 So very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu Newspaper Analysis of Shankarae's Academy. Today's date is 4th of February 2023. Displayed here are the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. So with that much delay, let us get into the first news article discussion. Now take a look at this news article. It talks about the recent tussle between Delhi Chief Minister and his left-hand governor. Due to differences in opinion between the two, weekly meetings between them are not taking place. This is what is given in the news article displayed here. In this context, let us learn about the powers of left-hand governor in our exam perspective. Now before saying the powers of left-hand governor, let us briefly learn about union territories of India. See the term union of India can be divided into two categories. One is the state and the other is the union territories. So what is the difference between a state and an union territory? The main difference between a state and an union territory is that state governments have the exclusionary power to make laws regarding the subjects that are listed under the state list of the 7th schedule. Now this power has not been extended to the union territories. Note that both the union parliament and the union territories with the legislative assembly have concurrent powers of law making in the state list subjects. So this is about the main difference between union territories and states in India. We know that in total 8 union territories all there in India. I have displayed here the 8 union territories and the name of the executive heads of the territories here. You can go through it. Now if you notice, the normal closure of the head of executives are not the same in every union territory. For the UTs of Delhi, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the executive head is called as left-in-and-governor. While for the other 3 union territories the executive head is called as administrator. Here also note that only Delhi and Puducherry have a legislature of their own while the other union territories don't have a legislative body of their own. Now coming to Jammu and Kashmir specific information. See Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act which was passed in the year 2019 provides that the administration of the Jammu and Kashmir will be as per Article 239A of the Indian constitution. Article 239A was originally formulated for only the union territory of Puducherry but after the amendment of JNK Reorganization Act 2019, Article 239A is now made applicable to Jammu and Kashmir also. So this is all about the brief background of union territories present in India. Now coming to the administrative details of Delhi, see as I said earlier Delhi has a legislative body which is headed by a chief minister. It also has an executive head called left-in-and-governor who is nominated by the union government. Since the left-in-and-governor is representative of the union, sometimes there emerges a confrontation between the left-in-and-governor and the publicly elected CM of Delhi. Normally when we consider states the governor who are nominated by the center have only certain discretionary powers. But this is not the case with respect to union territories. Here the left-in-and-governor are provided with huge powers. This is why conflict emerges between the left-in-and-governor and the CM's of the union territories. This scenario is not only particular to Delhi. This was the case with respect to Puducherry as well. When former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was made the left-in-and-governor of Puducherry, there emerged a constant battle between her and the Puducherry CM of the day. So this is a brief background of the left-in-and-governor. Now coming to the powers of left-in-and-governor with respect to Delhi, see we have looked at the article 239A. Now to understand that we have to look at the article 239A sub-clause 4 to understand the power of the left-in-and-governor of Delhi. This particular clause gives left-in-and-governor the power to refer to president, any issue which arises because of a difference of opinion between the left-in-and-governor and his ministers. If a decision on an urgent issue needed to be taken then left-in-and-governor has been provided with the necessary power to take the decision even if the issue is pending before the president. This power is frequently used by the left-in-and-governor to act against the advice of council of ministers of Delhi. Now we have to make note of this because this is an extraordinary power which is granted to the left-in-and-governor of Delhi. He can go against the directions of his council of ministers using this particular clause given under the article 239AA of the Indian constitution. Now the article given in today's newspaper was based on an issue related to sending some primary school teachers of Delhi on an educational tour to Finland. The CM of Delhi wants his school teachers to go on with the trip but the left-in-and-governor of Delhi is questioning the government regarding this particular tour. He questioned the government on the cost-benefit analysis of the tour. He noted that the file for the approval of the tour is pending with the left-in-and-governor office. So because of this issue, weekly meetings between the left-in-and-governor and the Delhi CM has been boycotted. So this is what is said in this news article. So I hope we covered holistically about the powers of left-in-and-governor and then we saw specifically about the powers of left-in-and-governor with respect to Delhi. So with these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now take a look at this editorial article. This editorial article talks about the steps taken in the budget that will aid in India's green energy transition. So in this news article discussion, let us understand few important points mentioned in the editorial in detail. So recently an article was published during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Dawos. The article stated that India holds the key to achieve global climate change targets. Now here you might have a question. Why does India holds the key to achieve not just our but the global climate change targets? There are certain reasons for that. Let us see them one by one. See the first reason is the growing population. According to recent reports, India's population is set to overtake China's population. So if a huge country like India cut down emissions, then global climate change targets can be easily achieved. So this is the first reason. The second reason is India's growing energy needs. See economically, India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world, right? So to continue on its growth path, India needs reliable energy. Currently the demand for energy is set to grow for India. But the issue here is currently fossil fuel is the major contributor to India's energy needs. So in the near future, if India makes a course correction and switches to renewable sources to satisfy its growing energy needs, it will contribute to sustainable growth in India. So if India attains a sustainable growth, it will also go a long way in addressing the climate change crisis that the world is currently facing. So because of these two reasons, it is being said that India holds the key to achieve global climate change targets and India, being a responsible country, realized the role it has to play in combating global climate change. So this is why in COP26, India committed to become carbon neutral by 2070. India has taken various steps towards climate change. In the recent budget also, India took some steps. So now let us see some of the steps taken by India. See firstly, India has decided to exempt customs duty on the import of capital goods and machinery required to manufacture lithium-ion cells. But why? See in India, all the major automobile manufacturers have started rolling out various electronic vehicle models. But the uptake of EV in India is still low due to its high cost-compared to conventional vehicles. Now this is again because availability of indigenously produced lithium-ion battery is not sufficient. So this is why the government has decided to exempt customs duty on the import of capital goods and machinery required to manufacture lithium-ion cells. So this move of the government will give a boost to domestic manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. This in turn will make EV cheaper. So this is the first step taken by government. Secondly, our government has decided to establish a viability gap funding mechanism to support the creation of battery energy storage systems with a capacity of 4000 MW. Now what is the requirement of a battery storage system? See India has decided to move towards renewable energy like wind and solar power. But the thing about wind and solar power is that they produce variable power. That is unlike thermal power plants, power production from wind and solar cannot be scaled up and down based on the demand for electricity. In case of wind and solar power, sometimes they produce more power than the demand and sometimes they produce power less than the demand. So we need storage devices to store excess power produced during low demand and supply the stored power when energy demand is high. So to successfully integrate renewable energy into our power grids we need a battery storage system. But currently the battery storage system in India is very meager. To address this our government has decided to establish a viability gap funding mechanism to support the creation of battery energy storage systems with a capacity of 4000 MW. So this is the second major step taken by our government. Now finally the government has allotted 8300 crore rupees towards setting up an interstate transmission line from Ladakh. See the solar energy production capacity of Ladakh is very high. This is because Ladakh has vast stretches of barren land and one of our country's highest level of sunlight availability. The renewable energy potential of Ladakh is around 13 gigawatts. But right now there are not many solar power plants in Ladakh. This is because there is not interstate transmission line from Ladakh. So even if power is produced in Ladakh it cannot be transmitted to our country's main grid. To address this problem our government has allotted 8300 crore rupees towards setting up an interstate transmission line from Ladakh. So this will help us to tap Ladakh's solar energy potential. So these are all some of the steps taken by the government that will help India go grid and address the climate crisis. So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about why does India hold the key to achieve the global climate change targets and that the first reason is growing population and the second reason is India's growing energy needs. Then we saw about some of the steps taken by our government. Thirdly our government has exempted customs duty on the import of capital goods and machinery required to manufacture lithium ion cells. We saw that this will make EV cheaper. Secondly we saw that our government has decided to establish a viability gap funding mechanism to support the creation of battery energy storage systems. And thirdly we saw that the government has allotted certain rupees towards setting up an interstate transmission line from Ladakh. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now take a look at this news article. It talks about the military coup in Myanmar. We all know that the military captured power through a coup right? But it is now struggling to have a grip on the power. A report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar which is an independent group of international experts says that the military has stable control over only 17% of the country. The military has been restoring to indiscriminate bombing to bring things under control. According to the United Nations 17.6 million people which is roughly a third of Myanmar's population will need humanitarian assistance. Now this is not helping anyone's cause. Therefore the authors suggest a meaningful dialogue between the Janta and the opposition to restore democracy. This is the cracks of the news article given here. Now taking this as an opportunity let us revise about India-Myanmar relations. Now before that the syllabus relevant to this news article is highlighted here. You can just go through it. See India and Myanmar relations are rooted in shared historical, ethnic, cultural and religious ties. India and Myanmar share a long land border of over 1600 km and a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. Notably four northeastern states that is Arunachal Pradesh, Naha Land, Manipur and Visoram share border with Myanmar. Also a large population of Indian origin live in Myanmar. Besides this India and Myanmar had signed a Treaty of Friendship in 1951. This laid the foundation for a stronger relationship between India and Myanmar. Now we will understand the significance of this relation. See Myanmar is the only Asian country adjoining India and therefore our gateway to Southeast Asia. We know that India is seeking greater economic integration with Southeast Asia through the Act East policy right? So Myanmar is a bridge between India and Asia. To put it in simple words, while Myanmar is India's gateway to Southeast Asia, India is Myanmar's gateway to Southeast Asia. Then from the point of regional stability, see India and Myanmar border poses a challenge to India's security. There has been a greater influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine state into India. This may cause stress in the border states. So the help of Myanmar's government is needed for us in this respect. Then India did not take a hard-line approach on the Myanmar's military in the Rohingya issue and kept its distance when Myanmar was hauled into the International Coast of Justice over acquisition of Rohingya genocide. Now this is also done in consideration of the strategic importance of Myanmar to India. Besides all this, there is another aspect to why Myanmar is significant to us. It is none other than China. See China has increasing its influence and is using Myanmar for gas, minerals, rubber and gemstones. China is also accessing Myanmar's naval ports to increase its presence in the Indian Ocean to encircle India. So to counter this, a strong relation with Myanmar is significant for India. Also India's economic engagement with Myanmar lacks behind China. So that is an urgent need for India to scale up economic ties with Myanmar. So far we saw about the significance of the India-Myanmar relationship and we saw about the regional stability. Now we will see what are the areas of cooperation between the two countries. See many infrastructure projects are underway. This includes the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and the Kaladhan multimodal transit which aims to connect the Kolkata port with the Sitve Deepwater port in Myanmar's Rakhine state by sea. See as part of its Sahar policy, here Sahar means security and growth for all in the region. So as part of its Sahar policy, it is India that developed the Sitve port in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The Kaladhan multimodal transit project will connect South-West Myanmar to North-East India. The project would create a multimodal transit through sea, river and road transport corridor to boost interconnectivity. India's long-term strategic goal is to create a special economic zone surrounding the Sitve port. If this has been done, India would boost its presence in the Bay of Bengal. Also, the Sitve port is meant to be India's answer to the Chinese-fronted QQ port. Then secondly, in the line of security cooperation, India and Myanmar armies have carried out two joint military operations. They are codenamed as Operation Sunshine 1 and 2. This is to fight militants along the borders of Myanmar's Rakhine state, which borders the North-Eastern Indian states. Apart from this, there are military exercises like the India-Myanmar bilateral army exercise, in short called IMBAX. It is aimed at building and promoting closer relations with armies. Further to deepen the defence relations, India and Myanmar signed a landmark defence cooperation agreement in July 2019. Besides these, India has identified Myanmar's key to increasing its military exports. So along that line, Myanmar bought India's first locally procured anti-submarine torpedo called Tal-Shena in 2017. And in 2019, Myanmar acquired a diesel-electric kilo-class submarine INS Sindhuvir. Then along the cultural lines, the Buddhist circuit initiative seeks to double foreign tourist arrivals and revenue by connecting ancient Buddhist heritage sites across different states in India. This is also aimed at the Buddhist majority, Myanmar. Apart from this, bilateral trade has grown from $12.4 million in 1980-81 to $2.18 billion in 2016-17. Myanmar is also the beneficiary of a duty-free tariff preference scheme for least-developed countries' LDCs. Then some of the Indian companies like SR, Gail and ONGC, Videsh Limiter have invested in Myanmar's energy sector. Then cooperation in the banking sector, the United Bank of India and XIM Bank have representative offices at Myanmar. So these are all some of the important points that you have to remember about. India-Myanmar relations. Now recognizing its significance, India-Myanmar relations have to be prioritized by both countries and bilateral commitments should be translated to practical outcomes. This would help India to augment its standing as a regional power in the India Pacific. So with these learned points, now let us move on to the next news-article discussion. According to the news article, the finance minister of Kerala while announcing the state budget said that India Innovation Center for Graphene which is being set up in Trissure, Kerala will become operational by September this year. He also said that Kerala Digital University has signed a MOU with Saigen University, Germany for research and development activities related to the graphene ecosystem. So this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us learn about graphene and what is this India Innovation Center for Graphene. So what is a graphene? Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms which are tightly bounded in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. Now look at this image here. This is the bonding structure of graphene which is looking like a honeycomb, right? Remember graphene is an allotrope of carbon and it is the building block of graphite. That is the layers of graphene are piled on top of each other to form graphite. Graphene is the most electrically and thermally conducting material in the world. This means that graphene is the best conductor of heat at room temperature and also the best conductor of electricity. Know that graphene is also flexible, transparent and incredibly strong. It is said that graphene is 200 times stronger than steel and it is 1000 times lighter than paper with 98% transparency. Apart from this, graphene is also considered to be the world's first 2D material and it is said to be 1 million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair. Graphene is also known as a wonder material because of its vast potential in the energy and medical world. So with this basic understanding, let us move on to see about India Innovation Center for Graphene. See in February 2022, the Kerala government announced to set up India Innovation Center for Graphene. It is the country's first graphene innovation center which is being constructed in Trishur Kerala. It is a joint venture of the Digital University of Kerala Center for Materials for Electronic Technology and Tata Steel Limiter. So what is the significance of this center? The first significance is that the graphene innovation center would boost the industry sector in the southern states. It would encourage new startups which in turn the startups could leverage the advanced properties of graphene to innovate new products and services. The second significance is that the innovation center would attract internationally leading research on graphene into India. It would also bridge the gap between scientific development and industrial applications of graphene in our country. And finally through the center, the existing industrial organizations could also enhance the quality of their products and services by exploring the possibilities of using graphene in their production process. So that's all you have to know about this news article discussion. See in this news article discussion, we saw in detail about what is graphene and we saw about the significance of the India Innovation Center for Graphene. So with these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. It says that India would showcase the success stories of rural and archaeological tourism during the first tourism working group meeting of the G20 nations. This is to be held at the Ranafkach in Gujarat. Basically the idea is to present rural tourism as a means of community improvement and poverty elevation. The article says that the Lattpura Kaas village of Madhya Pradesh, Kunama village of Nagaland and heritage sites like Dholavira will be showcased at this event. Here note that Lattpura Kaas was nominated as the best rural tourism village by the UN WTO, that is World Tourism Organization. It is also said that the success of developing many rural tourism products in and around Ranafkach will also be presented during this event. So in this context, we will use this opportunity to learn few facts about Ranafkach. See the Ranafkach is a salty marshy land in the Ta desert in the Kach district of western Gujarat. It lies between Gujarat in India and the Sindh province in Pakistan. The Ranafkach is known to be the largest salt desert in the world. The Hindi word rhan means desert. This rhan extended about 300 km from east to west and 150 km from north to south. The Ranafkach comprises a unique example of Holasy sedimentation. Also note that the Ranafkach is connected to the Arabian Sea through Cori Creek in the west and the Gulf of Kach in the east. So what is this Gulf of Kach? We know that a Gulf is a portion of the ocean that penetrates land, right? So basically the Gulf of Kach is an inlet of the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India. It actually divides Kach and the Kathiavar Peninsula regions of Gujarat as you can see in this image. It actually comprises three landscapes. They include the great Ranafkach, the little Ranafkach and the Bani grassland. The great rhan is in the north and the little rhan is in the southeast as you can see in this image. These two are separated by the highland of Kach. Then the Bani grasslands. This grassland in Gujarat's Kach district is one of the largest grasslands in the Indian subcontinent. The Bani grasslands was declared a protected forest in 1955 under the Indian Forest Act 1927. There has been numerous natural wetlands in Bani and the largest one is known as Chari Dant which was recently declared as conservation to serve. This rhan has been populated since the Bronze Age. We all know about the Indus Valley civilization, right? So these people of IVC had many settlements in the Ranafkach. Dolavera is the largest Indus Valley site in the region. Now talking about its ecology, the Ranafkach region is also home to a range of wildlife like the flamingoes and the wild as that can be spotted around the desert often. It also makes a part of sanctuaries like the Indian wild as Sanctuary, Kach Desert Wildlife Sanctuary etc. Spinny-tailed lizard, henna and antelope species like Nilgai and Chincara are found in the Kach Desert Wildlife Sanctuary. Make note of all these points since G20 is always in news, there might be a question in preliminary examination. So kindly make note of these facts. So these are the points. Now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now take a look at this news article. According to the news article, the Tamil Nadu state government has informed the National Green Tribunal that the Pen Memorial proposed for former Chief Minister M. Karnanidhi will be built only after obtaining all necessary clearances and permissions from various authorities. This includes permissions from the National Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. This is the cracks of the news article given here. In this context, let us learn a few facts about the National Green Tribunal from the problem's perspective. See the National Green Tribunal or NGT was established in the year 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010. So we can say that NGT is a statutory body. NGT is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multidisciplinary issues. Know that NGT shall not be bounded by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 but it shall be guided by principles of natural justice. So what is the reason behind the creation of NGT? See NGT was established for effective and expeditious dispossession of cases related to environmental protection, conservation of forest and other natural resources. Now talking about NGT's location, NGT has its presence in five zones. They are North, Central, East, South and West zones. The principal bench is situated in the North zone which is headquartered in Delhi. The central zone bench is situated in Bhopal, then the East zone in Kolkata, then South zone in Chennai and West zone in Pune. Now talking about the composition of the NGT, the NGT is headed by the chairman who sits in the principal bench. The chairman shall be the one who is or has been a judge of the Supreme Court or Chief Justice of the High Court. Then the tribunal should have at least 10 judicial members but the judicial members should not exceed 20. Here the qualification of the judicial member is that that person should be or has been a judge of the High Court. Apart from the judicial members, the tribunal also has at least 10 expert members. Here also the expert members should not exceed 20. Remember the expert members should possess experience and qualification in the technological and scientific field or practical experience in matters related to the environment. Now talking about the appointment, the chairperson, judicial members and expert members of tribunal shall be appointed by the central government. The chairperson shall be appointed by the central government after consulting the Chief Justice of India. Now talking about the functioning of NGT, firstly the tribunal has jurisdiction over all civil cases involving a substantial question related to the environment. Secondly, the tribunal is vested with the powers for the enforcement of any legal right relating to the environment. Thirdly the NGT can order the concerned parties to provide relief and compensation for damages to persons and property. Apart from this, if a person seeking relief and compensation for environmental damage which involves subjects in the legislations that are mentioned in Schedule 1 of the National Green Tribunal Act 2010, they may approach the National Green Tribunal. Now the legislations mentioned in the Schedule 1 of the NGT Act 2010 are given here for your reference. You can go through it. So these are all some of the important points that you have to note about NGT. So in this news article discussion, we saw about NGT, the reason for its establishment, then where it is located, then we saw about the composition and qualification of the members. Finally, we saw about the functioning of NGT. So these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article, the news is that the Madras High Court has initiated so motto, contempt of court, proceedings against great Chennai corporation zonal officer for commenting in open court. He commented that an additional advocate general has scored a same side goal. This happened when the law officer fairly considered that the rules had not been followed in a tender notification issued by the officer. So this is the cracks of the news article given here. In this context, let us understand about contempt of court in exam perspective. So first of all, what is contempt of court? See when someone is said to be in contempt of court, then he or she has disrespected the court's order or lowered the authority of the court. The objective behind the concept of contempt of court is to safeguard the interest of the public. Because if the authority of the court is lowered, then public confidence in the administration of justice will be weakened or eroded. This might result in the collapse of the entire judicial system. So the concept of contempt of court is necessary for the judiciary to function smoothly. Now remember the contempt of court can be of two types. One is civil contempt and other is criminal contempt. First let us take civil contempt. A civil contempt means willful disobedience to any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other process of a court or willful breach of an undertaking given to a court. So this is about civil contempt. Now moving on to criminal contempt. See a criminal contempt means the publication of any matter or doing any other act which scandalizes the court or lowers the authority of any court. Here the term scandalizing the court refers to something that brings the authority, administration or law by the court into this repute or creates distrust and disbelief in the minds of the public at large. A criminal contempt case also includes the publication of any matter which infers with the due course of any judicial proceedings or abstracts the administration of justice in any other manner. Here the publication could be by words spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations. So basically the difference between civil and criminal contempt is that in case of civil contempt the order of the court is not followed and in case of the criminal contempt the authority of the court is slow yet. So I hope you could understand what is contempt of court and what are the two types of contempt of court. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. Now look at this first question this question is about contempt of court. First statement it is well defined in the constitution of India. See statement one is incorrect because the constitution of India does not define the term contempt of court. The constitution only impovers the high court and the supreme court to punish the contempt. Apart from this the contempt of court act 1971 only defines the contempt of court So this statement is incorrect. Now look at the second statement article 129 of the constitution empowers the supreme court to punish for any contempt of itself. See this statement is actually correct article 129 declares the supreme court as a court of record and the supreme court shall have all the powers of a court of record including the power to punish for its contempt of itself. Now the third statement article 215 of the constitution empowers the high court to punish for any contempt of itself. This statement is also correct article 215 declares high court as a court of record and the high court shall have all the powers of such a court including the powers to punish for contempt for itself. So the correct answer for the question is option B213 only. Now this question is about NGT. Statement one the NGT has been established by an act whereas the CPCB has been created by the executive order of the government. See this statement is actually incorrect. From our discussion we know that the National Green Tribunal was established under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010. Like this the Central Pollution Control Board was also established under the Water Prevention and Control of Pollution Act 1974. So both are statutory bodies. Hence first statement is incorrect. Now look at the second statement the NGT provides environmental justice and helps reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts whereas the CPCB promotes cleanliness of streams and wells and aims to improve the quality of air in the country. See actually this statement is correct. Since the statement itself is self-explanatory we can say that the correct answer for the question is option B213. Now moving on to the quiz question of the day. This question about RAN of Kutch is the quiz question for you today. Try to solve the question and pose the correct answer in the comment section. So displayed here are the main practice questions for you today. Quite a lot of questions but still if you keep on practicing only you can score better, right? So just try to write an answer and post it in the comment section. So with this we came to the end of the news article discussion. 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