 Hello all, welcome to the Hindu Daily News Analysis brought to you by Shankar A.S. Academy. These are the articles which we are going to discuss today. Now without wasting much time, let's get into the first article discussion. Have a look at this news article taken from yesterday's newspaper. It reports about the China's deep ocean mineral exploration. Recently, a Chinese vessel named Explorer II has deployed into the deep ocean waters of Pacific Ocean. The mission of Explorer II is to study the least explored parts of world's deep oceans. The mission is being carried out by the Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering which is located in the city of Sanya in China. Here note that the Explorer II vessel is carrying one of the most advanced deep sea submersibles. Here the term submersible means a vessel capable of operating or remaining underwater for a longer period of time. Chinese officials are saying that Explorer II mission will boost China's ambitions in the field of deep sea exploration. Apart from this, it will also help to unlock the distribution of commercial mineral resources in the deep sea. Note that some minerals like polymetallic nodules, copper, gold and some rare earth elements are remaining untapped on the seabed for commercial extraction. So, the Chinese officials are of the opinion that Explorer II mission will unlock the distribution of these mineral resources and eventually will pave the way for extraction of these minerals. Note that this is not the first time that China is doing such exploration. In December 2021, with the help of manned submersible named Striver, China explored the Mariana Trench. See, Mariana Trench is the world's deepest oceanic trench located in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. During this exploration in Mariana Trench, new microbes were discovered by the Chinese crew. Then in the year 2022, China explored the Kermadoc Trench with the help of Striver submersible. Note that Kermadoc Trench is one of the Earth's deepest oceanic trenches located in the South Pacific Ocean near the coast of Australia. The trench is nearly more than 10 kilometers beneath the ocean surface. Now, coming back to the news article. See, in the Kermadoc Trench, the Chinese crew spotted the animons at a depth of nearly 9000 meters. Note that animons are a group of predatory marine invertebrates. The news article also says that China along with other countries like USA, Russia, Germany, France and to some extent India are in a race for getting exploration contracts from the International Sea Bed Authority to search the vast deep ocean areas. Note that deep ocean beds falls under the jurisdiction of ISA. The jurisdiction of International Sea Bed Authority includes all waters beyond 12 nautical miles of territorial seas. See, so far China has secured several exploration licenses to explore vast areas in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. This is the crux of the article displayed here. In this context, let's learn about what are polymetallic nodules, then about the distribution of these polymetallic nodules and finally, let's see some points about the International Sea Bed Authority. Before that, the syllabus relevant for this discussion is highlighted here. Interested aspirants can go through it. Now, let's start our discussion. See, China is doing these deep ocean missions to find minerals which are hidden in the sea beds. As the minerals along the land surface is being mined at breakneck speed, nations are now shifting their attention towards deep ocean bed minerals. Among the most important of these deep ocean bed minerals are the polymetallic nodules. Now, let's see what is meant by the term polymetallic nodules. See, polymetallic nodules are small rounded accumulations of manganese and iron hydroxides. These minerals are also called as manganese nodules. This is because polymetallic nodules have an abundant quantity of manganese present in them. The size of these nodules varies from a few millimeters to centimeters. Know that the growth rate of polymetallic nodules is extremely slow. It would take a million years to grow a millimeter of polymetallic nodule. They are found all across the sea floor. But they are most abundant on abyssal plains at the depths of over 4000 meters. Know that the term abyssal plains refers to the flat region of the ocean floor. From the image displayed here, you can see the flat region of the ocean floor which is called as abyssal plains. Here only abundant quantity of polymetallic nodules are found. See, these abyssal plains are the deepest parts of the ocean. Carrying out researchers in these areas require huge resources. So, only a few countries like US, China, France are involved in deep ocean bed research activities. Now, let's move our attention towards the composition of polymetallic nodules. As I said earlier, polymetallic nodules are mainly composed of manganese and iron hydroxides. In addition to this, it also contains some nominal quantities of other minerals such as nickel, cobalt and copper. Apart from this, traces of other valuable metals such as molybdenum, zirconium and other rare earth elements are also found in polymetallic nodules. Coming to the distribution of these minerals. See, polymetallic nodules are mostly found in the Clarion Clipperton zone in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and in the Central Indian Ocean basin. In the Clarion Clipperton zone, the polymetallic nodules are distributed over 9 million square kilometers. If we take the Central Indian Ocean basin, it is estimated that the basin contains about 380 million tons of polymetallic nodules. The image displayed here shows the distribution of polymetallic nodules. Here you can find the Clarion Clipperton zone and the Central Indian Ocean basin. Apart from these two regions, traceable quantities of polymetallic nodules are also found in Peru basin and Penhain basin. This is all about the distribution. Now coming to the question, who grants the rights to explore deep ocean beds? See, to carry out mining activities in the deep sea, a country has to sign an exploration contract with the International Seabed Authority. So, a country needs to make applications to the International Seabed Authority for the exploration of polymetallic nodules also. After receiving applications from the aspiring countries, the International Seabed Authority conducts an environment impact assessment of the project. If International Seabed Authority gets convinced after assessing the impacts, then it allocates the ocean area for deep sea mining. Know that, International Seabed Authority was established in the year 1994. Before that, the jurisdiction of deep sea oceans was vested with the United Nations. Now specifically talking about India with regard to deep ocean bed exploration. See, India is the first country to receive the status of a pioneer investor for exploration and utilization of polymetallic nodules. The status was accorded by the United Nations in the year 1987. So, India was allocated an area of about 1.5 lakh square kilometers in the Central Indian Ocean Basin for polymetallic nodule exploration. Again in 2002, after a complete resource analysis of the seabed, India retained an area of 75,000 square kilometers for mining nodules. In the same year, India entered into an 15-year contract with the International Seabed Authority. This was particularly for pursuing mining activities of polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean. Again in the year 2017, the contract was further extended to another 5 years. Upon the expiry of the contract in 2022, the contract now is further being extended to another 5 years. So, this Central Indian Ocean Basin will form part of the Indian Deep Sea Mission for another 5 years till the year 2027. Now, before ending our discussion, let's see some points about the International Seabed Authority. See, International Seabed Authority is an autonomous inter-governmental organization. It was established in the year 1994 under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Know that International Seabed Authority has an observer status to the United Nations. It has its 8 quarters located in Kingston, Jamaica. The organization has 168 members including 167 member states and the regional grouping of European Union. Know that India is also a member of International Seabed Authority. Now, talking about the functions of International Seabed Authority. See, it regulates and supervises all the mineral-related activities in the International Seabed Area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. Apart from this, International Seabed Authority also considers application for exploration and exploitation of deep sea resources from contractors like countries, organizations and so on. These are some of the functions of the International Seabed Authority. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we have seen about the term polymetallic nodules and some of the regions where these polymetallic nodules are presently present in the world. And finally, we ended our discussion by seeing about International Seabed Authority. With all these learned points in mind, now let's move on to the next article discussion. Now, look at this article which was published in Hindu yesterday. It is about the seahorses. As per the article, extensive fishing in the Coromandel Coast is forcing the great seahorses to migrate towards Odisha. This is based on a study published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. This is the crux of the news article given here. Using this opportunity, let us learn about seahorses from our exam perspective. First of all, seahors got its name because of its appearance. It has a head that resembles a horse and since it lives in sea, the name seahors. Here note that seahors is a type of fish. It belongs to the family Signathide. Other members of this family include sea dragons and pipe fish. Now, let us see some of the characteristics of seahorses. Firstly, as you can see from this image, seahorses do not have scales like regular fishes. It contains bony plates grouped in rings throughout their body and they have thin skin. Another unique feature about the seahors is that they swim upright. It means that they swim in a vertical position. The only other fish that swim vertically is rays or fish. Thirdly, know that it has camouflaging ability. They escape predators by camouflaging with their surroundings. Fourthly, male and female seahorses form monogamous pair bonds and they give birth to young ones by their unique breeding behaviour of male pregnancy. Yes, the females deposit the male pouch with their eggs and after gestation period, males give birth to small seahorses. Their diet includes prey such as small crustaceans, plankton, fish larvae and invertebrates. Know that they are toothless and they lack a stomach for food storage. So, the animal use its long snouts like vacuum cleaners to suck up the floating prey. Finally, they exhibit a unique character. See, the seahors couples greet each other every day and they hold tails. This is a peculiar greeting ritual and it is performed every morning. During this ritual, the individuals change colour and dance in synchrony lasting about 10 minutes. These are all some of the characteristics of seahorses. Now, coming to its habitat. From the map provided here, we can see that they are mostly present in the temperate and tropical parts of the world. Here note one important point. They mostly prefer shallow waters. It can be commonly found around coral reefs where there is plenty of food and places to hide. Know that throughout the world, 46 recognized species of seahorses are found. Out of these, 7 are found in India. It includes spotted seahors, long-nose seahors, Japanese seahors, giraffes seahors, hedgehog seahors, great seahors and thorny seahors. But these species are threatened by various factors. This only we saw in today's article. The main threat is overfishing. Because of its peculiar appearance, they are of high demand in tourism sector. They are made as dried trinkets. Other than this, they are overfished for their medicinal value. But these species should be conserved. The main reason is that they feed on bottom-dwelling organisms and they are food for many species. So, their removal will affect the balance of coastal ecosystems. This is the exact reason why Indian government has placed these organisms under the Scheduled One-Off Wildlife Protection Act 1972. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we saw about seahorses in detail. With all these points in mind, now let's move on to the next article discussion. Now, let's take this article for our next discussion. The article was published in yesterday's newspaper in the science page. It talks about scruptyphus. It says that combination drug therapy if used against this disease could help in resolving complications caused by it. See, normally scruptyphus disease is treated only with monotherapy. But this article reports about the trials which were carried out using combination drug therapy. And it reports that this combination drug therapy is more effective in treating the disease when compared with monotherapy. In this context, let us try to learn about the disease scruptyphus. See, scruptyphus is a disease caused by a bacteria called orientia susugamushi. This disease is also known as boostyphus. It is spread to people through the bites of infected larval mites of chigar. See, chigar mites breed in damp areas where vegetation is thick. It also breeds near water bodies. See, these mites have a four-stage life cycle. The first stage is the egg. Next comes the larva stage. And next comes the nymph stage. And finally, the chigar mites reaches their adult stage. Here, note that larva is the only stage that can transmit the disease to humans and other vertebrates. The adult chigars do not bite. These larvae are invisible to the naked eye and their bite is not painful. So, people don't realize at all that they have been bitten by an insect. Most of the cases of scruptyphus occur in rural areas of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, China, Japan, India and Northern Australia. As per the article, nearly 1 million cases were reported from South and Southeast Asia. Here, note that the mortality of scruptyphus is nearly 10 percentage. Note that India is also one of the odd spots with at least 25 percentage of the global disease burden. See, it is a huge number and since the mortality rate is also high, there needs to be an effective drug to treat this particular bacterial disease. But before seeing the treatment for this disease, let us know the symptoms. See, the symptoms of scruptyphus usually begin within 10 days after the larval mite has bitten you. Symptoms include that of fever, chills, headache, body ache, muscle pain and a dark scab-like region at the site of the chigger bite. In some cases, it will also lead to rashes on the surface of the skin. People with severe illness may also develop organ failure and it can also cause bleeding which can lead to death if left untreated. This is all about the symptoms of scruptyphus. Now, coming to its treatment. See, this particular disease should be treated with antibiotics called doxycycline and acetromycin. Antibiotics are most effective if given soon after symptoms begin. Recently, a trial was conducted and the patients received a combination therapy of both doxycycline and acetromycin. The people who were part of the trial showed faster resolution of complications compared to patients who received only monotherapy. See, monotherapy refers to the treatment of a disease which includes only one drug where combination therapy includes the treatment of the disease through two or more drugs. Know that for scruptyphus, combination therapy is more effective than monotherapy. Finally, know that this disease cannot be prevented and there is also no vaccine available to prevent scruptyphus. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we came to know about the disease called scruptyphus. What is the organism which transfers the disease? And also about the recent studies conducted on these scruptyphus patients using combination therapy. With all these points in mind, now let's move on to the next article discussion. Now, let us take this article for our next discussion. See, this article is taken from yesterday's newspaper. Recently, the election results of Tiripura State Assembly have been declared. The BJP has secured the majority and it is in the process of forming the government there. In this backdrop only, the news article reports about the blue community who are now living in the state of Tiripura. This is because blue tribal community in Tiripura have exercised their franchise for the very first time. See, earlier on January 17, 2020, the blue Riyang Agreement was signed between the government of India, governments of Tiripura and Mizoram and blue Riyang representatives. This particular agreement tried to address most of the concerns of the blue tribal community. This agreement only provided voting rights to the brews in Tiripura. This is the overall crux of the article given here. In this context, let's understand about the blue tribal community and also about the blue Riyang Agreement. Firstly, let us see about the blue tribal community. See, brews are a tribal community who are indigenous to northeast India. Know that brews are also referred to as Riyangs. They have historically resided in parts of Mizoram, Tiripura and Assam. In the state of Tiripura, the brews are designated as particularly vulnerable tribal group. Here, the brews are the most populous tribe after the Tiripuris. According to the 2011 census, there were almost 2 lakh brews residing in Tiripura. If we take the case of Mizoram, here there are over 40,000 brews living in four districts. Know that about 35,000 brews from Mizoram are currently residing in relief camps in northern Tiripura. Why such big numbers of brews from Mizoram are residing in another state which is nothing but Tiripura? See, it all started in the year 1995. In 1995, the Young Mizo Association and the Mizo Students Association demanded that the brews should be eliminated from Mizoram's electoral roles. This is because they were of the opinion that brews were not indigenous inhabitants of Mizoram. Know that brews are ethnically distant from the majority of the Mizo tribes. Due to this fact only, brews were often referred to as Voi in Mizoram, meaning outsiders. This difference had led to ethnic persecution of brews by the Mizos. As I already said, in the year 1995, tensions escalated after the retaliations of brews against the Mizos attempts to disenfranchise them. The brews organized themselves into an armed group called the Breu National Liberation Front and a political entity named Breu National Union. They demanded for the creation of a separate Breu Autonomous District Council in western Mizoram as per the provisions of the 6th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. However, their attempts of seeking greater autonomy were foiled and detended with ethnic clashes. This forced many brews in Mizoram to migrate to neighboring Tiripura in the year 1997. So as per Home Ministry estimates, roughly 35,000 brews continue to recede in northern Tiripura as refugees. This is all about the ethnic clashes which took place between brews and Mizos in the last decade of the 20th century. Now, fast forward 20 years. After the 1990s clashes, the state governments of Tiripura and Mizoram along with the union government have made multiple attempts to send back brews back to their homeland in Mizoram. But until the year 2014, approximately 5,000 individuals returned to Mizoram in various batches. Then in July 2018, the governments of Tiripura, Mizoram and the central government concluded a quadri-partite pact with the Breu community representatives to resettle Breu refugees in Mizoram. This was, however, opposed by native Mizo groups. Due to this, brews couldn't move back to their homes in Mizoram. Therefore, in the year 2020, after sensing a failure of the 2018 pact, the Government of India, Government of Tiripura and Mizoram and Breu community representatives once again came together to sign another quadri-partite pact. This time, the pact aimed to settle the brews in the state of Tiripura itself instead of Mizoram. And finally, after long discussions, an agreement was signed on January 17, 2020 and it came to be known as Breu-Riyang Agreement. As part of the agreement, the central government issued a Rs. 600 crore package to aid the rehabilitation efforts of brews in Tiripura. Apart from this, the Breu families were promised a residential plot, then a fixed deposit of Rs. 4 lakh and then Rs. 1.5 lakh grant to house construction as well as free rations. Apart from all these, brews were also promised a monthly stipend of Rs. 5000 for a period of two years. Additionally, the renewed 2020 pact promised to include the displaced brews in the electoral roles in Tiripura. Because of this agreement only, now the brews in Tiripura were able to vote in the general elections to the Tiripura State Assembly. See, some of the provisions in this agreement are yet to be enforced. So, we have to wait and see what is going to happen. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we have seen about brews, how they were forced out of Mizoram in the last decade of the 20th century. And finally, we also saw about the recent 2020 Breweryang Agreement. With all these points in mind, now let's move on to the next article discussion. Now, have a look at this smart snippet displayed here. It says that the Union Government has approved the launch of nano-DAP fertilizer. Here note that in the year 2021 also, the Union Government approved the launch of nano-liquid urea. In this context, let us learn about nano fertilizers. Firstly, we will try to understand what is nano technology. See, nano technology is a field of science and engineering which primarily deals with the objects of nanoscale. See, nanoscale objects generally range in length from 1 to 100 nanometers. See, 1 nanometer is a billionth of a meter or 10 to the power 9 of a meter. To give you all a perspective, a sheet of newspaper is about 1 lakh nanometers thick. So, how they are made? See, nanoparticles are formed through the breaking down of a larger particle or by controlled assembly process. Talking about nanofertilizers now. See, nanofertilizers are nutrients which are encapsulated or coated with different types of nanomaterials for the control and slow delivery of one or more nutrients to the plants. Simply to say, a nanofertilizer is any product that is made with nanoparticles or uses nanotechnology to improve the nutrient efficiency. See, there are three classes of nanofertilizers. First is the nanoscale fertilizer. Here, the nanoparticles contain nutrients. Second is the nanoscale additives. Here, the traditional fertilizers are combined with nanoscale additives. Third class is the nanoscale coating where traditional fertilizers are coated or loaded with nanoparticles. Now, why do we need nanofertilizers? See, when we use traditional fertilizers only less than half of it is taken by the plant while the remaining gets leached. Farmers apply more and more fertilizers to increase their yield. This further increases the chemical content in the soil which will affect the soil fertility. So, we are in need of a slow or controlled release fertilizers. This is where nanofertilizers come into picture. See, nanofertilizers have unique properties such as high surface to volume ratio and controlled release kinetics of nutrients to the targeted sites. Now, how are they applied? See, nanofertilizers can be applied either to soil or directly to the leaves. Foliar application, that is, the direct application to the leaves can be done during unfavorable soil and weather conditions. So, this promotes the direct entry of nutrients into the plant system and reduces the wastage of fertilizer talking about its advantages over traditional fertilizers. See, the nanofertilizers have high surface area and penetrability. This makes them more efficient in terms of nutrient use as compared to conventional fertilizers. Also, nanofertilizers are more advantageous over conventional fertilizers as they increase soil fertility, yield and quality parameters of the crop. Besides all these advantages, they are non-toxic and less harmful to environment and humans. Then, they also perform other functions like controlled release of nutrients and delivery at target sites. This is all about the advantages of nanofertilizers over traditional fertilizers. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this short discussion, we have seen about nanofertilizers and its advantages over conventional fertilizers. With all these learned points in mind, now let's move on to the next article discussion. For our next discussion, let us take this lead editorial. It deals with the diplomatic high New Delhi is going through currently. It is because India in this year is going to host multiple important presidential presidencies at the same time. G20, SEO and the Global South Summit are some of the examples. So, the author of the editorial explains why this is a global opportunity for India and what should India do about it. And finally, the author also discusses about the challenges that lie before India for achieving a pivotal position in the global high table. We will see all these points in our discussion. But before that, the syllabus relevant for this discussion will be completed here. Interested aspirants can go through it. Now, first of all, let us see why the author is saying that New Delhi is on a geopolitical high. The first reason is the presidency of G20. As many of you already know, India is currently hosting numerous meetings all around the country as part of its G20 presidency. Because of this, foreign delegates are made to experience the Indian culture. This is the first reason quoted by the author saying that India is on a geopolitical high. The second reason is that India is the host country for Quad meeting this year. The third reason is the hosting of Raisina Dialogue. Let us take a quick detour here and understand what is this Raisina Dialogue. See, Raisina Dialogue is India's premier conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics. The forum has committed to address the most challenging issues faced by the global community. So, every year leaders in politics, business, media and civil society converge in New Delhi to discuss the state of the world. And they also explore opportunities for cooperation on a wide range of contemporary matters here. Raisina Dialogue is a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral discussion. This is a brief about the Raisina Dialogue. Here, no one interesting fact. The name Raisina Dialogue comes from the Raisina Hill on which Delhi is located. Note this fact, there may be a geography-based question in the term Raisina. Now, coming back to the reasons why the author is saying that India is on a geopolitical eye. So far, we saw three reasons. Now, coming to the fourth reason. Here note that India organized a Voice of Global South Summit before the G20 summit to understand the pressing issues which are faced by the global south communities. Here, the term Global South refers to the countries which are developing in nature. Now, coming to the fifth and final reason. India in the coming months is also going to hold the presidency of Shanghai Cooperation Organization. These are all the reasons why the author is saying that India is on a geopolitical eye. Yes, it is due to the huge number of summits which are going to be preceded by India this year. Now, why is this a significant thing? See, this global geopolitical high position is significant because for a long time India was in the sidelines of world politics. It did not occupy the center position. So in the past, India was just criticizing and complaining about the policies of the global powers. It was powerless to assert itself in the global arena. But this scenario has started to change now. Today, India is occupying a pivotal position at the G20, the Quad, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Global South Summit. And this pivotal position has given India a sudden surge in stature and reputation. See, from the pre-independence era to till now, Indian leaders such as Javagallar Nehru, Vajpayee has spoken about India's role in the world. They said that India's culture, history, demography and economic strength provides it with a strong foundation for a pivotal role in the world. What they have said then has become true now. Here, what do you think is the reason for this pivotal role played by India? The main reason is that India used the failure of the post-war world order to its advantage. This only the author calls as threading the fault lines. Here, threading means walking or set foot on. Threading on fault line means walking through a narrow passage on the verge of two different fault lines. See, our external affairs minister in his book, The India Way says that India is advancing its national interest by identifying and exploiting opportunities created by global contradictions. This is what the author is also denoting by saying that India is threading the fault lines. As many of you already know, India is not taking sides on the issue of Ukraine-Russia war. It is trying to maintain neutrality. So, by doing so, it is not antagonizing both the western countries and Russia. This is an example of how India is trying to maintain its neutrality by exploiting opportunities created by global contradictions. Secondly, some unforeseen factors are also working in India's favor. We all know that China is rising as an aggressive world power. This has prompted the global leaders to look for political alternatives in the Indo-Pacific region. The West is now coming to a conclusion that India can be their trump card in this particular Indian Ocean region. This is because they know that India is an active member of multiliter forums such as BRICS and SEO where China is there. So, the West has started improving their strategic relationship with India. These are the reasons as quoted by the author to the question why India could reach the pivotal position in the world order. Now, what does India want from this? As we saw already, India occupies a high position global arena. Now, India wants to hold it in the future too. Apart from this, India aspires to be the leader of the global south also. Finally, using this presidency, India wants to set path for the reforms of UNSC. Before also, India has made numerous efforts regarding the reforms of UNSC. But that did not yield any major results. But now, due to the improving stature of India in the world arena, India can use all these presidencies as a medium to showcase its leadership skills to the world and ask for a permanent position in the UNSC. Now, here you may have a doubt. How India will be able to achieve this using the G20 presidency or any other presidency? We all know that G20 meeting ended without a joint statement. The reason is the Ukraine war. So, if the world is still divided on certain aspects, how will India achieve its objective? Yes, G20 meeting ended without a joint statement. Even though the G20 meeting ended without a joint statement, it is considered a win for India for two reasons. Firstly, it created the environment for the US and Russia to have a meeting for the first time since the war. Secondly, it brought two warring parties in one room. Other forums were unable to bring together the warring parties in one room. But the G20 presidency of India made it possible. These are the two achievements as quoted by the author, saying that even though India couldn't issue a joint statement after the G20 meetings, the G20 meetings preceded by India were a success due to the fact that it brought two warring parties together in a closed room. Finally, before concluding this discussion let us see the challenges that lies behind India. Firstly, according to the author, the movement will pass. This is true, right? Indian chairmanship of the G20 and the SEO will end this year. So, India should use this crucial year to strengthen strategic partnerships, seek geopolitical concessions and create structures that enhance India's national security. Secondly, the challenge lies in balancing the forum. India should be more diplomatic in its presidency of all these forums. It should not respond to the western statements or criticisms. The author is of the opinion that offensive responses to criticisms will cost India a lot. So, Indian diplomacy needs to adopt the language of finesse and authority rather than that of aggression. Thirdly, balancing opposites as its limits. If India play all sides, it will not make strong strategic partnerships. As per the author, bridging the divide in world politics is a noble task. But indecisiveness will not yield lasting partnerships. Finally, there prevails a danger when it comes to diplomatic highs like now, what is India witnessing? See, governments will use the diplomatic highs towards domestic political ends rather than for geopolitical objectives. So, this geopolitical high should be used effectively and efficiently by India for achieving the geopolitical objectives only. And, these are all the challenges as discussed by the author in the editorial. With this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion, we saw about the reason for India's geopolitical high, significance of it and what does India want from this geopolitical high and also we saw finally about some challenges for India in achieving what it wants. With all these points in mind, now let's move on to the next article discussion. Now, for our next discussion, let's take this text and context article. It talks about the biocomputers and then it also talks about how they are produced and its potential uses. So, in this discussion, we will look into all these points provided in the article. Firstly, let us start with the term biocomputers. See, the name is actually self-explanatory. It is a computer made with biological components. See, these biocomputers are now at the preliminary research stage. This research in biocomputers is now being carried out by a team of researchers in John Hopkins University. The researchers are planning to combine human organoids with modern computing methods to create biocomputers. Here, I have mentioned the term biocomputers. What does it mean? See, organoids are a simple version of an organ. They are the three-dimensional cells made in the laboratory using stem cells. So, brain organoids are simplified versions of the brain which are derived from stem cells. Having understood the basics about brain organoids and biocomputers, now let us see how the biocomputers are made. The first step is making the brain organoid from human stem cells. These brain organoids are very simple in structure and they cannot perform sophisticated functions as the normal human brain does. In the initial stage, these brain organoids do not have blood circulation which limits how they can grow. So, in the second step, these human brain organoid cultures are transplanted into rad brains. Once they make transactions and integrate themselves with the rad brain, they get blood circulation which aids their growth. Now, when the rad is provided with a stimulus like a flash of light, the neurons in the brain organoid are activated. This two-step procedure is done to make the brain organoid functionally active. In the third step, these brain organoids are fixed with multiple electrodes. These electrodes can then be used to deliver electrical stimuli to the organoid and it can also be used to record the neural activity that is taking place in the organoid. See, what I have said till now is a very simplified version of the term biocomputers. UPSC is not going to ask the technical details. It may ask what is meant by the term biocomputers. So, what I have said till now is more than enough. Now, coming back to the article. See, presently with the current technology, the researchers were only able to grow brain organoids of size less than 1 millimetre with around 1 lakh neurons. Scientists are now working on increasing the size of the brain organoid that can be grown in the lab so that its computing capacity can also be improved. This is all about how biocomputers are made. Finally, let us see the potential applications of these biocomputers. First major application is understanding the human brain. See, it has been a difficult task to understand the complete functioning of our human brain. And that is why rat brains have been previously used to investigate the working of the human brain. But right now the brain organoids or mini brains which we saw earlier are being used to understand the structural and functional features of human brain. The second application is understanding the neurodegenerative or cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. In this the brain organoids are cultured from healthy individuals and also from people with neurodegenerative or cognitive disorders separately. By comparing the data on brain structure, connections and signaling between healthy and patient derived organoids, researchers can understand why neurodegenerative disorders occur and how it can be improved. Lastly using biocomputers, the processing power of a human brain can also be utilized to perform huge computational tasks. These are all some of the benefits associated with biocomputers. Now, before moving to our next discussion, have a look at this article displayed here. Just like the article which we have discussed today this article also discusses about new form of computational system called the Neuromorphic Computing. We have covered this article in our Hindu Daily News Analysis on Levels of September 2022. So if you want to know what is meant by the term Neuromorphic Computing, I recommend you all to watch that video. With this we have come to the end of this discussion. Through this discussion we came to know about the term biocomputers and the advantages associated with it. Now with all these points in mind, let's move on to the next article discussion. Now take a look at this news article. It reports about the proposed visits of Prime Minister of Australia and Japan to India later this month. See, both these Prime Ministers are visiting India to take part in the meetings of Quad. Here note that the Prime Minister of Australia and the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi will together watch the fourth test taking place between Indian and Australian cricket teams. This is all about the content of the article given here. In this context, let us try to learn about Quad in Prime's perspective. See, Quad is a grouping of four different democracies of Indo-Pacific region. The four democracies are India, Australia, US and Japan. It aims to ensure and support a free and open phosphorus Indo-Pacific ocean. The idea of Quad was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the year 2007. Here note that Shinzo Abe was recently killed in a firing which took place in Tokyo last year. Now coming back. Basically the objective behind the Quad group is that it is an initiative for maintaining a strategic and significant sea routes in the Indo-Pacific region that is free from any external influence. So it is often seen as a measure to counter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. But we can broadly say that Quad members are mainly advocating for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Although this is the main objective of Quad through subsequent meetings the objective of Quad has widened. So the leaders now exchange views on contemporary global issues critical and emerging technologies connectivity and infrastructure cyber security, maritime security humanitarian assistance disaster relief, climate change pandemic and education. So it means that Quad is continuously evolving to include more and more fields into its ambit. The US, Japan and Australia want India to play a central and constructive role in the Quad grouping. But for India, Quad is simply not a counter to China. India consider Quad as a way of addressing the rising power asymmetry in Asia. Also note that recently Quad process was expanded to include more countries and was called as Quad Plus. It includes countries like New Zealand, South Korea, Brazil, Israel and Vietnam as new members. This is all about this short discussion. Through this discussion we came to know about Quad and its primary objective. With all these points in mind now let's move on to the next part of our Hindu daily news analysis which is nothing but the prelims practice question discussion. Today I have taken five different questions for our discussion. Now let's see them one by one. Let's start with the first question. See this is a previous air question that was asked in the prelims 2021. Now coming to the question. Which of the following are detrivers? Earthworms, jellyfish, millipedes, seaorses would lies. See to answer this question you have to know only one fact that is seaorses are not detrivers. If we know that we can easily eliminate four from the options given below. By eliminating we will only be left with option C which is nothing but 1, 3 and 5 only. See this option is the correct option. Now moving on to the next question we will see a few facts relating to seaors. See seaors is considered a secondary consumer. They occupy a middle position in their food chain. Seaorses do not have any teeth. They suck in their food and swallow it all. Primarily seaorses feed on plankton small fish and small crustaceans. But detriver is a term used to denote organisms which feed on dead organisms. Detritress is the organic matter made up of dead plant and animal material. So seaors is not a detriver. If you have known this you would have easily come to the answer. Option C is the correct answer. Now moving on to the second question this is also a previous question regarding stem cells. Three statements are given and we have to find the correct statement. Coming to first statement stem cells can be derived from mammals only. See this statement is incorrect. Stem cells are not limited to mammals and it can also be derived from other species as well including birds, fish and even some plants. However the most commonly studied stem cells are those derived from mammals especially human stem cells. So statement one is incorrect. Before moving to the statement two and three we will see a little brief about stem cells. See stem cells are special cells that have the ability to develop into many different types of cells in the human body. They also have the potential to become specialized cells like muscle cells, nerve cells or blood cells. Now coming to the second statement. Statement two says that stem cells can be used for new drugs. See the statement is correct. This is what is the application of stem cells. Now coming to the third statement stem cells can be used for medical therapies. See this statement is also correct. Out of the three given statements statement one is only wrong. Statement two and three are correct. So the correct answer for this question is option B two and three only. Now moving on to the third question this is a three statement question and we have to find the correct statement. Now coming to the first statement endemic is used to describe a disease that is present permanently in a specific region or a group of people. See this statement is correct. Endemic is used to describe a disease which is particularly present in a small group of population or a small geographic range. So statement one is correct. Now coming to the second statement. Pandemic is a term used to describe a situation when the spread of disease is global in nature. See this statement is also correct. We called the COVID-19 health crisis as a pandemic because COVID-19 virus spread to different parts of the world. So statement two is correct. Now coming to the third statement. Malaria is an example of endemic disease. Statement three is also correct. Malaria is an example of endemic disease. It is mostly found only in Africa now. So the correct answer for this question is option D one two and three. Now moving on to the fourth question. This question is regarding 2020 Brewer Yang agreements. Now coming to the first statement. It was signed between the government of India government of Mizoram and Brewer Yang representatives. As we already saw in our discussion statement one is correct. It was a quadripartite agreement involving four different entities. The first one was the government of India. The second one was the government of Tirupura. Third one is the government of Mizoram and the fourth one was the Brewer Yang representatives. So statement one is correct. Now coming to the second statement. This pact aimed to resettle Brewer Yang tribal communities in the state of Mizoram. See this statement is incorrect. Regarding this discussion itself. So statement two was incorrect. Now coming to the third statement. This pact promised to include the displaced brews in the electoral roles in Tirupura. See this statement is correct. As a result of this only they had been able to vote in the 2023 state legislative assembly elections of Tirupura. So statement three is correct. The question is asking for the correct statement. So the correct answer for this question is option C one and three only. Now coming to the fifth question. This is a three statement question and we have to find the correct statement. It is regarding carbon nanotubes. Now coming to the first statement. Carbon nanotubes have high thermal conductivity. See this statement is correct. Carbon nanotube is one of the most important nanomaterials. It is a hollow tube made up of carbon of nanoscale diameter. They are formed by folding or rolling two dimensional graphite into a cylindrical shaped structure. As I already said they are hollow from inside. Statement one is correct. Statement two is also correct. Carbon nanotubes are stiff as diamond. This is a property of carbon nanotube. They are generally stiff. Now coming to the third statement. Carbon nanotubes are elastic. See this is also correct. This is also a property of carbon nanotube. So the correct answer for this question is option D one two one three. Displayed here is the quiz question for you all. Interested aspirants can post the correct answer in the comment section. Displayed here or the main question. Interested aspirants can write the answer in the comment section. With this we have come to the end of our discussion. If you liked our video please hit the like button do comment and share it with your friends. Thank you for watching.