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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.
Leadership Change in Karnataka as Chief Minister Resigns
- Two-time Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah resigned on Thursday, clearing the way for Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar to become the next Chief Minister.
- Discussions about forming the new government are expected to happen in Delhi on Friday.
- Siddaramaiah went to Lok Bhavan and submitted his resignation to the Special Secretary of Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot because the Governor was in Indore at that time.
- After resigning, Mr. Siddaramaiah left for Delhi to meet Congress leaders and discuss the formation of the new government.
- Because of bad weather on Thursday night, his flight was diverted to Jaipur. Mr. Shivakumar also left for Delhi.
- Although the Congress party has not officially announced the next Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah hinted that Mr. Shivakumar would take over the post.
- There has also been no official confirmation about a Congress Legislature Party meeting, but reports say it may happen on Friday evening.
- Siddaramaiah said he resigned because the Congress high command asked him to step down.
- He also said that he would remain active in politics and continue fighting communal forces throughout his life.
- Siddaramaiah revealed that the party leadership had offered him a Rajya Sabha seat, but he politely refused because he was not interested in national politics.
- Talking about his political journey, he said he entered politics through local body elections in 1978.
- Siddaramaiah became Karnataka’s longest-serving Chief Minister.
- He said he would continue as an MLA for the remaining two years of his term.
- His resignation ends almost one year of speculation over Karnataka’s leadership issue and is expected to stop the public conflict between the two Congress groups.
- The leadership change is believed to be part of a power-sharing agreement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar made in May 2023.
- The 77-year-old leader from Mysuru district was reportedly told on Tuesday to make way for a new Chief Minister.
- During Thursday afternoon’s press conference, Mr. Siddaramaiah repeatedly thanked Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for the opportunities he received after joining Congress in 2006.
- He had joined Congress after being removed from the Janata Dal (Secular) party led by former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda.
- Siddaramaiah is known for creating the AHINDA social alliance of OBCs, Dalits, and Muslims, which became a major political force in Karnataka.
- This was Mr. Siddaramaiah’s second term as Chief Minister. His first term was from 2013 to 2018, and his second term started in May 2023.
- On January 7, 2026, he became Karnataka’s longest-serving Chief Minister after crossing the earlier record of 2,792 days held by D. Devaraj Urs.
- He also served twice as the Leader of the Opposition — from 2008 to 2013 and again from 2019 to 2023.
- Earlier on Thursday, despite pressure from supporters to continue as Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah informed his Cabinet colleagues about his resignation during a breakfast meeting.
- During the meeting, he reportedly said he was satisfied with his government’s work, spoke about the difficulties faced during governance, and thanked his Cabinet colleagues for their support.
- An unexpected development was that the Governor was not present even though the government had asked for his availability on Thursday.
- Even then, Mr. Siddaramaiah completed the resignation process and submitted his resignation to the Special Secretary.
Iran, U.S. Reach Tentative Ceasefire Deal; Await Trump’s Approval
- Negotiators from the United States and Iran reached a temporary agreement on Thursday to extend the ceasefire in the three-month-long war by another 60 days and begin talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
- However, U.S. President Donald Trump has not yet approved the agreement.
- Iran did not immediately confirm the deal.
- Iran’s Tasnim News Agency said the draft agreement had not been finalised or confirmed and called Western reports false.
- The possibility of a new agreement came at a time when the ceasefire already looked weak and unstable.
- The latest tension happened less than a day earlier when Kuwait intercepted missiles launched from Iran, according to U.S. Central Command.
- According to a U.S. official, Iran would not be allowed to charge tolls in the Strait of Hormuz and would have to remove all mines from the waterway within 30 days.
- In return, the United States would slowly reduce its naval blockade and ease sanctions so Iran could increase oil exports.
- One of the first issues likely to be discussed during the extended ceasefire is Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
- The U.S. official said Iran has not publicly agreed to hand over the uranium believed to be hidden under three nuclear sites damaged during U.S. air strikes last year.
- Kuwait had earlier announced that its territory was attacked, while Iran said it had carried out retaliatory strikes on a U.S. base in a Gulf country after earlier attacks by the United States.
- The exchange of attacks happened after U.S. officials announced that they had launched strikes on Iran on Wednesday.
- The U.S. said four Iranian attack drones near the Strait of Hormuz were shot down, and another Iranian control station in Bandar Abbas was also targeted.
Dharmendra Pradhan accepts responsibility for shortcomings in Central Board of Secondary Education evaluation process
- Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accepted responsibility for the problems seen in the new on-screen marking (OSM) system introduced by CBSE.
- He said strict action would be taken against anyone found intentionally responsible for irregularities affecting students.
- Pradhan said this was the first time CBSE used the OSM system and admitted that some problems and mismatches had come up.
- He assured students that solutions were being worked out and no student’s complaint or query would be ignored.
- Several Class 12 students claimed there were mistakes in their marks and said the scanned answer sheets uploaded by CBSE did not match their handwriting.
- Students also raised concerns on social media about a possible mix-up in the OSM system.
- Under the OSM system, physical answer sheets were scanned and uploaded to a secure digital platform so teachers could check them online instead of using paper copies.
- Pradhan said around 17 lakh students appeared for the exams and nearly 98 lakh answer sheets were involved.
- Since every answer sheet had around 40 pages, almost 40 crore pages had to be scanned.
- According to CBSE, nearly 4 lakh students had already viewed around 11 lakh answer sheets through the online portal.
- The Minister chaired a review meeting at CBSE headquarters to discuss technical and payment-related problems faced by students.
- He said the Board was actively working to solve all issues raised by students regarding evaluation and re-evaluation.
- The meeting was attended by the Secretary of the Department of School Education, the CBSE Chairperson, directors of IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur, along with senior officials from the Education Ministry, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, public sector banks, and CBSE.
- Discussions during the meeting focused on the Class 12 evaluation system and post-result procedures.
- A senior education official said Mr. Pradhan reviewed reports about login issues, heavy server traffic, and payment-related problems on the post-examination services portal.
- A technical team from IIT Madras and digital experts was asked to review server stability, login systems, and payment gateway integration.
- The aim was to make sure students could use the services without interruptions.
- Discussions also focused on creating a more student-friendly re-evaluation portal, improving CBSE’s digital infrastructure, strengthening exam and result systems, and improving monitoring and evaluation methods.
- Stakeholders also discussed future plans for transparent and technology-based services for students.
- The official further said that after talks with the Finance Ministry, payment gateways of four public sector banks — State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Canara Bank — were connected with the CBSE portal to make payments easier for students.
- Pradhan also criticised Rahul Gandhi for his comments on the alleged irregularities in the CBSE examination system.
- The Minister called Rahul Gandhi “frustrated” and accused him of opposing technological progress.
- Pradhan’s remarks came a day after Mr. Gandhi alleged that CBSE exam results were affected by “massive irregularities”.
- Gandhi demanded an independent judicial inquiry and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the alleged “scam”.
- He also accused CBSE of giving the digital evaluation contract to a Telangana-based company with a doubtful background.
- Responding to the allegations, Mr. Pradhan said CBSE had already clarified the matter and followed Government of India procurement rules.
- He again assured that if any irregularities were found, nobody responsible would be spared.
- Pradhan further claimed that Rahul Gandhi appeared mentally disturbed and frustrated because of repeated election defeats.
- He said Rahul Gandhi had opposed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), electronic voting machines (EVMs), and the Digital India initiative.
- According to the Minister, Mr. Gandhi did not seem supportive of India’s scientific and technological progress.
- Pradhan appealed to all political parties not to politicise the issue.
Important Questions
- Why did Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah resign from the post of Chief Minister?
- Which Congress leader is expected to become the next Chief Minister of Karnataka?
- What agreement did negotiators from the United States and Iran reach on Thursday?
- What condition regarding the Strait of Hormuz was included in the proposed agreement with Iran?
- What problems were reported in the new CBSE on-screen marking evaluation system?
- Which institutes and experts were asked to review the technical issues in the CBSE portal?
Important Vocabulary
- Speculation — guessing something without full proof.
- Communal — related to different religious communities.
- Legislator — a person who makes laws in the government.
- Coalition — a group formed by different sections joining together.
- Tentative — not final or fully confirmed.
- Ceasefire — an agreement to stop fighting temporarily.
- Sanctions — penalties imposed by one country on another.
- Retaliated — acted in response to an attack.
- Discrepancies — differences or mistakes that should not be there.
- Evaluation — the process of checking and giving marks.
- Procurement — the process of obtaining goods or services officially.
- Integration — combining different systems to work together.
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