Daily Current Affairs Analysis | 26th August, 2026 | Shankar IAS Academy | UPSC | Mains 2026

Hi hello welcome to Shankaras Academyy's daily current of analysis for the date 26th of August. Please like, comment, share and subscribe our YouTube channel and also have the bell icon press for instant notification and better current serve to you. So before going on there's an important announcement regarding this pre-torming test series targeting the UPSC pulims 2027. So this batch one starts on 7th of September 2026 and it has 48 test which is inclusive of general studies as well as seat. So these questions are expert picked and also there is detailed solutions and guidance given to you. you you'll be ranked institute wise you'll be ranked all India wise and you'll know where what is your position and where to improve for cracking this upc 2027 please visit our website shankaray academy and get enrolled in it this batch one is exclusively for Chennai Ananagar branch which is in offline mode so subsequently there will be other other batches which will be started and which can also have hybrid mode of this test which can be available so today's topic for discussion is the first one is national cooperative development cooperation that is NCDC. So there was a recent amendment to this NCDC which is a statutory body. So we will see what is this uh amendment is what are the concerns raised by the farmers body and also other stakeholders and what can be the way forward to have the better amendment or better cooperative development corporation and the next topic will be on rising sea surface temperature. So this rising sea surface temperature has been observed by many data sets including copper climate change service and it notes that the temperature anomaly. So the temperature anomaly is getting rised significantly that is the rate of rise is high. So we will discuss what is this temperature anomaly? What is the term temperature anomaly is about and what are the causes for this rise and temperature and also what can be the impacts and the third topic will be on this medical devices policy that is medical devices rules 2017. So the union health ministry has changed certain rules related to this medical devices. We will see what are the rules that has been changed what can be the impact that it is going to produce and also a question a plans based question related to this for discussion and our fourth discussion will be on this Gora land issue. So Gora land which is present in West Bengal that is north part of West Bengal. So they are demanding for more autonomy they are demanding for statehood. So we will see what is the conditions of the boral land today. what is the historical background for such movements and also what are the demands and what can be the solution that the union government or the present West Bengal government can provide to Gauta people and finally we will finish our discussion with films focused points which are fil three topics briefly we will discuss about uh these things and also have a question related to the discussion let's discuss the first topic for the day which is NCDC amendment act NCDC stands for national cooperative development Corporation, National Cooperative Development Corporation. So this act actually extends the scope of this corporation that is National Cooperative Development Corporation. So this act uh this amendment is extending the scope of NCDC but by extending there are concerns by farmers body and also other states claiming that there's encroachments of states autonomy. So we'll discuss what is NCDC first then we will see what are the amendments that are bought by the union government through this act. What are the concerns raised for this amendments and also what can be the way forward. So NCTC if you see it was established in 1962. when it was established in 1962 there was no ministry of corporation. Ministry of corporation came later in 2000 uh that is in 2021. So when it was established when NCDC was established it was under ministry of agriculture. So it is a statuto body. It is a statary body formed under this act national cooperate development cooperation act that is NCDC act in 1962. See it mandate is to plan, promote and finance the cooperatives. The cooperatives are specifically rural cooperatives because it was more related to agree related industries and agree related cooperative sectors. So agree related societies and agree related industries were actually financed promoted by this NCDC and also it acts it has access body extending loan grants and equity to states entire cooperatives. So state cooperatives and multi-state cooperatives are two different things which we will discuss in this article that is where the concern is rising about. So all you need to know is that NCDC was a is a statuto body and its mandate is to plan, promote and finance the programs for the cooperative societies. It comes under ministry of cooperation today. Today it comes under ministry of cooperation but when it was established those ministry of agriculture. So we will see what are the amendments done to this act. The first one is it extends the scope. It widens the financial and operational reach behind the 1962 mandate. 1962 what happened is the mandate was the NCTC will be only promoting the rural cooperatives rural societies but here the financial scope is increasing you can also you can you can also finance you can also promote the urban cooperatives so the funds are going to be not focused only for rural but also for urban cooperatives and the direct aid is permitted today because then then it was rooted through different banks because NCD DC is not going to directly give you loan, directly give you grants. It is it is going to root through the banks. But here the direct aid is possible to the cooperative societies and NCDC can also have a equity ownership today. So equity ownership is directly even without concern of the state. See basically cooperatives comes under state list. So we'll see what is that cooperatives comes under the state list. But here NCDC is in this article but in this amendment what it is said that NCDC can intervene in societies and take up shares that is equity shares in the cooperatives and the urban cover as I said it is going to increase the inclusion of urban cooperatives. So it removes the rule confining that industries and village cooperatives are only to rural areas. It is not only to rural areas is going to move on to the urban cooperatives as well. And sector of reach if you see it is not only to agriculture sector because earlier in 1962 it was predominantly agriculture sector but today it is going towards non-aggriculture sector along with traditional sectors as well. So these are the amendments. So first amendment you need to know is it it is extending the scope that is financial scope and operational scope and also it is going for urban covers that is urban cooperatives and the cooperatives are not restricted only to rural it is non-aggricultural and also it includes few traditional sectors as well and it can also have the equity ownership the NCDC can also have the equity ownership in the cooperatives so what is the concern so this SKM is a former body no need to know what is this where where it is it's just a formal body which raises concern. It says that this is a naked intrusion by union into the state powers because cooperatives as I said it is under state list. So whenever you're going to make a law which is encroaching the encroaching the powers of states you need to have the ratification of states. you need to have 50%age ratification of states before you pass that amendment. So it says that you are you are unilaterally making changes and saying that national cooperative that is NCDC will actually fund directly will have equity shares will have urban cover so these things are encroaching the states autonomy because states will have certain priorities for their cooperatives but here you're directly intrusion means you're directly intruding in your federal structure and autonomy laws see there is ICF principles called international cooperative alliance so international cooperative alliance is a global cooperative standard where it has seven pillars for cooperatives. Seven pillars for cooperatives which are usually followed by many countries and in that out of the seven pillar this independence and autonomy are the crucial pillars. So independence and autonomy of the cooperatives. So in this in this amendment if you see the independence and autonomy of the corporate is getting reduced because the union is going to decide what funds they going to give for what projects they are going to give and to urban or rural or for agriculture or non-aggriculture what it depends it depends on their decision. So the cooperative autonomy and independence is getting reduced and there is centralization as I said because there is direct financial aid that is being given because now NCDC can directly finance. So that is centralizing your cooperatives but cooperatives itself a decentralized decentralized working or decentralized industries but centralization is actually a concern because it will actually one size fit all will not work because union will have only certain priorities which will not be working well with the states or in the lower level of the federal structure and the corporate tilt. If you see see to today we have lot of lot of things moving towards urban means you can see many many urban many people are moving towards urban cities many things or many economic activities everything is concentrated towards urban but earlier it is used to be more of rural so in rural economy the NCDC was actually created to support the rural economy to fund these corporate societies in the rural economy but now you're moving to corporate when everything is moving towards corporate that is you're moving towards urban area you're moving towards urban centric corporate model then the rural corporate model which will be left which will be left uh unel so you need to you need to also focus these things because there are only certain certain corporations which are specifically focusing rural bodies or rural corporates but when you shift the attention to corporate to urban model urbanentric model so your traditional sectors will be left alone which is still the backbone of India's economy So resource diversion as I said the funds will be meant for agriculture and rural industry will be shifting to non-aggricultural use. So these are the things objectives these are the concerns raised by the farmers party. The first one is federal intuition autonomy centralization and also it is over overruling the supreme court's judgment in 2021. So what is the Supreme Court judgment in 2021? We will see here. So in this case you not no need to remember the case. In this case what Supreme Court has told that part 9B of constitution. So part 9B of constitution actually has the provisions of these cooperative societies because this this was given in given in 97th constitutional amendment act. So 97th constitutional amendment act created this part 9b in the Indian constitution which gave constitutional status to form the cooperative societies. It is also included as a fundamental right under article 19. So forming a cooperative was included under article 19 as a fundamental right through 97th car social amendment. Okay. So in after this Supreme Court has told that when there was a case rising what what can be the power distribution of power within the cooperative. Supreme Court has clearly told that whenever this part 9B is applied to any cooperative, it should not be applied for a cooperative which is within a state because any cooperative only within a state it is it comes under state list. Union cannot go there and make rule with for whatever the concern is. Whenever the corporate is multi-state means the cooperative can work in Tamil ladu, Delhi, Kerala or Maharashtra. When the cooperative is working in multi-state, multi-unit territories then the rule the part 9b whatever the provisions are that is applicable to that states. But whenever the copies is within a state then it should be it should be considered within the state's ambit or within the state's legislature power. So that was the ruling by Supreme Court judgment and this amendment is actually overruling it because it is going to centralize everything. It is going to bypass the state's power over the cooperatives. So that is that is what this uh judgment is all about. So you need to just know what is this judgment. So before we go as I said union list state list. Okay. So here if you see cooperative societies specifically come under state list but multi-state cooperative societies come under union list. That is where the point of contention is. Supreme Court has said that whenever it is state list whenever the cooperatives are working within a state then the state legislation has the whole power to to govern the cooperatives but whenever it is multi-state cooperatives then the union government can come forward and make rules. So that is where the constitutional charge or that is where the concern raised by these former body saying that this amendment is encroaching this cooperative society which is in a state list. So that is again repeated here which you can have it for your uh understanding. So we'll move ahead and see what is the rural urban dimension that is created by this amendment. See in post that is in pre2026 before the amendment came it is most the cooperatives are mostly the NCDC is mostly focused on industrial and village cooperives confined to rural areas confined to rural area that is very important but in urban expansion now it is going to expand post 2026 it is not only rural it is going to expand anywhere even in urban even in semi-urban areas but the fed the shift towards corporate and urbanentric urbanentric development model is being focused in this amendment and the resources are divert from agriculture to non-aggriculture uh cooperatives like the cooperatives can be for for many other many other things like not only agriculture but it can also be for it can also be for other economic activities which are which are urbancentric and the financial aid will be directly given by the union that is a major concern finan financial aid. So earlier the employment was observed by these cooperatives in the rural areas but when the financial aid and the attention is going to urban areas the rural unemployment might spike or might increase to a significant level and the priority sector of agriculture and other activities will be left without help. So agriculture and other still are the major back still is the major backbone of our Indian GDP of Indian economy. This cannot be left without any help like focusing towards urban model. So there need to be a balance. So we'll see what can be the way forward for it. The way forward can be the federal consult consultation. The first thing is through the interstate council you can discuss these things. How to make these cooperatives better functioning? How to use the funds for likes bar? how to use the funds more effectively. So that can that can be consulted in the interstate council and seek ratification where subjects overlap with the state list because whenever it is overlapping state list you need 50%age ratification from the states. See this amendment will apply to the union territories as it is. Union territories doesn't need you need no you need not have permission from union territories but you need to have permission from the states that is at least 50%age of the states and autonomy you should be autonomic guard should be present the stat should protect the cooperative autonomy as the principle as I sold Indian international cooperative alliance principle and judicial compliance as I said 2021 supreme court order should be respected where within the state the state should be left to control or govern the cooperatives is rural priority should be given because still the economy is more more dependent on rural economy more dependent on rural objectives. So rural priority should be given. So that should be the major thing and also there should be transparency. The statewide cooperative funding and equity disclosure should be annually put on the websites or put on the put to discussion in the parliament so that we will know what is the NC what is the equity that NCDC hold what is the capacity of states to manage it. If states cannot manage it then union come forward and can try to manage it. So that that those things can be also uh put into mechanism and also dispute redressal mechanism should be always present for any issue. So this cooperative federalism tribunal can be created so that these tribunals can handle this cooperative issues multi-state cooperatives or even the state level cooperatives the this redal mechanism can make it smooth so that the cooperative funings or whatever the issues that are present can can be managed easily. So we'll see a pence place practice uh question related to this topic. So we have discussed what is NCDC, what is amendment is about, what are the concerns and what is the way forward for it. So here's the question with reference to national cooperative development cooperation and cooperative federalism in India. Consider the following statements. NCDC is a statuto body established under the NCDC act 1962 and functions under the ministry of cooperation. Yes, it functions under the ministry of cooperation but when it was established it was under ministry of agriculture. So first statement is correct. Cooperative societies falls under the union list of the seventh schedule of the constitution. No. Under seventh schedule there are three list. Union list, container list, state list. But this cooperative society forms under the state list. So statement two should be incorrect. Right to form cooperives was given in the original constitution. No. Right to form cooperatives was given in 97 constitutional amendment. It was not given in the original constitution. So three should be incorrect. So answer should be A. Let's check. Yes, answer is A. Let's move on. So next part of discussion will be on this ocean warming and also rising sea sea surface temperature. So the copper is climate service actually as recorded in extra polar ocean region that there is significant amount of sea surface temperature rise that is it is around averaging around 21.1°C. Though it seems less, we will see what it is actually how it is significantly has risen, what can be the causes for it and also what are the impacts that is it is going to give it to this world. So this data is actually compared with the March 2024 levels of sea surface temperature and we will see what is the difference though there is only slight difference and what can be the greater impacts that it going to produce. So the news is about the global average sea surface temperature is actually recording 21.1°C. It has reached 21.1°C especially in extra polar regions. What is extra polar regions? If you see this is 60° north 30° north equator this is 30° south 60° south and these are poles. Okay. So the extra polar in the sense these regions above 60° north is pole that is arctic below 60° south it is pole which is Antarctic. So extra polar in the sense the region between 60° north to 60° south. So these regions so in these regions only this sea sea surface temperature is actually calculated or been observed by this cop nic climate change service. The data is given by this center and it is also supported by this erafi data set. So we'll see what it is. So the region covered is this that is extra polar region where previously in March 2024 the temperature the average temperature was 21.09 but now it is 21.1 the increase is very much minimum. You can say this very much minimum but the rate of increase is too much. Within 2 years we have such an.1°C of increase. Okay. 01 actually 01 level of increase within 2 years which is very significant. We will see what what are the consequence and what are the causes for this rises. So before you go that you see what this heat map or the temperature anomaly map temperature anomaly in the sense it is a term in a geography where you compare today's temperature with average of 20 years or even 30 years of temperatures. See let's say today temperature in Chennai is 30°C but today if you take average of two 20 years of today's temperature if it is 31°C then the temperature is 1°C that is - 1°C 30 - 31 it means it is cooler than your temperature that is being historically being calculated. So when you take the temperature anomaly if you say historically there was less temperature historically the temp average temperature was very less but now today the temperature is very high. So the temperature anomaly is positive in the sense there is global warming there's warming not global warming there's warming of the surface. So in the temperature anomoly temperature anomaly so temperature anomaly in the sense where today's temperature that is today's temperature is subtracted with average temperature taken for two decades or three decades at the same date. So when this is positive when this is positive what happens? it means there is warming of surface okay but when this is negative when the temperature anomaly is negative so temperature anomaly as I said again I'm repeating temperature anomaly is is a difference between today's temperature and also the temperature taken for decades on the same date on August 25th what is the temperature today and August 25th what was the temperature for two decades that average and Today's temperature there is a difference and when it is positive it means that today is warmer than the average when it is negative it means today's cooler than the average but basically what this copernicus climate change service is saying that with the data it is saying that since 1991 to 2020 it has taken all the data is saying that temperature is mostly positive so that is what is creating this rise in sea surface temperature what is the significance the temperature usually peak in the March to April because during the summer only there's going to be peak But now it has occurred in August but it is due to the persistent unusual effects called this unusual ocean warming that can be induced due to the global warming or other human activities. So we will see what are the causes. The first causes is the climate change which is caused due to the GHC emissions that is greenhouse gas emissions which is enhancing this greenhouse effect and more heat is trapped in the climate system which is in the oceans because oceans have the major carbon sync or oceans are the major heat absorbers. It also absorbs actually 90%age of the excessive heat. So whatever the heat is that is getting generated is mostly absorbed by the ocean. So it directly increases the surface temperature of the ocean and during Elino if you see Elino is is where let's say this is Australia and this is South America. So Elino is where here the eastern part of Pacific Ocean. The eastern part of Pacific Ocean warms. So when the eastern part of Pacific Ocean warm there's also rise in the sea surface temperature in those regions. So this brings warmer water to the surface and raising the sea surface temperature across the tropical Pacific. So in the tropical Pacific that is in the southern Pacific Ocean due to Elino effects there is rise in the temperature there is warm current sorry warm surface being created at this point that is near Peru the borders of Peru there is warm surface warm uh seawater surface that is getting created and which is also affecting the temperature rise. So these are the causes for the for the rise in uh sea surface temperature. So we will also see what can be the impacts that it is going to give. So the impact it directly affects the marine ecosystem. So what is marine? How it is going to affect? It is going to affect your heat waves. Let's see the marine heat waves is going to increase. So when the marine heat waves is going to increase your ocean will absorb more heat and in the sense it is absorb it is going to absorb more CO2 means ocean is going to get acidified. Okay. So this will affect your coral systems that is coral bleaching will happen. The corals will die because of excessive heat and also lack of carbon dioxide or sorry the lack of carbonic ions that is CO3 2 minus ions. So because lack of this ions because whenever the acid is formed that is H2 CO3 carbonic acid is formed there is lack of CO3 2 minus ions the carbonic ions are in lack for the coral to get developed. So because of lack of this ions there is coral bleaching and also damage to seaggrass ecosystem which are directly related to this ecosystem. So maran ecosystem is getting damaged then the climate system the warmer oceans have thermal expansions. So whenever you're going to eat something whenever you're going to eat the water or eat the ocean it is going to expand. So this expansion is actually the sea level r. So when there is sea level rise it is going to impact your coastal systems or coastal livelihoods. So more heat moisture transferred to the atmosphere potentially stronger rainfall and storms. So whenever there is high heat surface temperature the cyclones that is tropical cyclones can evolve easily. So this can be more dangerous. So because the more moisture can be supplied as the temperature is high the tropical cyclones can be deadly and the carbon cycle if you see the warmer oceans can absorb less CO2. Okay, warmer oceans can absorb less CO2 weakening the important natural carbon sync. So whenever this ocean is warm, it is going to have less CO2 absorption. So whenever the less CO2 is absorbed, so it it is actually having an natural carbon sink. The carbon sink because ocean is actually the biggest carbon sink in our world. It is more than the tropical evergreen forest. More than anything ocean is the biggest carbon sink. So whenever you eat is going to increase there is less absorption of CO2 that is the photosynthesis process is going to affect because in photosynthesis process what happen you're going to absorb CO2 and let O2 so the photosynthesis process is going to affect due to overheat the CO2 will be less which is getting when the CO2 is getting less there's ocean acidification and due to ocean acidification the coral beaching problems are happening. So we'll see a briefly we'll see a question related to our discussion with reference to potential impacts on high sea surface temperature. Consider the following statements. It can contribute to sea level rise through the thermal expansion of sea water. It can contribute to sea level rise. Yes, because whenever you are eating you're going to expand the sea level means you're going to expand the sea that is sea level rise. It can increase atmospheric moisture and potentially intensify heavy rainfall and tropical storms. Yes, exactly. because it is going to supply more moisture to these kind of cyclones these kind of um hurricanes. So definitely it is going to a deadly tropical storm. So statement two should be also correct. Warmer oceans generally become more efficient and absorbing atmospheric CO2. No warmer oceans are absorb less CO2. So that is what the important point is when it is absorbing less CO2 it is acting as a mean ineffective carbon sink. So that is where the major impact is. So statement three should be incorrect. The answer should be one and two. Let's check. Yes, the answer is 1 and two. So all you need to note the relations between the sea surface temperature and the coral beaching. C whenever there is rise in sea surface temperature your carbon dioxide sink that is carbon dioxide absorption is very less. That is why it is less because the photosynthesis process is getting affected due to eye temperature. So due to eye temperature your photosynthesis process getting affected. So there's less absorption of carbon dioxide. When there's less absorption of carbon dioxide, there is no carbonate ions that is present for these corals to develop itself. So there is coral bleaching. So in this coral bleaching, it automatically affects your marine ecosystems. So that is the link that you need to understand. Now let's move on to the next topic. So the next topic for discussion will be on medical devices rules 2017. So here the government that is union health ministry has changed the rules or tweaked some rules which is which can actually promote the ease of doing business reduce duplication and also standardize the regulatory process in medical devices. So we will see what are these uh what are these provisions that have been changed and also we will see how significant this is for India at at present. So moving forward this sterilization first you need to understand what is sterilization. The sterization is nothing but whenever there is a medical device whenever there is a medical device you cannot use directly to the patients. You need to actually clean it. Clean it in the sense you need to remove all the living organisms like bacteria, fungus whatever it is you need to remove everything and then you have to provide it to the customers or you have to provide it to the hospitals whoever it is who going to use it on the patients. So sterilization here means cleaning of the medical devices which is a separate industrial process. So in this context what this rule says is that earlier when manufacturer are using this medical devices they used to have a separate license called loan license. So first of all the medical devices will be uh sterilized by certain companies they will have a license okay though they will have a license these manufacturers who are going to use that product who are going to use that medical devices they are they also have to get a separate license called loan license. So there are two different licenses for the same thing that is for the same process called sterilization which was actually being in the being the norm. But now what the rule says is that there's no separate loan license required. So the manufacturer who using this medical devices no need to have a separate licenses but he need to just label it. See he has to just label the outsourced facility on his on the medical devices. So saying that this has been sterilized in so and so place and that place should have the license. So that third party should have the license but not the manufacturer itself. So it is actually going to reduce the paperwork and also lowest complaint cost and removes the duplication. So these are actually going to increase your or it is going to improve the ease of doing business. So what this proposed changes that I'm going to repeat it. The first change is there's no low no loan license required. The loan license was actually obtained by the manufacturers for sterilized for sterilization of medical devices. So what is sterilization cleaning of medical devices? Oh that that much you need to understand and the sterilization can be outsourced to a third party facility holding a valid license under the medical devices rules. So only the third party need to have the license but not the manufacturer itself. That is a major change. So what this other thing is that the traceability that is traceability of these medical devices from where it has been cleaned where it has been produced these things are retained. So here if you see the regulatory oversight is not completely relaxed. It means the traceability is not completely re relaxed. The six month transition period is provided for modifying the label. So every label has to have certain things including where the sterilization was done, what is the license of the sterilized facility, where is the facility being present. So these things should be present in the label. So that for that they they given a 6 month transition period to move ahead for such kind of labeling and the manufacturer must mention the license number of the sterilized facility. As I said the label should have the third party sterilization facilities license number and the relaxation of licensing requirements does not mean that removal of traceability requirements. Traceability means from where it starts from where it till where it ends should be present. It doesn't mean that if you're cancelelling the loan license of the manufacturers, it doesn't mean that you are going to just skip on who the manufacturer is. It's is not mentioned in the device is not doesn't mean like that. You have to mention where it is sterilized, where it is manufactured, where it is where it is then uh where it is then actually supplied from where it is supplied to where it is actually given to the end customers or the hospitals. So that is the traceability and if you see the next thing is related to this stringent regulatory jurisdictions. So what is the stringent regulated jurisdictions mean there are certain countries you have stringent regulations on these medical devices including EU that is European Union, USA, UK, Australia, Canada and Japan. So in these countries whenever the medical devices which are already having stringent regulations you no need to have separate clinical investigations in India. when you're going to bring it when you are going to bring such medical devices from these countries you no need to have separate clinical investigations so that is the important thing see this EU has been added to the list of recognized engine regulatory resistance earlier it was only these countries now EU is also added to this when EU is added what happens the eligible eligible medical devices approved in these jurisdictions so in these jurisdictions wherever the eligible the eligible medical devices which are manufactured or which are sterilized in these places but these can also benefit from wier of clinical investigation requirements. So whenever the medical devices are getting imported or whenever the medical devices are being used from these places then there's no need of clinical investigation requirements in India. That is the important thing mentioned in this rule and there is something important called this predicate device. What is predicate device? So PTK device is an medical device against which new devices can be compared for regulatory purpose like for example it it can be a regulator kind of device see the standard it sets a standard for a device. So whenever you you bring a new device to replace or whenever you bring a new device to for certain specific function you need to compare with this predicate device and say that okay this is this device is okay you can use it. So this predicate device is an existing medical device against which a new device can be compared so for a specific function. So in this amendment st specifically concerns device without predicate devices. So without predicate devices let's say you're going to have some medical devices for your tooth. So for tooth you are bringing some medical devices but there is already a medical devices called predicate that is standard device that is present for your functioning that is tooth functioning. When you're bringing new medical devices, you need to compare it with this predicate device and then use it on the patient after the standards are okay. But without comparing with the predicate device, you're directly using it on the patient or directly using on the consumer and that is not allowed. So this amendment specifically concerns about the devices which do not have predicate devices. For every medical devices there should be a predicate devices. for the this this rose is indirectly saying and the approval by the recognized singen regulatory jurisdictions can help India's eligible devices to Indian market without undergoing same clinical investigations. So as I said the eligible jurisdiction that shinjen jurisdiction places these devices which have better standards than which have top standards compared to India. So these devices can help Indian market without undergoing the same clinical investigation for India. So that is the advantage those devices actually have in India. And what is about this regulatory convergence of these medical rules or medical devices rules? The first promote it promotes international regulatory convergence. It actually aligns with EU's medical devices rules and also faster market access because ease of doing business is encouraged. So faster market access, greater availability for new medical technologies and competitiveness of India's medical device industry to the world is actually present because it increases the standards of our devices and the timelines for regulation for paperwork and these things are reduced. So what is the broader significance of India? If if you speak in one line, the medical device industry has regulatory ease, faster innovation, investments and patient access. So whenever you are going to reduce your paperwork, when you're going to increase your ease of doing business, then automatically the patient access is what the ultimate benefit is and it suppose India's objective of developing a stronger domestic medical device manufacturing ecosystem. So we'll have a princip practice question related to our discussion. So with reference to proposed amendments to the medical device rules which comes under Union Health Ministry. Okay, you need to remember that too. Union Health Ministry. A manufacturer outsourcing sterilization is to a licensed facility that is a third party will no longer require a subate loan license for the sterilization activity. That is true. He no need to have a subate loan license. That is the important change that has been done by this rule. First statement is correct. The license number of the satellite facility continue to be required on the medical device label. Yes, the third party who having the license should be also put in the label and the traceability is not actually compromised. So that is statement two is also correct. The European Union has been added to the list of stringent regulatory jurisdictions whose approvals may facilitate ware of clinical investigation requirements India. So earlier there were certain countries under this stringent regulatory jurisdiction which was US, UK, Canada, Australia. Now you European Union is also getting included in that. So this is correct. The amendments completely eliminate clinical investigation requirements for all medical devices devices approved in the EU. No, it is only to certain medical devices which are having stringent regulation conditions not for all medical devices. So that is completely incorrect. So fourth statement should is incorrect and first two first two three are correct. One to three is correct. So let's check uh yes 1 2 3 is correct. Now let's move on. So the next interesting topic will be on this Goraland issue. So Gorkal land is actually demanding for more autonomy uh for a stateood. This problem dates back to centuries since 1907 1908. This issue is flaring up now and then. So we will see what is this issue why Goraland is demanding or why Goras the people of Goraland are actually demanding for autonomy and what are the concerns of them and what can be the solution given to them within our constitutional limit. So the news is about the center has constituted a committee means under ministry of home affairs the center has constituted a committee to work towards permanent political solution for the long-standing Gora issue. So this committee is headed by Pankage Kumar Singh who was who was earlier the deputy national security adviser for India. So this committee is going to recommend what can be the solution for this Goraland issues. What can be the solution for the autonomy uh request that has been raised by the people of Gorkaland within the constitution of our India. So this Ga movement if you see you need to understand first where is Gorka. So we will have a map also to understand where is Goka. So if you see Gorka. So this is West Bengal. Okay. This is VR. This is West Bengal. This is the Siliguri order corridor. Here Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan and Bangladesh. So if you see this green color area Darling and Khaling Pong. So these two areas forms the Goka land. So Goka is nothing but it indicates Nepales. So there is a linguistic or it can be called as ethnic group. Ethnic linguistic group who have the roots in Nepal but still they are part of India. They're part of West Bengal but they demand separate Goraland that is the green area to be given as a separate state for them. So there are certain valid reasons that are raised by them. We will see what are those reasons and also we'll see what is the history of that movement. Why since when the movement has started and who are the predominant players or who are the predominant leaders who actually took forward that such movements? So the Goka movement if you see there was they demand a separate state for Nepalese speaking Gorka community. It is linguistic or ethnic group you could call linguistic group in northern West Bengal as I said. So this proposed area includes darling and kaling pong the green area which I highlighted I'll show it again along with parts of certain the regions. The is nothing but the fertile planes okay and the demand for the separate movement started since 1907 as I said when the local group submitted memorandum for autonomy. So since 1907 there's it dating back to almostuh 120 years back. So since then there is such movement being raised now and then and also if you see this evolution of this go movement. So 1907 there was a demand. So the the hillman's association demanded separate administration under the British India. Then in 1980s there was a significant turnaround because in 1980s what happened the first major agitation took place under subashing. So he led this Gora National Liberation Front launched a violent stateood protest in northern Bengal. Then followed in 207 what happened this this movement got revived again into different format different form and the leader was Bimal Bur who revived the demand eventually leading to an creation of Goral and territorial administration. This Goral and territorial administration was given certain powers, certain legislative, certain financial powers to improve the conditions or improve the livelihood of the Borca people living in the northern Bengal. And in 2017 was the major flash point because the Bengal there is there are two different linguistic groups living here. If you see that is Bengal people living in the plains speaking Bengali and Gorka people living in the ills speaking Gora language or Nepali language. So these two people are whenever whenever there is a there is a point of concern is that when Bengali has been forced in the schools of or in the schools or in the administration of the ill community so there the flash point begins because they don't want to they don't want to use Bengali everywhere they want to use their indigenous language that is Gorka so that is actually concern over the cultural and linguistic identity the cultural linguistic identity is becoming the flash point that is Bengali versus the Gora So that is why there was there was a major flash point in 2017. There was almost 100 days of shutdown erupted in the dazzling region. So what are the reasons behind the demand? Why they need this? Why they need the separate identity or why they need the autonomy? Why they need the state? The first reason is that they need distinct identity and culture. The Nepali speaking majority are distinct from Bengal people. So they they are not going well with whatever the things that are going within the state. So it needs a separate identity. So it needs a separate stateood. Then the culture is unique because they are they live in hills. These people live in plains Bengali people. So they need there is a different culture. So for which there's there needs a different way of administering. So different culture means you need a different place that different way of administration. Then identity concern as I said there is always a stigma that these are Nepali peoples they are not Indians. We always see them like that. But they consider themselves as Indian gokas. So for which they need to separate statehood and say that we are Indian gokas and we actually contribute or we actually respect the federal federalism of India. So for which they need to remove this foreigner stigma and they need identity and the political administration if you see the territorial administration as I said the Gora territorial administration has add certain legislative and also financial powers but it is very weak very limited it is not as as as to the level of even the autonomous district council that is present in the schedule six areas of Assam Megallayaura regions and it is also under reppresented in politically and also economically and The state would demand for greater autonomy and constitutional status under article 3 is always demanded. So they need a constitutional status for which they can preserve their identity, culture, language and also say that they are they are not foreigners and they belong to India. Economic development grievances are always present in every region. If you seen Vidarba, if you seen Gorka, if you seen uh Assam Bordo, so there are different regions where these economic and development grievances are always present. So there there in Gorkca is also the reason there's limited benefits that means if you see the economic activity in Gorka, there's region there is only Tourism important economic activity that that two things are very limited growing with the growing population. These two things alone cannot be dependent for livelihood. So the economic concerns are there and also employment if you see only few industries are present in these regions and the infrastructural gaps are still pertaining roads, bridges, hospitals. So these things are also present. So for which they need separate attention for that is why they demanding an autonomy. So before going into the solution for this uh problem, we will see what how can a state be formed first. How can a state or union territory be formed in Indian con in India especially? So under article three if you see the union government or the parliament has the power to form a new state increase the area of any state diminish an area of any state alter the boundaries of any state and alter the name of any state. This alter the name of any state you could also connected with Keralum. Recently Keralum Kerala was renamed to Keralum. So this can only be done by parliament. These five things can be done only by the parliament not by the state legislature. But what is the condition here? The condition is the president should actually prayer recommend means with before the bill is being introduced into the parliament the president should have the prayer recommendation to introduce the bill in the parliament. Once the president has this prayer recommendation, this recommendation will be sent to the respective state. Let's say the Andhra Pradesh was divided into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh today. But when the state being divided before the president has to send an recommendation to the respective state legislature saying that so and so activity or so and so bound to change or diminishing or increasing or dividing the state is going to be done. You need to give your views on it. The state gives its views but that is not binding on the parliament. So that is not binding on the president as well. Once the state gives the views the president then submits it it to the parliament. Then parliament introduces a bill and then proceeds with whatever it wants to do. So in this way if you need separate Bora land what it happens the president will send a recommendation to West Bengal state legislature. West Bengal state legislature will give give its views on it. President may or may not accept the views and it may sum and he or she can submit it to the parliament and the parliament introduces the bill and finally the Gora land or whatever the state that needs to be done is actually created. So that is that is the thing is the recommendation of the bill and the concern state legislature reviews is is very much necessary even though the state's opinion is not binding. Okay. So that is important. You need to understand the prayer recommendation of president and also the state's opinion on the bill. The state's opinion on the bill is not binding. Then parliament passes the bill with simple majority. So you need to understand with only simple majority you can change the name of state. You can increase the dimensions of the state, decrease the area of state. You can also divide the state. That is a power of the parliament which it still holds today. So concerns in granting statethood. What are the concerns that are provide that are being present in granting a stateood for such issues? See if you give stateood for such issues. There is even there is even such things that are that are being present in other northeastern states as well like Bordo land or Naga or even the Manipur. If you see the mateies and the cookies are demanding for separate states itself. So but when you when you start giving separate states to such issues you need to understand that this will act as a precedent. This will act as a precedent and every now and then the issues will be boiling up and saying we need autonomy, we need statehood. So that cannot be managed by the union government. So that there should be there should be a careful balance for it. So the security angle is very much important in this concern because if you see the siliguri corridor see if you see the siliguri corridor. So west bengal this is west Bengal. So the dargling and also this kaming pong is present in these places. Okay. So this is sigury corridor right the chicken neck. So this cigar card is very much a security concern for India because it sits closely to Bhutan and that sits closely to China. Okay. So since the location is very much strategic or very much security concerned, we cannot simply grant stateood for such places because without any machinery the state cannot function immediately immediately to the needs or to the aspirations of the people which can clear vulnerability in certain regions. So security is a major concern here. then ethnic tensions can boil up because whenever you divide a certain regions within the same place. So tomorrow Bengali and Gorka people can actually fight for water resources like Tista or whatever it is because the river flows here. Tisa river starts from Sikkim and flows through West Bengal and then to the Bangladesh. So such issues can also rise up. So ethnic tensions can be there and West Bengal can West Bengal's opposition is still present in this issue because it is going to lose its state's revenue. it is going to lose state's revenue on tourism tea which has been cultivated in Darling especially. So West Bengal is contention is that the revenue loss will be there and also the economic viability options will be very much less when such things are even breaking up from the main state. So that are concerns for statehood. So the solutions so the concerns we see it can act as a president security concern west Bengal's opposition ethnic problems can rise. So these are the concerns. What can be the solution for this is that separate Goral and state can be a solution but it needs a careful balance directly fulfills the state would demand but it should not act as a president for other states or other conditions where people can start demanding separate state and they can stronger autonomous council. See you can put it under schedule six you can put it under schedule six and say that you can have a autonomous district council. So this autonomous district council have enhanced a legislative financial power compared to this GTA which is Goral and territorial administration. So this can be a solution putting them under the schedule 6 but they still retained within the West Bengal but they given a special uh council that is district council for them to have their own powers of legislation. Then it can also have an it can also be converted into union territory as directly the central can control it. that can also be an option and constitutional safeguards can be given for Gorka identity, language and culture. So providing more constitutional value to these Gora people development package, more employment opportunities, more infrastructure development over there. So these are solutions that can be given to the stateood concerns of Goraland but directly giving the state state separate state is not a it should not be the primary goal but it should give certain autonom autonomy. So certain autonomy can be given through schedule 6 uh putting it in schedule six or even putting it in schedule five where you can have tribal councils tribal advisory council as well TAC. So schedule five or schedule 6 can be can be an option for this Goraland. So we'll have mains practice question related to our discussion. So we discussed what is Goraland issue its evolution what can be the solution on what are the concerns of Gorka people and what are the concerns of espenal government and other things which actually deny the stateood for Gorka people. So the question is the Goraland issue reflects the complex interplay between regional aspirations federalism and national security. So you need to just in first part of question you need to understand and write that what is the issue by giving Goraland a separate stateood. So the state it can be it can be actually balancing of regional aspirations. What are the regional aspirations for the state and also what are the national security and federalism issues that can be faced by giving such work and stateood and discuss the possible constitutional administrative solutions. So you need to give solution as well. First you discuss the problems then you say the concerns then you say what are the constitutional and administrative solutions to the to the problem. So that is all the discussion about the goraland issue. Now let's move ahead. Let's move on with the prelims focus topics for the day. The first one is the soil texture map. So what is soil texture? First of all soil texture means the composition of sand, silt and clay. Based on these three compositions the soil's texture will vary. So the so the soil's properties so the crop it supports. So we need to know what is the soil texture before we harvest any crop in the certain regions. So these three things sand clay has different properties because sand has is bigger size than silt is which is bigger in size than clay. So when they are difference in size the water holding properties also varies. Sand holds less amount of water while clay holds more amount of water. So these properties are important to understand what kind of soil is present in a certain region. So such soil texture map was first for India's first of kind was given was created by national bureau of soil survey and land use planning. This is a specialized organization under IC council of agriculture research which is under ministry of agriculture. So he has given the soil texture map and this will benefit the farmers identifying the best crops for the certain soil which can be harvested and also better land use strategies and crop planning in region specific. So we need to understand what is the soil before we actually harvest. All you need to know is what is soil texture sandal clay the different composition determines the soil texture. What is this national beauty of soil survey and which under which ministry it is? It is headquartered in Nagpur. this ber headquarter in Narpur and what are the benefits that it actually provides by giving this soil texture map. Now let's move to the next topic that is national space day. NASA space day is actually celebrated actually uh viewed on August 23 to honor the Chandraan 3 success. The Chandraan 3 actually was India's landmark space project. So this was carried by GSLV GSLV rocket to the southern pole of the moon. So where India where India was the first country to land in the southern pole of the moon and where though the other countries landed though other countries had the soft landing on different parts of the moon India was the first to land on the southern part of the moon which is actually a significant task which other countries never did it. So the Soviet which who landed first on moon that is who landed who had the soft landing first soft landing on the moon followed by US then China then came India on south pole. So within in the first attempt itself India landed in the south pole then then came Japan. Japan is now also had its mission to to have the soft landing on the moon. So these three countries were earlier than India but they never landed on south pole but India was the first country to land on the south pole that difference you need to understand. So the milestone is actually this milestone is actually celebrated as the India's national space day. So the vikram lander had a soft landing in near the moon south pole and the rover used called as pagan rover which is used for the research on the moon. So these things you need to understand. Now let's move on to the next topic. So the eost stone inscription on around region tenasi. So in tenasi region that is in mallayadi pati there was eo stone found which dates back to the fifth century. So what is an eostone? Eostone actually depicts the warriors the local warriors who are present in certain regions. So it can be uh the pictographic representation of the warrior or it can also be epigraphic. Epigraphic means it just mention the names of the warriors. So here this stone is actually just in as having the names of certain warriors like Karukan, Sulagan, Nana Kodian. So these people are not specific to certain dynasty are not the kings of or kings and princes of certain dynasty but these are the local warriors in the region of Tenasi which was found there. So this measured 1 m into.3 m and this are script translated from Tamil brahmiscript to what means it has older script of Tamil that is a brahmis script and this actually are these four people who are not specific to certain dynasty and also these eostone is similar to the stones that were found in Pulimon Kumbai Aanor and Malikapuram. So these three places also we found certain eosones which are similar to the hero stone that we have found today where there is no pictographic representation of the warrior but there is epigraphic that is textual representation of these names or the warriors. So that is all you need to know and this is actually dating back to sum period. So that is briefly about it. So here you can see the stone. Okay. Yeah. Now let's have a practice question led to our discussion of films focus whatever we are now. So with reference to India's first soil texture map consider the following statements. So the first statement is it has been developed by the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning under ICA. That is exactly correct. This is under Ministry of Agriculture headquarter. This IC this national bure of soil survey comes under the ministry of agriculture and it is headquartered in Nagpur and it utilizes it uses field studies, remote sensing, satellite imagery and AI based techniques that is intuitive. These all techniques are used for the soil texture to determine what is the amount of sand, silt and clay. So that is correct. It can help it can help. So in crop selection, land use planning and region specific agriculture policies that is the major benefits of this soil texture mapping. So this statement three should al also should be correct. So 1 2 3 everything should be correct. Let's check. Yes 1 2 3 everything is correct. Thank you for your time. Thank you for supporting us. Thank you for watching continuously. 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