Good morning and welcome to the public meeting of the consumer product safety commission. This meeting, CPSC staff will brief the commission on a draft notice proposed rulemaking that would for the first time establish safety standards for infant support cushions. From 2010 to 22, we know of at least 79 deaths and additional 125 incidents with these products. This proposal will establish a safety standard for infant support cushions, durable nursery products to fulfill our obligations. Intersection 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. In a moment, I'll turn this over to staff so they can brief us. Once they've completed the briefing, each commissioner will have 10 minutes to ask questions with multiple rounds if necessary. As a reminder, if you have any questions that address statutory interpretation or legal advice, please don't ask them at this time. We can hold a closed executive session at the end of the briefing upon request. Briefing us today are Dr. Stephanie Marquez, Project Manager and Supervisory Scientist Division of Health Services Pharmacological and Physiology within the Office of Hazard Identification and Reduction. That's quite a mouthful. And Ms. Elizabeth Layton, Attorney, Office of General Counsel. Sorry that you don't have a longer title. I will now turn the microphone over to Dr. Marquez and Ms. Layton. Thank you. Thank you. And good morning, Mr. Chair and commissioners. I'm Stephanie Marquez, the Project Manager for the Infant Support Cushion Rulemaking Project. As the Chair mentioned, today Elizabeth and I will discuss the asked-or-off-proposed rule for infant support cushions. Oh, I guess next slide, please. Today's presentation will begin with opening statements from Elizabeth on the underlying statutory framework for this rulemaking. Then I will provide an overview of the product and the other background information. There's some in you. Try again. Then I will provide an overview. I think it's working, yes. The product and other background information. Review incident data and hazards associated with infant support cushions. Discuss information relevant to the development of the staff proposed rule. Describe staff's proposed rule and the potential small business impact of the proposed rule. And finally, present staff draft recommendations. Now I will turn over to Elizabeth who will provide the statutory overview of this rulemaking activity. Thank you, Stephanie. Good morning, Mr. Chair and commissioners. Under Section 104B of the Consumer Product Safety and Proven- Oh, I'm sorry, Elizabeth. Next slide, please. Oh, next slide, please. I apologize. Thank you. Uh, under section 104B of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, the commission is required to issue consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products using the notice and comment procedure in the Administrative Procedure Act. Section 104B2 of the CPSIA requires the commission to promulgate standards for durable infant or toddler products until it has done so for all such product categories. As the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed in the Finbin decision, the commission not only has the authority to regulate durable infant or toddler products for which no voluntary standard exists, it is required to do so by section 104B2's express statutory command to regulate all categories of durable infant or toddler products. Next slide, please. Because there is no existing voluntary standard addressing the suffocation and asphyxiation hazards associated with infant support cushions, the commission is not required to develop a rule with reference to an existing voluntary standard. Per the requirements of the APA, the draft notice of proposed rulemaking initiates a notice and comment process for developing a rule. Thank you. And now I will turn it back to Stephanie. Thank you, Elizabeth. This project really, next slide, please. This project really began as an examination of the infant pillow ban. In 1992, pursuant to the Commission's Authority under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the FHSA, the commission banned infant cushions and infant pillows that have all the following characteristics. Has a flexible fabric covering. It's loosely filled with granular material and is easy flattened. It's capable of conforming to the body or face of an infant and is intended or promoted for the use by children under one year of age. The ban was intended to address a specific type of product, an infant beanbag cushion that was popular in the 80s and was used as a mattress during a time when they recommended sleep position for infants with face down prone. Next slide, please. Over the years since the ban, there have been significant increases in products promoted as infant support cushions that do not fall under the scope of the infant pillow ban, particularly due to the use of the non-granular fill materials. As staff becomes concerned about and staff has become concerned about potential suffocation hazards, these products present to infants. The draft proposed rule would apply to any infant product that is marketed, designed, or intended to support an infant's weight or any portion of an infant by reclining or an asapine prone or recombinant position. All the products shown in this slide would fall under the scope of the proposed rule. And as you can see, there are a variety of products that fall under the scope of the proposed rule. Next slide, please. Along with the significant increase in products in recent years, there has also been an increase in deaths associated with infant support cushions, which has been a great concern of staff. Next slide, please. Dash search of the Consumer Product Safety Risk Management System and National Electronic Injury Surveillance System Databases identified 79 fatal incidents that were associated with infant support cushions and involved infants up to 12 months of age. Nearly all the reported fatalities involved infants six months older or younger, and over three quarters involved infants three months older and younger. And nearly two-thirds of all fatal incidents, the cause of death was determined to be asphyxia-related. At about 40 percent of the fatal incidents, the infant support cushion was placed in an infant product such as a bassinet, crib, or play yard. And nearly half the fatal incidents, the bed, the infant support cushion was placed in an adult bed on a couch or a futon and a toddler bed or on an air mattress. And five percent of the fatal incidents, the infant support cushion was placed on the floor or a mat. And finally, in five percent of the fatal incidents, the placement of the infant support cushion was undetermined or unknown. Next slide, please. The major hazard patterns identified with staff and the analysis of the fatal incidents were the following. The use of the infant support cushion as an in-bed sleeper to facilitate bed sharing, placement of the infant and our movement of the infant within the infant support cushion resulting in inclusion of the nose and mouth remaining in the product, and the infant rolling off the infant support cushion into a hazardous setting. Next slide, please. Although reported fatalities are stashed primary concern, staff also searched for non-fatal incidents associated with infant support cushions to identify other possible risk of injury. Staff identified 125 non-fatal incidents and consumer concerns associated with infant support cushions. About a quarter of the non-fatal incidents were due to falls from the infant support cushion that was placed on an elevated surface such as an adult bed, bath and kitchen counters, chairs and couches. Another quarter of these incidents were the result of the infant being found in a vulnerable position and rescued for a potentially asphyxiating environment. Fourteen of the non-fatal incidents reported a rash while using the infant support cushion and there was one report each for limb entrapment, mole, choking, near strangulation and vomiting. A majority of the non-fatal incidents 38% were consumer concerns. Based on this incident data, staff identified falls and threatened asphyxia as two major non-fatal hazards associated with infant support cushions. Next slide, please. Currently, there are no published voluntary standards for infant support cushions. In December 2021, staff requested ASEM to form a working group under F-15 to develop a voluntary standard containing performance requirements to register risk of death and injury from hazards associated with infant support cushions. ASEM forwarded two subcommittees under F-15. F-15.16 for infant feeding supports, which the commission has already briefed on earlier this year, and F-15.21 infant loungers. At the May 2023 F-15.2 of subcommittee meeting, a draft of the infant lounger standard was discussed, but so far a draft of the standard has not been validated. CPSC staff has been actively participating in task groups for infant loungers that cover the scope, warnings, data analysis, and performance requirements. In August of this year, CPSC sent a letter to the performance task group to present our ideas on slide height requirements that were considered in the ASEM draft lounger standard. Next slide, please. The scope of the draft ASEM lounger standard includes less products that are covered by the scope of this infant support cushion rule. ASEM describes loungers as products with a raised perimeter, a recess, or other area that is intended to be placed on the floor and provide a place for the infant to sit, lie, recline, or rest while supervised by an adult. They are not intended or marketed for sleep. Currently, the ASEM draft proposed rule for loungers includes requirements for side height, stability, infant restraints, occupant support surface firmness, sidewall firmness, and marketing labeling instructional literature. To be clear, the ASEM standard for loungers, which focuses on less products than the proposed rule for infant support cushions, is still in draft form and has not been completed the full census process to be an approved standard. Therefore, the draft language is subject to change. Next slide, please. Staff considered the scope and definition of the proposed rule based on the existing filiband, the infant support cushion market, and incident data. The draft proposed rule defines the infant support cushion as the infant product that is filled with or comprised of resilient material such as foam, fibrous fatting, or granular material, or with a gel, liquid, or gas, and which is marketed, designed, or intended to support an infant's weight, or any portion of infant while reclining, or in a sub-hine, prone, or incognito position. This includes what is not limited to infant positioners, nursing products used for lounging, infant loungers, and infant props for cushions used to support an infant. This does not include products regulated by other CPSC-durable infant and toddler product standards. Next slide, please. The fast proposed rule for infant support cushions includes general requirements found in standards for similar products such as a draft ASEM lounger standard, and the nursing pillow proposed rule presents the commission in September of this year. The infant support cushion rule includes requirements for lead in paints, small parts, hazardous sharp edges or points, resistance to collapse, scissoring, shearing, and pinching, protective components, toy accessories, and a permanency of labels and warnings, which is consistent with the nursing pillow proposed rule, and that includes an additional warning permanency requirement that would address free hanging labels for the important warnings are not easily torn off. Next slide, please. In the proposed rule, staff is requiring firmness requirements for the occupant support surface, sidewall, and the intersection of the occupant support firmness and the sidewall. These requirements are adapted from the CPSC contract report and uses a three-inch hemispheric probe that was developed by the contractor. CPSC staff determined that the dimensions of the three-inch hemispheric hemispherical probe developed by the contractor are consistent with the size and shape of an infant's head. In addition, it can be easily applied to different types and sizes of surface areas that could be present in the variety of products that fall out of the scope of this rule. For the occupant support surface firmness requirement, staff recommends applying the probe to an area of maximum thickness at another location most likely to fail. At these locations, the probe is used to displace and is displaced in the vertical direction their product surface by one inch. The force that is needed to displace the one inch must be greater than 10 newtons. This displacement force is comparable to the displacement force required for crib mattresses. For the sidewall firmness and the intersection of the sidewall and occupant support surface, the same test method is used that is applied to these different locations. Essentially, it is the attention of these requirements that any surface that an infant could potentially come in contact with while using the infant support cushion should be firm as a crib mattress. Next slide, please. Okay. This video that I'm about to show shows how staff applies the probe to the occupant support surface of the infant support cushion. Please play the video. Using the three-inch hemispherical probe, staff will lower the probe onto the occupant support surface one inch and measure the force. Thank you. Next slide, please. Both the infant sleep product rule and the draft ASDM Lounder standard have a maximum incline angle requirement to reduce the potential for assistional xixia hazards. And these rules, the maximum incline angle of the product's occupant support surface can now exceed 10 degrees when measured using a hinge weight gauge. Based on the incident data, staff determined that it was appropriate for infant support cushions to have a maximum incline angle requirement. However, due to the variety of products that fall under the scope of the infant support cushion rule, staff has developed a few modifications to the maximum incline angle test. The most significant modification is what surfaces are considered when determining the maximum incline angle. The infant support cushion and the infant support cushion rule, the maximum incline angle test is measured from the highest surface that can support an infant, including sides to the lowest surface that could support an infant, including the floor or the surface that the product is placed on. Next slide, please. The following video shows staff conducting the maximum incline angle test for two different infant support cushions. The first video shows a product that has a maximum incline angle greater than 10 degrees when measured from the occupant support surface to the highest surface of the product. Please start this video on the left. Staff positions the hinge weight gauge within the product so the top edge of the head torso portion of the gauge coincide with the plumb line the outermost edge of the highest surface of the product and the lower portion of the gauge rests on the occupant support surface. Then staff places a digital protractor with an accuracy plus minus one degree on the angle head torso portion and measures the angle as so. Since this product has a maximum incline angle greater than 10 degrees between the occupant support surface and the highest surface, there was no need to test the maximum incline angle from the surface the product was placed on to another surface on the product. The next video shows a different product where due to the product size it was necessary to measure the maximum incline angle from the support surface the product was placed on to the highest surface of the product. Please start the video on the right. The edge head torso portion of the hinge gauge was positioned on the highest surface of the product and the lower portion of the hinge gauge was placed on the surface supporting the product. The staff then places the digital protractor on the angle head torso portion and measures the angle as so. The maximum incline of this incline angle this product was from the supporting surface to the highest surface was less than 10 degrees. Next slide please. Due to the geometry of the newborn hinge gauge and the methodology of measuring the maximum incline angle the height measured from the lowest surface to the highest surface for the infant support for the infant support cushion will be limited to two inches or less. Interestingly as staff was developing the test for the method for the maximum incline angle test and measuring the incline angles of a range of different infant support cushion products staff observed that products that passed the maximum incline angle test had the having the inclines less than 10 degrees were less likely to appear to contain the infant and compared to products that fail the maximum incline angle test by having angles greater than 10 degrees those products appear to be more likely to contain the infant. Next slide please. To address potential entrapment hazards at the intersection of the sidewall and the occupant support surface staff recommends a sidewall angle requirement that uses the hemispheric probe to determine the angle of this interface which would be greater than 90 degrees. Staff has also included in this proposed rule requirements for restraints, same strength, removal of components and bounded openings. Next slide please. The infant support cushion draft proposed rule includes warning label and instruction instructional requirements. These requirements have been developed based on incident data and recommendations issued from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the FDA and CPSC. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the FDA and CPSC have consistently worn against the use of pillows and soft bedding in an infant sleep environment and urged consumers to only use these products on the floor and stayed near the infant while in use. The warning labels are also required to be conspicuous and permanent. Next slide please. There are more than 2,000 suppliers of infant support cushions to the U.S. market. Most are small businesses. The draft proposed rule is expected to have a significant impact on substantial number of small entities because currently there are no mandatory or voluntary reform and standards for infant support cushions. Also the proposed requirements would be new and most likely require redesign for any small business in the market. Therefore, staff recommend recommends an effective date of 180 days. Next slide please. But based on what I presented here, the staff proposed staff recommendation to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking, the staff draft proposed rule for infant support cushions with an effective date of 180 days following the publication of the final rule. Thank you and I welcome your questions at this time. Thank you. At this point in time we're going to turn to questions from the commissioners. Once again, thank you as well as your teams for continuing to focus on improving the safety of infant products. They are the most vulnerable among us and really need to be a priority for the agency. So I appreciate all of your works and all of those behind you as well. Given the staff's concern about infant support cushions being used for sleep and being present in sleep environments, and as you mentioned, started with the pillow band. Why did the staff propose a performance standard at this point in time? What's the thinking behind the approach? It's staff's termination that the most effective and fastest way to address the hazards associated with infant support cushions was to go the 104 rule route. This allowed us to develop a strong and broad rule that supported our findings from the infant data review. Also, consumers find infant support cushions helpful for allowing their infants to relax for brief periods of time. And the four requirements that we developed for the rule address the hazards that we saw with the infant data. So a cushion meeting this standard would in effect be a less hazardous place to put infants on while still being useful to parents? Yes, that's correct. I may have other questions, but I'd like to hear from my colleagues. I'm going to start with Commissioner Feldman. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Dr. Marcus and Ms. Leighton. Thank you very much for your work on this proposal and for the presentation today. I appreciate it. I have a number of questions. I'm hoping to get to as many of them as I can in this, but if we go over, I may want to request a second round. But to start off, we're a data-based agency and I'm taking a look at the incident data that you guys provided primarily on Slides 8 and 9. On Slide 8, staff lists, 79 fatal incidents that we're aware of. Are we relying on all of these incidents for proposed rule? A significant proportion of the fatalities that were listed appear to be attributed to something other than suffocation or asphyxia, which I understand is the hazard that this proposed rule would seek to prevent. Another significant portion of these fatalities appear to involve other hazardous settings beyond the infant cushion itself. And I would presume that a number of these incidents would involve co-sleeping or proximity to blankets, toys, other items that aren't recommended for a safe sleep environment. So is staff relying on these 79 ideas as the basis for the recommendation for its determination or is it discounting some of the 79? I would say we relied on the 79 incidents. The three major hazard patterns that we outlined that facilitate bed sharing with movement within the infant support cushion and the movement out of the infant support cushion to a hazardous setting, that's all indicated in the incidents and all the incidents that show that were considered when developing those hazard patterns. Those hazard patterns are what we directly try to address with the performance requirements and I think that the staff concluded that the performance requirements do address those hazard patterns on the incident. On page 10 you wrote that 40 of the slide deck you wrote that 47 percent of the non-fatal incidents were due to consumer concerns. I don't know what that means. Can you explain what you mean by consumer concerns? Sometimes it will be the consumer will write in or report to us that they said the product, they thought maybe they saw a recall product and they have the recall. I'm sorry. Sometimes the consumer will report that they have seen a recall and they will report that they have a recall product, they don't know what to do or they think that the product, they weren't sure how to use the product. They're just basically concerned that consumers will write in reports to us that don't really or not really have any injuries but just mostly based on. And we're counting those as incidents? We're counting those as consumer reports. As a consumer it's an incident report. But that was in the non-fatal incident and we didn't consider that with the developing the hazard patterns or the with the two hazard patterns that were discovered in the non-fatal incidents or the threatenants fixed again in the falls. And none of the consumer concerns really addressed those issues. I understand. On sidewall height we know that almost 20 percent of the incidents here involve that hazard pattern that you discussed where an infant rolled off the product into a hazardous setting be it toe sleeping or you know within a crib or a bass net or something like that. Yet what I understand staff is proposing is a limit on the sidewall height that presumably could be justified by for example discouraging caregivers from believing that these products are safe for unintended infants. Are there any human factor data that we're relying on or other information that staff is relying on to suggest that a lower sidewall height would actually discourage caregivers in this way and if not do we run the risk of exacerbating both the the roll-off into a more hazardous environment pattern as well as the risk of fall. The sidewall height is something that we're open to comments on. We discovered we concluded that the sidewall height that maximum incline angle which we're really concerned about is just an auspicious incidence limited the sidewall height or the potential sidewall height to two inches and as I said we observed with those those products that the sidewall height did not give the impression or that the products could be contained in the infant. This is one of the major hazard patterns that we've seen with the data is that this issue that consumers see to have the impression that these products can contain the infant and we we concluded that that does contribute to a lot of the hazards associated with the infant support questions. Okay in that conclusion I guess is what I'm asking about is that supported by human factors or any other data that that sidewall height has any sort of positive relationship with that conclusion or the belief by parents and caregivers that that the products in factor are safe for unintended infants or is that just a supposition that we're making? I would have to ask my team member from human factors to more to give you a better answer on that but my understanding is that when we discuss sidewall height and we're going through the issues that there is no clear literature or data on the impression the sidewall height and the impression that contained with consumers. Okay it looks like you've got council. Celestine's ready to go. I'm Celestine Kish from the Division of Human Factors and it was more a matter of the comments we received about consumers using the product because they with the larger sidewalls because they had the sidewalls they the consumers were saying my baby fit in there and could stay in there so then the lower sidewalls they won't have that same impression. Okay okay that's helpful thank you thank you for that. On the maximum incline angle of 10 degrees that seems to be one of the key features of the proposal here how did staff come up with the recommendation of 10 degrees as the maximum incline angle is that based on the for example the the University of Arkansas 2019 study that we've relied on elsewhere or is that from something else? It's based on other rules for the maximum incline angle for infant for the infancy product rule that's so that we're it's the the 10 degrees that we're relying on here is based on the the 10 degrees that we used in the the ISR if I understand correctly that ISR was was based on the the 2019 man in study so so that's the the the underlying study and research that we would be relying on for the 10 degrees here. Yes okay on the test probe staff's draft proposal includes an occupant support for firmness test and obviously a test in the sidewall and you explain that and thank you for that but it involved the a test probe and a method that I understand were developed by the researchers at BSU I just want to get a better sense of what that test would look like should CPSC move to finalize the rule and whether BSU or any of the study authors own patents or other IP in either the probe itself or the test method and if so whether staffs received assurances that that that the any relevant IP holders would would license that to labs and others at on sort of fair and reasonable terms um that I'm I'm not aware of and maybe someone more a cable it would be able to answer I don't think that'd be you've got co-counsel that they did not describe you have Mr. Bonapas the test probe is uh in apparatus are the same ones we're using in other rules and that there are no uh uh there are uh there are a variety of uh probes that can be used to meet the requirements okay apparatus itself is uh is already out in uh in use and what about the method is is that something that would be sort of freely accessible to to anybody that would want to use that method to test yes among other things we we sponsored that research so it's uh paid for by the government okay great um I I do have additional questions but I don't I want to be mindful of the time thank you very much I appreciate that the responses Mr. Helms can Mr. Trump thank you thank you for the presentation and thank you for everyone and all of you here in the room they contributed to this rule this is fantastic I mean this is a really fantastic proposal you look at this problem logically you hit it from every angle yet you approached it thoroughly and as Miss Kish came up and reminded us you know we have experts and we lend expertise and we we rely on statistical analysis and we can also use common sense sometimes and and you did all of those in in this instance so thank you um as we look into the death data you know I I see that we've identified 79 incidents since 2010 and what I'm you know kind of most fixated on right now is that 40 percent of those are in just the last two years for which we have data so in 20 and we've got 17 deaths in 2020 we have at least 17 deaths in 2021 and you've indicated that number could grow as more data comes in so this looks like a growing trend and that's concerning and that's why I'm glad we're here talking about it today um so my question is when we look at those and when we look at the potential solution that you've proposed what percentage of these do you think we can prevent if this if this rule goes into effect the hope is that all of them um but um we we think that the performance requirements that we developed in this rule address it's it's it's all based on the incident review and we are we're very determined to make sure that all the hazards that we identified through the incident review were addressed in these performance requirements so it would be the goal that all of them would be addressed um you know I thought that was going to be the answer when I read this package I'm so happy to hear it I know we don't like to speak in absolutes but but to know that that's the goal and and it was clear when I read this package that's the goal so yes again thank you um you know so so you indicated a lot of these deaths are happening on soft surfaces when these when these products are placed on a bed or on a couch or or any other soft surface and the only other question I had is on the testing so on the occupant support surface firmness testing um which seemed great by the way I like the number test points we're using on that as well um but the question is the the sample size that we looked at only one seemed to pass that and it had a thin fabric based you know it was less than an inch you can understand why it would test when it was placed on a firm flat surface have we given consideration to the fact that these might not always be used on those firm flat surfaces and testing on maybe a soft surface would it would it perform the same that test on a softer surface I guess there would would be differences we had have not put that in the the proposal we're open to comments on that but um I know the testing to be done is usually on a support surface yeah um but that's something that would definitely be something to the comments on and testing labs they use all these products might be used okay yeah I mean that might be one where it's a little bit difficult to define the soft surface we put it on but but if we think through that issue and we realize that that's going to be the scenario that's the hazard scenario in real life if we can forget a way to account for it that might be great but again I mean I'm nitpicking at this point because this rule is fantastic in terms of this proposal you've put forward so thank you thank you can mr. wall thank you mr. chair and thank you dr. marquez for this work and for all the other staff members so I know I've been working on this quite some time I do appreciate it very much just to go back to the discussion of the 40 percent of the fatalities in 2020 and 2021 to what do you attribute that spike if if you know um the increase in the recent years I honestly don't know how to respond to that there has been an increase and the deaths that in the recent years um I think these products are more out in the market and I think that um the just the I'm really not sure how to answer that question I'm sorry okay that's okay we may not know but it is remarkable to see that happening yes okay I appreciate that again sticking with the data for a minute I think 80 percent of the fatalities associated with the products involve infants three months and younger is that correct yes okay are you aware of any of and that's consistent I think with what we heard recently on rockers where a large percent of the incidents were involved in that age cohort is there any commentary you would share on literature or infant development that you would suggest explains why there's a cluster of incidents in that age group that age group seems to be the most vulnerable age group as far as in sleep environments especially because the net age group between the two and six months age range infants often can find themselves they can they can do movements such as flipping over but not be able just to be able to go back and that is the age where they are able to do certain things and not be able to self-rescue as easily they don't have the motor skills to self-rescue if they find themselves and inadvertently it's flipped over to bring it for the first time and then they can't do it back and then they find themselves in a hazardous environment that's also when their their head to body ratio is heaviest and so they tend to have heavier heads to lead them to more face-down situations given that have you given thought to a specific warning for that age cohort on these products or any of the type of products that we would talk about in the under the 104 Rupert? Well I I we're open to comments on that too I think that the the age the intended age range for the products can be under one year so the the warnings would be would be kind of restricted to that age range at least that one-year range range right further yes right but I took what you're saying what the data seems to be suggesting that even with you know there's a broad range in that zero to 12 and that maybe we're really even focusing more on that zero to three zero to four that is something we could consider you know comments on and consider yeah saying you know in that same vein in terms of warnings I think in the os on page os 104 the health sciences memo it states that premature infants and infants who are born as a set of multiples are particularly vulnerable and are at the highest risk primarily due to physical inability and immature physiological system again I know we we believe put warnings in the proposed rule and rockers for this cohort and I wonder if you thought about that in this instance we have not thought about it put it in the the proposed rule as it stands now but we definitely will and something to consider in the future and comments on yes okay thank you sorry okay thank you I appreciate that very much and just one last question and I know you talked about it in your slides but could you please explain again the difference between the as how astm defines infant lounger and how we're defining it in the proposed rule um so yeah astm they basically find the infant lounger as a product with a raised perimeter they and a recess or other area that's intended to be placed on the floor and place a place for the infant to sit lie recline or rest while supervised by an adult so our product rule basically our rule basically says it's a product that's filled with the fibrous batting or resilient material that has been intended to support the infant during periods of to reply to the wide accompaniment recline prone or supine so it the big difference is the idea of the I think the raised perimeter that the loungers incorporates in their definition versus our definition for infant support questions we're seeing and it's just as they're supporting they don't have the the perimeter issue okay clear thank you I appreciate that I don't have any more questions Mr. Chair thank you again very much there has been a request for a second round so Commissioner Feldman okay thank you Mr. Chairman I'll try to be brief following up on a the question that that my colleague Commissioner Boyle asked with respect to that 2020 to 2021 spike that we saw which based on the the the the the histogram that you put forward I think told the story where it was almost a a doubling but you mentioned that that that it may have to do with the number of products in the marketplace has staff been able to normalize the incident data based on into control for the number of products in the marketplace and if so is that trend that that we saw it is that possessed um I don't think that we've done that I mean I have to get back to you for it okay if we could I think that that would be useful um with respect to durable products this this light and this is probably a question for you staff is proposing that we proceed with the rule under section 104 which applies as we all know to durable infant and nursery products can you please explain how staff is defining durable in this context and I'm not looking for a legal interpretation oh okay um as as explained in the notice these products are considered durable because they're often used for more than one infant um more than one child uh either later children the same families that initially purchased the product or sometimes they're sold on the secondary market as used products um so for those reasons they so they can be used for several years okay so the the the definition here is sort of limited to products that can be resold or reused uh not saying I don't I don't want to get into I'm not saying that's the limit of the definition but I'm saying that's an indication that staff has pointed to uh to reflect the durability okay because we do see a number of things that can be resold uh and reused including clothing that I don't think that we uh would consider um to be durable per se but but that's not the only indicia that we're looking at I know and I if if uh the commissioner would like to get into a discussion of the legal definition of durability that would need to be in a closed session okay uh on product substitution thank you thank you uh on product substitution so to the extent that the proposed rule would render a significant portion of these products uh useless and that staff predicts that a number of firms would exit the marketplace all together uh what if anything do we anticipate in terms of user substitution here this is an issue that's been raised in the context of other infant and toddler products that we've dealt with recently do we expect parents and caregivers to substitute with products that that are known uh to be safer or can we rule out regrettable substitutions like blankets and pillows and and things like that that may in fact be less safe um well the the the intention that um that these products that they'll be still be able to use these products and just in a safer way they'll be safer um products that present less hazards just those um that are more firm and they're less able to contain the infant um I I'm not sure how to answer the question um yeah so I I think it's safe to say that we cannot rule out regrettable substitution parents are going to do a variety of different things I think as Dr. Marquez notes what we're looking to try to do is for these products that are marketed for infant use for relaxation and so forth we're trying to make them safer so the hope the intent is to ensure that they are in fact safe for those advertised purposes okay with respect to the substitution issue writ large this is something that human factors has studied and will it share its findings on the record I think we'll have to get back to you I don't know that it's explored in this package but we'll look back to see if there's other materials okay I'd appreciate that thank you um last question I think um so I do understand that uh uh and you got into this when with the discussion of uh uh the small business impact but I do understand that a significant portion of the producers in this marketplace um fall into the category not just of small businesses but but are more of the sort of home crafters and in DIY hobbyist portion of that particular market um should the commission finalize this rule uh will it apply to these home-based businesses and if so can you discuss a little bit about how the commission attends intends to address this segment of the marketplace um our economists can address that yes uh good morning um so the market is largely uh there are a lot of home crafters um selling and um as stated in the our IRFA we do expect that'll be a significant significant impact to them uh but we want to receive comments on exactly how it would impact them as you as as there's a lot of home crafters it's a very opaque market so we're asking for comments for more information about exactly how it would it would impact them okay um when it comes to the testing requirements that we're awarding what we're putting in place are we aware of test labs that that work with home-based businesses and sort of cater to uh these sort of specialty small batch DIY producers that can help with that I think we actually crossed that Rubicon uh with the um infant sling carries rule where we had that that same sort of uh uh working with the micro producers and them having to then start work with the labs so I think that they're more familiar with that process than uh than in the past okay I'm glad you're that we're we're asking comments for this I think that there is some opacity here that that uh makes sense and in addition to understanding the impact on on this segment of small businesses uh obviously it also poses uh I would posit some some very serious enforcement challenges um just given how diffused that market is but uh I think those are exactly the types of things that that that I in particular would would look forward to hearing comments on so again I thank you all for answering the questions and for your work not only on the presentation today uh but the the package and the proposal itself so thank you very much Mr. Trumka thank you um you got some questions on substitution here and and I think the way I look at it when we look at the death numbers in this product this is the regrettable substitute for a safe sleep space and you're making this safer so I don't think that's the thing we need to worry about here uh and as we continue to clear the various segments of other unsafe sleep surfaces I mean that's the goal uh and and get people back in cribs bass and that's from flat surfaces is the goal so getting rid of these regrettable substitutes is what you're talking about today thank you Mr. Wall I don't have any additional questions just to thank you again for your work I appreciate it and I add my thanks as well um for both the informant briefing and for the work that you've been doing in you know over the past years on this um and also to thanks to the commissioners for the active participation and thanks to the office of secretary as well as facilities communications for their assistance in this briefing um there's not been a request for a closed session so with that we are adjourned


This is a Witchspace News Special Bulletin, I'm Commander Burr. Frontier just dropped some more answers to the content creators regarding both Elite Dangerous and Odyssey, so we're going to run through those answers just now for you. If you enjoyed this video remember to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications and if you'd like to support our work you'll also find us on Patreon, links to everything you need are in the description below. So here we go then. The issue of PS4 players having trouble deploying fighters and SRVs has been raised specifically and the community team is investigating what the situation with the reported bugs is and is looking to get a response. If and when we hear anything about that we'll bring it to you in one of these bulletins. A question was asked regarding limitations that would prevent a player from exiting their ship or SRV in Odyssey and proceeding on foot. The answer is essentially anything that will kill you, so the temperature being too high or too low or the local gravity conditions being too high or too low. Your SRV still affords you a degree of protection but once that's gone it's your suit doing the work of keeping you alive instead, then the conditions required for your survival change. It was further clarified though that just because you can't walk on a planet because of the local conditions you can still bring a ship into the atmosphere, land and then drive around. Frontier have also confirmed that players will be able to walk around inside the current Thargoid ground installations and players will also be able to walk around the current Guardian sites. Access to Odyssey specific planets will be handled in much the same way as access to horizons planets were in the previous iteration of Elite Dangerous. Just to say if you don't own Odyssey then you can't land on an Odyssey unlocked planet. Frontier have confirmed also that whilst no changes to the balance of the current pantheon of ships are expected before Odyssey releases in a post Odyssey world a balance pass on the existing ships utility and performance is something they'd like to revisit. And in the regular Super Cruise News livestream this afternoon the community team revealed that not only will this Thursday's livestream feature the return of Twitch drops which grant in-game items to those that watch the stream on Twitch but the stream will also feature community favorite and creator of the Stellar Forge system that essentially populates the Galaxy of Elite Dangerous Dr. K. Ross and on the stream Dr. K will be talking about Elite Dangerous Odyssey. The stream is expected to kick off around 7pm UTC this coming Thursday the 18th of February. That's all the answers we have for you right now as soon as we get more information we'll post it here so make sure you're subscribed to the channel to ensure you don't miss anything. That's it for now thanks very much for watching we'll be back later this week with more videos until then 07 Commanders follow the Greens on the way out and do keep clear of the toast rack we very much look forward to seeing you next time.


Good evening, friends. Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A. S. Akademi for the date 24th of November 2023. Displayed here are the list of news articles that we will be going through today. Now, without wasting time, let's start the discussion. Look at this news article. This article is about the social audit of the Mandrega scheme. This news article reports that only six states and union territories have somewhat completed the social audit of works done under the Mandrega scheme. In such states, the social audit was done in more than 50% of the Gram Panchayats. According to the news article, Kerala is the only state to conduct social audit in 100% of the Gram Panchayats. The states are complaining that the social audit is delayed because the central government does not release the funds for the social audit units. On the other hand, the center is continuously saying that if the social audit are not conducted regularly, then the center's share of funds under the Mandrega will be withheld. Overall, the news article says that the high rate of corruption is one of the primary concern that hinders the effective social audit of Mandrega scheme. This is all about the news article given here. In this context in our discussion today, let us understand the concept of social audit in detail. First of all, what is social audit? A social audit is a process by which people are empowered to audit government schemes and programs along with the government officials. To say it in other words, social audit is the process of monitoring and verifying the implementation of government program by the local people. Social audit helps to ensure that the scheme appropriately reflects the priorities and preference of the local people. It also helps to verify whether the scheme most effectively serves the public interest. For example, let us take the Mandrega scheme. See, the central government has launched the Mandrega scheme in 2005 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005. On one hand, this scheme provides job guarantee to the rural households. On the other hand, this scheme helps to strengthen the rural economy through the creation of infrastructure. Basically, this scheme involves the participation of the rural household in creating rural infrastructure. See, the section 17 of the Mandrega Act mandates the conduction of social audit in all works done under the Mandrega scheme. So, this scheme empowers the rural people to audit the Mandrega scheme. This helps to discover the preference and priorities of the local people. This in turn enables the government authorities to alter the scheme according to the needs of the local people. This is one example of social audit in India. Now moving forward, let us see the origin of social audit in our country. The concept of social audit has been recognized for the first time in India by the introduction of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act in 1992. As we all know, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act have guaranteed constitutional status to Panjaitiraj institutions and the urban local bodies. These acts enable the local authorities to perform social audits in addition to their regular duties. Years later, the government included social audit as one of the main provisions to the 9th five-year plan. The 9th five-year plan emphasized that for the effective functioning of Panjaitiraj institution, the social audit must be conducted. Then the Mandrega Act that was enacted in 2005 mandates that social audit must be conducted on all works which are done under the Mandrega scheme. After that, the government has placed social audit as one of the mandatory provisions in various schemes like National Rural Livelyhood Mission, National Social Assistance Program, Pradhan Mandri Avas Yojana and so on. This is about the history of social audit in our country. Now moving on, let us see about the significance of social audit. Firstly, social audit brings in transparency and accountability in implementing government policies. Secondly, social audit helps to discover corruption and malpractices involved in the implementation of the scheme. Thirdly, social audit encourages the concept of participatory democracy by involving people directly in monitoring the progress of the government schemes. Fourthly, social audit helps the government to get real-time feedback on the outcome of the scheme. This in turn helps the government to work on proper areas. And finally, social audit helps the government to identify the preferences of the local people. This in turn helps the government to frame better policies that suit the local people. These are all some of the significance of social audit. Moving forward, let us see the challenges in conducting social audit in our country. The first and foremost problem is corruption. Most of the time, the government officials submit fake reports to the government without conducting social audit or they may delay submitting the reports. This is being done in areas where there are no proper work done under the scheme due to corruption. This defeats the whole purpose of social audit. Secondly, most people who audit the work do not follow the proper rules mandated under the scheme. This is due to difficulty in understanding social audit rules and lack of technical knowledge. In addition to this, there is no provision for penalties if the auditing people fail to adhere to the rules. This affects the effective implementation of social audit. And finally, there is no proper institutional mechanism to conduct and monitor social audits. This hinders the effective social audit of government programs. Apart from this, the people who are involved in social audit are not provided with any incentive. This factor discourages the active participation of the local people in social audits. These are some of the important challenges in conducting social audit in our country. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is social audit, then we saw the origin of social audit in India, then we saw the significance of social audit and the challenges in conducting social audit in our country. Now with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. According to this article, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to launch Diploma Courses on Villa Parti and Folk Music at the Tamil Nadu Dr. J. J. Lalitha Music and Fine Arts University. This decision has been taken on the request of Carnatic vocalist Mr. T. M. Krishna. In this background, let us understand the unique features of folk music and Villa Parti. See, folk music is a genre of music that has been passed over from generation to generation over several years. They are mainly passed on through oral means. While classical music adheres to the Natya Shastra rules and cultivates a Guru Sisha tradition, folk music is a music of the people and it has no hard and fast rules. They have a variety of themes and are of full of musical rhythms. They are also said to be beats allowing them to be dance oriented. There are various types of folk music associated with each state in our country. Moving forward, let us see the important features of folk music. Firstly, as we already saw, the knowledge associated with folk music is transmitted orally rather than in a written form. So, the musical composition cannot be traced to a specific source. Its propagation and survival are based on the acceptance by the local community. Secondly, some folk music consists of classical ragas. For example, Raga Manda is very popular in Rajasthani folk music. Thirdly, each performance is unique to a specific region and it is a reflection of the rural society and culture. They try to convey stories of life and traditions that have been forgotten are on the verge of disappearing. Fourthly, increased repetition is involved in this type of music. The first line of a folk music is important and usually the other lines are said to rhyme with it. Lyrics of the folk songs are mostly in the form of a set of questionnaire that help develop a relationship between the performer and the listener. Some of the famous themes of the folk music include agriculture, caste, region, children, God and Goddesses and local tradition. These are some of the important features of folk music. Moving forward, let us see some points about Villupattu. The term Villupattu means bow song. It is a form of musical theatre which is popular in Kerala and some part of Tamil Nadu. In Villupattu, stories of Ramayana are narrated using a bow-shaped instrument. It is one of the folk music in India. Simple tunes and verses make the story told by Villupattu easy to follow for the listener. The main storyteller narrates the story while striking the bow. The bow rests on a mud pot kept facing downwards. A co-performer beats the pot while singing. This is how a Villupattu musical theatre takes place. Since Villupattu is a form of musical storytelling method, the local government sometimes utilizes this as a vehicle for social message and propaganda. These are some important problems related points about Villupattu. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the unique features of folk songs and we also saw some important points about Villupattu. Now let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. This news article talks about a novel written by Kalki Krishnamurti. The title of the novel is Sivahamin Sabadham. In this particular novel, Kalki describes the role of Paranjodhi in aiding Pallava King Narasimha Varman 1 to capture the Vattapi. Vattapi used to be the capital of Badami Chalukyas and currently it is located in the Bijapur district of Karnataka. This news article mainly focuses on Paranjodhi who is also called Sirtundar. This is about the article given here. In this context in our discussion today, let us look at some of the problems related facts with respect to the Chalukya dynasty. See, the Chalukyas ruled part of southern and central India between the 6th century and the 12th century CE. There were three distinct but related Chalukya dynasties. Firstly, there is the Badami Chalukyas. They are the earliest Chalukyas with their capital at Badami which is also called as Vattapi. They ruled from mid 6th century. Badami Chalukyas started declining after the death of their greatest king, Pulikashin II in 642 CE. Secondly, we have the Eastern Chalukyas. They emerged after the death of Pulikashin II. They mainly ruled over the Eastern Deccan with the capital at Vengi. They ruled till the 11th century CE. Thirdly, there is the Western Chalukyas. They are the descendants of the Badami Chalukyas. They emerged in the late 10th century and ruled from Kalyani. Kalyani is nothing but modern-day Basava Kalyan. These are the three distinct but related Chalukya dynasties. Moving forward, let us look at the accomplishments of the Chalukya dynasty. Pulikashin I founded the Chalukya Empire with his capital at Vattapi.  Likewise, Mangalesha, brother of Kirtivarman I, conquered the Kadambas and the Gangas. The greatest of the Chalukya king was the Pulikashin II. He ruled from 609 CE to 642 CE. He extended the Chalukya rule to most part of the Deccan. Chinese pilgrim, Huang Zhang, visited the kingdom. Huang Zhang described Pulikashin II as a good and an authoritative king. Pulikashin II even received a Persian mission. It is depicted in the Ajanta cave painting. He also maintained diplomatic relations with the king of Persia, Kusru II. Though a Hindu, Pulikashin II was tolerant towards Buddhism and Jainism. He conquered almost the entire south-central India. He is famous for stopping the Northern King Harsha in his tracks while he was trying to conquer the southern part of the country. He had defeated the Pallava king Mahendra Verma I, but he was later defeated and killed by Mahendra Verma's son and successor Narasimha Verma I. After the defeat of Pulikashin II at the hands of the Pallava king Narasimha Verma I, Badami remained under the Pallava control for the next 13 years. This is how the fall of the Chalukyan Empire began. Now finally, let us look at the administration of the Chalukyas. See, the Chalukyas had a very good navy making them a maritime power. They also had a well-organized army. Their regime gave a boost to the development of the Kannada and the Telugu literature. Sanskrit along with the local languages also thrived. The temples under the Chalukyas are a good example of the Vesara style of architecture.  This style is called Deccan style or Karnataka Dravidha style or the Chalukyan style of architecture. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw various prelims related facts about the Chalukya Empire. Now with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. Our Prime Minister recently declared the extension of Prathan Mandiri, Garib Kalyan Annyojna for five more years. He announced this during an election rally in Chattisgarh. See, the scheme provides five kilogram of free food grains monthly to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act. So 80 crore Indians will continue receiving free food grains until 2028 through this initiative. On the other hand, Indian government aims to become the world's third largest economy by reaching a GDP of $5 trillion. This article raises a question that despite these economic growth, significant portion of our population will still experience hunger. This is about the editorial article. In our discussion today, we will understand the important points mentioned in the article through a mains answer rating approach. Before that, let us look at the syllabus. This topic comes under GS Paper 3 and it falls under the topic of Indian economy and issues related to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. This is the syllabus. Now let us look into the question. India's dream of becoming a $5 trillion economy is a realistic possibility. Critically comment. In this question, critically comment is the main directive word. This is one of the most commonly used directive in the mains examination. When the directive word is critically comment, we have to pick out the core points and give our opinion based on that. It is important that we should take a neutral ground by writing facts along with our viewpoints. As we know, the word critically comment demands a fair judgment. In this question, we have to write both the pros and the cons about the statement given in the question. This is how you have to approach the question when the directive word is critically comment. Now coming to today's question. The question asks us to critically comment on India's dream of becoming a $5 trillion economy. So we have to mention the steps taken in this record and also the challenges associated with the school. And finally, we have to provide a balanced conclusion. This is how we are going to approach this question. Okay, now let's start with the introduction.  India is one of the fastest growing major economies and it is currently ranked as the world's sixth largest economy. Projections of growth by international organizations remain encouraging for India. As expected by our Prime Minister, India is most likely to achieve a $5 trillion economy by 2028. The government has several ongoing initiative across various sectors focused on achieving this goal. This can be a good introduction for this question. Now coming to the body of the answer. In the body part, you should write the steps taken by the government then about the challenges in reaching the goal. Since it is a 10-mark question, some four or five points under each subending is sufficient. Now let us look at the steps taken by the government towards achieving the goal, which is $5 trillion economy by 2028. Firstly, you can write about the demographic dividend. As we know, India has a large and young population that can provide a huge potential workforce for the economy. Without reaping this demographic dividend, we cannot achieve our goal of economic growth. In this regard, our government is implementing various schemes like Prathan Mantri, Kushal Kendra, Sun-Called Program, Deen Dayal Upadaya, Graman Kushal, Yudhana, etc. This can be your first point. Now moving on, the second point you can mention is the steps taken by the government to boost private investment. See, private investment is a key driver of economic growth because it is private investment that will increase productivity, innovation, and competitiveness in the economy. To boost private investment, government has taken several steps. The steps include increasing ease of doing business, reducing corporate tax, providing credit guarantee, and attracting foreign direct investment. Here, production-linked incentive scheme can be mentioned. The production-linked incentive scheme was introduced in various sectors to encourage private investors. Also, the national single-window system was implemented to improve the case of ease of doing business for the investors. This can be your second point. Now, in the third point, you can mention about the steps taken by the government to provide proper infrastructure connectivity. Here, the most recent and the most significant step is the Pradhan Mandri Gatti Shakti National Master Plan. This plan is implemented by the Indian government to enhance infrastructure development and connectivity across the country. It aims to streamline and strengthen various sectors like transportation, energy, water, and technology. And through this, it aims to improve infrastructure and connectivity in our country. In addition to this, you can also mention about the industrial corridor development program, which was introduced by the government to strengthen infrastructure for industrial development. This can be your third point. Now, moving on to the fourth point, here you can mention about the Make in India initiative. The Make in India initiative is aimed to facilitate investment and enhance innovation and boost the manufacturing sector in our country. It aims to attract both domestic and foreign investment in various sectors like automobile, textile, electronics, defense, and infrastructure. These are some of the points you can mention about the steps taken by the government to accelerate the growth of Indian economy. Now, having addressed the first part of the question, now let us look at the challenges. Here, you have to highlight the challenges in achieving the $5 trillion economy. In this first, you can mention about unemployment. See, despite having a large demographic dividend, India still has a high level of unemployment and under-employment. High unemployment rate, mainly among youth, poses significant challenges to the economic growth. This can be your first point. Secondly, you can mention about inadequate infrastructure. Inadequate infrastructure in various sectors like transportation, energy, and healthcare slows down the economic progress of our country. Third, you can mention about income inequality. The growth in India is mainly focused on the top section of the economy. Due to this, there is huge income disparity. Disparities in income distribution hinders the inclusive growth. Without inclusive growth, there can be socio-economic imbalance. These socio-economic imbalance thereby affects the economic growth of our country. This can be your third point. Fourth, you can mention about the issues in the agricultural sector. See, India is a still agricultural country. But still, despite all these years, there are so much of challenges that the agriculture sector in India faces. The most common challenges include low productivity, lack of modernization, and formal distress associated with unpredictable weather. All these affects the rural economy. Since India is still largely a rural country, this affects the economic growth of our country. This can be your fourth point. Finally, you can mention about skill mismatch. Despite a lot of efforts taken by the government, there is still a huge mismatch in skill between the graduates and the needs of the industry. This is the main reason for unemployment and under-employment in our country. This also hinders our march towards $5 trillion economy. You can mention all these points about the challenges faced by India in reaching a $5 trillion economy. Now, having completed the body of the answer, let us see some points from the article which you can use in the editorial. The editorial here talks about the lessons from Japan. After World War II, Japan also worked very hard to become a large economy. But despite being the second largest economy, Japan faces various social issues. The issues include high suicidal rates, social withdrawal, and lonely deaths. This is because the economic growth in Japan did not benefit everyone. And some marginalized sections in Japan were left out in the Japan's economic growth story. It is due to this, Japan faces various social issues. And these social issues actually worsened after the 2008 economic crisis. Japan's economy went downhill and it was surpassed by China. You can mention the example of Japan in your answer and say that if economic growth is not coupled with social development, the issues that Japan faces right now will be faced by India in the future. So, while the Indian government aims to achieve a $5 trillion economy, our government must also ensure that the fruits of the economic development reaches all sections of the Indian population equally. This will help India address the socio-economic problems. This will help India address the socio-economic problems. You can mention all these points while writing about the challenges faced by India in achieving a $5 trillion economy. This is all about the body of the answer, now coming to the conclusion part. In the conclusion part, you can write that even if we achieve $5 trillion economic growth, there is a big question of achieving inclusive growth. As we saw the lessons from Japan's economic growth, we must focus more on inclusive growth of all sections rather than rapid growth of fewer individuals. To ensure continued robust and sustainable growth of Indian economy, a strategic approach must be used by our government. This approach must address the fiscal, monetary, trade, industrial and institutional policies of our country. This could be a balanced conclusion for this question. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw through a mains question about the steps taken by the government to become to make India a $5 trillion economy and we also saw the challenges associated with it. Now let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this editorial article. This article talks about trade deficit in India. So first let us understand what is trade deficit. Then we shall see the points mentioned in the article. So what is trade deficit? It's very simple. A trade deficit occurs when a country's import exceeds its exports during a given period of time. It is also referred to as negative balance of trade. The opposite of trade deficit is trade surplus. With this basics, let us see the important points mentioned in the article. The editorial gives us two reasons for increasing trade deficit in our country. The first reason mentioned in the article is increase in goods import. Last month witnessed a surge in goods import. This surge was mainly due to festival-related demand for items like jewellery and electronics. The other reason is decline in exports. The actual value of exports in October is the lowest in the past 12 months. These two factors had led to increase in trade deficit in our country. To address this issue, government has taken efforts to control imports through measures like import licensing norms. But this has not yielded the effect as expected by the government. So the article suggests that in addition to taking efforts to control imports, government must also take steps to boost exports from our country. This is because increase in export is crucial for job creation and economic growth in our country. These are some of the points mentioned in the article given here. And that's all regarding this discussion. Now moving on to the next discussion. This article is about chromium pollution. The article says that the National Green Tribunal Southern Branch has instructed to speed up the resolution of chromium pollution in Rannipet. The tribunal mentioned that even though authorities were given six months, there has been no progress made in over an year. This is about the news article. In this context, let us cover the basics about chromium, its distribution and also the health impacts. See, chromium is a lustrous brittle and silver grey metal. This metal can be highly polished. This metal is used in a variety of area. So now let us see the applications of chromium. Chromium is an important alloying metal. It is used in the production of alloys with other materials like nickel, cobalt and copper. Chromium compounds are used as industrial catalysts and pigments. Chromium is also an essential trace element for humans because it helps us to digest glucose. Chromium is electroplated into metal objects to make them resistant to corrosion. For example, iron when electroplated with chromium will become resistant to corrosion. These are the major applications of chromium. Moving forward, let us see the distribution of chromium. In India, Odisha has more than 93% of the chromium deposits. Sukinda Valley in Odisha is famous for its chromium resources. Manipur, Nahalan, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh also has minor deposits of chromium. If you look at the global level, Kazakhstan has the world's largest reserve of chromium. But South Africa is the world's largest producer of chromium. This is about the distribution of chromium in India and in the world. Finally, let us see the health impacts of chromium. There are different forms of chromium. For example, chromium-3 is an essential nutrient for humans in small amounts. It is found even in certain food items. However, exposure to high levels of chromium-6 from industrial resources can be harmful and can cause health issues. It can lead to skin irritation and lung problems. When inhaled, chromium compound affects the respiratory tract. Chromium inhalation increases the risk of lung, nasal and sinus cancer. Severe dermatitis and painless skin ulcers can result from contact with chromium-6. Note that chromium is also considered to be a carcinogenic calamity. These are the possible health impacts of chromium. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we mainly covered about the application and the potential health impacts of chromium. And with this, we have come to the end of the news article discussion session. Now, let us take up the practice problems questions. We have four practice problems questions today. Let us see them one by one. Look at the first question. Here, four Chalukin kings are given. We have to find during whose reign Hwang Song visited the Chalukin kingdom. From our discussion, we know that the correct answer here is option C. Publication 2. Moving on to the second question. This question asks us to find among which of the four given option the Manganiyar communities related to C. Manganiyars are Muslim communities in the Jaisalmar and Barma district of Rajasthan. They are famous for their classical folk music and the playing of Kartals. Here, Kartals are a traditional percussion instrument that is used in Rajasthani folk music. Manganiyars are patronized by the Bharti Rajputs. They still sing on various auspicious occasions and festivals. So, the correct answer here is option B, musical tradition in northwestern India. Moving on to the third question. Which of the following properties is not associated with chromium? The first option is wrong because we know that chromium is corrosion resistant. The second option is also wrong because when chromium is exposed to air, it forms blue-green oxide layer. The third option is also wrong. We know that chromium has good electrical conductivity. The correct answer here is option C because chromium is not the softest metal at room temperature. Actually, chromium is pretty hard in the room temperature. So, the correct answer here is option D. Moving on to the last question. Here, three statements are given. We have to find how many of the statements given here about trade deficit are correct. Look at the first statement. When money spent on imports exceed the money spent on exports, trade deficit occurs. This statement is correct. This we saw in the discussion itself. When imports exceed exports, trade deficit occurs. Moving on to the second statement. Trade deficit will result in currency depreciation. This statement is correct. During trade deficit, a country imports more. It is using up its foreign exchange reserves. So, when the amount of foreign exchange reserve in a country decreases, the currency of the country starts depreciating. This is why trade deficit results in currency depreciation. So, statement two is also correct. Moving on to the third statement. Trade deficit allows countries to consume less than they produce. This statement is incorrect. Because trade deficit allows countries to consume more than they produce. Because during trade deficit, countries are importing more than they are producing. This means there is increased consumption in the country. So, statement three is incorrect. So, the correct answer for this question is option B only two. And that's all regarding the discussion today. If you like this video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSC preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.


I've spent eight years designing products for Fortune 500 companies and hyper growth startups. Here's my design process. Try to solve a problem that scratches my own itch. Jump immediately into Figma.  Then I recreate someone else's design. I announce to the world that I'm working on something. I quickly forget about it in two weeks. Then I move on with my life. Then I move on with my life. Here's the secret.


Hey below base. Thanks for watching. Okay. It is time for a McCurry sold video I'm gonna tell you where I got it what I paid for it and what it sold for and I'm McCurry 10% fees no returns no listing fees Now am I do I sell as much on McCurry as I do on eBay? Absolutely not Tips for McCurry. I've been getting a lot of questions in my calm About yes, I ship free on McCurry unless it's like really heavy odd shaped big package Then I charge the buyer shipping But I feel like once I started doing free shipping on McCurry sales started picking up so I just kind of Make the price higher to cover the shipping and And I always make my prices a little bit higher too because most people want to make offers so And you can do price drops on McCurry So definitely keep that in mind. Don't list the item for what you want to sell it for because then you can't price drop and then you can't take offers and The free shipping is going to come out of your profits So definitely increase the price a little bit So I hope that answers that question another question is how do I ship it? I ship with pirate ship So basically I just go over and I copy the The address and I put it on pirate ship. All right, let's look at some of these solds love McCurry I wish I sold way more on McCurry, you know, I wish it was Like eBay just offers coming in all the time But I am very happy with my sales on here. So I had an item sell for a hundred dollars. You're gonna see it So let's but it was free shipping and I think it costed me like 18 to ship it, but that's okay. All right, here we go I'm rambling. I'm rambling. Don't mind the rambling. All right screen share is up The first item I sold are these lot of three vintage Halloween music records I picked these up for 25 cents each They were in one of my recent garage sale haul videos. So I'm all in for 75 cents I sold these for $40. They sold pretty quick and the buyer paid No, I'm sorry. I paid the shipping but they went media mail. So it wasn't bad at all. So Mercari takes four bucks. I Paid 75 cents. So really good margins The next item is this playmobile Egyptian Egyptian play set and I got this free from a family member who knows what I do and they just give me stuff sometimes and Yeah, so I got this free and this is my hundred dollar item. I did have free shipping on it I think it was like 18 to ship this and Mercari takes their 10 bucks. I paid to ship it. So everything left over was pure profit. It was not complete I mean, these are just pieces from this set. So if it had been like in the box complete, it probably would have went for way more So definitely be on the lookout for things like this at garage sales and thrift stores The next item I got this free at a garage sale It was in the free box and I sold this for $40 with I paid the shipping and it's a vintage Sony Sports FM stereo Walkman and It's yellow The next item I sold are these tag books. So the tag books are still selling I sold these for $20 with free shipping. I did ship these media mail and These were a bulk buy of tag items. I did not have much in them at all probably less than a buck in the whole lot The next item I sold is this I think it's Sakura beaded strawberry coin purse. This came from a garage sale. I did sit on this one for a little while Let's see. I listed it six June 26, okay Yeah of 2019. I'm like, I thought I was thinking maybe I had it on eBay and I just moved it to mercury But no, I listed this in June of 2019. So it's been sitting on here for a year but I sold it for $15 free shipping and I picked it up at a garage sale I think it was 50 cents or a dollar and it's super cute It's like this little beaded purse. Super cute The next item I sold is this Thomas the Tank Engine train conductor.  He's teeny tiny and I sold him for $12 with free shipping The next item I sold is this team umizoomi bot figure. He's like this big again You guys if you see these types of toys at garage sales, I Mean $11 with free shipping. It cost me less than $3 to ship it. I had hardly anything in it That's pretty good profit for one little toy. Let's see. He's this big The next item I sold is this huge lot of girls toys and This sold I think within 24 hours and I tried to put like I think there's I get these things at garage sales and I can't identify them like of course. I know there's some Disney princesses But I don't know like who goes with what and I think there's some pet shop in here I don't know but anyhow, I just decided to lot it up could I have made more selling it in smaller lots most definitely But I sold it super fast and it sold for $85 with free shipping I'm pretty sure I had this in a medium flat rate box So I think it cost me around 12 to ship The next item are these Barbies again. I didn't want to piece them out So I just threw them in my light box and I put a price on them and they sold really quick for $85 with free shipping and I Will give you a little tip. So the flat rate box the large flat rate box that is Kind of in the shape of a square I Could not fit these into now the game The game box the large flat rate game box. I fit them into it. So Sometimes you have to play around with the boxes to find the one that fits your item the best if that makes sense so I Saved money doing it that way. Otherwise. I would have had to ship these by weight The next item are these Disney Princess dress-up shoes and I had two separate lots and they asked me to If I would sell them here's the other lot all of them For $70 free shipping and I do believe they were in the same state as me So I went ahead and took that offer And I picked these up at a garage sale It was there were so many of them. I just kept grabbing them and I had a huge pile and I Bundled so I don't remember what I paid for them, but it was I saved $5 or less The next item is this vintage Barbie for parts made in Japan. She's got some issues going on with her legs Let me see here her foot is split So she's not in great condition, but people will use these maybe she somebody needed an arm or something like that But this sold for $26 with free shipping This goat. Okay, so this is a I think it's pronounced Shley Billy goat. I picked this up at a garage sale I think it was a quarter and I got a horse a goat and I think this was in one of my videos I think it was a quarter. Maybe it was 50 cents each But I think I bundled it and they gave me, you know some a deal Anyhow, I sold this goat for $15 with free shipping you guys so how cool is that and I have a big tote of these things and there's Shalei and I think there's another brand like triple a or something like that And I've been hanging on to I'm thinking I'm gonna list them as a big lot But I had these from the garage sale and I'm like, you know what? I'm just gonna try a few separate instead of throwing it with my other ones that I haven't listed and I've so I just sold the horse. So I'm pretty excited about that So be on the lookout for these little animals people will pick them up for sure $15 guys And then I paid the shipping which was about to something high twos Okay, you guys, I don't know if you remember my garage sale haul But I picked these up in the free box and it's Disney's It's from the brave show movie and it's Disney and they're the triplets and These little guys fit into the back of the bears and they hide So I sold these for $25 with free shipping no joke and they sold super quick. I think it was within a day or two $25 free shipping. Yes, they're tiny the next item is this vintage flower brooch and This was purchased by Moonstone Mamas. She watched my video and she's like, hey that blue flower brooch I collect stuff like that and I'd like what do you want to pay for it? And she's like 15 and I'm like, okay She said 15 plus shipping and I'm like no She's been a great support of my channel. She I've done several videos with her On my unboxing. So I just gave her free free shipping. I put it on Mercari for her and 15 free shipping What was I gonna tell you bulk buy I bought it on eBay to sell on eBay. This was a part of that lot And this is her channel here. It's Moonstone Mamas and her and her mom do jewelry auctions together and She has a great Channel lots of fun. So definitely go and check her out. It is Moonstone Mamas and She helped me do unboxings of the gemstones from the I bought it on eBay to sell on eBay bulk buy that I was just telling you about and She is so knowledgeable about stones. So if you guys want to learn about jewelry, please go subscribe to her she is awesome and It's Moonstone Mamas. So you can just put that into your YouTube browser and it will pull it right up and Thank you so much Devin for your purchase. I appreciate you All right, the next item are these Lane Bryant jeans shorts I sold these for $22 with free shipping and they sold super super fast And they had been sitting on eBay for quite a bit and I was like, you know what? I'm gonna cross post those over to Mercari and I think they sold within 24 hours and These came from a discount store and they are new without tags and I paid about three bucks for those The next item also came from that same discount store. I paid about three dollars each for these They're new without tags. They do have the panty liner thing in them The inner tags are black lined just so to prevent store returns Somebody saw both of these they asked me to bundle them So I sold the bundle for $45 with free shipping and I was all in for both items for about six Another brawl I sold this for $24 free shipping. I picked this up at a discount store for I Think it was $6 plus tax The next item is this Harry Potter plush ball. This might have been in my last video I apologize if it was it's kind of hard on Mercari to They don't put things in order very well but This came from my I got it free at garage sale video and I sold this for $15 with free shipping This little hippo also came from the I got it free garage sale and I sold this for $30 free shipping This brawl and this brawl these were retail arbitrage. I picked these up on Acute one. I think I had between Six and eight dollars in each one. So, you know when your retail arbitrage and Your margins aren't always going to be as big But I took a best offer of $45 free shipping for both these brawls And I have tons of kaseek brawls if you guys need a bra I also have tons of clothing I have over 3,000 items listed so be sure to go down in the description of the video Click on those links that will take you to my eBay my Poshmark and my Mercari and shop around because Pricing is different depending on the platform and I have different deals going on on each platform like Mercari I do a lot of free shipping eBay on clothing I'll do like buy two items get $5 shipping it just depends if you add items to your cart on eBay those discounts will be Reflected and if you're on eBay and you add it to your cart and the discounts aren't reflected You can always send me an offer with a private message and make sure you put Bolo buddies If you're ever going to make an offer on something, please. Let me know that you're a subscriber I'm Very negotiable with my subs my subscribers because I appreciate you guys so much. All right the next item is This vintage McDonald's children's bizer again This was given to me free and I sold this for $17 free shipping and that person also bought this But they did not ask me to bundle so I had to ship them separately and this is a McDonald's apron And I sold this for $30 with free shipping The next item is this kiss doll.  So This was a loose figure that I picked up at a garage sale for next to nothing and I sold it for $25 free shipping the next item are these cute little vintage pewter angel earrings and I sold these for $20 free shipping they came from my I bought it on eBay to sell on eBay both buy 350 pounds These Maui and Sun shorts, okay, so the the gal that purchased these she's like I haven't received them I haven't received them they took forever to show up I almost shipped her another pair and I checked the tracking before I went to mail them out and it was just super Delayed because of everything going on so they did make it and I sold these for $17 free shipping And these are a size 36 or 1x tall So which is harder to find but they're also harder to sell so $17 free shipping on those. Oh And I got those for I think two or three dollars at a discount store The next item is this linear and Eva. I think it is It's a leather cuff says take flight and this was a part of my bulk buy I bought it on eBay to sell on eBay 350 pounds I Feel like I've said that over and over and over again, which is great because that means I'm selling items from that lot This leap leapster case backpack and charger So these are just accessories and items that go with the leapster not the actual leapster And I sold this for $17 free shipping and this was a part of my dad tag my tag book Toteful of stuff These little puppy surprise replacement puppies came from a thrift store. They were in a bag I can't remember what I paid for him It's in one of my haul videos my thrift videos But I sold these for $11 with free shipping and I have a bunch of puppy surprise Like it's actually the puppy with the puppies inside or the dog with the puppies inside of it I think I have a Kitten and then some puppies, but they're listed in my store that are still for sale if anyone's interested This catchphrase original game. I can't remember where I got this or what I paid for it. I'm blanking out I'm usually pretty good at remembering this might have been a thrift store buy But I can't remember I usually I pay like a buck or two for things like this I sold it for $38 with free shipping always check These a little electronic games you guys some of them can be a major bow. Well The next item I think I got that at a thrift store Not a hundred percent sure is this leafster Excuse me L max with six games and the carrying case so this for $31 free shipping and this was a part of the tag book lot The last item are these vintage fur mink pelts. I think these were in the free box at a garage sale And I sold these for $25 free shipping All right, you guys that is it for my Mercari sales Comment below. Are you selling on Mercari? if not, why not I use list perfectly to cross-post all my items from eBay to Mercari Poshmark grailed That's it. Oh and Etsy So if you have not checked out lists perfectly definitely check it out If you want to try list perfectly you can use my coupon code which will get you 30% off your first month All the details are down in the description of the video. So be sure to check that out Thanks for watching. Thanks for being here Be sure to like comment subscribe and share and there should be a couple things popping up other videos If you haven't seen them be sure to check them out. Thanks for watching


So there's a lot of big action in this film. What was your most memorable moment from filming? You know what was what is really funny and like as many times it happened and this is not to down our technology this movie made incredible advancements but it occasionally the avatars I don't know if you remember this on the monitors their leg would stick out or the hands would be got through their chest like that it never got old but I love I love that word that happened because what happens is like basically there's a lot of people in the motion capture floor and it can't track all of the the sensors on your suit some of the reflective markers are covered and then the leg it just gets stuck out like this which is great and what about like funny stuff because you're working together for hours and hours and hours Olivia thought that I stunk I didn't think it you did your offense Ty but you also did ask me to smell your armpit and no I didn't I don't think I know why have you deleted history I have not you didn't I don't know but also I think we all smell because we're in motion capture in this volume this big white space with all these lights and motion capture suits are thick they're like this they're like this jacket felt and velcro and so we all collectively smelled really bad when we were one day were you kept man for you it was only on the odd occasion I don't want to paint a picture like we we didn't wash no well I didn't there was also that this we have to do this dance in the movie and we had these prongs coming out from our head gear and they had two cameras on them and it's supposed to be a very intimate scene and I think we you know our faces are so close and it's like we're gonna kiss and we when we were shooting it we were like this because yeah because sometimes our yeah our antlers would get hooked together and like someone would have to run in during the middle yeah on hawkers oh no so did you regularly get stuck yeah just doing scene with like neck issues but sometimes we try to keep it going as well you get hooked up but you're like well that was just trying to keep it yeah because you're seeing motion capture suits but what are you actually seeing just the volume so you have 150 infrared sensors and you're wearing it's a completely empty room on a white carpet you only have the length of the volume half the size of a football pitch so if you're if you're running and there's a dialogue going on it's literally like you do two lines and then you have to go back and start again and run and pick up where you left off and capture each