Well, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you to thumbs up from from your Laura. Can you hear me? Okay. Awesome. Well, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you. Thank you all for taking the time to come together here today. And a special thanks to Laura, Dean and Gary, really for all you do to make these lectures a reality.  On behalf of Secretary Wraithway and really was an extraordinary journey and learning experience and one that I look forward to sharing with my colleagues when when we all get back together on campus. But today in this virtual environment, I'll highlight key aspects of the strategy, the thinking behind it, and some ways that we can implement it ways that we're starting to implement it today. It really is great to see so many students friends colleagues here at the at the Naval War College, an institution whose research and war gaming has been instrumental in shaping national security decisions for more than a century. And the Navy and the nation will need your expertise more than ever as we implement this strategy in the decades ahead. Again, this is a Department of the Navy Arctic Strategy, but what it really is, ladies and gentlemen, this is an American strategy. It's also a strategy for like-minded nations who want to shape a more just, peaceful and prosperous Arctic region. So it belongs to us it belongs to all of us. And as we look over the horizon, along and beyond our northern shores we must set our sights on the Arctic nation we can be and we must be. So there's a lot of talent that comes comes to the college here. Most students and faculty alike graduates like the 77 Secretary of the Navy, Ken and Jay Braithwaite who is education here and whose past experiences flying pH at ADAC Alaska and serving as US Ambassador to Norway drove him to spearhead the strategy. So when we began developing the strategy naturally turned to the writings of past warrior scholars, particularly the most influential strategist to walk the halls of this college offered there Mahan, who described control over sea lines of communication as the preeminence of sea power. And as someone who studied, you know, he was someone who studied naval strategy and tactics in great depth. He shared his views widely and showed just how influential our ideas can be in shaping the course of history. So how will history remember us surely we can and we must agree and disagree on issues. But as Mahan reminds us, we should never find ourselves flat footed intellectually. And by many leaders that every level across the Department of the Navy the joint force the interagency, as well as key allies and partners were involved in the development of this strategy. We took the time to listen and learn from one another, sometimes in person but mostly virtually. And three things dominated these discussions. The Department of the Navy must enhance our leadership. We must strengthen cooperative partnerships and building more capable Arctic force for the Arctic region. And these themes led to a comprehensive Arctic strategy designed to meet the expectations and needs of the American people. And those are allies and partners over the next two decades. And we aimed we sought to craft a strategy that was was balanced that was forward leaning and enduring. Is it perfect. I'm pretty confident in five 1020 years time, we'll look back and say no no no it was not. But as Secretary Mattis noted, you know we don't look for perfection in our young people, we look for excellence. So that's why the background we have here today at the college really makes us a fitting place to not only introduce but to discuss the strategy because we owe it to the military and civilian leaders the folks who are educated being educated here at the college. The time to think about what the strategy means to them, to all of you. And as Secretary Brathway noted, this is a historical first, it's the first Navy Marine Corps Arctic strategy in the department's long history, a unified vision for the region, a blue green strategy for blue Arctic. And this strategic blueprint is designed to protect America's vital national interest in the Arctic region stretching from Maine in the North Atlantic across our northern constellation of allies, partners and neighbors to the North Pacific and Alaska. It was framed by our national strategy for the Arctic region, which was developed in 2014, our recent national defense strategy and the newly released tri service maritime strategy advantage at sea. Our actions in this decade will shape the maritime balance of power for the rest of the century. Those are the words uttered in the newly released tri service maritime strategy advantage at sea. We carry this recognition and this great responsibility through the Navy Marine Corps team and through this strategic blueprint for blue Arctic. Now a blue Arctic provides the general idea that the Arctic is gradually turning from white to blue, and that what we mean by that is you know warming temperatures and reduced ice coverage is making Arctic waters more accessible and more navigable which enables nations and their communities to access new markets, new resources and sea routes. And this strategic blueprint for the Arctic is really a statement of security and defense cooperation in a region that critically needs it. It's also an assertion of our duty and our determination to ensure the Arctic remains stable, free of conflict and malign influence. In some ways the strategy brings back an understanding of some of the ideals voiced in the 2007 cooperative strategy for 21st century see power, which impose the belief, the American believe that preventing wars is just as important as winning them. And adapting to today's realities, this strategy expands our competitive space along America's northern shores. It prioritizes conflict conflict prevention and security cooperation and provides clear direction to the department on ways that our forces can enhance our presence, our partnerships and our capabilities, so that we can compete strategically and blue Arctic. While we adapt, we also watch China and Russia would redefine the international rules based order. Competing views of how to control increasingly accessible marine resources and sea routes, unintended military accidents and conflict and confrontation, and spillover of major power competition. That threatens US interest. What we found also that it that these things also threaten the interests of our allies and partners and all our northern neighbors, including Russia. And right now, we're watching Russia assert territorial dominance along the northern Syria, as it secures its economic interest, expands its military presence, and invests in new offensive and defensive capabilities, specific to our harsh harsh art of climate. Russia has every right to build the capabilities they need to defend their northern shores but the escalatory and non transparent nature of its military activity and unlawful regulation of maritime traffic along the northern sea route is what undermines global interest, promotes instability and ultimately degrade security in the region. At the same time we're also watching China claim status as a near Arctic state, trying to normalize its presence in the region through a polar Silk Road, using the same course of taxes, tactics that have defined the Belt and Road Initiative. We're also investing in shipbuilding polar ice capable vessels, LNG tankers nuclear powered ice breakers and ports port infrastructure to increase and improve its access in the Arctic. China's investments, their global their global fishing fleet, scientific, economic and academic linkages to people and nations in the Arctic, as well as joint ventures with Russia are likely to continue to rise in the years ahead. And especially relevant for this audience. We can expect to see increased Chinese naval deployments on below and above Arctic waters. Now these challenges of course are compounded by increasing risk of environmental degradation and disasters accidents at sea and the displacement of people and wildlife. New commercial technologies will also increase access and change the character of competition in the Arctic. Cyber attacks on Arctic industries, especially the research and development institutions that underpin them, as well as the laying of undersea cables are all on the rise to overcome these challenges and to restore America's Arctic identity to secure America's future in the Arctic requires much more than words, much more than the strategy requires the most elusive thing in a strategy and that unity. The unity to preserve freedoms we hold dear strategic access and freedom of the seas, our alliances and partnerships and defending the homeland for attack. So those are the strategic objectives that that we're looking at here. When with unity America's sea services can keep the peace and every region no matter the season we can ensure our diplomats negotiate from a position of strength. We can give our alliances confidence that we've got their back when they need it most confidence that it only comes through assurance that we will win if deterrence fails something I've learned firsthand and the degree war game series that we host here at the college. You know, speaking of unity can can sound a little trivial and foreign to some these days however, if you look back on history through World Wars a cold war even through today. Peace and stability have have endured and American presence and partnerships throughout the region is a big reason why in 1867. In the Civil War, the top left of your screen their USS Jamestown maintain careful watch as the US flag was raised over Alaska. The Navy Department assumed administration of our new Alaska territory in 1879. Stationing the Jamestown in Sitka Alaska to preserve order and prevent conflict. We continue to do just that over the course of a century and as early as 1880, Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka discussed the challenges of ice navigation in the pages of proceedings. Then Commander Robert Perry a civil engineer court officer he led Arctic expeditions and was credited with being the first alongside Matthew Henson and Inuit guides to reach the North Pole in 1909. Commander Robert and former US sailor Floyd Bennett set out to Svalbard in 1926 on their quest to be the first aviators to reach the North Pole. The nuclear powered submarine the USS Nautilus completed its record voyage to the North Pole in 1958 with American naval innovation, overcoming the ice cat barrier. A year later, when the US escape became the first submarine surface at the North Pole. Our rings there at the top bottom left began rotational service training in Norway in the 1950s honing their ability to fight in these harsh art climate. And during the Cold War it was the strength of six fleet real and perceived that prevented the Soviet Union from pushing too far preventing crisis from becoming conflict. And though our naval forces have significant expertise operating in the region, our submarines are without equal. The Arctic maritime domain is changing, especially the surface domain, and we must change with it. The dangers we face today may look a little different. But they're no less dangerous and still require our presence our partnerships and preparedness to keep them in check. The fact remains that the most effective way to preserve pieces through strength strength through our partnerships and through our presence. And based on this premise the strategic blueprints three lines of effort aim to restore our comparative and naval advantage in the art. We will enhance our presence we will strengthen our alliances and build new partnerships. And at the same time we're going to build a more capable Arctic force and by doing this will will keep our competitors at bay, prevent them from slowly gaining access and influence through malign activities and aggression. And doing so I will also gain the trust of the American people and Congress, so that we spend our defense dollars well. So let me highlight each line of effort here, and I'll start with capabilities because everything we do in the department of the Navy must contribute to ensuring that the United States maintains the most formidable naval force in the world. The pace and scope of our competitors in the Arctic requires our CVC services to adapt and build a more capable force. And so if we're going to preserve peace if we're going to gain and maintain our advantage at sea particularly in the Arctic stretching from Alaska to Maine. Then we're going to have to find new ways to integrate and apply capabilities, the ones that we have today. And we also have to invest in new capabilities that may not be fully realized and integrated into the force for some years to come. And in all honesty, you know following the Cold War Navy Marine Corps capabilities and our operational expertise diminished our tensions turned elsewhere. Surely, we have increased our capabilities and our operational readiness in recent years especially surface operations during summer months. Credible presence in the Arctic is required in every domain and in every season across the full range of military operations. So this means that the size and composition of our force matters. It also means that as the Arctic becomes more blue, more navigable, more accessible as a demand for our forces and our security and our presence increases, the size and composition of our naval force will have to change. So we will modernize key capabilities recognizing that we can't deter and project power in a blue Arctic in 510 20 years time, and in today with yesterday's mindset and yesterday's capabilities. So we'll need a muster the courage to think and act anew, as we make targeted investments in infrastructure communications, science and technology and crude and uncrewed platforms. And that our sailors and marines have what they need to succeed in cold weather and ice diminished waters. And as we modernize our force especially our surface ships we must recognize to ensure that our Arctic operations and modernization plans are updated and that our defense industrial base can build and sustain our Arctic forces. So in terms of infrastructure, you know, we must continue to maintain our operational advantage in a blue Arctic which means that we'll have to continue looking for ways to really do three things reduce transit times, preserve mobility and meet the logistical demands of naval forces operating across the region. To learn about ports or airfields, our allies and partners play a critical role, and especially in helping us in the US Navy and Marine Corps gain and maintain access in the region, Norway Denmark and Iceland just to name a few. Our joint force, our allies and partners, they all have the same kinds of communication challenges as us as well, especially above 66 degrees north. So that's why the Department of the Navy will enhance collaboration to build resilient, survivable and interoperable networks for our tactical naval forces, our operations centers and strategic plan. The Navy Marine Corps team will also apply and refine existing concepts such as Loki DMO, EABO, but at the same time, we will carve out intellectual capacity to explore new innovative ideas to organize and apply naval forces in the Arctic. And our people, above all are our greatest strength, which is why the department will increase efforts in research development training and education for the Arctic institutions like the Naval War College and naval postgraduate school, the Naval Academy and the newly created Navy Community College will be critical in helping our sailors and Marines and our civilians deep in their knowledge of Arctic strategies and tactics. You know, one of the very first things that our team did on this journey was, was asked every organization across the department, every single one, the extent to which they had they did two things one, what Arctic related activities they conducted into opportunities for improvement opportunities to grow and progress in terms of both our force readiness and and our influence. So we conducted a very high level assessment of where we're strong where we're weak where we might succeed where we may not needless to say there are so many extraordinary efforts taking place already across the Navy Marine Corps, especially within our education and training commands. Yet despite this progress, we can do a better job integrating our efforts. Injecting Arctic curricula and emerging naval concepts into training pipelines is a pretty good place to start. I was also struck by how much we do in areas of research and development, and in the areas of science and technology, especially in cold weather capable designs and ship designs of forecasting models sensors high latitude communications and navigation systems just to name a few. We'll continue to build on these efforts and continue implementing efforts like the International Cooperative Engagement Program for polar research, our naval research laboratories, our warfare centers and academic institutions will play a big part in helping leaders at every level, level both national and naval, a better understand and predict the changing physical environment from sea floor to space today and for decades. And throughout the many feedback reviews that we received from the AO level action officer level through the four star level joint naval leaders recognize that we must carefully balance the capability requirements of today with those of tomorrow. The capabilities we need in the Arctic with those that we need around the world. It's my belief that emerging requirements in a blue artist shouldn't take away from our responsibilities and other places around the world right up blue Arctic only adds to our global responsibilities. So together as one Navy Marine Corps team will take a targeted disciplined and coordinated approach to balancing our personnel, our platforms and our posture and the Arctic. And for example, here's, here's how we begun to tackle that today. And some new news at the direction of Secretary break weight last week one of the last things he did was sign out a memo establishing or creating an Arctic Task Force to implement this strategy, the Department of the Navy Arctic Task Force. So led by the Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy for policy. This task force would coordinate and develop and implement plans for the strategy and provide regular updates to an executive committee made up of the Undersecretary of the Navy, Vice Chief of Naval Operations and the Navy Marine Corps, they in turn would provide updates periodically to sec nav CNO and CMC and really a key effort in this task force will be working closer with OSD the Office of Secretary of Defense, the joint staff and combat commanders to ensure that we identify and meet our naval requirements and even Marine Corps requirements as part of our defense planning scenarios, our campaign plans and deployment models. So, how do we field a modern conventional force that can decisively prevent and respond to conflict in a blue order. Now surely it's, it's different and it's expensive but, and I think we recognize that but it's far less expensive than trying to play catch up, like we are in today in the South China Sea, we're God forbid fighting a war with the Undersecretary who thought that we were weak and that they could take advantage of us in the Arctic, which brings us to our second line of effort. The first in our strategy, and that's enhancing our presence, enhancing our naval forces across the region. We're going to do this in a few ways by posturing our forces by increasing exercises and operations, improving fleet synchronization and integrating Navy Marine Corps and Coast Guard capabilities in ways that we don't today. In the decades ahead will continue to provide the right levels of presence overseas and continue to assess our force posture at home, particularly in Alaska. When we do this through a few ways it's really a combination of permanently stationed forces. So looking across both home and abroad where we permanently need to posture our forces as the operational requirements dictate rotational forces temporary forces, preposition equipment and stocks like we see Norway and basing infrastructure across the region. But taking together these these options provide the department options and maximum flexibility to adapt as operational requirements dictate regular and rigorous assessment of our defense posture is required. And this institution just like it has across history will be critical to helping the department set the theater. So today we have more sailors and Marines deployed underway at any point than the last seven years in a blue art at that will only increase those many hours long hours participating in operations and exercises which may seem trivial at the deck plate level at the time. And I know they challenge our folks and in our families, especially recently but, but they are critical to carving out persistent access in peace, especially in the Arctic. So that's why we've seen we've increased our article exercises and operations these past few years will continue to increase the size and frequency of deployments moving forward operation northern edge saw 10,000 personnel from the USS theater. Roosevelt carrier strike group operate alongside our joint forces to enhance our interoperability improve capabilities above the Arctic Circle. Try to juncture mark the largest post Cold War exercise in the Arctic bringing together 50,000 personnel 65 ships and 250 aircraft for a collective defense exercise in Norway and its surrounding waters. Dynamic goose brought together NATO surface vessels ships submarines and maritime patrol aircraft for complex ASW warfare training off the coast of Iceland. And we've continued ice x, the longest running Arctic exercise honing our undersea capabilities beneath the Arctic ice. Our challenge today and every day moving forward though is applying able power in a way that protects vital national interests and preserves regional security, but doing that without undermining trust and triggering conflict. So to enhance synergies and avoid duplication of effort fleet commanders particularly looking at second third and six will improve their command relationships their coordination and connectivity and such synergies also apply to our allies and partners as well. So I believe the department should consider is my belief my opinion that the department should consider a few new ideas. The first being the creation of an Arctic focus surface quadrant, potentially located with the Marine headquarters of an Arctic ally or Coast Guard partners. We should also consider establishing a an Arctic standing maritime force to enhance maritime security along our allies and partners. The increasingly blue Arctic over a longer period of time, the Navy should take a hard look at creating a new fleet commander, one who has the sole responsibility of the region from Alaska to main. So the departments enhance presence that we have have codified here in the strategy is really built, partly on the idea that increasing the number of interactions between able forces during peacetime will help ensure that we avoid conflict. These interactions, be they through planned exercises port visits or unplanned interactions at sea allow naval forces, both those who are from the Arctic and outside the Arctic, really to demonstrate acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and where there may be some opportunities to unite our forces around a common purpose, which brings us to our last and final line of effort. We will strengthen alliances and partnerships while building new partnerships, especially with Arctic and non Arctic nations. Not to meet yesterday's challenges but today's and tomorrow's challenges, where we lead by the power of our example, an example set by our presence and our partnerships. We face daunting challenges whether we're deterring competitors or responding to disasters that the Navy Marine Corps team is stronger when we operate jointly and together with allies and partners. And when we pull resources and share responsibility of our common defense our individual security burdens become lighter when our naval forces work together our people in our nations are safer and more secure. Together alongside our allies and partners will do three big things will enhance awareness will expand collaborative planning and mechanisms and improve interoperability. We will seek new and innovative approaches to connect people and information in ways that don't exist today, so that we can avoid tactical and strategic surprise. As we look toward expanding consultative mechanisms and collaborative planning. I believe we should look and think hard at establishing new forms, like the Arctic Ocean Naval Symposium and expanding the incidents at sea agreement. Now these aren't my ideas these are ideas forged by Arctic sailors and scholars of this college is Newport Arctic scholars initiative. In the last few years, a great deal of attention has been placed on great power competition and for good reason, but an opening Arctic blue Arctic provides much more than that. It provides the United States in Russia, a rare opportunity to redefine its relationship and work together on areas of mutual interest and concern. Achieving us national security interest in the Arctic region requires unity, preserving peace in the Arctic requires unity. We can see ourselves not solely as competitors or adversaries but as northern neighbors. We can meet this moment as one department. We can meet this moment as one nation, and we can meet this moment as one Arctic. And if we do that we, we won't fail. We will succeed in a blue Arctic. And that will be the strategy we implement. And that's an obligation we have as leaders, as thought leaders, as policymakers, as strategists and operators. And I believe that this strategy led resourced in partnered appropriately will ensure that we live up to our collective responsibility to pass along a blue Arctic, better than we found it. Surely a great responsibility for the many who took part in developing the strategy, but in the months and years ahead, it's an even greater responsibility to intellectually defend it. And so with that, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for your time. And I look forward to hearing what's on your mind.


Hello and welcome to the CMC Markets Monday market update webinar with myself David Madden market analyst here at CMC Markets Today's date is Monday the 19th of March 2018 and the time has just gone at 12 15 GMT quarter past 12 p.m. UK time now what I'll be doing as always with our With our webinar. I'll leave the risk warning slides up on the screen here in front of you for you guys to have a read through It's very straightforward it essentially states anything that I cover in the web and sent in the webinar today Is entirely my own thoughts views and opinions and comments and they should not be taken as explicit trading or investment advice This is something that is quite standard practice in our webinars And also the videos that we produce and also keep our compliance department very happy While you're having a read of that. I'll say I'll talk about What are the main macroeconomic news stories of the of the past few days? one of the big ones is the is that was it's a pretty much a breaking story right now In relation to Brexit It would appear that a an agreement about the transition deal that the UK is going to have after it leaves Leaves the European Union in 2019 a transition period will run up to the end of 2020 So that'll give that will extend the time period For the UK to potentially look to have a as the name is set a transition deal You can smooth over the process of leaving the European Union and any things that need to be negotiated and hammered out Will effectively be allowed A extra time to actually to work on so we've seen a push higher in the pound on the back of that Cable has jumped quite a bit nearly up nine tenths of 1% today On top of that, it's actually Also, we've seen a quite a sizable sell-off in euro sterning. I will be covering those currency pairs in a bit Talk about what's going on in the equity markets Essentially uncertainty surrounding the potential trade war It's been it's no secret that Donald Trump isn't too happy with trading relationship between the United States and America and China at the moment because it's too much an imbalance which is favorable to the Chinese side So Mr. Trump is potentially talking about imposing You know between say 30 and 60 billion imposing tariffs on between say 30 and 60 billion dollars of Chinese imports and that is what that is was weighing on the markets granted. Nothing has really been further Announced in relation to this but nonetheless equity markets are still nervous about it What we're gonna do as always with the webinar a quick run through with the main topics of the week if you go to our website See markets.com forward slash Ian hyphen GB news and analysis You'll see that some of the updates that we do throughout the day get updated The update they made morning update I did show you have 10 o'clock is listed here and my colleague Michael's early morning update Which is uploaded every single day Around 5 a.m. Or 6 6 a.m. Is uploaded here We'll have a quick look at the week ahead and this gets posted to this portion of the website every Friday afternoon So the quick look at the major Economic corporate events of the week. So on Tuesday tomorrow, we have third quarter results from FedEx tomorrow on Wednesday We have UK inflation and wage data On Wednesday, we also have full year figures from Kingfisher. On Thursday. We have the French and German PMI here in my reports coming out on Thursday We also have an update from Ted Baker the clothing crowd and on Thursday We also have the IPO from Dropbox and I see but at least big one watch out for Friday. It will be next full year results So with that in mind the major Corporate and economic events that we focus on let's take a look now. What's going on in the major markets? Just a one moment, please right So go through the process here. What we're looking at is essentially What we're looking at here is a We go to the major markets itself and it take a look at what was going on on the On the the major markets I'll go through the indices the major indices and go to a couple of commodities and I go to the major currency pairs And we'll go from there So taking a look here at the 100 what we can see here is that the footsie and a 30 It's the correction is looking quite a bit shaky and especially given the fact that the British pound is doing really well today So we're seeing is actually we are seeing a Increased sell-off because of the valley in the British pound the inverse inverse relationship between strong pound and the 100 is holding up So what you can see here is that we had the major sell-off In each annually February the market pushed higher here. It bounced Corrected itself here as you can see here. We pushed higher here, but we didn't take off the most recent high We didn't take off the late February high. So we've already created a Lower high and we're not pushing lower again So if you take off this area here, which is in around the 7,060 region if you take off this area here That'll be the creation of a lower low as well And we could be looking heading back down towards 7,000 or perhaps even as low as 6,919 which would be this area here and if you go through that area, we could be looking heading back down towards 6,800 so Given the relatively weak bounce back that we've had here It didn't the push higher here failed to take off the late February high I suspect we could be looking at a scenario where we take off this the early March low and we could be looking heading back down towards the February low So keeping an eye on the German market now what's going on over in Germany? It's a similar situation on the back But not not not as bad as you can see here after the major sell-off market push higher Bounce the bounding is managed to almost completely undo the correction that I had and managed to push higher here But yet again, we do appear to be in a bit of a limbo land why we remain south of this area here 12,600 it's likely then the outlook will remain negative a break north of 12,600 could then potentially put say the 12,741 price on the current which is in around the two-day moving average And if you go north of that you could be looking heading back up towards 12,911 Which would be the 100-day moving average, but like I said, why we remain south of 12,600 this area here It's the outlook could remain negative and we could really be heading back down towards the well the recent lows of 11,711,692 in this area here. I'll turn our attention out what's going on over in the US The US markets are sort of a sort of it appeared that the American markets have somewhat Slightly stalled in their recovery. So we've had the major sell-off We've had pulled back most of the ground that we've lost drifted lower again on the correction Or we are pushing higher here. So we do appear to be range bound for the time being we do appear to be getting support from the 24,710 level, which is the 100-day moving average here Notice how on a couple of occasions recently it did manage to act as support So it's likely that level could act as support again to the upside We are we could be looking at getting some resistance from the fifth day moving average at 25,321 notice how The fifth day moving average did manage. Well, even though it traded north of it on a couple of occasions It's the did not manage to hold above that level. So keep an eye on that area. Should we take out the recent high here? The the march high of 25 of 25,507 Then we could be looking at heading back up towards the February high of 25,821 and then of course if you go north of that, we could be heading back up towards 26,000 if if this Market does manage to drop back below the moving average the area to keep an eye up for would be the March low of 24,213 And of course if you go below that we have created a lot We've already created a lower high So you could be looking at people below this we will be creating a lower low And if you go south of there, you could be looking heading back down towards the 23,830 area this price is the most recent the most recent Very pretty low which coincides with the eternity moving average at 23,363 So the US markets are in clearly a bit better shape than those of the of in Europe. So what we're looking at here on the On the S&P 500 as you can see it's a similar situation, but the S&P is in a bit better shape than the Dow Jones We have the major sell-off the bounce back the correct the Bit of a pullback when the point when the market push higher here at March knows how the high of March managed to take out high or favorite high of February So it suggests that we're continued in the we're still in recovery mode But that so the area to keep an eye up for it at the upside will of course be the psychology important 2800 and if you go north of that, it could be looking heading back up towards this price here here of 2800 and 3800 of course if you go north of that, we'll be looking to retest the all-time highs 2877 Moves at the downside we've already managed to kind of slip back below trade or trade below at least the fifth a day moving average at 2749 if you continue to drift lower from here, we may find some support in around the 2700 area But while we remain north of 2700 the outlook is likely to remain positive as we created as the because that the high here has High here to stick to check out the at the February high But if you do manage to drop below the the March low of 2647 that could be a sign that we are heading back down towards the 2600 area or perhaps even down as the low as the two hundred a moving average at 2585 And if you go south of there, we could be looking at testing at the February low of 2532 But it will say as this the market of superiority coming off here is drifting lower I was seen a fairly steady decline in the positive momentum So we may see a bit of a retesting of 2700 but even if you do get down to 2700 We've already had a higher high here It could be a case of a higher low and then potentially looking to head back up towards 2800 from there Taking a look now what's going on in the gold market as always what I'll do is we've covered some major indices I'll go through some major commodities. I'll go through some major currency pairs But if there are any markets, you would like me to cover feel free to type in the chat box And I'll happily take a look at them So you can see here the price action of gold Since since late January has been Broadly speaking to the downside hasn't been a perfect example of a downward trend, but broadly speaking it is there So after after hitting a multi a multi month high here in January market drifted lower Pushed higher here the high of February failed to take off high of of January Of course the low in well end of the February March managed to take off the low of Managed to take off the low of March February so we kind of we already have a We have a lower low lower high another lower low a potentially this is a lower high as well So if you could be looking heading back down towards the 1300 level and we go south south of 1300 we could be looking heading back down towards 1290 which would be the two or day moving average bearing a mind today's Monday on Wednesday Wednesday, we have the update from the Fed reserve. It is quite likely that we're going to have a Interest rate rise of zero point two five percent from the US central bank In the near in the near term So keep so keep an eye out for that. Obviously there's a interest relationship between the two markets So keep keep an eye out for that but at the time being We are we are seeing a broad kind of negative move in the price of gold So if you do get a rally from gold from here work We look to find some potential resistance possibly from the fifth of the moving average at 30 30 notice How this is a couple of occasions here the market got us drifted up towards that level But didn't quite get there it acted as resistance a couple of occasions here and even when it did manage You could have firmly break through it was quickly back below it and the couple of occasions recently were failed to actually get north of it Beyond that we were looking towards 1340 and of course if we go by north of 1340 We could be looking at testing the recent the recent the February high of 1661 So looking here. I'll take a look on the on the daily chart for a for brain crude oil See the big picture is so basically essentially for the last for the last nine months We have been in a broadly speaking positive trend for the oil market even though it has given us some ground recently So since June of 2017 a classic example of higher highs and higher lows all the way along After hitting a multi-year high in January, we had a fairly sizable pullback a fairly sizable Correction in the oil market, but it has managed to be broadly speaking push higher from here So there were some the worst unfair is wondering is it is it going to be a case of the market turning over on itself? Or is it simply is this a case of we've had a great run for six months seven months the markets taking a better profit a potential you look into could have Fit back in to the wider upward trend. So we've had the correction here the markets pushed higher Drifted lower here again or no appeared to be pushing higher here again So while we remain off the at the March lows of 63 32 the outlook For for brain crude could be positive The area to keep an eye up forward to the upside will of course be the latest February high of 67 6793 and if you take off that area you could really be heading back up towards 70 And we get towards $70 a barrel We could be heading at the at the the recent 2018 high of This vision 28 high of 7138 But if you do manage to take off this level here We could be looking at heading back towards February loads of 62 And if you go south of 62 that would then be a lower low And that could be looking heading back down towards 60 dollars a barrel or perhaps even low as 59 59 51 This area here. So keep an eye out for that. Why we remain off the the March lows and the February lows It's likely that the at that the at the wider positive trend is going to be still in place It's a similar looking chart on WTI, but obviously the levels are different BP chairs. Yes, I will I will I'll cover the old offer. I finished this piece here on WTI I'll have a look at the all markers. I love the look of BP shares It all kind of ties in nicely together Semester nation solid upward trend for seven months. The markets come up Come off in February, but a profit taken for pushing higher here The market has been in a bit of a better range bound recently But overall the positive trend is still intact. So the market has drifted lower here while we remain north of the City the 60 dollar region, which should be in around the March load It's likely that the overall arching positive trend will continue and we push on higher from here It could be the first area to keep an eye for will be the tourney moving average at 62 77 and if you go north of that area to keep an eye out for then will of course be the late February high of 64 30 and if you go north of that if we're looking heading it back towards the 66 dollars a per barrel if you take out six and sixty dollars a barrel keep an eye out for the late for the mid February lows of the in 50 50 a dollars and 10 cents But if this is going to be a key area to watch out for we go south of 50 a 10 We could be looking at heading back up towards 56 or perhaps even low as down as 55 72 so the BP shares I'll take to take a look at the No wider chart just get a better view what's going on big picture So what we've seen out of BP the last couple of years broadly speaking the 30 positive trend positive upper trend since Since February 2016 to two for two years. We've brought it to the market move higher granted. We're fully aware we have seen the market Come off recently, but the kind of wider trend is still looking pretty positive. What's it? But what strikes me very much is very what I think is very striking is the two and a week moving average Which is in around this step this red line here? 44 pounds and 37 notice how quite a few occasions it did manage to act as support And actually that's kind of both bit of support and resistance in 2016 So that the 200 week moving average most have a lot of form as acting as support Throughout 2017 so keep a laugh if you do manage to be drifting lower. We could be looking at retesting The 200 week moving average But as I said it has acted as support so it may act as support again in the future So what's slightly concerning is the fact that after the market once again all hit his multi-year a multi-year high in January of this year as I saw a spike in BP shares the market has come off quite substantially since then we're actually now back below the 200 day moving average, which Does give me a bit of it does give me a bit of is a bit of concern If you manage to kind of remain while you remain south of the 200 day moving average, which comes into play at 479 It's likely the mark has gone drift lower I as I said if it does just lower it could be drifting heading back down towards the two and a week moving average at four thirty eight So keep an eye on the day So it could be heading back tension up not towards four thirty eight with the 200 week moving average comes into play If we do manage to retake the 200 day moving average the first area You should keep ending up over the kind of 490 area here to the fifth of the moving average Because notice how there's a couple of occasions that acted as support here and support here So it does have a bit of form is acting as both of a support and resistance in the last few months, so it's likely that that could be Influential level going forward Of course, if you go beyond 490 Psychological five pounds a share will then be a nerd keep an eye off or and if you go north of five pounds a share You could be looking at heading towards the the late January high of the good a 420 region And then if you go beyond that you've been looking at it towards the 2018 high of five pounds 36 I'll take a look now at a few currency pairs. I hope that was okay for you Thomas It's been a fairly quiet diet in terms of corporate economic announcements We've had some Italian industrial production numbers caught the morning time. They were okay. They were There was it was probably at a decent truly on a yearly basis of 4% that compared with the previous previous years ago report of 4.9% so Solid growth, but it's cooling which is about a decent summation of what we thought we've seen out of the eurozone recently You're very welcome Thomas. No problem So the big picture is that the Euro dollar has been in a fairly decent upward trend for some time now It had a bit of a correction is that September to November from November onwards It's still in a fairly solid up our trend to be honest. It's been in a fairly quiet It's in a fairly On interesting currency pair recently while we're gonna sell but while we're above kind of the 122 region or more importantly They did the the March low of 121 54 while we're north of that It's likely the outlook is gonna remain positive And there is to keep an eye out for to the upside will of course be the March high of 124 49 because it's sort of We it's difficult it's struggling to get north of 124 and if you do get north 124 You got to keep an eye out for 124 49 and if you go beyond that it could be like me I'm back up towards 125 and then 126 and 127 would be on potential in the currents I break south of the of the of the March low could present us back down towards 121 92 And then below that again down towards the the 120 area, but you know by and large It's in a fairly I said a fairly positive upward trend still Coming out of the pound versus the US dollar as I said at the top of the webinar It's at a decent move today given the news that the UK and the European Union have agreed on the transition period So a wider view for the last year has been very positive for the pound versus the US dollar If you draw a law between the lows of last March with the lows of August ground it and always traded through it a few occasions In November, but it's not managed to hold above it while pound starting remains north of this trend line It's likely the outlook is going to remain positive And lo and behold we've been edging creeping creeping higher here throughout the month of March than news as it has been broken at the UK and the EU have come to an agreement on the transition period Well, you know, it's jolted higher. So we're comfortably after off the trend line support and now we're pushing higher 11 now Not seen for nearly a month. So keep an eye out for the the the mid-febri high of 141 141 50 if you take out 141 50 We could be like getting a backup towards the 143 area and then once you go beyond that because of 144 145 at carries keep areas keep an eye out for if the market does manage to riff lower You know, we could find support from the 140 area the one Sorry, just south of us not too far away from when we are here in the 140 area Or perhaps even down in the kind of 130, you know, they got 138 80 or 138 90 region But even if you do manage to drift lower as long as it's well above this this trend line support It's likely that the outlook is going to remain positive for the pound versus the US dollar Take a look now what's going on at Euro starting like I said at the top of the hour Top of the webinar. It is was under pressure today given what's been going on in relation to the in relation to the British pound So it's been it's been all on interesting ish currency pair recently. It's been sort of range bound for quite some time but Even though at the beginning of the month that the Europe did manage to kind of snap out take out the February and January highs which is looking quite bullish for the euro starting. What do we have as you know? We've had a quick large succession of downward moves. The markets coming off here heavily We're back below the two-day moving average We've taken out the late February lows if you could be looking heading back out down towards the January If you could be looking at it back on towards zero spot 88 0 0 or perhaps even as low as you could December and January low of zero spot 86 89 And if you go south of there, we could be looking heading it back back down towards zero spot 88 itself Move to the upside are likely to run into resistance from the two-day moving average Which comes to play at zero spot 88 93 and if you go north of that We've been looking towards the march high of zero spot 89 67 Then also as the markets driving lower here We're seeing a solid increase in the MACD histogram the MACD indicator So the markets driving lower and the momentum is clearly rising as well So make a little victim is clearly rising as well. So it's it's like in the nature We get we continue to see further losses for the euro versus the British pound In a second now, I'm going to come on to the US dollar versus Japanese yen Which would be my last Market to look at for the session unless of course you is what is anything else you want me to have a look at So dollar yen has been in a solid our trend since November as you can see here lower low lower high a bit of consolidation through the December and January but then of course lower low lower high lower low lower high so on and so forward while we remain south of This this price area here 107 32 Tottenham sides with September low The outlook is likely to remain negative for the US dollar versus the Japanese yen and keep Keep an eye on the the march low of 105 25 That'd be noted keep an eye out for in terms of potential areas of support and because south of there We could be looking heading back down towards 125 and then the 104 area If you do manage to break north of 107 spot 32 keep an eye out for the 108 area And then if you go north of 108 We really would need to be kind of taken out to say the either 109 78 area or perhaps or perhaps even the this high here of 110 48 before before we could become more confident that this wider negative trend has been negated Is there anything else on the markets? You would like me to have a look at feel free to shout out What I would like to show you on our trading platform This is here is the insights Insights can be found on the market pulse Second option down insights here some of the updates that we do try to dig a positive insights Some of the data alerts in terms of say corporate Announcements or sorry, sorry economic announcements or breaking news stories get updated there There'll be a video of this webinar will be posted on insights within the next hour or so I also want to talk to you about chart forum Chart for me can be found also under the market pulse third option down Chart forum essentially a chart forum What we do is take a quick snapshot of a particular market and write a few words about it and talk about what's going on and price action I'll talk about the potential areas to keep an eye out for As I mentioned I showed you on our trading website where you can find our week ahead We also have an economic calendar, which once again is thought under market pulse is the fourth option down market pulse it'll show you the Economic calendars that are that are penciled in and then once as soon as the numbers are out They will be populated in the actual column and you can see here We have the forecast and the previous numbers so you can get a gauge of what the market is expecting What the market was doing the last time the report came out And I see about but at least what I want to show you is future and other webinars So obviously Today is the Monday the 19th of March tonight at 7 p.m. GMT 7 1900 GMT 7 p.m. UK time we have the trader development program part 3 the traders mindset you don't have to have been Logged in to the previous two ones to to to tune in for this one So that's a feel-free designer for that on Wednesday the 21st of March at 1930 GMT 7 30 p.m. UK time we have the trading strategy defined Uh webinar and of course next Monday At 12 15 will of course be the be the Monday market webinar Um, if you've seen if you don't have any further questions or comments, I will look to wrap up the webinar there You're very kind thomas and uh, we are very much appreciated Same to yourself Simon. Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it So from all of us here at CMC markets this week have a good trading week and good luck Thank you


This is stock number 9J348A, we are here at Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, your new and used Jeep headquarters. Today we are checking out this super clean 2016 Jeep Cherokee Latitude. This vehicle has the 2.4 liter multi-air motor which pumps out 184 horsepower. From this HD video you will be able to tell that this Jeep is extremely clean all the way around inside and out. True blue, metallic is the color. We shoot all of our videos in 1080p so if you have HD capabilities on your computer tablet or smartphone device, turn them on right now because it is like you are right here looking at the vehicle with me. And definitely your best way to check out the vehicle before actually seeing it in person. Brand new Kelly Edge 22560R17 tires. When you put these tires on in the shop you can still see the little wear knob there. Factory 17 inch alloy rims, four wheel disc brakes on these Cherokees, didn't see any dents or dings on that front fender. You get the LED running lights, the projector lamp headlamps and the factory fog lights. The lower bumper and valance is in excellent shape, no scuffs or scrapes on that. And the passenger side fender is in nice shape as well. Another side rim, no scuffs or scrapes on that. And as you go down this side of the Jeep you can see just how clean the body is, how reflective and mirror like that paint is. We take these HD videos so if you are far away or even if you are close by but just can't find the time to make the trip down, you can still see the vehicle, hear the vehicle and have confidence in the vehicle you are looking at before you even get here. So you can make a smart buying decision from the comfort of your own home. Or at least have the confidence to make the trip down. Has the factory alloy rim in the back, no scuffs or scrapes and these back tires are brand new as well. We put those on in our safety inspection. As we come around to the back of the vehicle, no scuffs or scrapes on that rear bumper and the rear gate is in excellent shape as well. Back up camera, LED tail lights, back storage area is very clean. And this one is going to come with the tire inflator kit as it is a front wheel drive.  Those seats fold down for extra storage and you can see that the rear shocks on the gate are holding up the gate real nice. And as you go down this side of the Jeep just as clean as that pass on your side, no dents, no dings, you can see just how nice that paint is. And for full disclosure, this back rim is in excellent condition as well. I always liked true blue power mirrors, one of my favorite colors on the Cherokees. I've had one in a trailhawk.  There are no rips, there are no tears on the seats. You get the driver's seat height adjuster. We have factory floor mats throughout, power windows, power locks, power mirrors. All the latitudes come with auto headlamps and as we hop inside the vehicle you can see that this one has 37,695 miles. Instrument cluster is very nice and clean. You get a digital speedometer as well as an outside temperature and compass display. Comes with the leather wrapped steering wheel, no scuffs or scrapes in that. Cruise controls on the right, Bluetooth and information center controls on the left. And it has the five inch touchscreen radio with AM, FM capabilities. Back up camera. You have your climate control down there as well as your USB, AUG's and SD card, nine-speed automatic transmission and the passenger's seat is in excellent shape as well, no rips or tears on that. And it does have the in-seat storage right there. Nice little out of sight, out of mind place to put valuables or anything you may need to store. Headliner is nice and clean, has the map lights up there and we'll take a quick look at the back seats and then we will check out under the hood. It does have a tilt and telescopic steering wheel, so it goes in and out, up and down. And as you check out the back seats, just as clean as the front seats, no rips or tears back here. It does have the latch child safety system and we do have a 115 volt, 150 watt plug-in back here. Factory floor mats. Ten airbags in these Cherokees, so you got the side knee airbags, the side curtain airbags as well as the front airbags, very, very safe vehicles. Seats do fall down for extra storage, almost completely flat. And we'll take a quick look under the hood. I would personally like to thank you for checking out the video today, hopefully from this HD video. You will have been able to tell just how clean this Cherokee is all the way around, inside and out. Under the hood we have the 2.4 liter multi-air motor, 184 horsepower, engine base very clean, runs very smooth. This Jeep has been fully safety inspected by our service shop, has a fresh oil and filter change, all the fluids have been checked and it's hopped off. Four brand new tires and it is 100% ready to go to see more pictures of this Jeep or one of our other 450 new and used cars, trucks, SUVs, minivans, Wranglers, you name it, we got it. Go to our website, www.SummitAuto.com. Full pictures and descriptions of every single vehicle from two locations all at SummitAuto.com and if you'd like to check out more HD videos you can go to youtube.com slash SummitAuto. Remember to like, subscribe and share on this video and all the videos that you see there. In fact, in a second you will see a link to subscribe to our YouTube channel on your left. A link to more used inventory videos like this one on your right. If you have not been to our website on the bottom link to this vehicle on our website click those, check us out and we really look forward to helping you with this super clean 2016 Jeep Cherokee Latitude. Thanks again.


Hello everyone Welcome back to a new session on the industry and more so today I'll be demonstrating the kids teeth forceps that is Milk teeth forceps are also known as speedo-dontic forceps So we had covered the upper and lower jaw tooth forceps in last lessons that is maxillary and mandibular forceps So the same goes with the milk teeth. So we have 32 permanent teeth and 20 milk teeth so The number is reduced in milk teeth. So likewise a number of forceps are very less So basically we don't need much variety in the forceps. We can do all the extractions With one forceps for maxilla and one forceps for mandible. Still we have various types So let me show you what are the forceps So this is as our theory Studied so this is maxillary forceps. You can see the Hinge and beaks are at straight angle whereas hinge and Beaks are at 90 degree for the mandibular forceps. So these are the mandibular forceps and These four are the maxillary or upper jaw forceps So these forceps we can use for the front tooth The upper front tooth Because it is almost like a root forceps because we have seen The beaks are touching but the upper front teeth and all the milk teeth are very narrow in dimension so to get a firm grip so it's The beaks are very Close contact. We need to have a close contact peaks to get a firm grip on the tooth So this can be used for upper front teeth Upper central incisor and lateral incisor Even for canine we can use it So this forceps we can see there is slight gap in between the beaks So it can be used for a little bigger tooth, front tooth that is our upper canine So there is no right left Pairs here. So it can be used for upper canine The thing is we can do extraction with the same forceps all the tooth but for a better grip it's good to use the These forceps because it has a little gap between the Beaks so it can be used for canines and we don't have primolars in milk tooth so this you can see The identical beaks on the right and left side and it is used to remove the upper molar Forceps there are two molars on one quadrant So this can be used for the upper molar tooth This is a typical root forceps for the upper tooth if any root fragment is remaining in the socket We can use this to remove the milk tooth. Basically, there won't be any root fragment because it will be Resolved mostly as the permanent tooth irreps, but sometimes If permanent tooth irreps in buckle or lingual position The root fragments or the tooth Maintains a root. So that time if fracture happens we can retrieve the root using this Forceps. So it has Close conduct beaks So that's about the Pedalondic maxillary or upper jaw tooth forceps. So this is Lower tooth forceps So since our lower anterior teeth are very narrow in dimension This has to be used for The upper sorry the lower central and lateral incisors. So this can be used so We can see there is a slight gap so it can be used for canines lower canines and We can see the beaks The identical beaks This can be used for the lower molars both the right and left. There is no right and left differentiation in Pedalondic forceps So these are the basic Forceps used in milk tooth extraction or pedalondic Exodontia so We don't need to particularly select a I'd add


A very good evening aspirants as you know the UPSC announced the preliminary examination results day before yesterday And we are very happy to announce you that more than 927 candidates from Shankarai's Academy has cracked the examination In that 70 of them has cleared the examination in their first attempt. We congratulate all the candidates who have cleared the examination So with this happy announcement, let's move on to the newspaper analysis. Today's date is 24th of June 2022 So these are the list of news articles that we are going to discuss today. We have four different news articles Now without wasting much time, let us move on to the first news article discussion Now let's take up this news article for our discussion Look at these graphs these graphs shows the level of participation of women in rural local bodies in Tamil Nadu In Tamil Nadu more than 50 percentage of elected post or held by women So in this context, let us discuss some of the important points mentioned in the news article See now look at this graph these graphs shows the data of 118,978 elected representatives in rural local bodies out of these 67,756 or women representatives thus they account for about 57 percentage This is an encouraging sign because the women are politically empowered, right? But there are certain issues associated with it Let's understand the issues with the help of some case studies See in the article the author talks about the phone calls received by these representatives The author states that most of the calls to the official mobile numbers of select women village Panchayat presidents are answered by men These men were the husbands of the women village Panchayat presidents So these gives the impression that the women representatives continue to work as proxies for their male family members This is an issue that provides the country and plagues female elected local government representatives everywhere So here you must note this point the problem of interference by husbands or immediate family members Is not confined to Tamil Nadu but to entire India Also in other cases functioning of women representatives has been hampered not by her husband Or any other family member but by her party colleagues For example mlas or panchayat union chiefs have a feeling of apprehension that their future prospects in politics will be disturbed If women are allowed to work freely So what can be done to address these issues? See firstly awareness and education should encourage women towards politics and wipe out gender stereotypes Which perceive women as weak representatives Secondly women's leadership and communication skills need to be enhanced by increasing female literacy Especially in rural areas they should be empowered in order to break social cultural barriers and improve their status in the society Thirdly internal democracy in all political parties is needed. We require inclusive political institutions Fourthly India should pass a bill granting 33% reservation in parliament for women So that women leaders at higher levels will help their local counterparts Apart from this political mentoring and skill training will enhance their political knowledge See this is the need of the hover Apart from this there should be a provision to give honour and financial rewards to the women members for their exemplary works And finally the rotation term of reserved seats should be made after regular intervals It would help women representatives to fix their feed in the panchayats See despite the issues the author also talks about positive side of women local representatives in Tamil Nadu See we already saw that calls to the official mobile numbers of women village panchayat presidents or answered by their husbands But calls to women panchayat union chairpersons or district panchayat presidents are mostly answered by the women Functionaries themselves and in the last 10 to 15 years there have been strong positive changes in the representation of women in PRS The general trend is that these women are no longer controlled by their husbands Though the influence of their husbands are still there For example be subalakshmi chairperson of the latur panchayat union in chengalpatti district is a post graduate in english And belongs to the ruling dmk party. She asserted that her husband has never interfered in her functioning She added that her husband is also a local party functionary But there is a clear cut boundary between her work as a panchayat union leader and that of her husband In another case k naharani who heads the kinnath kadav panchayat union in koemthur district Points out that in 34 village panchayats under the jurisdiction of her panchayat union She has been able to get repaired and to 10 school buildings and have five fair price shops opened These are small yet very significant achievements So the author concludes that though women reps face certain challenges the trend or improving in tamaladu The government is also trying to improve the communication and and managerial skills of the representatives Also special attention needed to be paid to remove the bottlenecks being faced by women leaders So that's all you have to know about this news article discussion See women representatives continuing to work as a proxy for their male family members is not something new happening today So the suggested steps must be taken soon or earlier So that women can be truly represented in politics So these learned points now let us move on to the next news article discussion Now let us take up this text in context article for our next discussion See this article is about a new initiative of the government called the ONDC which stands for open network for digital commerce The article analyzes the features needs benefits and issues associated with this initiative So let us see all these one by one now Before that the syllabus relevant to this article is highlighted here for your reference. Just go through it See ONDC that is open network for digital commerce is the first of its kind initiative to pave the way for reimagining digital commerce in India It was conceived in 2020 by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade under the ministry of commerce and industry It was commenced through the quality council of India that is QCI See basically ONDC will be a not-for-profit organization that will offer a network That is it aims at promoting open networks for all aspects of Extains of goods and services over digital or electronic networks. See it is developed on open source methodology Here open source means that the code or the steps of that process is made available freely for others to use Redistribute and modify we can take the example of apple's operating system. That is ios and android operating system That is os see apples ios is closed and this cannot be legally modified or reverse engineered Whereas android's os is open source and is possible by smartphone manufacturers to modify it for their hardware This is why any phone like samsung xiaomi etc can use android os but not ios And also ONDC will be using open specifications and open network protocols that is independent of any specific platform See these open protocols would be used for Establishing public digital infrastructure in the form of open registries and open network gateways They will enable exchange of information between providers and consumers That means providers and consumers would be able to use any Compatible application of their choice for exchange of information and carrying out transactions over ONDC So in short what ONDC does is it will establish an open and interoperable digital commerce network Such a network will allow all the buyers and sellers to be digitally visible and transact through the open network Regardless of what platform or application they use Therefore it will enable local commerce across segments These segments could be mobility, grocery, food order and delivery hotel bookings and travel See various local businesses will be discovered across these segments and will be engaged by any network enabled application You may think that this process of ONDC looks familiar Yes, of course it is like the unified payments interface that is UPI system for digital payments See UPI powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application and merges several banking features This enables seamless fund routing and merchant payments Now similarly ONDC will function but not for digital payment rather for digital commerce This is why many news articles call ONDC as UPI of e-commerce An important feature is ONDC will be compliant with the information technology act 2000 And in the later period will also be compliant with personal data protection when their regulation for the same will be created by the government Also remember presently ONDC is in its pilot stage It is currently running in five cities namely New Delhi, Bengaluru, Koyamathur, Bhopal and Shillong But later it will be launched in 100 cities over a period of six months So now what is the overall use of ONDC? Firstly, it is expected to digitize the entire value chain Secondly, it will standardize operations that is operations like cataloging inventory management order management and order fulfillment Thirdly, it will also promote inclusion of suppliers. Fourthly, efficiencies will be derived in logistics And finally, there will be enhanced value for consumers also Because consumers will be able to match demand with the nearest available supply But what actually necessitated such an initiative? It was the COVID-19 pandemic See after first wave ensuring essential supplies to reach across container zones was difficult, right? There was huge impact on small sellers and hyper local supply chain functioning due to lockdowns Pandemic showed a disconnection between the scale of online demand and the ability of the local retail ecosystem to participate Because only bigger players are able to take advantage of e-commerce and small players are still out of it Therefore, it was realized that an interoperable network was needed to solve this issue Also, India has a fast expanding digital economy and India is operating three largest public digital platforms in the world They are Aadhaar, which is the largest unique digital identity platform Then the UPI the largest digital payment ecosystem, then the Covin the largest vaccination platform So an e-commerce platform was an awaited one So now let us see some of the benefits associated with it First it will create new opportunities as local commerce will be a part of it Secondly, it is a step to move from platform centric model to an open network So far we have amazon flipkart. They are platform centric That is if you want to buy something then you have to visit the amazon or flipkart platform Same for selling also, but now in case of ONBC, no such thing is needed From now onwards, buyers registered on one particular e-commerce site may purchase good from a seller on another participating e-commerce site So this open network model provides us a major benefit of curbing digital monopolies by e-commerce behemoths such as amazon And ending their unfair trade practices because it extends support to micro small and medium enterprises and small traders So from now on these online traders will also be available on online platforms Therefore ONDC creates a level playing field for both online and offline traders that by democratizing digital commerce Hence a boost for small businesses In short, we can say ONDC is a network of several small and large-scale e-commerce players Plus it encourages easy adoption of digital means by those who are currently not on digital commerce networks So it increases freedom of choice for consumers and ONDC will also make Largest segment of buyers available to all the sellers on the network Also it is a government backed platform So due to the benefits it is expected that ONDC will bring on board 90 crore users and 12 lakh sellers on the network Thereby enabling 730 crore additional purchases It is also expected to bring in an additional gross mercantising value of 3.75 crore rupees So now to achieve this the issues around the ONDC have to be solved Like it should be a seamless network which is user friendly and capable of giving a better shopping environment Than e-commerce behemoths like amazon and flipkart It should also have a shift dispute resolution And the government should convince enough number of e-commerce platforms to sign up to ONDC So as to attract customers So if these issues are solved then ONDC will be a success like UPI So that's all you have to know about this news article So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about what is this ONDC ONDC is nothing but open network for digital commerce It is a first of its kind initiative to pay the way for reimagining digital commerce in India It was conceived in 2020 by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade under the ministry of commerce and industry And it was commissioned through the quality council of India So we saw some of the basic features of ONDC Then we saw some of the uses of this ONDC And finally we ended our discussion by seeing some of the benefits associated with this ONDC So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion See this article here It says that the silver anklet manufacturers have been demanding that a geographical indicator That is GI tag to be approved for the Salem silver anklets to prevent duplication by bigger jewelry manufacturers using mass manufacturing techniques The anklets which are produced in Salem are sold to some of the largest jewelry sellers in India through middlemen And the article also says that the recent announcement by the government to set up a production center for silver Anklets will lower the manufacturing cost by bringing together producers of different components that go into making a silver anklet So this is the cracks of the news article given here in this context Let us quickly understand about GI tag from prelims point of view First of all, let us see what GI is See a geographical indication or GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin And possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin In order to function as a GI a sign must identify a product as originating in a given place In addition, the qualities characteristics or reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin Typically such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially attributed to its origin So basically GI is or location specific Remember geographical indications are typically used for agricultural products foot steps wine and Sprit drinks handicrafts and industrial products So this basic info now let us see some of the significance of GI See a geographical indication right enables those who have the right to use the indication to prevent It's used by a third party whose products does not conform to the applicable standards For example, producers of Darjeeling tea can exclude use of the term Darjeeling for tea not grown in their tea gardens Are not produced according to the standards sit out in the code of practice for the geographical indication But however a protected geographical indication does not enable the holders to prevent someone from making a product using the same Technics as those set out in the standards for that indication Now for the legality of it see geographical indications or covered as an element of IPRs and an article 1 clause 2 and 10 of the Paris conference for the protection of industrial property They are also covered under trade related aspects of intellectual property rights That is trips agreement, which was part of the agreement concluding the Uruguay round of GATT negotiations See as you know India is a member of WTO that is World Trade Organization It enacted the geographical indication of goods registration and protection act 1999 to award GI tags Now that the act has come into force with effect from september 2003 So that's all you have to know about GI tag in this news article discussion We saw about what is this GI tag and some of the significance of it GI tag is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin We saw that and one of its most important significance is that it prevents the usage by a third party whose product does not Confirm to the applicable standards Geographical indications are typically used for agricultural products food steps wine and spread drinks Handicrafts and industrial products we saw that so these learned points now Let us move on to the next news article discussion Now take a look at this news article see it says that India's government will not be able to cut its budget deficit This fiscal year as previously projected But it will seek to cap the shortfall at last year's level to prevent a major deterioration in public finances And this is the essence of this news article In this context, let us see some of the important points that are mentioned in the news article about fiscal discipline First of all, what is this budget deficit? See a budget deficit occurs when a government spends more in a given year than it collects in revenues Like taxes bills, etc So as a simple example if a government takes in 10 billion as revenue in a particular year and it's expenditure for the same year or 12 billion Then it is running a deficit of 2 billion And this is when the government will borrow to bridge the deficit and this is called as fiscal deficit See as per the article efforts to maintain fiscal discipline reflects concern around risks to its sovereign credit rating This is because the credit rating of a government will become low if it borrows more And at the same time if the government maintain fiscal discipline Then it limits the government's power to check inflation and provide relief to households and businesses Hope you can understand the situation here See in february the government set a fiscal deficit target of 6.4 percentage of gdp for the year 2023 Here know that the fiscal deficit for the fiscal year 2021 is 6.7 percentage But the increased spending to provide relief from inflation will make the government miss this year's target of 6.4 percentage So if you're wondering why this is happening See this is because the surging cost forced India to cut fuel taxes and change duty structures And this affected the revenue by about 19.16 billion dollars And adding to this the fertilizer subsidies lifted the expenditure See the government and central bank have made efforts to contain prices through fiscal measures and monetary tightening after inflation jumped to multi-year high Now as we already saw Government is aware of the risk that fiscal slipper age poses risk to its sovereign credit ratings The depth to gdp ratio is standing at 95 percentage which is significantly higher than the 60 to 70 percentage levels for other similarly rated economies And as per the article the situation leaves the government with little room to provide additional relief As the measures that are already taken or expected to increase the deficit by more than 30 basis points If revenue collection does not exceed the budget target But if more steps are taken it will require additional market borrowing and that will increase the yields and eventually cause higher inflation So these are all some of the important points that you have to make note of See topics like these are very important because these articles reflects the government's decisions on particular issue So in this news article discussion we saw about budget deficit And we saw why the government is missing this year's target of reaching 6.4 percentage of gdp So these learned points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion, which is the preliminary practice questions See today we have three practice questions in that i'll solve two questions and the last question is the quiz question for you Now look at this first question this question is about open network for digital commerce You have to choose which one of the following is or are the benefits of ondc statement one interoperable digital commerce network Statement two platform centric model statement three curbing digital monopolies statement four democratized digital commerce Select the correct answer from the codes given below option a one two and three only option b two and four only Option c one three and four only and option d one two three and four See all the statements except statement two is correct here because in the discussion itself We saw that ondc is not platform centric rather it is an open network model So here statement two will not be in the answer if you can eliminate statement two you can easily arrive at the answer Which is option c one three and four only now moving on to second question See this question is about gi tag consider the following statements regarding geographic indication Statement one geographic indications can be provided only to agricultural and food products Statement two gi tag is awarded by the secretary of the ministry of commerce and industry Which of the above statements is or are incorrect? So you have to choose the incorrect statement Option a one only option b two and the option c both one and two and option d neither one nor two See the correct answer for the question is option c both one and two Both the statements given here or incorrect Statement one is wrong because gi is primarily an agricultural natural or a manufactured product originating from a definite geographical territory So the tag can be given to handicrafts and industry products also which makes statement one is incorrect Now moving on to statement two statement two is also incorrect here because gi tag is awarded by the geographical indications registry which is under the department of promotion of industry and internal trade that comes under ministry of commerce and industry And it is as per the geographical indication of goods registration and protection act 1999 gi tag is valid for 10 years and it can be renewed afterwards for another 10 years Know that first product that was awarded gi tag in India was Dazzling tea Tamil Nadu and Kannada has the highest number of gi tags in India just for your information So the correct answer for this question is option c both one and two because both the statements are incorrect here Now moving on to the quiz question See this question is about deficit. We saw about deficit in our discussion, right? So find the correct answer and post the correct answer in the comment section I'll tell whether your answer is right or not. So displayed here is the main's question for today's discussion Just go through the question write an answer and post it in the comment section With this we came to the end of the news article discussion If you like the video hit like do comment and don't forget to subscribe to Shankara's academy youtube channel. Thank you