WSDP Bulletin (19-02-2022)

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(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) enters its 7th year of implementation READ MORE
2. Army tag for new gecko from Meghalaya READ MORE
3. Govt releases national hydrogen policy READ MORE
4. India, UAE ink comprehensive trade pact; vow to jointly fight terrorism READ MORE
5. Emerging Asian countries, including India, running out of room to keep monetary policy on pause READ MORE
6. Scarcity to abundance: How a Maharashtra village came together to address water crisis READ MORE
7. Missing: One-third of India’s recorded forests READ MORE

Main Exam   

GS Paper- 1

1. Why India Can Expect Extremely Severe Cyclones During the 2022 Pre-Monsoon READ MORE
2. What it means to have a fertility rate of 2 READ MORE
3. Muslim women and their right to an education READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Why farm unions must stay out of electoral politics READ MORE
2. We need to build a deliberative democracy READ MORE
3. How colonial is Indian law? READ MORE
4. Too close to call: Contest wide open in high-stakes Punjab elections READ MORE
5. How India’s centralised bureaucracy undermines its federalism READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUE

1. Child safety READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. India needs a refugee and asylum law: On refugee issues, it ought to be among the most admired nations and not one that has much to be ashamed of — as now READ MORE  
2. Foreign quarter: On internal matters and India’s response: India must show maturity in response to international criticism of internal matters READ MORE
3. Covid has shown why world must stand united READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Beyond the hype of blockchain, a look at its reality READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. The developed world and its climate goals READ MORE
2. Scarcity to abundance: How a Maharashtra village came together to address water crisis READ MORE

TECHNOLOGY

1. Technology has changed intelligence gathering. Now all you need is an internet connection READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Culture is not fixed, it keeps changing with time READ MORE
2. Cease all arguments READ MORE
3. How Secular are Indian Schools in Practice? READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘When democracy lends itself to greater centralisation, state institutions do not serve as effective checks’. Comment on the statement in the light of recent issue of deputation related to civil services.
2. Discuss how the financial commitments of developed world will be a vital help for developing countries to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• An imbalance between the rich and the poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.
• Minority students are made to live with dominant and majority narratives and symbolisms in educational institutions. It always happens at the cost of learning.
• When democracy lends itself to greater centralisation, state institutions do not serve as effective checks.
• With investment not forthcoming from the corporates, it was imperative to raise investment, especially in the infrastructure sector.
• The goals of going digital are novel but much will depend on the quality and speed of internet connectivity and the excellence of trainers.
• Critiques of the colonial rule in India and its legacy have been extended to law – with many allusions to the need to shake off the yoke of the colonial legacy.
• As extreme weather events rise, impacting the world’s poorest, the developed world must step up and meet its finance commitments.
• It doesn’t matter whether you are for or against the headscarf. Or if the conversation should be about legality or religion. At its core, the hijab controversy is about access to education.
• The drop in India’s fertility rate below ‘replacement level’ has been both welcome and along expected lines but it will be many years before the country’s population will actually peak.
• Blockchain is an elegant concept whose properties and potential require careful research, but treating it as a solution for all problems without thinking things through is techno-determinism.
• India must show maturity in response to international criticism of internal matters.

50-WORD TALK

• New Delhi’s decision to reprimand Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong for observing that half of India’s MPs face criminal charges, shows how thin-skinned and easily outraged new India really is. It’s a no brainer that criminality, corruption have degraded India’s democracy. Perhaps the ire is really because Loong praised Nehru.
• Eight decades after temple entry movement, the horrific video of Brahmin priests in the Chidambaram Nataraja temple, Tamil Nadu, obstructing a Dalit woman’s prayer shows a mission unaccomplished. That too in the land of Periyar. Casteism is structural. A few laws, MPs aren’t enough to stamp out the caste privilegentsia.
• We have to live with conflict the way we live with our own selves as divided and troubled souls. We have to accept that our city or our country reflects divisions of our souls and fragments of ourselves. When we are troubled, we talk to a friend, and sort out our problems. Similarly, members of a deliberative community have to keep a conversation going to resolve issues. Elections are but one moment, albeit a defining one, in a democratic life.

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.