 Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the hindrance analysis by Shankary's academy for the date 9th of December 2023. Displayed here are the articles that we will be going through today. Now without wasting time let's start the discussion. Look at this article. Recently an advocate in Supreme Court wrote a letter to the Supreme Court registry. He is alleging that there is an irregularity in the listing of cases in the Supreme Court. The advocate said that the pending cases should be allotted to the senior judges and the cases can be listed before the puny or the junior judges only if the senior judges are not available. The advocate said that these rules were arbitrarily breached in the Supreme Court. However the Supreme Court registry rejected this allegation. The registry said that there is no influence in the allocation of cases. This is about the news article given here. In this discussion let us understand about the term puny judges in detail. The word puny is a French word and it means later born or anger. So the term puny judge refers to a judge who is ranked lower in seniority. It is used to refer to any judge other than the chief justice of the court. Here note that the term puny judge is used in common law countries. Now what are these common law countries? See those countries who follow the practice of common law are called common law countries. The United Kingdom and the commonwealth countries including India are referred to as common law countries. Now what is this common law? Common law refers to the law that is created by judges through their written opinions rather than through statutory law. The common law is also called case law. For example let us take supreme court judgment in India. In India the supreme court judges deliver their judgment through written opinions. The judgments have the force of law and that is why it is termed as case law. If you notice carefully the case law is created by the judges through their written opinions and not through statutory law. So the law created through the written opinion of the judges termed as common law and the countries that follow this common law practice are termed as common law countries. In these common law countries only the term puny judge is often used. Now let us see about the usage of the term puny judge in India. In India all judges have the same judicial power okay but the senior most judge of the court that is the chief justice of the court has some additional administrative roles like case allocation and so on. This is just an extra administrative role and not extra judicial power. So in India the term puny judge is used only to mention the order of seniority for appointment, elevation to high court etc and the term puny judge does not have any effect on the judicial power of the judge okay. Let me sum it up the term puny judge is used to refer to the seniority of judges for the purpose of appointment and elevation and the term does not bear any effect on the judicial power of the judges. Only the chief justice of the court will have extra administrative power not judicial power okay. That is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw the important points about the term puny judge in detail. Now with this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this editorial article. This article is speaking about the concerns surrounding melting glaciers. Recently the world meteorological organization released a report regarding melting glaciers. In this context only this article is written. So in this discussion let us first understand some important points from this editorial then we will see the causes and the effects of melting glaciers. Now first let us see the important points from the editorial article. Recently as I already mentioned the world meteorological organization released a report titled the state of global climate 2011-2020. This report gives us an overview about earth's response to greenhouse gas emissions. This particular report contains a section called the state of glacier health. In this section the report points out that on an average the world's glaciers were thrinning by approximately one meter per year from 2011 to 2020. So the world meteorological organization's report highlight that glaciers in all regions of the world are becoming smaller. This is the first finding. Then some other studies carried out in Africa have shown shocking results. The studies say that the glaciers on Africa's Vensori mountain and Mount Kenya are projected to disappear by 2030 and the glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro are suspected to disappear by 2040. This is another finding. Apart from this some studies also conducted point out that there is a rapid growth of proglacial lakes across the world where there exist glaciers. Here proglacial lake is a type of lake that is formed when meltwater from the glacier accumulates in an area. See in such lakes the likelihood of glacial lake outburst flood is highly possible. So this rapid growth of proglacial lakes is posing additional threats to ecosystems and livelihood. For example let us take the 2013 Uttarkhand floods. Many of the reports say that water from rapid glacial melt was the main reason for the worst flooding disaster in Uttarkhand. Then one of the recent examples is the Sikkim flooding. Some reports say that glacier lake outburst flood led to rapid flooding in the south Lohank lake in Sikkim. Due to this rapid flooding the Changtang Dam lying downstream of the lake was destroyed. This even triggered sagrant flooding in the Sikkim region. Now coming to another data. Earlier this year a report about glacier was published by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development. This report found that glaciers in the Hindukush Himalayas disappeared 65% faster in the 2010s than in the previous decade. The report also points out that at the current rate of global greenhouses emission the volume of glaciers in the world would decline from 55% to 75%. By quoting these findings the report says that there would be a sharp reduction in freshwater supply in the immediate vicinity of 2050. These are all some of the important data highlighted in this editorial article. See why I am saying this data is that you can use all these data in your main answer. This will differentiate your answer from others answer and help you score more marks. See the news article also provides some suggestion to prevent damages due to glacier melting. The article says that careful monitoring of glaciers is essential to prevent damages. The article suggests developing early warning system to prevent huge risk. This also suggests making comprehensive risk assessment and to map regions of vulnerability to prevent risk associated with melting glaciers. These are all some of the important points given in the editorial article. Now moving on we will see the causes of melting of glaciers. The first and the most important cause is burning of fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels has resulted in the buildup of greenhouse gases in the environment. As we all know the greenhouse gases tend to trap heat in the atmosphere. This increases the temperature and causes more glaciers to melt. The second important cause is oil and gas drilling. See the oil and gas extraction process emit huge amount of methane and methane is more dangerous to the environment than CO2. This is because methane traps heat more efficiently than CO2. So the methane emitted from oil and gas drilling can escalate the global warming and cause rapid melting of glaciers. The third main cause is deforestation. As we all know trees observe huge CO2 and hills balance the ecosystem. So the cutting down of trees result in the increased release of CO2 in the atmosphere. This led to an increase in temperature and causes melting of glaciers. And the final main cause is ocean warming. As we all know the oceans are also housing huge glaciers particularly in the ports. So global warming induced ocean warming results in rapid melting of glaciers. These are all some of the causes of melting of glaciers. Now talking about the effects. Firstly glacial melting can cause biodiversity loss. The glaciers are acting as the natural habitat of a number of animals. So the disappearance of glaciers will result in extension of numerous species. Secondly the melting of glaciers reduces the availability of freshwater. So there would be water scarcity for both drinking purposes and irrigation. This results in food insecurity. Thirdly the melting of glaciers can create natural disasters such as flash floods and landslides. This can have catastrophic effects on human life and infrastructure. Fourthly glacial melting is contributing to rising sea level. This threatens the survival of coastal communities and small island nations. And finally the glacial melting results in reduced albedo effect. Here albedo effect is nothing but the ability of an earth surface to reflect sunlight. See glaciers are having the highest albedo in the earth surface. So if the glaciers melt it results in the reduction of earth's ability to reflect sunlight back into the space. This leads to increased absorption of solar radiation by the earth and further contributes to global warming. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we covered various aspects around the melting of glaciers. Now let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this editorial article. It talks about India's alarming fixed dose combination problem which is plaking our health sector. This editorial talks about the FTC issues and why pharma companies are opting for the process. This is about the editorial article. In our discussion today we will write an answer for a main question related to fixed dose combination using points from this editorial. Now first we will look at the question. The question is what are fixed dose combination? Despite its various disadvantages why pharma-cutial companies in India make fixed dose combinations? See this question falls into GS paper 3 and it comes under the syllabus science and technology developments their application and their effects in everyday life. This is the syllabus. Now coming back to the question. This question is a straight forward one with a given structure. Firstly it asks us to explain about the fixed dose combination. In the second part it asks us to analyze why despite various issues they are preferred by the Indian farmers. This should be the skeleton for your answer. Now let's start answering. Let us start with the introduction. In the introduction part we can explain about the fixed dose combination. See fixed dose combinations are a combination of one or more known drugs that can be useful in the treatment of a disease. This is effective in improving the patient compliance. For example if a patient has to take three different medications for a particular treatment. She may forget to take one but if all three medications are combined into one tablet or one syrup the chance of her forgetting to take will be reduced thereby increasing compliance. The common example of fixed dose combinations are cough syrup corex and wicks action 500. Even though fixed dose combination possess inherent advantages like increased compliance reducing the risk of medication there are also problems associated with it which we are going to see in our answer today. In this way you can give a link to the body of the answer. In the body of the answer you have to write about the advantages of fixed dose combination and various issues associated with the fixed dose combination. First let us take the advantages. Firstly there are many advantages like increased efficacy, better compliance, reduced cost and simpler logistical distribution. Due to all these factors the fixed dose combinations are very popular in India. Secondly the fixed dose combination act as a life-saving drug. See FDCs are useful in the treatment of infectious disease like HIV, malaria and TB. For all these diseases having multiple antimicrobial agent is a norm. So naturally the fixed dose combination fits into its requirement. Thirdly the FDCs will reduce the pill burden of the patient. This is mainly useful in geriatric care where the old people face difficulties in keeping track of several medications. Moreover it will also reduce their economic burden and out-of-pocket expenditure. Fourthly the manufacturing cost of FDCs are quite low as compared to the cost of producing separate products. Due to this advantage many pharma companies of India opt for FDCs and this increases the export potential of India's pharma sector. These are some of the advantages of fixed dose combination. Now coming to the second part of the answer. Here you have to write about the challenges associated with fixed dose combination. Now let us look at the challenges. See in many cases there are no therapeutic justification for using fixed dose combination. Recently the health ministry in India banned 344 FDCs after the drugs technical advisory board recommended that there is no therapeutic justification for FDCs and it also involves risk for the humans who are consuming the FDCs. This is the first issue. The second issue is the increased risk of side effects. Combining multiple active ingredients in fixed dose combination drugs can lead to higher risk of drug interaction. Moreover this will also increase the susceptibility to side effects. Thirdly there is a problem of plenty with respect to FDCs. See the estimated number of FDCs in India is over 6000. This existence of unlimited brands of FDCs with different permutation and combination lead to confusion for the doctors. In many cases it can also lead to antimicrobial resistance. The fourth issue is that there is a risk of pharmacodynamic mismatch between the two components used in the FDC. This means one drug may have antagonistic effect leading to reduced efficacy. There is also risk of chemical incompatibility leading to decreased shelf life of many drugs. These are some of the challenges associated with FDCs. See even though there are many challenges with this FDC it is a darling for many pharma companies particularly in India. This is because of the following reasons. The first reason is the lack of effective regulation in India. Though many FDC drugs are sold in our market there is no standard set by bodies such as the Indian Pharmacopia Commission for testing the quality of the FDCs. The second advantage is that going down the FDC route will give individual companies a reason to charge higher prices for their drugs. Let us understand this with an example. If there are 20 different pharmacotical companies and they are manufacturing and they are selling a drug like arithromycin they would have to compete ferociously and reduce the prices to capture the market. But if they combine arithromycin with another drug for example C-5 ximine to create a fixed dose combination they will claim this as a new product and increase the price. So by producing fixed dose combination instead of individual drugs the pharmacotical companies in India charge higher price. This is the second reason. Thirdly there is a lack of coordination between the central and the state regulators. In 1988 the central government amended the rules requiring the manufacturers of all new drugs including FDCs to submit proof of safety and efficacy to the drug control general of India. With these amendments it is clear that the state drug controllers could not grant manufacturing license for new drugs that are not approved for safety and efficacy by the drug controller general of India. Despite these rules many state drug controllers have simply ignored the law to continue issuing manufacturing license for FDCs. Instead of taking long-term action the center is also doing knee jerk reaction by banning the FDCs. See these are some of the reasons why despite the disadvantages Indian pharma companies produce fixed dose combination. Now we have effectively addressed the body of the answer. Now let us move on to the conclusion part. In the conclusion part you can write about the steps that can be taken to effectively regulate the process. The first step you can mention is that involving all stakeholders like consumers, physicians, regulatory authority, industry and academicians in the regulatory process. The second step is to evolve an ethical code among the pharma critical companies. The third step that can be taken is streamlining the regulatory hip curves between the center and the state governments. Like this you can give two or three points in your conclusion to address the issues faced by fixed dose combination. Now we have addressed the question holistically and through this discussion we got to understand what is fixed dose combination, the advantages associated with fixed dose combination, the challenges with fixed dose combination and we also saw why despite the challenges the Indian pharma companies are resorting to fixed dose combination. Now with this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. Yesterday the USA approved a pair of gene therapies for sickle cell disease. As you all know sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder in which the body makes sickle shaped RBC that is the red blood cells. These sickle shaped RBCs tend to stick together and can block small blood vessels. This causes intense pain. It can also lead to stroke and organ failure. So far the treatment for sickle cell disease include bone marrow transplant or stem cell transplantation and blood transfusion is also available. But currently gene therapy has been evolved as an alternative treatment with permanent solution for sickle cell disease. Few days back the UK became the first country to approve gene therapy for sickle cell disease. Following this know the United States has also approved gene therapies. This is about the article given here. In this context let us understand about the gene therapy and their types. First what is a gene? See the short section of DNA that contains the code for a specific protein are known as genes. These proteins are responsible for many of our physical characteristics and biological functions. The genes are present on chromosomes found inside the nucleus of a living cell. Any abnormality in the genetic makeup of an individual can lead to a genetic disease or genetic disorder. Now what is gene therapy? Gene therapy is a medical approach. It involves the introduction, alteration or replacement of genetic material within an individual cell to treat or prevent a disease. So it includes gene addition that is introduction of a new gene. Gene silencing that is alteration of a gene to prevent its action and gene editing which is the replacement of a genetic material or modifying parts of your own DNA. So the primary goal of gene therapy is to correct or compensate for genetic defects that led to the development of certain disorders. Here in this image you can see the process involved in gene therapy. Now what are the types of gene therapy? Basically there are two types of gene therapy. They are somatic cell gene therapy and germline gene therapy. Here the reproductive cells like egg and sperm are called germ cells. Germ cells produce gametes. Gametes are responsible for transmitting genetic information from one generation to the next. So making any changes to these germ cells of the human body is known as germline gene therapy. Generally this method is adopted to treat genetic disease causing variations of gene which are passed from the parents to their children. This process involves introducing a healthy DNA into the reproductive cells which is the egg or sperm. Since the effects of this gene therapy is transferred to the next generation it is not legal in many places. No coming to somatic cell gene therapy. See somatic cells are the cells of the body other than the sperm and the egg cell. They form the building blocks of the body that is they make up the tissue organs and structures of the human body. Any modification in the somatic cells is known as somatic cell gene therapy. In this method therapeutic genes are transferred into the somatic cells of the human body. One positive thing about the somatic cell gene therapy is that it cues the affected person alone. The effects of this gene therapy will not be transferred to the next generation as in the case of germline gene therapy. So it is considered as the best and the safest method of gene therapy. These are the types of available gene therapies. Now before concluding let us see the applications of gene therapy. Firstly gene therapy effectively cues several genetic disorders. It has the potential to treat even diseases like brain tumor, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, hemophilia and several others. So they are useful for treating and curing disease that traditional medicine cannot cure. Currently it is even offering an alternative treatment to sickle cell disease. Secondly the gene therapy solely destroys the disease causing cells without affecting other cells. They have high accuracy because it is difficult to design specific medicine that influence specific protein for a specific person. This is its second major advantage that is accuracy. The third application is the effectiveness. The therapeutic benefits of gene therapy remains effective for a long period of time without the need for repeated interventions. A fundamental aspect of gene therapy is that they aim to treat the cause of the disease rather than just treating the symptoms. This is the third important application. The last application is that they can be used on individuals as well as the embryos. These are some of the important applications of gene therapy. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw what is gene therapy. We saw the types of gene therapy and finally the applications of gene therapy. Now with this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. The news here is that the central government has recently revised the stock limits for wheat. So in our analysis today let us see about the Essential Commodities Act and we will also see the issues with Essential Commodities Act. Let us start with its origin. After independence India was facing huge food shortages. The country was dependent on imports and assistance from various countries. For example India imported wheat from the United States under the PL480 program. So to protect the limited available grains from hoarding and black marketing the Essential Commodities Act was enacted in 1955. The main objective of the Act is to curb inflation by allowing the central to control the price of various commodities like fertilizers, pulses, edible oil, petroleum, fruits and vegetables. The main principle of the Act is to protect the commodities which when got obstructed can affect the normal life of people. Now let us see the features of the Act. Firstly there is no specific definition of essential commodities in the Essential Commodities Act. Section 2A of the Act just states that an essential commodity means any commodity which is specified in the schedule of the Act. Secondly with respect to the jurisdiction the Act gives power to the central government to add or remove a commodity in the schedule. But the implementation of the provision of the Act is with the state government and the UT administration. Thirdly with respect to the implementing agency the ministry of consumer affairs food and public distribution implements the Act. Finally by declaring a commodity as essential the government can control the protection, supply and distribution of that commodity and impose a stock limit on it. These are the basic points you have to know about the Essential Commodities Act. Now moving forward let us see the issues with the Act. Firstly the government intervention under the Essential Commodities Act 1955 often distorted the agricultural trade. In many cases it is totally ineffective in curbing inflation. For example it does not differentiate between storage and hoarding. The second issue is that the private sector often hesitate in investing in cold chains and storage facility for perishable items due to stock limit imposed under the Act. So it acts as a roadblock for improving the cold storage and other processing infrastructure in our country. This is the second issue. The third issue is that the Act was enacted at the time of famine but currently India has attained self-sufficiency in food grain production. So we should update the Act to keep pace with our aspiration. The last issue is that it acts as a hindrance to agricultural exports from our country. Okay these are some of the issues associated with Essential Commodities Act and that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw the basics about Essential Commodities Act and we also saw the issues with Essential Commodities Act. Now with this let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this article. Recently the central government has imposed a ban on the export of onions till March 31, 2024. This decision was taken to curb the increasing prices of onion in the domestic market. However the government said onion exports would be allowed based on permission granted by the government. This is about the article given here. In this discussion let us understand some important points about the onion crop. The scientific name of onion is Aelium seppa. Onion is an important vegetable which is used as a food ingredient worldwide. Onions are rich in bioactive compounds and it has the potential health benefits. It is said to have anti-hypertensive, anti-depressant and anti-cancer properties. Now coming to onion cultivation. India is the second largest onion growing country in the world. Now what is the country that produces the most amount of onion? It is none other than China. In India onion is grown in a number of states. The states include Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Antra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Telangana. In India around 50 to 60 percent of the onion crops are grown in the Rabe season and the remaining 40 to 50 percent are produced in the Karif season and the late Karif season. In northern India onions are usually grown in the Rabe season. However it is grown in both the Rabe and the Karif season in the southern and the western states of India like Karnataka, Antra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Now moving on let us see the climatic requirements for growing onion. Onion is primarily a temperate crop but it can be grown under a wide range of climatic conditions such as temperate, tropical and subtropical climate. However onions grow best under a mild climate without extreme heat or cold or without extreme rainfall. The optimum temperature for vegetative phase is 13 to 24 degree Celsius okay. Now coming to the rainfall requirement. Onion can grow well in places where the average annual rainfall is between 650 and 750 millimeter with good distribution but note that areas with less than 650 millimeter rainfall and areas with greater than 750 millimeter rainfall are not suitable for onion cultivation. Now coming to the soil requirements. Onion can grow in all types of soil such as sandy loam, clay loam, silt loam and heavy soils. However the best suited soil for onion cultivation is deep loam and alveol soil. The soil should be rich in organic matter and free from diseases and feats. The soil should also be well drained. Here note that onion can also be grown successfully on heavy soil but with the application of organic manure prior to planting onion crops. But the onion crop is more sensitive to highly acidic alkylic and saline soil. The water line condition is also not suitable for onion crops. This is why I already mentioned onion crops grow in well drained soil okay. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw the basics about onion cultivation. With this we have come to the end of the news article discussion session. Now let us take up the practice problems questions. We have five practice problems questions today. Let us see them one by one. Look at the first question. The term puny judge sometimes seen in news refers to. From our discussion we know that the correct answer here is option B. A puny judge is a judge who ranks lower in seniority than the chief justice of the court. Okay moving on to the second question. In the planet earth most of the freshwater exist in ice caps and glaciers. Out of the remaining freshwater the largest proportion is see about 97.5 percent of the water on earth surface is salt water. So only 2.5 percent of the water is freshwater. Of the freshwater nearly 67 percentage of freshwater is frozen in the glaciers and the ice caps. Then around 30 percent of the freshwater is stored in the underground and the remaining 1 percent of the water is only stored in surfaces like lakes ponds and rivers. So apart from ice and glaciers the largest proportion of freshwater exist in groundwater. So the correct answer here is option C. Exist as groundwater. Okay moving on to the third question. Let me read out the question. It is a temperate crop but also can be grown under tropical and subtropical climate. It grows best under mild climate without extreme heat or cold. An average of annual rainfall of about 650 to 750 millimeter is optimal for the growth of the crop. It grows well in deep plume and alluvial soil that are rich in organic matter. The crop is most sensitive to highly acidic alkylic and saline soils. The water logging condition is not suitable for the crop. Which one of the following crop is described above. From our discussion we know that the correct answer here is option C. Onion. Moving on to the next question. Two statements are given. We have to find which of these statements are correct. Look at the first statement. Genetic changes can be introduced in the cells that produce eggs or sperm of prospective parents. This statement is correct. This is what is done in germline gene therapy. This we saw in the discussion. Okay moving on to the second statement. A person's genome can be edited before birth at the early embryonic stage. This statement is also correct. It is one of the major application of gene therapy. So both the statements are correct here and the correct answer here is option C. Both one and two. Moving on to the last question. Here three statements are given. We have to find how many of these statements are correct. Look at the first statement. Essential Commodities Act is primarily used to fight inflation. This statement is correct. This we saw in the discussion. Moving on to the second statement. The Essential Commodities Act enables both central and the state government to impose stock limits. This statement is incorrect because only the central government can impose stock limit and the state government can only implement the stock limit. Okay so statement two is incorrect. Moving on to the third statement. This act that is the Essential Commodities Act has never been amended since the 1950s. This statement is also incorrect because the Essential Commodities Act has been amended during the Covid times. So only one statement given here is correct. Statement two and three are incorrect. So the correct answer here is option A. One pair only. That is all regarding today's discussion. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.