 A very good evening aspirants. As you know the UPSC announced the preliminary examination results and we are very happy to announce you that more than 927 candidates from Shankarai's academy has cracked the examination. In that 70 of them has cleared the examination in their first attempt. We congratulate all the candidates who have cleared the examination. A very good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu news paper analysis brought to you by Shankarai's academy for the date 30th of June 2022. So these are the list of news articles chosen for today's discussion. We have interesting four different news articles today. So without wasting much time, now let us move to the first news article discussion. See this open article. It is about the direct approach to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem and it also talks about the payments for ecosystem services that is PES. So this is the crux of the news article given here. So in this context, let us discuss some of the important points mentioned in the news article. Before that the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. Just go through it. Now let us see the economic means to conserve biodiversity. See as per the article incentives for biodiversity protection and sustainable use include biodiversity relevant taxes fees levies tradable permits and payments for ecosystem services that is PES. And through these economic instruments, the government can affect both public and private financing flows for biodiversity. So what is this biodiversity relevant taxes or fees or levies? See it includes mobilization of biodiversity finance through pesticide levies, admission fees to national parks, hunting and fishing permit fees and trade in energy serving certificates. See these incentives have gained governmental support but the mobilization of private and public finance for PES has not been smooth. So before seeing why the finance mobilization for PES is not smooth, let us first see what is PES. See PES is one way to conserve and increase ecosystem services. It works through the establishment of performance contracts. The idea behind PES is essentially to pay land owners to protect their land in the interest of ensuring the provision of some service rendered by nature such as cleaning water, habitat for wildlife or common storage in forests. So it means that people who can help provide the desired ecosystem service are awarded based on their actions or the quality and quantity of the services. Now coming to its significance, PES presents a unique scope for incentivizing local land owners to manage threatened ecosystems. Since they are getting rewards they will protect the threatened ecosystems and one of the most attractive aspect of PES program is that they don't just channel investments into environmental conservation, people can benefit from these investments both literally and figuratively. That means that PES can help elevate poverty. So it has the potential to achieve the dual goal of conservation and poverty elevation towards the achievement of sustainable development goals. So this places PES as one of the pivotal economic instruments for conservation and at the same time it ties conservation funds directly to activities that benefits the planet. Hope you can understand the significance of this PES. Now coming to reasons for difficulty in mobilizing the finance for PES. See mainly it is because of lack of academic research, governmental support and political will. So despite its significance, PES has not achieved much attention either in the research or policy mandate in the Indian subcontinent. So the need of the hover is the academic research, governmental support and political will. And as per the article this is in sharp contrast to the successful implementation of PES in Latin America and African countries. Let us see some of the examples here. See in Western Cape, South Africa, the Cape Nature Stewardship Program protects biodiversity on private lands. Another example is Kitten Gela Kenya's Wildlife Conservation Lease Program. This maintains open area for wildlife and grazing on personal grounds. So despite successful implementation of PES in Latin America and African countries, PES has not achieved much attention either in the research or policy mandate in the subcontinent, which is a sad thing. So if you are wondering why have such ecological restoration not received academic research and policy prioritization, see a research paper in 2002 argues that any successful PES program is one that overcomes the limitations to implementation. And as per the author, the limitations include lack of solid institutional mechanism capable of simultaneous transfer of funds from buyers to suppliers, secondly, monitoring through investment in local capacity building, thirdly, lack of cost efficiency, fourthly, lack of scope for development benefits and finally maintaining the sustainability of funds. Apart from these limitations, other concerns include the debate that revolves around the same issue from two decades. One is monetization of environmental benefits, the other is lack of additionality. Additionality means how much environmental service would have been provided without conditional payments. So here comes the question, what should be done? See, a local monitoring mechanism is the key to successfully implementing a PES program. Apart from this impact evolution studies that evaluate financial instruments, performance in attaining biodiversity conservation are also important. The OECD 2019 Biodiversity, Finance and Economic and Business Case for Action, highlighted the importance of elevating financial instruments, performance in attaining biodiversity goals. Additionally, a strong policy trust such as the TEB in the initiative, here TEB means the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity which highlights the economic consequence of the loss of biological diversity. So many such initiatives are needed. This is because it would help prioritize ecosystem restoration financing through a direct approach. Now you go, read more about TEB and take notes for both problems and main examination. Now coming back, apart from this, global initiatives such as the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative is needed to mobilize private sector finance to benefit people and the environment. And it will also help in maintaining the funds. See, these steps will allow the country to put in action. The nation's commitments to achieve the 2030 agenda for sustainable development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. So this news article is a very important piece of article that shares very unique data. The article had a lot of examples and new suggestions, which is very rare with respect to environment topic. So make note of all these points. Use it twice in your main sensor. So with these learned points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Look at this news article. The article mentions that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the digitization of around 63,000 primary agricultural credit societies, that is PACS. So this is the news today and this move is envisioned to improve the transparency, reliability and efficiency of PACS. So let us take this as an opportunity and learn some of the points about PACS. See, PACS is a rural cooperative credit institution. Its primary mandate is to ensure the flow of credit to the agriculture sector. And remember, it is a type of cooperative bank or cooperative credit institutions working in India. Here cooperative bank means a multi-state cooperative society, that is MSCS, which undertakes banking businesses. So in simple words, MSCS means cooperative bank and the type of cooperative bank is this PACS. Now let us see a few facts about MSCS. See, it means a society with objects not confined to one state. It is registered or deemed to be registered under any law which is enforced related to such cooperators. So now coming back to PACS. See, it is a rural cooperative credit system or in other words, a registered cooperative society. We saw that right. This PACS offers short-term credits and it forms the lowest tier in three-tier short-term cooperative credit structure. So if you are wondering what is this three-tier structure, it includes state cooperative bank at the apex level and central cooperative banks at the district level, which is also known as district central cooperative bank, that is DCCBs. And then comes the PACS, which functions at the village level. Because of this, PACS directly deals with the rural people. It forms the largest number of cooperative institutions in India. Also, it is spread in 90% of India's villages. So that is why today's news is most significant. As it is spread in 90% of India's villages, digitization of these societies is a step forward. And this move is like envisioning growth at the village level itself. Now talking about the role played by PACS. See, it plays multiple roles. That is, it encourages savings among agricultural lists. It also accepts deposits from agricultural lists. They also provide loans to the needy borrowers and also collect repayments. In this way, PACS serves as the last link between the rural people who are the ultimate borrowers and the RBI. But remember, PACS are outside the purview of banking regulation act 1949. Therefore, they are not regulated by RBI. Other than these, PACS also provides certain facilities like agricultural implementations on hiring basis and storage facility. It also provides input facilities in the form of kind component to the members. For example, it distributes inputs like fertilizers. Some PACS are also assisting farmers in marketing of their produce. Thus, PACS can provide both backward and forward linkages to its members. Now, let us seek view of the crucial data regarding PACS. See, it comprises of approximately 13 crore farmers as its members. Secondly, PACS account for 41% of Kisan credit card, that is KCC loans, given by all entities in the country. This is around 3.01 crore farmers and know that around 95% of these KCC loans, that is around 2.95 crore loans are to the small and marginal farmers. Hope now you can understand the significance of PACS and why digitization of such an institution is very important. So, in this news article discussion, we saw about PACS, which is nothing but primary agricultural credit societies. We saw about its roles and we ended by seeing some of the critical data regarding PACS. With this crucial notes, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now, let us take up this friend page news article for our next discussion. See, the news article mentions that the government has changed the goods and services tax, that is GST for many goods and services. For some, GST has been increased and decreased for some, as you can see here in the image given here. For example, some goods like knives, spoons and forks. GST has been raised from 12% to 18% and some of other products like ostomy appliances, it has reduced from 12% to 5%. So, this is the crux of the news article given here. With this as a background, let us just revise about GST. See, as you know, GST is an indirect tax which has replaced many indirect taxes in India. I believe you know that there are two types of taxes, which is direct tax and indirect tax. Direct tax is like you directly pay to the government, for example, income tax. You directly pay tax to the government for the salary you earn per year. Likewise, in indirect tax, you pay the tax to the government, but you indirectly pay it. That is if you buy an commodity, tax is already added to that commodity and when you buy it, you indirectly pay tax to the government. So, one kind of indirect tax is this GST. Before the GST regime, we had a different indirect tax structure in our country. Before the central government levied tax on manufacture, which is known as central excise duty. Then central government levied tax on provision of services, that is service tax. Then tax on interstate sale of goods was the central sales tax or CST. This CST was levied by the center, but it was collected and appropriated by the states. In addition to these taxes, the state government also levied tax on retail sales, which is the value added tax or VAT. Then the state government levied tax on entry of goods in state, which is called entry tax. Then there are luxury tax, purchase tax, etc. So, it is clearly visible that there are multiplicity of taxes which are being levied on the same supply chain. So, the introduction of goods and services tax, that is GST, was a significant step in the field of indirect tax reforms in India as it replaced 17 indirect taxes. These indirect taxes were consolidated into one GST. So, this amalgamation of large number of central and state taxes into a single tax reduced the ill effects of cascading or double taxation in a major way. It also paved the way for a common national market. From the consumer's point of view, if you see the largest advantage is reduction in the overall tax burden on goods. Previously, the tax burden on goods was estimated to be around 25% to 30%. So, to understand this, let us take one example. See here, a manufacturer makes pens and obtains the raw materials for say rupees 100. This 100 rupees includes a 10% tax. This means that the person pays 10 rupees in tax for 90 rupees worth of materials. Next, in the process of manufacturing the pen, the person adds value to the original material of rupees 50. So, now, total value of product is rupees 100 plus rupees 50, that is equal to rupees 150. Then again, a 10% tax is due on the finished goods, which is 15 rupees. This 15 rupees is 10% tax of 150 rupees. Now, the final product, which is the pen, its rate is 150 rupees plus 15 rupees is equal to 165 rupees. So, this is what happened in the pre-GST regime. But now, under the GST system, this additional tax can be applied against the previous tax the person paid. This brings the effective tax rate on final product to rupees 15 minus rupees 10, that is equal to 5. So, the price of final product is rupees 150 plus rupees 5, that is equal to 155. It will not be rupees 165. So, this is how GST removes the cascading effect, that is the tax on tax or double taxation burden. So, remember that all the taxes, which we mentioned earlier or subsumed in a single tax called the GST, that is levy down supply of goods or services are both at each stage of supply chain starting from manufacturer or import until the last retail level. Remember, this GST is a dual levy, that is the central government will levy and collect central GST, and the state will levy and collect state GST or SGST on intra-state supply of goods or services. Then the center will also levy and collect integrated GST, that is IGST on inter-state supply of goods or services. So, we can say we have dual GST. So, these are some of the important points that you have to remember about GST regime. Okay, and when he says that the increase in the GST of water pumps, deep tube well turbine pumps, summarizable pumps from 12% to 18% will affect the farmers badly. So, we have to wait and watch what will happen because of this move. So, these learnt points. Now, let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now, for our final news article discussion, let us take up this news article. See, this news article is about the next endeavour of ISRO. ISRO is launching three satellites today. This will be second dedicated commercial mission of New Space India Limited. And the launch vehicle for this mission is PSLV C53. So, let us see some of the important facts about this mission. See, as you know, PSLV, which stands for Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India. It even launched the Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 to moon and Mars Orbiter spacecraft in 2013 to Mars. On this line, PSLV C53 is the 55th flight of PSLV. It is a four stage PSLV and is 44.4 meter tall. And this is the 15th mission using PSLV core alone variant. See, PSLV have many variants and each have different strap on motors and capability. Strap on motors or rocket motors that are mounted around the first stage of a launch vehicle to provide extra trust at lift off and extra trust during the first few minutes of ascent or flight. But this PSLV core alone variant, in short, PSLV CA does not use these strap ons. Additionally, know that PSLV C53 is the 16th PSLV launch vehicle from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota. This PSLV C53 will carry three satellites on board, which are from Singapore. These satellites are 1SDS EO. It is a Singaporean Earth observation satellite. It carries an electro-optic, which is a multi-spectral payload that will provide full color image for land classification and for serving humanitarian assistance and disaster relief needs. Second is NUSAR. It is Singapore's first small commercial satellite carrying a SAR payload. SAR means Synthetic Aperture Radar. It is an active sensor that can sense or observe Earth in a special way from space. This observation is day and night, whether it rains or it is cloudy. This all weather-seeing feature is what makes them special for security forces and disaster relief agencies. So in this way, NUSAR is capable of providing images in day and night and under all weather conditions. Then the third one is SCOOB 1 Satellite. It is from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University that is NTU. It is the first satellite in the student satellite series that is S3-1. S3-1 is a hand-on student training program from the Satellite Research Center, SARC at NTU. Another specialty of this PSLV-C53 is it is having a PSLV-Arbital Experimental Module that is POEM. Through this POEM, ISTO aims to demonstrate the utilization of the spent upper stage of the launch vehicle. Upper stage in PSLV-C53 is stage 4 that is PS4. This stage comprises of two Earth-storable liquid engines. But when this fuel is spent or used, the stage generally has no use. But in PSLV-C53 mission, this POEM is designed to perform in-orbit scientific experiments using this spent PS4 as an orbital platform for scientific payloads. So it is the first time that PS4 stage would orbit the Earth as a stabilized platform. It carries six pounds, among these two are from Indian Space Startups, Digantara and Durva Space. So these are some of the important points that you have to make note of from this news-article discussion. In this news-article discussion, we saw about PSLV, then we saw about some of the important facts about PSLV, then we saw about the three satellites that are launching today from ISRO. 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 PACS. Consider the following statements about Primary Agricultural Credit Society. Statement one, it is also known as Primary Cooperative Bank, that is PCBs. Statement two, it is the third tyre of Urban Cooperative Credit System. Statement three, they are outside the purview of the Banking Regulation Act 1949 and hence not regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. Which of the above statements is or are correct? Option A, one only. Option B, one and two only. Option C, three only. And option D, two and three only. See the correct answer for the question is option C, three only. Both the statement one and statement two are incorrect. Statement one is incorrect because Primary Cooperative Banks, that is PCBs, is the other name of Urban Cooperative Banks, UCBs. UCBs cater to the financial needs of customers in urban and semi-urban areas. UCBs are primarily registered as cooperative societies under the provisions of either the State Cooperative Societies Act of the State Concerned or Multistate Cooperative Societies Act 2002, if the area of operation of the bank extends beyond the boundary of one state. So this makes statement one as incorrect. Now moving on to second statement. Statement two is also incorrect as BCS is the Rural Cooperative Institution and not Urban. Now third statement we saw that in the news article discussion itself they are outside the purview of the Banking Regulation Act 1949 and hence they are not regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. So the correct answer for the question is option C, three only. Now moving on to the second question. Second question is about GST. Consider the following statements. Statement one, the KELCA Task Force 2005 suggested a comprehensive GST. Statement two, the Central Government levies and collects. Central GST, C GST and the State Government levy and collect. State GST, S GST, which of the above statements is or are 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 C, both one and two. Statement one is correct because in 2005, KELCA Task Force on Physical Responsibility and Budget Management had suggested a comprehensive GST. So after taking relevant measures such as proper legislation GST was brought into force on 1st July 2017. Here note that constitution that is 101st Amendment Act 2016 inserted a new article 246A and others into constitution which makes an enabling provision for the union and state with respect to GST legislation. So this statement is actually correct. Now moving on to statement two. Statement two is also correct. We saw in the discussion itself right, it is a dual GST. So the correct answer for the question is option C, both one and two. So now this question about PSLV is the quiz question for you today. Go through the question. If you have any doubt in answering the question just listen to the session once again, you can get the answer right. Post your answers in the comment section. I'll tell whether your answer is right or wrong. So displayed here is the main question for today's discussion. Go through the question, write an answer and post it in the comment section. So with this we came to the end of the Hindu newspaper analysis. If you like the video, hit like, do share and don't forget to subscribe to Shankarae's Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.