WSDP Bulletin (24-11-2021)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main:

1. Global push to cap oil prices: India to release 5 mn barrels from reserves READ MORE
2. Global warming to hit India the worst in Asia by 2070 READ MORE
3. Australia declares La Niña phenomenon has begun READ MORE
4. Himalayan glacier changed track 20,000 years ago: study READ MORE
5. India-US Trade Policy Forum to be revived today after four years READ MORE

Main Exam 

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. ASER 2021 has insights on how schools can respond to post-Covid world READ MORE
2. Use of facial recognition technology by police is dangerous READ MORE
3. Lessons from past sanitation policies for future efforts READ MORE
4. Dissent over privacy law READ MORE
5. Driving internet inclusion & safety READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Are India’s much-lauded startups failing their women workers? READ MORE
2. 30% Muslims, 20% Dalits and Adivasis Report Discrimination in Accessing Healthcare: Oxfam READ MORE
3. Education In India During Covid-19: Challenges Faced And Solutions For A Post-Pandemic Era READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Breaking the ice: Reviving the U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum is a chance to break vicious cycle in economic ties READ MORE
2. Myanmar in Indian Foreign Policy’s Blindspot READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. The duality in India’s economic recovery READ MORE
2. Sustainable agriculture: Technology must be used with traditional knowledge READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Explained: Can elephant collaring help manage human-elephant conflict in Assam? READ MORE
2. Why We Need Data Stories and Digital Tools To Achieve Rural Water Security READ MORE
3. The challenge of climate adaptation READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Evolving concepts of national security READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Help! Domestic helps earn little and have no social protection, but the real problem is behavioural READ MORE
2. Today’s World – Full of Choices or Distractions READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Sustainable agriculture requires technologies and agronomic practices that are efficient and least injurious to the environment’. Discuss the statement.
2. Establish a relationship between ethics and religion on the basis of references to recent examples from Indian society.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• I would rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.
• There are academic strategies to be developed and modified to face current teaching-learning challenges.
• The digital divide has been talked about widely. Assuming connectivity will continue to increase and level the playing field, having device libraries at the school or village level may be one solution.
• The divide between the rural and agrarian, on the one hand, and the urban and industrial, on the other, is not tenable today.
• The absence of any legal framework to govern data protection, especially in the context of personal biometric data, means that we are blindly turning our public spaces into sites of technological experimentation, where human rights are sidelined for profit and control.
• Fiscal policy needs to be prioritised over monetary policy; targeted demand push in the form of extension of the free ration scheme, financial support to struggling SMEs and increased outlay for MGNREGA may help sustain the economic recovery.
• India can provide low-cost solutions and policy design leveraging local communities for domestic use and vulnerable developing countries.
• Women’s situation in terms of owning property as daughters remains dismal, and requires particular attention if India is to move towards gender equality in landownership, as targeted in the Sustainable Development Goal 5.
• Sustainable agriculture requires technologies and agronomic practices that are efficient, least injurious to the environment, and yet profitable for farmers.
• One single agency cannot be responsible for safety on the internet. It will need a multi-stakeholder approach.

50- WORD TALK

• Reconvening of the India-US Trade Policy Forum after four years and agreement to revitalise trade ties is a step forward. The Trump administration’s volatility had ruffled this and both sides have irritants to resolve. It’s time India-US economic ties caught up with the bonhomie of the rest of the relationship.

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.