 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankaraya's Academy. Displayed are the list of news articles taken for today's analysis and their page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the timestamping of the discussed articles are provided in the description box and also in the comments section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let's move on to the first news article. This news article is related to the recent developments between North Korea and South Korea. In this context, let us discuss in detail about the geography of North Korea and South Korea and then we will come to the ongoing issue. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. First, let us see about North Korea, which is formerly called as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. See, it's a country which is located in the East Asian region and it occupies the northern portion of Korean Peninsula. The Korean Peninsula projects or protrudes from the Asian mainland between the East Sea which is also called as the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. The North Korea, it covers around 55% of the land area of the Korean Peninsula. We can see that the North Korea in the north is bordered by China and Russia. The south it is bordered by the Republic of Korea called as South Korea. The capital of North Korea is Pyongyang which is a major industrial and transport center near the west coast of North Korea. What separates North Korea and South Korea? See, there is a demilitarized zone and this zone roughly follows 38 degree north latitude which is also called as 38 parallel. This demilitarized zone was established by the terms of 1953 armistice which ended the Korean War that happened during 1952-1953. If you come to the ethnic groups, the Korean Peninsula is one of the most ethnically homogenous regions in the world. The North Korean population is almost entirely Korean. A tiny number of Chinese constitute the only other significant ethnic group in North Korea. Now let us come to South Korea. See from the name we can understand that it occupies the southern portion of Korean Peninsula in the East Asia. Now South Korea is bordered by North Korea and the North, East Sea or Sea of Japan to the east, then East China Sea to the south and in the west we could see Yellow Sea. Now to the southeast it is separated from Japan, particularly it is separated from Japanese island of Sushima by the Korea Strait. And South Korea makes up about 45% of the land area of the peninsula with capital as Seoul. So coming to the people, the population of South Korea is highly homogenous. Almost the entire population is ethnically Korean. With a small minority of ethnic Chinese permanent residents then there are also some foreigners from Japan and also from the United States. Now let's discuss in brief about the relations between North Korea and South Korea. See since the year 1910, the Korean Peninsula was under Japanese rule. At the end of the Second World War, two groups claimed the Korean Peninsula. One group consisted of communist revolutionaries which was supported by USSR and this team was led by Kim Ul Sung. The other group was inspired by Western science and industrialism. This was led by Shingman Ri. While Kim later became the founder of North Korea, Shingman Ri became the first president of South Korea. In the year 1945, the United States and USSR, they agreed for a temporary division of Korea at the 38th parallel or 38th degree North latitude. Because of ideological differences, they could not devise a plan for reunification of the divided Korea. In the year 1948, South Korea was established under Shingman Ri and in 1950, the North Korean army attacked South Korea with the support of USSR and this saw the beginning of the Korean War. In the year 1953, an armistice agreement was signed between the two Koreas at Panmunjom. Panmunjom is part of the demilitarized zone which serves as buffer between North Korea and South Korea. So as we said, the demilitarized zone runs along the 38th parallel. So with this, let us come to the present tensions between the two countries. Last week, a South Korean official was reportedly killed by the troops of North Korea. Though the North Korean leader, King Jong-un, apologized for the incident, the tensions are escalating between the two countries. The article says that the North Korea accused South Korea of sending ships across the disputed sea boundary to find the body of the South Korean official. Our news reports are saying that this has potential to escalate the tensions between the troubled neighbors. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. In the film's perspective, the geography related to North Korea and South Korea, we saw a brief history of the Korean Peninsula, what happened after the Second World War, and the present tensions between North and South Korea. Now let's move on to the analysis of the next news article. This news article talks about temples in Karnataka, which are to be nominated for getting the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples which are to be nominated include Bailur, Halibidu, and Somanathapura temples. Here the Bailur and Halibidu temples are located in the Hasan district of Karnataka. Both these locations were once the capital of the Hoisala Empire. The Channakeshawa temple complex in Bailur was built by King Vishnu Vardhana in 1117 AD. This temple was built in memory of his victory against Cholas in Talakadu. And in Halibidu, the main temples include Hoisala Ishwara temple, then Kedari Ishwara temple. The term Halibidu literally means ruined city because this city was ruined twice by Sultanates of Bahmani. The Hoisala Ishwara temple was built during 12th century and it is attributed to the Hoisala ruler Vishnu Vardhana. Now apart from the two Hindu temples, the Halibidu temple complex also has two Jain Basadis or two Jain temples. Now coming to Somanathapura Channakeshawa temple, it lies in the Mysore district of Karnataka. The temple was built by Hoisala commander Somnath in 1268 AD. All these three temples are finest examples of Hoisala architecture. So in the context of analyzing this news article, we will discuss about the World Heritage Convention of UNESCO, the UNESCO World Heritage Site status, then we will see some temples in India which are already granted the status of UNESCO World Heritage Now when we say World Heritage, according to UNESCO it is defined as the designation for places on earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity. And these places have been inscribed on the World Heritage List so as to be protected for the future generations to appreciate and enjoy. Places like the Premates of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Taj Mahal, Grand Canyon in the United States, these are part of World Heritage List. The mission of UNESCO World Heritage is given here for your reference. We can find that the mission provides for emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger, then it encourages participation of local population in the preservation of their cultural and natural heritage, then it helps the state parties to safeguard World Heritage properties by providing technical assistance and professional training. UNESCO seeks to encourage identification, protection and preservation of heritage sites around the world so a convention called as World Heritage Convention was adopted in the year 1972 by UNESCO for this purpose. This convention sets out the duties of state parties in identifying potential sites and the roles of the state parties in protecting and preserving these sites. And by signing the convention, each country pledges to conserve not only the world heritage sites situated on their territories, but also to protect the national heritage as well. It also explains how World Heritage Fund has to be used and managed and under what conditions international financial assistance may be provided. The convention also stipulates the obligation of state parties to report regularly to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of World Heritage sites or properties in their jurisdictions. In this regard, know that the World Heritage Committee was constituted for the implementation of this convention. This committee meets once in a year and it consists of representatives from 21 of the state parties of the convention. These 21 representatives are elected by the General Assembly. Now here, when we say General Assembly, this includes all state parties to this convention. This General Assembly meets once in every two years. The purpose of this General Assembly is to elect members of World Heritage Committee, then to examine the statement of accounts of World Heritage Fund, then to decide on major policy issues. Now coming to World Heritage Sites, see these are places that are listed by UNESCO for their special cultural or natural significance. The list of World Heritage Sites is maintained by International World Heritage Program which is administered by UNESCO World Heritage Committee. There are three types of World Heritage Sites, Cultural Sites, Natural Sites and Mixed World Heritage Sites. When we say Cultural Heritage Sites, this includes historic buildings, important archaeological sites, etc. When we say Natural Heritage Sites, these are restricted to natural areas that provide outstanding examples of Earth's record of life, Earth's geologic processes, then the areas that provide excellent examples of ongoing ecological and biological evolutionary processes or containing natural phenomena which are rare, unique, superlative and of outstanding beauty. It may also include those areas that provide habitats for rare or endangered animals or plants and areas that are sites of exceptional biodiversity. When we say Mixed Heritage Sites, this includes elements of both natural and cultural significance. Now with respect to India, now that there are 38 sites which are inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List. The list is given here for your reference. If we go through the list, we can observe that many temples are also listed under this UNESCO Heritage List. So today let's go through some of the temples that are inscribed in this list. You can see Sun Temple of Konark, then Group of Monuments at Mahabaliburam, then Group of Monuments at Hampi, then Churches and Convents of Goa, then Kajraho Group of Monuments, then Group of Monuments at Patadakal, then Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, then Great Living Chola Temples and Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya. So these are some of the important religious sites or temples that are listed under the UNESCO World Heritage List from India. Now there are many potential sites that are under consideration of Archaeological Survey of India. The reason why we say Archaeological Survey of India is because it is this organization that represents India at the UNESCO World Heritage Meetings. And many sites are also in the tentative list which is an inventory of those properties which a state party intends to consider for nomination to be identified as World Heritage. When today's news article is about these matters with reference to Bailur, Halibidu Temples. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. In this analysis we saw about some temple sites in Karnataka which are to be nominated to seek the status of World Heritage sites. And we saw about World Heritage Convention of UNESCO, the UNESCO World Heritage sites. And finally we conclude with seeing the temples in India which are already inscribed in this UNESCO list. Now let's move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article talks about Aurogya Path which is the National Healthcare Supply Chain Portal launched by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. This portal it aims to provide real-time availability of critical healthcare supplies to manufacturers, suppliers and customers. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a national health emergency and it also caused a severe disruption in the supply chain. This affected the ability to produce and deliver the critical healthcare supplies. So to address these challenges CSIR has come up with National Healthcare Supply Chain Portal or the Aurogya Path with the vision to provide a path to lead a person on a journey towards a healthy life or Aurogya. CSIR expects this portal to become the national healthcare information platform of choice in the years to come. It is expected to fill the critical gap in the last mile delivery of patient care within India which it expects to do through improved availability and affordability of healthcare supplies. So it will act as a single point availability of important healthcare goods and in this way it will be helpful to customers in tackling several routine issues. When we say several routine issues, these issues include dependence on limited suppliers, time consuming processes to identify good and quality products, then limited access to suppliers, you know, who can supply standardized products at reasonable prices also within desired timelines. Then there is also lack of awareness about latest product launches as well. So Aurogya Path will be helpful to customers in tackling these issues. Then it will help manufacturers and suppliers to reach a wide network of customers as well in an efficient manner by overcoming gaps in connectivity between them and the potential demand centers. Potential demand centers could be laboratories, medical stores, hospitals, etc. The portal will also create opportunities for business expansion as well. It will also help manufacturers to forecast overcapacity or shortages so as to reduce wastage of resources also to have optimal supply levels. So these are some of the information with reference to the National Healthcare Supply Chain Portal recently launched by CSIR. Now let's see one another recent initiative of CSIR called as Kisan Sabha App. Now this application it aims to provide most economical and timely logistic support to the farmers. It would help to increase their profit margins by minimizing the interference of middlemen and by directly connecting farmers with institutional buyers within CSIR. This app was developed by Central Road Research Institute. Now this app would connect farmers to supply chain and also with freight transportation management system. The portal connects farmers, transporters, service providers, money dealers and also customers. So it acts as a single stop for every entity related to agriculture. The farmer will benefit from better price for the crops. The money dealers will benefit from connecting with more farmers and also with more truckers as well. Then the people in agriculture services sector like dealers of fertilizers or pesticides, they can reach out to more farmers for their services. Then it will also help people associated with cold stores and good owns. Then also for persons who want to buy directly from the farmers. So these are some of the benefits of this Kisan Sabha application. A recent initiative of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. With this we come to the end of analysis of this news article. In this analysis we saw about two recent initiatives of CSIR. One the National Healthcare Supply Chain Portal called as Arogyapath. Then we saw about the Kisan Sabha app which seeks to provide most economical and timely logistic support to the farmers. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. This news article talks about Jimx which is an India-Japan naval exercise being held in the North Arabian Sea. See India-Japan defence and security partnership has evolved over the years and today the defence ties between both the countries. They form an integral pillar in the bilateral relations. In this context let us see about some of the important bilateral or multilateral exercises in which India participates with Japan or alongside Japan. First let us talk about Jimx. See Jimx stands for Japan India Maritime Exercise. It's a series of exercises that commenced in January 2012. It was started with a special focus on maritime security cooperation. It is conducted once in two years that is by nearly between the Indian Navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The last edition of Jimx was conducted in October 2018. off the coast of Ishakapatnam and at present the fourth edition of Jimx called as Jimx 20 is being conducted in North Arabian Sea. Now let's see a few other defence exercises in which India and Japan participates together. See the armies of India and Japan they hold bilateral exercises under the title Dharma Guardian. It is conducted between Indian Army and Japan ground self-defense force. Then there is another exercise called as Shinyu Maitri. Here the air forces of both the countries participate. The first editions of both Dharma Guardian and Shinyu Maitri were held in 2018. So these are all recent developments with reference to India-Japan relations particularly in the context of defence and security cooperation. Then we also know that Japan participates in the annual India-United States Malabar Naval exercises on a regular basis. And recently Japan also joined as an observer in the India-US Air Force exercise which is known as Cope India. Another Indian Army also participated in the mine countermeasures explosive disposal ordnance exercise last year. Now this exercise is a joint mine countermeasures exercise conducted by US Navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. Additionally you should also know that India and Japan conducts a joint exercise called as Shakyokkaijin. This exercise was held between the coastguards of two countries. The coastguards of India and Japan in January last year in January 2019 they undertook disaster control search and rescue exercises of the coast of Yokohama in Japan. So these are some of the important exercises in which India and Japan participate together. The exercises play a very important role in the relations between the two countries and they also have strategic dimension in the areas where drills or the exercises are performed. Now let's move on to next part of the discussion. We have come to the last session the practice questions discussion session. See this question which is map based they're asking to arrange the given cities from South to North. They have given Pyongyang, Wuhan, Hong Kong, Manila and Kuala Lumpur. We have to arrange from South to North and therefore Kuala Lumpur comes first. So you can eliminate option B. Proceeding North wise we find Manila then we could see Hong Kong then Wuhan and then Pyongyang. Therefore the correct answer for this question is option C 5 4 3 2 1. This question is with reference to UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India. They have given three statements. They're asking which of the above statements are correct. First statement at present India has 48 World Heritage Sites. This statement is incorrect because India has 38 World Heritage Sites. Of them 30 are cultural sites, 7 are natural World Heritage Sites and only one is mixed site. So first statement is incorrect. So you can eliminate options C and D with the remaining two options. You can easily understand that the second statement is correct. You have to find out whether the third statement is correct or not. The sites are found in all the states. The statement is incorrect because we could not find as of now UNESCO World Heritage Sites from states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, etc. So third statement cannot be correct. Now the second statement, Kanjan Zonga National Park in Sikkim is the only mixed World Heritage Site in India. So the correct answer for this question is option B 2 only. See this question. Consider the following Kajraho group of monuments, Mahabodhi temple complex, the Golden Temple of Amritsar, Sun Temple of Konark, the Glorious Kakathir temples and gateways. Which of the above are included under the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites? The correct answer for this question is option B 1 2 1 4 only. See the Golden Temple of Amritsar, which is also called as Sri Harimandir Sahib in Punjab and the Glorious Kakathir temples and gateways in Varangal region of Telangana. These are not yet included under the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, they are found in the tentative list, which is an inventory of properties which India intends to consider for the nomination as World Heritage Site. So here the correct answer is option B 1 2 1 4 only. See this question. This question is with reference to defense exercises. They have given Shinnyu Maitri, Dharma Guardian, Sakhyo Khaijin and Nomadic Elephant. Here the exercise Nomadic Elephant, you should note that it is an exercise between India and Mongolia, not between India and Japan. The 14th edition of Nomadic Elephant was conducted last year in the month of October at the Bakloh Contourment in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. Now the objective of this exercise Nomadic Elephant is to train the army troops in counter-terrorism and also in coin operations, that is counter-insurgency operations under the mandate of United Nations. So the correct answer all the remaining three exercises are exercises between India and Japan. Dharma Guardian is the exercise between Indian Army and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. The Shinnyu Maitri is the exercise between air forces of India and Japan. And Sakhyo Khaijin is the exercise between coast guards of both the countries. So the correct answer for this question is option C, one, two, and three only. This question is with reference to ROK Path, recently launched by CSIR. Three statements are given. They're asking which of the above statements are benefits offered by ROK Path. First statement ensures last mile delivery of patient care within India through improved availability and affordability of healthcare supplies. See ROK Path is also called as the National Healthcare Supply Chain Portal. First statement is correct. Second statement, it improves people's awareness about the latest healthcare products. This statement is also correct and is one of the benefits of this portal. The third statement enables manufacturers and suppliers of healthcare products to reach a wide network of customers. This statement is also correct as the Supply Chain Portal will overcome gaps in connectivity between the manufacturers and the suppliers and the customers. So the correct answer for this question is option D, one, two, and three. All the three are benefits of this initiative launched by CSIR. With this, we come to the end of today's the Hindu News Analysis. If you like the video, click the like button, comment, share, and subscribe to Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service exam preparation.