Daily Editorials Snapshot & FREE Vocabulary PDF – 18 November 2025 | MTO

The Hindu Editorials snapshot

Editorial 1

​Power grab: On Pakistan’s General Asim Munir

The 27th Amendment to Pakistan’s Constitution, passed on November 13, 2025, significantly centralises military authority by elevating General Asim Munir as the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), now overseeing the Army, Navy, and Air Force. This amendment abolishes the post of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and grants lifelong legal immunity, privileges, and status to five-star military officers like Munir, including protection from criminal prosecution except via a parliamentary impeachment process. It also restructures the judiciary by abolishing the Supreme Court’s constitutional jurisdiction and creating a new Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), whose government-appointed judges will hold binding authority on constitutional issues, reducing the Supreme Court to mainly an appellate civil and criminal court. These changes consolidate military control over Pakistan’s political and security architecture while weakening judicial independence and provincial autonomy. The amendment passed with overwhelming parliamentary support amid criticism from senior judges who resigned, citing attacks on constitutional balance and rule of law. This power grab occurs amid Pakistan’s ongoing political instability, economic difficulties, and security challenges, with opposition leadership weakened and civil-military tensions high. General Munir’s increased authority could lead to instability or backlash as Pakistan’s fraught democratic experiment faces further centralisation of authoritarian military rule.

Editorial 2

Tunnel vision: On the Bihar election result and the Congress’s stance

The 2025 Bihar Assembly election ended in a decisive victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with the BJP, Janata Dal (United), and allied parties collectively winning more than 200 of the 243 seats. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagatbandhan managed only 35 seats, including 25 for the RJD and a mere six for the Congress. Allegations of vote theft linked to collusion between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission of India (ECI), as well as concerns about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, surfaced soon after. Critics argued that shifting the burden of proving voter eligibility onto citizens risked disenfranchisement. While these concerns merit scrutiny, there is no verifiable evidence showing systematic deletion of voters favouring one coalition.

The Indian Express Editorials snapshot

Editorial 3

Frankie the flamingo’s flight to freedom

Frankie the flamingo, a young bird only four months old with one wing partially clipped, escaped from Paradise Park zoo in Cornwall, UK, and was later found thriving on a beach in Brittany, France. Despite her clipped wing and inexperience with wild conditions, Frankie followed her instincts and flew about 130 miles to freedom. Her discovery brought mixed feelings among zoo staff—relief that she is safe, concern for her future, and pride in her resilience. Though born and raised in captivity, Frankie has adjusted well to life in the wild, feeding and preening independently. Unfortunately, she cannot return to the zoo because of the risk of spreading bird flu to wild populations. Her story inspires by showing that limitations, whether physical or circumstantial, do not have to hold you back from pursuing freedom and living on your own terms.

Editorial 4

​India’s TB successes — and the long road ahead

India has made strong progress in fighting tuberculosis (TB), but the goal of eliminating the disease by 2025 remains out of reach. The latest World Health Organisation report shows that while India has recorded a 21 per cent drop in TB cases and a 28 per cent fall in deaths since 2015, the country still carries the world’s largest TB burden, with over 27 lakh cases in 2024. The improvement largely comes from better diagnosis, with more than 80 per cent of cases now being detected compared to around half in 2015. However, this success means the healthcare system must now treat more patients, including those with drug-resistant TB, which is harder to cure. New treatments like the BPaLM regimen have shortened therapy times, yet treatment interruption remains a key problem. Looking ahead, fighting TB will require using new research to address major risks — such as pollution, poor immunity and diabetes — and strengthening the health system to prevent relapse and reach the national goal of a TB-free India.

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