 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Ayes Academy. These are the news articles chosen for today's discussion. They are given along with the page number of different traditions. Link for the handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping for the discussed articles are given in the description box as well as the comment section for the benefit of the mobile viewers. Now let us start with the first article. Now look at this editorial. This editorial is very important from economic perspective. This editorial is about the state of our economy in terms of inflation. So it is a highly valuable topic from problems as well as mains perspective. We are going to discuss a lot of economic concepts. So be patient. It is worth it. See as I already said before reading editorial, we should note the context of the editorial. Why this editorial has been written. Now let us discuss the context of this editorial. See recently monetary policy committee MPC held a meeting in that meeting MPC decided to keep the policy report rate unchanged. The report rate is currently at 4% and in this meeting MPC decided to unchange it. So this is why this editorial has been written. See inflation is an important concept. Policy rate is another important concept and this editorial deals with both these concepts. This is why this editorial is really important. Now let us discuss the important points mentioned in the editorial. See before discussing this editorial first let us know the basics of some economic terms. What is inflation? See inflation is the rise in general level of prices of goods and services. This is the basic definition of inflation. Rise in prices of goods and services. So it erodes the purchasing power of money. Let me explain this with an example. You have 100 rupees which is 100 rupees you can buy 5 kgs of onion but due to inflation with the same 100 rupees you can only buy 4 kgs of onion. This is inflation. Rise in prices of goods and services. See this is why inflation is very dangerous. It affects the poor section of society because for the same money they will be able to buy only less goods. So controlling the inflation is an important aspect of our economy. Otherwise the purchasing power of our money will be greatly eroded. See in the context of India consumer price index, CPI is the macroeconomic indicator of inflation. To put it in simple words our government and RBA uses consumer price index to measure inflation. Also our central government uses consumer price index to target inflation. This is another important point. Let me explain this with an example. See take the period from April 2021 to March 2026. For this period our central government has notified 4% CPI as inflation target. To put it in simple words our government is trying to achieve 4% CPI inflation within this period. It is our goal and consumer price index is used for inflation targeting. See this 4% CPI inflation target is not rigid. We have a tolerance range. The tolerance range is plus or minus 2%. So in this case the inflation can be from 2% to 6%. Our goal is 4% and the tolerance range is plus or minus 2%. So the range is 2% to 6%. See inflation target usually has tolerance range. This is because economy is complicated. We can't predict economics because various factors place into the functioning of economy. So this is why we have tolerance range. So as long as the inflation travels within this range our economy is safe. Inflation is under control. This is the point. Now let us come to the problem. See we all know that coronavirus pandemic hit our country. So in order to control the spread of the virus we took lot of measures. We imposed lot of national as well as regional lockdowns. We imposed these lockdowns to control the spread of the virus. It produced result also. But the problem is these lockdowns affected the manufacturing and service sector of our country. The manufacturing and service activity in our country came to a standstill. Many industries were closed. Many businesses were closed due to the lockdown. So it obviously affected the sectors. Because of this disruption the supply chain got affected. Let me explain this with an example. Imagine a biscuit manufacturing company. In 2020 there was a lockdown and this business manufacturing company was closed. So supply of these biscuits got affected. So whenever there is a reduction in supply the price of the goods increases. Coming to the biscuit example. As I already said due to the lockdown the supply of the biscuits got affected. Before lockdown this company was producing under biscuit packets and all those under biscuit packets got out. But after lockdown due to restriction the company is producing only 20 biscuits packet. So we can see the reduction in supply. But the demand is still the same. Still people are requiring under biscuit packets. But we have only 20 biscuit packets. So there will be a rise in the price of biscuit packets. Many people are demanding the same product which is reduced in supply. This causes rise in inflation. This causes rise in price level which causes inflation. So because of the lockdowns we experienced huge spikes in food inflation. Because of the lockdown the supply chain of food products got severely affected. Because of the reduction in supply the price level increased. It caused huge spikes in inflation and there were many times we breached the tolerance range. As I already said the tolerance range is between 2% to 6%. So during the lockdown we breached this 6% many times. Our inflation target was breached. The tolerance range was breached. CPA inflation crossed the 6% range during the lockdown many times. This is the problem. Inflation is not under the control. Remember it is the duty of the RBA to keep the inflation in check. The most important one is reporate. Through the increase or decrease of reporate RBA keeps the inflation in check. Through the manipulation of reporate RBA maintains the price stability as well as it also plays an important role in countries growth. Through the manipulation of reporate RBA not only maintains price stability but also induces countries growth. This is the important point. Let me explain this concept. In order to understand this concept first we should know what is reporate. Let me give you the official definition of reporate. Reporate is the interest rate at which RBA provides overnight liquidity to banks against the collateral of government securities and other approved securities. Let me put it in simple words. Reporate is the rate at which RBA give loans to banks. It is the interest rate at which RBA provides loans to banks in India. Through the increase or decrease of reporate RBA controls the money supply in our economy. Let me explain this with an example. Imagine yourself you are going to a money lender to get under rupees. The interest of money lending is 4%. Imagine if the lender cut the interest rate to 2%. He reduces their lending rate from 4% to 2%. You will obviously borrow more money since the interest rate is reduced. Imagine the other scenario increase of interest rate from the 4% the lender is increasing the interest rate to 6%. You will borrow less money so the borrowing of money is determined by the interest rate. Apply the same scenario to the RBA. When RBO decreases the reporate banks will borrow more money from RBA because they have to pay less money for borrowing. They have to pay less interest for borrowing. So in banks of more money there will be more money supply in our economy. It will lend more to the people. It will provide more loans to the people. People will have more money. Industries will have more money. People will demand more products because they will have more money and it will play a huge role in economic recovery. See if people have more money they will buy more products. If people buy more products manufacturing sector has to produce more products. So it will lead to economic recovery. There will be more production and purchase of goods. Our economy will grow. So through reduction in reporate we can actually induce economic growth. We can increase the money supply in the economy. Similarly with increase in reporate we can decrease the money supply in our economy. I hope aspirants can follow me. When we decrease the reporate we are increasing the money supply. When we are increasing the reporate we are decreasing the money supply. So if the reporate is increased bank will borrow less money from RBI. If there is less money from RBI there will be less loans given. If there is less loans given people will have less money. So they will buy less products. If there is less demand for products then the price of the products will come down. If the price of the products come down there will be reduction in inflation. I hope you can follow my train of thoughts. This is how by using reporate RBI induces growth as well as controls inflation. I hope this concept is clear. Now coming back to the editorial. See as I already said RBI has decided not to change the reporate. It is currently at 4%. But inflation has breached 6% many times. So author feels that the RBI has to take some drastic steps to control inflation. But according to the RBI it has kept the reporate unchanged because it wants to induce economic recovery. It wants to create demand in the economy. Thereby it wants to recover our economy. As I already said when the reporate is low there will be more supply in our economy. The demand will be more and more manufacturing will take place. So this is the aim of the RBI. But the problem is it will create inflation. If there is more demand the price of the goods will increase. If the price of the goods increases there will be inflation. But due to the pandemic our inflation has already crossed 6% many times. So the author feels RBI has to consider increasing the reporate. Instead of keeping it unchanged the author feels we have to increase the reporate. If the inflation is not controlled it will lead to the eroding of purchasing power. It will affect the poor section of our society. So the author feels RBI should take responsibility and should keep the inflation under check. Economic recovery is important but at the same time controlling inflation is also important. And the author of the editorial feels that RBI should balance this goal. It should balance economic recovery as well as controlling inflation. But right now the steps taken are more inclined towards economic recovery more than checking inflation. This is the gist of this editorial. See the concepts discussed in this editorial are very important. We have discussed about inflation. We have discussed about inflation targeting. We have discussed about consumer price index and we have discussed about the relationship between reporate and inflation. These topics are very important from prelims as well as main's perspective. In prelims from economics usually conceptual understanding of questions are asked. What happens when reporate is increased? What happened when inflation gets increased? These kind of questions are asked. So this editorial will provide you the opportunity to learn about the concepts of economics. This is why we are discussing this editorial. The relationship between inflation and reporate is the main topic discussed in this editorial. Make sure you have a clear understanding of this relationship. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Now look at this editorial article. This editorial article is regarding coal power plants. See recently in our union budget our government proposed to close old and aging coal power plants. This is because old coal power plants emit lot of pollutants. They emit lot of greenhouse gases. So in order to cut our emissions our government proposed to close old and aging coal power plants. This is the context of this article. See before reading the editorial we should know the context of the article why that editorial is being written. Then only we will have a proper understanding of the editorial. So I hope the context of this editorial is clear to our aspirants. So in this article the author of the editorial has analyzed the pros and cons, positives as well as negatives of closure of old and aging coal power plants. This is a very important topic especially from GS3 mains perspective. The syllabus relevant to this article is displayed on the screen. Interested aspirants can go through it. See imagine a situation. You are clearing this here problems and you are attending mains exams. In paper GS3 you are getting a question. Look at this question. Recently government has proposed to wind up the aging coal power plants. Although the move is aimed at greening the power supply sector, the move also entails potential disadvantages. Critically analyze. Here the keyword is critically analyze. Critically means you have to write the pros and cons of the asked topic in the question. So with this question in the mind let us discuss this editorial. The points discussed in this editorial will provide relevant information to this question. First let us start with pros. The positive of closure of aging coal power plants. The first positive. See as I already said old coal power plants are potential source of pollution. They emit lot of pollutants. They emit lot of greenhouse gases. See all the coal power plants are polluting, but the old coal power plants are more polluting than the new ones. This is the very important point. This is because old ones use outdated technology. They are inefficient. They are expensive. They are outdated and they take lot of time to produce energy. They are time consuming. So because of these reasons old coal power plants are more polluting than the new coal power plants. I hope aspirants can follow these points. So basically closing down of old power coal plants will bring down our carbon emissions. It will cut down our greenhouse gas emission. It will also help us to meet the INDC that we pledged in the Paris Agreement. This is another important point. What is INDC? See INDC stands for Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. We have already discussed about INDC in great detail in our April 26th daily news analysis. But anyways let me refresh it for you. See INDCs are a set of pledges made by the countries as a contribution to keep the temperature rise below 1.5 to 2 degrees. So it is a pledge taken by the country. Now look at this infographic. These are the INDCs pledged by India. Interested aspirants can go through this infographic. You can use these numbers as value addition in your main sense. Now let us discuss the three most important INDC pledges given by India. The first pledge to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 level. To put it in simple words, we are pledging that we will reduce emission by 33 to 35% by 2030 from 2005 level. This is the first important pledge. Now let us move on to the second important pledge. To achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030. Again to put it in simple words, we pledge that we will produce 40% of our power from non-fossil fuel based energy resource by 2030. So we have discussed two pledges. Now let us move on to the third pledge. To create an additional carbon sink off 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide through additional forest and tree cover by 2030. This is the third important pledge given by India in INDC. See why are we discussing these pledges? See closure of old coal power plants will help us to achieve these pledges, especially the first and second one. It will help us to reduce emission by 33 to 35% by 2030. It will also help us to produce 40% of energy from non-fossil fuel based energy resource. So closure of old aging power plants will help us to achieve our INDCs. It will cut down greenhouse gas emission, it will cut down pollutants and it will help us to achieve INDCs. This is the first important point. The next important point. See closure of old coal power plants will also reduce soil and water pollution. This is confirmed by a study. See our organization named CEEW conducted a study. CEEW stands for Council on Energy, Environment and Water. It is based in New Delhi. So this organization conducted a study. According to the study, closing down of old coal power plants will help us to reduce greenhouse gas emission. It will also help us to clean air pollution. It will also help us to reduce soil and water pollution. This is the conclusion made from the study. Reduction in air pollution, reduction in soil pollution, reduction in water pollution. This study was done by CEEW, Council on Energy, Environment and Water. You can use this point as value addition in your mains answer. So far we have discussed about reduction in air pollution, reduction in soil pollution and reduction in water pollution. Now let us move on to the next advantage. See some of us have a question. Why can't we upgrade these old coal power plants? Instead of closing them permanently, why can't we upgrade it? Why can't we install new technology? Why can't we install some new kind of pollution mitigation technology? This upgradation will help us to reduce emission rate. This question comes to our mind, but there is a problem. See the upgradation of old aging coal power plants is not cost efficient. In order to upgrade these plants, we have to install some new missionary, some new pollution mitigation technology. These things are very expensive. So it can push up the cost of power generation. This will again affect the people. So instead of spending money on these old coal power plants, we can spend the same money on new power plants. It is cost efficient. So the first point is reduction in air pollution, reduction in soil pollution, reduction in water pollution. The next important point is cost efficient. Closing of old aging power plants is cost efficient. So instead of spending money on these old plants, we can use that same money to install new coal power plants. The new ones will have latest technology. It will have state of art technology. It will reduce emission and it will also produce power at a low cost. So it is a win-win situation. By closing old coal power plants and installing new ones, we can reduce emission. We can produce cost at less power. We can also reduce emission of pollutants. We can reduce emission of greenhouse gases and we can also produce it in a less time. So this is the win-win situation. Now let us move on to the next advantage. See, in order to understand the next advantage, we have to understand the study. This study was conducted by Climate Risk Horizon. Let me repeat, Climate Risk Horizon. It is a non-profit organization. This organization conducted a study. According to that study, if India shuts down 54 old aging coal power plants in the next two years, it could save up to 53,000 crores. Let me repeat, it could save up to 53,000 crores for the state's electricity distribution companies. This is another important point. This is a huge saving. Just by closing down 54 old aging coal power plants in the next two years, we can save a lot of money. We can save up to 53,000 crores. See, already our discombs or distribution companies, discombs are also called as distribution companies, are running in losses. So by closing down these old coal power plants, we are giving relief to these distribution companies. We can invest the saved money again in the discombs. It could revive the financial conditions of the distribution companies. So, this is the another important point. Saving of money. By closing down old coal power plants, we can save a lot of money for state's electricity distribution companies. Now, let us move on to the next advantage. The next advantage is regarding renewable energy. See, according to the author of this editorial, closing down of old aging coal power plants will push in favor of renewable energy. Our government, instead of concentrating on traditional energy sources, it will concentrate on alternate energy sources like renewable energies. It will be less reliant on coal energy sources. It will be less reliant on thermal power. So, the closure of old aging coal power plants can give momentum to production of renewable energy. This is another major advantage highlighted in this editorial. It will accelerate India's growth in green energy. So, these are the potential advantages discussed in this editorial. Reduction in air pollution. Reduction in soil pollution. Reduction in water pollution. It is cost efficient. It will revive financial conditions of discombs or distribution companies. On the last major advantages, it will give push to renewable energy sources. So, if you have a main question relevant to this topic, right? All these advantages. These are the pros of closure of aging coal power plants. As I already said, the question demands critically analyze. Now, let us discuss about the cons or the negatives of closure of aging coal power plants. I hope aspirants can follow this discussion. Now, let us take the negatives. See, in India, we have a lot of coal power plants. We are heavily reliant on thermal power. Thermal power means production of energy from coal sources, okay? See, in India, almost 20% of the present coal power plants are old. So, almost one-fifth of power plants in India are old. They are 25 years or older in operation. So, closing of aging coal power plants means we will be closing 20% of our currently operating coal power plants. This is a major problem. See, India is a young country. It is a developing country. It needs lot of energy. It is a power-angry country and our energy needs are constantly growing. So, closing up of aging old power plants may not be the smart solution. This is because we have to close almost 20% of our power plants. To put it in simple words, we have to close 20% of operating coal power plants. This can cause huge scarcity of energy in our country. We can risk the availability of power. So, India might get power scarcity if we close these power plants. It can affect our development. It can increase the power shortages and it can cause lot of negative consequence to our economy. So, this is the first major negative. It can cause power scarcity. Now, let us move on to the next important point. See, in prose, we discussed that closure of aging coal power plants will be cost-efficient. But the problem is the savings which we achieve by closing of aging coal power plants and investing in new ones is very low. It is almost only 1% or 2%. So, the cost-benefit ratio doesn't really match. See, whenever we are bringing new move, we need lot of savings, right? Then only that move is worthy. Imagine investing lot of money and you are just getting 1% in return. Imagine a situation where you are depositing lot of money in the bank and you are just getting 1% as interest. No one will do that. The cost-benefit ratio is very low. So, this move also gives the same profit. It gives the same savings. So, instead of that, we can continue with the current aging coal power plants itself. So, this is the next major con. The savings from closure of aging coal power plants is low. It is only 1% or 2%. Though this move is cost-efficient, it does not have a good cost-benefit ratio. I hope this point is clear. Now, let us move on to the next major disadvantage. See, in Pro, we discussed a point. Closing of coal power plants can give momentum to renewable energy. This is an important advantage we discussed in Pro's. But the thing with renewable energy is it has the problem of intermittency. Renewable energy is not continuous. Intermittency means not continuous. Let me explain this with an example. Take solar energy. We can get solar energy only when the sun shines in the day. So, during the day, the power supply will be continuous. But in the night, the sun is not visible. So, there will be a dip in solar power generation. This is the problem of intermittency. Solar power energy is not continuous. During the day, we will have a continuous supply of energy. But during the night, we will have a dip in energy. Let me explain this again with another example. Take another renewable energy source, wind. Wind is an important renewable energy. But the thing is, winds are seasonal. During some months, we will have a lot of wind. The energy production will be superb. Whereas, during some months, there will be no wind and the energy production will dip. Even in the day, the winds are oscillating. So, it is not continuous. There will be intermittency in power supply. I hope this point is clear. So, renewable energy has the problem of intermittency. But traditional energy sources like coal do not have such problems. Coal power plants ensures continuous power supply. So, closing down of aging old coal power plants can be counterproductive. It can lead to intermittency in power supply. This is another major disadvantage highlighted in this editorial. So, these are the pros and cons discussed in the editorial. You can use these points in your mains answer, especially when the keyword is critically analyzed or critically examined. So, finally, the author concludes that he is not against retiring of old aging coal power plants. He supports it. But he stresses for a balanced approach. Our government should make sure we will have continuous supply of power. Then, only we should go for closure of aging coal power plants. This is the balanced approach suggested by the author of this editorial. That's it. We have come to the end of this discussion. In this discussion, we talked about old and aging coal power plants. We discussed about the advantages of closing old coal power plants. We also discussed about the negatives of closing old and aging coal power plants. Very important topic from mains perspective. Now, let us move on to the next discussion. Now, take a look at this article. This article is important from ethics perspective. This article can be an important case study for your ethics answer. See, in ethics paper, we have a concept called family values. You can use this article as a case study if the question is about changing family values in the modern era. If the question is related to such topic, this article can be used as an important case study. See, as I already said, case studies are very important from mains perspective. It will differentiate your answer. So, whenever you come across some case studies, make note of it. It will be highly beneficial. See, similar to GS mains, sociology and anthropology option student can also make use of this article. In these optionals, we study about the institution of marriage. So, you can use this article as a case study in your optional answer also. This article highlights the changing dynamics in the institution of marriage. I hope the relevancy of the article is clear. Anthropology student, sociology student and GS ethics paper. Now, coming back to the article. See, this article is about contract marriage. It can be also called as marriages of convenience. This article is regarding that. See, in order to understand the concept of contract marriage or marriage of convenience, first we have to understand the story. The story is narrated in this article. Now, let us see the story. This entire story happened in Punjab. See, in Punjab, there was a boy called Arpreet. He got married in July 2018. In January 2019, his wife went to Canada on a student visa. So, after six months of marriage, his wife left to Canada to study. She scored well in the IELS exam. She got a student visa and she went to Canada. See, IELS stands for International English Language Testing System. This exam tests your proficiency in English. If you want to go to Canada, you have to write this exam. If you get good score, you have a chance of getting the student visa. So, coming back to the story, the married girl got the visa and she went to Canada to study. See, if you are going to Canada to study, you can take your partner to Canada using the dependent visa, using the spouse visa. So, Arpreet was waiting for his visa. His wife went to Canada and he was waiting for his spouse visa. He wanted to go to Canada. But after reaching Canada, the married girl said that she did not want to continue her marriage. She wanted a divorce. So, Arpreet family filed a complaint with the police. When police investigated, they found out this marriage was a marriage of contract or marriage of convenience. See, Arpreet was a rich boy. His family had a lot of money. But he didn't have the education skill to go to Canada. He was a below average student. So, in order to go to Canada, this guy got married. Arpreet's family saw a girl who was good in her education. But she didn't have the fun to go to Canada. So, they sponsored her education. They sponsored her etiquettes. He hopes that she will marry Arpreet. She will go to Canada. And after going to Canada, she will take Arpreet. This is the marriage of contract. But instead of taking Arpreet to Canada, she filed for a divorce. She cheated that family. She had used this family to get the fund. Out of this marriage, she got the fund for the tickets. She got the fund for the education. She got the fund to go to Canada. But she didn't honor the commitment. After reaching Canada, she filed the divorce. So, finally, Arpreet family filed a case of fraud and doping under section 420. This is the case study. This case study exactly highlights marriage of contract or marriage of convenience. See, there's a reason why we are discussing this example. This is just one of many incidents. In 2019, almost 4200 complaints were received by the NRA wing of Punjab. All these complaints were similar to Arpreet's case. See, these crimes are not gender specific. We have taken this specific example. But these crimes are not gender specific. It has happened to both women as well as men. Both men as well as women has entered into the contract of marriage. Both men as well as women had committed fraud. So, it is not a gender specific crime. We have only taken this example. So, do not generalize this crime based on gender. The point is the marriage of convenience or marriage of contract is becoming the new normal, especially in states like Punjab. The marriage of convenience has been made as a contract for a service. The service here is to take the spouse abroad. But instead of taking the spouse abroad, this happens. The spouse is not taken abroad. The fraud is committed. So, how do we apply this case study to ethics? As I already said, in ethics, you will have the concept called family values. You will have the concept called marriage values. Trust, compassion, empathy, responsibility and reliability. These are the some of the values of marriage and family. You can cite this case study and say that in modern marriages these values are deteriorating. They are missing. In contemporary times, individual ambitions and parochial personal goals are taking over the traditional family values. You can use this case study to highlight this point. We are giving more primacy to individual choices more than family values. Individualism is overpowering collectivism. As I already said, individual admissions are taking over traditional family values. So, when you have a question like this in ethics, you can use this case study. You can say that the contract marriages of Punjab are deteriorating the family values and it needs to be checked. The traditional values of trust, compassion, empathy, responsibility and reliability should be given priority. Such kinds of answer will be appreciated in ethics. It will differentiate your answer. I hope this case study will be useful in the upcoming main section. So, in conclusion, what we can say? We can say that the purpose of family has changed in the modern times. Individual values and personal goals are taking precedence over family values and collectivism. And we can also say that traditional values and modern values are coming in conflict with modern marriages. In modern marriages, both these values clash together and they affect the functioning of family and marriage. So, we have to find the right balance. This can be a valuable conclusion to your answer. The balance between traditional and modern values. So, with this, we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about values of family and marriage and how these traditional values of family and marriage are deteriorating in modern marriages like marriage of convenience or marriage of contracts. Now, let us move on to the next discussion. Now, look at this article. According to this article, according to this article, world leaders are going to participate in an open debate. This open debate is regarding maritime security and this debate will be conducted by United Nations Security Council, UNSC. This debate will be presided over by Indian Prime Minister. This is another important point. Also, according to this article, Russian President Vladimir Putin will also join the debate through video conference. This is the gist of this article. Open debate regarding maritime security. It will be conducted by United Nations Security Council. This debate will be presided over by Indian Prime Minister and according to the latest notes, Russian President will join this debate through video conference. So, these are the important points mentioned in the article. So, in this context, let us know about UNSC, United Nations Security Council. Very important topic from problem's perspective. See, the principle organs of United Nations are very important and currently UN has six main principle organs. What are those six main organs of UN? The General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trustorship Council, the Secretariat, the International Court of Justice. So, these are the six main organs of United Nations. See, apart from the International Court of Justice, all the other organs are situated at New York. That is the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trustorship Council, Secretariat are all located at New York. Only the International Court of Justice is located at Netherlands. To be precise, the egg in the Netherlands. So, these are the information regarding the six main organs of UN. Now, let us discuss about UNSC, United Nations Security Council. See, UNSC is really important. This is because the primary responsibility of UNSC is to maintain international peace and security. This is why this organ is really important. This organ also determines the existence of a threat to the peace. It also determines the existence of an act of aggression. So, we can say international peace, international law and order rests with United Nations Security Council. It is a really powerful organ. This organ also has another important function. It can call the parties in dispute and settle the dispute by peaceful means. For example, if two countries are in dispute, UNSC can call those two countries to the mediation table and it can settle the dispute. The UNSC can recommend some terms of settlement. This can lead to the settlement of the dispute. This kind of settlement dispute mechanism was used by UNSC with respect to Kashmir issue. It brought both India and Pakistan to the resolution table and it passed a resolution to solve this issue. The name of the resolution is Jammu and Kashmir question. Now, the name of the resolution is changed. It is now called as India Pakistan Quiz. So, these are the important points regarding the dispute settlement mechanism of UNSC. See, in addition to that, UNSC can also impose sanctions. It can also authorize the use of force to maintain or restore international peace and security. It can impose sanctions. It can even authorize the use of force to maintain international peace and security. This is the way it is a very powerful organ. It can use force. See, as I already said, the headquarters of UNSC is in New York City. It has taken permanence residence at the United Nation Eight Quarters. Now, let us come to the most important topic. The members of UNSC. See, UNSC has 15 members. Each member has one vote. Among these 15 members, five are permanent members. They are also called as P5. Who are the P5? China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and United States. So, these are the five permanent members of UNSC. The remaining 10 members are non-permanent members. Of the 15, five are permanent, 10 are non-permanent members. See, these permanent members, as the name says, they are permanent. They are always going to be present in UNSC. But the remaining 10 non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly. These are the key points. They are elected by the General Assembly for two years. Now, have a look at this list. This list shows the existing permanent and non-permanent members. As you can see from the list, India has been elected as a non-permanent member. This is another important point. India is a non-permanent member until 31st December 2022. After this fresh election will take place and in its place, another country will occupy the non-permanent seat. Now, coming to the presidency of the council. See, as I already said, there are 15 members in UNSC. All the 15 members of the council will hold the presidency of the UNSC, but they will hold it for only one month. It will be rotating. And currently for August 2021, India is holding the presidency of UNSC. This is another important point. So, this is the reason why the open debate is presided over by India. Our Indian Prime Minister will preside over this open debate on maritime security because India is currently holding the presidency of UNSC for the month, August 2021. I hope these points are clear. See, as I already said, UNSC is a very powerful body. Under the charter of the United Nations, all member states are obligated to comply with UNSC decisions. This is the key word. They are obligated to comply with United Nations security consultation. They are bounded by it. This power exists only with UNSC. Other five principle organs of UN does not have this power. The other organs can only make recommendation to the member states, whereas UNSC decisions are obligation to the member states. This is why this body is very important. It is very powerful. It is an important organization in the international arena. So, with this, we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the open debate on maritime security. We saw about six principle organs of United Nations. We saw about United Nations Security Council, the powers of UNSC, dispute settlement mechanism of UNSC, the membership of UNSC, the presidency of UNSC. Very important article from Prillin's perspective. Now, let us move on to the next discussion. Now, take a look at this editorial. This editorial is regarding Tokyo Olympics. See, yesterday, Tokyo Olympics was officially over. For the past 17 days, Tokyo Olympics gave us a lot of entertainment. It gave us a lot of memories. It was a great escapism. We were suffering from a lot of problems. We were facing the pandemic. Our economy was down. Many places were facing lockdowns. So, people were stressed. They were full of fears. And these Olympics provided a great escapism from these issues. And moreover, this Olympics was the India's best performance in Olympics. We won't forget these Olympics for a long time. It was really significant. And this editorial is written in this backdrop. This editorial is written to glorify India's achievements in Tokyo Olympics 2020. This is why I've chosen this editorial. This editorial is full of motivation and optimism. I hope this optimism and motivation infects our aspirants too. We have approximately 63 days for problems. So, be motivated. Be optimistic. We will do wonders. So, in this light, let's briefly see about the India's performance in Olympics, especially Tokyo Olympics 2020. The syllabus covered by this article is highlighted below for your reference. Interested aspirants can go through it. Now, coming to the editorial. See, Tokyo Olympics 2020 is a real game changer for India. It was one of the most successful Olympic Games in India's history. It was also one of the most decorated Olympic Games in India's history. This is why it is really significant. One of the main reasons for our success is Neeraj Chopra. By now, every person in India knows this name. For the past few days, almost all magazines, television channels and social media were filled with the pictures of this iconic athlete. This brilliant athlete scripted history in Tokyo Olympics. He was a first Indian to win a gold medal in athletics at Olympic Games. See, previously, we have won gold medals, but we didn't win in athletics. Indian hockey team has won gold medal in the past. We have won gold medal in shooting, but so far, we haven't achieved gold medal in athletics. Athletics are track and field events. 100 meter dash, long jump, eye jump, javelin throw. These are all athletics. India hasn't won any gold in athletics so far, and this brilliant athlete broke the dry spell. He won the first gold medal in athletics at Olympic Games. Another important point is he did better than German Jonas Wetter. See, Jonas Wetter was the world's best javelin thrower because of his brilliant performance in Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj Chopra has replaced Jonas Wetter. This is another major achievement. See, this is not his first success. He has already won gold in Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. Now, Olympic gold medal also joins this list of laurels. See, when we are talking about Tokyo Olympics 2020, we should also talk about Bajrangpunia. He is a freestyle wrestler from India, and he won bronze in this Olympic. Apart from Neeraj Chopra, Bajrangpunia, contributions were also done by Mirabai Chanu, Lavlina, Purghain, Ravi Kumar, Rahia, P.V. Sindhu, and men's hockey team to our medal stally. Let us congratulate their victories. See, when we are talking about Olympics, India made its debut in 1900. So for the past 120 years, India has been participating in Olympics. Our best performance was at 2012. It was during London Olympics 2012. We won six medals in 2012. This was our best performance, and we all know the best news. We have broken this record. In Tokyo Olympics 2020, we have won seven medals. This is a turning point for India in the history of Olympic Games. We have won seven medals in Tokyo Olympics 2020. It includes one gold, two silvers, and four bronze medals. And we also won the first gold in athletics. This is why it is really significant. We are breaking many records. See, when we are talking about gold medals, India's hockey team has already won many gold medals. When we are talking about individual gold medals, only one person has won gold medal before Neeraj Chopra. The name of the person is Abhinav Bindra. He was the first Indian to win an individual gold medal. Second was Neeraj Chopra at Tokyo Olympics 2020. So with successful seven medals, India secured 48th place in Tokyo Olympics 2020. The first place was secured by the United States, second place was secured by China, and third place was secured by Japan. See, the corona pandemic delayed the Olympics by a year. It should have taken place past year 2020, but because of the pandemic, it was delayed to 2021. Even though there was a delay, this Olympics was worthy for India. It gave us moral boost. It has instilled us with optimism and motivation. And now fans are looking for 2024 Olympics. 2024 Olympics is planning to be 2024 Olympics is planned to be held at Paris. So next time more viewers will be watching 2024 Olympics. And it also plays a huge boost to our sports industry. This is why Tokyo Olympics is significant in our Indian Olympic history. And it was finally declared closed yesterday. Bajrangpanya was the flag bearer for India at the closing ceremony. As I already said, he won bronze medal for men's freestyle 65 kg wrestling event. He was the flag bearer for India at the closing ceremony in Tokyo. So with the closing ceremony, President of International Olympic Committee declared 32nd Olympic Games closed. Tokyo 2020 Olympics was officially over and the Olympic flag was officially hand over to France, which is to host 2024 Paris Games. We can see the beautiful image of closing ceremony here. So in conclusion, though the pandemic delayed the Games by a year, still the weight was worthwhile. This Olympics was a moral booster. It was a great diversion. It gave us something to cheer about. Now, Indian citizens are full of optimism. They are looking forward for 2024 version of Olympics at Paris. And let us hope we'll break these records in the upcoming Olympics. Many more glories to come. So this is why I've chosen this editorial. Something positive to discuss about. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Moving on to practice problems question. First question, which of the following statements is correct with reference to inflation? Option A, core inflation is the measure of total inflation within an economy, including price rise in food, fuel and all other commodities. Option B, consumer price index is used as a tool by government and RBI for targeting inflation and monitoring price stability. Option C, inflation target is set every year by the central government in consultation with the RBI. Option D, all of the above. See, first statement is incorrect. It is not core inflation. It is headline inflation. Headline inflation is the measure of total inflation within an economy. This includes price rise in food, fuel and all other commodities. Whereas core inflation does not include all commodities. It excludes food, fuel and other volatile components. So option A is incorrect. Moving on to option B, consumer price index is used as a tool by government and RBI for targeting inflation and monitoring price stability. This statement is correct. We have discussed the statement in the article discussion. The government and RBI are using consumer price index for targeting inflation and monitoring price stability. Now moving on to the option C, inflation target is set every year by the central government in consultation with RBI. See, this statement is wrong. The central government in consultation with RBI fixes the inflation target. But it is not fixed every year. The inflation targeting is done as a part of monetary policy every five years. So currently, the government has notified 4% CPA inflation as a target for the period between April 2021 to March 2026. So for five years, inflation target is set. It is not set every year. So option C is all wrong. Option A is wrong. Option C is wrong. So option D is also wrong since option D is all of the above. The correct answer is option B. Only the B statement is correct. Moving on to the second question, which of the following statements are correct with reference to United Nations? First statement, decisions of all main organs of the United Nations are binding on the member states. Second statement, all the members of UN are automatically members of UNSC. Third statement, all of its main organs are permanently based at UN headquarters in New York. Select the correct answer from the code given below. A, all of the above, B1 and 2 only, C3 only, D none of the above. Now take the first statement. First statement is incorrect. See currently, the United Nations Security Council's decisions, only that organization decisions are binding on the member states, not all the main organs. The decisions of other five organs are only recommendatory on member states. Only UNSC has binding powers. Its decisions are binding on the member states. So first statement is incorrect. Now moving on to the second statement, all the members of UN are automatically members of UNSC. See this statement is also incorrect. As we saw in the article discussion, it has only 15 members at a time, 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent members. So second statement is also incorrect. Moving on to the third statement, all of its main organs are permanently based at UN headquarters in New York. This statement is also incorrect. See as I already said, UN has six principal organs. Only five principal organs are located at United Nations Eight Quarters in New York. The International Court of Justice is located at the Aegon Netherlands. So not all the main organs are located in New York. Only five are currently situated at UN Eight Quarters in New York. So this statement is also incorrect. Since all the statements are incorrect, the answer is D none of the above. Main practice questions are displayed here. You can write your answer and post in the comment section below. With this, we have come to the end of the news analysis. If you like the video, click like, comment and subscribe. Thank you.