 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Aayush Akrami. These are the news articles chosen for today's discussion. They are given along with the page number of different traditions. Link for the handwritten notes in PDF format and the timestamping for the discussed articles are given in the description box as well as the comment section for the benefit of the mobile viewers. First, before going into the article discussion, let us discuss a past prelims question. This question was asked in 2019. See past prelims question is a valuable resource. So when you are practicing prelims question, include a lot of past prelims question in your practice. They will help you to analyze the style of questions asked in UPSC. They will also help you to filter the information when you are studying a concept. So with this knowledge in mind, let us discuss this question. In the context of which one of the following are the terms pyrolysis and plasma gasification mentioned. Option A, extraction of earth element. Option B, natural gas extraction technologies. Option C, hydrogen fuel based automobiles. Option D, waste to energy technologies. See when you look at this question from outside, it looks like a tough question but it is not. It is a conceptual scientific question and moreover, this question is directly asked from Shankar Aayush Akrami environment book. So these kind of questions are treasure. You have to maximize your score by getting these questions correct. See many aspirants miss the cutoff by 0.5 marks. So when opportunity like this provides, for example, a question like this directly comes in prelims, make sure you get it right. You can get it right through practice and constant revision. So coming back to this question, this question mentions the term pyrolysis. The concept of pyrolysis is clearly explained in Shankar Aayush Akrami environment book, 6th edition page 73. The image of the page and the concept of pyrolysis is displayed on the screen. This is the proof. So if a person has studied this basic material, if he has revised this basic material, you would get this question correct very easily. So make sure you are studying the standard books multiple times. Revision plays a major role for getting the maximum marks. Now coming back to pyrolysis, what is pyrolysis? See pyrolysis is a process of combustion in absence of oxygen or the material burnt under controlled atmosphere of oxygen. The gas and liquid obtained through pyrolysis can be used as fuels. See to put it in simple words, during pyrolysis, we burn organic materials or we burn carbonaceous waste. Carbonaceous means substances which contain carbon, which means organic substances. So we take organic waste like firewood, coconut, palm waste, corn combs, cashew, shell rays, husk, paddy straw, sawdust. So we take waste materials like these organic substances and we burn the substances in absence of oxygen or controlled atmosphere of oxygen. And through this burning and through this pyrolysis, we get useful products like charcoal, tar, methyl alcohol, acetic acid, acetone and fuel gas. So from waste, we are generating products which can produce us energy. So the correct option is option D, waste to energy technologies. See what can we infer from this question. Conceptional understanding of topic is very important. So whenever you are studying for UPSC, make sure you understand the concepts. Rot learning will not help you in UPSC. Analytical understanding helps you in UPSC. And make sure you study the standard materials twice or thrice before exam. So that when you get the easiest question, you can get the maximum score. Now let us go on to the article discussion. Now let us take up this op-ed. This op-ed talks about two main things. It talks about India's cultural makeup. It also talks about how each culture is embedded in the social fabric of our nation. So these two topics are heavily discussed in this op-ed. See this op-ed discussion is very relevant for GS paper one. And if you are from sociology optional, you can use this op-ed as case study for your answers. So please give priority to this open editorial. See recently there has been a proposal for a universal civil code. This editorial article has come up as a counter argument for the proposal of universal civil code. It plays a devil's advocate. Let us discuss about it. The relevant syllabus is displayed on the screen. Aspirants can go through it. First, what is universal civil code? See universal civil code is where all the civil procedures of a nation is uniformly laid down. So the civil procedure of the entire country is uniform. It doesn't vary. To put it in simple words, it is the formulation of one law for the entire nation. This law will be common for all religious communities. When it comes to marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, the entire nation will have a common law. To put it in simple words, all the civil procedures in our country will have the uniform law. This is universal civil code, UCC. See in our country we have a variety of cultures. India is known for its unity in diversity. Right now, in order to accommodate various cultures, we have different code of laws for different sections of country. For example, Hindus are governed by the Hindu Marriage Act. The Hindu Marriage Act is largely inspired from Manusmiti. Whereas Muslims' marriages are governed by Shariatla. So we can see the laws are different across various communities. Also, even within a religion, different laws exist for different states. Let me explain this with an example. For example, let us take up a Muslim marriage. If that Muslim couple is getting married in Jammu and Kashmir, it is compulsory to register a marriage. This is according to JNK 1981 Act. So based on this Act, if a couple is getting married in Jammu and Kashmir, it is compulsory to register. Whereas if the same couple is getting married in West Bengal, the registration of marriage is optional. So we can see there are different set of laws for a single social act of marriage. We have created these different laws to accommodate our various cultures in our country. But recently, there has been a proposal to make these laws uniform. For this reason, UCC has been proposed. See, universal civil code is also constitutionally sanctioned under Article 44. We all know that Article 44 of DPSP talks about universal civil code, but it is not enforceable. So from an outsider perspective, it makes sense to support universal civil code. We will have a common law throughout our nation. It makes us vote for UCC. It makes us to support UCC. But according to the author, having a universal civil code can be detrimental to our culture and harmony. It can affect the peace and harmony of our culture. In order to support this stand, the author has quoted few studies in this editorial. Let us discuss about it. The case studies which I am going to discuss can be quoted in your GS Main's paper one answers. It can also be used by sociology students. So pay attention. The first study is based on a survey. This survey was conducted by Pew Research Center. See, Pew Research Center is a US-based research center. It has conducted a survey about religious tolerance in India. So according to this survey, Indians of all faiths and religions support both religious tolerance as well as religious segregation. We can see this is a paradox. Most of the Indians support religious tolerance as well as religious segregation. See, in this survey, most Indians have said that all religions are very important to them. And they also believe all religious group must be allowed to practice their faith freely. This shows that most Indians support religious tolerance. But at the same time, they have also said religious group should be segregated and they should live and marry within their own community. So this is religious segregation. So at the same time, Indians have supported religious tolerance as well as religious segregation. To put it in simple words, they respect other faiths. But they don't want to marry into other faiths. They want to get married within their own cultural groups. This is the gist of the study. So we can say bringing universal civil code for a country like India may affect this cultural harmony because this is a delicate mix. We support segregation as well as tolerance. No other country has this kind of cultural setup. See, India's cultural model is a unique one. It is a beautiful one. No other country has a similar situation. BBC Asia has compared India's cultural setup to a thali. Let me explain this. See, we have many cultural models throughout the world. The most famous one is melting pot. A melting pot is where diverse cultures blend into one common national identity. This is called as melting pot. This is highlighted by this figure. We can see a lot of cultures, they're melting into a single pot and they form a single national identity. USA is the most common example for melting pot. There's also another cultural model. This is called as salad bowl. In salad bowl, different cultures retain their specific characteristics while assimilating into one national identity. So we can see different cultures mix into the salad, but they still retain their own identity. But India is neither a melting pot nor a salad bowl. It is a unique system called thali. BBC has called this cultural model as thali. See, thali is an indie word. It means a meal plate. See, thali is an Indian meal which comprises of separate dishes and these dishes are kept on a same plate. So according to BBC Asia, Indian culture is similar to this thali plate. The cultures are similar to various dishes on this plate. Though they are kept on the same plate, they are separate. So this unique cultural model is called thali model. You can use this as value addition in your mains answer. So from this, we can conclude that in India, we exclude another culture from our own religious practice while still being tolerant of other cultures. The various studies we have discussed highlight this same point. We respect other culture and religion, but we still like to maintain our own identity. We like to marry within our own community. We like to be religiously segregated from another religion. See, this concept of religious tolerance as well as religious segregation is very unique. It has a particular name. This is called as Asian cosmopolitanism. This term was coined by Ashish Nandi. See, Asian cosmopolitanism had developed in regions which have to accommodate not just diversities, but radical diversities. See, radical diversity is nothing but star cultural differences. The cultural differences are very huge. So in regions where there are star cultural differences, this kind of Asian cosmopolitanism has developed. We respect other religion, but we also remain to be segregated. So the author of the editorial feels that it might be dangerous if different cultures are brought together in the same space. See, right now, various communities are harmoniously coexisting. They even help each other. Through some everyday mechanisms of coping, we accommodate these cultural differences. It has organically evolved on its own. The cultural differences in our society are adjusted without pressuring members of one community to be like the other. This is called as an heroic form of tolerance. This unheroic form of tolerance allows interaction without forcing one to adopt the other community's practice. So bringing universal civil code will affect this ecosystem. The author fears that universal civil code may affect this harmonious coexistence. It may affect this unheroic form of tolerance. See, the author of the editorial finally concludes by saying the existing model of culture in India has a stable balance based on mutual respect. So in this scenario, trying to force one culture to follow an alien cultural practice based on universal brotherhood can prove disasters to our country. So in this scenario, trying to force one culture to follow an alien culture based on universal brotherhood can prove disasters to our country. So these are the points highlighted in this editorial. Hope this helps. You can use this case studies as value addition in your main sensor. So surely students can make use of this article. It is highly valuable. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Now look at this news article. This news article is regarding a recent survey conducted by ICMR. ICMR stands for Indian Council of Medical Research. See, according to the recent survey by the ICMR, almost two-thirds of India's population have antibodies against coronavirus. India's population is approximately 120 crores. So nearly 60 crore population have antibodies against coronavirus. So this shows that nearly 40 crore people are still vulnerable to the COVID infection. So in order to avoid future waves of infection, ICMR has suggested to avoid social, public, religious and political gatherings. ICMR has also discouraged non-essential travel to avoid future waves of infection. So these are the important points highlighted in this article. So with this article in context, let us discuss in brief about antibodies and their functions. Syllabus for reference is displayed on the screen. Interested aspirants can go through it. First, what is an antibody? See, antibody is a protein produced by the body's immune system. When our body is exposed to harmful substances called antigens, our body's immune system produces a protein called antibody. Some of the examples of antigens are bacteria, fungi, parasites, virus, and chemicals. So when these harmful substances called antigens attacks our body, our immune system produces a protein called antibody. I hope this is clear. Now let us understand the role of antibodies in human immune system. See, as we have already discussed, antibodies are proteins produced by the body to destroy disease-carrying organisms. So each antibody can bind to only one specific antigen. The purpose of this binding is to help destroy the antigen. Some antibodies destroy antigens directly. Whereas other antibodies make it easier for white blood cells to destroy the antigen. So some antibodies work directly, whereas other antibodies work indirectly. But it is important to know that antibodies are disease specific. That is the most important point. For example, if a person has measles antibody, it will protect the person only against measles. It won't protect the person against bugs, or mumps, or some other diseases. So antibodies are disease specific. Coronavirus antibody will protect you against only coronavirus. It won't protect you against HIV virus. So so far we have discussed about antibodies, role of antibodies, and disease specific nature of antibodies. Now let us discuss about active and passive immunity. See, through antibodies, a person can get active or passive immunity. Now let us understand both. Let me explain active immunity with an example. Imagine a person is exposed to a particular disease. Let us take coronavirus. So his body produces antibodies against the coronavirus. So his immunity system naturally produces antibodies against the coronavirus. So this natural production of antibodies by an immune system is called active immunity. The key word is natural production of antibodies. So through this natural production, we can achieve active immunity. And if the active immune person comes into contact with the disease in the future, his immune system will automatically recognize that disease. It will then immediately produce antibodies to fight the disease. So active immunity is long lasting. It is not temporary. The best example for active immunity is chicken pox. Most of us got chicken pox in our childhood days. So once you get exposed to chicken pox, your body produces antibodies against that virus. This will give you active immunity against the chicken pox. So in future, even if you are exposed to chicken pox, your body will automatically fight the chicken pox. So we can see active immunity is long lasting. We are using this concept of active immunity through vaccination. Through vaccination, we are giving actually a weak form of virus or a killed virus to that person. So through exposing the person to this virus, we are producing antibodies naturally in their immune system. This is an active immunity through the process of vaccination. This type of immunity is also called vaccine induced immunity. So I hope past friends can understand about active immunity. The keywords are natural production of antibodies and it is a long lasting immunity. Now let us see about passive immunity. See one can guess the features of passive immunity from the discussion of active immunity. Active immunity is long lasting whereas passive immunity is temporary. Whereas in passive immunity, we are giving ready made antibodies directly to that person. For example, imagine a person infected with coronavirus. But his body is not naturally producing the antibodies. It is taking lot of time and that person is in severe condition. So what we are doing is we are taking antibodies from blood products and we are giving him directly to that person. These ready made antibodies, which is given to the blood products will fight the coronavirus. This is called passive immunity. Passive immunity is temporary immunity. It is not long lasting. Another best example for passive immunity is mothers milk. See mothers milk contains a substance called colostrum. It is yellowish fluid. This colostrum is abundant in antibodies. So these antibodies protect the infant as long as that infant takes the mothers milk. These antibodies through the mothers milk protect the infants temporarily against diseases. This is the best example for passive immunity. The major advantage of passive immunity is that protection is immediate. Active immunity usually takes days and several weeks to develop. A person get exposed to disease and his immune system takes days or weeks to produce the antibodies naturally. Whereas in passive immunity, we are giving the antibodies in a ready made form. So it is an immediate form of protection. But it is a temporary form of protection whereas active immunity is long lasting. So these are the key points regarding active immunity and passive immunity. You can expect these kind of questions in prelims. They may give a statement regarding active immunity, passive immunity, antibodies and they may ask a question which of those statements are correct. So always have a conceptual understanding of scientific things. Now coming back to antibodies, see in order to detect coronavirus we do antibodies test. Through this antibodies test we detect whether the person has been exposed to coronavirus. See as I already explained when a person is exposed to coronavirus he or she will produce antibodies to fight that virus. So that antibodies will be present in the system. Through the detection of these antibodies we test whether the person has been exposed to coronavirus. This is called antibody detection test. I hope the concepts are clear. With this we have come to the end of this discussion. In this discussion we saw about antibodies, role of antibodies, about active immunity and passive immunity. Now let us move on to the next article. Now let us take up these two editorial articles. These two editorial articles talk about the same pegasus candle. See the pegasus candle is continuously being in the limelight in recent times. We all know this. So with this background these two editorials have been written. These editorials talk about the need for government regulation and parliamentary oversight when it comes to intelligence gathering. So in this context let us have a comprehensive analysis on the important points mentioned in this article. The syllabus covered by this editorial article is highlighted below for your reference. Interested aspirants can go through it. See we have already discussed about pegasus in detail. We all know it is a spyware. Once it installs in your phone, it infiltrates your phone and collects all data activity, behavior and sends it to the attacker. We all know this. It is being used to target important people around the world. So these are the basic information regarding pegasus. We have discussed about pegasus in detail in our daily news analysis. Now let us move on to the article. What is the recent issue? See recently a list was published. This list was regarding the potential targets of surveillance using the pegasus spyware and this list contained around 1000 Indian phone numbers. This means that a list of Indian citizens has become target to a surveillance campaign by a government entity, Indian or foreign. This list of pegasus potential target has created a huge scandal in our country and this editorial is written in this backdrop. Now let us see the important points mentioned in this editorial. First the author of the editorial supports the surveillance. He is not against it. He agrees that surveillance is essential in today's world where there is lot of insurgency and terrorist attacks. But the author of the editorial believes that the surveillance should be done only on limited terms. Limited terms means there must be a lot of restriction on this surveillance. Without this restriction, the surveillance may go in excess. This can be mutually dangerous. The author of the editorial fears that excess surveillance dilutes the essence of her democracy. It can prevent a person from enjoying his liberty. It can risk the privacy of the individual. It can affect the freedom of thought and speech of a person. It also infringes upon the rule of law upon which our constitution is built. Also the information obtained illegally through this excess surveillance can be used to compromise institutions. It can be used to steal elections. It can be used to sabotage opposition campaigns. It can even dislodge an opposition government. So the consequence of excess surveillance is very huge. It is also highly threatening. But so far our government claims that its surveillance is authorized and justified. It has not involved with excess surveillance. But the author of the editorial fears that this is not true. In the past there have been several instances where the surveillance powers of government were misused for personal and political gain and it was also used to arouse opponents. The author explains this misuse with an example. For example in the year 2012, a new government took power in Imarchal Pradesh. After taking power the new Imarchal Pradesh government raided the police agencies. During the raid they recovered over a lack phone conversation. These were phone conversations of political members and senior police officials. They were illegally collected for misuse for personal and political gain. You can use this example as valuation in your main sense. Similarly in the past, there have been many non-state actors who were engaged in illegal surveillance. There are a lot of proof for this. But so far only a few people are held legally accountable for this unlawful surveillance. Many have escaped the accountability and still illegal surveillance and excess surveillance is continued. Now it raises a question. Whether surveillance of individuals are legally backed in India. Whether it has legal backing. See according to the author of the editorial, there is legal backing when it comes to surveillance of individuals. For example, Section 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Rule 409a of the Telegraph Rules and Section 69 and 69b of the IT Act. They all authorize interception and monitoring of communications. So there is legal backing of surveillance of individuals. But there are a lot of issues. The applicability of this loss is certainly not clear. There is a lot of ambiguity. This ambiguity leads to a lot of loopholes and it can be misused. Also these rules and laws allows only a limited number of agencies. The powers to intercept and monitor. So there is no accountability and there is no check and balance. This lack of clarity and ambiguity in laws are illegally used by government for excessive surveillance. They are also used by non-state actors to control important persons. See when we are talking about surveillance, it is important to know a supreme court case. The name of the case is K.S. Puttoswami case. This judgment was given in the year 2017. According to this K.S. Puttoswami judgment, any invasion of privacy could only be justified if it satisfies three test or three criteria. What are those three criteria? The restriction must be by law. It must be necessary and proportionate. And it must promote a legitimate state interest. So only when these three tests are satisfied, invasion of privacy could be justified. The surveillance could be justified. But so far many of the surveillance programs in India do not satisfy these tests. For example, we have surveillance like CMS, TCIS, NETRA, CCTNS. None of the surveillance program satisfy the three tests posted during K.S. Puttoswami judgment. This is a major issue. Also in the year 2018, we constituted a committee called Srikrishna Committee. This committee was formed after the K.S. Puttoswami judgment. According to this committee most of the India's intelligence agency are potentially unconstitutional. So this highlights the severity of the situation when it comes to illegal surveillance. So what can be done? See, according to the author of the editorial the existing and functioning intelligence agency should be brought into a legal framework. Many standing committees have recommended this. By bringing these intelligence agencies into a legal framework, we will give them legal backing and we will also establish accountability. Also according to the author of the editorial, the government should be more transparent when it comes to the issue of phone surveillance. See, our government, instead of being transparent about phone surveillance, blatantly denies illegal surveillance in India. This has created a lot of doubts in citizens' mind. So by being transparent about phone surveillance in India, our government can increase the trust among the citizens. It can explain to citizens what it intends to do to protect them from threat. It won't keep our citizens in dark. So the first point is regarding legal backing. Second point is regarding transparency. Now let us move on to the third point regarding the way forward. The author of the editorial suggests that a joint parliamentary committee should be created to investigate the recent Pegasus scandal. Only by creating this committee, truth can be unearthed about these recent scandals. Only by unearthing the truth, the trust of citizens can be increased. So the first point is legal backing of intelligence agencies. Second point is government must be transparent and third point is joint parliamentary committee. So these are the way forward when it comes to surveillance. In addition to all this, the author of the editorial finally concludes by saying we need to professionalize intelligence gathering and we have to bring intelligence agency under parliamentary oversight. We should make this intelligence agency non-partisan and we should also ensure civil liberties and we should also protect the rule of law. Only by implementing all these steps, a proper trustworthy surveillance mechanism can be established in India. So these are the important points highlighted in this editorial. So with this, we have come to the end of this discussion. Now let us move on to the next part of our discussion. Now look at this news article. See the news in this article is not important. It is a political news. UPSC usually don't ask political news. But this article mentions the word Lingayats. See this term Lingayats is important from culture perspective. You can expect the problems as well as main question regarding Lingayats from culture perspective. So in this context, let us learn about Lingayats. See the Lingayats were formed as a religious community. It was formed as a religious sect devoted to the worship of Lord Shiva. But now this sect has developed into a caste. The Lingayats are known by various names. They are known as Lingavans, Lingangings, Shivabakas. But the most prominent name is Virshevas. This is the reason why in this news article they are referred to as Virshevas. Both Virshevas as well as Lingayats means the same sect of people. See the Lingayats during its formation was a non-caste religion. It included people from all four divisions of caste. It included Brahmins, Shatriyas, Vaishyas as well as Shudras. So it is a non-caste religion. Lingayats didn't believe in caste divisions. They also acknowledged the supremacy of Vedas, but they didn't participate in any sacrifices. They didn't believe in performance of sacrifices, even though they respected Vedas. See this religious sect was formed in 12th century. After its formation, it spread rapidly to the south India, mainly in the Kannada region, present day Karnataka. This religion was started by a great Lingayat saint called Basavana. He is also called as Basava or Basavesvara. These are the other names for Basavana. He created this religion as a special form of Shiva worship, and his followers were called as Lingayats. This movement is also referred to as Virsheva movement. So these are the important points regarding Lingayats. Now let us see about Basava. See Basava or Basavana, he was born in a Brahmin family, but he refused to accept the sacred thread of Brahmin family. He didn't wear that sacred thread. Instead of following the rules of Brahminism, he declared himself a devotee of Lord Shiva, and he proclaimed that he has come to destroy the distinctions of caste. So many historians believe that aim of Basavana was to abolish the caste system. He is seen as one of the prominent social reformists. Basavana believed in egalitarian views. What is egalitarian views? See egalitarian is a principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities. It basically believes in equality of all. That is egalitarian views. So Basavana was a great promoter of egalitarian views. He believed in enlightenment and welfare of all people. This also includes low caste as well as outcast people. That is the people who were rejected by the society. They were usually called as untouchables. He believed in enlightenment and welfare of even the untouchables. This is a reason why Lingayats are non-caste religion during its formation. In addition to all this, Basavana also believed in remarriage of widows. So we can see he is one of the most prominent social reformer. He gave all these social reforms in 12th century itself. Not in modern India. It is 12th century. That is medieval India. Basavana also established a Mandapa called Anubhava Mantapa. See Anubhava Mantapa means spiritual parliament. In this Anubhava Mantapa, hundreds of Sharanas took part in spiritual discussion. See Sharanas are nothing but people who are Sharanas. See Sharanas are people who have dedicated themselves to serve humanity and God. So the Sharanas met in Anubhava Mantapa and took part in spiritual discussions. The Sharanas included both men as well as women. So women were also included in Lingayats. This is another important point. This spiritual gathering also included people from all castes, subcastes and various communities. So it is an egalitarian gathering. After the spiritual discussion, they published a writing. This writing is called as Vachana writings. Vachana means poetry. Through this Vachana writings, Lingayats established a Kalyana Raj or Kalyana Rajya. Kalyana Rajya means welfare state. Kalyana means welfare. Rajya means state. So Lingayats were a great promoter of the concept welfare state. See these kind of points can be used as value addition in your ethics answer. When you are writing the concept of welfare state in ethics, you can use these examples as value addition. It will make your answer different. See similar to Basavana, there was another reformer called Chana Basava. Both Basavana and Chana Basava preached new doctrines. Chana Basava is a nephew of Basavana. The acts and doctrines of Basava and Chana Basava are described in two Puranas. The name of the Puranas are Basava Purana and Chana Basava Purana. So so far we have discussed about Lingayats, Basava and Chana Basava. Now we have to discuss about another important reformer. The name of the reformer is Ramaya. See Ramaya was a contemporary of Basava. This is an important point. It is believed that both Basava and Ramaya were mainly responsible for the rise of Lingayat doctrine. So they were both contemporary reformers and they played a huge role for the rise of Lingayat doctrine. See Basava and his Lingayats aim to establish homogeneous community composed of all grades and caste. But after his death, the community gradually drifted into the caste system. Now Lingayats are not known as a religious sect, rather they are known as a caste sect. This is a cruel irony. With this we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion we saw about Lingayat, Basavana, Chana Basava and Ramaya. We also discussed about Anubhava Mantapa. These points are very important from prelims as well as main perspective. You can expect cultural questions from these areas. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Now look at this news article. See Kerala has been having cases of Zika. So on those lines let us refresh about Zika. See Zika virus is a mosquito born Flavivirus. So Zika virus was first identified in monkeys in the year 1947 in Uganda. This is the key point. So the first identification of Zika in humans was in the year 1952 in the place of Uganda and Tanzania. See recently in March 2015, Brazel reported a large outbreak of Zika virus. And also in July 2015, Zika was found to be associated with Gilean Bares syndrome. And in October 2015 Brazel reported an association between Zika virus infection and microcephaly. So that is why Zika virus is serious and we have to study about it. So these are the important points regarding the recent developments of Zika. Now let us understand the basic information regarding Zika. Let us begin with transmission patterns of Zika. See Zika virus is primarily transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. The name of the mosquito is ADES Egypti. It belongs to ADES genus. These ADES mosquitoes usually bite during the day especially during early morning and late afternoon or evening. This is the prime active time of ADES mosquitoes. It is important to note that the same mosquito ADES Egypti is responsible for transmission of dengue, chicken gunia and yellow fever. See Zika virus is transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy. It is also transmitted through sexual contact. It is also transmitted through transmission of blood and blood products and organ transplantation. So these are the ways Zika virus or Zika infection spreads. Now let us look into the signs and symptoms of Zika virus. The incubation period of Zika virus is estimated to be 3 to 14 days. What is incubation period? The time from exposure to symptoms. This is called as incubation period. See majority of the people infected with Zika virus do not develop symptoms. Even if they develop symptoms it is usually generally mild. For example fever, rash conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, ADEK. So symptoms are usually mild and most of them do not even develop symptoms. These symptoms usually last for 2 to 7 days. Then why Zika virus is dangerous? See Zika virus infection of the mother during pregnancy is a cause of microcephaly. What is microcephaly? See microcephaly is a condition where the newborn baby has a small head. This newborn infant will also have other abnormalities. In addition to all this Zika virus also causes pregnancy complications. For example it causes still birth, preterm birth, fetus loss. So this is why Zika virus is considered very dangerous. See besides these Zika virus infection also trigger a syndrome called Guillain-Barr syndrome. What is this syndrome? See Guillain-Barr syndrome is a syndrome that usually affects the nervous system, neuropathy and militis. So this is why Zika virus is considered dangerous. Another important problem is there is no treatment available for Zika virus. Since most of the Zika virus patients do not develop symptoms or they develop mild symptoms they are usually given lot of rest they are asked to drink lot of fluids they are treated with pain medications, fever medication that is the present treatment available. There is no treatment available for this Zika virus. There is only treatment available for this symptoms. So right now only prevention of Zika virus is available not treatment of Zika virus. So when it comes to Zika virus prevention is always better than Q. So prevention of mosquito bites is an important aspect of preventing Zika virus spread. What can be done? We can use mosquito nets. We can prevent water stagnation. We can keep the surrounding areas clean and we can take other measures which will reduce the mosquito increase and thereby we can prevent mosquito bites. So these are the points regarding Zika virus. We discussed about origin of Zika virus. The pattern of transmission of Zika virus. Symptoms of Zika virus. Complications associated with Zika virus we discussed about Gillian bear syndrome we discussed about microcephaly and we also discussed about treatment of Zika virus or to put it in precise lack of treatment with respect to Zika virus. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Now let us take up this news article for discussion. See according to this article Pedro Castillo has become the next president of Peru. So in this context let us discuss some important facts regarding Peru. See as you can see in the map Peru is a country that is located in the western part of South America. Its capital is Lima. It shares borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile. See Peru is the third largest country in South America. The first two are Brazil and Argentina. Third one is Peru. See Peru has an enormous territory. It is composed of three main regions coast, islands and jungle. So these are the three main regions of Peru and Spanish is the official language of Peru. See Peru is near the equator. So it is essentially a tropical country. But in spite of its tropical location Peru has a great diversity of climates. It has a great diversity of ways of life. It has great diversity of economic activities. It is a beautiful country. And it is also important to note that Amazon covers nearly half of Peru. We all know that Amazon is the largest rainforest of the world and it covers nearly 50% of Peru territory. So we can see Peru has different ecosystem. It serves as home to a wider variety of plants and animals. For example animals like jaguar, birds like arpeggio, animals like sea lions, umboldt penguins, llamas, alpecas are some of the unique spaces which are found here. It is environmentally beautiful and diverse. Now when we are talking about the constitution of Peru, it provides for religion of freedom. See when we are talking about the constitution of Peru, it provides for freedom of religion. Even though the major part of the people practice Roman Catholicism. So major population of Peru are Roman Catholics inspired of that Peru constitution provides for freedom of religion. See Peru has a wealth of mineral resources. It has gold, it has silver, it has petroleum fields. But in spite of this abundant of resources Peru is still a less developed country. Its economy is heavily dependent upon the export of raw materials to the more developed countries of the northern hemisphere, especially North America. So in spite of all these resources, Peru is still a less developed country. See as we can see from the map, Peru has a long coastline. So it is one of the world's leading fishing countries. It also ranks among the largest producer of bismuth, silver and copper. Though it is gifted with lot of resources and wealth, it faces lot of problems. For example, Peru has faced extensive destruction of transportation and agriculture system by natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, ellino rains and various other natural disasters. So these natural disasters have affected the transportation and agriculture system of Peru. And because of this, Peru is a less developed country inspired of abundant of resources. So these are the important points regarding Peru. We have discussed about the geographical location of Peru, the environmental diversity of Peru and the wealth resources of Peru. And finally we discussed about the issue faced by the Peruvian economy. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Now look at this article. This article is regarding the Irula Tribes in Tamil Nadu. See recently, the Irula Tribes residing in Narayampudu in Kanjupuram district has received patta documents. What is patta? See patta is a Tamil word. It means a legal document. So patta is a legal document issued by the government in the name of actual owner of a particular plot of land. So patta acts as a proof of owning that land. So with this move, Irulas are expected to get housing and livelihood support from the government. This is the gist of this article. So in this context, let us discuss in brief about Irula Tribes. See Irulas are one of the primitive tribal groups in Tamil Nadu. They mainly inhabit the northern districts of Tamil Nadu. The name Irula is derived from the Tamil word Irul. Irul means dark. So the name Irula means people of darkness. This could refer to their dark color skin or to the fact that all important events of Irula Tribes traditionally took place in the darkness of night. So these may be the reasons why they are called as Irula Tribes because of the color of the skin or traditionality of the activities. See the Irula speak the Irula language as a mother tongue. The language is called Irula language. This language is a member of the Dravidian family. Now let us discuss about the livelihood of Irulas. The original occupation of these tribes were rat and snake catching. But now cattle breeding is the main source of Irula Tribes. Now cattle breeding is the main source of income for Irula Tribes. They also work as laborers in the fields during the serving and harvesting seasons. So from rat and snake catching they have shifted to agriculture and cattle breeding. Now let us come to the most important point. See Irulas are one of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups, PVTG's from Tamil Nadu. In India there are 75 PVTG's and Irula are one of the important PVTG's from Tamil Nadu. Other PVTG's from Tamil Nadu are Kartinayakans, Kotas, Kurumbas, Panyans and Todas. In the past there have been questions about PVTG in prylums. So this area is very important. Now let us discuss in brief about PVTG's. See PVTG's are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. Due to this factor more developed and assertive tribal groups take a major chunk of the tribal development funds. So this means that the PVTG's need more funds directed for their development. So in 1973 the Debar commission created primitive tribal groups, PVTG's as a separate category. They were the less developed among the tribal groups. In the year 1975 the government of India initiated to identify the most vulnerable tribal groups as PVTG's. They form the separate category. The government declared 52 groups as PVTG's in the year 1993 an additional 23 tribes were added to this group. So at present India has 75 particularly vulnerable tribal groups. India has 75 PVTG's. These PVTG's are found in 18 states and they are found in the union territory of Andaman and Nicaragua. See it is important to note that before 2006 the PVTG's were called as PTG's. That is particularly vulnerable tribal groups were called as particularly tribal groups. See the concept is same but the name was different. Before 2006 they were called as PTG's. After 2006 they were called as PVTG's. See there are four criteria's for identifying PVTG's. What are those four criteria's? Pre-agricultural level of technology. Low level of literacy. Economic backwardness. And declining or stagnant population. So these are the four categories of identifying PVTG's. So with this we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion we saw about Irla tribes and we also discussed about PVTG's in great detail. Now let's move on to the next discussion. First question. Which of the following country does not share its border with Peru? Ecuador. Be Paraguay. See Colombia. De Brasil. See as we saw in the discussion, Peru shares borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brasil, Bolivia and Chile. It doesn't share border with Paraguay. So the answer is option B, Paraguay. Moving on to the next question. Consider the following statements with reference to Lingayats. Often seen in news. First statement they are also called as Veera Vaishnavas. Second statement they are said that followed Brahmanical Hinduism and professed four fold caste of Manu. Third statement. It was started by the social reformer Basavana or Basavesvara. Which of the statements given above are correct? Option A, 1 & 2 only. Option B, 2 only. Option C, 3 only. Option D, 2 & 3 only. See first statement is incorrect. Lingayats are Veera Shaivas. They are not Vaishnavas. The name Lingayats comes from the word Lingam. Lingam means Lord Shiva. So Veera Shaiva. Shaiva is Shivaan. So first statement is incorrect. They are not Vaishnavas. They are Shaivas. Second statement is also incorrect. See Lingayats were against Brahmanical Hinduism. They also didn't follow four fold caste division of Manu Smithi and they also did not practice sacrifices. So second statement is incorrect. They didn't follow Brahmanical Hinduism. They didn't believe in caste system. Third statement. It was started by social reformer Basavana. As we discussed in the article Lingayats were formed by Basavana. So third statement is correct. The correct one is option C, 3 only. Only the third statement is correct. First two are incorrect. Now moving on to the next question. With reference to the particularly vulnerable tribal groups, PVTG in India, consider the following statements. First statement. Lakshadeep, Andaman and Nicobar are the only union territories with declared PVTG. Second statement. The Siddhis, an ethnic African community, is a PVTG from Karnataka which of the statements given are correct. A PVTG, B2 only, C both 1 and 2, D neither one nor 2. Now let us take up the first statement. First statement is incorrect. Only the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar island as PVTG. Lakshadeep does not have any declared PVTG. Some of the PVTG in Andaman and Nicobar are Jarava, Onga and Sentinel. So first statement is incorrect. Lakshadeep does not have any declared PVTG. Second statement. Second statement is also incorrect. See Siddhis are declared as PVTG only in Gujarat. They are spread along the coast of Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh but they are declared as PVTG only in Gujarat. So technically this statement is also incorrect. They are not declared as PVTG in Karnataka. They are declared as PVTG only in Gujarat. So answer is option D, neither one nor 2. Moving on to the next question. Concer the following statements. First statement. Antibodies are the protective proteins produced by the union system in response to the presence of antigen. Second statement. Active immunity ensures immediate protection and it lasts long compared to passive immunity. Which of the statements given are correct? See statement one is correct. As we discussed in the article, antibodies are protective protein. They are produced by the immune system in response to the antigen. When we take up the second statement it is incorrect. Passive immunity offers immediate protection, not active immunity. Active immunity takes weeks to develop. So it is not immediate. So second statement is incorrect. The answer is option A one only. Only the first statement is correct. Main practice questions are displayed here. You can write your answer and post in the comment section below. With this we have come to the end of the news analysis. If you like the video, click like, comment and subscribe. Thank you.