29 June 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
Deeply biased: Indian slams US report on religious freedom
Page no- 8
GS2-Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests
- A day after the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken released the 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom and flagged “concerning increase’ in anti-conversion laws and hate speech in India, India hit back on Friday, calling the report “deeply biased, visibly driven by vote-bank politics”.
- Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also cited “numerous cases” of hate crimes, racial attacks on Indian nationals and other minorities, and targeting of places of worship in the US which he said India had officially taken up with the Biden administration.
Why tariff hikes by Airtel, Jio, Vi were inevitable
Page no- 11
GS3-Infrastructure: Telecommunication
- All three of India’s leading telecom operators, Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) have announced tariff hikes within hours of each other, as the companies search for a path of monetising 5G services and improving the financial health of the sector.
- Jio has raised tariffs by 12-25 per cent, with the steepest hike coming in some of its more premium plans. The most active plan — 28 days validity with 1.5 GB of data per day — saw the sharpest hike of 25 per cent.
- Airtel has increased prices by 11-21 per cent. Vi has raised prices by 10-20 per cent. In Jio and Airtel’s case, the new prices will come into effect from July 3, while Vi’s new tariffs will kick on July 4.
FATF says India compliant with requirements, flags concerns
Page no- 11
GS3-Money-Laundering and its prevention
- India has achieved “high level of technical compliance” with the requirement of global anti-money laundering watchdog FATF, the agency said on Friday even as it listed a number of measures that are needed to strengthen supervision and implementation of preventive measures in some of the non-financial sectors.
- The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in a statement said that India’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) regime is achieving “good results”.
- The FATF will publish the report after its quality and consistency review is completed, it stated.
Why the hurry?
Page no- 12
GS2-Indian Constitution—Historical Underpinnings, Evolution, Features, Amendments, Significant Provisions and Basic Structure
- As we stand at the cusp of the new criminal laws coming into force — on July 1 — it would be naive to ignore the colossal confusion that awaits us in the administration of criminal justice.
- Of equal concern must also be the regressive provisions that confer expanded police powers and dilute civil liberties.
- While there are some positive changes, our institutions certainly do not have the capacity to implement them.
- We are forced to, once again, ask the question: Why are these provisions being rolled out, especially when there has been no reliable and independent assessment of institutional preparedness across the police, courts, bar, and prisons to implement these laws?
The marriage penalty
Page no- 12
GS1-Role of Women and Women’s Organization
- Modi 3.0 has hit the ground running. While the oath-taking ceremony was a clear signal of its “neighbourhood first” policy, with heads of state from neighbouring countries present, PM Modi’s visit to Italy soon after that, for the G7 summit was a reiteration of India’s rightful place at the global high table.
- With the SCO Summit in Kazakhstan and PM Modi’s (likely) visit to Russia slated for July, the Indian foreign ministry has taken the lead in Modi 3.0.
- Foreign policy was one of the major successes of Modi’s previous term. If any region stood out as a shining example of convergence, it was West Asia.
- These moves signal an energetic and purposeful foreign policy in the third term as well.
A partnership of democracies
Page no- 13
GS2-Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- India and the United States of America have been close allies for more than two decades.
- India recently elected the Narendra Modi-led government for the third consecutive term. In the US, the presidential elections are scheduled for November and a new government led by Joe Biden or Donald Trump will be in place in January next year.
- Either way, it will be a continuation of the relations built by Modi in the last 10 years. Jawaharlal Nehru had the opportunity to meet three presidents — Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John F Kennedy.
- In a decade of his tenure, Modi has already met three American presidents – Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
- He waits to meet the one among the latter two who gets a second tenure.
The story of the emergency
Page no- 16
GS1-Post-independence Consolidation and Reorganization within the country
- On June 25, India entered the fiftieth year of the imposition of the Emergency, an extraordinary 21-month period from 1975 to 1977, which saw the suspension of civil liberties, curtailment of press freedom, mass arrests, the cancellation of elections, and rule by decree.
- The Emergency, which was vigorously opposed by The Indian Express, was a dark chapter in modern Indian history that left a wide-ranging and lasting impact on Indian politics.
