WSDP Bulletin (31-07-2021)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelims and Mains:

1. BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan finalised READ MORE
2. Punjab groundwater level dips 1m every year: Study READ MORE
3. Nagaland’s Raja Mircha exported to Europe for first time READ MORE
4. Scientists discover a new way to detect early colon cancer READ MORE
5. Action against poaching: Odisha plans DNA profiling for leopards READ MORE
6. Centre’s fiscal deficit stood at 18.2% of budget estimate for FY22 at end of June READ MORE
7. Ozone levels exceeding permitted levels: study READ MORE

Main exam:  

GS Paper- 1

HISTORY

1. Indus Waters Treaty is worth preserving READ MORE

SOCIETY

1. Population Bill isn’t on the right track READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Explained: Defining the creamy layer READ MORE
2. Law and lawmakers: On criminal acts and legislative privilege READ MORE
3. Why an aggressive policy to control population makes no sense READ MORE
4. New Emigration Bill a Step Forward, But Indians Need More READ MORE

SOCIAL JUSTICE AND SOCIAL ISSUES

1. ABC of quality: Quotas don’t solve what’s really wrong with education READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. India is losing out in Afghanistan READ MORE
2. China Is Providing an Alternative Regional Framework for South Asia READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Statistical Jugglery Should not Conceal Worsening Unemployment Scenario READ MORE
2. Post-COVID-19 Paths to Fiscal Consolidation: Using the Snowball Effect READ MORE
3. India’s Recovery Stumbles, Setting Stage for Sustained Low Rates READ MORE
4. The Lost Decades: The government must reimagine the fundamentals of the economy in favour of equality. READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Meeting the challenge of new climate normal READ MORE
2. Air Pollution Patterns in the Hindu Kush Himalaya Are More Complex Than Thought READ MORE
3. Authoritarianism Can’t Beat Climate Change READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. When a cannonball triggered a canonisation READ MORE
2. Satisfaction & Contentment READ MORE
3. Responding to China and Taliban READ MORE
4. Living Apart, Living Together READ MORE

Questions for MAIN exam

1. ‘The Emigration Bill, 2021 is an opportunity to regulate and reform the recruitment process for Indians who seek employment abroad’. Examine the statement.

2. ‘Solidarity is the only bond that provides a firm foundation for political democracy and for a just society’. Justify the statement.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Legislative privilege and parliamentary free speech are necessary elements of a lawmaker’s freedom to function.
• When democratically elected governments cease to be held accountable by a society weakened by poor health, low morale and joblessness, demagogues are prone to blindness and ineptitude.
• Section 124-A needs to be wholly judicially repealed at the bar of the fundamental human right to free speech.
• Authority does not come from the loudest voice, but the wisest.
• The government must reimagine the fundamentals of the economy in favour of equality.
• If indeed there does exist a pathway out of global climate governance gridlock, the answer does not lie at the feet of authoritarian monoliths.
• The Emigration Bill, 2021, likely to be introduced in Parliament soon, is an opportunity to regulate and reform the recruitment process for Indians who seek employment abroad.
• India’s leaders need to learn from Mandela, for whom a democratic political community was not only a matter of establishing a legal relationship between the state and the people but about establishing a relationship based on fellow feeling and empathy between people.
• India should seek a stable Afghanistan that is not hostile to it and let Afghans decide the nature of their polity. That would be the path of wisdom as China is seeking to integrate the countries to India’s west in an integrated framework. Pakistan is now almost China’s client-State.
• If democracy is the self-government of social equals who freely choose their representatives, then large-scale social suffering renders the democratic principle utterly utopian.

50-WORD TALK

• We need to boost research in climate science to gain further insights. At the same time, action to save lives and property needs to be taken now. This is better done by fine-tuning weather forecasting and dovetailing forecast with administrative and community action on the ground. We need to review all relevant policies and take corrective action.
• Kerala complaining about a campaign against the state’s Covid management rings hollow. It’s accounting for about half of India’s daily cases and can’t just blame that on successfully preventing infections earlier. Vaccinations should be prioritised for those susceptible and Kerala should work closely with the Union government to ensure supplies.
• The travel advisory issued by the Assam government against Mizoram amid border tensions is regressive, unwarranted and imprudent. Political dialogue is the way forward to resolve this long-running conflict, not resorting to measures that will aggravate it further. The central government should immediately intervene and order this national embarrassment withdrawn.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do a map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers etc. same applies for the national places.)
• For economy related news (banking, agriculture etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related with various economic aspects, for examples if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing prices rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates etc.
• For main exam related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occurs frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment in your writing.