Newspaper Must Read Articles of The Day – 20 August 2015

Newspaper analysis from The Hindu bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation

 Front Page/National

• NSA talks on track: officials : NSA level talks are scheduled between India & Pakistan on August 23-24. NSA of Pakistan will be meeting separatist leaders from Kashmir. India finds this provocative, but will not lead to derailment of talks. Also read India will confront Pakistan in Today’s Newspaper.

• Conviction Rate up, but not for rape: The crime rate in the country has gone up, but so has the conviction rate. The sad part – Conviction               rate hasn’t gone up for rape though. Also in related news the National Crime Records Bureau data                 shows that contrary to increase in juvenile crimes , it is crime against children that is on rise.

Editorial/Opinion

• Thailand’s Turbulence: What you should know: – What has happened: There was a bomb blast near a Hindu temple in Bangkok. Thailand has seen tow coups in past ten years. There are several political actors in the monarchy. There is the military junta, the king and the red shirts ( political supporters of deposed PM Shinawatra and now supporting Yingluck Shinawatra – read about them ) And in deep south, they are fighting Muslim separatists since 2004.Thailand says the bombs are targeted at derailing economy and tourism, but isn’t clear on who has done it yet.

• Early experiments with technology :This is an obscure news, but nevertheless important. The SITE – Satellite Instructional Television Experiment – was India’s first tryst with using technology as educational tool – has crossed 40 years.Read on.

Economy

• Yuan makes its first move: Renminbi – the informal name of Yuan has been devalued. This makes their currency cheap, by which you mean for the same rupee you can buy more yuan or Chinese goods, making Chinese goods cheaper. This will make imports from China cheaper. For India, this means further increase in trade deficit, as our traders will prefer importing cheap , rather than selling relatively expensive. Today everything in your house is Chinese, including LED bulbs. Thankfully the plate you eat in may also be China made, but not the food.