 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IA's Academy for the day 31st of May 2020. The list of news articles taken up for today's analysis along with the page numbers of five different editions is given here for your reference. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis is available in the description section and also in the comment section in the best interest of the viewers. Let us now begin our analysis. This FAQ article is with reference to reasons for desert locus surge in India this year. So far the outbreaks of the insect attack have been reported from seven states. Now this FAQ article notes that it could become even worse because of three reasons. The first reason is chain of climate events. The second being administrative laxity in several countries that is poor administration and number three the difficult circumstances imposed by COVID-19. So experts have warned of huge crop losses if the swarms are not stopped by June 2020. And if you remember we have seen in detail about locusts in our previous analysis. Today we will mainly focus on the climate link to the desert locust infestation. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Coming to the climate link the author of this FAQ article notes that the pattern of warming in the Indian Ocean might be a possible trigger for the overall development of locus swarms. Here the author describes about Indian Ocean Dipole. See Indian Ocean Dipole refers to the difference in sea surface temperatures between two areas. One the tropical western Indian Ocean area and the other being the tropical southeastern Indian Ocean area. The Indian Ocean Dipole mode involves oscillation of the sea surface temperatures between positive and negative phases. Here positive phase means cooling of waters in the eastern Indian Ocean that is the western pole is warmer and the eastern pole is cooler. Now this leads to droughts in Indonesia region but if you see it brings heavy rainfall in India and East Africa. Here the author notes that the positive Indian Ocean Dipole last year has resulted into extended rainfall in several parts of West Asia, Oman, Yemen and in the Horn of Africa. This extended rainfall has facilitated the formation of several locus swarms. Now let us see how rainfall plays a role in the development of desert locus. See for the desert locus there are three favorable conditions for breeding. One the presence of moist sandy soil to depths of 10 to 15 centimeter below the surface. Generally if you see the female will not lay eggs if the soil is not moist at about 5 centimeter to 15 centimeter below the surface. When egg laying the female will often probe the soil by inserting the tip of her abdomen to determine if there is enough moisture. This is because moist soil allows the eggs to absorb sufficient moisture to complete their development. So this is one condition. The second condition is that some bad areas for egg laying is required and the third condition is that green vegetation shall be present for the locus development. It is said that often favorable conditions may exist in desert areas. Now for soil to have moisture rainfall plays a crucial role as well. Also if an outbreak is not controlled then it can evolve into an upsurge. If widespread or unusually heavy rainfall occurs in the adjacent areas. This rainfall can create favorable breeding conditions. This is where the authors points are relevant. Why because since positive Indian Ocean Dipole event is associated with bringing heavy rains to India and East Africa. So the author expresses concerns over this matter. But note that as per the IOD bulletin issued by IMD for May 2020 positive IOD is not observed over Indian Ocean. But if you take last year neutral IOD conditions were observed from Jan 2019 till May 2019. But there was positive IOD over Indian Ocean from June 2019 till the weakening in January 2020. So if such a thing happens this year as well from June month onwards then it will be favorable for local swamps to multiply their numbers. We saw that rainfall is an important parameter for soil moisture so that the locus will lay eggs. Also if you see favorable winds will also help the locus swamps to fly and breed in their traditional grounds in countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. FAO issues desert locus situation update as per the recent update adults are forming groups and small swamps in their breeding areas in Iran and Pakistan. These infestations will move to their summer breeding areas along India-Pakistan border from Chodistan and Taparka. If not controlled then these swamps will move into India. Now so far within India if you see the movements of desert locus were based on strong westerly winds associated with Cyclone Ampan. So here you can understand that the regional atmospheric weather systems also play a very important role. So right now India spacing, severe locus attack, several successive waves of invasions can be expected in Rajasthan until the month of July and these locus swamps may move eastward across North India as far as Bihar and Odisha. This is expected to be followed by westward movements and return to Rajasthan once the winds associated with the monsoon changes its direction. And know that swamps are less likely to reach South India, Nepal and Bangladesh. So this is all about the discussion of this FAQ article. To summarize we have seen the reasons for desert locus surge in India with main focus on the climate link to the desert locus infestation. Now have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about the standoff between India and China at the line of actual control. See as we always insist current affairs is a sequence of events. We have been seeing many news articles and editorials related to the standoff between India and China along the line of actual control. This news article tells that the Union Defense Minister who is also a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security as shared his comments on this standoff between India and China for the first time. So in the context of this news article, let us focus on Cabinet Committee on Security from prelims perspective. Before that let us discuss about the Cabinet Committees. See the Cabinet Committees are not mentioned in the Constitution. Under this fact the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules 1961 provide for the establishment of Cabinet Committees. These rules have been framed as per article 77 clause 3 of Indian Constitution. Article 77 deals with the conduct of business of the Government of India. All the executive action of the Government of India shall be taken in the name of the President. So the President shall make the rules for the more convenient transaction of business of the Government of India. So based on this only we have these 1961 transaction of business rules of the Government of India and based on these rules the Cabinet Committees are established. As per these rules there are two types of Cabinet Committees, Standing Cabinet Committees and Ad hoc Cabinet Committees. As the name indicates standing committees are permanent in nature and ad hoc cabinet committees are temporary in nature. The ad hoc committees are constituted from time to time to deal with specific problems and they are disbanded after the task is completed. Know that Cabinet Committees are set up by the Prime Minister according to the exigencies of that particular time and as per the requirement of that particular situation. So if you see the Norman pleasure that is the name of the Cabinet Committees and even the composition of the Cabinet Committees vary from time to time. Usually if you see Cabinet Ministers form a part of this Cabinet Committee but sometimes non-Cabinet Ministers are also members of certain Cabinet Committees. And if you see the Cabinet Committees are mostly headed by the Prime Minister but sometimes other Cabinet Ministers particularly the Home Minister or the Finance Minister also acts as the chairperson of any particular Cabinet Committee. If at all the Prime Minister is a member of any particular Cabinet Committee then he or she invariably presides over that particular Cabinet Committee. So what the Cabinet Committees do? Maybe they not only sort out issues and formulate proposals for the consideration of the Cabinet but they also take decisions but the final authority is with the Cabinet which can review the decisions of the Cabinet Committees. So basically these Cabinet Committees are devised to reduce the workload of the Cabinet and they help in facilitating in-depth examination of the policies of the Government and its effective coordination. So this is in brief about the Cabinet Committees. Now as of 2019 there are 8 Cabinet Committees. The number of the Cabinet Committees vary from time to time. So at present we have 8 Cabinet Committees and these are the list of 8 Cabinet Committees. Out of these 8 the last 2 Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth and Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development have been newly set up. Now let us see about the Cabinet Committee on Security which is mentioned in this news article. See this Cabinet Committee plays a very important role in the decision making of internal security as well as external security of India. It deals with all defence related issues and issues relating to law and order which forms the internal security of India. And it also deals with matters concerning the foreign affairs on security related issues. Then if you see it also deals with economic and political issues that have a stake on national security. Also if you see this Cabinet Committee reviews the manpower requirements relating to national security and also this Cabinet Committee on Security deals with all matters relating to atomic energy. So remember this as well. Next coming to the composition of this Cabinet Committee on Security. We saw initially that the composition also varies from time to time. At present if you see the Cabinet Committee on Security consists of the Prime Minister, then the Defence Minister, then the Home Minister, then the Finance Minister and finally the Minister of External Affairs. So remember the composition is subject to change. At present they are the members of this Cabinet Committee on Security. So this is in brief about the Cabinet Committees, their functions and also about the Cabinet Committee on Security. Now have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This question is based on this news article which mentions that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel will not attend an in-person G7 summit which is to be held in the United States of America. So from exam perspective try to know about this G7 grouping. See initially a virtual meet was scheduled to be held at the end of June but if you see the United States President Donald Trump suggested that he could hold an in-person summit but this has now been declined by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. So this is the news in brief. Now let us look about G7. See this group of seven or G7 is an informal block of industrialized countries that include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Here also know that the European Union takes part in the G7 summit. It is a unique supranational organization that is it is not a sovereign member state. So the name of this grouping remains group of seven. So it is a non-enuminated member and it does not assume the rotating G7 presidency because if you see the presidency of G7 grouping is rotated amongst only the seven members. They meet annually to discuss issues such as global economic governance, then international security and energy policy. See the initial group of six countries first met in the year 1975 to basically exchange ideas on possible solutions to a global economic crisis. And if you see in the year 1976 Canada joined this grouping and hence this grouping came to be known as G7. Now if you see collectively this G7 grouping represents 40% of the global GDP and 10% of the world's population. And one more fact you need to know with regards to this G7 grouping, Russia belong to this grouping from 1998 till 2014 when the block was known as the group of eight. But if you see Russia was suspended following its annexation of Crimea from the country of Ukraine. So this is all that you need to know about G7 grouping. Now with this information look at this question which of the following countries are part of G7 group Canada, Japan, France, India and Russia. Here know that India is not a part of G7 grouping. So if you are able to eliminate the fourth item which is India you can easily arrive at the answer which is option A, 1, 2 and 3 only. Now let us move on to the next news article. This question is framed with reference to this news article which talks about RTA application on PM Cares Fund. We know that PM Cares Fund stands for Prime Ministers, Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund. See an RTA application was made on this fund that is operating under the ambit of Prime Minister's Office. The RTA application asked to provide the trust deed of the fund and all government orders, notifications and circulars relating to the creation and operation of this PM Cares Fund. Here know that the Prime Minister is the ex-officer, chairperson of this fund and the Union Ministers of Defense, Home Affairs and Finance are ex-officer trustees of this fund and this fund receives both domestic and foreign donations. In this scenario the PMO has refused to give the requested information saying that the fund is not a public authority under the ambit of section 2H of the RTA Act of 2005. So in this context it is important to know about this section from RTA Act of 2005 from problem's perspective. See this section 2H defines the term public authority. So who are public authority? As per this act public authority means any authority or any body or any institution of self-government that is established or constituted by the constitution or under the constitution or by any other law made by the parliament or by any other law made by the state legislature or by notification issued or any order made by the appropriate government. Also the term public authority includes anybody that is owned, controlled by the appropriate government or substantially financed by funds provided by the appropriate government. Then it also includes even the non-government organizations that are substantially financed either directly or indirectly by the funds provided by the appropriate government. Now if you read the preamble of RTA Act it states that the act provides for the right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. So just have an idea about this preamble. Now with respect to this RTA application the matter will now be moved to the first appeal then the second appeal before the Central Information Commission. Most probably this matter will require the adjudication of the Supreme Court if the first or second appellate authorities issue orders to give the information and if PMO does not adhere to such order. So from this analysis try to know the definition of public authority from exam point of view. Now whether this PM CARES fund is a public authority or not is a current affairs. Till before the exam just update yourself because there might be court orders or appellate authority orders where it can declare this PM CARES funds as a public authority or not. As of now it is not a public authority as declared by the Prime Minister's office. Now with this information let us look at this question. Two statements are given and you need to choose those statement or statements which are correct. Look at the first statement it tells that the Right to Information Act of 2005 defines the term public authority. Yes this statement is correct. Section 2H of this Act defines the term public authority. Now look at the second statement it tells that under the Act a non-government organization substantially financed indirectly by funds provided by an appropriate government is not a public authority. This statement is incorrect because we saw any non-government organization that is substantially financed either directly or indirectly by funds that is provided by the appropriate government is also a public authority. So here the correct answer is option A, one one B since you need to choose those statement or statements which are correct and here the second statement is incorrect. Now let us move on to the next news article. Now let us look at this question which is framed based on this news article which tells that the Indian Council of Medical Research has advised the states to conduct zero service to measure the coronavirus exposure among the population using IgG ELISA test. So what is this IgG ELISA test? Let us look at this now. First let us see what do we mean by ELISA? ELISA stands for Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Acid. See it is a laboratory technique that is used for the detection of antibodies that are produced by the body. See whenever a human gets an infection so immediately antibodies will be developed in the body to fight against the antigens or the foreign substances. So what this ELISA test will do is that it will detect these antibodies. So it will indicate if a person is having some sort of infection or not. Know that ELISA tests are blood based tests and these have high sensitivity and specificity. Here the sensitivity of a test refers to the percentage of results that will correctly find out the presence of infection in a person and specificity refers to the percentage of results that will correctly find out whether a person is infected or not. So this test involves drawing the blood of the person who is to be tested and the sample will be placed in small wells of an ELISA plate and these plates are coated with the antigen or the inactivated form of the virus. Now if the blood contains antibodies it binds to the antigen that is present in the well and after which substrate solution is added to the well. So all this reaction will produce a color change. So if there is a color change it detects that antibodies are present which means some infection is present. If there is no color change there are no antibodies so there is no infection. So this is how ELISA works. So whenever you come across such tests that frequently appear in the news article try to know the simple science behind that particular test. For example in the previous year there was a question on Cas9 protein which is a molecular scissor. So try to know the basic science behind a particular terminology. Now coming back to this ELISA test know that these tests can be done manually or in a semi-automatic or in an automatic way. Now if you look at this news article it mentions that the serous survey that has been advised by ICMR would be conducted using an IgG ELISA kit. And it also tells that scientists at the ICMR National Institute of Virology Pune have developed and validated an indigenous IgG ELISA test for antibody detection for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Know that this test is also called as COVID-CoV-2 ELISA. As the name indicates it is an IgG ELISA based test. So what is this IgG? It means that this test will be done to detect the immunoglobulin G antibody. See normally the human body produces immunoglobulins. Out of the immunoglobulins immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G antibodies fight against a pathogen. If you see the immunoglobulin M antibodies are produced in four to seven days after the pathogens enter the body. Whereas the immunoglobulin G antibodies are produced between 10 to 14 days approximately after the pathogens enter the body. So if the immunoglobulin G antibodies detected, that is if IgG antibodies detected then it can be concluded that the person has been exposed to COVID-19 infection. So this is how this IgG ELISA based test works. And as per this news article this indigenously developed test kit has undergone intense validation in three stages and has found to have high sensitivity and specificity. So this is all that you need to know about IgG ELISA test and the basic science behind ELISA test. But remember this IgG ELISA test is used only for surveillance purpose. It means the authorities can know if a person is having some sort of infection or not. Now if the infected person who has been tested positive using the ELISA test are again tested with RT-PCR tests. Know that RT-PCR stands for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. These tests are considered as the standard test for confirming the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. And also know that this RT-PCR is a time consuming process and it is a lab based test. And it involves collection of throat swaps and nasal swaps. So it is not a blood based test. So remember this difference between RT-PCR test and the ELISA test. So ELISA test is used only for surveillance purpose. Whereas RT-PCR test is the confirmatory test to know if a person is infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus or not. So this is all about the discussion of this news article. With this information, let us look at this question. It is a three statement question and you need to choose those statements which are incorrect. Now look at the first statement. It tells that IgG ELISA test is not a blood based test. This statement is incorrect because we saw that it is a blood based test. Collection of blood samples is a prerequisite. Now look at the second statement. It tells that this test detects the immunoglobulin G antibody produced by the body to fight against antigen or foreign substances. Yes, this statement is correct. Now if the second statement is correct, you can easily arrive at the answer which is option B1 and 3 only. Which means that the third statement is also an incorrect statement. Know that IgG ELISA test is not regarded as the standard test for confirming the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is RT-PCR test. So here the correct answer is option B1 and 3 only. This question is based on this news article which talks about World Health Organization. This news article tells that USA has cut its ties with World Health Organization. If you remember few weeks back, the United States stopped its funding to this World Health Organization. So far, US is the biggest contributor of WHO. And we all know that in the past few months, there were multiple accusations on the World Health Organization and its director general for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic and also their alleged bias towards China. On all these allegations, President Trump has severed the ties of United States with World Health Organization. It means WHO will no longer get funding from United States. Now in this context, what you need to know from problem's perspective is about the World Health Organization. You know that it is a coordinating authority on international health within the United Nations system. Its constitution was adopted in 1946 at International Health Conference. And it came into force on 7th of April 1948. Since then, if you see the World Health Organization has continued to coordinate global health. This date, the day WHO's constitution came into force is being celebrated as World Health Day every year. And know that the headquarters of WHO is at Geneva in Switzerland. The WHO has two important governing bodies. One is the World Health Assembly and the second is the Executive Board. First, let us look at World Health Assembly. It is the decision-making body of World Health Organization. It is attended by delegations from all WHO member states and it focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. The main functions of the World Health Assembly are to determine the policies of the organization, then to appoint the director general of WHO, then supervise the financial policies of WHO, etc. And the World Health Assembly is held annually at Geneva in Switzerland. Next, coming to the Executive Board, it is a technically qualified team, which works upon the agenda for the World Health Assembly and the resolutions that are to be considered by World Health Assembly. Currently, if you see, India holds the chair of this Executive Board of World Health Organization. So, remember this fact, 22nd of May there was a news that the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Shwartan has been elected as the chair of this Executive Board. So, from all this, you can infer that India is a member state of this World Health Organization. So, this is in brief about the World Health Organization and the two important governing bodies of this World Health Organization. With this information, let us look at this question. It is a two statement question and you need to choose those statements or statements which are correct. Look at the first statement. It tells that WHO is the coordinating authority on international health within the United Nations system. Yes, this statement is correct. The second statement is also correct. The day the WHO's constitution came into force is celebrated as World Health Day, which is 7th April. So, the correct answer to this question is option C, both one and two. Now, let us move on to the next news article. Now, let us look at this news article, which tells that the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has denied permission for the members of the Standing Committee on Home Affairs to join a meeting of this panel through video conferencing. If you remember during our 26th May, the Hindu News Analysis, we discussed about the events surrounding this news article. Because on that day, the chairperson of this Standing Committee on Home Affairs requested the Rajya Sabha to conduct the meeting through video conferencing. And now in today's news article, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has denied the permission. In this context, what you need to know is about the parliamentary committees and its types, that is the Standing Committees and the Ad-Doc Committees. Now here, do not confuse these Standing Committees and Ad-Doc Committees. With those Standing and Ad-Doc Committees of the Cabinet Committees, both are different. So, this news article gives you an opportunity to distinguish between the Parliamentary Committees and the Cabinet Committees. So, try to compare the nature of the Parliamentary Committees and the Cabinet Committees in terms of their composition, etc. To know more on Parliamentary Committees, refer to our 26th May, Hindu News Analysis. Now, why the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has denied permission for conducting meetings through video conferencing? Because it would violate the principle of confidentiality. Because the Rajya Sabha Secretariat feels that there is no guarantee that the member of Rajya Sabha would be sitting alone during video conferencing. So, it violates the principle of confidentiality. So, this is in brief about this news article. Now, if you look at this news article, the High Court has questioned the appointment of the State Election Commissioner. The Andhra Pradesh High Court has termed the appointment of Justice V. Kanakaraj as State Election Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh as an objectionable one. This news article tells that the appointment was done merely on the basis of the bio-data given by the retired justice. And the court has advised that the State Government of Andhra Pradesh should take a decision in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution. To know more on this issue, we request the viewers to refer to our yesterday's analysis. We have discussed in detail regarding the appointment of State Election Commissioner and the issue surrounding behind the appointment of the State Election Commissioner of Andhra Pradesh in this regard. Now, let us look at this news article about draft e-commerce policy. This news article tells that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade will very soon release a draft e-commerce policy in the public domain wherein it will seek the views and comments. Know that India is not having an e-commerce policy as of now. So, this Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is coming up with a draft e-commerce policy. Now, from this news article, try to have an idea that this department comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and try to know in brief about what can be expected in this e-commerce policy. If you see this news article, there are some points mentioned like the e-commerce policy should lay down a very clear policy on what is data, that is the definition of data and what kind of data the e-commerce companies can use and how the right of privacy of citizens can be protected and how the e-commerce data can be leveraged for other purposes, etc., etc. Now, these are some of the potential points for writing the main answers. So, you are expected to get more news articles and editorials on this draft e-commerce policy in the coming days. In this regard, try to have an idea about the Personal Data Protection Bill of 2019 which was introduced in Lok Sabha in the month of December 2019. See, on the same day, a joint parliamentary committee was constituted to examine the provisions of this Personal Data Protection Bill of 2019. Now, this bill also deals with the definition of data and also related to the right of privacy of citizens in managing their personal data. So, you can expect news articles on both these topics in the coming days. Now, let us move on to the Practice Questions Discussion Session. Look at this prelims question about Indian Ocean Dipole which was asked in 2017. The question is with reference to Indian Ocean Dipole sometimes mentioned in the news while forecasting Indian Monsoon which of the following statements is are correct. Two statements are given and you need to choose those statements which are correct. Here the first statement is incorrect because it tells that IOD phenomenon is characterized by a difference in sea surface temperature between tropical western Indian Ocean and tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. It should have been eastern Indian Ocean. So, it is basically the difference in sea surface temperatures between the tropical western Indian Ocean and the tropical eastern Indian Ocean to be specific the southeastern Indian Ocean as we saw during our analysis. And here the second statement is correct and IOD phenomenon can influence an El Nino's impact on the monsoon. Because a positive IOD leads to a greater monsoonal rainfall and more active monsoon whereas a negative IOD leads to less rainfall. So, the Indian Ocean Dipole can influence El Nino's impact on monsoon. So, here the correct answer is option B2 only. So, whenever you are studying about any geographical phenomenon that is related to Indian monsoons try to know about the features of such geographical phenomena. Now, let us look at this question which is on Cabinet Committee on Security. Two statements are given and you need to choose those statements which are correct. Look at the first statement. It tells that this Cabinet Committee on Security is an ad hoc committee set up recently to deal with the matters on internal and external security. Know that it is a standing committee and not an ad hoc committee. So, here the first statement goes incorrect. And look at the second statement. It tells that it is headed by the Minister of Defense. This statement is also incorrect because during our discussion we saw that in those Cabinet committees where Prime Minister is a member he is the chairperson of those committees. And know that the composition of the Cabinet committees vary from time to time. At present the Cabinet Committee on Security consists of Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, the Home Minister, the Finance Minister and the Minister of External Affairs. So, here the Prime Minister is the chairperson not the Minister of Defense. So, the second statement is also incorrect. Hence, the correct answer to this question is option D neither one nor two. With this we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the practice questions discussion session. If you like the video, press the like button, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.