 Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu News and Legislation by Shankara's Academy for the date 6th of February 2022. These are the list of articles we will be discussing today. Now let us start today's discussion. Look at this news article. This news article reports about the booming winter sports industry in China. This is mainly due to the fact that China is hosting the Winter Olympics this year. For this, it prepared for last five years, which led to the winter sports getting popular and businesses started developing sports-related destination. This includes building up ski slopes, skating rinks, ski resorts, etc. The Winter Olympics gave a boom to the winter sports industry. In this regard, let us see few facts about Winter Olympics and some issues related to it. But why have we chosen this topic today? See, previously UPSC aspirants would leave the sports column while updating their current affairs. But remember, time and again there has been sports related question in UPSC problems as well as mains. For example, in 2013, we had a mains question based on cricket. And last year in 2021, we had a question about summer Olympics. This is why this topic is important for us. Now let us begin the discussion. See, Olympic Games is inspired by the ancient Olympic Games that was held in Olympia city of Greece. It is said to have entered in 393 Common Era. But then in 1894, it was revived by a Frenchman called Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The aim was to help rebuild a peaceful and better world by educating young people through sport. Although the first Olympic Games of the modern era was held, it was held in 1896 in Athens. Also, know that the International Olympic Committee is the guardian of the Olympic Games and the leader of the Olympic movement. Basically, the Olympic Games is a quadrennial international multi-sports event. That is, Olympic Games are held once in four years. They are held in both summer and winter. Initially, from 1924 to 1992, the summer and winter Olympics were each held in the same year. That is, every four years. This four-year period is called a Olympiad. But after this, summer and winter Olympics are still held every four years. But they are held in different years of an Olympiad. The summer Games are celebrated during the first year of an Olympiad and the winter Games are held in the third year. Also, note that each edition of the game is hosted by a different host. In this regard, Japan hosted the Summer Olympics in 2020. Coming to the Winter Olympics, it was first held in 1924 in a place called Chamonix in France. But a separate Winter Games cycle started in 1925 through the International Olympic Committee session in Prague. There are 15 Winter Games, namely alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, lug, Nordic combined, short track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding and speed skating. Viewers can see the GIF files to understand how each sport is played. Here, note that the 2022 Winter Olympics is held by China in Beijing, so it is called Beijing 2022 Games. It already started on 4th February. Actually, this makes Beijing the first city to host both Summer and Winter Olympics because already it hosted Summer Olympics in 2008. The official motto for Beijing 2022 Games is, together for a shared future. Additionally, every Olympics has a mascot. For Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the mascot is a giant panda named Bing Dwen Dwen. Bing here means ice and it also symbolizes purity and strength and Dwen Dwen represents children. Look at this cute image of Bing Dwen Dwen here. See, these are the basics about Olympics and Winter Olympics. Now, let us see an issue associated with the Beijing 2022 Games. See, there are environmental concerns associated with Winter Olympics. Among those, one of the prominent one is the use of artificial snow or man-made snow. See, artificial snow is needed when no real or naturally fallen snow can be found or whatever snow is found is not enough for the Games to be conducted. If we take Beijing itself, it has extremely dry winters. So, there is only an average of 0.4 inches of precipitation during the months of December, January and February combined. So, this means there is not enough moisture for consistent snowfall here. Therefore, to balance the needed snow, artificial snow is made. They are made using snow guns. We will see the process involved in making snow some other day. Today, let us just see the environmental concerns associated with snow guns. First of all, artificial snow is incredibly resource intensive. That is, it requires massive amounts of energy and water to produce snow. For example, International Olympic Committee estimated that 49 million gallons of water will be needed to produce snow for the Beijing 2022 Games. This is too much in a world where fresh water is running out. Because this amount of water will fulfill one day's need of drinking water for nearly 100 million people. Now, for this amount of water in the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government flooded a dry riverbed by diverting water from a key reservoir. They also resettled hundreds of farmers and their families for this diversion. So, for the game, they have ecologically changed the river, affecting the biodiversity and also affecting people's livelihood. Now, just for making artificial snow, this much damage is being done. Worryingly, artificial snow itself damages the environment because it destroys native vegetation and can cause erosion and landslakes. Plus, the snow guns make a lot of noise. So, it leads to noise pollution, which disturbs the nearby wildlife. Apart from all these, there is safety concern for athletes also because this artificial snow is much denser and not very soft like our natural, light, fluffy snow. So, this makes the game trickier and less safe. This is all about the news article here. See, in this discussion, we saw about the origins of Olympic Games, how summer and winter Olympic Games are conducted. Then, we saw some important points about 2022 Beijing Games and some issues associated with the Games. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. This article here talks about the India-China bilateral relations. See, it mainly concentrates on the trade relations between the two countries. So, in this context, let us discuss in detail about India-China bilateral relations. The syllabus regarding this discussion is highlighted here. You can go through it. See, the written records of contacts between India and China dates back to the 2nd century BCE. The commercial contacts between India and China at the people's level improved with the advent of Buddhism into China from India in the 1st century CE. This happened under imperial patronage. Further, the decline of Buddhism in India and the spread of colonialism in both countries resulted in diminished cultural exchanges. However, when people of both the countries started searching for new answers to new questions, world friendships were revived. Note that on April 1st, 1950, India became the first non-socialist bloc to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Until the India-China border conflict in 1962 was a serious setback to the ties between the two countries, the visit by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi became a landmark visit in 1988, because it began a phase of improvement in bilateral relations. And in 1993, an agreement was signed. This was about the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the line of actual control. That is the LAC. This LAC is on the India-China border area. So, this agreement further improved the bilateral ties. Now, let us see the areas of conflict between India and China. See, LAC is the demarcation that separates India-controlled territory from the Chinese-controlled territory. Note that the length of Sino-Indian border is 3488 km. The border transfers the Union territory of Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. The LAC, in its wider sense, is the effective border between India and China. It covers the western sector which includes Union territory of Ladakh, the middle sector which includes Himachal Pradesh and Uttarkhand. It also covers the MacMohan line in the east which covers Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. See, India claims that China occupies more than 38,000 km2 in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Ladakh region. This region is known as Akshaichin. You can see this disputed area in this image. In the northeast, India recognized the MacMohan line and it considers it to be the actual line of control between India and China. But China does not recognize the MacMohan line. You can see the MacMower line in this image. Having seen the areas of conflict with the brief history of India-China relations, now let us see what is driving India's imports from China in spite of continued tensions with China along the LAC. Before that, just look at this bar graph which shows India-China trade relations. See, from the year 2001 to 2016, there has been a trade deficit. In simple words, it is nothing but India is importing more from China than it is exporting to China. Take a look at this graph here again. The blue bar represents exports from India and the orange colored bar represents imports to India from China. See, always the orange bars are higher than the blue ones. Now look at this table and the graph to know the recent trends between India and China trade relations. See, from the trade figure shown in this table and graph, we can understand that imports had fallen in 2020 because of the pandemic. But the fall did not last long. Look at this graph which shows how India's key imports from China has rebounded from financial year 2019-20. Yes, the Indian imports from China surged in 2021. Note that the trade deficit rose up by 22% since 2019. Thus, we can understand that besides border tensions, the trade is rising. But note here that areas such as investment remain in a deep freeze. Now, let us see what is driving India's imports from China. See, from these tables, we can understand that India's biggest imports being electrical and mechanical machinery and a range of chemicals which are used as intermediate goods used by industries to produce finished products. In addition to these Indian imports, active pharmaceutical ingredients, auto components are also intermediate goods. The top item also includes finished goods such as integrated circuits, laptops, computers and oxygen concentrators. What can we infer from these data? See, India's dependence on China for finished goods is a cause of concern. But the rise in intermediate imports is less of a concern. Why? Because it is a sign of industrial recovery and a great demand for imports. Now look at India's exports to China. It has also grown. But these are mostly raw materials such as ores as well as cotton and seafood and non-finished products. So what are the implications for India and China relations? Though trade continues to boom, other aspects of economic relations have dramatically changed in the past two years. There were tensions along the border that is the LAC crisis which started on April 2020. For this, the message from the New Delhi was that it cannot be business as usual when there is such border tensions. Also note that investments from China has plunged. For example, investments from tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent has come to an abrupt halt. More than 200 apps remain banned and Chinese firms are kept out of 5G trail phase. So Chinese investments in tech and telecom space which was once rapidly increasing came to an abrupt halt. Note that India has also tightened scrutiny on Chinese firms in India. For example, tax investigations were conducted in companies like smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. So due to border tensions and economic tension is also raising between India and China. Hence, India must take the following steps. Firstly, government of India needs to implement a hybrid approach for strategic planning, which includes both the component of bottom-up and top-down approach. Secondly, India should play a more proactive role in economic agreements like ASEAN, MESACAR and NAFTA. Thirdly, Indian exports should complement Chinese imports. These are all some suggestions which India can take to reduce the economic tensions and the economic dependence of Indian economy and Chinese economy. This is all about the news article. So here we discussed about the history of India-China relations. Then we saw about the border tension prevailing between the two. Finally, we discussed in detail about the exports and imports between them. And we saw how India is dependent on China for imports. And finally, we saw some suggestions to reduce the dependency. See, this can be used to enrich your main sensor. So with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. It talks about a team of scientists who are conducting a research using microorganisms native to Antarctica to clean pollutions from fuels and plastics in the white continent. According to the article, the tiny microbes degrade the waste, which create naturally occurring cleaning system. It cleans the pollution caused by diesel that is used as a source of energy and heat for the research basis in Antarctica. The research says that the pollutants can be food for the microorganisms. The research scientists are now trying to find out whether the microorganisms are degrading plastics too. If the organisms are degrading plastics in the long run, it would put together a biotechnological process for low-temperature polymer degradation. So this is the crux of the article given here. In this context, let us learn about bioremediation. First of all, what is bioremediation? Bioremediation is a branch of biotechnology that employs the use of living organisms such as microbes and bacteria in the removal of contaminants, pollutants and toxins from soil, water and other environments. Bioremediation may be used to clean up contaminated groundwater or environmental problems such as oil spills. Now let us see how the technique works. See, bioremediation relies on stimulating the growth of certain microbes that utilizes contaminants like oils, solvents and pesticides for sources of food and energy. These microbes convert contaminants into small amount of water as well as harmless gases like carbon dioxide. And it also requires a combination of right temperature, nutrients and foods. The absence of these elements may extend the time of cleanup of the contaminants using bioremediation. Now let us see how bioremediation can be done. See, bioremediation can be done in two ways. They are inside to which is at the site of contamination itself and inside to which is a location away from the site. Excite to bioremediation may be necessary if the climate is too cold to sustain micro-bactivity or if the soil is too dense for nutrients to distribute evenly. Excite to bioremediation may require excavating and cleaning the soil above ground which may add significant cost to the process. Now let us move on to see the duration taken for the bioremediation process to complete. See, the bioremediation process may take anywhere from several months to several years to complete and it depends upon variables such as size of the contaminated area, the concentration of the contaminants, temperature, soil density and whether bioremediation will occur in inside to or excite to more. This is all about bioremediation. Okay, now before concluding this discussion let us see an example of an indigenously developed mechanism. The product that I am talking about here is the Oil Zapper. See, Oil Zapper is developed by Terry and partly by Department of Biotechnology which is under Ministry of Science and Technology. Oil Zapper is a consortium of crude oil and oil sludge degrading bacteria derived from various naturally occurring and non-pathogenic bacterial cultures. These biological organisms eat up the contaminants which are mostly organic compounds and convert them into carbon dioxide and water. It cleans up the surrounding area without harmful residues or side effects. Oil Zapper's uniqueness lies in the bio-friendly manner in which it detoxifies oil sludges and cleanups oil leaks. Oil Zapper is neatly packed into sterile polythene bags and sealed for safe transport. The shelf life of the product is 3 months at ambient temperature. This is all regarding Oil Zapper. See, in this discussion we saw about bioremediation, different types of bioremediation and an Indian innovation in this field that is the Oil Zapper. With this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. See this article here. It is about the analysis of the ice cores of Greenland and Antarctica. According to the article, a research team has found an evidence of an extreme solar storm that occurred 9,200 years ago. The team said that the storm took place during the quiet phases of the sun. It is unique because it is believed that during the quiet phases of the sun, Earth is less exposed to such events. It is also believed that solar storms are more likely during the current sunspot cycle. The researchers searched for radioactive isotopes beryllium-10 and chlorine-36. According to the article, the cosmogenic radionuclides such as carbon-14, beryllium-10 and chlorine-16 are produced within the Earth's atmosphere as a result of interaction of galactic cosmic rays. This is the crux of the article given here. In this backdrop, let us learn about solar storms and the layers of the sun. First, what are solar storms? Solar storms are a variety of eruptions of mass and energy from the solar surface. A solar storm is a term used for atmospheric effects built on Earth from certain events that occur on the sun. Solar storms occur when the sun emits a huge burst of energy in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These phenomena send a stream of electrical charges and magnetic fields towards the Earth at the speed of 3 million miles per hour. When a solar storm strikes the Earth, it often produces a dazzling northern lights. See, sometimes solar storms can also disrupt satellites and various forms of electronic communications. Solar storms start with a huge explosion on the sun. These explosions also called solar flares can be as powerful as billions of nuclear bombs. Solar flares usually go hand in hand with the release of huge streams of charged plasma that travels at millions of miles per hour. These streams are called coronal mass ejections or CMEs. See, when CMEs hit the Earth, they can cause geomagnetic storms that disrupt satellite and electrical power grids. For example, in February 2011, a CME produced by a powerful solar flare disrupted radio communications throughout China. Some experts believe a major solar storm could cause over 20 times the economic damage of a worst hurricane. Now let us see some basic about the layers of the sun. See, the layers of the sun are divided into two large groups, the outer and the inner layers. The outer layer are corona, the transition region, the chromosphere and the photosphere. While the inner layers are the core, the radiative zone and the convection zone. You can see this in the image here. Of the four outer layers of the sun, the corona is the outermost one. It starts at about 1300 miles above the photosphere and its temperature is measured to be around 900000 degree Fahrenheit. Of the three inner layers of the sun, the convection zone is the outermost one. It completely surrounds the next layer that is the radiative layer after which we have the core that is the inner most layer of the sun. So with this, we have come to the end of our discussion. With these learned points in mind, let us move on to the next news article. Look at this FAQ article here. It is about the recent US intelligence report about Havana syndrome. It is said that US officials particularly diplomats in embassies are showing symptoms of Havana syndrome. So according to the intelligence report, it was doubted that it could be caused by pulsed electromagnetic energy or close range ultrasound. But the findings of the report differ from the report of the Central Intelligence Agency, that is the CIA. The CIA report says that in most of the cases, the reason for the phenomenon is underlying medical conditions. So this is the crux of the article given here. In this context, let us learn about Havana syndrome and some basics about microwave weapons. First of all, let us see about Havana syndrome. See, it is a colloquial name given to a set of symptoms such as dizziness, hearing loss, headaches, vertigo, nausea, memory loss and possible brain injuries. It first affected US intelligence officers and embassy staffers stationed in Havana, Cuba in the late 2016. In the following year, American diplomats in different parts of the world reported similar symptoms. The State Department also reported potential cases in China in 2018, which resulted in evacuating State Department employees and their families from the city of Guangzhou after cases were reported there. Diplomats and intelligence personnel in Russia, Poland, Georgia and Taiwan have also reportedly been affected. See, it was initially dismissed as a mass hysteria or a reaction caused by psychosomatic causes such as stress. In late 2016, deployed diplomats heard a loud piercing sound at night and felt intense pressure in the face. It was followed by pain, nausea and dizziness. In the years that followed, many intelligence officers and military personnel reported symptoms such as confusion, nausea and disorientation. It typically reported with the onset of a pain and pressure in the head and ears. They reported other symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, brain fog, memory problems, light sensitivity and sleep-related complaints. The long-term symptoms of Havana syndrome includes migraines, problems with distant vision, squinting, recurrent vertigo and nosebleeds. Now, let us see what causes this syndrome, that is, the Havana syndrome. Initially, experts suspected that Havana syndrome may be caused by either accidental or intentional exposure to a toxic chemical, pesticide or drugs. However, no traces of such agents were found in affected people or their homes. See, the most likely cause of Havana syndrome is assumed to be some type of mechanical device that emits ultrasonic or microwave energy. Such radiofrequency energy exposure through highly specialized bio weaponry could potentially create micro bubbles in the fluid inside a person's ear. When those bubbles travel through the blood into the brain, they can cause minute air emboli that results in cell damage. It is similar to decompression sickness of deep-sea divers. Another explanation is that symptoms may be due to direct penetration of radiofrequency waves into the skull. And this will disrupt electrical and chemical activity in the brain and rewire certain neural pathways. This rewiring may be the reason for the symptoms to be intense and long-lasting. But the silver lining here is that Havana syndrome is not fatal. And all the infected individuals are still alive. Now, let us see the law enacted by the United States regarding Havana syndrome. See, in July 6, 2021, United States Senate anonymously passed a legislation. It was done to support American public servants who have incurred brain damage from possible direct energy attack or Havana syndrome. The act was called Havana Act, that is helping American victims afflicted by neurological attacks act. The act plans to lend financial support to individuals who have suffered from Havana syndrome. Both the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department will create regulations enlisting fair and equitable criteria for paying the victims. It is said that the Havana Act is an end over by the United States government to acknowledge the hardships of afflicted United States public workers. It was done by providing financial aid and legislative changes to help cope with the condition. That's all for this article discussion. Here we saw about Havana syndrome and the causes of the syndrome. And finally, we saw about the act which was passed to address the conditions of infected United States diplomats. With these key takeaway points, let us conclude the news article analysis session and take up the practice prelims question discussion session. We have four practice prelims questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take up the first question now. This question is about Olympics. Here, three statements are given. We have to find the incorrect statement. Now, let us take up the first statement. Winter Olympics is held in the same year as the summer Olympics. See, this statement is incorrect because only from 1924 to 1992, the summer and winter games were held in the same year every four years. But after this, summer and winter games are each still held every four years but they are held in the different years of an Olympiad. The summer games are celebrated during the first year of an Olympiad and the winter games are in the third year. Now, moving on to the second statement. Since its beginning in 1996, women compete in all sports of the Olympic program. See, this statement is also incorrect. See, we know that the first Olympic games was held in Athens in 1896. But only in the games of Paris which was held in 1900, women started participating in Olympics. And it took over a century and a decade for women to compete in all sports on the Olympic list. This finally happened in the 2012 games in London. So, statement 2 is incorrect. Moving on to the third statement. Norway is the most successful nation in Winter Olympic history till 2020. See, this statement is correct. Norway is the most successful nation in Winter Olympic history till now. It has a total of 368 medals in gold, silver and bronze. See, this may change after the 2022 Winter Olympics. So, stay updated. Since they are asking the incorrect statements here, the correct answer here is option B, 1 and 2 only. Now, moving on to the second question. This question is regarding bioremediation. Here, two statements are given. We have to find the correct statement. Let us take up the first statement. Bioremediation uses living organism for the removal of contaminants and pollutants. See, this statement is correct because we saw in our discussion that this is the definition of the technique of bioremediation. Here, microbes convert contaminants into small amount of water as well as harmless gases like carbon dioxide. Now, moving on to the second statement. Bioremediation can be only done by inside-to method to facilitate conditions for growth of a microorganism. See, this statement is incorrect because we saw in our discussion that bioremediation can be done in two ways. That is inside-to and excite-to. Excite-to bioremediation may be necessary if the climate condition is too cold to sustain microbial activity or if the soil is too dense for nutrients to distribute evenly. So, the second statement is incorrect. Since the statement 1 is correct and the statement 2 is incorrect, the correct option here is option A, 1 only. Now, moving on to the third question. This question is about solar storm. Here also, two statements are given. We have to find the correct statements. Now, let us get through the statements. The first statement is it occurs when sun emits huge bursts of energy in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejection. Now, moving on to the second statement. They disrupt the satellite and electric power grids and other electric communication systems. See, here both the statements are correct because we saw them in our discussion. The first statement indicates the definition of solar storms and the second statement indicates the effects of solar storms. Since here, both the statements are correct, the correct answer here is both 1 and 2. Now, taking up the last problem's question discussion for today. This question is regarding Havana syndrome. We have to find the correct statement here. Let us take up the first statement. It is an illness which affects the people of Havana Cuba. See, this statement is incorrect because Havana syndrome is a colloquial term given to a set of symptoms which affects the United States intelligence officers and embassy staffers. It got the name as Havana syndrome because of the syndrome where first felt by the US officials stated in Havana Cuba in late 2016. So, statement one is incorrect. Now, let us take up the second statement. The symptoms of Havana syndrome include dizziness, hearing loss, headaches, vertigo, nausea, memory loss and possible brain injuries. See, this statement is correct. This is also we saw in our discussion and also we saw the doubtful cause of the syndrome to be accidental or intentional exposure to toxic chemicals, pesticides or drugs and also mechanical device that emits ultrasonic or microwave energy. See, since here statement one is incorrect and statement two is correct, the correct option here is option B2 only. The main question based on today's discussion is here. Write the answer and post it in the comment section. If you like today's session, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.