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+
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 Chabahar tidings
• 1st office of Indian Ports Global Limited at Chabahar
+ Takeover of operations of the Shahid Beheshti port
is a milestone in India’s regional connectivity and
trade game plan.

• India has helped develop the Shahid Beheshti port

with outcomes in mind, and has been given the
contract to manage it for 18 months.

• February 2019: Iran + India + Afghanistan will hold

an event to promote Chabahar.

• The Chabahar port has received a waiver from the

U.S. sanctions.
•-
•-
• The possibility of the withdrawal of U.S. troops
from Afghanistan, after the pullout from Syria,
will add to security concerns for Afghanistan
and impact on the Chabahar route as well.

• Rival warm water port is Pakistan’s Gwadar.

• It will require sustained and nuanced diplomacy

to stay ahead in this game.
 The worried Indian
• The intimidatory power of the mob made itself felt
once again.

• Ajmer Literature Festival and veteran actor

Naseeruddin Shah.

• UP State BJP chief Mahendranath Pandey’s remarks.

• With each such reaction, the message is sent out to

the next celebrity to hush his or her intervention in
the public sphere.

• Ultimately, it is the responsibility of those in power

to support those who feel threatened for their views
and to come down hard on those who attempt to
silence them with intimidation and threats.
Elections in an embattled democracy
• Elections in Bangladesh are famously a blood sport.

• Secular-centrist Awami League vs Quasi-Islamist

Bangladesh Nationalist Party

• Awami League has governed since 2009.

Economic growth
Rolling back extremist militancy
7.86% GDP growth in 2017-18
Power output has quadrupled
Topped regional rankings on many social indicators

• It is also infamous for heavy-handed rule

• The country has struggled to establish a culture of

political tolerance.
• The BNP won the first democratic polls in
1991, but refused to step down when their
tenure ended in 1996.

• The Awami League led a mass movement to

topple the BNP government and won the
ensuing polls.

• In a contrast to the BNP, the Awami League

voluntarily stepped down from power in 2001,
and handed over the reins to an interim
government as the Constitution required back
then.

• The BNP went on to win the 2001 polls, raising

hopes of more trust-building measures. Instead,
the BNP celebrated its victory in October 2001
with a pogrom on Hindu minorities that left
hundreds killed, raped or injured across many
districts.
• Why is Section 69 unconstitutional after K.S.
Puttaswamy?

• Section 69 of the IT Act is so broadly worded

• Section 69 also falls short of meeting with the

principles of natural justice by failing to
accommodate pre-decisional hearings.

• While the Supreme Court missed the

opportunity to examine the constitutionality of
Section 69 of the IT Act, looking at the IT Rules
to legitimise the notification seems to put the
cart before the horse.
 Many miles to Mecca
• The Central government’s proposal to ferry Haj
pilgrims between Mumbai and Jeddah calls for a
serious rethink.

• Waterway provides an opportunity for poorer pilgrims

to travel to Mecca.

• Sea voyages were phased out in 1995.

• Flights from 21 cities in India take pilgrims to Jeddah

in 6-8 hours.

• Sea voyages were discarded as they were misused by

cartels in Mumbai.
•-
 Important News
• Govt.’s draft rules to regulate social media echo SC orders
• PM opens Bogibeel Bridge, India’s longest
• India’s longest rail-cum-road span, across the Brahmaputra.
• Pregnant woman tests positive for HIV after blood transfusion
• A 23-year-old pregnant woman has tested positive for HIV after the blood of a donor, who had
the virus, was given to her to treat anaemia at a government hospital in Sattur, Tamil Nadu,
earlier this month.
• The donor was not aware of his HIV-positive status when he gave blood. Three employees of
the government hospital in Sivakasi, which collected the blood, have been placed under
suspension for negligence.
• Leh makes short work of a mountain of waste
• Authorities in tourist hotspot Leh have put 65 tonnes of waste to productive use after the
ecologically sensitive region’s garbage output went up drastically following the release of 3
Idiots on Christmas day nine years ago, drawing tourists in hordes.
• RTI activists living dangerously in Bihar
• While the recent brazen murders of businessmen and a bank official in Bihar has caught media
attention, the State is equally dangerous for Right to Information (RTI) activists, with five of
them been killed in 2018 alone.
• 30 mn newborns cry out for help
• An estimated 30 million newborns require specialised care in hospital every year without
which many either die or develop preventable health conditions and disabilities that affect
them for life, according to a recent study by a global coalition that includes UNICEF and WHO.
• ‘260 leopards poached since 2015’
-
 Financial News
• Banks under PCA sitting on cash pile
• Commercial banks, under the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework of the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI), are sitting on a pile of cash as they don’t have too many options to lend, even
as the banking system is scrambling for liquidity.

• Foreign fund outflows highest since 2008

• For the Indian equity markets, year 2018 will end as the worst in terms of foreign money
outflows since 2008 when markets across the globe were reeling under the sub-prime crisis
and Lehman Brothers filed for the largest bankruptcy in history.
 Vocabulary
• Beleaguered

• Incumbency

• Swathe

• Disingenuous

• Reins

• Pogrom
Map based quiz
 Questions-
Match the following crops with their prominent area of
production
1. Soyabean – Madhya Pardesh
2. Sunflower – Punjab

Choose the correct option

A. Only 1
B. Only 2
C. Both
D. None
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