 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Eise Academy for the date 11th November 2020. The list of news articles along with the page numbers of different editions of Hindu newspaper is provided here for your reference. Let's move on to the first news article discussion. Our first discussion is based on this oped article which is with reference to the psychosocial support for children whose mental health is affected by the pandemic. So in this analysis we'll understand what do we mean by mental health, what do we mean by psychosocial support and we'll also discuss about how mental health of children is affected, what we can do about it and how and we will also see Odisha as an example in this regard. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. First let us understand what do we mean by mental health. Mental health is an integral and essential component of health. It includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being. It affects how we think, how we feel and how we act. It also helps us to determine how we handle stress, how we relate to others and how we make choices. So mental health is fundamental to our collective and individual ability as humans to think, emote, interact with each other, earn a living and also to enjoy life. Thus mental health is important at every stage of life like from childhood and adolescence through adulthood and that is why today we are going to focus on the mental health of children. So now let us see how the pandemic has affected the children and how this may lead to mental illness or disturbance. We all know that schools were closed in the second half of March 2020. They are yet to be reopened in the physical format but comparatively online classes are also going on. Now still since the schools are not reopened in the physical format, it has severely restricted the movements of children. As a result of this, the children are at a high risk of experiencing feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety during this pandemic and also children lose their hold in the schools and society. They are likely to get disoriented. Therefore the mental health related issues must be appropriately addressed promptly and they have to be addressed at the right moment. If it is not addressed, then the mental health consequences of the pandemic for a generation of children could surpass the immediate health and economic impacts of the pandemic itself. That is, the mental health consequences for a generation of children will be more compared to the health and economic impacts caused by this pandemic. Now to understand the gravity of the situation, UNICEF conducted a survey among children, parents, teachers and caregivers in 104 countries and this survey has pointed out that there is an urgency to work for the mental health and psychosocial well-being of the world's children. The survey also pointed out that there is an urgency to lend support to parents and caregivers as well. So as the pandemic goes uncontrollable, it is important to monitor mental health status of children and young people and they have to be provided psychosocial support whenever and wherever necessary. So what do we mean by psychosocial support? See the psychosocial support is given to help meet the mental, emotional, social and spiritual needs of individuals and their families. This is because there are some diseases and negative events in life that can affect a patient's thoughts, feelings, moods, beliefs, ways of coping, etc. They also affect a patient's relationships with family, friends and co-workers. In a simpler way, we could say that psychosocial support help people with severe mental illness to build skills to manage their mental illnesses and also to improve their relationship with family and others and this support increases the social and economic participation of the individual and some of the examples of psychosocial support includes counselling, education and group support. See here education is also psychosocial support because in a school environment if you take the children get chances to participate, they get chances to share their thoughts. They have the arena to engage themselves which is now absent in the online classrooms. So that is why when we come to address the mental illnesses, emotional distress and other symptoms of mental disorders especially for children the mental health professionals they play a very important role in this scenario but however in India we do not have enough mental health professionals especially psychiatrists and clinical psychologists and this is where the author of this open article has given a suggestion that is community volunteers can be considered to provide psychosocial support especially for the children who are more vulnerable during the crisis. Now if we involve community volunteers then it will reduce the burden on health workers. Now in this regard WHO has recommended talk therapy to the children to overcome the mental illnesses, emotional distress etc. So this talk therapy could be delegated to the community volunteers. See talking therapies involve talking to someone who is trained to help us to deal with the negative feelings. Now author has given the suggestion of involving community volunteers based on the experiences in different countries such as Zimbabwe, Canada and New Zealand. In these countries it is found that community volunteers with some basic training can supplement regular mental health services and these are some of the community based techniques that are found to be effective in addressing the psychosocial needs of children and as you can see here it not only involves counseling parent guidance but it also involves extracadicular activities such as songs, plays, storytelling, puppet play, theatrical representation, free writing etc. So these activities will help the children to engage themselves and will help them to share their thoughts. Now in addition to these countries even in India the state of Odisha could be an exemplar scenario in this regard because Odisha has experiences of psychosocial support in the aftermath of super cyclone in the year 1999 and the severe cyclonic storm in the year 2019. On both these occasions several organizations such as UNICEF, the NIMHANS of Bengaluru that is the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences of Bengaluru and then the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti which is an NGO all these organizations made psychosocial support interventions for children. For this what they did was in a few hundred coastal villages of Odisha volunteers were trained to provide psychosocial support and as a part of this children were encouraged to participate in various activities like painting, music, storytelling, dance, quizzing, toy making etc. and the children were also encouraged to share their emotions and as a part of this structured counseling was also provided which made it possible to improve the coping capacity of disoriented children and it was able to boost the confidence levels of children. So that means such initiatives can also be taken by other states also in this pandemic because these initiatives are not only the discretion of the states but they are also mandated by law. See with reference to the mental health we have the Mental Health Care Act of 2017 and under this act we have the right to access mental health care. Under this the act clearly mentions that appropriate government shall make sufficient provision for child mental health services. So keeping this as a base the states can involve community volunteers to provide psychosocial support to the children who are the pillars of our future. So these are some of the points that you should note with regard to the mental health of children and the psychosocial support. That is a quick practice question will be discussed in the last session. Let's move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is based on this news article which talks about the mRNA based COVID-19 vaccine that is being developed in India. The news article talks about a novel mRNA vaccine candidate which is being developed by a Pune based company called Genova Biopharmaceuticals. Now this vaccine was approved for funding by the Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology. But this vaccine is based on mRNA which is a biological product that requires genetic manipulation. So this vaccine needs to be cleared by the review committee on genetic manipulation and then only it can get approvals from the Drug Controller General of India for human trials. And on the same lines we have also this editorial which talks about an mRNA vaccine which is being developed by a multinational drug company called as Pfizer. Recently Pfizer has announced that it has received promising results from its ongoing phase three trials of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. And this vaccine is also mRNA based vaccine. So in this context let us understand about mRNA and then about the RNA vaccine or mRNA vaccine and also about the review committee on genetic manipulation. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. Now before understanding about RNA we need to know about DNA that is deoxyribonucleic acid. As you know DNA contains our unique genetic code it holds the instructions for making all the proteins in our bodies. I know that most DNA is located in the cell nucleus but a small amount can also be found in the mitochondria. Now the information in DNA stored as a code which is made up of four chemical bases. These bases are adenine or adenine then guanine cistocene and then thymine. And these stand for AGCT. Now the order or sequence of these bases determines the information that is available for building and maintaining an organism. And each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Now together this base sugar and phosphate they are called nucleotide and these nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral which is called a double helix and this structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder as you can see in this image. Now if we talk about RNA that is ribonucleic acid it is a molecule similar to DNA but we saw that DNA is double stranded and this RNA is single stranded only and this RNA strand has a backbone that is made of alternating sugar and phosphate groups and to each sugar one of four bases is attached and these bases are adenine, uracil, cytocene or guanine. And as you can see here in place of thymine in DNA in RNA we have the uracil and also know that in our body different types of RNA exist in the cell and these types are the messenger RNA that is mRNA then ribosomal RNA or R RNA and then transfer RNA which in short is known as tRNA. But our today's focus is mRNA let us see about this. mRNA or messenger RNA is a molecule in cells that carries codes from the DNA in the nucleus to the sites of protein synthesis in the cytoplasm. Cytoplasm is the semi fluid substance of a cell and it is enclosed by the cell membrane and this cytoplasm is mainly composed of water salts and proteins. So the mRNA carries the codes from DNA which is in the nucleus to these protein sites in the cytoplasm. It is because information in DNA cannot be decoded directly into proteins rather it needs to be first transcribed or copied into mRNA. Here each molecule of mRNA encodes the information for one protein then the mRNA molecules are transported through the nuclear envelope in the cytoplasm and here they are translated by the RNA of ribosomes. Now if you see this picture as I just said DNA in the cell nucleus carries a genetic code which consists of the sequences AT, G and C. Then RNA which contains uracil instead of thymine it carries the code to the protein making sites in the cell. Now to make RNA DNA pairs its basis with those of the free nucleotides as you can see in this figure. Now mRNA then travels to the ribosomes in the cell cytoplasm where protein synthesis occurs as you can see in this third image and finally the synthesized protein is released to perform its task in the cell or even elsewhere in the body. So this is the basic information that you should know with respect to mRNA or messenger RNA. Now what about RNA vaccine? See conventional vaccines usually contain inactivated disease causing organisms or they contain proteins that are made by the pathogens which are nothing but the antigens and these organisms or antigens work by mimicking the infectious agent and in turn they stimulate the body's immune response. This is what happens in a conventional vaccine but an RNA vaccine consists of an mRNA strand that codes for a disease specific antigen. Now once the mRNA strand in the vaccine is inside the body's cells the cells use the genetic information to produce the antigen. Now this antigen is then displayed on the cell surface where it is recognized by the immune system of the body and now the immune system is ready to fight this disease. Now how these mRNA vaccines are produced? They are produced in the laboratory from a DNA template using readily available materials. Now there are also types of RNA vaccines. These include non replicating mRNA vaccine, in vivo self replicating mRNA vaccine, in vitro dendritic cell non replicating mRNA vaccine etc. So what are the benefits of these mRNA vaccines? The first benefit is the safety. See as we saw RNA vaccines are not made with pathogen particles or inactivated pathogens so they are non infectious. Further RNA does not integrate itself to the host genome that is the genome of the individual rather the RNA strand in the vaccine is degraded once the protein is made and other benefits also include the efficacy and ease of production of these kinds of mRNA vaccines but there are also some important challenges in these types of vaccines. The first challenge is that mRNA strand in the vaccine may elicit an unintended immune reaction also. There is also one another challenge which is mentioned in the editorial it is about the storage. See many RNA vaccines need to be frozen or refrigerated so with respect to India it is a major constraint because India lacks efficient refrigeration facilities or cold storage facilities. So that is why the author of the editorial suggests to improve the cold storage facilities in our country. So these are some of the information that you should know with respect to mRNA and then mRNA vaccines. Now initially we saw that the review committee on genetic manipulation needs to clear the vaccine before it can get approval from the DGCI that is Drug Controller General of India for Human Trials. In this context let us know about RGCM also. It is a committee that functions under the Department of Biotechnology. It monitors the safety related aspects of ongoing research projects or activities that involve hazardous microorganisms, genetically engineered organisms and cells and products. And this review committee includes representatives of Department of Biotechnology, ICMR, ICAR, CSIR and also other experts in their individual capacity. This committee also brings out manuals of guidelines that specifies procedure for regulatory process with respect to the activities involving genetically engineered organisms. And this is with the view to ensure human health and environmental safety. All ongoing research projects involving hazardous microorganisms or GE organisms or cells and products should be reviewed by it to ensure that adequate precautions and containment conditions are being met. And in this regard RCGM may also lay down procedures that restrict or prohibit the production, sale, importation or use of such hazardous microorganisms, GE organisms or cells. So that means if RCGM finds this mRNA vaccine as hazardous then it may restrict its use for human trials. So these are some of the information with respect to the discussion related to COVID-19 vaccine. Now let's move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is based on this news article which is with reference to the status of implementation of providing midday meals to school children in Karnataka. See this issue has been raised because the Karnataka government has recently admitted that it did not supply midday meals or food grains to eligible students between the period of June 1 to October 31st of 2020. Here we are referring to the eligible students studying in government and aided schools who are covered under the midday meals scheme of National Food Security Act of 2013. So in this analysis we will see the observations made by Karnataka High Court, then relevant provisions under the NFS Act, under the constitution and the provisions in midday meal rules of 2015. See the High Court has observed that non-supply of midday meals or food grains or not providing food security allowance to students as per the NFS Act amounts to denial of fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21. As you know Article 21 deals with protection of life and personal liberty. So in this regard High Court bench also directed the government to elaborate about in what manner and within what period the eligible students would be compensated. So what is the relevant provision under National Food Security Act of 2013? It is the section 5 of NFSA. It deals with the nutritional support to children. This section provides for nutritional support for three categories among children. First category is for children below the age of six months. Second for children in the age group of six months to six years. And the third category is to children within the age group of six to fourteen years. Now for the children who are below the age of six months exclusive breastfeeding shall be promoted. And for the children in the age group of six months to six years age appropriate meal shall be provided through the local Anganwadi's and they should be free of charge so as to meet the nutritional standard as specified in the Schedule 2 of this Act. As you can see here the Schedule 2 prescribes the nutritional standards to be fulfilled under the Act. Now for the children who are within the age group of six to fourteen years every day one midday meal shall be provided as entitlement in all schools run by local bodies government and government-aided schools. Now this should be provided all days except on school holidays. And this meal should also be provided free of cost. Now this section was not implemented by the Karnataka for the children within the age group of six to fourteen years during this five-month period from June to October 2020. Now this is where you should note the important constitutional provisions regarding this issue. And these provisions are under the director principles of state policy and they are the articles 39 and 45. Article 39 states that the state shall direct its policy towards securing that the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter minor occupations that are unsuited to their age. This article also states that the state shall direct its policy in such a way that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment. So this section enlists the duties of the state to protect the children. And then article 45 mentions that the state shall endeavor to provide early childhood care for all children until they complete the age of six years. And this duty is also mandated by the NFSA. So this is about the midday meals or food grains under NFSA. Now we saw that the High Court also observed about providing food security allowance to students as per NFSA. Now this food security allowance is provided in case of non-supply of entitlements and this is mandated by section 8 of NFSA. This section states that the allowance shall be from state government in such time and manner as prescribed by central government. So therefore in relation to the midday meal provision the central government notified the midday meal rules of 2015 in September 2015 under the National Food Security Act. And according to these rules if midday meal is not provided in school on any school day then the state government shall pay food security allowance by 15th of the succeeding month to the eligible students. And based on this only the High Court bench has directed the Karnataka government to elaborate about the manner and period in which the eligible students would be compensated under the act. So the Karnataka government is now duty bound to provide food security allowance for the non-supply of entitlements to the eligible students. So these are some of the points that you should know with respect to the food security allowance and the midday meals or food grains provided under NFS Act. Now let's move on to the next discussion. Now our next discussion is based on this news article which talks about the air quality of Delhi and around. The news article mentions that the quality of air in Delhi continued to be in the severe category for the sixth consecutive day and this was as per the data released by the Central Pollution Control Board. So due to this the newly formed Commission on Air Quality Management has given powers to the CPCB to operationalize measures under the graded response action plan on air pollution as an interim measure. See on our 24th October in the news analysis we are discussed elaborately on Delhi's air pollution where the news was that the pollution levels were under the very poor category of air quality index. And remember yesterday also we extensively discussed about air pollution and the initiatives of central government to curb the menace of air pollution in our nation and in that also we discussed about the AQI. But today we'll only focus on the GREP that is graded response action plan. See it is a set of measures that is prepared in pursuant to the Supreme Court's order in the year 2016 and this order was regarding the air quality in national capital region of Delhi. So under the provisions of Environment Protection Act of 1986 the central government assigned the task of implementation of GREP to the Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority that is EPCA. So now this task is shifted to the Commission on Air Quality Management which has been newly formed in place of EPCA. And this commission has given powers to CPCB to implement the measures under GREP. And here remember that GREP works only as an emergency measure and the measures under it were prepared for the implementation under different AQI categories such as moderate and poor, very poor and severe as per the National Air Quality Index. And also a new category of severe plus or emergency has been added. Now here we have given you the emergency measures under these categories for your reference. Now today's news is with reference to the severe category. So the action plans for severe category includes closing of bricklands, hot mix plants, stone crushers, then shutting down of power plant and maximizing generation of power from existing natural gas based plants. See this is to reduce the operation of coal based power plants in the national capital region. Then the action plan also mandates the intensification of public transport services so that the use of private transport or vehicle can be reduced. Then it also mandates for the increase of the frequency of mechanized cleaning of roads and then sprinkling of waters on roads. Now these two measures are aimed to reduce dust pollution and as a part of these measures the road stretches with high dust generations are also to be identified. Now these may be four or five points but this will be helpful for you in writing a mains answer where you can mention these measures to reduce the air pollution. So now let us move on to the next discussion. Our last discussion for the day is based on this editorial which is regarding the Disaster Management Act of 2005. We all know that the year 2020 has been disastrous and the government has used this act to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. So in this context let's have a discussion on this news article with focus on the shortcomings of this Disaster Management Act of 2005. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. First know that the Disaster Management Act was passed with the primary objective of preparedness prevention and early planning towards disaster. Its statement of objective reads that it is an act to provide for the effective management of disasters and for matters related to it. So it is a systematic scheme for prevention mitigation and responding to disasters of all kinds and this act also designates the Ministry of Home Affairs as the nodal ministry for guiding or controlling the overall national disaster management. It also puts into place a systematic structure of institutions at different levels such as national state and district levels. For example, four important entities have been placed at the national level under this act. They are the National Disaster Management Authority, National Executive Committee, National Institute of Disaster Management, National Disaster Response Force. That also contains the provisions for financial mechanisms such as the creation of funds for emergency response, National Disaster Mitigation Fund and similar funds at the state and district levels. So this DMA is one of the few laws that were invoked since the early days of COVID-19 and it was invoked to further the range of measures like from imposing lockdowns to the price control of masks and medical services. But here author is of the opinion that public health angle in disasters and disaster management has been under emphasized. So in this regard author outlines two important things. First one is health services and their continuing development cannot be unconnected or unrelated to the possibility of disaster imposed pressures and second point is the legal framework for disaster management must push a legal mandate for strengthening the public health system. So to further explain the point author takes the example of private hospitals. See even though government has gap the treatment prices in private hospitals we have seen many incidents where hospitals were overcharging the patients. Even in some cases government has cancelled their licenses but it's even difficult for the government to cancel the hospital's licenses that too in this COVID-19 times because already there is shortage of health services. Now this shows that how government can't rely on private sector services during disasters in the Indian context especially and this is particularly important since the future development of hospital care services is being primarily planned under publicly financed health insurance that is Aishman Bharat and its future development would very likely be led by private sector and that is why author mentions that strong public sector capacities are very important for dealing with disasters. See even though the disaster management act requires states and hospitals to have emergency plans medical preparedness but still gaps are prevalent. So this makes a strong case for introducing a legal mandate to strengthen the public sector capacities via disaster legislation and this should include relevant things such as capacity building of staff etc. This is important because if we are well prepared for disaster then this preparedness will also service well during the normal times also. So in this context author provides suggestions for strengthening the public health system. For this author suggests a legal mandate like an order through a parliamentary act which can contribute to the strengthening of public health system at the grassroots levels and secondly author suggests that disaster management could be integrated with the primary care because it has larger scope. See primary care stands for the things such as multi sectoral action community engagement disease surveillance and essential health care provision and all of the services which are important to disaster management also. Additionally there are also evidences which support the importance of robust primary care during disasters and this is particularly relevant for low income people who are more dependent on public hospitals. So this mandates the proper linkages between the national health mission which is the flagship primary care program and the disaster management act. So author suggests linking of these two in containing disasters. Here you can also note another point that is the national health mission has a greater role for the community and local bodies but the disaster management act is criticized for the same that is for the lack of role of the community and local bodies. So the absence of role of community and local bodies in the DMA could be addressed by the national health mission. Thus author concludes by saying that making primary health care central to the disaster management can be a significant step towards building health system and community resilience towards disasters. So a synergy between various departments and local communities will have a greater effect in combating the disasters. So these are some of the points that you should note with respect to this editorial. Now let's move on to the last session which is the practice questions discussion session. Now this first question is based on mental health care act of 2017. The first statement is mental health care includes analysis and diagnosis of a person's mental condition and treatment as well as care and rehabilitation of such persons for her or his mental illness or suspected mental illness. Now this statement is correct and here you should observe that mental health care includes not only diagnosis and treatment but also care and rehabilitation. Now the second statement is mental illness means a substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life. Now this statement is also correct. See while mental illness also includes the mental conditions that are associated with abuse of alcohol and drugs but it does not include mental retardation. Mental retardation is a condition of arrested or incomplete development of mind of a person and this mental retardation especially characterized by sub normality of intelligence and here the question asks for the correct statements and both the statements are correct. So the correct answer is option C both 1 and 2. Now this next question is based on review committee on genetic manipulation. First statement it monitors the safety related aspects of ongoing research projects or activities involving hazardous microorganisms, georganisms and cells and products. The statement is correct it is one of its functions. Now the second statement is it functions under Ministry of Science and Technology. This statement is also correct but here note that the question asks for the incorrect statements but both the statements are correct in this question. So the correct answer to this question is option D neither 1 nor 2. Now this next question is with reference to National Food Security Act. First statement is one midday meal free of charge shall be provided to eligible students every day including school holidays in all schools run by local bodies, government and government-aided schools and private schools. Now this statement is incorrect because first point it is not provided on school holidays and secondly private schools are not included. Now second statement is in case of non-supply of the entitled midday meals under the act the eligible persons shall be entitled to receive food security allowance from the concerned state government. Now this statement is correct this is as per section 8 of National Food Security Act and here the question asks for the correct statements so the correct answer is option B 2 only. Now this next question is based on RNA vaccine first statement is they are made with inactivated pathogen due to which they are prone to be infectious. The statement is incorrect because the conventional vaccines are made with inactivated pathogens but the RNA vaccines they consist of an mRNA strand that codes for a disease specific antigen and only when the mRNA strand in the vaccine is inside the body the cell uses the genetic information to produce the antigen. So first statement is incorrect now the second statement is they are faster and cheaper to produce compared to traditional vaccines this is one of the benefits of RNA vaccine and this statement is correct and here also the question asks for the correct statements so the correct answer is option B 2 only. Now this next question is based on graded response action plan first statement is it is a set of guidelines for states and unit editories prepared by the government of India to curb the air pollution of the nation. Now this statement is incorrect because GRAP is a set of measures prepared only for Delhi and the national capital region and it is not for the entire nation. Now the second statement is the measures under GRAP includes stopping construction activities shutting down power plants and reducing public transport services. Now here be careful because stopping construction activities shutting down power plants are some of the measures under GRAP when the air pollution reaches severe category or severe plus category but reducing public transport services is not one of the measures rather when air pollution is high the GRAP prescribes intensifying public transport services this is to reduce the travel through private vehicles and as a part of this measure only when the air quality reaches severe plus or emergency category the GRAP prescribes to introduce odd and even scheme for private vehicles based on license plate numbers and minimize exemptions in the Delhi and NCR region and here the question asks for the correct statements but both the statements are incorrect so the correct answer to this question is option D neither one nor two now let us take two main questions based on GS paper 3 this question is based on MRNA and its technology used in vaccine development you have to answer this question in 150 words now this next question is based on Disaster Management Act and its efficacy in combating health emergencies and we have to answer this question in 250 words you can write the answers for both these questions and post it in the comment section we'll review it and appropriate suggestion will be provided within a reasonable time frame with this we come to the end of today's hindi news analysis if you like the video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar A's academy youtube channel for more updates related to civil service examination preparation