 Good evening aspirants, welcome to daily news analysis brought to you by Shankar A.S academy. Today's date is 2nd January 2024, displayed here are the list of topics we are going to see today. Now without wasting any time, let us get into the discussion. Look at this news article, President of India has recently issued an order for inclusion of Hathi community under Scheduled Tribes list. But there was a confusion in state government over finding the targeted Scheduled Tribes. But this issue was recently solved by a notification of central government and it clarified the targeted people for reservation. So this is the crux of the article given here. In this context, we will know the basic process of including a tribe under Scheduled Tribes list. Before entering the discussion, let us see some basic facts about Scheduled Tribes. See, Tribes are a social group with similar characteristics. They share a common name, speaking a common dialect, similar occupation and occupying a common territory. Know that India is often called as melting pot of tribes and races. So many communities are recognized by Indian constitution as Scheduled Tribes under Scheduled 5. Moreover, they are defined as Tribes or tribal communities under article 342 of Indian Constitution. As per the census of 2011, Scheduled Tribes make up 8.2% of Indian population. The Bill community is the largest tribal group in India. So this is about the basics of Scheduled Tribes in India. Now let us see the process of including tribes in Scheduled Tribes list. Initially, the state government identifies the tribes that deserve ST status. Then it recommends the list to Union government. These recommendations are then reviewed by Ministry of Tribal Affairs at national level. The reviewed recommendations are then sent to Registrar General of India for further evaluation and approval. After this, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes verifies the recommendations to ensure their validity. The NCST may also conduct consultations with various stakeholders, including the tribal community, government agencies and experts. Once approved by National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, the list is submitted to President and his decision is final. President may issue a notification for the inclusion of tribes by the powers vested under article 341 and 342. So this is the overall process for including a tribe under Scheduled Tribes list. Now we shall look into the benefits of inclusion under Scheduled Tribes list. Firstly, Reservation in Education. ST individuals have reserved seats in educational institutions, ensuring better access to quality education. So this is ensued under article 15 of Constitution. Next is Reservation in Employment. ST communities are provided with reserved positions in government jobs and services, including promotions. This is ensued under article 16. Then there are various safeguards for ST population under article 244, along with 5th and 6th Schedule of Constitution. So these provisions safeguard the rights and promote the socio-economic development of ST communities. Next is Political Representation. Article 243 ensures the reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes in Punjayates, promoting their participation in local governance. Then article 330 reserves seats in Lok Sabha for Scheduled Tribes, allowing their representation in national parliament. So these are important benefits once included under Scheduled Tribes list. So in this discussion, we have seen basics about Scheduled Tribes, the process of including a tribe under Scheduled Tribes list, and what are the benefits after included under Scheduled Tribes list. So this is all about the discussion. Now let us move to the next topic. Look at this news article. Recently, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck Japan. As this earthquake has triggered tsunami waves, people were asked to go to higher grounds. So this is the crux of the article. In our analysis, let us see about tsunami from Prilim's perspective. The word tsunami is a Japanese word which means harbor waves. See, it looks like a wall of water and can attack the shoreline, creating havoc and destruction on large scale. Know that it is a series of enormous waves created by various underwater disturbances. Now let us see the causes of tsunami. Firstly, an important cause of tsunami is earthquake. Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes on a converging tectonic plate boundary. According to the data, over 80% of tsunamis were generated by earthquakes. Moreover, seismological studies found that an earthquake of greater than 7.0 Richter scale can produce a major tsunami. You should also know that not all the earthquakes cause tsunamis. There are four necessary conditions for an earthquake to cause a tsunami. Let us see the four conditions. Firstly, the earthquake must occur beneath the ocean or it should force the material to slide into the ocean. Secondly, it should be strong with at least a magnitude of 6.5 on Richter scale. Thirdly, it must rupture the earth's surface and it must occur at a shallow depth. That is less than 70 km below the surface of earth. That is the focus of the earthquake should be 70 km below the surface. Finally, it must cause vertical movement of sea floor. So these are the four conditions by which an earthquake can lead to a tsunami. Secondly, landslides can also trigger tsunami. See, when a landslide occur along the coast, it will force large amount of water into the sea. In this process, it will disturb the ocean and create a tsunami. Moreover, underwater landslides can also result in tsunamis. Thirdly, volcanic eruption can cause tsunami. See, the eruptions will create impulsive disturbances and displace large volume of water. In this process, it will generate extremely destructive tsunami waves in immediate source area. For example, in 1883 in Indonesia, the Karakota volcano erupted and created huge tsunami waves. Fourthly, there are some other causes like the falling of extraterrestrial objects like asteroids, meteors, can also create tsunami. Sometimes underwater nuclear exportions can create tsunami waves. For example, the nuclear testing by USA in 1940 to 1950s in Marshall Island created tsunami waves. So these are the important causes of tsunami. So this is all about the discussion. Now let us move to the next topic. Look at this news article. ISRO has launched X-ray Polarimeter Satellite X-PoSat successfully into space. This satellite was carried by PSLV C-58 Launch Vehicle. The aim of the satellite is to study astronomical objects like black holes, neutron stars, etc. So India is the second country to study these objects with the help of satellite after USA. So this is the crux of the news article given here. In our analysis, let us understand about X-ray Polarimeter Satellite. We all know that light waves like all waves are transverse in nature. Technically it means light waves oscillate perpendicular to the direction of their propagation. So basically light waves are transverse waves. Now what is polarization? See polarization is a fundamental property of light waves. It means the orientation of light waves to the direction of motion of the wave. Know that in unpolarized light the electric field oscillates in random directions. But in a polarized light the electric field oscillates in specific directions. So this property of light provides valuable information about the source of light and its interaction with the matter. Look at this image to understand it better. So this is the unpolarized light and this is the polarizing filter. After passing through the polarizing filter the light becomes polarized. So with this basic understanding of polarization now let us see what is polarimetric. See polarimetry means study of polarization state of light or any other electromagnetic waves. If we study polarization of X-rays it means X-ray Polarimetry. So this X-ray Polarimetry is mainly used in astrophysics and astronomy. It is used to study various celestial objects. So analyzing the polarization provides insights into the nature composition and magnetic field of various astronomical objects like neutron stars and black holes. So this is the basics of X-ray Polarimetry. Now let us see X-ray Polarimeter Satellite which is launched by India. This X-ray Polarimeter Satellite that is shortly called as Exposat is India's first dedicated mission to analyze the polarization of X-rays. These polarized X-rays are emitted from distant celestial objects and the mission is a collaboration between ISRO and Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru. Now what is the significance of launching this satellite? See Exposat is placed in low earth orbit. It will be placed in a 650 kilometer orbit by using PSLV Launch Vehicle. The satellite will carry two scientific payloads. They are X-ray Polarimeter and X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing. So this is all about the Exposat Satellite. Now let us move to the next topic. Take a look at this editorial article. It talks about India-Korea Defence Cooperation. This is suddenly in news because Chief of Army Staff of India has recently visited South Korea. So his visit has strengthened the bilateral ties between two countries. So in this news article discussion let us understand the basics about bilateral relationship between India and South Korea using our usual main sensor writing approach. Now look at this question. Assess the strength, opportunities and obstacles within the bilateral relationship between India and South Korea. This question can be asked in GS paper 2 under the syllabus bilateral agreements involving India are affecting India's interest. Now let us see how to approach this question. See the keyword here is assess. So we are expected to consider or make an informed judgment about the value, strength or weakness of the topic. Here the question asks us to assess the strength, opportunities and obstacles within the bilateral relationship between India and South Korea. Now let us start with the introduction. See India and South Korea share a very close bilateral relationship since 1950s. The economic and strategic relationship between the two countries got accelerated after the implementation of India's Act East Policy and South Korea's New Southern Policy. As of 2021 India is 16th biggest source of imports and 7th biggest export market for Korea. So this close ties between the two countries has created various opportunities and it also has won challenges. So in this way we can write the introduction. Now let us move to the body of the answer. You can split the main body of the answer into three parts. First we are going to write about the strength within the bilateral relationship and then about the areas of opportunities and finally about the challenges between the two countries. Now first let us look at the strength between India and South Korea. Firstly both countries are democratic governments. India's third largest economy and South Korea is the fourth largest economy in Asia. They share a strong bond of friendship based on commitment to the values of democracy. The second strength is mutual economic benefits. See South Korea is rich in capital and technology and India has huge market and human resources. So this economic advantage led to the signing of comprehensive economic partnership agreement between the two countries in 2010. Finally India and South Korea have potential to establish and open and multi polar Asia in which interstate relations are ruled based and norms based. Now moving on to see the opportunities between the two countries. Firstly we can mention about technological capabilities. See India and South Korea are aiming to collaborate in developing advanced defense system and equipment. Apart from this both the countries are exploring opportunities for cooperation in defense against space warfare information warfare and cyber security. Thirdly both the countries have significant maritime interest in Indian ocean. So there are opportunities to collaborate in maritime security including joint patrolling and information sharing. This can strengthen coordinated efforts towards counter terrorism. Fourthly India and South Korea can leverage their United Nations peacekeeping expertise for collaborative efforts. Finally both countries can conduct joint exercises to exchange best practices in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. So these are the points you can write under the heading opportunities part. Now moving on to see the challenges. The first challenge is South Korea's perception of India's regional role. See India provides a market for South Korea for profit-driven weapons sales. Because of this reason both nations are focusing excessively on weapons acquisition leaving behind broader strategic consideration. Secondly both countries face a challenge in developing comprehensive defense framework and shared vision for cooperation. For example the recent coalition of North Korea, China and Russia possess a serious challenge to collaborative efforts between India and South Korea. So both countries lack a shared vision for cooperation in the region. Now we have come to the conclusion part. Both countries should acknowledge the challenges and embrace opportunities with a strategic and balanced approach. This will not only endure defense collaboration but also create a partnership that focuses on peace, stability and prosperity in Indo-Pacific region. So this is all regarding this discussion now let us move to the next topic. Look at this article. This article is like a progress report of India in regards to climate change action and conservation. So in this discussion let us look at the content of the article in detail. First let us look at the positives. If you all can recall in 2015 during Paris climate conference India announced its nationally determined contribution and that it will reduce the emission intensity by 30 to 35 percentage compared to 2005 level. But India achieved that target with 11 years in advance. So this is the first positive aspect. Another one is due to conservation efforts taken by India the tiger numbers have increased in shivalic hills and gangetic plain landscape. In addition to this India launched the international big cat alliance. Through these steps India has taken efforts to conserve big cats like tigers, lions, snow leopards, jogwars, pumas and cheetahs. So these are some of the positive aspects highlighted in the article. Now coming to the criticisms mentioned in the article. The first criticism is even though tiger numbers have increased in some parts of country it has declined in western gods and northeast Brahmavutra plains. This is due to habitat loss, fragmentation and poaching. The second criticism is cheetah conservation project. This is because six of the 20 adult cheetahs imported from Navibia and South Africa have died. The next criticism is towards amendments made to forest conservation act. According to recent changes the forest conservation act will only apply to the areas that are recorded as forest in government records. So according to this article the strict definition of forest will lead to deforestation of forest which are not covered under government records. Also the recent amendment to forest conservation act allows the forest land within 100 kilometers of India's border can be used for security or strategic purposes. So this will lead to massive deforestation in border areas like Himachal Pradesh, Nahalan, Sikkim, Tiripura etc. So this in turn will negatively impact the forest welding communities living there. The last criticism is regarding the changes made to biological diversity act. The main aim of recent change is to encourage growing medicinal plants instead of taking them from wild. But there is also a concern that recent changes will lead to traditional medicine practitioners not sharing the benefits with forest welding communities. Let me help you to understand this with an example. Imagine a remote village in India where generations of indigenous people have cultivated and used a particular medicinal plant. This traditional knowledge has been passed down through overall traditions and practical experience. The recent amendment to biodiversity act aims to reduce the overexploitation of wild medicinal plants and encourages their cultivation in mainland. In this scenario a pharmacutical company which is aware of medical properties of plant starts cultivating it in a large scale for commercial purposes. So they develop the plant and get the patent for the medicines extracted from the plant. Unfortunately the profits or benefits which the companies get from using these traditional medicinal plants will not be shared with the indigenous communities. So this is a major drawback of recent amendment to biodiversity act. So these are the important criticisms mentioned in the article. With this let us conclude this discussion and we shall move to the next topic. Look at this news article. Nearly 196 cases of COVID-19 sub variant JN1 have been detected in the country. Highest cases have been reported in Kerala with 83 cases and followed by Goa. So the union government has asked the state governments to have a surveillance on the number of cases. This is the article given here. So in this discussion we are going to see about the major COVID-19 vaccines in India. See vaccines are categorized on the basis of development process adopted by scientists. There are mRNA vaccines, viral vector vaccines, inactivated vaccines, spike protein vaccines. We shall see them one by one. See messenger RNA vaccines shortly called as mRNA vaccine is created using messenger RNA. It is a single standard RNA molecule and it works by introducing a piece of mRNA into human body. Using this mRNA the cells in our body can produce the viral protein. Subsequently our immune system recognizes the protein and produces antibodies to attack them. So these antibodies will in turn help product the body when original infection happens. So this is how mRNA work. Secondly viral vector vaccines. Different viruses have been used as vectors which includes influenza, mesil virus, adenovirus etc. Adenovirus is one of the viral vectors which is used in COVID-19 vaccines. COVID vaccines such as Pudnik, Johnson & Johnson, Astros and Ka use this viral vector vaccines. Thirdly inactivated vaccines. See these vaccines are created by inactivating a pathogen using heat or chemicals. This process destroys the pathogen's ability to replicate but the process keeps the virus or bacteria intact. So the immune system of body can still recognize the bacteria and develop antibodies. The examples for these kind of vaccines are co-vaccine which uses inactivated virus. Finally spike protein vaccines. As you all know the members of coronavirus family have sharp bumps from the surface to their outer envelopes. Those bumps are called spike proteins. These spike proteins will allow the virus to enter the cells of the body where they replicate and cause disease. So using this spike protein vaccine the spike proteins are alone injected into the body. And the body is expected to develop an immune response against this injected spike protein. So this is how these vaccines works. The example for spike protein vaccine is Corbivax. So these are the important vaccines regarding COVID-19. Now we have come to the prelims practice question discussion. Look at the first question. It is about schedule trips in India. Mathya Pradesh has the highest schedule trip population while the Punjab has the lowest schedule trip population. The statement is wrong. See Mathya Pradesh has highest ST population but Punjab Delhi Haryana has no ST population. The second statement is state government has no role in listing process of schedule trips. This statement is also wrong. As we have seen in the discussion state government will send the list of community to be included in ST status to the center. Look at the third statement. Recently Hathi community from Himachal Pradesh were given schedule trip status. Yes the statement is correct. So the correct answer is option A. Now look at the second question. Which of the following are the causes of tsunami? As we have seen in the discussion earth quacks, landslides, volcanic activity, underwater nuclear explosion. All the four phenomena are causes of tsunami. So the correct answer is option D. Now look at the third question. With reference to visible light communication technology which of the following statements are correct. VLC uses electromagnetic spectrum wavelength 375 to 780 nanometer. The statement is correct. VLC is known as long range optical wireless communication. This statement is incorrect. Because VLC is known as short range optical wireless communication. VLC can transmit large amount of data faster than blow truth. Yes this statement is correct. VLC has no electromagnetic interference. The statement is also correct. So the correct answer is option C. Here only the second statement is wrong. All other statements are correct. Now moving on to the fourth question. Consider the following statements with reference to inactivated vaccines. It tends to provide longer protection than live vaccines. It does not require booster shots. Covishield is an example for inactivated vaccines. So how many of the statements are correct? See the statement 1 and 2 are wrong. Live vaccines contain weakened versions of living virus or bacteria. Compared to live vaccine inactivated vaccine provide shorter protection and they require booster shots to create long term immunity. So obviously the first and second statement are wrong. If you look at the third statement, Covishield is a viral vector vaccine. It is not an inactivated vaccine. So the third statement is also wrong. So the correct answer is option B. Now we have come to the fifth question. It is a previous year question. How does national biodiversity authority help in producting Indian agriculture? The statement 1 is correct. NBA checks the biopiracy and products the indigenous and traditional genetic resources. Look at the second statement. NBA directly monitors and supervises the scientific research on genetic modification of crop plants. This statement is incorrect because this is not a function of NBA. Look at the third statement. Application of intellectual property rights related to genetic or biological resources cannot be made without the approval of NBA. Yes, this statement is correct. So the correct answer is option C. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. If you like the video, please share it with your friends and don't forget to subscribe to Shankara's YouTube channel. Thank you.