created after the Second World War. So, its membership reflects the condition of that time. A lot has changed in the past eight years. The UNSC permanent membership does not reflect the changes which has happened in these eight years. For example, there is no representation for countries from Africa and South America. In addition, India which is the largest democracy and one of the fastest growing economies in the world is also not represented. So, changes must be made to the UN Security Council permanent membership to accommodate the changing nature of the world. The four countries that are very vocal to increase representation in UN Security Council permanent membership are Brazil, Germany, India and Japan. These countries are called as G4 countries. These countries first met as part of the 2005 World Summit. These four countries are supporting each other's bid for permanent membership of the UNSC. These countries are not only fighting for their permanent membership but also for the reform in the United Nations as a whole, which will make United Nations a more representative body. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we saw about the need for the United Nations Security Council reforms and also saw about the grouping of four. With these learned points, now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at all these articles which I have displayed here. All these articles are related to a case which the Supreme Court adjudicated yesterday. To understand about the outcome of the case, we have to first get into the detail of the case itself. This particular case which the Supreme Court gave its verdict on yesterday was related to the Bulahan Chahar rape incident which happened in the year 2016. See, this rape incident took place in the state of Uttar Pradesh. When the rape incident took place, the government of the day was run by the Samajwadi Party. Asam Khan, who was the minister in the Samajwadi Party, termed the incident as a political conspiracy to malign the image of his government. The survivors filed a writ petition before the Alhabad High Court seeking action against Mr. Asam Khan for his controversial statements. The Alhabad Court directed him to submit an unconditional apology and also noted that the case raises serious concerns regarding the state obligation and freedom of speech and expression. So consequently, several questions were raised on this particular matter. All these questions were put forward to a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court answered all these questions yesterday. This is the crux of all these articles given here. So in this discussion, now let's see the answers for each and every questions put forward to the constitutional bench of Supreme Court in this case. The syllabus for this discussion is highlighted here. Now, coming to the first question which was answered by the 5th judge constitutional bench. Does individual ministers statement represent the government? The bench by majority ruled that a statement made by a minister even if traceable to any affairs of the state cannot be attributed vicariously to the government by invoking the principle of collective responsibility. So simply, the court has said that if a minister says something, it cannot be taken as if it is said by the government. This is because the court feels that Prime Minister, Chief Minister in the era of coalition politics cannot take any strict action against the ministers who are indulging in issuing unnecessary statements. So it's not always possible for the Prime Minister or Chief Minister to go around controlling their ministers. So the court held that an individual minister's statement does not represent the government. Here there was a dissent by one particular judge. Justice B.V. Nagarathna deferred with the leading judgment. She said that a minister's statement if traceable to any affairs of the state then it can be attributed vicariously to the government by invoking the principle of collective responsibility. But note that B.V. Nagarathna also said that if such a statement is not consistent with the view of the government then it is attributable to the minister personally. So this means that if the stand of the minister represented the views of the government then it is attributed to the government. It cannot be attributed to the government if the statement of the minister is inconsistent with the views of the government. Therefore the minister is liable for the statement himself. This is all about the first question. Now let's move on to the second question answered by the constitutional court in this case. The question goes on like this. Whether any restrictions can be imposed on the right to freedom of speech and expression under article 19 1a excluding restrictions already enumerated under 19 class 2. See we have right to freedom of speech and expression under 19 class 1 subclass a. But this freedom of speech and expression is subject to restrictions which are given under article 19 class 2. Some of the restrictions provided under 19 class 2 are the freedom of speech and expression should not affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign state, public order, decency, morality or it should not result in incitement of violence. These are the restrictions provided under article 19 subclass 2. The court yelled that the grounds lined up in article 19 class 2 for restricting the right to freedom of speech are exhaustive. Restrictions which are not found in article 19 class 2 cannot be imposed on the excise of the right conferred by article 19 class 1 subclass a. Simply put, the court said that no additional restrictions on the freedom of speech is needed because the grounds already present in article 19 class 2 are exhaustive. This is about the second question. Now moving on to the third question which was answered by the court. Whether greater restrictions on article 19 class 1 subclass a can be imposed if it concerns person holding high office. The court said that there was no need to bring in further shackles on the freedom of speech in the gaze of protecting the competing fundamental right to life and dignity under article 21 of persons at the receiving end of the minister's comments. Therefore, the statement made by the minister even though inconsistent with the right of a citizen may not constitute a violation of constitutional rights of the citizen. But Justice Nagarathna said the derogatory speech which closely resembled hate speech did not fall within the ambit of the free speech. She said that public functionaries and other persons of influence and celebrities having regard to their reach will have a huge impact on the public. So they owe a duty to the citizenry at large to be more responsible and restrained in their speech. So this means that right to dignity of common man cannot be sacrificed at the altar of free speech. This is all about the third question. Now moving on to the final question answered by the court. Can article 21 be applied to private non-state actors who are not covered by term state in article 12? We know that article 12 defines the state. It brings so many entities under the definition of state. So now the question means if a private actor violates your right of life then can actions be taken or does it apply when state violates your right to life? For this the court held that the state has an affirmative duty to protect when there is a threat to personal liberty even by a non-state actor. This means that the fundamental right to free speech and right to dignity could be enforced against private parties also. So these are the aspects that the court covered in its verdict. With this we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion we saw about the four questions answered by the Supreme Court in its latest verdict. With this let's move on to the next news article. See this text and context page article. This article is taken from yesterday's newspaper. This article talks about the delimitation exercise which is going to carried out in the state of Assam. On December 27 the election commission announced that the process of delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam will start from January 1st 2023. The election commission also said that the delimitation would be based on census data taken from the year 2001. This is a brief background about the ongoing delimitation exercise in the state of Assam. Now with this background let's learn about the constitutional provisions related to delimitation and also we will see about the previous delimitation exercise which have been conducted in India. See we are not going to start from basics as the basics were covered in previous news analysis dated 28th of December 2022. You can watch that video to get clarity over the basics about delimitation exercise. With this disclaimer now let's begin our discussion. First of all what is meant by delimitation. See delimitation is the process of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly constituencies based on a recent census. The delimitation is done to ensure that each assembly and parliamentary seat has almost equal number of voters. With this brief now let's move on to see the constitutional provisions related to delimitation. First let's take the article 82. It speaks about the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats. See article 82 of the Indian constitution empowers the parliament to re-adjust the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha and the division of each state into territorial constituencies after every census. For the specific purpose of re-adjustment of seats the parliament would enact a delimitation act after every census. After the enactment of the delimitation act the central government constitutes a delimitation commission. This delimitation commission will then demarcrate the boundaries of the parliamentary constituencies as per the provisions of the delimitation act. The article 82 also states that such re-adjustment shall not affect representation in the house of people until the dissolution of the then existing house. The article also says that seat re-adjustment shall take effect from such date as specified by the president. The article also says that until new re-adjustment takes into effect any election to the Lok Sabha may be held on the basis of the territorial constituencies existing before such adjustment. This is all about article 82. Now we will see about article 170. See it speaks about the delimitation of state legislative assembly seats. I am not going to discuss every provision present in the article 170 but note that the constitution through this article empowers the parliament to also re-adjust the total number of seats present in the legislative assembly of each state. Make a note of this important point. Other than this this article contains more or less the same provisions which are present in article 82. This is all with respect to constitutional provisions related to delimitation. Now we will see about the previous delimitation exercises. See the delimitation exercises have been carried out four times in the past. For this the central government has set up the delimitation commissions in the years 1952, 1962, 1972 and finally in the year 2002. These delimitation commissions were established under the respective delimitation commissions acts. Now coming to the first delimitation exercise. See the first delimitation exercise of independent India was done in the year 1952. After this the next delimitation exercise was carried out in 1962 by the second delimitation commission. This delimitation exercise increased the seats of the Lok Sabha from 494 to 522. Then comes the third delimitation exercise. As I already said this exercise was carried out in the year 1973. It resulted in the increase of Lok Sabha seats to 543. It also increased the total number of assembly seats across all states and union territories from 3771 to 3997 seats. Finally came the fourth delimitation exercise. For conducting the exercise the fourth delimitation commission was set up on July 2002 after the 2001 census. This is as per the provisions of delimitation act 2002. So the present delimitation of parliamentary constituencies has been done based on the 2001 census figures. See the delimitation order of the fourth delimitation commission came into effect from February 2008 for most states and union territories. Then in March of 2008 the commission's order was extended for Tiripura and Mehalaya by a presidential order. Know that the delimitation of four northeastern states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nakhalan and Manipur were deferred due to security risks. This deferment was provided by four separate presidential orders issued in February 2008. Then on 6th March 2020 the government of India reconstituted the delimitation commission. See it was reconstituted to do delimitation exercise in four states as well as the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. So based on this central government's order only now the delimitation exercise is being carried out. This is all about the past four delimitation exercise which were done in independent India. Finally before ending our discussion we will see some facts regarding the delimitation commission. See delimitation commission is a high-powered body. The commission is appointed by the president of India from time to time based on the delimitation act enacted by the parliament. It works in close collaboration with the election commission of India. The delimitation commission's order have the force of law and cannot be questioned in any court. As I said earlier the orders of the delimitation commission comes into force on a date as specified by the president. Usually the copies of delimitation commission's order are laid before Lok Sabha and the concerned state legislative assembly. Here note one important No modifications are permissible in the delimitation commission's order. Now what about the composition of the commission? The delimitation commission is usually headed by retired supreme court judge. Then it also consists of chief election commissioner. See if the delimitation is to be carried out to the state legislative assembly then the commission also includes respective state election commissioners as the members. With this we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion we have seen about the four delimitation exercise which were previously carried out in India. Other than that we also saw about some of the important facts about delimitation commission. With these learned points now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this article. It talks about a high powered committee which was formed in the union territory of Ladakh. See this committee was formed to ensure the protection of the land and the employment of Ladakh region. It was formed by union ministry. The committee was formed due to the fact that there has been increasing voice in Ladakh for the inclusion of the union territory into the sixth schedule of the Indian constitution. This is about the news article given here. In this context let us see about the sixth schedule. See the sixth schedule of the Indian constitution deals with a special system of administration for the tribal areas present in four northeastern states. The states with six schedule areas are Assam, Mehalaya, Tiripura and Mizoram. To put it in simple words, under the sixth schedule a special form of administration is envisaged for the tribal areas of Assam, Mehalaya, Tiripura and Mizoram. This special form of administration is provided for these states because the tribes in these states have not assimilated much into the mainstream way of living. Due to this the people their way of life in these territories are totally different from the rest of our country. So to protect the people and its culture the tribal areas in these four states are recognized under sixth schedule of our constitution. Now coming to the special features of administration provided under this schedule. See the tribal areas present in these four states are recognized as autonomous districts. These autonomous districts though it has the word autonomous attached to it do not fall outside the executive authority of the state concerned. Here the governor of the state is empowered to organize and reorganize the autonomous districts. See if there are different tribes in an autonomous district the governor can divide the district into several autonomous regions. Let me explain this with an example. The governor finds about the autonomous district A which has three different tribes tribe X, tribe Y and tribe Z. Here the governor is empowered to divide the autonomous district A into an autonomous region X, autonomous region Y and autonomous region Z for the three different tribes occupying the same area. Now coming back see the governor in scheduled six states also has the power to alter the territorial jurisdiction or to alter the name of any autonomous district or autonomous region. Each autonomous district has a district council consisting of 30 members. Out of these 30 members four are nominated by the governor and the remaining 26 are elected on the basis of adult franchise. The elected members hold office for a term of five years and nominated members hold office during the pleasure of the governor. Here note that each autonomous region also has a separate regional council. The district and regional councils administer the areas under their jurisdiction. They also have the power to make laws on certain specified matters like land, forest, canal water, shifting cultivation, village administration, inheritance of property, marriage and divorce, social customs, etc. The main point to note here is that all such laws require the ascent of the governor. The district and regional councils can also constitute village councils or courts for trial of cases between the tribes. These village councils or courts try cases between scheduled tribes within their jurisdiction. The district and regional council can also establish courts to take up the appeals against the judgment of the village council. The jurisdiction of the high court over these particular cases is specified by the governor. The district council can also establish, construct or manage primary schools, dispensaries, markets, ferries, fisheries, roads and so on in the districts. The district council is also empowered to make regulations for the control of money lending and trading in these areas by non-tribals. But such regulations require the ascent of the governor. The district and regional councils are empowered to assess and collect land revenue and to impose certain specified taxes. The acts of parliament or the state legislature that deal with subjects that are under the control of district council like village administration, inheritance of property, social customs, etc. do not directly apply to autonomous districts and autonomous regions. The acts are applicable only after the approval of the district council without or with modifications. Here you have to note one important fact. In the case of ASAM, notification regarding the district council's approval of acts of both parliament and state legislature is made by the governor. But in the case of other three states, the governor issues notification regarding the acts of the state legislature only. The president issues notification regarding the acts of the parliament. So this is one major difference between the sixth schedule areas themselves. While in ASAM, the governor has the power to notify both the acts of the parliament and the state legislature. But in the case of MEHALIA, TIRIPURAN, MIZORAM, the governor has the power in case of acts passed by the state legislature while president has the power in case of the acts passed by the parliament. Now moving on. See, the governor can appoint a commission to examine and report on any matter relating to the administration of the autonomous districts or regions. He is also empowered to dissolve a district or regional council on the recommendation of the commission. If you see, all these provisions provide for a local self-government. Importantly, the autonomous councils in these areas enjoy legislative, executive and even judiciary powers. This is the reason why LADAC has been requesting the union government to include it as a part of the sixth schedule. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we learned about the sixth schedule areas present in India and also about the various autonomous powers the autonomous region councils have in these areas. With these learned points, now let's move on to the next article discussion. Take a look at this text and context article. This article talks about the recently passed UNGA resolution which seeks for international court of justice opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's prolonged occupation of Palestinian land. See this UNGA resolution coincides with the return of Benjamin Netanyahu as the Prime Minister of Israel for the record sixth term. See, he belongs to the most far-right Israeli coalition in history. Recently, a government document got leaked. In the document, it was said that the new government focuses on expanding the Israeli settlements in the region of West Bank and the legalization of dozen of illegally built outposts in the area. The document also stated that the Jewish people have an exclusive and unquestionable right to all the areas of the land of Israel. This has sparked fears that the new regime will have a negative impact on Palestinians. So, in this background, let us understand about what happened after the year 1948 and also about Gaza Strip and West Bank. Before that, the syllabus relevant for this article is highlighted here. Interested aspirants can go through it. See, this discussion is a continuation of the Israel-Palestinian issue which we discussed on 1st of January 2023. In that discussion, we saw about the origin of the Israel-Arab problem from the last quarter of the 19th century to the mid of 20th century. This discussion is a continuation of that discussion. So, if you want to get hold of a clear picture of the Israel-Palestine conflict, I recommend you all to watch that discussion first. Now, let us get into this discussion. In the May of 1948, the land of Palestine was bifurcated into two states. One was given to Israeli people and the other was given to the Arabs. This was done by none other than the United States. Since Palestine was bifurcated into two, the Arab people living around the region of Middle East got together against Israel. This triggered the First Arab-Israel War. Who do you think would have won the war? Arabs, right? But against seemingly overwhelming hearts, the Israelis defeated Arabs. They even captured more of Palestine than the UN partition had given them. After Arab-Israel War of 1948, Israel ended up with about three quarters of Palestine plus the Egyptian port of Eilat on the Red Sea. The city of Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan. So, the historical Palestine was divided into the state of Israel including West Jerusalem, the West Bank including East Jerusalem which was taken over by Jordan and the Gaza Strip which was controlled by Egypt. The Israelis won the war because they fought desperately. See, many of their troops had gained military experience fighting in the British Army during the Second World War. The Arab states were divided among themselves and poorly equipped. This led to their own downfall. The most tragic outcome of the war was that Palestinian Arabs became the innocent victims. Why? Because at the end of the war, they had suddenly lost three quarters of their homeland and the majority of them were now without a state of their own somewhere in the new Jewish state of Israel while others lived in the West Bank occupied by Jordan. You note that after some reactive Jews had slaughtered the entire population of an Arab village in Israel, nearly a million Arabs fled into Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. In these countries, they had to live in miserable refugee camps. The USA, Britain and France guaranteed Israel's frontiers but the Arab states did not regard the ceasefire as permanent. The Arab states did not even sign a peace treaty at the end of the 1948 war. They even refused to recognize the legality of Israel and they saw this war as only the first round in the fight to destroy Israel and liberate Palestine. Again in the year 1967, after 20 years of first Arab-Israel war conflict broke between the sides. This time, the Arab states joined together again in a determined attempt to destroy Israel. This led to the famous 6-day war of 1967. This time, the lead was taken by Iraq, Syria and Egypt. The 6-day war resulted in Israel capturing the whole of West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Along with all this, they even captured the Syria's Golden Heights and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. While the Sinai Peninsula was later returned to Egypt, another captured area of Palestine and Syrian territory remained under Israel's military control. In the same year, that is 1967, Israel declared the whole of Jerusalem as its eternal capital. On the other hand, Palestinians seek the West Bank as the heartland of their future independent state. So in late 1967, the United Nations Security Council again paused a resolution stating that Israel must withdraw from the territories it seized in the war. But this resolution is yet to happen and the fate of Palestinian self-determination remains uncertain. In the decades since the 1967 war, Israel has built dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. More than three million Palestinians in West Bank live under the Israeli military rule. International community considers the West Bank settlements of Israel as illegal and an obstacle to peace. Incidents of violence and killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces have become common over the years. Even though Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982 and withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the status of Golan Heights and the West Bank continues to be a stumbling block in Arab-Israeli peace negotiations. After all these, recently a resolution was paused by the United Nations General Assembly on December 30, 2022. It asked the International Court of Justice to provide its advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation. It also asked for the advice to prevent from the adoption of related discriminatory legislations and measures which are against the interest of the Palestinians. Now, International Court of Justice have two choices. It can either lead to a settlement with a party withdrawing its case or it can lead to the trial followed by a verdict. While the ruling of International Court of Justice is binding, the ICEJ has no power to enforce them. So we have to wait and watch how this situation is going to evolve in the future days. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we saw both the evolution of Arab-Israel problem from the year of 1968 to the present resolution. With these learned points, now let's move on to the next news article discussion. For our next discussion, let's take up this news article. Three days back, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board scheduled a fresh public hearing on the granting of environmental clearance to Maliparved Bauxite mining in Koraput district of Odisha. Knowing this, villagers showed up in Bhuneshwar demanding permanent cancellation of the lease. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us understand few facts about Bauxite. As you all know, Bauxite is primarily a metallic mineral. See, a mineral is a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties. On the basis of chemical and physical properties, minerals may be grouped under two main categories of metallics and non-metallics. Here in this image, you can see the classification of minerals. Metallic minerals are the source of metals. And Bauxite is the ore which is used in manufacturing of aluminum. Bauxite is found mainly in tertiary deposits, that is, it is associated with laterite rocks occurring extensively either on the plateau or hill ranges of Peninsular India. It can also be found in the coastal tracks of the country. In that line, Odisha happens to be the largest producer of Bauxite. Kalahandi and Sambalpur are the leading producers. The other two areas which have been increasing their production are Bolangir and Koraput. This Koraput is the area which the article also discusses upon. The Patlands of Lohardaya in Jharkhand also have rich bauxite deposits. Here, Patlands are nothing but a complex of small, flat-topped plateaus and hills separated from each other by false craps and river valleys. Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Magarastra are the other major producers. Bhavnagar and Jhamnagar in Gujarat have the major deposits. Chattisgarh also have bauxite deposits in the U.S. Plateau. Kolaba, Tane, Ratnagiri, Satara, Pune and Kolapur in Magarastra also have bauxite reserves in them. Here, note that Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa are minor producers of the ore bauxite. Now, coming to the applications of bauxite. Firstly, as I said already, bauxite is the best and only source of aluminum production. Calcinated bauxite is used as anti-skid particle in road. In the steel industry, it is used to control de-sulfurring power. The other common uses of bauxite include usage of it in rubber, plastic, steel and paint industry as a filler. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we saw about bauxite ore, its distribution in India and also about some of its applications. With these learned points, now let's move on to the next news article. Yesterday, the 108th Indian Science Congress was held at Nagpur, Magarastra. Our Prime Minister, while addressing the conference, mentioned that the scientific community in India has to work towards self-reliance. He also mentioned that science and technology must empower women and women must empower science by increasing their contribution to science. This is about the news article. In this context, in our discussion, we will see about the present status of science and research and development in India and also the steps taken by the government in this regard. In the Global Innovation Index 2022, released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, India ranked 40th position out of the 132. This is a recent to celebrate because in the Global Innovation Index 2015, India's rank was 81. India's growth in Global Innovation Index ranking was due to India's ICT industry, good startup ecosystem, growing human resources and increase in labour productivity. The one area India has failed to grow is its funding for research and development. See, India's public expenditure towards research and development is around 0.6 to 0.8 percentage of its GDP. This is very low when compared to developed countries. The more worrying fact is that India's public expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP is lowest among the BRICS countries. BRICS refers to countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. See, this low funding has affected the quality of research conducted in India. So the number of quality papers published by Indians and the number of patents filed by Indians has been very low. The private sector investment in research and development is also very low. Due to this scenario, the Government of India has made plans to set up National Research Foundation. The National Research Foundation was envisaged in the National Education Policy 2020. See, this National Research Foundation will look after the funding, mentoring and building quality of research in India. It aims to fund researchers working across streams in India. Other than this, it also aims to ensure a link between research and development, academia and industry. Now, let's see few other measures taken by the Government of India to boost science and technology. First is the Vigyan Jyoti scheme. The human participation in the STEM jobs is only 14 percentage in India. Here, STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. So, to give a boost to human participation in the STEM jobs, Vigyan Jyoti scheme was launched. See, it was launched by the Department of Science and Technology. Through this scheme, the Government plans to help meritorious high school girls to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics in their higher education. This is all about the first scheme. Now, coming to the next scheme, the scheme is known as Atal Tinkering Labs. See, it is a part of Nithya Yog's Atal Innovation mission. This scheme plans to impart critical thinking among school children. So, it will pay for scientific temper in the children when they grow bigger. Now, coming to the third scheme. The third scheme is Science Society, said to, for Atmanirbar Bharat. Through this scheme, the Government plans to create a science and technology revolution in the grassroots. Here, common problems of the society are identified and scientific solutions for such problems are developed. The final scheme which we are going to see is Pravasi Bharatiya Academic and Scientific Sampark. See, this is a virtual platform where Indian diaspora involved in science and technology world over are brought together. They are brought together to develop scientific solutions for India specific problems and challenges. These are the measures taken by the Government of India to boost science and technology. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we saw about the India spending in research and development and also about various schemes brought by Government of India to boost science and technology in India. With these learned points, now let's move on to the next news article. Now, take a look at this news article. It talks about the rise in windfall profit tax levied on the domestically produced crude oil as well as on the export of diesel and aviation turbine fuel. See, this is done because the international oil prices are rising. In this context, let's use this opportunity to learn about windfall profit tax. See, the windfall taxes are designed to tax the profits a company derives from an external unprecedented event. For example, the energy price in the market rose as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. So, the crude oil companies made a huge profit out of this. Now, this profit cannot be attributed to something the firm actively did, like an investment strategy or an expansion of business. And so, this profit should be taxed and this is called as windfall tax. Now, coming to the reason for such a taxation. Firstly, by taxing domestic crude oil producers, we can redistribute the profits, otherwise which would have accumulated with the company. See, the unexpected gains due to high prices benefit producers, but it benefits them at the cost of the consumers who pay the bills. So, by taxing such profits, the government can fund social welfare schemes thereby redistributing the wealth. See, there are also some concerns regarding windfall taxation. Now, we will see them one by one. First concern is that windfall taxation discourages the business activities. It is because investors are not sure when the conditions would become uncertain. As I already said, windfall taxation is levied suddenly and businesses don't like sudden taxation. Businesses usually prefer countries with a certainty in their tax regime. Also, companies see such unexpected profits as a reward to their risk-taking and so, in this sense, this tax seems harmful to the businesses. Some also argue that profit should be reinvested by the companies to promote innovation, which in turn will benefit society as a whole. So, such taxes curtail the initiatives of the industries. The second downside of windfall taxation is that, if continued, it will reduce future investments of the companies. Another major issue with this tax is that it is not well defined. What exactly constitutes true windfall profits and how it can be determined or what level of profit is normal or excessive are not very well defined in this windfall taxation. These are all some of the downsides of windfall taxation. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we saw about the term windfall taxation, its positives and also some of its negatives. With these learned points, now let's move on to the next part of our discussion. Today, I have taken six different questions for our discussion. Four will be discussed by me and two will be provided as quick questions for you. Now, coming to the first question. It is a two-statement question. Let me read out the question first. Consider the following statements about sixth schedule. The sixth schedule has the provision for the creation of district fund in which all money received by the district council is credited to. See, the statement is correct. The sixth schedule of our Indian constitution has the provision for the creation of a district fund. All the money received by the district council is credited into this fund only. See, schedule six also has another provision for the creation of regional fund. In this regional fund, all the money received by the regional council is credited. So, statement one is right. Now, coming to the second statement. According to the sixth schedule, the district council may make rules for the management of district fund. See, the statement is incorrect. According to the sixth schedule, the governor only has the power to make rules for the management of the district fund. So, statement two is wrong. The question asks for the correct statement. So, the correct answer for this question is option A, one only. Moving on to the second question. This is a three-statement question regarding Global Innovation Index. Coming to the first statement. Global Innovation Index report is published by World Intellectual Property Organization. As we saw in our discussion, the statement is correct. Now, coming to the second statement. The first rank in the 2022 report is held by USA. See, this statement is incorrect. USA does not hold the first rank. Switzerland has topped the Global Innovation Index 2022 rankings. See, it has been topping this list for the past 12 years in a row. So, statement two is incorrect. Now, coming to the third statement. India's rank in Global Innovation Index has improved continuously for the past seven years. From the bar graph provided here, we can see that there is a continuous improvement in the rank of India in the Global Innovation Index. So, statement three is correct. The question asks for the correct statement. So, the correct answer for this question is option C, one and three only. Moving on to the third question. See, this question is related to United Nations Security Council's non-permanent members. Coming to the first statement. UNSC consists of five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. See, this statement is correct. UNSC has five permanent members and ten non-permanent members. These ten non-permanent members are elected for a period of two years. India is currently a non-permanent member of UNSC. So, statement one is correct. Now, coming to the second statement. The non-permanent members are elected by the UN General Assembly for a term of five years. As I said earlier, the term of the non-permanent members is only two years. So, the statement is wrong. Now, coming to the third statement. The members are selected from all regions of the world. See, this statement is correct. See, the UNSC non-permanent members are selected from all regions of the world. Three members are elected from African group, while two members are from Asia-Pacific group, two members are elected from Latin America and Caribbean group, while two members are elected from Western Europe. And the last seat goes to the Eastern Europe group. The question asks for the correct statement. So, the correct answer for this question is one and three only. Now, coming to the fourth question. Let me read out the question for you all. The peninsular India is made up of a series of Patland Plateaus which includes Hazaribag Plateau, Palamu Plateau, Malwa Plateau, Coimbatore Plateau, Karnataka Plateau. The question asks us to choose the plateaus which are part of the peninsular plateau. All the five plateaus which are given in the question are correct. So, the correct answer for this question is option C 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. I have provided here the map of the plateaus which are present in India. Pause the video and go through it. Here note one important fact. Sri Lanka Plateau, even though located in the northeastern part of India, comes under the category of peninsular plateau. See, it is separated from the peninsular region by a fault which is known by the name Malda Fault. Make a note of this point. Sri Lanka Plateau comes under the larger peninsular plateau group. Displayed here are the two quiz questions for you all. Interested aspirants can post the right answer in the comment section. Displayed here are the main practice questions for you. Interested aspirants can write the answer and post it in the comment section. With this, we have come to the end of our discussion. 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