 Welcome, aspirants. I have an exciting announcement for you. We are happy to bring to your attention that Shankarai's academy is launching the mains booster 2023 under which you will be provided 40 mains oriented test in 90 days. The booster is a quick plan drafted for you. This is to boost your main score. It starts on October 31st and it will include sectional test, half papers and civil service examination emulators. Available in both online and offline mode for just 4500 rupees. Grab this chance to kick start your mains examination preparation. With this information, let us get into the daily Hindi news analysis by Shankarai's academy for the date 17th of October 2022. Displayed here are the list of news articles we will be going through today. Now, let's get into the discussion. Now, let us take up this news article for our next discussion. It speaks about drug addiction. The article says that Punjab is facing frequent cases of drug addiction and the recent video that went viral on social media shows the seriousness that women are also more vulnerable to drug addiction. The news article says that the Punjab government is going to launch an awareness drive and it will work on rehabilitation of drug addicts. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us learn about why there is a cross border drug trade in India. Then the reasons for drug addiction in Indian context. Then the prevailing challenges in addressing drug addiction. And finally, some of the possible solutions to address the problems. Before getting into this discussion, the syllabus regarding this discussion is highlighted here. You can go through it. First, let us understand why there is cross border drug trade in India. See, India is wedged between worlds two largest areas of illegal opium production. That is the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle. See, the Golden Triangle is the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Rao Kanda Mekong rivers. Then the Golden Crescent is the name given to one of the Asia's principal areas of opium production located in the crossroads of Central, South and Western Asia. This space overlaps three nations. They are Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, whose mountainous boundaries define the term Crescent. See, the presence of India between these two regions has traditionally been viewed as the source of vulnerability, since these regions has made India both a destination and a transit route for drugs produced in these regions. This fact continues to be important in defining the drug trafficking trends in the Indian subcontinent. Now, moving on, let us see some of the reasons for drug addiction in Indian context. But before that, let us have an idea about what is drug addiction? See, drug addiction, which is also called as substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior. It leads to an inability to control the use of an illegal or legal drug or medicines. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine are also considered as drugs. When people get addicted, they may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes. This is about drug addiction. Now, coming to the reasons for drug addiction. Firstly, India's geographical location between the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle. See, in India, drugs are easily available because of the confluence of these two regions. And this makes India and Indians vulnerable to drug addiction. The second reason is that in schools and colleges, students often start using drugs under peer pressure. They also take drugs in the pretext of being a stress booster. The third reason is that the people who have untreated mental health problems such as depression, anxiety are more likely to become addicted to drugs. This happens because the drug use and the mental health problems affect the same part of the brain. So, people with these problems may use drugs to feel better. The last major reason for continued drug addiction in India is that there is the poor implementation of law and corruption in the policing system. See, this is one of the main reasons why it is hard to curb the drug trafficking and the smuggling of drugs in India. See, these are some of the reasons for drug addiction in Indian context. Now, let us see some of the challenges in addressing drug addiction. See, some drugs are easily and legally available in the market like tobacco and alcohol. There is no proper mechanism to regulate these kinds of drugs. Then, the rehabilitation centers are very less in the country and those that are there are not run by the government. They are run by private centers and they are charging more for the rehabilitation treatments. And this makes it not viable for poor people to access rehabilitation centers. Then, there is the difficulty in tracing the smuggling of drugs through states like Punjab, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. These states share boundary with neighboring countries and these boundaries are porous. Through these porous boundaries, drug trade and smuggling takes place. These are some of the challenges in addressing drug addiction in India. Finally, let us see some of the possible solutions to tackle drug addiction. See, Indian government has to strengthen the criminal law system and the criminal justice system to punish the drug smugglers. Then, counseling centers need to be established by the government at hotspot areas of drug addiction to provide advice on drug use. Then, the government has to create more rehabilitation centers with good infrastructure and make them affordable for the people who seek to use the facility. Finally, government should launch awareness program with the help of civil society, self-help groups and NGOs to create awareness about drug addiction. These are some of the steps that can be taken to tackle the problem of drug addiction. So, that is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is drug addiction. Then, we saw why there is a cross-border trade in drugs in India. Then, we saw the reasons for drug addiction and the challenges in addressing drug addiction. And finally, we saw some of the possible solutions to address drug addiction in our country. So, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. See this article here. It is a quite different one from the other articles that we discussed today. Let me tell you about this article in a story form. There lived a person named Premchand. One day, he was in need of 2 lakh rupees. He doesn't know what to do and he doesn't have the means to earn those 2 lakh rupees. So, he decided to act as if he was kidnapped. By doing so, he thought he can demand the rupees from his parents. So, after deciding this, he called his parents several times and told them his kidnappers are demanding 2 lakh rupees. I know you are all eager to know how this story is going to end. But sorry to disappoint you. He has been found by the police before he could get that 2 lakh rupees. I feel sorry for the dude. See, the sad part here is not that he got caught. See, when the police asked, Premchand said he needed the rupees to get a car to run it as a taxi through an app-based cab aggregator. See how eager this person is to work. Although this story may sound funny, this highlights two issues. One is that there is no formal way to get credit in our country. That is why he used this method to get money from his parents. The other thing is running taxi through an app-based cab aggregator is one of the most easy way for a semi-skilled labourer in our country to earn a living wage. This is the two take-away we can get from this story. Now you may ask, what is the relevance of this article to our examination? See, the work that he is so determined to do is only important for us. So, what was the work? He wanted to get a car to run it as a taxi through an app-based cab aggregator. And what is this work called? This is only platform work. And the broader term for this is called as gig work. The person who does gig work is a gig worker. In general, the term gig worker means someone who takes on hourly or part-time jobs in everything from catering events to software development. This work is usually temporary and completed through a specific time under a non-standard work agreement. That is, outside the traditional employer-employee arrangement. Common names for the gig workers include contingent workers, freelancers and independent contractors. Now coming to platform work. See, the platform work is a subset of gig work. Platform workers are those who do platform work. It means a worker working for an organization which provides specific services using online platform directly to individuals and organizations. See, the work under Uber, Vola, Zomato, Swiggy are platform work. Because here, the workers are working for an organization which provides services using online platform. Take Swiggy for example. This organization is providing the service of delivery of food using online app. So, this work is called platform work. In India, the Code of Social Security 2020 defines platform work. I have given the definition here. You can pass the video and go through it. See, platform work means a work agreement outside of a traditional employer-employee relation in which organizations or individuals use an online platform to access other organizations or individuals to solve specific problems or to provide specific services or such other activities which may be notified by the central government in exchange for a payment. Now what is the significance of this work and why it is gaining prominence? The first benefit is that it offers flexibility. Workers can decide when and how often to work. The second benefit is geographic diversity. It can create more opportunities for remote working. The third benefit is inclusivity. See, there is no barriers to enter into the workforce. The traditional agreements will have a lot of qualifications for employment. The next benefit is expanded income. If someone works as part-time, then it amounts to additional income for them. The final one is reduction in unemployment. See, many advanced economies have surplus of unskilled labor who are unemployed or underemployed. Similarly, some emerging economies have surplus of skilled workers. Platform companies offer options for both types of workers to find gainful employment. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is platform work and we saw the condition of platform workers and finally we saw the necessity for the platform work. So that's all regarding this discussion. Now let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Have a look at this news article. This news article talks about a social activist, Dayabhai. See, the news is that she is on hunger strike in Kerala's capital that is in Tiruvananthapuram. Why is she doing so? See, she is on hunger strike seeking relief for the endosulfur and victims of Kasargaon. And recently the Kerala government showed its willingness to meet the demands made by her. However, the 81-year-old activist has not called off the strike. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us discuss about the endosulfon briefly. See, first of all, what is endosulfon? Endosulfon is a pesticide. What is meant by a pesticide here? Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests such as insects, weeds, fungi and other pests. So, we can say that pesticide is a collective term to represent herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluskicide, rottenicide, bactericide and other insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, etc. So, all these that are used to control the pest are collectively termed as pesticide. See, endosulfon is a brown-colored solid that may appear in the form of crystals or flakes. It has a smell like turpentine, but it does not burn. It does not occur naturally in the environment. Yes, this organochlorine insecticide was first introduced in the 1950s. This is to control a variety of insects including whiteflies, apits, leaf hoppers, Colorado potato beetles and cabbage worms. So, this endosulfon is a broad-spectrum organochlorine. This pesticide works as an insecticide and accreside. Insecticide means it kills the insects that are detrimental for crops. And accreside means it kills the subclass of arachnids which is acre. This acre subclass includes ticks and mites. See, in the year 2011, the Supreme Court of India banned endosulfon throughout India. Now, let us see some of its features and the harmful impacts caused by the endosulfon. And let us see why it is banned. The first feature is it is relatively persistent and it is semi-volatile compound. What does this mean? It means that this endosulfon lasts long in the environment because they are less likely to get vaporized. So, this endosulfon is detected in soil, sediment and water and even in areas where it is not used. Okay? This is the first feature. Secondly, it has the potential to bio-accumulate in aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Here, bio-accumulation refers to the gradual build-up of chemicals in a living organism over time. See, these are the two major features of the endosulfon. Now, let us see what is the issue with this pesticide. The main issue is it is toxic by inhalation, skin absorption or ingestion. It causes many health issues. Its persistent and bio-accumulating nature further aggravates the problem. Due to this, it has negative impacts on humans. In humans, it leads to neuro-behavioral disorders, cognitive disorders, hydrocephalus, mental retardation, cancer at younger age and other life-long illnesses among female children. Here, what is hydrocephalus? See, it is a condition that increases pressure within the head and makes the head grow in abnormal size. This leads to brain damage and ultimately death. Endosulfon causes abnormalities related to male reproductive system also. Just look at this image to see the harm caused by this endosulfon. It does not stop with this. It also impacts the environment and other organisms. It leads to mass death of bees, fishes, birds and also causes congenital deformities in domestic animals such as cows. This is news because the Kerala government's delay in providing relief to the victims of endosulfon. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is endosulfon. In that, we saw what is a pesticide. After that, we saw the features of endosulfon. Then, we saw what makes the endosulfon so harmful. Finally, we saw the impacts of endosulfon. That's all regarding this discussion. Let's conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. See this editorial article here. It is about the hunger situation in India. The editorial has been published today because yesterday that is on October 16, World Food Day was celebrated. The article says that World Food Day is a reminder to leave no one behind. And it is also an opportunity to strengthen food security nets, provide access to essential nutrition for millions and promote livelihood for vulnerable communities. This is the essence of the news article given here. In this context, let us understand about the hunger situation in India and we will see some of the important points mentioned in the editorial article. But before that, the syllabus relating to this discussion is highlighted here. You can go through it. Before starting our discussion, ask yourself this question. What is hunger? See, hunger in simple terms is the desire to consume food. We all get hungry, right? But everybody does not have the luxury of availability of food to fulfill the desire to consume food. So what happens at this time? See, as a result of inadequate diet over time, the human body gets used to having less food. So after a while, the body does not even demand more food. In such case, hunger is not even expressed. But this lower intake of essential calories, proteins, fat and micronutrients would result in underdevelopment of the human mind and the human body. And this is exactly why objective indicators are used to capture human problems scientifically rather than subjective articulation by individuals. Some of the objective indicators include calorie consumption, body mass index, the proportion of malarist children and the childhood mortality. See, among these indicators, calorie intake refers to the most proximate aspect of hunger. There are certain levels of calorie intake requirements which need to be obtained for the better development of the human mind and the human body. Indian Council of Medical Research recommends per person per day calorie norms of 2,400 kilo calories for rural areas and 2,100 kilo calories for urban areas. But the per capita calorie intake varies considerably across different expenditure classes. This is because low income families will be able to afford only fewer calories than high income category. This is the basic about hunger. Now let us see the hunger situation prevailing on the global level. See on the global level, food and nutrition security continues to be undermined. No, you may think how such a basic thing is getting undermined. One reason is the percentage of people in the top level of the social status always get food. They don't have to experience hunger problem that is faced by the people who are in the bottom of the social status. This is one of the main reason why the hunger problem is often getting undermined. No coming to the other reason. See, we all are facing the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, spiraling food inflation, war. So, the author is saying that these problems cloud the hunger problem which we have to take care of immediately. And the author also gives us reason why he is saying that action should be taken immediately. As per estimates today, around 828 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat. And over 50 million people are facing severe hunger. The hunger hotspot outlook 2020-23 warns about the escalating hunger. And the report says that over 205 million people across 45 countries will need emergency food assistance to survive. Know that hunger hotspot outlook is a report by the food and agriculture organization of the United Nations and the World Food Program. These reports are the reason why the author is saying immediate action is necessary to address hunger. No coming to the hunger problem in India. See, recently the Global Hunger Index 2022 was published. And India got 107th rank out of 121 countries evaluated. And it performed poorly compared to its South Asian counterparts and its neighbors. And as per the Global Hunger Index, India is in the serious category of hunger level. Now, apart from this, the National Family Health Survey 5 report says that there is the twin problem of malnutrition in India. One scenario is people are getting overnourished. The other is people are getting undernourished. The National Family Health Survey 5 reports shows that the percentage of obese children and adults rose in India in the last 5 years. Moreover, as a part of the survey, several of India's nutritional indicators have shown only minor improvements since National Family Health Survey 4 which was conducted in 2015-16. This is a worrying factor. Why? See, there was only a 3% decline in the child stunting. That is, from 38.4 in National Family Health Survey 4 to 35.5 in National Family Health Survey 5. And in the case of child wasting, there was only a 1.7% decline. But the percentage of children under 5 who are severely wasted has increased by 0.2%. Apart from this, children under the age of 5 who are overweight have increased from 2.1% in National Family Health Survey 4 to 3.4% in National Family Health Survey 5. Like I said before, on the one hand, over nutrition is increasing, but at the same time, malnourishment is not getting proper solution. Why do you think is the reason for this condition in India? See, India has an inspiring journey towards better production and achieving self-sufficiency in agricultural production. India has gone through the phases of Green Revolution and it has incorporated technologies in agriculture to increase the production. And as far as the result is concerned, India is one of the largest agricultural product exporter. During 2021-22, it recorded 49 billion dollars in total agricultural exports. This is a 20% increase from the year 2020-21. Now you may ask, if India is having enough stock to export, then how come there is hunger problem in India which is so critical? See, the main culprit here is the climate shocks. These climate shocks have raised concerns about India's wheat and rice production in recent times. Since agriculture in India is seasonal, climate shocks have affected the availability of food grains in India. The second factor is the increasing population. According to the World Population Prospects 2022, India will be the most populous country by 2023. And by 2030, India's population is expected to raise to 1.5 billion. This is also one another reason why a percentage of India's population is facing the problem of hunger and malnutrition. So, what should be done? And what are the multi-faceted approaches that India should take to address the issue of hunger and malnutrition? See, as we saw earlier, climate shocks are one of the reasons for hunger problem in India. So, it is important to place a greater focus on climate adaptation and resilience building in agriculture. See, the nutrition and agricultural production are not only impacted by climate change, but it is also linked to environmental sustainability. Soil degradation by excessive use of chemicals and non-judicious use of water has resulted in declining nutrition value of food products. And this needs urgent attention from the government. Earlier, we saw the problem of increasing population rate. So, to address the demand supply mismatch, agri-food system have to provide sustainable support. And there is also an increased need to move away from conventional input-intensive agriculture towards more inclusive, effective and sustainable agri-food systems. Fourthly, millets currently have received renewed attention. This is because the crops are good for nutrition, health and also the planet itself. Other than this, they have many benefits. See, they are climate smart crops and they are hardier than other cereals. They need fewer inputs and they are less extractive for the soil. They can revive soil's health. Additionally, their genetic diversity ensures that agrobiodiversity is preserved. And the major benefit is it increases the yield of the farmers. See, the Tejasvini program of Madhya Pradesh showed that growing millets meant a nearly 10 times increase in income for the farmers. So, miller production should be encouraged because all parties who are involved in the miller production are beneficiaries. Apart from this, initiatives should be taken by the government regarding better production and improving food access mainly for vulnerable populations. So, these are the steps or the approaches that India should take to address the problem of malnutrition and hunger. Having said that, let us see the initiatives that are taken by the government to address the issue of hunger. See, one of the India's greatest contribution to equity in food is its National Food Security Act 2013. This act integrates the targeted public distribution system, the PM-Poshan scheme and the integrated child development services. Food safety nets and inclusions are linked with public procurement and buffer stock policy. This was visible during the global food crisis of 2008-12 and the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, we all saw that the vulnerable and the marginalized people in India continued to be buffered by the targeted public distribution system. Additionally, the government continues to take various measures to improve programs with digitization and measures such as rice fortification, better health and sanitation. Apart from this, the author quotes the International Monetary Fund paper titled, Pandemic Poverty and Inequality Evidence from India. The paper asserted that extreme poverty was maintained below 1% in 2020 due to the Prime Minister, Garib Kalyan and Yodhra. Other than this, India has led the global conservation on reviving millet production for better lives, nutrition and the environment. At the UN General Assembly, India appealed to declare 2023 as the year, as the International Year of Millets. The national government is also implementing a submission on Nutri-Serials, that is Millets as a part of the National Food Security Mission. Finally, while concluding, the author says that the path to a better life resides in transforming food systems, making food systems more resilient and sustainable, focusing on equity, enhancing food and nutrition security and social protection networks, providing income support, promoting production and consumption of nutritious native foods such as millets, investing in consumer sensitization, increasing cooperation for leveraging solution and innovation, and finally investing in making the global and the regional supply chain robust. As a way forward, India can lead the global discourse on food and nutrition security by showcasing home-grown solutions and best practices. And also, India can use its upcoming G20 presidency as an opportunity to bring food and nutrition security on the very center of a resilient and equitable future. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is hunger, status of hunger at the global level and the status of hunger and malnutrition at India's level. Then we saw the steps that can be taken to provide a multifaceted approach to deal with hunger and malnutrition in India. Then we saw the steps currently taken by the government to address hunger in India. Finally, we saw some of the solutions offered by the author in this editorial. So that's all regarding this discussion. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Have a look at this news article. This news article talks about legacy landfills. See, the news is that the remediation of legacy landfills in the country are in full swing. This is a preparation to complete one of the targets of Swach Bharat Mission Urban 2.0. See, this Swach Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 was launched on October 1st 2021 by our Prime Minister. What is the mission about? The mission aims at making all cities garbage free. And this is to be done by the end of its five year period. So, in view of this only, action plans for 1000 legacy landfill sites have been approved by the ministry. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us discuss about legacy landfills briefly. First of all, what is a landfill? See, a landfill is an area of land that is used to dump garbage. If it is done directly on the ground, it is called as land raising, or if it is filling an unwanted hole in the ground, then it is called as landfilling. Okay, now let us see what is a legacy landfill. See, for this, we need to know about legacy waste. See, these are the waste that have been collected and kept for years at some barren land or a place dedicated for landfills. Okay, and such a landfill where legacy waste is dumped is called as legacy landfill. Okay, so having known about this legacy waste and legacy landfills, now let us understand what are all the impacts that the legacy landfills create. See, the legacy waste not only occupy large space, but also become a breeding ground for pathogens, flies and even for the generation of leachate. What is a leachate? Leachate is defined as any contaminated liquid that is generated from water percolating through a solid waste disposal site, resulting in accumulation of contaminants. This leachate leads to groundwater contamination. See, not only this, the legacy landfills also contribute to the generation of greenhouse gases and poses risk of uncontrollable fires. Lastly and most importantly, all the problems are due to large amount of unsegregated waste. Yes, the unsegregated waste is only dumped in these legacy landfills and because of this, the composition of legacy waste is mostly not well determined or known. See, the composition of the legacy landfill majorly depends upon the landfills age. So, without knowing the composition of the legacy landfill, it is very difficult to process or recycle the waste that is stored in the legacy landfills. So, these are the impacts of legacy landfills. Now, let us see few solutions to address the issues associated with legacy landfills. The first solution is to analyze the technical parameters such as characteristics and composition of the legacy waste. This is for assessing the feasibility of conducting bioremediation of the legacy dump sites. What is meant by bioremediation here? See, bioremediation is a branch of biotechnology. In case of bioremediation, living organisms are employed to decontaminate waste. Here, what happens is that these living organisms are used in the removal of contaminants, pollutants and toxins from soil and water and other environment. This is the first solution. The second solution is subjecting the legacy waste dump site to a scientific mining operation which is also called as biomining. Here, let me explain to you about biomining. See, in biomining microorganisms or microbes are used to extract metals of economic interest from rock cores or mine waste. And this biomining technique may be also used to clean up sites that have been polluted with metals like in the legacy landfills. Just have a look at this image to know about how this biomining is done. And this biomining can create a sustainable business model. For example, the polymeric waste obtained from the dump sites can be potentially used for the manufacture of refuse derived fuel that is RDF. And the electricity produced from the RDF can be utilized by energy intensive industries and for households. Then the management of the legacy waste should be combined with the integrated waste management facility because it has adequate capacities for collecting, transporting and disposing of municipal solid waste produced on a day-to-day basis as well as legacy waste trapped in the dump sites. And finally, the revenue-generating fractions of the legacy waste such as plastic waste, glass pieces heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, nickel, mercury and zinc can help articulate the circular economy in the sustainable business model for India in the coming years. So that's all regarding this discussion. This discussion we saw what is the legacy waste and what is legacy landfills. Then we saw the issues associated with legacy landfills. Finally, we saw two steps that can be taken to address the issues of legacy landfills. In that, we saw about bioremediation and bio-mining. So that's all regarding this discussion. Now let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Have a look at this news article. This news article talks about the citizen participation in governance through ward committees. The news is that the Bangalore High Court has said December 31, 2022 as a deadline for Pruhat, Bangalore, Mahanagara or BBMP polls in the city. What happened is a convention of the Balaga passed 8 resolutions on ward committees. Also, it demanded that all political parties must commit themselves to these resolutions in their manifesto for the upcoming civic polls. And in these resolutions, demands for formation of ward committees in a fair and transparent way is included. This means including active citizens in the ward committees. This is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us discuss about the ward committees briefly. Okay. First of all, what is a ward committee? See article 243S of the Indian Constitution discusses about the constitution of ward committees. And these ward committees consist of one or more wards. And this is within the territorial area of a municipality having a population of 3 lakhs or more. Okay. The state legislature must create provisions for the composition of ward committees. Also, note that the state legislature must create provisions for the territorial area of the ward committees and the way in which the seats in the ward committees are to be filled. Okay. And the concern in this respect are whether ward committees can be formed in municipal areas with a population of less than 3 lakhs and if the ward committee can be formed for each ward in a municipal area at any level of municipality as well as who should be on such committees. This is the major concern regarding ward committees. Note that the state government have no choice when it comes to ward committees for municipalities with population of 3 lakhs or more because this is a constitutional necessity. However, each state government may examine and decide whether it would want to establish more ward committees or not. Okay. This is in the state government's discretion. See the ward committee are a link between the municipality and the people and so a ward committee would be chaired by an elected representative from the particular ward. Okay. Now let us see the important functions played by the ward committee. Firstly, the ward committee supervises the overall municipal work within its territorial limits. Then they make recommendations on local government issues in their wards. This is because the ward committee are representations of the community itself and so they help in communicating between the municipality and the people through the ward councillor and these ward councillors are accountable to the fulfilment of their duties. They even engage the community through regular meetings and other form of informal interactions. Then it looks into the proper availability of water and sanitation facility within its territory. Thirdly, it will identify slums and then look into their upgradation. Fourthly, it does the dissemination of public health information and lastly it takes steps to protect the environment. All these are done through the integrated development plan then the performance management plan the annual budget and the annual report. Okay. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw what are ward committees the role played by ward committees and the functions played by ward committees. With this, let us conclude the news article discussion session and take up the practice problems questions. We have four practice problems questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question. Consider the following statements. Endosulfone is globally banned. Biomagnification means chemicals transfer from lower tropic level to higher tropic level within the foot whip. See here statement one is correct because endosulfone is globally banned through Stockholm and Rotterdam conventions. Okay. See Stockholm convention is a global treaty to protect human health and environment from persistent organic pollutants. What is meant by persistent organic pollutants? See these are chemical substance that exhibit the following characteristics. The characteristics are they are persistent in the environment. These chemical substance they dissolve in the fatty acids that result in bio accumulation. These chemicals are less soluble in water. They adversely affect the human health and environment. Then these chemicals possess the property of long range environmental transport. Due to this, these chemicals spread widely in the atmosphere. If all these characteristics are satisfied only then they are called as persistent organic pollutants. Okay. Next comes the Rotterdam convention. It is formally known as the convention on the prior informed condition procedure for certain hazardous chemicals. See it is a multilateral treaty to promote shared responsibility in relation to importation of hazardous chemicals. And the convention promotes open exchange of information and calls for exporters of hazardous chemicals to use proper labeling including directions for safe handling and informed purchases of any known restriction or pants. So Endosulfone is listed under both the Rotterdam convention on prior informed consent and Stockholm convention on persistent organic pollutants. Okay. This is regarding the first statement. See the second statement given here is also correct. Here I gave this statement so as to explain you the difference between bio accumulation and bio magnification. Bio accumulation and bio magnification are two separate phenomena related to the transfer of hazardous chemical up the food chain. Now the question is when and how bio magnification occurs. See bio magnification takes place as chemical transfer from lower tropic level to higher tropic level within a food web. And this results in a higher concentration of chemicals in apex predators. For example, pollutants and other ingested toxins from tiny aquatic organisms are transferred to small fish which are then consumed by larger fish and other aquatic species. This is how bio magnification occurs. We covered bio accumulation in our discussion itself. So I hope you understand the difference between bio magnification and bio accumulation. See bio accumulation occurs within the same tropic level. Bio magnification occurs when it is transferred from one tropic level to higher tropic level. Okay. No coming back to the question. Since both the statements given here are correct, the correct answer option C both 1 and 2. Look at the second question. See this is the three statement question. Three statements regarding Swach Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 is given. We have to find the incorrect statement here. Let us take the first statement. Swach Bharat Mission Urban 2.0 is designed to make all our cities garbage free and water secure. See this statement is correct. This is one of the main aim of Swach Bharat Mission Urban 2.0. Moving on to the second statement. It focuses on segregation of solid waste and utilizing the principles of 3R, that is reduce, reuse and recycle. This statement is also correct. This is also one of the aim of Swach Bharat Mission Urban 2.0. Moving on to the third statement. It aims to provide 100% coverage of water supply to all households in around 4700 urban local bodies. See this statement is incorrect because this is the aim of Amr 2.0 and not Swach Bharat Mission Urban 2.0. Since they are asking for the incorrect statement here the correct answer is option C 3 only. Moving on to the third question. This is also a two statement question. Two statements regarding platform workers are given. We have to find the incorrect statement here also. Let us take up the first statement. Platform workers are also called as street vendors. See this statement is incorrect. A street vendor is broadly defined as a person who offers goods for sale to the public at the large without permanent buildup structure from which to sell. They occupy space on the payment or other public or private spaces. But we saw about platform workers in the discussion right. So street vendors are not platform workers. So statement one is incorrect. Moving on to the second statement. In India social security provisions are not available to platform workers. See this statement is also incorrect because code of social security 2020 has provided for framing of suitable social security schemes for gig workers and platform workers on matters relating to life and disability cover accident insurance health and maternity benefit and old age protections. Since both the statements given here are incorrect and they are asking for the incorrect statements. The correct answer is option C both one and two. Moving on to the last question. See this is a quiz question for you two statements regarding what committees are given you have to find the incorrect statements. If you want to know the answer for this question just go through and come back and try to answer this question. The main questions based on today's discussion are displayed here interested aspirants can write the answers for these questions and post them in the comment section. If you like today's session you can like comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation subscribe to Shankar IS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.