 Good evening aspirants. We are happy to announce the results of the March Abated October Main Scholarship Test. These are the top five students of the scholarship test. These students will receive 100% merit scholarship in our GS Main Storming Test Series 2020. And these are the list of the next top five students who will receive 50% merit scholarship. We congratulate the winners of the Main Scholarship Test and best wishes to all the participants of the scholarship test. Also note that for the benefit of students during these challenging times, we wish to support the meritorious students so that they prepare well for the upcoming Main's exam, which is a deciding factor in UPSC Civil Services exam. Hence, the next top 100 rank holders of this October Main Scholarship Test 2020, that is, those who have secured 11th to 110th rank, will be awarded a 25% merit scholarship. And one more good news, Shankar Ayes Academy is also offering a 25% merit scholarship for 100 students who took part in July Scholarship Test 2020, that is, those students who have secured rank 4 to rank 103 in that test. We request all the eligible meritorious candidates to fill the registration form in order to avail the scholarships announced. All the required links are given in the description box and also in the comment section. For more details regarding merit scholarship, call 6379784702 or email to mainstreaming at ShankarAyes.in. We once again congratulate all the meritorious candidates to those who are not on the merit list, don't be disheartened, keep writing answers daily for the questions that appear in our Daily Hindu News Analysis. With this announcement, let us begin today's analysis for the date 20th October 2020. The list of the news articles along with the page numbers of five different editions are given here for your reference. Let us now begin our analysis. This opiate article has been written by UN AIDS Country Director for India. Here he talks about the 2019 HIV estimates that was released by the National AIDS Control Organization. In this regard, he mentions about the achievements made by India in reduction of AIDS prevalence and HIV related deaths in India. In this context, let us discuss about the disease called AIDS and the organization called NACO. That is the National AIDS Control Organization. And then let us come back to the editorial. The relevant syllabus is given here for your reference. First of all, what is HIV or AIDS? See, HIV or human immunodeficiency virus is a virus that attacks the body's immune system called CD4 cells. Know that the CD4 cells help the body respond to infection. Our immune function is typically measured by the CD4 cell count. But if you see, HIV targets them and it weakens people's defense against many infections and some types of cancer. As the virus destroys and impairs the function of immune cells, the infected individuals gradually become immune deficient. When people with HIV don't get treatment, they typically progress through three stages. Stage one is acute HIV infection. Stage two is chronic HIV infection also called as asymptomatic HIV infection or clinical latency. And the most advanced stage of HIV infection is the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. And this can take many years to develop if the first two stages are not treated and this depends on the individual. So know that AIDS is the advanced stage of HIV infection. But in common terms, you might be hearing both these abbreviations together as HIV AIDS. See, AIDS is defined by the occurrence of any of the more than 20 life-threatening cancers or opportunistic infections because they take advantage of the weakened immune system. But now as more and more people access antiretroviral therapy, most people who are affected with HIV do not progress to the advanced level which is AIDS. Now let us see the symptoms. The symptoms of HIV vary depending on the stage of infection. Though people living with HIV tend to be the most infectious in the first few months after being infected, many are unaware of their status until the later stages. In the first few weeks after initial infection, people may experience no symptoms or an influenza-like illness. As the infection progressively weakens the immune system, they can suffer from swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fever, diarrhea and cough. Without treatment, they could also develop severe illnesses such as tuberculosis, cryptococcal meningitis, severe bacterial infections, cancers, etc. Now let us see how it is transmitted. See, HIV is found in certain bodily fluids in humans who are living with HIV. This includes blood, semen, vaginal fluids, rectal fluids and breast milk. Now let us see what is the treatment available for AIDS. See, there is currently no vaccine against HIV-AIDS, but if you say HIV is fully preventable. HIV is treated with antiretroviral therapy. It consists of one or more medicines that effectively suppress the virus in the body. See, this art does not cure HIV, but it reduces its replication in the blood, thereby reducing the viral load to an undetectable level. It should be taken every day throughout the person's life and if a person who is living with HIV is on this antiretroviral therapy, then their chance of transmitting HIV to another person is greatly reduced. This includes transmission in sexual partners or from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding. So, we can say that art enables people who are living with HIV to lead healthy, productive lives. Next, let us talk about NACCO, that is the National AIDS Control Organization. See, it is a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that provides leadership to HIV-AIDS control program or the National AIDS Control Program in India through 35 HIV-AIDS prevention and control societies. And these are the objectives of NACCO, which is given here for your reference. So, know that it is a division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This is in brief about HIV-AIDS and about the National AIDS Control Organization that you need to know from exam perspective. With this background information, now let us come to this editorial. In this editorial, the author talks about the newly released 2019 HIV estimates by the National AIDS Control Organization. See, it was released with the technical support of UN AIDS. This report tells that there was a 66.1% reduction in new HIV infections among children and there was a 65.3% reduction in AIDS-related deaths in India over a 9-year period. Now, about the number of pregnant women who are living with HIV, the estimates tell that it has reduced from 31,000 in 2010 to 20,000 in the year 2019. And the overall antenatal coverage, that is the medical care given to pregnant women, have also expanded and the HIV testing has increased over time and it is within the target range. Also, the treatment coverage has expanded as well. Then this report also talks about the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Under the leadership of National AIDS Control Organization, a fast-tracking of this EMTCT strategy-comaction plan was outlined in June 2019 and the deadline to achieve this target is December 2020. In order to achieve this target, the author tells that India needs to increase the treatment saturation coverage. Which involves improving the early HIV testing and treatment initiation. Only then, India would be able to reach towards the final targets. So, these are some of the points from this editorial. In this analysis, we have seen about HIV-AIDS and the National AIDS Control Organization from exam perspective. And then we saw the editorial that discusses about the 2019 HIV estimates released by this National AIDS Control Organization. Now, have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This op-ed article is with reference to the effect of pandemic on terrorist outfits like Al Qaeda, Islamic State and others. The author talks about the Doha Accord and its implications for India. We will discuss all these aspects in this analysis. The relevant syllabus is given here for your reference. See, this discussion will be mainly helpful from the mains perspective as previously, if you see there have been questions related to terrorism. In 2017, this question was asked in GS Paper 3. The Scourge of Terrorism is Grave Challenge to National Security. What solutions do you suggest to curb this growing menace? And what are the major sources of terrorist funding? And even in the previous years, in 2016 and 2015, there were questions related to terrorism as you can see here. Especially if you look at 2015, a question has appeared directly with reference to ISIS. Which has also been discussed in this op-ed today by the former CBA director. So this year, there is a possibility of similarly themed questions with reference to the actions of state and non-state actors in the terms of terrorism. As per the UPSC syllabus. Now, let us come to this analysis. First, let us see the impact of the pandemic on the terror outfits. In the present time, the terror outfits are lacking resources to carry out terror acts. Why? Because there is a temporary loss of support from those who are normally hostile to the non-Islamic world and tolerant Muslims. But given this information, we should not conclude that these outfits have become less severe or irrelevant. This is because the present COVID-19 pandemic and its effects are mostly considered to be temporary in nature. And once the pandemic eases, there could be a resurgence in terror activities. Also, the aggravation of poverty in developing nations due to COVID-19 could provide fertile ground for recruitment and intensified religious indoctrination. As a result, such activities of recruitment and indoctrination, that is conversion, are not lessened by the problems posed by the pandemic. They are relevant because despite the pandemic, the outfits are engaged in the quiet process of garnering resources for future lethal assaults. Again, India and other countries in the neighborhood that are considered as anti-Islamic by such terror outfits. Also, reports say that these terror outfits have been using the time during the pandemic to reorganize and rebuild themselves. So, they continue to pose global and regional threats. Now, let us see about few terror outfits they reach and the concerns for India and the world. See, two outfits are found to have an impressive global reach that are backed by global ambitions. They are the two most organized and motivated groups. One is the Al Qaeda and the second is the Islamic State. The activities on recruitment remains undiminished by the pandemic. And if you see, they are present in West Asia and also in Africa. The reach of these two outfits, therefore, are much wider in comparison to other outfits like Luxury Taiba and Jaishi Mahmoud. See, both these terror outfits are confined to the Afghanistan-Pakistan area. See, all these outfits are a cause of concern for India. If you remember in our daily Hindu news analysis dated 26th July 2020, we saw about the report of the monitoring team of United Nations Security Council Committee concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Al Qaeda. We saw that there is an ISIL-Indian affiliate called as Hind Vilaya and this group was announced on 10th May 2019 that it has between 180 and 200 members and that there are significant numbers of ISIL operatives in states such as Kerala and Karnataka. Also, many recent raids by the National Investigation Agency point to an Al Qaeda network in India. So, you can see that India faces threat from both these outfits that have global reach and that are backed by global ambitions. From other outfits also, we face similar such threats due to our borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now, let us come to Doha Akkad and its implications to India, which is discussed in this editorial. Doha Akkad refers to the US Taliban peace deal. This deal was signed in Doha, which is the capital of Qatar, by the US Special Envoy and by the political chief of Taliban. As we know, this deal paves way for withdrawal of all the foreign forces from Afghanistan in a phased manner. Now, this is a big worry for India as the withdrawal of US and other foreign troops may make it easier for the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Pakistan nexus. They may together pose a collective terror offensive against India and other countries in the neighborhood. So, this is the main implication here. And if you remember, we have analyzed this Doha Akkad as well in detail in our analysis data March 1 and 2 of 2020. So, these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this OPED article. In this analysis, we discussed about the relevance of terror outfits in the midst of this pandemic. Then we saw the outfits that have wider and confined global reach and what are the threats to India. And then we also saw the implications of Doha Akkad on India. Now, have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This editorial highlights some of the issues associated with NEET exam. So, let us discuss in detail about NEET, the issues associated with it and how to make it more accessible and affordable for all as discussed in this editorial. The relevant syllabus is given you for your reference. NEET stands for National Eligibility Come Entrance Test. It is an eligibility and entrance test conducted as per the National Medical Commission Act of 2019. And note that section 14 of the act deals with this NEET. This section says that there shall be uniform national eligibility come entrance test for admission to the undergraduate and post graduate, super speciality medical education and all medical institutions which are governed by the provisions of this act. It also provides that the uniform NEET for admission to the undergraduate medical education shall also be applicable to all medical institutions that are governed under any other law for the time being enforced. Thus, the admission to MBBS course in Ames New Delhi, then at Jitmer in Puducherry and all Ames like institutions will be made through this NEET. Note that it is conducted by the National Testing Agency. See, National Testing Agency was established by the Ministry of Education which was formally called as Ministry of Human Resource Development. This national testing agency is an independent autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization. Its purpose is to conduct efficient, transparent and international standard tests in order to access the competency of candidates for admission to premier higher education institutions. So, what is the purpose of NEET? It is for getting admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, then for Bachelor of Dental Surgery courses. And apart from this, National Testing Agency will conduct NEET for admission to other undergraduate medical courses in approved or recognized medical or dental and other colleges or institutes in India. So, this is in brief about NEET and National Testing Agency that you need to know from exam perspective. With this background information, let us now discuss this editorial. Know that this year's NEET was conducted and the results were declared. The National Testing Agency had conducted the exam during this COVID-19 pandemic despite enormous resistance from certain states. As we know, NEET is all about standardizing medical education and ensuring the quality of the medical graduates. Now, this editorial says that raising the quality in medical education is a laborious and time-consuming process. And such a big task is bound to be uneven at the start itself. Still, if you see there are some pressing issues with NEET that need to be resolved at the earliest. Know that education including technical education, medical education and universities all come under the concurrent list of the 7th Schedule of Indian Constitution. So, different states have been offering their own education systems with varying standards and pedagogies. And inequities began when NEET brought in an overarching single syllabus that was not accessible for the students belonging to these different states. And if you see certain category of students such as the poor, those living in remote areas and those studying in the state boards are at a disadvantage. Despite this, one good indicator is the overall improvement in scores over the years. So, in this context, the editorial tells that the states shall continue the endeavour to ease the access and to enhance students' ability to clear NEET successfully. This will definitely help students who cannot offer coaching classes. Here, the authors cite certain initiatives by the state government of Tamil Nadu. Recently, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a bill to reserve 7.5% of undergraduate courses in medicine, dentistry, Indian medicine and homeopathy. For the government school students, we have cleared NEET. And apart from this, the Tamil Nadu government is running a state-sponsored free or heavily subsidized coaching programs. And the state is also planning for reassessment of the regional state syllabus in line with the requirements of NEET exam. So, the author suggests that the remaining states shall also take cue from Tamil Nadu and shall mandate private coaching centres not to charge exorbitant fees and encourage them to provide subsidies for certain groups of students. So, all these measures will ultimately lead to a more equitable scenario to appear for NEET. This is in brief about the discussion of this editorial. In this editorial, we have seen some of the issues highlighted with regards to NEET exam. And in this regard, we saw about NEET exam and the national testing agency that conducts this NEET exam from exam perspective. Now, have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article talks about the recent decision taken by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. The former chairman of a particular private company called Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power Private Limited had approached National Company Law Tribunal against the company over alleged non-payment of settlement dues. It was rejected by National Company Law Tribunal and this was appealed in NCLAT, that is National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. And this appeal was also rejected by National Company's Law Appellate Tribunal. In this context, let us discuss in brief about both these tribunals. First, let us look at National Company Law Tribunal. It was established under section 408 of the Companies Act of 2013. It was established for the adjudication of corporate civil disputes under two legislations. One is the Companies Act of 2013 and the next is the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Court of 2016. Know that NCLT is a specialist body with both judicial and technical members. Like we said above, party can take issues such as non-payment of dues to National Company Law Tribunal. Then National Company Law Tribunal will pass the judgment. And if party to the dispute is dissatisfied with the judgment of National Company Law Tribunal, then it can approach the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, that is NCLAT. Now coming to NCLAT, it was constituted under section 410 of the Companies Act of 2013. The main function of NCLAT is hearing appeals against the orders of NCLT. Apart from this, NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose appeals against any order on awarding compensation passed by the Competition Commission of India. Apart from this, NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India as per sections 202 and 211 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Court. So from our discussion so far, NCLAT is the Appellate Authority for NCLT, Competition Commission of India and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India. Know that any person aggrieved by an order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal may file an appeal to the Supreme Court on a question of law arising out of such order. If the Supreme Court has satisfied that person was prevented by sufficient cause from filing an appeal within 45 days, then it may allow the appeal to be filed within a further period of not exceeding 15 days. Here note that no civil court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceedings on any matter on which the National Company Law Tribunal or the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has jurisdiction under this Insolvency and Bankruptcy Court. So this is in brief about the National Company Law Tribunal and National Company Law Appellate Tribunal that you need to know from example's perspective. Now have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article talks about the leakage of fly ash from North Chennai Thermal Power Station which is located at Enurban Chennai. Recently an environmentalist captured a video which showed a pipeline dumping large amounts of fly ash into the nearby river called as Kosastalaya thus polluting the river. This is in brief about the news. Now from example's perspective you need to know about fly ash. See fly ash is a byproduct from burning pulverized coal in electric power generating power plants. In this pulverized coal is nothing but crushed or powdered coal. Why it is called as fly ash because it is transported from the combustion chamber by exhaust gases. While burning the pulverized coal the mineral impurities in the coal fuse or come together in suspension and they float out of the combustion chamber along with the exhaust gases. So this fuse material rise out of the combustion chamber cools and solidifies into spherical glassy particles which are called as fly ash. And this fly ash is collected from the exhaust gases by the help of electrostatic precipitators or bag filters. Know that fly ash generally consists of oxides of silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium. If you see fly ash usually either cementations or pozzolanic. Cementations material is the one that hardens when mixed with water whereas pozzolanic material will also harden with water but only after activation with an alkaline substance such as lime. So both these properties of fly ash make some fly ashes very useful for replacing the cement in concrete and also in many other building applications. Now what are the applications of fly ash? See they are used as key component in cement based products such as cement concretes and concrete blocks and cement base bricks. Fly ash improves the strength in these products. They are also used in the manufacturing of plates. They are used in the construction of road embankments, development of low lying areas. Then they are also used in agriculture as soil conditioner. Fly ashes can also improve soils with poor physical properties like texture, water holding capacity etc. But we should also know that fly ash also contain heavy metals including arsenate, lead, mercury, cadmium and others. They are toxicants which can cause cancer and nervous system impacts and also severely affect the health in various ways. So these are some of the aspects of fly ash that you need to know from exam perspective. If you see there was previous prelims question asked in the year 2015 related to fly ash. Here the correct answer is option A, 1 and 2. Now have a look at this practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article mentions about minimum support price for the cotton crop. Recently the state of Telangana was severely hit with rains and due to floods huge harvests of major crops such as cotton and paddy were hit badly. Hence the state government has decided to give a higher price than the minimum support price that is being given to cotton based on certain conditions. From this news article you need to know about minimum support prices, how it is fixed, who approves the minimum support price and what are the commodities that comes under this minimum support price setup. We have discussed in detail about all these aspects in our 20th August the Hindu news analysis. We request the viewers to have a look at it for further clarity. With this let us move on to the practice questions discussion session. This first question is about human immunodeficiency virus. It is a three statement question and you need to choose those statements or statements that are incorrect. Look at the first statement. It tells that this HIV targets the immune system and weakens the affected person's defense against many infections. Yes, this statement is correct. If this statement is correct, the answer should be between options C and D. From both these options you can tell that the third statement is incorrect. All you need to know is the second statement is correct or incorrect. All the persons who are infected by this virus are affected by a disease called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. This statement is incorrect because during our discussion we saw that acquired immunodeficiency syndrome that is AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. It can take many years to develop if not treated depending on the individual. But now due to antiretroviral therapy and its accessibility, most people who are living with HIV do not progress to the level of AIDS. Hence the second statement is incorrect and the third statement is also incorrect. As we just saw there is antiretroviral therapy for treatment of HIV infections. Hence the correct answer here is option C, 2 and 3 only since you need to choose those statements or statements that are incorrect. Be careful to know what the question demands. This question is about national testing agency. It is a two statement question and you need to choose those statements or statements that are correct. Look at the first statement. It tells that national testing agency is a premier testing organization under the Ministry of Education to conduct entrance examinations for admission in higher education institutions. Yes, this statement is correct. It is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act of 1860. It was established by the Ministry of Education. Now look at the second statement. It tells that national testing agency conducts the joint entrance examination, then national eligibility come entrance test and the common management admission test. Yes, this statement is also correct. Along with these tests, the national testing agency also conducts UGC national eligibility test, then JNU entrance exam, etc. So both the statements are correct here. The correct answer is option C, both 1 and 2. Look at this question. Consider the following national company law tribunal, competition commission of India, insolvency and bankruptcy board of India. To which of the above bodies the national company law appellate tribunal acts as the appellate tribunal. Here know that the national company law appellate tribunal acts as the appellate tribunal for all these three. Hence the correct answer is option B, 1, 2 and 3. This question is about fly ash. It is a three statement question and you need to choose those statements that are correct. Look at the first statement. It tells that fly ash is a byproduct of pulverized coal. Yes, this statement is correct. Look at the second statement. It tells that fly ash is a major cause of concern among farmers since it contaminates the agricultural land by impacting the physical properties of the soil like texture, water holding capacity. This statement is incorrect. We saw that fly ash is also used in agriculture as soil conditioner. Fly ash can improve soils with poor physical properties like texture, water holding capacity, etc. So, the second statement is incorrect. If the second statement is incorrect, you can easily arrive at the answer which is option B, 1 and 3. This makes the third statement a correct statement. Fly ash contains heavy metals which are toxicants to human health. Now, let us look at practice mains question under GS paper 3. The question is, while some downplay the terror outfits amidst the pandemic, there are enough reasons to conclude that they continue to pose threats to India and its neighborhood. It is a 15 marks question. Answer this question in 250 words. Post your answers in the comment section. We shall review and give suitable suggestions and feedback within a reasonable timeframe. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the practice questions discussion session. If you like the video, press the like button, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.