Must Read News Articles – March 22, 2019

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GS 2

U.S. puts Pak. on notice over terror attack

The United States has asked Pakistan to take sustained, verifiable and irreversible action against the perpetrators of terrorism and warned the country that another terror attack on India will prove to be “extremely problematic.”

When free speech is truly free

Both elections and free media are important because they stand, among other things, for the notions of free speech and free expression. Casting a vote anonymously, of one’s own free will, is an example of free expression and is broader than just ‘free speech’.

Beyond the ‘us-them’ binary

By calling the Christchurch attacker a terrorist, the New Zealand Prime Minister sent a powerful message

Back on track

India and the Maldives appeared to return to the old days of strategic bonhomie when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met her counterpart Abdulla Shahid in Male during a brief visit this week.

What can India do to influence China on Masood Azhar?

Last week, China placed a hold on the listing request for Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)’s leader Masood Azhar at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

SCO offers ‘mediation’ in India-Pak. talks

The eight nation Shanghai Cooperation organisation (SCO) on Wednesday offered to smoothen a bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan so that the two countries can resolve their differences, following last month’s Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir.

GS 3

Enforcing a ban will not end the menace of stubble burning, say researchers

Only educating farmers about the monetary costs of burning stubble can address the environmental crisis triggered every year in Punjab, says a team of Swiss and Indian researchers who interviewed 600 farmers over two years. Burning stubble, the rice chaff left over after harvesting, is linked to winter air-pollution in the State as well as down-wind Delhi