 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarayesh Academy. Displayed our list of news articles selected 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 time stamping of the discussed articles are provided in the description and also in the comment section for the benefit of the viewers. Now let us move on to the analysis of the first news article. This editorial article is with reference to India-China border tensions. The author of the article states that, though both the nations are in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, it is now time to finalize the line of actual control or it is now time to come to a settlement on the issue of line of actual control. We know that line of actual control is an undefined line, which is part of the border between India and China. But this line has different and overlapping claims from both the sides. As a result, there will be some kind of tensions between the forces of both the countries along this line. In 2017, there was a doclam standoff. The author states that, with the recent tensions along the line of actual control, the India-China border is witnessing the highest tensions since the doclam standoff in 2017. These tensions at present are happening despite the agreement between Indian Prime Minister Narendra and President Xi of China. So what do we call as the agreement arrived between Indian Prime Minister and Chinese President? See, these are understanding arrived between both the sides as a result of Wuhan Informal Summit and Marmalapuram Informal Summit. The agreement is that differences between both the sides should not be allowed to escalate into disputes. As a result of understanding at the highest level, a clear message was sent to militaries of both the sides to abide by detailed protocols that are already put in place. These are protocol of 2005 and agreement between both the sides arrived in the year 2013. In general, both these instruments deal with regulating troop activities in the contested zones or in the disputed zones that lie in between the overlapping claim lines of undefined line of actual control. The 2005 protocol is called as protocol between government of India and government of People's Republic of China on modalities for the implementation of confidence building measures in the military field along the line of actual control in the India-China border areas. The 2013 agreement is called as the agreement between government of India and the government of People's Republic of China on border defence cooperation. Now despite these instruments, despite the understanding arrived at the highest levels, recently tensions have come along the line of actual control, particularly in the India-China border in Sikkim and also in the border near Union Territory of Ladakh in the Galwan Valley or in the Galawan Valley. Indian Army General on May 14, 2020 has stated that these recent incidents are neither correlated nor do they have any connection with other global or local activities. However, on May 19, 2020, Chinese Foreign Ministry has accused the Indian Army of attempting to unilaterally change the status of line of actual control. So this is about the response given by the Indian Army and by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on the recent incidents. Next the author discusses what are the real reasons behind the recent commissions or tensions that has led to injuries to some of the groups. The broader context for the tensions is the changing dynamic along the line of actual control. If you see, China already enjoys advantage in both terrain and infrastructure in its border with India. But India does not have these advantages relatively with China, so we have to beef up our security and infrastructure in the border areas. Therefore, India has been upgrading its road infrastructure along the border to catch up with the Chinese mechanisms. Even last year, India completed the Darbukh Shok Daulatbek Oldi Road that connects Leh in Ladakh to the Karakoram Pass. India also maintains a very important aircraft landing strip at 16,000 feet at Darbukh Shok Daulatbek Oldi. India upgrading its road infrastructure along the border near line of actual control is what is referred as changing dynamics in line of actual control by the author. So the recent standoff in Ladakh appears to have been triggered by China. China triggered it by moving troops to obstruct road construction activity by India. But China has to understand that this infrastructure development activity is India's right to carry out such construction work. Indian diplomatic circles have to remind China that the fundamental principle that underpins all previous agreements between India and China is recognizing the right to mutual and equal security of both sides. However, the author states that the immediate priority is to use existing communication channels and to step back from tensions and contested zones. The author feels that the recent incidents are placing existing mechanisms and existing communication mechanisms under heavy stress. The day when India and China make a final settlement on LAC is the day when these issues will be resolved. So the call is that both India and China should grasp the current situation as an opportunity to revive the stalled process of clarifying or arriving at the final settlement on line of actual control. The author states that if agreeing on a line is problematic to settle, then both sides can simply seek to better understand the claims of each other and to arrive at a common understanding to regulate activity in the contested areas. However, only a settlement will end the issue on line of actual control. Therefore, the author concludes the article by saying, with both countries in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, it is the right time to push for a final settlement to a long-pending dispute. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of these articles. Now let us move on to the next news article. This news article talks about the findings of a report released by National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. The National Center for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People has released a report titled as Lockdown and Left Behind. It's a report on the status of persons with disabilities in India during the COVID-19 crisis. Now the purpose of this report is to highlight the critical issues faced by people with disabilities during the crisis and to advocate for a coordinated and comprehensive government response to meet the concerns of people with disabilities during the crisis to protect their rights and to secure their access to protection and safety. Now we know that COVID-19 pandemic threatens and had threatened almost all members of society, but the people with disabilities, they are disproportionately impacted. They are impacted because of attitudinal barriers, environmental barriers and institutional barriers that are reproduced in the COVID-19 crisis. Firstly, if you talk about communication, accessible information, access to helplines, then according to the findings of the survey of this report, there is a general lack of accessible information around COVID-19. And there is also no specially equipped dedicated helpline for persons with disabilities. This makes the situation harder for people with disabilities, especially people with loss of hearing. Now the national center that has released this report is actually a non-profit organization that works as an interface between the government, industry, international agencies and voluntary organizations and the persons with disabilities for their empowerment. Now coming to the access to essentials such as food, clothing and shelter, then it is reported that persons with mobility issues are particularly affected. The survey of the national center, the non-profitable organization has revealed that 67% of people with disabilities have said that they have no access to doorstep delivery of essentials by the government. Now coming to access to healthcare and medical aid, report notes that healthcare workers are not equipped to deal with disabled people. If you take people with disabilities who have conditions such as diabetes, they are facing problems in carrying out or in getting their regular tests done as pathology and testing labs are not open and even home collection of blood samples has stopped because of the lockdown. And persons with severe disabilities who are in need of certain essential items, they are unable to procure them. When we say persons with severe disabilities, they will need diapers, catheters, urine bags, disposable sheets, bandages, cotton and required medicines etc. Now they are unable to procure these essentials because of many reasons. For example, say lack of financial support, unavailability of these items nearby or inability to physically go and get them by themselves or the inability to get them through their caregiver also. Now coming to access to caregivers, access to assistive devices and access to support groups. These also have been compromised because of lockdown. The caregivers are unable to reach those persons with disabilities who are dependent on them. They are unable to reach because of lack of special transport options. Now as the government has put consequential restriction on services and purchases, they are not able to purchase assistive devices like hearing aids, wheelchairs etc. The next to most important problem is with respect to finance. Many have lost their jobs. In addition, few sees in many states say for example Maharashtra report states that pensions have not been released for persons with disabilities and in some states like Jharkhand and Bihar, there is delay of payments. And during the lockdown, there are also high instances of abuse and attacks on persons with disabilities and they are also not in a position to defend themselves. So they are at greater risk of sexual assault and violence. In fact, we are also seeing news about incidents of domestic violence increasing in the country during the lockdown. More importantly, if you see the problems faced by children with disabilities, they are hard to serve through distance programs. It is very difficult to serve them through distance programs because they are most dependent on face-to-face services including health, education and protection. Now as a part of physical distancing and lockdown measures, these support mechanisms to children with disabilities are also suspended or also affected. So based on these problems, the report provides some recommendations for addressing the requirements of people with disabilities. First and foremost is the rigorous implementation of two important guidelines. One is the Department of Improvement of Persons with Disabilities Guidelines on COVID-19. This is called as Comprehensive Disability Inclusive Guidelines. Then the effective implementation of National Disaster Management Guidelines on Disability Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction Guidelines. And those persons with disabilities who have lost jobs or livelihood opportunities, they should be able to register for unemployment allowance in a simple manner and this should be announced by the government on an urgent basis. Next recommendation is about simplification of procedure of registering a person as a person with disability. This is for seeking benefits that are given during this crisis period and also to register with very minimum documentation. The report highlights that only 28 percent of people with disabilities they have disability certificates. This means around 72 percent of them may not be normally covered under various programs of the government because of lack of availability of disability certificates. Recently, Central Government has announced a financial assistance of Rs 1000 and the report asks to increase this one-time cash transfer to Rs 5000. And coming to travel passes, special priority should be given to issuance of travel passes to persons with disabilities and also their caregivers. And all information about COVID-19 and related services that are offered and precautions that have to be taken all have to be available in simple language and also in local language in accessible formats. Here we can take the example of Government of Nagaland as it brings out a daily video briefing on COVID-19 status in the state that includes Indian Sign Language interpretation as well. And the Prime Minister's office should establish a special helpline for persons with disabilities, centralized helpline systems with video call facility and Indian Sign Language interpretation should also be established. All required health services including their regular infusions or treatment have to be provided to them at their doorstep or at a safe neighbourhood facility identified by the government. And more importantly, essential services like food, water, medicines and other items have to be delivered at the residence of people with disabilities or at a place where they have been quarantined. Here the example of Tamil Nadu can be taken as the Tamil Nadu Disability Commissioner has issued instructions for specific timings for doorstep delivery of goods from public distribution system ration shops. If all these recommendations are implemented in letter and spirit, then the people with disabilities are expected to tackle and survive this COVID-19 pandemic. So these are some of the information with reference to the analysis of this news article. We saw various problems faced by persons with disabilities during the crisis and some of the recommendations of the report titled as lockdown and left behind. Now let us move on to the analysis of next news article. This news article talks about second round of airport privatization. The chairman of airports authority of India has said that ministry of civil aviation has approved the proposal for privatization of another six airports including Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneshwar, Indore, Raipur and Tiruchi. See, airports authority of India works under ministry of civil aviation. It owns and manages more than 100 airports across the country. Now coming to advantages of privatization, one of the advantages is to operate the airports with efficiency. A general conception with private organizations face to face public sector counterparts is that private organizations or privatization leads to more efficiency. Secondly, it boosts competition among the airports. As a result, over a period of time, this translates into better services delivery to the customers and passengers. Thirdly, there will be better focus on development of airports. The government may not be able to afford to upgrade all the airports that it manages at present at the same time. But private companies, they will be able to improve the airports by deploying modern technologies and they will recover the costs from the customers or passengers or through investments. A particular airport or a small group of airports can be better managed by them. And fourthly, once airports are privatized over a period of time, the rates will be set based on demand and supply. So the source of revenue for development of airports for future expenses will be based on business operations and collections from passengers, airlines, and advertisements. And there will be no loss to taxpayers' money, which we can see in the case of government-owned airports. However, when existing airports are to be privatized, this may lead to job losses on a large scale because gradually private entities, they may go for automation that will reduce the requirement of manpower. And private sector are also known for motivated by profit rather than public interest and interests of consumers. Therefore, needed regulation from the side of government is a must. This question is framed with reference to this news article, which talks about RailTel. See, RailTel Corporation is a mini-Ratna category one public sector undertaking of government of India or the central government. It is one of the largest telecom infrastructure providers in the country. It owns Pan India Optic Fiber Network on exclusive right-of-way along the railway track. This Optic Fiber Communication Network covers all important towns and cities of the country, including rural areas. Come to this question, RailTel Corporation sometime seen in news. It is a subsidiary of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited, a central public sector undertaking of government of India, a private entity entrusted with Wi-Fi responsibilities in railway stations, Railway Corporation registered under Societies Registration Act of 1860. The correct answer for this question is Option B. In this context, we should also know about RailWare. See, RailWare is an initiative of RailTel. To be specific, it is a retail broadband initiative of RailTel. They give broadband plans to various regions in our country. It provides various broadband plans to various regions and enterprises in our country. The news article states that RailTel has earlier proposed to install artificial intelligence-powered thermal screening facilities at major railway stations with the purpose to detect the people with infection, and this proposal of RailTel was accorded sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways. We have been seeing in news about the importance of artificial intelligence with respect to thermal screening. Earlier, way back in March 2020, there have been several news articles which stated that China has installed such AI-powered thermal screening devices in its public modes of transport. The correct answer here is Option B. See this main question. Highlight the issues and challenges confronting persons with disabilities in India during the COVID-19 crisis. Suggest measures to be taken for facing these challenges and addressing the requirements of persons with disabilities. The answer you can highlight the status of persons with disabilities with reference to access to communication, access to information related to COVID-19, then access to health plans, then about access to healthcare and medical aid, access to caregivers, assistive devices and support groups, and then also about financial challenges. And with respect to suggesting the measures, you can say that the existing guidelines with reference to people with disabilities have to be implemented, then they have to be given a portal for registering for unemployment allowance, then simplification of procedure for registering a person with disability for getting COVID-19 related benefits from the government and other sources, then increasing one-time cash transfer to Rs. 5,000, then giving special priority when it comes to issuance of travel passes to persons with disabilities and their caregivers. These points you can include while writing the answer for this question. With this, we come to the end of today's The Hindi News Analysis. If you liked the video, if you would have enjoyed the content, don't fail to click the like button and share this resource among your friends and those who are in need of such resources. And subscribe to the Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel to get notified about new updates.