 A very good evening aspirants welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankara AAS Academy. Today's date is 12th of September 2023 displayed here or the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. So without much delay let us get into the news article discussion. Take a look at this science page article. The article talks about an important phenomenon called the picoflare jet. See the picoflare jets were observed using the solar orbiter spacecraft. So in this news article discussion we will see a few points about picoflare jets and the solar orbiter spacecraft. First let us take the solar orbiter spacecraft. See solar orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA that is the European Space Agency and NASA. The main aim of this mission is to study the solar's heliosphere. So what is a heliosphere? See the heliosphere is a region of space around the Sun that is filled with the Sun's solar wind and magnetic field. It extends far beyond the orbit of Pluto encompassing the entire solar system. It is basically a gained bubble that extends up to the heliopause as shown in this image. To study the heliosphere the solar orbiter is travelling as close as 26 million miles from the Sun. That is it is travelling in an elliptical orbit that lies between the Sun and Mercury. For comparison know that our Aditya Yelvan spacecraft will be placed in an orbit which is 149 million kilometers from the Sun. So while travelling at such a close orbit from the Sun the solar orbiter spacecraft will measure the magnetic fields, waves, energetic particles and plasma escaping the Sun. By observing the Sun the solar orbiter spacecraft will help us understand how the Sun's inner working and its influence on the heliosphere. The solar orbiter spacecraft while observing the Sun also tries to understand the solar flays. Here solar flays are sudden and intense burst of energy and radiation that originate from the Sun's surface. Solar flays occurs when there is a rapid release of magnetic energy stored in the Sun's atmosphere. This is usually triggered by the complex interactions of magnetic fields near Sunspots. So what are these Sunspots? See Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun. They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of Sun's surface. Sunspots form in areas where magnetic field are very strong. These magnetic fields are so strong that they keep some of the heat within the Sun from reaching the surface. This is the reason why the Sunspot is cooler than the other areas of the Sun. Due to intense magnetic field near the Sunspot, the magnetic field of the Sun reorganizes near the Sunspot. This can cause a sudden explosion of energy in the form of solar flays. Solar flays release a lot of radiation into space. Solar flays are sometimes accompanied by a coronal mass ejection. Coronal mass ejection or CMEs are huge bubbles of radiation and particles from the Sun. The amount of solar flare and coronal mass ejection depends on the Sun's activity. Sometimes the Sun's surface is very active. Other times things are a bit quieter. The amount of solar activity changes with the stages in the solar cycle. Solar activity can have effects here on Earth, so scientists closely monitor solar activity every day. So what are the effects of solar flays and CMEs on Earth? First is aurora or northern light. See when the high energy particles released by a solar flare interact with Earth's magnetic field, they can produce colorful displays of light in the polar regions. Other than the auroras, the solar flays have far-reaching negative effects on the Earth. When a powerful flare is directed towards Earth, it can disrupt radio signals, GPS systems and satellite communication. It can also induce geomagnetic storms which can damage power grids and transformers. This is why scientists monitor solar activity and try to understand more about solar flays. Right now scientists are of opinion that picoflare jets which is mentioned in the news article could be a source of the solar flays. So what are these picoflare jets? See PJs or small jets of charged particles, they are released in an intermittent fashion from the outer region of the Sun's outer atmosphere. The charged particles are released at supersonic speeds and each PJ lasts for 2200 seconds at a time. Picoflare jets are significantly smaller and less powerful than regular solar flays. Just like large solar flays, picoflare jets are associated with magnetic activity on the Sun's surface. They often occur in regions with complex and twisted magnetic field. Detecting picoflare jets is difficult because of its small size and relatively low energy release. But recently the solar orbiter spacecraft observed the picoflare jets. The solar orbiter spacecraft observed the occurrence of picoflare jets in Sun's spots where the solar flays were occurring. So the scientists community is of the opinion that these picoflare jets could be a source of the solar flays. That's all about the news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw about solar orbiter spacecraft, Sun's spots, solar flays, CME and picoflare jets. With these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this article from Text-in-Context page. This article is speaking about Grisham's law. This particular law is related to currency exchange rate. So in this news article discussion we shall understand what this law is about in detail. Firstly know that Grisham's law is named after English financier Thomas Grisham. He served as a financial advisor to the English monarchy during the 1500s. Now coming to the law basically Grisham's law refers to the principle that bad money drives out good. Now what does this phrase mean? To understand this phrase we must know something about the exchange rate. As I said earlier Grisham's law is related to currency exchange rate. Generally Grisham's law comes into picture when the currency rate between two countries is fixed by the government. See normally in many of the countries the exchange rate between two currencies is dependent on the market forces. For example let us take the case of India. In India the exchange rate of the rupee is determined largely by the market forces. That is the exchange rate of rupee is defined by the forces of demand and supply. To understand better we'll compare our rupee with the dollar. Let us consider suddenly many businessmen in India are interested in investing in foreign countries. As we all know the dollar is accepted in many countries as it is a globalized currency. But this is not the same with Indian rupee as it is yet to be globalized. So the Indian businessman would be able to make investment in foreign countries mostly using dollars only. Therefore the businessman would probably look for purchasing dollars in the Indian financial market. This factor contributes to an increase in demand for dollars in India. Apart from this as more businessmen are suddenly looking for more dollars the demand for dollars overcomes the supply. These factors result in competition among the businessmen. So in a hurry the businessman would bid more rupees in exchange for dollars. In the situation the value of the dollar will go high and the value of the rupee will fall against the dollar. This is the case of high demand for dollars. Whereas in the case of less demand for dollars this situation reverses that is the value of the rupee rises against the dollar. This is the case with determination of exchange rate by the market forces. But what happens when the exchange rate is fixed by the government? See if the government fixes the exchange rate it causes the undervalued currency to go out of the circulation. Whereas the overvalued currency remains in circulation but it does not find enough buyers. For example let us imagine that the Indian government fixes the value of rupee against dollar at 50 rupees per dollar. At the same let us assume that there is a huge demand for dollars in India. In a normal situation the value of dollar against rupee will increase due to high demand. But due to fixation of rate by the government the value remains the same and it undervalues the dollar. On the other hand the rupee is overvalued that is the government is not letting the rupee to fall. So in this situation the entirety or persons who are having dollars would not sell them in the formal forex market. This is because they would not get any profit out of selling dollars. So they probably start selling dollars at the black market. This causes the undervalued dollar to go out of circulation in the formal market. But on the other hand the overvalued rupee remains in circulation and it does not find enough buyers. This is what the situation is if the exchange rate is fixed by the government. Now coming to the phrase of Grisham's law the phrase is bad money drives out good. If we look closer this phrase resembles the example that we saw just now. As the exchange rate of rupee is fixed by the government the dollar is driven out from the formal market and they will be sold in the black market. This is what Grisham's law says that is the dollar which is having more demand is driven out from the formal market due to overvalued rupee. But the less demanded rupee still remains in circulation without enough buyers. I hope you understand about Grisham's law. See Grisham's law not only applies to money it also applies to other commodities like gold and silver. If the government fixes the exchange rate the holders of gold and silver won't be able to sell those at profit rates in the formal commodity market. So they keep the commodities idle or they indulge in selling them at black market. But on the other hand the overvalued money will remain in circulation without enough buyers. So here the overvalued money drives out commodities from the formal market. From these facts we can observe that Grisham's law also applies to money as well as other commodities like gold and silver. That is all about Grisham's law. Now you might have a doubt why does Grisham's law suddenly appear in the news. As we all know last year Sri Lanka witnessed economic crisis. During a crisis the Sri Lankan central bank fixed the exchange rate between the Sri Lankan rupee and the US dollar. The central bank of Sri Lanka mandated that the price of US dollar in terms of the Sri Lankan rupee should not rise beyond 200 rupees per dollar. This caused the Sri Lankan rupee to be overvalued and the US dollar to be undervalued when compared to the market exchange rate. See at that time there was a huge demand for dollars in Sri Lanka but many of the Sri Lankan people who held dollars did not sell them in the formal market. This was because less profit prevailed in the formal forex market so they sold the dollar at the black market for higher profits. As a result the US dollar gradually drifted out of the formal foreign exchange market. So the Sri Lankan people who wanted US dollar to purchase foreign goods they purchased the dollar from the black market. The people have paid far more than 200 Sri Lankan rupees for each US dollar. This is an apt example of Krisham's law. That's all regarding this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw about Krisham's law and we saw how it works in an economy. So with these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this front page article. It is about India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor IMEC. See in the recent G20 meeting leaders from India, United States, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union have jointly signed a memorandum of understanding MOU for India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi said that this project will help to connect Asia and Europe by an economic corridor. Apart from connecting two regions the corridor will help in improving economic growth energy sector and digitization. So in our news article discussion today we shall see some of the important points regarding India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor. See IMEC is a trade and transit corridor that will connect India the Middle East and the Europe. The IMEC is still in the planning stage and the government of India, Iran, Russia and the European Union have expressed support for the project. It consists of two corridors one is northern corridor that connects Middle East with Europe and another is eastern corridor that connects India with Middle East. The corridor would build on the existing infrastructure of the international north south transport corridor INSTC. Note that this INSTC connects India to Iran and Russia. So what are the benefits of this new corridor? See IMEC has the potential to significantly boost trade and economic cooperation between India the Middle East and Europe. It would also provide a new and more efficient route for goods and people to travel between India and Europe. So this project will reduce transport cost between the three regions. Other benefits of this project are increased investment, job creation, improved connectivity and etc. Now we shall see how this IMEC will challenge China. Note that this IMEC initiative is part of the partnership for global infrastructure investment PGII. This aims to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries through public and private investments and it offers an alternative to the BRI of China. BRI is Belt and Road Initiative. The PGII is made up of G7 countries and the European Union EU. Actually the PGII was itself created as a response to China's Belt and Road Initiative BRI. Many countries felt that China's BRI led to unsustainable depth and China's growing influence in their internal matters. Unlike the BRI, the PGII involves cooperation among democratic countries. It aims to provide loans for projects rather than simply giving clarity or aid. Hence the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor by PGII is seen as countermeasure by India against China's BRI. Ultimately the IMEC corridor would increase prosperity among the countries involved by increasing the flow of energy and digital communication. However it could face some challenges like political instability in the Middle East and security concerns along the route. That's all regarding this news article. In this news article we saw some of the important points that have to be remembered about India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor. With these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. According to the news article the Council of Scientist and Industrial Research CSIR has finally released the list of winners for 2022 Shanti Shwarup Bharat Nahar awards which is also known as SSB awards. See the announcement of this award was delayed for almost a year and there was no official explanation given for the delay. The SSB awards are highly prestigious prizes in the field of science in India. So in this context let us understand briefly about SSB awards. First let us know the history of this award. This award was created in 1958 and is given by CSIR that is Council of Scientist and Industrial Research annually. It is named after Dr Shanti Shwarup Bharat Nahar who is the founder of CSIR and also the first director of CSIR. So the award is also known as the Shanti Shwarup Bharat Nahar prize for science and technology. The award was usually announced on CSIR's foundation day which is September 26th. The first receiver of Shanti Shwarup Bharat Nahar award was Srinivasa Krishnan Karyamanikam. So what is the purpose of this award? See it is the most prestigious national award given to young scientists and engineers in India to recognize their outstanding research and development contributions. The award is issued in many categories like biology, chemistry, environmental science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and etc. The prize comprises a citation, a plague, and a cash award of 5 lakh rupees. In addition, recipients also get 15,000 per month up to the age of 65 years. So what are the eligibility to receive the award? See any citizen of India engaged in research in any field of science and technology up to the age of 45 years is eligible for the prize. Note that overseas citizens of India and persons of Indian origin, PIO, working in India are also eligible. The award is given to research that is done in India during the five years preceding the year of the prize. So in conclusion, the Shanti Shwarup Bharat Nahar prize for science and technology is a very prestigious award in India's scientific community. It serves as a source of inspiration for young researchers and motivates them to excel and innovate in the field of science and technology. That's all regarding this news article. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. According to the news article, a petitioner in the Adani Hindenburg case in the Supreme Court has filed an affidavit accusing the Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, of hiding an alert it received from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, DRI, about stock market manipulation by the Adani group in 2014. See even though the issue is not relevant to the examination, knowing about SEBI is very important. So in this news article discussion we shall see some of the important points regarding Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI. See SEBI was first established in the year 1988 as a statutory body for regulating the securities market. It became an autonomous body in 1992. It was accorded statutory powers with the passing of the SEBI Act 1992 by the Indian Parliament. Its headquarters is situated at Mumbai. Some of the basic functions of the SEBI includes to promote the interest of the investors and securities, to promote the development of the securities market and to regulate the securities market. Also know that SEBI performs the triple functions as a quasi-legislative, quasi-judicial and quasi-executive body. That is it drafts regulations in its legislative capacity. It conducts investigation and enforcement action in its executive function and it passes rulings and orders in its judicial capacity. Though these powers make it very powerful, there is also an appeal process to create accountability. There is a three-member tribunal called Securities Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against orders passed by SEBI. A second appeal lies directly to the Supreme Court. In addition to this, SEBI also exercises the powers conferred upon it under other acts like Securities Contracts Regulation Act 1956, Depositories Act 1996 and Companies Act 2013. Now talking about the composition of the SEBI, say in accordance with the SEBI Act of 1992, it is managed by a chairman and eight other members. Among these members, two members are the officers from the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Corporate Affairs. One member is from amongst the officials of RBI, the remaining five members and chairman are appointed by the central government. The terms and conditions of service of chairman and members are given here for your reference. You can go through it. That's all regarding this news article. In this news article, we show some of the basics about Securities and Exchange Board of India with these learned points and now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this data point. This data point article talks about one nation, one election issue. The article presents various data about how O&OE would impact India's federalism. As we have covered O&OE several times in our Hindi newspaper analysis over the last few months, in our discussion today we'll focus on what is federalism, the federal features of Indian constitution, why India adopted a quasi-federal constitution and finally how the O&OE will negatively impact India's federalism. Before that, the syllabus relevant to this news article discussion is highlighted here for your reference. You can go through it. Firstly, what is federalism? See, federalism is a system of government in which power and authority are divided between a central government and state governments. In a federal system, both levels of government have their own set of powers and responsibilities. The center and the state operate independently within their respective spheres. In certain cases, like in the case of concurrent list, the central and the state governments share power. The idea behind the federal system of government is to create a balance between a strong central government and autonomous regional government. So, this is about federalism. Now, we will see some federal features in the Indian constitution. The first one is division of power. See, the Indian constitution establishes a dual government structure consisting of the central government and state government. The central government is responsible for matters of national importance while the state government handles matters of regional and local significance. The constitution clearly defines the powers and responsibilities of both the central government and state governments. The seventh schedule of Indian constitution lists these powers and classifies them in three lists. The second federal feature is the supremacy of the constitution. See, the Indian constitution is supreme and both the central and state governments must operate within the framework of the constitution. Any law or action that goes against the constitution can be declared void by the judiciary. The third feature is the independent judiciary. India has an independent judiciary that interprets the constitution and resolves disputes between the central and state governments. The supreme court of India plays a crucial role in upholding federal principles of the constitution. Then, that is bicameral legislation. The Indian parliament is divided in two houses. The lower house Lokshaba and the upper house Rajeshaba. This is a federal feature. The other federal features include a written constitution and rigid constitution. Now, here comes the question. Is the Indian system of government entirely federal? The answer to this is actually no. India is neither a federal country like the USA nor a unitary country like Saudi Arabia. India is rather a quasi-federal country with both federal and unitary features. Some of the unitary features of the constitution include strong central government, single citizenship, destructible states, emergency provisions, all India civil services and appointment of governance by central government. Now, why did India chose to be a quasi-federal country? See, India adopted a quasi-federal system of government due to some historical and practical reasons. The first one is the diverse population of India. India is a vast and diverse country with a multitude of language, culture and traditions. Recognizing this diversity, the framers of the constitutions are to accommodate the aspirations and identities of various regions and states. So, they adopted a quasi-federal system with both unitary and federal features. The next one is the British legacy. The Indian constitution is heavily inspired by the government of India Act 1935. The GOI Act 1935 also had both federal and unitary features. So, India adopted this system of government. The next reason is to integrate princely states. See, at the time of independence, India had several princely states that enjoyed various degrees of autonomy. To ensure the integration of these states into the newly formed Indian Union, a flexible federal system was considered more practical than a strict federal system. Lastly, India adopted quasi-federal nature to address those socio-economic disparities. During independence, India had faced a lot of socio-economic disparities. The framers of the constitution felt that a strong central government will help address this issue effectively. So, unitary features were added to the federal structure to allow the central government to override state authorities in certain circumstances. These are some of the reasons why India adopted a quasi-federal constitution. The present day condition of India is not very different from the condition that existed at the time of independence. So, for the successful functioning of Indian democracy, India needs both the federal and the unitary features. The proposed ONOE would negatively affect India's federalism. This is why some people are opposing its implementation as following the federal principles will aid in the long-term stability of Indian democracy. Now, let us see how the ONOE negatively impacts India's federalism. See, the first impact is forcing premature dissolution of state governments. See, the elections to the various state legislative assemblies are conducted at different times on the expiry of a five-year term. So, if we want to conduct simultaneous elections, some state assemblies have to be dissolved earlier. That is, the state assemblies need to be dissolved before the expiration of their term. Now, look at this table. According to the table, the terms of 17 state assemblies would be shortened by nearly a year and a half. Among these, the assembly terms of Karnataka, Mehalaya, Naha, Land, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat would be significantly reduced by almost three and a half years or more. Obviously, none of the state governments would be interested in pre-dissolution of the assembly. This makes the central government to force the states to cope up with simultaneous elections. This action would invariably end up inviolating the autonomy and independence of state government. This in turn will affect the federal structure as a whole. The second impact is that the ONOE will impact the three-tire governance structure in India. In India, we have the central government, state government and local governments. Each of these tiers have its own role and responsibilities. For example, when a voter is concerned about the management of garbage in their neighborhood, they exercise their voting power to choose a candidate who is most capable of addressing their specific local issues within their ward. Holding elections simultaneously for all three levels of government could lead to the neglect of local and regional issues during election campaigns. This will impact the three-tire governance structure in India. Lastly, the ONOE will negatively impact regional parties. It is the regional parties that try to uphold the federal features. But the ONOE will reduce the significance of regional parties. As the national parties are well-equipped in terms of financial capacity and election strategy, they can easily overpower the regional parties. This is not a fair fight and this will negatively affect the federal nature of Indian constitution. So, these are all some of the negative impacts of ONOE on India's federalism. So, with these learned points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. See, in 2014, Supreme Court ruled that Section 6A of Delhi's Special Police Establishment, that is DSPE Act, was unconstitutional and void. This provision said that CBI has to get prior permission before investigating senior government officials. See, this is clearly against the fundamental rights, especially the right to equality. So, yesterday the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court held that this judgment of 2014 regarding Section 6A can be applied retrospectively. This simply means CBI does not need any prior permission to investigate government officials even in the cases before 2014. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us quickly revise some of the basics of CBI. Firstly, let us start with the formation of CBI. See, the Central Bureau of Investigations CBI was established in 1963 by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs. However, we should know that right now CBI is under the Ministry of Personnel. CBI was established based on the recommendation of Santanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption, 1962 to 1964. So, the CBI is not a statutory body, it is an attached office and a Ministry of Personnel. Now, moving on to the composition of CBI. See, the CBI is headed by a director. He is assisted by a special director or an additional director. The director of CBI is equivalent to the rank of Inspector General of Police and he is responsible for the admission of the organization. The director of CBI has been provided security of two-year tenure in office by the CBC Act 2003. He is appointed by three-member committee consisting of Prime Minister Raj Chappalsen, the leader of oppositional Lok Sabha and Chief Justice of India or the Judge of the Supreme Court nominated by him. This is done in accordance with the Lokpal and Lokai Act 2013 that amended the Delhi Special Police Enactment Act 1946. Talking about the powers and functions of CBI, see, it has jurisdiction across the entire country and takes up cases referred by state governments, courts or on its own. CBI derive its power from the Delhi Special Police Enactment Act 1946. It is the main investigating agency of the central government. It also provides assistance to the central vigilance commission and Lokpal. The CBI deals with investigating cases of corruption, bribery and misconduct of central government employees, investigating cases related to economic laws and economic offenses, investigating serious crimes committed by organized gangs of professional criminals. Another important function of CBI is coordinating the activities of the anti-corruption agencies and the various state police forces. It has specialized the units for various types of cases including the anti-corruption division, the economic offenses division and the special crimes division. That's all you have to remember about CBI. So with these learned points, now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. Now look at this first question. This is about Parker Solar probe. Statement one, it is the first in history to fly through the sun's outer atmosphere. Statement two, its main aim is to investigate how energy and heat move across the solar corona. Statement three, it is joint project of NASA and JAXA. See here, only two statements are correct. Statement three is incorrect. It is a project of NASA except that both the statements about Parker Solar probe is actually correct. So the correct answer for this question is option B12. Moving on, the Shantishwarup Bharatnagar SSB awards are primarily given in recognition of outstanding contribution in which of the following fields. The correct answer for the question is option C, science and technology. Now moving on, this question is about central bureau of investigation CBI. Statement one, CBI was established based on the recommendation by Santanam committee on prevention of corruption. This statement is correct. We saw that in the discussion right. Statement two, it functions under Ministry of Home Affairs. This statement is incorrect. It functions under Ministry of Personal. Statement three, CBI is not required to obtain the consent of state government concerned before beginning to investigate a crime in a state. This statement is incorrect because CBI must mandatory obtain the consent of the state government concerned before beginning to investigate a crime in a state. So the correct answer for the question is option A only one because only one statement is correct here. Now moving on, the partnership for global infrastructure investment PGII which is recently seen in the news is an initiative of which of the following organization. The correct answer for the question is option D, G7 and D-European Union. Now the question displayed here is the main practice question for you today. Just go through the question, try to answer it in the comment section. So with this we came to the end of the news article discussion. 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