 Good evening aspirants, welcome to daily news analysis by Shankarayesh academy. Today's date is 9th September 2023. Displayed here are the list of topics we are going to see today. Now before we get into the discussion, I have an important announcement. Shankarayesh academy's pre-storming test series is about to begin on 11th September. The first test will happen on 18th September. Other details regarding this test series are given here, you can go through it. Now let us get into the discussion. Look at this article. Yesterday, Assam forest rangers recovered several wildlife body parts along with a rhino horn. This rhino horn could have been extracted from rhinos killed in Manas National Park over past few months. This incident highlights ongoing issues related to poaching of rhinos and illegal trade of their body parts. So in our discussion today, we will see some important points about one horn rhino. There were five different species of rhino. Sumatran rhino, Javan rhino, black rhino, white rhino and greater one horn rhino. Among these five species, two species are found in Africa and three species are found in Asia. Greater one horn rhino, Javan rhino and Sumatran rhino are present in Asia while black and white rhino are in Africa. And in India, there is only one species of rhino. It is greater one horn rhino. It is also known as Indian rhino and it is the largest species of rhino. This one horn rhino is found in northern India and southern Nepal. They live in grasslands along the river and in adjacent woodlands. In India, rhinos are found in Assam, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Look at this map, these are the important national parks where rhinos live. Kasi Ranga National Park, Bobidora Wildlife Sanctuary, Orang National Park, Manas National Park. These are important national parks of rhinos in Assam. Jaldapara National Park, Garumara National Park in West Bengal and Dudua National Park in Uttar Pradesh also have rhino population. Know that greater one horn rhinos are herbivorous. That is, they feed on plants and grass. Sometimes they immerse under water and eat aquatic plants also. The greater one horn rhinos usually live alone and not seen in groups. Now let us see their conservation status. The IUCN status of Indian one horn rhino is vulnerable. It is protected under Scheduled 1 of Wildlife Protection Act 1972. If you see the Javan and Sumatra rhinos, they are critically endangered and the status of African black rhino is also critically endangered. The African white rhino is near threatened. So these are the conservation status. Now let us see the threats faced by them. The fragmentation, habitat loss, poaching for their horn, illegal hunting and trading, floods, human-animal conflict are some of the important threats that endangered the population of rhinos. Now let us see the conservation efforts to protect rhinos. Indian rhino vision was launched in 2005 to increase the population of rhinos. And Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change created national rhino conservation strategy in 2019 to protect Indian rhinos. The five nations in Asia have rhino population. They were India, Bhutan, Nepal, Indonesia and Malaysia. And these five countries are together called as rhino range nations. In 2019, these countries signed a declaration called New Delhi declaration on Asian rhinos. This is for the conservation and protection of rhino species. So after the high protection measures taken by Indian wildlife authorities, the 100 rhino was brought back from extinction. Now there are around 2000 rhinos in the wild. Out of them, 1200 rhinos are living in Kasi Ranga National Park in Assam and around 600 rhinos are living in Chitwan National Park in Nepal. So these are two important national parks which have high population of rhinos. So this is all about this discussion. Now let us move to the next part of our discussion. Now look at this news article. It is about African Union. The chairman of African Union is confident that African Union will become a full member of G20. So this is about the news article. Today, as expected, AU is part of G20. AU is awarded full membership in the G20. In this context, let us see some points about G20 and African Union relationship and also about India-Africa cooperation. First, let us take a look at G20 and African Union relationship. See, Africa is gifted with a lot of natural resources. Despite this, the continent is still underdeveloped. One of the main reasons for this underdevelopment is a lack of industrialization. To industrialize rapidly, Africa needs capital and technology. This is where G20 nations come in. The G20 can invest in Africa and equip them with necessary technology. So this will help boost Africa and G20 nations. For Africa, the investment will bring in rapid industrialization to address poverty, bring employment and development. G20 nations also have some advantage in investing in Africa. Firstly, the investments will help address the migrant crisis in Europe. See, the main reason that people are moving to Europe from Africa is due to the lack of avenues for development in Africa. With the industrialization and development of Africa, the African people will not find a reason to move to Europe. Secondly, Africa has a lot of cheap labor. So G20 nations can use this to establish alternative supply chains rather than using China for cheap labor. Lastly, the population in Africa is increasing rapidly. With increasing population and rising standard of living, Africa will soon become a large market. By investing in Africa, G20 nations can exploit this market. So this is about the G20 and African Union relationship. Now let us see some points about India-Africa cooperation. India is striving to position itself as a leader with Global South. Many African nations are part of Global South. By actively assisting Africa in addressing its challenges, India can rightfully establish its prominent leader status with Global South. Further, India may leverage the support of African nations to bluster its position and influence with United Nations Security Council. So India must take steps to enhance its cooperation with Africa. India can enhance cooperation with Africa by helping address African challenges. Presently, Africa is gripping with food shortage due to Russia-Ukraine conflict. In addition to this, India's rice export ban has also added to the challenges in Africa. India should make specific concerns and offer rice to Africa in order to mitigate the food crisis in Africa. So this will enhance the cooperation between India and African nations. In addition to this, India can also help Africa by sharing localized innovations like UPI and it can also help Africa build strong political institutions. So this will help in India-Africa cooperation. So this is all about this discussion. Let us move to the next topic. Look at this editorial article. This article was written in the backdrop of recently concluded Asian-India Summit. This article mentions some of the outcomes of the recent summit. So in our discussion today, we will first understand the outcomes of Asian-India Summit and we will also see some of the points about India-Asian relations. Now let us start with the outcomes of recently concluded Asian-India Summit. On 7th September, 20th Asian-India Summit was conducted at Jagartha, which is the capital of Indonesia. It was attended by our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. During the summit, our Prime Minister registered some points. He said that Asian is a central pillar of India's Act East policy. As we all know, the Act East policy was launched in 2014. The main objective of India's Act East policy is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and to develop strategic relationships with countries of Indo-Pacific region. India is trying to achieve this objective through continuous engagement with Indo-Pacific countries at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. As we all know, most of the Asian nations are located in Indo-Pacific region. Also they are having the potential to support India's goal in Indo-Pacific region. So because of this only, our PM mentioned that Asian is a central pillar of India's Act East policy. The PM also mentioned that India will continuously support the Asian group in Indo-Pacific region. Apart from this, our PM also presented a 12 point proposal. The proposal covers a wide range of areas like connectivity, digital transformation, trade and economic engagement, people-to-people connection and deepening strategic engagement. The PM noted that proposal will further strengthen India-Asian cooperation. In addition to this, our PM also emphasized that Asian-India free trade agreement should be revived in time bound manner. Know that Asian-India free trade agreement was signed in 2014 and soon it is going to reach a 10 years period. So this is all about the India statement at recently concluded Asian-India summit. In addition to this, the leaders have also issued a joint statement on strengthening food security and nutrition in response to crisis. See currently the global economy is facing a slowdown. This is because of various reasons like climate change, persistent inflation, financial vulnerabilities and geopolitical tensions like Russia-Ukraine war. As a result, many countries are now facing food insecurity. So in response to this only, the leaders of Asian and India have issued a joint statement on strengthening food security. This statement highlights the shared vulnerability of ongoing global food insecurity. The statement also advocates Asian countries to strengthen food security in the Indo-Pacific region. So this is all about the outcomes of 20th Asian-India summit. Now let us see some points about India-Asian relations. As we all know, India was a kind of closed economy until 1990 and in 1991 the India liberalized its economy. So this led to the establishment of trade ties with other world countries. In 1991, India announced Lukist policy to maintain better ties with Southeast Asian nations. In addition to this, the Asian member states were also keen to establish ties with India. As a result, India became a sectoral partner of Asian in 1992. Then in 1996, the ties had evolved into a level of dialogue partner. Then in 2002, the ties had further evolved into summit level partner. And finally in 2012, India-Asian partnership was upgraded to strategic partnership. The upgrade was announced during the celebration of 20th anniversary of India-Asian ties at New Delhi. Note that in 2014, the Lukist policy of India was replaced with Act East policy. This change in policy has provided a new momentum to India-Asian relationship. See, currently the Act East policy is the main factor behind India-Asian relations. As we saw earlier, the Act East policy aims to promote economic cooperation and cultural ties with the countries in Indo-Pacific region. And recently our PM also reiterated this, Asian is a central pillar of India's Act East policy. Note that in 2022, the ties between India and Asian countries have elevated from strategic partnership into comprehensive strategic partnership. So as of now, Asian is India's comprehensive strategic partner. So this is all about the political ties between India and Asian. Now let us see about the different ties. India-Asian occasionally conduct joint naval and military exercises. The exercise aims to promote cooperation and coordination between the armed forces of India and Asian countries. For example, recently on 8th May 2023, the Asian-India maritime exercise was successfully conducted in South China Sea. This exercise would help navies of India and Asian countries to work together closely and to conduct operations in maritime domain. Apart from military exercises, both India and Asian are also engaged in activities like countering terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crimes. So this is all about defense ties. Now coming to the economic ties. In 2022-2023, India and Asian had a bilateral trade of US$131.5 billion. So it accounted for nearly 11% of India's global trade. As we saw earlier, India and Asian signed a free trade agreement in 2014. So this helped the countries to maintain a better economic relations. Now finally, let us see some points about connectivity between the two regions. India is aiming to establish sustainable connectivity with Asian nations through multimodal transport like roadways, waterways and so on. As India is having a closer land and maritime border with Myanmar and Thailand, India tries to reach out to other Asian countries through Myanmar and Thailand. As we know Myanmar is bordered with India's northeastern states. So India aims to reach out to Myanmar through northeastern states. India is also working on two major connectivity projects to reach out to Asian nations. The first one is construction of trilateral highway. This highway is under construction and it connects northeast India with Myanmar and Thailand. In future, the highway will help India to reach some of the Asian nations through road. The second project is Kaladan multimodal transit and transport project. It is a project between India and Myanmar. The project aims to connect Kolkata Port of India with Myanmar's Sitve Port. So this project is also carried out under India's Act East policy. So these are the important relations between India and Asian nations. And with this, we conclude this discussion. Let us move to the next part of our discussion. Now look at this article. Last month, RBI has announced that schedule banks should maintain an incremental cash reserve ratio, ICRR, of 10%. But now RBI has decided to discontinue this ICRR in a phased manner. So in this context, let us understand what is incremental cash reserve ratio, why it is implemented, and how it is different from cash reserve ratio. As we all know, Reserve Bank of India uses monetary policy to manage the liquidity or money supply in the economy. This is to control the inflation and at the same time helping the economic growth. The tools used by RBI to manage the monetary policy were repo and reverse report rate, cash reserve ratio, statutory liquidity ratio, bank rate, and open market operations. Both the CRR and SLR are reserve requirements set by RBI. This is to regulate the banking system in India. CRR is a percentage of total deposits that bank must hold as cash within the central bank. SLR is a percentage of total deposits that bank must hold as liquid assets like government securities. In simple terms, CRR is a reserve maintained by banks with RBI and SLR is a obligatory reserve that banks must maintain with themselves. Both CRR and SLR is based on a percentage of net demand and time liabilities of commercial banks. This is cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio. But what is this new term called incremental cash reserve ratio? This ICRR is an additional cash balance which RBI can ask banks to maintain above the cash reserve ratio. So it is also a minimum amount that banks have to keep with the central bank for specific period apart from CRR and SLR. This ICRR was announced due to withdrawal of 2000 rupees bank notes. So many people have returned 2000 rupees notes to the banks which lead to increased liquidity. So the RBI has made this special arrangement called ICRR to suck the excess money from the banks. So due to the implementation of this ICRR the banks are now obligated to deposit excess money to the central bank. Consequently the liquidity will remain stable and it will not cause further inflation. Now the time to return 2000 rupees notes have come to end. RBI has decided to discontinue the ICRR in a phased manner. So this is all about this discussion. Now let us move to the next topic. Take a look at this news article. Chinese coast guards have interfered and harassed Pilipines boats in disputed South China Sea. Pilipines said that this action by China is illegal and it condemned China's aggressive behavior in the region. So this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us discuss about disputes in South China Sea. We will focus mainly on the dispute between China and Pilipines. Look at the map here. You can see the location of South China Sea. Major countries located around South China Sea are Vietnam, China, Pilipines, Brunei and Malaysia. Here note that Indonesia also lies near the outer borders of South China Sea. So this is all about the location of South China Sea and the countries present near to it. This South China Sea is connected by Taiwan Strait with East China Sea and by Luzon Strait with Pilipine Sea. This sea has strategic importance because it connects Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean through Strait of Malacca. Nearly one third of global shipping passes through this sea. Apart from this, large reserves of oil and natural gas have been discovered under the floor of South China Sea. Due to these reasons, the region remains a significant geopolitical water body. As you can see from the image, pink colored area of South China Sea which is highlighted here is claimed by China for historical reasons. But if you pay close attention, you can see all the area claimed by China nearly includes all the territorial waters of Vietnam and Pilipines. So this is where the problem arises. The reason for the dispute is many countries around the South China Sea claim the islands in South China Sea as their own territory. For example, the partly islands are claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Pilipines. Then this Carbora Shole is also claimed by Pilipines, China and Taiwan. Here note that China calls the border of South China Sea as Nayan Dash Line. The red colored line which is displayed here is the Nayan Dash Line according to China. China claims that the area within this Nayan Dash Line are part of its own territory. The Pilipines have previously approached the Permanent Court of Orbitration challenging the illegal claims of China. The Pilipines said that China violates the provisions of United Nations Convention on Law of Seas. Permanent Court of Orbitration ruled that China's claims of historical rights on South China Sea has no legal basis. It also said that China has no historic rights to the resources present in the waters of South China Sea. But China dismissed this judgment altogether. Also the Pilipines did not proceed for further case and accommodated itself to the status quo. Even though China didn't obey the Permanent Court of Orbitration's order, majority of countries which are located in the South China Sea didn't raise any voice against China in recent times. China tried to solve the boundary disputes bilaterally between the countries and working on a code of contact with the countries of ASEAN with whom it had disputes. But now the tensions in South China Sea are rising due to recent conflicts with Chinese Coast Guard ships and Pilipine ships. So this is all about this discussion. Now let us move to the next topic. Look at this editorial article. As we all know, government introduced three bills in Parliament. Namely, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanjitha Bill, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanjitha, Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023. These bills will replace the existing Indian Penal Code 1860 and Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 and Indian Evidence Act 1872. The editorial here highlights some of the positive aspects of three bills and it also highlights some issues associated with these bills. In our discussion, we will see all the points mentioned in the editorial in detail. Before that, the syllabus regarding this discussion is given here. You can go through it. Before looking at the points mentioned in the editorial, first you must know the difference between IPC and CRPC. That is, Indian Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure. First, let us take IPC. IPC primarily defines various criminal offenses and prescribes punishment for those offenses. In simple words, IPC specifies what acts are considered crimes and penalties associated with them. Now coming to CRPC. CRPC is a procedural law. It provides the rules and procedures to be followed during investigation, prosecution and trial of criminal cases. The CRPC has provisions related to arrest of suspects, investigation of crimes, filing of charge sheets and conducting trials, etc. So this is the main difference between IPC and CRPC. The government is planning to replace IPC with Bharatya Nyaya Sanjita and CRPC with Bharatya Nagrik Suraksha Sanjita. BNSS. In our discussion today, we will mainly focus on the changes brought by BNSS. We will also look at the possible impact of these changes. First one is mandatory registration of cognizable offenses. The BNSS has explicit provision stating that cognizable offense must be registered in any police station irrespective of where the crime is committed. The CRPC did not have such explicit provision Until now, the police, like an unwritten rule, have been recording the FIR. The BNSS made it official by explicitly mentioning the filing of FIR which is a good thing. The second one is conducting a preliminary inquiry. The BNSS has introduced a provision for conducting a preliminary inquiry within 14 days to confirm the presence of a case, even in the situations involving cognizable offenses. Imagine a situation where a person reports murder to police. Murder is considered a cognizable offense in India. Under the new provision introduced by BNSS, even in case of cognizable offenses like murder, police must conduct a preliminary inquiry. This means police might take initial steps to ensure there is reasonable basis to believe a murder has occurred before formally registering an FIR. This provision has both advantage as well as disadvantage. First let us explore the benefits of this provision. Think about this situation. Within 14 day period allocated for conducting the preliminary inquiry, the involved parties may reach a compromise. Now consider another situation. During the preliminary inquiry, the police will say that there is insufficient prima facie evidence in the case. In both these scenarios, workload for police will be reduced. So this is the major advantage of this provision. Now let us look at the disadvantage. Firstly, the police might use this provision and avoid registering varied cases. Secondly, the provision does not align with Supreme Court judgment in Lalit Kumari v. Government of Uttar Pradesh case. In 2013, Supreme Court mentioned that in case of cognizable offense, the police must register the FIR. So these are some of the advantages and disadvantages of provision for conducting preliminary inquiry. The third one is about a specific provision for elderly accused individuals who are aged over 60 years or accused who are of infirm mind. The BNSS has a provision stating this when a person aged over 60 years or a person with infirm mind is accused of an offense punishable with less than 3 years of imprisonment, the police before arresting must seek the permission of Deputy Superintendent of Police. This provision will give relief to the two categories of person which is a positive step. The next one is regarding handcuffing. The BNSS allows for handcuffing of persons who are accused of serious offenses like terrorist act, murder, rape or acid attack. It also has provision stating that arrested individuals should not be subjected to greater restraint than what is essential to prevent their escape. That is the police officer must only use handcuff when there is a possibility of escape. So this is in line with the Supreme Court guidelines which is also a positive aspect. Next one is regarding forensics. The new code mandates the presence of forensic expert at the crime scene and the collection of evidence. This is mandatory for offenses with sentences exceeding 7 years. However, recognizing practical constraints of limited forensic resources at the state level, the state governments have been granted up to 5 years to implement this provision. So this is also a positive move. The next one is regarding audio visual media to record investigations. The BNSS promotes the utilization of audio video methods to record different stages of investigations including search procedures. This also aligns with Supreme Court's directions in case of Shafi Muhammad versus state of Himachal Pradesh case. The next one is regarding two-finger test. The two-finger test is an invasive medical procedure used to assess women's virginity. The Supreme Court in 2013 mentioned that two-finger test is a violative of women's dignity and banned its use. But the ban does not have place in BNSS. So this is a major issue. The next one is regarding identity of rape survivors. See the CRPC has a provision that if a rape victim is minor, then the next of kin, that is brother or sister of the rape victim, can authorize the disclosure of identity of rape victim. The Supreme Court in Nipun Saxena versus Union of India case mentioned that this provision is not appropriate. But still the BNSS has not removed this provision. So this is also an issue. The next issue is regarding police custody. The CRPC places a limit of 15 days on police custody. The BNSS removes this limitation. According to BNSS, if the police discover additional evidence during their investigation, this 15-day limit can be extended. The decision regarding the extension of police custody must be taken up by the judiciary. This provision is controversial considering the fact that in the period of 2012 to 2022, 175 custodial deaths have been recorded. So this provision must be used by the police judiciously. The last one is regarding videography and photography of post-modem. The cases involved in custodial death or death due to exchange of fire with police, the Supreme Court and National Human Rights Commission of India suggested recording the post-modem process in video. This suggestion was ignored in BNSS. If it has been included, it would have helped with the investigation process and reduced the incidence of custodial deaths. So these are the major changes brought by BNSS and its associated impacts. The author of the editorial has an opinion that while some changes are progressive, there are areas where opportunities for change have been missed out. The author also mentioned that in addition to this, government must also take steps to address other challenges faced by police personnel like understaffing, poor infrastructure and stressful working conditions. So this is all about the important points mentioned in the editorial. This is all regarding this discussion. Now let us move to the next topic. Now we have come to the Prime's practice question discussion. Look at the first question. Arrange the island nations of Africa from west to east. See, totally there were six island nations in Africa. Republic of Cape Verde and Democratic Republic of South Otam and Principe are island nations in Atlantic Ocean. Comoros, Madagascar, Shea Cells and Mauritius are island nations in Indian Ocean. If we arrange them in west to east direction, we have Republic of Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of South Otam, Comoros, Madagascar, Shea Cells and Mauritius. So the question asks us to arrange the African nations from west to east. So the correct answer is option D. Now look at the second question. It is about one-horned rhinoceros. Which national park in India is known for having largest population of greater one-horned rhinoceros and it is also UNESCO World Heritage Site. So the correct answer is option A. Kasi Ranga National Park in Assam has the highest population of greater one-horned rhinoceros. And it is also UNESCO World Heritage Site and important conservation area for various wildlife species. Now look at the third question. It is about United Nations Convention on Law of Seas. Which of the following statements is true regarding United Nations Convention on Law of Seas? Look at the first statement. It grants coastal states with full sovereignty over international waters within their exclusive economic zones. So this statement is incorrect because it does not grant full sovereignty. Look at the third statement. It does not address the issue of maritime boundaries between neighboring countries. This is also incorrect because one of the main functions of United Nations Convention on Law of Seas is to address the issue of maritime boundaries between various countries. Look at the fourth statement. It primarily focus on regulation of air travel over international waters. This statement is also incorrect because it does not have any function related to air travel regulations. Now look at the second statement. It establishes a 12 nautical mile territorial sea for coastal states. So this is the correct statement. So the answer is option B. Now this is the main question for you today. Interested aspirants can write the answer and post it in the comment section. With this we have come to the end of the discussion. If you like the video, please share it with your friends. And don't forget to subscribe to Shankarai's YouTube channel. Thank you.