0:05 Hello and welcome to ANA Academy IAS English a one-stop destination for the English medium civil services aspirants. A very good morning and welcome to the daily Hindu news analysis. So let's begin today's discussion by first looking at the topics that we are going to discuss from the daily edition of the Hindu. I have chosen six important articles. There are five articles that require a comprehensive analysis both for prelims and mains and one small topic for your prelims exam. So let's cover all these articles in complete detail so that you don't have to go back and read the newspaper again. If you guys are liking this initiative, do support us with your likes, your comments and don't forget to subscribe to our channel. And those of you who
0:53 want the PDF of the session, please join my Telegram channel by scanning the QR code on your screen because after the session ends, I'll be sharing the PDF on my Telegram channel. Now, before we start the discussion, I have a very important announcement for UPSC CSE aspirants. If you're looking to enroll for our online classes, this would be the best time possible because ANA Academy is providing the lowest prices ever. At 17LE 9, you can access our classes for 12 months with up to 12 months of free extension on above on and above the subscription period. This will give you access to all our classes live
1:40 and recorded along with the study material one-on-one mentorship and as well as doubt resolution sessions. To those interested, you visit the anac academy subscription page by clicking on the link provided in the video description below. And to avail this offer, all you have to do is enter the code IAS English because on the subscription page, you might see a different amount. you may not see the discounted price. So don't worry, you just have to enter the code IAS English to avail the discounted offer. With this, let's get started with our discussion and let's look at this important article on page number eight. This topic is related to Indian polity. The article is exploring the importance
2:25 of the office of the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha. The article is written by an eminent legal and constitutional expert. So this article gives us an insight into the office of the deputy speaker. The role and importance of the office of deputy speaker. The reason why this topic is in news is because this post has remained vacant for many many years. Believe it or not, for the entire duration of the 17th Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024, we did not have a deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha. And even after the 18th Lok Sabha was constituted after the 2024 elections, the office of deputy speaker
3:11 has remained vacant. This is the longest vacancy that has remained with regard to the office of deputy speaker since India's independence. In this context, the writer is examining the relevance of this office, why it has remained vacant, what could be the implications. So to understand this, we need to look at the constitutional provisions. We need to understand the role and the functions that are performed by the deputy speaker. Only then we can understand why this critical office cannot be left vacant. Because such a long vacancy will only lead to a constitutional anomaly. It can affect the functioning of the lower house the Lok Sabha which represents the will of the electorate under article 93 of the
3:57 Indian constitution. It has been clearly stated that the house of the people shall as soon as maybe choose two members of the house to be respectively speaker and deputy speaker. That is once the house of the people is constituted after the latest round of elections from amongst the MPs in the Lok Sabha two of them have to be elected. They have to be elected amongst the MPs. One as the speaker and another deputy speaker. And what is the time duration which has been specified? There is no specific time limit but the article says as soon as maybe. Meaning there is a sense of urgency attached to it. As soon as
4:45 possible ASAP immediately after the Lok Sabha is constituted within few days at the maximum the speaker and deputy speaker have to be elected from amongst the MPs of the Lok Sabha. So as soon as maybe as envisioned by our constitution makers doesn't mean you can appoint them anytime you want. doesn't mean you can simply delay the appointment or ensure that the position remains vacant. There is a sense of urgency attached to this which currently is missing because for the last 6 years the office of deputy speaker has been left vacant. So let's understand why is this so important. If you look at the role of the deputy speaker, some of you might
5:31 think the post of the deputy speaker is largely ceremonial. You might think it's just a symbolic role because usually deputy speaker acts as a second in command to the Lok Sabha. That is when the speaker is not available then the deputy speaker takes over the role the functions of the speaker preciding the proceedings of the house or presciding over important parliamentary committees or essentially running the business of the Lok Sabha maintaining the decorum in the house enforcing the rules the rules of conduct in the Lok Sabha and conducting the debate of parliamentary proceedings but the office of deputy speaker is actually much more significant that than that there is a constitutional significance attached to this office because the deputy speaker
6:17 provides for continuity provides for stability in the house which is so crucial in order to represent the voices of India's voters. Yes, the speaker performs all these roles but the deputy speaker acts as a redundancy. India's constitution makers they have created a redundancy for critical constitutional positions in in order to ensure continuity in governance a redundancy has been created. Redundancy means backup. So the if the assigned authority is not available to perform those functions those critical constitutional functions then the backup the second in command will step in. For example if the president is incapacitated the vice president will step in. Similarly, the
7:04 deputy speaker plays a critical role in maintaining continuity when it comes to Lok Sabha proceedings. So if you look at article 94, article 94 talks about the term of the deputy speaker. The term of the deputy speaker is essentially contiguous with the term of the Lok Sabha. But however, the deputy speaker can resign, can be removed as well on certain grounds or if the deputy speaker ceases to be an MP, if the deputy speaker ceases to be a member of the house, that is also a ground for the removal of the deputy speaker. This clearly shows that the office of deputy speaker has been envisioned to provide continuity and
7:49 maintain stability in legislative governance. So if you look at the history of this office, there is a colonial history. The origin of this office goes back to the British era. When we had the central legislative assembly under British rule in 1921, for the first time the office of deputy president was created to the central legislative assembly. It was known by a different name. Post independence. We call it the office of deputy speaker. But prior to independence under British rule in the central legislative assembly that existed this office was referred to as the deputy president the first deputy president was such in
8:36 1921. So since 1921 till 1947 till India's independence this office went on to play a key role in pushing the conduct of business in the central legislative assembly. Post independence the office transformed into the office of deputy speaker. It became a constitutional office mandated by the constitution and the first deputy speaker was MA Ayangar a very well-renowned parliamentarian. In fact, the significance of this office became very clear and evident within few years after India's independence when the first speaker Ji Mahalanker passed away in 1956. So when Ji Malanker passed away
9:22 who was the then speaker, it was MA Aayangar who stepped in as the second in command and provided the much needed continuity for the business the legislative business and governance of Lok Sabha. So this tells you why this office is very important, very significant as far as the conduct of proceedings in the Lok Sabha is concerned. So the deputy speaker will provide the much needed stability in the house in the house of the people because see think about this from a practical viewpoint. The parliament has so many sessions in a year. It sits for several days in a year conducting several long sessions and debates. You can't expect the speaker of the house to be present for each and every sitting to precide over each and every discussion and
10:08 debate. It is practically impossible for the speaker to be physically present and precide over the entirety of a session. This is where the deputy speaker comes in. It's like a Indian cricket team not having a vice captain for a long time. If the captain let's say got hurt, then who would step in? who would act as the second in command. So that is what is happening with the Lok Sabha right now. Without a deputy speaker, the functioning of Lok Sabha could get crippled to an extent when the speaker is not available. Of course, the minister of parliamentary affairs will arrange for a redundancy but they won't have the constitutional authority as compared to the deputy speaker. The deputy speaker
10:54 will preside over not just the proceedings of the house but the deputy speaker can chair some important parliamentary committees. Ensure that the standard rules of the Lok Sabha is maintained. Debates on important bills important pressing issues in front of the nation are carried on even in the absence of the speaker of the house. That is why this office is so critical from a constitutional viewpoint, from a parliamentary democracy viewpoint. The deputy speaker generally has been appointed from the opposition party. This is not a written rule. There is no constitutional mandate or there is no law which says that the deputy speaker has to be from the opposition.
11:39 But there is a parliamentary convention which has been followed in India where the speaker is often from the ruling party whereas the deputy speaker is from the opposition. Now why why do we have this arrangement? Why has this convention been largely followed where the deputy speaker is often from the opposition party from the opposition benches whereas the speaker is from the treasury benches from the ruling party. This balance has been maintained because this provides for consensus based law makingaking in the parliament. This provides for cooperation between different parties. It maintains an element of balance of power between different parties. It ensures that the
12:27 ruling party with a full majority doesn't dominate over the house of the people and doesn't bring in majoritarianism. It ensures that even minority voices can be protected and that is the very essence and beauty of democracy. So the parliamentary convention that has been followed in India is that the deputy speaker is always from the opposition. It's not a written rule. The constitution doesn't mandate this but it's just a convention which has been followed by subsequent governments and Lok Sabhas where the deputy speaker comes from the opposition and the speaker comes from the ruling party maintaining that balance in the Lok Sabha it provides for consensusbased law making consensus based decision making
13:13 where different parties can come together on important national issues now take for example the recent Bahelgam terror attack. Look at how all political parties have united stood behind the government of India to target and criticize Pakistan for its role in sponsoring terrorism. So during such critical instances, it's important to build consensus amongst parties and when you have a deputy speaker from the opposition, it helps maintain that balance and bring that consensus amongst our political parties at the national level. But right now, unfortunately, this office has remained vacant for six plus years. That is why the writer is expressing concern about the state of affairs in the Lok Sabha. Now some might argue that
13:59 maybe by accident the deputy speaker has not been appointed or maybe because of divisions within the Lok Sabha between parties this office has not been filled. But that not that doesn't appear to be the case according to the writer. It appears to the writer that there is a deliberate intent on the part of the government in the ruling party to ensure that this position doesn't go to the opposition to ensure that the office remains vacant and in a way gives a free path a free basically a free path for the ruling party to push its legislative agenda. That is where the concern comes up according to the writer that the ruling party which has a majority is bulldozing through the parliamentary debates and discussions and this office has been left vacant with deliberate
14:47 intent and this undermines democracy. It undermines parliamentary democracy. This is a constitutional anomaly that the writer is pointing out. So what can be the solution? What can we do? What can be the way forward? Let's say there's a question based on this. So what you can suggest is that maybe there should be a reform, a constitutional reform or maybe a legal change which will prescribe a time limit within which the office of the speaker and deputy speaker has to be filled after a new Lok Sabha has been constituted post elections. Maybe set a time limit of 30 days or 60 days. But after a new O Sabha starts sitting in the house, 30 days from then
15:34 or 60 days from then there should be a time limit which has to be set either in the constitution itself by amending article 93. The term as soon as maybe can be replaced by a specific time limit which will become binding on the government as well. Or there could be a separate law brought in which pro provides for the time limit. Or there could be a procedure where the president is given this authority to consult the prime minister or the speaker of the Lok Sabha and appoint a deputy speaker within a prescribed time limit. So either through a legislative reform or through a constitutional amendment this has to be provided so that the office of deputy speaker doesn't go vacant because never in the
16:22 history of India's independence we have seen this office remain vacant for six plus years. So that is why this article is very important both for prelims and mains helps you understand the significance of the office of the deputy speaker of Lok Sabha. So what do you think about this issue? Let me know in the comments. Do you think the government has deliberately kept this office vacant or is it just just an oversight and we shouldn't be too harsh maybe on the ruling party? What do you think? Let me know in the comments. So take up this practice question for your mains. The office of the deputy speaker of Lok Sabha is not merely a ceremonial seat but also a constitutional imperative. Discuss. So is this position just symbolic and ceremonial in nature or is
17:08 it a constitutional imperative? To discuss this question, what you can do is maybe start out with a good introduction by talking about the constitutional provision. You can start with the provision of article 93. Then once you provide the introduction, introduce the office of the deputy speaker. Maybe talk about the history or that could be the introduction as well. Right? You can take another approach where you talk about the origin of this office. Try and explain why this office has been significant even pre-independence and how it has been pivotal post independence. Then list out the functions performed by the deputy speaker. Highlight the significance of this office. Point out why this office cannot remain vacant. And finally suggest a way forward to ensure that the
17:53 office doesn't remain vacant. What can be done? That will complete your answer. Now let's move on to the next article and let's look at this uh column on page number nine which is very relevant for governance and as well as for economy. This article is looking at India's urban spaces. The article is focused on Indian cities which are dealing with the massive challenge of urbanization. The writers are raising a very pertinent question. They're asking whether Indian cities are prepared for the future. Are Indian cities capable of dealing with the challenges, the risks that are present in the coming years and coming decades? Because if you look at Indian cities, be it New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Kolkata or Chennai or
18:40 Mumbai, they face multiple problems that arise due to unplanned rapid urbanization. I'm sure most of you will agree with me that India's urbanization has been rapid and it has been largely unplanned. It has been ad hoc. Our cities are not planned enough. They are not designed to take in the population which they are holding today. They're not capable of dealing with the fresh population which is coming in the migrants who are pouring into our cities because we are witnessing a continuous shift of Indian population from rural areas towards urban areas. Today more than 30% of India's population is urban
19:26 dwelling population. And look at the kind of problems and challenges present in our urban cities. Be it the challenge of pollution, air pollution, water pollution is at alarming levels where it poses a significant threat to human health. It is directly responsible for increased morbidity rates. Lacks of people their health is getting compromised and we are seeing a significant death count because of higher levels of air and water pollution in the country. Look at the traffic congestion. Cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru are notorious for the deadly traffic conditions. The roads are not well planned. They lack the required infrastructure. Then look
20:12 at how cities report water shortage, power shortage especially during the summer months when there is a higher requirement for water and electricity during peak summer when the temperatures are higher. Most cities run out of water. Would have heard about cities like Delhi, Begaluru and others running out of water supply leading to critical water shortage. The shortage in electricity as well due to increased demand for cooling during summer months. It highlights the significant challenges facing our cities. Look at the divide present, the social divide which is present in our cities. the income divide that you
20:58 find because in urban areas don't assume that the population is entirely made up of middle class and upper middle class and the rich. In fact, a large proportion of urban population is comprised of the poor class, those who are below the poverty line. And there's a stark divide between the lower classes and the ultra rich in the cities. Whereas the upper class and the rich can access all services, all facilities at a premium price, the same is not available. It's not even accessible or affordable for the common man. This income social divide which is also prevalent creates multiple challenges. So the fact is, the established fact is thatanian cities are not only facing
21:44 incredible challenges, they're also grossly unprepared for the challenges that are going to come up in the next few years, in the next few decades. If you look at climate change and the impact of climate change, if you look at the long-term consequences of climate change on urban conglomerates, it is very evident that Indian cities are inadequately prepared for the upcoming challenges. Now look at the phenomena known as urban heat island. I'm sure you would have studied this concept in environment and ecology. Rising temperatures and rapid unplanned urbanization is creating this effect as to what we call as urban heat island where the center of the city gets heated
22:29 up significantly compared to the suburbs. So the higher concentration of buildings, the destruction of the natural buffers, the destruction of the green cover, the destruction of the wetlands, lakes and rivers has led to significant rise in temperature at the center part of the city and this has a detrimental effect not just on the ecosystem but on the population on the flora and fauna. So this is leading to deadly consequences. This could result in spread of various diseases which again will affect the vulnerable population, the poor population. This could destroy the livelihood of those who earn a daily wage. This could disrupt the social
23:16 order itself. So there are many pressing problems that we are facing today in our cities. And the worst part is Indian cities are not prepared for the future challenges. If we are not prepared for the present- day challenges, we weren't prepared for the past challenges as well, there's no way that we would be prepared for the coming future challenges as well. So where does the fault lie? Whom do you blame for this? The blame lies with of course your urban local bodies. Primarily they are responsible for governance at the city level, your municipal bodies, your city corporations. The reason for their failure is the politicization of urban local bodies. So in a way the state governments the center also share the
24:04 blame though they have come out with various schemes provided dedicated funding for urban rejuvenation urban transformation it has not been sufficient because there is no comprehensive holistic planning for sustainability. Our cities are not built to be resilient. Our cities are not built to be sustainable. In a world which is affected by global warming and climate change, disasters will become more common. Natural disasters will be more frequent, more intense. Take for example urban flooding or let's say the increased incidents of fires because of higher temperatures. So as natural disasters increase in their frequency and in their magnitude,
24:49 cities will become even more vulnerable. Rising sea levels threaten the coastal cities of India. But Indian cities are grossly unprepared. They have no focus on climate resilience. Building climate resilience into urban planning is a necessity. It's not a choice. It's absolutely essential. But most of our cities are not prepared for this because at the local body level at the grassroot level your urban local bodies are not putting enough thought they're not putting enough effort enough resources are not being allocated to provide for a holistic development of Indian cities. Recently a report was brought out by sustainable futures collective. It's a research organization also known
25:37 as sustainable futures collaborative. This study focuses on the sustainability of cities because under the United Nations sustainable development goals, there is a specific goal that focuses on urban development. This is SDG number 11. SDG11 calls for creating inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities for the future so that the cities ensure they are inclusive. They provide an inclusive environment for all communities irrespective of one's religion, cast, gender or income levels. It talks about creating safe cities, reducing the crime rate
26:22 because the divide present in a urban society accompanied with the possibility of increased disasters could directly contribute to increase in crime rate to ensuring the safety at the city level. Making cities resilient to withstand the impact of disasters to deal with various hazards including environmental hazards. It's a necessity right now and making our cities sustainable so that they're prepared for the future transition towards a more greener and cleaner economy. These are the four priorities identified under the SDG of the United Nations. Under SDG number 11, the goal set by 2030 is to achieve inclusive, safe, resilient and
27:08 sustainable cities. But most Indian cities are not prepared for this this uh goal which has been laid down by the UN. Now how do we track the performance? How do we measure where Indian cities stand with regard to SDG11? See the problem is we don't have any local index. You need a a good index which has been prepared a report which is based on scientific parameters. Now if you take NITI AOG's SDG urban index, the NITI Aayog does focus on urban governance and the challenges in our urban areas. It has developed the SDG urban index. It ranks around 57 six cities in India including the tier 2 cities based on 77 indicators. But the problem is very few of these indicators
27:55 align with SDG1 component. So this may not be the appropriate tracker to measure the progress of Indian cities with regard to achieving the targets of SDG1 of the United Nations. There are few global indices but they don't provide you the local context. For example, you might have heard about a popular magazine called The Economist. The Economist tracks urban transformation and challenges in urban areas around the world and brings out a index and ranks the cities. But this global organization doesn't really have much insight into Indian cities into the local context in India. So it's not truly representative of the Indian context. So what the writers have done the writers of this column they have taken Niti Aayog's data and they have
28:42 developed their own index by using various data from government reports be the 2011 census data data from national family health survey reports data from uh the periodic labor force survey and data from the urban index of NITI Aayog they've crunched all this data using a modeling technique and they have ranked different cities on the four parameters of SDG11 that is inclusivity, safety, resilience and sustainability to compare and check which Indian cities perform the best when it comes to these SDG parameters of the UN and which cities are the worst performers. So according to this study conducted by the writers of this article, Ahmedabad ranked first
29:29 with regard to inclusivity. So when it comes to ensuring our cities are inclusive, Ahmedabad has been ranked right at the top with Jaipur being ranked at the bottom. When it comes to urban safety with regard to crime rates in particular, policing etc. Bengaluru has been ranked as the safest city in India with Kolkata getting the lowest rank. Surat has been ranked at the top in terms of sustainability with Kolkata at the last position. In terms of climate resilience, Chennai is at the top. So this parameter that the writers have used provides us some insight at
30:16 least regarding how our cities are performing on the four important pillars of SDG1. So going forward our urban local bodies have to take note of these challenges. Urban local bodies have a bigger responsibility to come out with such local indices to track their own progress and development to identify the future challenges. State governments have to enable them. The center has to design better schemes, better initiatives. Right now whatever programs are there be it the Amrit initiative the smart city program they are all peacemeal approaches they provide some amount of fund some resources and usually they are one-time grants they don't really solve
31:02 the comprehensive problems set of problems present at the city level so what you need is a groundup approach a bottom up approach where urban local bodies take the ownership and for that to happen. The political parties have to ensure they don't meddle with the functioning of urban local bodies. The parties which are in power especially at the state and the center they often politicize the urban local bodies for their political interests. So this ends up breeding corruption within our municipal corporations, our city corporations. And there is absolutely no holistic focus on preparing our cities for the future. Forget the future. They're not even preparing our cities for the present day
31:47 challenges. So that is the reason why you see that across Indian cities, our infrastructure is creaking. It's crumbling under the weight of the population. Safety is under threat. Crime rates are increasing in our cities. Cities, as I said, have a huge income and social divide. They're not inclusive at all. While the rich and the upper middle class can access everything, the middle class and the lower classes struggle to even access the basic necessities. Cities are no longer affordable for millions of people in our urban areas. Cities are not resilient to withstand the impact of disasters and they are definitely not sustainable. They're not being built for the future. So this is like a wakeup call for urban planners, for policy makers, for
32:33 government leaders. So based on this important topic please take up this practice question. UPSC will definitely focus on urban governance and urban challenges. We have got lot of questions based on this in the past and you can anticipate such questions again. Are Indian cities prepared to handle the challenges of the future. Examine I know I painted a very pessimistic picture of this topic because that was the essence of this article. But of course when you're writing an answer you need to talk about some government initiatives as well. You need to present the optimistic side as well because your answer has to look more balanced right so I'm trying to tell you that ensure that you bring more balance into your answers. What you can do is talk about some government schemes and initiatives which have actually shown results on the
33:19 ground. You can talk about let's say how urban transportation today is being pushed towards clean sources of energy. You can talk about the smart city initiative which has helped in establishing integrated command and control centers in our cities which is helping local bodies to collect realtime data and use it for better governance in the real time. So take some specific case studies and examples in our cities or from what you know or let's say an example from the city where you are from and quote those examples to show that yes our local governments can do better as well. So that that presents a more balanced picture about this topic. Now let's take up the next topic on page 18 and 13. We have two articles today
34:06 related to what happened at the UN security council at the UN SE when a debate was pushed on the horrific pahelgam terror attack. The United States which is one of the five permanent members of UNC pushed a proposal to condemn the Pelgam terror attack. The United States with the backing of France, India and other countries. They've tabled a resolution at the UN Security Council to discuss about this horrific terror attack. And what happened here is something that is crucial for India. It's important to observe what happened and and draw
34:51 lessons from the experience over here. See the UNCE the UN security council is without a doubt the most powerful organ of the UN. It consists of 15 members. There are five permanent members the P5 that is US, UK, France, Russia and China which carry the veto power. And then there are 10 non-permanent elected members who are elected for a 2-year term. So this is the composition of the UNC. Now if you look at the UN charter and see what is the mandate of UN security council. According to the UN charter the role of UNC is to maintain international peace and
35:36 security to deal with global conflicts to deal with counterterrorism to deal with nuclear disarmament also to look after peacekeeping missions and to deploy peacekeeping forces that is the primary role of UN security council. So countering terrorism is clearly one of the priority mandates of UN security council. So the decisions of the UNC the resolutions which are adopted it does have a significant impact in our fight against terrorism. As you know, India is one of the biggest victims of terror. Not just any ordinary terror, but we are a victim of state sponsored terrorism where our neighboring country Pakistan is actively sponsoring a covert war, a covert proxy war against India. And the
36:22 Pelgum terror attack was one example of that. So when this discussion was brought up, the UNC members, they definitely criticized the terror attack. They expressed their sympathy to India and the victims of this terror attack. They showed solidarity with India. They urged countries to work together to end all forms of terrorism. They urged global cooperation. They urged countries to work with India to help India to ensure that the perpetrators of this attack are brought to justice. All this is good for India. But however, let me tell you something shocking in this debate and resolution
37:08 which was finally adopted. There is not a single mention of the terrorist group that carried out the attack. The resistance front, the TRF which openly claimed this attack initially. It has not even been mentioned. Its links with Lashkar Toby, a globally designated terror organization has not even been mentioned. its links with Pakistan and the Pakistani state support to these terrorist organizations has not even been mentioned and more importantly the fact that the terrorists targeted the tourists on the basis of religion has been excluded the religion-based
37:55 targeting of Hindu tourists in particular has not been mentioned at all in this UNC debate and resolution that was adopted. Essentially the UNC statement has been diluted. It has been watered down. So why was this done? Who was responsible for this? I think can already guess who was responsible for this China. One of the five permanent members which carries the veto and not just China, Pakistan itself. Because don't forget right now Pakistan is part of UNC. It is a member of the UNC. It has been elected as a non-permanent member from 2025 to 2026. Pakistan is
38:40 serving a 2-year term as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council. Obviously, Pakistan would not allow a resolution targeting itself. So with the help of China which has been a all-w weather friend both of them have worked together to dilute and water down the debate of UNC on the palgam terror attack. This is something that is concerning and obviously India is well aware of these tactics. It's not happening for the first time. China has shielded Pakistan many times in the past at the United Nations. For example, at the UN Security Council, there is a sanctions committee, the 1267 sanctions committee through which global terrorists can be designated and
39:26 sanctions can be imposed on them. So if a terrorist is designated as a global terrorist through the 1267 sanctions committee, also known as the Taliban, Al-Qaeda or ISIS sanctions committee, those terrorists will be under three types of sanctions. Their right to movement will be restricted which means UN members will be obligated to arrest them, detain them if they detect their presence in their country. There will be economic sanction on them. All their assets, financial assets will have to be frozen by the UN members. Their ability to raise funds will have to be targeted by the UN member states. Their ability to raise weapons, access weapons has to be restricted. These sanctions will apply on these UN designated terrorists. So in the past India has pushed many
40:12 names be it the leader of Lashkartoa and Jamatu Dava Hafi Sed Zaku Raman Lakid thea mastermind of 261 attacks as a top LE commander all these names have been designated at India's insistence with the help of US France Russia and others but each and every time China would raise objections China would try to block the designation of these Pakistani sponsored Pakistani based terrorists. The bigger concern for was for us was when Pakistan tried to shield the designation of Masud Azar the chief of Jesu. India made multiple attempts after the Uri attacks and Pulwama attacks and
40:58 each time China kept blocking our attempts by citing technical reasons and giving excuses that India is not providing enough evidence to link them with Pakistan. Each and every time China managed to block those names and it took lot of effort from India's side to collaborate with US, France and others to finally designate these terrorists as global terrorists. Today Hafi say is a globally designated terrorist. Masoud was finally designated after Pulwama attack after China was pressurized by the other P5 members. So there is a long history of China shielding and protecting Pakistan from India's accusations that Pakistan is a state sponsor of terrorism. So what lesson can we draw from here? The lesson we can draw here is that UN may not be a fair
41:45 platform especially given that countries like China, Pakistan and some of their allies, they might undermine India's interests. At the same time, India can utilize the platform by working with other allies. There are other countries which stand with India. Don't think UN is a useless platform. The UN does serve a critical purpose when it comes to counterterrorism. In fact, UN can be a great platform for India to corner and isolate Pakistan through our course of diplomacy. After the 26th Mumbai attacks, the then Manmones government did a very good job of bringing international pressure on Pakistan by using the UN platform. The Modi government as well after a series of attacks on military installations be the Patangot air base attack or the Uri and Pulama attacks. We use the UN platform
42:32 to bring international pressure on Pakistan to isolate the country and ensure that Pakistan takes some action against these state sponsored terrorists. So that is exactly what India will be doing now as well. In fact, India has already reached out to all global capitals to show evidence to provide them with proper scientific intelligence based reports to link the Pelgam attack with Pakistani sponsored terrorists. India has been submitting this evidence to the envoys of other countries who are sent to their high commissions and embassies in Delhi. So, India is appealing to the global community to see those linkages. We have done this in the past as well to expose Pakistan and the same effort will be carried out again and we've already seen that happen. The other option for India
43:19 is to effectively use the platform of FATF financial action task force. India has done it in the past again after the 20161 Mumbai attacks the then Manm Singh government got Pakistan greylisted and Pakistan remained on the grrey list for 3 years from 2012 to 2015. FATF is this intergovernmental body which acts against moneyaundering and terrorist financing. It sets a global standard against moneyaundering, terror financing and countries have to implement them. Those countries which don't, they can be penalized and FATF can grreylist them and eventually blacklist those countries as well. So Pakistan was grreylisted again after the Uri attacks from 2018 all the way until 2022.
44:06 Pakistan has been grreylisted multiple times as India built up the pressure with the help of other countries such as US, France and others for assisting India in the counterterror efforts of India. So though the resolution right now has been diluted and watered down. It doesn't mention Pakistan at all. It doesn't even mention the TRF and Lashkar. We still have an opportunity at the UN to corner Pakistan and isolate Pakistan. But we should be wary that yes, China as a permanent member will always be ready to block the Indian effort and shield Pakistan. And India also has another option. See, India had pioneered a convention at the global level. In 1996, India had pushed for the comprehensive convention on
44:52 international terrorism, the CCIT. It's a India proposed convention to counter terrorism at the global level. India has proposed a uniform definition of terrorism without any distinction between so-called good and bad terrorism. It creates a universal definition of terrorism and calls upon countries to target all forms of terrorism. This convention is mainly focused on state sponsored terrorism. It calls upon UN members to not provide any space to not provide safe havens and sanctuaries for terrorists and to counterterrorist financing. It contains some very stringent provisions to tackle state sponsor terrorism. But this proposal by India has not
45:38 received enough support from other countries. It has not been adopted yet. But India keeps pushing for it. Each and every time we have a discussion on counterterrorism, India reminds the UN of the CCIT, the comprehensive convention on international terrorism that was proposed by India which is still pending because many countries are not supporting this convention pushed by India. So we need to use these incidents and bring more pressure on the global community maybe to push for the adoption of CCIT which specifically targets state sponsored terrorism. These are the options that are lying ahead in front of India and according to Indian officials. The dilution of the UNC statement is still not a big
46:23 setback. Though the statement has been watered down, it is still significant that the UN took note of the attack and condemned the incident and expressed support for India and has urged all UN members to stand with India and support India as we hunt down these terrorists who were responsible for this attack. It still gives us enough room to build that pressure on Pakistan and to expose Pakistan in front of the world. So let's keep tracking this developing story because India's course of diplomacy will continue against Pakistan. We will see more diplomatic efforts at the UN at FATF where we will try to corner Pakistan. Now coming to the next topic on page 11, we have a very interesting article today. It's a very conceptual article which can be relevant for society which which can be important for
47:08 your essay paper as well and for some optional papers as well. This article here talks about a concept in our society. The epoch that our society is currently going through which is referred to as risk society. What do you mean by risk society? Who coined this term this concept? The term risk society was coined by Ulrich Beck in his book risk society towards a new modernity. Olrich Beck was a well-renowned sociologist who studied societies, the evolution of societies, modernization of human society.
47:53 According to Ulrich Beck, human society has gone through different phases of evolution. different phases of modernization and currently we are in a phase which he refers to as risk society. So what is this risk society? Risk society is a industrial society which is transitioning to the next stage of modernization where we are facing lot of uncertaintities and new hazards because of all the changes that are happening in technology and the changes happening in our environment. Such a society is referred to by Ulrich Pek as a risk society.
48:39 Let me explain this again in as simple words as possible. Now take a industrial society for example. Let's say 30 years ago, 40 years ago, we were already a industrialized society, right? A modern industrialized society. This society which the world had seen, it was now transitioning to the postindustrial stage. There were new rapid developments happening in technology. Computers came up, new forms of communication came up. Today we have technologies such as AI which is revolutionizing and changing the very nature of societies and this has been accompanied with hazards in the environment, increased pollution because of industrial development, climate change, global warming which is driving
49:26 disasters. These hazards, these uncertaintities which we have created, these man-made hazards which have come up, it is posing a risk to the industrial society and such a society is called a risk society. So let's understand this in slight detail why it is important. See according to Ulrich Beck in recent times let's say in last 30 years we have seen some mega disasters that have occurred be it the Chernobyl nuclear accident or the Fukushima nuclear accident or the recent coid9 pandemic all these disasters are primarily man-made in nature or at least they have anthropogenic origin to it they caused major disruption they caused large scale human suffering the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima left behind
50:12 environmental tragedy and it had a huge impact on the population in the affected area. The coid9 pandemic had a global impact which led to shutdown of global economies because see in an interconnected world in an industrial society where the economies have globalized where supply chains are connected where people are moving from country to country the impact of such events cannot be contained to one region or one population it's going to affect the entire world the entire society. So these events which usually have a anthropogenic origin a man-made link they can completely turn the world upside down they can have a disproportionate impact on the vulnerable weaker sections for example women will be
50:57 disproportionately affected poor people will be disproportionately affected older people will be disproportionately affected children will be disproportionately affected so that is the risk that you face in a risk society According to Ulrich Beck, there are three distinct epochs in human modernity. As human civilization, human society has evolved over centuries. We can classify this into three distinct epochs or three distinct eras essentially. So the first epoch according to Olrich Beck is the pre-industrial society before industrialization began which means we have to go back thousands of years ago. In a pre-industrial society where
51:43 mankind was just evolving and adopting civilization the only threat that was faced was at the local level. The risk that was faced at that point imagine it was only agrarian economy. Humans were largely hunter gatherers who were just settling down who had just started agriculture. So their only concern risk at that point was the natural risks that were present. The wild animals might have been a risk. Some natural disasters maybe heavy rains or floods or droughts femines those would have been the risks that were present but these were heavily localized. Even if a disease were to spread, there would be localized epidemics limited to one population because the pre-industrialized world was not interconnected world. It was not a
52:29 globalized world. Even if a new pathogen broke out and affected a population, it would not spread to other parts of the world. So that was the nature of a pre-industrial society. Then we entered the world of industrialization. When I say industrial society, don't assume just the industrial revolution of Europe. Europe might have industrialized recently but much before that many centuries before that there were civilizations which industrialized much much ahead of Europe. Take for example India, China. These great ancient civilizations achieved industrialization a long time ago. So in an industrial society which you have seen over the past let's say thousand years mankind has faced different types of challenges because there are new technologies coming up
53:16 creating new problems a new form of economy has developed creating lot of new challenges. So with industrialization, with large scale production, what you see is pollution which threatens the environment which threatens human health. Significant air pollution, water pollution, resource depletion itself is a threat. It's a risk. Technologies become a risk as new weapons were developed. Wars became much more dangerous. New diseases would spread far and wide with increase in transportation, with increase in mobility. As human population could move across large distances due to new forms of transportation, diseases would spread turning even epidemics into pandemics. So industrial society started
54:01 facing these were risks. Industrial disasters could happen. There could be explosion in a factory. There could be a meltdown of a nuclear reactor. These risks are compounding and today we are entering the risk society. The writer says we are already in the risk society epoch. In the last 40 years itself we have entered the risk society epoch where the lack of checks and balances in a industrial society has created these compounding problems which has basically become vicious cycle where man-made events today are threatening the very survival of mankind. So the disasters we are seeing today has gone grown exponentially bait the industrial
54:47 accidents that you might witness the pandemics which we have experienced in recent times the wars and conflicts changes in technology changes in environment they are posing new risks new risks that we have never faced look at the risk posed by AI right we have discussed this topic several times in previous classes. AI poses one of the most serious challenges to human civilization itself. It could append the very order of human civilization. So new technologies like AI could change the nature of warfare. It could undermine democracies. It could undermine human rights. The world, the human society right now is not prepared for it. So
55:33 that is the core argument of Olrich Beck. He says risk society is dangerous especially for the weaker population those who are at a disadvantage because new technology and environmental challenges create new risks new problems and this has a disproportionate impact on the vulnerable classes on the weaker sections. The writers here specifically look at the gendered perspective. They look at how women will be primarily at the receiving end of technological changes and environmental changes. Because in inherently patriarchal societies where women are expected to perform traditional roles in the household as a caregiver, women end up being at a disadvantage because first of all their
56:20 access to good health and nutrition and education is limited in lot of orthodox conservative households. They may not own any property or land. They may not have a job. They may not have enough livelihood on their own. So women though they provide care at the family level, take care of children, take care of the elderly, they're not compensated for this. So they're not financially independent. Their health would have taken a hit. Their education would have been compromised. Their livelihood skills and opportunities would have been compromised. And upon that, if there are new technological risks and environmental risks, women will face a even bigger challenge. They'll find it even more difficult to cope with the future society which is building up. The risk society that we are seeing today is
57:05 much more difficult for women. The same holds good for other disadvantaged classes as well. Be it for children, be it for older people, be it for poor countries, the poor population of the world. In a risk society, the weaker sections are at a bigger disadvantage because risk society has a disproportionate impact. These human created threats, the man-made threats which are arising or anthropogenic linked threats which are coming up in the environment, right? Or technological hazards which are coming up, they threaten the weaker sections much more than the privileged sections. So this is what you mean by the concept of risk society as envisioned by Ulrich Beck. So I think it's a very interesting concept that you can bring in to your answers
57:50 especially in society or even in your ethics paper or in your essay paper. Now coming to the next article on page four there's an article related to India Nepal border. The topic is relevant for border security under internal security. The Uttar Pradesh state government has taken up a measure recently to clear the illegal encroachments that were present along the India Nepal border following the Pahelgam terrorist attack. State governments have gone on high alert especially the border states to step up vigilance to to ensure that the security threats are contained. The UP state government has taken it one notch higher and it has ordered the destruction of all the illegal encroachments and
58:37 clearing of the encroached land within 15 kilometers of the India Nepal border. Now this move of UP state government has raised a lot of concern as well. The UP state government has justified the action because obviously government has a right to clear illegal encroachments and even to recover encroach land. But the manner in which it has been done has been criticized because no notice or no time has been given for the people to evacuate because lot of traders, lot of local businesses are dependent on it. So experts are predicting that this move by UP government could impact the crossber trade between India and Nepal. So in this context you need to understand something about India Nepal border. The
59:23 India Nepal border which you can see in the map over here it is shared between Uttarkand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal and Sikkim. These are the border states that share the border with Nepal with this Himalayan state. Now if you look at the borders towards UP and Bihar, it's largely the plain area the belt which is present. So there are many border villages present right along the border. It's quite densely populated as well and some of the border areas they have these riveriney networks formed by the Himalayan rivers which are flowing down mainly the Ganga and its tributaries. There are many wetlands and forested areas as well. But if you move towards Uttarakand and Sikkim, this is where you
1:00:09 find the covering Himalayan mountains which act as the India Nepal border. So it's a very diverse border geographically right if you look at the physical geography the terrain the the overall topography it's a very complex terrain which is present. So this complex terrain of the border has created many gaps many natural gaps in the border and this makes it naturally porous. India Nepal border is highly porous because of this unique topography. Physical geography has a big role to play. And also India and Nepal have created a system of open borders under the 1950 treaty of peace and friendship which is the foundation
1:00:54 of India and Nepal relations. The two countries have decided to keep their borders open meaning we have no hard border controls. It's a soft open border which means Indians don't need a passport or a visa to enter Nepal and vice versa. It allows for free movement of people and goods including goods carrying vehicles. This special arrangement was created to protect the civilizational cultural relationship between India and Nepal. Since Nepales are dependent on India, India has deep linkages with Nepal. There are historical pilgrimage sites of Hinduism and Buddhism present in both countries. To maintain those civilizational, cultural, economic ties, the border has been kept as a open border. But sometimes an open border can be
1:01:40 misused especially by organized criminal cartels. Those who are involved in drug trafficking, arms trafficking. We have seen instances of this border being misused by knil who formed links with Nepali Mao and were smuggling weapons into India. We have seen Pakistan misuse Nepal turn Nepal into a terror base against India. In 1990s in particular, Pakistan and its intelligence agency the ISI had set up a terror base in Nepal to push terrorists into India to carry out its covert war against India. So such open borders can be a security risk as well especially when it is naturally porous. It's highly porous. So it's in this context that the UP government has taken up this measure to clear the encroachments within 15 km of
1:02:27 the border. But however, local traders, local people and experts are warning that this could have a detrimental impact when you don't give enough time to the local people. Right? See, most of them don't pose a security threat. Yes, maybe some of them might be misusing the route for smuggling, for trafficking. Terrorists also might be misusing the route. But you can't take action without providing ample time because this could uproot livelihoods. lot of local businesses, local traders would be dependent on the facilities they had set up near the border. This had been the lifeline of the India Nepal border trade. The crossber trade is critical for local economy. So if you're uprooting that in one single move without providing enough time, then this could create a deadly counter effect. So
1:03:13 that is what some people have warned regarding the decision of the UP government to create clear these encroachments. So with this I've completed my detailed discussion of all the big topics today. Now we come to the prelim section where we have one topic just one article. It's not an article it's more of an advertisement. The government of Hiana has published an ad in today's newspaper. You might be wondering why is sir discussing advertisements now. I know it's not relevant but there are some ads which can be relevant especially if it's from the government. This advertisement pays tribute to Sri Gurut Bahadur on the occasion of Pash Utsaf. So who is Sri Guru Tek Bahadur? Sri Gurut Bahadur is a very very important historical figure a
1:04:00 spiritual figure in Sikhism. Gurut Bahadur was the ninth of the 10 gurus who founded Sikkism and Gurut Badur is celebrated for his bravery for defending and protecting his community against the atrocities that was unleashed by Orurange under the Mughal rule. Gurut Bahadur was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind who was the sixth AI guru and he was a well-renowned poet and writer as well. has contributed immensely to spirituality and the seek faith. Many of his hymns and poems have made it to the Gurugrant Sahib, the sacred text in Sikhism. In fact, it was Gurut Bahadur
1:04:47 who established and built the city of Anandpur Sahib which is very very sacred in Sikhism. Gurut Bahadur also acted as a diplomat when he negotiated peace between Rajab Bishan Singh and Raja Paranal thus preventing a devastating war. He stood up against the tyranny of Aurang as well protecting the Sikh community. He was a well-trained warrior. He was well trained in archery, in horse riding. He was known for his battlefield skills as well. He he was someone who was wellversed with Hinduism and Hindu scriptures such as Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas. So he's widely celebrated, revered not just in the Sik community,
1:05:32 in the Hindu community as well. And the contribution of Guru Teahadur is something which is marked and celebrated till this day. He was executed eventually on the orders of Arang. So that day is marked as Shahid Divas. This is what you need to note about this important topic and with this let's bring today's discussion to an end. I hope it's been a fruitful useful discussion. Let me know what you think in the comments and uh as I said please express your views as well on all these topics. Don't just be a viewer. Don't just watch the sessions. After each and every article I'm I'm asking you I'm urging you to express your views so that you develop that critical thinking as well. And if you have noticed our discussions are never factual. It's ne it's not just focused on the facts
1:06:19 right. We go beyond the facts and we try to make it analytical. We make it more critical so that you develop your thought. You develop your own analysis because eventually you have to be able to write main's answers, descriptive answers in your own words to bring out your critical thinking. So start expressing those views in the comments. It will help all of you. So what you think about these topics? If you have a different viewpoint, if you have something to add to it, do mention that in the comments. We will take a look at it and if I find something useful, maybe I'll try to bring it up in the next discussion. That is it for today. Thanks for watching. We'll see you tomorrow.
