 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar IA's Academy for the day 29th of January 2020. The list of news articles taken up for today's analysis is displayed here along with the page numbers of five different editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the timestamping 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 start our analysis. This news article is about the addition of ten news sites into the Ramsar sites in India. In this context, we shall see in brief about the importance of wetlands across the world. Then we shall see about the Ramsar Convention, which is related to wetlands. Then about the Montreal record and finally the Ramsar sites of India. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. So first let us see in brief about Ramsar Convention. See the Ramsar Convention is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It is an intergovernmental treaty which provides framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. This convention was adopted at Ramsar, which is a city located in Iran in the year 1971 and this convention came into force in the year 1975. So what are wetlands and what is the need to conserve the wetlands? See the Ramsar Convention gives a broad definition of wetlands. If you see wetlands include all lakes and rivers, then underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, then wet grasslands and peatlands. Then also know that Oasis, estuaries, deltas, tidal flats, mangroves, other coastal areas and even coral reefs are also considered as wetlands. And also if you see some human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans also come under the amit of wetlands. So what is the significance of wetlands? Know that the wetlands are among the most diverse, most unique and productive ecosystems on earth. Then an area for breeding and even for drinking for the wildlife, wildfowl and other animals. So they are an important footweb. Know that wetlands are also helpful in water storage, flood mitigation, then shoreline stabilization especially across the coastal areas. Then it also helps in groundwater recharge and also to purify the water. So we can see that wetlands are helpful in many ways. So that is a need to conserve the wetlands. For this purpose the Ramsar Convention came into existence. The mission of this Ramsar Convention is the conservation and wise use of all the wetlands through local actions, then through national actions and also through international cooperation. So we can also tell that the wetlands conservation will help us in achieving sustainable development throughout the world. Now if you see as of 2019 there are 171 countries which are a part of this convention. They are called as contracting parties. And if you see this convention came into force in the year 1982 in India. So every three years the representatives of the government of each of the contracting parties meet as the conference of contracting parties. Here you also need to know that the representatives of non-member states, then intergovernmental institutions and non-governmental organizations also participate in these meetings as non-voting observers. So under this convention the contracting parties have committed to work under three pillars. The first pillar is to work towards the wise use of all their wetlands, whichever wetlands are located within their country. The next pillar is to designate suitable wetlands for the list of wetlands of international importance which is also called the Ramsar list to ensure the effective management of the wetlands. And if you see the third pillar, the third pillar is to cooperate internationally on trans-boundary wetlands, then shared wetland systems and shared species. Here trans-boundary means a wetland which can be present in two or more countries. So it is present across the boundaries. At present if you see there are more than 2000 Ramsar sites all across the world. And if you see country-wise the countries with most Ramsar sites are United Kingdom and Mexico. And if you see in India there were 27 sites under this Ramsar list so far. And the 27 sites are mentioned here in this picture. You can have a look at it for your reference. Now today's news is that 10 more news sites have been listed as Ramsar sites. So let us see the news article shortly. Before that let us see what is meant by Montreal record. See this record is a record which contains selected wetlands sites on the list of wetlands of international importance. Those wetlands where changes in the ecological character of the wetlands have occurred or they are occurring or they are likely to occur are included in this Montreal record. Now this may be because of the result of technological developments surrounding that wetland or may be pollution in that wetland or even may be due to other human interference. So simply we can say that this Montreal record is a list of wetlands which need special attention from the authorities in order to minimize or prevent the ecological changes that are happening in that particular wetland which is listed under this Montreal record. Know that Montreal record is maintained as a part of the Ramsar list. At present if you see there are two wetlands from India under this Montreal record. One is the Kealodio National Park which is located in Rajasthan and second is the Lokta Lake which is located in the state of Manipur. Earlier if you see Chilika Lake from the state of Odisha was also added into this record but later it was removed since the authorities were able to restore the ecological character of Chilika Lake successfully. So this is all about Montreal record that you need to know. Now let us come to the news article. Earlier we saw that there were so far 27 Ramsar sites in India under this Ramsar convention. Now the news article says that India has added 10 more wetlands to the sites that are protected by the Ramsar convention. With this now India has a total of 37 sites which are recognized under this Ramsar convention. Here you need to know there are several criteria based on which the sites are listed under this Ramsar list. One is if that particular site contains a representative or a rare or a unique example of a natural or a near natural wetland. And also if that particular site supports vulnerable species or endangered species or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities etc. So there are many such criteria based on which a particular site is listed as Ramsar site. Now you can take a look at these 10 sites which have become a part of this Ramsar list. So totally now India has 37 sites which come under this Ramsar list. As you can see from this table almost 6 sites are from the state of Uttar Pradesh whereas 3 sites are from Punjab and one is from the state of Maharashtra. So this is all about the discussion of this news article. To summarize our discussion we saw about Ramsar convention about the importance of conserving the wetlands across the world. Then as a part of this we also saw the Montreal record and finally we saw the Ramsar sites of India and the news article. Where 10 new Ramsar sites have been included as a part of this Ramsar convention. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. Next let us see an editorial which is in response to the recent announcement that has been made by the Union Ministry of Railways. See the announcement was that the railway board is to be restructured and that the 8 existing services of Indian Railways are to be unified into a central service called as Indian Railway Management Service. So in this context first let us see in brief about the railway board and then we will see the editorial. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this editorial is given here for your reference. First let us see about railway board. See railway board is the chief administrative and executive body that assists the union minister of railways. It was constituted under a resolution of the then government of India on 18th February 1905. And if you see this railway board has been given certain statutory powers under section 2 of the Indian Railway Board Act of 1905. So remember it is an executive body but it has certain functions as per the statute or law which is the Indian Railway Board Act of 1905. So we cannot tell that it is a statutory body rather it is an executive body. Now if you look at the preamble to this Indian Railway Board Act of 1905 it states that railway board has been constituted for controlling the administration of railways in India. And this railway board functions as the top railway executive body for the administration for technical supervision and direction of the railways. So this railway board exercises all the powers of a central government in relation to the railways. Now if you remember during our 21st October 2019 the Hindu news analysis we discussed in brief about this railway board. During that discussion we told that railway board was a statutory body. Please correct this fact it is not a statutory body but an executive body as we discussed today. Now if you look at the chairman of this railway board is the ex official principal secretary to the government of India in the ministry of railways. The chairman is responsible to the union minister of railways for arriving at decisions on technical and non-technical questions. And he will also advise the government of India on matters of railway policy. And in addition to the chairman there are usually 11 other members in this railway board as per the information which is available in the official website of Indian Railways. Earlier in October 2019 if you see the news reports said that there are around 200 officials who are presently working in the railway board. There was some kind of inefficiency then departmentalism then lack of teamwork then there was more focus on railway board at the central level and less focus on the zonal railways which were all reported. Here the term departmentalism means unhealthy competition among the different departments within the railways for getting limited resources then an unhealthy competition for the key managerial posts to access power and authority then lack of teamwork and cohesion. So all these had adversely affected the work culture and it resulted in pursuing narrow departmental goals at the cost of larger organizational goals. That is instead of meeting the goals of Indian railways the officials were so interested in meeting the goals of their own departments. Now one of the main reasons for such negatives is the excessive staff strength at the railway board. Here you need to know that since 2000 there have been proposals to reform the number of officials who are working in the board other than the chairman and the members. So one of the announcements was to cut short the number of officials who are associated with the railway board from 200 to 150. So restructuring of the railway board was one announcement. If you see this was also a recommendation of Vivek Debroy committee which is also called as the committee on mobilization of resources for major railways projects and restructuring of railways ministry and railway board which submitted its report in 2015. So this is the background that you need to know regarding railway board but this background in mind now let us see the editorial. We can see this editorial in two parts. In the first part we will see the existing challenges in the administration of railways from the perspective of the author and in the next part we will see the comments of the author related to the changes that have been proposed by the government for restructuring the administration of the railways. Now let us see the existing challenges in the administration of railways from the author's perspective. See the government perceives that there is silo mentality and inter-departmental rivalries which sometimes impacts the working of the railways in an adverse manner. So what is meant by silo mentality? Here silo mentality refers to the mindset that makes the workers to function in an isolated manner. So because of this departments within an organization or within a system do not coordinate or they do not collaborate and cooperate at the required level of teamwork. You can see that they may not share the information that is required between the departments and because of this mentality at some levels tensions between the departments may arise. And therefore the departments will deliver efficiency only within their domain and only when they function separately. But if you see beyond their domain some level of inter-coordination between the departments is required. Now when they do not coordinate and work then there will not be efficiency because there is no teamwork and cohesion. So this is what we mean by silo mentality. In this editorial the author states that one can think that silo mentality is found across all the departments in railways. But if you see it is more prevalent between the mechanical and the electrical departments because of the nature of the functions that both these departments perform. If you see some of the functions of both these departments are overlapping and because of this sometimes the decision making is delayed which appears like inter-departmental rivalry. And the author tells that rivalry issues among other departments are quite negligible. Then if you see inter-departmental rivalry appears when there is a train accident and if the cause of the accident is not known this is because usually the operation of the trains involves 3 to 4 departments. So here the author tries to tell that such rivalries are usually temporary and they are situation specific. So we can see that the author's main argument is that these issues are significantly affecting only the functioning of few departments. And also these issues are temporary and situation specific at times. So in such cases the solutions should also be specific to these departments and situations and they should not be to overall that is to restructure the entire railway system. Also the author tells that the root cause of the overlapping functioning domains between the electrical and mechanical departments should be resolved. Here the author has also told one more thing. If you see at present there are various general management posts at various levels like additional division railway manager, then division railway manager, then additional general manager and general manager. And if you see a total of about 175 officers who are having necessary competence are appointed in such posts. These offices are meant specifically to provide inter-departmental coordination. So the author tells that it is these officers who should be held responsible for the failure to ensure coordination among the departments. So this is the opinion of the author. In this first part we have seen the existing challenges in the administration of railways from the author's perspective. Now let us see what are the proposals that have been made by the union ministry to address various issues that surround this railway administration. See the union ministry of railways has made some proposals at the railway board level and also at the level of cadres. If you look at the railway board level the proposal is that the chairman of the railway board is to be re-designated as chairman and CEO. That is the chief executive officer and then the present strength of the railway board members which is chairman plus 11 will be reduced to chairman plus 4. And the responsibilities of these four members will be on the functional lines that are mentioned here. And apart from this there will also be induction of certain independent members from outside the railway hierarchy and their role will be in advisory capacity. Now if you see when this proposal was made by the ministry there were no objections. So this change which has been suggested by the government is unexceptionable. And in addition to this the author also supports the proposal to upgrade 27 posts of general managers to the level of secretary to the government of India. So these are some of the proposals at the railway board level. Now let us come to the proposed changes at the cadre level. Here the proposal is to have a single cadre to be called as Indian Railways Management Service. For this service the recruitment examination will be conducted by the Union Public Service Commission as a separate examination. Because if you see the existing system of recruitment is done through the civil services examinations and engineering services examinations for the eight organized services within the railways excluding the medical and the security departments. If you see in the civil services examination there are three services which are Indian Railway Traffic Service then Indian Railway Account Service and then Indian Railway Personal Service. Now the proposal is that all these three services along with five other group A services will have common examination in the future. Most probably a common notification might be issued for the recruitment for all these services. So these are the changes that have been proposed by the ministry at the cadre level. Now the author is opposed to this proposal for having a single cadre called as Indian Railway Management Service. The opposition is mainly because of various unanswered questions. The author predicts that having a common recruitment examination will make Indian Railways to lose expertise in specific technical domains. And the author feels that these changes in the recruitment is not the answer for the present challenges that are faced by the Indian Railways. Because if you remember we saw that the present challenges are temporary and situation specific. So you can see the opinions of the author and here know that there are both positives and negatives that are attached to each method. So how cleverly the modalities for these recruitments are to be drafted will resolve all the queries that have been raised by the author in this editorial. See this issue will be repeating in the coming days as the modalities are still not worked out. So we can expect more news articles and editorials on this issue. This is all about the analysis of this editorial. To summarize our analysis we discussed about the railway board. Then we saw the editorial with reference to the existing challenges in the administration of railways and the proposed changes made by the government at the railway board level and at the cadre level to make the administration of railways efficient. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article talks about the permission that has been granted by the Supreme Court for the reintroduction of African Cheetah from Namibia in India. See the Supreme Court has said on Tuesday that is on 28th January that African Cheetah can be introduced in India in a carefully chosen location on an experimental basis. The court has also said that Cheetah could be brought to either Kunopalpur Vallabh Sanctuary which is located in Madhya Pradesh or to any other part of India after conducting a detailed study. So in this context let us see few facts about Cheetah. Then we will see what drove the Cheetah population to extension in India. Then we will see the conservation status in India and across the world. Then finally we will see the steps that were taken by the government for reintroduction of Cheetah in India in the past couple of decades. And finally we will look into the brief functions of the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the merits and demerits of Cheetah reintroduction project. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is given here for your reference. First let us see about Cheetah. See Cheetah is one of the oldest of the big cat species. We will see more on this big cat species in the later part of our discussion. Know that Cheetah is also the world's fast-moving land mammal. At present there are two types of Cheetah, African Cheetah and Asiatic Cheetah. If you see before a century, almost close to one lakh cheetahs roamed in most of Africa, India and also in parts of Asia. But today very few cheetahs remain close to 7000 and almost all of them are in Africa where they occupy only 9% of their historic range at present. Now if you look at the Asiatic Cheetah, they became extinct in India in the early 1950s. The Asiatic Cheetah is the only large mammal to become extinct after India got independence in 1947. So what drove the Cheetah to extinction in India? See the reasons for extinction can be traced to problems like human-wire-left conflict, then loss of habitat and loss of prey and even illegal trafficking which led to the decline in the population of cheetahs to a greater extent and gradually they became extinct in India before 6 decades or so. But if you see a handful of Asiatic Cheetahs still exist in Iran. Now the concern is that the population of these Asiatic Cheetahs are declining so quickly. Issues like climate change and growing human population have made only these problems even worse. So maybe in the future Asiatic Cheetahs might be extinct from Iran as well. So there are concerns around the world to reintroduce cheetahs in those places where they lived earlier. In this way India has also planned to reintroduce cheetahs. Now what are the benefits of reintroducing cheetahs? See cheetahs are very adaptable and if you see their prey are mainly the blackbuck which is Indian antelope and chinkara the Indian gazelle when once cheetah lived in India. So the reintroduction of cheetahs will help in restoring India's open forests and grassland ecosystems which are under huge stress now. So having cheetahs will result in greater biodiversity. Here one thing to note is that if cheetahs reintroduced in India then it will make India the only country in the world to host 6 of the world's the 8 large cats or the 8 big cats are lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, clouded leopards, snow leopards, jaguars and cowgirls. Now jaguars and cowgirls are not present in India and cheetahs also not present. If cheetahs introduced then India will have 6 of the world's 8 big cats. So just have a note of it. So these are some of the benefits of reintroducing cheetahs. Now let us look at the conservation status of cheetah at the world level and also at Indian level. See though cheetahs are not present in India as of now they are protected under schedule 1 part 1 of the YLF Protection Act of 1972 in India. So those species which are under schedule 1 enjoy the same level of protection as that of tiger. It means that these species get absolute protection and any offenses under these schedules will attract maximum penalties. So this is the protection status of cheetah in India. At global level if you see the Asiatic cheetah are listed as critically endangered under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. And the African cheetah are categorized as vulnerable under this IUCN Red List. Then if you see cheetah as a whole is listed under Appendix 1 of the Sites Convention which is related to international trade. And they are also listed under Appendix 1 of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. In short CMS. So this is about the protection status of cheetah at the global and at the domestic level. Now let us see the steps that were taken by the government for the reintroduction of cheetah in India. See the efforts to reintroduce cheetahs in India began in 1980s but it was soon concluded that India does not possess the habitat anymore or the prey that is needed for the survival of cheetah. Then once again in the year 1994 the possibility of reintroducing cheetah was discussed by the wildlife experts. Then if you see the National Tiger Conservation Authority had filed a petition in 2010 seeking permission for the introduction of African cheetah from Namibia into India. But in 2013 the Supreme Court declined permission for the reintroduction of cheetah citing several reasons. One of the reasons which the Supreme Court cited was that no detailed study had ever been conducted on introducing such a foreign species to India. So the Supreme Court declined permission for reintroduction. Next if you see in 2019 that is towards the end of 2019 the Indian government on behalf of the National Tiger Conservation Authority requested the Supreme Court to re-examine the petition. So after re-examination the Supreme Court allowed the reintroduction project on an experimental basis. So this is the news now. Yesterday the Supreme Court has allowed for the reintroduction project. Here the news article tells that the action of introduction of the animal would be left to the discretion of this National Tiger Conservation Authority. Then the Supreme Court has also asked to set up a three-member committee to file the progress on a timely basis and to guide and monitor National Tiger Conservation Authority on these issues. So in this background let us see about this National Tiger Conservation Authority in brief. Look it is a statutory body. Your statutory body means a body which is created or constituted as per a statute or law. If you see this National Tiger Conservation Authority was constituted under the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. And this authority comes under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. So this is in brief about this National Tiger Conservation Authority. Now let us come back to the news articles. If you see some environmentalists have raised concerns on reintroducing cheetah into India. They tell that cheetah is a flagship species of a highly endangered ecosystem of the country, the grasslands. So cheetah will require a large area to support itself and survive. But if you see India's very few natural grasslands left. Moreover the cheetah's main prey which we saw the Indian gazelle or chinkara is also diminishing in their numbers due to ecological succession. And apart from this there are also human interferences where the humans take over grasslands and use them for agriculture over time. So such landscapes develop more woodland into which species like cheetah, wild pig and sambar have moved in. Which has all led to the reduction in the population of chinkara. So the change of landscapes and the human interference will actually hamper the cheetah reintroduction project. Now if you remember during the starting of this news article we told that the Supreme Court suggested to reintroduce cheetah either in Kunapalpur Vallabh Sanctuary. Which is located in Madhya Pradesh or any other suitable location. Now if you look at this Kunapalpur Vallabh Sanctuary it is a good example for a landscape with less available grassland for wildlife. But we saw that cheetah requires vast grasslands. So if cheetah is reintroduced in Kunapalpur Vallabh Sanctuary then there will be competition between the animals. Plus there will be human interference as well. So animals and humans together will be fighting over space. So what needs to be done? The conservation authorities need to ensure that they analyze and identify suitable habitats for cheetah. And then they must also ensure that there is enough prey available in order to sustain the population. And there is also enough space to minimize the human-cheetah conflict in the future. Nothing but the human-animal conflict in the future. So the conservation authorities have to ensure all these in order to make this cheetah reintroduction project a successful one. So this is all about the discussion of this news article. To summarize we have seen few facts about cheetah and then we saw what made cheetah to become extant in India. Then we saw the conservation status and the steps that were taken by the government for reintroducing cheetah in India. And then we saw about the news article which discusses about this cheetah reintroduction project. Now have a look at the practice question. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is with reference to Israel-Palestine issue. See recently on 27 January 2020. That is day before yesterday. We discussed in our Hindu news analysis that the United States is soon going to release its plan to address the decades old conflict between Israel and Palestine. And yesterday if you see the United States president has released this plan. This plan is titled as peace to prosperity, a vision to improve the lives of Palestinian and Israeli people. We will discuss the proposed plan of the United States in the analysis of this news article. To have a better understanding of this news article. We would suggest you to first listen to our discussion on this Israel-Palestine conflict which we discussed on 27 January at 3250 seconds. This is because that day we have discussed the issues between Israel and Palestine. Then about the disputed territories which is the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Then we also discussed about Oslo Accord between Israel government and Palestinian Liberation Organization. And also the recent developments. In our today's discussion we will just stick with the peace plan that has been proposed by the United States yesterday. The syllabus that is relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. The plan of the United States mentions that Israel has now agreed to terms for a future Palestinian state. And the vision aims to achieve mutual recognition of the state of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. And the future state of Palestine as the nation state of the Palestinian people. Both will have equal civil rights for all their citizens within their state. One of the recent issues between Israel and Palestine is with respect to the territorial claim on Jerusalem. See US has maintained that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Now if you look in this plan the statement is that Jerusalem will remain the sovereign capital of the state of Israel. And it should remain an undivided city. And the capital of the state of Palestine should be in the section of East Jerusalem. See this provision is subject to different interpretations. One hand it says that the city of Jerusalem should be undivided. And on the other hand it mentions that Palestine should have capital in East Jerusalem. Then it also mentions that US embassy to the state of Israel will remain in Jerusalem. We know that in 2018 the United States moved its embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv. And we are also seeing the progressing US-Brazil-Israel relationship as Brazil has opened a trade office at Jerusalem in last month. That is in December 2019. And Brazil has also announced recently that it will also move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem following the United States. Then if you look at this vision document it states that Israel will continue to safeguard Jerusalem's holy sites. And it will guarantee freedom of worship for Jews, Christians, Muslims and people of all faiths. Then if you look at this plan it provides for a demilitarized Palestinian state existing peacefully alongside Israel. But it states that Israel will retain security responsibility west of the Jordan River. This means that as of now the security responsibility for the disputed territory of West Bank is with Israel. This is because two main disputed regions where Palestinians are majority are lying west of Jordan River. However, over time the Palestinians have to work with the United States and Israel to assume more security responsibility so that Israel can reduce its security footprints in the region. Now let us see the conceptual maps which was released by the US White House. Here the vision document claims that the map for the future state of Palestine will be more than double the land size currently used by the Palestinians. Now if you look at this map the territory which is represented in blue color is to become the future territory of Palestine. If the selected Palestinian representatives agree to the US plan. We request you to closely observe how the Israeli territory engulfs some of the Palestinian territory and how in some areas it separates the future Palestinian territory. If you look in the west bank itself Israel will have around 15 major enclaves. As you can see here and Israel should not build any new settlement towns in west bank and should not expand the existing settlements in west bank as per this vision document. Then if you look at this vision document it categorically states that the Jordan Valley will be under Israeli sovereignty. Then one important condition for Palestine is that it can join any international organization only with the consent of Israel. Likewise there are several restrictive conditions for Palestine to comply with. So all these conditions will definitely become points of conflict in the time to come. See the US officials are saying that though immediately their plan may not be agreed by Palestinian representatives over time they will agree to it. The reason why it may not immediately work out is because the vision document is not brought out by the collective participation of both Israel and Palestine. In fact if you look the President of United States released the plan in the presence of Israeli Prime Minister. Because of the various provisions that we have discussed so far and some of the terms and conditions of the plan this plan is criticized that it is favoring the Israeli government. See in addition to the political framework the United States plan has also brought economic framework for connectivity between west bank and Gaza. A tunnel construction has been proposed by Israel. The economic framework is projected or bolstered by the US government to create a set of economic opportunities which is to be achieved in 10 years. One is that it will create more than 10 lakh jobs for Palestinians then it will reduce Palestinian unemployment rate to less than 10 percentage. Then if you see it will double the GDP of Palestine then it will also reduce Palestinian poverty rate by 50 percentage. So these are some of the targets under the economic framework which has been proposed as a part of this US plan. Next if you look this US plan is also proposing that an Israel-Palestin peace agreement shall be signed. And with respect to this appropriate steps are to be taken in UN Security Council and United Nations General Assembly. So let us wait and see how the developments unfold in the coming days. These are some of the information that is associated with the analysis of this news article. To summarize this news article we have discussed in brief about the proposal of the United States through the plan released by the United States President which provides for political and economic framework for both Israel and Palestinian. Let us move on to the next news article. This news article is about the recent agreement which was signed between the government of India, the state government of Assam and various Bodo groups. If you remember in our yesterday's analysis we have comprehensively covered the background of Bodo issue. The various agreements that were signed between the central government and various factions of this Bodo group to address the aspirations of the Bodo's and how the new agreement that was signed day before yesterday that is on 27 January will address the aspirations of the Bodo's and how it will protect their social, cultural, linguistic and ethnic identities. So we request the viewers to have a look at yesterday's analysis on this Bodo agreement. Now you just add few facts to our yesterday's analysis. Know that as per 2011 census Bodo's are the largest plain tribe that is they are the largest tribes who live in the plains because if you see majority of the tribals live in the hilly areas but Bodo's largely live in the plains. So they are the largest plain tribe and around 1.3 million Bodo speaking people live in India. So you can see that the population is quite huge in order to meet their demands the government has come up with the Bodo accord or the Bodo agreement. So it is likely to put an end to the 50 year demand for a separate state or union territory for the Bodo community. Now the demands of the Bodo's are met and the territorial integrity of Assam will also be maintained at the same time. So it is expected to also put the end to violence and ethnic conflicts that are happening in the Bodo dominated areas. Though the Bodo's are celebrating the agreement the non Bodo communities which are living in Bodo land territory area district are pointing out that the agreement did not have anything positive for them. They have said that their interests have been ignored in this agreement. So the state government has assured that the agreement will aim to achieve wide range of development for both Bodo as well as non Bodo communities in the region. But overall this Bodo agreement is a major achievement for both the government as well as the Bodo's. Now if you look at the news article there is one more small news where the Naga communities in general and the war widows of the major Naga insurgent group which is the National Socialist Council of Naga Lim, Isaac Muiba faction in particular have demanded for a similar kind of solution to the 70 year old Naga political issue. They have appealed that an early settlement of this problem is necessary. If you remember in 2015 Naga peace accord was signed between the government of India and this Isaac Muiba faction of the National Socialist Council of Naga land in order to end the Naga insurgency because they demanded for a greater Naga land or Naga Lim comprising the Naga land state and the Naga inhabited areas of Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar. Then if you see around 2017 few other Naga armed groups joined the negotiations and they signed ceasefire agreements and these groups are collectively called as Naga national political groups. So in line with the Bodo Accord now these Naga groups are demanding for a final agreement between the Naga's and the central government in order to put an end to the ongoing political talks between India and the Naga political groups. So from yesterday's analysis as well as from today's news article we can say that a feasible solution to the armed ethnic conflicts which are happening in the northeast can be addressed only by giving more autonomy to the regions rather than adopting one size fits all approach. So this is all you need to know from both these news articles. Now let us move on to the practice questions discussion session. Look at the first question, consider the following statements regarding the convention on wetlands. Two statements have been given and you need to choose the incorrect statements. Look at the first statement it tells that the convention came into force in 2016 along with the Paris climate agreement. See this convention on wetlands is nothing but Ramsar convention. It is an intergovernmental treaty which provides for conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. Since this convention was adopted at the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 this is called as Ramsar convention. Note that this convention came into force in 1975. So from this we can tell that the first statement is wrong. Look at the second statement human made fish ponds, rice paddies and reservoirs are considered as wetlands under the convention. Under the concept of wetlands even the human made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt ponds all come under the definition of wetlands. So the second statement is correct. Now we need to choose the incorrect statements. Since the first statement is wrong the correct answer is option A 111. Note that this convention entered into force in India in the year 1982. At present there are 37 Ramsar sites in India. Now look at the next question which is about Montreal record. Three statements are given and you need to choose the correct statements. Look at the first statement it tells that even wetlands where ecological changes are likely to occur are included in the record. Note that Montreal record consists of selected wetlands sites on the list of wetlands of international importance. These wetlands sites are those sites where changes in ecological character have occurred or they are occurring or they are likely to occur in the future. So such wetlands sites are included in the record. From this we can tell that the first statement is correct. Now look at the second statement it tells that Montreal record is maintained as a part of the list of wetlands of international importance. Yes this statement is correct. Look at the third statement it tells that only Chilika lake from India is included in this record. This statement is wrong because at present there are two wetlands from India which are placed under this Montreal record. One is the Khila Dev National Park which is located in Rajasthan and the second is the Lokta Lake which is located in the state of Manipur. If you see earlier Lake Chilika from Odisha was added into this record but it was later removed in the year 2002 since the authorities were able to restore it successfully. So the third statement goes wrong. Now you need to choose the correct statements. The correct answer is option A 1 and 2 only. Now look at the next question which is about railway board. Two statements are given and you need to choose the correct statements. Look at the first statement it tells that the railway board has been constituted for the first time after the independence. This statement is incorrect because railway board was constituted even before the independence. See it was constituted through a government resolution in the year 1905 way before independence. So the first statement is wrong. Look at the second statement. It tells that the minister of railways is the chairman of this board. This statement is also incorrect because the chairman is not the union minister of railways but it is an officer in the rank of ex official principal secretary to the government of India and the ministry of railways. So both the statements are wrong. The correct answer to this question is option D neither 1 nor 2. Now look at the next question which is about cheetah. Two statements are given again and you need to choose the correct statements. Look at the first statement. It tells that cheetah is extinct in India. And the second statement tells that cheetah is protected under schedule one of the wildlife protection act of 1972. The first statement is correct. Cheetah is actually extinct in India. Initially the cheetahs used to live in India. They were spread across Africa then across Asia including India but it became extinct in India in the early 1950s. So it was the only mammal to become extinct in India after India's independence. So at present cheetah is extinct in India. But you can see recent news articles which discusses there is a plan to reintroduce cheetah in India. The plan is to get some cheetahs from the country of Namibia and reintroduce them into India. So the first statement is correct. Now look at the second statement. It tells that cheetah is protected under schedule one of the wildlife protection act of 1972. Now if you go by reasoning you may think that this statement is wrong. But know that cheetah is protected under schedule one part one of wildlife protection act of 1972. So this statement is also correct. The correct answer to this question is option C both 1 and 2. Now let us look at the main questions. The question is transformational organizational restructuring is Saini Kuvarnan for Indian Railways Discuss. Please post your answers for this question in the comment section. You need to answer this question in 150 words. It is for 10 marks. Now look at the next main question which was asked in 2018. Main general studies 3 paper. What is wetland? Explain the Ramsar concept of wise use in the context of wetland conservation. Sight 2 examples of Ramsar sites from India. So this is a direct question. Try to answer this question as well. Answer this question in 150 words. It carries 10 marks. Please post your answers for this question as well in the comment section. We shall review your answers and give suitable suggestions and feedback. In the next 7 to 10 working days. With this we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis. And also the practice questions discussion session. If you like the video, press the like button, comment and share. 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