Daily Hindu Editorials

💥BARC DEVELOPS CHEAPER, LIGHTWEIGHT BULLETPROOF JACKETS   ( DEFENCE) The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed a state-of-the-art bulletproof jacket for the Indian armed forces, which is not only cheaper but also much lighter. The jacket, christened Bhabha Kavach, will reduce the weight by nearly 50% (weighs just 6.6 kg in comparison to the 17-kg jackets in use) and will be able to withstand eight 7.62mm bullets fired from an AK-47 rifle from a distance of 5-10 metres. The jacket named after nuclear physicist Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, was developed at BARC’s Trombay centre in response to a request from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The jacket would also be produced more cost effectively as the cost of a Bhabha Kavach is Rs. 70,000, jackets of similar strength are available only in the range of Rs. 1.5 lakh Bhabha Kavach will be manufactured by Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited, a defence public sector unit based in Hyderabad....

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 2  from editorial  - After the Castros 💥 cue (noun) – sign, indication, signal. Hindu Editorial usage :   Havana-watchers will look for cues of change or continuity in a country that once symbolised global anti-imperialist revolution anti-imperialist (adjective) – relating to opposing imperialism. imperialism (noun) – an action that involves a country (usually an empire or a kingdom) extending its power by the acquisition of territories. Hindu Editorial usage :   Havana-watchers will look for cues of change or continuity in a country that once symbolised global anti-imperialist revolution upsurge (noun) – sudden increase or rise. Hindu Editorial usage :   With Latin America’s socialist upsurge of the last decade in retreat and Cuba’s economy in anything but robust health retreat (noun) – withdrawal, draw back, flee/take flight. Hindu Editorial usage :   With Latin America’s socialist upsurge of the last decade in r...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 1  from editorial  - Revisit AFSPA 💥 revocation (noun) – cancellation, abandonment, calling off/recall. Hindu Editorial usage :   Its revocation in some areas is welcome, but should it be on the statute books at all? statute book (noun) – law, regulation, rule (book). Hindu Editorial usage :   Its revocation in some areas is welcome, but should it be on the statute books at all? revoke (verb) – cancel, repeal, reverse/annul (a decree/law). Hindu Editorial usage :   The Centre’s decision to revoke the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Meghalaya insofar as (phrase) – to the extent/degree that. Hindu Editorial usage :     Arunachal Pradesh is welcome insofar as it signifies a willingness to reconsider the use of the special law as immunity (noun) – protection, exemption, release/liberty. Hindu Editorial usage :   which provides protection to the point of total immunity from prosecution for the security...

👉They are challenging the very essence of government and politics in Indian democracy👈 The recent riots in West Bengal and Bihar have got stuck in the gullet of Indian democracy. These riots are disturbing not only as new rituals of violence but as part of the more cynical narratives of electoral democracy. In fact, as acts of violence, they are depressing thrice over as events. First, as premeditated acts of brutality followed by a sterile weakness of governmental response. What is even more sinister is the narrative of legitimacy built in the aftermath of a riot to normalise them. Let’s try to understand the changing morphology of riots with West Bengal and Bihar as illustrations. 👉Ram Navami violence Between communal riots and the lynch mob, India has added a new dimension to its repertoire of violence. But unlike the lynch mob, which feeds on a hunt for an individual, the riot has a complexity we have not fully grasped. Partly this is because riots have changed struc...

👉Its revocation in some areas is welcome, but should it be on the statute books at all?👈 The Centre’s decision to revoke the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Meghalaya and reduce its ambit in Arunachal Pradesh is welcome insofar as it signifies a willingness to reconsider the use of the special law as and when the ground situation improves. The extent of ‘disturbed areas’ in Meghalaya was earlier limited to within 20 km of its border with Assam. The whole of Nagaland, most of Assam, and Manipur excluding the areas falling under seven Assembly constituencies in Imphal, continue to be under the law, which provides protection to the point of total immunity from prosecution for the security forces operating in the notified areas. In Arunachal, the areas under AFSPA have been reduced to the limits of eight police stations, instead of the previous 16, in three districts bordering Assam. It was only last month that the Act was extended for six months in Assam, even though the Union ...

👉Cuba’s President must seize the opportunity to refresh economic and foreign policies👈 As Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez assumes charge as Cuba’s first ‘non-Castro’ leader in decades, Havana-watchers will look for cues of change or continuity in a country that once symbolised global anti-imperialist revolution. With Latin America’s socialist upsurge of the last decade in retreat and Cuba’s economy in anything but robust health, the answers should be evident. Mr. Díaz-Canel is a veteran Communist Party apparatchik, who served as Vice President during Raúl Castro’s second five-year term since 2013. It will be no easy task for the former education minister, handpicked by Mr. Castro, to stamp his authority over a rigid bureaucratic and party apparatus. But Mr. Díaz-Canel can count on Mr. Castro’s political backing as the latter is expected to continue as head of the party and the armed forces for some more years. Sustaining Cuba’s education and health-care services will be a formidab...

👉Ahead of the Modi-Xi meeting, a look at the mixed record of grand summitry👈 As a vantage point in Nepal, Mount Everest is an important symbol for India and China. What is not well known is the mountain’s contribution to the term “summit” to describe meetings between world leaders seeking to resolve monumental issues between them. It was in the 1950s that former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill used the term, calling for a “summit of nations” to deal with the Cold War, even as an attempt to scale Mount Everest, which had captured the headlines, was under way. Churchill’s coinage of the term as well as his recommendation became a part of history when U.S. President John F. Kennedy met Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev for direct talks. History shows, the success of such grand summitry is mixed. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares for his “informal summit” with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan in China later this week, it would be instructive to look at the r...

👉The region’s diversity needs to be nurtured so that another crime is not used to score political points👈 As the world is horrified by the rape and death of an eight-year-old in Jammu’s Kathua district, and its subsequent politicisation, observers of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have again begun to comment on some long-term dynamics, particularly the regional differences in J&K. For understandable reasons, the Kashmir Valley has been the focus of attention of policymakers and commentators. Till recently, to get the Valley-based Kashmiris to acknowledge the presence and aspirations of other ethnic and identity groups in the State was difficult. Given the State’s geography, history and the post-1947 conflict, nativist sentiment informs the politics of the Valley. Indeed, non-Kashmiri-speaking groups of the erstwhile State of J&K, even those claiming the moniker of ‘Kashmiri’ in India, Pakistan, or in the diaspora, express concern in private conversations about how Kash...