WSDP Bulletin (11-05-2022)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Committee on criminal law reforms recommended amendments to sedition law READ MORE
2. The grim forewarnings of a global study on birds READ MORE
3. Explained: What is a ‘marsquake’, and what causes it? READ MORE
4. Explained: A history of the Pulitzer Prize; and the Indians who have won it READ MORE
5. Surviving soldiers of ‘Operation Dudhi’ feted READ MORE
6. Future looms dark for 48% of bird species READ MORE
7. Data | How much of Europe’s gas comes from Russia? READ MORE

Main Exam 

GS Paper- 1

1. The women who went missing in our demographic dividend READ MORE
2. Communal violence is not new to India. But something is different now READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Induct more women into the police force READ MORE
2. Sedition law: Time-bound re-examination should be followed by repeal READ MORE
3. Common ground: Balanced judiciary-executive ties can help settle contentious issues READ MORE
4. Defections: Take away the Speaker’s powers READ MORE
5. How Do We Make the Wheels of the Police and Criminal Justice System Run Faster? READ MORE
6. Will a Common Undergrad Entrance Test Fix the Problems of India’s Education System? READ MORE
7. Opinion: Tackling India’s communalism challenges will require constitutional reform READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Measuring the change: India should invest more to enhance the reliability of various socio-economic surveys READ MORE
2. NFHS-5 data shows literacy and delivery of services, not religion, influences fertility READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

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

GS Paper- 2

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Control inflation by acting on liquidity: Inflation in India cannot be described just as ‘cost-push’; an abundance of liquidity has been an important factor READ MORE
2. Power sector needs attention for recovery READ MORE
3. Textile in trouble: Govt must revisit the GM policy READ MORE
4. Modi govt’s coal reforms go beyond the current crisis. It transforms India’s energy security READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Long-term plan needed to combat heat waves READ MORE
2. Unscientific tree plantation programmes waste money and cause more harm than good READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. True dharma is not religion, cult, or path READ MORE
2. Ensure life of dignity for specially abled READ MORE
3. Prayer and prayerfulness READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Inflation in India cannot be described just as ‘cost-push’.’ With reference to this statement, Explain the contemporary inflation-growth dynamics in India.
2. Discuss the importance of socio-economic survey in governance. Why India should invest more to enhance the reliability of various socio-economic surveys?
3. How far do you agree with this view that for the anti-defection law to be effective, the power to decide on disqualification cases should be vested in an independent authority? Anlayse your view.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Nuclear weapons offer us nothing but a balance of terror, and a balance of terror is still terror.
• Inflation in India cannot be described just as ‘cost-push’; an abundance of liquidity has been an important factor.
• If we want to control inflation, action on liquidity is very much needed with a concomitant rise in the interest rate on deposits and loans.
• India should invest more to enhance the reliability of various socio-economic surveys.
• India has achieved the replacement rate for its population. Now, ‘unmet need’ for family planning tools must be provided for.
• There is enough evidence to suggest that India’s demographic dividend is not playing out like it was expected to. While women are getting more educated and having fewer babies, they are not taking up paid jobs.
• Early warning systems, heat-proof shelters and major afforestation are of vital need to reduce heat wave fatalities.
• The judiciary and the executive appear to be looking for a mutually acceptable method of dealing with issues on which opinions are divided.
• Land acquisition for coal mines has had a complicated history in India. But Present govt’s reforms pave the way for a paradigm shift in energy security.
• The common entrance exam will determine the experience of learning, especially in schools with limited resources, rather than addressing issues of access, equity and social justice.
• The current system places too much power in the hands of the majority. A diverse nation should opt for a US model of secularism and decentralised governments.

50-WORD TALK

• Punjab is inured to stray incidents. But police intelligence headquarters hit with a rocket-propelled grenade is unprecedented. The usual suspects want to relight fires Punjab extinguished by 1993. It’s important that the state and central governments work together to counter this. Instead, unfortunately, they are at war with each other.
• Apart from coal supply, the main issue preventing the power sector from becoming viable and profitable is the fact that power distribution companies are not making payments to power-generating firms. The undeniable fact is that state govts are not prepared to levy viable user charges on power from most of their constituents, especially farmers. Every election brings more promises of free power which in turn make the discoms less and less viable.

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.