 A very good evening aspirants welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankarayis Academy for the date 13th of February 2022. So these are the list of news articles chosen for today's discussion. If you can see we have chosen four distinct news articles. First three it will be related to science and tech and final article it will be regarding environment. So without wasting much time let us move on to the first news article discussion. Now have a look at this news article. The article says that the last batch of Rafale jets will arrive in India from France next week. See the Rafale jets that are being delivered to India or incorporated with India specific enhancements. There are 13 India specific enhancements made in the Rafale. Some of the enhancements are radar enhancements, helmet mounted display, ability to start and operate from high altitude air fields, advanced infrared search and track sensor, a potent electronic jammer pod and avionics. See the jet would fly all the way to India from France with in-flight refuelling along the way. So this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us see some of the important points about Rafale, its specifications and its significance for India. Now let us start our discussion. First know that Rafale is a multi-role combat aircraft. Now what is a multi-role combat aircraft? See it is an aircraft that is capable of doing multiple roles during combat. Combat means a fight to defend something. So during combat these aircrafts are capable of doing multiple roles. Now the main aim of these multiple role combat aircraft is to cut the cost. See if one aircraft can perform multiple roles then it can save us money right. That is the rationale behind the development of these multi-role combat aircrafts. Similarly when the Rafale program was launched by the Dassault Corporation. Dassault Corporation is a French aerospace company or the corporation that is responsible for designing and producing Rafale aircrafts. So when the Rafale program was launched by the Dassault Corporation its aim was to develop an omnirole aircraft that would have to replace the 7 types of combat aircraft then in operation in France. Here omnirole means the aircraft can perform several actions at the same time. For example firing air to air missile during a very low altitude penetration phase. So they designed Rafale so that it can carry out the roles like air defense, air superiority, anti-axis, close air support, dynamic targeting, air to ground precision strike, anti-ship attack, nuclear deterrence, buddy buddy refuelling and reconnaissance. See reconnaissance means gathering information about the enemy. So because of these features this makes Rafale an ideal candidate for the Indian Air Force also. Now here you might have a question whether this Rafale is the only multi-role combat aircraft in present or not. See there are other multi-role combat aircrafts in operation also. Now the process of acquiring these aircrafts for the Indian Air Force started long back in 2008. Six aircrafts competed, it includes Dassault's Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing Super Hornet, Lockheed, Martin's Superweaver, MiG-35 and Saab Grippen NG. So among all these six aircrafts after intense scrutiny and negotiations, Dassault's Rafale was finally chosen. See why I have mentioned the other MRCA here is that if at all in the problems UPSC ask a question by giving you some aircrafts and asking you to find multi-role combat aircraft among them you must be able to answer that. So that is the reason why I have provided you all the six aircraft which competed. Now moving on see Rafale is a 4.5 generation aircraft. We saw it is a multi-role combat aircraft meaning it can perform multiple roles during combat. Secondly it is a 4.5 generation aircraft. See generation is nothing but the biggest technological advances in the historical development of the aircrafts. So just like mobile phones we get updated versions after a year or after 6 months right. So just like that these generations are nothing but the technological advancements or leaps in the historical development of the aircrafts. Now coming back this Rafale is a 4.5 generation aircraft. Here you must note that 4.5 generation aircrafts are those that evolved from the 4th generation by incorporating some aspects of the 5th generation like high capacity digital communication. So it has both the features of 4 and 5 that is why it is named as 4.5 generation. Remember India's very own HIL Tejas aircraft is a 4.5 generation aircraft. See right now there are only 4 5th generation aircrafts in the world that are combat ready. They are Lockheed Martin F-22, Lockheed Martin F-35, Sukai SU-57 and Chengdu J-20. So these are the 4 5th generation aircrafts in the world that are combat ready. In India 5th generation stealth multi-role fighter HIL AMCA is under development. Here in this table I have given some of the basic specifications of Rafale. You can go through it, note all these points they are very specific and they might be asking you a question in the preliminary examination. Now having seen the specifications of Rafale let us see some of the significance of Rafale for India. See the first significance is countering China. See China has its own Chengdu J-20 which is a 5th generation aircraft but the thing is that Chengdu J-20 has no actual combat experience. Rafale even though it is a 4.5 generation aircraft it has combat experience. The French Air Force they used it for its mission in Afghanistan, Libya and Mali. It has also been used for missions in the Central African Republic, Iraq and Syria. So India has a slight advantage over China with the acquisition and integration of Rafale in the air force. So this is the first important significance. In addition to this Rafale can also carry more fuel and weapons than the J-20. See Rafale can carry 11.4 tons of fuel so it has a range of 3700 km and Rafale comes with 14 storage stations for weapons as well. So the first significance is to counter China and the second significance is also countering our neighbour country which is nothing but Pakistan. See if you guys remember in 2019 Indian Air Force struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Balakot following which there was an attempt by Pakistan to cross the Indian border using their F-16 Falcon jets. I hope you all remember those incidents. While our forces averted any misadventure by the Pakistani side we lost one MiG-21 Bison in the process. Here F-16 is a 4th generation aircraft and MiG-21 is a 2nd generation aircraft. See if we had a better aircraft this mishap would have been averted right. MiG-21 Bison is an old Soviet era aircraft and India currently has 4 squadrons of them all must be replaced by better new technology aircraft for increasing India's air superiority. So this is where Rafale comes into play. When we compare India's Rafale and Pakistan's F-16 Rafale comes with one of the most advanced meteor air to air missiles. The 190 kg meteor air to air missile has a beyond visual range of over 100 kilometer traveling at a top speed of Mach 4 whereas the F-16 jets used by Pakistan carry the AMR-AAM missile which has a BVR of 75 kilometer. AMR-AAM is nothing but the advanced medium range air to air missile. Apart from this Rafale can also outperform F-16 in dogfights. So India has an advantage over Pakistan in this sense also. Here dogfight means a close combat between military aircrafts. See earlier two Sukai 30 MKI needed to be noted to fight one of Pakistan's F-16 because F-16s have superior radar and missiles. Now with the arrival of Rafale two F-16s need to combine together to counter challenge a single Rafale in the air. I hope now you can understand the significance of Rafale. See Rafale aircraft comes with the SCALP missile. SCALP missile is a 300 kilometer range air to ground cruise missile. This missile will help precisely track down any target and the Pakistani territory with ease. See since the SCALP missile has a range of more than 300 kilometers Indian aircrafts will not need to cross the LOC to attack an area in Pakistan. Which means attack can be done from within the Indian airspace itself. So far we saw about Rafale we saw about some of its specifications and then we saw two important significance of Rafale. Now we'll see some of the India specific enhancements made to Rafale. Here India specific enhancements means the features which India expect to have in the Rafale when the aircraft is delivered. See these India specific enhancements made to Rafale makes it more sophisticated and highly customized. This will help meet the specific needs that Indian Air Force has today. The pilots can significantly benefit from the helmet mounted sights and targeting systems and can shoot off the weapons with lightning speed. The ISC will make Rafale easily take off from high altitude air base like lay. This will help India make quick deployment in a highly accurate manner. Apart from this Rafale that is supplied to India has a stored decoy system that can stop the incoming missile attacks as well. So these are the important facts or points that you have to make note of Rafale. You can use all these points as value addition in your mains answer writing. There might be questions in problems as well. So in this discussion we saw about Rafale. We saw it is a multi-role combat aircraft. We saw what is a multi-role aircraft combat. Then we saw Rafale is a 4.5 generation aircraft. Then we saw some of the specifications of the Rafale. Then we saw some of the significance of Rafale for India. At the end we saw some of the India specific enhancements made to Rafale. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. See this tiny article here. It says that a new exoplanet has been found orbiting Proxima Century. Proxima Century is nothing but the sun's nearest star neighbor just four light years away. So before getting into the details of what is said in the article. First what is the meaning of exoplanet? See exoplanets means any planet beyond our solar system. They are two types. Most exoplanets they orbit other stars whereas some free floating exoplanets which are called as rogue planets. They orbit the galactic center and are not tied to any star. From NASA's Kepler space telescope we know that there are more planets than stars in the galaxy. Generally by measuring exoplanets size and masses. We can see composition of the planets ranging from very rocky like earth and Venus to very gaseous rich like Jupiter and Saturn. See exoplanets they are made up of elements similar to those of the planets in our solar system but their mixes of these elements may differ. Some planets may be dominated by water or ice while others are dominated by iron or carbon. So next time whenever you hear the word exoplanet they actually mean any planet beyond our solar system. So one such exoplanet has been found orbiting Proxima century. Proxima century is the sun's nearest star neighbor which is just four light years away. The newly found exoplanet was named Proxima D and this is the third planet to be found in this system. So far only two planets has been identified. This is the third planet that is why this news article has made the news. This Proxima D it orbits the star within the habitable zone. The revolution takes five days to complete. Now what does this word habitable zone mean? See the habitable zone is the distance from a star at which liquid water could exist on orbiting planets surfaces. Habitable zones are also known as Goldilocks zone where conditions might be just right. That is neither too hot nor too cold for life. Imagine if Earth was where Pluto is the sun would be barely visible that is about the size of a pea and Earth's ocean and much of its atmosphere would freeze right. On the other hand if Earth took Mercury's place it would be too close to the sun and its water would form a steep atmosphere. Quickly boiling of right. So the distance Earth orbits the sun is just right for water to remain a liquid. This distance from the sun is called the habitable zone or Goldilocks zone. Very important point make note of these points. So this exoplanet is found to be orbiting the star within this habitable zone. The revolution takes five days to complete. Remember Proxima century also has another near Earth sized planet in its habitable zone whose name is Proxima B and this Proxima B is tidally locked. Tidal locking is the phenomenon by which a body has the same rotational period as its orbital period around a partner. For example the moon is tidally locked to the Earth because it rotates in exactly the same time as it takes to orbit the Earth. That is why we only see one side of the moon. Likewise this Proxima B it is also tidally locked to the star in Proxima century. So these are the important facts or points that you have to make note of. Very important topic there might be a question in preliminary examination make note of this. With these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this article. It is about a study conducted by Imperial College London. It is the COVID-19 two human challenge study. The study is about the 36 participants who are aged between 18 and 29 years who are deliberately exposed to low dose of SARS-CoV-2 virus through the nose. And it is said that the various facets of infection were studied and the study was concluded. This is the brief intro of the article given here. So under this article discussion let us see about the findings of the study conducted by the Imperial College London and some of their important facts about SARS-CoV-2 virus. Before that the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. Just go through it. Now let us start our discussion. First of all let us see about the study. Like I said earlier it is a study on 36 participants who are aged between 18 and 29 years and these participants are intentionally exposed to low dose of SARS-CoV-2 virus and the exposure is done through nose. See the important factor about the study is that all the volunteers they had no previous infection or vaccination which means the study will provide the blueprint of how the infection actually spreads. Now let us see about the findings of human challenge study. See it is found that only 18 of 36 participants became infected and the viral load in these people increased sharply before peaking. See so far it is estimated that the incubation period is about five days post exposure to the virus here incubation period is the time between infection or contact with the virus and the onset of symptoms or signs of infection. So in this human challenge study it is found that the symptoms were found to be associated with viral shedding and that too within two or four days of inoculation. We will see what is inoculation and what is viral shedding to have a clear understanding about the findings. See inoculation is the introduction of a pathogen or antigen into a living organism to stimulate the production of antibodies. So here the act of introducing COVID virus into the human being is called inoculation. Now let us see what is viral shedding. See when an individual gets infected by a respiratory virus like SARS-CoV-2 the virus particles will bind to the various types of viral receptors. In human beings the virus will bind to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 that is ACE2 receptors that lines the respiratory tract. You can see in this image how the virus is getting attached to the ACE2 receptor and throughout this ongoing process infected individuals who may not yet be experiencing any of the viral symptoms will be shedding viral particles while they talk, exhale, eat and perform other normal daily activities. So the process of shedding viral particles is called viral shedding. As simple as that. Now coming back to the findings it is said that the symptoms are associated with the viral shedding within 2 or 4 days as opposed to 5 days that were estimated before. So the first important finding is previously it was estimated that the incubation period is about 5 days post exposure to the virus but the study has found that the symptoms are associated with the viral shedding within 2 or 4 days as opposed to this 5 days that were estimated before. So this is the first finding. Another important finding of the study is that virus was first detected in the throat and then the nose before peak symptoms started showing. Viral load in the throat and nose increased sharply to achieve a sustained peak and in many cases before peak symptoms were reached. This corresponds to other studies that indicated up to 44% of transmissions occur before symptoms show up. So the second finding is that the virus were first detected in the throat then in the nose before peak symptoms started showing. And it is found that the viral load is significantly high in the nose than in the throat. Here viral load refers to the amount of virus in an infected person's blood. This is expressed as the number of viral particles in each millimeter of blood. It means the infection is progressing. So the high viral load in nose emphasizes the critical importance of wearing face coverings or mask over the nose as well as mouth. So the second finding is that even though the virus is first detected in the throat and then in the nose the viral load is significantly higher in the nose than the throat. Now moving on to the next finding. It is found that mild to moderate symptoms were reported by 89% of the infected persons. And the symptoms began 2 to 4 days after the deliberate exposure of the virus. And it is found that loss of smell also developed in 12 volunteers gradually. See after the volunteers enrolled for the study they were given remdesivir preemptively. Once nose or throat swaps showed quantifiable SARS-CoV-2 virus. The purpose behind this was to mitigate any risk of progression to severe disease. External experts found that preemptive remdesivir treatment is unnecessary. This is because of the 10 participants who received preemptive remdesivir 6 became infected. And there was no difference between the viral load between those who received preemptive remdesivir and those who did not receive them. In 18 infected individuals viral shedding were detected from the throat 40 hours after deliberate introduction. Viral shedding from the throat was detected earlier than in the nose. This is because viral load peaked in the throat earlier than in the nose. Here you might have a confusion. Previously I said even though virus was first detected in the throat, it is found that the viral load is significantly higher in the nose than the throat right. Just give me a minute I will explain you. Now it is found that viral load peaked in the throat 112 hours after inoculation while viral load peaked in the nose 148 hours after the virus was introduced in the nose of participants. Here the viral load peaking time differs between the throat and nose. But actually the viral load itself is higher in nasal samples. I hope you can understand the difference. And it is found that some participants continue to shed infectious virus even 12 days after virus introduction. And on average viable virus was detected 10 days post inoculation. These data therefore support the inoculation periods of 10 days post symptom onset advocated in many guidelines to minimize onward transmission. It is also found that neutralizing antibodies were generated in all infected participants 14 days post inoculation and further increased at 28 days. So these are the important points that you have to make note of from this news article. In this news article discussion we have detailed seen about the study conducted by Imperial College London which is nothing but a SARS-CoV-2 human challenge study. 36 participants participated who are aged between 18 and 29 years and we also saw some of the crucial findings of the study. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article. The news article says that a male elephant was electrocuted in a banana plantation at a village near Coimbatore. The officials were checking whether the fencing was powered using a DC that is direct current energizer or AC that is alternative current source. See, farmers are allowed to erect fences around their farms. They are allowed to power their fences using DC current because using DC current does not result in electrocution and death. Direct current energizers will only give a mild intermittent shock to scare animals. Normally farmers have solar panels to power these DC energizer electric fences. Sometimes farmers power their electric fences using power from their domestic power supply. Now here comes the problem. The domestic power supply which is AC current causes electrocution and sometimes death to the animals. Hence this method of electrocution is not allowed and now the officials were checking whether the fencing was powered using a DC current or an AC current source and see this is not a stray incident as many as 600 elephants died due to electrocution across the country in 10 years from 2009 to 2019 according to data from the Union Ministry of Environment. In addition to this in most of these cases those responsible for the electrocution are never arrested. This is a sorry state of affairs. Now how to combat this problem? Let us see some solutions. First solution is capacitive building. See contrary to popular perception the intensity of electricity required to repulse bicker animals like elephants is much lower than what would be needed to keep away a cow or a goat. That is because the elephant occupies a larger surface area so a 10 volt shock is more than enough to deter an elephant. When people directly connect their domestic line which is 220 volt to their fences it result in elephant death. People must be educated regarding this and monetary support must be provided to landowners to set up solar power DC current fences that are non-lethal. The second solution is giving stringent punishment. See by bringing people who cause death to elephants due to their negligence in a fast manner this menace can be controlled. Only if people know that action will be taken against them they will stop using AC current power electric fences right? So the second solution will be to give stringent punishments. Third is the alternative methods. See project rehab establishing animal corridors planting citronella and lemongrass and building wildlife crossings or echo bridges will also go a long way to solving the problem. See the root cause of the problem is animals not finding enough food and water inside their habitat. This is the reason they stray outside. So efforts must be made to establish water holes and create additional food stock inside the forest area so that the elephants don't wander outside. So these are the important facts you have to make note of. With these learnt points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is nothing but the preliminary practice questions. Now look at this first question among the given aircrafts which all falls under the light combat aircraft category. Statement 1 Hongdu JL 10 Statement 2 HAL Dejas Statement 3 KAI FA 50 Select the correct answers using the code given below. Option A 1 and 2 only, option B 2 and 3 only, option C 1 and 3 only and option D all of the above. See all of the given aircrafts fall under light combat aircraft category. Hongdu JL 10 belongs to China, HAL Dejas belongs to India and KAI FA 50 belongs to South Korea. So this is the reason why we must make note of these aircrafts whenever they make news. So the correct answer for the question is option D all the above. Now moving on to the second question this question is about exoplanets. Statement 1 exoplanets or planets which are located outside the asteroid belt of the solar system. Statement 2 exoplanets or made up of elements similar to those of the planets in our solar system but the mixes of these elements may differ which of the above statement is or correct. Option A 1 only, option B 2 only, option C both 1 and 2 and option D neither 1 nor 2. See the correct answer here is option B because statement 1 is incorrect and statement 2 is correct. Statement 1 is incorrect because an exoplanet is any planet beyond our solar system. Here in the question it is mentioned that outside the asteroid belt of the solar system that's not true. It is any planet beyond our solar system or termed as exoplanets. Now statement 2 is actually correct this statement we saw in the our discussion itself right. This is actually the composition of exoplanets they are made up of elements similar to those of the planets in our solar system but the mixes of those elements may differ. The mains question is displayed here please go through it write an answer and post it in the comment section. With this we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video hit the like button share and do subscribe to Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.