 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, Bengaluru 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 for the news articles are provided in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let us move on to the first news article. This news article is about the issue of denying relief or financial assistance to the victims of endosulphan. This article is relevant in your prelim syllabus under current events of national importance, general issues on environmental ecology and general science. In main syllabus, it could be relevant under environmental pollution and degradation in GS paper 3. In January 2017, the Supreme Court has asked the state government of Kerala to give the entire financial relief to all the victims affected by endosulphan within a period of three months from the date of order. Despite the order of the Supreme Court, the state government of Kerala has denied the relief or the compensation to four children. As a result, a contempt of court petition was filed in Supreme Court, in which the Supreme Court has ordered the state government to pay around 5 lakh rupees as compensation to each of the four minors who were affected by the toxic pesticide. See, endosulphan is a pesticide that was used in Kasergod district in Kerala. This Kasergod district is the northernmost district in the state of Kerala. This pesticide was actually an insecticide and acharicide. Now by insecticide, it is meant to kill the insects that are detrimental for crops. And by acaricide, it is meant to kill the subclass of arachnids, which is acari. This acari subclass includes ticks and mites. We can also say that ticks and mites are a subclass of arachnids. See, arachnids have eight legs, but they don't have antennae. And some of the arachnid species are spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks. This pesticide endosulphan was used in Kasergod district of Kerala by aerial spraying over the cashew plantations in the region since late 1970s. But in 1990s, it was found that the pesticide is toxic to human beings and also the environmental ecology. The local population in the Kasergod district claimed that there were mass deaths of bees, fishes, frogs, birds, foxes and congenital deformities were found in domestic animals such as cows. When we say congenital deformities, these are those deformities that exist since the birth. Due to several social movements, protests and democratic actions, many health and toxicological studies were done between 1998 and 2002. During those studies, it was found that the usage of endosulphan on cashew plantations has also caused congenital abnormalities or deformities in human beings also. Children were born with birth defects and deformities. And it was confirmed that this toxic pesticide endosulphan was the reason. The pesticide was also the reason for neurobehavioral disorders, cognitive disorders, hydrocephalus, mental retardation and other severe lifelong illnesses among female children. When we say hydrocephalus, it is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles or cavities in the brain. This condition increases the pressure within the head and it can make the head to grow in abnormal size and also leads to brain damage and ultimately even death. And this endosulphan is also the reason for abnormalities related to male reproductive system. And it can also cause cancer at younger ages. Many children have become mentally retarded and fully bedridden in Kasar Kudu district. And therefore Kerala High Court banned the sale and use of endosulphan in Kerala in 2002. And following this, the state government issued a ban in the year 2003. And the state government has also devised a mechanism for providing financial relief and assistance for the victims of endosulphan. It is in this matter of providing relief, there was a discrepancy and the matter has been approached at the Supreme Court. So, with this we come to the end of this news article. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. This news article is about UNESCO World Heritage Site List. The analysis of this news article will be relevant in prelim syllabus under current events of national and international importance and under physical and social geography of India and the world. It will also be relevant in mains preparation in GS paper 1 under Indian culture, the salient aspects of architecture from ancient to modern times. Now, let us see with respect to the world heritage sites. See one of the visions of UNESCO that is the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization is to promote cultural heritage. So, what do we mean by cultural heritage? We can see many monuments across India and also in the world. All those have a story inside them of how the people and the community have lived in those early times when the monument was constructed. And these monuments are preserved by the communities and are passed on from generation to generation so that we are able to see them even now in the contemporary present times. So, we call these monuments or these places as cultural heritage. The simplest meaning of cultural heritage is the culture that we have inherited from our ancestors. So, it is not just restricted to the monuments that they have built, but the people also inherit the customs and practices followed by the ancestors. People also inherit the places they have lived and they also inherit the artistic expressions in the form of paintings, music, dance forms, etc. And more importantly, people also inherit their values that is the values of ancestors. So, we can see there are many forms of defining this cultural heritage. According to UNESCO, the term cultural heritage has several categories. The main categories are tangible cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage. Tangible means something that can be felt by a touch. We can literally feel. Under tangible heritage, UNESCO has listed three types. The first one is movable cultural heritage. This includes paintings, sculptures, coins and manuscripts. All these can be easily moved from one place to another. The next type is the immovable cultural heritage. Now, this includes monuments, archaeological sites, cities, etc. So, all these remain at the same place. So, we need to go and see them. The third type is underwater cultural heritage, which includes shipwrecks, that is a ship that has been destroyed or sunk. The underwater cultural heritage also includes underwater ruins and underwater cities. Now, by underwater cities, we mean those cities which are now submerged under water. The next main category is the intangible cultural heritage. This includes oral traditions, performing arts and rituals of the people or community of a particular area. We have discussed in detail about intangible cultural heritage on 21st June 2019 in our news analysis. The link has been provided for your reference. In the overall definition of cultural heritage, we could see three areas, one cultural heritage within which we saw about tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Then, those natural heritage that have cultural aspects, these are also coming under cultural heritage. According to UNESCO, cultural landscapes, physical formations, biological formations or geological formations are cultural aspects associated with the natural heritage. Therefore, a natural heritage with cultural aspects also coming under cultural heritage. Then, the cultural heritage also includes heritages in the event of armed conflict. So, we have seen the definition of cultural heritage. If you take the overall classification of heritage sites, world heritage sites, there are three. Now, they are natural heritage sites, cultural heritage sites and mixed heritage sites. Now, mixed heritage sites are those sites that have both cultural heritage and natural heritage value. In order to preserve these cultural and natural heritage sites, UNESCO has an international treaty. This treaty is called as the Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. This convention was adopted by UNESCO in the year 1972. So, under this convention, UNESCO aims to identify, protect and preserve the cultural and natural heritages around the world. These sites are identified based on their outstanding universal value and if they are able to meet at least one out of 10 selection criteria given by the UNESCO. In some other day, in our news analysis, we will discuss the criteria with respect to this selection. So, it is based on this convention concerning the protection of world heritage sites. The world heritage sites are listed by UNESCO. So, these sites become a part of UNESCO's World Heritage List. Now, India has ratified this convention in the year 1977. So, we can tell that India is a state party to this convention and since India has become a state party to this convention, India is expected or obliged to protect the heritage values of the properties that have been listed under the World Heritage Sites List. Also, India should report on a periodic basis to UNESCO about the conditions of the World Heritage Sites in India. So, there are around 38 sites from India which have been declared as World Heritage Sites. The latest addition to this list is the City of Jaipur. That is our news article. Jaipur has been added as a cultural heritage site under the World Heritage Sites List. Let's see in brief about Jaipur. Jaipur city is a walled or a fortified city that was founded in the year 1727 by Savai Jai Singh II, the Rajput ruler The city was built on the plains. This is different from other cities in Rajasthan because we could find that other cities in Rajasthan were mostly built on hilly areas for protection. So, Jaipur city was built according to a grid plan as per the Vedic architecture. Now, as you can see in this picture, Jaipur is a walled city that is the old city and is completely protected by walls. And it is known for its grid plan based architecture. You can see from this picture that the major roads cut at right angles. So, it is a planned architecture. The architecture of the city reflects a mix of ancient Hindu, modern Mughal and western cultures. Most of the front portion of the buildings inside this walled city, which is all the front portion is also called as Fakkad. And these are pink in colour. So, we can see that the city of Jaipur is known for its cultural heritage since even now people live within this walled city inheriting the culture of their ancestors. The news also states that the International Council on Monuments and Sites has inspected the Jaipur city in the year 2018. The council was impressed with Chowpa's of Jaipur. Chowpa is nothing but a large public square where two roads meet each other. So, people gather in this Chowpa during festivals to celebrate in those olden days. As we saw earlier, the entire city of Jaipur is known for its uniform pink facades that is the front portions of buildings having uniform pink colours. So, for all these reasons, the Jaipur city has been recommended as a cultural heritage site. Now, this International Council on Monuments and Sites in short, ICOMOS is a global NGO. It works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places. Now, we saw that there are three broad classifications of world heritage sites that are cultural, natural and mixed. Out of 38 sites in India, 30 sites are classified as cultural heritage sites. So, seven sites are classified as natural heritage sites and only one site is classified as a mixed heritage site. So, from this, we can say that majority of the world heritage sites in India are cultural heritage sites. So, there are 38 world heritage sites and all of these are important and all these have been declared just because they have outstanding universal values and they are fulfilled at least one out of the 10 selection criteria of UNESCO. You may face difficulty while remembering these sites. You can use many tricks for remembering these sites. Some may find it easy to remember through a chronological order and some may use some mnemonics to remember it. You can use one another method. You may first learn about the sites in your own state or your own union territory. Then, if you have a friend from another state, you can learn about the heritage sites in his or her state also or you can move to your neighbor state or neighbor union territory. Now, another method is through current affairs. Every time you see a news on world heritage sites, you may add one extra site to your memory. Definitely, before June 2020, at least for around 40 times, the news about world heritage sites will be there in the newspaper. So, thus you can link these sites to your memory so that it will be easy for learning and remembering. In 2018, last year, Victorian, Gothic and Art Deco ensembles of Mumbai was added as a cultural heritage site in this World Heritage Sites List. The one mixed heritage site in the list from India is Kanjanjunga National Park in the state of Sikkim. We saw Jaipur city has been added as a cultural heritage site in this World Heritage Site List. We also have the historic city of Ahmedabad that is also listed as a cultural heritage site in this list. We can also see the Jantar that is located in Jaipur, which is also listed as a cultural heritage site in World Heritage Sites List. We can also see the ancient capital of Myanmar, the Bagan city and the Augsburg city from Germany, city of Babylon from Iraq. The city of Babylon from Iraq is an ancient city since the Mesopotamian civilization. These were also listed as World Heritage Sites. These are some of the important sites. With this, we come to the end of analysis of this news article. The displayed prelims question will be discussed in the final session. Now let us move on to next news article. This news article is about a stranded sea cow in one of the beaches in Thailand. The analysis of this article will be relevant in your prelim syllabus under current events of national and international importance and also in general issues on environment ecology. The article can also be linked to environmental pollution in GS Paper 3 in main syllabus. The news is about a mammal dugong. Mammals are animals in which the female feeds her young by the milk secreted in her own body. Dugong is one such mammal like human beings and dogs. Last month, in one of the beaches of Thailand, a baby dugong was washed ashore. This baby dugong was named as Mariam. Last week, another baby dugong also found stranded in a beach in Thailand. This dugong was named as Jamil. The meaning of the word Jamil is the handsome prince of the sea in Yahweh language. This name was given by one of the princesses of Thailand. This Yahweh language is actually a dialect of the Malay language. This dialect is spoken in the southernmost provinces of Thailand. These southernmost provinces of Thailand that are along the border with Malaysia. And it is also the main language in these four provinces of Thailand such as Naritivat, Yala, Patani and Songla. We can see the Malay ethnic group as the dominant group in these four provinces of Thailand that are southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia. The news article states that the southern Thailand's waters are home to around 250 mammals that are listed as vulnerable in the IUCN red list. One among these vulnerable mammals is dugong. Dugong is also called as Sikau. In 2015 preliminary examination there was a question on dugong. We have also added that question for reference. The stranded dugong is now being rehabilitated in Phuket Marine Biological Center that is located in Thailand. This center was established by the first bilateral agreement between the government of Thailand and Denmark. Now dugong as we have seen is a Sikau. It is a herbivorous marine animal. They feed on seagrass and are found in seagrass buds, sheltered waters, gulps, lagoons and bays. When we say sheltered waters, we mean water bodies that have the shorelines where there is no direct action of continuous ocean waves. And globally a dugong can be seen in both tropical and subtropical waters. In India it is not found along the entire coastline but it can be found in Gulf of Manar, Park Bay, Gulf of Kutch and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. And it is also protected under the Schedule I in Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 that is the utmost protection given for animals under WPA 1972. Under Sides Convention it is protected under Appendix I. Appendix I of Sides Convention includes the species that are threatened with extinction. Sides is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It is an international agreement between governments to ensure that the international trade in the specimens of wild animals and plants should not threaten the survival of these animals and plants. India has ratified this Convention in the year 1976 and therefore India is a party to this Convention. The beaches of Thailand are mentioned as plastic choked beaches in the news article. See Thailand is the world's sixth plastic waste generator which is detrimental to the water forms there. The world's top five countries in plastic waste generation or first China, then United States, then Germany, Egypt and then India. India is the fifth largest plastic waste generator in the world. We saw Thailand as the sixth. With this we come to the end of analysis of this news article. The displayed practice question will be discussed in the last session. This news article is about the importance of Indian Crested Porcupine in a particular ecosystem. The analysis of this news article will be relevant in prelim syllabus under current events of national importance and also under general issues on environmental ecology, biodiversity. A research study shows that Indian Crested Porcupine shares burrows or its habitation with 22 different species that include birds and reptiles. Burrows are holes that are dug by certain animals below the soil surface that is underground for the purpose of living. The research study states that the porcupines are known to be great engineers because the burrows that they dig go up to 13 meters in length. Also the burrows are not dig in a linear or a straight fashion. This is because there are a number of side chambers of varying depths which have been dug by these porcupines. These burrows are shared for living by almost 22 different species. This condition of sharing the same place to live together is called as cohabitation. Now this research study was conducted by researchers from the Salimali Center for Ornithology and Natural History in Coimbatore. They conducted the study in Keoladev National Park in Bharatpur in Rajasthan. Now know that the Keoladev National Park in Rajasthan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We also saw that Jaipur city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While we studied that Jaipur city comes under cultural heritage category, the Keoladev National Park comes under natural heritage category. Now in this national park the temperatures vary from 0.5 degrees celsius to 50 degrees celsius. So these burrows play a very important role in giving shelter and protection against the extreme weather and also from the predators. Now when we say predators we mean those animals that hunt other animals for food. The researchers set up cameras around porcupine burrows and took note of the animals which visited the burrow. For a time period of almost two years the researchers tracked about 20 active burrows and studied the different animals which lived in this burrow. The four major occupants or the four major animals that lived in these burrows were porcupines, jackals, rock pythons and bats. And some birds such as peafowl, robins and babblers also visited the burrows to eat the insects that lived there. Now one can think how so many animals can live in the same burrow. In order to know this the research team has noted the different interactions between the animals that visited the burrows. Out of these four animals the researchers found that porcupines pythons and bats co-occupy a co-habit in peace whereas jackals were not at peace that is jackals were fears against other animals that were living in the burrows. And because of these jackals fierceness sometimes this has led to death of pythons and pythons were sometimes driven out of burrows by these jackals. The research study also tells that most of the animals used the burrows on temporary basis. For example in the case of pythons they preferred to be directly under the sun during winter but in nighttime during winter they preferred to live in burrows. Using the camera traps and field surveys the researchers have found at least 9 to 15 pythons living in a single burrow. The same team which published this research paper has already published research paper in 2017 almost in the same area. That research paper states that each animal preferred a particular type of burrows. For example jackals like to live in larger chambered burrows which means they preferred burrows with huge space. If you take pythons they chose smaller compact burrows. When we come to bats they preferred burrows with few branching and very less number of openings. So from this we can say that each animal prefers a different type of burrow that is with respect to preference. One of the authors of this research paper has said that the decline of porcupine species will have a domino effect that is the decline of porcupine species might affect the presence of other species. See if porcupines are not there there will be less number of burrows or no burrows. So during winter months the other animals who once lived in burrows will not have any place to protect themselves especially during night times. So it might lead to their death and subsequently their population will decrease. So this research study has clearly shown that porcupines are a keystone species in the semi arid region. When we say semi arid region it is a dry region with lesser rainfall. Now let us see about the keystone species. Keystone species are those species whose absence will have an effect on other species in a particular ecosystem. The survival of keystone species is very much crucial for the survival of other species in that ecosystem. A typical example is the porcupine that we saw. The burrows which the porcupines construct are the reason for survival of many species in the particular ecosystem or a particular habitat. If the population of porcupines decline then that particular ecosystem will be affected. We can see that porcupine is the keystone species here. The conservation of a particular keystone species may help to preserve the structure and function of wide range of animals that are linked with the keystone species during their life cycle. But this research study was restricted to only one area that is Kiyoladev National Park of Rajasthan. So the burrowing behavior of porcupines needs to be studied in other regions as well. Now let us see about this Indian crested porcupine that we saw in this news article. The scientific name of Indian crested porcupine is Histrix Indica. They are found in certain countries of Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and Middle East. They are classified as least concern under IUCN Red List. They are also listed or protected under Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 in Schedule 4. Now we saw that this Indian crested porcupine is protected under Schedule 4 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. So it cannot be hunted because of this protection. But in situations when the animal becomes dangerous to human life or to property, chief wildlife warden or the authorized officer may permit any person to hunt the animal under section 11 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The property here includes standing crops also. But if you take those animals that are protected under Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, those animals can be killed only if they become dangerous to human life. If those animals that are protected under Schedule 1, if they damage property, if they damage standing crops, they cannot be killed. So that is the difference between Schedule 1 protected animals and the animals that are protected under Schedule 2, 3 and 4. So with this we come to the end of this news article. Now let us move on to the last session of discussion of practice questions. Now the first question is with respect to endosulphane. We have seen in our first article with respect to the state of Kerala. Now they have given four options, a vaccine in testing stage to cure Ebola, an endothermic chemical reaction, a toxic pesticide, a new gas detected outside solar system. The correct answer for this question is a toxic pesticide. We saw that endosulphane is a pesticide that kills insects and also ticks and mites. These ticks and mites become part of Akkari subclass in arachnides. Now these questions may appear very easy when you see immediately after the analysis. But with the same energy you should attempt these questions after some months and after some days also. The second question they are asking us to choose the correct pair from the given options. They are asking us to choose the correct pair from the given list of UNESCO's World Heritage Site and the category in which they are listed. Now Kanjanjanga National Park during our analysis we saw that this national park in the state of Sikkim is the only site in India that is categorized as Mixed Heritage Site. So the first pair is wrongly matched. So if you know that the first pair is wrongly matched you can easily arrive at the correct answer because option A, option C and option D have first pair in it. So you can easily eliminate A, C and D. So option B is the correct answer for this question. The Sundarbans National Park is listed as natural heritage site in the list of World Heritage Sites of UNESCO. So only the third pair is correct that is the Jaipur city in Rajasthan is classified under Cultural Heritage Site. So the correct answer is option B, three only. The third question, which of the following provides protection to various animals under its schedules except in certain circumstances? Biological Diversity Act 2002, Environmental Protection Act 1986, Forest Conservation Act of 1980 and Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. We have been seeing under various news articles that the protection have been given under Wildlife Protection Act in 1972 under Schedule 1, 2, 3, 4 and in our today's discussion we saw that the sea cow Tugong is protected under Schedule 1 of Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and we also saw Indian Crested for Cubine is protected under Schedule 4 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. So the correct answer for this question is option D Wildlife Protection Act 1972. With this we come to the end of today's the Hindu News Analysis. If you like the video, press the like button, share it with your friends, comment and subscribe to Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service preparation.