 Greetings, aspirants! A very warm welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis of Shankar AS Academy. Today's date is 4th of August 2022. So, displayed here are the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. Without much delay, now let us move on to the first news article discussion. Now have a look at this news article. The news article states that India will be hosting the UNSC meeting on counter-terrorism. The meeting will be held on October 2022 and officials from all 15 countries of the United Nations Security Council including China, Russia and US will be participating in the meeting. This meeting is very very important for India because India is halfway through the second year of its two-year term as an elected non-permanent member of the UNSC. India's tenure at the council will end in December when the country will also preside as president of the powerful UN organ for the month. Yes, you hear me right? See, the UNSC or the Security Council consists of 15 members of which five are permanent members and the other 10 are non-permanent members. Five permanent members include China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The other 10 members are elected on a regional basis for a term of two years. Likewise, the body's presidency also rotates monthly among its members. So in December, India's tenure both as a member and as a president will come to an end. That is why this meeting is very important for India. The meeting is called the Counter-Terrorism Committee that is CTC meeting and it is normally held in New York. So with this idea, now let us see in brief about the Counter-Terrorism Committee that is CTC. See, the CTC was established by Security Council Resolution in the wake of the 11th September terrorist attack in the United States. So after the 11th September terrorist attack in United States, United Nations Security Council through a resolution established this CTC. The committee comprises all 15 Security Council members and its main task is to monitor whether countries have implemented the measures that are intended to enhance their legal and institutional ability to counter terrorist activities at home. So they monitor whether the following measures are implemented by the countries or not. The measures are displayed here. Just go through it. Now coming back to the news article, see the special meeting will be specifically focusing on three significant areas. They include firstly, the internet and social media, secondly, terrorism financing and thirdly, unmanned aerial systems. That is UA, yes. See, as you know, these are the areas where emerging technologies are rapidly developing, experiencing more use by member states and facing an increasing threat of exploitation for terrorism purposes. These three focus areas are chosen for the meeting. So here you might think that terrorism financing is already recognized and dealt with through mechanisms like the financial action task force that is FATF. Then why there is a need for separate discussion in CTC? See, it is because FATF lacks templates and codes of conduct for newer threats like financing through cryptocurrency and the use of drones for terror attacks. So that is why terrorism financing is also included in this meeting. Now exclusively talking about India's role in the meeting, see as per the article in the meeting, UDLE is expected to highlight cross-border threats from both Pakistan and Afghanistan. In addition to that, see India has been pushing for the United Nations members to adopt a comprehensive convention on international terrorism. This was first proposed in 1996, but still it did not get concluded. So India is likely to raise this convention during the meeting. As a whole, this event will showcase India's role as a victim of terrorism as well as as a country at the forefront of global counter-terrorism efforts. So these are all some of the important points that you have to remember about CTC and the role played by India in this. See, you can quote these points as value addition in your main sanser writing. These facts are something unique and it will help you to stand out from all other papers. So these learnt points. Now let us move on to the next news article discussion. See this editorial article. This article is all about the draft echo sensitive areas, notification and the opposition by the Karnataka government for the notification. In this context, let us discuss about the important points in this editorial article. Before that, the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. Just go through it. First of all, what is this echo sensitive areas? See, echo sensitive areas that is ESAs or regions located within 10 kilometers of protected area such as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. ESAs are notified and regulated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change under the Environment Protection Act 1986. The purpose of declaring ESA is to create shock observers to prevent ecological damage caused by developmental activities. Also, it's aim is to minimize the negative impact on the ecosystem. They also act as a transition zone from area that require high protection to those that need lesser protection. See, generally the width of the ESA can go up to 10 kilometers around the protected area, but it may vary from place to place based on the degree of protection needed. It may even go beyond 10 kilometer in some cases. So have this basic understanding. Now coming back to the editorial article, see on July 6th, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change that is MOEFCC reissued the draft notification of the ecologically sensitive areas that is ESA in the Western Guards. Now we'll see some important features of this draft notification. Firstly, this draft notification prohibits new townships with 50 hectares of land or 1.5 lakh square meter of buildup area. Secondly, it also bars setting up of new thermal power projects and expansion of existing plants in the sensitive area. Thirdly, the notification proposes to completely ban mining activities and red category industries in the area. However, hydropower projects and industries under the orange category are allowed after ensuring compliance with environmental regulations. See the industries are categorized based on pollution index, industrial sectors having pollution index score of 60 and above is called as red category and industrial sectors having pollution index score of 41 to 59 is known as orange category industry. Just remember high score in the pollution index denotes higher emission of pollutants by the industry. So this draft notification actually allows hydropower projects and industries under the orange category after ensuring compliance with environmental regulations. And fifthly, there is no restriction on repair, extension or renovation of houses. All existing healthcare establishment can continue. The MOEFCC has made it clear that nobody would be evicted or relocated. So these are some of the significant features of the draft notification. See, we have seen that every time a notification is issued, large section of farmers, planters and elected representatives oppose it. They protest for various reasons. For example, several villages in the Hilly-Mulnard region have not got proper roads and access to electricity because there are certain restrictions on cutting trees and laying roads in the forest area. They fear that the fresh notification might worsen their situation. The elected representatives also oppose the draft notification. They reiterate these sentiment of the people. But according to the editorial, the real reason for their opposition is that many of them are involved in sand mining and quarrying. See, just now we saw that the draft notification puts a restriction on sand mining and quarrying, right? So that is why they are opposing it. No other says that politicians are misleading the public by spreading wrong information only to serve their vested interest. Also, the notification bans mehar development projects in the USA. So politicians are worried that they might lose the illegal income they get from these mehar development projects. See, the editorial just conveys the personal opinion of the author. It does not mean that you have to align your thinking with the thinking of the author. If a question is asked, you can write positively like, there is a need of a strong political will to support the draft notification. You may write like that also. Now coming back. The another issue with the notification is that majority of the people in the village living near ESZ are clueless about what is said in the notification. Many could not go through these documents because they were not available in the local language. There were hardly any meetings by the electorate representatives of the government to spread awareness on the issue. Also, no effort has been taken by the politicians to consult people at the grass root level before taking a stand on the issue. See, several parts of the Malnard region have witnessed large scale landslides during heavy rains in recent years. The environmentalists want the state to take appropriate steps for the conservation of the western cards. They argue that implementation of the notification is crucial to safeguard the environment and the people. So that's all you have to know about this news article. I hope we have covered this news article in all the dimensions. In this news article discussion, we saw in brief about ESA, ESA or regions located within 10 kilometer of protected area such as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. They are notified and regulated by the MOEFCC under the Intraman Protection Act 1986. The main purpose of declaring ESA is to create shock observers to prevent ecological damage caused by developmental activities. So to put it in simple words, it aims to minimize the negative impacts on the ecosystem and they act as a transition zone from area that require high protection to those that need lesser protection. We saw all that in our discussion. Then with respect to the recently released draft notification, we saw some of the concerns listed by the author. So these learned points. Now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Recently the National Tiger Conservation Authority that is NTCA signed a memorandum of understanding MOU with Indian Oil Corporation. The MOU was regarding the Cheetah reintroduction program. The Cheetah reintroduction program involves relocation of cheetahs from Africa to India. The Indian Oil Corporation promised that it will contribute rupees 50 crore over four years for the project. This advertisement is regarding that. So in this discussion, we'll discuss some points about the Cheetah reintroduction program and its importance. Little heads up first. See there are two project cheetahs. One is about the reintroduction of cheetahs in India and the other is defence related. When I say it is defence related, this program was launched by the Indian Air Force and under this project India's Heron drones are to be upgraded and armed with Israel's help to carry out offensive operations against the enemy. So in this discussion we are going to discuss about the former one. That is the reintroduction of cheetahs into their historical ranges in India. First let us look at the important points about the project. See India historically had Asiatic Cheetah population. In India the Asiatic Cheetah got extinct due to habitat loss and hunting. Currently Asiatic Cheetah is declared critically endangered according to a UCN Red List. Presently only around 100 individuals survive in Iran. 70 years after the cheetah's extinction, the Indian government is planning to reintroduce them into their historical range. Here the term historical range is the area where these majestic beasts once roamed freely. Also note that here the term reintroduction is a misnomer because what our government plans to do is not actually reintroduction. See in case of reintroduction that same species must be introduced back. But what is happening here is our government plans to reintroduce African cheetah instead of Asian cheetah. So technically the correct way to say it is introduction of African cheetah into the historical ranges of Asian cheetah. On this note let us see some of the point of African cheetah also. First note that both the African cheetah and Asian cheetah have the same genetic makeup. They are present all over the African continent. In terms of size compared to their Asian cousins they are slightly larger. Also therefore is slightly darker and black spots are more prominent. While IUCN classifies Asian cheetah as critically endangered the African cheetah is classified as vulnerable. Now coming back to project cheetah see our government plans to get cheetahs from Namibia and South Africa. In India the place chosen for the introduction of cheetah is Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Remember this fact Kuno National Park is in Madhya Pradesh. Now without getting into the technicalities what the government plans to do here is first release the cheetahs into a soft enclosure filled with Indian prey species to make the cheetah accustomed to the Indian prey behavior and later proper integration of the cheetah into the actual Kuno National Park ecosystem So now having seen the basics now let us see the reasons why this project is carried out. Firstly cheetah are a keystone species. See a keystone species holds the entire ecosystem together. They have a large influence on the ecosystem in which they exist so conservation of the keystone species result in the conservation of the entire ecosystem. The reintroduction of cheetahs will help restore India's open forest and grassland ecosystems which have been suffering. So having cheetahs will result in greater biodiversity. You guys know about the great Indian buster right the state word of Rajasthan. The great Indian buster is a critically endangered species. Their number or declining due to habitat loss. Note that cheetahs and great Indian buster prefer grasslands. So introduction of cheetahs and the conservation of the grasslands of central India will help revive great Indian buster population in the wild. So this is the first importance. Second important advantage is low human animal conflict. See cheetah are a non-aggressive species that do not generally attack humans. Among large carnivores cheetahs present the lowest level of conflict with human settlements. This is because they prefer hunting wild animals and they do not normally prey on livestock maintained by humans. Now moving on to the last advantage. See introduction of cheetahs will give a boost to ecotourism. This will enhance livelihood options and living conditions among the local communities where the cheetah is introduced. But before promoting ecotourism the government should ensure capacity building of the local community to make sure that they live in harmony with the cheetahs. So these are the major advantages of the cheetah interaction program. See although the program has these advantages there are some concerns with the project also. The concerns include whether the availability of prey population within the Kuno National Park will be sufficient for the African cheetah or not. The second concern is whether the African cheetahs which are not native to India will come in conflict with Indian predators. The last major concern is regarding genetic viability. See this program plans to create just an island of cheetah population. So that is a possibility of in-breeding. This will affect the genetic diversity among the cheetah population and in turn their health. See there are also other concerns regarding this project. We'll discuss the concerns exclusively in forthcoming discussions in detail. So as of now let us wind up with this news article. So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about project cheetah. This project aims to reintroduce African cheetah into the historical range of Asian cheetah. Then we saw about the importance of the project. We saw that cheetahs are keystone species and hence conserving them will result in the conservation of the entire ecosystem. Then we saw that cheetahs have low human animal conflict and as the last advantage we saw that introduction of cheetahs will give a major boost to ecotourism. Then we saw about the major concerns about the project as well. So these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. This news article talks about a tweet posted by Tamil Nadu chief minister. In that tweet he posted that six more wetlands in Tamil Nadu have got Ramsar recognition. See exactly on July 27th, 2022 we saw that India has added five more sites as Ramsar sites or wetland of international importance right. On that day we saw that this addition of five more sites has brought the number of Ramsar sites in the country to 54. Among the five sites we saw that three were from Tamil Nadu they include Pallikarani, Marshland, Pichawaram, Mangroo Forest and Karikili bird sanctuary. Now along with these three wetlands exclusively from Tamil Nadu six more were added yesterday. So that is why it is in news. The six more newly added wetlands include Kuthankulam bird sanctuary, Gulf of Mannar marine biosphere reserve, Vembanur wetland complex, Willode, Vedantangal, Udaya Marthanta Buram bird sanctuary. So this is the essence of the news article given here. On that day itself we saw in brief about Ramsar sites. We saw that Ramsar convention is an intergovernmental treaty and it provides a framework for international cooperation for the conservation of wetland habitats. It has two broader aims. First is to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands. Second is to conserve the wetlands through wise use and management of those that remain. So greater the number of wetlands we declare as Ramsar site, the more will be the conservation of the wetlands and the site will also receive site specific international cooperation for conservation. See wetlands are very important for ecological processes as well as for their rich flora and fauna. They are an important source of food and they are the major habitat for most of the world's water birds and wetlands act as a key habitat for migratory species. So conservation of wetlands becomes very important but there is another record that you have to know about with respect to wetlands. It is called the Montrex record. See the Montrex record is a record of wetlands sites on the list of wetlands of international importance where changes in ecological character have occurred or occurring or likely to occur as a result of technological development, pollution or other human interference. So it is just a record of wetlands sites on the list of wetlands of international importance and the wetlands site which is recorded should have changes in ecological behavior which is occurring or occur or likely to occur due to the result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. So only those kind of wetlands are registered in Montrex record. It is maintained as part of the ransom list. Remember the Montrex record should be employed to identify priority sites for positive international and national attention towards conservation. So if a wetland is recorded in Montrex record then that means the site will be prioritized with international and national attention towards conservation of that site. Remember sites may be removed from and added to the record only with the approval of contracting parties in which they lie and remember at present two Indian sites are listed under Montrex record. One is K-Lado National Park which is in Rajasthan and the Lokduk Lake to be very specific K-Bull Lamjo National Park. So these two sites are recorded under Montrex record in India. See in 1993 Chilka Lake was also listed in Montrex record due to the problem of siltation but later in 2002 it was removed from the list as the problem was tackled by government actions. So that's all you have to know about this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw in brief about Ramsar convention and we saw about Montrex record. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice questions. See today we have only two questions one question I'll be discussing with you and the second question will be the quiz question for you today. Let me read out the first question consider the following statements about Kuno National Park. Statement one Kuno National Park is located in the Satpura ranges of Madhya Pradesh. Statement two this national park has lush evergreen forest like equatorial Africa. This is why it is chosen for cheetah reintroduction program which of the given statements are correct. Option A one only, option B two only, option C both one and two and option D neither one nor two. See the correct answer for the question is option D neither one nor two. Statement one is wrong because the Kuno National Park is located in the Vindian ranges of Madhya Pradesh. It is located in the northern part of Madhya Pradesh. So this statement is incorrect. Now moving on the second statement is also incorrect because cheetah both Asian and African do not prefer evergreen forest. We saw that in the discussion it's of right. They are mainly located in grassland environment. Kuno National Park is dominated by grasslands and scant forest, abundant in thorny trees. This is why this national park is chosen for the cheetah reintroduction program. So the problem's question displayed here is the quiz question for you today. Try to solve the question and post the correct answer in the comment section. Along with that the main question for today's discussion is displayed here. Just go through the question write an relevant answer and post that also in the comment section. So this we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you find the video useful hit like, do comment and don't forget to subscribe to Shankar IS Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.