 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to Hindu Newspaper Analysis brought to you by Shankar IA's Academy for the date 20th of March 2023. Displayed here are the list of articles that we are going to discuss today. Without any delay, let's get into the articles straight away. Punjab Polis have launched a major crackdown against the pro-Kalistani elements. The Punjab Polis launched a statewide cordon and search exercise operation against Mr. Amrit Palsing and his supporters and this is about the news article given here. In this context, in our discussion today, we will see about the Kalistani movement. See the Kalistan movement is a subject of great importance and controversy in the history of India. The Kalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement. It emerged in the late 1970s. The movement's major demand was the creation of a separate Sikh state called Kalistan in the Punjab region of India. See the roots of the Kalistan movement can be traced back to the partition of India in 1947. As we all know, the partition of India led to the creation of two nations India and Pakistan. And also know that the partition divided the Sikh community which was spread across two nations. The Sikhs in India felt a sense of betrayal. This is because they fought for an independent India but their demands for a separate Sikh state were not addressed. So the resentment among the Sikhs grew in the following decades and the Kalistan movement was born. The Kalistan movement gained momentum in 1980s when Sikh militant groups launched a violent campaign against the Indian government demanding the creation of Kalistan. See the movement led to a prolonged period of violence and unrest in Punjab with numerous terrorist attacks, bombings and assassinations. For this, Indian government responded with a heavy-handed crackdown. See the Indian government launched a military operation in 1984 to flush out the militants from Golden Temple under the code name Operation Blue Star. The military operation led to the deaths of militants and civilians. The operation also damaged the shrine. Then things started to cool down a bit. Finally in 1995, Indian government signed a peace agreement with the militants which led to the end of the armed struggle. Till now, we saw about the origin of Kalistan movement and the major cause of events. Now moving forward, we'll see about the impacts of the movement. See Kalistan movement had a profound impact on Sikh identity and culture. It created a sense of unity and pride among the Sikh community. This is because Sikhs earlier felt that they were marginalized and discriminated in the mainstream Indian society and this Kalistan movement gave them a sense of unity, pride, identity and culture. However, the movement also had negative consequences also because it led to the loss of innocent lives and it damaged the social fabric of Punjab. Now what is the present status of the movement? Today, the Kalistan movement is no longer as active as it was earlier but its legacy lives on. It reminds a sensitive issue in India and the demand for Kalistan is still being raised by some Sikh separatist groups. However, it is essential to recognize that violence and extremism are not the solutions to the problems faced by any community. The best way forward is through dialogue, understanding and peaceful coexistence. Now in what essence we are discussing about this article and this movement? See, we learnt about the Kalistan movement which was a significant chapter in the history of India. The movement had a profound impact on Sikh identity and the country's social fabric. But looking at the course and the end of the movement, we can safely say that violence and extremism are never the answer. And it is crucial to seek solutions through peaceful means. So you can use these points in your mains answer. Now that's all regarding this news article discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the origin of Kalistan movement, their demands and the effects of Kalistan movement both positive and negative effects. And finally, we ended our discussion by seeing the way forward to any problem faced by any community. Now with these points, let us move on to the next article discussion. Now have a look at this snippet displayed here. The news is that Indonesia's Mount Marapi which is one of the world's most active volcanoes erupted last Friday. The article further says that the volcano continued to emit hot ash and other volcanic material on Saturday. And this is the crux of the snippet given here. In this context, let's learn about the causes of volcanic eruption and about the effects of volcanic eruption. First of all, know that volcanoes or vents are opening in Earth's crust. They release ash, gases, steam and hot liquid rock. Now what causes volcanic eruption? See, if we go down inside the Earth, there is a gradual increase in temperature. This extreme heat down inside the Earth can cause liquefaction of huge rocks. See, this means the rocks will get melted and they become thick liquid substance because of increased temperature. And this thick liquid substance is only called as magma. See, because of its liquid state, the magma is less in weight or less dense when compared with the surrounding rocks. This phenomenon forces magma to move upwards. The upward moving magma is collected in a magma chamber. Know that a magma chamber is a partially or totally molten body located in the crust. See, the chamber is supplied with magma deeper from the Earth. So we can say that magma chamber acts as a reservoir for magma that is coming from deep inside the Earth. Now coming back, after some point of time, the magma chamber gets filled with magma and there is no space to hold continuous magma upflow. This creates accumulation of pressure in the magma chamber, right? So the excess of magma tries to come up through grooves and outlets within the Earth's crust. As a result of this pressure, a volcanic eruption takes place. See, the volcanic eruption releases gases, steam, magma and even ash. See, the erupted magma is only known as lava. This lava cools and hardens and they form into a cone shaped mountain and this is only the cause of volcanic eruption. Now with this information, let us see what are all the effects of volcanic eruption. First of all, know that volcanic eruption leads to pyroclastic flow. See, pyroclastic flow is nothing but the fast moving flow of solidified lava pieces, volcanic ash and hot gases down the slope of volcano. The pyroclastic flows are generated during the volcanic eruption. Note one difference here, pyroclastic flows are not lava flows. A lava flow consists of only molten rock that has erupted from the vent or fissure of the volcano. Whereas a pyroclastic flow, it consists of solidified lava pieces, volcanic ash and hot gases. And also know that lava moves very slowly when compared to a pyroclastic flow. Now what are all the effects of this pyroclastic flow? As I said now, the pyroclastic flow is the fast moving flow of solidified lava pieces, volcanic ash and hot gases. So the fast moving pyroclastic flow can destroy cities, livelihoods, plants and animals that are living nearby the volcano. And this is the effect of pyroclastic flow. Now coming back to the effects of volcanic eruption. See, apart from this pyroclastic flow, a large magnitude of explosive volcanic eruptions can produce giant ash clouds. See, the diameter of ash clouds may range from hundreds to thousands of kilometers. And these ash or dust clouds can spoil the environment. This is because the ash clouds can deteriorate the rainfall and it affects the water quality in the surrounding areas. It even causes damage to the crops. Now apart from these physical threats, volcanic eruptions can also help issues like respiratory problems, burns, infectious diseases etc. Now these are all the effects of volcanic eruption. Now with this we have come to the end of this particular article discussion. In this discussion we saw what is volcano and the causes of volcano and its effects. Under the effects of volcano we saw about pyroclastic flow. We saw about volcanic ash clouds and the health issues of volcanic eruptions. Now with these points, let us move on to the next article discussion. Now let us look at this article from yesterday's newspaper. It talks about the misery of victims who have taken loan from various Chinese digital loan apps. Know that the ED is the premier organization in India which conducts investigation tracing the assets derived from proceeds of crime. As a part of its investigation towards the Chinese loan apps, ED found that these apps used morphed photos of the borrowers to make them repay the money. These photos were shared to contacts of the borrowers. Also note that these apps charged a huge processing fee which nearly constituted 30-40% of the loan amount itself. Taking cognizance of the seriousness of the issue, RBI had issued the digital lending guidelines in the month of September 2022. These guidelines were made mandatory to be followed by digital lending platforms operating in India. So in our discussion today, let's try to learn about this newly introduced digital lending guidelines. First of all, let us see the different processes included in a life cycle of a loan. See, life cycle of a loan includes customer acquisition, credit assessment, loan approval, disbursement, recovery and associated customer service. Digital lending guidelines needs to be followed by lending companies even if some of the above set processes are done in a digital medium. In this case, RBI has clarified that even if some physical interface with customer is present, the lending will still fall under the definition of digital lending only. This is being done to not let digital lending platforms get away with shifting off some of the process included in the loan cycle to a physical medium. See, loan lending companies may say that one of the processes in the loan life cycle includes physical interface so it does not come under digital lending. So in this scenario only, RBI has carefully formulated this definition. Even if one of the process involves digital medium, then the lending will fall under the definition of digital lending only. Secondly, information regarding late and penal charges should mandatory be conveyed to the borrowers by the lending companies before the loan is given. So let us say you are taking loan from a digital lending platform and they should inform you about late charges and penalty charges and all before you get the loan and this is made mandatory for the digital loan lending companies. And thirdly, annual percentage rate which is nothing but the interest rate of the loan should be previously informed to the borrower before the grant of the loan. And no increases allowed in this interest rate once the loan is given out. This is fairly self-explanatory, right? So the person who takes the loan should be informed about the interest rate of the loan and it should not be increased after the loan is received by the borrower. Fourthly, a key fact sheet should be provided to the borrower by the lending companies and it should contain details of annual percentage rate, the recovery mechanism, details of grievance retrosal officer designated specifically to deal with the digital lending. So the fourth requirement is maintenance of fact sheet and it should be provided to the borrower. Fifthly, details of lending service providers needs to be given out to the customers before the grant of loan by the lending company. Here the term lending service providers refers to the specialized agencies which are tasked with the recovery process by the lending companies when the loan becomes delinquent. Suppose let us say person A received a loan from digital lending company and due to some circumstances he is not able to repay the loan. Now the lending service providers will come to the borrower and they will recover the loan in any form like by seizing assets, properties or something like that, okay? And this is the task of lending service providers and this should be informed to the borrower before the grant of loan by the lending company. And this is the fifth requirement. Sixthly, the borrowers should be granted a cooling off period by the loan providers. In this period the borrowers should be given explicit option to exit the digital loan by paying the principal and proportionate annual percentage rate without any penalty. The cooling off period so determined shall not be less than three days for loans having tenure of seven days or more. And the cooling off period shall not be less than one day for loans having tenure of less than seven days. So basically if the tenure of the loan is more than seven days then the cooling off period should not be less than three days. And if the tenure of the loan is less than seven days the cooling off period should not be less than one day. And using this cooling off period the borrower can pay the principal and proportionate interest rate without any penalty. Finally explicit consent should be sought by the digital lending app before acquiring any data from the user's phone. The guidelines makes it mandatory for the digital lending apps to stop from accessing mobile phone resources like files and media, contact list, call logs etc. And these are the important points mentioned in the guidelines released by RBI relating to digital lending in India. The first point is the definition of digital lending even if one process of a life cycle of a loan includes digital medium then it comes under digital lending only. The second one is late charges, penalty charges should be informed to the borrowers before dispersing the loan. Thirdly annual percentage rate that is interest rate should be previously informed to the borrower and it should not be increased after the borrower received the loan. Fourthly a key fact sheet should be maintained and it should be given to the borrower. It should contain details like interest rate, recovery mechanism, grievance redressal, officers details etc. Fifthly the details of lending service providers should be informed to the borrower. Here lending service providers are nothing but service providers who recover the loan on behalf of the lending companies. The sixth point is cooling off period should be given to the borrower. In this cooling off period they can repay the principal and proportionate interest rate without any penalty. And the final point is consent that too explicit consent should be received from the borrower for acquiring any data from the borrower's phone. Now remember these points it will be useful for you also in your personal life and it is very useful for your examination also. Now with this let's move on to the next article discussion. Now look at this editorial article the author of this article says that our understanding of universal health coverage is not comprehensive. The concept is biased and it allows only certain types of treatments for certain categories of population. Therefore he insists on adopting the new universal health coverage concept and this is the cracks of the news article given here. So in our discussion today we'll try to understand the declarations mentioned in the article and about the concepts associated with them. And then we'll try to see why these concepts are outdated. But before that the syllabus relevant to the article is highlighted here for your reference please go through it. See before getting into the declarations you have to first understand what is primary, secondary and tertiary health care. See primary health care includes care for mother, child, family planning, immunization, prevention of locally endemic diseases and treatment for other common diseases. It also includes provision of essential facilities, health education, provision of food and nutrition and adequate supply of safe drinking water. In India primary health care is provided through a network of sub centers and primary health centers in rural areas. Now the secondary health care it refers to the second tier of the health system. Here the patients are referred to the specialists in higher hospitals for treatment. In India health centers for secondary health care include district hospitals and community health care at block level. And finally the tertiary health care it refers to a third level of health system. Here specialized consultative care is provided and it is usually based on the referral from primary and secondary medical care. See the key features of tertiary health care include specialized intensive care units, advanced diagnostic support services and specialized medical personnel. In India tertiary care service is provided by medical colleges and advanced medical research institutes. So in short know that tertiary is highly specialized area and secondary is when you get an advanced intervention but less specialized than tertiary. And then primary health care includes very basic health care services. Here you should also understand about the concept of universal health coverage. See universal health coverage is about ensuring that people have access to health care without suffering financial hardship. See it does not mean free health care. It means finance should not be a problem for someone who is seeking medical care. So with this understanding now let us understand the Alma Ata declaration. See the Alma Ata declaration emerged in 1978 through the international conference on primary health care. It was a major milestone for the 20th century in the field of public health. This is because it provided for the concept of health for all by the year 2000. It basically said that primary health care is the key to attain the goal of health for all. Fair enough right? But there is a problem here. But as I told you earlier the conference itself was named as international conference on primary health care. I hope you understand what the problem here is. See it speaks about health care for all. But it only concentrates on primary health care and this is the problem here. The declaration urged the governments and other international organizations and the world community to support the national commitment to primary health care. So this led to the conception that primary health care is the responsibility of the government. But secondary and tertiary care should be taken care of by the private sector. Here the basic facilities in secondary and tertiary care are ensured by the government. See we are talking about health for all. But we are only taking partial responsibility through this concept of universal health coverage. See many non-communicable diseases, chronic diseases like mental illness and its treatment they were almost excluded from primary health care. And because of this individuals have to seek either secondary or tertiary treatments from the private sector by paying from their own pockets. And also there are not enough government run institutions for the poor who cannot afford expensive private care. So the author says that the Alma Ata declaration of primary health care should be left behind as an outdated concept. And we should move forward with the newer concept of universal health care. And this new universal health care should be a concept which encompasses primary, secondary and tertiary care for all who need it at affordable cost without any discrimination. Now in this aspect the author also talks about the Astana declaration. This is another global conference on primary health care which was held in Astana, Kazakhstan in October 2018. This declaration again emphasised the critical role of primary health care around the world. Now this conference called for partnership with the private sector. This is despite the fact that commercial private sector contributed to many ill effects in the society such as alcohol, tobacco and industrial pollution. Now this is about the information of declarations regarding universal health care. Now in this article the author also mentions some positive steps in this regard. See the National Rural Health Mission has set comprehensive primary health care as one of its goals. This resulted in primary health care centres version 2 which were operationalised from 2013. Later the Aishman Bharat or the Healthy India Initiative was launched as per the recommendation of National Health Policy 2017. There were two components under Aishman Bharat. The first one is Health and Wellness Centre and the other one is PMJAY which is nothing but the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. See the Government of India announced the creation of 1,50,000 health and wellness centres. These centres are created by transforming the existing sub-centres and primary health centres. That is primary health centres in rural and urban areas would also be converted to Health and Wellness Centre. These centres would deliver comprehensive primary health care. This would help in bringing health care closer to the homes of the people and it covers both maternal and childcare health services and non-communicable diseases also. It also includes free essential drugs and diagnostic services. Besides this there is also another component right. We saw about Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Under this component the mission aims to provide financial protection for secondary and tertiary care to about 40% of India's households. Now finally before concluding the author says that we need a reconceptualisation of the term universal health care because the old declarations only focus on primary health care right. See it is a discrimination against people who seek secondary and tertiary health care and that is exactly why the author is recommending reconceptualisation of universal health care. Now with this we have come to the end of this particular article discussion. In this discussion we saw about different types of health care primary, secondary and tertiary and we understood the concept universal health coverage and after that we saw declarations regarding universal health coverage. We saw about Alma Ata declaration and Astana declaration and after that we saw about National Rural Health Mission and Aishman Bharat Mission and finally we ended our discussion by seeing the way forward suggested by the author. Now with these points let us move on to the next article discussion. Now look at this editorial here. This editorial is talking about the issues with India-China border. The author says that India and China are moving towards a new arrangement to maintain peace and tranquility along the disputed India-China border. Now what is the need for new arrangements? See in June 2022 a clash happened between Indian troops and Chinese troops at Galwan Valley. This has led to the death of 20 Indian and 4 Chinese soldiers. Then in December 2022 another Sino-Indian clash happened at Yangtze. It is situated in the northeast of Tawang. So the recent clashes suggest that new measures should be needed across the India-China border to maintain peace and this is the background of the editorial given here. Now in this discussion today we will understand the points provided in the news article but before that the syllabus relevant to the article is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. Now let's start with the India-China border. According to the sources from Ministry of Home Affairs India shares 3488 kilometres of border with China. The border runs along the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arnachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Ladakh. Know that the border between India and China is not fully demarcated. We have some arrangement called LAC which is known as the Line of Actual Control. See the LAC is the demarcation that separates Indian controlled territory from Chinese controlled territory. The process of clarifying and conforming the Line of Actual Control is still in process and this is the reason why frequent clashes happen between Indian troops and Chinese troops along the border areas. See this is the information about India-China border. Now let's move on to see about the attempts that have been made so far to ease the tensions along India-China border. During the past India-China have entered into several legal treaties that are aimed at ensuring clarity on the border dispute. See the legal treaties have been signed because of the frequent border clashes and their impact on India-China relations. Some of the important legal treaties include Tranquility Agreement of 1993, Agreement on Confidence Building Measures of 1996, Agreement on Establishing a Working Mechanism on Border Affairs of 2012 and the Agreement on Border Defence Cooperation of 2013. See all these legal treaties were aimed at providing clarity on India-China border disputes. Now in addition to these legal instruments the two nations have conducted several informal summits in the recent years. For example, we can take the informal summits that have taken place in Wuhan-China and in Marmalaburam-India. These summits primarily aimed to establish an understanding of the border dispute. So the summit advocated for principle-based approaches to tackling border issues and it seeks to re-invoke existing treaty laws on border issues. Apart from this, in the last three years a series of negotiations were conducted between high-level Indian and Chinese military officials. These negotiations were conducted after a violent clash at Galwan Valley in 2020. As an outcome of these negotiations, India and China have managed to disengage in four out of six critical border points. Those four points include Galwan, Pangongso, Gaogra Post and the point near Jianan Pass which is known as PP-15. But two key areas remain unsettled. They are the Debsang Bulge and the Charding Ninglung Junction in Demchok area in Ladakh. See for these remaining two unsettled points both China and India have affirmed that the proposals for disengagement in the remaining areas would be discussed in an open and constructive manner. Thereby this could create conditions for the restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations between India and China. Now this is about the attempts that are taken so far to ease the tensions along India-China border. First we saw legal treaties and then we saw informal summits and then we saw negotiations between the high-level Indian and Chinese military officials. Now what do you think is the likely proposal to disengage in disputed border area? According to the article, the most likely proposal is to convert the other parts of LAC also into similar no-patrol zones which are existing in eastern Ladakh regions. Now what is no-patrol zone? See if a particular area is declared as a no-patrol zone jointly by the two countries then both the countries are not allowed to patrol in such area. If we take the case of India and China, the no-patrol zones are confined to the places where India and China have overlapping claims. Till 2020 both Indian and Chinese troops have patrolled till the limit of these overlapping claims. See there is this one protocol. The protocol is that if two patrols meet, they would stop and need to display the banners to ask the other side to go back to their area. And this is the protocol. Apart from this, earlier the issue in patrolling was dealt through meetings at the designated border points. This is the earlier situation before the Galwan Valley clash. So before the Galwan Valley clash, both the countries were patrolling their overlapping claims. But there is this one protocol. If they both meet, they would stop and ask the other side to go back to their area. But after the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, the situation has changed. See after the clash, India and China had increased their troops in no-patrol zone areas. As we saw earlier, through a series of negotiations, India and China have managed to disengage in 4 out of 6 critical border points including Galwan Valley. So in such 4 border points, no-patrol zone was brought back. But the issues remain unsettled in the two key areas namely Debsang Baljan, Chading Ninglung Junction in Demchok area of Ladakh. So converting these areas also into no-patrol zones will immediately help to settle the disputes in such areas. Apart from this, the discussions are also going on to upgrade the existing border management mechanisms. See both India and China are aiming to replace the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border FS with the mechanism that will have both military and civilian officers. Simply they are aiming to replace the WOMCC with the mechanism that will have both military and civilian officers. Know that the WOMCC was established in the year 2012. This is an instrumental mechanism for consultation and coordination for management of India-China border areas. WOMCC provides a platform to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation between the border security personnel of two sides. See this WOMCC consists only of military officials. So now the discussions are going on between India and China to replace the WOMCC with the mechanism that will have both military and civilian officers. Now this is all about the attempts that have been made so far to ease the tensions along India and China border. Now before concluding our discussion, let us see some solutions to address the India-China border dispute. Firstly, India and China should try to restore the Panchsheel Agreement. Know that Panchsheel Agreement was signed on April 29, 1954 by India and China. It refers to the five principles of coexistence to govern the relations between India and China. The five principles include mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, peaceful coexistence. See these five principles under the Panchsheel Agreement have lost its significance due to change in political power of both the countries. Therefore, both India and China should restore this agreement to maintain peace between both the countries. Secondly, both India and China should need to reinvoke existing peace and border settlement treaties to provide clarity on border issues. Thirdly, both countries should need to conduct high-level meetings with the participation of both military and civil officials for early settlement of border disputes. And finally, more informal summits should be arranged between the heads of Indian and Chinese governments to discuss each other's concern and to arrive at a possible solution. Now that's all for this article discussion. In this discussion, we saw about India-China border, the disputes related to it and the attempts that have been made so far to ease the tensions along India-China border and some solutions to address it. Now with these points, let us move on to the next article discussion. Now according to this news article, the debate over net neutrality has recently been reignited as a result of a demand made by the Cellular Operators Association of India. See this association represents the three major telecom operators in India, namely Bharati Airtel, Vodafone India and Reliance Jio. The demand is that platforms like YouTube and WhatsApp should pay a share of revenue as network costs to the service providers. And this is the crux of the news article given here. Now in this context, let us understand few facts about what is this net neutrality. First of all, I'll explain it to you with an example so that it will be easy for you to understand. Consider you are using internet from an internet service provider A. And this internet service provider A should allow you to access any platform that you wish to access without any discrimination. Here, A cannot put some data in fast lanes and block the other data. In other words, these companies shouldn't be able to block you from accessing a service like Skype or slow down Netflix in order to encourage you to keep your cable package or buy a different video streaming service. Obviously that's what we'll do, right? If a particular service provider slows down the Netflix, we will move on to Prime Video or something like that. But the service provider cannot do this. He cannot discriminate by placing some data in fast lane and some other data in slow lane. This principle in which all electronic communication passing through a network is treated equally is called as net neutrality. See the term net neutrality was coined by Professor Tim Wu. He had observed that network neutrality is best defined as network design principle since it allows the network to carry every form of information and support every kind of application. Now what are all the benefits of net neutrality? Firstly, it protects the small entrepreneurs. It protects small entrepreneurs from unfair competition with big internet tech giants. See, net neutrality is extremely important for small business owners and startups who can launch their businesses online and advertise the products and sell them openly without any discrimination. Secondly, it will ensure open and free internet accessible to all. It has enabled countless of online services including e-commerce. Thirdly, it is a step that promotes equality of consumer and it also encourages free and open internet access. They ensure that the tariffs remain low and the internet remains affordable in India. See, affordable tariffs will enable internet penetration including in rural areas. This has also facilitated access to public services as well. And finally, net neutrality has proven to be crucial in fostering digital economy. Digital economy has given rise to tremendous opportunities to both big tech companies and numerous tech-based startups. It has also encouraged gig economy which has supported livelihood opportunities in the informal sector. Now that's all for this article discussion. In this discussion, we saw about what is net neutrality and what are all the benefits of it. Now with these points, let us move on to the next article discussion. Now look at this news article here. It talks about the background radiation levels that are emitted from natural sources like rocks, sand and mountains in parts of Kerala especially in Colom. See, the high radiation levels in Colom are mainly due to the presence of monazite sands that are high in thorium. However, a recent study by the Baba Atomic Research Centre found that despite the high radiation levels there is no increased risk to human health. And this is the background of the article given here. So in this context, let us quickly go through information about monazite sands and its distribution in India. See, monazite is a reddish brown phosphate material and it is one of the beach sand minerals that contain rare earth elements like lanthanum, cerium, presiodimium, neodymium, etc. See, monazite usually occurs in small isolated crystals or grains and they are resistant to weathering and they become concentrated in soils. See, monazite is an important ore of thorium and hence it is radioactive in nature. Now for us, thorium is very important because it has the potential to become the next generation fuel for nuclear power plants. It is even used for the third stage of India's nuclear power program. Now this is about the monazite sand. Now coming to the question, what are these rare earth minerals? See, rare earth minerals or materials are a group of 17 elements. They start with lanthanum in the period table of elements and include scandium and yttrium. As the names are just, they are actually not rare element. They are moderately abundant in the earth's crust but they are not concentrated enough to make them economically exploitative. And since they are rarely found in concentrations which are high enough to be economically extracted, mining these materials are extremely difficult. And that is exactly why they are called as rare earth materials or minerals. See among these rare earth minerals, thorium and lutetium are the two rare earth elements with the lowest abundance. Serium, yttrium, lanthanum and neodymium are the most plentiful rare earth elements. Now you can see these 17 rare earth materials in the periodic table displayed here. Now coming to India specific information. See major rare earth minerals found in India are ilmenite, cilmenite, garnet, zircon, monazite and rutile. These minerals are collectively known as beach sand minerals shortly known as BSM. See the fifth largest reserves of rare earth minerals are found in India. Due to the radioactivity of monazite sands, Indian rare earths limited as the sole producer of rare earth compounds under department of atomic energy. Now displayed here are some of these sites where monazite is present in India. Now just go through it, be aware of the sites given in this list here. You might expect the prelims question in this topic. If you just make an observation you can find that all of these are coastal areas. So just have that in mind and with this we have come to the end of this particular article discussion. In this discussion we saw about monazite sands. We saw about its characteristics and after that we saw some basics about rare earth minerals. And finally we ended our discussion by seeing India specific information about the rare earth minerals. Now with these points let us move on to the next article discussion. Now look at this article from yesterday's newspaper. It says that India-Bangladesh friendship pipeline was inaugurated by prime ministers of both the countries. This pipeline will carry diesel from Azam's Numaliga refineries marketing depot in Silugri to Parbatipur in northern Bangladesh. In this discussion we will see some key points about India-Bangladesh ties. We all know that India was the first country to recognize Bangladesh as a separate and independent state after its independence in December 1971. We have established diplomatic ties with Bangladesh from then on. Now in what context Bangladesh is significant to India? We will see that now. Firstly, India sees Bangladesh as the closest partner in ensuring security in its northeast states. We know that our northeast states have a geographically disadvantaged position. Also, Bangladesh has taken significant steps in dealing with insurgent organizations in India. It helped us in terms of intelligent sharing to deal with the security ties. It helped us in the terms of intelligence sharing to deal with the security issues. And then we need Bangladesh as close ally to deal with the China factor. See, China is the major defense equipment supplier to Bangladesh. China has also replaced India as its largest trading partner in the last decade. See, such co-operations with China may weaken India's position in the Indo-Pacific. So, it is in India's utmost interest that it maintains close relationship with Dhaka, that is Bangladesh. Now, before concluding our discussion, let us see some of the important projects signed between the two countries. First is Maitri Power Plant. It is located at Rampal in Bagarget district of Bangladesh. This coal-fired power plant is being developed under India's concessional financing scheme. It will add 1320 megawatts to Bangladesh's national grid. And then there is the Rushpa Rail Bridge. See, the 5.13-kilometre Rushpa Rail Bridge is key part of the 64.7-kilometre Kulna-Mongolaport single-track, broad-gauge rail project. And this Rushpa Rail Bridge connects Mongolaport with Kulna by rail and central and northern Bangladesh and also to Indian border at West Bengal. And then the India-Bangladesh friendship pipeline which was inaugurated recently is also an important project between the two countries. This cross-border pipeline will bring the oil from Azam's Numaligarh Refinery to Siligree in West Bengal. And from there on, the pipeline will run to Parbatipur in northern Bangladesh. See, this will reduce petrol prices and road congestion. And this is all about this news article discussion. In this discussion, we saw why Bangladesh is significant to India and the important projects signed between the two countries. Now, with these points, let us move on to the next article discussion. Now, this tiny article here talks about the 6.8 magnitude strong earthquake that shook southern Ecuador and northern Peru on Saturday. See, at least 15 people were killed and others were trapped under rubble. So, in this context, let us understand some important institutional measures to prevent and mitigate the earthquake loss. But before that, look at these maps here. Here, you can see that Peru and Ecuador are present adjacent to each other. Most importantly, they are located in the Ring of Fire. See, Ring of Fire is home to more than 450 active and dormant vulcanos forming a semi-circle or horseshoe around the rim of Pacific Ocean. See, most of the active vulcanos in the Ring of Fire are found on its western edge from Russia to New Zealand, while the eastern edge is known for their seismic activity. Over 90% of earthquakes occur along its path including the planet's most violent and dramatic seismic events. Since both Ecuador and Peru is located on the subducting zone of Nazca Plate, there is no wonder earthquakes occurred there. See, the Nazca Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate in the southeastern Pacific Ocean of the west coast of South America. It is currently subducting beneath the South American Plate and that's the reason for the recent earthquake. See, earthquakes they are unavoidable. But we have to make some important institutional measures to prevent and mitigate the earthquake loss. Now, let us see them one by one. Firstly, in India, there is this National Centre for Seismology for India's earthquake preparedness. It is the Nodal Agency of the Government of India for monitoring earthquake activity in the country. Secondly, the National Earthquake Risk Mitigation Project lays down policies on disaster management and it approves the national plan. Thirdly, we have National Building Code for India's earthquake preparedness. It is a national instrument providing guidelines for regulating the building construction activities across the country. It serves as a model code for adoption by all agencies involved in building construction works be it public works department or other government construction departments, local bodies and even private construction agencies. They have to stick to this national building code. Fourthly, building materials and Technology Promotion Council carries out initiatives for lifeline structure to raise awareness among the public and various governmental organizations. Fifthly, initiatives are taken by ministry of Panjayati Raj like making available money from Backward Regions Grant Fund. This is to fill important infrastructure gap and other developmental needs. Sixthly, we have National Retrofit Program for India's earthquake preparedness. Seventhly, the government has launched two mobile labs for India's earthquake preparedness. And finally, we have National Disaster Response Force and the National Disaster Management Authority. And even we have an Indian Seismic Zoning Map. It guides in identifying the lowest, moderate as well as the highest hazardous or earthquake prone areas in India. And these are all the preventive and mitigative measures taken by India in order to reduce the loss or damage created by earthquakes. That's all for this article discussion. In this discussion, we saw about Pacific Ring of Fire and why earthquake happened in Peru and Ecuador. And finally, we saw some measures taken by India to prevent and mitigate the earthquake loss. Now with these questions, let us move on to the next part of the discussion that is the practice prelims question discussion. Today we have six prelims questions. I'll solve five of them and one of them is a quiz question for you. Now let us take this first question. It is a previous prelims question which was asked in the year 2021. The question says, in the context of colonial India, Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehegal and Guru Baksh Singh Dhillon are remembered as leaders of Swadeshi and Boycott movement, members of the interim government in 1946, members of the drafting committee in the Constituent Assembly and officers of Indian National Army. The correct answer here is option D, officers of the Indian National Army. See Prem Kumar Sehegal, Shah Nawaz Khan and Guru Baksh Singh Dhillon were the officers of Indian National Army whose trial were held in 1945 at Red Fort in Delhi. This was the first trial of INA, Prisoners of War. They were sentenced to death but instead they had to be released following the widespread protests and unrest in India. Leaders like Javakalal Nehru, Bula Bhai Desai and Tej Bahadur Sapru, they argued in favour of INA's Prisoners of War during the INA trials. Now moving on to the next question, see this question is also a previous question which was asked in the year 2018. The question says, Baran Island volcano is an active volcano located in Indian Territory. This statement is correct. See Baran Island is the only active volcano in India. Statement 2, Baran Island lies about 140 km east of Great Nicarbar. See this statement is not correct. It is located 140 km to the east of Port Blair and is in South Andaman. Now moving on to the third statement the last time the Baran Island volcano erupted was in 1991 and it has remained inactive since then. This statement is also incorrect. This is because see Baran Island volcano it had been lying dormant for more than 150 years but it saw a major eruption in 1991 after that the volcano has shown intermittent activity and it erupted in 1995 2005 and 2017. So the correct answer here is option A11 leave. Now moving on to the next question, consider the following statements with reference to net neutrality. Statement 1, restriction of net neutrality allows the internet access service provider to block, degrade, slow down or grant speed to particular content. See this statement is a bit tricky. See net neutrality it does not allow the service provider to block, degrade, slow down or grant speed to a particular content. But restriction of net neutrality allows all of these. So this statement is correct. Statement 2 says that restriction of net neutrality could result in discrimination against specific services or websites by internet access service providers. This statement is also correct. Net neutrality only will avoid discrimination. But restriction of net neutrality will result in discrimination. So both the statements are correct. So the correct answer to this question is option C both 1 and 2. Now moving on to the next question. See this question is also a previous question which was asked in the year 2022. Very recently. Okay. The question says with reference to India consider the following statements. Statement 1 monocyte is a source of rare earth. This is true. Monocyte contains thorium. This is also true. Monocyte occurs naturally in the entire Indian coastal sands in India. See this statement is incorrect. We know that Indian coastal sands contain monocyte. But it does not occur in the entire coastline of India. They are absent in some coastal states like Karnataka. So this statement is incorrect. Statement 4 in India government bodies only can process or export monocyte. See this also we saw in the discussion itself. Since monocyte contains radioactive constituents only the state run IREL in India has the license to produce and export monocyte. So this statement is also correct. So the correct answer to this question is option B 2 and 4 only. Now moving on to the next question Which of the following Indian states have border with Bangladesh? Assam, West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura. Now look at this map here. Bangladesh is here. What all states have border with Bangladesh? West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. So what are all the states that do not have border with Bangladesh? It includes Jharkhand, Bigar, Sikkim, Arachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur. So remember the states which have border with Bangladesh. Don't get confused here. So the correct answer to this question is option D 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Now moving on to the next question. See aspirins this is only the quiz question for you. Pause the video read the question think about it carefully and post your answer in the comment section. For aspirins I have displayed here the main question for your practice. So if you are interested write it and post your answer in the comment section. If you have any doubts related to the articles that we discussed today post that also in the comment section. With this we have come to the end. 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