 A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to Hindu News Analysis brought to you by Shankar IAS Academy for the date 18th of June 2022. The list of articles we are going to discuss today is displayed on the screen. You can go through it. Now let's start our discussion. Let us take up this editorial article for discussion. Whenever a new scheme or program is launched by the government, the experts analyze it, list out its benefits, disadvantages, flaws and challenges in it. Similarly, in this editorial, Arthur discusses about the recently launched Agnipath scheme. Especially, he cites the implications of this scheme and the challenges it will bring. So, let us see what Arthur has to say. I request the viewers to take the observations of Arthur from a neutral point of view. Because all the points are important in mains answer writing when you are asked to critically analyze the scheme. Okay? The syllabus relevant to this discussion is highlighted here for your reference. You can go through it. See, if you remember three days ago, we discussed the details of the Agnipath scheme. Today, let us brush up some important points and features. Basically, Agnipath scheme provides a unique opportunity for youth who want to join the armed forces and serve the nation. Youth who are in the age group 17.5 to 21 years are eligible for this scheme. To select the youth, a pan-India merit-based recruitment will be conducted and the selected youth will be called Agnivirs. Know that Agnivirs will serve for four years and not as part of regular or permanent cadre or permanent commission. But this does not mean that they can never be in regular cadre because up to 25% of the Agnivirs will be retained or selected for regular cadre after fourth year. The remaining up to 75% of the Agnivirs will go back to society as trained and skilled youths. More importantly, Agnivirs will get an attractive financial package also. These are the annual package, allowances, death and disability compensations. Okay? Additionally, they are also entitled to a Seva Nidhi package when tenure is completed. This package comprises of Agnivirs contribution and a matching contribution from the government and interest on such accumulated amount. So, we saw the features. Now, let us see the scheme's implications and the challenges it will bring. First and foremost is it might lead to shrinking of military force. Why? Because initially the Agnivirs will not be considered for permanent commission. So, this would reduce the total manpower in the permanent force levels. Second issue is no one knows the exact consequence of this move. That is, what will be the direct consequences of such short term tenure on the efficiency and functioning of armed forces is not known. Mainly because the scheme is not based on any theoretical model nor was it implemented as a pilot project. So, this increases the dangers to which we may not be prepared for. And third, it will affect the professional capabilities of the armed forces. See, many roles in the armed forces need specialized and technical skills. Many of them are acquired through long training and experience. For example, if we take Indian Air Force, technical expertise and high degree experience is needed to engage the fighter jets in the air and use high tech weapons. But in the case of Agnivirs, they only have four years to gain training as well as experience. After that, their training or experience will go in vain. Even during the tenure also, they cannot be employed in specialized roles due to the lack of high degree experience. What this means is in the long run, the number of armed personnel having high technical and operational knowledge will decrease. So, the overall operational capability of the armed forces will also be affected. Fourth, it will greatly affect the efficiency, discipline, loyalty and unity in an armed regiment. This is because the recruitment model is changed to merit-based system. But the existing scheme is soldiers are recruited as supplies into specific regiments based on class pattern. Arthur even criticizes this as not class-based rather caste-based. Let us take an example. You all heard about President's Bodyguard, right? That is PBG. See, the PBG is the Indian Army's oldest or senior most regiment, raised in 1773. It is a regiment carrying out ceremonial duties for the President of India. But the point to be noted is individuals from only three classes are recruited. They are JADSEKS, JADS and Rajputs. This is what is referred as class-based recruitment. But in its place, the Agnipath scheme proposes an all-India, all-class recruitment. See, here we are not saying such as change is wrong or not necessary. Rather, it should be kept in mind that this drastic change will definitely affect the organizational management, leadership structures and operational philosophy of the Indian Army. Arthur argues that even though this class-based recruitment is discriminatory at some level, it still provides motivation to the soldiers based on their social identity. This motivation is essential as they are separated from the traditional society, their family, etc. Arthur also worries that change in recruitment model will make the soldiers to take a pure professional identity. And this might affect their motivation, affection, unity and loyalty. Let us come to the next challenge. It is the development of an unhealthy competition. This might happen due to the provision of selecting 25% Agnivir into permanent commission in the fourth year of tenure. So, every Agnivir know that 75% of their composition will be sent back. And this will lead to rivalries and jealousies amongst winners and losers. See, we should not forget that armed forces is not like a regular 9 to 6 jobs where you can do your activity and leave. A soldier sacrifices a lot and is subject to high level of violence, especially they have to be together all the time. This is why trust, camera delay and spirit decarps is a necessary aspect of armed forces to function. See, camera delay refers to the mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together like the soldiers. And spirit decarps means the pride and mutual loyalty. Okay, next problem is with the financial packages. See, we saw annual package, allowances, death and disability compensation for Agnivirs. But there is no pension or gratuity. Gratuity means a one-time reward given by the employer for the past services rendered. This will create a problem. It will remove the attractiveness of military services and youth may not prefer to join the forces. Next challenge is the creation of an imbalanced force. See, under Agnipat scheme, state-wise quota for recruitment into the army is not available. Whereas since 1966, the existing model employed state-wise quota based on the recruitable male population of that state. The main aim behind this move is to create a balanced army representing all regions and states. If a single most state has more representations, this will lead to ethnic imbalance and it will cause disputes. Okay, but now the state-wise quota is gone under Agnipat. So it may create an army dominated by a single state. Then comes the challenge of unemployment. Why? Because what the Agnivirs will do after four years of rigorous training? Will everyone get a job? We do not have answers to these questions. So this will increase the unemployment rate of India. Along with this, the author worries that ex-Agnivirs may not even seek a job because armed force is deemed prestigious. So for them, no other job could satisfy the criteria of being prestigious. And next comes the most important challenge of demobilized soldiers. See, the Agnivirs will be highly trained especially in attack skills or in inflicting organized violence. So author worries that after the retirement from armed force, they may be used for violence against minorities. Based on all these issues and challenges, author concludes that the Agnipat plan could endanger the safety of the country and affect the stability of society. Okay, so that is all regarding this editorial article. In this editorial discussion, we discussed about the basic facts about Agnipat scheme and the challenges and issues associated with it. This will be very much useful for your main examination especially in critically analyzed part. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Now look at this news article. There is a three-day conference of chief secretaries that is being held at Dharamshala. Our prime minister, while attending the conference, mentioned about the aspirational district program. See, basically aspirational districts are those districts that show relatively lesser progress in key social areas. In the conference, our prime minister said that these aspirational districts must become inspirational districts of India. He also said that due to the success of the ADP, the program must be extended to block and city levels. In addition to this, our prime minister also mentioned that bright and young civil servants must be posted in these aspirational districts so that they can use their innovative ideas to bring about transformative changes in these aspirational districts. He said that the experience that these young civil servants gain from working in aspirational districts will help them build character and our whole country can gain from this. This is about the news article. Now, why is this news article important? If you have seen this year's film's paper, you might have noticed that there were two questions about our prime minister's visit. One about the Ramanuja statue that he inaugurated in Hyderabad and next one is about the Somnath temple in Gujarat. So, make a habit of following our prime minister's travels and the statements made by him, okay? So, as a part of today's discussion, as our prime minister mentioned about the aspirational districts program, we are going to revise that, okay? See, as I already mentioned, aspirational districts are those districts in India that are affected by poor socio-economic indicators. These are aspirational in the context that improvement in these districts can lead to the overall improvement in the human development in India. Know that at present, 117 districts are identified as aspirational districts. At the government of India level, this program is anchored by Nithi Ayog. In addition to that, individual ministries have assumed a responsibility to drive the progress of districts. The objective of the program is to monitor the real-time progress of aspirational districts. This monitoring of real-time progress is an important aspect of this program. If you want to know more about this, you can visit the championsofchange.gov.in website to monitor the progress of the aspirational districts, okay? Now, coming back, aspirational districts program is based on 49 indicators from the five identified thematic areas. These indicators focus closely on improving people's health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development and basic infrastructure. And the next important aspect of this program is that, in this program, the states are the main drivers. Finally, the ADP seeks to focus on the strength of each district and identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement. For example, consider a district where total sanitation is easy to achieve when compared to 100% financial inclusion. So, here the focus of ADP program initially will be mainly on total sanitation because total sanitation is a low-hanging fruit in this scenario, okay? Now, let us see the broad contour or the outline of the program. The ADP works under the contours of three Cs. The Cs being convergence, collaboration and competition. First, take convergence. Here, convergence means a convergence of central and state schemes. The program also talks about the convergence of various tiers of the government. Second is collaboration. Here, the program focuses on collaboration between central level officers, state level officers and district collectors. Through these collaborations, impactful partnerships can be developed between government, market and civil society. Finally, competition. Good competition will always result in progress. Why is the ranking of aspirational districts provided in real-time? This is to boost competition. This competition will provide a spirit of the mass movement and it will also foster accountability on district governments. These are the three broad contours of the program. Remember these keywords, convergence, collaboration and competition, not just in this specific program. You can incorporate these keywords in your main sensor, mainly in the way forward portion. Finally, to summarize, the aspirational district program is one of the outcomes-focused governance in the world. If you have a bird eye view of the program, you can see that this program mainly focuses on localizing sustainable development goals. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the aspirational district program and its significance. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this article. It says that India is likely to impose a ceiling on sugar exports aiming to ensure sufficient domestic supplies and to keep local prices from increasing. The factors that influence sugar prices include lower sugar output in Brazil and crude oil prices which are at multi-year high. See, higher crude oil prices encourage sugar mills to divert more cane to produce ethanol for blending with gasoline. And this is the crux of the article given here. In this context, let us learn about the crop sugarcane in detail. Before that, the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. You can go through it. First of all, let us see about the crop. See, sugarcane is a crop of tropical areas. Sugarcane is grown in the world from latitude 36.7 degree north and 31 degree south. It is grown from the sea level to 1000 meters of altitude or even little more. It grows well in hot and humid climate with the temperature of 21 degree Celsius to 27 degree Celsius. And know that sugarcane is a sun-loving plant. Greater incident radiation favors higher sugar yields. About 7 to 9 hours of bright sunshine is highly useful for both active growth and ripening. And severe cold weather inhibits butt sprouting and arrest cane growth. Note that the annual rainfall between 75 centimeter and 100 centimeter is favorable for sugarcane production. Under rain-fit conditions, it is cultivated in sub-humid and humid climates. And irrigation is required in the regions of low rainfall. It is largely an irrigated crop in India. So, depending upon the agro-climatic conditions, type of soil, methods of planting and use of manures and fertilizers and sugarcane yield, the water requirement varies. The hot weather associated with dry winds and drought increases the water requirement of the crop. So, on average 110 kane needs about 60 to 70 tons of water. The crop should be irrigated when available water reaches to 50% level. And the important point to be noted here is that under water logging conditions, the root respiration becomes poor. And nutrients are leached down and activities of useful microorganisms are also reduced. And the crop lodges down with an excessive branching. Thus, the quality becomes poor along with very low crop yield. These all make it necessary to drain the excess water from the field. See, sugarcane can be grown in a variety of soil. That means it does not require any specific type of soil. Now, let us see the distribution in India. Indo-Kanjatic plain, its cultivation is largely concentrated in Uttar Pradesh. And know that Uttar Pradesh has the largest area that is almost 50% of the cane area in the country. Sugarcane growing area in the western India is spread over Maharashtra and Gujarat. And in southern India, it is cultivated in the irrigated tracks of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Other states like Bihar, Punjab and Haryana also cultivates sugarcane. See this image here. It shows the distribution of sugarcane production in India. See, the sugarcane production is highest in Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra. And productivity wise, Tamil Nadu stands first with over 100 tons per hectare followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra. And note that Bihar has the lowest productivity amongst the major sugarcane growing states. And the sugar industry is the second largest agro-based industry next only to textiles in India. Now coming to FRP. FRP stands for Fair and Remunerative Price. It is the price declared by the government which mills are legally bound to pay to farmers for the cane procured from them. See the payment of FRP across the country is governed by the Sugarcane Control Order 1966 which mandates payment within 14 days of the date of delivery of the sugarcane. Mills have the option of signing an agreement with farmers which would allow them to pay the FRP in installments. See the FRP is based on the recovery of sugar from the cane. For the sugar season of 2021-22, FRP has been fixed at Rs. 2900 per ton at a base recovery of 10%. See sugar recovery is nothing but the ratio between sugar produced versus sugar crushed expressed in percentage. The higher the recovery, the higher is the FRP and higher is the sugar produced. And this recovery rate is decided based on the recovery of the previous season. So for 2021 season, the pay will be as per the recovery of the 2020 season. And it is said that if the government accepts the recommendation, the FRP of sugarcane will be 305 per quintal at a 10.25% recovery rate for 2022-23 season. As we saw already the FRP is Rs. 290 per quintal that is Rs. 2900 per ton for 2021 sugar season at 10% recovery rate. Now let us see the significance of this FRP. See FRP of sugarcane is fixed to ensure a guaranteed price to sugarcane growers. This would encourage farmers to cultivate sugarcane and would facilitate continued operation of sugar factories. And thus it would encourage domestic manufacturing of sugar. See as we saw already the FRP is paid by sugar factories to the sugarcane growers against supply of sugarcane. About 5 crore people that is sugarcane farmers and their families will be benefited by this proposal. Thousands of farm labourers are associated with the cane growers and thus payment of FRP to the growers directly benefits them. Secondly, there are about 5 lakh workers employed in the sugar factories and their livelihood depends on a regular supply of sugarcane by the growers. And the fixation of FRP of sugarcane facilitates adequate production and thus availability and supply of cane to sugar factories. These are the significance. In this discussion we saw about the crop sugarcane and the FRP and the significance of FRP. With this let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Take a look at this news article. This news article talks about water hyacinth. See a novel study involving researchers in India and the UK has succeeded in using satellite images to detect water hyacinth in Vempanath lake in Kuttanad. The results of the study which used the SAR data that is the synthetic aperture radar data provided by the European Space Agency Satellite Sentinel-1 shows significantly greater positive deduction ratings when compared to more traditional detectors. So this is the cracks of the news article given here. In this context let us quickly go through water hyacinth and why its deduction is significant. See water hyacinth is a type of invasive floating plant found in water bodies across the world. These invasive species blocks the sunlight reaching the water system and reduces oxygen level in that water system. This results in damaging water quality and it seriously affects various life forms in the ecosystem. So what is an invasive species? See invasive species which is also called introduced species is any non-native species that significantly modifies or disrupts the ecosystems it colonizes. Such species may arrive in new areas through natural migration but they are often introduced by the activities of other species. Here in this image you can see how a species is determined invasive or not. Water hyacinth is a very good example of water invasive species and monitoring its growth becomes very important because of its effects to environment. Now the news is that the researchers say that they have shown for the first time SAR could be used to detect water hyacinth with higher level of accuracy. They prepared a heat map the first of its kind showing the water hyacinth presence over a 2 year time frame. See this could be used to aid the wheat management practices and it also provides a convenient way to find a solution using this type of data. See if you are wondering what is this SAR? SAR is a type of active data collection where a satellite sensor produces radiation that is energy rays and then records the amount of that energy reflected back after interacting with objects on the earth. Unlike the normal optical imagery in SAR the signals are responsive to surface characteristics such as the structure and moisture of the objects on which the radiation falls. Water hyacinth increases the surface roughness of the lake and therefore introduce a difference in back scattering in the image. See a clear water surface causes the electromagnetic wave to bounce back in a particular direction making those areas of the lake appear dark. However the presence of a matte of water hyacinth causes the signal to scatter in different directions. Since SAR microwaves penetrate most weather conditions the technique can produce images of the study area and monitor changes in the growth of hyacinth throughout the seasons. So these are some of the important points that you have to make note of from the news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw about water hyacinth which is an invasive species. Then we saw about the project in which the scientists have found that SAR that is synthetic aperture radar could be used to detect water hyacinth with a greater level of accuracy. Then we saw about the working of synthetic aperture radar and some of its applications. With these learned points now let us move on to next news article discussion. Now look at this article. The article says that the Megadadu project of the Karnataka government will be discussed at the Kaveri Water Management Authority. In this context let us see briefly about the Megadadu issue. See the Megadadu issue is a continuation of the long existing Kaveri river water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. As we know Kaveri is an interstate river with its upper hilly catchment lying in the Karnataka and Kerala states and the lower part in the plains of Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri rises in the Brahmagiri range of the western gods in the Kurg district of Karnataka. Harangi, Hemavathi, Shimsha, Arkavathi, Lakshmanathitha and Swarnavathi are the major tributaries joining the river Kaveri in the Karnataka territory. And Kabini which drains the north Malabar of Kerala state flows through Karnataka and joins Kaveri. Also Bhavani, Amaravathi and Noel are the tributaries to the river in Tamil Nadu. See you have to know that there are two interstate agreements signed in 1892 and 1924 on Kaveri river. The 1892 agreement is a general agreement relating to a number of interstate rivers. The 1924 agreement relates to the irrigation development in the basin of Kaveri alone. And both the 1924 agreement and 1892 agreements are permanent agreements. Later the Karnataka government constructed four new dams across the tributaries of Kaveri such as Harangi, Kabini, Hemavathi and Swarnavathi. And for none of these they have obtained the prior consent of Tamil Nadu. So in 1969 Tamil Nadu appealed to the then prime minister of India to adjudicate on this unilateral action. Later the center used its powers under the Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956 to constitute the Kaveri Water Disputes Tribunal in 1990. The tribunal submitted the report in 2007 which was challenged in the Supreme Court. And based on the Supreme Court judgment in 2018 center notified the Kaveri Water Management Scheme. Know that the Kaveri Water Management Scheme constitutes the Kaveri Water Management Authority and the Kaveri Water Regulation Committee. Okay, now coming to Meghadadu it is a place in Karnataka. See this project aims to construct a balancing reservoir across the river Kaveri. It is a multi-purpose project with several objectives. Some of its objectives are to utilize additional 4.75 TMC of water from the proposed project to provide drinking water facility to Bengaluru metropolitan region. Here TMC denotes 1000 million cubic feet. Okay, and next to store the flood waters that may escape into sea. This is to harness 400 megawatt of renewable energy in a year. Okay, so this project is to be built by Kaveri-Nirawari-Nigam Limited. And this Kaveri-Nirawari-Nigam Limited is completely owned by the government of Karnataka. See according to Tamil Nadu this project violates the final award of the Kaveri River Water Tribunal. Also the construction of the two reservoirs would result in impounding of the flows in the intermediate catchment. Below Krishna Raja Sagar and Kabini Reservoirs which will result in less water for Tamil Nadu. Okay, so that's all regarding this news article. In this news article we saw about the Megathadu project and the issues associated with it. With these key learned points let's move on to next part of our news article discussion which is preliminary practice questions discussion. Let us take up this first preliminary questions with reference to the crop sugarcane considered the following statements. India is the largest sugar producer in the world. Statement 2, the concept of statutory minimum price of sugarcane was replaced with the fair and remunerative price with the amendment of the sugarcane control order 1966 in 2009. And we have to find the correct statement here. See here statement 1 is incorrect because India is the second largest sugar producer in the world after Brazil. See here statement 2 it is correct. SMP was replaced by FRP with the amendment in 2009. Okay, so statement 1 is incorrect and statement 2 is correct. So our answer here will be option B2 only. Look at the second question which of the following are right bank tributaries of river Kaveri. Amravadi, Arkavadi, Hemavadi, Noel and Kabini. And we have to find the correct code here. See the answer here is option D14 and 5 only because the left bank tributaries includes Harangi, Hemavadi, Shimsha and Arkavadi. And the right bank tributaries includes Lakshmana, Theta, Kabini, Varnavadi, Pawani, Noel and Amravadi. So, Arkavadi and Hemavadi are left bank tributaries. Okay, so our answer here will be option D14 and 5 only. And look at this question which of the following are the advantages of synthetic aperture radar SAR. Statement 1 signals are responsive to surface characteristics such as the structure and moisture of the objects on which the radiation falls. Statement 2 differences in measurements over time can reveal displacements of land such as sinking ground caused by the extraction of underground natural resources. We have to find the correct statement here. See both these statements are advantages of synthetic aperture radar. This we saw in our discussion itself right. Along with these advantages, these are the applications of synthetic aperture radar. You can go through it. So, here our answer will be option C both 1 and 2. And this is our fourth prelims question. Take this question as a quiz, find the answer and post it in the comment section. See the main question based on today's discussion is displayed on the screen. Write the answer and post that also in the comment section. If you like the video, hit the like button, post your comments and share the video with your friends. And don't forget to subscribe Shankar IS Academy YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.