 Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Ayes Academy for the Day 13th of May 2019. Displayed are the list of news articles taken up for today's analysis along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram editions. The handwritten notes in PDF format and the time stamping of all the news articles taken up for today's analysis is given in the description section below and also in the common section. Let us start our analysis of news articles now. The first news article of the day is the editorial title of Shells, Companies and GDP. This editorial appears in page 8 in all the four editions. In this editorial, the author stressing for the need to put the MCA 21 data under scrutiny and also to reveal the methodology for calculating the corporate sector output. The contents of this news article will be relevant in your problems preparation under current events of national importance and also under economic development in particular. Also, it will be relevant in your mains preparation in general studies paper 2 under government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Next, under important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability and also in your general studies paper 3 under Indian economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. The author's discussion of this entire editorial is based on the findings of the National Sample Survey Office Survey for the year 2016-17 to determine the service sector output. So, in the first part, we will be analyzing about the background and the need of this NSSO survey. In the second part, we shall see the outcomes of this NSSO survey and author's views about the bureaucrats' claims that define the authenticity of using the MCA database for GDP estimation. In the final part, we shall see the author's findings about the GDP estimation and the suggestions to the government to improve the process. Let us see the first part now. The author has discussed the background of the new GDP calculation and the claims of the Central Statistics Organization. In the year 2015, the Central Statistics Office, in short, CSO, issued a new GDP series with 2011-12 as the base year. It replaced the earlier series with the 2004-5 base year, which is a routine one. Usually, this revision leads to a slight expansion of the absolute GDP in the base year, but its growth rate does not change. This means that the GDP size in the two series has remained the same. At this time, it was different. The absolute GDP size got diminished slightly in the base year, and its growth rates went up subsequently. Here the absolute GDP size is the sum of value of all unduplicated goods and services that is being produced in a particular year. Since there is a clear difference between the low absolute GDP values and the higher growth rate, the author tells that CSO faced public scrutiny. To this, CSO has claimed that it had followed the latest global template, which is the system of national accounts 2008. Using this global template, GDP has been estimated by applying improved methodologies to a newer and larger data set. So, using this global template, for the first time, the new series has estimated the private corporate sector GDP directly. This estimation was done using the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Statutory Filing of Financial Returns called MCA 21. Here you need to know that MCA 21 is an e-governance initiative of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. This non-financial private corporate sector accounts for over one-third of entire GDP. Because of the huge share, the GDP revision has affected the estimates of many industries and services. The author tells that this is the main reason why the GDP debate has mostly centered on the private corporate sector. The author tells that this MCA 21 database is much larger than those used for GDP estimation earlier. They include annual survey of industries database for manufacturing or the Reserve Bank of India sample of large companies for estimating the corporate saving and investment. Now, the CSO claims that the new GDP is capturing the economy's value addition in a better manner since it also covers smaller enterprises and service activities now. So, we know that the service sector is now contributing to almost 50% of India's GDP. But services sector output estimates are poorer. We have a proper output data only for the public sector and large private sector companies. But the output data for the smaller enterprises and the service activities is improper. To address this shortcoming, the CSO has committed to launch an annual survey of services in a regular manner. Now, as a first step, the NSSO carried out a survey of active non-government and non-financial companies or establishments in the year 2016-17 using this MCA 21 database. From this database, NSSO got the company's details and forwarded the questionnaire for the survey. But NSSO found that 45% of the selected companies did not respond to this particular survey. In its survey report, NSSO has said that the non-response of a larger number of units here companies was a major setback for this particular survey. NSSO has also reported that this happened due to either the unit's non-response or the closure of the unit or the unit was out of coverage or the unit was non-traceable. Again, units here refer to the companies. The authors has commented that these companies which did not respond are likely to be shell or fake or spurious entities that remain legally registered merely on paper only and they may not actually be producing any goods and services. The outcomes of the survey that we just saw now and the author's view about the bureaucrats' claims which we are going to see now is the second part of your editorial analysis. The author tells that the survey findings overestimate the GDP level and the growth rate. However, the bureaucrats' claims are that the shell companies add value to the economy, hence the deletion would underestimate GDP. They also claim that all the active companies are set to submit their audited accounts at least once in three years. So the contribution of the shell companies is also captured in the MCA database. The author is questioning both these arguments being made. He tells that shell companies by definition do not produce any goods and services. They help the promoter or the owner to hide profits or to evade taxes and regulation. The author has also provided the dictionary meaning for the shell companies in this editorial which is a company existing as a legal entity but having no significant assets, independent business operations, etc., often owned or controlled by another company and used for various often illegal purposes. The author notes that the argument that all active companies under the MCA have filed statutory returns at least once during the last three years is a bureaucratic fiction. If active companies have filed statutory returns at least once during the last three years were true, then there would be at least one year for which there would exist the data for 7 to 8 lakh companies. But this has never happened even once the author tells. In reality for most years data are available for around 3 lakh active companies only. Here the estimates are inflated for the total 10 lakh active companies. The author tells that these 10 lakh are not active and majority of them are illegal shell companies. Let us now move on to the third part of the editorial now. Here we shall be seeing the author's findings about the GDP estimation and the suggestions to the government to improve the process. The author here notes that the database for the GDP estimation is not made public. Also the methodological details are not adequately revealed. So there is no way of verifying the accuracy of the official estimates. Next the author tells that if the share of shell, fake or bogus companies out of the total active companies in the MCA 21 database is very high as found in the NSSO service sector survey then GDP estimates based on a more realistic list of working companies are likely to be smaller. Hence this could affect the corporate sector's GDP level and also its growth rate. The author has finally suggested that the government should put up the MCA 21 database for public scrutiny. Then also the methodology used in estimating the corporate sector output should also be completely revealed in order to ensure transparency in the GDP estimation process. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this editorial. Now have a look at the practice mains question we shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. The second news article for the day is titled as a good bet for lower middle class. This article appears in page 14 in all the four editions. The discussion based on this article will be relevant in your prelims preparation under economic and social development, social sector initiatives in particular. This discussion will also be relevant in your mains preparation in general studies paper 2 under welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the centre. The article discusses about the Atel pension yojana in detail and compares it with the recent pension scheme that is Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mahandan Yojana. Now a question may arise about what is the need for a pension. To understand this we should know what is pension. A pension is a monthly income provided to the people but they are no longer earning. This is of utmost need to the people because income earning decreases with the increase of age. Then another reason can be quoted which is the rise of nuclear family with the migration of earning member leads to the rise in the cost of living. So increased longevity is a reason. So an assured monthly income ensures dignified life in old age because they need not be dependent on anyone for money. Now let us get into the discussion about these two schemes. First we will see about the Atel pension yojana. Atel pension yojana or in short APY is a pension scheme for citizens of India. It is focused on the unorganised sector workers. The unorganised workers are mostly engaged as home based workers, street vendors, brick kiln workers, cobblers, rack pickers, domestic workers etc. These unorganised workers constitute 88% of the total labour force as per the 66th round of NSSO survey of 2011-12. Atel pension yojana is a central sector scheme which was launched in the year 2015 by the union government. The scheme was introduced to address the longevity risks among the workers in the unorganised sector and to encourage the workers in unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement. The eligibility criteria to join the scheme include the following. Firstly, the age of the subscriber should be between 18-40 years. Therefore, minimum period of contribution by any subscriber under atel pension yojana would be 20 years or more. To understand the fixed monthly pension based on age, let us take an example. For example, to get a fixed monthly pension between Rs 1000 per month and Rs 5000 per month, the subscriber has to contribute on a monthly basis between Rs 42 and Rs 210 if he joins this particular scheme at the age of 18 years. For the same fixed pension levels, the contribution would range between Rs 291 and Rs 1454 if the subscriber joins to the scheme at the age of 40 years. Secondly, she or he should have a savings bank account in any bank or in a post office that is the post office savings bank account. Atel pension yojana is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority through the National Pension Scheme if you see here. Note that the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority is a statutory body which comes under the Government of India. Now, under the atel pension yojana, a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1000 or Rs 2000 or Rs 3000 or Rs 4000 or Rs 5000 per month will be given at the age of 60 years and it will vary according to the joining age of the subscriber to the scheme. The minimum pension depends on the contribution by the subscribers if you see here. For entrolling into this scheme, Aadhar is not mandatory but the prospective applicant may provide Aadhar number and mobile number to the bank during the registration. This is to facilitate the receipt of periodic updates on the atel pension yojana accounts of the beneficiary. In other words, periodic updates will be received by the beneficiary on the atel pension yojana account once they provide the Aadhar and mobile number. Under this scheme, the Government is also a contributor other than the beneficiary. The Government's co-contribution will be 50% of the total contribution by the subscriber or Rs 1000 per annum whichever is lower. Here, the co-contribution of the Government of India is available for 5 years that is from the financial year 2015-16 to the financial year 2019-20 for the subscribers who join the scheme during the period from 1st of June 2015 to 31st of March 2016. This contribution from the Government is available to only those who are not covered by any statutory social security scheme, for example the beneficiaries under the Employees Providence Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act of 1952. In addition to this, they should not be income tax payers. The benefit of minimum pension under atel pension yojana would be guaranteed by the Government in the sense that if the actual realized returns on the pension contributions are less than the assumed returns for the minimum guaranteed pension over a period of contribution, then such shortfall will be funded by the Government. On the other hand, if the actual returns on the pension contributions are higher than the assumed returns for minimum guaranteed pension over a period of contribution, then such excess amount shall be credited to the subscribers account. Both of these result in enhanced scheme benefits to the subscribers. A similar pension scheme named Pradhan Mantri Sram Yogi Mandan Yojana or in short PMSYM was introduced. This scheme was introduced to ensure old age protection for unorganized workers. PMSYM is a central sector scheme and it was announced by the Union Government in the 2019 budget. Here only those unorganized workers are eligible whose monthly income is Rs.15,000 per month or less and further they should belong in the age group of 18 to 40 years. The subscriber will be required to have a mobile phone, savings bank account and other number. This scheme is administered by the Ministry of Labour and Employment and implemented through Life Insurance Corporation of India and CSCE Government Services India Limited. Here LIC will be the pension fund manager and is responsible for the pension payout. This particular scheme is a minimum assured pension scheme where each subscriber under the scheme shall receive minimum assured pension of Rs. 3000 per month after attending the age of 60 years. PMSYM is a voluntary and a contributory pension scheme on a 50-50 basis where prescribed age specific contribution shall be made by the beneficiary and the matching contribution will be made by the central government. For example, if a person enters the scheme at an age of 29 years is required to contribute Rs. 100 per month till the age of 60 years and against this an equal amount of Rs. 100 will be contributed by the central government every month. The beneficiaries should not be covered under the new pension scheme, Employees' State Insurance Corporation scheme or Employees' Providence Fund Organization scheme. And like the APY they should not be an income tax payer. PMSYM as a family pension concept which is during the receipt of pension if the subscriber dies the spouse of the beneficiary shall be entitled to receive 50% of the pension received by the beneficiary as a family pension and this family pension is applicable only to the spouse. After the death of subscriber as well as his or her spouse the entire corpus will be credited back to the fund. Note that the premium under the PMSYM is relatively lower than the Atel pension Eogena. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this news article now have a look at the practice prelims question we shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. Let us now move on to the next news article. The third article of the day is the editorial title protecting forest fringes. Here the author talks about the necessity and what holds the key in handling the sustainability challenge that may arise in the next 10 years because of increasing proximity between the forests and the cities. This editorial appears on page number 9 in all the editions of the 10 years paper taken up for analysis. The contents of this editorial will be helpful in your prelims preparation under general issues on environmental ecology and biodiversity and it will be helpful in your main preparation in general studies paper 3 under conservation and environmental degradation. The author states that a severe sustainability challenge will happen in the next 10 years due to the increasing proximity between the forests and the cities. Some of the problems faced by forests due to the increased proximity of urban settlements or cities are encroachment in forests, construction of roads and highways, local extension of wildlife, contamination of water bodies in forest fringes and forests and other disturbances originating from the urban neighborhoods. Note that in particular reference to urban settlements forests are important as their natural shock absorbers that provide green relief to cities. These shocks could be natural hazards or disasters such as floods etc. Forests shield urban areas from the effects of climate change. Also they safeguard the urban areas from issues such as air pollution, scarcity of drinking water and also from the effects of urban heat island. Now that we have seen urban heat island let us know about it in brief. An urban area becomes an urban heat island when its air and surface temperatures are hotter than their rural surroundings. This heat island effect has negative consequences such as increasing energy demand, increasing air conditioning costs, increasing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and also heat related illnesses and deaths and also degrading water quality. The author predicts that there will be a direct impact to many critical wildlife habitats and biodiversity areas. In cities such as Gurugram, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Bengaluru, forests are already facing these problems and dense urban neighborhoods expand up to the forest fringes which could be seen in the forest fringes like the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra and Banergatta National Park in Bengaluru in the state of Karnataka and also in the Gindi National Park in Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. One must look at these problems with the understanding that India is among the fastest urbanizing countries and also one of the forest rich nations of the world. The current trend of spatial urban expansion is fast paced. This is increasing the proximity between forests and the cities. This is a very disturbing pattern that requires immediate attention. The author notes that despite the trend neither the smart cities program and other urban programs not the draft forest policy has provisions to address this particular issue. Also the urban planners and city administrators have not integrated urban neighborhoods in forests in planning and governance. The author suggests that facilitating city forest cooperation will address the issues. Every forest should have physical buffers and hard fences but in the absence of physical buffers and hard fences there should be soft fences at least to save the forest from exploitative developments. These soft fences can be established by recognizing land use at forest fringes according to the guidelines of eco-sensitive zones around protected areas. According to the author this holds the key in handling the sustainability challenge. In this context let us know about eco-sensitive area in brief. Eco-sensitive area is meant to act as a zone of transition to a protected area from an urban settlement. It could be a wildlife sanctuary, a national park, conservation reserve, community reserve or a marine protected area. They also act as natural shock absorber to the protected areas as they absorb the urban shocks such as air pollution, water pollution, etc. It is the area that surrounds the protected area as a fringe of the forest. The guidelines given by ministry of environment, forest and climate change states that this eco-sensitive zone has to be regulated. Here some activities will be regulated, some are prohibited, while some are allowed. The extent of this area is flexible and site-specific. That is say if a dense forest is there in the state of Maghya Pradesh, one can naturally have a 10 kilometer wide eco-sensitive zone. But when you're thinking about Gindi National Park which is located in Chennai, the urban settlements came up near the national park at a very faster pace such that it may now not be feasible to have such rigid measurements at present. These zones were declared as a response to some exploitative activities that endangered the forests which have come up earlier before the guidelines came into place. Now, after declaring these activities are regulated in the declared eco-sensitive zone. Now, the author asks to soft-fence the forest by recognizing the land use at forest fringes. This should be done according to the guidelines of eco-sensitive zones around protected areas. The land in the zone of transition is permitted to use for certain purposes only. Activities such as rainwater harvesting, agricultural and agricultural practices by local communities are completely allowed. Take a felling of trees, this is not completely allowed. It is regulated but not prohibited. So, note this particular difference. Now, take an example of commercial mining. This is completely prohibited. The author says one can establish soft or invisible fences just by adhering to the land use guidelines given by the eco-sensitive zone guidelines itself. Hence, adhering to the land use pattern holds the key in handling the sustainability challenge that may arise in next 10 years because of the increasing proximity between the forests and the cities. The title of the article is aptly named protecting forest fringes. In addition to this main suggestion, the author also provides certain direct and indirect suggestions that are securing wildlife corridors and green belts that connect urban forests with a wider natural landscape or protected areas. Then, city administrators and urban planners have to understand the importance of forest fringes and include them in the plants, programs, etc. All urban programs including smart city programs should include consider the wildlife corridors that connect urban settlements with protected areas. Thus, the forests have to be integrated with urban planning and governance. Then, the forest policy that is now in a draft format must necessarily include the provisions for securing such as green belts or the forest fringes. Also, urban residents have to create social fences by strongly advocating for forests and their protection and thus, they have to show their aspiration for a green pollution-free and serene living environment. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this editorial. Now, have a look at the practice main question. We shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. Let us now move on to the next news article. The fourth article that we will discuss is the data about external commercial borrowings. You can find this data titled Loan Wolves in Business Review column in page number 13 in all the four editions. The analysis of the content will be relevant in your problems preparation under current events of national importance and also under economic development in particular. Before discussing the data, let us see what is meant by external commercial borrowings in brief. RBI states that these ECBs are commercial loans raised by eligible resident entities from non-resident entities. So, basically, if an Indian company is in need of money, he can source the money from a foreign lender as well. RBI has mentioned some of the different forms of these external commercial borrowings and the purpose of these borrowings. Let us see them now. Before moving on, remember in mind that these external commercial borrowings come under the capital account head of balance of payments data that is generated by RBI. There are different forms of external commercial borrowings they are mentioned below. The money can be received by an Indian entity in the forms of loans which also includes bank loans. The money can be received via security instruments such as shares, debentures and bonds as well. They can also be received in the form of foreign currency convertible bonds in short FCCBs and also in the form of foreign currency exchangeable bonds in short FCCBs. There is a fundamental difference between FCCBs and FCCBs whereby in the case of an FCCB offering, the bonds convert into shares of the company that issued the bonds. While in the case of FCCBs, the bonds are convertible into shares of another company that is the offered company which forms part of the promoter group of the company issuing the bonds. The ECBs can also be done in the form of buyer's credit and supplier's credit. Both buyer credit and supplier credit are the credit facilities that are available to the importer. Buyer's credit refers to the credit in the form of short term loans that an importer receives from the banks. Supplier credit refers to the financial arrangement made by the foreign supplier to help the importer import his goods. The final form of external commercial borrowings is the financial lease. A financial lease is a way of providing finance. Here, a leasing company who is called the lesser or owner buys the asset for the user who is usually called the higher or lessy and rents it to the higher for an agreed period. All these definitions are just for information purposes. Just know the different forms of these external commercial borrowings from examination point of view. Now, let us see the purpose of these external commercial borrowings from this table. The different forms of ECBs which are basically money can be used for a number of purposes like the one mentioned here. It is used for further lending and sublending process. It is also used by the Indian entities as a working capital. Fresh external commercial borrowings are used to refinance the older ECBs as well. Also, they are used for the import of capital goods like the suppliers and buyers credit that we saw and also for few other purposes mentioned in this table. From this table, we can see that on lending and sublending were the primary reasons for the companies to borrow. Also, it is mentioned that 5.11 billion US dollars were used to refinance earlier external commercial borrowings. Now, in the data table, it is mentioned that the external commercial borrowings touched a record high of 41 billion US dollars in the year 2018-19. This is a rise of 58 percent when we compare with the previous year data, which is nothing but 2017-18. In this year, the ECBs stood at 26 billion US dollars. The hike in ECBs is primarily due to two decisions of RBI. Firstly, in April 2018, RBI has expanded the list of eligible borrowers. And also in January 2019, RBI relaxed certain ECB norms which facilitated more flow of funds into India. Now, if you see in this picture, ECBs have reduced towards the end of 2018 but has started to increase from then on. Next, the sector-wise split of ECBs is also given. Sector-wise split means which type of companies borrowed more. The data is given for the year 2018-19 and the value is in billion US dollars. If you see this table, the financial services sector has borrowed more, followed by the petroleum and petroleum products and ferrous industry. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this article. Now, have a look at the practice prelims question. We shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. Let us now move on to the next news article. The fifth news article of the day is about the microirrigation. This news article titled More Farmers Moving Over to Microirrigation has appeared in page number 5 of Chennai edition 1b. The analysis of this news article is relevant in your prelims preparation under economic geography of India, next under economic and social development, sustainable development in particular. And also in your mains preparation, it is relevant in your general studies paper 3 under Indian economy and also under different types of irrigation system. The article begins by stating that Tamil Nadu was criticized for wasting its water resources but now it has showed signs of improvement with the help of microirrigation. In this context, let us know what is meant by microirrigation. Microirrigation is a modern method of irrigation which uses drippers, sprinklers, foggers and other emitting devices for irrigation. The major components of microirrigation are drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation. Let us see what are those in detail. In drip irrigation system, the water is applied drop by drop in the root zone area of the crop. This system is best suited for wider spacing of crops. Whereas in sprinkler irrigation system, water is sprinkled at a lower height in various directions. Micro sprinkler irrigation system is mostly followed in sandy or loamy soils. It is most suitable for horticulture crops and small grasses. Having known the types of microirrigation, let us now look into its advantages as well. The major advantages are that it helps in water savings and also gives a higher yield. This is because water is used drop by drop and it reaches the root directly. This will also result in high quality of the agricultural product and an increased crop size. Microirrigation is suitable for all types of soil. Moreover, savings of labor is also an added advantage in this method. Now, the article states that Tamil Nadu achieved a coverage of about 1.72 lakh hectares under PMKSY, a scheme meant for microirrigation. So, let us see what is PMKSY. It is an acronym for Pradhan Mantri Krishisinchai Yojana. It is a scheme focused to improve farm productivity and better utilization of resources in the country. This Pradhan Mantri Krishisinchai Yojana is an amalgamation program of these three ongoing schemes that I mentioned here. They are AIBP, IWMP and OFWM. If you see here AIBP is Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program. This is implemented by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Regeneration. Next here is IWMP. It is Integrated Watershed Management Program. This program is implemented by the Department of Land Resources, which comes under the Ministry of Rural Development. And finally, we have OFWM. It is On Farm Water Management, which is implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation. And this department comes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. So, this Pradhan Mantri Krishisinchai Yojana is being implemented by these three ministries that we saw now. Namely, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development. This scheme has a decentralized working approach and would be executed with the help of numerous projects. So, this scheme will allow states to draw up their own irrigation development plans based on district irrigation plan and state irrigation plans. Let us come to the news article now. In this news article, it tells that under Pradhan Mantri Krishisinchai Yojana, Tamil Nadu saw a 3-fold rise in coverage during the year 2018-19 compared to the year 2016-17. Under this particular Pradhan Mantri Krishisinchai Yojana, 100% subsidies provided to small and marginal farmers and 75% subsidy to the other farmers. Now, just know the difference between the marginal and a small farmer. A marginal farmer refers to a farmer cultivating an agricultural land up to 1 hectare or 2.5 hectares. And a small farmer means a farmer cultivating an agricultural land of more than 1 hectare and up to 2 hectares, nothing but between 1 and 2 hectares. And here 2 hectares means 5 acres. Finally, the article concludes by emphasizing on the need for microirrigation due to shrinking of water resources. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of this news article. Now, have a look at the practice prelims question we shall discuss at the end of the analysis session. Let us now move on to the next news article. The last topic taken up for today's discussion is the data point. This data point is about mango shovels, which is a type of pre-monsoon shovels. The name mango shovels is used in this section of newspaper, although the name mango shovels can be logically attributed only to the regions of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and some parts of Karnataka, where the shovels help in the early ripening of mango fruit. This data point appears on page number 9 in all the four editions. This data point and our analysis will be relevant in your prelims preparation under current events of national importance, next under physical geography of India, and also in your mains preparation it can be linked to your general studies paper III under major crops in various parts of the country. Before entering into what data point says, let us know what is meant by pre-monsoon shovels. These are rain shovels that occur in the months of March, April and May. Since these shovels arrive before June, which is the month when the southwest monsoon arrives in India, the shovels are called as pre-monsoon shovels. This data point analyzes the pre-monsoon shovels data from the period March 1 to May 8. This data is sourced from Indian Meteorological Department. From the analysis, it was found that some states receive deficient rainfall, while some states receive excessive rainfall. If one goes with subdivision wise analysis, one can find more rainfall in the states of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha and less rainfall in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Also, if one goes with the district wise analysis, then extremely low rainfall was seen in most of the districts of Arunachal Pradesh and then marginally low rainfall was seen in all districts of Tamil Nadu. Also, higher rainfall was recorded in most of the districts of Odisha. Also, high variation in the pre-monsoon shovels was found within the states itself. That is, while some districts have seen excessive rainfall, some have seen less rainfall. This high variation trend was recorded in the states of Assam and Meghalaya. In this context, let us see what a pre-monsoon shovel is. The term pre-monsoon includes rainfall shovels that occurs in various regions of India during the pre-monsoon months of March, April and May, which is before the arrival or onset of the monsoon in Kerala on June 1 in normal conditions. Near the coastal regions, these rainfall occur due to the meeting of humid winds of sea with the hot dry local winds. This rain shovel is of much importance in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Assam. In these regions, these pre-monsoon shovels are called by different names based on the impact of the rain in these pre-monsoon months in that particular area. In Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and also in some parts of Karnataka, these pre-monsoon rainfalls help in early ripening of mangoes. Therefore, these shovels are also known as mango shovels in these areas. This rain is crucial because if timely pre-monsoon shovels do not happen in these states, the mango cultivators will be heavily affected as the season coincides with the early ripening phase of mangoes. Next, in Karnataka and also in some parts of Kerala, the pre-monsoon shovels are also called as cherry blossoms as the shovels play an important role in the blossoming of cherry and also they are important for coffee cultivation and coffee plantations in these states. Next, in the state of Assam, the pre-monsoon shovels bring destruction and are also beneficial for tea plantations. Therefore, it is known by two names, one the beneficial tea shovels and the other the destructive bhoda chilla. Bhoda chilla is a bhoda word meaning a fast-blowing gusty wind. In West Bengal, these shovels are known to cause great damage to crops, livestock and property. Hence, that is called as khal baishakki which happens in the month of baishakki. Now, have a look at the practice prelims question we shall discuss shortly. With this, we come to the end of the analysis of all the news articles. Let us now move on to the practice questions discussion session. The first question with reference to the atel pension eogena, consider the following statements. Statement one, it focuses only on the unorganized sector workers. Statement two, it provides for a guaranteed minimum pension ranging from 1000 rupees to 5000 rupees. And statement three, it is administered by the Ministry of Labor and Employment. Here, the first statement is wrong as the atel pension eogena is for any citizen of India with a special focus on the unorganized sector workers. Here in the statement, it mentions as unorganized sector only. So, it is a wrong statement. The second statement is correct because the scheme provides for a guaranteed minimum pension ranging from rupees 1000 to 5000 rupees. The third statement here is wrong as the scheme is administered by the pension fund regulatory and development authority through national pension scheme. The pension fund regulatory and development authority is a statutory body under the Government of India. Just have this in mind. But here, you note that the Ministry of Labor and Employment administers the Pradhan Mantri Sramyogi Mahandan eogena. The question here has asked for the incorrect statement. Here, statements one and three are wrong. So, the correct answer to this question is option B, one and three. Moving on to the second question, consider the following statements. External commercial borrowings are the commercial loans raised by eligible resident entities from recognized non-resident entities. This is the first statement. The second statement is external commercial borrowings can be done in the form of foreign currency convertible bonds and also through foreign currency exchange bonds. Here, the first statement is correct. The external commercial borrowings refer to the borrowings of an Indian company from foreign sources. The second statement is also correct. ECBs or the external commercial borrowings can be borrowed in the form of foreign currency convertible bonds and foreign currency exchangeable bonds. They can also be done in the form of loans, securities, buyers and suppliers credit and also through financial leasing. Here, the question has asked for the correct statements. The correct answer is option C, both one and two, since both the statements are correct. Moving on to the third problem's question, consider the following statements. Statement one, micro-irrigation is suitable for all types of crops. Statement two, micro-irrigation is the most cost-effective method of modern irrigation system. In the first statement from the discussion, we know that micro-irrigation is suitable for all the soil types but not for all the crops because there are some water intensive crops which require a huge amount of water for their growth. Hence, statement one is wrong. Moving on to the second statement, from the discussion, we know that micro-irrigation is not a cost-effective method. So, here the question has asked for the correct statements. The correct answer here is option D, neither one nor two because both the statements are wrong. Moving on to the fourth problem's question, choose the following pairs, pre-monsoon showers and states. The first pair is cherry blossoms, karnataka, second pair is boradoi chila, asem and third pair is khalbaisaki, west Bengal. Here, all the three pairs are regarding the pre-monsoon showers that happen in the respective states. So, these pre-monsoon showers are called cherry blossoms in karnataka, boradoi chila in asem and khalbaisaki in west Bengal. So, here all the three pairs are correctly matched. The question here has asked to match the correct pairs. So, the correct answer to this question is option D, one, two and three. Moving on to the first main question, the question is discuss the shortcomings in GDP estimation with the help of the recently released NSSO survey for services sector output for the year 2016-17 and suggest some measures to address these shortcomings. So, here the first part of the question is asking about the shortcomings. Tell that the NSSO survey of active companies in the services sector discovered that 45 percent of them could not be traced or misclassified. Hence, they could represent or they shall fake or bogus companies. This finding reflects the poor quality of the MCA 21 data set and this data set is the backbone of the new GDP series. In the second part of the question, it has asked for the suggestions. So, just tell that the government should put up the MCA 21 data for public scrutiny and it should also reveal the methodology used in estimating the corporate sector output. You can also add your own suggestions to this part of the question. Moving on to the final main question, the question is the environmental impacts of increasing proximity between urban settlements and forests are many, suggest some measures to mitigate these impacts. For the first part, state the impacts such as the air pollution, water pollution, underground water pollution and the associated damage to the protected areas or forests. Connect how these can have an impact on the lives of flora and fauna living in the wildlife that may even lead to local extinction of wildlife. Also, state the encroachments of forests, construction of roads, etc. Now, these are some of the impacts based on our today's article. In addition, you may also add man-animal conflicts, deforestation, etc. In the second part for the suggestions include the authors points such as strictly following the guided land use under the eco-sensitive guidelines and thereby creating soft fences for protected areas, then integrating the forest with urban planning and governance and then creating social fences securing the forest fringes as discussed in our editorial analysis. You can also include a reasonable suggestions in the appropriate context. With this, we come to the end of today's analysis session and also the practice question discussion session. Please do like, comment and share the video and please subscribe to Shankar IA's Academy YouTube channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.