 Good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Aya's Academy for the day 20th May 2021. These are the list of news articles that is chosen for today's discussion and they provided along with the page numbers of different editions. Before going into the news articles, let us discuss a few previous year's prelims questions. Now look at this question on public investment. A common understanding of public investment will get you to the answer quickly through elimination technique. See investment is nothing but putting in effort or money for long-term gains and when you take public investment it is roughly defined as an investment by the state in particular assets whether through central or local governments or through publicly owned industries or corporations. And as you can see investments by definition should involve assets creation or long-term benefit. So without understanding look at the first option where the government fixes the MSP although it spends from its coffers there is no asset that is being made. So by that we can eliminate option A, B and D and we can arrive at C as the correct option. And if you see option 4 and 5 also does not involve asset creation or long-term benefit and this logic seems to be in agreement with strict economic jargon as well. See investment is a term that is associated with the capital part of the budget. So subsidy being a revenue part is not an example of public investment. When page 84 of the 2019 to 2020 economic survey is found to be in agreement with us it says that given fiscal constraints there is always a trade-off between allocating money through subsidies and increasing investments. As investments are the crucial input to increase in productivity the increasing focus on subsidies is harming the growth of the agricultural sector in the long run. And this imbalance between subsidies and investments need to be urgently corrected. So the right option is option C that is 2, 3 and 6 only. Now look at this question. This question is about schedule 6 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 which is also called as the WPA Act. As you know the objective of WPA is to provide for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants and for matters related to it. And this objective is to ensure the ecological and environmental security of the country. So various species are provided protection under the act by listing them in schedules because hunting and commercial exploitation of wild animals included in various schedules of the WPA is prohibited. And also any offence that is committed in respect of these scheduled species attracts punishment prescribed under the act. But remember there are certain exceptions to this such as government may permit killing of certain wild animals for academic purposes etc. Now there are six schedules in the act and our focus in this question schedule 6 which pertains to specified plants. As per the section 2 clause 27 specified plants means any plant that is specified or listed in schedule 6. And this includes six plant species and they are the bedomas, cycad, blue vanda, good ladies, slipper orchids, pitcher plant and the red vanda. Now as per section 17a there is a general prohibition on willfully picking, uprooting, damaging and also the destroying of any specified plant from any forest land. Similarly possessing or selling the alive or dead specified plants or transferring them by way of gift is also generally prohibited. Now when it comes to the cultivation of a specified plant it is prohibited to cultivate them without obtaining the relevant license. And according to section 17c such a license is granted by the chief wildlife warden or any other officer who is authorized by the state government. And this license specifies the area and also the conditions in which the licensee shall cultivate a specified plant. Note that a license is also required to commence or to carry on a business or occupation as a dealer in a specified plant. So if you look at the question it is clear that schedule 6 does not talk about invasive plants or genetically modified crops. So statements C and D are incorrect. Similarly statement B is also incorrect as we just saw that specified plants can be cultivated if license is obtained for the same. So therefore the right or the correct answer is option A that is a license is required to cultivate that plant. Now look at this question it is a question on a difficult side because the question is a direct pick from the WTO Trims official page about which we will see now. See it is a WTO agreement that pertains to regulation of investments and it tries to recognize that certain investment measures can restrict and distort trade and it also mandates that the WTO members shouldn't apply any such measure that discriminates against foreign products or that leads to quantitative restrictions. And a list of prohibited trims measures such as local content requirements is a part of the agreement. And the page also makes it clear that the agreement is not concerned with the regulation of foreign investment. So that makes statement 3 to be correct and we are left with options C and D. See the application of the agreement is defined in article 1 which states that the agreement applies to investment measures related to trade in goods only. So this means the trims agreement does not apply to services and that makes statement 2 wrong and thereby we arrive at the right answer that is option C that is 1 and 3 only. Now let us take up this editorial. See in the era of pandemic many informal workers are suffering without livelihood. So social security plays a major role in supporting them. So in this context the author here has critically analyzed the code on social security 2020. The syllabus covered by this article is given below for your reference. Before going into the discussion first let us see about the code. See a government is trying to consolidate and simplify the multitude of labour regulations and to give life to this objective the code on social security 2020 was enacted. This code subsumes nine regulations relating to social security, retirement and employee benefits. So what are these nine regulations? See the nine regulations include the Employees' Compensation Act, the Employees' State Insurance Act, the Employees' Providence Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, the Employees' Exchange Compulsory Notification of Vacancies Act, the Maternity Benefit Act, the Payment of Gratuity Act, the Cine Workers' Welfare Fund Act, the Building and Other Construction Workers' CES Act and also the Unorganized Workers' Social Security Act. Now let us see the pros of having such a code. See the Social Security Code of 2020 has announced the coverage of social welfare and the code has widened its coverage by including the unorganized sector, the fixed term employees, the gig workers, platform workers, interstate migrant workers and contract employees etc and it has also brought uniformity in determining wages for the purpose of social security benefits. In addition to that the code is gone for a consultative approach for resolutions. See the code has brought in a facilitating approach by the authorities and unlike the existing role of inspectors the code provides for an enhanced role of inspector cum facilitator whereby employers can look for support and advice to enhance the compliances. The code also establishes career centres. See career centres are established to monitor employment information and to make sure that the human resources demands are met and the employers have to report vacancies to career centres before filling up the same. See the code is also a big step towards digitization and according to the code all records and returns have to be maintained electronically. This digitization of code will help in the exchange of information among various stakeholders or funds that are set up by the government and it will ensure compliance and also will facilitate the governance. See the code also imposes strict penalties for non-compliance. See the strength of implementing a legislation lies in the ease of compliances as well as in the penalties that deter non-compliance and the code captures it all and any failure to deposit employees contribution not only attracts a penalty of 1 lakh rupees but also imprisonment of 1 to 3 years and in case of repeated offence the penalties and prosecutions are severe. So far we learnt about the pros and now let us move on to the cons discussed in the editorial. See according to the author the act has got areas of ambiguity and overlaps which can create chaos in its implementation. Also according to the act an informal worker has to register in a portal to avail the benefits. So in order to avail social security an informal worker must register himself or herself on the specified online portal but the problem is most of the informal workers lack digital literacy and internet connectivity and also they find it difficult to furnish all documentary papers that are required as a part of the registration process. See most informal workers are footloose casual workers and self-employed so they move from one place to another in search of livelihoods. So furnishing proof of livelihood and income details in the absence of tangible employer-employer relations is very difficult and such requirements deter the informal workers from completing the registration and they continue to remain outside the social security ambit. Also we know that the unorganized workers are spread across the length and breadth of India. So interstate arrangement and cooperation becomes important but the court does not contain any such provisions. Similarly when it comes to the maternity benefit it has not been made universal under the social security code of 2020 and the maternity benefited percent is only applicable for establishments employing 10 workers or more. See the definition of establishment in the proposed court did not include the unorganized sector so therefore the women engaged in the unorganized sector would remain outside the purview of maternity benefit. Also the social security code maintains that the employee's provident fund scheme will only be applicable to establishments in which 20 or more employees are employed and this again excludes the unorganized sector from benefits and when it comes to the gratuity the court states that the gratuity shall be payable to eligible employees by every shop or establishment in which 10 or more employees are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding 12 months and this provision has again excluded many informal workers. So the author finally concludes by saying that the court remains a collage of existing pieces of legislation without that interweaving thread of integration and the court had a lot of promises but it failed to meet the expectations. So with these informations in mind let's move on to the next part of the discussion. Now look at this article a lawyer has asked the Supreme Court to direct the centre to advise President's rule in West Bengal on the grounds of failure of the constitutional missionary and this article is in relation to that. So in this context let us learn about the President's rule. See Article 355 imposes a duty on the centre to ensure that the government of every state is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. So in case of failure of constitutional missionary in a state the centre takes over the government of a state under Article 356 and this is popularly known as President's rule and it is also called as state emergency or constitutional emergency. See the President's rule can be proclaimed under Article 356 on two grounds and one of them is mentioned in Article 356 and another is mentioned in Article 365. When you take Article 356 it empowers the President to issue a proclamation if he or she is satisfied that a situation is arising in which the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and the President can act either on a report of the governor of the state or otherwise to that is even without the governor's report and when you take Article 365 it says that whenever a state fails to comply with or to give effect to any direction from the centre it will be lawful for the President to hold that a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. Also a proclamation imposing President's rule must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue and if approved by both the Houses of Parliament then the President's rule continues for six months and it can be extended for a maximum period of three years with the approval of the Parliament every six months. Remember every resolution approving the proclamation of President's rule or its continuation can be passed by either House of Parliament only by a simple majority that is a majority of the members of that House present and voting. The President acquires the following extraordinary powers when the President's rule is imposed in a state and they are he or she can take up the functions of the state government and powers vested in the governor or any other executive authority in the state. Similarly he or she can declare that the powers of the state legislature are to be exercised by the Parliament and also he or she can take all other necessary steps including the suspension of the constitutional provisions relating to anybody or authority in the state. So therefore when the President's rule is imposed in a state the President dismisses the State Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister and the State Governor on behalf of the President carries on the State Administration with the help of the Chief Secretary of the State or the Advices appointed by the President and this is the reason why a proclamation under Article 356 is popularly known as the Imposition of President's Rule in a State. So with this we have come to the end of this discussion. Let's move on to the next news article. Our next discussion is going to be based on this editorial article. This editorial is regarding the Supreme Court's verdict on Maratha Reservation. For the past few days we have discussed about this issue and its background and in today's editorial the author argues that the verdict is in contradiction to the values of equality and federalism. So in this discussion let us see how the verdict contradicts the values of equality and federalism. The syllabus covered by this editorial article is given below for your reference. As you are aware recently Supreme Court declared the Maratha Reservation law as unconstitution. See the law provided reservations in education and public employment in the state and the reservation exceeded the 50% ceiling set by the Supreme Court in Indrasone case. Now in its recent judgment Supreme Court not only declared the reservation unconstitutional but also noted a certain critical point which raised the debates about upholding the federal spirit. So what is that point? It is the court's ruling that state governments had no independent power to declare a group as a backward class and according to the author these rulings are an opposition to the values of equality and federalism which so far has been regarded as an integral part to India's democracy by the Supreme Court. So first let us see why the verdict is opposed to the values of equality. As you know right to equality is a fundamental right guaranteed by a constitution and it provides formal equality which refers to the equal distribution of laws and political rights. Now formal equality assumes that equality is achieved if a law or policy treats men and women in a neutral manner. On the other hand we also have substantive equality which explores the impact of the law on equality that is it is concerned with the effects of laws policies and practices and ensures that such laws policies and practices elevate the inherent disadvantage experienced by particular groups or in other words it tries to eliminate the disadvantages that structure communities. In constitution formal equality is provided by prohibiting general discrimination on the basis of gender, race, religion etc under article 15 and then under article 16 it also provides equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state. More than this the constitution provides the space to government to correct the historical inequalities through affirmative actions that provide substantial equality. Now here affirmative action means the positive steps that are taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education and culture from which they have been historically excluded and the affirmative action which we are talking about is reservation. Another constitution article 15 clause 4 enables the state to make special provisions such as reservation for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes. And next article 16 clause 4 also enables the state to make provisions particularly for reservation of appointments or reservation of posts in favor of any backward class of citizens were not adequately represented in the services under the state. But as you can see these articles do not stipulate any ceiling on reservation rather it was assumed by the Supreme Court that reservation up to 50% is reasonable and is in consonance with formal equality thus allowing reservation in excess of 50% would lead to an exception overriding this route and this was the original notion of Supreme Court. Now this notion was changed in its 1975 case law the state of Kerala v. Anam Thomas and according to the author in this case the Supreme Court held that reservation was inherent in the constitution's basic guarantee of equal treatment. So the affirmative action by the state is pushed by an objective of attaining substantive equality. So therefore having reservations under 50% is unsuitable or conflicting to substantive equality according to author. But in its 1992 judgment of case law, Indra Sone versus the Union of India Supreme Court held a totally different view. According to the author here the Supreme Court held that Anam Thomas verdict was correct in the sense that it saw reservations as embedded in a constitutional vision of substantive equality. It also held that reservation made in excess of 50% other than for exceptional circumstances is harmful to the vision of substantive equality. But according to the author both these points are contradicting to each other because substantive equality can be achieved only if there is no condition of 50% ceiling. And the author opines this on the view that the 50% ceiling is not mandated by the constitution. So since the current Maratha verdict is also based on this the author says that it is opposed to the values of equality especially substantive equality. Now let us see how it opposes the values of federalism. See a constitution establishes a federal system of government in our country that is having two governments one at the center and one at the state and having division of powers among them. So based on this when it comes to reservation central and state governments drafted separate lists for declaring communities as socially and educationally backward. At the central level the national commission for the backward classes determines the socially and educationally backward classes and the same is done by regional governments at the state level. So such federal structure enabled the backward communities which did not feature in the central list to find a mention in the state list. This meant that such communities in the state list are entitled to reservation in the post or seats under the state government. A best example for this is Tamil Nadu as around 25 communities that are classified as backward in the state list by the state government are not classified as backward by the central list. But here you should keep in mind that this was with respect to the socially and educationally backward classes and not with respect to determining the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes because the power regarding the listing of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes solely rest with the central government. But now this state's autonomy in determining the socially and educationally backward classes has been revoked by the Supreme Court as it is held that the state governments have no independent power to declare a group as a backward class and it based this ruling on article 342 of the Constitution which is about the socially and educationally backward classes. This article provides the power to the parliament or the central government to modify the central list of the socially and educationally backward classes. Here we can see that it particularly talks only about central list and not about state list. So author is of the opinion that since the article only talks about the central list it is only about categorization of communities as backward for the purposes of reservation to post or seize another union governments control and not under state governments control. And this crucial fact has been overlooked by the Supreme Court in its verdict and from this interpretation the author also argues that since Constitution explicitly recognizes central list it inherently also recognizes and allows for a state list meaning that state governments have the power to frame list of their own and through this the Constitution upholds the federal spirit. But the verdict revokes this power of the state government thereby impinging the values of federalism. So judgment also impedes the ability of the states to carry out affirmative actions of reservations for the benefit of disadvantaged sections of population. Maybe the same was also felt by the union government and that is why it is filed a petition to review the judgment and if this does not materialize then to uphold federalism parliament can amend the constitution to constitutionally grant the states the power to determine the socially and educationally backward classes. So with this we have come to the end of this editorial article let's move on to the next news discussion. Now look at this article this article says that thunderstorm activity will continue over many parts of Tamil Nadu till the weekend. So in this context let us discuss and detail about thunderstorms, how they are formed, their life cycle etc. The syllabus covered by this article is highlighted below for your reference. First of all a thunderstorm is a rain shower during which you hear thunder. Since thunder comes from lightning all thunderstorms have lightning. See a thunderstorm is the result of convection. Usually created by surface eating convection is the upward atmospheric motion that transports whatever is in the air along with it especially any moisture available in the air. Have a look at the figure to understand the structure of thunderstorms. See thunderstorms can look like tall heads of cauliflower or they can have anvils. An anvil is a flat cloud formation at the top of the storm and it forms when the warm air rising has reached a point where the surrounding air is about the same temperature or even warmer and then the cloud growth abruptly stops and it flattens out to take the shape of an anvil. See thunderstorms are frequent around the world and worldwide there are an estimated 16 million thunderstorms each year and at any given moment there are roughly 2000 thunderstorms in progress. Know that thunderstorms are most likely in the spring and summer months and during the afternoon and evening hours but they can occur year round and at all hearts as well. So how does a thunderstorm form? See three basic ingredients are required for a thunderstorm to form and they are moisture, rising unstable air and a lifting mechanism to provide the nudge. See the sun eats the surface of the earth which warms the air above it and this warm surface air is forced to rise and hills or mountains or areas where warm or cold or wet or dry air bump together can cause rising motion. It will continue to rise as long as it weighs less and stays warmer than the air around it and as the air rises it transfers heat from the surface of the earth to the upper levels of the atmosphere called convection. The water vapor it contains begins to cool, releases the heat, condenses and forms a cloud and the cloud eventually grows upward into areas where the temperature is below freezing and as the storm rises into freezing air different types of ice particles can be created from freezing liquid drops and the ice particles can grow by condensing vapor and by collecting smaller liquid drops that haven't frozen it. So when two ice particles collide they usually bounce off each other but one particle can rip off a little bit of ice from the other one and grab some electric charge. So lots of these collisions build up big regions of electric charges to cause a bolt of lightning which creates the sound waves we hear as thunder. So finally let us see about the thunderstorm life cycle. See thunderstorms have three stages in their life cycle. They are the developing stage, the mature stage and the dissipating stage. The developing stage of a thunderstorm is marked by a cumulus cloud that is being pushed upward by a rising column of air and there is little to no rain during the stage but of course occasional lightning occurs. Then the thunderstorm enters the mature stage when the updraft continues to feed the storm but precipitation begins to fall out of the storm and this creates a downdraft that is a column of air pushing downward. Note that the mature stage is the most likely time for hail, heavy rain, frequent lightning, strong winds etc. and eventually a large amount of precipitation is produced and the updraft is overcome by the downdraft beginning the dissipating stage. Remember here the rainfall decreases in intensity but lightning remains a danger. So these are some relevant facts about the thunderstorms. With these informations in mind let's move on to the next news discussion. Now look at this article it reports about the USS Curtis Wilbur which is a US Navy vessel that passed through the contentious Tywin Strait thereby fuelling tensions between China and the United States. So in this regard let's understand the issue in detail. First let's start with the geography of the Tywin Strait. See Tywin Strait is also called as the Formosa Strait and it was named so by the Portuguese navigators in the late 16th century. Although it is still known in the west by its European name the Chinese and now most westerners use the name Tywin Strait. As you can see from the map the Tywin Strait is located in one of the contentious areas of the east that is in the vicinity of South China Sea, parcel islands and the Nine Dash Line. See this Strait is a connection between the South China Sea and the East China Sea and it lies between the People's Republic of China or China as it is commonly called and Tywin which is called the Republic of China. Now make sure you take note of the differences and names here. Also the topic of cancer passes through this. So with that geographical information now let us understand the tensions in the area. See the Tywin Strait has seen three major crisis tracing its origin to the Chinese Civil War that ended in 1949 and also the US policy towards East India in the early Cold War contributed to further tensions in the Tywin Strait. See China claims Tywin to be a part of its own territory whereas Tywin in the west considers Tywin as a separate entity with a democratic government. The first and second Tywin crisis were armed conflicts that happened in 1950s between China and Tywin and the third crisis took place in 1990s or to be precise in 1996 around the election times of Tywin when China sensed that Tywin might vote in favor of a democratic party. We know China is communist and so a communist empowered in Tywin would be in its favor. Seeing the popular trend in favor of democracy China felt threatened and the People's Republic of China flexed its military muscle in the Strait and this was reciprocated by US in support of Tywin and the third crisis came to an end and since then various issues have flared up like what happened recently making experts predict a fourth crisis. So in a nutshell the issue is this the Strait is in international waters if Tywin is a separate entity or in other words that makes the Strait as international waters giving the right to passage and this is the status that is widely accepted even in the West but the problem is China claims itself governing Tywin as its own territory so in that case China visualizes this passage as an intrusion and to be against its one China policy and China thus regards the US Navy's presence in the area as a show of support for the island's democratic government. So with this we've come to the end of this discussion let's move on to the next news article. Now look at this news article the news mentions that the national company law appellate tribunal has rejected a plea filed against the liquidation orders of a company. The liquidation was ordered by the national company law tribunal or the NCLT in April. So in this context let's see about the national company law appellate tribunal or the NCLAT. See it is a statutory body as it was constituted under section 410 of the company's act of 2013 and it was constituted with the purpose of hearing appeals against the orders of the NCLT under the company's act that is it functions as an appellate tribunal. See an appellate tribunal means a special court or committee or tribunal that is formed to reconsider a decision made by another court committee or tribunal. It also functions as the appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by the NCLT under the insolvency and bankruptcy court of 2016 and it is also the appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by insolvency and bankruptcy board of India under section 202 and section 211. Next it is also the appellate tribunal under the competition act of 2002. This is as per the section 410 clause 2 of company's act and section 53a of the competition act of 2002. So it tears and disposes of the appeals against the directions or decisions or orders that are passed by the competition commission of India but note that if any person is not satisfied with the orders of NCLT then they can appeal to the supreme court within 60 days from the date of receipt of the order of NCLT. Now coming to its composition it consists of a chairperson and judicial and technical members having a tenure of five years. Now this chairperson shall be a former or incumbent judge of the supreme court or the chief justice of a high court and the judicial member is a former or incumbent judge of a high court or is a judicial member of the NCLT for five years and then a technical member is a person having special knowledge in industrial finance, industrial management, industrial reconstruction, investment and accountancy and the technical member should also have a professional experience of not less than 25 years. Here you should note that the chairperson and the judicial members are appointed after consultation with the chief justice of India whereas the technical members are appointed on the recommendation of a selection committee consisting of chief justice of India, HORIS or her nominee, a senior judge of the supreme court or chief justice of high court and then the secretaries and also the secretaries to the ministries of corporate affairs and law and justice. Look at this article, this article says that six cities were added to India's tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and this includes the Ganga Guards in Varanasi, the temples of Kanjiburam and the Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. Now coming to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the first step a country must take is making an inventory of its important natural and cultural heritage sites and this inventory is known as a tentative list and it provides a forecast of the properties that a state party may decide to submit for inscription in the next five to ten years. It is an important step since the World Heritage Committee cannot consider a nomination for inscription on the World Heritage list unless the property has already been included on the state party's tentative list. We will be discussing in detail about the recently added six sites and their relevance in the coming days. So in today's analysis let us discuss about UNESCO that is the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. See the four runner of UNESCO is said to be International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation or the ICIC that is established in Geneva under the League of Nations in 1922. This ICIC or the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation was compromised of celebrated scholars such as Albert Einstein, Marie Curie etc. In 1926 the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation or the IIIC was established in Paris and it was formed with the financial aid from the French government to implement plans and policies made by the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation. See this International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation was an active institution with activities in a variety of fields such as universities, libraries, intellectual property, arts, information and media. However these activities were suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Soon after Second World War in November 1945 a United Nations Conference with establishment of an Educational and Cultural Organization was convened in London with representatives from 44 countries. Initiated by France and the United Kingdom the delegates decided to create an organization that would embody a genuine culture of peace. At the end of the conference the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization or the UNESCO was formed and the constitution of UNESCO was signed in November 1945 and it came into force in November 1946. Note that India is a founding member of UNESCO. Note that UNESCO is a specialized agency of the UN and it has 195 members and eight associate members and is governed by the general conference and the executive board. See the secretariat is headed by the director general and it implements the decisions of these two bodies and the organization has got more than 50 field offices around the world and its headquarters are located in Paris. See UNESCO's mission is to contribute to the building of a culture of peace, the eradication of poverty and sustainable development and it also aims at intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. Before moving into the prelims practice questions we would like to clarify a comment that was posted by one of our viewers about his doubt with respect to a prelims practice question that was discussed in our 14th May 2021 Hindu news analysis. The question was based on the junction point of the eastern and western guards and in our discussion we said that option B that is Nilgiri Hills is the correct answer but according to the viewer the answer would be Anemara Hills which is also called as Elephant Mountains. See our answer that is Nilgiri Hills was based on the information that was given in the NCRT textbook which states that the eastern and the western guards meet each other at the Nilgiri Hills. You can have a look at the last two lines of the passage in the following image we have also provided this link for your reference. As we know western guards are locally known by different names such as Sayadri in Maharashtra, Nilgiri Hills in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and Anemale Hills and Cardamom Hills in Kerala. Coming to Anemale Hills it is also called as Elephant Mountains and it is a mountain range in the western guards and it is located at the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Part of Anemale Hills is in Tamil Nadu and part of it is in Kerala. One of its features is that the highest peak of the Peninsular Plateau that is the Anemodi Peak is located on the Anemale Hills and as per the government of Kerala Anemodi is a 2,695 meter high mountain which stands tall in the Eravi Kullam National Park in Kerala and it is the highest point in India outside the Himalayan mountain ranges. Coming back as per the NCRT material the eastern and the western guards meet each other at the Nilgiri Hills and the location of Anemale Hills that is located to the south of Nilgiri Hills to be the junction of western guards and eastern guards is incorrect. So the right answer is Nilgiri Hills only. So with this let's move on to the prelims practice question discussion. Now look at this prelims practice question with reference to Taiwan Strait. Statement 1 says that it connects the South China Sea and East China Sea and statement 2 says that the topic of cancer passes through the Strait. So from that discussion we know that the correct answer is option C and this is one of the contentious areas in the world that finds a place in the East-West conflict. Now look at this question it asks us to arrange the following geographical locations from North to South. From the discussion we know that the correct answer is option C. Now have a look at the map for the arrangement of the geographical features. See the Taiwan Strait connects the East and South China Seas. So the East China Sea is the northern most and then it is followed by the Strait and then the Philippines and therefore the right answer is option C that is 3 to 1. Now see this question about the constitutional provisions relating to the president rule. The provisions mentioned are correct but the issue is the articles are reversed that is statement 1 must be article 365 and statement 2 should be article 356. And since the question wants us to find the correct answer the right option is option D that is neither 1 nor 2. Look at this question. The national company law appellate tribunal acts as an appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against certain orders of which of the following. See Enclad was constituted with the purpose of hearing appeals against the orders of NCLT under Companies Act. And based on our new discussion we can infer that the right option is option D that is 1 2 and 3. This is because Enclad functions as the appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by NCLT under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Court of 2006. And then it is also the appellate tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India under Section 2 not 2 and Section 211. And similarly it is also the appellate tribunal under the Competition Act of 2002 and this is as per the Section 410 clause 2 of Companies Act and Section 53A of the Competition Act of 2002. So, it hears and disposes of the appeals against the directions or decisions or orders that are passed by the Competition Commission of India. So, therefore, the right option is option D that is 1 2 and 3. See this question which of the following are the specialized agencies of the United Nations. See UN specialized agencies are international organizations that are working with the UN in accordance with relationship agreements between each organization and the UNs. Totally there are 17 specialized agencies and among them the Food and Agricultural Organization, the IMF, the World Health Organizations and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization is also a part. Therefore, the right option is option D that is 1 2 3 and 4. The list of main questions is displayed below. You can write your answers and post them in the comments section below. With this, we have come to the end of today's inter-news analysis. So, if you like the video, don't forget to like, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar IA's Academy YouTube channel for more updates regarding UPSC civil services preparation.