 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankarai's Academy. The Dispair news articles along with the page numbers are displayed here for your reference. The PDF link of the handy to notes and the timestamping of the news articles is given in the description of the video and also in the comment section. Let's begin with first news article analysis. This editorial is about the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka. In this contest, let us see in brief about the geography, history and quality of Sri Lanka. Then we will discuss the recent developments in the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka that is discussed in this editorial. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this editorial is given here for your reference. Sri Lanka is an island country lying in the Indian Ocean near the southeast of India. Though Sri Lanka is very close to the peninsula of India, it is separated by the Gulf of Manur and Park Strait as you can see in this map. See the entire island lies north of equator and equator is not passing through Sri Lanka. The central part of Sri Lanka is a hilly region which is known for its tea and rubber plantations. This mountain mass is surrounded by broad lanes. Kindly notice that Sri Lanka is mainly an agricultural country and it is also known for spices since historical times. And some of the major agriculture crops include rice, tea, rubber, coconut etc. Now let us look at the recent history of Sri Lanka. See Sri Lanka shares colonial history that is similar to India. Portuguese came to trade in spices then later they were replaced by the Dutch and then by the Britishers. See in 1815, the British established their rule over the entire island. Then the modern communications, western medical services, education in English as well as the plantation industry like coffee, tea, rubber and coconut were developed during the British rule. This is the reason why Sri Lanka is full of plantations especially in its central regions. Now let us look at the present demography of Sri Lanka. It has a population of 21 million and about 74% of the population is Sinhalese. And the other ethnic groups include Sri Lankan Tamils who are long settled descendants from southeastern India. Then the Indian Tamils most of whom were migrant workers who were brought to Sri Lanka under British rule. You should know that Sri Lanka is a multi-religious country but Buddhism constitutes the majority. Buddhism was introduced in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC that is almost 2000 years ago. Then the other religious groups of Sri Lanka include Hindus, Muslims and also Christians. So you can see that Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country. Now let us look at the quality of Sri Lanka in brief. See Sri Lanka got independence from the British rule in 1948. At that time Sri Lanka was called Ceylon and Ceylon became a republic in 1972 and changed its name to Sri Lanka. See the legislative power is exercised by a parliament which is elected by universal franchise on proportional representation basis. Then the executive power including defence is exercised by the president. The president is also elected by the people. See in Sri Lanka's quality the president appoints one of the members of parliament as the prime minister. Now let us look at the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka. Whenever you study bilateral relations between India and any other country try to know the recent history of that particular country at least in brief. So you will get an idea how the bilateral relations over a period of time have evolved. So in this contest let us see about the recent history of what happened in Sri Lanka. See after Sri Lanka's independence there were tensions between the Sinhala majority and the Tamil minority. And this has resulted in a bloody civil war in Sri Lanka. See the civil war started in the 1980s and ended only in 2009. Kindly notice that the president of Sri Lanka during this period was Mahinda Rajapaksa. He was the president from 2005 till 2015. See traditionally Sri Lanka has good bilateral relations with India but the post civil war period that is under Rajapaksa Sri Lanka became more and more dependent on China especially for its investment to rebuild the country. See China invested heavily in Sri Lanka for example Hammanthota port. At the end of Rajapaksa's rule when the civil war is in progress his brother Ghotabaya Rajapaksa was the defense secretary. So understand that the Rajapaksas are viewed as Chinese friendly and they were a concern for India. Then in 2015 when presidential elections were held Rajapaksas were defeated and again in November 2019 the presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka the Rajapaksas came to power again. This time it was Ghotabaya Rajapaksa who became the president. Once he became the president he appointed his brother that is the ex president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister of Sri Lanka. So you can see that Rajapaksas are back to power now and as soon as Ghotabaya was elected as president he told that the foreign policy of Sri Lanka would be neutral and Ghotabaya first visited India in November 2019 as soon as he was elected as the president of Sri Lanka. Also Mahinda Rajapaksa has visited India last week after he was appointed as the prime minister of Sri Lanka. Now before looking at the editorial let us look at this news article which appeared in the Hindu on 9th February. See sometimes there are many potential topics from UPSC perspective that appear in a single day. We make sure to cover such topics in the subsequent days because you get related news articles and editorials related to the same issues again because current defies that are especially related to polity, economy and international relations are basically the result of a chain of events that happened in the past. So always try to link and analyze the chain of events. Now if you look at the 9th February issue there was a news article which was an interview given by the newly elected prime minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa when he visited India. From this interview what we need to know is that Sri Lankan prime minister decides for debt restructuring and completion of joint projects with India. See Sri Lanka has to pay back a huge amount of debt which is around 60 billion dollars. In his interview the Sri Lankan prime minister has said that he had requested the Indian government that is if Sri Lanka could get a moratorium on all loan repayments for 3 years. Next if you see when Gautabhaya visited India in November 2019 after he was elected as the president of Sri Lanka, India has extended a line of credit that is about 400 million dollars to boost the development of Sri Lanka. And also India gave an extra 50 million dollars line of credit to Sri Lanka to fight terrorism and for security cooperation. So we can see that India has given priority to its relations with Sri Lanka under its neighborhood first policy. See as per government of India the line of credit is not a grant but a soft loan provided on concessional interest rates to developing countries. This soft loan has to be repaid by the borrowing governments. See the line of credit also helps to promote exports of Indian goods and services because 75% of the value of the contract must be sourced from India. So we can see that Rajapaksas are trying to maintain cordial or friendly relations with India and we can also see that India has also responded positively by giving about 450 million dollars of line of credit. Going forward, Sri Lanka, India and Maldives are expected to revive their trilateral relations on wider aspects that is on security aspects including joint maritime security talks and anti-terror cooperation. Now if you look at this editorial the author has discussed all these recent happenings in the first half that is regarding the request made by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister for a 3 year moratorium then the author suggests that India should consider the request because even in the past when Mahindra Rajapaksa was the president Sri Lanka offered India to develop Hamanthota port but India was not interested at that time. So Sri Lanka offered China to develop Hamanthota port and it created a huge debt trap to Sri Lanka as well. So the author tells that India should not miss this opportunity to extend help to Sri Lanka in order to prevent any further damage to the bilateral relations. Then the next aspect mentioned is that India is concerned about the welfare of Tamils in Sri Lanka especially after the civil war which was ended in 2009. India hopes that the expectations of the Tamil people for equality, justice peace and respect would be realized and the real devolution of powers as per the 13th amendment of Sri Lankan constitution would be taken forward. But if you see that the Sri Lankan Prime Minister had not given any solid commitment he said in this interview that he favoured the amendment but not the solutions since they were unacceptable to the Sinhala community who are the majority of Sri Lanka. India has also requested Sri Lanka to give special status for the north and east Sri Lanka where the Tamil population is concentrated much. India is also concerned about the memoranda of understanding that was signed during the previous regime allowing Indian participation in energy and infrastructure projects in Trincon Mali because Mahindra Rajapaksa has ruled out these memoranda of understanding. These are some of the concerns of India with respect to Sri Lanka so we need to wait and watch how the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka in the coming days. So as of now India is maintaining cordial relations with Sri Lanka but still some differences persist and both the countries have the responsibility to address these concerns. It is also important for India in order to tackle the geopolitical ambitions of China in the Indian Ocean region. So this is all about the discussion of this editorial to summarize this editorial we have seen about the geographical aspect of Sri Lanka then history and polity of Sri Lanka and then we saw the recent developments in the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka which the author has discussed in the editorial during which we also discussed the interview article which was published by the Hindu on 9th February. With this welcome to the end of analysis of this editorial the displayed practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Now let us move on to the next news article analysis. The news article is about election results for Delhi Legislative Assembly. See the Aam Admi Party won a massive 62 seats in the 70 member house and the remaining 8 seats were won by the BJP. In this context we will be discussing in brief about the evolution of the legislature of Delhi and the highlights of these news articles. The syllabus relevant for analysis of these news articles is highlighted here for your reference. Before discussing these news articles let us first understand the evolution of the Delhi legislature. See the political and administrative setup of Delhi has undergone several changes after independence. Prior to independence Delhi had a number of municipalities and its administration was being looked after by the chief commissioner. After independence the Delhi Legislative Assembly came into being in 1952. But following the state reorganization in 1956 the Delhi Legislative Assembly and the council of ministers were abolished. So Delhi became union territory under the direct administration of the president. Later in 1966 a metropolitan council was set up for the administration of Delhi. The council was headed by the lieutenant general or administrator who was appointed by the president of India. It was a unique emerald body with both elected and nominated members. Whereas it had no legislative powers and it had only an advisory role in the governance of Delhi. Later in 1987 a committee called Balakrishnan committee was set up to suggest measures for streamlining the administration in Delhi. The committee recommended that Delhi should continue to be union territory but it should be provided with a legislative assembly with appropriate powers to deal with matters of concern to the common man. Following this the parliament passed the 69th constitutional amendment act in 1991 and this inserted two new articles to the constitution that is articles 239 AA and 239 AB in the constitution. This provided for a legislative assembly for Delhi. And also the parliament connected the national capital territory of Delhi Act of 1991. So what is the present structure of Delhi legislature? See at present the Delhi assembly consists of 70 members and all of the members were directly elected. The constitution lays down the strength of the council of ministers including the chief minister should not be more than 10% of the total number of members in the assembly. The assembly has the power to make laws with respect to all the matters in the state list and also in the concurrent list except public order, police, land and entries related to these matters. Note that the chief minister of Delhi is appointed by the president then the president appoints other members or other ministers on the advice of the chief minister. The minister's whole office during the pleasure of the president. Note that the chief minister and the council of ministers aid wise the lieutenant governor in the exercise of his functions in relation to matters on which legislative assembly has power to make laws. Then the lieutenant governor has the power to summon, provoke or dissolve the assembly. So from all these matters we can say that the NCT of Delhi is a union territory under the president with a legislative assembly. Here the president exercises his control through the lieutenant governor. Note that Pudicherry and Jamun Kashmir are the other union territories with a legislative assembly. National capital territory of Delhi and union territory of Jamun Kashmir are the union territories with a separate high court. So we can say that the governance in Delhi is complicated. That is why we have often seen news articles mentioning power to sell between the chief minister and his council of ministers and the lieutenant governor. So there have been demands from several sections for granting complete statehood to Delhi. So politically Delhi would be stable if the same party rules at the center and also in Delhi. As we have mentioned earlier that UP has almost swept the recent elections. So there might be issues between the chief minister of Delhi and the lieutenant governor of Delhi in the coming days as well. With this let us discuss the mentioned news articles. See the UP got about 53.6% of the total vote share and won 62 seats out of 70 seats. And it is slightly below about 54.2% share in the last elections that is 2015 elections. This is significant because considering the fact majority of the voted people choose UP and this strong mandate will ensure a stable government in the national capital territory. When it comes to BJP it got about 38.5% of the vote share but just 8 seats in the total 70 seats. Know that in 2015 in 2015 elections it had just 3 seats and the present vote share that is about 38.5% did not convert into number of seats because for legislative assembly elections we follow the first past the post system. That means whoever gets the majority votes wins the race. The concept of the first past post system and the proportional representation system by means of single vote have been explained in detail in our 10th February analysis. So you can refer this video for your better understanding. Now let us come back to the news article that is for the congress the situation was similar as in 2015 and it failed in all the contested seats. Its vote share was almost only 4%. The news article tells that most of the candidates of congress will have to forfeit their deposits. So what does this mean? See section 34 of the representative of the people act of 1951 says that for any assembly election a candidate has to deposit about 10,000 rupees and in case of schedule cast or schedule tribe this amount is about 5000 rupees. This requirement of deposit used to avoid non-serious candidates from contesting elections. See section 158 of this act says that this deposit shall be forfeited or need not return if the votes polled by the candidate does not exceed 1 6th of the total number of valid votes polled by all the candidates. Now look at this news article which is a continuation to the first news article. As we have discussed that UP has posted dominant victories both in terms of number of votes and also in terms of number of seats. Therefore, Ahmadi party was able to continue its dominance in the politics of Delhi. See the results of Delhi Legislative Assembly has assumed significance because we know that Delhi especially the Shaheen Bagh area has been witnessing massive protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and also the proposed national register of citizens. So in this context the opposition parties have often alleged that the center is playing divisive politics in the name of religion. So the Delhi election was quoted as a referendum between the politics of polarization by the BJP party and the politics of development by the Ahmadi party. Therefore, all the opposition parties claim that people prefer development over divisive politics on the basis of religion. So many of today's editorials are related to the Delhi elections. Now let us discuss these editorials one by one. The first editorial is titled as winning formula. In this editorial the author speaks about how the Ahmadi party was able to stage such a massive victory against the BJP. The author is of the opinion that the election campaign of the BJP was filled with religious polarization. They gave more attention to CIA, NRC and the ongoing protest in Delhi. So their campaign lacked a developmental agenda. But the electoral campaign of Ahmadi party was mainly based on its developmental achievements. It emphasized on its achievements in ensuring better and accessible delivery of public services such as education, health care and water to the pupil of Delhi. So the author says that the achievements of Ahmadi party in the last five years paid rich dividends in the 2020 elections. But the author is of the opinion that considering this victory of Ahmadi party as the end of right wing politics is not correct. This is because the BJP party has got almost 38.5% of the vote share. Also the margin of victory of Ahmadi party has narrowed down in many seats. In addition Ahmadi party did not counter BJP's questions on CIA, NRC and the ongoing protest in Delhi. Rather it sidelined these questions and focused on its developmental agenda. So with all these reasons we can say that the politics of polarization has not completely failed. But the election results give an important message that it shows the limitation of politics which is purely based on nationalism, religion and polarization. See the results indicates that people also care about governance. This will definitely necessitate the need for ruling parties to focus more on governance. Now we will see one more editorial which is titled as Celebration of Pivotal Achievement. In this editorial the author speaks about the poll strategy adopted by the Ahmadi party. He the author says that usually BJP is successful in setting up its own political discourse near the election period. It simply means that BJP will set up its own political agenda during election time. Therefore its opponents have to shift their strategies to counter the BJP's strategy. So in this strategy the BJP was aided by its strong organizational structure and a strong financial mechanism. See the Delhi election also witnessed the same and the BJP's election strategy was based on hyper nationalism, then the stress on Citizenship Amendment Act, then the national population register and also about the ongoing protest in the Shaheen Bagh area of Delhi. See such divisive politics and hyper nationalistic campaigns have helped BJP before. For example the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in which it won massively but the Ahmadi party has avoided any direct criticism of the BJP's strategy. Rather it focused on its own achievements. So the author says that Ahmadi party did not walk into the BJP's trap. Now we will see that how did this help Ahmadi party to win this time. He the author says that Ahmadi party has delivered up to its promises and the significant portion of its budget went to education then health, water supply and sanitation in every year. Therefore the government focused more on primary education which resulted in making education equitable. It also resulted in better learning outcomes in government schools. Then another significant development was in health sector that is establishment of mohala clinics or primary health centers which helped to bring basic health care to the urban poor. They were also successful in revamping the public transport system. See the Ahmadi party almost delivered what it has promised. Therefore people of Delhi again voted them back to power. He the author says that this can be a model for urban governance in other parts of India. That is empowering city administration to allocate resources will address glaring needs of the cities. So the Ahmadi party has proved its strength in Delhi but the author says that this will not help the party to grow beyond Delhi. This is because UP is not an ideological party like BJP or CPI. Therefore it lacks a core vote base which believes in that ideology. It has also failed to take a strong stand on important national issues such as CAA and NRC. The author says that this might have resulted in its declining vote share in Punjab. So the author is of the opinion that Ahmadi party need to evolve much more if it wants to grow beyond national capital territory. With this we will see one more editorial which is titled as the other Delhi is the stand yet. In this editorial the author speaks about how the people of Delhi voted differently in different elections. The author begins the editorial by saying that this is politically split because elections in Delhi are neither simply provincial nor simply national. This means that the people of Delhi have shown different authors or forms when it comes to different elections. That is we know that the BJP has won more than 300 seats on its own in the 2019 general elections. See the national capital territory of Delhi has 7 Lok Sabha seats and the BJP won all these 7 seats during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The Ahmadi party was at a distant thard in these elections that is even beyond the congress vote share. But in the 2020 assembly elections Ahmadi party won about 62 seats and with a vote share of more than 52%. This shows a divide electorate when it comes to different elections. See the BJP fought the elections with focus on national issues such as citizenship settlement act, NRC, then the ongoing protest at the Shaheen Bagh etc. The author says that for BJP this was an expansion of 2019 Lok Sabha election. But Ahmadi party refrained itself from these issues and focused on local issues such as effective delivery of social services and its achievements in the past 5 years. Then the congress which failed to campaign effectively won 0 seats. In this editorial the author says of the opinion that this cannot be treated as the complete failure of BJP's status as the Ahmadi party did not counter BJP on its ideological lines. As per the author this is a gain for the BJP because Ahmadi party's stand was like we have no problem with your communal politics but we will not openly oppose it. This means that Ahmadi party was afraid to criticize the majoritarian politics for fear of losing majoritarian votes. So in this context the author says that the play it safely for electoral gains strategy for Ahmadi party is not safe. It might give it temporary electoral gains but it will not resolve the root cause. However the BJP might have failed to form governments in several states recently like in the state of Maharashtra Jharkhand and now in Delhi but still they are very strong and maintain their vote base when it comes to national politics. Then at the end of the editorial the author gives certain suggestions for the congress party that the party is in a decline for last few years and the Delhi elections is the latest indication that the party is on the wage of political irrelevance. The author believes that if the party is willing to remake itself now it can claim its rightful place in the society. It is not just congress but all opposition parties have to re-align their strategy to succeed in the upcoming elections. If they fail to take a stand on national issues then they might become irrelevant in the future. This is why the author says that the other Delhi is still far away. What we actually need at present is still far away from us. So in the context of recent elections in Delhi we have discussed these editorials with this we have come to the end of analysis of these editorials. The display practice question will be discussed at the end of the decision. Now let us proceed to the next news article analysis. This news article talks about the increase in number of people who died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in India. It states that nearly 110 people died in 2019 alone. It is about 62% increase from last year. So in this context today we shall be seeing what is meant by manual scavenging. Then the status of manual scavengers in India. Then the associated health risk then the constitutional and legal pros and then why the practice is still existing in India. And finally we will be seeing some of the suggestible measures to end the mainness of manual scavenging. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now let us try to understand what is meant by manual scavenging. See as per United Nations manual scavenging refers to the practice of manually cleaning, carrying, disposing or handling in any manner human excreta from dry letterings and sewers. It often involves using the most basic tools such as buckets, brooms and baskets. Now we will see one more definition of manual scavenging that is as per the International Labour Organization which is also UN body. It defines that manual scavenging as the removal of human excreta from public streets and dry letterings and cleaning septic tanks, sewers and gutters. Therefore you can see this practice not only in India but also in other parts of the world. Now let us see the status of manual scavengers in India. See this practice of manual scavenging is linked to India's system where so called disadvantaged communities are expected to do this job. See the manual scavengers are among the most poorest and most disadvantaged communities in India. See manual scavenging is not only caste based but also a gender based occupation with about 90% of them being women. So households with dry letterings prefer women to clean the excreta instead of men as they are located inside the house. See the repeated handling of human excreta without protection leads to respiratory and skin diseases including jaundice, trachoma, carbon monoxide poisoning etc. See every year hundreds of manual scavengers die because of asphyxiation. And if you notice that the recent death of 5 manual scavengers in the national capital in the month of September 2019 proves the seriousness of the situation. This job is also associated with a variety of diseases such as hepatitis A, Equally, rotavirus, pinworms and so on. So these are some of the health issues that are associated with this practice. Now let's see the constitutional and legal protections that are provided for this disadvantaged communities. The Indian constitution prohibits the caste based discrimination as per Article 15 and it also abolishes the practice of untouchability as per Article 17. See the human dignity which is an intrinsic part of fundamental right to life under Article 21. Here the term dignity represents equal treatment and human respect. Then the Article 46 of the Indian constitution provides that the state shall protect the weaker sections particularly the schedule caste and the schedule tribes social justice and also all forms of exploitation. However, despite such constitutional safeguards manual scavenging still exist and the manual scavengers remind victims of discrimination. So to liberate and rehabilitate the manual scavengers manual scavenging was banned about 27 years ago with the passing of the employment of manual scavengers and the construction of dry latrines prohibition act of 1993. See this act prohibits the employment of a person for manually carrying human excreta it also prohibits construction and maintenance of dry latrines. Despite that there were reports of existence of manual scavenging. See the house listing and housing census of 2011 reported that there are about 26 lakh insanitary latrines in the country that demands manual cleaning. Accordingly the parliament passed the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and the rehabilitation act of 2013. See this act that is 2013 act prohibits dry latrines and all kinds of manual cleaning of excreta as well as the cleaning of gutters sewers and septic tanks without protective gear. It also provides for rehabilitation of those manual scavengers in a time bound manner. See if someone is employed as manual scavenger or employed with hazardous manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks then the 2013 act recognizes these offenses as cognisable and non-violable offenses with stringent penalties. So with this background let us come back to the news article it says that despite the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers act of 2013 the problem still persists in India that is people are deployed in manual scavenging. Now we will see why this practice of manual scavenging still existing in our country. It is because of the continued presence of insanitary latrines that is there are about 2.6 million insanitary latrines or dry toilets that requires manual cleaning. Then the next reason is that this means that the septic tanks are designed badly which indicates that they have engineering defects which means that after a point of time a mission cannot clean it. Therefore it forces the people to enter septic tanks. Then the next major reason is that the sanitation falls within the competency of the states under the 7th schedule of the constitution. So the implementation is within the domain of the states. And finally we can say that it is not just about the law but the attitude of the public authorities who repeatedly sought an extension of deadline to end the menace of manual scavenging. It shows that lack of commitment from the public authorities to put an end to such a dehumanizing practice. Now we will see what needs to be done to end the menace of manual scavenging. See this would require the proper implementation of the legislated acts and the manual scavengers are protected by punishing the one who employs them in such kind of employment. Then the government must rehabilitate the manual scavengers both psychologically as well as financially, thereby making the basic right to dignity a reality for the manual scavengers. To conclude this news article we have discussed about manual scavenging then the present status of manual scavengers in India then the associated health risks then the constitutional and legal pros and then reasons for why the practice is still existing in India and then finally we have suggested some of the measures to end the menace of manual scavenging in the country. With this we have come to the end of analysis of this news article the display practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Now let us move on to the next news article. This article talks about the response by the finance minister in Lok Sabha during the debate on the union budget 2020-21. The union finance minister said that the economy is reviving and there are some green shoots that is signs of revival that is clearly visible. In this context today we shall be seeing some of the indicators mentioned by the minister to show that the economy is reviving. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. The minister said that the economy is not in trouble and there are 7 macro economic indicators that shows the signs of revival. These indicators includes net foreign direct investment then net inflows of foreign portfolio investments then improvisation in ease of doing business ranking then foreign exchange reserves then based on collections of GST then based on industrial production and then based on capital market performance and finally based on national infrastructure pipeline project. As per the union finance minister the net foreign direct investment has improved. That is the net everyday inflows stands at 24.4 billion dollars for the period of April 2019 to November 2019 as compared to 21.2 billion dollars for the same period last year that is April 2018 to November 2018. Then there is rebounding of foreign portfolio investments and it rebounded from net outflows to net inflows. See the increase in FDIs and foreign portfolio investments are a reflection of the increase in global confidence in the Indian economy. See these improvements could be attributed to improvement in India's rank in world banks ease of doing business and we know that the India has improved by 14 positions to the third rank in 2019. That is as per world banks ease of doing business 2020 report. Then the foreign exchange reserves also get increased to the level of 457.5 billion dollars by the end of December 2019 and it is an all time high accumulation of forex reserves in India. Then the next indicator mentioned by the union finance minister is regarding the collection of GST that is from April to December of 2019 the gross GST revenue collections crossed the mark of 1 lakh crores in 5 times. See the GST collection for December 2019 stands at 1.03 lakh crores. This is also a reflection of a rebounding economy as mentioned by the union finance minister. So here you can see the GST collections for the financial year 2019-20. Apart from these factors there is a rebound in industrial production and also surge in stock markets which are also the signs of revival. But if you analyze the budget document it mentioned that the index of industrial production grew at 0.6% during the period of April November 2019 when compared to 3.8% for the financial year 2018-19. Also the 8 core infrastructure industries which represents about 40% in the index of industrial production also remains stagnant in production during the same period as compared to a growth of 4.4% in the financial year 2018-19. And if you see these growth rates these are not in line with what the finance minister has mentioned in the parliament. Then comes to the capital market that is the union finance minister mentioned that there is a surge in the stock markets. It is reflected in India's benchmark indices such as NIFTY-50 and SNP-BSE-N6 index and these indices have continued to grow during 2019-20. See the average annual growth of BSE and NIFTY-50 in 2019-20 that is from the month of April to December was 8.9% and 5.7% respectively. Finally the government has also announced the national infrastructure pipeline project worth 102 lakh crores which is considered as one of the biggest flagship infrastructure project of the present government. And this is a move to make India as a 5 trillion dollar economy by the financial year 2024-25. See the union finance minister has said these indicators as signs of revival of economy and the improvements in these indicators are attributed to the measures taken by the government during the recent years. And these measures include hiking MSP of agriculture crops for the year 2019-20 in the reduction in corporate tax rates then policy initiatives for development of textiles, handicrafts and also for electric vehicles then the outreach programs for growth expansion and also facilitation of micro small medium enterprises then incentives for startups then recapitalization of public sector banks then relaxation of external commercial borrowing for affordable housing then measure of 10 public sector banks into 4 entities then the revised public sector lending then the revised priority sector lending norms for exports and then streamlining of many labour laws at the central government levels. She also mentioned that private investment exports private consumption and public consumption as the 4 engines of growth for economy. See the article concludes by saying that the union finance minister was silent on the question asked regarding the decrease in capital expenditure allocation from the financial year 2019-20 to the next financial year with this we have come to the end of analysis of this news article. The display practice question will be discussed at the end of this session let us start our practice question session now let's take up this question that is among the following cities or towns which one lies geographically closest to park state. See they have given 4 options like Tutikorin, Jamnagar, Rameshwaram and Kandala and you have to choose the one which lies geographically closest to park state. So from the given options you can easily eliminate Jamnagar and Kandala because these are located near to the Gulf of Kutch then you will be left with option A and option C. See India and Sri Lanka are separated by park state and Gulf of Manar. Tutikorin is geographically located near to the Gulf of Manar whereas Rameshwaram is located near to the park state. So for this question option C Rameshwaram is geographically close to park state. Is the correct option for this question. This question was asked in UPSC 2017 prelims examination that is which of the following is geographically closest to Great Nicopa. They have given options like Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Sri Lanka. So to answer this question you should know about Annaman and Nicopa group of islands. See Annaman group of islands includes North, Middle, South and Little Annaman. Whereas Nicopa group of islands include Karnikobar, Little Nicopa and Great Nicopa. See in case of Annaman group of islands Myanmar is geographically closest. Then in case of Nicopa group of islands that is for Great Nicopa island Indonesia is geographically closest. That is the island of Sumatra is close to Great Nicopa. Therefore for this question option A Sumatra is geographically closest to Great Nicopa. So in the context of this question know that 10 degrees northern latitude separates Annaman group of islands and Nicopa group of islands. Consider the following statements regarding the national capital territory of Delhi. See they have given 4 statements and you have to choose correct statements. Statement one says it is the only Indian territory with a high court. Then second statement says the legislative assembly of Delhi has no nominated members. Then the third statement says the council of ministers hold office during the pleasure of the left-hand governor. Then the fourth statement says the chief minister is appointed by the president of India. See this question can be easily answered based on elimination technique. If you look at this option A says 1 and 2 only then B is 1, 3, 4 only then option C is 2 and 4 only then option D is 1, 2, 3 and 4 only. To answer this question that is if you could able to say whether the first statement is correct or incorrect then you can easily answer this question. See at present India is having 28 states and 9 union territories and out of these 9 union territories the union territory of Delhi and the union territory of Jomon Kashmir have separate high courts. Therefore we can say that the given first statement is incorrect statement. So you can remove the first statement from the given options then you will be left with option C that is 2 and 4 only is the correct option for this question. Now consider the following statements with reference to National Commission for Safai Karamcharis. They have given 3 statements and you have to choose them. See statement 1 says that it is a non statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Second statement says it is mandated with monitoring of the implementation of the prohibition of employment as manual scavenges and the Rehabilitation Act of 2013. Then the third statement says it can take super motor notice of matter relating to non implementation of the above said act. See National Commission for Safai Karamcharis was constituted on 12th August 1994 as a statutory body by an Act of Parliament through the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act of 1993 for a period of 3 years. However with the lapsing of act in 2004 after 2 extensions now the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis acting as a non statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. As per the latest 2019 resolution its tenure is extended from time to time through government resolutions. See as per the latest 2019 resolution the National Commission is extended till 2022. Therefore the given first statement is correct statement. See the prohibition of employment as manual scavenges and the Rehabilitation Act of 2013 mandates the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis to monitor its implementation and it also imposed the commission to take Suvomoto Action for the non implementation of the 2013 act. Therefore all the given statements are correct with reference to National Commission for Safai Karamcharis. So for this question option D 1, 2 and 3 is the correct option. Now let's take up this practice main question that is the challenges in domestic financial sector and global economic turbulence as led to decline in GDP growth of India. Do you agree with this view? Give arguments in favour of your answer. See this is a 10 marks question and you have to write in 150 words. For this question you can post your written answers in the comment section and your posted answers would be evaluated unsuitable feedback will be given in the reasonable time frame. With this we have come to the end of analysis of today's Indian news analysis. If you like the video please do like, share, comment and subscribe Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel with rates on civil services exam preparation. Thank you.