 Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu news analysis. These are the list of news articles that will be discussed in the news analysis. They are provided along with the page numbers of the different editions of the newspaper. This news article mentions that India has unveiled a new draft article policy and this draft article policy is open to public comments as of now. So in this context let us now discuss about the article policy. The syllabus is relevant for this article is given here for your reference. First you should know that Arctic region is enormous area that is situated around the North Pole spreading over one sixth of the earth's land mass and it is a region that lies above the Arctic Circle that is above the north of latitude 66 degree 34 minutes north and see this latitude is the Arctic Circle and it includes the Arctic Ocean with the North Pole at its centre. Much of the Arctic Ocean falls within the jurisdiction of five Arctic literal states which includes Canada, Denmark for Greenland, Norway, Russia and the USA for Alaska. See the article is the home for almost 4 million inhabitants. More importantly Arctic influences the atmospheric oceanographic and biogeochemical cycles of the earth's ecosystem and worryingly it is also affected by the climate change like the rest of the world and its vulnerability to climate change is manifested by the loss of sea ice, the loss of ice caps and the warming of the ocean and the atmosphere. Coming to India, India is particularly impacted due to the likely effect of these changes which includes the critical aspects of national development, the economic security, water security and sustainability, then weather conditions and monsoon patterns, coastal erosion and glacial melting. Especially the changes in the Arctic and the global system that is induced by the melting Arctic ice can be highly disruptive for India because as we already saw, Arctic influences the atmospheric and oceanographic cycles of the earth's ecosystem which has got effects on the monsoon and as we all know a good monsoon is critical for India's food security since our agriculture is heavily dependent on the monsoon. This is one of the reasons why India seeks to play a constructive role in the Arctic and India wants to contribute in ensuring that as the Arctic becomes more accessible, its resources are harnessed sustainably and also in consonance with best practices. Here you should note that the Nodal Agency for India's Polar Research Program including Arctic Studies is a national centre for polar and ocean research which is also called as NCPOR which comes under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Now based on the above reasons, India's draft Arctic policy has got five pillars. The first pillar is science and research and under this pillar, India will strengthen its scientific research capabilities and it will build partnerships with research institutions across the globe and also it will actively participate in global research projects in science policy dialogues and also in the decision making processes. Therefore, under this, the policy has got these objectives which includes the strengthening of existing research base at Himadri in NY Allison in Swalboard of Norway. See, Himadri is a research base that was opened by India in the year 2008 at the International Arctic Research Base and this research base was set up for carrying out studies in disciplines like glaciology, atmospheric sciences and biological sciences. The objectives of the science and research pillar is given here for your reference. Next comes the economic and human development cooperation. In this, India wants to exploit the energy, mineral and other resources of Arctic including the renewable energy because Arctic is the largest unexplored prospective area remaining on earth for hydrocarbons and also it provides opportunities to explore its resources. So based on this economic and human development cooperation, the policy has got these objectives. Coming to the next pillar which is transportation and connectivity. See, as we saw already, Arctic is experiencing loss of sea ice and ice caps. So it provides ice-free conditions in the Arctic. So this condition is resulting in the opening of new shipping routes which in turn is lowering costs and reshaping the global trade. See, particularly the traffic through the northern sea route is rising exponentially and it is projected to quadruple by the year 2025. So therefore, there will be a huge demand for technologies including the ships of high class standards and trained polar shipping crew. Thus being ranked third in the list of seafarers supplying nations, India wants to explore this area too with the objectives below. The last two pillars are governance and international cooperation and national capacity building. So the objectives for both these pillars is given here for your reference. With this information, let us move on to the next news article. Now let us take up this news article which talks about the Pallava era monuments at Mahmalaburam which will be among the highlights at the Republic Deparate in New Delhi. It is mentioned that the Tamil Nadu's Tableau, the replicas of the show temple, Arjuna's penance and Nakula Sahadevarada will be included as a part. Remember, the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chinese President Xi Jinping took place in this place back in the year October 2019. The pictures of the show temple, Arjuna's penance and Nakula Sahadevarada is given below for your reference. In this light, let us now see in brief about the Pallava dynasty. See, the Pallavas emerged as a formidable power in the south around the 4th century AD and they reached the height of their power in the 7th century AD. The Pallava Kingdom, which is called as Tonday Mandalam, had the capital at Khanji. Now let us look at the great rulers of the Pallava dynasty. First comes the Mahendra Varman who reigned between 600 to 630. He succeeded his father's Simma Vishnu. He was a poet and he composed Vichitra Chitta and Mahavilasa Prahasana. He was a staunch sci-vite and he had the title Chittira Karapuli which means a tiger of hearts since he was an expert painter. Note that he was the first to introduce rock-cut temple architecture and it was during his reign that the long-drawn battle between the Pallavas and Cholas intensified. Mahendra Varman indulged in a fierce rivalry with Pulikesan II of the Chalukya dynasty and it was by him that he got killed in his battle against the Chalukyas. Next comes the King Narasimha Varman I who was the son and the successor of Mahendra Varman who ruled between 630 to 668 AD. He is considered to be one of the greatest king of the Pallavas and he was called by the name Mammala since he was a wrestler. It is to be noted that he revenged for his father's death by killing Pulikesan II in 642 AD following which he took control over Vattapi which was the capital of the Chalukya and he assumed the title Vattapi Konda that is the conqueror of Vattapi. Remember it was him who founded the city of Mammalapuram and also it was during his reign that Huyun Sangh who is the Chinese traveler visited the Pallava kingdom in about 640 AD. The great Naayana saints like Appar, Tirunyana Sambandhar and Siruthondar also lived during his reign. Following him came Narasimha Varman II who was a great grandson of Narasimha Varman I and he ruled between 700 to 728 AD. Note that he constructed the Shor temple at Mammalapuram and the Kailasan other temple at Kanji. So here we should remember that Mammalapuram was built by Narasimha Varman I and the Shor temple that is situated at Mammalapuram was built by Narasimha Varman II. Now let us look at the other aspects of the Pallava rule. See the Pallava state was divided into kotams. The king had a habit of providing land grants to the temples and Brahmins. Those that were given to the temples were known as Devadana and that which were given to the Brahmins were called as Brahmadeya. Both the Brahmadeya and Devadana lands were exempted from tax. See it was the Pallavas who introduced the art of excavating temples from the rock and in fact the Dravidian style of temple architecture began with the Pallava rule. However the process met with evolution in a gradual manner starting from the cave temples to Monolithic Radhas and it finally culminated in structural temples. Notably the Tamil society witnessed a great change during the Pallava period and important among them is the caste system which became more rigid during this era and the Brahmins occupied a high place in the society. In addition to the land grants given to them by the kings and nobles they were also given the responsibility of looking after the temples. The Gartika at Kanji that is the University of Kanji was popular during this period and it attracted students from India as well as from abroad. The Pallavas were tolerant towards other religions like Buddhism and Jainism. However some of the sects like Buddhism were losing their former glory to Sivism. So with this we have come to the end of this news article let us move on to the next news article. Now let us take up this Ground Zero article which talks about the recent bird flu outbreak in Kerala. See the bird flu also called as avian influenza was declared as a state specific disaster in Kerala and in this regard a high alert has been issued after the H5N8 subtype of the influenza A virus was found in some parts of Alapura district like Kudinath and also in Kottayam district. Now apart from Kerala Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Imachal Pradesh have reported the virus till now. Remember we had discussed about H5N1 and H5N8 strains of avian influenza A virus extensively on January 1, 5 and 8 of the Hindu news analysis. So today we will deal with some additional information regarding the influenza virus and also we will talk about the Kudinath region. Now the syllabus for this news discussion is given here for the reference. Coming back to the news article first let us see about influenza virus. So we know that there are four types of influenza viruses that is influenza virus A, B, C and D. Now let us know about each one of them in detail. See the influenza A virus are divided into subtypes based on two proteins on the surface of the virus and these two proteins are hemagglutinin which is represented by the letter H and neuraminidase which is represented by the letter N. In this regard there are 18 different hemagglutinin subtypes and 11 different neuraminidase subtypes that is the hemagglutinin subtypes range from H1 to H18 and the neuraminidase subtypes range from N1 to N11 respectively. Now here you should know that while there are potentially 198 different influenza A subtype combinations only 131 subtypes have been detected in nature so far you can see this picture for better understanding. This is not the end know that influenza A subtypes can be further broken down into different genetic clades and subclades. See the words clades denote groups and subgroups respectively. So remember an influenza clade or group is a further subdivision of influenza viruses based on the similarity of the HA gene sequences. Now here dividing viruses into clades and subclades allow the flu experts to track the proportion of viruses from different clades in circulation. Note that the clades and subclades that are genetically different from others are not necessarily antigenetically different so that is viruses from a specific clade or subclade may not have changes that impact host immunity in comparison to other clades or subclades and the subtypes of influenza A viruses that routinely circulate in people include the AH1N1 and the AH3N2. Here the influenza AH1N1 viruses which causes swine flu are related to the pandemic of 2009 H1N1 virus that emerged in the spring of 2009 and caused a flu pandemic and the infection spread to around a total of 214 countries including India and since then influenza H1N1 has become a seasonal virus. Now here it should be noted that in India the past decade saw as many as 1.58 lakh persons being infected by the virus and over 10,000 being succumbed by it. Coming to influenza AH3N2 viruses they routinely circulate and cause illness in people and they tend to change more rapidly both genetically as well as antigenetically. See the influenza AH3N2 viruses are formed many separate genetically different clades in recent years that continue to co-circulate. We have already talked about H5N1 and H5N8 on January 1st, January 5th and January 8th of the Indian news analysis so please watch those videos for a better understanding of these subtypes. Now coming back it is to be noted that influenza A viruses are the only influenza viruses that are known to cause global epidemics or flu disease. Here we should know that a pandemic can occur when a new and very different influenza A virus emerges that both infects people and also has got the ability to spread efficiently between people. Talking about influenza B viruses they are not divided into subtypes but instead they are further classified into two lineages that is B Yamagata and B Victoria. Similar to the influenza A viruses the influenza B viruses can then be further classified into specific clades and subclades. Here it is to be noted that the influenza B viruses generally change more slowly in terms of their genetic and antigenetic properties when compared to influenza A viruses especially the influenza A H3N2 viruses. See both influenza A and influenza B viruses cause seasonal epidemics of disease usually in every winter season. Now when talking about influenza type C infections they generally cause mild illness and are not thought to cause human flu epidemics and finally coming to influenza D viruses they primarily affect cattle and are not known to infect or cause illness in people. Now today's article says that the current H5N8 bird flu outbreak in Kerala has caused a huge destruction to the economy of the region and many farmers lost their livelihood due to this. Especially Kudinad region of Kerala has severely affected due to the outbreak and this was the third outbreak of avian influenza in the region in the past seven years. Now in this regard let us see about Kudinad its significance etc since it may help you in your prelims. See Kudinad is a region which lies at the very heart of the backwaters in Alapura district. See it is a region that has many interesting aspects emanating from its culture, evolution, agricultural practices and many more. It is well known for its far and wide spreads of green paddy fields against the backdrop of placid backwaters and a major occupation in Kudinadu is farming with rice being the most important agricultural product. So due to this Kudinadu is known as the rice bowl of Kerala. In this regard we should also know about Kudinadu below sea level farming system which is also known as Kudinad wetland agricultural system. See this Kudinadu below sea level farming system is the only system in India that practices rice cultivation below sea level and the major land use structure of the system is flat stretches of rice fields which are mostly reclaimed delta swamps. The rice fields which are popularly known as puncha vials exist in three landscape elements. The first one is the karapadam or the upland rice fields then comes the kail or wetland rice fields and the curry or the land that is buried with black soil like materials. It is to be noted that the ideal condition of the system allows duck farming in a promising way. So immediately after harvesting the rice ducks are brought in even from distant places to the fields and this process mutually benefits the duck rarer and the rice farmers. Some of the famous local breeds of Kudinadu duck are Chara and Chempalli and in today's article this is being talked about and due to the impact of the bird flu thousands of ducks are being culled in this region. So we can say that the Kudinadu below sea level farming system can be seen as an approach to cope with the imminent climate impacts in coastal areas and also to evolve efficient methods to deal with soil availability and flood issues in agriculture. The conservation and refinement of the system is particularly important especially in this era of global warming leading to a rise in sea level. The island states like Maldives as well as countries like Bangladesh are deeply interested in replicating the Kudinadu system and know that Kudinadu has been declared as one of the Ramsar sites. See the Ramsar convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. So Kudinadu wetland is located at the southern portion of the India's largest Ramsar site the Vembanad coal wetland. See the Vembanad coal wetlands is one of the largest Ramsar sites on the southwestern coast of India as per the guidelines of the Ramsar convention of 1971 and it was declared as a Ramsar site of international importance in the year 2002. Apart from this the other two Ramsar sites of Kerala are Sastamkota and Ashtamudi. See the Kudinadu is also designated as a globally important agricultural heritage systems. Know that the globally important agricultural heritage systems were started by the FAO in order to safeguard and support the world's agricultural heritage system and this globally important agricultural heritage systems are outstanding landscapes of aesthetic beauty that combines agricultural biodiversity, resilient ecosystems and a valuable cultural heritage. So the three recognized globally important agricultural heritage system sites in India includes the Kudinadu below sea level farming system of Kerala, the Koraput traditional agriculture of Odisha and the Pampore saffron heritage of Kashmir. So with this we have come to the end of this news discussion. Let us move on to the next news article. These two news articles talk about ensuring of elephants by people. This article mentions a terrible incident that is occurred in the buffer zone of Modumalai tiger reserve. So what happened was people doing resort and home stay business they've attacked an elephant with burning objects and injured it. Due to this the elephant has died and now the perpetrators have been arrested. One of the reasons mentioned for such a pathetic incident is that it was a reaction to the notification of the elephant corridor in the MTR buffer zone. See generally if a corridor is notified then the resort and other private landowners who are located there are asked to vacate and hand over the vacant possession of the lands falling within the notified elephant corridor. Therefore fearing that the same would happen these people have done this. But what is an elephant corridor? See since elephant is a large agrarian animal that may weigh up to 4 to 5 tons it requires about 200 to 300 kilograms of fodder comprising of various plant species every day. So therefore the elephants need large areas which it can use by rotation so that it may not overgraze an area and destruct it all together. This allows the natural vegetation of the habitats a chance to regenerate. But the ever growing need for land infrastructure and energy requirements of a large population have slowly fragmented the elephant's natural spaces and now these natural spaces are surrounded by human habitation agriculture mining roads and railways. So therefore the more the forest habitat is fragmented the father and elephant herd as to roam in search of food and water. Increasingly elephants have to move father and father even from one forest area to another often through small patches of forest and these small patched areas are called as corridors or wildlife corridors or elephant corridors. These corridors are relatively narrow and linear patches of vegetation that form a vital natural habitat linkages between larger forest patches and thus these corridors allow elephants to move between secure habitats freely without being disturbed by humans. Further the elephants are genetically programmed by nature to never inbreed within their birth family and thus in order to reproduce they need to move around between the gene pools that occur in different forest areas and these corridors aid this process by helping different elephant populations to intermingle which is very essential for retaining the vigor of the species and also to ensure its long-term survival and also additionally identifying and nurturing such corridors will help in avoiding the deadly confrontations that happens between humans and elephants and also it will safeguard the welfare of the wildlife but unfortunately what happens is that in most areas the existing corridors are repeatedly being destroyed with block migration routes of the elephants and it results in the fragmentation of the habitats as well as it leads to increased human-elephant conflict. Now in order to prevent such conflict and to protect the elephants the government of India through the then ministry of environment and forest launched centrally sponsored scheme called as the project elephant in the year 1991. This scheme provides financial and technical support to the wildlife management efforts by states for their free-ranging population of wild elephants and the support will be provided to the major elephant-bearing states in the country. So therefore the project aims to ensure long-term survival of viable conservation reliant population of elephants in their natural habitats by protecting the elephants their habitats and migration corridors. Apart from this other goals are to address the issues of human-animal conflict and also to provide for the welfare of captive elephants. So these are some of the main activities carried out under this project and this news article also talks about a similar incident that occurred last year in Kerala in which a pregnant elephant was severely injured and later died after it ate a coconut or a fruit laden with explosive. Now based on this incident the Madras High Court at present has directed the forest department to not to use firecrackers on elephants for chasing them back into forest this is because there is always a chance that the animal might get injured due to it. This news article talks about why there should be a closer engagement between all stakeholders of the census and it also talks about the socio-economic and caste census. It further mentions about the necessary changes that the upcoming census should undergo in order to have a comprehensive data. The syllabus relevant for this article discussion is given below for your reference. Now let us analyze the article and try to understand what the author is trying to convey. See the census of India is one of the largest exercises of its kind and it enumerates and collects both demographic and socio-economic information on the Indian population and the information that is obtained is important not only for social scientists but also for policy practitioners and the government. Now let us first try to understand the nature of census. See the census in India started in the year 1881 and it is conducted every 10 years but however the process has evolved over years and has been used by the government, policy makers, academics and others to capture the Indian population, its access to resources and also to map the social change. However there are few issues with the census as per WWM 8 who was the census commissioner for India for the 1941 census who rightly said that the census is large and immensely powerful but it is a blunt instrument which is unsuited for specialized enquiry. So even though the census data is considered very useful there are numerous criticisms that were associated with it and scholars say that census leads to good data collection and that it is technique of governance but not quite useful enough for a detailed and comprehensive understanding of a complex society. However we cannot totally deny the fact that census is useful but if we take a few issues we get to know that census data is not that useful. Let us take the example of delimitation. When with regard to delimitation exercise there is a lack of depth when it comes to some issues and let us now see what those issues are. See of late there is growing chorus for caste based census information but however the enumeration of caste based information has been very controversial. Have you ever thought why is there a growing trend for this demand? See it is because there is a feeling that capturing broader caste information is a necessity to capture the realities of contemporary Indian society and also this information is important to understand the inequality that is present in the Indian society and to look for its remedies but however there are scholars who felt this to be a large exercise which is not only difficult but also socially untenable. Following the decades of debate the socio-economic and caste census or the SECC was conducted in the year 2011 and it was a distinct exercise when compared to the census of 2011. So this SECC 2011 it collected figures on caste in census operations. Note the last caste enumeration happened in the year 1931. However there are some problems when it comes to caste based enumeration. When you take caste it is an emotive element in India so we cannot ignore the political and social repercussions of a caste census year. However concerns have been raised saying that caste based census may lead to hardening of caste identities and in fact the census commissioner of 1941 aids observed that during the census there was an increased interest to no community population so people became census conscious and even scholars like Nicholas Dirks and Korn have demonstrated that the caste based census are the effect of marking out caste and community the forms we see today that is it is the caste census that led to distant caste identities that prevails at present. And the other concern is whether an institution such as caste can even be captured completely by the census. So here comes a question whether SECC cover all aspect on Indian social structure which is based on caste. Similarly comes a question whether it covers the differences caste leads to in the local regional and the national level and also whether the SECC covers the nuances that shape caste. So these are some of the questions that are being asked with regard to SECC and its effort to capture caste in India. Also one more issue with regard to this SECC is that its data is not confidential and it is open for use by government departments. So there is a potential for misuse of data that is collected in the SECC. So now we come to the question of what can be done in this regard in a way forward. See the author feels that there should be linking and syncing of the census to other data that is collected by the government such as the national sample surveys or the national family health surveys. Similarly these data sets are very important and useful as they contain information that are not covered by other surveys such as the maternal health. And also this leads to a comprehensive analysis of the Indian society at a lower cost because these data sets are already available. Another measure would be the linking of the census and the national sample survey. As mentioned above have already been suggested by scholars and also the author says the time lag between successor census is also a drawback with regard to census. However even more serious problem is related to the delay in the release of the data and this leads to not being able to understand the social changes happening in the society. So therefore the author concludes by saying that before the next SECC takes place we need to overcome all these issues and also it is necessary to ensure a system of transparency and to learn from the experiences of 2011 SECC. And moreover all the stakeholders should be properly taken on board because the SECC is not only used for projects of governance but also for academic studies. With this we have come to the end of this news discussion. Now let us move on to the prelims practice questions. Now let us take up this prelims practice question regarding the Arctic policy. So the question says consider the following statements with reference to polar explorations and research of India. The first statement says that India is an observer at the Arctic Council. Option two, Himadri is the research base of India in Antarctica. Statement three, India launched its first scientific expedition to the Arctic in the year 2007. So when you take statement one which says that India is an observer at the Arctic Circle the statement is correct. See the Arctic Council is a leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation coordination and interaction among the Arctic indigenous peoples and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues and in particular on the issues of sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic. And this Arctic Council was established in the year 1996 and the Otawa Declaration defines the following states to be the members of the Arctic Council and those states includes the Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russia Federation, Sweden and the United States. And since India was not in the list of members of the Arctic Council and India was made as an observer to this Arctic Council the year 2013. So therefore statement one is correct. Coming to statement two which talks about Himadri and it says that it is a research base of India in Antarctica. The statement is incorrect because Himadri is the research base in Arctic and this was started in the year 2008 and coming to the research base in Antarctica they are named as Maitri and Bharati. When you take statement three which talks about India launching its first scientific expedition to the Arctic Circle in 2007 is also correct. Statement three is also correct since as it is said India launched its first scientific expedition to the Arctic Ocean in the year 2007. So therefore the right answer is option A that is option 1 and 3 and now since the question asked for the correct statement the right option is option A that is option 1 and 3. Now look at this prelims practice question consider the following statements. Statement one this region is located at the southern portion of one of the largest Ramsar sites in India. Statement two this region is designated as a globally important agricultural heritage systems. Option three the region is the only agricultural system in India that practice rice cultivation below sea level. The above statements refer to which of the following regions. So as seen in the news discussion the above statements talk about Kudanad which is a region that lies at the very heart of the backwaters in Arapura district and also this region has got many interesting aspects emanating from its culture, evolution, agricultural practices and many more. It is well known for its far and wide spreads of green paddy fields that lies against the backdrop of placid backwaters. Therefore the right option C that is Kudanad wetland. Look at this question which is regarding the project elephant. It says which of the following is or are the objectives of project elephant. The right or the correct answer is option D that is one, two and three because all the three statements are correct and are found to be in relevance with the objectives of project elephant. Now look at this prelims practice questions regarding the Palava dynasty. The question says consider the following statements with regard to the Palava dynasty. Statement one free land grants given to Brahmins known as Brahmadeya was abolished by the Palava rulers. Statement two the evolution of Dravidian architecture started from the Palava rulers who introduced the art of excavating temples from the rock. Which of the above statements is or are correct? See when you look at statement one which says free land grants given to Brahmins known as Brahmadeya was abolished by the Palava rulers. So based on that discussion we know that this is wrong because the Palava rulers provided land grants to the temples and the Brahmins and those land grants that were given to the temples were known as Devadana and that which was given to Brahmins were called as Brahmadeya and also both the Brahmadeya and Devadana lands were exempted from tax. Therefore option one is incorrect. Coming to its statement two as we have seen in the news discussion the evolution of Dravidian architecture started from the Palava rulers who introduced the art of excavating temples from rock. So statement two is correct. Therefore right option is option b that is two only option one is incorrect because the Palavas continued the practice of Brahmadeya and they did not abolish it. Main's practice question is displayed below write the answer and post it in the comment section. With this we have come to the end of today's news analysis. If you like the video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar Iyer's Academy YouTube channel for updates regarding UPSC civil service preparation.