Daily Hindu Editorials

👉It is important to invest in negotiations, political concessions and soft power within Jammu and Kashmir👈 The Narendra Modi government in New Delhi has decided to make a host of political concessions — in the form of conciliatory moves, positive responses and toned-down rhetoric — vis-à-vis Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and Pakistan. More notably, we are also perhaps witnessing a cautious, and sensible, adoption of diplomacy and soft power in the final lap of the Modi government’s term in office. While that is indeed welcome, has its willingness to play down its aggressive rhetoric and dismount from the moral high horse come a bit too late in the day to make a difference? Over the past month or so, New Delhi has offered to reach out to the separatists in Kashmir (junking its earlier resolve not to engage them), reportedly carried out backchannel parleys with the separatist leadership in Srinagar, declared a ceasefire during the month of Ramzan, and agreed to maintain the 2003

👉To realise India’s potential in the field, a strong buy-in from policymakers is needed👈 The NITI Aayog has published an ambitious discussion paper on kickstarting the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in India. AI is the use of computers to mimic human cognitive processes for decision-making. The paper talks of powering five sectors — agriculture, education, health care, smart cities/infrastructure and transport — with AI. It highlights the potential for India to become an AI ‘garage’, or solutions provider, for 40% of the world. To pull this off, India would have to develop AI tools for a range of applications: reading cancer pathology reports, rerouting traffic in smart cities, telling farmers where to store their produce, and picking students at high risk of dropping out from school, among them. It is a tall order, but several countries have similar ambitions. The U.S., Japan and China have published their AI strategy documents and, importantly, put their money where the

👉Rafael Nadal’s 11th French Open title is a testimony to the transformation of his game👈 There is a tendency among tennis fans to take Rafael Nadal’s clay court dominance for granted. Ever since he won his first French Open in 2005, the Spaniard has single-handedly drained out almost all the suspense that Paris may have otherwise offered. On Sunday, when he held aloft the Roland Garros trophy for the 11th time in his career, after defeating his touted heir apparent Dominic Thiem, it was more of the same. The 32-year-old, ranked No. 1 in the world, was the overwhelming favourite ahead of the tournament and during the course of the two weeks there wasn’t an inkling of any change as Nadal lost just one set in the capture of his 17th Major overall. The victory pulled him level with Margaret Court for the most number of titles at a single Grand Slam tournament and made him only the second active men’s player — Roger Federer being the other — to win three or more after turning 30. The

👉It is recasting its approach to the Indo-Pacific and building deeper links with continental Eurasia👈 Recent foreign policy moves by New Delhi indicate an inflexion point. Combining orthodox ideas from the Cold War era along with 21st century pragmatism, it appears that India has decided that the emerging multipolar world is becoming far too complicated for the binary choices and easy solutions that some had envisioned for the country’s foreign policy. Not only has it recast its approach to the maritime Indo-Pacific but as the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit exemplifies, it is also building deeper and more constructive links with continental Eurasia. 👉Setting a new tone Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1 laid out a framework that might outlast the present government. The speech was dominated by four themes that collectively tell us about the evolving foreign policy. First, the central theme was th

👉After being close to military action last year, how the U.S. and North Korea agreed to talks👈 Less than a year ago, North Korea scored a ‘nuclear double’. In July 2017, it launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles, the first capable of reaching Alaska, and the second, the Hwasong-14, capable of reaching California. In November, it detonated its most powerful nuclear weapon — a 120 kiloton-boosted fission device. For long, North Korea had been seen as an impoverished state, run by a megalomaniac dictator, trying to punch way above its weight by defying the United Nations and the U.S. Yet, last year, it was very close to establishing a viable nuclear deterrent against the world’s biggest superpower. True, it was still perfecting the weapon’s miniaturisation and ensuring the missile’s accuracy and safe re-entry. That might take a little more time but the U.S. has already felt deterred from taking pre-emptive military action. By late 2017, these developments had broug

👉As the 2019 Lok Sabha election nears, a kinder and gentler NDA is in the BJP’s interest👈 Last week, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah was busy reaching out to miffed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners — the first time he was doing so since the Telugu Desam Party quit the alliance in March and the Shiv Sena announced in its national convention resolution that it would fight the 2019 general elections alone. Mr. Shah met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on June 6, and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Parkash Singh Badal the following day. The first initiative was an effort to calm tempers, and the second a belated attempt to attend to grouses long articulated. With Opposition parties coming together to take on the BJP in 2019, the outreach is seen as a realisation in the BJP that the NDA needs to be held together closer. Alliances are held together by the delicate threads of needs, complementarity of vote bases and, often, a common political rival who

👉It would not be wrong to consider Serena Williams a superhero👈 Being Serena Williams means wearing layers. No, not the catsuit. Throughout her career, she has made us privy to several of those: her race, gender, background. At the French Open this year, we saw another layer: her resilience. She was a set down against Ashleigh Barty in round two. Opening the second, she had her service broken thanks to three consecutive errors. But before you knew it, the switch flipped. Williams picked up the pace and darted forward. She piled on the aces and the forehand winners. Her intensity grew, as did her volume. She closed the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 with a roar that shook Court Phillipe Chatrier. A billboard in Paris read: “The Queen is back.” Williams came into the tournament playing only four WTA matches all year and only a short while after the complicated birth of her daughter. Following her first round win, she tweeted: “For all the moms out there who had a tough recovery from p

Insolvency Code Amendment (GS 3 Eco) President Ram Nath Kovind has given his nod to promulgate the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code (Amendment) Ordinance 2018. Details:  The bankruptcy code is a one stop solution for resolving insolvencies which at present is a long process and does not offer an economically viable arrangement. A strong insolvency framework where the cost and the time incurred is minimized in attaining liquidation has been long overdue in India. The code will be able to protect the interests of small investors and make the process of doing business a less cumbersome process. President Ram Nath Kovind has assented to the promulgation of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 on June 6, 2018. This ordinance makes some fine-tuning mechanisms in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. This ordinance brings some specific changes affecting mainly real estate and financial sectors. The notable changes are as follows: Homebuyers would now be tr

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 2  from editorial  - Ceasing fire: on truce in Afghanistan 💥 reciprocal (adjective) – mutual, common, shared/joint. Hindu Editorial usage  :  The Taliban’s reciprocal truce against Afghan troops provides a glimmer of hope ceasefire (noun) – a temporary stoppage of a war, truce, armistice. Hindu Editorial usage  : Ceasing fire: on truce in Afghanistan glimmer (noun) – faint sign, trace, hint. Hindu Editorial usage  :  The Taliban’s reciprocal truce against Afghan troops provides a glimmer of hope reciprocity (noun) – exchange, substitution, reparation. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Though it has not acknowledged the government ceasefire, the timing and the public declaration unmistakably point to the reciprocity of the decision reach out (phrasal verb) – contact someone to obtain/offer help/assistance/cooperation. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Mr. Ghani’s government had tried several times to reach out to the Taliban to find a breakthrough in the confl