15 April 2019 - WiFiStudy.com · the U.K., facing charges related to theft of classified ... not...

THE HINDU EDITORIAL ANALYSIS

Editorial by Vishal Sir

27 MARCH 2019

15 April 2019Editorial by Vishal Sir

THE HINDU EDITORIAL ANALYSISSuppression (noun) = Crushing, prevention (अवरोध)Elude (verb) = Escape from or avoid a danger (बचना)Asylum (noun) = The protection granted by a state to

someone who has left their home country as a political refugee (शरण)

Espionage (noun) =The practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information (जासूसी)

Constrained (adj) = Appearing forced or overly controlled (वववश)

Extradite (verb) = Hand over (a person accused or convicted of a crime) to the jurisdiction of the foreign

state in which the crime was committed (अपराधी देना)Editorial by Vishal Sir

THE HINDU EDITORIAL ANALYSISClamour (verb) = Make a vehement protest or demand

(शोर मचाना)Purloin (verb) = Steal something (चुराना)Indictment (noun) = A formal charge or accusation of a serious

crime (अवियोग)Flimsy (adj) = Insubstantial and easily damaged

(कमजोर)Quash (verb) = Reject as invalid, especially by legal

procedure (रद्द करना)Stifle (verb) = Restrain (a reaction) or stop oneself acting

on (दबाना)


THE HINDU EDITORIAL ANALYSISPromulgate (verb) = Promote or make widely known

(प्रख्यावपत)Dissemination (noun) = The action or fact of spreading something, especially information, widely (प्रसार)




Title: Secrets and agents(The arrest of Julian Assange raises fears about suppression ofthe right to information)

Context: The arrest of Julian Assange, the head of the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks, has renewed a global debate onbalancing freedom of expression (or the right to information)with considerations towards the national security of a country.



After nearly seven years of eluding authorities in the U.S. andthe U.K., facing charges related to theft of classifiedinformation from government computers, he was dragged outof the Ecuadorian Embassy in London on April 11 followingEcuador President Lenín Moreno’s withdrawal of his country’sgrant of asylum to Mr. Assange, for “repeated violations tointernational conventions and daily-life protocols”. Ecuadorhad earlier limited Mr. Assange’s Internet access.

At the heart of the drama is the question whether Mr.Assange is a “journalist” in the traditional sense of the wordand whether, following that line of reasoning, freedom ofexpression is endangered or constrained by the action takenin this case.



There is some irony in this debate given that the voices ofliberal America are clamouring the loudest for hisinterrogation for the alleged crime of conspiracy, not somuch in the case of the U.S. diplomatic cables or thedissemination of related top-secret U.S. governmentinformation — but owing to WikiLeaks being linked to rogueactors in Russia who allegedly purloined Democratic Partydocuments and handed them over to Mr. Assange for use onhis website, thereby tipping the scales in Donald Trump’sfavour in the 2016 election. Nevertheless, can WikiLeaks beconsidered a mainstream media organisation? Perhaps not.



Final Words At a time when strongmen-led governments and resurgent

nationalism are at the forefront of domestic politics in manycountries, the arrest of a prominent anti-secrecy advocate islikely to have a chilling effect on whistle-blowerseverywhere. That could ultimately weaken democracy itself.


Q.1

The Election commission of India has stalled the release

of a biopic during election period. Which political leader

was the film based on?

a) Rahul Gandhi

b) Manmohan Singh

c) PM Narendra Modi

d) Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Quiz Game



Q.2

Which project captured the first ever image of the Black

Hole?

a) James Webb Space Telescope

b) Hubble Space Telescope

c) Event Horizon Telescope

d) Kepler Space Telescope

Quiz Game



Q.3

Which engineering institution was ranked the best in

the National Institutional Ranking Framework -2019?

a) IIT Delhi

b) IIT Bombay

c) IIT Kharagpur

d) IIT Madras

Quiz Game



Q.4

Which country was positioned as the world’s top

recipient of remittances according to the World Bank’s

latest Migration and Development Brief?

a) United States

b) Saudi Arabia

c) India

d) China

Quiz Game



Q.5

Lakshmi Vilas Bank recently announced merger with

which financier firm?

a) Bharat Financial Inclusion

b) Indiabulls Housing Finance

c) GRUH Finance

d) Capital First

Quiz Game




Title: Highway hurdle (The verdict on the Chennai-Salem corridor reveals the perils of fast-tracking projects)

Context: The Madras High Court verdict quashing landacquisition proceedings for the proposed Chennai-Salemgreenfield expressway is an indictment of the arbitrarydecision-making process behind the project.



The court has referred to how “peaceful protests werestifled, unwritten gag orders were promulgated, [and] policeforce was used to handle the peaceful protesters who weremaking a request to spare them and their lands”.

It invalidated the notification for intent to acquire land forthe project on the ground that the National HighwaysAuthority of India cannot acquire land without complyingwith the requirement of preparing an environment impactassessment report.

The decision is important for affirming the principle thatenvironmental clearance ought to be obtained before anyproject is allowed to advance to a stage where measuresbecome irreversible.



The project was pushed by the Centre and the State eventhough it was set to pass through wetlands, fertile farmlands,reserve forests and waterbodies. Farmers who stood to losetheir land and environmentalists had questioned the claimthat by reducing the transit time, there would be saving offuel, thereby cutting the carbon footprint.

What has been exposed in the verdict is that the eight-lanecorridor was never really cleared as a project under theCentre’s Bharatmala Pariyojana. It did not figure in the list ofroad projects approved under Bharatmala-I. The NHAI didnot explain in its counter-affidavit how the Chennai-Maduraihighway, an approved project, was dropped and the Chennai-Salem project included in its place.



Final Words Having failed to convince the court that the procedures it

followed were above board, the least that the Centre cannow do is to make a comprehensive study of its impact onthe environment and on farming and rural livelihoodsbefore moving ahead.


(1) At the expense of = Sacrifice, loss(2) Pave the way for = Clear the way to proceed(3) Make strides = Make progress(4) In turn = In succession, successively(5) Read from the same page = to say same thing in

public about an issue

Idioms & Phrases


15 April 2019 - WiFiStudy.com · the U.K., facing charges related to theft of classified ... not...

Documents

Transcript of 15 April 2019 - WiFiStudy.com · the U.K., facing charges related to theft of classified ... not...