 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the interview analysis brought to you by Shankar IAS Academy. Today's date is 31st of May 2022. The list of articles we are going to discuss today is displayed on the screen, you can go through it. Now let's start our discussion with this previous year preliminary question. Let me read out the question, consider the following statements. As per law, the Compensate Tree Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority exists at both national and state levels. Statement two, people's participation is mandatory in the Compensate Tree Afforestation Program carried out under the Compensate Tree Afforestation Fund Act 2016. Now we have to find the correct statement here. See we will try to solve this question in two different ways. First we will try to solve this question by using our knowledge and then we will try to solve this question without knowing anything about this act. See firstly Compensate Tree Afforestation Fund Act 2016 provides for setting up of national authority to be called National Compensate Tree Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority. The same act also provides for state compensatory afforestation fund management and planning authority in each state. So simply Kampa exists at both central and state level. So statement one is correct and if you go through the act that is the Compensate Tree Afforestation Fund Act 2016, it is nowhere mentioned that people participation is mandatory. So this statement is incorrect. So we can conclude that our answer is option A1 only. Now let's assume you don't know anything about Kampa Act. Now how to solve this question? See just think of other statutory bodies like Human Rights Commission and Information Commission. We know that it exists both at central and state level. That is National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commission or Central Information Commission and State Information Commission. So here this authority that is Compensate Tree Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority may exist at both central and state levels. So we can assume that statement one is correct. So coming to the second statement it says people's participation is mandatory. See this statement is quite extreme and people cannot be asked to participate mandatory in the process. So this statement will be mostly incorrect. So we can go with option A which is one only. See even if you don't know the exact answer, try to apply some logic. You will get the answer. Now let's move on to our article discussion. See this article here. It is a text and context article. And according to the article Union Finance Minister has said that transition away from coal as a fuel for power would be disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine war. So this statement here is the essence of the article given here. In this context we are going to understand the need to move away from coal and the extent of India's coal dependence and finally we will see how the war has made difficult for India to move away from coal. Okay. Before that the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. You can go through it. Now let's start our discussion by seeing the extent of India's dependence on coal. See as of February 2022 the installed capacity for coal based power generation across the country was 2 lakh megawatt. This accounts for about 51.5 percentage of power from all sources. When compared with this the installed capacity based on natural gas is only about 25,000 megawatt. So it is only a mere 6.3 percentage of all installed capacity. Additionally know that renewable power accounted for nearly 1 lakh megawatt or you can say 27 percentage. So from this data we can safely say that India is heavily dependent on coal for power generation. Okay. See the government is also working on technologies and other methods to reduce this dependency and apart from this coal based power stations are retired periodically. But it is not good enough to make any big difference. This is because the coal based power plants are not retired fastly and at the same time new additions are also being made. For example in 2020 India added 6765 megawatt power capacity based on coal as a fuel. But during the same period only 2335 megawatt was retired. See this is understandable because coal is still inexpensive compared with other sources of energy. See I will give you a data here. According to IEA's coal report 2021 India's coal consumption will increase at an average annual rate of 4 percentage. So India will need a coal of 1.18 billion tons in 2024. So it is definitely not easy to shift away from coal overnight. Now why is it important to move away from coal? The main reason is the threat of global warming. See the threat is increasing over the planet and it is promising to bring about unprecedented natural calamities. And an effective way to keep the danger at bay is to cut the use of fossil fuels such as coal natural gas and oil. And why should we cut the use of these three fuels alone? This is because about 80 percentage of world's energy requirements are met by these three fuels that is coal natural gas and oil. See these three fuels contribute to global warming by triggering the emission of carbon dioxide. However the worst culprit of them all is coal which emits nearly twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas. And about 60 percentage more than oil. This is based on a kilogram to kilogram comparison. Combusting coal also leaves behind partially burnt carbon particles that feed pollution and trigger respiratory disorders. The consequence of these chemical reactions gains great significance because the power sector in India accounts for 49 percentage of total carbon dioxide emission compared with the global average of 41 percentage. And these are the reasons India should move away from coal. Having seen this now let us see how war made it difficult for India to move away from coal. See natural gas has been considered as a transition fuel in India's plan to move away from coal. But the international cost of natural gas has increased too high to be financially viable. See on May 17, 2022 the price per metric million British thermal unit of gas was 1425 compared with just 500 in April 2021. So the war has made the price fluctuate which serves as a concern for India. See while renewable energy sources are cheaper than coal their ability to generate power consistently is subject to the whims of nature. Because we cannot harness the wind energy and the solar energy whenever we want. But on the other hand coal can give you power on demand and the storage technologies are still not mature enough to help renewable energy sources become reliable generators of power and this factor also made it difficult for India to move away from coal. So that is all about the article. In this news article discussion we saw about the extent of India's dependence on coal and why India should move away from coal. And then finally we saw how the war has made it difficult for India to move away from coal. Okay with these key learned points let us move on to next news article discussion. See this article here it says that Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the release of benefits program under the PM care for children scheme through a video conference in New Delhi. And according to the article a total benefits for 4,430 children have been approved for the scheme. It is said that children who lost both their parents are a primary caregiver between March 11 2020 and February 28 2022 are eligible for the scheme. See the scheme offers a lump sum amount of rupees 10 lakh when a child turns 23 years old. The scheme also offers a monthly stipend from the age of 80 to 23. Other benefits are also there it includes school going children will receive free education textbooks and uniforms in the nearest government schools. Those in the private schools may avail themselves of free reimbursement. Students can also take loans for professional courses and higher education. And that is all about the news article. Now let us use this opportunity to revise about PM CARS fund. See it is a public charitable trust under the name of Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situation Fund that is PM CARS fund. The fund has been set up keeping in mind the need for having a dedicated fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation like COVID. And it has been set up to provide relief to the affected people also. See as I already said PM CARS fund has been registered as a public charitable trust and it has been registered under the Registration Act 1908 at New Delhi on 27th of March 2020. With this basic understanding let us see the objectives. The first objective is to undertake and support relief or assistance of any kind relating to a public health emergency or other kinds of emergency calamity or distress whether it is manmade or natural. And it also includes providing funding for the creation and upgradation of healthcare and pharmaceutical facilities and other infrastructure. And additionally it also funds relevant research. The next objective is to render financial assistance, provide grants of payments of money or take such steps to help the affected population. Now let us see the Constitution of the Trust. The Prime Minister is the ex official chairman of the PM CARS fund and Minister of Defense, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance are ex official trustees of the fund. Secondly, the chairperson of the Board of Trustees who is the Prime Minister will have the power to nominate the members to the Board of Trustees. Note that three members that is three trustees would be nominated and they should be eminent persons in the field of research, health, science, social work, law, public administration and philanthropy. Now let us see some other significant points related to the scheme. See the fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals or organizations and it does not get any budgetary support. And note that donations to PM CARS fund would qualify for 80 G benefits for 100% exemption under the income tax act. And donations to PM CARS fund will also qualify to be counted as corporate social responsibility expenditure under the company's act of 2013. Okay, these are very important points. One is it gets 100% exemption under the income tax act 1961 and then it will also qualify to be counted as corporate social responsibility expenditure under the company's act of 2013. And apart from this PM CARS fund has also got exemption under the FCRA Act and a separate account for receiving foreign donations has been opened. So this enables PM CARS fund to accept donations and contributions from individuals and organizations based in foreign countries. Okay, so that's all regarding this news article. In this news article we have discussed about PM CARS fund. The primary objective of this fund is to deal with any kind of emergency or distress situation like COVID. And this fund has been recognized as a public charitable trust and has been registered under the registration act of 1908 at New Delhi. And then we have discussed two significant features of PM CARS fund. One is it would qualify for 100% exemption under the income tax act 1961 and it will be counted as a corporate social responsibility that is CSR expenditure under the company's act 2030. So with these key learned points let's move on to next news article discussion. Look at this news article. This news article talks about the special armed force camp at Perurkada. Chief minister Pinarai Vijayan on Monday inaugurated a project to create a Miyawaki forest on the premises. This SAP camp may soon be transformed into another green lung in the urban environment. See the project seeks to create a green island as a biofence on one side of the camp. This is the crux of the news article given here. So in this context let us discuss about the Miyawaki forest in prelims perspective. Then we will discuss about the concerns about these forests which are important for our preliminary as well as main system okay. See Miyawaki is a method of afforestation. It is a Japanese method of afforestation. This is to grow urban forests and expand the green cover. Also this is used to meet the stipulated plantation target. See Miyawaki is a technique pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. This technique helps to build dense native forest in a very short time okay. See this Miyawaki method has revolutionized the concept of urban afforestation by turning backyards into mini forests. This method includes planting trees as close as possible in the same area. Note that here we are talking only about the planting of native species okay. See the closeness in plantation not only saves space but also supports each other in growth and blocks sunlight reaching the ground thereby preventing the growth of weed. The sap links become maintenance free that is self sustainable after the first three years okay. See the main criteria is that the Miyawaki approach is supposed to ensure that the plant growth is 10 times faster. Also it should ensure that the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual. So Miyawaki method helps to create a forest in just 20 to 30 years. See when we take the conventional methods it takes anywhere between 200 to 300 years okay. Now let us see how does this Miyawaki forest is created. That is we will discuss about the Miyawaki process. See the native trees of the region are identified and divided into four layers. They are scrub, subtree, tree and canopy. Then the quality of the soil is analyzed and then the biomass is mixed with the soil. See the biomass would help enhance the perforation capacity, water retention capacity and nutrients in the soil okay. And after this a mound is built with the soil and the seeds are planted at a very high density. For example three to five sample links are planted per square meter and so the ground will be covered with a thick layer of mulch and this will help to build dense native forest in a very short time okay. Now having understood about this basics of Miyawaki forest now let us take a step ahead to see what are all the concerns related to this. See this kind of forest lacks some qualities of a natural forest. What are they? Miyawaki forest lack qualities like medicinal properties and the ability to bring the rain. See we can term them as fast growing plantations and cannot be termed as forest because they are actually wood lots. That is a parcel of a woodland or a forest capable of small scale production of forest products such as wood fuel, sap for maple syrup, saw logs and pulpwood. Also it can be used for recreational uses like bird watching, bushwalking and wildflower appreciation. But still it cannot be termed as a forest. See several environmentalists have questioned the efficacy of the method especially the one that accelerates the growth of trees and claims to match a forest complex ecosystem. This is because it is not a good idea to force plants to photosynthesize fast. That is all about this news article. In this news article we saw about Miyawaki method. It is a method of afforestation. It is a Japanese method pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. This is to grow urban forest and expand the green cover. And then we have discussed about some pros and cons associated with Miyawaki method of afforestation. With these key learned points let us move on to next news article discussion. Look at this text and context article. This article talks about the effect of foreign corrupt practices act. This act though well-intentioned has led to the phenomena of bribe switching. So today in our discussion we will look at the concept of bribe switching. Now let us start our discussion. First what is the foreign corrupt practices act? See the foreign corrupt practices act of 1977 is a US federal law that prohibits US citizens and US business entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interest. This act that is FCPA act imposes heavy fines and other penalties on American firms engaging in corrupt practices. It is one of the few well implemented laws. Many believed that this law would lead to a fall in corruption and an improvement in the economy. But in reality this did not happen. What actually happened is bribe switching. Now what is bribe switching? See when the cost of getting bribes in the legal market increases due to laws like this FCPA the public officials will move to the illegal market to get the bribes. So in reality the bribes did not come down instead bribe moves from legal to illegal markets. For example a government official might allow the illegal sale of liquor in the black market to flourish in exchange for bribes when he or she can no longer easily obtain bribes for legal entities like an investment project. So bribe shifted to black market in that countries. For example take the case of America. See when American firms could no longer offer bribes due to FCPA regulations the size of the black economy increased by as much as 0.25 percentage points. That is all about the text and context article. Now you may have a question. How is this discussion relevant for our examination? See actually the new term that we discussed today that is bribe switching can be a statement in our preliminary examination. As well as it can be used in our main answer also. Say there is a main question that goes like strict implementation of anti-corruption laws is the only solution to address the menace of corruption critically analyze. Since this is a critically analyze type question we have to write a few points supporting the statements and few points opposing the statement. Finally we have to arrive at the conclusion. In the part where we have to write a few points opposing the statements you can directly mention about bribe switching. You can mention how very strict implementation of anti-corruption law might lead to an increase in black economy. Okay you can even code the example of FCPA that we discussed today in your answer. This will make your answer unique and fetch you more marks. See main answer writing is all about resourcefulness. Stay curious and try to include as much as information as possible you learn in your main answer. Hope this was helpful with all these learned points. Let us move on to next part of our news article discussion which is preliminary practice questions discussion. Now look at the first question consider the following statements. Individuals or organization whose income is above 50 lakhs per annum are required to mandatory contribute a certain percentage to the PM CARS fund and it is voluntary for people having income below 50 lakhs per annum. Second statement contribution to PM CARS fund will be counted as CSR expenditure under the company sector of 2013. We have to find the correct statements here. See statement one it is absolutely wrong because the fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals or organizations. The contribution is not mandatory okay and regarding statement two it is correct. We have seen that donations to PM CARS fund will also qualify to be counted as CSR expenditure under the company sector. So here statement one is wrong two is correct and the question demands correct statement so our answer will be option B2 only. Look at the second question it is regarding Miyawaki forest. Consider the following statements with reference to the Miyawaki forest. It is a method of afforestation where the invasive species are planted. In this method there is closeness in plantation. It is a technique pioneered by Japanese partners Akira Miyawaki. Here also we have to find the correct statement. See the first statement it is incorrect because it is a method of afforestation where the native species are planted and it is not the invasive species okay. Regarding the second statement it is correct because in this method there is closeness in plantation where there are 3 to 5 sampling per square meter okay and statement three it is also correct. Yes this we saw in our discussion right Miyawaki forest is a technique pioneered by Japanese bottomist Akira Miyawaki. So statement one is wrong two and three are correct and the question demands correct statement so our answer will be option C2 and three only. See the main questions are displayed here write your answer and post it in the comment section. 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