 Good evening as friends, welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A.S. Academy for the date 8th of July 2023. Displayed here are the list of news articles that we will be going through today. Now, without wasting time, let's start the discussion. Look at this article. According to this article, 3 lakh patients are waiting for organ transplantation in our country. Look at this chart. This chart shows that the number of donors has increased over the years. But the increase in number of donors has not kept pace with the demand. That is, the demand for organs in India is more than the supply of donors. So, there is a need to improve cadaver donation rate. And for that, greater awareness should be created among the ICU doctors and families regarding how one donor can save many lives. This is about the article given here. In this context, let us go through some of the important points mentioned in the article. First, we shall see about the data given in the article. According to the Health Ministry data, as of now, over 3 lakh patients were on the waiting list and at least 20% are dying every day waiting for an organ. The country's organ demand is so high that one person is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes. On the other hand, the number of donors that is including the cadavers grew from 6,916 in 2014 to only 16,041 in 2022. This number is very low because India currently needs 65 donations per million population. But the sad fact is that for the past 10 years, India's deceased organ donation rate has been below 1 donor per million population. The country also shows poor record in cadaver donation. Here, cadaver donation also called as non-living or deceased donors are those who donate their organs or tissues after they have died. Many families lack suitable living donors, so the demand for deceased donors is very high. Remember, one cadaver can save up to eight lives and one tissue donor that is someone who can donate bones, tendons, cartilage, connective tissue, skins, carnea etc can save as many as 75 lives. Since people lack this awareness, the gap between the demand and supply is still widening. This is the current reality despite the changes brought by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the National Organ Transplantation Guidelines. Now we shall see the new changes brought to the guidelines by the government to boost organ donation. Before getting into that, remember, in India, Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 provides various regulations for the removal of human organs and its storage. It also regulates the transplantation of human organs for therapeutic purposes and for the prevention of commercial dealings in human organs. Under this act comes the National Organ Transplantation Guidelines. Now we will see the changes brought to the guidelines. See, earlier under the National Organ and Tissue Transplantation Guidelines, an end-stage organ failure patient that is Unabow 65 years of age was prohibited from registering to receive the organ. But the recent changes amended this. This is because our people's life expectancy has been increasing. To address this, this upper limit of 65 years of age has been removed by the new changes to the guidelines. The second change is that the domicile requirement has been removed because currently India is going to follow the One Nation One Policy move. So as a result of this change, a needy patient can register to receive an organ in any state of his or her choice and will also be able to get the surgery then there also. This is the second change. The third change is that the registration fees that the states charge for registering in the waiting list has been done away with. The center has asked the states that used to charge for such registration to not to do so. Among the states that sought money for registration were Gujarat, Telangana, Maharashtra and Kerala. Certain states asked for anything between 5000 and 10000 to register. The new change has done away with this registration process. The fourth change is regarding passive euthanasia. See, before the recent changes, the rules regarding passive euthanasia were complex and time consuming. But the recent changes eased the rules for passive euthanasia. Also, the new changes facilitate organ transport across the country. And finally, the new change also provides provisions for casual leave for employed organ donors to promote organ donation. These are the some of the changes brought to the National Organ Transplantation Guidelines. Okay, despite all these changes, there is only minimal improvement in the progress. Public sector health care must take steps to improve the situation. See in our country, there are about 600 medical colleges and over 20 Ames hospitals. Even if we get one donation from each of them, every year we will be in a better shape. So, the need of the hover is that government must train the trauma and ICU doctors to help convince the patient's family to come forward and donate their cadaver. Okay, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the overall picture of organ donation scenario in our country. Then we saw the changes brought to the National Organ Transplantation Guidelines. And we also saw the steps that can be taken to address the gap between the demand and the supply. So, with this, let us conclude this discussion. Now, let us move on to the next news article. Take a look at this article from Sunday's newspaper. Recently, on 31st July, the Rohini Commission submitted its report to the President of India. Earlier in 2017, a four-member commission headed by Justice G. Rohini was constituted by the President of India. The main task before the commission was to examine the sub-categorization of OPCs. Initially, the commission was provided with 12 weeks of time to submit its report. However, due to various hindrances, the commission was not able to submit its report within the specified time. So, the commission has received nearly 14 extensions and finally, it has submitted its report on 31st July 2023. This is about the news. In our discussion today, we will first understand why the commission was set up and then we will understand the key findings of the Rohini Commission. As we all know, the center is currently providing 27% reservation for the other backward classes in the central governmental educational institutions under the central government jobs. This is a Nagadan Sutta Mandel commission report. Nearly 2,600 communities were included in the central list of OPCs. The 27% reservation was meant to provide benefits to all those 2,600 backward communities. But over the years, what happened is that since the reservation came into force, there was a perception that only few communities under the central list of OPCs have received the benefits of reservation. Because of this reason only, the center has set up the Rohini Commission. The main aim of the commission is to ensure a rational division of reservations within the OPC community. In other words, the center has set up the Rohini Commission to examine the subcategorization of OPCs in order to provide reservation benefits to underrepresented OPC communities. See, the Rohini Commission was interested with 3 main tasks. The first task is to examine and get an overall picture of how the reservation is unequally distributed among the OPC community. The second task was to create norms for subcategorization within the central list of OPCs. And the final task was to identify respective communities in the central list of OPCs and classify them into respective subcategories. These are the 3 main tasks that were interested to the Rohini Commission. Based on these 3 tasks, the commission has conducted various studies and recently as we saw earlier, the committee has submitted its report. Note one thing here, the final report of the Rohini Commission is not yet made public. As of now, the report is in the president's office. Once it gets stable in the parliament, then only we will come to know about the detailed insights about the report. But you have to know that from time to time, the Rohini Commission has released some valuable data about OPC reservation. Probably, these data might find a place in the final report also. So, we will now see such data alone. And once the final report is made into public, we will understand the report in detail. Now, let us see the findings of the Rohini Commission. As we saw earlier, the Rohini Commission was set up in 2017. Subsequently, in 2018, the commission analyzed the data of 1.3 lakh central government jobs under the OPC quota. Apart from this, the commission also analyzed the admission to central government institutions like IITs, IAMs, AIMs and other universities. From the analysis, the committee observed that 97% of the jobs and admissions at the central level have gone to just 25% of the subclasses under OPC. The committee also highlighted that around 25% of the jobs and admissions had gone only to just 10 OPC communities. This is the first major finding. Secondly, the Rohini Commission highlighted that as many as 983 OPC communities have zero representation in the central government jobs and educational institutions. The committee also observed that 994 subcasts under the central list of OPCs have representation of only 2.68% in admissions and recruitment. This is all about the findings released by the Rohini Commission. Overall, the Rohini Commission highlighted that a small number of caste groups among the OPC group were dominating the reservation and other government benefits. So, we have to wait for the final report and the subsequent actions that the government is going to take on the subcategorization of OPCs. That is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw why the Rohini Commission was constituted and we also saw two important findings of the Rohini Commission. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this article. This article is about India's mining policy and the impacts of private players in mining industry. As we all know, the parliament recently passed the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Amendment Bill 2023. The aim of this bill is to attract private investment in exploration of critical minerals. In this discussion, we shall see how the mining policy of India is encouraging private players and the importance of private sector in mining critical minerals. Before getting into the discussion, I have highlighted the syllabus regarding this discussion. You can go through it. First, let us start the discussion by seeing some important points about Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill 2023. See, the bill designates six minerals as critical and strategic minerals. Before the amendment, the exploration and mining of these minerals were restricted to government-owned entities. The Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill 2023 allowed for exploration and mining of these minerals to private sector along with the government entities. Now, what is the reason for this amendment? See, India highly depends on import for these critical minerals for its economic development and national security. Minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, verilium and tantalum are 100% imported from other countries like China, Russia and Australia. Additionally, minerals like gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead and others are also imported in significant quantities due to lack of domestic exploration and production capacity. India is also dependent on imports for 30 critical minerals identified by the Ministry of Mines. So, the government has amended the law to include private players in order to boost domestic mining of these critical minerals. This is the main reason for government enacting this amendment. Now, we will see why we need private investment in the mining sector. See, India has a lot of critical mineral resources that are not yet explored. See, exploring these minerals is a risky and expensive business. But the private sector can help accelerate the exploration process by taking on the risk and the cost of exploration. In addition to this, minerals like gold, silver, copper, zinc, platinum, diamond are difficult to explore and mine as compared to other minerals. So, private sector involvement is vital for critical mineral exploration as private sector has the expertise and the financial resources. So, allowing private investment and private players in the mining business will boost the production of these critical minerals in our country. This is why the private investment is encouraged in the mining and exploration business. With this information, now let us see the steps taken by the government to encourage private players in mining sector. Firstly, through this amendment, the government opened up the exploration and mining of six atomic minerals to the private sector. Here, lithium, beryllium, neobium, titanium, tantalum and zirconium are the six atomic minerals. Also, the amendment bill allows for private investment in mining of many critical minerals. This is the first step. Secondly, the amendment bill proposes a new type of license called an exploration license. This license will be granted by the state government to private companies for a period of five years. Here, you have to note that private companies have to acquire this exploration license through an auction. This license will be issued for 29 minerals including critical, strategic and deep-seated minerals. The private companies after acquiring the exploration license will start exploring for the minerals. Once the minerals found, that site will be auctioned off for mining by the government. This is the second step taken by the government. Thirdly, the amendment allows for pitting, trenching, drilling and subsurface evacuation by the private players. See, these activities were previously prohibited for the private players under the original bill. Lastly, under the amendment, a single exploration license allows for activities up to an area of 1000 square kilometers. Under the original act, the prospecting license allows activities in an area up to 5000 square kilometers. See, these are the steps taken by the government to give a boost to private participation in exploration and mining of critical minerals in India. See, although this bill has many advantages to it, the bill has some issues also. Let us see the issues with the recent amendment bill. Firstly, the private companies that take exploration license will get a premium from the mining company. But this premium is given to the private player only after a successfully discovered mine is auctioned and operationalized. This process will take a long time. So, the private companies may be discouraged to explore minerals because of this delayed process. Now, why this delay is taking place? The main reason for this delay is redtapism and bureaucratic hurdles. See, in India, before mining process could take place, the miners should take a number of clearance from the government. This clearance will take a lot of time and this will delay the mining process. As I already said, once the mining process starts only, the private players that did the exploration will get their premium back. So, to address this, the government should reduce the redtapism so that the mining process can start early and the private players who do the exploration business will also get their premium early. This will encourage them to invest in exploration services. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the changes brought by the mines and minerals amendment bill 2023. Then we saw why private investment is needed in the mining sector. After that, we saw the steps taken by the government to increase private investment and private participation. Finally, we saw one issue with the bill. So, that's all regarding this discussion. Now, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this article. The news is that yesterday, the Lok Sabha passed the National Research Foundation Bill 2023. This particular bill proposes to establish a new body called the National Research Foundation. This new body will facilitate research in strategic areas ranging from science to humanities. This is all about the news. So, in our discussion today, we will see some important points about the National Research Foundation Bill 2023. The bill provides for the establishment of a National Research Foundation. See, in India currently, the research activities have been overlooked by the Science and Engineering Research Board. Also, bulk of the research activities in India are only focusing on science and engineering. The rest of the fields like, say, arts and humanities are often left out. Apart from this, only premier central government institutions like the IITs, IAMs and the NITs have been receiving a bulk of the fund from the central government for research purposes. Many of the state universities are lagging behind in research due to insufficient funds. So, to overcome these problems only, the central government enacted the new bill named the National Research Foundation Bill. The NRF Bill aims to repel the Science and Engineering Research Board Act 2008. And it also aims to dissolve the Science and Engineering Research Board set up under the SERB Act. The ultimate objective of this bill is to establish a single central coordinating agency called the National Research Foundation. This new body will facilitate research in strategic areas ranging from science to humanities. The focus would be given to state universities that are lagging behind in research. The NRF will bring together researchers, government bodies and industry to promote research and development in the country. Now, moving forward, let us see the functions of the NRF. The NRF will provide direction for research, innovation and entrepreneurship in various fields. The fields include natural sciences like mathematics, engineering and technology, environment and earth sciences, health and agriculture, finally scientific and technology interface for humanities and social sciences. In all these fields, the NRF will provide strategic direction. Apart from providing strategic direction on research, the NRF would also perform various other key functions. Now, let us see the functions performed by the NRF. Firstly, it prepares short-term, medium-term and long-term roadmaps and formulate programs for research and development in our country. Secondly, it will facilitate and finance the growth of R&D and related infrastructure in universities, colleges and research institutions. Thirdly, it provides grant for research purposes, that is, it will fund research purposes. Fourthly, it will support translation of research into capital-intensive technology, that is, it will commercialize the research that is done in India. Then, it encourages international collaboration. This is done to collaborate with international partners and fasten the research process in India. And finally, it encourages investment in the foundation by private and public sector entities. This is to increase the funding for NRF. See, these are the main functions that will be performed by the National Research Foundation. Now, moving forward, let us see the structure of this foundation. The NRF will have two main bodies called the Governing Board and the Executive Council. The Governing Board will be the high-level body under the NRF. The Board will provide strategic directions or it will guide the NRF and it will also monitor the implementation of the research schemes. Note that the Governing Board will be headed by the Prime Minister of India. The other members of the Board include Union Minister of Science and Technology, Union Minister of Education, then the Principal Scientific Advisor and finally the Secretaries to the Department of Science and Technology, Biotechnology and Scientific and Industrial Research. These are the members of the Governing Board. Now, coming to the Executive Council. The main work of this Executive Council is to implement the research in our country. The Executive Council will be headed by the Principal Scientific Advisor. This is all about the structure of NRF. Now finally, let us see some points about the funding mechanism for the NRF. The government said that the NRF will be operating with the budget of 50,000 crores for over five years. Of this, 28% of the funds that is 14,000 crores will be contributed by the government itself. The remaining 72% of the funds that is 36,000 crores will come from the private sector. Also, you have to know that of the 14,000 crores from the government share, 4,000 crores will be allocated from the existing budget of the Science and Engineering Research Board. This is about the funding mechanism for NRF. And that is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, first we saw what is the need for national research foundation. Then we saw about the functions that will be performed by the NRF. After that, we saw the organizational structure of NRF and finally, we saw the funding mechanism about the NRF. Now with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. As we all know, recently researchers in South Korea have announced the discovery of a new superconductor called LK-99. It is in this context only this editorial article is written. The editorial here talks about superconductors in general and LK-99 in specific. So, in our discussion today, we will see the important points highlighted in the editorial. We will also see what is a superconductor and we will see its applications. Now let's start the discussion. First of all, what is a superconductor? A superconductor, as you all know, is a material that can conduct electricity with zero resistance. This means there is no energy lost when electric current flows through a superconductor. Normally, superconductivity is observed in many materials when they are cooled below a critical temperature. This critical temperature is a very low temperature, mainly around zero Kelvin, that is absolute zero. Now, why is this LK-99 an important discovery? See, the conventional superconductor, as I just said, require very low temperature or extreme pressure to work. Now, this LK-99 superconductor would work in the room temperature itself. This would lead to many developments in industry, research and diagnostic area. LK-99 here is a mixed compound of copper, lead, phosphorus and oxygen. Even before this, many superconductors that work in room temperature are found by scientists, but this LK-99 is believed to be more efficient than them. So, this is why the phenomena of superconductivity is again in use. Now, we will see the important applications of superconductors. Superconductors are used in a variety of areas like science, medicine, transportation and industries. The most important usage of superconductors is in electricity transmission. Superconducting materials can transmit electricity with minimal losses. This makes them ideal for high-capacity power transmission over long distances. For example, in India, 49% of the power produced is lost due to resistance in the wire. If all the wires in our country are lepraced with superconductors, this 49% loss in electricity will be plugged in. As I just said, superconductors are used in medical imaging and research. Superconducting magnets are an essential component in MRA scanners. These magnets help in providing strong and stable magnetic field for high-resolution medical imaging. Superconductors have significant application in transportation also. Superconducting magnets are used to create magnetic levitation train. These trains will have no friction and it will allow for high-speed transportation. Superconductors are also used in memory and storage element in computers. Other than this, they are used in particle accelerators and electric motors. Also, see here these are some of the notable applications of superconductors. UPSC might ask a question regarding the application of superconductors in our forthcoming problems examination. So, see the application mentioned here. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is a superconductor. Then we saw why the discovery of LK99 is important. After that, we saw the applications of superconductors. Now, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article here. See, yesterday, the Tamil Nadu Health Minister launched an immunization campaign under the Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush 5.0. The minister said that the immunization program would be implemented in three phases across the state. Under this drive, the measles rubella vaccine will be administered to pregnant women and children below age of 5 who missed a dose or were left out by the vaccination drive. This is all about the news article. So, in our discussion, we will understand about Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush. To have a better understanding, we have to first learn about Mission Indra Dhanush. Mission Indra Dhanush was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 25 December 2014. The main objective of the mission is to expand the immunization coverage to all children across India. Mission Indra Dhanush was aimed to cover all those children who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated against vaccine preventable diseases. Such vaccine preventable diseases include tuberculosis, diphtheria, petruces, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, pneumonia, meningitis, measles, rubella, Japanese encephalitis and rotavirus diarrhea. See, for these diseases, the vaccine would be provided to all children under the mission Indra Dhanush. The mission has achieved some significant progress in the immunization of the children. In 2017, to further speed up the immunization process and to cover the left-out children, the Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush was launched by the Union Government. The mission was aimed to reach out to each and every child under two years and all pregnant women who were left uncovered under the routine immunization programs. For the launch of the Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush, state governments have been carrying out immunization programs every year. Already, four major immunization programs have been carried out in various phases. Now, the fifth major program is being carried out in the states and this is why the mission got the name Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush 5.0. Now, let us see some points about Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush. Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush will have interministerial and interdepartmental coordination for effective implementation of the immunization coverage. Apart from this, the mission converges various ground level workers like ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and self-filled groups for better coordination and collective implementation of the immunization program. In addition to this, the Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush would be closely monitored at the district, state and central level at regular intervals. Note that the mission would be reviewed by the cabinet secretary at the national level. To recognize best practices and appreciation and award mechanism is conceived to recognize the district that achieve more than 90% immunization coverage. Apart from this, a certificate of appreciation will also be given to the civil society organization and other voluntary organization to encourage their contribution in the immunization coverage. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw some basic points about mission Indra Dhanush and Intensified Mission Indra Dhanush. Now, with this, we have come to the end of the news article discussion session. Now, let us take up the practice problems questions. Look at the first question. The first question is about Justice G. Rohini commission. They are asking, which among the following matters Justice G. Rohini commission is related to? From our discussion, we know that the correct answer is option C, subcategorization of other backward classes. Okay, moving on to the next question. This is a 2016 UPAC problems question. They are asking about Mission Indra Dhanush. From our discussion, we know that the correct answer here is option A, immunization of children and pregnant women. Moving on to the third question. See here, four statements are given. We have to find which among the statements is incorrect regarding superconductors. Let us take up the first statement. A magnet placed near the material will be pushed away. This statement is correct because superconductors ripple magnetic field and they push away magnet from them. This is one of the basic properties of superconductors. Moving on to the third statement. Mercury is the first discovered superconductor. This statement is correct. Mercury is the first discovered superconductor. Mercury turns superconductive at zero Kelvin. Moving on to the fourth statement. Aluminium, zinc, cadmium, mercury and lead are some of the superconducting materials. This statement is also correct. These materials also turn superconductive at low temperature and high pressure. Moving on to the second statement. The superconductor produces electric current when subjected to mechanical stress. This statement is wrong because this phenomenon is called physioelectric effect. Physioelectric effect is the ability of a mineral to produce electric current when subjected to mechanical stress. So, only statement two here is incorrect regarding superconductors. Since they are asking the incorrect statement, the correct answer here is option B. Moving on to the last question. This question is based on our NRF bill discussion. This is the quiz question for you. Interested aspirants can post the answer for this question in the comment section. The main questions based on today's discussion are displayed here. Interested aspirants can write the answers and post them in the comment section. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankar A. Sakalini's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.