 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarae's Academy, displayed on the list of news articles taken for today's analysis and their page numbers in different editions of the newspaper. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the timestamping of the discussed articles will be provided in the description and also in the comment section for the benefit of mobile phone viewers. Now let's move on to the analysis of first news article. The article is about the yearbook 2021 released by Swedish think tank called as Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. This SIPRI yearbook 2021 assesses the current state of armaments, disarmament and international security. Now let's see some of the important findings. See it says that there are nine nuclear round states and these nine states are together possessing around 13,000 nuclear weapons at the beginning of 2021. This number was earlier 13,400 in 2020. There has been a decrease right now it is 13,080. The nine states as you know they are United States, Russia, UK, France, China, so the P5 members come into that then India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. Now despite the overall decrease the estimated number of nuclear weapons that are currently deployed with operational forces have increased. It increased from 3720 to 3825 and of these 2000 which almost belong to Russia or the USA they were kept in a state of high operational alert. Now that Russia and USA together possess over 90% of global nuclear weapons both have extensive programs to replace and modernize their nuclear warheads, missile and aircraft delivery systems. The other seven nuclear arms states are also either developing or deploying new weapon systems. New weapon systems an example is UK's integrated review of security defense development and foreign policy which was published in early 2021. It raised the ceiling for nuclear weapons from 180 to 260. If you take China it is also modernizing and expanding its nuclear weapon inventory. See Indian Pakistan also appeared to be expanding their nuclear arsenals. Also North Korea continues to enhance its military nuclear program as part of its national security strategy. Have a look at this table. He deployed warheads refers to warheads placed on missiles or warheads located on bases with operational forces and other warheads refers to stored warheads or reserve warheads and retired warheads which are awaiting dismantlement. So at the beginning of 2021 if you take India it possessed 156 nuclear warheads earlier it was 115-2020. On the other hand if you take Pakistan it is quite higher it is 165 warheads up from 116 in 2020. For China it is 350 up from 320 in 2020. Now Sipri says that five largest arms suppliers in 2016 to 2020 are the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China. They accounted for 76% of total volume of export of major arms. The five largest arms importers we could see Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and China. These five countries accounted for 36% of total arms imports. Finally let us see in brief about Sipri's seat as an independent international institute which is dedicated to research into conflict, research into armaments, then research into arms control and disarmament. It was established in 1966. It is based in Stockholm. See the objective or the vision of Sipri is to have a world in which the sources of insecurity are identified and understood and it also works for a world where conflicts are prevented or resolved and peace is sustained. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now let us move on to the next part of the discussion. Now see this news article with respect to unlocking war histories with the purpose. Recently the Union Defense Minister has approved a policy on archiving declassification and compilation of histories of wars and histories of operations. So this discussion is going to be based on this approved policy where we will know about the policy, its benefits and the challenges. The syllabus relevant for the analysis is highlighted here for your reference. First let us know about the policy initiative. So as we said this policy deals with declassification and compilation of war history. When we say classified that means it is secret. When we say declassified it means it is no more a secret. Now the purpose of this policy is the timely publication of war histories and which would give people an accurate account of the events. Then it also provides authentic material for academic research and it also provides authentic material for countering rumors as well. For this purpose each organization under the Union Ministry of Defense from now on has been asked to transfer certain details to the history division of the Defense Ministry. These details include records, war diaries, letters of proceedings, operational record books like that. And here note that the responsibility of declassification of records rests with those respective organizations as specified in the law called as public record act of 1993 and as per the public record rules of 1997. And note that the history division will be responsible for coordination with various departments while compiling and while seeking approval and while publishing of histories of wars and operations. Such transfer of records and coordination will help in proper upkeep archival and writing of histories. Accordingly the policy mentions the period and process of declassification of war history. It says that the records should ordinarily be declassified in 25 years. Whereas records which were older than 25 years they will be evaluated and will be compiled by archival experts first and then after the evaluation and compilation it should be transferred to the National Archives of India. In addition to it the policy mandates formation of the committee within two years of completion of war operations. These committees will be headed by Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defense. In addition to it the policy mandates formation of a committee within two years of completion of war or within two years of completion of operations. And this committee will be headed by Joint Secretary of Ministry of Defense. It will also have representatives of Tri-Services, Ministry of External Affairs, Home Ministry and along with prominent military historians for the compilation of war or operation histories. With this information let us see the background of this policy initiative. See the suggestions for declassification and compilation of war histories has been made long back. Earlier the requirement of having war histories which were written with clear-cut policy on declassification of war records was recommended by Kargil review committee. In addition to it even the NNORA committee suggested some measures to analyze lessons learned and to analyze lessons learned and to prevent future mistakes. And till now we saw about the policy and the committees what it suggested etc. Now let us see what the author has to say. See the author cites certain events as an example to highlight the need for proper war histories. Firstly he mentions the Henderson books report on the 1962 war with China. This so-called report remains top secret till today where the current knowledge on histories related to 1962 war are not considered credible even now. Meanwhile the history of the 1962 war remains classified. Then the history of Indian peacekeeping force which fought in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990 is all yet to be revealed. See operation Pavan which is the code name assigned to this operation of Indian peacekeeping force. Even for this operation researchers have no access to the records of discussions involving the Prime Minister of India and other generals. Alongside these events there is another important episode called exercise brass tax. See most military historians of contemporary India they agree that exercise brass tax is what paved the way for the transformation of Indian war fighting doctrine. Particularly with reference to the change in tactics techniques and procedures the conventional war fighting in the planes and the desert areas. But for putting these claims forward we have relied only on oral recollections. So these are few areas of needs for the decollection which is the reason policy initiative which is to be achieved. But there are certain challenges to this initiative which is a cause of concern. The biggest challenges facing this initiative will be the fusion of political directives and strategic decision making during the war. This is because the strategic decision making relies on operational and tactical happenings on the ground unlike political directives. Secondly, compilation, reconciling and analysis of events at multiple levels is difficult. This needs gathering of information from headquarters, command centers and also from field formation levels. Thirdly, putting together a team of dedicated researchers and historians, academics and practitioners with access to records and files is challenging. Lastly, merging the concurrent oral history and digitization of all archival compilations is not an easy task. However these challenges could be overcome if certain measures are taken forward. Firstly, robust multidisciplinary teams with academic practitioners are required to put histories together. Secondly, digitization and creation of oral stories will form a critical component of this initiative. For this purpose, a software major is to be stepped in along with it an outreach program to be made to individual historians, think tanks and global repositories to share their oral history collections on contemporary Indian military history. Above all, the article says that the hallmarks of a leading military is the ability to take criticism and the ability to tackle institutional reluctance to expose false claims. So these are some of the important points with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now let's move on to the next part of the discussion. This news article talks about floating raft forming. As we know, Onam was celebrated in August-September which is an annual festival of Kerala. This article says that this time some of the marigold flaws used for the festival will come from a floating raft forming which is done in the Wembenard backwaters. In this context, let us discuss in detail about floating raft forming, its advantages and other important points. The syllabus relevant for the analysis is highlighted here for a reference. See scientifically, floating agriculture may be referred to as hydroponics. As we know, hydroponics is a production method where the plants are owned in a nutrient solution rather than in soil. So the main difference comes from the support system and from the method of supplying water and from the method of supplying nutrients. Over the past few years, if you take hydroponic system, there have been a number of variations into the basic system which have been developed. One such technique is floating agriculture. This technology is mainly aimed at adapting to more regular or prolonged flooding. The approach employs beds for rotting vegetation, jacked which act as compost for crop growth. These beds are able to float on the surface of water. Therefore, it creates areas of land suitable for agriculture within water-locked regions. Now that floating agriculture can be used in areas where agricultural land is submerged for long periods. This approach is reasonably widespread in areas where agricultural land is inundated for extended periods during the monsoon season. For example, take Bangladesh, which is prone to floods and water logging. See two-thirds of Bangladesh is wetland. It is crisscrossed by highly sedimented rivers that frequently change their course. A large area of its lands is under water for as much as eight months in a year. Also, see what intrusion makes much coastal land useless. Also, see what intrusion makes much coastal land useless for growing crops. Here, they have successfully utilized the floating agriculture technology. In this technology, plants can be grown on the water on a floating bed of water hyacinth or algae or other plant residues. A typical example of floating agriculture in Bangladesh involves a floating layer of water hyacinth, then a straw or rice stubble to which upper layers of small and quick rotting waterward plants were added and these waterward plants make for good manure. Here, the structure of the floating raft is strengthened with bamboo to avoid damage caused by wave action or drifting. So, what are the advantages of this technology? See, first and foremost, the practice helps mitigate land loss through flooding by allowing cultivation in these areas to continue. In this way, the total cultivable area can be increased and communities can become self-sufficient. It is said that the area under floating cultivation is up to 10 times more productive than the traditionally formed land. Also, no additional chemical fertilizers or manures are required in this method. See, when the crops have been harvested and floating rafts are no longer used, they can be used as organic fertilizers for the following years. The approach uses water hyacinth which is a highly invasive weed with prolific growth rates in a highly beneficial way. See, by harvesting water hyacinth, areas covered by the weed are cleared and there is beneficial side effect which is reducing breeding grounds for mosquito sign for improving conditions for open water fishing. By cultivating crops in water, it is also possible to simultaneously harvest fish populations that reside in these beds. In addition to this, floating agriculture practices have minimal infrastructure and very little capital requirement. Now, coming to disadvantages, see the impact of this technology on increasing salinity is still unclear. Also, it mainly suits only short duration crops as the water hyacinth bed degrades within 40 to 60 days. The methods used in floating agriculture have the drawback of encouraging insect and rodent infestation. So, this may cause health problems and also it may cause damage to crops. So, these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now, let us move on to next part of the discussion. This news article states that European Parliament adopted a resolution that puts the spotlight back on Sri Lanka. In this resolution, the European Parliament has urged the European Union Commission to consider temporary withdrawal of GSP plus status which was given to Sri Lanka. In this topic discussion, we shall discuss GSP GSP plus status in brief. See, the generalized system of preferences was instituted in the year 1971 under the AGS of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Fortunately, this GSP trade preference has contributed by creating an enabling trading environment for the developing countries over the years. In that way, presently 13 countries grant GSP preferences. It includes Australia, Belarus, Russia, Canada, European Union, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Turkey. We could also see countries like Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Norway as well. Now, the objective of this United Nations Conference on Trade and Development support on GSP and other preferential arrangements is to help developing countries, particularly the least developed countries. In addition, this is to increase the utilization of trade preferences and to promote productive capacity development and increased trade. Such support also includes raising awareness, enhancing understanding among exporters and government officials in the beneficiary countries. In addition to this, strengthening the understanding of technical administrative regulations and laws of preferential market is also carried out. For example, this trade support promotes the understanding of rules of origin, disseminating relevant information for the uses of GSP and various other things. In that way, European Union's GSP removes import duties on products coming from vulnerable developing countries. Now, this helps developing countries to alleviate poverty and to create jobs based on international values and principles with due weightage given to labour and human rights. In this fashion, European Union offers generalized system of preferences in different forms. They are standard generalized system of preferences and GSP plus trade support. Let us see both the schemes one by one. See, when we say standard GSP, the scheme provides for a partial or full removal of customs duties on two-thirds of tariff lines. The scheme is offered for low-end, lower-middle-income countries. Coming to GSP plus scheme, note that the scheme is a special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and for good governance. To be more clear, the scheme reduces the import tariffs to 0% for vulnerable low-end, lower-middle-income countries. But it is offered with special conditions. The scheme is offered only to low-end, lower-middle-income countries that implement 27 international conventions relating to human rights, labour rights, protection of the environment and good governance. Therefore, this conditionality creates a difference between standard GSP and GSP plus. So, this is all about GSP and GSP plus trade support scheme which is currently seen in news. Now, let us move on to the next part of the discussion. This news article reports lapses in Nagaland bad study. Yesterday, we read about biosecurity in the context of synthetic biology and also in the context of biosecurity. Now, here is this news article where we have potential issue of biosafety coming from research of existing viruses. See, biosafety is different from biosecurity. When we say biosafety, it refers to safety measures that are needed to be taken in lab settings while handling bioprocesses research. Whereas, when we say biosecurity, it involves the use of bioorganism as a potential threat to security. That is, when a biological organism is used as a weapon. So, when we prevent this weapon, we are biologically secured. In other words, biosecurity aims at preventing the use of microorganisms as harmful biological agents. So, with that understanding in this segment of discussion, let us understand the issue in detail. The syllabus relevant for the analysis is highlighted here for your reference. See, microorganisms, they are classified into four risk groups and biological laboratories, they are classified into four corresponding safety levels. First, we will see the risk groups. See, risk group one contains non-pathogenic organisms. For example, yeast, E. coli K-12, they don't cause disease in human beings. But risk two level organisms, they can create disease or cause disease, but these are fully curable or fully preventable. Now, risk three and risk four organisms, they can cause serious disease for which treatment does not exist. In fact, risk four is at a higher pedestal to that extent that they are easily transmissible as well. Severe acute respiratory syndrome virus falls under risk three. Whereas, if you take Ebola, Markberg virus, they fall under risk four. And we know they are associated with high morbidity in humans. That is high transmissibility. Now, keep in mind that these risk groups are for microorganisms only. Plants and animals don't fall under these categorization. With that in mind, let us see about biosafety levels. See, biohazard levels, they are more commonly referred to as biological safety levels or biosafety levels. They are classifications of safety precautions which are to be applied in clinical microbiology laboratory. Now, this principle provides a way for medical lab scientists and other lab personnel so as to identify and limit any biological hazards. See, the biohazard levels on the other hand also support the principle of biosecurity. Now, this principle provides a way for medical lab scientists and other lab personnel to identify and limit any biological hazards. See, the biohazard levels on the other hand, they also support the principle of biosecurity. As we know, biosecurity aims at preventing the intentional use of microorganisms as harmful biological agents. Biosecurity is what we saw yesterday. And if you see four classifications of biosafety levels are there, each level contains specific recommendations for a clinical microbiology laboratory. And as each level progresses, it includes additional biosafety considerations from the previous level. For example, if you take BSL-2, it has kept the components of BSL-1 with further requirements. The same applies to BSL-3, meaning it has kept the components of BSL-2 with additional requirements. And BSL-4 has the maximum level of safety. Now, come to the news. Reportedly, there has been a research involving risk four category viruses and bats in Nagaland. It was conducted by Bangalore-based National Center for Biological Sciences and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. The research was to see if the zoonotic infections of filoviruses from bats has spread to humans as well. Zoonotic infections are nothing but those that transmit from animals to humans. This was published as a paper titled as Filovirus Reactive Antibodies in Humans and Bats in Northeast India Implay Zoonotic Spillover. This was published in a journal. After publishing, the study has caught into controversy for a variety of reasons. One of them was that two of the co-authors were from Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is under controversy with respect to the origin of COVID-19. And secondly, the funding is also from contentious source. They're saying U.S. Defense has partially funded the research. And thirdly, the study did not have the requisite approval of ICMR. See, as per a 1987 press release of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, ICMR is the authority to approve these kind of studies. Then the facility at National Center for Biological Sciences was not equipped in terms of biosafety and biosecurity source to undertake such testing. We know Ebola and Marburg viruses are highly infectious and they are deadly pathogens having high mortality rate. Then there are differences over the storage of Nagal and Bat samples between two departments, one Department of Atomic Energy and the other, Ministry of Health. Department of Atomic Energy wants it to be stored in level 3 biosafety in National Center for Biological Sciences, whereas Union Ministry of Health wants it to be stored in level 4 biosafety. See, level 4 biosafety is much safer. And finally, many are also questioning about the involvement of Department of Atomic Energy in this project. So, this is the essence of the issue. Now, let us look into NCBS, which we saw in the course of the discussion. Now, let us look into NCBS, which we discussed in this discussion. Now, let us see about NCBS. See, it is a part of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. The research interest of this issue lies in biology. It uses experimental and computational approaches in the study of molecules, cells and organisms. The institute is situated in Bangalore. The labs here qualify for BSL3 safety. So, these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now, let us move on to next part of the discussion. This news article is with reference to One Nation, One Nation Card Scheme. See, recently Supreme Court asked the Center to detail about the schemes that provided food to migrant workers who were hit by COVID-19. The Center in its reply has mentioned about One Nation, One Nation Card Scheme stating that it especially suits migrant workers by ensuring portable food security. In this slide, let us see a few details about One Nation, One Nation Card Scheme. See, this scheme provides an option to all eligible ration card holders or beneficiaries who are covered under National Food Security Act to access their entitlements from anywhere in the country. Under this plan, distribution of highly subsidized food grains is enabled through nationwide portability of ration cards. It is done through implementation of IT-driven system by installing electronic point of sale devices at the fair price shops. This is done by seeding the other number of beneficiaries with their ration cards and also by using the operationalization of biometrically authenticated electronic point of sale transactions in the states and UTs. See, the electronic point of sale enables recording of transactional information and also helps in generating detailed reports in response to the input data. Note that the scheme is implemented by Ministry of Finance and on talking about the benefits, see, the system allows food security for interstate migrants as well as for those who migrate within the states for economic reasons. And all NFSA beneficiaries including migrant beneficiaries, they can claim either the entire food grains or part of food grains from anywhere in the country in a seamless manner. In addition, it also allows their family members back home to claim the balanced food grains on the same ration card. However, studying, recording and regularly updating labor migration patterns, then installing off electronic point of sale machines for all PDS shops and the need for all ration cards to be seeded with other numbers, these things seems to be a challenge. And as per a statement by the government at present, a total of 32 states or UTs covering around 69 crore NFSA beneficiaries were swiftly brought under One Nation One Ration Card Plan by December 2020. And this is about 86% of NFSA population in the country. So, these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. Now, let's move on to the next part of the discussion. We have come to the last session, the practice questions discussion session. See this question with reference to floating agriculture. Floating agriculture can be used in areas where agricultural land is submerged for long periods. This statement is correct because generally floating agriculture is useful in monsoon affected areas or regularly submerged areas. For example, we can say Kuttanad in Kerala. And then second statement in this method, water hyacinth and invasive wheat is used as a bit for growing plants. This statement is also correct. Therefore, the correct answer is option C both one and two. See this question as per the latest report of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which of the following countries is the lead importer of major arms during 2016 to 2020. The correct answer for this question is option B, Saudi Arabia. You can see that Saudi Arabia topped in terms of importing of major arms during this period. This question is with reference to generalized system of preferences. Two statements are given. They are asking which of the statements given above are incorrect. It is instituted under the AIGS of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. This statement is correct. It happened in the year 1971. Second statement at present only the members of G7 grants the generally system of preference. This is incorrect because around 13 countries offer this method. So, the correct answer for this question is option B, two only because only the second statement is incorrect. Have a look at the mains practice questions. You can write the answer and post them in the comment section. With this, we come to the end of today's the Hindu News Analysis. If you like the video, click the like button, comment, share and subscribe to Shankara's Academy YouTube channel for more updates and content on civil service example preparation.