 A very good evening aspirants welcome to the Hindu news analysis brought to you by Shankar Ayes academy for the day 9th of July 2022 displayed here are the list of news articles that I have chosen for today's discussion seen at today's discussion we had broadly covered two topics which are very much important for your mains examination and we also made a point to address the rest of the two topics in both prelims and mains perspective okay now without wasting much time let's get into the first news article discussion now look at this editorial article this editorial article talks about afforestation to be specific it talks about the advantages of the forest ecosystem and government's effort on forest landscape restoration efforts then the editorial talks about the global afforestation efforts and the efforts taken by our government so this is what the editorial is trying to convey to us now let us see these points in detail I have displayed the syllabus under which the following discussion will fall under and you can just go through it now let's start our discussion let us start by understanding what afforestation is see afforestation as you know is nothing but growing trees in an area where there was no tree cover before it is the polar opposite of deforestation during deforestation trees are cut down right so this is opposite to deforestation with subsequent research over the years what we have understood is that afforestation is not so simple just by planting random trees we cannot realize the full potential of afforestation not just that the way that afforestation is looked at is evolving with time for example I recently came across an article in scroll dot entitled why massive tree plantation drives are a disaster for desert ecosystems see the article basically said that mindless afforestation efforts could damage the dedicated desert ecosystem the article also said that afforestation drives are not a one-stop solution to our country's land degradation and environmental problems so what I am trying to convey here is that afforestation is not so simple and it cannot be viewed as a silver bullet to all our problems see our government has also come to terms with this fact earlier our government solely focused on tree plantation in the degraded land but this strategy has now been re-aligned the focus now is on forest landscape restoration here not just tree plantation due focus is also provided on regaining ecological functionality and improving human welfare across deforested or degraded forest landscapes the forest landscape restoration method takes into account people's short-term and long-term needs one of the unique aspects of this method is that it involves the local community in the designing and upgradation process of the landscape it is the local community who fully understands the landscape and they are the ones who are going to directly benefit from the government effort the next thing is that the forest landscape restoration method also ensures that there is diversity in the trees planted see there is increasing scientific research about the ability of diverse native forest capability this is to sequester more carbon than the monoculture tree plantations okay planting diverse species is also healthier for local communities and their livelihoods the most important advantage of planting native species is that the native species have a high survival rate that is up to 90 percentage see this high survival rate is one of the important required aspects of the forest restoration process till now we saw about what is the forestation how our forestation transformed into forest landscape restoration process we also saw the important aspects of the forest landscape restoration process and its associated advantages now we'll see the importance of forest in general see forest plays an important role in regulating the carbon cycle and help mitigate climate change this is a very common point and everyone can write this so to differentiate your answer you have to substantiate your point with some data here the editorial article says that forest observe roughly 2.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide it also says that forest observe 33 percentage of carbon dioxide released by burning of fossil fuels by adding these data you can substantiate your statement and having seen the environmental aspect of forest now let us see the other roles played by the forest see forests are an important source of various resources lives of various communities are intertwined with forest in addition to this forest help in enhancing the soil productivity by preventing soil erosion in addition to this it helps in water retention in the soil good forest cover in the watershed region helps in enhancing the water flow in the rivers both these aspects helps in enhancing agricultural productivity and thereby it helps in improving rural economy see since India is chiefly an agrarian our country stands to gain a lot by protecting its forest okay then there are also some social aspect to the forest for communities living near forest it helps in ensuring sustainable supply of food forest also help them diversify their nutrition conception also with forest these communities can diversify their source of income all these benefits help in arresting rural to urban migration so we can say that conserving and creating new forest help almost every aspect of our life holistically so having seen the advantages associated with forest and forest conservation now let us see the efforts taken by the Indian government to augment forest cover see our government has various schemes in this aspect the major ones include compensatory afforestation or Kampa Kampa promotes afforestation as a way of compensating for forest land diverted to non-forest uses the next one is the national afforestation program see the national afforestation program involves ecological restoration of degraded forest and to develop the forest resources with people's participation then there is this national mission for a green India which is nothing but the green India mission the national mission for green India is one of the eight missions under the national action plan on climate change it aims at protecting restoring and enhancing India's forest cover and responding to the climate change then in the urban areas there is this Nagarban scheme it basically involves creation of forest in the urban areas then for preventing forest fires and conserving the native forest there is the forest fire prevention and management scheme see this scheme helps the states in dealing with forest fires finally there is the green skill development program this program helps the youth who aspire to attain employment in the environment and forest sectors okay so these are some of the important steps taken by the central government in addition to these I am sure you must be aware of national forest policy 1988 which aims to achieve 33 percentage of forest cover having seen the steps taken by the central government now let us see the measures taken in the international arena firstly take the UN decade on ecosystem restoration it spans from 2021 to 2030 then there is the 2011 bond challenge the bond challenge was launched with a global goal to restore 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes and this is by 2020 and 350 million hectares has to be restored by 2030 okay also there is the great green wall project in the Sahara it aims to restrict the extension of the Sahara desert for the south by planting trees in the border of the Sahara desert see we have seen some steps taken by India and the global community in increasing the forest cover and preventing land degradation now we will see the issues in this mainly from an Indian perspective the issues facing the forest restoration process are fourfold first these are issues even in the identification of areas for restoration secondly not adequate importance is given to research and scientific strategies in tree planting thirdly there is a issue of inadequate financing finally there is a conflict of interest amongst stakeholders the government aims to provide development to people which requires building infrastructure for which some forests have to be removed then the government claims this forest loss will be compensated by complementary forestation while the local forest dwellers who are affected by the government actions want the forest to stay undisturbed so there is this conflict of interest these are the hurdles the forest restoration process faces in India finally let's conclude with the way forward okay first societal needs have to be factored in while the forest restoration process is taken up we have to address these societal needs okay secondly all stakeholders must be consulted while the restoration process is taken up these are some aspects that can be incorporated to overcome the hurdles faced during the forest landscape restoration process so that's all about this news article see in this news article we saw exclusively about this forest landscape restoration process here we saw how the afforestation process is getting transformed into forest landscape restoration process we saw what is the reason for it and how it is getting transformed and what is the main advantage of this transformation then we saw what is the importance of forest see these points know you can very well utilize in your means and today in our news article discussion itself we will see about heat waves that is the temperature raise which is a more concern now and all these forest restoration process know can be put as a conservation effort that is taken by the government in addressing that heat wave concern okay so from our today's discussion itself you can be linking the first article discussion and the further news article discussions and this is how your answer must flow you have to connect the problem with the solution so with these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion now have a look at this news article this news article says Indian metrological departments have warned that rainfall is likely to be fairly widespread over Kerala till Tuesday see this warning of IMD that is Indian metrological department has prompted the state government to take adequate precautionary measures so this is about the news article in this context let us see some points about this IMD that is Indian metrological department and let us see the role played by IMD okay see the Indian metrological department was established in the year 1875 it is the national metrological service of the country the IMD is a principal government agency in all matters relating to metrology and allied subjects so this IMD is headquartered in New Delhi and it is headed by the director general of metrology for the convenience of administrative and technical control there are six regional metrological centers which are located at Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Calcutta, Nagpur and Guwahati okay at present this IMD is under the ministry of earth science okay note this and this is an important point related to preliminary type of questions okay now having seen the basic organizational structure of IMD let us now see the functions played by this IMD firstly the IMD or Indian metrological department makes metrological observations see the forecast made by IMD helps in the optimum functioning of weather sensitive activities like agriculture irrigation shipping aviation offshore oil explorations etc etc secondly the IMD wants against severe weather phenomena like tropical cyclones nor oysters dust storms heavy rains and snow then cold and heat waves etc etc as we saw in this news article so this is aimed at preventing destruction of life and property finally the IMD conducts and promotes research in metrology and its allied disciplines this helps in fine tuning its capability in weather forecasting and information gathering these are the main functions of IMD okay now having seen the functions let us see the role played by IMD in relation to agriculture see IMD has a separate division called the agricultural metrology agriculture metrology division was established in the year 1932 this is mainly to provide direct services to the farming community of the country this is because as we all know Indian agriculture is predominantly rainfit the main objective of agriculture metrology division is to minimize the impact of adverse weather on crops and it is to make use of favorable weather to boost agriculture production here an important scheme to know is the gram and krishi mausam seva gram and krishi mausam seva has been implemented by the Indian meteorological department this is in collaboration with state agricultural universities and Indian council of agricultural research and at this scheme the IMD issues crop and location specific weather based agricultural advisories this is for the benefit of the farming community okay now we'll see the role played by IMD in relation to the aviation sector see IMD has a separate division for civil aviation the services that IMD offers to the civil aviation sector comes under aviation metrological services IMD provides these services through 18 aerodome metrological officers and 54 aeronautical metrological stations these are located at various national and international airports of the country and this is based on a commitment made by IMD to the international civil aviation organization to ensure safety to air navigation IMD as a part of this provides advisory information on tropical cyclones this is given to the meteorological watch officers in India and neighboring countries this is the role played by IMD in relation to the aviation sector so that's all about this news article in this news article we saw about IMD its functions and we saw about IMD's role in agriculture sector and aviation sector see the last two that we saw right the roles played by IMD in agriculture sector and aviation sector this is how you have to take a topic from preliminary point of view to mains point of view okay see that is why in our discussion today we discussed about the structure of IMD functions of IMD which are very much important for a preliminary examination but when we talk about the role played in particular sector we are interlinking this particular organization or department with the role played by it in various other sectors or department or implementing various other government schemes this will help us to address any type of mains oriented questions okay so with these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion see this article here it states that due to unrestricted use of fossil fuels there is steady rise in the planet's temperature an interesting fact to know that the all India average temperature during the monsoon months that is from June to September is higher than the summer months which is from March to May there is also evidence for the toll on lives and you see from 2015 to 2020 there was 237 people who had reportedly died due to heat stroke in the northwest India when you take southern India it had reported 2444 deaths due to excess environmental heat with Andhra Pradesh accounting for over half the reported casualties okay so this is the crux of the news article given here so in the context of this alarming average temperature rise we will learn about the concept heat waves and particularly we'll see heat waves in India then we'll see how to control it okay before that the syllabus relevant to this news article is given here for your reference just go through it now let's begin our discussion first of all what is a heat wave see a heat wave is a period of abnormally high temperatures which becomes fatal to human body when exposed to it the extreme temperatures and result in atmospheric conditions adversely affect people living in these regions as they cause physiological stress sometimes resulting in death see when is a heat wave declared according to the health ministry a heat wave is declared when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 degrees centigrade or more for plane areas then what about coastal stations see when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 37 degrees Celsius or more in coastal regions then we declare it as a heat wave then what about hilly regions see when the maximum temperature reaches at least 30 degrees centigrade or more in hilly regions we declare it as a heat wave okay so there are three maximum temperature conditions for different regions one is for planes another one is for coastal stations another one is for hilly regions see heat waves are declared based on two conditions one is based on departure from normal temperatures and the other one is based on actual maximum temperature when we take based on departure from normal temperatures heat wave is declared when the departure from normal temperature is 4.5 degrees centigrade to 6.4 degrees centigrade and severe heat wave is declared when the departure from normal temperature is greater than 6.4 degree centigrade okay and based on actual maximum temperature in planes heat wave is declared when the actual maximum temperature is greater than or equal to 45 degrees centigrade then take severe heat waves they are declared when the actual maximum temperature is greater than or equal to 47 degrees centigrade okay now a question arises why heat waves are a concern now this is because there has been an increasing trend of heat wave in India over the past several years several cities in India have been severely affected after the summer of 2010 no the summer of 2022 has been the second hottest summer since 2016 this year that is March and April of this year saw early and unprecedented heat across India March was the warmest and April was the fourth warmest in 122 years severe heat wave conditions have been consistently reported over large parts of India since the beginning of the summer season in March if you take in the month of April the mercury touched a nearly 50 degrees Celsius in some areas of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh so what they're coming to say about all these temperature rise and what it is causing see these heat wave killed thousands of people and has also caused death of cattle and wildlife besides affecting the animals in various zoos in India the increased occurrences and severity of heat wave is a wake-up call for all agencies to take necessary action for prevention preparedness and community outreach why we need to do all these we should do all these to save the lives of general public livestock and wildlife okay so heat wave generally occurs over plains of Northwest India Central East and North Peninsula India during March to June it covers Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat then in some parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka Andhra Pradesh and Telangana sometimes it occurs over Tamil Nadu and Kerala also so we saw what is a heat wave and why it is a concern especially we saw why it is a concern in India now we'll see what can be done by the government and community to tackle the heat waves see the first solution is to establish early warning system and inter agency coordination this is to be done to alert residents on predicted high and extreme temperatures see this will help them to be aware of what is coming on secondly there should be capacity building or training program for healthcare professionals at local level this will help them to recognize and respond to heat related illness particularly during extreme heat events these training programs should focus on medical officers, paramedical staff and community health staff so that they can effectively prevent and manage heat related medical issues to reduce mortality and morbidity okay thirdly they should be a focus on public awareness and community outreach disseminating public awareness messages on how to protect against extreme heat wave through print electronic and social media will help to address challenges posed by the heat waves okay then there should be a collaboration of government with the non-government and civil society there should be a collaboration to improve bus stands building temporary shelters improved water delivery system in public areas and other innovative measures all these are done to tackle heat wave conditions then fourthly traditional adaptation practices such as staying indoors and wearing comfortable clothes should be promoted also simple design features such as shaded windows underground water storage tanks and insulating housing materials should be popularized then when you take initiatives like heat action plants which was propounded by Gujarat should be implemented in other states also lastly it is time that India should include financial incentives via budget outlets for effective cooling plants see we have seen states like Gujarat taking initiative separately for their own state when you take the whole of India the preventive measure can be developed or it can be implemented to the fullest only through financial incentives and this can be done via budget outlets only okay so adapting to and mitigating this most deep-rooted challenge posed by heat waves is the need of the R okay so that's all about this news article in this news article we covered about the concept of heat wave in a complete manner okay this will help you to address any type of mains oriented question also regarding the heat wave conditions all there can be a preliminary question for you so this topic is going to be very much useful for your upcoming mains examination as well as for your further preliminary preparation also okay so with these key points in mind now let's move on to the next news article discussion have a look at this news article this news article talks about World Bank's implementation completion and results report that is ICR the report is in use because it has rated the first phase of rebuild the Kerala development program as satisfactory the name of the program is first resale and Kerala program so this is the crux of the news article given here in this context let us quickly go through what is this implementation completion and results report that is ICR as you all know the World Bank is an international development organization its main role is to reduce poverty by lending money to the governments of its poorer members World Bank is doing this just to improve economies of poor countries and to improve the standard of living of their people here implementation completion and results report is nothing but one of the reports released by the World Bank see it is an integral part of the World Bank's drive to increase development effectiveness this is done through a continuous process of self-evaluation lesson learning and application sharing of knowledge and being accountable for results the lesson learned from the ICR that is implementation completion and results reports are improve the quality and effectiveness of bank loans or credits especially for follow-on operations along with this borrower stakeholder participation in the ICR process enhances later designs preparation and implementation apart from this the following are the exact results the report is intended to provide you can just go through it for example the ICR system is intended to provide accountability and transparency at the level of individual operations with respect to the activities of the bank borrower and involved stakeholders then they should provide a vehicle for realistic self-evaluation of performance by the bank and borrowers so all these are what the ICR system is intended to do remember the audiences for ICRs are both internal that is board members and bank managers and staff and external that includes governments and their agencies stakeholders and beneficiaries in partner countries along with them the general public with an interest in development effectiveness may also participate remember there are two types of ICRs a core ICR and an intensive learning ICR the core ICR is prepared to satisfy accountability needs and provide lessons from completed operations whereas when you take the intensive learning ICR it has the same structure and content as the core ICR but provides more extensive analysis and lesson learning based on the findings of a stakeholder workshop or you can say a beneficiary survey if appropriate the core ICR and the intensive learning ICR both utilize the same electronic template so that's all about this news article see we had taken this ICR report which is the implementation completion and results report of the World Bank for today's discussion so that it will be helpful in making your main answers feel unique see these points you can quote wherein an international development organization like World Bank is giving accreditation for a state program of India that is the first resale in Kerala program is rated as satisfactory in this report here you can say that the development program for country is being effective in many ways in that way you can quote this as a data in your main answer okay also regarding this ICR report who released or what all it covers can be put as a preliminary type of question also okay so with these key points in mind now let's move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion see today I have only two questions for you one will be discussed by me and the other one is going to be answered by you because it is a quiz question for you okay now take this first question see this question is regarding the implementation completion and results report that we discussed today okay see whenever you get a two statement type of question you have to go through both the statements before arriving at the answer am I right so now look at the first statement it says it is released by the World Bank yes this statement is obviously correct because this only we discussed today right so statement one is correct now look at the second statement satisfactory in the rating scale means there were minor shortcomings see you don't know about the scaling right so now let me tell you about this see this statement is correct and in today's news also we saw that the World Bank through this ICR rated the first phase of rebuild the Kerala development program which is named as first resilent Kerala program as satisfactory and satisfactory means there were minor shortcomings in the operations achievement of its objectives in its efficiency or in its relevance now just have a look at this image this image shows the ranking scale that the ICR is using okay here we have six rankings according to the scale okay you can see that highly satisfactory means there were no shortcomings at all and if you take unsatisfactory there were major shortcomings but when you take highly unsatisfactory there were severe shortcomings in the operation achievement of its objectives efficiency or net relevance so you can see that the word shortcoming is differing in each and every ranking scale that is when you take satisfactory it says only minor shortcomings but when you take moderately satisfactory there is moderate shortcomings so this is how the variations are see whenever you get any report or any indices always have a knowledge about the scale or rating that is provided okay that will be useful for attempting any type of preliminary questions so that's all about this second question now coming back to the complete question the question is demanding for incorrect statements okay be careful whether they are asking for correct statements or incorrect statements here the question is asking for incorrect statements so your answer here will be option D neither one nor two okay now look at this question it is the quiz question for you see this is a very easy question but here there is a slight trick in it try attempting this question and post your answers in the common section the right answer will be posted in the next 24 hours itself and friends try attempting the question it will boost your confidence okay so that's all for today's prince practice question now displayed here is our mains practice questions see as means is fast approaching remember writing practice is very much important for you so kindly go through the question and try attempting to write answer for these questions and try attempting to write answer for these questions and post your answers in the common section and that's all for today's discussion if you like this video don't like share and comment and don't forget to subscribe to the Shankar IAS Academy's YouTube channel thank you for listening