 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarayas 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 box and they are also provided in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let's move on to the analysis of first news article. This editorial article is with reference to Israel-Palestine crisis and this article appears in the world column or the foreign column of the Hindu newspaper almost an editorial. Now both these articles are response articles with reference to the recent announcement of United States peace plan with respect to Israel and Palestine called as peace to prosperity a vision to improve the lives of Palestinian and Israeli people. And this news article mentions the stand taken by the Ministry of External Affairs of Government of India in response to a question on Israel-Palestinian issue. You'll also see the stand taken by India with respect to these matters as well. So the syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now we know that the plan of United States is based on the two state solution which gained prominence since the Oslo Accord that was signed in the year 1993 between the Government of Israel and Palestinian Liberation Organization. So the two state solution as per the US plan is that there will be a state of Israel as the nation state of Jewish people and there will be a future state of Palestine as the nation state of the Palestinian people. Now the document mentions as future state of Palestine because neither United States nor Israel recognizes Palestine as an independent nation as of now. Now according to this plan they are saying that if Palestine and its representatives and Palestinian authority agree to the terms and conditions as proposed in this plan they may agree for a future state of Palestine. But the document clearly states that Israel has now agreed to terms for a future Palestine state. As per this plan Israel will exercise sovereignty over Jordan Valley and also on Jewish settlements on the West Bank. These settlements are called as Israeli enclave communities. There are around 15 of them you can find it in this map. See here the blue colored regions are to be part of future state of Palestine and all the remaining area within this boundary is to be part of Israel and the plan also recognizes Jerusalem to be the undivided capital of Israel while the capital of Palestine could come up in the eastern section of Jerusalem. Though the plan mentions that Palestinians would gain around two times the areas that are presently resided by Palestinians. Experts say that Palestinians would lose roughly 30% of West Bank and they will also lose their claim to Jerusalem and also they lose the claim to the right of return of refugees to their homeland to their claimed areas that are now present in Israel and one of the most important observation here is that the territory of the future state of Palestine will practically be encircled by Israel. Israel will also have some of the important road infrastructure within Palestine state because we found that around 15 Israeli enclaves are also to be in the Palestine territory and when we say and as we have mentioned the plan of United States states that there shall be no right of return for any Palestinian refugee into the state of Israel that this means this document has clearly rejected the right of return of Palestinian refugees in the state of Israel. It prescribes three options for Palestinian refugees for permanent place of residence certainly not in the state of Israel. The first option is that they can be absorbed into the future state of Palestine then they can be integrated in some countries subject to the consent of those countries and it also envisions a provision of accepting 5,000 Palestinian refugees every year for a period of 10 years in the member states of organization of Islamic cooperation. Experts while they are saying that the claim of Palestine with respect to West Bank has reduced with respect to geographic area there is slight enlargement with respect to Gaza Strip and the plan proposes to connect Gaza territory with West Bank through a tunnel. So these are some of the important points from the proposed United States plan. Now let us see some of the comments mentioned in the news articles. The author of the editorial is saying that the plan of United States is a failure. One main reason is because the conflicting parties are not taken into confidence in bringing up this plan. This is because it is said that this plan of United States has been brought up mainly with the consultation of Israel and it will be a failure because Palestinians Palestinian authority they are not considering Trump US president as an impartial mediator. This is because since 2017 Trump has reportedly announcing that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and even in 2018 the US administration has shifted its embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and also because of long period of historical support to Israel the United States is not considered as an impartial mediator in the issues between Israel and Palestine and if you see this plan you the White House of United States has clearly stated that the embassy of United States will remain in the city of Jerusalem. So with this support to Israel one cannot consider United States to be an impartial mediator between the two parties. Now one another reason why this plan will be a failure is because of disproportionate terms and conditions and restrictions that are laid to Palestine face to face Israel. If you see Israel Israel has been asked to freeze or stop their settlement activities on West Bank for a period of four years while Israel has been asked not to build any new settlement towns in West Bank region and it has been asked not to expand any existing settlements in West Bank and also it should not expand any of the Israeli enclaves there are the 15 Israeli enclaves should not be expanded in the West Bank region while these are the conditions for Israel if you see the conditions for the future Palestine state one main condition is that Palestine cannot join any international organization without the consent of state of Israel then Palestine should not take any action and should dismiss all the pending cases actions against the United States before the International Court of Justice and all other tribunals and Palestine should not take any action against US citizen or Israel citizen before Interpol or any Israeli or any legal system where Israel or United States is not a member. So this means if at all there is a legitimate claim that citizens from US or Israel or governments from Israel or US has committed some violations to human rights under this plan Palestine the future state of Palestine cannot raise any of these issues before any legal system then another important comment is that though the plan revives the stalled talks between Israel and Palestine however this plan is majorly set based on the terms of United States and of course also including Israel while the United States has sought to address most of the contentious issues in the Israel-Palestine conflict these issues are addressed mostly almost all issues are addressed in favor of Israel only when we say most contentious issues in this conflict we are referring to border between Israel and Palestine the status of Palestinian refugees the Jewish settlements on West Bank and the security concerns of Israel and also with respect to the city of Jerusalem so we saw that almost all these issues are addressed but in favor of Israel with respect to security the document of United States states that west of Jordan River is to be secured by Israel at present and over time Israel may reduce its security footprints and note that the present Palestinian authority with President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected and has in fact said thousand no's to the United States proposed plan and because of various reasons the author of the editorial with respect to this Israel-Palestine crisis states that the plan brought by the United States along with Israel released in the presence of Israel is a planned injustice to the Palestinian cause now it is said that in the recent times Palestinians are missed in the picture with respect to the talks on this crisis mainly because present negotiation powers of Palestinian authority and Palestinian liberation organization are at their weakest point and the leadership between the representatives of Palestine is also divided and there is also weakening support or eroding support with respect to Arab nations once there were huge support from the Arab nations for the cause of Palestine however presently there is a erosion of support with respect to United Arab Emirates Bahrain and women because when US president revealed this plan these three countries were present so these are some of the important factors that are currently playing against the representatives and the people of Palestine now let us see the stand taken by the Indian government with respect to the Israel-Palestine crisis Ministry of External Affairs states that India has been consistently supportive of the Palestinian cause and India is one of the countries who have called for two state solution to the Israel-Palestinian issue and we have maintained clearly that the final status issues between the two parties Israel and Palestine should be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties and whatever decided should be acceptable for both the parties and India has urged both the parties to engage with each other including on the recent proposals that are put forward by the United States so this is the stand taken by India with respect to the recent developments with respect to Israel-Palestinian crisis so these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of the three articles now let's move on to next news article this news article is pertaining to foreign donations under foreign contribution regulation act of 2010 the syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference the news article states that open society foundations which is an international foundation has moved to Delhi High Court see this foundation is founded by a billionaire philanthropist named as George Soros and this foundation is said to be one of the world's largest private funder of independent groups which are working for justice democratic governance and also human rights now why they have moved to Delhi High Court now this is against the decision of central government because central government placed this foundation under a watch list with respect to funding non-government organizations and associations in our country news article mentions that this foundation was placed under this watch list category in the year 2016 itself but only now they have moved to the High Court with respect to this matter the watch list mentioned in the news article is actually the prior reference category we'll see about this prior reference category in this analysis now why they are listed in this prior reference category one of the reasons is because this foundation has funded ineligible NGOs and associations now why they are ineligible because they are not registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act or the FCRA so now we have to know about what is Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and what do we mean by prior reference category see this FCRA act was enacted by Indian Parliament to consolidate the law to regulate two things mainly one is to regulate the acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution by certain individuals or association or companies this also includes regulation of acceptance and utilization of foreign hospitality by certain individuals and association or companies secondly this act is also to prohibit acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities that are detrimental to the national interest see this act is about foreign contribution so therefore it applies not only to those citizens of India who are present in India but also to the citizens of India outside our country it also applies to various associate branches and subsidiaries that are located outside India see these are branches and subsidiaries of companies that are corporate in India registered in India or else incorporated in India so the flow of foreign contribution to India is regulated by FCRA act and also by the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules of 2010 also with respective you know subsequent notifications or orders that are issued from time to time under this act and rules now let's see what do we mean by foreign contribution foreign contribution refers to donation delivery and transfer of certain things by any foreign source or by any person who received it from a foreign source now these are articles currency or even foreign security now the law says that even the interest that is accrued on foreign contribution which is deposited in any bank or even any other income that is derived from foreign contribution or any other income that is derived from the interest of foreign contribution is also a foreign contribution that is the interest accrued on foreign contribution income derived from foreign contribution and income derived from the interest of of foreign contribution these all come under foreign contribution. Now who can receive foreign contribution? See any person, any individual, any association or any company can receive foreign contribution. But there are some conditions. Firstly, this person should have a specific program that aims to achieve some cultural purposes or economic purposes or educational targets or educational purposes or religious purposes or a social program. Secondly, this person must obtain an FCRA registration or FCRA prior permission. This is to be obtained from the central government. Now today we will be focusing on this second condition because our news article is pertaining to this condition. Now thirdly, the person must not be prohibited under section 3 of FCRA Act of 2010. Now what is this section 3? See this section 3 prohibits certain category from receiving foreign contribution. Now these are candidates who are contesting elections, judges, government servants or employees, members of any legislature, political parties etc. Now coming to condition 2 which is pertaining to our today's discussion, now this condition mandates that those individuals, those associations or those companies who want to receive any foreign contribution must obtain FCRA registration or FCRA prior permission from the central government. If they are not registered under FCRA, if they are not having FCRA prior permission then they are ineligible to receive foreign contribution. Now coming to the allegation on open society foundations, now the allegation is that it has funded NGOs and associations that are not registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Here the international foundation is the donor or the foreign source and it has funded ineligible NGOs or associations because they are not registered under FCRA. So this amounts to violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act because of this reason this international foundation has been placed under watch list of prior reference category. So what do we mean by this watch list of prior reference category? See when any foreign source or foreign donor wants to transfer money to some recipient association in India. For making such donation or delivery or transfer the foreign donor has to obtain prior clearance from Ministry of Home Affairs. This is the meaning of being placed under the watch list of prior reference category. So whenever a foreign source or donor is placed under this category, they have to get prior clearance from Ministry of Home Affairs for transferring the money. Usually government will place them under watch list when they get some information that particular donor located outside the country is transferring money to ineligible recipients or those who are not registered under FCRA in the country. Once preliminary investigation establishes such allegations then action will be initiated by the government against the recipients of such donations as per the provisions of FCRA. And simultaneously the foreign donor will also be placed under the prior reference category by the central government. See this is not a permanent penalty after due consideration and based on specific reports an organization which was placed in this watch list can be removed from the prior reference category. Now this open society foundations has been placed in this category since 2016 and it has now moved to the Delhi High Court. Now through this petition the international foundation wants to know the reasons why it was placed in this list and also why no prior notice was served to them by the Indian government. Now based on this petition the Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs and also to the central bank that is the Reserve Bank of India and the court has also asked the Ministry of Home Affairs and RBI to respond within two weeks. So maybe after two weeks we will again discuss the developments that happen with respect to this specific matter. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. In the analysis we saw the specific issue with respect to open society foundation and then we saw about Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. We saw what do we mean by foreign contribution and we saw who are eligible to receive foreign contribution. We also saw specifically what do we mean by prior reference category. See the prior reference category refers to the fact that once placed in this category the donor organization need to get prior clearance from Ministry of Home Affairs to transfer money to recipient associations in India. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article is about a fungal infection in wheat crops in the states of Punjab and Haryana. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. See we know that fungi play various beneficial roles and also harmful roles. They are used as food for human beings not all fungi. Some mushrooms are used as food whereas some mushroom fungi are dangerous to human beings as well. And they are also threat to frogs particularly because it is said that if frogs are affected by fungal infections the affected frog species could become extinct. And they can be huge threat to crops, plants and animals and to humans they cause a range of diseases for example ringworm infections, aspergillosis and few others. Now in this news article let us discuss one such fungal infection in wheat crops. See this is called as yellow rust. What happens is because of this fungal disease or this fungal infection the leaves of the wheat crop turns into yellowish color and as a result it stops the activity of photosynthesis and finally it leads to significant drop of productivity in wheat crops. This disease is also called as stripe rust of wheat and the name of the fungus that causes this disease is Paxenia. This infection has been recently being reported for the last 7 to 8 years. In regions like north western plain zone of India and also northern hill zone and research studies say that this infection is capable of causing up to 70% decline in the yield of wheat crop. They are saying that in the regions of Punjab and Haryana recent rains in the region along with slight increase in the usual temperature and presence of humid conditions these situations have made favorable for the yellow rust. Now we know that wheat is a rubby crop that is grown during rubby crop season. Now coming to rubby crop season it starts with the end of southwest monsoon and at the end of southwest monsoon the sowing begins and it comes to an end with harvesting that is usually done before the arrival of next southwest monsoon. That is why the news article mentions that the wheat is sown between late October till December and the harvesting begins from April onwards. Now coming to solutions how to contain these yellow rust infections or this fungal infection. One thing is obviously we can suggest fungicide which is an insecticide. For example they are suggesting Propiconosol, Tebiconosol, Triadimephone. These are some of the usual fungicides that are used to combat yellow rust of wheat. In addition they are saying that we have to impart genetic plant resistance to combat such fungal infections and such resistance methods and imparting such resistance to plants is preferred as cheap, effective and also an eco-friendly way of fighting plant diseases. So these information you keep in mind with respect to this yellow rust of wheat crop that has caused a havoc in the states of Punjab and Haryana. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article is with respect to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill of 2020. The news article states that the union cabinet has approved this bill. The original text of the bill is not available. It has not yet been introduced in the parliament. The bill is expected to be introduced in the coming session of parliament. So in this discussion we will see about the salient features of this bill based on the press release of the government. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Next we should know what do we mean by abortion or termination of pregnancy. See in simple words abortion is a procedure to end pregnancy. It is done by using medicine or surgery wherein there will be removal of embryo or fetus placenta from the uterus. The procedure for termination of pregnancy is to be done by a licensed healthcare professional. Now do we have any legislation for the regulation of abortion or termination of pregnancy? We have a legislation called as Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971. Now the purpose of an action of this legislation is to reduce the mortality and morbidity that is associated with unsafe abortions in the country. While mortality is with respect to death, morbidity with respect to the situation wherein a person can be affected with infection or disease or medical conditions because of unsafe abortion. See unsafe abortion is defined as a procedure that is performed by persons who lack necessary skills or an abortion procedure that is performed in an environment where there is lack of minimal medical standards with respect to the requirement to carry out abortion. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971. It entitles women to have access to safe abortion services under certain specific conditions. It lays down the criteria for which condition can pregnancy be terminated and when a pregnancy can be terminated. So this is the brief background with respect to this Medical Termination of Pregnancy. Now let's see the provisions with respect to this 2020 bill that is recently approved by the cabinet. Now this bill aims to amend this Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971. The objective of this bill is to expand the access of women to safe and legal abortion services. In addition to this, this bill also aims to provide abortion services not only on therapeutic grounds, not only on humanitarian or social grounds, but also on eugenics ground. Now when we say eugenics, it refers to the science of improving a population by controlled breeding. That is to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics and discourage reproduction of persons who have genetic defects or discourage reproduction of persons who are presumed to have inheritable or undesirable traits. This is what we mean when we say eugenics. We have to wait and see more information with respect to this once the bill is released. See the amendments are proposed first with the view to increase the upper gestation limit for termination of pregnancy under certain conditions. Here when we say gestation period, it is the period in which fetus develops inside the womb of the mother. That is the period between the conception of pregnancy and the birth of the child. See pregnancy can be terminated only during certain gestation period and this certain period is nothing but the gestation limit that is prescribed by related laws and rules in a particular country. For India, it is prescribed by medical termination of pregnancy act of 1971. Now this amendment is to increase the upper gestation limit for termination of pregnancy under certain conditions. Proposed amendment is expected to bring safety and well-being for the women and amendment is also a formal response by the government with respect to several petitions that are filed in courts which seek permission to abort pregnancies at the gestational period beyond the currently permissible limit. Some of the grounds on which the permission was sought to courts where fetal abnormalities or pregnancies due to sexual violence or sexual assault. So the proposed amendments addresses all these concerns and the proposed increase in the gestational age is to ensure dignity, autonomy, confidentiality and also justice for women who need to terminate pregnancy. Now let us see the actual amendments proposed by this 2020 bill. See first the bill proposes to amend the gestation limit for termination of pregnancy. So here section three of this act deals with when pregnancies may be terminated by registered medical practitioners. Here for terminating a pregnancy, first the medical practitioner should form an opinion in good faith that if pregnancy is continued it will involve a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or because of pregnancy there will be grave injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman or because of the continuation of pregnancy there is a substantial risk for the child if born or the child would suffer physical or mental abnormalities and there is possibility that the child born could be seriously handicapped. And if any of these two opinions is framed by the medical practitioner then he or she can carry out termination process based on one condition. That condition is the gestation limit that is set by this act. So what is the gestation limit that is set by this medical termination of pregnancy act? If the gestation limit is 12 weeks what then one medical practitioner is involved to form the opinion and do the termination procedure. If the gestation limit exceeds 12 weeks but not exceeding 20 weeks then at least two registered medical practitioners are required to form the opinion and to do the termination procedure. Now note that these conditions are also applied even if the pregnancy is allegedly caused by sexual assault including rape. The sexually assaulted women is entitled to termination of pregnancy. This is because pregnancy because of sexual assault is presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman and of course also to the physical health of the victim. So this is the current scenario. Now the proposed amendment aims to increase the gestation limit up to 20 weeks if one medical practitioner is involved and if the period is from 20 to 24 weeks then at least two medical practitioners are required. Now there is one another important feature with this proposed amendment that is it recognizes among pregnant women a vulnerable category. This includes survivors of rape, victims of incest sexual assault or other vulnerable women who are differently abled women, minors, et cetera. The press release of government states that for these vulnerable women the upper gestation limit is enhanced from 20 weeks to 24 weeks. More information with respect to these vulnerable category of women will be available once the bill is released. So at present the present legislation talks only about the victims of rape. For them the above two conditions will be applied and this amendment also proposes one exception that is if there are substantial fetal abnormalities and if that are diagnosed by yet to be constituted medical board then upper gestation limit will not apply. That is these time limits are not applicable if there are substantial fetal abnormalities. Now the composition functions and other details of this medical board will be prescribed subsequently in the rules under this Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. Now another selling feature of this amendment is that it includes a provision for maintaining privacy of women. It proposes that name and other particulars of the women whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed to anyone other than those persons who are authorized by any law for time being enforced. So these are some of the important information with reference to the analysis of this news article. We saw the salient features of the proposed medical termination of pregnancy amendment bill of 2020. We saw what do we mean by termination of pregnancy or abortion. We saw how this 2020 bill seeks to improve the present legislation with respect to medical termination and we saw very important provisions with respect to gestation limits in the present act and also in the proposed amendment and few other salient features of the amendment bill 2020. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article is about Nagoba Jatra Festival. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. First we'll discuss in brief about this festival. See Nagoba Jatra is a festival that is celebrated by tribal communities. Usually it is held in Kaislapur village in Adilabha district of Telangana. It is said to be one of the biggest tribal carnivals in the state of Telangana that is celebrated for a period of 10 days according to the government of Telangana. The news article mentions that now it has been celebrated for a period of almost one month. Now it is celebrated by the Masaram clan of Gond tribal community. Now the tribal community belonging to this Masaram clan they are in the states of Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkand and Madhya Pradesh. These population they offer prayers during this festival of Nagoba. So what is the meaning of Nagoba Jatra? Sources are saying that Nagoba is the divine serpent of Lord Shiva. Jatra means a festival. So during Nagoba Jatra, the members of Masaram clan, they worship Nagoba and thereby they pray for blessings from the serpent god by offering prayers, rituals and ceremonies. Now let's see few important aspects that are part of the ceremonies associated with this festival. See this festival begins with performing Abhishekam to this Nagoba idol that is kept in the temple in Kaisalapuram, Telangana. The specialty is the purification of this Nagoba idol or the Abhishekam is performed by tribal priests with the water that is fetched from Godavari river. So this is an example how rivers form part of cultural practices of tribal communities. And it is being said that mostly the tribal priests would be the elders from the tribes of Rajgons and Pardans. And this festival also includes a ceremony called as betting. What happens during this process is that new daughters-in-law, they are formally inducted into the clan and they become eligible to enter the temple of the deity. So this is a part of this festival. You just know about this. Then this festival includes providing Naivedhyam which is an offering. See this Naivedhyam is made of food grains that are freshly harvested and the food grains will be provided in a bamboo basket. This is considered as a kind of giving thanks to God for the plentiful harvest. And there is also a dance performance called as Guzadi dance performance. And this will be performed by dancers from the Gond tribal community. This is one another special attraction of this celebration. And in the night, the population also performs Mahapuja of Nagoba. I'll come to the news article. It states that with Betel Puja, the month-long Jatra came to an end. Now this Betel Puja is the final ritual of this annual celebration of Nagoba Jatra. During this final ritual, what happens is few Adivasi elders, they will display their skill in wielding a sword. They will not actually hold a sword while displaying their skill. Instead, they will have a thin bamboo stick and they will move the stick as if it is a sword. So it says that this practice in this annual event denotes that the Gondes were also warriors. The elders of the tribal communities that participate in this festival, they say that the communities were familiar with martial arts and they have been once ruling clans in their areas. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article that deals with Nagoba Jatra celebration. And recently on December 28th, we have discussed a martial art form, a traditional martial art form that is practiced in the state of Kerala called as Kalari Payetu. For more information on that martial art form, we request you to visit to our Hindu news analysis on 28th December, 2019. The link has been provided in the description box. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. And this editorial article highlights the importance of social sectors such as education and health in our country. In this editorial, the author has emphasized the need for investments in both these sectors. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this editorial is highlighted here for a reference. First, the author has discussed about some of the recent measures taken by a government to address the present slowdown in India's economy. As we know, some of the measures includes facilitating ease of doing business and also reducing the corporate tax and thereby making large scale concessions almost to the tune of around 1.45 lakh crore. And the purpose is to increase capital flow in the economy. The author talks about foreign capital flow wherein the recent measures were supposed to increase the investments made by foreign investors, particularly foreign private investors. However, it is said that despite these measures taken by Indian government, there is no significant increase in the private investments in the country. And we know that the reason for hesitation from the side of private sector to invest is mainly because of weak demand in the economy. So few economists are actually backing the recent measures taken by the government and such economists, and in addition to these recent changes, they are also suggesting reforms such as labor market liberalization and also removing restrictions or constraints with respect to land acquisition for the purpose of industries. Here, when we say labor market liberalization, it means there will be lesser restrictions on the part of companies or employers to utilize India's labor market. However, these suggestions are accompanied also with some negative impacts. For example, if you take labor market liberalization, there are concerns that the income levels of employees may go low and also the living conditions and economic security of workers has to be addressed. And also with relaxation of land acquisition, the economic security of agricultural class that is the farmers and their land tenure and their land rights will become an important concern. In the light of the development strategies suggested by these economists who favor labor market liberalization and also removal of constraints on land acquisition for industrial purposes. There are another set of economists who are advocating increase in investment in the infrastructure sector. However, Arthur feels that these economists talk only with respect to physical infrastructure, particularly in the field of transportation and energy. Rarely, they talk about investment that is required in human infrastructure. When we say human infrastructure, we refer to education and health. The author states that even Sri Abhijit Banerjee, who's a noble laureate, while making a strong case for transferring income to the poor so that they will be able to spend additional income to buy goods and services, has not made a strong point with respect to the potential of investment in social sectors, for example, say health and education and their role in creating demand in the economy. So here the point is that if more investment is done in social sectors such as education and health, it would lead to large scale employment in the short term and also it will further increase the competitiveness and sustainability of Indian workforce and also therefore the Indian economy in the medium and in the long term as well. But how far is India faring in this arena? See the issue with respect to these health and education sector is that they are grossly underfunded. That is the investment in these sectors are poor. The idea is that with education, if you take, the education has a very important role in getting employment or gaining employment and it has a very important role in retaining the employability of a particular individual. So there is a positive correlation with better education, better employment opportunities when created can be obviously availed and with employment, there will be more demand to consume goods and services. This again in turn would create or generate investments in goods and services in the long run. In this aspect, the author is suggesting an idea with respect to investment in school education so that it will help in increasing the employment and also in creating demand. The author mentions about the right to education act which is also called as the right of children to free and compulsory education act of 2009. The fundamental objective of this act is to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age of six to 14 years. The author also mentions about the draft national education policy wherein it has been planned to achieve free and compulsory education for all children in the age group of three to 18 years. See here, there is widening or extension of age group from early childhood education to higher secondary school children till class 12 or grade 12. The idea suggested by the author is to employ more and more teachers in the education sector, particularly in the government and government-aided schools. The author is a former foreign secretary and is presently the president of a research and advocacy institution called as Council for Social Development. This institution has carried out some kind of study and they have tried to calculate the magnitude of demand creation by meeting just one condition for realizing universalization of elementary education as targeted or aimed by this right to education act. And this condition is how employment of teachers can play a very important role in demand generation. The institution has found that at least 57 lakh teachers are required to achieve the goal of universalization of elementary education. The point is if 57 lakh teachers are recruited over a period of next five years, it will help in creating a huge scale demand that will also play a very important role in addressing the economic downturns or slowdown in the country. Now one of the duties under right to education act for the governments is to provide infrastructure that includes building schools, recruiting teaching staff and also imparting learning equipments. But recently there have been reports that only around 12% of the schools that are covered by the right to education act are actually complying with the right to education norms. And this is the scenario even after almost 10 years since the date of enforcement of right to education act of 2009. For the point is that if the various provisions mentioned in right to education act and subsequent rules are met, there is a huge potential of creating employment in a large scale and that would in turn increase the demand. But rarely we see economists and governments focusing on increasing investments in health and education sector, particularly in government hospitals and government schools. Next, the author discusses about employment potential in the health sector. There are huge number of vacant posts for professionals, for example, like paramedical workers, middle level health workers, nurses and also trained doctors. And we can see that there is a requirement of medical officers, particularly in primary health centers and also in various government hospitals. So that means present system is ill-equipped to handle the number of patients who come there. And we're also falling short of WHO prescribed doctor population ratio, nurse population ratio and various other standards provided with these professionals are recruited to take care of health needs of country that will also play a very important role in strengthening human infrastructure that is required for the economy. And the author is also pointing out that privatization in the sectors of health and education has not led to efficiency or improvement in quality in education and health service delivery. And Indian health sector is a classic example of how free market system has been a failure as against one of its objective that it will increase efficiency in the sector. And also because of privatization, the author states that this has led to destruction of public sector institutions and has promoted greater inequality. And these institutions are also unreachable for the impoverished sections of the society. And since the independence, it is said that the government has played a very limited role with respect to education and health sector. And as a result, it was a very conducive environment for the private sector to operate and thrive with less restrictions, you know, fixing high fees for delivery of services, et cetera. Therefore, in India, these private agencies have become pervasive to such a situation that it is a desperate necessity for a poor individual to go to a private sector for education or health. So the author concludes the editorial by saying that it is time to re-prioritize education and health in the scheme of development strategy of our country. And there has to be sufficient allocation of budgetary resources for these two sectors. And investment in these sectors will create employment opportunity, will ensure our citizens are having better employability, competitiveness in the short term and also in the long term and that will generate demand that will favor well for the economy. Right now, if you see, India spends around 2.8 to 3% of its GDP in the education sector and just around 1.2 to 1.5% in the health sector. With respect to health sector, we can see Brazil. Recently, we also discussed one of the editorials with respect to Brazil's health system and we compared how India is with respect to Brazil's health system. Brazil spends around 4% of their GDP to the health sector and also United Kingdom. It spends around 8% of its GDP for health sector whereas we are around some 1.2 to 1.5%. So these are some of the information with respect to the analysis of this editorial article. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article is about recent reports that sensitive data of various employees who are working in strategic and sensitive government institutions are compromised by hacking. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. This news article is based on the concerns that are raised by an independent cyber security researcher. The researcher has said that information or credentials of official email accounts of more than 3,000 government employees were hacked. And the worrying factor here is that these are employees who are working in strategic and sensitive establishments in our country. These are institutions such as Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, Baba Atomic Research Center and Indian Space Research Organization that comes directly under the Prime Minister and also Security and Exchange Board of India and few other important institutions. Now this issue has been alerted to National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Center. See this center is an organization of government of India. It was created in 2014 under section 70 capital A of IT Act of 2000. More important thing, it is this National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Center is designated as National Nodal Agency for all measures to protect nation's critical information infrastructure. So what do we mean by this critical information infrastructure? If you see section 70 of Information Technology Act, it states that it refers to computer resource, the incapacitation or the destruction of such resource will have a debilitating impact on national security, economy, public health and safety. Now some of the important functions of this center, one is to protect and deliver advice to reduce vulnerabilities of critical information infrastructure. Then to protect and deliver advice against cyber terrorism, then to protect against cyber warfare and also against other threats and to provide strategic leadership across government to respond to cyber security threats, particularly with reference to critical information infrastructure and it has few other important functions as well. Now the news article states that the researcher had analyzed data leaks for last six years and it has revealed that more than 3,200 accounts that are ending with Gov.in format, they were hacked. Mostly these are email accounts of government employees and it is reported that the login name or the username along with the passwords of hacked email accounts, they are now available in plain text format that is in readable format that is not in encrypted format in the deep web. So generally we see there is surface web, deep web and dark web. Now surface web consists of information and contents that are normally searched by regular browsers using Google, Bing or Yahoo. But if you come to deep web, these are information that has contents that are invisible to search engines. These are information like content of personal email accounts, content in social media accounts, for example chats, messages, et cetera. Contents of online banking accounts, for example banking statement, banking details, transaction details, et cetera. And data that companies store on their private databases. Then data in scientific and academic databases, medical records, legal documents. These are some of the examples that are available on deep web. Now coming to dark web, the dark web is the most inaccessible part of the web and it is distinct from deep web though at times they are used interchangeably. Now coming to deep web, this mostly contains harmless data and digitized records. Mostly, at times they also have harmful data, for example how the username and passwords of government employees working in sensitive establishments released here. And dark web is about criminal activity and regular browsers cannot access dark websites. And these dark web website addresses usually end with .onion instead of .coms or .org or .gov. And it is said that dark web operates with high degree of anonymity and it hosts stolen information acting as a platform for illicit substances, illegal drugs and also dangerous items and services. The news article also mentions that the information is available in dark web as well. So the main targets were institutions such as Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, Baba Atomic Research Center, ISRO and hundreds of accounts were hacked. So this shows that even the critical, sensitive and strategic institutions in our country that deals with atomic research, space research are vulnerable to cyber attacks. So they are saying that the accounts could have been hacked through phishing. Now phishing is one of the oldest methods of cyber attack. The hacker tries to gather personal information through emails and deceptive websites. For example, the target individual organization will be tricked to believe that the email is true or genuine or authentic. And they will be asked to share some personal information say for example password, bank account, sensitive information, et cetera. And they may also send some links via emails once they click a particular link or attachment their accounts will get hacked. But when we say passwords of hacked accounts are available in plain text in dark web it refers to the fact that the passwords are visible and readable by human beings and it is not encrypted. That is it is available in an insecure form. This means the services, the contents that are available in these accounts are actually compromised. These might also include classified information or secret information of various sensitive institutions. Now what we can do is that one of the action will be to revoke the lost credentials that are username or password or various contents that are associated with the particular accounts that are hacked and sufficient actions have to be taken in this regard so as to restore whatever lost with respect to these accounts. Then another step is to introduce two factor authentication to access all email accounts of government employees. So when there are two methods to access email account even if password is not to someone one cannot access the email account or the specific account because it requires one another security code for example a one-time password received through a mobile phone. So these steps could be taken. More other technical steps has to be introduced and critical information infrastructure has to be developed with information security in mind and we have been seeing in recent days with respect to Pegasus attack and also Strandhog vulnerability. Now the information is that even the accounts of government employees in sensitive organizations are hacked. So while promoting digital India e-governance enough focus should be given to cyber security infrastructure and information security. Otherwise the digital India without ensuring security could be a digital disaster. With this we come to the end of analysis of this news article. In the analysis we saw about the issue that is mentioned in the news article we saw about national critical information infrastructure protection center. Then we saw what do we mean by critical information infrastructure. We saw about deep web dark web surface web and we saw what can be done to minimize the damage cost and what can be done in future to prevent such attacks. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. Now this news article is with reference to the impeachment procedure that is being held in the senate of United States with respect to the president of United States. The article mentions that former national security advisor John Bolton has emerged as a potential witness in the last minute in the impeachment trial that is being held in the senate of United States. We have discussed in detail about the impeachment procedure of US president as per their constitution on 20th December 2019 daily news analysis. Now that day we have covered the timeline of events that has led to the impeachment procedure for US president. We saw the role that is played by house of representatives of US congress and the role that is played by senate in the US congress with respect to impeachment procedure. We also saw the role played by chief justice of US supreme court and finally we compared the impeachment procedure of US president with the impeachment procedure that is given for Indian president under article 61 of Indian constitution. You know that while in United States the US president acts as head of government and also as head of state can be impeached can be subjected to impeachment procedure while in India only the constitution prescribes impeachment procedure only for the head of the state and not for the head of government. For viewers to gain more information related to all these aspects we request you to watch the Hindu news analysis on 20th December. With this we come to the end of Hindu news analysis of all the selected news articles for this day. Now let's move on to the special session on practice questions. Now this question is with reference to impeachment procedure. They have given two statements that are asking which of the above statements are correct. The first statement the Indian constitution prescribes an impeachment procedure only for the president of India. Now this statement is correct. The procedure is mentioned in article 61 of Indian constitution. So first statement is a correct statement. So you can eliminate option B and option D. Now come to second statement. In the impeachment procedure for Indian president the Chief Justice of Supreme Court acts as judge. Now this statement is incorrect because according to article 61 the Chief Justice of Supreme Court has no role to play. However if you see United States there in the impeachment trial which happens in the Senate there the Chief Justice of US Supreme Court acts as judge. So here the correct answer is option A one only. And note that in United States the head of the government is also the US president and also head of the state as well. Whereas in India president of India is the head of the state where the prime minister is the head of the government. So in US head of the government can also be subjected to impeachment whereas in India it is only for president of India. And in India the impeachment procedure can begin at either of the houses of parliament whereas in US it can begin only from the house of representatives of US Congress or parliament where investigation will happen and trial will happen in the Senate. Now let's move on to next question. See this question is with reference to medical termination of pregnancy act of 1971. First statement. A pregnancy may be terminated where the length of the pregnancy exceeds 12 weeks but does not exceed 24 weeks if not less than two registered medical practitioners are of the opinion that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve grave injury to physical or mental health of pregnant women. The statement is incorrect because at present the length of the pregnancy if exceeds 12 weeks and should not exceed 20 weeks if two or more registered practitioners are of the opinion that there will be grave injury. However, a recently proposed amendment seeks to increase the upper limit of this gestation period to 24 weeks. So the first statement is incorrect. Now come to second statement. No pregnancy shall be terminated except with the consent of pregnant women. Now this statement is incorrect because if the woman is below 18 years of age then the consent is obtained from her guardian and the medical termination of pregnancy act states that if the woman has attained the age of 18 years and if she is lunatic then consent is obtained from her guardian. These two provisions are mentioned as I have mentioned here in section 4A of Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. So both the statements are incorrect. Question asks for incorrect statements. Correct answer is option C. Now this question is with reference to yellow rust disease. They have given two statements asking which of those statements are correct. First statement, yellow rust disease in wheat crop is caused by a bacterium. So this statement is incorrect because it is caused by a fungus called as pusunia. Now second statement, the causative agent associated with the above mentioned disease is frequently found in cold wheat growing regions in India. Now this statement is correct because this fungus is frequently found in cold wheat growing regions in India, particularly in parts of Punjab and Haryana. So the second statement is correct and this is one of the reasons why we could not find reports of yellow rust disease on wheat crops in central and southern region of India. So only the second statement is correct. So the correct answer is option B, two only. Now this question is with reference to national critical information infrastructure protection center. They're asking which of the other statements are correct. First statement, it was formed under the Atomic Energy Act of 1962. Now this statement is incorrect because this organization was created under section 70 capital A of Information Technology Act of 2000. Section 70 capital A of IT Act deals with national nodal agency in respect of critical information infrastructure protection. So the first statement is incorrect. You can eliminate option A and option C. The second statement, one of its functions is to help reduce vulnerabilities of critical information infrastructure against cyber terrorism and cyber warfare. Now this statement is correct. So the correct answer for this question is option B, two only. Now this question is with reference to Nagoba Jatra, with reference to India's culture and tradition. What is Nagoba Jatra? An ancient Bhakti culture of Vaishnavism still prevalent among tribals in central India. It's a Jain festival associated with the birth of Vardamana Mahaveera. It is a tribal festival of Mesram clan of Gond tribes in Telangana. It is an ancient martial arts tradition in Manipur. The correct answer for this question is option C. Here, reports are saying that Nagoba refers to the serpent of Lord Shiva and Jatra means festival. So this festival is usually held in Kesalapur village in Adilabha district of Telangana celebrated by Gond tribes and this clan of Gond tribes are found in Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Madhipadesh. So the correct answer for this question is option C. Tribal festival of Mesram clan of Gond tribes in Telangana. Now this question is with reference to Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 2010. They have given three statements and are asking which of those statements are correct. The first statement, the non-governmental organizations receiving foreign contribution have to file income tax return. If you see foreign contribution regulation act, it does not provide for filing of income tax return by an NGO. So therefore, the first statement is incorrect. However, you know that according to rule 17 of foreign contribution regulation rules 2011, it states that every person who receives foreign contribution after registration or with prior permission under the act shall submit one report electronically and it shall include scanned copies of income and expenditure statement, receipt and payment account, et cetera. And this is to be done for every financial year within nine months of the closure of particular financial year. So a report will be submitted not an income tax return. So the first statement is incorrect. Once you know the first statement is incorrect, you can arrive at the correct answer. Now come to the second statement. Foreign source under the act includes United Nations and all UN specialized agencies and World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Now this statement is incorrect because the act categorically exempts certain agencies not to be considered under the definition of foreign source. They are United Nations and some of its special agencies and IMF and World Bank. So this means foreign source does not include UN and some of its specialized agencies and it will not include World Bank and IMF. Here, therefore, the second statement is incorrect as it states that foreign source includes UN, all United Nations specialized agencies, World Bank and IMF. Third statement, a candidate for election and their political party cannot receive foreign contributions. Now this statement is correct. This is based on section three of FCRA Act of 2010. So the correct answer for this question is option C, three only. Now see this main question in GS2. Do you think India's investment in social infrastructure is sufficient in the present? Discuss the importance of investing in social infrastructure in the scheme of India's development strategy. Now see this another main question which is a previous year question asked in 2015. Examine critically the recent changes in the rule governing foreign funding of NGOs under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 1976. Now you may write and post your answers for both these questions and we will give you appropriate feedback within a reasonable timeframe. So with this, we come to the end of practice questions discussion session. With this, we come to the end of today's The Hindu News 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 service exam preparation. We'll meet you tomorrow.