 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankaray's Academy. Displayed are the list of news articles taken for today's analysis and their page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the time stamping of the discussed articles are provided in the description box and the time stamping is also provided in the common section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let's move on to the analysis of first news article. This news article discusses about the power of speaker in the matters of disqualification. Another is relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. The news article mentions about a case law wherein the Supreme Court has suggested to limit the role of speaker in the matters of disqualification because of defection of members of legislature. The case law is Kesham Megha Chandra Singh versus the speaker Manipur Legislative Assembly and others. So first let us understand the issue behind this case law. The election for 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly was conducted in March 2017. This assembly election resulted in an inconclusive result because no political party was able to secure a majority. See the Manipur Legislative Assembly has around 60 seats and to have a majority a political party has to secure at least 31 seats and this majority is required to form the government but none of the political parties were able to secure a majority of 31 seats. If you see the two main national political parties Indian National Congress got 28 seats and BJP got 21 seats. So Congress emerged as single largest party securing more seats in the election but without majority. So what happened was one of the members of the Congress party let us call him as Member A. Immediately after the declaration of results this person met the governor of the state along with BJP members and some other members. The claim made by this Member A of Congress party was that the Member A along with BJP members and other members can form a BJP-led state government. Now here the problem is that the Member A contested as a candidate under the party ticket of Indian National Congress nominated by Indian National Congress and the member was duly elected in the election from the same party but what happened after results this Member A met the governor of Manipur and after this the governor of Manipur invited the group led by BJP to form the government in the particular state. So Member A along with eight other members they sworn in as ministers in the BJP-led government in Manipur. After this incident there were some 13 applications which were filed before the speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly. These applications called for the disqualification of Member A. The applications asked the speaker to disqualify the Member A under paragraph 2-1A of the 10th Schedule of Indian Constitution. Now let us see why there were applications demanding disqualification of this particular member. See it is because the action of Member A amounts to defection. In a simple language we can say that defection refers to a situation where MP or MLA is switching sides. For example switching side from one political party to another. Here Member A has switched his side from Congress on whose ticket he won the election but now switched sides to the BJP. Now the problem with defection is that the more the defection the less the stability of the elected governments. So to bring stability to the democratically elected government anti defection provisions were introduced in the Indian Constitution. These anti defection provisions were introduced as a separate schedule to the Indian Constitution and this schedule is called as the 10th schedule and since the 10th schedule has provisions against the defection of members the schedule is popularly known as anti defection law. See this schedule was introduced by 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1985. It was later amended by the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act of 2003. See this 10th schedule prescribes the conditions for disqualification on the grounds of defection. Now one of the important grounds of disqualification because of defection is mentioned in paragraph 21a of 10th schedule based on which there is demand in Manipur Legislative Assembly to disqualify the particular member. Now the ground is with respect to voluntarily giving up membership of the political party that is an elected member of parliament or state legislature who has been elected as a candidate set up by a political party would be disqualified on the ground of defection if she or he voluntarily relinquishes her or his membership of such political party. Also when we come to nominated member of parliament or state legislature who is a member of political party at the time she or he takes her or his seat now this nominated member would also be disqualified on the ground of defection provided the member voluntarily relinquishes membership of such political party. Now this ground is what attracted the action of the member A. So based on this provision his disqualification was demanded in the Manipur Legislative Assembly. But we know that this 10th schedule is silent about the time frame for the speaker to take decision or call on disqualification of a member on whose there is allegations of defection. What happened was the disqualification was not finalized by the speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly. Therefore a petition was filed in concern high court and thereafter an appeal was again filed in supreme court where supreme court has delivered the judgment. So this is the background of this case. So now we saw that the disqualification was not finalized by the speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly and therefore this issue was brought before the supreme court. Now this matter has become an issue because as per the provisions of 10th schedule the final decision on questions of disqualification is given by the presiding officer. That is is given by speaker of Lokshabha or chairman of Rajeshabha or the presiding officer of state legislative assembly. This provision is given in paragraph 61 of 10th schedule. This paragraph deals exclusively with respect to the decision on questions as to disqualification on ground of defection. It states that if any question arises as to whether a member of a house has become subject to disqualification under this 10th schedule. The question shall be referred for the decision of the chairman or the speaker of such house and his decision shall be final. So this becomes an exclusive power to the chairman or the speaker or in other words the presiding officer of the house. So as per constitution the final decision on disqualification of a member on the grounds of defection lies with the presiding officer of the respective house. But in the present case that we are now discussing the speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly did not take any final decision. So in this regard the supreme court noted a statement made by itself in the case law of Kihotho Holohan case of 1992. See in this 1992 case law supreme court observed that the final authority for removal of a judge of the supreme court and high court is outside the judiciary and it lies with the parliament under article 124 class 4. So on the same principle there has to be an authority to decide the question of disqualification of a member of legislature outside the particular house and the court has said this has been envisaged by such a mechanism of deciding the question outside the house has been envisaged by articles 103 and 192 of Indian constitution. Article 103 is with respect to decision on questions as to disqualifications of members of houses of parliament where the decision of the president is final and in case of article 192 the decision on questions as to disqualifications of members of state legislature the decision of governor is final. But both these articles the grounds of disqualification are different from the grounds of disqualification under 10th schedule. See 10th schedule deals with disqualifications on the grounds of defection whereas if you see the grounds of defection coming under article 103 these are with respect to holding any office of profit in violation to the law if the person is of unsound mind if the person has become undischarged insolvent if a person is not a citizen of India if a person is disqualified under the law made by parliament. Now in the case law of Kihotha Holahan in 1992 supreme court also stated that a speaker functions as any other tribunal that comes under the jurisdiction of high courts and supreme court and in that case law supreme court upheld the speaker's discretionary power but made her or his decisions subject to judicial review meanwhile in the same judgment supreme court also expressed that there has to be an arrangement or mechanism to decide the questions of disqualification on grounds of defection outside the house. But if you see the 10th schedule it mentioned that there is no provision for any appeal or revision against the speaker's decision to any independent outside authority and with respect to these provisions in 10th schedule supreme court observed that the no appeal provision in 10th schedule is a reverse trend and violates basic feature of constitution but know that at present the speaker's decision is subjected to judicial review. So by referring to these points made by the supreme court in 1992 case law the supreme court in the present case has asked the parliament to rethink whether disqualification petitions has to be interested to a speaker as a quasi judicial authority when such speaker continues to belong to a particular political party. So by asking this question supreme court has asked the parliament to seriously consider amending the constitution to substitute or replace the speaker of Lokshaba and legislative assemblies as arbiter of disputes concerning disqualifications on the ground of defection under 10th schedule. Supreme court actually asked parliament to consider substitution of speaker in this matter with a permanent tribunal and this permanent tribunal shall be headed by a retired supreme court judge or a retired chief justice of high court and it shall have independent members outside the legislature. Supreme court has suggested this measure to ensure that disqualification disputes are decided quickly swiftly expeditiously and also impartially. Such dispute settlement is required so as to ensure proper functioning of their democracy. So by suggesting a permanent tribunal supreme court now stands to restrict the exclusive power of speaker to disqualify that is why the news article is titled as supreme court for curbs on the powers of speaker. After providing this direction supreme court noted that the speaker of Manipur legislative assembly has to decide the disqualification petitions within a period of 4 weeks from the date of judgment if no decision is taken even after a period of 4 weeks then any party to the proceedings can apply again to supreme court. So the decision of supreme court is important because this is the second time in 4 months the court has highlighted the issue of taking away the disqualification power from speakers or presiding officers under the 10th schedule. Now with respect to Karnataka MLA's disqualification case the supreme court delivered its verdict in November 2019 and we have discussed a detailed editorial in this regard particular to Karnataka on January 3, 2020 wherein we discussed the way in which the MLA's stole the opportunity under the loop holes in the 10th schedule. So now in the present case with respect to Manipur state legislative assembly supreme court has urged parliament to reconsider strengthening certain aspects of 10th schedule so that undemocratic practices are discouraged and to act against the speakers who failed the constitutional duty of being neutral in the office of speaker. So let's wait and watch how the parliament is to react to this verdict what way the parliament is to frame a formal response to the supreme court verdict whether it is going to amend the constitution in 10th schedule or not. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article now let's move on to next news article. This editorial article is with respect to the recent decision of the supreme court which has decided not to stay the electoral bound scheme. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. First let's see if you important information with respect to this electoral bond scheme. Here when we say electoral bond see this bond is a bearer banking instrument. This instrument is to be used for funding eligible political parties. When we say bearer banking instrument it means that the bona fide holder of electoral bonds is the owner of the bond and this bond is used to fund eligible political parties. So for the eligible political party for this scheme there are two conditions. One is that the party has to be registered under section 29 capital A of representation of people at 1951 and the other condition is that the party should have secured at least 1% of votes that are polled in the last general election which may be either to the house of the people that is Lokshaba or to the concerned state legislative assembly. Usually the electoral bonds are issued in the denomination of Rs 1000, 10,000, 1 lakh, 10 lakh and 1 crore. The maximum denomination is Rs 1 crore and the minimum amount for donation is Rs 1000. Note that there is no maximum limit for donation and from the date of issue these electoral bonds once purchased they are valid for only 15 days and usually when the government launches the scheme in a particular year the state bank of India will be announced as the sole or only authorized bank by the government of India for the purpose of selling electoral bonds and all payment for the issuance of electoral bonds will be accepted in Indian rupees only and one cannot get loan on electoral bonds and one cannot pledge electoral bonds against the purchase of gold and securities and these bonds shall not be eligible for trading in exchange houses and they are not listed on any stock exchange. So how the process will go see if an individual is willing to donate to a particular political party then he or she has to go to the SBI bank branch and the person has to pay a certain amount to buy the electoral bond say for example Rs 1000 and this electoral bond which is bought from the bank will not have the name of the donor so there is anonymity and once the bond is purchased the donor will hand over the bond to the political party which he or she intends to fund. The political party after receiving the bond will settle the bond in the authorized bank and once the bond is cleared the money given by the donor to purchase electoral bond will be forwarded to the account of the political party. So here if you see the bank serves as an intermediary between the donor and the eligible political party. Note that cash payment cannot be provided to political parties against the redemption of electoral bonds under any circumstances. The money will be deposited only in the particular account of the political party. So it this scheme ensures transparency in the political funding process. Here when we say transparency it refers to the fact that all donors declare in their accounts the quantum of bonds that they have purchased and similarly all political parties will declare the amount of money that they have received by way of this electoral bond scheme. This is what we mean by saying that this scheme ensures transparency. So don't think that when we say transparency it refers to the fact that the public will know who funds which political party and how much amount is being funded by the particular person or company. Now we know that the elections to the legislative assembly of Delhi is to be held in the month of February. In this juncture it is being reported that central government is thinking to bring the electoral bond scheme this year preferably before the Delhi elections and since the introduction of electoral bond scheme in the year 2018 there is a widespread criticism that majority of the funds under the scheme is going to the ruling party in the center. In one angle this means that the political funding through the scheme is tilted towards one particular party. Meanwhile there were some recent changes that were made to some of the legal provisions that earlier promoted some kind of transparency in political funding. One of the sections is the section 182 of companies act of 2013. Now this section deals with prohibitions and restrictions regarding political contributions from the side of companies. Section 182, Subsection 3 earlier stated that every company shall disclose any amount or amounts contributed by this company to any political party during a particular financial year in its profit and loss account and the details included giving particulars of total amount contributed and the name of the party to which such amount has been contributed as well. So this section in its earlier format promoted some kind of transparency with respect to political funding from the side of companies to political parties. And this was seen as an encouraging measure of transparency as there will be knowledge on which company donated how much to a political party. But this provision was altered by finance act of 2017. The section was amended in such a way that now the companies need not mention the name of the political party and the total amount donated to that particular party. So according to election commission this change in legal provision is considered as a retrograde step with respect to ensuring transparent free and fair elections. Now let's see one another legal provision with respect to political funding that underwent some changes. These are the legal provisions in representation of People Act and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 2010. Earlier section 29 capital B of representation of People Act 1951 it prevented political parties from accepting foreign funds. This is because it stated that no political party shall be eligible to accept any contribution from any foreign source. But what happened is in the recent times amendments were made to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010 and it was made in such a way that parties can accept foreign funds and a recent amendment was carried out in the year 2018 and as per this amendment there will not be any scrutiny for the funding that a political party receives from foreign contributions. Here the concern is that when there is unchecked or unscrutinized foreign aid this may lead to foreign influence on Indian elections or India's decision making with respect to elections. Now the concerns with respect to recent developments on legal provisions for political funding has been already raised by election commission and has been informed to the supreme court. And note that both election commission of India and reserve bank of India have voiced concerns with respect to the way in which the electoral bond scheme is being operated in our country. And the election commission has also voiced concerns over anonymity that is present in the scheme. As a result of this anonymity voters will not be able to know who have funded how much to which political party. According to election commission for a voter knowing this information is his or her right to information which comes under the right to vote. So as a result of anonymity there is no transparency in this regard. Now there is one another concern with respect to anonymity that is black unaccounted money and proceeds of crime could also be covered by way of funding the political parties under this electoral bond scheme. So with these flaws in the electoral bond scheme also with respect to developments around the legal provisions for political funding there were petitions in supreme court against the scheme. Supreme Court took this matter in April last year that is in April 2019 where it asked the political parties to disclose details of the donations received through various anonymous bonds to election commission of India. But at that period of time prior to the general elections the supreme court has declined to grant a stay to the electoral bond scheme. However the controversies and concerns with respect to electoral bond scheme keep coming day by day and with the controversies new petitions were filed recently in the supreme court which asked the court to stay the scheme till the scheme is improvised to scale to the levels of free and fair elections. One such petition was heard recently and once again the supreme court has declined to stay the operation of electoral bond scheme. The reason cited by the court was that already the court has decided on this matter last year and while deciding the court declined to give a stay. So based on the decision taken by the supreme court last year presently the supreme court has declined to stay the electoral bond scheme. The author states that this reasoning of supreme court in present scenario is a narrow view taken by the court. And note that this is not the final verdict with respect to electoral bond scheme because the court has also asked the election commission of India to reply with respect to staying this electoral bond scheme in some two weeks time. So the main point of the author in this editorial is that the supreme court should give an expeditious decision on the validity of electoral bond scheme. A final word by the supreme court will ensure a clarity in the launch of the scheme and it is expected to put some restrictions on the government with respect to rolling the scheme maybe prior to any major general elections with respect to house of the people or any legislative assembly. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this editorial article. We saw few information with respect to electoral bond scheme. How the process of electoral bond scheme work. Then we saw various concerns with respect to anonymity, transparency and we also saw recent developments that are made to legal provisions for political funding. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This editorial article is with reference to Pakistan. The author is stating that Pakistan is changing in significant ways that is helpful for its own country and also for the good of its neighbors, particularly India and the author is convinced that Pakistan is now ready for peace with India than it has ever been in the history. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this editorial article is highlighted here for your reference. In the context of analysis of this editorial article we will see the reasons given by the author, why he is convinced that Pakistan is changing. Then we will see some of the concerns expressed by author about India stand in having negotiations with Pakistan. The author has elaborated on four factors that has influenced change in Pakistan. Firstly, the author states that Pakistan has started to realize that it has suffered a lot domestically and also at the global level because of its state support to religious extremism and also terrorism. Domestically it has lost the lives of thousands of soldiers in its war on terror and the image of Pakistan has been damaged at the global level as it was seen as a state that sponsors terrorism and is allowing its territory to be used against the interests of Indian nation and we know that recently Pakistan is under heavy pressure from financial action task force to act against terrorist financing and terrorist organizations even as today there is a news in foreign column on how Pakistan has urged the United States to help in removing it from the FATF gray list and experts are saying there is chance that Pakistan might be blacklisted in April this year and if Pakistan is blacklisted there will be severe economic sanctions on it in the way Iran is facing sanctions in the present scenario as it is in the blacklist of FATF. See officially financial action task force do not use the names gray list and blacklist however news reports and some governments colloquially use these terms. See gray list is a list that consists of names of countries that are publicly listed as having weak measures in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. This gray list is officially called as improving global anti-money laundering and countering of terrorist financing complaints ongoing process. If countries are listed in this gray list for review and if they are not making any progress within a defined time frame that is announced by FATF then the country will be listed in another document which is officially called as FATF's public statement. It is this statement which is called as blacklist. This public statement lists the countries with serious long standing strategic deficiencies in countering money laundering and terrorist financing. We have discussed these processes with respect to FATF in detail in our Hindu news analysis on June 23, 2019. So the author means to say that with its own understanding with respect to terrorism and also the pressure from FATF Pakistan is now changing that is now moving away from terrorism or allowing its land to be utilized against the interests of neighbour countries or Pakistan is taking severe stands against terrorist financing so as to be removed from the gray list. Now the second factor that has influenced change in Pakistan is the reduction of religious radicalization on Pakistan civil society. Some Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates they were earlier promoted such religious radicalization in Pakistan. However now has reduced promoting their agenda with respect to radicalization in religion. Author states that Saudi Arabia has promoted Wahhabism which is a movement based on pure monotheistic worship that is belief in only one God and Saudi Arabia promoted this Wahhabism as a part of its foreign policy. However this is being reduced by Saudi Arabia and similarly United Arab Emirates is also presently pursuing inter-religious tolerance. So all these factors has resulted in reduction in religious radicalization on Pakistan civil society. That is one another factor that has added change in Pakistan's outlook. Now let's see the third factor. The third factor here is China. We know that China has reported as all wither friend to Pakistan and it is Pakistan's most important economic and security partner. The author states that CPEC corridor that is China Pakistan Economic Corridor which is one of the main projects under the BRI initiative the built into the initiative. It has started to modernize Pakistan's infrastructure in a great manner. So China has engaged with Pakistan also China is steadily engaging with India to improve its relations with India as China has realized that India's status is rising in Asia and also at a global level. So China has suggested for cooperation among these three countries so that the cooperation will become a game changer in improving relations between the three countries. The author mentions that China has also urged Pakistan's government to take firm steps to restrict the activists of Islamic groups. China has expressed this because if there is no restrictions then it could face trouble from China's Muslim majority Xinjiang province. So China is also an important factor why Pakistan is changing. Now the most important factor why Pakistan is changing is because there is change in thought process or mindset of military establishment in Pakistan. We know that military has a huge influence in Pakistan's polity and it is often said that Islamabad and Rawalpindi are the two power centers of Pakistan Islamabad for the elected government and Rawalpindi for the military establishment. Here the author tells that Pakistan's chief of army staff is fully convinced that India-Pakistan relations need to be normalized and such normalization will be beneficial for Pakistan. And author also adds that the army staff chief has personally committed in opening the Kartharpur-Saheb corridor as a confidence building measure as part of relations between India and Pakistan to come in aid of Sikh pilgrims and the military establishment in Pakistan is now convinced there should be economic and trade cooperation between both countries and this will help Pakistan which is facing severe economic crisis at present. So the author tells that Pakistan army may have no restrictions in discussing a solution to the Kashmir issue on the basis of four point formula suggested by former Pakistan president General Parvesh Musharraf. Now here the four points are one is that the military forces on both sides of line of control should be kept to the minimum. Especially there shall be minimum forces in the populated areas on both sides of line of control. This is called demilitarization. Then the people of Jammu and Kashmir on either side of line of control should be able to move freely from one side to another. Then the another point suggested by General Musharraf is to ensure self-governance for internal management of all areas on the same basis on both sides of line of control. And finally Jammu and Kashmir with an active encouragement of governments of India and Pakistan should work out a cooperative and consultative mechanism to maximize the gains of cooperation to solve the problems of social and economic development of the region. So these are the four suggestions given by former Pakistan president Parvesh Musharraf and this four point formula was also called as Musharraf Manmohan formula. So here we can observe that the thought process of military establishment of Pakistan is changing. So the author conveys that not just the civil society in Pakistan and not just the political parties but also the military establishment of Pakistan is favoring peaceful and cooperative relations with India and the two centers of power in Pakistan are ready to engage with India for talks. Question is whether India is ready to engage with Pakistan in the present scenario while India states that the Kashmir dispute is a bilateral issue that has to be solved between India and Pakistan and there is no room for any interference from any other foreign country. This is as based on the Shimla agreement of 1972. However, India has also criticized that while India is stating in clear terms against the interference of foreign country in Kashmir issue India has failed to take reasonable talks and negotiations bilaterally with Pakistan in the recent times. The author finally concludes the editorial is willingness so that Indian government will make use of the opportunity to resume fruitful talks with Pakistan to address existing issues between the two countries. So in the analysis of this editorial article we saw the four factors that influenced change in Pakistan. We also saw India's position with respect to having talks with Pakistan. These are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now let's move on to next article. The news article states that India and Brazil are expected to sign a strategic action plan when the Brazilian President Mr. J. Bolsonaro visits India to participate as the chief guest of 71st Republic Day celebrations. By this the strategic partnership between India and Brazil is expected to be elevated to next level that is strategic partnership with a strategic action plan. In the analysis of this news article we will be discussing in brief about geography of Brazil, India-Brasil bilateral relations and also few important points as given in the news article. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. See Brazil is in South America and half of South America's land mass is covered by or occupied by Brazil and it is the fifth largest country in the world after Russia, Canada, United States and China. It has a long coastline with the Atlantic Ocean and it has inland borders or it shares borders land borders with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador. Equator, Tropic of Capricorn both pass through Brazil and Brazil consists of most of Amazon river basins and the Amazon rainforest in Brazil are known as the world's most extensive rainforest. India and Brazil have a good relationship at the bilateral level and there are also members in multilateral platforms such as BRICS G20 International Solar Alliance and common frameworks such as United Nations World Trade Organization and UNESCO. Both are members of G4 framework which includes Brazil, India, Germany and Japan all these four countries support each other in their bid to a permanent seat in United Nations Security Council. See India and Brazil have entered into a bilateral strategic partnership in the year 2006. Recently we discussed strategic partnership with European Union in the year 2004. With respect to European Union we discussed on January 19, 2020. Now let's come to the political relations between the two nations. See recently Indian Prime Minister visited Brazil in 2019 for the BRICS summit and in this year Brazil's president will be coming to India as the chief guest for the Republic Day Celebrations and India and Brazil have a bilateral joint commission meeting and this joint commission meeting will be chaired by foreign ministers of India and Brazil and this mechanism discusses the entire scope of bilateral relationship between the two countries. Now coming to commercial relations Brazil is one of the most important trading partners of India particularly in the entire Latin America and Caribbean region as on 2016 the bilateral trade between India and Brazil was around 5.64 billion and the previous year it stood around 7.9 billion dollars. India exports value added petroleum products such as diesel and then India exports organic chemicals, pharmaceutical products, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances while India imports from Brazil particularly crude oil soya oil, sugar, copper ore and gold and bilateral trade is in India's favor that is India is exporting more that is the value of exports from India is more than the value of exports of Brazil coming to India. Coming to defense relations India and Brazil have signed a defense cooperation agreement in the year 2003 and this agreement calls for cooperation in defense related matters particularly in R&D acquisition and logistics support between the two countries and both countries have a bilateral joint defense committee that will meet at times with respect to maintaining the defense relationship and coming to cultural relations it is said that Brazil has huge followers for Indian classical art forms such as Bharatanatyam, ODC, Kathak and Kuchipudi and numerous organizations in Brazil they teach yoga and Ayurveda and both the Brazilian government and NGOs there they try to inculcate the philosophy of non-violence propagated by the father of Indian nation particularly among students, youth and also to the police. There is a popular organization in Brazil called as Philosti Gandhi which is otherwise which is translated as Sons of Gandhi in Brazil. So these aspects contribute cultural relations between the two countries and Indian diaspora or Indian community living in Brazil also contribute to the cultural relations between the two countries. Now let's come to the news article we already saw that both India and Brazil they are enjoying a strategic partnership since the year 2006 and this strategic partnership awaits an upgrade with the visit of Brazilian president when an action plan will be agreed for in the future. There will be an umbrella agreement between the two countries. This will focus on defense cooperation technology sharing and also logistics agreement. News article also mentions that India will sign a bilateral investment treaty with Brazil and signing of this bilateral treaty between India and Brazil will be the first bit that India will sign since the year 2015. We know that bilateral investment treaties are generally agreements between two countries that calls for reciprocal promotion and protection of investments in each other territories and since 2015 India has decided to scrap most of its existing bilateral investment treaties with many countries as foreign companies have took India to various dispute resolution mechanisms under the bilateral investment treaties. So this is said as one of the main reason for terminating or scrapping the bits with various countries whereas India introduced a new model bit and India asked the terminated countries to align their bilateral investment treaties or investment policies with respect to India as per this model bilateral investment treaty. And the news article also states that Brazil and India will also exchange a social security agreement that was first signed in the year 2017. See India has been entering into social security agreements at the bilateral level with various countries and these agreements are to protect the interests of Indian diaspora Indian workers or professionals who are working in the particular country preferably for short durations and also to enhance competitiveness of Indian companies that and these social security agreements will have provisions to avoid making double social security contributions by the workers that means they will now require to provide their contribution only to one country rather than to two countries and these social security agreements will have provisions with respect to simplifying the social security contributions by the workers and also easy remittance of their benefits and also to ensure equality of treatment of workers of both countries particularly from a social security perspective. So as on date we are having social security agreements with around 18 countries and these agreements will also allow investments in pension funds of both the nations and these social security agreements will have certain provisions related to flow of investment and know that in 2018 Indian investments in Brazil were around 6 billion US dollars and Brazilian investments in India were around some 1 billion US dollars and there is one important concern that is emerging with respect to the visit of Brazilian president to the Republic Day celebrations that Brazil is one of the largest sugar producers in the world and we are importing sugar from Brazil and last year Brazil has lodged a formal complaint in World Trade Organization that alleged that India has been giving too much subsidies for the farmers and workers those who are associated with sugar industry that is one of the reasons why the news article states the Brazilian president might face protests in India because of the issues and concerns raised by Brazil with respect to subsidies given to sugar farmers. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article we saw in brief about the geographical perspective of Brazil in South America then we saw how Brazil and India share close relationship at international organizations and we saw the relationship at the political level and also at commercial level in the field of defense and also in culture and finally we discussed the news article wherein both countries are to sign a strategic action plan to upgrade the strategic partnership that was signed in the year 2006. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article is about the recent developments happening around the 30 meter telescope proposed in Hawaiian islands in this context we will be discussing about this 30 meter telescope various countries that are involved in this partnership and also some of the important functions and benefits that we will obtain if this 30 meter telescope is implemented. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. See this 30 meter telescope is a new class of extremely large telescopes these telescopes will help us to see deeper into space and also to observe cosmic objects with great sensitivity. The technical arrangements with this 30 meter telescope is expected to provide unparalleled resolution in the images of this telescope. They are saying that the images will be more than 12 times sharper from those of the Hubble Space Telescope we know that Hubble Space Telescope of NASA is the first major optical telescope that is to be placed in space and now let's see who is building this 30 meter telescope see it is being designed and developed by the TMT International Observatory that is the 30 meter telescope International Observatory. Now it is a non-profit international partnership between 5 entities one is the California Institute of Technology of University of California then the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan then the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences then department of science and technology from our country then the National Research Council of Canada. So these are the 5 agencies that are partnering in this non-profit international observatory. Since India is also a member in this partnership this topic assumes significance for our Prelims Preparation and this international observatory will run the telescope operations once the telescope development is completed. Once it is expected that if successfully developed it will help in investigating many outstanding open questions in astronomy it will help us in understanding period of life when the first stars and galaxies were formed it will also help us to detect and investigate black holes and it will also help us to advance our knowledge with respect to physical processes that lead to star and planet formation and it will also help us to characterize and study the properties of planets outside the solar system so we can also see whether life exists beyond the earth. Being a partner in this international observatory will help India in participating in all these observation processes associated with this 30 meter telescope. This telescope is expected to be developed on Mauna Kea which is a dormant volcano in the Hawaiian islands of United States of America. Initially the project received approval from the Hawaiian administration but there has been continuous widespread protests from native Hawaiian population. This is because they are saying that they consider this Mauna Kea as a shrine of worship and they consider this entire mountain or the entire dormant volcano as a deeply sacred place that is much revered in the Hawaiian traditions and in addition to this this place Mauna Kea is having more than 10 observatories already so the native Hawaiian population are not allowing or not ready to accept one more massive structure that is this 30 meter telescope. This is the news with respect to this telescope. See as a partner India has contributed 10% of the financial support for this project and if developed in this site it would have began its operations by the year 2025 because of the democratic actions by the Hawaiian population. Now the opinion generated from the department of science and technology in India is that it is better that the project be moved from this site to an alternate site. So from this analysis you know that India is a partner in this 20 meter telescope international observatory that is at present proposed to be constructed and developed in Mauna Kea in Hawaiian islands. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article is about E station observatory. The news article states that India is in the preliminary stages of discussions to be part of this observatory. In the context of analysis of this news article we will discuss in brief about this E station observatory and the E station core observatories association. The syllabus for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. See this E station observatory is formed by an association called as East Asian core observatories association. The observatories purpose is to pursue joint projects in astronomy within the East Asian region. If you want to say about this association that formed this observatory it is an alliance of four major astronomical research institutions in East Asia from four countries. They are China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are Chinese Taipei. The objective is to promote regional research cooperation in handling joint projects in astronomy. By having such an observatory the East Asian region will be having international competitiveness by combining their financial resources technical expertise and manpower and the very intention of this observatory is to build and operate large scale astronomical instruments and facilities and such facilities are expected to enhance and leverage existing and future regional facilities with respect to astronomical observations. If India becomes a participant in this East Asian observatory, India will gain full access to all the observatory facilities. Now this East Asian observatory is chartered as a non-profit Hawaiian corporation. Its first task is to assume the operation of James Clerk Maxwell sub millimeter telescope that is in Mauna Kea in Hawaiian Islands. It also provides engineering and IT support to UK's infrared telescope and at present there are eight countries that are funding the East Asian observatory. They are China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia and India is not part of the funding sources. Provided India joins this observatory, India may also extend financial resources to this observatory. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. We have come to the last session, the practice questions discussion session. Now see this question. This question is with reference to the office of the speaker of Lokshaba. They have given two statements and are asking which of the above statements are incorrect. For the first statement, the speaker of Lokshaba ceases to be a member of the house and vacates the office with the dissolution of Lokshaba. See with the dissolution of Lokshaba, the speaker of Lokshaba ceases to be a member of the house. But will she vacate the office? No because the speaker holds office from the date of her election till immediately before the first meeting of Lokshaba after the dissolution of the one to which she was elected. The speaker is eligible for reelection. So on the dissolution of Lokshaba, though the speaker ceases to be the member of the house, he or she does not vacate her office. This is according to article 94 of Indian constitution. So the first statement is incorrect. Now second statement on the matters of disqualification of members of the house. The decision of the speaker of Lokshaba is final. See the decision of speaker is final only when the disqualification is on the grounds of defection under the 10th schedule. Not with respect to other grounds. With respect to other matters, it is the decision of the president which is final. This is as per article 103 of Indian constitution which deals with decision on questions as to disqualifications of members of houses of parliament where the decision of president is final. So as a general statement on the matters of disqualification of members of the house, the decision of president is final, not the decision of speaker of Lokshaba. So both the statements are incorrect. Therefore the correct answer is option C both one and two. That is both the statements are incorrect. This is a previous year question. They have asked this question in the year 2012 prelims. Regarding the office of Lokshaba speaker, consider the following statements. They have given three statements asking which of the above statements are correct. First statement, he or she holds the office during the pleasure of president. This is incorrect. We just saw that the speaker holds office from the date of her election until the first meeting of next Lokshaba that is constituted after the dissolution of present Lokshaba where the speaker was selected. So first incorrect. You can eliminate option A and C. Now come to the second statement. He or she need not be a member of the house at the time of his or her election but has to become a member of the house within six months from the date of his or her election. This statement is incorrect because as per article 93, the house of the people may choose two members of the house respectively as speaker and deputy speaker. So a speaker is always from the member of the house. So the statement saying that he or she need not be a member of the house incorrect. Now come to the third statement. If he or she intends to resign, the letter of his or her resignation has to be addressed to the deputy speaker. Now this statement is correct as per article 94 of Indian Constitution. So the speaker may at any time resign from office by writing under her hand to the deputy speaker. So the correct answer for this question is option B 3 only. Now this is a geography map based question. Which of the following countries in the South American continent does not share border with Brazil? See Brazil shares boundary with all countries in South America except Ecuador and Chile. So the correct answer for this question is option B Ecuador. See Ecuador and Chile does not share border with Brazil. That is land border with Brazil. This question is with reference to Shanghai Cooperation Organization Sark. They have given three statements asking which of the other statements are correct. First statement, the regional structure of Shanghai Cooperation Organization is based in Uzbekistan. Now this statement is correct because the Executive Committee of rats is based in Tuscant in Uzbekistan. See rats is one of the two permanent bodies of Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The other permanent body is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization secretariat which is based at Beijing in China. So the first statement is correct. So you can eliminate option C. Second statement, the last South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit was held at Nepal in the year 2014. Now this statement is also correct. This is because no Sark summits were held since the year 2014. The 2016 Sark summit was scheduled to be held in Pakistan but it did not happen because of because of U.D. terror attacks in India in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. So the second statement is correct. So now we will eliminate option A. The third statement, Shanghai Cooperation Organization is the successor of Shanghai Five. Now this statement is correct because originally Shanghai Five mechanism was formed in 1996 by five countries. China, China's brother Russia, China, Russia two case that is Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. And Shanghai Five was followed by Shanghai Cooperation Organization particularly with the joining of Uzbekistan in the year 2001. However know that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization charter came into force in the year 2003. So Shanghai Five came first and it was succeeded by Shanghai Cooperation Organization. So all the three statements are correct. Therefore the correct answer is option D 1, 2 and 3. Now this question is with reference to 30 meter telescope that was recently in use. They have given two statements and are asking which of those statements are correct. The first statement it is designed and developed through an international partnership in which India is a member. Now this statement is correct. This is because the 30 meter telescope is being designed and developed by 30 meter telescope international observatory. Now this 30 meter telescope international observatory is a non-profit international partnership between five entities. One is California Institute of Technology of University of California then the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan then the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences then from India the Department of Science and Technology and from Canada the National Research Council. So India is a member. So first statement is correct. So you can eliminate option B and option D. Come to the second statement it was proposed to be located in Mauna Kaya, a dormant volcano in the island Hawaii. Now this statement is correct. So both the statements are correct. Therefore the correct answer is option C both 1 and 2. However know that with the recent democratic actions carried by the native Hawaiian population India has opined that it is better to locate the 30 meter telescope in an alternative site. The correct answer is option C both 1 and 2. This is a previous year question asked in mains 2016 under General Studies paper 2. Increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in India and growing interference in the internal affairs of member states by Pakistan are not conducive for the future of SARC. Explain with suitable examples. Now you are requested to write answers for this question you may post the answers for this question in the comments section by sharing the link after uploading the picture or pdf into your drive. We will give appropriate feedback we will give appropriate feedback within a time frame of 7 to 10 walking days. With this we come to the end of today's the hindu analysis. If you like the video click the like button, comment share and subscribe to Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil services exam preparation. We will meet you tomorrow.