 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IA's Academy for the date 15th of December 2019. Today we shall be seeing some important news articles which are displayed here along the page numbers of five different editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis is available in the description section and also in the comment section for the benefit of the smartphone users. Let us now move on to our analysis session. This news article is about the success story of unified payments interface based digital payments in India. So in the context of this news article we shall be seeing about the three main fund transfer systems in our country then about this UPI the unified payments interface and finally the news article. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. First let us see about the three main fund transfer systems in our country. One is the immediate payment service which is called the IMPS. Next is the national electronics fund transfer which is NEFT and finally the real-time gross settlement which is the RTGS. Now let us see some of the basic difference between these three before seeing the difference know that the Reserve Bank of India has issued circular recently as per this circular NEFT services that is the national electronic funds transfer services will be available 24.7 from tomorrow onwards that is from 16th of December. So please take a note of this. Now with this note we will see the difference between these three fund transfer system. So we just saw NEFT is a 24.7 system similarly IMPS is also a 24.7 system but if you see the funds transfer through RTGS depends on the working time. So the money transfers are made possible in RTGS as per the prescribed business or working time schedule 1D. So this is one difference the next difference is on the value of transaction. See the real-time gross settlement is primarily meant for large value transactions whereas NEFT and IMPS are not primarily meant for large value transactions. If you see in RTGS the minimum amount to be remitted itself is rupees 2 lakh however in this RTGS system there is no upper or maximum ceiling. Next if you see in case of IMPS minimum 1 rupee can be sent the maximum transfer limit is 2 lakh rupees and next in case of NEFT if you see minimum 1 rupee can be sent there is no cap on the maximum limit on the amounts of one that could be transferred. However if you see the maximum amount per transaction is a limited to 50,000 for cash based remittances within India and also for remittances to Nepal under the Indo-Napal Remittance Facility Scheme. And yes you can send even a rupee through NEFT and also on 24x7 basis from tomorrow onwards that is from 16th December onwards. Next know that NEFT and RTGS is managed by the Reserve Bank of India whereas IMPS is managed by the National Payments Corporation of India and know that this National Payments Corporation of India is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. So these are some of the basic differences between these three fund transfer systems. Now let us see Unified Payments Interface see this was developed by the National Payments Corporation of India in the year 2016. So just know that NEFT and RTGS is managed by RBA whereas IMPS and UPI is being managed by the National Payments Corporation of India. Now this UPI was enlarged in pilot mode on 11th April 2016 the banks started to upload their UPI enabled applications on Google Play Store from 25th August 2016 onwards. So we can tell that UPI started its full implementation since 2016. Now this UPI is built over the immediate payment service infrastructure so that was the reason why we saw a brief about the three fund transfer system in the initial part. Now this UPI allows instant transfer of money between the bank accounts of two parties and the speciality with UPI is that all the payments are instant and the services can be availed 24x7 so it is not dependent on the working hours of the banks. So we can tell that United Payments Interface is an instant payment system and we saw that this UPI is built over this IMPS infrastructure that is why it is instant and 24x7x365 platform for financial transactions. Here you have to note that the National Payments Corporation have added some additional features to UPI when compared to IMPS. The first feature is that it provides customer convenience since it eliminates the use of providing elaborate details such as the bank account number then the IFSC code then the name of the account holder then the name of the bank branch or the name of the bank etc. So for transactions under UPI only a virtual payment address is required this virtual payment address is just a user ID. The next important feature in this UPI is the interoperability feature. It means that an individual can send money from different accounts in different banks and receive it in different accounts in different banks. This means two or more accounts of an individual can be linked to the same virtual payment address or the user ID. Also a bank account holder of BankX may download the UPI application of BankY and carry out transactions to different accounts in different banks. So this is the highlight of this interoperability feature. So if you see this UPI based payments are much simpler versions for merchant payments when compared to IMPS. This is because UPI based payment just requires a single mobile app for money transfer from the sending side as well as the receiving side. So it enables money transfers even using smartphones. Next if you see there is also one special feature that is in case of complaints a person can raise complaints from the UPI mobile application directly. He did not go to the concerned bank to raise a complaint. So these are some of the important basic features that you need to know. Now let us come to the news article. This news article states that Google has returned to the US Federal Reserve Board highlighting the fact that UPI based digital payments in India is a successful model or an example. Google has said that UPI was thoughtfully planned and the critical aspects of its design had led to the success. And also if you see Google has recommended US to implement the UPI like interface in the US. So this is actually a credit to all the stakeholders who are involved in the planning design and implementation of UPI based digital payments in India. And just know that like how RBA is a central bank for India the Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. So this is the actual news. And if you see just recently we saw some important facts and features of UPI. Now this news article also gives three point definition for UPI. This is based on Google's recommendation to the US bank regulator. First is that UPI is an interbank transfer system. And the second feature is that it is a real time system. We saw both these aspects. And the third aspect is that it is open system. It means the technology companies can build applications to help the users to directly manage the fund transfers into and out of their bank accounts. So it is user friendly. So we can tell it as an open system. Now this article also mentions about the success of UPI in terms of quantitative measure. It mentions that since 2016 within three years every year the value of UPI based digital payments and financial transactions is about 10 percentage of India's GDP. And also if you see the success of UPI has been highlighted in various reports like India digital payments report by Berlin which is mentioned in the news article. Now the significance of this report is that the transactions in UPI have increased in terms of number in terms of volume and also in terms of value. And also if you see there is one more study which is mentioned in the news article which is the SOChamp PWC study. This study tells that the digital payments in India will be more than double. At present if you see it is 64.8 billion dollars in 2023 it will double to 135.2 billion dollars. So we can see that overall digital payments in India is growing good and it will continue to grow better in the future as well. So this is all about this news article. To summarize this news article we have seen the major fund transfer systems in India. Then we saw about UPI in detail and finally we saw the news article where the Google has appreciated India's UPI model and it has recommended to be implemented in US. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about Indian Ocean region countries. In this news article the External Affairs Minister of India has stressed the fact that the IORA nations should build a common vision for Indo-Pacific. So in the context of this news article we shall be seeing about IORA which is the Indian Ocean Rim Association. Then we shall be seeing about Indian Ocean Dialogue then about Delhi Dialogue and finally the key points that have been mentioned in the news article. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. First let us see about Indian Ocean Rim Association. See it is a dynamic intergovernmental organization. It has aimed at strengthening the regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean region. If you see it has 22 member states and 9 dialogue partners and the secretariat of this Indian Ocean Rim Association is located at Mauritius. To be specific it is located in the cyber city of Ebene in Mauritius. Now we can see the members of this Indian Ocean Rim Association in this map. The members are the countries of Australia, Bangladesh, Union of Comoros, then Republic of India, then Republic of Indonesia, then Islamic Republic of Iran, then Republic of Kenya, then Republic of Madagascar, then Malaysia, then Republic of Maldives, then Republic of Mauritius, then Republic of Mozambique, then Sultanate of Oman, then Republic of Seychelles which is an island in the Indian Ocean, then Republic of Singapore, then Federal Republic of Somalia, then Republic of South Africa, then Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, then United Republic of Tanzania, then the Kingdom of Thailand, then United Arab Emirates and finally the Republic of Yemen. And one more thing to note is that all the sovereign states of the Indian Ocean Rim are eligible to become a member of the association, to become members the countries must adhere to the principles and objectives which are enshrined in the charter of this association. But if you see though Pakistan shares border with Indian Ocean it is not a member of Indian Ocean Rim Association so remember this point. Now let us see about this Indian Ocean dialogue which is mentioned in the newspaper. See this Indian Ocean dialogue is a flagship initiative of the Indian Ocean Rim Association. If you see this Indian Ocean dialogue is a premier 1.5 track forum for dialogue between academicians and officials who discuss on the strategic issues of the association. So what does this 1.5 track forum or one and a half track forum? It actually indicates the dialogue which involves the mix of official plus non-official actors who sit together to resolve conflicting issues. So that is why it is mentioned as 1.5 track forum. Next if you see on 13th and 14th of December the Union Ministry of External Affairs has hosted the 6th Indian Ocean dialogue and it also hosted the 11th Delhi dialogue. So this is the first time that both these dialogues are being held simultaneously. Now if you see both these dialogues have similar Indo-Pacific themes, the theme of this 6th Indian Ocean dialogue is Indo-Pacific reimagining the Indian Ocean through an expanded geography. And if you see the Indian Council for World Affairs has assisted the Union Ministry of External Affairs in holding this 6th Indian Ocean dialogue. Next let us see about Delhi dialogue. See this Delhi dialogue is also annual 1.5 track event. This Delhi dialogue mainly focuses on the political security, then economic, then social cultural engagement between India and Asian members. So the political leadership, policy makers, senior officials, then the diplomats, then the business leaders, then the think tanks and also the academicians from both India and the Asian grouping participate in this Delhi dialogue. Now if you see the 11th Delhi dialogue has happened, the theme for this year's 11th Delhi dialogue is advancing partnership in Indo-Pacific. The research and information system for developing countries has assisted the Ministry of External Affairs in hosting this dialogue. So this is all you need to know about the Indian Ocean dialogue and the Delhi dialogue. Now let us come to the news article. The External Affairs Minister of India has stressed that those countries which are located west of India lack critical architecture. That is there is absence of necessary infrastructure. So the Union External Affairs Minister has called for the Indian Ocean Region Association countries to build necessary infrastructure on a common vision and he has stressed that it should be based on open and free for inclusive partnerships with all within the parameters of sovereignty, equality and a rules-based system in the Indian Ocean region. Apart from this, the Union Affairs Minister has also mentioned a number of new initiatives which have been offered by the scientific departments of India. This includes the Grand Challenges Scheme for the Indian Ocean Rim Association, then a fellowship scheme for up to 100 post-doctoral scholars. Then he has also mentioned that India is open for partnering with the other member countries in its oceanic research vessels. Then the Minister also spoke about co-branded Indian Ocean Rim Association research facilities and the Minister has also told that India is ready to share its low-cost, low-energy desalination facilities with the other member nations of Indian Ocean Rim Association. Especially if you see these technologies will be helpful for the island nations. So these are some of the initiatives which the Union External Affairs Minister has mentioned. Now you need not go into the detail of the schemes, just know that there are two, three schemes with a focus on this Indian Ocean Rim Association. Therefore to conclude this news article, we have discussed about Indian Ocean Rim Association, about its members, then we saw about Indian Ocean Dialogue, then we touched upon Delhi Dialogue and finally we saw the highlights of the keynote address which was delivered by the Union External Affairs Minister at both these dialogues which were held simultaneously at New Delhi on 13th and 14th December. Now have a look at the practice question, let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about the first meeting of National Ganga Council, know that the Prime Minister chaired the first meeting of the National Ganga Council at Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and also know that this National Ganga Council has been given an overall responsibility for the superintendents of pollution prevention and rejuvenation of river Ganga basin including Ganga and its tributaries. So in this context first let us see about Ganga River basin and then we shall be seeing about National Mission for Clean Ganga and then we'll discuss about National Ganga Council. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. See all the initiatives that we are going to see now is to make river Ganga clean. First let us see about river Ganga, two rivers Bhagirathi and Alaknanda join together at a location called Devaprayag and from this location the river is called as Ganga and if you see Ganga basin is the largest river basin in India in terms of catchment area. It constitutes roughly around 26 percentage of India's land mass and it supports about 43 percentage of India's population. This Ganga basin extends not only over parts of India but also in parts of Nepal and Bangladesh. In India if you see this Ganga River basin covers 11 states. As you can see in this picture it covers the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Delhi. Now the current focus is only on the main river Ganga which flows through five states which are Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. So many projects have been devised by the government to keep this main river Ganga clean. For this there is a national mission which is called as the National Mission for Clean Ganga. So in this context first let us see about this national mission for clean Ganga. It was registered as a society in the year 2011 under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 and if you see this National Mission for Clean Ganga acted as an implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority and if you see this National Ganga River Basin Authority was constituted under the Environment Protection Act of 1986. Then the central government gave approval to the River Ganga Rejuvenation Protection and Management Authority's order 2016. Now by this order National Council for River Ganga Rejuvenation Protection and Management was created. Now this Council is also called as the National Ganga Council. This National Ganga Council replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority. So now we can tell that the National Mission for Clean Ganga acts as an implementation arm of National Ganga Council. Now if you look at this National Ganga Council this authority works under the chairpersonship of the Prime Minister of India. Now it has the overall responsibility for the superintendents of Pollution Prevention and Rejuvenation of River Ganga Basin. So this is what we saw during the start of this news article. Now let us discuss about the members of the National Ganga Council from this picture. Now we cannot remember all the members but try to remember the major members. For example the Union Ministers of various departments some of the important departments Environment Forest and Climate Change then the Union Ministers of Power Rural Development and also if you see only the Chief Ministers of the five states where the River Ganga flows it does not include the Chief Minister of all those states where the River Ganga Basin exists. So you have to know this difference. And next if you see the Director General National Mission for Clean Ganga is the Member Secretary for this National Ganga Council. Now as per this 2016 order the National Mission for Clean Ganga got powers to issue directions under the Environment Protection Act of 1986. Also this National Mission for Clean Ganga will now comply with the decisions and directions of the National Ganga Council and it will implement the Ganga Basin Management Plan which has been approved by it. Then also if you see the National Mission for Clean Ganga coordinates and carry out all activities which are necessary for Rejuvenation and Protection of River Ganga and its tributaries. At present there is a five-tier structure at national state and district level to take measures for prevention control and abatement of environmental pollution and River Ganga and also to ensure there is a continuous and adequate flow of water in order to rejuvenate River Ganga. Now let us see this five-tier structure. One is the National Ganga Council which is under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of India which we saw now. Next is the Empower Task Force on River Ganga under the chairmanship of the Union Minister of Jal Shakti. The next year is the National Mission for Clean Ganga which we are seeing now and the fourth year is the State Ganga Committees and the next year is the District Ganga Committees in every specified district where the River Ganga flows through and also in its tributaries in the states. So this is all about the five-tier structure. So far we have seen about National Mission for Clean Ganga then the National Ganga Council and finally the five-tier structure. Under this National Mission for Clean Ganga there is this Namami Ganga project or Namami Ganga program. See it is an integrated conservation mission which was approved by the Union Government in June 2014. Now there are two objectives of this program. One is the effective abatement of pollution and next is the conservation and rejuvenation of River Ganga. There are eight pillars in this Namami Ganga program. They are seborrheic treatment infrastructure, next river surface cleaning, next afforestation, next industrial effluent monitoring, next riverfront development, then maintaining biodiversity in River Ganga, then creating public awareness and finally the Ganga Grum. So as of now know that there are eight main pillars under this Namami Ganga program which is a project that comes under National Mission for Clean Ganga and this National Mission for Clean Ganga will comply with the decisions and directions of the National Ganga Council which is chaired by the Prime Minister of India. So this is all you need to know about from this news article. Now we can see that this National Ganga Council was constituted in 2016 and for the first time the meeting has happened which has been chaired by the Prime Minister. But if you see this news article tells that this National Ganga Council meeting which has been chaired by the Prime Minister is largely ceremonial that is it is not of that importance because the actual work of coordinating supervising and deliberating on the funding of Namami Ganga projects is carried out by the Executive Committee of this National Mission for Clean Ganga. This Executive Committee meets every month. Apart from this Executive Committee there is also a governing council under this National Mission for Clean Ganga. So this National Mission for Clean Ganga has a two-tier management structure and both of them are headed by the Director-General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga. This Director-General is also a member of this National Ganga Council which we saw before. So this is all you need to know about from this news article. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about Osiris Rex Mission. This NASA mission will collect samples from an asteroid called as Benno. So in this context we shall be discussing today about asteroids then about the news article and we shall also be discussing about meteoroids and comets. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Now before seeing the news article first let us discuss in brief about asteroids. So what are asteroids? Asteroids are small rocky objects that orbit the Sun. So they orbit the Sun similar to planets how they orbit but if you see they are much smaller than planets and if you see there are a lots of asteroids in our solar system but most of them live in the main asteroid belt. This asteroid belt is a region which is between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter in the solar system and if you see asteroids are also found in other places as well. For example some asteroids are found in the orbital part of the planets. Now if you see these asteroids are the leftover from the formation of our solar system. See our solar system began roughly about 4.6 billion years ago when there was a big cloud of gas and dust which collapsed. When this happened most of the material fell to the center of the cloud which formed the Sun and some of the condensing dust particles in the clouds became planets but if you see the objects in the asteroid belt never had the chance to be incorporated into planets. So they are the leftovers from that time when the planets were formed. Next let us see some of the basic features of asteroids. If you see all the asteroids are not round like planets some of them also have irregular shape and next if you see some asteroids are hundreds of miles in diameter but many asteroids are as small as pebbles that is small stones so they vary in the size and the next features that asteroids are made of different kinds of rocks but some asteroids do have clay or metal like nickel and iron. So mainly remember this feature that asteroids are made up of rocks. Now why the scientists are so much interested in studying about asteroids is they also form at the same time as other objects in our solar system. So this will give an idea to the scientists about the origin of life and also about the history of the planets and the Sun. This is all about asteroids that you need to know in brief. Now let us move on to the news article. This news article is about Osiris Rex mission. This Osiris Rex spacecraft will collect samples from an asteroid called as Bennu. It was launched in the year 2016 and it went into orbit around Bennu in the year 2018. Now this spacecraft will collect samples from the asteroid at a site which has been named as Nightingale site. Now why this Bennu asteroid has been chosen is because Bennu's orbit is close to earth and scientists also believe that it might contain clues to the origin of life. So these are some of the factors based on which the scientists have decided to collect samples from Bennu and for this Osiris Rex mission has been launched by NASA and NASA is the official space agency of the United States of America. We saw that the scientists are interested to learn about asteroids because they formed at the same time as other objects in our solar system like the planets. Now the scientists can also learn about asteroids by studying the meteorites. Now before knowing what is meteorites first let us discuss about meteoroids. Sometimes one asteroid can smash into another asteroid and this can cause small pieces of the asteroid to break off. So these broken pieces are called as meteoroids. So this is the difference between an asteroid and a meteorite. Now if a meteorite comes close enough to the earth and when it enters the earth's atmosphere it vaporizes and turns into a meteor. So this is how meteors happen in the sky. You can see a streak of light in the sky. Sometimes they are called as shooting stars but if you see meteors are not actually stars they are the leftovers of the asteroid or small pieces of asteroid. So this is how a meteor is formed. Now sometimes the meteorites don't vaporize completely in the atmosphere. They survive their travel through the earth's atmosphere. When they land on the earth then they are called as meteorites. So this is the difference between meteoroids and meteorites. Now these meteorites are useful to the scientists to learn about asteroids, planets and other parts of solar system. It will basically look like a rock. It is a specimen for the scientists. So these meteorites are very much helpful for the scientists to learn about asteroids, planets and other parts of solar system. So so far we have seen about asteroids in brief. Then we compared asteroids and meteorites. Then we also compared meteorites versus meteorites and now let us see about comets. Comets also orbit around the sun similar to asteroids but the main distinguishing feature is that comets are made of ice and dust. They are not made up of rock. If you remember when we looked about asteroid I told that asteroids are made up of rocks but comets are made up of ice and dust. So this is the difference between an asteroid and a comet. When the comet's orbit takes the comet towards the sun the ice and dust begin to vaporize because we saw comets are made up of ice and dust. So the vaporized ice and dust becomes the comet's tail. So whenever you see a comet even in the sky it actually happens quite far from the earth but whenever you are seeing a meteor it actually happens inside the earth's atmosphere. So this is the difference between a meteor and a comet. One of the famous comets is the Hallis comet which last happened in the year 1986. So this is all about this news article. In this news article we have seen about asteroids then about the Osiris-Tex mission. Then we saw the comparison between asteroids versus meteorites then meteorites versus meteorites then asteroids versus comets and comets versus meteors. The practice questions discussion session. Before looking at the first question look at both these previous year prelims question which are about unified payments interface and national payments cooperation of India. See this upay was developed by the national payment cooperation of India and if you see in the last three four years there were many initiatives taken by the Indian government to promote India as a digital economy and one such as the unified payments interface. Now let us look at the practice prelims question. Four statements have been given in this question and you need to choose the correct statements. Now look at the first statement it tells that unified payments interface is an instant payment system developed by the reserve bank of India. We just saw that UPI has been developed by NPCA that is the national payments cooperation of India. So the first statement goes wrong. Now if the first statement is wrong you can directly arrive at the answer which is option C 2 and 4 but let us also look at the other statements. Now the second statement it tells that UPI is built over the IMPS infrastructure and it allows you to instantly transfer money between any two parties bank accounts. Yes this statement is correct it has been built over the IMPS infrastructure but it has certain special features like the interoperability feature and also a feature where the customers can raise complaints directly in the UPI interface and there is also this feature where only a virtual payment address is required and no other details are required. So this second statement is correct. Now look at the third statement it tells that the national electronic fund transfer system is primarily meant for large value transactions. This statement is wrong because there are some transaction limits under this national electronic funds transfer. In case of national electronics fund transfer if you see the minimum money which can be sent is 1 rupee and there is no cap on the maximum limit on the amount of funds that could be transferred but there is a maximum amount per transaction limit. It is limited to 50,000 for cash based remittances within India and also for remittances to Nepal under the Indo-Napal Remittance Facility scheme. So overall you cannot tell that it is meant for large value transactions. It is actually the RTGS system which is the real-time raw settlement payment system which is primarily meant for large value transactions. If you see in case of RTGS the minimum amount to be remitted itself is rupees 2 lakh and there is no upper or maximum ceiling for sending money through RTGS. So it is actually the RTGS not any FD. So the third statement goes wrong. Now look at the fourth statement it tells that the real-time raw settlement payment system is not a 24 x 7 system. Yes this statement is correct because there are some time restrictions. It is as per the prescribed business or working time schedules. So this statement is correct. So the correct answer for this question is option C 2 and 4. Now look at the next question which is on Indian Ocean Rim Association. Three statements have been given and you need to choose the incorrect statements. Now look at the first statement. It tells that IORA is a dynamic intergovernmental organization and aims at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indo-Pacific region. Now you might think this statement is correct. Look at the question again. It speaks about Indian Ocean Rim Association. This phrase itself is clear. It speaks about the Indian Ocean Rim countries. It never discusses about the Indo-Pacific region. So this first statement goes wrong. It may look as if like it is a proper statement but always look into such phrases which is concerned about the regions. Here it is not Indo-Pacific. It is actually the Indian Ocean Rim countries. Therefore this first statement goes wrong. Now look at the second statement. It tells that all sovereign states of the Indian Ocean Rim are eligible for membership of the association and the states must adhere to the principles and objectives enshrined in the charter of the association. Yes this statement is correct because all those countries which are part of this Indian Ocean Rim are eligible for membership. If you see at present there are 22 member states and nine dialogue partners but Pakistan is not a member of this Indian Ocean Rim Association and India is a member. Now let us look at the third statement. It tells that Indian Ocean Dialogue is a flagship initiative of the India-Asian Nations. It is not the Indian Ocean Dialogue but it is the Delhi Dialogue which is concerned about the India-Asian Nations. This Indian Ocean Dialogue is a flagship initiative of this Indian Ocean Rim Association. So the third statement also goes incorrect. Now you have to choose the incorrect statements. The correct answer to this question is option C 1 and 3 only. Now additionally also know that the secretariat of this Indian Ocean Rim Association is located at Mauritius to be specific at Cyber City of Eben in Mauritius. Now look at the next question. This question is about National Ganga Council. Three statements have been given and you need to choose the correct statements. Now look at the first statement. It tells that this NGC or the National Ganga Council has the overall responsibility for superintendents of pollution prevention and rejuvenation of river Ganga basin. See in 2016 the central government gave approval to the River Ganga Rejuvenation Protection and Management Authority's order 2016. Based on this order National Council for River Ganga Rejuvenation Protection and Management was created. This National Council is also called as National Ganga Council in short. See the main responsibility of this National Ganga Council is to prevent the pollution and work on rejuvenation of River Ganga basin. So the first statement is correct. And now look at the second statement. It tells that the chairperson of this National Ganga Council is the Prime Minister. Yes this statement is also correct. Now look at the third statement. It tells that the chief ministers of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are ex-officio members of National Ganga Council. Now if you look at Ganga River basin as a whole it is spread across 11 states. But if you see the National Ganga Council and its missions and objectives are focused only on the five major states where the actual river Ganga flows. The state of Uttarakhand then the state of Uttar Pradesh then Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. Now it is only those chief ministers from these five states who are the members of this National Ganga Council along with the Prime Minister who is the chairperson then it also contains the union ministers of certain departments then even the vice chairman of Niti Ayogas a member of this National Ganga Council. And also if you see the Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga is also a member of this National Ganga Council. So this statement is wrong because it has mentioned the chief ministers of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are ex-officio members of this National Ganga Council. Now this question asks you to choose the correct statements the correct answer is option B 1 and 2 only since the third statement is wrong. 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