 Good evening aspirants. Welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar I.S. Academy for the date 8th of January 2024. Displayed here are the list of news articles we will be going through today. Before getting into the discussion, I have an important announcement to make. Are you passionate about mastering geography as an optional subject? Here's your chance to excel. Get ready to deeper into geography with our esteemed faculty Mr. Shabir I. Bashir. Whether you prefer offline sessions in Chennai or online access from other branches, this batch caters to your learning preferences. Prepare to enrich your understanding of geography with comprehensive teaching sessions designed to help you as your exams. Mark your calendars for January 20th 2024 and join us for an enriching educational journey. Don't miss out on this opportunity to elevate your geography optional score. For enrollment and further details, visit our website. With this happy announcement, let's get into the news article discussion. Look at this news article. This article from Sunday's newspaper talks about simultaneous elections. The present law commission constituted under Justice Ritu Raj Ausati is currently examining the possibility to conduct national, state and local polls simultaneously. The commission has invited political parties to discuss on the matter. It has also asked the public to record their opinion and suggestions before Jan 15th through a dedicated website. This is about the news article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through the pros and cons of holding simultaneous elections using our mains answer rating approach. Let me read through the question for you. Simultaneous election to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies will limit the amount of time and money spent in electioneering, but it will reduce the government's accountability to the people. Discuss. See this is a previous year question asked in GS paper 2. Now let us see how to approach this question. See the only keyword in the question is discussed. When the keyword is discussed, you are expected to examine and analyze various aspects of the topic. And at the end, you have to give a balance to judgment. This is how we are going to address this question. Now coming to the introduction part. In the introduction part, you can give a brief introduction about simultaneous election, and then you can write a line about how simultaneous elections will have an impact on government's accountability. This will help the examiner to understand that you have understood the demands of the question. For example, you can write like this. Simultaneous election or one nation, one election is not something new to India. It was a norm in India until 1967. It got disrupted due to premature dissolution of some legislative assemblies in the subsequent years. Since then, many attempts have been made to revive the practice. One of the arguments against simultaneous election is that it reduces the government's accountability to the people. But in reality, it is the frequent election that deviates the attention of the lawmakers from the core issues of good governance and development to campaigning for election. This can be your introduction for this question. Now moving on to the main body of the answer. Here you can split the main body of the answer into two parts. First, you can write about the advantages of conducting simultaneous election, and then you can write about the disadvantages of conducting simultaneous elections. Remember, while writing the answer, you have to address all the dimensions of the topic. Now, we shall start to answer the first part of the question. First, let us write about the advantages of conducting simultaneous selection. Firstly, it saves public money and helps in reducing the burden on the administrative setup and the security forces. See at present, the scenario is that at least one part of the country is witnessing an election at any given year. When elections are conducted to the House of the People, the expenditure incurred will be borne by the central government. Similarly, the expenditure incurred while conducting elections to the state assemblies is borne by the concerned state government. This puts tremendous burden on the public money. So, if the elections to the House of the People and the state assemblies are held together, the expenditure will be distributed between the government of India and the state government in a ratio equally. The saved public money can be used for some other development purpose. This is the first advantage. Secondly, the simultaneous election will contribute to the reduction of policy paralysis caused by the imposition of model code of conduct during election day. Here, the model code of conduct is a set of guidelines applicable to the political party and the candidates to ensure free and fair election. On one hand, the model code of conduct prevents the rollout of populist measures by the ruling party to ensure their win in the election. But on the other hand, it causes interruption on the governance and the developmental programs. The frequency of this policy paralysis can be reduced if elections are held only once in five years. The third advantage is that the simultaneous elections reduce the opportunity for political parties to choose political convenience over public interest. See, during the election time to lure voters, the political parties concede to popular demands without any consideration of public interest. For example, political parties compete in promising individual benefits like social welfare pension, loan waiver, free housing, food subsidy, free electricity, etc. See, these practices will be reduced substantially if simultaneous election were brought in. There will be a better focus on taking up measures which are beneficial to the public at the long run. There would also be substantial reduction in hate speeches, violence and other law and order problem if simultaneous elections are conducted. The fourth advantage is that the simultaneous election brings state on par with the center. If the elections are to be held simultaneously once in five years, the elected state governments cannot be dismissed easily. This reduces the anomalies created by Article 356 of the Indian Constitution and hence its strength and federalism. Finally, simultaneous election will increase voter participation. The rational behind this is that casting votes can be more comfortable for voters when the elections are conducted together. You can write these points to address the first part of the question. Now moving on to the second part, here you have to list the disadvantages of conducting simultaneous election. Firstly, there is no guarantee that expenditure of the political parties will reduce. See the cost of election has two components. One is the expenditure incurred by the election commission. The second one is the expenditure incurred by the political parties. Simultaneous election may reduce the expenditure incurred by the election commission, but it may not reduce the expenditure incurred by the political parties. Political parties may spend their fund at once rather than in phases. This is the first issue. The second issue is that the Article 83 Class 2 and Article 172 of the Constitution requires that the Lok Sabha and the state legislature be in existence for five years from the date of first meeting unless dissolved earlier. Simultaneous election ignore this phrase as there would be no opportunity to dissolve Lok Sabha or state assemblies. Thirdly, it negates the concept of no confidence, which is an important tool for legislative control over the executive. As we all know, a government can be in power as long as it enjoys the confidence of the parliament. Simultaneous election can work only if the government lasts for a fixed tenure of five years regardless of the confidence of the parliament. This raises a concern because finally, holding simultaneous election once in five years may also face logistical challenges. For a free and fair conduct of the election, security forces need to be deployed in large numbers. Given the current strength of the security personnel, this may be a challenging task. These are some of the disadvantages of conducting simultaneous election. You can write these points to address the body of the answer, no coming to the conclusion part. In the conclusion, you can write that implementation of simultaneous election requires certain amendments to the Constitution and enactment of relevant laws. Enactment of such provision should be approached with caution, ensuring that efficiency gains do not compromise the essential democratic principle of transparency, response units and people's right to express their will regularly. A gradual, well thought out approach with the involvement of all political parties and stakeholders is essential to successfully implement this concept in India. This can be your conclusion. So that's all regarding this discussion. Through this discussion, we saw what is simultaneous election, the pros and cons of simultaneous election. Now let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. The news article reports about the trapping of five persons in a cave in central Slovenia. Two days back, they began a tourist visit to the cross cave, which laid it flooded due to heavy rain. Since cave is a erosional landform found in cars topography. In our discussion, let us focus on cars topography. See limestone topography or cars topography is nothing but the landform produced by chemical weathering or chemical erosion of carbonate rocks. When carbonate rocks like calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate is eroded by surface and subsurface water, it leads to the formation of cars topography. Cars topography is named after a province in Yugoslavia and the Adriatic Sea coast where such formations are most noticeable. Now let us quickly go through the essential conditions for the development of cars topography. Firstly, the presence of soluble rocks, preferably limestone at the surface or subsurface level. The limestones must be massive, hard and well cemented and well jointed. Secondly, the rocks should be non porous and thickly bitted. This is to aid water to infiltrate through the joints resulting into effective corrosion of limestone along the joints. If it is porous already, then the rock mass will become weak and collapse easily. Thirdly, the carbonate rocks should be very close to the ground surface so that rainwater can easily and quickly infiltrate in the bits of limestone and may corrode the rocks to form solution landforms. There should also be enough rainfall so that the required amount of water is available to dissolve the carbonate rocks. These are the essential conditions for the development of cars topography. Now let us see some of the important erosional landforms of the cars topography. First is the sink holes. Sink holes are small depressions carved out by solutions where rainwater sink into limestone at the point of weakness. The water then gets into the carbonate rocks through the sink holes leading to the formation of caves along the joints. Gradual enlargement of sink holes due to continuous dissolution of limestone results in the merging of closely spaced sink hole into a large hole which is called a swallow hole. When a number of swallow hole join together, they form a larger hollow called the doline. Several doline may merge as a result of gradual caving to form an even larger depression called the uvala. Some uvalas may join together to create a U-shaped valley called the pole jay. They are characterized by vertical side walls, flat alluvial floors, independent surface drainage system on their floors, irregular border and a central leak. These are some of the erosional landforms of cars topography. Some of the important depositional landforms of cars topography include salsite, stalaxite, stalagmite and calcite pillars. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we covered the basics about cars topography. Now with this, let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this article. Mr. Raghuram Rajan, the ex-governor of RBI stated that India isn't getting sufficient manufacturing investment through the China plus one strategy. Other countries like Mexico and Vietnam are successfully attracting a greater amount of manufacturing investment. Mr. Rajan also highlighted that India's ability to attract manufacturing investment has decreased in recent times. This is about the news article given here. In this context, let us see some points about the China plus one strategy. China plus one strategy refers to the business approach adopted by the multinational companies. According to this strategy, the companies will diversify their manufacturing and production facilities beyond China. This strategy involves setting up additional or alternative manufacturing units in other countries alongside their existing operations in China. The aim of this strategy is to reduce the risk associated with solely relying on China for manufacturing production. When the MNCs rely solely on China, it might lead to raising cost, supply chain disruption or trade uncertainties during the times of geopolitical tensions. By expanding operations to other countries, the MNCs aims to reduce these risks while exploring new markets and opportunities for growth. When the MNCs are looking to diversify their supply chain, they are favoring countries like Mexico and Vietnam rather than India. Now, what is that? What are the hurdles that is preventing India from getting benefited from the China plus one strategy? Let us see them one by one. The first one is the taxation and regulatory complaints. In India, there are issues like multiple layers of taxation and dispute over tax assessment that act as a hurdle for investors. In addition to this, India has a chronic issue of redtepism. These two are acting as a hurdle for foreign investors. The second issue is infrastructure bottlenecks. Inadequate infrastructure in India actually demotivates investors. The last issue is the lack of skilled workforce. See, it is these challenges that is preventing India from becoming a part of the China present strategies adopted by the MNCs. But despite these challenges, our government is taking various steps to increase the inflow of foreign investment. Now, let us see the steps taken by the government one by one. The first one is the national infrastructure pipeline. It will address the infrastructure bottleneck in India. The second is that government has adopted a single window clearance system to enhance ease of doing business. This will address the issue of redtepism. The last issue is that the production linked incentive scheme for various sectors will motivate the MNCs to invest in India. These are the steps that are taken by the government to make India gain from the China plus one strategy adopted by the MNCs. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw some basics about the China plus one strategy adopted by the MNCs. Now, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Have a look at this article. The news here is that a team from IIT Delhi has developed an Indian landslide susceptibility map. This is about the news here. In this context, in our discussion, we will see some points about landslides. First, what is a landslide? Landslides are geological phenomenon where large masses of earth, rock and debris move down a slope. Landslides can vary in size from small localized slides to large catastrophic events that can destroy entire communities. They are highly relevant in Hildi or mountainous region where the risk of landslides is very high. Landslides are caused by a variety of factors. Let us see them one by one. First, let us look at the natural causes. Natural causes of landslide include heavy rain, deforestation, earthquake, volcanic eruption. And the anthropogenic causes of landslide include construction of road, shifting agriculture and increasing population pressure in the mountainous region. These are some of the causes of landslides. Now, let us see the measures that can be taken to prevent landslides. The first one is the slope stabilization. Slope stabilization is the strengthening of unstable slope using techniques such as retaining walls, terracing and rock bolting to prevent slope failure. The second step that can be taken is the increasing vegetative cover. Promoting the plantation of vegetation on slopes will help to prevent landslides. This is because the roots help to bind the soil and stabilize the crops. The third one is the erosion control. Impregnating erosion control measures such as silt fencing and mulching prevent the removal of soil by the water enough. The last one is the land use planning. Enforcing land use regulation and restricting construction in landslide prone area can prevent the damages caused by landslide. And that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is a landslide, the causes of landslide and the steps that can be taken to prevent landslides. Now let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Look at this article. This article is actually an interview of Mr. E. R. Venkata Chalapathy who recently wrote a book about V. O. Chidambarampillai. So in our discussion, let us see few problems related facts about Mr. V. O. Chidambarampillai. First, let us start with his early life. V. O. Chidambarampillai is from the Tutukorin district of Tamil Nadu. V. O. Chidambarampillai entered politics in 1905 following the partition of Bengal. At the end of 1905, V. O. Chidambarampillai visited Madras and was drawn closer to the Swadeshi movement initiated by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpatrai. V. O. Chidambarampillai was also drawn towards Ramakrishna mission and came into contact with Subramanya Bharati. Now let us see his role in freedom struggle. Swadeshi movement in Tirunelveli district began to gather momentum only after the arrival of V. O. Chidambarampillai. By 1906, V. O. Chidambarampillai got the idea of establishing a Swadeshi shipping outfit by the name of Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company. He won the support of merchants and industrialist class in Tutukorin and Tirunelveli for creating this company. He was aided in these efforts by a number of Tirunelveli based lawyers who formed an organization called the Swadeshi Sangam or National Volunteers. V. O. Chidambarampillai established many institutions like the Swadeshi Prachar Shava, Dharmasanga Nesavasalai, National Kudon, Madras Agro Industrial Society Limited and Desabhimana Sangam. His nationalist movement acquired more importance with the beginning of the Tutukorin Coral Mill Strike 1908. Even prior to Gandhiji's Champaran Satyarga of 1917, V. O. Chidambarampillai took the course of the working class in Tamil Nadu and thus he is a foreigner to Gandhiji in this respect. V. O. Chidambarampillai along with other leaders resolved to take out protest on 9th March 1908 to celebrate the release of Bipin Chandrapal from jail and also to hoist the flag of Swaraj. Following this event, he was arrested in 12th March 1908. He was charged with sedition and sentenced to two life imprisonments. The Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company was later liquidated in 1911 and the ships were auctioned to their competitors. The Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company's first ship, SS Galia was sold to the British shipping company. These are some problems related facts about V. O. Chidambarampillai. Now with this, let us conclude the news article discussion and take up the practice problems questions. We have three practice problems questions today. Let us see them one by one. Look at the first question. It is a three statement question. Three statements about the cars topography is given. We have to find how many of the statements given here are correct. Look at the first statement. Highly fractured or folded limestone bed is one of the primary requirement for the development of cars topography. This statement is correct. This we saw in the discussion itself. Okay. It is one of the primary requirement for the development of cars topography. Moving on to the second statement. It is also called as badlands topography. This statement is incorrect because badland topography refers to a different type of landscape which is characterized by rugged and highly eroded hills or ridges with steep slopes. It is mainly formed in arid and semi-arid region with soft and easily erodible sedimentary rocks. So statement two is incorrect. Moving on to the third statement. Stalactite and stalagmite are erosional landforms of cars topography. This statement is incorrect because in our discussion we saw that these two are depositional landforms of cars topography. So statement three is incorrect. Since only one statement is correct here, the correct answer is option A only one. Moving on to the second question. Let me redo the question. In the context of international trade and manufacturing, what is the core objective behind China plus one strategy? From our discussion we know that the correct answer is option B to reduce dependency on China by seeking alternative trade routes. Okay. Moving on to the last question. Which type of landslide is characterized by a slow downslope movement of soil and rock material often triggered by heavy rainfall and saturation of the ground? The correct answer here is option D creep. With this we have come to the end of the video. If you like today's video, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPC preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.