 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IA's Academy for the date 2nd of August 2019. Displayed at the list of news articles taken up for today's analysis, along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Trivandrum editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis will be available in the description section and also in the common section for the benefit of the smartphone users. Let us now start our analysis. This editorial discusses about female fetus site. The syllabus with which the analysis of this editorial can be linked is given here for your reference. First, let us see what is meant by female fetus site. As per the pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques Act of 1994, in short the PCP and DT Act of 1994, fetus means a human organism which is developing from the 57th day of fertilization or creation till its birth. So fetus site means killing of fetus and female fetus site means selective killing of female fetus before being given birth and know that there is also one more term called sex selection under this Act. This Act defines sex selection as one that includes any procedure or technique for the purpose of ensuring or increasing the probability that an embryo will be of a particular sex. So here the term embryo means a developing human organism after fertilization till the end of 56 days. Fertilization means the fusion of male and female sex candidates. So till 56 days it is called as an embryo and from the 57th day till the birth it is called as fetus. So just know the difference between embryo and fetus which is given under this Act. So if people want only a male child then they will go for sex selection procedures to ensure that they get only a male child. Next let us see the term sex ratio at birth. Sex ratio at birth is defined as the number of females born per 1000 males born. So these are some of the definitions that you need to know before starting this editorial. The author first mentions the sample registration system data which has been released in July for the period 2015 to 2017. Let us first see in brief about sample registration system before seeing the statistics. The sample registration system is the most regular source of demographic statistics in India that is statistics related to the population. It is based on a system of recording both the births and deaths based on the sample units and these sample units will be spread across India. If you see the sample registration system provides annual estimates of population composition then fertility that is the ability to conceive children then mortality that is the deaths and also the medical attention at the time of birth or death. So all these data will give some idea about how the country's population gets access to medical care. Now let us see the statistics that has been mentioned by the author. He tells that the sex ratio at birth has been dropping continuously since the 2011 census. If you see in the year 2013 the sex ratio at birth was 909 female per 1000 male but this dropped to 896 female per 1000 male in the year 2017 and this data is as per the recently released sample registration system data. So from this data we can tell that the practice of female fetus egg is continuing to increase in India. So this is what the author tells. He tells that even Niti Ayog has acknowledged the seriousness of the problem of female fetus egg but if you see the union minister for women and child development as told in the looks about that sex ratio at birth has improved from 923 female per 1000 males in the year 2015-16 to 931 female per 1000 males now which is as per 2018-19 data. So this data has been quoted by the minister from the health management information system. Here you need to know what is meant by this health management information system. It is a web based monitoring system. This was launched in the year 2008 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. So this was launched basically to monitor the health programs of the ministry and provide key inputs for policy formulation to the government of India. Now one thing which you need to know is there are three possible points or places where a woman can give birth to a child. One is at home which is called as home delivery. So with the help of a traditional medical attendance a woman gives birth to a child at home. The other is at the government hospitals which is called as institutional delivery. And the third is at the private hospitals or at the private institutions. So we can also tell this as private institutional delivery. The author tells that the health management information system in short HMIS is a fundamentally flawed source. He means to tell that it is a wrong source because HMIS largely considers only the home deliveries and the births in the government institutions. So the births which are happening at the private institutions are left out. So the author is telling that the HMIS data does not represent the entire country. Now to prove this fact the author has quoted the distribution of births which is calculated using the National Family Health Survey 4. And the time period of the survey was 2010 to 14. The distribution of births at home was 21 percentage which the author tells. And at the government hospitals it was 52 percentage and at the private hospitals was 27 percentage. So from this figure we can roughly tell that at least 27 percentage of the data is not represented in the HMIS data. So this is just a rough figure, do not directly correlate this it is a rough figure. According to the same NFHS 4 survey the sex ratio at birth figure was 969 female per thousand male in the home delivery. And in government hospitals the ratio was 930 female per thousand male and in private hospitals it was 851 female per thousand male. So we can see from this data that the female to male ratio that is the sex ratio is less than the private hospitals. Which means sex selection has happened more in the private hospitals when compared to the other two points of delivery. And now you imagine the HMIS data has left the private institutional delivery. So it is natural that the sex ratio at birth figures will be high in the HMIS data because this private hospital data has been left out. And within this private hospital data you can see that the sex ratio is less. Which means female fit is at can also be more. So the author himself has told that he had used the NFHS 4 data to prove that the private sector data is deliberately left out on the calculation. Now let us see some of the reasons of female fit is at that has been discussed by the author throughout this editorial. First the author discusses about the special neonatal care units is nothing but the special caring centers for the newly born children who are under 28 days of age. The author tells that there was an excess of 8% male children in several states wherever these special neonatal care units have been set up. So the underlying problem is that female fit is at is happening with the help of these units. So the female children are not born at all. It is likely that they go missing right before the birth. So the author has used the phrase missing girls in the topic of this editorial as well. The author tells that instead of dealing with this problem of missing girls that is a female fit is at the government is focusing on the expansion of the special neonatal care units. So indirectly the author tells that more cases of female fit is at will happen in the future. The author suggests that the birth statistics should be properly recorded and protected so that it will help the people governments and health professionals so that they can focus more on bringing down the gender gaps at birth. So just by portraying or sharing false data the government is not going to help anyone. Next the author discusses the issue of gender biasness over the first born child which means the first child the couple will have. Now he has quoted the same NFHS4 data nothing but the National Family Health Survey4 data. In this data it tells that the male children are preferred over female children. The author tells that the ultrasound clinics are present even in the remotest corners of the states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. So in these ultrasound clinics anyone who wants to determine the sex of the fit is was able to get it done illegally because the author and his team research team has went for the field visits to these states and they were able to find that anybody can determine the sex of the fit is illegally. Now the author tells that this is happening due to the lack of proper and stricter implementation of preconception and prenatal diagnostic techniques act of 1994. In short nothing but the PCPNDT act of 1994. So because of the lack of proper implementation it has led to cases of female fetus sex. So there is presence of gender bias in the first born child which we can see. First know that under section 9 of this PCPNDT act central supervisory board shall meet at least once in every 6 months. PCPNDT act has laid down some functions of the board. Now the main function of the central supervisory board is to advise the central government on policy matters relating to the use of a prenatal diagnostic techniques then sex selection techniques and against their misuse. So we saw that it has to meet once in 6 months and this is the main function of the central supervisory board. Now the author is telling that the central supervisory board has not met for over one and half years where it should have ideally met at least thrice during this one and half years. Once in 6 months means in one and half years at least thrice they should have met but it has not happened. So the author hopes that the new union minister of health and family welfare will help in regularizing the meetings of central supervisory board. Next the author also tells that the supreme court has been continuously reminding the medical associations since 2002 about the need to follow this PCPNDT act. In federation of obstetrics and gynecological societies of India in short foxy versus union of India case the supreme court has said that foxy should follow this PCPNDT act. So we can see that supreme court has been continuously reminding the medical associations for the need to follow this PCPNDT act. So if this act is followed automatically the cases of female fetishite can be reduced. So these are some of the reasons for female fetishite which you can mention in your mains answer. Finally the author tells that the Indian medical association has to ensure that the private hospitals must not follow this practice of female fetishite since it discriminates against the girls even before their birth and also the private hospitals will profit from this discriminatory practice. So this is all about this editorial. From this editorial know the terms like sex ratio at birth then about female fetishite then about the discrepancies in the sample registration system data versus the HMIS data and also about the need to strictly follow the PCPNDT act in order to reduce the cases of female fetishite in India and also we saw some of the reasons of female fetishite which the author has mentioned. So if you get a main question on female fetishite try to use some of the points that have been mentioned in this editorial. Let us move on to the next news article. Next let us see an OPEC which is about the ban of cryptocurrency. The syllabus which the analysis of this OPEC can be linked is given here for your reference. The Indian government had set up a high level inter ministerial committee in the year 2017. This panel was set up to study the issues related to virtual currencies and propose specific actions that have to be taken in this matter. This government committee was headed by the former finance and economic affairs secretary Subhash Chandra Ghar. This committee has submitted a report along with a draft. Now in this report the committee has recommended banning of the private cryptocurrencies in India except any cryptocurrency which may be issued by the government. It has also recommended imposing of fines and penalties for carrying out any activities that are connected with cryptocurrencies in India. For this this committee has drafted a bill and it is named as banning of cryptocurrency and regulation of official digital currency bill of 2019. Now this bill imposes fine of up to 25 crores and a jail term of up to 10 years. Now this is for those whoever directly or indirectly mines cryptocurrency then they generate cryptocurrency. One who holds sells deals in cryptocurrency, transfers cryptocurrency then disposes of cryptocurrency or issues cryptocurrency. That is issuing cryptocurrency related financial products then issuing cryptocurrency as a means of raising funds and also as a means for investment. Then also as an alternative to private cryptocurrencies the committee also recommended the introduction of a single cryptocurrency for the entire country that is backed by the Reserve Bank of India. So before getting into this discussion of this particular op-ed let us first understand the basics such as what is cryptocurrency then what is virtual currency then about legal tender and something about fiat currency. See every currency note bears a promise from the governor of the Reserve Bank of India that if someone produces the note to Reserve Bank of India or any other commercial bank then the Reserve Bank of India will be responsible for giving the person the purchasing power which is equal to the value printed on the note. This is also same for the coins so if you give a 1 rupee coin the value is 1 rupee and the purchasing power is 1 rupee. Therefore you can call these currency notes and coins as fiat money. Now this fiat money will not have any intrinsic value like a gold or a silver coin. This fiat money is also called as legal tenders because they cannot be refused by any citizen of the country for the settlement of any kind of transaction. So keep this explanation in mind this will help you to understand about virtual currency and cryptocurrency. Now virtual currency is a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded so it functions as a medium of exchange or as a unit of account that is the value of all goods and services can be expressed in monetary units and then it functions as a store of value that is wealth which can be stored in the form of virtual currency for future use. But here you have to note one point virtual currency does not have legal tender status so it can be refused by any citizen of the country for the settlement of any kind of transaction. So you can tell that a virtual currency can be a private medium of exchange but it does not reflect in any way a sovereign guarantee of the value or the legal tender status like how the RBA is giving the legal tender status with respect to the currency and the coins. So this is how we distinguish virtual currency from the fiat currency of India. So now let us see what is meant by cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are a subset of virtual currencies that is there one among the virtual currencies. So cryptocurrency is a decentralized network with no central authority and more importantly it is protected by cryptography. Now we need to know the term or the technique called cryptography. It is a technique of protecting information by transforming it or by encrypting it into an unreadable format and it can only be deciphered or decrypted by someone who possesses a secret key. So you need to have the secret key in order to decipher it. Know that a bitcoin is an example of cryptographic virtual currency and it was first of its kind. Now according to the draft bill cryptocurrency means any information or code or number or token which is not a part of any official digital currency and it is generated through cryptographic means or other ways. So it provides a digital representation of value which is exchanged with or without consideration but with the promise or representation of having inherent value in any business activity. Now the business activity is the one which may involve risk or loss of any expectation of profits or income. So the cryptocurrency functions as a store of value or as a unit of account and if you see it can be used in any financial transactions or investment but it is not just limited to the investment schemes. So here you need to know what is meant by investment scheme. It is a scheme or arrangement in which any person invests in a common enterprise with the expectation of profit. Now this is all about the basics of cryptocurrency that you need to know. Now let us get back to the open discussion. As we saw earlier the government committee has drafted a bill and this bill calls for a complete ban on private cryptocurrencies in India. Now one of the reasons given by the committee for banning cryptocurrency is its volatility. Remember the term volatility, the cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile because its value is directly tied to the demand. This is due to the absence of intervention by the central banks in order to control the supply of this cryptocurrency. So you can see that there are large fluctuations. So these large fluctuations in price prevents cryptocurrencies from being suitable store of value. But if you see the authors of this op-ed are saying that volatility does not sound like a good reason to ban the cryptocurrencies. They are saying this because other asset classes are also volatile. Now you need to know the term asset class and asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations. Now these asset classes includes equities or stocks, then fixed income and cash equivalent or money market instruments. The authors are arguing that the government has not banned investments in any other asset class just because it is volatile. The authors say that the decision of whether to invest in an asset or not to invest in an asset should be left to the investor. The risk return calculation also should be done by the investor and not by the government. They also argue that banning the consumption of a good or service does not mean that the people will stop consuming it. So there will always be some market for these goods and services. So this market will go underground and when it goes underground it becomes very hard to track. Here you can see that the market continues to exist but the government cannot track it or tax it in order to gain revenue. So this applies to cryptocurrencies as well. So once if cryptocurrencies is banned there will be an underground market for cryptocurrencies. So the authors are worried that cryptocurrencies will continue to exist in the underground or black markets. The authors are saying that the government should have come up with a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency rather than banning it. Maybe the government could have a tax on the capital gains from investing in crypto assets just like the taxes on investments in other assets. Now one another reason to ban cryptocurrencies is that they are not backed by an underlying commodity or by a sovereign government. The authors say that there is no need for that kind of backing. For this they take the example of money. If you see money is a generally accepted medium of exchange. So it is the trust that basically drives the value of money. The authors argue that there is nothing to back money except trust. There are also cases where fear of money has retained value even when the bank stopped to exist. That is the bank did not function. For example if you see in the country of Somalia the central bank and all the concerned institutions had stopped to work at some point but the people of Somalia still continue to value the Somalian currency. So there was no backing for the currency at all but people still believed which means they had trust towards the Somalian currency. And they believed that the currency had value and they continued to use the currency in all their transactions. So the authors note that the strength of a particular asset depends on what people actually think about that particular asset. But the biggest concern in the world related to cryptocurrencies is that it is used for criminal activities like money laundering. As a solution for this the authors suggest one example of European Union. If you see European Union as one of the most comprehensive sets of regulations for cryptocurrency they have framed regulations to tackle money laundering and it is called as AMLD5 that is the 5th European Union Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Now these are some set of norms to make the crypto transactions more secure. It has a stringent know your customer regulations that is the KYC regulations then it has also some self declaration laws to which every holder of a crypto wallet or user of crypto wallet has to adhere to that is they should follow. So this is one of the best way to go forward rather than putting a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies because the presence of cryptocurrencies is very important for the further development of the blockchain technology. Then the authors add that theoretically if we see cryptocurrency providers can issue an unlimited amount of their money. But each cryptocurrency provider is competing against each other in the market. So the authors say that the competition forces them to restrict their supply to a minimal amount and this minimal amount would help them to maintain the value of their currency. The discipline which is imposed by this market competition can prevent the cryptocurrency providers from over issuing their currencies. So this will prevent it from entering into the black market or being used into money laundering. Now if we think in terms of reputation effects for example if the currency issued by the cryptocurrency provider can be used to finance crime or terrorism or even some other acts related to crime or terrorism then the reputation of the supplier is at risk. So the cryptocurrency provider will have to be careful about issuing the currency. So this will also reduce the risk of the currency from entering into the black market or being used into money laundering. So what will happen if this ban is implemented? If this ban is implemented the technology entrepreneurs in our country will lose the incentive to work in the blockchain technology sector. Because if you see this is an upcoming technology, this blockchain technology sector is very important because in the Silicon Valley which is located in USA in the year 2018 alone almost $2.9 billion worth private venture funds have gone into the blockchain startups. So you can see a huge investment has been made into the blockchain technology startups. Now this kind of encouragement will boost the entrepreneurs to invest into the blockchain technology sector in the future. But now if we plan to ban the cryptocurrencies then it will also hurt the blockchain technology because at the present time currencies are the only viable practical application of the blockchain technology. It does not mean that it cannot be used in other sectors but currently it is used in cryptocurrency. So blockchain technology has a wide variety of application but right now it is being focused on cryptocurrency. Now if this is banned then the entrepreneurs will not explore the blockchain technology so there will not be any innovation in the future. So the authors state that at least for the sake of innovation other cryptocurrencies should be allowed to operate with sufficient regulations in India. So this is all about this op-ed editorial. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. These two news articles talk about the economic evaluation of Bandipur Tiger Reserve by the Indian Institute of Forest Management. The syllabus with which the analysis of this news article can be linked is given here for your reference. Let us now see the news article. If you see recently the economic evaluation of 10 Tiger Reserves in India was conducted by Centre for Ecological Services Management and Indian Institute of Forest Management. Now know that this Centre for Ecological Services Management is an interdisciplinary institute which is located in Indian Institute of Forest Management and this Indian Institute of Forest Management is located in Bhopal. It is basically an autonomous institute which is functioning under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Now this particular report was released by National Tiger Conservation Authority. If you see this National Tiger Conservation Authority is functioning under Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. Now this particular report is the second phase of the report which covers the years from 2016 to 2019. If you see the first report which was published was for the period between 2013 and 2015 and that was named as economic valuation of Tiger Reserves in India, a value-plus approach. So the main aim of this report is to showcase the value of nature's benefits and also the immense contribution that these Tiger Reserves provide to the well-being of the people. Now we saw that 10 Tiger Reserves were evaluated by the Indian Institute of Forest Management. Now out of these 10 Tiger Reserves, Bandipur Tiger Reserve is one Tiger Reserve. If you see the economic value from this Bandipur Tiger Reserve is valued at 6405 crores. Now the report says that the valuation was based on certain services like the economic services that they provide, scientific service, educational service, cultural service and also the recreational service that this particular Tiger Reserve provide. Now you can see that this is a very huge sum, 6405 crores is a very huge sum and that too it has come from one Tiger Reserve. Now there are numerous protected areas in India. So one can imagine the immense value, the huge value that the protected areas of the country provide to the humans. So this is the benefit of the economic evaluation of the ecosystem services that are provided by the protected areas in the country. Now the term ecosystem services can be defined as benefits in terms of goods or services that are provided by the nature and they are of fundamental importance to human well-being for our health, livelihood and also for our survival. Now the important objective of this phase 2 report is to enhance the Tiger conservation by highlighting the holistic economic benefits of the protected areas. So this would generate more awareness about the tangible and intangible benefits that this Tiger Reserve offers to the people. So it is not just at the local level that is the tangible and the intangible benefits are not just at the local level but they are also at national level and also at global level. So it will help to enhance the conservation. Now if you see tangible assets, they are assets that have a physical form. For example if you see firewood, fodder etc which comes from a forest are called as the tangible assets of the forest and intangible assets are those assets which are non-physical assets like the fresh air. Now this report says that for every rupee that is spent on the management of Bandipur Reserve generates tangible and intangible benefits which amounts to nearly 716 rupees. So you spend 1 rupee but the benefit that you get out of spending this 1 rupee is 716 rupees which means the rate of return for every rupee spent is more than 700 percentage. So this is a very huge sum. The report also mentions that out of the total benefits generated 81 percentage benefits are accrued or accumulated at the global level, 16 percentage at the national level and 3 percentage at the local level. So this highlights that conserving the tiger reserves is no more a regional requirement. The benefit it offers to the international community is very huge that is it is very large. So the benefits that are provided by these tiger reserves especially the Bandipur Tiger Reserve can be classified into 3 levels, local, national and global level. Now let us see the benefits that are provided by the Bandipur Tiger Reserve at the local level it provides firewood and also huge grazing land for the local people. So it will help them to meet their fuel and fodder needs and if you see the non-timber producers like honey, medicinal plants, wild fruits, tubers which are in the forest are the main source of livelihood for the local people especially the tribes who are living inside the forest. And the employment generation in and around the reserve helps the local economy. So these are some of the benefits because of Bandipur Tiger Reserve at the local level. Now let us see some of the benefits at the national level. The report estimates that the reserve releases almost 1,021 billion litres of water into the Kaveri River. Now this river water is used by the people in Karnataka and also the lower riparian states like Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry. Now this service is quite invaluable as the water is essential for every living being to survive. And also if you see the forest within the reserve prevents the soil loss and also the nutrient loss because of soil erosion. So if the soil and the nutrients get lost then they have to be rectified. Now these costs have been significantly reduced because of this tiger reserve. So these are some of the benefits at the national level. Next let us see some of the benefits at the global level which this particular Bandipur Tiger Reserve provides. If you see forest play an important role in the storage and sequestration of carbon. When we tell sequestration of carbon or carbon sequestration it is the process by which the atmospheric carbon dioxide is taken up by the trees, grasses and other plants through the process called photosynthesis. And they are stored as carbon in biomass. Biomass means like trunks, branches, foliage nothing but the leaves then also in the roots and also in the soil. Now the study says that the forest in Bandipur reserves alone store around 1.2 crore tons of carbon and they sequester 3.45 lakh tons of carbon. This helps to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and hence it helps to mitigate global warming. So we can see that this is beneficial to the entire global population. So this is the benefit because of the presence of Bandipur Tiger Reserve which one can get at the global level. So we can see that the tangible and the intangible benefits of a single tiger reserve is quite huge. So the benefit offered by proper conservation of tiger reserves, biosphere reserves, wildlife sanctuaries and other protector and reserve forests are quite huge once we evaluate the benefits out of all these protected areas. Now let us go through some facts about Bandipur Tiger Reserve. It is located in the southern part of Karnataka state. This Bandipur Tiger Reserve is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and it is also a national part. Know that this reserve has contiguous corridor linkages within the state with Nagarhole and BRT reserve, nothing but Nilgiri Ranga Temple Tiger Reserve. Along with this, this tiger reserve is also contiguous that is continuous with the tiger habitats of Kerala, mainly the Vainad district of Kerala and also with Tamil Nadu. If you see the Satyamangalam Tiger Reserve and also the buffer areas of Mudumalai. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article speaks about the rising global demand for gold and the reasons for the rise in the global demand of gold. Now the syllabus which is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. Let us see the news article. According to the report of the World Gold Council, the gold demand in the first half of 2019 has jumped to a three year high. If you see the gold demand was pegged at 2,181.7 tons. Now this value reflects 8 percentage rise when compared with the first half of 2018. When we tell first half, it means the first six months of that particular year. The report released by the World Gold Council tells that this jump in the gold demand is because of the robust and continued central bank buying and the sustained growth in gold back exchange traded funds or in short ETFs. Now let us see the first reason why the central banks are buying gold because gold is one of the foreign exchange reserves. If you see there are many types of foreign exchange reserves that are maintained by the Reserve Bank of India like the foreign currency assets, dollars, euro and similar other foreign currencies. Then the gold reserve of Reserve Bank of India which we are just seeing in our topic, then the special drawing rights that is the SDR holdings of Indian government with the international monetary fund, then the reserve tranche. So gold reserve is one such foreign exchange reserve. So you can see that central banks will buy gold in order to increase their foreign exchange reserves. Now the most important reason why the central banks are buying gold is to diversify their foreign exchange reserve. If you see gold is a reliable diversifier and it is an hedge against the volatility of other currencies. Now we will see the meaning of the sentence. In simpler terms if you see the foreign exchange can be defined as the conversion of one country's currency into another currency. So a country's foreign exchange reserve will be diverse as we just saw. It may contain cash in different currencies and may also contain gold. Now most of the cash reserves are held in stable currencies like the US dollars, euro, etc. And gold also diversifies this foreign exchange reserve. So this gold will help to hedge or safeguard a country's reserve because if you see the cash that is held in other currencies are volatile due to the market risks. Now volatility means the change in the value of the currency. But if you see gold is somewhat stable when compared to this currency. Hence the central banks always intend to buy more gold in order to diversify their foreign exchange reserve. Now buying gold by the central banks can also be called as de-dollarization of their foreign exchange reserve. So this will help a country to safeguard its reserve against the volatility in dollar as we just saw. Now this volatility in dollar for example is mainly because of the monetary policies of the US Federal Reserve. For example if the United States offers more interest rates for the dollar deposits then all the dollars would flow from other countries to the United States to make more profit. Because now the interest rates are increased so they will get more returns. So they will all deposit their dollar in the US market. So this would generally affect the developing countries which have a volatile economy. Now if you see the recent trade war between the United States and China is also a reason for volatility in the dollar. The next reason that you need to know is the continuing geopolitical instability. Now if you see there are some countries which does not have good relation with the United States like countries like Russia, China, Iran, Turkey. So all these countries also will be buying huge amounts of gold in order to fill their foreign exchange reserves. This is basically to reduce their dependence on the US dollar. Now the next reason the second reason that we need to see increase in gold demand is the sustained growth in the gold bag exchange traded funds. Now we need to know about this term exchange traded funds. They basically track the value of a particular commodity or currency and its shares. So the exchange traded funds track the value of a particular commodity or currency and its shares can be bought and sold like stocks in a stock exchange. So a gold exchange traded fund tracks the price of gold. So it is like trading gold in the stock exchange at the best price that is available in that particular day. Now the continuous increase in the gold prices in 2019 that is in this year makes the gold bag ETFs that is exchange traded funds more profitable and attractive. Now if you see this gold exchange traded funds have many other advantages like the trade in gold is done in a dematerialized or electronic account. So there is no worry of theft and the gold traded also will be pure in quality and while trading one can trade gold for the best price of that particular day. Then the news article also tells that the Indian gold market as revived in 2019. If you see the overall jewellery demand has also increased in India. Now this can be attributed to a busy wedding season and also healthy festival sales. Now we shall discuss in brief about World Gold Council. It is the market development organization for the gold industry if you see. So it works across all parts of the industry say from mining till market and their main objective is to stimulate the demand for gold across the world. If you see the headquarters of this world gold council is located at London and United Kingdom. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about the poaching of animals in the Khaaziranga National Park which is located in the state of Assam. Now the syllabus with which the analysis of this news article can be linked is given here for your reference. Just four days back the Prime Minister of India released a report named as fourth cycle of the management effectiveness evaluation of tiger reserves. In short called as MEETR. Now this news article states that this evaluation report on India's tiger reserves has put this spotlight on an alleged nexus or say a connection between some forest officials of Khaaziranga National Park and the poachers. Now poaching means illegal hunting of an animal. So obviously poacher means the person who is carrying out that illegal activity of hunting animals. We know that Khaaziranga National Park is a world heritage site which was designated by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization in short UNESCO. And this Khaaziranga National Park is popular for the one horned trinoceros. It is also a major tiger reserve which covers an area of around 1173 square kilometers. Now this report mentions that some staff of Khaaziranga Tiger Reserve may sometimes get involved in poaching. They are involved in poaching because they are helping the poachers. For this the report also cites an example where it tells that in November 2017 poaching of three rhinoceros took place. If you see this poaching happen very close that is some 200 meters distance from the Thunikatti anti-poaching camp under the Burrapahar range of Khaaziranga. The report also states that there are 178 anti-poaching camps in that area and each camp has to protect an area of 5 square kilometers. So, based on the resources provided to the personnel it should not be difficult to effectively guard the area. So, the report concludes that if still poaching is happening despite all these measures and that too close to the camps then it leads to the suspicion that the forest officials are involved in this poaching activity. The report also notes that the poachers sneak into or say they get into the tiger reserve from the Kadbi Anglong Hills. Now, this is due to the weakness in the management of the Khaaziranga National Park in coordinating with the forest officials of Kadbi Anglong. If you see Kadbi Anglong is a hilly district which runs along the southern boundary of the Khaaziranga National Park. The management of this Kadbi Anglong district is under the Autonomous Council. So, the forest officials of Kadbi Anglong are not answerable to the heads of the Assam's Forest Department. So, the report suggests that the Khaaziranga's management should take the support of the forest officers who are working under the control of Kadbi Anglong district. So, this will help to arrest the poachers who are hiding in the hills of Kadbi Anglong. Let us move on to the practice questions discussion session. The first question is which among the following best describes cryptocurrency? From all these options you can see that it is a subset of virtual currencies. Then you need to know if it is centralized or decentralized and you also have to know if it is a part of any official digital currency or if it is not a part of any official digital currency and in all the four options you can see that it is protected by cryptography. Now, during our discussion we saw that cryptocurrency is a subset of virtual currencies. Then we also saw that it is decentralized because we saw that it has no central authority and so it works as a decentralized network. Then we also saw that it is protected by cryptography that is maybe that is why it is named as cryptocurrency and know that cryptocurrency is not a part of any official digital currency. We saw this during our discussion as well. Now, official digital currency means the digital rupee or the foreign digital currency. So, it is a subset of virtual currency. It is decentralized. It is protected by cryptography and it is not a part of any official digital currency. So, here option C is the correct answer. Moving on to the next question. The question is, consider the following statements with reference to cryptocurrencies and they have given four statements and I have asked you to choose the correct statements. The first statement is it is a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded. So, this statement is correct. It can be digitally traded. The second statement, it has the same functions like money. Now, we saw some of the functions of money during our discussion that it is a medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value, unit of account in the sense, the value of all goods and services can be expressed in monetary units. And when we tell store of value, it means the wealth can be stored in the form of money for future use. So, same is the case for the virtual currencies and cryptocurrencies. Wealth can be stored in the form of virtual currency or cryptocurrency for the future use. So, this statement is also correct. Now, the third statement tells that it has a legal tender status. This statement is wrong because it does not have any legal tender status. It can be refused by any citizen of a country for the settlement of any kind of transaction. So, this statement is wrong. Moving on to the fourth statement, it tells that it is same as a fiat currency of a country. Know that cryptocurrency is different from the fiat currency of a country. If you see every currency note bears a promise from the governor of RBA in India that if someone produces the note to RBA that is the currency to RBA or say to any other commercial bank then the Reserve Bank of India will be responsible for giving the person the purchasing power which is equal to the value that is printed on the note. So, this is also true for the coins in India. Therefore, the currency notes and the coins are called as fiat money and also know that fiat money does not have any intrinsic value like gold or a silver coin. So, this statement is also wrong. Cryptocurrency is not same as a fiat currency of a country. So, here the question is asked you to choose the correct statements. Only statements 1 and 2 are correct. So, the correct answer is option B 1 and 2 only. Moving on to the next question, consider the following statements and they have given two statements and have asked you to choose the correct statements. The first statement is central banks of the countries buy gold to diversify their foreign exchange reserve. So, during our discussion we saw that gold is one type of foreign exchange reserve that the central banks of the countries store. So, they purchase a lot of gold. So, mainly gold is being purchased by the central banks in order to diversify their foreign exchange reserves. So, this statement is correct. The second statement tells that gold can hedge against the volatility of currencies. During our discussion we saw that the currencies like the US dollars or the euros are very volatile. It depends on the market situations. Volatile means theory see the value of the currency keeps changing. It can be high sometimes it can be low sometimes. So, it remains volatile. But gold will act as an edge or a safe card against the volatility of currencies. So, this statement is also correct. The question has asked you to choose the correct answer. So, the correct answer is option C both 1 and 2. With this we come to the end of today's analysis of all the news articles and also the practice questions discussion session. Do like comment and share the video and do subscribe to Shankar IA's academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.