0:06 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 four big articles that require a detailed analysis and two small articles for prelims. So let's cover all these topics comprehensively so that you don't have to go back and read the newspaper again. If you guys are benefiting from this initiative, do support us with your likes and comments and don't forget to subscribe to our channel. Now before we start, if you
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2:27 become more contentious as both the states have taken a rigid position. Both the state governments have called for an all party meeting and they have said that they will never compromise on the interests of their state. So this interstate water sharing dispute is all set to blow up into a much bigger political conflict as Punjab is ruled by a different party. Hana is ruled by a different party. So let's dive a little deep into this topic. I will go beyond the article because the article doesn't provide us all the information. But I will try to bring in additional information to understand what is at the heart of this dispute between Punjab and Hana. See the dispute started when Hana
3:15 demanded a higher share of water. A couple of weeks ago, Hana raised a demand that there is a critical shortage of drinking water especially given that it's the summer months in northern India. And based on this the Bakra BS management board the BBMBB also known as the BBMP the Bakra BS management board ordered the release of 4,500 Q6 of additional water and Punjab is supposed to release this additional water to Hana. to the Bakarab BS management board which manages all the watershed projects the water development projects on the BS and satl it has ordered the Punjab state
4:02 government to release an additional 4,500 cqs of water to meet some of the additional demands raised by Hana and for this the Punjab government has taken a stand against it. It has opposed the order itself. It has even threatened to go to the Supreme Court if necessary to protect the interests of the state of Punjab. So to understand this dispute, we have to look at the geography and we also have to go back and look at the history of the projects that are built over the Beers and the Satlaj River. Now it is very pertinent to discuss about this topic in detail because these rivers are part of the eastern rivers of the Indas river basin which is very much in news because of the IndiaPakistan tensions. We've discussed about the
4:48 Indust water treaty of 1960 which India has recently kept in abbeyance. The Indust water treaty largely allocated the western rivers to Pakistan giving a higher share for Pakistan by limiting India's usage rights. India can only only build run-of-the- river projects on western rivers such as Indas, Jalm and Chennap. We can only set up such projects which is for hydropower generation and limited irrigation and water usage while allowing majority of the water to flow into Pakistan freely as Pakistan has a greater dependency on the western rivers. But however, I've explained in previous classes as well that the eastern rivers Ravi, Beers and Satlich, they are essentially allocated to India. India gets a higher share and a higher degree of control over the
5:35 eastern rivers. These eastern rivers are the lifeline of northwestern India. States like Punjab, Hiana, even Himachel Pradesh, Rajasthan and as well as parts of Delhi NCR. They are heavily dependent on the waters of Rai and Satlajj. And India has some very big mega projects, dam projects on these rivers right from India's independence. Led by Prime Minister Neheru, India started out on a dam building initiative with the Bakra Dam and the Nangal Dam. The Bakra Nangal project as it is popularly known as to dam these waters to manage the flow of these waters because in Punjab which is primarily an agrarian economy. Farming and irrigation is heavily dependent on
6:22 waters coming from the Ravi BS and Satluch. So is the case in Hana for irrigation for drinking water for industrial purposes. Today Hiana is not just agrarian state, it's a industrial state as well. Himachel Pradesh which is present in the upstream of these rivers is also heavily dependent on these waters for drinking, irrigation etc. Rajasthan as well is one of the riparian states. So if you look at the drainage basin of Rahi, BS and Satlaj, BS and Satlaj in particular, these are the states in northwestern India which are the riparian states which are party to the water sharing dispute that is present. Look at the map where the Bakra Nungal project is located. Let me tell you where exactly is the Bakra dam and where
7:07 is the Nungal dam located because both are two distinct projects. They complement each other. Though they are often referred to as the Bakranangal dam or Bakranal project, don't think it's the same project. Both are distinct projects. The Bakra dam is in Himachal Pradesh built on the Satluch. And just a few kilometers down the stream in Punjab, the Nangal dam has been built. This combined project the complimenting dams which are present here at a short distance from each other the Bakranangal dams they are very crucial to control the flow of water from the satlage towards the bas so to manage these rivers there is a board which has been constituted because
7:53 these are interstate rivers which eventually flow into Pakistan now it's important to understand the political history as well see Post independence, Punjab was a very large state. When Punjab was partitioned between India and Pakistan, the Punjab state that India got was a very large state that included today's Hana, today's Himachel Pradesh and today's Punjab state. Eventually Punjab was triated based on the recommendations of the state's reorganization commission which was headed by Fazal Ali. So Punjab was tricated into Punjab, Hiana and Himachel Pradesh. And given that these waters were critical for all these states, the Bakra Nangal project was
8:39 brought under the management of a board, the Bakra Management Board that was set up in 1966 through the Punjab Reorganization Act. So before the triurcation happened, the management of these waters was vested with the Punjab state government. The Punjab government had controlling powers over the water projects on these rivers. But with the triurcation and the creation of three new states, the Bakra management board was set up through the Punjab Reorganization Act to provide for the fair management and distribution of these waters. In fact, this issue is also connected to the Kalistthan movement. See, this is the deeper and broader understanding I want you guys to
9:25 have. When few Kalistthani separatists started raising their demand for a separate nation as early as 1950s 1960s one of the issues which was brought up by some of the radical elements in Punjab was the triurcation of Punjab especially if you look at Akali Dal the far right-wing organization which which has always tried to whip up seek nationalism against the Indian state it blamed India for unfair policies post independence. First was the triurcation when the large state of Punjab was broken. Some of the Akalis and the other seek nationalists they had a demand that the large state of Punjab should be kept
10:10 united and it should be exclusive to Punjabi speakers. But India had to refuse that demand because creating a state on those lines on linguistic lines would eventually create a communal division as majority of the Punjabi speakers would be members of the seek community. So a internal communal reorganization of a state was unacceptable to the Neu government and India rejected this demand and we went ahead and tricated the state as per the recommendations of Fazali Commission. Members of Akali Dal and the seek nationalists they were against the distribution of the waters as well following the Indust water treaty when the Bakra management board was set up it basically took away the authority from the Punjab government and
10:57 through a central authority the distribution of waters were managed and this became a point based on which some of the Kalistthani elements they started whipping up anti-India sentiments trying to blame this on the government of India as a discriminatory policy against the Sikh community when there was no such intention on the part of the government. So that is an interesting link and a connection you should be aware of. So later the Bakra Management Board was renamed restructured into the current BBMP not the Munipal Corporation of Bengaluru the Bruhhat Bengaluru munipal corporation I'm not referring to that BBMP I'm referring to Bakra Pers management board so from 1976 this board has been managing a
11:43 distribution of waters from Bakranal project including other projects that are built on the BS river. For example, we have the BSAlage link project, the Pando Dam in Himachal Pradesh along with the Pong dam. So all these water development projects are managed by the BBMP and the distribution is also decided by this board. So after Hariana raised a demand for additional water for drinking purposes because there is a critical shortage during the summer months the board has ordered Punjab government to release 4,500 cus of water and the Punjab government has refused. Punjab has said it will go against the interest of the state. It will compromise water availability for
12:29 the farmers in Punjab leading to the current standoff and tussle between both the sides. So please remember there is a political angle involved here as well. Punjab is ruled by the opposition and the Punjab government and the chief minister Bhagan Singh man have alleged that the ruling BJP is conspiring to politicize water because in Hana in Rajasthan in Himachal Pradesh it's a BJP government uh sorry in Delhi Himachal Pradesh is with the Congress but if you look at Hana Rajasthan and Delhi these governments are with the BJP. Himatal Pradesh Congress is in power again in Punjab as well. So a political angle also is being seen here. So Punjab government has said we'll approach the Supreme Court to resolve this matter. We will not release a single drop of water and both the
13:15 governments have taken a very rigid position. Both governments have called for a all party meeting. That is why this dispute is escalating today. So this could have serious political ramifications could potentially lead to social unrest and that is why security has been increased at some of these important projects. At the dam locations security has been stepped up to prevent any unoured incident. So the BBMP manages the distribution of water for all the riparian states of the Bas and Satlajj river. Please remember this point. Distribution of water to Punjab, Hiana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan is managed by the BBMP. Now, so Punjab is saying that the Punjab
14:00 government has claimed that Hana has received its allocated share as per the allocation. Hana has not only received its 100% share in the current given year but according to Punjab government, Hiana has actually received much more than its allocated share. 104% of the allocated share has been distributed by Punjab. This is what Punjab is claiming for the entire year because see water levels on the other rivers as well has been declining. There has been scanty rainfall in the Himalayan belt. The climate change factor also is playing a role. The scanty snowfall, the reduced precip precipitation in the Himalayas has reduced the the perennial flow of water
14:46 across Ravi Bas and Satluch. If you look at the water levels in the Ranjit Saga dam is a major dam on the Ravi river. The Pong dam as well which I was mentioning the water storage levels are much lower than average and Punjab has said despite having lesser water we have released more than the allocated share to Hana and why are they demanding extra water. This is the claim of Punjab. But Hana is claiming that if you look at 2024 alone, Punjab has received 9.3% more than the allotted share. Whereas Hana has seen a reduction of.198% than the allocated share. So this is the conflicting claim of the Hana government. Ariana also says that
15:31 if you look at the water sharing data of the last two decades of the last 20 years Punjab has received 22.44% more than the allocated whereas Hana has received just 7.67% more than the allocated share. So Hariana's complaint is that there is a unequal distribution of water with Punjab enjoying a higher share and even though Hiana has a critical need for drinking water because see right now in Punjab the farming cycle is such that farmers don't need excess water as of now. The sewing season is over the sewing of the wheat crops is already over. So the agrarian demand for irrigation has been taken care of. But in Hana there's a critical need for
16:16 drinking water. There's a critical shortage because of the summer months. That's why Hana is demanding that additional water has to be released. But Punjab is saying if we release the water now, we will not have enough water in the coming months for the next cropping cycle which is going to affect the farmers in Punjab. So this is the essential conflict between the two states. Now how will this be resolved? What is the way forward? Let's understand this. So to talk about the interstate water disputes, we need to look at the constitutional and legal provisions and what mechanisms are available to resolve such disputes because India is not new to such interstate water disputes. We have seen many such disputes erupt which have even turned into violent clashes and conflicts between states. Take for
17:02 example the Caviri river dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Like this across the country there are multiple water sharing disputes. So if you look at the state list and the union list under schedule 7 of the Indian constitution which divides the subjects under entry 17 water supply, irrigation, kennel management, drainage, embankments, water storage and water power. These are subjects vested with the state government. They are under the state's jurisdiction. When it comes to regulation and development of interstate river valleys, this is clearly under the union list under entry 56. So there are certain shared powers between the state and the union when it comes to management of
17:47 rivers and water. If it's a interstate river valley, the union government has a higher degree of control. But when it comes to water supply, irrigation, kennel, water power etc. these are state subjects. Then we have a constitution in the article in we have a specific article in our constitution article 262. Article 262 deals exclusively with interstate water sharing disputes. What does article 262 provide for? According to article 262, the parliament by law can provide for adjudication of any dispute in case of a interstate river. Accordingly, the parliament has enacted the Interstate River Disputes Act 1956 which has been amended several
18:34 times. Parliament by law can even keep these matters outside of the purview of the court because if the match matter reaches the court, it turns into a litigation which can be hostile which could increase hostility in the country between states which could affect national integration. But despite this provision being present, courts have exercised their jurisdiction. Take for example how the Supreme Court took up the Caviri dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Even today, Karnataka Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court despite the establishment of a tribunal, a water dispute tribunal to manage the cavary dispute between the two states. So under the interstate riverwater disputes act, a water dispute tribunal will be set up and this tribunal which comprises of
19:22 experts and officials will deliver a final award, a final share will be allocated to all the riparian states and to manage that a board a water management board will be set up based on the recommendations of Sarcara Commission on center state relations. Few amendments were carried out in 2002 which mandates that within one year of a dispute coming up. A water dispute tribunal will be set up so that there is no delay in handling the dispute and within 3 years the final award will be provided by the tribunal which will be implemented. But of course all these provisions are subjected to judicial review according to the Supreme Court and Supreme Court has exercised
20:07 its jurisdiction though there is a pro prohibition provided here. If the parliament provides by law then Supreme Court or any other court shall not exercise jurisdiction. So water dispute and water sharing between states has been a contentious issue in the country. So this is another dispute which has come up and escalated. Now can you mention the names of other important river disputes in India? In the comment section, take this as a small exercise, a small homework. Can you find out the names of important water sharing disputes between states? Maybe the top three, top five water disputes and please mention that in the comments. Now take up this practice question for your answer writing practice. Now let's look at a very important editorial on page number six.
20:55 It deals with the topic of urban fires which I think is a very important topic under disaster management. Recently there was a deadly fire in Kolkata in a hotel in a very crowded locality. I'm sure you would be aware of this tragedy that took place. Several people I think 14 people lost their lives and the the fire brigade couldn't even reach the site. They couldn't access the building which was uh which was under fire. they could not diffuse the the fire immediately resulting in increased number of deaths and injuries. This tragedy that has occurred in Kolkata is not a one-off event. It's a recurring event in our country where from one city to another, especially
21:41 during the hot summer months, there are repeated urban fires in our buildings. It could be in a hospital. It could be in theaters. It could be in residential complexes, in commercial buildings, in hotels. Every year it has become a recurring phenomena and several lives are being lost in the country unnecessarily because this man-made disaster. This is clearly a man-made disaster. Urban fires that occur in buildings, they're clearly a man-made disaster and they are entirely preventable. I'm sure you remember the deadly fires that Delhi has seen. Not just in recent years but historically as
22:26 well. Delhi has been a victim of several such urban fires where hundreds of lives have been lost entirely. In Ajmir there was a a tragedy recently again in a hotel in a crowded location where the appropriate fire norms were not followed the building codes were not followed and because of this the death count increases. So West Bengal Chief Minister Mtab Banerjee has said this was an unavoidable tragedy but I completely disagree with Mtab Banerjee because urban fires are absolutely preventable. It's purely a man-made disaster. It's a disaster occurring due to negligence, due to poor enforcement of rules, laws and regulations and it is absolutely preventable. Now let's understand this
23:12 topic from a disaster management perspective. See when there is a fire in a building don't think that the flames and the heat is the only risk. Generally that's what we assume that most of the deaths will occur because of the flames and the heat. But studies have clearly established that most of the deaths and injuries occur not because of the flames or the heat but because of the smoke. Asphyxiation is the primary cause of death along with skin burn and injuries caused by the flame. Of course the flame and heat will also cause deaths and injuries but the smoke is the bigger concern as most of the deaths in
23:58 a fire tragedy is because of asphyxiation. So this scientific understanding will actually help us in fire management. If the buildings are designed appropriately by following the building codes, by following the fire safety norms and standards, if adequate exits are available, if better ventilation is available, if fire retardant materials are used and if good access is given for emergency services for fire and emergency services to reach the site, we can definitely manage these disasters and handle them in a much better manner. So what can be done from a disaster management perspective? Point number one, the building
24:44 codes, the basic standards which are there, the building standards, the fire safety norms, they have to be strictly enforced. It's not that we don't have rules and regulations. We have sufficient rules and regulations. India is a country which is overregulated but enforcement is very poor and the blame for this primarily lies with our local bodies the municipal bodies city corporations there is excessive corruption at the local level where officials even the elected members right they would have a nexus a corrupt nexus with builders and the mafias who blatantly flout the building
25:29 norms the safety codes and they don't follow the fire safety standards. So basic measures like building a good fire exit a viable alternate exit should be present. If you take the tragedy in Kolkata in this hotel which the fire where it where it happened the hotel was not only located in an extremely congested area where fire trucks could not reach. The problem was there was only one exit only one staircase. If there was an alternate fire exit, lives could have been saved, right? Maybe not all the lives, but at least many of the lives could have been saved. So, ensuring that fire exits are built into the design of a building using fire retardant material. You might argue, sir, how
26:16 about old buildings were built many decades ago or many years ago? You can retrofit old buildings as well with fire retardant material. You can upgrade old buildings with fire retardant material. There are fire retardant paints which are available. You have wood and cement and various other materials of construction which is available which is fire retardant or fireproof as well. So you can retrofit old buildings and this responsibility lies with the local bodies to enforce this on the builders on the owners. Ensuring that fire safety systems are built in each and every building especially commercial buildings, large commercial facilities
27:02 and residential complexes, smoke detectors and water dispensers, automatic water dispensers, they have to be put in place. Ensure that smoke alarms that is essentially sensors or smoke detectors are installed which will automatically trigger a water system essentially a fire hydrant system should get automatically triggered which will help in containing and managing the fire and more importantly the buildings should have access for the fire brigade for the emergency services to reach even in a congested Ed locality access can be created. You can create a skywalk at a
27:47 higher level where fire personnel can walk towards the building. The fire emergency services as well, they should have the right equipment. They should have ladders, they should have bikes, drones if necessary, helicopters as well to reach difficult sites and diffuse the fire immediately with better technologies, with better retardants. So all these measures are needed not just from the local bodies to enforce the building standards and fire safety norms but also from the fire services and also from the builders and owners as well. So this is what is necessary to prevent these tragedies. These are entirely preventable disasters. So that is something we learn from these tragedies that have taken place. UPSC might ask a question a mains question on
28:32 urban fires. Please take up this question for your answer writing practice. Now let's see if there are any doubts any relevant questions based on what we have discussed. Nithan says main issue is corruption and quality of work that is done. Yes Nathan you're absolutely right. Corruption at the local level in approving the building plans the design of the building. There is a corrupt nexus as I told you between the corporators the corporation officials and the builders and the real estate mafia. They cut corners. They don't implement the standards and the codes and there is very poor quality of work which is carried out while designing a building. Fire safety is not even considered by many builders. They don't create alternate access. They try to maximize their profits since real estate
29:19 is very expensive. They try to utilize every inch of land to build commercial property for how they can commercialize it. They don't allocate enough space for safety. This is the problem in the country. These are preventable tragedies. Any other doubts? Harsh is asking SDMA is also responsible. The state disaster management authority. Yes, all the disaster management authorities as well. The national disaster management authority, state level disaster management authority. But you can't pin the blame entirely on them because the disaster management authorities, they have laid down the guidelines. Disaster management authorities are not enforcing bodies. Enforcement is with local bodies, your municipal bodies, your city
30:05 corporation to enforce the building standards in the courts. NDMA, SDMA have given the clear guidelines. They have set up the protocols as well. Now enforcement is with your local bodies. But of course, eventually when there is a tragedy, responsibility lies with all the stakeholders. Okay. Now let's look at the next article which I find to be very interesting, very insightful. The writer who is a former UN diplomat talks about a profound shift which is happening in the global order. The writer feels that the world is at an inflection point. You understand the term inflection point? It's a point where you make a major turn. It's a point where you've reached a certain peak and the trajectory takes a different turn
30:51 from there onwards like a complete U-turn, a complete 180° turn. The writer says that based on his expertise he says that the world order today is at an inflection point. India itself is at an inflection point and we are going to witness a major shift in the coming years and decades. So he's urging India to be prepared for this and adopt strategic policies to protect India's interests because in the current chaotic world if India doesn't read the situation correctly and if we do not adopt the right policies be it our foreign policy our policy towards our economy towards technological development India could easily lose out
31:37 the current shift in the world order which is taking place. So we need to ensure strategic foreign policy, strategic economic policy and a strategic technological policy to ensure that India maintains the edge and protect its interest to rise up as not just a middle power but as a significant global power. So let's understand this article in slight detail. The writer compares the current shift which is happening in the global order to the discovery of the trade route to India by Vascodama in the year 1498. I'm sure you would have studied in modern history when the Portuguese established
32:23 the trade route with India. When Vascodama landed in Calikut, the complicent Zamarind who lacked strategic thinking was largely responsible according to the writer for allowing the Europeans to introduce a sea route to India. Now this was a profound event according to the writer. This was a inflection point. The year 1498 was a turning point because this marked the rise of new trade routes. The sea based route between Europe and India was indeed a landmark event, a turning point in history. India until then, which was a leading economy, a leading civilization, not just economically, but culturally as well,
33:09 was systematically decimated and destroyed by European colonialism over the next 400 years or 500 years. Similarly, we are witnessing a major shift happening today where global value chains are being reshaped and crushed with force. He's referring to US and China, the kind of policies they are adopting in order to suit their own interests. The tariff wars of Donald Trump, the predatory policies of China, they're both trying to reshape global value chains, the global economy to suit their interests. And they're locked in this strategic battle. And this disruption which is happening in the global economy will affect India as well. So if India doesn't displace strategic thinking, we
33:56 might end up making a similar mistake. The zamarin of Kalikut made that mistake. He lacked strategic thinking allowing the Portuguese to set foot and set up a trade route which would eventually benefit the colonial powers. So he's warning India that we need to take certain steps because the global order today is crumbling. See in the postc colonial world that is let's say after second world war the last 75 years let's say for example in the last 75 years we have seen the establishment of a rules-based international order I hope all of you agree with me that in the last seven decades 7 to 8 decades we have seen the establishment and emergence of a rules-based international order where international
34:42 relations is defined on the basis of rules on the basis of multilateralism with the establishment of United Nations, WTO etc. All global issues have been handled through multilateral mechanisms where countries push forward their agendas collectively they take some decisions and it is designed to protect global stability. But this rules-based international order whom did it benefit primarily? Did the rules-based international order benefit every country equally? Did multilateralism under UN and WTO benefit every country? The answer is no. Because this order was created by whom? It was created by the west. It was created by the victors of second world war. US and Europe
35:29 primarily defined the current international order. They set up the current international order and the multilateral mechanisms and controlled them to suit their interest, their selfish interest. For example, look at a grouping like the G7, the grouping of the seven industrialized economies. You know what they did during COVID 19 pandemic? The G7 tried to corner all the medicines and vaccines to themselves without caring about what happens to other small countries, developing underdeveloped countries. You look at the Bretonwood institutions, World Bank and IMF. Look at how US and Europe have controlled World Bank and IMF to suit their own interests, their own economic, geopolitical interests and even hurting the interests of the other
36:14 countries. So today, China is challenging them. The rise of China is probably the biggest challenge for the United States. China is trying to break down this rules-based order. So this is not good for India as well because Chinese aggression, Chinese expansionism is of equal concern for us. Though we have issues with America's dominance, European manipulation of the global order, we also have equal problems with China's aggression and its expansionism and the way in which it's disturbing and breaking down the rules-based order. Today no wonder groups like bricks are becoming more popular as countries are rushing towards bricks membership and G7 we are seeing a disintegration and the
36:59 writer says that even G20 will disintegrate eventually because today the WTO is breaking up United Nations had already become useless and ineffective right we have discussed in previous sessions as well how the UN is a ineffective body it can't deal with any conflict be it Ukraine be it Gaza be it Pakistan sponsored terrorism against India. It is not able to deal with any of the conflicts. It's not able to live up to its charter, to its principles because the UN has been politicized. The P5 countries which hold the veto with them at the UN Security Council have politicized the UN and the UN has become an ineffective body. So no wonder today countries are looking to quit some of the multilateral organizations. United States itself has been quitting some of
37:45 the UN organizations. WTO is being torn apart. The US has taken aim at the WTO itself because it enabled China to rise up as a global economic powerhouse. As China became a manufacturing powerhouse in the 80s and '90s, it utilized the platform of WTO to protect its interests, come out with predatory trade policies and pricing policies to dominate the global value chains and supply chains. And today the US is trying to break apart from WTO and destroy the WTO itself. So what we are seeing is a reshaping of the global economic and political order with force. The two superpowers US and China are dismantling the world order the way they want to
38:31 suit their interests. So in between them India will get caught. We are all set to become the third largest economy. Right? India's future prospects could get damaged because of the way in which US and China are misusing the rules-based order and reshaping the world order according to their interests. That is why it is time for India to think strategically. The writer says that India should be cautious about the trends which are coming up in the global economy. Please understand the US is a economy which is stagnating, which is on the decline. It might still be a superpower. It might still be the most dominant power but it is clearly a power which is stagnating which is on the decline. Europe has stagnated and
39:18 started declining long ago. At least from 25 to 30 years Europe as a region is a stagnated economy. It is on the decline as well. The world today is dominated by the Asian powers. Asia clearly is the dominant region particularly the Indo-Pacific is the most important region in the world today. So in a way we are seeing a return of the glory of the Asian civilization before colonialism. India, China were the leading civilizations of the world, the leading economies of the world. They accounted for majority of the world's GDP before the 14th century. This was systematically decimated by the west. The wealth of India, China was transferred towards the west which powered the industrial revolution of
40:04 Europe. Today what you're witnessing is a reversal of that. The fortunes have turned. India, China and other Asian powers are rising while we see a decline of the west. So this chaotic world order that we are witnessing today presents India with some difficult challenges. We need to protect our own interests. We need to find new trade part partners. We need to find new markets. Reliable trusted partners are necessary for India. So that's why the writer says Asean region and Africa will be the future for India. Don't think the future lies in US or Europe. That era is gone. You might have seen a trend recently where Indian students no longer aspire to study in US
40:50 and Europe. That is very pragmatic because 15 20 years down the line US and Europe would have seen a further decline. The charisma of the west the so-called western dream American dream that that is long gone. These are powers which are declining stagnating. So for India the future lies with massive markets like Assean, Southeast Asian countries which are part of the ASEAN group. African countries part of the African Union. Even Latin America is a wonderful opportunity for India. So our foreign policy should be designed to build our ties and relations. Not just trade relations but foreign policy relations from Africa to Southeast Asia to South America. Of course, US Europe
41:37 will remain a focus and priority for some more time. But the future lies in these regions. The future lies in Asia. It lies in Africa and it lies in South America as well. So if India can rebalance its foreign and trade policy and pivot accordingly and position itself appropriately, India will then reap the benefits. Because during the cold war period, we did make some mistakes driven by ideological divides. The then Neu government chose the non-aligned movement which was necessary at that point to bring peace and stability to the world because the world was divided between the communist power block and the democratic capitalist power block. It was essential for countries like India through the bandong conference through the Afroasian
42:24 conference in 1955 champion the cause of non-alignment and eventually set up the non-aligned movement by 1961. So as India got dragged into ideological conflict and we took the middle path it hurt India's economic prospects as we became a more closed economy it did hurt India's economic prospects but today there are many options available in front of India we need not focus on ideological battles we need not be dragged into let's say ideological foreign policy and trade policy commitments we can opt for pragmatic decisions strategic decisions which will suit India's economic and national interests which means we'll need support from
43:10 China as well. India has a dependency on China. China also needs India. If we can work together with ASEAN region and Africa we can reshape the world together. So for this India will have to display leadership in the technology domain as well. Look at what China has done. The reason why China today is a global power and a emerging superpower which can even overshadow the US is primarily because of the technological dominance that China has built. China is not just a manufacturing powerhouse. It not only controls global supply chains but more importantly dominates the global technology value chains from AI to communication technologies to quantum computing semiconductors. China is dominant in every sector in every segment because
43:56 China has invested in human capital. China has invested in innovation in building intellectual property. That is exactly what India needs to do as well. Focus on open-source tools. Look at how Chinese companies like Huawei set up global dominance in the mobile infrastructure around the world. All your 2G, 3G, 4G, even some 5G networks are built on Huawei's equipment which allows China a dominating control over the mobile infrastructure of the world and the internet infrastructure of the world. That is the kind of product that India should come out with. Indian companies, Indian research organizations whether government funded or private. This should be the focus. We should not obsess with the western model of GDP.
44:42 Western countries have always told us that GDP is the best way to measure the growth of your country. There are many different ways of measuring growth and progress and according to the writer today it's more important to have more patents than a better GDP growth. China today is generating so much intellectual property that it can easily control and dominate the next 100 years. This is what India should be focusing upon. So we need to tap our human capital. It's not about building larger militaries. It's not about building larger armed forces, acquiring new weapons. It's more about investing in your human capital, providing the right education, giving the right training and skills to your youth so that we can be pioneers of technology. We can come out
45:28 with more innovation, come out with new products which will allow the Indian economy to remain a dominant force in the future of the global economy. And that is what will allow India to protect its long-term interests. So that is what we understand from this article. That's why I told you it's a very interesting insightful take by the writer. Now coming to the next article on page six, we have a column related to polity. The topic which is the focus of this article is parliamentary oversight. Parliamentary oversight on the executive. Let's understand this topic in detail. I'll go beyond the article. I'll give you some additional
46:14 information as well. It's a very important topic for Indian polity. See, India adopted the parliamentary form of democracy following extensive debates in the constituent assembly. Post independence when the constituent assembly was debating the structure of the Indian constitution. the features of the Indian constitution. Did you know the debates went on for a total of 167 days between 1947 and 1950 on 167 days the constituent assembly met to draft and finalize the Indian constitution. So on the question of what form of government should India adopt should it be a presidential form should it be a parliamentary form of democracy on this critical question Dr. BR Ambitedkar had a very strong defense for
47:02 parliamentary form of democracy to be the best suited model for India. We borrowed the Westminster model directly from Britain where the executive that is your government would be collectively responsible to the legislature. The presidential form might have brought more efficiency. It might have made the government more decisive. But however in the long run it would have crushed the diversity of the country. It would have undermined fundamental rights as well. So keeping the different challenges of India at that point our founding fathers were very clear particularly Dr. B Ambedkar that India needs parliamentary form of democracy though it is flawed. Ambedkar acknowledged the flaws of parliamentary democracy. He said parliamentary system
47:49 could be less stable. Governments might fall frequently. Elections might happen regularly or parliamentary proceedings could be disrupted every now and then. But these are the drawbacks. It's a good trade-off. It's a necessary trade-off because the advantages from parliamentary form of democracy is much more higher for a country like India. According to Dr. Bedkar, Dr. Amkar strongly believed that parliamentary form of government is the right and the only form of government for India which is best suited for our interests because this allows your elected representatives to hold your government to hold your executive accountable day in and day out. So let us see how the parliament plays a critical role in holding the executive
48:34 accountable. See periodically there is accountability in our system in a parliamentary system through elections. Correct. Every 5 years we all go out vote, cast our vote and if we don't like the current dispensation, the current incumbent government, we kick them out. We kick the party out of power and we bring in a new government. So there is periodic accountability once in 5 years at least elections will happen or maybe before that as well if the government falls and the people directly exercise a choice to exercise accountability of the government. So through parliamentary elections periodically the voters the electorate are exercising direct control and accountability over the government but periodic accountability alone is not
49:20 enough. Correct. There needs to be day-to-day accountability. Who will check as to what the government is doing on a day-to-day basis? What laws are being passed? What policies are being implemented? Whether government schemes are being implemented properly, efficiently, whether the government is respecting fundamental rights of the citizens, who will keep the government on check on a day-to-day basis. It is your elected representatives. It is your MPs who are sitting in the parliament representing your vote, representing your voice on a day-to-day basis. In the parliament, they can question the government on the floor of the house. They can question anybody in the council of ministers who are collectively responsible to the to the lower house
50:07 that is the Lok Sabha be it the prime minister or any of the cabinet ministers or any minister part of the council of ministers they are all collectively accountable collectively responsible to the parliament correct so your MPs can question the government they can push motions there are parliamentary motions through which they can use it as a tool as a parliamentary tool to hold the executive accountable on a day-to-day basis. They can push for debates. They can push for amendments to a bill. They can bring up critical national issues for discussion and ensure that the executive pays attention to the problems of the people. So this is where parliamentary oversight is very very critical because this is a form of
50:53 checks and balance in a democracy. It ensures that the executive is under control. the executive doesn't abuse the authority and power it has been vested with. But what is concerning is that of late parliamentary oversight is being degraded. Parliamentary oversight is declining. It is going down because the government, the opposition, the parliamentarians are busy fighting creating chaos, creating disruption in the parliament. Instead of pushing the motions which are available, instead of using the parliamentary tools which are available, there is more focus on disruption and creating chaos which has reduced accountability of the government. So that is why it is important to understand what kind of oversight tools are available to our
51:39 MPs. I'm sure you would have heard about parliamentary tools such as question R, zer, no confidence motion and many other parliamentary tools which are available through which they can question the government and hold the government accountable and answerable. Unfortunately, sufficient time is not allocated to these parliamentary motions or even if uh the questions are allowed. There is frequent disruption which is done and sometimes the government appears to cut down the role of the opposition by bulldozing the discussions and debates in the parliament. So this development is very concerning for India's parliamentary democracy. Now I'll give you one more exercise, one more small assignment. Can you read about all the parliamentary
52:25 tools? I've mentioned question R, zer R, etc. Similarly, there are a few more parliamentary tools. Can you read about them and mention the key points in the comment section below? So, it can help other students as well. These parliamentary tools if effectively used by our MPs, they can ensure that there is maximum accountability while the government pushes for maximum governance. This is the role of the parliament. On a day-to-day basis, the parliament can hold the government accountable through tools like question R, zer and other parliamentary motions, debates, questions, etc. If necessary, they can even push for a vote of no confidence against the government. Apart from this, we also have standing committees, parliamentary committees, department related standing committees which also play a pivotal
53:11 role in ensuring the accountability of the executive. There are dedicated committees which are present. For example, we have the most powerful parliamentary committee, the pack, the public accounts committee which keeps a check on government's expenditure. There are department related standing committees. So they ensure they go in depth into the working of a ministry into each and every bill into each and every policy and government action and they actually provide lot of insight into the functioning of the government and efficiency of the government. Standing committees actually play a very critical role in ensuring overall accountability of the government. But the problem is they are of temporary nature. They're constituted for a
53:56 certain term and they are reconstituted again. So there is no scope for the members to build expertise to maintain continuity and they also do not have enough support because see the research work which is done by parliamentary standing committees and department related parliamentary committees is very intense. It's very um voluminous. They have to meet all the stakeholders invite consultations from all the representatives. Let's say government is considering a new bill for a industrial policy. Then the parl concerned parliamentary committee will have to meet with industry stakeholders with civil society with legal experts right generate feedback and opinion and then try and hold the government accountable.
54:41 This requires tremendous work on the ground which parliamentary committees actually do. They carry out ground visit on-site visits as well. They generate opinions and views from all the stakeholders thereby making it a participatory process. This is true participatory democracy at work. But problem is they do not have enough support and backing because to go through reports which are hundreds and thousands of pages long and to invest time and effort to meet different stakeholders, generate their views and opinions to collect them and submit reports back to the government and table them in the parliament. This takes tremendous work and effort and they do not have enough backend support. If you look at other systems in other
55:27 countries, each MP is assigned with a research assistant. So those research assistants, they provide the required support, the logistical support, the research support which is needed in India that is lacking. Uh there was a think tank which started initiative called the LAMP fellowship which is still continuing but it's still a very limited initiative. There should be initiative from the government from the which is funded from the from the consolidated fund where the parliament takes that responsibility where the parliament provides for research assistance. So this is where the writer says technology can play a bigger role in improving parliamentary accountability. How parliament should think about introducing data analytics and AI tools for our MPs?
56:13 If deployed correctly, it can assist our MPs to conduct quicker research to find out key insights about government schemes, government policy implementation and ensure that they have the right material, the right information with them through which they can hold the government accountable and ask questions and demand answers from the government. So, introducing AI and data analytics into parliamentary accountability is very essential. This could improve the efficiency of the functioning of the parliament, the parliamentary committees and it could actually bring in more transparency as well in governance. That is the key point the writer is making. The technology can provide a solution by modernizing and strengthening parliamentary oversight with AI and data
57:00 analytics. We can ensure that on a day-to-day basis, our government, our executive is held accountable by our MPs. So with this I have completed the discussion of all the big articles in today's newspaper. Now let's head towards the prelim section and take a quick look at the two small articles in the paper. On page 10, we have an article that refers to Mount Makalu, which is located on the Nepal Tibet border, which is the fifth highest peak in the world. And a team of ITB soldiers from the Indotibetan border police have scaled this peak. So this could possibly be important for prelims. ITB is a central armed police force.
57:46 It's one of the CAPF under Ministry of Home Affairs, Indotibetan Border Police. It specializes in high altitude deployment in the Himalayas. It specializes in mountain warfare. It's a border security force responsible for guarding the India China border. Its primary mandate is to act as a border guarding force to protect and defend the India China border and also acts as a second line of defense for the Indian army during times of war. So a mountaineering expedition team of from ITB has scaled Mount Makalu which is the fifth highest peak located on the China Nepal border in the Maha Langur ranges of the Himalayas. It's
58:32 very close to Mount Everest by the way. It's located to the southeast of Mount Everest. It's close to the Anapuna base camp. So please know the location of of this summit and also know the basic facts about ITB. Then coming to the last article for today. If you remember yesterday we spoke about the waves summit, the world audiovisisual entertainment summit which is organized by the government of India. Prime Minister Modi attended the wave summit as well. He spoke about the orange economy which I discussed in yesterday's session. Orange economy is nothing but the creatorled economy where individual creators, individual artists, they produce creative work, art work which
59:20 has great monetary potential. So today the audiovisisual entertainment industry is a $3 trillion industry in the world and India wants to transform itself into a hub of audiovisisual entertainment and turn the economy into a creator economy. So this is a massive opportunity that India is trying to identify and promote. That's why the waves summit is organized by the government of India. It is organized by the ministry of information and broadcasting. The ministry of INB. The nodal ministry is the stakeholder which organizes the waves summit and many countries have participated in the wave summit along with several companies, private companies and startups and content creators.
1:00:06 For example, uh several top global creators were in Mumbai including the head of uh Instagram, right? Several top industry leaders. So this has been a great opportunity for India to project itself as a hub of audiovisisual entertainment to set up India as a hub of orange economy. India hopes to scale the creatorled economy exponentially which can create opportunities for the youth of the country. Now as part of the waves summit a global media dialogue was hosted by India. Global media dialogue hosted at the waves summit following which a waves declaration has been adopted by all the countries that participated.
1:00:51 So in the waves declaration that was adopted at the end of the global media dialogue all the participating countries they have identified the potential of the AV industry the future potential that lies ahead for the media and entertainment industry. They've also spoken about the risks. They've discussed about fake news, misinformation, disinformation which is spreading easily on social media platforms especially uh through generative AI tools. They have flagged the risk posed by AI and how through AI misinformation, fake news, disinformation can be easily spread on social media platforms which represents a big risk. It threatens the security of a nation. It could harm the dignity of
1:01:38 an individual. So addressing these risks, risks and concerns has been a priority of the waves declaration while creating opportunities for creators to collaborate to bring out factual authentic content and ensure that this can be turned into a viable economic opportunity. They have spoken about cross-country collaborations and the countries which participated at the official level through their governments. They've called upon their startups, their IT tech industry to collaborate and ensure that the audiovisisual entertainment industry creates new lucrative opportunities. So please note down these key facts. What is orange economy? Where was the global media dialogue held? What is the waves summit? Who organizes it?
1:02:25 And what was the declaration? The waves declaration which was adopted. These basic facts is more than sufficient with regard to this article. So on this note I bring my discussion to an end. I hope it's been an interesting detailed analysis. I hope you have understood everything. If you did, please let me know in the comments. Press the like button. Share the video with other aspirants as well. And don't forget to subscribe to our channel. That is it for today. Thanks for watching. We'll see you tomorrow. Have a good day.
