WSDP Bulletin (26-02-2022)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2021-22– Issue price Series-X READ MORE
2. C-DOT bags 3 awards for its indigenously designed & developed innovative Telecom solutions at 12th Annual Aegis Graham Bell Awards READ MORE
3. Explained: What India’s abstention on UNSC vote over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means READ MORE
4. 40 nations taking part, Navy’s Exercise Milan begins today READ MORE
5. Railways’ solar power plant in MP shortlisted for international award READ MORE
6. Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti: Know all about the founder of Arya Samaj READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. Caste politics does not undermine development READ MORE
2. Education should be priority, not banning of hijab READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. What does Artificial Intelligence spell for policy-makers? READ MORE
2. Parties pitch law and order as poll issue in UP READ MORE
3. Inter-Faith Marriage: One High Court, 2 Similar Cases, Different Verdicts READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUE

1. The case for early teaching in mother tongue READ MORE  
2. Drivers of Child Nutritional Change in India READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Troubled waters: India and Sri Lanka should find a lasting solution to the issues facing their fisherfolk READ MORE
2. The world must do more to put pressure on Russia READ MORE
3. Russia: India is in a tough spot READ MORE
4. India must think of reconfiguring its ties with Russia READ MORE
5. India Needs to Make Some Tough Foreign Policy Choices READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Green or Grey? The Uncertain Quality of India’s New Hydrogen Policy READ MORE
2. Free Trade Agreements Are Back in Vogue READ MORE
3. Inflation, Debt Sustainability, and Government Borrowing in the Time of the Pandemic READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. On the Brink of Collapse: Decoding a UN-Backed Climate Fund READ MORE
2. Assessing Marine Plastic Pollution in India READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Defence upgrade needs touch of realism READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. A state of quiet READ MORE
2. New ACM Tech-Brief spotlights privacy, ethics problems with facial recognition technology READ MORE
3. Artificial intelligence technologies have a climate cost READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘High food inflation and the adoption of inflation targeting will impose severe constraints on the ability to expand borrowing and maintain low levels of debt-to-GDP’. In the light of the statement, do you think that governments must either rethink monetary policy or allow for debt ratios to rise? Analyse the case.
2. Does the India’s trade pact with the United Arab Emirates indicate a policy shift towards a more liberal trade regime? Argue your case.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The past is never dead. It’s not even past.
• The AI-climate change link is understudied, not least because the largest companies working in this space are neither transparent nor meaningfully committed to understanding it.
• The rampant use of plastics in India and inefficient waste management practices have led to plastic waste being either piled up on dumpsites or finding their way into the open sea, contributing to the global problem of marine plastic pollution.
• High food inflation and the adoption of inflation targeting will impose severe constraints on the ability to expand borrowing and maintain low levels of debt-to-GDP. In such a situation, governments must either rethink monetary policy and/or allow for debt ratios to rise.
• Majoritarian forces are threatened by the attempt of Muslim women to gain economic independence and assert their identity while enjoying their civil liberties.
• The civic bodies are major defaulters, but the power department cannot summarily shut down power supply to the street lights managed by the municipalities owing to law and order as well as public convenience factors. This leads to a perennial built up of arrears for the discoms.
• If the Union Government can make it compulsory for all the primary schools run by Government or private sector to teach only in mother tongue till Grade 5, there will be a level playing field.
• Through its actions in Ukraine, Russia has challenged the global order in fundamental ways and India’s foreign policy won’t be immune from its reverberations.
• It is time for us to focus on empowering all women, including Muslim women, by ensuring their access to education, employment, and public safety.

50-WORD TALK

• Western sanctions against Russia have confronted New Delhi with tough choices. Russian equipment, especially missile and nuclear technologies, are the bedrock of India’s defence. But economic partnership with the West, and its support against China, are key to India’s future. Focussed, pragmatic pursuit of national interest must guide Indian diplomacy.
• A Delhi municipal school’s order to forbid its students from wearing religious attire is premature, needlessly political and inflammable. Everybody should take a deep breath and wait for the Karnataka court’s decision. India cannot afford to go down on this slippery slope in which there can be no clear winners.

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.