 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar Reyes Academy for the day 28th of August 2022. Before starting our discussion today, I have an announcement for you. See the pre-storming test series batch 1 is starting up on September 19 and it is only to be held in Ananagar branch. A total of 66 tests which involves GS, CSAT as well as the full mock test is to be conducted only in the Ananagar branch and note that it is to be held only in the offline mode, okay. And the test will be held from 2 pm to 4 pm followed by a live discussion from 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm, okay. And note that the students who missed the offline test can take the test after 2 days in online through Qiskhi portal but only recorded discussion will be provided, okay. And the online mode test availability is until our mock test before prelims 2023 exam, okay. See the offline or online orientation timing will be from 2 pm to 6 pm, okay. And the explanation key and recorded discussion will be provided for you. So friends, please don't miss this opportunity. The first test will be on September 19 kindly enrolled before that so that you will never miss this wonderful opportunity of taking 66 tests which will definitely help in your preliminary preparation, okay. And now with this good news, let's start our today's discussion. Displayed here are the list of news articles that we have chosen for today's discussion. Today as always tell you whenever we take any topic we cover it in both preliminary as well as main's perspective, okay. So now without wasting much time let's get into the first news article discussion. Now have a look at this news article. See this news article focuses on the rising miness of antimicrobial resistance. The article says that by focusing on innovation and better pricing policy the issue of antimicrobial resistance in India can be addressed. In this discussion let us focus on what is antimicrobial resistance, the difference between antibiotics resistance and how it is caused and how this can be reduced, okay. Firstly, take what is antimicrobial resistance? Here antimicrobials are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Antimicrobial is a broad term that includes antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics. When bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time due to mutation and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat then the antimicrobial resistance is said to have developed. See due to the antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat. Now coming to the difference between antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic resistance. See AMR as we saw is a very broad term. It includes resistance to antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics whereas when you take antibiotic resistance it is narrow that is it is said to have developed when bacteria develops resistance against commonly used antibiotics, okay. Having seen the difference now let us see how this antimicrobial resistance is caused. See due to random mutation some microbes might develop resistance to a drug. When a person takes a drug to cure a disease it kills all the non-resistant microbes except the ones that have developed drug resistance due to mutation, okay. See these drug resistant microbes multiply and pause on their drug resistant genes to future generations. This is how drug resistance or antimicrobial resistance develops, okay. The microbes that are resistant to common drugs are called superbux. See the antimicrobial resistance has developed into a global health and development threat. WHO has declared that antimicrobial resistant is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. In the year 2019 alone drug resistant superbux killed about 1.27 million people globally. The global fatality due to drug resistant superbux is more than fatality due to HIV or AIDS or malaria, okay. See the condition will only deteriorate in the future and according to the United Nations and according to the United Nations estimates that number could reach 10 million by the year 2050. Now let us see some of the steps that can be taken to address this global minis. The overuse of antimicrobials are the main conditions that result in the development of drug resistant pathogens. So this can be addressed by preventing the over-the-counter sale of antimicrobials and avoiding self-medication, okay. And the next is misuse. Sometimes patients do not complete the full course of antimicrobials as the symptoms of the disease subside. This is also a major cause of the development of antimicrobial resistance. When the full cause of antimicrobial is not taken then the microbes will not be entirely removed from the body. The leftover microbes in our body will develop resistance. This can be addressed by proper awareness generation among the people. Then there is the issue of improper diagnosis. In India many doctors prescribe antibiotics to treat infections that are likely caused by viruses but antibiotics have no effect on viruses. Misuse of antibiotics like this can also result in the development of antibiotic resistance. This can be addressed by developing people's diagnosis methods. In addition to all this the government must invest in R&D that is research and development to develop new antimicrobials. This must be done to eliminate the already existing super banks, okay. So that's all about this news article. See in this news article we saw about a very important topic for your preliminary examination which is about the antimicrobial resistance. Also note that this is a very hot topic for your main examination also. And whatever we discussed these minds can be used to highlight your main senses. So I hope you are clear with what is antimicrobial and what is antimicrobial resistance, okay. So with these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Have a look at this news article. This news article mentions about the findings of the records which comprised of thousands of pages of documents, photographs and other materials including many unrevealed aspects of Punjab's history, okay. See the records were found by the Lahore Archives and one of the former senate members of Punjab University has urged them to acquire the 135 files related to Bhagat Singh's court cases from the Punjab Archives which is the Anarkali tomb in Lahore. So this is the crux of the news article given here and in this context let us quickly go through some of the facts which is regarding Bhagat Singh, okay. See Bhagat Singh was born in a Sikh family in Banga village of Faisalabad district on 27th of September 1907. Today this village is in Pakistan's Punjab province, okay. As his family was deeply inspired by nationalism he too became actively involved in the country's freedom movements. And at the age of 13 he quit education and got admitted to the National College in Lahore. Later he studied European Revolutionary movements, later when his parents tried to get him married Bhagat Singh left home and went to Kanpur. In the year 1926 Bhagat Singh established the Nawjavan Bharat Sabha which is the youth society of India and joined the Hindustan Republican Association. See this Hindustan Republican Association was later known as Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, okay. And during that time he met many anti-colonial activists. So during this time period only on 30th October 1928 the Simon Commission visited Lahore. One of the greatest Indian leaders who was popularly known as Punjab Kesari that is the lion of Punjab led a silent march in protest against this commission, okay. And here we are talking about the hero who is none other than Lala Lajpatrai. He led the silent march in protest against the commission since it did not include a single Indian member, okay. See even though it was a silent protest he was subjected to a brutal lathi charge by the superintendent of police James Scott. Even after being assaulted Roy said to the crowd I declare that the blow struck at me today will be the last nail in the coffin of British rule in India. And later Lala Lajpatrai died of a heart attack on 17th November 1928 in Lahore. It is believed that he never fully recovered from the blows received the hands of Scott. This incident no outraged Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. So they plotted to assassinate the superintendent of police James Scott in Lahore. However in a case of mistaken identity John Sounders the assistant superintendent of police was shot. After this Bhagat Singh escaped from Lahore to Calcutta and the incident is famously known as Lahore conspiracy case, okay. Later Bhagat Singh and Batakeshwar that were asked to throw a bomb in the central legislative assembly on April 8, 1929. See it was to protest against the passage of the public safety bill and trade disputes bill which aimed at curtailing civil liberties of citizens in general and workers in particular, okay. See the bombs had been deliberately made harmless and were aimed at making the deaf here. The objective was to get arrested and to use a trial court as a forum for propaganda. So that people would become familiar with their movement and ideology. So this was a plan of Bhagat Singh and Batakeshwar that as per the plan he was later arrested after the incident. Then Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were tried in the Lahore conspiracy case. See many other revolutionaries were tried in a series of other cases and on March 23, 1931 Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged. See every year March 23 is observed as martyr's day as a tribute to freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, okay. So that's all about this news article. See in this discussion we saw about Bhagat Singh in detail which is very much important for your preliminary examination. Also whatever facts we deliberately discussed can be utilized in your main answers, okay. So with these key points in mind, now let's move on to the next news article discussion. Now have a look at this news article. See this news article talks about NATO Secretary General's recent visit to the Canadian military base in Coal Lake, Alberta. See Alberta is a province in Canada. In his visit NATO Secretary General urged Canada to increase defence spending and focus mainly on its arctic coast. He said that because Russia is building up its military presence around the arctic circle. He said Russia has set up a new arctic command and has opened hundreds of new former Soviet era arctic military sites including airfields and deep water ports. Russia is also using this area to test its most advanced weapons including hypersonic missiles. This is a concern for the NATO members, mainly the countries in North America, okay. Now have a look at this map, Russia and mainland North America are separated by the Great Pacific Ocean. So when Russia launches a missile strike aiming at North America via this route, the North American countries can anticipate and prepare a counter. But over the North Pole, Russia and North America are very close to each other. Now have a look at this map, the shortest path to North America for Russian missiles and bombers is over the North Pole. So if Russia were to build up its military presence in the arctic circle, it would be difficult for North America. The NATO Secretary General in his speech also highlighted the issue of increasing Chinese presence in the arctic. He mentioned that China has declared itself a near arctic state. China also has plans to build the world's largest icebreaker. Here an icebreaker is a special purpose ship or boat designed to navigate through ice covered waters. See the main purpose of icebreakers is to provide safe waterways for other boats. In addition to this, he said that China is spending billions of dollars on energy, infrastructure and research projects in the arctic region. Finally, the biggest concern for the NATO members is China and Moscow have pledged to intensify practical cooperation in the arctic. So he said NATO members must increase their different spending mainly focusing on the infrastructure around the arctic circle. So this is about the news article. So in this context, today we will focus on the significance of the arctic in general and the region's significance for India. Before that, the syllabus relevant to this news article is given here for your reference. Kindly go through it. Now let's start our discussion. First let us take the location of the arctic region. The arctic as you all know is located in the north port. The difference between the arctic and Antarctic is that the arctic is an ocean covered by a thin layer of perineal sea ice and surrounded by land. The countries surrounding the arctic ocean are Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and the USA. See Antarctica on the other hand is a continent. Antarctica is covered by a very thick ice cap. It is surrounded by a rim of ice and the southern ocean. Now coming to the significance of the arctic circle. The significance of the arctic can be broadly classified into two. One is the environmental significance and the other is the economic significance. First let us take the environmental significance. The arctic helps keep our world's climate in balance. Since the arctic region is covered with sea ice which has high albedo, the arctic region helps maintain the temperature rise in the region in check. And the next one is the arctic region has harsh environmental conditions that include short summers and long harsh winters. The animals and plants in these regions now have adapted to this climate. In addition to this, this area for the most part of human history has remained untouched and pristine. A change in the global climate will affect the climate of the region and the animals inhibiting them. Finally, the arctic region helps in the oceanic circulation in the form of ocean currents. Ocean currents act as conveyor belts transporting excess heat from the equator to the port. One of the important drivers of the ocean current is the temperature difference between equator and the port. So the cold arctic region helps the oceanic circulation. Now moving on to the economic significance of the arctic region, with the rapid melting of arctic sea ice due to climate change, the new trade routes are opening up in the region. The most significant among it is the northern sea route. Look at this map. See Rotodam to Yokohama can be covered in just nine days and from there to Shanghai just 5.5 days is enough to be covered. This is all because of the melting of the ice in the arctic region. See the northern sea route will connect East Asia and Western Europe efficiently. It is significantly shorter than the sewage canal route. It is also safer than the sewage canal route because in the sewage canal route near the Gulf of Aden there is still an issue of piracy. This is the first important economic significance of the arctic region. The next important economic significance of the arctic region is its resources. The arctic sea is estimated to have as much as 10 to 20 percent of the world's oil and nearly 30 percent of natural gas. Russia and Norway have settled their maritime boundary in the arctic sea in the year 2011 and have accelerated the exploration of hydrocarbons in the region. The territories in the arctic circle regions of Russia, Norway, Sweden and Finland have large minerals, particularly the iron ore. Mineral exploration and exploitation is expected to pick up as arctic shipping develops further in the future. Apart from the minerals, the arctic regions will emerge as a new source of fishing. See the region is already being called the kitchen of Europe. The release of new lands as a result of melting of ice will lead to development of agriculture in the region. See these are the major significance of the arctic region. Now let's see India's perspective. We shall see how important the arctic region is for India. See India is a monsoon dependent country. Indian monsoon is notorious for its high unpredictability. So through scientific advancements, predicting Indian monsoon will help the Indian economy mainly agriculture. I am saying this here because there is increasing evidence about the link between arctic polar ice and Indian monsoon. Our government has already invested various scientific efforts to correctly establish this relationship. Only if the relationship is properly established, we can predict Indian monsoon with accuracy. See India has a long coastline. Major Indian sites are located on the coast. So the impact of sea level rise will be significant for India and the major cause of increasing sea level is the melting of arctic sea ice. So protecting this region is important for India. Thirdly, India also has scientific interest in the region. See Himalayas is considered the third pole due to the presence of massive glaciers. So studying the impact of climatic change in the arctic circle will help India understand the impact of climate change in the icy Himalayas. And finally the arctic region holds strategic importance for India. Here the first thing is Russia India Energy Corporation. India's ONGC, Udesh Limited has invested in the second and one offshore oil and gas field in Russia's Ostok Sea. With the opening of the arctic region, India seeks to engage more with Russia to mark its presence in the arctic region's mineral exploration scene. See the second strategic importance or significance of the arctic region for India is in its relation to China. This is because China is planning to expand its one belt, one road to the arctic region as the pole or silk road. China started building various infrastructure to make this a reality. Once implemented, no, this will bring China and Russia closer. This will be against Indian interest. So due to the significance of the region for India, India has taken some efforts to establish its presence in the region. India has obtained observer status in the arctic council and the arctic council is a eight member body which includes countries in the arctic region. The latest tip taken by India in this aspect is India's arctic policy which was published very recently. Now let us see some points about this India's arctic policy. See India's arctic policy is built on six pillars. The six central pillars are science and research, environmental protection, economic and human development, transportation and connectivity, then governance and international cooperation and lastly national capacity building. See the policy also seeks to strengthen institutional and human resource capacities of India with the involvement of different stakeholders like you can take academia then the research community, then the businesses and industries. See the policy highlights how climate change is critical for the agro-climatic conditions of the countries like India. This is because India's food security depends significantly on ecosystem stability. Through this policy India will focus on scientific research, sustainable tourism and mineral oil and gas exploration in the arctic region. So that's all about this news article. See in this news article we mainly focused on the arctic region and we saw what is the significance of arctic region then we moved in specific that is we understood what is the significance of arctic region for India then we saw what are all the initiatives India took in this region. See this discussion is very much important for both your preliminary examination as well as your mains examination. The facts regarding the arctic region all can be put in your preliminary type of question but the elaborate manner in which we discussed about the arctic region can be directly utilized in your mains answers. So with these key points in mind let's move on to the next news article discussion. Have a look at this news article. See this news article talks about mosquitoes and mosquito repellence. If you are wondering why we are learning about these that is because in 2021 prelims we had questions regarding it. See UPSC does have the tendency to pick topics for prelims which we often ignore because these are some of the basics we have to know in our day to day life and the 2021 preliminary question is an example of it. So without much delay let us see what the news article tries to convey us. See earth has nearly 3000 species of mosquitoes. They only target people for their blood. Some of the mosquitoes like ADS, HFT, anaphyllus and Q-lix are well known as vectors for diseases like dengue, malaria and West Nile fever. So using mosquito repellence becomes very important to avoid these vector-borne diseases. Now let us see how mosquito repellent works. See take the female mosquitoes. They feed on human blood to get the protein needed to make eggs. They deduct carbon dioxide and the smell of a skin when searching for their next blood feed. Repelents know work to mask these triggers and they make them to look elsewhere for a feed. A mosquito might even land on a person with properly applied repellent but it will not feed on it. It is because of their inability to recognize the required signals. And for this to happen mosquito repellents work on the principle of obfuscating the insect sense of smell. Here obfuscating means the act of making something less clear and less easy to understand intentionally. The most common chemical in repellence the diethyltolemide for instance confuses the mosquito's antennae that is sensitive to sweat and carbon dioxide from the human body. And apart from these pycardin and icardin then IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus, then paramedin diol, then 2 and dikenone are also used as ingredients for mosquito repellence. Another important natural repellent is lemongrass. You could have seen lemongrass in dining or as an amine scent used in recreational spa. It acts as a pest control solution and natural mosquito repellent. See have a look at this image this is how these lemongrass looks. It is also known as Simpobogen Citratus and it contains citronella oil and musk sense which blocks the scent that attracts mosquitoes such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid found in human. In other words by applying repellent with citronella oil ingredients it actually blocks the scents being scents by the mosquitoes. This makes it harder for mosquitoes to locate you. Some research shows citronella actually helps to reduce mosquito landing around 40%. So that's all about this news article. See these kind of basic information which you got to know in your day to day life can be directly put as a preliminary type of questions. Always know that the basics is covered in your preliminary type of questions. So these key points in mind now let's move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. See today we have three questions in which two I will be discussing and one will be a quiz question for you. So know that the quiz question is available as a poll question for you. So interested aspirants can attend the poll and the answer for the quiz question will be put up in the comments section. Now look at this first question. See which among the following books is not written by Bhagat Singh. So the answer here is option D that is my experiments with truth. See you very well know that this book is written by Mahatma Gandhi. All the other books that is why I am an atheist, jail diary and other writings to young political workers all these three are written by Bhagat Singh. Okay. Always keenly observe the question before answering. Let us which among the following book is not written by Bhagat Singh. Okay. So option D is the correct answer here. So using this question we had covered a fact which is not covered in the discussion part. Okay. Now look at the second question. See it is a two statement question and you had asked to find the correct statement. Okay. Now look at statement one. Antibiotic resistance happens when the human body becomes resistant to antibiotics. See this statement is incorrect because we saw in a discussion that bacteria that develops resistance against a common antibiotics and not the human body. Okay. So what do you mean by antibiotic resistance? The bacteria is gaining resistance. Okay. So statement one is incorrect. Now coming to the statement two, microbes resistant to common drugs are called superbugs. See this statement is correct. This is also we saw in a discussion. Now let me give you few examples. Superbugs include resistant bacteria that can cause pneumonia, then urinary tract infections and skin infections. Okay. So what is the answer for this question? The question is demanding for correct statements. So your answer here will be option B to only see correct statement. Okay. Now have a look at this question. This is a quiz question for you. It is a two statement question and it is regarding our mosquito repellent discussion. Okay. See this is such a easy question. If you had keenly observed the discussion then you can easily answer this question. I request you to go through the question and post your answers in the comment section. Okay. So that's it here is the main practice question for you. See go through the question and try writing answer for this question. Okay. So that's all for today's discussion and if you like this video do like share and comment and don't forget to subscribe to the Shankar Ayeshekhta means YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.