Front Page

• Aziz insists that Kashmir ‘tops’ list of issues: The National Security Adviser of Pakistan has stated that although there is no mention in the joint statement from Ufa, Kashmir continues to be the top priority in the talks with India. What it appears to be is a damage-control exercise to mollify the hardliners in the Pakistani government.

• Athens to open talks on third bailout worth €86 billion: Greece has reached a desperately needed bailout deal with the Eurozone in a historic agreement to prevent the country crashing out of the European single currency (the Euro). Greece has to introduce harsh conditions on labour reform and pensions, VAT and taxes, privatisation of govt assets worth up to €50 billion. In turn, Europe’s first step has to be pushing the deal through several national parliaments, many in countries that do not want to afford Greece more help. Greece’s debt currently stands at around 320 billion euros total.

Opinion/Editorial

• Get-together of the separatists: The coming together of the various separatist elements in Kashmir is a short-term necessity for them, and much should not be read into it. They are too diverse, with significantly different definitions of Kashmiri nationalism, for this accord to last over the long-term.

• Built on hype, deflated by reality: On the 10th anniversary this week of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal of 2005, India has still not seen its much-advertised energy, technological and strategic benefits. The deal has not even been commercialised, and it takes another ten years for the first reactor to become operational after that. The premise on which it was founded, that India could build energy “security” by importing high-priced, foreign fuel-dependent reactors, was unrealistic anyways.

• Dire need for a global consensus on refugees: With several recent instances of migrants being left in the lurch, the international community must arrive at a consensus to protect refugees.

• FTII’s long history of strife:  The smooth functioning of India’s elite centre for film education has always been blighted. Privatisation has been suggested as a measure to make it more efficient and up to international standards. But privatisation might make it out of reach of many students not well off.

National

• Why exclusivity over CEC and EC appointments, asks SC: The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to respond to a plea that seeks to end the sole authority of the government in the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, and introduce a transparent system.

• Satellite-based navigation system launched: India has launched the GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system, which will offer seamless navigation to the aviation industry.We are the fourth country to offer space-based satellite navigation services to the aviation sector. Very important.

Economy/Business

• Losing glitter: Despite prices of gold falling to close to its three-month lows, there has been poor demand of the precious metal in the Indian economy. India and China account for more than 50 per cent of global gold demand and the melt-down in Chinese equity markets has only rekindled investors to enter discounted equities, but gold is still untouched by this. This is because the festive season in India is still a month away and rural Indian demand, which accounts for a major chunk of the demand, will materialise only post-monsoons. Also, Indians do not buy gold as an investment opportunity.

• Dip in Darjeeling tea output likely: Production of Darjeeling tea, the first Geographical Indicator in India, is likely to drop by around 10 per cent this year due to climatic adversities. (You can link this to answers related to climate change and unpredictable monsoons).