The Hindu Editorial Analysis : 23rd September 2026

The Hindu Editorial Analysis

We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.

India-New Zealand FTA to Take Effect on October 20

• The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand was approved on Monday and will come into effect on October 20.
• The agreement aims to double the trade between India and New Zealand to ₹35,000 crore in the next four to five years, according to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
• Goyal said that once the India-New Zealand FTA comes into effect, it will help turn this target into real economic benefits.
• According to New Zealand’s foreign trade office, the FTA will remove import duties on all goods coming from India, while 95% of New Zealand’s exports to India will either have no tariff or will have much lower tariffs.
• Goyal said that India has protected its sensitive sectors, especially dairy and agricultural products. These include onions, almonds, chickpeas, peas, artificial honey, and sugar.
• India has not given New Zealand any relaxation or special concessions on these products under the agreement.
• The Commerce Minister said that the agreement will benefit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), farmers, handloom workers, and weavers in India.
• Goyal also said that New Zealand has good technological knowledge and skills in manufacturing engineering and other goods.
• He said that New Zealand companies could help Indian companies or invest in India and set up manufacturing units so that they can use India to reach and sell in global markets.
• New Zealand’s Minister of Trade and Investment, Todd McClay, said that it was important for the two countries to complete this agreement at a time when the world is facing uncertainty, rising tariffs, and increasing trade barriers.
• McClay said that the agreement would give confidence to businesses in both countries to grow, build business relationships, and increase trade.
• India is New Zealand’s ninth-largest export market, and the total value of trade between the two countries was $1.3 billion in the financial year 2024–25.
• While explaining the possible areas for investment, Mr. Goyal said that New Zealand has advanced technology and new ideas in many fields.
• He said that agriculture is one of New Zealand’s strong areas for certain products and gave kiwi farming and apiculture (beekeeping) as examples.
• As part of the agreement, New Zealand has promised $20 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) in India.
• Goyal said that global investors are interested in setting up manufacturing units in India not only because India has a large domestic market, but also because India gives them access to markets covering around two-thirds of the global economy, where India has preferential market access.
• Goyal pointed out that in several countries, including New Zealand, workers are fewer and labour costs are high. Because of this, manufacturing in India would be cheaper and more economical.
• Goyal also said that countries such as New Zealand are looking for places where they can bring their technology to trusted partners, where intellectual property is respected and protected from being stolen.
• When asked about India’s response to the recent United States law imposing sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil, Mr. Goyal said that India was studying the details of the law.
• In response to a question from The Hindu about the progress of India’s trade agreement with Chile, Mr. Goyal said that the talks had been productive and that some good news could be expected in the coming months.
• Regarding the trade agreement with Canada, the Union Commerce Minister said that both countries had agreed to speed up the discussions.
• Indian negotiators are expected to visit Canada for the fifth round of talks on October 5, Mr. Goyal said.

Ram Temple SIT Finds 105 Cases of Unauthorised Removal of Donated Cash

• A status report submitted by the Uttar Pradesh government’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) found 105 cases of unauthorised removal of currency, which were captured on CCTV, in the case related to the alleged misuse of Ram Temple donation money. A Supreme Court Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant noted this on Monday.
• Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Uttar Pradesh government, told the Court that the investigation had been “substantially concluded” and that a chargesheet would be filed before the court of the concerned Additional Sessions Judge on or before Friday.
• The law officer said that the 90-day legal period for completing the investigation, which began with the first arrest in the case, would end on Friday. After this period ended, the accused persons would become entitled to default bail.
• The Supreme Court noted from the SIT report that the role of each person allegedly involved in the case had been examined.
• According to the Court’s order, some of the accused persons had been identified, along with details showing how many times they had allegedly taken part in the misappropriation.
• The status report included an examination of CCTV footage and other evidence that was used to identify the eight accused persons. It also gave a table showing unexplained deposits in their bank accounts, along with details of their movable and immovable property in which the allegedly stolen money had been invested.
• The status report also mentioned the estimated amount of money allegedly misappropriated by each accused person.
• The report stated that the evidence available so far suggested that the suspected misappropriation took place inside the counting room while the currency was being handled.
• According to the status report, receipts generated through the TCS software for 803 valuable articles were checked. The related records were found to be with the Temple Trust.
• These 803 valuable articles were kept in a State Bank of India locker, which was also physically checked.
• The verification found no discrepancy in relation to these valuable articles.
• However, there were 86 valuable articles for which no receipts had been issued. These articles were separately identified and physically checked.
• Around 944.411 kg of white metal, believed to be silver, had been sent by the Trust to the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited for melting.
• Specific allegations about valuable donations that had appeared in the media and on social media were also checked.
• The people connected with those allegations were interviewed, and the relevant materials were examined. No discrepancies were found during this verification.
• The SIT recorded the statements of 173 witnesses as part of the investigation.
• According to the status report, the SIT examined the relevant standard operating procedures and records related to the counting and handling of donations, security arrangements, CCTV recordings and reconciliation records, wherever they were relevant to the investigation.
• The Supreme Court Bench examined the status report in the courtroom. However, when the order was being read out, the audio was muted and the screen went blank. Because of this, media personnel had to enter the courtroom to obtain portions of the Court’s oral dictation of the order.
• Senior advocate Ravi Shankar Jandhyala, who appeared for petitioner Ajay Kumar Rai, asked the Bench for a copy of the status report.
• The Bench said that the contents of the documents had already been summarised and included in the judicial order itself.
• Jandhyala said, “The State requires to be transparent.”
• The Bench said that although it did not want to interfere with the powers of the Sessions Court, it asked the State government to file a copy of the chargesheet before the Supreme Court as well.
• The First Information Report (FIR) named eight people as accused: Avinash Shukla, Anukalp Mishra, Lavkush Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Subhash Srivastava, and Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu.
• The FIR also named other unidentified persons as accused.

India to Participate in UN Session on Multilateralism

• India is going to join several countries that support United Nations (UN)-based multilateralism and want to move away from “Superpower” politics. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was scheduled to attend the “Partners for Multilateralism” (P4M) meeting at the United Nations.
• Jaishankar arrived in New York on Monday, at the beginning of the UN General Assembly’s “High-Level Debate” session. During his visit, he is scheduled to have several bilateral and multilateral meetings and will speak at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26.
• The P4M initiative was started by the leaders of the European Union, Brazil, Kenya and Canada. The group is expected to present and promote its ideas during this week.
• In a joint editorial, the leaders of these four founding members said that the group would support the United Nations, but would also work for a UN that is more representative and better prepared to deal with major global challenges such as artificial intelligence (AI), climate change, health security and digital transformation.
• The four leaders said that P4M would support reforms in the UN and other international institutions so that these institutions become more representative, legitimate, effective and trusted.
• The joint editorial was written by European Council President Antonio Costa, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva, Kenyan President William Rutto and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. It was published in the U.K.-based Financial Times.
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had earlier spoken about “Middle powers” coming together at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. His speech showed growing dissatisfaction not only with Russia and China because of their unilateral actions and conflicts, but also with the United States over trade and tariffs, expansionist actions, and the conflict in Iran during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term.
• It is not clear whether India was asked to join the joint message issued by the four founding members of P4M.
• India is already a member of several groups that have similar aims, including the Non-Aligned Movement, BRICS, G20 and G-4.
• The editorial published on Monday referred to comments made by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who said that “superpowers are discovering their limits.” The editorial added that the P4M grouping believes that the international community needs to realise again the great power of collective action.
• Guterres, who is due to leave office later this year, spoke to The Hindu along with five other major media organisations from the U.S., U.K., South Africa, the Gulf region and India.
• Guterres said that some superpowers had not yet understood that their power has limits. He said that they were taking actions that were leading to very serious and harmful results. He specifically mentioned Russia, which was still involved in the war in Ukraine four years later, while the U.S. was facing difficulties with its war in Iran.
• Guterres stressed that there are “limits to powers” and said that it was time for superpowers to understand these limits. According to him, this would help the world become more peaceful.
• He made these comments while speaking to The Hindu in New Delhi, where he had attended the 18th BRICS Summit.
• The P4M editorial also made it clear that “Partners for Multilateralism” would not create another exclusive group or international bureaucracy.
• Instead, its purpose would be to create a flexible and open framework for countries from different regions and with different political traditions. These countries would be willing to work together despite their differences, build groups for reform, and turn their shared principles into practical action.
• The co-authors pointed out that 2025 had the highest recorded number of state-based armed conflicts since 1946. Such conflicts were taking place in 35 countries.
• They also said that 2025 had the highest recorded military spending, which reached nearly $3 trillion.

Important Questions

1. According to the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA), what is the target for doubling trade between India and New Zealand in the next four to five years?
2. Which sensitive products, including onions, almonds, chickpeas, peas, artificial honey and sugar, has India protected under the India-New Zealand FTA?
3. According to the Uttar Pradesh government’s SIT status report on the alleged misuse of Ram Temple donation money, how many cases of unauthorised removal of currency were found on CCTV?
4. How many witnesses did the Special Investigation Team (SIT) record statements from during its investigation into the alleged misuse of Ram Temple donation money?
5. Which “Partners for Multilateralism” (P4M) meeting at the United Nations was External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar scheduled to attend?
6. Which major global challenges did the four founding members of the “Partners for Multilateralism” (P4M) say the United Nations should be better prepared to deal with?

Important Vocabulary

1. Concessions – special benefits or relaxations given in an agreement.
2. Preferential – giving an advantage or favourable treatment.
3. Apiculture – the practice of keeping bees.
4. Misappropriated – taken or used dishonestly for a wrong purpose.
5. Unauthorised – not officially permitted or approved.
6. Misappropriation – dishonest use of money or property for an improper purpose.
7. Discrepancy – a difference or inconsistency between things that should match.
8. Reconciliation – checking records to make sure they agree with each other.
9. Multilateralism – cooperation among several countries to solve common problems.
10. Representative – properly reflecting the views or interests of different groups.
11. Legitimate – accepted as lawful, proper, or valid.
12. Exclusive – limited to a particular group or excluding others.