 Dear aspirants, welcome to the Hindu news analysis by Shankar Ayes academy. These are the list of the topics along with the page numbers chosen from the different editions of the Hindu newspaper. The PDF link of the handwritten notes and time stamping of the news articles is given in the description box as well as in the comment section. Let's begin with the analysis of first news article. This news article is about Mission Karma Yogi. So in this context, know that the capacity of civil services play a vital role in rendering a wide variety of services, implementing welfare programs and also performing core governance functions. In our today's news analysis, we will discuss about Mission Karma Yogi which aims to make transformational changes in the domain of capacity building for efficient and effective administration in our country. The syllabus relevant to the analysis of this news article is highlighted here for your reference. Now, based on the union cabinet decision which has approved Mission Karma Yogi, national program for civil services capacity building that is NPCSCB. The program aims to prepare the Indian civil servant for the future by making them more creative, more constructive, imaginative, innovative and proactive. The program also make them more professional, progressive, transparent and technology-enabled civil servants. Know that the program has been designed to lay the foundations for capacity building for civil servants. So this will ensure that they remain entrenched in Indian culture and sensibilities and also remain connected with their roots. The program also aims to learn from the best institutions and practices across the world. See, this program will be delivered by setting up an integrated government online training platform which is named as I Got Karma Yogi platform. This platform brings the scale and state-of-the-art infrastructure to argument the capacities of over 2 crore officials in our country. So it is also expected to evolve into a vibrant and world-class marketplace for content where carefully developed digital e-learning material will also be available for the civil servants. Know that the mission has several core guiding principles. The first and foremost is supporting transition from rule-based to roles-based HR management. This will align the work allocation of civil servants by matching their competencies to the requirements of the post. So when empowered with specific role competencies, the civil servant will able to ensure efficient service delivery of the highest quality standards. Then the next core guiding principle is to emphasize on-site learning to complement with the off-site learning. The mission aims to calibrate all civil service positions to a framework of roles, activities and competencies approach that is FRAC's approach. So this approach aims to create and deliver learning content relevant to the identified FRAC's in every government entity. Then the mission also provides an opportunity to all civil servants to build and strengthen their behavior, functional and domain competencies in self-driven and mandated learning paths. So to implement this mission, Karma Yogi, it has several institutional frameworks. They are Prime Minister's Public Human Resources Council, Capacity Building Commission, then Special Purpose Vehicle for Owning and Operating the Digital Assets and the Technological Platform for Online Training and finally the Coordination Unit headed by the Cabinet Secretary. So these are the certain institutions proposed to implement Mission Karma Yogi. So with respect to Prime Minister's Public Human Resources Council, this council is going to be headed by the Honorable Prime Minister. It will comprise of select union ministers, chief ministers, and also eminent public HR practitioners, thinkers, global thought leaders and public service functionaries. Know that this council will serve as the apex body for providing strategic direction to the task of civil services reform and capacity building. Then the next institutional framework, that is Capacity Building Commission, ensures a uniform approach in managing and regulating the capacity building ecosystem on collaborative and co-sharing basis. Know that this commission plays several roles, such as assisting the PM Public Human Resources Council in approving the annual capacity building plans, then to exercise a functional supervision over all central training institutions in dealing with the civil services capacity building. The role of Capacity Building Commission also includes to create shared learning resources, including internal and external faculty and resource centers. With this information, let us see the financial implications of this Mission Karma Yogi to cover around 46 lakh central employees. The government is going to spend about 510 crore rupees over a period of 5 years, that is from the year 2020-21 to 2024-25. So having said that a fully-wowned special purpose vehicle for NPCSCB will be set up under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013. So this special purpose vehicle will own and manage IGOT Karma Yogi platform. It will also own all the intellectual property rights on behalf of the government of India. So these are the certain details regarding the Mission Karma Yogi. Let us proceed to the analysis of next news article. These two news articles discuss about the present economic situation and also suggest some of the important measures to be taken in order to revive the economic activities. The syllabus relevant for the analysis of these two news articles is highlighted here for your reference. So to begin with, the author of this editorial states that wealth-outout policies can still reverse the contraction in the economy. She states that the present economic downturn is just the beginning of the biggest economic crisis of independent India. So to reverse the downturn, a major change in government strategy on both on health and economy is required. The author states that the recent measures taken by the government had a little impact on triggering or generating aggregate demand. And we know that our economy is a consumption-based economy. So if there is a weak demand in economy, then there will be challenges in our economic growth and development. So the article calls for the fiscal package or fiscal space that focuses on generating more aggregate demand. Now when it comes to bank credit, it was noted that it did not largely reach the borrowers other than large companies. So steps must be taken to increase liquidity through bank credit, particularly to those who could not avail loans at present. So in this regard, fresh credit should reach MSMEs and farmers who were deprived of bank credit. Then the author states that the center has not provided adequate resources to the states to handle the economic crisis and also to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of this, many states are running out of money in order to meet their day-to-day expenses. In addition to this, the central government has also announced that it is not in position to provide around 97,000 crores of GST compensation to the state governments. So the author calls for providing GST compensation and other needed financial resources to the state governments to know more about GST compensation and issues related to GST compensation to the state governments. We have discussed in detail on our first September in the news analysis and you can refer this video for your reference. Now we will discuss other important measures such as the central government must provide more dedicated resources for health and economic activities and these resources should cover for the pandemic required spending and to deal with other health concerns that have been postponed or unattended for the past five months. Then the author demands to universalize the public distribution system and to provide free food grains of 10 KZ per household per month for at least the next six months. Then the central government should provide about 7,000 rupees per family for the next three months as compensation for the incomes lost during the lockdown period. Then the central government should double the number of days of employment under MZ Narega Program that is Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Program and these additional number of days of employment would generate additional demand in the rural economy. Then the government should start an urban employment guarantee program and such a program will handle the challenges faced in the urban economy. So the loss of jobs as a result of COVID-19 pandemic shall be provided immediately so that the job patient will create additional demand in the economy. Then the government should extend the debt moratorium till the normalcy of the current situation. Then the author also suggests to make sure that people need not pay interest for the moratorium period. So all these suggestions will cost money but if this cost is not paid for then the scenario in the near future will be even more costly for the economy and also for the people. So these are certain important suggestions or measures from this editorial and finally the author calls for bold thinking and urgent actions in order to trigger or generate aggregated demand in the economy. Now let's see the suggestions given by the part-time member of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. He's of the opinion that reforms have to be introduced so as to turn the crisis into opportunity. In this regard he stated that we have to roll out the red carpet for the companies that are planning to shift from China by enabling easy doing business ecosystem. So to enable easy doing business steps have to be initiated in order to reduce the cost of logistics, cost of power for the industrial sector and also availability of enough liquidity to trigger or generate the additional demand in the economy. So to conclude these two news articles, these are certain important measures suggested by part-time member of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Let's move on to the next news article analysis. This news article states that the state government of Maharashtra has planned to declare 600 acres of open land as reserve forest. It also states that if declared as a reserve forest it will be the first instance of an extensive forest within the limits of metropolis anywhere in the world. So in this context we're going to discuss about reserve forest and protected forest and the fundamental difference between these two types of forest. Here note that the news article states that the state government has decided to apply section four of Indian Forest Act of 1927 in order to declare 600 acres of land as reserve forest. Note that the Indian Forest Act of 1927 deals with reserve forest and protected forest. Furthermore reserve forest is dealt in chapter two, whereas protected forest is dealt in chapter four of Indian Forest Act of 1927. See as per sections three and four, the power to constitute any forest land or wasteland as reserve forest is with the state government by issuing a suitable notification in the official gazette. Then as per section five, after the issue of a notification, no right shall be acquired over the land which is declared as reserve forest except by succession or by grant or by contract or accepted by a person in whom such act was wasted when the notification was issued. Furthermore, no fresh clearings for cultivation or for any other purpose shall be made except in accordance with the rules made by the state government. Here is the list of acts prohibited in reserve forest given for your reference. Note that any act done by permission in writing of forest officer or under any rule made by the state government is not prohibited. So this is all about reserve forest. Now when it comes to protected forest, they're also constituted and notified by the state governments as per the section 29 of the Indian Forest Act of 1927. So in case of protected forest, the act gives power to the state government to frame rules related to various activities like cutting, sawing, conversion under removal of trees and timber. So if you look at the pros and cons of the Indian Forest Act of 1927, more degree of protection is there in case of reserve forest as compared to protected forest. With this information, the display practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Let's proceed to the next news article analysis. Now let's take up this news article which reports that the central government has decided to cap export incentives under mercantilised exports from India scheme, that is MEIS. Furthermore, direct rate general of foreign trade has notified that the total benefit under the scheme shall not exceed rupees 2 crore per exporter. Further exports are during the period that is from 1st September 2022, 31st December 2020. So as a consequence of this notification, the Federation of Indian Export Organization, that is FIEO, has said that the benefits are part of the export competitiveness and the sudden change will affect exporters financially. So in this context, we're going to discuss in brief about direct rate general of foreign trade and its various export promotion schemes. Know that the direct rate general of foreign trade that is DGFT is responsible for formulating and implementing the foreign trade policy. This policy aims at promoting India's exports in line with the principles of liberalization and globalization. The office of direct rate general of foreign trade is attached to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. So under the foreign trade policy of India, DGFT operates various export promotion schemes such as mercantilised exports from India scheme, that is MEIS and services exports from India scheme, that is SCIS. Remember that MEIS aims to promote the manufacture and export of notified goods or products and it was introduced in the foreign trade policy with effect from 2015 in order to provide reverse for exports of specified goods. The objective of the MEIS scheme is to offset the infrastructural inefficiencies and associated costs involved in exporting goods or products which are produced or manufactured in India. So as per the scheme, it incentivizes exporters in terms of duty credit scripts and they're provided at the rate of 2 to 7% of FOB value, that is a free-turn board value. Note that the duty credit scripts and goods imported or domestically procured against these scripts shall be freely transferable and they can be used for payment of basic customs duty and additional customs duty under the Customs Tariff Act of 1975 for import of inputs or goods including capital goods. They can also be used for the payment of central access duties on domestic procurement of inputs or goods. So this is all about merchandise exports from India scheme. Now let us see the services exports from India scheme, that is SCIS scheme. Its objective is to encourage and maximize export of notified services from India. Note that the government has launched SCIS for promotion of trade-in services by giving fiscal benefits for notified sectors. So just like MEIS, SCIS offers duty credit scripts as incentives to the exporters of notified services in order to offset infrastructural inefficiencies and associated costs. So to conclude this news article, we have discussed about direct rate general of foreign trade. Then important export promotion schemes such as merchandise exports from India scheme and services exports from India scheme. Let's proceed to the analysis of next news article. Now let's discuss these news articles which talk about the parliamentary procedural devices such as question hour and zero hour. So if you remember that we have explained in detail about question hour and zero hour in our 29th Hindu News Analysis and you can refer this video for your reference. And on that day, we said that the opposition members of parliament have requested Lok Sabha speaker not to curtail question hour and zero hour. In this context, let's have a brief recap on question hour. That is the first hour of a parliamentary sitting is devoted to the questions. So during this hour, the members can ask questions on every aspect of administration and governmental activity. Also remember that the question hour is mentioned in the rules of procedure of house and once questions are raised, the concerned minister answers the raised questions. Remember that the questions are of three kinds namely stored questions, unstored questions and short notice questions. A stored question requires an oral answer and therefore supplementary questions can follow. Then in case of unstored questions, it requires a written answer and therefore no supplementary questions can follow. Then the thought type of questions such as the short notice questions are raised by giving a notice of less than 10 days and it is answered orally. Now we'll recollect about zero hour and the difference between zero hour and question hour. Remember that the time immediately following the question hour is taken up in the house as zero hour and it starts around 12 noon and this period is commonly termed as zero hour. The term zero hour is not formally recognized in Indian parliamentary procedure and also not mentioned in the rules of procedure of the house. It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures. So you can infer that these devices such as the question hour and zero hour help parliamentarians to hold government accountable. But today's newspaper again reports that the question hour is suspended for upcoming monsoon parliamentary session. However, the government has justified that in extraordinary times of COVID-19 pandemic, the parliament can convene only for four hours so question hour cannot be conducted. Further, the government has said that a truncated 30 minutes zero hour would be allowed for members to take up particular issues of interest. Here you should note that the ministries are not liable to answer any issues raised during the zero hour. So it's less effective when compared to question hour. So because of this reason, the opposition parties are not happy with the government decision. With this information, the display practice question will be discussed at the end of the session. Let's proceed to the next news article analysis. Now let's take up this question based on places located in the western coast of India. We have framed this question because we have a relevant news article in today's newspaper. The news article says there is a proposal to transfer partial ownership of a terminal at one of the India's busiest port, that is Mundra port in the state of Gujarat. So as per the news report, the ownership transfer is to a Chinese company. And this proposal is now under the scanner of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs. And we know that because of the prevailing situation and security concerns, about 200 proposals from Chinese companies are under careful examination by the government of India. In this context, know that Mundra port, which is also known as Adhaniport, is one of the private ports in India located in the state of Gujarat. So with this information, let's take up the given question, which are the following located in the western coast of India. The Indayal port trust, William port, Mundra port, atomic power stations, strategic petroleum reserves. So to answer this question, we should know about important ports or places located in the western coast of India. Remember that Mundra port and Kandala port located in the state of Gujarat. Also know that recently Kandala port has been renamed as the Indayal port trust. Then Jawaharlal Nehru port trust, Mumbai port and Ratnagari port are located in the state of Maharashtra. Marmaghav port in the state of Goa. Karwar port in North Kannada. Mangalur port in South Kannada. Then Kochi port and Millennium port are located in the state of Kerala. So all the given three ports are located in the western side of India, that is western coast of India. When it comes to atomic power stations, know the important atomic power stations like Kakrapur, Tarapur, Jaitapur, Kaiga, Karmany and Kodankulam nuclear power stations. Out of these atomic power stations, Kakrapur atomic power station located on the banks of Athapthi, near Surat in the state of Gujarat, whereas Tarapur atomic power station and Jaitapur atomic power stations are located in the state of Maharashtra. Kaiga power station is located in the state of Karnataka on the banks of Kali river. Then Karmany nuclear reactor, which is also known as Kalpakkam nuclear reactor, is located in the eastern coast of India in the state of Tamil Nadu and Kodankulam nuclear power station is also located in the state of Tamil Nadu. So atomic power stations located in the western coast of India. When it comes to strategic petroleum reserves, know that the government of India has established strategic petroleum reserves facilities in order to meet the strategic energy requirement. So at present, the government of India established at three locations, namely Vishakapatnam in the state of Andhra Pradesh, then Mangaluru and Padur in the state of Karnataka. The total capacity of these three places is estimated to provide for about 9.5 days of crude oil requirement. Also know that the government of India has recently given in principle approval for establishing two more strategic petroleum reserves facilities with the total storage capacity of 6.1 million metric tons. These two locations are namely Chandikul in the state of Odisha, then Padur in the state of Karnataka. So at present, there are two strategic petroleum reserves in the western coast of India and one strategic petroleum reserve in the eastern coast of India. Therefore, the correct answer for this question is option D, one, two, three, four and five. Let's start our practice question session. Now let's take up this question. Consider the following statements with reference to Indian Forest Act of 1927. Both the reserve forest and the protected forest mean one and the same. The state government may constitute any forest land or wasteland, which is the property of government as a reserve forest. For this question, you need to choose correct statement or statements. So in the context of this question, try to remember that Indian Forest Act of 1927 deals with protected forest as well as reserve forest. The reserve forest is constituted and notified as per section three and four of Indian Forest Act, whereas protected forest are constituted and declared as per the section 29 of the forest act. Note that both the types of forest are constituted and notified as per the Provence of Indian Forest Act, but there is a greater degree of protection in case of reserve forest as compared to protected forest. So the first statement is incorrect. The second statement is correct because as per the Provence of Forest Act of 1927, the state government may constitute any forest land or wasteland, which is the property of government as reserve forest. So the correct answer for this question is option B2 only. Let's take up this question. Consider the following statements regarding export promotion schemes in India. The direct rate general of foreign trade is responsible for formulating and implementing both the merchandise exports from India scheme and services exports from India scheme. The duty credit scripts given to exporters under MEIS and SCIS are freely transferable and could be used for payment of basic customs duty for import of goods. For this question, you need to choose correct statement or statements. So to answer this question, we should know about direct rate general of foreign trade which is a attached office under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and this office is responsible for formulating and implementing the foreign trade policy of India. Note that the foreign trade policy of India aims at promoting India's exports in line with the principles of liberalization and globalization. So under the foreign trade policy, DGFT operates various export promotion schemes. These schemes includes merchandise exports from India scheme, services exports from India scheme and it also operates advanced authorization, duty free import authorization and export promotion of capital goods. Remember that merchandise exports from India scheme that is MEIS aims at promoting the manufacture and export of notified goods or products. Whereas services exports from India scheme aims at increasing and maximizing export of notified services from India. So under these two schemes, exporters were given duty credit scripts which are freely transferable and could be used for payment of basic customs duty for import of inputs or goods including capital goods. So the correct answer for this question is option C because both the given two statements are correct. Let's take up one practice main question. The question is how the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the contraction of Indian economy? Give your suggestions to reverse the same. This is a 10 marks question and you are requested to write within 150 votes and post the written answers in the comment section and suitable feedback will be given within the reasonable timeframe. With this, we have come to the end of today's Indian news analysis. If you like the video, please do like, share, comment and subscribe. Shankara is a Karmu YouTube channel for more updates.