 Good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar Ayes Academy for the date 18th May 2019. The list of articles which has been chosen for today's analysis along with the page numbers of Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Thiruvannandapura Medicines are provided here. The link for the handwritten notes in the PDF format and the time-stamping for the displayed articles has been provided in the description box below. And for the benefit of smartphone users, the time-stamping is also provided in the comment section. Let's move on to the first article. This article has appeared on page 5 of Chennai edition only. The discussion based on this article will be relevant in prelims preparation under Indian polity and in governance and also in social development. The discussion can also be linked to main syllabus under GS paper 2 in the area government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation and also in issues relating to development and management of education. The news article discusses about the non-dispersal of required and requested funds to the state government of Tamil Nadu by Centre. The state government has requested to the central government for rupees 4000 crores for ensuring the implementation of section 12 subsection 1 clause C of Right of Education to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009. This section deals with preschool. The act in section 12 subsection 1 clause C states that every school that fall under the definition given in the act shall admit at least 25% of students in every class from weaker and disadvantaged group in the neighbourhood. Note that the definition of school in RTE act of 2009 includes even an unneeded school that is not receiving any kind of aid or grants to meet its expenses from the government. Children belonging to weaker sections means children of parent or guardian whose annual income is lower than the minimum limit specified by the government. Children from disadvantaged group means those children belonging to the schedule caste, schedule tribes socially and educationally backward classes also. The definition of disadvantaged group also includes social disadvantages, cultural disadvantages, economical, geographical, linguistic and disadvantages owing to gender and other factors also. Under the RTE act the private schools are reimbursed with the expenses incurred by them in admitting 25% of free seats in a class to weaker and disadvantaged sections. 2014 to 2016 the state government has reimbursed the private schools with 97 crore. Now this money has been claimed by the state from the government for reimbursement under Servicet Shah Abhyan. But the centre has so far approved only 18 lakhs. Here one has to note that the education comes under concurrent list. Keep in mind that education comes under concurrent list. And section 7 of Right to Education Act of 2009 states that both central and state governments have concurrent responsibility for providing funds for carrying out the provisions of the act. This means centre is not fulfilling its responsibility under the act and this affects the state's finances, school education system in the state and programs such as Servicet Shah Abhyan. Because if now the state government request money for infrastructure under Servicet Shah Abhyan the centre can easily say that it has given 18 lakhs. But we know that the money was claimed under the scheme to get the centre's share of reimbursed amount of private schools. Some experts working in the area of education feel that there shall be some rule or legislation to bring all schools as neighbourhood schools. Because under RTE Act for children in class 1 to 5 to get a free seat under the act a school has to be within a walking distance of 1 kilometer of the neighbourhood. And for classes 6 to 8 standard it is 3 kilometers. There are many implementation challenges in this scheme. Because many private schools say the admission for 25% free seats for weaker and disadvantaged sections is closed or they do not fall under the jurisdiction limits for applying a seat in their school. Therefore some experts suggest to announce all schools as neighbourhood schools and this has to be done based on the recommendations by the Acharya Ramamurthy committee of 1990. This committee was set up in 1990 for the review of National Policy on Education 1996. The committee has submitted report in the same year itself. According to the committee all schools whether urban or rural, government or private, aided or unaided has to become community or neighbourhood schools to achieve the common school system. This was suggested to secure equity and social justice in education. Another recommendation of this committee is every school should be made a community school. This is applicable even to the private and also government schools. Now what is this common school system? The features of the common school system are outlined in the report of Education Commission of 1964 to 1966. They are a common school system must be open to all children irrespective of social, economic or other differences and no tuition fee would be charged from the students for providing quality education. And there should be no need to send children to expensive schools outside the system. Now a question may arise that how expensive a private school can be. In a government school in Chennai the yearly fees for class 10 is around 250 rupees for one year. But in same Chennai for class 5 there are some private schools which charge around rupees 60,000 per year. The common school system has not been established all over India for a variety of reasons. One is that government schools or ordinary schools lack infrastructural facilities in comparison with private schools. Secondly the quality of education in government schools is poor because of variety of factors such as poor teaching quality. And thirdly the growth of school institutions in government sector which are meant for separate categories of students. That is the growth of school institutions such as Sainik schools and Kendra Vidyalayas. Sainik schools are established to provide special school education of a high standard with the aim of preparing boys academically and physically for entry into the National Defence Academy. And there are around 26 Sainik schools across the country and they come under Ministry of Defence. Whereas the Kendra Vidyalayas are established to cater to the educational needs of the children of transferable central government employees by providing a common program of education. One of the other reason why common school system has not gained ground in India is the constitutional provision for minorities to establish and administer their own educational institutions which is provided under Article 30 of Indian Constitution. And also lack of political will that is lack of peoples representatives in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and state legislatures to legislate and establish one common school system across the states or across the country. The article also talks about the falling admission percentage in public or government schools. One should correlate with the declining support of governments in providing or allocating funds for government school infrastructure. This indirectly aids the private schools to advertise for them saying that government schools are poor in quality in terms of infrastructure and other basic features of the school. In the news it is also told that non-discrimination and right to dignity can be ensured only in government schools. If non-discrimination or say sexual abuse happens in private schools they will not help the victim. What they immediately try to do is to save the institution from bad reputation as bad reputation will cause their business and investments in schools. But this can never happen or cannot happen in a government school as government employees will face criminal and disciplinary action against them. With this we come to the end of this discussion. For your reference we have displayed a question asked in the preliminary examination last year. Have a look at it. You will have an idea of how generally questions are framed and asked by the UPSC. This displayed practice pollings question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next article discussion which is an editorial based on Indo-Pacific policy of India. This article has appeared on page 8 of Chennai, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram edition and on page 6 of Delhi edition. The discussion will be relevant in main syllabus under GS paper 2 in the areas India and its neighborhood relations. Next in bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and or affecting India's interest. Then also in effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interest. Then also in important international institutions, agencies and fora their structure and mandate. The discussion can also be linked to Indian economy under GS paper 3 also. Stepping into the main discussion the authors discuss about the Indo-Pacific policy of India. India's participation in different mechanism to ensure diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific region and also about the challenges present in implementing all these. Before getting into the article discussion let us first understand about the Indo-Pacific region. The term Indo-Pacific refers to the maritime space stretching from the Indian Ocean across East Asia to the western Pacific Ocean. Countries falling in the direct catchment of the vast Indian and Pacific Oceans can be termed as Indo-Pacific countries. In other words it is an integrated arena that combines the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and the landmasses that surround them. Here the most important point is Indo-Pacific is a multipolar region that is contributing more than half of world's GDP and population. Here ocean is the common thread that connects this vast Indo-Pacific region. The prime focus of Indo-Pacific is therefore centered around ocean where India occupies an important strategic position in the Indian Ocean. India is primarily a maritime nation having a rich and glorious history of maritime trade. We all know that. Thus greater maritime connectivity between India and her trade partners is an imperative for Indo-Pacific connectivity. In Indo-Pacific maritime cooperation between India and Southeast Asian countries is one of the important aspects of the Indian-ASEAN strategic partnership. At the ASEAN India Commomerate Summit which held at Delhi in January 2018, leaders underlined the need to provide lower logistic costs for increasing trade. Given the economic potential of Indo-Pacific region, a number of countries are investing enormous financial, technological and human capital to develop maritime economies and are striving to leverage their unique strengths. So many countries have announced initiatives and action plans to promote the blue economy or which is also called as ocean economy. Apparently as we saw earlier, Indo-Pacific has all the ingredients to generate regional trade and investment opportunities which will benefit the consumers. So our Prime Minister in his keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue which held at Singapore in June 2018 reaffirmed India's key role in maritime security and cooperation which will in turn lead to strengthening of the Indo-Pacific. So as a natural consequence to this vision, India set up an Indo-Pacific wing in its Ministry of External Affairs in April 2019. This was because the Indo-Pacific definition covers a huge geographical area as we saw earlier. So there was a need for bureaucratic realignment in the Ministry. Hence the new wing or division was created. This new division imbibes or absorbs various territorial divisions in the Ministry of External Affairs into its fold. These territorial divisions look after the policies of the countries which are part of the Indo-Pacific discussion or discourse. So in this matter, this wing provides a strategic coherence to the Prime Minister's Indo-Pacific vision by integrating the Indian Ocean Rim Association, the ASEAN region and the Quad to the Indo-Pacific vision. Here know that the Quad is short for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue which is an informal consultative mechanism comprising the United States, Australia, Japan and India. The Quad is opposed to China's continued militarization of South China Sea and attempts to control strategic waterways through the region of South China Sea. Next, the Indian Ocean Rim Association means it is a dynamic intergovernmental organization which is aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and sustainable development within the Indian Ocean region through its 22 member states and 9 dialogue partners. India became the IORH chair for the period of 2011 to 2013 and India revitalized IORH during its chairmanship. So six priority and two focus areas were identified to promote sustained growth and balanced development in the Indian Ocean region. These include maritime safety and security, trade and investment facilitation, fisheries management, disaster risk management, tourism and cultural exchange, academic, science and technology, blue economy, women's economic empowerment, all these. Here the integration of IORA means that the attention of India will continue to be focused on the Indian Ocean region. The author says this can be a result of growing Chinese footprint in the Indian Ocean meaning the act of China to control the territories in the Indian Ocean region and increasing China's diplomacy in the region also. The authors say that the new wing of Ministry of External Affairs should work in coordination with the Ministry of Defence and the Indian Navy as they are also taking note of the developments in this region. This is because India has challenges in its immediate neighborhood so a more focused and integrated approach in the Indo-Pacific region is needed. Additionally the authors point that India's Act East policy remains the bedrock or fundamental principle of the national Indo-Pacific vision and also it is also the centrality of ASEAN which is embedded in it. Here to further understand the views of the author you first need to know about the Act East policy. The objective of Act East policy is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationship with other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This will be achieved through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels so thereby providing enhanced connectivity to the states of northeastern region including Arunachal Pradesh with other countries which is in our neighborhood. Here note that the northeast of India has been a priority in our Act East policy. Now coming back to the discussion the authors add that India views the Indo-Pacific as a geographic and strategic area as the Indo-Pacific region includes 10 ASEAN countries which is connecting the two great oceans. So the inclusiveness, openness and ASEAN centrality and unity lie at the heart of the Indian notion of Indo-Pacific and further security in the Indian Ocean region or the Indo-Pacific region must be maintained which should be carried out through first dialogue. Here keep in mind that whenever the word dialogue is used in international relations it means the discussion between two or more groups or countries especially the discussion is directed towards exploration of a particular subject or resolution of a problem. Then common rules based order next comes the freedom of navigation then also impeded or unrestricted commerce and then also settlement of disputes in accordance with international law. Then finally more connectivity initiatives should be promoted which will bring respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity consultation, good governance, transparency, viability and sustainability in the Indo-Pacific region. Additionally ASEAN forms the cornerstone of India's Act East policy and Indo-Pacific vision and now ASEAN also is entering into deliberations to work out its Indo-Pacific policy. Until now we discussed about the Indo-Pacific significance to India. Next the author discussed why it was important to India to operationalize the Indo-Pacific policy. This is because the term Indo-Pacific has been gaining prevalence and many major regional actors were acting and articulating their regional visions for the Indo-Pacific term which includes US, Japan and Australia who were including this term Indo-Pacific in their official policy statements and more importantly the initiatives by US made it important to India to operationalize the Indo-Pacific policy. The initiatives were renaming of US-Pacific command to US-Indo-Pacific command and then the Asia reassurance initiative Act which was enacted in December 2018 which specifically calls for America's increased engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. The author states that these initiatives showcase Washington's more serious engagement with the Indo-Pacific. Next is the free and open Indo-Pacific concept which was unveiled by Japanese Prime Minister in 2016 and then Australia which also released its foreign policy white paper in 2017 which details Australia's Indo-Pacific vision that is focused around security, openness and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region. All these factors made it important to India to operationalize the Indo-Pacific policy. Next the author lists some mechanisms where India is an active participant which shows India's commitment to ensuring a stable, open, secure, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific. These mechanisms include the Indian Ocean Rim Association. Next the ASEAN-led frameworks like East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus, the ASEAN Regional Forum as well as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation or in short BIME-STEC and then the Mekong Ganga Economic Corridor. Additionally, India has also been convening the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium in which the navies of the Indian Ocean region participate. Then India has also boosted its engagement with Australia and New Zealand and has also deepened its cooperation with the Republic of Korea. Then through the Forum of India Pacific Islands Corporation, India is stepping up its interactions with the Pacific Island countries. Next India's growing partnership with Africa can be seen through the convening of mechanisms like India Africa Forum summits. Then comes India's multi-layered engagement with China as well as strategic partnership with Russia. The author states that all of these underline India's commitment to ensuring a stable, open, secure, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. We will see about these mechanisms in detail in the coming days, otherwise it will confuse you and you may not be able to grasp the discussion. It has been provided to make it easier for you to use these mechanisms in the main sansa writing. Now the author talks about the challenges that lie ahead in implementing the Indo-Pacific policy. They are how India will integrate the Quadrilateral Initiative which got revived in 2017. Then it will also be important for the new Ministry of External Affairs Division to move to a more comprehensive policy that is including all elements or aspects in the policy rather than only focusing on security and political issues. Then the priority should be given to the commerce and connectivity in particular so that India can take advantage for its regional engagement in the region. This will give a financial and strategic benefit to India if commerce and connectivity is improved in the Indo-Pacific region. Then as India has been consistently emphasizing inclusiveness in the Indo-Pacific framework, it will be challenging for India to maintain a balance between the interests of all these stakeholders. As geopolitical tensions rise between China and the US, the Ministry of External Affairs new division will have to face difficulty in implementing the policy. The authors conclude that if India's long-term political and economic interests in the region are to be preserved, it has to face these challenges and has to effectively manage India's growing diplomatic footprint in the Indo-Pacific region. With this, we come to the end of this discussion. The displayed practice questions will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next article which is about the Masala Bonds. This article has appeared on page 6 of Chennai and Bangalore editions and page 4 of Tiruvannanthapuram edition. The contents analyzed in this news article will be relevant in the prelims preparation under current events of national importance and also under economic development. The news is that that Kerala becomes the first state in India to list Masala Bonds in London Stock Exchange. Kerala has listed the Masala Bonds through its statutory institution named Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board. Here in the newspaper, Kerala is mentioned as Subsovereign. Subsovereign refers to the regional government here. That is, here it is the state government of Kerala. In this context, let us see about Masala Bonds. Bonds simply refers to the debt instrument. It is created for the purpose of raising capital. Now, Masala Bonds means they are repeat denominated bonds that are issued outside India. So, Masala Bonds are debt papers sold overseas by an Indian entity and denominated in rupees. And it helps in debt financing for both the public and private sector. Now, let us see who are allowed to issue Masala Bonds. These Masala Bonds can be issued by any corporate entity registered as a company under the Companies Act of 1956 or 2013. Next, by any corporate body specially created out of a specific act of parliament, then Indian banks are also eligible to issue these repeat denominated bonds overseas. Next, real estate investment trusts, in short REITs and infrastructure investment trusts, which come under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, are also eligible to issue Masala Bonds. Now, also know that other resident entities like limited liability partnerships and partnership firms are not eligible to issue these Masala Bonds. Next, let us see the purpose of issuing these Masala Bonds. The capital accumulated by issuing these Masala Bonds can be used for all purposes except for the following ones mentioned here. Like the capital proceeds cannot be used for the real estate activities other than for development of integrated township or affordable housing projects. Also, they cannot be invested in capital market or invested in any of the equity funds domestically. The capital proceeds from capital funds cannot be used for activities prohibited under the foreign direct investment guidelines or in short FDI guidelines. Also, the capital proceeds cannot be lent to other entities or companies for any of the above objectives mentioned here. And finally, the capital proceeds from Masala Bonds cannot be used to purchase any land. Now, let us see the maturity period of these Masala Bonds. The minimum maturity period for Masala Bonds raised up to 50 million dollars is 3 years and for bonds raised above 50 million US dollars is 5 years. Note that US dollar value should be equivalent to Indian rupee. Now, also note that Masala Bond framework is different from the external commercial borrowing framework. We have dealt about external commercial borrowing in our 13th May Hindu Analysis session. The link for the analysis given below in the description section have a look at it. Now, let us see about the advantages of these Masala Bonds. Firstly, the Indian companies are shielded against the risk of currency fluctuation. If the borrowings are made in foreign currencies, then there is a greater risk of fluctuation while repaying them. But it is completely eliminated in case of Masala Bonds. Next, this Masala Bond initiative will internationalize the Indian rupee and will help in deepening of the Indian financial system. Also, the cost of borrowing with the help of Masala Bonds from abroad will be lower when compared to cost of borrowing from the domestic market. That is within India. This is because the interest rates can be lower leading to reduced borrowing costs. With this, we come to the end of this analysis. The displayed brilliance question is a previously asked question in UPSC examination in the year 2016. This has been provided for your reference and this practice brilliance question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the next article for the day which is about the Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary. This article has appeared on page 6 of Chennai and Thiruvandhapuram edition and page 5 of Bengaluru edition. The discussion based on this article will be relevant in brilliant preparation under the areas current events of national importance and also in Indian physical geography. The discussion is also relevant in main syllabus under the area conservation of GS paper 3. Stepping into the main discussion, the Karnataka State has got its second Chinkara Sanctuary in Bukkapatna. Almost 148 square kilometre of forest in the Bukkapatna village has been declared as Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary. This Bukkapatna village is situated in the Thumakaru district of Karnataka. The name of the sanctuary is Bukkapatna Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary. Now, this is the second Chinkara Sanctuary in the state. The first one is in the Yadahalli village of Bagalkot district. Now, the scientific estimates show that there are about 80 Chinkaras in the Bukkapatna forest area. Furthermore, these forests are unique as there are three types of antelopes which are found here, which are Four-Hond Antelope, Blackburg Antelope and Chinkara. Apart from them, 25 species of mammals including slothbeers, leopards, hyenas and wolves are also found. And 12 species of amphibians, 28 species of reptiles and 160 species of birds are also found in these forests. Now, here know that that antelope is different from a deer because deers, antlers or horns are branched. But antelope's horns are not branched. Now, in this context, let us know about the Four-Hond Antelope, Blackburg Antelope and Chinkara from the examination point of view. First, let us see about the Chinkara. It is also known as the Indian Ghazal. It is native to South Asia, in the countries of Pakistan and mostly in India. The Ghazals are very shy and nervous in nature and they do not travel very far. The Chinkaras are revered and considered sacred by the Bishnoi community of Rajasthan, which explains the large population of this animal there. It is an herbivore animal and they feed on grass, leaves and fruits. They are smaller in build compared to other species of antelope and their lifespan is also relatively shorter than other species of antelopes. And it is covered with smooth and glossy fur, which is reddish brown in color during summer. While in winter, the shade of the color becomes lighter to almost white. The reddish color helps them in camouflaging in the grassland in order to hide from predators. The Indian Ghazal is the smallest antelope found in Asia. The Indian Ghazal generally prefers to live in the grasslands, dry scrub areas, desert and semi desert, sand dunes, open woodlands and dry areas. In India, the Chinkara is found in the plains and low hills of Punjab, Rajasthan, Central India and the Deccan plateau. The Chinkara is threatened by extensive hunting for illegal meat trade. Apart from that, the agriculture and industrial expansion have also led to the habitat loss. Now this Chinkara is protected under Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 of India. And it has also been listed as least concerned by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Then it is mentioned under Appendix 3 of sites for Pakistan. Note that it has been notified for Pakistan and not for India. Next let us see about the Four-Hond Antelope. The species is present only in India and Nepal with a large area of occupancy in Central India, fragmented populations in Southern India and Himalayan foothills and the Gangetic Plains and an isolated population is also found in Gir National Park. It habitats in open dry deciduous forests. It is a solitary and shy animal. The species is identified by the presence of four horns which is present only in adult males. That is why it is named as Four-Hond Antelope. The species is small in size with a light brown coloration. They are herbivorous animals and prefer to feed on nutrient rich fruits, flowers and fresh leaves. Major threats to the species include habitat destruction, poaching and competition with livestock. These threats have resulted in the species being listed in the Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. And it is also listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. And they are also mentioned in the Appendix 3 of sites for Nepal and not for India. Now let us see about the Black Book Antelope. It is a medium-sized antelope with ringed unbranched cork screw horns that rise above the head of males in a tall V-shaped pattern. For understanding this line you have to look at this picture. Now normally females are hornless in these species. Coloration in mature males is black dorsally while females and young males are tan in color. Indian Black Book are the fastest antelope in the world. Black Book refers to grays on short to mid-length grasses but also brows on common brush species. Black Books are native to India and Pakistan where they were widely spread in plains and open woodlands, wet coastal areas, western deserts and northern mountains. Today extensive hunting and habitat destruction have restricted Black Book to only small isolated population in their former native habitat. That is in India and Pakistan. Today this species occurs mainly in India with a small population still existing in Nepal. It has been declared regionally extinct in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Now this species is protected under Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and it has also been listed as Least Concern by IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Now note that they are also mentioned in the Appendix 3 of sites for Nepal and Pakistan and not for India. Here you have to keep in mind one thing. That is Appendix 3 contains species that are protected in at least one country which is asked for sites parties for assistance in controlling the trade. Since India has not asked for assistance it is not listed for India. With this we come to the end of this discussion. Practice brilliant question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the last article for the day which is an editorial about trade deficit. This article has appeared on page 8 of Chennai, Bengaluru and Tiruvannapuram Editions and on page 6 of Delhi edition. The analysis of this editorial will be helpful in your prelims preparation under economic development and under mains preparation it will be relevant in GS paper 3 under Indian economy. Let us move on to the main discussion. This editorial revolves around two key terms. One is trade deficit and the other is current account deficit. This editorial states that the widening trade deficit is adding pressure to the current account deficit. In this context let us see what is meant by current account trade deficit and then also about current account deficit. All these three terms comes under India's external sector. To be precise it comes under India's balance of payment. Balance of payment mainly comprises of the current account and capital account. Let us focus on the current account now. Current account transactions are single time and one way transactions. Transaction means the receipt of money or payment of money. This receipt or payment happens only once and the transaction ends there. We saw that transaction means the receipt of money or payment of money. But when do we receive money? It is only when we can export a merchandise good. So receipt refers to exports in external sector. The export of merchandise goods has to happen from India to abroad. It simply means we produce a material here and export it to foreign nations and against this export we will receive the money. Now the exact opposite is the payments. Here payments refers to imports. The imports of merchandise goods happens from abroad to India. It simply means we don't have a particular material so we receive the material from a foreign country that produces that particular material. And to receive that material we pay the money. This refers to payments. The next term you need to know is trade balance. Trade balance or the balance of trade refers to the difference between export receipts and import payments. It simply means export minus the import. For a country's economy to be healthy the trade balance has to be positive. That is a trade surplus. Trade surplus is possible only when the exports are more than the imports. So that we receive a lot of money. But if the imports become more than the exports then it becomes trade deficit. This indicates that production is not happening in the economy and we are depending more from the foreign nations. Now under the current account you also need to know about invisibles. The invisibles record the receipts and payments of services, incomes and transfers. Here services include all the services such as travel, transportation, insurance, IT services and many more. And income includes the money generated from employment, investments, interests etc. And finally transfers refers to the grants, gifts etc. So all these three services, incomes and transfers come under the invisibles head. Here the difference in the payments and receipts of invisibles is called balance of invisibles. Now let us see the current account balance. It is the sum of trade balance and invisibles. Now if this current account balance is in positive numbers then it means we have a current account surplus. But if this current account balance is in negative numbers then it means we have a current account deficit. Here if it is surplus we can derive that the receipts are more. But with the current account deficit we can only derive that our payments are increasing. So the trade balance which involves the receipt and payments of your merchandise goods also impacts the current account balance in this way. Hence this means trade deficit leads to current account deficit. It indirectly indicates that the export should be boosted in order to narrow down the deficit. Now with these concepts in mind let us approach this editorial. This editorial states that in April 2019 there is a decrease in exports to about 0.64% when compared to the previous year. The exports of the petroleum products has the largest share in the exports. The author states that when petroleum products share is excluded the actual contraction in the exports is more than 3% in terms of US dollar value. The author has also mentioned the reasons for the decline in exports. The decline is largely due to the reduced shipments of these categories of merchandise goods such as engineering goods, gem and jewelry, leather and leather products, textile and garments and drugs and pharmaceuticals. All these major categories provide job and wages to the employees who form a major share of India's workforce. This workforce is also a factor to the increased consumption demand in India. Here consumption refers to the purchasing power of the individual. The author also states that the consumption demand is now impacted due to decreased exports. Next the author has mentioned that the imports have increased. It has increased 4.5% as compared to the previous years. The author has noted that if gold and crude oil imports are excluded then India's imports is actually very less or shrinking. Now from both these facts we can say that India is facing a trade deficit since the imports are increasing and the exports are decreasing. This trade deficit will increase the current account deficit for sure. The author has mentioned some reasons for the trade deficit. First is the ongoing US-China trade war. Next is the rising military tensions in West Asia which will impact the oil prices in the future. So the crude oil prices will increase for sure. Also the author notes that India's craze for gold is one of the reasons for the increase in imports. And finally the author has commented that the ongoing issues are a big challenge to India's trade and current account deficit. And that it should be pressing concern for the new government to address. With this we come to the end of the analysis of this editorial. The displayed problems question will be discussed in the last session. Moving on to the last and final session that is the practice questions discussion session. The first question is consider the following statements. First statement, the unaided schools that does not receive any kind of aid or grants to meet their expenses from the government are not included in the definition of school for the purposes of enforcement of the right of children to free and compulsory education act of 2009. Second statement is the unaided schools did not fulfill the requirements for preschool admissions under the right of children to free and which of the above statements given are correct. Here the first statement is incorrect as the unaided schools that does not receive any kind of aid or grants to meet their expenses from the government are included in the definition of schools under section 2 of the act. And the second statement is also incorrect as according to the section 12 clause 1 sub clause C of the RTE Act of 2009 even an unaided school shall admit at least 25% of students in every class of preschool from weaker and disadvantaged group in the neighborhood. Therefore, as both these statements are wrong, the correct answer to this question is neither one nor two which is option D. Next question is what are masala bonds? Four options have been given. We know from our discussion that masala bonds are rupee denominated. So, you can directly eliminate option C and D because it has stated dollar denominated which is wrong. Now under rupee denominated we have two options rupee denominated bonds issued in India. The next option is rupee denominated bonds issued outside India. If you would have paid attention to our discussion, you would know that these bonds are paid outside India. So, they should be rupee denominated bonds plus outside India. These two words are mentioned in option B only. So, correct answer is option B. Now the next question is consider the following statements with reference to the Bukkapatna Wildlife Sanctuary recently seen in news. First statement it is dedicated to the Indian Ghazal. Second statement it is situated in the state of Telangana. Which of the above statements is or are correct? Now in this question you have to first remember Bukkapatna Wildlife Sanctuary. We know that it was dedicated to Chinkara. If you would have paid attention to our analysis session, you would know that Chinkara is also known as Indian Ghazal. So, which makes option 1 or statement 1 as correct. Now the second statement states it is situated in the state of Telangana. If you would have read the newspaper today, you would have known the headline itself was Karnataka got its second Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary. So, it obviously means the Bukkapatna Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in Karnataka and not in Telangana. So, statement 2 is wrong. Which means the correct answer is option A 1 only. Next question is with reference to balance of payment which of the following constitutes or constitute the current account. First balance of trade, second balance of invisible, second the correct answer using the code given below. Now from our discussion we saw that the balance of trade and balance of invisibles come under the current account. So, both the items are correct. Hence the correct answer to this question is both 1 and 2 which is option C. Now let us see one main question based on GS paper 2. Bring out the potential of Indo-Pacific region and discuss the various policy initiatives in realizing it. For answering this question, first define what is Indo-Pacific region and what are the initiatives India has taken like the Indo-Pacific wing of Ministry of External Affairs also should be mentioned in the answer. Then also talk about the actist policy of India because it is the fundamental principle for the national Indo-Pacific vision of India. Now also mention about India felt it important to operationalize Indo-Pacific policy and under this you can mention about the US's initiative of renaming US specific command to US Indo-Pacific command etc. Then also mention the mechanisms under which India is an active participant which shows India's commitment to ensuring a stable, open, secure, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific. Under this you can mention about Indian Ocean Rim Association, about Beamstek and also about Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. Then finally you can also add about the challenges which will be faced by India in implementing the policy and try to add your own views based on the analysis today. Don't forget to like, comment and share. Do subscribe to the Shankara IS Academy YouTube channel for more updates on UPAC Civil Service examination preparation.