 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 Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram 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 is also provided in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let us move on to the analysis of first news article. This news article talks about elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. The news article talks about Nandan Kannan Zoological Park. See this park is located in Bhubaneswar in Odisha. They are saying that the park has lost four elephants because of this elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus within a span of 30 days. So the authorities are planning to follow strict sanitation and disinfection protocol to prevent the spread of this disease to other elephants. We'll see why sanitation and disinfection is required. They are saying that this, the recent incidents in this Nandan Kannan Zoo is the first instance of the infection being noticed in the country among the elephants that are in confinement under human control. In other words, these are called as among the elephants in captivity. Now let's see a few information with respect to elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus. It is a type of herpes virus. When we say herpes virus, it's a virus belonging to the family of herpes viride. These herpes viruses are pathogenic. That is, they will cause diseases. They cause disease in a wide variety of animals. They also cause disease in humans, monkeys, birds, frogs and even fishes. So one type of herpes virus is what we call as elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus. This virus causes acute hemorrhagic disease among elephants, particularly young elephants. That is the elephant calves. Here they are saying more serious cases of this virus attack observed among Asian elephants. Hemorrhagic means pertaining to bleeding or abnormal flow of blood. That is what we call as excessive bleeding. So as a result of this bleeding, it can lead to death. Therefore, it is a fatal disease. So where will this disease attack? That is available in the name of the virus itself. See the word endotheliotrophic describes the tissue that is attacked by this virus. This virus attacks endothelial tissue. This tissue is found inside blood vessels. And coming to this virus, there are many strains. If you see most of the destination elements is associated with the virus strain of elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus 1 capital A. Other fatal strains that are observed in Asian elephants are 1B, V3, V4 and V5. Now let's see how it can be transmitted. See generally, herpes viruses are spread by mucosal secretions. These secretions include saliva, breast milk, nasal and vaginal secretions. Available scientific evidence says that this elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus can be found in mucosal secretions of elephants. And it may be spread by trunk to trunk contact among elephants. And this elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus will affect only elephants and it is not infectious to human beings or any other animals. As we saw, they are caused damage to endothelial tissue or to the lining of small blood vessels, primarily the capillary vessels. So as a result, blood starts to leak out of the vessels. There will be progressive blood loss and fluid loss. When this damage gets worsened, the functioning of the heart becomes less sufficient. They say the heart starts to pump less efficiently and ultimately it will lead to the death or fatality of the elephant. They are saying that the way this virus attacks elephant is similar to the way Ebola virus attacks human beings. Ebola virus is also a hemorrhagic virus. In many cases, when this virus attacks elephant, elephants suffer from internal bleeding with little outward manifestation. So identifying internal bleeding is very difficult and internal bleeding leads to damage of one organ, subsequently many organs. Ultimately, it will lead to death. So the key to identify this virus infection is based on observing the symptoms of this virus. See, if you see the symptoms of elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus, it includes lethargy, reduced or decreased appetite of the animal. That means the elephant will not have the desire to have food and therefore increased breathing rate, heartbeats and the tongue of the elephant will become blue color. And there is also association with swelling of the head of the elephant. So these things have to be noticed clearly to observe the infection of this virus. They are saying this is a worldwide disease, but however lethal cases or serious nature of the infections have been reported among the wild elephants. In Asian range countries, here we can say Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Cambodia. These are about wild animals in these countries. And we can say that many zoos across the world, wherever the elephants are held in captivity or in confinement or in human control. We can also observe this virus attacking elephants in other parts of the world also in various zoos where elephants are held under confinement or captivity or under human control. Research studies are saying that this elephant specific herpes virus may have been in the populations of elephants for tens of millions of years. That is for several years. They are also saying even human herpes viruses also have been in human populations for a long period of time. Therefore, they are saying it is a naturally occurring disease. So every elephant in the wild or even every elephant in human captivity or every elephant in captivity may be carrying one or more viruses of elephant herpes virus among them. So one main thing is that there is no cure available against this virus. So there is the possibility of only controlling the spread. That is the important strategy here. See mucous secretions in soil has to be removed. Therefore, they are suggesting that the soil of the captive site if infected with mucous secretions or this virus has to be cleared and burned. And there should be avoidance of physical contact between elephants and they have to carry out blood tests and pathological tests at frequent interval or regular interval for these elephants so as to identify the presence of the virus. And we have to also monitor the behavior and food intake of the elephants. Why we are saying this? Because one of the symptoms is lethargy. One of the symptoms is reduced appetite. These things have to be monitored to understand whether such a virus is present in the animal so as to take appropriate care for the elephant. So these are some of the points we can understand with respect to the analysis of elephant endotheliotrophic herpes virus. Now let's move on to analysis of next article. This news article is about the stand of the organization of Islamic cooperation. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. Recently on the sidelines of 74th session of UN General Assembly, the contact group of organization of Islamic cooperation on Jammu and Kashmir they have conducted a ministerial meeting. In this meeting the OIC contact group has called the international community to accelerate its efforts to help the people of Jammu and Kashmir so that they may be able to achieve their legitimate rights. In this context we should know the stand of OIC with respect to the disputed territory between India and Pakistan. According to OIC the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is an international dispute but according to India it is a bilateral dispute between India and Pakistan according to the Shimla agreement of 1972. Why OIC is telling it has to be an internationally recognized dispute? This is because when the matter is internationalized, when we call international dispute it means there has to be a third party mediation and when we say bilateral dispute it means both the countries will mutually solve the matter through peaceful dialogues and this OIC actually calls for settling this dispute where the final disposition or the final settlement has to be done through a plebiscite under the supervision of United Nations. So when they say plebiscite here they mean that the people in Jammu and Kashmir will be asked to vote whether they would like to join with India or to join with Pakistan. We should note that OIC calls for a dialogue between India and Pakistan but at the same time it also calls for UN mediation and solving of the dispute in the lines of UN resolutions. Some of the UN Security Council resolutions that are relevant with respect to Jammu and Kashmir or India-Pakistan relations are United Nations Security Council 39, UNSE resolution 47. So these are the resolutions that are related to this matter. Here the UN Security Council resolution 47 it mandated to plan a mechanism to ensure democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite in the then state of Jammu and Kashmir. However it has also asked Pakistan to withdraw the tribesmen and Pakistani nationals who are normally not residing in Jammu and Kashmir and also to withdraw those who have entered Jammu and Kashmir for fighting in 1947-1948 also. Till now such a plebiscite has not been conducted in JNK. The main reason is because Pakistan has not withdrawn the tribesmen or Pakistani nationals who entered the territory of Jammu and Kashmir during 1947-48 and it has altered the demography particularly in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir. So that in future whenever such a plebiscite will be conducted it has to go in favour of Pakistan. So in such scenario there cannot be a plebiscite. We have discussed in detail about these resolutions during our analysis on August 19, 2019. The link has been given here for your reference and we know that recently in the month of August India has abrogated or removed the temporary provisions with respect to the state of Jammu and Kashmir given under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and India has also revoked the special status that was given to Jammu and Kashmir under the provisions of Article 370. While this is an internal matter of India to promote governance and socio-economic development in JNK organization of Islamic cooperation calls these internal efforts of India as a unilateral actions that means according to OIC India should discuss with Pakistan to bring any change in this territory and for OIC the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is among the most important agenda items. The news article mentions that in the recent statement that was made by this contact group Saudi Arabia has joined with three more countries to support the stand of OIC and also Pakistan. These countries are Turkey, Azerbaijan and Niger and the news article mentions that so far Turkey is the only country to raise Kashmir at the United Nations platforms in favor of Pakistan. We also know that on August 16, 2019 the United Nations Security Council has held a closed consultation on India-Pakistan question that is with respect to the dispute between India and Pakistan. We know that this meeting held because of the instance of China at the request of Pakistan. We know that both India and Pakistan were not allowed to participate in this closed consultation and we also know that after 1971 this is the first time that UN Security Council has taken this India-Pakistan question for such a consultation. And with respect to Turkey we should also know that it is one among the three countries that are totally supporting Pakistan at the financial action task force so that Pakistan can never be blacklisted for its alleged activities of supporting terror financing. The other two countries are China and Malaysia. So these are some of the developments that we can relate with this news article. Now let us see few facts with respect to the organization of Islamic cooperation. According to OIC it is the second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations. That is the largest intergovernmental organization is UN and the second largest intergovernmental organization is OIC. There could be several agreements, several treaties that consist of many number of countries. But as a intergovernmental organization OIC is the second largest. It has 57 member states across four continents. Some of our neighboring countries are also part of this organization say Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan. And we should know that country wise if you see India has the second largest share of Muslims across the world. And they are saying that in future by 2050 India will be the nation that has largest share of Muslims in the world. But such a nation is still not a member in this organization of Islamic cooperation. And one of the main reason is our neighboring country Pakistan. Way back in 1969 when this organization was undergoing the formation India was invited to attend a meeting. But at the instance of Pakistan they withdraw the invite extended to India. And till now India is not a member. And this year is the 50th anniversary of OIC. And recently in March 2019 the external affairs minister of India was invited as the guest of honor to attend the inaugural plenary of foreign ministers conclave of OIC. The organization calls itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world that seeks to safeguard and protect the interests of the Islamic people across the world. The establishment of this organization was based on a decision that was taken in a summit which was held on 25th September 1969 in the kingdom of Morocco. Exactly after 50 years on the 25th September we see the contact group of organization of Islamic cooperation issuing a press statement calling for settling of Jammu and Kashmir bilateral dispute in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions. The permanent secretariat of this organization is established in Jeddah city in Saudi Arabia. The organization works on several areas and it has several goals. Areas such as peace and security, Palestine, poverty alleviation, investment, finance, food security etc. Let's see two specialized organs that work under the banner of OIC. One of them is Islamic Development Bank and the other is Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. For Islamic Development Bank the criteria is they have to be a member of OIC to become a member. So they have only 57 member countries in this Islamic Development Bank. So these are some of the information and these are about the analysis of this news article. Now let us move on to next news article. This news article is about Nira. The syllabus relevant for the analysis has been highlighted here for your reference. The news article mentions that the Telangana government has introduced a Nira policy. This policy has been announced by the excise minister of Telangana. They are telling that under this policy they are going to set up the first Nira shop or the Nira parlor in Hyderabad and they are going to promote Nira as the Telangana's traditional drink. The promotion will be done by the state government and also the tourism department of the state government. And this Nira policy is said to benefit the welfare of Gaud community and Tadi Tapas. See the Gaud community is known for the Tadi extraction. They are saying that people belonging to this community have the superiority or preeminence in Tadi extraction. When we say Tadi generally or it is commonly considered as a fresh sap or fermented sap of various Asian palm trees. Generally when people say Tadi they include both. Here when we say sap it means the fluid that circulates in the vascular part of the tree or a plant. They are saying this sap will mainly consist of water that has dissolved sugars and mineral salts. So common parlance when we say Tadi tapas they mean those individuals who are engaged in collection and preparation of Tadi. So in general parlance they are saying it includes fresh sap or fermented sap. See this Tadi is ephemeral that means it will last only for a minimum time or a short time. The reason is this sap will remain the same only for some hours. Within few hours of collection the sap will start undergoing fermentation. Initially the sap will be sugary syrup and after some hours it will transform into a effervescent alcoholic drink. Effervescent means having bubbles or froth as you can see in this picture. And within 24 hours of collection it further undergoes fermentation or it further ferments into vinegar. This vinegary substance can be used to make pickles and it is unpleasant to drink. So this means Tadi generally has a or a very short lifespan. So traditionally it is not bottled or exported that means it will be consumed domestically or locally. So therefore this Nira policy or this new policy by government is considered to be a boost for the Tadi tapas who would benefit in selling the Nira products. So this is the general understanding of Tadi. We will see the difference between Tadi and Nira later in this analysis. The news article also mentions the government is encouraging palm tree plantations to revive the livelihood of Tadi tapas. This encouragement is part of Haritha Haram. Haritha Haram or Telangana Koo Haritha Karam is a flagship program of Telangana state government because this program aims to increase the tree cover of the state from 24 percentage to 33 percentage in the total geographical area of the state. So they are saying that under this Nira policy Nira would be produced in all the districts of the state however in phases not in a single go. And the Nira license will be given only to Goudha and Ediga community members. So this is as per the directions of the chief minister of Telangana. Now let us see about Nira. See Nira is a nutritious health drink. It has 0% alcohol or it has no alcohol. It is the unfermented juice tapped or extracted from the inflorescence of coconut palm. When we say inflorescence it is the complete flower head of a plant or tree that also includes stems and flowers. Since it is a nutritious health drink it is one of the important revenue generating economic producers of Pamira tree. According to the Coconut Development Board of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Nira is more nutritious than any of the commercially marketed fruit juices that is available in our country. This is because of the nutritional composition of Nira. It is a good source for minerals like calcium, phosphorus and iron. And it is also vitamin rich, vitamin A, thiamine or vitamin B1, riboflavin that is vitamin B2, niacin or vitamin B3. And citric acid can be found in this Nira. Therefore it is generally given as a supplement for iron and vitamin deficiency. And Nira acts as a laxative which means it can be used to treat and prevent constipation. It also acts as diuretic. Diuretics are also called as water pills. That means these are used as medications to increase the amount of water and salt in the body that is generally expelled as urine. And it is also helpful to treat high blood pressure. This Nira has one more important characteristic that is it has very low glycemic index or GI. Now this value of glycemic index denotes how slowly or how quickly certain foods can lead to increase in blood glucose levels. See the blood glucose levels are known as blood sugar. And we know that blood glucose levels above normal or prescribed level are toxic to human body and they can lead to blindness, kidney failure or even increases cardiovascular risk. Whereas the foods which are low on the glycemic index scale, they release glucose slowly and steadily. That is the reason why people with diabetes they concentrate or they are advised to take low GI foods or low glycemic index foods. If a person consumes foods that are high on the glycemic index, these foods will release glucose rapidly that is not desirable for certain individuals. Low GI foods on other hand they will release glucose slowly and steadily and they are helpful in keeping under control the blood glucose level. If you take Nira, we saw that it has very low glycemic index. It has a GI of 35. If you see a normal table sugar, it has GI of 70. That is why they say Nira can be used by diabetic patients also. And if we see the sugar that is present in other fruit juices, they have GI more than double of Nira. Therefore Nira is considered as a nutritious drink than other fruit juices. In some clinical research studies, they also say that Nira is helpful in medical applications for asthma, tuberculosis, bronchial suffocation and piles. See bronchi are the passageways to the lungs. So bronchial suffocation refers to suffocation in the passage to the lungs. And this Nira is also believed to facilitate clear urination and also having the properties to prevent jaundice. These are the health benefits of Nira. However unfortunately knowingly or unknowingly, this Nira is also included under toddy. In the beginning when we discussed about toddy extraction, we talked about fresh sap from palm trees which are water containing dissolved sugars and mineral salts. This fresh sap is sugary syrup. This sugary syrup is what they call as Nira. And toddy is a fermented sap. However generally people consider both as toddy. Actually toddy is the next product of Nira. Many laws of different states, they wrongly define the unfermented juice of coconut palm as toddy. That is they wrongly define Nira as toddy also. But actually toddy is a fermented juice. This wrong interpretation is similar to how they are similar to interpreting milk as curd or curd as milk in the way curd is produced from milk. So there is wrong interpretations even in several laws of different states. These laws are actually hindrance in the widespread use of Nira which are fresh sap. Because these laws include unfermented juice under the definition of toddy along with the fermented juice. As a result we should note that toddy is put under the definition of liquor and country liquor. So this means once unfermented Nira is also included under toddy. Then Nira automatically gets included under liquor products. So this means once unfermented Nira is included under toddy that naturally means Nira also comes under liquor products. So here we have to be clear that Nira on fermentation gets converted to toddy and not vice versa. Therefore both Nira and toddy are two different products. We may take it chemically or nutritionally. We also saw about Nira products with respect to enhancing livelihood of toddy tapas. These products also generate revenue and they are good for health. So what are Nira products? See Nira can be used as basic raw material for producing palm jaggery or gur or palm sugar or palm candy. Some of these are in semi-solid form, some of these are in solid form. So the toddy tapas or this Nira tapas they are involved in this production trade and this trade is said to be good employment opportunity for them and it also gives some good earnings to the taper communities. However they are saying that these tapas are the poorest of the poor. Internationally if you see at present Nira is being produced in Cambodia, Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Sri Lanka. And the news article states that US has started to import it from Africa. We saw that traditionally these fresh sap are not bottled nor exported. Now under certain conditions of temperature and other requirements this Nira can be exported. Similar to Africa maybe in future we may also export Nira. Know that in our country Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan these are some of the states that are already selling this Nira. So we saw about what is Nira, what is toddy, we saw the differences. We saw the health benefits of Nira along with this news article which talks about bringing a new Nira policy in the state of Telangana. Now let us move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article talks about stubble burning. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. So how farmers in Punjab or Haryana, how did they harvest paddy crops some 40 or 50 years ago? They carried out these tasks manually. After harvesting the crops the farmers carried out tilling exercises and they put back the plant debris or the crop residues back into the soil. But in 1980s because of mechanized harvesting systems people started to move from manual harvesting to mechanized harvesting. These machines are called as combined harvester machines. They are known for harvesting, threshing and cleaning the separated grain in single go. But while carrying out harvesting these machines leaves behind crop residues or stocks or long stocks to around one foot tall in the fields which have to be removed. So this practice of stubble burning came along with the mechanized combined harvesting machines as these machines leave behind crop residues while carrying out their task. So to clear manually these crop residues it will take months, it will be expensive. So therefore farmers found one cheap method for themselves but however at the cost of environment. That is they take matchstick and burn these crop residues in a single go. The left out stock or straw is what are called as stubble or in Punjabi Parali. So stubble burning refers to burning off these crop residues that are leftovers from the crop combined harvesting machines. We can see in newspapers that this practice is practiced in Punjab, Haryana and also in Uttar Pradesh. However very commonly practiced in Punjab. And one reason is that farming practices are heavily mechanized in Punjab and as a result they leave a huge amount of crop residue in the land. And one another reason why they go for burning the stubble is because immediately after the harvesting of paddy, farmers in Punjab go for rabbi cultivation, particularly wheat. So we know that main rabbi crop is wheat and the sowing season is from October to December and harvesting season is from February to May. So usually the farmers will have some 10 to 15 days after the harvesting of paddy and before going into sowing of wheat. So they normally feel that it will take months to clear these crop residues so they will go for burning. So these are the main reasons of the practice of stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and also in Uttar Pradesh. According to the farmers it saves time and also money. However there are severe negative impacts on the other territories particularly the national capital territory of Delhi and there is also other impacts. Another impact is that this stubble burning leads to loss of nutrients in the soil. Important nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium these will be lost because of the burning and also as a result of burning which increases the temperature there leads to death of several beneficial soil organisms that are required for cultivation. So frequent stubble burning incidents also lead to loss of microbial population. This stubble burning is also a potential cause of greenhouse gases and trace gases and other aerosols. More importantly it is an important source of particulate matter 10 and particulate matter 2.5. And reports say that stubble burning or this biomass burning constitutes 26% to the concentration of particulate matter 2.5 in winter season in Delhi. And we know this particulate matter have severe health problems as they lead to airborne and lung diseases in human beings when humans are exposed to these particulate matter for a long period of time. What are some of the reasons why Delhi and some parts of northern India they suffer huge air pollution particularly during winter. There is a strong scientific evidence that there is deterioration in air quality in Delhi in the months of October and November and the main reason for this is stubble burning by the farmers of Punjab and Haryana states. One main reason as we saw is because of burning of crop residue of paddy crop. Here we have to mark one distinction it is said that whenever farmers harvest wheat crop they will burn only the stock. The remaining part of the crop residue will be used as food for cattle but for paddy harvesting in months of October and November farmers burn both paddy stock and paddy straw. So that is with respect to harvesting of paddy. In winter months in northern India and particularly in Delhi there is high probability of temperature inversion. So during temperature inversion what happens? A layer of cool air will be overlaid by a layer of warm air that is layer of warm air will be above the layer of cool air. Normally it will not be so because normally as we move normally as we go with increasing altitude there will be decrease in temperature but during temperature inversion there will be increase in temperature with the increase in altitude because warm air layer is above the layer of cool air. This temperature inversion prevents the rise and dispersal of pollutants that come from the lower layers of atmosphere. Therefore this layer of warm air actually acts like a lid that prevents vertical mixing and dispersal of pollutants. Thereby the pollution material is trapped in the ground level itself and this winter season is marked with less wind speeds or relative absence of wind. As a result the pollutants stay in the ground level itself and they stay in the same region. These are some of the important reasons why the air pollution levels are high during the winter season in Delhi and some of the northern states. Both the central government and state governments have taken several measures with respect to preventing the stubble burning. Even National Green Tribunal has passed an order on 10th December 2015 banning the burning of crop residues in NCT Delhi and Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. And if someone is carrying out stubble burning if it is found out they have to pay fines or environmental compensation according to the rules and these are collected by concerned state governments. Now you see the news article it states that there has been a spike or increase in agricultural fires that is stubble burning in Punjab in September. They are saying that from 24th to 26th September this year there have been 107 incidents of stubble burning whereas in the same period last year it was only 11. So they are saying that compared to previous year there is increase in incidents of stubble burning. Main reason for less number of incidents in last year the paddy harvesting was delayed why it was delayed because monsoon conditions were there till the end of October. So compared to previous year this year it is almost little bit early harvesting. They are saying harvesting of basmati rice has already begun that is one of the main reason why there is increase in stubble burning incidents even in the month of September itself. And with respect to stubble burning in recent years actually there is reduction of fire incidents. In 2016 there were more than 80,000 fire incidents it was reduced to some 40,000 in 2017 that means almost half such incidents have been reduced. And there was around 10% reduction from 2017 to 2018 and Punjab Pollution Control Board and others are seriously expecting a strong reduction this year as well. Here the news article talks about a particular central sector scheme for which in 2018 the union ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare have allocated 591 crore to the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. This central sector scheme is called as promotion of agricultural mechanization for in situ management of crop residue in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and national capital territory of Delhi. When we say central sector scheme it means these schemes will be totally or absolutely funded by the central government. For example PM Kisan, for example this scheme when we say centrally sponsored scheme here it means the central government will sponsor certain proportion or certain share of fund requirement for a particular scheme. Now here this promotion of agricultural mechanization for in situ management of crop residue scheme. This scheme is basically to help farmers to get access to machines that will plow the stubble back into the soil instead of burning. So the farmers should not burn the stubble rather they have to use these machines or implements that will remove the stubble and will plow the stubble back into the soil. As a result farmers can save time. However it is said that though there have been subsidies or upfront incentives for the purchase of these machines the machines are even then expensive for the farmers who were so far relying on stubble burning. Even now the farmers are of strong opinion that rather than going for paying money for buying these machines stubble burning is the most cheapest method of disposing the crop residue. So these are some of the information discussed under this news article. Now let us go to one more news article related to stubble burning in the Delhi edition. This news article states that the Delhi chief minister has written a letter to the chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana and also to the union ministry of environment. He has asked them to take bold and credible or urgent action over the matter of stubble burning. Even recently we saw that the Delhi government has announced a parallely action plan or a 7 point action plan that is to be implemented in the month of November in Delhi. Parallely means stubble in Punjabi and that is why it is called as action plan for stubble burning or parallely action plan. One of them is bringing the odd even car rationing scheme during November 4 to November 15 as an emergency measure to prevent pollution from being added up to the pollution that are brought to Delhi by stubble burning. Then people will be also given N95 category masks free of cost as these masks will help in arresting the particulate matter from entering the respiratory system of human beings. And we know that Deepavali celebrations is also one of the main reasons is also one of the important reasons that contribute pollution in winter in Delhi. And therefore Supreme Court has banned bursting of crackers and Delhi government is organizing a laser show for people again reportedly free of cost so that they can get the feeling of seeing a cracker bursting in the sky. And one of the seven action points is having water sprinkling mechanisms to suppress the dusts. The government has decided to identify 12 pollution hotspots and there will be special plans to prevent the impacts of pollution in these places. And government has also made certain arrangements for putting in place two environment marshals who will be responsible for preventing pollution and preventing burning of waste in their allotted wards. And Delhi government has also announced Delhi tree challenge where there will be a provision of free home delivery of sapling to people who would wish to grow plants in their areas of interest. These are the measures to be taken under seven action point plan or the Paraly action plan. So these are some of the information with respect to the analysis of these two news articles. Now let us move on to next article. This news article talks about Anemia Mukth Bharat strategy that was announced by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Intensified National Iron Plus Initiative. The news article mentions that the strategy has been launched in the state of Karnataka. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. See we have a national iron plus initiative. This initiative was launched in 2013 by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The purpose is to combat the challenge of iron deficiency anemia. In 2018 this national iron plus initiative was rechristened and reconstituted as Intensified National Iron Plus Initiative. So when we say anemia Mukth Bharat it is a strategy that comes under this Intensified National Iron Plus Initiative. So the main objective of this strategy is to reduce the prevalence of anemia by the year 2022. Human beings are said to have this condition of anemia when the oxygen carrying capacity of red blood cells is insufficient to meet the body's physiological requirements. And they also define anemia as having hemoglobin concentration below the established or prescribed cutoff levels in the blood. And iron is the key component of this hemoglobin and the deficiency of iron is responsible for almost half of all anemia incidents globally. So other causes of anemia we can say malaria, fluorosis, hookworms and other helmets and other nutritional deficiencies and even some chronic infections and genetic conditions. Here we have to keep in mind that iron deficiency is mainly responsible for anemia. This anemia is a serious concern for children because it can hamper cognitive development of children. It can lead to stunted growth of children. It can increase the infection levels among children from various diseases. With respect to anemia we have a global target under world health organization. So by this WHO aims 50% reduction of anemia in women of reproductive age by the year 2025. Now let's come to the situation in India. Here in our country more than 50% of four vulnerable sections of the population are anemic. They are pregnant women, children under five years of age, adolescent girls and non-pregnant, non-lactating women who are the fourth section. So to address this problem of iron deficiency anemia, way back in 2013 government has initiated this national iron plus initiative which was reconstituted as Intensified National Iron Plus Initiative in 2018. Now under this initiative this strategy comes into picture which aims to reach out to 450 million beneficiaries. Objective of reducing anemia levels under this strategy is in line with the objectives under Poshan Abhyan and National Nutrition Strategy of Nithya Yog. We know that under Poshan Abhyan India aims to reduce stunting, aims to reduce under nutrition, aims to reduce anemia and also aims to reduce low birth weight. It aims to reduce stunting by 2% every year till 2022 and aims to reduce under nutrition by 2% every year. It aims to reduce anemia among young children, women and adolescent girls by 3% every year and to reduce low birth weight every year by 2%. So under Poshan Abhyan we find that the rate of reduction is 3% every year for anemia. The same is also adopted by this Anemia Mukth Bharat Strategy. That is why we say that this strategy is in line with the Poshan Abhyan which is also called as National Nutrition Mission. The baseline for this strategy is 2015-16 which is the data for which will be provided by the National Family Health Survey 4. This Anemia Mukth Bharat Strategy is called as 6x6x6 strategy because it targets 6 beneficiary groups through 6 interventions by 6 institutional mechanisms to achieve the target for reduction of anemia by the year 2022, the 75th year of Indian independence. The interventions here include supplementing using prophylactic iron and folic acid, then de-warming by providing albumdazole tablet and there will be intensified behavior change communication campaign that will be focusing on child feeding practices, focusing on intake of iron rich food and those initiatives that will help in addressing this iron deficiency anemia. There will also be testing and treatment of anemia using digital methods and in government funded public health programs there will be a mandatory provision of iron and folic acid fortified foods. And under the strategy there will also be an intervention of intensifying awareness screening and treatment of non nutritional causes of anemia in some anemia endemic pockets. When we say non nutritional causes of anemia it does not include iron deficiency anemia rather it includes other causes that we have earlier discussed such as malaria, fluorosis and other contributing factors of anemia. The strategy aims to say 6 institutional mechanisms, one of them is intra ministerial coordination, then there will be a national anemia Mukth Bharat unit, then there will be a national center of excellence and advanced research on anemia control and convergence with other ministries, fifth institutional mechanism will be strengthening supply chain and logistics with respect to anemia reduction programs. And finally the sixth institutional mechanism is anemia Mukth Bharat dashboard and a digital portal. We saw 6 interventions, we saw 6 institutional mechanisms and there are 6 target groups. They are children in the age group of 6 to 59 months and adolescent girls in the age group of 15 to 19 years and also adolescent boys in the age group of 15 to 19 years and women of reproductive age, pregnant women and lactating women. So this image gives the anemia prevalence in India for all these 6 vulnerable sections in 2015-16 as per NFHS 4, National Family Health Survey 4. From this for a period of 6 years till 2022 each year there has to be a reduction of 3 percentage. So for all these sections from the baseline there will be a reduction of 18 percentage 6 into 3, so 18 percentage there will be a reduction. So the national target for 2022 is given accordingly for these groups. So therefore they call the strategy as 6 cross 6 cross 6 strategy as it aims to reduce anemia by 2022 among 6 target beneficiary groups through 6 interventions and by using 6 institutional mechanisms. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. We have come to the final session that is the practice question discussion session. See this question is with reference to anemia Mukth Bharat strategy. Literal translation of this terminology means make India free from anemia, strategy to make India free from anemia. During the analysis we saw this strategy has certain targets to be achieved by the year 2022. They have given two statements and they are asking which of the above statements are correct. The first statement it aims to reduce anemia in adolescent girls pregnant and lactating women only. This strategy is called as anemia Mukth 6 cross 6 cross 6 strategy. The reason being one 6 refers to 6 target groups. Other 6 refers to 6 interventions. Other 6 refers to 6 institutional mechanisms. So there are 6 target groups. One among them is children who are in the age group of 6 to 59 months. Then there is a category of adolescent girls, adolescent boys, then women of reproductive age, then pregnant women and lactating women. These are all the 6 categories of target groups. So the first statement is wrong. Now the second statement its objective is to reduce the prevalence of anemia by 5 percentage points per year. Now the statement is incorrect because we saw that this strategy of making India free from anemia is compatible with the targets given under Poshan Abhyan. For anemia they have targeted to reduce by 3 percentage every year among young children, women and adolescent girls. So from 2015-16 till 2021-2022 every year there has to be a reduction of 3 percent. So that is the target. The same is also under this strategy. So if we say 5 percentage points it is wrong. So the two statements are wrong here. So the correct answer for this question is since they are asking correct statements and none of the statements are correct, the correct answer is option D neither one nor two. Now this question is with reference to elephant endotheliotrophic herpes virus. We saw this with reference to the news article talking about death of 4 elephants in a span of 30 days in Nandan Kannan Zoological Park in Bhuvaneshwar in Odisha. They have given two statements and are asking which of the above statements are correct. First statement it affects only the elephants in captivity. That is they are saying only those elephants which are under confinement, which are under the control of human beings, it will affect only those animals which are restricted with respect to movement. During the analysis we saw that this virus can infect even wild elephants also. So the statement says it affects only the elephants in captivity is wrong. And second statement it is included as one of the diseases to be eradicated under national animal disease control program. See the national animal disease control program includes food and mouth disease and brucellosis. Here the food and mouth disease is a livestock disease that affects livestock animals such as cow, buffalo, goat, sheep and other such animals. And brucellosis is a disease that affects reproductive organs and mammary glands of cows and buffaloes. So anyway here we should know that so far this elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus is not included in this national animal disease control program. So the second statement is incorrect. Since both the statements are incorrect question asked for correct statements therefore the correct answer is option D neither one nor two. In this question they are asking which among the following negative impacts on environment are caused by stubble burning. Air pollution, greenhouse gas emission, loss of soil nutrients, deforestation, smog. Asking to select the correct answer. We know that stubble burning is associated with air pollution in Delhi and in other areas in northern India. During the analysis we saw that stubble burning is a potential source of greenhouse gas emission particularly methane and nitrous oxide. Some of the other greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, water vapor, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride. So one and two are there and loss of soil nutrients is also there because this loss of soil nutrients is experienced in the fields where stubble burning happens. So three is there. Deforestation is not caused by stubble burning. It is logically incorrect. Smog is associated with stubble burning or is in fact caused by stubble burning. The smoke that arises because of stubble burning mixes with fog to become smog and to get trapped in Delhi. Creating air pollution during the situations of minimal wind speed or relatively no wind speed or under the situation of temperature inversion. So except for all the given impacts are correct. So the correct answer is option C one, two, three and five only. Here they have given two statements asking which among the above are correct. First statement benzene we know that ozone and lead are air pollutants. Major sources of lead air emissions are you know motor vehicles and some industrial sources. And similarly benzene is also an air pollutant. It can cause acute and long-term health effects particularly even cancer. The source are you know benzene containing petrol products and problem can be caused because benzene comes under volatile organic compounds. When it is inhaled by human beings that exposure can lead to health consequences. The presence of benzene in petrol and its use as industrial solvent can lead to occupational exposure particularly among the workers who work there. So benzene is also an air pollutant. The second statement stubble burning by the farmers in Punjab contributes to air pollution in Delhi. The statement is correct. Even we can say stubble burning in by the farmers in Punjab and Haryana contributes to air pollution in Delhi. During the analysis we saw that around 26 to 29% of the pollution of particulate matter 2.5 in Delhi is contributed by stubble burning or biomass burning. So here both the statements are correct. The correct answer is option C both 1 and 2. With this we come to the end of today's the Hindu News Analysis. If you like the video click the like button, share, comment and subscribe to Shankarai's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service exam preparation.