 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar IAS Academy. Today's date is 8th of June 2023, displayed here are the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. So without much delay, let us get into the news article discussion. Look at these articles from editorial page, they all talk about sedition law. If you are wondering why suddenly this topic appeared in news, it is because of the report submitted by law commission of India. The report which was titled as usage of the law of sedition is the 279th report submitted by law commission of India to the government of India. See in this report, the law commission of India has recommended to retain the law of sedition which is provided under article 124A of the IPC or Indian Penal Code. Apart from this, the law commission has also recommended to increase the minimum punishment. See as of now, section 124A provides for a minimum imprisonment of 3 years for the offense of sedition. However, the law commission have now recommended to increase the minimum imprisonment to 7 years from the existing 3 years. Because of this only, the topic of sedition may news today. See while this is on one side, on the other side, in 2022 itself, the Supreme Court of India had ordered a stay on all existing proceedings under sedition law. In addition to this, the court has also ordered a stay on the registration of fresh cases under sedition law. See the court's stay order was due to the fact that the sedition law was widely misused by the law enforcement authorities. Responding to the Supreme Court's order, the central government stated that it is reexamining the sedition provisions and it will bring some changes in the sedition law at the earliest. But now, the law commission has recommended to retain the law of sedition. This recommendation is contradictory to the Supreme Court's order right. So we have to wait and watch what is going to happen. This is the background of the issue. Now we'll try to understand what is sedition and few more facts about the law of sedition. See the definition of sedition is provided under article 124a of the Indian Penal Code 1860. So this particular section have its origin before independence itself. Now look at this box here. This is the exact text given in the section 124a. What does it say? It says, when any person by words either spoken or written or by signs or by visual representation or by any other means. If they attempt to bring into hatred or contempt or attempt to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India, then it is defined as sedition. So to put it simply, sedition is termed as a speech writing or behavior that brings hatred or disaffection towards the government. Just know that the law of sedition was enacted by the British government in 1870, later it was added to the IPC of 1860. Know that the sedition law was enacted mainly to deal with harsh criticism against the colonial government. The law was mainly used to curb the free speech and fundamental rights of our freedom fighters. In pre-independence India, it was extensively used against our freedom fighters like Bal Gangadhar Dillag, Mahatma Gandhi, Javaharlal, Nehru, Bahad Singh and etc. But after India achieved independence in 1947, the constitution assembly spent a considerable amount of time in debating the relevance of the sedition law. The assembly finally decided to omit the term sedition from the constitution. However, section 124A of IPC was retained by the assembly. Then after a few years, the sedition law was again brought into force in 1951 through the First Constitutional Amendment Act. Then subsequently in 1973, sedition was made a cognisable offence which empowered the police to arrest persons without issuing a warrant. So this is about the background of sedition law. Now let's quickly see about the punishment. Firstly the punishment for sedition is also provided in the section 124A of IPC. The section terms sedition is a non-bailable offence. As per the section 124A, the punishment for sedition ranges from imprisonment up to three years to a life term. Apart from this, a fine was also imposed. So that is all about the punishment. Now we will see some of the issues associated with the sedition law. Firstly, the sedition law is against the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression provided under Article 19. This is because the sedition may also be used to curb the fair criticism against the government. Secondly, the sedition law was extensively used by the colonial government against our freedom fighters to suppress the freedom movement. But in a democratic country like India, the present existence of such law is not justifiable. And finally, the definition of sedition is too broad under section 124A. This means that the sedition law may be interpreted broadly according to the prevalent situation. So it may lead to misuse of sedition law. So these are some of the issues that the government should address before making the sedition law active again. So that's all regarding this news article. Look at this news article. This news article talks about the potential impact of increased minimum support price that is MSP. See, when MSP for farm produce is increased, there would be an impact on inflation and food prices. So many economists caution that higher MSPs could lead to higher prices, particularly for crops like rice, jowar, bajra and maize. However, economists from the state bank of India suggest that the inflationary impact of higher MSPs may be negligible because it depends on prevailing market prices and procurement levels. So in this context, let us learn briefly about MSP. See in India, farmers grow crops like rice and wheat in different seasons. Sometimes there will be a lot of produce or sometimes the price in the international market or low. So at these times, farmers struggle to get a fair price for their crops. This can make it difficult for them to support themselves and their families. So to prevent this, the government announced a minimum support price MSPs for different crops. See, the MSP is the price at which the government agrees to buy the crops from farmers if the market price falls below it. This ensures that farmers get a minimum income and helps maintain food security in the country. For example, let's say a farmer grows wheat and the MSP for wheat is set at Rs. 2000 per quintal. If the market price falls below 2000, the government will buy the wheat from the farmer at that price. This gives the farmer assurance that even if the market prices are low, they will still get a fair price for their crop. Here you can see the crops that are covered under MSP. There are 7 types of cereals, 5 types of pulses and 7 oil seeds, 4 commercial crops. Just make note of them, it is very important. Here you might have a doubt, who decides what the MSP would be and how? See, the MSP is or announced by the union government and as such it is the decision of the government. But the government decides the MSP based on the recommendation from the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices, CACP. The CACP considers factors like demand, supply, production cost, market trends, inter-crop price parity, the terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture, margin over the cost of production and the impact on consumers when recommending the MSPs. Also while calculating the cost for setting MSP, the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Prices, that is CACP considers 3 types of cost. Next is A2, then A2 plus FL and C2. Let's break down what each of these costs mean. Let's take the A2 cost. See this is the actual paid-out cost incurred by a farmer. It includes expenses like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, labor hired from outside and other direct expenses. In addition to the A2 cost, the A2 plus FL cost also takes into account the imputer value of family labor. It means the value of the labor provided by the farmer's family members even if they are not paid a salary. Last we have the C2 cost. The C2 cost is the highest of the three costs. It includes the A2 plus FL cost and further adds the rental value of the farmer's own land and the interest on the value of the farmer's fixed capital assets. Note that all these three costs are calculated by the CACP but the recommended MSP is based on the A2 plus FL cost only. Also it is important to note that government does not buy all the crops at MSPs. The actual procurement depends on the crop and location. Currently the MSPs are not backed by law and farmers cannot demand MSPs as a right. Remember this, farmer union have been demanding legislation to make MSPs mandatory and give them legal protection. They want MSPs to be more than just indicative prices because this will ensure that farmers are guaranteed a fair income for their crops. That's all regarding this news article. In this news article discussion we saw in detail about minimum support price. So with these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this text and context article about LGBTQ plus community. Suddenly it is in news because June month is celebrated as LGBT pride month. So in this discussion let us look about what is this LGBTQ plus stands for, the history of pride month, some of the issues faced by the community and steps taken for the welfare of the community. Before that the syllabus is highlighted here. You can go through it. Firstly let us see what does LGBTQ plus means. See LGBTQ plus stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer and etc. Here lesbian and gay refers to homosexuals. Homosexuals means a person who is sexually attracted to his or her own gender. Bisexual refers to the person who are sexually attracted to both genders that is male and female or to more than one gender. Now coming to the term transgender it refers to the people who have a gender identity which is different from their gender identity at birth. Finally coming to the term queer this particular term is of recent origin. Queer refers to those people who don't identify themselves with the mainstream heterosexual norm. So to simply put it is an umbrella term which can include every sexual orientation other than the heterosexual. Now we shall see a few facts about the history of pride month briefly. To understand that we have to rewind back to 1960s. In USA during the 1960s there were separate bars for gay community. Stonewall Inn is one such bar. While the bar was raided by the police it is reported that they harassed the gay community. Following this people stood up for the rights of gay community and a roit broke out. This roit is known as Stonewall Roits. Exactly a year after this incident pride marches were held in many cities of the USA supporting the LGBT community. So to remember this only every year June month is celebrated as LGBTQ pride month. Pride month commemorates years of struggle for civil rights and the ongoing pursuit of equal justice under the law for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. So these basic information now let's quickly go through the issues faced by LGBTQ plus community. The first issue is lack of familial support provided to the members of the community due to their sexual orientation being different from the broader society. Secondly societal exclusion is another challenge faced by them. Then house owners not willing to rent their houses because of social stigma. Then psychological distress they go through because of the discriminalization and harassment they face in their day-to-day life. Then the problem of unemployment above all these the most important issue faced by LGBTQ plus community is that the same sex marriage has not been legally recognized till now and the LGBTQ plus community is demanding for the legal recognition of the same. Now let us quickly see some of the steps taken for the betterment of the community. See firstly homosexuality was considered an offense in India but in Navthich Singh Johar versus Union of India case the Supreme Court has striked down the parts of IPC section 377 which criminalized homosexuality. Then union government has also passed transgender persons protection of rights act 2019 to mitigate the discriminalization and to ensure their welfare. The National Council for Transgender Persons has been established as per the provisions of this act. Then under the SMI scheme rehabilitation education skill development and medical facilities are made available for transgenders. So that's all regarding this news article. So with these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article it talks about low carbon cities and how we can make energy governance fair for everyone. So in this news article discussion we'll try to understand the important points provided in the article. Before that the syllabus relevant to this news article is highlighted here for your reference you can go through it. See in 2020 cities around the world released around 29 trillion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It simply means there is so much of polluted air. So the author says that low carbon cities can help us save the day and protect our environment. Here low carbon cities are nothing but the cities that have made a commitment to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But to make this happen we need something called an energy system transition. This transition should make our cities more eco friendly and this energy system transition is very important because they can actually reduce urban carbon dioxide emissions by 74 percentage. That's a huge reduction right and interestingly we have all the technologies and knowledge we need to make this happen. So we can simply say goodbye to fossil fuels and welcome clean renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. But it's not just about changing the way we produce energy that is the supply side. We also need to focus on the demand side also. So we need to change the way we use it. If you're asking how that can be done we can do this by following the avoid shift improve framework. See this framework means we need to reduce the amount of energy we use shift to cleaner energy sources and find ways to make our energy use more efficient and to tackle the emissions that are still left. We can use something called carbon dioxide removal technologies. Now let us see what are the different strategies to make this transition happen. See firstly each city is unique right. So the strategies should vary based on things like the shape development level and how it uses its land. For example in established cities we can upgrade existing buildings to make them more energy efficient. We can also promote walking and biking instead of driving. Then we can set up renewable based heating and cooling systems. These changes not only help the environment but also make our cities less polluted. Then in rapidly growing cities we can plan things in a smarter way. We can bring workplaces closer to residential areas. By doing this we can reduce the need for long commutes and thereby we can save energy. These cities can also move towards low carbon technologies and techniques like carbon capture and storage. Then for new and emerging cities see they have great opportunity to start from scratch. They can design their cities with energy efficiency in mind. They can use eco-friendly materials for construction. They can also implement building codes that required net zero energy use. But here's the thing we want this energy transition to be fair for everyone. We don't want certain groups or communities to be left behind. So the author in this article talks about equity in energy governance. So what does that mean? See some developing countries like Nigeria, Angola etc they earn a significant portion of their GDPs from fossil fuel sectors and people here rely on jobs in the fossil fuel industry to make a living. If we suddenly shut down those industries without a plan it would hurt their livelihoods. So to avoid this from happening we can find new opportunities for them in the clean energy sector so that everyone can benefit. Similarly in developed countries some low income households struggle with high energy cost. This can make it difficult for them to afford other essential needs like health care and nutrition. We need to address these inequalities and make sure that the transition to clean energy doesn't leave anyone behind. And we must also consider the justice aspects of energy transitions. Some communities might be more affected by pollution or have limited access to clean energy. We need to make sure their voices are heard and they have equal opportunities for clean and sustainable future. So it's all about being fair and making sure no one is left behind. See so far we saw what should be done to have an energy system transition. Now we shall see how it should be done. See to achieve equitable energy governance we need to involve multiple stakeholders in decision making processes. This means including the voices of different groups like community members, experts and policy makers. This will ensure that everyone's need and concerns are taken into account. Apart from this we should also invest in energy efficient technologies and we should support the development of renewable energy projects in communities that have been historically marginalized. By doing this we can create new job opportunities and improve the overall well-being of these communities. That's all regarding this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw about how to create low carbon cities and we saw why energy system transitions are very important. And finally we saw how the transition can be done. So with these learned points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. Now look at this first question about MSP. Four statements are given you have to choose how many statements given here are correct. Statement one MSP are announced twice a day by the commission for agricultural cost and prices that is CACP. See this statement is actually incorrect. MSPs are announced by the government and not CACP. Now look at the second statement MSP is meant to set a ceiling price above which price do not rise. See this statement is also incorrect. The MSP is meant to set a floor price below which prices do not fall. Now look at this third statement. Oil seats are not covered under MSPs. See this statement is actually incorrect. We saw in the discussion right we saw that seven oil seats are covered under MSP. So this statement is also incorrect. Now look at this fourth statement. Commercial crops are covered under MSP. This statement is actually correct. So the correct answer for the question is option A only one. Now look at this question about sedition law. Three statements are given. Again you have to find how many statements are correct here. Now look at this first statement. It is well defined in the constitution of India. See this statement is wrong. The constitution does not define sedition anywhere. It is defined under section 124A of the Indian penal code. Now look at the second statement. It is a non-bailable offense under section 124A of the Indian penal code. See this statement is actually correct. It is a non-bailable offense. Now look at this third statement. The sedition law in India was enacted only after the independence. This statement is absolutely wrong. It is a pre-independence law. It was enacted by British government in 1870 itself. So the correct answer for the question here is option A only one. So displayed here are the main practice questions for you today. Just go through the questions, try to write an answer and post the answers in the comment section. With this we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video, hit like, do comment and don't forget to subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel. Now thank you for listening.