Hello everyone and welcome to Inside Leather History, a fireside chat. I'm Doug O'Keefe, the host and producer of the chats. The chats are a program of the Leather Archives and Museum. Today, December 1st, 2021, via Zoom, I'm speaking with Jason, also known as Leather Dad Jason, in Ontario, Canada. Where exactly are you located? I'm actually in Niagara, just outside Niagara Falls. Okay, on the Canadian side? On the Canadian side, yes. We can almost see America. The Canadian side has the more beautiful waterfall, hasn't it? It's true. I just spent a night there and it was absolutely stunning. Yeah, I haven't been there in a long time, but yeah. So today, we're going to talk a little bit about your history, a little bit about your world. Let's start off, tell me a little bit about where you're from and about your growing up. Sure, so I am from Southern Ontario. I grew up in a tiny little hamlet called Vanessa, surrounded by tobacco farms and lived there for quite a while and then moved to a slightly bigger town of Grantford, that's where I was all through my teenage years. And I grew up with my family, with my siblings, pretty run-of-the-mill growing up. And then as a teenager, I came into the closet as a lesbian and started to face a lot of violence, was beat up, had my house vandalized and broken into. And so that's when I decided to head to Toronto. I packed up all of my stuff, got on a bus at 4am and went to Toronto and started living on the streets. And that's when I was about 18.  What was going on there? I think the atmosphere of the town at the time was, I mean, it was a small town. It was very homophobic. There was a lot of racial tension in the town and so things like school yard fights and stuff were, I mean, not uncommon. It's just something I grew up with. So as I started to come out, people found out. And I mean, I had a few friends who were supportive and a lot who weren't and just suddenly turned and one night, two girls came that I knew and started questioning me about whether I was gay and I said yes and just started kicking me with those. Remember the combat boots with the steel toe on the outside, the toe cap with those like in the face and stuff. And two women came out of a bar thankfully and called the police and if it weren't for them, I don't know what would have happened. Oh my gosh, that's awful. Yeah, yeah. When was this happening? How recently? So that would have been the late 90s. I think sometimes I reflect on how much things have changed because I don't know that that would be the experience of someone in that town now, which is great. I would never want someone to have to go through the things that... I hate to say I'm older, but I think when we talk about queer history and generational pieces, there is that bit there. So some of the things that as older folks have gone through and especially the folks who came before me too. I'm slightly surprised to hear that because as an outsider looking at Canada, I've always seen Canada's very progressive. So to hear that there would be such violence going on is... I didn't expect that. I think Canada is... I mean in many ways we're different from the States. I think that we have stronger gun control. Our guns tend to just be used for hunting for the most part. But I mean we certainly have levels of violence. We have ongoing history of genocide and colonization towards Indigenous people and racism towards folks of other racial backgrounds. And so I think Canada in many ways is very progressive. We're a very progressive country, but I think we also have our hard stuff too. And I think sometimes the stereotypes of our country sort of overshadow the fact that we do have a long sort of history with all marginalized communities. Take me back a bit to your coming out as a lesbian. How did that evolve for you? So I think I realized that I was probably more bisexual when I was 10 or 11. I think at that point I just didn't really have the words for it. There wasn't a huge bi-community and certainly the word queer was just in the beginning of the process of being reclaimed and sort of in our vernaculars as a positive identity. And yeah, I think I just... I really recognized that I was attracted to lots of different people and I had to do more with the people than their gender and started to come out. I came out to my best friend and she was like, that's fine, but you can't tell anybody. You'll get killed. This is not good. And so it was a few years before I came out really. I was probably about 15 or 16 when I started coming out a lot more publicly and came out to my family. My family was good. I mean, they struggled a bit at first, but I'm really lucky to have a family who has accepted me in all of my little quirks. What other little quirks do you have? Oh man, where would I even start? Well, I think part of struggling with my sexuality and part of living in a small town where there wasn't good sex education meant that there was a lot of teen pregnancy where I was from. So I actually had my first baby when I was 16. Well, 15, almost 16. And my parents were really good about it. My mom always said you can be whatever you want to be. We'll still love you. And so they've been supportive.  I'm a parent, I get it. But I have really stood by me and my family and I'm really grateful for that. And how old is your child? I don't know whether you have a daughter, a son. Yeah, so I have three children. My oldest is 25. Then I have a 14-year-old and 11-year-old and we're actually raising our grandson who's four. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so it's a full house. Yes, yes. I can't help then, but ask. As someone in the general LGBTQ community, how is it raising children? I think it's changed a lot, I think for sure.   They had been married, they had had kids, eventually split up with their partners and gone on to live their lives. So there wasn't a lot of support back then. I find now that there's more access and that there's, in Canada, more health coverage for things like fertility treatments. There's a lot more queer folks having kids or having alternative family structures and setups. And so it hasn't really been an issue. I mean, my kids, I don't think they've ever really faced discrimination because of our sexuality and are raised in a house where we just believe that consent is key and that's what's important. And so we're really lucky that way. Very, very good. Yeah, this concept of consent is becoming more and more prevalent. We're seeing more and more of it. How can you see that? Like, how do I see it sort of becoming more prevalent? How do you teach the concept of consent to your children? Right. I think, I mean, with us, we started at a super young age.   Is this still okay? Do you want me to stop?  Just, I think when we give kids that choice, like it just becomes ingrained in them, right? It becomes something that they do naturally.  And I think that when we start really early, it becomes more a part of just how people interact in the world. And for us too, I think, you know, we've always been really open about other families. We're in a, like, polyamorous family. Our kids know that. Obviously they have three parents living with them. And so just really talking about the fact that, you know, families come in all different shapes and sizes and that people make different choices with their life. And that's fine as long as they're not hurting anybody, but that they have to be consenting.  Like, it better be consensual, whatever you choose to do. You know, it better be. And so they get that that's, I think, one of our core values as a family. Tell me a little bit more about being a polyamorous family. How do you make that work? Well, I, so my husband, I have been together for almost 21 years now. And we have been non-monogamous for most of that relationship. I think that when we got together, I was already pretty involved in the leather community.  And the men that I was hanging out with weren't monogamous. And so it just, for me, was almost an essential part of a queer identity. At the time, as I understood it, like you work queer, you weren't monogamous. That's just sort of how it went. And so for us, I mean, we've been non-monogamous for, yeah, 21 years. I have another live-in partner and I met her probably 10 years ago, 11 years ago. And she was just sort of a family friend, like in the distance. And eventually we ended up hooking up and falling in love. And my husband was like, well, why doesn't she move in with us? We have to move anyway. She's coming to the city for school. So this is perfect. And it just worked out really well. The kids immediately took to her and, you know, we sort of eased them into it a bit. But she became their third parent. And we've been really lucky. Like I understand that not many people have the life experience that we have where we're 99% out. We're out pretty much everywhere except for one of our jobs. It wouldn't be particularly safe. But we're out at our kids' school. We, you know, moved a year ago from Toronto into a small rural farming area. And it just hasn't been an issue at all. People get it. And I think folks are just really, you know, happy that our kids are surrounded by love. And I think when you see our family, like there's so much love emanating from us. And that's what we put into the community as well. You know, we volunteer and do lots of other stuff. In community. And so I think that folks respect that. Why the move? Why the move?  Part of it was, I mean, expense. I mean, we were paying so much in rent and knew that we would never be able to own a house in Toronto. And I think that's the reality for most people now. And we all three of us grew up in sort of rural farm communities or with farm experience. And it was something that we had always talked about, but I don't know that living in Toronto, like we really thought it was a reality. And then my husband's family homestead came up for sale unexpectedly. And we were able to purchase a small house and turning it into a hobby farm. And it's nice. I mean, we're close enough to Toronto. You know, we can still do stuff in the community and go in and come home. But we get the experience of country living and it's wonderful. It's exciting. It's so good for the kids. And it's just a slower pace of life, which is needed. Let's take a step back to your arrival in Toronto. You said you lived on the streets. Tell us about that. What was going on? Yeah, so I arrived in Toronto. I immediately went to a youth shelter, a Catholic run youth shelter, because I had seen advertisements for it on TV. So it was kind of, I knew that that support was there. Arrived, I was there for a while. It turned out it was really homophobic and not a super safe space. So I spent some time living in shelters. I lived on the streets, squatting in abandoned buildings. At the same time, though, it was, I mean, I was coming from a small town where I knew, I had seen newspaper articles about pride the year before in Toronto and was blown away and didn't really understand sort of, you know, how big and extravagant it was. Even back then, I mean, now it's a million times larger. But I remember there was a trans girl staying at the shelter with me and she was having a horrible time. They were making her dress like a man. They wouldn't let her like go on. There was like a trip to the Toronto Zoo that we were going on and she wasn't allowed to go unless she dressed like a man. And so she was like, you know what, screw it. I'm not going. Do you want to come with me to church street? I was like, church street?  This doesn't make any sense.  Have you never been there? And I was like, no, I have no idea what you're talking about. And she was like, oh my gosh, come on. I remember we went and we sat at Baskin Robbins, which was across the street from second cap, which is where like the iconic steps in Toronto used to be. And I remember sitting there just looking over at the steps. And, you know, it was early September. Everyone was out. It was just such a beautiful afternoon. And I had no idea that there were so many gay people anywhere, let alone that, you know, there was like a village where they all just hung out together. And it was just such an eye-opening experience. And so for me, that's sort of became my home base. And whether I was squatting or in shelters, I mean, we'd get up in the morning. I was going to school at the time, go to school, and then just go straight to the village and hang out and learn. And I think it was on the steps, really, that I, you know, learned so much about queer history and queer culture. And I remember, you know, the old bears would sit down next to me. I was 17 at the time.  And it was so magical. For the benefit of the audience, would you please explain what the steps were? Yeah, definitely. So the steps which were made famous in sketches by a Canadian show called Kids in the Hall were, there was just a coffee shop. And there were literally just steps in front of it, almost what we would call wet-thing steps if it was on the church. And everyone would just sit there and hang out. And it was just amazing.   And remember years later, I lived in the village. And I was always excited that first like warm spring day where you could serve or shorts. Because I knew that all the guys would be out on the steps and they're short shorts cruising each other. And bringing that life back after winter and it was just so exciting. So the steps existed for a very long time. Eventually, the second cup was purchased by new owners and they got rid of the steps. It's been something, I think, that there's been talk of bringing back in some of the newer architecture going up in Toronto. So we'll see if that happens. But I think it was an important place because I think often in the community, we have places that are bars and so they're not accessible to people under 19 or folks who are uncomfortable in places serving alcohol.  Like you have to buy tickets or you have to, you know, you're expected to pay for drinks the whole time you're somewhere. And just to have somewhere free that folks could gather and have conversations, I think, is something that we really need in our communities.  It was before I got gentrified. It's really gentrified in the last, you know, 10, 10, 15 years. Yeah. Oh my gosh, when I arrived, I mean there was second cup in the steps and upstairs I was soy, which was supporting our youth, which is an organization that still exists that runs just amazing program for LGBTQ youth. There were still two lesbian bars. There was tangos, which was tangos and crews still exist. Crews is the men's bar. But at some point around, I think probably 2004, 2005, they made it into one bar. So there used to be a wall separating the women's side from the men's side. And so we still, we had that. And there was Pope Jones over on Parliament Street, which was a women's bar. And I mean, that's where I first met a lot of older women in the community.  Wow.  It was on Yonge Street at the time of Block Away, but still very much there. I mean, the Black Eagle was there. And at that point, I just knew it was that very scary bar that I would never go in.  I guess a lot of that has changed now. I think that there's been some businesses that have moved in recently really trying to get back to that sort of grassroots feeling. But I don't, I don't know if it'll happen because with the housing prices in Toronto, like people are so spread out all over the city. So you sort of get different pockets of the community, which I mean is sometimes good, sometimes not great. So let's go back to when you were in, I forgot the name of the bar you said, where you were meeting all the women. Oh, Pope Jones. Pope Jones, tell us more about that. What were these people teaching you about being a boy? It was interesting because I feel like for coming out in the late 90s, I still managed to come out into almost like a tail end of second wave feminism. And, you know, there was still a lot of women in the community who were going to the Michigan Women's Music Festival. We're still identifying as separatist lesbians. We're really transphobic. And, you know, I think that's an important part of our history to talk about because it shows how far we've come, but also how recent that has existed in our community.  And, yeah, and it was interesting. Like, I found that often a lot of older women flocked towards me, but really to be like, this is how you have to behave. Like, this is, you know, you don't date them.  And I think, I think for me, like, I appreciate it because it gives me a, I think a richer sense of our history and where we came from. I think that maybe if I had shown up in Toronto even a few years later, I wouldn't have had that experience and had to make those decisions and question things for myself around where my politics would be and how I would exist in community. That's a very strong statement.  I certainly definitely, you know, there were moments where I probably didn't treat people the way that they deserve to be treated. I was young and still figuring myself out and figuring out the community. But I think it also has taught me, you know, I've seen community at its best and it's worse and I'm quite invested in seeing how we can make it at its best. What's the best you've seen?  I think they're the ones who do the bike rally every year to raise money for HIV research and awareness. I've had so many friends do that. I mean, a bike from Toronto to Montreal and it's just an amazing thing. It's amazing that when people, you know, I think put their bodies out there and do hard work to raise money and awareness for issues in our community. I often think about the AIDS Foundation and, you know, they, for a long time, did a lot of workshops around BDSM and I'm sure we'll talk about that. But as an organization, it's a risky thing to do, you know, to put yourself out there and sort of be like, hey, we need funding and government funding and also we're supporting this community. And I just think about the little things. You know, I knew people who would buy coffee for three kids, right? And help folks get winter coats when they didn't have them and do those little pieces. Supporting local businesses, right? We're still really lucky to have some of the smaller businesses and now a lot of us, you know, who at that age were, I mean, three kids together now have master's degrees and are, you know, we have incomes and are still trying to go back and support those businesses and there's the, I remember, so I was one of the squeegee kids who would like squeegee windows for money back in the 90s and it was hugely contentious. It was eventually made illegal in Toronto. But deadly hardware on Church Street would, they always had a bucket of squeegees in the back and they would sell them to us for two or three dollars, like almost at cost. And they were always so respectful and nice. And so any time I'm in the village and, you know, I need some hardware-related thing, I'll still go back there and buy it from them and often say to them, you know, like I always remember that like you guys gave us squeegees and you were respectful towards us. Like you really, you saw what we were doing and I still appreciate that, you know, 20-something years later. So... Now, were you washing store windows, car windows? Car windows. Oh, okay. Yeah. What's the worst you've seen in the community?  And we're not talking about just being like, you know, kind of dramatic, like friend gossip type stuff. I think that, you know, there are folks in every community who it seems like all they can see is the negativity and they search it out, they increase it. I, you know, I think our community has a lot of racism. It has sexism. There, you know, there's so many groups in our community that still are underrepresented, even though they're not necessarily underrepresented in the makeup of Toronto. I mean, it's one of the most diverse cities in the world.  I think, you know, Transphobia runs deep in the community. I think it has such a long history. And I think that there are still things that people do that perpetuate violence against trans people that they don't even necessarily realize they're still doing.  Like it's hard and people don't have access to things or maybe that's how people want to present, right? And not respecting folks' choices for that. You know, I think there's so much size-ism in our community. I think that there's still a lot of fatphobia and, you know, preference on the certain physique and body type both in men's and women's communities. I don't think it's exclusive to the one. And so I think that, you know, I think as a community, like we have to be able to look at ourselves and say, like what kind of community do we want? Like do we want one where we all sort of band together, remember our history, remember our roots, remember that even today, you know, there's lots of folks who can't, it's not safe for them to come out or like the queer community is the only place that they have that, you know, feeling of safety. And are we going to make it a good place and a positive place where people are safe and upheld or are we just going to, you know, perpetuate these sort of isms over and over again? You said there are some groups that are underrepresented. For example? I think Black folks, folks from South Asian communities, I think trans people, I think from the number of trans people and then the number of trans people that we actually see in community or especially in positions of power within our community, I think young people, I think that, you know, often there's people in their, you know, maybe they're 20s, but I think unless you're old enough for the bar scene, often, you know, young folks' voices aren't being heard. And I mean, I do a lot of work with youth just in general.  And I know until I started, like, really working with youth, I had no idea that this was even on their radar because it certainly wasn't when, you know, I was 10. And I think they would serve us well to hear them. I also think that there are seniors in our community who, you know, don't get to go to events because they need a ride, who are housebound, who are isolated, who aren't seen as sexual, you know, have a hard time finding partners, aren't taken seriously. And I think that that age gap is such a huge thing, right? Like, we're lucky to have those elders in our community, right? Like, we know that so many got wiped out by the AIDS crisis. Like, it's, you know, to have older people in our community is such a blessing. And to be able to figure out how to have those intergenerational conversations, too, where we get those 10-year-olds, and we get those, you know, 90-year-olds and have those conversations would be amazing. Totally agreed. Tell us about coming out into the Leather King fetish community. Oh, I love this story. So I, when I first got to Toronto, there was a store. It's still there called Out on the Street.  But one big thing that they had was patches. And so I had bought some patches. So I bought a rainbow flag and I bought the Leather flag. But at the time, someone had told me that it was the lesbian flag. And I was like, okay. So I sat at the conference and this woman came up to me and she was like, talking to me. And she was like, hey, do you know what that means? And she's like pointing at the Leather flag. And I was like, yeah, obviously I know what it means. It means I'm a lesbian. Clearly you are too. And she's like, no, but like, you do know what it means. And I was like, yeah, like, I know what it means. In my head, I was like, why is she giving me such a hard time? So then she was like, well, there's this women's BDSM discussion group that happens. Do you want to come with me next time? And I was like, in my head, I was like, how does she know I'm interested in this? This is so confusing. I realized I had been walking around for quite some time with Leather flags on my backpack and my hoodie at the time thinking it was just the lesbian flag. And I remember I think what first piqued my interest. I had a partner at the time and she was really into reading. And so I mean, she gave me the story of oh, and we were listening to music that had sort of references to BDSM in it. And so when this woman invited me to this meeting, I was like, I don't even know what this would be like. I have no idea. And walked into, it was at the 519 Community Center, which is part of the village. And there was this big upstairs meeting room and we walked into it. And there had to be like 30 or 45 women in there. And I was terrified. I was clearly the youngest. I mean, there were these big old daddy butchers with Leather jackets and Thames with the heels that went on for days. And I remember we like went around and everyone introduced themselves and I think said like whether they were top or bottom, like that was the big thing. And I was like, I don't know. Yeah, I have no idea. I probably just chose bottom because I was like, clearly I don't know what I'm doing. But I had that experience in the women's community. And I didn't go back to a meeting for quite some time. It was a bit overwhelming. But at the same time, I also was hanging around with a lot of gay men and a lot of them were Leather men and like bears in the community.  And so and so was getting whipped. And I was like, I'm so intrigued by this. But they also felt like this like, I don't know, like I knew that as a person who is female identified, like I was not welcome in that space. It was very much like a gay man space. Just imagine what it was like, you know, it's kind of like watching a movie cruising. Like you just imagine what happened in all the other scenes. So yeah, and eventually I found my way back into the discussion group and met other Leather dykes and my partner was into kink stuff and just became part of the community. We started going to play parties and yeah, that was sort of it. And for me, like it almost sort of in the same way that non-monogamy felt like an extension of a queer identity, like so did kink. I think that within a couple of years, like we were so surrounded by people who were in the kink community that that just became for me like almost like part of my queer identity. Like they were inseparable in many ways. Yeah, so that's how I got involved in the community. What are your thoughts on some of the things that you saw or enjoyed? I remember the first time that I went to Patricia Marsh's dungeon, which is in Toronto and it's beautiful.  And I remember walking in and just being like, oh my gosh, this is the kind of thing that you would see in a movie, but it's real. So I think, you know, I was just amazed that like these things I had read about in books and has sort of seen on TV were actually like real places and people did this stuff. And it kind of felt like I was in on a big secret too, right? Like when you're going to these locations for play parties and it's like there's like a password or like you have to like know somebody who knows somebody to get in and be vetted.  Like I was so young.  And now I realize like now that I'm in my 40s and have been around in the community for like more than 20 years, that I think a lot of the things I had access to like I was really privileged to, you know, I think that in Toronto we have this amazing king scene. It definitely has like ebbed and flowed over the years, but I think I'm really lucky that like I found my place and found people also who are willing to teach me things. Because I think that's such a huge component. Was there anything shocking? Oh my God, yeah. You tell. I remember once being at like a women's camping event and walking into the woods, this is like probably the first time I'd ever seen someone playing. I remember walking into the woods and this like big butch woman walked up and was like, do you know what you're about to see? And I was like, yeah, I know what I'm about to see. And then there was like this woman and she was like naked and tied to a tree. And there were all these tops like whipping her with like like bull whips and like floggers, like just all taking turns. And I was like, oh my gosh, I had no idea what I was about to see. That was pretty shocking. I think that I'm trying to think, like I think that at first everything was a bit surprising. Like your first time seeing knife player, first time seeing people playing with needles, like it's surprising. The first time seeing people do water sports, I was like, oh, like people admit that they're into this. Like I think that was part of it too. Like just people doing this in public. I think also the shock of seeing people with diverse bodies who were, you know, naked in public, playing, having people really into their bodies.  And so just to see like people playing and being comfortable with their bodies was incredible to me. Is there anything you wish you had done differently in that whole journey? Hmm. That's a good question. I think it would have been interesting to travel a bit more. I mean, we definitely, we were students at the time. Like we, we didn't have much money. So I had never been to like an international like competition or anything like that. And I think that they may be going to one, even one would have, you know, sort of changed my perspective on how big the community was because I knew that we had this in Toronto. I knew that, you know, there was like Mr. Leather Toronto and Ms. Leather Toronto. But I didn't really understand like the gravity of how big the community was and how connected it was, right? I think that's probably it. I really was a, like, I mean, huge fan of saying yes. And so I think that, you know, if an opportunity came like a jump at it. So I was really, I think I'm lucky in that way because I went to lots of educational stuff. I went to lots of parties. There wasn't a lot that I shied away from. So I think in terms of what I had access to, I didn't have a lot of regrets. You mentioned you went to a lot of educational stuff. Tell us more about that. How did you attend? Yeah, so I think, I mean, there was the women's discussion group, which I was peer led. And so it was, you know, someone would have a topic every, I think it was every month and we would get together and discuss it and have demos. And that's where I learned, you know, about everything from boot blacking to flogging to talking about identities in the community, like all the different, you know, like daddies and sirs and mommies and bottoms. And I, like I mentioned before, the AIDS committee used to do these amazing workshops.  And, you know, I remember like being in workshops with people like Guy Baldwin and just, you know, and people that I don't know if at the time, because I was so new, I really understood like how important these people were, right? Like I knew that they were sort of a big deal. But now, especially as people have passed away too and, you know, their legacy is sort of being honored. I'm like, wow, like I, you know, I sat in a room with that person for a whole weekend and learned about interrogation or needle play. And I think those workshops were really important too because I think coming from the AIDS committee, you know, they were really focused on harm reduction and safety. And so, and they were exciting workshops. A lot of people went and so I think it's had the standard of like the level of knowledge in our community and safe play that they don't know exists anymore, to be honest. I think that, I think that when those stopped, you know, we lost a huge piece of information. I think the big thing for me, so in, I think it was 2004, I actually flew to Texas to attend boys training camp in Dallas. Tell us more about that because that was a question I was going to bring up. Yeah, so it's, so there were a few people from Toronto who had gone the year before and had like come back to the discussion group and were like, we just had this weekend. It was amazing. And I was like, okay, I have to go and like saved up and scrounged everything but I could go the next year. And basically it was, as a weekend in Dallas, I don't know how many years it happened before. I think it happened one year after the year I was there and then sort of closed down. But you would send in an application and it was like a really intense application outlining like why you wanted to go. And then if you were collared, your top or sir or daddy or whoever it was would actually have to sign a consent saying that you had permission to go and that you were collared to the event for the weekend. And so getting there, I think there were 25 of us who attended as attendees from all over North America. And there were just lots of people who were they weren't all tops or daddies. Like there were other submissives there. There were slaves there who sort of made up the staff team and ran workshops like the whole, I think it was four days long around everything from protocol and high leather dinners to this is how you keep yourself safe.  Is that how you identify as a submissive? Like is this what's right for you? How do you watch out for other submissives in the community who especially ones who aren't collared? And a lot of it focused on sort of that I say brotherhood, but like in a very gender neutral way that brotherhood of identifying as a leather boy regardless of your gender and how we make that community and share knowledge and keep each other safe. There was a play party the one night that was sort of like the big event that we had and it was all stations of the cross so you could go around and just, you know go up to whoever was running it and be like, hey, like I have no experience with this. This is what I'd like. And it was nice because the tops who were running it like they knew that that's what was expected and so they were like gentle, right? Like they were like, okay, like let me help you walk through this and really, I mean, I think demonstrated like how to negotiate a scene in a really good way, which was great too. And so it was just an amazing learning experience. I mean, I met incredible people. It's for me, I think taught me a lot about, you know less about like the technical parts of DS and more about the community parts, right? Like how do you show respect in the community? What do you do when someone doesn't deserve respect in the community? How do you look out for other people? You know, how do subs keep the community running in some ways in terms of charity events and volunteering and how do you carry yourself? How do you carry yourself as a leather person regardless of your role? You know, I think there'd be some people in the community who would like refer to it like, you know, that sort of old guard leather which is like a whole loaded thing but I think that piece around protocols around respect in the community and I think that that was a really important piece and I loved it. It was absolutely life-changing on so many levels and yeah, and I wish that more events like that existed now for sure. Do you identify as a boy or a sub? So I did for many, many years. I was in service, identified as a leather boy, took a break from the community for a while just, you know, was having kids doing a master's degree, that whole thing and ended up in a relationship. I mean, I had always identified as a switch when it came to play but ended up in a relationship as a daddy and love it. I absolutely love it. And I think that for me, I think part of that community building piece I'm so passionate about is also about caregiving and I feel like as a daddy, like I am able to care for people in the community and for, you know, some submissives and boys and I just, I like being in that role. I like the mentorship piece.    I think that, you know, there's people who are boys who will be boys for life and they're so good at what they do. I also think that there's some daddies who would be awful boys. They'd be terrible boys. They're respectful. They, you know, really care about how they treat submissives but I don't think they could do it themselves because it's a really hard position. It's, you know, one of the most difficult things I think in our community. And so I think, you know, I'd just like to be clear that for me like that it's been my journey but certainly is not for everybody. You alluded to something, you mentioned something when you were talking about the boys training. I forgot the training camp. Sorry about that. You said that there was discussion about how to treat people who do not deserve respect in the community. Tell us a little bit about that. I find that fascinating. Yeah, I think that I think that there was this expectation depending on which communities you were a part of or what circles you were moving in that especially so as a boy I was expected, you know there was this community expectation that I would refer to everybody with their titles so whether it was sir or daddy or master that, you know, if someone told me to do something like I think there's this idea in some communities that like a submissive is like the community submissive. So, you know, you can just turn around and be like why get me a beer and like for some reason you deserve that and I think that, you know, in some situations it's fine in some situations, you know, depending there are certainly, you know, boys in our community who do a lot of service for other people but I think that there is this expectation and I think that often what you see is that there are people in our community who tend to be the ones who have a lot of red flags around them who just don't show respect to other people and I think don't show respect to boys like even if you're asking a random boy to get you something like there either has to be some negotiation or at least some respect, right? Yes. And there's lots of people who don't show that and so I think, you know, clarifying that like for myself in the community, I mean there's people I don't like, there's people that I don't think, you know, deserve much respect because of how they carry themselves and how they treat others and I'm always kind to them because that's the person that I am like I always treat people with respect whether they deserve it or not but I think there's a huge difference between that and holding someone up in the community as a leader in their position so for instance my boy knows in his contract that he's always expected to be respectful if we're at an event but it's up to him whether he ever uses honorifics for somebody and he only uses honorifics if he feels that they deserve that respect. Fascinating.  I would agree. Yes. Let's take a step slightly over to one side. You have been a facilitator at the Women in Trans SM Discussion Group. Is that different from the other one you've referenced? A little bit. So that group was started in the 90s. I mean, it ran for over a decade and then just sort of ended for quite a while and I knew that, but there were still lots of things going on in the community. But like I said, I sort of left the community for a while went off, was doing other stuff and came back to it and I was excited because I thought it was going to look exactly the same way it always had.   And it wasn't true. I, you know, my boy was brand new into leather, kink, the community and I was like, you know, this is great. We'll go to workshops. I could brush up my skills. I'm always learning new things. So it would be great and there just wasn't anything. And I kept telling these nostalgic stories about this Women's Discussion Group and how great it was. And finally, we were out of women's leather like meet up at the Black Eagle and it was like the first time that I had seen a lot of people in, I mean, years. And I finally turned to them and I was like, you know, why don't we see if we can start that discussion group again? Like, is this something that you're willing to commit your time to and, you know, and also be a little bit more out, right?  And he was like, yeah, let's do it. And so I talked to the original person, I mean, who had started the group. And I just said, like, you know, this is the loss I'm feeling in the community. This is why I think this is important. I think that, you know, sometimes a break is good and, you know, we can make the changes that needed to be changed. I think, you know, specifically naming trans people as like a core part of the group was really important. And can I have your blessing to start it again? And she was like, yeah, go ahead. So we've been running it now, I think for three years. And we were, we were meeting at Glad Day, which was wonderful, although very tiny. But I think that also speaks to the lack of queer space in Toronto now that spaces that do exist are so like in such high demand. But we were meeting at Glad Day. And it was a lot of fun. I mean, you know, some folks that were, the people I consider to be like the older people with knowledge when I was young came out to the meetings. There were lots of new younger folks. And things were going good. We hosted some play parties. It was a lot of fun. And then COVID hit. And as soon as COVID hit, we made the decision to go online and start meeting over Zoom, thinking it would just be a couple of months. Like I think that's what everybody thought, right? No matter what. And we made that decision and had good attendance. And, you know, I think it offers a different way of doing workshops too, especially, you know, the opportunity to be anonymous. We don't, you know, force people to turn on their cameras and stuff, although most people do. And over the course of, I mean, the year and a half of the pandemic, we have, I think our group online now has like 300 members. We always get about 35 to 40 people out to, like each month's discussion. They're still facilitated by members of the community. So it's all volunteer. For me, I want people to feel like it's their group and that they have a responsibility also towards educating other people in the community. And we have people joining us from all over the world now. You know, even as far away as Scotland, it's been amazing. And so we've made the decision that even once we can start meeting back in person, that we're going to continue doing the online monthly meeting because it's also allowed us to, you know, have access to other facilitators and other people who have different experience. And it's been amazing, but it's also been a really great way, I think, to stay connected as a community. You know, we were kind of contempling what to do in December because it's a couple of days after Christmas and, you know, folks are busy and still made the decision just to have a social night and we'll just play some online games and you don't really have a discussion. But I think, you know, we recognize the need and we have that need for people to still come together in community, especially when we're so isolated, even as things are kind of opening up again. What's been the biggest challenge in managing that? I think the biggest challenge has probably been... I think one of them is getting facilitators. I think that there is this expectation that people have that if, like, if they want to facilitate on something, they have to be an expert. And we really try to do away with that. Like, I always say, you know, you don't have to be an expert. You just have to be able to lead a conversation and we can even help with that.  So let's say we're talking about flogging, right? Like, there's all different people who know different pieces and so it's that information sharing. But I also, you know, I want to encourage people who might not have experienced public speaking, leading groups, doing education pieces, you know, to help mentor them to get, like, to have those skills.  And so I'm hoping that, you know, people are getting those skills and people are starting to facilitate, like, more than once. Because I think it would be great if, you know, especially, like, some of the younger people in our group are, like, you know, in their early 20s. Imagine if they have this experience and then their 30s become, you know, educators in the wider pink community. It would be incredible. And so I would love that to be a piece that grows out of our group. But I think, you know, bolstering people's self-esteem and saying, like, it's fine. It's fine that you have no experience, you have no idea what you're doing. Like, like, let's, you know, meet by Zoom ahead of time and we can walk you through it and how to do this. And let's talk about this topic that you think no one wants to talk about. From your perspective, what are some of the differences you notice between the Canadian scene and, for example, the U.S. scene or other scenes? Oh, that's a good one. I think one of the big, I don't know if it's a difference or not, but I think that Americans don't understand how expensive it is for Canadians to travel. So I notice a lot of the time, like, Americans seem to go from event to event to event. And it's not terribly expensive. I mean, it's definitely very financially challenging for a number of people. But I think in comparison to Canadians, first of all, if we're traveling to the States, I mean, obviously there's the exchange rate and our dollar is not worth much at all anymore. But even to travel with in Canada, I mean, our airfare is so much more expensive. Hotels tend to be a bit more expensive and we're a lot more spread out. And so it's really, it's really expensive to travel. I mean, even as much as, you know, I still really want to go to a lot of the competitions and different conferences and stuff.  I think also, I mean, I don't know that there's a lot of difference between, you know, styles of play styles of dress that I think that as you travel, you kind of, you know, each community has its little quirks about it. I do think though that in Canada, there's a lot more people who are isolated from their communities just because of of how much spread there is. I mean, you know, around here, like we have Montreal, we have Ottawa, we have Toronto that all have like somewhat large communities. I'm sure there's probably something in Winnipeg, maybe Calgary and for sure Vancouver. But outside of that, I mean, that's like covering an entire country. Those are sort of the big communities that off the top of my head, I know of that have events and stuff. And so, you know, sometimes I think about like, oh, if I lived in San Francisco, or if I lived in, you know, Chicago, like how easy it would be to sort of get around and get to different events. I also though think that we're pretty hardy here. And so, I'd like to think that, you know, our bottoms played a bit harder, our tops played a bit harder, because we're just used to surviving, right? Like we survive our winters, we're close to famine sometimes. Yeah, I think that for sure, like when you have less access to community, you're more appreciative of the community that you have. And so, I think that that sometimes is one of the differences I notice, is that Canadians are just really grateful to be in community and so excited.  I'm like, we have to bring the party. We're really excited to be here. You do this all the time. This is a huge deal. So. What's the biggest misconception about you? Oh, that's a really, that might be a hard one. I think, I think that sometimes, and this is more, I think now that I'm in a role in the community as a top, I think that there is this, like idea of me as like this big, scary top who is not approachable or, you know, like every once in a while, I have someone say like, I'm not afraid to talk to you. And I'm like, I'm literally probably the nicest person you'll ever meet. Like I'm like a puppy who like is at a pound. And I'm just like, be my friend, be my friend, be my friend, be my friend.  I love that. But I also, you know, I'm super friendly. I'm really all about building community. I love new people and not because I'm like, I don't know who new people, but because I want to see people thrive in our community and come into their own. I, you know, I'd love for folks to feel the same support that I had. And so I think that's probably the biggest misconception is that like, either I'm like just big and scary or, or that because like I run groups or I'm, you know, insert some leadership positions that like I'm not approachable. I don't really like show up with the butter tart. And I'm your best friend. Like what do you need? Leather Dad Jason. Thank you for an amazing interview for Inside Leather History, a fireside chat. Thanks for having me. This is wonderful. I'm so glad that you're helping to keep our history alive. It's my pleasure. I assure you.


Following the current economic reality in the country, river state tax and justice governance in collaboration with her esteemed partners, stakeholders, democracy network SDN and all other financial institutions in the state has called on the river state government to issue and demand for both policy and administrative reforms that will usher in a fairer and more progressive tax regime, including rates at local government levels that will facilitate ease of doing business in the state. The coalition made this known in a press briefing in Port Harcourt, the river state capital. In his speech, chairman of the river state tax justice governance, Kelechi Amici, explained that part of the mandate of the organization was to see that the issue of double taxation was eliminated from the state. We are constrained to draw the attention of the river state government to this critical issue and demand for both policy and administrative reforms that will usher in a fairer and more progressive tax regime, including rates at the local government level that will facilitate the ease of doing business in river states. We are committed to supporting the tax reform process in river states and therefore make the following recommendations. One, harmonize tax collection system. Two, improve on digitization of tax payment process. Three, eliminate and criminalize multiple and nuisance taxation. Four, scale up ease of doing business. Finally, the state government should review, categorize and enumerate all informal sector businesses, identify and devise effective means of periodically engaging with the leadership of all professional and trade bodies. Representatives from other civil society organizations also urged the government to regulate tax collections and create a suitable environment for businesses in the state. All taxes should be clustered, both state and local government taxes and a joint team of state and local government revenue officials should be set up to drive this process of tax collection. The state government come up with a way and manner to collect the tax in which it can be paid once, but the business owner should not be killed with Tom DeKanghari coming up to collect one aspect of levy or tax at different times. They're also saying there should be proper digitization of the process, such that monies will go into the state coffers and not into the various hands of individuals who are all about on the streets trying to collect these taxes.


Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankar IAS Academy. The list of articles that has been chosen for today's analysis are provided here. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the time stamping for the given articles is provided in the description box below. And for the benefit of smartphone users, the time stamping is also provided in the comments section. Let's move on to the first article analysis. This discussion is about the addition of six new migratory species from India under the convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals which is nothing but the CMS convention. Six new migratory species from India have been added in the CMS appendices during the COP13 which was held in February 2020. So in this context, let us see what were the migratory species that were added to CMS appendices. The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. As we know the CMS aims to conserve terrestrial, aquatic and avian migratory species throughout the range. So during the COP meeting, the parties to this convention review and assess the conservation status of the migratory species and they also assess the progress made towards such conservation. And in this 13th meeting of COP which was held in India, the theme was migratory species connect to the planet and together we welcome them home. In this 13th COP, Gandhinagar declaration has been adopted which calls for the migratory species protection. Now as a result of this meeting, 10 new species were added to the CMS appendices. And in this seven species were added to appendix one, three species were added to appendix two. Now already we have covered about CMS convention, the appendices under the CMS and what do they mean, etc. On our February 11th in the news and houses, please first have a look at it to have a better understanding of this discussion. Now in this, the seven species which are added to appendix one are Asian elephant, Bengal, Florican, Great Indian Bustard, Oceanic White Tip Shark, Little Bustard, Jaguar and Antipodian albatross. These are the species that are in danger of extinction throughout all of their range or in a significant portion of their range and hence they needed strictest protection and that is why they have been added in the appendix one of CMS convention. Now the three species which are added to appendix two are the Uriel smooth hammerhead shark and the top shark. And as we know appendix two covers the species that have an unfavorable conservation status. So if a species is added to this appendix, it would benefit from international cooperation and conservation actions. Now among these 10 species, six migratory species have been added from India. They are Asian elephant, Great Indian Bustard, Bengal Florican, Oceanic White Tip Shark, Uriel and smooth hammerhead shark. So with the addition of these species, now the total number of migratory species from India has increased from 451 to 457. And totally if you see the CMS appendices has around 650 migratory species and 450 sun species are from India itself. So India plays a very important role in the conservation of these species. Now out of the 457 species around 380 species that is around 83 percentage of the species are birds. Birds make up the bulk of migratory species. And before this COP13 it was 378 but after the addition of Great Indian Bustard and Bengal Florican to CMS, now totally 380 species of birds are from India. Now among the birds, the bird family mussy capidae has the highest number of migratory species. It is followed by the bird family asypid 3-day. These asypid 3-day are raptors that is they are birds of prey such as eagles, owls, vultures and kites. Now similar to this some 41 species which belong to another group of birds known as vaders or shorebirds, they also migrate in large numbers. And this is followed by duck species which belong to the family anatidae. So we can say that India is temporary home to several migratory animals and birds. Now this is because India remains in the core central region of central Asian flyway that covers areas between the Arctic ocean and Indian ocean. And also India lies along the path of two other flyways across the globe. So what is a flyway? Generally flyways are the flight parts that is used by birds while migrating from one place to another throughout their annual cycle. It includes the breeding areas, migration stopovers and also non-breeding sites that is the wintering sites. Now as per this CMS convention there are eight flyways in the world and three flyways are in the American region. They are the Pacific America flyway, Central America flyway and Atlantic America flyway. Then there are three other flyways which are along Europe and Africa. They are East Atlantic flyway, then Mediterranean or Black Sea flyway and then Asia East Africa flyway. Some sources say it is East Asia East Africa flyway and some sources say it is West Asian East Africa flyway. So commonly we can say that it is Asia East Africa flyway. Then the seventh flyway is the Central Asian flyway. It is the shortest flyway in the world. It connects the Arctic region with the Indian subcontinent. But fewer species use this route because of the presence of Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas in between as a barrier. And the eighth flyway is the East Asia Australasia flyway which extends from Arctic Russia and North America to New Zealand. And as you can see in this pictures India lies along three of the eight flyways. They are Central Asian flyway, Asian East Africa flyway and then East Asian Australasian flyway. And this is cited as one of the reasons why India is a temporary home to several migratory animals and birds. So being an important country in CMS, India has also pledged on the conservation of migratory birds along the Central Asian flyway. India also announced in the COP 13 that it will establish institutional facility for undertaking research and assessment of conservation of migratory birds, the conservation of marine turtles. It will undertake research and assessment for reduction of pollution from microplastic and single use plastic etc. Now apart from birds, the CMS appendices also covers mammals, fish species and reptiles. And among the mammals the largest migratory species is bats which belong to the family Vespurtilione day. And the second largest migratory species among mammals is the dolphins which has nine migratory species that are listed in the CMS appendices. So before the mammals in India that were listed in CMS were 44. Now with the addition of Asian elephant and Uriel to appendix 1 and appendix 2 respectively this number has become 46. Now next if we see the fish species which is another important group of migratory species. Before there were 22 species in the CMS list. Now after the addition of oceanic white tip shark and smooth hammered shark the total migratory fish species from India is now 24. And also know that there was no new addition of reptiles during the COP 13 and already from India there are seven reptiles which are listed in CMS and this five species are of turtles and then another species is Indian gharil and the another species is salt water crocodile. So in this discussion we saw about the addition of new migratory species to the CMS convention and we also saw in specific about what were the species that were added from India. With this we come to the end of this discussion. The split practice question will be discussed in the last session. Now moving on to the second discussion for today which is based on US Taliban peace deal. We know that US had signed a deal with Taliban to end the 18 year long war in Afghanistan and yesterday we discussed the important provisions of this deal and today many news articles have appeared including two editorials on this deal. So we will discuss each article and editorial one by one. The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. Now this US Taliban deal has been hailed by many sections as a successful deal but this editorial that is a big bad deal points out the dangers involved in this deal and as we discussed yesterday the US troops entered Afghanistan after 9-11 attacks only and they entered with two goals. One is to defeat the terrorists and the second is to rebuild and stabilize Afghanistan. So did US achieve these goals when they have signed the deal to leave Afghan soil. Now this is a big question which we will answer at the end of this editorial. Now first of all let us discuss why US is desperate to leave Afghanistan. The author says that Afghan war have costed USA very much. It has been estimated around 2 trillion dollars. In addition to this more than 3500 American and coalition soldiers were killed during these years and apart from these Afghanistan has lost hundreds of thousands of people both civilians and also soldiers. But after all these the Taliban which the US was supposed to eliminate is still at its strongest now. And according to the author Taliban either directly controls or it threatens the authority of the government in half of Afghanistan. Taliban mainly control the hinterlands or remote areas which is very difficult to access. So even though US entered Afghanistan in 2001 the successive US presidents such as Barack Obama and Donald Trump they have tried their best to eliminate the Taliban by sending additional troops but this did not help. So now the US just wants to leave Afghanistan since it has costed much and they have lost many soldiers. So in this regard the authors of the opinion that the peace deal signed by US is out of desperation and this deal is problematic. So what are the problems with this peace deal? Firstly the deal was signed between the US special envoy and Taliban political chief. So the fundamental issue with this deal is that the deal deliberately excluded the legitimate government in Afghanistan. We know that the Taliban does not accept the legitimacy of the Afghan government and hence by not making them a party to this deal the US has also questioned the legitimacy of the Afghan government and not just this the deal further strengthens Taliban's claim as the real representative of Afghan people. And the second problem with this deal is that the provisions in the deal gives several concessions to Taliban. Firstly as Taliban expected the US has agreed to pull out its troops from Afghanistan but in a phased manner and in contrast Taliban must assure that it will sever ties with other terrorist groups and Taliban must make sure that Afghan soil is not used against the US and its allies and in addition to this the Taliban will also have to start talks with Afghan government as a confidence building measure but according to the author of this editorial this will not help the Afghan people. It is because the Taliban has roughly ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 that is for a five-year period and this period was known for the strict imposition of religious laws which denied women the right to work and it denied girls the right to go to school. In addition to this women were also banished from public life and several schools were shut down. Ethnic religious minorities were highly discriminated so the same Taliban if it again comes to rule in Afghanistan then it is very unlikely that it will respect civil liberties and it will accept the Afghan constitution because these aspects were not discussed in the deal but if you see the Taliban had gained a lot from the deal. The Taliban hailed the deal as successful as it leads to the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan but as we know the Afghan government was heavily depended on the US troops so the withdrawal of US troops will significantly alter the balance of power in favor of Taliban. So the already weak Afghan government will now have to talk to a resurgent Taliban. So we can conclude by saying that the US in a desperate bid to exit the Afghan war it had practically abandoned the Afghan government and it had abandoned millions of Afghan people who opposed Taliban's rule. So the US deal leaves the Afghan people at the mercy of violent tribal Islamists. So from this discussion you can say that the two goals with which US troops entered Afghanistan has not been fulfilled that is neither US troops defeated the terrorists nor did they rebuild and stabilize Afghanistan. So these are the points that you can take from this editorial. Now the second editorial which is titled as a deal that increases uncertainty. This editorial focuses on the achievements of the deal as well as it focuses the uncertainty that is involved in this US-Taliban deal. So before going into the uncertainties of the deal let us first discuss what the deal has achieved. According to the author of this editorial the deal actually helped the leaders of US and Taliban to achieve their primary objectives. See the deal benefits the US because Taliban has agreed not to allow groups such as IS and Al Qaeda to operate from its territory and additionally as we know the current US president has been saying for a long time about bringing back the American troops from Afghanistan. So as per this agreement the US forces and the NATO forces will completely withdraw from Afghanistan in 14 months and within 135 days itself the US military forces in Afghanistan will be reduced to 8600. So this deal realizes the wish of the current US president. So this return of American force that too well before the upcoming 2020 presidential election will boost the current US president's chances to win again. And as we know this deal has also helped Taliban to achieve its primary objectives because this deal talks about the withdrawal of foreign troops and that too within a reasonable time frame. So this move will help the Taliban to expand their territorial base and that too at the expense of the weak government and the poorly trained forces of the weak government of Afghanistan. So in these ways this deal benefits US as well as Taliban. So what are the issues involved in this deal according to this editorial? The first issue is that the intra-Afghan dialogue that has been mandated by the deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government is unlikely to resolve the issues. It is because the current Afghan government is already weak and this weakness is further increased by the disunity within the government. And here you should note that the present president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani belongs to the Pashtun community which is the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. And if you see the majority of Taliban are also fundamentalist tribesmen from Pashtun community only. Now this fact is a problem because the main political challenger for Ghani is the chief executive of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah. He has already threatened to set up a parallel government in Afghanistan. And this rivalry is further dangerous because of the fact that the chief executive of Afghanistan is from Tajiks community which is the second largest group in Afghanistan. So according to the author even if Ghani's government enters into talks with Taliban this talk could be interpreted by the Abdullah supporters as an intra-Pashtun deal. So they might think that this deal has been reached at the expense of other ethnic groups such as Tajiks and Uzbeks. So in turn this might lead to a civil war or ethnic conflicts may happen in Afghanistan in the future. In addition to this author has pointed out another issue which is that the Taliban is not a well-knit force that is it is composed of various regional and tribal groups which are acting semi-autonomously. So some of them may not agree with this peace deal and they may continue to attack the government troops or even American forces during the withdrawal process. So this is also an issue. So till now we have discussed the difficulties with the US-Taliban deal and we also see how it is beneficial for US and Taliban. But this news article is about another issue with this deal which is about the exchange of prisoners. As we know the deal involves the release of 5,000 prisoners of Taliban by March 10 of this year. And after this the next stage that is the intra-Afghan talks between the government and the Taliban would start. But according to this news article the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said that his government is not committed to release 5,000 prisoners before the intra-Afghan talks. So this stand of Ashraf Ghani makes the implementation of the deal more difficult. So far in the two editorials and this article we saw the issues with this deal. Now what we have to focus is how this deal will affect India. Now this aspect has been covered in this news article. You should know that the US-Taliban deal was signed in Qatar and Qatar had invited India to witness this US-Taliban deal. And India was represented at the event by the Indian ambassador to Qatar. So this signals India's acceptance of the deal. But some of the diplomatic and security experts are of the opinion that this deal may be a cause of worry for India. The main area of concern is that the deal is silent about the constitution of Afghanistan, rule of law, civil liberties, democracy and periodic elections. And in this the first and foremost concern for India is the definition of the term the US and its allies. Because according to the deal Taliban agreed to prevent the use of Afghan soil by terrorist groups against US and its allies. So it is unclear whether India which is not a US ally is included in this definition or not. So whether the Pakistan-backed terrorist groups that are operating from Afghan against India will continue to do so or not is still a concern. And the second concern is regarding the release of political prisoners and lifting UN sanctions. As we already saw the deal involves release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners by March 10 of this year. So this might mainstream the terrorist Haqqani network that is operating in Afghanistan. And this Haqqani network is a part of Taliban only. And the Lashkar-e-Taiba which bombed Indian embassy in Kabul in the year 2008 operates with Haqqani network. So a strong Haqqani network will threaten India's security if the prisoners are released. In addition to this the deal also involves removing Taliban leaders from the UN Security Council's sanctions list by May 29 of this year. As we know Pakistan is under great list of FATF for harboring terrorists and funding them. So this move under this deal might bring down the number of terrorists who are harbored and funded by Pakistan. So this will help Pakistan in the upcoming FATF plenary meeting even though it did not do much against terrorists. Then another concern for India is the possible formation of a Taliban led government in Afghanistan. Because it will not be in favor of India as India supports the incumbent Ashraf Ghani government. So the chances of such a new government being a democracy is also very less. Hence by handing over the power to Taliban the deal has paved the way for a Taliban dominated government which might not be India friendly. So you may ask that whether the reduction of violence as a result of this deal is not a positive in this deal. Yes it is a positive and it will be a blessing for the Afghan people. But the US must make sure that the Taliban strictly adheres to the terms of the deal and it would be much better if US make sure that the future Afghan government is a democracy rather than the repetition of the cruel 1996-2001 Taliban government. So we can conclude by saying that a stable democratic government in Afghanistan is essential for India because we have invested heavily in Afghanistan. For example the new Afghan parliament in Kabul then the Afghan India friendship dam which was the former Salma dam then we have also invested in infrastructures such as schools roads electricity lines etc. And more importantly if the new government in Afghanistan is dominated by the hardcore Islamic ideology of Taliban then it is most likely to be a pro-Pakistan government only. So this will further threaten the security of India in the region. Hence India must use its diplomatic power and skill to ensure that it remains as an important player in the security architecture of the region. So that is all about this discussion. In this discussion we saw what are the positives in the US-Taliban deal we saw about the negatives and what are the issues in the deal and we also saw how this deal will affect India. With this we come to the end of this discussion that is split practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion this news article mentions that there is increasing water crisis in the Himalayan region. So in this context we will see about the sources of water in Himalayan region and the reasons for water crisis in the region and we will also see some measures in order to mitigate the water crisis. The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. This news article is based on the survey that was conducted in eight towns in the Himalayan region of Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan. The researchers also surveyed about 13 towns across these countries to understand the challenges of the urban inhabitants of this region. Now based on this survey it was found that these areas are facing water deficiency in the range of 20% to 70%. The places that were surveyed are extremely dependent on springs and the survey also projected that under current trends the demand supply gap for water in the region may double by the year 2050. Now the springs which we have mentioned are major source of water for drinking and agriculture. Mountain springs are the primary source of water for rural households in the Himalayan region. For many people springs are the sole source of water in this region. So what is this spring? Spring is nothing but a natural discharge or emergence of water mainly in the hilly areas. So during rainy season the rain water percolates or slowly recharges the groundwater table and then this water reemerges or discharges at the suitable places as a spring as you can see in this picture. So like this springs are fulfilling the water needs of the Himalayan region. Other than spring there are also other sources of water in the region. They are ponds, lakes, canals, rivers etc. So what is the reason for water crisis in the Himalayan region? The reasons are unplanned urbanization, the encroachment and degradation of natural water bodies like springs, ponds, lakes, canals etc. And also the impact of climate change such as fluctuations in rainfall is also aggravating the situation. Therefore to mitigate the tremendous stress on water availability there is a need to focus on short term and long term measures. The short term measures include judicious use of groundwater or judicious extraction of groundwater and then as part of long term measures the focus shall be given to the effective management of springs, then restoration of traditional water bodies, then protection and conservation of Himalayan mountain ecosystem etc. So as a whole we can say that springs conservation is the need of the hour in order to deal with the growing water crisis in the Himalayan region. So that is all about this news article. With this we come to the end of this discussion. The split practice question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next discussion, this news article mentions about the decision taken by the union ministry of culture to move some important state monuments to the central monument list. In this discussion we will see about central protected monuments, state protected monuments and also some examples. As we know in India the physical act of protection and preservation of the nationally important monuments remains the functions of both the central government and the state governments. And under the central government functions one such body which is the archaeological survey of India. This archaeological survey of India is an attached office under ministry of culture. The ASI acts as a regulatory body and the prime function of ASI is the maintenance of ancient monuments, maintenance of archaeological sites and archaeological remains of national importance. So under which laws ASI regulates these archaeological activities? There are certain legislations that enable the protection of important monuments under the central government and the notable legislations are ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains act of 1958 which is in short known as AMASR Act and the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972. The ASI regulates all the archaeological activities as per the provisions of these acts and in 2010 the AMASR Act got amended with strict rules for building and renovation activity in the vicinity of protected monuments. The major amendments are the inclusion of prohibited area around the centrally protected monuments and then the inclusion of regulated area to govern constructions, reconstructions, repairs or renovations around the centrally protected monuments. Now the 1958 act and the 1972 act both are central acts and similarly the state governments also have their acts which follows the central act in spirit and letters and generally if you see we can categorize the legislations that are relevant to the protection and conservation of art and the cultural heritage of our country into three types. First the international conventions and agreements, second one is the national laws and the third one is the loss of various states. So the 1958 act which was amended in 2010 and then the antiquities act of 1972 both are national laws and the ASI protects and preserves the list of monuments that are mentioned under these national laws. Hence they are called as monuments of national importance and they come under the union list of Seventh Schedule of Indian Constitution. As you can see that ancient and historical monuments and records and archaeological sites and remains which are declared by law made by the parliament to be of national importance is a subject under the union list. Now apart from the monuments of national importance list there is a list of state protected monuments under the archaeological survey of India. This list has monuments from each and every state of our country. These monuments are protected by the state governments and they are looked after by the concerned department of archaeology of the respective state governments. This is as per the state list of the Seventh Schedule of Constitution. As you can see that the ancient and historical monuments and records other than those which are declared by the law made by the parliament as of national importance they are taken care by the state governments. So the monuments of national importance are taken care by the central government through ASI. Now for the maintenance of ancient monuments and sites of national importance the entire country is divided into 24 circles. For example Chennai Circle covers Chennai district, Kanjapuram district and Madurai districts etc of Tamil Nadu. Then if you take the Trishur Circle it covers Kanyakumari district, Tirunelveli district and Nilgiri districts of Tamil Nadu. So these two circles take care of the monuments of national importance that is the central list of monuments in the state of Tamil Nadu and these two circles come under the archaeological survey of India and they are not under the Tamil Nadu state government. In addition to this also know that the Trishur Circle also takes care of national monuments in Trishur, Ernakulam, Tirunandapuram and Vainad districts of Kerala. Then similarly if you see the Delhi Circle takes care of the national monuments in the national capital territory. Now after this comes the list of state protected monuments of the respective states. These monuments are protected by the state governments and they are looked after by the concerned department of archaeology of the respective state governments. So each state has legislated its respective state laws for their protection and conservation. Here note that the ASA has no role to play. In case of state protected monuments the state governments have to take care of the protection and conservation. Now to understand the concept of central list of monuments and state protected monuments let us take one example. Now recently if you see the monuments of Mahabalipuram or Mahabalipuram was in use. Now this Mahabalipuram is in the Kanjapuram district of Tamil Nadu and this monument comes under the monuments of national importance and it is taken care by the ASI through the Chennai Circle. So the protection and preservation are not under the state government of Tamil Nadu. On the other hand if you take another monument in Tamil Nadu like Thirumalai Naikar Palace in Madurai or if you even take the gateway of India in the greater Mumbai of Maharashtra these are under the list of state protected monuments. So these are taken care by the state governments of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra through its department of archaeology. And if you see in case of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu has enacted Tamil Nadu ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains act of 1966 and like that even Odisha has an act which is the Odisha ancient monuments and preservation act of 1956. Then there is Rajasthan monuments and archaeological sites and antiquities act of 1961 and so on. So with this example we hope that you would have understood the difference between the monuments of national importance and the state protected monuments. Now today's news is that the Union Ministry of Culture is planning to move the important sites from the state protected list under the state government to the monuments of national important list which is under the central government. The news article even mentions that there might also be a possibility of moving certain central list sites to the state list and if you see at present around 3691 monuments are protected by ASI across the country and the highest number of sites is in the state of Uttar Pradesh which has more than 740 monuments. But till now if you see there is no incidents where a state protected monument is taken up for central protection and according to the news article there is no substantial increase in the list of centrally protected monuments in many years. So certain important sites from the state list could be added to the central list. So that is all about this news article. In this discussion we discussed about the monuments of national importance list and the state protected monuments list. With this we come to the end of this discussion. The respect practice question will be discussed in the last session. Now let us take one question. The question asks the wetland ecosystem is the natural habitat of the animal species. The animal's existence is threatened due to a destruction of its habitat. Which of the following could be that animal or animals? Three animals are given. Eurasian otter, fishing cat, smooth coated otter. Now we have taken this question because in today's newspaper there is one news article which mentions about a study in Odisha's Chilika Lake. This study has found the presence of a viable breeding population of a fishing cat in the brackish water lagoon which is the Chilika Lake. They have also found smooth coated otter and Eurasian otter in the Chilika Lake. Now even though Eurasian otter is spread globally very little is known about the distribution of the species and its abundance in India. So based on this news article only we have framed this question. Now to answer this question you should know the distribution of these species globally and also in India. Here you can see that fishing cat is spread across south and southeast Asia. It is widely distributed from Pakistan in the west to Cambodia in the east and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to Sri Lanka and Peninsular Thailand in the south and its distribution is always patchy because of its strong association with wetlands because wetlands are the favorite habitats of fishing cat and if you see in India fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of Sundarbans and also on the foothills of Himalayas along the Ganga and Brahmaputra river valleys and also they are found in western guards and one of the major threats that is faced by fishing cat is the destruction of wetlands. As a result of human settlement agriculture pollution and wood cutting most of the wetlands in India are under threat of destruction. So this description of fishing cat fits in the criteria mentioned in this question that is it belongs to wetland ecosystem and it is threatened due to destruction of its habitat. So our answer should contain fishing cat. So from the given options you can say that option D is the correct answer to this question 1, 2 and 3. Now normally if you would have seen this question you would have thought fishing cat may not prefer wetland ecosystem but it is not so. So let us see some facts about this fishing cat. This fishing cat is twice the size of a typical house cat. This fishing cat is a feline with a powerful build and stocky legs that is it has heavy built legs and this fishing cat is an adept swimmer and it enters water frequently to prey on fish that is why it is named as fishing cat. It is even known to dive to catch fish and apart from fish it also preys on frog, crustaceans, snakes, birds and it also scavenges on carcasses of larger animals and the swimming capability of fishing cat is due to its specialized features like partially web defeat and it has water resistant fur. These features helps it to thrive in the wetlands and also know that this fishing cat is a nocturnal species that is it is active in the night. Then apart from destruction of habitat there are also other threats to this species such as depletion of its main prey that is fish is also a threat to the species because of unsustainable fishing practices that is depletion of fish and sometimes this fishing cat is also occasionally poached for its skin and if you see the conservation status it is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list and on the sites convention that is the convention on international trade in endangered species it has been listed in appendix 2 and in India this fishing cat is included in schedule 1 part 1 of WPA Act of 1972 and therefore it is protected from hunting. Now if you see the other two species they both are otter species one is smooth coated otter and the second one is Eurasian otter and as you can see from this table smooth coated otter is also listed as vulnerable in the IUCN red list and it is listed in the appendix 1 of sites and it is also protected under the wildlife protection act in the schedule 2 part 1 and one of the major threats to this species is also loss of wetland habitats it is happening due to the hydroelectric projects in the region due to agriculture and due to human settlements and there is also reduction in prey its main prey is fish even this otter it is known as fish specialist and they are also threatened due to the contamination of waterways by pesticides then they are also poached believing that their pelt that is their skin and fur and other body parts possesses therapeutic properties because of this belief they are poached and then few nomadic hunting tribes eat otter flesh also so for that also they are hunted. Now the next species is Eurasian otter this Eurasian otter is also known as common otter this Eurasian otter is an elusive that is it is very difficult to find or catch and it is a solitary animal and this species has one of the widest distribution of all palliartic mammals in this palliartic means zoo geographical region that comprises of Eurasia that is north of Himalayas and it also comprises north Africa and the temperate part of Arabian peninsula so this species has one of the widest distributions of all palliartic mammals it is distributed from Ireland to China and even down to southeast Asia also but still its population is declining many countries in which it is not protected and in some other countries its status is unknown and it is a playful otter it has varied diet which includes fish to worms and it is usually nocturnal that is it is active in night like the fishing cat and it can be found in many freshwater environments including wetlands and one of the major threats to this species is habitat destruction both on land and also in water in land the building of roads and the loss of previously undisturbed riverbank systems is a threat because it leads to destruction of the habitat of the species and in the water particularly in the seas these otters may be caught in fishing nets and there they are ultimately drowned so it is also a reason for decline in its population then sometimes traffic injuries are also happening because new roads are being built in their habitats then they are also affected by pollution from pesticides mercury and oil because it severely damages the otter's health even one research published in 2013 reported that pollutants may now be affecting the reproductive system of main species which obviously has serious implications for breeding so whenever such a news article appears in newspaper know about the conservation status of the species and also know what are the threats to that particular species now let us take up another question now this question is based on gear forest we have taken this question based on this news article which mentions that a lioness in gujarat's gear national park gave foster care to a leopard cub now this is a very rare case of foster care between the species because these two are competing feline species now in this article what you have to focus is the gear national park so let us take this question and discuss some facts about the gear forests the first statement is gear wildlife sanctuary and metheala wildlife sanctuary are part of gear protected area network now this statement is correct because the gear protected area network comprises of gear national park and then gear sanctuary panya sanctuary metheala sanctuary and gear nar sanctuary the second statement is at present gear forests are the last natural habitats of indian wild ass and asiatic lion in the world now see the gear forests are dry deciduous forests which are located in gujarat as we know and at present gear forests of gujarat is the only place where asiatic lion is found in its natural habitat so half of the statement is correct but the other half is incorrect because the indian wild ass is mostly present in runoff catch not in gear forests since statement 2 is incorrect and the question asks for the correct statement you can eliminate option b and d now the next statement is the maldharis the pastoral tribes sharing common territory with asiatic lions in gear forests are recently designated as particularly vulnerable tribal group see the maldhari tribes have a symbiotic relationship with asiatic lions and as the statement mentions they are pastoral tribes which means that this tribe travels with a herd of domesticated animals which they rely on for food and the lions often eat maldharis catalungi and these maldharis consider the taken cows as an offering to the lions and that is why we say they share a symbiotic relationship but are they particularly vulnerable tribal groups no they are not not yet they have been designated as pvtgs so this statement is also wrong the correct answer to this question is option a one only and also know that in gujarat kathori tribe kubalia tribe paddhar tribe siddhi tribe kolga tribe they are designated as pvtgs and as we know the criteria for designating tribes as pvtgs is first a pre-agricultural level of technology second a stagnant or declining population and third extremely low literacy and fourth a subsistence level of economy now let us discuss the other questions which were displayed in the previous discussions this question is with respect to himalayas the first statement is the average altitude of himalayas decreases from west to east now see himalayas are a result of convergence of eurasian and indo australian plates as a result of this convergence the sediments of tithi sea folded as a himalayan fold mountains therefore himalayas are composed of sediments of tithi sea so it is a sedimentary rock system now from this you can say that statement 3 is correct now the average altitude and width of himalayas decreases from west to east so the first statement is also correct now the second statement is the southern slopes are steeper than northern slopes and also thick vegetation is found in the southern slopes of himalayas see the rate of convergence or strength of converging forces is not uniform therefore himalayas are one of the best examples of asymmetrical fold mountains so the southern slopes are steeper and northern slopes are gentle and the southern slopes receive high amount of insulation as compared to the northern slopes insulation means exposure to the sun rays so there is thick vegetation in the southern slopes and there is sparse or scarce vegetation in the northern slopes so this makes second statement as the correct statement as the southern slopes are steeper and thick vegetation is found in southern slopes here the question asks for the correct statement so the correct answer to his question is option d 1 2 and 3 now this next question is based on monuments of national importance first statement is ma malapuram in tamallanadu and gateway of india in maharashtra are the monuments of national importance now this statement is incorrect because ma malapuram or maabalipuram in tamallanadu is a monument of national importance but gateway of india is not a monument of national importance but it is a state protected monument so this statement is incorrect the second statement is monuments of national importance is taken care by the central governments along with the respective state governments now this statement is also incorrect because monuments of national importance are only taken care by the central governments through its respective circles in the respective states state governments have no role to play here the question asks for the incorrect statements and as both the statements are incorrect the correct answer to this question is option c both 1 and 2 now this next question is based on cms recently the cop13 of cms was held in india in which some new species were included in cms appendices which of the following species were included from india first asian elephant the uriel three little bustered four great indian bustered fifth jaguar if you see all these five were added to the cms appendices in the cop13 but all are not from india for example the little bustered and jaguar are not from india from india only six species were added out of the total 10 species they are asian elephant great indian bustered bengal florecan oceanic white tip shark uriel and smooth hammerhead shark so the correct answer is option c 1 4 and 5 only now in this the asian elephant and great indian bustered are added to the appendix 1 but uriel is added to the appendix 2 of cms now let us see one main's question based on jas paper 2 the historic us thaliban peace deal signed in doha will bring an end to the 18 year long war and will help to stabilize afghanistan in this context discuss the important provisions of the us thaliban deal discuss the possible impacts of this deal on india's interest in the region now for answering this question you can mention the important provisions such as withdrawal of us troops in a phased manner then you can mention about the release of political prisoners from the thaliban side and also from the afghan government side then the commitment of thaliban to sever its ties with other terrorist groups then the commitment of thaliban to prevent the use of afghan soil against us and its allies then you can talk about the lifting of sanctions of thaliban leaders then you can talk about lifting of sanctions on thaliban leaders by us and united nations security council then you can also mention about the intra afghan dialogue and the permanent ceasefire between thalibans and afghan government now for discussing the possible impacts of this deal you can mention that this deal is not good for india because it is silent about values such as democracy rule of law etc which might result in the formation of a thaliban dominated religious government and it is also not clear whether india is included in the definition of allies of us then you can mention that the release of political prisoners will strengthen the hakani network of thaliban then you can also mention that the lifting of united nations security council sanctions will help pakistan in the fatf so that it can get rid of the gray list and as a conclusion you can mention that us needs to ensure that a democratic government is formed in afghanistan and india should also use its diplomatic power to remain an important player in the security of the region and india should protect its investments and interests in afghanistan with this we have come to the end of today's sessions if you like the video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to shankar eyes academy youtube channel for more updates on civil service examination preparation