 Good evening aspirants, welcome to the Hindu News Analysis by Shankar A.S academy for the date 4th of July 2023. Displayed here are the list of news articles we will be going through today. Now without wasting time, let's get into today's discussion. Take a look at this news article. This article is speaking about greed flation. We have heard about various economic terms like inflation, deflation, reflation and so on right? But what is this greed flation? It seems to me a new term right? Now I will explain it to you. Greed flation refers to price inflation caused due to corporations greed for higher profit. To put it in simple words, the term greed flation refers to a price raise introduced by corporates to take advantage of the prevailing inflation. By doing this, the corporates will boost their profit margin. Now why is this greed flation concept suddenly in use? As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all the economies of the world. Many countries have witnessed raising inflation, increased unemployment, decreased business growth and so on. The United States, which is the world's largest economy, has also witnessed high inflation. Some economic experts are arguing that the cause of high inflation in the US is due to greed flation. The experts are saying that corporate profit margins have risen significantly in the United States since the pandemic and this has contributed to high inflation. But some other economists argued that the price rise in the US during the COVID pandemic is not due to greed flation. So this is why the concept of greed flation appeared in the news today. In this discussion, we will understand the points provided in this article in detail. As we just saw now, some economists are arguing that the price rise in the United States during the COVID pandemic is not due to greed flation. Now you may have a doubt. If the prices were risen not due to greed flation, then how the prices were risen and who determines the prices of the particular goods? The economists argue that the prices of the products are not arbitrarily set up by the business entities, whereas they are set based on consumers' willingness to pay for their products. In simpler words, the businesses cannot force consumers to pay a certain price for their goods, whereas they can only try to fix the maximum price the consumer would be willing to pay. Now what is the reason behind this? See, if businesses charge high prices for their product without knowing the consumer's willingness to pay, then the particular good will go unsold. So the businesses have to lower the price of their products to clear its unsold stock. From this inference, we can say that businesses have the freedom to raise or lower the price of their products, but it is ultimately the consumer who determines the price of any product in a market economy. Having understood how prices are determined for the particular good, now we will see why prices were increased in the United States. Some economists primarily argue that price raise was not due to greed flation. As we all know, inflation refers to a general raise in price level. This means the inflation refers to a widespread increase in the prices of goods and services across the broader economy, and it does not account for the prices of individual goods and services. So the experts say that the price raise by a particular company does not cause widespread inflation, and so there is no scope for greed flation in the US. Then what is the reason behind the price raise? See, the current high inflation in the United States is due to the US Federal Reserve's expansionary monetary policy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as a part of the expansionary monetary policy, the US Federal Reserve put more money in the hands of the US consumers. Now what happens when more money is given to the consumers? See, if more money is given to the consumers, the purchasing power of the consumer will increase. So they are able to buy more goods and there would be more demand than earlier. This in turn increases the price of the goods and services in the economy, and this ultimately results in inflation. If we take the United States in the wake of the pandemic, the money supply has risen to about 40% due to the US Federal Reserve's expansionary monetary policy. So the abundance supply of money in the hands of the consumers and the supply chain bottlenecks caused by the stringent lockdowns led to high inflation in the United States, and it is not greed flation that happened in the United States. And this is the reason behind the increase in the price of goods in the United States. If this is the fact, then how did the US companies get huge profits during COVID pandemic? The economists point out that large US corporations benefited from the demise of smaller businesses during the pandemic. See, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many small businesses were not able to thrive because of the lockdowns and the financial constraints. The large US corporation used this as a chance, and they captured the market share of the small businesses. This led to an increase in profits of large US corporations. The economists also argue that some US corporates have raised their price because of an increase in cost of input that is needed to produce the goods. The cost of inputs have increased due to supply chain bottlenecks due to COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. So the experts say that the large US corporation did not get huge profits by increasing their price exorbitantly. They gained profit by capturing the market of the demised small businesses. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw what is greed inflation. We saw why the present price rise in US is not due to greed inflation. We saw the reason behind the present price rise in the United States. And finally, we saw why US corporations are making huge profits right now. So that's all regarding this discussion. Now let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Take a look at this editorial article. This editorial article talks about India's refusal to join NATO Plus Grouping. See in May 2023, while the US House Select Committee recommended strengthening the NATO Plus framework by including India in the grouping, India's external affairs minister, Mr. Jay Shankar had rejected this idea by saying that the NATO template does not apply for India. This happened a couple of months ago. But again, the topic has resurfaced due to the recent state visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to US in June. During his visit, there were plans to table a bill to bring India into the NATO Plus fold. The author through this editorial has argued that India must stay out of the NATO's fold for long-term gains. This is the crux of the article given here. In this context, let us quickly go through some of the important points given in this editorial. Before that, I have highlighted the syllabus here. You can go through it. Firstly, let us understand about NATO and NATO Plus Grouping. NATO or not Atlantic Treaty Organization is a transatlantic alliance of 31 like-minded North American and European countries. It was created in 1949 in the aftermath of the Second World War. The alliance was created mainly to serve three purposes. First is to hinder Soviet expansionism. Second is to forbid the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe through a strong North American presence on the continent. And thirdly, to encourage European political integration. In short, the aim of NATO is to provide collective security against Soviet Union and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe. One special fact about NATO is that it constitutes a system of collective defence in order to respond to and counter any attack by a non-NATO member. But remember, NATO is committed to peaceful resolution of disputes, meaning if diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis management operations. Now moving on, let us see the membership. NATO's membership is open to any European state. Only criteria is that such a country should be ready to contribute to the security of North Atlantic region. Currently, NATO has 31 members. Very recently only, that is in April 2023, Finland became the 31st member of NATO. And Sweden, which has stayed out of military alliance for 200 years, is also ready to join NATO currently. See, after the dissolution of Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, many thought that NATO would lose its relevance. But NATO has not only survived, but it is also expanding. Thanks to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Now coming to NATO Plus Grouping. NATO Plus Five is a security arrangement that brings together NATO and five aligned nations to boost defence and intelligence ties. The five allies of the US include Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel and South Korea. Actually, the term NATO Plus is not officially recognized or re-established to concept. Since the inclusion of these countries as members would require a complex process of negotiation and assessment, the NATO Plus Group remained an unofficial grouping that has been used in debates regarding potential expansion of the alliance. While NATO's target is to counter Russia, NATO Plus is clearly aimed at containing China. Experts feel that with the ongoing disputes between India and China, India will naturally align with the NATO framework. This is why the United States offered an invitation to India to join NATO Plus. See, India has a lot of advantages by joining the group. Some of the advantages include gaining access to advanced military technologies, intelligence sharing platforms, interoperability with other member states. This could potentially strengthen India's defence capabilities and modernisation efforts. Most importantly, the framework will provide India with a security umbrella and deterrence against any potential threats, mainly in the light of increasing regional security challenges. Despite all such advantages, India rejected the offer due to certain reasons. Now we will see the reasons one by one. Firstly, getting into any NATO framework will annoy both Russia and China. Apart from being a strategic partner, Russia has been useful to India in dealing with regional security challenges, mainly in moderating the stance of China. Even though Russia is getting over-dependent on China, post-war in Ukraine, Moscow, that is, Russia has remained a valuable partner for India also. So, if India joins the grouping, then it will face the challenge in balancing these relationships and managing the potential geopolitical consequences. This is the first reason. Secondly, considering the threats posed by China, joining the grouping might be counterproductive and detrimental. This is because the military framework might limit India's freedom of action and prevent it from pursuing an independent policy towards China. So, India's autonomy in this scenario is doubtful. This is the second reason why India is neglecting to join the NATO framework. Thirdly, India has traditionally maintained a policy of strategic autonomy. This allows India to engage with multiple nations and block based on India's own interest. But joining a NATO framework would require India to align its defenses and security policies with the objective and strategies of the NATO alliance. This again undermines India's strategic autonomy. Finally, due to conflict of interest, the author says that joining the grouping might divert resources and attention away from pressing issues in India like border disputes, terrorism and regional conflicts. So, the author of this editorial is of the opinion that India should stick with Quad rather than getting into the NATO-plus framework. Because India engaging with the West through the Quad looks more promising than India engaging into the NATO-plus framework. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, first we saw about NATO, then about NATO-plus-5. Then we saw the advantages that India might gain by getting into the NATO-plus framework. And finally, the reasons why India has denied its entry into the NATO-plus framework. This is an important article. Just note down all the points that we discussed today and revise repeatedly. With this, let's conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Now, look at this article from the text and context page. It talks about an ordinance that was promulgated by the President on May 19, 2023. It made amendments to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act 1991. See, this ordinance has raised several legal and constitutional questions. Now, we will try to understand the key points from this article in detail. Before that, I have highlighted the syllabus regarding this discussion. You can pass the video and go through it. Now, let's start the discussion. Let's start with some background information. See, the Delhi government and the lieutenant governor have been in a legal battle since 2015. The battle is over the control of services in Delhi. Regarding this, the Supreme Court gave a split verdict in 2019. Again, in May this year, a five-judge constitutional bench has delivered its verdict on this issue. It has delivered a verdict on whether officers allocated to Delhi comes under the administrative control of the Delhi government or the Delhi Lieutenant Governor. The case also included the constitutional validity of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Amendment Act 2021. This act referred to the Lieutenant Governor as government in any law made by the Legislative Assembly of Delhi. The Court ruled that the services should be under the control of the Delhi government because the Court feels that it is essential for the effective governance of the state. The Supreme Court based its decision on Article 239AA clause 3 sub-clause A of the Indian Constitution. This particular article grants the power to the Delhi Legislative Assembly to make laws on various subjects except for police, public order and land. So, the Court concluded that the Delhi government should have control over the services. This happened on May 11, 2023. On May 19, the President promulgated an ordinance that effectively nullified this judgment of the Supreme Court. Now let us move on to understand about the ordinance and its implication. See, the ordinance was issued by the President to nullify the Supreme Court's judgment. So, it basically takes away the services from the jurisdiction of the Delhi government and places it under the Lieutenant Governor. This raises a fundamental question. Can an ordinance or a bill passed by the Parliament nullify the decision of the Court? See, the Supreme Court has consistently held that Parliament is a legislative body and it does not possess judicial powers, which means the Parliament cannot overturn a Court's decision without changing the basis of that decision. That is, Parliament cannot just ignore or overturn the decision without a valid legal bias. In this case, the ordinance has not provided any grounds for nullifying the Court's judgment. Apart from this, the ordinance introduces a provision that establishes a new authority called the National Capital Civil Services Authority. This authority consists of a chairman who is the Chief Minister and two members. The members are Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary. The ordinance grants this authority the power of posting, transfer and disciplinary matters related to civil servants. However, decisions made by this authority does not require the Chief Minister's approval. It can be finalized by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. As you can see, this provision significantly reduces the role of the Chief Minister. Also, it gives undue power to bureaucrats in the administrative matters of the state. In addition, the ordinance includes another provision. It allows the Secretary to the Council of Ministers to review cabinet decision. He or she can then bring it to the Lieutenant Governor's attention. In simple words, this provision allows the Secretary to question and evaluate the Cabinet's decision. If he or she believes that it goes against the law or established procedure, then they can take it to the Lieutenant Governor. The Lieutenant Governor can then take action based on the Secretary's opinion. So, this grants the Secretary the power to influence and potentially overturn cabinet decisions. This goes against the principle of collective decision making by the elected representatives. Finally, the ordinance introduces a new procedure for summoning and proroguing the Delhi Legislative Assembly. It requires the Chief Secretary to seek the opinion of both the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister before issuing the summons. This contradicts the constitutional practice. See, the usual practice is that the decision to convene a legislative session is made by the Cabinet and the Lieutenant Governor acts on the aid and advice of the Cabinet. But the provision in this ordinance deviates from the established practice. It basically creates confusion regarding authority responsible for summoning the Assembly. So, when we analyze the key provisions of this ordinance in relation to Article 239AA of Constitution, we find that it does not comply with the Constitution. Here, you should also make a note about Article 239AA Class 7. This article empowers the Parliament to create laws that supplement the provisions mentioned in Article 239AA. Here, to supplement means to add or to enhance something. But this ordinance contradicts with the law. In this case, Parliament does not have the authority to pass a law. This grants all powers to the Lieutenant Governor for administration of Delhi. Similarly, the President also does not have the power to pass a law that gives bureaucrats the authority to review Cabinet decisions. Also, any law cannot remove the Chief Minister in matters of posting, transfer and disciplinary action in the matters of services. So, the ordinance in its current form has serious legal decisions. It goes against the Constitution as it grants the power that exceeds the scope of authority provided by Article 239AA. These provisions do not align with the intentions and framework established by the Constitution. The author concludes by saying that the ordinance suffers from legal informatics and is not in conformity with the Constitution. That's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw about the recent ordinance passed by the President and the legal deficiencies in the audience. With this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this article. This opinion article is about the Bond Conference, its outcomes, and it also focuses on the concept of just transition. In this context, let us learn about Bond Conference, what is just transition and why it is significant. Before getting into our discussion, the syllabus relevant to this article is given here for your reference. Take note of it. Now, let's start. First, we look at the Bond Conference. Bond Climate Change Conference took place at World Conference Center in Bonn in Germany from 5th June to 15th June. In this conference, many important topics related to climate change was discussed. One such important topic was the global stock take. We all know as per the Paris Agreement, the world countries had agreed to reduce the global average temperature by 1.5 degree Celsius below the pre-industrial level. This global stock take is an exercise which assess the progress of the world nations in achieving this ambitious feat. It also encourages the progress on greenhouse gas reduction, building resilience to climate impacts and mobilizing of resources to address the issue of climate change. Also know that this global stock take is mandated under Article 14, class 1 of the Paris Agreement. As per the Paris Agreement, this global stock take exercise will be conducted once in every five years. The first-ever global stock take took place in this Bond Conference. It revealed that the world needs to cut down 50% of its emission by 2030 from the 2019 levels to achieve the target of controlling climate change and limiting the global average temperature rise below 1.5 degree Celsius the pre-industrial level. The next important point of discussion in the Bond Climate Change Conference was the concept of just transition. What is just transition? As per the definition of International Labour Organization, just transition means greening the economy in a way that is as fair and inclusive as possible to everyone concerned creating a decent work opportunity and leaving no one behind. To understand this concept, let us take the case of India. India had set a target to achieve net zero emission by 2070. To fulfill this commitment, India might reduce its dependence on coal-powered electricity production. During this transition, many people might lose their job and livelihood. For example, employees who work in coal mines. So the government has to create alternative employment opportunity for the coal miners. This is just transition. On one hand, climate change is mitigated and on the other hand, people are not affected by the steps taken by the government to mitigate climate change. So basically, this just transition tries to balance climate change efforts on one hand and inclusive growth on other hand. Moving on, we will look at the significance of just transition. Firstly, it ensures no one is left behind socially or economically at the cost of climate change mitigation measures. Secondly, the government can demonstrate the socio-economic benefits of green transition which in turn might increase the public support to achieve higher climate change targets. Thirdly, government should support the green jobs revolution which will ensure that alternative jobs are created. And these jobs have to be attractive in many aspects like wage, working condition, etc. This in turn will attract the workers needed for the economic transformation. Then, if the government plans transparently and includes the broad range of stakeholders like workers, technical experts, NGOs, it can minimize the fear among the people. As a result of this effort, social groundwork for resilient net zero economy can be laid. The just transition not only helps the country in progress towards climate change, but it also ensures the progress of the country in achieving sustainable development goals as well. For example, take the guess of sustainable development goal 7. This goal aims to provide affordable and clean energy. And sustainable development goal 8 aims to provide decent work and economic growth. So, by adopting just transition, governments all over the world can on one hand negate climate change impacts and on the other hand achieve the sustainable development goals. So, that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the basics about born climate change conference and also some points about the just transition. Now, with this, let us conclude this discussion and take up the next news article. Look at this news article. The news article is about a new scheme announced by the central government to support minor rape victims. The scheme will be under the woman and child development ministry. The woman and child development ministry will use the administrative infrastructure of Mission Vatsalya to implement the scheme. This is about the news article. In our discussion today, we will focus on the new scheme and we will also see few points about Mission Vatsalya. The scheme is currently called the scheme for critical care and support for accessing justice to a rape survivor. The scheme would operate under the ages of the Nirbaya fund. Right now, an amount of 74.1 crore has been allocated for the scheme. The scheme's main focus is on pregnant minor rape victims who have been abandoned, orphaned or did not want to live with their families owing to social stigma. The support under the scheme will be provided until the victim attains the age of 23. Now, what are the benefits provided under the scheme? Besides maternity care, the victims will get neonatal and infant care. Psychological counseling and legal support will also be ensured to them under the scheme. Also, the scheme aims to provide shelter, food, daily needs and safe transportation for attending court hearings for the victims. In addition to this, the victims and their new bond will be provided insurance cover and monthly assistance of Rs. 4000. To avail this help, it is not mandatory for the victims to have a copy of the FIR. They can easily get the benefits of the scheme at the child care institutions in each district. This is all about the new scheme. Moving forward, we will see some points about Mission Vatsalya. Vatsalya means affection. Mission Vatsalya aims at securing a healthy and happy childhood for every child. It is an umbrella scheme for child protection services in the country. The scheme covered under the mission is Integrated Child Protection scheme. Mission Vatsalya focuses on children as they are one of the supreme national assets. Plus, India is home to 472 million children and they comprise 39% of our country's population. So, giving prime focus for children is necessary for the development of our country. Moving on, we will see the objectives of the Mission Vatsalya. The first is to secure a healthy and happy childhood for every child in India. Then, to foster a sensitive and supportive ecosystem for the development of the child. Also, the scheme aims to assist the state and the union territories in delivering the mandates of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015. Through all this, the scheme also strives to achieve the sustainable development goals, particularly the ones focused on children. Now, we will see the components under the Mission Vatsalya. The components include statutory bodies, service delivery structures, institutional care, non-institutional community based care, emergency outreach services, training and capacity building. These are some important points about Mission Vatsalya. That is all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we focused on the new government scheme to support minor rape victims and we also saw a few points about Mission Vatsalya. Now, let us move on to the next news article. Look at this editorial article. This article talks about the access to potable water. See, we have made significant progress in achieving piped potable water for all rural households. Despite this, meeting the target by 2024 seems unlikely. The government has reported that 64% of rural households have got piped water connectivity, but the author says that this figure may be under-level and transparency is needed. In this context, let us see some important points provided in this editorial article. First, we will learn about Jal Jivan Mission and the Hargar Jal Program. See, these are initiatives by the central government to ensure access to piped water for every household in rural area. These programs basically aim to provide safe and adequate drinking water to all households by 2024. Now, let us understand about these initiatives. The goal of Jal Jivan Mission is to provide functional tap connection to every rural household and to prioritize areas with quality affected water sources, drought prone regions and desert areas. The mission also aims to provide tap water connection to schools, Anganwadi centers, health centers, wellness centers and community buildings. It also emphasizes on monitoring the functionality of tap connections. Then it focuses on ensuring the sustainability of water supply system, including water sources and infrastructure. Now, moving on to the Hargar Jal Program. This is an integral part of the Jal Jivan Mission. Basically, it aims to provide fully functional, safe and affordable tap water connection to every rural household in India by 2024. Here, fully functional tap water connection means a household receiving at least 55 liters per capita per day of potable water throughout the year. This is about Hargar Jal Program. Now, we will see the concerns and challenges associated with these initiatives. The government had set a target of providing piped water connection to all rural households by 2024. But the progress has been slower than expected. As I mentioned earlier, the government has reported a significant increase in the number of households with tap water connection. But these numbers are not very reliable, and the overall progress of the mission is a big question. The COVID-19 pandemic at Russia-Ukraine war have slowed down the mission. It basically affected the access to necessary resources like pipes and civil construction material. The government officials claim that these factors have affected the pace of implementation of these initiatives. However, there are concerns about the transparency and accuracy of the reported figures. The figures are solely based on data provided by the states, but independent assessment suggests that the actual progress may be lower than the figures that is reported. For example, the number of villagers certified as Hargar Jal is relatively low. This indicates that many villagers have only partial access to piped water. In order to ensure transparency, it is important to have a mechanism that discloses the actual progress of the scheme on the ground. This will help in addressing the challenges and improving the implementation of these initiatives. So that's all regarding this discussion. Now let us conclude this and take up the next news article. Take a look at this article. Yesterday, the Tamil Nadu government wrote a letter to the Kaveri Water Management Authority objecting to the deficit in its share of water received from Karnataka. The letter also asked the authorities to issue directions to the neighbouring state to release Tamil Nadu's actual share of July water as per the schedule. So in this news article discussion, let us quickly go through the Mekadetu dam issue. Mekadetu issue is a continuation of a long-standing Kaveri river water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. As we know, Kaveri is an interstate river with its upper hilly catchment lying in Karnataka and Kerala states and lower part in the plains of Tamil Nadu. It rises in the Brahmagiri range in the western Ghats in the Kurg district of Karnataka, Harangi, Hemavathi, Shimsha, Arkavathi, Laxmanathirtha and Swarnavathi are some of the major tributaries joining the river Kaveri in Karnataka territory. Kabini which drains the north Malabar of Kerala state flows through Karnataka and joins Kaveri. Bhavani, Amravathi and Noyal are the tributaries of river Kaveri in Tamil Nadu. Know that there are two interstate agreements signed in 1892 and 1924 on Kaveri river. The 1892 agreement is a general agreement relating to a number of interstate rivers and the 1924 agreement relates to the irrigation development in the basin of Kaveri alone. Both the 1892 and the 1924 agreements are permanent. Later the Karnataka government constructed four new dams across the tributaries of Kaveri such as Harangi, Kabini, Hemavathi and Swarnavathi. For none of these dams the Karnataka government obtained the prior consent of Tamil Nadu. So in 1969 Tamil Nadu appealed to the Prime Minister of India to adjudicate on the unilateral action taken by the Karnataka government. The center used its power under the Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956 to constitute the Kaveri Water Dispute Tribunal in 1990. The tribunal submitted the report in 2007 which was challenged in the Supreme Court. Based on the Supreme Court judgment in 2018 the center notified the Kaveri Water Dispute Management Scheme. It constitutes the Kaveri Water Management Authority and the Kaveri Water Regulation Committee. This is about the history of the river dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Now let us take up the Megadethu issue. Megadethu is a place in Karnataka. A project has been planned by the Karnataka government to be constructed here. This project aims to construct a balancing reservoir across the river Kaveri. It is a multipurpose project with several objectives. Some of its objectives are to utilize additional 4.75 TMC of water from the proposed project to provide drinking water facility to Bengaluru metropolitan region. The next objective is to store the flood waters that may escape into sea and the last objective is to harness 400 MW of renewable energy. See, according to the Tamil Nadu government, this project violates the final award of the Kaveri River Water Tribunal. Also, the construction of the two reservoirs would result in impounding the water in the intermediate catchment between the Krishna Sagar and the Kabini Reservoirs. This will result in less water being supplied to Tamil Nadu. This is the reason why Tamil Nadu government is opposing this project. So that's all regarding this discussion. In this discussion, we saw the history of the river water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. We also saw some points about the Megadethu issue. With this, let us conclude the news article discussion session and take up the practice prelims questions. We have two practice prelims questions today. Let us see them one by one. Let us take our first question. This is a previous question which appeared in 2013 published paper. Let me read out the question. Which of the following can be found as pollutants in the drinking water in some parts of India? The pollutants given here are arsenic, sorbitol, fluoride, formaldehyde and uranium. See, the correct answer for this question is option A, arsenic and fluoride. Arsenic and fluoride are the only pollutants that is found in drinking water in India. Now moving on to the second question. This question is based on our Megadethu Dam discussion. Three statements are given. We have to find how many of the statements given here are correct. Let us take up the first statement. Harangi, Kabini and Amravati are tributaries of Kaveri river. This statement is correct. Moving on to the second statement. The river Kaveri rises in the state of Karnataka. This is a very easy statement. We all know this is a correct answer. Moving on to the third statement. Kaveri is the third longest river in South India after Godavari and Krishna. This is also correct. The longest river in South India is Godavari. After that we have Krishna, then we have Kaveri. Since all the statements given here are correct, the correct answer is option C, all three. Now moving on to the main questions. The main questions based on today's discussion are displayed here. Interested experts can write the answer for these questions and post them in the comment section. If you like today's discussion, like, comment and share it with your friends. For more updates regarding UPSU preparation, subscribe to Shankara IS Academy's YouTube channel. Thank you for listening.