 A very good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu newspaper analysis brought to you by Shankar IAS Academy. Today's date is 13th of January 2024. Now before getting into the news article discussion, I have an important announcement for you. Shankar IAS Academy's Problems Fitness Test Series of 2024 Batch 1 is going to start on 22nd January 2024. The test will be conducted on daily basis and it will cover a total of 63 tests consisting of 37 half test, 6 revision test, 7 full test and 10 CZ test. It will also cover 3 mock test as well. You can give the test both on the online and offline modes. You can also choose to write a 50 questions test paper or a 100 questions test paper depending upon your preparation level. So enrol as soon as possible and check your progress in your problems preparation. So with this happy note, let us look into the list of articles for the day. These are the list of articles that we are going to discuss today. Aspirants, you will not get video for the next four days due to Pongal holidays, but the articles will be covered in the subsequent days. So now let's straight away get into the first news article discussion. This news article talks about the inauguration of the Mumbai Trans Harbor Link by our Prime Minister. During the inauguration address, our prime minister mentioned about the various infrastructure projects completed by the current government. So this is about the article given here. So in this news article discussion today, we'll see some points about the Mumbai Trans Harbor Link Bridge. So the official name of Mumbai Trans Harbor Link is Atal Setu Nihava Seva Sea Link. The total length of the bridge is 22 kilometers. It includes a 16.5 kilometer ceiling and it includes a bridge on land at both sides, totally having 5.5 kilometer in length. This extensive bridge is the longest over the sea in the country. It comprises a twin carriageway six lane bridge over the Tane Creek in the Arabian Sea, connecting Savry in Mumbai to Chile in Rhaigarh district. The main objective of this project is to enhance connectivity within the Mumbai metropolitan region, especially to reduce travel time between Mumbai and Navy Mumbai. Apart from reducing travel time, it also aims to decongest existing routes and thereby promoting economic development in the region. Japan International Cooperation Agency or the JICA agreed to fund 80 percentage of the project cost with a remaining portion shared by the state and the central governments. The total expenditure of the project amounts to 21,200 crore rupees of which 15,100 crore is a loan from JICA. So now let's move on to the expected benefits of this project. See the first benefit is improved connectivity as I said earlier. According to a study by MMRDA that is Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and JICA, the empty hutshell is expected to significantly reduce travel time between Savry and Chile from 61 minutes to less than 16 minutes. It will also improve connectivity to Navy Mumbai International Airport, Mumbai Pune Expressway, Mumbai Goa Highway and Javaharlal Nehru Port. In addition to this, the project is anticipated to enhance economic integration of Navy Mumbai with Mumbai. This will benefit areas like Panvel, Alibabaup, Pune and Goa. So these are the expected advantages of the project. Now coming to the concerns regarding the project. Firstly, the common commuters might find the bridge unattractive. This is because the expected toll rate for the bridge is Rs 250 for a one-way crossing. Due to this, the common commuter might find the bridge unattractive. Also there is no clarity about the availability of public transport. The absence of announced public transport facility like dedicated buses raises questions about the accessibility and concerns and convenience of the bridge for the common public. So these are all the concerns raised regarding the project. So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about Mumbai Trans Harbor Link Bridge, then its objectives and benefits. So with these learned points, now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this news article. The news here is that the DRDO has conducted a successful flight test of the new generation, Aakash Surface 2 Air Missile. So in this context, let us see few important points about new generation Aakash missile which is in short called as Aakash NG. See Aakash NG or Aakash New Generation is a medium range mobile surface 2 air missile defense system. It is developed by the defense research and development organization in short called as DRDO. Currently, it is being produced by Bharat Dynamics Ltd and Bharat Electronics. It serves as a successor to the Aakash and Aakash IS series. It has incorporated significant improvements for enhanced performance. Talking about its important features, some of the key important features of Aakash NG include a dual pulse solid rocket motor, canisterized launcher and an AESA multifunction targeting radar. These enhancements aims to improve its probability of kill while reducing the ground operation and logistics footprint. Here the canister launcher makes the Aakash NG easily deployable compared to its predecessors. It is designed for improved reaction time. The deployment time is less than 20 minutes between transportation and ready to fire mode. The second stage of the missile features a dual pulse solid rocket motor. This is lighter than the air breathing ramjet engine used in earlier versions. This reduces the weight of the platform. The active electronically scanned array multifunction radar enhances the missile's effectiveness against targets with low radar cross section. Finally, note that Aakash NG has a range of 70 kilometer. This is significantly high when compared to the earlier version that has a range of only 25 kilometer. So these are all certain important features of Aakash NG missile. Remember both the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force are planning to intake this missile. So these learnt points now let us move on to the next news article discussion. Take a look at this editorial article. This editorial article talks about the facts and issues in the contemporary Indian police forces. The author of the article talks about the problems like lack of technological capabilities, political biasness and etc in a detailed manner. So in this news article discussion, let us understand some of the important points given in the news article using our mains answer writing approach. Now let me read all the question for you. Discuss the need and significance of police reforms in the recent context of rise in crime. See this question can be asked in GS paper 3 under the syllabus various security forces and agencies and their mandate. Now let us see how to approach this particular question. See the only keyword in the question is discuss. So in the introduction part, you can write about the importance of the police in India. Then you can tell a shocking act about the low police stress in the country. Then you can split the body of the answer into two parts. In the first part, you can talk about the need for the police reforms and in the second part, you can write about the significance of such reforms. Then in the conclusion part, you can write about the way forward by telling the recent initiatives. So this is how we are going to approach this particular question. Now let's start with the introduction part. Here you can write that according to Crime in India for 2022 report by NCRB, there has been an increasing trend of crimes in society. There is a 4 percentage increase in the crime against women and 8.7 percentage increase against children. It also highlights new types of crimes like cyber crime, crime against senior citizens, environmental related crimes and etc. This indicates the increasing importance of police forces in the country. Apart from this, a recent survey by Lokniti and CSDS found that less than 25 percentage of Indians trust the police. Now this has become a paradox because on one side the issues are increasing but on the other side public trust is decreasing. So it is in the national interest we should bring reforms in the police to increase the public trust. In this way, let us see the need and significance of the police reform in our analysis. So this way you can give the introduction and link it to the main body of the answer. Now coming to the first part of the answer, here you have to write about the needs for police reform. Firstly, there is a low police to people ratio in the country. See the sanctioned strength of the police was around 2.8 million in 2017 but only 1.9 million police officers were employed across the country. This shows a 30 percentage vacancy rate with a limited strength. They are also forced to do orderly and other jobs as well. This deprives the police of its strength. Now this first issue should be addressed. The second important issue is the issue of corruption in the police force. Police are going to be in contact with the people on daily basis. So it is very important to address the corruption issue in the police force. Thirdly, the psychological pressure in the force. See they are having little improvements in pay scale and promotion. This is also affecting their field deprived than other departments. Apart from this, the low rank personnel, they are often verbally abused by their seniors or forced to work in inhuman conditions. This is replicated in the increasing suicides among the police forces. Fourthly, lack of technological capabilities. See one of the reason for low conviction rate in India is poor quality of investigation by police. This is because in many of the cybercrime and white collar crimes, the police lack modern technological capabilities which are necessary to perform quality investigations. Fifthly, various other issues like biasness towards political masters than infrastructural issues. These issues are hinging the need for reforms. So you can highlight these points in the first part of the body and in the second part you can talk about the significance of reforming the police force. Firstly, reforming police force will strengthen criminal justice system in the country. See the reform will increase the capabilities of the police to investigate and put up a charge sheet. This will ultimately result in the lowering of pendency of cases in the country. Secondly, it will result in the optimal utilization of human resources. See we have more educated policemen in the lower echelons than before. Though this may be due to the high rate of unemployment in India, we can tap this resources for the betterment of the nation. Thirdly, the gender sensitive police force will be a panacea for the increasing trend of attacks on the women in the country. Note that we can use the idea of 33% women reservation in police to make it more gender neutral. Fourthly, the reformed police force will lead to increased public trust and increase in compliance. This is already evident from the NCRB data which says registration of cases witnessed a 4.5% decline compared to 2021. This means people are reluctant to go to the police station and complaint. We need to reverse this phenomenon by increasing the reforms. You can write these points in the second half of the answer. Now coming to the conclusion part, here you have to write way forward by stressing the reforms which has already been done and the need for new ones. For example, you can write that we can start by implementing the recommendation of second ARC. It asks us to separate the criminal investigation from other police functions like maintenance of law and order, establishment of state police boards and etc. Secondly, we can take steps to implement the smart police force plan of the central government. This will make the police force smart that is strict and sensitive, modern and mobile, alert and accountable, reliable and responsive, especially technosavy and trained. Apart from this, timely justice depends on the capability of the police force, so we should take immediate steps to address the lacunae in the police and increase their capabilities. So this way you can conclude the answer for this question. So in this news article discussion we saw in detail about why there is a need for police reforms in the context of recent crime and then we saw about the significance of police reforms. So these learnt points and let us move on to the next news article discussion. Now take a look at this news article. According to the news article, National Investigation Agency NIA has filed a charge sheet against four members of an Islamic State in Trishur Kerala. So in this news article discussion let us understand about NIA from the exam perspective. First of all what is NIA? NIA is the National Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency of India. It was created after 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. NIA was created with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008. It functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The headquarters of NIA is in Delhi. It has eight branches in Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Rajpur and Jammu. So what are the mandates of NIA? See NIA is mandated to investigate all the offenses which are affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India. Apart from this if an offense affect friendly relations with foreign states then it also comes under the mandate of NIA. Apart from this NIA investigates the cases against attacks on atomic and nuclear facility, smuggling of arms, drugs and fake Indian currency and infiltration from across the borders and etc. So what are the jurisdictions of NIA? See the NIA's jurisdiction extends to the whole of India and also applies to Indian citizens outside the country. It also extends to the persons in the service of the government wherever they are posted. Thirdly it also includes persons on ships and aircrafts registered in India wherever they may be. Finally it applies to the persons who commit a scheduled offense beyond India against the Indian citizens or affecting the interest of India. Such scheduled offenses are given here you can go through it. Know that the NIA was amended in 2019. This amendment has increased the mandate of the agency to include new offenses like human trafficking, counterfeit currency, sale or manufacture of prohibited arms, cyber terrorism under its ambit. Moreover it empowers the government to designate session codes as special codes to conduct trials of scheduled offenses. So with these learnt points now let us move on to the next part of the news article discussion which is the preliminary practice question discussion. Now look at this first question on the left side infrastructure project names are given and on the right side states are given you have to find how many pass given here is or correct. See the correct answer here is option C only three except the third bar all the others are correct the Dola Sathya bridge which is also known as Bupen Hazarika Setu is located in Assam. This is a bridge built across the Lohit river the bridge is the first permanent road connection between the northern Assam and eastern Arunachal Pradesh. So here the correct answer for the question is option C only three. The second question is about NIA three statements are given and you have to find how many statements given here is all correct. First statement says NIA was created in the aftermath of parliament attack of 2001 this statement is incorrect NIA was created after the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Second statement says only central government can refer the cases to NIA. This statement is also wrong because the state governments can also refer the cases to NIA. Third statement says the director general of NIA is appointed by president. See this statement is wrong the NIA is headed by director general but he is appointed by central government. His powers are similar to the powers exercisable by a director general of police in respect of the police force in a state. So here none of the statements are correct so the correct answer for the question is option D none. Moving on this question asks you to find how many of the missile names or surface to air missile. The correct answer here is only three Trishul Akash and Barak all the three or surface to air missile Astra is a air to air missile Helena is anti tank guided missile it will be launched from air so it is like a air to surface missile. So the correct answer here is option B only three. With this we came to the end of the news article discussion if you like the video hit like do comment and don't forget to subscribe to Shankara IS Academy see you on 18th January.