 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankarai's Academy for the date 20th of February 2022. So these are the list of news articles chosen for today's discussion. We have chosen four distinct news articles for today's discussion. So now without wasting much time, let us move on to the first news article discussion. See this article here, it says that the Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has launched 100 Kisan drones in different parts of the country for spraying pesticides and other form materials. See, while launching the Kisan drones, he said that India's rising capability in the drone sector will give the world a new leadership. He also said that a new culture of drone startups is getting ready in India. And this is a new chapter in providing modern forming facilities in the 21st century. He also said that it will prove to be a milestone in the development of the drone sector. At the same time, it will also open infinite possibilities such as generation of employment opportunities on a massive scale. And this is about the article given here. So in this context, we are going to discuss in brief about drones and its applications. So before getting into the article, do we really need to know about drones? You might have this question. See, in preliminary examination that to very recently in 2020 preliminary examination, we had a question with respect to drones. You can see the question here. The question asked to find which of the above activities can be carried out by using drones at the present level of technology. See, this is a very simple question. And if you know some of very basic details, you can easily crack this question and add up two marks to your final score. So to answer this question, now let us quickly run through what is drones and we'll see some of the applications of the drones. See drones are formerly known as unmanned aerial vehicles or unmanned aircraft systems. A drone is a flying robot that can be remotely controlled or it can fly autonomously through software controlled flight plans in their embedded systems. Now we know what a drone is. We'll see some of the applications of the drone. See, the drones have been used for many purposes such as for commercial aerial surveillance, then for commercial and motion picture filmmaking. It is also used in disaster relief because if sensors are added to the drone, it can be used to help to locate and save life when there is a natural disaster. Apart from this, drones can also be used to gather and deliver medical samples, supplies and medicine to remote areas or unreached areas in a disaster zone. So these are some of the areas where drones are used. Now in today's newspaper, the article mentions that the drones are used in agriculture as well. See, they are used to spray the pesticides in the field to protect the crops from pests. And remember this technology has many advantages. It can perform surveillance where it is not possible for humans to go. It also helps financially because they can save on the labour charges which are rising day by day. So that drone saves time, labour cost and additionally it also saves farmer from exposure to pesticides. So, so far we saw what is a drone and we saw some of the applications of the drone. Now let us try to crack this question. Here three activities are given. First activity is spraying pesticides on a crop field, inspecting the crater of active volcanoes. Thirdly, collecting bread samples from spouting whales for DNA analysis. So here you have to find that present level of technology which of the above activities can be carried out by using drones. Now we know that first statement is correct because even today in the news article we discussed that only. As I said earlier, these drones are used in spraying pesticides on fields. We saw that spraying pesticides through drones will reduce the exposure to these chemicals and prevent the farmers from getting health issues all the time. So here first statement is correct. Now moving on to the next statement. This next statement is also correct. This is because only drones can be used to study or inspect the craters of active volcanoes. This cannot be done by humans. See a volcano crater is a bowl or funnel shaped depression that usually lies directly above the vent from which volcanic material is ejected. So by knowing what a volcano crater is you can easily say that this cannot be done by humans and this is where drone technology comes in. We know that drones can be controlled remotely and this comes in handy in situation like this. Now moving on to the final statement. See this statement is also correct. First of all see this image here. This is only called spouting of whales. Now if you are wondering what this spouting means. See when these whales let out these mighty blows they aren't releasing water from their blow hole. They are just letting out air. I mean exhaling. See the air inside the whale is typically quite warm from the whale's body heat. When it is exhaled it meets the much cooler temperature of the air outside and immediately condenses making it look like a spout of water. The most interesting thing about a whale blow is that almost every species of whale has an iconic blow. Which means if you see a whale spout on the water you might be able to identify the whale species itself. So to identify different whale species or to do DNA analysis the breadth samples of these whales are crucial and here also drones prove beneficial. So the third statement is also correct. So here the correct answer for the question is option D 1 to 1 3. So in this discussion we briefly saw about drones. We saw some of the applications of drones and we solved a 2020 previous year preliminary examination question. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article. It states that in the first of its kind initiative four police stations in the national capital New Delhi have been designated as eat right campus by the food safety and standards authority of India which is nothing but FSSAI. This designation is given for providing nutritious and wholesome meals daily to police personnel at their canteens and mess. In this context we will learn about eat right India mission and eat right campus certificate. Now here I have highlighted the syllabus relevant to this article. Please go through it. See eat right India is a flagship mission of food safety and standards authority of India. Note that FSSAI is a statutory body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. If there is a mission there will be a aim right. So the eat right India mission actually aims at ensuring that citizens of the country are provided nutritious meals which help in reducing the burden of various lifestyle related diseases. Very important point note these points. So to implement this the eat right India actually adopts a judicious mixture of regulatory capacity building, collaborative and empowerment approaches. It aims to ensure that our food is good both for the people and the planet. Further it builds on the collective action of all stakeholders. Here stakeholders includes the government, food businesses, civil society organizations, experts and personals, development agencies and citizens at large. The eat right India movement is based on three key themes or pillars. Let us see them one by one which is nothing but eat safe, eat healthy and eat sustainable. Apart from this eat right India adopts an integrative or whole of the government approach since the movement brings together food related mandates of the agriculture, health, environment and other ministries. Now we will discuss about the eat right campus initiative. The eat right campus initiative led by FSS AI aims to promote safe, healthy and sustainable food in campuses such as schools, universities, colleges, workplaces, hospitals, tea estates etc. To put it in simple words this initiative it aims to promote safe, healthy and sustainable food across the country. The objective is to improve the health of people and the planet and promote social and economic development of the nation. See in today's fast-paced environment a large number of working personals and students are spending the majority of their time at the workplace or college campus. The long working hours, classes or client meetings and short deadlines are only increasing the time spent in these places with little time left for eating healthy or exercising. Most importantly hospitals and tea estates have workers who spend long hours working often at the cost of their health. Most people eat at least one meal in these campus settings if not more. While some individuals bring packed lunches from home or use home-based services like Daba system, others use catering and food delivery services. Many people also visit restaurants and food vendors in or near the campus area. So eating safe and healthy food is critical in the context of the rising number of food-borne diseases, deficiencies of malnutrition like vitamins and minerals and non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes and heart-related diseases. In addition to all these the current food production and consumption practices are threatening the environment and the future of our planet. Food production is responsible for up to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming. Global food waste accounts for 6.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions directly leading to climate change. This underlines the need to focus on preventing health care through ensuring safe and healthy food in an environmentally sustainable way for everyone. Now how will one attain an Eat Right Campus Certificate? So in order to receive the Eat Right Campus Certificate the program mandates a preliminary audit of the campus and identifying any gaps in cooking and hygiene. Subsequently a final audit by a third party is conducted before a certificate is handed out which has a validity of 2 years. Regular inspections will be carried out by the Food Safety Department or auditing agencies in the 2 years to keep a check on the food quality until the certificate is renewed. So now coming back to the news article. So far we saw about Eat Right India Mission and Eat Right Campus Certificate. Now coming back to the news article. See we have seen that 4 police stations in the New Delhi have been designated as Eat Right Campus by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Now what is the significance of it? See police personnel face many difficult tasks during their duties. They often fall sick after consuming unhygienic food from outside or from the police station's mess. Kitchens inside police stations are usually ignored and hence it affects the cooking. Many police personnel eat from roadside eateries near the police station. But after a new kitchen was constructed under the program things have changed. Specific diet charts have been checked out to ensure that all police stations and visitors are provided wholesome meals. Some of the changes that have been introduced at these 4 police stations include a ban on the use of plastic or aluminium plate in favour of steel plates. Then cooking oils has been changed and better quality lentils are now used for meals. Apart from this cooks are directed to follow a dress code where they will have to wear gloves and caps while the cooking process is recorded on CCTV cameras. A senior police officer from Delhi said that the next objective is to get all police station in his district designated as Eat Right Campus. So that's all you have to know about this news article. Very very important article you can use these points as an value addition in your main sanser or you can use it as examples in your ethics sanser writing or you can use it even in your essay paper. In this discussion we saw in brief about two important initiatives by FSS AI. The first important mission is Eat Right India mission and next one is Eat Right Campus Certificate. Then we saw some of the important points mentioned in the news article. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now look at this news article here. This news article mentions about a recent study which has found that more than 1000 areas have witnessed human wildlife conflict in Kerala. So in this discussion we'll know what is human wildlife conflict first. Then we'll see some of its causes and some mitigation strategies. And in the course of discussion we'll also discuss the article given here. Before that the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. Please go through it. First what is the word human wildlife conflict mean? See human wildlife conflict is a negative interaction between wildlife and humans. That is when encounters between human and wildlife leads to negative results and causes harm we call it as human wildlife conflict. Here the harm is to the humans or wild animal or even to the property. Property in the sense it includes loss of property livelihoods and even life. So basically the action of one has an adverse effect on the other. That means there is no human wildlife coexistence. You can say it in that way also. You should also remember here that wildlife includes certain major species. But the principal culprits responsible for the conflict are the primates, rodents and ungulates. This majorly includes antelope, wild boar, elephant, tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, Himalayan bear, monkeys, wild ass etc. So what are the reasons for human wildlife conflict? First reason is insufficient pre-base and food material for the wildlife. So they come to human base in search of food and are compelled to depend on agricultural crops for food. Particularly HWC is common in arid areas where water and food is limited. So conflict occurs over access to water and competition for resources. That is wildlife come to human residing areas in search of water and also for food or when humans access forest areas for accessing water. Then is the rising human population and their growing demand for space. This leads to encroachment of forest areas and causes loss of habitats, habitat degradation and fragmentation. See it also causes land use transformation, more developmental activities, growing interest in ecotourism and increasing access of natural reserves to humans. This further increases the people wildlife interaction and competition for resources. Here note that the human population residing in the forest buffer zones are the most affected. Why? Because these humans share a common geographical border with the wildlife. Plus in these buffer zones the wildlife enjoys protection and land is also often fertile leading to a wealth of agriculture. This means there are intensive agricultural practices in those areas. For example growing commercial crops lures the animals to agriculture area like sugarcane, banana and rubber. They provide ample food as well as cover for wild animals. So these are the reasons behind human wildlife conflict. Now let us see the consequences of human wildlife conflict. First is the loss of property. This mainly includes the destruction of crops. See when wild animals depend on agricultural crops for food they make enormous damage to the crops. These animals includes wild boar, neel guy, elephant and black buck. For example the news article mentions about the study in Kerala. The study found that in Kerala over 48,000 incidents of damage to major crops happened between 2013-14 and 2018-19. It also found that wild elephants have been involved in the highest number of human wildlife conflict and crop damage in Kerala. It is followed by wild boars, bonnet, macaques and snakes. They also damaged crops such as plantain, coconut, areca nut, coffee and pepper. So that is economic losses to agriculture. This ultimately affects their livelihoods and food security. And if you notice these species enjoy protection under Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and International Union for Conservation Nature which is nothing but IUCN. See this protection becomes a hurdle while dealing with the species in agro-pastoral ecosystem. Why? Because if any action taken by the human lead to intentional or unintentional death of the animal then it is punishable. So humans have to be cautious in taking actions and many of the times unable to afford beneficial methods. Next the loss of property also includes loss of livestock. See some wildlife such as leopard, lion, tiger and wild dog they are primarily predators and they hunt the livestock when they search for food. So this is the second important loss and it also includes damage to the households or any other structures. These are mainly caused by elephants, resus macaque, bonnet macaque etc. Second is the threats to health and safety of humans. Once its threat is loss of human lives. See animals like elephants, lion, tiger etc. They attack and kill humans for their own defense or for food. These instances lead to negative human attitudes which causes decrease in human appreciation of wildlife. So ultimately it causes severe detrimental effects for conservation of wildlife. This is what leads to the third consequence of killing of wildlife by humans. See it could have happened due to defensive reasons that is when humans come in conflict with dangerous wild animals which could kill humans. So they kill the animal to protect themselves. But other reason for killing is most dangerous which is the retaliatory killing. That is when the animals kill humans and as a retaliation humans set traps and kill the animal. Here the animal is hunted or caged or shot dead or killed using poison baits or even electrocution. If you remember recently we saw about elephants being killed by electrocution right? These killings lead to the decline of species and may eventually drive the species to extinction. So now we have a question what needs to be done to overcome these consequences and enable human wildlife coexistence. See one of the long term solution is the well planned holistic and integrated management approaches. Such management practices need to be strategic, logical, economical and above all must be legally sound. See in case of agro-pastoral ecosystems such practices should aim to control the wild animals entry into the agricultural fields. For this they can use traditional techniques firstly. For example planting of thorny bushes of cacti around crop fields. This might ripple the animal to some extent or can use acoustic deterrents such as bio-acoustics. See bio-acoustics technology uses only sounds of predators, distress calls and alarm calls of target species. The sounds are natural and safe for humans, birds and animals. See bio-acoustics tries to convey the message that this area is dangerous to the target animal in their own language. On hearing the sound the target animals start avoiding the area. So this saves the animal from being damaged. According to Indian council of agricultural research bio-acoustics is more than 90% is effective in dispersing wild animals from the cropped area. Now I'll play a video for you. This video is an example of such bio-acoustics. Apart from this physical barriers such as dogs could be used. Apart from this vegetative barriers are also used such as high density planting of caster around maize and sorghum is preferred in some cases. Apart from this various types of fencing can be used such as erecting of circular razor wire around the crops. This might help. Then chemical deterrents such as repellents having predator orders can also be used or they can even capture and relocate the problematic animals. Apart from this the solutions also include compensation for the people affected by wildlife. Already many state governments provide compensation awareness programs is also needed to educate the people. So these are all some of the important points that you have to make note of from this news article. In this news article discussion we saw about what is human wildlife conflict. Then we saw some of the reasons for human wildlife conflict. Then importantly we saw some of the consequences of human wildlife conflict. Then we saw some of the recommendations to enable human wildlife coexistence. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article. This is with reference to a recent study on moths. See the article states that these insects have so far received less scientific attention than bees and butterflies. The study establishes 91 species of moths as potential pollinators of 21 plant families in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. So this is the cracks of the news article given here. In this context we will learn about pollination and moths in prillum's perspective. Before that what does the word pollination mean? See when a pollen grain moves from the anther that is male part of a flower to the stigma which is the female part of the flower. Pollination happens. So when the pollen grains when they move from the anther of a flower to the stigma. This is the first step in a process that produces seeds, fruits and the next generation of plants. See this can happen through self pollination or wind and water pollination or through the work of vectors that move pollen within the flower and from bloom to bloom. Here birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals and bees are some of the pollinators. They visit flowers to drink nectar or feed of pollen and transport pollen grains as they move from spot to spot. Somewhere between 75% or 95% of all flowering plants on the earth need help of pollinators. In other words pollinators provide pollination service to over 180,000 different plant species and more than 1,200 crops. That means one out of every three bites of fruit we eat is because of pollinators. Now let's discuss about moths. See moths are group of insects in the order Lipidoptera. They share this order with butterflies. There are some 160,000 species of moths in the world compared to 17,500 species of butterflies. They are noctural flying insects meaning they are most active at night. See moths vary greatly in size ranging in wingspan from about 4 mm to nearly 30 cm. They are highly adaptive to wide range of habitats. See when we compare it with butterflies, moths have stouted bodies and duller colouring. Moths also have distinct feathery or thick antennae. When addressed, moths either fold their wings tend like over the body, wrap them around the body or hold them exactly at their sides. Whereas butterflies they hold their wings vertically. Now coming back to the article, see the study found that moths are vital to pollination in the Himalayan ecosystem of northeast India. The result of the study assumes significance because majority of the pollination related studies are based on diurnal pollinators like bees and butterflies. And the role of nocturnal pollinators have so far received less scientific attention. In the present study about 65% of moths in 91 species carried sufficient quantities of pollen grains to be considered as potential pollinators. They are tirelessly working for the ecosystem to work on which our survival is invariably dependent. Therefore they are helping in a great way towards food security of the world. So that's all regarding the news article. In this news article we saw about a scientific study. Then we saw in brief about what is pollination. Especially we saw about pollinators. Then we saw about moths in specific. So with these learnt points, now let us move on to the next segment of the news article discussion, which is nothing but the preliminary practice questions. Today we have only one preliminary practice question. Now look at this question with reference to India's biodiversity, Crambidae, Noctudae, Geometrydae, Erebidae, RK Janata or Option A, Moths, Option B, Primates, Option C, Reptiles and Option D, Amphibians. See the correct answer for this question is Option A, Moths. We saw that in our discussion, right? The given names are different types of moths found in India's biodiversity. The main questions are displayed here. Please go through it, write an answer and post it in the comment section. With this we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video, like, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankarai's Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.