Thank you very much, and it is a great pleasure to be here. And I'm especially pleased to be in Ireland just a couple of weeks after President Barack Obama paid a visit to his ancestral home. And I thought you'd be interested to know that some of the President's opponents, following the recent controversy about whether or not he was truly born in America, demanded to prove for Mr. Obama's Irish ancestry. And I understand he responded by finishing his Guinness and reminding his opponents that he is the only President to host a beer summit at the White House. In all seriousness, I want to thank the Institute of International and European Affairs for inviting me to this beautiful city to talk with you about what's happening in the United States to address the issue of climate change. Well, that about sums it up. It's been a pleasure speaking with you. And if you'll pardon me, I'm going to go do some sightseeing. I'm kidding, of course. Well, let me clarify that. I'm kidding about being through with my remarks, but the notion that not a lot is happening on this issue in the United States is no joke. The renowned Irish blessing calls for the winds to be always at your back, the sun to shine warm upon your face, and the rains to fall soft upon your fields. Well, for those of us who care about this issue and who want to see the United States take its rightful role in protecting the climate, it seems like the wind has not actually been at our back, but rather hitting us squarely in the face for quite some time now. Anytime you have someone winning an election to the United States Senate, as we did in November, thanks in part to a campaign ad where he uses a rifle to shoot a hole through a piece of paper representing climate change legislation, I guess you could be forgiven for feeling, well, not sufficiently blessed. For perspective, let's look back for a moment at what was happening on this issue in the United States just two years ago. President Obama was just months into office after an election campaign during which he had pledged to reduce U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases by 80 percent before mid-century, and during which he promised to invest tons of billions of dollars in new climate-friendly energy technologies. As his Secretary of Energy, the President appointed a Nobel Prize winner who supported strong action to address climate change, and he built an all-star team of advisors on environment and energy issues who felt very much the same way. Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives just two years ago this month passed comprehensive climate change legislation that established national limits on U.S. emissions and authorized a new trading program to help industries meet their targets as efficiently as possible. It was indeed a heady time for those of us who have labored on this issue over the past two decades and more. We definitely felt as though we had the wind at our back, but now it all seems like a distant dream. There is no getting around the fact that 2010 was a dark time for those of us who believe that the United States was on the precipice of taking serious action. So today I'm going to spend my time talking to you about why I believe things have changed so dramatically in so short a time. But I also want to point to some signs of hope. William Butler Yates, I should tell you that I was a literature major, so this is genuine here. William Butler Yates once wrote, when one looks into the darkness there is always something there. And I believe this is an insight we should remember no matter how dark things may appear at the present time. Of course, John McCain once joked in a different context that it's always darker before the light goes completely out, which is very funny but somewhat depressing. In my remarks today, I intend to look into the present darkness and reflect on some of the reasons why things are so dark right now, but I'm also going to point out that indeed there is something there. So let me start at a closer look as to why it's grown so gloomy in Washington. In the two years since the House of Representatives voted on the so-called cap and trade legislation in June 2009, the opposition to climate action has gained the upper hand in the debate. The 2010 US elections last November brought an astonishing number of new members to Congress who publicly disavowed the science of climate change. In fact, shortly after the election, a US think tank conducted a comprehensive review of the policy positions and statements of more than 100 incoming Republican members of Congress. It found that more than half of them, more than half, are skeptics of climate change. They say they're not sure it's really happening. And remember, this is the majority party that controls the legislative agenda in the US House of Representatives. So if anyone tells you that serious congressional action on this issue is possible in the next two years, I hope you will tell them that they are crazy, because it's not going to happen. And it's not just the presence of large numbers of climate change skeptics that make it improbable in the current US Congress. As always in Washington, there are a range of other issues at play. In the wake of President Obama's efforts to overhaul the US health care system, for example, there is a profound distaste in our nation's capital and throughout the United States for policies that could be branded as big government solutions. We can do our level best, and honestly, we have, to try and help people understand how a cap and trade approach leads it to the market, and not government, to find the most efficient ways to reduce emissions. But opponents inevitably will turn this into an issue of government overreach. And in the current climate in the United States, attacking things in this manner seems to be a strategy that works. And there's also, of course, the economy, a seemingly unending challenge with which I know all of you are familiar. You understand how unemployment rates can color every political decision. In the US, unemployment hovers at, actually slightly over, the 9% mark, causing members of Congress to feel their own jobs are at risk to the extent that they embrace policies that could be construed as being anti-business or worse, anti-jobs. The President's health care law regularly is referred to as a job killing, job destroying, or job crushing initiative. This is how you attack your opponents in Washington today. You accuse them of wanting to take away other people's jobs. And once again, this seems to be a strategy that works, even if it can be argued that addressing climate change in a serious way will actually create new jobs in clean energy and related industries. Unfortunately, I do apologize for all of this, but I think the truth is important here. Unfortunately, it does get even worse. Not content to block legislation that could strengthen or expand US efforts to address climate change, many in the House of Representatives are pursuing a strategy of trying to eliminate or curtail existing policies and programs related to this issue, however modest they may be. Earlier this year, the House passed a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. Ironically, this measure could have been nicknamed the kill government bill for its drastic cutbacks. While fiscal realities demand cuts to a wide range of vital federal programs, the House planned disproportionately cut funds for climate science and clean energy programs. Just those programs needed to address the transition to a robust clean energy economy that many businesses and the public support. Thankfully, the US Senate had its say, and the spending bill the President eventually signed into law avoided total annihilation of federal climate initiatives. While the most aggressive efforts by Congress to strip the US Environmental Protection Agency of its funding and authority to act on climate and clean energy may not have passed, many politically contentious issues lie ahead that may present more hurdles for EPA. For instance, debates this summer over the US debt ceiling and battles over the 2012 budget could again put EPA in the crosshairs. Many Republicans, especially in the House, are likely to stay vigilant in their anti-climate efforts. But under our bicameral legislative system, the House does not have the last word in these matters. The Senate, however, presents its own challenges, starting with an arcane set of rules that allow a minority of senators to block major legislation. The Democrats are in the majority in the Senate, but they don't have the 60 votes they need to pass anything major on climate change or other big issues. What's more, the Democrats themselves remain divided on the climate issue, with senators from oil and coal producing states, often siding with the Republicans, to block proposals that could be portrayed as trying to change the prevailing high carbon energy mix in the United States. Looking ahead, things could get worse before they get better. The period after the November 2012 elections could be the next best chance for the United States to do something serious on the climate issue. But if the House remains majority Republican, which I think is likely, or the Senate falls into Republican hands, which I think is also likely, the chance will probably be lost for another two years or more. So it's a little dark in Washington at the moment, and it's hard to see how anything substantive or serious can happen on the climate issue under the current Congress. Indeed, the challenge right now is to prevent Congress from endangering the mostly modest initiatives and programs that are in place right now to address this issue, and on which we can potentially build a more robust response in the future under friendlier leadership. Which brings me to the shadows of hope we can see if we follow the advice of Mr. Yates and look into the darkness. The first of these appears when we look at what's happening at the US Environmental Protection Agency, the federal agency that is responsible for carrying out many US laws related to climate change and the environment. With Congress unable to pass comprehensive legislation in 2010, attention turned to what the EPA might do under the agency's existing authority. And it turns out the EPA can do a great deal. One of the reasons why it can do a great deal is because the US Supreme Court in 2007 decided that greenhouse gases meet the definition of pollutants under the Clean Air Act. That is the omnibus federal clean air law that was originally passed in the 70s and has been amended and expanded several times since. In its 2007 ruling, the Supreme Court left it to the EPA to decide if emissions of greenhouse gases present a risk to public health and welfare. EPA decided that they did based on the overwhelming scientific evidence about the enormous risks that climate change poses to America and the world. Interestingly, we recently learned that the previous EPA administrator under President George W. Bush came to exactly the same conclusion. And other senior Bush administration officials agreed. So when opponents of the EPA decision on greenhouse gases inevitably painted it as a partisan attempt to expand government, well, let's just say that their arguments seemed a tad partisan themselves. What is the EPA doing to try and limit US emissions of greenhouse gases? National standards for passenger cars and light duty trucks that won approval from industry and environmentalists will increase fuel efficiency to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 and save consumers $3,000 over a vehicle's lifetime. A new EPA proposal to be finalized next year aims to increase fuel efficiency by another 3% to 6% per year through 2025. In late October, the agency announced a sensible proposal to reduce emissions by 20% and improve fuel efficiency for medium and heavy duty vehicles. This was followed by a November announcement that will go a long way to make sure that new industrial facilities in the United States use state-of-the-art technologies to boost efficiency and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. And later this year, EPA is expected to propose the first ever greenhouse gas standards for new and existing power plants and oil refineries. Of course, opponents of these and other EPA actions will continue to raise a ruckus. And there have already been loud cries in Congress to take away the agency's regulatory authority and cut its funding, as I've already discussed. But the fact remains that even though its efforts are relatively mild and will not come close to achieving the broader reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that President Obama promised during his election campaign, EPA is still in the fight and is still putting forward reasonable rules and regulations for reducing the US contribution to climate change. And that is an encouraging thing to see as we take in an otherwise dark scene. It's also important to take notice of action actually taking place on the ground that has climate benefits. Most notably, we expect many old coal plants to shut down. While some new coal plants, a few, will come online soon, we are far more likely to see new natural gas power plants built in the future. While clearly not the answer to our climate and energy challenges, natural gas emits half the amount of carbon dioxide as coal. So this shift to natural gas largely driven by regulations of conventional pollutants and by discoveries of shale gas that make natural gas more cost competitive will certainly help keep the US on the downwards emissions pathway that we've experienced in recent years. Of course, achieving bigger, brighter changes in how we produce and consume energy will ultimately require new policies, technological innovation, and broad public support. Another shadow of, as you can see, I'm working really hard on these shadows of hope. Another shadow of hope that we can see if we look into the current darkness is that President Obama continues to talk about energy issues in a way that is helpful for the climate. Yes, he recently proposed to expand drilling for oil in the United States, but he continues to frame the nation's energy challenge, and indeed the world, as a challenge that we can meet only through an all of the above energy policy that reserves a vital role for low-carbon clean energy sources in meeting our energy needs in the decades to come.  But I should point out that at home, he talks about clean energy and does not actually talk about climate change. Looking ahead to the 2012 US presidential election, we can even see a faint shadow of hope, and it's a really faint one, in the histories of the leading Republican candidates for president. A number of the leading Republican candidates, including former state governors Tim Polenti, John Huntsman, and Mitt Romney, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, have in the past supported cap and trade policies. Of course, they wouldn't admit it now, even under enhanced interrogation techniques. But these men who are running for president on the Republican side are not your classic climate change deniers. In fact, some of them still agree that the science of climate change is real, although they are not supporting any action to deal with it. I know this doesn't sound like much, but the fact is that these candidates will find it hard to make climate change a polarizing issue in the 2012 election, given their records and past statements on the issue, and that is a good thing. Of course, if former Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska or another out-and-out climate change skeptic runs for president on the Republican side, this might change. And I expect the well-funded, highly influential Tea Party movement to continue to mislead the public about the science and hold up climate action is a prime example of government-run amuck.  I'm convinced from a review of the polls that the majority of the American people actually support reasonable action to develop clean energy sources and take other steps to create a low-carbon economy. According to various credible surveys, the majority of Americans, about 60%, believe global warming or climate change is happening. It's important to note, however, that these numbers have trended down in recent years, in sync with the recession, and with the increasing political battles over climate change policy and well-funded attacks on climate science. One of the more interesting public opinion surveys on this topic is the so-called Six Americas Study by Yale and George Mason Universities. The project's researchers identified six distinct subsets of the US population based on their beliefs about climate change. The six categories are alarmed, concerned, cautious, disengaged, doubtful, and dismissive. Now you add the name grumpy, and you could have the climate change version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Interestingly, majorities in all six of these groups said they believe the United States should make it a priority to develop clean sources of energy. Regulating carbon dioxide emissions was supported by a majority of each group, except the dismissive, and nobody asked grumpy what he thought. So it's obvious that a significant portion of the US population supports policies that directly or indirectly would result in reduced emissions of greenhouse gases. Where support for these policies begins to decline is when researchers ask Americans what they're willing to pay to achieve these goals. But still, public support for clean energy and to a lesser extent regulating greenhouse gas emissions is certainly a hopeful thing we can see as we look into the darkness in the United States on this issue today. And the reason why it's hopeful is because it suggests to me that the current stalemate on this issue cannot last, especially in the face of continuing extreme weather events, such as the recent flooding of the Mississippi River and Texas wildfires that have ravaged nearly three million acres. These are exactly the kinds of events that climate scientists keep warning us will become more frequent in a warming world. And these types of extreme events inevitably raise serious questions in people's minds about whether warming global temperatures are already wreaking havoc with the climate. So far, I've talked mostly about national politics in the US, but it's important to remember that in the US political system, states have an enormous degree of authority and flexibility to advance climate solutions and other policies on their own. And the good and hopeful news is that many US states have banded together in recent years to launch regional initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and developing clean energy. This is in addition to individual states acting on their own. The not so good news is that state actions on the climate issue suffered a bit of a setback last November. As was the case with the US congressional elections, the 2010 gubernatorial elections brought to the nation's state houses a group of new leaders who adopted strong stance against climate action in their campaigns. This is already setting back some of the progress we were seeing at the state level on this issue in recent years. For example, New Jersey's new governor, Chris Christie, who was a rising star in the Republican Party, announced last month that he would withdraw his state from a very promising regional climate initiative that includes 10 Northeastern US states. While Governor Christie said he accepts the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and humans play a role, he follows the standard Republican position of opposing policy action and specifically cap and trade. But there is still some hope among the states. During the November election, for example, voters in California overwhelmingly rejected a measure aimed at curtailing the state's nascent efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Shortly after that vote, the California Air Resources Board formally approved the state's cap and trade program, which is designed to reduce California emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. A lawsuit by environmental activists opposed to cap and trade challenged the regulations on procedural grounds and may prevent the state from implementing its program on time. But the good news is that California is still in the fight and there is strong public support for what the state wants to do. California Governor Jerry Brown also signed into law one of the nation's most aggressive renewable electricity standards. It requires 33% of the state's electricity be produced by renewable sources by 2020. Of course, California is a relatively progressive state. We'll always provide a more hospitable climate for action, sorry, climate for action on this issue. But the fact that the most highly populated US state will soon be implementing a cap and trade system and other measures to reduce emissions has to be a positive sign. Internationally, the Cancun climate talks show that there are opportunities for incremental evolutionary progress in the global negotiations on key operational issues of finance, measurement reporting and verification, adaptation, technology and forestry. It's important to understand that progress on these issues does not require a new legal agreement. Each of them can be advanced in tangible ways by decisions of the parties and that's exactly what was achieved in Cancun. The Cancun agreements are a package of decisions by the parties and what that package does in large measure is to import the essential elements of the Copenhagen Accord into the UN climate system and take initial steps to implement them. What this represents is incremental progress, evolutionary progress, the kind of progress that has eluded us for years because we were so preoccupied with legally binding outcomes. So we were able to move forward in Cancun on operational issues, but we were able to do so and this is an important point only because parties were willing to put aside their differences on the legal issues. I and this may be something we wanna argue about later. I encourage the talks this year in Durban, South Africa to build on the effective incremental approach taken in Cancun because the reality is that the US cannot make global commitments until there is stronger consensus for action at home and even apart from the situation in the US, the reality is that few, if any developed countries will take on new binding commitments themselves unless China and other big emerging economies do so as well, which isn't gonna happen in my opinion. So I think for now, we have to look to, I'm sorry to use this term, coalitions of the willing to make progress in key areas such as renewable energy and forest protection. While maintaining the international process is key to working toward the ultimate goal of a global climate agreement with legally binding commitments, taking place, what is taking place on the ground in individual countries right now, I think are the most important signs of progress. The last shadow of hope and I think the most important one that I wanna talk about is the fact that there remains a strong core of business support for reasonable action on the climate issue in the United States. The Pew Center's Business Environmental Leadership Council includes 46 major corporations that support mandatory market-based approaches to tackle climate change. Starting with 13 companies in 1998, our business council is now the largest US-based association of corporations focused on addressing the challenges of climate change and supporting mandatory climate policy. It includes mostly Fortune 500 companies with combined revenues of over two and a half trillion dollars and over four and a half million employees. Many different sectors are represented from high technology to diversified manufacturing, from oil and gas to transportation from utilities to chemicals. While individual companies hold their own views on policy specifics, they are united with the Pew Center and the belief that voluntary action alone will not be enough to address the climate challenge. The bottom line, business support for climate solutions is surely a hopeful sign amid the present darkness. And it is yet another factor that suggests to me that the current situation can't last that long. I'd like to end my remarks by drawing your attention to something that will happen today in the United States that at least on the surface appears to have very little to do with the subject of my remarks. On 42nd Street in New York City at the Foxwoods Theater, a new rock musical based on the Spider-Man comics with music and lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge has its official opening after several months of delays and various catastrophes along the way. Just months ago, many people wondered if it would ever open. Given that it was way over budget and that it had gone through a number of cast changes, script rewrites and more. The low point came when a stunt performer fell more than 20 feet to the stage after a cable snapped on the harness that held him aloft. Fortunately, he was released from the hospital and is okay. And despite mixed reviews, ticket sales for the production have been phenomenal. I bring up the opening of the Spider-Man musical because it's a reminder that even when things are at their darkest, there can still be hope for success. And I also bring it up because of the title of the production. It's called Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark. Yates told us when one looks into the darkness, there's always something there. And right now, as I have said, we can indeed see some shadows of hope in the darkness that has descended on the climate change debate in the United States. When we'll be able to turn off the dark, I can't say, but I believe it actually can happen. Thank you very much. Thank you.


we're out at this little ditch spot such a tunnel spot there's a cinder block ledge some local kids have built i don't know if you guys are kids but yeah you guys told me about this spot so on a bad little spot we're in the shade so we're out of the uh harsh california sun we're gonna get a few tricks on this thing and then yeah before this was here kind of checked it out but i didn't think to build down here but yeah shots out to the the dudes that build this one not a bad little spot just got to bring a broom sweep it out because it doesn't rain much in california what would be sick is like some transition keep saying that but yeah that would be dope i think everybody keeps asking when i'm going to build another DIY it truth is i just haven't found any spots suitable you know i mean i could build here but it's kind of a mission to get to you gotta jump a fence and walk all the way down the drain but i'm kind of want to build somewhere that's like away from houses this is pretty close to like houses up here so trying to find somewhere that's like flat there's some shade it's like away from the public eye and then i'll start building again you should be more funnier how are we funnier i'm bummed because my ankle is still it's not broken but it's not 100% either so i'm still waiting for my ankle to get better it's really it's really uh playing with my emotions you know so you can see a lot brighter on the phone look all this sand come from from the mountain when it rains look at this piece it's mire's that's what it says see this guy everywhere style this place is bombed look at it and it's a portal to hell what are you doing look at this throwy sheesh oh god this is the most dangerous spot of the fence to hop as you can see let's hop where i hope to use it so this package came in this morning gonna open it up i still haven't seen what it is yet but i ordered some tote bags for evening so yeah i'm gonna rip into this box right now and then hopefully i'm gonna be happy with the results so yeah check it out what do you guys think pretty sick huh i drew this myself it says em and there's hot stuff there he's holding a can of paint that didn't turn out too bad actually check it out perfect little tote bag to carry your bottle of water or wax or tea tool or camera or whatever going skateboarding it's like a canvas heavy canvas tote i think it's like 12 ounce canvas cotton i don't know and it has these web handles which are apparently stronger than normal canvas handles so yeah this is the front right here guys this is the back it goes on like this and you go about your day pull up to the park and you let all the boys know you're in the evening well see evening and yeah so these will be up on the on the website pretty soon it's got to take some photos and stuff and along with these new tote bags if you buy one of these new tote bags you'll get some stickers i got some stickers made up check them out pretty sick so yeah you'll get a couple of these stickers when you purchase these tote bags i don't know how many tote bags i got but i got i got like a decent amount so yeah i mean super keen on the tote bag idea because i use them all the time when i go out and skate or paint or whatever so i'm really happy that i finally pulled the trigger on these because they turned out pretty dope is that your box now is it have you claimed this box for yourself so not being able to skate properly sucks like i found out i have a hairline fractured ankle like did and i've torn some ligaments in my ankle from the from the bail i had on memorial day so that was a long time ago my ankle's just starting to get better now but it's not 100 percent i'm trying to keep skating on it but it just hurts so i don't want to make it worse and i'm really bummed out because i've been able to skate properly and i've been lagging on videos so i just planted my head a little bit but yeah hopefully before soon i'll be back skating full time or like skating properly again you know i'm just going to give it time so yeah i hope you guys enjoy these videos that i do i'm not sure like if it seems like all the videos that aren't really like completely skating skating don't do that well which is like whatever but um yeah to everyone else that's here watching and supporting thank you so much it means a world to me so yeah just bear with me while i wait for my ankle to get better i might have to change your content up a little bit but i'm just trying to just be productive and just keep pushing out videos and uploading and stuff so you guys have something to watch so hopefully the right people will stick around you know what i mean like i don't want people to be like you suck you don't skate anymore and then unsubscribe like but if you do then whatever you know i don't care bro like i'm here making videos if you don't like my youtube channel then you don't have to subscribe to it so i might even get some unsubs for this but whatever so yeah if you're new here what's up if you've been here what's up even harder and cheers for uh supporting the channel and everything else yeah here's my outro guys i'll catch you guys in the next video later come on


Alright, so I said I was going to do a giveaway. I went to the fire. I asked if anyone was interested. If anyone shot on an iPhone, because this weekend I wanted to empower creators by giving them a tool to help them succeed. And it turns out a lot of people shot on regular cameras, so Louis and Laura are going to organize a giveaway on the Live the Adventure page. I think it's some kind of contest of some sort, so I'm going to pass it off to them and let them handle a giveaway and hopefully somebody out there can use this to their benefit. Steve, you know you have a little something on your face, right? Do I? Yeah. A bit of poke, a bit of rice. Well... Or is it the light? Have I been talking to you this whole time? Yes. No wonder you're smiling. I'm sorry. You were telling me the best story and then I was like, it looks like you have green bugs on your face. Really? Yeah. Good morning. This is the day after the last day. Everybody's heading out. We all packed up camp, filled up water for the outside shower. Looks like we're going to do a nice little group photo. Got a few vehicles left over. Got Danny the Adventure bus hanging out over here.  I think with Aria, who you'll meet either today or on the trip in a couple of days. Well, goodbyes are always sad, but I must say goodbye to everyone here. Bye. You guys are awesome. It was amazing hanging with you guys for the weekend plus. So, I hope to see everybody on the road at some point or coming in for landing. Bye guys. Back to our camp. Bye. Kristin and Sia have invited me over to Luna to check out this beautiful, oh my goodness. Airstream. Look at all these power ports everywhere. There are, there's 18 USBs and 20 power ports in this thing. Wow. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I love what on earth are you doing? What is this? Is this a coffee grinder? Yeah. This is grinding coffee. So you put the beans in here, stir it up, and it grinds the coffee. Oh my gosh. This is so cool. I love the, like the copper. I love, oh my gosh. You guys have so good, such good taste. I just designed my next bus for me. Okay. Deal. I'm surprised you haven't been in here. I know. Yeah. I didn't stop by and I don't know. I kind of boosted board by and then I just, yeah, I didn't come in. Oh. So. Yeah. Welcome. Welcome. So usually like stuff is a little more out in the display, but we already like planning to drive it. So we took everything down. And that there is like a table, but it was a bed last night. Yeah. This is. Oh, it's an extra bed. It's a table table that raises up. Oh, right. Yeah. From the bottom. And then it's a huge couch. We had about nine people sitting at this couch. I believe that. Yeah. That's a really, really good idea. I'd like to implement that in a future bus. Like having side to side table, the middle, and just like a big. Yeah. Fun bed. Yeah. Be cool. Wow. Electric evening. This is so beautiful. Reclaimed. I can see the old nail holes in it. So. Yeah. It's like from a hundred year old barn. High five for the dude. I feel you with the barnwood. It looks like it would not be usable or beautiful at all. Yeah. When we finally saw it like this. So it was from the family and you guys repurposed it. That makes it even more special. Yeah. Yeah. The editing suite here. So you can have a laptop. My gosh. Beautiful. I love it. It's clean, functional. Yeah. Repurposed. Yeah. You guys did a fantastic job. Thanks man. Yeah. And like it's almost off grid.  Yeah. Like oven that we can have. But we have a compost toilet. Okay. So that doesn't flush. Everything is contained in that toilet. And then you just clean it out. And it's pretty sweet. We have solar set up. So right now we're running off solar. So we're boiling water with solar. How many watts? 500 watts of solar. Okay. Yeah. Going into four batteries. Yeah. And we have like 400 and something amps. Yeah. We can use. Wow. I'm impressed. This is super cool. Super cool. Ventra bus in California. Diesel prices I believe went up 20 cents on November 1st. This is the cheapest gas diesel I could find. I saw it as high as 375 per gallon. I found this place on GasBuddy 309. The hot spring is around here but I might go to the beach. Since I have my own hot shower on the back. Hours later it's I'm over by Camarillo Ventura. I'm on the side of the freeway. Side of the road. Can't really see much. There's a trucker park behind me. I was driving by and I saw a bunch of semi trucks. Pro tip. Anywhere in the semi trucks park you can park. Anyways, I know I didn't properly document what exactly happened. And partly that's because I wanted to be so present and in the moment and available to everyone at the event. So yeah, it's like this balance of documenting what's happening and being present in the moment. So I just want to say thanks again to everyone who came to the event. Everyone who helped out with the event. It was a very special weekend to meet everyone to share my thoughts and feelings. And my, you know, my path to get where I am. Man, it is humbling to look back over a year and see myself and each person at the event. That was really cool. Also, I have a card of some sort and Laura and Jim handed this to me. Where was it? Laura and Rachel. I'm so tired. I forget. But it was given to me. Actually, everyone was all together and Toby. So I'm going to open this tomorrow first thing in tomorrow's video. Because I feel like this is going to be an excellent way to start my day tomorrow as opposed to like getting buried at the tail end of my day and the video which some people kind of skip over. So thank you for watching. We will see you tomorrow. And I can't wait to share with you what is in here. What's inside?


It is now time for Member's Statements, and I recognize the Member for Windsor West. Speaker, there's been a lot of interest about the Ford government's plan to privatize employment Ontario, ODSP, and OW services through pilot programs in Hamilton, Niagara, and Peel. Ontarians are angry that their tax dollars are going to be used to pay foreign companies FedCAP and WCG to administer these programs, particularly because these companies are motivated by their own profit margins instead of achieving the best results for vulnerable people. These companies only get paid when a job match is made. The Income Security Advisory Centre points out, and I quote, these changes could create the wrong incentives for service providers to focus on maximizing their own revenues at the expense of helping recipients." With this model, companies are incentivized to push people such as those with disabilities towards any job, regardless of whether it's appropriate for them. We've seen evidence of this in Australia and the UK where similar privatization schemes have been a disaster. Smokey Thomas, the President of Opsu, has said, and I quote, all this does is create wealth for a foreign interest. It creates no benefit for people who get social assistance in Ontario. They will simply enter another kind of poverty, the working poor, or they will end up homeless or worse, end quote. I'm very concerned about the precedent this sets for the rest of the province. We need to help people find work, but it must be stable, safe, meaningful work, appropriately suited to individuals and their needs. This ill-conceived privatization plan will not get us there. Member Statements. The Member for Brampton West. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On March 1st, like every year, the world would observe the Zero Discrimination Day recognized by the UNHDS. Zero Discrimination Day is observed to acknowledge and respect the rights of everyone to live a full and productive life and live it with dignity. This day is observed to promote equality before the law and in practice of the law throughout all the member countries of the United Nations. Zero Discrimination Day highlights how people can become informed about and promote inclusion, compassion, peace, and above all a movement for change. This initiative started by the UNHDS in the year 2014 is helping to create a global movement of solidarity to end all forms of discrimination based, for example, on income, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. On Zero Discrimination Day this year, UNHDS is challenging the discrimination faced by women and girls in all their diversity in order to raise awareness and mobilize action to promote equality and empowerment for women and girls. These rights violation disproportionately harm women and girls. Ultimately, gender inequality affects everyone's health and well-being. Even in the 21st century, laws that uphold women's basic rights and protect them against harm and unequal treatment are far from the norm. Together, we need to affirm the oneness of the human community and unveil ways to live together in peace. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Member Statements, a member for York South-Western. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm so happy to rise today to talk about West Park Health Care Center. Last week, I had the opportunity to join the West Park community at their big dig as they celebrated the breaking ground on their new hospital. This project will not only mean better health care in our community, but it will also mean economic and job opportunities in my writing. A new bigger center will mean better faster access to specialized care folks need. Once open, this facility will be a job engine for our community for decades. It will attract more nurses, doctors, technicians, support and facilities staff. My constituents know this project will lead to new and sustained growth for years to come. Residents of York South-Western will be able to take part. Residents of York South-Western will be able to take particular pride in the new facility because they will have built it. Thanks to a community benefit agreement, this project will be hiring folks from our community. These jobs will support our friends and neighbors as they raise their families and spend at local buildings. This is good news for everyone. Thank you to everyone involved in advocating for this project. Congratulations, your success. You should all be proud of your leadership and I hope you know how much this means to everyone here in York South-Western. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the calls on the global health crisis regarding the coronavirus. Mr. Speaker, according to the latest WHO report, there are 80,239 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The disease has killed more than 2,500 people. While the vast majority of cases are contained to China, the disease has spread to dozens of countries in Southeast Asia, Europe and America and the Middle East. As of today, 12 cases of coronavirus, five in Ontario and seven in British Columbia have been confirmed. Mr. Speaker, I have met with many business and organization since the outbreak to hear their concern. Two weeks ago, I visited the first week mall in my mark, Antonio Riding. Management told me they installed the additional hand sanitizer and hired extra staff to continuously clean washroom, escalators and stairway handrail. This is about one example of how local business are responding to community concern about the spread of coronavirus. Mr. Speaker, many people are hesitant to visit in restaurant or community celebration. We need to change this perception and put the right perspective into peace place regarding the coronavirus. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the frontline healthcare workers who are doing everything in their power to protect Canadians. Thank you. Member for London North Centre. Speaker, I recently met with Carol Walters from the Alzheimer Society London and Middlesex to learn about the fantastic work they do in our community. Their programs offer cost savings to our province. Over 240,000 Ontarians live with dementia today, and it will double within the next 20 years. Currently, 60% of people with dementia live at home and lead active lives. The Alzheimer Society offers respite programs to caregivers who make huge sacrifices, their jobs, their hobbies, their social lives and save Canada's healthcare system an estimated $25 billion. First link care navigation puts individuals trained in dementia care in direct contact with families. Care navigators support families at every stage of the dementia journey. FLCNs are operating a capacity. This program needs $1.55 million more for frontline staff to support 5,000 more people living with dementia and their caregivers. This investment keeps Ontarians in their homes and alleviates the burden on our healthcare system. Ontario needs a dedicated funding stream for dementia specific services. Ontario must also fully implement recommendation 21 of the public inquiry into the safety and security of residents in long-term care homes. And further, dedicate $4 million to providing the Alzheimer Society U-first training in long-term care facilities across the province. I urge this government to do the right thing and support the Alzheimer Society in the upcoming budget and to support folks living with dementia as well as their caregivers. Thank you. Member for Lanark, Frontenac, Kingston. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, I'm pleased that the government is finally giving the public an opportunity to provide feedback and express their concerns with Ontario's conservation authorities. As many in this house will know, including the current minister, I've had significant dealings with the conservation authorities in my riding, both before being elected and since. Seldom, have they been very enjoyable or productive? I would argue that conservation authorities have done more harm than good in rural Ontario. I cannot count the number of times I have intervened and advocated for my constituents over unjust demands, incompetence, misapplication of regulations, or actions that were ultra-various. What little good they do is often overshadowed by the harm they cause. They are the single greatest cause for diminished development in much of rural Ontario. I encourage everyone to participate in the public consultation process to make your ideas and concerns known. And with today's story, don't be surprised if Liberal leadership candidate, Stephen Del Duca, also calls in. The cutoff for feedback is March 13th, so time is of the essence. You can learn more on my website, randihillurempp.com forward slash cafeedback. Thank you, Speaker. Please come. Member statements? The member for Mississauga Centre. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. On February 22nd, we acknowledged anti-human trafficking awareness day here in Ontario and across all Canada. Human trafficking is a problem that occurs in our communities, in our largest cities like Mississauga, and in our smallest towns and rural areas. Sex trafficking makes up to 90% of human trafficking cases, and 93% of trafficking victims are born here in Canada. Ontario alone accounts for roughly two-thirds of all human trafficking cases which were reported to the police. Traffickers predominantly go after young women, and although it can happen to almost anyone, almost three-quarters of people who are trafficked are under the age of 25, and the average age of recruitment is as young as 13 years old. Those being exploited for sex are often young girls who become a victim to manipulation and exploitation by criminals who see their vulnerability and innocence as something to take advantage of. These criminals are selling or young women to make lucrative profits, because as Minister McLeod said, you can sell cocaine only once, but you can sell a young woman many times, day after day. Mr. Speaker, I was honoured to host several anti-human trafficking roundtables across Ontario with my colleague, P.A. Carhalius. We have heard from frontline workers, police enforcement survivors and representatives from Indigenous and Francophone communities. It was both shocking and saddening, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the leadership of our Premier Doug Ford, our Solicitor General, and our Minister responsible for women and children's issues as we develop an anti-human trafficking strategy here in Ontario, and also our partners, such as Truckers Against Trafficking and Sexual Assault Centres. Because... Thank you very much. And I'm going to ask the members to quiet and down so that we can hear the member who has the floor, the member for Brampton East. Thank you, Speaker. In November 1984, state-organized armed mobs killed thousands of Sikhs in the streets of Delhi and destroyed Sikh businesses and Gordoras. This violence and other human rights abuses that Sikhs have faced has left a deep trauma and pain within us, but it did something even worse. The violence carried against the Sikh community has set a precedent, which is the news against other minority groups in India. And that's exactly what happened. We've seen violence carried against Dalits, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, and other minority groups within India. In 2002, Muslims were killed in Gujarat. In 2019, we saw Kashmir put under lockdown with a ban on internet, which continues till today. That same year, we saw the Citizenship Amendment Act, an amendment act, which discriminates against Muslims. In the very same week that I put forward my bill to recognize Sikh genocide awareness week, we saw Muslims being killed in the streets of Delhi, their businesses set on fire, and their mosques attacked. That is why it is so important that we recognize Sikh genocide awareness week. Because India was not held accountable for the Sikh genocide, it has emboldened India to continue and spread human rights abuses. And that's why I'm asking all members in this House to come together, support this bill, not just for the Sikh community to heal, but for us to fight for a better and more just world and future for us all. Thank you. Members, statements? The member for Mississauga Mall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Two years ago, the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers received unanimous consent from all parties to make March 1st Professional Engineers Day in Ontario. Our government has a great respect for the engineering profession, and we will continue to support our local engineers. 85,000 professional engineers and nearly 250,000 engineering graduates in Ontario are the economic engine of our province. They help create jobs, foster new technologies, and in turn, build value for our economy. Ontario is experiencing a fundamental technological and economic shift, creating a demand for highly skilled workforce. As Premier Ford says, our economy is on fire. More than ever, we need economic prosperity to increase the revenue of Ontario government so that we can reduce deficit, pay our debt, and make further investment in the services that we need, and all that without borrowing from our children. Mr. Speaker, engineers believe in social responsibility as commitment to place public safety and interest ahead of all. For the future of our province, it is critical that we recognize the importance of our engineers for the prosperity and growth of our communities and the quality of life Ontarians deserve. From a fellow engineer, I want to wish all engineers across the province a happy professional engineers day, and I'd like to recognize the engineers sitting here, engineer Jeremy Jains, engineer Papu Shankar, engineer. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Willowdale. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and good morning. This Sunday, March 1st, is Professional Engineers Day in Ontario, and I would like to encourage the members of this house and all Ontarians to recognize and celebrate the incredible and invaluable work the professional engineers do in a variety of sectors across our economy and the important role that they play in communities around our great province. Professional engineers are often the front lines of innovation and create paradigm-changing solutions that drive and improve the world around us. They're problem solvers, collaborators, and outside-the-box thinkers. In 2018, the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers received formal recognition from the Ontario Legislature that every March 1st be declared Professional Engineers Day. PNG Day celebrates the vital role that professional engineers play in designing, creating, and safeguarding our province. These men and women come from diverse backgrounds and often from countries all over the world. They work in both the private and public sectors, and they work in engineering fields as diverse as they are, from civil and chemical to electrical and biomechanical. They design our roads and bridges, write computer codes, power our cities, turn garbage into fuel, build communities, keep our drinking water safe, and so much more. Willowdale is home to both the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and Professional Engineers Ontario, and I've had the opportunity to learn firsthand just about the incredible work engineers do on the job, but the leadership they show in communities like mine, working to inspire students to go into STEM, supporting countless community organizations with their time embracing and encouraging diversity in our province.  Thank you very much. That concludes our member statements. I've been informed that next we'll do the introduction of visitors, I guess.


Good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankarayesh academy for the rate 27th of August 2022. Before seeing the list of news articles, I have an announcement for you. See pre-storming test series batch 1 is going to start at Shankarayesh academy's Annanagar branch. The test series consists of a total of 66 tests. It includes both CSAT, GS and mock test. The batch starts on 12th September 2022. Then all the tests will be conducted in offline mode on the scheduled dates from 2pm to 4pm and it will be followed by a live discussion from 4.30pm to 7.30pm. The students who missed the offline test can take the test online after two days. For students who are taking the test online will be provided recorded discussion videos. You can take the test online only until the start of Shankarayesh academy's mock test that will be held before Prelims 2023. Let us see the list of news articles that we will be discussing today. Without wasting much time, now let us take up the first article for our discussion. Have a look at this news article. The news article talks about the lumpy skin disease. See this disease killed thousands of cattle in many states. But the managing director of Amul said that this is under total control in the state of Gujarat. So it will not impact the milk production, the milk sales or the milk prices in the long run. He also said that proper vaccination could curb the disease in other parts of the country too. This is the crux of the news article given here. So in this context, let us learn about lumpy skin disease. See lumpy skin disease is an infectious viral disease of cattle. It is caused by lumpy skin disease virus of the capripovirus genus in the poxiviridae family. This occurs in episodic form. Here episodic means an outbreak of disease that is affecting many animals of one kind at the same time. Now let us take the symptoms of the disease. The disease is characterized by the eruption of nodules in the skin, which may cover whole of the animal's body. Note that the lesions are often found in the mouth and the upper respiratory tract. The lumps generally open up like large and deep wounds and the severity of the disease varies considerably between breeds and strains of cattle. Many cattle become very weak and thin after infection and some also suffer loss of production of milk for several months. The skin lesions cause permanent damage to the hide of the cattle and in case of aggravated symptoms, the cows stop producing milk and even the pregnant cows suffer miscarriage. So these are some of the symptoms of the lumpy skin disease. Now moving on to transmission. The mode of transmission of the disease has not yet been clearly established. The two main reasons for the spread of the lumpy skin disease are the multiplication of vectors like house flies, ticks, as well as mosquitoes during monsoons months. And the second is unrestricted movement of stray cattle. See the transmission occurs in a wide variety of biotapes. That is the transmission can occur in semi-desert to temperate grassland and irrigated land. It has the potential to extend its range further. So this is about the transmission of lumpy skin disease. Now moving on to the spread of the disease. In India the disease has spread to Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu. And the maximum cases are reported from Rajasthan and Gujarat. Finally before concluding, let us see the measures that can be taken to prevent the disease. See goat pox vaccine is a trade and tested vaccine against the lumpy skin disease. This is because the lumpy skin disease virus is genetically similar to the goat and sheep pox virus. There is an lumpy skin disease vaccine also, but it has been observed that it is not safe and it is not as effective as the goat pox vaccine. As a result, admission of goat pox vaccine can prevent the occurrence of the lumpy skin disease. But once the cattle gets infected, administration of antibiotics are done to control secondary infection. And also if the cattle get infected by the disease, good nursing care is provided to maintain the health of the cattle. So these are the measures taken to prevent the spread of the disease. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about lumpy skin disease, we saw its symptoms, its spread and measures to prevent the disease. Now with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this editorial article. This editorial article talks about the draconian law that is armed forces special powers act 1958. It is also called as AFSPA. This article is written by Mr. M. P. Nathaniel, who was the Inspector General of Police in Central Reserve Police Force, that is CRPF. So this editorial is very relevant for our examination. Seeing this editorial, Mr. M. P. Nathaniel focuses on the evolution of AFSPA. After that, he talks about the reasons why it is implemented. And finally, he states various issues with the AFSPA. What he tries to conclude is, this armed forces special powers act is draconian and government must take steps to remove the act from existence. This is the basic essence of the editorial. Our present government has also taken some steps to remove the act. See, recently our Prime Minister said that not these needs to be freed from the net of AFSPA. So our government has taken steps by partially withdrawing AFSPA from the parts of Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur. So this is about the editorial article. In this context, let us learn about the origins of AFSPA, then its major provisions, then let us see why it is implemented, we will also see where it is currently in force and finally we will see the pros and cons of AFSPA. This is the plan for this discussion, before getting into the discussion, I have displayed here the syllabus regarding this discussion. Just pass the video and go through it, so that you can understand the relevance of this discussion for our mains preparation. Now let us start our discussion. First let us know about the origins of AFSPA. The British colonial government has promulgated the armed forces special powers ordinance on 15th August 1942. This was to suppress the quit India movement, particularly in Assam and Bengal. Note that this was the foundation for four ordinances. This includes the ordinance for the Assam disturbed area invoked in 1947. This is to deal with partition induced internal security challenges. Then came the Assam disturbed area act of 1955. This was followed by the armed forces Assam and Manipur special powers act 1958. This is to deal with the uprising in the Naha hills and the adjoining areas. Note that law continues to be enforced in its new formators armed forces special powers act 1958. Also note that there are two AFSPAs which are in operation. In this one AFSPA is exclusively for the Jammu and Kashmir. This act is known as the armed forces Jammu and Kashmir special powers act 1990. The other act is applicable to some of the northeastern states of India, which is the armed forces special powers act of 1958. So this is about the origin and the evolution of AFSPA. Now let us see some of the major provisions of this AFSPA. See this act enables certain special powers to be conferred upon the members of the armed forces in disturbed areas in the state. For example, it allows them to open fire against any person in contravention to the law or carrying arms and ammunition. Also it gives them powers to arrest individuals without warrants on the basis of reasonable suspicion. And the armed forces act can search premises without warrants also. Note that for the purpose of AFSPA, the central government can declare any area as disturbed area by notification in the official consent. Any area can be declared as disturbed area if the central government or governor or the lieutenant governor is of the opinion that particular area or even the whole of the state is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition. And the use of armed forces in the aid of civil power is necessary to prevent these activities such as the activities involving terrorist acts and activities directed towards disclaiming, questioning or disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. Ok, now a question arises. Why is it implemented? See, the act was implemented in the 1950s when the Naga insurgents resorted to large scale violence. Hundreds of Indian Army soldiers, central and state paramilitary personnel were either killed or injured by the insurgents. Then the situation took an ugly turn after the group led by Isaac Chusee Shu and Twinglang Muiwa formed the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, Isaac Muiwa. This is better known as the NSCN IM. And it was formed in January 1980. This resorted to large scale violence across the state of Nagaland and Manipur. Though the Naga framework agreement was signed, the government has not agreed to permit a separate flag and constitution for Nagaland which the NSCN IM is determined to have. Hence, a generation has lived with Afspa in Manipur and Nagaland. Now having seen the reason for the implementation, now let us see currently where Afspa is in force. See, we know that the act can be imposed by the center or the governor of the state on the state or parts of it. This is after these areas are declared disturbed under section 3 of the Afspa Act 1958. Ok, the act was amended in 1972 and the powers to declare an area as disturbed were conferred concurrently upon the central government. Along with the states, and currently the Union Home Ministry imposes periodic disturbed area notification to extend Afspa only for the state of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. By the notification for Manipur and Assam is issued by the state governments. And then when you take Tirupura, they revoked the act in 2015. And Mahalaya, it was revoked by the Ministry of Home Affairs from 1st April 2018. Ok, now let us see the issues with Afspa. See, firstly there is no prosecution against the armed forces for any wrongdoing without the previous sanction of the central government. Here, an important thing to be noted is that Afspa 1958 empowers even a non-commissioned officer to fire upon or otherwise use force even to the causing of death. This is the first issue with Afspa. Secondly, as a consequence of the first issue, this draconian law causes more fake encounters. See, in 2012, a red petition was filed in the Supreme Court. In this, the families of the victims of extrajudicial killings alleged 1528 fake encounters that had taken place in the state. This is from March 1979 to May 2012. Following this petition, the Supreme Court set up a commission to scrutinize six of these cases. And the commission found all the six to be fake encounters. So, due to the powers given by Afspa, the armed forces are committing fake encounters against the citizens. This is the second issue. Thirdly, there have been instances where the center has overruled the state. For example, in Thirupura in the year 1972, there was imposition of Afspa by the center without consulting the state government. Okay, so this is the third issue. Moving on, fourthly, it further deepens the feeling of alienation among the people. This is an important issue of Afspa. For this, take the example of people of Naga. The use of force and Afspa further their feeling of alienation. Thereby, solidifying the Naga nationalism. See, these are the four main issues surrounding Afspa. In spite of all these, there are some points in favor of Afspa. Now, let us see these points. See, though Afspa is considered as a draconian law, it still prevails in certain states. This is because Afspa is mainly put to address the insurgency in these disturbed areas or states. Insurgency is mainly to establish a separate nation. For example, take the case of Nagas who ask for the separate nation of Greater Nagali. In order to address this and protect the territorial integrity of India, the imposition of Afspa has become necessary. The second point is that insurgency in India cannot be only viewed through the lens of regionalism. It can also be construed as a proxy war against India. Here also, take Naga insurgency as example. Here, the Chinese government might support this insurgency activity to collapse the territorial integrity of India. So, the imposition of Afspa has become necessary. See, in the start of the discussion, I mentioned that government has taken steps to remove Afspa from various states. Or government has limited the application of Afspa to only certain areas of the state. So, in these areas also, if the issue of regionalism and insurgency is addressed, the Afspa can be removed from these areas also. So, in some cases, implementation of Afspa to achieve the objective of territorial integrity of India has become necessary. So, these are two points in favor of Afspa. But finally, see, no section of a society would ever allow itself to be subjected to a law that is as draconian as Afspa. Because this curves the liberty and the rights of the people as enshrined in the constitution. And we know that the Indian constitution is held sacrosanct by the nation. So, a withdrawal of this draconian law as soon as possible with an alternative effort to curb the insurgents would be a wiser move. So, that's all regarding this discussion. See, in this discussion, first we saw the evolution of Afspa. Then we saw the powers provided by this Afspa. After that, we saw where it is implemented. Then we saw some of the issues with this implementation and some points in favor of this implementation. So, I hope you found this discussion useful. Now, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. The news article states that yesterday the Metra's High Court has granted bail to a Muslim youth stating that acquisition based on imagination could not be termed as a terrorist act as defined under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967. So, in this news article discussion, let us focus on Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and some of the changes made in the 2019 amendment. Firstly, to understand the law better, let us see its origin. See, in the mid-1960s, many called for cessation from India. It was just at that time the reorganization of states got over. This created a lot of internal disturbances and the Union government was considering a stringent law against this. The situation reached its climax when a percent uprising took place in Nexelbury. Later, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 came into force to provide for more effective prevention of unlawful activities of individuals and associations. This is the origin of UAPA 1967. So, under the Act, any association or body of individuals can be declared unlawful if they indulged in any activities that support cessation. Later, the UAPA was amended to be modeled as an anti-terror law in 2004 and 2008. In 2019, the Act was amended again to include special procedures that deal with terrorist activities, among other things. Now, we shall see some of the provisions added after the amendment. See, under the Act, the central government may designate any organization as a terrorist organization if it commits or participates in an act of terrorism, prepares for terrorism, promotes terrorism or is otherwise involved in terrorism. The bill additionally imposed the government to designate individuals as terrorists on the same ground. The second amendment is with respect to approval for seizure of property by National Investigation Agency. See, under the Act, an investigating officer is required to obtain the prior approval of the Director General of Police to seize properties that may be connected with terrorism. The bill adds that if the investigation is conducted by an officer of the National Investigation Agency, the approval of the Director General of National Investigation Agency would be required for seizure of such properties. Third is with respect to investigation by the NIA. Under the Act, investigation of cases may be conducted by officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police or ABU. The bill additionally imposed the officers of NIA of the rank of Inspector or ABU to investigate cases. The last major amendment is with respect to insertion to the schedule of treaties. See, the Act defines terrorist acts to include acts committed within the scope of any of the treaties listed in the schedule to the Act. The schedule lists nine treaties including the Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings 1997 and the Convention against taking of hostages 1979. The bill adds another treaty to the list. This is the International Convention for Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the origin of UAPA 1967. Then we saw the changes made to the UAPA through the 2019 amendment. That's all regarding this discussion. Now, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Now, take a look at this news article. The news article says that the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a case against UPCM and the case is regarding hate speech. The issue is not important for our examination, but the issue surrounding hate speech is important for our examination. So, let us focus on that. So, in this discussion, let us learn about hate speech and some of the provisions in India against hate speech.  Hate speech does not just include spoken words. It has a wider definition. It includes all kinds of communication, which includes speech, writing or even behavior. The main intention behind giving a hate speech is to create hatred towards a particular community, religion, race or a group. See, by this definition, what Adolf Hitler made against the Jewish community can be termed as hate speech. Remember, the speech may or may not have a meaning, but if it is likely to result in violence, then we will call it as hate speech. In addition to this, to determine whether the speech is hate speech or not, the context in which the speech is given is also very relevant. This is about hate speech. See, India being a democratic country, it guarantees freedom of speech and expression. It is made a part of the fundamental rights of the Constitution under Article 19-1A. The article says that free speech is necessary to promote plurality of opinion among Indians, but it excludes hate speech from its ambit.   Now, we shall see some of the provisions in India against hate speech. See, legal protection against hate speech is given under both Indian Penal Code and under Representation of People's Act. We will see them one by one. Firstly, let us take the Indian Penal Code. Under this, Section 153A and Section 153B punishes act that causes enmity and hatred between two groups. The section considers this as an offense punishable with three years imprisonment. It attracts a five-year term if the offense is committed in a place of worship or an assembly engaged in religious worship. Moving on, let us take Section 295A of Indian Penal Code. Section 295A deals with punishing acts which deliberately or with malicious intention outrages the religious feelings of a class of persons. And the last important provision is sections 5051 and 5052. Both these sections make the publication and circulation of content which may cause ill will or hatred between different groups as an offense. So, these are the provisions under Indian Penal Code that gives us legal protection against hate speech. Now, moving on to the Representation of People's Act. See, Section 8 of Representation of People's Act 1951 prevents a person convicted of the illegal use of freedom of speech from contesting an election. And the other provision is Section 123A and 125 of Representation of People's Act 1951. See, these sections bars the promotion of animosity on grounds of race, religion, community, caste or language in reference to election and include it under corrupt electoral practices. See, these provisions of Representation of People's Act helps prevent the use of hate speech during the election campaigning by the politicians. So, these are the important legal provisions in India that grants us protection against hate speech. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, first we saw what is hate speech and after that we saw the legal protections against it. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. The news article says that the Coimbedo Market Management Committee has initiated studies to make the whole market carbon neutral. They are also planning to decongest the premise as part of the modernization scheme. So, in this background, let us quickly go through what is carbon neutral and some of the steps taken by the Indian government to achieve carbon neutrality. Firstly, know that carbon neutrality is a state of net zero carbon dioxide emission. That is, it is a state of balance between the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere and the CO2 removed from the atmosphere. Since the effects of carbon emissions are clearly visible, attaining carbon neutrality is very important to reverse rising sea level, extreme temperatures and storms that are partially tied to climate change. Now, let us see some of the measures taken by the Indian government to achieve carbon neutrality. First is the National Action Plan on Climate Change. It was launched in June 2008 and it contains the national strategy for implementing India's commitments at the UNFCC. It proposes eight national missions to adapt and mitigate climate change impacts. It includes missions on solar, enhanced energy efficiency, sustainable habitat, water, sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem, green India, sustainable agriculture and finally, strategic knowledge for climate change. This is the first step. The next is the Energy Conservation Act 2001. This act established a dedicated regulatory body called the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. This body is empowered to make regulations on a wide array of energy efficiency matters. See, once energy efficiency increases, the consumption of energy decreases. And we all know production of energy is one of the major emitters of greenhouse gases. So once the energy consumption decreases, the emission of greenhouse gases also decreases. This is the second major step. Moving on, in 2016, the National Tariff Policy was issued by the Ministry of Power under the Electricity Act 2003. One of the key objectives of this policy is to promote electricity generation from renewable resources. It recommended incentives for electricity projects that deploy green development mechanisms and results in lower greenhouse gases emission. Okay, the next is the National Electricity Plan under the Electricity Act 2003. See, this plan sets a renewable energy capacity target of 175 gigawatts by 2022. If this target is achieved, it will result in reduced reliance on coal-based energy generation and thus reduce the overall greenhouse gas emission. Okay, moving on, in regards to fuels, the government in 2018 published the National Biofuels Policy. This policy was notified by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. One of the key objectives of this policy is to reduce import dependence on oil and gas. See, we all know that ethanol blending results in reduced CO2 emissions. So the other major objective of the National Biofuels Policy in 2018 is to reduce CO2 emission through ethanol blending in petrol. Okay, finally, in 2019, the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan was adopted by the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. This plan targets to achieve 30% electric vehicles as transportation means by 2030. See, once we all start adopting electric vehicles, the net fossil fuel consumption comes down. Okay, this in turn reduces the greenhouse gas emissions. So these are some of the steps taken by the government to achieve carbon neutrality. So in this discussion, we saw what is carbon neutrality and the steps taken by the government. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Before taking up the next news article, let us take up this question. Vishnugad Pippalkoti Hydroelectric Project is constructed across which of the following rivers? Option A, Chambal, Option B, Alaknanda, Option C, Bagirathi and Option D, Manas. To know the answer for this question, let us take up the news article. See, this news article is about the Vishnugad Pippalkoti Hydro Power Project. Now first, let us see some of the facts about the project. See, this project is constructed across the river Alaknanda. And it is located in the Chamodi district of Uttarakhand. This project is built by the Thagiri Hydro Power Development Corporation. And this project is primarily funded by the World Bank. These are some of the facts regarding Vishnugad Pippalkoti Hydroelectric Project. See, this news article highlights some of the issues regarding the project. The main issue is that dam threatens the local Lakshmi Narayanan Temple. See, this temple is deemed to be a historical and cultural importance by the Archaeological Society of India. And some other issues highlighted by this news article are there is the issue of resettlement of the local people. And there is also the issue of loss of livelihood. And finally, the compensation provided for resettlement is also very low. So, these are the issues regarding the Vishnugad Pippalkoti Hydro Power Project highlighted by this news article. So, from this discussion, we can arrive at the answer for this question. So, the correct answer for this question is Option B, Alaknanda. Like before, now also, let us first take up the question before seeing the news article. Let me read out the question. The word Zorovar recently seen in news is related to which of the following. Indigenous Stealth Corvetteship. Indigenous Microsatellite Launched by SSLV. Indigenous Indian Light Tank. And D, Indigenous Attack UAV. To find the answer for this question, let us take up the news article. This article talks about Indigenous Indian Light Tank Zorovar. First, let us see some of the basic facts about the light tank. See, this tank is procured under the Project Zorovar. See, Indian Army is prioritizing the procurement of this Indigenous Indian Light Tank for deployment in the mountain ranges. This is done to outmaneuver the movement of Chinese forces. See, these tanks, once they are procured, they will be placed at 15,000 feet high at the eastern Ladakh region. Now, let us see some of the advantages of this light tank. See, these tanks are very agile because they have missile firing capability, counter drone apparatus, warning system and the power to weight ratio for this tank is very low. Since they have low power to weight ratio, they can be deployed in high altitude regions, marginal terrains like the runoff catch, high land territories, plains, semi deserts and deserts. See, the main advantage of the light tanks is they are air portable. Since they are air portable, these tanks can be lifted by aircraft and can be placed in the battle area. And these tanks, when it is used, will act as a force multiplier. So, these are some facts about the Indian Light Tank Zorovar. Now, let us move back to the question. So, from this discussion, we know the correct answer here. The correct answer is option C, Indigenous Indian Light Tank. So, that is all regarding this discussion. With this, we have come to the end of the news article discussion session. Now, let us take up the practice prelims questions. See, we have four practice prelims questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question. It is a previous year question and it appeared on the 2017 prelims paper. Let me read out the question. In the context of mitigating the impeding global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of CO2, which of the following can be the potential sites for carbon sequestration? Abandoned and anachromic coal mine, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, subterrain, deep saline formalities. We have to find which among the three can be used as potential sites for carbon sequestration? First, what is carbon sequestration? See, it is the process of storing atmospheric CO2 in carbonate forms. It is used for reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. The three sites provided in the question are correct. All the three sites, that is, abandoned and anachromic coal seams, depleted oil and gas reservoirs, subterrain, deep saline formalities can be used as sites for carbon sequestration. So, the correct answer here is option D1213. Let us take up the second question. In this question, four diseases are given. We have to find which among them are caused by virus. Let us take up the first disease, lumpy skin disease. We saw in the discussion itself, it is caused by lumpy skin disease virus, which is of poxiviridae family.  It is caused by a virus and it affects hoofed animals. It mainly affects domestic animals like cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats and pigs. Now, let us take render pest. See, render pest is also a viral disease. Moving on to avian influenza. Avian influenza, which is also known as bird flu, is caused by influenza virus. It mainly affects chicken, turkey, waterfall, beach birds and starlings. So, all the four diseases given here are caused by virus. So, the correct answer here is option D, all of the above. Now, let us take up the third question. This question is in reference to hate speech. Two statements are given. We have to find the correct statement.  See, this statement is correct because hate speech or speech that can cause actual material harm through social, economic and political marginalization of a community. Here, remember the act of hate speech is not always intended to lead to physical violence, but the act itself is violent because it causes exclusion of a community. Now, let us take up the second statement. Hate speech has not been defined in any law in India. See, this statement is also correct. Indeed, hate speech has not been defined in any law in India. However, there are legal protection in India that acts against hate speech. In our discussion itself, we saw various legal protections in India against hate speech, right? So, although there are legal protections, there is no clear definition of hate speech. So, statement one is correct and statement two is correct. So, correct answer here is option C, both one and two. Look at this question. It is a three-statement question regarding unlawful activities prevention act. This is a quiz question for you. So, interested aspirants, post the answer for this question in the comment section. The main question based on today's discussion is displayed here. Aspirants, write the answer and post it in the comment section. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. If you like today's video, like, comment and share the video with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankar IS Academy YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.