 A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to Hindi newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankarae's Academy for the date 28th of September 2022. Displayed here are the list of articles that we are going to discuss today. Without any delay let's get into the article discussion. Today we are going to start our discussion with this news article. The news article talks about the NASA spacecraft named DART. See DART is the short form of double asteroid redirection test. See the article says that this DART it rammed at a harmless asteroid 11.3 million kilometers away from Earth and the scientists they expected the impact to carve out a crater in the asteroid and hurls teams of rocks and dirt into space and most importantly they expected it to alter the asteroid's orbit. Now this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us discuss about DART and its objectives and also we will see about the near Earth objects and near Earth object observations program. First of all what is DART? See DART is the short form of double asteroid redirection test. It is the first ever NASA's mission dedicated to investigate and demonstrate an asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid's motion in space through kinetic impact. So it is nothing but changing the asteroid's motion in space through impact. See this method it consists of a spacecraft which deliberately collides with the target asteroid which poses no threat to Earth at all. See this is done in order to change the target asteroid's speed and path. Now look at this image here in this the asteroid system is the binary near Earth asteroid system DDMOS. See the DDMOS it approximately has a diameter of 780 meter and the smaller one which is the dimorphos it has approximately 160 meter diameter and the smaller one orbits the larger one which is the DDMOS. Now when this asteroid's redirection test the DART spacecraft will impact the dimorphos. It means that the spacecraft will collide with the dimorphos asteroid and this will be done to change its orbit with the binary system. Now you may think what is the purpose of this test? See the DART investigation team they will compare the results of DART kinetic impact with the dimorphos to highly detail the computer simulations of kinetic impacts on asteroids. Now you know what they are trying to do. See this is like a trial we already have computer simulations of kinetic impacts on asteroids and why do we have this? We have this because what if in the future an asteroid or any other near Earth object poses the threat of colliding with the Earth. So to avoid this we have detailed computer simulations of kinetic impacts on asteroids to change its direction away from the Earth. This is done to avoid the collision with Earth. But then how can we say that this computer simulation will work in the reality? So to analyze that the DART test is conducted. We already saw that DART is colliding with the asteroid which poses no threat to Earth. Why is this done? This is to compare the results of DART's kinetic impact with dimorphos to the computer simulations. See this is majorly done to assess how best it can be applied in future planetary defense scenarios and also to know how accurate the computer simulations are and how well they reflect the behavior of a real asteroid. Now that we know what is DART and what is the purpose of it let us move on to see the key objectives of DART. Firstly DART is a test of NASA's ability to achieve a kinetic impact on an asteroid and observe the asteroid's response. And secondly to measure how much the impact changed the asteroid's motion in space using telescopes on Earth. And thirdly this mission engages the international planetary science community and it embraces worldwide cooperation to address the global issue of planetary defense. So in simple words its objectives is to demonstrate a kinetic impact with dimorphos and secondly to change the binary orbital period of dimorphos and thirdly to use the ground based telescope observations to measure dimorphos period change before and after impact. And fourthly to measure the effects of impact and resulting ejecta of rocks and dirt on dimorphos. See we already saw that this DART test it was connected on a near Earth object. Now we have to learn what is a near Earth object right? So what is a near Earth object? It is nothing but an object which is most of the times an asteroid or comet which passes very close to Earth's orbit. In technical terms a near Earth object is considered to have a trajectory which brings it within the 1.3 astronomical units of the Sun and hence within 0.3 astronomical units or approximately 45 million kilometers of Earth's orbit. See these near Earth objects they represent potential catastrophic threats to our planet and this near Earth objects they generally result from objects that have experienced gravitational disruptions from nearby planets. Thus they have been moved into orbits that allow them to come close to Earth and here you should know an important fact. See the key element of NASA's planetary defense effort is the near Earth object observations program. It is composed of projects to find, track and characterize the near Earth objects and this near Earth objects observations program ponces projects that make use of telescopes around the world to search for the near Earth objects and they track them across the sky to determine their orbits and gain information on their sizes, shapes and composition. Now you should know why near Earth objects are given such importance. As we already saw they pose a risk to Earth and there is a possibility of colliding with the Earth also and the main reason for giving the near Earth objects such importance is due to the level of devastation and impact of near Earth object would cause and thus it should continue to be the focus of the global search efforts. See no asteroid larger than 150 meters in size has a significant chance to hit the Earth for the next 100 years so we don't have a reason to worry. So all these efforts such as the near Earth observation programs and the DART they are just precautionary measures. As we all know prevention is better than cure right? So that's all about this article discussion. In this discussion we saw about the NASA's mission DART which is double asteroid redirection test and we saw the objectives of DART and we saw what is near Earth objects and the near Earth objects observation program. Let's move on to the next article discussion. Now look at this next article. This article talks about the Neil Geary Blue Robin. This birth species is a news because of its disappearance in its habitat. So the article says that there is a need for research about this birth species. If research is done policies can be formulated to ensure their survival in the future and this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us discuss about the Neil Geary Blue Robin in Prillam's perspective. See the Neil Geary Blue Robin it is a dumpy little bird. It is slaty blue with tan belly. If you see a blue bird with the tan belly then it is definitely Neil Geary Blue Robin. But you cannot see it everywhere because it is highly restricted and scattered in the Neil Geary Hills. Here it is found at 900 to 2100 meters of elevation in Sholas that is Shola forest. That too mainly in Shola forest north of the Palgaard gap. Now do you know what is Shola? See Sholas are patches of tunted montane forest separated by open grassy areas. You can see that in this image here. See this is how a Shola forest looks. And when you see this image capture it in your mind and save it as like this is where Neil Geary Blue Robin bird lives. See Neil Geary Blue Robin it is also called as Neil Geary Shola Killie. Now talking about the characteristics of the bird it is very shy, retiring, foraging primarily on the ground and also in dense undergrowth. And the most interesting fact is the song of the Neil Geary Blue Robin. See the song of the Neil Geary Blue Robin is surprisingly long winded for such a small bird and the song is composed of high warbling notes and bussy whistles. Now coming to the exam specific details Neil Geary Shola Killie is an endangered and endemic bird species. You know what is endangered and what is endemic right? If we are saying a particular species is endemic species then that means that those species of plants or animals are found exclusively in a particular area. The area may be a zone or a state or a country. I'll give an example here. See Saal it is an endemic flora of Panchmarhi biosphere reserve. So when we say Neil Geary Shola Killie is an endemic bird species it means that it is only found in Neil Geary Hills. Now we also saw that it is an endangered bird and when do we call a species as endangered as per the IUCN red list? When there is a very high risk of extinction then we call a particular species as endangered species. See this is as a result of rapid population decline of 52 more than 70 percentage over the previous 10 years and we call it endangered when the current population size is of fewer than 250 individuals and if these scenarios prevail then we call a species as endangered species. See this Neil Geary Shola Killie or the Neil Geary Blue Robin it is also called as Neil Geary Shortwing but don't confuse it with the white bellied shortwing. Actually there are two species of shortwing and these are distributed in the western guards. Among them one is Sholikola Major and the other one is Sholikola Albiventris and this Sholikola Albiventris is known as white bellied shortwing. See these white bellied shortwings they are found mainly around Palani Hills and south of the Palgaard gap. So what did we saw about the Neil Geary Shola Killie or the Neil Geary Blue Robin? We saw that it was found in Shola Forest mainly north of the Palgaard gap but this white bellied shortwing they are found south of the Palgaard gap. We saw that Neil Geary Shola Killie is endangered right but this white bellied shortwing it is vulnerable under the IUCN Red List. We say vulnerable because there is a very high risk of extinction and the high risk of extinction is the result of rapid population decline of 32 more than 50 percentage over the previous 10 years and the species has a current population size of fewer than 1000 individuals. So these are the scenarios when we call a species as vulnerable species under IUCN Red List. See one more thing I forgot to say here we saw there are two subspecies of shortwing right they are Sholikola Major and Sholikola Albiventris. We saw Sholikola Albiventris is white bellied shortwing but this Sholikola Major it is only the Neil Geary Blue Robin. See I am telling you this again and again because look at this image of two birds it is very easy to get confused. Neil Geary Blue Robin it has a tan belly but this white bellied shortwing it has white belly that is the difference. Neil Geary Blue Robin it is listed as endangered but this white bellied shortwing it is listed as vulnerable. Sholikola Major is Neil Geary Blue Robin, Sholikola Albiventris is white bellied shortwing. So that's all about this particular article discussion. In this discussion we saw about Neil Geary Blue Robin its physical characteristics, habitat, IUCN conservation status and we saw the difference between Neil Geary Blue Robin and white bellied shortwing. Now with these key takeaway points let's move on to the next article discussion. Have a look at this final article. This article talks about India's foreign exchange reserves. See the news is that foreign exchange reserves were down for a 7th continuous week. See it had dropped to $545.65 billion by 16th of September 2022. As per the article this is because of less inflows and higher trade deficit. But the economic affairs secretary said that India has fairly large reserves to tide over the current economic situation. Now this is the essence of the news article given here. In this context let us learn about foreign exchange reserve extensively. First of all what is foreign exchange reserve? See foreign exchange reserves are assets held on reserve by central bank in foreign currencies. Note that most of the foreign exchange reserves are held in US dollars. See these foreign exchange reserves they are an important component of the balance of payment and essential element in the analysis of an economy's external position. So this is about foreign reserve. Now coming to the components of India's foreign reserve. See India's Forex Reserve includes foreign currency assets, gold reserves, special drawing rights and finally reserve position with the International Monetary Fund that is reserve tranche. See this foreign currency asset it constitutes the largest portion. See these foreign currency assets are maintained as a multi-currency portfolio which comprises of major currencies such as US dollar, ERO, pound sterling, Japanese yen etc. And these currencies are valued in the terms of US dollars. Now coming to the gold reserves. Note that these gold reserves are maintained by the Central Bank of India which is RBI and the value of the gold reserves is expressed either in US dollars or Indian rupee. Now the third one is special drawing rights. They are an artificial currency instrument created by IMF in 1969. See IMF uses them for internal accounting purposes and the value of the SDR is calculated from a weighted basket of major currencies such as US dollar, Euro, Japanese yen, Chinese renminbi and British pound. See SDR interest rate provides the basis for calculating the interest rate charged from the member countries when they borrow from the IMF. And know that it is the interest rate paid to members for their remunerated credit positions in the IMF. As we already saw before see these are used for the internal accounting purposes and this instrument is calculated from a weighted basket of major currencies. Now coming to the final one which is the reserve tranche. See IMF is funded through its members and their quota contributions. So when IMF have money then it means it is given by its members. The reserve tranche is basically an emergency account that the IMF members can access at any time without agreeing to the conditions or paying a service fee. And in other words a portion of members countries quota can be withdrawn free of charge at its own discretion. So the money that the IMF holds they are given by the members and the members when they have an emergency situation they can access that money and that is only reserve tranche. Now what is the purpose of this forex reserve? See forex reserve is to ensure that RBI has backup funds and it is also to tackle the situations during the rapid depreciation of national currencies. For example let us say that the value of rupee decreases due to an increase in the demand of US dollar. Then what will the RBI do? The RBI will sell the dollar in the market so that it can decrease the demand of US dollar by supplying US dollar in the market and it can create demand for the Indian currency. And as a result the depreciation of Indian currency can be checked. And also when the national currency becomes altogether insolvent this forex reserve will be helpful. How is this? See when a country is with a good stock of forex reserve then it will have a good image at the international level. See this is important because the trading countries can be sure about their payments. Right? So from this we can safely say that a good forex reserve helps in attracting foreign trade and earns a good reputation among the trading partners. And we can also say that the forex reserve is regarded as the health meter of a country. Here I am going to give you an additional fact. See we are going to see the descending order of the contribution of foreign exchange reserves. See the biggest contributor to the reserve is foreign currency assets followed by gold, SDR and reserve tranche with the international monetary fund. Now who maintains this forex reserve? See the custodian of foreign exchange reserve is the central bank of a country. In the case of India it is the reserve bank of India RBI. See RBI is vested with the responsibility of managing their investment and know that the legal provisions governing the management of foreign exchange reserves are laid down in the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934. Now with this basic information let us move on to see how can this forex reserve be improved. See for the purpose of improving forex reserve RBI allows the bank to expand the usage of overseas foreign currency borrowings. Through this opportunity a selected category of banks can utilize the overseas foreign currency borrowings. This is nothing but banks borrowing from overseas that is from foreign countries. When they borrow from foreign countries or foreign banks they will get the loan in the form of foreign currency, right? So this will boost the forex reserve of India. And the next means is by doubling the threshold on external commercial borrowing under the automatic route the forex reserves can be boosted. How is this possible? This is similar to the first one. See when external commercial borrowings limit us increased then obviously foreign currency inflow will also be increased, right? And this is one method. And the third one is by permitting banks to garner foreign currency non-resident deposits. See when NRIs deposit in Indian banks they deposit in the form of foreign currency and this step is also made by RBI to improve the forex reserves of India. See by taking all these measures RBI tries to maintain the forex reserve. Now other than this the basic ones are if we boost the exports forex reserves will be maintained. And one additional benefit from this is that trade deficit will also be addressed. And the second one is if we reduce the import dependency then also we can maintain the forex reserves. So that's all about this article discussion. In this discussion we saw about forex reserves, its components, the purpose of the forex reserve and how it can be improved. With these key points in mind let us move on to the next part of the discussion that is the practice prelims question discussion. See today we have three questions for our discussion. I'll solve two of them and one of them is a quiz question for you. Now take this first question which among the following paths are correct. On one side NASA's mission is given and on the other side the mission's purpose is given. Number one Juno exploration of Jupiter's water and atmosphere. Number two Hubble space telescope space-based optical telescope. Number three Parker solar lunar exploration program. Number four Artemis one probe sun's outer corona. See here the first pair is correct. Juno mission the purpose is to determine how much water is in Jupiter's atmosphere. See this helps determine which planet formation theory is correct and the second pair it is also correct. See Hubble space telescope it was first built by United States space agency NASA. And this was done with the contributions from European space agency. See NASA named the world's first space-based optical telescope after the American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble. So the second pair is also correct. Now coming to the third pair Parker solar lunar exploration program. See from the name itself you can easily find out that this pair is incorrect. Why? See Parker solar clearly indicates that the mission is about the sun. But the purpose it is given us lunar exploration program it is about the moon. So the pair is incorrect. See Parker solar is NASA's robotic spacecraft to probe the outer corona of the sun and it is part of NASA's living with the star program. See NASA renamed the spacecraft from solar probe plus to Parker solar probe in honor of astrophysicist Eugene Parker. And this was the first time NASA named a spacecraft after living individual. And also Parker solar probe is the world's first mission to touch the sun. Now coming to the final pair Artemis mission probe sun's outer corona. This pair is also incorrect. See NASA wants to send the first woman and the next man to moon by the year 2024. And it plans on doing through the Artemis lunar exploration program. See Artemis stands for acceleration, reconnection, turbulence, electrodynamics of moon's interaction with sun. See the mission was named Artemis after the Greek mythological goddess of the moon and twin sister to Apollo. So what is the objective? The main objective is to measure what happens when the sun's radiation hits the rocky moon where there is no magnetic field to protect it. So from this what do we know? We know that first and second pair are correct and third and fourth pair are incorrect. So the correct answer here is option B only two pairs. Now moving on to the next question which among the following pairs are correct? On the one side birds are given on the other side their IUCN status is given. Neelgiri pipit endangered. Neelgiri sholakili vulnerable white bellied short wing endangered. See in our discussion itself we saw that Neelgiri sholakili is an endangered species according to IUCN red list. And we also saw that white bellied short wing belongs to vulnerable category. From this itself we know that two and three are incorrect. So we can eliminate option B and C. Now we have option A and D. Now you have to know about the IUCN status of Neelgiri pipit. See IUCN status of Neelgiri pipit is vulnerable. It is very distinctive species of pipit and found in the western guards of South India. So here the first pair is also incorrect. So the correct answer here is option D none of the pairs. See here know that this Neelgiri pipit, Neelgiri blue robin, Neelgiri fly catcher, Neelgiri wood pigeon, Neelgiri lofing thrush, Neelgiri flower pecker, Neelgiri thrush they are all endemic bird species of Neelgiri's. Remember this fact. Now let us move on to the final question which is the quiz question for you. Consider the following statements regarding forex reserves in India. Read the statements here and carefully attempt the question because the question has asked for the incorrect statements. And don't forget to post your answer in the comment section. Now with this we have come to the end. If you find the video useful, like, share and comment and do subscribe to Shankarae's Academy's YouTube channel for further updates. Thank you.