Newspaper Must Read Articles of The Day – 25 August 2015

Front Page/National

• Sensex plays Chinese Checkers, gives up 1600 points : Rupee hits fresh two-year low, closes at 66.65/ dollar; Rs. 7 lakh crore of investor wealth gone in a day; India better off, says RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.

• Can’t Bring Political Parties under RTI, Centre tells SC: Responding to the Supreme Court’s query as to why political parties should not come under the purview of the RTI, the Centre has stated that doing so opens up opportunities for rivals with malicious intentions to harm the smooth functioning of the parties. (Click here for the last article on the subject).

• UN Court for status Quo on Italian Marines Case: The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has put a status quo on the Italian marines case until September 24, when India and Italy have to submit an initial report on their versions of the incident. (See the newspaper of 7th August for the last news on the subject).

Opinion/Editorial

• The crash of the Markets: In the aftermath of the havoc in the markets yesterday, SEBI has to put in place measures to ensure that there are no major settlement defaults, which can trigger a systemic collapse. There is little else it can do.

• Losing the Plot on India Pakistan Ties: A look at the concerned history and why the NSA level talks with Pakistan were always going to fail.

• The New Great Game in Asia: Two strategic agreements currently being negotiated by the world’s leading economies will likely determine the global balance of economic power for years to come. They are the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). This article highlights their objectives, and gives a position as to what India could do to become a force in the case of Intellectual Property rights.

International/World Affairs

• No Change in Stand on Palestine: India told the Arab League (most of the nations in North Africa) that our policy on the Palestinian cause remained “unchanged” and our support to the people of Palestine will continue to be 100%. This comes in the context of India abstaining from voting on an anti-Israel resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in June. (The Arab League hates Israel and supports Palestine).

• Nasheed sent back to jail: Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed has been forcibly taken back to jail by police, a month after the former Maldivian president’s 13-year prison term was commuted to house arrest, his party (the Maldivian Democratic Party) has claimed. The police, however, have claimed that he had been “temporarily” transferred to house arrest for eight weeks due to health reasons, and that he was rearrested after those eight weeks have ended.

• IS blows up Palmyra Temple: Islamic State militants have destroyed a temple at Syria’s ancient ruins of Palmyra, activists have said. Palmyra is one of the Middle East’s most spectacular archaeological sites and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• Bangladesh militants get foreign funds: Bangladesh has claimed it has got “credible evidence” that foreign organisations and individuals are funding militant outfits in the country. It has also been revealed that militants are taking advantage of the poor Muslim families while recruiting new members.

• North and South Korea agree to defuse crisis: North and South Korea have pulled back from the brink of war with an accord that allows both sides to save face and avert the bloodshed they’ve been threatening each other with for weeks now. Pyongyang has expressed regret over the fact that two South Korean soldiers were maimed in a recent land mine blast, and Seoul has agreed to halt anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts.

• Parade to showcase China’s Nuclear Power: Japan had conquered large parts of China in the Second World War, and the Chinese are conducting a parade to mark the 70th year of Japan’s defeat. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) will be the highlight of this parade.