0:11 Hello, good morning and welcome to an academy IAS a one-stop destination for all the English medium civil services aspirants. This is Sham Kaguro bringing you the Hindu news analysis for the date 30th April 2025. In today's session to have a very comprehensive discussion. I've taken a total of 10 articles. Nine of them are from the Hindu newspaper Delhi edition and one article from the Indian Express. This has been done in order to ensure that this question will be comprehensive and questions asked in the civil services examination either prelims or mains can be easily answered by all of you. If you like this initiative, do not forget to hit the like button and if you
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1:45 price of 179. And if you use the code is English, you'll also get an extension of 12 months free of cost. In a nutshell, you pay for 12, you get 24 months subscription for your courses. I have been told that the offer is going to end today. Those who are interested, check out the details by clicking on the link provided in the description below. Now, let me start the discussion. The first article editorial page growth banks. What are the important points here? Point number one. Those who are wondering as well as wandering outside, you'll be wondering whether you should remember this particular table. Answer to that question is absolutely no. Do
2:32 not waste your time. Important points are these. Point number one, there is an indicator called as index of industrial production. IIP index of industrial production. What does the IIP essentially measure? Please understand. Index of industrial production measures changes in the volume of production. What is the change in the volume of production? It will measure that and month-on-month basis. That is every month the data is published. Who will publish this data? This is published by M O SPI, Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation. The importance of this
3:18 particular data is to basically find out what is happening in terms of production of goods in the domestic market. We measure the IIP by looking at three very important areas. One is mining industry or mining sector. Second one is the manufacturing and the third one is the electricity. Please remember third one is the electricity. So these are the three very important areas which are tracked and in these particular three areas what has happened to the production volumes. Has it increased? Has it decreased compared to the same time period in the previous year that is published every month and all the three
4:07 do not have same kind of a importance. Please understand there's a term called as a weightage and some of you might be thinking sir what is the importance of a weightage? Why do we need to provide weightage? Reason is simple. All the three are not equally important. All the three will not have the same impact on the overall growth in the economy. That is the reason out of all the three manufacturing is given the highest weightage around 77%. Mining is given the second highest weightage around 14%. And electricity is given the weightage of around 8%. And I know some of you will be using your calculator now essentially calculating and saying sir 14 + 77 + 8% doesn't make
4:57 100%. You're wrong. You're basically doing ces set wrong etc. Please understand I'm saying these are approximate numbers or around numbers. There are decimal numbers. These are decimals. You don't worry. All the three put together will essentially give you 100%. But please understand what is there in the newspaper? Why should you study about index of industrial production? The newspaper article simply says there is a problem associated with the production in the Indian economy that is for the financial year 24 index of industrial production for the full year mind you for the full year had grown or had shown a growth of around
5:42 5.9%. Whereas for the financial year 25 it is growing around 4%. It is showing a growth of around 4%. Which means compared to last financial year that is in the financial year 25 you are experiencing a growth in the volume of production of around 4%. Some of you might be saying yes sir there is growth there is increased production but what is the concern here? Concern is very simple. If you break down this particular number in terms of let's say the components of IIP you'll observe that the mining sector is growing at a much lower pace almost half of what was the growth in the previous or almost a third of what was the growth in the
6:28 previous fiscal manufacturing it is lesser than what it was growing in the previous financial year and the electricity sector is also growing at a lesser percentage compared to the previous financial year. What is the outcome? What is the inference you need to make out of all of this? If the growth doesn't increase at a faster pace, if the overall production doesn't increase at a faster pace compared to let's say previous year or right average of last two years etc. It simply means there is some systemic problem. There is certain fundamentally something wrong with the Indian economy. Why are we not producing more? Then
7:13 question is very simple. Why are we not producing more? Why are we not exporting more? Why are we not selling more? Is it not a very important question for you to ask when you look at these kind of trends regarding IIP? The reason behind this kind of a growth in IIP is said to be one the uncertaintities. I'll write here what are the reasons? what are the causes, the uncertaintities as well as the volatilities that are present in the global market. Now I will simply call this as a Trump factor. I'll call this as a Trump factor because of the policies of the president of USA. There is a lot of uncertaintity in the global
8:00 market, lot of volatility in the global market and will this have an impact on the Indian market? Yes, the exports from the Indian market have shown a muted growth. Exports have shown a muted. Muted essentially means there is largely there is any perceptible change. There is no perceptible change in terms of exports that we are doing in this year compared to last financial year. So exports have shown a muted growth and mind you if exports do not grow at a very faster pace doesn't increase at a faster pace it will have a huge impact on the industries in India especially MSMES micro small and medium enterprises
8:49 MSMES and MSMES play a very important role for a simple reason around 45% of the exports come from the MSMES lot of jobs are present in the MSMES they contribute to the GDP of India etc. So if there is a pressure on the export it will translate to MSMES and the MSMES account for a very large chunk of economic activity they will also be affected. Second one second reason is what about the consumption? What about the consumption? And please understand whenever you talk about consumption, you can talk about this in the form of rural and urban consumption. You can talk in
9:35 the context of consumer durables as well as consumer nondurables. And I know some of you will be talking or some of you will be thinking sir what do you mean by consumer durables and consumer nondurables? If you purchase a packet of biscuit, if you purchase a packet of bread, if you purchase a packet of let's say cold drink or a bottle of cold drink, you'll consume it very quickly. Maybe we'll you will wait for one day, two day and some of you might be consuming this right now as you're listening to the session. These are consumer durables, right? These are consumer nondurables. That is you'll essentially consume it at a very faster pace. you will not store it for a longer duration. On the other side, you
10:22 purchase a car, you purchase an AC, you purchase a washing machine. These are durables in nature. These will be used for a very longer duration. And what is the importance of all of this? The importance the consumption has been affected in the domestic market. The consumption has been affected especially the rural consumption especially the rural consumption has been affected because of multiple reasons. For example, if inflation if inflation rate is very high, don't you think that will have an impact on the kind of goods and services the number of goods and services that you'll be consuming? If inflation rate
11:09 is very high, the amount of disposable income in the hands of the consumers, the purchasing power of it will be lesser. The rural households have not been able to generate sufficient amount of income that will have a higher impact on the consumption patterns. So the second reason why IIP is not registering a higher growth is because of the consumption. And the third reason is the private sector investment. Private sector investment and why is this important? Please understand this very carefully. The private sector unlike government of India will basically look at what is the demand for the goods and services and based on that they will
11:55 invest. All of you able to understand this very simple logic. The private sector are not in the market for charity purposes. They're in the market because they want to invest and generate more profits and that is the precise reason when the demand for the consumer goods and right let's say other types of goods is not growing very fast when there is a rising uncertaintity in the global market. Why do you think private sector will take a risk by investing more and more money? They will not take that risk. They will control their investment. And what is the impact of all of this? Let me add a current affairs point here. Very recently, Reserve Bank of India
12:40 that is through monetary policy, Reserve Bank of India reduced interest rates. All of you are following this. The Reserve Bank of India through the monetary policy reduced interest rates. And what was the logic of it? They wanted the interest rates in the market to come down. Loans to become cheaper. More and more consumers will take loans. More companies will take loans. Investment will kickstart or investments will increase, create employment opportunities, create demand for the goods and services and this will essentially contribute to higher GDP growth rate. But now look at all of this. Despite RBI reducing interest rates, IIP is not growing very fast. IIP
13:29 is not registering a higher growth rate. What does it simply mean? It simply means the impact of this policy of Reserve Bank of India has not been very effective. The policy has not been very effective in terms of driving growth in the economy. Now you'll have to wait and see in the coming days what kind of more policies will be undertaken by the government of India as well as the Reserve Bank of India in order to boost production in order to promote more and more production the Indian aircraft and one way one way the government of India can ensure confidence will return to the market more production will be kickstarted more investment will be kickstarted essentially is the bilateral
14:16 trade agreement ment PTA because mind you one of the biggest factors that is holding back investment that is holding back confidence in the Indian market is uncertainity in the global market and if government of India can sign an agreement with USA which will guarantee which will guarantee certain tariff or which will guarantee certain flow of the trade this will essentially prove to be right a very important outcome or a very uh let's say uh good outcome for the Indian economy in terms of investment by the private sector. Right? So these are the important points which have been mentioned in this article related to IIP and the connection to the GDP. Now associated with this I've given an MCQ
15:02 MCQ 100. Consider the following statements regarding IIP and GDP index of industrial production and gross domestic product. Both are published by MOSPI. Both have the same base year 2011 and 12. How many of these two statements are correct? Do let me know in the chat section. If not, don't worry. I'll give you the key answer at the end of the session. Next article, one more article in the central page. A powerful judicial remedy for waste management. Now, what are the important points that you need to understand? Listen to me carefully. Government of India is implementing multiple policies along with the state government
15:49 essentially to address the issue of waste management in India. Correct? Issue of waste management in India. Article is related to ecology and environment. Please be careful. But the issue related to waste management is discussed in this article. One very important issue raised is related to the plastic waste. Related to the plastic waste as per the recent estimates which have been provided by multiple sources and also through a survey India is the largest pollutant India is the largest pollutant of plastic. Remember this right? Largest pollutant of plastic.
16:35 And here is right let's say a tricky question for all of you after India or let's say along with India can you please name right let's say the top three countries in terms of plastic waste contribution to the global market who are the top three plastic polluters to the global market please do let me know and I know lot of you will go with our best friend again in a funnier way China and I know lot of you will go with USA but you will be wrong. You will be wrong in that particular context. Do let me know who are the remaining two along with India in the top three polluters in terms of plastic. Again in terms of plastic not the total pollution not the total emission only
17:21 plastic. Okay let me go forward. Now what is the issue here? The writer simply says although there is a number there is a particular number the number simply says India according to the latest study published is the largest pollutant of the plastic essentially releasing 9.3 million tons annually into the nature we release 9.3 million tons of plastic annually but the argument of right the writer is this will be an underestimation ation. This will be an underestimation. Why? Listen to me carefully. Now, how do we arrive at how much is the plastic pollution that is contributed by India?
18:07 We estimate. Correct? We collect the data and we provide estimates. But how do we collect the data? The data is published by Central Pollution Control Board, CPCB. And the CPCB will collect this particular data from the state pollution control boards SPCB and SPCB in turn will collect this particular data from the municipalities. Simple is it okay? They will collect the data from municipalities. But there are various issues regarding this methodology of data collection. What are the issues? one is there any specific methodology that is followed by these agencies and is it published in India right let's say
18:54 CPCB or right let's say even SPCB are they publishing right let's say how they are collecting data what is the methodology followed by them are they publishing this data is it available for you as well as me and other stakeholders to have a look at no there is no specific right data which is published regarding what is the methodology followed by them. Right? That is the first problem and this is important. Reason being as long as you don't know what is the methodology followed by these agencies to collect data and publish data how will you find out whether this data is correct or not? Whether the data is accurate or not and you need to have argument in favor of
19:39 let's say legitimacy of the data. Accuracy of the data isn't being you need to make policies correct. You need to formulate policies. On what basis do you formulate your policies based on the data collected? And if the data collection methodology is not transparent, is not accurate enough, what will you do in terms of making policies? That is the first issue. Second issue is a lot of this plastic waste, a lot of this plastic waste is not even collected. It is not even collected. For example, many of the times you must have seen in your own localities or somebody will say no sir, my locality is very
20:25 clean. You must have seen when you go to other cities, other localities where plastic is wast plastic waste is simply dumped on the roadside. Plastic waste is essentially lying on the road on which the vehicles will simply keep on passing by and the plastic will keep on flying and go on hit right let's say billion riders or uh let's say the cars etc. So in that particular case it simply means the data which is published by the government authorities is not accurate enough. What about let's say informal sector participants? Informal sector participants who will collect a lot of these waste from the households will collect or for example let's say battery. Battery has plastic
21:11 again one of the components is plastic. A lot of times we simply sell it to somebody kabadiala in the market is a participant of informal economy. Is this a data collected by the government? Again there is no clarity regarding this. Okay. So uh all of these are the important issues associated with the estimates of the plastic data that is given that is calculated in India and that's the reason the writer says there will be a gross underestimation. Is everybody okay with this? There is a gross underestimation and please don't ask me what is the problem if there is a plastic pollution in India. Please don't ask me what will happen if there is a plastic waste in India. Is hazardous.
21:56 Very simple. It is hazardous. So what should be done? What is the solution to this? Basically the writer says there is a need to have better estimation. There is a need to have better processes in India. Let me explain to you that there is a concept called as corporate social responsibility. Correct? There is a concept called as corporate social responsibility. In the same way, again I'll come to CSR in just uh just some time. Don't worry. In the same way, there is also a concept called as EPR extended producer responsibility. EPR extended producer responsibility. What is the meaning of extended producer responsibility?
22:42 Imagine I'm manufacturing a battery either for a two-heer or for a four-wheeler or for a truck etc. Now this particular right let's say batter is purchased by the consumers or by companies etc. I should set up a mechanism in such a way that even after using this battery, I should put in place a mechanism to collect the batteries back and recycle it. Very simple. I should collect it back and I should have a process of recycling all of this. The argument is one the data collection methodology should be reviewed. There should be a better process of data collection. Second one is there should be extended producer
23:29 responsibility will help us in recollecting recycling all of this and all the municipalities all the municipalities in India all the local authorities in India should be connected in terms of let's say having recycling facilities having let's say proper dumpy yards etc. So these are the recommendations which have been provided in this article associated with how to handle the waste management especially the plastic waste management and some of you'll be looking sir there's a term called as a judiciary here what is the role of the judiciary in this year there was an order issued by the supreme court of India in the context of tanneries in
24:16 Tamil Nadu point number one listen to me carefully these particular industries are mainly located again I'm talking about tanneries here these are mainly located in certain regions where sufficient industrialization is not there and according to the Supreme Court of India's observation these also pollute a lot the tanneries also pollute a lot especially the rivers or the lakes which are present in the vicinity of the tanneries lot of waste industrial waste hazardous waste is let allowed to flow flow into the let's say rivers, lakes, canals etc. Despite the government center state in in fact having multiple
25:02 policies against this the implementation has not been very effective. As a result of this when the tanneries will leak out or basically emit all of these hazardous waste the soil fertility in the region would be affected. people who are drinking this water or using this water for other purposes are affected their health is affected. So regarding this the Supreme Court of India has issued an order in the context of the Tamil Nadu tanneries where the Supreme Court has set up a committee asked the committee to review whether the policies the reform sorry regulations etc are being implemented correctly or not and report back to the Supreme Court of India and not just this
25:48 the Supreme Court also has imposed a heavy penalties on these itenaries. The state government is supposed to collect this utilize this money to provide relief to the affected population also conduct right let's say environmental protection measures in the vicinity of the tanneries. So essentially the argument is right uh supreme court of India is taking these measures in order to protect the environment also reclaim the environment done. So these are the two very important aspects which are discussed in the article here. So far so good. Everybody's okay. Please do let me know in the chat section. Everybody's okay. Somebody is saying sir, your voice is different today. Yes, my voice is different. And by the way, uh I'm taking Vix inhaler. Don't
26:34 say sir. No, I'm basically taking inhaler. I've got cold. That's the only reason. Okay, done. Let me go to the third article as mentioning corporate social responsibility. I'll connect it here. Net zero and tree cover expanding tree cover is essential or is crucial. What are the important points here? Point number one, India has set up a target of net zero emissions. Correct? India has set up a target of net zero emissions by 2070. Now in order to achieve these net zero emissions, the government is implementing multiple policies. But one such area where government needs to focus more according to the writer
27:20 here is basically to promote a forestation. Again a forestation will be a very narrow word. I will simply say a forestation plus planting trees. Planting trees. And some of you might be thinking sir what is the difference between a forestation planting trees? Planting of the trees can be done within the forest that will be called as a forestation. Expanding the forest cover can be done outside the forest also. For example, how many of you heard of the term agroforestry? Please do let me know in the chat section. How many of you heard of the term agroforestry? Agroforestry is a practice where in addition to cultivation of the crops, you'll also be
28:06 planting trees. will be planting multiple types of trees through which you can get let's say wood, you can get medicinal plants etc etc that practice is called as agroforestry. So government of India has been implementing multiple policies. For example, some of the policies mentioned in the article are one green India mission. Green India mission GIM. Please understand the concept of a green India mission is essentially a part of national action plan on climate change. NAPCC. Under NAPCC there are totally eight components. There are eight components. One of the component is green in
28:55 addition to green India mission there is also corporate social responsibility. What is this corporate social responsibility connected to planting of the trees and CSI initiative? The private sector companies who will come under this will have to spend at least around 2% of the average profits generated in the last 3 years. One of the ways that the companies are trying to meet the target under the CSR is essentially by promoting plantation. Planting of the trees is being conducted under the concept of corporate social responsibility. Now what what is the need of this? Right? What is the need of all of this? The need is very simple. Have a look at the fourth point now. Point number one, the
29:42 plants play a very important. What kind of role? One, they will absorb the carbon dioxide which is present in the air. That basic biology, they will absorb carbon dioxide which is present in the air. Will help us in controlling or reducing the emissions which are present in the atmosphere. Second, they will also help in protection of soil. in protection of soil. How so? Whenever you plant trees, right? Let's say the flow of the water, let's say there is excess rainfall, the flow of the water which will take away lot of the nutrients from the soil can be protected by having plantations right let's say because of the trees right the soil is loosened lot
30:28 of aeration will take place water can go up to certain depth because of this so it will also help in protecting and improving the quality of the soil and not to forget please understand the plantation is required. It will provide lot of other benefits such as providing timber providing timber which is used for economic activities providing medicinal or medicines which is used in production of various medicines or the drugs in the market etc. So these are some of the advantages which have been quoted in the context or uh basically to promote planting of the trees or promotion of forestation. But in the context of industrialization, understand this. The
31:14 author or the writer is connecting the plantation with the industrialization. In terms of industrialization also, you need to promote more and more plantation of the trees. How so? from 2026 European Union's CBA all of you heard of this CBA carbon border adjustment mechanism from 2026 CBA will come into force and once the CBA will come into force lot of Indian exports will start attracting tariffs or the taxes when they fall when they basically enter into European Union market and if you're wondering sir What would be the likely impact of CBAM? This data I've taken from economic survey.
32:00 This is a data that I' have taken from economic survey. Please have a look at this. Do not memorize the data. But sufficient to say lot of the industries in India would be affected with implementation of CBAM. Now when the exports would attract these kind of let's say taxes when they land into European Union market automatically exports from India will be affected they will start losing competitiveness right so what is the argument here promote more and more coverage promote right more and more forestation plantation of the trees but in this particular regard the writer says there is one issue one issue or one problem. What is the issue here? The
32:47 issue that is quoted essentially says in case of India right now, right now we do not have right I hope you understand robust carbon trading mechanism. Right now we do not have robust carbon trading policy in India. We should have this kind of a policy proposed by the government yet to be implemented. have a robust carbon trading or me uh let's say tracking and trading policy in the domestic market. So these are certain very important points which have been mentioned in the article. In addition to this, the government has already implemented multiple policies for plantation of the trees. More and more reforms at the state level at the central level should be implemented. For
33:34 example, promotion of more and more agroforestry done right. So these are important points. Before I go forward, let me ask you a very simple question. Okay, let me see. According to you people, CBAM will this be a tariff measure or a non-tariff measure? Let me know. According to you people, CBAM carbon border adjustment mechanism. Is it a tariff policy or a non-tariff policy? Let me see what is your answer. Tariff or non-tariff? and thereby I'll understand how many of you are reading correctly. It's a non-tariff policy. Again, I have a document to prove that
34:20 it is a non-tariff policy. Sir, what is the proof? Tell me the proof. Economic survey. Economic survey. This year's economic survey very recently published by the government essentially says this is a non-tariff policy. So please be very careful and all these look very simple but suddenly UPSC will ask you a question you'll make a mistake there. Okay. So I've given a question for you to practice mains answer writing for India to achieve the net zero emission target by 2070. It should be 2070 aforestation and carbon sequestration will be key pillars. Elaborate the statement in 250. Okay let me go forward. Next article associated with the Pegasus and
35:08 national security. Understand the evolution here. Back in the 2021 there was a investigative report which basically stated that multiple countries around the world. Multiple countries around the world are using the multiple governments of countries around the world are using a spyware by the name of Pegasus, right? a spyware which has been developed by a firm in uh Israel by the name of NSO and we are basically using this multiple governments around the world are using this right for multiple reason and following this particular investigative report there is a large hu
35:54 and cry created including in India in India many of the people journalist right let's say opposition leaders etc there was a allegation that Their phones have been right let's say infiltrated using Pegasus spyware by the government of so these people went to Supreme Court of India simple they approach Supreme Court of India and they basically said there is allegation like this we want the investigation to be done in an impartial manner and we want to know whether the government is using this spyware to spy on the citizens. I hope you understand whether the government is using the spyware to spy on the citizens. Right? So this was the
36:39 contention. The Supreme Court of India set up a committee, technical committee and the technical committee submitted the report and the report simply stated that one the government administration did not provide any kind of a support to this technical committee set up by Supreme Court of India and second the report or the technical committee's report also mentioned that in some of the cases that is multiple phones were basically taken under the investigation some of the phones seem to be having the spyware but conclusively it cannot be said that it has been done by the government. So I hope you understand the importance of the report here. The Supreme Court of India basically took the report. It has not been made public.
37:26 Essentially, it said government should consider improving right let's say the national security issue here. Now come to 2025 the issue is being heard. Right? In 2025 the issue is being heard. The contention that has been raised by some of the right let's say the lawyers here all the advocates representing multiple parties is that they're asking the government so far has neither accepted nor denied that they have purchased a Pegasus spyware. The government has not I I has neither accepted nor rejected this argument. So we want to know whether the government has the spyware. Have they purchased this particular spyware? We want to know right from the government.
38:11 But the argument of Supreme Court of India's justices that the justices basically have reacted to this and they're saying even if the government has a spyware, what is wrong with that? If the government has purchased a spyware, what is the wrong with the what is wrong with that particular decision of the government? The argument of the justice here is if they use the spyware to spy on the citizens. I hope you understand. If they use this Pegasus software to spy on the citizens, that is wrong. That will essentially create an imbalance between the issue of national security as well as the privacy of right let's say individual rights the privacy rights
38:58 right. So if the government will use the software or let's say spyware to keep an eye on to investigate to collect data regarding let's say certain people who are creating issues in the national security let's say these are terrorists these are cooperating with the terrorist etc. what is the issue in that particular case? Let them use it. But if they're using this right to let's say investigate, keep an eye or track let's say the political opponents let's say right let's say a certain journalist who are opposed to the ideology of the government etc. In that case it will be a privacy issue. So right now I hope you understand right now the Supreme Court of India has stated one the government
39:43 having a spyware is nothing wrong nothing wrong how they use it that will make a difference second one those people who basically had a doubt that their phones have been right let's say infected with the spyware if they want the Supreme Court of India will allow them to look at the report because the report is not at public supreme court says this is a issue associated with national security. I don't want to make the report public wherein everybody right every man, human, women etc will start talking right in the uh uh will start talking about this particular report will not make it public associated with national. If somebody wants let's say these particular people who have uh
40:29 concerned that their phones have been attacked with the spyware if they want they can raise a question and we will allow the respective authorities to answer to them whether or we will allow them to look at the report whether their phones have been infected with the virus but beyond this nothing else will be made public. So these are the important points associated with this particular report uh which covers article regarding the Pegasus issue and there was a student who was asking what is Pegasus my dear Pegasus the right spyware right essentially that Pegasus spyware will right be be used to infect your phone it can use to activate your right let's say uh the camera without you knowing it
41:16 without you authorizing it can start sharing your information. It can read your messages, pass on the information to basically the authority which has used this to infect your mobile phone. Done. Okay. So these are certain important points. Next article, USA puts India back into IPR watch list. Important. What is the issue here? Point number one, United State Trade Representative USR. United States trade representative annually will publish a report. This report is called as special 301 report. Special 301, special 301, 3001. You read it whatever or however you want to. Special 301 report. And what is the
42:05 importance of special 301 report? It will basically study, it will provide information regarding how intellectual property rights are being protected in other countries. Simple. How IPRs are being protected in other countries. What do you mean by this? There are various types of intellectual property rights such as patents, copyrights, a trademark, etc. and the respective company or anybody who has applied for this is given the protection by allowing only them to use these for certain period of time. For example, today can I can I basically manufacture a t-shirt with logo of Nike on this? Can
42:54 I produce a t-shirt sitting in my home right having a logo of Adidas on this? In fact, which was done during World Cup finals or World Cup very recently held in India. Argument is very simple. There are protections provided for these let's say companies right or people who have invested time who have invested money to create something using their mind. That's the reason this is called as a intellectual property. The argument is right what has been the performance of other countries. Now let's not worry about other countries. Let's look at India. According to this particular special 301 report, India's intellectual right or intellectual property right protection is not
43:40 satisfactory. The protection that is provided by the Indian government through these kind of let's say intellectual property rights in India is not at all satisfactory. How so? On what basis right are they saying this in the context of India? Some of you will get offended s how dare they point this out to us etc etc. If you want to know in detail you can go to the website of USR and download this particular report and read it. It is a very small report of 92 pages including the title cover and the last page small report of 92 pages. Now some of you will say great already I'm struggling with let's say polity book economy book you want me to read 92 pages also not required I will tell you
44:26 the important points listen to me carefully their argument is one the intellectual property act in India the IP act in India essentially has very vague words it has very vague words vague terminologies have been utilized and when you have very vague words right in the provisions. Interpretation will also change with change in the interpretation. Now there is confusion. One company will read this provision in a certain way. Another company will read it in a different way. The confusion is getting created. Second, the process of allocating intellectual properties in India is a very lengthy process.
45:13 very lengthy process that is you need to submit data from one authority to another authority the right let's say applications will keep on shifting or moving like this so the amount of data that the companies are supposed to submit the kind of paperwork that is involved and the time that is consumed in allocation of this particular pet it's a very very lengthy process time consuming Third concern which has been raised by them is a company in USA will produce let's say a pharmaceutical product or a machinery and a lot of these pharmaceutical products machines etc will have copyrights will have
45:58 patents on it right will have trademarks on it etc. When these products are imported into India, sorry, when these products are imported into India, government of India imposes very high customs. It imposes very very high customs and this creates a problem because let's say a pharmaceutical company in USA has invested money. They have done lot of R&D. Now they want to export this product to India. Government of India says you want to enter into India, I will impose very high customs that is taxes. That is again going to hurt the American companies or the foreign
46:44 companies and not to forget lot of issues in terms of protection in India. Let's say for right uh for example let's say movies the copyright issue right let's say an American movie American produced movie right that will be basically be available on the internet in India essentially violating the copyright law the music produced by American composers is available in India free of cost right violating the copyright copyright act and I'm pretty sure right I'm pretty sure about this right now. You people again when I say you do not take it personally. Don't take it personally. A lot of you who have got Android phones would have
47:30 downloaded this music would have downloaded this particular movie and whether you like economics or not in this case you will apply economics you'll become a perfect economist. How who will go to theater right transportation? I want to reduce petrol consumption. Who will pay right let's say 200 rupees for a movie? I don't want to pay 200 rupees I can get right let's say a book for UPSC exam who will pay right let's say 200 rupees for a bucket of popcorn and 300 rupees for samosa not healthy you know I'm very calorie cons conscious I want to control my calorie consumption etc etc these are the kind of arguments which will provide when you talk about let's say piracy in India but
48:17 the argument of the USA government is very simple right here in case of India protection that is provided is very ambiguous right cumbersome process right sufficient protection is not being provided etc and that is the precise reason why government of USA that is the USR report this year has essentially brought India back into IPR watch list and if you're wondering right sir will anything happen because of this please understand immediately immediately nothing will What they might try to do is the government of USA might use this as a tactic to negotiate better with India right they will use this as a tactic to get more concessions from
49:04 India they'll try to arm twist government of India into implementing multiple policies right in order to protect the intellectual property rights of the American government then so these are certain very important points associated with USA putting India back into the IP Watch list MCQ 101. Consider the following statements regarding special 301 report. It is published by WTO. Once a country is placed in the priority watch list, the trade with the country is automatically stopped. It should be very easy. Now do let me know what is the answer to this. Right? If not, don't worry. I'll answer in some time. Next article, changes in mansoon affect marine productivity in Bay of Bengal. Simple point. Okay? Just factual
49:51 information and listen to me carefully. Whenever you have excess monsoon or lower monsoon simple whenever you have excess monsoon or lower monsoon this will have an impact on fishing activity in the Bay of Bengal. And I can see some of you are giving very nice answer to the question that I've given earlier. Somebody says A, somebody says a D. Right? So do let me know what is the right answer. But more importantly listen to me now. If there is excess rainfall or lower rainfall that is monsoon by the way it will have a huge impact on the fishing activities which are conducted in the Bay of Bengal. And why is this important? Bay of Bengal in
50:36 terms of let's say covering the ocean it generally accounts for around 1% of the total ocean coverage but it accounts for around 8% of the fishing activity the oceans around 8% of the total fishing activity is accounted by the Bay of Bengal and not to forget not to forget there are multiple states along the coastline in India right there are multiple states along the coast coastline in India for example Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh for that matter or Odisha, West Bengal, all these particular states lot of people who are residing in the coastline depend on the sea to get access to fish and those who will basically say
51:22 sir nonve early morning don't talk about nonveg I'll replace fish with protein source at least be happy now right lot of this population right not just in coastal region but also other parts of India as well as right rest of the world they use this as a source of protein and this will also add to economic activity add to lot of economic activity in terms of let's say right the fishing community in terms of let's say right the companies which will manufacture boats which will manufacture other products which are used tools which are used by the fishers in the sea etc so econom EIC activities associated with this right and the livelihoods are
52:08 associated with this jobs are associated with this and the consumption of food is also associated but what is the point they're making in this particular article they are saying if there is excess monsoon the mixing right that is basically fresh water with the other parts of the sea the layers of the water in the sea or oceans the mixing doesn't happen appropriately. If there's a lower rainfall problem, if there is a excess monsoon, it is a problem. And all of this is connected to these kind of economic activity. And this is essentially what the study which has been conducted is showing in the article. Done. Okay. Right. So these are
52:54 certain important points. Next article, India must oppose fresh IMF assistance to Pakistan says representative of Congress. Now don't get into the political argument here for you. Political argument is not important. What are the important points? Please make a note of this. There is something mentioned associated with the IMF. UPC has the tendency of asking a question on IMF in the prelims. What is the term mentioned in the context of IMF in the article? There is a term called as resilience and sustainability facility. Resilience and sustainability facility. Please make a
53:39 note of this. What is the importance of this? All of you please listen to me very carefully. Now the member countries of IMF, International Monetary Fund. Okay. The member countries of IMF can approach can approach IMF borrow from IMF. Now when they take a loan when they take a loan the loans can be concessional in nature the loans can be concessional in nature and the loans can be non-consessional also. And those who are wondering and are about to type about to type now sir what do you mean by conal my dear when you take a loan from IMF does IMF charge
54:26 a rate of interest or provides this loan at 0%. That is the difference between nonconisional and concessional respectively. So loans can be concessional as well as non-con. And the important tools to remember is there is right one type of a account essentially called as general resources account. Remember all of this general resources account under which multiple tools are used by IMF. Different types of loans are given by IMF. But please understand general resources account the rate of interest is marketdriven. rate of interest is
55:12 marketdriven that is the IMF will give a loan and charge a rate of there is also one more type of account associated with the IMF lending that is poverty reduction poverty reduction and growth trust poverty reduction and growth trust in case of poverty reduction and growth trust different types of loans are given by IMF But here the rate of interest applicable right now is 0%. That rate of interest applicable is 0%. So is Pakistan taking a loan right now which is being discussed in the article under GR or under PV I'm sorry P RGT. Answer is
55:58 neither of them. They are approaching IMF. They want to take a loan from IMF to the extent of $1.3 billion under a third type of trust called as resilience and sustainability facility. Is it okay? Resilience and sustainability facility or else they will also use the term resilience and sustainability trust. Under which loans are given for low inome countries, low income countries or middle inome countries and here rate of interest is applicable. IMF will charge a rate of done. So these are certain important points. Beyond this do
56:45 not worry about rest of the article which is given here for UPSC that is not important. who is saying what not relevant what will the state I'm sorry what will the central government do will they oppose it etc right whether they do that or not don't worry about it and moreover some of you might be thinking can the central government can Indian government oppose a loan which is supposed to be given by IMF to a country can oppose I hope you understand they can oppose but will this actually lead to IMF cancelling the loan to Pakistan. Answer is no. I hope you understand. Reason being, listen to me very carefully. It is just a symbolic gesture. It is a symbolic gesture.
57:31 Reason being under IMF, under IMF, the decision making authority regarding the loans I'm talking by the way the decision making authority is essentially board of directors. Board of directors. In case of the IMF, the board of directors take a decision whether the loan should be given, not given, what condition should be imposed, etc., etc. And all of this is essentially based on the report that is given by the negotiators to the board of director. So the board of directors is supposed to meet very soon and they're supposed to take a call whether to give this kind of a loan to Pakistan or not. It is the
58:17 decision of board of directors not right let's say the Indian government whether the loan should be given or not and moreover if you're wondering where does India fit into all of this where does India fit India fits into basically the representation of a member of a country under IMF but much more importantly please understand the board of directors please understand generally decide whether to provide a loan or not based on a simple majority of 50 and individual countries. I hope you understand in the board of directors representation of individual countries is not there. That is what do I mean by individual countries here under WTO
59:02 let's say dispute settlement body individual countries are members but in board of directors the countries are clubbed countries are grouped right so India is a part of a group which is represented in the board of everybody is okay these are technical concepts so be aware of all of this okay let me go to the next article insufficient support for deep tech startups in India. A study has been published which simply says the support to deep tech deep tech companies in India deep tech startups in India is not sufficient. But what are the points you need to understand? I'll just connect to connect it to what was discussed earlier as well very recently. Uh Mr. P Goyel
59:50 minister by the way Mr. P Goyel basically criticized the startup founders in India. The kind of startups which have been set up, the kind of activity they are doing, the kind of investment they doing, there was a criticism. So I hope you understand this. There is a type of a startup which we need to promote called as a deep tech. And those who are wondering sir deep tech does it uh does it or is it associated with oceans is it right associated with right let's say uh the the seas etc. Answer is no. And I know some of you are saying sir has discussed that. I know I also heard this. This was in detail discussed by uh Abhishek sir. I know that. But I'll not enter into what was discussed by Abhishek. Let me
1:00:37 give you basic points here. Deep tech essentially please understand this. These are the types of technologies where lot of R&D is done. Lot of research and development is done and these kind of a deep texts have a bigger impact have a larger impact. They generally revolutionize. I hope you understand. They generally revolutionize how the technology will be used. For example, robotics, it is an example of deep tech and for example AI, artificial intelligence is an example of deep tech. For example, semiconductors, right? For example, semiconductors. These are the examples of deep tech by the now what is a
1:01:23 connection? What you should understand in addition to what Abhishekar has discussed which I hope all of you remember what you need to remember in case of India support to deep tech is not sufficient. We do not have sufficient support to the deep tech. Some of you will basically say right sir what do you mean by support here? And Badur Alam says sir you are a very good actor. I just hope Mr. Sanjaya Bansali or even Mr. Raj Moly reads this right okay what do I mean by right let's say support is not sufficient here the meaning is either you want to promote deep tax you need assistance from private
1:02:08 sector correct you need assistance from the private sector and when I say assistance assistance could be in the form of expertise assistance could be in the form of funding assistance could be in the form of a joint venture And you also need assistance from the government. So what do you mean by assistance from the government? Essentially government setting up a fund which will provide assistance financial funding for only deep tech startups. Government announcing joint ventures let's say with government agencies etc. I hope you understand you require assistance from the private sector as well as the government. What is the issue in the context of India?
1:02:54 Please understand we have right we do not have sufficient support from either of them right we do not have sufficient support from either of them su how can you say government doesn't support deep tax here I'll give you an example South Korea case of a country small country such as South Korea they have a funding they have a scheme only for deep tax they have a policy they have incubator only for the deep text. Does India have a incubator only targeting deep text? Does government of India have a policy targeting only the deep text? Answer is no by the way. And again just to be very clear here, just to be very
1:03:40 precise, it doesn't mean that government is not doing anything here. In fact, last year there was a discussion. It was expected that in the interim budget or after the elections when the budget was announced in July 2024, it was expected government would come out with a separate policy for the deep techs. That has not been done. The argument is we have a policy for startups and we have clubbed the deep tech into startups. We we need to have a separate policy targeting them just like Korea has. And what about the private sector? The private sector also doesn't provide sufficient support. Why? When a private sector investor can get faster returns by investing in a company such
1:04:25 as let's say Swiggy, Zeppto etc. Why will they invest in deep tech companies and mind you right mind you the deep techs deep tech companies or the startups do not generate revenue immediately. They do not generate revenue immediately. They require long time period to develop a product and then essentially incorporate this particular product or a technology into different segments and that is the precise reason the private sector in terms of investment they are not interested in this that is the reason they will end up investing in other companies right such as Zeppto Swiggy etc which was actually criticized by the minister in the mahakum that is a
1:05:11 startup mahakum And so some of you basically say say then sir give me solution. Don't simply tell the problem and go away. Tell me solution. What should be the solution? Solution is simple. One the government should implement a policy. Government should implement a policy targeting only the deep tech startups. Have a policy. Have incubators targeting deep tech. Provide incentives. Provide incentives. Many many countries do that provide incentives when the deep tips deep techs will develop let's say a proof of concept because proof of concept is a precursor the product is not ready technology is not ready there is a concept which they are putting forward
1:05:57 which says it is workable it is a solution it is right let's say it can be produced in a larger scale etc argument is provide a policy provide incentives use and most importantly government should also promote patient capital. Government should promote patient capital investment in the deep tech. Some of you will say sir what do you mean by patient here? Does patient right mean you who is also a patient down with cold fever etc. Does patient mean that? Answer is no. Patient capital means the investors who have invested money are willing to wait for a longer time period. Very simple, right? The
1:06:45 investors are willing to wait for a longer time period. You do not want to invest today what and demanding returns tomorrow. That's not patient capital. There are a lot of investors in the market who are referred as a patient capital because essentially these are willing to invest wait for right longer period and get the so these are the recommendations you can provide as a solution to the deep tech startups in India. one article I've taken from Indian express because I felt important article important in the sense because of let's say what is happening in Maharashtra because of what is happening right in NCERTS etc. I know those who are appearing for civil service examination will read a lot about
1:07:31 Chava. They will basically read a lot about Chava. They will read about Chhatrapati, Shivaji, Chhatrapati, this that etc etc. What UPC might do is they will throw a googly ask you about right let's say something else associated with Maratas itself but something else. So this was the article which was published in today's Indian Express. Please have a look at it. Okay, please have a look at this. There was a sword which was put on let's say auctioning in Britain and this is the sword of Raguji Bosle one who basically existed during the Marata time period who became a king during the Marata time period and very well known
1:08:17 because of his exploits an expert in warfare etc. Have a look at this. Uh I said king Marata general. Correct it. Marata general under Chhatrapati Tahu Maharaj. He was honored with the title SA Subha by the same king. The sword is important. Sword is important. Reason being there are certain writings on the sword. Right? There are writings on the sword. And second this is being auctioned or this has been purchased by the government of Maharashtra. And why the sword has importance here in this particular time period? Generally you will not see the swords which are manufactured by other companies and which will have embellishments which
1:09:02 will have writings on who is using it, who has been gifted this etc. But it is said this particular sword which has been manufactured in the fangi style as embellishments as the words of this particular uh general written on this. That is one point. Second point, there is also a war. Please remember this 1817 battle of Sithabuli. Okay, this is important. Please make a note of this. It is said that after right this general lost the war the Britishers basically invaded and looted lot of let's say the assets uh which were present in this particular kingdom and right when this particular defeat happened and one of
1:09:49 the loots that they took away to Britain is said to be this particular so these are the important points right don't read too much about sword the battle important name of the general important important who gave the title please make a note of okay last article just an update after that I'll take up your questions the uh state of Jammu and Kashmir after the attack in Palam now the government there has conducted the security audit after conducting the security audit a majority of them more than 40 uh 40 uh tourist spots in Jammu and Kashmir now has been put off the limits that is essentially Although these are part of right tourist
1:10:34 destinations these essentially have been cut off from the access to tourist right now the argument of the government is very simple they're conducting security audit we're not happy with right the kind of security being provided here we will review the security measures later and once all of this is sorted out we will open the tourist destination so that is around 49 have been uh put off the list of access to the tourist here. Okay. So these are certain important points in this article. Now before I take up your questions the key answers MCQ00 both are published by MOSBI. Yes. Both have have the same base year of 2011 and 12. Right now the answer is yes. I I'm saying right now because uh
1:11:21 in some time maybe this year or next year you'll come across the articles which say the base of both IIP and GDP has been changed. So please be very careful. Okay. Consider the following statements regarding special 301 report. It is published by WTO. No, it is published by the government of USA. That is specifically United States trade representative. Once a country is placed in the priority watch list, the trade with that country is automatically stopped. No, it doesn't stop the trade. Essentially they will try to uh ask the country or respective country which is listed to implement certain policies try to take certain concessions from this particular country. Okay. So right option is option D. None of the above are correct. Now before I start taking
1:12:08 questions if you want to get the access to this particular PPT with annotations this will be uploaded in some time in my telegram channel and this is right essentially the link to my telegram channel. And before I close, tomorrow starting 6:00 p.m. I'll be having a marathon session where I'll be discussing important current affairs from from Indian economy essentially covering the June to April 2025. Please join the session live. Okay, done. So now if you have any questions please do let me know. Uh, Narayan sir, MCQ question on the UPC English channel are stopped. No, I don't think so.
1:12:54 Okay. Y RS sir, increase the intake of vitamin C. Done. I'll do that. S judge remarks why mind jumps to extreme conclusion. Okay. Any any questions? Please do let me know. Board of directors, Lalita Prasad, board of directors job please understand. Under IMF the highest decision making body is board of governors BG board of governors but the board of governors where we have representation of finance minister as well as the arb governor it cannot meet on day-to-day basis it cannot meet on day-to-day basis so what they do is the day-to-day activities of IMF are allocated by the board of governors to
1:13:40 board of directors BOD board of directors So day-to-day activities essentially are taken for example let's say uh uh whether to provide the loans or not assessing the policies of multiple countries publishing a report etc all of this is done by board of okay uh sir member countries of IMF all are part of board of directors answer is yes but please understand in WTO world trade organization let's A general council every member country is individually represented. Is it okay? Every member country is individually represented. Ma
1:14:26 shake, I'm answering your question. Whereas in board of directors, the member countries are grouped. These member countries are right basically put into groups like this. And these groups will have
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