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All these are for just 6000 rupees. Grab these chances to kickstart your mains exam preparation and improve the mains score. With this good news, I want to welcome you all again to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A.S. Academy for the date 26th of October 2022. Displayed here are the list of news articles we will be going through today. Now, without wasting much time, let us get into the discussion. Let us start today's discussion with this editorial article. It talks about a newly constructed CPG plant which converts paddy straws into compressed biogas in the district of Sangroor in Punjab. This plant becomes important because of its ability to convert waste into usable energy source. This editorial also reports that this initiative is an ideal example of wealth from waste approach and circular economy. Now, you may wonder why this compressed biogas plant is situated in Punjab. See, you all know about the issue of stubble burning, right? The issue of stubble burning is mainly concentrated in the Punjab-Haryana Belt. So, this CPG plant, since it is located in Punjab, can help alleviate the problem of stubble burning. So, in this context, in our discussion today, we will see about stubble burning, the effects of stubble burning, steps taken by the government to stop stubble burning, and also about compressed biogas plants. With this information, now let us start by looking at what is stubble burning and the issues associated with it. Stubble burning refers to burning of crop leftovers, particularly the crop residue of paddy crop. But what is a stubble? See, stubble is a stock of the paddy crop. It has become a common practice among the farmers in Punjab-Haryana and western UP to dispose of the paddy stubble and biomass by setting it on fire. We know that after harvesting, both the rice stalk and the rice straw becomes crop residue. The farmers clear the leftover crop residue by burning the field, as it is the cheapest way to clear the field of crop residue. Here also, you may have a doubt. See, the issue of stubble burning has been in use for the past decade or so. Why didn't the farmers involve themselves in stubble burning before 10-15 years? See, it was because of two things. Earlier, the farms were not mechanized. So, this crop residue, that is the paddy straw and the paddy stalk, was used to feed the livestock, mainly the oxens and the cows. But now, due to mechanization, the role paid by oxens have reduced. So, there is the excess production of crop residue. The other reason is, earlier due to lack of irrigation, farmers in Punjab and Hariyana, they did not involve themselves in the cultivation of paddy. But now, due to irrigation, there are paddy cultivation in Punjab, Hariyana and in western UP has increased. So, this is also the second reason why the issue of stubble burning has arisen in the last decade. See, this is the basic about stubble burning. Now, let us see the effects of stubble burning. See, stubble burning generally occurs in the month of October and November, after the cariff crop cultivation. See, this period coincides with the winter months of North India. Due to cold conditions, the air becomes heavier. What happens when the air becomes heavier? It does not rise up and the air settles down. Due to this, the gas and the dust produced by stubble burning settles down and does not move elsewhere. So, this is why stubble burning and smog formation over deli coincides. This is the first effect of stubble burning. Apart from this, burning of stubble will also result in increased soil temperature, which in turn results in killing of microbes that are present in the soil. See, these two are the main effects of stubble burning. Both these effects are negative in nature. So, to address these effects of stubble burning, government has taken variety of steps. These steps taken by the government can be placed under two hits. One is inside two and another one is exit two. Here, the inside two initiative includes efforts which are concentrated around and inside the fields where the stubble burning takes place. Initiative initiatives include the introduction of Pusa decomposer and short duration rice varieties. Now, let us see about these two initiatives briefly. See, Pusa decomposer is a liquid like compound which when sprayed on stubble will lead to relatively immediate decomposition of the stubble. So, when the stubble decomposes very soon, there is no need for the farmer to burn the stubble which causes air pollution. The second is introduction of short duration rice varieties. See, short duration rice varieties helps in increasing the time period between cariff and rabi cultivation. See, at present, the time period between the cariff and the rabi cultivation is just three weeks. In these three weeks, the farmers find it difficult to move the stubble from their farms to outside. This is why they find it very cheaper to burn the stubble. But with short duration rice varieties, this period can be increased. So, it will be commercially viable for the farmer to move the stubble from their farms to a place like compressed biocast plant without burning the stubble. The types of short duration rice varieties include PR-121, PR-130 and PR-131. With increasing window between the cultivation and sowing of the next crop, the need for burning of stubble comes down. These are the two insider initiatives taken by the government. Now, coming to the excited initiative. Here, the most important thing is rice bioparks. Rice bioparks are nothing but processing plants that convert rice residue into products like paper and cardboard. The concept of rice bioparks was mooted by M.S. Swaminathan, who is the man behind green revolution. See, Mr. Swaminathan states that when farmers are incentivized to provide the stubble to these rice bioparks at a price, they will not burn their crop residue. Because when they burn their crop residue, it will result in loss of revenue. So, establishing rice bioparks will help mitigate the problem of stubble burning. The next important excited initiative is compressed biogas plants. See, an assessment done by Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN shows that it is cost effective to use rice straw and rice crop residue for the production of compressed biogas. But what is a compressed biogas? To understand this, let us compare it with compressed natural gas. See, both compressed natural gas and compressed biogas are methane based gases. The CNG comes from the underground and it is a form of fossil fuel, whereas the CBG that is the compressed biogas is made from fermented waste or other biological material, so making it CO2 neutral fuel. See, from this we can say that CBG is a form of recycled fuel. Here, note that CBG is a component which forms a part of circular economy. But what is circular economy? Circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which focuses mainly on reusing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. Now, coming back, let us see the components of CBG. CBG has methane content of more than 90 percent, while CO2 content of less than 10 percent. This is similar to the commercially available compressed natural gas in composition and energy potential. So, CBG can easily run in engines that use compressed natural gas. See, the production of CBG is through anaerobic decomposition of biomass. The biomass normally used in the production of CBG includes agricultural residue like crop stubble, cattle dung, sugarcane and municipal waste. Having seen the components and the production method used for the production of CBG, now let us see the advantages associated with CBG. See, we already know that of the available fossil fuels like coal and petroleum, CNG is considered the cleanest. And we also saw that the chemical composition of CBG and CNG are almost similar. So, CBG has two advantages. One, it is already the cleanest fuel. The other thing is it is CO2 neutral because it is a recycled fuel. So, CBG helps in checking the CO2 in the atmosphere at check and it also is one of the cleanest fuel available. The next thing is when CBG production is amplified we can address the issue of landfills in the city. See, management of solid waste is one of the important problem associated with urban areas. What happens when we leave the landfills unattended? It leads to the formation of methane which is one of the important greenhouse gases. So, if the forward and backward linkages of a CBG plant is properly planned and implemented the formation of landfills can be reduced and in addition to this the waste in the landfill can be converted into useful compressed biogas which can be used in the production of electricity, household heating, cooking and the residue from the CBG plant can also be used as natural fertilizers. So, this is the main advantage of compressed biogas. Finally, before concluding this discussion let us see about sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation scheme that is SA-TAT scheme. But why are we discussing this scheme here? Because this scheme is related to CBG production. See, SA-TAT is an initiative by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is a scheme which has a primary objective of increasing the production of compressed biogas by encouraging entrepreneurs to set up CBG plants. This scheme is mooted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas one to increase the production of CBG so as reducing the solid waste production. The other thing is when the CBG production is amplified import dependence of India on foreign fuel is reduced. So, due to these two advantages this scheme is proposed by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. So, that is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we started by seeing what is stubble burning. Then we saw the effects of stubble burning. After that we saw the initiatives taken by the government to address stubble burning. Finally, we saw about the sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. That's all regarding this discussion. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. See this article here. It says that the Tamil Nadu Crime Ministry Department ideal wing has traced two Chola era bronze idols that was stolen about 50 years ago from the Vishwanatha Swami Temple in Thiruvaru district and they were smuggled to the United States. Now the ideal wing has sent legal documents establishing the Tamil Nadu government's ownership of the antiquities. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us learn about the Chola era bronze sculptures. See the medieval Cholas ruled between the 9th century CE and 13th century CE. At their peak they ruled most of South India, Sri Lanka, Maldives Islands and even parts of Malaya and Indonesia. See the Cholas are not only known for their administrative and their military conquest. They are also known for their patronage to their art and architecture. Cholas constructed enormous stone temples and complexes and decorated these temples both inside and outside with painted and sculpted representation of the Hindu gods. However some of the best known artistic remains from this time period are the bronze statues that were commissioned by the Chola kings for each temple. See initially the Chola kings they commissioned only stone sculptures. These stone sculptures were large and they were immovable and they were placed inside the inner sanctum sanctorum or the garbagraha of the temple. But during the 10th century CE due to changing religious concepts it was demanded that the deities take part in a variety of public roles similar to that of the king. So as a result the Chola kings commissioned large bronze statues. See these large bronze images they were created to be carried outside the temple to participate in daily rituals, possessions and temple festivals. So basically the stone sculptures they were placed inside the inner sanctum sanctorum and they were immovable. While the bronze sculptures they were used in daily rituals, possessions and temple festivals and they were movable. Okay see if you look at a Chola bronze sculpture you might think it look quite simple but the sculptures are elegant, expressive and extremely beautiful. The poses and expressions on the faces of the figurines are also very detailed. Now you may have a question how the Cholas some thousand years ago created such elegant and expressive bronze statues. See here they used a technique called lost wax casting technique. See this technique involves the combination of beast wax a kind of camphor and a little oil. Here beast wax is nothing but a wax created by bees. Firstly the beast wax and oil are mixed using hands. Once mixed the mixture is then used to precisely sculpt the specific figure and all its intricate features. Now this particular wax model is subsequently coated with clay and then dried or they are placed in an oven. When they are placed in the oven only the clay outer shell remains and the wax model of the statue melts off or evaporates. Then the next step is pouring the Panchaloham which is a metal alloy of bronze into the clay mold which is now empty of wax. Then the melted bronze fills the mold and this melted bronze is left to settle and harden by cooling. Once the process is complete the clay mold is then broken off leaving only the bronze sculpture. Then the next step involves application of finer details, the cleaning and the removal of any markings from the statue. Lastly the bronze sculpture is then smoothened and then polished before they are displayed are likely placed inside a temple. See if you notice for each statue a separate mold is created. This is what makes the Chola era bronze statue very unique because every statue created using this technique during this particular period is entirely unique. No bronze sculpture from the Chola period can be exactly replicated making it truly one of the kind and this is why they are considered priceless. See the images here these are all some of the important and the famous bronze sculptures of the Chola period. First here you can look at Lord Nadraja or Shiva. Then the most popular image is Somaskandha where Shiva is depicted sitting near Uma and his son Kanda dancing between them on a platform. Then here is Shiva and images of Parvati. Then the image of Bhudevi or the Yarth Goddess and finally the dancing Sambandhar idol. See these are some of the famous bronze sculptures from the Chola period. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw the uniqueness of the Chola bronze sculpture and we also saw the last wax technique that was used by the Cholas to make these sculptures. With this let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Take a look at this article it reports about the poor air condition in Chennai due to bursting of crackers during Deepavali. This has been reported by the Central Pollution Control Board through its air quality index. This is the corrects of the article given here in this context through this discussion let us learn about the National Air Quality Index. See air quality index is a eight parameter based air quality monitoring system which was launched by the Central Pollution Control Board. See this index was launched in the year 2014. The eight parameters are PM10 that is particulate matter 10 then PM2.5 nitrogen dioxide sulfur dioxide carbon monoxide ozone ammonia and lead. As you can see in the table there are six air quality index categories which are good satisfactory moderately polluted poor very poor and severe. One color is assigned to each of the categories like dark green for good category and dark red for severe category. Pause the video and have a look at the table to get a better understanding. Note that air quality index transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number and a single color for the public to easily understand about air quality standard in their locality. See the article said that in various parts of Chennai the air quality index varied from 346 to 786. So in the same city itself air quality index monitoring system is present in different parts to get a comparative figure of air pollution in various parts of the city. Here additional point you have to notice that when the pollution index is above 500 it is termed as severe plus. This is all with respect to the calculation and the reporting mechanism of air quality index. Now let us come to the purpose of the air quality index. See the purpose of the air quality index is to help people know about the quality of the air in their locality and also about the areas which can be avoided owing to the increased amount of pollution. See the utility of the air quality index is that it is very simple to comprehend even by citizens owing to the number based and the color based report. So even a normal citizen when he sees the color red he can identify that the pollution in that area is worse and he can avoid the area and when he sees the color green he can identify that the pollution is very minimal in this area and it is safe to go there. So this is how the air quality index simplifies the complex math involved in the calculation of air quality and provides it easy for the ordinary citizen to understand. Okay this is all with respect to air quality index. Through this discussion we came to know about what is air quality index and how it is calculated and we also saw about its utility. With this let us conclude this and take up the next news article. See this beautiful image here. It is the view of the partial solar eclipse that happened yesterday evening. So in this discussion we will see about what is solar eclipse and lunar eclipse. What is a solar eclipse? See an eclipse occurs when one celestial body such as a moon or any planet moves into the shadow of another celestial body. Here the light coming from one celestial body is blocked by another celestial body. See the pictures here. During an eclipse two shadows are cast. The first is called the umbrella and this shadow gets smaller as it goes away from the sun. It is the dark center of the eclipse shadow. The second shadow is called penumbra. The penumbra gets larger as it goes away from the sun. First let us see what is a solar eclipse. See a solar eclipse occurs when part or all of the sun is blocked out by the moon as viewed from earth. See this image here. This is how solar eclipse occurs. Here you can see the moon is blocking the sun's ray from reaching the earth. See there are three types of solar eclipse. Now let us see the types. First is the total solar eclipse. See this occurs when the entire sun is blocked by moon due to the alignment of sun, earth and moon. Then there is the partial solar eclipse. This occurs when only part of the sun is blocked by the moon when it crosses the path of the light of sun and to moon. So yesterday only partial solar eclipse took place. Finally there is the annular solar eclipse. See the annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is at its farthest point in its elliptical path of orbit around the earth and due to this it is only capable of blocking out part of the sun thus leaving the periphery of the sun visible. You can see this image here to understand about the annular solar eclipse. These are the types of solar eclipse. Now let us see about the lunar eclipse. And lunar eclipse occurs when part or all of the moon is blocked out by the earth. Note the difference here. As we saw earlier during solar eclipse moon is blocking light from the sun and to earth and during lunar eclipse the earth blocks the light from the sun from reaching the moon. Having seen this now let us see the types of lunar eclipse. Firstly there is the total lunar eclipse. See it occurs when the entire moon is in the earth's darkest shadow. What is the earth's darkest shadow? As we saw earlier it is the umbral shadow. Then there is the partial lunar eclipse. It occurs when the sun, earth and moon aren't exactly aligned. So only part of the moon passes into its umbral shadow. Finally there is the penumbral lunar eclipse. Here also it occurs when the sun, earth and moon are not fully aligned. Note that the moon in case of penumbral lunar eclipse passes through only the penumbral shadow of the earth and does not pass through the darkest part of its shadow that is the umbrella. That's all regarding lunar eclipse and solar eclipse. Finally before concluding let us see why the solar and lunar eclipse is not happening every month. See as we all know the earth revolves around the sun in an elliptical path completing one revolution in about 365 days. The plane in which the earth moves around the sun is known as the ecliptic. At the same time the moon also revolves around the earth which is also a near elliptical path and the moon takes 28 days to complete one revolution around the earth. The fact here is that these two planes of earth and moon are inclined to each other at an angle. See for the solar eclipse to occur the sun, the moon and the earth must not only fall in the same straight line but these three bodies should be in the same straight plane and this occurs only during the eclipse although the sun moon and the earth comes in a single line every two weeks eclipses does not happen every month because as we saw earlier the earth's orbit around the sun is not in the same plane as the moon's orbit around the earth. So this is why we are not witnessing solar and lunar eclipse every month. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw what is solar eclipse and its types and we also saw the lunar eclipse and its types and finally we saw why solar and lunar eclipse does not occur every month. Ok that's all regarding this discussion now let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this article here it says that the center government is planning on leasing out blocks for generating power through offshore wind energy projects in the state of Tamil Nadu. See this is being done to reduce the carbon emission and to meet the target of 30 gigawatt green energy to be generated by the state by 2030. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us learn about offshore wind energy in India than the national policy and the pros and cons surrounding offshore wind energy. First let us see what is onshore and offshore wind power forms. See onshore wind power forms refers to the turbines that are located on land rather than over water. They are typically located in sparsely populated areas with low conservation value. Ok moving on to offshore wind farms offshore wind farms refers to wind farms that are located over shallow open water that are usually in the ocean where there are higher wind speeds. Now let us see the offshore wind energy potential in India. See in India of the total renewable energy installation capacity of 78 gigawatts the wind energy contribution is more than 35 gigawatts as of March 2019 and the national target is to achieve 60 gigawatts of wind energy installation by 2022. Note that India has reached the target of 39.2 gigawatts of wind energy production per year in March 2021. However it has been observed in recent past that many onshore wind energy products are adversely affected due to land acquisition issues. So in the scenario offshore wind energy can be seen as a viable option in order to protect the precious land resources. See India is having a long coast lane of about 7600 kilometers. So offshore wind energy has good prospects in case of India. This is why the central government has notified the national offshore wind energy policy in October 2015. As per the policy ministry of new and renewable energy will act as the nodal ministry for the development of offshore wind energy in India and it will be responsible for overall monitoring of offshore wind energy development in the country. In addition to this the national institute of wind energy in Chennai will be the nodal agency to carry out resource assessment survey and studies in offshore regions. The national institute of wind energy also demarket blocks and facilitate developers for setting up offshore wind energy forms. See the ministry of new and renewable energy has set a target of 5 gigawatts of offshore wind energy installation by 2022 and 30 gigawatts by 2030. The wind resource assessment carried out by the national institute of wind energy shows that the total wind energy potential in the country stood at 302 gigawatts at 100 meter and 695 gigawatts at 120 meter hub height. Here hub height is the wind energy turbines height which is measured from the ground to the middle of the turbines rotor. See as per the national institute of wind energy's assessment out of the total potential estimated more than 95% of the commercially exploitable resources are concentrated in only 7 states. The states being Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. So now the central government is taking all possible measures along with the state governments to harness the offshore wind energy and to achieve 30 gigawatts target by 2030. See this policy of the government is reflected in today's news also. That is all with respect to offshore wind energy in India and the national policy regarding it. Now finally before concluding let us see the pros and cons associated with offshore wind energy. First let us start with the advantages. As we have seen earlier it protects the precious land resources which is getting scars in India right now. Then the high speed in the offshore areas will help harness more energy compared to onshore wind farms. Finally, ocean provides access to vast space. This helps in the installation of large turbines. So amount of energy that will be generated in case of offshore wind energy will be very high. These are the advantages associated with offshore wind energy. Now moving on to the disadvantages. The materials that are needed to install offshore wind farms are mostly costly. So higher cost is one of the major hindrance of exploring offshore wind energy potential in India. Then due to high wind speed in offshore areas the maintenance and repair process of offshore wind farms are very complex. Then there is the issue of ownership. See onshore wind farms are owned and operated by individuals and local cooperatives. But in case of offshore farms such operations are difficult to manage. Finally, the noise made by turbines in case of offshore wind farms may disturb the marine living beings and it may result in reduction in their population. So these are the disadvantages associated with offshore wind energy. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion first we saw what is onshore wind energy and then offshore wind energy. Then we saw the wind energy potential in India and about the national offshore wind energy policy 2015. Finally we saw the cons and pros associated with offshore wind energy in India. So that's all regarding this discussion. With this let us conclude the news article discussion session and take up the practice plumes questions. We have four plumes questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question. This is a two statement question. Two statements about the last wax casting technique is given. We have to find the correct statements. Let us take up the first statement. It is a process used for making metal statues. See this we have seen in the discussion itself. This statement is correct. Using this technique only the cholas made their famous bronze statues. Moving on to the second statement. It was first used in India by the cholas during the 9th century. See this statement is wrong. The last wax casting techniques was first used by the Indus Valley civilization people. For example the bronze figurine found at Mohanjidaro which is also called as Dancing Girl was made using this technique only. So it was not the cholas. It was the Indus Valley civilization people who first used this technique. So statement two is wrong. Since they are asking the correct statement here and since statement one is correct the correct answer here is option A one only. Moving on to the second question. This is a three statement question. Three statement about the air quality index is given. We have to find the correct statement. Let us take up the first statement. It is released by the Central Pollution Control Board of India. This statement is correct. The CPCB is the apex organization which releases the air quality index in India. Moving on to the second statement. Let us among the eight parameters used by air quality index to calculate air pollution level. This statement is correct. Let this one of the eight parameters used for the calculation of air quality index. The other parameters are displayed here. You can have a look. Moving on to the third statement. It comprises of six categories to denote air quality in the area. This statement is also correct. The six categories are good, satisfactory, moderately polluted, poor, very poor and severe. So here all the three statements are correct. So the correct answer is option D one two one three. Moving on to the third question. This is also a three statement question. Three statements about the eclipse is given. We have to find the correct statements. Let us take up the first statement. During solar eclipse the position of earth falls between sun and moon. This statement is wrong because in our discussion we saw that during solar eclipse it is the moon which falls between the sun and the earth. It is only during the lunar eclipse earth falls between sun and moon. So statement one is wrong. Moving on to the second statement. Penumbra is the shadow region caused during eclipse and it gets larger as it goes away from the sun. This statement is also correct. This we saw in the discussion itself. Penumbra gets larger as it goes away from the sun and umbra gets smaller as it gets away from the sun. This is the difference between the two. So statement two is correct. Moving on to the third statement. For eclipse to occur the sun the moon and the earth must lie in one straight line and also be in one plane. This statement is correct. This also we saw in the discussion itself. This is one of the reason why we don't get solar and lunar eclipse every month. So statement two and statement three are correct. So the correct answer here is option B 2 and 3 only. Moving on to the last question. This question is a three statement question about national offshore wind energy policy. This is the quiz question for you today. The main question based on today's discussion is displayed here. Interested aspirants can write the answers and post them in the comment section below. If you like today's discussion you can like comment and share the video with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation you can subscribe to Shankara A.S. Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.