 Good evening aspirants welcome to the Indian Express News Analysis by Shankar Ayes academy. In this video we will cover various news articles that appeared in the Indian Express newspaper in the second week of November. The articles that we are going to discuss today are displayed here. Now without wasting time let's start the discussion. Now look at these two articles taken from the Indian Express newspaper dated 6th and 7th of November. The context behind these articles is that recently there was news about the National Security Council secretariat working on framing the national security strategy. Both these articles are about the national security strategy. Here various aspects of the national security strategy are covered. So in our discussion we will cover all the points discussed in these articles in detail. First of all what is a national security strategy? NSS is more like a policy document. It highlights various aspects of our country's national security. Firstly it highlights our country's security objective. Then it also highlights the ways that can be adopted to achieve these objectives. Then it mentions about our country's traditional and non-traditional threats. Here traditional threats include military aggression by China and Pakistan and non-traditional threats include attack on India's financial and economic security, attack on India's food and energy security, information warfare against India and attacking India's critical information infrastructure. The national security strategy highlights the traditional and non-traditional threats that are likely to affect our country. Finally it assigns various agencies with responsibilities and ensures their accountability. So basically the national security strategy acts as a holistic guide and a roadmap for our defense and security infrastructure. Also note that the national security strategy is not a rigid monolith. Actually it is constantly updated to adapt to the changing circumstances. Okay now what are the countries that already have a national security strategy? It is mostly the developed countries with an advanced military that has a national security strategy. The United States, the United Kingdom and Russia have published their national security strategies. China also has a strategy in place called the comprehensive national strategy. In 2022 Pakistan also published a national security policy and as mentioned in the news articles the national security council secretary rate is currently working on framing a national security strategy for India. Now you may have a question why did India not think about having a national security strategy all these years? The news article provides some insights in this regard. Firstly publishing the national security strategy will make it accountable in regards to the defense management. Certain sections in our government resist this accountability so that they were creating a hurdle in the implementation of the or the framing of the national security strategy. Secondly there is lack of cohesiveness in the government. See the national security strategy does not just deal with the military security. It also has to deal with economic security, internal security, diplomatic security, climate security, food security and water security. This is because the main objective of the national security strategy is the well-being of the Indian citizens. Only by ensuring all these can the government ensure our people's well-being. This makes framing the national security strategy a complicated process that needs concurrence from various parts of the government missionary. This is difficult to combine until there is a strong political will. This is the second reason why India did not have a national security strategy. Then as I already mentioned only the countries that are economically developed and have a strong military tend to have a national security strategy. Having a national security strategy is actually a sign of strategic maturity. Since India started developing rapidly only very recently it did not have a confidence to have a national security strategy. Lastly there are also certain sections of people that believe that India does have a national security strategy but it is not shared with the public due to the national security reasons. Here note that India earlier attempted to frame a national security strategy three times each time it failed to frame one. See these are some of the points that are mentioned in the news articles about why India does not have a national security strategy. Moving forward let us see the need for a national security strategy. Firstly there is a urgent need for national security strategy right now. See as we all know the world is currently facing a poly crisis. Geopolitical tensions are growing everywhere. India is also facing a lot of uncertainty in both traditional and non-traditional areas. So a national security strategy will help India's defense mechanism maneuver these uncertainties. Secondly there is a lack of political direction for India's defense mechanism. The army currently has the Rakshamantri's operational directive of 2009. This the army uses as a political direction but this directive is old and it needs to be updated. This is the second reason why India currently needs a national security strategy. Thirdly as we all know India is a democratic country. The people participate in the governance process through their elected representatives. So it is only fair that the people have an idea about the direction that the Indian defense missionary is headed because it is directly linked to their well-being. Also the national security strategy will help the people ensure accountability from the government. Lastly with the increasing stature of India in the global affairs India needs a national security strategy. India currently is a significant player in the world affairs. Remember how hard the U.S. was trying to make India Russian invasion of Ukraine. This shows that India in the present and in the foreseeable future will be a major player in the geopolitical arena. In addition to this many countries see their future linked to India's growth story. So it is necessary for India to have a national security strategy. A correctly drafted national security strategy will guide both India and other countries. Now having covered the need for national security strategy let us see what the national security strategy should incorporate. The national security strategy should be all encompassing. It should ensure military security, economic security, internal security, diplomatic security, climate security, food security and water security. So the national security strategy must be drafted through a wider consultative process. Then the drafting of the national security strategy should be a iterative process. This is important because only iteration will ensure that the national security strategy is more refined. Also through each iteration wider consultation should be made. Then the national security strategy should have two versions. One version should be made available for the public, should be kept classified for the government purposes. Then the national security strategy should be made flexible so that future changes can be incorporated. Lastly the framers of the national security strategy should first draft a doctrine to act as a guiding principle of the national security strategy. Now what is the difference between a doctrine and a strategy here? See a doctrine is a collection of principles guiding actions while a strategy is a specific plan of action that stems from that doctrine. So a national security doctrine should be framed before the national security strategy. This national security doctrine will act as a guiding principle for the national security council secretariat while it frames the national security strategy. See these are some of the points that must be considered while framing the national security strategy. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw what is the national security strategy? Why India does not have a national security strategy? We also saw the need for a national security strategy. And finally we saw the points that must be considered while framing the national security strategy. With this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this editorial article from the 6th November newspaper. The article here is about the Portion Tracker and its many advantages. Before getting into the points mentioned in the article, let us first see few points about the Portion Tracker. Portion Tracker is a mobile based application. The application is maintained by the Ministry of Human and Child Development through the National E-Governance Division. It is basically a mobile application that tracks the data about the service provided and the progress made. Earlier these data were collected through pendant paper. This process was quite tedious and inefficient. It was difficult to extract necessary information from the data collected through pendant paper. It is to address this issue the Portion Tracker is introduced. By addressing this issue the app aims to provide nutrition related services to the vulnerable members of our society. The Portion Tracker enables real-time monitoring of all Anganwadi centers, Anganwadi workers and the services provided to the beneficiaries. The app helps in the beneficiary management of pregnant women, lactating mothers and children. The tracker helps monitor various data. It includes a national level, state level and local level data on various health indicators. It also monitors the number of Anganwadi centers built with drinking water facilities and functional toilets. It also monitors the number of beneficiaries who received take home rations and hard-cooked meals. Finally, it also monitors various nutritional outcomes. The Portion Tracker has a dashboard. In this dashboard, all the data collected by the tracker is displayed. This ensures transparency in the services provided to the beneficiaries. It also helps in identifying people who are malnourished and address the issue at the early stage. This is all about the Portion Tracker. With this basic information about the Portion Tracker, we will now look at the points mentioned in the editorial. The article here highlights the various positive aspects of the Portion Tracker. For example, since its implementation, there has been a universal uptake. Nearly 1.3 million Anganwadi workers have downloaded the application and are using it to track the ICDS services. Another example that highlights the near universal uptake of the app is that the app has helped track the progress of more than 50% of the children under 5 in India. See, in India, according to the UN data, there are around 113 million children who are under the age of 5. The Portion Tracker dashboard is currently monitoring the weight and height of around 72 million children under the age of 5. This indicates the wide applicability of the Portion Tracker. Lastly, the article mentioned that one of the major hindrance in framing a good nutrition policy is the lack of quality data. The Portion Tracker is like a silver bullet here. It provides the policymaker with quality data which can be used to frame the nutrition policy. These are some of the positive points about Portion Tracker that are mentioned in the article. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the basics about the Portion Tracker, we saw its advantages and its positives. Now, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this article. This article is about the Subanshree lower hydroelectric project. The Subanshree lower hydroelectric project is a gravity dam that is constructed across the Subanshree River in Arunachal Pradesh. Recently, there was a landslide near the dam construction site that resulted in the blockage of one of the towns. This resulted in lower the normal flow of water in the Subanshree River. The article here highlights the cause of this debacle. So, in our discussion today, we will first see some points about the Subanshree River, then about the Subanshree lower hydroelectric project, and finally about the points mentioned in the article. Okay, let's start with the Subanshree River. Subanshree River is a trans-Himalayan river. It is a right bank tributary of Brahmaputra. In fact, it is the largest tributary of Brahmaputra. The river originates in Tibet. In Tibet, this river is called Choyilchu. In India, the river flows through the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Having covered the basics about the Subanshree River, let us see few points about the Subanshree lower hydroelectric power project. The SLHP is a run-off-the-river hydroelectric power project across the Subanshree River in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Here, the run-off-the-river project means the project has no or very little water storage component. The project is taken up by the National Hydro Power Corporation. The project once completed will generate an estimate 2000 MW of renewable energy. Since the start of the construction of the project, it has faced many challenges. The main challenge was the local agitation regarding the safety of the dam. Now having covered the basics, let us see the points mentioned in the article. Look at this image. As you can see here, before the construction of the main spillway, a temporary structure is first constructed to divert the flow of the river. In the case of Subanshree lower hydroelectric power project, as shown in the image, the river is diverted through five diversion tunnels. Once the construction is completed, the temporary dam is removed and the water is allowed to flow through the main spillway located here. Then, once the construction of the powerhouse is completed, water will be diverted through the surge tunnels located here. The water flowing through the surge tunnels will rotate the turbines and generate the hydroelectric power. And as you can see in this image, there is very little water storage component as it is a run-off-the-river power project. This is about the working of the dam. Recently, on October 27th, there was a landslide near the dam site. This is the sixth landslide since the start of the construction. These landslides have obstructed the flow in the diversion tunnels. Currently, four of the five diversion tunnels are blocked. The October 27th landslide blocked the last functioning diversion tunnel. Due to this, the water flow on the Subanshree River downstream was severely affected. Later, the blockage was removed and the water flow was restored. The point to note here is that the Central Electricity Authority recently asked the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation to re-examine the slope stability in the dam site. But the NHPC ignored this and went aggraved with the construction. If the NHPC has adhered to the advice of the CEA, the recent crisis could have been averted. This is about the points mentioned in the article. See, when news like this appear in the paper, the UPSC might not ask questions exactly about the issue, but it might ask questions around the issue. For example, in this case, UPSC might ask questions about the Subanshree River, the Central Electricity Authority and the National Hydro Power Corporation. In the prelims examination, also, they might ask questions about the issue of dam safety and the environmental impact assessment in the main examination. So, as a part of this discussion, we have already covered few points about the Subanshree River. So, now we will see few points about the Central Electricity Authority and the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. Also, under dam safety, let us see few points about the National Dam Safety Authority. Let us start with the Central Electricity Authority. The Central Electricity Authority is a statutory body constituted under Section 70 of the Electricity Act 2003. The main objective of this body is to ensure reliable power to all consumers in our country. Now, what about its composition? The CEA consists of 14 members including the chairperson. Out of the total members, 8 members shall be full-time members and they are appointed by the central government. The chairperson is the chief executive of the Central Electricity Authority and he oversees the development of the power sector in our country. Now, moving on, let us see some of the important functions of the Central Electricity Authority. Firstly, the Central Electricity Authority advises the government on matters related to the national electricity policy. Secondly, the Central Electricity Authority formulates short-term and prospective plans for the development of electricity systems in our country. Thirdly, the Authority specifies the technical standard and the safety requirements for construction of electricity plants, electrical lines and connectivity of the grids. And finally, the Authority assists in the timely completion of schemes and projects for improving and augmenting the power systems in our country. See, I have mentioned the important functions alone here. You can read the other functions of the Central Electricity Authority in its official website. Okay, this is all about the Central Electricity Authority. Now, moving on to the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation is a public sector company that was incorporated in 1975. It was established for the efficient development of hydroelectric power in our country. Note that, recently, its area of operation was expanded to include solar, geothermal, tidal and wind power. The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation can also take up the construction of interstate transmission line to aid in the coordinated interstate exchange of power. Okay, the headquarters of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation is located in Faridabad, Haryana. This is all about the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation. Lastly, let us take up the National Dam Safety Authority. The National Dam Safety Authority was set up in April 2022 by the Central Government. The Authority was established under the Dam Safety Act 2021. So, basically, the NDSA is a statutory body. The NDSA is functioning under the Ministry of Jalsakthi. Note that, the NDSA is headquartered in New Delhi. It is also having four regional offices at Chandigarh, Guwahati, Pune and Chennai. Here, some of you may have a doubt. Water is in the Stateless Strait. Then, how the Central Government can constitute an Authority to regulate dams? See, water is placed under the state list in the seventh schedule of the Indian Constitution. So, the states are having exclusive rights to legislate any matters regarding water. But note that, the Central Government also has certain powers to make legislation on matters listed in the state list. This is as per Article 246 of the Constitution. Article 246 imposed the Parliament to legislate on matters listed in the state list under certain conditions. Based on this constitutional provisional only, the Central Government enacted the Dam Safety Act 2021. This Act was aimed to establish an institutional mechanism for ensuring dam safety in our country. As per the provisions of this Act only, the NDSA was constituted in April 2022. Now, coming back to the objectives of NDSA, see, the main mandate of NDSA is to maintain standards later to dam safety. It also aims to prevent dam related disasters. In addition to this, the Authority also aims to address interstate concerns later to dams. Now, moving on, let us see the composition of this body. The National Dam Safety Authority consists of a chairman and other five members. The chairman is basically a government officer who is not below the rank of additional secretary. The chairman should have adequate qualification, knowledge, experience and capacity in dealing with problems related to dam engineering and dam safety management. Then, the five members in the body should have prior working experience in policy and research, technical regulation, disaster and resilience and administration and finance later to dams. Note that both the chairman and the members are appointed by the Central Government. Now finally, let us see the important functions of the National Dam Safety Authority. Firstly, the Authority resolves any issue between the state dam safety organizations of the state. Apart from this, it will also resolve disputes between a state dam safety organization and any owner of a specified dam in a state. Secondly, the NDSA carries out surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all large dams in our country. This is in order to prevent dam failure related disasters. Thirdly, as per the Dam Safety Act 2021, the NDSA can penalize concerned parties for not complying with the provisions of the Act. This is all about the functions of the National Dam Safety Authority. Note that every decision of the National Dam Safety Authority taken under the Dam Safety Act 2021 shall be final and binding upon all the parties in the issue. That is all regarding this discussion and these are some points you have to know about the National Dam Safety Authority. See, in this discussion, we saw some important points about the Subanshi Dam, the Subanshi River, the Subanshi Lower Hydroelectric Power Project, the recent issue regarding landslide near the dam site, the Central Electric Authority, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and finally, few points about the NDSA. And that's all regarding this discussion. Now, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. See, recently, online gambling related issues have made news several times. So, we can expect a question in this regard in our examination. I am sure most of you would have made some stark points highlighting the negatives of online gambling. But when questions with directive words like discuss, analyze or critically comment, you have to provide points from both sides of the issue. That is, you have to provide some points in support of the online gambling industry also. Other than points like it provides employment opportunities, if you can mention some legal provisions supporting the online gaming industry, you can get some brownie points from the evaluator of your paper. This is where the points mentioned in this article will aid you. The article here is written by Mr. Aravind P. Dutter. Mr. Dutter represented the online gaming industry in quotes. In this article, he highlighted various legal provisions in support of the online gaming industry. So, in our discussion, let us see the points mentioned in the article. Let us start with the basics. First, let us understand the difference between game of skill and game of chance. In simple terms, a game of skill is one where the outcome is primarily determined by the skill, knowledge or strategy of the participant. On the other hand, a game of chance is one where the outcome is predominantly influenced by random factors like luck or probability rather than skill of the player. Chess is a classic example of game of skill. Success in chess is determined by the player's strategic thinking, understanding of the game's rules and the ability to foresee and plan several moves ahead. The outcome of a chess match depends on the player's skill, experience and decision-making ability. Other examples of game of skill include poker, fantasy sport and Rummy. Roulette is a popular example of game of chance. In this game, players bet on where a ball will land on a spinning wheel with numbered compartments. Since the ball's final position is primarily dependent on chance, players' bets are essentially gambles based on luck rather than specific skill or strategy. Other examples include lottery. Having understood the difference between the game of skill and game of chance, let us look at the origin of the issue. See, recently, the 50th GST council had decided that online gaming would be taxed at 28% of the full face value of the placed bets. The government also decided to club the game of skill and the game of chance together and both were to be taxed at a high rate of 28%. Now, you may have a question. Were the online gaming industry not taxed before the 50th GST council decision? Actually, even before the 50th GST council decision, the online gaming industry were taxed, but they were taxed quite differently. Let us understand the change proposed to by the 50th GST council with an example. The gaming platforms charge an entry fee from the user to allow them to participate in a particular game. Let us assume the amount to be Rs 100. Of the 100 rupees, the gaming platform allocates Rs 80 for the prize pool and the remaining 20 the gaming platform uses it to run the platform. This Rs 20 is called the gross gaming revenue. Earlier, that is before the decision of the 50th GST council, the government used to tax the gross gaming revenue at 18% and 18% of Rs 20 is 3.6 rupees. So previously, when a person places a bet of Rs 100, the gaming platform has to pay a tax of Rs 3.60. But currently, the GST council has decided to tax the face value of the bit at 28%. In our example, Rs 100 is the face value of the bit and 28% of Rs 100 is Rs 28. So, due to the recent changes made by the GST council, the tax rate to be paid by the gaming industry has risen from Rs 3.62 to Rs 28. Based on this new method of calculation, the government has claimed that the online gaming industry owes it Rs 1.5 lakh crores in back taxes. This is why the gaming industry is worried. This is the background of the issue. Now, let us see the legal points mentioned by Mr. Dutter in support of the gaming industry. Firstly, he mentions section 12 of the Public Gaming Act 1867. Section 12 states that any game of mere skill will not amount to gambling. So, the price money received from the game of skill cannot be treated as winning from betting or gambling. Then, the author mentions, state of Andhra Pradesh was Satyanarayanan case 1968. In this case, the supreme court held that Rummy is predominantly a game of skill. Finally, he mentions the Law Commission report 276. In this report, the Law Commission mentions that the game of skill cannot be considered as gambling. Hence, are protected under article 19 class 1 subclass G. This constitutional protection is not extended to games of chance. See, these are some of the legal provisions highlighted by the author in support of the online gaming industry. The author also criticizes the retrospective application of the decision of the 50th GST Council meeting. Finally, he also mentions that such exorbitant tax demand will push the foreign investment away from India. These are some of the points that you can use in your main censor in support of the online gaming industry. And that is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the difference between games of skill and games of chance. Then, we saw what are the changes brought about by the 50th GST Council in regards to the taxation of the online gaming sector. Finally, we saw some points mentioned by the author in this article in support of the online gaming industry. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. The editorial article here is taken from the Indian Express newspaper dated 6th November. The article here highlights the various steps that can be taken to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance. So, in our discussion today, let us first cover the basics about antimicrobial resistance. And after that, we will see the steps that can be taken to address the issue. Let's start with the basics. To know about antimicrobial resistance, we must first know what an antimicrobial is. Antimicrobials are medicines that are used to treat and prevent infections in humans, animals and plants. Antimicrobial is a broad term that includes antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics. When bacteria, virus, fungi and parasite change over time due to mutation and no longer respond to medicines, then antimicrobial resistance is said to have been developed. Due to antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infection become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat. Now, what is the difference between antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic resistance? Antimicrobial resistance, as we just now saw, is a very broad term. It includes resistance to antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics. Antibiotic resistance is a narrow term. Antibiotic resistance is said to have developed when bacteria develops resistance against a commonly used antibiotic. Having seen the difference, now let us see how antimicrobial resistance is developed. See, due to random mutation, some microbes might develop resistance to a drug. When a person takes the drug to cure a disease, it kills all the non-resistance microbes except the ones that have developed drug resistance due to mutation. These drug-resistant microbes multiply and pass on their drug-resistant gene to future generation. This is how drug resistance or antimicrobial resistance develop. The microbes that are resistant to common drugs are called super bugs. Antimicrobial resistance has developed into a global health and developmental threat. WHO has declared that antimicrobial resistance is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing the humanity. In 2019 alone, drug-resistant superbugs killed about 1.27 million people globally. The global fatality due to drug-resistant superbugs is more than the fatality due to HIV-8s or malaria. The condition will only deteriorate in the future because according to United Nations estimates, this number could reach more than 10 million by 2050. So, steps must be taken to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance. See, the article we have taken for discussion today is written on the context of the G20. The article provides the steps and the points about how the G20 can be leveraged to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance. Now, let us see the points mentioned in the article in detail. Firstly, the G20 must work with the developing countries to create a regional antimicrobial resistant action plans. A well-developed action plan is the first step in addressing the menace. See, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia has the highest incidence of antimicrobial resistant related death. As the African Union recently became the permanent member of the G20, the G20 can use this opportunity to address the antimicrobial resistance crisis in the Sub-Saharan region. The G20 can also urge the countries in South Asia to take up a regional level action plan. Secondly, the G20 must work towards creating an international funding mechanism with special focus on antimicrobial resistant related R&D. This will help in creating new antimicrobial drugs that are effective against superbugs or the microbes that have turned drug resistant. Thirdly, the G20 must work towards making patent reforms. The reforms should promote innovation as well as increase the availability and affordability of the available treatments. Here, options like patent pooling can be explored. Here, what is patent pooling? Patent pooling is a collaborative strategy where multiple companies or organizations agree to share their patent with each other. This arrangement allows each participant to access a wide range of technologies and innovation which leads to development of new products or services that none of the participants could not have created alone. In the pharmacutical sector, patent pooling can facilitate development of new drugs or treatment by allowing companies to combine their patented technologies or compounds. Let me explain this with the example here. Let's consider a scenario where Company X has developed a new drug treating a specific type of cancer, while Company Y has developed a unique delivery system that enhances the drug's efficacy and reduces side effects. Recognizing the potential of combining these two technologies, both companies decide to enter into a patent pooling agreement. Through the agreement, Company X and Company Y share their patents, enabling them to integrate the cancer drug with the specialized delivery mechanism. By doing so, they create a more potent and targeted treatment for the particular type of cancer. For the particular type of cancer with reduced side effects and improved patient outcomes, on one hand patent pooling like this will help fast track innovation and on the other hand it will make the Parma products affordable to the public. So options like this should be explored by the G20 nations. Then the G20 must urge its member to create a national level action plan and ensure its implementation. This is because many countries have created a national action plan but the implementation level is abysmal. Take India for example. India was one of the first countries in the world to create a comprehensive national action plan to deal with antimicrobial resistance in 2017. But this plan has not been implemented effectively due to lack of funding and lack of leadership. So the G20 must take efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the national action plans. Then a strong surveillance mechanism should be created. This will help us identify the extent of the problem. Currently the monitoring mechanism to identify antimicrobial resistance is limited to a few tertiary hospitals. The G20 must work towards expanding this to all regions of its member countries. This will help us identify the extent of the antimicrobial resistant problem. Lastly the G20 must work with the academia and the civil society to educate the public about the correct use of antimicrobials. They can also create a standard operating procedure for the healthcare professional. See the world came together during the Covid-19 pandemic. The coming together of the world helped in reducing the impacts of the pandemic. The global withdrawal due to antimicrobial resistance is around the same level as the death caused by the pandemic. So it is high time that the G20 and the world should prioritize antimicrobial resistance and increase funding and research in these areas. Also nations have to work together as combating antimicrobial resistance requires a collaborative effort. See these are some of the points provided in the article about the steps that the G20 can take to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we covered the basics about antimicrobial resistance. Then we saw the steps that the G20 can take to address the menace of antimicrobial resistance. Now with this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. The article here is taken from Indian Express newspaper dated 9th November. The article here highlights the difference between electoral trust and electoral bonds. In our discussion today let us see the points highlighted in the article given here. Before getting into the electoral trust let us first revise about the electoral bonds. The electoral bonds were issued as a part of finance bill 2017. The government of India had notified the electoral bond scheme on 2nd January 2018. See the electoral bonds are a banking instruments used to fund political parties. As per the provision of the scheme electoral bonds may be purchased by a person who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy electoral bonds either singlely or jointly with other individuals. Only the political parties registered under section 29A of the representation of People Act 1951 and in addition to this political parties who secured not less than one percent of the votes polled in the last general election to the House of People or the Legislative Assembly of the State are only eligible to receive the electoral bonds. The political parties are allocated a verified account by the Election Commission. Note that all the electoral bond transactions are done through this account only. The electoral bonds can be redeemed only by an eligible political party by depositing it in their designated bank account maintained by this authorized bank. Although the electoral bond has the word bond in it, the electoral bonds will not provide any interest. To curb the influx of unaccounted money, the purchaser of the electoral bond would be allowed to buy electoral bonds only on due fulfillment of all the KYC norms. Here note that for purchasing electoral bonds, the payment must be made only from a bank account. Additionally, the electoral bond will not carry the name of the payee. The electoral bond would have a life of only 15 days during which it can be used for making donations only to the political parties. The sale of the electoral bond is only done through selected state banks of India. And the bonds under the scheme will be available for purchase for a period of 10 days each in the month of January, April, July and October as may be specified by the central government. An additional period of 30 days might be specified by the central government in the year of the general election to the House of People. See the minimum amount of donation in electoral bonds is Rs 1000. There is no maximum limit for donation. In addition to this, the donations will be tax detectable under section 80GGC and 80GGB of the Income Tax Act and the benefiting political party will get a tax exemption for the amount received. The face value or the denomination of the electoral bonds will be Rs 1000, Rs 10000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakhs and Rs 1 crore. These are some of the basic points about electoral bonds. Now moving on, let us see some points about the electoral trust. The electoral trust scheme was notified by the UPA2 government in 2013. Any company registered under section 25 of the company's act 1956 can form an electoral trust and these electoral trusts must be renewed every 3 years. Basically, the electoral trust works like this. People provide money to the trust and the trust may contribute to the political parties. Also, the electoral trust must donate at least 95% of the funds received to the political parties. That is, if an electoral trust by the name X receives Rs 1000 from 5 people, that is person A, B, C, D and E of total coming to Rs 5000, the electoral trust X must donate at least Rs 4750 to the political parties. The balance Rs 250, the electoral trust X can use for its administrative purposes. And here note that the electoral trust can make donations only to the political parties registered under the representation of peoples act 1951. Also, people providing money to the electoral trust must provide their PAN number in case of resident Indians or they must provide their passport in case of non-resident Indians. Now, who all can make contributions to the electoral trust? Under section 17 CA of the income tax act 1961, any citizen of India, any company or firm registered in India, a Hindu undivided family or an association of persons living in India can make donations to the electoral trust. See, one of the major issue with the electoral bond is that it is not transparent. That is, the public will not be able to identify which person or corporation is making donations to which political party. But is the electoral trust transparent? Actually, the electoral trust are partially transparent. Why they are partially transparent? See, the electoral trust must file an annual contribution report. In this report, the electoral trust must maintain its contributors and beneficiaries. That is, it must mention who all provided it with money and to which political party the electoral trust donated. Through this, the public can trace out who is making donations to whom. But this works only in certain situations. Consider this scenario. Corporation A is the only entity that provided money to electoral trust X. Corporation A provided rupees 1000 crore to the electoral trust X. And the electoral trust X donated the entire amount to a single political party, which is BJP. When the electoral trust X files its annual contribution report, the public can find that Corporation A donated rupees 1000 crore to the BJP. But consider this other scenario. Corporations A, P, C, D and E make contributions each worth rupees 1000 crore to the electoral trust X. Of the 5000 crore received, the electoral trust X provides rupees 2000 crores to DMK, rupees 500 crore to Congress, rupees 1500 crore to BJP and rupees 1000 crore to CPI. In this scenario, the public cannot correctly trace out which of the corporations made donation to which of the political party. And this is why I mentioned that the electoral trusts are partially transparent. But compared to the electoral bonds, they are far better in terms of transparency. Maybe this is why most of the political contributions are rooted to electoral bonds rather than electoral trust. Since its inception, a total of rupees 2269 crores have been routed to the political parties through the electoral trust scheme. Compare this to electoral bonds. Since the inception of the electoral bond scheme, the state bank of India has sold over rupees 14000 crore worth of electoral bonds. This shows that though the electoral trusts are not perfect, they are lot better than electoral bonds. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we revised some points about electoral bonds, then we saw what is electoral trust and how it is better than electoral bonds in terms of transparency. Now with this, we have come to the end of the discussion. If you like our video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparations, subscribe to Shankar A.S. Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening and a happy Deepali. Thank you.