 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IA's Academy for the date 4th of October 2019. Displayed are the list of news articles taken up for today's analysis along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Trivandrum and Hyderabad editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis is available in the description section and also in the common section for the benefit of the smartphone news. Let us now start our analysis. This news article tells that the State Government of Telangana has appointed the chairperson of the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. So in this news article, we will be seeing the difference between the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights and the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Know that both these commissions, that is the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights and the State Commissions for the Protection of Child Rights are statutory commissions. That is they have been formed based on a legislation, here the legislation or the law is the Commissions for the Protection of Child Rights Act of 2005. So in this act, the composition and the functioning of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights and the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights have been given. When we tell State Commission, a particular State Commission is only for a particular State, say for example, only for the Telangana State or only for the Karnataka State. So in the analysis that is about to come, when I tell State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, consider that it is only for a particular State. Now know that this act has covered the children's rights that were adopted in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in the year 1989. And this particular United Nations Convention was ratified by the Government of India in December 1992. This convention includes the basic requirements for the children's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development. Now let us see the important provisions of this act. Here we will be seeing the composition of the commission, then the appointment of the child person and the members, their terms of office, then their removal, salary and allowances. And finally we will be seeing the functions of the National and the State Commissions. First we shall see the composition of the National Commission and the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights. Both the National Commission and the State Commission shall consist of a child person and six members. And out of the six members, at least two members shall be women. Now let us see the qualification of the child person. He must be a person of Eminence and he must have done outstanding work for promoting the welfare of children. Coming to the qualification of the members, they should be persons of Eminence, Ability, Integrity, Standing and they should have experience in one of the following fields. Like either in education or in child health, child care, child welfare or child development or in juvenile justice or care of neglected or marginalized children or children with these abilities or in elimination of child labour or children in distress or experience in child psychology or sociology and also experience in laws relating to children. So as we saw the composition and the qualification of the child person and the members are same for both the National Commission and the State Commission. Now let us see the appointment of the child person and members of the National Commission. Both the child person and the members of the National Commission will be appointed by the central government through a notification and this act also tells that the child person shall be appointed based on the recommendation of a three-member selection committee. This three-member selection committee shall be headed by the Ministry in charge of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development or the Department of Women and Child Development. Coming to the appointment of child person and members of the State Commission, the act tells that the child person and the members of the State Commission shall be appointed by the State Government that is the respective State Governments here and this act also tells that the child person shall be appointed based on the recommendation of a three-member selection committee which is headed by the Ministry or the Department that deals with children in that particular state. So only the appointment for the child person of both the National Commission and the State Commission has been mentioned in the act and a general statement is mentioned that they shall be appointed by the central government in case of National Commission and the State Government in case of the State Commission through a notification. Next let us see the term of office of the child person and the members. First let us see the National Commission. The act tells that the child person shall hold office for a term of three years or until he or she is 65 years of age whichever is earlier and the members who will be appointed to the National Commission shall hold office for a term of three years or until he or she is 60 years of age. This act also tells that the child person or the members should not hold office for more than two terms so they can be reappointed only once and the term of office is same for the State Commission for the protection of child rights as well. Now let us see the difference with respect to the procedure for removal from the office for the National Commission and the State Commission. With respect to the National Commission the child person or a member may resign from the office by writing to the central government so they can offer their resignation letter to the central government. The act also says that the child person can be removed from the office by the central government on certain grounds like on the grounds of proved misbehavior or incapacity. Also if they are adjudged as an insolvent or if he or she engages during his or her term of office in any paid employment outside the duties of his or her office nothing but the office of profit or if he or she is declared as of unsound mind by a competent court. So these are some of the grounds based on which the child person or a member of the National Commission for the protection of child rights can be removed but note that no person shall be removed until that person has been given an opportunity of being heard in that matter. So they should be given enough opportunity to know that why they are being removed. Now coming to the state commission the act says that the child person or a member of the state commission may resign from the office by writing to the state government but note that this act does not mention regarding the removal of child person or members of state commission. So there are provisions for removal only for the National Commission but not for the state commission. Now let us see about the salary and allowances of both the commissions. In case of National Commission the central government will prescribe the salary and allowance for the child person and the members of the National Commission. It is mentioned in the act that the salary allowances and the terms of services should not be varied to their disadvantages after their appointment that is after appointing there shall not be any change made to their salary or allowances or to their terms of service so that they will be put in a disadvantages position. And in case of state commission the salary and allowance for the child person and members of the state commission will be prescribed by the respective state governments and they also have the same condition that their salaries allowances and terms of services shall not be varied to their disadvantage after their appointment by the state governments. So this is all about the composition, appointment, terms of office, removal, salary and allowances of the National Commission and the state commission for the protection of child rates. Now let us see some of the functions of the National Commission and the state commission. The functions are one and the same for both the National Commission and the state commission but the reporting authority varies. In case of National Commission it is the central government and in case of state commission it is the respective state governments. Now let us see some of the important functions. First is that the commission should examine and review the law in force for the protection of child rates and it should recommend measures for their effective implementation. Then it shall submit annual and periodical reports to the central government in case of National Commission and the respective state governments in case of state commission on the working of such safeguards. Then it should also inquire into violation of child rates and it can recommend initiation of proceedings in such cases. The next function is that the commission shall undertake research in the field of child rates. Then the commission shall also take Suomoto notice that is it can issue a notice on its own, Suomoto means on its own on matters relating to deprivation and violation of child rates. Then on matters related to non-implementation of laws provided for the protection and development of children etc. And also know that the commission will have all the powers of a civil court both the National Commission and the respective state commission and they shall try a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908. So the commission can summon and enforce the attendance of any person and the commission can also demand protection of any document etc. So these are some of the important functions of National Commission and state commission know that the functions are one and the same but only the reporting authority varies. In case of National Commission it is the central government and in case of the state commission it is the respective state governments. So this is all about the National Commission for the protection of child rates and the state commission for the protection of child rates. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article mentions about certain schemes related to agriculture like the investment support scheme of the state of Telangana which is the Raithubandhu scheme that it also mentions about PM Kisan scheme which is the central government scheme and this news article also discusses about green box payments or the green box subsidies under the agreement on agriculture of the World Trade Organization. The news is that the Reserve Bank of India has lauded or appreciated the scheme of the state of Telangana. This news article also tells that this investment support scheme has been emulated by six other states of India. So this is all you need to know from this news article. We will be focusing more on the schemes Raithubandhu scheme then the PM Kisan scheme then an equally relevant investment support scheme which is the Kaliya scheme of the state government of Odisha and then finally we will be discussing about the different kinds of subsidies under the agreement on agriculture of the World Trade Organization. First let us start with Raithubandhu scheme. As we saw Raithubandhu scheme is implemented by the government of Telangana. This scheme provides investment support for the agricultural crops and also for the articulture crops. So the state government grants rupees 5000 per acre per farmer each season for the purchase of inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and also labour etc. And know that there is no limit on the size of land holding but this scheme is subjected to certain terms and conditions as may be framed by the state government from time to time. Now let us see about Kaliya scheme. Kaliya stands for Krushak assistance for livelihood and income augmentation. This is a state government program of the Odisha state government. This scheme is one of the comprehensive ways to address the poverty among the farmers by financing them and by providing some kind of agricultural insurance to them. Know that there are five major components under this Kaliya scheme. Simply put this scheme includes financial support for cultivation, then financial support for agriculture allied activities, then financial support for vulnerable agricultural households, then insurance support and also interest free crop room. For all these reasons the scheme has been named as Krushak assistance for livelihood and income augmentation. Now let us look at PM Kisan scheme. This scheme is the scheme of the central government that is the government of India. It is a central sector scheme which means it is completely sponsored by the central government or we can also tell that it is 100% centrally sponsored scheme. This scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. This scheme aims to provide a benefit of Rs. 6000 per annum per family and this benefit will be provided in three equal installments that is in each installment Rs. 2000 will be given to the beneficiaries. So once in four months the beneficiaries will receive Rs. 2000 and there is also a certain exclusion criteria under this scheme. To know more about the schemes that we have seen like the Raitubandhu scheme, Kaliya scheme and also PM Kisan scheme refer our 18th September the Hindu News Analysis and also 4th July Hindu News Analysis. The links for these analysis is given in the description section. Now let us see more about this agreement on agriculture of the World Trade Organization. In simple terms the agreement on agriculture is aimed to remove trade barriers and to promote transparent market access and it also aims to integrate the global markets. And one of the main pillars of this agreement is the domestic support. The domestic support pillar aims for reduction in the domestic subsidies that distort or disturb the free trade or fair price. And this is further classified as green box subsidies, blue box subsidies and amber box subsidies. First let us see the green box subsidies. Those subsidies that will not distort the trade or that causes minimal distortion to the trade are classified as green box subsidies and they have to be government funded subsidies. So they usually tend to be programs that are not targeted at particular products and they include direct income supports for farmers that are not related to current production levels of prices. So the green box subsidies are allowed without limits provided they comply with the policy specific criteria that is set out. For example, funding for research, then the funding for environmental and regional developmental programs, then schemes like Raithubandhu, PM Kisan scheme, the public distribution system scheme of the government of India, all come under green box subsidies. Now let us see the blue box subsidies. These are amber box with condition subsidies. That is the conditions that are designed to reduce the distortion. Any support that would normally be in the amber box is placed in the blue box if the support also requires farmers to limit the production. So we can tell that the blue box subsidies aims at limiting the production. We can also tell that blue box subsidies are production limiting subsidies. The countries like Norway, Sweden, et cetera are using this kind of subsidies. Now let us discuss the amber box subsidies. Nearly all the domestic support measures that are considered to distort the production and trade fall into the amber box. So all the domestic supports except those in the blue and the green boxes come under the amber box subsidies. These include measures to support the prices or subsidies that are directly related to the production quantities. And these supports are subject to certain limits. That is de minimis, which means minimal supports. Minimal supports are allowed for generally 5% of the agricultural production for the developed countries and it is 10% for the developing countries. So out of the total agricultural production, the amount of amber box subsidy that can be given is 5% for the developed countries and 10% for the developing countries. Some examples of amber box subsidies include MSP, subsidized electricity, seats, fertilizers, et cetera. There is one more classification that can either be product specific like in case of the minimum support price. So there is MSP for a particular product say for example, a coconut or say for example, rice or wheat. And amber box subsidies can also be non-product specific. For example, electricity that is being subsidized, seats that are given at subsidized rates and fertilizers that are given at subsidized rates. So it can either be product specific or non-product specific. So this is one classification of amber box subsidies. So in this news article, we have seen in brief about Raithubandu scheme, then about Kalya scheme, then about PM Kisan scheme and about agreement on agriculture of the World Trade Organization, especially the three different kinds of subsidies, green box subsidies, blue box subsidies and amber box subsidies. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This editorial is with respect to making sanitation universal and sustainable. The author of this editorial talks about the measures taken to achieve open defecation free status and how the official campaigners have ensured compliance among the poor rural masses. And finally the author links the defects in the efforts against open defecation to achieving sustainable sanitation. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. See this editorial article is response article to the recent announcement by the Prime Minister of India that India has been declared open defecation free. The term open defecation free is defined by two conditions that lead to the termination of fecal oral transmission of infections. One condition is that there should be no visible fecus found in the environment or the village. And the second condition is that every household and public or community institutions should be using safe technology option for disposal of fecus. As per the words of Prime Minister, India has achieved the status on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The author of this editorial indirectly gives a connotation that this achievement is just based on only one metric, that is the toilet access. We know that making India open defecation free is one of the objectives of Swach Bharat Mission Program. One of the strategies or components to lead to this objective was construction of individual household latrines or toilets. Here, a duly completed household sanitary latrine unit shall comprise of three components. The first component is a sanitary substructure. This safely confines the human fecus and eliminates the need for human handling. The second component that is required is a superstructure with water facility. And the third component is a hand wash unit for cleaning and hand washing. So, only if all the three components are there, we can say that a house has an individual household latrine. Under the program, there were allocation of funds and financial incentives for vulnerable households to enable them to construct such toilets. And adequate steps were also taken to build community sanitary complexes, which included toilets as one of their facilities. The author of this editorial says that the government has included only this toilet access or construction as the measurement to declare open defecation-free status. And as per the government, around 110 million or 11 crore toilets have been constructed since the launch of Swach Bharat Mission in October, 2014. But the mere construction does not mean that people do not defecate openly. This is because of several reasons. The first reason is that, while the government focused on construction of toilets in terms of number, it did not focus much on changing the behavior of people to switch from defecating in the open to using sanitary toilets. They have not successfully and sustainably educated the public about the health impacts of open defecation. This means the information, education, and the communication component of the Swach Bharat Mission has not yielded the needed results. Many of the toilets constructed under the support from the government did not meet required construction standards. As a result, these structures were damaged as days passed and they have become unusable. The poor population may not afford to repair the toilet, so they defecate in the open. Also, there has to be proper disposal of sewage waste, if you see. If the disposal mechanism is not ensured or if it is not maintained properly, then the constructed toilets naturally becomes non-usable. In this context, the author talks about the ODF Plus program, which has been adopted by the ministry of Jal Shakti. The purpose of this program is to encourage the use of toilets and to create the infrastructure for managing solid waste and liquid waste in every village. One another reason why people in some areas do not use the toilets is because of the non-availability of water in their area. This means that in their area, the government did not think about making sanitation a sustainable one because to sustain the efforts against open defecation, water resources are needed, like for flushing, for washing of hands and other works. So, these are some of the reasons why the author says that the mere construction and enumeration of toilets cannot be the only measure to say that India is open defecation free. However, the author acknowledges the efforts taken by the governments in power since 2014. This is for bringing the steps to make India clean against the decades of neglect since independence. Then the author talks about the neglect of rights of citizens by the official campaigners of Swach Bharat Mission program in order to achieve the ODF status that is open defecation free status. This is because in order to ensure compliance among the public, the official campaigners have resorted to certain actions that disrespected the rights of citizens. The author mentions that they have resorted to violence, then public shaming of individuals that is calling out the individuals telling that they have not constructed the toilets. And they've also threatened the people that they will not be given any welfare benefits for which they are genuinely eligible. And the official said that if the toilets are not constructed, they will not receive benefits under various welfare programs. So, all these kinds of activities were actually seen as an oppression among the rural poor. Oppression means unjust treatment or exercise of authority. The problem here is that these activities forced people to construct the toilet, but these activities will never make them use the toilets. This is because people have to be willfully moved away from open defecation through good education and required awareness. So, the end of the rate, two things can be said. One is that India has not achieved open defecation free status. Two, the present ground efforts are not sustainable in the long run. Then the author of this editorial also talks about manual scavenging which is a prohibited practice by law. This law is called as the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and their rehabilitation act of 2013. Note that Swach Bharat Mission also includes eradication of manual scavenging as one of its objective. Since many toilets that are built under the Swach Bharat Mission are not adhering to the prescribed twin pit design or other construction parameters, this means that these toilets will need periodic evacuation, that is periodic removal. Therefore, this leaves room for possible resort to manual scavenging. Here we find that the efforts to achieve the ODF status and the failure of proper implementation leads to another human rights violation of manual scavenging. Sustainable and proper sanitation requires elimination of manual scavenging. Also, the states are required to construct necessary sewage and sludge treatment plans and they have to strictly enforce the law against manual scavenging. The author of this editorial finds that these measures are not being taken up as a war-like effort. Then the author mentions that for sustainable sanitation, people should voluntarily take up actions against open defecation and they have to be educated enough to bring such a response. And there shall not be any coercion that is persuading someone to do something by using force or by threatening them. And also, there shall not be any oppression. We have discussed what the author means by the term oppression in the context of this editorial. Therefore, the citizen's rights have to be respected and accorded and the community participation has to be ensured in order to reach sustainable sanitation. And sustainable sanitation also requires decent urban and rural housing. This is because in decent housing, there will be decent and sustainable standards for sanitation, which also includes proper toilet facilities. And there shall be the right to good education where there is no coercion. And in the good education, there shall be behavior modification therapies to achieve the intended goals. That is, educating the individuals in order to modify their behavior or approach towards why proper sanitation is required. So, we can see that at present, oppressive measures have been taken by the officials. But instead, proper awareness should be brought amongst the citizens so that India truly achieves ODIF-free status. So, in this editorial, we have seen the measures that have been taken to achieve open defecation-free status and how the official campaigners have ensured compliance among the poor rural masses. And finally, the link which the author has discussed between the defects in the efforts against open defecation to achieving sustainable sanitation. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this editorial. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article speaks about the threats that are caused by drones to the wildlife in Neil Greese and in the rest of the Western Guards. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given you for your reference. Let us now see the news article. First, let us see what are drones? Drones are also called as unmanned aerial vehicle or remotely piloted aircraft. It is an aircraft which is intended to operate with no pilot on board. So, there will not be anybody who is operating that particular aircraft and there can be various sizes of drones. They can range from very small to very large and the applications of these drones also varies. They can be used for photography. They can be used for the purpose of agriculture. Then they can also be used for the purpose of infrastructure, asset maintenance. Now, let us see the news article. This news article tells that nowadays more and more wildlife photographers are using drones in order to capture the exotic wildlife. So, this has become a threat for the birds which reside in the Neal Grease and in the rest of the Western Guards. Know that the Neal Grease Biosphere Reserve is located in the Western Guards. It is spread over three southern states which are the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. And this biosphere reserve is known for its rich diversity of flora and fauna. When we tell flora, it means the trees and fauna means the animals. And this biosphere reserve has many endangered species of birds as well. So, the news article is telling that the drones are threatening the endangered species of birds, especially the raptors. So, what are raptors? Raptors are also known as birds of prey. That is, they primarily hunt and feed on other small animals, birds or insects. For example, you can see birds like vultures, eagles and falcons which hunt on other small animals, birds or insects. This news article tells that these raptors, especially the falcons, that is the Shaheen falcons which is mentioned in the news article, are found to be very aggressive around the unmanned drones. So, when they see the drones, they attack them. And while attacking the drones, they can get hit by the rotor blades of the drones. So, this can cause injuries to these falcons. Sometimes these injuries can even lead to death. Another issue is that if the raptors feel threatened, they might even abandon the nesting sites. For this, an example is given in the news article. It tells that the amateur photographers mostly use drones in the rocky outcrops that is on the rocky edges of the mountains. And this has threatened the nesting of the raptors because these raptors build their nets only around these rocky edges. Now, according to the news article, the drones scare off not just the raptors but also other animals as well. For example, there were videos of elephants which were scared off by the drones. This means that unregulated use of drones will adversely affect the entire wildlife. According to the news article, the use of unmanned aerial vehicle mounted with filming equipment in the forest areas without the permission of the chief wildlife warden is a criminal offense. So, now we need to know if there are any regulations on operating drones in India. Yes, we do have a regulation. The regulation has been introduced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. This Directorate General of Civil Aviation comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. So, there are a set of regulations for the operation of drones or remotely piloted aircraft systems in India. It is called as the National Drones Policy or Drone Regulations Version 1. And this regulation is effective from 1st of December, 2018. Now, let us see some of the important set of rules under these regulations. First is the classification of drones. There are five categories of drones which are nano, micro, small, medium and large. So, we have drones ranging from nano size to large size. Nano means less than or equal to 250 grams and large size means those drones which can weigh greater than 150 kgs. So, remember that there are five classification of drones under this regulation. And also the government operates Digital Sky. This Digital Sky is an online platform for registration of drones and for giving permissions to operate drones in India. And know that all drones except those drones in the nano category will require a unique identification number. That is an identity so that they can be easily tracked. So, we saw that those drones under the nano category are exempted from getting this unique identification number but there is also some restriction for that. That is those drones in nano category which are intended to fly up to 50 feet that is up to 15 meter above the ground level in uncontrolled airspace or in the enclosed premises for commercial, recreational or the research and development purposes are only exempted from obtaining the unique identification number. And also know that the drone operators will have to comply to the no permission, no takeoff rule which means in order to operate the drones they have to get permission before operating them. So, the permission has to be taken from the concerned authorities before using the drones. Now, according to this regulation the airspace has been partitioned or split into three zones which are red zone, yellow zone and green zone. In the red zone flying is not permitted and in yellow zone the airspace is a controlled airspace and the green zone means automatic permission is granted. And this regulation also provides for basic training of drone pilots. So, every drone operator who is remotely operating the drone will have to undergo training at directorate general of civil aviation approved flying training organization. The qualification is that they should have attained 18 years of age and they must have at least passed the 10th level exams in English. Now, we will discuss few areas where the drones are prohibited that is the operating restrictions which are mentioned under the regulation. There are around 12 areas mentioned under the regulation let us see some important areas. First is within a distance of five kilometer from the perimeter of airports which are located at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Next is the drones are prohibited within 25 kilometer from the international border. This also includes line of control that is the ceasefire line between India and Pakistan. And next the line of actual control though it is not clearly demarcated this indicates the boundary between India and China. And next is the actual ground position line. It is a line that divides the territory between India and Pakistan in the Siachen Glacier region. So this extends from the northernmost point of the line of control which is NJ 9842 to Indrakol in the north. Apart from this, the drones are also prohibited beyond 500 meters into sea from the coastlines and then within five kilometer radius from Vijay Chauhan, Delhi. Then the drones are prohibited over eco-sensitive zones around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries that are notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change without prior permission. So we can see that drones are prohibited over eco-sensitive zones around the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries which are notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. And without prior permission that is without required permission the drones are prohibited to fly over these areas. And the regulation also says that the breach of compliance to any of the requirements that are mentioned in the regulation shall attract actions under different IPC sections that is Indian Penal Code sections. So penalties will be imposed as per relevant sections of IPC. Also necessary actions would be taken as per relevant sections of the Aircraft Act of 1934 and also as per the Aircraft Rules of 1937 or any other statutory provisions. Also if any provisions of the regulations are violated then the unique identification number that has been issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation would be suspended or cancelled. So these are some of the enforcement actions if there is a violation of the provisions of this regulation. So it is clear that use of drones in Nilgri's without prior permission is an offense. So what can be the solution? The news article tells that a blanket ban on drones is impossible to enforce. That is a complete ban on the drones is impossible to enforce. Instead the forest department should identify the areas where the vultures and other raptors are known to nest so that they can focus on those areas and put some restrictions on those areas. And effective vigilance also should be ensured in these places to prevent the use of drones. The news article also tells that the authorities must enforce that the drones are not used in reserved areas without permission. And a strict imposition of penalties can deter people from the unauthorized use of drones. So these are some of the suggestions that are given in the news article. We saw Shaheen Falcon bird is mentioned in the news article. Know that this bird is a subspecies of falco peregrinus peregrinator. And it is listed as least concern under the IUCN red list of threatened species. Which means there is enough population and it is listed under appendix one of sites and it is also categorized under schedule one part three under the wildlife protection act of 1972. So this is all about the Shaheen Falcon. So in this news article we have seen what is meant by raptor, then about the national drones policy in brief and about Shaheen Falcon. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is with respect to the classical land wage status. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. First let us see few land wages in India that were already accorded the status of classical land wage. So far six land wages have been given the status of classical land wages. As you read in this news article, Canada is one among them. The other land wages that were accorded the classical land wage status are Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia. Now how to remember these six land wages? If you observe these six land wages, five land wages are from the southern states. They are the Tamil land wage from the state of Tamil Nadu, Malayalam from the state of Kerala, Telugu from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and then Canada from the state of Karnataka and Odia from the state of Odisha. Note that the first land wage to be declared as a classical land wage in India is the language Tamil. This status was accorded in the year 2004. Then in 2005 Sanskrit was given the status. Then in 2008 Telugu and Canada were given the status and Malayalam received the status in the year 2013. The latest in this list was Odia which was granted the status of classical land wage in the year 2014. We have been reading news that proposal has been kept by the state government of Maharashtra to declare Marathi as a classical land wage. The recent statement with respect to this matter from the Union Ministry of Culture is that the proposal is under active consideration of the government. Now let us see the four basic criteria based on which a land wage is granted this classical land wage status. One is that there should be a high antiquity of the early texts of the land wage or there has to be high antiquity of recorded history in the land wage. This high antiquity should be for over a period of 1500 to 2000 years. Secondly, there has to be a body or collection of ancient literature or texts. And these literature or texts has to be considered as a valuable heritage by the generations of the speakers of the land wage. Thirdly, the land wage should have the literary tradition which has to be a original one and it should not have been borrowed from another speech community. Fourthly, the classical land wage and its classical literature shall be distinct or it shall be different from modern forms and there may also be a discontinuity between the classical land wage and its later forms or its offshoots. So these are the four criteria under which a land wage is assessed for granting the status of classical land wage. Now let us see the benefits that are available for land wages which are declared as classical land wages. One is that there is a provision for award of two major annual international awards for scholars of eminence in a particular classical land wage. The second benefit is that centers for excellence for studies in a classical land wage can be set up. So these centers will act as a boost for understanding and exploring more about classical land wages in India. Thirdly, the University Grants Commission can be requested to create certain number of professional chairs for classical land wages at least in central universities and these professional chairs can be for the scholars of eminence in the concerned land wage. For the effective functioning of all the above benefits that we saw, sufficient funds would be allocated by the union government. Now let us come to the news article. This news article mentions that for the past several years there has been poor utilization of funds that are allotted by the central government. That is if the central government allots say two crores for a financial year, the state government of Karnataka may use just 60 lakhs for the research and development purpose of Karnataka. So as a result of non-utilization the funds allotted gets lapsed. That is they are expired after the financial year and thereby they are taken back by the central government. Maybe in the next year the government may give just 60 lakhs thinking that it is a required amount because that was the amount that was utilized last year. So the budget is reduced. In the long term this pattern is not healthy for the genuine persons who are involved in the development and exploration of a particular classical land wage. This news article mentions that as a benefit of the declaration of Kannada as a classical language, a centre of excellence for studies in classical Kannada was set up in Mysuru. This centre for excellence was established in a small building in the central institute of Indian land wages in Mysuru. Know that this central institute of Indian land wages comes under the department of higher education which in turn comes under the language bureau of Ministry of Human Resources and Development. This centre of excellence for studies in classical Kannada was set up to do research, to document, propagate and teach classical Kannada. Even after a period of more than 10 years of receiving the status as classical language, this centre still operates in a small building. Whereas if you see a centre of excellence which was established in Tamil Nadu for promoting Tamil is functioning very effectively and in a broad based manner. So this is about the news article. So the news article argues for better utilization of funds allocated for the purpose. Note that promotion and protection of ancient Indian languages and classical Indian languages is required as they act as a gateway to understand and explore our ancient civilizational values and the ancient knowledge and ancient wisdom. At the end, you have to know about the four factors that determine the grant of classical languages status, then the benefits that they receive as a result of this status and about the six classical languages in India. Now have a look at the practice question. Now see the next news article. It tells that new chief justices have been appointed in seven high courts. This news article is related to the appointment of judges to the high court. We discussed in detail about the appointment of judges to the high court during our Hindu news analysis on 31st of August. Just have a look at it. So these are some of the recurring topics that occur then and there. So have a look at the 31st August analysis. Let us now move on to the practice questions discussion session. See the first question. The question is considered the following statements regarding national commission for the protection of child rights. They have given two statements and they've asked you to choose the correct statements. The first statement tells that the chairperson should be a retired judge of the Supreme Court. This statement is wrong. During our discussion, we saw that the chairperson shall be a person of eminence and he must have done outstanding work for promoting the welfare of children. It is not that it should be a retired judge of the Supreme Court. So the first statement goes wrong. We also saw that this national commission shall consist of a chairperson and six members out of the six members at least two shall be women. Now see the second statement. The statement tells that the commission has the powers of a civil court. This statement is correct. During our discussion, we saw that the national commission will have all the powers of a civil court and it shall try a suit under the Court of Civil Procedure 1908. So it can summon and enforce the attendance of any person. It can also demand protection of any document, et cetera. This question is asked for the correct statements. The correct answer is option B2 only since the first statement is wrong. Moving on to the second question. The question is consider the following statements with respect to green box subsidies often seen in the news. They have given two statements again and they have asked you to choose the correct statements. The first statement tells that they must not distort trade or at most cause minimal distortion to trade. From our discussion, we have clearly discussed that those subsidies which shall not distort the trade or at most cause minimal distortion to trade a classified as green box subsidies. Therefore, the first statement is correct. Now, see the second statement. It tells that the de minimis limit is applicable to green box subsidies also. During our discussion, we saw that the de minimis limit is applicable in case of amber box subsidies but not for the green box subsidies. So the second statement is wrong. Now this question is asked for the correct statements. The correct answer is option A1 only since the second statement is wrong. Moving on to the next question. The question is consider the following statements regarding national drones policy. They have given two statements and they have asked you to choose the correct statements again. The first statement, it tells that all drones in India will have a unique identification number. During our discussion, we saw that all drones except drones in nano category will require a unique identification number. So this statement is wrong. Now see the second statement. It tells that the policy was released by the Ministry of Defense. During our discussion, we saw that the direct trade general of civil aviation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation had introduced a set of regulations for the operation of drones or remotely piloted aircraft systems which is the national drone policy. So it is not the Ministry of Defense but the direct trade general of civil aviation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This question is asked for the correct statements. The correct answer is option D neither one nor two since both the statements are wrong. Now see the next question. The question is which among the following is not one of the criteria to determine the eligibility of a land wage for granting classical land wage status. During the analysis, we saw that the first and foremost condition is that there should be a high antiquity of the early texts of the language and there has to be high antiquity of recorded history in the language. This high antiquity has to be for over a period of 1500 to 2000 years. This simply means that these languages should be languages that are more than 1500 years old. In other words, these are the ancient Indian languages. Here it is given as 500 to 1000 years. So option A is the wrong statement. So we saw four criteria based on which a language can be declared as a classical language. One is that there should be a high antiquity of the early texts of the language or there has to be a high antiquity of recorded history in the language and the antiquity period that we saw was for over a period of 1500 to 2000 years. Secondly, there has to be a body or collection of ancient literature or texts which are to be considered as a valuable heritage by generations of speakers of the language. Thirdly, the language should have the literary tradition which should be original and it should not have been borrowed from other speech community. And fourthly, the classical language and its literature shall be distinct or different from modern forms and there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots. So here option B, C and D are correct and option A is wrong. So the answer to this question is option A. See the next question. Consider the following statements. They've given three statements and they've asked you to choose the correct statements. The first statement, it tells that Tamil, Telugu and Hindi are designated classical languages in India by the government of India. This statement is wrong. During our discussion, we saw that six languages have been classified as classical languages so far which are the languages of Tamil, Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Odia. So the first statement is wrong. Now see the second statement, it tells that Sanskrit is the first language to be declared as a classical language in India. This statement is also wrong. Tamil was the first language to be declared as a classical language. So Tamil was accorded the classical language status in the year 2004. Then in the year 2005 Sanskrit was given the status. So this statement also goes wrong. Now see the third statement. It tells that most of the declared classical languages are from South Indian region. So we asked you to also remember that most of the languages are from South Indian states like Tamil from Tamil Nadu, Kannada from the Karnataka state, Telugu from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and Malayalam from Kerala. And the news today is that there is a proposal to include Marathi as a classical language. So here the question is asked for the correct statements. Only the third statement is correct. So the correct answer is option C3 only. With this we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the practice questions discussion session. Do like, comment and share the video and do subscribe to Shankar IA's Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.