 Good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A. Sakadani for the day 28th of September 2023. Before getting into the discussion, I have an important announcement to make. The pre-storming test series batch 2 is about to start. It will start from 15th October and the first test is on 22nd October. The other details regarding the test series are displayed here, you can go through it. Now coming back, here the news articles that we are going to discuss today are displayed, you can go through it. Now without wasting much time, let's start the discussion. Look at this editorial article. This article highlights the issues faced by the Indian workers abroad. This article is written in the backdrop of the recently concluded G20 summit. The author of the editorial praises India for its diplomatic victory in its G20 presidency. The author highlights the successful adoption of the New Delhi declaration and the admission of the African Union as a full-time member in the G20 group. But the author is also concerned that India's G20 presidency had missed the opportunity to protect the rights of the workers of the G20 nations. See the G20 is having a coalition named Labour 20 or L20. This coalition usually discusses the workers' condition in the G20 nations by conducting several meetings ahead of the final G20 summit. As India is holding the G20 presidency this year, two meetings of the L20 were held in India. During the meeting, the L20 coalition was concerned about the poor conditions of workers in the G20 nations. But in the final New Delhi declaration, there is no significant mention of the protection of rights of the workers. This is what is of concern for the author. This author also provides some valuable data about the working conditions of the Indian labourers. We will see the data in a while. So this is the essence of this editorial article. Now in our discussion today, we will understand the issues faced by the Indian workers working abroad and the steps taken by the government to address the issue. As a part of our new initiative, we will approach this topic with the mains perspective. Before that, let us look into the syllabus. In prilims, this topic comes under the economic and social development. And in the mains, this topic comes under the GS paper 2 and GS paper 3. It falls under the topics like welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population, issues faced to development and management of social sector and the Indian economy and the issues relating to growth, development and employment. This is the syllabus. Okay, now let us get into the discussion. First we will look at the mains question. The question is, according to the United Nations, India is the world's largest migrant sending country with an estimated 18 million people working abroad. In the slide, examine the issues faced by the Indian workers abroad, also list out the steps taken by the Indian government to address the issues. See this question contains two parts. First we have to examine the issues faced by the Indian workers abroad. Here the key word is examine. If the question contains the word examine, we have to establish the key facts and the important issues surrounding the topic. So we can mention the implications of the issues. So for this question, first we have to provide key facts about the issues faced by the Indian workers abroad. Then the second part of the question demands us to list out the steps taken by the Indian government to address the issues. See this is a direct demand, so it is enough for us to just list out the steps. Having decoded the question, now let us begin to answer the question. Now what should be the best interaction? This question is related to Indians working abroad. So we will start our answer with some data about Indians working abroad. For example, we can write an introduction like this. Recently, India surpassed China as the world's most populous country. India is not only a head in population, India is also supplying more workers to other nations, particularly in the Gulf region. According to the United Nations estimates, in 2020 nearly 281 million migrants spread over the world. India stood at the first place with nearly 18 million migrants living abroad. This migrant population significantly contributes to India's economy. For example, in 2022, the inward remittance to India was approximately $111 billion, which is roughly 3.3% of India's GDP. So the Indian diaspora holds significant importance to the Indian economy. See this can be a good introduction for your main answer for this particular question. Here we have quoted several facts which will provide an additional advantage over others. Now coming to the body of the answer. First we have to examine the issues faced by the Indian migrant workers working abroad. Here we should quote some key facts to the issue. For this part, I took some points from the editorial. Now we will see the points. See approximately 9 million Indian workers are working in the Gulf countries. They are facing several issues due to forced labour and modern day slavery under the name of the kafala system. Here the kafala system, which is also called as sponsorship system is an exploitative labour system that is legally followed in some Gulf countries. This system is used to monitor migrant labourers in the Gulf who are working primarily in the construction and the domestic sector. As per the kafala system, the Gulf employer is responsible for visa and the legal status of the migrant labourers. Mostly the visas of the workers are tied to the employers so that the workers cannot change their job without the consent of their employers. This practice provides wider opportunity for the employers to exploit the migrant workers. This is because many of the employers in the Gulf countries take away the passport of the workers and abuse them to do extra work. It increases the risk of forced labour and modern day slavery. As many Indians are working in the Gulf region, the kafala system is one of the serious issues faced by the Indian workers working in the region. Secondly, the raising conflict and instability in the West Asian nation also threatens the survival of the Indian workers working in such nations. For example, the Shiasuni conflicts and the radical Islamism and regional coups in some West Asian nation disturb the peaceful working condition of the Indian workers. Additionally, it threatens the life of the workers. This is another issue you can write in your answer. Then the third issue is discrimination and job insecurity. See, the Indian diaspora living in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are facing discrimination due to the racist mindset of the people living there. This affects the Indian people mentally. Apart from this, giving preference to domestic workers in such western nations also threatens the survival of the Indian migrants. For example, the former US President Donald Trump called to provide more jobs to the Americans rather than migrants. He also tightened the H-1B visa norms. This affected the job security of the Indian workers or the Indian migrants working there. Apart from this, sponsoring an encouraging separatist movement like what Canada is doing right now also threatens the security of the Indian workers. See, the Canadian government is indirectly sponsoring the Kalistan movement which is taking place in Canada. The main objective of the movement is to create a separate Sikh state named Kalistan by bifurcating the territory from India. Since Canada is encouraging the Kalistan movement, it threatens the other religious people of India, particularly Hindus who are living in Canada. These are some of the issues faced by Indian workers abroad. Here, we provided some key facts on the issue and we also mentioned some implications. This is how you have to approach the first part of the question. Now coming to the second part. The second part of the question demands us to list out the steps taken by the Indian government to address the issues. Now let us see some steps taken by the Indian government to address the issues faced by the Indian workers abroad. Firstly, the Indian government has set up the Pravesi, Bharatia, Sahatya, Kendra in some cities like Dubai, Sarja, Riyadh, Jedha and Kuala Lumpur. These Kendras provide assistance to Indian workers abroad. Thirdly, if any of the Indian workers faces abuse or discrimination abroad, they can approach the PBSKs for assistance. Secondly, the Indian government has signed several MOUs with the Gulf countries. The MOUs were signed to enhance employment opportunity for Indians in the Gulf countries. Apart from this, the MOUs also aim to ensure the protection and welfare of the Indian workers in the region. Thirdly, the Indian government has launched the Madad Portal in 2015. This portal enables the Indian immigrants to lodge their grievances online. The received grievances are attended and addressed on a priority basis. This helps the Indian government to address the issues faced by the Indian workers in a time-bound manner. Fourthly, the Indian government has set up the Indian Community Welfare Fund. This is a specialized fund to assist the Indian workers in distress. This fund is maintained by the Indian Missions Abroad. This fund is used for medicinal care, legal help for workers, air lifting of workers and paying penalty or fines in the Abroad Jail. And the last important step is the Pravasi Bhardiya Bhima Yojna. This is a compulsory insurance scheme for Indian workers. See the Indian workers who are going abroad should need to register themselves with this insurance scheme. If anything wrong happens to the Indian worker working abroad, then the insurance amount would be given to the families of the workers. See these are the important steps taken by the Indian government to address the issues faced by the Indian workers abroad. You can list out these initiatives in your main sensor. Now finally, let us take the conclusion part. Keep in mind, in conclusion, you have to take a balanced stand. See the balanced conclusion for this topic would be, the Indian diaspora has been a parade for India. The Indian government has taken many steps to address the problems faced by Indians working abroad. But still there are some concerns that need to be addressed. So the Indian government should consistently engage with other countries to ensure protection and welfare of the Indian workers. India should also formulate suitable policies and scheme to address the welfare of the Indians working abroad. This could be a balanced conclusion. I hope now you have a clear picture about the status of the Indians who are working abroad. So if any question appears in the main examination about Indian migrant workers, you can use all the points that are discussed here. Asperance, we are trying this new approach on a pilot basis. If you like this new approach, please do like and don't forget to comment your thoughts in the comment section also. Your feedback is very valuable for us. Now let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this news article. The news article reports that a former Lokshaba MP was attacked and injured by an Indian goer in the district of Tamil Nadu. So in this discussion, let us quickly go through some of the important plinths based facts about Indian gore. See the gore also called as Indian bison is the largest bovine species and it is native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. What is a bovine here? See bovine are animals which look and act like a cow. The scientific name of Indian gore is boss gorus and it is commonly referred as gore or Indian bison. It belongs to the group of wild oxen which include Asiatic buffalo, African buffalo and bison. Note that there are three subspecies of gore and all three of them are distributed in Southeast Asian countries. Now let us see some of the important characteristic features of Indian gore. Firstly, note that the Indian gore bull are larger than the cows. Secondly, they have horns and the male gore has a shoulder hump. This hump is made up of a dense fibrous tissue and it is not a fat deposit like the hump seen in camels. Then gores are social animals, they live in herds. Next they are diurnal species that is they are mainly active during the day. Next they are herbivorous and they mainly feed on grasses. Then they inhibit a wide variety of habitat ranging from tropical wet forest, tropical dry deciduous forest in North and Eastern India to Sholah forest in Western Ghats. Finally note here that they are also the important prey for the flagship endangered species tiger. Moving on let us see some of the threats faced by Indian gore. The species is threatened by various factors. First is poaching. They are poached for consumption, crop protection, medicinal use as well as trophy hunting. Second threat is habitat loss and fragmentation. Mainly in North East India habitat degradation brought about by shifting cultivation is a major threat. Other than this conversion of forest area to agriculture use or commercial plantation is another serious threat. Thirdly, the Indian gore is vulnerable to all the diseases that infect Indian cattle. For example, render pest, food and mode disease, anthrax and hemorrhagic fever have been responsible for mortality of the Indian gore. See these three are the important factors or the threats faced by Indian gore. Now we will see the conservation status of Indian gore. Due to the threat to their habitat the gore is categorized as a vulnerable species in the IUCN red list of threatened species. It is also protected under Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and it is included in the Appendix 1 of Sites Convention. Finally we shall look at the range or the distribution of Indian gore. The western gods have widespread population of Indian gore. Periyar tiger reserve in Kerala has significant number of gores. Then it is also found in Bandipur National Park and Naharholy National Park in Karnataka. Satpura tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh and Indraavadi National Park in Chattisgarh also has the presence of Indian gore. So these are the important national parks where the Indian gores can be spotted. This is about the distribution of Indian gore. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we covered all the basic points that is all the prillims-based basic points later to Indian gore. Now let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. Yesterday the United Nations Population Fund released a report titled India Aging Report 2023. This report gives us a picture about the elderly population of India. Now look at this chart for better understanding. According to the report as of 1st July 2022 there were about 149 million people aged 60 years and above in India. It accounts for nearly 10.5% of the country's population. The report highlights that by 2050 the elderly population of India will double to about 20.8% with approximately 347 million elderly people. This is the first important fact. Secondly the report says that by 2046 the elderly population in India will surpass the population of children that is kids aged up to 15 years or less. This report further notes that by the end of the century the elderly will constitute about 36% of the total population in India. This is about the population prediction. In addition to this the report also highlights the living condition of the elderly people. The report highlights that more than 40% of the elderly people in India are living with poor condition with about 18.7% of them living without a basic income. Also the report said that these levels of poverty may affect the quality of life and health of the elderly people. In addition to this the data from the report also showed that on an average woman at the age between 60 and 80 had a higher life expectancy when compared to men. These are the some of the important data from the report that is highlighted in the article. Now in our discussion today let us see some points about the United Nation Population Fund. The United Nation Population Fund is an agency which functions under the United Nation. It was set up in 1969. Initially it was set up in the name of United Nation Fund for Population Activities. Later in 1987 the name was changed to United Nation Population Fund. But note that the original acronym remained unchanged. So that's why United Nation Population Fund is now shortly referred as UNFPA. Now what is the purpose of setting up UNFPA? The UNFPA was set up to promote right to every person to enjoy a healthy life. The agency also aims to promote equal opportunity for all people irrespective of their gender and age difference. Basically UNFPA promotes gender equality and it empowers women, girls and young people to take care of their health. Now what are the objective of the UNFPA? The main goal of the UNFPA is to ensure sexual and reproductive rights for all, mainly women and young people. The UNFPA believes that providing such rights will help the people to access high quality sexual and reproductive health services. This includes family planning, maternal health care and comprehensive sexuality education. Note that the UNFPA has set a goal. The UNFPA aims to end gender based violence and harmful practices including child marriage by 2030. So to achieve these wide range of goals the UNFPA works with partners in more than 150 countries. In such countries the UNFPA provides access to wide range of sexual and reproductive health care. This is all about the objectives of UNFPA. Finally let us look at its funding. UNFPA is entirely supported by voluntary contribution and it does not get funds from the UN's regular budget. UNFPA receives funds from donor governments, intergovernmental organizations, private sector and individuals. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw important highlights from the India Aging Report 2023 and we also saw some important points about the United Nations Population Fund. Now with this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at the citadel article. This is about NASA's Osiris-REx mission. Osiris-REx is a spacecraft sent to study and collect samples from an asteroid called Bennu. Recently the spacecraft successfully returned to Earth after completing its mission. It brought 250 grams of rock and dust from the surface of Bennu asteroid. These samples are very important as they can reveal valuable information about the solar system's origin and composition of the Earth's interior. We have to stay updated on recent developments in science and space exploration as they are frequently asked in the prelims examination. So in this discussion we will look into Osiris-REx mission and its significance. First let us see the objectives of the mission. Osiris-REx was the first asteroid sample return mission of NASA. The mission is aimed to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu. Osiris-REx stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer. The primary objective is to study the asteroid Bennu, understand its composition, collect a sample from it and return to Earth. The spacecraft was launched in 2016 and it has reached Bennu asteroid in 2018. In 2020 it collected a sample from Bennu's surface and in 2021 it began its journey back to Earth. On September 24th the spacecraft successfully returned to Earth. This is about the Osiris-REx mission. Now we will see some points about the Bennu asteroid. First what is an asteroid? It simply means a small rocky object that orbits the Sun. Most asteroids are found in the region between Mars and Jupiter and this is why this region is called the asteroid belt. Here Bennu is a near-Earth asteroid and near-Earth asteroid means it passes close to the Earth's orbit and has chances of impacting on Earth. Scientists have predicted that Bennu might strike the Earth in the next century that is between 2175 and 2099. Bennu is also an ancient asteroid meaning it is formed at the beginning of the solar system. Now you might understand why Bennu is an important asteroid to study. Now moving forward let us see the significance of the Osiris-REx mission. Firstly the mission will help us understand about the formation of the planets and the composition of the asteroids. Osiris-REx brought back the largest sample collected from an asteroid. So this will provide scientists with direct material to study asteroid composition. Secondly asteroids like Bennu have delivered organic compound and water to Earth in the past. So studying the asteroid composition might shed light on the origin of life on Earth. Thirdly since Bennu has the chances of colliding with Earth studying Bennu will help us to understand the asteroids that could impact Earth in the future. Then finally the Osiris-REx mission will also help to identify the valuable resources in the near-Earth asteroids. In summary Osiris-REx mission has provided an opportunity to study the nature of ancient asteroids and gain insights into solar systems formation and Earth's history. That is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion we saw the important points regarding Osiris-REx mission about asteroid Bennu and the significance of the mission. Now with this let us conclude this and take the next news article. This article from women's reservation to gender equality talks about the women's reservation bill and various issues in its implementation. It also talks about the inherent problems in our society and the road to equality. Now let us get into the discussion. Before that I have highlighted the syllabus regarding this discussion you can go through it. Now let's start. Recently the 128th constitutional amendment bill which aims to reserve 33% of the seats to women in Lokshaba and in the state legislative assemblies has been passed by the parliament. This bill is important because the representation of women in our legislatures is very poor. See the data from the inter-parliamentary union shows that the share of women in parliament in India is around 15%. Our country was ranked 141st out of 193 countries on this parameter and it is lower than Pakistan, South Africa and Kenya. See India's poor performance might have affected the consents of our legislators. So this might have been the reason why the 128th constitutional amendment bill might have been passed with unanimous consensus in Lokshaba. However the implementation of the present law depends on the conduct of the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise. Here you should know that the current census which should have been completed in 2021 was postponed till now and will not be conducted till 2026. So even though the bill is passed it will not be implemented. That is the reservation for women will not be implemented for quite some time. The author of this article says that by placing an important constitutional amendment which aims to ensure social equality at the mercy of the census is not correct. This is what is mentioned in the article given here. With this basics now let us try to understand and take our discussion towards the bigger picture of gender equality. Gender equality as a theme can be asked in your main examination in USA and the GS papers. So it is an important topic and listen carefully moving forward. Now let us ask ourselves this question. Whether a law can induce a social change? If tomorrow a constitutional amendment is passed giving women equality in all spheres of life and public life do you think society will be egalitarian from day after tomorrow? The answer is more complicated. This is not as easy as it is said. Because a law should have a social acceptance for a positive change. This does not mean a law cannot bring a social change. Many revolutionary laws brought revolution around the world. For example the 13th amendment of the United States abolished slavery. Indian laws curbing female infanticide are a huge success. But at the same time without social acceptance a law will find it difficult to get implemented. Now coming back to the discussion. The reservation for women in the local bodies ultimately increased their participation in the governance. For example in a research conducted by Tania Jacimo and Nirjho Gopal found that contrary to the popular belief the elected women representatives of the local bodies have asserted their presence in spite of the interference from male family members. On the other hand we also see women being only nominal leaders and the real power being wielded by her husband. It is even more painful for women from scheduled caste and scheduled tribe because they should fight the double burden of caste and gender. This is the reality. Here we need to know about the reason for this injustice. The answer lies in patriarchy. See patriarchy is a system where the values and norms are shaped by men and will benefit only men. It subjugates women. Now let us see the various areas where this system of patriarchy is operated. Let us start from the home. See an unequal home is a base for an unequal society. Gender justice will only be achieved when there is a equal sharing of household chores and domestic responsibilities. This is because household chores are the main form of unpaid labour. Let us see a shocking fact here. The data from the ministry of statistics and program implementations time use survey shows that for the 97 minutes spent daily by men on unpaid domestic service for household members, women spend 299 minutes at an average. That is women spend three times more time on household domestic work which is unpaid than men. The next fact is that women spend 134 minutes on average daily on unpaid caregiving service for household members. But men spend only 76 minutes. These two are very shocking facts which shows that the patriarchy in our society starts from the home itself. And it is clear that women bear a heavy burden of household responsibilities. This effectively acts as a glass ceiling hindering their growth. Here the glass ceiling effect means an invisible barrier which acts as a limiting fact for their improvement. This is a result of a patriarchal societal mindset which should be changed if women are to be fully and effectively participate in the society and in the labour force. Additionally, women are facing many obstacles like gender-based discrimination in job, unequal pay for job, sexual harassment at workplace, lack of women representation in the legislature, etc. These are some of the hurdles to gender equality in our society. Having said this, now let us see the steps that can be taken to ensure gender equality. Firstly, the change should start from the home. We need to sensitize our children about gender equality and take steps like sharing household burden. This will bring about a change in the household which will in turn reflect in the society as a whole. This is the first step that can be taken. Next, the governments should recognize the unpaid labour of women and give them some kind of economic support. In this context, the Magalir Urumai Thohai in Tamil Nadu which is a cash-based transfer recognizing the unpaid labour of women within the household is a scheme which can be explored further. Finally, in addition to increasing the women representation in the legislature through a legislation, government must also carry out capacity building programs. For this, we can try and adopt the successful models like Emily's List in the United States. See, the Emily's List program has been providing campaign guidance, mentorship, and capacity building for women as they enter politics. In the four decades of its operation, Emily's List has helped elect 201 women members of Congress and 200 women governors in the United States. So, the government on one hand must make a legislation to ensure gender justice and on the other hand must take steps to ensure capacity building of the women. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the hurdles to gender equality and the steps that can be taken to ensure gender equality. Now, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this editorial article. At the beginning of this year, Josimath in Uttarakhand faced a crisis. The town was reported to be sinking and there were cracks in many buildings. This forced the residents of the town to flee for safety. The cracks were said to be caused due to tunneling activities in the Topovan Vishnugad Power Project, which was undertaken nearby the town. To investigate this phenomenon, eight reputable institutions were commissioned by the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority. But the report submitted by the scientist involved in the study was banned. Government said that the satellite images used in the report could create panic among the public. The High Court of the Uttarakhand intervened to make this report public. This is about the editorial given here. In this context, we will look at the Topovan Vishnugad Power Project and also the impacts of the project in the surrounding area. Let us start by seeing the basic information about the power project. See, the Topovan Vishnugad Hydro Power Project is a 520 megawatt run-off-the-river hydroelectric power project. It was constructed by the National Thermal Power Corporation across the Dauliganga River. The project is primarily funded by the World Bank and it was sanctioned in 2011. This project was severely damaged in 2021 due to flash floods caused by the glacial burst. The project is located in Topovan which is in Chamoli district in Uttarakhand. Topovan town is famous for its hot springs and it is located on the banks of the Dauliganga. Here, the Dauliganga River rises near the Nithipas in the border between Uttarakhand and Tibet. The river then joins the Alaknanda River at the Vishnuprayag. The Alaknanda River goes on and joins the Ganga River. Now, we will see the issue with the project. The project would destroy the ancient Lakshmi Narayan Temple at the Harth village. The temple is a cultural resource for the local and it is also a source of their livelihood. This temple was set to be established by the Adi Sankara Charya. The second issue is forceful relocation of the villagers. See, the residents were being forcefully relocated from their villages. Some locals who refused to accept the compensation were moved against their will and somewhere even imprisoned. The third issue is ignoring the climate change. See, the Topovan project has not considered about the disasters caused by climate change and extreme weather events in Uttarakhand. Both the Kedarnath disaster of 2013 and the Chamoli disaster of 2021 was completely ignored. This is the third issue. The last issue is the geography of the region. See, Josimath is located on sand and gravel, which has been brought down by a old landslide. So, the natural topography of the place itself is not stable. A small trigger is what is necessary to bring about a huge disaster due to the topography of the town. So, constructing a huge hydropower project near the town is highly dangerous. The town is also marked as zone 5 in the Seismic map. So, the town is basically not suitable for a large hydropower project because its topography does not support it. Also, it is seismically active. These are some of the issues associated with the Topovan hydropower project. Now, what should be done? See, it should be made mandatory that there should not be any hydropower project development beyond an elevation of 2200 meters in the Himalayan region. This will bring about a long-lasting safety for the people living in the Himalayan region. Also, it will conserve the ecology of the region. And, government considering the instability of the Josimath region should reconsider about the developing of hydropower project near it. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the basics about Topovan Vishnugad project. We saw the issues associated with it. And finally, some solution to address the issue. With this, we have come to the end of the news article discussion session. Now, let us take up the practice prelims questions. We have four practice prelims questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question. Indian bison are naturally found in large population in which of the following geographic region. From our discussion, we know that the correct answer here is option C, Western Guards. Moving on to the next question. Here, two statements about the United Nations population fund is given. We have to find the correct statements. Let us take up the first statement. It was set up to ensure sexual and reproductive rights for all, mainly for women and young people. This statement is correct. Moving on to the second statement. It is entirely supported by the United Nations regular budget. This is incorrect because in our discussion, we saw that UNFPA is entirely supported by voluntary contributions. And it is not supported by the United Nations regular budget. So statement two is incorrect. So the correct answer here is option A, one only. Moving on to the third question. The Hayabusa-2 mission launched by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, successfully collected samples from an asteroid. Which asteroid was the primary target of the Hayabusa-2 mission? The correct answer here is option B, asteroid Ryogu. See Hayabusa-2 is a Japanese spacecraft that explored asteroid Ryogu. It collected multiple samples from the asteroid and returned to Earth in 2020. So correct answer once again here is option B. Moving on to the last question. Here, five pairs are given and one side confluences are given. And on the other side, rivers are given. We have to find which of these pairs are correctly matched. Let us take up the first pair, Vishnuprayag. And the rivers are Alaknanda and Dholiganga. So first pair is correct. The second pair is also correct. Nandaiprayag is the confluence of Alaknanda and Nandagini. Moving on to the third pair. This is incorrectly matched. Actually, Karnaprayag is the confluence of Alaknanda and Pinta river, not Mandakini river. So third one is wrong. The fourth pair is also wrong. Rudraprayag is the confluence of Alaknanda and Mandakini. Not Alaknanda and Pinta. So the fourth pair is also wrong. Moving on to the last pair. This is correct. Devaprayag is one of the Panchprayag of Alaknanda river. In Devaprayag, Alaknanda and Bagirathi river meets and takes the name Ganga. So the fifth pair is correct. So the correct answer here is option B. One, two and five only. The main question based on today's discussion is displayed here. Interested aspirants can write the answer and post it in the comment section. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankarayesh Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.