Daily Hindu Editorials

NGT notice on halt road through Corbett (Env) A plea seeking a stay on the construction of a link road linking  Kotdwar to Ramnagar  through the Corbett Tiger Reserve was filed with the NGT recently. This has led the National Green Tribunal to seek responses from the Uttarakhand government and the Centre. Details:    A Bench headed by NGT acting Chairperson Jawad Rahim on Tuesday issued show-cause notices to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority, National Board for Wildlife, NBBC (India) Limited and State government. The authorities have been asked to file their replies within two weeks. The orders came while the green panel was hearing a plea filed by advocate Gaurav Bansal which alleged that the construction of the link road would damage the ecosystem and biodiversity of the tiger reserve. The plea alleged that the construction of the road was in violation of previous Supreme Court orders that pro...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 2  from editorial  -Policy on biofuels: Green push? 💥 biofuel (noun) – a renewable source of energy produced from natural sources/organic matter (from plants or animals). Hindu Editorial usage  :  The new biofuels policy is high on ambition, but success will depend on the details feedstock (noun) – the main raw material used in the manufacture of a product. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Under the new policy, feedstock for biofuels includes sugar beet, corn, damaged foodgrain, potatoes, even municipal solid waste discomforting (adjective) – disturbing, upsetting, very bad. Hindu Editorial usage  :  This will likely reduce the cost of producing biofuels and improve affordability for consumers, particularly during times when oil prices reach discomforting levels. float (verb) – offer, submit, present/give. Hindu Editorial usage  :    The oil companies have been floating tenders for ethanol supply, bu...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 1  from editorial  -Transition tests: Pakistan in election mode 💥 transition (noun) – change, changeover, shift. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Transition tests: Pakistan in election mode caretaker (adjective) – temporary, interim, provisional. Hindu Editorial usage  :  The appointment of a caretaker PM in Pakistan signals it’s in election mode set the stage for (phrase) – prepare the circumstances for beginning of something. Hindu Editorial usage  :  sets the stage for the second consecutive transfer of power from one civilian government to another. tenure (noun) – incumbency, term of office, period/time in office. Hindu Editorial usage  :  ; only in 2013 did a government complete its full tenure for the first time. The choice of Nasirul Mulk, a former Chief Justice, as caretaker Prime Minister has been welcomed across the spectrum spectrum (noun) – range, gamut/ambit, scale (of similar things). Hi...

👉Trust in official statistics is vital for democracy — the new policy must avoid centralisation👈 David Spiegelhalter, president of Royal Statistical Society in the U.K., gave a most unusual presidential address in 2017. Instead of talking about esoteric statistical techniques, he talked about declining trust in numbers in a post-truth society bombarded by fake news and alternative facts. He recommended to the statistical community that the best way of inspiring trust was to be trustworthy by demonstrating competence, reliability and honesty. India has been fortunate in inheriting a statistical system from stalwarts like P.C. Mahalanobis and C.R. Rao that has historically demonstrated all three. However, with the growing demand for statistics and increasingly challenging data collection environment, the move by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) towards developing a National Policy on Official Statistics is most welcome. There is much to like i...

👉The appointment of a caretaker PM in Pakistan signals it’s in election mode👈 The appointment of a caretaker Prime Minister in Pakistan, under whom the country will face general elections on July 25, sets the stage for the second consecutive transfer of power from one civilian government to another. This in itself is a landmark for democracy in Pakistan, where no civilian Prime Minister has completed a full term in office; only in 2013 did a government complete its full tenure for the first time. The choice of Nasirul Mulk, a former Chief Justice, as caretaker Prime Minister has been welcomed across the spectrum, with leaders of the main political parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Jamaat-e-Islami, issuing statements commending outgoing Pakistan Muslim League (N) Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s decision. During his time in the Supreme Court, Justice Mulk heard several contentious constitutional matters, including one in which...

👉The new biofuels policy is high on ambition, but success will depend on the details👈 At a time when rising oil prices are putting increasing pressure on the economy, even small steps to encourage the use of biofuels are welcome. The Cabinet this month approved a National Policy on Biofuels, which encourages the generation and use of biofuels such as ethanol. It primarily tries to address supply-side issues that have discouraged the production of biofuels within the country. For one, it allows for a wider variety of raw materials to be used as inputs to produce ethanol that is blended with petrol. Until now, only ethanol produced from sugarcane was approved for this purpose. Under the new policy, feedstock for biofuels includes sugar beet, corn, damaged foodgrain, potatoes, even municipal solid waste. This will likely reduce the cost of producing biofuels and improve affordability for consumers, particularly during times when oil prices reach discomforting levels. In India, indus...

👉A more concerted and intensive engagement will serve both India and Indonesia well👈 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Southeast Asia this week has the potential to spark a new period of maritime cooperation between India and Indonesia. An uptick in India-Indonesia relations will be a welcome development for both President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Mr. Modi, who through their respective ‘Global Maritime Fulcrum’ and ‘Act East’ policies have envisaged sharper maritime collaboration in the region. 👉China, the common concern The visit comes against the backdrop of an offer from the Indonesian government to grant India access to its Sabang port for the development of the port and an economic zone. Located at the mouth of the strategically important Strait of Malacca, Sabang is only 100 nautical miles from the southern tip of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. India and Indonesia share multiple common concerns, one of which is China’s growing maritime footprint in the easter...

👉Google has announced initiatives that could ensure more money flows into the coffers of publishers👈 News publishers, whose revenue dreams have never quite materialised in the digital space, have reasons to look in the direction of Google with some optimism. In recent months, Google has announced initiatives that, if they click, could ensure more money flows into the coffers of publishers. The initiatives go by the names Funding Choices and Subscribe with Google. Funding Choices, announced last year and still in beta, is designed “to help publishers with good ad experiences recover lost revenue due to ad blocking”. Publishers who are a part of this initiative have the tools to spot users with ad blockers, who are then either asked to switch off the blockers or “buy an ad removal pass” via Google Contributor. This is how Contributor works: users load their pass with some money and also select Contributor partnering sites that they would like to use the pass on. A bit of the mo...