 A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to the hindi news analysis by Shankarase academy for the date 19th November 2020. The list of news articles along with the page numbers of different editions of hindi newspaper is given here for your reference. Let's move on to the first article discussion. The discussion is based on this editorial in which the author has focused on a different area that need to be focused in this pandemic. The author has talked about reinventing cities particularly with the focus on cutting disease spread. So in this analysis we will see how pandemics have altered human living environment. We will see why affordable rental housing complexes are the need of the hour and then we will also see a recently initiated sub-scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Avas Yojana Urban. Then we will see some of the comments of the author in this regard. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. See in the last millennium the world has faced some serious infectious diseases such as the plague cholera and also the global flu pandemic of 1918. So in the aftermath of every such attack on human race the human beings have built structures and we have adopted to live in such a way that there can be disease prevention disease control and damage minimization. Here just note that the plague refers to the plague which is known as the black death that happened during the 14th century. The black death is caused by a zoonotic bacterium called as the yersinia pestis and this black death claimed the lives of more than five crore people in Europe. So these diseases have brought changes in the way human beings have lived such as new infrastructural changes have been made like drainages through sewages were introduced, waste handling was taken up and both preventive and curative health care were given importance. Along with this in some parts of the world social housing was also introduced. So what is this social housing? It refers to a program where the government finances and regulates the low rent housing. In other words we can say that social housing is the state subsidized and rent regulated social homes and the beneficiaries of such social housing will be those who are homeless, marginalized and disadvantaged populations. Now these populations are the beneficiaries because if they are not provided such affordable housing they will remain vulnerable to the infectious diseases and the scenario is more relevant in the current world because at the time of 1918 global flu pandemic the population was only 180 crores but now the population is 780 crores. So this is more than the four times population when the flu pandemic struck the world. So in this context only the author has thought about urban development and also has provided suggestions on how to manage cities and urban areas so as to cut the disease spread in the present and also in the future. So the main reason for such urban development is that even during the last few months we are seeing how cities were hot spots of COVID-19 infections. We could see rapid transmissions and high infections in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai. This is because of the unavoidable outcome of the densification in these cities and this in turn has also resulted in the inability to practice the social distancing norms and further many people are homeless in such cities who have nowhere to go and they have become vulnerable to the infectious diseases. So from them the disease may also spread to more populations thus for their benefit and for the entire city to be healthy the author calls for a good at affordable housing such as affordable renting housing complexes and if you take the Indian scenario regarding this affordable renting housing complexes it is observed that in India well-designed rental housing remains poorly funded but such houses are the key to protect migrant labour and the less affluent sections in the city. So in relation to this only we have a recent central government initiative called as the affordable rental housing complexes scheme. This scheme has been initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as a sub-scheme under the Pradhan Mantri Avas Yojana Urban. This scheme is a formal response to the COVID-19. This is because the pandemic has resulted in the reverse migration of urban migrants and urban poor in the country. Many people left the urban areas due to the fear of infection and also due to the loss of jobs, wage cuts etc. And one of the main reasons why reverse migration happened was because the urban migrants stay in slums or in informal settlements and unauthorized colonies and sometimes also in the peri-urban areas to save cost on housing. So due to the loss of jobs and wage cuts they were not able to even live in these settlements or colonies. So that means these urban migrants and urban poor they need decent rental housing at affordable rates at their work sites or at least closer to their work sites. And this scheme is initiated to address this need only. So what will this scheme do? The scheme will provide ease of living to urban migrants and poor in the industrial sector as well as in the non-formal urban economy where they will get access to dignified affordable rental housing close to their workplace. And also know that this scheme is to be implemented through two models. First model is by utilizing the existing government funded vacant houses so as to convert them into affordable rental housing complexes through the PPP that is public private partnership or by public agencies. Then the second model is by construction operation and maintenance of these ARHCs by the public entities or private entities on their own vacant land and these are some other important relevant information about this scheme we have given it here for your reference. So based on this author of this editorial calls for such affordable and social housing initiatives that will make cities healthier and the author also suggested to take such efforts on the lines of the post-war reconstruction that happened in Europe, Japan and South Korea after the wars. Now in addition to these observations author has also noted some important points on reinventing cities. In this author first talks about the laws and regulations. Author has noted that the laws on air pollution, municipal solid waste management and water quality are hardly enforced in urban areas and urban cities. So this has to be addressed by properly enforcing the standards in the legal provisions. Further author also calls for improving the standards of urban mobility or transportation in the urban areas because currently author feels that only symbolic efforts are being taken regarding these urban mobility or transportation. So these symbolic efforts should be addressed by taking substantial efforts that will significantly bring down the emissions and other problems that are making the cities unsafe to live. So on a whole in this editorial author has focused on a different dimension that needs focus during and after this pandemic. With this we have come to the end of this discussion. Now let's move on to the next discussion. This discussion is based on this news article which talks about the implementation of Forest Rights Act of 2006 in Jammu and Kashmir. See you would have heard that recently protests have been happening in Jammu and Kashmir over the eviction of forest dwellers. So to address this issue now the Jammu and Kashmir administration has told that it is in the process of implementing the Forest Rights Act. Few days ago we also discussed about the important issues associated with this act but today let us discuss in detail about the rights and duties given in this act to understand the rights entitled to the forest dwellers especially the forest dwellers of Jammu and Kashmir. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. First know that the full name of this act is the Schedule Tribes and other forest dwellers recognition of Forest Rights Act of 2006. It is simply known as the Forest Rights Act of 2006. It was enacted to recognize and vest the forest rights and to recognize the occupation in forest land and these rights will be given to the forest dwelling schedule tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in such forests for generations but whose rights could not be recorded. So in this regard the act also provides for a framework. This framework is for recording the forest rights vested in the forest dwellers and the nature of evidence that is required to acquire such recognition and also wasting such rights in respect of the forest land. See a note that forest land means the land of any description falling within any forest area. So this includes unclassified forests, undemarcated forests, existing or deemed forests, protected forests, reserved forests and even sanctuaries and national parks. Now as the name of this act suggests it aims to recognize the forest rights of Schedule Tribes that is the forest dwelling schedule tribes. So these are the members of the Schedule Tribes who primarily reside in the forest and they depend on the forest lands for actual livelihood needs. So the forest dwelling schedule tribes also include the Schedule Tribes pastoralist communities. Then we saw that it recognizes and vests the forest rights to the other traditional forest dwellers also. See according to the act other traditional forest dweller is a member who has primarily resided in the forest and depends on the forest land for actual livelihood needs for at least three generations prior to 13th December 2005 and according to the act generation means a period comprising of 25 years that means other traditional forest dweller includes the groups and its members who have resided in the forest for at least 75 years. Now since the forest rights act is often in news it is important to know all these definitions. Now today's discussion is based on the forest rights granted to the forest dwellers. Now this is provided under section three of this act. The first and foremost right granted under this act is the right to hold and live in the forest land under the individual occupation or common occupation for habitation or self cultivation for the livelihood. Additionally the act also provides for community rights such as NISTAR and the rights used in the erstwhile princely states, zamindari regimes or such intermediary regimes. Now here you should know what is meant by NISTAR. NISTAR refers to the necessities for forest dwelling people to carry on their daily lives and the land set apart to fulfill this purpose is called as NISTAR land which is essentially a community land. So the villagers have NISTAR rights to these necessities and these rights include timber and fuel wood, burial or cremation grounds, minimum forest produce, pastures, fodders, places of worship etc. Then the next right provided by this act is the right of ownership access to collect, use and dispose of the minor forest produce which has been traditionally collected within or outside the village boundaries. The act also guarantees community rights to use fish and other products of water bodies. Then the act protects the rights including the community tenures of habitat and habitation for the primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities. Then the next right is the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use. The act assures right of access to biodiversity and community rights to intellectual property and other traditional knowledge related to the biodiversity and cultural diversity. Then one of the most important right is the right to in situ rehabilitation or alternative land. This right is applicable when the scheduled tribes or the other traditional forest dwellers have been illegally evicted from forest land of any description without receiving their legal entitlement to rehabilitation prior to December 2005. So that means if the forest dwellers are illegally evicted because of this reason they are to be provided land for in situ rehabilitation. So these are some of the rights provided under this act to the forest dwellers. Now in addition to the rights the act also provides duties to the forest dwellers. This is as per section five of the act. It mandates several duties on holders of forest rights. Here just note that these duties are also applicable to the Gram Sabha and village level institutions in the areas where there are holders of any forest right. So what are the duties under this section? The forest dwellers or the Gram Sabha or the village level institutions they have the duty to protect the wildlife forest and biodiversity. They must also ensure that adjoining catchment areas water resources and other ecologically sensitive areas are adequately protected. Then there is also a duty to the Gram Sabhas and other village level institutions which is to ensure that the habitat of forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers are preserved from any form of destructive practices that affects their cultural heritage or natural heritage. So that means protecting the cultural and natural heritage of forest dwellers is the duty of holders of any forest rights, Gram Sabhas and village level institutions. Then the forest dwellers shall also comply with the decisions of Gram Sabha to regulate the access to community forest resources and they have to comply with the Gram Sabhas decision to stop any activity which adversely affects the wild animals forest and the biodiversity. So these are some of the duties mandated by this act. So in this discussion we have discussed in detail about the rights and duties of the forest dwellers provided by the Forest Rights Act of 2006. Now to know more about how forest rights claims are made then the procedure of granting rights and the role played by Gram Sabha please refer to our 16th November in the news analysis. Now with this let's move on to the next discussion. This discussion is based on this news article which talks about the Kerala government's type with the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology for a Genome Survey. This survey will be conducted by sequencing the genomes of over 100 individuals and this will be done to better understand the genomic variation in the strains of SARS-CoV-2 in the state of Kerala and this genome sequencing technique will use an approach called next-gen sequencing. Here thousands of individual genomes can be simultaneously analyzed and rare variations can be picked up and occasionally the variations in the SARS-CoV-2 genomes can also be detected. So in this context let us understand about genome sequencing, next-gen sequencing method and CSIR IGIB. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. Now before understanding genome sequencing or DNA sequencing first let us understand what is meant by a genome. A genome is an organism's complete set of genetic instructions. Each genome contains all of the information that is needed to build that organism and allow it to grow and develop and this genome is made up of DNAs. On 11th November 2020 in the news analysis we discussed elaborately about DNA you can view that video to know more about DNAs. Now what is genome sequencing? Genome sequencing is nothing but figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides or bases in a genome that means to figure out the order of adenines, cystocenes, guanines and thymines that make up an organism's DNA. So if you look at this picture it depicts a DNA sequence that has been translated from life's chemical alphabet into our English alphabet of written letters of A, G, T, C and A refers to adenine, G refers to guanine, T refers to thymine and C refers to cystocene. So often this genome sequencing is compared to decoding but a sequence is still a very much in code. This is in a sense that a genome sequence is simply a very long string of letters in a mysterious language. See when you read a sentence the meaning is not just in the sequence of letters but the meaning is also in the words of those letters and also in the grammar of the language and similarly the human genome is more than just its sequence. So now let us understand how genome sequencing is done. It is done with the help of sophisticated machines as you can see in this picture and in this know that genome is sequenced in pieces. The whole genome cannot be sequenced all at once because the available methods of DNA sequencing can only handle short stretches of DNA at a time. So for this scientists must break the genome into small pieces then sequence the pieces and then reassemble them in the proper order to arrive at the sequence of the whole genome. And there are different methods available for sequencing genome. These methods include Maxim and Gilbert method, chain termination method, pyro sequencing method, clone by clone sequencing method, next generation sequencing method etc. And today's focus is on next generation or next gen sequencing method. So here first know that next gen sequencing method or massively parallel sequencing or deep sequencing are related terms that describe DNA sequencing technology which has revolutionized the genome research. So it is a catch all term that is a broad term used to describe a number of different modern sequencing technologies. So using the NGS that is next gen sequencing and entire human genome can be sequenced within a single day. There are a number of different NGS platforms that use different sequencing technologies and all NGS platforms perform sequencing of millions of small fragments of DNA in parallel. And there are many advantages to NGS. NGS can be used to rapidly sequence whole genomes. It can be used to deeply sequence target regions. It can be used to sequence the cancer samples to study rare somatic variants, tumor subcoins etc. And they can be used to study the human microbiome and it can be used to identify novel pathogens. And in addition to this, it also has the advantage of higher reproducibility. And it also requires less DNA or RNA as input. But apart from these advantages, it also has some main disadvantages. The main disadvantage includes the sophisticated infrastructure that is required for NGS. It requires infrastructure such as computer capacity and storage. And it also requires advanced personal expertise to comprehensively analyze and interpret the subsequent data. In addition to this, the volume of data that needs to be managed skillfully to extract the clinically important information in a clear and robust interface is also a disadvantage of this next gen sequencing method. So now by using this next gen sequencing method, CSAR IGIB is going to conduct genome survey. So in this context, let us also know about the CSAR IGIB. IGIB stands for Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology. It is a premier institute of CSAR. It is engaged in research of national importance. Its research areas include genomics and molecular medicine, cardio respiratory disease biology, chemical and systems biology, informatics and big data, integrative and functional biology etc. As research projects at IGIB are funded by CSAR, then Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, ICMR, among other organizations. So in this context, we should also know about some important programs conducted by IGIB. First it conducts a program called JIGIASA, Arousing Scientific Curiosity. This program is for high school children and it includes activities such as school visits, quiz competitions and workshops. Then the next program is PRAGYA, Nurturing Scientific Actuement. This program is conducted for college students. It includes research seminars, visits to infrastructural facilities at IGIB and workshops on techniques, latest developments in research and also interactive sessions on career opportunities and global trends in biological research. Then finally, the next important program is the JAGRITI, Raising Scientific Awareness. This program is conducted for members of general public. This program is to encourage public, especially NGOs that are working with women and children to visit the institute and to attend seminars or public interest lectures in the latest developments in biology and healthcare. So in this discussion, we saw about genome sequencing and about the method next-gen sequencing method. And then we also finally saw about CSAR, IGIB. Now let's move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is based on this news article which reports that an army javan has lost his life and two others were injured when an avalanche hit a frontier post in Jammu and Kashmir. We have been frequently hearing about such avalanche incidents in Himalayas where many people including soldiers are losing their lives. So in this context, let us have a brief understanding about avalanche. Avalanches are masses of snow, ice and rocks that fall rapidly down a mountainside. They pose a threat to anyone who is living near a snowy mountainside or who is living on a snowy mountainside. Even though they are beautiful to witness at a distance, they can be deadly because of their intensity and seeming unpredictability. They are most common during the winter, especially from December to April in the northern hemisphere. But they also do occur year round. So how this avalanche is triggered? An avalanche is typically triggered when material on a slope breaks loose from its surroundings. This material then quickly collects and carries additional material while it travels or rushes down the slope. So here you should note that there are various kinds of avalanches. This includes rock avalanches. These rock avalanches consist of large segments of shattered rock. Then we have ice avalanches. It typically occurs in the proximity of a glacier and then we have debris avalanches. It contains a variety of unconsolidated materials such as loose stones and soil. Now with respect to ice avalanches or snow avalanches, they come in many shapes and sizes. Many are small slides of powdery snow that move as a formless mass downslope. And this kind of avalanche is triggered by outdoor recreationists when the person goes for skiing. If you view any skiing video, you can see these kinds of small slides of powdery snow. But the disastrous avalanches occur when massive slabs of snow break loose from a mountain side. This is known as slab avalanche. In a slab avalanche, the mass of descending snow may reach up to a speed of 130 km per hour and it is capable of destroying forests and small villages in its path. So how does a snow avalanche start? See, it can start on mountain slopes with at least a 30 degree inclination. But they occur most frequently on slopes of 35 to 50 degrees inclination also. Although avalanches need a slope to start, but with respect to large avalanches, while they accelerate downhill, it acquires sufficient momentum to even cross a flat terrain of short distances. So that means large avalanches can also cross flat terrains. So on a whole, you should remember that the occurrence of an avalanche depends on the interaction of mountainous terrain, weather conditions, snowpack conditions and a trigger. Now talking about the features of avalanche, you should note that avalanches contain three main features. The starting zone, the avalanche track and the runout zone. The avalanche launch from the starting zone. This starting zone is often the most unstable part of the slope and it is generally higher on the mountain. Now once the avalanche starts to slide, it continues down the avalanche track. This avalanche track is the natural path, which the avalanche follows downhill. And then finally it comes to a stop at the bottom of a slope. And this is the runout zone. It is where the snow and debris pile up. Now to prevent the loss of life and property, accurate avalanche predictions are required and this needs experienced avalanche forecasters, sophisticated tools such as remotely accessed weather data, detailed historical weather and avalanche databases, then weather models and avalanche forecasting models etc. But remember that the best way to prevent loss of life and property from avalanche is to respect the nature and to stop encroachment in unstable snowy mountainous regions and also to educate people to create awareness. So these are some of the points that you need to know about the phenomenon of avalanche. Now let's move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is based on this news article which talks about a response from the Office of the Registrar-General of India. The response is to an RTI filed by the Hindu newspaper. The RTI seeked information on the expected date of the first phase of census that is house sifting and housing census of 2021 and also the update of the national population register. The census and NPR were to be conducted simultaneously from April to September but they were postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. So in this regard the RGI has replied by saying that the schedule or the questionnaire of the NPR is being finalized but the information about the expected date of the first phase of census of 2021 is not available. So in this context it becomes important to know about NPR because it is often in news. NPR is a register of usual residents of the country which was created in 2010. So the objective of NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country. So this makes it important to know the definition of usual resident. A usual resident is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months or more and these usual resident includes citizens as well as non-citizens. Now why this NPR is mandated? It is mandated because of the section 14A of Citizenship Act of 1955. Now this section makes it compulsory for every citizen of the country to register in the national register of Indian citizens. Now the creation of this national population register is the first step towards the preparation of the national register of Indian citizens. That is NRIC. So for the preparation of NRIC out of the universal dataset of residents the subset of citizens would be derived after due verification of the citizenship status. Therefore it is compulsory for all usual residents to register under the NPR. And remember that NPR contains three elements of data of a usual resident. These include the demographic data, the biometric data and the Aadhar number. And this NPR is to be maintained by the Register General and Census Commissioner of India. And the NPR is prepared and maintained at the local level, sub-district level, district, state and national levels under the provisions of Citizenship Act of 1955 and also under the provisions of Citizenship Rules of 2003. And here know that the data for NPR was first collected in 2010 along with the House Listing Phase of Census of India 2011. And the updation of this data was done during 2015 by conducting go-to-do survey. Now it has been decided to again update the NPR as we saw now. But remember in the past year many oppositions came for the updation of NPR. And as today's news article mentions as many as 13 states and union territories have opposed the updation of NPR. It is due to its link to the proposed National Register of Citizens and also the Citizenship Amendment Act. So because of these reasons NPR is often in news so it becomes important from example's perspective to discuss it and also to know about it. With this we come to the end of this discussion. Now we have come to the last session for the day which is the practice questions discussion session. This question is based on Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology. First statement is it is a research institute under ICMR. This statement is incorrect because IGIB is a premier institute of CSAR that is Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. So first statement is incorrect. Second statement is it conducts a program called Jagruti Raising Scientific Awareness for general public to encourage public to attend seminars in latest developments in biology and healthcare. Now this statement is correct we saw this during discussion. So the correct answer to this question is option B2 only because the question asks for the correct statements. Now this next question is based on Avalanche. First statement is they occur most frequently on slopes of 35 to 50 degrees. Now this statement is correct. Second statement is they occur mostly during summer. This statement is incorrect because they occur mostly during winter. Third statement is large avalanches are capable to cross flat terrain. This statement is also correct and here the question asks for the correct statements. So the correct answer is option B1 and 3 only. Now this next question is based on genome sequencing. First statement is genome sequencing is the process of figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides or bases in a genome. This statement is correct it is the correct definition of genome sequencing. Second statement is it takes several days to sequence the entire genome of a human being and currently there are no methods available to sequence an entire human genome within a single day. Now this statement is incorrect because today's discussion was based on next generation sequencing method and using this NGS method and entire human genome can be sequenced within a single day. And here the question asks for the correct statements. So the correct answer to this question is option A1 only. Now this next question is based on national population register. First statement is it is also known as national register of Indian citizens. Now this statement is incorrect because national population register is the first step towards the preparation of NRAC. It itself is not NRAC. Now the second statement is it is a register created exclusively for the citizens of India. This statement is incorrect because NPR is a register of usual residents of the country and according to the definition of usual residents it includes citizens as well as non-citizens. So this statement is also incorrect. Now the third statement is it will be maintained by Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. This statement is correct and here the question asks for the incorrect statements. So the correct answer is option C1 and 2 only. Now look at this next question. Consider the following statements. Protect the wildlife, forest and biodiversity. Ensure adequate protection of adjoining catchment areas, water sources and other ecological sensitive areas. Preserve habitat of forest dwelling schedule tribes from destructive practices affecting their cultural and natural heritage. Which of the above is or are duties imposed on the holders of forest rights under FR8 2006. Now during discussion we saw that all these are the duties imposed on the holders of forest rights. So the correct answer to this question is option D1, 2 and 3. Let us take one main question based on GS paper 2. Answer this question in 250 words and post it in the comment section. With this we come to the end of today's in the news analysis. If you like the video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar A.C.K YouTube channel for more updates related to civil service examination preparation.