WSDP Bulletin (04-01-2022)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. China constructing bridge on Pangong Tso READ MORE
2. RBI approves small, offline e-payments READ MORE
3. ‘ISRO gearing up for multiple space missions in 2022’ READ MORE
4. India’s income inequality fell post 2020 lockdown as rich got poorer, US economic study shows READ MORE
5. India’s old dams: Gandhi Sagar in MP needs immediate repair, says CAG report READ MORE
6. All you need know about GST Compensation READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. India will come apart if secular contract is torn READ MORE
2. Social media and the structural diminution of women READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. A sobering reminder to the powers that be READ MORE
2. Aiding in governance: The synergy of NGOs, Government and corporates is the holy grail of development READ MORE
3. The 21st century challenge for democracy READ MORE
4. Understanding the mediation bill READ MORE
5. Fund of confusion: FCRA policy should benefit from transparency READ MORE
6. Centre vs states: Exploring the historical roots of India’s distinctive form of federalism READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. What lessons does Ukraine offer South Asia? READ MORE
2. Role of India, China and Russia in Central Asia READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Is GDP data a reliable way to measure the health of the economy? READ MORE
2. The tale behind putting off key power reforms READ MORE
3. Key takeaways from RBI’s Financial Stability Report READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Save the valuable Western Ghats READ MORE  
2. Himalayan Glaciers Losing Ice 10x Faster Today Than They Did Until 1975 READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Newton’s laws resonate with Indic philosophy READ MORE
2. No relation is irreconcilable READ MORE
3. Humanity is moving towards machine life READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Centre-state entanglements in the welfare field reflect the deliberate choices of the architects of the Constitution’. Examine the statement.
2. As India needs Both the USA and Russia to save its interests, it should focus on balance rather than leaning to one side. Comment and suggest the way forward for India’s foreign policy.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• A key pillar of democratic governance is citizens’ power to question the state. NGOs and voluntary groups/organisations have played a significant role in building capacities of citizens to hold governments accountable.
• The tension between the tenets of liberty and equality is balanced by fraternity provided by the empathetic NGOs and CSOs in the journey towards a development state.
• NGOs and CSOs in India, irrespective of the open hostility of the current dispensation, will play a major role in mobilising citizen action to right various wrongs.
• Russia’s face-off with the West shows that spheres of influence are here to stay as instruments to regulate competition between great powers. But they endure only when the dominant power is wise and its neighbours are prudent.
• There are serious problems with India’s GDP data. Any analysis of recovery or growth forecast based on this data must be taken with a handful of salt.
• The states must recognise the dangers of destroying the ecosystem, especially when India has been facing the brunt of the climate crisis.
• The Constitution of India, considered a progressive document if there ever was one, guarantees equal rights to all its citizens, and that presumably includes women.
• The virtual world has twisted the terms of engagement giving an unknown quantum of humanity invested with a criminal mindset the licence to operate in public—with little consequence to themselves.
• Centre-state entanglements in the welfare field reflect the deliberate choices of the architects of the Constitution.
• Joint counter-terrorism exercises involving India, Russia and Central Asian nations have also been planned in the coming year. With other global players missing, it has been left to Russia and China to actively dominate Central Asia.
• Democracy can remain alive at the intersection of politics and political criticism.

50-WORD TALK

• Legislators enacted AFSPA in 1958, fearing Northeast insurgencies would burn down India. Those insurgencies are mostly dead, but AFSPA Raj lives on in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur. Experience — Punjab in 1997; Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram since 2014 — shows ending AFSPA can help heal post-insurgency societies. Lifting AFSPA will secure Northeast’s hard-won peace.
• India’s long overdue vaccinations of adolescents is a welcome beginning. It is important for young people to understand its importance not just for resuming their normal life but also protecting older family members. They should not get carried away by a belief in their own invincibility, natural at that age.
• Months after deplorable ‘Sulli Deals’, the emergence of a new app ‘Bulli Bai’ targeting Muslim women points to culture of impunity in a compromised system. Had arrests been made earlier, it wouldn’t have reappeared. Catching culprits cannot be difficult for an all-powerful government that knows how to deploy its agencies.

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.