NEWS OF THE DAY 7 August 2019

Sushma Swaraj, a BJP stalwart with socialist roots, passes away

A couple of hours before a fatal heart attack, she had expressed happiness at the removal of special status for Jammu and Kashmir

Former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away on Tuesday night after suffering a heart attack in New Delhi. She was rushed to the Emergency at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was administered but doctors were unable to revive her, said hospital officials.

Just a couple of hours before the fatal heart attack, Ms. Swaraj had expressed her happiness at the removal of special status for Jammu and Kashmir thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making it possible “in her lifetime” to see the event.

Modi’s tribute

Mr. Modi paid rich tributes to Ms. Swaraj, saying: “A glorious chapter in Indian politics comes to an end. India grieves the demise of a remarkable leader who devoted her life to public service and bettering lives of the poor. Sushma Swaraj Ji was one of her kind, who was a source of inspiration for crores of people.”

Long career

Ms. Swaraj, 67, had a long career in politics known for her skilled oratory and had been, at 25 years, the youngest-ever Cabinet Minister in the Haryana government led by the late Devi Lal. A lawyer by training, Ms. Swaraj was part of the legal team put together by the Opposition when socialist leader George Fernandes was arrested around the Emergency. Since she and Swaraj Kaushal, who was also involved with the Socialists, were part of the legal team and had to travel to Mumbai together, their law professor and later Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand suggested that they get married, a story later recounted by her with much relish.

While she has been considered a late comer to the BJP, having started out in the socialist ranks, but she held the confidence of top leaders and was chosen by the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to take on UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999. While she lost that election, she won hearts, narrowed the victory margin of the Congress and provided a foothold to the BJP in that area.

She was variously Information and Broadcasting, Parliamentary Affairs and Health Minister in the Vajpayee government and also served as Delhi Chief Minister in 1998, a position she lost to Sheila Dikshit who also passed away recently.

Ms. Swaraj and Ms. Gandhi tangled again in 2004 after the UPA came to power with the former threatening to shave her head and live on berries if the latter became Prime Minister. As Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha between 2009 and 14, however, the two did repair their relationship.

The late leader was seen as part of the old guard of the BJP but fit in well as a responsive Minister for External Affairs on social media who nevertheless ceded the limelight to Prime Minister Modi in foreign policy.

Ill health

Ill health (she had a kidney transplant a couple of years ago) made her opt out of electoral politics, and later also from the new Cabinet formed by Mr. Modi in his second term.

Her death has brought to a close an important chapter in Indian politics.

Latest missile launches send ‘adequate warning’ over U.S.- South Korea military drills: Kim Jong-un

The announcement came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected the North firing two projectiles that were likely ballistic missiles into the sea.

North Korea said on Wednesday leader Kim Jong-un supervised a live-fire demonstration of newly-developed short-range ballistic missiles he said was intended to send an “adequate warning” to the United States and South Korea over their joint military exercises.

The announcement by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency on August 7 came a day after South Korea’s military said it detected the North firing two projectiles that were likely ballistic missiles into the sea.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff alerted reporters to the launches minutes before the North’s Foreign Ministry denounced Washington and Seoul over the start of their joint exercises on August 5. The Ministry’s statement said the drills, which North Korea sees as an invasion rehearsal, leave the country “compelled to develop, test and deploy the powerful physical means essential for national defence.”

North Korea’s fourth round of weapons launches in less than two weeks came amid a standstill in nuclear negotiations and after President Donald Trump repeatedly dismissed the significance of the country’s recent tests despite the threat the weapons pose to allies South Korea and Japan and to U.S. bases there.

Experts say Mr. Trump’s downplaying of the North’s weapons display has allowed the country more room to advance its military capabilities as it attempts to build leverage ahead of negotiations, which could possibly resume sometime after the end of the allies’ drills later this month.

KCNA said the launches on early on Tuesday verified the reliability and combat ability of the newly-developed missiles. It said two missiles launched from a western airfield flew cross-country and over the area surrounding capital Pyongyang before accurately hitting an island target off its eastern coast.

The agency reported Mr. Kim expressed satisfaction and said the launches would “send an adequate warning to the joint military drill now underway by the U.S. and South Korean authorities.”

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles traveled about 450 kilometers on an apogee of 37 kilometers at a maximum speed of above Mach 6.9 before landing in waters off the country’s eastern coast.

It said the projectiles showed similar flight characteristics to short-range missiles North Korea fired on July 25, which traveled about 600 kilometers (373 miles) during launches the North described a “solemn warning” to South Korea over its plans to continue military drills with the United States.

South Korea’s military had said the flight data of the July missiles showed similarities to the Russian-made Iskander, a solid-fuel, a nuclear capable missile that is highly maneuverable and travels on lower trajectories compared with conventional ballistic weapons, improving its chances of evading missile defence systems. The North last week also conducted two test firings of what it described as a new rocket artillery system.

SOURCE-THE HINDU

NEWS OF THE DAY 7 August 2019

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