 Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankar Ayes Academy for the day 19th of September 2021. So given below are the list of news articles that we will be discussing in today's discussion. And they are also provided with the page numbers of different editions. And also the link for the handwritten notes in PDF format as well as the time stamping is given below for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. So without wasting much time, let's get into our discussion. Now let us take up this article from the FAQ column. See we know that the government has rolled out plans to set up a bad bank. And we've also covered this issue quite a lot of times in our Hindu news analysis as well. So this article is just a kind of sum up of the issue. So on that line through this FAQ discussion, let us once again know about a bad bank, its working, its organizational structure and also the merits of this idea. The syllabus covered by this article is highlighted below for your reference. Now moving on to the discussion, see as we all are aware how banks are dealing with the problem of non-performing assets. See on a bank's balance sheet, the loans that are given to customers are listed as assets. So the biggest risk that can happen to a bank is when the customers who take out loans stop making their payments. And when they stop making their payments, then the value of the loan assets will start to decline. And this is when an asset becomes non-performing in a bank. See this word non-performing signifies that the loan which is given out earns no interest or principal. So this said non-performing asset problem is currently faced by the Indian banks. So in order to combat this issue of non-performing assets, the government has mooted the idea of a bad bank. Now understand this at a basic level. So under this concept of bad banks, the banks will be selling their non-performing assets to the bad bank. And doing that will actually help in clearing the balance sheets of the bank. So this bad bank which is buying the non-performing assets from the banks is a kind of giant repository of non-performing assets. And this bad bank about which we are discussing now is being set up under a name. And that name is the National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited which is shortly known as NARCL. Now let us see how this particular bad bank is going to function. Remember this NARCL is being set up by lenders and not by the government and all. And note that about 51% of it is going to be owned by public sector banks. And this particular bad bank it proposes to take over the fully provisioned stressed assets of about 90,000 crore in the first phase. So when I say fully provisioned stressed assets, I mean those loans that are taken against an asset like that of house, land, gold etc. Note that the bad bank wants to cater to the big sized loans only. So the minimum size of each non-performing asset to be acquired will be 500 crore. The longer term goal for the NARCL is to help the non-performing assets which are worth 2 lakh crore. Now on learning about the functioning of this bad bank, see initially the NARCL would make a 15% cash payment to those banks based on the valuation. And then the rest would be given as security receipts to the bank. And these receipts in turn would be guaranteed by the government's 30,600 crore backstop facility. Now here you should have in mind the government is giving the NARCL around 30,600 crore so that the NARCL can promise to pay the bank based on this money. And also know that further in order to assist the working of the NARCL, another body is being set up and this body is being set up with both public and private banks together. And this body is called as the India Debt Resolution Company Limited. So this India Debt Resolution Company Limited would be managing the acquired assets that is this is the body that will try to resolve the loan situation. Now on coming to the merits of this move, the first and foremost this particular concept of bad bank will help in clearing or in cleaning up the balance sheet of a bank. And by that the bank which had a huge load of non-performing assets will be relieved of the responsibility of managing it. And in addition to this it will also help these banks in lending freely without being worrying about the non-performing assets. But however critics are of the view that if government is going to help banks then there are high chances that the banks won't lend responsibly. In the sense there are high chances for the banks to lend loans to whoever is asking without properly verifying whether the loan taker has got the potential or the adequate sources to be able to pay back the loans or not. And doing that can eventually lead to a new pile of non-performing assets. So this is all about the bank banks. So to have a quick recap in this discussion we saw about a bad bank a non-performing asset currently set up bad bank its structure, functioning, merits as well as the criticism. So with these ideas in mind now let's move on to the next news article. See this news article mentions about an invention that provides solution to two major problems which is currently faced by our environment. And these two problems are single use plastics and stubble burning. So first let us have a brief understanding about these two problems and then we will discuss about the said invention. The syllabus covered by this article is given here. As you know plastics are polymers and they are lightweight and are also moisture resistant material. And this tenancy enables them to be molded in a variety of ways and they find their applications in a wide variety of uses. Say like that of packaging films, shopping or garbage bags, then fluid containers, clothing, toys, household and industrial products and also building materials. So generally these plastics are synthetic polymers which are derived primarily from petrofosal feedstock which is also called as the petrochemicals. Or to tell it simply they are derived from petroleum hydrocarbons. So most of the time the plastics which we are using are synthetic polymers which are petroleum based polymers. So a major problem with these plastics is that at the end of its lifetime a plastic product or a plastic packaging is either recycled, incinerated, landfill, dumped in uncontrolled sites or littered in the environment. And this is where the exact problem starts because most of the plastics do not biodegrade and rather they photodegrade. Meaning they slowly break down into small fragments known as microplastics which makes it harmful to the environment. See during the manufacturing of plastic products various types of gases are released and thirdly if it is incinerated or if a plastic is destroyed by burning, then the burning generates toxic emissions such as carbon monoxide, chlorine, hydrochloric acid, acetaldehyde etc. which again is harmful. See the environmental problem is further multiplied majorly due to the use of single use plastics which is also called as disposable plastics. See these single use plastics includes those items which are intended to be used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. And especially these are the plastics which are commonly used for plastic packaging and it also includes items such as grocery bags, food packaging, bottles, straws, containers, cups and cutlery. See these single use plastics they end up in the environment and they majorly damage the environment as they are petroleum based polymers. But then it doesn't end there we of course have a solution for them and that is the natural based polymer which are called as biopolymers. See when the plastics are biopolymers they are called as biobased plastics and these biopolymers they basically come from renewable products such as carbohydrates, starch, cellulose, vegetable fats and oils, bacteria and also from other biological substances. See the invention we are talking today is also a biopolymer only and researchers have developed this particular biopolymer using non-edible oil and cellulose. See this cellulose has been extracted from agricultural stubble and it has got double benefits because it not only reduces the use of single use plastics but then it also does away with stubble burning. See as you know farmers especially in the northern part of India they burn the crop stubble before the next season and for those who don't know these stubbles are the leftover residue from the last harvest. And as we know this stubble burning creates a lot of air pollution because when the stubble is burnt it creates smoke and it also releases the carbon which is locked in the residue into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. So this can be prevented with the biobased plastic because the farmers can now sell these biobased stubble to the plastic manufacturing industries rather than burning it and that is why this invention has gained importance. Now let us further quickly see some important facts about this invention. See first of all as we know the biopolymer is developed using non-edible oil and cellulose which is extracted from agricultural stubble. Now here the non-edible oil which is used was a non-edible castor oil and it can be extracted from castor plants and these plants they generally grow easily even in arid land. So non-edible castor oil is easily available and renewable and adding to this it is also cost effective and apart from that it is also biodegradable so therefore eco-friendly as well. So most importantly castor oil is a promising source for developing several polymers say like that of polyurethanes, polyesters, polyamides and epoxy polymers etc. So such castor oil based polymers are also non-toxic so basically these polymers are moulded into sheets and these sheets have properties which are suitable for making bags, cutleries or even containers. So in this manner this particular newly invented biopolymer material is biodegradable, leak proof and it is also non-toxic and it is therefore termed as a substitute for the single use plastics. So these are some important points that we need to know from this article and now let us move on to the next news discussion. Now have a look at this news article say yesterday Arun Ravi who was the former governor of Nagaland sworn in as the governor of Tamil Nadu at the Rajbhaven. So this is what the news article here tells us. Now keeping that issue aside in this slide let us cover the static part of the governor since it plays an important role both in preliminary and mains exam point of view. So come let us move into our discussion. The syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. See the constitution of India envisages the same pattern of government in the states as that for the centre that is a parliamentary system. So part 6 of the constitution deals with the government in the states. So on that line articles from 153 to 167 in part 6 of the constitution deals with the state executive. So when you take the state executive it includes the governor, the chief minister, the council of ministers as well as the advocate general of the state. Have in mind here there is no office of vice governor in the state like that of the vice president at the centre. Remember the governor is the chief executive head of the state but then like the president he is also a nominal executive head or in other words a titular or a constitutional head. Now this is because the real executive in the state level is constituted by the council of ministers headed by the chief minister. So in other words the governor can exercise his powers and functions with the aid and advice of the council of ministers which is added by the chief minister at most cases except for matters in which he is required to act in his own discretion. Have in mind the governor also acts as an agent of the central government. So therefore the office of the governor has got a dual role that is it functions both as a nominal head of the state as well as an agent of the central government. So usually there is a governor for each state but then this was altered through the 7th constitutional amendment act of the year 1956 because this constitutional amendment facilitated the appointment of the same person as a governor for two or more states. See this governor is neither directly elected by the people nor is indirectly elected by a specially constituted electoral college as is the case with the president. But rather a governor is appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal. So in a way he is a nominee of the central government but remember the office of the governor of a state is not an employment under the central government and it is an independent constitutional office and it is not under the control of or subordinate to the central government. Now coming to the qualifications for a person to become a governor, see the constitution lays down only two qualifications for the appointment of a person as a governor. The first is that he or she should be a citizen of India and secondly the person should have completed the age of 35 years. So only these two qualifications are laid down in the constitution. But additionally two conventions have also been developed in this regard over the years and the first is that the person who is to be selected as the governor should be an outsider. That is the person should not belong to the state where he is appointed and this convention is brought in to prevent the person from getting involved into the local politics. Now secondly while appointing the governor the president is required to consult the chief minister of the concerned state and this is done to ensure the smooth functioning of the constitutional machinery. But however both these conventions have been violated in some of the cases. And apart from this the further conditions of the governor's office as mentioned in the article 158 of our Indian constitution is given below for your reference. So aspirants please go through it. Now moving on to the term of the office for a governor. See a governor holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters his office. But however this term of five years is subjected to the pleasure of the president. So in the sense the governor has got no security of his tenure and he or she can be removed at any time by the president. Remember there is no provision for impeaching the governor by the state legislature. And further he can resign at any time by addressing a resignation letter to the president. Even the president has got the powers to transfer a governor who is appointed to one state to another state for the rest of the term. And further even a governor whose term has expired may be reappointed in the same state or another state. And also have in mind a governor can hold office beyond his term of five years until his successor assumes charge. So these are some important points about the tenure of a governor. Now when talking about a governor's power and functions see a governor possesses executive, legislative, financial and judicial powers which is more or less comparable to that of the president of India. But however he has no diplomatic, military or emergency provisions like that of the president. So broadly the powers and functions of the governor includes the executive powers, the legislative powers, the financial powers and also the judicial powers. And apart from this some of the other important functions of a governor which is mentioned in the constitution are given below for your reference. So please glance through it. See one important thing that you need to have in mind about a governor is that the governor from time to time summons the house or each house of the legislature of the state to meet at such time and at such a place which he or she thinks fit. And the governor can also from time to time summon the house or either house to prorogue or dissolve the legislative assembly. And with this let us wind up this discussion about the governor and move on to see what the next news article has got to tell us. Now look at this news article. The news article is about the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mandri Kisan Saman Nidhi scheme. So apparently in the state of Telangana the takers for this scheme are very less. But even then those who are a part of the scheme have been benefited well. So this is the basic crux of this news article. So in this context let us learn about the mentioned scheme. See the Pradhan Mandri Kisan Saman Nidhi is in short known as the PM Kisan scheme. Now here Pradhan Mandri as we know means prime minister and Kisan means farmer. And the word summon means something which is respectful or dignified and when you take Nidhi we all know that it means fund. So in short the PM Kisan denotes a scheme for the farmers providing a dignified fund for their welfare. Now this scheme was launched by the prime minister back in the year 2019. And remember that the scheme is an income support scheme for the farmers. And also it is 100% funded by the centre and is implemented by the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare. Now talking about the provisions of the scheme. See under this scheme a cash benefit of around 6000 rupees per annum is paid to the respective beneficiaries in 3 installments. That is an amount of rupees 2000 is paid to the respective beneficiaries in each installment through the mode of direct benefit transfer. And then see the PM Kisan scheme is aimed at providing income support to the small and marginal farmer families who have a combined land holding or an ownership of up to 2 hectares which is approximately 5 acres. Now here one should keep in mind that according to the RBI's definition marginal farmer means a farmer who is cultivating an agricultural land as owner or as a tenant or even as a sharecropper of up to 1 hectare or 2.5 acres. And then when you take a small farmer the RBI defines a small farmer as a farmer who is cultivating an agricultural land as owner or tenant or even as a sharecropper of more than 1 hectare and up to 2 hectares that is up to 5 acres of land. But here it is not that case because according to this scheme a small and marginal farmer means a farmer who holds a land of up to 2 hectares and has got ownership to it. Now here you should note this carefully. See this scheme does not include the tenants or sharecroppers and it only includes the small land owners. And actually this is a critical shortcoming of this scheme. And then the term families under this scheme refers to a family which comprises of husband, wife and minor children. Apart from this another important feature of the scheme is that as I told earlier the fund will be directly transferred to the bank account of the beneficiaries by the direct benefit transfer method. And since the fund is transferred directly to the beneficiary account there are no chances of leakages and also the timely delivery of funds take place. And I am talking about the beneficiaries. See the beneficiaries will be identified by the respective state and administration of union territories. So by now we have a broad overview of PM Kisan scheme. Now let us see some benefits of this scheme. Firstly the scheme ensures an assured supplemented income to the vulnerable farmer families that is an amount of 2000 is being given to the farmers through three installments. Now secondly the scheme aims to fulfil the emergent needs of farmers before the harvest season because before the harvest season the farmers need money for employing labourers and other such reasons. So during such occasions when they are having money constraints there are high chances for them to borrow the money from the local money lenders who lend them money for high interest and this pushes them into a debt trap. So this scheme actually aims to break this vicious cycle. Now thirdly the scheme paves a way for farmers to earn and also to lend to respectable living in society and then it covers almost 12 crore small and marginal farmer families who are large in scale. And besides this it also helps in the recovery of poor farmer families from distress due to poverty. And for your further information the categories that are excluded under the scheme are given here. You need not memorise them but please roughly go through it. So this is all about the PM Kisan scheme and of course it is an important topic for the preliminary exam so please make sure you revise it and have the points clear in your mind. So now let us move on to the next news discussion. Now look at this news article. We have taken this article for our next discussion. So the news article basically mentions about a historic mausoleum called Safdarjung tomb. See recently the dome of this particular Safdarjung tomb has got damaged due to the growth of weeds. So what happens is as the weeds grow the dome is developing cracks around it and this situation is demanding urgent care from the archaeological survey of India. So this is the basic news here. Now in this context let us see some of the important facts about this said Safdarjung tomb. See the Safdarjung's tomb was built between the year 1753 to 54 as a mausoleum of Safdarjung who was viceroy of Awad under the Mughal Emperor Hamad Shah Bahadur. See the Safdarjung tomb is also referred to as the Safdarjung Ka Makbara and it is a garden tomb which is situated in the city of New Delhi and it is made up of marbles and sandstones. So basically this mausoleum was built by Safdarjung's son called by name Nawab Shujaud Daula and it remains as the last monumental garden tomb depicting the Mughal architectural style. Now when talking about its architecture as we already saw the mausoleum represent the last phase of the Mughal style of architecture. See the Safdarjung tomb was designed and it was constructed in line with the famous historical monument which is the Humayun's tomb. That is this mausoleum derives its inspiration from the Humayun's tomb and this is constructed on an elevated platform and it is surrounded by huge square garden on each side with a courtyard and a three domed mosque house inside the combat that is enclosed within a wall. And the stone is built of red and brownish yellow coloured sandstone and it is got a high terrace and is capped with a massive central dome. It has also got a two storied main entry gate which gives an excellent view to this monument. See the huge garden that is encompassing the mausoleum is designed in line with the conventional Charback garden style of the Mughals. That is this garden is segregated into four squares with food parts and water canals around them and each of this square is again divided into four smaller gardens and one of the water canals leads to an elegantly decorated gateway whereas the other leads to three pavilions namely the Jungli Mahal or the palace in the woods, the Badshah Pasant or the emperor's favourite and the Moti Mahal or pearl palace and these pavilions which according to historical data were once used as residences by the family of Safdarjung. So these are some important facts that this news article demands us to know and with this we are done with the article discussion for today. Now having done with the discussion of all the news articles for today, now let us move on to the next segment of our Shankar hinder news analysis which is going to be the practice question discussion. Now let us take up this question. Consider the following statements. Statement 1. Plastic can either be synthetic or bio-based. Statement 2. Synthetic polymers are petroleum based polymers. And statement 3. Only sugars from sugarcane and recycled food waste are used to make bio-based plastics. See the first statement is correct. See plastic can either be synthetic or bio-based. These synthetic plastics are derived from crude oil, natural gas or coal. Whereas bio-based plastics they come from renewable products such as carbohydrates, starch, vegetable fats and oils, bacteria and other biological substances. So that means it is possible to create plastic from sources other than oil. And note that crude oil is the principal source of carbon for modern plastic. But still an array of variants are manufactured from renewable materials also and these are made from renewable biomass such as lignin, cellulose and heme cellulose, terpenes, vegetable oils and vegetable fats and then carbohydrates, recycled food waste and bacteria. So from this we can say that the third statement is incorrect because bio-plastics can be made from the above. Now coming to the second one. So based on a discussion itself we can find that this statement is correct because as we saw synthetic polymers are petroleum based polymers. So here the right options will be option 1 and option 2 and option 3 is incorrect because it is not only made from sugarcane and recycled food waste. But rather the bio-plastic also made from materials like lignin, cellulose, heme cellulose, terpenes, bacteria etc. So the right answer here will be option B that is 1 and 2 only. Now let us take up this question. Now look at this question. Consider the following statements. Statement 1, the president of India can summon a session of the parliament at such place as he or she thinks it. Statement 2, the constitution of India provides for three sessions of the parliament in a year but it is not mandatory to conduct all the three sessions. Statement 3, there is no minimum number of days that the parliament is required to meet in a year. So we need to understand the correct statements. See as per article 85 clause 1 of the Indian constitution it empowers the president to summon each house of the parliament to meet at such time and such place as he or she thinks it. But then six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session. So that makes the first statement to be correct. Now coming to the second statement. So as I said earlier, the constitution empowers the president to summon each house of the parliament to meet at such time and place as he or she thinks it. But then six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session. So in other words, the parliament should meet at least twice a year and the constitution does not explicitly mention that three sessions of parliament should be conducted in a year and it is not a mandate to conduct all the three sessions. So hence the first statement is correct, but the second statement is incorrect or it is not correct. Now moving to the third statement. As it is given here, there is no minimum number of days that the parliament is required to meet in a year. So that makes the third statement to be correct. And since we need to identify only the correct statements, the right answer here will be one and three. Because the second statement is incorrect as it is nowhere mandated in the constitution to conduct three sessions. So therefore the correct answer is option. See now let's move on to the next question. Now let's take up this question about the PM Kisan scheme. See with reference to the PM Kisan scheme, which of the following statement is or are correct. Statement one, it aims to provide agricultural loans to all farmers. Statement two, it is 100% centrally funded scheme. And statement three, it is implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture. Now here the statement one is wrong because the PM Kisan is providing income support to farmers and that only for a small and marginal farmer and not for all farmers. So that makes the first statement incorrect. And coming to the second and third statement based on our discussion itself, we can infer that both the statements given here are right. That is the PM Kisan is 100% centrally funded scheme. And it is implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Since only the second and third options are right, the correct answer here will be option C. That is two and three. Now look at this question. Consider the following statements about Safdar Jun's tomb. Statement one, the tomb is built of red and brownish yellow colored sandstone. Statement two, it remains as the last monumental garden tomb, depicting the Mughal architectural style. And statement three, the huge garden encompassing the mausoleum is designed in line with the conventional Charba garden style of the Mughals. So we need to find correct options here. See from our discussion itself, we can infer that all the given statements here are correct. So that makes option D to be the correct answer. Because we discussed about all these statements in our news articles itself and they are all right about the Safdar Jun's tomb. So option D, that is one, two and three becomes right here. The practice main's question for today is given here. So those who are interested, please write your answers and post them in the comment section. So with this, we have come to the end of today's inter-news analysis. And if you would like the video, then don't forget to like, comment and share. 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