 Greetings aspirants, I welcome you all to the final video of the series Shankar's Summary. But before getting into our discussion, I have an important announcement to make. We are resuming our daily Hindu news analysis from tomorrow, that is from 15th of May onwards. As usual, keep supporting us. In this video, we will be covering important current affairs topics from March 2023 in Prillim's perspective. These are the list of articles covered in this video. Now, we will solve our first question. This question talks about the Uranium enrichment. First let us see a few facts about Uranium. See Uranium is a silvery white metallic chemical element with a symbol U and the atomic number of Uranium is 92. Uranium has the highest atomic weight of all naturally occurring elements. See there are three isotopes of Uranium which occur naturally. They are Uranium 238, Uranium 235 and Uranium 234. Now if we take nuclear reactors across the world, the majority of the nuclear power reactors use Uranium 235 isotope as a fuel. This is because Uranium 235 is the only naturally occurring isotope of Uranium that undergoes nuclear fission. Now, talking about the enrichment process. See Uranium 235 only makes up 0.7% of the mind natural Uranium. So the 0.7% of Uranium 235 content present in the natural Uranium needs to be concentrated. The concentration of Uranium 235 must be increased through a process called enrichment. The enrichment process helps to increase the concentration of Uranium 235 from 0.7 to between 3 and 5%. This 3 to 5% is the level which is used in most nuclear reactors to produce electricity. Uranium used for nuclear weapons would have to be enriched in plants specially designed to produce at least 90% of Uranium 235. The enrichment process requires the Uranium to be in gaseous form. So the gaseous form of Uranium can be achieved through a process called conversion. Through the conversion process, Uranium Oxide which is a powdered form of mind and powdered Uranium is converted into different compound called Uranium hexafluoride. Know that Uranium hexafluoride is a gas at relatively low temperatures. After this process, the Uranium hexafluoride is fed into centrifuge. These centrifuge have thousands of rapidly spinning vertical tubes. These centrifuge separate the Uranium hexafluoride into two streams. One stream contains enriched Uranium 235 and the other streams consist of lower concentration of Uranium 235. This is how Uranium 235 gets enriched. Now see the question, statement 1 is incorrect. The Uranium has to be in gaseous form. See, statement 2 is also incorrect. Uranium used for nuclear weapons would have to be enriched in plants specially designed to produce at least 90% of Uranium 235. Here the answer is option C because the question asks for the incorrect statements. With this, let us move on to our next question. This question is about Hriday Scheme. Hriday Scheme which is recently seen in use was launched by which of the following ministry? The correct answer for this question is option B, Ministry of Urban Development. So, Ministry of Urban Development launched a scheme called Hriday to develop heritage cities in a holistic way. So basically the scheme aims to preserve the unique character of heritage cities by creating accessible, informative and secure environments. Hriday focuses on planning, developing and implementing heritage sensitive infrastructure. It also aims to provide better services and infrastructure in the core areas of historic cities. Also, Hriday aims to create an inventory of the cities heritage for urban planning and development. Besides that, it emphasizes on improving basic services such as sanitation facilities, water taps and street lights. Then it promotes the use of modern ICT tools for making cities informative and enhances security measures like CCTV surveillance. Know that the scheme is funded entirely by the Government of India. That is, it is a central sector scheme and is implemented from December 2014 to March 2019. It covers several heritage cities across the different states in India including Ajmir, Amaravathi, Amritsar, Badami, Dwarka, Gaya, Kanjiburam, Madhura, Puri, Varanasi, Vellangani and Varangal. That's it about the Hriday Scheme. Now let us move on to our next question. This question is about heat waves and it asks for the correct statement. Let us first quickly revise few points on heat waves before taking up the question. A heat wave is a period of extremely hot and often humid weather that lasts for several days or even several weeks. Heat waves form when there is a static high pressure system in the upper atmosphere over a region causing the hot air to become stagnant and trapping more heat. This high pressure prevents the heat from rising and keeps out cooling convection currents. Heat waves usually occur during the summer season between May and November in northern hemisphere. In India, heat wave is considered when the maximum temperature reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius or more for the plains and at least 30 degrees Celsius or more for hilly regions. There are different criteria for defining a heat wave including a departure from normal temperature and actual maximum temperatures. For example, a heat wave can be declared with the maximum temperature departure is 4.5 degrees Celsius or more or if the actual maximum temperature reaches 45 degrees Celsius or more. Heat wave can last from days to weeks and it can have severe impacts on human health, ecosystems and agriculture. Several factors contribute to the formation of heat wave in India. In spring, India experiences air flowing in from northwest. This is not favorable because the Middle East which is warming faster due to climatic change serves as a source of warm air that moves into India. Additionally, air from the northwest passes over the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan causing compression and bringing in warm air to India. Normally, air flowing over the oceans brings cooler air but Arabian is warming faster than other ocean regions so this is also a cause for the heat waves. Strong upper atmospheric worst early winds from the Atlantic Ocean control near surface winds in India during spring. When winds move from west to east they move faster than the earth's rotation. This descending air compresses and warms up contributing to heat wave formation. Under global warming the lapse rate which is the rate at which the air cools from the surface to the upper atmosphere is declining. This means that the upper atmosphere warms faster than the surface. As a result, sinking air becomes warmer and generates heat waves as it sinks and compresses. These processes combined with the effects of global warming explain why heat waves that used to occur once in a decade are now happening more frequently and more intense. The area affected by heat waves is also influenced by pressure patterns related to El Nino and La Nina events and it has been expanding recently. These are some of the information you should know about heat waves. Now, read the question. Statement 1 is correct. We saw in the discussion. Statement 2 says that heat waves can be caused by the presence of persistent low pressure systems in the atmosphere. It is incorrect. It is high pressure system not low pressure. Statement 3 says that heat waves can kill pests thereby decreasing the spread of diseases. Actually, heat stress can cause crop failures and contribute to the spread of pest and diseases. So, this is also incorrect. Statement 4 says that faster warming of Bay of Bengal than other water bodies is one of the factors causing the heat waves in India. It is Arabian Sea as we saw in the discussion. So, this is also incorrect. The answer is option A. Now, let us move on to our next question. This question is about the applications of geospatial technology. See, I have framed this question because geospatial technology is gaining momentum in the recent times. In order to recognize the sector in 2021, the Ministry of Science and Technology released new guidelines for the geospatial sector in India. Also, there is a national geospatial policy 2022 which provides the roadmap for the advancement of geospatial sector. Also know that in UPSC applications of technologies has been asked many times. In 2018, application of GPS was asked. In 2020, application of artificial intelligence that is AI was asked. So, this year UPSC might ask about applications of geospatial technology. With this understanding about the importance of geospatial technology, let us see the question. See, all the given statements are the applications of geospatial technology. Unfortunately, most of its application has not gained much popularity among the people. We just use Google Maps and that is all that most of us know about geospatial technology. Know that the tools used in geospatial technology is GIS geographical information system, GPS global positioning system and remote sensing. I already told you, government has taken many steps to improve the sector. One such step is formulating national geospatial policy 2022. In that, there are visions and goals for making India world leader in global geospatial space with the best in class ecosystem for innovation. Some of the vision include high accuracy geoid for the entire country by 2025, high resolution topography, survey and mapping by 2030, high accuracy digital elevation model by 2030. That is all. With this, let us move on to our next question. This question is about biocomputers. See, this topic comes under the science and technology. We know that UPSC will ask the recent developments in Sainton technology. In this context only, I framed this question. Now let us solve the question. The question asks us to find the incorrect statement. First option says that biocomputers are created using brain organites combined with modern computing methods. This is correct. Biocomputers are computers made with biological components. See, the research in biocomputers is carried out by a team of researchers in Johns Hopkins University. The researchers are planning to combine brain organites with the modern computing methods to create biocomputers. Organites are a simple version of an organ. They are three-dimensional cells made in the laboratory using stem cells. Second option says that biocomputers can be used to develop drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. This is also correct. This is one of the applications of biocomputers. Biocomputers are created to understand the human brain. They will also help in understanding the neurodegenerative or cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. In this, the brain organites are cultured from healthy individuals and the people with neurodegenerative or cognitive disorders separately. By comparing the data on the brain structure, connections and signaling between the healthy and patient-derived organites, researchers can understand why neurodegenerative diseases occur and how it can be prevented. Third option says that with current technology, brain organites can be made of size less than 1 mm. This is also correct. With the current technology, the researchers are only able to grow brain organites of size less than 1 mm with around 1 lakh neurons. Scientists are working on increasing the size of the brain organites that can be grown in the lab so that the computing capacity can be improved. Fourth option says that brain organites used in biocomputers can perform sophisticated functions. This is only incorrect. See, brain organites are made from human stem cells. These brain organites are very simple in structure and they cannot perform sophisticated functions as the normal human brain does. In the initial stage, these brain organites also do not have blood circulation, which limits how they can grow. This is about the brain organites, so the correct answer is option D. With this, let us move on to our next question. Windsor framework, which is recently seen in news, is related to which of the following? The correct answer for the question is option A, a protocol to reduce the friction on Great Britain to Northern Ireland train. To understand the treaty, you should know about the UK, Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Let us look into them first. As you see in this image, Great Britain is an island consisting of England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland is not a part of Great Britain. However, the United Kingdom also includes Northern Ireland apart from England, Wales and Scotland. And know that Republic of Ireland is a separate country. See, Northern Ireland was created in 1921. It remained a part of UK. Here there are two groups, Unionists and Nationalists. The Unionists wanted the Northern Ireland to stay within the UK. And on the other hand, the Nationalists wanted it to become a part of Republic of Ireland. From the late 1960s, armed group from both sides were involved in violence. This lasted for nearly 30 years. So an agreement was signed for bringing cooperation between the communities. This is called the famous Good Trade Agreement. It brought the violence to an end. The agreement established a devolved power sharing administration. And it created new institutions for cross border cooperation. It basically allowed for free movement of goods and people. All went well until the UK decided to leave the European Union. See, before the Brexit, the trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was easy. Because both were in the European Union and shared the same trade rules. But after Brexit, Northern Ireland became the only part of UK that has land border with an European Union country. Which is nothing but Republic of Ireland. So checks are required on goods transported between the UK and the European Union's market. But this could not happen on the Irish border because of the Good Trade Agreement. If new checkpoints are placed on the Irish border, then the cross border cooperation could be threatened. So a new deal was required to prevent any new checks. Therefore, a new deal called Northern Ireland Protocol was made. Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, new checks were introduced. But the inspections will not be carried out at the Irish border. Rather, the inspection and document checks are carried out at the Northern Ireland's ports. This applies to goods travelling from Great Britain. That is England, Scotland and Wales to Northern Ireland. The checks applied even if the goods will remain in Northern Ireland itself. So the Unionist parties, which I told you earlier, that is the party which supports the Northern Ireland being the part of UK said that these checks create a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Apart from this, businesses also complained that the checks mean extra cost and delays. So now this is why new Windsor framework was signed. This new deal aimed at significantly reducing the number of checks. So basically, two lanes would be created for the goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain. A green lane for goods which will remain in Northern Ireland and a red lane for goods which may be sent on to the European Union. Products going through the green lane will not have checks and paperwork, whereas the red lane goods would be subjected to checks. That's it about the Windsor framework. Now let us move on to our next question. This question here is about blue tribe. I have framed this question because many a times UPSC has asked about tribes. One such example is the question which was asked in 2019. It is about the particularly vulnerable tribal groups that is PVTGs in India. With this understanding, let us solve the question. First statement says that blue tribes are residing in the state of Mizoram only. See, this is incorrect because blues are a tribal community who are indigenous to Northeast India. And they are residing in parts of Mizoram, Tripura and Assam. Know that blues are also referred to as rianx. There are over 40,000 blues living in four districts of Mizoram. Know that about 35,000 blues from Mizoram are currently residing in relief camps in Northern Tripura. This is because of the clash between the tribes of Mizoram and the blues. Mizoram tribes are of opinion that blues are not indigenous inhabitants of Mizoram. And they are ethnically distinct from the majority of the Mizor tribes. That's why they wanted blues out of Mizoram. Because of this reason, ethnic clashes broke out. The ethnic clashes forced many blues in Mizoram state to migrate to neighboring Tripura in 1997 itself. This is about the tribes' group. Second statement says that in Mizoram, blues are designated as particularly vulnerable tribal groups. This is also incorrect because blues are designated as PVTG in the state of Tripura and not in Mizoram. So the correct answer is option D, neither one nor two. See, blues were in news because the blue tribal community in Tripura have exercised their franchise for the first time in Tripura. On January 17, 2020, the blue Riyang agreement was signed between the government of India and the governments of Tripura and Mizoram and blue Riyang representatives. This agreement tries to address most of the concerns of the blue tribal community. This agreement only provided voting rights to blues in Tripura. Since the tribe was in news, it is important to know about them. That's it. Now let us move on to our next question. In this question, three statements about proton beam therapy is given and we have to choose the correct ones. The correct answer for this question is option D, one, two and three only. As the name itself suggests, proton beam therapy uses protons to treat cancers. So it is a type of radiation therapy. Normally, x-rays are used to treat cancers, but in this case, protons are used. Now let us understand how proton therapy works. Know that fundamentally, all tissues are made up of molecules. This means that tissue is made of cells and cells of the tissues are made up of molecules. And these molecules are made up of atoms, which is their building blocks. In center of every atom, there will be nucleus, right? And the particle which orbits the nucleus of the atom are negatively charged and they are called as electrons. Now, when energized protons pass near-orbiting electrons, the positive charge of the proton attracts the negative charged electrons. This will lead to pulling out of electrons from their orbit. This is called ionization. It changes the characteristics of the atom and in turn changes the character of the molecule. This is because molecules are made of atoms, right? So when atoms are affected, then molecules will also be affected. And because of ionization, the radiation damages the molecules within the cells, especially the DNA. Damaging the DNA means destroying specific cell functions, particularly the ability to divide or proliferate. So by ionization, the ability to divide or reproduce is affected. See, both normal and cancerous cells go through repair process when their reproduction ability is affected. But cancer cells' ability to repair molecular injuries is inferior when compared to normal cells. As a result, cancer cells are more permanently damaged and subsequently cell death occurs. But this is not the case in normal cells. Normal cells will undergo repair process and they increase their cell population. And this is the working of proton therapy in cancers. Now before concluding, we will look at the major benefit of proton therapy over X-rays. See, the major benefit is exposure to radiation. Now look at this image. Can you see the difference? On the left side, X-ray therapy is given. See, initially the dosage is high and it affects the healthy cells before the tumor. And after the tumor, the dosage is not high. But some radiation is there, no. This affects the healthy cells after tumor. But on the right side, it is not the case. The initial dosage is not high. And the entire energy is released only in the tumor area. And it does not penetrate beyond the cancerous cells. Look at this graph. It explains the same. Here, the brown line is the proton dosage and the blue line is the X-ray dosage. See how the blue line extends beyond the tumor area and the brown line falls beyond the tumor area. Finally, talking about its side effects. See, in general, common side effects of proton therapy include fatigue, hair loss around the part of your body being treated, skin redness around the part of your body being treated, soreness around the part of your body being treated. So, the correct answer for the question is option D, 1, 2 and 3 only. With this, let us move on to our next question. In this question, three statements about adopt a heritage scheme is given and we have to choose the correct ones. The correct answer for this question is option D, 1, 2 and 3 only. See, the adopt a heritage, Apni Darohar, Apni Pechan scheme is an initiative of Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India. It was launched in September 2017 on World Tourism Day by President Ramnath Kovin. Under it, government invites entities including public sector companies, private firms as well as individuals to develop selected monuments and heritage and tourist sites across India. Here, development of these tourist sites means for providing and maintaining both the basic amenities and advanced amenities. Basic amenities include drinking water, ease of access for the differently abled and senior citizens, standardized signage, cleanliness, public conveniences and illumination. On the other hand, advanced amenities include surveillance systems, night viewing facilities, tourism facilitation centers, etc. Remember, depending on tourist football and visibility, the monuments are separated into three categories, green, blue and orange. Iconic sites like the Taj Mahal, Kudup Minar and Red Fort are categorized as green, while Purana Killa and Jantar Mantar fall in the blue category. The Sanchi Stupa is one popular site in the orange category. The entities are encouraged to adopt from the blue and orange category or a mix of three. Adoption of only green category monument is not allowed. The interested parties may also opt for any other heritage site or monument or tourist site not mentioned in the above list. Under the project, the unlisted tourist site will be automatically considered under the blue category. You can see the conditions here. So, the sites monuments can be selected and adopted by private and public sector companies and individuals. People who adopt a monument are known as monument mitras. Monument mitras are allowed to adopt the monument for an initial period of five years. The most competitive and the innovative vision would be considered as the successful bidding entity for the adoption. Monument mitras are selected by the oversight and vision committee coached by the tourism secretary and the cultural secretary. There is no finance bid involved. The corporate sector is expected to use corporate social responsibility that is CSR funds for the upkeep of the site. The monument mitras in turn will get limited visibility on the site premises and on the incredible India website. The oversight committee also has the power to terminate the memorandum of understanding in case of non-compliance or non-performance. So, essentially, the Adopter Heritage is a non-revenue generating project. Under the scheme, the government has put up a list of over 93 ASI monuments. But so far, only 10 monuments have been adopted under government's Adopter Heritage scheme. Since the scheme did not do justice fully, the government has now decided to revamp the scheme. There is no much difference in the working of the scheme. But currently, under the revamped scheme, the government is planning to conclude partnership with PSUs, private or individuals for as much as 1000 monuments. The revamped version was launched on February 15 of this year and the government has set up a target to sign a MOU for 500 sites before August 15. The adoption of the remaining 500 sites will be signed shortly thereafter. The top officials said that the cultural ministry would be projecting India as a cultural superpower during the year-long presidency of the G20. That's it. Now let us move on to our next question. This is a statement-based question about UN High Seas Treaty. Three statements are given and we have to choose the correct ones. But before solving this, let us discuss about UN High Seas Treaty from the prelims perspective. First, what is a high sea? According to the 1958 Geneva Convention on High Seas, the parts of sea that are not included in the territorial waters or the internal waters of a country are known as high seas. To put it simply, the sea ocean waters beyond the territorial waters of a country are called high seas. Now you may have a question, what is a territorial water? Territorial water refers to an area which extends up to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the coastline of a country. These territorial waters comes under the jurisdiction of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, that is UN class. Now we will look at the significance of the high sea. The high seas account for more than 60% of the world's ocean area. High seas are home to around 2.7 lakh known species and many of the species are yet to be discovered. So we can say that the high seas are fundamental to human survival and well-being. Since previously, there has been no international treaty or convention regulating the high seas. This new UN treaty on high seas has now gained prominence worldwide. Here note one important point that this UN high seas treaty deals with only top layer of the high seas. The bottom layer that is the sea beds are protected by a different international body called the International Sea Bed Authority. Now let us see about the provisions of the high seas treaty. The draft agreement of the high seas treaty recognize the need to address the biodiversity laws and the degradation of ecosystems of the ocean. Therefore the treaty places 30% of the world's oceans into the protected areas. See, as per the United Nations, the high seas treaty aims to put more money into marine conservation. Additionally, the treaty covers access to and the use of marine genetic resources. With this knowledge, we will solve the question. Statement one says that high seas refers to area of up to 200 nautical miles from the coastline. This statement is incorrect because the given statement explains about the territorial waters. But high seas refers to area beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastline. Coming on to statement two and statement three, both are correct. So the correct answer for the question is option C, two and three only. Now let us move on to our next question. In this question, two statements are given about the integrated medicine and we have to choose the correct ones. But before solving this question, we will look about the integrated medicine. Integrated medicine means practicing medicine in a way that selectively incorporates the elements of complementary and alternative medicine into comprehensive treatment plans alongside solidly orthorax methods of diagnosis and treatment. It focuses on health and healing rather than the disease and treatment. Integrated medicine views patient as a whole people with minds and spirit as well as bodies and includes many dimensions into diagnosis and treatment. It also involves patients and doctors working to maintain health. They do this by paying attention to lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, quality of rest and sleep and the nature of relationships. Now we will try to understand the importance of it. Unlike the modern medicine, the integrated medicine follows a more holistic approach. Its objective is to promote overall well-being instead of focusing on curing illness alone. It is very helpful in case of non-terminicable diseases because they are very difficult to treat once they have developed into chronic conditions. For example, diabetes cannot be completely cured with modern medicine alone. See, I have framed this question because recently two papers were published in the prestigious journals of American College of Cardiology and the American Academy of Neurology. They say that using yoga as an additional treatment can help patients suffering from the migraine headaches and from syncope. Syncope is nothing but loss of consciousness for a short period of time because of very low blood pressure. With this knowledge, we will solve the question. Both of the given statements are correct, but take note that the question asked for an incorrect statement. So the answer for this question is option D, neither one nor two. Now let us move on to our next question. This question is about the Indo-Pacific Humback Dolphins. But as usual, before solving this question, let us discuss about Indo-Pacific Humback Dolphins in prelims perspective. The Indo-Pacific Humback Dolphins are also known as Chinese White Dolphins. They are a species of marine mammal that inhabit the coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. These dolphins are easily recognized by their unique appearance. Their elongated snout, rounded head and hump on their back are distinctive features. They have a long door cell fin which can reach up to 30 cm in height and a pinkish white coloration. Adult males can grow up to 2.8 m in length and weigh up to 300 kg. While adult females are slightly smaller with a length of up to 2.4 m and weight of up to 150 kg. Now we will look about their distribution. The distribution of Indo-Pacific Humback Dolphins ranges from South Africa to Australia and across Asia to Japan. They are also found in the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea. These dolphins prefer shallow coastal waters and are often found in estuaries, bays and mangroves. Now let us see about its conservation status. The Indo-Pacific Humback Dolphins are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatening Species. The Indian Wildlife Protection at 1972 provides the highest level of protection for Indo-Pacific Humback Dolphins in India. This species is listed on the schedule one of the act which prohibits hunting, killing or capturing the dolphins. The act also prohibits the possession, transportation and sale of any part or product of the dolphins. Now what are the threats faced by these dolphins? The main threat to the species are habitat loss overfishing and pollution. Conservation efforts for the Indo-Pacific Humback Dolphins include habitat conservation, regulation of fishing activities and the reduction of pollution level. With this knowledge now let us solve the question. The first two statements are correct. The statement 3 is incorrect because the Indo-Pacific Humback Dolphins are classified as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List and not as endangered. So the correct answer for the question is option C. With this let us move on to our next question. C. This is a map based question. Four water bodies are given and we have to arrange them in north to south direction. Look at this map. From this map we can say that the northernmost is the Sea of Galilee and then we have the Dead Sea and then the Gulf of Acuba. The southernmost among the four is the Gulf of Aden which is located between the Amon and Somalia. So the correct answer is option C. 2, 1, 3, 4. I have framed this question because recently the west bank was in the news. So as a part of this discussion let us see some points about the location of the west bank. First of all, where is this west bank located? To know that, look at this image here. Can you locate the west bank region in this map? It is located between Israel and Jordan. C. As the name suggests it lies on the west bank of the river Jordan. As you can see here it is bounded by Israel to the north, west and south. To its east lies Jordan and it is located in the north of Dead Sea. Know that this territory belongs to Palestine. This is about the location of the west bank. Now let us conclude and take up the next question. This question is about otter species. Here three statements are given and we have to find the correct statements. Now before solving this question let us learn some points about otters. See, otters are members of the mammalian family called Mastelidae. They are invariably associated with water and they were adapted to live in a variety of habitats ranging from marine to freshwater environments. Otters are shy species so they are difficult to find. Otters are only active around dawn and dusk. Now, talking about their distribution otters are found all over the world except in Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and the other oceanic islands. Know that India is home to three of the 13 species of otters found worldwide which includes Eurasian Otter, Smoth Coated Otter and Small Cloud Otter. The smooth coated otter is distributed throughout the country from the Himalayas southward. But the Small Cloud Otter are restricted to the Himalayas and to the parts of eastern and southern western gods. Eurasian otters are found in western gods and Himalayas. So the occurrence of all three species has been reported from north east India and the western gods. In most of their distribution range otters occur along with Gariel, Crocodile, Ganges River Dolphin and several species of turtles. Now coming to the food habits, see, otters are basically carnivores. The fish forms the primary food item of the otters. These are some fishes, their diet is supplemented with rodents, snakes, amphibians small mammals and even young fledging birds. Now talking about the physical characteristics of otters, a giant otter measures approximately 2 meter in length and weighs about 32 kg whereas the Small Cloud Otter is the smallest of otter species. They grow to approximately 1 meter and it weighs about 2 to 5 kilogram. Know that the typical lifespan of otters in the wild is between 4 to 5. Now talking about the species found in India, see, all three species of otters in India such as Eurasian otter, smooth coated otter and the Small Cloud Otter are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act. Apart from this they are also listed in the appendices of sites. See, Eurasian otters are listed as near threatened in IUCN Red List and it is listed in appendix 1 of the sites. Whereas the smooth coated otters and Small Cloud Otters are listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List and they are also listed in appendix 1 of the sites. With this information let us approach the question. Consider the following statements about otter species. First statement states that they were adapted to live in both marine and freshwater environment. This is correct. Second statement says that Eurasian otter, smooth coated otter and Small Cloud Otter are some of the otter species that are seen in India. Second statement is also correct. The statement 3 is incorrect because Eurasian otters are listed as near threatened in the IUCN Red List. So the correct answer is option A 1 and 2 only. With this let us move on to our next question. Our next question is about space junk. Four statements are given and we have to find which among the following are the possible causes of space junk. But before approaching this question let us familiarize ourselves with the concept of space junk. First of all, orbital debris are space junk or objects that are floating around in space. It includes bit of old satellites or pieces of rockets that have been left behind after launching into orbit. Basically orbital debris is the junk that is circling the earth. The orbital debris vary greatly in size. On one extreme the debris can be as small as a tiny flick of paints or bits of metals that have come off spacecraft. On the other large debris could be an entire satellite that is no longer working. Why does orbital debris occur in first place? Orbital debris occurs for variety of reasons. One of the main causes is human-made objects that have been launched into space such as satellites or rockets. When these objects reach the end of their useful life or no longer needed they can become space debris. Another cause of orbital debris is collisions between objects in space. These collisions can occur between two pieces of debris or between debris and the functioning spacecraft. When these collisions happen they can create even more debris and making the problem worse over time. Natural causes such as micrometeoroids, asteroids or comets can also produce debris by impacting other objects in space. Orbital debris also occurs due to ESAT missiles test carried out by various countries. For example duty at 2007 anti-satellite missile test conducted by China 2700 pieces of space debris were formed. This is the single worst contamination of space in history. Interesting thing is that most of the debris created in 2007 are still in the orbit. Additionally, poor debris management practices such as incomplete disposal of rocket stages can also contribute to the accumulation of space debris. Due to all these factors the number of orbital debris in space is increasing. Look at this graph. If you notice the number of debris, satellites and rocket bodies in space has significantly increased over time. This is a major issue for countries that have invested heavily in space assets. Finally before concluding let us see the countries who are major contributors to space debris. The major contributors are Russia USA and China. See this year we can expect a question about space debris because recently in the month of March ISRO successfully carried out a controlled re-entry for the decommissioned Megatropics 1 satellite. ISRO said that the satellite was brought down as a part of its commitment to reduce space debris. This piece of news prompted me to ask this question. Here look at the statement 1. Defunct satellites are major cause of space debris. Statement 2 is incorrect. Volcanic eruptions do not cause space debris. This is because theoretically the maximum achievable column height or explosion height of volcano is thought to be about 55 km. But even the satellites placed in low earth orbit are placed at an altitude of above 300 km. So volcanic eruptions do not affect the satellites. Statement 3 and 4 are correct. We saw both in the discussion itself. Since statements 1, 3 and 4 are correct, the correct answer is option D. With this let us move on to our next question. See this question is about the Backward Classes Commission. Statement 1 says that Kallelkar committee was the first Backward Classes Commission. Yes, Kaka Kallelkar commission was the first Backward Class Commission set up in 1953. Some of the most noteworthy recommendations of the commission were undertaking cast waste enumeration of the population in the census of 1961 and treating all women as a class backward. Finally reservation of 70% seats in all technical and professional institutions for qualified students of Backward Classes but it was not implemented. Now, statement 2 says that the Mandel commission recommended that members of OBC should be given 27% reservations for jobs under the central government and public sector undertakings. This is correct. The Mandel commission officially known as the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission was set up on 1st January 1979 by the Indian government under the then minister, Maharaj Desai. The commission was chaired by an MP, BP Mandel. The chief mandate of the Mandel commission was to identify the socially or educationally backward classes of India and to consider reservations as a means to address caste inequality and discrimination. It recommended reservation of 27% of public sector and government jobs for OBCs for those who do not qualify on merit. Reservation of 27% for promotion at all levels for OBCs in public service. We will also see some basic information about national commission for backward classes. See NCBC was initially constituted by the central government with the national commission for backward classes act of 1993. So, initially it was a statutory body. However, NCBC now has a constitutional status as per the 102nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 2018. So, this amendment act only inserted article 338B. This emerged from the text of article 340. Article 340 says that the president may by order appoint a commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India. So, this is the basis for the existence of NCBC. Also know that the NCBC functions under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Talking about the composition, the commission is made up of five members, a chairperson, vice chairperson and three other members nominated by the president. The president determines the service conditions and terms of office. Now talking about the powers and functions of NCBC the commission investigates and monitors all matters relevant to the safeguards even for the socially and educationally disadvantaged. Then it takes part in and advices the union and any state on the socio-economic development of socially and educationally disadvantaged groups. The commission presents an annual report to the president. NCBC must perform any other tasks related to the protection, welfare, development and progress of the socially and educationally disadvantaged that the president may designate by regulation. Also remember while hearing a case, NCBC has all powers of a civil court. With this, let us move on to our next question. This question is about a protected area in Arunachal Pradesh. I have framed this question because in UPSC, questions about national parks were asked many times. One such example is this question from 2019 prelims. It is about the natural parks that lies completely in temperate alpine. So we have to prepare for questions like this, right? Now let us try to solve the question. It says that which of the following protected area lies in the international border between India and Myanmar in Arunachal Pradesh? The correct answer for the question is option B, Namdapa National Park. See, this national park came in use because of the illegal timber depots. Since it was in use it is important to know about it. Namdapa National Park lies in the Changlang district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. This is the fourth largest national park in India. It was established as a national park in 1983 and it was declared as a tiger reserve in the same year. The vegetation is characterized by tropical evergreen forest. The Noa Dihang river which is a tributary of Brahmaputra flows in a north south direction in the middle of the national park. As we already saw, it lies in the Arunachal Pradesh. Now coming to Flora, there are more than 150 timber species. The Pinus Mercusi and Abias Delavavi are not found anywhere in India except this national park. Then one of the rarest and endangered orchids, the blue Vanda is found here. Also, a famous local medical plant, Mishmi Titta, which is used by local tribal for all kinds of diseases available here. Talking about the fauna, it is the only park in the world to have four feline species the tiger, leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard. A number of primate species are seen in the park such as Assamese macaque, pigtailed macaque and stump-tailed macaque. Besides this, Halag gibbons which are highly endangered and the only ape species found in India dwells in this forest. It is also famous for critically endangered species like Namdapa flying squirrel, a species that was last spotted in 1981. Other important animals are the elephants, black bear, Indian bison, several species of deers, reptiles and a variety of arboreal animals. Among the bird species, the most notable are the white-winged wood ducks, then the rare and endangered species that is great Indian hornbills are also found that's all. With this, let us move on to our next question. This is also a map-based question and it is important to know about the mountain passes in India. We all know in UPSC map-based questions are very important every year there will be at least one question. So now, we will learn about the passes by solving the question. First of all, let us learn some facts, then we will attempt the question. Regarding the mountain passes, we will start from the east. It is the state of Arunachal Pradesh. The most important passes present here are Differ Pass, Yongya Pass, Chaukaan Pass, Kumbang Pass and Dihang Pass. Next region is Sikkim. The two important mountain passes of Sikkim are Jallapla and Natula. Jallapla connects India, Bhutan and Tibet. Natula Pass is also located close to Jallapla. It connects the town of Gangtag which is the capital of Sikkim and the Chumbi valley. Next is near the Uttarakhand region. The most of the passes present here connect Uttarakhand with Tibet. The pass to note here is the Lippu Lake Pass. It is the primary pass used by the pilgrims who go to Kailash Manasur over lake which is present in Tibet. Other important passes are Nithipas, Manapas, Moolingla Pass and Mangshadura. Next is Himachal Pradesh region. The important passes present here are Rothang, Baralacha, Shibkila, Debsha Pass. Here Shibkila Pass is the only pass which is inter-country. It connects Tibet and Kinaur district of Himachal Pradesh. Next is Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh region. The important passes in this region includes Imisla, Changla, Pencila, Lanakla, Kuratagla, Agilla, Kunjairap, Parpeak, Mintaka, Kardungla, Burzil, Zojila, Pyrrpanjal and Banihal Pass. From this information that we saw now, we can easily found out the correct sequence. Nathula near Sikkim, Lippu Lake near Uttarakhand, Shibkila in Himachal Pradesh and Zojila in Jammu and Kashmir. So the correct answer is option C. 1, 2, 4, 3. This is the sequence. Now let us move on to our next question. This question is also a map based question. This is a question about Libya. Libya has been in crisis mode since 2011 when an act of backed uprising toppled the Mohama Gaddafi government. Recently Libya made news. Currently there are two power centers in Libya. Tripoli based government of National Accord, GNA and the Tuberuc based House of Representatives, HOR. The conflict between these groups again brought Libya to the forefront. So in this year's prelims examination you can expect a map based question about Libya. This prompted me to ask this question. Look at this question. In this question four coastal cities are given and we have to arrange them in east to west sequence. To answer this question we have to refer this map. Now we know that of the four given cities, Alexandra is the eastern most, then we have Tripoli, then Tunis and then we have the Algiers. So the correct answer here is option C. 4, 3, 1, 2. See when we discuss the question like this you should not stop at the only points that we discussed. You should also do your own homework. For example, look at this map of Libya. UPSC might ask about the countries bordering Libya. Now what are the countries that share land borders with Libya? The countries are Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger, Algeria and Tunisia. UPSC might also ask whether river Nile passes through Libya. The answer is no. It does not pass through Libya. River Nile passes through 11 countries namely Egypt, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Like this you must think about the possible questions that can be asked about this region and note down the points. This is the best way to prepare for map-based questions. Limiting yourself only to questions we discuss will not fetch you marks. I hope now you have the clarity about how to prepare for map-based questions. Now let us conclude this question discussion and move on to next question. See this question is about electricity regulation commissions. First we will learn some information about this and then we will solve the question. See electricity regulatory commissions are quasi-judicial statutory bodies that are responsible for regulating the electricity sector in India. ERCs were formed in India in the late 1990s following the enactment of the electricity regulatory commissions act 1998. But later this ERC act 1998 was repealed and replaced by the electricity act 2003. So even though the ERC were initially established under ERC act 1998 right now they are placed in the electricity act 2003. Electricity act 2003 mandated the creation of central ERC at the center and state ERC at each state. Now what are the main objectives of electricity regulatory commissions? The ERC's main objective is to ensure the availability of reliable, affordable and quality power supply to customers. It also aims to promote competition, efficiency and sustainability in the power sector. It also upholds the interest of consumer. Moving forward we will see the functions of ERC. First we will see the functions of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. It regulates the tariff of electricity generating companies which are owned or controlled by the central government. Then CERC regulates the interstate transmission of electricity. It also determines the tariff for the interstate transmission of electricity. Then it provides licenses for the interstate transmission of electricity. It also specifies grid standards and other codes to improve the quality of service. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission has most of the powers similar to that of Central Electricity Regulatory Commission. So we will focus only on the powers that are unique to State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Firstly CERC determines the tariff for generation, supply and transmission of electricity within the state. The CERC also determines the rate at which the power discomps by power from the power generating companies and from power exchanges. Next the CERC promotes the generation and use of renewable energy. It promotes renewable power production by employing two strategies. The first one is by ensuring grid connectivity and the second one is by mandating that a certain percentage of power purchased by the discomps must come from renewable energy sources. These are some of the functions unique to CERC. Both the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission and the State Electricity Regulatory Commission can advise the government to take steps to promote the competition and efficiency in the electricity sector. They both also advise the government to take steps to promote investment in electricity sector. Besides this, they also conduct public hearings. Now read the question. Here statement one is incorrect. Central Electricity Regulatory Commission does not plan any such role. Statement two is also incorrect. This is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power. Statement three is correct. So the correct answer is option C. With this let us move on to our next question. Look at this question. This question is about cool collision. Now before answering the question let us learn some points about cool collision. See the cool collision is a global multi stakeholder network. It strives to facilitate knowledge exchange and joint action towards rapid global transition to efficient and climate friendly cooling. Apart from this the cool collision aims to link various actions across the Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. As we all know Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 parties at the UN Climate Change Contents that is COP 21 in Paris in December 2015. Now talking about the Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol to know about the Kigali Amendment we have to first understand the Montreal Protocol the Montreal Protocol is a global treaty that was designed to protect the ozone layer. This is done by facing out the production of numerous substance that are responsible for ozone depletion. They are known as ozone depleting substance that is ODS. Now coming to the Kigali Amendment it was adopted by 197 countries on October 2015-2016. This amendment aims to face down hydro fluorocarbon. Know that hydro fluorocarbon are manmade organic compounds and it is also a greenhouse gas. See HFC is not directly linked with ozone depletion. But HFC emissions cause increased warming of stratosphere. This in turn speeds up the chemical reactions that destroy the ozone molecules. Therefore in 2016 under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol countries have committed to cut the protection and consumption of hydro fluorocarbons by more than 80% over the next 30 years. As I mentioned earlier the cool collision strives to link actions across the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore the cool collision will help to achieve efficient and climate friendly cooling. The cool collision connects a wide range of key actors from government, cities, international organizations, businesses, finance, academia and civil society groups. The cool collision promotes a cross sectoral approach to meet the cooling needs of both industrialized and developing countries. This is done through better building design, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources while facing down HFCs. With this information let us approach the question. The first statement says that it is a global network that strives to facilitate knowledge exchange and joint action towards efficient and climate friendly cooling. This statement is correct. The second statement says that it aims to link various actions across the Montreal Protocol Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. This statement is also correct. The third and final statement says that the stakeholders of the cool collision includes governments and international organizations only. This statement is incorrect. Why because it connects a wide range of stakeholders from government, cities, international organizations, businesses, finance, academia and civil society groups. The correct answer is option A one and two only. With this let us move on to our next question. See in this question five countries are given and we have to find which of the following countries are landlocked countries. Here the answer is option B two only. Know that Laos is the only landlocked country in the southeast Asia. Recently there was news about Cambodia. This news is about the democratic institution in Cambodia which is on the decline. So as a part of this discussion, we will quickly go through some facts about Cambodia. Look at this map. What is all the information that you can gather from this map? First, Cambodia is not a landlocked country. The water body that is closer to Cambodia is Gulf of Thailand and not the South China Sea. Also, you can note that Laos is the only landlocked country in this region. Secondly, you can notice that Cambodia is bordered by Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Also except for Cambodia and Thailand, all other countries in this region have border with China. Thirdly, you can notice that no major latitudes like the equator or traffic of cancer passes through it. Then you can see that Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh is located on the banks of river Mekong. Also you can notice that though the Mekong river passes through Cambodia, it does not reach the sea in Cambodia. Mekong river passes through Vietnam and it is into South China Sea. Then you can notice the highest peak in Cambodia in the map. It is none other than Phnom Auril. You can also notice the Tonle Sap lake in the map. Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and it is an important source of fish for Cambodia. You can also notice the Cardema Mountains. The Cardema Mountains are located in the southwestern Cambodia and are home to diverse range of wildlife including tigers, elephants and clouded leopards. UPSC might also ask us about the location of the capitals of the countries in this region. The northernmost is the Vientaine of Laos. Then there is Bangkok of Thailand. After that there is Phnom Penh and finally the southernmost is the Ho Chi Minh city of Vietnam. With this let us move on to our next question. This question here is about the Battle of Thakolam. We know that in UPSC history is also very important. I have framed the question about this battle because recently it came in news. So UPSC might ask this here. Now coming to the question. The battle was fought between whom? It was fought between Cholas and Rastrakutas. So the correct answer is option B. Now let us see some facts about the battle which will be useful for your prelims. See Rastrakutas emerged as a regional power in the second half of 8th century. While their adversaries that is Cholas emerged nearly a century later in the second half of 9th century. This of two regional powers in the peninsula India brought them into direct conflict. Rastrakutas with their capital Maniaketta under the leadership of Krishna III challenged the Cholas through continued battles. In a series of battle Krishna III defeated the Chola ruler Paranthaka I. One among the battles fought between the Krishna III and Paranthaka I was the Battle of Thakolam. In this battle only the eldest son of Paranthaka I, Raja Dithya was killed. As a result of this battle Krishna III occupied the region of Tondainadu which was previously under the control of Cholas. See Tondainadi is a historical region located in the north most part of Tamil Nadu which lies adjacent to the southern most part of Andhra Pradesh. Sundarachola the grandson of Paranthaka Chola reclaimed the territory of Tondainadu from Rastrakutas. You may have seen this particular sequence in the Puneen silver movie. Subsequently Cholas under the leadership of his son Raja Raja Chola extended the territory till the southern border of modern day Orissa. Know that Chola Empire reached its zenith under the leadership of Raja Raja Chola. That's all. With this let us move on to our next question. Look at this question here. Here four countries are given and we have to find which of these countries shares a border with the Arunachal Pradesh state of India. To answer this question look at this map here. From this map it is clear that Arunachal Pradesh shares a border with China, Myanmar it does not share a border with Bangladesh. So the correct answer here is option C one, two and four only. Also know that Arunachal Pradesh shares a border with Assam and Nagaland states of India. See I have framed this question because recently a resolution was introduced in the US Senate. This particular resolution seeks to recognize Matt Mohan line as the boundary line between Arunachal Pradesh and China. The rationale behind the introduction of this resolution is to support India to organize Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India. Now let us see some points about Matt Mohan line. See India and China have a land border of nearly 3488 km it extends from the union territory of Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. The border covers the western sector which includes union territory of Ladakh. Then the middle sector which includes Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the border also covers the eastern sector which includes Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. See the border line which separates Arunachal Pradesh from China is only called the Matt Mohan line. The Matt Mohan line was first drawn as a result of Shimla Convention between China, Tibet and Great Britain in 1914. Note that China withdrew from the talks in between leaving Tibet and the then British government to negotiate and this is where the problem arose. See China is not recognizing this Shimla Convention by stating that it was not a sovereign state to sign the agreement in the first place. This is why China till now does not recognize Matt Mohan line as a border line between India and China in the eastern sector. Therefore China claims Arunachal Pradesh as a part of Tibet which in turn part of China. Because of this only the resolution was introduced in the US Senate to recognize the Matt Mohan line as the boundary between Arunachal Pradesh and China. This was being done to support India and to recognize Arunachal Pradesh as a integral part of India. With this information let us move on to the next question. See in this question 3 statements are given and we have to find the incorrect statement. The correct answer for the question is option D none of the above. All the statements given here are correct. Now I ask this question because in March 2020-23 the Union Ministry of Finance through a guest notification brought virtual digital assets within the ambit of prevention of money laundering act. The new class 47A was added to section 2 of the finance act in 2022 to define virtual digital asset. According to the class a virtual digital asset means any information or code or number or token not being Indian currency or any foreign currency generated through cryptographic means. So the definition includes the cryptocurrency and non-fungible token that is NFT. See the very design of the crypto currencies to bypass the financial system and provide an alternative to regulated currencies. This decentralized moral is difficult to be traced or confiscated or frozen by governments. They are anonymous in character and since they work over the internet they are not bound by physical borders. Just think about it. In the absence of regulation they can avoid minimum standards like know your customer regimes, anti money laundering and combating terrorism financing regulations and so on. Since they are often pegged to US dollars they not only replace the Indian rupee but may also lead to more dollarization of the Indian economy where the RBA and government might lose control. Even the government took various steps like imposing 30% income tax on cryptocurrency earnings started in April 2022. In July 2022 rules regarding 1% tax detected at source on cryptocurrency came into effect. Gifts in crypto and digital assets were also taxed despite all such measures cryptocurrency transactions are very opaque. So on March 7 2023 the government issued a notification bringing the transactions involving crypto assets under the prevention of money laundering act. It laid out the following nature of transactions to be covered under the prevention of money laundering act. They include exchange between virtual digital assets and fiat currencies exchange between one or more forms of virtual digital assets. Transfer virtual digital assets. Safekeeping or administration of virtual digital assets or instruments enabling control over virtual digital assets. Finally, participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuance of a and sale of a virtual digital asset. In short, VDA service providers, businesses have now become the reporting entities under the prevention of money laundering act. And they have to follow similar reporting standards and KYC norms as the regulated entities like banks, security intermediaries, payment system operators etc. In case if they notice any suspicious activity then they have to report it to the financial intelligence unit India that is FYU IND. Financial intelligence unit India is functioning under the department of revenue under the ministry of finance. It is the central agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and disseminating information related to suspicious financial transactions including the crypto transactions. C. If the financial intelligence unit India finds any mall practices then it will report such suspicious crypto transactions to the law enforcement agency that is the enforcement directorate. In turn ED will conduct a search and it will seize the suspected property without any judicial permission. This discretionary powers to the enforcement directorate are provided under the section 5 and section 8 under class 8 sorry under class 4 of the prevention of money laundering act. If the suspicious crypto transactions are found to be transnational the financial intelligence unit India will report it to the overseas financial intelligence unit. So always remember that all crypto currencies are digital currencies but not all digital currencies are crypto currencies. So always remember that all crypto currencies are digital currencies but not all digital currencies are crypto currencies though the idea for the central bank digital currency stem from the crypto currencies and blockchain technology CBDCs are not crypto currencies CBDCs are digital currencies of India. I can pause the video and look at this image to find out the differences between the crypto currency and the digital currency. With this we will move on to our next question. This question is about Japanese Incipilities Virus that is JEV 3 statements are given and we have to find the correct ones. The correct answer for this question is option D 1, 2 and 3 only. All the statements given here are correct. Now we shall see some important facts about Japanese Incipilities Virus. Firstly know that Japanese Incipilities is a viral infection. The first case of Japanese Incipilities virus was documented in 1871 in Japan. Hence it was named as Japanese Incipilities. The virus that causes Japanese Incipilities is a Flavivirus. Flavivirus is nothing but a genus that comes under the family Flaviviride. The viruses under this family are positive single standard enveloped RNA viruses. They have arthropods as their vectors. Japanese Incipilities also has arthropods as vectors. It is a mosquito-borne infection. It can affect both humans and animals. Now with this information, let us see the consequences of this infection. Most of the people infected with Japanese Incipilities do not have symptoms or have only mild symptoms. However, a small percentage of infected people develop inflammation of the brain. That is Incipilities. Know that the incubation period is between 4 to 14 days. In children, gastrointestinal pain and vomiting are the dominant initial symptoms. Severe disease is characterized by rapid onset of high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and ultimately death. The case fatality rate can be as high as 30% Japanese Incipilities virus is also a major cause of acute Incipilities syndrome in India. AES is locally known as Chumky Bukkar, that is brain fever. It is a severe case of Incipilities transmitted by mosquitoes and is characterized by high fever and inflammation of brain. The disease most commonly affects children and young adults and can lead to considerable morbidity and mortality and that is the reason for the concern. Even though we can treat acute Incipilities syndrome, we cannot prevent it from occurring through vaccine. Enough about AES. Now coming back, let us see about the transmission of Japanese Incipilities virus. See, the disease is transmitted to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes of the Kulek species. The mosquitoes breed mainly in rice fields and large water bodies rich in aquatic vegetation. So, the migratory birds along with the pig in the community will also play an important role in transmission of Japanese Incipilities in other areas. You can see that in the image given here, humans are incidental or dead end host to Japanese Incipilities virus. This is because humans usually do not develop enough concentration of J virus in their bloodstream to infect the feeding mosquitoes. Finally, know that currently there is no cure for Japanese Incipilities. The treatment involves the supporting functions of the body as it tries to fight of the infection. So, the correct answer for the question is option C. See, a cooperative bank is a voluntary association of individuals having common needs who join hands for the achievement of common economic interest. Its goal is to serve the poorer sections of society by using principles of self-will and mutual support. So, the correct answer for this question is option C. See, a cooperative bank is a voluntary association of individuals having common needs who join hands for the achievement of common economic interests. This is because the principles of self-will and mutual support. The main objective is to provide support to the members. Nobody joins a cooperative society to earn profit. People come forward as a group, pool their individual resources, utilize them in a best possible manner and derive some common benefit out of it. This is exactly what the word cooperative basis means. To put it in very simple words, the customers of the cooperative bank are also its owners. Basically the rural ones can be short-term or long-term. With the short-term ones being further divided into state cooperative banks, district-central cooperative banks and primary agricultural credit societies. The long-term ones are either state cooperative, agricultural and rural development banks or primary cooperative, agricultural and rural development banks. Now, the urban cooperative banks can either be scheduled or unscheduled banks. These cooperative banks are registered under the states cooperative societies act and are regulated by the registrar of cooperative societies of the respective state governments. But if they operate in more than one state, then they also come under the regulatory ambit of central registrar of cooperative societies. On top of that, these banks are also regulated by the Reserve Bank of India under two laws. They are the banking regulation at 1949 and the banking laws of cooperative societies at 1955. That's all. With this, let us move on to our next question. Our next question is about the recently launched PM Mitra Park scheme. Before approaching this question, let us familiarize ourselves with the scheme. The PM Mitra scheme is inspired by the 5 F vision of our Prime Minister Form 2, Fiber 2, Factory 2, Fashion 2, Foreign. In simple words, the scheme envisions to create an integrated textiles value chain right from spinning, weaving, processing, dyeing and printing to garment manufacturing at one location. This integrated textiles value chain at one location will reduce the logistics cost of the industry, generate lakhs of direct and indirect employment and it may attract investment and argument export potential. Under the first phase of the PM Mitra scheme, large textile parks will come up in seven states. This includes Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Each textile park developed under the scheme will include the following facility. The textile park will include an incubation center and plug and play facility, developed factory sites, roads, power, water, wastewater system, common processing house and other related facilities like design center and testing center. The parks will also have workers, hostel and housing, logistics parks, warehousing, medical, training and skill development facilities. Moving on to the funding aspects of the scheme. Under the scheme, the textile ministry will provide the development capital support for the development of common infrastructure of rupees 500 crore for each green field Mitra park and up to rupees 200 crore for each brown field park. Here, there is another component called competitiveness incentive support. Under this, rupees 300 crore will also be provided to each PM Mitra park for early establishment of the textile manufacturing units. Most importantly, the park will be developed by a special purpose vehicle. The SPV only oversees the implementation of the project. It is to be owned by the state government and the government of India in a public-private partnership mode, that is PPP mode. Now, let us take up the question. Statement 1 is incorrect. The SPV will be owned by the state government and the government of India in a PPP mode. Statement 2 is also incorrect. The focus is provided to both green and brown field projects with green field projects getting higher importance. The statement 3 is correct. The grants will be provided by Ministry of Textiles. Since they are asking for the incorrect statements the correct answer is option C, 1 and 2 only. With this, let us move on to our next question. This question is about the liberalized remittance scheme, that is LRS of the Reserve Bank of India. Here, 3 statements are given and we have to find the incorrect statements. Now, before answering the question, let us first understand about liberalized remittance scheme. See, LRS is a facility provided by the Reserve Bank of India. The LRS allows Indian resident individuals to remit a certain amount of money outside India every financial year for various purposes. The scheme was introduced in 2004 and it has been revised several times. As of now, under LRS, an Indian resident individual can remit up to $2,50,000 per financial year for permissible current or capital account transactions. The permissible transactions include education related expenses, medical treatment, travel expenses, gifts and donations, investment in securities and real estate and opening a foreign currency account outside India. The LRS is applicable to all resident individuals including minors. The LRS is being applied on a per-person basis. This means that the family members cannot pool their limits. For example, let us assume a family has 4 members, a father, a mother, a daughter and a son. The daughter is studying abroad and the father likes to send money. The maximum money he can send is $2,50,000. But the father cannot send $2,50,000 from his account and another $2,50,000 from his wife's account. This is illegal. So under the LRS, the family cannot pool their limits. Also note that the LRS does not apply to companies, partnerships, trusts and other entities. Now, talking about the taxation. See the money sent via LRS is taxed by the government. So any remittance made under the LRS is subject to taxes and regulations. See, when we send money via LRS, the government applies TCS. Here, TCS means tax collected source and the tax is collected from an individual when particular individual sends money abroad. Here, sending money is not just limited to sending it to a person. It even includes traveling abroad, buying assets abroad, shopping abroad and investing abroad. See the union government in 2023-24 budget made a change in the TCS for money sent via LRS. Earlier, TCS for foreign remittance was 6.5%. But in the 2023-24 budget, it was raised to 20%. Here an exception is provided to, remittance provided to educational and medical purposes. These two categories are still placed in the 5% rocket. This LRS was in news because recently our finance minister said that the credit card payments made by Indian in a foreign country while in foreign countries will also be brought under LRS and they will also attract a TCS of 20%. Now, with this information, let us approach the question. First statement states that it enables Indian residents to remit up to $250,000 outside India per financial year for various purposes. This is correct. Statement 2 is incorrect because the LRS applies only to individuals. The statement 3 is also incorrect. The TCS is not 20% for all the transactions. The exception is provided to the remittance provided carried out for educational and medical purposes where they are placed in the 5% rocket. Look carefully the question asked for the incorrect statements. So, the correct answer is option B 2 and 3 only. Now, let us move on to our next question. This question is about harsh shoe craps. Three statements are given and we have to find the correct statements. But before approaching the question, let us first see some points about the harsh shoe craps. Harsh shoe craps fall under the phylum Arthrapoda. This class contains animals like spiders, scorpions, harvests, mites and ticks. Like all Arthrapods, they have a segmented body and segmented limbs and a thick, chitiniest cuticle called an exoskeleton. Here, note that they are regarded as a marine living fossil. Why they are called marine living fossils? This is because they are among the oldest animals in the ocean. They are rare survivors of ancient lineages and resemble fossils dating back hundreds of millions of years. So, other marine living fossils include chamber nautilus, crinoid coral pass and colacanth. Now, moving on to its habitat. They live in a shallow coastal waters on a soft sandy or muddy bottoms. They spawn are lay eggs mostly on the intertidal beaches at summer spring high tides. There are four harsh shoe craps species. The first one is the American harsh shoe craps. They are found along the eastern coast of USA and in the Gulf of Mexico. The other harsh shoe craps are the tri-spine harsh shoe crab, the coastal harsh shoe crab and the mangrove harsh shoe crab. These three are Indo-Pacific species found in the coastal waters of India, Southeast Asia, China and Japan. Odisha is their largest habitat in India. Now, coming back to question, why is it very important? Firstly, their large and hard shell serves as a micro-habitat for many other species such as sponges, mud crabs, mussels and snails. Then harsh shoe crab blood is used to test the safety of many pharmaceutical drugs. But why harsh shoe crab blood is used to test the safety of pharma drugs? It is the strong immune system in the harsh shoe crabs that help them survive millions of years. And the creature has lived on the earth without undergoing any morphological change, meaning they retain this immunity even today. And that is how their blood provides a valuable medical product which can be used to test the safety of many pharmaceutical drugs. With this understanding, now let us take back the question. Statement 1 is incorrect. They are not the only marine living fossils. Statement 2 is incorrect. They do not inhibit the bottom of deep seas. They live in shallow coastal waters on soft sandy or muddy bottoms of the seas. Statement 3 is correct. This is one of the main applications of the harsh shoe crabs. So, the correct answer for the question is option C, 3 only. With this, let us move on to our next question. This question is about the disqualification of MPs. Recently Congress MP, Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced for a period of two years in a criminal defamation case. So, he was disqualified as a member of parliament. This is why we framed this question. Now, before solving this question, let us understand some points about disqualification. In India, disqualification is dealt by article 102, 191, 10th Schedule and the representation of people at 1951. If we take Rahul Gandhi's case, the disqualification is with respect to section 8, class 3 of the representation of people at 1951. Section 8, class 3 says that a person convicted of any offense and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years after his release. In simpler terms, if a person is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two or more years, then such person shall be disqualified as an MP from the date of such conviction. Also, the person shall not be eligible to contest in the MP election for a further period of six years after the release from the jail. Earlier, we had section 8 class 4 of RPA 1951. According to section 8 class 4, if the convicted legislator appeals within three months, then the disqualification will also be on hold. So, it will be on hold until the convicted legislator has exhausted all judicial remedies in lower state and supreme court of India. However, in famous Lily Thomas Union of India case, the supreme court struck down this section 8 class 4 and supreme court said that if the MPs, MLAs or members of legislative council are convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two years imprisonment, then they will lose their membership of house with immediate effect. So, as of now, if a person is convicted for an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for two or more years, then that person should be immediately disqualified. Based on the supreme court's judgment only, Agul Gandhi was disqualified immediately after the conviction. Now, with this information, let us solve the question. Here, first statement is correct. But second statement is incorrect, because in the Lily Thomas v. Union of India case, the supreme court struck down the time frame that was earlier provided under section 8 class 4 of the RPA 1951. So, it is a contrary statement. But third statement is correct. So, the correct answer for this question is option C, 1 and 3 only. With this, let us move on to our next question. This question is about the recently released guidelines on digital lending by RBI. Recently, there have been many news articles about this Chinese digital loan apps causing misery to Indian citizens. This makes the guideline very important and we can expect a question about this. But before approaching this question, let us see some points about the guidelines. Let us start with the applicability of digital lending guidelines. Digital lending guidelines need to be followed by lending companies if customer acquisition or credit assessment or loan approval or loan disbursement, recovery and associated customer services done in digital medium. That is, if the above set process are done in digital medium, they must adhere to the guidelines. So, these guidelines are applicable to digital lending extended by all commercial banks, cooperative banks, state cooperative banks, district central and non-banking finance companies including housing finance companies. Basically, the guidelines are not just limited to digital lending apps. This is being done to not let digital lending platforms get away with shifting some of the process included in the loan cycle to a physical medium. Now, let us see some of the important parts of the guidelines. Firstly, the information regarding the late and penal charges should be mandatory be conveyed to the bar IS by lending companies before the loan is given. Secondly, the annual percentage rate that is APR which is nothing but the interest rate of the loan should also be previously informed to the borrower before the grant of the loan. No increase is allowed in this annual percentage rate once the loan is given out. Thirdly, a key fact sheet should be provided to the borrower by the lending companies containing the details of APR, the recovery mechanism, the details of grievance redressal officer designated specifically to deal with digital lending. Then, details of lending service providers need to be given out to the customers before the grant of the loan by the lending company. Here the term lending service providers refers to specialized agency which are tasked with the recovery process by the lending companies when the loan becomes delinquent. Next, the borrower should be granted a cooling off period by the loan providers. In this period, the borrower should be given explicit option to exit digital loans by paying the principal and the proportionate APR without any penalty. Finally, explicit concern should be sought with the digital lending app before the grant of the loan. In the guide line makes it mandatory for the digital lending apps to desist from accessing mobile phone resources like file, media, contact list and call logs etc. These are the important points mentioned in the guide lines released by RBI relating to digital lending in India. With this basic information, now let us try to approach the question. Statement 1 is incorrect. This guidelines not just covers the companies that exclusively deal with digital lending extended by all commercial banks, cooperative banks, state cooperative banks, district central and non-banking grants companies. Statement 2 is correct. The lenders are not allowed to increase their interest rate once the loan is provided. Statement 3 is correct. The lenders cannot access the users phone data without getting their full concern. Since statement 2 and 3 are correct, the correct answer is option B. With this, let us move on to our next question. Look at this question here. Here, a description of a particular person is given and you have to find who is described here. He was an Indian social reformer who started the Shuddhi movement to bring back the Hindus who converted to other religions. His teachings and philosophy were based primarily on the Vedas. He wrote famous book named Sathyaar Prakash which is the text on the philosophy of the Vedas. Who is described here? The correct answer for the question is option B, Dayanand Saraswati. Now let us see some points about Dayanand Saraswati. See Dayanand Saraswati was an Indian philosopher and a social reformer who belonged to the state of Gujarat. Note that Dayanand Saraswati was the founder of the famous Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj was a socio-religious reform movement that supported the practices and principles based on the authority of Vedas. Then in the early 20th century, Dayanand started the Shuddhi movement. This movement was started to bring back the people who transformed their religion to Islam and Christianity from Hinduism. Apart from this, Dayanand Saraswati also advocated to go back to the Vedas. So we can say that the teachings and philosophy of Dayanand Saraswati were based primarily on Vedas. See, Dayanand Saraswati was of the view that confusions regarding the Vedas were raised due to the misinterpretations of the Vedas. That is why Dayanand indulged in writing rightful commentaries on the Vedas. He said that the Vedas were the guide to find the ultimate truth. Note that Dayanand was against the practice of idolatry and he believed in infallibility of the Vedas. He also promoted equal rights for women such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures. He was also against the caste system and advocated for the abolition of untouchability. See, Dayanand Saraswati wrote numerous book. One among his famous book is the Sathyaar Prakash, which is now remaining as highly influential text on philosophy of the Vedas. The book deals with various duties which need to be carried out by a human being. Certain works of Dayanand Saraswati include Sanskar Vidhi and Yajurved Bhashyam. Note that Dayanand Saraswati was the first individual in India to ask for Swaraj from the foreign truth. After his death in 1883 Dayanand Anglo Vedic schools were established all around India by his followers. Some of his notable followers are Lala Lajpatrai and Swami Shraddhanan. That is all about Dayanand Saraswati. Now let us move on to the next question. This question is about one nation, one ration card scheme. Two statements are given and we have to find the correct ones. The correct answer for the question is option A, one only. Statement 2 is not correct. Now we shall see if you fact about one nation, one ration card scheme. The ONORC scheme is being implemented under the National Food Security Act. This system allows all NFSA beneficiaries particularly the migrant beneficiaries to claim either full or part food grains from any fair price shop in the country through existing ration card with biometric authentication in a seamless manner. The system also allows their family members back home to claim the balanced food grains on the same ration card. These are the objectives of the scheme. The implementation of ONORC was initiated in August 2019. Currently the ONORC program has been successfully implemented in all states and union territories making food security portable throughout the country. The benefits of the scheme include firstly enabling the right to food. See, previously ration card holders can avail the entitlement of subsidized food grains under the National Food Security Act only from the designated fair price shop within the concerned state. However, if a beneficiary were to shift to another state, he or she would need to apply for a new ration card in the second state. So, ONORC envisages removing the geographical hindrance to social justice and enabling the right to food. Secondly, the scheme supports one-third of the population nearly 37 percentage of the population is that of migrant labourers. The scheme therefore important for anyone who is going to move from one place to another. And then it reduces the leakages. The ONORC can reduce leakages because the fundamental prerequisite of the scheme is deduplication. This will ensure that the same person does not figure as a beneficiary in two different locations of the country. Further, the scheme is linked with the Aadhar and biometrics. This removes most possibilities of corruption. And finally, the scheme helps in reducing the social discrimination. This is because ONORC will be particularly beneficial for women and other disadvantaged groups given how social identity that is caste, class, gender and other contextual factors including power relations provide a strong backup in accessing PDS. That is public distribution scheme. The government has also rolled out Mera Ration mobile application to take maximum advantage of the ONORC plan. The mobile app provides a host of useful real-time information to the beneficiaries and is available in 13 languages. Hence, the statement 2 is not correct. With this, let us move on to our next question. This question is about the monozide sand. Here, three statements are given and we have to find the correct ones. Now, before answering this question, let us learn few points about monozide. Monozide is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral and it is one of the beets and minerals that contain rare earth elements like lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, etc. Monozide usually occurs in small isolated crystals or grains that are resistant to weathering and become concentrated in soils. Most importantly, it is an important ore of thorium and hence it is radioactive in nature. Thorium is an important mineral because it has the potential to become the next generation fuel for India's three-stage nuclear power program. Here, you might have a question. What are these rare earth minerals? See, rare earth minerals are a group of 17 elements starting with lanthanum in the periodic table of elements and includes candium and yttrium. As the name suggests, they are not actually a rare element. They are moderately abundant in earth's crust but they are not concentrated enough to make them economically exploitable. Since they are rarely found in concentrations high enough to be economically extracted mining, these metals are extremely difficult and that is exactly why they are called rare earth materials. Thoolium and lutetium are the two rare earth elements with the lowest abundance. Serium, yttrium, lanthanum and neodymium are the most plentiful rare earth elements. You can see the 17 rare earth materials in the periodic table displayed here. Major rare earth minerals found in India are Illuminite, Cilluminite, Garnet, Zircon, Monozide and Rutile. These minerals are collectively known as beech sand minerals that contain 6 BSM. The fifth largest reserves of rare earth minerals are found in India. Due to radioactivity of the monoside sands, Indian rare earth limited is the sole producer of the rare earth compounds under the department of atomic energy. Displayed here are some of the sites where monoside sand is present. Make a note of them. There might be a prelims question in this topic. Now coming back to question, here statement one is incorrect. As there are other minerals in India that contain small quantities of thorium such as genotime and zircon. Statement two is correct. As India has the world's largest reserves of thorium and has the potential to become world leader in thorium based nuclear power generation. Statement three is incorrect. As the extraction of thorium from monoside is a complex process that requires significant investment in technology and infrastructure. So the correct answer is option two only. With this let us move on to our next question. This question is about bar council of India's recent announcement. Three statements are given and we have to find the correct ones. Now before looking into the question first let us know how the rules work before. According to the advocates act only advocates who are enrolled with the bar council are allowed to practice law in India. For this they must obtain a license to practice as a lawyer from the bar council of India. All others like even a litigant can appear only with the permission of the court authority or person before whom the proceedings are pending. Here note that even the Indian lawyers are allowed to practice legal professions in India only if the country allows them to do so. In that line for more than 10 decades BCA has been against allowing foreign law firms in India. Consequently in 2018 BCA told supreme court that it was not in favor of allowing foreign law firms to open branch offices in India. The supreme court also passed a verdict stating that foreign lawyers and firms are not allowed to practice law in India unless they meet the requirements. But the recent notification by BCA is a U-turn from its 2018 stand. Here you must know about BCA Bar council of India is a statutory body established under the advocates act 1961. They work under the ministry of law and justice. The primary mission of the body is to regulate the legal profession standards in India. This includes directing the state bar councils, standardizing law education and course framework at the universities and colleges in India. It also conducts all India bar examination to grant certificate of practice to advocates practicing in India. BCA also funds welfare scheme for economically weaker and physically handicapped advocates. Now coming to the question, what do the new rules allow? See the notification essentially allows foreign lawyers and law firms to register with BCA to practice in India if they are entitled to practice law in their home countries. However foreign lawyers or foreign law firms have not been permitted to appear before any courts, tribunals or other statutory or regulatory authorities. They are just allowed to practice foreign law, diverse international law and international arbitration matters in India on the principle of reciprocity in a well defined, regulated and controlled manner. So remember, the foreign lawyers and law firms cannot practice Indian law and can engage only in non-litigious practice. Same restrictions apply also for Indian lawyers who work with the foreign law firms. So the principle of reciprocity in the rules ensures that it would mutually beneficial for lawyers from India and abroad. I have mentioned here the advantages and disadvantages of this move. You can pause the video and look into it. So here the correct answer for the question is option D. 1, 2 and 3 only. That's all with this. Let us move on to our next question. This question here is about South China Sea. It appeared in news because Philippines confronted Chinese diplomats over the South China Sea dispute. But the parties did not arrive at the major solution. So this year UPSC might ask about South China Sea. Now let us solve the question. It has asked us to arrange the islands of South China Sea in North to South direction. Look at this image here. From this image we can easily found out the North-South arrangement of islands. Senkaku is the North located island. Below it lies the Parasal islands. Very slightly below it lies the Scarborough islands. Further below lies the Spratley islands. So the correct order is 4132. So the correct answer is option B. Other facts that you should know about South China Sea is that it is a marginal sea of the West Pacific Ocean and you can see that it is bordered by China, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Vietnam. The South China Sea is connected to East China Sea through the Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait. Then it is connected to the Philippine Sea in the East by the Luzon Strait. Then with the Sulu Sea in the South-East by the Mindaro and Balabac Strait. Then it is connected to Java Sea in the South by the Karimata Strait and Bunka Strait. As we all know this region is highly controversial. This is because the islands located in the region are claimed by multiple countries. As you see in this map this red line marks the China's claim. With China also calls the Philippine dashed line. Then this yellow line marks Vietnam's claim. Blue line marks the Philippines claim. And other players also have their own interest in their region. For instance, the Spratly Island is disputed between China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia. The Parasail Island is disputed between China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Scarborough Shoal is disputed between China, Taiwan and the Philippines. That's all with this. Let us move on to our next question. This question is about Israel. This is again a map based question. In the past year Israel came in use for several reasons. One such reason is Israeli Prime Minister's judicial overhaul plan. The centerpiece of the overhaul is a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. In India also there is a constant tussle going on between judiciary and executive regarding judicial appointments. So UPSC might ask about the Israel in prelims 2023. With this understanding let us try to solve the question. The question is about the countries that have border with Israel. Look at this image here. It is a country in the Middle East. It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria and Jordan to the east and Egypt to the south. As you can see it does not share any border with Saudi Arabia. So the correct answer to the question is option C 2, 3 and 4 only. We will see other facts about Israel. The important regions in Israel include Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights. The Israel is connected to Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. It is connected to Red Sea through Gulf of Acuba. The four major physical features of Israel include Mediterranean coastal plains, central hill region it includes Upper and Lower Galilee, Jordan Drift Valley and the Negav region. The other important features include Lake Kinneret. It is located between the hills of Galilee and the Golan Heights. It is Israel's largest lake and serves as the country's main water river. Jordan river. It flows from north to south through Rift. It empties into Dead Sea and finally Dead Sea. It is the lowest point on earth at about 1300 feet below sea level. Dead Sea's water is rich in Potash, magnesium and bromine. So it has the highest level of salinity and density in the world. That's all with this let us move on to our final question. This question is about biotransformation technology. We know in UPSC about latest technology and recent developments in science and technology will be asked. So this year we may expect a question about biotransformation technology. We will learn about it by solving the question. Which of the following is correct about biotransformation technology? So the correct answer for the question is option A. It is a technology used for processing of plastics. See biotransformation technology is a novel approach to ensure that plastics are processed efficiently and broken down. This is to prevent plastics from escaping refuse streams. In this technology, regular polythene is manufactured with a biotransformation that is biotea additive. This additive will help in achieving a time set biodegradation. So how does this work? See biotea additive are added to the plastic during the manufacturing process. The final plastic product will retain the properties of regular polythene and can be recycled like regular polythene and it will also fully biodegradable in natural environment. This will happen in three phases. See, when the plastic is in use biotea technology will be dormant and the plastic will retain all of the functionalities of regular polythene. It can also be recycled just like regular soft polythene packing in the same recycling streams. This is the first phase. When the plastic is exposed to natural environmental conditions such as sunlight, air and water, it will cause the plastic material to self destruct. But how? See, the biotea technology attacks the crystalline amorphous region of the polymer structure. This will transform plastic into a waxy substance that is no longer a plastic. This wax like substance is not harmful to environment. This is the second phase. And in the third phase, bacteria and fungi in the natural environment digest the wax and break it down into carbon dioxide, water and humus. So, there will not be any micro plastic. This is about the biotransformation technology. That's it. With this question, we have come to end of our discussion. I hope this session is useful for you. If you find this session useful, hit the like button, do comment and share it with your fellow aspirants. And don't forget to subscribe Shankar IS Academy's YouTube channel for more content about UPSC preparations. Thank you for listening patiently. Have a nice day.