 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Reyes 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 timestamping of the discussed articles are provided in the description and also in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let's move on to the analysis of first news article. This article from the editorial page is with reference to the Supreme Court's verdict on Shaheen Bagh protests on democratic actions or incidents. The verdict declared that there is no absolute right to protest and it could be subjected to the orders of authority regarding the place and time. So let us have a discussion on right to protest and what author of this article says in this context. Firstly, note that article 19 of Indian Constitution it provides for right to peaceful protest or democratic action by guaranteeing the right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to assemble peacefully and without arms. Like other freedoms, these rights are also subjected to reasonable restrictions. For example, the right to assemble peacefully and without arms should not affect the operation of any existing law or it should not prevent the state from making any law from imposing reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by this article 19 1 b that is to assemble peacefully and without arms and these laws will be made by the state in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India or the interests of public order. Now there was a review petition recently that asked the Supreme Court to review the verdict it gave with reference to Shaheen Bagh protests with reference to Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019. However, the review bench which comprised the same judges who delivered the original judgment they said that they did not find any error warranting reconsideration of their verdict. The original verdict was delivered on October 7 2020 and recently the review petition was dismissed which reiterated the stand of the court that right to protest cannot be anytime and everywhere. In this context, author opines that protesting at any time and anywhere has not been as simple as it is conceived in the judgments. He takes the example of Shaheen Bagh protest which was about CAA 2019 or the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 and also the examples from recent form protest with reference to the new form legislations. These agitations were not as simple as thought by the Supreme Court as it had brought out immense agony and hardship for the protesters. For example, many protesters were subjected to malicious prosecution by the state on serious charges of sedition and terrorist activities. Even various judicial experts and former Supreme Court judges and High Court judges have differing opinion from that of the central government that these are actually not cases of sedition. That's why we say malicious prosecution. All freedoms under Article 19 of the Constitution from freedom of expression to that of peaceful association or peaceful assembly, they were seriously impaired. Then the author explains why protests are happening. This is a very serious point which he has highlighted in this article. The author states that it is because of judicial delay in adjudicating the cases regarding, say for example, Citizenship Amendment Act or the form loss. If you take some of the major protests that happened recently in India with reference to quota for economically weaker sections or with reference to Citizenship Amendment Act or with reference to the form legislations, they involved legal and constitutional issues which required immediate and effective adjudication in terms of their constitutional validity. Had the Supreme Court examined the new laws brought in by the parliament with reference to form sector on time, whether they are constitutional or not, then the protest would have been either subsided or it would have been happened in a less virulent form. Now instead of adjudicating the issues, the Supreme Court was criticized as it went to balance the events by offering mediation. The Supreme Court was criticized with reference to Shaheen Bagh protest and also with reference to the protest related to form legislations. This kind of balancing which the Supreme Court tries to attain is expected to provide more questions than answers. This is because the role of judiciary is to adjudicate and not to mediate. And the author notes that a reconciliatory approach of the Supreme Court is not a substitute for juridical assertion. Therefore, the article is titled as the pressing need to adjudicate not mediate. Whereas the role of the court is to ensure justice. As said before, a fair and effective adjudicative mechanism in constitutional matters can meaningfully and significantly reduce the agitation on the street. There are even studies that show that social movements could be less radical and less oppositional when issues are effectively sorted out through litigation. In this regard, the author cites the example of radical green movement in Britain. Compared to other parts of Western Europe, in Britain, this green movement had been at a slower pace. See, the radical green movement was born in response to inability of mainstream environmental organizations to stop ecological decline. So they advocated direct action in the form of civil disobedience, blockades, dismantling the machinery that are made for halting ecological destruction, then tree sits and other means of radical environmental actions. So as the name here says, they are revolutionary and radical movements. Then why it was in slow pace in Britain, this is because of public inquiry system in the United Kingdom. This inquiry system, it processes ecological demands. These demands were integrated into the political system and this minimizes radicalization of the movement that arises because of marginalization and exclusion of the demands. Now, when we say public inquiries here in UK, they refer to major investigations that are convened by a government minister. And these inquiries will have special powers that can compel testimony and also require release of other forms of evidence. Now, when can they have a public inquiry? See, the only justification required for a public inquiry is the existence of public concern about a particular event or set of events. This is as per the government of United Kingdom. Now, because of the presence of such a mechanism, a fair way of settling issues, the protests in Britain have been at slower pace. There was less radicalization. It means if there is a proper system to address public concerns regarding an issue, then the protests will be less severe or will happen in very peaceful manner. Then the author talks about the theory of balancing the right to protest and the right to move along the road. Recently, Supreme Court has said that protests even in public place cannot be continued for an indefinite period. Now, in the review petition of Sahin Bagh verdict, the petitioners apprehended that the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court, which was against indefinite occupation of public space, may prove to be a license in the hands of police to commit atrocities on legitimate voice of protest. That is, if you are saying that there cannot be indefinite occupation of public space, then police may take laws on their hand and they may cause atrocities on a legitimate voice of protest. Therefore, the author states that by the rejection of this review petition, it has reinforced non-liberal or illiberal states' intimidating stand in an unjust political situation. The author states that it is an illustration of abusive judicial review, where the court not only refuses to act as the umpire of democracy, but it aids the executive in fulfilling the strategies of the government. So, in this process, it legitimizes the illegitimate state actions. Here, the author talks about a case law called as Himat Lal case shock case of 1972. In this case law, Supreme Court observed that the rule framed by Ahmadabad Police Commissioner, which conferred arbitrary power on police officers in the matter of public meetings, was liable to be struck down or it is non-constitutional. In this case, judges explained that freedom of assembly is an essential element of a democratic system and that public streets are a natural places of expression of opinion and dissemination of ideas. This means to protest, people will use public spaces. If public places are denied to protest, then where should protesters display their dissent? So, this question needs an answer is the point of the author. In this context, it is important for us to remind the words of former president Pranap Mukherjee on democracy. He has stated that India, the largest democracy of the world is built on pillars of 3Ds, debate, discuss and dissent. So, dissent and the protest that follows or the democratic action that follows is imperative for a democracy to function in an effective and efficient manner. So, these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this editorial article. In this analysis, we talked about right to freedom, to assemble peacefully and without arms under Article 19. Then we discussed how the failure to adjudicate by the Supreme Court has played a role in recent protests in last two years. Then we talked about the radical green movement in Britain, how it has been at a slower pace when compared to other parts of Western Europe. And we also discussed the observations made by the Supreme Court in Himat Lal K. Shark case of 1972. Now, let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This editorial article was written by Executive Director of United Nations Environment Program. The author talks about three environmental crisis that are happening in the world. In this regard, he suggests the way forward to mitigate them. Let us discuss these aspects in detail in this analysis. The syllabus relevant for the analysis is highlighted here for your reference. So, the article is about three persistent environmental crisis that demands urgent action on a global scale. One of them is climate change, then the other is loss of nature, and then the third one is the pollution of air, soil and water. Now, we know that anthropogenic climate change is now regarded as one of the major global environmental issues. Climate change already has observable ecological and social effects. Its projected impacts could potentially result in profound changes in many areas. For example, these include changes in global means of its temperature, then in changes in sea level, then there is changes in ocean circulation, then there is going to be changes in precipitation patterns, climatic zones, species distributions, ecosystem functions. These are some of the areas that could face profound changes because of climate change. Now, coming to loss of nature, see many plant and animal species are threatened with extinction because of specific reasons. These are reasons like the spread of diseases and the destruction and degradation of their habitats, then direct exploitation. The year 1999, United Nations Environment Program estimated that 25% of world's mammal species and around one-tenth of world's bird species faced a significant risk of total extinction. This regard, the author notes that United Nations Environment Program announced in 2020 that despite a deep in greenhouse gas emissions because of the pandemic, the world is still headed for a global warming of more than 3 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. This simply means there will be significant loss to nature, there will be loss of islands, etc. In this regard, he also points to United Nations Environment Program's warning that the per capita stock of natural capital, that is the resources and services that nature provides to humanity, has also fallen by 40% in just over two decades. That is, within last two decades, it has fallen by 40%. Now, let's come to pollution. See, we know that air pollution is significantly evident. We can see throughout the world, particularly at regional and local scales, and this is seriously degrading air quality. And it is to be noted that worldwide, approximately 1 billion people, they inhabit in areas, particularly industrial cities, where there is unhealthy levels of air pollution. The article notes that around nine out of 10 people in the world, at present, they breathe polluted air. Then there is also land contamination, soil erosion, soil degradation, and the problem of desertification has also become severe. Similarly, water quality is also degraded by contamination of pollutants and pollution in all three levels has led to a range of health related and ecological effects. So in this regard, the author highlights the link between environmental, social and economic challenges that are faced by the world. For example, we cannot achieve sustainable development goals by 2030 if the world's poorest countries have not achieved food security and water security. And why they may not achieve water security or food security? This is because of climate change and associated collapse of ecosystems. However, we have a target to achieve these things by 2030 that is sustainable development goals. As you know, the 2030 agenda commits the global community to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions, economics, social and environmental in a balanced and integrated manner. So if we respect and value nature, and if we put the health of nature at the heart of decision making, then one significant aspect, the usage of fossil fuels will be discouraged, or gradually this will lead to elimination of usage of fossil fuels. Then governments could focus on nature positive forming clean energy and water, people also would prioritize health and well being over consumption. So this will reduce the human environmental footprint. So in order to guide the decision makers towards the required actions, the United Nations Environment Program has recently released a report titled as making peace with nature. Therefore, it should be noted that the report puts together all the evidence of environmental decline that are found out by major global scientific assessments or research, and it also tells on how to reverse or mitigate it. Now let's see the suggestions of the author or the way forward. See first all the countries should deliver their nationally determined contributions as per the Paris climate agreement ahead of COP26, which is scheduled to be held in Glasgow in November 21. Secondly, the nations around the world should immediately kick start their transitions to net zero emissions. In this regard, note that the number of countries that are promised to work towards net zero emissions standard 126 as of now. However, this is promised not yet realized or not yet adhered to. Thirdly, all governments must agree on the rules for a global carbon trading market. See, the carbon trading has been a central pillar of European Union's efforts to slow down climate change. I know that world's biggest carbon trading system is the European Union emissions trading system. Fourthly, the author calls the developed countries to honor their commitments. That is, they agreed to provide hundred billion dollars to developed countries to cope up with impacts of climate change. But if this flow of finance doesn't happen, then it is difficult to fight climate change by these developing countries, which are poor nations. So there should be proper flow of agreed finance of hundred billion every year to the developing nations. And the author concludes by saying that an amazing economy can be created by moving to circular economic systems. Circular here refers to reuse of resources, reduction of emissions, weeding out of chemicals and toxins, which are causing premature deaths. And all these should be done while creating more employment opportunities. In this regard, governments and civil society must work towards creating opportunities for future industries so as to generate prosperity. And they must ensure fair and equitable transitions in development. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this editorial article. Now let's move on to the analysis of next article. This news article is about the announcement made by Election Commission of India with reference to conducting of elections for the seats of state legislative councils in the state of Andhra Pradesh The syllabus relevant for the analysis is highlighted here for your reference. See, as we know, India adopted bicameral system. That is, in case of parliament, there are two houses, Lokshabha and Rajeshabha. By refers to two. Similarly, at the level of states, in around six states, we have bicameral system of legislature. Say in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana, there is bicameralism at the state level. See, there will be two houses at the level of state legislature. One is called as the state legislative assembly or the Vidhan Sabha, whose counterpart at the national level is the Lokshabha. Then the other is the state legislative council or the Vidhan Parishith, whose counterpart at the national level is the Rajeshabha. Now in this discussion, we will be focusing on state legislative council or the Vidhan Parishith, which is covered in chapter three under part six of Indian constitution. See article 169 of Indian constitution deals with the creation and abolition of legislative council in states. See parliament may by law provide for abolition or creation if the state legislative assembly of the concerned state passes a resolution to that effect. This resolution has to be passed by a majority of total membership of the assembly and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of members of assembly present and voting. And coming to the composition, the total members of state legislative council shall not exceed one-third of total number of members in the legislative assembly of the particular state. Say if the composition of state legislative assembly of a particular state is 300, then the total members of state legislative council should not be more than 100. So this shows that the size of the council is lesser than that of the assembly and it depends on the size of the assembly. Now let us see how the members of the council are elected. See one-third of the total number of members of the state legislative council shall be elected by electorates which consist of members of municipalities, district boards and other specified local authorities in the particular state. Then one-twelfth of the total members of the council shall be elected by electorates which consist of persons residing in the state and these are persons who have been graduates of any university for at least three years. And one-twelfth shall be elected by electorates which consist of persons having at least three years of teaching experience in specified educational institutions within the state and they shall not be lower in standard than that of a secondary school. And one-third shall be elected by members of legislative assembly, however these selected members shall not be from the members of the assembly. The reminder shall be nominated by the governor. So that means five-sixth of the total number of members of the council are indirectly elected and one-sixth are nominated by the governor. The members are elected in accordance with system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. Now with reference to duration of state legislative council it is similar to that of Rajasipa that is the term of a member is six years. Now it is coming to the presiding officers who are chairman and deputy chairman. See the legislative council of every state will choose two members as their chairman and deputy chairman. The chairman or deputy chairman will vacate her office in three cases if they cease to be a member of the council or if they resign by writing or if they are removed by a resolution which is passed by majority of then members of the council. Note that such a resolution will be moved only after giving 14 days of notice in advance. Similarly member of state legislative council can be disqualified on these following grounds. Note that when the office of chairman is vacant her duties are performed by deputy chairman. If the office of deputy chairman is also vacant then the duties of chairman is performed by a member of the council appointed by the governor and with reference to sittings of the council during the absence of chairman the deputy chairman will preside the session. If deputy chairman is also absent then the person determined by rules of procedure of the council will preside over the session. If no such person is present then a person determined by the council shall act as chairman. This is as per article 184 of Indian constitution. So these are some of the important provisions with reference to state legislative council. Now let's move on to next news article. This news article talks about the three cities of the world program and under this program the first city from India and in fact it is the only city right now from India to be conferred the title of tree city of the world along with several other cities from other countries which were also conferred the same title under this program. See this program is a joint program by the united nations specialized agency which is the food and agriculture organization and the arbor day foundation. See the arbor day foundation is the largest non-profit membership organization that is dedicated to planting trees. It has more than 10 lakh members supporters and valued partners and they have planted more than 35 crore trees throughout the world in several areas so as to ensure a green and healthy future for everyone. Now under this three cities of the world program cities and towns that are committed to ensure that their urban forest and trees are properly maintained sustainably managed and celebrated or recognized and they are provided direction assistance and support. However to be recognized as a tree city of the world a community must meet five core standards one is establishing responsibility. Now this refers to the fact that the care of trees in a particular city is under the responsibility of a particular department or a particular staff member or a particular group of citizens called as a tree board who will take care of those trees. The second standard is setting the rules. This means that the particular city has a law in place or it has an official policy that governs management of forest and trees in the urban area and these rules also prescribe penalties for non-compliance as well with reference to tree care. And the third standard is know what you have. Now this means the particular city has an updated inventory or an updated assessment of local tree resources so that an effective long-term plan for planting care and removal of city trees can be established. Then the fourth standard is allocation of resources. This means the city has a dedicated annual budget for the routine implementation of tree management plan. Then the last standard is celebrate achievements. This refers to a city holding an annual celebration of trees to raise awareness among residents and to acknowledge citizens and staff who carry out the city tree program. So once a city fulfills these five core standards the city might be designated as a tree city of the world. In this regard Hyderabad city has been recognized right now as the only city in India under this program and credit is given to the Haritha Haram program of the Telangana government so as to increase the green cover. Haritha means greenery, Haram means necklace. In this context it refers to honored tree cover in the state of Telangana. See Telangana Haritha Haram is a flagship program of Telangana government. The project envisages to increase the current tree cover of 24% in the state to 33% of the total geographical area of the particular state. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now let's move on to the next part of the discussion. See this news article from the archives column which reports a news article that appeared in the year 1971. It states that then US President Nixon threatened that there will be unlimited bombing of North Vietnam so as to protect reducing US military presence in the South Vietnam from a major offensive from the Vietnam country. In this context let us have a brief understanding about Vietnam. See it is a nation that occupies eastern portion of mainland Southeast Asia. Its capital is Hanoi. It extends about 10650 kilometer from north to south and at its narrowest part its width is 50 kilometer from east to west. It is bordered by China. In the north we can see China. Then to the east and south we could see South China Sea. Then to the southwest there is Gulf of Thailand which is also called as Gulf of Siam. Then to the west we can see Cambodia and Laos. Coming to principal physiographic features there is Annamite ranges which is also called as Annamese Cordillera. It extends generally from northwest to southeast in the central Vietnam. It dominates the interior region. Vietnam also has two extensive alluvial deltas that is formed by two important rivers. One by Red River which is also called as Hong River. In the north then by Mekong River which is also called as Kulong River. This is in the south. So we can say that Annamese Cordillera it forms a drainage divide. Rivers to the east flow into South China Sea. Then rivers to the west flow into Mekong River. So from this we can understand that Red River and the Mekong River are among the most important rivers of Vietnam. Other important rivers include Saigon, Dong Ngai. Then coming to climate see northern Vietnam is on the edge of tropical climatic zone. In central and southern Vietnam there is southwest monsoon winds between June and November. This brings rains and typhoons. Coming to flora and fauna see the forests of Vietnam can be divided into two broad categories evergreen forests which include conifers then the deciduous forests. In most areas the forests are mixed that contain a great variety of species in a given area and rainforests are relatively limited and during the Vietnam war herbicides were used by US army to defoliate large areas of forest in southern Vietnam. Most of these forests have been regenerating. However the pace is affected by resettlement programs and illegal logging of trees. Now coming to the people Vietnam has one of the most complex ethno-linguistic patterns in Asia. The ethnic composition and the religious affiliations of the people in Vietnam are given here for your reference. Now talking about economy. Vietnam's economy was transformed from being one of the poorest nation into a lower middle income country because of its shift from centrally planned economy to market economy. Between 2002 and 2018 the GDP per capita in Vietnam increased by 2.7 times and poverty rates declined sharply from over 70 percent to less than 6 percent. Right now vast majority of remaining poor in Vietnam are of ethnic minorities. Coming to agriculture rice is the most important crop. Other major food crops include sugarcane, cassava, corn, sweet potatoes and nuts. Agriculture is highly labor intensive in this country and much of ploughing activities are even now done by water buffalo. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. We have come to the last session the practice questions discussion session. See this is a map based question consider the following countries China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar which of the above countries border Vietnam. Correct answer for this question is option B 1, 2 and 3 only Myanmar does not border with Vietnam. This question is with reference to three cities of the world program. See the question recently Hyderabad has been recognized as one of the three cities of the world from India. It is recognized under the three cities of the world program. This program is an initiative of the correct answer for this question is option C food and agriculture organization which is the specialized agency of United Nations. Actually this program was a joint effort of FAO along with Arbor Day Foundation. One of the options is foundation for environmental education. Now this is the agency that is associated with blue flag certification for beaches. So correct answer is option C. Now see this question which is a previous question asked in problems 2015. Two statements are given. They are asking which of the statements given above are correct. Legislative council of a state in India can be larger in size than half of the legislative assembly of that particular state. Now this statement is incorrect because the total members of the legislative council shall not exceed one third of the total number of members in state legislative assembly and the number of members should not be less than 40 as well. The first statement becomes incorrect. You can eliminate option A and option C. Now come to second statement. The governor of a state nominates chairman of legislative council of that particular state. Now this statement is also incorrect. Therefore the correct answer is option D neither one nor two. See as per article 182 of Indian constitution the legislative council of every state shall choose two members of the council to be chairman and deputy chairman and when the office of chairman or deputy chairman becomes vacant the council shall choose another member to be chairman or deputy chairman as the case may be. So what about performance of duties for this article 184 states that when the office of chairman is vacant the duties of the office of chairman shall be performed by deputy chairman even if the office of deputy chairman is vacant then it shall be performed by such member of the council appointed by the governor. So here the correct answer is option D neither one nor two. We have given you two practice main questions you may write the answer and post it in the comment section. 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