 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Ayes Academy. 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 time stamping for the discussed articles are given in the description box as well as the comment section for the benefit of the mobile viewers. Now let us start with the first article. Now let us solve some past prelims question. See I request aspirants to solve the question along with me. Imagine you are sitting in the exam hall. You are getting these questions and try to solve it. Let us simulate that experience and if you are interested after solving the question you can post your score in the comment section below. Now look at this question. This question was asked in 2016. Banjaras during the medieval period of Indian history were generally A. Agriculturalist. B. Warriors. C. Weavers. D. Traders. See this question is directly asked from NCRT. To be precise, 7th standard history NCRT are post volume 2. In this NCRT if you go to the page 95 you can see the exact explanation of the term Banjaras. Banjaras were nomadic traders. So the answer is D. Traders. Aspirants this is why NCRT is very important. It gives you conceptual understanding and if you are lucky you may get direct question from NCRTs. So never skip NCRTs. Now moving on to the next question. The next question is regarding Karai camel. It was asked in the year 2016. See the topic of Karai camel was a current affair in the year 2016. So it was asked. Even though this question is from past current affairs, I request aspirants to solve this question. Use elimination method, logical guessing and try to solve this question. It will be a good practice. Now let me read the question. What are unique about Karai camel? A breed found in India. First statement. It is capable of swimming up to three kilometers in seawater. Second statement. It survives by grazing on mangroves. Third statement. It lives in the wild and cannot be domesticated. Select the correct answer using the code given below. A. 1 and 2 only. B. 3 only. C. 1 and 3 only. D. 1, 2 and 3. Now look at the first statement. It is capable of swimming up to three kilometers in seawater. This statement is correct. These camels are known for their swimming ability. They can swim up to three kilometers in the seawater. Now moving on to the second statement. It survives by grazing on mangroves. This statement is also correct. The primary food of this camel is mangroves. This is the reason why it can swim up to three kilometers into sea in search of mangroves. So we can see the first statement and second statement are related. Now moving on to the third statement. It lives in the wild and cannot be domesticated. This statement is wrong. Karai camels have been domesticated by the humans. They are used for transport. They give milk and they also consume the meat of this animal. So we have domesticated the karai camels. So the third statement is incorrect. The correct answer is A. 1 and 2 only. Now let me give you a tip. Imagine a scenario. You haven't heard about karai camels. It is a new topic to the aspirant. Then how can we solve this question? Look at the third statement. It lives in the wild and cannot be domesticated. This statement is an extreme statement. And moreover it doesn't make sense because almost all the species of camels in the world have been domesticated. They have been used for transport. People have been consuming their milk and in some species they are even consuming the meat of the camel. So this statement is an extreme statement and doesn't make logical sense. So if you are risk appetite aspirant then you can go for this question. You can eliminate the third statement. When you eliminate the third statement option B is eliminated, option C is eliminated and option D is also eliminated. The only remaining option is A. 1 and 2 only. As I already said this methodology is only for risk appetite aspirants. If you want to play it safe then don't go for such extreme methods. Now let us move on to the next question. See the next question is from Modern India. It is a direct question asked from NCRT and Spectrum. It was asked in the year 2016. Let me read the question. The Swadeshi and Boycott were adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the Option A agitation against the partition of Bengal, option B home rule movement, option C non-cooperation movement, option D visit of the Simon Commission to India. Aspirants if you have started revising for the same problems then this question will be a cakewalk to you. It is a direct question. The correct answer is A agitation against the partition of Bengal. The Swadeshi and Boycott were adopted as methods of struggle for the first time during the agitation against the partition of Bengal. It happened in 1905. Home rule movement was in 1916. Non-cooperation was in the 1919 range. So we can eliminate this option B and C. And option D also doesn't make sense. Only option A is the right one. Agitation against the partition of Bengal. Now moving on to the next question. Again this question was asked from current affairs of 2016. In the year 2016, Red Sanders has been trending in the news. So question was asked from this topic. This is why current affairs are very important from problems as well as main's perspective. Now look at the question. With reference to Red Sanders, sometimes seen in the news, consider the following statements. Statement one, it is a tree species found in a part of South India. Statement two, it is one of the most important trees in the tropical rainforest areas of South India. Which of the statements given above are correct? A one only, B two only, C both one and two, D neither one nor two. Now take the first statement. It is a tree species found in a part of South India. This statement is correct. Red Sanders is found in southern India. To be precise, it is found in the eastern guards part of the southern India. It is endemic to this region. So first statement is correct. Moving on to the second statement. The keyword in the second statement is tropical rainforest. This statement is wrong. This is because Red Sanders are found in tropical dry desidious forest. They are not found in rainforest. So second statement is wrong. First statement is correct. The correct answer is a one only. Now moving on to the next question. Again, this question is directly asked from Modern India. If you have the basic understanding regarding the events of modern India, you can easily attend this question. This question is regarding Surat Split. This question was asked in the year 2016. What was the main reason for the split in the Indian National Congress at Surat in 1907? Option A, Introduction of Communalism into Indian Politics by Lord Minto. Option B, Extremist lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British government. Option C, Foundation of Muslim League. Option D, Arab in the Ghosh inability to be elected as the President of India National Congress. Come on, this is a easy question. I think most of you will get it right. The correct answer is Option B, Extremist lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British government. This was the main reason behind the split of moderates and extremists. This split is also called as Surat Split. It happened in 1907. When you take Option A, Introduction of Communalism into Indian Politics by Lord Minto. This happened in 1909. But the question says 1907, so we can eliminate this option. Foundation of Muslim League. Option C is also not relevant to the split of moderates and extremists. And similarly, Option D doesn't make any sense. The only relevant option is Option B, Extremist lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British government. I hope all of you got it right. Now moving on to the next question. This question was asked from Politi. It was directly asked from Laxmiga. The year of the question is 2016. Consider the following statements. First statement. The minimum age prescribed for any person to be a member of panjayat is 25 years. Statement 2. A panjayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the reminder period. Which of the statements given above are correct? A 1 only, B 2 only. See both 1 and 2. D neither 1 nor 2. See the first statement is incorrect. The minimum age prescribed for any person to be a member of panjayat is 21 years, not 25 years. So first statement is incorrect. So we can eliminate Option A and Option C. Moving on to the second statement. A panjayat reconstituted after premature dissolution continues only for the reminder period. This statement is correct. For example, take the panjayat period to be 5 years. But the panjayat gets prematurely dissolved within 3 years. So we will elect the new panjayat for the remaining 2 years only. After 2 years we will conduct a fresh election. So second statement is correct. The answer is Option B 2 only. Now moving on to the final question of the day. This question is from Economics. It was asked in the year 2016. See when we think about economics we always think it is a tough subject. But sometimes by using common sense we can easily solve the economic questions. This is why I have chosen this question. Look at the question. There has been a persistent deficit budget year after year. Which actions of the following can be taken by the government to reduce the deficit? 1. Reducing revenue expenditure. 2. Introducing new welfare schemes. 3. Rationalizing subsidies. 4. Reducing import duty. Select the correct answer using the code given below. A. 1 only. B. 2 and 3 only. C. 1 and 3 only. D. 1, 2, 3 and 4. See this question is a beautiful example for elimination technique. Let me demonstrate that it will be highly beneficial for the upcoming problems. We have 4 state of actions. Take the second action. Introducing new welfare schemes. This action is obviously wrong because when you introduce new welfare schemes you are spending more money for the schemes. For example if the government wants to give laptop to college students it has to spend more money. So how can we control deficit if we spend more money? It doesn't make sense. So this option is incorrect. When we eliminate action 2 that is introducing new welfare schemes we can eliminate option B and D. Option B contains statement 2. Option D also contains statement 2. So we can eliminate these options. This is the beauty of elimination technique. By just taking one action we have eliminated two options. Now we have A. 1 only. C. 1 and 3 only. So from this we can conclude action 1 is correct. Reducing revenue expenditure is correct as both A as well as C contains action 1. The only decider now is action 3. Rationalizing subsidies. This makes sense. See rationalizing means making it more efficient. So we are making the subsidies more efficient. We are bringing it under our control. So if we bring our subsidies under control we can reduce our expenditure. When we reduce our expenditure we can reduce the deficit. See deficit is the shortcoming. For example if a person is earning under rupees and he is spending 110 rupees then 10 rupees is the deficit. It is a shortcoming. So if the person reduces the expenditure obviously we can reduce the deficit. This is the logic behind this question. So by rationalizing subsidies we will reduce expenditure thereby we can bring the deficit in our control. We can reduce the deficit. So the correct answer is option C 1 and 3 only. See this is the beauty of elimination technique. By using common sense and the basic understanding of topics we can solve the question. Even though we are not sure about all the statements in the question. I hope aspirants can follow. Again as I already said interested aspirants can post your score in the comment section below. We have solved seven questions in this topic. All the seven questions were from 2016 prelims question paper and if an aspirant is getting a score of more than four then you are on the right track. All the best and congratulations. If you are getting a score less than four make sure you practice a lot of questions and you do many more revisions. Now let us move on to the article discussion. Now look at this article. This article is regarding biobricks. See biobricks is a great eco-friendly innovation. It is a perfect illustration for wealth from waste and according to this article a building made of biobricks has been opened in IIT, IIT. This is the first such building made of biobricks. So in this context let us learn about biobricks. What is biobrick? See biobrick is a new type of brick. It is made from bio waste. For example sugarcane bagasse, wheat husk, paddy and wheat straws, leftover wood. These kind of bio waste can be used to make biobricks. See biobricks are also called as agro waste based brick. Now we have a question. How are biobricks manufactured? First we select the dry agro waste. After selecting the dry agro waste we chop them to the desired size. You can see this in the image. Next we prepare a lime based slurry or a lime based paste. We take items like slate lime, binder, stone dust and water. We make it into a paste. In this paste we add chopped agro waste. We mix them thoroughly and we create a homogeneous mixture. Then this mixture is poured into molds. These molds will be in the shape of bricks and we will pour the mixture, the homogeneous mixture into these molds and these molds are left to dry for a day or two. After two days the molds are removed and the bricks are allowed to dry for 15 to 20 days. Then these biobricks are given outer protective layer. The outer protective layer is made up of carbonate lime. This carbonate lime increases the overall strength of biobricks. And now finally our biobrick is ready. So from this we can observe it takes approximately a month to make a biobrick. This is because we need a lot of time to add dry the biobricks. See it is also important to know that biobricks have less compressive strength as compared to traditional clay bricks. They are not as strong as traditional bricks. So they cannot be used directly to build load bearing structures. This is one of the major negative of biobricks. They have less compressive strength compared to traditional clay bricks. Now what are its benefits? See biobricks are very cheap. They are simple to produce. They also help in eliminating pollution. See traditional brick industries are one of the major emitters of air pollution. So by shifting to biobricks we can help in eliminating this pollution. Moving on to the next point. See biobricks are prepared by air drying. That is they are naturally dried. So the whole process is sustainable and it reduces the carbon footprint. We are not using any machines. We are just using the nature to dry the bricks. So it is sustainable and it reduces the carbon footprint. Moving on to the next point. See there is no decomposition of the material in biobricks. Since there is no decomposition, the absorbed carbon dioxide stays inside the biobricks. It reduces the carbon footprint. So we can say that biobricks acts as a carbon sink because it fixes more carbon dioxide than it produces during its life cycle. So it is eco-friendly. Moving on to the next point. Biobricks have low thermal conductivity. So they provide good insulation to eat. Further it also adds sound absorption qualities. Next it almost takes same time to manufacture biobricks like the traditional fired clay bricks. This point is very important. It takes the same time like the traditional fire clay bricks. Now moving on to the next point. Biobricks are quite light in weight. They are just 1.43 kg per block. This is just one-eighth of fired clay bricks and one-tenth of the concrete blocks. So we can see how light it is in weight. So these bricks can be effectively used in frame structure as non-load bearing walls. So these are the important points regarding biobricks. See biobricks are going to be the game changer for farmers. This is because the agriculture waste generated by the farmers now can be used for production of biobricks. The agriculture waste has gained some value. It can help in doubling the farmers income and biobricks can also be an environment-friendly solution. With this we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion we saw about biobricks, how it is made, it is made from biobricks. What is the manufacturing process? Selection of dry agro waste, preparation of lime-based paste, creation of homogeneous mixture, pouring into molds, drying the molds, then drying the bricks, finally giving a outer protection of carbonate lime to the bricks. This is how biobricks are manufactured. What is the major drawback? It has less compressive strength compared to fire-burned clay bricks. Now moving on to the benefits. It is very cheap, simple to produce. It eliminate air pollution. It is sustainable in the long run because it uses air drying. There is no decomposition of the material in the biobrick so it is eco-friendly. It has low thermal conductivity. It has sound absorption qualities. It almost takes the same time to manufacture similar to a traditional fire-clay bricks. It is also quite light in weight. These are the important points regarding biobricks. Now let us move on to the next topic. Now look at this editorial article. It is regarding large-scale infrastructure in the Ganga-Imalian basin. Now let us discuss the important points highlighted in this editorial. The syllabus covered by this article is highlighted below for your reference. Interested aspirants can go through it. First, why this editorial is in the news. See recently seven hydroelectric power projects were permitted in the Imalian region. So what is the issue here? This issue is regarding an affidavit filed by the Ministry of Environment in the Supreme Court. What is the affidavit? This affidavit is regarding hydro power projects in the Imalian region. See the Ministry of Environment in this affidavit as recommended for the construction of hydroelectric projects in the Uttarakant-Imalia region. And this act of the ministry has become an odd topic of discussion. Why this affidavit is controversial? What are the criticism associated with the Ministry of Environment recommendation? These important points are discussed in this editorial. Let us see about it. See what is the core mandate of Ministry of Environment to conserve the natural environment? So according to the author of the editorial, the affidavit go against the core mandate of the Ministry of Environment by constructing these large infrastructure projects we are destroying the environment. So it is against the core mandate of the Ministry of Environment itself. This is the first criticism given by the author in this editorial. Now moving on to the next problem. See in order to fully understand the next problem we should go back to 2014. In the year 2014, Ministry of Environment filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court. In that affidavit, that is in 2014 affidavit, the Ministry of Environment admitted that hydroelectric projects did aggravate the 2013 flood. See we all know about the 2013 flood. It caused a lot of destruction to life and property. So after this flood the Ministry filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court. In that affidavit, it admitted that the hydroelectric projects did aggravate the 2013 flood. But in spite of this admission, now it is recommending for the construction of seven hydroelectric power projects. I hope aspirants can follow. So the Ministry is going against its own words. So it has done a lot of criticism. Now moving on to the next criticism. See after the 2013 flood, the Prime Minister's office made a policy decision to cancel those projects that have not reached 50% of its construction. This decision was made by the Prime Minister office to counter the destruction of environment in the Himalayan region. Also the Prime Minister office decided that newer hydro power projects will not be constructed on the river Ganga. So these policies were made by the Prime Minister's office. Canceling the projects which have not reached 50% of its construction, no more newer hydro projects in river Ganga. But the construction of the seven hydroelectric power projects goes against these policy decisions. This is another major problem highlighted in this editorial. So we can observe that in spite of being aware of the devastating impact of the dams, government is still constructing hydroelectric power projects in the Ganga-Himalayan basin. I hope aspirants can follow. See when we look at the past decade, we can find repeated disasters in the state of Uttarakhand. Why the state of Uttarakhand is facing repeated disasters? According to the experts, it is due to increasing anthropogenic pressures. That is increasing human influence. This increasing human influence act as direct as well as indirect contributor of repeated disasters. Various studies have pointed to this conclusion. Apart from these experts, even committees have pointed out the same conclusion. For example, take the committee chaired by Ravi Chopra. According to this expert committee, adverse environmental risks are posed by large infrastructures in Himalayan Ganga basin. These structures play a huge role in aggravating the disaster. This is the conclusion given by the expert committee. You can use this point as value addition in your main answer. Committee by Ravi Chopra. So we can observe that many committees and experts are promoting the conservation and protection of this sensitive area. They want to protect the Ganga-Himalayan basin. But in spite of such conclusion, our government has decided to go in the dangerous and opposite direction. They are constructing a lot of hydroelectric power plants in these fragile areas. This is why our government is under severe criticism from environmental experts. See, our government believes that hydro power projects can help us to be energy sufficient. But according to this editorial, hydro power projects are not a viable option in the Himalayas. Let us see these points one by one. The first important point is regarding the sustainability of the dams. See, in the Himalayan region, sustainability of structures cannot be guaranteed in the long term. To understand this, we should understand the working of hydro power projects. See, hydro power projects relies on the excess availability of water. It requires a huge volume of water. But this is a problem in Himalayan region. See, in Himalayan region, glaciers are the main source of water. But because of climate change, the glaciers are retreating. They are melting, they are reducing in number, and they are retreating. So, the excess availability of water in the Himalayan region will not be available in the long run. So, hydro power projects are not sustainable in the Himalayan region. This is the first important point. The climate change will affect the glaciers. The glaciers will melt, it will retreat, it will impact the seasonal flow of rivers, and if the seasonal flow of rivers are impacted, then it affects the dam structures in the Himalayan region. I hope aspirants can follow. Moving on to the next point. See, the large infrastructure in the Himalayan Ganga basin have a lot of negative impacts on the local communities. They affect their livelihoods. So, it is not a viable option in the Himalayan region. Moving on to the next point. See, with increasing climate change, there will be a loss of water and forest in the coming days. So, according to the author of the editorial, due to these losses, the constructed dams are expected to function much below their efficiency. Another thing is they will also make the area very fragile. The construction activities of the dam will affect the environment and it will make the area very fragile. So, by the time they are constructed, the cost of electricity generated by these hydroelectric power plants will be phenomenally high. So, there will be less buyers for the electricity. It will affect the energy sufficiency aim of our government. I hope aspirants can follow. So, these are the reasons why hydro power projects are not a viable option in the Himalayas. See, according to the author of the editorial, increase in hydroelectric projects has more negatives than positives. And when we take the Himalayan Ganga basin, it has a lot of environmental and cultural significance. So, according to the author of the editorial, our government should refrain from constructing hydroelectric projects in these basins. They have a lot of environmental and cultural significance and they have more negatives compared to positives. So, our government should refrain from such construction. We should reduce the anthropogenic activities in these areas. Also, the government should declare the upper reaches of the Gangas eco-sensitive zones. Only these steps can help the nation in the long run. These are the important points highlighted in the editorial. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the recent affidavit of the Ministry of Environment in the Supreme Court. We discussed why that affidavit is controversial. What are the criticism associated with that affidavit? It goes against the core mandate of the Ministry of Environment. It goes against the Ministry's own affidavit in the year 2014. It is also against the policy of Prime Minister's office. What is the policy? Projects that have not reached 50% of this construction should be cancelled. So, the new affidavit goes against these Prime Minister's office policies. After discussing the controversy, we discussed about the repeated disasters in the state of Uttarakhand. Why the state of Uttarakhand is facing a lot of repeated disasters? The reason is increasing anthropogenic pressure. We also discussed about the expert committee of Ravi Chopra. And finally, we discussed why idropower projects are not a viable option in Himalayas. The first point is not sustainable in the long run. Next point is it affects local communities and their livelihoods. Third point is regarding the reduction in efficiency of idropower projects. Because of this reduction in efficiency, the cost of the electricity generated will be very high. See, all these points are very important. You can use these points as value addition in your mains answer. You can also expect a direct question in mains from this topic. Now, let us move on to the next discussion. Now, look at this article. This article is regarding DNA fingerprinting. See, according to this news article, DNA fingerprinting is usually taken only for a certain negligible part of the crime suspects. It is not used for every situation. It is only used for a negligible part of the crime suspects. For example, take India. In India, DNA fingerprinting is mainly done for sexual offenses. This forms only a certain negligible part of the crime suspects. When it comes to other crimes, it is not used as a first tool of suspect identification. It is only used in the later stages. This is the gist in this article. See, the news in this article is not that important. But DNA fingerprinting is very important. See, in problems, applications of various technologies are asked. So, let us understand about DNA fingerprinting. You can expect a question in problems this year. First, what is DNA fingerprinting? See, DNA fingerprinting is a laboratory technique. Using this technique, we establish a link between the biological evidence and a suspect in a criminal investigation. For example, take a murder scene. In the murder scene, you will get a DNA evidence. So, we are trying to link the biological evidence with the suspect in a criminal investigation. What are the procedures involved in DNA fingerprinting? See, in DNA fingerprinting, first we obtain the sample of cells which contain DNA. For example, skin, air, blood cells. These samples contain DNA and we collect it. Then, the DNA is extracted from these obtained cells. It is also purified under this technique. After the purification, this DNA sample is compared with the DNA evidence in the murder scene. If two DNA profiles are found to be matched, it means the suspect has committed the crime. If the two DNA profiles do not match in such occasion, that person is not guilty. It is similar to fingerprints. We have seen in movies, right? Police officers comparing the fingerprints of suspect and fingerprints from the murder scene. Similar to that, we are comparing the DNA samples. See, each human being has a unique set of DNA. This is why this technique is highly efficient. It has eye accuracy of suspect identification. Now, you can understand this better by looking at this picture. On one side, you have the sample obtained from the crime scene. This is the DNA sample obtained from the crime scene. On the other side, you have the DNA samples from three suspects. We can see the DNA sample from the three suspects are very different. Each suspect has a unique set of DNA. And we compare the DNA sample from the suspects with the sample from the crime scene. And when we compare, we can find that the suspect two DNA sample is matched with the DNA from the crime scene. We can see both are similar. This is how DNA fingerprinting works. I hope as friends can follow. Now, let us discuss some important applications of DNA fingerprinting. See, DNA fingerprinting is used in four and six. It is used in legal disputes. It is used to solve crimes. It is used to determine paternity. Another important application is matching of tissue of organ donors. By using DNA fingerprinting, we can match the tissue of organ donors with those of people who need transplants. In addition to that, DNA fingerprinting is also used to identify diseases that are passed on through your family, erythri diseases. By using DNA fingerprinting, we can understand the pattern of erythri diseases so that we can take necessary preventions. These are the important points regarding DNA fingerprinting. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about DNA fingerprinting, what is the procedure involved in DNA fingerprinting. And finally, we discussed about the application of DNA fingerprinting. Four and six, solving crime, determining paternity, matching tissues of organ donors, identifying erythri diseases. Now, let us move on to the next discussion. Now, look at this article. This article is regarding dragon fruit. See, in Kerala, there is a gramma panjayat called pangod. In this gramma panjayat, dragon fruit is getting lot of attention. The local body of this gramma panjayat is encouraging every household to grow at least one dragon fruit plant. This is what the article is trying to convict. See, we all see in the dragon fruit, right? We have seen in the supermarket, it looks so exotic. It is like a fruit from Harry Potter and lot of the Rings movies. We have fascination towards it. So, let us learn what are the characteristics and distribution of this dragon fruit. Many of us have seen this fruit, but we haven't tasted or we do not know about this fruit. So, let us see about it. See, the dragon fruit belongs to climbing cacti family. It grows in dry areas. Just link the points. It is a cacti family. Cacti's usually grow in dry areas. So, dragon fruits also grow well in dry areas. See, the origin of dragon fruit is unknown. But many experts believe, dragon fruit is native to Central America. See, the most important point is, dragon fruit is epiphytic in nature. And because of this nature, dragon fruits grow in soil which has high level of organic materials. Now, we have a question. What is an epiphyte? See, epiphyte is also an air plant. Any plant that grows upon another plant or object for physical support is called as an epiphyte. You know the climbers plant? A pillar, a tire, they will start climbing around the pillar and the tires. You can see in the picture, right? Here, you can find a pillar and a tire fixed on the top. And you can see the dragon fruit vines climbing on the pillar. This is an epiphyte. See, this fruit is also called as moonflower or lady of the night. Why it is called moonflower or lady of the night? It is because the flowers of the dragon fruit blooms only at night. This is why the plant has received the names moonflower or lady of the night. See, this plant is highly productive. A three-year-old plant produces around 25 fruits. So, it can be beneficial to the farmers. It is also receiving a lot of attention in the current times. So, if a farmer starts to grow this plant, it can be beneficial to them. It is also easy to grow. It can be propagated by seeds or by stem cuttings. And as I already said, it can also grow in dry conditions. This is why the pangod panchayat of Kerala is promoting the dragon fruit plant. Now, coming to its distribution. See, it is usually grown in the tropical regions of the world. But currently, even in the temperate regions, commercial cultivation of dragon fruit is being done. As I already said, this plant is very easy to grow. So, it is gaining importance in other regions also. Now, look at this map. You can see in Southeast Asia, China, Israel, Africa, Australia, South America, West Indies, some parts of North America, we can see the plants being grown. So, these are the important points regarding dragon fruit. See, another important point is Gujarat's Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has called this fruit kamalam due to its resemblance to the lotus flower. So, this is another trivia regarding this fruit. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. In this discussion, we saw the basic information regarding the dragon fruit. Now, let us move on to the next discussion. Now, look at this news article. This news article is regarding deputy speaker. See, according to this article, a petition has been filed in the Delhi Icote. What is that petition? See, according to the petition, keeping the post of deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha vacant is a violation of Article 93 of the Constitution. So, in response to the petition, the Delhi Icote has asked the government to explain its stand-in response to this petition. This is the gist of this article. So, in this context, let us know about the powers and functions of deputy speaker. This is very important. The news in the article is not that important. Powers and functions of deputy speaker, they are very important from Prince's perspective. Let us see about it. See, each House of Parliament has its own presiding officer. We all know this. There is speaker and deputy speaker for the Lok Sabha, chairman and deputy chairman for the Rajasabha. When we are talking about Lok Sabha, there is a speaker and a deputy speaker. Like the speaker, the deputy speaker is also elected by the Lok Sabha from among its members. The deputy speaker is elected after the election of the speaker has taken place. This is another important point. The date of election of the deputy speaker is fixed by the speaker. And whenever the office of the deputy speaker falls vacant, the Lok Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy. Like the speaker, the deputy speaker remains in office usually during the life of the Lok Sabha. So, these are the basic points regarding deputy speaker. See, the deputy speaker may vacant the office in any of the following three cases. If he or she ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha. If he or she resigns by writing to the speaker. Now, moving on to the third case. If he or she is removed by a resolution, passed by a majority of all the then members of the Lok Sabha. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days advance notice. So, these are the three cases in which the deputy speaker may vacate his office earlier. Now, let us discuss some functions of the deputy speaker. See the deputy speaker performs the function of the speaker when the speaker's office is vacant. This is the first important function. Now, moving on to the next function. The deputy speaker acts as the speaker when the speaker is absent from the sitting of the house. So, when the speaker's office is vacant or when the speaker is absent in both the cases, deputy speaker performs the function of the speaker. In both the cases, deputy speaker assumes all the powers of the speaker. This point is very important. Now, moving on to the next point. See, the deputy speaker presides over the joint sitting of the both houses of the parliament in case the speaker is absent from such a sitting. See, in case of joint sitting, first speaker presides the joint sitting, but if the speaker is absent, then the deputy speaker presides over the joint sitting. It is not the chairman of the Rajasabha, it is the deputy speaker. I hope aspirants can follow. See, now we have a question. Whether deputy speaker is a subordinate to the speaker? No. It should be noted that the deputy speaker is not a subordinate to the speaker. He or she is directly responsible to the house. So, so far we have seen about the functions of the deputy speaker. Now, let us see some of the powers of the deputy speaker. See, the deputy speaker can be appointed as a member of a parliamentary committee, but whenever he or she is appointed to the parliamentary committee, he or she automatically becomes its chairman. To put it in simple words, when deputy speaker is appointed to a parliamentary committee, the deputy speaker automatically becomes the chairman of the parliamentary committee. Apart from this, when deputy speaker is presiding over the house, he or she cannot vote in the first instance. The deputy speaker can only excise a casting vote in case of a time. It is important to note that this case only applies when the deputy speaker is presiding over the house. He or she cannot vote in the first instance. Deputy speaker can only excise a casting vote in case of a time. Now, moving on to the next important point. See, when speaker presides over the house, the deputy speaker is like any other ordinary member of the house. He or she can speak in the house, participate in its proceeding or vote on any question before the house. Only when the office of speaker is vacant or absent, the deputy speaker presides over the house. He assumes the role of the speaker. In other cases, he is just any other ordinary member of the house. So, these are the important points regarding deputy speaker. What are the important points regarding deputy speaker? The first important point is elected among the members of the Lok Sabha. Next important point, the deputy speaker resigns by writing to the speaker. Third important point, when deputy speaker presides over the house, he or she assumes all the powers of the speaker. Moving on to the next important points. In absence of the speaker, the deputy speaker presides over the joint sitting of both the houses of the parliament. It is not the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, it is the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha, in case of absence of speaker. The most important point, deputy speaker is not subordinate to the speaker. He or she is directly responsible to the house. Next important point, when deputy speaker is appointed to the parliamentary committee, he or she automatically become its chairman. So, these are the important points regarding deputy speaker. Now, let us take up this news article for our next discussion. This article is regarding UNICEF. To be precise, it is regarding a statement issued by UNICEF. See, according to UNICEF, North Korea has rejected around 3 million doses of Chinese COVID-19 vaccine. This is a statement officially issued by UNICEF. See, this statement is not that important. But let us use this article as an opportunity to learn about UNICEF. Let us discuss what is UNICEF and the unique features of UNICEF. First, what is UNICEF? See, UNICEF stands for United Nations International Children Emergency Fund. See, we all know that UN comprises of many funds, programs and specialized agencies. One of the most important funds and program is UNICEF. See, UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories. It has a wide reach. Now, we have a question. What are its aims and functions? See, the main aim of UNICEF is to save children's life, defend their rights and help them fulfill their potential. This is the main aim of UNICEF. Apart from this, UNICEF also works to ensure that child survival. All over the world, UNICEF has helped to reduce child mortality to its various initiatives and programs. It also works to provide education to every child. Apart from this, UNICEF also works around the world to reduce child poverty and shield girls and boys from its lifelong consequences. It also works to ensure gender equality. UNICEF tries to empower girls and women so that they can fully participate in political, social and economic system. These are the important aims and functions of UNICEF. Let me recap. Save children's lives, defend their rights, fulfill their potential, ensure child survival, provide education to every child, reduce child poverty, ensure gender equality. Empower women to participate in political, social and economic system. These are the important points regarding UNICEF. Now, let us come to the most important topic. What are the reports and indices released by UNICEF? See, we all know that in problems, UPS is asking a lot of questions regarding reports and indices. This is why this topic is very important. The first report, report on regular resources. Second, the state of the world's children reports. Third report, avoiding a lost COVID generation reports. Fourth, multiple indicator cluster survey. Fifth, sustainability index and flourishing index. Sixth, state of food security and nutrition in the world. These are the important reports and indices released by UNICEF. See now, look at the fifth index, sustainability index and flourishing index. This index is jointly released by WHO, UNICEF and Lancet. And look at the sixth one, state of food security and nutrition in the world. This report is jointly released by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. FAO stands for Food and Agriculture Organization. IFAD stands for International Fund for Agricultural Development. WFP stands for World Food Program. And we all know that WHO stands for World Health Organization. So, these are the important reports and indices released by UNICEF. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. Now, let us move on to the next topic. Practice problems question. First question, consider the following statements. The institution of speaker and deputy speaker originated in India under the provision of Indian Councils Act 1909. This act is also called as Morley Mentor Reforms. Second statement, since the 11th Lok Sabha, there has been a consensus that the speaker comes from the ruling party and the post of deputy speaker goes to the main opposition party. Which of the above statements are correct? A, one only, B, two only, C, both one and two, D, neither one nor two. Now, take the first statement. The first statement is incorrect. The institution of speaker and deputy speaker originated in India in 1921 under the provisions of Government of India Act 1919. It is not Indian Council Act 1909. So, first statement is incorrect. Moving on to the second statement. This statement is correct. See, up to 10th Lok Sabha, both speaker and deputy speaker were usually from ruling party. But from Launth Lok Sabha, this has been changed. Now, the consensus is speaker comes from ruling party, deputy speaker comes from main opposition party. So, first statement is incorrect. Second statement is correct. The answer is option B, two only. Second question. DNA fingerprinting finds application in which of the following. One, to help solve crimes and to determine paternity. Two, to find cures for hereditary conditions. Three, to match the tissues of organ donors with those who need transplants. Choose the correct answer from the codes given below. A, two and three only. B, one and two only. C, three only. D, one, two and three. See, from our discussion we can infer that all the options are correct. The correct answer is D, one, two and three. DNA fingerprinting can be used to solve crimes. It can be used to determine paternity. It can find cure for hereditary conditions. It can also match the tissues of organ donors with those who need transplants. Moving on to the next question. Which of the following statements is incorrect with reference to biobricks? Recently seen in news. A, it is made from sugar bagasse, paddy stubbles, and leftover wood. B, it can be used directly to build load-barring structures. C, it is eco-friendly and acts as a carbon sink. D, it provides good insulation to eat and sound. See, the option A is correct, option C is also correct, and option D is also correct. We have discussed about option A, option C, option D in the article. And we know that option A, C and D are correct. They are asking the incorrect statement. B is the incorrect statement. See, biobricks are not as strong as traditional clay bricks. So they cannot be used directly to build load-barring structures. They can be used to build non-load-barring walls. Option B is incorrect. Since the question is asking incorrect statement, the correct answer is option B.