 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A.S. Academy for the date 23rd of September 2019. Displayed at the list of news articles taken up for today's analysis, along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Trimantram and Hyderabad editions, the handwritten notes in PDF format and the timestamping of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis, is available in the description section and also in the comment section for the benefit of the smartphone users. Let us now start our discussion. This news article talks about the landfill reclamation and landfill remediation in three landfill sites in Delhi. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Let us now see the news article. This news article talks about three aged garbage dump sites in Delhi. One is the landfill site which is located at Ghazipur. This landfill site is operational since year 1984. The next landfill site is at Bhalswa which has been operational since the year 1993 and the third site is located at Okla which has been operational since year 1993. The huge garbage that has been accumulated over a period of time is adversely impacting public health and environment. Therefore, these dump sites have to be disposed using scientific and environmentally safe disposal methods. See, these are used as dump yards for municipal solid waste. So, let us see the term municipal solid waste. Municipal solid waste consists of garbage that is generated mainly from residential and commercial complexes. They include solid or semi-solid domestic waste, then the sanitary waste, then the commercial waste, then institutional waste, then catering and market waste and other non-residential waste. Also, the street sweepings, then the silt that is removed or collected from the surface drains, then horticulture waste, then the agriculture and dairy waste and also treated biomedical waste. So, all categories of waste come under this municipal solid waste. When we say sanitary waste, we mean the used diapers, tampons, used condoms, sanitary turbos and other similar waste. Note that according to municipal solid waste management rules of 2016, municipal solid waste do not include industrial waste, then hazardous waste, then hazardous chemicals, then untreated biomedical waste, then the e-waste, then the lead acid batteries and also the radioactive waste. These waste are covered under separate rules which are framed under the Environment Protection Act of 1986. So, know the different categories of waste and which waste comes under which rules. Now, imagine a site where such municipal solid waste are dumped since 1980s or 1990s, that is before 2030 years. It is said that in such sites and in the nearby areas, there will be huge water contamination. When we tell water contamination, it means both the groundwater and the surface water. The leached pollutants will mix with the nearby water bodies such as rivers or lakes and as a result, these water bodies are also polluted. Therefore, these sites have to be investigated and analyzed by the local authorities and the Panchayats in their jurisdictions for required action. Such dump sites have to be made less harmful or at the end harmless to the environment by suitable methods so that the environmental impact comes down to acceptable levels. If you see the solid waste management rules of 2016, there is a section, section ZJ. This section states that all old open dump sites and existing operational dump sites have to be investigated and analyzed for their potential of bio-mining and bio-remediation. And where so ever feasible, the local authorities shall take necessary actions to bio-mine or bio-remediate the dump sites. If bio-mining or bio-remediation is not possible, then the dump sites shall be scientifically capped as per landfill capping norms to prevent further damage to the environment. And there is also one more clause under these rules which speaks about the closure and rehabilitation of old dump sites. It is clause J of the first schedule of the solid waste management rules 2016 which we are talking about. Now this clause suggests reduction of waste by bio-mining and waste processing. Then it talks about capping with solid waste cover or solid waste cover enhanced with geomembrane which can also enable collection and utilization of greenhouse gases from the underground. And rule 22 of this solid waste management rules of 2016 mandates that within 5 years from the date of notification of the rules the local authorities have to carry out bio-remediation or capping of old and abandoned dump sites. So these are some of the provisions which speaks about bio-remediation, bio-mining. And know that the solid waste management rules of 2016 was notified on 8th of April 2016. Now coming back to the news article with respect to the 3 old dump sites in Delhi that we saw in the National Green Tribunal as recently directed to carry out bio-mining and bio-remediation in order to address the environmental harm that is emanating from these sites. So in this context let us see what is bio-mining and what is bio-remediation. First let us see bio-mining. Generally when we say bio-mining it means the use of microorganisms to mine out or to extract certain minerals from the rock ore. Here in the context of dump site reclamation or rehabilitation bio-mining refers to the process of using microorganisms in the land reclamation process in order to aid in the extraction and segregation of materials from the accumulated waste. This will be done by the process called as biodegradation. Then the bio-mining process also includes the process of segregating the extracted materials or any other materials by using rotating screens. These screens are called as trommels. In the news article you can see an image showing a trommel machine which is installed at Ghazipur landfill site in Delhi. And all those materials that have been segregated after bio-mining will be used accordingly. For example the construction and demolition materials segregated after bio-mining can be sent to the cement plants whereas some of the solid waste like plastic, wood, pulp or organic waste can be used to derive a fuel which is called as a refused derived fuel. And the waste used to make this fuel can be used in co-processing in cement or in thermal power plants. The refuse derived fuel that is produced can be used in waste to energy plants and in all industrial units using this type of fuel. And there will be some other segregated waste like the remaining powdery and other substances which looks like soil and gravel but they have different properties. This soil like material is found to be contaminated even after biodegradation and it is called as secondary soil. This secondary soil has a set of offset applications with appropriate guidelines. Now in our context the National Green Tribunal has directed the municipal corporations to use the soil like material to fill the abandoned mines located offsite. The idea is to plant trees after filling these secondary soils that is to carry out a forestation about these soils so that the trees will absorb the toxic material from the filled soil. But there are several challenges in filling such secondary soil in other places. There are prescribed standards of limits to depth. One such limit is that such a soil can be filled in thin layers only for a depth less than 30 centimeter otherwise it will contaminate the original soil. Now let us see the second process bioremediation. Bioremediation is a process that uses microorganisms, plants or microbial or plant enzymes to detoxify pollutants or contaminants in the dump site environment. Microorganisms are used for this purpose because they possess enzymes that allow them to use these toxic environmental contaminants as food. In this way these organisms will detoxify the pollutants. In most cases bioremediation and bio-mining go hand in hand in the rehabilitation of dump sites of solid wastes. Now let us see about capping. See once the wastes are removed or once bio-mining or bioremediation is carried out the land will be full of long term percolated pollutants even though the loads of wastes have been removed. We say it long term because these sites in Delhi have been receiving such pollutants since 1980s and 1990s as we saw in the start that is before 20-30 years. So it will be highly contaminated by these pollutants. So whenever rain comes there will be percolation and runoff. This will make the pollutants already present to mix with rainwater and further contaminate the nearby water bodies and groundwater by migration of pollutants. So this will lead to health consequences to the population who is living nearby these dump sites. To prevent this they will cover or cap the land with a geosynthetic clay liner or other appropriate geomembrane. Above this capping some thickness of uncontaminated soil will also be filled. So this entire process is called as capping. Therefore we can tell capping as a containment technology which forms a barrier between the contaminated underground and the surface. So the capping will shield humans and the environment from the harmful effects of the contaminated ground or the subsoil. Also capping limits the migration of such pollutants in the ground. There are several applications of depth and width for capping if you see. The first known example of scientific capping of a garbage dump site in India happened in Mumbai at the Gorai dump site. The Gorai dumping ground in Mumbai is an example of scientific landfill closure and methane capture for generating energy. In the subsoil of such sites if you see there will be landfill gases such as methane and other gases. These gases can be harnessed for power generation. But if you see capping may not work in some sites. This is because there is a scientific opinion that capping of such dump sites lead to generation of more leachate and methane gas. So this would further contaminate the already heavily contaminated groundwater. Here the term leachate means the liquid that seeps through solid waste. In some sites capping is not at all recommended. This is one of the reasons why the National Green Tribunal has ruled out this option of capping in the three old dump sites of Delhi. The news article mentions that the National Green Tribunal has recommended bio mining and bioremediation only. Then the news article also mentions an example from the city of Indore which is located in Mathya Pradesh. It refers to the reported success of bio mining and bioremediation carried out by the Indore Municipal Corporation at its landfill site. Based on the success of this Indore model the National Green Tribunal has instructed the three municipal corporations of Delhi to begin the rehabilitation of dump sites by the 1st of October this year. That is 1st of October 2019. To begin this rehabilitation drive a sum of around 250 crores has been allocated. The National Green Tribunal has also directed all municipal corporations in the country to carry out similar projects from 1st of November that is one month after the work has commenced in Delhi. We saw that what is municipal solid waste then we saw a few important provisions related to closure and management of old dump sites from the solid waste management rules of 2016. Then we also saw the directions of National Green Tribunal with respect to the three old dump sites in Delhi. Then we saw what is meant by bio mining and what is bioremediation and then we also saw capping of such sites. Then we saw two examples one the Indore example of carrying out bio mining and bioremediation and the Mumbai Gorai dumping ground example which is the first known example of scientific capping of a garbage dump site in India. And we also saw that this Gorai dump site is an example of scientific landfill closure and methane capture. So this is all about this news article. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article tells that the state of Manipur is planning to legalize cannabis. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Before seeing the news article first let us see about cannabis. The term cannabis is quite a generic term that is it is a general term which is used to denote all the preparations from the plant called as cannabis sativa and all these preparations are psychoactive preparations. When we tell psychoactive it means any chemical substance that can act upon the central nervous system of a human body where it will alter the brain function. So there will be temporary changes in the mood, in the behavior, in how the people are conscious etc. The main psychoactive constituent of this cannabis plant is Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol, in short it is called as THC. And all those chemical compounds which are structurally similar to this THC is called as cannabinoid. See cannabis is also called as marijuana and the un-pollinated female plants are called as hashish. Cannabis is by far the most widely cultivated traffic and abused illicit drug. If you see out of all the drug seizures that happen worldwide half of them are cannabis seizures. And the World Health Organization tells that practically every country in the world is facing this problem of cannabis. Now let us see some of the health effects of cannabis use. One is the acute health effects that is the immediate health effects after consuming cannabis. First is that it impairs the cognitive development in any individual who consume cannabis. Here the term cognitive development refers to the overall learning process of an individual where the information is processed and how an individual thinks, explores and figures the information. The next immediate health effect is that it impairs psychomotor performance. That is the coordination of a cognitive process and a motor activity. It simply means the simple things that we are doing. For example, say when you are driving a two-wheeler, you have to drive the two-wheeler, then you should also be aware about the traffic that is in front of you and the traffic that is beside you. So how your brain coordinates the entire events and how it works, all this comes under psychomotor performance. So you can see when a person is consuming cannabis, it would immediately impact the psychomotor performance of that individual. So they will behave in a very random manner. And often you can see persons who consume cannabis end up in meeting with road accidents if at all they drive a vehicle. Next, let us see the chronic health effects of cannabis consumption. The first impact is that there will be selective empowerment of cognitive functioning. That is specific function of a brain might be permanently damaged. Next, if a person or any individual, if they are consuming cannabis for a long time, that is if there is a prolonged use, then it would affect their daily normal functions. Then consuming cannabis can also lead to airway injury in the long run and also the inflammation of the lungs. And it will also lead to chronic bronchitis. Here the term bronchitis, that is nothing but the inflammation of the bronchial tubes which are the airways that carry air to your lungs. So ultimately the airway injury will lead to chronic bronchitis. Then there are also many cases across the world where pregnant women consume cannabis. If at all they consume cannabis, then it will lead to impairment in the fetal development. That is the fetus might get affected and you can see they will produce children with low weight. So these are some of the chronic health effects of cannabis consumption. But see cannabis is also used as a medicine. It has certain therapeutic properties. Consumption of cannabinoids has certain therapeutic effects for nausea and vomiting in the advanced stages of illnesses such as cancer and AIDS. Also if you see in United States there is a drug called as dronabinol. Its chemical composition is tetrahydrocannabinol, nothing but THC. It is available by prescription in USA as a therapeutic. And there are also many research studies that are going across the world to find certain other therapeutic properties of this cannabinol. Now let us see the legal status of cannabis in India. See cannabis is classified as narcotic drug under narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act of 1985. In short NDPS act of 1985. In this act it is mentioned that narcotic drug means coca leaf, cannabis, opium, poppy straw and it also includes all manufactured drugs. So here you need to know that narcotic drug also includes cannabis and cannabis is also called as hemp, just remember it. So under this act cultivation of cannabis plant is prohibited in India except for medical or scientific purposes. And this act has also defined what does cannabis mean. There are three classification. First is the charrus which is the separated resin from the cannabis plant and this resin is also known as hashish oil or liquid hashish. The next classification is ganja which is a common term. So ganja means the flowering or the fruiting tops of the cannabis plant. But know that this excludes the seeds and leaves. Next cannabis also means any mixture or any drink that is prepared from both these. So we can see that seeds and leaves are not included. It is from these cannabis leaves that bhang is made. This bhang is a festival drink which is consumed across India during holy festival. The production and sale of this bhang is permitted by many state governments across India. And as per section 4 subsection 3 of this narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act of 1985 the central government may constitute an authority if it considers it necessary for the purposes of this act. So in order to exercise the powers and functions of the central government under this act the central government has constituted the authority which is called as narcotics control bureau and this narcotics control bureau comes under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs. So remember this as well. Next let us see some of the policies and conventions regarding narcotic drugs. In India we have the national policy on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. This policy was formulated by the central government based on article 47. We have been seeing in recent classes regarding some of the articles which comes under the Directive Principles of State Policy. All those articles from number 36 to 51 comes under Directive Principles of State Policy which is the part 4 of Indian Constitution. And specially this article 47 tells that the state shall endeavor to bring about prohibition of the consumption of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health except for the medicinal purposes. Based on this article the government has come up with the national policy on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. And there are three international conventions which you need to know when you speak about narcotic drugs. One is the single convention on narcotic drugs 1961. The second convention is the convention on psychotropic substances 1971. And the third convention is the United Nations Convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances 1988. Know that India has signed and ratified all these three conventions. So this is all about the policies and conventions related to the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Now let us come to the news article. The news article tells that the state of Manipur plans to legalize cannabis for medicinal and other industrial purposes. And legalizing cannabis will boost Manipur's economy as per the Chief Minister of Manipur. The state government also plans to support startups that is the new companies. The state of Manipur has a program or a campaign which is called as startup Manipur where the government is committed to create a startup ecosystem in the state by providing the right resources on the platform. Based on this the startup Manipur campaign was launched in August 2018 and the round two of this campaign has begun on 20th of September. You can see that it is mentioned in the news article clearly that the companies can use cannabis as an ingredient for medicines or for other industrial purposes. When we were seeing the legal status of cannabis in India, we saw that the cultivation of cannabis plant is prohibited in India except for medical or scientific purposes. So based on this Manipur has planned to legalize the cultivation for medical or other industrial purposes. It is mentioned that cannabis is grown in interior areas of Manipur on a large scale and many of these cannabis plantations are controlled by the extremist groups which are present in the state. The news article also tells that as per the surveys conducted by the Narcotics Control Bureau and some of the private agencies it has been found that cannabis cultivation in Manipur is happening for at least for the past four decades in certain districts of Manipur like Churachandpur, Senapati and Ukrul districts. This news article also mentions that the state of Manipur is on the edge of the golden triangle of drug trade. See the golden triangle of drug trade includes the countries of Myanmar, Lavo and Thailand. As you can see in this map and Manipur is one possible route in which the drug can be trafficked from Myanmar through Manipur to India. That is why it is mentioned as at the edge of the golden triangle of drug trade. Sometimes the countries of Vietnam and China are also included in this golden triangle but predominantly golden triangle includes three countries which are Myanmar, Lavo and Thailand. The news article has also mentioned that few other states have legalized cannabis in India. In 2017 Uttarakhand legalized cannabis for the medicinal and industrial purposes and the state of Uttar Pradesh legalized cannabis in the year 2018 that is in the previous year. This is all about cannabis. In this news article we have seen what is meant by cannabis, the health effects of cannabis, the legal status of cannabis in India, then some policies and conventions that are present in India and also across the world for handling the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. And finally we saw the news article. This news article is about geographical indication tag. It tells that the geographical indication tag or the G8 tag validity of Kamalapur red banana of the state of Karnataka as lapsed or expired. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Let us now see the news article. Before seeing the news article first let us see in brief about geographical indication tag. See in India we have a legislation or a law or an act that governs this G8 tag. The act name is the geographical indications of goods registration and protection act of 1999. This act defines what is meant by geographical indication. Geographical indication is nothing but an indication that is sign that something exists. Here it means the goods which are indicated as either originating or manufactured in the territory of a country or a region or a locality in that particular territory. Here the common understanding is that territory means states and any region or locality in that territory means the districts or the thaluks which are present in that particular state. So it is an indication where given quality or reputation or any other characteristic of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. That is the place from where it has originated. It can be either a territory, it can either be a region or locality in that territory. So in simple terms we can tell that geographical indication tag which is given to a good based on the place where it comes from that is the geographical origin. This act also defines the term goods. Goods means any agricultural, natural or manufactured goods or any goods of handicrafts or of industry and it also includes food stuff. An example for each category is mentioned here. For agricultural, a good example of agricultural goods which has got J.A. Tagus, Kodaikanal Malai Pundu or the Kodaikanal Hill Garlic. We discussed about this during our 30th July Hindu News Analysis session. Just have a look at it. An example for natural goods which has got J.A. Tagus, the Chunar Balua Patar from the state of Uttar Pradesh. Next an example for manufactured goods which has got J.A. Tagus, Dindical Locks which we discussed on 30th August Hindu News Analysis. On the same day we also discussed about Kandangi Sari. It is an example for handicraft which has got J.A. Tagus. As of now there is no product from industry which has got J.A. Tagus. Mostly it comes under manufacture. And under food stuff a good example is Padani Panjamurtham which we discussed during our 14th August session. Now also know that the registration of geographical indication goods is being done by the registrar of geographic indications. Here who is the registrar of geographic indications? As per this act that is the geographical indications of goods, Registration and Protection Act of 1999. The controller general of patents, designs and trademarks is the registrar of geographic indications. So he is responsible for registering any product for J.A. Tagus. And once a product has received J.A. Tagus it is valid for 10 years from the date of registration and once this period is over it has to be renewed. That is the registration has to be renewed. Now this is the issue in today's news article. Today's news article tells that the geographical indications that was accorded to Kamalapur Red Banana of Kalaburagi district of the state of Karnataka as lapsed or it has expired. In the news article it is mentioned that this particular Kamalapur Red Banana product got J.A. Tag on September 4th, 2009. So if it is valid for 10 years it means the registration has expired on 3rd of September 2019. But see in the newspaper it is mentioned as 3rd September 2018 but we saw that the validity is for 10 years. The news article also tells that the office of geographical indications registry which is located in Chennai had issued a notice of expiration in January 2018 had issued a notice of expiration and it asked the applicant to get the tag renewed. That is the J.A. Tag renewed. Here the applicant is the Horticulture Department of the state of Karnataka. But the Horticulture Department failed to get the renewal and hence the news article. And there are some details which are given in brief about this Kamalapur Red Banana in the news article. Let us see them now. The president of Red Banana Grovers Association in Kamalapur in Kalaburagi district of the state of Karnataka has told that this crop is a very rare crop and the survival rate of this crop is very low. So usually the farmers do not take the risk of planting this crop. Also this plant cannot withstand winds of even average velocity. Then it is also mentioned that it takes almost one year for the bunches of this banana plant to attain maturity. Whereas in a normal banana plant it takes only 3 to 5 months. So the time taken for growing this crop is also long when compared to a normal banana crop. But there is a huge demand for this crop especially in the metros and also in the neighboring states. The news article tells that the crop almost fetches around Rs. 200 for a dozen that is 12 bananas cost Rs. 200. Then the news article also mentions that there are 6 varieties of banana across the country which have got GA attack including this Kamalapur Red Banana. So except Kamalapur Red Banana the certification for the rest of the 5 bananas has been renewed. And let us see them now. In the year 2005, Nanjangut Banana or Nanjangut Rasabalehanu from the state of Karnataka got GA attack. Then in the year 2008, 2 banana varieties from Tamil Nadu got GA attack which are Virupakshi Hill Banana and Sirumalai Hill Banana. And then in the year 2014, a banana from the state of Kerala got GA attack which is Chengali Koden Nendran Banana. In the same year a banana variety from the state of Maharashtra got GA attack which is Jalgaon Banana. And the 6th variety is Kamalapur Red Banana which got GA attack in 2009 but it has not been renewed. And in the news article it is also mentioned that Mizo Banana that is the long Cavendish variety of the state of Assam as file application for GA tag in 2018 and it is yet to be certified. So as of now there are only 5 varieties of banana which have GA attack. To know more about geographical indication stack or the GA attack have a look at our 30th July the Hindu news analysis. Now have a look at this question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article talks about the Tobacco Control Board of India then about Global Tobacco and Nicotin Forum and then it talks about the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Cigarettes and the Other Tobacco Products Act of 2003. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Let us now see the news of Tobacco and Nicotin Forum. This forum is to be convened from 24th of September that is from tomorrow till 26th of September at Washington DC in USA. The main purpose of this particular forum is to discuss how to advance or to promote the Tobacco and Nicotin industries successful transformation. Recently we saw that the e-cigarettes are harmful and that they reinforce conventional smoking and as a result the president of India had created an ordinance on 18th September 2019 to prohibit electronic cigarettes in India. But this forum is a promoter of electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices as an alternative to conventional smoking cigarettes. The news article mentions that the forum is an annual tobacco event that is aimed at the promotion of the tobacco industry globally. Indirectly the promotion of commercial interest of such industries and this event is supported and organized industries involved in tobacco production and sales. So this forum is considered to be a forum that promotes tobacco and nicotin consumption in order to carry out their business and generate profits. The official website of this global tobacco and nicotin forum has stated that one of the guest speakers of the forum is a government of India official. The announced guest speaker is currently the executive director of the Tobacco Board of India working another ministry of commerce and industry. The world is suffering enough from the health effects of tobacco and nicotin. We have seen SDG targets to strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse and know that there is also an SDG target to strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all the countries. In such a scenario, the participation of an Indian government official in such a forum appears to be wrong footed. That is wrong person at a wrong place and participating of a official appears like that the government is also keen to promote tobacco consumption. This news article states that at the last minute, the executive director has cancelled a participation to the forum. This is not the first time that the Tobacco Board of India has been alleged for its involvement with the Global Tobacco and Nicotin Forum. Earlier in the year 2010, the Tobacco Forum of India was to sponsor such a forum which was to be held in Bengaluru. However due to a public interest litigation, the Tobacco Board of India was asked to desist or detach from sponsoring the event by Karnataka High Court as it violated the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act of 2003. This news article also mentions that if Executive Director of Tobacco Board of India participated the forum, it would have amounted to violations in two ways. The first violation is the violation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products prohibition of advertisement and regulation of trade and commerce, production supply and distribution act of 2003. Section 5 of this act states that no person shall take part in any advertisement which directly or indirectly suggests or promotes the use or consumption of cigarettes or any other tobacco products. The second violation is that if Indian official had participated, then it would have amounted to violation of World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. As per article 5.3 of this convention, the parties to this convention has to protect their tobacco control and public health policies from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. So if an Indian official had participated in this forum, then it would have violated article 5.3. Know that the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is the international treaty negotiated under the auspices of World Health Organization. It was adopted by the World Health Assembly on 21st of May 2003 and it came into force on 27th of February, 2005. This convention was developed as a response to the globalization of the tobacco epidemic and to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and also to protect the generations from the exposure to tobacco smoke. Know that India has ratified this convention in the year 2004 and therefore India is a party to this convention and since India is a party to this convention, India shall not violate the provisions of this convention. Now let us see certain facts with respect to Tobacco Board of India. The Tobacco Board of India is a statutory body because it was established based on section 4 of the Tobacco Act of 1975. Tobacco Board of India comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and know that Tobacco is a commercial crop that is grown in India. The main duty of this Board is to promote the development of the tobacco industry under the control of central government. It also regulates the production and curing of Virginia Tobacco. Then this Board also recommends the minimum prices which may be fixed for export of Virginia Tobacco to the central government. For the purpose of promotion of Tobacco Industry this Board sponsors, assists, coordinates or encourages scientific, technological and economic research. So these are some of the functions of the Tobacco Board of India. So in this news article we have discussed about Global Tobacco and Nicotin Forum and then about World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and Regarding Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products Act of 2003 and finally about Tobacco Board of India. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This editorial is about the global climate politics in the era of nationalism. How nationalism is acting as an hindrance to the climate actions or the climate initiatives taken by U1 and certain countries. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this editorial is given here for your reference. Let us now see the editorial. In the first part of the editorial discusses about the ongoing U1 Climate Action Summit and in the second part of the editorial it discusses about the political disconnect that is certain countries are acting against the climate actions in the name of nationalism and in the third part of the editorial will be seeing about the suggestions given by the author of this editorial for India to act amidst this global climate politics. Now let us see the first part of the editorial which is the U1 Climate Action Summit. The U1 Climate Action Summit 2019 has started on 21st of September and it will happen today at New York United States. In this summit the Secretary General of United Nations Antonio Guterres has called on all the leaders to come with concrete realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by the year 2020 in line with the reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45% over the next decade and also with concrete realistic plans to target to net zero emissions by the year 2050. When we speak about nationally determined contributions we must see Paris Climate Agreement in the year 2015 195 nations across the globe participated in the 21st session of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris. This 21st session is also called as COP 21 so the nations negotiated and formed the Paris Climate Agreement. This Paris Climate Agreement is an international agreement to combat climate change. The important aims of this agreement is to keep the rise in global temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degree Celsius. Apart from this the parties have also agreed for long-term goals for adaptation to increase the ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change and also to foster climate resilience and lower the greenhouse gas emissions. As a part nationally determined contributions came up this is the heart of the Paris Agreement in order to achieve all the long-term goals that we saw. So in simple terms the national determined contributions are the efforts that will be made by the countries to reduce the national emissions and adapt to the impact of climate change. India also made several commitments under its nationally determined contributions. One is that to reduce the greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percentage below 2005 levels by the year 2030 then to achieve 40% of its power capacity from non fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 that is the renewable energy resources. Then India has also committed to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree covered by the year 2030 and then India has also committed to adapt to climate change by enhancing investments in the development programs in sectors vulnerable to climate change. Particularly agriculture, water resources Himalayan region, the coastal regions and also in health and disaster management. So these are some of the commitments say significant commitments made by India as a part of its nationally determined contributions. Now let us see the editorial. The author tells that the summit occurs amid a steady drum roll of scientific alarm. He means to tell that there are scientific evidences that climate changes real and the climate changes happening. As a part of this summit the scientific advisory group to this summit has submitted a report. This report has said that 5 years since the year 2015 is said to be the warmest of any equivalent recorded period. Apart from this report has also told that the sea levels are rising and the rise is happening in quite a fast manner and the report has also told that the oceans have become 26% more acidic since the start of the industrial era. Then the author has also told that the recent weather events are showing the likely implications or the likely effects of the warming world. Here he has quoted some examples. The recent heat waves that happened in many countries across the European continent especially across southern Europe similar to Delhi like temperatures. Next aftermath effects of Hurricane Dorian which damaged a huge part of the Bahama island. Apart from this there were also forest fires that happened in Amazon that is in Brazil and South America. Then there were also forest fires that happened in Central Africa and even across Siberia in Russia and the scientists are increasingly able to link all these individual events with climate change. They are telling that the rise in France and Germany in European continent was 8 to 10 times more likely because of climate change. So we can see that the concentrations of carbon dioxide continue to keep rising and whatever pledges that has been made by the parties to Paris Climate Agreement will not be sufficient enough to stop the increase of carbon dioxide levels even if they start taking action by now. So we have scientific data on one side and also the experiential data that is the recent events that are happening across the globe. So we can see a growing evidence of climate change. This is what the author is telling because of the changes in climate people have started to protest or revolt and this trend can especially be seen among the youth. If we divide area wise the author is telling that there are more climate change actions that are noticeable in the global knot. When we tell global knot it means all those economies of the world. Along with this there are also climate change actions which are happening in India and some other countries of the global south. When we tell global south it means the developing and the underdeveloped economies of the world which includes countries from the Asian continent and the African continent. The author has quoted a newspaper report which is the New York Times. He tells that at least 4 million youth turned out in protest against inaction on climate change around the world. That is around 40 lakh people have protested against climate change. Now let us see the second part of the editorial which is the global climate politics that is happening in the name of nationalism. The author is telling that many countries in the world are now following nationalist policies. It means they are having their own short term policies which have look out for our own mentality. That is just take care of ourselves attitude. The author is trying to tell that this attitude goes against the principle of collective action. That is all the countries should come together to take collective action to address climate change. But this is not happening instead the nationalist tendencies are gaining an upper hand. To substantiate this claim the author has mentioned certain examples. Like for example the country of united states where the president Donald Trump has refused to enhance any sort of climate actions. Apart from this he has also rolled back the measures in the electricity sector and also certain climate actions to limit methane emissions in the name of business. That is in the name of promoting the economy. Same is the case in Brazil where the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has made it clear that the environmental protections limit Brazilian business. And even in those countries where the politics is more conducive to take climate actions. Again this nationalism tag is hindering those countries. That is it is stopping or passing those countries to take aggressive actions against climate change. So we can see that nationalism is playing a great role in global climate politics. So we saw that there is scientific evidence on the one hand that climate change is real and happening and we also saw certain experiential evidences. That is the recent events that are happening across the globe. And because of this there is popular mobilization. That is for example especially the youth are revolting against the governments to act against climate change. So the author is questioning now if this UN summit will push the countries to take enhanced actions. The author is telling that the secretary general of United Nations Antonio Guterres is spinning his hopes on a two-track approach. That is he is hoping that his two-track approach might work in this climate summit. Let us see what is that two-track approach. The first approach is the exercise of diplomatic pressure. We saw during the starting of our editorial that the UN secretary general has called on all the leaders to come with concrete realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions. So this is the enhanced actions. So the intention here as per the author is to provide a platform for the climate champions to step up and claim leadership of an important global agenda. That is fight climate change. But so far the response is quite low. Only a number of small and mid-sized countries including countries like UK that is the United Kingdom have already committed to achieving the objective of making their economies net carbon neutral by the year 2050. Here the term net carbon neutral is nothing but net zero emissions where the sum of emissions and the uptake of carbon through sinks such as forests is zero. This is one commitment made by a number of small and mid-sized countries. But the author is telling that several large countries especially countries like United States Brazil, Australia, Canada, Japan and Mexico are not even going to participate in this even climate summit at all. Then the author has also mentioned that countries like China and India have issued statements that they are doing quite well. Especially here India has highlighted the need for enhanced response if it has to do more to meet the targets. From this we can see that only certain countries especially the small and medium level countries are trying to act against climate change. But the big countries with nationalist tendencies are not ready to even participate in the even. So this shows their entrenched positions. That is they are not going to shift there or change their decision. They decided that they are not going to act against climate change. So they are not going to act at all. The author is telling that even international suvation backed by science and popular mobilization is unlikely to shift the entrenched national politics. That is we saw the presence of scientific data and we also saw that people are revolting against the nations to act on climate change. So this is like international suvation. But even international suvation is not going to shift the entrenched national politics of the big countries. So the first track approaches the exercise of diplomatic pressure. But the author is telling this is not going to work. Now let us see the second track. The second track or the second strategy is more on the economic sphere. Here the author has quoted an example which is the energy transition from high carbon energy to low carbon energy. That is from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Then making cities more climate friendly and more resilient to climate disruption and also by starting the process of turning the energy intensive sectors such as steel and cement more carbon friendly. So if diplomacy is not going to work the author is telling changes must be induced in real economies around a set of action portfolios. The action portfolios are the examples that we saw now. Here in this editorial the author has mentioned that domestic objectives are central to these conversations like promoting solar energy for energy security reasons then making cities more livable and by making industries more efficient and therefore competitive. So the individual countries have to set their targets and they have to increase their commitments so that it will result in an enhanced action. Only if such a thing happens then the summit will be more fruitful. So this is what the author is trying to tell. So if diplomacy is not going to work then the summit should induce changes in real economies as per the author. Next let us see the third part of the editorial. The author is telling that the global climate politics that is happening around the world is extremely bad news for India. And India is a country which is vulnerable to climate impact. So the author is telling that India should not maintain any status quo in the summit but rather it should work towards enhancing global collective actions. Because if India is going to remain in the same status then India will be deeply affected because of climate change. So India should lead forward to push for global collective action by all the nations. Now how can India push it forward? For that the author is telling that India has its own energy efficiency track record. That is it has shown that it can accelerate the actions on climate change even when following its development interests. That is it is able to limit the green house emissions even while saving the nation's energy. We have been seeing that India is pushing more towards renewable energy installations like solar power wind power etc. But the author is telling that India's story as a climate champion is inconsistent because the author is telling that India is sending mixed signals on its future coal use that is its future fossil fuel use. Here the author has mentioned an event. He tells that India's prime minister has chosen Houston which is the oil capital of United States to address a public gathering in United States. He is telling that it signals that India is not going to reduce its fossil fuel usage even though it is increasingly installing renewable energies. So the author is telling that India needs domestic energy policies that are more clearly and coherently tuned to a future low carbon world. So if India is able to send such a message the author is telling that it would position India to be a true global climate leader. The author is telling that India should firmly commit to a low carbon future that brings development benefits and strikes a common cause with other powers that is all the countries will act towards the common cause of reducing the climate impacts and the author is also suggesting that India and China can jointly help ensuring that Africa's development is powered by renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. So such an agenda could bring together economic, environmental and political gains for both the countries especially for India. So the author is trying to tell that India should have clear domestic energy policies committed to a low carbon future so that it would position India to be a true global climate leader. So this is the third part of the editorial. From this editorial we can see that the global climate politics in the name of nationalism is playing a very damaging role. So the author is suggesting that the pathway and even methods like international situation is not likely to change the entrenched position of the nationalism powers. So the author is telling that the aim must be to make accelerated climate action plans with the help of nationalism especially on areas such as energy and urbanization. He means to tell that the nationalism should play along with climate action plans. But it is a very tough job to do. The author is telling that India can play a leading role in pushing this aspect but it will be possible only when India has its own strong domestic foundation that takes climate change as a serious factor in its development pathway. So if India is able to push climate action plans along with development then India can be a global leader and it can build a diplomatic approach to push the other countries especially those countries which are so much entrenched in nationalism to persuade them or to push them to take climate actions along with their national interests. So this is all about this editorial. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the practice questions discussion session. See the first question consider the following statements regarding solid waste management rules of 2016. They have given you two statements and they have asked you to choose the correct answer. The first statement tells that every waste generator shall segregate and store the waste generated by them in three separate streams. Know that there is a rule called rule 4 of the solid waste management rules of 2016. It states that every waste generator shall segregate and store the waste generated by them in three separate streams. And these three streams are biodegradable, non-biodegradable and domestic hazardous wastes. And all these shall be separated and stored in suitable bins and the waste generator shall hand over segregated waste to authorized waste pickers or waste collectors. If you see in this year's films exam they gave a statement as waste generator as to segregate waste into five categories which is wrong in the light of rule 4. So here the first statement is correct. Now let us see the second statement. It tells that the ministry of environment, forest and climate change shall be responsible for overall monitoring of the implementation of these rules in the country. This statement is also correct. It is as per rule number 5 of the solid waste management rules of 2016. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change shall be responsible for overall monitoring the implementation of these rules in the country. The ministry carried out this responsibility by constituting a central monitoring committee under the chairmanship of secretary, ministry of environment, forest and climate change. This committee is also constituted based on rule number 5. Today during our analysis with respect to three garbage sites in Delhi, we saw few provisions of these rules. They are number 1 rule 15 ZJ which states that all old open dump sites and existing operational dump sites has to be investigated and analyzed by the local authorities for the potential of bio mining and bio remediation. Then we saw class history of the first schedule of these rules. It talks about the closure and rehabilitation of the old dump sites. Then it also talks about the reduction of waste by bio mining and waste processing. Then it talks about capping of such dump sites to enable collection and utilization of greenhouse gases from the underground. Then there is rule 22 which we saw. This rule mandates that within five years from the date of notification of the rules, the local authorities have to carry out bio remediation of such old and abandoned dump sites. So, these are the three rules that we saw during our analysis. Here since both the statements are correct, the correct answer is option C both 1 and 2 since the question is asked for the correct statements. Moving on to the next question, the question is India has adopted three main international conventions on drug control which of the following are the three conventions to which India is a signator and they have given three conventions. First one is single convention on drugs 1961. The second convention given is the convention on psychotropic substances 1971. And the third convention is the UN convention against illicit traffic and narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances 1988. During our discussion, we saw that India is a signatory to all these three conventions. So, all three are correct. The question is asked for the correct answer. So, the correct answer is option D 1, 2 and 3. Moving on to the next question, the question is narcotics control bureau comes under which of the following ministry. During our discussion, we saw that as per the narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances act of 1985, there was a provision where it told that the central government can constitute an authority for the purpose of exercising its powers and functions. So, based on this, narcotics control bureau came up. So, this is statutory authority. This statutory authority comes under the ministry of home affairs. This also we saw during our discussion. So, here the correct answer is option C, ministry of home affairs. Moving on to the next question, consider the following pairs. They have given banana varieties with GI tag and the states. So, we need to see if the pairs are correct or not. The first pair is Virupakshi Hill banana and the state given is Karnataka. We saw during our discussion that in the year 2008, two banana varieties from the state of Tamil Nadu got GI tag. One is Virupakshi Hill banana and the other one is Sirumalai Hill banana. So, the first pair goes wrong and the second pair also goes wrong because both these belong to the state of Tamil Nadu. Now, let us see the third pair. The banana variety is Changali Koda Nendran banana and the state given is the state of Tamil Nadu. This pair is also wrong because Changali Koda Nendran banana belongs to the state of Kerala and this banana variety received GI tag in the year 2014. So, all the three given pairs are wrong year. The question has asked you to choose the correct pairs. So, the correct answer here is option D, none of the above. Moving on to the next question. Consider the following statements. They have given two statements and they have asked you to choose the correct statements. The first statement, it tells that the main duty of the Tobacco Board of India is to prevent the usage of tobacco in India and the world. See, this statement is wrong. The main duty of the Tobacco Board of India is not preventing the usage of tobacco in India. Rather, its main statutory duty under section 8 of the Tobacco Act of 1975 is to promote the development of tobacco industry. So, this makes the first statement incorrect and the second statement as a correct statement. There is no statutory duty or any other duty to prevent the usage of tobacco for the Tobacco Board of India neither in India nor in the world. So, the correct answer for this question is option B to 1B. Moving on to the next question. The question is consider the following statements regarding nationally determined contribution of India and they have given two statements and have asked you to choose the correct answer. We saw during our discussion that the nationally determined contributions are the heart of the Paris Agreement. So, these are basically the efforts by the countries to reduce the national emissions and also to adapt to the impact of climate change. So, based on this, several member nations came up with their own commitments. India also came up with its commitment. One commitment is to reduce the greenhouse gas emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percentage below 2005 levels by the year 2030. So, the first statement is correct here. It tells that India aims to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percentage by 2030 from 2005 levels. This statement is correct. Now, see the second statement. It tells that India aims to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and recovered by the year 2030. This statement is also correct. We saw this statement during our discussion. Apart from this, we also saw that India aims to achieve 40 percent of its power capacity from non fossil fuel based energy resources by the year 2030. So, the second statement is also correct here. The question is asked you to choose the correct statements. The correct answer is option C both 1 and 2. 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. Do like, comment and share the video and do subscribe to Shankar IA's Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.