Table of Contents
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.
Putin Receives a Warm Welcome from PM as India–Russia Partnership is Praised
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin at Palam Air Force Station on Thursday evening, ahead of the important India-Russia annual summit planned for Friday morning.
- Putin’s visit is his first state trip to India since the Ukraine war began, and the world is watching closely because new peace talks are happening with the involvement of U.S. President Donald Trump.
- Modi wrote on social media that he was happy to meet his “friend” Putin again and said the India-Russia relationship has always been strong, dependable, and helpful for people in both countries.
- After landing, Putin’s first programme was a private dinner with Modi at the Prime Minister’s house on 7 Lok Kalyan Marg on Thursday night.
- On Friday morning, Putin will get a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 11 a.m., and after that he will go to Rajghat to offer a wreath at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial.
- The 23rd India-Russia annual summit will begin at Hyderabad House at 11:50 a.m., and after the main meeting ends, both leaders will give official statements to the press.
- Putin last came to India on December 6, 2021, for another annual summit, but he did not speak to the media that time because the official programme was very short.
- On Friday afternoon, Putin will take part in a big business event at Bharat Mandapam. Later, President Droupadi Murmu will host him for a formal banquet dinner.
- Members of Putin’s team had already reached Delhi earlier. Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov met India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday evening.
- Rajnath Singh wrote on ‘X’ that India wants to increase local defence production for both domestic needs and exports, and is looking at new chances to work together in advanced defence technology.
- Around the same time, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and they discussed interbank links, credit systems, payment networks, and ways to protect investments.
- Herman Gref, CEO of Russia’s largest bank Sberbank, told reporters that Russia and India now handle major financial transactions without using any third-party technology systems.
- Gref also shared that Sberbank has launched a new closed-end mutual fund called First-India, based on the Nifty50 index, to help increase Russian investments in the Indian stock market.
- Ministers from both countries repeated that the India-Russia partnership is built on deep trust, shared values, and long-standing respect, according to a statement from India’s Ministry of Defence.
- Rajnath Singh again stressed that India is strongly focused on building its own defence manufacturing under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat idea, so that the country becomes more capable and reduces dependence on foreign suppliers.
IndiGo cancels 550 flights as airport chaos continues
- Confusion and trouble continued at airports across the country as IndiGo flight delays stretched into Thursday, causing hundreds of cancellations and affecting other airlines because many parking bays remained blocked.
- IndiGo cancelled more than 550 domestic and international flights, hitting major airports like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Delhi, where long delays and angry passenger scenes were reported.
- Senior IndiGo officials met the Civil Aviation Minister and DGCA leaders, explaining that they had already planned to cut flights from December eight but delays and cancellations would still continue for some time.
- IndiGo admitted that the huge disruption happened because of misjudgement and weak planning while applying new rules on pilot rest and duty hours, which limit night flying. They did not have enough crew for the new system.
- The Civil Aviation Minister expressed dissatisfaction with IndiGo’s handling of the situation and said the airline had enough time to adjust smoothly to the new rules without creating confusion.
- IndiGo was told to place more staff at airports to help passengers properly and was asked to give a detailed plan that includes hiring, crew training, and future rostering.
- IndiGo also requested an exemption until February ten from following the reduced night-flying rules, and the regulator will check this request carefully while keeping an eye on the airline’s performance.
- At Pune airport, nine out of ten parking bays were taken by IndiGo planes overnight, leaving almost no space for other airlines, which forced several cancellations because pilots were also behind schedule.
- The airport, which handles about two hundred flights daily, had to cancel fifteen services by Air India, Akasa, and Air India Express because IndiGo’s grounded aircraft blocked operations.
Postal department plans UPI-style labels for addresses
- The Department of Posts released a draft amendment to the Post Office Act to introduce DHRUVA, a new digital addressing system designed to make address management simple and modern.
- DHRUVA aims to replace long written addresses with short, easy labels similar to email IDs or UPI handles, where users can give “name@entity” as an accurate location link.
- The government wants to build DHRUVA as a digital public infrastructure and plans to involve private companies. They expect people and businesses to adopt it because of its usefulness instead of making it compulsory.
- E-commerce and gig-worker platforms are expected to benefit most because users often enter their addresses repeatedly; with DHRUVA, they can simply share their label and give location coordinates when allowed.
- The amendment also allows the creation of a Section 8 non-profit organisation under government supervision, similar to NPCI, which manages the widely used UPI payment system.
- Users will be able to authorise companies to access their address details for a set period. After that period ends, the label will turn inactive until the user renews permission.
- Private companies are not forced to join, but officials believe the system’s usefulness and speed will naturally encourage them and the public to sign up without any pressure.
- Labels will be given by address service providers, while consent and data management will be handled by special address information agents called AIAs.
- DIGIPIN is the base layer of DHRUVA. It uses a ten-character alphanumeric code linked to latitude and longitude to mark exact locations, especially useful in rural areas with unclear addresses.
- Each DIGIPIN represents a land patch of fourteen square metres. It is generated through a fixed mathematical method, making around two hundred twenty-eight billion unique DIGIPIN codes across India.
Important Questions
- What message did Prime Minister Narendra Modi share on social media about the long-standing India-Russia friendship during Putin’s visit?
- What topics were discussed in the meeting between Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman?
- What explanation did IndiGo officials give to the Civil Aviation Minister about delays caused by applying new pilot rest and duty norms?
- How did blocked parking bays at Pune airport affect flights of Air India, Akasa, and Air India Express?
- What purpose does the government aim to achieve by creating DHRUVA as digital public infrastructure similar to UPI handles?
- How does the DIGIPIN system use a ten-character alphanumeric code to identify a precise land location?
Important Vocabulary
- Ceremonial – something done formally with traditional rituals.
- Delegation – a group of officials sent to represent their country.
- Interbank – involving communication or transactions between different banks.
- Mutual fund – an investment fund that collects money from many investors.
- Disruptions – problems that break normal flow or operations.
- Exemption – official permission to not follow a particular rule.
- Regulator – an authority that controls and monitors industries.
- Occupied – filled or taken up so others cannot use it.
- Interoperable – able to work smoothly across different systems or platforms.
- Coordinates – numbers showing the exact position on a map.
- Deterministic – based on a fixed method that always gives the same result.
- Alphanumeric – containing both letters and numbers.
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