1. THE POSTAL BALLOT FOR MEDIA PERSONS:EC

THE CONTEXT: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a list of those persons working in
essential services who can cast vote in upcoming assembly elections through postal ballot in five
states.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The ECI has allowed media persons authorised by it to exercise their franchise using the
  postal ballot facility for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur
  and Goa.
• The poll body has permitted persons employed in Information and Public Relation
  Department, Health and Family Welfare (Emergency Ambulance Services), Post
  Department, Traffic Department, Railways, Electricity Department, Civil Aviation
  Department, Metro Rail Corporation of Uttar Pradesh, Doordarshan, All India Radio, and
  Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to cast their vote via postal ballot.

What is postal voting?

• A restricted set of voters can exercise postal voting. Through this facility, a voter can
  cast her vote remotely by recording her preference on the ballot paper and sending it back
  to the election officer before counting.

Who else can avail this facility?

• Members of the armed forces like the Army, Navy and Air Force, members of the armed
  police force of a state (serving outside the state), government employees posted outside
  India and their spouses are entitled to vote only by post.
• The exception to the above-mentioned category of voters is provided under Section 60 of
  the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

THE SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

2. INDIA’S ECONOMIC SYSTEM RIGGED IN FAVOUR OF THE SUPER-RICH:

OXFAM REPORT

THE CONTEXT: The report points out that in India, during the pandemic the wealth of billionaires
increased from Rs 23.14 lakh crore to Rs 53.16 lakh crore. At the same time, more than 4.6 crore
Indians are estimated to have fallen into extreme poverty in 2020.

THE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:

• The report was published ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda. According
  to the Global Oxfam Davos report 2022, while 84% of households in India suffered a
  decline in their income in a year marked by the tremendous loss of life and livelihoods, the
  number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142.
• The report states that just a 1% wealth tax on 98 wealthiest billionaire families in India can
  finance Ayushman Bharat, the government of India's national public health insurance fund,
  for more than seven years. It added that the collective wealth of India's 100 wealthiest
  people hit a record high of INR 57.3 lakh crore (USD 775 billion) in 2021.

CONTINUING DEPENDENCE ON INDIRECT TAXES

• In 2000 the percentage of indirect taxation in the total tax revenue was 63.69%. Due to
  Covid pandemic, the dependent on the indirect taxes —especially the tax levied on the sale
  and manufacture of goods and services that ordinary Indians depend upon.
• Also, the indirect tax as a share of the Union government revenue has been increasing when
  there is a decline in the proportion of corporate tax for the same in the last four years.
  The additional tax imposed on fuel has risen 33% in the first six months of 2020-21 as
  compared to the previous year and is 79% more than pre-Covid levels.
• It is important to note, wealth tax for the super-rich was abolished in 2016. Corporatetaxes were lowered from 30% to 22% to attract investment last year, which has resulted in a loss of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, which has contributed to the increase in India's fiscal deficit.
• These trends show that the poor, marginalised, and the middle class paid high taxes despite going through the raging pandemic while the rich made more money without paying their fair share.

LACK OF FUNDS FOR PUBLIC SERVICES

• The India Supplement highlighted the de-prioritisation of education and health in the Union
  government budget when these two services were needed the most. Allocation towards
  health in 2021-22 saw a decline of 10% from the previous year in the Union budget, while
  the allocation towards education in 2021-22 saw an increase of only 10% from the
  previous year.
• As a percentage of GDP, health spending has remained abysmally low at 1.2 to 1.6% and
  increased only by 0.09% over the last 22 years. As a percentage of GDP, education spending
  has remained low at 3% and increased only 0.07% over the last 18 years.
• With 93 percent of the nation's workforce comprising of informal employment, there has
  been little success in bringing them under the ambit of formal employment, which would
  give them various benefits like paid leaves, health insurance, paid maternity leaves and
  pension”.

PRIVATISATION OF BASIC SERVICES

• The India supplement shows that the high cost of private healthcare affects marginalised
  communities, mainly due to its high costs and further widens inequalities. Data from the
  National Sample Survey (NSS) 2017-18 shows that Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) in
  private hospitals is almost six times that in public hospitals for inpatient care and two or
  three times higher for outpatient care. The average OOPE in India is at 62.67%, while the
  global average is at 18.12%.

WAY FORWARD

• Oxfam India said that India needs to track policy impact better by improving mechanisms
  for its measurement. “There is an immediate requirement to start disaggregating more
  public statistics by income and introduce a regular collection of data on income and wealth
  inequality while ensuring that this data is made freely available in the public domain".
• It also highlighted the importance of generating revenue to invest in education and
  healthcare. The report pointed out that a temporary 1% surcharge on the wealthiest 10%
  of the population could help raise an additional Rs 8.7 lakh crore, utilising the education
  and health budget.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

3. THE GLOBAL COALITION PUSHES FOR MORATORIUM ON SOLAR

GEOENGINEERING

THE CONTEXT: An international “coalition” of scientists and governance scholars launched an
initiative that calls for a moratorium on the study and development of a controversial climate-
change mitigation strategy known as solar geoengineering.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The scholars are calling for an ‘International Non-Use Agreement on Solar
  Geoengineering’. It is particularly opposed to the idea of spraying aerosols in the
  stratosphere to scatter some sunlight into space because, the technology is “ungovernable
  in a fair, democratic and effective manner”.
  The group of experts proposed an international non-use agreement on solar geoengineering that
  called upon governments and the United Nations to make the following commitments:

1.  To prohibit national funding agencies from supporting the development of technologies for
   solar geoengineering.
2. To ban outdoor experiments of solar geoengineering technologies.
3. To not grant patent rights for technologies for solar geoengineering.
4. To not deploy technologies for solar geoengineering if developed by third parties
5. To object to future institutionalisation of planetary solar geoengineering as a policy option in relevant international institutions, including assessments by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

WHAT IS SOLAR GEO ENGINEERING?

According to scientists, the solar geoengineering, also known as solar radiation management or
modification, is a set of technologies to lower global temperatures by artificially intervening in the
climate systems.

WHY IT IS CONTROVERSIAL?

• Solar geoengineering is controversial because it’s impossible to contain its consequences in
  one geographical region and, by extension, to know their full extent.
• For example, if the US government decides to spray large quantities of aerosols into the
  stratosphere over its west coast, and scatter sunlight, there will be implications for the
  American mainland, for temperature and wind patterns over the Pacific Ocean, for marine
  life (and the livelihoods of people that depend on them), and could cascade into longer-
  term effects over South America, Oceania and Asia as well.
• The experts have also expressed concerns that the availability of solar geoengineering technologies in the future could disincentivise the efforts and commitments being made towards achieving carbon neutrality in the world.

4. ANIMAL BIODIVERSITY LOSS LIMITS PLANTS DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

THE CONTEXT: According to a new study, the plant worldwide has a 60 per cent lower chance of
adapting to climate change due to the declining numbers of birds and mammals.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to the study, more than half of the plant species depend on animals and plants
  for seed-dispersing. But the number of mammals, birds, fish, plants and insects has dropped
  to an average of 68 per cent from 1970 to 2016, the Living Planet Report 2020 revealed.
• With declining animal biodiversity, fewer seeds will reach new grounds. Consequently,
  plants might lose their ability to migrate to a newer and more suitable environment.
• The scientists used computer models to draw comparisons between seed dispersal in the
  real world and a simulated world with no extinctions and range shrinkage of birds and
  mammals.
• They found that seed dispersal function globally has “declined sharply” from its natural level, with 60 per cent fewer seeds travelling far enough to keep pace with climate change.
• The seed-dispersal losses were especially severe in temperate regions across North America, Europe, South America and Australia.

Effects on India

• India is home to over 45,000 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals.
• Over the last five decades, India has lost 12 per cent of its wild mammals, 19 per cent
  amphibians and 3 per cent birds.
• In northeast India, seed dispensers such as elephants and bats are heavily hunted. This loss
  limits the movement of seeds in the region.
• The rest of the country, on the other hand, has a higher density of elephants, horn bills and
  other fruit-eating animals. But the region is witnessing fragmentation and habitat
  degradation, which impact seed dispersal.
• India has smaller patches of forests. This means animals are likely to drop off seeds on the
  rooftops. “Livestock grazing in forest areas impacts seed dispersal. Invasion is another major
  issue.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION OF THE DAY 18 TH JANUARY 2022

Q1. Consider the following statements about Kathak:
1. It is a classical dance form of India originated in Southern India.
2. Its foundations are rooted in Natya Shastra, an ancient Sanskrit text written by Bharata
Muni.
3. The exponents of Kathak convey stories through rhythmic foot movements, hand gestures,
facial appearances and eye work.
Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 3 only

ANSWER FOR 17 TH JANUARY 2022.

Answer: D)
Explanation:

• Vitamin D works more as a hormone and is involved in a host of biochemical reactions. It is
  key to maintaining metabolic functions, immune system, bone health and plays a crucial
  role in depression, mood swings, anxiety, and sleep quality.

[WpProQuiz 138]

THE CONTEXT: The Covid-19 pandemic and its eventful aftermath has been inflicting unprecedented stress, on the already vulnerable Indian society. Most have seen their incomes fall, many have seen their families uprooted, some have even lost their lives. On moral grounds alone, there is a strong case for augmenting spending on social protection for the poor.

STATUS OF SOCIAL PROTECTION IN INDIA

• Prior to COVID-19, despite absolute poverty reduction in the past two decades, half of India’s population was vulnerable with consumption levels precariously close to the poverty line.
• Ninety percent of the Indian workforce is informal, without access to significant savings or work-place based social protection benefits such as paid sick leave or social insurance.
• The Periodic Labour Force Survey (2017-18) has found that only 47% of urban workers have regular, salaried jobs.
• Even among workers in formal employment, over 70% do not have contracts, 54% are not entitled to paid sick leave and 49% do not have any form of social security benefits. These workers, who may not be identified as ‘poor’ as per the consumption data but are at grave risk of falling into poverty due to wage and livelihood losses triggered by shrinking economic activity.
• In India, the pandemic has brought to the forefront the chronic poverty and inequality that already plague the nation, where more than 21.9% of the population lives below the poverty line. The implementation of nationwide lockdown measures has caused factories to shut down and interrupted supply chains, rendering migrants and non-migrant employees jobless.

SOCIAL SECURITY

• According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Social Security is a comprehensive approach designed to prevent deprivation, give assurance to the individual of a basic minimum income for himself and his dependents and protect the individual from any uncertainties.
• It is also comprised of two elements, namely:
  • Right to a Standard of Living is adequate for health and well-being, including food, clothing, housing, medical care, and necessary social services.
  • Right to Income Security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond any person’s control.
• In a report on the state of social protection globally, the UN’s International Labour Organization said that 4.1 billion people were living without any social safety net of any kind. Social protection includes access to health care and income security measures related especially to old age, unemployment, sickness, disability, work injury, maternity, or the loss of the main breadwinner in a family, as well as extra support for families with children.

CHALLENGES IN DELIVERING ENTITLEMENTS AT SCALE

• The limiting factors: Even before the pandemic, the effective and smooth distribution of social protection benefits has been hampered by barriers such as insufficient staffing, funding, and training of local-level government bodies and organizations (including SHGs and NGOs).
• Reaching the last mile: Common Service Centres (or CSCs) that are front-end channels for delivering services at the last mile have their fair share of problems, associated with weak connectivity, poor infrastructure, minimal incentives, and a lack of automated backend processes.
• Ever-increasing job loss: People cannot carry on with their usual jobs or occupations. The existing situation of unemployment worsens. Incomes fall or cease. Economically better-off people manage with varying degrees of difficulty, but people from the lower economic sections become almost destitute.
• Distribution struggles: Amidst free distribution of food and essential items to the needy and poor, people were seen fighting amongst themselves in the race to get there first and even to the extent of snatching it from others. Members of the NGOs and social organizations engaged in community service during these times were also hackled and abused.
• Targeting errors: While the JAM trinity and the increasing reliance on Direct Benefit Transfers have been a step towards automating the existing structure, the reform has its own shortcomings. For example, the Aadhaar-Based Biometric Authentication at Fair Price Shops often fails to read fingerprints of the elderly and those engaged in manual work as demonstrated in Karnataka, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Targeting is a key issue to consider when designing inclusive social assistance programs in developing countries with large populations. In India, PDS beneficiaries are bracketed on the basis of a poverty line that may not reflect the accurate socio-economic status of a household.

GOI’S RESPONSE TOWARDS SOCIAL PROTECTION

• Introducing financial cushion: The Government of India and the World Bank today signed a $750 million of $1 billion proposed for Accelerating India’s COVID-19 Social Protection Response Programme to support India’s efforts at providing social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The first phase of the operation will be implemented countrywide through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). It will immediately help scale-up cash transfers and food benefits, using a core set of pre-existing national platforms and programs like the following:
  • Both anticipation of benefit payments and a top-up of INR2,000 to beneficiaries of PM-Kisan, a cash transfer scheme supplementing farmers’ income and supporting agriculture-related expenses
  • An increase of INR20 in the daily wages of workers registered under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the flagship public works program, representing up to INR2,000 per worker per year.
  • Expansion of the Public Distribution System (PDS) to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19, with beneficiaries of Antyodaya Anna Yojana, a program providing highly subsidized food grains, receiving free food, and additional food subsidies to mitigate food insecurity during the pandemic.
  • Government payment of three months’ worth of provident fund contributions for employees who earn less than INR15,000 per month and work in companies with less than 100 employees in which 90 percent of employees’ wages are below the INR15,000 threshold.
  • Financial support for 23 million construction workers from the Building and Construction Workers’ Fund managed by state governments, with a one-time cash benefit ranging between INR1,000 and INR5,000.
• Schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), public distribution system (PDS), and a modest universal income transfer can drive growth by boosting demand, correcting market failures, improving credit access, and providing the insurance needed for people to undertake risky investments to improve productivity. The GOI thus increased budget grants for these schemes. The sub-schemes like ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ further amplify the penetrative potential of schemes like PDS.

In the second phase, the program will deepen the social protection package, whereby additional cash and in-kind benefits based on local needs will be extended through state governments and portable social protection delivery systems.

Analysis by World Bank Group

Coverage and outreach of the first round of India’s social protection response have been impressive at scale, reaching a majority of households. Between May and August 2020, more than 87 percent of India’s poorest households reported receiving at least one benefit, food or cash, under the PMGKY. Across the country, nearly 74% of all households received food through PDS allocations, 40% of households received cash transfers.

IMPROVING TARGETING OF SOCIAL WELFARE: FILLING THE LOOPHOLES

Shifting priorities and erring on the side of being inclusive, i.e., recognizing the scale of the economic losses that the population faces and focusing on plugging exclusion errors that deny benefits to eligible beneficiaries.

• Moving towards self-targeting: Various stakeholders argued that there is a need to tailor the economic response to COVID-19 to the public health response. For instance, during intense lockdown periods where economic activity is severely curtailed, more universal and broad transfers are needed. Direct food assistance can be particularly useful in this scenario since they allow for self-targeting.
• Avoiding one-size-fits-all approach: While monitoring attendance using Aadhaar authentication has already been discontinued for central government employees for fear of virus transmission, this should be employed as a long-term solution for beneficiaries as well. Rather than relying entirely on ABBA (Aadhaar Based Biometric Authentication) transactions, recording transactions in offline mode where needed would prevent their exclusion.
• To mitigate the health risks of crowding in PDS centers, in-kind transfers can also be made through other means like door-step delivery through PDS trucks.
• Community model of social security: Organizations at the community level, like NGOs, CSOs, and Self Help Groups (SHGs) are also making efforts to reach beneficiaries, spread information, and mobilize relief measures. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, SHGs have worked to circulate relevant health information using WhatsApp groups.
  • A study conducted by Gram Vaani found that when community volunteers intervened in escalating complaints about public schemes, there was an improved turnover in response from administrators.
• Utilizing last-mile agents to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of social assistance programs can be considered as well. According to the Business Correspondents Federation of India, 80-85% of BCs were active as of June 2020. These agents have played a vital role in ensuring last-mile access to Direct Benefit Transfers under the PMGKY.
• Using technology augmentation: Existing government service delivery systems like HESPL’s Haqdarshak and DEF’s Mera App rely on an ‘agent + technology’ model to overcome the barriers of financial and digital illiteracy. While agent involvement has been critical for enabling cash withdrawal, the COVID-19 experience has highlighted how this model may benefit from the development of simplified applications that enable self-service.

Successful Social security models

In practice, by relaxing the criteria of having a specific type of bank account, targeting can be made more universal; Tamil Nadu has disbursed cash and ration-based commodities to ration card owners. The utilization of a job card (MNREGA) can also be considered to make targeting more inclusive.

THE WAY FORWARD

• While the government has responded to the challenges posed by COVID-19 through different interventions, the country could benefit from taking further steps to ensure universal social protection coverage, including the ‘missing middle.
• Potential policy strategies encompass the implementation of a universal child benefit, which would ensure that all households with children are able to meet their basic needs, and/or greater coverage and adequacy for India’s elderly population through an old-age pension scheme, including through the existing Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme.
• Existing social insurance schemes administered by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation should be supported and strengthened to provide social insurance to workers in times of need.
• Furthermore, to guarantee greater coverage for future shocks, flagship programs such as the PDS and MGNREGA could be expanded to provide security to all regions and to households in both urban and rural areas. Lastly, more needs to be done to reach and support internal migrant workers who are either temporarily or indefinitely living outside their home states and often lack access to social protection programs.
• The current ‘one-size-fits-all’ model of national programs which offer the same benefit levels and interventions across a variety of states needs reform. India can draw from the experience of other middle-income countries and allow greater funds and flexibility to sub-national governments to design localized approaches, while retaining a core set of national programs such as MGNREGS, NSAP, PMAY, PAHAL, PDS, and social insurance schemes to operate pan-nationally.

THE CONCLUSION: Debates around reducing the stringency of poverty tests, expanding social assistance programs to cover a wider range of citizens, and improving the ease of receiving benefits all point to the need of developing a more inclusive system of welfare support. To this end, the COVID-19 pandemic can act as an impetus to address the inadequacies of existing mechanisms and institutions and adapt them to not only suit the current situation but also prove resilient in the future.

As India designs its social protection response to the pandemic, the country stands poised for a fundamental transformation from a set of fragmented schemes to an integrated and decentralized system. A broader social protection framework for a more urban, middle-income, mobile, natural disaster-prone, diverse and decentralized India is urgently required.

1. Soul consciousness wards off vices and viruses READ MORE
2. Eloquent Silences READ MORE
3. Remembering Martin Luther King Jr: 5 Things I’ve Learned Curating the Mlk Collection READ MORE

1. Tribals and their divinity concept READ MORE
2. Socialising digital brand communication READ MORE
3. Inequality kills: A study of the new OxFam report READ MORE
4. The future of school education lies in learning beyond classrooms READ MORE

1. Modi govt will have to wait on All India Judicial Services. Top judiciary main opposition READ MORE
2. Mentioning in Supreme Court requires urgent revision READ MORE
3. Behind the success of the gig economy READ MORE

1. Explained: Why the volcanic eruption in Tonga was so violent, and what to expect next READ MORE
2. Forest cover rises, but questions remain READ MORE
3. We Need Airports and Dams – But Here’s Why You Should Care About the Environment READ MORE
4. Will Tonga volcanic eruption affect global climate? READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. PM delivers ‘State of the World’ special address at the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda READ MORE
2. Birju Maharaj, legendary Kathak dancer, dies at 83 READ MORE
3. EC allows authorised media persons to cast vote through postal ballot in upcoming polls READ MORE
4. India’s Economic System Rigged in Favour of the Super-Rich, Says Oxfam Report READ MORE
5. Border position unambiguous: India to Nepal on Lipulekh row READ MORE
6. US bill to block defence contractors from using Chinese rare earth minerals READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. Explained: Why the volcanic eruption in Tonga was so violent, and what to expect next READ MORE
2. Forest cover rises, but questions remain READ MORE
3. Tribals and their divinity concept READ MORE
4. Socialising digital brand communication READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Modi govt will have to wait on All India Judicial Services. Top judiciary main opposition READ MORE
2. Mentioning in Supreme Court requires urgent revision READ MORE
3. Behind the success of the gig economy READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Inequality kills: A study of the new OxFam report READ MORE
2. The future of school education lies in learning beyond classrooms READ MORE

 INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. India’s watchwords in a not so bright 2022 READ MORE
2. How the India-Japan friendship can help global peace, prosperity READ MORE
3. Revival of nuclear concert diplomacy READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Just what the doctor ordered for the livestock farmer READ MORE
2. Eye on yields READ MORE
3. Tackling inequality: Govt must make the right interventions in the Budget READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. We Need Airports and Dams – But Here’s Why You Should Care About the Environment READ MORE
2. Will Tonga volcanic eruption affect the global climate? READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Set up the exclusive ministry of internal security READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Soul consciousness wards off vices and viruses READ MORE
2. Eloquent Silences READ MORE
3. Remembering Martin Luther King Jr: 5 Things I’ve Learned Curating the Mlk Collection READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened economic inequalities across the world. Substantiate the statement with reference to “Inequality Kills” report by Oxfam.
2. ‘Seventy years after diplomatic relations were established between India and Japan, they have evolved into natural partners’. Discuss the statement in the light of contemporary world politics.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
• Facing a host of unprecedented challenges, India’s leaders and diplomats must not only take stock of the dangers that exist but also be ready on how to manage the risks that are well evident.
• With most of India’s livestock in rural and remote areas, a game changer now will be the use of mobile veterinary units.
• Seventy years after diplomatic relations were established between India and Japan, they have evolved into natural partners.
• The recent P5 statement on nuclear disarmament is hollow and contradicts the policies of most UNSC members. From India’s perspective, the statement does nothing to allay concerns about China modernising its nuclear arsenal.
• Contrary to perception, tribals in India have a belief system which is no less profound and spiritual than other religions practised in the country.
• There is no dispute that the issue of inequality needs to be addressed. The K-shaped recovery from the pandemic may not be sustainable in the medium term.
• Immediate measures should be taken to fix the accountability of companies towards gig workers, and clearly establish mechanisms for ensuring this, including substantive penalties for violating the workers’ labour and democratic rights.

50-WORD TALK

• From unrest in our border areas to left-wing insurgency, several internal security issues have been simmering for long. Only an exclusive ministry with specific expertise for day-to-day management would be able to tackle these issues and re-evaluate past policies as well as formulate new ones.
• States clamouring for Elon Musk’s Tesla investment is a joke, not another ease-of-doing-business race as they are portraying. Shows that no one has really studied Musk’s problem, which is largely about taxation. Before playing Twitter-Twitter, the question states must ask is whether Musk is ready to manufacture Tesla in India.

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.