 A very good evening aspirants welcome to the Hindu news analysis for the day 27th of November 2021. So displayed below are the list of news articles which we are going to learn today and they are provided along with the page numbers of different editions and also the link for the andritin notes in PDF format is given below in the description box as well as in the comment section. So come let us move into the discussion of the first news article. Now look at this article it says that the issue price for the sovereign gold bond scheme 2021-22 has been fixed at Rs 4,791 per gram of gold. See the issue price which is mentioned here is nothing but the price at which the bonds are offered for sale when they first become available to the public. So as per this article a discount of Rs 50 per gram on the nominal value is given to investors who apply through online or make digital payments as well. So this is the news here. Now based on this let us learn about the sovereign gold bond scheme which is mentioned in this article. See the sovereign gold bond scheme was launched by our government in the year 2015 under the gold monetization scheme. The main objective of this sovereign gold bond scheme is to reduce the demand for physical gold and also to shift a part of the domestic savings which are used for the purchase of gold into that of the financial savings. See sovereign gold bonds are basically government securities which are denominated in grams of gold. They are like substitutes for holding physical gold. So under this scheme the investors will pay the issue price in cash and then these gold bonds shall be redeemed in cash on maturity. And these bonds they have a tenure of 8 years and their exit options are available from the 5th year. One thing you should note here is that these bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank on behalf of the Government of India and the issue of these bonds are restricted for sale only to resident individuals, Hindu undivided families, trust, universities and charitable institutions or in other words only those who belong to these categories are eligible for this sovereign gold bond scheme. So some of the benefits of the gold bond scheme is that the quantity of gold for which the investor pays remains protected and it gives the investor a superior alternative option to hold gold in physical form and this also eliminates the risks and storage cost and also the investors are assured of the market value of gold at the time of maturity as well as periodical interest. And most importantly the bonds are free from issues like making charges and purity in the case of gold in jewellery form but then one major shortcoming with this gold bond scheme is the loss of capital when the market price of gold declines but however even then the investor does not lose in terms of the units of gold which he has initially paid for. So these are some important points about the sovereign gold bond scheme. So with these idea and points in mind come let's move on to our next discussion. Now let's take up this news article. See this particular news article is about the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 which was recently detected in South Africa and this particular variant is classified as the B11-529 variant by the World Health Organization. So now come let us see this article in detail. As we know all viruses including the SARS-CoV-2 that is the virus that causes COVID-19 changes over time. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus properties but then however some changes has got the potential to affect the viruses properties such as how easily it spreads the associated disease severity or the performance of vaccines on the virus the various therapeutic medicines the diagnostic tools or the other public health and social measures. Here you should note that the technical advisory group on SARS-CoV-2 virus evolution which is shortly known as the TAG-V is an independent group of experts who periodically monitor and evaluate the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 virus and what they do is that these experts assess if any specific mutations and combinations of mutations alter the behavior of the virus. So this B11-529 variant which is mentioned in today's article was first reported to the World Health Organization from South Africa in November 2021. The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterized by three distant peaks and reported cases and in recent weeks infections have increased steeply coinciding with the detection of this B11-529 variant. Now this variant has got large number of mutations some of which are concerning and serious and the preliminary evidence have suggested an increased risk of reinfection with this particular variant when compared to that of other variants of concern. And even several labs have indicated that for one widely used PCR test one of the three target genes is not detected for this particular variant and therefore this test was used as a marker for this variant. So using this approach this variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection which hints that this variant may have a growth advantage and the WHO or the World Health Organization has designated this B11-529 as a variant of concern and it is named it as Omicron. See a variant of concern is a variant of the virus for which there is an evidence of an increase in transmissibility more severe disease that is like increased hospitalizations or deaths and also a significant reduction in the neutralization by antibodies generated during previous infection or vaccination and it is also characterized by the reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccine or other diagnostic detection failures and according to the WHO the variant Omicron originated in the southern part of Africa earlier this month and it has brought on a fresh surge of infections following which this Omicron has now been detected in travelers to Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel as well as in southern Africa. I have also given you the list of other currently designated variants of concern so please be updated with this and these are the list of actions that are to be taken by the World Health Organization for a potential variant of concern and this image here it shows the primary actions that are to be taken by the member states if a variant of concern is identified. So these are the takeaway points from this article now having learnt it come let us move on to the next part of our news discussion. Now let's take up this news article it is based on Niti Ayog's multi-dimensional poverty index so as per the news article here Bihar has got the highest percentage of its population to be living in poverty among all the other states and union territories and it is also said to have more than 50 percent of its population classified as multi-dimensionally poor. So this is the crux of the article here now taking this as an opportunity let us have a holistic understanding about the concept of multi-dimensional poverty the multi-dimensional poverty index which is in today's news its different features and also its important findings the syllabus covered by this article is here you can make a note of it so first let us see what is multi-dimensional poverty see in the year 2015 the resolution of the united nation's general assembly established the 17 sustainable development goals and among these 17 goals the very first goal is to end poverty that too in all its forms everywhere in its entirety see when you take poverty it is often defined by a single dimensional measure which will generally be based on income but then this concept of multi-dimensional poverty is different from the unidimensional approach which is based just on income so to put it more clear the concept of multi-dimensional poverty in addition to income also covers the various deprivations or scar cities which are experienced by the poor people in their day-to-day lives and this may include factors like poor health lack of education inadequate living standards disempowerment poor quality of work the threat of violence and also living in areas that are environmentally assaades among others so the multi-dimensionally poor are those people who face various deprivations in their daily lives now having said that let us see what is the purpose of computing the multi-dimensional poverty or why we are taking in efforts to estimate this multi-dimensional poverty see when we indulge in a multi-dimensional measure of poverty we will actually come to know about the variety of indicators that will contribute to poverty and knowing that will enable us to capture the complexity of the issue and this will eventually help us in framing more apt and suitable policies that aim and fulfill the objective of reducing poverty and doing this will also help us to choose among and to focus on the different indicators each of which will pay way for us to reflect the requirements and also the priorities of our nation now let's very briefly see about the global and the national multi-dimensional poverty index see since 2010 the united nations development program has been utilizing the multi-dimensional poverty index in its flagship human development report and it is the most commonly used non-monetary poverty index in the world as it directly assesses and compares deprivations it is considered to be a useful supplement to income poverty metrics so therefore this multi-dimensional poverty index is an international measure of acute multi-dimensional poverty and it covers over 100 developing countries so when you take india nithya yog has been assigned the nodal responsibility for the global multi-dimensional poverty index in india so as a part of this mandate nithya yog is responsible for monitoring progress for reviewing the states and union territories rankings and performance and to prepare reform action plans and also to construct an indigenized national multi-dimensional poverty index in collaboration with the publishing agencies which includes the oxford poverty and human development initiative and the united nations development program now this estimation across several states and districts of india actually helps in capturing the simultaneous deprivations and the indicator wise contributions to poverty so on that line this national multi-dimensional poverty index will also enable the states and the center to understand the various factors which are hindering their growth and it will also assist in making interventions in a more effective and impactful manner so these are the salient features of our national multi-dimensional poverty index have a look at see the estimations of a national multi-dimensional poverty index is done based on three dimensions and 12 indicators whereas the global multi-dimensional poverty index has got only 10 indicators so among the three dimensions each dimension has been given one third of the weightage and it is displayed here you can have a look at it for further understanding now coming to the findings see as i told you according to the nithya yog's multi-dimensional poverty index behar as the highest percentage of population living in poverty among all the states and union territories with more than 50 percent of the population classified as multi-dimensionally poor and as you can see here in this image 51.91 percent of the population in behar is poor and this is followed by jagand with 42.16 percent and then uthar pradesh with 37.79 percent and then comes madhya pradesh with 36.65 percent followed by megalaya with 32.67 percent and on the other hand kerala registered the lowest poverty levels with just 0.71 percent and this was followed by puducherry, lakshadvip, goa and sikkim. Apart from these the other states and union territories where less than 10 percent of the population is poor include the state of tamarnadu, the andaman and nikoba islands, deli, panjab, himachal pradesh and mizoran so these are the important takeaway points from this article so with this let us wind up this discussion and move on to the next news article. Now look at this news article it reports about the russian president's visit to india for the 21st india russia annual summit and mr putin's visit will coincide with the india russia two plus two meeting of foreign and defense ministers and the two leaders are said to be reviewing the state and prospects of bilateral relations and also to discuss the different ways to strengthen the strategic partnership during the upcoming meet. Now having this as a background let us use this opportunity to take a tour through the india russia relations so far. The syllabus relevant for this article is highlighted below for your reference. See russia has been a long-standing and also a time-tested partner for india in the beginning the ties between both the countries were distant but then after the death of the soviet political leader Stalin in the year 1953 the soviet union showed its hopes for friendly cooperation with india and a classic example for this was that during the india pakistan war of 1965 the soviet union acted with the united states in the united nation's security council to bring a ceasefire and the most intimate phase in relations between india and the soviet union was the period between the years 1971 to 1976 and its highlight was the 20-year treaty of peace friendship and cooperation of august 1971 but then things changed in 1985 when the foreign relations of soviet union shifted towards the need for mutually beneficial relations with the united states and the west and this along with their approachment with china led to a temporary downturn in india russia relations but after the disintegration of the soviet union in the year 1991 december the treaty of friendship and cooperation was once again signed between india and russia and this treaty which was signed 1991 replaced the prior 1971 treaty of friendship peace and cooperation and the security clause of the earlier treaty was abandoned while the two countries resolved to continue their peaceful and friendly relation however it was the signing of the declaration on the india-russia strategic partnership in october 2000 which witnessed the enhanced levels of cooperation between the two nations in almost all areas of bilateral relationship including political security defense trade and economy science and technology as well as culture and during the visit of the russian president to india in the year 2010 this strategic partnership was elevated to the level of a special and privileged strategic partnership remember the annual summit meeting between the prime minister of india and the president of the russian federation is the highest institutionalized dialogue mechanism in the strategic partnership between both nations and so far around 20 annual summit meetings have taken place alternatively in india and russia now moving on to the commercial relations see the bilateral trade has been growing steadily between the two nations and given the sizes of the indian and russian economies both the nations have acknowledged that there is a vast potential for and increase in bilateral trade volumes as well as investment and for your information in the year 2009 both sides set the target of achieving 20 billion u.s dollars in bilateral trade by the year 2015 however it was not successful because even in the year 2014 the bilateral trade managed to reach only a mere 9.51 billion u.s dollars which was nowhere near the goal of the 20 billion u.s dollars which was set to achieve by the year 2015 and this led to the drusba dosti 2014 joint statement which set the target of attaining the trade level of 30 billion u.s dollars by the year 2025 see russia mainly exports pearls and precious stones machines electronic equipment fertilizers photo and technical apparatus to india meanwhile indian exports consist of pharma cuticles electrical equipment coffee tea apparels as well as pearls and precious stones and note that the balance of trade remains in favor of russia and the deficit has risen two times in the last decade to reach around 3.1 billion u.s dollars in 2014 i have given you the image of the trade related details between the countries for your reference so you can just go through it see know that the india russian intergovernmental commission on trade economic scientific technological and cultural cooperation which is co-chaired by the indian external affairs minister and the russian deputy prime minister is the main institutional mechanism supervising economic cooperation and it integrates six working groups on economic and trade cooperation mines and metallurgy energy tourism and culture science and technology as well as it now moving on further see the development of banking links between india and russia has also witnessed some concrete progress now say for example several russian banks like vtb and spur bank have opened their representative offices or branches in india similarly the commercial bank of india limited liability company which is a joint venture of two major indian banks is also providing banking services in russia now coming to the most important part that is the defense cooperation see as we all know defense cooperation is an important pillar of the india russia strategic partnership and this is guided by the program for military technical cooperation which was signed between the two countries see this program for military technical cooperation enshrines the interest of the two governments to further develop and strengthen the military and technical cooperation in the sphere of research and development production and after sales support of armament systems and also the other various military equipment and the india russia intergovernmental commission on military technical cooperation which was set up in 2000 is at the apex of this particular structure see the two sides also have periodic exchanges of armed forces personnel and military exercises and the bilateral projects which are currently underway includes the indigeneous production of t90 tanks and the su-30 mki aircraft the supply of mi g 29 k aircraft and the calm of 31 and mi 17 helicopters and also the upgrade of mi g 29 aircraft and the supply of multi-barrel rocket launcher smudge and the recent deal is the purchase of s 400 know that over the years the cooperation in the military technical sphere has evolved from a purely buyer-seller relationship to that of a joint research design development and production of the state of the art military platforms and the production of the bramos cruise missile is an excellent example of this trend and the two countries are also engaged in joint design and development of the fifth generation fighter aircraft and multi-role transport aircraft and remember the joint exercises between the two armed forces are held under the title indra so with this let us wind up our discussion on india-russia relations so with this we are done with the article discussion for today so now let's move on to the next segment of our hindu news analysis which will be a discussion on the practice prelims question now look at this prelims practice question consider the following statements regarding omicron statement one it is a variant of two statement two the world health organization has designated omicron as a variant of interest and statement three omicron variant has no impact on the virus's properties so we need to find the right statements here so when you take the first statement just by reading it we can conclude that this statement is right because the b 11529 or the omicron variant which was recently detected in South Africa is a new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 so that means the first statement is correct now coming to the second statement see in the discussion i clearly mentioned that the world health organization has designated omicron as a variant of concern but then here in the statement it is given as a variant of interest which means that this statement is wrong because omicron is not a variant of interest but it is a variant of concern and that is why a lot of importance is given to this particular variant now coming to the third statement it says that this variant has no impact on the virus properties now see this statement again is incorrect because this variant has got impact on the virus properties and the changes include the increase in transmissibility or the detrimental change in the covid-19 epidemiology or it may include the increase in virulence or the change in clinical disease presentation or the change may include decrease in effectiveness of public health and social measures or the available diagnostics vaccines and therapeutics so that means this statement is incorrect so the correct answer here is option a because only the first statement which is given here is right so the right answer here is option a one only now look at this prelims practice question which of the following are the benefits of the sovereign gold bond scheme statement one elimination of the risks and cost of storage of physical gold statement two assurance on the market value of gold at the time of maturity statement three periodical interest and statement four absence of making charges and purity in the case of gold in jewelry form see actually all the statements which are given here are correct because they all are the benefits associated with the sovereign gold bond scheme and since all the statements given here are right the correct answer here would be option d that is one two three and four the list of main's question for today is here so interested aspirants please write your answers and post them in the comment section so with this let us wind up our discussion for today so if you had liked my video then don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to our Shankar Eye's academy youtube channel for more updates regarding UPSC civil services preparation