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With this let us now move on to the daily Hindi news analysis brought to you by Shankarai's Academy and today's analysis is based on the Hindi newspaper dated 21st August 2021. The list of topics taken for today's discussion has been displayed here and today we have a blend of articles we are going to discuss about biopolymers we are going to discuss about hallmark and from international perspective we are going to discuss about India-US trade relations also. So without wasting any time let us move on to the news article discussion. Now let us take up this news article. It mentions that jewelers are planning to protest against the new mandatory hallmarking process. See this process was recently implemented by the Bureau of Indian Standards. So today we are going to discuss about hallmarking this new process and we will also see why it is being opposed. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. See here the term hallmark it refers to a mark that is stamped on the articles of precious metals of gold, silver or platinum. Here the term articles would mean the artifacts that are made out of these precious metals such as it would refer to the necklace, ring, bangles etc. So now why this mark is given? See this hallmark is given to certify the standard of purity of these precious metals. Now to determine this purity we need to know the content of these precious metals and this content is known through the hallmarking process. So what is this hallmarking? It is the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in these precious metal articles. So hallmarking mentions the accurate determination of the proportionate content of precious metal in these articles and it also provides the official recording of this proportionate content. So here the precious metal articles includes the jewelry or artifacts or even the bullion or coins. So that is why these hallmarks are the official marks that are used in many countries as a guarantee of purity or as a guarantee of fineness of these precious metal articles. So what about India? In India at present two precious metals have been brought under the purview of hallmarking and these two precious metals are gold and silver and for this purpose of hallmarking government mandated the Bureau of Indian Standards to start a hallmarking scheme. So this scheme for gold was started in the year 2000 and the scheme for silver was introduced in the year 2005 and this BIS hallmarking scheme is aligned with the international criteria on hallmarking and as per the scheme registration is granted to the jewelers by the BIS. So actually which is the responsible organization for operating this hallmarking scheme it is the Bureau of Indian Standards or BIS. So through it's a network of regional officers or branch officers which are situated all over the country this BIS operates the hallmarking scheme for gold and silver jewelry. So if any jeweler who is willing to obtain certificate of registration for selling hallmarked gold and silver jewelry or artifacts then they have to apply online in the BIS portal and after they apply the certificate of registration is granted instantly. So that means those who register they can only sell these hallmark articles. So how or where this hallmarking is done say after the registration the registered jeweler submits the jewelry for hallmarking to any of BIS recognized assaying and hallmarking center. This assaying or hallmarking center in short A and H centers these are the testing centers where the jewelry is tested. So after testing only these centers applies hallmark on these jewelry and only on those jewelry which meets the required standards. So once a jewelry is hallmarked it consists of these four marks. One is this BIS mark as you can see this is a triangle and then you will have the purity of the precious metal in terms of carrot and fineness for the gold jewelry and in case of silver only fineness is mentioned. So what do we mean by carrot here? It means the ratio between the mass of the gold content and the total mass expressed in parts per 24. Just know this definition and then this mark also contains the assay centers identification mark and it also includes the jeweler's identification mark or number. So that means for gold artifacts or articles the Indian standard on gold hallmarking specifies three grades and these three grades are 14 carrot, 18 carrot and 22 carrot. And similarly for silver jewelry the Indian standard on silver hallmarking specifies six grades of silver alloys. These are the silver 990, 970, 925, 900, 835, 800 and these are the alloys of silver which are used in a manufacture of jewelry or artifacts of silver. So now how actually BIS ensures the purity? See the jeweler registers and then the jeweler sends the jewelry for hallmarking to the A&H center and then the A&H center returns back the jewelry after applying the hallmark. But how BIS actually ensures that the article is pure or how BIS ensures the purity of that article? See once a jeweler is registered what BIS will do is it will test random market samples and these samples will be taken or drawn from these registered jeweler's and this can be done at any time so BIS has this control over the registered jeweler's so if there is any impurity or if the expected purity is not present in the articles then action is taken on the jeweler as well as on the assaying and hallmarking center. So this is how BIS functions other than this as a customer or a consumer we can also test our hallmarked jewelry and it can be tested from any of the BIS recognized A&H centers but this is on chargeable basis. So if any shortage in purity of the jewelry is found then we can lodge a complaint with the BIS and if this shortage of purity is proved then the consumer is actually entitled to get compensation from the registered jeweler from where the consumer has bought the article. So why is this hallmarking very important or what is the objective behind this hallmarking scheme? See there are two principle objectives behind this first is to protect the public against adulteration of precious metal articles or we can say it is to protect the consumers against the victimization that is caused due to irregular gold or silver quality so that means if our jewelry is hallmarked from BIS that means we have a third party assurance and satisfaction that we are getting right purity of gold or silver for the given value of money and there is also a satisfaction that the jewelry which is received is without any adulteration and that is why hallmarking is very much important. For example let us assume that you are buying a bangle for your mother today and after two months you want to sell this bangle and buy a ring instead of that. So you are buying this jewelry from one store and now you are going to sell it in another store and going to buy that itself. So if there is no purity of gold then what will happen is you have bought this jewelry from this one store and the jewelry which is bought is actually not pure then the store in which you are going to sell it it will not give you the exact money that you actually paid during the buying of the first jewelry. So here the customer or the consumer is at loss and that is why purity of the precious metals is very important here. Now apart from this first objective there is also a second objective which is to obligate the manufacturers to maintain legal standards of fineness. So they are now obligated to maintain fineness in their precious metal articles. Apart from this there is also another objective which is developing India as a leading gold market center in the world and also developing India's export competitiveness. So keep these three objectives in mind and these are the reasons why hallmarking is important. Now another important fact to be noted is that this hallmarking scheme was voluntary before but in January 2020 the government of India issued a quality control order. Now this quality control order is actually called as the hallmarking of gold jewelry and gold artifacts order of 2020. Now this order made the hallmarking mandatory for the gold jewelry and artifacts and this mandatory hallmarking came into force in June 2021 itself. Now you may ask what is the reason behind making this hallmarking mandatory now? See the reason given by the government is that at present only 30 percentage of Indian gold jewelry is actually hallmarked. So that means only 30 percentage of Indian gold jewelry is actually proven to be pure and apart from this World Gold Council says that India has around 4 lakh jewelers but out of this only 35,000 jewelers are BIS certified. So that means the remaining jewelers are not registered with BIS. So there is no need for them to maintain the purity and fineness and that is why now the government has made this hallmarking mandatory for the gold jewelry and gold artifacts. So now who has to mandatory get registered with BIS under this new order? Any manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor or retailer who is engaged in selling precious metal articles has to mandatory get registered. See you have to remember that in the process of making jewelry there are four important entities. First comes the manufacturer then the wholesaler and then the distributor and then the retailer. Here the manufacturer is the one who is involved in selling hallmarked gold jewelry to these three that is to the wholesaler, distributor, retailer, or even to the end customer itself. And next comes the wholesaler. He is the one who sells the hallmarked gold jewelery to distributor, retailer or directly to the end customer. And next comes the distributor. A distributor sells hallmarked gold jewelry to the whole seller retailer or to the end customer and then the retailer comes who is involved in directly selling the hallmarked gold jewelry to the end customer. So this is the chain that is involved in selling of a gold jewelry. So you may now ask who is actually responsible for the hallmarking according to this new quality control order in this chain of manufacturer, whole seller, distributor and retailer their responsibility to get the article hallmarked is with the one who makes the first point of sale. So that means if the manufacturer is selling to the whole seller then the manufacturer has to get it hallmarked or in other words if the manufacturer is selling directly to the end customer then also the manufacturer is the responsible person or the responsible entity to get the article hallmarked. Now there is also another important addition made by this quality control order. See there has always been a high demand from the jewellers to increase the grades of gold purity for hallmarking and for this purpose now this new order has allowed hallmarking for the gold of additional carrots of 20, 23 and 24. So from now on if you buy gold bangle or gold jewelry for example if you are buying a gold bangle for 20 carat then the jeweler will be required to sell you only the hallmarked gold jewelry. Previously only three standards were there there were the 14 carat, 18 carat, 22 carat and now we have another three which is the 20 carat, 23 carat and 24 carat. So remember these facts while buying a jewelry now. Now another important fact that you need to remember about this new quality control order is the HUID code. See here the term HUID stands for hallmarking unique ID. See there is a provision that is made to record the date and time during which the activities of assaying and hallmarking have been carried out. So this HUID code is actually a six digit alpha numeric code and it shall be a laser marked on the jewelry. Now this HUID code is unique and it will be helpful in identifying the jeweler who has got the article hallmarked or it will also be helpful in identifying the A and H center who has hallmarked the article. So that means if you are buying a jewelry and you find out that it doesn't have the purity as promised then you can easily find out who was the jeweler who sold it to you and which is the A and H center that actually hallmarked this article. Then you can easily file the complaint. So this HUID helps to monitor both the jeweler as well as the AHC and that is why this code is stated as a digital solution to verify the authenticity of the hallmarked jewelry. So from now on when you buy a jewelry you have to see whether it is hallmarked and such a hallmarked jewelry should mandatorily involve these three. The first one is BA's standard mark which is the BA's logo as we saw in the beginning it is a triangle. Then next it should contain the purity and carrot and fineness. It should mention whether it is a 20 carat or 24 carat or it should mention whether the jewelry is 14 carat etc. And then it should also contain the six digit HUID number. And finally fourth mark can also be present in the jewelry but it is not mandatory and this is the mark of the manufacturer or the jeweler. So remember this new quality control order is applicable only for the gold jewelry and gold artifacts and not for the silver jewelry and silver artifacts. But you may ask this is going to be a tough scenario for the gold industry but we can say it is not so because certain exemptions are given by this quality control order. For example if the jeweler has only annual turnover up to 40 lakh rupees then the jeweler will not fall within the purview of this mandatory hallmarking. But if they wish to get registered for selling hallmarked jewelry then it is their wish but it is not mandatory. And secondly exemption is also given to the articles which weighs less than 2 grams. So if you are buying any gold jewelry or artifact less than 2 grams then it is not mandatory for it to be hallmarked. And third any article which is intended to be used for medical, dental, veterinary and scientific or industrial purposes then these articles which are made of gold need not be hallmarked according to this new order. And then gold bullion in any shape of a bar, plate, sheet, foil etc. they need not be hallmarked. And then certain special categories of jewelry such as kundan, polki and jadao they need not be hallmarked. Apart from this if you are buying a gold watch or gold fountain pen then also these products need not be hallmarked. So here is the list of exemptions provided by this quality control order. So now why is this order being a post? It is mainly because of the HUID that is the hallmarking unique ID. The jewellers are accusing that this HUID is making the hallmarking process time consuming. They are saying that it is now almost taking 5 to 10 days to hallmark the products. So this is resulting into complete bottleneck of the gold industry and the industry is on a standstill. And they are saying that tons of jewelry is lying idle due to these delays. And some of these delays are also caused due to less number of A&H centers in our country. So government has to rectify this problem by approving more A&H centers. Now in addition to this it is also said that this HUID is not foolproof. It is said that a same piece of jewelry has been given to two different HUIDs and also same HUID is given to different kinds of jewelry. So this system is not actually foolproof according to the jewellers. And that is why the jewellers are feeling that this move of the government is arbitrary and it was hastily implemented. And that is why they are going to conduct a protest the after tomorrow. This was the news. So in this discussion you have to keep note of the objective behind hallmarking then the new changes then what are the criteria involved who are exempted from this quality control order etc. We have discussed all these aspects and I hope this was a comprehensive discussion for you regarding hallmark. So now let us move on to the next discussion. Now look at this news article. This article mentions about a statement made by the Indian Prime Minister. See he has said that the Somnath temple is a classic example that reminds the world that the reign of terror is always temporary and it cannot be permanent. Now he has said this statement keeping in mind the atrocities that is being carried out by Taliban in Afghanistan. So he has referred to the atrocities or the destruction by Taliban in Afghanistan to the destruction that was carried on in Somnath temple. So in this context let us have a brief understanding about this temple and its architecture and why this reference was made by the Prime Minister. We will also see that aspect. See Somnath is a shore temple. It is situated in the state of Gujarat. It is situated in the Sagar country region of Saurashtra in the Gujarat state. And one of the important features of this temple is that it comprises of one of the 12 Jyothirlingas of Lord Shiva. See here you should understand the term Jyothirlinga. It refers to a shrine where Lord Shiva is worshipped in the form of a fiery column of light because if you split this word Jyothirlinga into Jyothi and Lingam here the term Jyothi refers to light and the term Lingam or Linga it refers to the Shivlinga and the Shivlinga is the mark or sign of the almighty and it also refers to the phallus symbol. So among the 12 Jyothirlingas one is present in this temple. Apart from that this temple stands as a symbol of rich cultural heritage of India and this temple also finds mention in the Hrigveda. Now you should understand that why our Prime Minister made a reference to this temple. It is because the present temple structure is it have built for the seventh time. So that means for almost six times it was destructed and that is why this temple is a historic example known for its endurance that is the temple has faced multiple destruction, terror forces and it was raised and plundered several times in the past but still it was resurrected every time with greater glory. So when was the first time it was destructed? See the first structure of this temple known to have existed some 2000 years ago and it is said that the Mitraka kings of Vallabi in Gujarat are associated with its first reconstruction and after that the destruction of this temple was also carried out by Mahmud Ghazni and this happened in the year 1024. It is said that he raided this temple and took loads of jewels and valuables from here and after that this temple was again destroyed twice by the Sultanate of Delhi and then a significant attack was also made by the Mughal Emperor Aurangazeb and this happened in the year 1706. So after many destructions the present temple was built in 1995. It was built by the Sri Somnath Trust along with the Government of India. So note that currently the temple is under the maintenance of Sri Somnath Trust. So from example perspective we need to understand the construction or the temple architecture of this temple. Note that this temple exhibits the Chalukya style of architecture and it is a seven storied temple. See in a Chalukyan architecture we can see certain prominent features such as it has small base design, it has a horseshoe base and it has square garbagraha also. In temple architecture the term garbagraha refers to the sanctum sanctorum. This is the place where the main deity is kept and then another feature that is present in a Chalukyan architecture is the inner productionapada. This refers to the passage which is built around the garbagraha and then it has a pyramidical Shikara. Shikara is the tower structure it is also known as the Gopura and this is situated above the garbagraha and this Shikara is in the design of pyramid in the Chalukyan architecture. If you see this image you can see the Shikara and the garbagraha. Other than that another important fact to be noted is that this temple also reflects the expertise of Sompuras. See the Sompuras are known to be the master masons of Gujarat or in simple terms they are the temple architects in Gujarat. So in this discussion we saw about Somnathemple its important cultural heritage, we saw about the Chalukyan architecture its important features also. So now let us move to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this editorial article which is regarding India-US trade relations. See in this editorial author has talked about the lack of free trade agreement between India-USA and the hurdles that are present in India-US trade relations and author has also suggested certain way forward. So today we are going to discuss these aspects. Let us dive into the discussion now. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. See if you consider India-US trade relations we can find that USA is one of India's largest trading partners. India also has a significant trade surplus with USA. So when you say trade surplus it means there is a positive balance of trade where a country's export exceeds its imports. So that means India's exports to USA exceeds India's imports from USA. So from this you can observe that USA is an important trade partner for India and that is why for a long time we have been pursuing a bilateral free trade agreement with the USA. So what is this free trade agreement and why do we want it? Let us see about that now. See this free trade agreement is a pact between two or more nations. So as its name suggests it is a free trade agreement. So that means it reduces the barriers that exists in the imports and exports among these nations that are in agreement. So by this what do we mean is that under a free trade policy the goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders with either little or even no government tariffs quotas subsidies or prohibitions which normally hinder the exchange of goods and services. But here you should remember that free trade agreement just does not mean that it reduces tariffs or it totally eliminates tariffs but rather they help to address the behind the border barriers that would otherwise impede the flow of goods and services. Here let us take an example to understand free trade agreements. See if you take European Union it is one of the notable examples of free trade today. Why because we know that European Union has 27 members previously it had 28 members after the exit of United Kingdom that is after Brexit now it has 27 members. Now these member nations of European Union they form an essentially borderless single entity for the purposes of trade. So that means they behave like a largest single market area and that is free trade among the members of European Union. So for instance if Italy wants to export some apparels to France then due to the free trade agreement or the you know one market entity scenario in European Union there is no tariff among these countries. This is the general understanding. So European Union is one of the best examples. Other than that we also have other famous multination agreements such as the North American free trade agreement and this covers the free trade agreement between USA Canada and Mexico then we have the Central American free trade agreement and it includes most of the nations of Central America etc. So what is the benefit of such a free trade agreement? See they encourage investment because they reduce the trade barriers and again they also improve the rules affecting the issues such as intellectual property commerce and government procurement etc and due to these reasons if days are important for every country and that is why if India has an free trade agreement with USA then we can increase our exports to USA substantially. So from this you would have understood that this free trade agreement concept is actually opposite to the concept of trade protectionism or economic isolationism. So keeping these facts in mind now let us discuss the editorial article. In the beginning we saw that for a long time India has been pursuing to draft a free trade agreement with USA and even US was showing interest in an FTA with India during the administration of Mr Trump but this interest has subsided now after the change of administration and currently USA is no longer interested in securing a bilateral free trade agreement with India and it is said that the current Joe Biden administration of USA is reluctant to ink an FTA with India and this reluctance was recently officially acknowledged even by our commerce minister. So why is this an issue? So this lack of an FTA affects our trade with USA and that is why this editorial has been written and actually why India wants to pursue a free trade agreement? So during the Barack Obama presidency in USA, India and US actually set an ambitious target which was of 500 billion US dollars bilateral trade but after Barack Obama so much time has passed but still we are struggling to achieve this goal of 500 billion dollars bilateral trade with USA. For example if you see in 2019 to 2020 the bilateral trade between India USA stood at 88 billion US dollars. So you can see that we are just at 88 billion US dollars so to attain 500 billion US dollars we have to go a long way and that is why they was hoping for a free trade agreement thinking that it would boost our trade numbers but now this dream has been put on hold by the current US administration. So this is the current hurdle that exists in India US trade relations. Apart from this in the recent past we also had other hurdles in the trade arena with respect to USA. For example you remember the generalized system of preferences actually India was pulled out of this generalized system of preferences of USA and it was done during the year 2019 that is during Mr. Trump's administration. Why this GSP was important for us because it granted some tariff relief to our exports. So after the removal of GSP it affected our trade. Now apart from this there was also another problem which was that after this move by USA India retaliated by hiking the tariffs on US products. So you can see that on one hand USA is doing something and India is retaliating. So the trade relations got strained even more during the last administration of USA and now our long pending dream of FDA has also been put on hold. So author has suggested certain measures to overcome these hurdles that are existing in the trade relations between India and USA. So first author is suggesting to try to address the market access issues on both sides. See now we know that there is no FDA so how to address the market access issues this can be done only by strengthening our trade with USA and that too through the non-tariff barriers. Here author means that we have to lower the non-tariff barriers. So what do you mean by non-tariff barriers? See it includes the other barriers that exist in the trade other than the tariffs. For example certain countries you know impose licenses. They say that only those businesses can import or export goods which have license with that particular country and then we have also trade embargoes where countries officially ban the trade off specified goods and services with another country. For example if tomorrow India decides that we should not import apparels from USA then if India puts an official embargo on apparel import then this becomes a non-tariff barrier between India and USA. So author is suggesting to reduce these non-tariff barriers and author is also suggesting to mutually recognize packs. We can also adopt common quality standards so that the trade can be smooth and we can also use the import duties on automobiles. So like this author is suggesting to take proactive steps which can help India to increase its export to the USA. Apart from this India also should holistically review its stance on global trade according to the author. Here author says that we should revamp our approach towards FTAs. So on one hand we want FTA with USA but are we doing good on the existing FTAs which we have with other countries? The answer is no because in the name of protectionist policies we also restrict international trade so that we can help the domestic industries. So we should remember that trade is not a one-way traffic so we have to reduce our import tariffs in the long run to increase our exports and then only our trade dies can be strengthened. So by this author means that if India wants to increase its exports then it should go for liberal open trade policies. It has been 30 years since the adoption of the 1991 reforms which brought in the LPG reforms and still our trade policies are not liberal according to the author and because of this we are not getting many investments. So if you want to achieve full potential of our economic growth then we need investments and we have to increase our exports. Otherwise we will lose our trade to other competing developing nations such as Vietnam. See actually here Vietnam is a good example because in the post COVID world many countries were reducing their trade ties with China but at that time Vietnam played strategically and it took full advantage of this situation. With what it did was Vietnam projected its trade friendly market policies and it lowered its tariffs and through that it signed many highly beneficial trade deals with developing nations. So author suggests that learning from the example of Vietnam India should also go for a similar approach. Otherwise we will fall behind and other developing nations will be successful in achieving their economic growth. So in this discussion we saw about India-US trade relations we saw what is FTA why do we need it and what are the trade hurdles between India-USA and we also saw the way forward suggested by the author. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Here this next news article talks about the geological sites in India. The news mentions that due to the reduction in positive cases and due to increased vaccination in the northeastern region of our country some of the northeastern states have prepared for an unlock from September itself. So in this regard for the promotion of geotourism in the region the geological survey of India has identified 12 geological sites and this is the news today. So let us understand what is the geological site we'll see what is geotourism and we'll also see these sites in brief. As you know India is a country with diverse physical attributes we have rich cultural heritage and ancient history. So in this regard Indian subcontinent also exhibits imprints of varied geological processes that happened throughout ages and India is also a storehouse of interesting geological features. So that means India has geodiversity. So what is geodiversity? It is the diversity found in geological formations of the earth such as rocks, fossils, minerals and geological processes that create distinctive formations. So these geological formations create distinctive formations and this is called as geodiversity and this geodiversity is entitled as geoheritage when a certain uniqueness or value is attributed to that geodiversity. So we can say that the geoheritage site encompasses significant elements which possesses educational value, scientific value, aesthetic value and cultural value. So in this regard the geological survey of India has undertaken the responsibility of protection and promotion of such areas of geoheritage and it is said that so far geological survey of India declared 32 sites as geoheritage sites which are located in different parts of the country and these geological sites are also known as the national geological monuments. So one of the principal objective behind declaring geological sites is that it enriches the tourist map of India. So by declaring these geological sites, GSI hopes that the visitors from other countries that is from abroad and even the visitors from our country itself they can have an insight in the real past of our country such as the formation of the subcontinent such as the orogeny and the exotic collection of older flora and fauna etc. So here the term orogeny refers to the process in which a section of earth's crust is folded and deformed by lateral compression to form a mountain range. Or in simple terms we can say that orogeny refers specifically to the deformation which is imposed during the process of mountain building. So the objective is to enrich the tourist map of India and thereby giving a real insight into the real past of our country which also includes the orogeny of our country. So when we say enriching the tourist map of India we are talking about geotourism. So geotourism is a new form of tourism which is based on geological environment and this geotourism focuses on an area's geology and landscape and using these geology and landscape as the basis it fosters the sustainable tourism development in that region. So that means the geoharitage sites or the geological sites they are not just historical wonders but they are also some of the rarest geological formations that can be seen on earth. So based on this we can say what are the positives of geotourism. First positive is that it benefits the residents economically and it boosts the tourism of the nation. Second it supports the integrity of the place and it helps the residents to discover their own heritage. And thirdly it also provides the inland and foreign visitors to get an insight into the real geographic past of India as we already saw. So now the news is that the geological survey of India has decided to include 12 locations across northeast under the list of geotourism sites or geoharitage sites. So currently we have 32 approved geoharitage sites and now 12 are going to be added. And note that among these 12 sites three of them are located in Meghalaya and two sites are located in Assam, two sites are located in Tripura and one site each is located in Arnachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim. So this is the list of these 12 newly added sites from the northeastern region. So remember these are the new geological sites. Now apart from this we saw that already we have 32 other already approved geoharitage sites and this is the list of these sites. Just have a look at it. Now among these sites if you remember last year we discussed about Lonar Lake which was declared as a geological site at that time and this Lonar Lake is situated in the Buldana district of Maharashtra. So remember this fact. So in this discussion we had a brief understanding about geological sites or geoharitage monuments and then we saw about geotourism and geodiversity and we saw its benefits also. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Now let us take up this news article. It mentions about 3D printing. Yesterday we saw that a Chennai based heart surgeon and the Weller Institute of Technology they have developed a heart valve together and they have developed this heart valve using a 3D printing technology and we saw about 3D printing in detail yesterday. Now today we are going to focus on another aspect. So according to the news this heart valve was manufactured using a specialized biopolymer. So today we are going to see what is this biopolymer. See these biopolymers are the type of polymers that are produced by living organisms. So that means first we have to understand what is a polymer. To understand that let us break this word into two poly and mer. Here poly means many and mer means part segment or each repeating unit. So a polymer is a substance or material which consists of very large molecules or it consists of macromolecules and this composed of many repeating subunits. And note that a polymer can be natural or synthetic also and one example of organic natural polymer is rubber. So we can say that these biopolymers are polymeric biomolecules and these biopolymers include plants of many types such as it includes corn and soybean and they can also be obtained from different types of trees and even from some bacteria. So based on how it is obtained or based on its origin biopolymers can be classified into these. For example when you say polyesters it means the biopolymer of polyester is obtained from polylactic acid. So you can take note of these biopolymers and their origin. So now our focus today is on the applications of biopolymers because as I have said many times before when we take these topics which are in the science and technology area see as I have said many times before UPC generally asks questions regarding applications when it comes to science and technology. So that is why it becomes important for us to know about the applications of biopolymers. You should note that its application is quite vast. Why because these biopolymers are generated from renewable sources and they are also easily biodegradable and these biodegradable products are especially very useful in medical applications. So it has biomedical application also. For example biopolymers and the products made from it can be used as wound closure. It can be used in healing products and it is also used in surgical implant devices. For example now it has been used to create a heart valve. Apart from this another characteristic of a biopolymer is that they are easily available and their source is diverse as we just saw and therefore using these biopolymers medical services can be provided at low cost and then these biopolymers usually have low density and high mechanical properties also and that is why they have other wide range of applications. So due to these desirable qualities now this biopolymer was used to make heart valve using the 3D printing technology and now it has been successfully designed. So what are its other applications? For example biopolymers find use as industry standard materials also and because of this they are widely used in packaging. Then other than that they are used in automotive industries where they are used to make interior and exterior parts. They are used to make electrical components steering wheels etc and they are also used in construction industry where they are added to the cement during concrete preparation. Then it is also used in cosmetics for example it is used for cleaning purpose, pedicure, manicure and also it is used in cosmetic products like sunscreen, hair products, creams etc. Then they are also used in ports or toys such as badminton and golf equipment etc and they also find application in nano technology because nowadays they are used in the production of nano materials. Few days before we saw about nano materials so like this it has wide range of applications and that is why we took this topic today. In this discussion we saw what is a biopolymer and what are its applications in brief. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Our next discussion is going to be based on this news article from the business page. This news article talks about an amendment and this amendment is regarding foreign direct investment in the insurance sector. So first let us understand about the FDI and the FDI in insurance sector then we will see the amendment. See as you know foreign direct investment or FDI is when a company takes controlling ownership in a business entity that is situated in another country. So with FDI foreign companies are directly involved with the day to day operations in other country. This means that they are not just bringing money with them but they also bring knowledge skills and technology with them and that is why FDI is very important for the development of a country. So in this regard FDI is permitted in many sectors in our country and it is also allowed in the insurance sector of India. See in India insurance sector was first opened to FDI in the year 2000 and at that time the FDI limit was set at 26 percentage but this limit was eventually raised to 49 percentage in the year 2015 and now through an amendment this limit has been further increased to 74 percentage. This means that a foreign company or a number of foreign companies they can own a maximum share of 74 percentage in Indian insurance companies and this change was brought in by a bill passed by the parliament. This bill is the foreign exchange management non-debt instruments rules of 2019. So what is the benefit of increasing this FDI limit? See the increase in FDI limit is expected to bring more investments to the insurance sector of India. If you see in India we have more than 16 insurance companies which specialize in life insurance, non-life insurance and health insurance but the number of state-owned firms are only six that is the public insurance companies are only six and the remaining are in the private sector. So that means a higher FDI limit will help the insurance companies to access foreign capital so that they can meet their growth requirements. Apart from this a higher FDI means higher competition. So this in turn results in better pricing of insurance products. So that means higher FDI not only benefits the companies but it also benefits the policy holders and that is why our government has now increased the FDI limit of the insurance sector to 74 percentage. Now this news article mentions about another amendment made by this bill which has now become an act and this amendment ensures scrutiny by Reserve Bank of India and insurance regulatory and development authority. So what does this amendment see? In India many insurance products are promoted by private banks. For example if you take ICICI life insurance it is a life insurance product that is promoted by a private bank called as ICICI. So if a company that belongs in a foreign country wants to invest in an insurance company promoted by a private bank then through FDI that foreign company's application should be cleared by both RBA and also by the IRDAI that is insurance regulatory and development authority of India. So this is the another change and this recent change made by our government is aimed at ensuring that 74 percentage limit of overseas investment is not breached in the insurance sector. So this is the gist of this news article. In this discussion we saw about the foreign exchange management non-debt instrument rules of 2019 which has brought in two important changes in the FDI of insurance sector. Okay aspirants now we have come to the end of news articles discussion session. We are moving to the practice questions discussion. So now let us take up this first question. It is based on hallmarking. The question asks consider the following statements about hallmarking often seen in news. Statement one it is the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in the precious metal articles. This statement is correct we saw this definition during the discussion. This hallmarking provides us with the purity and fineness of the precious metal in the precious metal articles. The second statement is in India BIS hallmarking scheme exists for gold silver and platinum. This statement is actually incorrect because during discussion itself we saw that the hallmarking scheme was introduced for gold in the year 2000 and it was introduced for silver in the year 2005. But BIS hallmarking scheme does not exist for platinum as of now. So that is why the statement is incorrect. Now the third statement. Now before going to the third statement the moment you know that first statement is correct and second statement is incorrect you have to look at the given options and here the question asks for the incorrect statements. That means one should not be in the answer so we can eliminate options A and B. So from the remaining options we have already seen that statement 2 is incorrect and both options C and D have three in it. So that means statement 3 is also incorrect. So without referring to that statement you can easily arrive at the correct answer which is option C 2 and 3 only. But let us have a look at this third statement it mentions recently announced mandatory hallmarking is applicable to gold and silver jewelry and artifacts. See on the face of it the statement might look correct but carefully read each sentence first the first half and then the second half. Recently announced mandatory hallmarking is applicable to gold. Yes it is correct but whether it is applicable to silver no it is not. It is only applicable to gold jewelry and artifacts. We saw this fact clearly during the discussion and that is why the statement is incorrect and the correct answer to this question is option C. Let us take up this next question. It asks which of the following rulers invaded the Somnath temple? Option 1 Mahmud Ghazni. Option 2 Jahangir. Option 3 Aurangzeb. Option 4 Humayun. Option 5 Shajahan. Now during discussion we saw that this Somnath temple has been reconstructed for the seventh time and it was previously destructed by including several rulers. So among the given options Mahmud Ghazni and Aurangzeb are the correct options because in the year 1024 that is 1024 Mahmud Ghazni raided this temple and took loads of jewels and valuables from here and then in the year 1706 an attack was also made by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. So the correct answer to this question is option C. 1 and 3 only. Now this next question is a two statement question. First statement is geo heritage sites are blend of historical wonders and rarest geological formations. Yes the statement is correct we saw this during the discussion. Now the second statement mentions geo heritage sites exclusively includes the rock monuments such as a pillow lava. Now this statement is incorrect. Why because here the statement mentions exclusively it means only but if you ask whether geo heritage sites only includes rock monuments no it is not. It also includes fossil parks and it also includes other geological marvels such as lakes etc. We saw the example of lunar lake during the discussion. So along with this it also includes the rock monuments such as pillow lava. See pillow lava is formed when hot molten lava erupts underwater and it solidifies in the form of a roughly spherical shape or a round pillow shape. So this geo heritage site listed by the geological survey of India includes pillow lavas. In India we have two important pillow lavas. One is situated in the Marathi hall in Chitradurga district of Karnataka and the second one is situated in the Ainur belt in Nomira which is in the Kyonja district of Odisha. So one is in Karnataka the other one is Odisha and here the question asks for the correct statements and statement one is the correct statement. So the correct answer is option A one only. Now this next question is again a two statement question. The first statement is foreign direct investors get a say in the management of the investing company. This statement is correct because FDA investors are directly involved with the day to day operations of the investing company. We saw this during the discussion. So they do get a say in the management also. Now the second statement investments through the FDI route are not meant for long term. This statement is incorrect because investments through FDR are meant for long term only. Only the investments through portfolio that is the foreign portfolio investments, FPI's these are meant for short term and here the question asks for the incorrect statements. Statement two is incorrect. So the correct answer is option B two only. Now this next question is based on biopolymers. The question asks which of the following are the properties of biopolymers? Renewable, biodegradable, easy synthesis process, low density. During discussion we saw that they are renewable and biodegradable. Now we should also note that these biopolymers can be easily synthesized from its source and it is also easily available and they are of low density and this is one of the reasons why biopolymers have biomedical applications. So the correct answer to this question is option D one, two, three and four. All the four are its properties. So with this prelims question, let us take one main question. It is based on our editorial discussion on India-US trade relation. So you have to discuss the hurdles in the India-US trade relations. We saw some of the hurdles. You can mention other hurdles also answer this question and you can paste it in the comment section for peer review. So with this we have come to the end of today's Hindi news analysis and the practice questions discussion. As I always say if you like this video don't forget to like, comment and share and also subscribe to our channel for receiving more updates related to civil services preparation. Thank you.