 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Iyer's Academy for the date 7th of December 2019. Today, we shall be seeing some important news articles like the Private Members Bill, then about Geo Textiles and such other news articles which are displayed here along with the page numbers of five different editions. The handwritten notes in the PDF format and the timestamping of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis is given in the description section and also in the common section for the benefit of the smartphone users. Now let us move on to our discussion session. This news article is about a private member bill to scrap the poll limits. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. This news article mentions that Rajesh Sabha which is also called as Upper House or the Council of States has discussed certain private member bills. One such private member bill which was proposed was to substitute a provision with other provision which allows for scrapping or removing of poll spending limits. So in this context, first let us see what do we mean by a private member bill. Then we shall see some comparisons between a private member bill and a government bill and finally we shall be seeing the news article which is about the proposed private member bill. See we know that the basic function of parliament is to make laws and all the legislative proposals have to be brought in the form of bills before the parliament. A bill is a statute or law which is in draft form and it cannot become a law unless it has received the approval of both the houses of parliament and then the ascent of the President of India. So this means the process of law making begins with the introduction of a bill in either house of the parliament. This bill can either be introduced by a minister or a member who is other than a minister. If it is introduced by a minister then it is called as a government bill or public bill. And if it is introduced by a person who is other than a minister then it is known as a private members bill or a private bill. A person refers to the member of parliament and minister refers to the council of ministers which include the cabinet ministers as well as the ministers of state. And if you see both government bills and private bills are governed through the same general procedure and they are passed through same stages in the house. But still there are some differences other than who introduces it. So let us see them now. The major difference between a government bill and a private member bill is that the government bill reflects the policies of the government. That is the policies of the ruling party whereas a private member bill will reflect the stand of the opposition party on a particular public matter. Then if you see the government bill has a greater chance to be approved by the parliament when compared to a private bill because it will be the ruling party who is in majority which will pass the bill. The next difference is if a government bill is rejected then it amounts to the expression of want of parliamentary confidence in the government. So when a government bill is rejected sometimes it might also lead to the resignation of the government. But if you see in case of a private member bill if it gets rejected there are no implications on the parliamentary confidence in the government or its designation. The next difference is in case of a government bill it is being drafted by the concerned department in consultation with the law department whereas in case of private bill it is being drafted by the member of the parliament who wishes to introduce the bill. So it is a responsibility of that member to consult umso ever and draft that particular private bill. So these are some of the differences between a private member bill and a government bill. So this is all the background about private members bill. Now let us discuss the private member bill which is discussed in this news article. This particular bill is the representation of the people amendment bill 2014 which was moved by the member of Rajiz Abba in the last session. This bill aims to amend the representation of people act 1951. The main proposal in this bill is to remove per candidates expenditure limit for elections of 70 lakh rupees. See the spending limit is mentioned in rule 90 of conduct of election rules of 1961. According to this rule the poll expenditure for a Lok Sabha constituency was 40 lakh rupees but if you see this was increased to 70 lakh by the election commission of India. So this amendment bill proposes to remove this expenditure limit of 70 lakh rupees. So it tries to amend section 77 subsection 3 of this representation of people act 1951. So this section 77 is about election expenses and this subsection 3 of section 77 states the total of the said expenditure shall not exceed such amount as may be prescribed. Now this bill proposes a substitution in place of this current clause in place of this subsection. Now this private members bill proposes to substitute the present subsection 3 with statement which is nothing contained in this act shall be construed to impose a limit on the amount of expenditure that can be incurred by a candidate or a selection agent in connection with the election. So basically this amendment proposes to scrap the prescribed spending limit. The main issue with this expenditure limit as mentioned in this private members bill is that the parties cannot spend their money which was legitimately raised. Also if we take inflation into account the cost of election campaigning and maintenance cost of political parties is only increasing and if any candidate who exceeds the prescribed limit will face disqualification. So the bill claims that in practice such limits prevent honest and current disclosure of candidates expenditures and it also drives the election expenditure underground. So these are some of the negative impacts of election expenditure limits. So these are some of the negative impacts of having election expenditure limits because these are counter productive to healthy democratic competition as mentioned in this private members bill. So it is expected that the removal of election spending limits will promote open and publicly visible expenditure thereby it will induce honest reporting by the candidates who run for the election. And this in turn will curb the use of black money in the electoral process as well. So these were some of the reasons given by the member of Rajesh Abba while introducing this private members bill. This is all about the discussion of this news article and this news article we have seen what is meant by private member bill then about the difference between the government bill and the private member bill and finally about the news article. Now have a look at the practice question let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about geotextiles in particular about coir geotextiles the syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Before seeing the news article we shall be seeing about what is meant by geotextile about the functions and uses of geotextile. Before understanding the geotextile first let us see the definition for textiles. Geotextile is a term that comes from the Latin word texer which means to weave so textile is a fabric that is made from yarn which is knitted or woven. The textile industry is responsible for taking the raw material like cotton or wool or coir and then spinning it into yarn which is later used to create the fabric. So this is how we get our fabrics with which we make shirts trousers etc. Now we will see what is meant by geotextiles. Geotextile is a permeable textile material which is mainly used to improve the soil characteristics. See it has the ability to separate or filter or reinforce then protect and drain when they are used in association with soils and if you see these geotextiles are of two types one is the synthetic geotextile and the other is the natural geotextile. In synthetic geotextiles mostly polymers are used but if you see in case of natural geotextiles natural fibers like coir or jute are used in the making of geotextiles. Next let us see the functions of geotextiles. See how a particular geotextile operates in any application is defined by six functions. One is filtration, the next is drainage, the next is reinforcement, the next is cushion, next is waterproofing and finally separation. So based on these six functions the geotextiles work. For example the first function is the filtration. Now how geotextiles act as a filter? They retain the soil particles as the water is allowed to flow through the soil. So this is how they act as a filter. The next function is drainage, the geotextiles act as a drain by gathering and discharging liquids or gases which are not required functionally by the structure. So this is how they act as a drain. The next function of geotextiles is reinforcement, reinforcement is nothing but to strengthen or support a particular object or substance especially with additional material. So here the object or substance is the soil which is in the lower layer. The additional material is the geotextile. So this is how geotextile acts in reinforcing the soil matrix. And next if you see the geotextiles also acts as a cushion that is the soft soil or the soil which is in the lower layer will not be disturbed because of the presence of this geotextile which acts as a cushion. And if you see certain synthetic geotextiles act as waterproofing agents and they also perform the function of separation. That is they act as a separation medium between two different mediums. So these are the functions of the geotextile based on which they are used in any application. Now let us see some of the important uses of geotextiles. If you see the geotextiles are used in the construction of the roads then they are also used in railway works. Then if you see they are used as erosion control blankets to prevent the soil erosion as you can see in this picture. So we can see that geotextiles help in soil conservation. So these are some of the important applications of geotextiles. Now if you look at this diagram here geotextiles acts as the best way to reclaim the top soil in a slant or hilly terrain. As you can see here usually if you see soil erosion happens in such slant or hilly terrains but with the help of geotextile it is possible to retain the soil layer which is below by performing functions such as reinforcement. But also if you see crops have grown in this particular terrain within 4 to 6 months. So this is how geotextile acts as a very important tool to soil conservation. Now we saw that there are two types of geotextiles one is the synthetic and the other is the natural. Coir is one such natural geotextile. If you see it is the thickest and the most resistant of all commercial natural fibers. It is a coarse short fiber which is extracted from the outer shell of the coconuts. Now one key advantage of coir is that it has a very low decomposition rate that is it will not get decomposed so fast hence it is very much suitable in making durable geotextiles. So this is how coir is useful as a natural geotextile. Therefore to promote coir and natural fiber the state government of Kerala has been organizing the annual international event which is Coir Kerala. So this happens every year. And now this news article mentions that the 8th edition of Coir Kerala Fair is happening at Alapura. This event aims at exploring and expanding the international market for coir products from Kerala and to encourage the use of latest machinery and technology in the coir production sector. This event is also aimed to promote coir geotextiles as an alternative to synthetic geotextiles. In this Coir Kerala Fair it was stressed that coir fiber is the future fiber. So securing the future of coir industry depends on diversifying the products obtained from coir like especially enhancing the production of coir geotextiles and its use in fields such as road construction, erosion control blankets and so on. It also stressed that coir based products can be promoted as an alternative to single use plastic products. But there are certain challenges in this coir industry. One is that this coir sector needs to be modernized because even now a planning coir is done in a very traditional and mostly in a manual manner. The next challenge is that there is a need for protection of the traditional coir workers. Also if you see there is stiff competition from the synthetic geotextiles. So this needs to be addressed. Next if you see there is a shortage of coconut fiber in Kerala because apart from making geotextiles they are also used in making ropes majorly. But as of now there is a growing demand for geotextiles. So we can see that there is a shortage of coconut fiber. Therefore to meet the growing demand for the coir geotextiles there is an urgent need for modernization and the automation of the coir sector and also there is a need to ensure remunerative prices for the coir raw materials. So this is all about the discussion of this news article. In this news article we have seen what is meant by geotextile, the functions and applications of geotextile. Then about the types of geotextile especially the natural geotextile under which the coir geotextile comes. In this context we saw the news article which is about the coir Kerala fair which is happening at Alapara in Kerala. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This editorial is about climate change and its consequences. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this editorial is given here for your reference. We know that the United Nations Climate Change Conference, nothing but the COP25 is being held at Madrid, the capital city of Spain. It started on 2nd of December and it will continue till 13th of December. So until then we will be getting a lot of news articles and editorials related to climate change, global warming and related issues. So this is one such editorial. In this editorial the author has tried to stress the importance of this particular conference. First he has cited two important reports of IPCC, nothing but the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. One report is the special report on climate change and land. See the full name of this report is Climate Change and Land and IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. So this report is basically on the effects of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems. Now let us see some of the important facts that have been mentioned in this report. Now all these are important in the context of the ongoing COP25. First this report warns that the world's land and water resources are being exploited at unprecedented rates. That is they are being overexploited and all these have contributed to the increasing greenhouse gas emissions and also to the loss of natural ecosystems. And they have also contributed to the decline of biodiversity. Now when this overexploitation is combined with climate change, it is putting extreme pressure on the ability of the humans to feed themselves. It simply means food security of the humans becomes a question. Now how because overexploitation leads to land degradation, particularly in certain areas like the low-lying coastal areas, river deltas, dry lands and also in some permafrost areas. Now how can climate change aggravate the land degradation processes? It can happen through the increase in the rainfall intensity or maybe because of flooding or maybe because of drought frequency and severe heat stress, dry spells, wind sea level rise and wave actions and also because of permafrost thaw. Your thawing is nothing but the process of a frozen substance becoming liquid or soft as a result of warming up. So this is how climate change aggravates the land degradation process or we can tell it exacerbates the land degradation process. Then this report has also noted that global warming has led to the shifting of climate zones in many regions across the world. Especially if you see the arid climate zones are expanding in size and the polar climate zones are contracting. So as a consequence of this shifting, many plant and animal species have experienced changes in their ranges, abundances, et cetera. So then and there we get news articles that certain species are becoming extant or certain species are becoming near threatened. So far we have seen how this report has told that land degradation happens and the pressure on land because of the effect of climate change. So all this has contributed to affect the food security of humans both in terms of crops as well as livestock. Because the productivity is very much affected because of all these events. Then this report also tells that there is evidence that the agricultural pests and diseases have already started responding to climate change. So both negative and positive are there because of this. In some cases the infestations have decreased but in some cases the infestations have increased. This report also points out that based on indigenous and local knowledge, the climate change is affecting food security in the dry lands. Particularly in the African continent and also in the high mountain ranges of Asian and South American continents. Then this report also discusses about desertification. It tells that more than half a billion people live in places that experience desertification. Here desertification is nothing but the process of a place turning into a desert that is having desert like conditions. This report tells that the soil is being lost between 10 and 100 times faster than it's forming. These are some of the important findings of the report that you need to know. So the first report is the special report on climate change and land. Now coming to the second report, which is the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate. The first report was on terrestrial ecosystems. Now this report is on the ocean ecosystems and also the cryosphere. Here cryosphere is nothing but the frozen components of the earth system at the land surface as well as the ocean surface. Then it also includes the frozen components of earth below the land and ocean surface. These can include snow cover, glaciers, ice sheets, ice shelves, icebergs, sea ice, lake ice, then river ice, permafrost and also seasonally frozen grounds. Now according to this report, it tells that the oceans are an extreme threat because of climate change. As a result of climate change, terrible changes are taking place in the oceans and also in the cryosphere. If you see particularly this report notes that within a rough framework of around 25 years, the rate or the speed of ocean warming has more than doubled to be specific. Since the year 1993, the rate of ocean warming has more than doubled. Now all these changes in the oceans and cryosphere are taking place because of conditions like increased temperatures, ocean acidification, marine heat waves and also because of extreme El Nino and La Nina events. Here ocean acidification refers to the reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period like for decades or even longer than decades. Now why it happens is because there is a lot of absorption or uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which results in this ocean acidification. Next if you see the marine heat waves, these refer to a period of extreme warm sea surface temperature which can persist for days to months and which can also extend up to thousands of kilometers on the oceans. Now these marine heat waves are detrimental or they affect the coral reef systems and also the dependent aquatic life systems. So we can tell that fishery will be affected because of the loss of coral reefs as a result of marine heat waves. One good example is the loss of Great Barrier Reef in Australia which was in news in the past two years because of marine heat waves. The next reason why the changes in oceans and cryosphere are taking place is because of the extreme El Nino and La Nina events. We have discussed about this in our previous sessions. Now you just remember that whenever it is El Nino it affects the summer monsoon in June to September in India which is the Southwest monsoon. So know that El Nino is associated with the weakening of trade winds which is the driving factor for the Southwest monsoon in India. So whenever there is El Nino, the Southwest monsoon mostly gets affected because of which droughts happen in India because if you see India's majorly monsoon dependent nation. So when there is no rain, droughts are likely to happen. And know that whenever it is La Nina, India experiences extreme rainfall and associated floods. So this is how changes in the ocean and cryosphere happens. So loss of ice is nothing but the ice gets converted into water and now because of this the sea levels will rise in an alarming manner. And if you see whenever there is an increase in tropical cyclone winds or whenever there is an increase in rainfall and extreme waves, all these events combined with the relative sea level rise will further aggravate the sea level events. So this is like a cycle. So all these events together will affect the health of the various aquatic species in the ocean. And we might also lose some species. Now particularly how it will affect the countries is these events are likely to happen every year in higher frequencies. So it will especially affect those countries which have longer coastlines. Now India is one such country with a longer coastline. So it will affect India as well. Now the issue is because along the coastlines there are cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Trivandrum which has a huge population. And many people live in the low-lying coastal areas and also in the small islands across the world. So whenever changes happen in the ocean and cryosphere it is likely to affect them. Now the author tells that the population in the low level coastal areas may go up to 1 billion by the year 2050. So you can imagine if there is any problem it is going to affect all this 1 billion population. So these are some of the important takeaways from this report on the ocean and cryosphere. So we have seen two reports so far and some of the important takeaways from the reports. Now based on these two reports you can easily say that how much climate change is affecting almost everything on earth. So the author tells that discussing both these reports in this COP25 summit is quite important and also taking appropriate actions is equally important as per the author. So according to the author for this purpose the nations which are party to this UNFCCC have been trying to finalize measures under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. Now just know that this Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is about the voluntary cooperation, market-based and non-market-based approaches. The member nations are trying to finalize the measures to commodify carbon emission cuts and also to make it financially attractive to reduce the emissions. For example, they're suggesting to implement carbon credits, carbon trading systems in all the countries. Since in all these systems the carbon emissions are commodified. Now if you see it was thought that in COP25 which was held at Catowice, Poland would have finalized this Article 6 but still the negotiations are going on and we can hope that this Article 6 will be finalized at least in this COP25 which is happening at Madrid. So far we have seen about the reports of IPCC and about Article 6. Now based on these reports and assessment the author notes that there is a need for urgent action in all the countries which have significant greenhouse gas emissions. He indirectly refers to the industrialized nations. So all these industrialized nations should provide liberal and transparent funding to the developing countries under the Paris Agreement so that they can also develop without affecting the environment. Now the author is suggesting this based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities which is in short called as CVDRRC. See, this is a principle within this UNFCCC. It acknowledges the different capabilities of different nations and different responsibilities of those nations in addressing climate change. That is for example, India may not be able to spend which developed country like US or UK or some other nations spend on addressing the climate change. So there needs to be different responsibilities for the individual countries in addressing climate change. And if you see this principle is enshrined in the 1992 UNFCCC Treaty. So based on this principle, the author is suggesting that there should be a recognition that the rich countries reduce the carbon space available to the poor countries which are still in the developing phase. Based on this, the industrialized nations that is the developed nations should provide liberal and transparent funding to the developing countries so that they can also develop by starting industries without affecting the environment. Finally, in this editorial, the author suggests for augmenting the nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for all the countries. So he has told this in a very general manner. He tells that the present actions are inadequate to address the problem of climate change and reduce the carbon emissions. He tells that there is a huge gap or extremely large difference between the planned emission cuts under the nationally determined contributions of individual countries and what needs to be done by 2030 to contain the global temperature rise at 1.5 degree Celsius. Now the author is mentioning this because the main aim of this Paris Agreement is to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius in this century and then to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degree Celsius above the three industrial levels. Now between this 2 degree and 1.5 degree, if you see the 1.5 degree Celsius limit is significantly safer because it will save the earth from the worst impacts of climate change. But the reality is that the efforts taken under these nationally determined contributions are inadequate as of now. If you remember recently during our Hindu news analysis, we saw the emissions cap report of UNEP which also told that the present efforts taken by the countries to limit the temperature rise are not adequate. So the author also suggests the same that the countries should drive or put in more efforts to achieve this target. Now in this context, let us see the three important targets of India under this nationally determined contribution. One is to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percentage from 2005 level which is to be done by the year 2030. The second target is to achieve about 40 percentage cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by the year 2030. And the third target is to enhance the carbon sink that is to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This will be done by creating additional forest and tree cover by the year 2030. So far if you see India is performing good in its nationally determined contributions and according to experts, probably India will exceed the pledges it made under these NDCs as well. So India is one of the few countries which is performing good in its NDCs like this if every country can fulfill the targets in time then extreme catastrophic events can be completely avoided in the future but if not, we are going to lose a lot. So to summarize this editorial we have seen two reports of IPCC and then about article six of the Paris Climate Agreement which is under discussion in COP25. And finally the suggestions given by the author for the need to augment the nationally determined contributions. Working in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is related to the recently released notification regarding the e-commerce companies. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. So before seeing the news article first let us discuss in brief about the e-commerce entities. The term e-commerce means buying and selling of goods and services including digital products over a digital and electronic network that is with the help of internet. And the term e-commerce entity means a company which is incorporated under the Companies Act of 1956 or the Companies Act of 2013 or any foreign company covered under the Companies Act of 2013 or it can even be an office or a branch or agency in India as provided in section two of the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 which is owned or controlled by a person who is residing outside India and conducting the e-commerce business in India. Next if you see e-commerce entities in India can be classified into two types based on the model which they operate. One is based on the inventory model and the second is based on the marketplace model. Here the inventory based model of e-commerce means an e-commerce activity where inventory of goods and services is owned by an e-commerce entity and it is being sold to the consumers directly. And if you see in case of marketplace based model of e-commerce there will be an information technology platform by an e-commerce entity. This IT platform will act as a facilitator between the buyer and seller. So these are two types one inventory and the second is the marketplace. Now let us look into the present guidelines for FDI in e-commerce that is the foreign direct investment in e-commerce. At present if you see 100% FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace model of e-commerce. But if you see FDI is not permitted in case of inventory based model of e-commerce. And also just make a note that any violations of FDI regulations are covered by the penal provisions of the foreign exchange management act of 1999. Now this is all the background of e-commerce and e-commerce entities that you need to know. Now let us look at the news article. According to the news article the central government had issued a notification by amending this foreign exchange management act of 1999. It says that the e-commerce companies with foreign investments have to obtain a statutory auditor report by the end of September every year for the preceding financial year. This is basically to ensure that the e-commerce entities are functioning in compliance with the guidelines. In this context let us now see a press note which was issued in December 2018 by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade. This press note was issued by the department to provide clarity to FDI policy on the e-commerce sector with reference to a particular circular which was issued in 2017 which is the consolidated FDI policy circular. In the clarification the department had said that those e-commerce entities which provide a marketplace will not exercise ownership or control over the inventory. That is the stock which are intended to be sold. If in case it happens then that particular model will be treated as an inventory-based model. Also the press note told that the inventory of a vendor will be deemed to be controlled by the e-commerce marketplace entity. If more than 25 percentage of purchases of such vendor are from the marketplace entity or its group companies. Now this was basically issued by the department to ensure that an e-commerce company which is owning or controlling the inventory of a vendor will not be able to sell their products in their own portal. So this would avoid the e-commerce companies to promote their own products and it will also ensure a level playing platform for all the vendors and their products. Now let us understand this with a simple example. We know that Amazon or Flipkart are e-commerce entities. Now assume that they have 50 percentage stake in a particular mobile brand X. We just take the example of Amazon here. Amazon has 50 percent stake in a particular mobile brand X. Now if you see it can misuse its online platform to promote this particular brand X in which it has 50 percentage stake. Or Amazon can do one more thing. It can sell the bulk of this product to a third party vendor. This third party vendor will again sell this product in Amazon's Marketplace. Now in both these ways it will affect the other mobile brands which uses Amazon's Marketplace to sell their mobile products. So this particular 2017 circular intends to prevent this practice from happening. Now another complaint which was raised by the local traders is the deep discounts that are being given by the e-commerce entities like Amazon and Flipkart. This basically attracts the customers to online platforms. So the local traders are affected in terms of business. So we can see that from all these examples India needs a comprehensive e-commerce policy. With this objective the Department of Consumer Affairs had released draft guidelines on e-commerce few months back. If you remember we discussed this in detail on our sixth August analysis. We can hope that once if it becomes an act then it will address the concerns of the local vendors and it will also protect the interests of the consumers at the same time. We shall be discussing more on this once the act is passed. So for time being you just remember what e-commerce is. What are e-commerce entities? Then the two types of e-commerce entities and finally how the business of e-commerce entities affect the local vendors in India. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article has been developed by the Hindu to contradict a statement which has been made by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. See during the debate in Lok Sabha the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change had said that there were no Indian studies that showed a direct correlation between pollution and mortality. That is deaths caused because of pollution. As we know that pollution especially earth pollution affects our health adversely even certain reports by the health ministry had attributed earth pollution as a reason for several deaths in India. So this news article is telling that the statement which has been made by the Union Minister is a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand does. Here it means the environment ministry is not aware of what health ministry has provided. Because if you see exactly one year before that is in December 2018 a report was submitted by the India state level disease burden initiative. This report said that air pollution cost 1 in 8 deaths in India in the year 2017. Also it lowered the average life expectancy of Indians by 1.7 years. Life expectancy is nothing but the average time period that an individual is likely to live. Then this report also said that air pollution contributed more to the disease burden of Indians than those Indians who consume tobacco. So this simply means that air pollution reduces average life expectancy and it is a major cause of disease burden and deaths in India. Now in this context let us see in brief about this India state level disease burden initiative. See India is a very huge country in terms of population almost one fifth of the world's population live in India and different kinds of people live in different parts of India. So the health status and the drivers of health loss are expected to vary between different parts of the country and also between the states if you see. So a systematic knowledge of the local health status and local health trends is very much required to induce more efforts to improve the health of the population in that particular state or territory. So in view of this the India state level disease burden initiative was launched in October 2015 with support from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India. So the main aim is to address this crucial knowledge gap that exists in the states of India. And if you see this is a collaborative effort between the Indian Council of Medical Research Public Health Foundation of India then Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and also experts and stakeholders from about 100 institutions across India. So this is all about this particular initiative that you need to know from the exam point of view. Now if you remember during our 6th November analysis we discussed about national health profile 2019 and its outcomes. If you see as per this report acute respiratory infection account for 69.47 percentage of the total morbidity reported due to various communicable diseases in India in the year 2018. And in terms of mortality acute respiratory infections accounted for 27.21 percentage of the total cases. Now the main difference between morbidity and mortality is that morbidity means the state of being infected by a disease or a symptom of disease. Whereas mortality means death because of that particular disease or because of a symptom of that disease. And if you remember during the discussion we saw that the main reason for this acute respiratory infection is breathing of polluted air. When a person breathes in polluted air the particles and pollutants enter the respiratory system and it causes infection. So this is how air pollution increases morbidity and mortality. So we can see that there are some reports which were developed with the support of Union Health Ministry and the statement given by the Union Environment Minister clearly shows that the right hand does not know what the left hand does. It means that there is lack of coordination that is effective coordination between the two central ministries when it comes to important issues like this. Also we can tell that continuous efforts are required by the government to mitigate this issue of air pollution. It is not that this air pollution needs to be addressed only during the winter season. For example in case of Delhi where the government acts only when the pollution levels become severe. So continuous efforts are required to mitigate air pollution. To summarize this news article we have seen the statement by the Union Environment Minister that there is no direct correlation between pollution and mortality whereas some of the reports released with the support of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare show that there is a link between pollution and mortality. And also we have given an example of the National Health Profile 2019 which we discussed during our sixth number analysis to show that there is a link between pollution and mortality. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us now move on to the practice questions discussion session. Now look at the first question it tells that with reference to the private members bill consider the following statements. Two statements have been given and you need to choose the correct statements. The first statement it tells that it is presented only in Rajesh Abab. So whenever you get superlatives like only try to read the question again and make sure if that particular statement is correct or not. Know that private members bill can be presented in both the houses that is Lok Sabha as well as Rajesh Abab. One differentiating feature of the private members bill from the government bill is that in case of a private member bill it is being drafted by the member of Rajesh Abab or Lok Sabha himself or herself. Only the government bill is drafted by the concerned department in consultation with the law department. So this is the distinguishing feature between a private members bill and a government bill. Now with this fact you can tell that the second statement is wrong. Now this question asks you to choose the correct statements. Since both the statements are wrong the correct answer is option D neither one nor two. Now look at this question. This question is about geotextiles. Three statements have been given and you need to choose the correct statements. Look at the first statement. It tells geotextiles are synthetic or natural permeable textile material. Yes this statement is correct. They can either be natural or they can be synthetic and they are basically permeable textile materials. So the first statement is correct. Now look at the second statement. It tells that they are used to improve soil characteristics. Yes the main purpose of geotextiles is to improve the soil characteristics by certain functions like filtration, drainage, reinforcement, separation etc. So this statement is also correct. Now look at the third statement. It tells that they are used in road construction. The third statement is correct. One of the areas of application is in road construction. So this statement is also correct. Apart from road construction they are also used as erosion control blankets and sometimes they are also used in railway works. Now this question asks you to choose the correct statements. The correct answer is option D, one, two and three. Now look at the next question. The question is considered the following statements. This question is about the Paris climate agreement. They have given two statements and you need to choose the correct statement. Now look at the first statement. It tells that Paris agreement's central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century. Well below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Now this statement is wrong because the main aim is to keep the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius and then if possible to drive efforts to limit this temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. So it is not 1.5 degrees it is actually 2 degrees. So the first statement goes wrong. Now look at the second statement. It tells that achieving 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 is one of the nationally determined contribution target for India. Yes this statement is correct. There are three targets one of the target is this particular target. The other target is to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percentage from the 2005 levels which is to be done by the year 2030. And the third target is to enhance the carbon sink that is to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent by creating additional forest and tree cover by the year 2030. So all these three are the nationally determined contribution targets set by India under this Paris climate agreement. So the second statement is correct here. Now this question asks you to choose the correct statement. The correct answer is option B2 only since the first statement is wrong. Now look at the next question. This is about e-commerce in India. Two statements have been given and you need to choose the correct statements. Look at the first statement. It tells that in the marketplace based model of e-commerce an inventory of goods and services is owned by e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly. The definition given here is the inventory based model of e-commerce. It is not the marketplace based model of e-commerce. In marketplace based model the e-commerce entity acts as a facilitator between the buyer and the seller. They don't hold the inventory that is they do not hold the stocks of goods and services. So the first statement goes wrong. Now look at the second statement. It tells that at present 100% FDI under automatic route is permitted in marketplace based model of e-commerce. Yes this statement is correct. 100% FDI is permitted in marketplace based model of e-commerce under automatic route whereas FDI is not permitted in inventory based model of e-commerce. And any violation of FDI regulations are covered by the penal provisions of the foreign exchange management act of 1999. Now this question asks you to choose the correct statements. The correct answer is option B2 only since the second statement is correct and the first statement is wrong. Now look at the next question. It is about India state level disease burden initiative. Three statements have been given and you need to choose the correct statements. First statement tells that one of the objective of the initiative is to provide systematic knowledge of the health status and trends in different parts of India. Yes this is the objective of this particular initiative. So this statement is correct. The second statement is also correct. It is a collaborative effort between ICMR that is the Indian Council of Medical Research Public Health Foundation of India and it works with the support from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Apart from this there are also various stakeholders from 100 plus institutions across India. Now look at the third statement. It tells that it releases the national health profile every year. No it is wrong. This initiative does not release the national health profile. It is being released by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. So the third statement goes wrong. Now this question asks you to choose the correct statements. The correct answer is option A, 1 and 2 only. With this we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the practice questions discussion session. 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