 Dear aspirants, welcome to the Hindu News Analysis for the dates 17th, 18th and 19th of May 2021. As informed already through community posts on YouTube, we were facing certain technological challenges for the past two days and because of the severe COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown, it took some time for us to address them. And we are extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused because of such challenges. Also, we are thankful to you for your support all these days. And since we are going to see the analysis for the three days in a single video, this session will be quite lengthy. And with this information, let us begin our analysis with the articles that appeared on Hindu newspaper dated 17th May 2021. The list of news articles for the date 17th May is given for your reference along with the page numbers of various editions of the newspaper. Let us discuss few preliminary questions asked in the year 2020. First question. Among the following tiger reserves, which one has the largest area under critical tiger habitat? The options given are option A, Corbett, option B, Rathambur, option C, Nagarjuna, Sagar, Srisailam, option D, Sundarbans. See, this is a fact-based question and usually UPSC asks such questions when the national parks or wildlife sanctuaries or in this case, the critical tiger habitats are in current use. Now, going back to the question, let us know about what are critical tiger habitats? See, critical tiger habitats, which is also known as the core areas of tiger reserves are identified under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. See, as per this act, the core or critical tiger habitat areas of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries are established on the basis of scientific and objective criteria. The objective criteria is that the areas that are required to be kept unharmed are protected for the purpose of tiger conservation are notified as critical tiger habitat. Note that this has to be done without affecting the rights of the scheduled tribes or such other forest dwellers who are living around the areas of national park and the wildlife sanctuaries. Also, know that the critical tiger habitats are notified as such by the state government in consultation with an expert committee constituted for this purpose. Now, coming back to the question, let us see the facts associated with the tiger reserves that are given in the question. See, the Corbett Tiger Reserve is located in the state of Uttarkhand and has an area of around 820 square kilometers as the area of critical tiger habitat. When you consider the Rathumbur Tiger Reserve, it is located in the state of Rajasthan and has an area of around 1,100 square kilometers as the critical tiger habitat. Considering Nagarjuna Sagar Sri Sailam Tiger Reserve, this tiger reserve is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh and has an area of around 2,500 square kilometers as the area of core tiger habitat. Now, considering Sundarbans, this tiger reserve is located in the state of Vispingal and has an area of around 1,700 square kilometers as the area of core tiger habitat. Hence, from this fact, we can come to the conclusion that option C, Nagarjuna Sagar Sri Sailam is the tiger reserve which has the largest area under critical tiger habitat. Now, let us see about the Nagarjuna Sagar Sri Sailam Tiger Reserve in brief. See, this is the largest tiger reserve in India and this reserve is spread over five districts namely Prakasam district, Kuntur district, Nalgonda district, Mahububnagar district and Kurnal district. Also, this Nagarjuna Sagar Sri Sailam Tiger Reserve has the largest area under critical tiger habitat as said earlier. Hence, option C is the correct answer. Moving to the second question. With reference to solar water pumps, consider the following statements. Statement 1. Solar power can be used for running surface pumps and not for submissible pumps. Statement 2. Solar power can be used for running centrifugal pumps and not the ones with piston. Which of these statements given above is or are correct? The options given are option A, one only, option B, two only, option C, both one and two, option D, neither one nor two. Before discussing these statements one by one, let us see the applications of pumps and what are the working principle involved in it. See, from agriculture to energy industry, pumps are found in wide range of applications and the main working principle of a water pump basically depends upon the positive displacement principle and the kinetic energy which helps push the water. Know that the solar water pumps are relatively new concept in mechanics. This type of solar pumps can eliminate the cost of energy and provide a more feasible option that uses energy from the sun for pumping water. Now, let us focus on the types and classifications with the question demands. See, when it comes to a standalone solar pumping system, the main types include rotating and positive displacement pumps. Here, the centrifugal pumps are the common choice for rotation and are designed for a fixed head applications. Whereas, in case of the positive displacement pumps, the pumping action is driven by pistons, screws, gears, rollers, diaphragms or pins. Hence, the statement two which says that the solar pumps can be used for running centrifugal pumps and not the ones with piston is wrong. Also know that the positive displacement pumps moves a fluid by repeatedly enclosing a fixed volume and also moves this fluid mechanically throughout the system. In addition to it, the pumps are also classified as submersible pumps and surface pumps based on their placements. See, if they are placed under water, they are called as submersible pumps and if the solar pumps are placed above the water line, these pumps are called as surface pumps. Hence, the statement one which says that the solar pumps can be used for running surface pumps and not for the submersible pumps is a wrong statement. Hence, the answer for this question is option D neither one nor two. Moving to the last question. What is or are the advantage or advantages of zero tillage in agriculture? Statement one, sowing of wheat is possible without burning the residue of previous crop. Statement two, without the need for nursery of rice saplings, direct planting of paddy seeds in the wet soil is possible. Statement three, carbon sequestration in the soil is possible. Select the correct answers using the code given below. The options are option A, one and two only, option B, two and three only, option C, three only, option D, one, two and three. Let us discuss the statements one by one. C, tillage is an agriculture land preparation that involves mechanical agitation including digging, stirring and overturning. But contrary to that, zero tillage is the process where the crop seed will be sown through drillers without any prior land preparation and without disturbing the soil. See, this zero tillage system is widely followed in the indogostic plains where rice wheat cropping is present. Here you note that the wheat will be planted after rice harvest without any operations. Also note that the happy seeder is one of the unique technique which is used for sowing seeds without any burning of crop residue. Hence, the statement one which says that sowing of wheat is possible without burning the residue of previous crop is the right statement. Now, consider the second statement that deals with the direct planting of paddy seeds. The traditionally practiced paddy planting methods require more water, high-wage labours and field transplanting necessary for processing purpose. Because of this, it greatly reduces the yield of the crop to be grown after paddy. So, as a result, the method of direct sowing of paddy that is the rice cultivation is being considered as an excellent alternative. Hence, the direct planting of paddy seeds in the wet soil is also possible. This method also involves sowing pre germinated seed into a puddled soil surface, standing water or dry seeding into a preparatory seed bed. So, the statement two without the need for nursery of rice saplings, direct planting of paddy seeds in the wet soil is possible. This statement is correct. Now, moving to the third statement. It says carbon sequestration in the soil is possible. See, this statement is also correct as adopting no tillage in agro ecosystems has been widely recommended as a means of enhancing carbon sequestration in the soil. Taking the case of crop lands, the strategies for carbon sequestration are like improved agronomic practices that increase yields and generate higher crop residue. The second strategy is that improved tillage and residue management such as reduced tillage or no tillage reducing the soil disturbance is one of the strategy for carbon sequestration. As a consequence, this reduces carbon loss through enhanced decomposition or soil erosion. Hence, the correct answer for this question is option D, 1, 2 and 3. Now, let us take up the first news article for today's discussion. UNSC calls for end to violence in Gaza. See, it reports about the UN Security Council's warning to end the violence in Gaza in the light of the Israel-Palestin conflict. As per the news, the UN Secretary General pleaded for an immediate end to the deadly violence, warning that the fighting could push the region into an uncontainable security and humanitarian crisis. So, in this light, let us see in brief about the UNSC. See, the United Nations Charter led to the establishment of six main organs of the United Nations and one among them is the United Nations Security Council. Know that their primary responsibility is to maintain international peace and security. The other five organs that have been established by the United Nations Charters are the General Assembly, the Trusteeship Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. See, the Security Council came into power in the year 1945 and held its first session on 1946 at Westminster, located in London. Since its first meeting, the Security Council has taken the permanent residence at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. You have to know that at present, the Council consists of 15 members where five members are the permanent members and the rest of the 10 members are the non-permanent members. The five permanent members include China, France, UK, United States and the Russian Federation. And the non-permanent members are Estonia, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Norway, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam. Also, remember that India is a non-permanent member of the UNSC. Here you should note that more than 50 United Nations member states have never been the member of the Security Council. See, a state which is a member of the United Nations but not of the Security Council has got the luxury to participate in its discussion but without a vote. See, this happens when the Council considers that the country's interests are affected. Similarly, both members and non-members of the UNSC, if they are party to the dispute that is considered by the Council, they may be invited to take part in the Council discussion but without a right to vote. However, it is the Council that sets the condition for participation by a non-member state. In addition to it, let us look at the various powers and functions interested to the Security Council. See, the powers and functions interested to the Security Council are under the UNSC Charters and it is given for your reference. See, the ultimate function of the UN Security Council is to maintain the international peace and security in accordance with the principles and purpose of the UN. They also undertake functions such as investigations, recommending methods, formulating plans and determining the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken. So, their function is to ensure that peace and security is prevailed in the world. With these facts in mind, let us move on to the next part of the discussion. Now, let us take up this second topic. The road from Ladakh is paved with disruptions. See, this editorial is related to the Ladakh crisis and India-China bilateral relationship. See, so far we have studied the Ladakh crisis from different perspectives but this editorial takes a new approach where it analyzes the crisis and the India-China bilateral relationship in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Let us see about it. The syllabus covered under this topic discussion is given for your reference. Note that we have discussed the Ladakh crisis in detail in many of our videos. Even recently, we have discussed this issue in detail in our 12th May 2021 video and the aspirants can go through it to refresh the important points. Now, coming back to the editorial, see the situation on Ladakh border already posed a tricky challenge for India. This challenge has been made even worse by the devastation caused by the mismanagement of COVID-19. See, India was following the policy of vaccine diplomacy through a program like Vaccine Mitre. Know that this program, Vaccine Mitre, is a humanitarian initiative that is undertaken by Indian government to provide COVID-19 vaccines to countries around the world. Through this program, India was presenting itself as a better alternative to China, particularly in the region of South Asia. To put it simply, India was trying to increase its soft power and control over other countries through this vaccine diplomacy. Then after the impact of second wave, the massive sufferings and public criticisms made the government backtrack on its policy of vaccine diplomacy. Also, as a result, Indian government stopped honoring the existing contractual commitments to supply vaccines to its friendly neighbors. This move has cast doubts on India's reliability as a partner and has raised questions about its ability to act as a counter to China. Now, countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have started procuring vaccines from China. Sensing the opportunity, the China also moved in quickly by organizing a meeting with all South Asian countries except India. This meet was about the pandemic control and also the backtracking of vaccine diplomacy has affected the credibility of Quad groupings. See, the Quad countries have already pledged to deliver a billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine throughout the Indo-Pacific by the end of 2022. It is an effort focused on countering China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region, and India was at the center of this pledge. With India now backtracking on its vaccine commitments, this pledge seems unattainable. Because of this, the credibility and reliability of Quad is affected. See, this can also lead to an increase of Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region, which is a major concern. Also, before the second wave, India was seen as an emergent power in the global scenario. But our countries failure to anticipate and deal with the second wave as diminished India's image as an emergent power. This has projected India as a weaker nation as well. Adding to it, a weaker India is not only a less attractive as a partner, globally it also makes us more dependent on United States to deal with China. This would further strain India-China ties. Also, after the Ladakh crisis, Indian government tried to seek peace with Pakistan. This is because we have already faced a border challenge in Ladakh from China, and having another threat from Pakistan will pose a tricky situation. Pakistan and China may also join hands in attacking India, which is a major concern. So, it was prudent to make peace with Pakistan. The peace talks with Pakistan led to the announcements of ceasefire on the line of control. In return, India also promised to take steps on Kashmir in favour of Pakistan. But so far, no such steps have been taken by the Indian government. Also, India is preoccupied with the management of the second wave. Now, India also appears weak because of this public health crisis. Concerned with this, Pakistan with vengeance may seize this as an opportunity to attack India on the borders. Also, an assertive China and a vengeful Pakistan acting in concert on the land borders is India's military nightmare. Meanwhile, China has made certain significant moves towards India in recent days. For example, China's President Xi Jinping sent a message to Mr. Modi to convey sympathy and express condolences over the pandemic. See, this was the first communication between the two leaders since the border crisis began last year. And adding to it, the Chinese foreign minister also spoke to his Indian counterpart twice and offered help to deal with the pandemic. See, this has led to an early clearance and approval of cargo flights from China. But China's effort has been largely confined to private companies and charities, unlike other countries, which have pledged help directly to the Indian government. Also note that Chinese media ambiguously frames it as a Chinese aid to India, while India explicitly avoids that framing and lays stress on the point that these are largely commercial contracts between the private companies. So, to put it in a simple word, China is projecting itself on par with other global powers by providing relief and aid to India and India at this time is trying to deny China this opportunity. But the fact remains that India is heavily dependent on China for crucial medical supplies. See, according to this article, the recent peaks during the pandemic provided an opportunity for two Asian giants to work together. But instead, both the countries focused on point scoring and boosting their image. This has killed any hope of trust building between the two countries. Also, India has taken a position that border issue is central to the bilateral relationship with China. This runs contrary to China's argument that boundary questions cannot be seen as a whole of the bilateral relationship. Also, according to this editorial, all these differences and mistrust is pushing China-India bilateral relationship into a zone of increasing disruption, where concluding that peaceful India-China bilateral relationship seems like a distant dream because of such issues prevailing in these circumstances. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Now, let us move to the next article. Now, let us move to the third article for today's discussion, restructuring the tribunal system. See, this article talks about the tribunal system in India and the need for reforming the system. In this context, let us discuss in detail about India's tribunal system. The syllabus covered under this topic discussion is given for your reference. Now, coming back to the article. See, the term tribunal is derived from the word tribunes, which means magistrates of the classical Roman Republic. Know that the tribunals are the quasi-judicial bodies. It is established to adjudicate disputes relating to a specified matters and exercise the jurisdiction according to the statute establishing them. Note that the delay in justice administration is one of the biggest obstacles and it has been tackled with the establishment of tribunals. Now, let us focus on the constitutional provisions. Know that part 14a of the constitution of India deals with tribunals. Here, article 323a deals with administrative tribunals. Know that the central administrative tribunals had been established under the article 323a. See, the central administrative tribunal aims at adjudication of disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment and condition of service of persons appointed to public services and posts in the connection with the affairs of the union. In addition to this feature, article 323b deals with the tribunals for other matters. Under the said article, tribunals can be established for several purposes. This includes living, assessment, collection and enforcement of any tax for an exchange, import and export across customs, frontiers, industry and labor dispute etc. With this, let us come to the recent developments. The Finance Act of 2017 empowered the central government to notify several routes. This includes notifying the qualifications of members of tribunals, terms and conditions of the service, composition of search come selection committees for several tribunals such as the customs, excise and service tax, appellate tribunals etc. Also recently, the president has promulgated the Tribunal Reforms Ordinance 2021. As per this ordinance, it dissolves certain existing appellate bodies and transfers their functions such as adjudication of appeals to other existing judicial bodies. The ordinance amends the 2017 act to include provisions related to composition of search come selection committees in the term of office of tribunal members in the act itself. Later on, this ordinance has been challenged in the supreme court. See, the move of this ordinance was criticized as it bypassed the usual legislative process and also for abolishing several tribunals without any stakeholder consultation. For example, this ordinance transfers the function of film certification appellate tribunal to the High Court. Know that the film certification appellate tribunal is established under the Cinematograph Act of 1952. See, the supreme court has already made an important direction in Rojomathu vs South Indian Bank case of the year 2019 in that it has directed the centre to promptly carry out a judicial impact assessment on all tribunals created by the parliament. Also, it asked the central government to submit a report on the same. It means that the government should conduct an assessment to analyse the adverse impact of the changes brought in the framework of the tribunals in India. But the author in this article says that no such assessment was done prior to the introduction of the ordinance. As we know, the supreme court in the year 2020 had ordered the centre to constitute a national tribunals commission. The author also says that the idea of national tribunals commission was first mooted in El Chandrakumar vs Union of India case in the year 1997. See, the national tribunal commissions would act as an independent body to supervise appointments and functioning of tribunals across India. In addition to it, it would also take care of the administrative and infrastructural needs of the tribunals. As a result, this would enhance the image of tribunals and instill confidence in the minds of the litigants. But the centre is yet to constitute this national tribunal commission. The author also says that if this national tribunal commission is established, this would solve the perennial issues of executive interference in the functioning of tribunals including the appointments and removal of tribunal members. So, we can conclude that the establishment of national tribunal commission as a constitutional or statutory body guaranteeing functional, operational and financial independence is the need of the year as this will provide uniform administration across all tribunals. And also, the article concludes that the establishment of national tribunal commission will separate the administrative and judicial functions carried out by various tribunals. With this, we have come to the end of the topic discussion. Now, let us move to the fourth topic. Now, let us see the next article. Shahid Jamil quits INSA-COG advisory panel. See, the news is about Shahid Jamil, who is an eminent virologist and the head of the advisory group to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 genomics consortium, resigned from his post on Friday. This article is about that. In this context, let us learn about INSA-COG. See, Indian SARS-CoV-2 genomic consortia was set up by the Indian government to conduct genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 across India. See, the genomic surveillance refers to the systematic and regular collection of genetic sequence information from a pathogen population. And, genomic surveillance can generate rich source of information for tracking pathogen transmissions and evolution on both national and international levels. Coming back to the INSA-COG, see, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 genomic consortia is a multi-laboratory, multi-agency and a pan-Indian network to monitor genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2. See, INSA-COG helps in the understanding of how the virus spreads and evolves. Also, this INSA-COG was jointly established by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology. This was established during December 2020. Also know that INSA-COG comprises of 10 regional genome sequencing laboratories such as Institute of Life Science, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, National Center for Cell Science, National Institute of Virology and ICMR and many other such laboratories, which are given in the image below. In short, INSA-COG is a consortium of 10 national laboratories and it was jointly established by the Ministry of Health, Family Welfare and Department of Biotechnology and it is to expand old genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 virus across the nation and it also assess UK and other variants from Indian population and finally it continues genomic surveillance linked with epidemiological surveillance and clinical correlation. With this, we have come to the end of the article. Let us move to the next one. Next article. It is getting from bad to worse for women workers. Have a look at this article. A lot has been said about the impact of pandemic but this article specifically focuses on the impact of pandemic on the women employment. See, authors have used some studies to make it clear for us. Also, the syllabus covered under this topic discussion is given for your reference. Coming back to the article. If you see, even before the pandemic, women participation in the employment has been disproportionately low. You may recollect from the April 5th discussion that India is ranked at 149 among 153 countries in terms of economic participation and opportunity according to gender gap report and only 18 percentage of working age women were employed as compared to 75 percent of men. Various reasons are attributed to this. Those includes lack of good jobs, restrictive social norms and the burden of household work etc. But a report titled State of Working India One Year of COVID-19 has pointed out two worsening trends for women. Let us understand it through some data. Look at this data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy Private Limited. It shows that 61 percentage of male workers were unaffected during the lockdown but only 19 percent of women were unaffected. If you see by the end of the year itself, 47 percentage of employed women who had lost jobs during the lockdown had not returned to work and also men who lost their job they were able to regain it and at least in different form. So, about only 11 percent of men withdrew as a result. In contrast, nearly half of the women workers irrespective of whether they were salaried, casual or self-employed withdrew from the workforce. This is about people who were already in job but if you see the new entrance, women were more likely to enter as a daily wage worker while men found avenues for self-employment. And we know daily wages are far less remunerative and the data also points out that job losses have hit women more than the men folks. All this said, what is more worrying is that the increase in the unpaid household work for women. This even for women who are employed and who have managed to retain the job. You can see this from the data that the Indian Working Survey 2020 found that in the February-March period about 10 to 20 percent of the women reported spending between two to four hours on domestic works alone. This share had increased to about 50 percentage by September of the year 2020. This increase in house came without any accompanying relief in the house spend or the paid work. See, the author while has analyzed the data has also provided some way forward for the policy makers. First, government intervention is what they have focused on. First for the rural area, there should be an expansion of the MGN Drega, which is the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, which provides equal opportunities to women. Besides this, the introduction of urban employment guarantee targeted to women as soon as the most severe forms of mobility restrictions are lifted is essential. Besides, the state should also enhance role in employment, mainly to facilitate employment of women by setting up community kitchens, which will decrease the household work for women. And it also added that the government should emphasis the opening of schools and Anganwadi centers. Besides this, engagement with self-help groups for the production of personal protective equipment kits can be done to engage women. Author in this article also talks about the paid allowances, a COVID-19 hardship allowance of at least 5000 per month for 6 months should be announced. This should be for at least 2.5 million accredited social health activists and Anganwadi workers, most of whom are women. Lastly, the author also talks about the need for national employment policy. See, this national employment policy will focus on women employment status and it is still in the pipeline. Let us quickly know what is the national employment policy. See, the policy envisages subsuming four labor courts. Of that, four labor courts, parliament passed the three labor courts such as industrial relations, social security and occupational health safety and working conditions. The code on wages was approved by parliament last year and its rules have been firmed up, but the implementations of the rule for code on wages was held back because the government wanted to implement all four labor courts in one go. Finally, one must know that the financial independence is a basic component of women empowerment. This pandemic had made us lose the gains that was made in year of effort on closing the gender gap. Hence, the government should step in to aid in correcting the gender injustice. That is the end of this topic discussion. Let us move to the next one. Now, let us see the last topic for today's discussion. TrueJet to get rupee 20 crore as a viability gap funding. See, in this topic discussion, we will be focusing on the viability gap funding and also about the Udaan scheme. Now, let us go back to the article. See, this article says that the TrueJet airline services has received a viability funding of rupee 20 crore. See, it was provided for one more year as an extension to the center's regional connectivity scheme which is called as Udaan scheme. TrueJet Airlines which is established in the year 2015 is an Indian low-cost carrier based at Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and it mainly operates in central Andhra and Telangana regions with destinations including Tirupati, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, etc. Coming back to the viability gap funding. See, it is a grant one time or deferred to support infrastructure projects that are economically justified but fall short of financial viability. Note that the lack of financial viability usually arises from the longest station period and the inability to increase user charges to the commercial levels. Through this assistance under the viability gap funding, several projects become bankable and help mobilize the private investments in the infrastructure sector. Know that center had launched a scheme for viability gap funding to infrastructure projects that are to be undertaken through public-private partnership. See, in the year 2020, the scheme was revamped till 2024 to 25 with a total outlay of rupees 8,100 crores. See, this revamped scheme has two sub-schemes for mainstreaming private participation in social sector. First one is that this scheme would carter to social sectors such as waste water treatment, water supply, solid waste management, health and education sectors, etc. See, the project eligible under this category should have at least 100% operational cost recovery. The second one of this scheme is that it supports demonstrations and pilot social sector projects. The projects may be from health and education sectors where there is at least 50% age of operational cost recovery. Also know that the revamped scheme will be financed from budget support of ministry of finance. See, this revamped scheme would attract more public-private partnerships and facilitate the private investment in the social sectors. Finally, let us see about the regional connectivity scheme Udan scheme. The Uday Deshka Nam agric scheme aims to provide affordable, economically viable and profitable air travel on regional routes. See, this Udan scheme has also played a major role in adding new airports and routes to the aviation landscape of the country. Under the scheme, airline operators will be supported through concessions by the central and the state government. And the airport operators also reduce the cost of airline operations on regional routes. It also provides for financial viability gap funding support to meet the gap between the cost of airline operations and expected revenues on such routes. Also know that the airport authority of India is being designated as the implementing agency under this scheme. And this airport authority of India also has an ambitious plan to develop at least 100 airports or water drones or heliports by the year of 2024. In addition to it, till date 57 unserved and underserved airports with 347 routes have been operationalized under the Udan scheme across the length and breadth of India. That's all about this news article. Now let us focus on prelims practice questions. Question number one, with reference to United Nations Security Council consider the following statements. Statement one, it was established under the UN Charter with a primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security. Statement two, both members and non-members of the United Nations, if they are parties to a dispute that is considered by the council, may be invited to take part in the council's discussion without a vote. Which of the following statements given above is or are correct? The options given are option A, one only, option B, two only, option C, both one and two, option D, neither one nor two. See based on our discussion, we can infer that both these statements are correct. See, consider the first statement. It was established under the UN Charter with a primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security. Yes, this statement is correct. That is the reason why the UN SC has been given functions and powers to investigate any disputes or to recommend methods of adjusting such disputes as well as to formulate plans, determine the existence of a threat and to call on the members to apply the economic sanctions and other measures not involving the use of force to prevent or stop aggressions. It also has the power to take military actions against an aggressor. See, these many powers and functions are given to ensure that the international peace and security is maintained. Hence, the first statement is correct. Now, let us move to the second statement. Both the members and non-members of the United Nations, if they are party to a dispute that is considered by the council, may be invited to take part in council's discussion without a vote. Yes, this is the correct statement. Hence, the answer for this question is option C, both one and two only. Now, let us see the second question. This question focuses on the tribunals. Let us see it. Under the article 323b, for which of the following matters may the parliament form tribunals for adjudication? Statement 1, sealing on urban property. Statement 2, collection and enforcement of tax. Statement 3, tenancy issues. Statement 4, foreign exchange. Select the correct answer using the code given below. The options given are option A, one, two and four only. Option B, two, three and four only. Option C, one, three and four only. Option D, one, two, three and four. See, article 323b deals with the tribunals for other matters. And you must know that under the article 323b, tribunals can be established for purposes such as levying, assessment, collection and enforcement of any tax or foreign exchange, import and export across custom frontiers, industrial and labor disputes, etc. Now, coming to the question, all the statements such as sealing on urban property, collection and enforcement of tax, tenancy issues, foreign exchange, all are built by the tribunals under the article 323b. See, the image is attached in the slide, it deals about the tribunals for other matters, and it also lists the functions of such tribunals you can refer to it. Hence, the answer for this question is option D, one, two, three and four. Now, moving to the third question. Recently, the term INSACOC was seen in the news. This refers to what? The options given are option A. It is an autonomous organization to provide the best possible ocean information and advisory service to society, industry, government agency and the scientific community. Option B. It is a series of multi-purpose geostationary satellites launched by ISRO to satisfy the telecommunications, broadcasting, meteorology and the search and rescue operation. Option C. It is a pan-India network to monitor genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2. Option D. It is a vaccine alliance, bringing together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world's poorest country. See, if you know the term INSACOC and the expansion of it, you can somehow arrive to the solution. See, consider the first statement. It is an autonomous organization to provide best possible ocean information. See, INSACOC does not deal with oceans or it isn't an autonomous organization. You have to note that the first statement deals with INCOIS, which is the Indian National Center for Ocean Information. So, the first option is wrong. Now, moving to the second option, it is a series of multi-purpose geostationary satellite. No, INSACOC doesn't deal with any space satellites or anything that is associated with ISRO. Now, looking at the second statement, it is associated with INSAT satellite. So, the second option is also wrong. Now, look at the third option. It is a pan-India network to monitor genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2. Yes, the third statement is right. See, as we have discussed earlier, it is a pan-India network where nearly 10 organizations are involved for the purpose of genome sequencing. Hence, the answer for this question is option C, it is a pan-India network to monitor genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2. Let us also see the fourth option. See, it is a vaccine alliance bringing together public and private sectors. See, this is about GAVI alliance which has been taken forward to bring together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating accessibility to new and unused vaccines for children. Now, let us see the last question. Consider the following regarding the revamped scheme for financial support to public-private partnerships in the infrastructure viability gap funding. Statement one, the scheme mainly aims at mainstreaming private participation in social infrastructure such as water supply, wastewater treatment, etc. Statement two, the revamped scheme will be financed from the budgetary support of Ministry of Finance. Each of the above statement above is SAR or correct. The options given are option A, one only, option B, two only, option C, both one and two, option D, neither one nor two. Consider the first statement. We have already discussed that the revamped scheme for viability gap funding has two sub-schemes for mainstreaming private participation in social infrastructure. See, the first one is to carter social sectors such as wastewater treatments, water supply, solid-based management and other projects where at least 100% operational cost recovery is obtained. Hence, the first statement is correct. And now, let us move to the second statement. It says that the revamped scheme will be financed from the budgetary support of Ministry of Finance. Yes, this is also correct. From the previous discussion, we have seen that in order to attract more PPP projects and facilitate the private investments in social sectors, the revamped scheme will be financed from the budgetary support of Ministry of Finance. So, the statement two is also correct. Hence, the correct answer for this question is option C, both one and two. These are few main questions that are given for your practice and you may write and post them in the comment section for peer review. A very good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Hindi News Analysis brought to you by Shankarayesh Academy. Here are the list of news articles chosen for discussion today and our video is timestamped for your reference. Now, let's start today's discussion by looking into few of the past year question papers. As we know, we have been discussing past year question papers for the benefit of students. So, in this context, let's move on to the discussion on that. So, the first question taken up for today is based on eco-friendly agriculture. Okay. So, agriculture, green agricultural practices, novel agricultural practices are of particular interest to UPSC. Now, let us look at the options one by one. So, first is let's discuss about crop diversification. Crop diversification refers to the addition of new crops or cropping systems to agricultural production on a particular farm. Traditional agricultural patterns involving monocropping patterns can result in exhaustion of soil, but crop diversification minimizes the exhaustion by increasing the returns to the farmers. Now, let's look into legume intensification. See, legume intensification is nothing but growing more legumes in the field. Legume intensification is viewed favorably because of the nitrogen fixation capacity. See, such legumes can also have a positive influence on the soil fertility, thereby reducing the need for synthetic nitrogen application, and thereby aiding in sustainable agriculture or green agriculture. So, crop diversification and legume intensification are well-known concepts. Only by the knowledge of this, we have narrowed down to option A or D. Okay. So, the final answer will depend on the vertical farming. So, let's know about vertical farming. Vertical farming is the art of growing crops in the vertically stacked up layer. The crops can also be grown indoors with vertical farming. And this is said to minimize soil usage, which in turn aids in eco-friendly agriculture. So, the correct option is option D. But let us also know about tensiometer. See, what is tensiometer? Tensiometer gives the visual information about the availability of soil moisture conditions in the soil. So, irrigating the field based on this information will help conserve the ground water, which in turn is eco-friendly agriculture. So, knowing the concept and little analysis will itself help you arrive at the answer, which is option D. Now, let's move on to the next question. This question talks about the application of biochar. Anyone with the basic knowledge and the applications of biochar can answer this question. So, first, let us see what is biochar? See, biochar is a stable, carbon-rich form of charcoal, like product that is a residue of renewable energy production process. Which is slow pyrolysis. And products like papermill waste, green waste, animal manures and other biomasses can be recycled by heating to 550 degrees Celsius in the absence of oxygen. So, as a result of this process, it generates energy and biochar. See, this biochar in the soil proved to be beneficial to improve the soil quality and retain nutrients, which in turn will enhance the plant growth, right? And also know that biochar contains organic matter and nutrients. Its addition increases soil pH, electric conductivity, enhances the organic carbon content, enhances the total nitrogen availability and also the available prosperous nutrients for the plants. Now, let us see the use and benefits of biochar. See, biochar holds potential for long-term carbon sequestration, improving the soil health and water holding capacity, which in turn will reduce the emission of greenhouse gases associated with the fertilizer application. So, let us see how. See, biochar is porous in nature. So, biochar can improve soil's water retention, that is, holding water in their pores and water holding capacity. Hence, statement 3 is correct. So, in addition to it, biochar has the potential to boost the natural ability of the legumes to fix nitrogen to the soil. So, this benefit from biochar highlights another major potential win for greenhouse gas mitigation by saving on the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Hence, statement 2 is correct. There is only one option where 2 and 3 are together. So, we conclude that answer is option D. Now, let us move on to the next question. So, this next question is based on the cultural history of India, mostly based on the terminology. See, it's a pure theory question based on ancient medieval history. So, first let's all starting with upasaka. See, upasaka is a rather famous term. Upasaka refers to a pious Buddhist person who visits monastry very often. So, we can say option 3 is correctly matched. Now, let's see shamana. See, during vedic ages and all, there was a lot of emphasis on rituals and sacrifices. This type of excessive ritualism produced a natural reaction in the form of shamana movement. And this protested against the divine origin of Vedas and the efficacies of the sacrifices. See, these shamanas are recruited from all people irrespective of the caste and creed. And the teachers were anti-Vedic and anti-Brahmanic. And they challenged the Vedic learning and the Vedic rituals. So, statement 2 is wrong. By elimination, we are left with the correct answer, which is B. And this brings us to the end of discussion on the past day preliminary question papers. Now, let's move on to the article discussion. Have a look at this news article. This news article states that Indian Council of Medical Research has dropped convalescent plasma therapy from the recommended treatment norms for COVID-19. See, this is because ICMR has found that CPT did not lead to reduction in progression of severe COVID-19 or neither did it lead to reduction in mortality. See, the findings were based on a trial conducted by ICMR, which is called as the Placid Trial. And in addition, the experts have also stated that CPT is facilitating virus mutation as well. So, they have dropped CPT from the treatment protocol. So, in this context, let us see about CPT in general. So, what is CPT? In CPT, serum from a recovered patient is administered to a yet to recover patient. In CPT, blood is drawn from a person who has recovered from a particular infectious disease and the serum or the plasma is separated and it is creamed for the presence of virus neutralizing antibodies and it is especially rich in antibodies. These recovered patients have antibodies rich for that particular pathogen. And this convalescent serum or plasma is administered to the patient. The convalescent serum is also called as antibody serum. See here, just for a clarification, see an antigen is nothing but any pathogen, be it virus or fungi or bacteria that enters the body. An antibody is the body's immune response that is being generated, the immune particles that is being generated to combat these pathogens. So, antigen is alien to the body but antibody is produced by our own body, right? And coming back to the discussion and if you see after the antibody serum is given, it will stay on the recipient only for 3 to 4 days. It is during this period the patient is expected to recover. So, more like someone else's immune system generated antibody is lending a helping hand to another person's immune system. Therefore, the protection under this treatment is temporarily and passive only. But see, the convalescent plasma therapy has a passive immunization effect. So, what is this? An active immunization is where the body's own immune system is stimulated to produce antibodies, especially in a phenomenon like vaccine jab, right? But in passive immunization, convalescent plasma therapy, the antibodies from someone else is harvested and given to the patient. So, this is passive immunization, right? So, another kind of passive immunization is administration of monoclonal antibodies. We saw about monoclonal antibodies few days ago in our discussions. So, with this information, we have come to the end of discussion on convalescent plasma therapy. Now, look at this news article. The first batch of COVID therapy drug, 2-deoxy deglucose, commonly called as 2-DG, was released on Monday for emergency use. Till now, there are no specific anti-COVID drugs available in India or even for that matter globally. Medicines like Remdesivir, steroid drugs like Dexamethazone, Ivermectin, Hydrochloroquinin, and Toslyzumab are being used to control the symptoms associated with this viral infection. However, the use as well as availability has been brought to question in the recent weeks. And in a time like this, researchers believe that 2-deoxy deglucose, that is 2-DG, has a therapeutic use as a COVID drug. See, 2-DG has been developed by Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Science. Lab of Defense Research and Development Organization in collaboration with Hyderabad based pharma company Dr. Reddy's laboratories. So, let's see how it works. See, the drug accumulates in the virus infected cells and prevents the growth of the virus by stopping the viral synthesis and energy production as well. And any virus needs glucose to survive and thrive. And when the drug is injected into the body, it attaches itself to the virus and stops the multiplication and the further spread in the body. Thereby, walking to control the complications and the severity it can cause. Doesn't a unique manner, it works to tame down the virus replication and energy synthesis. And its selective accumulation in the viral infected cells makes the drug much more unique. Right? So, 2-DG was found to be safe in COVID-19 patients and showed significant improvement in their recovery. And the patient treated with 2-DG showed faster symptomatic cure than the rest of the control group. And the researchers also believe that the application of this drug can work against all mutant strains and variants of the COVID. See, the drug functions by depriving the virus of its food, which is glucose. And this will arouse the multiplication and the growth of the virus in the body. Thus, the drug can be effective in most of the mutant strains and the variant cases. So, that is how this drug is being considered effective. And how do we take it? See, the 2-DG medicine can be taken orally itself mixed in water two times a day. And the COVID-19 patients may be required to take this drug for five to seven days to completely stop the viral growth. And right now, the drug has been recommended for use in the moderate to severe COVID cases only. And the patient suffering from mild infections, requiring at home may not need the drug and can easily recover at home following the new protocols. So, do remember that, like many, this still is in an experimental stage only and it has been only accorded an emergency use nod. And the incestant use of the medicine and hoarding supplies without getting a go-ahead from your treating doctor will only invite problems. So, in this discussion, we saw about the drug, the new drug 2-DG, its mechanism of action and how is it to be taken and when is it to be taken. So, with this information, let's move on to the next discussion. Now, look at this news article. See, recently, K. Raghurama Krishna Raju, an MP from Andhra Pradesh, was arrested on the grave charges of sedition. This editorial is related to that. The police in different states have been invoking sedition against critics of the establishment and prominent dissenters. So, let us learn about sedition in this discussion. Here is the syllabus for your reference. First, let us see what is sedition. See, sedition is defined as any action that brings or attempts to bring hatred or contempt towards the government of India. So, sedition falls in the section 124A of Indian Penal Code. So, this is the snippet talking about sedition. See, sedition laws were enacted in 17th century England when the lawmakers believed that only good opinions of the government should survive as bad opinions were detrimental to the government and monarchy. So, this law was borrowed and inserted into the section 124A of IPC in 1870 by the British. And British used the sedition law to convict and sentence freedom fighters and it was first used against Bal Gangadhar Thilak in 1897. See, this sedition has its pros and cons. For example, sedition protects the elected government from the attempts of coup with violence and illegal means. And also, many states face insurgency and rebel groups. Here, sedition helps to keep these groups in check. And it also has utility in combating anti-national, sexist and terrorist elements. But sedition is often criticised as a relic of colonial legacy. And it is being described as unsuitable in the current day democracy. See, it is a constraint on the legitimate exercise of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression. Also in 1979, India ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This Covenant sets forth internationally recognised standards for the protection of freedom of expression. And the misuse of sedition and the arbitrary slapping of charges seem to be inconsistent with the India's international commitment under this Covenant. And the dissent and the criticism of the government are essential ingredients of a robust political debate which is a characteristic of a vibrant democracy. So, they should not be constructed as sedition. And right to question, criticise and change rulers is a very fundamental of the ideal of democracy. And also, the British who introduced the sedition to oppress Indians have themselves abolished the law in their country. And for us, there is no reason why India should not abolish this section. Moreover, the terms used under section 124A like this affection are vague and subject to different interpretation to the whims and fancies of the investigating officers. The sedition law is thus being misused as a tool to persecute political dissent. So, what can be done, right? See, India is the largest democracy of the world and the right to freedom of speech and expression is essential ingredient of a democracy. And the expression or thought that is not in consonance with the policy of the government of the day should not be considered as sedition. And our government should stop using the section 124A as a tool to curb free speech. So, how can this be achieved? This can be done by following the Supreme Court judgments in Kedarnath Singh v. state of Bihar case, both in letter and spirit. In 1962, the Supreme Court of India decided on the constitutionality of section 124A in Kedarnath Singh v. state of Bihar. In this case, it upheld the constitutionality of sedition, but limited its application to acts involving intention or tendency to create disorder or disturbance of law and order or incitement to violence. And it also distinguished the activities from very strong speech or the use of vigorous words strongly critical of the government. By strictly following these judgments, we can prevent the misuse of the section 124. And also, the definition of sedition should be narrowed down to include only the issues pertaining to the territorial integrity of India as well as the sovereignty of the country. This will prevent the subjective interpretation of vague terms in the section. So, the worst sedition is extremely nuanced and it needs to be applied with caution, especially in a democratic setup. So, in this discussion, we saw about sedition, about its evolution and the cases associated with sedition. So, with this information, let's move on to the next section. Now, have a look at this news article. This news article is about the Spanish flu, the global pandemic with which the COVID-19 is right now being compared to. So, let's go into it in detail. So, as we know, the world has witnessed several pandemics in the past and the most severe among them is considered to be the 1918 influenza pandemic, which is the Spanish flu. And it lasted for about three years from 1918 to 1920. And the 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic or the Spanish flu pandemic in the first decades of the 20th century was the first true global pandemic. And it was caused by the H1N1 strain of influenza virus. And it lasted for about three years in three waves with about 500 million people infected and about 50 million deaths. So, there are three different waves of illness during the pandemic, starting in the March 1918, which subsided in the summers of 1919, right? And the pandemic peaked during the second wave. That is, the most number of cases were witnessed during the second wave, which was responsible for most of the deaths attributed to the pandemic. And the third wave struck during the springs and winters of 1919, adding to the pandemic toll. Know that the estimated one third of the world's population was infected with this virus, that is 1918 flu virus, with at least 50 million deaths worldwide. And we know that this pandemic hit the world during the World War I. And one reason for its super spread was that the officials, they were not ready to impose any strict restrictions or lockdown because it was wartime. And this happened despite the existence of a new mutated viral strain. Now, we are facing a similar situation with the COVID variant, especially in India, with new contagious strains becoming very common. And it is also making it harder to vaccinate against, but still our behavior does not change. And the policy also does not have a definitive direction in combating the pandemic. And see, many of us don't even wear masks, despite knowing that they are protective. And many of us don't practice social distancing. And the author says that the human beings are social animals, and they might have been tired of the continuous lockdowns, wearing masks, staying at home and not socializing. This very trend also happened with the Spanish flu. And that could be the reason why the governments and people across the world relaxed themselves and stopped being careful. When the number of cases started going down after the first wave of the pandemic. And that is why major centers for the spread of COVID-19, such as gyms, hotels, parks, etc., were allowed to resume, though with some restrictions. And the author believes that the countries have failed to learn from the Spanish flu, and they failed to predict the human behavior. And the best example is our country, where the government allowed the election rallies and the religious gatherings. We did not learn from other countries, which opened up too soon after the first wave also, right? So we can conclude that it is high time to understand from the past, and we should not be overconfident in managing the pandemic. Our policy should be in tune with the reality and the danger that is enlarged. Or in other words, we should not underestimate the devastating ability of this pandemic or the COVID-19 situation, right? So this is the end of discussion on the comparison between the Spanish flu and the current pandemic. We can see that actually we have a lot of similarities between that pandemic and this pandemic. And those who don't learn from the past are bound to repeat it, right? So in this context, let's learn from the past and be more responsible. Now have a look at this article. This article is about the evolving policy of India on Israel-Palestine conflict. In this context, let us discuss in brief about the India-Palestine relations and the important points given in the article. So here is the syllabus for your reference students. See, India's solidarity with Palestinian people and its attitude to the Palestinian question was given voice even during the freedom struggle by Mahatma Gandhi. Since then, Palestinian cause is an integral part of India's foreign policy. And in 1974, India became the first non-Haraab state to recognize Palestine Liberation Organization, commonly called as PLO, as the sole and the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. And coming to 1988, India became one of the first countries to recognize the Palestinian state. And in 1996, India opened its representative office in Gaza, which was later shifted to Ramallah in 2003. See, India has played an active role in extending support for Palestinian cross across various multilateral fora as well. And India co-sponsored the draft resolution on the right of Palestinians to self-determination during the 53rd session of UN General Assembly. And India also voted in favor of it. And apart from that, India also voted in favor of UN General Assembly resolution in October 2003 against the construction of the separation wall by the Israel. And in 2011, India voted in favor of Palestine becoming a full member of UNESCO as well. And India co-sponsored and voted in favor of UNGA resolution in 2012 that established Palestine to become non-member observer state at the UN. And as late as 2015, India also supported the Bantam Declaration on Palestine at the Asian African Commemorative Conference. And it also supported the installation of the Palestinian flag at the UN premises the very same year. And also note that there have been regular bilateral visits between India and Palestine. And the late President Yasser Arafat visited India several, several times. And apart from these strong political support, India has been contributing material and technical assistance to the Palestine as well. And with the government of India's aid, two projects were completed in the field of higher education. They are Jawaharlal Nehru Library in Gaza City. And the Mahatma Gandhi Library comes Student Activity Center, again in the Gaza Strip. And India-Brazil-South Africa Fund has also funded five projects in the Palestine. And apart from this, India offers scholarships for Palestinian nationals under the General Cultural Scholarship Scheme of Indian Council for Cultural Relations. And also, hundreds slots are offered to the Palestinian nationals under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Program. All right? So now coming to the most recent developments, we all know that Israel-Palestine conflicts have intensified in the recent days, right? And few days back, India delivered a statement at the United Nations Security Council debate on the situation of the Middle East, right? And India's permanent representative to the UN called Mr. T.S. Tirumurthy, reiterated India's unwavering commitment to the two-state solution. India has always held the stand. And the statement also condemned the indiscriminate rocket-firing from Gaza, which resulted in many deaths, including an Indian national. But India has maintained silence on the state of Jerusalem or the future Israel-Palestine borders. This article says that, though India did not mention any country in effect, it has called for eviction process to be stopped, and status co-ante to be restored at the Al-Aqsa compound. So what does it indicate? This indicates India's evolving position on the larger Israel-Palestine issue. And India is vocal about maintaining status co-ante the two-state solution, but is silent on the East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. And also, while India condemned the rocket attack by Hamas, but it made no references to the fatal Israeli reaction. So all this may indicate an evolving foreign policy of India, where it moves closer to the Israeli state. So this brings us to the end of discussion on this particular news article. So with those articles, we have finished the news analysis, but let us move to the comments and clarifications section. So in the last discussion of mine, we spoke about the Pallavas, right, regarding that there is this comment that was raised at 718, you said Pallava dynasty was established in the 6th century, but the notes show it as 2nd century. And when we ran the video, we found that we have correctly said that Pallavas were active from 2nd century CE and 6th century is mentioned when we talk about Mahendra Vermen 1. And Mahendra Vermen 1 is one of the notable kings of Pallava dynasty who ruled from 590 to 630 CE. Now let's move on to the next comment. The next comment was about the Nalanda University establishment. So the government website mentions it as a university that was founded by Dharmapala from where the content was referred. But we request the viewers to correct it as Nalanda was not founded by Dharmapala from Pala dynasty, but it was found by Gupta empire and initially it was established as a Mahavihara. See what is a Mahavihara? Vihara means Buddhist monastery. And Mahavihara means great Buddhist monastery. That is a place where monks line up and worship. And the establishment of Mahavihara was formed by the emperor Kumari Gupta in the 5th century A.D. So Nalanda flourished under the patronage of Gupta empire in the 5th and 6th centuries. So with those clarifications, let's move on to the Prillan's practice question discussion. So here we are in the practice question sessions. Let's refresh the knowledge that we just gained through the discussion. So in this direction we have two questions for discussion today. So the first question goes like this. Recently the term 2 D.G. was seen in the news. This refers to what? We have four options. So it's a factual question and from the discussion we know it is a D.I.D.O.'s new oral drug for COVID-19. So that is the answer. The answer is option B. Now consider this question. It is about convalescent plasma therapy and we have three statements and the question asks which of the following is incorrect, right? So let's go over it one by one. The first question is the convalescent plasma is drawn from a healthy individual who has not previously contracted the targeted disease. See we saw in the discussion that convalescent plasma is taken from a person who is already infected but recovered to transfuse it into a yet to recover patient. So the first statement is wrong. Now coming to the next statement. It offers a permanent protection against a infectious disease. See again we saw this in the discussion. It is not a permanent solution. The immunity lasts for very few days. Less than a week. So it does not offer a permanent protection. So the statement 2 is also wrong. Now third statement. It is a part of active immunization. See convalescent plasma therapy or the monoclonal antibody therapies or any antibody therapy is not a part of active immunization. Active immunization is where the body itself makes antibodies to defend the pathogen. Here we are administering the antibody. So it is not an active immunization. It is a passive immunization. So all the three statements are incorrect. So our option will be option D, 1, 2 and 3. I suggest you to write two or three main's question and post it in the comment section for peer review. It can give you a significant edge in your main's preparation. Welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankar Iyer's Academy. These are the news articles chosen for today's discussion. They are given along with the page number of different traditions. Link for the handwritten notes in PDF format and the timestamping for the discussed articles are given in the description box as well as the comment section for the benefit of the mobile viewers. First let us see some past prelims questions. First question. Consider the following activities. Spraying pesticides on a crop field, inspecting the craters of an active alcano, collecting bread samples from spouting whales for DNA analysis. At the present level of technology, which of the above activities can be successfully carried out using drones. The key word is at the present level of technology. The options are A1 and 2, B2 and 3, C1 and 3, D1, 2 and 3. Before assessing the statements, first let us see about the drone technology. See the term drone usually refers to any un-piloted aircraft. It is also sometimes referred to as unmanned aerial vehicles, UAV. See the drones can carry out an imprensive range of tasks. It can carry out tasks ranging from military operation to package delivery. Drones can be large as an aircraft or as small as the palm of your hand. So the potential of drones is huge. So they are used in various fields. For example, drones are used in medicine, it is used in military, it is used in delivery, emergency rescue, outer space, it is used for photography and it is also used for wildlife and conservation. With this information in mind, let us approach the question. Now let us take the first statement. It is about spraying pesticides on a crop field. See this statement is correct. The drones are widely used in developed countries to spray pesticides on a crop field to save manpower. So the first statement is correct. Now let us take the second statement. Inspecting the craters of an active volcano. This statement is also correct. The drones are used by volcano lodges to study craters of volcanoes. This gives researchers access to potentially life-saving data without risking their life. So far the first statement and second statement are correct. Moving on to the third statement. Collecting breath samples from spouting whales for DNA analysis. This statement is also correct. This statement was taken from current affairs for 2020. See a group of scientists flew a small drone over the blow hole of a few humpback whales in USA and Canada. This was done to collect the microbes living inside their breath. Sampling of this community of microbes and bacteria living inside the whales. Can help them to understand what makes a healthy whale and what happens when a whale gets sick. So the third statement is also correct. All the statements are correct. The answer is D, 1, 2 and 3. Now let us move on to the second question. Wellesley established the Fort William College at Calcutta because we are given four options. Option A. He was asked by the board of directors at London to do so. Option B. He wanted to revive interest in Oriental learning in India. Option C. He wanted to provide William Carey and his associates with employment. Option D. He wanted to train British civilians for administrative purpose in India. Before solving this question, first let us see about Lord Wellesley. See Lord Wellesley was the Governor-General of India from 1798 to 1805. He was a significant figure of British India's history. During his tenure, the 4th Anglo-Maisur War and 2nd Anglo-Maratha War were fought. Wellesley also followed the policy of subsidiary alliance. What is subsidiary alliance? See the subsidiary alliance was a treaty between the company and the Indian native rulers. In return for a payment or subsidy, the company would place garrison troops in the rulers' territory to fight against their enemies. Through this policy, Lord Wellesley brought the rulers of Mysore, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Boondi, Machheri, Bharatpur, Aoud, Tanjur, Berar, Peshwa and Nizama fighter-bird under this system. Now let us see some key principles of subsidiary alliance. The Indian ruler would accept British force in his territory and also pay their cost of maintenance. The Indian ruler will accept a British resident in a state. The Indian ruler would not enter into any further alliance or war with any other power without permission from the British. The ruler would not employ any European other than British. In case there is any conflict, the resolution as decided by British would be accepted by him. The ruler would acknowledge East India company as paramount power in India. So these are the key principles of subsidiary alliance. In return for the above conditions, the East India company would pledge to protect the state from external dangers and internal disorders. If the Indian ruler fails to make required payments, a part of his territory would be taken away as penalty. Now let us come to the demand of the question. 4th William College at Calcutta. Lord Wellesley founded 4th William College at Calcutta on 10th July 1800. He established this college to teach British civilians about the law and administration to have better coordination in the governance. So this is a direct question. The answer is D. He wanted to train British civilians for administrative purpose in India. Now let us move on to the article discussion. This editorial article is based on the recent development relating to the treatment of COVID-19. See in its latest guidelines, ICMR has dropped the usage of convalescent plasma therapy. CPT, a statement for moderate COVID-19 patient. Yesterday we saw the signs behind CPT. Today let us see why this decision was taken and what is the way forward. The syllabus relevant to this article is displayed on the screen as one can go through it. See CPT as a treatment was used for early moderate COVID-19 infection or within 7 days of symptoms. This is an important point. But the treatment was not making the patients better. So to confirm this fact, in September 2020 ICMR funded a multi-centric study that is the Placid Trial. The trial studied 39 public and private hospitals on the use of convalescent plasma CP in the management of moderate COVID-19 in adults in India. The results showed that CP was neither associated with reduction in COVID mortality nor it reduced the progression of the disease to severe COVID-19. So in this study no benefit of use of CPT could be established. In addition to this, other studies also showed similar results. For example, a Chinese study conducted in June 2020 found no improvement in patient outcomes who were using convalescent plasma treatment. But even then ICMR did not stop CPT treatment. These had created certain consequences like it resulted in higher demand for plasma which resulted in black market. Also many blame the quality of plasma for the treatment not working. Instead of blaming the treatment which did not have any efficacy. In addition to the ineffectiveness of the treatment, it was also found that CPT might be leading to escape mutations to dominate. What is escape mutation? Escape mutation refers to E484K mutation. See E484K mutation is not a new variant but it's a mutation which occurs in different variants. This mutation happens in the spike protein. E484K is called an escape mutation because it helps the virus to slip past our body's immune defenses. This escape mutation has an impact on the body's immune response such as it may weaken the immune response and it can also impact the longevity of the neutralizing antibody response. And also the mutation possibly impact vaccine efficacy. This mutation can also cause reinfection. See this escape mutation is already found in South Africa variant, UK variant and Brazil variant. This escape mutation happened due to the pressure put on the virus to survive. See the pressure arises because of our immune system and vaccination. But when there is incomplete immune response or incomplete protection from vaccine, there are weak antibodies. Weak antibodies means they cannot effectively neutralize the infection. So it helps the virus to create the escape mutation. Further studies in US, UK and Italy have shown that the indiscriminate use of CPT for COVID allows escape mutations to dominate. So based on all these factors, finally now ICMR has dropped CPT as a treatment for severe or life-threatening COVID-19. Instead, ICMR has allowed its use only when the patient is in early stage of COVID-19 and when it had been only three to seven days from onset of symptoms but not later than 10 days. So these are the new criteria for CPT treatment. One unavoidable implication of this move is that it allows for treatments with limited scientific basis to be proposed for COVID-19 treatment. Already such treatments are prescribed. According to the author, this includes hydroxychloroquine and the antiparasitic drug ivermectin which are used as treatment despite there is low certainty of evidence. So what is the need of the hour? See the ICMR task force or other collective of experts should assess the evidence in the efficacy of the treatment and then only recommend such treatments. Such recommendation should be publicized to educate the public about the evolving nature of treatment. This will inevitably increase the trust in the treatments. With this we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion we saw about the convalescent plasma therapy CPT and the reason why ICMR has dropped the usage of CPT. Now let us move on to the next article. See we all know that sputnik 5 vaccine will be available in the country in the coming days. India is planning to locally produce sputnik 5 from july. Dr Reddy's laboratories of Hyderabad will produce these vaccines. See according to this article the Darwad based Shilpa biologicals private limiter will manufacture sputnik 5 based on an agreement with Dr Reddy laboratories. See there are several different types of vaccines. This includes inactivated vaccines, live alternated vaccines, messenger RNA vaccines, viral vector vaccines, etc. Sputnik 5 belongs to viral vector vaccine category. This vaccine was developed by Russia's Gamilia National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and it is named after the first Soviet space satellite sputnik 1. Sputnik 1 was launched in 1957. Sputnik 5 is a two-dose vaccine which can be stored at the temperature of plus 2 to plus 8 degrees Celsius. This allows for easy distribution worldwide including to the region which are hard to reach. According to the Russia, sputnik 5 has the efficacy of 90 percent. See in the news we also heard a term called sputnik light. What is sputnik light? It is the first component of sputnik 5. Sputnik light is the recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26, RAD 26. Now let us see the working of adenoviral vector based vaccines. See first of all adenovirus is our common virus that cause a range of illness. They can cause cold like symptoms, fever, sore throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea, etc. Adenovirus can cause illness in people of all ages any time of the year. Now let us see about viral vector vaccines. See viral vector vaccines use a modified version of a different virus to deliver important instruction to our cells. This modified version of a different virus is called the vector. See vector are vehicles which can induce a genetic material from another virus into a cell. This inserted element is safe for the body but still help the immune system to react and produce antibodies which protect us from the infection. Human adenovirus are considered as some of the easiest to engineer in this way and are therefore have become the popular vectors for vaccines. When it comes to the functioning of viral vector vaccine first the vector or the armless virus will enter a cell in our body and then use the cells machinery to produce a armless piece of virus that causes covid 19. This piece is known as spike protein. This spike protein triggers our immune system to begin producing antibodies and activating other immune cells to fight off what it thinks as an infection. At the end of the process our bodies have learned how to protect us against the future infection with the virus that causes covid 19. Any temporary discomfort experience after getting the vaccine is a natural part of the process and indication that the vaccine is working. So vaccines are effective in preventing and protecting us against diseases. With this we have come to the end of this discussion. In this discussion we saw about spritnik 5 and the working of adenoviral vector based vaccines. Now let us move on to the next article. Now let us take up this news article. It is about the recent arctic council meeting. So in this regard let us see some important facts about the arctic council. What is arctic council? See arctic council is a leading inter-governmental forum. The arctic council promotes cooperation, coordination and interaction among the arctic states, arctic indigenous people and other arctic inhabitants. It was set up in 1996 by the Ottawa declaration. See the arctic council mainly deals with the issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the arctic region. As per the Ottawa declaration, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and US are the members of the arctic council. So we have eight countries as the members of arctic council. These countries have territories within the arctic region. See the arctic council has also got the category of permanent participants. This was created to provide a means for active participation of arctic indigenous people within the arctic council. So far six organizations representing arctic indigenous people have the status of permanent participants. The arctic council also has another category called observer status. See this observer status is open to non arctic states along with inter-governmental organization, inter-parliamentary organizations, global organization, regional organization and NGOs. This will be determined by the council. The council's activities are primarily conducted in six working groups. Based on the working of these six groups, work to provide a broad and scientifically sound knowledge based upon which informed decisions will be taken. They also develop best practices and recommendations for safe and sustainable operation in the arctic. The decisions of the arctic council are taken by consensus among the eight arctic council states with full consultation and involvement of the permanent participants. The chairmanship of the arctic council rotates every two years among the arctic states. So these are the important points when it comes to arctic council. It can help you in your problems. Now let us move on to the next article. This editorial speaks about the need for accurate forecast and resilience building to minimize the impact of cyclones in India. In this context, let us discuss in detail about the cyclone warning system in India. The syllabus for reference is displayed on the screen as one can go through it. See as we know, a tropical cyclone is a multi-assard weather phenomenon. It causes heavy rainfall, gale wind and storm surge during the landfall. It causes heavy loss to life and property. All these things as necessitated the need for an efficient cyclone warning system. The various components of early warning system for tropical cyclones include asad analysis, monitoring, modeling, forecasting, and risk assessment. It also includes other components like warning generation, presentation, dissemination, coordination with disaster management agencies, public education, reaching out, and post-eventing. See, cyclone warning is one of the most important functions of Indian meteorological department. It was the first service undertaken by the department as early as 1865, even before its establishment in 1875. Coming to the organizational structure, I present the cyclone warning organization of IMD as three-tier system to cater the needs of maritime states. There are area cyclone warning centers ACWC at Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata, and cyclone warning center CWC at Vishagapatnam, Amarabhar, and Bhubaneshwar. The coordination of cyclone warning operation at the international and national level, as well as Liohaasan with the central government organization and other agencies, are done by the cyclone warning division CWD at IMD New Delhi. CWD is also functioning as regional specialized meteorological center, Tropical Cyclones, RSMC, Iphone Tropical Cyclones. Coming to the stages in cyclone warning, the warnings are issued to state government officials in four stages. This is important. The first stage warning is known as pre-cyclone watch. It is issued 72 hours in advance and contain early warning about the development of a cyclonic disturbance in the North Indian Ocean, its likely intensification into a tropical cyclone, and the coastal belt likely to experience adverse weather. The second stage warning is known as cyclone alert. It is issued at least 48 hours in advance of the expected commencement of adverse weather over the coastal areas. It contains information on the location and intensity of the storm, likely direction of its movement, intensification, coastal districts likely to experience adverse weather, and advice to fishermen, general public, media, and disaster managers. The third stage warning known as cyclone warning is issued at least 24 hours in advance of the expected commencement of adverse weather over the coastal areas. Landfall point is forecast at this stage. These warnings are issued at three hourly intervals, giving the latest portion of cyclone and its intensity. The fourth stage of warning known as post-landfall outlook is issued at least 12 hours in advance of expected time of landfall. It gives likely direction of the movement of the cyclone after its landfall and adverse weather likely to be experienced in the interior areas. Different color codes are given for different stages of cyclone warning. For example, yellow is used for cyclone alert, orange is used for cyclone warning, and red is used for post-landfall outlook. But despite such an efficient warning system, cyclone talk tip, which intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm, caused loss of life in Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. But the impacts were minimized by the trained disaster response force, supported by the defense force in rescue and relief work. To conclude, the Indian subcontinent shall be prepared to handle more cyclones in the coming days. This depends on developing greater expertise in forecasting and disaster mitigation and making policies to increase resilience among communities. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion, we mainly saw about the four stages of cyclone warning system. Now, let us move on to the next article. Our next news discussion is going to be based on this editorial article titled, Tracking the Pandemic's Rural March. As the title ends, this article throws light on the intensity of the pandemic in the rural area and the government's role in it. So, in this light, let us see some important observation put forward by the author. The syllabus covered by this editorial article is given below for your reference. First, let us see about rural areas during the first wave. See, during the first wave, the strict nationwide lockdown imposed during the first wave led the migrant workers to move back to rural areas in order to protect themselves from anger and starvation. The rural areas provided refuge to the majority of the migrant population who were left stranded without jobs and incomes. It also played a significant role in reviving the economy. So, put it in short, the rural areas during the first wave were not much affected. Now, let us see about rural areas during the second wave. When you take the second wave, the scenario is totally different. This is because, unlike the first wave, the second wave has caused worst impacts with most cases coming from rural areas. That too, mainly in the rural areas of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. The problem here is, these are the states with low availability of health professionals and also lower level of health infrastructure, which has further led to a much higher level of infections and death. See, the healthcare infrastructure in rural areas has been developed as a three-tier system. And this includes the sub-center, which is the most peripheral and the first point of contact between the primary healthcare system and the community. Next comes the primary health centers, PHC, which serves as the first contact point between the village community and the medical officer. And finally, it is the community health centers that are established and maintained by the state government. See, as per the minimum norms, a CAC is required to be manned by four medical specialists. They are surgeon, physician, gynaecologist and pediatrician, supported by 21 paramedical and other staff. Now, as per the latest rural health statistics, 2019 to 2020, released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the rural health infrastructure of these states is not only worse, but they are also facing a strong decline over the past years. Now, let us see a few statistics in order to understand the scenario better. When you take BHAR, it had 10,337 sub-centers functioning in the year 2005. But the centers faced a decline and as per the estimation in the year 2020, there are only 9,112 sub-centers functioning. The same happened with the community health centers, which faced a decline from 101 in 2005 to only 57 in 2020. There is a slight increase in the number of primary health care centers, which has increased to 1,702 in 2020, compared to 1,648 in 2005. But it is not appreciable when you take the growth in population. You can use the statistics in your value addition for the main sensor. A similar situation has happened in Uttar Pradesh, where primary health centers declined from 3,660 in 2005 to 2,880 in 2020. And in the case of sub-centers, they are faced only a marginal increase from 20,521 in 2005 to 20,778 in 2020. The author of this editorial also points out that the availability of health professionals in these areas also witnessed a worsening situation. For instance, only 29% of specialists were in place in the community health centers in Uttar Pradesh, which is against the official requirement norms. And when you take the estimation on the highest shortfall in availability of sub-centers, BR tops the list with 58%, followed by Jharkhand at 44% and Uttar Pradesh at 41%. A similar situation occurs in the case of primary health care centers, with the highest shortfall faced in Jharkhand, followed by West Bengal, BR and Uttar Pradesh. With such inadequate infrastructure, it is obvious for the pandemic to result in catastrophic situations. And moreover, the second way of the pandemic was not something that was unaware of, because it was already predicted by the scientist based on the changing nature of virus and also on the past experience of other countries and earlier pandemics. See, the present scenario witnessed in these rural areas is not just due to the pure health facilities, but also because of the lack of concern and proper governance in improving the health infrastructure, despite the knowledge of second way. Remember, the lack of governance not just means the state of health infrastructure, but also the state government's failures in containing the spread by having in mind the state of rural health infrastructure. See, as per the author, along with the state government, the center has also got an equal role to play in worsening the situation. This is because instead of increasing the rural health infrastructure and taking steps to contain the spread, the center made active decision on issues that would further aggravate the situation. For example, prolonged election hearing in some of the states with no proper precautions and Mahakumbha Mela organized in the middle of the pandemic only led to the spread of infection. And of course these could have been avoided if the center had wished at least at such a critical situation. A notable aspect of the state missed governance is the outright denial of the level of severity and also the complete apathy of the health and humanitarian crisis in the states. As per the author, the reality in rural areas is worse than the estimated release. If you remember, we all heard about the bodies floating in rivers or left buried on the banks in states like UP and Bihar. As per the reports, these are not the actual reality but only the gross underestimates of the actual reality in the rural areas in many of the states. Likewise, attempts were also made to restrict testing and report a low number of infections. Further, the author also points out some other example of the state's misgovernance. For example, the Uttar Pradesh state government challenged the Allahabad High Court direction to impose lockdown in Supreme Court. Similarly, the helpless citizens were countered with threat of legal action on voicing concern over the state of health infrastructure. See the lack of proper testing and treatment infrastructure has directed the people towards private healthcare providers. However, due to the high amount of expenses, a large majority of the population has been left unable to avail the services of private healthcare providers. It cannot be denied that the rural areas which helped in reviving the economy during the first wave is now facing the worst of the pandemic as well as economic distress. See, when we take the rural wage data and the data on the rural non-form income, they point to a dismal economic scenario. For instance, in the rural areas, many have lost their primary income earner and even if they are saved or recovered, it comes at a cost of huge private health expenditure and such a scenario has led many to fall into a debt trap with the high rate of interest that pushes them into chronic poverty. Whereas for others, it has resulted in the depression of these savings. The author finally concludes the editorial by asserting that, in addition to the uncertain nature of the pandemic, the government, both at the state as well as the center, has caused the present scenario by failing to anticipate and prevent the casualties. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. Now, let us move on to the practice problems questions. Now, let us take up this question. Which of the following statements is correct with reference to E484K mutation or escape mutation often seen in news? Option A, a South African variant of SARS Coronavirus 2 that weakens immune response and impacts vaccine efficacy. Option B, mutation that occurs in different variants of SARS Coronavirus 2 in the spike protein. Option C, helps the SARS Coronavirus 2 to slip past body's immune defenses. Option D, both B and C. See, the option A is incorrect because the escape mutation is not a variant. So, we can eliminate the option A. From the discussion of the article, we know the options B and option C are correct. So, answer is D, both B and C. Now, let us move on to the second question. Consider the following statements. The first statement, the Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental body set up in 1996 by the Ottawa Declaration. Second statement, the council has members ad hoc observer countries and permanent participants. Third statement, the chairmanship of Arctic Council rotates every two years among the Arctic states. Which of the statements given above are correct? See, all the three statements are correct. So, the answer is D, one, two and three. Now, let us move on to the third question. Which of the following statements is correct regarding Sputnik 5 vaccine? First statement, it is a viral vector vaccine for COVID-19 based on adenovirus vector. Second statement, the vector while entering a cell in human body produces armless spike protein found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID-19. Select the correct answer using the code given below. See, from our discussion, it is clear that both the statements are correct. So, the answer is C, both one and two. Main practice questions are displayed here. You can write your answer and post in the comment section below. With this, we have come to the end of Hindu news analysis. If you like this video, don't forget to click, like, share and comment. Subscribe to Shankar Rai's Academy channel for more UPSC updates. Thank you.