Newspaper Must Read Articles of The Day – 03 August 2015

Cecil the lion: Cecil was a 13-year-old male lion who lived in the Hwange National Park in Northern Zimbabwe. He was a major attraction at the park, and was being studied and tracked by the University of Oxford along with many other lions as part of a larger study. Cecil had become immensely popular because he was accustomed to people, allowing vehicles sometimes as close as 10 metres to him, making it easy for tourists and researchers to photograph and observe him. He was shot and killed by an American recreational hunter on July 1. The killing has drawn international media attention and has sparked outrage worldwide. It has also spawned a discussion among conservation organisations about proposals for bills banning imports of lion trophies to the US and European Union, as well as discussions about ethics and the business of big-game hunting. African countries have been called on to ban bow hunting, lion baiting, and hunting from behind hunting blinds.

India to host meeting of 14 Pacific island nations: On August 21, India will host the heads of 14 island nations at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), in what is seen as a first step towards greater engagement with the region, which is important especially from a geostrategic standpoint. This is to be seen as a counter to Chinese might in the region.

Centre denies plans to build DNA database, but experts fault Bill: The Union government has denied plans to develop a DNA database of citizens, similar to the biometric database of Aadhaar, when the Human DNA Profiling Bill was introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. See the newspaper of July 28 for details.

Challenges of conflict diplomacy: The abduction of four teachers in Libya by militants is a reminder of the dangers facing Indians working in crisis zones abroad. India needs to be more proactive in its conflict diplomacy to ensure its citizens’ safety in those areas. The national security establishment should actively cultivate ties with influential actors in the regions, to help solve issues such as kidnappings. Most important, New Delhi should prudently stay neutral and not take sides in the conflicts of the Arab world.

Revamping India’s scientific ecosystem: There is a massive wave of entrepreneurial energy coursing through India’s arteries. We have to make this raw talent usable to the economy by supporting it with excellence in the basic and applied research categories of our higher educational institutions.

Putting life first: The year 2015 is crucial for global agreements that establish the trajectories and paradigms of development. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are set to be replaced with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN General Assembly in September and negotiations on a new global treaty on climate change will culminate in Paris in December. The narrative of development in the 21 century will be defined by these two agreements. While the pursuit of European styled sustainability is important, there should not be an overwhelming emphasis on environmental goals at the cost of poverty alleviation.

A tale of two deals: A comparision of the two nuclear deals signed by the US over the last decade, with India in 2005, and with Iran in 2015. Useful to be aware of the surroundings and situations in which each agreement was signed.

Flaperon is from Boeing 777: The part of the aircraft wing called “flaperon” that was retrieved from the Reunion island has been confirmed by both French authorities and Boeing as part of a 777. (No new news).

‘Administrative detention’ for Jewish militant suspects: Israel intends to detain without trial its own citizens suspected of political violence against Palestinians, government officials have said following a lethal West Bank arson attack blamed on Jewish militants. Such detainees are sometimes held without trial for months, a measure Israel says is required to prevent further violence in the absence of sufficient evidence to prosecute, or where going to court would risk exposing the identity of secret informants.

Challenges emerge within Taliban to Mansour’s leadership: The brother and son of the late Taliban leader Mullah Omar have joined a growing challenge to the extremist group’s newly appointed leader, even as Mansour has been offered a purported statement of support from Jalaluddin Haqqani, leader of the notoriously brutal Haqqani insurgent group.

Spices Board launches subsidy scheme to boost production: The Spices Board has launched a raft of measures to support farmers by offering various subsidies and sensitise them on the need to enhance the quality of spices through post-harvest improvement techniques, as a part of boosting spices production in the country.

Problems aplenty: The RBI is going to announce its next instalment of monetary policy on Tuesday, August 4 and there are problems whichever way it decides to go. The absence of a rate cut in the last instalment in June seemed vindicated as CPI inflation numbers for June were higher than for the previous month. So, the RBI could feel the pressure of maintaining this trend. But the real economy is yet to gain momentum. Industrial output, as measured by the IIP numbers, is sluggish. Bank credit disbursements are running below their targets. In such a scenario, the RBI would like to try and lower the rates.

Special fund set up to provide credit to food parks: The Central Government has created a special fund in NABARD with a corpus of Rs.2,000 crore to make available affordable credit to establish designated food parks and also for setting up of food/agro processing units in designated food parks by the private and public sector.

Compulsory testing of packaged food products: All food business operators will have to ensure testing of relevant chemical and/or microbiological contents in food products. (This in under the Farmers’ Notebook section on Page 16).

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