 A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar IAS academy. Today's date is 3rd of August 2023. Displayed here are the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. So without much delay let us get into the first news article discussion. Look at this text and context article. The article provides details about various books that highlight the impact and aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of world war 2. The article states that we must read these books and understand the trauma faced by the victims. Only by understanding the trauma faced by the victims we can prevent another nuclear war from happening. This is about the news article. So in this news article discussion let us see some of the important points about world war two. Firstly let us see the causes of world war two. See after the world war one the treaty of Versailles and the harsh terms imposed on Germany created resentment and economic hardship. This laid the groundwork for future conflicts. The next important cause is the expansionist ambitions of totalitarian countries like Germany, Italy and Japan. See Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler and Imperial Japan took aggressive measures to expand their territories. This led to territorial disputes and tensions. The third important cause is the appeasement policy followed by western powers. See the appeasement policy followed by western Europe particularly Britain and France was a diplomatic approach in the 1930s which aimed at avoiding wars with aggressive and expansionist powers mainly Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Britain and France faced heavy loss during world war one and they were taking all measures to avoid another major conflict. Although avoiding confrontation was an important reason for the appeasement policy another reason that led the west to follow the appeasement policies to contain the western expansion of communism. See Hitler was a staunch anti-communist. The western powers felt that Hitler would act as a buffer and prevent the westward expansion of communist ideas from the USSR. For example when Hitler occupied Austria in 1938 and in addition to this Hitler demanded that the Sudetenland a German speaking region of Czechoslovakia should be given to Germany. In both these instances Britain and France did not try to stop Germany. This policy of appeasement actually emboldened Hitler. Hitler saw the western powers reluctance to challenge him as a sign of weakness which encouraged further aggression. The last major cause is the failure of the League of Nations. See the League of Nations was established to maintain peace. The League was expected to mediate between countries and take action against countries which indulged in military aggression. But post world war one the United States was not interested in playing a global role or any role in European politics. Therefore the United States did not become a member of the League. In addition to this countries like France and Britain maintained a non-interventionist attitude. This resulted in the League remaining an ineffectual international body. So these are all some of the important causes of world war two. Now let us see some of the important events that happened during the war. See as I already mentioned the west followed the policy of appeasement. The munich pact of 1938 was the culmination of the policy. As a part of this pact the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany without Czechoslovakia's consent. Hitler also gave assurance of no further expansion. The next important pact was signed in 1939. It was the non-aggression pact which Germany and the Soviet Union signed secretly. Germany signed this pact to avoid the two front war. See during the first world war Germany had to fight France in the west and Russia in the east. Due to this Germany's army was divided into two. Thus resulting in the reduction of the effectiveness of its army. To avoid this Germany signed the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. This pact worried the Allied powers. As I mentioned earlier the west saw Hitler's Germany as a buffer against the Soviet Union. When both countries entered into an agreement it worried the fist. In addition to this in 1939 Italy signed the pact of steel with Germany in March 1939. This formed a military and political alliance and the pact solidified Italy's alignment with Nazi Germany. The same year Hitler broke the assurance that he gave under the munich pact. In 1939 Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. The same year Hitler attacked Poland. This was the final act which resulted in the declaration of war by Britain and France against Germany. Britain and its allies were the Allied side. Germany and its allies like Italy and Japan were the Axis powers. Immediately after the declaration of war there were no major military offensive for several months. That is between September 1939 and April 1940. This initial period of war without military action is often termed as the period of foreign wars. During this period both sides started arming themselves for the war. World War II was fought on two distinct fronts Europe and the Asia Pacific. In Europe the war was fought by the allies against Germany and Italy. In the Asia Pacific the allies fought Japan. On the western front Germany employed the Blitzkrieg strategy. Blitzkrieg in Germany means lightning war. It is a military strategy and tactic used during World War II. The main characteristics of Blitzkrieg were speed, surprise and the coordinated use of various military elements. The strategy aimed to achieve quick and decisive victories by overwhelming the enemy. By employing this strategy Hitler captured Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherland and finally France. Later Germany launched air rights over the British but the Royal Air Force of Britain successfully defended against the German air rights. Later in 1941 Germany broke the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and launched Operation Barbosa invading the Soviet Union. Although the Germans initially met with success, the operation culminated in the battle of Stalin guard which lasted from 17th July 1942 to 2nd February 1943. See the Russian people suffered from bad working and living condition and so Hitler hoped that an anti-Stalin revolution would emerge. But the people of Russia stayed loyal. They successfully defended the city of Stalin guard. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favour of the Allies. This marked the beginning of the end of German aggression. See the Allies of Germany did not perform well either. Although Italy had some success in the initial years of war in Albania it started facing losses. For example in the battle of El Alamein 1942 the Allied forces defeated the German and Italian forces and chased them out of North Africa. Then using North Africa as a base the Allies invaded Italy. In 1943 Benito Mussolini was thrown out of power and a new government came to power in Italy. This government surrendered to the Allied forces in 1943. On the Eastern Front Imperial Japan was as brutal as the Germans and was making rapid progress. It occupied China, Korea and various islands of Southeast Asia. Its next focus was on the Pacific Islands but the USA had a major presence in the Pacific so the Japanese decided to attack Pearl Harbor in 1941. The idea was to cripple America's Pacific fleet so that Japan would not face any opposition in its offensive against the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Due to the Pearl Harbor attack the USA declared war on Japan and later on Germany. Once the USA entered the war on the side of the Allies the Allies started making gains. In 1944 the Allied forces launched the D-Day invasion in Normandy France to gain a foothold in mainland Europe. It was a victory. Germany already lost its major ally in Europe when Italy surrendered in 1943. Now Germany has to fight war on two sides on against the combined forces of Britain the USA and France in the west and the Russia forces in the east. Slowly the German army was forced back on all sides. Sensing the end Hitler committed suicide in 1945 finally Germany surrendered. The war on the Eastern Front went on for some time. The USA and its allies fought major battles in the Pacific against the Japanese. Here the USA employed the island hopping strategy to save men and material. The strategy basically means advancing through the Pacific islands controlled by the Japanese imperial army and navy with the ultimate goal of reaching Japan and defeating its forces. Instead of attempting to capture every Japanese held island the Allied forces selectively targeted strategically important islands by passing heavily fortified ones that were not essential to the overall campaign. The captured islands were converted into bases for further invasion but this strategy has also proved costly. While this was going on Robert Oppenheimer and his team through the Manhattan project were working on building the nuclear bomb. On July 16, 1945 the first successful test of an atomic bomb took place at the Trinity test site in New Mexico. Later to bring the war to a quick end the US President Harry Truman decided to use the atomic bomb on Japan. The uranium based little man was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and plutonium based fat boy was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The bombings resulted in significant destruction and loss of life and Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945 effectively ending World War II. So these are all some of the important events that happened during World War II. Hope you got a brief timeline about what happened during World War II. So these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now take a look at this data it analyzes the efficiency of the employees provide and fund EPF scheme. The article says that EPF data used by the Indian government is misleading. The author also argues that the Indian government has neglected other sources of formal employment and labor data that could have been used to verify the EPF data. So in this news article discussion let us discuss what are the issues mentioned in the article regarding this EPF scheme and also the importance of formal employment in India. First let us see some basics about employees provide and fund EPF scheme. See the EPF scheme is a retirement benefit scheme for employees and it is administered by the employees provide and fund organization in short called as EPF 4. Employees and employers contribute 12% of the employees basic salary and DNS allowance to the EPF scheme. This contribution can be withdrawn at the time of retirement death or other eligible events. Apart from this the EPF scheme offers a number of benefits including a tax break, a guaranteed return on investment and protection against inflation. Now we shall see some of the criticism mentioned in the news article. See the Indian government has been using the employees provide and fund that is EPF schemes data to measure form and job creation in the country. However the number of regular contribute to the EPF scheme has remained relatively stagnant or even declined in recent years. This shows that the majority of enrollments into the EPF or temporary or casual workers. Now look at this chat the regular contributors to EPF scheme remind stagnant but the enrollments increased massively. So from this we can understand that the Indian economy appears to be creating jobs but these are not formal or regular jobs. Most of the jobs created in the country in recent years are only informal jobs. According to the author of the article this stagnation in formal employment can be partially attributed to the pandemic. However it is also due to the government's neglect of other sources of labor data. For example the employment data collected by the Director General of Employment and Training in short called as DGET has not been published since 2013. Note that the EPF scheme is potentially a good source to determine payroll employment but it needs more standard procedures in the data collection process. Moreover relying on a single data source is insufficient to understand the trends in formal employment and jobs in the country. See understanding and addressing the issues of job creation need a wide range of labor data right but the government uses EPF data only which is a major limitation. In addition to this the author also suggests that the government and public should be aware of these limitations of the EPF data. These are all some of the important criticisms mentioned in the article. Now we shall see what are the implications of declining formal employment in India. See India has a large and growing working age population. However there is a lack of formal or well-paid employment in India. This lack of good quality jobs is holding back the expansion of India's middle class. If we see China's massive economic growth it was driven by the expansion of its middle class. So India need to create more formal jobs to achieve similar economic growth. You may wonder how formal employment leads to economic growth. See when people have formal jobs they have more money to spend which boost demand for goods and services. This in turn leads to more businesses being created and more jobs being created. So the author of this article suggests that the government needs to take more steps to strengthen the formal sector. When formal employment declines it only affects the poor and marginalized. This is because they are more likely to be employed in the informal sector which pays low wages with poor working conditions. Finally the article concludes by insisting the importance of comprehensive labor data to determine the creation of formal jobs in the country. That's all regarding this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw about employees provide and fund scheme. Then we saw some of the criticism regarding collection of labor data. Then we saw what are the implications of declining formal employment in the country. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. This news article talks about the launch of an e-clearance portal to facilitate the fast transfer of mortal remains of Indian nationals who die abroad. The portal is launched by the union health ministry. So in this news article discussion we shall see some of the important points about the portal. See the portal will be called as e-clearance for afterlife remains portal in short called as e-gap. As I already said this portal is launched by the union ministry of health to facilitate fast transfer of mortal remains of Indian nationals who die abroad. At present a person needs an email based clearance from the airport health officer to transport the mortal remains of a loved one from another country. The request has to be made through the transporting airlines but this existing system has many barriers which cause delays in transfer. Since the transfer of human remains is a sensitive emotional issue that must be carried out within a shift timeline such an arrangement is made. Now we shall quickly go through the features of the portal. Firstly the government will depute a nodal officer from airport health organization. He will be monitoring the portal 24 by 7. The nodal officers will scrutinize and give fast track approvals within 48 hours timeline. In the first 36 hours the concerned authority will be intimated every 12 hours to fast track the clearance. In the next 12 hours escalations will be made at every 4 hours to avoid delays in clearance but to make an application the applicant will have to submit scanned copies of 4 important documents which includes death certificate, embalming certificate, no objection certificate from Indian embassy or consulate and cancelled passport of the deceased. The portal has two provisions one for bringing dead bodies from abroad while the other one is to bring mortal remains. The portal will ensure seamless coordination and transparency in the entire procedure. For example as a part of the plan the information will be updated through email, text and WhatsApp messages to Central International Health Division, nodal officer, the airport health organization APHO, then concedencies and respective airlines. The final verification of the original document will be performed at the airport by the concerned official. During this entire process the application status can also be reviewed in the e-care portal with the help of a registration number held by stakeholders. Simultaneously the conceding, the concerned APHOs, the airlines, the nodal officer and the central international health division that is CIHT all will be integrated through a common portal and will be aware of the procedures. So overall uniformity in the entire process will be ensured and it will also remove subjectivity by respective airport health officers. As per Union Health Ministry, advantages of the initiatives include 24x7 accessibility, fasted clearance, instant exchange of messages for easy tracking, accountability, flexibility in the mode of application where anyone from the family of the deceased can apply and become the contigene and not just the airlines. Apart from this, the portal will also provide coordination of multiple stakeholders over one interface. So that is all about the e-care portal. It is a very good initiative of the central government. You can use it as an example anywhere in your main cancer writing. That is why we made an effort to explain about the portal in detail. So these learnt points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. See the parliament has passed a new law that will enable private companies to mine lithium reserves. See this is a significant development for economy because mining lithium will become more efficient if private companies also participate in the mining process. Note that lithium reserves were discovered earlier this year in German Kashmir and the government has said it hopes to find more reserves later this year. This is the crux of the article given here. In this context, let us discuss the importance of lithium and its presence in India. First, let us see what are the highlights of this new law. See the mines and minerals development and regulation amendment bill was passed in parliament yesterday. The bill allows the private sector to mine 6 out of 12 atomic minerals. At present only state agencies are allowed in the mining of these minerals. So as per the new law the private can also mine them by participating in the auction process. Here you might have a doubt what are these atomic minerals. Atomic minerals are the minerals that contain uranium, thorium and other rare metals. For example, lithium, beryllium, niobium, titanium, tantalum, zirconium etc or atomic minerals. Previously lithium was also classified as an atomic mineral which means it can be mined only by state owned companies. The new amendment act removes lithium from this list so that private companies can be allowed to mine it. The bill also provides similar provisions to critical minerals. Here the critical minerals or mineral resources that are essential to the economy and whose supply may be disrupted. Ministry of Mines has identified 30 critical minerals for India. Important thing to note here is that the list of critical minerals is not fixed. It will be periodically updated from time to time. For example as of now critical minerals or gold, silver, copper, lead, platinum, diamond and etc. So if you ask what are the advantages of this amendment bill, see the government expect that this will lead to an increase in exploration and mining of lithium in India. This is a positive development for India's electric vehicle that is EV industry. The country is already a major producer of lithium ion batteries and this amendment act will help ensure a secure supply of lithium resources for the growing Indian economy. Additionally critical minerals are essential for green technologies like solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles. The involvement of private sector in mining these minerals will bring advanced technology, finance and expertise to the sector. These minerals are vital for defence, aerospace, nuclear and space applications. So in order to strengthen defence and self-reliance, India must secure a steady supply of critical minerals. Even though the amendment act has many potential advantages, there are still oppositions for this act. For example, states like Kerala has opposed the bill and urged the centre to hold discussions with all mineral rich states before passing the bill. However, the bill was passed by the parliament despite the opposition. Also note that the forest amendment bill which we often discuss in previous videos is also passed by the parliament yesterday along with the mines and minerals amendment bill. That's all regarding this news article discussion. In this news article discussion we saw some of the highlights of mines and minerals development and regulation amendment bill. With these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this quiz section from the science page. Various questions about the Indian space program are given. Let us try and answer these questions. Look at this first question. Under the guidance of Vikram Sarabhai, the Indian government set up X in 1962 under the Department of Atomic Energy. X became the Indian Space Research Organization ISRO seven years later. They are asking the name of X. See the correct answer here is Indian National Committee for Space Research in short called as INCOSPAR. See INCOSPAR was established in 1962 under the guidance of Vikram Sarabhai and seven years later in 1969 it was restructured and became the Indian Space Research Organization ISRO. The primary objective of INCOSPAR was to formulate and coordinate India's space research activities. It aimed to access the feasibility of space technology applications for national development. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai's vision and leadership played a vital role in shaping INCOSPAR and later ISRO. He emphasized the importance of space technology for national development including applications in agriculture, communications, weather forecasting and remote sensing. Here note that it was INCOSPAR that took the decision to set up TUMBA Equatorial Rocket Launching Station TRLS at TUMBA on the southern tip of India. With this basic understanding now we will move on to the next question. India launched its first satellite, RA Bata on board a Soviet Union launch vehicle in 1975 which was India's first satellite that it launched on its own rocket in 1980. See India's first satellite launched on its own rocket was Rohini-1. It was indeed launched on July 18, 1980 using the satellite launch vehicle SLV-3. SLV-3 was India's first indigenously developed launch vehicle. The successful launch of Rohini-1 marked a significant milestone in India's space program as it demonstrated the country's capability to launch satellites into space using its own launch vehicle. Now moving on to the third question. Between the SLV-3 and the widely successful PSLV programs, ISRO had the Dash program centered on a five-stage rocket to carry satellites weighing up to 150 kilograms to low earth orbit. You have to fill in the blanks with the name of the rocket that saw only one complete success in 1994. See between the SLV-3 and the widely successful PSLV programs ISRO had the ASLV that is augmented satellite launch vehicle program. It was centered on a five-stage rocket to carry satellites weighing up to 150 kilograms to low earth orbit. The rocket that saw only one complete success in 1994 was the ASLV-D4. This project was started by India during the early 1980s to develop technologies needed for a payload to be placed into a geostationary orbit. But ISRO did not have sufficient funds for both the Bola satellite launch vehicle program and the ASLV program at the same time and the ASLV program was terminated after the initial developmental flights. As I already mentioned, only the ASLV D4 mission achieved complete success. After the ASLV program, ISRO shifted its focus to other launch vehicle programs like the PSLV and GSLV. Now moving on to the next question, the ISRO propulsion complex is where the organization tests all its engines during development and before major launches in which district is this facility located. See the ISRO propulsion complex that is IPRC is located in Tamil Nadu, India. It is situated in Mahendragiri, a village in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. The IPRC is responsible for testing and developing various rocket engines and propulsion system used in ISRO's space mission. Now moving on to the last question, at the time of launch which instrument onboard the Astrosat Space Telescope boasted the best spectral capabilities ever to study radiation of energy 80 to 250 keV. See the correct answer for this question is cadmium zinc telluride imager in short called as CZTI. CZTI is one of the five instruments onboard the Astrosat India's first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory. Now let's see a few facts about Astrosat. See Astrosat is India's first dedicated space astronomy observatory launched 650 kilometer on September 28, 2015. It was launched using a PSLV C-30 XL rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center Sriharikota. Astrosat carries a total of five scientific payloads. These payloads will help study galatic and extra-galatic cosmic sources in a wide range of wavelengths. The satellite can observe wavelengths from far-altaviolet to gamma rays. That's all regarding the ISRO quiz. Now the questions displayed here are the main practice questions for you today. Try to write an answer and post it in the comment section. With this, we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video, hit like, do comment and don't forget to subscribe to Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel. Now, thank you for listening.