Passage 1
The Bharat Ratna will be conferred on former Prime Ministers P. V. Narasimha Rao and Choudhary Charan Singh, as well as Green Revolution pioneer M. S. Swaminathan, adding to the two awardees already announced earlier this year — socialist leader Karpoori Thakur and former Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani.
A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique made the announcement on Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauding his late predecessors — the Congress PM Rao’s liberalisation policies, and the Janata Party PM Singh’s championing of the farmers’ cause — as well as the late agricultural scientist Swaminathan’s services in the field.
The Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian honour. This year’s tally of five awardees, one more than the four announced in 1999, is the highest that has ever been announced in a single year.
Source – https://www.thehindu.com/news/national
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Passage 2
West Africa’s regional bloc appealed for unity on after emergency talks on the withdrawal of three coup-hit countries from the group.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) extraordinary session also addressed President Macky Sall’s decision to delay elections in Senegal, a major concern for the region that came just a week after Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger declared their departure.
The chairman of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council urged the three countries not to leave, warning their exit would “bring more hardship and do more harm to common citizens”.
Source- https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/