 Hello and welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankar IS Academy. The news articles along with the page numbers are displayed here for your convenience. The PDF link of the handwritten notes and timestamping of the discussed news articles are given in the description box and also in the comments section. Let's begin with the first news article analysis. This news article reports fiscal deficit touches 83% of full EF target. So in this context, we are going to discuss about fiscal deficit and also about eight core industries in our economy and their present status. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now, we know that the receipts and expenditure forms the core of a budget. The receipts are further classified as revenue receipts and capital receipts. In case of revenue receipts, these are receipts of the government which are non-redimable. It means they cannot be reclaimed from the government. And also know that they are further divided into tax and non-tax revenue receipts. Now, in case of capital receipts, it includes the receipts of the government which create liability or reduce financial assets. For example, these are market borrowings or borrowing by the government from the Reserve Bank of India. Now, we'll see about expenditure, which is also classified into revenue and capital expenditure. Revenue expenditure is expenditure incurred for purposes other than the creation of physical or financial assets. And capital expenditure includes expenditures of the government which result in creation of physical or financial assets or reduction in financial liabilities. Now, as we all know that when government expenditure is more than receipts, it incurs a deficit. There are various measures that capture government deficit. These include revenue deficit, effective revenue deficit and also primary deficit. Remember that in our 30th May Hindu News Analysis video, we have discussed in detail about types of government deficits and we recommend to watch this video for better understanding of these types of government deficit. Now, let us recollect about fiscal deficit. It is the difference between the government's total expenditure and its total receipts excluding borrowing. So, we can say that gross fiscal deficit is equal to total expenditure minus revenue receipts and non-debt creating capital receipts. Here, non-debt creating capital receipts are those receipts which are not borrowings and do not give rise to debt. For example, recovery of loans proceeds from the sale of public sector units. So, these are certain examples for non-debt creating capital receipts. With this information, let us take up the news article. It says that centers fiscal deficit for the first three months of financial year 2020-21 was about 6.62 lakh gross and it is almost 83% of the budgeted target for the whole financial year. So, if the center borrows more and more in order to meet the revenue shortfall because of COVID-19 impact and promised stimulus spending, then the fiscal deficit may become 6.5% to 8% of GDP and it is much higher than the budget goal of 3.5%. Now, there is also one more news article in the similar context. It says that core sector output shrinks about 15% in the month of June 2020. Know that there are eight core industries within the index of industrial production and they comprise about 40.27% of the weight of total items included in the index of industrial production and they are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity. And we know that the index of industrial production is released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation whereas the index of eight core industries is a monthly report that measures collective and individual performance of production in these eight core industries and it is compiled and released by the Office of the Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Know that the base year of index of eight core industries is 2011-12. With this information, let us take up the news article. It says growth rate of index of eight core industries for the month of June 2020 declined by 15% as compared to same month in the previous year. It also mentioned that the cumulative growth during April to June month of 2020-21 was about minus 24.6% and this negative trend is expected to continue for at least two more months. The news article also reports the fertilizer industry was the only one which saw actual growth in the month of June 2020. Fertilizers production increased by about 4.2% as compared to June 2019 but this growth rate is lower than 7.5% growth rate which was reported in the month of May 2020. However, it deflects the positive outlook in the agriculture sector where a normal monsoon is leading to expectations of a bumper-curry crop. Also, notice that the remaining industry showed contraction with the steel sector being the worst performer with a 33.8% decline. Overall, if you look at this map, you can notice that from the month of March 2020, there is a decline in the growth rate of index of eight core industries that is minus 8.6% in the month of March, minus 37% in the month of April, minus 22% in the month of May and there is a slight improvement but it is also declined that is minus 15% in the month of June 2020. So, in the context of this news article, we have discussed about fiscal deficit and also about index of eight core industries. Let us move on to the next news article analysis. This news article talks about the long-range forecast of Indian meteorological department for the rainfall during the second half of 2020 southwest monsoon. So, to understand this forecast, we need to know about certain terms such as long-range forecast, long period average that is LPA, normal monsoon rainfall, etc. So, in our today's analysis, we are going to discuss these terms. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now, what is the long-range forecast of monsoon? According to World Meteorological Organization, long-range forecast is defined as the forecast from 30 days up to one season's description of average weather parameters. So, the monthly forecast or seasonal forecast comes under long-range forecast and we know that IMD has given forecast for the second half of 2020 southwest monsoon which is August to September months. Here also notice that first half of the 2020 southwest monsoon is from June to July months. Now, we will see about long period average that is LPA which is often mentioned in the newspapers. Know that long period average of rainfall is the average rainfall which is recorded over a particular reason for a given time interval. Either time interval can be 30 years or 50 years. So, long period average for the season is calculated on the basis of mean rainfall during the four-month monsoon season or a 50 year period that is from 1961 to 2010. So, the current LPA of all India's southwest monsoon rainfall based on the average rainfall over the time period that is from 1961 to 2010 is about 88 centimeters. Also know that LPA acts as a benchmark while forecasting the quantitative rainfall for the given reason for a specific month or for a specific season. Now, based on long period average the rainfall distribution is categorized into five different categories such as deficient category, below normal, normal, above normal and excess categories. For example, if rainfall range is about 96 to 104 percent of LPA then it is categorized as normal category. So, based on this categorization the experimental forecast of IMD in the month of June 2020 suggested that there is a high probability of 41 percent for the 2020 monsoon season rainfall to be more than 104 percent of LPA which indicates 2020 monsoon season rainfall will be above normal to excess. Even a second forecast suggested that quantitatively the 2020 monsoon season rainfall for the country as a whole is likely to be one or two percent of the long period average. Notice that the season rainfall for the monsoon for the broad geographical reasons is expected to be specially well distributed. It predicted that the 2020 monsoon season rainfall is likely to be one or seven percent of LPA over northwest India, one or three percent of LPA over central India, one or two percent of LPA over south peninsula and it is likely to be 96 percent of LPA over northeast India. The forecast also noticed that on a monthly basis the rainfall over the country as a whole was predicted to be one or three percent of its long period average during the month of July 2020 and about 97 percent of LPA during the month of August 2020. So, in the context of this news article we have discussed about long range forecast of Indian meteorological department and also about long period average and five different categories of rainfall prediction based on long period average. Let us move on to the next news article analysis. This ground zero article is with reference to floods in the state of Assam. So, in this context we will discuss about floods, causes for floods. We will also see the flood hazard map of Assam and then some important measures to mitigate floods. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now we will start with the definition of flooding that is it refers to a great flow of body of water which results in swelling and also results in overflowing in adjacent areas. So, generally flood occurs due to heavy rainfall in the catchment area but sometime it also occurs due to upstream discharge in a storage reservoir or due to dam values. So, in this context we might have heard of a term called as flash flood. See when a flood occurs in a short time of heavy rainfall or dam values such a flood is called a flash flood. In the short time is usually less than six hours that is if a flood occurs in less than six hours of heavy rainfall it is called as flash flood. So, because of suddenness there are more and severe damages. Now in our country states such as Arunachalpadesh, Assam, Odisha, Himachalpadesh, Uttarakhand and the reason of western gods in Maharashtra and Kerala are more vulnerable to flash floods that are caused by cloud bust. Know that if 10 centimeter rainfall is received at a given area in one hour then such rain events are termed as cloud bust and we know that the mountainous reasons are more prone to cloud bust because of orographic rainfall. Here oro means mountains. Now we will discuss the causes of floods that is when rivers do not have capacity to contain the high flows within their banks this leads to flooding. It is natural for a river to overflow its banks in the event of a heavy rainfall and to spill into its flood plains but over a period of time it is observed that humans have occupied the flood plains in the extensive and unplanned manner. So, this leads to damages such as loss of lives, loss of delving places or houses and also damage to private and public utilities. Then another reason for floods is because of the varying rainfall distribution and the variation affects the capacity of rivers to carry excess water. Also notice that the problem of flooding is aggravated by various factors such as silting of the riverbeds erosion of beds and banks leading to changes in the river courses. With this information let us come to the flood hazard at last for the state of Assam. In order to minimize the impact of the floods in the state of Assam the state government of Assam approached national remote sensing center of ISRO for identifying the flood hazard level of various villages in the state. The most frequently inundated districts and villages were identified based on the frequency of inundation and from satellite images of past floods. So, in this context know that Assam is the first state in the country to release satellite based flood hazard at last and it was released in the year 2011 and it is also first state to update the at last which was done in the year 2016. Now coming to the flood hazard map it is classified into five different categories based on the frequency of inundation or flooding. Here very high category indicates the areas which are inundated 16 to 18 times during the 18 year period that is from 1998 to 2015. Then high category indicates inundations of flooding 13 to 15 times. Then moderate category indicates 9 to 12 times, low indicates 5 to 8 times and very low category indicates the areas which are inundated 1 to 4 times during the past 18 years. So, this flood hazard at last helps in better understanding of flood severity. Now with reference to Assam its geographical position plays an important role why the state is in receiving end as a result of floods. Therefore, its geographical position calls for appropriate flood mitigation strategies. See many areas in the state of Assam are largely low lying areas and the state is surrounded by the hills of Megalaya, Bhutan, Nagaland, Manipur and Misuram. So, the challenge is from these hills the rivers flows down into the low lying areas of Assam. So, its geographical position aggravates its vulnerability to frequent floods. Now we will discuss certain important measures to mitigate floods. So, when we say flood mitigation measures it refers measures to reduce the severity of floods. So, flood mitigation measures are classified into structural and non-structural measures. The structural measures are physical in nature and they aim to prevent flood waters from reaching potential damage areas whereas non-structural measures keep the people away from flood waters. So, in case of structural measures it includes construction and design of dams, reservoirs, embankments in such a way to manage and mitigate flood risk. It also includes construction of flood walls, channel and drainage improvement and deciliting of rivers. So, today's news article also criticizes that the silting nature in the rivers of Assam is not properly studied. So, structural measures also include anti erosion works taken up for protection of land areas and measures for diversion of flood waters. The news article also mentions one of the important measures that is construction of embankments along the banks of the flood prone rivers. So, these embankments prevent the water to pass into adjacent land areas. But what was seen is that in many areas the rivers breach or break these embankments and overflow over the land causing severe damages. There are two important reasons. One is that embankments constructed in poor standards are susceptible to be breached during spelling of rivers due to floods. Then the next reason is that many such embankments in the state of Assam had been constructed before 1980 and they have outlived their lifespan and have become very weak. So, this means that new embankments and repairs and periodic maintenance is required. Now, we will discuss about non-structural measures which include floodplain management. So, floodplain management regulate the land use in floodplains in order to restrict the damage due to floods while deriving maximum benefit from them. It is to be noted that flood hazard at last help in carrying out floodplain management as people will be regulated based on the level of flood hazard. So, this will keep people away from the flood waters and therefore, damages to human beings are greatly reduced. So, in the context of this news article we had discussed about floods causes for floods and then flood hazard map of Assam and then certain important measures to mitigate floods. Let us move on to the next news article analysis. This news article says that the economy of Eurozone stank by 2.1% in the April to June period and among the members of Eurozone Spain and Italy suffer the worst economic decline and for the Eurozone this was the biggest decline since 1995. In this context, let us understand in brief about Euro area or Eurozone and also about Eurasian Economic Union. Now, we will start with Eurozone or Euro area. See an economic and monetary union that is EMU was a recurring ambition for the European Union from late 1960s and this union involves coordinating economic and fiscal policies, having a common monetary policy and then having a common currency known as Euro and the decision to form an economic and monetary union was taken by the European Council in the year 1991 through the Treaty on Economic Union and this treaty is also known as Masters Treaty. So, as a result of this treaty, economic and monetary union in its process of economic integration and know that all EU member states are part of then EMU. Furthermore, a number of member states have taken a step further by replacing their national currencies with the single currency known as the Euro and these member states from the Euro area or Eurozone. When Euro was first introduced in the year 1999, the Euro area or Eurozone was made up of 11 of the then 15 EU member states. Know that at present the Euro area or Eurozone constitutes 19 EU member states and we know that after withdrawal of United Kingdom, there are 27 members in the European Union and some EU members like Denmark, Sweden are not members of Eurozone. So, from this map you can notice that EU member states which are using the single currency known as Euro. Know that the monetary policy in the Euro area is in the hands of independent Euro system and it comprises the European Central Bank that is ECB and the national central banks of the Euro area member states. This is all about Eurozone or Euro area. Now, let us see in brief about the Eurasian Economic Union that is EAEU. Now, we know that Eurasia is the combined geographical land mass of the continents of Europe and Asia in the Northern Hemisphere and this EAEU is an international organization for regional economic integration of countries located in the Northern Eurasian region and it was established by the treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. Know that EAEU provides for free movement of goods, services, capital and labour. Also, know that EAEU pursues coordinated, harmonized and single policy in the sectors determined by the treaty and international agreements within the union. In this context, try to know the member states of this Eurasian Economic Union and this union consists of five member states such as Republic of Armenia, Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan, then Republic of Kyrgyz and then Russian Federation. So, the union was created to comprehensively upgrade and rise the competitiveness and cooperation between the national economies. It also aims to promote stable development in order to rise the living standards of the member states. So, in the context of this news article, we have discussed about Euro area or Eurozone and also about Eurasian Economic Union. Let us move on to the next news article analysis. This editorial is about draft environmental impact assessment 2020. The author criticizes that draft dilutes existing environmental impact assessment and it attempts to weaken critical checks and balances which are present in the EIA 2006 notification. We know that the existing environmental impact assessments objective is to foresee the potential environmental problems or concerns at an early stage of project planning and design and then to address these concerns. Now, the draft environmental impact assessment 2020 attempts to bring in many changes to the process of environmental impact assessment. So, in this context we will focus on one such change which is with respect to public consultation and know that it is one of the stages in the process of environmental clearance and as per the 2006 environmental impact assessment notification, it comprises of four stages. This includes screening, scoping, public consultation and then appraisal stage. Now, as per the proposed draft EIA 2020, it increases to six stages. So, these six stages include scoping, preparation of draft EIA report, then public consultation, then preparation of final EIA, appraisal and then grant or rejection of prior environment clearance. Now, we will try to understand what is meant by public consultation which refers to the process which ascertains the project as appropriate by taking into account all the material concerns in the project or activity design and this ascertains or settles the concerns of the local affected persons and others who have credible stake in the environmental impacts of the project. So, it means anyone who is likely to be affected by the proposed project is entitled to know that the project is appropriate. So, the affected persons here include the local residents and associations including environmental groups. Know that public consultation ordinarily has two components. One is public hearing, mostly at the project site or in close proximity and it is to be carried out district wise. This is for ascertaining the concerns of locally affected persons. The next is to obtain responses in writing from other concerned persons who are having a credible stake in the environmental aspects of the project or activity. Now, the issue is with respect to exemptions to certain projects from public consultation and we know that as per the existing exemptions in environmental impact assessment 2006 notification, six projects or activities are exempted from this public consultation. These categories are listed here for your reference. You can notice that modernization of irrigation projects, all projects or activities located within the industrial states, expansion of fruits and highways, all building or construction projects or area development projects and townships, all category B2 projects and activities, also all projects or activities concerning national defense and security or involving other strategic considerations as determined by the central government or exempted in the EIA 2006 notification. Now, as per the draft EIA 2020 notification, it exempts a large number of projects from the public consultation. So, from this list, you can notice that there are eight different categories which include from modernization of irrigation projects, then all projects falling under notified industrial states, all category B2 projects and activities, all projects concerning national defense and security or involving other strategic considerations as determined by the central government, all linear projects in border areas and then all the offshore projects located beyond the two nautical mines. So, you can see in the category B, all projects falling under these items of the schedule located within the notified industrial states are exempted. So, this includes secondary metallurgical industry, soda ash industry, chemical fertilizers and standalone ammonium plants. Here, you have to notice that as per EIA 2006 notification, these projects are subjected to public consultation. But as per the new draft, these chemical hazardous industries are left out of public consultation. More importantly, if you see in the point F, linear projects such as roads and pipelines in border areas are also exempted. The border area is defined as area falling within 100 kilometers aerial distance from line of actual control with bordering countries of India. So, this means it would cover much of northeastern part which is repository of countries richest biodiversity and this exemption threatens environment. So, because of these reasons only, environmentalists and also environmental groups are opposing the proposed draft environmental impact assessment 2020. With this information, let us move on to the next news article analysis. This news article discusses about the ascent given by the governor to the AP decentralization and inclusive development of all reasons bill and AP CRDA repeal bills 2020. So, governor's ascent to these bills will help the present government with its ascent to develop three capitals. There is Amravati as the legislative capital, Karnol as the judicial capital and Vishakhapatnam as the executive capital of Andhra Pradesh. So, if you see this decision to have three capitals from geography point of view, more development opportunities are visible for the reasons north of river Krishna only. So, this means that there is an inadequate representation of reasons located south of river Krishna that is major parts of Royal Seema such as Chithu, Anantpur, Vaesar Kadapa and also coastal districts such as Prakasham and Nellore are completely neglected in the act in its current form as these districts lack their due share in the three capital formula. So, there is every possibility for the history to repeat itself similar to Telangana. Why? Because if you see the reason for forming Telangana, the AP reorganization act of 2014 clearly indicated that the erstwhile combined AP state failed to integrate the people of the state from all reasons culturally, emotionally and in sharing the fruits of development. So, negligence of reasons located south of river Krishna would again lead to regional imbalances and absence of equitable growth. Therefore, if regional aspirations are not balanced in latent spirit in the coming days, it might strengthen regionalism which goes against the actual purpose of decentralization and inclusive development. So, with this information, let us start with practice question session. Concert the following statements. The capital receipts are receipts of government which are non-redimobile. The revenue expenditure is expenditure incurred for purposes other than the creation of physical or financial assets. Fiscal deficit is the difference between the government's total expenditure and its total receipts excluding borrowing. For this question, you need to choose correct statements. In this context, know that the main difference between revenue receipts and capital receipts is that in the case of revenue receipts, government is under no future obligation to retain the amount. So, it means that revenue receipts are non-redimobile but not the capital receipts. So, the first statement is incorrect. Then revenue expenditure is expenditure incurred for purposes other than the creation of physical or financial assets. And the capital expenditure includes expenditures of the government which results in creation of physical or financial assets. So, the second statement is correct. Now, in case of fiscal deficit, it is the difference between total expenditure over its total receipts excluding borrowing. So, we can say that gross fiscal deficit is equal to total expenditure minus total receipts excluding borrowing. So, the correct answer for this question is option B 2 and 3 only. Consider the following statements with reference to India Meteorological Department. It is the National Meteorological Service of the Country. It provides meteorological statistics required for agriculture, water resource management, industries and oil exploration. For this question, you need to choose correct statement or statements. In this context, try to know that the India Meteorological Department was established in the year 1875. It is the National Meteorological Service of the Country and the Principal Government Agency in all the matters relating to meteorology and allied subjects. The mandate of India Meteorological Department is to take meteorological observations and to provide current and forecast meteorological information for optimum operation of weather sensitive activities like agriculture, irrigation, shipping, aviation, etc. It also to warn against a severe weather phenomena like tropical cyclones, norwesters, heavy rains and snow, heat waves, etc. which cause the destruction of life on property. Know that IMD is also mandated to provide meteorological statistics which are required for agriculture, water resource management, industries, oil exploration and other national building activities. It is also mandated to conduct and promote research in meteorology and allied disciplines. So, the given two statements are correct and option C is the correct answer for this question. Consider the following countries Norway, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Spain, which are the above or members of the Eurozone. In this context, know that European Union consists of 27 members and out of 27 countries, 19 countries are part of Euro area or Eurozone using single currency that is Euro. Know that Norway is not a member of EU itself and therefore it is also not using Euro as its national currency. Sweden is a member of European Union but not the Eurozone. Then the remaining three countries such as Germany, Portugal and Spain are members of European Union as well as Eurozone. So, the correct answer for this question is option C. Consider the following statements with reference to Environmental Impact Assessment 2006 notification. The stage of public consultation have two components namely public hearing and inviting responses in writing from concerned persons. All projects or activities concerning national defense and security are exempted from public consultation. Know that the objective of environmental impact assessment 2006 notification is to foresee the potential environmental problems or concerns at an early stage of project planning and design and then to address these concerns. So, as per 2006 environmental impact notification it comprises of four stages such as a screening, scoping, public consultation and then appraisal. Public consultation refers to the process which ascertains the project as appropriate by taking into account all the material concerns in the project or activity design. So, this ascertains or settle the concerns of the local affected persons and others who have credible stake in the environmental impacts of the proposed projects or activities. So, it means anyone who is likely to be affected by the proposed projects is entitled to know that the project is appropriate. As a part of public consultation it has two components one is public hearing mostly a project site or in its close proximity it is to be carried out district wise. So, this is for ascertaining the concerns of locally affected persons and it also have inviting responses in writing from concerned persons. And then as per environmental impact assessment 2006 notification there are six projects or activities categories exempted from the public consultation. These include modernization of irrigation projects, all projects or activities located within the industrial states, expansion of roads and highways, all buildings or construction projects or area development projects and townships, all category B2 projects and activities and then all activities or projects concerning national defense and security or involving other strategic considerations as determined by the central government. So, the given two statements are correct. So, the correct option for this question is option C both 1 and 2. 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 Shankar Ayes Academy YouTube channel for more updates. Thank you.