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When popular protests erupted in September 2003, following the brutal killing of an inmate in Maldivian prison, hopes for meaningful change in the country ran high.
A coalition of opposition parties, led by Mohamed Nasheed from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rode the wave of public discontent and managed to force Gayoom to open up the political system and hold free elections.
In 2008, Nasheed, backed by a coalition of parties, defeated Gayoom in a runoff and became the Maldives’ first freely elected president.
Two years later, the international watchdog Freedom House listed the country as an electoral democracy for the first time in its history.
He was forced to resign in February 2012 after sections of the police and the military mutinied and backed the demand of the opposition for his resignation.
2013, Gayoom’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) nominated his half-brother, Yameen, to run against Nasheed in the presidential race.
Yameen, veered off the democratic path

Voters’ choice

Sunday’s presidential election in the Maldives
As per interim results:

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is victor.

Voter turnout of 89.2% • 58% of the voters voted for Mr Solih
Final result: September 30
Change of guard: November 17
Successful completion of the election is a matter of celebration for Maldives.
Emergency
Former President Mohammed Nasheed was disqualified from taking part in election.
Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was behind bars.
HQ of opposition political party raided
Courts, Force, Election Commission: misgivings
Last minute change in counting procedure.
Reset ties with Male
Mr. Yameen’s close understanding with China
India criticized the emergency
Yameen responded by denying visas to Indian job holders.
Since June: Visas of Indian Coast Guard and Air Force personnel stationed in the Maldives is pending. • The larger agenda must be to partner the Maldives in its stability and development rather than engaging in a tug of war with China.

A change in the Maldives

Mr. Yameen: “The Maldivian people have decided what they want. I have accepted the results.”
Mr. Solih is a senior politician.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Sunday’s election marked “not only the triumph of democratic forces in the Maldives but also reflects the firm commitment to the values of democracy and the rule of law.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called Mr. Solih
U.S. State Department: “raised their democratic voices to determine the future of their country.”
Mr. Yameen also fostered closer ties with China and Saudi Arabia, ignoring India and even pulling the Maldives out of the Commonwealth in 2016.
Only South Asian nation after Pakistan to have free trade agreement (FTA) with China.
Just successful election is not the end of pain.
Challenges lie ahead.
Opposition unity will be tested by its governance.
China is not going anywhere.

Editing our genes

American biochemist Jennifer Doudna, one of the pioneers of the gene editing tool Crispr-Cas9.
Crispr, an acronym for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
The elegance of this editing tool has transformed medical research and gives rise to the question: can a faulty gene be deleted or corrected at the embryonic stage?
Last month, researchers in China used a variation of Crispr. Instead of snipping strands, they swapped DNA letters to correct Marfan Syndrome, an inherited disorder that affects connective tissue.
In 2017, American biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov used Crispr to repair a genetic mutation that could cause a deadly heart condition. Can we — and should we — control or dictate evolution?

Language matters

Assam 25/09/2018: Process to file claims and objections started by persons left out of the draft National Register of Citizens.
Draft 30 July: 40lakh were out of the list.
Government should do everything to make it as smooth as possible.
Recent statement of Amit Shah is discouraging.
Beyond the data and diplomacy angles, there must be concern about the language being employed.

Important News

NPAs with PSU banks declining: Jaitley

Expecting recoveries of loans to the tune of ₹1.8 lakh crore this financial year.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and NCLT proceedings were having a positive effect on recoveries and prompting promoters to pay their dues before the legal process began, the Minister said.

Enact ‘strong law’ to cleanse politics: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed political parties to publish online the pending criminal cases of their candidates and urged Parliament to bring a “strong law” to cleanse political parties of leaders facing trial for serious crimes.
The court said Parliament should frame a law that makes it obligatory for political parties to remove leaders charged with “heinous and grievous” crimes, such as rape, murder and kidnapping, to name only a few, and refuse ticket to offenders in both parliamentary and Assembly polls. SC verdict on Aadhaar today
Unconstitutional
fundamental right to privacy and personal body autonomy Legislators can practise law, says SC ‘Parakram Parv’ to be celebrated: Surgical strike EU announces legal entity to maintain business with Iran
would set up a payment system to do business with Iran Cdr. Tomy admitted to hospital SC forms prison reforms panel
Decision follows letter from ex-CJI
Justice Amitava Roy committee Exports Promotion & Import Checks to Rein in CAD: Comm Secy
The government’s export promotion measures, implementation of minimum standards for imports, and continued healthy inflow of remittances by non-resident Indians will help control the country’s rising current account deficit (CAD), the commerce and industry ministry has said.
Terming the present petroleum situation as a ‘temporary aberration’, commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan on Tuesday said the government can increase tariffs within the bound rates to control imports.
Bound rates are the rates that countries commit themselves to at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). They cannot be exceeded.
The commerce ministry has told exporters that proper mechanisms will be put in place to ensure that the trade with Iran does not get disturbed.