Daily Current Affairs Analysis | 19th August, 2026 | Shankar IAS Academy | UPSC | Mains 2026

[music] Hi, hello. Welcome to Shanka Academyademy's daily current affair analysis for the date 19th of August. Please like, comment, share and subscribe our YouTube channel and also have the bell icon pressed for instant notifications. So before moving ahead there's an important announcement. The pre-torming UPSC test series is back for UPSC 2027 films. The first batch starts from 7th September 2026 and it is exclusively offline batch in the Chennai Ananagar branch of Shankara. This test series have 48 test in total including the five mock test and the questions are handpicked by the experts which are exam focused and also provided with detailed solutions and analysis. All you need to do is enroll yourself by scanning this QR code and ensure that you are consistent in attending the test and also cracking this UPSC films 2027. Let's move ahead and see what are the topics for discussion in our current aware analysis. The first topic is earthquake swarm in Maharashtra. So we will discuss what is earthquake swarm the definition what are the reasons why Maharashtra is facing the earthquake swarm and what are the different terms related to earthquake swarms which which is main shock after shock. So these terms will be discussed and also a question practice question related to this topic and our next topic will be on atrial fibrillation and the monsoon. So this atal fibrillation is an cardiovascular related impact. So we will see what is atal fibrillation. What are the different chambers of heart means the atrial atria is nothing but the upper chamber of heart. How it is going to get affected by monsoon. Now it is not directly getting affected by the rainfall but how the monsoon is inducing indirectly this atal fibrillation and what are the steps that can be taken. And the next topic will be on Kazeranga's ecosensitive zone. So recently Asan government has proposed to the union government saying that they have to asking for reduction in the ecosensitive zone area. So present there is 10 km of zone for Kazaranga National Park. So they are asking to reduce it to 1 kilometer radius. So we will see what are the effects of this what will be the effects of this then and before that we'll also discuss what is eosensitive zone what is it legal backing what are the supreme court judgment given and what are the guidelines given by ministry of environment forest and climate change related to it and our fourth discussion fourth part of discussion will be on E20 that is ethanol blending its energy security and also the vehicle compatibility why E20 is getting pushed by the government what are the energy security dimensions for it and also how the vehicle compatibility is getting affected or what can be done to increase the compatibility and finally we'll have a discussion on film focus topics which is briefly we'll have three quick topics and also a practice question related to it. Moving on to the first topic for the day which is earthquakes are in Maharashtra. So recently uh or very recently there are there are multiple earthquakes or multiple shocks we can call been witnessed in Maharashtra near Nasi region. So we will briefly see what is earthquake swarm is first. So we'll define what is earthquake swarm. What are the criteria that promotes this earthquake swarm to happen and why Maharashtra is prone to these earthquake swarms and what are the different reasons that are actually pushing or actually what are the reason different factors that are contributing to this earthquake swarms and also we'll have a based practice question related to this topic. So before going to earthquakes on we have been discussing earthquakes very recently in different parts of world Colombia, Venezuela, Japan whatever it is there are earthquakes that are occurring in different parts of the world. So we don't need to go deep into earthquake because we have discussed quite deeply in many of the other current affair analysis. So here earthquake is a sudden release of accumulated tectonic stress. You need to know what is earthquake. Earthquake is nothing but release of energy. basically release of energy under the underneath the surface of earth. So that the reason for the release of energy are multiple things that is it can be diverging of plates, it can be converging of plates, it can be parallel moving of place which is which we call as strike slip fault. So these are terms which I'm just revising quickly. Okay. So you don't need to you can just refer the other current of analysis where we have covered Colombian earthquake, Venezuelan earthquake and also Japan earthquake. So basically the energy travels as seismic waves. So it travels as seismic waves. Pwaves, S waves are called body waves and there are surface waves which is after the body waves. It's the epic center that is epic center is on the surface. Focus is where the energy is getting released. After the after the waves reaches epicenter, it moves along the surface. So these are called surfaces. So surfaces are going to create the problem not the body waves. Body waves are just the initial energy which are getting transmitted. So Pav, Sways there, these all things we are covered as usual. The P waves are faster than S waves. Briefly I'm just reminding you here. So now what is earthquake swarm? So we know what is earthquake but what is swam? Swam is nothing but a sequence of earthquakes occurring in a relatively confined area over a period of time means let's say Maharashtra. So Maharashtra is in this place. So in Maharashtra near Nasi there is continuous earthquake means from the surface beneath the surface the earthquake is continuously the energy is continuously getting released and it is hitting the epicenter. So what it means that so this earthquake which is getting which is getting frequently getting triggered is actually in a frequency it is in a frequency it is in a frequency that is hitting the epicenter it cannot it might not be very strong as the earthquake that we see in other parts of the world like it it is not six it is not seven hectar magnitude the magnitude of earthquake is very less but the earthquake shocks is very frequent so that is why we call this earthquake swarm there is no Clearly dominant main shock. What is main shock? Main shock is one which create the maximum energy means the the main earthquake wave that is getting triggered. So for example there is something like this earthquakes earthquakes are frequently happening and suddenly there will be main shock. So this main shock is what will be of high magnitude. So this magnitude will create lot of damages as as regularly. So this swams here if you see these things small waves. So after main shock there will be after shock. So there will be before shock there will be main shock there will be after shock. In before shock and after shock the waves the magnitude will be very less but frequent of frequently energy will be transmitted. So these regions we call as earthquake swarm. But the main shock is where it is going to create maximum effect or maximum damage. But here in Maharasa what is happening is we are frequently seeing this kind of this. So there is no main shock only earthquake forms only small magnitude of energy getting released. So magnitude may fluctuate that as I said magnitude may fluctuate but several earthquakes can be of comparable magnitude. So magnitude will be fluctuating but there will be not there will be not abrupt rise which creates a main shock. So an earthquake storm does not necessarily indicate that there is an earthquake which is coming imminently means an earthquake there is continuous release of energy up and down up and down there's continuous release of energy underneath the surface but it doesn't mean that you are going to get a main shock at one point of time because Maharashtra are not very recently or in the past I have not is not vulnerable to this kind of main shock earthquakes it is vulnerable to earthquakes once but not this earthquake main shocks So why Maharashtra is experiencing such such earthquakes for because see tectonic plates if you see Indian plate Indian plate is coinciding with the Eurasian plate. Okay. So Indian plate when it's coinciding with Eurasian plate at that point in time or the plate boundaries where there is lot of energy getting released there you can there you can experience earthquake that we see in Kashmir region or maybe in other Arnachal region other parts of other parts of plate boundaries. Why in Maharashra? Maharashtra is within the Indian plate but still it experiences such earthquake forms. Why? Because there are several regions. So first one is intraplate earthquakes. So the intra plate earthquakes what happens is the plate boundary the Indian plate is coinciding with the urasian plate. Due to the stress created because Indian plates is moving northward. So Indian plate is moving northward and it is eating the urasian plate. So whenever a plate is going and eating another plate there is internal stress that is creating within the plate that is intraplate not interplate intra plate that's within the plate. So that stress is going to release energy as earthquakes forms means very less magnitude but it is going to release continuously because plate is continuously moving forward it is moving around 2.5 to 3.5 cm per year. Indian plate is moving underneath the urasian plate. It is actually subducting. It is not actually subducting. It is actually pushing each other. So it is actually creating a convergent boundary. So this plate so this movement is creating the intra plate stress and that is resulting the intra plate earthwise. So Indian plate continues to go northward and under goes internal deformation. That's what I internal deformation because when you go and inter plate there will be internal deformation one plate. So that internal deformation is going to create stress and that stress underneath the surface is going to release the energy as earthquake. So what is the role of decken traps here? So we all know that Maharashtra is a deck uh is a decken region. It is actually made up of basaltic lava flows. So means the rocks are basaltic. So it it is around 66 million years ago. It was formed through extensive volcanic eruptions because after the Indian plate d move moved away from the African plate or it it it from that is around reunion islands. So when Indian plate moved away from in around the reunion islands it went and it is it has moved forward and it has struck the erasation plate. When it was along the reunion island there was There was this lava flow which created the second trap that we see today. So this has multiple fishes means multiple fractures. See because the rocks there these are rocks that are formed within. So there can be rocks like this this this. So there are multiple fractures within the rocks. So these are volcanic rocks which are been which Maharashtra is basically a deck and trap which is which are volcanic rocks. So there are fishes there are actually fractures within the rock which is actually which is actually making it vulnerable to release energy. See multiple layers of basaltic contain fractures shear zones and zones of weakness. So this is the reason for which can be reactivated when tectonic stress is accumulated. See when there is already rock which are arranged on top like this which arranged like this and whenever you get a intra plate stress that is the rock is already having fractures and whenever you get the intra plate stress that weakness is going to create which is going to release energy. So that is also one of the reason for this earthquake swarm and what is other reason see the major plate boundary is not essential for an earthquake. So as I was saying the major plate boundary like Indian plate hitting the uration plate. So not only on boundaries but also within the plate you can you can see the stress you can actually feel the stress which is which will accumulate into this earthquake swarm. So around this is seen around nasi and pulgar which have this fractures and sear zones that facilate this seismic activity. The fractures and shear zones are because of taken rocks. See taken trap that is basaltic rocks. Okay. The what is the role of water? Now recently you have you could have seen that there are there is a flooding in Maharashtra because the monsoon is erratic there. So what is the role of water now? See the water is actually will infiltrate into these fish into these fractures inside the rocks. So when they infiltrate what happens it enters the fall zones and increase the pressure. So whenever the water is getting into that zones into that shear zones it is going to create pressure and that pressure will also lead to release of energy. So increased core pressure can reduce the friction holding rocks together. See rocks imagine that rocks are arranged like this in in different way in a multiple way and whenever there are rocks arranged there are gaps. So the water that is entering will fill these gaps and it is going to create pressure and it is going to release it is going to release energy. So that is actually potentially will trigger the fault movement. So you could have seen in that hydroofing. So hydrooaling is is basically the term where the water will actually trigger these kind of earthquake or seismic activity which can be of very less magnitude. So an example here if you can see the the role of water in coina dam. See kina dam was constructed around 1950s means it was started to construct around 1950s but after a certain point in time it faced an earthquake of magnitude 6.3. So why? Because once the dam was built the water that is getting stored in the dam is going to create it is going to give pressure on the land. So that pressure is going to release energy because that the rocks that are beneath it is not is not something is going to hold such pressure. So you need to have the geology right before having the dam built. So in 1967 the earthquake was there and it created lot of damages and also deaths and which in which says that water plays a major role in seismic activity especially when the rocks are p when the rocks are having gaps within that it's going to fill those gaps and it is going to create pressure. So we'll have a prelim based practice question here. So all we need to understand is what is earthquake and how earthquake swarm is different. Earthquake swarm doesn't have much of magnitude. It is going to have continuous activity of earthquake but that there is no main shock in it. So it means that earthquake swarm doesn't immediately mean that there is going to be an earthquake that is going to come. No, that is not the reason. Earthquake swarm is something different and the real earthquake earthquake that you face in plate boundaries are something different that the order of magnitude differs. So if you see consider the following statements regarding the earthquake swamps in Maharashtra. Earthquake swarms are characterized by absence of clearly identified main shock. That is true. We don't have main shock. Only the only the shocks that are of less magnitude will be visible. So first statement is correct. Marasa experiences intraplate seismic despite being located away from a major tectonic plate boundary. That is correct because it is intra plate that is within a plate. That is correct. Increased poor water pressure due to rainfall infiltration can under under certain geological conditions trigger seismic activity. So this is what happened in kina dam kina dam case. So that is also right. The occurrence of an earthquake swarm necessarily indicates that the major earthquake is imminent. That is incorrect. The major earthquake is not imminent because we cannot make sure that because of earthquake there is going to be an earthquake. So force statement should be incorrect. So the answer should be so when force statement is incorrect the answer should be a let's check yes answer is a let's move on to the next part of discussion so the next topic for discussion is atrial fibrillation so what is atal fibrillation it is actually nothing but an irregular rhythm of heartbeat see atria is upper chamber of heart so there two chambers in art. So what happens is the art atria which is the upper chamber in art receives the blood from all the body or also from the lungs. It is going to pump it to the lower chamber and this lower chamber is going to pump it throughout the body again. So this atria which is upper chamber and the lower chamber of heart should be in sync means they should beat in sync. But this atrial fibrillation means this upper chamber thus this art atria is going out of sync to the lower chamber. So when it is going to be out of sync to the lower chamber it is going to affect the blood pumping or it can be lower blood pumping or higher blood pumping it is going to affect the blood pumping rate. So there can be multiple effects due to this out of sync that is atal fibrillation. So how it is related to monsoon is the point of discussion now. So monsoon means that when there is erratic monsoons when there is change in monsoons which is going to affect your lifestyle your imidity rate where you are present and also other things like infection patterns and hydration which is related to monsoon is going to affect your which is going to affect your upper chamber of your heart. brain itself that is monsoon itself is not going to affect your blood rate or maybe the pumping rate in atria but the other induced effects is going to affect it. So we will see what is atal fibrillation first briefly and we will see what are the reasons for this atal fibrillation and also what are the symptoms related to it. The first the atal fibrillation is irregular and rapid heart rhythm arising from abnormal electrical activity in atria. So atria is what? Upper chamber. Upper chamber in heart. So whenever there is electrical activity that is the signals to that chamber to the atria is going to get affected is going to which is going to get in disorder. So this rhythm is going to get changed due to the your lifestyle or other reasons which are which are going which is going to be aggravated by the monsoon. So that is what is atal fibrillation is the adula does not contract in coordinated manner resulting in irregular art. So that's what I said the irregular art that is going out of sync with the lower chamber. So it can be symptomatic or asytomatic means it cannot it can it will not be revealed directly to you even you might be facing it but you might not know that you're going to face atal fibrillation. So what are monsoon related triggers? Why monsoon is going to have play a role in atal fibrillation? See the thing is the temperature and humidity changes due to climate change you know the monsoon is not as predicted. Tomorrow it can be heavy rainfall and day after tomorrow it can be a drop like situation. The temperature and humidity changes it is going to affect your heart rate and also the fluid balance in your body. And next thing is dehydration, respiratory related issues and also the sleep disturbances that are related to monsoon are related to these climate change effects and also the altered diet because your diet is going to keep on changing based on the climate or based on the weather. So when that changes automatically the body condition changes and it is going to affect your pumping rate because pumping rate depends entirely on these things. the respiration, your diet, your food, the temperature, humidity, everything is going to induce your respiration, your atria that is also in the upper chamber. So these factors are also related to monsoon. So it means see there are these factors which are important for your important for your monsson means the monsson can change these factors that is food humidity temperature etc and these factors are also important for your blood pumping rate. So monsoon directly or indirectly affects these factors which is going to directly or indirectly affect your blood pumping rate which you might not know it can be asytomatic as well. So what are the risk factors for this atal fibrillation? So it is going to have existing art disease. Excessive alcohol consumption is going to create such effects such atal fibrillation means what are the factors that are going to induce atal fibrillation or these factors infections fluid imbalance hypertension these all factors are going to change your blood pumping rate. So the upper chamber when it is not in sync with lower chamber see let's say we are going to pump a lot to a lower chamber but lower chamber is actually functioning at a slower rate that is a normal rate. So when you're going to pump a lot and you're going to here it is going slowly there is blood clot so there is blood clot can happen so blood is going getting cloth there so that can create multiple effects it can create stroke it can create other effects which will be fatal sometimes. So why is this important? So this can promote blood formation as I said because the pumping rate is not similar and it can also because blood may pull in the atria. So whenever there's high blood pressure that is whenever there's high blood pumping it can get pulled or whenever there's low blood pumping it can cause deficiency in blood. These claws can travel to brain and also cause stroke. As I said stroke is important thing that it can induce. So it can be fatal as well and it is not merely a rhythm abnormality. It has important cardiovascular and cerebrovascular implications. So the you take the vessels the vessels are actually designed or the vessels are actually present for certain blood rate. So when the blood rate is abnormal it is going to create issues or when the blood rate is minimal it is also going to create issues. So the blood rate should be normal. So for that blood rate should be normal the pumping rate should be normal. So the pumping rate when it's abnormal when it is not in rhythm it is going to create such effects. What are the symptoms? The symptoms is irregular heartbeat, fatigue, breathlessness, chest discomfort and sometimes there can be no symptoms at all. It can be of sudden. So that is why that is why it is becoming in in news because this monsoon climate change is silently it is silently creating this AF it is silent AF silent atal fibrillation so which cannot be even medically found out found that such things are happening in your body so we'll have question related to this and we'll discuss that also consider the following statements regarding atrial fibrillation So the atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rate rhythm involving uncoordinated electrical activity of the atria. That is right. That is the electrical activity is going that is the electrical activity in the sense the signals is abnormal. Atrial fibrillation can increase the risk of stroke due to the formation of blood clots. As I said the pumping rate is not normal. Pumping rate is abnormal. So lower chamber at different rate upper chamber upper chamber at different rate. So that can create that can create blood clot which can lead to stroke. So second statement is also correct. Seasonal rainfall itself is a direct cause of atal fibrillation. Rainfall itself is not a cause of fibrillation but the rainfall induced effects like change in temperature, humidity, your food diet, respiration issues that can actually change that can actually affect this atrial fibrillation not the rainfall itself. So statement three should be incorrect. Dehydration and electrolyte imbalance can act as a triggers for irregular arty in susceptible individuals. Yeah, dehydration or electrolyte imbalance is a major sympto major factor for this atal fibrillation. So statement four should be correct. So answer should be 1 2 and four as three is incorrect. So it should be B. So answer should be B. 1 2 4. Let's check. Yes, the answer is B. Now let's move on to the other part of discussion. The next topic Kazaranga's ecosensitive zone. So why this is in news? Because recently the Assam government has proposed or given an proposed letter to ministry of environment, forest and climate change saying that they have to reduce this ecosensitive zone of 10 kilometers for Kazeranga National Park to 1 kilometer. So in this article we will see what is this ecosensitive zone what are its legal backing what were its rules given by this ministry of environment and what is supreme court judgment related to this and why this Assam government is actually proposing such proposal to the ministry. So here you can see rhinosaurus because we'll see we'll relate it we'll relate this with our discussion today why the eosensitive zone is very much important. So here you can see there is a flood means flood in this kazaranga national park and the rhinosaurus are trying to go to some land nearby so that they have to mitigate the flooding. So in this con context we will see what is ecosensitive zone. So ecosensitive zone is a buffer zone for these national parks or wildlife sensories. Generally in a national park or wildlife sanctuary what happens is there is core zone C and there is zone which is surrounding it called as buffer zones for or eosensitive zones. So why this buffer zones are being actually introduced? Because whenever there are some effects within the core zone, the animal try to migrate outside. So when they try to migrate outside, they come outside this core zone and settle at the fringes of this core zone. So that become this buffer zone that is ecoensitive zones. So if you saw in the last picture whenever there's a flooding what happens the animals try to move to a land. So when they move to land places they move outside their core zone and once the flooding is over they come back to the core zone. So that buffer that becomes a transition zone or buffer zone which is very much needed for any national park or wildlife sanctuary. So they are intend to act as a shock observer between highly protected ecosystem and intense human activity because outside this zone this is E C E and outside E is where human activity is happening. So when human activity and core zone there should be some zone between it for buffer where the animals can move freely and come back to core zone. So that is what this EZ is about and it is act as a shock observer for these wildlife and the legal basis it is it is actually protected or it is actually introduced by this environment protection act but not wildlife protection act. Don't be confused here. It is environment protection act that will be very much that will be a trap that can be set for this question related to this and who actually notifies this ecosensive zone for national parks and wildlife sensory is ministry of environment forest and climate change. So the state government can propose the ez for a specific national park and wildlife sensory and this ministry can actually approve or can or actually can reject the proposal. So such approval or such proposal is given by the Assam government now to reduce a 10 km ecosensive zone to 1 km radius. So is 10 km mandatory first of all. So first of all when the when the ES set that is eosensitive zone was introduced the ministry said that there should be 10 kilometer radius that is 10 km radius from the core zone should be the sensitive zones that is ecoensive zone buffer zones but is it mandatory? No because in certain places there there is a need for higher zones there's a need for higher places more places means large amount of places. So 10 km cannot be sufficient. There can be need of 15 km or some places that can be need of just 5 km. So based on the situation the kilometer that is the radius of this ecosensive zone varies. So 10 km extent is generally default guideline but not an uniform boundary for every protected area. So the E sz are ultimately the sight specific and can be smaller or larger depending on the ecological requirements. So these are very much important because we'll see the context in Assam what is happening in Kazaranga so that you'll understand the importance of this ESZ. So in ES what are the things that are prohibited what are the things that are regulated and what are things that are permitted. Generally in core zone if you see so this is E for E assets in core zone if you see the mining agriculture tourism so these things are very much prohibited very the scientific only for R&D only restricted tourism are actually allowed so similarly ESS what are the things that are prohibited commercial mining is prohibited polluting industrial waste unrestricted tourisms and also discharge of these waste are prohibited. What are regulated? The major thing that is regulated is tree filling. So tree filling is not prohibited but regulated. That you need to understand because that is a major trap which can be set in your question. Tree filling is regulated but not prohibited. Road widening can be done. Commercial use of water can be done and also power lines can be built. So these are regulated but not prohibited. And what are permitted? Eco-friendly agriculture, renewable energy and green technology that is solar, wind farms. So these can be put in those regions. So these are permitted. So whenever you need to understand a zone, you need to understand what is its legal backing that is here. It is environmental protection act and what are prohibited regulator permitted these things should be known. So what is the Supreme Court order related to this ESZ? When when Supreme Court was taking up a case they said that see 10 kilometers is a guideline you no need to adhere to 10 km but you need to have minimum of 1 kilometer. So Supreme Court said that minimum criteria. It said that minimum 1 km is needed for every every unnotified ESS. So wherever the ESS are notified already there it can function as it is. But when wherever it is not quantified there minimum of 1 kilometer should be given to this buffer zone and this one size fits all doesn't work as supreme court also has confirmed it again in 2023 saying that one size fits all doesn't work. So you have minimum 1 kilometer but for based on other requirements you can change it 4 km or 5 km or 10 km even beyond that for notified ESZs you leave it as it is but wherever the ESZs are not notified you make it 1 kilometer the court also allowed basic infrastructure and local activities subject to conditions that is regulated and permitted things have been allowed by the court so now we come to Kazaranga so whatever we saw We saw that initially when the zones came up the ministry said that 10 km should be the default guideline and can be smaller and higher. Supreme court later said that you need to have minimum of 1 kilometer. So the Assan government is claiming now that let's have this kazarangas es to 1 kilometer from 10 km as per supreme court order. But there are certain conditions that that has been given by Supreme Court that is only for not unnotified ES you need to have 1 kilometer. What will be the effects for this in Kazer and see when you're going to reduce this buffer zone automatically you are reducing the habited of this animals or wildlife that have been present in that area. The first important thing is the corridor that connects the Kazaranga and the KBI Angolan landscape. Whenever there is a flood the animals move to this landscape that is carbia and golan. So we are reducing the buffer zone there can be human activities that are that can take place. So after the human settlement there but when the animals like rhinos are oneonone rhinos wish to move to the rose landscape and there becomes animal human conflict. So when you are reducing this to 1 kilometer what happens? Human settlements are going to increase to the places where there already where there were been human settlements. In those places the animal human conflict can increase and also it can lead to the extinction or maybe the endanger and threatening the species over there because one non-rinosaurus is actually very much important to India as almost 23 of this species present in Kazaranga alone. twothirds of count of this species present in Kazaranga alone and Kazaranga is also the UNUS world heritage site which is which has lot of importance to it so you cannot just like that decrease that ease it can have multiple uh multiple repercussions like during floods there can be a problem and also commercial mining can create lot of other issues in those zones. So that is the issue that has been put forward by the by the conserv conservationist and also other people who are in and around this kazaranga. So we'll see a practice question related to this. First question is with the first statement is the 10 km extent prescribed by prescribed for ESZ around protected areas mandatory uniform requirement applicable to all protected areas. It is not mandatory because 10 km is such a is it can be flexible less or more but supreme court has said that minimum 1 kilometer should be present. So this statement should be incorrect. So second statement EZ ES are intended to act as a transition zones between areas requiring eye protection and areas of relatively intensive human activity. Yes, it is a transition zone between the human activity and the core zone. Is it acts as a center? It acts as a buffer shock observer as we said. So statement should two should be correct. Commercial mining is generally prohibited within ES. Yeah, commercial mining is prohibited even in core zones as well. So it is prohibited in ESS but not the filling of trees. Spilling of trees is just regulated. Commercial use of water is just regulated. So this statement is correct. The extent of ESH can be determined on a sight specific basis taking into account of ecological sensitivity and wildlife corridors. Yes, the side specific it can be altered based on the need of that protected area. So the the 2 3 four are correct. So the answer should be B. Let's check. Yes, the answer is B. Our next discussion will be in E20 that is ethanol blending energy security versus the vehicular compatibility. So recently India has been pushing for E20 blending that is ethanol blending in our petrol and diesel. So we will see why India is doing it. What are the core pillars of this mission and whether that is going to help the vehicular compatibility means whether the vehicle will be compatible for that fuel to be used in it. What is the what are the concerns that are raised by the consumers as well as the dealers who are actually operating in petrol and diesel and what should the government do regarding this. We will also discuss the IIT KU study relating this E20 how it is going to how they have studied that how this E20 is being can be used in our regular automobiles. So first moving ahead so ethanol blending missions of India. So India is having ambitious mission missions regarding this ethanol blending. Why? Because see recently you would have seen this UNFC FCC cop 30 that is conference of parties 30 that took place in Bellum. Bellum is in Brazil. So in in Belum Brazil what happened is India has actually India has actually signed for this 4x pledge. What is this 4x pledge? Because the four legs that is quadrupling the sustainable fuels. The sustainable fuels can be biouels, it can be hydrogen fuel, it can be ethanol as ethanol is one of the biouels. So India's India has actually signed that we are going to increase the sustainable fuels in our operations in our country by 2035 from 2024 levels means from the levels of 2024 at the 2024 let's say the level was 1,000 L,000 cr L that was being used. So we are going to quadruple by 2035 that is an ambitious mission because that will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions. So there are many things that are related to it. So India signed it. So in that in that context India is also pushing for more adoptation of this E20 in our petrol and diesel vehicles. Apart from it, India has actually had a pilot in 2020 2001 relating to ethanol blending and there was a nationwide program in 2003. So basically India was having a target of E10 that is 10%age of ethanol 90% of petrol. So basically E10 or E20 means the 10 or 20 means 10%age of ethanol 90%age of petrol or diesel whatever the other other fuel is. So in E20 what happens 20%age of ethanol and remaining 80%age will be petrol or diesel. So India had its target set for E10 then E20 for E20 India had 2030 as its target but it has achieved this in 202526 itself. So we are four five years earlier than our targets in achieving this E20. So for E20 there was there was not the there was support from also this department of public distribution food and public distribution under ministry of consumer affairs. So this ministry along with the nal ministry that is petroleum and natural gas where the we are spearheading this E20 push in our country. So, NITYog and other other bodies related to uh related to policym or policy research have also pushed for E20 because there are different reasons for pushing for E20. The first reason is the energy security. So recently ministers Nitin Gaktari or other ministers of petroleum and natural gas have hinted that energy security that is India's oil import India actually imports more than 80 90%age of its oil from outside. So when we are going to replace this petrol with ethanol even 10% say 20%age we are going to save almost 1.5 lakh cr per year. So it is huge. So this is at present time it can be if you take 100 rupees as one $1 this 100 rupees it will be around $15 billion so $15 billion in forex is it's a huge money so this per year it is going to save such a money so that is that that's why we need E20 was the first point second point is farmer empowerment so ethanol is nothing but the bofuel so you the source is coming from the farmers that is the sugar cane or used patty or maze whatever it is. So farmers who are motivated or who are who are actually given so some kind of support to increase these kind of crops sugar cane maze and patty they are going to support the ethanol so it is going to have increased income for farmer so a study has said that around 1.6 Six lakh cr rupees will be benefited means for it is going to benefit the farmers different farmers different and different states. So there's farmer empowerment as well that is the second reason why we should have e20 and third one is the fee stock divers diversification there are many excess stocks from sugar cane from the patty from the maze which can be used for this kind of fuel making so that it becomes circular economy or sustainable development. So in this feed stock if you say there's first generation second generation feed stock first generation feed stock is mostly sugar cane and second generation feed stockly this uh husks patt and other cooking oil. So there are bamboo there are other things which comes in the second generation but we are mostly in the first generation around 90%age of ethrol is still in first generation we are slowly moving on to second generation which will be more sustainable than the sugar cane that we use in first generation because sugar cane is a water uh water crop means it is going to take it is going to consume a lot of water. So we need to move we need to have better crops that is supporting this ethanol. So we are moving to second generation. So you should know difference between first generation and second generation which is the source of fuel which is the source of E20 and third one is the clim fourth one is the climate action. So in the climate action if you see when you're going to use ethanol ethanol is nothing but C2 H5 O. So there is only there are only two carbons but if you take in petrol it is it is I carbon is it is C4 C5 level propane butane. So it is of high carbon level. So the carbon emissions will be reduced when we use ethanol blending. So that is the important reason, fourth reason that was given by these studies. So that we should push for ethanol blending. So what is the compatibility issue? Whether E20 is compatible. Compatible means whether E20 can be used in our daily vehicles. The study says that the total petrol vehicles are around 310 million. But out of that only 23%age are E20 compatible. Means out of 100 vehicles only 23 vehicles are going to be E20 compatible and remaining 77 odd vehicles cannot use this fuel at present. So basically the BS6 BS6 vehicles are more compatible for E20 but not the older vehicles like BS4. So many of our vehicles are still BS4 standards and BS6 standard is more of compatible to this ethanol blended fuel. And if you see the two wheelers, cars, SUVs that are there that is a that is condition for all these as well because around 1 is to3 ratio if you take 1 is to3 ratio around 1 is to3 ratio or four ratio the vehicles are not compatible and for every four vehicle one vehicle is not E20 compatible. So the key concern is that 73 77 percentage of petrol fleet is of legacy vehicles that is old vehicles which are not compatible at present. What are the concerns with E20? See we are seeing why it is not compatible. So why it is not compatible. So first concern they see is they say is that lower mileage because whenever you reduce the petrol content and you replace it with other source that like C2 H5OS that is C2 H5OS is ethanol. So you're going to decrease the carbon in the fuel. When you decrease the carbon automatically the mileage is going to reduce because the power that is generated is basically from carbon. So the power that is generated will have less compared to the 100%age petrol. So you you might you might face this lower kilometer per liter. So that is the important reason lower mileage. And second one is it absorbs water. So ethanol is icoscopic. It absorbs water. Recently many dealers who operate the Indian oil banks or maybe other petrol dealers, diesel dealers, they say that they have underground tank where they store petrol. You would have seen in many places from there they pump it to the station. So this underground plant or underground storage tank is actually there can be certain moisture in the certain level of moisture in the tank because of monsoon time or maybe other time there can be certain level of moisture. So when the fuel when the E20 blended fuel is stored in that kind of tanks the moist the petrol or the fuel is going to absorb the water that it is going to absorb those moisture. When it when it absorbs those moisture what happens is it is going to create problems in your engine because whenever water is getting in into your engine it is going to create problem like knocking. Knocking is a term. Knocking, calorific value, these are all certain terms related to automobiles which you need to know. Calorific value in the sense it is the energy that is released when you burn the fuel. And when you burn 100%age petrol if you if you get 100 jewles that is 100 energy but when you burn E20 fuel you're going to get less energy because you are replaced certain amount of petrol. So the calorophic value will reduce that calorophic value reduction is what is affected in your mileage. But here the knocking effect that is when the water is going to enter it is going to create a knocking effect that is the functioning of the engine is going to affect it. No need to go deep into what is knocking and also the corrosion. So the water is water will corrode the pipelines. It it will have a corrosion of engines parts. So corrosion effects is also witnessed in many vehicles. There are many such complaints and there is a damage to older components like seals like rubber seals and the and also other oses and gaskets which are not compatible to E20 functioning because water will create lot of issues when when you mix it with the petrol or when you mix it with other fuels and engine fuel system issue as I said whenever there is whenever there is less carbon content the start of engine will be delayed or it going to create problems. As soon as you see in the morning early morning when you start your vehicle your vehicle might not start because it has problem with some uh some pumping issue. So whenever the E2 E20 petrol or E20 fuel is present it is going to create more such cold start problem starting. So these are certain terms cold starting problem will be present. What what is the I compost study says about this? So there are concerns that we have seen and what is the four pillars why we need E20 push we have seen what is IAT compost study says about it says that the impact of I20 vehicles are very minimum means the mileage is going to affect only plus or minus 5% which is very much within the standards and also it it found no major reduction fuel efficiency and as well as the claims of E20 causes widespread across Engine damage is very less means engine damage like corrosion, knocking. So these problems are very much less is what the study says about. But still in practically many people are facing such issue which actually which is brought into the notice of government because recently we have seen a chief economic officer or chief economic adviser have said that E20 should be compatible the ethanol blending should be compatible to old vehicles as well. So you cannot have E20 for all. You need to have certain levels of ethanol bending. Let's say for older vehicles you you can have E15 or E10 for higherend vehicles that is for BS6 or the new vehicles that is coming up you can have E20. So you cannot have E20 for all but you need to have certain levels of ethanol blending for different kind of vehicles which which was suggested by which was recently suggested by our economic advisor. So what should the government do for in this regard? So government understands what are the problems. Government is aware of what are the problems. So what it should do is it provide fuel choice. As I said, you should give E10, E15, E20 for different consumers based on their vehicles compatibility. So that should be there and also sorry and also the clear labeling of this clear labeling of the fuel should be present because the people may not be aware they might go for petrol but it might be in E20. So the clear labeling should be present in the petrol pumps and as well as sit quality control and older vehicles should be protected based on the levels of economic blending quality control it should be that regularly there should be test of petrol and E20 because whenever you store petrol and E20 underground the petrol pump there be the moisture problem. So regular quality control should be present infrastructure should be updated because corrosion will be a problem as I said. So for that case you need to arrest the moisture for so infrastructure accordingly should be updated in petrol pump farms as well as in the refineries and independent testing should be there whenever this independent testing you'll have this quality maintained throughout the India and finally the transition should be slow you cannot directly push E20 completely pan India overnight or maybe within span of time you need to slowly push it E10 or E20 or maybe in certain region you have to push it then finally you bring it all over India India. So we'll have main practice question related to this topic. India's transition to E20 petrol offers significant benefits for energy security and environmental sustainability but also posesses challenges for legacy vehicles and consumers. Discuss. So first you need to highlight what are the positive things for E20. As I said, climate action, farmer empowerment which is giving income, energy security which is going to save our bills as we are import dependent. These things the few the source diversification these things should be highlighted. And finally you should say what are the problems related to this E20 and also how what should the government do to overcome it. So it was very good discussion you might you might have got many much knowledge about E20. So let's move on to the next part of discussion. Now let's discuss the prelims focus topic for the day. So the first one is the major oil spill at Ara mangro forest which is in Persian Gulf. So this Ara mangros are present in southern coast of Iran. Southern coast of Iran that is near Quasam Islands. So that is the location of this Ara mangru. There was a major oil spill is Arama mangru and why it is a concern because you know the west Asia conflict. So when there is a conflict that is going on unparallely where there's oil leak so there cannot be remedies. So there is a risk of marine life and coastal defenses because the cleanup can take lot of time or the cleanup can itself be hindered. When the cleanup is hindered, it is going to affect the coastal people or the coastal infrastructure and also the coastal lives. So, Ara Mangru is a UNUSCO biosphere reserve. You need to first understand. So, there are totally 36 UNUSCO biosphere reserves across the world and Ara mangruus are part of one of such biosphere reserve. So, which is a nursery for shrimp, cramps, fish and also the migratory birds. So it is it is one of the important Ramsar site as well. So this consists mainly of gray mangros because gray mangro is what locally termed as ar mangru and it also have saline it is roots filter saline water prevent erosion and act as carbon se that is characteristics of mangro. So you need to know where this mangro is present in near which state or which state in the sense which country which island and also at what exactly the sea body or the river body which is it where it is present. So it is present in Persian Gulf. Persian Gulf, southern coast of Iran and Toasam Islands is all you need to know and it is a biosphere reserve and also a important Ramsar site. The next discussion will be on this cancer. So cancer actually is a contag it is not a contagious disease means it is not communicable disease. It is NCD which is non-communicable disase. So recently Supreme Court what it has said that it has asked the states and union territories to notify cancer as a notifiable disease. So when you name a disease as a notifiable disease what happens is you set a mechanism for the disease. You're going to monitor the disease, how it is spread, where it is spread, what are the effects that have been there and also there's a budget allocated for the disease and there is health facilities being ramped up for mitigating such diseases. So that is the important of notifiable disease. So the Supreme Court has recently asked the states and union territories to notify cancer as a notifiable disease because cancer has been recently increasing in a wide scale in India. So when it is notified the importance is getting increased but union government has argued that health as a subject comes under the state list. Yeah that is very much true. Health as a subject comes on the state list. So it is up to the states to declare it as a notifiable disease or not. So in that context Supreme Court ordered that 19 states and union territories to consider having cancer as a notifiable disease because there there are already 17 states and union territories who already put it put cancer under the notifiable disease but remaining remaining states are been asked by Supreme Court to consider cancer as a notifiable disease. So that is the significance of this article and the next one is the sapadara framework. So the seven pillars for vxit bat for the India's growth in the next phase. So recently this has been highlighted by our prime minister and what are those seven pillars manufacturing agriculture and food processing technology and innovation PM Gardiaki that is road connectivity rail etc. So we all we all know that there is a bullet train that is built. So PM gadisaki it comes under PM gadisaki defense self-reliance green and blue economy we have been increasing our renewable energy. So additionally we have also achieved that 50%age of our more than 50%age of installed capacity according to our nationally determined contributions and India's soft power. So India software including films, yoga. So these things. So these are seven pillars which are going to which are going to actually lead us to vit means the main seven pillars. So we need to understand what are those seven pillars just have a glance manufacturing agriculture food processing technology and innovation means AI semiconductors quantum computing these regions PM dataki which is about connectivity defense self-reliance green and blue economy and India's soft power so prime minister has also in his in his independent speech has highlighted that there'll be training for 1 cr youth in AI over the next year. So that is an important point to note because the jobs which are going to be very much dynamic will be influenced by this AI. So training youth in this context is actually very much needed for the hour and nuclear energy there's a target of 100 gawatt of nuclear energy capacity by 2047. So there are going to be next five six reactors which will be coming in next within the next decade. So nuclear energy was focused AI and also seven pillars. So these are things that our prime minister recently put out in the in his independence day speech. So that is the sapadara framework can see here manufacturing agriculture technology kishaki defense power green and blue economy and soft power for India's next growth phase. So we'll have a question related to our mangro discussion. So with reference to mangro ecosystem consider the following statements. It is mangro ecosystem. It is not only to ar mangro this complete mangro. So mangro are generally found in tropical and subtropical interridal coastal regions. Yes they are found between the high tide and the low tide. High tide line. Low tide line. that is intertidal. We are found in this intertidal zones that is especially in tropical and subtropical regions. So yeah, first statement is correct. The second statement is phenotropes phenotrope pores help mangro plants obtain oxygen in water logged soils. That is exactly true. These pores actually helps the mangru plants to obtain the oxygen because mangru is actually water logged. They are present in those coastal regions which is water logged. So it needs oxygen for which these kind of pores help the mangro. So second statement is also correct. All mangros species reproduce through VV parry. No, that is not true. All mangros doesn't do this uh VV parry for its reproduction. So statement three is incorrect. So the answer should be one and two. Let's check. Whenever this extreme like all every must shall you you should actually be more conscious on that statements. So the answer should be one and two. Yeah the answer is one and two. Thank you for your time. Thank you for watching. 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