 A very good evening friends, I welcome you all to the Hindu Newspaper Analysis brought to you by the Shankara A.S. Academy. Today's date is 4th November 2023. Before entering our discussion, I have two important announcements to make. See, we know that current affairs are playing an important role in our civil service preparation. It will be a constant companion in all the three stages of the exams, that is pralems, mains and interview. So to cover them holistically, Shankara A.S. Academy has started Chakra initiative. These initiatives features 50 plus current affairs session, 9 total tests and 5 rapid revision sessions. With these features, this initiative covers the current affairs from both preliminary and mains perspective. See that the first session of the initiative starts from 1st November 2023. For the various other details about the program, I am attaching a link below. You can click on the link and go through the program. With this, you can enrich your preparation. Now coming to the second initiative, this is regarding preliminary test series. Batch 3 of the Shankara A.S. Academy's pre-stamming is about to begin. The orientation session of the Batch 3 will be conducted on 16th November and the first test will be on the same date. It includes 48 tests including the mock test and CSAR test. The test will be conducted in both online and offline mode. So go and register and enrich your preliminary score. So back to the particles which we are going to discuss today. So without wasting time, let us get into discussion. Take a look at this news article. Recently a mosquito pool was found in the Chikmballapur district of Karnataka to be positive for Zika virus infection. So the Karnataka Health Department has sent serum samples of 30 pregnant women who are on the vicinity of the area to the National Institute of Fireology Pune for further testing and studies regarding the Zika virus. See this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through the Zika virus from a brilliant perspective. First of all, see Zika is a viral infection that is spread through mosquitoes and it is primarily caused by the vector Edas Egypti mosquito. Note that this mosquito is the major culprit who also spreads dengue, chicken gunia and yellow fever. Having said this basics, let us quickly go through the history of Zika virus. See Zika can be traced back to 1940s when it was first identified among the monkeys at Uganda and subsequently five years later it was detected in humans. This is all about the basics of Zika. Now let us see the transmission routes of Zika virus. Apart from the mosquito bite which we have discussed earlier, the virus can also be transmitted through various routes. It is transmitted through sexual activity with the infected people. It is transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy. It is transmitted via transfusion of blood and blood products which are infected with Zika virus and moreover it is also transmitted through organ transplantation. Now let us see the severity of Zika disease. Let us see the severity of Zika virus. That is how seriously it can affect the humans. See generally the disease is mild and the hospitalization deaths are uncommon in this disease and the virus is not considered dangerous to anyone other than the pregnant woman. See because of this only the Karnataka Health Department send the same samples of pregnant women to NAV as we have saw in the starting of our discussion. Okay on coming back to discussion the major concern about the Zika is it primarily cause microcephaly especially when pregnant women are get infected. Now let us see what is microcephaly. See microcephaly is a birth defect where in a baby's head is smaller than they expected when compared to the babies of same sex or age. Moreover such babies often have smaller brains that may not have developed properly. It may also cause Guillain-Barre syndrome which is a neurological disorder that could lead to paralysis and even death of the baby. Now let us see the symptoms of Zika virus infection. Know that the most of the people who are infected with the virus do not develop symptoms or they may have mild symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms are fever, rash, headache, joint pain, conjunctivitis or red eyes and muscle pain. See this can last for several days to week but according to World Health Organization these symptoms can be treated with common pain and fever medicines and it also requires complete rest and plenty of water. But know that if these symptoms get worsened then the people should seek medical advice. Let us finally see the preventive measures of Zika virus. See there is no vaccine or medicine for Zika virus. Instead the focus is on relieving the symptoms and it includes the complete rest, rehydration, etc. And moreover the infection can also be reduced by the usage of mosquito nets and or repellents to reduce the mosquito bites. See government should also take mosquito control measures like spraying of pesticides and the usage of repellents to reduce the Zika virus diseases. See there should be also blood screening and testing to reduce the transmission risk via blood transfusions. Finally the steps should also be taken to prevent the sexual transmissions of Zika virus infection. For this the use of contraceptives should also be focused. See the WHO request the countries to counsel the sexually active men and women on this matter primarily to minimize the chances of conception during outbreak times. This is all about the discussion regarding Zika virus diseases. See in this discussion we saw about the causes of Zika virus disease, we saw about the severity with respect to this disease and moreover we saw about the symptoms and the preventive measures needed to be taken to control the Zika virus. See with these learned points let us finish this discussion and take up the next news article for discussion. Take a look at this editorial article. This article is criticizing the role of governor. Recently two state governments both Tamil Nadu and Kerala have filed petitions against their respective governors in the Supreme Court. In this petition both the governments are saying that the governors are delaying the process of passage of bills. They said that the governors are delaying to provide ascent to the bills which have been passed by the state legislature. Because of this issue only this article is written. The author of this editorial is concerned that there is currently there is no time frame for governors in providing ascent to the bills. So the author suggested that the absence of a time frame is often used by some governors to obstruct the laws which were legally passed by the legislatures. Finally the author said that the governor should function based on the aid and advice of the council of ministers as was provided in the constitution. Moreover the governors should not misuse discretionary powers which are available to them. See this is the crux of the article. In this discussion answer for the main related question which is related to the governor. Now first let us look at the question. The question is enumerate the various legislative powers of the governor and discuss the legality of re-promulgation of ordinance by the governor without placing them before state legislature. See this question is for 15 marker and we should write an answer within 250 words. Moreover this question fall into the J.S. paper 2 under the topic of appointments to various constitutional post powers functions and responsibilities of various constitutional bodies. See this is the syllabus. Now coming back to the question. See here the main directive in this question is enumerate and discuss. If the question contains the directive enumerate then it demands the general listing or enumerating of the various points which will be covered under that topic. Here we should cover various provisions regarding the legislative power of the governor. And the second part of the question if the question contains directive as discuss we have to provide important points on the given issue and note that the point should be in the analytical manner. Now let us coming back to question. This question demands us to do two things. First it is a static question. Here we need to enumerate the legislative power of the governor. Second we need to discuss the legality of re-promulgation of ordinance. Here we need to discuss the legality in the light of various Supreme Court judgements. Now let us straight away get into answering the question. Let us start with the introduction. Since the question is about the governor we can provide some articles related to the governor's office in the introduction. See article 153 of the Indian constitution deals with the office of governor. Article 153 states that there should be a governor for each state. The article also said that there is no restriction for appointing the same person as a governor for two or more states. Here note that the governor is the executive head of the state. As per article 154 of the Indian constitution the executive power of the state shall be vested in the governor. The executive power can be exercised by the governor directly or through his subordinates of his years. Overall governor is an inevitable part of state administration in India. See this can be an intro for your answer. Guys if you have an alternative intro for this question please write and post it in the comment section so that both of us can learn. Now let us go to the body part of the answer. As I said earlier the body part of the answer can be divided into two parts. In the first part we will see about the enumeration of legislative power of the governor. See it is asking us to enumerate now so it is like hitting the bull's eye. We need to write static contents here. Now let us see them one by one. Firstly the governor can summon or provoke the state legislature and he can also dissolve the state legislative assembly. Secondly he can address the state legislature at the commencement of every first session after general election and the first session of each year. Thirdly he can send messages to the house or houses of the state legislature with respect to the bill which is pending in them. Fourthly he can appoint any member of the state legislative assembly to preside over the proceedings of the house when both the office of speaker and deputy speaker fall vacant. Similar procedure can be followed for the state legislative council. Fifthly he can nominate one sixth of the members of the state legislative council. Know that he can nominate amongst the pool of persons special knowledge or practical experience in the literature, art, science, cooperative movement and social service. Sixthly we can see the legislative power with respect to the reservation of state bills for the consideration of president. We know that Article 200 states that the governor can reserve a state bill for the president's consideration. Know that the governor can reserve a bill if he satisfied that the particular bill is derogating the powers of the state high court or it endangers the constitutional positions of the high court. Know that there are four more conditions on which the governor can also reserve the bill for the consideration of president. Seventhly with respect to the ordinance Know that with respect to Article 213 of the Indian constitution the governor can promulgate an ordinance in the state. However the ordinance can be promulgated only when either of the houses of the state legislative assembly or the state legislative assembly in case of a unicameral legislature is not in session. Apart from this the governor should be satisfied that there are necessary conditions existed to promulgate the ordinance. Finally as per Article 192 the governor is the final authority to decide on the disqualification of MLA's and the ground of office of profit. Here also know that the governor should obtain the opinion of election commission with respect to the disqualification of the MLA's. Guys these are all the various legislative powers of the governor. See as this is a static question we should write most of the points which we have studied in our preliminary or main preparations. Having addressed the first part of the answer let us move on to the second part of the answer. In the second part let us understand the legality of reproblankation of ordinance by the governor without placing them before the assembly. As we just saw now Article 213 of the constitution empower the governor to promulgate ordinances. Here let us have a brief background about the ordinances. We should know that there are three conditions to promulgate ordinance. Firstly the ordinance can be promulgated only when either of the house or is not in session. Secondly the governor should be satisfied that necessary conditions have arrived to promulgate ordinance. Thirdly the ordinance can be promulgated only on the aid and advice of the chief minister by seeing these three conditions we can observe that there exist a legal provision to deal with the ordinance. Also note that the ordinance should be approved by the state legislators within 6 weeks from the date of reassembly of the legislator. If it is not approved the ordinance will tend to lapse. This is the general process of ordinance making. Now come back to our answer discussion. See the government is using another option to bypass the state legislature that is repromulgation of ordinance. Here repromulgation means ordinance is promulgated again and again by the governor without the approval of state legislature. To put it simply it is the circumvention of the accountability of the state legislature. Now let us see the question. The question is asking is repromulgation of ordinance being illegal? This answer of the question is not clear because there is no proper provision in the constitution to deal with the repromulgation of ordinance. At times governments use this loophole to bypass the assembly. Now we can see this in the light of the various supreme court judgments to see the legality of the repromulgation of ordinance. Firstly let us take the supreme court's observation in D.C. Vatava's state of Bihar case. In this case supreme court state that the repromulgation of ordinance without being approved by the assembly resulted in the colorable exercise consecutive. So the supreme court ruled that the repromulgation was unconstitutional. But the court has also given some exceptions. The supreme court said that the governor can repromulgate the ordinance on the advice of the council of minister in two situations. The first situation is the matter of approving ordinance could not be taken within six weeks of reassembly of assembly due to the existing legislative business. The second condition is that there is exist an emergency situation where repromulgation becomes absolutely necessary. See the S.C. clearly stated that only in these two conditions the ordinance can be repromulgated otherwise it is unconstitutional. This is regarding the supreme court ruling in the D.C. Vatava case. Now let us see the second case. This is regarding the supreme court ruling on the Krishna Kumar Singh state of Bihar case. In this case the S.C. stated that the repromulgation of ordinance means the legislative procedures of the assembly and thereby it is a clear violation of the constitution. The supreme court noted that the failure to place an ordinance before the assembly constitutes an abuse of power and it is a fraud which is being done on the constitution. Overall the supreme court ruled that the repromulgation of ordinance without placing them before the assembly is unconstitutional. But there exist some exceptions as given by the court in the repromulgation of ordinance. Now we have completed the body part of the answer. Now let us conclude the question. The conclusion can be like the governors are the inevitable part of administration. However the governor must act according to the constitutional schema and they should not misuse the various discretionary powers which are granted to them. The governor should also ensure that the actions does not affect the people at large. See this can be a balanced conclusion for the question. You can also write your own answer and post it in the comment section so that we can usually have a win-win situation for both of us. See this is all about the discussion. See this is all about this news discussion. Now with this learned points let us take up the next article for discussion. Look at this news article. This news article talks about the Purchasing Managers Index or PMI. Guys usually in our news article discussion we will first see about the crux of the news and we will analyze. But today we can reverse this practice. For example in this analysis first we will see what is PMI and then we shall see the data which was given in the article for a better conceptual understanding. Now let us get into discussion. See Purchasing Managers Index or PMI is a survey based economic indicator. It is designed to provide accurate and timely set of data to understand the prevailing economic conditions of the country. Know that this data is very useful for the business decision makers and purchasing professionals. The Purchasing Managers Index acts as an indicator of business activity, economic health and investor sentiments of a country. See PMI is a survey based indicator. It tracks the perception of the respondents through a periodic survey of various variables. Remember PMI data was compiled and constructed by IHS Markets Economics. But as of 2022 IMS Markets was merged with S&P Global. So for the past year and this year PMI was released by S&P Global. Know that S&P Global is a leading financial information service provider for several countries like US, India etc. Having seen this basic let us see some of the key futures of PMI. Firstly PMI is released on a monthly basis. That is it is not released after publication. Secondly two PMIs are released in India. One is for the manufacturing sector and another one is for the service sector. In the case of manufacturing five variables are usually monitored. The variables are output, new order, stock level, employment and prices. Know that of these five variables the new order phenomenon has the highest weightage. Okay let us see the case of services. In the service sector PMI the variables which are monitored are business activity, new business, backlog of works, price charges, input price, employment, expectations for activity. Note that PMI is a number from 0 to 100. In this PMI above 50 represents the expansion of activities. Likewise PMI under 50 represents a contraction of activities. Know that PMI of 50 indicates no changes in the business activity. These are some of the important basic information that you have to remember about PMI. So with this basic information now see what is given in the news article. According to the news article the service PMI has dropped from 61 in September 2023 to 58.40 in October 2023. This signals the slowest expansion since March in the service sector of our country. As per S&P Global competitive pressures and rising input costs are the major reason for this load. But know that the manufacturing sector as you can see in the image is performing relatively well. This is about the discussion regarding PMI. In this discussion we saw about what is PMI, we saw about who releases PMI and we saw about the two components within the PMI. And we also saw about the recent PMI data. So with this learned point let us take up that next news article. Look at this news article as we all know Sri Lanka is facing a severe financial crisis recently. So it has been taking various steps to emerge out of this economic crisis. As a part of its steps the Sri Lankan government approached the International Monetary Fund or IMF for various aids. But as we all know the IMF provides monetary support only on the basis of strict conditions that are needed to be fulfilled by the country. But as we all know the IMF provides monetary support only if the strict conditions are being fulfilled. As a part of one condition the IMF asked Sri Lankan government to make a depth treatment plan DMP and get it approved by the major creditors of Sri Lanka like India, China and Japan. So in the recent visit of our union finance ministers to Sri Lanka, Mrs Nirmala Sita Raman mentioned that India will continuously collaborate with the Sri Lankan government on its depth treatment plans. In addition to this India and Sri Lanka also had talks about inter-grid connectivity, aviation, power plants and oil exploration in the northern town of Mannar. Negotiation were also held regarding the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement, ETCA between India and Sri Lanka. See this is the crux of the news article which was given in the newspaper. So in this context let us look at the various steps taken by India to actively engage with its neighbors. See this discussion will be very important for writing your GS2 answer under the syllabus of bilateral and regional global groupings and agreements which involves India or affect Indian interest. See why this discussion is important means it covers the major steps taken recently by India in helping its neighbors. So please note down these points and directly use it in your main answer. Okay let us start our discussion. Let us start with the various steps taken by India to engage with Sri Lanka. See as I already mentioned some points while discussing the news articles, here I will add some more points to the list of steps. First of all India has been traditionally been the Sri Lanka's largest trade partner. The India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement which came into force in 2000 further boosted the trade ties between India and Sri Lanka. Secondly India is one of the largest contributors of foreign direct investment FTA to Sri Lanka. See according to the central bank of Sri Lanka the total FTA which come from India exceeds 2.2 billion US dollars. Thirdly not only as FTA's but also as a part of official development assistance. India has provided grants to the range of 3.5 billion dollars. The assistance will be focused on the areas like education health, livelihood housing and industrial development of Sri Lanka. For example through the Indian housing project India is planning to build 50,000 houses in the war affected areas of Sri Lanka and the estate workers in the plantation areas. The other examples which you can also quote it in your answers include 1990 emergency ambulance services 150 bed Dikoya hospital in Sri Lanka and India is also providing livelihood assistance to nearly 70,000 people mostly from the fishing and farming community in Hambandota, Sri Lanka. India also supplies medical equipment to Vauniya hospital and 150 fishing boats and gears to fishermen of Mulya TV island. See these are some of the important steps taken by India to actively engage with Sri Lanka. Now let us move on to the other neighbor that is Bangladesh. Here we can see how Indian Bangladesh engagement takes place. First of all to increase the connectivity, India operationalized the Haldibari Chilahatti rail link. Know that Haldibati is in India and Chilahatti is in Bangladesh. See this will help facilitate the fight movement between Bangladesh to other neighbors of India including Nepal, Bhutan and vice versa. Secondly in terms of economy India is the second biggest trade partner of Bangladesh. At least primarily in Asia. India Bangladesh energy cooperation is growing leaps and bounds. See Bangladesh is currently importing 1160 megawatt of power from India. In addition to this preparations are in the final stage for operationalize the India Bangladesh friendship pipeline which is planned to be running between these two countries. Know that it will carry high speed diesel from India to Bangladesh. See the third area of cooperation. In terms of development assistant, India extended a line of credit worth 8 billion dollars for Bangladesh. The focus area of development would be on the roadways, railways, shipping, port etc. In addition to the line of credit, India also extended grants for the construction of Akkarua Agardala rail link dredging of inland waterways in Bangladesh and construction of India Bangladesh friendship pipeline. Then as a part of high impact community development projects, India has also involved in the construction of student hostels academic buildings, skill development and training institutes, cultural centers, arpenages in Bangladesh. See these are some of the important steps taken by India with respect to Bangladesh. Now let us move on to our next neighbour that is Bhutan. See India has consistently been the Bhutan's top trading partner. This both as a source of import and as a destination for its export. See the data. Since 2014 India's trade with Bhutan has almost tripled from 484 million US dollar in 2014-15 to 1422 million USD in 2021-22. See this India Bhutan trade accounts for more than 80% of the overall trade of Bhutan. Know that the India and Bhutan are governed by the 2007 India Bhutan friendship treaty under the 2016 India Bhutan Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transits. Secondly, India has provided a lot of development assistance to Bhutan. For example Bhutan was the first country to receive the Made in India Covish Shield vassins. Know that primarily these vassins were provided under Vassin Maitri initiative of the Ministry of External Affairs. A total of 550,000 doses of Covish Shield were given to Bhutan as a gift of India. Secondly, India is also planning to extend 2 billion rupees assistance to Kaisal Sangh project, which is a Bhutanese skilled development project. These development projects include development of Dambam industrial park in some state regions of Bhutan construction of 150 bedded mother and children hospital in Thimpu and the re-information of farm roads in Bhutan. Thirdly, see the main area of cooperation between India and Bhutan is energy security that is with respect to hydroelectric projects. Till date the Government of India has constructed four major hydroelectric projects or HEP in Bhutan. This amounts to total of 2,136 megawatt of electricity. See this includes 336 megawatt Chauka HEP 60 megawatt Kuchu HEP 1020 megawatt Thala HEP and the recently commissioned 720 megawatt Mangdechu HEP Currently there are two more hydroelectric plants are also being in construction which includes 1200 megawatt Punachangchu 1 HEP and 1020 megawatt Punachangchu 2 HEP We should also be aware of the important data that in 2021 Bhutan exported electricity worth 2443 crores to India See these are some of the important steps taken by India with respect to Bhutan. Now finally let us see some of the steps taken by India to actively engage with Nepal. Firstly India is Nepal's largest trade partner and the largest stores of foreign investments India accounts for about two third of Nepal's merchandise trade, one third of service and one third of FDI and almost 100% petroleum supplies. India also provides transit for the entire one third of country's trade of Nepal. Secondly, as in the case of Bhutan, energy security is one of the major areas of cooperation between Nepal and India. Know that the Mothihari Amblekgunj petroleum pipeline was recently commissioned in 2019. In the case of hydropower, India aided Nepal in the construction of Trishuli hydropower plant Pokhara hydropower project and Kathiya powerhouse. More recently NHPC India and with youth Uthpandan committee limited Nepal MOU for the development of Phukot Karnali hydroelectric project in Nepal. See in the case of development projects India's major focus is on extending the connectivity to Nepal. The Jai Nagar-Kurtha section of the Jai Nagar-Bardiba trial link was recently operationalized in Nepal. In addition to this, their Aksul Kathmandu rail link and Hulaki Terai route are also currently in construction. Other examples of development assistance include Nepal-Bharat-Maitri emergency and trauma center in Kathmandu, construction of Manmohan Memorial Polytechnic College and the development of Patan industrial area and the installation of 3,000 shallow tube wells in the region and the construction of museum at Lumbini. Know that India is also currently constructing Nepal's National Police Academy. Finally our government extended $250 million as a grant and $750 million as a line of credit for the post-earthquake reconstruction projects of Nepal. See these are some of the important steps taken by India to engage with Nepal. Now we have come to the part of our discussion. As I told you already India is connecting actively with its neighbor as a part of its neighborhood first policy. In this analysis I have given you points regarding major partners of India but I did not cover the other neighbors of India due to paucity of time. So I urge you to take important points regarding India's active engagement with Afghan, Maldives, Myanmar for comprehensively covering this topic under bilateral relations. See this is all about the discussion and now let us take up the next news article for discussion. According to this news article the officers of Narcotics control bureau or NCB busted on a Indo-Nigerian drug distribution network in the city. The drugs are sourced from France and distributed in Chennai and Bengaluru. The NCB has caught the network and seized the drugs. This is the crux of the news article So in this news article discussion let us quickly go through some of the important facts about the Narcotics control bureau or NCB. The NCB was constituted by the government of India in 1986 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotrophic Substances or NDPS Act 1985. NCB is the apex coordinating agency responsible for fighting drug trafficking and the abuse of illegal substances. NCB functions under the ministry of home affairs. NCB is also the Drug Law Enforcement and Intelligence Agency of India. It acts as an enforcement agency through zones and sub zones of the country. Remember the main impetus behind the constitution of the body is the article 47 of the Indian constitution. The article directs the state to work towards prohibiting the use of intoxicating substances that are injurious to health except for medical purposes. So the vision of the board is to combat illicit trafficking and achieve a drug free society. Also remember that the bureau is under monitoring and management of the central government. This is all about the structure of the body. Now let us see some of the functions of NCB. Firstly it coordinates with the various offices like state governments and other authorities under any act in connection with the enforcement of provisions as per the NDPS Act. So basically NCB collects the data and intelligence and it will analyze them and it will understand the mode of operations and closely coordinate with the state police, CBI and other law enforcement agency to combat drug trafficking. The second function of NCB is that it carries out India's commitment to take counteractive measures against the illicit trafficking under numerous international conventions and protocols. These conventions can be the conventions which are currently in effect or these can be future conventions which India may ratify in the future. Thirdly it provides assistance to the concerned authorities in foreign countries and concerned international organizations to facilitate the coordination and universal actions for the prevention and suppression of illicit traffic in the drug and other psychotrophic substances. Finally it coordinates the actions taken by other concerned ministries, departments and organization in respect to the matters related to drug abuse. Know that controlling the drug abuse is the responsibility of the central government and not state government. This is all about the news article discussion. Guys in this discussion we saw about what is Narcotics Control Bureau and we also saw about the various functions of NCB. So with this learned point we can finish this discussion and take up next news article for discussion. Look at this news article. Yesterday Delhi's air quality sipped into the worst that is severe plus category. Note that this deterioration has been for the first time in this season. This hike in the air pollution is due to the combined effects of stubble burning, local pollutants and unfavorable meteorological conditions. As a result of this worsening air quality the lieutenant governor of Delhi called for an emergency meeting with the Delhi's chief minister. In this meeting the LG appealed to the people to remain indoors as much as possible. Then he also asked the people to avoid unnecessary travel and ask them to use public transport. See these are the various guidelines which are given to the people of Delhi in combating air pollution. See this is the crux of the article. In this discussion let us learn some points about the air quality index, national ambient air quality standards and the graded response action plan. See these three are naturally interconnected towards each other. Ok let us start our discussion. First let us take air quality index. See air quality index is a generally measure of air quality in a region. In India the AQI at national level was launched in 2014. The national air quality index is being released by the Central Pollution Control Board or CPCB. See this national air quality index measures over 8 pollutants. These 8 pollutants are PM 10 that is particulate matter 10, PM 2.5, nitrogen dioxide sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, ammonia and lead. Please note it down and revise because this was actually asked in the UPSC preliminary examination. Ok let us back to the discussion. See in AQI there are 6 categories are there. They are namely good, satisfactory, moderately polluted poor, very poor and severe. The categories are arrived based on the overall score of the air quality index. The categories and the respective scores are being given in this table. Kindly go through it. See if the score is higher then the air quality is worse. And if the score is lower then the air quality is good. Now we will look at the national ambient air quality standards or NOx. See the NOx are basically a set of standards which are used to be the central pollution control board. Through NOx the CPCB prescribes the maximum permissible time limit for letting out pollutants. These standards are applicable all throughout the country and they should be followed by industries. See NOx covers over 12 pollutants. They include 8 pollutants which are already covered under AQI and 4 other pollutants like benzene, benzopyrin, arsenic and nickel. Now these are about the basics of NOx and air quality index. Now finally let us see about the graded response action plan or GRAP to combat the air pollution use of the Delhi. See the GARP is an emergency set of measures that comes into practice when the air quality of Delhi reaches the certain limit. See this GRAP was notified in 2017. For the purpose of this, air quality in Delhi is be divided into 4 stages. The stage 1 is called poor category. It is given when the AQI is between 201 to 300. Then stage 2 is called very poor category. It is given when AQI ranges between 301 to 400. The stage 3 is called severe category. It is given when AQI is between 401 to 450. And finally stage 4 is called severe plus category. It is given when the air quality index is more than 450. See according to the stages, various actions have been taken to improve the air quality. Some of the activities include stopping the entry of truck into Delhi, closing down all the industries, ban on construction and demolition activities etc. See this is all about this discussion. In this discussion we saw about the air quality index and the little difference with the national air quality standards. And finally we saw about graded response action plan. That's all about the news discussion. With this, let us move on to the next part of our analysis. That is to discuss the preliminary practice questions. Today, we are having 4 questions. Let us solve them one by one. See the first question. This disease caused by a mosquito bone flavivirus. This disease is primarily transmitted by the bite of infected aida sagyapthi. Know that this also spreads through sexual contact. Which of the following is the above-describable disease? See the 4 options. The options are malaria, Japanese sensibilities, yellow fever and zika. We know that the only vector bone disease that are sexually transmitted is zika virus. So by knowing that fact, we can easily say that the correct option is option D. See the second question. Consider the following statements with reference to the Purchasing Managers Index or PMI, often seen in the news. The first statement says that it is released only for the manufacturing sector. See in our news article discussion, we saw that PMI releases reports both for manufacturing and service sector. So the first statement is wrong. See the second statement. It is a survey-based method that asks the respondent about the changes in their perception of key business variables. See this statement is correct. Let us see the third statement. PMI covers the broader industrial activity compared to index of industrial production or IEP. See this statement is wrong because both IEP and PMI monitors the level of activity in the economy. But note that IEP covers the broader industrial sector and compared to PMI. We should also know that PMI is more dynamic when compared to IEP. See by eliminating option 1 and 3, which is both are incorrect, we came to know that only statement 2 is correct. So the correct option is option A. See the third statement. See the third statement. Consider the following statements with reference to the Narcotics Control Bureau or NCB. First statement, it is the nodal drug law enforcement and intelligence agency responsible for fighting drug trafficking. See the first statement is correct. Second one, it is a statutory body. Yeah, we saw about it in our discussion that comes under Narcotics and Psycho-Traffical Substance Act. So it is correct. See the third statement, under the administrative control of Home Ministry, which also we saw in our discussion. So all the three statements are correct. So the correct option is option C. Let us see the final question of the day. Consider the following pollutants, PM2.5, ammonia, ozone, lead, carbon monoxide. How many of the above are covered under National Air Quality Index AQI of India. Know that all the given pollutants will be taken for calculating AQI. We should also know about the subtle difference between AQI and national AQI and national air quality ambient standards or NOx. Okay, let's coming back to discussion. See all the five statements are correct. So the correct option is option D. The main question based on today's discussion is listed here. Interested aspirants can write the answer and post it in the comment section. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPC preparation, subscribe to Shankarae's Academy. Thank you for listening. Thank you.