 A very good evening aspirants, the much awaited Shankar Iyer's Academy's free main scholarship test starts from today. And today's question is announced at the end of the video. So, let's begin the Hindu news analysis for the date 12th October 2020. These are the list of news articles chosen for today's analysis. It has been provided along with the page numbers of different editions of Hindu newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format is given in the description box. Now let's move on to the first article discussion. Our first discussion for today is based on this news article which talks about the blue flag certification. This is the topic of the day. The news is that eight beaches of India have been awarded the blue flag certification. So, in this context, let us have a brief discussion on what is this blue flag certification, its significance and importance with respect to sustainable development in coastal regions. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. Now before we see which are the eight beaches which got blue flag certification, let us first try to understand what is a blue flag. A blue flag is an eco-label that fosters an ecotourism model. It marks out beaches or marinas which are providing tourists a clean and hygienic bathing water which are providing a safe and healthy environment and which are carrying out sustainable development of the area etc. Now, apart from the beaches and marinas, even the sustainable boating tourism operators are also awarded this blue flag certification. The mission of the blue flag is to promote sustainability in the tourism sector through environmental education, environmental protection and other sustainable development practices. So, who gives this blue flag certification or this blue flag tag? It is awarded by the Foundation for Environmental Education in short FEE. This FEE is headquartered in Copenhagen of Denmark. It is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization. Now FEE started the blue flag program in 1985 in France and then since 1987 the program was implemented in Europe. And then when South Africa joined this program in 2001, it was also started being implemented outside of Europe also. Now, how to get this blue flag certification? See, to get this blue flag tag or certification, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety related and access related criteria must be met and maintained by the beaches, marinas and boating tourism operators. Now, since our focus is on beaches today, today we will just see the criteria based on which the beaches receive the blue flag tag. Now, for beaches, the criteria are broadly classified into four major heads. They are environmental education and information, bathing water quality, environment management and conservation, and then safety and services. Now, with respect to the standards, they see how the infrastructure development projects are planned and executed in the beaches. Then they see the cleanliness and the safety and security services provided in the beaches. Then the waste disposal facilities because it is essential to keep the beaches clean. Then they will also see how far the beach is disabled friendly beach. See, we say a beach is disabled friendly when the beach provides facilities such as mats, wheelchairs that can be pushed through sand or disabled friendly chairs that can float. Then apart from this, the presence of first aid equipment in the beach is also a part of the standards. So now, if a beach in a particular country earn this international reputation, then it means that the beaches of that country are environment friendly, they are free from pollution and the beaches of the country are safe and tourist friendly. This in turn contributes to the local economy and the tourism sector of the country. So, if the certification is given, then the beaches will be flying the blue flag in the locations. The certification has to be reapplied annually to continue the right to fly the blue flag because just now we saw that the criteria must be met and they have to be maintained also. Now, to see whether these criteria are maintained, the certification has to be reapplied annually. So, the process will make the administrators to maintain the beaches consistently and sustainably and if they do not maintain them, then they may not receive the certification during the next annual application. Now, with respect to India to get this certification of international reputation, Indian government identified 13 pilot beaches in consultation with the concerned coastal states and union territories to develop necessary infrastructure. Now, because of the efforts taken, eight beaches out of the 13 have been awarded the blue flag by an international jury comprising of the eminent members from UNEP, UNWTO, FEE and IUCN. Now, these are the eight beaches which received the blue flag certification. They are spread across five states and two union territories and as you can see, from the state of Karnataka, two beaches have received the certification. They are the Kasargod beach and the Paduvidri beach. Then from Gujarat, the Shivrajpur beach has received the certification. Then from Dayu, the Gogala beach has received the certification. Then from Kerala, the Kappad beach and then from Andhra Pradesh, the Rishikonda beach. Then from Odisha, the Golden beach and then finally from the Andaman and the Kober islands, the Radhanagar beach has received the blue flag certification. Now, this is special for India because it is the first time in the world where blue flag has ever been awarded for eight beaches in a single attempt to one country. But here remember that India is not the first country in Asia to receive this certification. Already Japan, South Korea and United Arab Emirates have this blue flag and they are the only Asian nations so far to have received this blue flag. You also know that at the global level, Spain is the nation that has the highest number of beaches that are certified as blue flag beaches and not only that, Spain is also the country which has got the highest aggregate number of certification in the world including the three categories which are beaches, marinas and boats. Currently Greece is in the second place and Turkey is in the third place. Now, apart from this blue flag certification, the international jury has also awarded India a third prize under the international best practices for pollution control in coastal regions. So, this is the information about the blue flag certification. Now, while we are discussing about this, we should also know about India's own eco-label which is BEAMS. BEAMS stands for beach environment and aesthetic management system. BEAMS is a flagship program of India under its integrated coastal zone management project and this BEAMS is aimed at striving for the international eco-label of FEES blue flag. So, that means BEAMS is an initiative of the government of India with respect to blue flag certification to beaches and it is an integrated coastal management scheme. Now, the agency that develops the beaches under the BEAMS is the SICOM that is Society of Integrated Coastal Management. This society is established under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and it is the SICOM that has commenced the pilot project of blue flag beach program in December 2017 in India and under this pilot program only SICOM identified 13 beaches to work for getting the blue flag certification and successfully now eight out of the 13 beaches have got the blue flag certification. Now, from exam perspective, just know that these are the objectives of SICOM. We have given it here to get more understanding of SICOM. So, that is all about this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the international certification of blue flag. We saw about the criteria under which the certification is given and we also saw about the Indian initiative of BEAMS. Whether you come to the end of this discussion? This discussion is based on the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This editorial discusses the failure of the efforts of the Minsk group and the related magic principles of the organization for security and cooperation in Europe. So, in this discussion, we will see about this Minsk group, about the organization and the Madrid principles and we will also see this related use article which also talks about the conflict. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. See, we had a very detailed discussion about the background of this conflict and the geographical details about Azerbaijan and Armenia on our 29th September Hindi News Analysis. You can refer to that video to know about the background. Today, we will just have a quick recap of this ongoing conflict. See, after the USSR split, the two countries Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a bloody war over a region. This region is the Nagorno-Karabakh region. And by the year 1994, Armenia had taken control of this Nagorno-Karabakh and handed it over to the Armenian rebels. And these Armenian rebels declared independence of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan. But this independent status is not recognized internationally. Now, during this 1994 war, Armenia also occupied certain territories of Azerbaijan. So, there have been occasional clashes in the Azerbaijan-Armenian border since 1994. And at the end of 1994 war, they arrived at a ceasefire that is a temporary suspension of fighting. So, this is the background of this conflict. Now, the editorial discusses about the organization for security and cooperation in Europe, that is OSCE, and the role that it should have played. See, this OSCE, it was formed as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe in the year 1975. It was formed in the backdrop of the Cold War between USA and Russia. And the associated event that led to the formation of OSCE is the Helsinki process. So, just remember this fact from Prelims perspective. Now, this conference on security and cooperation in Europe emerged as the forum for discussion between USA and Russia and the European countries. It was also recognized as a key organization in furthering democracy, in promoting human rights and in protecting minorities in Europe. And then later in the year 1994, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe was renamed as Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, that is OSCE. And at present, as you can see here, OSCE has 57 participating countries from Europe, Central Asia and Northern America. Its headquarters is at Vienna, Austria. Now, after the split of Soviet Union, OSCE has been monitoring conflicts in Europe, which also includes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as well. So, to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a specific Minsk group was formed under OSCE in the year 1994. Now, here, remember Minsk is the capital of Belarus. Now, this group is co-chaired by France, Russia and USA. And the permanent members of this group are obviously Belarus, then Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Turkey, then as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan. So, this Minsk group was specifically formed to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. So, in the year 2007, this Minsk group put forward the Madrid principles as the basis for the formulation of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. These principles provide for a prohibition on the use of force. It provides for respect for the territorial integrity and recognition of the equal rights and self-determination of people. Now, based on this only, the editorial correctly mentions that the Madrid principles envisaged the demilitarization of Nagorno-Karabakh, because the principles prohibited the use of force. And further, the principles also envisaged the gradual liberation of Azerbaijani territory, which Armenia occupied in the 1994 war. Now, here note that these steps are consistent with the United Nations Security Council's 1993 resolution, which calls for the unconditional withdrawal of Armenian occupying forces from Azerbaijan. Then, these principles also call for peacekeeping operations in the conflict region. And one of the most significant aspects of these principles is determining the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh. That is, whether Nagorno-Karabakh would be a part of Azerbaijan or it would be a part of Armenia, or it would become an independent country of its own. But at present, both Armenia and Azerbaijan are asserting their claims over this Nagorno-Karabakh region, and the recent conflict is a part of this only. And in the middle of this conflict only, now the countries have accused each other of missile attacks in their major cities, which is mentioned in this news article. So, we can see that the Madrid principles laid down by the Minsk group covers all the aspects that are needed to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But still the conflict is persisting even after 13 years. And that is why the editorial notes that Minsk group has failed to prevent the military confrontation. And this military confrontation happened because there is no peacekeeping force and also there is no political will for peace at present. So, as a whole, the editorial emphasizes that the Madrid principles should guide the two countries in ending the hostility between them. So, this is the only way forward. So, these are some of the points that should know with respect to this discussion. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. Let us move on to the next discussion. Now, our next discussion is based on this news article which talks about a recently released World Bank report on South Asia. This report is titled as beaten or broken, informality and COVID-19. This report talks about the South Asian countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And in this discussion, we will see some of the important findings of this report related to South Asia and particularly related to India. This discussion is important because it will provide you some facts for a mains answer writing regarding the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. First, the report has noted that like the whole world, the GDP of South Asia is also expected to contract. And according to the findings of this report, it will contract 7.7% this year. And this would be by far the largest decline on record. And if you consider India, India's GDP is expected to contract 9.6% in the fiscal year. We have been discussing many times that the economic impacts caused by the lockdowns is making the world to move into a recession. But here the issue is the earlier recessions in the South Asian region were mainly due to the downturn in investment and exports. But now the COVID-19 led recession has repressed the most stable component of demand, which is the consumption. According to the report, private consumption in the South Asian region is expected to decline 10.1% this year. And it is unlikely to recover quickly. And this is going to be the scenario, even if there are no further lockdowns. So it has also led to decline in remittances. Thus livelihoods are further affected by this decline in remittances. Now this implies that the region will experience a sharp increase in the poverty rate. And apart from this, labor productivity is likely to be affected more if the crisis lasts longer. Further, it will be increasingly difficult for large and small companies to avoid insolvencies and bankruptcies. So the estimation is that the impact on livelihoods will even be larger than what the GDP forecast suggests. In addition to the GDP forecasts, the report also focuses on education sector. As per the report, temporary school closures in South Asian countries have had major implications for students. They have kept 391 million students out of school in primary and secondary education. And the report predicts that pandemic may cause up to 5.5 million students to drop out from the education system. And further, as per the report, the projected learning loss for the region is 0.5 years of learning adjusted years of schooling. It falls from 6.5 learning adjusted years of schooling to 6.0 learning adjusted years of schooling. And in turn, this has resulted in an enormous setback from recent advances in schooling. So what this actually means? See, we know that most school systems were closed in March with some expectations. So children have been out of the school for approximately five months so far. And being out of school for that long means that children not only stop learning new things, they also forget some of the learnings which they have already learned. And this is what we mean by loss of learning. Now this loss of learning not only affects the education of the children but the report predicts that it will also affect the future earning of these children. That is, the report talks about the economic losses related to the learning setback. See, the average child in South Asia may lose 4,400 US dollars in lifetime earnings once they enter the labor market. And this is equivalent to 5 percentage of total earnings. And these projections are made by the report based on the reduced level of learning caused by the economic crisis due to the pandemic. And if we consider South Asian region, the region stands to lose 622 billion US dollars from the school closures in the present scenario. And in the worst case scenario, this may also go up to 880 billion US dollars. Now, the point to be noted is that even though all the countries will lose substantial shares of their GDP, the regional loss in South Asian region is largely driven by India. And with respect to education, it is important to note that South Asian governments spend only 400 billion US dollars per year in total on the primary education and second education together. So, with respect to this, the report has noted that the total loss in economic output from the current closures is substantially higher than what countries actually spending on education. And in this depiction, you can see where India stands. Here SAR stands for the South Asian region. And you can see that the learning loss due to COVID-19 in India is higher than the average for the South Asian region. And in the earning loss, India may lose anywhere between 400 to 500 billion US dollars. And as you can see, India's loss is the highest in the South Asian region. So, these are some of the facts that you should know with respect to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the South Asian region, especially India. With this, we come to the end of this discussion. Now, this next news article talks about the statements made by our Prime Minister during a program to launch the distribution of property cards under the Swamitya scheme. So, here we'll just focus on this scheme. Here, know that Swamitya in Hindi means ownership. And this Swamitya scheme is a central sector scheme. It was launched by our Prime Minister on National Panchayat Day, that is on 24th April of 2020. So, from this, you can easily remember that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is the nodal ministry for the implementation of the scheme. Now, the scheme aims to provide the record of rights to village household owners in rural areas, and it aims to issue the property cards. And the scheme will be implemented across the country in a phased manner over a period of four years, that is from 2020 to 2024. Now, in the states, the Revenue Department or the Land Records Department will be the nodal department. And they will carry out the scheme with the support of State Panchayati Raj Department. And we also know that the Survey of India will work as the technology partner for implementation of this scheme. The Survey of India is the national survey and mapping organization of our country, which comes under the Department of Science and Technology. Now, apart from this, the scheme also aims to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India. So, under the scheme, the demarcation of rural Abadi areas would be done using drone surveying technology. Here, just know that Abadi refers to the rural land that is used for residential purpose. So, the demarcation and validation would provide the record of rights to village household owners who are possessing houses in inhabited rural areas and villages. Now, this in turn would enable them to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits from banks. Now, let us discuss the important objectives of the scheme. First and foremost, it aims to bring financial stability to the citizens in rural India. This will be done by enabling them to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits, as we already saw. The next is the creation of accurate land records for rural planning. The next objective is the determination of property tax. Now, the collected tax would either add to the State Exchequer or it will accrue or accumulate to the Gram Panchayat directly in the states where it is further devolved. Now, apart from this, the scheme also aims at creation of survey infrastructure and GIS maps that can be leveraged by any department for their use. Another objective is to support in the preparation of better quality Gram Panchayat development plan by making the use of GIS maps. And finally, it also aims to reduce property-related disputes and legal cases. This will be easy if demarcation is done. Now, in the pilot phase of 2020-21, about 1 lakh villagers in 6 states are participating for the implementation of the scheme. These 6 states are Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Karnataka. Now, after this, in Punjab and Rajasthan, 101 continuously operating reference stations will be set up during this year. This will set the stage for undertaking actual survey and mapping of inhabited areas of villages next year. So, eventually, the scheme is expected to cover around 6.62 lakh villages of our country. So, these are some of the information that you should know with respect to Swamitva scheme. Now, let's move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is based on this news article which talks about the Feluda paper strip test for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 virus, that is the coronavirus. The Union Health Minister has said that the test will be made available soon. He was also comparing the efficacy of the Feluda test with that to the RT-PCR test, that is the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test. According to him, the Feluda test showed 96 percentage sensitivity and 98 percentage specificity. Now, this is comparable with RT-PCR because RT-PCR has at least 95 percentage sensitivity and at least 99 percentage specificity. Now, since March, when the coronavirus disease was declared as a pandemic, we have been seeing different diagnostic tests for coronavirus. So, we have to keep track of all these tests and today, we will see two of these tests. One is the Feluda test and the other one is TrueNAT test which is mentioned in this news article. So, remember that yesterday we saw about the Feluda test when we discussed about the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. So, today we will also see the additional things related to the Feluda test and then we will see the TrueNAT test. First, know that Feluda stands for FN-Cas9 editor linked uniform detection assay. This Feluda test uses CRISPR-Cas9 technology to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus. See here, the sample collection for the Feluda test will be similar to the polymerase chain reaction test that is the PCR test. In a PCR test, a nasal swab is inserted a few inches into the nose to check for coronavirus in the back of the nasal passage and in a traditional PCR test, the sample is sent to a laboratory where it has to go through a number of cycles before enough virus is recovered. But when Feluda is used as a diagnostic tool, the CRISPR technology latches on to a set of letters of gene that are carrying the signature of the novel coronavirus. It then highlights that gene and then gives a readout on a piece of paper. And when in that piece of paper, two blue lines are there, then it indicates a positive result. And when there is a single blue line, then it means that the test has returned negative. This is the reason why yesterday we said that the Feluda test is similar to the pregnancy test strips because pregnancy test strips also have the lines indication. Now, what is TruNAT test? Before that, we should understand PCR method that is the polymerase chain reaction method. PCR is a method to capture a specific gene from the DNA in a swab sample and then multiply that gene through a series of chemical processes so that it can be detected using fluorescent dyes. Now this TruNAT is a chip based battery operated RT-PCR kit. It is manufactured by a Goa based company. These machines were originally developed for detecting tuberculosis in patients a few years ago. And when it was used in COVID testing initially, TruNAT could only identify the e-gene in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This e-gene is the gene that helps the virus to build a spherical envelope around it. So at this point, TruNAT machines were used as a screening test only. Now after this screening test samples that were detected with the e-gene could be sent for a confirmatory RT-PCR test in laboratories. Here we should note that the SARS-CoV-2 virus does not have a DNA but it has an RNA molecule. So the RT-PCR or the reverse transcriptional PCR method is used to convert the RNA into a DNA molecule before the gene can be captured in the test. And we have discussed about this RT-PCR elaborately on our 26th July 2020 in the news analysis. So initially the TruNAT test was only used at the screening stage. But now the new TruNAT machines are developed and they are now equipped to detect the RDRP enzyme found in the virus RNA. Here RDRP stands for RNA dependent RNA polymerase. It is a key component that plays a central role in the replication and transcription cycle of the COVID-19 virus. So now the TruNAT machines can detect this enzyme also. And that is why now ICMR has ruled that these TruNAT tests can be treated as a confirmation for the presence of the novel coronavirus rather than just the screening test. So these are some of the information that you should know with respect to Feluda and TruNAT tests. The display practice question will be discussed in the next session which is the practice questions discussion session. Now let us take the first question. The question asks which one of the following countries borders Caspian Sea? Now this is a map based question. Now you can attend this question in two ways. One if you know which are the countries which border Caspian Sea then you can directly attempt it. Otherwise there is also one another way. See Armenia is a landlocked country. So you can eliminate that from the option and Uzbekistan is also a landlocked country. So you can eliminate options B and C. Now the remaining options are Azerbaijan and Turkey. And the correct answer is option A Azerbaijan only. As you can see in this map, Azerbaijan shares border with Caspian Sea. Then the other countries which borders Caspian Sea are Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. Now Turkey is not a landlocked country. It is a country located between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, not the Caspian Sea. Now this next question is based on Trunat. The question asks consider the following statements with reference to Trunat recently seen in news. First statement is it uses CRISPR-Cas9 technology to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Now this statement is incorrect because Trunat is a chip based battery operated RT-PCR kit. Now the test which uses CRISPR-Cas9 technology is the Filuda which we discussed during the analysis. Now the second statement is it was developed by Indian Council of Medical Research. Now this statement is also incorrect because Trunat is developed by a Goa-based private company called MOLBIO Diagnostics and it was not developed by ICMR. And here the question asks for the correct statements. But both the statements are incorrect. So the correct answer is option D neither one nor two. Now this next question is based on Swamitva scheme. First statement is its objective is to provide the record of rights to village household owners in rural areas and issue property cards. Now this statement is correct. These are objectives of the scheme. Now the second statement is it is implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development. Now this statement is incorrect. This scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Now you just remember that this scheme was launched on the National Panchayat Day that is on 24th April 2020. So if you remember this fact you can easily remember that the nodal ministry for implementation of the scheme is Ministry of Panchayati Raj. And here the question asks for the incorrect statements. So the correct answer is option B2 only. Now let us take the first mains question for the free mains scholarship test. Now read this question carefully and answer the question accordingly. This question is based on GS paper two. The question is the COVID-19 pandemic has been a great opportunity to spread the benefits of education with minimal resources and innovative pedagogical methods. Critically examine. This is a 10 marker question and you have to write within the word limit of 150 words. For writing the answer you can take the printout of the mains answer sheet that is provided in the link and this link is available in the description of the video and also in the comment section. If you don't have access to the printer you can draw the required margins as per the instructions on the A4 sheet and then you have to write the answer. Now for uploading the answer the portal link is given in the description box and then in the comment section also. We hope that everyone is aware of the uploading process and note that the answers received other than the specified process will not be considered for evaluation and the most crucial point to notice today's answer uploading portal link will be disabled at 6 p.m. of tomorrow that is it will be disabled at 6 p.m. of 13th October 2020. So make sure that your answer is uploaded by 6 p.m. of tomorrow and tomorrow's question will be given along with the Hindi news analysis of tomorrow. So try to upload your answers as soon as possible to avoid last minute delay due to busy servers. We wish you all the best. If you like this video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to Shankara Ace Academy YouTube channel for more updates related to civil service examination preparation.