 A very good evening friends. I welcome you all to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by the Shankar A.S. Academy. Today's date is 30th December 2023. That's the last working day of this year. Here are the list of news articles which we are going to discuss today. So, without delay, let's get into discussion. Look at this news article. Recently, a chartered helicopter flew over the protected areas of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and Mukruti National Park. See, this has created a major controversy as this chopper flew without obtaining any necessary permissions. Moreover, this is a clear violation of law and so the forest department has started an investigation. See, this is the crux of the news article. In our analysis, let us see about Mukruti National Park from our problem's perspective. First of all, let us see where this Mukruti National Park is located. See, MNP or Mukruti National Park is a 78.46 square kilometer protected area in the western Ghats. Ideally, it is located in the western corner of Neelgiri Plateaus of Tamil Nadu. Know that this park is a part of Neelgiri Biosphere Reserve. We should have known that this is the first biosphere reserve of India. Okay, moreover, understand that the Neelgiri Biosphere Reserve consists of various national parks and wildlife centuries. They are Mukruti National Park, Mudumalai Wildlife Century, Bandipur National Park, Nagarhola National Park, Vayanad Wildlife Century and Silent Valley National Park. The exact location of this Mukruti National Park is situated between Silent Valley National Park and Mudumalai National Park. See, this is about the basics of this National Park. Now, having seen this, let us see some of the significance of this National Park. Firstly, it was established with the aim of conserving the Keystone species of Neelgiri Tar. See, let us understand what it means by Keystone species. It means a species whose conservation is very essential for the survival of other species in the ecosystem. Okay, secondly, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. See, this National Park was formerly known as Neelgiri Tar National Park. It is also home to Mukruti Peak, which is the fourth highest peak of Neelgiri Hills. The third significance is the rivers which are flowing in this National Park. See, the river Paikara and river Kundha flows through the park and being drained to river Bhavanipula River. Fourthly, let us see the flora and fauna of the park. See, this National Park consists of mountain vegetation of grasslands and scrublands which are regularly interspaced by solar grasslands. Know that it also consists of trees like rhododendrons, raspberries, chinaman and blackberries etc. Moreover, an unique variety of endemic plant species which is native only to this National Park are alchemyla indica and hediotis vetricilaris. Okay, this is all about the flora of this National Park. Now, moving on to the final diversity of this National Park. See, it is home to some of the endangered wildlife species such as Neelgiri Tar, Bengkhal Tiger, Indian Elephant, Neelgiri Languru etc. It has also many species of birds like Malabar Whistling Tur, Neelgiri Wood, Pigeon, Black and Orange Flycatcher etc. Lastly, we should know the tribal population of this National Park. See, Todas are the tribe who are living in this National Park. Generally, Todas are a pastoral tribe of this Neelgiri Hills. See, this is all about the basics of this National Park. In our analysis, we saw about the exact location of the National Park, we saw about the significance of this park and in our second part of our analysis, we saw about the flora and fauna of this National Park. See, with this learned point, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article. Three of the 11th century giant sculptures were discovered in Mysore District of Karnataka. Those invaluable sculptures were found in a heap of debris when locals were digging for some drainage work. See, out of these three sculptures, one was damaged beyond recognition but luckily, two were in a fairly good condition. See, this is the crux of the article. In this context, let us quickly revise a few important points regarding the philosophies of Buddhism and Jainism. See, in our analysis, we shall take some common parameters and analyze the viewpoint of both Buddhism and Jainism on it. See, this philosophical part was often asked in the preliminary examination so please have our attention. Okay, firstly with respect to aspect of God. See, Jains denies the existence of God although they acknowledge the presence of genus. On the other hand, if you see Buddhism, the original Buddhist doctrine does not entail any godly figures but the later Buddhists introduced some form of godly figures like Bodhisattvas. So, in a nutshell, Buddhism neither accepted nor denied the existence of God. Okay, secondly in the concept of Nirvana. See, Jainism defines the Nirvana as a state of moksha where a being loses its identity and free from the cycle of birth and death. On the other hand, if you see Buddhism, Nirvana has a freedom from the cycle of rebirth that is when a being turns into a state of non-being. It also means a being will become a sunya which means losing identity and becomes nothing. On the face of it, these two may look similarly but they are fundamentally different from each other. See, in Jainism, Nirvana is an escape from the body through not from the existence. That is, after Nirvana, the soul continues to remain as individual but in the highest state of purity and enlightenment. Whereas in Buddhism, Nirvana is used to refer to the extinction of desire, hatred and ignorance and ultimately of suffering and rebirth. So, after Nirvana, there is no soul but the individuality of individual passes on to nothingness that is sunya which is beyond any description or speculation. Thirdly, let us see on the subject of liberation. See, Jainism says that the path of liberation is to follow right perception, right knowledge and right conduct. On the other hand, if you see Buddhism, the path of liberation goes through the conduct of good conduct, good deeds and as mentioned in the Eightfold Path of Buddha. See here, we have to follow Eightfold Path, Four Noble Truths, Five Perceptions, etc. Okay, let us see the fourth parameter on the aspect of Karma. See, Jainism believes in the universality of Karma and its effect on human beings. See, the karmic substances remains with the being until a good conduct and self-purification eliminates them. Whereas Buddhism also believes in the universality of Karma which is a result of one's action. Here, there is no concept of elimination of Karma as in the case of Jainism. Finally, talking about Soul. See, according to Jainism, Soul is present in every animate and inanimate objects of the universe. This includes elements like earth, water, wind, fire, air, etc. But according to Buddhism, it altogether rejects the concept of existence of Soul or Atman. See, this is some of the nuanced philosophical difference between the two. Okay, this is all about the discussion. Now, I have also listed some of the Jain or text which could be asked in our exams. So, kindly go through it. This is all about the discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the basic differences between Buddhism and Jainism on various aspects. With this, we can complete this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this article. As we all know, Tamil Nadu witnessed two spells of heavy rainfall in the months of December. This has created havoc and destruction of livelihood in the state. Unfortunately, it has also resulted in a spat between the ruling parties of both center and state over the provision of reliefs. This editorial is written in this context only. It highlights the need for a clear set of guidelines for the provision of relief by the central government. This is about the article. In this context, let us try and solve a main relative question which is related to disaster management. Look at the question. Discuss the recent measures initiated in the disaster management by government of India and how it is departing from the earlier reactive approach of India. See, this question has been asked for 10 marks and should be answered within 150 words. Okay, now let us see where this question can be asked. See, it can be asked in G.S. Paper 3 under the subtopic of disaster and disaster management. Now, let us see how to approach this question. See, it is a very simple question. First, we have to write about the steps taken by government to fight the disaster. Then you have to write a few points about how the new steps which are taken by government are fundamentally different from the older reactionary steps. See, this is how we are going to approach this question. Now, let us start answering the question. In the introduction part, you have to write about the need for efficient disaster management. See, the need can be stressed by providing some data about the increasing frequency of extreme weather-related events due to climate change. Okay, now let us see some data which you can quote in your introduction. Firstly, the Ministry of Health Sciences underscores that the monsoonal rail falls will intensify and affects the large and the area of subcontinent due to increased atmospheric moisture content in India. Then, the IPCC report 2023 warns of a 20% surge in extreme rainfall events in Indian subcontinent. Know that it will lead to incisive rainfall, floods and more frequent cyclonic events. Example of some cyclonic events are cyclonic mocha, Bipurjoy, Hamoom and Migjam. Thirdly, climate change induced changes to western disturbances and cyclonic storms will lead to increased incidence of heat waves in India. Here, note that February 2023 was the notably the warmest month on record since 1901. See, all this data suggests that there is a frequency of extreme weather events will bound to increase in near future. So, having an efficient disaster management plan is the need of hover. See, this can be your introduction. Now, let us move on to the body part of the answer. Here, first we have to write about the steps taken by government to combat disaster. See, we can divide the steps taken by government into two parts or two sub-eds, which is the institutional measures and the financial measures. First, let us take the institutional measures. See, in the institutional measures, you can first mention about an important institution called National Disaster Management Authority or NDMA. Note that it was established in 2005 under the Disaster Management Act of 2005. This body is chaired by Prime Minister of India. The main objective of this organization is to make our country safe by reducing the impact of disasters. To make this objective a reality, it formulated the National Disaster Management Plan. Okay, now, like the MDMA at the central level, we have also State Disaster Management Authority or SDMA at the state level. See, it is chaired by Chief Minister of State Consent. The SDMA prepares the State Disaster Management Plan and implements the NDMP at the state level. Moving on to the district level, in the district level, we have DDMA or District Disaster Management Authority, which is chaired by District Magistrate. See, this DDMA formulates the District Disaster Management Plan and it will also ensures that all the guidelines of NDMA and SDMA are being implemented at the district level. Thus, an institutional arrangement from center to cross-suit level has been formed to deal with the disasters. Okay, now similarly, NDRF or National Disaster Response Force was also being created under DM Act 2005. Know that it is a specialized response force to face the natural and man-made disasters. At present, NDRF has a strength of 15 battalions. Okay, these are some of the institutional structures which is available to combat disasters. Now, moving on, let us see the financial measures taken by government. Here we have to see about NDRF, another NDRF, right? This time it is called National Disaster Response Fund. This fund is defined in section 46 of the DM Act. Know that it is managed by central government and technically it is a part of public account of India. This NDRF is an emergency fund used to meet the expenses which is involved in disaster response, relief and rehabilitation processes. An important point to be noted is this NDRF is a supplement to State Disaster Response Fund. That is, if the STRF or State Disaster Response Fund is not adequate or inadequate to meet the expenses, then only NDRF will come into picture. Moreover, the financial aid from NDRF will be specially focused on offering immediate relief to the victims. Note that it is not intended as a compensation for property or crop damage or losses. To put it simply, the NDRF is allocated to cover the costs associated with emergency response, relief efforts and rehabilitation initiatives. See, these are the institutional and financial measures available to address the disasters in India. See, with this we have addressed the first part of our main cancer. Moving on to the second part, here we have to write about the new steps which is taken by the government and we have to also analyze that how it is systematically different from the previous ones. See, earlier the government responses to disaster were reactionary in nature. That is, they mainly focus on disaster relief and rehabilitation. Here, necessary attention was not provided to the prevention of disaster and preparedness of disaster. See, there is a fundamental shift in the government policy. It is noticeable in the National Disaster Management Plan 2016. Through this 2016 plan, India aligned itself with the Shendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015-2013. Thus, we have aligned our national efforts with the international standard. See, the main aim of the plan was to make India disaster resilient. To achieve this, the plan focused on the following areas. Firstly, it tried to improve the understanding about the disaster risk and vulnerabilities of India. Secondly, it tries to improve the governance structure related to disaster management at the grass root levels. Thirdly, it aims to enhance the disaster risk reduction using both structural and non-structural measures. Fourthly, it aims to engage in capacity building to enhance the preparedness. And finally, it adopted the mantra of build back better in all the three states of disaster management. That is recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. So, by adopting all these principles at the NDMP 2016, India has effectively moved away from the reactionary policies of yesterday's years. See, to highlight this shift, you can also state some of the steps taken by the government post 2016. Here, you can mention about the Abda Mitra scheme that was launched in 2016. See, the scheme is nothing but a scheme for training and capacity building of community volunteers in disaster response. Secondly, you can also mention about earthquake disaster risk indexing EDRI initiative of the NDMA. Thirdly, you can mention about national crisis management committee that was being set up in 2018. Fourthly, you can also mention about national school safety project, which mainly focused on capacity building related to disaster management. See, with all these steps, we can easily say that post 2016, the government shifted its focus from the reactive based approach to proactive based approach. See, all these points will comprehensively address the second part of our question. Having done this main body part of the answer, now let us take up the conclusion part. See, in the conclusion can be given as a wave forward approach where you can mention suggestion which is being provided in the editorial article. Okay, now let us see the conclusion part. Firstly, the article suggests to providing immediate relief to the MSME sector which effectively provides employment to a significant population of our country. Secondly, there should be a consultation with the vulnerable states while framing a new policies so that it will be free from political controversies. Lastly, the government must also consider including a long term or permanent restoration work under the ambit of SDRF or NDRF. Currently, as I have mentioned earlier, the money from both NDRF or SDRF will be solely utilized for emergency response or relief efforts. Okay, this is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the disaster management related question where we saw about the earlier reactive steps and the proactive steps introduced by government post 2016. Okay, with this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. Look at this news article. Recently, Ministry of Mines has entered into agreement with the Argentinian mining company called See, this agreement is for the acquisition and development of five lithium blocks of Argentina. Moreover, the ministry has also entered an agreement with Chilean mining company called Enami for the identification of similar projects in Australia. See, with both these agreements, India will be able to tap the lithium resources in Argentina, Chile and Australia. See, this is the crux of the news article. In this context, let us quickly go through the important points about lithium metal from our example perspective. See, firstly, lithium is a chemical element with a simple li and atomic number of three. See, it occurs first in the list of alkalis of periodic table. Let us see the important characteristics of this metal. Firstly, it is very soft in nature and appears shiny with silvery white in color. Secondly, it is actually a non ferrous alkali metal with the lowest density by service other important metals. Thirdly, it is a highly reactive metal which does not occur freely in nature. Fourthly, lithium has a high specific heat capacity. Here, we should be aware of the term specific heat capacity. See, it is the amount of heat which is required to change the temperature of air substance by one degree. For example, we need more heat to warm one unit of water by one degree Celsius when compared to heating one unit of air by one degree Celsius. See, this is about the specific heat. Okay, come back to our discussion. The final characteristics of lithium, it has lowest melting points of all metal, but it has a high boiling point. This is all about the basics. Now, let us see their global distribution. See, lithium makes up about 0.0007% of the earth crust. It mainly lies in the Latin American nations. Notably, Chile and Argentina account for 30 to 35% of the world's supply of lithium. Within them, Chile alone accounts for 11% of world lithium reserves, but know that it supplies 26% of the global lithium requirements. Also, note that Argentina with nearly one-fifth of the resources supply about 6% of the requirements. An important fact to be noted is that the Bolivia, another Latin American country, has the richest known lithium deposits in the world. It has an estimated amount of 21 million tons or 23.6% of the world reserves as of 2021. Due to the contribution of these three Latin American nations, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, they are often called as lithium triangle of the world. See, apart from this, Australia is among the other larger lithium producers globally. Some of the countries with largest real deposits are being listed here. You can go through it. Now, let us talk about the lithium reserves distribution of India. See, the major lithium reserves in India are concentrated in the states like Chattisgarh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. See, recently, discovery of 5.9 million metric ton of lithium has been made in Jammu and Kashmir. See, this is the first major lithium reserve that has been found in India. Okay, now let us talk about the applications of lithium. See, lithium is often referred as white gold due to its market value. Remember, lithium is found in two main forms. One is lithium hydroxide and another one is lithium carbonate. See, both are used in batteries and electric vehicles. Lithium carbonate has a wide range of uses since they are very lightweight and can be quickly recharged. It is often used in the manufacturing of EV batteries. It is also useful in producing flooring treatments, cement densifiers, adhesives and alloys. Moreover, lithium carbonate is even listed by the WHO as an essential medication for treating bipolar disorder. Now, lithium carbonate can also be converted to lithium hydroxide, which is being preferred in the manufacturing of high-performing and long-lasting EV batteries. Okay, this is all about the discussion. In our discussion, we saw about the basics of lithium metal and we saw about the distribution of metal globally. And in later part, we also saw about the distribution of lithium in India. Okay, now with this learned points, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article for our analysis. The news here is that the Indian Space Research Organization ISRO will launch X-ray Polarimeter Satellite or EXPOSAT and 10 other payloads on January 1. They will be launched using PSLVC-58 launch vehicle. Know that the EXPOSAT will be placed in low-earth, non-sun synchronous orbit. See, it will be India's first dedicated polarimetry mission. Through this mission, ISRO is planning to gather information about the angle of polarization of X-rays. See, this race will be mainly coming from the some celestial objects like black holes, neutron stars, etc. Through all this data, we can understand about the physics and dynamics of these celestial objects. Friends, if you want to know more about EXPOSAT, kindly visit our first December 2023 video analysis because today we are going to just limit ourselves on the basics of launch vehicles. See, we are basically going to cover the difference between PSLV, GSLV and SSLV in prelims perspective. Here note that when I mean GSLV, I am talking about MSLV MK2 or not LMV3. Okay, now get into discussion. Firstly, let us look at the number of stages. See, TSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle while GSLV and SSLV are three-stage launch vehicles. Secondly, in terms of fuel used, in case of PSLV, the first stage uses a solid rocket motor and number of strap-on boosters. The second stage uses a liquid rocket engine, which is also called as VIKAS engine. The third stage is again a solid rocket motor and in final stage, there will be liquid engine. Now coming out to GSLV, the first stage of GSLV is derived from the PSLV's first stage. So, ultimately, it will also house a solid motor engine. The second stage uses the VIKAS engine, which is a liquid rocket engine. The third stage is using a cryogenic engine. See, this cryogenic upper stage is indigenously developed by India. Moreover, in the case of SSLV, all the three stages uses solid-based propellants. Okay, now moving on to the third parameter, it is payload capacity. See, the PSLV can take up to 1,750 kg of payload to Sun-Sin-Karnash polar orbits of 600 km altitude. One of the variants of PSLV, which is PSLV-XL, can be used to place 1,425 kg of satellites in geostationary orbit. Okay, now in case of GSLV, you can be used to place satellites, which is weighing up to 6 tons in low-earth orbits. It can also be used to place satellites weighing up to 2,250 kg in the geostationary orbits. Okay, now in case of SSLV, they can be used to place satellites weighing 500 kg in 500 km planar orbit. See, SSLV is mainly used to launch nano, micro or mini-satellites. Lastly, look at the applications. See, PSLV variant was used for launching Chandra-1 and Mars orbit or mission. See, the PSLV is also used in the launch of various satellites in IRN-SS constellation. Due to this reliability, it is often called the workhorse of ISRO. During the 1994 to 2017 period, the PSLV was used in the launch of 48 Indian satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad. Okay, now let us see GSLV. GSLV and its associated cryptogenic technology helped reduce India's dependence on foreign launch vehicles. Coming to SSLV, one of the main advantages is its low cost and low turnaround time. Also, it offers flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites. See, this will help India create a space market for itself, for its booming space sector. See, this is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we covered some of the basic differences between PSLV, GSLV and SSLV, which is very often asked in our preliminary examination. This is all regarding the discussion. Now, let us move on to the next part of the video. That is to discuss the preliminary practice question. Today, I am having four questions. I will solve three of them and one will be a quiz question for you to solve. Let us see the first question. Consider the following statements with respect to Jainism. See the first statement. Digambara believes that women cannot achieve nirvana, while Swetambara believes that women are equally capable of achieving their nirvana or liberation as much as a man can do. See, this statement is correct because as we know that there are two sexes of Jainism, which is Digambara and Swetambara, which the Digambara is an orthodox sect which does not believe that women can achieve nirvana, whereas Swetambaras are more progressive and they believe that women are equally capable. So, the statement one is correct. See, the second statement. Digambara holds the opinion that original texts of Jainism are lost, while Swetambara believes that they have the original Jain scriptures. See, this statement is also correct. So, both statement one and two are correct. So, the correct option is option C. See, the second question. Spored immune and petalite are the rich source of which of the following. See, these two rows are rich source of lithium metal. See, the extraction of lithium from minerals like spored immune and petalite involves a various process. These processes are mining, concentration or chemical processing. See, as the demand of lithium ion batteries are on the rise due to the increasing use of EVs, the importance of reliable lithium sources like spored immune and petalite are also on the rise. So, here the correct option is lithium and the option is option D. Let us see the third question of the day. Consider the following statements about the LMB3. See the first statement. It is a three stage vehicle with two solid strap on motors, one liquid core stages and a high thrust cryogenic upper stage. See, this statement is correct as we seen in the discussion. Let us see the second statement. It can be used to place satellite up to 8000 kg in geosynchronous orbit. See, the statement two is incorrect because LMB3 can be used to place satellite up to 4000 kgs only in the geosynchronous transfer orbit. But know that it can place up to 8000 kg in low earth orbit. So, the statement two is wrong. See the third statement. Both chandra and two and three were launched using LMB3. See, this statement is correct as both of the mission used LMB3. So, the statement two is alone incorrect. So, the correct option is option B. See, the quiz question based on today's discussion is displayed here. I will post it in the community section. So, please go and answer it. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For regular updates regarding UPC preparation, subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy. Thank you.