 Welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankar Ayas 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. Let us see this news article and editorial which covers the recent decision of the Monetary Policy Committee. See in its latest meeting, MPC decided to leave the policy report, reverse report and bank rate unchanged at 4%, 3.35% and 4.25% respectively. It also decided to continue with the accommodative stance as long as necessary. This is in order to sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the economy. And this will be done while ensuring that inflation remains within the target. So in this context, let us have a brief understanding about the key terms mentioned in the news and the editorial along with observations made by the MPC. The syllabus relevant to this article is displayed on the screen as friends can go through it. First, let us have a brief understanding about monetary policy. See monetary policy refers to the use of monetary instruments to regulate matters such as interest rates, money supply and availability of credit. This is with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of economic policy. Know that the Reserve Bank of India is vested with the responsibility of conducting monetary policy. This responsibility is mentioned in the Reserve Bank of Indian Act 1934. The primary objective of the monetary policy is to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objectivity of growth. See in May 2016, the RBA Act 1934 was amended to provide a statutory basis for the implementation of flexible inflation targeting framework. The amended RBA Act also provides for the inflation target to be set by the Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank once in every five years. So accordingly, the central government has notified in its official guess that 4% consumer price index is the inflation target for the period from August 5, 2016 to March 31, 2021. The upper tolerance limit is 6% and the lower tolerance limit is 2%. The monetary policy is adjusted from time to time by the Monetary Policy Committee. The Monetary Policy Committee was set up as per the provisions of RBA Act 1934. Now let us see about Monetary Policy Committee. See the MPC is an executive body that contains six members. Three members are from RBA and three members are nominated by the central government. It is added by the Governor of RBA. As per the provisions in the RBA Act 1934, RBA shall organize at least four meetings of MPC in a year and every two months RBA issues monetary policy statement. The RBA uses several instruments for implementing monetary policy. The main instrument used by RBA is Reporate. See, Reporate is a fixed interest rate at which the RBI provides overnight liquidity to banks against collateral of government securities and treasury bills. To put it simply, Reporate is the rate at which RBA lends money to the commercial bank by purchasing securities from banks. See, during the high level of inflation, RBA makes strong attempts to bring down the flow of money into the economy. One way to do this is by increasing the Reporate. Here, banks will borrow money from RBI at a costlier interest rate. On the other hand, when the RBI needs to pump fund into the system, it lowers the Reporate and makes money available for banks at cheaper interest rates. Consequently, business and industries find it cheaper to borrow money for different investment purposes. We have seen about Reporate. Now let us move on to Reverse Reporate. See, Reverse Reporate is the rate at which the Reserve Bank of India borrow funds from the commercial bank in the country. In other words, it is the rate at which commercial banks in India park their excess money with RBA usually for a short term period. During the high level of inflation in the economy, the RBA increases the Reverse Reporate. It encourages the bank to park more funds with RBA to earn higher return on excess funds. Banks are left with lesser funds to extend loans and borrowings to consumers. So we have seen about two important rates, Reporate and Reverse Reporate. Now let us move on to Bank Rate. What is Bank Rate? Bank Rate is the lending rate at which commercial banks can borrow from RBA without providing any security. This is the key one. Doesn't provide any security. Now let us see the other additions and observations made by MPC in its recent meeting. The MPC has maintained its projection for GDP expansion in the current fiscal at 10.5%. But MPC has noted that the consumer confidence has dipped. And this is a clear sign that there is uncertainty in our growth. Here it should be noted that IHS Markets Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index PMI Survey for March revealed that business sentiment has led to a 7 month low. What is Purchasing Managers Index? It is an indicator of economic health for manufacturing and service sectors. The PMI data is published by Japanese firm Nikai, but it is compiled and constructed by market economics. This PMI data provides an accurate and timely set of data to understand the industry conditions. The key feature of this index is released on monthly basis and it is not revised after publication. There are two types of PMI released for India. One is for the manufacturing sector and the other is for the service sector. So for the manufacturing sector, the purchasing managers of select companies in India are surveyed on variables such as output, new orders, stock levels, employment and prices. Coming to the service sector, the variables are business activity, new business, backlog of work, prices charge, input prices, employment, expectations for activity. Usually PMI above 50 means expansion while a score below 50 denotes contraction. Now let us see about the other observation made by MPC. The MPC noted that the headline inflation was at 5% in February 2021. So it has remained within the tolerance band set by the central government. And the core inflation has increased by 50 basic points to touch 6% in February. It also noted that there are both upside and downside pressure that may impact the trajectory of retail inflation. Since this article mentioned a lot of inflation terms, let us see about it. First, what is inflation? See, inflation refers to the rise in the average price of goods and services for a longer duration in the economy. And due to the increase in the prices, the purchasing power of the money will get reduced over a period of time. To put it simply, we need to spend more money to enjoy the same set of goods and services. Inflation in an economy is measured by indexes like consumer price index, wholesale price index and producer price index. These terms are very important from problems as well as mains perspective. The article also mentions headline inflation. See, headline inflation is the measure of total inflation within an economy. It includes price rise in food, fuel and all other commodities. Earlier in India, wholesale price index was used to calculate headline inflation. Now, consumer price index is used instead of wholesale price index as headline inflation. There is also another concept called core inflation. See, core inflation marks the change in the cost of goods and services, but it does not include food and energy sectors. The reason for excluding food and energy sectors are they are much more volatile compared to others. The core inflation is mostly calculated using CPA. And finally, let us talk about retail inflation. The retail inflation is the increase in price, which is experienced at retail shops. This gives the actual reflection of the price rise in the country. In India, the inflation rate at retail level is also measured by consumer price index. So with this, we have come to the end of this economic news analysis. This analysis is very important because many economic terms are asked repeatedly in problems as well as mains. So in this article, we have seen about monetary policy committee, report, reverse report, bank rate and various terms associated with inflation. Hope this maximizes its core and coming problems. With this, let us move on to the next article. Now, let us take up this editorial. This article talks about the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and its failure in understanding of women's right over her own body. So in this context, let us see about the MTP Act of 1971, its shortcomings, the recent changes to the Act and its still persisting issues. The syllabus relevant to this article is displayed on the screen. Asperance can go through it. See, way back in 1967, Shanti Lal et Shah committee submitted a report after studying the abortion laws. This report highlighted the lack of adequate technology at that time, which potentially made it a danger for women to have abortions done after the 20th week or fifth month. And subsequently, this paved way for the MTP Act of 1971. This MTP Act of 1971 specified the grounds and the time limit for terminating a pregnancy. Remember, during its adoption in 1971, this Act was considered to be a progressive one since it gave the chance to abort. This is because abortions back then were a crime and even the IPC Act provisions regarding the termination of pregnancy. Now, let us see in brief about some of the important provisions of the Act. First, let us see about the Section 3 of this Act. Section 3 of the Act prescribes for an abortion to be performed till 20 weeks or 5 months. But it can be done only when two doctors certify that continuing pregnancy may involve a risk to the physical or mental health of the person or that the child born would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities. In addition to all that, this Act also adds rape and the failure of contraception to be the circumstances in this regard. We have seen about the Section 3 of this Act. Now, let us move on to the Section 5. See, the Section 5 of the Act provides an exception to this fixed upper limit of 20 weeks. It provides an exception only when an abortion was immediately necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. See, there are two important court cases regarding this Act. These court cases can be used as value addition in your mains answer. The first case is Nikita Mehta v. State of Maharashtra. In this case, the court allowed abortions way past the 20th week limit. And next is Murugan Nayakar v. Union of Indian case wherein the abortion was permitted at 31 weeks, which is very close to full term. The Act, through its restrictions, has pushed women to seek abortions underground where terminations are carried out in unhygienic and dangerous places. And as per the article, about 8 lakh illegal and unsafe abortions are performed every year in India, among which many results in death. Now, let us see about the changes brought to the Act recently. The first important changes, the upper limit for permitting abortions was extended from 20 weeks to 24 weeks. Second, it provides for the opinion of one registered medical practitioner, RMP, for termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks of gestation. And the opinion of two RMPs for termination of pregnancy of 20 to 24 weeks. Earlier, the opinion of one RMP is needed for terminations up to 12 weeks and two RMPs if it is between 12 to 20 weeks. The Act also allows for the unmarried women to terminate a pregnancy due to contraceptive failure. And importantly, it provided for the constitution of a medical board, about which we will discuss now. See, the recent amendments to this Act required every state government to constitute a medical board. And this board consists of a gynecologist, pediatrician, radiologist and sonologist. And any other number of members as may be notified by the state government. As per Section 3, to be of this amendment Act, the pregnant women are required to approach the board in case of substantial fetal abnormalities or when she wants to terminate a pregnancy crossing the 24-week limit. These boards are considered to be a huge obstacles in reviewing pregnancy. Firstly, this board is considered to be a breach of pregnant women privacy. See, the decision of pregnant women's safety is an exchange between the pregnant women under gynecologists. But now it is replaced by a board of minimum of three doctors. This remains to be one of the serious objections from the women's side. Second, Section 3-2C provides for a single board for a state. This is not a good idea because millions of abortions take place in India past the deadline. It is impossible for one board to handle all the cases. Also, as per the records, the state doesn't have adequate finances or the human resource to maintain the operation and functioning of these boards. Apart from this, the other criticism of the amendment includes the acts failure in recognizing the absolute right of a women over her body and to reserve for the states the right over it. See, though the time limit has been pushed back from 20 to 24 weeks, it comes with the same state conditionalities as before. And importantly, the upper limit of 24 weeks is not a rational choice, especially at this technological era where abortions can be done safely up to full term of pregnancy. So with this, we come to the end of the segment. In this analysis, we have discussed about the medical termination of pregnancy at 1971, its shortcomings, the recent changes to this act, and its still persisting issues. Now let us move on to the next article. See, this news article talks about the center's decision to open the private sector to commence production of concentrated poppy straw from India's opium crop. The reason why we are doing this is to boost the yield of alkaloids. See, alkaloids is a chemical substance which is used for medical purpose and is exported to several countries. So in this context, let us have a brief understanding about opium poppy plant. See, the opium poppy has the scientific name, Papaware Somniferum. Opium poppy is an annual plant and can reach about 1 to 5 meters tall. It has lobed or silver-green foliage and bars, blue-purple or white flowers. Some of these flowers are 13 centimeter in width. The opium poppy is native to Turkey. Most poppies are found in the northern hemisphere and several species of poppies are cultivated as garden ornamentals. The poppy family is well represented in America. The best-known variety of poppies is California poppy. See, the California poppy is an annual plant with brilliant orange-colored flowers that is extensively naturalized in California, Australia and India. It is interesting to note that many alkaloids are derived from the milky latex found in the unripe seeds of poppy. Six opium alkaloids which occur naturally in poppy are morphine, narcotin, codin, tibine, papawarin, narsine. Of these, three are phenanthrin alkaloids and are under control of international regulations. They are morphine, codin, and tibine. Here, know that phenanthrin is a likely carcinogenic compound that pose a large toxicity risk to exposed living organisms. Morphine, codin, and tibine are used in drug industries. Coming to narcotin and narsine, they are not under any international control and have low medical and other uses. So consequently, the four important economically significant alkaloids of opium are morphine, codin, tibine, and papawarin. About 20 other alkaloids exist in opium, but they have little or no significance medically or economically up to the present time. Additionally, know that poppy is also grown for its tiny non-narcotic ripe seeds which are used in bakery products and for seasoning, oil, and bird seed. Now, let us see about poppy cultivation in India. See, the opium poppy cultivation is prohibited under section 8 of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances Act 1985. But it can be cultivated under a license issued by the Central Bureau of Narcotics under Rule 8 of NDPS Rules 1985. At present, the legal opium poppy cultivation is permitted by government in selected areas. They are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. India currently only extracts alkaloids from opium gum and it is extracted at the facilities controlled by the Revenue Department in the Finance Ministry. It is to be noted that India's opium crop area has been steadily declining over the years. And it is in this context that the ministry has now decided to switch to new technologies for higher extraction. And this comes after trial cultivation reports submitted last year by two private firms which showed that higher extraction of alkaloids is possible using concentrated poppy straws. With this, we have come to the end of the article. Now let us move on to the next one. This editorial is about deconstructing declarations of carbon neutrality. In this context, let us discuss some of the important carbon-related terms given by the author and other important points in this editorial. The syllabus for reference is displayed on the screen as friends can go through it. First of all, we need to understand what is carbon neutrality. According to IPCC, carbon neutrality is a state of balance between the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere and carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. This refers only to the carbon dioxide emissions or carbon emissions. Know that net zero emissions encompasses all greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, climate neutrality goes even further and considers all human impacts that affect the climate. Coming back to the editorial, the author cites a finding by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, ECIU. According to this finding, it says that nearly 32 countries have declared their plan to achieve carbon neutral status by mid of this century. Know that ECIU is a non-profit organization that supports informed debate on energy and climate change issues. Now to understand why countries are making declaration on their temperature goals, we need to understand some features of Paris Climate Agreement. Know that Article 2 of this agreement aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels. It also pursues effort to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels. We have seen about Article 2. Now let us see about Article 4 of Paris Agreement. According to Article 4, in order to achieve the goal under Article 2 of this agreement, parties should aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. They also have to recognize that peaking will take longer for developing countries. Then these parties have to undertake rapid reduction in accordance with best available science. So as to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions and removal of green gases in the second of this century. All these above goals should be done on the basis of equity and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. It also urges parties to prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contribution that each country intends to achieve. See, many of the developed countries and civil society organizations consider this as an individual commitment by all countries. But according to the author, the balance of emissions and removal of greenhouse gases is not sought on country-wise basis, but for the world as a whole. According to the author, this is clear from the Paris Agreement which says that its guiding principle includes the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in the light of different national circumstances. Now let us see the issues highlighted by the author. First of all, the author questions the compatibility of Article 4 and Article 2. So the question is whether the achievement of carbon neutrality is compatible with achieving the 1.5 degree centigrade or 2 degree centigrade goal. Also the compatibility of mid-century carbon neutrality goals of developed countries with the principle of equity and common but differentiated responsibility is also questioned. According to the author, the three-way compatibility between the temperature goals, carbon neutrality and equity is not guaranteed. The author further stresses that for the 2 degree centigrade goal current pressures are inadequate. The basis for this argument by the author is the data on global carbon budget. So what is global carbon budget? See global carbon budget is similar to financial budget where we check the balance between income and expenditure. Likewise for carbon, with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as relevant account, one quantifies input and output. A global carbon budget determines the input of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by emission from human activities, balanced by output in the carbon surveyors on land or in the ocean. So for any given number of emissions if less carbon goes into land or ocean, more will remain in the atmosphere. See as per the IPCC special report on global warming for a 50% probability of restricting temperature rise to less than 1.5 degree centigrade 480 giga tons of carbon dioxide equivalent is still remaining in the atmosphere. But the current rate of emission is on 42 giga tons equivalent per year. So the budget of 480 giga tons will be consumed in less than 12 years. The author says that keeping this target in mind, carbon neutrality has to be achieved by 2039 which is not practically feasible in the current situation. This issue is further enhanced by the all owners of national level carbon neutrality declaration by the developed country US, United States and European Union. For example, the US had peaked its emission in 2005 and it has declined at an average rate of 1.1% from then till 2017. Even if they are to achieve net zero by 2050, it would still be using 22% of the total remaining carbon budget for the world. So if the world wants to achieve that target other countries shall reduce emission at even faster rate. The author feels this is so unfair. In addition to that, US also owes more than 14 trillion dollars to the world for having used more than its fair share of carbon space in the past. Similar is the case with many European Union countries such as Germany. For example the European Union will have to reach net zero by 2033. Keeping in mind its fair share of the remaining carbon budget. So if the European Union reaches net zero only by 2050, it would consume more of the budget thus owing the world trillions of dollars. Because of all these above reasons, the author feels that India should not join this carbon neutrality declaration game. According to the author, India should focus on development both as its immediate need as well as its aspirational goal. At present, India does not owe a carbon debt to this world. Also, India's present low-carbon footprint is due to our utter poverty and deprivation of a majority of its population. Know that carbon footprint describes the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emission for which an individual or organization is responsible. So according to the author, India's emission are no more than 3.5 percent of global cumulative emissions from 1990. It is about 5 percent from 1990 till 2018. Hence the author says that India's declaration on carbon neutrality shall not be wise. It will reduce the burden of the developed world and transfer the burden back to the Indian people. See at present, India is facing twin burden of low-carbon development and adaptation to climate impact. To solve this, India's approach to net zero emission is dependent on large-scale emission reduction in the developed world. An adequate and unambiguous global carbon budget is also the need of the world. So India must take a target considering all this aspect so as to avoid falling into the low-development trap. With this, we have come to the end of climate change discussion. In this article, we have discussed about carbon neutrality. Article 2 and article 4 of Paris Climate Deal and we have also seen about national level carbon neutrality declarations and how India should play this game. With this, let us move on to the next article. Now look at this news article. Recently, at a speech during a campaign event, West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms. Bannerji was accused of making appeals to the minority voters. She requested the Muslim voters to not let their votes get divided among political parties. See, this issue was taken by election commission. Following this, election commission sent a notice that her appeal to minority voters was a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. So in this slide, let us discuss about Model Code of Conduct and its salient features. See, the Model Code of Conduct, MCC, is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission to regulate political parties and candidates before the elections. The Code ensures for a free and fair elections. The Model Code of Conduct is in relation with Article 324 of the Constitution which gives the Election Commission the power to supervise the elections to Parliament and State Legislatures. See, the Code continues to be in operation from the date the election schedule is announced till the date results are announced. The MCC is not enforceable by law. That is, the MCC does not have a statutory document or in other words, violation of many of its provision does not attract any punitive action. Our certain provisions of the Code may be enforced through invoking corresponding provisions in other laws such as Indian Penal Code 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 and Representation of People at 1951. Let us see this with an example. See, bribery to voters is both a correct practice and an electoral offense under Section 123 of Representation of People at 1951 and Section 171B of Indian Penal Code respectively. So, it is punishable under these laws though it is not punishable under Model Code of Conduct. It is interesting to know that the Election Commission is against the idea of making MCC to be legally binding. This is because election must be completed within a relatively short time like 45 days. So, on such a case, if it is made legal then the judicial proceedings on violations may typically take a longer time period. Moreover, any judicial pronouncement after the election is over would have lost relevance. Therefore, the Election Commission has been repeatedly reiterating its view that MCC will lose its whole efficacy if all its provisions are converted into electoral offence or correct practices. In contrast to that, in 2013 the Standing Committee on Personal Public Grievances Law and Justice recommended for making this code to be legally binding. According to this committee, it observed that most provisions of MCC are already enforceable through corresponding provision in other laws like IPC, Code of Criminal Procedure and Representation of People Act. So, it recommended for making MCC to be a part of Representation of People at 1951. MCC contains 8 provisions and they deal with issues like general conduct, meetings, processions, polling day, polling booth, observers, party in power and election manifestos. So, with this, we have come to the end of model code of conduct discussion. In this article, we discussed about MCC, its features, whether we should make it legally binding or not. With this, let us move on to the next article. This news article is about an Iranian ship which was attacked in the Red Sea. This attack is allegedly launched by Israel as retaliation for the past Iranian attacks. In this regard, let us see about Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. See, Red Sea is a narrow strip of water. It extends from Suez in Egypt to Babel Mandab Strait. The Babel Mandab Strait connects Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Aden leads to the Arabian Sea. And, geologically speaking, the Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aquaba are considered as the northern extension of the Red Sea. It is important to note that Red Sea connects with the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal. Red Sea borders Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea to the west, and Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Israel, and Jordan to the east. It contains some of the world's hottest and saltiest sea water. Red Sea joins Suez Canal. Therefore, it is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world and carries the maritime traffic between Europe and Asia. This is because the southern off of the Red Sea has growth of coral reefs. These coral reefs have restricted the navigable channel and block some arbor facilities. Additionally, atmospheric distortion, sandstorms, and highly irregular water currents add to the navigational hazards. Additionally, Red Sea is among the top areas of high fish endemism in the world. As about 14.7% of the Red Sea fishers are of endemic species. Now, let us move on to Gulf of Aden. See, Gulf of Aden is popularly known as Gulf of Berbera. It is a deep water basin that forms a natural ceiling between the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. It is situated between the coast of Arabia and the on of Africa. To the west, it narrows into the Gulf of Tajura. Countries that have coastlines on the Gulf are Yemen, Somalia, and Djibouti. The Gulf's marine life is rich in both the quantity and variety of its species. So, it is famous for its diverse marine species. It is also an important primary navigation route for the most of the oil transported from the Persian Gulf that is shipped through the Suez Canal. Now, let us see, practice questions discussion. The first question Which of the following countries border the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden? 1. Djibouti 2. Ethiopia 3. Israel 4. Jordan 5. Saudi Arabia Select the correct answer from the code given below. The correct answer is Option C 1, 3, 4, and 5 only. See, Ethiopia neither borders Red Sea nor the Gulf of Aden. Israel and Jordan borders Red Sea because Red Sea's northern extension Gulf of Aquaba borders these countries. Now, let us move on to the second question. Consider the following statements with reference to inflation in Indian context. First statement core inflation is the measure of total inflation within an economy including price rise in food fuel. Second statement headline inflation is calculated using wholesale price index. Third statement, retail inflation gives the actual reflection of the price rise in the country which of the above statements are correct. See, from the discussion of the article we know that first statement is incorrect. Core inflation marks the change in the cost of goods and services but it does not include food and energy sectors. The reason for excluding food and energy sector is because their prices are much more volatile compared to others. Coming to the second statement, it is also incorrect. Earlier in India wholesale price index was used to calculate headline inflation but now CPI is used instead of WPI. Only the third statement is correct. Retail inflation is the increase in price which is experienced at retail shops. This gives the actual reflection of the price rise in the country. So the answer is D 3 only. Moving on to the third question. Consider the following statements about the model code of conduct. First statement it is issued by the election commission to regulate political parties and candidates before the elections. Second statement, it is not enforceable by law. Third statement it is an operation from the management of election schedule till the date of results. Which of the statements given are correct. As discussed from the article we can know that all the three statements are correct. So the answer is D 1, 2 and 3. Moving on to the fourth question. Consider the following statements with reference to opium poppy sometimes seen in news. First statement, morphine, codeine and thebine are naturally occurring alkaloids of poppy plant. Second statement, opium poppy cultivation is permitted by government of India in some states. Which of the above statements are correct. The answer is C both 1 and 2 are correct statements. 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 Hindu news analysis. If you like this video, don't forget to click, like, share and comment. Subscribe to Shankarae's Academy channel for more UPSC updates. Thank you.