 A very good evening, Esperance. Welcome to the Hindu Newspaper Analysis brought to you by Shankar IA's Academy for the date 15th of July 2022. Displayed here are the list of news articles that I have chosen for today's discussion. See, as I always say, our discussion will be relating to both your preliminary examination and mains examination. This is how your preparation has to flow in. That is, your preliminary preparation has to be integrated with your mains preparation. So, without wasting much time, now let's get into the first news article discussion. See, the first article is an editorial article which will be very much helpful for your mains examination as well as your preliminary examination. So kindly pay attention for it. See this editorial article here. It is about the recently released draft of the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities. This is released by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. And this draft is out for feedback. So this is the essence of the article given here. In this context, we are going to understand the need for the policy and then we'll discuss about the significance of it. Also, we'll see what are all the lag found in the policy and then we'll end our discussion with our way forward, okay? Before that, the syllabus relevant to this news article is given here for your reference. Just go through it. Now, let us start our discussion. First of all, let us see why such a policy is needed. See, the 2011 census puts the number of persons with disabilities at 2.68 crores. It implies that 2.21 percentage of the Indian population has some form of disability as compared to the global average of 15 percentage. And the percentage of person with disabilities in different categories is given here. The graph shows that the maximum percentage is seen in disability in movement, that is 20 percentage, okay? And this percentage of persons with disability demands a separate policy to cater to their needs. This is because persons with disabilities face stigma, discrimination and neglect due to socio-psychological and cultural reasons. Then, there is a widespread under estimation of the abilities and potential of persons with disabilities. This is due to general public perception and prejudices. And this creates a vicious cycle of under-achievement and it also harms their growth. Adding to this, other reasons are also there. See, the necessity for a new policy which replaces the 2006 policy was felt because of multiple factors. Such as, India signing of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, then the enactment of a new disability legislation, that is, Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. See, this increase in number of disabilities from 7 conditions to 21 conditions. And being a part to the Incheon strategy for Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, which is called the Incheon Commitment. And finally, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific, that is UNESCAP, identifies 10 goals for Asia-Pacific countries. This is to ensure the inclusion and the empowerment of persons with disabilities and conformity with the Sustainable Development Goals 2013. So, these are all the reasons or these are all the necessity for a new policy. See, these commitments made it necessary for India to draft a policy with respect to persons with disabilities. Apart from the demand for a policy, the commitments have changed the discourse around disability. This is by shifting the focus from the individual to the society. That is from a medical model of disability to a social or human rights model of disability. So, from this we can say that the principle of the draft policy is to showcase a government's commitment to the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities. And it is done by providing a mechanism that ensures their full participation in the society. In addition to this, the draft policy document highlights a detailed commitment to education, health, skill development and employment in sports and culture, social security, accessibility and other institutional mechanisms. So, now with this basic info, let us see the significance of the policy. See, the policy recognizes that persons with disabilities are valuable human resource. Then it recognizes that the PWD or the persons with disabilities are entitled to all rights and freedom equally with others. Then it recognizes that the discrimination on the ground of disability is violation of inherent dignity. Then it further recognizes that diversity of persons with disabilities is required. Not only this, it also recognizes the importance for persons with disabilities of their individual autonomy and independence and freedom to make their own choice. In addition to this, it also recognizes that women and girls with disabilities are at greater risk and prone to violence, abuse and exploitation. Then it recognizes the need for developing mechanism to involve persons with disabilities in decision making process at each and every stage of planning and policy execution. Finally, it realizes the importance of international cooperation for empowerment of the persons with disabilities. However, there is absence of any commitment to the political uplift of persons with disabilities. And this is the omission that is talked about in the editorial and the title. See, as per Article 29 of the Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the parties should ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis. That is on an equal basis with others directly or through freely chosen representatives. Then the Indian Goals also promote participation in political processes and in decision making. See, the anti-discrimination commitment under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 recognizes the political domain wherein disabled people should be allowed to realize their human rights and fundamental freedoms. But the documents fail to recognize such mandates. So despite these provisions, there is exclusion of disabled people from the political space at all levels of the political process in the country. And this exclusion is there in different ways. For instance, there is this inaccessibility of the voting process such as lack of braily electronic voting missions, wheelchair services, etc. Then there is barriers to participation in party politics. Then there is lack of representation at the local, state or national levels. And these no led to the marginalization of the disabled. See, as per Section 11 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, it is stated that the Election Commission of India and the State Election Commission shall ensure that all polling stations are accessible to persons with disabilities. And note that all materials related to the electoral processes are easily understandable by and accessible to the persons with disabilities. And despite this provision, still there are difficulties for the PWDs and why is this? See, the political parties in India do not find the disabled as a large electorate to specifically address their needs. This is because there is lack of live aggregate data on the exact number of the disabled people in every constituency. Thus we hardly see disability being highlighted in the manifestos of parties. These are the concerns regarding the PWDs as otters. One more dimension is when the PWDs or the persons with disabilities participate in the election process as candidates. See, there is difficulty in this also because there is lack of accessible space for party meetings. Then there is inaccessibility in transport for campaigning and there is stigma and prejudices prevailing in the society which is leading to an attitudinal barrier among otters and party leaders. Apart from this, the disabled people are not represented enough at all three levels of the governance. And the government is also not maintaining data on the disability aspect of the members. The first visually disabled member of parliament that is Sadhan Gupta was hardly mentioned in our political or disability discourse and there is no acknowledgement for the disabled political personalities who have overcome the maraud barriers in India's political space. So how this particular issue can be overcome? See, few states have begun the initiative at local levels to increase participation. For instance, take the Chattisgarh government. They started the initiative of nominating at least one disabled person in each panchayat. If a disabled person is not elected, then they are nominated as a panchayat member as per the changes in the law concerned. This is a step that has increased the participation of the disabled in the political space at local level. Now coming to how these issues can be addressed in the policy document, see the article says that the policy can follow a four-pronged approach. The first one is building the capacity of the disabled people's organizations and empowering their members through training in the electoral system, then government structure and basic organizational and advocacy skills. See, the second approach is the creation, amendment or removal of legal and regulatory frameworks. This is by lawmakers and election bodies in order to encourage the political participation of the disabled. The third one is the inclusion of civil societies to conduct domestic election observation or voter education campaigns. And the final one is forming a framework for political parties to conduct a meaningful outreach to person with disabilities when creating election campaign strategies and developing policy positions. Okay, so that's all about this news article. See, in this news article, we are holistically covered about the draft policy that is based on this person with disability communities. See, this is very much important for your upcoming main examination. Also, this policy can be put as your preliminary type of question also. Okay, very sooner it will be drafted fully and it will be published as a policy. So, you might expect a preliminary type of question also from this. And note that what is omitted can be put as a statement in your prelims question. Okay, so have a look at that also. And regarding the significance of the policy and its disadvantages, all these can be very useful for your main examination. Okay, so these key points in mind, now let's move on to the next news article discussion. See, this article here, it talks about the Global Gender Gap Index for the year 2022. See, according to the index, India is ranked 135 out of 146 countries. And this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us learn more about the index and its key findings in this discussion. Okay, first of all, let us see some basic facts about the index. The index is released by the World Economic Forum. It is the longest standing index which tracks progress towards closing gender gaps over time since its inception in the year 2006. Note that the Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks the current state and evolution of the gender parity across four key dimensions. Here, gender parity means equal representation or contribution of men and women in different dimensions. So the index measures gender parity in what are the four dimensions? Economic participation and opportunity, education, attainment, health and survival, political empowerment. Okay, so these are all the four dimensions that are used to measure the index. See, the index measures scores on a 0 to 100 scale and scores can be interpreted as the distance covered towards parity. That is, the percentage of the gender gap that has been closed. And there is also cross-country comparisons of 146 countries. This is done to support the identification of the most effective policies to close gender gaps. Just know that the eight different regions covered under the index include North America, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, then Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, then sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, then South Asia. Okay, so these are all the eight different areas or regions that are covered under the index. Okay, now let us move on to see the key findings of the index. See, pay attention to these key finding points because these all know you can directly put in your main sansar as a unique point. See, in the year 2022, the Global Gender Gap has been closed by 68.1%. Just know that this is a slight improvement when compared to the last year's index which is 67.9%. At the current rate of progress now, it will take 132 years to reach full parity. I have given here the time that will be taken by different regions to achieve full parity. Just give it a glance. Next key finding is that across the 146 countries covered by 2022 index, the health and survival gender gap has closed by 95.8%. Then the educational attainment by 94.4%. Then when you talk about the economic participation and opportunity, it is covered by 60.3%. And the political improvement is covered by 22%. Now coming to the region that is specific to India, which is South Asia. See, among the eight regions covered in the report, South Asia ranks the lowest. With only 62.3% of the gender gap closed in the year 2022. So this means that it will take 197 years to close a gender gap. This is due to a broad stagnation in gender parity scores across most countries in the region. And this stagnation is because of the pandemic, war and economic crisis. I have given the region specific data here. It is clear from this data that Bangladesh and Nepal lead regional performance with over 69% of the gender gaps closed. And India ranks poorly among its neighbors and is behind Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives and even Bhutan. Only Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan performed worse than India in the region. See, regarding this comparison within the South Asian countries, no, can be asked as a preliminary type of question since it is involving India. Okay. So that's all about this news article. In this news article, we covered about this global gender gap report 2022. And we saw about this gender gap index because this can be straight away asked as a preliminary type of question. Or these points, no, you can use it in your main sponsor to make your answer look unique. Also, substantiating your mains answer points with perfect data from some international forum or from a government source will make your answer look highlighted or look unique. Okay. So in prelims perspective, you have to know about the dimensions, then you have to know who are all performing well than India and who are all performing below India. Okay. And you can utilize these points also for your mains, right? Okay. So with these key points in mind, now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article. This article is with reference to the I2U2 initiative. This news article talks about a joint statement by the leaders of the I2U2 group. So what is this I2U2 group and what is said in the joint statement that we will see in this discussion. Okay. See I2U2 stands for India, Israel, the UAE and the US. That is I2 stands for India and Israel whereas U2 stands for USA and the UAE. Okay. It was referred to as the West Asian Quad. I2U2 grouping was conceptualized during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the four countries and it was held on 18th October 2021. At that time the grouping was called the International Forum for Economic Cooperation. Okay. So what is the purpose of this group? See its aim is to discuss common areas of mutual interest and aims to strengthen the economic partnership and trade and investment in their respective regions and beyond that. Also it aims to encourage joint investments in water, energy, transportation, space, health and food security. Further it will enhance maritime security and infrastructure especially digital infrastructure. Okay. See with the help of private sector capital and expertise the countries will look to modernize infrastructure. Also it will explore low carbon development avenues for industries and improve public health. Then it will also promote the development of critical emerging and green technology. Okay. See the grouping also points to India's growing engagement with countries in West Asia including Israel. We know that Abraham Accords of 2020 had led to Israel formally normalizing diplomatic ties with the UAE and Bahrain. See it marked an important shift in the stance of West Asian countries on Israel. Coming back to the article, yesterday the United Arab Emirates that is UAE announced an investment of US dollar 2 billion to develop a series of integrated food parks across India. India affirmed that it will provide land for food parks across the country. The leaders said that they would bring in private capital for specific projects in the fields of water, energy, transportation, health, space and food security. US and Israeli private sectors will be invited to lend their expertise and offer innovative solutions so that it will contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. See these investments will help to maximize crop ease which will help tackle food insecurity in South Asia and the Middle East countries. Okay. So that's all about this news article. In this news article we took the opportunity to know about the I2U2 group. That is a group involving four countries that is India, Israel, UAE and US. Okay. See this can be put as a direct preliminary type of question like what is meant by I2U2 group and also these points can be utilized in your mains answers because this is a West Asian grouping. Okay. Where in three countries are from Asia and one country is from West. So these key points in mind. Now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. This news article talks about Godavari flats. See as the water level keeps on increasing, Andhra Pradesh government have now shifted their focus to evacuate families. Know that more than 150 habitations are in the grip of the floods in the Kona Seema, Elluru and East and West Godavari districts. So in this backdrop, let us quickly go through some of the important facts about the river Godavari. Firstly, know that Godavari river is the largest river in Peninsular India and it is also known as the Dakshina Ganga. Know that the Godavari basin is the second largest basin after the Ganges basin and accounts for nearly 9.50% of the total geographical area of the country. Then when you ask me about its origin, the river rises in the Syedris at an altitude of 1067m above the main sea level. That is in the Nashik district of Maharashtra and it flows across the Deccan Plateau from the western to the eastern Ghats. The total length of the river is 1465km and the main river flows through the states of Maharashtra, Telangana, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. And finally, it falls into the Bay of Bengal. At Daulai Swaram, the river divides into two branches, the Gautami and the Vaishta. Moving the two lies the Godavari central delta. The Gautami branch joins the Bay of Bengal flowing through the Yanam enclave. You can see that in the image given here. Now, let us see why flood is occurring in the region. See, as per the joint report of the NRSC and CWC titled assessment of water resources at basin scale using space input of the December month 2011, more than 85% of the rainfall takes place during July to September months. Animal rainfall of the basin varies from 881mm to 2395mm. And when you ask me about the average rainfall, the average annual rainfall is found to be 1110mm that is 1110mm. When spatial variations are considered, some areas receive 600mm and some other areas receive 3000mm annual rainfall. While the central part of the basin receives less rainfall, Indravathi, Prandhita and Sabari receive more rainfall that causes floods in the basins. See, most of the years the basin receives high rainfall in less duration causing floods. So that's all about this news article. See, in this news article we saw about the river Godavari which is important for your preliminary point of view. Then we saw how the rainfall is varying and how it is causing floods in these areas. The highest annual rainfall range is major cause for these floods. So this extension of why there is flood in these areas can be utilized in your brain's answers. So with these key points in mind, now let's move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. See today we are going to discuss two questions and one more question will be a quiz question for you. Now look at this first question. See it is a match the following kind of question. In one side rivers are given and on the other side its tributaries are given. So you are going to match the corresponding rivers with its tributaries. See before looking at the answer, let's discuss each and every river here. For better understanding, I will show you the images of each river so that it will be easy for you to understand. Now look at this image. You can see the tributaries of Tappi river here. What are the major tributaries? The Vagu river, Ana river, Girna river, Pansara river and Bori river. These are the main tributaries of the Tappi river system. See go through this map once and you will know the states in which it is located also and through which it is flowing also can be known. Just have a look at it so that you will get a rough idea of what are all the states it is flowing through and what is the state it originated. Now look at this map. It is showing the Godavari river system. The major tributaries here are Pranitha which is a combination of Penganga and Varda and then the another one tributaries is the Indravati river and the Manjara river. So these are the tributaries of the Godavari river system. Then when we switch on to the Krishna river system, the Doodh Ganga river, Skoyna, Bhima, Malaprabha, Dindi, Gathaprabha, Varna, Erla and Musee are some of the other tributaries of the Krishna river system. Now look at this map. It is showing the Yamuna river. The Tansnu is the largest tributary of Yamuna. In this map itself you can see that Tansnu is the largest tributary. Now let us come back to the question. So after seeing all the river system and its major tributaries, try answering this question. Yes you are right. The answer for this question is option C. That is for Godavari river, Indravati is the tributary. For Krishna, it is Bhima. Then for Yamuna, it is Tans. Then for Tappi, it is Girna. So we have matched the rivers with the tributaries. The answer is option C. Now moving on to the second question. See this is such an easy question. If you had keenly listened to the I2U2 discussion, you will be able to answer this question. They are asking the members of I2U2. A group of countries are given in the options A, B, C, D. You are going to select which group consists of the members of the I2U2. So we know that I2 stands for India and Israel whereas U2 stands for UAE and US. So which is consisting of these four countries? Yes it is option B. Option B is only having India, Israel, US and UAE which are the member countries of I2U2. This I2U2 is also known as West Asian Quad or International Forum of Economic Cooperation. So the answer for the second question is option B. Now look at this question. See this question is a quiz question for you today. See it is regarding the Global Gender Gap 2022 report. Two statements are given and you are going to find the answer. See I have given this question as a quiz question because we have known about the South Asian region in the discussion itself. But overall when we look at the 8 regions in the global level, we have to know still more some key findings. That you can know through this question. So try finding the answer for this question and the correct answer will be posted in the next 24 hours. So that's all for today's prelims practice question. Now look at this main practice question. See go through the question once and try writing the answer for this question. See it will be very much helpful for improving your writing skills which is very much required for your main examination. And that's all for today's discussion. 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