The inability of the United Nation’s existing system to address key global challenges and India’s strong contention for a permanent seat in the Security Council are the focus of this week’s front page and the Centrespread. Our Cover Story is pegged on the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s address at the UNSC in which he launched a scathing attack on Pakistan and China for obstructing global war against terrorism, while laying out New Orientation for a Reformed Multilateral System (NORMS) in the global body. India, says our report, stressed the urgency for NORMS to determine a global order that best reflects contemporary realities. It also exposed how a multilateral platform like the UNSC was being misused by China to justify and protect perpetrators of terrorism. It is time the overdue UN reforms are ushered in and India gets its rightful place in the comity of nations, emphasises our report.
The main story on the Centrespread goes into the details of Jaishankar’s speech in which he doubled down on pushing reforms and reprimanded Pakistan and China on the issue of terrorism. The second story traces the origins of the multilateral body and explains how the initial design of the UNSC has become a liability in today’s vastly different world. A graphic on the page depicts all-round support for India’s permanent membership of the UNSC.
Besides covering the Finance Track meeting and a side event, our G20 package comprises an exclusive report on how India’s presidency of the premier grouping is going to provide a major boost to the tourism sector and help offset the country’s depleting foreign-exchange reserves.
The Government, says our report, has come up with elaborate plans to provide visiting delegates a window to ‘Incredible India’. An increased international tourist footfall would result in substantial inflows of foreign currency, thereby shoring up our reserves. The Finance Track meeting saw broad support for India’s proposed priorities for the G20 finance agenda for 2023. The delegates, says our report, took stock of the Two-Pillar Tax Package, which is being developed. At the side-event, the G20 members agreed that the multilateral institutions not only need reforms but also require new mechanism to conduct affairs.
The Sports package highlights Lionel Messi’s superlative performance that saw him scoring a record seven goals in his fifth World Cup appearance, at Qatar, and grabbing the long-awaited trophy for Argentina. Our story focuses on Messi’s several milestones besides lauding the achievement of France’s Kylan Mbappe, who was in great form throughout the tournament. Another report on the page profiles four young players who not only impressed with their skills in Qatar, but also showed maturity and poise far beyond their age.
The most significant development covered in our news pages is the Hinduja Group’s decision to invest Rs 35,000 crore in Maharashtra across 11 sectors. Along with, we carry a synopsis of the Indian transnational conglomerate, which is one of the largest diversified groups in the world. Besides, we offer a bouquet of top news reports and analyses from home and abroad.
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