 A very good evening to all our friends and welcome to the Hindu news analysis of Shankar IAS Academy for the date 7th October 2020. Before we begin our news analysis, Shankar IAS Academy is happy to announce the second nationwide scholarship test for the mains 2020 test series which will begin from 18th October 2020. The scholarship test will be conducted from 12th October to 14th October 2020 and every day one mains question will be given from our daily Hindu news analysis program for three days along with the daily news analysis video. The registrations are open from today and the link for the registration is given in the description box and also in the comment section. All the details regarding this scholarship test will be shared on our YouTube channel. With this announcement, let us begin our news analysis for today. See this news article is about the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020. Know that the award was divided and one half was awarded to Roger Penrose for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of general theory of relativity. The other half was jointly awarded to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Gaze for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of our galaxy. So in this context, let us discuss about black hole in detail. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. So we all know that black holes are one of the most exotic phenomena in the universe. These super heavy weight monsters capture everything that enters them. So nothing can escape, even not light. So what really is a black hole? As we know, there are many galaxies present in our universe and every galaxy has a Jane star present at the center. For example, in our galaxy Milky Way, where Earth lies, Sun is the Jane star. And when this Jane star runs out of energy, black holes are born. And they may be of different sizes. See, this black hole's gravity is so strong that it pulls all the objects that get close to it. If too much matter is crammed into one place, the cumulative force of gravity becomes overwhelming, such that it becomes an eternal trap. So this is what a black hole is. And know that even the light, which is the fastest object in the universe, does not have a high enough velocity to escape the gravitational pull of a black hole. For years, physicists questioned whether a black hole could really exist. Recently, the term black hole was coined in mid-1960s by an American physicist named John Archibald Wheeler. And Roger Penrose used ingenious mathematical methods in his proof that black holes are a direct consequence of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. But Einstein himself did not believe that black holes really exist. And in January 1965, 10 years after Einstein's death, Roger Penrose proved that black holes really can form and he also described them in detail. At their heart, black holes hide a singularity in which all the non-loss of nature sees. His groundbreaking article is still regarded as the most important contribution to the general theory of relativity since Einstein. Know that both Reinhard Genzhe and André Guiz lead a group of astronomers. Since 1990s, they focused on a region called Sagittarius A, which is at the center of our galaxy. Here, they mapped the orbits of the brightest stars closest to the middle of the Milky Way galaxy with increasing precision. The two groups found an extremely heavy invisible object that pulls on the jumble of stars, causing them to rush around at dizzying speeds. Around 4 million solar masses are packed together in a region no larger than our solar system. Both Genzhe and Guiz used world's largest telescopes to develop methods to see through the huge clouds of interstellar gas and dust to the center of the Milky Way galaxy. They also refined new techniques to compensate for distortions caused by the Earth's atmosphere building unique instruments and committing themselves to long-term research. Their pioneering work has given us the most convincing evidence yet of a supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. But even now, black holes pose many questions that beg for answers and motivate future research. The ongoing studies are focused on the inner structure of a black hole. These are also studying how to test our theory of gravity under the extreme conditions in the immediate vicinity of a black hole. So this is all about black holes. With this, we have come to the end of discussion of this topic. Let us move on to the next news. Now this editorial is about how social media and internet have become channels of misinformation or how these platforms do not serve as a means to get correct information and diverse viewpoints. So in this analysis, we will discuss about these aspects in detail and also about the term called echo chamber. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. First, let us see about the term echo chamber. See, an echo chamber is an environment where a person only encounters or receives information or opinions that reflect and reinforce her or his own information or opinion. This environment can create misinformation and also distort a person's perspective because in this environment, there is difficulty in getting and considering or posting viewpoints and discussing complicated topics. One can easily understand this with the highly targeted algorithms that the social media companies use. See, these algorithms push notifications, advertisements and recommendations of your recent search again and again. And the scenario is also the same with news. That is why the author says, if I show a preference for right wing leaning posts, the algorithms are likely to provide me with even more right wing posts from people and organizations. These algorithms will make newly online Indians to become easy prey for targeted advertising or even to micro targeting. Here targeting could be for both products and for political viewpoints. So this is about the term echo chamber. Such algorithms and associated echo chambers are to cause an internet misinformation storm. Now let us see some of the reasons why the author says misinformation storm in the internet. And how relevant is internet and misinformation? See much before the arrival of internet, there was positive of news. That is, there were less sources of getting news, particularly national and international news. But this scenario improved with time. And just before the arrival of internet, there were a number of news providing organizations. Some of these organizations provided quality information through print media even to remote areas. Here we see quality information because it is easy to regulate such print media in terms of authenticity and accuracy. Most of the time such newspapers or magazines have a column of correction and clarifications. So other than the opinions, the facts given by the newspaper by and large are of much better quality than that of what we see today in internet. So what happened with the arrival of internet? The author says that internet has obstructed and impeded the growth of newspaper agencies and the associated reach of quality and accurate information. Because of the internet, there are far fewer news outlets now than there were some years ago. So who is providing news today? Many of us see news projected on Google feed or Facebook feed, etc. Such social media platforms do not have journalistic norms. But now these platforms have become the space for anyone to provide any information without regard for authenticity or truth. As a result, much of the news available on these platforms is biased. And this can have unintended consequences when the read information is fake or false or misinformation. And in this regard, the author states that most Americans now get the news from dubious or doubtful internet sources. And India should not fall prey to this. Secondly, these platforms can be used to influence waters through micro-targeting. On 17th February 2020, we have discussed in detail about micro-targeting. And we have also heard about how data analytics firms such as Cambridge Analytica illegally accessed millions of Facebook profiles to influence waters in Brexit voting and also for the last US election. And recently in India, we were hearing allegations that social media companies suppress a set of ideas to promote other set of ideas and political views for their business interests and others. All these are challenges posed in the form of misinformation as the user is micro-targeted. The user's opinions are framed based on ads or misinformation and not based on comprehensive debate on the particular issue. Thirdly, misinformation in the internet can stalk violence in short notice. In many places in India, people have been attacked by mob because of fake news circulated through social media like WhatsApp. And fourthly, misinformation in internet can divide societies and also polarise them. This again was visible in US, where extreme polarisation has been taking place in recent years. So what happened in US in terms of getting news from dubious sources or social media deciding outcome of an election or such media acting as polarising agents should serve as a stark warning for India. So the author calls for sufficient action to take place by bringing a new legislation. This legislation should allow free speech at the same time should also apply pressure to make sure that internet content is filtered for accuracy. With this we have come to the end of analysis of this news article. Now let us move on to the next news article. Now we have this editorial which discusses about the present state of criminal justice system in India. In this context, let us discuss what do we mean by criminal justice system and also the editorial. The syllabus relevant for this analysis is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. See, when we say criminal justice system, it includes the law making bodies such as parliament, the state legislatures, and then the law enforcement authorities such as the police, then the court of law, prison and correctional administration, etc. In a criminal justice system, the main role is played by the law enforcement authorities. This is because they register the crime as a first information report. Then they only will arrest and produce the accused before the court of law. And also they only will carry out the investigation and submit the final report or charge sheet in the court after the investigation. It is based on this charge sheet, the trial will begin in the court. And at the end of the trial in the court, if the accused is convicted of crimes, then the punishment will be declared by the court. And if the accused is acquitted, then he will be set free. So this is in brief about criminal justice system. And know that the state of criminal activities in a society depends upon the efficient functioning of all the stakeholders in the criminal justice system. And also know that we have three arms of the government that is legislature, executive and judiciary. With this background information, let us see the editorial. See, this editorial begins by telling that the definition of crime and what the criminal law should be is determined by the majority government of the day that is executive. Not just this, the executive also controls the investigative missionary that is the police. All this means that the criminal justice system is determined by the executive. The author of this editorial tells that the criminal justice system in India is in a disarray by quoting the recent activities from the state of Uttar Pradesh. Why the author tells this because the executive has taken the criminal justice system into its hands in these forms. First, in the form of extrajudicial killings that is police encounters where the police do not follow the process of criminal justice system and instead punishment was given by the police itself. Secondly, in the form of enacting laws that undermine the power of another arm of the government that is judiciary. After the Anti-Citizenship Act protests in UP, the UP government passed a law that enabled the publishing of massive holdings with the names and details of the persons allegedly involved in the destruction of properties caused in riots. Here, the government itself has assumed that those set of persons were guilty even before the court pronounced them guilty. And thirdly, in the form of not initiating the due process of criminal justice system as seen in the recently trending Hatharas issues where the police have not registered the case at all. Instead, what the police did was it has registered many cases that there is a conspiracy to use this particular incident for political purposes. So from all these three cases, the author has inferred three things. One, there is a disconnect between the two forms of the government, the executive and the judiciary in matters of criminal justice. Next, the executive has become all the more powerful due to this disconnect. Finally, the judiciary has become executive-minded. That is, the courts are willing to help arrive at settlements in the intermediate stages itself instead of following the entire process of criminal justice system. So based on these three inferences, the author has come to a conclusion that the criminal justice system in India has transformed into a problem-solving system. That is, the importance of courts is slowly reducing in the present scenario. To substantiate this, the author has courted the data related to UP from Crime in India 2019 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau. The UP's police have a pendency rate for cases at just above 15% but its courts have a pendency rate just above 90% for Indian penal court crimes. Hence, there is a natural time gap between the incident and any potential punishment. Hence, it reduces the importance of judiciary in the criminal justice system. As a result, the judiciary has become executive-minded as we saw above. Thus, the author concludes by telling that there is a systematic disintegration of criminal justice system across India and it is gradually being replaced with a problem-solving system. And there is also a high-handedness of the executive as we saw before like the encounters. So this is all about this news article. With this, we'll move on to the next news. Now have a look at this question. It is based on this news article which talks about the statement made by International Monetary Funds Managing Director. She has noted that the global economic situation is less dire or less terrible that is it is slightly better than the economic situation in June 2020. And because of this, IMF is going to do a small upward revision to its 2020 global output forecast which is its World Economic Outlook update of 2020. We had discussed about World Economic Outlook update and its forecast on our 25th June Hindu News Analysis. There we saw that the WEO update has projected a shrinking or contracting global growth of minus 4.9% in 2020. And now a small upward revision will be made to this. She also noted that in the emerging markets and also in the law income countries, the situation will be worse. So they will face an uncertain situation due to weak health systems, high external depths and dependency on sectors that were most exposed to the pandemic such as tourism and commodities. Now in this context, let us discuss about the International Monetary Fund. See, IMF was created in 1945. It is an organization governed by and accountable to the 199 member countries. It is working to foster global monetary cooperation, to secure financial stability, to facilitate international trade, then to promote high employment and sustainable economic growth and finally to reduce poverty around the world. Thus, IMF's primary purpose is to ensure stability of international monetary system. It does this in three ways. First one, keeping track of global economy and the economies of member countries. And second one, lending to countries with balance of payments difficulties. And the third one, giving practical helps to the members. And apart from this, it also monitors the economic and financial policies of its member countries. Now see this question. Consider the following statements with reference to International Monetary Fund. It is a three statements question. The first statement reads, it is a quota-based institution and quota subscriptions are central component of IMF's financial resources. See, this statement has two parts. The first half is, it is a quota-based institution. See, this is correct. IMF is a quota-based institution. Quartas are the building blocks of IMF's financial and governance structure. An individual member country's quota broadly reflects its relative position in the world economy. Know that quotas are denominated in special drawing rights or SDRs. Thus, quota subscriptions are central component of the IMF's financial resources. So the second half is also correct, which makes the whole statement as a correct statement. Now the second statement reads, it created the special drawing rights that is SDR, an international reserve asset to supplement its member country's official reserves. See, this statement is also correct. SDR is an international reserve asset created by IMF in 1969 to supplement its member country's official reserves. SDR serves as the unit of account of the IMF and some other international organizations. And know that SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. And SDRs can be exchanged for these currencies. Currently, the value of SDR is based on a basket of five currencies, that is US dollar, the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen and the British pound sterling. Now you can easily arrive at the correct answer, which is option D, as the question asks for the incorrect statements. See, coming to third statement, it releases the global financial stability report and global economic prospects. See, we know that this statement is incorrect and see global economic prospects is published by World Bank. And the other one, the global financial stability report is released by IMF. And we also know that IMF releases the word economic outlook. So the correct answer is option D. With this, we'll move on to the next news. Now, see this question. It is based on this news article which talks about the Medical Council of India. According to the article, the Medical Council of India recommended a uniform procedure to be followed by all states on execution of bonds by medical students. The bond or agreement is applicable to those who agreed to serve state hospitals for a particular period in return for subsidized education. In this context, let us discuss in brief about the Medical Council of India and the newly formed National Medical Commission. Know that the Medical Council of India is a statutory body under the Indian Medical Council Act of 1956. This act was formed to regulate standards of medical education, then permission to start colleges, registration of doctors, standards of professional conduct of medical practitioners, et cetera. So Medical Council of India was a statutory body responsible for medical education and practice. Over the years, there have been several issues with the functioning of Medical Council of India with respect to its regulatory role, composition, allegation of corruptions and lack of accountability. And last year, the government enacted the National Medical Commission Act. And this act repealed the Indian Medical Council Act of 1956 and dissolved the Medical Council of India. Apart from this, the act set up the National Medical Commission as an umbrella regulatory body with certain other bodies under it. Know that the National Medical Commission subsumed the Medical Council of India and would regulate medical education and practice in India. Under the act, the states were to establish the respective state medical councils within three years. And these councils will have a role similar to National Medical Commission at the state level. Now let us see some of the functions of National Medical Commission. First and foremost, it laid down policies for maintaining a high quality and high standards in medical education and make necessary regulations in this behalf. Then it laid down policies for regulating medical institutions, medical research and medical professionals and also make necessary regulations in this behalf. Now the function is to assess the requirements in the healthcare, including human resources for health and healthcare infrastructure and to develop roadmap for meeting such requirements. It is also empowered to frame guidelines for determination of fees and all other charges in respect of 50% of seats in private medical institutions. This is also applicable to the deemed to be universities which are governed under the provisions of this act. Finally, let us see the composition of National Medical Commission. See, the commission shall consist of a chairperson, then 10 ex-officio members and also 22 part-time members. The chairperson shall be a medical professional of outstanding ability, proven administrative capacity and integrity. He or she shall possess a post-graduate degree in any discipline of medical sense from any university and have experience of not less than 20 years in the field of medical sense. And out of this, for at least 10 years, he or she shall be a leader in the area of medical education. So this is all about National Medical Commission. Now have a look at this question. Consider the following statement with reference to National Medical Commission. The first statement reads, it is established under the Indian Medical Council Act of 1956. See, this statement is incorrect. As we have seen, it was established under the National Medical Commission Act of 2019, which repealed Medical Council of India. Now the statement two reads, it lay down policies for regulating medical institutions, medical researchers and medical professionals in India. See, this statement is correct. So we have to identify the correct statement or statements from these given statements. See, statement one is incorrect and statement two is correct. So the correct answer is option B, two only. With this, we'll move on to the discussion of practice questions based on today's news analysis. Now see this brilliant practice question. Consider the following statements with reference to black holes. It is a two statements question. The first statement reads, it is a region in space where the pulling force of gravity is so strong that even light can't escape. Yes, this statement is correct. The second statement reads, recently it was proved that the black holes are a direct consequence of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. Yes, this statement is also correct. We saw it on our discussion. So here in this question, we have to identify the incorrect statement or statements. See, both statements are correct. So the correct answer is option D, neither one nor two. Now we have a previous main-seer question which was asked in 2016. And we also have two practice main questions. Please write your answers and post it in the comment section. Our feedback will be given in a reasonable timeframe. And with this, we'll come to the end of analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the practice questions discussion. If you like this video, press the like button, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates relating to civil service preparation. Thank you.