 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankaray's Academy for the date 9th of December 2021. So these are the list of news articles chosen for today's discussion. First we will be discussing about a previous year preliminary examination question. In that we will be discussing some of the important economic facts and followed by that we will be discussing about an editorial article. In that we will be discussing about the LPVG revolution in India and thirdly we will be discussing about an important article regarding the BIS and finally we will end our discussion by discussing about an important article regarding the Lok Haikta. So now without wasting much time let us get into the news article discussion. So for today let us start our first discussion with this previous year question. See this is not even a previous year question because this question was asked very recently in the 2021 problems. Let me read the question for you. Indian government bond yields are influenced by which of the following? Statement 1, actions of the United States Federal Reserve. Statement 2, actions of the Reserve Bank of India. And Statement 3, inflation and short term interest rates. Let the correct answer using the code given below. Option A 1 and 2 only, option B 2 only, option C 3 only and option D 1 2 and 3. See to answer this question first we must know what is a bond and then we must have known what is a bond yield. So this is what we are going to see in this discussion. We will first see what is a bond, its types then we will see what a bond yield is and finally we will see how the bond yield can be influenced. Just pay attention because you are only going to answer the question at the end. So I hope you are all aware of the fact that whenever or whomever is going to start a business if there is a shortage in the capital required here the capital means the amount of money that you use to start a business so that you can earn more money on it. So we call it as a capital. So whenever or whomever is going to start a business and if there is a shortage in the capital then he or she will first get a loan from the bank or he or she will raise the capital needed from the financial market. I hope you are all aware of this fact. So now what is this financial market? See a financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction cost. But are these securities? See securities are fungible and tradable financial instruments used to raise capital in public and private markets. Let's understand these terms clearly with an example. Imagine you are going to set up a coffee shop and for that you need 5 lakh rupees. But you have only 3 lakh rupees. So what will you do for the remaining amount? Obviously you will borrow it from the bank. The second option to raise capital for business apart from the bank is the financial market. See it actually enables resource mobilization in the country. You may now be wondering how the financial market facilitates resource mobilization. See this is where the securities are put to use. Securities they act as an instrument to raise capital in the financial market. So it is nothing but a financial contract or a evidence of transaction signed between a lender and borrower. To understand better let's take the same example. So in case of a financial market you can actually raise the entire 5 lakh capital in the financial market itself. Let's see how. When it comes to financial market you can divide the capital required into parts. This 5 lakh can be divided into parts and by listing your name in the BSE that is the Bombay Stock Exchange you can issue your securities. So instead of going to the bank and asking for 5 lakh rupees and increasing your liability you can instead borrow it from the financial market by issuing securities. So here is the first difference between the bank and the financial market. In financial market there is a direct contact between the borrower and the lender. But in banks there is no direct contact between the borrower and the lender because the banks they give out the deposit money of some other person as loans to you. So in such cases you really don't know from whom you are borrowing. But in case of financial market there is a direct contact between the borrower and the lender. Secondly the terms and conditions of the transactions is determined by the lender in banking sector whereas in the financial market the borrower that is me I am going to set up a coffee shop and I need the capital. So I determine the terms and conditions. So these two are the major difference between the financial market and the banking. So I can determine the terms and conditions which means I can issue securities in what of a denomination I want. For example I can divide the 5 lakh rupees into 10,000 rupees per bond and issue 50 securities like that to raise the 5 lakh capital or I can break it into 1000 rupees per bond and issue 500 bonds. It depends on my decision. Just remember one thing each security will have its own interest rate and a maturity period. So you cannot issue securities without these two because by investing in your coffee shop the investor should also get a profit right. So every bond will have a maturity period and a rate of interest. For example just imagine to raise this 5 lakh rupees and to set up a coffee shop I am issuing 500 bonds which have a capital of 1000 rupees each. It has a maturity period of one year and the rate of interest is 5 percentage per month. Which means the investor will get 5 percentage of 1000 every month as interest until the end of one year. At the end of one year I have to return the capital amount 1000 rupees to the investor itself. So I have to pay 5 percentage of 1000 rupees every month to the investor. Which means for 12 months I have to pay 50 rupees each month and at the end of one year I have to return the capital amount 1000 rupees to the investor. So what happening here is in between I can use this money to set up my coffee shop and the investor will also get a return of 1600 rupees just by investing in my coffee shop. So all these terms and conditions will be mentioned in the securities. This is why I said securities are fungible and tradable financial instruments which are used to raise capital in public and private markets. This is also the reason why I said it is a financial contract or evidence of transaction signed between a lender and borrower which acts as an instrument to raise capital in the financial market. See debentures, t-bills, bonds or just other names of the securities issued by different entities. For example, t-bills or short term debt securities issued by the central government and there is another term called commercial papers which are short term debts issued by the industrial companies. See these are all securities with different names and just remember each securities differ and varies in their terms and conditions and it depends on the issuer of the security. I hope by now you have clear understanding about what is a security and what is a capital and what is a maturity period and what is a rate of interest. So now let us see the types of securities. See there are actually three types of securities. The example which we saw is the debt security. Securities which are similar to loans repaid with periodic payments are called debt securities. They are usually short term securities which means they have maturity period equal to one year or lesser than one year. So the next type is called the equity securities. In case of an equity it actually provides ownership right to the holder. So if I am selling my security the buyer or the investor who is buying my security, he actually holds the ownership right in my company. So this type of security is known as equity security. Equity securities are usually long in term and they do not have a maturity period because whomever is holding ownership right they will get dividend instead of interest. So in case of debt security I have to pay interest every month or every year it depends upon the security and in case of equity I have to pay the dividend that is the profit earned to the share holder and the third type is known as hybrid. See this security is the combination of the debt and equity. Apart from this some of the securities includes stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals which are known in financial market as commodities. So we can issue securities on commodities also. So these are the types of securities you have to make note of. Now let's move on to see what a bond yield is. See before that just remember the financial market is classified into two types namely the money market and capital market. Usually the money market consists of short term bonds which have a maturity period less than one year and it does not include equity securities. We just saw what is the equity security. So in contrast to the money market the capital market consists of the transaction which is long term. So in the capital market the transaction actually takes place for a longer period usually more than a year. The capital market is utilized to start a new business or to expand the existing business and just remember based on the transaction nature the capital market can be classified into primary market and secondary market. See the primary market is where securities are created. It is this market that firms sell new stocks and bonds to the public for the first time. So the primary market is the place where the securities are actually created. Then what is this secondary market. See the secondary market is a market where investors purchase securities or a search from other investors rather than from issuing companies themselves. So for example if I am issuing a bond and A is buying the bond from me A can hold the bond until the maturity period or in between itself he can sell it to another person. It only depends on the person who holds the bond. So when I issue a bond I issue it in the primary market and when A wishes to sell my bond to another person then he sells it in the secondary market. I hope you understand the difference. Now coming back see there is a term called market price. Now let's understand what is this market price is. See market price is the price at which debt securities are exchanged between the buyers and sellers in the secondary market. So if I am issuing a bond for 1000 rupees and the person A he buys it from the primary market from me and after certain period he wishes to sell it to B and instead of 1000 rupees he wishes to sell it for 950 rupees or he wishes to sell it for 1200 rupees. So the price at which the debt security or exchange between the buyers and sellers in the secondary market is known as market price. So here is where the inflation plays a very important role. See inflation is the I hope you are all aware about the term inflation. Inflation is the rate of increase in price over a given period of time. We can otherwise say during inflation the value of money or currency actually goes down. See what actually happens is during the times of inflation the rate of interest increases for the floating bond and the newly issued fixed bond. Floating bond is nothing but a bond which has a variable interest rate and fixed bond will have a fixed rate of interest and does not fluctuate. So during the inflation what happens the rate of interest increases for both the floating bond and the newly issued fixed bond. So as a result the pre-existing fixed bond which are available in the market becomes less attractive due to decrease in their real rate of interest. Because of all these the market price of the pre-existing fixed bonds decreases to compensate for the loss of the interest. Let's understand this with an example. Consider company A is issuing a bond for 1000 rupees. With the maturity period 5 years and the rate of interest 9% per annum. And the inflation rate is 5% so initially the person has to pay 1000 rupees to the company and the company will pay interest every year. So the first year he will get paid 90 rupees and the second year 90 rupees, third year 90 rupees, fourth year 90 rupees and the fifth year also 90 rupees. And at the end of the 5 years the person will get 1400 rupees which includes 1000 rupees as capital and 450 rupees as rate of interest. Now another company B after one year assume the inflation rate is 6% instead of 5% and this company B is issuing same 1000 rupees bond for the 5 years. With the rate of interest here is 10% instead of 9%. The company B is in a situation to offer the security at 10% because of the inflation. So the same person if he invest in company B initially he have to pay an capital of 1000 rupees and at each interval he will get a rate of interest of 100 rupees. So at the end of the 5 years he will have 1500 rupees which will include 1000 rupees capital amount and 500 rupees as rate of interest. Now assume I brought a bond from company A and after one year I wish to sell the bond in the secondary market. Here no one will buy the bond if I sell the bond for the same terms and conditions because after one year the inflation rate has increased 1% and the rate of interest has also increased by 1%. And as I said you earlier during inflation the value of the money will go down. So my bond it will actually will not be attractive if I sell it with the same terms and conditions. Now to make my bond attractive what I will do is I will sell the bond at 950 rupees instead of 1000 rupees. So the buyer will get 1310 rupees at the end of the 5th year which includes 360 rupees as the rate of interest and 950 rupees as the principal amount. Here also you might get a doubt if the buyer he buys the company B's bond he will get 1500 rupees but instead if he gets my bond he will get only 1310 rupees. The profit is still with the company B bond. See this is not the case here. If the buyer he buys company B bond he has to invest 1000 rupees as a whole and wait for 5 years and then at the end he will get 1500 rupees. But here within 4 years he will get 1310 rupees. So this is what we called as yield. So the formula for yield can be said as yield is equal to returns the whole divided by investment. So for example I am investing 1000 rupees and I am getting a rate of interest of 90 rupees in back. So yield will be equal to 90 divided by 1000 into 100 which is equal to 9 percentage. Now for another example imagine the same 1000 rupees bond is sold at 950 rupees due to the inflation and I will get a rate of interest of 90 rupees. So the yield is equal to 90 divided by 950 into 100 which is equal to 9.5. The yield will be 9.5 here. So we saw an example with inflation the same will happen during the deflation. So during deflation in order to make my bond attractive what I will do is I will sell the bond at 1000 and 50 rupees I will sell the same bond at 1000 and 50 rupees and the interest will be about 90 rupees. So the yield will be equal to 90 divided by 1050 into 100 which is equal to 8.5 percentage. So from these what we can infer is the rate of interest is directly proportional to rate of inflation. So if the inflation is high the rate of interest actually increases and the inflation is inversely proportional to market price. So if the inflation is high the market price should eventually go down to make the bond attractive. So to put it in simple words during inflation the rate of interest actually increases the yield also increases and the market price it actually decreases. So in case of deflation the rate of interest it actually goes down the yield also goes down and the market price will actually goes up. So with this we came to the end of this question discussion. Now you try to answer the question in the comment section. If you have any doubts please mention it in the comment section I will discuss about them in my upcoming videos. So now let us move on to the first news article discussion. Now let us take up this editorial article for our next discussion. See this article talks about the LPG revolution in India and it also talks about the price rise of LPG cylinders and its impact on the environment. See even though the government is working hard to encourage access to clean cooking energy there are still some flaws in them and people they still prefer to cook with biomasses. Here biomass refers to the total quantity of plants and animals in a particular area. So people they prefer or they choose to cook with biomasses which not only causes health related problems but also causes indoor air pollution and external air pollution. So to tackle this issue the authors of this editorial has suggested some of the important points let us see them one by one. The syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference please go through it. See for more than a year the persistent rise in the price of LPG cylinders has been draining many household budgets. The LPG refill price have climbed by more than 50% age. If you remember last year the LPG refill price was roughly 600 rupees and in the November this year it is over 900 per cylinders and since May 2020 there has been no refill subsidies as well. See all these factors have raised genuine concerns about many households now slipping back to using polluting solid fuels such as firewoods and dunk cakes for cooking. See according to the global burden of disease study 2019 solid fuel conception for cooking is the main cause of air pollution and related premature deaths in India. It also reported that in India alone over 6 lakh people die prematurely each year due to air pollution. See the government has also taken many steps to promote access to clean cooking energy in order to address this issue head on. For example the government issued more than 80 million subsidized LPG connections through the Pradhan Mandarin Ujwala Yojana scheme but how far have we been able to perciate households to avoid using biomass is the question here. See as per the India residential energy survey 2020 which was conducted by the council on energy environment and water and the initiative for sustainable energy policy according to this survey LPG has surpassed biomass as the most popular cooking fuel in India. See nearly 85% of Indian households have access to LPG and 71% utilize it as their primary cooking fuel compared to only 30% a decade ago. See this change in trend can be attributed to the success of Ujwala Yojana consumption linked subsidies and the progressive strengthening of the LPG distributorship and this of course would have had a great impact on the set as contribution to air pollution. These steps have contributed to the significant reduction of air pollution of course however the battle is only half won why because due to the high LPG prices almost 30% of the Indian households they continue to utilize biomass as their primary cooking fuel. So even though government is trying to incentivize people and promote clean cooking fuel but still due to high LPG prices people are left in a situation in which relying on the biomass is the only option. So because of this high LPG prices almost 30% of the Indian households they continue to utilize biomass as their primary cooking fuel and another 24% they combine LPG with biomass and use as a cooking fuel. Now let us see which area actually contribute to the biomass utilization. See the biomass utilization is primarily concentrated in rural areas particularly in states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Mathya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. Even the slums in the cities they are also important hotspots where biomass is commonly used for cooking. Now why is this happening? Because of the easy availability of free biomass and lack of home delivery of LPG refills they further reduce the efficacy of LPG as a reliable and affordable proportions. So to sustain the country's momentum on clean cooking energy access and thereby providing cleaner care for all the authors of the editorial proposes three key steps. We shall see them one by one. The first suggestion is to reintroduce LPG refill subsidies for low income households. See to cover all of their cooking energy demands an ordinary Indian household would have to spend roughly 10% of their monthly income on LPG at current refill pricing. According to a CEW analysis this is only half of the real share of reported cooking energy expenses as of March 2020. Just imagine this is only half of the real share of reported cooking energy expenses. Then how huge will be the next half? Just imagine. So to completely switch to LPG at current pricing over half of all Indian households they will have to at least double their cooking energy cost. The ability of households to pay LPG on a regular basis has been further harmed as a result of loss of income and livelihood caused by the new coronavirus outbreak. So thanks to the new coronavirus outbreak it has reduced the ability of households to pay LPG on a regular basis. So considering all these factors subsidies must be reintroduced in order to support LPG use in many households. Here the authors suggest an effective price of 450 per LPG refill. So if the price is 900 rupees now the authors they suggest an effective price of 450 per LPG refill as a subsidy. See this step could ensure that the average percentage of actual home cooking energy expenditure is comparable to pre-pandemic levels. The government may take this into account when deciding whether or not to introduce the LPG subsidy. Apart from this the author also suggest the government to explore diverse approach to identify beneficiaries. See this may include limiting the subsidy provisions to 7 to 8 LPG refills annually and excluding well to do households using robust indicators. For example, lowering the income based exclusion limit for LPG subsidy to 2,50,000 a year from 10 lakh a year or excluding families owning a non-commercial four wheeler vehicles can significantly reduce the number of eligible beneficiaries. So if identifying beneficiaries is a problem the government should explore diverse approaches to identify beneficiaries. They can limit the subsidy provisions or they can exclude well to the households. This may or this can significantly reduce the number of eligible beneficiaries so that the scheme actually goes to the poor and needy. So the second suggestion. The second suggestion is to ensure that LPG is available at all time for all consumers. See only half of the rural LPG consumers get refills delivered to their homes. While the other half must travel around 5 kilometers one way to get a cylinder. This gap in the delivery of LPG cylinders to those steps can also be found in metropolitan areas notably in slum communities. Now the utilization of biomass in urban slum families is mostly due to this aspect. So the LPG supply chain must be strengthened and a timely service delivery should be enforced. This has to be done especially in states with a large number of Ujwala connection and slum populations. Apart from this the rural distributors they must have to be complemented. The rural distributors they must be complemented with higher incentives for distributing LPG cylinders in the rural areas at same or similar commission. So government must incentivize the rural distributors as well. Next creating a new market for locally available biomass is the third step. See the government needs to pilot initiatives focused on promoting the use of locally available biomass in decentralized processing units that manufacture briquettes and pellets for industrial and commercial establishment. Briquettes are nothing but a block of compressed coal dust or peat used as a fuel and I hope you know what a pellet is. Pellet fuels or biofuels made from compressed organic material or biomass. So government have to pilot initiatives focusing on promoting use of locally available biomass in decentralized processing units which manufacture briquettes and pellets for industrial and commercial establishment. For example the national thermal power corporation recently invited applications to supply biomass pellets to fire their power stations. So likewise the government should also establish pilot initiatives which will create or promote a new market for locally available biomass. Apart from this the government can incentivize entrepreneurs to participate in such activities also. Similarly households can be incentivized to supply locally available biomass including crop stubble or dunk cakes to compressed biogas production plants which are being set up under the sustainable alternative towards affordable transportation scheme. So the households they can be incentivized to supply locally available biomass to these compressed biogas production plants. So such measures they not only enhance local income and livelihood opportunities but also encourage rural families to use LPG on a regular basis. So these are the three important points or the three important suggestions that are given by the authors of this editorial. The first suggestion is to reintroduce LPG refill subsidies. The second suggestion is to ensure that LPG is available at all time for all consumers. And the third suggestion is to create a new market for locally available biomass. See the prime minister introduced the Ujwala 2.0 scheme in August. You remember the goal of this Ujwala 2.0 is to provide 10 million extra free LPG connections to low income homes. So it actually demonstrates the government's commitment to expand access to clean cooking energy. But ensuring the affordability and timely availability of LPG cylinders for refills is very important to hold the moving households away from polluting biomass. And it is also very important for reaping the advantages of the Ujwala scheme's five year commitments. These measures would go on a long way towards enhancing our residents health and well-being also. So this is what the article tries to convey here. And in this discussion we saw about three important suggestions given by the authors of the editorial to increase the LPG connection. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now our next discussion is based on this advertisement about the BIS CAR app and the features of the app. So today let us first see about what is BIS and then we will see some of the features of the app. See first BIS stands for Bureau of Indian Standards. Remember BIS is the National Standard Body of India and it is a statutory body which means this BIS was established under an Act of Parliament. Remember ISI that is the Indian Standards Institution. It is the predecessor of this BIS. So why do we need a standard body for India? BIS was established to ensure that the operations of standardization, labelling and quality certification of goods performed in a coordinated manner. So it was set up for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods. So now what is the purpose of this BIS? See this BIS was established to ensure that the operations of standardization, labelling and quality certification of goods or performed in a coordinated manner or not. So it was set up for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods. See standardization is nothing but the process of creating standards to guide the creation of a good or service. So to put it in simple words the process of developing standards to guide the creation or production of a good or service is known as standardization. See initially BIS was set up by the BIS Act 1986 and then in 2016 a new Bureau of Indian Standard Act 2016 was notified. Just remember this act strengthened the activities of BIS with respect to standardization and certification of goods, articles, processes, systems and services. So note that formulation of Indian standards is one of the core activity of BIS. See the standards it actually covers a wide range of economic sectors and includes important segments of the economy. These standards they not only provide an assurance to the consumers but also help the industry in upgrading the quality of their goods and services. Now who is actually formulating Indian standards? See these Indian standards are developed by specialist technical committee which function under the division councils of BIS. So they only formulate the Indian standards and the standards are also reviewed on a regular basis. So based on the requirement the standards are either reaffirmed or updated or revised or even withdrawn after periodic reviews. So these are some of the important points that you have to note. The standards are subjected to periodic review and after periodic review the standards are affirmed or amended or revised or even withdrawn based on the requirement. Just remember according to the policy of BIS its standard formulation activity has been harmonized or has been aligned with the relevant standards laid out by international entities. So the standards which are formulated by the BIS will always be aligned with the relevant standards laid out by international entities. These entities are International Organization for Standardization that is the ISO and International Electrotechnical Commission that is the IEC. So far more than 19,500 standards have been formulated by BIS but formulating standards will not alone ensure good quality products right. It actually needs to be checked whether such standards are followed in the production or making of goods or articles or during processes, systems and services. So for this purpose BIS has the conformity assessment. So actually BIS operates four schemes under this and these schemes are for product certification, system certification, foreign manufacturers and for compulsory registration. So for example for certifying a product a standard mark is put on the product. The standard mark is popularly known as the ISI mark. Therefore presence of ISI mark on a product indicates its conformity to the relevant Indian standard and this ISI mark is used by the manufacturers on any products or articles which conforms to a standard. The ISI mark is only used by those manufacturers who have obtained license from BIS make a note of this. But note that this certification scheme is made mandatory as well as voluntary for certain products. Remember two 11 products that is 211 products have been made mandatory considering health and safety. Others have been made voluntary so for those 211 products consumers should not buy it if it does not have the ISI mark. For example these foods and related products should have these ISI marks. You can take any packaged drinking water and check whether it has IS14543 marking or not. Similarly there are ISI standards for milk powder, food grade and plastic feeding bottles. You can see here in this image right. So this is what actually BIS does. So BIS is the national standard body of India and it is a statutory body. Its predecessor was the erstwhile Indian standard institution that is the ISI. And the main purpose of BISI is to ensure that the operation of standardization, labelling and quality certifications of goods are performed in a coordinated manner or not. Remember initially BIS was set up by the BIS Act 1986 and then in 2016 a new Bureau of Indian Standards Act 2016 was notified. So we saw that formulation of Indian standards is one of the core activities of BIS and we also saw how these Indian standards are developed. We saw that specialist technical committees which function under the division councils of BIS they actually develop the Indian standards and these standards are also subjected to review. So now moving on see this ISI mark is for products. Similarly we have the hallmark for the articles of the precious metals of gold, silver or platinum. We covered hallmarking on August 21st analysis. I request you to go back and watch the video it will be very helpful for you. So overall these standards, certifications and testing have many benefits. They provide safe reliable quality goods to consumers. They help in minimizing health hazards to consumers. They also promote exports and import subsidies and many other benefits. Next about its composition see BIS is a body corporate that is its general super intense directions and management west with its governing council. The minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution is the ex-officio president of the governing council. It has more than 25 members representing both centre and state governments, members of parliament, industry, scientific and research institutions, consumer organizations and professional bodies. Now let us briefly see about the BIS care app. See it was launched by the BIS in 2020. So it is a mobile app created to protect the interest of consumers. Using this app consumers can check the authenticity of the ISI mark products and hallmarked products. Apart from this the consumers can see information regarding IS standards and many other. The consumers they can also lodge compliance using this app. So this is all you have to know about BIS and BIS care app. So in this discussion we saw about BIS. We saw that it is a national standard body of India and we saw some of the important functions of the BIS. We saw who formulates the BIS and we saw that the standards formulation activity actually aligns or coordinates with the relevant standards laid down by international entities. And apart from that we also saw how BIS help us to check the product is good or not. We saw some of the examples in that and we saw some of the benefits of standardization, certification and testing of products. And finally we saw about the composition of BIS and at the end we saw about BIS care app. So with these learn points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now let us take up this news article for our next discussion. See this article here it talks about a PIL petition. PIL is nothing but a public interest litigation and this petition is actually demanding an independent investigation into the 2012 selection process for assistant public prosecutors that is the APP. So what happened was during the selection process 61 of the 197 candidates they allegedly committed fraud and falsified signatures of some of the trial court judges. So this is what the petition is about and it demanded an independent investigation into this 2012 selection process for assistant public prosecutors that is the APP. So what the Karnataka High Court did was it disposed the PIL by directing Lok Ayukta to look into the issue. Apart from this the High Court also directed Lok Ayukta to complete the disciplinary proceedings within four months. So this is the crux of this news article. With this article as a background let us understand more about Lok Ayukta. So this will be very important for your preliminary preparation. See we know that corruption is the root cause of administrative problems in India right. So though there are many anti-corruption agencies in India most of these anti-corruption agencies are not truly independent. Many of these agencies are only advisory bodies with no effective power to deal with this evil of corruption and their advisers is rarely followed. So to address this issue the Lok Pal and Lok Ayukta Act 2013 was enacted and it mandated for the establishment of Lok Pal at the union level and Lok Ayukta at the state level. So both the Lok Pal and Lok Ayukta are statutory bodies and these do not have any constitutional status. As they are created by your law they are statutory body and they don't have any constitutional status. See these institutions they perform the function and role of an ombudsman. For those who are not aware ombudsman he is an official appointed to investigate individuals' complains against a company or organization especially against a public authority. So these institutions they actually perform the functions and role of an ombudsman and they inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public bodies or organizations. So to put it in simple words the Lok Ayukta it is an anti-corruption authority constituted at the state level. See it investigates allegations of corruption and moral administration against public servants at state level and is also tasked with speedy redressal of public grievance. So these are some of the points that you have to make a note of. Lok Ayukta it was established under the Lok Pal and Lok Ayukta Act 2013 so it is a statutory body and it does not have any constitutional status. And these institutions they perform the functions and roles of an ombudsman that is they inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public bodies or organizations. Apart from investigating allegations of corruption and moral practice against public servants at state level they are also tasked with speedy redressal of public grievance. So now let us have an insight about Lok Ayukta. See the origin of Lok Ayukta can be traced to the ombudsmen in Scandinavian countries. The administrative reform commission that is 1966 to 70 had recommended the creation of the Lok Pal at the center and Lok Ayukta in the state level. And the Lok Ayukta is created as a statutory authority with a fixed tenure so that it can discharge its function independently and impartially. The person appointed is usually a former High Court Chief Justice or former Supreme Court judge. So the public can directly approach the Lok Ayukta with complains of corruption, nepotism or any other form of moral practices against any government official. Just remember the power varies in different states for example Karnataka Lok Ayukta it includes in its ambit CM that is the Chief Minister, Ministers and ministers of state legislature all officers of state government, chairmen, vice chairmen of local authorities, statutory bodies or corporates established by or under any law of state legislature including cooperative societies, persons in the service of local authorities, corporations owned or controlled by the state government. So all of them come under the ambit of Lok Ayukta in Karnataka and the power actually varies in different states. This is what you have to note here there might be exclusive statements in the problems remembering these facts will help you in eliminating such options. So in this discussion we saw about the Lok Ayukta, we saw about its origin, we saw about the functions of the Lok Ayukta and we also saw who can be appointed as a ombudsman. With this we came to the end of the news article discussion now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice questions. Now look at this first question this question is about BIS with reference to Bureau of India standards BIS consider the following statements. First statement it is a statutory body second statement its standard mark is mandatory for milk powder and packed drinking water. Third statement it is the only body in India to develop standards which of the statement given above is or incorrect. You have to find the incorrect statement option A 1 only option B 3 only option C 2 and 3 only and option D 1 and 2 only. See statement 1 is correct because it is established under BIS Act 2016 so it is a statutory body. Now coming to the second statement the second statement is also correct because these are some of the products or the food products where standard marks is main mandatory by government. Moving to the third statement see this is a exclusive statement it mentions that BIS is the only body in India to develop standards. Look at the word only so you have to check twice before answering this question. See the third statement is actually incorrect because there are a few other dedicated standard bodies in India that also develop standards in their specific domains such as telecom engineering centre in the telecoms sector, Indian road congress IRC in the areas of roads and bridges, directorate of standardisation under the ministry of defence standards, research design and standards organisation or DSO for standardisation of railway equipments and applications. Apart from this there are a few other ministries or departments and regulators who also develop standards for their respective statutory or regulatory provisions or purposes. These include Food Safety and Standards Authority of India FSSAI for standards on food safety, Central Pollution Control Board CPCB for standards on emission or discharge of environmental pollution, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation CDSCO the standards for drugs and medical devices etc. So the correct answer here is option B3 only because the third statement is alone incorrect and the other two statements are correct. Now look at the second question this question is about Lok Ayukta with reference to Lok Ayukta consider the following statements. Statement 1 Lok Ayukta is constituted at the union level and Lok Pal is constituted at the state level. And second statement Lok Ayukta is a constitutional body which of the statements given above is or or correct. Option A1 only, option B2 only, option C both 1 and 2 and option D neither 1 nor 2. See the correct answer here is option D neither 1 nor 2. Now look at this first statement this statement is incorrect because it is given in the opposite manner. Lok Pal is only constituted at the union level and Lok Ayukta is constituted at the state level under the Lok Pal and Lok Ayukta Act 2013. Now look at the second statement the second statement is also incorrect because both Lok Pal and Lok Ayukta are statutory bodies. They are established under the Lok Pal and Lok Ayukta Act 2013 we saw that in the discussion. And if a particular body or commission is mentioned in the constitution then only it will be called as a constitutional body. So the correct answer for this question is option D neither 1 nor 2. The main questions are displayed here please go through it write an answer and post it in the comment section. So with this we came to the end of the news article discussion. If you like the video, like, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankaray's Academy YouTube channel. Thank you.