Must Read News Articles –December 6

Archives

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International relations:

UAE to set to open more consular offices in India (The Hindu)

Boosting bilateral engagement with India, the United Arab Emirates will open several new consular centres in India and invest $75 billion of its sovereign wealth fund in the country, its envoy said on Tuesday.

Indian Constitution and Polity:

Supreme Court refuses to defer Ayodhya case hearing (The Hindu)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused requests by appellant parties from the minority community to defer the hearing in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute till after July 15, 2019, that is, post the next general elections.

SC calls for regulating hefty fees of lawyers (The Hindu)

The astronomical fees charged by lawyers and the commercialisation of the legal profession is a violation of the fundamental right of the poor to get equal justice, the Supreme Court  held in a judgment pronounced on Tuesday.

Of Crime and punishement (The Hindu Editorial)

Low conviction rates and a lack of a lawful definition of crime mark criminal administration in India.

India’s plural soul (The Hindu)

The partitioning of India broke us, shamed us. It is estimated that nearly two million were slaughtered during the weeks around Partition, almost no Muslim surviving in East Punjab and no Hindu or Sikh in West Punjab.

Pak.textbooks glorifying war:UNESCO (The Hindu)

Report also blames Indian texts from 2002 that have ‘bias’ against Muslims

Invitation To A Jugalbandi (Indian Express)

Only a cooperative effort of the state and community can protect India’s heritage

That fateful day (Indian Express)

The 25th anniversary of that fateful day in Ayodhya when the Babri Masjid was demolished brings a sense of foreboding.

Social issues:

Intense weight control can reverse Type 2 diabetes: Lancet study (Indian Express)

The study, published in The Lancet journal, shows that after one year, participants had lost an average 10 kg, and nearly half had reverted to a non-diabetic state without using any diabetes treatment.

Why crime data do not always add up to the complete picture (Indian Express)

Low crime rate numbers often don’t mean citizens are safer, and ‘rape capital’ and ‘crime capital’ could both be unfair assessments. In reports such as the one published by the National Crime Records Bureau last week, the quality of data is important, as is its placement in the right context.

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Economy:

₹8,450 crore package to boost exports post GST (The Hindu)

The government on Tuesday announced incentives worth ₹8,450 crore to boost exports of goods and services — mainly from labour-intensive segments and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises — and to increase employment generation and value-addition. The incentives were announced as part of the mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).

New India formula? (The Hindu Editorial)

The 15th Finance Commission’s job will be especially tricky in the time of GST

GST opens up a lot of data for poliymaking (The Hindu Editorial)

The Chief Statistician of India on the economy, the meaning of the new series of GDP data, and the need to wait for the impact of demonetisation to unfold

Fight for market economy status (The Hindu Editorial)

Last week, the U.S. protested at the World Trade Organisation against China’s bid for recognition as a market economy. Its opposition is a counter to China’s 2016 legal challenge against the U.S. and the European Union, both of which refuse to accord China the  coveted status it wants.

Environment:

2 kiwi birds are rare bright spot in grim extinction report (The Hindu)

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature upgraded the Okarito kiwi and the Northern Brown kiwi from endangered to vulnerable thanks to New Zealand’s progress in controlling predators like stoats and cats.

At the IMD: ‘No award for detecting cyclone first, but if forecast goes wrong…’ (Indian Express)

“We are not the police force,” says Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, head of services at India Meteorological Department (IMD)

Science and Technology:

 New grapheme battery charges 5 times faster (The Hindu)

Scientists have developed a new graphene-based battery material with charging speed five times faster than today’s lithium-ion batteries.