Must Read News Articles –December 26

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International relation:

House panel quizzes govt. on foreign policy (The Hindu)

“India has always been there for the Maldives and will continue our commitment to be the ‘first’ friend,” said the MEA, which also acknowledged that the 2015 visit to the Maldives by Prime Minister Narendra Modi “was cancelled at the last minute due to political developments in the Maldives.”

Pact soon to build marine capacity (The Hindu)

The upcoming International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOocean) at the Indian National Centre For Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) here is all set to sign up with UNESCO to cater to the worldwide need to build technical and management manpower capacity in marine, coastal sustainability and response to marine natural hazards.

This year on Jerusalem (The Hindu Opinion)

India’s vote at the UN is in line with its leading power ambitions, and not just a legacy of nonalignment.

On the line: on India-China boundary talks (The Hindu)

The meeting between the Special Representatives of India and China —  National Adviser Ajit Doval and State Councillor Yang Jiechi— on the boundary question on December 22, the 20th so far, was unique for a number of reasons.

Social issues:

A glimmer of hope? – on transgender identity (The Hindu Opinion)

Self-identification should be the basis for access to benefits and entitlements for transgender persons

Indian Constitution and Polity:

Centre moves SC against fixed term for police chiefs (The Hindu)

The Union government has filed an interlocutory application in the Supreme Court to amend a 2006 order of the court that is being used by the States to appoint “favourites” as Directors-General of Police.

Skewed outlay for defence: panel (The Hindu)

Expressing concern over the decreasing share of capital allocation in the defence budget compared with the revenue component, adversely the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence said the Defence Ministry should overhaul its planning and budgeting mechanism to ensure “a prudent and equitable distribution of funds to revenue and capital heads”.


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Economy:

The rise and fall of the WTO (The Hindu Opinion)

Less than 25 years after the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was created, its future as a body overseeing multilateral trade rules is in doubt. The failure of the recent ministerial meeting at Buenos Aires is only symptomatic of a decline in its importance.

Power of the collective: on intimate partner violence (The Hindu)

Self-help groups can help address the problem of intimate partner violence

34 power projects in distress; Centre not to bear NPAs (The Hindu)

Chhattisgarh accounts for 10 of the projects; government says contracting parties must honour the PPAs even if conditions turn difficult

Condonation of delay scheme only for bona fide directors’ (The Hindu)

Only bona fide directors will benefit from the proposed scheme that will provide a three-month window for defaulting companies to submit their filings, a senior government official said.

Economy Individual insolvency code in phases: Sahoo (The Hindu)

Steering the ‘smooth and fast-paced’ journey of the insolvency law, the IBBI is now looking to put in place the regime for individual insolvency in a phased manner, according to its Chairperson M.S. Sahoo.

PSBs asked to rationalise overseas, domestic branches (The Hindu)

The finance ministry has asked public sector banks to look at rationalising their domestic and overseas branches as part of the reform process to strengthen their financials.

Can commit $2 bn in guarantees for India’ (The Hindu)

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency — an arm of the World Bank group — which provides non-commercial guarantees, has supported 110 countries with $19 billion in guarantees across 850 projects.

For kinder smart cities (Indian Express)

Urban growth should address needs of children from poorer sections of society

Disaster management

Tackling Maoism (The Hindu Opinion)

The Central Reserve Police Force lost 40 personnel in two  Maoist attacks in the first half of 2017 in Sukma, the most severely Maoist-affected district of Chhattisgarh.


Yesterday’s  current affairs material by ForumIAS


7 PM Editorial: Role of Judiciary in Backlog problem

9 PM Current affairs:

10 PM Current affairs MCQs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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