 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Aayas Academy. These are the news articles chosen for today's discussion. They are given along with the page number of different traditions. Link for the handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping for the discussed articles are given in the description box as well as the comment section for the benefit of the mobile viewers. Now let us start with the first article. This news article is about the 17th ministerial meet of the Beemstek. See the 17th ministerial meet of the Beemstek was held recently but it was held virtually. In this meeting, India expressed a commitment about taking the Bay of Bengal community to new heights. This meeting was chaired by Sri Lanka. So in this context, let us have a brief understanding of Beemstek. See, Beemstek is the short form for the Bay of Bengal initiative for multi-sectoral technical and economic cooperation. Now the organization came into existence on 6th June 1997. It was done through Bangkok declaration. Beemstek is a regional organization comprising of 7 member states. These members are in the littoral and adjacent areas of Bay of Bengal. So Beemstek is a region or countries lying around the Bay of Bengal area. As you can see in the map, the 7 member states of Beemstek are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. Know that initially an economic bloc was formed with 4 member states with the acronym that is Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation. Then in December 1997 Myanmar was included and in 2004 Nepal and Bhutan were included. So the acronym Beemstek was born. Beemstek was conceived as a sub-regional forum bringing South Asia and Southeast Asia region closer. The forum provides a better position for India's activities policy and for the development process of northeastern region in India. Beemstek has also established a platform for intraragional cooperation between Sark and ASEAN members. Know that the Beemstek region is home to around 1.5 billion people and they constitute around 22% of global population. Beemstek region combined GDP is 2.7 trillion economic. Now the objective of building Sachin Allianz was to earn a shared and accelerated growth through mutual cooperation and importantly it is a sector-driven cooperative organization and the sectors of focus include trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, public health, poverty elevation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture, people-to-people contact and climate change. The chairmanship of Beemstek rotate among the member states and the present chair is Sri Lanka and the chairman for 2021 and 2022 will be Thailand. Also know that India was the chair in 2000 and then in 2006 to 2008. Beemstek Permanent Secretariat is established in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Additionally know that Beemstek Summit is the highest policy-making body in the Beemstek process. This Summit is held every two years. Now moving on to the next article. These two articles talk about the recent decision of the government regarding the interest rate on small saving schemes. So let us see about the schemes in brief and the views from the editorial. The syllabus relevant for this article is displayed on the screen. As friends can go through it. First let us see what are small saving schemes. Small saving schemes are a range of diverse schemes. They are for the small-scale investors. These schemes are usually offered by the government of India. Small saving schemes are aimed at developing the habit of steady savings with dependable returns. These schemes help to build a substantial corpus for retirement emergencies that may arise in future. For example this amount can be used to pay for mortgage, child's education, marriage or even for a medical emergency. So these schemes encourage savings for future needs. Further they offer profitable interest as compared to other schemes in the financial market. In addition to that they also offer tax exemptions. Note that the amount mobilized through these schemes are accounted under public account of the central government. This is because the collection under small saving schemes are credited to the National Small Savings Fund in the public account of India. This is a very important point UPSC usually plays around with these terms in prelims questions. Now let us move on to the benefits of these schemes. See small saving schemes provide long-term benefits. It is a disciplined way of saving money. Investing in them provides additional income. These schemes secure the well-being of the depositors. In addition to that it also helps in financing government expenditure. Most importantly the risk of investing in small saving schemes are very minimal since they are launched by the government. So they have a sovereign guarantee and therefore contributions made are safe and secure. Next know that there are many small saving schemes to cater the needs of different segments of the investors. These schemes are also known as national savings products. They are the products of ministry of finance. Ministry designs a product in consultation with the expert committees or national savings institute. National saving institute works under the department of economic affairs under ministry of finance. It is entrusted with the task of mobilization of savings in national saving schemes of government of India. See the national saving products includes senior citizen saving schemes, SCSS, post office monthly income account, 15 year public provident fund, PPF account, national saving certificate issue, 5 year post office recurring deposit account, post office time deposit account, post office savings account, Kisan Vikas Patra. All these products are available at post offices. PPF and SCSS are also available with designated banks branches. The important point to notice the government resets the interest rate on these products every quarter. So now what is in the news? On March 31st, with the approval of the competent authority, ministry of finance revised the interest rate of small saving schemes. It was revised for the first quarter of financial year 2021-2022. As we know, the first quarter starts from April 1st to June 30th. The interest rates were cut in varying ranges from 40 basic points, 0.4% to 110 basic points, 1.1%. The sharpest cut was seen in the one year time deposits. Further, PPF returns were cut to a multi-decade low. Why this cut was made? See this move was taken because if interest rates are lower, it makes it easier to execute government's borrowing plans for the year. Also, because high small saving rates have been cited by RBA as a major impediment in ensuring that the policy rate cuts are being transmitted into the banking system. Another important point is the interest rates were cut because already the government has a huge size of public debt and other liabilities including small saving schemes of the center and those of the states. So these high interest rates and interest payments continue to strain public finances severely. These interest cut moves resulted in huge public outcry as public was not happy about low interest rates in the pandemic. So yesterday, government backtracked and reversed this sharp rate cuts. Now, as per the latest notification, rates which prevailed on March 2021 will continue. The reason given by government for this backtracking is that it was an oversight mistake or an erroneous order. But according to the author, the reason is different. The main reason is the ongoing assembly election in many states. So the ruling party did not want to upset the public with rate cuts. Because already ruling party is blamed for retail inflation, rising unemployment and rising fuel and LPG cylinder prices. Finally, the author notes that the government intent is clear which is to cut the rates because the rate cuts announced would have been definitely a well calculated one. So only for an election advantage, government has retracted it. Look at this article. It is about the Dada Sahib Palke award. See, yesterday Dada Sahib Palke award was awarded to Rajni Gant for his contribution as an actor, producer and screenwriter. This award is expected to be presented to him on May 3rd. Also know that Amitabh Bachchan received the award in 2018 and since then there had been no nominee for the past three years. In this slide, let's see in brief about this award. See, the Dada Sahib Palke award was instituted in the year 1969 as the highest honor given to an artist in Indian cinema. Since then, it is presented every year at the National Film Award ceremony conducted by Directorate of Film Festivals. See, this Directorate of Film Festivals is an organization that comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Dada Sahib Palke award is named after Dundiraj Govind Palke, who is considered as the father of Indian cinema. He is the one who made the first Indian feature film called Raja Arishandra in the year 1913. This Palke award was introduced by the government to recognize the contribution of film personalities towards the development of Indian cinema. The first recipient of this award was Devika Rani. The Dada Sahib Palke award is given to a film personality for his or her contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. The award comprises of Swarna Kamal, Golden Lotus Medallion, a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakhs, silk scroll and a shawl. Amitabh Bachchan, Sashi Kapoor, K Balachandar, Latha Mangeshkar and Asha Bosli are some of the famous recipients of this award. This news article is a critical analysis of Ambassador's appointment process of USA. This article is authored by TP Srinivasan Sir, who is a former Ambassador of India. Sir has spent 10 years in the US in different diplomatic assignments in his career of Indian Foreign Service. This makes his article special and interesting as Sir has imbibed his knowledge and experience in this analysis. Herein, we would like to add that Sir is handling a special program of International Relations Weekly Capsules. The episodes are being published on YouTube on regular basis. Even day before yesterday, that is on 31st March 2021, Sir has conducted a special session on the recent developments in Afghanistan. We suggest the aspirants to view this particular session for in-depth understanding of Afghan issues. Now let us come to our current news article discussion. See, at present, the US President Joe Biden is in the process of filling up thousands of high-level posts and the Senate has begun considering the various names for confirmation. On the other side, the donor Ambassadors, who have paid money to the party, have also begun to assert their claims for superior positions. So in this light, the author talks about the misuse of Ambassadorship and the unfair practices associated with it in the United States. And further, he discusses the system of appointing Ambassadors in India in a positive manner. The syllabus relevant to the article is displayed on the screen. Aspirants can go through it. See, an ambassador is the President's highest ranking representative to a specific nation or international organization abroad. He or she will coordinate the activities of the foreign service officers and staff serving under him and also the representative of other agencies in the country. This editorial talks about the significant role played by the financial contribution in the appointment of Ambassadors. The author considers this practice as a part of the SPOIL system. See, the SPOIL system or the PATRONATE system is a practice in which the political party after winning offers the government job to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for working towards victory. It also acts as an incentive to keep working for the party. Now this is in contradiction to the merit system which is followed in countries like India, where the officers, positions are awarded on the basis of some measure of merit or qualification. When you look at the appointment of Ambassadors, the process has got its legal backing in the U.S. Constitution. See, article 2 of the U.S. Constitution provides that the President with the power to nominate the Ambassadors and appoint them with the advice and consent of the Senate. Here you should know that even though the President enjoys the discretion of selecting a nominee, it is the Senate which has the right to choose or roll back the confirmation of any nominee including career diplomats. Now talking about the donor candidates, even though the donor Ambassadors pay a lot of money, still they find it difficult to acquire this position. This is mainly because of the Senate confirmation. See, the Senate confirmation is a complicated process where the investigating agency will inquire and investigate into the past of the candidate to make sure that they are not guilty of any offence. In case a person is found to be guilty, he or she will be informed about it. And they are led to decide whether to face the charges or quietly withdraw from the candidature. Back in 1980, it was decided that the majority of the Ambassadors should be career foreign service officers. However, this could not be followed as the President who succeeded one after the other began to fill the seats with donor Ambassadors. And these donor Ambassadors began to occupy around 30% of seats, and it reached a maximum of 50% during Mr. Trump's period. Thus, it can be said that this unfair practice is not something new but rather a tradition which got entrenched in US history. So, the need of the hour is to address on what can be done to those who have made donations for diplomatic position. Therefore, it becomes extra important for Mr. Biden to take suitable measures regarding the donor Ambassadorship. The author then gives an example of a sophisticated system of appointment that is practiced in India based on talent and knowledge. See till recent times, the ambassadorial post in London, Washington or Moscow were appointed only to distinguished people. And the government followed the practice of appointing political Ambassadors in up to 30% of the post. However, with time, this has changed and the number of political Ambassadors become small and the career diplomats are beginning to be admitted into senior posts. The author then talks about the prevalence of a belief that long careers in the foreign service are necessary to be effective ambassadors. He considers this as a false notion as diplomacy cannot be considered to be a profession that is meant only for specialists. Finally, the author concludes the article by mentioning the possible implications on appointing donor Ambassadors. That is, appointment of donor Ambassadors may have a serious impact on the source of political funding. Fortunately, if that doesn't happen, then the quality of Biden's diplomacy will increase and the career diplomats will have a better prospects in the future. Now, let us move on to the next article. This news article mentions that the GST council meeting will happen in the end of May or in June. This is because of ongoing assembly elections in five states. So the council meeting is expected after the elections conclude and once new governments take charge in these states. So till then, there will be no reforms or rate changes under this GST regime. Now this meeting is much avoided because the center and the states are also planning to discuss the rising or high fuel taxes that has also played a very important role in high fuel prices. In this relation, let us discuss about GST and GST council. So you can see previous your questions with respect to the area of goods and services taxes. Since these areas are already covered, we might expect a question on GST council about which we are going to discuss today. GST is an indirect tax that has replaced many indirect taxes in our country. Prior to this GST regime, we had a different indirect tax structure in our country. At that time, central government and state governments, they levied these taxes. So there were multiplicities of taxes that are being levied on same supply chain. But then there was introduction of GST considered as very significant step in the field of indirect tax reforms in India. Why? Because it replaced these 17 indirect taxes and these indirect taxes were consolidated into a single goods and services tax. See GST is levied on supply of goods or services or both. At each stage of supply chain, the supply chain starting from manufacture or import until the last retail level. So at each stage of supply chain, GST is levied. It is a consumption tax that is based on credit invoice method. See only the value addition at each stage is taxed. So this measure of GST, it reduces the ill effects of double taxation or cascading taxation in a major way. So this also helps in ensuring a common national market. The biggest advantage for consumers is the reduction of overall tax burden on goods. The tax burden to the tune of around 25 to 30% was reduced as a result of GST. Now the recommendations to the union and the state government on issues related to GST is provided by a council called as goods and services tax council. Now let us see about this council that provides recommendations to the union and state governments. See GST council is a constitutional body. Why we say that it is a constitutional body? See this was introduced by Constitution 101 amendment act of 2016. This amendment made constitutional provision for GST council under article 279 capital layer of Indian constitution. See as per 279 capital layer clause 2. This council is chaired by union finance minister. Its members include union state minister of revenue or finance and then it also includes ministers in charge of finance or taxation of all the states. Then it shall make recommendations to the union and states on these issues that are shown here. See firstly it can make recommendations on the taxes, cessers and surcharges that are levied by the center, states and local bodies which may be subsumed under the GST. Then the goods and services that may be subjected to or that may be exempted from the GST. Then it will also recommend model GST laws, the principles of levy apportionment and allocation of integrated GST. Then the principles that govern the place of supply. See GST is a destination based tax. The goods and services will be taxed at the place where they are consumed and not at the origin. So the state where they are consumed will have the right to collect the GST. Now this makes the concept of place of supply as crucial under the GST because all the provisions of GST revolve around it. See place of supply of goods under GST defines whether the transaction will be counted as intrastate or interstate. Then only the levy or imposition of state GST, central GST and integrated GST will be determined. Next is the recommendation of threshold limit of aggregate turnover. This limit determines which goods and services may be exempted from GST. Then recommendation on any special rate or rates for a specified period which is to raise additional resources in case of any natural calamity or disaster. Next recommendations are also made on special provisions with respect to states or UTs that require special concentration which include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. In this analysis we discussed about GST, then about GST council. Then we also saw on what issues GST council make recommendations to the union and the states. Now let's move on to the next part of the discussion. Now have a look at this article. The author discussed the places of worship act of 1991 and today's article is more on the critic side of this statute. Let us look at it from exam point of view and we will see only the few other aspects or the undiscussed aspects we will take on another day in a related news article discussion. Firstly, let us take a moment to understand what is a colorable legislation because the title has the terms colorable legislation or let us see what is the doctrine of colorable legislation. Now this doctrine was laid down in Indian legal jurisprudence through a case law called as KC Gajapati Narayan Dio versus Odisha and this was also reiterated in another case law called as Sonapur T versus Deputy Commissioner. See the concept is that what you cannot do directly, you cannot do indirectly. Here you refers to legislature. See when a legislature seeks to enact a law which it cannot legislate directly then it should not do that indirectly also. So the point is that colorable legislation indicates that while making a law the legislature has transgressed the limits of its own power. It has crossed the limits of its power that is what is the relation between the term colorable legislation and the law making body that is related to that. Here authors believe that places of worship act is also a piece of colorable legislation. Now let us see few important features about this law. See the objective of this act is to prohibit conversion of any place of worship that existed on the Independence Day of India. It also provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship that existed on that day. Now come to section 2 which deals with definitions. So what is the definition for the term conversion? See an alternation or change of whatever nature constitutes the term conversion. In addition to this the term place of worship refers to all the places of public religious worship of any religious denomination or any section. So it covers temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches, monasteries etc. Section 3 explicitly imposes bar on conversion of places of worship. And section 5 of the act in relation to some legal issues and disputes has given an exemption to Ayodhya even before the demolition of Babri Masjid mosque. The act is also not applicable to the ancient or historical monuments or an archaeological site or remains that are covered by ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains act of 1958. See this law has been praised as secular law as it prohibits digging out the buried issues and thereby reportedly helping in communal harmony. However the authors of this article they have a different opinion of this act. It is important for us to know both sides for our preparation however taking a stand is our own discretion. Now here our objective is that viewers should be aware of both the sides and this does not reflect our stand in this analysis. Now the authors believe that this law is in contrast to judicial review as sanctioned in the constitution through article 32 and article 226. As we know an individual can approach the supreme court through article 32 for any infringement of fundamental right. Then a person can approach high court under article 226 for the same. And what is religious freedom? It is a fundamental right provided under article 25 and 26. The authors say that this places of worship act of 1991 violates or ultra-wires the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution. Why? Because the authors state that the jurisdiction of supreme court is barred by the law. Therefore the law nullifies the fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution of India as elicited in article 32. Now how is that statement made? See the particular law expressly bans any sort of conversion without any room for judicial intervention. And place of worship the authors believe is a part of article 25 and 26. See the fundamental right cannot be curtailed. But the law has indirectly curtailed approaching the court for the infringement of article 25 and 26. Therefore the authors say that this act of 1991 is a colorable legislation. Then the author also points out the discrepancy between the particular law and one of the judgments made by the supreme court in the case law called as Ismail Farooqi versus Union of India. In that judgment it is laid down that the mosque is not an essential part of Islam and that Namas can be performed anywhere. However if you take the law it mandates that essential religious places cannot be changed in character. So the authors come to a point that both does not go hand in hand. So this results in an interpretation that since mosques are not an essential religious place it is free to be converted to some other purpose. So what the authors demand they want to revisit the law so as to make it on par with the judgment. However authors agree that opening up the places of worship to be converted is tantamount or is equal to opening a Pandora's box because there will be lot of claims that can be brought up for the reverse conversion of places which could be either based on verified claims or based on unverified claims. End of the day all these can free well communal tensions. At one place the article also mentions the term article 142. See this article it provides a unique power to the Supreme Court to do complete justice between the parties where at times a law or a statute may not provide a proper remedy. So these are some of the points with reference to the analysis in this news article. Make note of the law. Make note of important provisions. Take decision on your own. We request the aspirants to visit the videos of 13th March 2021 and 29th March 2021 as we have discussed related aspects on the analysis of that days as well. Now let's move on to next news article discussion. I'll see this news article we can recollect that Mr. Donald the former president of United States earlier suspended H1B visas. However the new Joseph government has allowed the ban to expire without renewing it. So what is this H1B visa? See H1B is a visa in the United States under its immigration and nationality act. This visa allows the US employers or the US companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in some specialty occupations and this specialty occupation requires application of specialised knowledge and a bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience. The duration of stay is three years that can be extended to six years. Now the special feature why India is concerned about H1B visas that majority of the applicants are Indians. Earlier H1B was banned in a measure to save the American jobs for the Americans but this was litigated and their stay was obtained earlier at the federal court by the industrial bodies there in the US. Now this ban also impacted other visas like L1J1. So L1 refers to visas with reference to intra company transfers that is between the branches of the same company. This is what is called as onsite. Then J1 refers to exchange of visitors primarily for research purposes. Then there is visas with reference to other temporary non-agricultural workers who may or may not include technical side. Then dependence of H1B holders be it spouse or aged parents for them visa is provided under H4. We say these L1J1 just for getting some idea. What has been the impact of the ban? While the intention was announced as saving jobs for the Americans it is reported that America or the employers in America have struggled to find the right talent in the specialty occupations. As a result a study by Wall Street Journal has found that this move has resulted in widespread vacancies in those positions while there was still joblessness and in fact it was also argued that these are the specialty occupations when these members come from foreign countries they play a pivotal role in job creation in America by which many Americans receive employment. However in the previous regime this was criticized that is this H1B visa provision was criticized and there was also significant reduction for Indians also in getting such visas in the last five years that is during the regime of Mr. Trump. Various industrial bodies and other bodies have welcomed this move particularly Indian industrial body NASCOM which is a premier trade body and chamber of commerce of tech industry in India comprises of over 2800 member companies. This include both Indian and multinational organizations that have presence in our country. See it was established in 1988. Now with respect to US Mo NASCOM has categorically noted that these are individuals who migrate as a vital part of US workforce and their presence help US businesses to access those talent that are critical to the economic recovery phase in the post-COVID world particularly at the American context. Then there is one more body called as Information Technology Industry Council which is an IT and tech industry association. It has members such as Amazon, Google, Cognizant and TCS. They have also said that they welcome the expiration of the ban imposed during the Trump regime. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis. We will see more information in the coming days in a related news article discussion. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. We have come to the last session the practice questions discussion session. See this question with reference to goods and services tax council. The question reads which of the following statements is incorrect with reference to goods and services tax council. It has been established as per the provisions made in the constitution by the Constitution 101st amendment act 2016. See this statement is correct. This amendment act it inserted article 279 capital A that provided for GST council. Statement B. It members mandatorily include the chief ministers of all states. See this statement is incorrect because its members include union state minister of revenue or finance and ministers in charge of finance or taxation of all the states or any other minister nominated by each state government. It is not mandatory to nominate chief ministers or to include chief ministers. So correct answer is option B. Option C is correct. It makes recommendations to the union and the states on the goods and services that may be subjected to or exempted from the GST. While answering this question do not mark option D as correct in a hurry. Note that the question asks for incorrect statement. So the correct answer is option B. Consider the following statements with reference to BIMSTEC. It is a sector driven cooperative organization which is correct. Only Bay of Bengal literal states are allowed to be its members. This statement is incorrect. You can see Nepal and Bhutan they are also members. So statement two is incorrect. Third statement its sectors of focus include trade technology and counter tourism among others. This is correct. Correct answer option B. One and three only. See this question which of the following statements are not correct with reference to small savings schemes of government of India. It includes senior citizen savings scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra. See this statement is correct. In addition to this the scheme also include post office monthly income account, 15 year public provident fund account, national savings certificate 8th issue, then five year post office recurring deposit account, post office time deposit account and post office savings account. So the statement is correct. Second statement NRIs are not authorized to make investment which is also correct. Third statement national savings institute is interested with the mobilization and management of small savings schemes of government of India. See this statement is also correct. It is one of the key functions of national savings institute. We have given you other functions here for your reference. The question asks for not correct statements or incorrect statements. Therefore the correct answer for this question is option D. None of the above. Now see this question with reference to Dada Sahib Palke award. Two statements are given. They are asking which of the statements given above are correct. The award was established by the central government to honor the father of Indian cinema Dundee Raj Govind Palke who made the first Indian feature film Raja Harish Chandra in 1913. Second statement it is given to a film personality for her or his outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. See here both the statements are correct and they are brief description about this award. Correct answer is option both one and two. We have displayed practice main questions. You may write the answer and post them in the comment section. With this we come to the end of today's the Hindu news analysis. If you like the video, click the like button, comment, share and subscribe to Shankara's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service exam preparation.