 A very good evening, aspirants. I welcome you to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by the Shankara AIS Academy. Today's date is 22nd September 2023. Here are the list of articles which we are going to discuss today. So, without wasting time, let us get into the discussion. Take a look at this news article. According to this news article, yesterday, Ministry of External Affairs announced that the issuance of new visas to Canadian citizens will be stopped immediately due to the security threats faced by Indian diplomats in Canada. The Ministry said that the security threat affects the normal functioning of Indian missions in Canada. Consequently, issuing of new visas to the Canadian citizens has also been stopped. See, this is the crux of the news article given. See, recently, there is a bus around deteriorating India-Canada relationship which you have witnessed everywhere. Let us look at them in a brief. See, tensions between India and Canada have surged following the statements by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau told in their parliament that credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hadeep Singh Nijal had been found. This murder had happened in Canada in June 2023. The deceased leader had been advocating for the establishment of Kallistan. Following these allegations, the Canadian government expelled a senior Indian diplomat in Canada. In reaction to this, India also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat who had placed it in India. This decision reflects the government of India's growing concerns at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-Indian activities. But still, the issue is a sparkling security threat for Indian diplomats posted in Canada. So, India literally stopped giving visa to Canadian citizens. So, this is the crux of the article. See, the issue had an origin in the Kallistan movement in India. Let us have a brief understanding about the Kallistan movement. The Kallistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikh by establishing a sovereign state called Kallistan in the Punjab region. Its origin has been traced back to Indian independence and subsequent partition along religion's lines. The Punjab province, which was divided between India and Pakistan, witnessed communal violence and generated millions of refugees. The historic Sikh capital, Lahore, as well as the sacred sites like Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, went to Pakistan. Most of the Sikhs found themselves in India. They were a small minority, approximately 2% in their country. So, the political struggle for great autonomy began with the Punjabi Subab movement with the creation of the Punjabi-speaking state. Even though the idea was rejected, the state of Punjab was organized with the Punjabi and Sikh majority in 1966. See, despite such recognition, the demand for Kallistan did not fade away. By the 1980s, the appeal of Jarnal Singh Bindaranwale had started creating trouble for the government. This led to the increased violence of the state. So, to contain that, in 1984, the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, ordered Indian forces to invade the Golden Temple in Amritsar to fight separatists who had taken refuge there under the operation Blue Star. Following this, the then Prime Minister was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. Her death triggered a series of anti-Sikh rares in Delhi, which we all know. So, in Punjab, the Kallistan movement still has some supporters, but there is largely no active insurgency in the state, and the state remains largely peaceful. But over the years, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that the Kallistani terrorists were trying to make a comeback. The recent standoff between India and Canada is regarding this only. So, that's all about the issue. And we shall move on to the next article. Look at this news article. Yesterday, an augmented reality virtual reality app called Moving Memory was launched at the second annual international conference of the Indian Network for Memory Studies at IIT Madras. So, in this new search discussion, let us discuss about the various realities in the physical world which can be asked in our UPSC preliminary examination. Firstly, let us see about AR. AR stands for Augmented Reality. Listen, it is a technology that superimposes digital information like graphics, sound or other data onto a real world. So, it enhances the perception of the reality by adding digital elements to our view of physical world. In simple words, AR supplements the real world with digital information or objects so that the user can see and interact with both digital and physical world simultaneously. See, AR is typically experimented through devices like smartphone, tabs, smart glasses or head-up display. Okay, see common use cases for AR includes navigation app, mobile games, product resolution and education tools. See, interesting example is we would have played Pokémon Go in our locality. It overlays a virtual Pokémon Creatures onto the real world which we have seen through our smartphone camera. Now, moving on to virtual reality, VR. VR is a computer-generated 3D environment which has created a completely virtual world isolating ourselves from the real world. It uses VR headsets that cover their field of vision and sometimes headphone for immersive value. Interactions in the VR often relies on handheld controllers or body movements. VR is extensively used for gaming, simulations, training and immersive storytelling experience. Example of VR is using an Oculus Rift headset which will have used to explore a virtual world and interact with objects and characters within it. Now, let's move towards Mixer Reality. See, Mixer Reality campaigns both elements of AR and VR to create a hybrid experience that merges the both digital and physical realities. In MR, that's Mixer Reality, digital content is anchored to a real world and we can interact with it. So, users can see and interact at the same time with holographic objects while being aware of their actual surroundings. See, MR headsets like Microsoft HoloLens enable the applications in the various fields like architecture, medical training, remote assistance, etc. A recent phenomenon you would have seen in internet is a metaverse. What metaverse means, it's a good example of Mixer Reality. Here, it's a recent hypothesis of internet in creating a single universal virtual world facilitated by the use of VR and AR. Like, we would have seen metaverse marriages in the internet which is creating a sensation, right? They are all examples of Mixer Reality. Here, using Mixer Reality, we can create next generation workplace. Now, we shall see Extended Reality which is a very recent phenomenon and a cutting-edge technology. See, XR is an overarching term that encompasses augmented reality, virtual reality and Mixer Reality. Recognizing that they share common elements and can be a part of continuum. XR represents the spectrum of immersive technology and how they blend the real and virtual worlds. We all know that. Now, knowing that, XR emphasized an idea that these technologies are not separate but rather they interconnected and can evolve over a period of time. We'll often use it in the discussions about the future of immersive computing and how these technologies will converge. For example, XR might refer to a broader concept of various immersive technologies to create innovative solutions across different industries. That's all. Let's move on to the next article. Look at this editorial here. As we all know that, India started its space research in 1960 with limited resources and struggled with various challenges. But today, it made a remarkable progress in space exploration with recent achievements like landing a rover on the moon's south pole and a mission to study the sun. However, there is a concern about how these achievements help to solve the problem of poverty and inequality experienced by millions of Indians. So, this is the crux of the editorial given here. In our discussion today, we shall look into the various aspects mentioned in the editorial. Before that, the syllabus regarding this discussion is given here for your reference. Let's start the discussion. First, let us know about the background of India's space journey. India had a space research program even before the establishment of ISRO, Indian Space Research Organization. ISRO was created only in 1969. Before that, the space research was coordinated by Department of Atomic Energy. Vikram Sarabhai, a visionary, was the leader of India's space program. He envisaged the idea of using satellites for building a national-wide telephone system. He also decided to use space technology for providing agriculture, health, and education. This development strategy of Vikram Sarabhai was called a moonshot strategy. Here, the moonshot approach means pursuing things that are almost impossible to do. And if it is done, it will redefine the humanity. However, this strategy faced criticism for relying heavily on public investment. Many economists at that time criticized allocating budgets to space research because the space program is misdirecting the public resources away from the labour-intensive industries. But we must know that certain technological fields require sustained public support because they take long timelines for delivering achievements. On continuing, despite technological achievements over decades, India still faces challenges related to inequality, social development, and land redistribution. The persistence of poverty and inequality has hindered industrial and economic growth of India. If India has to achieve comprehensive economic progress, it should campaign the technological advancements with social development. So, the article mainly emphasizes the strategic importance of India's technological achievements and their impact on common man and his everyday life. Now, we shall see what are the benefits of space research in various fields. As we all know, space technology comprises of space vehicle size like satellites, space stations, orbital launch vehicles, deep space communication, in-space propulsion, and a wide range of technologies. Though, this may all look like an elite terms not helping the poor farmers in villages. It's the opposite that is true. They help the common man in many ways. Some of the applications are weather forecasting, remote sensing, satellite navigation systems, satellite televisions, and some long-distance communication systems critically rely on space technology. New technology originating from space research are often exploited in other economic activities as a spin-off technologies. Here the most important benefit is communication. ISRO has launched a series of communication satellites like INSAT, GSAT, etc. They have improved telecommunication, broadcasting, and internet connectivity across the country. Who can forget the rise of e-learning during the COVID crisis which has almost ensured the unhindered access to education across the country? Second important benefit is navigation. India's navigation satellite system called NAVIC provides accurate positioning and timing information. It is used in various sectors including transportation, agriculture, and disaster management. Navigation apps on our smartphone often rely on this system. Thirdly, the most important application is disaster management. ISRO's remote sensing satellites assist in disaster management by providing real-time data during emergencies. This information is often used for disaster preparedness, responsiveness, and recovery efforts. Fourth, the important benefit is resource management. Satellites help in monitoring and managing their natural resources. They aid in forestry management, soil moisture estimation, and water resource mapping, which are crucial for sustainable development. For example, Nisharmisen, which was created jointly by NASA and ISRO, will measure Earth's changing ecosystem, dynamic surfaces, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater levels. Next, we will look into the benefits of space tech in agriculture. See, we are primarily a agricultural community. See, most of our population depends on agriculture. ISRO is providing invaluable services to those people by developing more methodologies for crop production forecasting, which is often used by Ministry of Agriculture and former welfare. In 2012, Department of Agriculture created a established center called Megalonobi's National Crop Forecast Center. This is using space technology developed by ISRO for crop production forecasting. Pradhan Mandri, Fazal Bhima Yojana, which is an agricultural insurance scheme, uses remote sensing technologies to assess the crop loss, which is often benefiting the distressed farmers during drought season. Next is about space tech usage in planning process. ISRO is involved in a project called Bhuvan Panchayat Portal, which helps in decentralized planning. It aims to improve the planning and monitoring of government projects. This portal is designed for the general public, panchayatraj institutions, and various stakeholders associated with gram panchayats. So, these are some of the examples of space research technology and their application in the life of common man. Space research is essential for the development of humanity. Without space program, we wouldn't have GPS, accurate weather prediction, solar cells, or the ultraviolet filters in our sunglasses. The space research has contributed to many important innovations and solutions to our historical problems. It improved the quality of human life and also proved to be useful in many fields of science. On one hand, we must deal with the socioeconomic problem of our country, as we all know that a man with an empty stomach would not rejoice his country's space achievements. So, we need to look into that aspect also. But at the same time, we need to continue to focus on technological development. We cannot neglect the importance of space sector, as our continued thrice with the science brought our country to this level. We must continue doing this. That's all. Let us look into next news article. Look at the science page article. This article talks about high blood pressure, or BP, which is otherwise called as hypertension. Recently, the World Health Organization released its first-ever report on the global impact of hypertension. Because of that only, this article was given. This article highlights some of the important data from the WHO report. In addition to this, this article also mentions the India's performance in addressing the high blood pressure. Finally, the article also suggests some way forward for India to tackle hypertension. So, this is the background of this article. Now, in this discussion, let us understand the important points provided in this article. Before getting into discussion, let us look into the syllabus. In Prince's perspective, the hypertension topic falls under the general science part. In Maine's perspective, it will come under GS Paper 3 and falls under the topic of science and technology, developments and their applications and their impacts in everyday life. Now, let us get into the discussion. First, let us look at the basics of hypertension. Hypertension occurs when the force of blood pushing through our blood vessels or arteries is consistently too high. To put it simply, when your blood is consistently pumping through your arteries with more force than normal, it is called hypertension or high BP. According to medical standards, if the reading on BP monitor goes above 140 mmHg, then it is called hypertension. Know that the ideal blood pressure is considered to be between 90 for 60 mmHg and 120 by 80 mmHg. Now, having these basics, let us see what causes hypertension. It is caused by mostly unhealthy life choices like lack of physical activity, high salt diet, smoking and drinking alcohol and eating unhealthy food which may cause hypertension. Apart from this, certain medical conditions like diabetes, obesity and kidney failure can also result in hypertension. This is all about the causes of hypertension. Now, let us see about the impact of hypertension. See, hypertension is often called a silent killer. The high BP can cause various health compliments like strokes, heart attacks, kidney damage and heart failure. Until these complications arise, hypertension often goes unnoticed because of this only, hypertension is often called a silent killer. This is all about the basics of hypertension. Now, let us look into the WHO report on hypertension. Firstly, the WHO report highlights that the hypertension affects 1 in 3 adults worldwide. Secondly, the report noted that the number of people living with hypertension has doubled from 1992 to 2019. See, in 1990, only 650 million people lived with hypertension. But in 2019, the number was doubled and it stood almost at 1.3 billion. Out of those 1.3 billion affected people, nearly 3-4000 are living in low and middle income countries. The report also stated that nearly half of the people who are said to be having high BP are unaware of their condition. Thirdly, the WHO report said that nearly 450 people who are living with hypertension are inadequately treated. The report noted that if the treatment for hypertension is scaled up, it could avoid 76 million deaths between 2023 to 2050. This is all about the important data from WHO. From these points, we can observe that hypertension is affecting a significant population worldwide. So, the world government should scale up the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. Now, moving on to the India's performance in addressing the high BP. See, recently, several research papers about hypertension in India are published in the journals like The Lancet. The papers highlight the growing prevalence of hypertension in India. The study reveals that in India, younger adults and people from lower socio-economic background are highly affected with hypertension. In addition to this, the research paper also mentioned that there is a significant portion of hypertension individuals in India who are remain undiagnosed. This is because many of the individuals lack awareness about hypertension condition or they have limited access to healthcare services. The research paper further said that even when people in India know that they are having high BP, 6 out of 10 do not start treatment. This can be due to multitude of factors like their poverty, their inaccessibility to healthcare services, etc. From these data, we can observe that India is poorly performing when come to treating high BP. Now finally, let us see what India should do to avoid hypertension related health complications. Firstly, the Indian government should adopt practical intervention to treat hypertension. See, many of the people in India are aware of hypertension diagnosis but a significant portion of the patients do not initiate the treatment for hypertension. So, the government should bring in some educational and behavioral intervention to accelerate the treatment of hypertension. Secondly, the Indian government should need to re-evaluate its national strategies on treating high BP. Overall, India has witnessed a 4-4 improved improvement in hypertension control over the past 2 decades. But, as we saw earlier, there is a rising prevalence of hypertension among the poor and young adults in India. So, the government should re-evaluate its national strategy to include the people who are left out of the treatment process. Thirdly, the government should adopt evidence-based policies to address uncontrolled hypertension in India. India is having limited research on lifestyle and risky factors that causes high BP. India is not considering the social factors such as education and cost when it comes to health care. Therefore, the government should adopt evidence-based policies to address hypertension in India. That's all about this news article. Let's move on to the next news article. Have a look at this news article. Recently, the Climate Ambition Summit was held in United Nations General Assembly. The summit is aimed to highlight the actions taken on climate change and uphold the Paris Agreement's 1.5 degree Celsius target. But, the countries like China, China and the United States are concerned about climate change. Why this is a concern? Why? Because these countries together contribute to 42% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, let us discuss about the important steps taken by India to combat climate change. Firstly, mission life. It's a global movement led by India to inspire people to protect and conserve the environment. Its objective is to encourage at least 1 billion people around the world to take action to safeguard the environment from 2022 to 2021. The climate change has produced 80% of villages and urban communities in India as environment friendly by 2028. The second step is National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change, NFCC. It was created to support the adaptation activities in the states and the Union Territories, which are very vulnerable to climate change. NFCC is implemented in a project mode and 30 projects have been approved so far in 27 states and Union Territories. The Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change in the year of 2008. It includes eight national missions to address the challenges of climate change. The missions are National Solar Mission, National Mission for Enhance Energy Efficiency, National Mission on Sustainable Habit, National Water Mission, National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, National Mission for Green India, National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, National Mission on India's Encouraging Climate Smart Agriculture. The government is encouraging sustainable farming practices by promoting organic farming, agro forestry and precision agriculture. This is done by integrating the technology driven solutions such as remote sensing, Internet of Things devices and artificial intelligence based analytics. Lastly, the recent initiative is Panchamirtha or Five Point Plan. The Prime Minister has presented five elements called Panchamirtha five elements. The first element is reaching 500 gigawatt of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030. Second is getting 50 percentage of energy requirements from renewable energy sources by 2030. Third is reduction of total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tons from now onwards to 2030. Fourth is reduction of carbon intensity of the economy by 45 percentage by 2030 over the base level of 2005. Fifth element is achieving the target of net zero emissions by 2070. Knowing that this is the updated India's nationally determined contribution to UNFCCC. As we all know, climate change being one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. It poses significant threats not only to the environment, human health and food security but also to economic development. As a result of various actions taken by a government, India has achieved reduction of 24% in emission levels. However, global climate risk index 2021 has ranked India in the seventh place in the list of countries most affected by climate change. We have to wait and watch what will be the result of our climate change commitments in the future. That's all about this news article. Let's take the next news article. Let's look at this news article. Yesterday, super talented Bharatanatyam dancer Saroja Vaidyanathan died at her residence. He was awarded Batma Shree in 2002 and Batma Bhushan in 2013. Her demise was an unexpected one. Along with this news, let us review some of the basics of classical dance from exam perspective. Presently, Asper Sangeet Natak Academy, there are 8 classical dance forms in India. Which are Bharatanatyam, Kuchupudi, Kathakalli, Mohini Atom, Odisi, Manipuri, Kathak and Shatria. Let's see some of the basics of Bharatanatyasastra. There are two basic aspects of Indian classical dance. One is Lassiya. Lassiya is a symbolic gesture which incorporates the feminine futures of dance as an art form and denotes grace, bhava, rasa and abinaya. Second one is Thandava. This is symbolic to the male aspects of dance and has more emphasis on rhythm and movement. And moreover, Asper Abinaya Darbhan, an act of classical dance should have three basic elements. Nirtha refers to the basic dance steps performed rhythmically but it's devoid of any expression or mood. Second one is Natya. It means dramatic representation and refers to the story in a elaborated way through dance recital. Third element is Nirthya. Nirthya refers to the sentiment and emotions which are invoked through dance. It includes the main and different modes of expression including mudras in the dance. Usually, classical dance performance is known as Nayaka-Nayika-Bhava. Here, the eternal deity is seen as the hero or Nayaka. And the devotee who performs the dance is the hero enough to act, that is Nayaka. There are nine rasas or emotions that are getting expressed through dance. And the Navarasa is displayed here in the image which is given below. You can go through it. See, the modes and expressions are emoted through the use of mudras. Mudras is a combination of hand gestures and bodily postures. There are 108 fundamental mudras, a combination of which are used to depict a particular emotion. Remember, distinct style of dances have evolved in different parts of India, each with their own specific nuances. However, all these dance forms are governed by the basic rules and guidelines laid down in the Nathya Sastra. Here, the principle rule is the transfer of knowledge can happen only through group. The group passes on the knowledge of different traditions which are used in the Nathya Sastra. In the Nathya Sastra, the Gurushisha Parambra forms the core of Indian classical art form. That's all about this news article. Guys, this is all about today's news discussion. With this, let us move on to the next part of our video. That is, to discuss the preliminary practice question. Today, we are having four questions. Let us solve it one by one. The first question, what does the term separatism generally refers to in the context of geopolitics and national movement? The ideology advocating for the centralization of power. We know that it is wrong. Let's move on to the next option. It is a regious movement promoting interfaith harmony and unity. See, interfaith harmony and unity, it is in a positive connotation, whereas the separatism is in a negative connotation. So, by seeing itself, we can conclude that it is wrong. Let us move on to the next option. It's a movement seeking independence or autonomy for a particular region or a group. See, from our discussion, we can conclude that this is the correct option because separatism typically refers to the political or social movement that seeks to achieve independence for a group from a country. For example, Catalonia separatist movement from Spain is a good example of separatist movement. By concluding this, we can clearly say option C is correct. Let's move on to the next question. Here, three statements are given about Web 3.0. Let us see them one by one. First option, it enables the people to control their own data. It is correct because Web 3.0 is also called as decentralized web. It means there is more centralized control where people can control from bottom to top. So, the first option is correct. Second option, in Web 3.0, there can be blockchain-based social networks. This is correct because Web 3.0 is characterized by the use of advanced technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence and decentralized networks. So, this is correct. Let's see option 3. Web 3.0 is operated by users collectively rather than a corporation. See, the first option is directly proportional to the third option. So, if the first option is correct, it means definitely the third option will be correct. So, we are concluding that all the three options are correct. So, the correct option is option C. Let's move on to the next question. Here, it is a previous question asked in UPAC preliminary examination 2021. Let's see the question. R2 code of practices constitutes a tool available for promoting the adoption of option A, environmentally responsible practices in the electronic recycling industry. This option is correct. So, we no need to see other three options because we can conclude that the option A is correct. Let's move on to the next question. Here, the four pairs of acts which are related to classical dance are given and in the right side, their meanings are given. Let's see how many of the pairs are correct. Here, the first act, atboot, from our discussion, we can easily conclude that it means wonder, not tragedy. So, the first option is wrong. The second act, string R, it means it symbolizes love. So, it is correct. Third option, it's a raudra. Raudra, we know from our common understanding that raudra means anger. So, it is correct. The fourth option, vira. It also means heroism. We can decipher this also from our common sense. So, apart from the first option, all the three remaining options are correct. So, we can conclude that the correct option will be option B. Here, I have displayed the main question based on today's discussion. Interested aspirants can write the answer and post it in the comment section. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more update regarding civil service preparation, please subscribe to Shankar IS Academy. Thank you for listening. Thank you.