 Good evening aspirants. Welcome back to the Hindu news analysis by Shankar IA's Academy. These are the list of news articles that we will be discussing today. They are provided along with the page numbers of the different editions. Now look at this article. This news article is regarding the Model Tenancy Act. See the union cabinet on Wednesday approved the Model Tenancy Act to be sent to the states and union territories to enact legislation or amend laws on rental properties. So in this light we will be discussing the aims and important provisions of the Model Tenancy Act in this discussion. See the Model Tenancy Act proposes to establish a framework for the regulation of tenancy matters and this is done to balance the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants including a fast adjudication for resolution of disputes. So now let us discuss the aims of the Model Tenancy Act one by one. Firstly, it ensures a balance between the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants through rental contracts. Secondly, it allows for the registration of rental contracts with rent authorities and then it also outlays the process of fast adjudication for resolution of disputes through rent tribunals. Further, it provides the guidelines for repossession of the premises by the landlord through rent codes. Finally, compensation in case of non-vacancy is another objective of the Model Tenancy Act. Before discussing the provisions of the act, know that this act extends to the whole of the state or union territory. Hence, states and union territories can adopt the Model Tenancy Act by enacting fresh legislation or they can also amend their existing rental laws suitably. And don't forget land is a state subject. Coming back to the discussion of important provisions, see the Model Tenancy Act talks about establishing a rent authority to regulate the renting of premises and also to protect the interests of landlords and tenants. This proposed authority will also provide speedy adjudication mechanism for resolution of disputes. Secondly, the act also puts a cap on the amount of security deposit which is usually a bone of contention between the landlords and tenants. And it fixes the security deposit to a maximum of two months of rent in case of residential premises and six months of rent in case of non-residential premises. Another crucial point where the act is provided a mechanism is when it comes to the vacating of the premises. See the Model Tenancy Act says that if a landlord has fulfilled all the conditions stated in the rent agreement like giving notice etc and the tenant fails to vacate the premises on the expiration of the period of tenancy or termination of tenancy then the landlord is entitled to double the monthly rent for two months and four times after that. Also every landlord or the property manager may enter the premises let out on rent after serving a notice to the tenant at least 24 hours before the time of entry. And the Model Act is also described in detail the rights and obligations of both the landlord and tenant and is also dealt with many issues which can lead to disputes between the two parties. And in addition to that if any dispute emerges between the owner and the tenant they will have to approach the rent authority first and if any party is not satisfied with the rent authorities order then the rent court can be approached and then they can also move to the rent tribunal. With the Model Tenancy Act they would now be a sense of security among owners as roles of both the owners and the tenants have been defined in the Act. In addition to this the tenant's security is also ensured as the Act says that no landlord or no property manager can withhold any essential supply to the premises occupied by the tenant. In addition to all this the Model Act also includes miscellaneous provisions related to officers and other employees of rent authority, rent court and rent tribunal, jurisdiction of civil courts barred in certain matters, court fees, members to the servants, then the protection of action taken in good faith and also the power to make rules. So therefore this Model Act can be regarded as a right step when it comes to the creation of adequate rental housing stock for all the income groups thereby addressing the issue of homelessness. So with these informations in mind let's move on to the next news discussion. Now let us take up this editorial article. See this editorial article talks about the growing centralization of power by the current central government. So in this light let us see some important points mentioned in the article. The syllabus covered by this editorial article is highlighted below for your reference. See for the past few years there have been growing incursions of the union government into sectors where the state governments have a primary responsibility to govern. For example sectors like health, education and agriculture they all come under the control of the state governments and these sectors are increasingly incurred by the union governments and ideologies like one nation, one tax and one market in one nation they all favor such centralization of power. Remember the union encroachment of states power is not something new. For example in post-independent India there have been several instances where the union government has used its powers to dismiss democratically elected state governments and another example is the emergency of 1975. See during this emergency period education was moved to the concurrent list from the state list of subjects. So from all these we can see that the union encroachment of states powers has been happening for several decades and it is not something which is new. And now according to the author the present central government has taken a systematic approach when it comes to the centralization of power. So now let us discuss about this systematic encroachment of states powers. See the current union government has been increasing centralization in resource allocation and also in welfare interventions and adding to this it is also widened the gap between the revenue that state governments are allowed to generate and the expenditure that they are expected to incur. Say for example the implementation of goods and services tax has severely impacted the state's power to generate revenue. And another example of encroachment is the centrally sponsored schemes. See centrally sponsored schemes are those schemes that are implemented by the state governments of India but they are largely funded by the central government with a defined state government share. Now here according to the author the union government has been encroaching into domains under the state government control through these centrally sponsored schemes in sectors like health and education. And this sort of encroachment is particularly visible in states like Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal. So far the editorial has discussed the centralization of political power. Now the editorial discusses the centralization of economic power. See according to the author the current union government it favors businesses which are aligning with the central government and only big business groups which favors union governments are expanding and consolidating in the past few years. And compared to them many small businesses and regional players have declined because of this favoritism that is in practice and this is eventually led to the centralization of economic power. Now next the author moves on to the institutional transgression. See according to the author the union government has been using executive and legislative aggression to weaken various state institutions. See for example central institutions like the income tax department, the enforcement directorate and the national investigation agency, they are being used to intimidate central's opponents. And the center is also meddling with appointments of the state institutions. For example the center has been meddling with the appointments of vice chancellors in universities funded and run by state governments. And the center is also promoting direct transfers to beneficiaries of welfare schemes bypassing the states. And apart from this it is also increasingly ignoring the elected representatives of state governments. For example recently many meetings were held by the central government with state secretaries and district collectors without any elected representatives of state governments. And also the union government through the institution of governors actively controls the administrative decisions of state governments and the central government also takes up major decisions without consultation of the state governments. For instance the central government imposed a national lockdown during the first wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic without consulting the state governments. And similarly with a covid-19 vaccines the center has taken up major decisions like pricing and procurement without consulting the relevant state governments. And all these have led to the centralization of power. So far we have discussed centralization of political power and centralization of economic power and we also saw about institution transgressions. So now let us move on to see about social and cultural centralization. See according to the author the diversity and cultural foundation of regions has sustained Indian federalism so far. Regional identities and cultural traditions have worked against the centralization of power but the current union government is challenging these regional identities and diversity. And many regional identities and regional socio-cultural practices are now interpreted by the union government as belonging to a pan-Indian Hindu tradition. And this has eventually led to the homogenization of regional identities and cultural traditions which will aid the centralization of power. So how can this centralization of powers be countered? See according to the author the centralization of powers can be countered through appeals to restore the constitutional powers of states. And these appeals should be done by strong regional political assertion because otherwise they may go unnerved. Also note that the federalism in India it heavily depends largely on two variables. They are the nature of political coalitions at the center and the role of states in such coalitions and the cultural diversity of regions. So according to the author we need a federal coalition that looks beyond the legal constitutional aspects of federalism in order to preserve the idea of a plural India in terms of both culture as well as politics. And this will help us in countering the centralization of power. So with these informations in mind let's move on to the next part of the discussion. Now let us take up this news article. See the Indian Sugar Mills Association has said that in order to achieve the target of 8 to 8.5 percent ethanol blending it is important to increase the blending level to at least 12 percent in ethanol surplus states. So in this context let us learn about ethanol and also about ethanol blending. First let us see about ethanol. See ethanol also called ethyl alcohol grain alcohol or alcohol is a clear colorless liquid with an agreeable odor. It is an important organic chemical compound that has got several uses. See ethanol is used as an important industrial chemical. It is used as a solvent in the synthesis of other organic chemicals and as an additive to automotive gasoline. And ethanol is also used as an intoxicating ingredient of many alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine and distilled spirits. So how is this ethanol produced? See there are two main processes for the manufacture of ethanol and they are the fermentation of carbohydrates and the hydration of ethylene. See the fermentation of carbohydrates it involves the transformation of carbohydrates to ethanol by growing yeast cells and the chief raw materials for this fermentation process are sugar crops such as beets, sugarcane and grain crops like maize or corn etc. Now let us discuss about ethanol blending. See many countries including India they have adopted ethanol blending in petrol in order to reduce the vehicle exhaust emissions and also to reduce the import burden on account of crude petroleum. Note that ethanol is used as a blending agent with petrol in order to increase octane. This is because higher octane fuel is of better quality and then it is also used to cut down carbon monoxide and other smog causing emissions in order to reduce air pollution. Further it is also used to reduce the consumption of petroleum fuels. Remember India launched ethanol blended petrol program in January 2003 for supply of 5% ethanol blended petrol and this was launched in nine states which includes Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and four union territories and with effect from 1st April 2019 this program has been extended to the whole of India except union territories of Andhra, Nikoba and Lakshadweep Highlands. And note that the government has got a 10% blending target for mixing ethanol with petrol by 2022 and 20% blending target by 2030. So these are some of the takeaway points from this article. Now let us move on to the next news discussion. Now our next news discussion is going to be based on this news article which talks about the Tulsa race massacre. The incident of Tulsa massacre has gained attention once again as the US President Joe Biden became the first sitting American head of state to officially recognize one of the worst incidents of violent race hate in the country's modern history. In this light let us discuss about the Tulsa massacre and also some important points from the article. The syllabus covered by this article is highlighted below for your reference. See Tulsa race massacre of 1921 is also called as the Tulsa race riot of 1921 and it is one of the most severe incidents of racial violence in the US history. It occurred in Tulsa which is in the state of Oklahoma beginning on May 31st 1921 and it lasted for two days. This massacre left somewhere between 30 and 300 people dead and they were mostly African Americans and thereby it destroyed the Tulsa's prosperous black neighborhood of Greenwood which is popularly known as the Black Wall Street. Also more than 1400 homes and businesses were burned and nearly 10,000 people were left homeless. Despite its severity and destructiveness the Tulsa race massacre was barely mentioned in history books until the late 1990s when a state commission was formed to document the incident. So with this information let us know the causes for the massacre. See on May 30th 1921 a young African American named Dick Rowland he was accused of assaulting a white elevator operator by name Sarah Page in the elevator of a building in downtown Tulsa. And the next day the Tulsa Tribune printed a story saying that Rowland had tried to rape Page and that evening mobs of both African Americans as well as the wilds they descended on the courthouse where Rowland was being held. Later on it led to a confrontation between an armed African American man who was there to protect Rowland and a white recruiter and this resulted in the death of the latter and the white mob was incensed by this and as a result of this the Tulsa massacre got ignited and this resulted in widespread killings and Tulsa targeting relatively well to do African Americans. In addition to it the extensive damage to the property by rampaging white mobs at that time it shocked the nation as well as the entire world. This article says that the massacre shall not be linked to a Rowland Page assault incident alone because in addition to that it also brings to light the deep resentment that a community of color that was subjected to centuries of oppression had resented to the higher levels of the economic pyramid blended with historical racist hatred that has resulted in lethal violence. See shortly after the massacre there was a brief official inquiry but know that the documents related to the massacre it disappeared soon forward and what followed was in a sense even worse wherein the survivors were gripped by fear of retaliation were unable to speak out about the violence that they had faced and the losses that they had suffered and they had no other option than to content with an elaborate attempt to cover up the massacre and protect the perpetrators. Know that for years the massacre was barely mentioned in government circles and in newspapers and textbooks further according to historians Tulsa city officials covered up the crimes committed and they deliberately shifted the narrative of the massacre by calling it a riot and blaming the black community for what went down. But later on after a report released by the Tulsa race riot commission in 2001 it was clear that much information regarding the reasons and the impact of the massacre was deliberately hidden and know that it was only in the year 2000 that the massacre finally made an appearance the Oklahoma public schools curriculum. So till now we saw about the massacre the cause and the follow-up of the incident in addition to it let us now see what the president of the U.S has said regarding the historical incident and also the way forward. See the U.S president officially recognized that such horrific incidents have happened and he doesn't want the U.S citizens to pretend that none of this has happened or to hide the dark sides because he had that such actions could prevent finding solutions and reconciliations to it. And speaking from Tulsa in the state of Oklahoma on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre the U.S president Joe Biden said that he would fight with every tool at his disposal to ensure that the Senate passed its version of a voting rights bill and this bill is named as the for the people act 2020 and this bill aims to expand the Americans access to the ballot box and also to reduce the influence of big money and politics. In addition to this it also strengthens ethnic rules for public servants and for other purposes as well. Note that the president cherished saying that he had appointed Vice President Kamala Harris who is an African American and an Indian American to head the White House's efforts to strengthen this voting rights. Note that Mr. Biden's action had come at a time when Republicans on Capitol Hill and state legislators are advancing legislation in the name of curbing voter fraud and this action from the Republicans is accused of being aimed at restricting access to the ballot box especially for minor communetics. So moving forward the president also plans to address racial discrimination in the housing market and to close the wealth gap between the African American community and others through new initiatives that will be focused on economic opportunities for minorities. So to conclude the approach and strategy today for addressing the issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance should be made much broader and the recent steps by the US president shows a positive sign in ensuring it. So with this we have come to the end of this topic discussion. Now let's move on to the prelims practice question discussion. Look at this prelims practice question about ethanol blending. Statement one says that the ethanol blended petrol program was launched by India in January 2003 for supply of 10 percent ethanol blended petrol and statement two says that the ethanol blended petrol program was launched in 2003 to the whole of India except union territories of Andhra, Nicaragua and Lakshadvip Islands. So we need to find the correct answer. See both the statements are incorrect. Remember ethanol blended petrol program was launched in India in January 2003 for supply of five percent ethanol blended petrol and not 10 percent. So therefore statement one is incorrect. Coming to statement two, see this ethanol blended program was launched in 2003 only in nine states and four union territories and not to the whole of India. Therefore this statement is also incorrect and since the question wants us to find the correct statement the right option is option D that is neither one nor two. Now look at this question statement one says that the tenancy law is a model act and states will have the aim to adopt or reject it and statement two says that the model tenancy act regulates only the residential premises and not the non-residential premises and we need to find the correct answer. See the first statement is correct because as we discussed earlier the union cabinet chaired by the prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved the model tenancy act and here the union government has asked for its circulation to all states or union territories for adaptation by way of enacting fresh legislation or by amending the existing rental laws suitably and since the tenancy law is a model act and because land is a state subject the states will have the option to adopt or reject it. Now coming to the second statement see this statement is incorrect because from our discussion relating to the security deposit we have shared information about the regulation of both residential as well as non-residential premises. So therefore this statement is wrong and since the question wants us to find the right statement the correct option is option A that is one only. The list of main questions is given below for your reference you can write your answer and post them in the comment section. With this we have come to the end of today's Hindu news analysis. If you like the video then don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar Iyer's Academy YouTube channel for more updates regarding UPSC civil services preparation.