1. What is real prosperity? READ MORE
2. Code Of Ethics Under The Information Technology Rules, 2021 – Stay Orders By The High Courts Of Bombay And Madras READ MORE

1. Explained: Climate change in 11 charts READ MORE
2. Shadow of poverty on India’s climate goals READ MORE
3. Are India’s Parliamentarians Starting to Understand Our Rivers? READ MORE

1. Social Justice Matters | Is the electoral system in India unjust to Dalits? READ MORE
2. Gender and social disparities: What India’s achivement of 1 billion vaccine doses doesn’t reveal READ MORE

1. On dealing with false criminal cases: Investigating officers should ensure that no innocent individuals have to suffer the rigours of the law READ MORE
2. A court order for the ages: Pegasus verdict provides an answer to question of privacy READ MORE
3. What we need to fix our judicial system READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Centre cuts excise duty on petrol by ₹5, diesel by ₹10 READ MORE
2. Climate risks remain even if world limits warming to 1.5°C: UNEP report READ MORE
3. Endangered lesser florican rescued in Maharashtra’s Solapur READ MORE
4. New study proposes expansion of the universe directly impacts black hole growth READ MORE
5. US Puts Pegasus Spyware Maker NSO Group on Trade Blacklist for ‘Malicious Cyber Activities’ READ MORE
6. India, Indonesia and Philippines Join Coal Transition Programme READ MORE

Main Exam  

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. On dealing with false criminal cases: Investigating officers should ensure that no innocent individuals have to suffer the rigours of the law READ MORE
2. A court order for the ages: Pegasus verdict provides an answer to question of privacy READ MORE
3. What we need to fix our judicial system READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Social Justice Matters | Is the electoral system in India unjust to Dalits? READ MORE
2. Gender and social disparities: What India’s achivement of 1 billion vaccine doses doesn’t reveal READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Batting for ‘One South Asia’ makes more sense: When it comes to climate change, India’s ideas would pack more punch if they have a clear road map for the region READ MORE
2. How China’s new border law can affect India READ MORE
3. Unleashing the Indo-ASEAN growth potential READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. The recovery toolkit: On tax policy and economic recovery READ MORE
2. Making ARCs bankable: RBI panel highlights banks’ role in ARC failure, need for correction READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Explained: Climate change in 11 charts READ MORE
2. Shadow of poverty on India’s climate goals READ MORE
3. Are India’s Parliamentarians Starting to Understand Our Rivers? READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. India’s 5G leap is about powering tomorrow: The revolution that 4G technology ushered in can be enhanced but the nation cannot gloss over the digital divide READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. What is real prosperity? READ MORE
2. Code Of Ethics Under The Information Technology Rules, 2021 – Stay Orders By The High Courts Of Bombay And Madras READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘In the current geopolitical landscape, India and ASEAN can position themselves as front-runners in terms of relocation of value and production chains’. Comment.
2. ‘In India, economic policies have created greater income inequality and poverty, whereas environmental policies have failed to conserve and enhance the resource base of the country’. Examine the statement.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.
• When it comes to climate change, India’s ideas would pack more punch if they have a clear road map for the South Asia region.
• India must reorient its strategy towards an ecologically sustainable pathway. There is no space in the world for another China.
• In the current geopolitical landscape, India and ASEAN have the opportunity to position themselves as front-runners in terms of relocation of value and production chains.
• There is a lot for us to worry about on the border front if Xi Jinping follows Mao’s ‘Contradiction’ theory with regard to India.
• Economic policies have created greater income inequality and poverty, whereas environmental policies have failed to conserve and enhance the resource base of the country. Their convergence or integration benefits each other in realising both economic development and environmental conservation.
• If the weaponisation of religion continues apace, the subcontinent may plunge into prolonged social strife.
• Indian elections are a remarkable feat for a new democracy. Yet, the country’s marginalised castes continue to get a raw deal when it comes to their representation, and the system of reserved constituencies is flawed at best.
• The revolution that 4G technology ushered in can be enhanced through 5G but the nation cannot gloss over the digital divide.
• Economic policies have created greater income inequality and poverty, whereas environmental policies have failed to conserve and enhance the resource base of the country.

50- WORD TALK

• WHO granting emergency approval to Covaxin is big relief. The long wait, data requests and speculation didn’t help the cause of a much-needed vaccine that was, unfortunately, rushed through initially. While that’s a lesson, Bharat Biotech-ICMR should be proud of Covaxin and scale up production to help India vaccinate everyone.

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 map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price 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 occur 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 to your writing.

ENVIRONMENT, GEOGRAPHY AND AGRICULTURE

1. THE ADAPTATION GAP REPORT 2021

THE CONTEXT: ‘The Adaptation Gap Report 2021: The Gathering Storm’ released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) during the ongoing COP26 at Glasgow.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The report found that the costs of adaptation are likely in the higher end of an estimated $140-300 billion per year by 2030 and $280-500 billion per year by 2050 for developing countries only.
• Even if the world limits warming to 1.5°C, many climate risks remain and will be irreversible, while warning that the gap between costs of adaptation and the current financial flow is widening.
• It found that the opportunity to use the fiscal recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to prioritise green economic growth that also helps nations adapt to climate impacts such as droughts, storms and wildfire is largely being missed.
• Around 79% of countries have adopted at least one national-level adaptation planning instrument, such as a plan, strategy, policy or law. This is an increase of seven per cent since 2020.
• Nine per cent of countries that do not have such an instrument in place are in the process of developing one. At least 65% of the countries have one or more sectoral plans in place, and at least 26% have one or more sub-national planning instruments.
• Despite this progress, the report finds that further ambition is needed in financing and implementation.

SOURCE: TH

2. COMPARISON OF INDIA’S NET-ZERO GOAL TO OTHER COUNTRIES

THE CONTEXT: India was the only one among the major greenhouse gas emitters that hadn’t specified a so-called net-zero year.

THE EXPLANATION:

• PM in setting an outer limit of 2070 by which India’s emissions would effectively be zero means that it is asking Western developed countries to do more, or undertake sharper cuts.
• China, Russia and Saudi Arabia have committed to net-zero by 2060.
• The United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have committed to a 2050 target.
• But only 12 countries have enshrined this commitment in law. These are Germany, Sweden, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Canada, South Korea, Spain, Denmark, New Zealand, Hungary, and Luxembourg.
• The European Union has a collective target of 2050 and Germany and Sweden have a 2045 target.
• An analysis by the World Resources Institute notes “steady progress” in the number of countries reaching peak emissions over time.
• By 1990, 19 countries had peaked (representing 21 per cent of global emissions) and by 2030 this number is likely to grow to 57 countries (representing 60 per cent of global emissions).
• By 2020, 53 countries representing 40 per cent of global emissions (based on 2010 emissions data rather than 2020 projections) peaked or have a commitment to peak by 2020.
• By 2020, almost all developed countries are expected to have peaked.

ABOUT NET ZERO

• ‘Net zero’ is a globally agreed-upon goal for mitigating global warming in the second half of the century, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that for temperature rise to be restricted to 1.5C it was necessary for global carbon dioxide emissions to halt by 2050.
• It would also be necessary to use other methods to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

SOURCE: TH

3. COAL TRANSITION PROGRAMME

THE CONTEXT:  India, Indonesia and the Philippines will join South Africa as the first recipients of a multibillion-dollar pilot programme aimed at accelerating their transition from coal power to clean energy, the Climate Investment Funds (CIF).

THE EXPLANATION:

• The four countries account for 15% of global emissions related to coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel.
• The new programme has been endorsed by the Group of Seven advanced economies and is supported by financial pledges from the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada and Denmark.
• It will invest in projects ranging from bolstering countries’ domestic capacity to manage energy transitions to repurposing or decommissioning coal assets and creating economic opportunities for coal-dependent communities.
• The project will work with six multilateral development banks to offer coal-transitioning countries a comprehensive financial toolkit that includes low-income loans and technical assistance.

SOURCE: THEWIRE

INDIAN ECONOMY

4. PLI SCHEME FOR WHITE GOODS

THE CONTEXT: The proposal of DPIIT for the PLI Scheme for White Goods for the manufacture of components and sub-assemblies of ACs and LED Lights was approved by the Union Cabinet.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Scheme is to be implemented over a seven-year period, from FY2021-22 to FY2028-29 and has an outlay of Rs. 6,238 crore.
• The investments in Air Conditioners will lead to manufacturing components across the complete value chain including components that are not manufactured in India with sufficient quantity.
• This is a huge step forward for Atmanirbhar Bharat in important sectors of the economy

ABOUT WHITE GOODS

• White goods are major consumer durables or household appliances that were previously exclusively accessible in white.
• Air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and dryers, dishwashers, and LED lights are all part of the white goods business.

SOURCE: PIB

5. CENTRE CUTS EXCISE DUTY ON PETROL AND DIESEL 

THE CONTEXT: The Government slashed excise duties on petrol and diesel by Rs. 5 and Rs. 10 per litre respectively, citing the need to help farmers with the rabi crop, ease inflation and give the economy a consumption boost.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Centre has urged the States to ‘commensurately reduce’ the Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel to give relief to consumers.
• Even if the States don’t act, the actual amount of VAT levied by them on fuels is expected to reduce immediately because they levy varying tax rates on an ad-valorem basis after central excise duties are levied.

SOURCE: TH

6. 75 TONNES MORE GOLD IN FOREX

THE CONTEXT: India is adding more gold to its rising foreign exchange kitty of $640 billion. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has acquired 75.59 tonnes of gold in the last 12 months.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Data from the Reserve Bank shows that the central bank held 743.84 metric tonnes of gold as of September 2021, more than 11 per cent compared to 668.25 tonnes of the yellow metal held in September 2020.
• The RBI’s gold holding has gone up by 125.6 tonnes in the last two years, making India the world’s ninth-largest holder of gold reserves.
• While 451.54 metric tonnes of gold is held overseas in safe custody with the Bank of England and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), 292.30 tonnes of gold is held domestically
• Although gold no longer plays a direct role in the international monetary system, central banks and governments still hold extensive gold reserves to preserve national wealth and protect against economic instability.
• According to the 2021 Central Bank Gold Reserves (CBGR) survey, 21 per cent of central banks intend to increase their gold reserves over the next 12 months.
• Central banks are also increasingly valuing gold’s performance during periods of crisis as this attribute now tops their rationale for holding gold.
• The RBI says the major sources of market risk for central banks are currency risk, interest rate risk and movement in gold prices.

SOURCE: IE

MISCELLANEOUS

7.US PUTS NSO GROUP ON TRADE BLACKLIST

THE CONTEXT: Israeli spyware company NSO Group, the maker of phone-hacking tool Pegasus, has been added to a federal blacklist by the US Department of Commerce, thereby restricting it from accessing America-made technologies.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The US government has added Israel’s NSO Group and Candiru, alongside Russian cybersecurity firm Positive Technologies and Singapore-based Computer Security Initiative Consultancy Pte, to its Entity List.
• Being added to the Entity List means the companies will not be able to access American hardware and software
• Trade experts, though, have argued that this is an important flag planted by the US, given that most decisions earlier to put companies on the Entity List involved China. However, this time, the US has taken a stance on a company being operated out of Israel — a long time US ally.

SOURCE: IE

PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Q1 The Adaptation Gap Report is released by?

a) UNEP

b) IUCN

c) WEF

d) World Bank

ANSWER FOR NOVEMBER 2^nd, 2021 PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Answer: D

Explanation:

Sources of methane include:

1. Cow’s digestive system
2. Paddy farms
3. Oil & Natural gas production
4. Landfills waste