Daily Hindu Editorials

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 2  from editorial  - Common Wealth 💥 relevance (noun) – the quality of being relevant/closely connected/appropriate. Hindu Editorial usage :   CHOGM again failed to make a case for its relevance in the 21st century to begin with (phrase) – at first, at the start, at the outset. Hindu Editorial usage :  To begin with, the summit was being held in the U.K., the founder of the grouping of mostly former British colonies, owing to (phrase) – because of, as a result of, on account of. Hindu Editorial usage :  the head of CHOGM, attended the summit, which she has done infrequently in the last few years owing to her health. charm offensive (noun) – honeyed words, smooth talk, soft words. Hindu Editorial usage :  She opened her homes in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle for the event, in what was called a “charm offensive” by the hosts, revive (verb) – revitalize, restore/renew, strengthen. Hindu Editorial usage : ...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 1  from editorial  - Unprecedented Crisis - On Independence Of Judiciary 💥 unprecedented (adjective) – not done or experienced before. Hindu Editorial usage :   Unprecedented crisis: on independence of the judiciary  compromise (verb) – undermine, weaken, damage. Hindu Editorial usage :  The accountability and independence of the judiciary must not be compromised confrontation (noun) – conflict, tussle, face-off. Hindu Editorial usage :  These are extraordinary times for the judiciary. From signs of a confrontation with the executive over judicial appointments to an unpleasant rift among Supreme Court judges, it has seen much turmoil recently. the executive (noun) – administration, authority, directorate. Hindu Editorial usage :  These are extraordinary times for the judiciary. From signs of a confrontation with the executive over judicial appointments to an unpleasant rift among Supreme Court judges, it ha...

💥Despite its vast potential, the Commonwealth Summit gave the impression of being out of step with the times We’re often told journalism is about telling detail. Here’s one from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London that ended on Friday. During the closing press conference of a summit pegged as one that would breathe fresh life, energy and relevance into the grouping, a journalist from Nigeria rose to ask a question particularly close to the hearts of the Commonwealth’s population: would it address free movement within the 2.4 billion people-strong group? It was put to Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, but was swiftly passed on to the four heads of government heads gathered there — including British Prime Minister Theresa May — all of who shrugged off the question. 👉Grey on migration The lengthy communiqué from the leaders published at the end of the two-day summit — and off the back of forums on women, business, youth and civil so...

👉The accountability and independence of the judiciary must not be compromised👈 These are extraordinary times for the judiciary. From signs of a confrontation with the executive over judicial appointments to an unpleasant rift among Supreme Court judges, it has seen much turmoil recently. The process initiated by major Opposition parties to impeach the Chief Justice of India is an unprecedented crisis. The motion, details of which cannot be revealed under Rajya Sabha rules until it is admitted, draws its substance and arguments mainly from the points raised by the four senior-most judges, whose dissent brought simmering differences to the fore. Their main charge, that CJI Dipak Misra selectively assigns cases to Benches of his choice, had some dark ramifications, including insinuations about the way he dealt with a petition by a medical college on the judicial and administrative side, and a case of suspected judicial bribery. The CJI has stuck to his position that as ‘master of the...

👉CHOGM again failed to make a case for its relevance in the 21st century👈 The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) held in London came with hopes of a “re-energised Commonwealth”. To begin with, the summit was being held in the U.K., the founder of the grouping of mostly former British colonies, after 32 years. Besides, Queen Elizabeth II, the head of CHOGM, attended the summit, which she has done infrequently in the last few years owing to her health. She opened her homes in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle for the event, in what was called a “charm offensive” by the hosts, who were looking to revive the 53-nation grouping as Commonwealth 2.0, amidst Britain’s rocky exit from the EU. In India too, the summit was seen to be a promising place to play a leadership role, and Prince Charles’s visit to Delhi to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi bolstered that belief. Mr. Modi was the first Indian Prime Minister to attend CHOGM in a decade, after Manmohan Singh skippe...

👉The focus must be on enhancing rape conviction rates and taking steps to rehabilitate and empower survivors👈 Amid belligerent demands for capital punishment for rapists, on Sunday the President signed an ordinance that introduces the death penalty for those convicted of raping girls below the age of 12. But this clamour for introducing the most stringent punishment has conveniently sidestepped the more cogent criticism of the systemic failures in addressing increasing sexual violence against women and children. For those looking at it from the point of view of rape survivors and their bitter experiences with the criminal justice system, capital punishment for rape is the easiest and most convenient demand to raise, yet the most harmful one also for rape survivors. The women’s movement has laid emphasis on the need for the person raped to survive the assault, and in turn be enabled to book the perpetrators. There are numerous instances of the perpetrators killing th...

👉Classifying tree plantations as forests is deceptive. We need to work with local communities to restore lost forest cover👈 The latest Forest Survey of India report has changed the calculation methods for India’s forest cover to include plantations on private lands. It is common knowledge that private plantations of teak, eucalyptus and poplar are undertaken to earn incomes. Such plantations can’t be substitutes for natural forests with their wildlife and immense biodiversity. Natural forests have multiple ecosystem functions, none of which can be provided by commercial plantations. Classifying tree plantations as forests is naïve and deceptive — naïve because it ignores reams of research and evidence which show otherwise, and deceptive because this dangerous definition comes from a forest bureaucracy that projects itself as the sole guardian of India’s forests and is very aware that plantations are not forests. Forest officials are trained in ecological sciences and obvi...

👉Researchers say it is time India moves on from hybrids👈 Pink bollworm infestation in Bt cotton in India has turned the spotlight on an important question: has hybrid cotton lived up to its promise? India was a pioneer in this technology in the 1970s; today, it is the only country that exclusively grows cotton hybrids. Yet, cotton researchers are now asking if our over-reliance on this technology is responsible for our biggest problems in Bt cotton, such as infestation and low yield. The world’s first commercial cotton hybrid, Hybrid-4 (H-4), was developed in 1970 by the scientist Chandrakant T. Patel. The crop revolutionised cotton farming in India. Due to a genetic phenomenon called heterosis, hybrids often outyield open-pollinated (OP) varieties. So, from paltry yields of 122 kg of lint per hectare, production in India rose to 290 kg per hectare by 1992-93. The advent of hybrids also led to a mini-employment boom in the 1980s, with some 25 million people, mostly women, ...