 Good evening, aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu news analysis session by Shankara AIS Academy, dated 7th July 2021. The list of news articles for today's discussion is given for your reference along with the page numbers in various editions of the newspaper. With this, now let us move on to the article's discussion. Now, let us take up this news article. Bengal passes a resolution to setup council. See, this news article mentions that the West Bengal Assembly has passed a resolution to setup a legislative council in its state. So, in this context, let us learn certain information about the legislative council from exam perspective. See, the legislative council is also known as the Vidhan Parishad. This legislative council is the upper house of the state assembly, like how the Rajasabha is the upper house of the parliament. And know that the legislative council is presided by the chairman and deputy chairman elected by its members. But there is no uniformity in the organization of state legislatures. So, some are unicameral, meaning that they have only the legislative assembly. Whereas some states are bicameral, meaning that they have both the legislative assembly as well as the legislative council. Therefore, in the states that have a bicameral system, the state legislature consists of governor, legislative council and legislative assembly. This non-uniformity exists because some states believe that existence of legislative council delay the legislative process and it is seen as an expensive institution. Also, the non-uniformity means that a legislative council can be created as well as abolished. See, it can be created where it doesn't exist and it can be abolished where it already exists. Based on this only, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly is trying to create legislative council. But remember, West Bengal already had a legislative council and it was abolished in the year 1969. But what is the procedure for establishing legislative council? See, basically the constitution provides for the abolition or creation of legislative councils in states under article 169. As you can see here, parliament has the power to abolish or create a legislative council by enacting a law. But this will happen only if the legislative assembly of the concerned state passes a resolution to that effect. This is why West Bengal Assembly has passed a resolution. See, this resolution must be passed by the state assembly by a special majority. Special majority means a majority of total membership of the assembly and the majority of not less than two-third of the members of assembly present and voting. Here means that the parliament will pass a law to amend the constitution and as per the article 169, subsection 3, this act of the parliament is not to be deemed as a amendment to the constitution. That is, the law passed by the parliament for the creation or abolition of legislative council will not be recognized as an amendment of the constitution under article 368. Rather, it is passed like an ordinary piece of legislation with simple majority. Remember, it is the only such instance where the procedure to amend the constitution is initiated in the state legislature. As we saw, it is initiated by passing a resolution in state assembly but it is up to the parliament to either approve or disapprove such a resolution or to not take any actions on it. Now, let us see some of the features of legislative council. Legislative council is a continuing chamber or is a permanent body which is not subjected to dissolution like the legislative assembly. Also, this legislative council checks the defective, careless and ill-considered legislations made by the assembly. This is done by making provisions for revision and thought. Also, facilitates representation of eminent professionals and experts who cannot face direct elections. See, the governor nominates one-sixth member of the council to provide representation to such people. In this regard, now let us see its composition. See, as per the article 171, subsection 1, the maximum strength of the council is fixed at one-third of the total strength of assembly and with a minimum strength fixed at 40. So, the size of the council depends on the size of the assembly of a concerned state. But remember, even though constitution has fixed a maximum and a minimum limit, the actual strength of a council is fixed by the parliament. Next, the members of the legislative council are indirectly elected. The members are elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. Also, note that the tenure of members of legislative council is different to that of the MLAs because a member of legislative council continues for a period of six years, whereas the term of MLAs are five years only. Also, note that one-third of legislative council's members, that is, MLCs, retire on expiration of every second year and the vacant seats are filled by fresh elections and nominations by the governor at the beginning of every third year. That is why we call it as a permanent assembly. Also, the retiring members are eligible for re-election and re-nomination any number of times. That is all about the legislative councils till now we saw about the features, the powers and the constitutional provisions related to the legislative council. With this, now let us move on to the next topic. Coming to the second news article discussion, fresh stirring on federalism as a new politics. Recently, we have seen the political tug of war between the centre and several states. Issues such as GST compensation, the recent farm bills and some states withdrawing cooperation to CBI have put pressures on India's federalism. There were also issues regarding the availability of COVID vaccines and opposition to the proposed reforms in Lakshadip as well. The most evident fight was between the centre and the West Bengal government which we are seeing in news recently. In this context, let us discuss the editorial which speaks about creating a principled politics of federalism. The syllabus covered under this topic discussion is given for your reference. See, the constitution of India is federal in form, but is allegedly more unitary in character. See, strengthening the federal system is necessary for meeting the aspirations of people who are governed through state governments. Therefore, centre state relations, that is the arrangement between the union government as well as the state government in regard to their power, function and responsibilities have always been a crucial issue. Also, the history of federal relationship between the states and the centre is full of indifferences at its best and tension and conflict at its worst. It is needless to say that the opposing political ideologies provide grounds for the ruling regime at the centre and the government at the states to fight from time to time. As the history of conflicting rather than cooperative federalism shows that both the centre and states have been intolerant to each other. In many cases, the centre was dismissive of the autonomous existence of states with different and radical ideologies. There are cases when the centre had been discriminatory in its attitude towards the state with oppositional political background. But many regional parties are emboldened by the victories in the recent state assembly elections. For example, the DMK that came to power in Tamil Nadu and the Tirunamal Congress that came to power in West Bengal. The DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu has stopped referring to the BJP-led government as centre and started referring to it as the union government. Does all these indicate a new political mobilization based on federalism? The answer is no at present. As we know, the regional parties had more say during the coalition government era at the centre. But the shift towards a single party that is BJP-led system, the rift over power sharing is clearer. Some of the policies of the centre such as the One Nation, One Nation Card and One Nation, One Grid is considered as part of increasing centralization. This editorial says that, in the name of nationalism and development, the centre has clearly avoided the concept of federalism. Even regionalism and regional parties are equated with anti-development and anti-nationalists. So, the need of the R is to overcome the nationalist rhetoric that pits federalism against nationalism and development. But this would be difficult as most regional parties have failed to uphold principles of decentralization in their own states. It is striking that strong chief ministers of states did very little amount to strengthen the institutions of federalism. For example, by making the council of chief ministers a more robust forum. As Pratapabhanu Mehta and Indian academicians says, we have a political culture of flexible federalism. That is, federalism for me but not for thee. It means the claimants of greater federalism often maintain silence on unilateral decisions taken by the central government that affect other states. The evidence is the bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh which was done against the resolution of the state legislature. And even in present Kashmir bifurcation is another example. When a states' rights are undermined by the center through policies such as national capital territory of Delhi amendment act 2021, we hardly witnessed protests by parties that were not directly affected. So, the way forward is that politics of regional identity shall come out of its isolationist nature. For example, the richest states must find a way of sharing the burden with the poorer states and an interstate platform that brings state together in a routine dialogue could be the starting point for building a common agenda. With this, we have come to the end of this topic discussion. Now, let us move to the next topic. Moving to the third news article, cabinet reshuffle bus eight states get new governance. This article says that the union cabinet reshuffle is likely to be held later this week. It also says that a separate ministry of cooperation might be created with the aim of providing prosperity through cooperatives. Also, it would act as a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the cooperative movement in the country. The said ministry would work to streamline ease of doing business for cooperatives and enable development of multistate cooperative societies. In this context, let us discuss in brief about the cabinet system in India. As we know, the article 74 of the constitution deals with council of ministers to aid and advise president. Know that there is a council of ministers headed by the prime minister to aid and advise the president in exercise of this or a function. The prime minister is appointed by the president who also appoints other ministers on the advice of the prime minister. See, the council is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha where the duty of the prime minister is to communicate to the president all the decisions of the council of ministers. The decisions of council of ministers relates to the administration of affairs of the union and proposals for legislation and information relating to them. Also, know that the council of ministers comprises ministers who are members of cabinet, ministers of state with independent charge, ministers of state and deputy ministers. The word council of minister and cabinet are often used interchangeably, but they differ from each other in respect of composition, function and role. For example, the council of minister is a wider body consisting of 60 to 70 ministers, whereas the cabinet is a smaller body consisting of around 15 to 20 ministers. Next, the council of ministers include all three categories of ministers that is the cabinet ministers, minister of state and deputy ministers, but the cabinet includes only ministers who hold important portfolios and are a part of the council of ministers. Know that the council of ministers does not meet as a body to transact government businesses, thus council of ministers has no collective functions, but the cabinet meets as a body frequently to deliberate and take decisions regarding the transaction of government business, thus it has a collective function. Finally, know that the term council of ministers is explicitly mentioned in the article 74 and 75 of the constitution, but the term cabinet was inserted in the article 352 of the constitution only in the year 1978 following the 44th constitutional amendment act. Thus, it can be said that the term cabinet did not find a place in the original text of the constitution. Now, article 352 defines the cabinet as the council consisting of prime ministers and other ministers of cabinet rank appointed under 75. That is all about the cabinet system. Now, let us move on to the next topic. Now, let us take up this news article. Vacancies send a wrong signal. See, this open editorial article focuses on how vacancies in top post of government are affecting the governance. These vacancies arise due to delays in promotion and appointments. And to explain it, author takes the example of National Human Rights Commission and the Election Commission of India. See, the National Human Rights Commission is headed by a chairman and this post was kept vacant for a period of six months ranging from January 2021 to June 2021. Whereas with respect to the Election Commission of India, we know that chief election commissioner is its head. The last chief election commissioner was Sunil Arora who retired in the month of April 2021 in the middle of state elections in five states. Following him, one of the election commissioners of ECI was made the chief election commissioner by the union government. This was due to his seniority in the election commission. But based on this appointment, a private body has filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court. Here the private body demands a committee to be constituted for appointments of election commissioners. So, in this context, let us know about the National Human Rights Commission and Election Commission of India from Prillin's perspective. See, the National Human Rights Commission was established in the year 1993 under the protection of human rights act 1993. So, the NHRC is a statutory body. See, it was established for the protection and promotion of human rights. The functions of commission are stated in the section 12 of the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993. So, apart from inquiry into complaints of violation of human rights or negligence in the prevention of such violation by the public servant, the commission also studies treaties and international instruments on human rights. In addition to it, it also makes recommendations for effective implementation of such treaties and international instruments on human rights to the government. Most importantly, the act was amended in the year 2019. See, this amended the composition of NHRC. Accordingly, the commission consists of a chairman and members where major change has been made in the appointment of chairperson. Because now, the former Chief Justice of India as well as the former judge of the Supreme Court are eligible to be appointed as chairperson. Whereas previously, that is before the amendment, the Chief Justice of India is alone qualified to be appointed as chairperson. In addition to the chairperson, there are also members of National Human Rights Commission where one member is to be a current or former judge of the Supreme Court and one member is to be a current or former Chief Justice of High Court. Alongside this, three other members are to be appointed from amongst people having knowledge or practical experience in the matters relating to human rights. Of these three members, at least one member should be a woman. In addition to it, the chairpersons of various other commissions are also deemed to be the members of National Human Rights Commission. The list of commissions whose chairperson are eligible to be the members of NHRCs are given for your reference as parents can have a glance of it. Know that the chairperson and members are appointed by the president but only obtaining recommendations from a particular committee. This committee consists of prime minister as a chairperson and members such as the Speaker of Lok Sabha, Minister of Home Affairs, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Further, the amendment also reduced the term of office of chairperson and members to three years. Previously, that is before the amendment, the term was five years. Also, the amendment has made the chairperson eligible for reappointment. But remember that after ceasing to hold office as a chairperson or members of NHRC, they are eligible for further employment under the government of India or under the government of any state. Next comes the election commission of India. See, the ECI is a permanent constitutional body. It is an independent autonomous authority responsible for administering union and state election process in India. So, it administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state legislative assembly and elections to the office of president and vice president. Further, the superintendent's direction and control of the entire process for conduct of election vest with the election commission of India. So, as a part of this power, it prepares, maintains and periodically updates the electoral rules which shows who is entitled to vote. In addition to it, ECI supervises the nomination of candidates, registering of political parties, monitoring the election campaign, including the funding by candidates and many more. See, it also facilitates the coverage of election process by the media and also organizes the polling booths where voting takes place. All this is done to ensure that elections can take place in an orderly and fair manner. Now, as per the constitution, election commission of India consists of chief election commissioner and two election commissioners. They are appointed by the president and they have a tenure of six years or up to the age of 65, whichever is earlier. They enjoy the same status and receive salary and perks as available to the judges of the Supreme Court of India. And note that the chief election commissioner can be removed from office only through the impeachment by the parliament. See, as per the article 324, subsection 5 of the constitution, chief election commissioner shall be removed from office in manner and grounds similar to the removal of judges of the Supreme Court. But we know that as per the article 124, subsection 4, a judge of the Supreme Court is impeached. In other words, he or she shall be removed from her office by an order of the president. Here, the president can issue the removal order only after an address by the parliament has been presented to the president in the same session for such removal. The address must be supported by the special majority of each house of the parliament. The special majority means that the majority of total membership of that house and a majority of not less than two-third of the members of that house present an voting. So, with this, we have come to the end of this topic discussion. Now, let us move to the next topic. Moving to the next news article, Tely Law Services Empowering Voiceless. This news article reports about a statement made by the law minister on the role played by the Tely Law scheme in giving the voice of justice to the voiceless. He stated that the facility has been a source of gender justice and empowerment. And he also remarked that the Tely Law service has got the potential to strengthen inclusive justice delivery and also to strengthen the rule of law. So, in this light, let us see about the Tely Law scheme. See, the Tely Law refers to the use of communication and information technology for the delivery of legal information and advice. Based on this, the Tely Law program was launched in the year 2017 by the Ministry of Law and Justice in collaboration with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Know that the concept of Tely Law is to facilitate the delivery of legal advice through a panel of lawyers who are stationed at the State Legal Services Authority and Common Services Center. This project is initiated to connect the citizens with these lawyers through video conferencing facilities by the paralegal volunteers who are stationed at the identified Common Services Center. Especially, the main objective of this scheme is to reach out to the needy, especially the people belonging to the marginalized and disadvantaged sections. Note that at present, the service is operational in 633 districts. Under this program, the smart technology of video conferencing, telephone, or instant calling facilities are made available in the Common Services Center at the Panchayat level. Using these facilities, people belonging to the downtrodden, vulnerable, unreached groups and communities can contact the panel lawyers for seeking timely and valuable legal advice. Remember, these Common Services Centers are shops that deliver various government services online like public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial education, and agriculture services to the citizens in rural and remote areas of the country. In addition, under the Legal Services Act 1987, the legal advice is made available to everyone and the advice is given free of cost to those who are eligible for free legal aid under the Section 12 of Legal Services Act. It includes persons like women, children, victims of trafficking, under trials, and many more. And apart from them, for all others, a nominal fee of Rs. 30 is charged for each consultation and the details of the persons and their cases are kept confidential. These are some of the takeaway points from this article. Now, let us move on to the next news discussion. Now, look at this news article. Oil source to multiple-year highs after OPEC stocks collapsed. See, this news article reports about the surge in oil prices. Also, the news is that the oil prices have reached a multi-year high since the OPEC Plus producers have clashed over the plans to raise supply in order to meet rising global demand. So, in this light, let us see some important points about the OPEC and OPEC Plus. First, let us see about the organization of petroleum exporting countries, that is OPEC, which is a permanent and an intergovernmental organization. See, this organization was founded in Baghdad in Iraq with the signing of an agreement in the year September 1960. And the agreement was signed by five countries, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. And know that they were to become the founding members of the organization. Following these five countries, several countries joined OPEC in later days and many of them withdrew their membership from it as well. For instance, consider Ecuador. This country suspended its membership in the year 1992 and it rejoined the OPEC once again in the year 2007. But again, Ecuador decided to withdraw its membership of OPEC in January 2020. The mission of this organization is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries. Also, it is to ensure the stabilization of oil markets. See, the OPEC secretariat that is located in Vienna is the executive organ of the OPEC. Also, this OPEC secretariat functions as the headquarters of the organization in accordance with the provision of OPEC statute. Now, coming on to the OPEC Plus. Note that the non-OPEC countries which export crude oil are termed as OPEC Plus countries. And it includes countries like Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan. Remember, the OPEC block is nominally led by Saudi Arabia, which is the group's largest oil producer. But Russia is the biggest player among the non-OPEC countries. Note that OPEC accounts for around one-third of the world's oil supply. Whereas, with the inclusion of non-OPEC countries, the total share of global oil covered by it is nearly half of the world's oil supply. With these facts in mind, now let us move on to the next news article. Next, our news discussion will be based on this news article, SAT to hear PNBHF Carlisle deal next week. See, this news article talks about an appeal filed by the firm PNB housing before the security appellate tribunal against a letter issued by SEBI last month, according to which it requested the firm to not go ahead with its proposal until due diligence was done. So, in this slide, let us see some important facts about the securities appellate tribunal. The securities appellate tribunal is a statutory body that was established under the provisions of Securities and Exchange Board of India at 1992. The main function of the tribunal is to hear and dispose the appeals against the orders passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. In addition, it also hears and disposes of appeals against the orders passed by pension, fund, regulatory and development authorities under PFRDA Act 2013. This is in addition to the orders passed by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India under the Insurance Act 1938. Note, the securities appellate tribunal has only one bench which sits at Mumbai. On talking about its composition, it consists of a presiding officer and two other members. This presiding officer will be appointed by the central government in consultation with the CJI or his nominee. Coming to the qualification, he or she should be a sitting or a retired judge of the Supreme Court or a sitting or a retired Chief Justice of High Court. In addition, the eligibility also includes sitting or a retired judge of High Court with not less than 7 years of service as a High Court Judge. Note that the tenure of the members is 5 years and they are also eligible for reappointment. But however, the maximum age for the presiding officer is 68 whereas in case of the members it is 62. And as the image displayed, the tribunal is vested with the same power as that of the civil court under the Code of Civil Procedures 1908. See, this code deals with the suit relating to the following matters that are mentioned in the side which the aspirants can have a glance of it. Importantly, in case a person who is not satisfied with the decision or orders of the tribunal, they can file their second appeal directly to the Supreme Court within 60 days from receiving the order. With this, we have come to the end of the article's discussion. Now, let us move to the Prillim's practice question session. Moving to the Prillim's practice question session, consider the following states. One, West Bengal, two, Andhra Pradesh, three, Meghalaya, four, Tamil Nadu, five, Karnataka, which of the above states have constituted legislative council in their state legislatures. The options given are option A, one, four and five only, option B, two, three and four only, option C, two and five only, option D, one, two, three, four and five. Pay close attention to the question. It asks which states have constituted legislative council and not to which states constitution provides for the existence of legislative council, because answer to both these questions is different. See, there are certain states to which legislative councils have been provided by the constitution under article 168, section 1, subsection A. As you can see here, many amendments were made to this clause to include or remove the names of states, in other words, the creation or abolition of legislative councils. So, as of now, these states where the constitution has provided for the establishment of legislative councils or Andhra Pradesh, Pihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, but not all of them have constituted legislative council. This includes Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and none of the north eastern states have legislative council. So, if you remove Tamil Nadu, the left over options will be option B and C. Here, none of the north eastern states have legislative council. So, by removing the statement 3, we can arrive at the answer, which is the option C, 2 and 5 only. So, the states which have constituted legislative councils are Andhra Pradesh, Pihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. So, the correct answer is option C, 2 and 5 only. Moving to the second question, which of the following amendments to the constitution of India added the term union cabinet under article 352? The options given are option A, 44th amendment act, option B, 9th amendment act, option C, 36th amendment act, option D, 61st amendment act. See, this is direct factual based question. As we have discussed earlier, the answer for this question is option A, 44th constitutional amendment act, whereas the 9th amendment act gave effect to the transfer of certain territories to Pakistan. While, if you consider the 36th amendment act, it deals with the state of Sikkim, which was given statehood under the constitutional amendment act, while the 61st amendment act deals with lowering the voting age of elections to the Lok Sabha and to the legislative assembly of states. So, the answer for this question is option A, 44th amendment act. Question number three, which is or are common to the two bodies known as National Human Rights Commission and Election Commission of India? Statement one, both are constitutional bodies. Statement two, both the chairperson of NHRC and the chief election commissioner are appointed by the president of India. Statement three, the tenure of both the chairperson of NHRC and chief election commissioner is five years. Select the correct answer using the code given below. The options given are option A, one only, option B, one and two only, option C, two only, option D, one, two and three. See, consider their first statement. It says NHRC and ECI are constitutional bodies. This is incorrect. See, we saw that NHRC is a statutory body under the protection of human rights act 1993. You can arrive at the answer. The answer for this question is option C, two only. Also, we saw that the recent amendments to the protection of human rights act has changed the tenure of the national of the chairperson of NHRC to three years. So, this third statement is incorrect. Whereas, the second statement which says that the chairperson of NHRC and the CEC are appointed by the president of India is correct. So, the answer is option C, two only. Moving to the fourth question, consider the following statements about the daily law scheme. Statement one, it facilitates the delivery of legal advice through a panel of lawyers. Statement two, the legal advice under the scheme is available only to those eligible under section 12 of Legal Services Act 1987. Statement three, under the scheme legal advice is given free of cost for everyone. Select the correct answer using the code given below. Options given are option A, one only, option B, one and two only, option C, two only, option D, one, two and three. As we saw earlier, tele-law refers to the use of communication and information technology for the delivery of legal information and advice. See, the concept of tele-law is to facilitate the delivery of legal advice through a panel of lawyers who are stationed at the state legal service authority and the common services center. So, the first statement is correct. If you see the second and third statement, they are interchanged, that is, the legal advice is made to everyone, whereas the advice is given free of cost to those eligible, those who are eligible for free legal advice under section 12 of Legal Services Act 1987. Since the question asks for correct statement, the right answer is option A, one only. Question number five, consider the following countries. One, Angola, two, Equatorial Guinea, three, Republic of Congo, four, Algeria, five, Venezuela, which of the above mentioned countries or members of organization of petroleum exporting The options given are option A, one, two and four only, option B, one, three and four only, option C, two and five only, option D, one, two, three, four and five. See, the current members of OPEC are Algeria, Angola, UAE, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Congo, Libya, Nigeria, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. So, since this is a direct fact based question, you have to be aware of the countries that comes under various organizations, agencies. The answer for this question is option D, one, two, three, four and five, which is all the countries listed here comes under the OPEC. Coming to the last question, the security appellate tribunal does not hear and dispose the appeals against orders passed by which among the following authorities, option A, Security and Exchange Board of India, option B, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority, option C, Derogated Authorities of the Companies Act, option D, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. As we have discussed earlier, the securities appellate tribunal hears and disposes the appeals against orders passed by SEBI, that is, Security and Exchange Board of India, PFRDA, that is, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority and the IRDA, which is the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India. Therefore, the right answer for this question is option C, Delegated Authorities of the Companies Act, which the SAT does not hear and dispose the appeals against orders the passed by delegated authorities of the Companies Act. So with this, we have come to the end of the prelims practice question discussion. These are few main questions that are given for your practice and you may write and post them in the comment section for peer review. That's it for today's discussion. If you liked the video, kindly press the like button, comment, share and subscribe to Shankaray's Academy for further updates. Thank you.