 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankarae's Academy for the date 23rd 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 editorial article. This article talks about the census of India. As we all know, there is a delay in making the 2021 population census. At first, it was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic, but still it is continuing. See the author of the editorial says that this missing census is an issue in the long run. And he also talks about the other contentious issues relating with census like the NRC. NRC here is National Register for Citizens. And this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context, let us discuss some basic information about census, then we will move on to see about its significance. And finally, we will see the current issues concerned with the population census. But before that, the syllabus relevant to the article is highlighted here. For your reference, please go through it. Now what is a population census? See population census is the total process of collecting, compiling, analysing, disseminating the demographic, economic and social data. See this whole process is done at a specific time and it is about the persons living in the country. The additional information that you should know about census is that it is conducted under the provisions of census act 1948. And the population census, it is a union subject listed under the seventh schedule of the constitution. See, don't get confused here. You don't have to remember each and every topic and whether it comes under union, state or concurrent list or not. Just remembering the important ones will help you enrich your main's answer. That's why I have given you the information that population census comes under the union subject. See, there is also an easy way to remember this. I'll give you an example. Take for example, the education. It comes under the concurrent list, right? So how can you remember this? We know both male gender and female gender can have education, right? So you can remember it like both state and centre can make laws regarding education and that is why it comes under concurrent list. See, this is just an easy way to remember facts. And here also population census. It is a union subject. How can we remember this? See population, it is panned across the entire territory of India. So it comes under the union list. Like this, you can find easy ways to remember facts so that you can code it in your main's answer. Now, coming back to the discussion, what all information the census provides? See it provides the age, gender, economic status, religion, languages spoken, etc. It also provides the trends in the population characteristics. To know more about what all data can be obtained from the census, just have a look at these tables. See, these are the questions that were asked in 2011 census. See how many questions have been asked, right? See here, even migration details were also collected. From this itself, we can understand that census is a holistic process of collecting all data required for policy making or even it can be used for planning any government programs. Now you may ask a question. Census has all the crucial important data of a person, right? So will these data be misused? No. This is because of the confidentiality maintained in collecting and preserving the data. See the information collected during the population census is so confidential that it is not even accessible to the courts of law and this confidentiality is guaranteed by Census Act 1948. See the law specifies that penalties will be given for both public and census officials for non-compliance or violation of any provision of the Census Act 1948. I hope this information answers the question of privacy here. Now coming to who conducts the census exercise. See the Indian census is one of the largest administrative exercises undertaken in the world. The decennial census that is which happens once in every 10 years is conducted by the office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner and this comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs. So these are some basic facts of census. Now let us move on to the significance part. Why is this population census so significant? I will give you reasons for it. Firstly, it is the largest single source of a variety of statistical information on different characteristics of people of India. For example, take the best of any sample surveys. You can choose anything but then also it will be impossible for any such survey to beat the census data. Why is this? This is because the population census carries the promise of counting each and every Indian and this is the reason why researchers and demographers use census data to analyze the growth and trends of population and they make projections with the census data. Secondly, the information collected is used for administration, planning and policy making and also is used for the management and evaluation of various programs by the government. For example, look at this graph here. It is about the trends in the overall sex ratio of population in India. While analyzing the census of 1961 and 1971, we can see that there is a sharp decline in the gender ratio and this helps Indians to alert about how the pre and post natal factors reflects the sun bias. What is sun bias here? It is preferring a boy child over a girl child and thus it leads to increased number of female infanticides and this is one another reason why it is so significant. Now thirdly, it is used for demarcation of constituencies and allocation of representation to parliament, state legislative assemblies and local bodies. Now how is this done? See population is varying rapidly, right? There may be changes due to death or birth or even aging and all this will greatly influence in deciding the delimitation of constituencies. Just take a look at this table here. You can see the population growth, right? Let us take the example of Uttar Pradesh here. The percentage increase in its population from 2001 to 2011 is 20.1 percentage. This change in population will definitely alter the delimitation of constituency. What is delimitation? Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies and only when population changes are taken into consideration, there will be equal representation and this is one another reason. Fourthly, it is important for business houses and industries and this is for strengthening and planning their business for penetration into areas which remained untouched. And fifthly, the finance commission provides grants to the states on the basis of population figures available from the census data. So these are some of the significances of population census. Now coming to the problem with the population census. See the author mentions some of the problems regarding population census. We are going to see that only. See we all know India's first census was held in the year 1872 and this was conducted non-synchronously in different parts of the country. And after that, India had held its decadal census that is census once in every 10 years from 1881 to 2011 and it was despite diseases, world wars, partition and other instances of turmoil. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 census was post-pond and there is no official reassurance that India will not skip its decadal census. So the author of the editorial concludes that we have a case of missing census. So what will happen if this missing continues? See there will be a lot of wrong assumptions and conclusions leading to inefficient and improper policies. For example, consider this statement India is heading for a population explosion due to increased Muslim reproductive rates. See this has been systematically proven wrong by the census data. Just have a look at this graph with the census data. You can see that the total fertility rate is coming down at a very rapid pace and it is well on its way to stabilization. And also note that the fall in TFR among Muslims is faster than any other community. Then how come India is heading for a population explosion due to increased Muslim reproductive rates? So the statement that I said before is wrong, right? So this is what the author is conveying. Without census data, there will be wrong assumptions and conclusions. Let me give you one more example to prove the worth of census. See there had been a notion that diverses occur more in cities than in the rural areas. But the 2011 census proved this statement wrong. See it showed that the urban diverse rate is 0.89 percentage, which is almost equal to the rural rate of 0.82 percentage. So from this we know the importance of the census data. And apart from this, another contentious issue had added spice to the census of India. Yes I am talking about the national register of citizens. See this was an issue well before the pandemic itself. See this NRC turned the census into a gateway for a nationwide contentious issue. And why is this? This is because NRC made a head count on who is an Indian and who is not. And this had become an issue. And because of this, more number of citizens are insecure about their ability to provide the right paperwork. And in addition to this, you have to know about the caste census also. Yes, the last caste census was done in the year 1931. And then in the year 2011, a socio-economic and caste census was conducted. But the caste data was not yet published citing several reasons. From this it is very clear that there is an expanding disparity between the caste groups. And this disparity would have been found if the 2021 census was made on right time. And thus we can conclude that population census of India should be done without any further missing. See the census is vital and precious as it is a repository of complete data about the country which is gathered openly, voluntarily and with the use of public money. And we also saw that the confidentiality has also given importance as per the Census Act 1948. See if the census is further delayed, then India will join the countries which do not have census since the year 1990. I'll give you some examples of the countries that do not have census since 1990. It includes Afghanistan, 1979, Lebanon 1932, Somalia 1985, Uzbekistan 1989 and Western Sahara 1970. See the years given here indicates from what year these countries do not have census data. Now that's all regarding this particular article discussion. In this discussion we saw about census, who conducts census exercise, the significance of it and the issues regarding census data. Now with these key takeaway points let us move on to the next article discussion. Have a look at this text and context article. This article speaks about the conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. See the escalation is due to the decades old dispute in sharing water and land resources over the border areas. And this is the crux of the news article given here. Now in this discussion let's learn about the background of the conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and about the recent escalations. Then in exam point of view we'll also discuss about both the countries because UPSC may ask a map based question right? Now let's start with the background. See both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan became independent in the year 1991. This is when the Soviet Union dissolved. Historically the Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan people enjoyed common rights over natural resources. See the main disagreement was over the map which was used for demarcation purposes. And further the delimitation of the border was also the concern for the continuous escalation. See Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan they share a 1000 kilometer long border with one another. And almost half of the 1000 kilometer long border between the countries is disputed. And know that regular talks have tried to resolve the issue. But the issue is still going on. And this is what is the background of the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan conflict. Now coming to recent escalations. See the dissolution of existing water and land agreements between two countries has led to the uncontrolled water consumption pattern among the farmers. And both the countries share multiple water channels. So every year during crucial irrigation period a small scale conflict continued to happen. And then a group of people from either side that is from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan planted trees in a disputed area. And they also engaged in a physical confrontation using agricultural equipment as weapons. So these continuous escalations had turned into a large-scale conflict. And further made the use of troops and military equipment by both the countries. And from this information we get to know ultimately the land and water is the problem for recent escalations between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Now talking about the two countries. See the Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Its capital and the largest city is Bishkek. It is often referred to as Central Asia's only democracy. See Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south and people's republic of China to the east. Now coming to Tajikistan it is also a landlocked country in Central Asia. Its capital and the largest city is Dushanbe. Tajikistan is bordered by Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north and China to the east. And note that both the countries are member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organization. See SCO it is a Eurasian political, economic and security organization headquartered in Beijing, China. If you want to know more about Shanghai Cooperation Organization watch the Hindu news analysis video of 10th September 2022. And with this we have come to the end of this particular article discussion. In this discussion we saw the reason for conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and we saw some map related data. Now with these key points let us move on to the next article discussion. See this article here. This article talks about the 104th Haifa day. And owing to this the descendants of those who fought in the Haifa battle were interviewed. See this battle is very important in the series of World War I. And this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let us discuss about the battle of Haifa and then its significance. First of all let us see about the battle of Haifa. See the battle of Haifa was fought on 23rd September 1918. And it is considered to be one of the most bravely contested battles of World War I. And also know that it was a part of a series of battles fought in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. Now you may ask a question. Who are the opposing parties? See it was fought between the Allied powers and the Ottoman Empire. During the World War I conflict Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire were called as central powers. And they fought against the Allied powers. Who constitute Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, United States. Now coming to the battle of Haifa. See the uniqueness of this battle is the use of cavalry. Cavalry is nothing but soldiers fighting on the back of horses. And the crucial fact to remember here is it was the Indian armies cavalry and not the British army. And after the World War I an important lesson was learnt and what is the lesson? See the horse cavalry it was no longer relevant in the battlefield. Why is this? This is because of the mission gun and introduction of barbed wires. See barbed wires they are nothing but wires with clusters of short and sharp spikes set at short intervals along its length. And it is used to make fences or it is used in warfare as an obstruction. See the image here this is only barbed wire. Now again coming back to the battle what happened in this battle of Haifa. See the Indian soldiers from Mysore, Hyderabad and Jodhpur Lancers liberated the strategically important city of Haifa. To understand why Haifa is strategically important see the map given here. See Haifa is known for its deep water bay and it is located in the eastern Mediterranean. So Haifa with its rail network and harbour remind a strategically important city. Historically also Haifa has been an important city. It had served as a seaport and it was a centre of trade and commerce. For the central powers that is for German and the Ottoman troops it was an extremely important supply line and this supply line was used to sustain their war effort in the east. So now you know the capture of Haifa by the Indian forces led to the blocking of supply chains and the end of Ottoman Empire. And this is the first significance. Secondly the liberation of Haifa from 400 years of Ottoman oppression allowed the Christians and the Jews populations to grow and flourish. And this is the second significance. Thirdly the battle rescued Abdul Baha. He was the spiritual leader of Baha'i Faith. See he was held prisoner by Ottomans and this minority community was suppressed. So by capturing Haifa India helped in making the community gain its rights and freedom by rescuing its leader and their followers. And also note that India is now home to the largest Baha'i community in the world. These are the significances of battle of Haifa. Now let us conclude this article discussion by seeing what are all done as a remembrance of this battle. See the unique and iconic Teen Murthy War Memorial in New Delhi was erected to commemorate the valor and sacrifices of the Indian army's 15th Imperial Service Cavalry. And this cavalry fought battles in Sinai, Palestine, Haifa and Syria during World War I. And additionally three bronze statues of Indian cavalry soldiers of erstwhile, Hyderabad, Mysore and Jodhpur Lancers around a white triangular based stoneware sculpted by Leonard Jennings. See the memorial subsequently got dedicated to commemorating all martyrs of Indian army's cavalry and armored corpse in all wars and operations till date. So every year on this day Indian army celebrates Haifa Day. This is to pay respect to the martyred Indian soldiers. Now apart from this a stamp for the battle of Haifa and first day cover were released by Israel Post and this was done during the centenary that is the 100th anniversary of battle of Haifa. So that's all regarding this particular article discussion. In this discussion we saw about battle of Haifa and it was fought between whom and whom and the significances of battle. And finally we concluded the discussion by seeing the measures taken as a remembrance of the battle of Haifa. With these key takeaway points let us move on to the next article discussion. Now let us take up this final article for our discussion. This article speaks about the depreciation of Indian rupee against the US dollars. See yesterday the Indian rupee weakened sharply against the US dollar. It was depreciated by 83 paisa and stood at 80 rupees 79 paisa per US dollars. See the reason for the depreciation is due to the increase in interest rate by the US Federal Reserve which is the central bank of USA. And this is the crux of the news article given here. In this context let's learn about the rupee depreciation, rupee appreciation and its impact on the economy. See before getting into discussion we should know about currency exchange rate. So what is currency exchange rate? It is the rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another currency between nations or economic zones. See it is used to determine the value of various currencies in relation to each other. For example the value of Indian rupee to the US dollars can be known using exchange rate. And that is what given in today's article. It says that one US dollar is equal to 80 rupees 0.79 paisa and this is what is exchange rate. Now coming to rupee depreciation it means that Indian rupee is losing its value against the foreign currencies. What does this imply? This implies that rupee can buy less units of foreign currency than earlier. For example let us say that Indian rupee is trading at rupees 80 per dollar today. But yesterday it was rupees 70 per US dollars. Here the Indian rupee has depreciated by rupees 10 per US dollars. Now you may ask the rupee value has increased right? It has increased from rupees 72 rupees 80. See that is not the case it has depreciated. This means that for purchasing one US dollars now the trader has to pay 10 rupees more. And that is why we say that Indian rupee has depreciated. I hope you understand now. Now moving on to rupee appreciation. It means that Indian rupee is gaining its value against the foreign currencies. In other words rupee can buy more units of foreign currency than earlier. Here also let us see an example. Let us say that Indian rupee is trading at rupees 60 per US dollars today. But yesterday it was rupees 70 per US dollars. Here the Indian rupee has appreciated by rupees 10 per US dollars. It means that for purchasing one US dollar the trader has to pay 10 rupees less. So this is the difference between rupee appreciation and rupee depreciation. First of all let us see about the impacts of depreciation. What will be the impacts? See there will be a boost in the exports. Why is this? This is because the exporters will earn more money than earlier. And the second impact is that the foreign travel and foreign studies will become more expensive because we have to pay more money to buy other currencies right. And the third impact is that the imports will become more expensive. And this is also because we have to pay more money than earlier. See due to higher import cost the imported items will tend to decrease and it will cause inflation. And these are the three main impacts of depreciation. Now coming to appreciation. What will be the impacts? The exact opposite of what we saw now. The exports will fall as the exporters will get less money than earlier. Then the foreign travel and foreign studies will become cheap because we don't have to pay more to get other currencies. And also the imports will become cheaper than earlier. So that's all about this article discussion. In this discussion we saw about rupee appreciation, rupee depreciation, their impacts and the currency exchange rate. With these key take away points let us move on to the next part of the discussion that is the practice problems question discussion. Today we have four questions for discussion. I'll show three of them and one of them is a quiz question for you. Now without wasting any time let's solve this first question. Consider the following statements with respect to the countries Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Statement one both the countries are landlocked. See this map here. If you observe closely you know that both the countries that is Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan they both are landlocked countries. Kyrgyzstan is surrounded by Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. Now Tajikistan is surrounded by China, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. So statement one is correct. Now coming to statement two both the countries share common land border with China and Uzbekistan. Now again see the map here. See Kyrgyzstan is here and Tajikistan is here. They both share border with China as well as Uzbekistan. So the statement two is also correct. So the correct answer for this question is option C both one and two. Now moving on to the next question. Arrange the following battles in the chronological order. Battle of Rakshasa Tangadi, Battle of Plazi, Battle of Vandy Wash and Battle of Buxer. Now we will see some information about all of these battles and then we will arrange them in the chronological order. See Battle of Rakshasa Tangadi or Battle of Talikota was fought in the year 1565. It constituted a watershed battle fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Deccan Sultanates. And this battle resulted in the route of Vijayanagara ending the last great Hindu kingdom in South India. So here remember the year the battle took place in the year 1565. Now the next battle is Battle of Plazi. It was fought in the year 1757. This battle resulted in the decisive victory of British East India Company over Sirajudh Daula ruler of Bengal and his French partners. See the battle took place at Plazi on the banks of river Bagirathi. Here also remember the year 1757. Now moving on to Battle of Vandy Wash. It was fought in the year 1760. It was a confrontation between French and the British. It was a decisive battle in the Anglo-French struggle in Southern India during the Seven Years War which is between 1756 to 1763. Here the year is 1760. Now moving on to the next battle which is Battle of Buxer. It was fought in the year 1764. It was fought between the forces under the command of British East India Company which was led by Hector Munro and the combined armies of Mir Quasim, the Nawab of Bengal and Sujaudh Daula who was the Nawab of Aweth and Shah Alam too. Now we know the years in which the battles took place. What are those 1565, 1757, 1760 and 1764. So from this it will be easy for you to arrange in chronological order. Say instead of remembering all these years if you just know that Battle of Rakshasa Tangadi is something related to medieval Indian history then you can easily arrive at the option A. How is this? If you find out that Battle of Rakshasa Tangadi comes first then look at the options given. See option A only has a statement 1 in the first place. So the correct answer to this question is option A, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Now moving on to the next question. Consider the following statements regarding the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge program. Statement 1, Tide Turners Plastic Challenge was launched by NCC to clean seashows, beaches and other water bodies including rivers and lakes of plastic and other waste. Statement 2, the objective of the program is to inspire N individuals to reflect upon their plastic consumption, discover solutions to reduce their consumption and lead change in their homes, communities and institutions and offices. See I have taken this question because of this article here. The article says that National Carrot Corp that is NCC and United Nations Environment Program signed a memorandum of understanding to tackle the issue of plastic pollution and achieve the goal of clean water bodies. And they're going to do this through Punit Sagar Abyan and Tide Turners Plastic Challenge program. Now we'll understand what is Punit Sagar Abyan. See Punit Sagar Abyan initiative was started by NCC that is the National Carrot Corp. The objective of the initiative is to clean the seashows or beaches of the plastic and other waste materials. Now why was this initiative launched? See on October 2, 2014 Swachh Bharat Abyan campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this campaign was launched to highlight the imperativeness of cleanliness in the surroundings and know that the NCC has also been at the forefront of Swachh Bharat Abyan's and now the NCC has launched a nationwide campaign Punit Sagar Abyan to clean the seashows or beaches. So what is the significance of this initiative? See this initiative it helps in increasing the awareness about the importance of keeping our seas free from plastic waste and also know that the campaign aims to propagate the message of importance of clean seashows or beaches amongst the local population and also the future generation and under the initiative various cleanliness drives have been launched and awareness and educational activities will also be organized. Apart from this the NCC cadets they will interact with the general public, tourists, local shopkeepers or vendors and fishermen along the coastal areas to spread the awareness on the ill effects of beach littering and its adverse harmful impact to the environment. And this is about the Punit Sagar Abyan. Now coming to the plastic tide turner's challenge. See it is an initiative led by United Nations Environment Program. See this tide turner's Young Leaders Plastic Challenge is designed to educate youth across the world to understand the impact of plastic pollution and motivate them to reduce their plastic consumption along with encouraging others. So what are all the objectives of this challenge? It is to understand how the plastic pollution is threatening life in oceans, other water bodies and on lands and to reduce the personal consumption of single use or disposable plastics and to inspire friends, family, school, college or community to reduce consumption of single use plastics. And finally to become a youth leader by creating lasting change on a wider scale in the youngsters' sphere of influence. Now coming to the question here the statement one is incorrect. Why is that? It is because the statement says that the tide turner's plastic challenge was launched by NCC. It is incorrect. The Punit Sagar Abyan was only launched by NCC. Now coming to statement two this is correct. Just now we saw about the objectives of tide turner's plastic challenge program. So what is the correct answer here? The correct answer is option B 2 only. Now moving on to the final question consider the following statements with respect to impacts of rupee depreciation. Read the statements given, think about it and post your answer in the comment section. I have displayed a main question here for your practice. So interested aspirants, write it and post your answer in the comment section. If you have any queries related to the articles that we discussed today post that also in the comment section. And with this we have come to the end. If you find the video useful like, share and comment and do subscribe to Shankar Ayes Academy's YouTube channel for further updates. Thank you.