 Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis brought to you by Shankar Ayes Academy for the day 6th of November 2021. So, these are the list of news articles that I have chosen for today's discussion and they are provided along with the page numbers of different editions. So, when you look at today's articles, we have one editorial and three articles wherein we have a topic on Yamuna and its cleaning project and then we have a brief discussion on the tea tribes of Assam and then we also have a discussion on a study regarding stubble burning and the harmful effects of particulate matter. So, with this brief idea of these articles, come let us get into our news discussion for today. Now, for our next news discussion, I have chosen two articles and these two articles, they talk about the recent Hooch tragedy that has taken place in Bihar. See Hooch means an inferior or illicit alcoholic drink. So, the tragedy here is basically about the consumption of illicit liquor and according to the articles, one of the reasons for this tragedy is the prohibition of liquor in the state. Now, based on this context in this discussion, let us see the background of the incident and then we will discuss about the pros and the cons which are associated with this prohibition. Now, the syllabus covered by this article is highlighted below for your reference. So, first of all, we will see or we will know what is actually happened in Bihar. See, this incident happened in the West Champaran and the Gopalganj districts of Bihar. So, the issue is on the eve of the festival Diwali, it seems that local people, they consumed spurious liquor. See, this spurious liquor contains chemical solvents such as methanol or any other poisonous substances say like that of alum, aluminium chloride and ethyl alcohol and these substances have got the potential to cause harmful or injurious effects to the human body or they can even cause the death of a person. So, spurious liquor is unfit for human consumption and many a times spurious liquor or the methanol is found to be the main reason for causing hooch tragedies and sometimes apart from these, even rectified spirit also results in hooch tragedies and if you are not aware, see this rectified spirit is a highly concentrated form of alcohol which is generally transported for selling as unexized cheap liquor. Now, coming back in this Bihar hooch tragedy, the consumption of the spurious liquid has led to the death of around 25 to 33 people. So, officials in connection with the sale of this spurious liquor have been arrested in this regard. So, this is the background of the article here and it is in this background this particular editorial has been written. So, this editorial basically has raised concerns over the enforcement of prohibition in the state. See, prohibition is nothing but the legal prevention of the manufacture, sale, transportation and the consumption of alcoholic beverages. See, when you take India prohibition of liquor is not something new, it was there right from the 1950's. See, this prohibition of liquor was the result of anti-alcohol protest that took its inspiration from the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and on that line many states implemented prohibition by 1950's and such states which implemented prohibition were called as dry states. Now, say for example Gujarat has had a total alcohol ban since 1960 and hence it is called a dry state but then many states later withdrew their prohibition. Now, in the case of Bihar, complete prohibition is being implemented since April 2016 and according to the author Hooch tragedies are an unintended but an expected consequence of this total prohibition. So, now let us move on to see the various pros and the cons which are associated with this prohibition or ban on alcohol. So, first let us start with the positives associated with it. See, firstly alcohol affects public health. So, in this slide this particular ban helps in maintaining the health of the public. Secondly, the ban has got certain economic and social consequences because generally men who consume alcohol they tend to spend all their money for buying liquor rather than on spending on essentials. So, this obviously affects the women and the children of the family ultimately pushing them into poverty. So therefore, when liquor is banned it actually helps or supports the women. So, this is one of the reasons why prohibition is supported by most women and apart from this it also safeguards the families from the social level because it increases the household expenditure on basic goods related to food and education. So, now let us move on to see the various negatives or the cons which are associated with this total prohibition. So, the first and foremost is it affects states finances. See, alcohol is a state subject and our constitution empowers the states to levy excise duties on alcoholic liquors for the purpose of human consumption that are manufactured in the state. So, that means the revenue for the state is affected due to total prohibition and this loss of revenue is one of the main reasons for lifting of prohibition in many states. And secondly, the prohibition raises the question of individual freedom. And thirdly, this prohibition leads to the spread of bootlegging industry which are run by liquor mafias which eventually leads to a parallel bootlegging economy. See, bootlegging means the illegal manufacture distribution or the sale of alcohol and if you closely analyse this bootlegging is a reason for the manufacture of poor quality or spurious liquid which leads to the death of many. And this bootlegged illicit liquor is also illegally smuggled to be sold across states. So, in short prohibition leads to unregulated production and also the sale of liquor via the black market. And this leads to excessive consumption of illicit alcohol and it also encourages other forms of intoxicating abuse say like that of drug abuse. So, this shows that the total prohibition does not solve the problem of alcoholism and addiction. And most importantly, a simple prohibition without proper implementation does not stop the sale and consumption of alcohol. Apart from all these, the total prohibition also affects the tourism industry because tourists cannot consume alcohol even for recreational purposes if they are totally prohibited. So, these are the negatives of a total prohibition. So, to conclude according to the author the weaknesses of institutions implementing the prohibition should be addressed and along with this vigorous campaign against alcoholism and also in setting up of de-addiction centres in every district will actually help in reducing these future hooch tragedies in the longer run. So, these are the important points from these two articles. Now, with this learnt points in mind, come let us get into our next news discussion. Now, let us take up this news article. So, the news here is that the Assam cabinet has approved the reservation of seats in the state run medical colleges for the students from the Tea Tribes community. So, this is the news here. Now, based on this context let us learn some important fact about the Tea Tribes community of Assam who are in limelight here. See, as per the information made available by the National Commission for Backward Classes there is no single community described as Tea Tribe in the central list of OBCs for the state of Assam. So, to put it simple, the term Tea Tribe is a broad term which is used to refer to those people who are associated with the tea industries of Assam. So, historically the Tea Tribes, they migrated to the mainland of Assam prior to the Indian independence and their migration can be traced back to the period of the British Raj when the colonialists started to exploit the economical potential of the region through tea plantations in the early 1820s. And another major reason is Assam which was known for its tea industries had a lot of plantation work which demanded significant human power. So, for this reason the Tea Tribes were brought in as indentured labourers from various provinces of India and Assam has got around 1000 tea estates where people originally from Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have taken up employment. And since then they have made Assam their permanent home and during their tenure at the plantation work the communities they eventually began to be identified as Tea Tribes. So, this is how the Tea Tribes formed. Know that among the Tea Tribes itself there are communities of Tea Tribes known as the X Tea Garden Tribes and these X Tea Garden Tribes is a term which is used to refer to those members of the Tea Tribes who have settled down close to the tea estates in the state after the end of their contract and they occasionally provide their services as casual labourers. Note that there are as many as 96 castes in the central list of OBCs for the state of Assam who are falling under the description of Tea and X Tea Garden Tribes and these people they not only constitute a sizeable chunk of the population in the state but they also play a major role in the tea production in the state and in fact about 53% of the total tea production of the country is produced by this community and this contributes to the economy of the state as well. And on talking about the distribution see people belonging to the Tea Tribes communities cannot be limited to certain areas. In the sense they are spread all over the entire state of Assam and economically these people are quite backward and these communities they also have extremely low literacy levels. So due to these reasons steps have been taken by the government for improving the level of literacy and education of these people and apart from these even other economic support are being given for generating their family income under the state plan. And note that since 1983 to 1984 the government of Assam has been implementing various welfare initiatives through a separate directorate called the Directorate for Welfare of Tea and X Tea Garden Tribes of Assam. In order to accomplish the socio-economic development of the Tea Tribes people and in 2004 the government of Assam established the Tea Tribes Welfare Department also as a separate administrative department. And on that line now as mentioned in today's article the Assam cabinet has also approved the reservation of seats in the state and medical colleges for the students from the Tea Tribes community. So these are some of the important facts about the Tea Tribes of Assam. Having these points in mind let us move into our next discussion. Now for our next news discussion I have chosen this article which is basically about water pollution and to be precise about the pollution in river Yamuna. See river Yamuna which was once regarded as the city's lifeline is now deteriorating and its pollution level is said to rise as the river enters deeper into the national capital. And as per this article river Yamuna is found to carry fecal coliform or in other words microbes from human and animal excreta beyond the limits which is permitted and this pollution of fecal coliform is found at all sites except the Palla village where it enters Delhi. So one of the major causes of pollution in Yamuna is the 22 drains which damp the sewage and also the industrial effluents into the river. And apart from this illegal industries has also got a role to play in the amount of pollution that ends up in the river. So at such a juncture the role of sewage treatment plants becomes really important in depolluting the river Yamuna which is in a contaminated stage and on that line this particular article talks about the sewage treatment plant that is adopted to clean the river and it further goes in deep and it explains the various stages that is involved in this cleaning process. So this is the ultimate crux of this article here. So with this idea in mind come let us approach this discussion. The syllabus covered by this article is given below for your reference. So first let us start our discussion with a brief understanding about river Yamuna. See the river Yamuna is a major tributary of river Ganges and it is the second largest tributary river of the Ganges and the longest tributary in India. And this river Yamuna it originates from the Yamunotri glacier which is near the Bandarpunj peak or the Bandarpunj peak in the Mussoori range of the lower Himalayas. And there it originates at an elevation of about 6,387 meters above the mean sea level in the district of Uttarakshi which is actually the town in Uttarakanta. So that means Yamunotri which is located to the north of Haridwar in the Himalayan mountains is the source of this river Yamuna which is in libelite at today's article. So from there it travels a total length of around 1376 kilometers before it merges with the Ganga at Triveni Sangam or at Prayagin Allahabad. So basically this river traverses through the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranshal, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and the national capital territory Delhi till it is confluence with Ganga. So this is the path it flows through. Remember the stretch of the river from its origin to Hockla near Delhi is called as the Upper Yamuna and some of the important tributaries of the Yamuna river are Tones, Chambal, Hindon, Betwa and Ken. And apart from this other smaller tributaries of the river are the Girri, Sindh, Uttangan, Senkar and the Rind. So these are some important facts that we need to have in mind whenever we learn about river Yamuna. So with this basic understanding now let us move on to see the intensity of water pollution in this particular river. See as we already saw river Yamuna has got a large basin which covers like around 6 states and also the national capital territory of Delhi. So due to its large basin the river water acts as a lifeline for many thousands of people and it is used for multiple purposes say from irrigations to industrial reasons. So due to these factors the river water has been subjected to extreme pollution both in terms of quality as well as in terms of quantity. See the river is polluted by both point as well as non-point sources. See those pollutions that originates from a single identifiable source say like that of a discharged pipe from a factory or a sewage plant is called as a point source pollution. So just remember that a point source pollution is a pollution which is caused by a single identifiable source. So when you take non-point source pollution it is the opposite of point source pollution and a non-point source pollution is a pollution that does not originate from a single source or a single point and it has got various sources. So as I told you this Yamuna river is polluted by both point sources as well as non-point sources and among these the National Capital Territory Delhi is the major contributor and followed by that comes Agra and Mathura. So approximately around 85% of the total pollution is said to be from the domestic sources and this condition is further found deteriorate due to significant water abstraction. See water abstraction is nothing but the extensive water with royals which ultimately reduces the dilution capacity of the water or the river in this case. So one example of this water abstraction is the natural source of water and the natural source of the natural source can be a river or a lake or a spring or stream or a aquifier or any other natural source for that matter. So water abstraction is the case. So one example of this condition is the stretch between the Vazirabad Baraj and the Chambal river confluence and this particular stretch is said to be critically polluted and another example for such an intense pollution is the Delhi stretch of 22 km of this river and as per the data this is said to be the most polluted place among all others. So on looking at the important role that is played by this river and the lives of the people involved we can understand that it is really important to conserve this river and also to maintain its quality as well as its quantity and this is where the sewage treatment plants have come into play. So by now we have a brief understanding about river Yamuna and the intensity of the pollution therein. So now let us briefly see how the sewage treatment plant which is adopted to clean this river Yamuna actually works. See this process involves two stages. The first is said to be the primary stage and the next comes the secondary stage. See usually there will be a storm water drain which is designed to transport the rain water to a water body. Now apart from this storm water drain there will also be a separate sewage network which is not connected to the storm water drains and the sewage which is collected from this network will be treated at the sewage treatment plants. But then what happens in the case of Delhi is that the sewage gets discharged into storm water drains at several locations. So obviously this leads to the rain water getting mixed up with the sewage which ultimately leads to the pollution of water. So due to this reason in most situations the sewage treatment plants they take water directly from the sewers they clean it and they either reuse it for purposes other than drinking or they return it to the drains where it runs into the Yamuna. So now let us briefly see the different stages of the water treatment that is involved here. So in the primary stage the water is passed through a coarse filter which is located at the tunnels entrance and the big floating trash which are present in the water at the initial stages are collected at this first stage and though the big floating trashes are collected still a lot of smaller floating particles in the water remains. So next this water is made to flow to a storage sump which is present inside the plant and this water is then pumped up to a large overhead tank from where it flows through various chambers. So then the water is made to travel through two screens. So the one is a medium screen that traps all waste pieces which are larger than 2 millimetre and the other is a fine screen that traps all waste bits which are larger than 5 millimetre and even after these stages the water is still blackish and also stinky at this point. So in the next step the water is made to pass into a grid chamber which is actually another tank where avia particles settle down due to gravity and finally the water is made to pass through an aeration chamber where in grease, oil and other contaminants are removed from the water by mixing it with air and all the collected contaminants are then kept in a separate chamber. Now comes the secondary stage. So by now all the heavy particles are removed from the water. So that means any pollutants that are existing in the water at this stage are either dissolved or they are suspended in it. See the suspended particles are nothing but the microscopic pollutants that float in the water. So as I told you they are suspended right. So to be removed they must be made heavy in order to sink to the bottom. So in order to achieve this or in order to make them heavy in order to make them sink at the bottom ferric alum is first added to the water in one chamber and followed by this the addition of polyelectrolyte is made in another. So in this process the avia particles settle down due to gravity and at this point the biological oxygen demand of the water is reduced to 75% and also the color of the water improves. See this term biological oxygen demand is nothing but the amount of dissolved oxygen which are consumed by microorganisms to decompose organic matter present in the water. So a higher value of this biological oxygen demand implies that the water quality is too low or it implies lower quality of water. So the avia particles which are removed from the water they form a sludge and they then transferred into another tank and there it is filtered to remove any extra water before it is made to fall through a pipe from the top into a dumper and this sludge is later used in landfills. See after the suspended particles are removed only dissolved particles are left in the water. So to remove these dissolved particles the water is fed to aeration tanks which contain bacteria that eat the dissolved particles and are fed with air and then the water is made to flow into another tank where a different type of bacteria eats up the ammonia which is present in the water. So by enough the biological oxygen demand value of the water at the end of the process is around 6.47 milligram per litre and this is actually better than the limit which is prescribed by the National Green Tribunal and if you are not aware remember NJT has recommended or fixed the standard to be at 10 milligram per litre and the water which is clean in this process is around 6.47 milligram per litre which is actually better than the limit prescribed by NJT. So the cleaned water is then supplied to the Prakati Power Corporation Limited wherein it is used for power generation. So this is the overall framework on how this sewage water treatment happens in Delhi or how the pollution in the Amunah River is being controlled at present. See according to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee around 22 of the total 33 sewage treatment plants in the city fail to meet their demands and this is where the issue arises. See if you remember at the beginning I told you that around 14% of all sewage generated in the city is currently not being treated and one major reason for this is the shortage of infrastructure. See what happens is at some sewage treatment plants the biological oxygen demand of water following the process is found to be more than 10 milligram per litre. So to reduce this biological oxygen demand further to limit below 10 milligram per litre we need more tanks for various procedures and this is where the problem happens because many sewage treatment plants they do not have the adequate space for additional development and this particular article here highlights this important matter of concern. So these are the important take away points from this particular article. So to conclude in this article we had a brief understanding about River Yamuna its major tributaries and also we saw about the intensity of water pollution that is happening in River Yamuna and we also saw about the various reasons for the river water to get polluted and then towards the end we saw about the sewage treatment plant which is currently at practice in depolluting the river and we also saw the various stages that are involved in this process. So with these learned points in mind come let us move into our next news discussion. Now our next news discussion is going to be based on this news article. So the news article here mentions about a study which is related to the stubble burning effect on the air quality of Delhi. So this study has been conducted by the Energy and Resource Institute and it has been supported by the Central Pollution Control Board. So basically the study aims to analyse whether stubble burning near residential areas adversely affect the respiratory health of people present there. So on that line the study has measured and it has compared the air quality monitoring and the respiratory health parameters during different exposure periods and so for this purpose the study has quantified fine particulates pollution. See here the term fine particulates are nothing but the particulate matter 2.5. First of all remember that stubble burning means the burning of crop debris and residues. So it is also called as a crop residue burning and this crop residue burning is actually a huge contributor of fine particles in the Delhi and the NCR region during the winter season every year. So you may wonder why this fine particulates pollution are taken into account. So to know the reason behind this you should first know what is a particulate matter. See particulate matter is the term which is used for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets that are found in the air. See among the particles which are found in the air some particles are so small that they can only be detected using an electron microscope and these are the particulate matter 2.5. See this particulate matter 2.5 are particles with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller than that. That is it is even 30 times smaller than a single strand of air. Remember these particles are so fine that they are easily inhalable and since they are inhalable particles they pose a higher health risk to the public especially it is of higher risk to the farmers who are living in the crop residue burning and nearby areas. So as I told you particulate matter 2.5 are inhalable particles so that means these particles can enter into our lungs and when they enter into our lungs they get settled on the inner lining of the alveoli. So this shows that even a short term exposure can actually damage the lung function and it can also exacerbate asthma and other heart diseases and unfortunately long time exposure to such particulate matter is associated with an increased rate of chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function and also an increased mortality from lung cancer and heart disease. So by now I hope you have a basic understanding of the particulate matter and also why they are considered to be a pollutant and their harmful effects as well. So now let us move on to see the findings of the study. See firstly the study is found that the concentrations of these particulate matter 2.5 is found to be increased almost 4 times when compared to the standards that were set by the central pollution control board. And if you are not aware the central pollution control board has set the ambient air quality standard for the particulate matter 2.5 to be 60 micro grams per cubic meter. But then during the crop residue burning period the presence of the particulate matter 2.5 in the ambient air is found to be around 193 to around 270 micro grams per cubic meter which is actually way higher than that which is prescribed by the central pollution control board. Secondly the study has provided insights regarding the stubble management interventions and it was found that all the study regions had similar exposure to particulate matter 2.5. So this means that it did not matter whether the regions implemented the interventions fully or partially or did not use any intervention. Still the exposure was found to be same because the regions are closely clustered. Thirdly during the crop residue burning there were evidences of around 2 to 3 fold increase in the respiratory symptoms along with skin rashes, runny nose or itches of eyes etc. And this could be witnessed across all age groups say right from 10 years to about 60 years of age and particularly the highest number of respiratory complaints were found to be reported by the elderly people. But the highest decline in the lung function was seen in the youngest age group who were between the age group of 10 to 18 years. And then if we consider the gender then the adverse effect of the crop residue burning on the lung function was found to be more pronounced in females than in males. So to conclude the study has found a strong association between the exposure to particulate matter 2.5 which is caused due to the crop residue burning and the poor respiratory health in the farming communities. And these are the important points that we need to know from this article. So having done with our article discussion for today let us now move on to the next segment of our in the news analysis which is going to be the practice question discussion. Now look at this question in the constitution of India prohibition of the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs is included in option A the preamble to the constitution option B directive principles of state policy option C fundamental duties and option D ninth schedule. See the right answer here is option B that is the directive principles of state policy to put it more clear see under article 47 of the directive principles of state policy the constitution of India envisages that every state shall endeavor to bring about the prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health. So therefore the right answer here is option B that is directive principles of state policy. Now moving on to the next question look at this question consider the following statements regarding particulate matter statement one these are the small particles which are smaller than a single strand of air statement two they can only be detected using an electron microscope and cannot be seen with the naked eye so which of the statements given above is or are correct see you should be really careful while reading the statements see particulate matter as I told you earlier in our discussion is the term which is used for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets which are found in the air so some particles such as dust dirt smoke are generally large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eyes but then there are also certain particles which are so small that they can be detected only using an electron microscope so this shows that the second statement is incorrect because it is said that they can only be detected using an electron microscope and cannot be seen with the naked eye now coming to the first statement see this particulate matter includes two sizes of particles one is the particulate matter 10 another one is the particulate matter 2.5 so when you take the particulate matter 10 they are actually inhalable particles with diameters that are generally 10 micro meters and smaller and when you take the case of particulate matter 2.5 they are actually fine inhalable particles with diameters that are generally 2.5 micro meters and smaller and among these two that is among the particulate matter 10 and particulate matter 2.5 it is the particulate matter 2.5 which is 30 times smaller than a single strand of air so this makes the first statement also incorrect see if you closely analyze you can find that the question is about particulate matter but then the statements are about the particulate matter 2.5 in particular and they do not apply to particulate matter 10 so since both the statements which are given here are incorrect the correct answer here will be option D that is neither 1 nor 2 now coming to this question the world's largest riverine island Majuli is located at which of the following states so the right answer here is option A that is a sum so for those who are not aware about Majuli I'll give you a very brief introduction or a description about it see riverine island is also known as river island and the word riverine means anything that is related to rivers so that means islands which gets formed in the river when the water level drops down is called as riverine islands so these types of islands are also created when two rivers interconnect with each other so many islands which have formed in the Bangladesh by the Brahmabutra are some of the examples of riverine islands and another good example for riverine island is the Majuli which is an Assam so it is basically an island in the Brahmabutra river and in 2016 it became the first island to be made a district in India so just remember this point that the world's largest riverine island is Majuli and it is located in Assam and also remember that in the year 2016 it became the first island to be made as a district in India so coming to the last question for the day consider the following pairs so in one side you have the rivers and then in the other side you have the names so this question is actually based on Panch Prayag or the five confluence which is the holiest of the confluence after the Prayag in Prayagraj so let's not go deeper into that if you could remember during a discussion about the origin of river Ammona I mentioned that it originates from the Ammonotri glacier near Bandarpunj peak in the Musuri range of the lower Himalayas and I also said that Yamunotri which is located to the north of Haridwar in the Himalayan mountains is the source of the Yamuna and from there I say that it will travel a total length of around 1376 kilometers before merging with the Ganga at Triveni Sangam or Prayagat Alhabath so have this idea in mind now having this idea look at this question it is given about the confluence of Alaknanda and Dawli Ganga and the confluence of Alaknanda and Nandakini and the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati so if you could recall the point I told you that the river Yamuna travels a total length of around 1376 kilometers before merging with the Ganga at Triveni Sangam so and when you look at the third statement here you can clearly see that this point is reflected here that is it is said that the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati is Triveni Sangam so just with the words Ganga, Yamuna and Triveni Sangam we can actually guess that this is a correct statement so by guessing that when you look at the options given you can find that the third option is only given in option D because in the first three options the third statement is not given so according to our guessing the third statement is right only option D has got the third statement we can go with the third statement which is actually the right answer here that is the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati is the Triveni Sangam and so the right answer here will be option D that is 1, 2 and 3 so with this we have come to the end of today's inter-news analysis and if you had liked our video then don't forget to like, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar Ayes Academy YouTube channel for more updates regarding UPSC Civil Services preparation.