 a very good evening aspirants welcome to hindu news analysis brought to you by shankara is academy today's date is 13th of june 2022 the list of articles we are going to discuss today is displayed on the screen you can go through it now let's start our discussion now look at this text and context article it talks about cryptocurrency what the article basically says is that the high price of the cryptocurrency is based on the belief that in the future the cryptocurrency will replace the fiat currency like the US dollar but what the author of this article argues is that the government all around the world would take every step necessary to stop this this is the basic essence of the article now let us see this in detail first think about this why does anything acquire monetary value see a commodity or asset acquiesce monetary value based on its use value or exchange value take petrol for example see the money value of petrol has various factors associated with it but the primary factor why petrol is valuable is because of its use value we need petrol for transportation and without petrol any economy will stand still next take stocks in a company for example although the stock does not have any use value they have a exchange value we can easily exchange the stocks for cash and we can expect future returns from it so as I already mentioned for any item to have a money value they must possess either use value or exchange value now let us take cryptocurrency see any invention or discovery must have a need or necessity right we know that the Wright brothers invented aeroplanes because from time immemorial humanity wanted to conquer the skies now what necessitated the creation of cryptocurrency see all over the world the central banks have moved away from the proportional reserve system and taken up the minimum reserve system take India for example here RBI has to maintain a minimum reserve of rupees 515 crore and with this minimum reserve RBI in theory can print indefinite amount of money so world over the central banks post the adoption of the minimum reserve system started printing money out of thin air now what happens when money supply increases it causes inflation and what happens when there is inflation the amount of wealth you hold declines in value so naturally investors were looking for alternative assets whose supply cannot be cranked up as easily to protect their wealth from inflation on the side note just remember that this act of protecting your wealth from investing in safe assets is called hedging okay a hedge is an investment that protects you from risk now coming back so investors were looking for assets whose supply cannot be increased by the whims and fancies of the government right this is where the private cryptocurrency comes into play their main selling point is that only a limited amount of cryptocurrency can be mined this led to a speculative mass hysteria money started pouring in see we know that bitcoin is on a downward trend right even now one bitcoin is trading from 19 lakh 93000 rupee but when the cryptocurrency market was bullish some year back the bitcoin was trading at 45 lakh rupee okay see does cryptocurrency have any use value it is a big no does cryptocurrency have any exchange value it is questionable whether they possess any exchange value in the real world the most the cryptocurrency can do is that it can help you buy very few goods and services that is with most economies around the world banning the use of cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange they can only be used on the dark web so why does the value of cryptocurrency keep appreciating it is because of scarcity we already know that only a limited amount of cryptocurrency can be mined and this scarcity is one of the main reasons that is pushing up its price the next reason is that the investors are bidding up the price of bitcoin because they foresee a future in which private cryptocurrency are widely accepted as money let us take the second reason in the future will private cryptocurrency become the main medium of exchange here economist fried rich hayek in its book that denationalization of money mentioned that competition between currencies to cater to the demands of customer would ensure that fiat currency that is the currency like us dollar or rupee that are printed indiscriminately simply go out of use this is what the government fears it will do everything within its power to prevent such a scenario from happening but why the monopoly that governments and central banks possess over the issuance or printing of money is at the root of their power and influence it is only by using this power during difficult times the governments fund their budget deficits it also allows central banks to manipulate the money supply to manage aggregate demand and inflation in the economy and if cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are going to challenge fiat currencies like the us dollar as a medium of exchange they would essentially be challenging the authority of the government to print and spend the money just think about it will the government in any way want to lose its power definitely no right so according to the author of this article the government will allow cryptocurrencies to exist only as long as these currencies remain a speculative asset and not a medium of exchange that is like in india the cryptocurrency exchanges will continue to exist as long as they do not try to become a medium of exchange and challenge the government's authority so that is all regarding this discussion and this article discussion we saw the need for cryptocurrency then we saw why any item or commodity has a monetary value then we saw about the fundamental flaw with cryptocurrency and then we ended the discussion by seeing why the government will take steps to prevent cryptocurrency from becoming a medium of exchange so with these learned points let's move on to next news article discussion look at this text and context article it talks about the FATF and pakistan's position on its gray list here FATF is the abbreviation of financial action task force see FATF is the news because its plenary session is about to start from june 14th and pakistan is hoping to get its name removed from the FATF's gray list this is the crux of the news article given here in this context let us know what is FATF and then we will discuss in detail of how pakistan is aiming to get itself removed from the FATF gray list okay before that the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference you can go through it first of all what is this FATF see the FATF or the financial action task force is an international watchdog for financial crimes such as money laundering and terror financing it was established at the g7 submit of 1989 in paris this is to address loopholes in the global financial system this was mainly spoken or brought into light after member countries raised concerns about growing money laundering activities note that the FATF also added terror financing as a main focus area see this was done after the september 11 terror attack on the united states okay this was later broadened to include restricting the funding of weapons of mass destruction see the FATF currently has 39 members and the decision making body of the FATF is known as plenary it meets three times in a year its meetings are even attended by observer organizations such as world bank and some officers of united nations and some regional development banks okay now what is the work of this FATF firstly the FATF sets standards or recommendations for countries this is to plug the holes in their financial systems so it tries to make the countries less vulnerable to illegal financial activities secondly the FATF conducts regular peer reviewed evaluations this is called mutual evaluations of countries this is done to check their performance on the standards prescribed by it see the reviews are carried out by FATF and FATF styled regional bodies then they release the report called mutual evaluation reports okay thirdly the FATF draws up time bound action plans this is for the countries that don't perform well on certain standards see the recommendations range from assessing risks of crime to setting up legislatures then the recommendations also include investigative and judicial mechanisms all these are done to counter the cases of money laundering and terror funding okay see after the end of every plenary meeting FATF comes out with two list of countries we know that these two lists are gray list and black lists but these words gray and black list do not exist in the official FATF lexicon okay note that the gray countries are designated as jurisdictions under increased monitoring these countries work with the FATF to counter criminal financial activities whereas the black list countries are called high risk jurisdictions these are subject to call for action these nations have huge deficiencies in their anti money laundering and counter terrorist financial regiments okay just look at this image to know the 23 gray listed countries you can see Pakistan is one of the gray listed countries okay see regarding these gray listed countries the FATF does not tell other members to carry out two diligence mechanism they simply ask them to consider the risk such gray listed country possesses okay but coming to the black listed countries the FATF calls on members and non-members to apply enhanced due diligence like in most cases members are told to apply counter measures such as sanctions and we know that currently North Korea and Iran are on the black list see not only these when countries are listed by FATF under these lists it is hard to get aid from organizations like the IMF Asian Development Banks and the European Union it may also affect the country's capital inflows foreign direct investments and portfolio investments etc okay now coming to the main part of a discussion that is why Pakistan is on the gray list see Pakistan was retained on the gray list in March this is because it was yet to address concerns on the front of terror financing investigations and prosecutions but Pakistan claims that it has taken several measures to counter terrorism like prosecution of Masood Azhar and arrest of about 300 other designated terrorists and the seizure of more than 1,000 properties owned by terror groups okay this is the Pakistan's claim now why is Pakistan trying to get out of this gray list see as I already said getting enlisted in the gray or black list makes the fundraising procedures from organizations like IMF difficult in Pakistan's case they are struggling to get bailout money from IMF here bailout is the general term for extending financial support to a company or a country facing a potential bankruptcy threat it can take the form of loans cash bonds or stock purchases a bailout may or may not require reimbursement and is often accompanied by greater government oversee and regulations okay so to raise fund from international organizations Pakistan is trying to get out of this gray list so that's all regarding this discussion in this article discussion we saw about FATF gray list and black list and the countries in these lists we saw that North Korea and Iran are on the black list then we saw about one of the gray listed countries which is Pakistan that is trying to get out of this gray list with all these learned points let's move on to next news article discussion now look at this news article this news article mentions about the legislative council election that is about to be held in Karnataka this is about the news article in this context let us see about legislative council from exam perspective see legislative council is also known as Vidhan Parishad it is the upper house of the state assembly it is presided by the chairman and deputy chairman okay but remember not all states have legislative councils the states having both a legislative assembly and legislative councils are called bicameral here note that only Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh have constituted legislative councils this non-uniformity exists because some states believe that existence of legislative councils delays legislative process and they think it as an expensive institution and one inference can be made from this that is a legislative council can be created or abolished it can be created where it does not exist and can be abolished where it already exists this is provided by the constitution under article 169 now what is the procedure involved as per the constitution parliament has the power to abolish or create a legislative council by law but this will happen only if the legislative assembly of the concerned state passes a resolution to that effect this resolution must be passed by the state assembly by a special majority special majority means a majority of total membership of the assembly and a majority of not less than two-third of the members of the assembly present an outing now we will see some of the features of legislative councils see it is a continuing chamber or it is a permanent body and is not subjective dissolution like legislative assembly and it checks the defective and ill-considered legislation made by the assembly this is done by making provision for revision and rethought then it also facilitates representation of eminent professionals and experts who cannot face direct elections see the governor nominates one six members of the council to provide representation to such people okay note that the composition of legislative council is as per article 171 cross one the maximum strength of the council is fixed at one-third of the total strength of the assembly and the minimum strength is 40 this means the size of the council depends on the size of the assembly of a concerned state but remember even though the constitution has fixed the minimum and maximum limits the actual strength of the council is fixed by the parliament now these members are indirectly elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable out and the tenure of the members is six years but one-third of the legislative council members retire on the expiration of every second year these vacant seats are filled by fresh elections and nominations by governor at the beginning of every third year with this let us see how the MLCs are elected see one-third of the MLCs are elected by the state MLAs then the next one-third of the MLCs are elected by the electorates consisting of members of municipalities district boards and other local authorities in that state then one-twelfth of the MLCs are elected by an electorate consisting of teacher and then another one-twelfth of the MLCs are elected by registered graduates then the balance one-sixth of the MLCs are nominated by the governor from among those who have distinguished themselves in literature science art cooperative movement and social service so that is all regarding this discussion in this discussion we saw about the legislative council how they can be created the bicameral states in india the composition of legislative councils the features of legislative councils and finally we saw how the members of legislative councils that is MLCs are elected with this let us control this discussion and take up next news article take a look at this article it talks about a petition filed by a class 6 student in by Parmanand Vidya Mandir in delhi she was told by the school that her name had been struck up the roles over non-payment of fees since june 2021 so she challenged the certain provisions of the delhi school education rules 1973 but the delhi high court said that rte act guarantees the right to education however it nowhere provided that the said right can be unconditionally enforced against a private unaided school and this is the crux of the news article given here in this context let us learn more about rte act see the right of children to free and compulsory education act 2009 is an act to provide for free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years okay now let us see some of the key features of this act firstly no child should be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses and a child with disability also have the same rights to free and compulsory elementary education and secondly if a child above the age of 6 years is not admitted to school then he or she should be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age and have a right to receive special training and thirdly the child has a right to transfer from one school to another when there is no provision for completion of elementary education in this case the headmaster in charge in the first school should issue the transfer certificate without any delay for the implementation of this act the government and local authority should establish a school if it is not there already within 3 years from the commencement of the act and also note that the central and state governments have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provision of this act okay so the financial burden is shared by both the center and states so far we have seen some of the features of this act and now we will see some of the duties of the government see it is the duty of the government to provide free elementary education to every child of the age of 6 to 14 years and they have to ensure compulsory admission attendance and completion of elementary education and it is also the duty of the government to ensure availability of the neighborhood school and they must ensure the child belonging to weakest section and the child belonging to disadvantaged group are not discriminated against and the government should provide infrastructure including school building teaching staff and learning equipment and they should ensure the timely prescribing of curriculum and course of study and finally they should provide training facility for teachers like the duties of the government there is also some other duties for local authorities as well it is more or less same as the duties of the government now let us see them see it is the duty of every parent or guardian to admit his or her child to an elementary education and the appropriate government must make necessary arrangement for providing free preschool education for children with a view to prepare the children above the age of 3 years for elementary education and note that the age of a child should be determined on the basis of the birth certificate issued in accordance with the provisions of the births, deaths and marriage registration act of 1886 and at the same time no child should be denied admission in a school for lack of age proof and these are some of the important provisions of the act. We will see the remaining provisions some other day so that is all regarding this discussion in this discussion we saw about the key features of RTE act the duties of the government and the local authorities with these learned points let us move on to next news article discussion. See this article here it talks about the type 1 diabetes it is said that India has the highest number of incident and prevalent cases of type 1 diabetes in the world as per recent estimates from the International Diabetes Federation and as per the article the ICMR has now published a comprehensive document providing advice on care of diabetes in children, adolescents and adults with type 1 diabetes and this is about the article given here in this context let us learn about the types of diabetes first of all what is diabetes see diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas is no longer able to make insulin or when the body cannot make good use of the insulin it produces so what is insulin then insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that acts like a key to let glucose from the food we eat it passes from the bloodstream into the cells in the body to produce energy all carbohydrate foods are broken down into glucose in the blood and insulin helps glucose get into the cells and know that not being able to produce insulin or use it effectively leads to raised glucose levels in the blood and this condition is known as hyperglyemia with this basics let us see about the types of diabetes firstly type 1 diabetes see type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune reaction where the body's different system attacks the cell that produce insulin as a result the body produces very little or no insulin the exact cause of this are not yet known but they are linked to a combination of genetic and environmental conditions know that type 1 diabetes can affect people at any age but usually it develops in children or young adults people with type 1 diabetes need daily injections of insulin to control their blood glucose levels if people with type 1 diabetes do not have access to insulin they will die and around 10 percent of all people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes now coming to the next type which is type 2 diabetes see type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes accounting for around 90 percentage of all diabetes cases it is generally characterized by insulin resistance where the body does not fully respond to insulin and because insulin cannot work properly blood glucose levels keep rising releasing more insulin for some people with type 2 diabetes this can eventually exhaust the pancreas resulting in the body producing less and less insulin causing even higher blood sugar levels and know that type 2 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed in older adults but it is increasingly seen in children adolescents and younger adults due to rising levels of obesity physical inactivity and poor diet and the cornerstone of type 2 diabetes management is a healthy diet increased physical activity and maintaining a healthy body weight oral medication and insulin are also frequently prescribed to help control blood glucose levels and finally let us see about gestational diabetes see gestational diabetes is caused by insulin blocking hormones that are produced during pregnancy if one has gestational diabetes the baby could be at higher risk for health problems gestational diabetes usually goes away after the baby is born but increases the risk for type 2 diabetes later in life the newly born baby is more likely to have obesity as a child or teen and more likely to develop type 2 diabetes later in life too okay so these are the three major types of diabetes which are type 1 diabetes type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes so that is all regarding this news article discussion now we will move on to next news article look at this news article this article here says that india is negotiating the purchase of additional chinook heavy lift helicopters and apache attack helicopters see both these helicopters has the origin in united states see it also says that the f a 18 ef super hornet fighter jet has distinct advantages in terms of capability over the competitor french rafael jet to operate from the indian navies aircraft carriers and this is the crux of the article given here in this context let us learn about chinook and apache choppers okay first let us see about apache choppers see the ah 64 apache is the world's most advanced multi role combat helicopter the ah 64 e is an advanced multi mission helicopter with the latest technology insertions maintaining its standings as the world's best attack helicopter and it is the only available compact helicopter with the spectrum of capabilities for virtually any mission requirements including greater thrust and lift joint digital operability improved survivability and cognitive decision aiding this helicopter is the latest version of the ah 64 the ah 64 e version 6 is a lethal survivable and agile system providing the range maneuverability and performance needed by ground forces it has a number of improvements and upgrades including more powerful engines upgraded transmission and other improvements this attack helicopter is operated by a crew of two including pilot and gunner see there are numerous features to protect the crew and increase survivability of the helicopter the airframe is designed to withstand hits from the guns of up to 12.7 mm caliber and the rotor blades can withstand hits from 23 mm guns see the crew members are seated on crash resistance seats the ah 64 e has infrared suppressing exhaust system and is equipped with flare dispenses both these features combined reduce the chance of being hit by enemy air defense missiles both crew members use various sophisticated sensors and systems for the detection and attack of targets and know that the Indian Air Force had signed a multi-billion dollar contract with the US government and Boeing limited in September 2015 for 23 Apache helicopters having seen about Apache now let us see Chinook see the CH-47 Chinook is an advanced multi-mission helicopter that will provide the Indian Air Force with unmatched strategic airlift capability across the full spectrum of combat and humanitarian missions the Chinook has unsurpassed ability to deliver heavy payloads to high altitudes and is eminently suitable for operations in the high Himalayas know that the CH-47F is an advanced multi-mission helicopter for the US Army and other international defense forces it contains a fully integrated digital cockpit management system common aviation architecture cockpit and advanced cargo handling capabilities so that they supplement the aircraft's mission performance and handling characteristics and also the CH-47F helicopter tactically transports forces and associated equipment and provides routine aerial sustainment of man-over forces secondary missions that the Chinook executes to support soldiers and commanders include medical evacuation search and rescue parachute drops disaster relief and aircraft recovery the Chinook is the helicopter of choice for humanitarian disaster relief operations in missions such as transportation of relief supplies and mass evacuation of refugees so that is all regarding this news article and this news article discussion we saw in detail about Apache helicopters and Chinook choppers so with these learned points let us move on to next part of our news article discussion which is preliminary practice questions discussion today we have four practice prelims questions I will solve first two questions and the remaining two questions will be a quiz question for you okay look at the first question consider the following statements regarding RTE Act 2009 if children above six years are not admitted then they are eligible for free education only for remaining years till the age of 14 statement 2 the age of child is determined based on the birth certificate but if there is a lack of age proof then the child shall not be denied admissions we have to find the correct statement here see statement 1 it is incorrect this we saw in our discussion right if a child above six years is not admitted to school then he or she shall be admitted in a class appropriate to his or her age and they have a right to receive special training that is in this case the child have the right to free education until it completes the elementary education even after 14 years of age okay regarding statement 2 it is correct this also we saw in the discussion the age of the child shall be determined on the basis of birth certificate issued in accordance with the provisions of the births deaths and marriages registration act 1886 and at the same time no child should be denied admission in a school for lack of age proof okay so here our correct answer will be option B2 only look at the second question that is regarding diabetes consider the following statements regarding type 1 diabetes this type of diabetes is diagnosed only in older adults statement 2 type 1 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance when the body does not fully respond to insulin now we have to find the correct statement here see the first statement it is incorrect because type 1 diabetes can affect people at any age but usually develops in children or adults and regarding statement 2 it is also incorrect because type 1 diabetes is caused by an autoimmune reaction that the body's different system attacks the cells that produce insulin and this statement is the cause of type 2 diabetes see type 2 diabetes only is caused by insulin resistance so both statements are incorrect so our answer will be option D neither one nor two look at these two questions these two questions or quiz question for you find the answer and post it in the comment section the main questions based on today's discussion is displayed on the screen write the answer and post that also in the comment section if you like the video hit the like button post your comments and share the video with your friends and don't forget to subscribe Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel thanks for watching