Role of youth
- “The democratic rights that we take for granted are a result of the struggles of thousands of young people who took to the streets fighting authoritarian figures either during the freedom struggle or the dark days of Emergency.
- Youth did not tolerate injustice, either to themselves or against others.
- They did not compromise with their ideals.
- They were not only selfless but also adventurous.
- They were willing to sacrifice for the cause they believed in. It is these unadulterated minds and pure hearts which formed the backbone of our nation.
- it was necessary for youth to be aware of social realities and challenges
- True essence of religion was the common good, and tolerance. Religion should be above superstitions and rigidities.
- The dream of making resurgent India through the principles of common good and tolerance,
THE HINDU
Afghanistan as the epicentre for transnational terrorism
- The scourge of transnational terrorism has only spread deeper and wider in the world.
- US blunder in facilitating the terrorist takeover of Afghanistan raises the nagging question whether the seeds of another 9/11 have been sown
- America’s close partner, India, with its location right next to the Afghanistan-Pakistan belt, is likely to be one big lose.
- The rejuvenated epicentre for terrorism next door could leave India less space to counter an expansionist China at a time when Indian and Chinese forces remain locked in multiple border standoffs since last year.
- Biden plans to withdraw from Iraq this year, in keeping with what he declared in his August 31 address to the nation:
- “This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan. It’s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries.
- This realignment of strategic objectives is rattling allies — from Taiwan to Ukraine — who fear being abandoned the way the U.S. threw the Afghan government
- The Taliban are closely entwined with other terror groups.
- As a United Nations Security Council report has said, “the Taliban and al-Qaida remain closely aligned” and cooperate through the Haqqani Network.
- Afghanistan is set to again become a haven for transnational terrorists
THE HINDU
North Korea nuclear ambition
- On 12 December 1985, North Korea became a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). On 10 April 1992 its NPT safeguards agreement entered into force. In May 1992, North Korea submitted its initial report to the IAEA under that agreement, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections began.
- Shortly thereafter inconsistencies emerged between the North Korea initial declaration and the Agency’s findings, centering on a mismatch between declared plutonium product and nuclear waste solutions and the results of the Agency’s analysis.
- The latter suggested that undeclared plutonium existed in North Korea
- The resumption of North Korea’s largest fissile material production reactor (plant in the Yongbyon)., after operations were ceased in December 2018, has sparked speculation about its real and symbolic significance.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has underlined that the restart of activity in Yongbyon constitutes a violation of UN Security Council resolutions
- A few months after blowing up the cooling tower in 2008, Pyongyang barred IAEA inspectors access to its reprocessing plant in the Yongbyon.
- The so-called 1994 Agreed Framework, an executive agreement signed by President Bill Clinton, required Pyongyang to freeze all nuclear activity and allow inspection of its military sites in return for the construction of two light water reactors.
- The accord broke down in 2002.
THE HINDU
LCA mk2
- The configuration for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)- Mk2 has been frozen and steel cutting is expected to begin soon while configuration for the fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) has been frozen.
- The HAL Tejas Mark 2, or Medium Weight Fighter (MWF), is an Indian single-engine, canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
THE HINDU
Emma Raducanu
- British teenager Emma Raducanu completed the greatest underdog title triumph in tennis history becoming the first qualifier to capture a Grand Slam title with a straight-set defeat of Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the US Open women’s final.
- Raducanu, 18, was the first British woman in 44 years to win a Slam crown after beating 73rd-ranked 19-year-old left-hander Fernandez .