 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the interview analysis by Shankar A.S. Academy for the date 14th of July 2023. Displayed here are the list of news articles that we will be going through today. Now without wasting time, let's start the discussion. Take a look at this editorial article. As the title itself hints, it talks about the right to speech and expression mainly to the scientific community. Now suddenly, it is in news because of a letter written by 500 scientists and academicians to the Indian Institute of Science. The letter expressed their displeasure with the administration's decision to prohibit a discussion on the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. After knowing this, an institute in Punjab had issued notice to two faculty members at the institute who had signed the letter to the IASC. This incident initiated a debate on why scientific research institutions should encourage social and political discussions. We will see about them in the news article discussion here. Before getting into the discussion, I have highlighted the syllabus. You can go through it. Firstly we shall understand the constitutional provisions regarding right to speech and expression. See, right to speech and expression means the right to express one's own opinion freely through speech, writing, printing, pictures or other mood. In India, under Article 191A, the Constitution of India guarantees to all its citizens right to freedom of speech and expression. Remember, this right is solely for Indian citizens and not for any foreign nationals. The right to speech includes not only the individual's right to speak but also the individual's right to not to speak. The artistic and the commercial forms of speech and expression are also included in this right. Apart from this, freedom of press, freedom of commercial advertisement, right against tapping of telephonic conversation, right to know about government activities are also part of this right. Since the government has no monopoly on electronic media, the right to telecast and the right against imposition of presensorship on newspaper are also included under Article 191A. The right also strikes a perfect balance between right against month called by a political party or organization and right to demonstration or picketing but not right to strike. This provides a balanced platform and opportunity to express one's view and ideas. Even though the right includes all these rights, still the state can impose reasonable restriction on the exercise of the freedom of speech and expression. The article also provides certain grounds on which these reasonable restriction can be imposed. Such reasonable restrictions include sovereignty and integrity of India, security of state, friendly relations with foreign state, public order, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation and incitement of an offense. Talking about the significance of the right, see John Milton, who is an English poet and an intellectual of the 15th century, said that, Give me the liberty to know, to argue freely and to speak, according to consents, above all liberties. This exactly reflects the essence of freedom of speech. Without human freedom, there would be no progress in science, law or any other field. According to John Milton, human freedom means free discussion of opinion and liberty of thought and expression. This is exactly what the article also tries to convey. Now let us quickly see why the scientific research community should encourage social and political discussions. See the scientific research institutions are part of the broader society, so their members have the same constitutional right as others to participate in social discussions. Researchers at these institutions are trained to pursue critical inquiry into variety of subjects which rely on public funding. So the researchers have an added responsibility to educate and express themselves on matters of public interest. To do justice for this sake, the scientific research institutions should encourage social and political discussion among its members. Secondly, it is actually artificial to create intellectual boundaries around what is considered science, and to prohibit discussions that go beyond these boundaries. For example, an investigation of science of climate change can naturally flow into the complex geopolitical issues about colonialism and historical responsibility. This in turn leads to a broader question about inequality and justice. Discussing all these issues helps one to determine what scientific questions deserve focus. This is why the scientific institutions should encourage discussions on political and social issues. Thirdly, the discussion will give scientists the chance to participate in decisions about how science is applied rather than handing this responsibility entirely to capitalists or the government. For example, recently announced a national quantum mission involves a public investment of Rs. 6000 crore. It is the expectation of the government that this research either directly or indirectly will lead to public benefit. Who knows? The research can also facilitate oppression or reinforce inequality. But a discussion on this will help the scientific community to identify the flaws and rectify them for the benefit of the humankind. These are the three points highlighted in the article through which the author of the editorial says that the scientific institution should encourage social and political discussion among its faculty. Here you may have a doubt. Why does some scientific administrators are uncomfortable when political discussions are hosted in their scientific institutions? See the answer is very simple. The scientific administrators worry that they might be seen as promoting views that are hostile to the government of the day and this might expose themselves to the anger of the government. This is why the institutions self-censor certain discussion without even waiting for the instruction from the government. But this in turn affects the fundamental right to free speech. In some cases like the institute in Punjab, they invoked the central civil service conduct rules that prohibit criticism of the government. But in 2015, the Alagabad High Court held that the central civil service conduct rules have no application to a central university. Again, recently in 2020, the Tirupura High Court ruled that even when the rules apply, they do not deprive citizens of their right to free speech, which is a fundamental right. Despite all these rulings, still self-censorship is rising which is curtailing the academic freedom in the scientific institutions. This should be stopped to have a progress in science and development. See this article is written by a professor who belongs to a scientific institution and signed the letter to the IASC. So the opinion expressed here are his views and are personal. It is not necessary that you must certainly adhere to the views of the author here. You can also develop your own opinion based on the discussion that we just had. So with this, let us conclude this discussion. Let me recap now. In this discussion, we saw what is freedom of speech. We saw the constitutional provision regarding right to freedom of speech and expression. Then we saw why social and political discussion should be encouraged in scientific institutions. With this, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Now look at this news article from the editorial page. It talks about the outcomes of the 50th GST Council. So we will straight away get into the discussion and see what are the key outcomes of this meeting. Firstly, there were some changes in the GST rates of goods. The tax rates for uncooked, unfried snack pellets and imitation zari treads have been reduced. This means these items will now be taxed at a lower rate. In addition, medicines for rare diseases will be exempted from the GST. This exemption is mainly to support the treatment of rare diseases and provide relief to those in need. Also, the council made efforts to protect the environment by reducing taxes on LD slag and fish soluble paste. Note that LD slag or Linz Donovitz slag is a byproduct of the steel making process. LD slag can be recycled and used in various applications such as road construction, concrete production and soil improvement. The council basically wants to encourage the proper utilization of these products. Next we will talk about the changes in the GST rates on services. See the council suggested to continue tax exemption for satellite plant services and making the process easier for goods transport agencies. This is good news for startups and those in transportation industry as it will make their operation easier. The council also clarified the taxability of certain services. For example, services provided by a director of a company in their personal capacity will not be taxable. But the services provided by the same director as a part of their official role will be subject to a tax. Similarly, supply of food and beverages in cinema halls will be taxed differently. This will depend on whether it is provided independently or as part of a bundle with the cinema tickets. Now let us discuss the measures for facilitating trade. See the 50th GST council recommended the establishment of the GST Appalach Tribunal to resolve the disputes. This tribunal will help in ensuring a smooth functioning of the GST system. As we all know, this is a long pending reform. This is addressed now. The first set of tribunals is expected to become operational within 4 to 6 months. It will start with state capitals and cities with high code benches. Then the council also proposed simplification in annual return process. It also exempted small taxpayers from filing annual returns. So this will reduce the compliance burden of the small taxpayers. Another important recommendation was to improve the Input Services Distributor Mechanism, that is the IST mechanism. Here know that the IST mechanism allow businesses with multiple branches to distribute and claim input tax credit for common input services procured centrally. Let me explain this simply. Imagine you have a company that operates in multiple locations or branches. Each branch will occur various expenses such as legal services, accounting services, marketing services etc. These are common to all the branches. Now each branch has to individually claim input tax credit for these common services. But the IST mechanism allows you to centralize the claiming and distribution of these credits. So this will make it easier for businesses to distribute and claim input tax credits. Then the council focused on streamlining, compliance and simplifying GST processes. It introduced a evable requirement for golden precious stones. This will ensure better tracking and transparency. The council also enhanced the special composition scheme for specific industry. See the composition scheme under GST is a simple and easy scheme for tax payers. Using this small tax payers can get rid of tedious GST formalities. The small tax payers can pay GST at a fixed rate based on their turnover. Lastly, the council made a significant decision regarding tax treatment for online gaming industry. It finalized a 28% GST levy on the face value of all bets placed in online gaming casinos or horse racing. This decision has drawn concerns from the businesses and e-gaming players because they feel that this move will be a threat to a nascent industry and it will in turn affect employment of thousands of people in India. So this is the overall highlights of the 58th GST council. With this let us conclude this discussion. Now let us take up the next news article. Look at this article. Yesterday, the Defence Acquisition Committee, headed by our Defence Minister, approved the procurement of 26 Rafaleam fighters from France. It will include 22 single-seated Rafaleam aircraft along with four trainer aircraft. The decision for the procurement was taken hours before our Prime Minister Modi was to land in Paris, France for an official state visit. The Rafaleam is the maritime version of the Rafale aircraft which will be operated by the aircraft carriers. The Defence Acquisition Council granted the acceptance of necessity for the procurement of 26 Rafaleam Marine aircraft along with associated ancillary equipments, weapons, stimulators, spares, documentation, crew training and logistics support. Here the term acceptance of necessity means that the government has accepted the need for the equipment. The acceptance of necessity is accorded by the Defence Ministry for a particular weapon system or equipment at the beginning of the procurement process. Now coming back to the article. India is planning to purchase Rafaleam fighters for the Indian Navy from the French government based on inter-governmental agreement. Apart from Rafaleam fighters, the Defence Acquisition Council also granted the acceptance of necessity for procurement of three additional Scorpion-class diesel-electric submarines from France. The submarines will be constructed by Masegon dog shipbuilders which is based in India. The Defence Ministry said that the procurement of additional submarines will create significant employment opportunity in the domestic sector as it is going to be built in India. This is all about the news article. In this discussion today we will understand the significance of the Rafaleam purchase for the Indian Navy. Now let us see few points about the Rafaleam fighters. The Rafaleam is a fourth generation fighter jet that features a delta wing and twin engines. It is designed and built by a France based defence manufacture company called Dassault Aviation. The Rafaleam can carry up to 9.5 tons of weapons, fuel tanks and pots. It is capable of launching both conventional and nuclear missiles. See, the Rafaleam is capable of flying at low level with very high speed. This is one of the stealth features as it will help the Rafale aircraft evade any radar. The Rafaleam has been specifically designed to operate from a 40,000 ton class aircraft carriers. Now we will see the significance of Rafaleam purchase for the Indian Navy. The purchase of Rafaleam will help India to upgrade its naval fleet of fighters. See the Indian Navy is planning to decommission the old and problematic 43 Russian MiG-29K and MiG-29K UB fighters from Navy fleet soon. So purchasing the Rafaleam will help to upgrade the Indian Navy's fleet of fighters. Now coming to the next significance. As we all know, India has already procured 36 Rafale fighters for the Indian Air Force. The marine variant of Rafale, that is Rafaleam, will share more than 85% of its components with the Indian Air Force variant. So if the Indian Navy purchase the marine variant of the same fighter, then the spares, training and maintenance will be shared between the two services. This will ensure continuous and efficient functioning of the Rafaleam during wartimes. Now moving on to the next significance. As we saw earlier, the twin-engine Rafaleam fighter has been specifically designed to operate from 40,000 ton class aircraft carriers. See we have the INS Vikranth which is India's first indigenous aircraft carrier and it weighs about 45,000 tons. The INS Vikranth can carry a group of up to 36 aircraft including 26 fixed wing combat aircraft and a mix of helicopters. So procuring the Rafaleam will fulfill the fleet of the INS Vikranth. This would send a strong warning to our rivals like Pakistan and China. The next significance is the great performance of Rafaleam. The Rafaleam has an exceptionally strong airframe. It is made of advanced composite materials and corrosion resistant alloys. So the components of the Rafaleam offer highest protection against rust. Because of all these features, the Rafaleam can withstand India's typical tropical environment and it will be able to perform for longer years. See these are some of the significance of purchasing Rafaleam for the Indian Navy. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw about the recent purchase of defence equipments by India from France and we also saw the significance of purchase of Rafaleam aircraft to the Indian Navy. With this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this editorial article. This article is about the Alhabad High Court's judgement in Kiran Rawat was the State of UP case. This case is about an interfaith couple in a live-in relationship. This couple were seeking protection from police harassment. According to the author of this editorial, the judgement neglects constitutional morality and previous Supreme Court judgments. This is the essence of the editorial. In our discussion today, we will see what is live-in relationship, issues with live-in relationship, Supreme Court judgments regarding live-in relationship and finally we will see in detail about the Alhabad High Court judgement in the Kiran Rawat was State of UP case. Before getting into the discussion, I have highlighted the syllabus. You can go through it. First let us see what is live-in relationship. See live-in relationship is an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long term or permanent basis in an intimate relationship. It simply means the couple who live together but are not married. Now what are the benefits of live-in relationship? The first and the most important benefit of live-in relationship is freedom. Many of the partners neither has to accept any obligation nor has to give up any rights. This is the first major benefit. Secondly, there is no commitment like marriage in a live-in relationship. Also note that live-in relationship eliminates the problem of dowry system. These are the some of the benefits associated with live-in relationship. Now this live-in relationship also has some issues with it. Now let us see the issues. Firstly, couples do not pledge themselves to each other. Hence the live-in relationship lack a loyalty factor. It is marred with infidelity. Secondly, women in a live-in relationship could be more vulnerable to exploitation. This is because these women have lesser legal rights compared to a married woman. Then these kinds of relationship can be used as a tool to have multiple partners and exploiting multiple partners. Finally, the last issue and the major issue is the issue of child born out of these relationships. These children also lack legal protection. These are some of the issues with live-in relationship. Now let us see the constitutional provisions regarding this. See, two articles from our constitution provide protection to live-in relationship. They are Article 19A and Article 21. As we all know, Article 19A is about right to freedom of speech and expression and Article 21 is about protection of right to life and personal liberty. These constitutional provisions provide necessary protection to live-in relationship. Now moving forward, we will see important Supreme Court judgments regarding living relationship. Firstly, in 2006, the Supreme Court in Lathasingh, where a state of UPKs ruled that two persons living together are not doing anything legal. Secondly, in 2010, the Supreme Court in Eskushpu, where Kanyamal K said that a living relationship between two consenting adults does not amount to any offence even though it may be perceived as immoral. This is the second important judgment. The third important judgment is in 2013, in which Supreme Court in the Indra Sharma v. KVK Sharma case ruled that a woman partner in a living relationship is protected under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. So women in a living relationship are legally protected against domestic violence, same as a married woman. These are some of the important judgments by Supreme Court regarding living relationship. Now finally, let us see about the recent verdict of the Alagabat High Court regarding Kiran Rawat v. state of UPKs. See in this case, the Alagabat High Court denied protection to the interfaith living couple. The petition was filed by a Hindu woman and a Muslim man to give protection for them against police harassment. They requested the court citing the Supreme Court judgment in the Lathasingh v. state of UPKs which we saw recently. But the High Court refused to intervene in that matter. The court also said that extramarital and premarital sex are not recognized under the Muslim law. It replied that the observations of the Supreme Court in these judgments were made in the context of the respective case. The court also said that the facts of each case will vary from one another. So the High Court need not follow the precedent of the Supreme Court judgment. It also said that through these judgments, the Supreme Court never intended to promote living relationship. It only accepted that the living relationship are a social reality. So stating all these points, the Alagabat High Court denied protection to the interfaith couple. This is about the High Court judgment. Now let us see the issues with the judgment. Firstly, the judgment by the High Court is unacceptable in the constitutional sense. This is because our Constitution under Article 21 provides right to life. And by giving this judgment, the Alagabat High Court denied right to life to this interfaith couple. Secondly, according to the author of this editorial, the Alagabat High Court followed the notions of conventional social morality rather than the constitutional principles. Then the High Court also discarded the several Supreme Court judgments even after citing them. Next issue is the High Court relied on personal law of marriage. See according to the author, the Alagabat High Court rather than acting as a constitutional court acted as a theological court in this specific case. It ignored the very idea of individual liberty and autonomy that is enshrined in our Constitution. This verdict of the High Court shows that the court is inclined towards social orthodoxy and religious revivalism rather than moving towards personal liberty and rational thought. So this is about the issues with the recent Alagabat High Court judgment according to the author of this editorial. Now let us wait and see how the Supreme Court reacts to this judgment of the High Court. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is living relationship, the pros and cons of living relationship, constitutional provisions regarding this, Supreme Court judgments regarding living relationship and finally about the Alagabat High Court judgment regarding Kiran Rawat, the state of UP case. Now with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. This article is about a disease called Dushan muscular dystrophy. See a team of doctors from Tamil Nadu along with scientists from Japan have developed a disease monitoring treatment for Dushan muscular dystrophy which is also called as DMD. The treatment involves using beta glucagon as a foot supplement in reducing DMD. This beta glucagon is produced by N163 strain of the yeast Aureobastidium pululons. This is about the article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through Dushan muscular dystrophy. DMD is a genetic disorder that is characterized by growing muscle degeneration and weakness. As we all know, muscles need lubricant to reduce friction between the surface in contact. Dystrophy is an enzyme secreted in the muscles which help in wear and tear and regeneration of the muscles. Because of this genetic disorders, muscles cannot produce dystrophy. This damages and weakens the muscles and the patient becomes wheelchair-bound. See the onset of this genetic disorder is generally in early childhood. Usually between the ages of 2 and 3 and it is typically known to affect only boys. But rare cases of women diagnosed with DMD have also been reported but the number is very insignificant. Moving forward, let us see the symptoms associated with DMD. The most common and the primary symptom is muscle weakness. The disorder attacks the proximal muscles that is the muscle closer to the core of the body. Later the disorder starts moving to the distal limb muscles that is the muscle that is closer to the extremities. Mainly, legs and the lower external muscles are affected before the arms and the upper external muscles are affected. A child affected by the DMD can have difficulty jumping, running and walking with several other symptoms like enlargement of the calves and inward curve of the spine. Boys with DMD are usually late walkers. The symptoms worsen as the person ages with heart and respiratory muscles getting affected in the later stages of life. In some cases scoliosis and progressive weakness of the muscle lead to pulmonary function, impairment, eventually causing acute respiratory failure. Now we will see about the treatment. Boys born before 1970 had a median lifespan of around 18 years. After anti-inflammatory medications and steroids, the longevity increased. Later, disease modifying treatments have prolonged the lifespan, but despite that patients die when they are aged 28 to 30 years. Gene therapy and exon skipping are some of the treatments that are currently available. The disease modifying treatments which is in the news today has the potential to delay the progress of the disease without side effects to the liver and kidney. So we have to wait and watch how the treatment gets implemented. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw about the symptoms, the cause and the treatment for Dushan muscle dystrophy. With this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. It says that Karnataka has performed poorly in school education for the year 2021-22. This is according to the recent performance grading index report or PGI report. Karnataka achieved low grades in learning outcomes, infrastructure and facilities and equity. The report highlights issues such as poor infrastructure, shortage of teachers and low learning outcomes. So the expert suggests that the state government needs to take necessary actions to improve infrastructure and learning quality in schools. This is about the news article that is given here. In this context let us learn about the performance grading index. See PGI is an assessment tool used to evaluate the performance of states and union territories in school education. It helps us understand how well our education system is functioning and identifies areas that need improvement. Here know that PGI was introduced by the Union Ministry of Education in 2017. It looks at various aspects of education such as learning outcomes, access, infrastructure, equity, governance process and teacher education. So the main goal here is to ensure that every child receives quality education and equal opportunities. The PGI uses a system of indicators to measure performance. We will understand about this now. The PGI structure comprises a total weightage of 1000 points across 73 indicators. They are grouped under two categories. They are outcomes and governance and management. These categories are further divided into six domains as you can see in this image. Also the grades rate from the highest grade being Dax to the lowest grade being Akanshi 3. The data is collected from various sources like the UDI SC+, that is United District Information System for Education Plus and the National Achievement Survey and other relevant platforms. Finally it is important to know that the PGI has evolved over time. In 2021-22 it underwent transformational changes and became PGI 2.0. These changes were made to ensure that the index is more dynamic and reflects the true performance of the states and union territories. This is about the performance grading index. Now let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Now look at this article from the International Edition. This article discusses about Benay Menashi, which is a small Indian Jewish community in Israel. He talks about their concerns on their community members in Manipur. They feel that this community is affected by the ethnic violence in Manipur. In this context let us learn about the Benay Menashi community. The Benay Menashi are the descendants of the Biblical Israelite tribe of Menashi. They live in the north-eastern states of India primarily in the states of Manipur and Misuram. They claim that they have maintained Jewish customs and practices. This is despite the fact that they live isolated from the wider Jewish community. According to their oral tradition, their ancestors were exiled from Israel and they ended up in north-eastern India. Over time, they became separated from the other Jewish community and they developed their own unique practices. Also, they observe Jewish traditions like observing dietary laws and they also celebrate Jewish holiday. Their community was discovered in South Asia by Rabbi Eliu Avihai. As a Jewish religious leader, he convinced the Israeli authorities to recognize them as practicing Jews and allow them to migrate to Israel. In recent years, the Benay Menashi have gained attention and support from the various Jewish organizations and individuals. Some members of the community have undergone conversion process and moved to Israel and there they have been officially recognized as Jews by the Israeli government. Other members of the community continue to practice Judaism in India and they are waiting for opportunities to emigrate to Israel. Currently, there are around 10,000 Benay Menashi in Israel and approximately 5,000 community members remain in Manipur and Misuram. So, we know about the recent riots in Manipur right. These riots led to displacement of some of the Benay Menashi members and they are in need of relief. Now, the Benay Menashi in Israel hope that the Israeli government will grant immigration visa to their community members in India. The Israeli government is also aware of the situation and it is in contact with both the community and the Indian government. We have to wait and watch and see what happens in the future. That is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about a small Jewish community in India called the Benay Menashi. With this, we have come to the end of the news article discussion session. Now, let us take up the practice prelims questions. We have four practice prelims questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question. See here, five bodies are given. We have to find how many of them are constitutional body. Let us take up the first one, National Human Rights Commission. This is not a constitutional body. This is a statutory body. Second one is GST Council. As we saw in the discussion, GST Council is a constitutional body. Then we have UPSC, which we all know is a constitutional body. Then we have Reserve Bank of India. Reserve Bank of India is a statutory body established under RBI Act 1934. So, fourth one is not a constitutional body. Lastly, we have National Commission for Backward Classes. Recently, the National Commission for Backward Classes was made into a constitutional body. So, two, three, five given here are constitutional bodies. So, the correct answer here is option B, only three. Moving on to the next question. This question is based on our performance grading index discussion. Three statements are given. We have to find how many of the statements given here are correct. Let us take up the first statement. Akanshi is the highest grade and Dakshi is the lowest grade. This statement is incorrect because we saw in our discussion that Dakshi is the highest grade and Akanshi 3 is the lowest grade. It is given in an interchanged manner. So, statement one is incorrect. Moving on to the second statement. None of the states or unitary territories have attained the highest grade in PGI 2.0 for the year 2021-22. This statement is sadly correct. None of the states in India have attained the highest grade of Dakshi. Moving on to the third statement. The top most grade attained in PGI 2.0 is Uttam. This statement is incorrect. The highest grade attained by the states in PGI 2.0 is Prachastha. So, since statement two is only correct here, so the correct answer here is option A, only one. Moving on to the next question. Let me redo the question. Recently the term Benai Menanshi was in news for which of the following reasons. In the discussion we know that the correct answer here is option A, emigration of the Jewish community to the state of Israel. So, moving on to the last question. This is the quiz question for you today. Interested aspirants can post the answer for this question in the comment section. The main questions based on today's discussion are displayed here. Interested aspirants can write the answer for these questions and post them in the comment section. If you like today's discussion, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.