 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the hindi news analysis brought to you by Shankara Ace Academy for the date 27th of January 2022. These are the articles I have taken today for discussion, today we will be discussing about anti-tumping duty, countervailing duty, we will be seeing about nematode infestation, spot built pelicans, we will be discussing in detail about the food processing sector, etc. So now let us get to the first discussion for today. So for today, our first discussion is going to be based on this business page article. It talks about dumping of a particular product by companies from China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Now the product in question here is vinyl tiles which is being imported from these countries. So in this discussion, let us first understand vinyl tiles and what is the issue about it and we will be focusing more on what do we mean by dumping and anti-tumping duty. So before getting to the discussion, the syllabus relevant is highlighted here as per this can take note of it. Now first let us understand about vinyl tiles. See these are made from polyvinyl chloride or PVC which is a synthetic polymer. Now these vinyl tiles have some advantages over our traditional ceramic tiles. For example, they are low cost, they are durable, they are easy to maintain and they have high resistance to abrasion and impact damage. Particularly if these tiles are properly installed, they can be removed and replaced with ease. So this is the vinyl tile which we are talking about. Now don't confuse it with the mica sheets. Now what is the issue regarding these vinyl tiles? See a private company has filed a petition with the directorate general of trade remedies which is under the ministry of commerce. In this petition, the company has asked the directorate to impose anti-dumping duties on the import of vinyl tiles from China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Here the company is arguing that the dumping of vinyl tiles that is the low cost of vinyl tiles from these countries is affecting the domestic industries. Now to understand the allegation made by this company, we need to first know what do we mean by dumping and what is anti-dumping duty. So first, dumping. See dumping occurs when a foreign country exports a good to another country. But the price of this good is much lower than its market value. Now when this happens it is called as dumping. Dumping is usually done with the intention of obtaining a competitive advantage in the importing market. So in our case which we are discussing today, China and other countries are flooding the Indian market with cheap vinyl tiles to have an advantage over the domestic manufacturers. So you can understand that this dumping is an unfair trade practice which can have a destructive effect on international trade. So simply dumping is identified by comparing prices in two markets. For example, assume that there is a product X. It is imported by India from a company of a country A. Now if the price of the product X sold by the company in India is 100 rupees. But at the same time, the product's price in the country A itself, that is in its own country is 110, then this will be called as dumping. Why? Because it is selling to India at a much lower price than its own market value. And that is why we say it is a unfair trade practice. Now one of the tools used by the importing country to counter dumping is imposing of anti-dumping duty. So you can understand that the purpose of anti-dumping duty is to rectify the trade destructive effect of dumping and also to re-establish a fair trade. But you should remember that the anti-dumping duty is a tool for ensuring fair trade and it is not a measure for the protection of domestic industry. So it is mainly aimed at ensuring fair trade. So what about WTO? Does it allow imposing of anti-dumping duty? Yes, it allows it as an instrument of fair competition. So what you should remember here is, dumping does not involve import of cheap goods, but actually it involves import of goods at a price below its normal price. Therefore, the anti-dumping duty cannot be used against cheap imported goods and obviously it cannot be also imposed against the import of cheap goods that are bought through illegal trade channels like smuggling. Now who levies this duty? It is levied and collected by the customs authorities. Now these customs authorities also deal with the customs duty. So don't confuse anti-dumping duty with the customs duty. As you saw, anti-dumping duty serves the purpose of providing a remedy to the domestic industry because when they impose the duty, it acts as a remedy to the domestic industry. But on the other hand, custom duties are there as a means of raising revenue and for overall development of the economy. So the difference between anti-dumping duty and customs duty is that anti-dumping duties are levied against a specific country or a specific exporter whereas the customs duties are general and they are universally applicable to all importers irrespective of the country of origin and irrespective of the exporter. So here you should also remember that imposing of anti-dumping measures will not restrict imports from any country in any way. So therefore it will not hinder the customer's access to any imported goods. So this is the basic about anti-dumping duty. Now let us see how it is applied in India. So to know that, first we need to know the legal framework based on which it is imposed in our country. Now these legal frameworks cover the anti-dumping duty. That is article 6 of GATT 1994. Then the WTO agreement on anti-dumping. Then we also have the sections 9A and 9B of Indian Customs Tariff Act. And then we have the Indian Customs Tariff Rules of 1995. All these deal with anti-dumping duty. Now let us come to the procedure for application of anti-dumping duty in our country. See the direct trade which has the responsibility of investigating and recommending various WTO compliant trade remedial measures is the Indian Directorate General of Trade Remedies. They already said it comes under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. Now this direct trade deals with the trade remedial measures such as anti-dumping, countervailing, safeguard and quantitative restrictions. So that means any aggrieved party that is the domestic industry that is affected by dumping can approach the Director General of Trade Remedies for initiating an investigation against dumping. This is the general norm that is the authority initiates the investigations for trade remedies action on the basis of an application received from the domestic industry. So this is one case. But apart from this the authority in some cases can also initiate SUOMOTO action. See the SUOMOTO initiation of trade remedies investigation is done on the basis of information received from the Commissioner of Customs who is appointed under the Customs Act or even based on the information received from any other source. So if they receive any information then the authority can initiate SUOMOTO action. Now in such circumstances the authority initiates the trade remedy investigation on its own without any complaint or application filed in this regard. Now here you should note that the Directorate after investigation it provides the provisional measures that need to be taken. So it only provides the provisional measures. So then who acts upon such provisional measures? It is the Ministry of Finance which acts upon the recommendation by the Directorate. And finally it is the Ministry of Finance which imposes or levies the duty applicable. So if anti-dumping duty is imposed on any company or any country the agreed parties can appeal against it. In the Customs, Excise and Service Tax appellate tribunal they can appeal within 90 days of imposition of the duty. Now if they are not satisfied with the orders of this appellate tribunal then they can also go to High Court or Supreme Court of India. So is this anti-dumping duty imposed for an infinite period of time? It is not. See in general the anti-dumping duty shall remain in force for a period of not more than 5 years. But it can be less than 5 years also. Now another fact that need to be remembered regarding anti-dumping duty is that it would not apply to goods imported by a 100% export oriented units and the units in the free trade zones and special economic zones. So these are the basic details that you need to know about anti-dumping duty why it is used, its legal framework in India and the procedure followed in India for imposition of an anti-dumping duty. Now when we talk about anti-dumping duty immediately we also get confused with the countervailing duty. So let us see what is a countervailing duty. Now we know that some countries provide subsidies to their exports to boost the exports. These are called as export subsidies. Now under the WTO agreement export subsidies are treated as unfair trade practice. So to counter such subsidies the importing country can levy anti-subsidy countervailing duty. This is what is called as the countervailing duty in general. See for example export subsidies is given by a Chinese government to a particular product. Then this will make that Chinese product low priced in the Indian market. So this will be an advantage for that Chinese company which is selling that product but it will be a disadvantage for the competing Indian products. Now to overcome this situation only the government of India can impose a countervailing duty on Chinese imports. So we can understand that countervailing duty is basically based on the subsidy provided by the exporting country. So that is why we need to see what constitutes a subsidy under the anti-subsidy countervailing duty. See if there is a financial contribution by the government or a financial contribution by a public body with the exporting nation then this will attract countervailing duty. And then when there is direct transfer of funds then also countervailing duty can be imposed. And finally if the government of the exporting nation maintains any form of income or price support which operates directly or indirectly to increase export of any article from its territory then this will also attract countervailing duty. But you should remember that subsidies that are provided to create general infrastructure then subsidies for research activities and the subsidies which are for assistance to disadvantaged regions with the territory of the exporting country will not attract countervailing duty. So in our country who administers countervailing duty see it is the designated authority for the anti-tumping which administers anti-subsidy countervailing measures also. So that means it is administered by the director general of trade remedies. So as we saw in the case of anti-tumping duty this direct trade under the department of commerce which comes under the ministry of commerce and industry recommends the duty. But it is finally imposed by the finance ministry only. Now there is actually a limitation on the countervailing duty that is imposed. According to the rules the countervailing duty should not exceed the amount of the subsidy that is provided by the exporting country. Now these are the legal framework under which countervailing duty is imposed in our country you can just go through it. So this was about the countervailing duty. Now to just understand let me tell the main difference between anti-tumping duty and countervailing duty. See anti-tumping duty is applied when the price of the imported good is low compared to the normal price of the good. But on the other hand countervailing duty is applied when the exporting country is providing some subsidies to promote export. Now let us take an example to understand the difference between anti-tumping duty and countervailing duty clearly. Assume that there is a company A this company situated in China. Now it is exporting to India. Let us assume that the product which is being exported is oranges. Now to India this company is exporting oranges at rupees 100 per kg. This is the scenario that is going on. Now the scenario will attract anti-tumping duty when these same oranges are sold at rupees 110 in China. But at the same time it is being exported to India at rupees 100 per kg. So here the price of oranges is lower compared to the normal price of the orange in that country that is the exporting country. So in this scenario India will impose anti-tumping duty on the company A. Now here the company is able to provide oranges at lesser cost to India maybe because of a bountiful harvest or maybe because to attract a market. Now in case of attracting a market if it is providing at this price this price is being balanced by the price at which it is sold in China. So in these scenarios India will impose anti-tumping duty on company A. Now when this lower price of orange results due to a subsidy provided by Chinese government for promoting exports then this is where countervailing duty will come into play. Let us assume that China is providing an overall export subsidy of rupees 10. Now because of this export subsidy company is able to provide the oranges which is at 110 rupees per kg to rupees 100 per kg. Then at this scenario this will attract countervailing duty. Now only to understand have taken the prices in rupees generally it will be in dollars. So this is the main difference between anti-tumping duty and countervailing duty. I hope you would have understand the difference. Now before concluding our discussion we need to see some points about the trade defence wing. See so far we saw that India will be imposing countervailing duties and anti-tumping duties against exporters from foreign countries. So similarly foreign countries will also impose the same duties against Indian exporters. Therefore as per the direction of commerce secretary the trade defence wings have been created in the direct general of trade remedies. Now these trade defence wings act as a nodal point for defending Indian exporters from the investigations regarding countervailing duty and anti-tumping duty which are initiated by other WTO member countries. So that is all. In this discussion we saw about the vinyl tiles issue then we saw what do we mean by dumping then we saw anti-tumping duty and the legal framework under which it is imposed and then we also saw the procedure followed in India then we compared it with the countervailing duty and we saw the main difference between anti-tumping duty and countervailing duty and finally we saw about trade defence wing. Now let us move to the next discussion. So our second article discussion for today is going to be based on this news article. It talks about a nematode infestation which has led to the mass mortality of spot-built pelicans. This mass mortality has happened at the important bird area in Napaada swamp of Andhra Pradesh and according to the article over 150 spot-built pelicans have died due to this infestation since December 2021. Particularly in the past 72 hours 21 birds have died. So that is why today we are going to see about this nematode infestation and also a few facts about spot-built pelicans. First let us start with nematode infestation. Now to understand that we need to understand about parasitism. See parasitism is a form of symbiosis. Here one organism benefits at the expense of another organism and this another organism is usually a different species. Now the one which is getting the benefit is called as the parasite and the another organism is called as the host. So here the parasite benefits from the host organism. Now such parasites may be grouped into endoparasites and ectoparasites. Now they will be called ectoparasites when they live outside the host. On the other hand when these parasites live inside the host they are called as endoparasites. Now there are two forms of endoparasites. One is the intercellular parasite and the other one is intracellular parasite. Now our focus is on intercellular parasite. These are the ones that inhabit the spaces of the body of the host. For example they inhabit in the gastrointestinal tract, eyes, air sacs, etc. Now some of the examples of such intercellular parasites are nematodes, tapeworms and even other helmets. You would have heard about tapeworms in humans. They normally inhabit in the gastrointestinal tract. But our focus today is on the nematode. Now various species of nematodes are there. They can infect various tissues and organs inside the bird's body. For example it can infect the gastrointestinal tract, eyes, the body cavity and the air sacs of the bird's body. And since the spot-built pelicans which I mentioned in the news have infested with this, this must have caused the death of those pelicans. And according to the news article, this parasite is suspect to have transferred through fission snails. These were the fission snails that were found in the aqua ponds where the birds usually prey. So in this manner, let us also see a few facts about spot-built pelicans from Prince Point of View. Its scientific name is Pelicanus filipensis. And note that this species can only be found in Southeast Asia. Now this species lives in lowland freshwater, brackish water and even in marine wetland areas of Southeast Asia. And it is also found mainly near open water. Now these spot-built pelican species live in trees that are near water bodies such as ponds, village tanks, lakes, streams and rivers. And they hunt for food in both freshwater environments and marine environments. Now this species of spot-built pelican was historically sighted in the Southeast Asia region, that is in Java, Pakistan, Nepal, Turkey, Laos, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. But as of now, it is said that its breeding is confined to Sri Lanka and some parts of Southeast India and also Cambodia. And note that the breeding season of these pelican species varies between October to May. Particularly in South India, it coincides with the Northeast one soon. Now the global population of this species is quite low. It is believed to be only 13,000 to 18,000 individual birds. And there had been rapid decline of population in the last three generations. So in this manner, we need to know the threats faced by the species. First one is obviously the habitat loss. And second threat is fishing activity in the feeding grounds. And third, poaching of chicks and eggs of the species is also reason for rapid decline in its population. Then agricultural pollutants are also reason along with silting up of water bodies. So these are the threats faced by the spot-built pelicans. Now because of these threats, it has been provided one of the highest protections under the IUCN Red List and the Wildlife Protection Act of India. For example, note that this is one of the seven species of pelicans in the world and it is one of the most threatened. And that is why it is listed as near threatened in the IUCN Red List. And in India, it is protected under schedule four of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. So these are the few facts that you need to know about spot-built pelicans from exam point of view. And we also saw about nematode infestation. So with these facts in mind, now let us move to the next discussion. Now our next discussion is going to be based on this news article. It talks about the criteria for the nomination of independent external monitors in government bodies. This criteria has been modified by the Central Vigilance Commission now. See these independent external monitors play an important role in the integrity pact. So today we'll know what is this integrity pact and then we'll understand about independent external monitors and the changes made by the Central Vigilance Commission. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. See basically the integrity pact. It is a vigilance tool, that is it is an agreement between the vendors or bidders and the buyers. These are the vendors and buyers in a public procurement. So you know that when there is a public procurement, tender is floated and then we have bidders on one side and the buyers on the other side. So it includes the government organizations, public sector enterprises, public sector banks, insurance companies, other financial institutions and even autonomous bodies, et cetera. These could be the bidders or even the buyers. Now what this pact does is it commits the persons or the officials of both the sides, that is from the bidders side and the buyers side, to not resort to any corrupt practices in any stage of the contract. That is it makes them to make an commitment to not involve in any corrupt practices. So in this way the pact aims to ensure transparency, equity and competitiveness in public procurement. So these are some of the ingredients of the pact. You can just go through it. Now what about the independent external monitors? See these are the ones who independently and objectively review the documents which are related to this integrity pact. That is the independent external monitors determine if the parties have complied with their obligations under the pact or not. Then after reviewing the documents, the IEMs, that is independent external monitors, submit a report to the chief executive of the organization concert or they will also submit a report to the central vigilance officer directly or to the central vigilance commission. See you should know that each department or organization that is covered under the normal advisory jurisdiction of central vigilance commission has a vigilance department. Now this department is headed by a senior level officer who is designated as the chief vigilance officer. Such an officer is appointed with the concurrence of the central vigilance commission and the officer is a liaison between the organization where he is a central vigilance officer and the central vigilance commission. So this report could also be directly submitted to the central vigilance officer. Now these independent external monitors also report if they find serious irregularities which attract the provisions of prevention of corruption act. So for ensuring that the integrity pact is executed properly, independent external monitors are important. And now the news is that the central vigilance commission has modified the criteria for the nomination of officers as independent external monitors. So let us see what is the revised eligibility criteria now. See basically eminent persons are nominated as IEMs. Now according to the existing rules, which was issued in June 2021, officials at the rank of secretary to the government of India, then chief secretaries to the states or even the officials at equivalent pay scale to the secretary or chief secretaries at the time of retirement are eligible to be considered for the role of IEMs. So we can see that the officers at the higher level of government were made eligible to be appointed as independent external monitors. But now the officers at the level of additional secretary are also made eligible by the central vigilance commission. That is the officer who has held the post of additional secretary to the government of India or an officer who had an equivalent or higher pay scale to that of additional secretary to the government of India at the time of retirement is eligible to be nominated as independent external monitor. Now along with the additional secretary to the government of India, the additional secretaries of any state governments are also made eligible now. So now the post has been extended to the additional secretary level. Now secondly, the chief executive officer of an organization who are equivalent or higher to the additional secretary to the government of India at the time of retirement, they are also made eligible. So earlier the chief executive officer was mandated to be equivalent to the level of secretary only. But now it has been extended to the level of additional secretary. Now the third criteria is with regard to the retired officers of armed forces. Now after the revised rules, the officers equivalent to the additional secretaries or higher ranks in the government of India are eligible to become IEMs. But earlier this was allowed only for the officers in the apex pay scale. Now along with expanding the eligibility criteria, Central Regulance Commission has also removed certain level of officers from the list of eligibility criteria. For example, it has removed the officers who were in the apex pay scale at the time of retirement in the central government, state government or forest service to be IEMs. And then the retired director generals of Polars have also been removed from the list of permanent persons who could be considered for the impairment as IEMs. Now apart from these eligibility criteria modifications, another important criteria has been added in this regard. It is regarding the proposal for nomination of IEMs. As per the new criteria, the proposal should be preferably sent three months prior to the completion of tenure of the existing IEM. If it is not sent prior to three months, then the commission would nominate IEMs on its own. So earlier this provision of three months was not present. So these are the important changes made regarding the eligibility criteria to be nominated as IEMs. Now certain criteria have also remained unchanged in the new rules. For example, persons who have held the post of chairman come managing director of a Schedule A public sector enterprise and who were equivalent or higher to additional secretary to the government of India at the time of retirement, they were already eligible and now their eligibility has not been changed. Similarly, the persons who have held the post of chairman come managing director or the managing director and the CEO of a public sector bank, insurance companies and other financial institutions at the time of retirement were also eligible previously. This provision has been kept unchanged. Now another criteria has been kept unchanged which is the criteria that says that a person may be appointed as an IEM in a maximum of three organizations at a time. So these are some of the provisions that have been kept unchanged in the revised rules. So in this discussion, we saw about the integrity pack then we saw about the independent external monitors and the eligibility criteria to be nominated as IEMs and some of the modifications made by the central vigilance commissions in the rules that talk about the nominations for the role of IEMs. So now with these points in mind, now let us get to the next discussion. Now our next discussion is going to be based on this editorial article. This article talks about the food security and the need for it because the population is growing. Here author sites that the challenge in maintaining food security is multi-dimensional because now the challenge is to feed a 10 billion population by mid-century. So it demands not just food security but it also demands efficient ways of production and such ways should be both economically viable and they should be ecologically sustainable as well. And this is where technology becomes relevant. See nowadays technologies are emerging that revamp the traditional approach with a lower environmental footprint. So in this context, author focuses on the food processing technology and the food processing sector in India. So today let us discuss about the food processing sector in our country, the issues faced by it and the measures taken by the government to overcome it. The syllabus relevant to this discussion is given here for your reference. Now as per the note that this particular topic of food processing sector is very important because it is an evergreen topic in Mainz GS paper three. For example, if we take this question which was asked in Mainz 2020, you can see it talks about the challenges and opportunities of food processing sector in our country. So that is why this discussion today is important from Mainz perspective. Now first of all, let us understand how relevant is food processing sector. So it is indispensable for the overall development of an economy because it provides a vital linkage and synergy between the agriculture and industry. Along with it, it also helps to diversify and commercialize the farming. Then it also helps to enhance the income of farmers. It creates markets for export of agro foods. Along with it, it also generates greater employment opportunities. Plus with the presence of such industries, a wider range of food products could be sold and they could be distributed to the distant locations. Why? Because we know that agricultural products are perishable goods and it needs processing to increase its shelf life. So what do we mean when we say food processing? See the term food processing is mainly defined as a process of value addition to the agricultural produce or horticultural produce by various methods. These methods include grading, sorting and packaging. Simply food processing is a technique of manufacturing and preserving food substances in an effective manner and here the main aim is to enhance the shelf life of such products. So in turn, this results in the improvement of the quality of the food as well as it makes it functionally more useful. So this food processing sector covers spectrum of products from sub-sectors in the agriculture, horticulture, plantation, animal husbandry and fisheries. As you can see here, these are the products covered in the sector. So what is the status of the sector in our country? You should note that in India, the food processing industry is called as sunrace industry. Why? Because the food ecosystem offers huge opportunities for investment. This is possible due to the stimulating growth in the food retail sector, due to favorable economic policies and attractive fiscal incentives. And most importantly, through the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, the Government of India is taking all necessary steps to boost investments in this industry in India. As a part of this, if you remember, Government of India has sanctioned 41 food parks which are funded under the mega food parks scheme and out of these, 4138 have received final approval. This is a major boost to the sector because in 2014, there were only 2 mega food parks in the country. But as of 1st August 2021, there were 22 mega food parks functioning in the country. So now through the mega food parks scheme, Government is aiming to take this number 2 more than 40. Plus, you should also note that India records close to 15% rise in the export of agricultural products and processed food products. And therefore by 2025, India's food processing industry is expected to be worth over half a trillion dollars. And by 2030, Indian annual household consumption will increase three times, which will make India the 5th largest consumer. So in this regard, as one of the measures for boosting the sector, 100% FDI is permitted under the automatic route in the food processing industries in India. Along with this, 100% FDI is also allowed through the Government approval route for trading, which includes e-commerce also in respect of food products manufactured or produced in India. Now the FDI and measures of Government of India are important for increasing the public infrastructure. Now this in turn will increase food manufacturing output. Now this relation was found by a study in United States. The study concluded that a 1% increase in public infrastructure has actually increased the food manufacturing output by 0.06% in the longer run. And this is particularly relevant in the Indian scenario because of our population and our need for food production. So in this regard, author notes that already many states in our country are doing good in food production and food processing industry. These states include Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. So remember these are the states that were ranked among the highest in the public infrastructure and utilities parameter in the good governance index of 2020 to 21. And the parameter of connectivity to rural habitations also showed highest improvement. So these conditions make these states attractive for investments. That is why higher investments are being concentrated in these states, particularly in the food sector. So this is the status of food sector and food processing sector in our country. Now this food processing sector is important due to the significant benefits that it offers for its different stakeholders. For example, for farmers it provides higher yield better farm realization and lower risks. Now as a consumer, we'll have the benefit of greater variety products, low priced products and new products. Then for companies, new business opportunities is a benefit. It also provides demand growth for those companies. And then overall for the economy or for the government, it provides employment generation and it also reduces rural migration. So these are the benefits offered by the food processing sector towards various stakeholders. But the problem is this sector is plagued with certain issues. Particularly there are gaps in supply chain infrastructure. This is mainly due to the inadequate primary processing. And there is also lack of adequate storage and distribution facilities. Then we also have insufficient connection between production and processing. Apart from all these, one of the major issues is seasonality of operations and low capacity utilizations. There is also institutional gaps in the supply chain. For example, there is dependence on the APMC markets. That is the markets run by agricultural produce market committees. Then there is also lack of focus on quality and safety standards. Then obviously we also lack in product development and innovation. So these are the issues that are plaguing the food processing industry. So in this regard, we need to know what has been done by the government so far and what has to be done to overcome these challenges. First, let us see what has to be done, particularly in this pandemic scenario. See, the pandemic has accelerated the demand for products from the ready-to-eat market. This ready-to-eat market saw a rise of approximately 170% in sales volume between March to June 2020 itself. Along with this, the pandemic has also increased the consumer's awareness about functional foods. See, functional foods are the foods that have a potentially positive effect on the health beyond basic nutrition. So now consumers are focusing on functional foods also. So according to the author, more health-oriented startups and micro-food processing units should be established for satisfying the consumer demand. Now with respect to the problem of working capital issue, see this problem has been addressed by the Trade Receivables Discounting System. This is a platform for facilitating the financing or discounting of trade receivables of MSMEs through multiple financiers. And then for the exports market, it is now established that sales promotion is positively related to increased sales volume, but it is inversely related to profitability. In simple words, it means that sales is increasing, but it is not converting into profits. So to bridge this gap, now the government has included the food processing as a sector under its production-linked incentive scheme. See, as you know, this PLIS includes 13 key sectors and the scheme is aimed at ensuring that India's share of value-added products in the exports basket is improved. And this will also ensure that our exports reach the untapped markets of Europe, Middle East, West Asia, Africa, Oceania, and Japan. Now the food processing production-linked incentive scheme supports branding and marketing activities in foreign markets. So Indian brands will be promoted in the foreign markets. This will in turn enhance the investments in the Indian brands. So these are some of the measures already taken by the government and the measures that need to be taken. See, the conclusion is that with the growing populations, we have changing food habits and there is unrestricted use of natural resources. So in this scenario, nations must come together and lay out a roadmap for common efficient food value chain. And as we know, in today's world, new alternatives are also being explored for replacing these staples like rice and wheat. There are new alternatives in the form of nutrients, plant-based proteins, fermented foods, health bars, and we also have fresh fortified foods for pets. So the food sector is evolving along with the food habits. And that is why more focus should be given to the food processing sector also. And this PLIS scheme will act as an enabling ecosystem in this regard. So these are some of the points that you need to know about the food processing sector in our country and the issues faced by it. Now let us move on to the next discussion. Now the next article which is taken is this one. It is from the text and context page. It talks about the racial profiling of the Chakmas and Hajongs. It discusses about these communities and how they arrived in natural predation and why racial profiling is a problem, et cetera, et cetera. If you remember, we have discussed all these aspects in our December 12th, 2021 Hindi News Analysis. So if you want to know about Chakmas and Hajongs, you can view this analysis. So now with this, we have come to the end of news articles discussion session. Now we are moving to the next session of Practice Questions discussion. Let us take up this first practice question. Which of the following statements about Integrity Pact is incorrect? Statement A, it is a tool developed by Transparency International as a method for preventing corruption in public contracting. See this statement is correct. Integrity Pact is a tool developed by Transparency International way back in 1990s. It was developed as a method for preventing corruption in public contracting. Now this is essentially a document signed between a contracting authority, bidders and an independent monitor. So statement A is correct. Now let us come to statement B. Independent external monitors review the documents relating to the Integrity Pact. This statement is correct. We saw this during discussion also. Now coming to the statement three. A person may be appointed as an independent external monitor in a maximum of two organizations at a time. This statement is incorrect because they can be appointed as an IEM in a maximum of three organizations at a time. Now here be careful while marking the correct answer because the correct answer is option C and not option D because the question asks for the incorrect statements. So you have to choose the incorrect statement which is option C. Now let us take this next question. It is based on Central Vigilance Commission. The question asks, consider the following statements with reference to the Central Vigilance Commission. Statement one, CVC is a constitutional body. This statement is incorrect. C, CVC is a apex vigilance institution created through a executive resolution. This resolution was passed based on the recommendations of Santaram committee. So this resolution was passed and CVC was created in 1964. But note that CVC was given a statutory status through the CVC Act in 2003. So that means CVC as of now is a statutory body and not a constitutional body. Now statement two, CVC is the apex vigilance institution which is free of control from any executive authority. This statement is actually correct. CVC is conceived to be the apex vigilance institution free of control from any executive authority because it monitors all vigilance activity under the central government and it advises various authorities in central government organizations. This advice is regarding the planning, executing, reviewing and reforming the vigilant work of central government organizations. Now the third statement, the commission consists of chairperson and not more than four members. This statement is incorrect because the commission consists of a chairperson who is called as the central vigilance commissioner and it has not more than two members who are called as vigilance commissioners. So statement three is actually incorrect. Now here the question asks for the correct statements. So the correct answer is option B, two only. Now let us take up this third question. It is based on spot-built Pelicans discussion. The question asks, consider the following statements regarding spot-built Pelicans. First statement, they are endemic to India and are found in Andhra Pradesh between Krishna and Godavari deltas. This statement is incorrect because they are not endemic to India. We saw during discussion that they are now found in Sri Lanka and some parts of Southeast India and Cambodia. Now statement two, they are protected under schedule one of the Violief Protection Act of 1972. This statement is also incorrect because they are protected under schedule four and here the question asks for the correct statements. Since both the statements are incorrect, the correct answer to this question is option D, neither one nor two. So with these three problems practice questions, let us take up two main practice questions. Interested aspirants can write answers to these questions and pose the answer in the comment section. Whenever we get time, we'll review answer. So with this, we have come to the end of today's in the news analysis session. If you like this video, don't forget to like, comment and share and subscribe to Shankar Ice Academy YouTube channel for receiving timely updates regarding civil services preparation. Thank you.