 Good evening aspirants, welcome to daily news analysis brought to you by Shankar A.S academy. Today's date is 20th December 2023. Displayed here are the list of topics we are going to see today. Now before we get into the discussion I have an important announcement. Shankar A.S academy is conducting a UPSC prelims workshop. This workshop is free and it will be held from December 23rd to December 30th. So whether you are in Ananahar or connected virtually from other branches this workshop will help you to boost your preparation. So join this intensive 7 day workshop only limited offline seats are available in Ananahar so hurry now and register. I have attached the registration link in the description. Interested aspirants please check it out. Now let us get into the discussion. Look at this news article as we know the recent cyclone created havoc in Chennai and it also caused an environmental disaster. During this cyclone there was an oil spill in which the oil leaked from Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited into Buckingham Canal and Kosasthalaya rivers. This has affected the mangroves in Ennore Creek and to fight against this environment climate change and forest department of Tamil Nadu has assessed the impact of oil spill on mangroves and they are planning to restore the affected mangroves. So this is the crux of the news article given here. In our analysis let us see about mangroves and their distribution from our Prelims exam perspective. What are mangroves? See mangroves are a unique type of coastal ecosystem found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. They are generally a dense forest which consists of salt tolerant trees and shrubs. Know that they are mainly found in intertidal zones that means where the land meets the sea. The area of mangroves has greater species diversity as it is a junction of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Some common species of mangrove trees are red mangroves which are found along coastlines, black mangroves and white mangroves which grow at highest elevation. Now let us see the characteristics of mangroves. Firstly they have unique root systems called prop roots or nematopores. These roots will help in exchange of gases in water logged soils. Secondly they can survive extreme weather conditions and require low oxygen to survive. Thirdly they exhibit viviparity mode of reproduction. This means the seeds of the plant germinate within the tree before falling to the ground. See these three characteristics are adaptation mechanism of mangroves to overcome the harsh saline conditions in which they grow. Fourthly it can store 10 times more carbon per hectare than terrestrial forests. Fifthly mangroves improve water quality of an area. The mangroves filter the pollutants and traps the sediments from the land and thereby reducing the coastal erosion. Finally they save us buffer between marine and terrestrial communities. By doing this it protects the coastlines from damaging winds, waves and floods. Now let us see the distribution of mangroves. See mangroves are spread over 123 countries around the world. As we have seen earlier they are present in tropical and subtropical regions. Know that they are most extensively spread in Asia, Africa and South America. Moreover South Asia has 6.8% of old mangrove cover of which India has 45.8% of mangroves. In India according to India State of Forest report 2021, Sundarbans in West Bengal has almost half of total mangrove cover of India. Know that it is internationally recognized as World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Then it is followed by Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra which have highest cover of mangroves in India. So this is all about the discussion. Now let us move to the next topic. Look at this news article. This article is speaking about India's ethanol blending target. See India is aiming to achieve the target of 20% ethanol blending in petrol by the year 2025. So the article highlights some of the issues in achieving this target. See in India sugarcane is the primary source for producing ethanol. However in the last year India witnessed less production of sugarcane. And this year also there is an impending shortfall in sugarcane production. These factors have created a problem in achieving 20% ethanol blending target by 2025. So last year Indian government announced that it is looking for a major transition towards grain based ethanol for meeting the ethanol blending target. See if we divert more grains towards ethanol protection, it results in less availability of food grains for people consumption. So it can create hunger among Indian population. So the author of the article is saying that Indian government should consider all dimension before transitioning towards grain based ethanol protection. So this is the crux of the news article. In this discussion let us understand the significance of ethanol blending in petrol. And then we will also see the challenges in achieving the ethanol blending target. We will approach this topic using our main sanseriding approach. Now look at the question discuss the significance of ethanol blending in India highlight the potential challenges. See this question can be asked in G.S. Pepper too under the syllabus of government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. So this is the syllabus for our topic. Now coming back to the question. This is a simple and straightforward question. First we have to write the significance of ethanol blending in petrol. And next we have to write the challenges in achieving ethanol blending target of India. Now let us see the introduction. Since the question is talking about ethanol blending we can write what ethanol blending is. Before that let us understand few points about ethanol. See ethanol is a biofuel with a chemical formula C2H5OH. It is also called ethyl alcohol. The ethanol is naturally made by fermentation of sugar. However other organic matter like food grains can be also used for ethanol protection. In India ethanol is largely derived from sugarcane as we have seen it earlier. Now coming to the ethanol blending. When ethanol is blended with petroleum or other fuels like diesel or heating oil we call it ethanol blending. To put it simply ethanol blending is a process of adding ethanol to fossil fuel. Many countries including India have adopted ethanol blending in petrol. So this is done in order to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions and also to reduce the import burden of crude oil. Indian government has launched ethanol blended petrol EBP program in 2003. This program was aimed at blending ethanol with petrol to reduce the conception of fossil fuel. As a result India achieved 11.8% of ethanol blending in petrol in 2022. And India is travelling to achieve the target of 20% of ethanol blending by 2025. So you can use these points for your introduction. Now coming to the body part of the answer. As I said earlier in the body part we have to write two things. First we have to write the significance of ethanol blending. And next we have to write the challenges in achieving ethanol blending target. So first let us start with the significance of ethanol blending. The first significance is reduced carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide emissions. See ethanol contains nearly 35% of oxygen so when we add ethanol to petrol it burns completely. Therefore ethanol blended petrol would emit very minimum amount of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. So if India achieves 20% of ethanol blending target it will reduce about 3 latens of CO2 emission per year. Secondly ethanol blending will increase the income of Indian farmers. As India is gearing to achieve 20% of ethanol blending more sugar cane and food grains should be needed to meet this target. So this create demand in the market and in turn create better prices for farmers. Thirdly ethanol blending will help India to achieve the dream of self-reliance in energy sector. See currently India is highly dependent on other countries for its energy demand. Some reports state that 85% of total oil requirement is made by import of crude oil. So when we start using more ethanol blended petrol it will reduce the import of crude oil and this will help India to achieve self-reliance in energy sector. And finally ethanol blending will help to cut air pollution in India. For example we can promote the use of stubbles in ethanol protection from the states of Punjab and Haryana. On one hand it reduces the stubble burning and associated air pollution. On other hand the farmers income would increase due to selling of stubbles to ethanol producing companies. So these are some of the important significance of ethanol blending in India. Now let us see the challenges in achieving ethanol blending target. Firstly ethanol production is highly water incentive. For example let us take sugar cane. Sugar cane is the cheapest source of ethanol in India. On average a ton of sugar cane can produce 70 litres of ethanol. But the problem here is that in order to obtain 70 litres of ethanol from one ton of sugar cane we need about 2860 litres of water. So the huge requirement of water may result in overuse of groundwater supply. Secondly there is a lack of proper infrastructure to extract ethanol. See extraction of ethanol requires high cost and additional storage tanks. In most part of India these facilities are not properly established. So it is also a challenge in achieving ethanol blending target. Thirdly ethanol blending may result in food insecurity. See the diversion of food grains for ethanol protection may result in shortage of food for humans and also fodder for animals. Apart from this more farmers will start to produce sugar cane to get a better price. If the farmers redirect the agricultural land for sugar cane production the protection of other food grains will get reduced. So this may result in food insecurity. And finally there is a challenge in upgrading vehicles. See we need to upgrade the vehicle engines to make it compliant with ethanol blending. So the engines and components will need to be tested and calibrated according to the need of ethanol. So this also poses a challenge in achieving ethanol blending target. So these are some of the important challenges we have completed the body part. Now let us move to the conclusion. In conclusion we can give a way forward. There is no doubt that India's 20 percentage ethanol blending target would bring many positive outcomes. There will be reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction of crude oil imports and so on. But the challenge like food insecurity overuse of water and lack of proper technology should be addressed in a time bound manner. If the issues are addressed in time it will boost India to achieve a target of 20 percentage ethanol blending by 2025. So this in turn helps to achieve the target of net zero emissions by the year 2070. So this is all about the conclusion. With this let us conclude this discussion and move to the next topic. Now look at this article. The data from Union Animal Husbandry Ministry shows that more than 2 lakh cattle and buffaloes had died by lumpy skin disease in 2022 and 2023. But this data is questioned by parliamentary standing committee. The committee said that there was a mismatch in the number of affected cattle in the data and the actual realities in the ground. So it stressed the central government to ensure proper compilation of data on the spread of infection and mortality of cattle from this disease. So this is the crux of the article given here and in this analysis let us know about lumpy skin disease for our prelims exam. Firstly what is lumpy skin disease? See it is a highly infectious viral disease that affects cattle and poses a threat to income and food security of the country. It is caused by lumpy skin disease virus which belongs to capripox virus which is a part of poxviridae family. Know that smallpox virus and monkeypox virus are also part of this family. An important point to be noted here is the lumpy skin disease virus is not a zoonotic virus meaning this disease cannot spread from animals to humans. So this is an important point. Now let us see how it spreads. This lumpy skin disease virus spreads through blood sucking vectors like ticks and mites. It also spreads through house flies, mosquitoes etc. The spreading also occurs through contaminated water, fodder and feed. In some cases this virus directly spreads from one animal to another animal. Now let us see the symptoms of lumpy skin disease. First of all this disease affects the lymph nodes of infected animal. It will cause the nodes to enlarge and appear like lumps on the skin. It is because of this the disease was named as lumpy skin disease. The other symptoms are high fever, sharp drop in milk yield, discharge from eyes and nose, salivation, loss of appetite etc. The lumpy skin disease can even lead to death of cattle. Finally let us see about treatment process of this disease. The lumpy skin disease has no direct antiviral treatment so the infected animals will receive supportive care. We can use antibiotic pain killers wound care sprays to treat the symptoms. As there is no treatment for this disease it is better to use vaccines to prevent the transmission of this disease. The lumpy skin disease vaccination is covered under livestock health and disease control program of India. Moreover in January 2023 a live attenuated vaccine for lumpy skin disease which is called lumpy pro-vacin is developed jointly by National Research Center on Equines and Indian Veterinary Research Institute. So the vaccine is called lumpy pro-vacin. Note that it will provide 100% protection against this disease. So this is about the treatment process. With this let us conclude this discussion and we shall move to the next topic. Have a look at this news article. Recently Union Minister of State for Jalsakthi answered the questions raised by Tamil Nadu MPs in the parliament. The questions were regarding availability of clean drinking water in Tamil Nadu. The minister said that Jaljeevan Mission has made significant progress in enhancing access to tap water to rural households across the country. So this is the crux of the news article. In this discussion let us understand some points about Jaljeevan Mission. Jaljeevan Mission was launched on 15th August 2019. This mission is being implemented by Ministry of Jalsakthi. The mission is a centrally sponsored scheme. So the funds for the mission are shared between center and states. Now talking about the objective of Jaljeevan Mission. The main objective is to provide safe and adequate drinking water to every rural household by the year 2024. The water supply is provided through fully functional household tap connections. Through the mission the government aims to provide 55 litres of piped water per person per day in rural areas. Now talking about the futures of the mission. Firstly the mission aims to create local infrastructure for rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge. This helps to increase the groundwater table and it also aids the government to provide adequate drinking water to rural households. Secondly the mission aims to manage the household waste water for reuse in agriculture. It also aims to incorporate proper drainage facilities and wastewater treatment facilities in rural areas. So the waste waters from rural households are collected effectively and reused for agriculture. Thirdly the Jaljeevan Mission aims to converge with other central and state government schemes that are related to water management. So this in turn helps to foster the government's objective of sustainable water supply management. Finally this mission also promotes intensive afforestation and renovation of traditional water bodies. So this helps in storage of more water and ensures adequate drinking water to rural households. So these are some of the important futures of Jaljeevan Mission. In summary the mission aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water to every rural household by the year 2024. The water supply is being provided through fully functional household tap connections. So this is all about Jaljeevan Mission. Now let us move to the next topic. Look at this news article. It talks about the suggestion of Department of Food and Public Distribution to processors and traders of India. The department is asking them to source rice from food corporation of India under the open market sale scheme. This is suggested. This will reduce the retail price of rice in the market. So this is the article given here in our discussion. Let us see some important points about food corporation of India and about open market sale scheme. See food corporation of India is a statutory body which was set up in 1965. It was established under Food Corporation Act 1964 and it functions under Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution. This was set up at the time of major shortage of grains especially wheat in the country. The function of FCA is to buy, store, transport and distribute the food grains all over the country. This function is done through a network of offices throughout the country. The organization of FCA includes headquarters in New Delhi and five zonal offices, 25 regional offices and 170 district offices throughout India. Now let us see the objectives of FCA. The first objective is to conduct effective price support operations in the country. Next it will distribute food grains throughout the country for the public distribution system. It also maintains satisfactory levels of operational and buffer stocks of food grains to ensure national food security. So this is the basics about FCA. Now let us see what is open market sale scheme which was mentioned in the news article. Before seeing this we should know about food distribution system in India. Firstly the procurement of wheat and paddy will happen in rabbi and cariff marketing seasons. So this procurement is done by Food Corporation of India and other state corporations. The main aim is to ensure food security in the country and to meet the needs of National Food Security Act. These purchases are done at minimum support price that is MSP in order to ensure income security to farmers. This is where open market sale scheme come into operation. Under this scheme the Food Corporation of India from time to time sell the surplus food grains in open market. It was done through weekly auctions carried on the platform of national commodity and derivatives exchange limited NCDEX. Know that NCDEX is a commodity exchange platform in India. This provides a platform for trading in various agricultural and other commodities. In these auctions the open market bidders can buy the specified quantities at specific prices. Moreover the states are also allowed to procure food grains through the open market sale scheme. The central idea of OMSS is to regulate and improve the domestic supply of grains especially wheat and rice in India. This is done to bring down their prices in open market. Moreover it is often used as a measure to curb food grain inflation in country. So this is about open market sale scheme. Now we have come to the prelims practice question discussion. Look at the first question which of the following regions of India has a combination of mangrove forest, evergreen forest and deserious forest. So this is a previous year question. The correct answer is Andaman and Nicobar Islands option D. Now look at the second question. Consider the following statements about lumpy skin disease. It is a zoonotic disease. This statement is incorrect as we have seen in the discussion. It is not a zoonotic disease and it will not transfer to humans. Now look at the second statement. The virus belongs to poxviridia family which is a family of small pox and monkey pox. Yes this statement is correct. Lumpy provac ind is a vasin developed by national dairy institute Karnal in Haryana. This statement is incorrect because this vasin is developed jointly by national research centre on ekpoints and indian veterinary research institute. So the second statement alone is correct and the correct option is A. One pair only. Now coming to the third question. Consider the following statements about food corporation of India. It is a bedrock of national food security act. This statement is correct. It works under ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare. This statement is incorrect because it works under ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution. Look at the third statement. It conducts open market sale scheme to exclusively sell pulses and millets across India. This statement is incorrect because open market sale scheme sells rice and wheat as primary products. So here they have given the word exclusively selling about pulses and millets. So this statement is incorrect. So the correct answer is option A. One pair only because the statement one is alone correct. Now look at the fourth question. It is about Jaljeevan mission. It aims to provide 25 litres of tapped water per person per day to every rural household by 2024. This statement is incorrect because it provides 55 litres of water per person per day. It aims to create local infrastructure for rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge. This statement is correct. The ministry of rural development is the nodal ministry for the implementation of the scheme. This statement is incorrect because the mission was implemented by Jalsakthi ministry. So the correct answer is option A. With this we have come to the end of the discussion. 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