Newspaper Must Read Articles of The Day – 26 August 2015

Muslim population growth slows : The decadal Muslim rate of growth is the lowest it has ever been in India’s history, as it is for all religions. The Muslim population still grows at a faster rate than the Hindu population, but the gap between the two growth rates is narrowing fast.

Land ordinance to go; Gadkari says PM Modi wants States to frame law : Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Ordinance, 2015, will be allowed to lapse on August 31; Government has decided that the States be allowed to put in place their own laws on land acquisition.

Special category status: PM puts ball in Niti Aayog’s court : Niti Aayog has been entrusted the task of taking a final view on the issue of granting Special Category status to Andhra Pradesh.

Markets rebound as China cuts interest rate : Stock indices and the rupee regained some lost ground on Tuesday as China cut rates to rejuvenate its economy and markets.

GSLV set to launch GSAT-6 tomorrow : The GSLV-D6 satellite launcher powered by the indigenously developed upper cryogenic stage will be flown on Thursday evening from Sriharikota; to send the 2,117-kg GSAT-6 communication satellite into space.

Fix call drop problem urgently, PM tells officials : PM expressed serious concern over the issue of “call drops” and asked officials to explain the steps being taken to address the problem, which, he said, directly affects the common man. He directed that steps be taken urgently to resolve the problem, and also to ensure that the problems in voice connectivity do not extend to data connectivity in the future

Muslim sex ratio improves further: The sex ratio among Muslims now stands at 951 females for every 1,000 males, substantially better than 936 in 2001, while among Hindus, it is 939 females for every 1,000 males, a slight improvement over the 2001 value of 931.

OROP: Army Chief meets ex-servicemen : In an attempt to sort out differences on the modalities of implementing the one-rank one-pension (OROP) scheme, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh met ex-servicemen representatives; the talk remained inconclusive

GOP controversy on Asian immigrants as ‘anchor babies’ : The term refers to the U.S. policy granting automatic citizenship to children born in the country to foreign nationals, and those speaking of “anchor babies” in this context Republicans criticise this rule because it also allows the U.S.-born children to sponsor their parents for citizenship after they reach 21 years of age.

U.S. offers $1 m for Sampoor resettlement : The U.S. will provide assistance to the tune of $1 million towards resettlement and education in Sampoor in eastern Sri Lanka, where many Tamils were displaced during the Eelam War.

Deliberate destruction of cultural heritage : The Islamic State group on Tuesday published images showing the destruction of the Baal Shamin temple in Syria’s Palmyra,

WWII plane debris found in Polish river bed : Jewish tombstones and a Soviet fighter plane with the remains of its pilots have been found in the riverbank; evidence of Poland’s tortured 20th century history.

TAC suggested a rate cut while RBI kept the rate unchanged: As the real economy continues to be very weak, inflation risks are receding and both the fiscal and current account deficits are under control; Technical Advisory Committee suggested a rate cut. Deceleration in credit growth, surplus liquidity in the markets as witnessed by the fact that the reverse repo operations are in excess of the repo operations and banks are holding significant excess investment in statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) securities were counter arguments regarding rate cuts.

RBI to checkmate undue volatility in markets : India is moving in right direction in long to medium term growth path; reforms are progressing forward; still with the globalization Indian economy is at times at risk due to global scenarios. There is an immediate need to spot the grey zones and the jurisdiction of regulators must be established at the earliest in such areas to stop proliferation of unlawful practices in financial sector.

Shadow-boxing to what avail? : In lieu of failure of NSA level talks between India and Pakistan, Mr. Modi must look for an interlocutor. Many in this government, including himself, have expressed their admiration for Israel, especially the country’s tough “zero-tolerance” position with its neighbours. Yet, few understand the worth of Israel’s foremost diplomat, Abba Eban, in achieving its success through diplomacy at the United Nations and with Israel’s Arab neighbours for whom he was the chief interlocutor. (“A statesman who keeps his ear permanently glued to the ground will have neither elegance of posture nor flexibility of movement.”)

Hollow promise of ‘special status’ : ‘Special Category’ status had been granted in the past by the Union government to States having certain characteristics based on the recommendations of the National Development Council. Several changes over the years, more particularly those introduced in the Union Budget 2015-16, have resulted in considerable dilution of benefits to the ‘Special Category States’. Following the demand for Special Status by Bihar, a committee was appointed under Dr. Raghuram Rajan in 2013. This committee suggested that States classified as ‘Special Category States’ and those seeking inclusion in that category, would find that their need for funds and special attention more than adequately met by a basic allocation to each State and the categorisation of some as ‘least developed’.

Of contamination and cover-ups : Any policy for remediation of contaminated sites should be based on sound science. And science is sound only when scientists and their work are subject to public scrutiny. Thirty years after the Bhopal disaster, the recent upsurge of interest in the Kodaikanal mercury pollution case has made one thing clear; that neither state or central government have worked on policy for environmental remediation of contaminated sites; instead they are gloves in hand with polluters in diluting the environmental standards.

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