 A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu news analysis brought to you by Shankar IAS Academy. Today is 5th of February 2022. The list of articles we are going to discuss today is displayed on the screen. You can go through it. Let's start our discussion. Look at this news article. This news article mentions about the attempt to amend the preamble to the constitution using a private members bill. See before starting our discussion look at this question asked in the previous year preliminary examination. See questions related to the preamble are often asked in the preliminary examination one year or the other. So kindly pay attention. Now let us see some facts relevant to the examination about preamble and its amendability. See the literal meaning of the word preamble is an introductory part that states the purpose and aims of a document or a statute. So similarly preamble to the constitution of India is an introduction to our constitution and it precedes the constitution. It outlines the aims and objectives of the constitution and sets out the purpose principles and philosophy of the country. So it is a guide to the nation and note that preamble was enacted after the entire constitution was already enacted. See basically preamble of the present constitution is the modified version of the document called the objective resolution of the constituted assembly. This objective resolution lie down the fundamentals and philosophy of the constitutional structure and it was anonymously adopted in 1947. This is the preamble. See every single word in this preamble is highly important for the examination. It declares India as a sovereign socialist secular democratic under republican state which draws its authority from the people. It also intends to provide social, economic and political justice to its citizens. Additionally it assures them the liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. It also assures equality of status and opportunity. Then it aims at securing a fraternity based on dignity of the individual and it aims at securing the unity and integrity of the nation. And it signifies that the power is ultimately vested in the hands of the people. But is a preamble part of the constitution? See initially it was not regarded as the part of the constitution. But this stance was changed in the Keshavnanda Bhaddi case of 1973. In this case Supreme court held that preamble is a part of the constitution. Here the court even restricted the amending power of the parliament under the article 368 of the constitution. It held that the basic element of the preamble cannot be amended under article 368. As you know article 368 grants power to the parliament and lays down procedure to amend the constitution whenever there is a necessity. In this 1973 case Supreme court held that the basic element of the preamble cannot be amended under article 368. To so simply put preamble is a part of the constitution it can be amended. But the basic feature or the basic elements in the preamble cannot be amended under article 368. By this Supreme court contented that if any of the basic elements mentioned in the preamble is removed the structure will not survive. So basically Supreme court held that the objectives specified in the preamble constitute the basic structure of Indian constitution which cannot be amended. So has the preamble been amended ever? Yes the preamble has been amended but only once. In 1976 it was amended by the 42nd constitutional amendment act. It added three new words they are socialist secular and integrity. This amendment was held to be valid that means it was held that this amendment did not amend the basic element of the preamble. Now on similar lines a private member bill was brought by an MP to amend the preamble particularly for changing the word socialist and replace it with equitable. See when a bill is introduced by a member other than a minister it is known as a private member's bill. Now the member who introduced the bill to amend the preamble is arguing that the term socialist was added through 42nd constitutional amendment act. So it can be amended and it would not amount to amending the basic element of the preamble. Let us wait and see whether it is introduced and passed in the parliament or not. So in this article we have seen what is a preamble it is an introduction to the constitution and it is a part of the constitution. It has been amended only once that is in 42nd constitutional amendment act. It added three new words they are socialist secular and integrity. So finally as a part of the constitution preamble can be amended under article 368 but the basic structure of the preamble cannot be amended. That's all regarding this article. Now we will move on to the next news article. Now let us take up this article. It mentions about the particulate pollution or particulate matter pollution in Bangalore city based on two studies. See the studies found that there will be 15% increase in PM10 emission from the 2019 levels. It also found that the current PM10 mass concentration is around 1.3 times higher than the limit permissible by central pollution control board. The studies also identified the biggest contributors to air pollution in Bangalore. They were transportation, road dust, construction dust, domestic fuel and diesel generators. See the transportation sector contribute the most PM2.5 pollution while the soil dust contributes more to PM10 pollution. And the studies have also suggested these measures to curb pollution kindly go through this. See these data and suggestions are expected to contribute to the action plans which are framed under NCAP which is national clean air program. So in this regard let us revise about particulate matter pollution and NCAP. See the particulate matter is shortly written as PM. It is the term for the mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles such as dust, dirt, soot or smoke are large, dark enough to be seen with the naked eye. And other particles are so small that they can only be detected using an electron microscope and they are the particulate matters. It includes PM10 and PM2.5. See here PM10 are inhalable particles with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller. And PM2.5 are fine inhalable particles with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller. And these particles can be made up of hundreds of different chemicals. Some are emitted directly from the source such as construction sites, unpaved roads, fields, smokestacks or fires. But most particles form in the atmosphere as a result of complex reactions of chemicals such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. These are the pollutants emitted from power plants, industries and automobiles. So obviously it has health impacts. Particularly when inhaled it can cause a wide range of respiratory disorders such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease because PM can penetrate deep inside the lungs and damage it. That is why monitoring and mitigating PM pollution becomes important. In this regard the National Clean Air program that is your NCAP is an important initiative in particulate matter mitigation. See NCAP is a pollution control initiative that was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate It was launched with the intention to cut the concentration of coarse and fine particles of particulate matter in the atmosphere that is PM10 and PM2.5. This is envisaged as a comprehensive initiative in partnership with various ministries and states which will work to improve air quality at city, regional and national levels. These are its objectives. Based on these objectives the goal is to meet the prescribed annual average ambient air quality standards at all locations in the country that do in a stipulated time frame. So a tentative national level target was set that is at 20 percentage to 30 percentage reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration in the atmosphere by the year 2024. So for this purpose central pollution control board has identified a list of polluted cities in which the prescribed national ambient air quality standards are violated and these are called the non-attainment cities. For these cities city action plans have been framed. It includes the measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular or industrial emissions, increasing public awareness etc. So overall national clean air program is a focused and time bound scheme to implement various sectoral policies and enhance public participation in more than 100 cities for effective air quality management. See these are some of the initiatives under national clean air program. You can go through it. In this discussion we have seen about particulate matter which are PM10 and PM2.5 and we have also learnt about the national clean air program. With these learnt points in mind let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this editorial article here. It is about the Supreme Court of India's recent ruling on Al-India quota. The case before the Supreme Court was about the reservations in NEET exam. It involved a resolution of the issues around the implementation of OBC and EWS quota in the NEET Al-India quota admissions to medical colleges. So this is the background of the article given here. In this context let us learn about the Supreme Court's stand about merit and reservations and we will also discuss some of the important points mentioned in this article. Before that take a note of the syllabus given here for your reference. First of all let us see what is the issue here. See the government. It has recently decided to extend the existing scheduled caste and scheduled tribe reservation within the AIQ category to provide for OBC reservation as well. Here let us take a moment and understand what AIQ is. See in medical counseling a category called AIQ is there. It stands for Al-India quota. Generally a number of seats are reserved in the state medical colleges for students domiciled in their respective states. Here domicile means students residing in that particular state. The remaining seats which are 15 percentage in UG courses and 50 percentage in PG are reserved by the states to the Al-India quota. So under this quota seats are filled on a domicile free that is all in their basis. Within this category reservations are given for people belonging to SES and STs. Now the government has decided to extend the reservation for OBC as well. So as a result RIT petitions had challenged this order on the grounds that the implementation of OBC reservation would affect professional merit and cause reverse discrimination against general category candidates. And another set of RIT petition had challenged the notification of EWS reservation. EWS are nothing but economically weaker sections. Another set of RIT petition had challenged the acceptability of Rs 8 lakh as the income limit for EWS reservation. So now this is the issue. See we should understand why this issue has come up. In India there has always debate about reservations because a section of people believe that the affirmative action is against the merit. See the term affirmative action refers to a policy aimed at increasing workspace or educational opportunities for underrepresented section of society. These programs are commonly implemented by governments by taking individuals race sex religion or national origin into account. This affirmative action focuses on demographics with historically low representation in leadership, professional and economic roles. And this is often considered as a means of countering discrimination against particular groups. But the critics of affirmative action says that the reservations are against the merit. But there is other section of people who say that even though reservations violate merit it serves other purpose such as social representation. See because of the existence of differing beliefs there has always been a contestation between merit and reservation. Now let us see the different dimensions in which the Supreme Court addressed this merit reservation contestation. Firstly the judgment recalls and reaffirms the principle of substantive equality rather than formal equality. This only underlines our constitutional promise of equality of opportunity. The formal equality here is a belief that for fair treatment people must be treated equally at all the times. But the substantive equality explores the impact of the law on equality. That is it is concerned with the efforts of laws, policies and practices and ensures that such laws, policies or practices alleviate the inherent disadvantage experienced by particular groups. In our constitution formal equality is provided by prohibiting general discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion etc under Article 15. Then under Article 16 it also provides equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state. And more than this the constitution provides the space to government to correct the historical inequalities through affirmative action that provides substantial equality. We saw what is affirmative action before which in simple words means reservation. The judgment quoted this principle of substantive equality when it explained the need for reservation and also it relied on the debates in the constituent assembly. Here the court reminded that the intent of the framers of constitution was to remedy real structural barriers that prevented the realization of equality of opportunity. The Supreme Court also built upon different earlier landmark judgments such as State of Kerala v. N. M. Thomas and Indra Sani v. Union of India case. It reiterated that the provision of reservation in the Article 16 class 4 of the constitution is not an exception but an extension of the principle of equality mentioned in the Article 16 class 1. It is not an exception but an extension of principle of equality. I have given these articles here read it for your reference. See the judgment states that the reservations are crucial to achieve the goal of genuine equality of opportunity and status amongst all citizens. And reservation is one of the measures that is employed to overcome the barriers. See the individual differences may be a result of privilege, fortune or circumstances but it cannot be used to negate the role of reservation in remedying the structural disadvantage that certain groups suffer. Secondly, the judgment criticizes the purely economic understanding of the claims of reservation. And this is because of the rigid nature of the socio-cultural institution of caste. To understand this the Supreme Court judgment draws upon the work of K. V. Shyam Prasad to recognize the role of a cultural capital. First let us understand what is cultural capital. See cultural capital is having asserts that gives us social mobility. Social mobility is nothing but the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social status in a society. And these asserts are both tangible and intangible. But importantly they are not related to income, net worth or any financial measure. See cultural capital falls under three categories. Firstly they are institutionalized which includes education or specialized knowledge. Secondly it is embodied which includes personality, speech and skills. And thirdly it is objectified which includes class or other belongings. Here the order holds that the cultural capital ensures that a child is trained unconsciously by the family environment to take up higher education or higher post that corresponds with their family standing. So this works to the disadvantage of individuals who are first generation learners. So the judgment is also attentive to the implication of the family habits, community linkages and inherited skills. So in this context also reservation is the need for the people who face these kind of barriers. And thirdly the judgment addresses the social prejudices that falsely prevails as concerns about efficiency of administration and the anxieties about the dilution of merit. For this the judgment quoted 2019 decision in B.K. Pavitra was a state of Karnataka. The judge said that the benchmark for the efficiency of administration is not some ideal measured by the performance of a qualified open category candidate. See efficiency of administration in the affairs of the union or a state must be defined in an inclusive sense where diverse segment of the society find representation. And finally the judgment questions the heart of the matter which is the examinations as a matter of merit. It quoted the Ashwini Deshpande study highlighting a sharp separation between what examinations claim to measure and what they actually do. And the judgment cited Satish Deshpande's research also. It shows that often what examinations measure have an indirect and weak link to the task that the candidate is supposed to perform. So based on this the judgment opinions that exams can only reflect the current competence of an individual but it will not reflect the scope of their potential capabilities or excellence. So citing all these factors the Supreme Court has said that the claims of reverse reservation by the candidates from the undeserved category can be justified under the substantive equality. And this invites a stringent judicial review of the constitutionality of EWS reservation. This is because it overlooks the role of the cultural capital for general category EWS candidate and it fixes the same income limit for creamy layer OBC and EWS. See in the policy aspect this judgment opens the way for designing examination that are free of linguistic class cool boards and regional bias. So that's all about this article discussion. In this article we have seen what is an affirmative action and the articles mentioned in the constitution regarding affirmative action. And we have also seen some of the Supreme Court judgment related to it. In the process we have also discussed about cultural capital. It is nothing but having an assert that gives us social mobility. With these key points in mind let us move on to the next article discussion. Look at this news article. This news article states that with the onset of summer the seasonal migrations of wild animals has began from the adjacent wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to why not wildlife sanctuary. In this context we will learn about Neil Geary biosphere reserve in Prillin's perspective. This is because why not wildlife sanctuary is a part of Neil Geary biosphere reserve. So before starting the discussion look at the question that was asked in the Prillin Mary examination 2019. So question of this type can be expected this year also. So kindly pay attention. See first of all what is a biosphere reserve. The concept of biosphere reserve was introduced and established under UNESCO's man and biosphere program in 1971. The biosphere reserve is a voluntary cooperative conservation area. It is created to protect the biological and cultural diversity of a region while promoting sustainable economic development. Simply it is balancing biodiversity with economic development. So it provides an opportunity to scientists and managers to experiment and cooperate in generating data for understanding man's impact on nature. It is a place where local people, government officials and environmental groups work collaboratively on conservation and developmental issues. See the two main biosphere reserve in Kerala are Neil Geary biosphere reserve and Agastya Malay biosphere reserve. The Neil Geary biosphere reserve was the first biosphere reserve in India established in 1986. It is located in the western Ghats. It includes two of the 10 biogeo geographical provinces of India. See why ranges of ecosystems and specious diversity are found in this region. The total area of Neil Geary biosphere reserve is 5,520 square kilometers and the reserve encompasses parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The annual rainfall of the reserve ranges from 500 millimeter to 7000 millimeter with temperature ranging from 0 degree Celsius during winter to 41 degree Celsius during summer. Now this point is important. The Neil Geary biosphere reserve falls under the biogeo geographic region of Malabar rainforest. Kindly note that the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary, Vayanad wildlife sanctuary, Bandipur national park, Nagarholi national park, Mukurti national park and Silent valley national park are the protected areas present within this Neil Geary biosphere reserve. Kindly remember these national parks and wildlife sanctuary for the preliminary examination. So that's all regarding this article. Now we will move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article. This news article mentions that a self- disinfecting face mask has been invented. As you know face masks have shown to be one of the most essential weapons in preventing the transmission of COVID-19. So in this regard this new invention is very important for us. See this is a novel invention by the scientist of a collaborative effort. In the collaboration three entities were involved namely the ARCI and the CSIR, CCMB and the Bangalore based private firm called Risil Chemicals. Here this ARCI is an autonomous research and development center of department of science and technology under the ministry of science and technology. The mask is invented under the DST sponsored nano mission project. See this mask is a copper based nano particle coated antiviral face mask. So it uses copper based nanoparticles of around 20 nanometers. It is made using a FSP processing facility that is flame spray pyrolysis. See FSP is a manufacturing technique to mass produce engineered nanoparticles. In FSP an aqueous metal salt solution is sprayed as a fine mist and this solution is called the precursor solution. See precursor is basically a compound that participates in a chemical reaction and produces another compound. So this precursor solution is sprayed through a capillary and into a flame. This is a high temperature flame within which the precursor solution decomposes and the organic compounds in it undergo complete combustion. So this leads to a formation of primary particles of pure metals or oxides and these are the nanoparticles which are then collected. So using this same method copper based nanoparticle is created. See after preparing the nanoparticle a uniform layer of this nanoparticle was coated onto the cotton fabric using a suitable binder. See a binder is needed for good adhesion of the nanoparticle to the fabric. So after this the mask will be ready. So why do we need this mask? See as you know face mask reduces the spread of virus mainly through airborne respiratory particles. But the issue is most masks available in the country do not exhibit anti-viral or antibacterial properties. That is they are not able to inactivate the virus when they reach the fabric. So this makes it difficult to control the virus transmission. Why because the used mask will have the virus so they can be easily transmitted to others even after it is disposed of. So there is a vulnerability to wear conventional masks where the virus load is very heavy that is particularly in hospitals, airports, railway stations etc. Now this problem is addressed by this new mask because it was found that this coated fabric exhibited an efficacy of more than 99.9% against bacteria. That is why we call it an anti-viral mask and we say it self disinfects. So ultimately this prevents further transmission of the virus. Therefore the main advantage of the mask is it kills the virus and not just filters it. Additionally this mask is biodegradable. It is also highly breathable and also washable. So it can be reused. These properties are absent in a conventional mask such as surgical mask which we normally wear. Then this mask exhibits high performance not only against the COVID-19 virus but also against several other viral and bacterial infections. So that is all regarding this news article with all this learning. Now let us move on to the next part of our discussion which is the preliminary practice question. Look at this question this question was asked in preliminary examination 2021. Let me read out the question what was the exact constitutional status of India on 26th of January 1950. Option A democratic republic. Option B a sovereign democratic republic. Option C a sovereign secular democratic republic. Option D a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic. See this previous question may not directly mention the word preamble but it is surely about preamble why because during discussion we saw that the words socialist secular and integrity were added by the 42nd constitutional amendment act of 1976. So these three terms were not present in 1950. So the remaining words might have been there therefore we can eliminate option C and D as they have secular and socialist in it. Here our correct answer is option B that is a sovereign democratic republic. Look at the second question this question is also regarding preamble which of the following statements is or are correct with the reference to the preamble to the constitution. It is non-justiciable words have been added and eliminated from the preamble before and previously it was called objective resolution. You have to select the correct answer from the code given below. See here statement one is correct because non-justiciable means its provision are not enforceable in codes of law that is you cannot approach the code saying that the objectives are not enforced by the government and regarding statement two it is incorrect. See only once preamble has been amended that do by the 42nd constitutional amendment act. It also added words that we have seen but it did not remove any words so this statement is incorrect and regarding statement three it is also incorrect. See read the statement carefully preamble is a modified version of objective resolution so we can say that preamble is based on the objective resolution and this does not mean that both are same that is why this statement is wrong so our correct answer will be option B one only. See here the third and fourth question both are previous year questions and we have discussed enough about the preamble so you find the answer and post it in the comment section. Now moving on to the fifth question see the question consider the following first statement is biodegradable second is highly breathable third statement is single use and fourth statement is kills the virus so which of the above are the advantages of the copper based nano particle coated anti-viral phase mask developed by AARCI in collaboration with CSIR CCMB. See here single use means it is designed to be used once and then disposed of or destroyed. So here the single use statement is incorrect because we saw that the mask is washable which makes it reusable. So if you eliminate this statement you will get the answer that is option D one two and four look at the sixth question this is also a previous year question which was asked in preliminary examination 2019 which of the following are in Agastya Mala biosphere reserve. See now discussion regarding Nilgiri biosphere reserve we saw that vayanad wildlife sanctuary silent valley national park and Mukuti national park these are part of Nilgiri biosphere reserve so option B and C cannot be your answer and if you can guess that Venkateshwara wildlife sanctuary and Nagarjuna saga steed Salem tiger reserve is somewhat related to Andhra Pradesh you can eliminate this statement also and arrive at the correct answer which is option A. Now look at our final question consider the following statements particulate matter can be seen with the naked eye a tentative national level of target of 20 to 30 percent reduction of vm 2.5 concentration by 2030 is set under the NCAP program which of the statement given are incorrect here the question is asking for an incorrect answer so look at the first statement this is incorrect because it cannot be seen with naked eye and look at the second statement this is also incorrect because the target is said to be achieved by 2024 and not 2030 so here our correct answer will be option C both one and two the main question is displayed here you can write your answer and post it in the comment section if you like the video hit the like button post your comment and share it with your friends and don't forget to subscribe Shankara's Academy YouTube channel thank you