 Good evening as friends, welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarayesh Academy for the date 21st of August 2023. Displayed here are the list of news articles we will be going through today. Now before getting into the discussion, I have an important announcement to make. The much awaited pre-storming test series of Shankarayesh Academy is about to start. It is going to start from 21st of September and the first test is on 18th of September. The other details regarding the test series are displayed here. You can go through it. Now without wasting time, let's start the discussion. Take a look at this article from yesterday's newspaper. The Chief Justice of India has recently released a handbook. This handbook provides guidance on how to avoid using harmful gender stereotypes, especially those about women. It identifies language that promotes such stereotype and suggests alternative words that are more neutral and more inclusive. So in our discussion, we will discuss what are the changes made by the Supreme Court and how it will help in tackling gender stereotypes. Before getting into the discussion, I have highlighted the syllabus regarding this discussion for your reference. You can go through it. First, you have to know that this handbook was titled as Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes. What is the objective of this handbook? The goal of this handbook is to encourage use of language that reflects a more respectful understanding of gender. It also provides equal rights for all individuals regardless of their gender. Ultimately, it aims to promote a gender-sensitive language and tries to eliminate gender stereotyping. Here I have mentioned the word gender stereotyping. What is gender stereotyping and what are the negative impacts of gender stereotyping on society? See, gender stereotyping is the practice of assigning certain characteristics, words or behavior to a person based on their gender. These stereotypes can have a significant impact on how people are treated and perceived. For example, a common stereotype is that women are more emotional than men. This stereotype can lead to women being dismissed or ignored in the workplace, or it can make it difficult for them to get the same opportunities as men. Another common stereotype is that men are better at math and science than women. This stereotype may discourage girls from pursuing careers in these fields. Gender-based violence, harassment and discrimination are often rooted in gender stereotypes. These stereotypes are harmful because they lead to discrimination and prejudice, and it can also lead to normalization of these harmful behaviors. Gender stereotypes often result in unequal pay and disparities in the workforce. So, it is important to challenge gender stereotypes in order to create a more inclusive and a more equitable society. Now, let us come back to the handbook released by the Supreme Court. We shall see what are the important changes made by the handbook. The handbook made many changes regarding the use of certain words in the judiciary. For example, the handbook suggests using the phrase, woman who are engaged in sexual relations outside of marriage instead of the word adulterous. It also suggests using words woman and wife without the prefixes chast and obedient. The handbook also provides more inclusive words such as partner instead of husband or wife. It says that, judges and legal practitioners should be aware of the way they describe people's role in the society. For example, instead of housewife, use the term homemaker. The handbook also advises to be mindful of the pronouns. For example, it suggests using the pronoun they instead of he or she. Some other examples like this are given in this picture. You can go through it. Now, why it is important for judges to use proper language? The words used by judges are important because it has significant impact on how the law is interpreted and applied. It can be used to uphold the values of the law and to promote equality and justice. For example, if a judge uses gendered language such as manpower or fireman, it can reinforce the idea that certain roles and occupations are only suited for men. Similarly, if a judge uses stereotypical languages such as historical or emotional, it can reinforce the idea that women are less capable and less rational than men. This can have a negative impact on women who are seeking to be taken seriously in the legal system. The handbook argues that it is important for the judges to use gender neutral and inclusive language whenever possible. Let us see some of the significance of the handbook in combating gender stereotyping. First is ensuring fairness and impartiality. Judges are supposed to be impartial arbiters of law. The language they use should not deflect their own personal biases or opinions. The second one is promoting equality and justice. The language that judges use should not reinforce stereotypes or discrimination. It should be inclusive and respectful of all people. The third important significance is to uphold the rule of law. Stereotypical language can harm the application of the law and undermine the constitutional principles of equality and dignity. Since our legal system is based on the principle of equality, the language used in courts should reflect this principle. Now we shall see some of the Supreme Court judgments that condemn gender stereotyping in the past. The first one is the Joseph Schein West Union of India case. In this case, the Supreme Court struck down the offence of adultry under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code. The court said that the law on adultry was a codified rule of patriarchy and it confined women to a narrow sphere in the behaviour. This is the first important judgment. The second one is the state of Jharkhand West Shailendra Kumar Roy case. In this judgment, the Supreme Court put a categorical ban on the two-finger test. The court said that the test was irrelevant to the determination of rape and it violated the dignity of the rape survivors. Then in the state of Punjab West Gurumith Singh case, the court observed that the testimony of the survivor or victim of sexual violence is inherently credible. The court said that the allegation should not be disposed simply because of assumptions that women often falsely accuse men. See these are some verdicts that are important in challenging the gender stereotypes and promoting gender equality. Now coming to the conclusion part. See language is a vital tool for the law because language expresses the values and intentions of the lawmakers and the judges. So it is important for the judges and the judiciary to be aware of the impacts of their words and they have to use their words very carefully. This release of handbook is the first important step in creating gender neutral language in the Indian judiciary. As our Chief Justice rightly mentioned, the language a judge uses reflects not only their interpretation of the law but their perception of the society as well. With this note, let us conclude this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is gender stereotyping, the negative impacts of gender stereotyping in the society. Then we saw some changes made by the handbook and we saw the positive impacts these changes will bring to the judiciary. And finally, we saw some judgments given by the Supreme Court that reinforces gender equality. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this article from yesterday's newspaper. According to the article, new studies on the wolf riot star has revealed that it might produce a magnetar after the supernova explosion. This is about the article given here. So in our article discussion today, let us quickly go through what is a supernova and what is a magnetar. A supernova is nothing but a large explosion that takes place at the end of a star's life cycle. It is the largest explosion that can take place in the space. As you know, stars are celestial bodies that emit their own light. A very good example for a star is the sun. See, these stars are formed in a cloud of gas and dust, which is known as a nebula. Though the stars shine for many thousands or even millions of years, the stars do not last forever. Over the time, changes occur in the star and the final stages of the star's life depends on the star's size. Here in the image, you can see how the star develops into a supernova. Okay, a supernova explosion happens when there is a change in the core of a star. Changes can occur in two different ways, both resulting in a supernova. See, the first type of supernova happens in a binary star system. Binary stars are two stars that orbit the same point. One of the stars, which is a carbon-oxygen white dwarf, steals matter from its companion star. Eventually, the white dwarf accumulates too much matter. When a star has too much matter, it explodes, resulting in a supernova. This is the first type. The second type of supernova occurs when a single star comes to the end of its lifetime. As the star runs out of nuclear fuel, some of its mass flows into its core. The core eventually becomes too heavy to withstand its own gravitational force. The core collapses, which results in the giant explosion of a supernova. The interesting fact here is that our very own sun can develop into a supernova. But remember, the sun does not have enough mass to become a supernova. So instead, our sun might develop into a planetary supernova. Okay, see, during the supernova explosion, the core collapses and crushes together every proton and electron into a neutron. If the core of the collapsing star is between one and three times the mass of the sun, then the newly formed neutrons can stop the collapse, resulting in leaving behind a neutron star. But if the core has mass more than that, it will continue to collapse into a stellar mass black holes. Okay, so depending on the size of the star, the star might turn into a neutron star after a supernova explosion. Or if it is heavy enough, it might turn into a black hole after the supernova explosion. Okay, see, the neutron stars can be observed in two forms. One is the pulsar and the other is the magnetars. These two classes of neutron stars are called non-quiet neutron stars. Here, pulsars are rapidly rotating neutron stars. These neutron stars blast out pulses of radiation at regular intervals. Intervals may range from seconds to milliseconds. They have very strong magnetic fields which pushes out jets of particles along the two magnetic poles. These accelerated particles produce very powerful beams of light. Since the magnetic field is not aligned with the spin axis, these beams of particle and light are dumped around as the star rotates. Okay, now coming to magnetars. See, in a typical neutron star, the magnetic field is trillion times the Earth's magnetic field. But in a magnetar, the magnetic field is another thousand times stronger than a neutron star. So, the magnetar is nothing but a neutron star with an extreme and powerful magnetic field. Also, in all neutron stars, the crust of the star is locked together with the magnetic field. So, any change in one will affect the other. The crust of the neutron star is usually under immense strain and even a small movement of the crust will cause a giant explosion. But since the crust and magnetic fields are tied together, that explosion ripples through the magnetic field. In a magnetar with its huge magnetic field, any movement in the crust can cause the magnetar to release a vast amount of energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation. For example, a magnetar called SGR180620 had a burst where in one-tenth of a second, it released more energy than our sun has emitted in the last one lakh years. Such powerful will be the explosion when it happens in a magnetar due to a movement in the crust. Okay, understand this. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is a neutron star, we saw what is a supernova and we also saw some points about pulsar and magnetars. Now, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. Yesterday, Russia's Roscosmos Space Agency said that the Lunar 25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after its pun into uncontrolled orbit. Lunar 25 is a pilotless spacecraft and it was launched to land in the South Pole area of the moon. Scientists all over the world show interest in this region because of the occurrence of water ice in the region. It had been expected to land on August 21, but its contact was lost on August 19 itself. This is due to its collusion with the surface of the moon. See, only three governments have managed successful moon landings which include Soviet Union, the United States and China. After the disintegration of USSR, Lunar 25 is the first lunar mission of Russia since 1976. So, its failure actually underscores the decline of Russia's space power status. This is about the article given here in this context. Let us quickly go through some important points about Lunar 25. Lunar 25 is a robotic lunar lander mission developed by Russian space agency Roscosmos. It is part of the broader Lunar globe program which aims to explore moon and conduct scientific experiments on its surface and the surrounding environment. The primary goal of Lunar 25 is to conduct detailed studies of the moon's South Pole region, mainly in the South Pole Atkin basin. To be specific, the mission aimed to study the composition of the polar regolith, that is the rock, and to study the plasma and the dust components of the Lunar polar expo sphere. Lunar 25 was launched on 10th August 2023 using the Soyuz rocket. It was launched almost a month after the launch of Chandrayaan-3. However, it will cover the 3.84 lakh kilometer journey within days. This is mainly due to the lighter payload and more fuel storage. This aided the Russian mission to follow a more direct trajectory towards the moon. This saves time while reaching greater distance. The lift of mass of Lunar 25 is just 1750 kilograms compared to Chandrayaan's 3900 kilograms. While Chandrayaan-3 took a circuitous route to gain velocity with low fuel, Lunar 25 took a direct trajectory towards the moon. Another reason Lunar 25 can land a couple of days before India is because Lunar Dawn at its landing site will happen earlier. See, one lunar day is equal to 14 Earth days. Since the payloads are being powered by solar panels, landing happens at the beginning of the solar day. This ensures that the experiments get full 14 Earth days worth of sunlight. Apart from being lighter than the Indian mission, Lunar 25 does not carry a rover. Chandrayaan-3 has a rover capable of moving around 500 meters. The Russian lander has 8 payloads. You can see that in the image given here. And since it has a heating mechanism as well as a power source other than just the solar panels, the Russian mission was expected to work for a year. Whereas since the Indian mission lacked both, it was built to last only one lunar day or 14 Earth days. That is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw some important points about Lunar 25 and we saw the difference between Lunar 25 and Chandrayaan-3 mission. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this news article. This article is about generative AI. In this article, the author points out various issues surrounding generative AI. In addition to this, he also suggests some solutions to tackle this issue. So in our discussion, we will first understand what is generative AI. Then we will understand the points discussed in the article. Before getting into the discussion, I have highlighted the syllabus regarding this discussion. You can go through it. Now let's start with generative AI. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can produce various types of contents like text, images, audios and so on. The contents that are produced by generative AI are usually similar to human created content. In other words, the points produced by generative AI are indistinguishable from human created content. This is because the GAI uses algorithms and models to generate new data based on the patterns that it had learned from existing data. This means that the generative AI does not replicate the existing content. Rather, it generates its own content based on the learned patterns. These factors makes the contents of generative AI similar to human created contents. One of the famous examples of generative AI is chat GBT. The chat GBT is an AI chatbot that can create human-like conversational dialogues. For example, if you ask chat GBT to tell a story, it will tell you a story as a human would say. It can even help you with writing letters and essays. Yes, if you ask chat GBT to provide love letter with some specialized message, it would provide you such personalized love letter and the letter would look like a human wrote it. So, chat GBT is one of the apt examples of generative AI. I hope you understand the basic points about generative AI. Now moving forward, let us see the advantages of generative AI. Firstly, the generative AI will help to increase the efficiency and productivity in various industries. For example, in the manufacturing industry, the generative AI can be used to analyze defects in the production process. By doing this, the AI will help to reduce the wastage and time consumed, thereby increasing the productivity in the process. Apart from this, the AI will help in automation of repetitive and time consuming tasks in the industry. This in turn will increase the efficiency of the industry. This is the first advantage. Secondly, the generative AI has the potential to increase creativity and innovation. See, the generative AI can generate ideas, designs and solutions to various problems that would take humans a lot of time to find a solution. So, it can bring up creativity and innovation in many industries like arts, music and engineering. This in turn helps in the growth of these industries. Thirdly, the generative AI can provide access to new resources and data. The generative AI can generate new data such as simulation, prediction and forecast. For example, it can provide prediction on complex issues like climate change. This helps us understand the future, impacts of climate change and allows us to make informed decisions. And the final advantage is personalization and customization. See, the generative AI can improve personalization and customization in various industries. For example, in the fashion industry, generative AI can be used to create custom fit clothing based on measurements of a respective person. Then in the gaming industry, it can help us create unique and personalized gaming experience for each player. So, personalization and customization of things is one of the important advantage of generative AI. Having understood the advantages, now let us look into the disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that generative AI can sometimes lead to the spread of false and misleading information. As we saw earlier, it can be able to create contents that are indistinguishable from humans. See, if this feature ends up in the hands of bad actors, it will create chaos in the society. For example, let us consider one particular person wants to damage the image of US president Joe Biden. So, with the help of generative AI, the person can make a video where it looks like that the US president gives hatred speech against a particular community in the US. See, this video here is created using generative AI, but the common people do not know how the video was created. So, it will end up spreading as false and misleading information, which in turn brings chaos to the society. This is the first disadvantage of generative AI. The second disadvantage is regarding privacy concern. As we saw earlier, the generative AI creates content based on learned pattern from the existing data. This means the AI needs to collect the existing online data to generate its content. This raises the concern. See, there is no clear cut policies or rules worldwide that regulates the collection, storage and use of data by the AI tools. So, there is a chance that privacy of a person or business can be violated by the generative AI tools. The third disadvantage is huge energy consumption. Since the generative AI models relies on advanced technology, it requires huge quantity of electricity to run. See, we need to produce high energy to run GAI models. For a country like India which relies more on fossil fuel-paced energy production, the high energy demand will ultimately harm the environment. These are some of the disadvantages associated with generative AI. Now, what can be done to address these concerns? Firstly, the governments should devise strong regulation and guidelines to address the issue of privacy concern associated with the generative AI. Apart from this, the government should develop a robust data governance framework. On one hand, the framework will help ensure data privacy, security and compliance in the AI system. And on the other hand, the framework will help address the concerns in the AI outputs. Secondly, the government should establish strong partnership with external AI experts, technology providers and relevant industry body to deal with the generative AI tools. See, collaboration with these partners will help the government to identify best practices and to share insights on addressing the common challenges related to generative AI. These are some of the measures that can be taken to address the concerns around generative AI. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is generative AI? We saw its advantages and we saw its disadvantages. And finally, we saw two steps that can be taken to address the concerns around generative AI. Now, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article from yesterday's newspaper. This article deals with microplastics. So, in our discussion today, we will see what are microplastics, why and where it is used and finally, we will see how they can remove from the water bodies. Okay, let us start by understanding water microplastics. Microplastics are defined as synthetic solid particles with size ranging from 1 micrometer to 5 millimeter. And these particles are insoluble in water. The major sources of microplastic includes commercial product development and breaking down of larger plastics. See, microplastics are added to a range of products including cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products. They are relatively cheap ingredient and are used in these products for a variety of purpose. This includes as an abrasive or exfoliant, a bulking agent to prolong shelf life or further control release of active ingredients. Previously, they were commonly used in products like exfoliating scrubs, toothpaste and lotions to provide texture. Also, they are used in industrial processes like fillers, additives or reinforcing agents in a variety of materials and products that includes paints, coatings, adhesive and construction material. These are the important areas and the applications of microplastic. Okay, see the issue with microplastic is that they cannot be captured by the wastewater treatment system. So, if they are washed down the drain after use, they can end up in our rivers and finally ending up in the oceans. Due to their composition, they persist in the environment and they have the ability to absorb toxins and potentially transfer them up the marine food chain. This affects the health of the marine ecosystem. And ultimately, these microplastics will end up in our plate through the seafoods. Now, this is a major issue. So, is there any steps that can be taken to address this issue? The article that we are discussing now deals with this only. See, according to the article, the scientist at the University of British Columbia Bioproducts Institute found that if tannins are added to a layer of wood dust, it will create a filter that can trap all microplastic particles present in the water. Here, tannin is nothing but a class of naturally occurring polyphenol compounds found in various plants. These tannins are natural deterrents with a stringent taste and binding properties. Now, coming back, when scientists tested this combination of tannins and wood dust in mouse models, the process was proved to prevent the accumulation of microplastics in organs as well. So, this can be commercialized and used to prevent the accumulation of microplastic in our oceans. So, that is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is microplastic, what are the source and the applications of microplastic. And finally, we saw how these microplastic accumulation in our water bodies can be filtered out. Now, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this news article. This is from yesterday's newspaper. See, recently, a large number of megalithic hat stones were found at Nahaparambha in Mallapuram district of Kerala. The stones were spotted from a single site during a recent excavation conducted by the Kerala State Archaeological Department. Note that, hat stones are popularly called as Tupikkallu in Malayalam. They are hemispherical laterite stones that were used as lids on burial urns during the megalithic period. Archaeologists also found ashes in the urn that were covered with the hat stones. They noted that, these findings were different from the previous findings. The archaeologists said that, they usually get cremated bones from the urns. But this time, they found ashes in the urns, which is a special finding. See, the Tirunavaya town in Kerala and its neighborhoods have plenty of archaeological sites. So, the local people are requesting the government to provide heritage status to the town. This is all about the news article. So, in our discussion today, we will see some points about the megalithic culture. First of all, you have to know that the term mehalith is a combination of two Greek words that is meha and lith. Here, meha means large and lith means stones. So, basically, mehaliths means large stones. In earlier times, the mehaliths served as a memorial structure and physical markers. The mehaliths were placed about the burial sites of the dead person to mark the place of burial. This practice is what is termed as mehalithic culture. That is, the culture of placing large stones on burial site is called mehalithic culture. See, the mehaliths are spread across the Indian continent. But most of them are found in the peninsular India. They are mainly concentrated in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Now, we will see the five major types of mehaliths found in India. The first one is the stone circles. The stone circles refer to a large standing stone. They are arranged in a circle or in the form of ellipse around the burial site. The second one is dolmens. Dolmen is a type of mehalith. It is a rectangular box like chamber placed above the burial site. It is constructed with five slabs. The four slabs are placed vertically and the fifth slab is used as a capstone. The third one is cyst burial. See here, the cyst is shaped like a coffin and it was used as an enclosure for dead bodies. Then the fourth one is pit burials. The pit burials contain mortal remains of one or more human beings. Here the mortal remains of humans are buried with a variety of surface stones in a conical form. And the final one is the menhirs. Menhirs refer to large single long stones that are placed upright above the burial site. These are the five major types of mehaliths that is found in the Indian subcontinent. With this information, let us conclude this discussion. Now, having come to the end of the news article discussion session, let us take up the practice prelims questions. We have four practice prelims questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question. Here, four mega erythic sites are given. We have to arrange them from south to north direction. Now, look at this map. If we go south to north, Adityanallur comes first, followed by Brahmagiri, then Hirey Binagal and Nagarjuna So, the correct answer here is option B 3412. Moving on to the second question. This question is based on our magnetar discussion. They are asking us how magnetars differ from neutron stars. So, the correct answer here is option C. Magnetars are a type of neutron star with extremely powerful magnetic fields. Now, moving on to the next question. This question is based on our Chandrayaan 3 mission discussion. Here, three statements are given. We have to find how many of the statements given here are incorrect. Now, let us take up the first statement. Chandrayaan 3 is India's second attempt to land a rover on the lunar surface. This statement is correct. Moving on to the second statement. The lander Vikram and the rover Pragyan of Chandrayaan 3 remains same as the Chandrayaan 2 mission. This statement is also correct. Moving on to the third statement. Chandrayaan 3, like Chandrayaan 2, will take a rather long, interesting route to the moon. This statement is also correct. Since all the statements given here are correct and they are asking for the incorrect statements, the correct answer here is option D none of the above. Now, this is the quiz question for you today. This question is about microplastics. Interested aspirants can write the answer for this question in the comment section. The main questions based on today's discussion are displayed here. Interested aspirants can write the answer for the questions in the comment section. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.