 Good evening as friends, this is an announcement, Shankaraya's academy is conducting free main scholarship test 2020 and this scholarship test consists of 5 main questions on daily current affairs starting from 27th july. Everyday one main question will be given from the daily indu news analysis and the question will be published along with the indu news analysis video starting from 27th july to 31st july 2020. One is mandatory for participation and the process of registration is going to end on 26th july 2020 at 2pm. With this announcement, let's begin with daily news analysis for the date 25th july 2020. Here is the list of the topics along with the page numbers chosen from 5 different editions of the Hindu for your reference. Let's begin with the analysis of first topic. This news article says Tamil Nadu government has directed its officials to follow central law on contract forming. Know that in the month of June 2020, president has promulgated two ordinance with the aim of giving a boost to rural India and agriculture. One of them was the farmers empowerment and protection agreement and price assurance and farm services ordinance of 2020. In this context, Tamil Nadu government has asked its officials to follow this law on contract forming and get at least one contract signed in each district initially. So let's discuss in detail about the relevance of this ordinance. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now, this ordinance provides a national framework on forming agreements that protects and imposes farmers to engage with the agree business firms, processes or with wholesalers or exporters or with large retailers. So when the farmers engage with them for farm services and sale off of future farming produce, a mutually agreed remunerative price framework will be agreed upon in a fair and transparent manner. So in this context, know that a farming agreement means a written agreement entered into between a farmer and a sponsor or with any thought party. So this will be done prior to the production or rearing of any farm produce of a predetermined quality. Either sponsors agrees to purchase such farming produce from farmer and also agrees to provide such farm services to the farmers. So in this case, the sponsors can be individuals, partnership firms, companies or limited liability groups or societies. Furthermore, the farming agreement may also provide for terms and conditions for supply of produce such as the time of supply, quality and standards and also terms and conditions for price variations. It will also have terms related to supply of farm services. And the ordinance prohibits entering into a farming agreement which is derogatory to the rights of a sharecropper. See a sharecropper is a tiller or occupier of a farmland who formally or informally agrees to give a fixed share of crop or fixed amount to the landowner for growing or rearing farm produce. The ordinance also mentions the duration of the farming agreement. The minimum period of an agreement will be one crop season or one production cycle of livestock. And the maximum period will be five years. In case of a production cycle beyond five years, the maximum period will be mutually decided by the farmer and the sponsor. Know that the ordinance also prohibits sponsors from acquiring ownership rights or making permanent modifications on a farmer's land or premises under a farming agreement. Now we will see important exemptions provided under this ordinance. That is a farming produce under a farming agreement will be exempted from all state acts aimed at regulating sale and purchase of farming produce. It will also be exempted from the Essential Commodities Act of 1955 and will not have any stock limit obligations. See there is a provision to link the farming agreement with incidents or credit instruments under any scheme of center or states or any financial service providers. See this will ensure risk mitigation and credit flow to farmers and sponsors. Now let us see the dispute settlement mechanism under this ordinance. Say a farming agreement shall provide for a consolation board as well as a consolation process for settlement of disputes. If the board should have a fair and balanced representation of parties to the agreement, if the process is all disputes must be referred to the board for resolution, if the board remains unresolved after 30 days, then parties may approach the subdivision magistrate for resolution. Every order passed by the subdivision magistrate will have the same force as a decree of a civil court. Then any party agreed by such order shall appeal to an appellate authority which is presided by collector or additional collector. Know that both the magistrate and appellate authority are required to dispose a dispute within 30 days from the receipt of an application. And they may impose certain penalties on the party, contravening or violating the agreement. However, no action can be taken against the agricultural land of the farmer for recovery of any dues. So to conclude this news analysis, we have discussed in detail about the farmers' empowerment and production agreement on price assurance and farm services ordinance of 2020. Let us move on to the next news article analysis. These two news articles talk about India-Sri Lanka relations in the wake of recent events. So in this context we will see about India-Sri Lanka in terms of trade and also India's assistance to Sri Lanka and then future course of action. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now, we know that the relationship between India and Sri Lanka is more than 2500 years old and both countries have a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction. Further in the recent years, the relationship has been marked by close contacts at all the levels. Therefore, the trade and investment have grown and there is cooperation in the fields of development, education and also in the fields of culture and defense. So if we consider the economic and trade engagement between the countries, Sri Lanka is India's one of the largest trade partners in SARC that is South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and India is Sri Lanka's largest trade partner globally. And bilateral trade between the countries amounts to about $4.59 billion in the year 2019. Furthermore, India is also one of the largest contributors to foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka and India continues to be the largest source market for tourists visiting Sri Lanka, which was approximately 18.2% in the year 2019. And also Sri Lankan tourists visiting India are among the top 10 sources for Indian tourism market. So we can say that the importance of India-Sri Lanka relations has been growing. And this is more important in the scenario where India is facing disputes among its neighboring countries, especially China, Pakistan and Nepal. And moreover, India and China are Sri Lanka's closest partners. So escalating tensions between the countries is a cause of concern for Sri Lanka. So based on these scenarios and the ongoing global pandemic, where do India-Sri Lanka relations stand at this moment? So to know this, we'll see the recent developments in the relationship between the countries and India's commitment to Sri Lanka's development. Now we'll start with the domain of diplomacy. So usually Sri Lanka's newly elected president or prime minister visits India first. But in the year 2019, when Sri Lanka elected its new president, the Indian minister of external affairs visited Sri Lanka to meet the newly elected president. So this enhances the mutual respect the countries have. Then one of the recent developments is regarding the East Container Terminal Project. Know that earlier this month, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka told that there was no final decision on the East Container Terminal Project, that is ECT project. This project is the development of the East Container Terminal of Colombo Port of Sri Lanka. So for this project, that is in the year 2019, a trilateral MOU was signed between India, Japan and Sri Lanka. Under this agreement, the Sri Lankan Port Authority, that is SLPA, which is the public sector unit under the Sri Lankan government, will hold the majority share and the remaining share will be held between entities of Japan and India. And more importantly, SLPA is to retain 100% ownership of the facility. However, the Port Trade Unions and some opposition parties in Sri Lanka were protesting, saying, giving away national assets to India and they wanted to be developed fully by Sri Lankan Port Authority. So because of these tensions, and we also know that in next month, Sri Lanka is going for its general elections. So in this context, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka made the statement to gain support locally. On the other hand, during this same period, India was holding discussions with the Sri Lankan government relating to Sri Lanka's two important requests. First is for a debt freeze, that is Sri Lanka is asking for debt moratorium. In this moratorium period of Sri Lanka is not required to make any loan repayment to India. See Sri Lanka is facing rising debt and Sri Lanka's total foreign debt is about $55 billion, which accounts for nearly 80% of its GDP. So out of it, Sri Lanka owes about $960 million to India, which is about 2% of its total debt. Then the next request is for swapping currency. And this request has been agreed, which is also reported in one of the news articles in today's newspaper. And RBA has agreed to a $400 million currency swap facility for Sri Lanka till the month of November 2022. And know that a currency swap agreement between countries is an agreement to exchange currencies with predetermined terms and conditions. If the central bank of Sri Lanka had sought the swap facility to strengthen its foreign exchange reserves in the wake of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. So this will enable Sri Lanka to meet its short-term international liquidity requirements following the economic crisis resulted from COVID-19 pandemic. So this development is a relief to Sri Lanka and it will help in its post-pandemic economic recovery. And this development is an example of India's strong commitment to work with Sri Lanka in post-COVID-19 economic recovery. So after this, Indian Prime Minister announced a $450 million line of credit to Sri Lanka. And out of this line of credit, about $400 million is for infrastructure projects and about $50 million is for counter-terror measures. Know that India has provided concessional financing of over $1.8 billion to Sri Lanka through line of credit projects funded by Exim Bank of India. Then India has important role in Suva-Surya Ambulance Service, which is an emergency ambulance service launched in July 2016 in western and southern provinces of Sri Lanka under an Indian grant of $7.56 million. So after the success of Ambulance Service, government of Sri Lanka requested to expand the service nationwide. So grant assistance of $15 million was agreed by Indian government. Know that the emergency ambulance service is the largest Indian grant project in Sri Lanka after the Indian housing project. The project also showcases smart use of Indian technology, innovation, best practices and skill set for saving lives. And this project illustrates India's pupil-oriented development partnership with Sri Lankan government. And this project also serves the pressing needs due to COVID-19 pandemic. So based on these aspects, experts are advocating India and Sri Lanka to enhance links in the health sector, including in telemedicine. So apart from all these healthy engagements, one political issue that lingers on is the solution to Tamil question in Sri Lanka. So to address this, the 13th amendment to Sri Lankan constitution was brought and its objective was creating provincial councils in Sri Lanka based on the pros and of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987. So provincial councils were set up as part of a devolution of powers, particularly for Tamil minorities. Even the current president of Sri Lanka has been advocating for development over devolution. But the problem is, devolution of land and police powers as part of 13th amendment has not been implemented so far by any Sri Lankan government. So Sri Lankan Tamil political parties have been demanding the implementation in Lateran Spirit. So if India wants to continue its objective of a future for Tamil minority in Sri Lanka that is marked by principles of equality, dignity, justice and self-respect, then India should more passionately engage with the government of Sri Lanka at the highest levels to implement the 13th amendment in Lateran Spirit. Furthermore, these initiatives are important because bilateral relationship between India and Sri Lanka will always be an important cornerstone of a peaceful and prosperous South Asia. Therefore, both the nations, that is India and Sri Lanka, should focus on increasing the volume and quality of people-to-people links and also to enhance the economic and trade engagements. With this, we have come to the end of analysis of this news article. Let's move on to the next news article analysis. Now we have this Ground Zero article which talks about the recent gold smuggling case which happened in the state of Kerala. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now, we know that on 30th June 2020, customs officials at Trivandrum International Airport detained a diplomatic baggage from Dubai on suspicion of smuggling. And it was found that gold is getting smuggled in the diplomatic cargo sent to Tiruvananth Parampuram UAE consulate. So in this regard, the centre ordered parallel investigations by the National Investigation Agency and also by the enforcement directorate on the grounds of national security. And this was by citing reasons that this crime could destroy India's diplomatic ties with the UAE besides upsetting the country's economic security. So in this context, the National Investigation Agency invoked the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967 while the enforcement directorate initiated a money laundering probe. So in this context, let us discuss about National Investigation Agency and also certain important sections of UAPA invoked by the National Investigation Agency. Now know that NIA is an agency at the centre level for investigation of offences or crimes related to terrorism and certain other acts which have national ramifications. And it was set up in the year 2008 as a statutory body as per the National Investigation Agency Act of 2008. Know that the act extends to the whole of India. It also applies to citizens of India living outside India. The act also applies to persons in the service of the government wherever they may be. Also know that the act also applies to persons on ships and aircrafts resisted in India wherever they may be. NIA can investigate and prosecute for offences under the various acts specified in this schedule. For example, NIA can investigate offences as per the Atomic Energy Act of 1962, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act of 1967, the Anti-Izaki Act of 1982, the SARG Convention Act of 1993, the separation of unlawful acts against the safety of maritime navigation on fixed platforms and Continental Shell Act of 2002, then the weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, then also offences under Chapter 6 of the Indian Penal Code and also sections 489A to 489E of the Indian Penal Code. Know that the superintendents of the agency is vested in the central government under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Further it is to be noted that the state government may request the central government to hand over the investigation of a case to the National Investigation Agency. Further the central government has the authority to issue directions to the National Investigation Agency to take over the investigation of any case. So during the investigation the state government shall extend all assistance and cooperation to the agency and this does not affect the powers of the state government to investigate and prosecute in any offence. The central government is authorized to constitute special courts for trial of the schedule offences and section 22 of the Act authorizes the state government to constitute special courts for trial of the schedule offences and an appeal on any judgment or sentence or order of a special court shall go to the High Court. Now it is to be noted that in 2019 an amendment was made to the National Investigation Act known as the National Investigation Agency Amendment Act of 2019 and as per this amendment it has enhanced the jurisdiction of NIA to investigate schedule offences committed outside India but targeting Indians as well as Indian assets abroad. With this information now we will see the relevance of unlawful activities prevention act in the present gold smuggling case. Know that this act was passed in the year 1967 and aims at effective prevention of unlawful activities or associations in India. Now we will see certain important sections in this act that is section 13 of the Act deals with any act causing disaffection against India is seen as a terrorist act. Then section 14 says that an offence punishable under this act is a cognizable offence. Then section 15 speaks about terrorist acts and damage to the monetary stability of India and this can be by way of production, smuggling or circulation of high quality counterfeit Indian paper currency, coin or of any other material. So this includes gold as well. Now coming to section 16 it deals with the punishment for making demands for substances for committing or abating a terrorist act. Then section 17 is regarding punishment for rising funds for terrorist act. It criminalizes persons who rise or provides or collect fund or attempt to rise or provide or collect funds with the knowledge that such funds are likely to be used by persons or organizations to commit a terrorist act. Then section 18 deals with punishment for conspiring to commit a terrorist act or any act preparatory to the commission of a terrorist act. So these are certain important sections invoked by National Investigation Agency in the ongoing gold smuggling case in the state of Kerala. With this information let's move on to the next news article analysis. Now let's take up this question based on Rick Bricks and Shanghai Cooperation Organization. We have framed this question because we have a relevant news article in today's newspaper and this news article is about the opinion of Indian NY in Moscow about the India-China relations. The article says that India's state of affairs with China will not be the same until there is a complete disengagement along the line of actual control. It also says that India's engagement with China on various multilateral fora like Bricks, Rick and Shanghai Cooperation Organization were expected to continue. So in this context let's discuss in brief about these three bodies. Now know that in the year 2006, Brick became a formal grouping after the meeting of the leaders of four countries and these four countries include Brazil, Russia, India and China. Later in the year 2010, South Africa joined Brick Grouping and eventually Brick became Bricks. Now we'll see the significance of Bricks in terms of its share in global GDP, global population and geographical extent. So based on 2013 statistics, Bricks accounted for about 27% of global GDP in terms of the purchasing power parity of their national currencies and the total Bricks population is about 2.88 billion which is about 42% of the entire global population and Bricks countries geographically cover about 26% of the planet's land. Now we'll discuss one of the important initiatives of Bricks nations that is New Development Bank. This New Development Bank was established at Beijing in China as per the Fortileza Declaration and this declaration was made during the 6th Bricks Summit in the year 2014 at Fortileza in Brazil. Now let's see about Shanghai Cooperation Organization which is a permanent inter-governmental international organization. Know that it was announced in the year 2001 in Shanghai by Tajikistan, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Moving forward that is in the year 2017 at Astana Summit Pakistan and India were given full membership. So the total membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organization rises to 8. It also has four observer states namely Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia. It also has observer status in the United Nations General Assembly since the year 2005. Know that SEO has two permanent bodies namely the SEO secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure that is RATS. See RATS has headquarters at Tuscany which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. Now we'll see about Rick that is Russia, India, China forum. Rick is a strategic grouping which evolved as a counterbalance to the western alliance. Know that it was found on the basis of ending the subservient or subordinate foreign policy attitude of the United States of America and also to renew old ties with India and fostering the newly discovered friendship with China. It is to be noted that Rick countries occupy about 19% of the global land mass and contribute to about 33% of global GDP. Now with this information let's take up the given question. Consider the following body or mechanism associated with. If three pairs are given you need to choose correctly matched pair or pairs. Your first pair is incorrect because the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure that is RATS is the initiative of Shanghai Cooperation Organization but not the initiative of Rick Forum. Then second pair is correctly matched that is a fertilizer declaration is associated with New Development Bank. Then Bankong declaration is matched with Shanghai Cooperation Organization and this pair is incorrect because Bankong declaration is associated with ASEAN grouping. Know that ASEAN declaration or Bankong declaration is the founding document of Association of Southeast Asian Nations and it was signed in Bankong on 8th August 1967 by the ASEAN founding members. Know that this date is now celebrated as ASEAN day. So the correct answer to this question is option D to only. Now let's take up this question based on financial stability report. We have framed this question because we have relevant news article in today's newspaper which talks about the recently released financial stability report of RBI. Know that it is released by the Reserve Bank of India by annually that is two times in the year. It is the collective assessment of the subcommittee of the Financial Stability and Development Council. The report assesses on various risks to financial stability of the nation. It also assesses the resilience of the financial system. Also discusses various concerns relating to development and regulation of the financial sector. Know that FSR also includes report on trend and progress of banking sector in India. So in this context also know that financial stability and development council was constituted in the year 2010 and it was set up to strengthen and institutionalize the effective mechanism for maintaining financial stability, enhancing interregulatory coordination and promoting financial sector development. It is a non-statutory body headed by Union Finance Minister. Now we will see the highlights of the report. The report said gross non-performing assets that is GNPA ratio of scheduled commercial banks could further worsen to as high as 14.7% by the end of the current financial year from the level of 8.5% in the month of March 2020 because of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. You know that gross non-performing assets denotes the sum total of all loan assets that are classified as non-performing assets as per RBI guidelines. So it reflects the quality of the loans made by the banks. So it consists of substandard, doubtful and loss assets. The report also mentions that the capital to risk weighted asset ratio that is CARAR of scheduled commercial banks reduced to 14.8% in the month of March 2020 from the level of 15% in September 2019 and it may further reduce to 11.8% because of severe economic stress imposed by COVID-19 pandemic. You know that CARAR or capital adequacy ratio is the ratio of a bank's own capital to risk weighted assets. Here assets denote loans, various investments in stock markets, guarantees, etc. We know that banks relay on borrowings from depositors to create loans and they always run the risk of insolvency. So maintenance of capital adequacy ratio protects the banks from such a risk in case of default from some of its borrowers. The financial stability report also highlighted that bank credit had considerably weakened during the first half of 2019-20 and it has further reduced to 5.9% in the month of March 2020. The report also said that the assets management companies or mutual funds followed by insurance companies were the biggest fund providers in the financial system and NBFCs that is non-banking financial companies were the biggest receivers from the financial system followed by housing finance companies. Furthermore, the governor of Reserve Bank of India said that the top priority right now for financial institution is to increase their capital or assets and to improve their resilience. He said that the country's financial system is a sound but lenders should not practice extreme risk aversion during the COVID-19 pandemic. So he mentioned that full restoration in economic activity would be based on the support for robust health infrastructure, recovery in demand conditions and fixing of supply dislocations. With this information let's take up the given question. He three statements are given with reference to financial stability report of RBI. The report discusses issues relating to development and regulation of the financial sector of India. And it reflects the collective assessments made by the Monetary Policy Committee of RBI and it is a bi-enial report. The first statement is correct whereas second and third statements are incorrect. So from our analysis we have seen that it is a bi-annual but not bi-enial. Know that bi-enial means once in two years whereas bi-annual means two times in a year. So the correct answer for this question is option A. Let's start our practice question session. After the following statements regarding the farmers' empowerment and protection agreement on price assurance and farm services ordinance of 2020, a farmer can enter into a written agreement with individuals or companies prior to the production or rearing of any farm produce of a pre-determined quality. The minimum period of an agreement will be one crop season or one production cycle of livestock. Farming produce under a farming agreement will be exempted from stock limits under the Essential Commodities Act of 1955. So in this context, know that the farmer's empowerment and protection agreement on price assurance and farm services ordinance 2020 was recently promulgated by the President of India and this ordinance provides a national framework on farming agreements which protects and imposes farmers to engage with agribusiness farms, processes, wholesalers or with exporters or with large retailers for farm services and also for sale of future farming produce at a mutually agreed remunerative price framework in a fair and transparent manner. Here all the given statements are correct with reference to this ordinance, so the correct answer for this question is option D, 1, 2 and 3. Consider the following ports, Guadar port, Port of Amman Tota, Port of Dokum, Port of Trinkomali, Sabang port, which among the above is or important ports of Sri Lanka. So in the context of this question, know that Guadar port is located in Pakistan, Sabang port is being developed in Indonesia by India in partnership with the Indonesian government and Port of Dokum is situated in the southeast of Oman. Further from this picture, you can notice important ports of Sri Lanka include Colombo port, Amman Tota port and Trinkomali port and other relevant harbours or ports are highlighted here for your reference. So with reference to this question, you need to choose ports located in Sri Lanka. So the correct answer for this question is option D, 2 and 4 only. Consider the following statements with reference to National Investigation Agency. It was set up in the year 2008 as an executive body under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The central government can authorize National Investigation Agency to investigate a crime in a state, but only with the consent of the concerned state government. It is given power to investigate schedule offences committed outside India targeting Indians as well as Indian assets abroad. So from more analysis we have seen that National Investigation Agency was established in the year 2008 as a statutory body as per the National Investigation Agency Act of 2008 under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs. You know that NIA involves in the investigation of offences or crimes related to terrorism and certain other acts which have national ramifications. And this act applies to the whole of India, citizens of India living outside India and also applies to persons in the service of the government wherever they may be and also to persons on ships and aircrafts resisted in India but wherever they may be. So in the year 2019 this act was amended and as per the 2019 amendment the jurisdiction of National Investigation Agency enhanced to investigate schedule offences committed outside India but targeting Indians as well as Indian assets abroad. So out of the given statements the first two statements are incorrect and thought statement is correct. So the correct answer for this question is option A 3 only. With this we have come to the end of today's India news analysis. If you like the video please do like, share, subscribe and comment Shankar Ishakar YouTube channel for more updates. Thank you.