 A very good evening aspirants. Now, before getting into the newspaper analysis, I have an interesting announcement for you to know. Yes, it is regarding your preliminary examination preparation. The orientation for this batch has already concluded and the first test will commence on next Sunday that is on 20th November 2022. Still, you have a chance to enroll in batch 3. So, those who have missed the chance to enroll already, the window to register is still open. Use it and enhance your prelims score. So, this announcement. Now, let us move on to the Hindu newspaper analysis. Today's date is 12th of November 2022. Displied here on the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. So, without much delay, let us get into the first news article discussion. Now, look at this news article. As per the article, the regional meteorological center in Chennai has said that the low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal is likely to cross the coast today. The meteorological center also said the low-pressure area will move westwards across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala and this is the crux of the news article given here. So, in this context, let us briefly understand about tropical cyclones. So, what are tropical cyclones? See, tropical cyclones or violent storms that originate over oceans in tropical areas, they move over to the coastal areas bringing about large-scale destruction caused by violent winds, very heavy rainfall and strong surges. Know that the tropical cyclones are one of the most devastating natural calamities. They are known by different names in different areas. For example, they are called cyclones in the Indian Ocean, hurricanes in the Atlantic, typhoons in the West Pacific and South China Sea and willy-willies in the Western Australia. Now, let us see the conditions favorable for the formation and intensification of tropical storms. Firstly, there must be large sea surface with temperature higher than 27 degrees Celsius. Secondly, Coriolis force must be there. For those who don't know what is a Coriolis force, see the Coriolis force is an apparent force caused by the earth's rotation. To put simply, the rotation of earth about its axis affects the direction of the wind. Here, the force which is responsible for affecting the direction of the wind is called Coriolis force. Note that it has great impact on the direction of wind movement. That's why it is one of the major condition favorable for cyclone formation. The third condition is small variations in the vertical wind speed. Fourthly, there must be a pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level cyclonic circulation and finally there must be upper divergence above the sea level system. So, these are all some of the favorable conditions for the formation and intensification of tropical storms. Now, here you might have a question, where does the cyclone get its energy? See, the energy that intensifies the storm comes from the condensation process in the towering cumulonimbus clouds. These clouds surround the center of the storm and they provide the energy. With continuous supply of moisture from the sea, the storm is further strengthened. But it is important to know that on reaching the land, the moisture supply is cut off and the storm dissipates. The place where a tropical cyclone crosses the coast is called the landfall of the cyclone. Now, here you can look into the image of a tropical cyclone. Here remember, a mature tropical cyclone is characterized by the strong spiral circulating wind around the center. The center of the cyclone is called the eye. The diameter of the circulating system can vary between 150 and 250 kilometers. The eye is a region of calm with subsiding air. Around the eye is the eye wall. See, eye wall is a region where there is a strong spiraling ascent of air to greater height reaching the tropopass. The wind reaches maximum velocity in this region. It can also reach a high speed of 250 kilometer per hour. It is also important to note that the torrential rain occurs here. From the eye wall, rain bands may radiate and clusters of cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds may drift into the outer region. So, these are the main characteristics of tropical cyclones. Now, according to the meteorologist the diameter of the storm over the bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean is between 600 to 1200 kilometer. Also, the cyclone system can move about 300 to 500 kilometer per day. It can create storm surges and inundate the coastal lowlands. And this is why tropical cyclones are one of the most devastating natural calamities. So, these are some of the important points that you have to remember about tropical cyclones. Don't forget the conditions that are favorable for the formation and intensification of tropical storms. Since India has a tropical monsoon type climate, it is very important to know about tropical cyclones. So, with these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now, take a look at this news article. See, this news article is also talking about heavy rainfall alerts. The news is that the IMD has issued heavy rainfall alerts in some districts of Tamil Nadu. Four teams of National Disaster Response Force, that is NDRF, are placed in the districts of Taini, Dindikal, Dhanilgris and Tranipet. In addition to this, commandos of the State Disaster Response Force were stationed in Chennai, Kanchipuram, Vilupuram and Koodalur. The Tamil Nadu government has also involved the community in disaster preparedness. For example, they had identified 500 youth volunteers, mostly from colleges in each district to mainly aid in the rescue and relief efforts. The fishermen community are also roped in to aid in rescue operation in vulnerable areas of Chennai. So, this is about the news article. See, in mains, if there is a question about the role and the importance of community in disaster management and mitigation, you can write the last two points mentioned in the news article as a value addition. So, enough about the news article. In this discussion, let us focus on the disaster management initiatives taken in India to combat cyclones. See, one of the first steps in cyclone-related disaster management is a good early warning system. In India, the cyclone early warning system is aided by three organizations. The Indian Meteorological Department, IMD, it has various land-based observatories. Then the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services, in short called as INCOIS, it also has a number of ocean-based observatories. And finally, the ISRO has a network of weather satellites to monitor cyclogenesis. See, here, genesis means origin. So, cyclogenesis is nothing but origin of cyclone. Now, these organizations work in tandem to ensure the efficient monitoring of cyclones. Now, remember not just tracking off the cyclones, the information must be communicated to the people and the government officials to ensure effective preparedness. In India, we have the digital cyclone warning dissemination systems, in short called as DCWDS. Now, this DCWDS create and transmit cyclone warning messages to unmanned satellite receivers installed all along the Indian coastal line. The IMD and the state government use this information to alert the public using radio, TV, SMS and the internet. Okay. Now, the third important measure is structural mitigation measure. The structural mitigation measure starts with hazard mapping. See, once the hazard mapping is done, the area that are more prone to cyclones are provided with stricter building codes to withstand the effects of the cyclone. The hazard mapping also help with proper land use planning. In addition to this, in areas that are more prone to cyclone, proper cyclone shelters are created. Then comes the management of coastal zones. See, to reduce the impact of cyclone, proper management of coastal zones is important. Here, India has focused on building up bio shields. Bio shields are nothing but biological mechanisms for protecting coastal communities from the fury of cyclones. Mangrove forests constitute one such mechanism for safeguarding the ecological security of coastal areas and the livelihood security of fishing and farming communities living in the coastal zone. Okay. The shelter belts using mangrove are established under the National Afforestation Program, NAP scheme. The next step is awareness generation. See, creating awareness among the grassroots will result in long-lasting positive impacts. Here, India follows community-based disaster management, that is CBDM. Through this, people are imparted the knowledge regarding the do's and don'ts during disasters. Here, the knowledge regarding both mitigation and adoption are provided to the community. This helps in the long term. Here, National Cyclone Disaster Management Institute, that is NCDMI, also plays an important role. Along with collection of cyclone related information and focusing on research, the NCDMI also focuses on generation of customized warnings in local languages for community level response. So, this aids in awareness generation. Now, the final measure is disaster response. Remember, the important step involved in cyclone-related disaster management is the response of the government at the event of the cyclone. The Disaster Management Act 2005 lays down institutional and coordination mechanism for effective disaster management at the national, state, district and local levels. As mandated by this Act, the Government of India creates a multi-tired institutional system consisting of the National Disaster Management Authority, NDMA, headed by the Prime Minister, the State Disaster Management Authority's SDMAs, which is headed by the respective Chief Minister, and the District Disaster Management Authority's DDMAs by the District Collector. These bodies will facilitate a more proactive, holistic and integrative response to cyclone-related disasters. NDMA has prepared the guidelines for the management of cyclones to assist ministers and departments of the Government of India. And it also helps the state governments to ensure effective response in the event of a cyclone. So, these are all some of the important points that you have to remember with respect to India's Cyclone Disaster Management Initiatives. Very, very important points you have to make note of all these points and use it in your main answer. So, with these learned points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now, take a look at this editorial article. This news article talks about the EWS verdict. The Supreme Court verdict upheld the one-third amendment to the constitution. This means there can be reservation based on economic condition and the 50% limit set by the Indra Savani case can be breached. Why? Because, as you know, EWS reservation provide a 10% reservation which is above this 50% limit. But the author says that the discrimination made by using the EWS reservation is antithetical to equality. Here, antithetical means directly opposite. That is the EWS reservation directly opposes the equality principle. In this way, the author has substantiated his view through several points. We are going to see about them in this news article discussion. Before that, the syllabus relevant to this news article is highlighted here for your reference. You can go through it. See, regarding the EWS reservation and other reservation policy, we saw it in our November 1st and November 11th Hindi newspaper analysis. So, I don't want to waste your time here. Interested aspirants go and watch those videos to get a better understanding of today's discussion. Now, let us see what the author is trying to say. See, in order to understand the abstract of the constitutional principles like right to equal treatment, personal liberty and freedom of expression and religion, interpretation of the constitutional words is very important. So, whenever a law is questioned for its constitutionality, the court does this. So, how will they interpret the constitutional words? It is done by firstly looking at the text of the provisions. Secondly, by appealing to the constitution's finest moral version. Thirdly, by studying its history. And fourthly, by applying rules and codes that have formed over time through an assertion of precedent. So, by following all these, the Supreme Court recently upheld the One Out Third Amendment Act. That is, according to the author, the court sanctioned an exclusionary and discriminatory principle by upholding the One Out Third Amendment to the Constitution. So, what does this amendment actually propose? See, this amendment altered Article 15 and Article 16 of the Constitution and it granted the state a power to provide up to 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for economical weaker section of citizens that is EWS. And note that the change also mandated that the seat reserved for EWS would only apply to citizens other than classes that are already eligible for reservation. So, persons belonging to scheduled cast, scheduled type and other backward classes would not be allowed to occupy seats in the newly earmarked EWS Here, you have to recall one thing. See, Parliament's power to amend the Constitution is not unconditional. For example, in the Keswananda Bharathi v. State of Kerala case 1973, the court held that the limitations on the amending power are both implicit in the Constitution and evident from the literal meaning of the word amendment. So, if Constitution that emerges out of an amending process loses its original identity, the amending law will be deemed illegitimate. That is, Parliament's authority does not extend to damage the basic structure of the Constitution. Okay, now we have recalled this because the author says that this one or third amendment act is damaging the basic structure of the Constitution. So, now let us see the reasons quoted by the author to say that one or third amendment violates the basic structure. Firstly, according to him, reservation based on individual economic status undermines the original logic of reservations. So, what is the original logic of reservation? It is to upheld the socially and educationally backward classes right and not just uplifting the economically weaker citizens. Since reservation is not a poverty elevation program, the author says that this amendment violates the basic structure. Secondly, the amendment is discretionary because it excluded schedule to cast, schedule to tribe and OBCs from enjoying the EWS reservation. Thirdly, the author quoted that the amendment breaches the 50 percentage cap on reservations. See, just now we saw that this 10 percentage EWS reservation is given in addition to this 50 percentage cap, which is also violating the concept of equality. So, the author says that the idea of caste based or community based exclusion must be prohibited and according to him, if this Supreme Court verdict is allowed to stand, it could open a Pandoras box of constitutional mischief. That is, it might lead to a process that continuously generates many complicated problems once it is opened. So, that's all you have to know about this news article discussion. See, the author just shares his opinion. Now, you can build your own opinion about this issue. So, here if you find this 10 percentage EWS reservation is fair, you can comment why you're thinking like that in the comment section or if someone is thinking it is violating the equality principle, then you can also comment why you're thinking like that in the comment section. So, with these learned points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Have a look at this news article. This news article talks about Ukraine Russia issue that is going on. The news is that the Ukraine's president said that Kerson was completely Ukraine's and he said this after Russia announced the completion of its withdrawal from the regional capital. So, this is the cracks of the news article given here. Now, let us learn about the location of Ukraine in prelims perspective. Since Ukraine was in news continuously, there might be a map based question in the preliminary examination. That is why we have chosen this news article. As you know, Ukraine is the second largest country of Europe. After Russia, it is situated at the central part of Eastern Europe with its capital, Kyiv. Remember, a fully independent Ukraine emerged only late in the 20th century. This is after long periods of successive domination by Poland, Lithuania and the USSR. Now, look at this map. Here, you can see that the country is bordered by Belarus in the north, Russia in the east, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea in the south, Moldova and Romania in the southwest and Hungary, Slovakia and Poland in the west. And note that in the far southeast, Ukraine is separated from Russia by the Ketsch Strait. The Strait connects the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea. I hope you know that a Strait is a narrow piece of sea that joins two larger seas. So, now, looking at the map itself, we can see that the country lies on the crossroads of major transportation routes from Europe to Asia and from Scandinavian states to the Mediterranean region. Now, talking about the landscape, Ukraine occupies the southwest portion of the Russian plain known as East European plain. Ukraine possesses around five percentage of the world natural resources. Now, talking about the drainage system, note that almost all the major rivers in Ukraine flow northwest to southeast through the plain to empty into the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The neighbor river and its tributaries dominates the entire central part of Ukraine. Other rivers include the southern bow, Nester, Don, Danube, etc. Okay? Now, talking about the climate, note that Ukraine lies in a temperate climate zone influenced by more-rately warm humid air from the Atlantic Ocean. The winters in the west are considerably milder than those in the east. In summer, on the other hand, the east often experiences higher temperature than the west. Precipitation is uneven. Maximum precipitation generally occurs in June-July while the minimum falls in February. Snow falls mainly in late November and early December. Now, talking about vegetation, three main zones of natural vegetation exist. From north to south, they are the polysia that is wetland and marsh. Then comes the forest steppe. Now, also note this. During the Soviet period, rapid industrialization and interest farming resulted in destruction of the forest. Also, the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant created severe environmental problems in northwest Ukraine. A vast area of land or contaminated by dangerous short and long-lived radioactive isotopes, notably Strontium-90. If you are really very keen to know what happened during the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster, you can watch the HBO web series named Chernobyl. I believe everyone have to watch that series. Now, just watch it when you get time alone. So, in this news article discussion, we saw the location of Ukraine in detail. So, these learnt points. Now, let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now, look at this news article. It speaks about Himalayan Grey Langur. Recently, a study was conducted on diet composition of two groups of Himalayan Grey Langur. This particular study was conducted in the area, which is in and around the Kala top, Khajiar wildlife sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh. That is, one group of Langur is inhibiting the Kala top forest at an average altitude of 2396 meters and the other group is based in the Khajiar forest at an average altitude of 2188 meters. The study found that the domains of the two groups were only 208 meters apart, but the altitudinal gap made a huge difference on their diet. The Kala top group satisfied their craving by feeding on flowers, but the Khajiar group ate fruits for a change of taste and the study highlighted that the preference for fruit or flowers is due to the difference in their distribution in terms of elevation and availability of a particular plant part. So, in this context, let us learn few facts about Himalayan Grey Langur in Prelims Perspective. It is very important to know about such animals with respect to examination. Now, moving on, Langurs are an important species as they occupy a key position in the food chain of many forest ecosystems. In India, most langurs come under the genus Semnopithecus. Coming to the Himalayan Grey Langur, its scientific name is Semnopithecus Ajax. This Himalayan Grey Langur is a long tailed monkey, know that it is also known as Kashmir Grey Langur. These species can be easily identified by its large size and the silver dark coloured hair in the outer side of both the fore and high limbs. Remember, they incubate area between 2200 to 4000 meters above mean sea level in subtropical forest, then tropical moist temperate forest, alpine forest, then coniferous and broadleaved forest and they also found in scrublands. In India, earlier their distribution was reported from Himachal Pradesh and Jamon Kashmir, but now Himalayan Grey Langur are confined to the Shamba Valley of the western Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh. They are also reported to be found in Nepal and Pakistan. Now talking about their food habits, they are basically folivorous. That is, they are basically leaf eaters, but they also feed on a combination of fruits, leaves, stem, bugs, roots and flowers. Sometimes they also observed feeding on insects. The Himalayan Grey Langur is present in a particular area only during some parts of the year. They change their locality during different seasons depending upon the availability of food and environmental conditions. These langurs come to agricultural fields during the harvesting of crops and move to the deep forest during the other periods of the year. So in the recent past, it had been recorded that the langurs usually raid the crops of local farmers. This is mainly due to the destruction of langurs natural habitat and reduction in the natural food resources of this species in the forest. See, the raiding of crops by langurs causes huge economic losses to farmers. So a new kind of conflict has developed between the ecology of these animals and local farmers. Now talking about the threats to Himalayan Grey Langur, the major threat is habitat loss. That is, the expansion of human population and developmental work leads to habitat loss. Then the other threats include land degradation, land fragmentation, overgrazing, forest fire, deforestation, etc. Now talking about conservation status, they are placed in the endangered category under the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. So that's all about this news article discussion. In this news article discussion, we saw in detail about Himalayan Grey Langur. So these learnt points. Now let us move on to the next news article discussion. See this article here. See yesterday the Tamil Nadu Health Minister has inaugurated the regional Leptopyrosis Diagnostics Laboratory. It is inaugurated at the Tamil Nadu State Public Health Laboratory which is in Chennai. Know that it is one among the 10 such laboratories in the country. So this laboratory is aimed at strengthening the diagnostic facilities for Leptopyrosis. So in this context, let us learn about what is this Leptopyrosis disease. See Leptopyrosis is an infectious disease caused by pathogenic organisms. It is caused by a bacterium called Leptopyrra. Remember this Leptopyr bacteria can be either pathogenic or saprophytic. What does pathogen mean? It is nothing but the bacteria that is having the potential to cause disease in animals and humans. And the term saprophytic means the bacteria is free living and generally considered not to cause disease. Now coming back this Leptopyrosis is also categorized as zoonotic disease that is transmissible from animal to humans under natural conditions. So Leptopyrosis has the ability to affect both humans and animals. The common reservoirs of Leptopyr bacteria include cattle, buffaloes, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and trodents. Know that the bacteria mostly live in the kidneys of these animals. Now let us see how it spreads from animals to humans. See the transmission from animal to human is mainly due to direct or indirect exposure to the urine of infected animals. So moisture is an important factor of survival of the Laptopyr bacteria in the environment. Know that the germ enters the human body through breaks in skin like scratches, open wounds or dry areas and it can also enter through nose, mouth or genitals. Now coming to the symptoms see the sign of infection in humans are usually showed within two weeks. This infected person will get a fever and the temperature of the ill person may spike to 104 degree Fahrenheit. The other typical symptom include headache, muscle ache, jaundice that is allowing of skin and eyes, vomiting, diarrhea and skin rash. Now talking about the treatment see Laptopyrosis is treated with antibiotics such as doxycycline or penicillin and it should be given early in the course of the disease. Now talking about the prevention see the following steps can be done to prevent the infection. Firstly avoiding swimming or fishing in the water that might be contaminated with animal urine. Then avoiding contact with potentially infected animals. Thirdly immunization of dogs and livestock and using disinfectants such as bleach, acid solutions and iodine around the infected animals. So these are all some of the preventive measures. Now we learned about Laptopyrosis because it is an potential fatal zoonosis disease okay. So with these learned points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. Now take a look at this question. This is a previous question. Let me read out the question for you. The 2004 tsunami made people realize that mangrove can serve as a reliable safety hedge against coastal calamities. How do mangroves function as a safety hedge and four different options are given here and the correct answer for this question is option D. The mangrove tree do not get uprooted by storms and tides because of their extensive roots. It is not because they separate the human settlement from the sea and it is not because of they provide both food and medicine which people are in need of after any natural disaster and it is not because it is tall with dense canopies and act as an excellent shelter during a cyclone or tsunami okay. Now look at this highly interwind complex root system of the mangroves. This prevent the mangrove from being uprooted by tsunami and cyclones. So the densely packed mangrove forest act as a windbreakers during cyclone and reduce the speed of water during tsunami. This prevents the damage caused by the tsunami and cyclone along the shores. So the correct answer for the question is option D. Now moving on look at this question about leptospirosis disease. It is an infectious disease caused by the virus leptospira. It is a zoonotic disease which may be transmitted from animals to humans. There is no treatment for this disease. Which of the statements given above is or correct? Option A 1 only, option B 2 only, option C 1 and 2 only and option D 2 and 3 only. See the correct answer for the question is option B 2 only. First statement is wrong. It is an infectious disease caused by bacterium called leptospira. It is not a virus and statement 2 is actually correct. It is a zoonotic disease and a potential fatal zoonosis. Now statement 3 is also wrong because leptospirosis can be treated with antibiotic like penicillin and it should be given early in the course of the disease. So the correct answer for this question is option B 2 only. Now moving on this question is about Himalayan grey langur. Statement 1 they are found all along the Himalayan mountain range in India. Statement 2 they are categorized as vulnerable under the IUC and Red List of Endangered Species. Statement 3 they inhibits an area between 2200 to 4000 meters above mean sea level in alpine and coniferous forest. Which of the statements given above is or are incorrect? Option A 1 and 2, option B 2 and 3, option C 1 and 3 and option D 1 2 and 3. See the correct answer for this question is option A 1 and 2 only because it asks for only incorrect statement. Here statement 1 and 2 are incorrect because it is not found all along the Himalayan mountain ranges in India because earlier it is found in Jamun Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. But now they are confined to Chamba Valley of Himachal Pradesh. Statement 2 is also wrong. They are placed in the endangered category under the IUC and Red List of Endangered Species. It's not vulnerable. Okay. Then about statement 3 we saw that in our discussion itself this statement is actually correct. So the correct answer for this question is option A 1 and 2 only. So now moving on the two questions displayed here or the practice quiz questions for you today. Just try to answer the question. So if you have listened to our video properly you can easily answer these two questions. Just post your answer in the comment section. The main practice question for today's discussion is displayed here. You can write an answer and post it in the comment section. I hope we have extensively covered a lot about this topic in our Hindu newspaper analysis. So with this we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video hit like, do comment and don't forget to subscribe to Shankar Reyes Academy YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.