 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IAS Academy. Displayed are the list of news articles selected for today's analysis and their page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes and the time stamping of the news articles are provided in the description box. And the time stamping for the benefit of mobile phone viewers has also been provided in the comment section. Now let us move on to the first news article. This news article is with respect to the visit of external affairs minister of India to China on 12th August. It is said that this was the second meeting of the high level mechanism on cultural and people to people exchanges of India and China. The first meeting as reported has happened in last year December. So this article states that the minister of external affairs has assured China that Indian government's decision to exercise greater administrative control over the region of Ladakh will not have any implication for India's external boundaries with China. And there will also be no implications for the line of actual control with China. When we say line of actual control, it is a military administered boundary line between India and China. See India shares around 3488 kilometer of border with China running along Jammu Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. So the official statement of ministry of home affairs is that the border between India and China is not fully demarcated and the process of clarifying and confirming the line of actual control is still in progress. And the minister has also clarified that the legislative measures including bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. One as union territory of Jammu and Kashmir with legislative assembly and the other as union territory of Ladakh without legislative assembly is actually aimed at better governance and socio economic development of the region. And the concerns of China is that because Ladakh borders with China and the legislative measure of India making it as union territory leading to greater administrative control. The minister also said that based on 2005 political parameters and guiding principles the two sides India and China they have agreed for a fair reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of boundary disputes. So by extending legislative measure to Jammu and Kashmir or by removing the special status to Jammu and Kashmir or by creating union territory of Ladakh India was not raising any additional territorial claims. Now these statements has been mentioned by the external affairs minister because Chinese foreign ministry told that India had continued to damage China's territorial sovereignty. So this is the statement of China. They are saying that India had done this unilaterally without consulting China in the process. They are saying that India had done this by unilaterally modifying the form of domestic law. Here what they are meaning is article 370 of Indian constitution. So this means that China believes that for modifying any sections of Indian constitution with respect to border region that borders with China has to be consulted before such modification. So that is why the ministry of external affairs has clarified or reassured that there is no any additional territorial claims. Now when we say 2005 political parameters and guiding principles we actually mean the agreement between the government of Republic of India and the government of people's republic of China on the political parameters and guiding principles for the settlement of India-China boundary question. This agreement was adopted to encourage a long term constructive and cooperative partnership of India and China on the basis of five principles of peaceful coexistence. Now these five principles of peaceful coexistence are one mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Two mutual non-aggression. Three non-interference in each other's internal affairs or domestic affairs and then equality and mutual benefit and finally peaceful coexistence. So these are the five principles of peaceful coexistence based on which there has to be a long term constructive and cooperative partnership between two countries. In this agreement we can see some provisions which state that the differences on the boundary question should not be allowed to affect the overall development of bilateral relations. And the two sides have to resolve the boundary question or boundary disputes only through peaceful and friendly consultations. The agreement also states that the two sides will give due consideration to each other's strategic interests and reasonable interests and they will give due consideration to the principle of mutual and equal security. So according to this agreement until there is an ultimate settlement of the boundary question the two sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control. They should maintain peace and tranquility by working together in the border areas. So these are some of the information with respect to the analysis of this news article. Now let us move on to the analysis of next article. This news article is about the translocation of wild buffaloes from the state of Assam to Chattisgarh. They are saying that in October five female wild buffaloes will be translocated from Assam to the Udandi Wildlife Sanctuary in Raipur district of Chattisgarh. So they will be translocated to an area that is far by more than 1500 kilometers and they have to be brought here after crossing some five states. So when we say translocation it is the managed movement of live animals from one location to another. And the news article mentions that this is the longest translocation in the country if carried out. And the purpose of this translocation is to help the decreasing and disappearing population of wild buffaloes to revive in the state of Chattisgarh. So one of the main reasons for this translocation is that wild buffalo is the state animal of Chattisgarh. And this translocation is expected to help to expand the population of wild buffalo across the states. This translocation is to be based on the recommendations of state wildlife board of Chattisgarh and also based on the genetic report by the center for cellular and molecular biology in Hyderabad. When the translocation plan was actually proposed several conservationists initially asked whether the buffaloes found in central India would be similar to the ones that are found in northeast India particularly in Assam. Whether the wild buffaloes if they are brought to say Chattisgarh will they be compatible in the new environment. So there was some concerns with respect to this. So to address their concerns the government has sent some genetic samples to the center for cellular and molecular biology in Hyderabad. And the government has got the approval for translocation by way of the genetic report given by this center. The forest department of Chattisgarh has started the process of translocation of three to five female wild buffaloes from Assam to Chattisgarh. They will bring these wild buffaloes either through road or by railways. They are actually planning to translocate sub-adults that is those wild buffaloes that are not adults. The purpose is because if they don't have long horns they can be easily translocated. So that's the purpose why they plan to translocate sub-adults of wild buffaloes. So who will be carrying out this translocation exercise? See it will be done by the Central India Wild Buffalo Recovery Project. This project is a joint venture between the Wildlife Trust of India and the forest department of Chattisgarh government. This Central India Wildlife Recovery Project is actually aiming to stabilize wild buffalo population in the Udaanthi Sitaanadi Tiger Reserve situated in Chattisgarh. So this will be carried out by implementing a certain number of ex situ and in situ interventions. See when we say in situ intervention it is a conservation method wherein the species will be conserved within their natural habitats. The ex situ conservation is the conservation of species outside their natural habitats or natural range. The reason for the initiation of such a project is because of the grave threats faced by the local wild buffalo population in the Central Indian region. They are saying that once upon a time the wild buffalo was found in abundance across northeast India extending to northern and central India. But now the species is left only in some pockets northeast India and Chattisgarh in central India. The Wildlife Trust of India says that the estimated population of wild buffalo in northeast will be roughly around some 3000 to 4 miles. So wild buffalo in the northeastern region they constitute the largest population aggregate within the Indian landscape in the present scenario. These populations in the northeast region almost accounts for 92% of world population of the wild buffalo. So this is the situation with respect to the wild buffalo population in the northeastern region. If you see the situation in central India it is very terrible because the project has evaluated number of wild buffaloes in 4 wild life sanctuaries and a national park in Chattisgarh. These wild life sanctuaries are Udanti wild life sanctuary, Pamid wild life sanctuary, Sitaanadi wild life sanctuary, Bairamgarh wild life sanctuary and Intravadi national park. What they understood is that no buffaloes remained in Sitaanadi and Bairamgarh wild life sanctuary. And they established there were some 30 individuals in Intravadi national park and some Pamid wild life sanctuary has some 5 to 8 buffaloes. And there were lot of suggestions to initiate appropriate conservation methods to conserve these wild buffaloes. The problem is because of some political disturbances in Chattisgarh and because of the security situation there, no conservation efforts could be undertaken in these protected areas. They found some 7 wild buffaloes in Udanti in 2010. So after finding these numbers in wild buffalo population in particularly in central Indian region in Chattisgarh, WTI has actually helped the forest department of Chattisgarh to prepare a 5 year action plan for the recovery of wild buffalo population in Udanti. Now this is because during the survey they have found that only 7 wild buffaloes remained in Udanti in 2010 and of these only one was the female. So the action plan had some 3 basic objectives. One is to ensure zero unnatural deaths of the remaining individuals of wild buffalo. And the second one is to improve the habitats. And the third is to increase the population or to augment the population by restocking especially female wild buffalo. Here when we say restocking it means releasing animal individuals of an existing population in a particular area. So this will be done to enhance population viability that is enhancing the possibility of wild buffaloes to live successfully in a particular region. So with respect to ensuring zero unnatural deaths, there is constant monitoring, periodic health examinations and treatments are also being undertaken. And WTI says that the monitoring exercise has resulted in fairly detailed data on ranging ecology of these buffaloes. And with respect to habitat restoration activities such as de-weeding and fire prevention and also ensuring water availability for the wild animals they have been conducted to provide suitable habitat to the wild buffaloes. The WTI also conducted socioeconomic surveys in around 15 of the 17 border villages of Udanti. And they found that people were dependent mainly on agriculture for their livelihood. And they also found there were frequent human and wild buffalo conflicts particularly leading to crop damages. So to reduce the human animal conflict, the forest department has started a sort of compensation scheme for the losses incurred by the public due to the crop damage caused by the wild buffaloes. You should know one thing just because crops are damaged by wild buffaloes one cannot kill this animal. This is because they are protected under Schedule 1 of WPA Act of 1972. They also found out that around 81% of the households they owned livestock and the domestic cattle were left to graze inside the sanctuary almost throughout the year. And some studies also found out that wild buffaloes avoided the areas occupied by the domestic buffaloes. And it is also found that wild buffaloes even adopted nocturnal habits. So that is being active in the night to avoid these domestic animals. So to reduce competition and to improve habitat suitability for the wild buffaloes, the local population have been advised and encouraged to sell their domestic cattle off under this project. So even in this project there is in situ conservation breeding of wild buffaloes. And apart from these activities, the project also lists out a number of other important and urgent interventions to secure wild buffalo population of Central India. And these measures are like protection of buffaloes by improving basic infrastructure of protected areas administration and then by habitat improvement. And this is to be done by facilitating voluntary relocation of villages from the habitat of wild buffaloes. And in order to make the habitat suitable for wild buffaloes, they are also carrying out DVDing. And it is said that in about 1200 hectares of grasslands within the sanctuary, they are carrying out DVDing. And also to prevent disease transmission to the wild animals, more than around 3500 to 5000 livestock in the area are vaccinated annually. And this project is also attempting to place satellite collars on three free ranging wild buffaloes. Now this satellite collar is for tracking the animals. Free ranging means animals that are allowed to move around and these animals are not kept in cages. And the satellite collars will ensure proper monitoring of these free ranging animals. These wild buffaloes are called as Asiatic Wild Buffalo and they are also called as Wild Water Buffalo. Scientifically they can be called as Bubalus Arnie. One special feature of this Asiatic Wild Buffalo is that they are called as record breaking species because their horns spread up to two meters. So this exceeds in size of the horns of any other living bovid. And we say bovid, we mean any mammal in the family bovidae which includes antelopes, sheep, goats, cattle, you know buffalo and bison. So as we saw already the wild buffalo is listed in schedule one of Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. And regarding the estimation of the numbers they say that only less than 4000 individuals are remaining in the wild. And therefore IUCN Red List has classified them as endangered species in their list of threatened species. So these are some of the information with respect to the analysis of this news article. Now let's move on to the analysis of next article. This news article is about diphtheria and pertussis. Note that these diseases are vaccine preventable. Recently diphtheria outbreak has been reported in Tamil Nadu. And note that India accounts for almost 85-90% of occurrence of diphtheria in the entire world. Research studies have been showing that the important reason for the resurgence of diphtheria and pertussis is the low awareness among the people regarding the vaccination for these diseases. And these diphtheria and pertussis are infectious diseases. So when we say infectious there are two understanding. One is that these diseases are caused by microorganisms. And these diseases can be transmitted from one person to another person. So if we say non-infectious diseases these are diseases that are not caused by microorganisms. And these diseases cannot be transmitted from one person to another. For example diabetes or chronic lung diseases. These are some examples of non-infectious diseases. So diphtheria and pertussis are diseases that can spread from one person to another through direct contact. Or even through the environment. And diphtheria is an infection of nose and throat. And it spreads easily through direct contact with the infected person. Through infected cough and sneeze droplets. It is caused by a bacteria, a microorganism called as corinibacterium diphtheria. It will affect the cells in the throat. Coming to pertussis it is also called as whooping cough. It is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by bacterium borditella pertussis. It spreads easily through direct contact through infected cough and sneeze droplets. According to the chief scientist of World Health Organization as reported in the news article. The recent outbreak in Tamil Nadu is because of a drop or a fall in herd immunity. And also because of non-administration of mandatory booster vaccine dose to children. So when we say a booster dose of vaccine. It means an extra administration of vaccine after an early primary dose. When we say herd immunity. It means a high percentage of the population are immunized through vaccination. Now this is important because imagine lot of people in a particular society are vaccinated. That means there is herd immunity. Say some disease, say some person is infected by a particular disease. Say a contagious disease. Now this disease cannot spread because of herd immunity. Because other people nearby him are already immunized. So herd immunity prevents the spread of contagious diseases. And this is because most of the population are immunized or vaccinated. And it was also found that some of the older children also diagnosed with diphtheria. In the context of this news article. The older children means those children who are above 12 years of old and below 18 years of old. So a recent study revealed that the reason for the older children being diagnosed with diphtheria is because they were not given booster dose of vaccine against the infection. And there was also parental neglect in providing this booster vaccine. They are saying it is even a global phenomenon. Booster doses are given when the child is 18 months old or one and a half years old. And when and later again at the age of five years. But if the boosters are not given then the child will lose the immunity to these diseases by the age of 10. And by the age of 12 the immunity is completely lost. And adolescents are infected by these diseases. And that is one of the reasons why diphtheria was diagnosed in older children. The news article mentions that misinformation about the safety, effectiveness and importance of vaccination is also one of the reasons that led to resurgence of these infectious diseases recently. So there has to be steps to address the misinformation about vaccination and also emphasis on ensuring high immunization rates, high vaccination rates and also providing essential vaccines for children. And there are also some studies going on about studying the population of South India with respect to prevalence of purchases. And such studies are aiming to enable a framing a policy to vaccinate pregnant women for diphtheria, tetanus and purchases. Particularly during their pregnancy. The news article says during pregnancy currently only the vaccines for diphtheria and tetanus are being administered. But if you see the norm in developed countries even the purchases vaccination is provided during pregnancy. But it is yet to be adopted in our country. News article also talks about cocoon vaccination. So when we say cocoon strategy of vaccination it means a protective layer that is a protective layer around children. Those who are around the children should become a protective layer. This can be achieved by providing appropriate vaccination doses to the parents to those people who can come into contact with the children. It's like protecting the children by vaccinating the persons those who can come into contact with these children. So that when they are vaccinated they cannot be infected by such a disease. So that there will definitely no way of transferring of this disease from such persons to the children. Other than diphtheria and purchases the news article also talks about the need to focus on digital de-addiction. And while there is focus on non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cancers. The article urges to give enough attention to health issues such as addiction to social media. When we say de-addiction it is digital de-addiction here. Addiction to social media and video games. So there has to be enough digital de-addiction centers to guide the students and children and even some adult members to manage these problems. And the article also mentions that some hospitals in India has already established digital de-addiction centers. So these are some of the information with respect to the analysis of this news article. Now let's move on to next article. This news article is about a new way of avoiding man-elephant conflict. That was discovered by farmers of some villages in the Nagawan district of Central Assam. They have actually found a way to keep the crop-raiding elephants from damaging their crops. They have created a meal zone for the elephants by setting aside certain lands so as to keep these elephants away from damaging their crops. Approximately some 33 hectares of community land have been donated by the farmers of 12 villages in the Ronghang Hattikuli area of Central Assam's Nagawan district. The farmers take turns to plant the paddy crops here. This cropping is exclusively for the elephants. These are some of the elephants that come from the hills of Karbi Anglong district. If you see the map of Assam state of India, two districts are joining each other. One is Karbi Anglong district and the other is Nagawan district. So these elephants come down from the hills of Karbi Anglong district and the farmers of this particular district called as Nagawan district have set up a meal zone so as to keep the crop-raiding elephants away from their crops. They have planned to cultivate paddy in the meal zone for elephants because elephants like paddy. And this particular meal zone or the crop land for the elephant is called as Jumbo Kethi. When we say Jumbo, it refers to elephants. And this method has been devised by the farmers as a last line of defense against some 350-400 elephants. And news reports say that these elephants have frequently traveled very close to human habitations. So these are the regions' potential for human-animal conflict. And recently of these venturing elephants, five of them were killed by electrocution by illegal electric fences in last some 16 months. And around six elephants have been injured by spears and arrows and they later died in the jungles. To reduce such kind of man-animal conflicts, the farmers have devised or framed this new strategy. Now along with the paddy crops, the farmers have also planned to cultivate or grow Napier grass. They are saying that the Napier grass is also planted in some 8 hectare area. This Napier grass is also called as Elephant grass or Uganda grass. See this particular species is native to tropical grasslands of Africa. It has very high productivity both as fodder grass or forage grass for livestock and also as a biofuel crop. It is also one of the favorite food of elephants that is the reason why it is named as also called as Elephant grass. So when the elephants come down from the hills of Karbianglong district, first they will see the paddy fields. And then they will see the barren land between the paddy field and the grass plantation on the other side. See this grass plantation is nothing but the Napier grass plantation. Between the grass plantation and the paddy field, there will be a barren land in which the local population have planted saplings of Otunga species and then jackfruit and banana trees. This Otunga is also called as Elephant apple. This fruit will be round in shape with few bumps, resemble quite like an elephant's toe. And this is served as main food source for the wild elephants. That is one of the reason why they call this Otunga as Elephant apple. So first paddy fields will be there, then barren land, then on the right hand side there will be grass plantation. Wherein we can see Napier grass will be grown. So this three-step plantation will be there to ensure the meal zone and also to ensure the elephants do not come close to human habitations. So thus these plantations will provide enough food for the elephants and it also therefore helps in reducing the man and animal conflicts. And also the crops grown by the farmers on the other side also will not be damaged. So once elephants do not attack or come close to human habitations or once elephants do not damage the crops grown by humans, there will not be any human-animal conflict. That means there will be safety for elephants. And this is an important measure taken by the farmers of Assam to tackle the man-elephant conflict. This is about this news article. Now let's move on to the next article. This news article is about the analysis carried out by CSIR CFTRI about the polyethylene terephthalate bottles. There have been certain speculations on leaching of harmful chemicals from the PET bottles particularly when they are subjected to higher temperatures. The Central Food Technology Research Institute have conducted an analysis and they have reported that the PET bottles are safe. PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate. Now it is a general purpose thermoplastic polymer that belongs to the polyester family of polymers. They are actually known for excellent mechanical, excellent chemical and thermal resistance and thermal stability. This polyethylene terephthalate is a strong and lightweight plastic that has been commonly used for packaging foods and beverages. Now we saw that it is a polymer that belongs to polyester family of polymers. When we say polymer they are materials that are made of long and repeating chains of molecules and these molecules are called as monomers. So polymers are materials made of long repeating chains of monomers. The polymers have their unique properties depending on the type of molecules being bonded and how they are actually bonded. Polyester is one such polymer that has ester functional group in their main chain. The structural formula for ester is R-C over R. So they are derived from carboxylic acid and also from alcohols. The analysis by the Central Food Technology Research Institute has concluded that the PET bottles do not leach harmful chemicals when exposed to high temperatures. They are saying that antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, lead, mercury, selenium and zinc all were below their detection limits of around 0.001 milligram per kilogram. They are talking about another synthetic organic compound called as bisphenol capital A. Even this organic compound was found below its detection limit of 0.02 milligram per kilogram. So this means that the presence of these metals and chemicals are below the minimum level required for their detection. So this bisphenol A capital A is a synthetic organic compound that is used in the manufacture of PET bottles. So the use of this bisphenol capital A is now phased out or now no more in practice. This is after a research found out that there is a link between the presence of BPA and variations in hormone regulation and also its link with breast cancer among women. So because of these issues, the use of BPA has been now phased out. Now let's see how the analysis was done. The researchers collected four different kinds of PET containers and they exposed them to different stimuli such as ethanol of varying concentrations, then acetic acid and also vegetable oil. See these stimuli were supposed to stimulate or trigger the kind of chemicals contained in the packaged food and drinks. So these chemicals in these packaged foods and drinks would trigger the leakage of metals or other secondary chemicals in the PET containers. To simulate that kind of condition, they have used the chemicals that are usually available in the foods and drinks. While they found out that the chemicals were below detection limit, they have also proved that the amount of these chemicals are also below the European Union regulation norms for the specific migration limit. So when we say specific migration limit, it means maximum permitted quantity of a specific substance that can leach or migrate from a food packaging material into the food that is kept or stored in the food packaging material. CSIR is an autonomous body that is registered under Society's Registration Act of 1860. It was established way back in 1942 and now under the Ministry of Science and Technology. Now the President of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research is the Prime Minister of our country. And it is said that it is the largest R&D organization in India with several laboratories under it. Even the Central Food Technology Research Institute in Mysore is also a laboratory under CSIR. This research institute has carried out the analysis with respect to the PET bottles. Now of several focal areas, Central Food Technological Research Institute focuses on food technology, molecular nutrition and also food safety. So it is under the purview of food safety they have carried out the analysis. And some of the secondary objectives also include developing technologies to reduce post-harvest losses and also to increase exports and also to find new sources of food products. So these are some of the secondary objectives with respect to the Central Food Technological Research Institute which is a laboratory under Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. So these are some of the information with respect to the analysis of this news article. Now this question is with reference to wild buffalo. They are asking which among the following statements are correct. Now the first statement it is found only in the northeastern region of India. Now during the analysis we saw that wild buffaloes are found in northeastern region and also in central India particularly in the state of Chattisgarh. And according to wildlife trust of India the estimated population of wild buffalo in the northeastern region is around some 3000 to 4000 individuals. And they say that within the Indian landscape the northeastern region constitutes the largest population of wild buffaloes. At national level if you take the total number of wild buffaloes in India they constitute 92% of world population of wild buffalo. So we can say more than 90% of wild buffaloes are found in India. So the first statement is incorrect but if appropriate conservation measures are not taken to protect the available wild buffaloes in the central Indian region maybe in future this statement may become correct. If the wild buffaloes become extinct in the region of central India. Now let's come to the second statement. They are saying it is protected by the Wild Life Protection Act of 1972. Now this statement is correct and wild buffaloes are protected under schedule 1 of Wild Life Protection Act of 1972. So the second statement is correct. Now the third statement it is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. Now this statement is also correct. According to IUCN total matured individuals are roughly around 2500 only. However overall we can say some 3000 to 4000 individuals are there in the world. And their population trend is decreasing. So they have been listed as endangered by IUCN Red List. So the correct statements are 2 and 3. So the correct answer should be option C 2 and 3 only. The moment you know the first statement is incorrect you can easily eliminate option A and B. Because both the options are saying statement 1 is also correct. Now let's go to the next question. Consider the following statements with reference to Dipteria. They have given 3 statements and are asking which of the above statements are not correct. First statement says it is a contagious disease. When we say contagious it is communicable disease. That is the disease can easily transmit from one person to another. So Dipteria is an infection of nose and throat that can spread easily through direct contact with the infected person through infected cough or sneeze droplets. So the statement 1 is correct. Now the second statement it is caused by a virus. Now we know that it is caused by a microorganism for sure. But it is not a virus it is bacteria. So it is caused by a bacterium called as Corinibacterium Dipteria. So therefore the second statement is not correct. Now the third statement until now there is no vaccine for the disease. Now this statement is wrong because Dipteria or Pertosis is a vaccine preventable disease. Now the third statement is wrong. So they are asking which of the above statements are not correct. Only one first statement is correct. So the answer should be option D 2 and 3 only. So this question is with reference to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. So they have given 3 statements and are asking to select the correct statements based on the given codes. The first statement CSIR works under Ministry of Science and Technology. Now that CSIR was established in 1942 and at present it is working under Ministry of Science and Technology. And the Vice President of this organization is the Minister for Science and Technology. So the first statement is correct. The second statement says it is a body registered under Societies Registration Act of 1860. Now this statement is also correct. Now the third statement it is presided by the Prime Minister of India. Now this statement is also correct. The President of this organization is the Honorable Prime Minister of India. So the correct answer for this question is option D 1 2 and 3. With this we come to the end of today's The Hindu News Analysis. If you like the video press the like button, comment, share and subscribe to Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service exam preparation.