 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IA's Academy for the date 25th of July 2019. Displayed at the list of news articles taken up for today's analysis along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Trivandrum editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis will be available in the description section and also in the common section for the benefit of smartphone users. Let us now start our analysis. First, let us see an editorial which is on measles. Now this editorial is about the achievement made by the island nation of Sri Lanka in eliminating measles. On 9th July 2019, the World Health Organization has announced that Sri Lanka has eliminated measles. Now, the syllabus which is relevant for the analysis of this news article has been highlighted here for your reference. Before entering into the analysis of this editorial, let us see a few facts about measles. Measles is a highly contagious disease that is caused by a virus called as measles virus. When we say highly contagious, this means that the infection can spread from one person to another person very easily. So it can also be called as a communicable disease. Therefore note that the human to human transmission of the measles infection is possible. And this can happen through the droplets from nose, then droplets from mouth or even the throat of the infected persons. This is one of the reasons why we are educated not to use the handkerchiefs or tablets which are used by another person. Because these droplets can spread the disease even when they are released in the air and it can spread by the injection of the virus into the environment by sneezing or coughing. Measles infection can lead to serious health complications such as blindness, zephalitis, then severe diarrhea, ear infections or even some severe respiratory infections such as pneumonia. If you see the serious complications are more common in children, especially those children who are below the age of 5, then serious complications can also happen among the adults who are over the age of 30. Severe measles is most likely among the poorly nourished young children population especially those who are having insufficient levels of vitamin A. If you see severe measles was also noted among those children whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV AIDS or some other diseases. Now WHO calls this measles disease as a killer childhood disease. With respect to prevention the safest and the effective method is to prevent by vaccination on schedule. Here we say vaccination on schedule because vaccination process itself involves two doses. Now according to the news article the first dose has to be administered to the child when they are just 9 months old and the second dose for the measles vaccination has to be given when the children are 3 years old. If you see Sri Lanka did not follow the schedule of vaccination and because of this Sri Lanka witnessed a major measles epidemic in the year 2013. Because Sri Lanka extended the time for the first dose, we saw that first dose has to be administered to the child when they are just 9 months old but here they have administered the first dose to those children who have completed only at 12th month. So this change in schedule was mentioned as one of the possible causes for the major measles epidemic which happened in Sri Lanka in the year 2013. So the ultimate take away is vaccination on schedule is very important. Now the author talks about two things in this editorial. One is about the global measles resurgence and the other is about an island of hope with respect to measles. This island of hope has eliminated the measles in the same time. When we say measles resurgence it means increase in the measles infections compared to a previous time period and here island of hope means the country of Sri Lanka. The author notes that globally there has been a 300 percentage increase in the number of infections in the first three months of the year 2019 when we compare with the first three months of the year 2018. That is the previous year. This increase has been clearly noted in the European region. If you see here when we say European region we refer the countries which are classified as countries in European region by the World Health Organization. The author mentions that there are 53 countries in this European region and out of these 53 countries 49 countries have seen the resurgence in the number of measles viral infections since the beginning of 2018. In the editorial it is mentioned that the number of reporter infections in the year 2018 is the highest in 10 years. The author notes this as a sharp increase. More than 100 people have died because of measles in the European region since January 2018 and based on the present trend of infections in the year 2019 it is projected that the infections this year will surpass the infections which happened in the year 2018 or we can tell that the infections of this year particularly 2019 will be greater than 2018. So, this is not a good trend. The vaccination coverage if you see it is high at some 91 percentage for the second dose in the region. But the vaccination coverage is not uniform throughout the European region. In some places there was high coverage but in some places there was low coverage. This has led to accumulation of people who are likely to be affected in these pockets of low coverage. It just means that a wherever vaccination coverage is not there then measles likely to infect that particular population. The next reason is that the vaccination was not high enough to injure herd immunity against measles transmission cycle. Now here herd means the population were provided the vaccination. If there is herd immunity that means most of the people in the region are immune to the measles virus. That is they cannot be affected by the virus. This means that there are less people who are likely to be infected. In such a situation communicable disease cannot spread like an epidemic. That means some people are not infected because lack of feasibility to spread as a many are immune by vaccination in a particular locality. Now this herd immunity therefore has an impact of protecting those people who are not vaccinated and the people who could not be vaccinated. People who could not be vaccinated include children also who are too young the people with immune system problems and then those people who have certain medical complications which did not allow them to receive the vaccines. This trend is especially noted among the patients who are suffering from cancer. The author is saying that the vaccination given in the European region could not ensure herd immunity. Now this is one of the reasons why there is a resurgence of measles infection. Now let us come to the positive outlook of Sri Lanka. The author tells that Sri Lanka is an island of hope amidst the global measles resurgence. Sri Lanka has become one of the four countries in the Asian region to eliminate measles. The author states that for country to be declared as measles free the country should stop the transmission of an indignous measles virus continuously for a period of three years. If you see Sri Lanka has reported its last case of measles caused by an indignous measles virus in May 2016. Now it is almost three years over, more than three years. So Sri Lanka has been declared measles free. The other nations that have eliminated measles in the Asian region are Bhutan, Maldives and Timor-Leste. So here you can infer that India is not one among those countries which have eliminated measles. So with respect to these nations, India and other countries have to learn and implement the best practices according to the local requirements. The author lists four reasons how Sri Lanka was able to earn this achievement. First one is the better vaccination coverage for both the doses. We saw first dose and second dose. So better vaccination coverage for both the doses. The global immunization coverage for the first dose is 85 percentage and for the second dose is just 67 percentage. But if you see Sri Lanka managed to attain the coverage of more than 95 percentage for both the doses. Hence it was able to eliminate measles. Then if you see Sri Lanka has also carried out periodical mass vaccination campaigns. These campaigns were aimed at reaching every small pocket or say an area where unimmunized children were present. Then there is also a strong surveillance mechanism to monitor the infected individuals and also the persons who come in contact with such infected individuals. This is done to minimize the spread by giving some protective medication systems to the people who contact the infected persons. If you see Sri Lanka has also faced occasional setback since the start of the introduction of measles vaccine in its national immunization program. There were some local outbreaks of the disease reported in Sri Lanka in 1999 to 2000. And then in the year 2013, there were two major epidemics of measles which were reported in Sri Lanka. Despite all these, Sri Lanka has managed the health administration very effectively in order to eliminate measles. So now Sri Lanka has become an exemplar for other countries to achieve elimination of measles in their respective territories. Here the word exemplar means a perfect model that can be emulated by others. Now with this we come to the end of the analysis of this editorial. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about the Global Innovation Index. The syllabus with which the analysis of this news article can be linked is given here for your reference. This article discusses about the 12th edition of the Global Innovation Index which was published yesterday. Know that the Global Innovation Index is jointly released by World Intellectual Property Organization, then in seed and also by Cornell University. And there are also some other knowledge partners who help in releasing this index. And one of the knowledge partner is Confederation of Indian Industries which is nothing but CII. Now this Global Innovation Index ranks 129 countries based on 80 different indicators. Some of the indicators include investments made into research and development, then international patents, then trademark applications. And there are also some other newer indicators like high-tech exports and then also mobile app creation. Next coming to the ranking or the position, the top three countries in this particular 12th edition of Global Innovation Index. Nothing but the best performers are the countries of Switzerland, Sweden and United States of America. And those countries which are the least performers are the bottom three position. Countries are Niger, Togo and Yemen. Now let us see about India's position. If you see in the year 2018, India ranked 57th rank. Now it has jumped five places and now its rank is 52 in this 2019 index. If you see consistently from the year 2015, India has improved its ranks. It was ranked 81 in the year 2015, then 66 in the year 2016, then it was ranked 60th in the year 2017. So from this graph we can see that India's position is continuously improving. We can see an enormous improvement in India's ranking. Now let us see some of the key findings regarding India which has been given in this particular report. One of the finding is that India is one among the top countries in information and communication technology, service exports. And then also in gross capital formation. First, let us see what is meant by this information and communication technology, service exports. It is nothing but the access to information through telecommunication services, the information and communication technology. So basically you are providing a service or we can tell that an individual or a entity provides a service, ICT service in India to some other nations. So this is what we call as exports. So the services that are provided by the Indian entities in ICT is called as information and communication technology, service exports. Next coming to the term gross capital formation. The word capital formation means the investments that are made in a particular year as a percentage of GDP. Now this investment will help in the production process because investments are nothing but money. You can also tell capital as money. So this will help in the production process and when the production process are good, there will be more goods and also some services which are produced. So overall it will help in the development of a particular country. So gross capital formation is nothing but the total capital formation or the total investments that are made in a particular year, mostly it is represented as a percentage of GDP. Next, the report tells that India's size is bigger or we can tell that India's market size is bigger and then India must also maintain the progress, nothing but the improvement in the rankings which we have seen for the past five years. So considering the size and also the progress which India has to maintain, then the report is telling that both these will have impact on global innovation. Next if you see the global innovation index has clubbed both central and South Asian regions as one category and India is the top country in this particular category, nothing but the central and South Asian regions category and India is followed by the countries of Iran and Kazakhstan. Now if you see this position has been maintained by India since the year 2011. So we can tell that India is the leader in the central and Southern Asian region category. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This editorial is about the effects of politics of the developed country like USA and a developing nation like China which are involving India and which will affect India's interests. The syllabus to which the analysis of this editorial can be linked is given here for your reference. Let us now see the editorial. Before two days the United States president, Mr. Donald Trump, had tweeted a message that Indian PM Modi asked for help with regards to the Kashmir issue. The United States president also said that he can help mediate the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan. Now the author of this editorial tells, Kashmir issue is regarding India's territorial integrity. The word territorial integrity means the territorial oneness or you can call it as the wholeness of a particular country or a state. The author tells that if one is more attuned or one who is more aware of the international shifts, that is the changes which happen at the international level, they can notice that there are many changes which happen continuously in the South Asian region. Now he means to tell that if Pakistan had aligned with USA before 10 years, now it is closely engaging with China. So it has shifted from USA to China. Another example is, if Nepal had aligned with India before 10 years, now Nepal is equally engaging both China and India. Another example is Maldives aligned with China before two, three years and now with the new government in place, Maldives is again engaging with India. So the author is telling that the structural trends in South Asia have been changing over the past several years. Next, the author tells that though India's diplomatic power is not as strong as many believe it, but still India's opportunities in the future to balance any negative situations at the international level, if at all it may arise. Whenever we study about South Asia, the main issue that comes is the India-Pakistan relations. The author has discussed the India-Pakistan relations in this editorial. He tells that over the past five years, both India and Pakistan have thought that they have some advantages position at the international level. Now, the term advantages position means the support that they're likely to receive from the developed countries. So who receives more support, be it a strategic support or be it an economic support, even any other support. The author tells that in case of India, India gained its confidence after Mr. Modi won the Lok Sabha elections in the year 2014 with the majority. Now here, majority means a strong central government or we can tell that a strong government in place. When there's a strong central government, it would be expected that India will have stable ties that is stable bilateral relations with all the major countries of the world. So the author tells that this is how India gained confidence. Similarly, the author tells that Pakistan also renewed its bilateral ties with China and USA. First, let us see Pakistan-China relations which the author tells. He tells that China has assured a lot of strategic commitments to Pakistan army and also several bilateral partnership treaties with Pakistan. Now the term strategic commitment means long-term commitment, which is made by one country to another country, such that this long-term commitment will have long-term impacts in the future. One example which we can tell is the China-Pakistan economic corridor. Now this is a long-term commitment of China to help develop the Pakistan economy. Next, let us see the Pakistan-USA relations. Before three days, if you see the Pakistan Prime Minister visited United States. And after that, the tweets from United States president came and in this US president has told that USA is willing to mediate in India-Pakistan talks. So the author is telling that whatever negative stand that USA takes on Pakistan, it will ultimately engage Pakistan again. He tells that since 1950s, USA is engaged or is having a military alliance with Pakistan. And since then, if we see whenever there is a problem between USA and Pakistan, Pakistan will be friendly with China and it will try to engage China. Now, once seeing this, the United States policy makers will again try to engage with Pakistan. So the author tells that this is happening like a cycle. If not USA, then China. If not China, then USA. Now one thing to note that is USA will discreetly or silently try to engage with Pakistan such that India is not offended or being insulted. So this is how diplomatically USA moves. So the author is telling that India is the sufferer because of this game of United States. Next, the author gives an idea why USA is trying to engage Pakistan again now. The main factor is the Afghan factor because USA thinks that Pakistan's support is required to bring peace to Afghanistan. And if you see the tribal frontier areas of Pakistan are the most instable area in Pakistan because of the presence of Pakistani Taliban. Now, this area is called as federally administered tribal areas in Pakistan. Now, if USA is not engaging with Pakistan, then there are every chances that the Afghan peace process will be affected. So the author is telling that the United States, China and Russia have recognized the role of Pakistan in ensuring the peace in Afghanistan. Now, all these countries want to bring back Taliban into Afghan politics. So they think that engaging Taliban will bring peace to Afghanistan. So this is the reason why these countries are recognizing the role of Pakistan. And this is giving advantage to Pakistan army and Pakistan in general. The author tells that this is the reason why Pakistan thinks it is in an advantageous position. So we saw during the starting that both India and Pakistan feels that they are in the advantageous position. Now, this is the reason why Pakistan thinks that it is in an advantageous position. We can see that even in Afghan peace process, the third parties, that is the countries like USA, China and Russia are involving. So he has mentioned the word in the editorial that the evolving roles and interests of third parties are becoming significant again. That is, they are becoming important again. He tells that India has to play a very balanced role so that its foreign policy will be a successful one. Next, the author is discussing why both USA and China are so much interested in Pakistan. Now, both these countries have different reasons, their own reasons, why they are so much interested in Pakistan. The one common reason is that both USA and China wants stability in this particular region. And they also want to avoid a major subcontinental conflict. Now, when we tell subcontinent conflict in this context, it is the Indian subcontinent. And in Indian subcontinent, the major conflict that is happening for a long time is the India-Pakistan conflict. Next, what India wants is that Pakistan should transform or change its domestic politics and also its behavior with other countries, including India. The author is telling that we are not sure if USA and China also thinks in the same angle to ensure that the domestic politics of Pakistan needs a change. He guesses that both USA and China prefer a strong Rawalpindi, that is a strong Pakistan army. Here you have to note why author has mentioned the word Rawalpindi because Rawalpindi is the army headquarters of Pakistan. So, both USA and China want a strong Pakistani army along with a competent, that is a capable civil government and also a group of elite. Elite means knowledgeable people with a wide world view. The author tells that for USA, the Pakistan army is an insurance cut. He means to tell that if any problem happens in West Asia or say even in the neighboring country of Pakistan, that is Iran, then immediately USA can get the help of Pakistani army. So, USA is thinking from military point of view. Whereas China is thinking from economic point of view because if you see China has its own plans in the form of Belt and Road Initiative, then it has also planned to build industrial corridors and also energy corridors in the future throughout the world. So, China thinks that stable Pakistan will be its partner for all its initiatives. So, the author sees that there is an economic point of view. So, we have seen how the developed country like USA and how a developing country like China are trying to engage with Pakistan from the Afghan angle and also from Pakistan's polity angle. The author tells that such evolving interests of the developed countries must not be mistaken as a warning signal for India, at least in the medium term. He simply means to tell that India should not consider whatever these countries are doing at least for time being. The author adds one more point here from the development angle. He tells that India's polity is strong. When we tell polity is strong, India has a strong central government and the economy is also strongly growing. But if you see Pakistan, it is very unstable in terms of economy now and know where it can match with India. So, the author is telling that if Pakistan is trying to play a negative role, then the developed countries will see it in a negative manner only and they might shift their strategic commitments towards India that is a shift from Pakistan towards India. He further tells that Indian policymakers should have a clear view that the present situation in Pakistan is not going to change in the future. So, in any case, India's statecraft, that is the skillful management and development of a country by ourselves, that is by India is necessary. Once we prove that India's strong, the author tells that there is a chance for the world powers to align with India again. Next, the author tells that if at all there is going to be any cross-border terror attack that happens line of control or if any major terrorist attacks happen on Indian military targets, then India should show that it has the right and also the capacity to hit back on the terrorists. If India actively strikes back, then it will show to the world that India is a strong and a powerful nation. So, there is a chance that the world powers will realign their interests or there is also a chance that Pakistan may change its behavior and engage constructively with India. So, one was from economic point of view and the second here is from military point of view. So, the author tells that if at all in the future, if India asks third parties, that is other countries to intervene or assist in the South Asian region, then it should be for only one reason. The reason is India should ask the third parties to stop the proxy war which is being conducted by Pakistan in the Kashmir region. Here proxy war means indirect war that is being conducted by a state actor which is Pakistan, like either by financing or supporting the terrorists in Pakistan soil to conduct terror attacks in India, then also by provoking the separatists who are located in India to push for the independence of Kashmir. Once again, if India is able to establish peace in Pakistan with the help of third parties, then India should persuade that is push Pakistan to accept the line of control as a part of final territorial settlement. So, whatever region on that side of the line of control will belong to Pakistan and this side of line of control will belong to India. So, this was the offer that was made by our ex-prime minister Indra Gandhi during the 1972 Shimla negotiations. Now, let us just see about this 1972 Shimla negotiations. It is basically an agreement that was signed in the year 1972 between India and Pakistan in Shimla post the 1971 war where Bangladesh got independence from Pakistan. In this agreement, the ceasefire line of 17th December 1971 after the war was fought, the liberation war of Bangladesh was fought. This particular line was converted into line of control between India and Pakistan and it was also agreed that neither sides shall alter this line of control unilaterally, that is, individually they cannot alter this line of control irrespective of any problems that both these countries have that is both India and Pakistan have. So, the final takeaway or what you need to know or learn from this editorial is that India should not engage third parties in the bilateral negotiations or in the bilateral relations that are happening between India and Pakistan. If at all India engages, then it should be to stop or end the proxy war that Pakistan is carrying out. Next, in the editorial discussion, we saw that both USA and China are engaging Pakistan as of now, but the author is telling that India's economic development and also India's strong polity will automatically push these countries or the world powers to align with India in the future. So, both these are the takeaways or the points that you need to know from this particular editorial analysis. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is important from the perspective of environmental ecology. Now, the article is relevant in terms of environment ecology in your problems preparation and in your mains preparation, it will be relevant in your general studies, paper three under the main heading environment, especially under conservation, environmental pollution and degradation. Now, one of the important geographical features in the state of Assam is the Karbi Anglong Ilts. In Assam, there is also a district named as Karbi Anglong. In these Ilts, illegal stone mining activities were happening. These stone mining activities has caused noise pollution and they've also contaminated the river streams which are located nearby and all these contaminated rivers flow into the Kaziranga National Park. These issues have actually created problems with the animals which are living in the dens of Kaziranga National Park. That's why the news article calls the animals as denizens of Kaziranga. In April, the Supreme Court has ordered to close all the stone queries in the Karbi Anglong Ilts. As a result of this Supreme Court order, the state government of Assam has banned the stone mining in Karbi Anglong Ilts which are located south of the Kaziranga National Park. This means that the problems of noise pollution and water contamination are now removed. We know that flooding has been devastating certain parts of Assam in the recent days, including the Kaziranga National Park. It is stated that around 205 animals including 18 dinosaurs have died because of the floods. Since Karbi Anglong Ilts lies south of the National Park, the animals are fleeing to the hills by crossing a highway which is located in between the National Park and the Karbi Anglong Ilts. It is also found that while crossing the highway to enter the hills, some animals have been killed by accidents. The article says that the removal of threats in the hills facilitates the migration of animals from the park to the hills. That is why the article has mentioned that the Karbi Anglong Ilts has now become a natural refuge for the animals in the park. Here refuge refers to a place of safety times of trouble. The article has also mentioned about Maloni Animal Corridor. Know that this corridor is located in the state of Assam. There is also a mention of death of an elephant in Manus National Park. This national park is also located in the state of Assam. Now Assam is special because of the fact that within India, the maximum number of the greater one-horned rhinoceros is recorded in this particular state only. That is, this is one reason why the image has been given in this news article. Now know that according to IUCN, Indian rhinoceros has been listed as vulnerable with the population trend increasing. The news article also mentions about Japanese encephalities. If you see, more than 100 people have died because of this infection. We know that the Japanese encephalities virus transmitted to humans from the infected mosquitoes of the Kulek species. So, floods could facilitate the breeding of these mosquitoes which could significantly increase the infections among the people. And also know that heavy rainfall in northeast region or in any hilly region is generally associated with the threat of landslides. So, these are some of the points that can be taken from this news article. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about the cattle smuggling that happens along the border between India and Bangladesh. From this news article, we can take two points. One, that the international border between India and Bangladesh is 4096 kilometers. The second information is that cattle smuggling is happening through the poorest border between India and Bangladesh. This news article states that the smuggling of cattle has reduced by 50 percentage if we compare the number of incidents that happened in the year 2016. Though this news is pertaining to cattle smuggling, we should know that illegal infiltration of persons from Bangladesh, then smuggling of contraband goods and smuggling of fake Indian currency notes, then human trafficking, and then cross-border terrorism are some of the crimes that happen in the Indo-Bangladesh border. When we say contraband goods, these are the goods that are banned to be exported or be imported. For example, the cow meat. If you see the cow meat cannot be exported from India. If they do, then that is a crime. It cannot be exported along the border. Now, in order to contain and control all these offenses, the central government is constructing border fences and border outposts. As of now, if you see border fencing has been completed for around 2800 kilometers out of the total 4096 kilometers shared border with Bangladesh. So, this is the progress with respect to border fencing. Here, know that outpost means security station of India, which is located in the border. Now, let's see the next news article. This news article is about the rampant illegal sand mining which is happening in five states of India. The analysis of this news article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under general issues on environmental ecology, then in your mains, NLCD's paper three under conservation, environment pollution and degradation. Supreme Court has asked the center and five states to report on the allegations of rampant illegal beach and river sand mining. If you see the illegal sand mining has been reported in the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. This is because a petition was filed in the Supreme Court to order a CBI inquiry into the issue of sand mining in these five states. The illegal and unsustainable mining is threatening the environment. If you see it causes severe ecological imbalance. For example, it can lead to loss of plant and animal lives in the river and riparian ecosystem. Such sand mining will also affect the habitats which are located near the river ecosystem. This habitat near a river is called as a riparian habitat and this riparian habitat between the land and river is important as it prevents pollution from entering the river stream. Then sand mining in the river bank is called as bank erosion. Bank erosion will alter the morphology or the flowing pattern of a river. So this can lead to floods in the future. If you see the sand mining also lowers the groundwater table. Excessive pumping of groundwater is associated with sand mining. So this leads to drop of water levels which will cause water scarcity for the irrigation purposes. Any environmental harmful activity on the land degrades the quality of the land. In case of sand mining, they are removing the top layer of soil which is very much vital for the plants to survive. As a result, the productivity of the soil will be reduced. Then sand mining also affects the land use patterns if you see. Many research studies have found that the removal of sand in the riverine ecosystems makes the land unproductive after mining. For example, let's think that some kind of agricultural activity is going on in an area where sand mining is about to happen. After mining, the land will not support vegetation as it supported earlier. So a farmer cannot use the land for agricultural purposes. So the land use pattern itself is changed by mining. With respect to sand mining, we have sustainable sand mining management guidelines of 2016. Just keep this in mind. Now one of the objectives of these rules is to ensure that sand and gravel mining is done in an environmentally sustainable manner and also in a socially responsible manner. Now let us move on to the next news article. Let us see the final news article which gives the timeline for the objective of soft landing on the moon by Chandrayaan-2 mission. The analysis of this news article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current events of national importance and also under general science. And then in your mains, it will be relevant in your general studies paper three under awareness in the field of space. We know that the successful launch of Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into the Earth-bound orbit was made on 22nd of July. Till 13th August, the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft will orbit the Earth in the increasingly larger elliptical orbits. This orbiting around the Earth in a series of orbits is called as Earth-bound manoeuvres. This will culminate or end with insertion of the spacecraft into the lunar transfer trajectory. This is called as trans-lunar insertion which is expected to happen on 14th August, 2019. This lunar transfer trajectory is a part of massive elliptical orbit. While the spacecraft is in this trajectory, it will move into the moon's sphere of influence here. While entering the moon's sphere of influence, the spacecraft has to slow down its speed in order to achieve the planned target of soft landing. If the speed did not slow down, then the spacecraft will not be able to manoeuvre the moon to reach the orbit at a height of 100 kilometer. That is the moon orbit at the height of 100 kilometer from the moon's surface. Instead, it will just be an object which is flying around the moon. So it is expected to take around eight days to travel in the moon transfer trajectory that is from 13th August to 21st August. Then it is planned that the spacecraft will do manoeuvres around the moon to circularize itself at an orbit at 100 kilometer height. Between 1st September to 3rd September, the spacecraft will rotate the moon in its orbit. Now, this orbit is special because it is in this orbit, the lander will separate from the orbiter. And finally, on 7th September, 2019, the lander is planned to land softly on the moon's surface. While landing, the dust in the lunar surface should not damage the lander or any of the scientific instruments or the payloads in that lander. We know that the robotic rover is also inside this lander. The last 15 minutes before the landing is called as the 15 minute window of terror. While attempting for landing, the sensors in the lander has to identify the right spot in order to land Vikram. And all the breaking mechanisms has to function effectively and efficiently. As of now, is still as planned to land Vikram in the plane which is located between the craters, Manzinus C and Sympelius N. Now, have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the practice questions discussion session. The first question is, consider the following statements regarding measles. And they've given three statements and I've asked you to choose the correct answer. The first statement tells that measles is a non-communicable disease. This statement is wrong. We saw during our discussion that measles is a communicable disease where human to human transmissions are possible. So the first statement is wrong. So the second statement is also wrong because it is given that it is transmitted by mosquitoes. It is not transmitted by mosquitoes or any other species. The measles virus is the reason for causing measles in human being. So the second statement is wrong here. The third statement tells that children under the age of five years are more commonly infected by measles. This statement is correct. Children who are less than five years of age and the adults who are above 30 years of age are more commonly affected by this viral disease. The question is asked for the correct statement. So here the correct answer is option C3 only. Now, for this question, you can also use the elimination technique because if you see all the options and only see it is given three only in rest of the other options, one is that. So if you can eliminate the first statement, you can arrive at the correct answer here. So we saw that the first statement is wrong. So the correct answer is option C3 only. Moving on to the next question. The question is global innovation index is released by, and I've given four options here. Option B is the correct answer. Vipo, Incede and Cornell University. Here just note that a lot of reports are released by World Economic Forum and also by International Energy Agency. If you see global innovation policy center, this particular policy center is a part of US Chamber of Commerce and it releases the International Intellectual Property Index. And if you see SIPPRI, SIPPRI is nothing but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which is a dedicated to research into conflict and armaments, then arms control and also disarmament. The correct answer for this question is option B, Vipo, Incede and Cornell University. Moving on to the next question. The question is consider the following statements with reference to the greater one-horned rhinoceros. And they've given two statements and I've asked you to choose the correct answer. The first statement is the population of the animal is highest in the state of Assam. This statement is correct. Know that more than 70 percentage of the world's greater one-horned rhinoceros inhabits or it is present in the Khajiranga National Park in Assam, India. So this statement is correct. Moving on to the second statement. The statement tells that the animal is protected under schedule one of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. And it is also listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List as the population trend is decreasing. Now if you see the first part of the statement, which tells that the animal is protected under schedule one of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 is correct. And in the second part of the statement, it is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List and it has given the reason as the population trend is decreasing, but this is wrong. You know that the population trend is increasing because of conservation measures. So because of this phrase, the entire statement goes wrong. So the correct answer for this question is option A11B because the question is asked for the correct statements. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's discussion and also the practice question discussion session. Do like, comment and share the video and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.