The Hindu News Analysis –03rd April 2022 – Shankar IAS Academy

S. Page Number*
News Articles
No. C B D H T

1 Kangaroos in forest reveal smuggling in West Bengal 13 - 1 9 11

2 Roubles for fuel, defence deals with Russia (FAQ) 16 - 12 12 14

As war depletes wheat granaries across the world, India looks to

3 12 - 8 8 10
fill the void

4 India-Australia deal seeks to double bilateral trade in 5 years 1,11 - 1,7 1,7 1,9

5 Prelims Practice Questions

@ end of the video
6 Mains Practice Question
*C – Chennai; B – Bengaluru; D – Delhi; H – Hyderabad; T – Thiruvananthapuram
Pg: 13 - C;

Pg: 1 - D;
Pg: 9 - H;
Pg: 11 - T.
News

• Kangaroo spotted in Baikunthpur Forest Division in West Bengal.

Mammals

• Egg-laying monotremes.

• Marsupials - raises its newborn

offspring inside an external
pouch.

• Placentals - completes embryo

development inside the mother.
 • Females produce milk for the nourishment.
• Marsupials, placentals – give birth to live
young. • Distinctive character - the pouch to carry
undeveloped young ones.
• Placental mammals - majority of modern
mammal species alive today. • Some marsupials - do not possess pouch.

• Marsupials - mostly in in Australia and South

America.

Mammal Vs Marsupial

• Belong to the same family.

• Warm-blooded.

• Have backbone and hair or fur.

• Air-breathing animals that give birth to

young ones.
  Small heads and large, round ears

Kangaroo

• Large marsupials.

• Have a pouch to carry their young ones.

• Functions of pouch

 Female kangaroo's breasts are inside.

 Incubator to allow baby to fully develop.

 Protect the young ones from predators.

 Have hopping
• Physical characteristics ability.

 3 to 7 feet in height.  Can leap over

 Weight - approx. 200 pounds. long distances.

• Habitat  Musky rat-kangaroo - rainforests in northeastern
Queensland.
 Australia, Tasmania, and surrounding
islands.  Gray kangaroos - forests of Australia and
Tasmania.

 Antilopine kangaroo - monsoonal eucalyptus

woodlands of extreme northern Australia.

 Tree-kangaroos - upper branches of trees in the

rainforests of Queensland, islands of New Guinea.

 Variety of landscapes - forests,

woodlands, plains, and savannas.
• Conservation status

 IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.

 Either near threatened, threatened,

vulnerable, endangered or critically
endangered.

 Desert rat-kangaroo and the Nullarbor

dwarf bettong – extinct.
Pg: 16 - C; Pg: 12 - D, H; Pg: 14 - T
 Part A—Preliminary Examination
Paper I - (200 marks)
SWIFT
 Current events of national and international
importance. • Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial
Part B—Main Examination Telecommunication.

PAPER-III • Cooperative company - Belgian law.

General Studies‐ II: Governance, Constitution, Polity,
• Owned and controlled by its shareholders -
Social Justice and International relations.
financial institutions.
 India and its neighborhood- relations.
 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and • Secure platform for financial institutions to
agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s exchange information - global monetary
interests. transactions.
 Effect of policies and politics of developed and
• Does not actually move money.
developing countries on India’s interests, Indian
diaspora.
 • Belgium based.

• Overseen by central banks from 11 industrial

countries
• Purpose

 To verify transaction information -

financial messaging services.

 To ensure effective controls and processes

- security and resilience.

 To avoid posing a risk to financial stability

& financial infrastructures.

• Service provided to more than 11,000 banks

in over 200 countries.
 • Paralysing Russia’s central bank assets - stop
SWIFT sanctions Kremlin from “using its war chest”.

• US & EU - cutting off Russian banks

from SWIFT.

• Aim

• Hit Russia’s economy hard.

• Rely on telephone or a fax machine to

make payments.

• Cutting off a country from SWIFT -

equivalent to restricting a Nation’s
Internet access.
• Alternatives to SWIFT sanctions
Pg: 12 - C; Pg: 8 - D, H; Pg: 10 - T
 • India had the second-highest wheat supply.

• India’s wheat supply stood at 613 million tonnes.

Disruption in Wheat Supply Chain
• 80% of this is used for domestic consumption, exported
• Russia and Ukraine - 25% of the
only 2% and the rest was stored.
world’s wheat exports.

• Countries sourcing wheat from these

2 nations - need of alternatives.

• Between 2017 and 2021.

 Russia exported 183 MT of wheat.

 Ukraine exported 91 MT of wheat.

 India exported just 12.6 MT.

• African, West Asian & Southeast Asian Wheat
countries rely heavily on Russian and • Moderate temperature & rainfall - growing
Ukrainian wheat. season.
• APEDA - India focusing on exporting wheat. • Bright sunshine at harvest time.

• India’s wheat harvesting season from March • Well drained loamy soil.
to May.
• USA, Canada, Argentina, Russia, Ukraine,
 Coincides with the supply crunch. Australia and India.
• Priority • Second most important cereal crop in India.
 Ensuring price stability in India. • A crop of temperate zone.
 Grain availability - internal consumption. • Cultivated in India - Rabi season.
• 85% total area – Country’s North & Central
regions.

• Grown under irrigated conditions.

• Rainfed crop in Himalayan highlands & parts

of Malwa plateau - Madhya Pradesh.

• 14% - total cropped area - wheat

cultivation.

• Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab,

Haryana and Rajasthan - leading wheat
producing states.
Pg: 1,11 - C; Pg: 1,7 - D, H; Pg: 1,9 - T.
 Part A—Preliminary Examination India-Australia Economic Cooperation and
Paper I - (200 marks) Trade Agreement (ECTA)
 Current events of national and international
• First trade agreement of India with a developed
importance.
country after more than a decade.
Part B—Main Examination
PAPER-III • Encompasses cooperation across the entire

General Studies- II: Governance, Constitution, spectrum of bilateral economic and commercial
Polity, Social Justice and International relations. relations
 India and its neighborhood - relations.
 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and
agreements involving India and/or affecting
India’s interests.
 Effect of policies and politics of developed and
developing countries on India’s interests, Indian
diaspora.
• Covered Areas

 Trade in Goods

 Rules of Origin

 Trade in Services

 Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)

 Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures

 Dispute Settlement

 Movement of Natural Persons

 Telecom

 Customs Procedures

 Pharmaceutical products etc.

 • India will offer preferential access
• Institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade. to Australia on over 70% of its
tariff lines.
• Covers almost all the tariff lines
 Raw materials and intermediaries
• India - preferential market access provided by
such as
Australia on 100% of its tariff lines.
 Coal

 Mineral ores and

 Gems and Jewellery  Food, and agricultural products
 Wines etc.
 Textiles  Engineering products

 Leather & Footwear  Medical devices and

 Furniture  Automobiles.
 • Offers from Australia in the services space.

 Quota for chefs and yoga teachers.

 Post study work visa of 2-4 years for Indian students on

reciprocal basis.
Services Trade
 Mutual recognition of Professional Services and Other
• IT & ITES,
licensed/regulated Occupations.
• Business services,
 Work & Holiday visa arrangement for young professionals.
• Health,
India’s offer
• Education, and
• Business services
• Audio visual.
• communication services

• Construction and related engineering services etc.

• Fast track approval for patented, generic and bio similar medicines.
Facts • India , Australia & Japan - trilateral Supply
Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) arrangement.
• Australia is the 17th largest trading
partner of India.  Seeks to enhance the resilience of supply
chains in the Indo-Pacific Region.
• India is Australia’s 9th largest trading
partner. • Both Quad members.

• Bilateral trade for both merchandise and  Enhance cooperation and develop partnership.

services is valued at US$ 27.5 billion in • Cement deep, close and strategic relations.
2021.
• Create new employment opportunities, raise
• India’s merchandise exports to Australia living standards and improve general welfare of
grew 135% between 2019 and 2021. peoples.
 Practice Question – Prelims
Q. Consider the following statements with
reference to marsupials
1. Marsupials are only found in Australia.
2. Kangaroos are large marsupials and are
native to Australia.
3. The IUCN status of Grey kangaroos is
Vulnerable
Which of the above statements is/are
incorrect?
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
 Practise Prelims Question
Q. Cross-Border Interbank Payment System
or CIPS recently seen in news refers to
a) A settlement and payment clearing
system for transactions to boost the
international use of China’s currency
in trade settlements
b) A cooperative company under Belgian law.
c) A regional development bank of United
States.
d) A payment system used in India to make
international transactions.
 Practise Prelims Question
Q. This rabi crop requires moderate temperature
and rainfall during growing season and bright
sunshine at the time of harvest. It thrives best
in well drained loamy soil. Here the crop
refers to
a) Rice
b) Wheat
c) Cotton
d) Sugarcane
 Practice Question – Mains
GS – II
Q. ‘India-Australia Economic Cooperation and
Trade Agreement (ECTA) will further cement
the already deep, close and strategic relations
between the two countries’. Explain.
(150 Words, 10 Marks)