 A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankarai's Academy for the date 14th of May 2022. Displayed here are the list of articles that we are going to discuss today. See, first of all we are going to see a previous year prelims question. And after that we will see these four articles. The first article is about Indian monsoon. So under this article discussion we are going to see everything about south-west monsoon. The branches of it, Arabian Sea branch, Bay of Bengal branch, the mechanism of reversal of wind direction, and the places that receives rainfall and the retreating of Indian monsoon. So basically we are going to see everything about the south-west monsoon. And after that the second article which we are going to take is about tomato flu. Sounds fascinating, right? So under this article discussion we are going to see what is this tomato flu. And we will also see about hand, foot and mouth disease. Moving on, see this third article, it is about a permanent body of Shanghai Cooperation Organization which is RATS. So we will see this permanent body and we will also see about the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It is establishment, goals, principles, member states and functioning. Moving on to the final article, see it is about a theme park which is based on Buddhism. So using this opportunity we are going to see everything about Buddhism, some basic facts about Buddhism, about Gautama Buddha and some of the features of Buddhism. And after that as usual we will solve some of the prelims questions and we will end the session. So without any delay we will get into the previous year prelims question discussion. See this question here, see this question is asked in the year 2019. The question says, in the context of which of the following do some scientists such as the use of cirrus cloud thinning technique and the injection of sulphate aerosol into stratosphere. Option A, creating the artificial rains in some regions. Option B, reducing the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones. Option C, reducing the adverse effects of solar wind on the earth. And option D, reducing the global warming. See the moment you finish reading the question and the options, you can easily find out that option C is not very much relevant to the question. See this is because the question is about the use of cloud thinning technique and injection of sulphate aerosol into the stratosphere. But the statement given in option C is about reducing the adverse effects of solar winds on earth. So it is not very much relevant compared to the other options given. So option C can be safely eliminated here. Now we have three options left. That is option A, B and B. See this question may seem as an application oriented question but it is not the case. Static part plays a crucial role here. I'll tell you how. If you know what is cirrus clouds then you can easily arrive at the answer here. So what is cirrus clouds? They are one of the types of clouds and they are formed at high altitudes. That is 8000 to 12000 meter. See it is here. They are thin and detached clouds having a feathery appearance. They are always white in color. So if you know this information then you can easily eliminate option A and B. See this is because cirrus clouds has nothing to do with rain or precipitation. So now by elimination technique we have arrived at the answer option D which is the correct answer. So this is how static part will be useful in an application oriented question. Now let's see some facts about the technique which is the cirrus cloud thinning. See the description and the purpose of the technology. Cirrus cloud thinning is a solar geo-engineering proposal which aims to eliminate or thin cirrus clouds to allow heat to escape into the space. See the elongated cirrus clouds are formed at high altitudes as we already saw. And they often absorb more sunlight than they reflect. See this is because they are formed in cold temperatures and they consist of ice crystals. If these ice crystals are numerous and small, cirrus clouds prevent long wave terrestrial radiation from escaping into space and they have a climate impact similar to greenhouse gases. So by using this technique it is said that in the presence of natural ice nuclei such as dust, the ice crystals that form are fewer and larger and they will be formed with a shorter life span and with fewer climatic effects. See we saw that if the ice crystals are numerous and small it will prevent the radiation from escaping into space. So what we are doing here we are injecting this aerosols so that the ice crystals will be formed fewer and larger so that it will have fewer climatic effects. See the proponents of theoretical solar geo-engineering technique known as the cirrus cloud thinning, it proposes injecting ice nuclei such as bismuth triiodide or aerosol particles such as sulphuric or nitric acid into the regions where the cirrus clouds form. And this would produce cirrus clouds with larger ice crystals with shorter life spans and they also reduces the optical depth which means more long wave terrestrial radiation would be transmitted into space. See the thinning of the clouds according to some researchers could allow more heat to escape into the space. See that's all for this technique and with this previous year problems question now let us move on to the articles discussion. See this news article mentions that the southwest monsoon is going to arrive sooner this year. Normally its onset is on June 1 but according to the predictions of Indian meteorological department IMD this year monsoon will take its onset on May 27 itself. This is happening after 13 years. Therefore from now on we will be getting many monsoon related news. And taking this opportunity now let us brush up on the basics of the Indian monsoon. But before that the syllabus relevant to the article is given here for your reference. Now let's start our discussion. See monsoon is a climatic phenomenon but a little known one. Scientists are still trying to discover the exact nature and causation of monsoon. But no single theory could be arrived at. So monsoon refers to the seasonal reversal in the wind direction during a year in between winter and summer seasons. In India this reversal is along the shores of the Indian Ocean especially in the Arabian Sea. What happens here is the wind blows from the southwest during one half of the year and from northeast during the other half. So we call this as a double system of seasonal winds which causes two monsoon patterns. That is when the wind blows from the southwest here actually they are flowing from the sea to the land during the summer. We call this as the southwest monsoon. On the other hand when the wind flows from the northeast here they are flowing from land to the sea during winter and we call this as northeast monsoon. And also remember that monsoons are more pronounced in the Indian subcontinent compared to any other region. This is due to various factors like favourable geographical location at the southern edge of the Asian continent, topic of cancer passing through it, vast Indian Ocean lying to its south and its strong land sea thermal contrast especially during summer and also because of the presence of Himalayan mountains barrier along its northern boundary. See these are the common factors. Now since the news is about southwest monsoon let us see that in detail. See southwest monsoon season is from June to September. We saw already that the wind flows from sea to land during summer and this is due to many factors like the differential heating of land and sea and we know that during summer the northwestern parts of India become very hot due to very high temperature. This mainly due to the apparent shift of the sun and the northern hemisphere. Now due to a higher temperature over the land in summer a low pressure area develops over the continents so the winds blow from the neighbouring oceans towards the land and since these winds are of maritime origin and are blowing over warm water bodies before reaching land they are moisture laden that is they absorb moisture from the ocean. This in turn cause ample rainfall in summer and this sudden onset of rain is called the break of monsoon or the burst of monsoons and that is why the southwest monsoon period is the chief rainy season for the whole India and about 75% of the country's annual rainfall is realised during the southwest monsoon season. Here note that the arrival of these winds may be early or delayed depending upon the pressure conditions over the northern plains and over the Indian Ocean. Now you may ask a question here when and where these winds first arrive or strike? See it arrives in the first week of June and they first strike the coast of Kerala and by mid-July it progresses in land and cover most of India. See this weather continues till September but according to today's news the monsoon is arriving early by four days. Now with this information let us understand how the monsoon progresses to cover most of India. For this we need to acknowledge the peninsular shape of India because this shape divides the southwest monsoon into two major branches that is Arabian Sea branch and Bay of Bengal branch. The Arabian Sea branch monsoon strikes the western coast of India and also it is split into three more branches. So follow the map as I speak one branch strikes Kerala and western guards so the windward side that is the side facing the winds is the western slope of the western guards and this side receives very heavy rainfall of more than 250 centimetres but on the other side that is the eastern side of the western guards it receives less wind thereby less rainfall So the region on the eastern slope is called the rain shadow zone which includes Tamil Nadu Karnataka and Telangana Now the second branch of the Arabian Sea monsoon strikes the coast north of Mumbai. See the wind moves along the Narmada and Tapthi river valleys so these are the winds that cause rainfall in the extensive areas of central India. The Chotanakpur Plateau has a diameter rainfall from this part of the branch and then it enters the Ganga Plains and it mingles with the other major branch of the Bay of Bengal branch. Now the third branch of Arabian Sea monsoon or the south west monsoon strikes along the coast of Saurashtra and Kutch it then passes over Rajasthan and along the Aravallis and then they pass on to Punjab and Haryana north of Bay of Bengal branch. So they become the reason for rains in the western Himalayas. Now we saw there are two branches of south west monsoon one is Arabian Sea branch and the other one is Bay of Bengal branch and we saw that Arabian Sea branch itself has three branches one strikes Kerala and western Ghats the other one strikes the coast north of Mumbai so it causes rainfall to central India and the other branch is rainfall to the western Himalayas. Now let's come to the Bay of Bengal branch. Initially it reminds a single branch but it is divided into two sub branches after striking eastern Himalayas. See initially the Bay of Bengal branch strikes the coast of Myanmar and part of south east Bangladesh but the Arakan hills which is in the eastern Himalayas along the coast of Myanmar deflect a big portion of this branch towards the Indian sub continent as you can see here and this is where the branch is split. So due to this deflection one sub branch enters west Bengal and Bangladesh but note that since the wind is deflected its direction is changed. So it no longer flows from the south west rather from south and south east direction. So this branch moves westward along the Ganga plains and Himalayan ranges and it causes heavy and widespread rains over the vast areas here and then it reaches as far as the Punjab plains. But remember crucial fact here in this branch there is progressive decrease in the humidity of the winds so the amount of rainfall also decreases. That means it decreases from east to west. So this is one branch then the other sub branch moves up the Brahmabutra valley in the north and the north east causing widespread rains and this is the branch that strikes the Garo and Kasi hills of Meghalaya. So yes right this is why Mohr's syndrome receives the highest average rainfall in the world as it is located on the crest of Kasi hills. And overall an interesting fact is here in the Bay of Bengal branch also Tamil Nadu is affected because Tamil Nadu coast is situated parallel to the Bay of Bengal branch of southwest monsoon. So the Tamil Nadu coast remains dry during the southwest monsoon season. And finally know that southwest monsoon starts retreating in the first week of September from the northwest India. This happens due to the weakening of low pressure area over the northwest in parts. See the weakening of low pressure area is because of low temperatures. The low temperature is caused by two factors. One is the apparent shift of sun towards the equator. The second is widespread rains have brought down the temperatures tremendously. So in this period that is at the end of the southwest monsoon in October and November the northeast monsoon starts which is also called the retreating monsoon and we will talk about this some other day. So that's all about this article discussion. In this article discussion we saw about monsoon. See it is derived from an Arabic word mousum which literally means season and we saw that monsoon refers to the seasonal reversal in the wind direction during a year in between winter and summer seasons. See in India this reversal is along the shores of the Indian ocean especially in Arabian sea. The wind blows from southwest during one half of the year and from northeast during the other half of the year. When the wind blows from southwest it flows from sea to land and it is called as southwest monsoon. On the other hand when the wind blows from northeast it blows from land to sea and it is called as northeast monsoon. See monzones are very pronounced in Indian subcontinent. This is because favorable geographical location tropic of cancer, vast Indian ocean, strong land sea thermal contrast and the presence of Himalayan mountain barrier as the northern boundary. And we saw southwest monsoon in detail. See it starts from June and it lasts till September. It is because of the differential heating of land and sea. See a low pressure area develops over the continent and the wind blows from the neighboring oceans towards the land. Since the winds are of maritime origin they absorb moisture from the ocean and this moisture is carried to the land and this causes rainfall from the Indian subcontinent. This is called the break of monsoon or the burst of monsoon and we saw the striking and progression of southwest monsoon. See southwest monsoon first strikes the coast of Kerala and it is progressed towards the entire Indian subcontinent in two branches. One is the Arabian Sea branch and the other one is Bay of Bengal branch. Arabian Sea branch in turn is split into three branches. One branch strikes Kerala and western Ghats. The other one brings rainfall to central India. It strikes the coast north of Mumbai. See it moves along Narmada and Tapthi river valleys. And the third branch it moves along the coast of Saurashtra and Kutch and passes over west Rajasthan and along the Aravallis and they pass on to Punjab and Haryana and it brings rain to western Himalayas and after that we saw about the Bay of Bengal branch which initially reminds as a single branch but it is divided into two sub-branches after it strikes eastern Himalayas. See the Arabian hills splits the Bay of Bengal branch. One branch enters west Bengal and Bangladesh. So it flows from southwest rather from south and southeast. This branch moves westward along the Ganga plains and Himalayan ranges and it causes heavy rainfall there. As it progressed towards Ganga plains it loses moisture so the amount of rainfall also decreases here. The other branch it moves up the Brahmaputra valley in the north and northeast and it strikes the Garo and Kasi hills of Meghalaya and causes rainfall there and we saw that Mao syndrome is located on the crest of Kasi hills and that is why it receives the highest average annual rainfall in the world. And we saw an interesting fact. See Tamil Nadu reminds dry the southwest monsoon season. This is because it is located in the leeward side of the Arabian Sea branch and it is located parallel to the Bay of Bengal branch. So it reminds dry. And after that we ended our discussion by seeing that in the first week of September weakening of low pressure happens over the northwestern parts and this is because of low temperature and this low temperature is caused by the apparent shift of sun towards the equator and the widespread rains have brought down the temperatures. And with this weakening of low pressure area the southwest monsoon starts retreating. And in the end of the southwest monsoon that is in October and November the north east monsoon starts which is also called as the retreating monsoon. And with these points in mind now let us move on to the next article discussion. Now look at this news article. This article is with reference to tomato flu. The article states that Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Radhakrishnan urged the public not to panic about tomato flu amidst the reports of hand food and mild disease in Kerala. See in this context let us learn about the hand food and mild disease and the tomato flu in prelims perspective. Now let's start with the hand food and mild disease. See hand food and mild disease is a wild infection mostly common in young children during winter season. It is a highly contagious infection characterised by a rash on the hands and feet and soles in the mouth. Know that this infection doesn't have any specific treatment and is mostly caused by coxaki virus. Now with this basic information let us see some of the symptoms. See the symptoms include fever, sore throat, rashes with or without blistering on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet and buttocks, lesions of the gum, tongue and inside of the cheeks. These are extremely red and painful blister like lesions and loss of appetite, mood swings and irritability. See the infection usually exists for an incubation period of 3 to 6 days with the first symptom being a fever. A sore throat and a gentle feeling of being unwell follows. A day or two into the infection painful sores begin to develop in the mouth, rashes begin to develop on the hands, feet and buttocks soon after. And know that hand, foot and mouth disease is a common and minor illness that usually requires no treatment as it subsides automatically within a few days. See fever for a few days and other symptoms are relatively mild. However, if the symptoms continue to be seen after 5 to 6 days, it is advisable to consult a trained medical professional for a checkup. See here note that the infection is caused by coxacivirus A16 and it is spread by personal contact with an infected person. So the common denominators for the spread of the infection are by saliva, nasal secretions, throat fluid inhaling the infected air from coughing or sneezing by an infected person. See the infection is widely spread at places like day care centers where diapers are frequently changed and the kits being given potty training. And this happens mostly because children have the habit of putting their hands in their mouth. Though the virus clears itself within a few days, it can stay behind in the body for many more weeks without showing any more symptoms and further affecting the health. In some cases adults are responsible for spreading the virus while they themselves do not exhibit any signs of infection. See with this information about the hand food and mouth disease now let us see how it can be prevented. We have to ensure hygiene and good sanitation washing hands thoroughly will also help disinfecting and staying away from infected people will prevent the hand food and mouth disease. See here please don't confuse this disease with the food and mouth disease. See farm animals are known to contract a similar disease called the food and mouth disease. However it cannot be contracted or transferred to or from the animals. That is it do not transmit to humans. So that's it about the hand food and mouth disease. Now coming to tomato flu. See tomato flu affects children below 5 years of age. The exact cause of the disease is still being debated. As far as we know the symptoms of this flu include rashes, skin irritation and dehydration. According to several reports the flu can also cause tiredness, joint pain, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, high fever and body ache. In some cases it may also change the color of the legs and hands. See this flu is a self-limiting one and there is no specific drug for this. This means that the symptoms will resolve over time on their own if supportive care is given. Like the other cases of flu tomato flu is also contagious. That is it spreads. So if someone is infected with this flu they need to be kept in isolation as this could spread rapidly from one person to another. See it is essential to prevent children from scratching the blisters caused by the flu. Proper rest and hygiene is also advised. See utensils, clothes and other items used by the infected persons must be sanitized to prevent the flu from spreading. So that is all regarding this news article. In this article discussion we saw about the hand, food and mouth disease which is a viral infection common in young children during winter. It is a highly contagious infection characterized by rash on the hands and feet and sores in the mouth and it is mostly caused by the Causaxe Virals. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, rashes, lesions, loss of appetite, mood swings and irritability. See the incubation period is from 3 to 6 days and it spreads from one person to other by saliva, nasal secretions throat fluid inhaling the infected, yeah. And we saw that to prevent the hand, food and mouth disease we have to ensure hygiene and good sanitation wash hands thoroughly, disinfect and stay away from the infected people. And we saw the difference between the food and mouth and the hand, food and mouth disease. Food and mouth disease is common in farm animals and after that we saw about the tomato flu which affects the children below 5 years of age the cause is still being debated and the symptoms of the flu include rashes, skin irritation, dehydration, tiredness joint pains, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, coughing, sneezing high fever and body ache. See this flu is a self limiting one and there is no specific drug for this the symptoms will resolve over time the supportive care is given. Like any other flu this is also contagious and it will spread from one person to another. And we saw that proper rest and hygiene is advised and utensils, clothes and other items used by the infected persons must be sanitized. And with these points in mind now let us move on to the next article discussion. See this news article it talks about SEO rats that is Shanghai Cooperation Organizations Regional Anti-Terror Structure. See the news is that the counter terrorism teams from Russia, China, Pakistan and Central Asian countries will gather in Delhi. This is ahead of Shanghai Cooperation Organizations rats meeting. See it is hosted by India from May 16 to 19. And note that this is the first such official discussion to be held in India since the standoff along the line of actual control. That is LAC. So in this context let us learn about SEO in detail which is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and then we will have a brief look at the SEO rats that is Regional Anti-Terror Structure. First of all the Shanghai Cooperation Organization see it is a permanent intergovernmental international organization. Its creation was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai that is in China. It was preceded by Shanghai Five Mechanism. So when did this come into force? See it came into force on 19th September 2003. See its creation was announced on 2001 but it came into force on 2003. Now let us see the organization's main goals. The first goal is to strengthen mutual trust and neighborliness among the member states. The second goal is to promote their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture. Also that should be effective cooperation in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection etc. The third goal is to make joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region. Now coming to the fourth one it is to move towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order. So these are the main goals of organization. Now let us see about the organization's principles. See the SCO pursues its internal policy based on the principles of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, mutual consultations, respect for cultural diversity and a desire for common development. While its external policy is conducted in accordance with the principles of non-alignment non-targeting any third country and openness. So these are about the principles of the organization. Now the most important fact when it comes to the examination is the member states of the Shanghai Corporation organization. The member states includes see SCO comprises of 8 member states. Who are they? They are the Republic of India Republic of Kazakhstan People's Republic of China Kyrgyz Republic Islamic Republic of Pakistan Russian Federation Republic of Tajikistan Republic of Uzbekistan And apart from these 8 member states the SCO has 4 observer states. They are Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Republic of Belarus Islamic Republic of Iran and Mongolia See so far we saw about the establishment main goals, principles and the member states of the organization Now let us see its functioning See the heads of state council that is the HSC is the supreme decision making body in the SCO. It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organization And apart from this HSC SCO's heads of government council that is the HGC meets once a year This is to discuss the organization's multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas to resolve current important economic and other cooperation issues and also to approve the organizations and will budget. See the SCO's official languages are Russian and Chinese In addition to the HSC and HGC meetings there is also a mechanism of meetings at various levels like meetings of heads of the parliament, secretaries of security councils, ministers of foreign affairs and defence etc etc See the organization has 2 important permanent bodies. One is the SCO secretariat which is based in Beijing and the second one is Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure which is a RATS and it is based in Tashkent The SCO's Secretary General and the director of the Executive Committee of the RATS are appointed by the councils of the heads of the state for a term of 3 years And with this basic information about the SCO organization now let us have a brief discussion about the RATS See the agreement on Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure as a permanent SCO body was signed during a meeting of the council of heads of SCO member states which was happened on June 7 2002 in St. Petersburg See SCO RATS had made a significant contribution for combating terrorism, separatism and extremism at regional and global levels As part of the rule making activities the RATS developed SCO conventions on countering terrorism and extremism and these were approved by the council of heads of the SCO's member states. See one of the most effective approaches to achieve its task is holding the annual Joint Anti-Terrorist exercises since the year 2006 and in this they provide practical training on response and interaction of competent authorities like those who provide border services and all these are done to neutralize the terrorist threats and prevent terrorist attacks. See the key outcomes of the RATS activities are reviewed at the annual RATS council meetings and it is reported to the council of heads of SCO member states and thus SCO RATS ensures the security of the SCO member states from transnational crimes associated with terrorism such as illegal migration, trafficking of drugs, weapons explosives etc and with this we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion we saw the establishment of the organization that is Shanghai Cooperation Organization its creation was announced in the year 2001 but it came into force in the year 2003. This organization was preceded by Shanghai Five Mechanism and after that we saw organizations main goals which is to strengthen mutual trust and neighborliness to promote effective cooperation in politics, trade, economy research, technology, culture, education, energy transport, tourism and environmental protection. To make joint efforts to maintain peace, security, stability and to move towards the establishment of democratic fair, rational international, political and economic order. Following that we saw the organization's principles we saw the principles of internal policy which is mutual trust, benefit, equality mutual consultations, respect for cultural diversity and a desire for common development and the principles of external policy is non-alignment, non-targeting any third country and openness and after that we saw eight member states of SCO which includes India, Kachegistan China, Kyrgyzstan Pakistan, Russia Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the four observer states include Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. We saw the functioning of SCO which includes Heads of State Council HSC and Heads of Government Council HGC they both meet once a year and they decide on decisions and guidelines and they resolve economic and cooperation issues and we saw SCO's official languages Russian and Chinese and after that we saw about the two permanent bodies of SCO which is SCO secretariat and the Executive Committee of RATS and finally we ended our discussion by seeing some facts about RATS which is the regional anti-terrorist structure of the SCO which came into force in the year 2002 it was established based on the agreement on regional anti-terrorist structure by the Council of Heads of the SCO member states it contributes to combating terrorism, separatism, extremism at the regional and global levels and it ensures security of the SCO member states from transnational crimes associated with terrorism such as illegal migration trafficking of drugs, weapons explosives etc and with these points in mind now let us move on to the next article discussion see this final article here it says that a Buddhist heritage theme park developed by Telangana state tourism development corporation at Nagarjuna Sagar in Nalkonda district is all said to be inaugurated on Saturday see the project was executed with financial assistance from both central and state governments and the theme park was developed to attract local as well as foreign tourists particularly those coming from Saudi station countries see according to the project officials it is divided into 8 segments with an elegant entrance plaza buddha charita vanam, jataka vanam dhyana vanam, stupa vanam maha stupa and also it includes Buddhist education centers such as monasteries, educational institutions a Buddhist art and craft village budget hotels and resorts auditoriums, a convention center and wellness center such as a meditation center and a traditional Buddhist medical center see it is going to be the first theme park in the country having many thematic segments depicting major events from the life of gautama buddha and his previous birth stories and mini-itches to pass and this is the crux of the article given here and in this context let us learn important facts about buddhism from prince perspective see buddhism it is one of the major religions of the world that originated from Indian subcontinent but now it has spread to large parts of east asia the origin of buddhism is attached to the story of siddhartha who came to be known as buddha see the traditions beliefs and practices in buddhism are attributed to buddha and know that it is the world's fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism and around 7% of the world's population embraces buddhism and now with this basic information about buddhism now let's see about buddha see gautama buddha he was born at lumbini which is in Nepal in 563 BC as siddhartha gautama he was born to queen maya and king sudodhana of second kingdom under shatriya clan after attaining nirvana that is enlightenment in both gaya he gave his first sermon to his five companions at deer park in saarnath near varanasi and this event was called dharma chakra pravartana which is translated as turning the wheel of law see three jewels that is trirathna embraced under the buddhism are buddha he is the enlightened one and dhamma which includes the teachings of buddha and sangha which is the monastic order see buddha he attained maha pari nirvana at kushinagar in utha pradesh at the age of 80 in probably 483 BC he is said to be the contemporary for most of his life to king bimbizara and for the last few years to ajita sattru of harian ka dynasty buddha is known in various buddhist texts also as tathagata and sakya muni see the predecessor of buddha under buddhism was kasapa buddha and his successor will be maitreya see the basic tenets of buddhism are explained through four major noble truths they are the truth of suffering that is dukkha the truth of the origin of suffering that is samudaya and the truth of cessation of suffering that is niroda and finally the truth of path to the cessation of suffering that is marga and it is also said in buddhism that if one gets rid of the desires and needs then one can be free and at peace and this can be attained through following the noble eight fold path and they include right speech, right action right livelihood right effort, right mindfulness right meditation right thoughts, right understanding according to buddha the middle path or the middle way which is the madhyam mar describes the character of the noble eight fold path that leads to liberation see buddhism it rejects the authenticity of vedas and it also rejects the concept of existence of soul unlike jainism see these are the features of buddhism and you should know that once buddha attained mahapari nirvana at kushinagar in 483 BC there was a need to compile his teachings and hence four buddhist councils were held in a span of the next 500 years to combine this material into pitakas see the result was writing of three major pitakas they are vinaya pitaka sutta pitaka and abhidamma pitaka they were combined and are called tri pitaka see all of these have been written in poly language see we saw that four buddhist councils were held and now we will see about those four buddhist councils see here in this table the first buddhist council it took place at rajkya it was held at saptaparni cave immediately after the death of buddha and it happened around 483 BC we saw that buddha attained mahapari nirvana at 483 BC right so this happened immediately after the death of buddha it was patterned by king ajatashatru and the chairman was mahakasyapa see what happened in this council the recital of vinaya pitaka and the recital of sutta pitaka took place now coming to the second council it happened at vaishali it happened in 383 BC see it was patterned by king kalosaka and the chairman was sabakameen see this council happened mainly due to 10 disputed points under vinaya pitaka now coming to the third buddhist council it happened at pataliputra in 250 BC it was patterned by king asoka the chairman was mogaliputta tissa see in this council compilation of abhidham pitaka took place now the final council which is the fourth buddhist council it happened at kundalavana kashmir in 72 AD it was patterned by king kanishka and the chairman was vasumitra see this council only resulted in the division of buddhism into hinayana and mahayana buddhism as we saw in the reign of king kanishka buddhism split into two sects which is hinayana and mahayana buddhism in the later periods it can be found that hinayana school declines and two more new schools under buddhism were born thus four major schools developed under buddhism the first one is hinayana buddhism second one is mahayana buddhism third one is teravada buddhism and the fourth one is vajrayana buddhism see to know more about four schools of buddhism watch the hindu news analysis of the date November 21 2021 it will be helpful for you and with this we have come to the end of the discussion in this article discussion we saw some basic facts about buddhism it originated in indian subcontinent and spread to south east india it is attached to the story of siddhartha and it is the world's fourth largest religion and around 7% of world's population embraces buddhism and we saw the facts about gautama buddha he was born at lumbini 563 BC to queen maya and king sudodhana of the second kingdom after attaining nirvana that is enlightenment in both gaya he gave his first sermon at sarnath this event is called as dharma chakra pravartana turning the wheel of law and after that we saw three jewels the trahirathana embraced under buddhism which includes buddha, dhamma and sangha and after that we saw buddha attaining maha pari nirvana at kushinagar at the age of 80 in uttapra desh in 483 BC see his contemporaries were king bimbizara and ajata satru of harian ka dynasty and we saw that the predecessor of buddha under buddhism was kasapa buddha and his successor will be maitreya and after that we moved on to see four major noble truths which is the truth of suffering dukkha origin of suffering samudaya the truth of cessation of suffering niroda the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering marga and after that we saw noble eightfold path which is right speech right action, right livelihood right effort, right mindfulness right meditation, right thoughts and right understanding see we saw that middle path or the middle way leads to liberation buddhism rejects the authenticity of vedas and it also rejects the concept of existence of soul and after that we moved on to see about four buddhist councils first one happened at rajkir patronaged by king ajata satru chairman maha kasyapa the recital of vinaya pitaka and sutta pitaka took place second buddhist council happened at vaisali in 383 BC patronaged by king kalosaka chairman sabakami mainly happened due to the disputed points under vinaya pitaka third buddhist council happened at padaliputra in 250 BC patronaged by king asoka chairman mogaliputta tissa here in this council compilation of abhidhamma pitaka took place and the final one fourth buddhist council happened at kundalwana kashmir in 72 AD patronaged by king kanishka chairman was vasumatra in this council only buddhism was added into hinayana and mahayana and finally we ended our discussion by seeing four major schools developed under buddhism hinayana buddhism mahayana buddhism teravada buddhism and vajrayana buddhism now with these points in mind now let us move on to the next part of the discussion that is the practice prelims question discussion see today we have five prelims questions for practice I'll solve four of them and I have one quiz question for you now let's take the first question the first question here it is a previous year prelims question asked in the year 2014 it says that the seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of option A equatorial climate option B meritoranian climate option C monsoon climate and option D all of the above climates see we saw in our discussion itself about this one what is this it is the typical characteristic of monsoon climate so the correct answer here is option C now let us take up the second question it is also a previous year prelims question asked in the year 2012 consider the following statements the duration of the monsoon decreases from the southern India to the northern India and the amount of annual rainfall in the northern plains of India decreases from east to west see first statement here is correct the southern part of India is near to sea so it gets rainfall early and for a longer duration than in the northern part this is mainly because as rain bearing winds cross western gods humidity decreases and so does the rainfall in the northern part of India now coming to the second statement this is also correct this exact statement we saw in our discussion itself so the correct answer here is option C both one and two now taking up the third question with reference to hand food and mouth disease which one of the following statements is not correct so we have to correct statement here option A highly contagious infection it is true it is highly contagious it spreads from one person to another option B caused by coxsacky virus this is also true this we saw in our discussion itself an option C it can be spread by personal contact with an infected person this is absolutely true so we are left with option D only there is an approved vaccine in India to protect against hand food and mouth disease see as of now there is no vaccine to protect against the viruses that cause hand food and mouth disease transmission of disease can be prevented by practicing good hygiene practices so what is the incorrect statement here option D which is also the correct answer now moving on to the next question with reference to Shanghai Cooperation Organization consider the following statements SEO Rajs is a permanent body of Shanghai Cooperation Organization the statement is correct because we saw in our discussion it is a permanent body the other permanent body is SEO secretariat now going to the second statement Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Iran are among the member states of SEO see this statement is incorrect we saw the member states of SEO right during our discussion who are the member states India Kazakhstan China Kyrgyzstan Pakistan Russia Tajikistan and Uzbekistan see Afghanistan and Iran comes under the observer states we also saw about the observer states of SEO Afghanistan Belarus Iran and Mongolia comprises the observer states of SEO so the correct option here is option A one one Lee now taking up the final question consider the following statements about Buddhism one of the attributes of Buddhism is the belief in the existence of soul statement two Hina and Buddhism believed in the ideal or image worship of Buddha see this is only the quiz question for you try to recall the points that we discussed during the discussion and attempt this question and post your answer in the comment section I have given a main question for your practice so interested aspirants write it and post it in the comment section and if you have any queries related to the articles that we discussed today but also in the comment section and with this we have come to the end if you find the video useful like share and comment and do subscribe to Shankaray's Academy's YouTube channel for further updates thank you