 Good evening aspirants welcome to the Hindu News Analyzer session by Shankar A.S. Academy for the date 1st of January 2022. First of all I want to wish you all a very happy, prosperous and a successful new year. So these are the articles we will be discussing today in our discussion. Without wasting much time let us start today's discussion. Look at this news article. This news article mentions about the detrimental effect of fly ash on the environment and public health. It reports about the Yenur thermal power plant situated in Chennai. Here fly ash leaks from pipelines have affected people and it is polluting the environment. So today let us discuss about fly ash, its use and the detrimental effects on environment and public health and the steps taken by the government to mitigate its impacts. The syllabus regarding this article is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. Now let us start our discussion. So what is this fly ash? Fly ash is a fine grained, powdery particulate matter or a lighter fine ash particle. It consists of silt sized particles which are generally spherical. The particle size ranges from 10 to 100 micron. See micron is nothing but 10 to the power minus 6 meters. See fly ash is the byproduct produced by the coal combustion for the generation of electricity in thermal power plants. So this fly ash is generated by the coal or lignite based thermal power plants. Note here that fly ash is also a non biodegradable waste. This fly ash is actually suspended in the flue gas from the thermal power plants. See flue gas is nothing but the exhaust gas that comes from the combustion plants. And before letting out the flue gas, the fly ash is removed from it. It is removed by particulate matter emission control devices such as electrostatic precipitators or bag filters. After this removal, fly ash is disposed of. It is disposed of in two forms. One is in wet form. Here it is disposed of as wet slurries into ash ponds and the other is in dry form. Here it is collected and stored in silos or other bulk storage facilities. In the silos, it can also be transported for further usage. We will discuss about this later in our discussion. Now if we come to its composition, primarily it consists of oxides of silicon, aluminium, iron and calcium. It also includes some elements to a lesser degree such as magnesium, potassium, sodium, titanium, sulphur, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead and mercury. One of the major problems associated with fly ash is its disposal. This becomes a concern due to the effect fly ash has on environment and public health. See first of all, we saw that it is a particulate matter. So it causes particulate matter pollution or particle pollution. Therefore, it is basically an air pollutant and it contains acidic toxic materials such as arsenic, lead etc. So these increase the risk of developing cancer and other respiratory diseases. An inhalation or ingestion of toxins in fly ash can have impacts on the nervous system also. It also causes water pollution especially when stored in slurry ponds. It contaminates ground and the surface water. This also leads to land degradation which results in losing of precious topsoil. This is why proper disposal of fly ash becomes important. And since ash ponds have environmental concerns, nowadays dry fly ash is used for many purposes. It is used in the manufacture of cement, concrete, concrete products and also in the manufacturing of bricks and tiles. It is also used in the construction of road embankments, low lying area development and it also finds usage in agriculture as a soil conditioner. See even our government is pushing for 100% utilization of fly ash. Initially in 1999, government of India notified the fly ash utilization notification. This notification has been amended in 2003, 2009 and lastly in 2016. This notification mandates the use of fly ash for the purposes we just saw or for any other construction activity within a radius of 300 km from thermal power plants. It also made it mandatory for all construction agencies and government departments that undertake road projects, flyover bridges, etc. to make provisions for the use of fly ash in the construction process. See most importantly the notification prescribed the targets for fly ash utilization in a phased manner for all coal and lignite based thermal power plants. The revised targets were introduced in 2009 notification which means that the existing thermal power plants should achieve 100% utilization within 5 years of notification that is within 2014 and by the 2016 notification the thermal power plants were mandated to comply with 100% utilization of fly ash generated by them before 31st December 2017. But as per the government data this has not been achieved, even in the power plants managed by NTPC which is under the direct administrative control of Ministry of Power. The fly ash utilization has grown up but has not reached 100% yet. But we can upload the fact that due to the notification the utilization has increased to 80% over the last 5 years. Now to amplify the compliance to 100% utilization the government of India introduced two draft notifications in 2019 and in 2021. The 2021 draft mandates that the utilization shall not fall below 80% in any given year and that thermal power plants should achieve average ash utilization of 100% in a 3 to 5 years circle. And for the first time it introduced the concept of fine for the plants that are not complying with this notification. But this is only a draft. So once the final new notification is notified by the government we will see its other important provisions. So with this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. This article is with reference to the decision of the GST council to temporarily suspend the increase of GST rate on textiles. See earlier it was decided to increase the GST rate on textiles from 5% to 12%. In this context we will learn about GST council and its functions. Now let's start our discussion. See first of all what is a GST council? See the government of India introduced the GST council to modify, regulate and reconcile the goods and service tax in India. The council replaced all the existing multiple taxation process and it introduced new taxation methods to ease the taxation process for the tax payers. The council also moiters all the taxation process to provide support to the respective departments and to avoid the fraudulent process. See the process for creating GST council started in India with the introduction of 122nd constitutional amendment bill 2016. President gave his assent to the bill on 8th September 2016 and the same has been notified as the 101st constitutional amendment act of 2016. So the GST council is a constitutional body made by the 101st constitutional amendment act 2016. As per the article 279A1 of the amended constitution the president should approve to constitute the GST council within 60 days of the commencement of the amendment act. Thus the GST council came into picture. As per the amended constitution the GST council will be a joint forum of the center and the states. The council consists of the following members. First is union finance minister who is the chairperson of the council. Second is the union minister of state in charge of revenue or finance as a member. The third thing is that the ministers in charge of finance or taxation or any other minister nominated by each state governments as members. Note here that it is not necessary for the state government to send their finance minister to the GST council. The state government can nominate any minister and send them to GST council. Now we will see the quorum of the GST council. See quorum is nothing but the minimum number of members of an assembly who must be present at the meeting to make the proceedings of the meeting valid. The quorum of GST council is one half of the total number of members that is 50% of the members must be present. See every edition of the council that is the GST council are taken by a majority of not less than three fourth of the waited votes of members present. Note here three fourth of the waited votes of members present. Here the central government will have the weightage of one-third of the total votes and the state government would have the weightage of two-thirds of the total votes casted. See this council makes recommendations to the union and the states on important issues related to GST. For example it makes recommendation on the goods and services that may be subjected or exempted from the GST laws. And it also governs the place of supply, threshold limits and the GST rates including the floor rates with bands. Additionally it recommends special rates for raising additional resources during natural calamities or disasters and even some special provisions for certain states. See the 101st constitutional amendment tag also provided a secretariat for the GST council. This secretariat manages the GST council. The secretariat is manned by officers taken from central and state governments on deputation. The cabinet also provides adequate funds for meeting the recurring and non-recurring expenses of the secretariat. The entire cost for managing the secretariat is borne by the central government. So this is all regarding the GST council. Now we will move on to the next article. Look at this editorial article. This article is from the 25th December 2021 newspaper. See this article makes a comparison between Mori 1.0 and Mori 2.0. Here Mori 1.0 refers to Prime Minister Modi's first tenure and 2.0 refers to his second tenure as Prime Minister. The article also highlights how India's warring policy evolved from 2014. So in this context let us see some important points mentioned in the editorial. The syllabus relevant to this editorial is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. Now let us start our discussion. First let us see the comparison between Modi 1.0 and Modi 2.0. According to the author, during Modi 1.0, the New Delhi's diplomacy with the neighborhood is characterized by Hindutva ideology and autocratic aggression. But today India's neighborhood policy has changed. India's neighborhood policy today is cautious, measured and well thought out. India is also making efforts to make its foreign policy appeal to the majority of the region. This change in foreign policy is to win back the neighbors to India's side. Here the author is talking about multilateralism. See in international relations, multilateralism is when countries come together to address common problems. For example, the United Nations is a multilateral organization where world nations have come together to ensure world peace. And as per the author, India is now engaging with its neighbors using the principle of multilateralism and earlier India used to engage with its neighbors in the big brotherly attitude. This change in India's attitude is a welcome step according to the author. India has become more result-driven and interest-based rather than ideology-based. Let me give you an example. Now let us see some examples highlighting the change in India's foreign policy. Now let us take up the first example. See, recently India began its eighth two-year electorate term in the United Nations Security Council. In August 2021, India took over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for a duration of one month. India took several firm stances during its presidency, especially in the relation of Taliban issue. See, most of the world are struggling to figure out how to cope or deal with Taliban. But India, by skillfully shaping the world body's response to Afghan crisis, mainly during India's presidency of the United Nations Security Council was outstanding. India has also made several attempts to reach out to the Taliban as well. The second example is the participation of India in the Global Climate Change Negotiation in Glasgow. See, in the United Nations Security Council, India cast a negative vote against a draft resolution on climate change. At the same time, India actively participated in the Global Climate Change Negotiation in Glasgow to put forth its interest. India had its reason in doing so. See, in United Nations, the decisions are taken only by the members of the United Nations Security Council. But in the UN FCCC, the decisions are taken by all the participating nations anonymously. This makes the UN FCCC a better represented body making India limiting climate change negotiations only to UN FCCC and not bringing into United Nations Security Council. India is thus taking steps to question itself as a voice of the developing world. See, these examples show that India is willing to be a responsible stakeholder in global forums. This also proves that there is a significant transition in India's foreign policy. Moving on, the third example. See, India is determined to participate in Quad. See, Quad, which is also known as Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is a informal strategic forum. It comprises of four nations, namely United States of America, India, Australia and Japan. One of the primary objectives of the Quad is to work for free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. India has been an active participant in the Quad in the recent past. See, India is strengthening its participation in the Quad despite strong words from Moscow and China. This shows India's commitment to strategic autonomy. It also shows that India is taking issue-based decision in international relations. Now coming to the fourth example. India is located in an unfriendly neighborhood. India is also caught between the swings of great power competition among United States, Russia and China. For such a country, like India, it is not easy to balance various geopolitical contradictions. But still, New Delhi's foreign policy has recently shown a great degree of agility and flexibility to the best of India's ability. For example, just think about this. India is now carefully balancing between the United States and Russia. At the same time, India is moving closer to the United States than it has been ever before. And this demonstrates the diplomatic quickness and competence in India's foreign policy. Despite potential risk of sanctions from Washington, India is keen on buying S-400 missile systems from Russia. And like I already said, despite getting strong words from Moscow, India is strengthening its participation in Quad. This shows an ability to smartly balance systemic contradictions. This is also a success of India's diplomatic policy. Now coming to the fifth example. See, even in the border western Asian region, New Delhi's balancing acts have been remarkable. India is carefully making moves to balance between Arab states and Israel, Israel and Iran, Iran and the Gulf states, Iran and the US. See, recently, India became a member of the West Asian Quad. The members of the West Asian Quad includes United States, India, the United Arab Emirates and Israel. By bringing Israel and the Middle Eastern country of United Arab Emirates to a same forum is a diplomatic victory for India. In the Middle East, India has a weak link. The weak link is that India is not correctly balancing between Iran and the United States as it is balancing between Russia and the United States. So more efforts must be made in this regard. Now coming to the next example that is India-China relations. See, recently India's relation with China has also been subjected to some careful balancing. See, despite the military standoff in the line of actual control, bilateral trade has expanded significantly. For example, India-China trade surged by a record 62.7% in the first half of 2021. And even as India strengthens its membership in the Quad, India has been able to engage with the China dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organization also, that is, SEO. This shows India's efficiency in the balancing act. The final example that shows the change in foreign policy of India is in the realm of economy. According to the author, Modi 2.0 seems to understand the foolishness of opposing global and regional economic integration. See, during Mr. Modi's first term, he expressed serious doubts about free trade agreements. Even when Modi took power in 2014, the government decided that it would review all the current free trade agreements to see if they are beneficial to the country. This resulted in reduced India's participation in free trade agreements. See, even in 2019, India decided not to become part of regional comprehensive economic partnership. That is RCEP. However, today there seems to be a rethink in the government about the utility of free trade agreements. New Delhi plans to bring free trade agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom and Canada in 2022 and may also begin discussions with the Gulf Cooperation Council members. It may even finalize an free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates in 2022. This reflects the government's intention to restart the long-stalled discussions with the European Union on a comprehensive trade and investment treaty. See, if India wants to become a 5 trillion economy by 2024-25, India should proactively persuade trade agreements among other things. And according to the author, Modi government now understood this strategy. So to conclude, according to the author, India appears to have realized that pursuing national interest is a serious business that requires more than the promotion of ideological preference and personality cults. The author also mentions that India must abandon its obsession with Pakistan. With this, let us conclude this editorial discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. This article is with reference to three youths who are setting up a 350 kilowatt mini hydroelectric project in Kannur Kerala. In this context, we will learn about hydro power projects, its classification and disadvantage of large hydro power projects and the ways to address it. Now let us start our discussion. See, hydro power plants convert the potential energy of falling water into electricity. Since there are very few waterfalls which could be used as a source of potential energy, hydro power plants are largely associated with dams. In the last century, a large number of dams were built all over the world. Around 11.9% of our energy requirement in India are met by hydro power plants as of 2021. See, hydro power projects are classified as large and small hydro power projects based on their sizes and their power production capacity. See, different countries have different size criteria to classify small hydro power projects. In India, hydro power plants of 25 megawatts or below are classified as small hydro power projects. This have been further classified into micro that is 100 kilowatt or below and mini that ranges from 101 kilowatt to 2 megawatts. And finally, small hydro power projects that ranges between 2 megawatts to 25 megawatts. And any hydro power projects that has a power production capacity of 25 megawatts are above are classified as large hydro power projects. Note here that the hydro power plants come under the ministry of new and renewable energy. See, in order to produce hydro electricity, high-rise dams are constructed on the rivers to obstruct the flow of water. This is done to collect water in large reservoirs. The water from high level in the dam is carried through pipes into a turbine room at the bottom of the dam. Look at this figure. Here you can see how water from the high level in the dam is carried through pipes to the turbine room at the bottom of the dam. The turbine is attached to a generator which generates electricity when the turbine rotates. After passing through the turbine, the water is again released into the river. This is how a hydro power project generates electricity. See, the water in the reservoir would be refilled each time it rains. See, this makes the hydro power projects a renewable source of energy. So, we would not have to worry about hydro electricity in the similar way we are worrying about fossil fuels. Since fossil fuels are non-renewable. But hydro power projects also have some issues with it. See, the construction of big dams have certain problems associated with it. The dams can be constructed only in a limited number of places, preferably in hilly terrains. Large areas of agricultural land and human habitation are to be sacrificed as they get submerged. Large ecosystems are destroyed when they are submerged under the water in dams. The vegetation which is submerged rots under anaerobic conditions. And this gives rise to large amount of methane which is also a greenhouse gas. The large hydro power projects also creates the problem of satisfactory rehabilitation of displaced people. See, the apportion to the construction of Tegri Dam on River Ganga and Sardar Sarawar project on River Narbada are due to insatisfactory rehabilitation of displaced people. See, these issues can be addressed by giving importance to small hydro power projects. See, small hydro power projects neither requires a very big dam or a huge agricultural land. Also, human habitation and biodiversity are not sacrificed when small hydro power projects are constructed. It is also easier to set up with lesser investment. See, the small hydro power plants also has some problems attached with it. But they have the advantage of minimal disruption to ecosystem. See, this is all regarding this article. Now with this, we will move on to the next news article. Look at these two news articles. The first news article talks mainly about balance of payment and the various deficits in the current and capital account. See, in the third quarter of the financial year 2022, the current account deficit is expected to widen. So, in this context, we will learn about what is balance of payment and its components. Finally, we will discuss about the various deficits like current account deficit and the capital account deficit. Okay, now look at this second article. It tells that the fiscal deficit in the period of April to November, that is the first eight months of the current fiscal year, has narrowed. See, look at this data so that you can understand how far the fiscal deficit has narrowed down in this eight months. The fiscal deficit for eight months, that is from April to November of 2021, stood at rupees 6.96 trillion. Now compare this with the target of the whole financial year to understand how far the fiscal deficit has narrowed. See, the target value of fiscal deficit for the whole year is rupees 15.07 trillion. So, in this context of the news article, we will discuss about fiscal deficit, how it is calculated, and we will also see various other deficits like revenue deficit and primary deficit. First, we'll start by discussing balance of payments or POP. See, POP is a statement which records all the monetary transactions made between residents of a country and the rest of the world during any given period. This statement includes all the transactions made by individuals, corporates, and the government. The POP helps in monitoring the flow of funds. See, let us see the core purpose of this POP. A POP statement of a country indicates whether the country has a surplus or deficit of funds. That is, POP is said to be surplus when the country's export is more than its import. And on the other hand, POP deficit indicates that the country's imports is more than its exports. Okay? See, a question arises as how we will track the transaction under POP. It is something similar to the double entry system of accounting. This means all the transactions will have debit entry and a corresponding credit entry. See, there are two components of balance of payments. They are current account and capital account. Now we will see them one by one. First, the current account. The current account includes trade in goods, that is, import and export of goods. Then it includes trade in services. This includes income, interest, and payments relating to trade in services. Then the current account also includes private transfers like gifts and grants. It also includes remittances. Finally, the current account also includes official transfers like grants provided by multilateral organizations. Okay? The interest associated with the loans is added in the current account as well. Okay? The current account constitutes an important segment of the balance of payment. See, the net effect of all the transaction under the above account is known as current account balance. In other words, the current account balance shows the difference between money going out of the current account and the money coming inside the current account. Next, we will see about the capital account. The capital account comprises credit and debit transactions. The main components of capital account include the first one is foreign investments which include FDI, FII, and investments in equity market. The second one is external commercial borrowing by private corporations and the government. The third one is NRA deposits in the Indian bank. The fourth one is external assistance provided by multilateral organization. See, for example, the assistance provided by the World Bank Group for the strengthening of national nutrition mission will come under current account. Note here that India must pay back this external assistance since they are not grants. World Bank just provided a very low interest loan to support India. Okay? Some important points to note here are first one is while NRA deposits are included in the capital account, remittance received are included in the current account. The second is that while external grants are included in the current account, external assistance in the form of loans are included in the capital account. The third one is that while the external commercial borrowings are included in the capital account, the interest associated with these loans are included in the current account. See, from these areas, you can expect a problems question. Okay, these are confusing areas, so take a note of it. Now, I hope you are clear with the difference between current account and the capital account. See, when all the elements are correctly included in the balance of payment, it should sum up to zero in a perfect scenario. This means the inflow and outflow of funds should balance out. However, this does not ideally happen in most cases, thus resulting in surplus or a deficit. See, we already saw what does current and capital account consist. Now, we will see what is meant by current account deficit and capital account deficit. Look, a current account deficit indicates that a country is importing more than it is exporting. Now, what is capital account deficit? Capital account deficit means more capital is flowing outside the country. Okay, for our country, the capital account most of the time will be in surplus. But the issue is that when there is more inflow of foreign capital, the country is at risk of losing its ownership in key sectors to foreign investors. Now, coming back, the balance of payments is the sum of current account and the capital account. It indicates the overall balance which could either be in surplus or in deficit. When there is a BOP surplus, our official forex reserves will start increasing. When there is a deficit in our balance of payments, our official forex reserve will start reducing. When the BOP deficit exists for a very long time, the forex reserve will significantly reduce causing BOP crisis. India faced BOP crisis in the early 1990s. Okay, now with respect to the second article, we will see about fiscal deficit and how it is calculated. Now, what is a fiscal deficit? A fiscal deficit is a shortfall in government's income compared to its spending. See, the government that has fiscal deficit is spending beyond its means. Okay, before learning about physical deficit, we must learn about revenue deficit and capital deficit first. Now, let us take revenue deficit. The revenue deficit is nothing but the difference between revenue expenditure and revenue receipts. Okay, the revenue receipt includes money earned by the government through taxes and non-tax sources. While the revenue expenditure includes salaries, interest payments by the government, pension paid by the government and government's administrative expenses. Okay, now to capital deficit. Capital deficit is nothing but the difference between capital expenditure and capital receipts. Here, the capital receipts include money earned by selling assets such as shares of public enterprises and the money received in the form of borrowings or repayments of loan by states. Note here that disinvestment and the money coming in the form of repayment of loan from the states are non-depth creating and the borrowing of the government are depth creating. Okay, note the difference here. Now, the capital expenditure includes long-term investment by the government on creating assets such as roads and hospitals and the money given by the government in the form of loans to states or repayments of its borrowings. Okay, so now coming back to fiscal deficit. The formula for physical deficit is that it is the difference between total expenditure of the government minus the total income of the government. Okay, here the total expenditure includes revenue expenditure and capital expenditure and the total income includes revenue receipts and the non-depth creating capital receipts. We already saw non-depth creating capital receipts include earnings from disinvestment and the money earned by the repayment of loans by the state governments. Okay, note this. Lastly, what is primary deficit? Primary deficit is nothing but the difference between fiscal deficit and interest payment. Okay, it is the difference between physical deficit of the current year and the interest paid by the government on loans obtained in the past. Thus, it indicates that the government's borrowings are utilized to pay interest or loans rather than on capital expenditure. To recap in this segment, we saw about balance of payment, current account, capital account, revenue deficit, capital deficit, fiscal deficit, and finally, primary deficit. I hope this segment helped you pressure pure basic. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. This is in reference to United governments push for more rapid antigen tests or rats with respect to the racing Omicron cases. In this context, we will learn about rats, RT-PCR test and the difference between the two. Now, let us start our discussion. See, there are two types of tests for COVID-19. They are the PCR test or the polymerase chain reaction test and the antigen test. First is the polymerase chain reaction test or the PCR test. This tests for the presence of actual viruses, genetic material or its fragments, as it breaks down. PCR is the most reliable and accurate test for detecting the active infection. PCR tests typically take hours to perform. Second is antigen test. This detects bits of protein on the surface of the virus called antigens. Antigen test typically takes only 15 to 30 minutes. Rapid antigen tests are more accurate when used within few days of the start of the symptoms, which is when the largest amount of virus is present in our body. Okay? See, the RT-PCR test use the real-time reverse transcriptase diagnostic panel for detecting the presence of viral RNA. The swab samples are analyzed for the reagents to identify the presence of the virus. This test can detect the virus even before the emergence of symptoms and aids in isolation and preventing the further spread of infection. RT-PCR test has a specificity rate of nearly 100 percentage, whereas the sensitivity rate is about 67 percentage. Here, specificity means ability to identify those without disease, and sensitivity means ability to identify those with disease. This means RT-PCR test will not give false positive, but there are 30 to 35 percentage chance of getting false negatives. But still, RT-PCR remains the gold standard for testing COVID cases. Then why is the rat gaining popularity now? See, the rapid antigen test is gaining popularity because of the spike in the number of Omicron cases. See, this rat's test is quick and cheap. Only nasopharyngeal swabs are collected by trained healthcare workers. Rat can detect the presence of viral protein in a sample from the respiratory tract of the person. However, it is capable of giving more false negatives. According to the ICMR protocol, if the rat gives negative result and an individual has symptoms of influenza like illness, then he or she should undergo RT-PCR test. But the rat has its own advantage. In a way, it can be done on a mass level. The number of tests that has been performed are in thousands low. Right now, the number of people asking for the rapid antigen test is high and the number of RT-PCR test labs that are able to provide the rapid antigen test is not that great. So, the government is obviously pushing for more rapid antigen test. So, to recap, in this segment, we discussed about rapid antigen test and the RT-PCR test. We also saw the difference between the rapid antigen test and the RT-PCR test. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. This is the last article we will be discussing today. See, the insurance sector regulator IRDAI has asked the Go Digital General Insurance to stop selling a policy that provides life insurance benefits citing regulatory violations. Let's not get much into the issue. Instead, we will learn some points about IRDAI for the film's perspective. See, the insurance regulatory and development authority of India, IRDAI, is a statutory body which was established in the year 1999. The body derives its functions and powers from IRDAI Act 1999 and Insurance Act 1938, okay? It is a regulatory body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance and it is tasked with regulating and licensing the insurance and reinsurance industries in India. Its main purpose is to safeguard the interest of policy holders. Some of the other purposes of IRDAI are given here for your reference. Just go through it. Talking about its composition, see, the authority is a 10-member team consisting of a chairman, five whole-time members, and four part-time members. All the appointments are made by the government of India. Now talking about the tenure of the members. See, the chairman and every other whole-time member and part-time member shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office. They are eligible for reappointment as well. Now, the removal of the members. See, the central government may remove from office any member at any time. Before being removed, the member can be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard as well. Now we shall see how the IRDAI works. The apex body of the insurance industry, the IRDAI ensures it frames rules and regulations without any ambiguity towards any particular insurance company. To ensure fairness and financial soundness of the industry, the main work of IRDAI revolves around policy holders' interest. The types of insurance regulated by IRDAI are given here. Just go through it. So to recap, in this segment, we saw the basics about IRDAI, which is the insurance regulator in India. With this, we shall complete the news discussion session. Now let us take up the practice prelims question session. We have six practice prelims question today. We will see them one by one. First, let us take up this question. This is a previous year question which appeared in 2015 prelims. Okay, first let me read out the question. With reference to fly ash produced by power plants using coal as fuel, which of the following statements is or are correct? First statement, fly ash can be used in the production of bricks for building construction. Second statement, fly ash can be used as a replacement for some of the Portland cement contents of concrete. Third statement, fly ash is made up of silicon dioxide and calcium oxides only and does not contain any toxic elements. We have to find the correct answer from the code given below. See, the first statement is correct, which we clearly saw in the discussion. Fly ash can be used in the production of bricks for building construction. The second statement is also correct. During the discussion, we saw that fly ash is used in the manufacturing of cement. Okay, the question particularly mentions about Portland cement. See, Portland cement is the most commonly used type of cement in the world. Portland cement is a fine powder, which is produced by heating limestone and clay elements in a clean. And then this is grinded to fine powder with the addition of small amount of other material. And the fly ash has been successfully used as a mineral admixture in Portland cement. This is one of the largest use of fly ash. Fly ash can also be used as a feed material for producing Portland cement and as a component of the Portland blended cement also. So, the second statement given here is correct. Now, coming to the third statement. See, the third statement is incorrect. The fly ash contains oxides of iron also. Okay, not just silicon dioxide and calcium oxide. Okay, and it also has traces of arsenic, lead and mercury. See, arsenic, lead and mercury are toxic. So, the third statement is incorrect. Since the first and second statements are correct and the third statement is incorrect, the correct option is option A, one and two only. Okay, now coming to the second question. This question is also about fly ash. Let me read out the question first. Which of the following is or are the uses of fly ash? The uses given are manufacture of bricks. The second one is road and flay over embankment construction. The third one is reclamation of abandoned mine voids. The fourth one is soil conditioner in agriculture. We have to select the correct answer from the code given below. See, the correct answer is option D, all of the above. See, in our discussion, we saw about manufacturing of bricks, road and flay over embankment construction and soil conditioner in agriculture as uses of fly ash. So, now here we will see just about reclamation of abandoned mine voids. See, huge size of pits that developed due to coal mining can be converted into developed land for afforestation and other useful purposes for this overburden material that is used to cover the pit. Now here, fly ash is mixed with overburden material for filling in the coal mines and other mines of minerals and metals. Actually, mixing of fly ash along with other overburden material and filling in operating coal mine is not accepted by the coal India limited and Ministry of Coal. This is due to mine safety issue. However, coal India limited and Ministry of Coal are allowing ash back filling in abandoned mine voids. So, reclamation of abandoned mine voids is also a use of fly ash. Note this. Now moving on to the third question. This question is about GST council. Let me read out the question first. With reference to the GST council, consider the following statement. The statements are, it is a statutory body. The second statement is, it is headed by the Prime Minister. The third statement is, every decision of the GST council are taken by the majority of not less than one-third of the weighted votes of the members present and voting. Here we have to find the incorrect statements. Let's take up the first statement. We have seen that the GST council has been notified under Article 279A of the Constitution. So, it is a constitutional body. So, the statement one is incorrect. Now coming to the second statement. See, actually the GST council is headed by the Finance Minister and not the Prime Minister. So, the statement two is also incorrect. Now coming to the third statement. See, every decision of the GST council are taken by the majority of not less than three-fourth of the weighted votes of members present and voting. It is not one-third. So, the third statement is also incorrect. So, from this we can identify that the correct answer is option D, one, two and three only because all the given statements are incorrect. Now moving on to the fourth question. See, this question is in reference to IRDAI. Let me read out the question first. Consider the following statements with reference to IRDAI. First statement, IRDAI is the principal regulator for stock exchanges in India. Second statement, IRDAI was established in 1999 following the recommendations of Malhotra committee report in 1999. We have to find the correct statements. See, first statement is wrong because the principal regulator for stock exchanges in India is SEBI, not IRDAI. The SEBI or the Securities and Exchange Board of India is established under SEBI Act 1992 and it is the principal regulator of stock exchanges in India. Now coming to the second statement. See, the second statement is correct because the IRDAI was established in 1999 following the recommendations of Malhotra committee report in 1999. So the correct answer is option B, two only. Now let us take up the fifth question. This question is regarding conventional sources of energy. Let me read out the question. Which of the following sources are conventional sources of energy? The sources given are thermal power plants, hydroelectric power plants, solar energy and tidal energy. We have to find the correct statements. See, conventional sources of energy includes fossil fuels, thermal power plants, hydro power plants, biomass and wind energy. And non-conventional sources include solar energy, tidal energy, wave energy, ocean thermal energy, geothermal energy and nuclear energy. So from this we can know that the correct answer here is option A, one and two only because only thermal power plants and hydro power plants are conventional sources of energy. Solar energy and tidal energy are non-conventional sources of energy. Now let us take up the last prelims practice question. This question is about rapid antigen test. Let me read out the question. Consider the following statements about rapid antigen test or RATS. The first statement, it detects bits of protein on the surface of virus called antigens. The second statement, antigen test typically takes under 30 minutes. The third statement, it has a disadvantage that it cannot be done on a mass scale. We have to find the correct statements here. See, RATS detects bits of protein on the surface of the virus called antigens. The antigen test typically takes less than 15 to 30 minutes. So the first statement and the second statement are correct. But the third statement is incorrect because the RATS can be done on a mass scale. It is the major advantage of RATS over RT-PCR like we saw in the discussion. See, the number of tests that can be performed can be easily scaled up in case of RATS. So since statement one and statement two are correct and the third statement is incorrect, the correct answer is option A, one and two only. The main question based on today's discussion is here. Write your answers and post it in the comment section. So if you like today's discussion, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.