 Welcome to the hindi news analysis by Shankar Ayes academy the list of topics chosen for today's discussion along with the page numbers is given here for your reference. Let us start today's news analysis. This news article talks about government's announcement on minimum support prices for different Karif crops. See, we all know that there are three crop seasons in India. They are Karif, Rabi and Zaid and Karif region starts with onset of monsoon that is in June and harvesting of this crop begins in October. So considering this, the central government has announced new minimum support prices for different Karif crops. So in this context, let us discuss in brief about minimum support price and then fair and remunerative price and about this news article. The syllabus relevant for this discussion is given here for your reference. So what does this news article say? The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the increase in MSP for all mandated Karif crops for the year 2020 and 2021. See this Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is chaired by the Prime Minister. We have covered in depth about cabinet committees just two days back that is on 31st May. So if you have any doubts regarding cabinet committees, their constitution and who is their chairman, just watch the video of 31st May to get a detailed understanding. So coming back to the news article, it says that the minimum support price has been increased for 14 crops which include paddy, java, maize, cotton, niger seed, sesame, etc. See many times you have seen this term called MSP or minimum support price in newspapers. So what is this MSP? See we know that the price of agree commodities are quite unstable. If you recollect on 28th May, when we were discussing about an article written by Vice President Mr. Venkainoidu, we said that better price realization for farmers is still a dream. Even in case of a good harvest, the farmers might not get good returns due to sharp fall in price. So what happens if this sharp fall in price happens every year? One possible consequence might be the farmers won't continue with the farming in further years. If farmers won't continue with agriculture and farming, this will have a devastating scarcity of food supply in India. So to solve this problem and to offer better prices for farmers, the government has devised a concept called MSP or minimum support price. Now that you have understood the background of MSP, so how this MSP can be defined? So this MSP can be defined as the price at which government purchases crops from the farmers. By purchasing crop produce from the farmers, government guarantees a minimum and fair amount for the crop produce. In addition, the government announces the minimum support price even before the start of sowing season. So today's news article is all about this announcement of prices. We just discussed the background of MSP and how MSP can be defined. Now we shall see how this MSP is going to help the farmers. See, when farmers are assured a minimum price for their crop produce, they invest more in respect to commodities and thus minimizes the disruption in the farm chain. This will also ensure adequate supply of food grains in the country. In addition, this ensures that we have enough buffer stock and enough to support the poor people through PDS, that is public distribution system. So who fixes this MSP? Know that this MSP is fixed on the recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices. And short, CACP. This CACP is an attached office under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. See, whenever required, the CACP submits separate reports recommending prices for curry fund rabbi seasons. Know that these are only advisory in nature and not binding on the central government. The central government, after considering these reports and considering the views of state governments and also keeping in view of the overall demand and supply situation in the country, takes the final decision and announces the MSPs of different crops. As of now, the CACP recommends MSPs of 23 commodities, including 7 cereal grains, 5 pulses, 7 oil seeds and 4 commercial crops. This is all about minimum support price. At the start of discussion, we also said that we are going to discuss about FRP or Fair and Remunerative Price. So what is this Fair and Remunerative Price? See, this FRP is related to sugar cane. The concept of statutory minimum price was replaced with the Fair and Remunerative Price for sugar cane. This Fair price of sugar cane is determined under sugar cane order of 1966. Similar to MSP, this FRP is also fixed by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs based on the recommendations of Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices. So if you see, this is same for MSP also. The price is recommended by CACP and fixed by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. In addition, this Fair and Remunerative Price is staterally binding on sugar cane factories or sugar factories. These factories are legally binded to pay the minimum announced price that is FRP. So all those transactions or purchases at prices lower than the FRP are considered illegal. So with this fundamental information, let us get back to the news article. Here we need to have an overall understanding of increase in prices. The news article says that the highest increase in MSP is proposed for Niger seed followed by sesame, urad and cotton. This differential remuneration that is very high prices for different crops is aimed to encourage crop diversification. Also know that this increase in price is in line with the announcements made in budget of 2018-19. This announcement aimed at fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the all India weighted average cost of production. So if average cost of production in India is 100 rupees, the minimum MSP will be at least 150 rupees. So that farmers will be getting at least 50% more than their cost of production. The expect returns to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of Basra followed by Urad and then Thor and then Mace. For rest of the crops written to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50%. This is all about this news article. In this news article, we have discussed about MSP, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. We also discussed about commission for agriculture cost and prices and then we discussed about FRP, that is fire and remunerator price of sugarcane, etc. The displayed prelims practice question is discussed at the end of the session. Let us move ahead with the next news article. The next discussion is going to be based on this article from editorial page. This article talks about India and China's outreach in social welfare across Africa during this COVID-19 pandemic. The syllabus relevant for this discussion is given here for your reference. At first, authors of this article talk about why Africa is more vulnerable to this pandemic. This is due to the poor economic conditions and poor health conditions across several countries in African continent. These countries are critically ill equipped to manage a public health emergency of this magnitude. This is mainly due to the shortage of masks, ventilators, even basic things like soap and water. In such a scenario, Africa is in need of medical protective equipment to support its frontline health workers. This made Africa dependent on external aid, particularly on India and China. This is when India and China have shown their support through medical assistance to Africa. As we know, both India and China are Asia's largest economies and also the long standing partners of African continent. Further, China and India are Africa's first and second single largest trading partners in 2018, which accounted for almost 21% of total African trade. However, in this news article, authors highlight the different approaches of India and China in assisting Africa during this global pandemic. So they point out that for China, three aspects are very critical. The first one is money, political influence, and elite level wealth creation. Second, strong state-to-state relations. And third one is hard infrastructure projects and resource extraction. In a complete contrast to this, India's approach focuses on people-to-people ties, building local capacities, and an equal partnership with Africans and not merely with elite people of Africa. So in this context, first, let us see how China supported the African continent during the pandemic. See, China has provided medical equipment, testing kits, ventilators, medical masks to several African countries. In addition, Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba Group, donated three rounds of anti-corona virus supplies. Authors termed this donation as China's billionaire philanthropy. In addition, Chinese embassies across Africa have coordinated both public and private donations to local stakeholders. Here, authors again point out that the primary motive of such donations is only to raise China's profile as a leading provider of humanitarian assistance and public goods in the global public health sector. Authors also termed this as Beijing's donation diplomacy. This diplomacy is aimed to achieve three immediate objectives which favor China. According to the authors, the first one is shifting away the focus about the origins of virus. We all know that many countries have blamed China for this COVID-19 pandemic, and even many countries like America termed this virus as Wuhan virus or China virus. So the first objective of this Beijing's donation diplomacy is shifting away the focus about the origin of coronavirus. The second objective is building overseas goodwill and third one is to establish an image makeover. So we all know that many countries are worried about Chinese investment, Chinese diplomacy, Chinese military expansionism. So through this donation diplomacy, China is trying for an image makeover so that it can establish itself as a global public health provider. So according to authors, China almost succeeded in achieving these objectives. But this success was pulled back by the ill treatment of African nationals in the Guangzhou city of China. See this Guangzhou city in Guangdong province has China's largest African community. So what happened is in April 2020, Chinese authorities in that province forcibly tested Africans for coronavirus and even ordered them to self-isolate after quarantine in designated hotels. Then landlords evicted these African residents and forced many of them to sleep on the street. Even many hotels, shops and restaurants in the region refused African customers. It is said that other foreign groups in China have not been subjected to similar treatment. Only the people of African continent have been ill treated like this. So this ill treatment received a widespread backlash and created a political crisis in China. However, China was able to control this narrative using its political influence in Africa. So according to authors, the China's donation diplomacy towards Africa has received a mixed response. So far we have seen how China supported African continent during COVID-19 pandemic. Now let us focus on India's support to African continent. As you know, Africa holds a central place in India's foreign policy and economic policy. In recent years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made state visits to Rwanda, Uganda and South Africa. In addition, if you remember, India is planning to open as many as 18 new embassies in the African continent. All these initiatives reaffirm India's commitment towards enhancing its cordial diplomatic relations with the African continent. So according to authors, the pandemic presents another opportunity for India to demonstrate its willingness and capacity to undertake more responsibility. This is because even with limited resources, India is fighting the virus domestically as well as helping developing countries which are in need. This demonstration by India showcases India's status as a responsible and reliable global stakeholder. Further, we know that India is widely acknowledged for its role as the pharmacy of world and a supplier of low-cost generic medicines. So according to authors, pharmaceutical products along with the refined petroleum products account for more than 40% of India's total exports to African markets. Apart from these initiatives and these helping measures, one of the most India's notable initiatives is Mission Sagar. So what is Mission Sagar? See Mission Sagar is government's outreach during this COVID-19 pandemic. See, under this Mission Sagar, food items, medicines, special Ayurvedic medicines were provided to Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, and Camaros. Along with these items, medical assistance teams were also sent to these countries. See, this Mission Sagar is in line with India's role as the first responder in the Indian Ocean region. Authors also talk about an important initiative called EITEC. So what is ITEC? So know that ITEC is Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Program. This was set up in 1964 as a bilateral program fully funded by Government of India. Under ITEC and its sister programs like Special Common Wealth African Assistance Program, 161 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, as well as specific and small island countries are invited to share in the Indian developmental experience which India had acquired over six decades as a free country. So Government has started an extension program called EITEC wherein training is imparted in partner countries by Indian institutes online in real time. Under this EITEC program, the classrooms are shifted to partner countries and tailor-made courses are delivered by Indian faculties through videoconferencing. During this pandemic times, under EITEC management strategies and training webinars are being provided. These are exclusively aimed at training healthcare professionals from Africa and Sark Nations and sharing the best practices by Indian health experts. As a result of these different activities, the other countries get to know about the competence of India as a provider of technical know-how and technical expertise. These programs have generated immense goodwill and substantive cooperation among the developing countries. And India's help to Africa include some prominent Indian businessmen and companies in countries like Nigeria, Kenya have donated money to respect to national emergency funds for tackling this pandemic. These are some of the India's support measures and friendly measures to Africa during the pandemic discussed by the others. So far we have discussed about India's and China's approach towards Africa in extending their help. Based on this discussion, you can infer that both India and China through their health and donation diplomacy are making their own space and positioning themselves as reliable partners of Africa. But others point out that their approaches are stark different and contrasting in nature. Hence, others conclude that these two models will come under great scrutiny and both the countries might find that they need to adapt to the rising aspirations of people of African continent. With this, we come to end of this news article. We spoke about China's help to Africa, India's help to Africa and how their approaches differed, etc. In the coming world, Africa is going to play a very important geopolitical role in both the United Nations as well as security of the world. In the future world, Africa is going to play a crucial role in the United Nations as well as international forums. We all know that America and Britain are the powerful countries and even permanent members in UN Security Council. But African countries together supported Mauritius in the Chagos Island dispute and even passed a resolution against the global powers. Now that you can understand how African countries and their representations in international fora are going to play a very important role. So in India's context, we all know that India is rising to be a next superpower and even aspiring to become a member of UNSC as well. In this scenario, India needs the support of all African countries to establish itself as a global superpower. This is all about this news article. The displayed practice main question will be discussed at the end of the session. Let us move ahead with this news article. This discussion is going to be based on this news article which talks about Mansoong. According to this news article, IMD announced that Mansoong has arrived in Kerala on June 1st. This is 4 days earlier than what IMD had predicted or forecasted. That is, initially IMD forecasted that Mansoong will arrive in Kerala around June 5th. But it came 4 days earlier, that is on June 1st. But know that June 1st is the date on which Mansoong normally sets over the state of Kerala. In this context, IMD also updated about a nascent cyclone named Nisargha developing in Arabian Sea. This cyclone Nisargha is likely to hit coastline of Nartan Maharashtra and southern Gujarat by June 3rd. It is also said that the presence of cyclone near landmass during Mansoong could delay and block the progress of Mansoong. In this context, let us discuss about the onset of southwest Mansoong, cyclone Nisargha and even the effect of cyclone on Mansoong. The syllabus relevant for this discussion is given here for your reference. If you recollect, we have studied in our childhood that Mansoong has originated from the word called Mausim or Mausam, which means season in Arabic. See this Mansoong is mostly related to seasonal reversals of wind direction along the shores of Indian Ocean, especially in the Arabian Sea. See this Mansoong blows from southwest during one half of the year and from the northeast during the other half. So simply put, the Mansoons are seasonal winds which reverse the direction with a change of season. So we can say that Mansoong is a double system of seasonal winds. First they flow from sea to land during summer. That is southwest Mansoong and from land to sea during winter, which is called northeast Mansoong. In this context, it is important to note that Mansoons are more pronounced and predominant in Indian subcontinent compared to any other region. We can also say that seasons in India are classified according to Mansoons. As we all know, India primarily has four seasons. They are winter season, that is January and February, pre-Mansoong season, March to May, southwest Mansoong season, June to September and northeast Mansoong season that is October to December. Now we shall see the factors responsible for formation of southwest Mansoong. One important factor responsible for the formation of southwest Mansoong is intense heating of Tibetan Plateau. The other important factor which can be attributed to Mansoons is high pressure area developed near Madagascar in southern Indian Ocean. The other factors that influence the Mansoons are El Nino, Madan Julian Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole, Somalia Jet Stream, etc. So what exactly happens during summer in Northern Hemisphere? See, in Northern Hemisphere, during summer, sun's position is apparently over Tropic of Cancer, that is 23.5 North latitude. Due to high temperatures and overheating, a low pressure area develops in central issue where this Tropic of Cancer passes through. At the same time, pressure over Indian Ocean is sufficiently high. This is due to differential heating of land and water. So this temperature variation between sea and the landmarks causes the action that is flow of winds. See, this temperature variation between the sea and land mass causes the action that is winds flow from ocean to land mass. This results in southwest Mansoons. So I'm repeating this once again. See, what happens is the pressure over the land mass that is India and Tibetan Plateau will be considerably less when compared to pressure in oceanic part of Indian Ocean. So we all studied that wind flow from high pressure area to low pressure area. So what happens is from high pressure area that is in Indian Ocean, the wind flows from here to the low pressure area on the land mass that is on Indian subcontinent. So this movement of winds from high pressure area in Indian Ocean to low pressure area in Indian subcontinent is called Southwest Mansoons. Know that the Southwest Mansoons brings intense rainfall to most of the regions in India and this happens mostly in the months of June to August or September. The months October, November, December, January, February are cooling period or cool seasons across India. So now what happens is a high pressure system gets developed over the land mass and a low pressure system gets developed in the ocean part. So exactly opposite is happening now. Now wind moves from high pressure area to low pressure area. So now wind moves from land mass to sea part. This is called Northeast Mansoons. This Northeast Mansoons brings rainfall to mainly southeastern coast of India like Tamil Nadu, part of Andhra Pradesh, etc. This is all about formation of Southwest Mansoons on Northeast Mansoons. Let us discuss about the onset of Southwest Mansoons. See, know that the Southwest Mansoons arrives in two branches. The first one is Arabian Sea Branch and second one is Bay of Bengal Branch. This Arabian branch extends toward a low pressure area over the Thar desert in Rajasthan and it is considerably stronger than Bay of Bengal Branch. Typically this Mansoon arrives over Indian territory by 25th May by striking the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal first. It strikes the Indian mainland around June 1st near the Malabar coast of Kerala. That is what mentioned in the news article. By June 9th, it reaches Mumbai. It appears over Delhi by June 29th. The Bay of Bengal Branch which initially tracks Kormandal coast from Cape Komorin to Odisha and moves ahead towards Indo-Gagetic plain. Then this Arabian Sea Branch that is West Branch moves northeast towards the Himalayas. By the first week of July, the entire country experiences the Mansoon Rain. When we were discussing about formation of Northeast Mansoons we said that by September or October high pressure area develops over landmass and low pressure area develops over sea part. So what happens is the pressure system is interchanged. That is high pressure area becomes low pressure area and low pressure area becomes high pressure area. So consequently this Mansoon retreats from western Rajasthan by first week of September. By the middle of December, the center of low pressure is completely removed from Peninsular India. So when there is no low pressure region winds won't move from high pressure to low pressure. So when there is no low pressure region on landmass winds won't come. That is we call it as end of southwest Mansoon. In this context, let us discuss about Cyclone Nisarga. Nisarga is a developing tropical cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea. This is moving northward at a speed of 4 km per hour and is currently 550 km away from Mumbai. It is expected to make landfall on June 3rd along Konkan coast. Dear viewers, we have discussed in depth about Cyclones and their formation and different types of Cyclones in our 20th May Hindu analysis video. If you have any doubts regarding Cyclonic formations and different types of Cyclones watch that video to get a detailed understanding about Cyclones. So what are the effects of the Cyclone Nisarga on the southwest Mansoon? See, usually the Cyclones which emerge in Arabian Sea during this time interferes with normal progression of Mansoon. This interference could delay or even break the Mansoon. For example, the Cyclone Vayu which hit Gujarat last year formed a low pressure area in Arabian Sea just after the onset of southwest Mansoon over Kerala. So because of this low pressure area formed by Cyclone Vayu the Mansoon winds were not able to move forward till the dissipation of Cyclone. On the similar lines, the Cyclone Nisarga is expected or believed to break or delay the Mansoon over the Indian landmarks. The displayed practice question is discussed at the end of the session. With this, we conclude this news article. Let us take up another news article. Let us take up this question. This question is based on this news article which talks about presiding officers of both Lok Sabha and Raj Sabha. We know that each House of Parliament that is both Lok Sabha and Raj Sabha have their own presiding officers. There is Speaker and Deputy Speaker for Lok Sabha and Chairman and Deputy Chairman for Raj Sabha. In the news article, it is mentioned that the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Raj Sabha are discussing the options on the meetings of Lok Sabha and Raj Sabha during Mansoon session. They are planning to conduct the meetings of Lok Sabha and Raj Sabha on alternative days to decongest the Parliament and to ensure the social distancing norms. In this context, let us discuss in brief about the presiding officers of Lok Sabha and Raj Sabha. That is the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Raj Sabha. Coming to the Speaker of Lok Sabha, he or she is elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its members. Whenever the office of Speaker falls vacant, the Lok Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy. In general, the date of election is fixed by the President. Additionally, know that the Speaker remains in office during the life of Lok Sabha and even beyond that. In this context, it should be noted that whenever the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker does not vacate his office. He continues to be in office till the newly elected Lok Sabha meets. So, to understand this, we will see an example. Consider that the present Lok Sabha has dissolved in the month of July. That is the coming month. And elections happened in the month of August and new Lok Sabha met in, say, September. Even though the existing Lok Sabha dissolved in the month of July, the Speaker continues to be in his office until the next Lok Sabha meets and elects a new Speaker. This is very important in Plim's perspective. Coming to his powers and functions, know that the Speaker is head of Lok Sabha and its representative. He is considered the guardian of powers, the privileges of members and the House as a whole and its committees as well. He is the principal spokesperson of House and his decisions in all parliamentary matters are final. In order of Presidents, he is placed at 7th rank along with Chief Justice of India. It means he is placed even above all the Cabinet Ministers except Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Coming to his duties, the Speaker of Lok Sabha derives his powers and duties from three sources. They are the Constitution of India, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Lok Sabha and Parliamentary Conventions. When we talk about Parliamentary Conventions, they mean the residuary powers that are unwritten are unspecified in the rules. Some of the duties or functions include he maintains order and decorum in the House for conducting business and regulating its proceedings. He adjourns the House or suspends the meeting in absence of quorum. Whenever a joint sitting of two Houses is summoned by the President, the Speaker of the House presides over the joint sitting and not the Chairman of the House. So, we all know that mostly the Speaker comes from the ruling party. To ensure the independence and impartiality of the Speaker, there are few provisions in the Constitution. The first one is the Speaker is provided with security of tenure. It means he can be removed from office only on a resolution in Lok Sabha passed by a majority of all the then members of the House. Here the key word is then. This is also called Effective Majority. See, for example, we all know that there are 545 members in House of Lok Sabha. Assume that there are 45 vacancies. It means there are only 500 MPs as of now in Lok Sabha. So, when we talk about then members or effective majority, it means they remove the vacancies from total number. So, in this example, taking out 45 vacancies, the existing MPs are 500. To remove the Speaker, at least 251 people should vote in favor of this resolution of removing Speaker. Only then the Speaker is considered to be removed from his office. This is also called Effective Majority. Don't confuse this with Simple Majority. When we talk about Simple Majority, it means a majority of members present and voting in the House. Suppose if there are 300 people present in the House today, a majority means 151 people. So, if 151 people votes, it is called Simple Majority. But to remove the Speaker of the House, we need Effective Majority, which means a majority of then members of the House. In addition, his salaries and allowances are fixed by the Parliament and charged upon the Consulate Fund of India and not subjected to vote of Parliament. His work and conduct cannot be discussed and criticized in Lok Sabha except on a substantive motion. His powers of regulating procedure or conducting business or maintaining the order in the House is not subjected to jurisdiction of any court, including Supreme Court. And coming to Raj Sabha, we all know that the Vice President is the ex-officer Chairman of Raj Sabha. So, whoever is elected as Vice President of India, he invariably presides over the Raj Sabha. As a presiding officer, the powers and functions of Chairman of Raj Sabha are mostly same as that of the Speaker in Lok Sabha. However, there are few differences which we will discuss now. The first difference is only Speaker of Lok Sabha can decide whether a bill is money bill or not. Regarding this, the Chairman of Raj Sabha has no say. And we already discussed that whenever a joint sitting of Parliament is summoned by the President, only the Speaker can preside over the joint sitting and the Chairman of Raj Sabha cannot preside. Even in case of absence of Speaker, only Deputy Speaker can preside over the joint sitting and not the Chairman of Raj Sabha. Unlike the Speaker, who happens to be the Member of Lok Sabha, the Chairman is not a Member of Raj Sabha. This is one of the key differences between the Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairman of Raj Sabha. Speaker is a Member of Parliament, but Chairman is not a Member of Parliament in Raj Sabha. With this information, let us address the given question. The first statement is incorrect because only a Member of Lok Sabha can become Speaker and the Members of Raj Sabha cannot be the Speakers of Lok Sabha. Coming to statement two, he or she can remove only by resolution passed in the Lok Sabha by a majority of Members present and voting in the House. We discussed in detail about the removal process of Speaker. We said that to remove the Speaker, the majority needed is effective majority, that is majority of then Members in the House. So in a given statement, it is said that a majority of Members present and voting in the House, which amounts to simple majority. So this statement is incorrect since the Speaker can be removed only by an effective majority. The Chairman of Raj Sabha presides over the Joint sitting of both the Houses when Lok Sabha Speaker is not available or absent. This statement is also incorrect because Chairman of Raj Sabha cannot preside over the Joint sitting of the Parliament. In absence of Speaker, only Deputy Speaker can preside over the Joint sitting of Parliament. In case if both Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha are not available for Joint sitting, the Deputy Chairman of Raj Sabha will preside over the Joint sitting. So first, the Speaker, if Speaker is not available, then it is Deputy Speaker. If Deputy Speaker is also not available, then the Deputy Chairman of Raj Sabha will preside over the Joint sitting. You can infer that the Chairman of Raj Sabha cannot preside over the Joint sitting of Parliament. So the correct answer is Option D, 1, 2 and 3 since we are supposed to identify the incorrect statements. Let us move ahead with next news article. Let us take up this question. Yesterday the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister took several decisions to tackle the economic impacts of COVID-19. So in that high-powered meeting, one important decision is special micro-crate facility scheme for street vendors. Yes, we are talking about Prime Minister street vendors Atman Erbar Nidhi, PM Svanidhi scheme. So what is this PM Svanidhi scheme or street vendors Atman Erbar Nidhi? See, it is a special micro-crate facility scheme launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. See, we all know that street vendors are one of the most affected economic groups due to pandemic-imposed lockdown. So this scheme is aimed to enable street vendors to resume work and earn livelihood by providing affordable loan. Know that the scheme targets to benefit over 50 lakh street vendors in urban areas. The duration of the scheme is till March 2022. It means the scheme is having a sunset clause of 2022 March. For the first time, the street vendors from rural areas are being included as beneficiaries under an urban livelihood program. So this is very important because we have separate livelihood program for rural areas that is Magna Reka and we have different schemes for people in urban areas. But this scheme aims to include even rural area people in urban livelihood program. So under this scheme, vendors can avail a working capital loan up to Rs. 10,000 and this amount can be repaid in monthly instalments in a tenure of one year. If a vendor pays money before the due date an interest subsidy of 7% per annum will be created to the vendor's bank account. This will be done through direct benefit transfer on a six-monthly basis. To make the scheme reach many street vendors to increase the outreach and speedy implementation of the scheme an online portal as well as a mobile application are also being developed. This IT platform will also help in integrating vendors into formal financial system. And also this platform will integrate with Udhyami Mitra portal of CIDB for create management as well as PISA portal of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Here it is important to know about Udhyami Mitra portal and PISA portal. See this Udhyami Mitra portal was launched by CIDB that is Small Industries Development Bank of India in 2017. This portal is aimed to improve accessibility of credit and hand-holding services to MSMEs. On coming to PISA portal PISA stands for Portal for Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access. This is an initiative under Dean Dayal Antyodaya Yojana National Urban Livelihoods Mission under Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. We just discussed that if a vendor repays the loan within the due date and interest subsidy of 7% is given this interest subsidy is charnalled through this PISA portal of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Also know that the lending institutions under this Swanidhi scheme also include NBFCs, MFIs, Self-Help Groups, etc. It is said that the urban local bodies will play a pivotal role in implementation of this scheme. With this information let's try to address the given question. Here three statements are given about Swanidhi scheme and we are supposed to identify the correct statements. By looking at the question we can say that the correct answer is option D, 1, 2, and 3. Since all the three statements are correct and we just discussed all the three statements. Let us move ahead with this news article. Let us take up this question with reference to Bar Council of India which among the following statements is or are correct? Three statements are given and we should identify the correct statements. Before answering the question we shall see what is Bar Council of India? This question has been framed on this opiate column which talks about recent tussle between Bar Council of India and Supreme Court Bar Association. So what is the issue? So the issue is that the Bar Council of India passed a resolution staying Supreme Court Bar Association's decision to suspend its secretary. So due to some issue Supreme Court Bar Association suspended its own secretary. In this context Bar Council of India has asked Supreme Court Bar Association to stay its decision of suspending its own secretary. In response Supreme Court Bar Association countered that the Bar Council of India has no power or no authority to control any Bar Association in the country including the Supreme Court Bar Association. Regarding this counter statement by Supreme Court Bar Association the BCIR the Bar Council of India has issued a show cost notice to the Supreme Court Bar Association president for refusing to act on its resolution. So in this context let us see what is Bar Council of India. See the Bar Council of India is a statutory body established by parliament under the Advocates Act of 1961. See this body was established to regulate and represent the Indian Bar. See the Bar means the profession of barrister or it represents the lawyers collectively. So what are the functions of the Bar Council of India according to Advocates Act of 1961? See the Bar Council of India performs the regulatory function by prescribing standards of professional conduct and etiquette. It also exercises disciplinary jurisdiction over the Bar. In addition, it sets standards for legal education and grants recognition to universities whose degree in law will serve as a qualification for enrollment as an advocate. Further, the Bar Council of India performs certain representative functions by protecting the rights, privileges and interests of advocates. In addition, the Advocates Act of 1961 provides first statutory functions and it covers the Bar Council's regulatory and representative mandate for legal profession and legal education in India. So using the powers issued under Section 7 of this Act, the Bar Council of India asked Supreme Court Bar Association to stop the process of removing the Secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association. The other important functions of Bar Council of India are given here for your reference. Also know that the Bar Council of India can constitute funds for different activities like giving financial assistance for welfare schemes for poor, disabled or other advocates, giving legal aid or for establishing law libraries. Next, coming to Chairman and Vice Chairman of Bar Council of India know that BCI elects its own Chairman and Vice Chairman for a period of two years. It consists of members elected from each State Bar Council for a period of five years. Here, it is important to note that Attorney General of India and Solicitor General of India are ex-officer members of Bar Council of India. With this information, let's take up the given question. See, the first statement says that the BCI is a statutory body. Yes, this statement is correct because BCI is established under the provisions of Advocates Act of 1961. The second statement says that the Attorney General and Solicitor General of India are its ex-officer members. Yes, this is also correct. And coming to third statement, it says that the BCI can constitute funds for providing financial assistance to organize welfare schemes for indigent advocates. Indigent means poor or needy people. This is also correct statement. Hence, the correct answer is option D, 1, 2, and 3. Let us take up brilliant practice questions. Consider the following. Three factors are given here. Which of the factors given above favor the southwest monsoon? If you see the first one, formation of high pressure system over Tibetan and Siberian Plateaus. The first one is incorrect. This is because a high pressure system over Tibetan and Siberian Plateaus favor northeast monsoon and not southwest monsoon. While discussing about news article, we said that when there is low pressure area on land mass, the wind moves from high pressure region that is the oceanic part to land part. So the wind from high pressure region that is the ocean part. From here, it moves to land part. So it becomes southwest monsoon. The wind enters India from southwest direction. So it is called southwest monsoon. So the statement 1 is incorrect because a low pressure system favor southwest monsoon and not high pressure system. By eliminating statement 1, you can arrive at the answer that is option B 213 only. However, we also discussed the factors 213 in detail. Coming to second one, formation of high pressure near Madagascar. This is correct because when there is high pressure system in the oceanic part, the wind from there moves to land and forms a southwest monsoon. So statement 2 is correct. And coming to third one, a positive Indian Ocean Dipole. So what is Indian Ocean Dipole? See, we have discussed in depth about Indian Ocean Dipole in our 31st May video. However, we'll have a brief recap regarding Indian Ocean Dipole or IOD. See, IOD refers to difference in sea surface temperatures between tropical western Indian Ocean and tropical southeastern Indian Ocean. So when temperature in western part that is Arabian side part, if temperature is higher on that side, we call it as positive IOD. When temperature on eastern side is more that is southeastern part, we call it as negative IOD. When a positive phase is formed, that is positive IOD, this will bring heavy rainfall in India and East Africa. But it leads to drought in Indian Ocean region. Similarly, when negative IOD forms that is high temperature on eastern side, it brings heavy rain to Indonesian region and droughts to Indian and East African regions. So based on this, you can understand that a positive Indian Ocean Dipole favors southwest monsoon. Therefore, the correct answer is option B, 2 and 3 only. Let us take up the next question. This question is based on our discussion regarding minimum support price. So the question says, with reference to minimum support price, consider the following statements. Two statements are given and we should identify the correct statements. The statement one, the central government fixes the MSP based on the recommendations of CACP. Yes, the statement one is correct. However, note that the recommendations are only advisory in nature and central government can increase or decrease the prices recommended by the commission for agricultural costs and prices. Coming to statement two, Paddy, wheat, cotton, sunflower and raw jute are covered under MSP. Yes, the statement two is also correct. So the correct answer for this question is option C, both 1 and 2. Let us take up this main question. During COVID-19 pandemic, both India and China are trying or tried to position themselves as reliable partners of Africa. Discuss. Dear viewers, please write the answers and send them to us. We will evaluate and get back to you with necessary feedback. With this, we conclude today's news analysis. 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