 Very good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindi news analysis by Shankara Ace Academy for the date 2nd of August 2021. These are the list of news articles that we have taken for today's discussion. As you can see here today we have three science and tech news articles and we have one topic from cultural history and medieval history perspective and we also have one important topic from the international relations perspective. Here we are talking about the Gilgit-Baltistan region topic which will be our first discussion. So let us move to that discussion now. This discussion is quite important from the quality perspective because it is regarding Gilgit-Baltistan which is illegally occupied by Pakistan. So the news is that Pakistan is planning to pass a law to avoid provisional provincial status to the Gilgit-Baltistan. Here you should remember that India has always maintained that this Gilgit-Baltistan region including the Union Territories of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh all are integral part of India. So this Gilgit-Baltistan is another disputed region between India and Pakistan that is why we are going to discuss it today. First let us see where it is located. See this Gilgit-Baltistan is the high altitude territory at the northwestern corner of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir. As you can see in this map this is the Gilgit-Baltistan region. This region was a part of erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir before independence but after the invasion of Kashmir by the tribal militias and the Pakistan army in 1947 this region is under Pakistan's control. Let us understand how this happened for that we need to know about the history of the region in brief. See this region was earlier named as the northern areas of Pakistan and these northern areas were distinct from the Pakistan occupied Kashmir and it came to be known as Gilgit-Baltistan after an order was passed by Pakistani government in the year 2009. This order is the Gilgit-Baltistan empowerment and self-governance order. So from then on the northern areas came to be known as the Gilgit-Baltistan region and according to some sources initially Pakistan got position of this area with the help of Britishers. It is said that in the 1935 the Gilgit region was leased by the British for 60 years from the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. But since the region was important and it was the strategic location on the northern borders of British India at that time the region was administered by a British officer. Even the region's security was responsible of a military force called as Gilgit scouts and this force was full of British officers. But before India's independence it is said that British terminated this lease and returned the region to the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947. So later Maharaja Hari Singh acceded this region to India when he acceded the Jammu and Kashmir princely state to India. But according to sources two British officers of the Gilgit scouts informed this decision to the erstwhile British political agent of the region. So later one of the British officers officially raised the Pakistani flag when the Maharaja was signing the instrument of accession in favour of India. So here the Maharaja was acceding the region to India whereas on the other hand the British officers were planning to make it a part of Pakistan. But we already saw that the British government returned the region to the Maharaja in 1947 itself that too before independence. So in this regard a nominee of Pakistan government was even appointed political agent and they took possession of the territory after that. Especially during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947 to 48 the Pakistani army soldiers and tribals used this region as a base to launch attacks on Indian army. So from then on this region has been under the control of Pakistan even though the region has been acceded to India by the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. So what is the status of this region at present? At present the region has an elected assembly and the council headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan because as we said it is still under the control of Pakistan illegal control you should remember that. And this council wields all the powers and it controls the resources and revenues from the region. So this region is neither independent nor does it have any provincial status in Pakistan also. And that is why now the Pakistan government is planning to give it a provisional provincial status by passing a law. So now why this region is important to India? Or what is the significance of Gilgit Baltistan? See as we already said it is the northern most territory administered by Pakistan and most importantly it is the only land route that Pakistan has with China. And this is where the China-Pakistan economic corridor comes into play. We know that this CPEC is important for both the countries and this has made this region vital for both the countries. See the CPEC has been earmarked as a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative of China. We know that BRI is described as Chinese President's signature foreign policy initiative that is it is Xi Jinping's grand strategy which is aimed at restoring China's rightful great power status in the world. And the CPEC is a principal fundamental part of this BRI. So it clearly shows China's geostrategic and economic architecture for the region. See here you should understand that China is using Pakistan to secure an exploitative strategic stand in South Asia and the Arabian Sea and that too by overlooking the crucial Persian Gulf the west coast of India and the east coast of Africa because all these three are in proximity to Pakistan So using this position of Pakistan China intends to surround India within the South Asian region and it wants to limit India's space in the Indian Ocean also. And all this is made possible through China's CPEC which is under BRI and the CPEC is made possible through the region of Gilgit-Baltistan and that is why the region is strategically important for India as well as Pakistan and it is always an important issue in the India-Pakistan standoff. So in this discussion we had a brief understanding about the Gilgit-Baltistan region how it came under the control of Pakistan etc. And we also saw why this region is important to India. So with this let us move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this editorial article which is quite important not only from the main's perspective but also from the freedom's perspective. This editorial has been written by our former diplomat TP Srinivasan sir. As you are aware Srinivasan sir is handling a special program on the YouTube channel of Shankarayis Academy. A special international relations weekly series was started by Shankarayis Academy in January for the benefit of UPC aspirants and these sessions are exclusively handled by TP Srinivasan sir. So now he has written this editorial. So what is the background for this? See we know billionaire Jeff Bezos he recently travelled to space and now there is a news that another billionaire Bill Gates is building a nuclear reactor. So the noise of these two new ventures has inspired the author to write this article but in this article he has primarily analyzed the nuclear power. So in this discussion we will first refresh the basics about nuclear power and India's nuclear power program then we will discuss the editorial. So remember the first part is important from the preliminary perspective since the problem is nearing. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. So let us start with the India's nuclear power program because it is a potential area for a preliminary question. So India's nuclear program began before independence itself in the year 1945. It began with the establishment of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay and after independence the Atomic Energy Act was passed in the parliament in the 1948. It was passed to govern India's nuclear aspirations. This Atomic Energy Act made it clear that India's objective for the development and utilization of atomic energy is only for the peaceful purposes. But however only in the 1954 government of India institutionalized in this arena it happened when resolution was passed by the parliament for the establishment of Department of Atomic Energy and this department was charged with the sole responsibility for all nuclear activities in our country. One important fact to be remembered about Department of Atomic Energy is that it is not attached to any ministry but it is directly under the Prime Minister's office that is PMO. So now in the same year that is in 1954 a multi-disciplinary center for research and development was also set up in Tromboy which is near Bombay and this center is what is now known as the Baba Atomic Research Center. Along with the establishment of the center a decision to construct a reactor was also taken. So in this spirit the first major project of the center was undertaken and this is known as the building of a pool type reactor. This reactor is named as Apsara and it became critical by the 1956 that is within two years of the decision to construct it. But if you see in reality India's nuclear program with a defined roadmap was spearheaded by Homi Baba. When we say spearheaded it was led by Homi Baba. So based on a close nuclear fuel cycle a three-stage nuclear power program was chalked out for India. Now the three stages in this are first one natural uranium fueled pressurized heavy water reactors second one fast breeder reactors utilizing plutonium based fuel third one advanced nuclear power systems for utilization of thorium. So first one is natural uranium fueled second one plutonium based fuel third one uses thorium. Remember this fact first. See India first of all chalked out this three-stage nuclear power program in the first place because we had insufficient uranium reserves for overall power generation plan. To understand this point you need to understand the linkage between the three stages and we should also know about the reaction and the fuels. See we know that the nuclear reactors work on nuclear fission reaction. In a fission a heavy nuclei is bombarded to give out smaller nuclei and this is a high energy process that is it gives out considerable energy and that energy is what we are trying to harvest in a nuclear reactor. So this is the basic and for this purpose we use various heavy nuclei materials. Now the materials which we come across as fuels for atomic power plants are the uranium 235 uranium 238 uranium 233 then plutonium and even thorium. So let us see about these fuels one by one. See the natural uranium has two isotopes that is it occurs in two forms one is the uranium 238 which is abundantly available it is available at 99.27 percentage and the second form is the uranium 235 but this is a scarce resource only 0.72 percentage is available but among these two only uranium 235 can sustain a fission chain reaction and that is why it is also called as fissile material and apart from this there are also other two fissile materials that can fuel nuclear reactors these are plutonium and uranium 233 but these two are man-made and they are not available in the nature. Now there is also a relationship between plutonium and uranium 238 so pay a close attention now. See this plutonium is created when uranium 238 is irradiated in a nuclear reactor. So in a nuclear reactor this uranium 238 absorbs neutrons and the part of it is transmuted into plutonium in other words this uranium 238 will become plutonium in the fission processes. So this is the reaction that happens so in a similar manner there is also a relationship between uranium 233 and thorium because uranium 233 is created when thorium is irradiated in a nuclear reactor so here thorium absorbs neutrons and then a part of thorium is transmuted into uranium 233 or in other words we can say that thorium when it undergoes fission reaction it becomes uranium 233. So this makes uranium 238 and thorium as valuable nuclear resources and they are also called as fertile materials because they can be converted into fissile material for fueling nuclear reactors from something else. But do we have enough resources of uranium and thorium? Actually no uranium is little but thorium we have a lot. So in order to utilize the availability of thorium India drafted this three-stage atomic power program. So now since we have understood about the fissile material let us understand the three stages. See the first stage is the setting up of pressurized heavy water reactors in short PHWR and India has many of these PHWR. In India the readily available small quantity in natural uranium is entirely committed to these reactors. So using these uranium these reactors generate power apart from that these PHWRs will also convert a part of uranium 238 present in natural uranium into plutonium. This is separated from the spent fuel in the plutonium reprocessing plants. Now the coolant used in these type of reactors is heavy water. This is also an important fact remember this. The next comes the second stage. The second stage is of the fast breeder reactors type this will be fueled by plutonium. See this fuel plutonium is the one that is obtained from the first stage PHWRs and through the uranium 238 these fast breeder reactors or FBRs will fission plutonium for power production and at the same time they will breed more plutonium from the uranium 238. So you should understand that a fast nuclear spectrum exists in the fast breeder reactors. So apart from the fission of uranium 238 there is also a gainful conversion of at least 99.3 percentage uranium 238 to plutonium 239 and this plutonium is a fissionable material. So when the fissile material produced is more than what is consumed then the reactors are referred as breeder reactors. That is when the output is more than the input then they are called as breeder reactors. We can also say that these reactors breed new materials. So as an effective utilization of the indigenous uranium resources is made possible only through this FBR route. Now the surplus plutonium that is produced from each FBR can be used to set up additional FBRs and through this the nuclear capacity of our country can grow in tune with India's needs. And note that the coolant used in this stage is sodium. Now next comes the third stage. We already saw that thorium when irradiated in a nuclear reactor it gets converted into uranium 233 and this uranium 233 is a proper fissile material and this is what is done in the third stage. Here note that using of thorium for the third stage for power generation has already begun. Already the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research has commissioned a prototype 30 kV reactor for thorium separation. This reactor is called as Khamini. So this is all about the three stages of India's nuclear program. Before getting into the discussion of editorial we also need to understand another small concept called as enrichment. We often hear in news about nuclear enrichment. So you will see what that means. See the nuclear material is available in the ore form naturally and it is available in combination with other isotopes but only some isotopes will be useful for using as fuel or for using it in medicinal purposes or even for using it as weapons. So the ore is subject to something called as enrichment. So let us understand how. See consider the fact that uranium is the most widely used fuel by nuclear power plants for nuclear fission and we saw that nuclear power plants use a certain type of uranium that is U-235 as fuel because its atoms are easily split apart that is their fissile material. So generally speaking uranium is about 100 times more common than silver but uranium-235 in specific is relatively rare. We saw that it is just 0.7 percentage of natural uranium therefore the uranium enrichment facilities increase the level of uranium-235 to 3 percentage to 5 percentage for commercial nuclear reactors. What they do is the concentration of other minerals that is coexisting with uranium-235 is removed. So after this removal the concentration of uranium-235 is higher in the given ore and this process is what is called as enrichment. So in this depiction you can see how it is being enriched. So what is the needed level of enrichment? For fuels the needed enrichment level is 3 to 5 percentage and for medicinal uses for example for radiotherapy we need 5 percentage or more of enrichment. What about for making weapons for this enrichment of 20 percentage or more is required and that is why conventions like non-proliferation treaty has a bar on the enrichment levels for countries. And that is why often Iran is in news saying that it is enriching its uranium. So this is the basic knowledge that you need to know about nuclear energy the three-stage nuclear program of India and about uranium enrichment. So now let us discuss the editorial article. See we initially said that author has focused mainly on the nuclear technology. You should first understand that when nuclear technology came into fashion it was feared but it was also looked up as a resource of power that can replace fossil fuels because fossil fuels were depleting. So the nuclear fuel as a power option was well received until the Fukushima Daiichi incident. See this Fukushima incident is where a nuclear reactor was damaged in Japan and this happened during a tsunami in Japan in the year 2011. This damage resulted in radiation leakage it led to deaths and of course even its effects are existing now also. So countries across the world started reducing their reliance on nuclear power. So at that time the existing facilities were not renewed but at the same time they were shut down. In India also protests delayed the construction of nuclear facilities. In this regard two countries were an exception because they continued to venture into nuclear power. These two countries are Russia and China but now the scenario is changing again due to climate change because for mitigating climate change fossil fuels use has to be reduced. So the nuclear power option for power generation is gaining traction again that is it is gaining prominence again even the International Atomic Energy Agency has supported this point of view and in this context only now the terra power launched by Bill Gates is becoming contentious. So what is this terra power? See the plan is that Bill Gates want to construct small plants which will use the FBR technology that is the fast breeder reactors technology and then they will sell the power but this idea is dangerous and the author of the editorial Deepak Srinivasan sir has explained how. First of all he says this is dangerous because as you already saw plutonium is generated in the FBR along with power generation but this plutonium is not naive meaning that it can also be used for making weapons. So making more plutonium means more raw material is made for weapon grade. Now the second danger is that the terra power is planning to use 20 percentage enrichment of uranium we already saw that higher enrichment is a raw material for atom bombs so this is also a contentious issue and the third reason is as you already saw Russia and China are still keen on expanding their nuclear facilities and China especially has a suspicious record because it is not known for its transparency so it is feared that China might end up procuring the plutonium and it might use this plutonium for construction of warheads also. So these are some of the dangers listed out by the author of this editorial. Now apart from enumerating these dangers author has also roughly highlighted various reports and he has taken a stand against commercialization of nuclear power but as an aspirant we can take any stand which we like you can either support commercialization of nuclear power or you can also be against it. In this discussion we mainly focused on the nuclear technology and India's three-stage nuclear power program and finally we saw why Bill Gates new adventure is actually a misadventure so that is all about this editorial now let us move on to the next discussion. Let us take up this news article for discussion this news article mentions about a new collaboration between the Ministry of Ayush and the United Kingdom's London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. These two institutions are collaborating to conduct a study on Ashwagandha for promoting Ashwagandha for recovery from COVID-19. It is said that a memorandum of understanding has been signed to conduct clinical trials among 2,000 participants for this purpose so it becomes important for us to learn about Ashwagandha and its medicinal benefits. See this Ashwagandha is also known as Indian winter cherry or Indian ginseng it is a small evergreen shrub. This shrub grows in the regions of India, in Middle East and also in parts of Africa. Its scientific name is Vitania somnifera. Now this Ashwagandha is one of the most important herbs of Ayurveda and it has wide-ranging health benefits because of this it is also used as Rasayana in the Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine. See Rasayana is a kind of herbal or metallic preparation that promotes a youthful state of physical and mental health. This Rasayana also helps in expanding happiness according to resources. So for these reasons this Rasayana is also given to small children as tonics and it is also taken by the middle-aged people and elderly people to increase their longevity. Here you should understand that most of the benefits from Ashwagandha are drawn from their roots and leaves. So these two parts are mainly used for medicinal purposes. Among these two leaves are most commonly used in teas and the roots can be taken in many ways but mostly it is dried, powdered and taken as a supplement. So now what are its medicinal benefits? See this Ashwagandha is used for treating many illnesses and diseases. For example it is used in treating arthritis, anxiety, stress, insomnia, tumors, tuberculosis, asthma, bronchitis, menstrual problems etc. And apart from this research also shows that this shrub has got healing properties. These healing properties includes its tendency to reduce the level of blood sugar and it also brings down the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the bloodstream. Then it has also got the potential to reduce the growth of new cancer cells. It is said that it can induce death in pre-existing cancer cells also. Apart from all this Ashwagandha also reduces the cortisol levels and stress. See cortisol is a kind of stress hormone which causes all the wear and tear in our body if the body is chronically stressed. So this Ashwagandha reduces this cortisol level along with the stress. Now apart from this Ashwagandha also helps in improving male fertility, it reduces inflammation, it helps in building muscles and it also helps in enhancing the brain functions especially memory. So due to all of these health benefits only, now the two institutions of ministry of Ayush and the United Kingdom's London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has planned to collaborate to conduct a study for proving that Ashwagandha can be used for recovery from COVID-19. In this discussion we saw about Ashwagandha and its medicinal benefits. Let us move to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this news article. I note that this discussion will be an addition to our discussion about Cholas which we had on 30th July that is just a few days ago. See this news article reports about the birth anniversary of the legendary Tamil king Rajendra Chola I and the news mentions that for the first time Tamil Nadu state government has planned to observe the birth anniversary of King Rajendra Chola I and this event is expected to take place at Gangaikonda Chola Puram which is present in the Arayalur district of Tamil Nadu. See this place holds a significant importance in the Chola history and also it is important from the cultural and medieval history part of our syllabus. It is because Gangaikonda Chola Puram was the capital of Chola Empire during the reign of Rajendra Chola I. So let us see a few facts about this place and we will also see about the temple situated in this place because the temple is a world heritage site. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. See the Cholas are remembered as one of the longest ruling dynasties in the southern regions of India and that is why we are taking this topic again and again and we are building on facts relevant for the examination. The reign began in 9th century when they defeated the Pallavas and from then on Cholas rule lasted until the 13th century and we discussed about Cholas in detail on our 13th July in the news analysis. So if you consider the medieval period of Indian history it was the era of absolute power and development for the Cholas. It was also the time when the prominent rulers expanded their kingdom into the Tamil region and one among them was the Rajendra Chola. See Rajendra Chola is the son of the mighty Rajaraja Chola. On that day we saw that Rajaraja Chola was the king who built the famous Bhradishwara temple in Tanjavur of Tamil Nadu. It is also a world heritage site. Now the king Rajendra Chola was the first Chola king to venture into the banks of Ganges and he also managed to move overseas to several countries such as Maldives and Sri Lanka etc and due to this Rajendra Chola was famous for his vast empire and he was also known for his strong military and naval force. He was such an efficient ruler that his rule is considered to be the golden age of Cholas. So remember there are two different kings Rajaraja Chola and Rajendra Chola. The first one is the father and the second one is the son. Now back then rulers used to create inscriptions or they used to build structures to commemorate their victory. So like that king Rajendra Chola also built important structures after his conquest of the Gangetic Plains. The first thing he built was the great city called as Gangaikonda Cholapuram. See here the term Ganga is the Tamil term for Ganga. Now apart from the city he also built a Shiva temple and this temple is called as the Gangaikonda Choliswara and he also built the lake Chola Gangam to commemorate his victory. So here you should note that before the city was built Tanjavur was the capital of Chola empire and after the city was built the capital was moved to this Gangaikonda Cholapuram and the city served as the capital for the Chola empire till the end of Chola family rule. So the world heritage site temple which we said in the beginning was this Gangaikonda Choliswara temple. This temple is also known as the Behideshwara temple in Gangaikonda Cholapuram. So remember there are two different temples the Behideshwara temple in Tanjavur and then the Behideshwara temple in Gangaikonda Cholapuram and both of them are world heritage sites and together these two temple along with the Ayuravateshwara temple complex all these three are called as great living Chola temples under the UNESCO World Heritage inscription. So from this you can easily say that this temple Gangaikonda Choliswara is a living history of Chola in stone and it also serves as a beautiful gallery of Chola architecture and art and presently this temple is under the control of archaeological survey of India and very importantly this temple was built by Rajendra one whereas the temple in Tanjavur was built by his father. So let us see briefly about this temple. This temple is rectangular in shape and the entrance of the temple is marked by a flag post and the large Nandi. See here Nandi refers to the sculpture of bull this bull is said as Lord Shiva's Mount. Now throughout the temple various porches of Lord Shiva bestowing favors are depicted in the walls of the temple and along with the deities kings and princes are even represented as warriors holding swords and shields on these walls and that is a unique feature of this temple which is it consists of a slab that shows the Navagrahas. See in Hindu temples Navagrahas represent a combination of north and south Indian astrological elements along with this the temple also has many inscriptions and the longest inscription belongs to the Veera Rajendra Chola. This Veera Rajendra Chola is the son of Rajendra Chola who built this temple and apart from this we can also find inscriptions related to the Pandyan dynasty reign and also about the Vijayanagara dynasty and it is said that many sculptures were brought from Andhra, Karnataka and Bengal as war trophies and these sculptures are preserved in this temple. So these are few facts about the Ganga Kunda Chuliswara temple or the Bhradishwara temple in the Ganga Kunda Cholapuram. So remember the moment you see this Ganga Kunda Cholapuram name you should remember about Chola dynasty. In this discussion we saw about this important temple and also about the Rajendra Chola one. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this newest article. It talks about the recent ongoing issue in the Lakshadeep. See the news article mentions that despite warnings from experts the Lakshadeep administration has issued tender for the construction of beach and lagoon villas and these villas are to be constructed on three islands of Lakshadeep namely the Minikoi Island, Kadmat Island and the Suheli Island. So remember these names these are islands of Lakshadeep. So along with the construction of these villas there is also a plan to award exclusive rights to the successful bidders for operating these villas for a period of 75 years. So this is a long period. So the construction of villas and this exclusive rights issue has raised a lot of environmental and ecological concerns because these villas and their construction will threaten the coral reef ecosystem and lagoon in the Lakshadeep. See we already know Lakshadeep is a group of islands they lie close to the Malabar coast of Kerala and its administrative headquarters is the Kavarati island. Lakshadeep has a great diversity of flora and fauna for example there is a bird sanctuary at the Pitti island. This is an uninhabitable island for humans. So remember Pitti island from example's perspective. Another important fact about Lakshadeep is that this group of islands is composed of small coral islands and now due to the plan of constructing villas these coral islands will be damaged. So why are we concerned about damage to coral islands? What are these corals and how do they form and why are they important for us? See these corals are skeletons of tiny marine animals these tiny marine animals called as polyps. These polyps flourish in shallow mud-free and warm waters. Now when the living polyps die the skeletons are left behind now other polyps grow on top of the hard skeleton. They grow higher and higher thus they form the coral islands. Most importantly the coral secret calcium carbonate this coral secretion along the skeletons from the corals they deposit in the form of reef and when they do that we call it as coral reefs and there are three kinds of coral reefs. One is barrier reef second one is fringing reef and the third one is atolls. As you can see in these images this one is the barrier reef. A barrier reef is the coral reef that is parallel to the shore and as you can see here atoll is a ring-shaped coral sometimes it is also horseshoe shaped coral reef and then a fringe reef is the one which forms around the landmass. So regarding barrier reefs remember the great barrier reef of Australia is a good example. So now what are the benefits of these coral reef ecosystem that we are concerned about their destruction. See these coral reefs protect the coastlines from storms and erosion they provide jobs for local communities and and they even offer opportunities for recreation. They are also a source of new medicine and over a half a billion people depend on reefs for food income and protection and these ecosystems are also culturally important to indigenous people around the world. For example even the beaches on the uninhabited islands of Lakshadeep such as Suhaili are heavily used during the fair season for fish processing. So even though they are uninhabited they are used for some purposes. So because of this only there is ecological concern about the destruction of coral reef ecosystem then we said that there is also the risk of damaging of lagoons in Lakshadeep. See lagoon is a shallow body of water it is protected from a larger body of water. It is generally protected by sandbars, barrier islands or even coral reefs. As you can see in this image this is a lagoon and this is the protection and this is the larger body of water. So when the coral reefs create a lagoon they are called as coral lagoons. See these lagoons are very important to protect the land area of islands. It also helps in protecting the freshwater supply to the islands and the lagoon coral patches can even adapt to any temperature and they serve as asylum for the damaged coral reefs. And when they say lagoon coral patches we mean the corals which are growing in the lagoon waters. So because of this significance of lagoons the planned lagoon development by the Lakshadeep administration will destroy and permanently modify the lagoon ecosystem. This will lead to pollution of the lagoons. It will also disrupt the freshwater supply to the islands and thereby it will disturb the ecosystem that is present in the coral lagoons. So that is all about the discussion on this news article. In this discussion we saw about corals, how they form coral reefs and even the significance of lagoon coral patches. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this news article which is from the front page. As you all know there is an ongoing border dispute between Assam and Mizoram. So as a solution to this now the union government is planning to rely on satellite mapping to demarcate boundaries and to settle such border disputes between these states. It is believed that this solution provides a scientific method for demarcation of borders. More importantly this method will leave little scope for discrepancy and states may even easily accept such demarcations. Another important fact to be noted here is that this task of demarcating boundaries is given to the Northeastern Space Application Center in short NE SAC. So from a prelims perspective let us see about NE SAC. See it was established in the year 2000. It was established as a joint initiative of the Department of Space and the Northeastern Council. This Northeastern Council was constituted in 1971 itself. It is the nodal agency for economic and social development of the Northeastern region. And when we say Northeastern region it consists of eight states of our country. This includes Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. Now coming to this NE SAC. It is a society registered under the Meghalaya Society Association Act of 1983. So it is situated in Shillong. The center provides dedicated service to the eight states of Northeastern region by using space science and technology. That is the center helps in augmenting the developmental process in the region and this is done by providing advanced space technology support. So based on this there are certain objectives and functions of the center. Let us see them one by one. Mainly it aims to provide aided natural resource information based support. This is to support activities on development or for management of natural resources and also to support infrastructure planning in the region. Now this aid is from the operational remote sensing and geographic information system that is GIS. Then it also aims to provide operational satellite communication application services in the region in varied fields and these fields include education, healthcare, disaster management support and developmental communication. Apart from this it also takes a research in space and atmospheric science area. So it establishes an instrumentation hub and it networks with various economic institutions of the Northeastern region. Then it aims to provide a single winter delivery of all possible space based support for the disaster management in the region. It also aims to set up a regional level infrastructure for the capacity building in the field of geospatial technology and more importantly the center acts as a nodal center for the implementation of major national and regional programs on natural resource management, infrastructure planning, healthcare, education, emergency communication, early warnings for disaster management support and even in atmospheric science research. So what about the management of this society? See all the policies affairs and business of NESAC are decided by the NESAC Society. This society is headed by the chairman of Northeastern Council and its vice president is the secretary of department of space come the chairman of ISRO. It also has other members such as secretary of Northeastern Council is a member then chief secretaries of eight northeastern region states are members of the society then senior scientists from the department of space and NEC are also its members along with the academy of the northeastern region. So the facts to be remembered in this topic is what is the purpose of this NESAC? What are the main objectives and who presides over it etc. So with this information now let us move on to the next discussion. With this news article discussion we are moving on to the last session which is the practice questions discussion session. In this session we'll be seeing practice questions that have been framed based on the news articles discussion. So if you have paid attention to the discussion you can easily answer these questions. So let us take up this first question. The Gilgit-Baltistan region often seen in news is situated to the option A east of Aksaijin option B south of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir option C west of Siachen glacier option D south of Kargil. So during discussion we saw this is where Gilgit-Baltistan region is. See this question has been framed based on the 2020 problems question on the Siachen glacier. So you can expect these kinds of questions with respect to the locations that are often in news especially the locations in which India has an interest on. So first option east of Aksaijin. So you can see Aksaijin is in the east and Gilgit-Baltistan is in the west. So Gilgit-Baltistan is north to the east of Aksaijin rather it is to the west of Aksaijin. So this option is incorrect. Then second option if you see south of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Now after reorganization of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir this is the new map. So from this you can see where Jammu and Kashmir is. So if you superimpose both of these maps you can see this is where Jammu and Kashmir is and Gilgit-Baltistan is to the north of it. So this is also an incorrect statement. Then if you take option D south of Kargil. Here you can see where Kargil is in the new map. So you can say that it is northwest of Kargil. So this is also incorrect and that is why the correct answer is option C west of Siachen glacier. This is the place of Siachen glacier and it is situated west of the Siachen glacier. So have an idea about all these places and where they are situated and the directions of these places with respect to each other also. Then only you can answer these kinds of tricky questions. Even though it is tricky it is quite easy if you pay attention. So the correct answer is option C. Now this next question is a three statement question and it is based on the Gangekonda Cholapuram discussion of today. First statement is Gangekonda Cholapuram was the secondary capital of the Cholas. This statement is correct because we saw that initially the capital was Tanjavur and later it was shifted to this city after it was constructed by Rajendra Choran. So this statement is correct. Second statement Gangekonda Cholishwara temple is built by Rajaraja Choran. This statement is incorrect because the Brahdishwara temple at Tanjavur is built by Rajaraja Choran whereas this temple is built by his son Rajendra Choran and both of these temples are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and that is why statement 3 is also correct because they have been declared as World Heritage Site under the name of Great Living Chola Temples. So in this question one and three are correct and the question asks for the correct statements. So the correct answer to this question is option D one and three only. Now this next question is a pair based question rather the pairs are given in columns and the question asks you to match column one with column two. Column one is nuclear reactor and column two is fuels that is used in these nuclear reactors. So let us match these pressurized heavy water reactor during discussion we saw that it uses uranium 235. So this is a correct pair so you can eliminate the pairs which have other than one paired with A so C and D can be eliminated. Now from the remaining pairs one is the correct answer. We have a 50 percentage probability of attending this question correctly. Second option given is fast breeder reactor. So if this reactor uses plutonium from the first stage so this is also rightly matched and the third one thorium based breeder reactors is paired with thorium. Now from the statement itself we can easily derive that it uses thorium. So the third pair is obviously the correct answer so three should be paired with C. So option B has the pairs of one A, two B and three C which is the correct answer. Now this next question is based on Lakshavdeep. First statement asks the 10 degree channel separates Lakshavdeep and Minicoid. This statement is wrong because the 10 degree channel separates the Andaman and Nikober islands whereas the 9 degree channel separates the Lakshavdeep and Minicoid islands. So this statement is incorrect. The second statement Thalesia, Hemperichin and Cymodosia, Isotapholia are the two varieties of sea grasses seen in the beaches of Lakshavdeep. Actually this statement is correct. These are the two varieties mostly seen in beaches of Lakshavdeep island. See remembering these kinds of fact is quite difficult from exam perspective and this is a question where you have only two statements. So using the elimination technique will also not help you that much. You will only have a 50 percentage probability of attending this question correctly. So it is often helpful to leave such kinds of questions or you can also use the trick that most often such kinds of difficult statements are often correct only but this is not a rule. So depending on that might cost you. So rather than that you can leave this question and attend another question in which you know the answer definitely. So in this question statement 2 is actually correct but statement 1 is incorrect and here the question asks for the incorrect statements. So carefully you should mark the correct answer which is option A1 only. Now let us take a final problem practice question. It asks Ashwagandha can be used in the treatment of which of the following. Select the correct answer using the code given below. Tumors, tuberculosis, cortisol levels, menstrual problems. We saw that Ashwagandha is used in treatment of all of these along with arthritis, anxiety, stress, insomnia, bronchitis etc. And we also saw that it can reduce cortisol levels and stress. So that is why the correct answer to this question is option D 1 2 3 and 4. So remember mostly in science and technology area you will get application based questions often. So once you know about a product or a technology try to know its applications and knowing even a small fact about something will help you a lot in prelims examination because jokingly we all say even though UPSC has a syllabus the actual syllabus of UPSC is everything under the sun which means it can ask anything. So to tackle this examination is not knowing everything about everything but knowing at least something about everything. So pay attention to your newspaper reading and take note of those new technologies and science related articles and the new terms used because questions can be framed based on that. So with this prelims question discussion let us take up two main questions. These two main questions have been framed based on the news article discussion only. You can answer these questions and post it in the comment section. As I always say the more you write the answers the more you will have more content to write. You will be more fluent in writing and the answers will be more enriched also. So viewers with this we have come to the end of today's Hindi news analysis and practice questions discussion session. If you like this video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy YouTube channel for more updates related to civil service examination preparation. We will meet you tomorrow. Thank you.