 a very good evening aspirants welcome to the hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by shankarae's academy for the date 11th of june 2022 so these are the list of news articles chosen for today's discussion if you can see we have chosen four different news articles so now without wasting much time let us get into the news article discussion now look at this first news article this editorial article is written by an expert in the field of economics author has rejected the recent gdp estimates published by the government saying that the data is flawed for this he has given certain substantiating data so let's know why author says that the gdp estimates are false before that the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference just go through it first know that gdp is the aggregate value of goods and services produced within the domestic territory of a country or we can say that gdp is the market value or monetary value of all the final goods and services produced within the boundary of a country during one year to understand it better let us understand each term in gdp that is gross domestic product see here gross signifies that no detection has been made for the depreciation of machinery buildings and other capital products used in production that is it includes the total value domestic means that the production is by the resident industrial units of the country or all economic activities is done inside the boundary of a country and by its own capital here product refers to final goods and services that is those that are purchased imputed or estimated or otherwise as the final conception of household non-profit institutions serving households and government or it can be as the fixed assets and exports in all these final means the stage of a product after which there is no known change of value addition in it and gdp of a country is derived from the different sectors of the economy namely agricultural sector industrial and service sector you should also know that normally gdp is reviewed from two angles one as real gdp and other as nominal gdp so what is real gdp then here the goods and services are evaluated at constant prices and these prices remind fixed or we can say real gdp is the economic output of a country that is adjusted to inflation it reflects the value of all goods and services produced by an economy in a given year adjusted for inflation or price changes because of this if there is change in real gdp we can be sure that volume of production is undergoing changes on the other hand nominal gdp is an assessment of economic production in an economy but it includes the current prices of goods and services in its calculation so it is not adjusted to inflation that is inflation is not taken into account or consideration thus nominal gdp is simply the value of gdp at the current prevailing prices because of these gdp is the single most important indicator to capture economic activities due to this gdp estimates are released by government at certain intervals it is mainly released as a report by the national statistical office or nsvo under the ministry of statistics and program implementation the report provides data or estimates on three things one is the provincial estimates or p of national income for 2021 to 22 second is the quarterly estimates of gdp for the quarter january to march of 2021 to 22 that is for quarter 4 of 2021 to 22 early along with these corresponding estimates of expenditure components of gdp both at constant and current prices is also provided since our focus is on gdp let us see that see as per the estimates for 2021 to 22 gdp at constant prices which is nothing but real gdp is 147.36 lakh crore rupees and the gdp growth during 2021 to 22 is estimated at 8.7 percentage now let us take nominal gdp that is gdp at current prices in the year 2021 to 22 it is estimated to attain a level of 236.65 lakh crore rupees and there is a growth rate of 19.5 percentage you can see that in the image given here next we take the quarterly data real gdp for quarter 4 of 2021 to 22 is estimated at rupees 40.78 lakh crore and there is a growth of 4.1 percentage so overall in 2021 to 22 gdp grew 8.7 percentage in real terms and 19.5 percentage in nominal terms as per their estimates these are huge numbers and thus it is claimed that india is the fastest growing major economy in the world but author contest this claim due to many reasons we will see them one by one first because after the pandemic hit lockdowns were imposed hindering the production and supply chain this led to contraction in the economy causing a slow down but after 2021 economy has fully reopened so the economies started functioning fully and in 2022 it has reached to pre-pandemic level in a shorter time therefore economy dropped sharply due to lockdowns and after reopening it grew faster so as to reach its early level only so according to the author it is what expected to happen and cannot be taken as an indication of a rapidly growing economy secondly the quarterly data shows that there is slow growth only and even that is affected by many factors as you can see in the table gdp growth was 20.3 percentage in quarter one of 2021 to 22 after that it started fading from quarter two from 8.4 percentage to 5.4 percentage in quarter three to 4.1 percentage in quarter four so in quarter four the growth is less than one fourth of what was in quarter one this is due to the factors like lockdowns as a result of omicron variant and russia Ukraine war etc now since the war is not over the growth is further expected to decrease only then how it can be climbed that economy is growing fast third reason is the error in the data here the author states that error has occurred due to four reasons first due to the agricultural data pandemic hindered the data collection as a result full data could not be collected therefore the estimates do not take into consideration the full situation to provide us with actual situation secondly due to the fact that there is little or no data from an organized sector so in its place data available from organized sector is used as proxy this means we do not have a real picture of the unorganized sector rather just a cooked up one based on some other data this is worrying reason because an organized sector was more affected than organized sector in the pandemic so not capturing the damage deprives us the real state of economy third is due to how annual total estimates are calculated because quarterly data is just added up to yield the annual total and no separate data is collected and analyzed for annual estimates but the problem is that quarterly data has the above two errors so it is repeated in the annual estimates also the last reason is due to the error in the data of GDP components as we saw in the beginning GDP is calculated using final consumption fixed assets exports etc according to the author there is error in data related to these also for example if we take private consumption our BA largely captures the organized sector through its consumer confidence survey and it was found that throughout 2021 to 22 consumer confidence was way below its pre-pandemic further again unorganized sector data is not included so author argues that conception could not have come close to its pre-pandemic level and this could be same for all other components so all of these together caused error in the data on a whole based on all these reasons author concludes that GDP for 2021-22 would have not grown by 8.7 percentage and it would way be less than the pre-pandemic level this brings us to the conclusion that Indian economy has not recovered fully and definitely not the fastest growing big economy so these are some of the important points that you have to note from this editorial article in this editorial article we understood the term GDP then we saw about real GDP and nominal GDP and then we saw some of the important points mentioned by the author in this editorial article so these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. See this article here it says that former Vyana district collector K. Savendra Kumar asked the state archaeology department to expedite the measures to declare the prehistoric petroglyphs on the Tawari Hills a protected monument and he has also directed officials of the district tourism promotion council and the forest department to adapt steps to develop the area into a major ecotourism destination similar to the Eddacle caves. So this is the crux of the news article given here in this context let us see about some of the important points mentioned in the news article. See according to the article petroglyphs on the Tawari Hills are prehistoric here if you don't know what is this petroglyph petroglyphs means rock carvings we call rock paintings as pictographs so have this basic understanding they are made by petroglyphs or made by picking directly on the rock surface using a stone chisel and a hammer stone. Petroglyphs are powerful cultural symbols that reflect the complex societies and religions of the people lived in the area. The article also says that the Tawari rock engravings are believed to comprise mainly geometrical and abstract figures some of the marks closely resembles the Brahmi script one carving resembles a bird a specimen of the primitive man's creative instinct to depict the world around him despite the limitations of his crude tools historians and researchers had acknowledged its significance but the place was yet to get any serious attention and because of this significance only former bayonet district collector was keen on taking measures to make the Tawari rock engravings as protected monuments. See there is also another cave carvings nearby Tawari hill carvings it is the Yadakkal cave carvings it had already received a protected monument tag because of its significance and this is about the news article today. So from this your takeaway point is the location of the engravings and its significance you should know that it is located in Kerala and it is important because of the prehistoric petroglyphs. Now additionally let us see the procedure for the declaration of protective monument but before that let us see what is an ancient monument or archaeological site. See the ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains act 1958 this act defines both ancient monument and a archaeological site we'll see them one by one firstly an ancient monument means any structure erection or monument or any tumulus or place of interment or any cave rock sculpture inscription or monolith which is of historical archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in existence for no less than hundred years and it includes remains of an ancient monument site of an ancient monument such portions of any land adjoining the site of an ancient monument as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise for preserving such a monument and the means of access to and convenient inspection of an ancient monument and the section 2d of the ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains act 1958 defines archaeological site and remains as follows see an archaeological site and remains means any area which contains or is reasonably believed to contain grains or relics of historical or archaeological importance which have been in existence for no less than one hundred years and it includes such portion of land adjoining the area as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise for preserving the site and the means of access to and convenient inspection of the area and now talking about the protection of monuments see the archaeological survey of India that is ASI under the provision of the AMASR act 1958 protects monuments sites and remains of national importance by giving a two months notice for inviting objections if any in this regard after the specified two months period and after scrutinizing the objections if any received in this regard the ASI makes decision to bring a monument under its protection remember there are at present more than 3650 ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance these monuments belong to different periods ranging from the prehistoric period to the colonial period and are located in different geographical settings they include temples mosque tombs churches cemeteries forts palaces stepwells rocket caves and secular architecture as well as ancient mounds and sites which represent the remains of ancient habitation these monuments and sites are maintained and preserved through various circles of the ASI spread all over the country the circles look after the research on these monuments and conservation activities while the science branch with its headquarters at Dehradan carries out chemical preservation and the horticulture branch with its headquarters at Agra is interested with the laying out gardens and environmental development of the site so that's all about this news article discussion in this news article discussion we saw in brief about petroglyphs on the Tawari hills then we saw about procedure for the declaration of protected monument then we saw about what is an ancient monument or an archaeological site so in the procedure for protection of monuments we saw that a two months notice is given for inviting objection to protect monuments sites and remains of national importance after the specified two months period and after scrutinizing the objections if any received in this regard the ASI makes decision to bring a monument under its protection then we saw about the science branch and horticulture branch of ASI so with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion see this article here according to the given article the rupees lit to a record low against the dollar on Friday and the slit happened due to the demand for the US currency from foreign portfolio investors that is FPIs exiting the markets and oil firms they exited the market due to the need to pay for cost layer crude oil and imports and the article also says that the rupee ended at 77.93 weakening 19 pais from Thursday's 77.74 which was the previous all-time low and this is the crux of the news article given here using this article as an opportunity we are going to see about FBI and the difference between FBI and foreign direct investment FDI see a country needs funds to grow its economy while approaching domestic sources is one way approaching international source is another way there are two ways a country can get capital through international sources namely foreign direct investment that is FDI and foreign portfolio investment FBI though they sound similar they are poles apart firstly let us see about FDI see foreign direct investment is when a company invests a substantial amount in a foreign company by taking control of the ownership and by participating in the company's day-to-day business in FDI along with the capital the company brings in knowledge skill and also technical know-how hence they hold a good amount of control in terms of decision making some of the features of the FDI includes FDI are commonly made in countries that have high potential for growth and also in countries that have a skilled workforce FDI can happen even when a company acquires asset or establishes a business in a foreign country it is also a very common practice to expand business to new countries right moreover a company can either merge or enter into a joint venture with a foreign company and FDI can lead to horizontal expansion vertical expansion or also a conglomerate in horizontal investment the company invests in companies with similar businesses or establishes a similar business while in vertical investment the company invests in companies that are complementary towards business and in a conglomerate investment the company invests in a business that is totally unrelated to its core business know that Indian economy opened up in 1991 for the entire world and since then it has been accepting foreign investment now let's see about FDI or foreign portfolio investment see FDI refers to passive investments in the financial assets of a foreign economy here note the word financial asset here they are talking about stocks bonds and other financial assets also none of these involves any active management by the investors some of the characteristics include see the primary motive of FDI is to invest money in foreign markets with the hope to generate quick returns therefore it involves the purchase of securities that can be easily brought and sold secondly FDIs are made to generate short term financial gains but not to gain control over the managerial operations of the business thirdly often FDIs are viewed as less favorable than direct investments since it is easy to liquidate the portfolio investments at times FDIs are made with an intention to earn short term gains rather than a long term investment in the foreign country note that India witnessed the highest FBI withdrawals in October 2018 and July 2020 this can be an indication that foreign investors or i.e. other developing countries for higher returns now if a question is asked about the difference between FDI and FDI you should write the characteristics in which they both differ so firstly when it comes to the type of investors FDI involves direct investors but FBI involves passive investors because they are not directly involved in the management right and when it comes to degree of control FDI has high control as it acquires ownership but FBI has low control only thirdly when it comes to the type of asset FDI includes physical assets and stake in foreign companies that is it includes both financial and non-financial assets but FBI includes only financial assets of the foreign country like stocks bonds etc so fourthly when it comes to the entry and exit in the case of FDI it is hard to enter and exit but in case of FBI it is easy to enter and exit and this is only the news today FBI investors are exiting the market from this we can write another point regarding volatility see FDI is stable but FBI is volatile and finally FDI leads to transfer of technology funds and also resources to the foreign country but FBI leads to capital inflow to the foreign country so that's all about this news article discussion in this news article discussion we saw about what is FDI we saw that FDI is when a company invests a substantial amount in a foreign company by taking control of the ownership and by participating in companies day-to-day business then we saw some of the features of FDI followed by that we saw about foreign portfolio investment or FBI which refers to passive investments in the financial assets of a foreign economy here they were talking about stocks bonds and other financial assets then we saw about the difference between FBI and FDI we saw a difference with respect to type of investors degree of control type of assets entry and exit volatility and finally we saw that FDI leads to transfer of technology funds and also resources to the foreign country but FBI leads to capital inflow to the foreign country so with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion take a look at this news article this article says that forest minister A. K. Sasindran has assured the public that the government would not compromise on the interest of the state in the wake of the supreme court order mandating a one kilometer eco-sensitive zone around forest he said that the state government would do everything possible including legal recourse to exclude human settlements from the eco-sensitive zone and this is the corrects of the news article given here in this context let us learn about eco-sensitive zones first of all let us see the purpose of eco-sensitive zone declaration why should the region be declared as eco-sensitive zone see the purpose of declaring eco-sensitive zones is to create some kind of shock absorbers to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas and the idea is that thin eco-sensitive zone will act as a transition zone from area of high protection to area involving lesser protection so with this basic understanding of the purpose let us see about eco-sensitive zone see eco-sensitive zone that is ESZ is a buffer or transition zone around highly protected area such as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries the government regulates and manages the activities in such areas so that there is no external harm to the higher protected areas therefore the basic aim is to regulate certain activities around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries so as to minimize their impact on fragile ecosystem of the protected areas now that we know what a eco-sensitive zone is we will see who notifies or declares a zone as eco-sensitive zone say eco-sensitive zones are notified by the central government through ministry of environment forest and climate change that is MOE FCC under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act of 1986 see the important thing to be noted here is that the delineation of the extent of eco-sensitive zone is site specific it's with varies from one protected area to the other as per the wildlife conservation strategy 2002-2005 and supreme court judgments it may be the area that generally extend up to 10 kilometer around the protected area if sensitive corridors connectivity and ecological important patches crucial for landscape linkage or involved then area beyond 10 kilometers with can also be notified as the eco-sensitive zones see this strategy dates back to the 21st meeting of Indian board for wildlife held on 2002 in that meeting wildlife conservation strategy 2002 was adopted in that it is said that land falling within 10 kilometers of the boundaries of national park and sanctuaries should be notified as eco fragile zones so now in these lines again in a significant order the Supreme Court on Friday directed that each protected forest should have an eco-sensitive zone of one kilometer so apart from this many instructions were given by Supreme Court I have mentioned the instructions given by Supreme Court here you can go through it so that's all about this news article discussion and this news article discussion we saw about eco-sensitive zones we saw what is the purpose of eco-sensitive zone declaration see the purpose of declaring eco-sensitive zone is to create some kind of shock observers to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas as simple as that so eco-sensitive zone will act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection then we saw who will notify or declare a region as eco-sensitive zone in that we saw that eco-sensitive zones or notified by the central government through ministry of environment forest and climate change under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act of 1986 and then we saw some of the important points with respect to eco-sensitive zones so these learnt points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice questions now look at this first question this question is about foreign portfolio investment or FBI let me read out the question for you consider the following statements regarding foreign portfolio investment that is FBI and choose the correct statement from given below option a FBI can lead to vertical expansion of any business option b it gives high degree of control over the activities of the company option c FBI results in the transfer of technology funds and resources and option d FBI or made to generate short term financial gains see the correct answer for the question is option d FBI or made to generate short term financial gains the first three options are the characteristics of foreign direct investment we saw that in the discussion it's of right and the final statement it is the characteristic of FBI so the correct answer for this question is option d now moving on look at this question this question is about eco-sensitive zones consider the following statements regarding eco-sensitive zones statement one it is a buffer or transition zone around highly protected areas such as national parks and wildlife centuries statement two eco-sensitive zones are notified by the national board for wildlife which of the above statements is or or correct option a one only option b two only option c both one and two and option d neither one nor two see the correct answer for the question is option a one only statement one is correct because as we saw in the discussion itself this statement is the exact definition of eco-sensitive zone it is a buffer or transition zone around highly protected areas such as national parks and wildlife centuries but statement two is incorrect because they are notified by the central government through ministry of environment forest and climate change under the provisions of the environment protection act of 1986 so our second statement is incorrect here so the correct answer for the question is option a one only now look at this next question this question is framed based on our petroglyphs discussion so this question is the quiz question for you today just go through the question and mention the answer in the comment section now moving on the main question for today's discussion is displayed here just go through the question write an answer and post it in the comment section with this we came to the end of the news article discussion if you like the video hit like do comment and don't forget to subscribe to shankarai's academy youtube channel thank you