THE HINDU

EDITORIAL Presents

5th October 2023

PREPARE FOR BANK (PO/ CLERK), SSC,UPSC,

State PSC, CAT,CTET,RAILWAY EXAMS,CDS,
TET, NDA/AIRFORCE, NET and all Govt. Exams
 VOCABULARY

1. Peculiar: unusual and strange, sometimes in an unpleasant

way. व चत्र
Synonyms: odd, bizarre
Antonyms: typical, standard
Example: It's peculiar how the weather can change so quickly.
2. Straightforward: easy to do or to understand; not complicated.
सरल
Synonyms: elementary, facile
Antonyms: arduous, taxing
Example: The instructions for assembling the furniture were
straightforward.
 VOCABULARY

3. Feted: praised or welcomed someone publicly because of his or

her achievements. उत्सवपूवक
र्व स मान करना
Synonyms: lionised, commemorated
Antonyms: censured, vilified
Example: The company will fete its employees for their hard work
with a company picnic.
4. Encompasses: to include several different things. सि म लत करना
Synonyms: incorporates, comprises
Antonyms: precludes, omits
Example: This textbook will encompass all the topics you need to
study for the exam.
 VOCABULARY

5. Tweaking: changing something slightly, especially in order to

make it more correct, effective, or suitable. सुधारना
Synonyms: fine-tuning, modifying
Antonyms: spoiling, ruining
Example: The mechanic had to tweak the engine to improve its
performance.
6. Paradigmatic: serving as a typical example of something.
उदाहरणस्वरूप
Synonyms: archetypal, quintessential
Antonyms: atypical, unique
Example: In literature, Shakespeare's works are often considered
paradigmatic examples of timeless storytelling.
 VOCABULARY

7. Penalises: to punish somebody for breaking a rule or law by

making them suffer a disadvantage. दं ड दे ना
Synonyms: chastise, reprimand
Antonyms: pardon, reward
Example: The teacher decided not to penalise the student for the
minor mistake in their homework.
8. Speculate: to form opinions about something without having
the necessary information or facts; to make guesses. अंदाज़ लगाना
Synonyms: conjecture, surmise
Antonyms: dismiss, disregard
Example: I can only speculate about what the weather will be
like tomorrow.
 VOCABULARY

9. Heft: the influence, ability, or importance that someone or

something has. प्रभाव
Synonyms: sway, clout
Antonyms: insignificance, triviality
Example: The professor's heft in the academic community made his
research widely respected.

Idioms
10. Keeping tabs on: routinely monitoring or observing someone
or something; keeping track of someone or something.
11. Takes into account: to consider or remember something when
judging a situation.
 VOCABULARY

12. Torn between: finding it very difficult to choose between two

possibilities
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Article for reading

Let there be light

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 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

According to the laws of quantum mechanics, the observable

properties of electrons in matter — like a fruit or a rock —
change in a few hundred attoseconds. One attosecond is 10-18
seconds. To study these extremely rapid changes, special tools
are needed, and Anne L’Huillier, Pierre Agostini, and Ferenc
Krausz have received the 2023 physics Nobel Prize for building
these tools. From the late 1980s, Dr. L’Huillier led several studies
that found that an infrared beam shone on a volume of a noble
gas produced multiple overtones: waves whose wavelength was
an integer-fraction of the ‘original’ light wave. Her team also
observed a peculiar relationship between the original wave’s
frequency and the intensity of the overtones, and explained it
using the existing laws of quantum mechanics — a milestone.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

If the overtone waves’ peaks lined up, they would combine to

produce a more intense peak (constructive interference);
when one wave’s peak coincided with another’s trough, they
would cancel themselves out (destructive interference).
Physicists realised that this reinforcing effect could be timed
such that the gas emitted intense peaks with a pulse duration
of a few attoseconds, with destructive interference achieving
the cut-off. Dr. Agostini and company demonstrated this in
2001 by producing light with a pulse duration of 250
attoseconds. In the same year, Dr. Krausz and company
isolated a single pulse, 650 attoseconds in duration, and used
it to measure the kinetic energy of electrons kicked out from
krypton atoms by a bunch of photons. Attosecond physics
had finally arrived.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

The medicine Nobel Prize this year celebrated the invention of

mRNA vaccines and their effect on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The utility for people here was straightforward, whereas that
for attosecond physics is not. However, the absence of
evidence is not evidence of absence. The specific dynamics
of electrons matter in settings with potentially immediate
value, including biochemistry, diagnostics, superconductivity,
and manufacturing techniques. Thanks to the laureates’ work,
scientists have a way to illuminate hitherto unknown
possibilities with discoveries of phenomena that live and die
in attoseconds. Then again, humans rarely have all the
information required to judge whether a particular discovery
or invention could be of value later.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

The 2016 chemistry laureates were feted for building motors

with individual molecules — a feat with no known
applications at the time, but to achieve it, they devised
techniques that improved other areas of chemistry. To
paraphrase one of these laureates, J. Fraser Stoddard, there
is important value in making something that was hard to do
before easier to do today, and “we still have the excitement of
finding out what [its applications] might be”.
Summary:

The passage discusses the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Anne
L’Huillier, Pierre Agostini, and Ferenc Krausz for their pioneering work in
attosecond physics. They developed tools to study electron behavior in matter,
revealing rapid changes on a timescale of attoseconds (10^-18 seconds). This
research involved generating intense light pulses through interference effects,
leading to the creation of attosecond pulses. While the immediate applications
of this field may not be apparent, it holds potential in biochemistry, diagnostics,
superconductivity, and manufacturing. The passage emphasizes the value of
scientific discovery, even when its practical applications are not immediately
clear, citing past Nobel laureates’ work as an example.

The tone of the passage is informative and objective.

 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Article for skimming

Keeping tabs on carbon

with an accounting
system
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

The climate ‘polycrisis’ — a term made popular by Adam Tooze —

refers to the interconnected and compounding crises related to
climate change that are affecting the planet not just in a few
sectors but across several sectors and domains. It encompasses
the physical impacts of climate change (rising temperatures,
sea-level rise, and extreme weather events) and the social,
economic, and political challenges that arise from these impacts.
In India, one can see the interconnections between seemingly
different sectors such as energy, infrastructure, health, migration
and food production that are being impacted by climate change.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Recognising the complexity and interconnectedness of the

climate polycrisis, it is crucial in developing a holistic
approach that takes into account the diverse perspectives
and priorities of different stakeholders, while ensuring
resilience, equity, and justice. While it seems easier to pursue
our response to climate change in a sectoral fashion, the very
nature of a polycrisis means that tweaking one corner of the
climate challenge leads to unexpected consequences
elsewhere. Instead, we need a deep transformation — one
that lays the foundation of a new economy that is sensitive to
the planet.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Just as digital infrastructure enables new startups and public

services, we need to imagine ‘carbon infrastructure’ that
creates opportunities for a flourishing future carbon regime
that takes the flows of carbon into account in the formulation
of policy at every level: household, panchayat, district, State
and country. The first step is measurement, for whatever
cannot be measured cannot be accounted for. We need to
measure carbon emissions from that of individual citizens to
that of the nation as a whole, including all that is in the flow.
Once we have a measurement system in place, we can build
an accounting system that helps us balance our carbon
books. We are all familiar with financial balance sheets, with
their sources and their applications. What if the same thing is
done for carbon?
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Existing carbon accounting methodologies such as those

championed by Karthik Ramanna at Oxford are already
capable of tracking carbon balance sheets at the corporate
level. A national carbon accounting (NCA) system is both an
evolutionary and a revolutionary generalisation of these
ideas. It will bring the entire nation, starting from individuals
and households, under one carbon accounting framework.
This will be a paradigmatic change in the way we look at all
human and non-human “activities” in the world. This is
necessary if we intend to truly internalise carbon reduction
goals of the country and the world. Just imagine a world in
which we file carbon tax returns alongside our income tax
returns, or maybe only the carbon tax returns.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Take a moment to consider the revolution in public finance

that will be triggered when carbon is recognised, captured,
valued, accounted for and taxed. Public finance is the primary
mechanism of development. Governments apportion funds
for different developmental activities, each competing with
the others for the exchequer’s purse. The revenue to fund the
public exchequer comes from taxes, and that, in turn,
requires that individual entities — businesses, households —
keep an account of inflows and outflows of money. ‘Money
accounting’ is an integrated system, all the way from the
spending of individuals to the Reserve Bank of India that
helps us keep track of the circulation of money within the
system. The keeping of accounts makes money visible and
makes public finance possible.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

In contrast, the stocks and flows of carbon are not tracked at

a granular level anywhere in the world. As a result, there is no
possibility for a progressive carbon tax that penalises large
buyers of petrol more than the average consumer. A
progressive carbon tax requires us to keep track of the
inflows and outflows of carbon, i.e., national carbon
accounting. Carbon accounting is a way for companies to
keep track of the carbon they are producing, removing,
storing and offsetting. It helps companies keep carbon books
alongside their financial books. An NCA will bring the concept
of carbon books to the nation and will make it mandatory for
businesses and individuals to declare/report their carbon
inflows and outflows.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

It will make the circulation of carbon visible, and just as with

financial accounting, other goods and services can be
‘financed’ using carbon surpluses, especially if there is
convertibility between the carbon accounts and the rupee
accounts. Once we have an NCA, we will be able to set
targets, make predictions about future emission reductions
and track our progress against those goals. We can speculate
about a future national carbon budget that helps us
re-imagine the entire economy, including new technologies
and new forms of collective action. Instead of the single goal
of increasing economic GDP in money terms, as we already
do, there will be a parallel goal of a carbon GDP which
countries will try to reduce.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

An NCA will not only help India meet its commitment to

becoming net zero by 2070 but also help it and other
countries (if adopted globally) create new livelihoods and new
forms of organising its economy and society. Everyone
understands GDP growth and, more recently, alternative
measures such as Gross National Happiness. By making
transparent the carbon footprint of human activities, we open
up the possibilities of a new form of public discourse and an
alignment between development and ecological
sustainability. In short, an NCA is a polysolution to a
polycrisis.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Today's Descriptive Question

Write an essay of 200 words on the measures a

country can take to reduce its carbon emissions.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Reducing carbon emissions is imperative for combating

climate change. Countries can take several measures to
achieve this crucial goal. First and foremost, transitioning to
renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and
hydroelectric power is essential. Governments can incentivize
investment in these technologies through subsidies and tax
breaks.

Another key step is improving energy efficiency in industries,

transportation, and buildings. Implementing stringent energy
efficiency standards and promoting energy-efficient
technologies can significantly decrease emissions.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Furthermore, enhancing public transportation and promoting

electric vehicles can reduce emissions from the transportation
sector. Encouraging cycling and walking infrastructure also
contributes to lowering carbon footprints.

Afforestation and reforestation efforts can absorb carbon

dioxide from the atmosphere, while sustainable land-use
practices can mitigate emissions from deforestation and
agriculture.

Finally, raising awareness and educating citizens about the

importance of reducing carbon emissions is vital. Governments,
businesses, and individuals must work together to adopt
sustainable practices and technologies to combat climate change
effectively.
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

In summary, a multifaceted approach involving policy,

technology, and behavioral changes is crucial for a country
to successfully reduce its carbon emissions.
Please write a letter to the manager of a bank, requesting him or her to launch
an awareness campaign in the wake of recent cyber attacks.

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State, PIN Code]
[Date]
Date
[Bank Name]
[branch Address]
[City, State, PIN Code]
Subject: Request for Awareness Campaign on Cyber Attacks
Dear Sir/ Ma’am
I hope this letter finds you well. In light of the recent surge in cyberattacks, I
kindly request that our bank consider launching an awareness campaign to
educate our valued customers about online security. These attacks pose a
significant threat to their financial well-being, and proactive measures are
crucial. By providing valuable information on safe online practices, we can
empower our customers to protect themselves and their assets.
This initiative will not only enhance customer trust but also reinforce our
commitment to their security. Your support in safeguarding our community's
financial interests is greatly appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

Match the words with their meanings.

Column A Column B

Confer just beginning to form and therefore not clear or

developed

Flagged involving a lot of excited movement or activity

Inchoate to give an official title, honour, or advantage to

someone.

Frenetic difficult or unpleasant; that you would not want to

have

Unenviable became tired, weaker or less enthusiastic

 THE HINDU EDITORIAL LIVE DAILY @ 7 AM

VOCABULARY FOR ALL

1. Peculiar:
2. Straightforward:
3. Feted:
4. Encompasses:
5. Tweaking:
6. Paradigmatic:
7. Penalises:
8. Speculate:
9. Heft:
10. Torn between:
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CONTENT - NIMISHA
BANSAL