 Good evening aspirant. Welcome to the Hindi news analysis by Shankar Eise academy. These are the list of articles chosen for today's analysis The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the time stamping for the displayed articles is given in the description box below and For the benefit of smartphone users. It is provided also in the comments section Let's move on to the first article analysis for today The first discussion for today is based on the burning issue in the recent times Which is related to the permanent commission and command post for the women officers in the Indian army and Recently Supreme Court has given its judgment related to this issue Supreme Court had said that the women officers who are presently serving in the Indian army through short service commission are Eligible for permanent commission and they are eligible for holding command post in the army the issue of granting permanent commission and command post So women officers its advantages, etc. Have been explained in detail in our 14th February in the news analysis Please refer to it first for better understanding in this discussion We'll focus on the Supreme Court judgment only the syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference First let us discuss the background of this issue in brief in 1992 The center had notified that women are eligible for appointment as officers in the army for five years into certain posts They include army postal service judge advocate general department and army education course, etc But later this five-year clause was removed by the Ministry of Home Affairs Then in 2005 women officers were appointed through short service commission for 14 years So in 2006 a number of short service commission women officers in the army filed a petition in the Delhi High Court Seeking permanent commission for them and based on this petition the Delhi High Court ruled in favor of the women SSC officers in 2010 but then later in 2011 this case was appealed in the Supreme Court and for this appeal only the final judgment has came Recently so now let us discuss some of the grounds given by the center for not granting permanent commission and command post For women officers the government had said that the physiological differences between men and women Makes it impossible to have equal physical performances by this the government means that women are physically Inferior to men when it comes to field or combat activities and they argue that this is further highlighted by their prolonged absence During pregnancy motherhood and domestic obligations towards children and family the center also said that the danger of women officers being captured by the enemy is high and Women officers becoming a prisoner of war is also high and then they have also said the point about the privacy of women officers They have said that there are minimal facilities for habitat and hygiene in the border areas and in the insurgency heat areas So this will compromise the privacy of women officers So as a whole the center is of the opinion that all these would prevent women officers from committing herself Beyond the call of duty based on these reasons We can even say that these arguments does not seem to be reasonable even the Supreme Court judgment also says the same the judgment Mentioned that these arguments are based on sex stereotypes prevalent in the society The arguments are based on socially ascribed roles of gender which discriminates against women For example the views of the center underlines the view that domestic obligations such as Child and family care are just women's duty Supreme Court even noted that the mentality that the physically weaker sex that is the woman cannot undertake arduous or laborious tasks is Fundamentally flawed and also centers argument of minimal facilities in the conflict zones is also not reasonable Because if you see at present 30 percentage of the women officers are deputed in the conflict areas So these arguments by the center were countered by the women officers by showing their achievements For example Indian women officers have proved their ability by being a part of UN peacekeeping missions in the African countries like Congo and Burundi And we have also women officers who have received the gallantry award for fighting Taliban in Afghanistan And there are a number of instances when women officers have proved their ability in Jammu and Kashmir and also in Northeast India And if you see recently during our 71st Republic Day parade Captain Tanya Shergill became the first Indian woman parade adjutant to lead all men contingent in New Delhi So all these proves that women officers are equally more capable than their male counterparts And this is why the Supreme Court order says that the women officers in the army have brought Laurels or glory to the force so sidelining their abilities on the ground of gender is an upfront or insult to the dignity of the members of Indian army who serve as equal citizens in a common mission The Supreme Court asked the authorities to realize that women officers in the army are not adjuncts to a male dominated establishment This simply means that women officers are not an optional or dispensable part of the army But they are an essential and unavoidable part Hence the Supreme Court declared that the short service commission women officers are eligible for permanent commission and command posts in the army irrespective of their years of service So they will be entitled to the consequential benefits including promotion and financial benefits The Supreme Court also ordered the government to implement this judgment in three months So these were the points noted by the Supreme Court with respect to the permanent commission and command posts for women officers in Indian army If you see there is another article based on this issue This article speaks about the opposite stance taken by the government when it comes to granting permanent commission for short service commission women officers On one side the center opposed granting permanent commission and commanding post to women officers But if you see in 2019 the Ministry of Defense extended permanent commission for women to 10 branches where women officers are already inducted for short service commission This includes corps of signals, engineers, army aviation, army air defense, electronics and mechanical engineers etc So Supreme Court has noted that this decision of the center to extend the permanent commission for women to 10 branches is a recognition of the right of women officers to equality of opportunity So the center cannot say that women officers can be granted permanent commission and commanding posts in some services and not in others So the Supreme Court believes that this would go against article 15 and article 16 of Indian constitution As we know article 15 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and article 16 deals with equality of opportunity for all in matters of public employment That is why the Supreme Court declared that all serving women officers would be eligible for permanent commission Supreme Court also held that a blanket ban of women SSC officers from command post cannot be sustained by law Hence the board of officers in the army which decides eligibility of men officers to command a unit shall also determine the eligibility of women officers as well So these are the points that you can take from this news article In addition to these two news articles there is one editorial today based on this issue We have almost discussed all the points that is mentioned in this editorial In addition to this the editorial also mentions that the Supreme Court will advance the principle of equality and non-discrimination that is enshrined in the constitution According to the editorial women officers are very less in number in Indian army If you see there are only 1653 women officers out of 40,825 officers So we can hope that this judgment will be implemented within 3 month time So that it will ensure that the numerically weak women officers will achieve their career aspirations and they can reach top positions in the army So that is all about the discussion based on permanent commission and command post for women officers in Indian army In this discussion we focused on the Supreme Court judgment which mentioned that women officers are eligible for permanent commission and command post in Indian army With this we come to the end of this discussion Let us break practice question will be discussed in the last session Moving on to the next discussion which is about the public statements that were said by the leader of Turkey in favour of Pakistan and against the blacklisting of Pakistan by the FATF And this news article also talks about how this statement affects the bilateral relationship between India and Turkey So in this context today we will be seeing about the countries that supports Pakistan in FATF And we will see about few geographical facts about Turkey and we will also see about India-Turkey bilateral relationship The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference As you know the week long financial action task force plenary meeting is going on in Paris During yesterday's meeting the FATF has said that several terrorist groups continue to benefit from funds that were raised through illegal activities It has said that the terrorist groups also receive funds from supporters worldwide despite FATF tightening the standards on flow of money Now here without mentioning the name of Pakistan FATF also said that terrorists use various methods to gain financing such as using social media to identify new followers And to solicit financial and other forms of material support So these were the points noted by FATF in yesterday's meeting If you see the background as you know Pakistan is placed on the grey list of FATF It was placed in June 2018 This move was taken by FATF after United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany and France urged FATF to list Pakistan in grey list But however Pakistan has managed to avoid being placed on the black list And it is because of the support from its all weather ally which is China and also due to its traditional allies Turkey and Malaysia So FATF gave a plan of action to Pakistan which has to be completed fully by February 2020 If Pakistan did not complete this plan of action then Pakistan will be placed in the black list along with Iran and North Korea So this was the condition of FATF So now the February of 2020 has come So in this plenary meeting of FATF, FATF will decide whether to remove Pakistan from the grey list Or to continue to list Pakistan in the grey list Or to downgrade Pakistan to the black list of non-cooperative countries So what is the condition or prerequisites needed for Pakistan to come out of grey list Actually Pakistan needs 12 votes out of 39 votes to exit grey list and to move to white list And to avoid black list Pakistan needs support of just 3 countries And this support was already given by China, Turkey and Malaysia We have discussed many times about FATF, black listing, grey listing in detail If you want to know about it you can visit our 23rd June and 24th August in the news analysis Now today's news is that even during this plenary meeting also it is expected that China, Malaysia and Turkey are most likely to vote against the downgrading of Pakistan to blacklist The support of Turkey is even clearly visible in the public statement that was recently made by the President of Turkey during his trip to Pakistan In that trip he said that the situation in Kashmir was an outcome of unilateral actions by India In addition to this he also expressed his support to Pakistan at the FATF Now since the President of Turkey has talked about the Kashmir issue in which India is involved It is expected that the bilateral relations between India and Turkey will be affected So in this context let us see some geographical aspects of Turkey and India-Turkey bilateral relationship See Turkey is a large peninsula that bridges the continents of Europe and Asia So the country is partly in Europe and partly in Asia And because of its location in the Middle East, Turkey is strategic in world affairs And Turkey is surrounded by sea on three sides It is surrounded by black sea on the north, the Mediterranean sea on the southwest and the Aegean sea on the west Apart from this, Turkey is also surrounded by Georgia and Armenia and the northeast And on the east it is surrounded by Azerbaijan and Iran And on the southeast it is surrounded by Iraq and Syria And on the northwest it is surrounded by Greece and Bulgaria And also remember that the capital of Turkey is Ankara And its largest city and sea port is Istanbul So these were the key facts about geography of Turkey Now let us see India-Turkey bilateral relationship Turkey and India are two democratic and culturally plural states Which have liberal economies and have open societies Turkey and India, though not the best of friends Have been trying for the past three decades to overcome their differences And they are trying to strike balance and ties So based on this the economic and commercial relationship has increased significantly in the last decade between the two countries And even if you see, India and Turkey share a historical cultural overlap also And apart from that, the Indian community is also present in Turkey But they are present in a small number They are mostly working in business establishments and universities in Istanbul and Ankara The diplomatic relations between the two countries have been strengthened by the exchange of visits of leaders of both the countries in recent times And even over the last 30 years, during almost all presidential visits and other visits from both the countries India and Turkey had agreed that Kashmir issue will be bilaterally resolved through the Shimla agreement between India and Pakistan Even though this was agreed, now the Turkey president had made a statement based on the Kashmir issue favoring Pakistan So we can see that the bilateral relations between India and Turkey has soured to an extent that the president of Turkey Who is Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made open statements about Kashmir issue And it is said that under the presence of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has been openly cozying up with Pakistan So despite 30 years of diplomacy and all the high level visits, Erdogan raised the Kashmir issue at the international forum also And Turkey has also increased its defense cooperation with Pakistan And Turkey also backed Islamabad's demand to send an organization of Islamic cooperation delegation to the Kashmir valley And this is to investigate the alleged human rights violation there So this move was against India's interest In addition to this, Turkey even opposed India last year when India wanted to become a member of nuclear supplies group Turkey opposed because Pakistan's application was not being considered at NST So these moves by Turkey shows that Turkey has more inclined interest towards Pakistan than India And the recent move by Turkey which is the statement made by the president of Turkey is not well accepted by India And it is expected that this statement is likely to sever the existing bilateral relationship between India and Turkey So these are the information that you should know with respect to India and Turkey bilateral relationship In this discussion we also saw about the geographical aspect of Turkey And we also saw about the comments made by Turkey's president regarding blacklisting of Pakistan And the Kashmir issue With this we come to the end of this discussion Moving on to the next discussion This discussion is based on this news article which mentions that Goa has announced tax on Fenni It has announced the tax in its state budget for 2022-2021 Now this Fenni is a popular Goan alcoholic beverage And this tax is expected to increase the price per bottle by almost 50% So this hike would impact the sales of this drink And the opposition parties have condemned this move So in this discussion we will see some important and interesting facts about this Fenni from examination point of view The discussion can be linked to the syllabus that is given here for your reference This Fenni as we saw already is an alcoholic beverage that is locally prepared exclusively in Goa It is a country liquor This Fenni is a drink that shares a history of at least 200 years And it has been imbibed into folklore and heritage of Goa And this Fenni is a distilled spirit and it comes in two expressions One is cashew fenni and the other is coconut fenni The cashew fenni is distilled from the fermented juice of cashew apples The coconut fenni is distilled from fermented coconut toddy If you see the traditional method of making cashew fenni Only tree ripened cashew apples that have fallen from trees are picked And then they are taken for the crush The cashew apples are deseeded and then stomped The cashew apples are stomped to release the juice Now this stomping method has now gradually been replaced by the use of a press Which is used to release the juice The juice produced through this process is known as Nero And it is a refreshing drink The fresh Nero is traditionally buried halfway in the ground In a large earthen pot or in plastic drums After this it is left for several days for the juice to ferment The most important feature of this Fenni is that No artificial yeast or nutrients are added to hasten the process of fermentation Then after this juice is fermented then it is distilled Now this cashew fenni especially is a triple distilled spirit The first distillate of this fermented Nero is known as Urak And it has 50% alcohol Then after this this Urak is then mixed with Nero In a proportion that is determined by the distiller To give a spirit called as Kazulo or Kajulo And this has 42-42% and above alcohol Now this Kajulo or Kazulo is again distilled with Urak To give a high strength spirit which is called as Fenni And this Fenni has 45% and above alcohol Now you should note that whatever is available in the store as Fenni Is generally Kazulo only Because the Fenni which is the third distilled product Is considered to be too strong for an alcoholic beverage for consumption So all the cashew fenni that is now available is double distilled only Now this Fenni is exported and sold all around the globe But most of the states within India do not allow it to be retailed Fenni can be exported outside India but not within the country This is due to the fact that Fenni has been categorized as country liquor As we saw in the beginning And the other states do not permit the import of country liquor Into their respective states Now from examination point of view you should know that The cashew fenni from Goa has been given the geographical indication tag And it was given this tag in 2009 And this was Goa's first GI tag And also know that cashew fenni which is an alcoholic beverage Is the first alcohol to be registered as GI in India and from India In addition to this to remove the tag of country liquor The state government of Goa has classified this Fenni drink As a heritage spirit of the state Or as the heritage spirit of Goa Since this drink reflects the heritage of Goa Assumes importance And now the Goa government has announced tags on this Fenni So that is why the retailers are worried that It will lead to increase in the price of Fenni And it would directly impact the sales of this drink So that is all about this news article In this discussion we saw about the recent issue related to Fenni Then we saw some interesting facts about Fenni From examination point of view With this we come to the end of this discussion The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session This news article talks about the STPA center of excellence That has opened in Hyderabad yesterday And the news article also talks about the significance of this center of excellence For India's IT industry So in this context today we will be discussing about India's IT sector Then about India's software products And also about the national policy on software products Then finally we will also see about the STPA The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference If you see India has earned itself a reputation of being one of the Information technology superpower The information technology and information technology Enabled services industry of our country is a critical pillar In India's economic growth Now in this the term IT sector represents a broad category of services It includes hardware development, software development, telecommunications Online services, BPO, etc. And according to NASCOM which is a non-profit organization The Indian IT sector at present is generating an estimated Revenue of around 168 billion dollars And this includes exports of 126 billion dollars on an annual basis And this accounts for around 8 percentage contribution to India's GDP And apart from this the industry is also one of the largest Organized sector employers which generates nearly 14 million Direct jobs and indirect jobs And in this IT sector the software products revenue of the country Stands at 7.1 billion dollars And this includes software products exports revenue of 2.3 billion dollars But on the other hand if you see the import of software products Is estimated to be nearly 10 billion dollars So we can say India is a net importer of software products at present Therefore it is prudent to develop a conducive Software product ecosystem to transform a predominantly Service oriented IT industry into a technology oriented products industry Now to develop India as a software product nation The government has approved the national policy on software products In 2019. This policy aims to develop India as a global Software product hub and it will be done through innovation Improved commercialization, sustainable intellectual property By promoting technology startups and by specialized skill sets For the development of the sector based on information And communication technology This policy aims to increase India's share in the global Software product market by 10 times of what it is now By the year 2025 See as we saw before India's software market currently stands At 7.1 billion dollars So 10 fold increase means this policy aims to reach Around 70 billion dollars to 80 billion dollars by the year 2025 This policy also aims to develop 1000 technology startups In software product industry And this includes 1000 technology startups In tier 2 and tier 3 towns and cities So for that a program of incubation Which provides technical and infrastructure assistance Which provides mentoring support, seed fund Which provides research and development and testing facilities And which provides marketing and branding support Are given And this policy also aims to set up centers of excellence To promote design and development of software products With industry participation This policy is implemented by ministry of electronics And information technology through software technology Parks of India which is in short known as STPI And this STPI works under METI The STPI plays a lead role in the implementation of the Policy along with center for development of advanced Computing, National Informatics Center Industry or industry bodies and with institutes of Higher education and research And this news article which we are going to discuss today Is based on STPI So let us see some of the facts related to STPI The software technology parks of India is an autonomous Society that is set up by METI It was set up in 1991 under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 The objectives of STPI are to encourage to promote And to boost these software exports from India STPI is 100 percentage export oriented And it provides statutory services Data communication services It provides incubation facilities Training and value added services to the Software exporting community So at present a total of 58 STPI centers Or sub centers are operational across our country And out of these 58 STPI's 50 centers are in tier 2 and tier 3 cities And this STPI has an important role in making India as an IT superpower And these are the objectives of STPI Now today's news is that India's first center of excellence For gaming, VFX, computer vision and artificial intelligence Was opened in Hyderabad yesterday And this center of excellence is known as Image Image is an initiative by STPI at Hyderabad That is supported by industry associations Academia and angel investors The unique thing about this initiative is that It is the first incubation center that was set up By STPI for the companies which are focused on Intellectual property in gaming, VFX, computer vision And artificial intelligence So in this gaming is a developing industry in India And we all know about the games such as Angry Birds Candy Crush, etc. Then similarly if you see VFX You would have all heard about this VFX It stands for visual effects And this visual effects provides us Fantastical experience that could never exist on our earth And this is provided in cinema, commercials and even in video games And these worlds are computer generated images Which use VFX technology For example if you watch sky-fi movies And if you were a follower of web series such as Game of Thrones You could have seen dragons flying And as we know in reality dragons doesn't exist And you could have seen spaceships flying in a sky-fi movie Or you could have seen them in Star Wars These are all VFX effects only The next comes the computer vision It is an artificial intelligence technology As the name suggests it is a computer's vision of the input images The computer sees, identifies and processes the images In the same way as a human does A computer vision intersects with many other domains Such as machine learning, image processing, graphics, robotics, etc This computer vision further paves way for artificial intelligence Which has applications such as face recognition, surveillance, biometrics, smart cars and so on So whatever we have mentioned about gaming, VFX, computer vision These are all just some hints so that you can understand about these technologies The first incubation center which was set up by STPI For the companies that are focused on this technology Will be a boost to India's IT sector In addition to this the news article mentions that the image STPI targets to incubate Up to 25-30 startups per year for the next 5 years And the startups will undergo various levels of evaluation before selection And once they are selected they will be assisted with seed fund of Rs. 5 lakhs And they will also be given access to best in class infrastructure And they will be given access to research and development lab facilities The news article also mentions that Hyderabad has a lot of animation and gaming companies And the industry has been maturing over the years So this is a great opportunity for new startups to build and nurture innovation At the STPI image center of excellence And this will in turn accelerate the growth of gaming and animation in the city In addition to this STPI is also planning to set up 28 centers of excellence In different parts of the country under image STPI So these are the information that you should know with respect to this news article In this discussion we saw about India's IT sector, some statistics related to India's IT sector We saw about national policy and software products And we also saw about image STPI, about gaming, VFX, computer vision, etc With this we come to the end of this discussion Moving on to the next discussion which is based on this news article This news article is about the state of India's birds 2020 report So in this discussion we will be discussing about this report and its findings The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference Birds which are one of the beautiful creatures have cultural significance since ancient times And they are important from ecological point of view also They play important roles in the health of ecosystems through their actions as pollinators, seed dispersers, predators, scavengers and even as prey for other species And with respect to India, India has a long history of ornithological discovery and research Here ornithology is the branch of zoology that is concerning birds Now despite the ornithological discovery and research, abundance trends are only known for a handful of bird species And it is known especially for species that are larger and more obviously threatened So for the vast majority of Indian birds there is a lack of data And this data deficit is a key problem because data is important for conservation science It is important for management and policy regarding the bird species And this key problem of data deficit is being tackled with the growth of citizen science in the past few years The citizen science is a form of research where scientists and members of the public work together towards addressing scientific questions And in this case the members of public are the bird watchers And as we know there are increasing numbers of bird watchers today They help in generating the information that is needed So in a way they also contribute to assess the status of the majority of bird species that regularly occur in India And this the state of India's birds report of 2020 assesses the status of 867 bird species And this assessment is based on the data contributed by various citizen science efforts in India Like Asian water bird sensors, bird count India, the E bird platform, the common bird monitoring program And then Kerala bird atlas And in this in the E bird platform the data is uploaded by bird watchers in the portal that is maintained by bird count India And this platform is the primary platform from where the data was taken for this report Now this state of India's birds report is the first national level comprehensive assessment of the distribution range Trends in abundance and the conservation status for most of the bird species that regularly occur in India And this report is based on a joint study by 10 bodies that you can see in this picture This report assesses the trends of decline in bird population rather than finding out the causes for that decline So this report is more about the trends So in this discussion we will see the methodology and findings of this report And we will also see about possible threats and reasons for decline of the bird species in the end Now coming to the methodology, this assessment is based on 3 indices And among these 3 indices, 2 indices are based on change in abundance And one of them is long term trend that is over 25 plus years And the other one is current annual trend that is over the past 5 years And the third index is a measure of distribution range size The criteria for each category under each of these 3 indicators is mentioned in this table for your reference Now let us see the outcomes of this report Out of the 867 birds that were taken for assessment, the long term trends could be estimated for only 261 species And then the current annual trends could be estimated for only 146 species And then the distributed range size could be estimated for 861 species Now using these 3 indices together with the iocine red list of threatened species Each species was classified into categories of conservation concern for India And there are 3 categories, first category is species of low conservation concern Then species of moderate conservation concern And then finally species of high conservation concern So based on this categorization, 101 birds have been categorized under high category And under the moderate category, there are 319 birds And then under the low category, there are 442 birds, as you can see in this picture In this discussion, let us focus on the species of high conservation concern The birds have been included under this category If their abundance indices have declined considerably in the long term And if they continue to decline today Or if their current range is very restricted Or if their abundance trend could not be assessed But they are classified as globally threatened in the iocine red list So based on these characteristics The birds have been included under the species of high conservation concern Some of the birds that are listed under this category Include Rufus fronted premia, Nilgiri thrush, Nilgiri pipit and Indian vulture Based on this 2020 report, there is also a data point in today's newspaper This data point lists the top 5 species of birds that have seen a long term decrease and increase And also the top 5 species of birds that have seen a short term decrease and increase in their population Like the white rumpered vulture This species has been listed as one of the top 5 species which has seen a long term decrease That is whose populations have declined the most in the last 25 years Then in the long term increase, you can see Rosy Starling This species population have increased the most in the last 25 years Then like this, you can see the top 5 birds which has seen a short term decrease Among them is singing Bushlax And even red-headed vulture is there in short term decrease list And this red-headed vulture is listed as critically endangered in the iocine red list This means that these species population have declined the most in the last 5 years You can take note of the other species that are listed in this data point for examination purpose The news article mentions about the common sparrow This common sparrow is listed under low conservation concern category in this 2020 report As per this report, their population is declining and becoming rare in cities and in urban areas Some of the possible reasons for this include a decrease in insect populations Which means prey is not available for them And another reason is decrease in nesting places But still there is no conclusive evidence in this scientific literature That radiation from mobile phone towers has led to the decrease in the sparrow population according to this report Then this report has also mentioned the list of key bird species for each state and each unitary Based on the proportion of the Indian range of each species Based on the proportion of the Indian range of each species that lies within each state or unitary And you should note that this report includes the new union territories such as Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh And even the recent new Union Territory which is the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagarhaveli and Damanandayu Because as we know the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagarhaveli and then Union Territory of Damanandayu Were merged into one Union Territory by the Dadra and Nagarhaveli and Damanandayu merger of Union Territory Act of 2019 And they have become a single Union Territory based on the appointed day of the merger Which is the 26th January 2020 So after 26th January 2020 we have totally 8 Union Territories Not 9 Now coming back to this discussion In this report the bird species have been aggregated into 6 taxonomic and ecological groups The purpose behind this exercise is to explore the composite indices of trends in abundance And to know if there are any possible common features behind the change in abundance within these 6 groups The 6 groups are raptors, water birds, diet guild, habitat, migratory status, endemicity In this raptors are the birds of prey They are subdivided into 4 categories Woodland, generalist, open country and scavenger This woodland category is the one in which the raptors habitat is in the land that is covered with trees Then generalist category is the category in which the raptors habitat occupy range of habitats including human habitats And then scavenger category is the category of raptors which consists of the species that eat bodies of dead animals Then water birds is also further divided into other categories such as it has divided into ducks and geese Then gulls and turns which is nothing but like seagulls and sea turns Then migratory shore birds and then as other residents That is the other water birds other than these species of birds Then the diet guild category you should know that guilds are group of species in a community That exploit the same set of resources in a similar manner But they are not necessarily closely related taxonomically And when we say diet guild it means these guilds are based on diet So based on the diet they are further subdivided such as the guilds which have a diet of plants Then seeds then omnivorous then which have fruit nectar diet Then which are carnivorous then which are invertebrate Then the habitat group includes the subgroups such as wetlands, grasslands, forests then generalists Then the migratory status category includes the subcategories of long distance within subcontinent then resident In this long distance means the migratory birds cover a long distance And then within subcontinent means the migratory birds migrate within their subcontinent itself And then resident means the migratory birds migrate within their resident territory itself If the bird belongs to one particular area or a state it will migrate within that area or state itself Then next category is the endemicity which means those birds are exclusively present in an area These are further subdivided into western gut endemics, resident non-endemics, other subcontinental endemics So the report has concluded that overall the raptors, water birds, migratory species are on decline in India And among the raptors the open country subspecies such as the pallid and montago harriers White, bellied, sea, eagle and red-necked falcon they have seen a steep decline And then the severe long term decline of vultures which is recorded and analysed for years by various scientists and researchers That has also been emphasised in this report Then varying degrees of decline have been recorded for diet guild Then long term declines have been recorded for habitat and for endemic groups of birds Now under this endemic group western gut endemics are seeing a steep long term decline So now let us see the threats faced by these birds that are mentioned in this report The threats include loss of habitat due to human activities like agricultural expansion and intensification Then logging and increased organisation and then widespread presence of toxins including pesticides Then they face threat due to hunting and trapping for the pet trade And they also face threat because of invasive species Then there are also some other less threats which includes dams and mining Which in turn damages their habitat or biodiversity of that region Then other threats include the linear infrastructures like roads, railways and power lines They are threats because the birds collide with the vehicles that move in the roads They collide with the rails and they also collide with power lines And then another threat is pollution And according to this report climate change acts on top of these various factors And it is very likely to exacerbate their effects That is it is very likely to drastically increase their effects So finally the report suggests some forward looking actions That is some recommendations based on the assessment of the report The recommendations include an update to the ice and red list of threatened species Then update to the sites and CMS also And then also update to the Schedules of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 This report calls for further collaborative research by scientists and citizens In order to gather more data on birds And this report lays urgent emphasis on habitats of species of high concern And especially the species of high concern that belong to grasslands, scrublands, wetlands and the western guards So this is all about the State of India's Birds 2020 report Now from examination point of view, we have given the conservation status of few important birds that have been mentioned in this news article So have a look at this table With this we come to the end of this discussion In this discussion we saw about the State of India's Birds 2020 report Then we saw who released it We saw the methodology and few important findings of this report And finally we also saw the threats and reasons for decline in bird population in India There is a great practice question will be discussed in the last session Moving on to the next discussion This news article mentions that the state government of Kerala Is said to declare the 148 square kilometer buffer zone of the Silent Valley National Park as Bavani Wildlife Sanctuary So in this discussion we will see about protected areas, buffer zones Then we will see the highlights of this news article The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference To understand this article, first you should know about protected areas and buffer zones Let us first see about protected areas The protected areas are considered very important for conservation of biodiversity And they are also important for ensuring the healthy populations of the flora and fauna in that area So the conservation and protection of these protected areas is essential for the present and future generations If you see according to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 A protected area means a national park, a sanctuary, a conservation reserve or a community reserve Under sections 18, 35, 36A and 36C of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 But remember that a tiger reserve is not included under the definition of protected area as per this act And under this act a tiger reserve means the areas that is notified under section 38E by the state governments So let us see these sections in detail to understand about the protected areas Just know that the state governments have the authority to notify the protected areas and also the tiger reserves And as per section 18 of the act, the state government may notify any area to be a sanctuary If it considers that area as of adequate ecological, faunal and floral, geomorphological, natural or zoological significance If that area has these significance, then for the purpose of protecting that area And for the purpose of developing wildlife and the environment of that area That particular area can be declared as a sanctuary Then the section 35 deals with declaration of national parks Under this section, if the state government wants to constitute an area as a national park For the purpose of developing the wildlife and the environment of that area Then by notification, the state government can declare this intention to constitute such area as a national park In addition to this, the central government can also declare a national park And it could declare a national park via notification Where the state government leases or otherwise transfers any area under its control to the central government And then the central government may declare such area by notification as a national park And also know that the national parks enjoy greater protection as compared to sanctuaries Now next comes the other two protected areas which are conservation reserves and community reserves Under section 36a and 36c of 1972 act, state government can notify any area as a conservation reserve and community reserve In case of conservation reserve, the state government after having consultations with local communities The state government can declare any area owned by the government as conservation reserve Usually the areas which are adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries And the areas which are considered to be linked areas or buffer zones They are notified as conservation areas And if you see the community reserves, they are also notified by the state government And these community reserves are owned by community or private individuals for protecting the fauna and flora in that area So these are the legal provisions under the 1972 act that provides for declaring an area as a protected area That is as a national park, sanctuary, a conservation reserve or a community reserve But we saw that a tiger reserve is not listed as a protected area under this act It is because a tiger reserve is declared as per section 38v of this act And the state government based on the recommendations of the tiger conservation authority can declare an area as a tiger reserve And this tiger reserves include core areas and buffer areas The core or critical areas include the tiger habitat areas of national parks and sanctuaries And the buffer or the peripheral areas consist of the area that is peripheral to the core area of the tiger habitat So this is the background that you should know with respect to protected areas and tiger reserves Now today's news is that the state government of Kerala is said to declare the 148 square kilometer buffer zone of the Silent Valley National Park as a Bhavani Wildlife Sanctuary See actually there are five national parks in the state of Kerala There are 18 wildlife sanctuaries including two tiger reserves at Parambikulam and Periyar in the state of Kerala And there is also one community reserve in the state of Kerala Now this proposed Bhavani Wildlife Sanctuary includes parts of the Mannarkar and Nilambur forest divisions As you can see in this picture This Bhavani Wildlife Sanctuary is proposed because this area is also known to be an emerging heaven of dragonflies and damselflies Therefore the decision to notify this area as wildlife sanctuary is expected to enhance the conservation activities in this region But however the tribal communities, those who are residing in this region have expressed the concerns because this could lead to loss of their livelihood And they are also worried that there will be a possibility of harassment in the hands of forest officials if this area is declared as a wildlife sanctuary So we can conclude that this decision of state government of Kerala is a welcome move and this will be the 19th sanctuary in the state But at the same time the government should also take care of the traditional and forest rights of the forest dwellers With this we come to the end of this discussion In this discussion we saw about protected areas based on the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and we also saw about tiger reserves buffer zones Moving on to the next discussion This discussion is based on this news article which mentions about a new program of the government on indigenous cows The government has unveiled the program to research on the indigenous cows This program is scientific utilization through research augmentation prime products from indigenous cows Which is in short known as SUTRA PIC India So in this discussion we will discuss about the features of this program The syllabus that is relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference This program that is the scientific utilization through research augmentation prime products from indigenous cows is an inter ministerial funding program It has been planned with the support of Ministry of Science and Technology through Department of Science and Technology Through Department of Biotechnology through Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research And then with the support of Ministry of Ayush then with the support of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Then also with the support of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Indian Council of Medical Research So, that is why we are saying it is an inter-ministerial program, so many ministries are involved in this program. Actually, the government has invited project proposals from scientists and academicians from research institutions, academics and some grassroots organizations etc. These scientists and academicians have to carry out R&D work that is research and development work, then technology development that is linked to the capacity building at the local level which will cover five thematic areas. So, the research and development work and technology development has to be done under five thematic areas in this program. The first theme is uniqueness of indigenous cows. According to government sources, Indian cows are believed to possess certain unique qualities and characteristics. Moreover, there is a perception that they see cow, that is Indian cows remain healthy and can survive well in the local environment. Even according to one report, the markets from Australia to Brazil are seeking India's cattle for their resilient qualities, such as it is said that India's cattle has resistance like thick resistance, heat tolerance and the ability to flourish even with inadequate feeds. And even some scientific studies performed by few investigators prove some special characteristics of Desi cows. But many other properties of these Desi cows need detailed scientific investigations. So, studies on metagenomic and proteogenomic analysis of Indian cows need a detailed scientific investigations. In this, metagenomics is defined as the direct genetic analysis of genomes that are from an environmental sample. And proteogenomic is the study of how information about the DNA in a cell or an organism relates to the proteins that is made by that cell or organism. This includes the understanding of how genes control when proteins get made and what changes occur to proteins after they are made etc etc. That is why one of the major aims under this theme is the systematic scientific investigation of uniqueness of pure indigenous Indian cows. The next theme is prime products from indigenous cows for medicine and health. This theme revolves around cow pati. Like alopati, there is a term called as cow pati. This cow pati is a treatment that is based on products obtained from indigenous cows as used in Ayurveda for example. Even the ancient Ayurvedic literature such as Vircharak Samhita, Shushruth Samhita etc suggests a number of pharmacological applications of prime products from indigenous cows such as application of these products in treatment of leucoderma, hyperlipidemia, arthritis, renal disorders, dietary disorders, gastrointestinal tract disorders etc etc. So, the research proposals under this theme is expected to undertake detailed scientific investigation of chemical profiling. Then identification of bioactive principle that is responsible for enhancing activity of antibiotics and other medicinal properties of prime products from indigenous cow. And these scientific investigations will be carried out from a modern perspective. The next theme is prime products from indigenous cows for agricultural applications. It is believed that cow dung and cow urine are rich in microbial communities and hence they can be investigated for bio-pesticidal values. Farmers have traditionally carried out composting of animal menus but they use it with rudimentary or undeveloped methodology. Therefore according to this program selecting efficient methods for management of livestock waste and for generating quality compost is essential in today's scenario. That is why the project proposals under this theme should aim to perform scientific investigations of role of prime products from indigenous cows on plant growth, on soil health and on providing immunity in plant system, then their application as organic manure and then application of prime products from indigenous cows as bio-pesticides in agriculture among other users of these products. Then next theme is prime products from indigenous cows for food and nutrition. So, the proposals under this theme should aim to perform scientific research on complete characterization of milk and milk products that is derived from indigenous Indian cows and scientific research on nutritional and therapeutic properties of curd and ghee that is prepared from indigenous breeds of cows by traditional methods have to be carried out under this theme. Then under this theme standards should be developed for traditionally processed dairy products of Indian origin cow. So, like this the prime products from indigenous cows for food and nutrition and the scientific research related to it has to be carried out under this theme. Then the last theme is prime products from indigenous cow based utility items. Now, this includes mosquito repellent, floor cleaner, personal care products like hair oil, shampoos, conditioners etc. Thus the proposal under this theme should be framed with aims to standardize effective economic and eco-friendly preparations of the utility products which are prepared from the prime components of indigenous cows. So, these are the five thematic areas under which proposals are invited and the researchers will be carried out based on these five themes only. But most importantly the products that will be developed from the project under this program it should be certified by concerned agencies for quality control and compliance with standards. For example, the medicinal products should get certified by ministry of Ayush and the products developed under the program should conform to BIS standards or related standardization on quality control. So, this program not only aims to fund research and development based on the products from indigenous cows but it also wants to ensure perfect quality of these products. So, in this discussion we discussed about this program which is the scientific utilization through research augmentation prime products from indigenous cows and we saw some of the prime products based on its use like based on the medicinal use based on its utility then based on its agricultural applications etc. With this we come to the end of this discussion. With this we have come to the end of news article discussion sessions. Now we are moving to the last session which is the practice questions discussion session. This question is based on the state of India's birds 2020 report. Three statements are given and we have to choose the correct statement. The first statement is it is the first comprehensive assessment of the distribution range trends in abundance and conservation status for most of the bird species that regularly occur in India. Now even if you don't have any idea about this statement if you see the given options you can say that this statement is correct because statement one is present in all the options. So, now we have to just see whether statement two and three are correct or incorrect. Let us see the second statement. This report assesses the status of all bird species in India using data uploaded by bird watchers to the online platform e-bird. Now if you have paid attention in the first statement in that statement it is mentioned that conservation status for most of the bird species. So, from this you can at least guess that this report assesses the state of most of the bird species and not all bird species. So, this statement is wrong because this report assesses 867 species only. So, you can eliminate option B and D. Now the third statement is it is released by Ministry of Environment for a stand climate change. This statement is also wrong because this report was released by 10 organizations together and as the first statement states it is the first comprehensive assessment report by these 10 organizations. So, this statement is also wrong. So, the correct answer to this question is option A, one only. This next question is based on alcoholic beverage drink Fennie. The first statement is it is exclusively prepared using cashew apples in Goa. Now in this sentence the word exclusively means only. So, that means whether this beverage drink is prepared using cashew apples only. No, it is not. It is also prepared by using coconut toddy. So, this statement is wrong. Now here the question asks for the correct statement. So, you can eliminate option A and B. Now let us see whether the second statement is correct or incorrect. Based on that we can arrive at the correct answer to this question. The second statement is Goa has been granted the geographical indication for Fennie. Now this statement is wrong because even though Goa has been granted geographical indication tag for Fennie, it is not for both the Fennies that is not for cashew Fennie and coconut Fennie together. The GI tag has been granted to the cashew Fennie only. So, this statement is wrong. So, the correct answer to this question is option C three only because Fennie was declared as the heritage spirit of Goa. The fourth statement is incorrect because it mentions that it is the only alcoholic beverage from India that has been granted the GI tag. Now this statement is incorrect because there are also other beverages from India and also from other countries that has been given GI tag. Like from other countries you can see that Peruvian Pisco from the country of Peru was given GI tag in 2009 to 10. Then after that from India if you see in 2010 to 11 period the Nashik Valley wine from Maharashtra was given the GI tag. Then also the Champagne from France. Then even the Napa Valley wine has been given GI tag. This wine is from United States of America. Then the Scotch whiskey from United Kingdom has been given the tag. All these were given in the period 2010 to 11. Then Cognac from France is also given GI tag in the period 2011 to 12. Then the Porto wine and Douro wine from Portugal has been given GI tag in the same period. Then Tequila from Mexico has been given the GI tag in the period 2012 to 2013. And like that recently in the last year the Irish whiskey from Ireland was given the GI tag. But know that Fennie was the first alcoholic beverage drink that was given GI tag in India and from India. So the correct answer to this question is option three only. Now this next question it is related to the threats that are leading to the decline in bird population. Four options are given. First one is logging. Second one is invasive species. Third one is linear infrastructure. Fourth one is pet trade. Now we know that for pet trade hunting of birds has to be done. So it is a reason for decline in bird population. Then invasive species are also a reason. Then if you see linear infrastructure such as roads, railways and power lines are also threats that are leading to the decline in bird population because birds collide with the vehicles on roads with rails and also with the power lines and they die. Then logging is also a reason because logging means filling of trees. So that means the bird's habitat is lost. So all these are possible threats that are leading to the decline in bird population. So the correct answer to this question is option the one, two, three and four. Now let us see one main question based on GS paper one. The Supreme Court judgment on granting permanent commission and commanding posts to women officers in the Indian army is a severe blow to sex stereotypes prevalent in the society and a milestone towards women empowerment. Explain. Now for answering this question first you can discuss about the 2020 Supreme Court judgment which granted permanent commission and commanding posts to the SSC women officers in the Indian army. Then you can mention the arguments kept by center against permanent commission and commanding posts to women officers. Then you have to mention the significance of Supreme Court judgment because it goes against all stereotypes. It recognizes abilities and contribution of women officers. It boosts the morale of the women officers. Even the judgment mentions that women officers are not a dispensable but they are essential part of the army. So on the whole the Supreme Court judgment upholds the meritocracy rather than the patriarchal values. And as a conclusion you can mention that this judgment has upheld article 15 and 16 of Indian Constitution and we can expect that this will reflect in Air Force and Indian Navy also and also in all levels of government. With this we have come to the end of today's analysis sessions. If you like the video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to Shankara Ace Academy YouTube channel for more updates related to civil service examination preparation.