 Very good evening aspirants. Welcome to the hindi news analysis by Shankar Ayes academy for the date 24th of july 2021. These are the list of news articles taken for today's discussion. They have been provided along with the page numbers of these articles in different editions of hindi newspaper. Today we are going to discuss many environment related topics. So pay attention because they are important not only from the mains perspective but also from the prelims perspective because we know that in prelims we can expect at least one to five questions related to environment part of our syllabus. So now let us move to the discussion of our first news article which is based on this editorial article. This editorial talks about the microplastic pollution in river Ganga. See recently a new study has found that Ganga is heavily polluted by microplastics. The highest concentrations of microplastics pollution were found in Varanasi Kanpur followed by Haridwar. So in this context today let us discuss in brief about microplastics then we'll also see about the plastic waste management rules and finally we'll also see what are the reasons behind microplastics pollution in river Ganga. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. First let us understand what are these microplastics. We know that plastic is the most prevalent type of marine debris found in our ocean. Now these marine debris can come in all shapes and sizes and when these marine debris are less than five millimeters in length they are called as microplastics and there are two categories of microplastics. One is the primary microplastic and the second one is secondary microplastics. The primary microplastics are the tiny particles which are designed for commercial use. Some of these microplastics are intentionally designed to be small like the one in this image and these are called as microbeads. So these microbeads are very tiny pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic and they are added as exfoliants in the health and beauty products such as they are used in cleansers and toothpaste. So remember microbeads are microplastics which are used in many health and beauty products. Then we also have the microfibers which are also primary microplastics. These microfibers shed from clothing and other textiles such as fishing nets. Now the second category of microplastic is the secondary microplastics. These are the particles that result from the breakdown of larger plastic items such as water bottles. This breakdown is caused by exposure to environmental factors and one of the main factors is the sun's radiation and ocean waves. Now these microplastics are harmful to the environment especially these microbeads are quite harmful because we saw that they are tiny particles. So they easily pass through water filtration systems and they end up in oceans and lakes. And since they are small the aquatic life and birds mistake these microplastics as food and they consume them. So eventually it leads to death of the aquatic life and birds and that is why we say microplastics especially the microbeads pose a potential threat to the aquatic life. And according to the United Nations Environment Program these plastic microbeads first appeared in personal care products about 50 years ago. And because of this already in 2015 USA has an act called as microbead free waters act of 2015 which banned plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products. And several other countries such as Canada, France, New Zealand and Sweden have also banned microbeads from their cosmetic items and products. So what about India? Say in India we have a significant development in this regard which is the plastic waste management rules of 2016. The aim of these rules is to increase the minimum thickness of plastic carry bags from 40 to 50 microns. Apart from this the rules also stipulate the minimum thickness of 50 micron for plastic sheets to facilitate the collection and recycle of plastic waste. And the rules also expand the jurisdiction of applicability. Previously they were only applicable to the municipal areas but these 2016 rules also apply to the rural areas because now the plastic has reached rural areas also. And most importantly the rules bring in the responsibility of the producers and generators in the plastic waste management system. See here the producers could be the industries and the generators could be the industries as well as we the consumers. So this responsibility is established by introducing a system called collect bag system of plastic waste and the system has to be undertaken by the producers or brand owners. See the producers, importers and brand owners who introduce the plastic carry bags, multi-layered plastic sashes or pouches or who introduce plastic packaging in the market. They all need to establish a system for collecting back the plastic waste that is generated due to their products and this was to be done within a period of six months from the date of publication of these rules. But whether it was done or not is a big question. Now here the importers producers and brand owners had to work out these based on their extended producers responsibility. See extended producers responsibility means the responsibility of a producer for the environmentally sound management of the product until the end of life of that product which also includes collect bag system because if they collect back that plastic waste they can recycle it and they can reuse it and this collect bag system was expected to improve the collection of plastic waste its reuse and recycle in this regard. So now what is the way forward here? See instead of waiting for a ban from the government the Indian industry must voluntarily start putting a label on the personal care and cosmetic products saying that their products contain microplastics. Now once they put a label saying it contains microplastics it will enable the consumers to take responsibility of keeping the environment free from the impacts of microplastics and also until the ban is implemented the central drugs and standard control organization has an important role to play. We know that CDSCO is the body that administers the use of drugs among other things. Now this CDSCO must recognize the products that use intentionally added primary microplastics and it should equip themselves to restrict the use of such prohibited raw materials and here as a consumers we should also make a conscious effort to take informed decisions while purchasing such products we should first see whether our product contains microplastics and then if it does so we should look for the natural alternatives which that international brands have committed in countries where the use of microbeads is already banned. So this is the basic you need to know about microplastics and about the rules of 2016. Now coming to the editorial we saw that he talks about microplastic pollution in the river Ganga. Now the main reason for this pollution is the untreated sewage from cities along the river's course. Then other factors include the release of industrial waste into the river then even the religious offerings are a main reason for this pollution in river Ganga. We know that river Ganga is religiously important for Hindus so they conduct religious rituals along the river and sometimes the offerings are wrapped in the non-degradable plastics and they are thrown in the river saying that it is a religious ritual. Now these plastic products and waste materials which are dumped in the river they break down and they are eventually reduced to micro particles or in the case of plastics they turn into micro plastics and these micro particles and micro plastics are ultimately carried into the oceans by the river water and in turn they will pollute the ocean also. So how this could be controlled? See the way forward is to ensure the tight implementation of the plastic waste management rules and the solid waste management rules and here the focus shall be on ending single use plastics waste segregation then extended producer responsibility for the manufacturers and ensuring the recovery of materials. See even though the rules stipulate collecting back of plastic we are not sure that how many producers and brand owners actually do that. So this has to be ensured along with this the Swachh Bharat Abhyan shall also focus more on the reduced generation of plastic then full segregation of plastic and also the recycling of the plastic waste and that the global levels countries shall come together for a new global treaty banning plastic waste which is threatening the food web. Apart from all these now the government has introduced the draft plastic waste management amendment rules of 2021 these rules aim to amend the 2016 rules in fact they aim to expand the scope of 2016 rules. We will discuss about these rules some other day so let us hope that after getting inputs from all the stakeholders the plastic waste management rules will be made more stringent. So these are some of the points that you can take note from this editorial discussion now let us move on to the next discussion. Now our second discussion is going to be based on this editorial article which is relevant in the context of a recent Supreme Court judgment. This judgment has upheld the rights of nature. This judgment has been given in the case law MK Ranjith Singh and others versus Union of India and others and this case was pertaining to the dwindling population of great Indian busted. See the rights of nature is nothing but a legal and jurisprudential theory that describes the inherent rights associated with ecosystems and species. This is similar to the concept of fundamental human rights. So let us look into these aspects today. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. Now before getting into the editorial discussion let us understand about great Indian bastard to understand the case better. See historically the great Indian bastard was distributed throughout western India. It could be found across 11 states as well as in the parts of Pakistan. Its stronghold was once the Thar desert in the northwest. As you know in India Thar desert lies mostly in Rajasthan and extends into the southern portion of Haryana and Punjab states and also into the northern region of Gujarat state. It also extends to Pakistan and this species could be majorly found in the Thar desert that means in all these regions. But today its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat only and even small populations occur in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. This is because the busters generally favor flat open landscapes with minimal visual obstruction and disturbance. So they adapt well in the grasslands especially in the non-breeding season they visit wide agro grass scrub but in the breeding season that is between summers and monsoons they congregate in traditional undisturbed grassland patches with tall grasses but these tall grasses should be below 50 centimeter. It is because they avoid grasses taller than themselves and they even avoid the dense scrub like thickets. And if you look at the appearance of the species as you can see the bodies brownish and the wings are marked with black brown and gray colors. The males and females in the species generally grow to the same height and weight but males have larger black crown and a black band across their breast. So keeping these facts in mind let us look into the conservation status for these birds. See it is listed in Schedule 1 of Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and it is also listed in the appendix 1 of Sites and the CMS. And it has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List also and importantly it has also been identified as one of the species for the recovery program under the integrated development of wildlife habitats. This is a program of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Government of India. So now why does this species need an iron clad protection? It is because they are threatened by various human activities. See the biggest threat to the species is hunting which is still prevalent in Pakistan. This is followed by occasional poaching outside their protected areas and even the collisions with high-tension electric wires is a threat to them. Apart from this fast-moving vehicles and free-ranging dogs in villages are also a threat. See we saw that high-tension electric wires are a threat. Let us understand how. See the Great Indian Buster lacks frontal vision. So due to this they cannot detect power lines from far which is ahead of them. Additionally these birds are heavy birds so they are unable to maneuver across power lines within close distances. So they end up colliding with the power lines and taking cognizance of this issue only. Supreme Court has asked the Maharashtra government and the Gujarat government to install bird diverters over power lines and it has even asked the governments to make the rest of the power lines underground. So this is what the case has laid down. Now before we proceed further see the snippet from WWF website that is Worldwide Fund for Nature website. Here you can find certain list of species. These species are important from the exam perspective. So make sure that you brush your basics about them. Now coming back to the discussion see along with the measures relating to the power lines the apex court has also affirmed and emphasized the biocentric values while protecting the birds. So in this way let us understand what is biocentricism. See it is a philosophy. This philosophy of biocentricism says that the natural environment has its own set of rights that is rights of nature is recognized. But a contrarian philosophy to biocentricism is the anthropocentricism. Here you should understand that bio means nature, anthro means human. So anthropocentrism argues that of all the species on earth humans are the most significant and that all the resources on earth may be justifiably exploited for the benefit of human beings. And this theory is not new and all Aristotle, Immanuel, Kant, etc. they all subscribe to this line of thought only. Here you should take note that the debate between biocentricism and anthropocentricism could be a potential area of ethics question pertaining to the environmental ethics. And when such questions appears in an exam you are free to take any side if you are able to substantiate your standpoint. So when such questions are asked you will have to say what these philosophies are and you have to add some notable thinkers in this regard. So now let us see some examples where biocentricism as a philosophy has been absorbed as part of the jurisprudence. jurisprudence means a legal system. You can quote these examples in favor of biocentricism. Now let us look at the examples. See in September 2008 Ecuador became the first country in the world to recognize rights of nature in its constitution. Then Bolivia also joined this movement by establishing rights of nature laws. Then subsequently in November 2010 the city of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania became the first major municipality in the United States to recognize the rights of nature. So what about India? India is also not far behind because as we know the directive principles of state policies through article 48 capital A has affirmed the rights of nature and even the fundamental duties through article 51 A sub clause G has upheld the rights of nature. But we know that both DPSP and fundamental rights are not justiciable therefore India needs to do more in endorsing the rights of nature in line with article 21 of fundamental rights. But you should also remember we have other masterpieces of legislations that are worth acknowledging in this regard. These legislations include by live protection act, environmental protection act which safeguard these species. So with this we have come to the end of this discussion. In this discussion we saw about great Indian bastard, the threats to the species and we also saw the difference between biocentricism and anthropocentricism. We will just move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be an interesting one. We are going to discuss a technology that is gaining prominence. See this news article talks about 3D printing technology. It mentions that three students of IIT Madras have designed and created personal protective equipment using 3D printing technology that is DPP using 3D printing technology and often we also hear various applications of this 3D printing technology and that is why today we are going to focus on 3D printers. First what are 3D printers? See these 3D printers use computer aided design that is CAD from variety of materials. These materials could be molten plastic or powders. These printers use a layering method to create the desired object. They work from the ground up and pile on layer after layer until the object looks exactly like it was envisioned. These printers have extreme flexibility in what can be printed. They can use plastics to print rigid materials like sunglasses. They can also create flexible materials like phone cases or bike handles using a hybrid rubber or plastic powder. Some 3D printers even have the ability to print with a carbon fiber and metallic powders for extremely strong industrial products. So how does this actually work? See 3D printing is a part of additive manufacturing family. As the name implies additive manufacturing adds material to create an object and this additive manufacturing uses data from computer aided design software or 3D object scanners to direct the hardwares to deposit materials. These materials are deposited layer upon layer in precise geometric shapes. Now you may ask how it is different from traditional manufacturing? See additive manufacturers as we saw it adds material to create an object. But in traditional manufacturing if you see often it requires machining or other techniques to remove surplus materials. For example if you take a wooden furniture for that first we need to cut the tree and then we have to carve out each part of that furniture and then it is attached. But in this additive manufacturing materials are simply added to create an object. They are not carved out or they are not removed from the surplus material. So we can say that 3D printers uses similar methods to a traditional inkjet printer but it is different from a traditional inkjet printer because it works in two dimensions whereas 3D printer works in three dimensions. On a whole 3D printers are a combination of sophisticated software powder like materials and precision tools to create a three-dimensional object from scratch. So here we have given you a video which will show you how the material is added to create a vase. Now let us see why these 3D printers are important to the future. As we discussed 3D printers are incredibly flexible. They are incredibly accurate and fast which makes them a promising tool for the future of manufacturing. And today many 3D printers are used for rapid prototyping. So what is this rapid prototyping? See companies all over the world now employ 3D printers to create their prototypes in a matter of hours. Previously they used to waste months of time and potentially millions of dollars in research and development but now they can create a prototype in comparatively lesser time. And also 3D printers can virtually fill a hole in almost every industry that is it has applications in every industry. They are not just being used for prototyping. Many 3D printers are being tasked with printing finished products. For example if you take healthcare 3D printers are being used to create parts to fix the broken ventilators for the COVID-19 outbreak. And even the construction industry is actually using this futuristic printing method to print complete homes itself. And the schools all over the world are using 3D printers to bring hands-on learning to the classroom where they print three-dimensional dinosaur bones and robotic pieces. Therefore the flexibility and adaptability of 3D printing technology makes it an instant game changer for any industry. So that is all about 3D printing. Now let us move to the next discussion. Our next discussion is based on this news article which is the headline today. It mentions that 60 people have been killed due to landslips in Maharashtra. These landslips were triggered by intense rain in the western Maharashtra region and in the coastal Konkan region. And because of this heavy rainfall and due to water logging and disrupted connectivity the response from the national and state disaster response forces have been delayed. See when the monsoon fury starts many places in India witness landslips leading to loss of lives and property. So today let us understand what are these landslips, the areas prone to landslips in India and certain mitigation measures also. This topic is important from the disaster management perspective. Already we even have a mains question on these lines. That is in 2019 GS3 mains paper we had a question which asked us to explain how hazard zonation mapping will help disaster mitigation in case of landslides. Here the hazard zonation mapping is one of the disaster mitigation measures. So today we will discuss about that also. Before let us get to the discussion first of all know that landslip is nothing but the another term for landslide. So what are these landslides? Landslides are defined as the mass movement of rock debris or earth down a slope. That is these rock debris or earth they move down the slope and they cause landslides. And these mass movements are also called as mass wasting. These mass movements transfer the mass of rock debris down the slopes under the direct influence of gravity. And most often landslides take place in conjunction with earthquakes floods and volcano eruption. Particularly in the hilly terrain landslides have been a major and widely spread natural disaster which results in loss of life and property and therefore it has become a major concern. Here you should note that these landslides are quite rapid and perceptible movements. The size and shape of the detached mass depends on three things. One is the nature of discontinuities in the rock. Second one is the degree of weathering of that rock and most importantly the steepness of the slope also plays a role in the mass movements of the rocks debris or earth. You just remember that depending on the type of movement of material several types are identified in the landslides category. These types are slump, debris slide, debris fall, rock slide and rock fall. We will see about these categories some other day. Today let us focus on the landslides in India. See in India landslides occur very frequently in the Himalayas. This is because first the Himalayas are tectonically active or in other words they are relatively tectonically unstable and second they are mostly made up of sedimentary rocks and unconsolidated and semi-consolidated deposits. This is also a reason and third more importantly the slopes are very steep in Himalayas. We saw that steep slopes are a major reason for the mass movements of rocks and debris down the slope because they are aided by the gravity. Now on the other hand if we come to the Nilgiris and the western guards here also we can see landslides. However landslides here are not as frequent as in the Himalayas. This is because this region is relatively tectonically stable and mostly they are made up of hard rocks. Then why landslides happen in Nilgiris and western guards? See the main reason for this is that many slopes in this region are steeper and they also have almost vertical cliffs and escarpments. See a escarpment means a long steep slope at the edge of a plateau or the long steep slope at these separating areas of land at different heights. Now another reason is the mechanical weathering of rocks because temperature changes is pronounced in these regions and this weathering aids in mass movement. Then these regions also receive heavy amounts of rainfall over short periods like the one that is happening in Maharashtra now. So because of these reasons there is almost a direct rockfall quite frequently in these places along with landslides and debris avalanches. So now how this could be prevented or what is the disaster mitigation for landslides? See mitigation refers to reducing the severity or impact of a disaster. So how the impact of landslides could be reduced? One of the main measures is the hazard mapping. It should be done to locate areas prone to landslides. This should be done at the national and also at the local levels. See the main advantage of hazard mapping is the areas which are prone to landslides could be noted and such areas can be avoided for building settlements. Also note that at the national level we have this landslide hazard map. As you can observe here the Himalayas of the northwest and the northeast India and even the western guards are two regions that are highly vulnerable and prone to landslides. So simply using such hazard mapping at the local or regional levels activities can be regulated to minimize the impact of landslides on human lives and properties. Then apart from this we could even construct retention walls to stop land from slipping as you can see the ones in the picture. Then increase in vegetation cover is also an effective way to arrest landslides. See the roots of the trees go deeper and they may not across a fault plane or they tie the bedding surfaces. So the root reinforcement of vegetation cover plays a very important role in slope stability. If the slope is stable then we can effectively arrest landslide. Then another measure is the surface drainage control works. It is an important disaster mitigation measure because they control the movement of landslide along with rainwater and spring flows. These drainage control works prevent water courses from entering the slide prone area and they also help in diversion of all these springs that originate within the slide area. They are diverted to outside the landslide prone area. So these are some of the mitigation measures that can be used to reduce the effect of landslides. In this discussion we saw what are landslides. We saw landslide prone areas in India and we also saw some of the mitigation measures in this regard. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this next editorial article. It is regarding the significance of zero prevalence study. So today let us understand what do we mean by zero prevalence survey or study and why it is important. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. First what is a zero prevalence survey? See a zero prevalence survey uses antibody tests to estimate the percentage of people in a population who have antibodies against the SARS coronavirus too. This can tell us how many people in a specific population may have been previously infected with coronavirus that is SARS-CoV-2. In this regard recently in June 2021, the Ahmadabad municipal corporation conducted a zero prevalence survey and based on this only author argues the importance of zero prevalence. See this study in Ahmadabad was done by the city on its own. The result of this study showed that 81 percentage of the sample population in the city has COVID-19 antibodies. This is one of the highest rates seen anywhere. See the zero prevalence study measures only the antibodies. As we saw already it doesn't check the cell mediated immunity. Cell mediated immunity refers to the immune response that does not involve antibodies. So this kind of immunity cannot be measured by zero prevalence study. If we take the cell mediated immunity into account it can indicate that an additional 10 to 15 percentage of persons of Ahmadabad might be protected. So the proportion of people with some immunity protection in Ahmadabad may be close to 90 to 95 percentage. So this is one of the drawback of zero prevalence study but other than this the study is very important. It can help us to plan and decide the course of action regarding the control of COVID-19 virus. This is the reason why the Ahmadabad municipal corporation has been using zero prevalence study as a strategy against COVID-19 virus. This has even helped the city a lot. Even at the national level if you remember the National Institute of Epidemiology under the ICMR has conducted four rounds of zero survey so far and even the council of scientific and industrial research that is CSIR has conducted a nationwide zero survey already. And even the states have done citywide population based zero surveys. These states include Kanataka Kerala, Haryana West Bengal, Udisha, Delhi etc. So we can see that many states and institutions are relying on zero prevalence studies to plan the course of action. In this regard the author of the editorial appreciates the citywide population based zero surveys. This is mainly because herd immunity is usually a local geographical phenomenon. You all know that herd immunity is a form of indirect protection from the infectious disease. It can occur with some diseases when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection. So if herd immunity is achieved it reduces the likelihood of infection for individuals who lack immunity. Based on this the author of the editorial feels that zero prevalence study from cities will be the most reliable source for herd immunity. This is due to the fact that only these individual city studies will show the accurate percentage of the population who have antibodies against COVID-19 virus. Also combining many regions in a single survey may not give the accurate results and that is why individual citywide population based zero surveys are important. Let us understand this with an example. Take two cities Ahmedabad and Baroda and Gujarat. When the zero prevalence study was done individually these cities showed a very different immunity level. Ahmedabad showed 80 percentage immunity but Baroda showed 20 percentage immunity. So it shows that the people in Baroda were more vulnerable to the COVID-19 infection. But when a common study between these two cities was conducted it showed an entirely different inaccurate picture. The common zero prevalence study estimated that only 55 percentage of the persons of both the cities have immunity against COVID-19 virus. Along with this the common study also inferred that people in both cities have a high degree of vulnerability against COVID-19 virus. But that is not the reality. We saw that Ahmedabad is less vulnerable because more than 80 percentage of its population have antibodies. It has achieved herd immunity within its region already. But this could not be established in a common zero survey study. And this example shows that all major cities and towns should conduct their own zero prevalence study to estimate the level of protection and to estimate the proportion of the vulnerable population in that city. But this does not mean that we should ignore the nationwide zero prevalence study. It is because a nationwide zero prevalence study provides a bird's eye view of the situation. So we must keep doing that also. Along with this we should do city-based zero surveys also. So in this regard we already saw that the National Institute of Epidemiology has conducted four rounds of zero survey over the last 15 months. So this effort should be complemented. If you take the results from these surveys it showed that antibody levels increased from 0.7 percentage in April 2020 to 67 percentage in June 2021. It also showed a higher prevalence of antibodies in people above the age of 45. So we can see that these results are good. It shows that our country is gearing to achieve herd immunity. But these results must be taken with caution. It is because these studies were done with a sample of about just 29,000 people. Here you should understand sampling. Sampling is the process of selecting a small number of people or elements from a larger defined target group of elements. And this sample should be such that the information gathered from the small group will allow judgments to be made about the larger groups. And such kinds of sampling usually produces accurate results. But sometimes it can also lead to inaccuracy. And that is why caution is important. And we cannot declare we have achieved herd immunity based on these results itself. We can still have a major outbreak in specified geographical regions in the future because such kinds of outbreaks have already happened in other countries like United Kingdom and Israel. So now what could be done? See we have to combine both city specific and nationwide zero prevalence studies to plan our course of action. Only this can overcome our hurdles. We should have a nationwide plan as well as a city specific plan of actions. The urban local bodies and state governments should immediately launch rapid and successive rounds of zero service. Along with this zero prevalence studies should be done in all public hospitals and only such efforts can give us accurate information and it can guide us regarding the future course of action. Apart from this the zero prevalence studies can also guide us regarding the distribution of vaccines. See we all know that there is a vaccine shortage in our country. So we can use the zero prevalence study to deploy scarce vaccine resources to the places that are in most need of them. Also these zero prevalence studies can act as an evidence approach in making decisions like unlocking of cities and increasing economic activities. Another positive fact about zero prevalence studies is that they do not cost much. According to sources it will only cost 25 lakh to test 5000 people so it is practically feasible. And that is why the author of this editorial finally concludes that every major city with a population of more than 10 lakh should do a rapid zero surveillance survey and they should set up a sentinel surveillance to confirm the protection levels in the existing population and they should plan accordingly. The results of these studies will help us in evidence-based policy making. It will also help us in understanding the risk of opening up the economy and society and it will also guide us in deciding the priority population or priority region for vaccination. See India has over 40 cities with a million population so there is a urgent need to take up zero prevalence studies to help us guide about the COVID-19 control strategy throughout rural India and urban India. So this discussion was based on the importance of zero prevalence studies at the national level and also mainly at the city level. That is all. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Let us take up this news article. It discusses the views of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This article is regarding his statement to mark the 30th anniversary of the economic liberalization and the opening up of Indian economy. So in this context today let us discuss in brief about the 1991 economic reforms in India. See 1991 India met with an economic crisis relating to its external debt. The government was not able to make repayments on its borrowings from abroad. What happened was the foreign exchange reserves which maintained the import basket they dropped to levels that were not sufficient for even a fortnight. This crisis was further compounded by rising prices of essential goods. So all of this forced the government to introduce a new set of economic policies known as the 1991 economic reforms. Before 1991 all major post-independence economic crisis in India were caused by exogenous forces such as war, drought or global commodity shocks. But this 1991 crisis was induced by policy related issues and that is why it is said that 1991 crisis is a policy induced crisis par excellence and it did not develop overnight. The origin of this financial crisis can be traced from the inefficient management of Indian economy in the 1980s. See India's fiscal policy was already unstable in 1979. At that time India suffered the worst drought since independence. Along with this we also witnessed the global oil shock that was caused by Islamic revolution in Iran. Then the 7th finance commission in the year 1977 recommended a rather large increase in the state's share of central government's tax revenues and this was done even without any reduction in the center's responsibilities. Therefore central government's fiscal deficit increased and this period also witnessed a rise in food grain procurement prices and there was tax deduction on agriculture inputs. The fertilizer subsidies also increased tenfold during the Janatha government from 1977 to 1980s. Apart from these food and export subsidies grew rapidly and at the same time gradual import liberalization from 1976 onwards had quite expectedly manifested itself in the rapid growth of imports. So this was the scenario now to tide over the fiscal deficit crisis that is to handle this crisis India approached world bank and the international monetary fund and India received 7 billion dollars as loan. Now for availing the loan these international agencies expected India to liberalize and open up the economy. Hence India announced the new economic policy. This policy focused on creating a more competitive environment in the economy and it removed the barriers to entry of industries and growth of firms. These policy reforms fell under the three main categories which you famously know as liberalization privatization and globalization or in short LPG. Here liberalization aimed at opening up the Indian economy and privatization aimed at shedding of government ownership and management of firms. On the other hand globalization aimed at integration of our economy with the world economy. So this is the 1991 economic reforms and I think in the coming days we'll be seeing more about the reforms in the editorial forms. So let us discuss these liberalization privatization and globalization in detail at that time. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this editorial article which focuses on the Northern Ireland issue. See this is a continuing event that Britain faces after the Brexit. As you all know Brexit is the withdrawal of United Kingdom from the European Union and from the EUR atom. See EUR atom is nothing but the European atomic energy community. We all know that UK is not monolithic. If you look at this map you can see UK includes Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland as its parts. And in the island of Ireland is where the Republic of Ireland is situated. This republic is an independent country which is not part of United Kingdom. And here you should note that the British mainland and Ireland are separated through Irish Sea. Also the Republic of Ireland is still a part of European Union but it is not a part of United Kingdom. So various contentious issues come up because of this. One of the most thorny issue is about the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol. So let us understand these two. See within European Union there are no checks in trade. It is a free market area but when the goods enter from outside of European Union there are market checks and some items are even banned. For example chilled meat is banned. So when goods entered from Britain into the Republic of Ireland there will be checks because we saw that Republic of Ireland is not a part of United Kingdom but it is a part of European Union. And since now Britain exited European Union it has become an outside country and this is the problem. Also the Northern Ireland and Ireland have a violent past. Some say that they should be together and outside the United Kingdom. But this contention in violence was put to end through the Good Friday Agreement which was signed in the year 1998. The major provision of this agreement is that the border between the Northern Ireland and Ireland shall be soft with minimal checks on goods movement. See here the border of Northern Ireland is nothing but the border of United Kingdom because it is a part of UK. So now according to the Good Friday Agreement the movement of good shall be smooth without much hindrance or interference. But when UK was in the European Union enforcing this was not a problem because within the European Union there are no checks as we already saw. So between Northern Ireland and Ireland also there were no checks kept. But when Britain exited European Union the British Treaty of Northern Ireland was considered a non-European Union territory. And the Republic of Ireland was a European Union territory. And we saw that when goods from EU to non-EU country flows checks are put. So because of this the custom checks would kick in which would be against the Good Friday Agreement. Now next comes the North Ireland protocol. In this Article 16 is important. See this article can kick in if the trade gets affected. This North Ireland protocol is a part of Brexit agreement only and it is also a sticky issue. Because if this Article 16 kicks in the Good Friday Agreement will go for a toss. So as a compromise the checks were placed within the Britain that is before entering the Northern Ireland itself. Here you can see which forms a part of Ireland, what is Republic of Ireland, what is Northern Ireland and what forms Great Britain and where is Scotland, Wales, England etc. So in short because of the Brexit Northern Ireland protocol will be implemented and it will be contradicting to the Good Friday Agreement. So any one of them only can stay. And after the Brexit as we just saw Britain was conducting checks within Britain itself. And this is in line with the European Union norms. And then it will enter the Ireland from the Northern Ireland. But since these checks were kept within the United Kingdom the intra-country movement of goods got affected. That is the goods movement within the United Kingdom got affected. And the goods that can travel from Britain to Ireland in few days now go to Northern Ireland and then reach Ireland. Now this takes a lot of time so the perishable trade got greatly affected. And see even within Britain also because the goods movement to the Northern Ireland is difficult the Ireland sitting up trade with Northern Ireland itself. So empty supermarket shelves could be noted which happened due to the paralysed trade. Now because this issue is contentious and entangled it is making news often. Apart from this security issues are also an aspect that is making noise in this scenario. So in this discussion we saw what is the main issue between Ireland Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. Now let us move on to the next discussion which is the practice questions discussion. Our first question is based on 3D printing. It is a two statement question. First statement is 3D printing is part of additive manufacturing family and uses similar methods to a traditional inkjet printer. First half of the statement is correct. Second half is also correct. It is similar but it is not same. So this half is also correct and that is why this statement is correct. Second statement is 3D printers can only create flexible objects using a hybrid rubber or plastic powder. This statement is incorrect because we saw that 3D printers have extreme flexibility in what can be printed. They can use plastics to print rigid materials like sunglasses and we also saw that extremely strong industrial products can also be printed with carbon fiber and metallic powders. So this statement is incorrect and here the question asks for the correct statements. So the correct answer is option A one only. Now this next question is a previous question. It was asked in 2018 and it is about the applications of 3D printing. The question asks 3D printing has applications in which of the following preparation of confectionery items, manufacture of bionic ears, automotive industry, reconstructive surgeries, data processing technologies. First option is correct because we already have a 3D printed food restaurant in Netherlands. So it is a part of confectionery items. So it has applications in the food industry including the confectionery items. Second statement is also correct. This was done using a cell seeded hydrogel matrix. Then obviously it has applications in automotive industry because during discussion itself we saw how parts can be manufactured. Then obviously in reconstructive surgeries because 3D printing has already been used to help repair the damaged issue. Then option 5 is also correct. It is used in data processing technologies such as it is used to produce computer parts like circuit boards etc. And that is why the correct answer is option D. Now this next question is again a previous question which was asked in 2017 and it is based on the 1991 economic reforms. The question asks which of the following has or have occurred in India after its liberalization of economic policies in 1991. So here the question focuses on the liberalization part of the economic reforms. First statement share of agriculture in GDP increased. Second share of India's export in world trade increased. Third FDA inflows increased. Fourth India's foreign exchange reserves increased enormously. See fourth should be correct because during the discussion itself we saw that one of the major reasons for economic reforms was the dismal state of India's forex reserves. And we saw that India borrowed from World Bank and IMF. So this statement is correct so it should be an answer. So we can eliminate option C. Now FDA inflows increased is correct because we saw that liberalization means opening up our economy to the outside world. So due to this investments into our country increased after liberalization. So this option is also correct. So from the remaining options you can eliminate option A. Now we have to see whether one is correct or not because two is present in both. Share of India's exports in world trade increased. This is correct. Now share of agriculture in GDP increased enormously is incorrect because in the post reform period there was actually gradual decline in agricultural sector's contribution to the Indian economy. Before 1991 agriculture contributed to around 30 percentage but now it contributes to only 15 percentage. So this statement is incorrect so it should not be an answer that is the correct answer option B 2 3 and 4. So with this problems question let us take three main questions. You can answer these questions and post it in the comment section. Today we have questions from GS2 GS3 and GS4. So try to attend these questions as it has been formed from varied parts of our syllabus. So with this we have come to the end of the Hindi news analysis for today. If you like this video don't forget to like comment and share and subscribe to Shankar IIS Academy YouTube channel for more updates related to civil service examination preparation.