WSDP Bulletin (10-05-2022)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Cyclone Asani hits parts of Bengal: IMD issues extremely heavy rainfall warning in these states READ MORE
2. Explained: Behind low wheat procurement READ MORE
3. Union Govt Revises Its Own Stand on Minority Status for Hindus READ MORE
4. Why South Africa’s Fifth COVID Wave Is Different READ MORE
5. Intellectual Property: Why is India silent, as a compromise deal on COVID-19 therapies is worked out READ MORE
6. PMJJBY, PMSBY, and APY complete seven years of providing social security net READ MORE
7. Mahinda Rajapaksa steps down as Sri Lankan Prime Minister amid economic crisis READ MORE
8. New UK India Industry Taskforce launched to facilitate free trade deal READ MORE

Main Exam   

GS Paper- 1

1. Reprieve for widows: Village bansarchaic widowhood practices forced on women READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Centre to SC: Will relook at sedition, you defer hearing READ MORE
2. View: Is the US Supreme Court using ‘federal overreach over rights of states’ to make abortion illegal? READ MORE
3. Unification of MCD for Structural Reforms: Functional domain of MCD must be restored, clear duties assigned READ MORE
4. Denying Parliament info citing ‘national security’ undemocratic. Govt moves need oversight READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Extend health cover to the ‘missing middle’ READ MORE
2. Measuring progress: NFHS data should guide policy READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Ukraine conflict won’t make Biden abandon Indo-Pacific strategy READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Powering up after the power crisis shock READ MORE
2. The importance of emigrants READ MORE
3. Tapping India’s wheat export potential READ MORE
4. Price hike, inflation and consumption READ MORE
5. If gig economy is the future, India should first ensure rights of workers READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. A six-point guide for G20 countries to lead in decarbonization READ MORE
2. Rights for ‘Mother Nature’ Only Feeds the Myth of Sustainable Development READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Beyond good intentions: Navigating the ethical dilemmas facing the technology industry READ MORE
2. A great truth of living offers a path to a happier life READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘The weakening of parliamentary oversight over the executive has the potential to strike at the very roots of India’s democratic foundation and tilt it towards authoritarianism’. Discuss the statement.
2. ‘In an era displaying staunch resistance against rigid hierarchies and bureaucracy in the workplace, gig work is viewed as a tool of liberation’. In the light of the statement, discuss why India needs to ensure welfare and rights of gig workers?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• True peace is not merely the absence of war, it is the presence of justice.
• A lesson is that demand growth projections and supply arrangements need to become central to the regulatory process.
• Skilling of migrant workers has the potential to boost the domestic economy and low-cost interventions such as foreign language training can be of great help for such workers.
• The US emphasis on partnerships rather than unilateralism in dealing with the China challenge means India’s agency in the region can only grow.
• The increasing cost of quality health care combined with greater need and demand for health with increasing incomes, higher life expectancy, and epidemiological transition towards non-communicable diseases have made health coverage imperative.
• The value of parliamentary oversight has to be preserved without unduly interfering and inhibiting the ability of the executive to carry out its functions.
• The weakening of parliamentary oversight over the executive has the potential to strike at the very roots of India’s democratic foundation and tilt it towards authoritarianism.
• The absence of a viable political opposition increases the power of the executive and enlarges the scope for misuse. Essentially, the Constitutional checks and balances become ineffective.
• Weakening India’s parliamentary system, which is the most important part of India’s democratic structure, is a threat that is finding the supportive winds of global geopolitical frictions.
• Concentration of power in the hands of our union executive is an abomination of our Constitutional values.
• In an era displaying staunch resistance against rigid hierarchies and bureaucracy in the workplace, gig work is viewed as a tool of liberation. Now, ensuring the welfare and rights of gig workers is the need of the hour.

50-WORD TALK

• The Taliban’s decision to impose the all-enveloping burqa on Afghan women follows a series of barbaric anti-women measures, including tough restrictions on the right to work and education. Instead of mouthing pieties, the international community should reimpose rigorous financial and political sanctions and force Kabul to change its medieval policies.

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 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.