WSDP Bulletin (18-05-2022)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. What is Stagflation READ MORE
2. Wholesale price rise hits record high of 15.1% in April READ MORE
3. It is primary objective of Navy to keep Indo-Pacific open, safe and secure: Rajnath READ MORE
4. World may miss net zero by 2050, courtesy COVID-19: International Science Council READ MORE
5. The India hypertension control initiative READ MORE
6. Explained: India topped air pollution death toll in 2019, says report READ MORE
7. Rising prices drive wholesale inflation to record high of 15.1% READ MORE

Main Exam   

GS Paper- 1

1. Indian law needs to account for women, make finance inclusive READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Act on the act: SC must rule on Gyanvapi on basis of 1991 law and put an end to any more litigation of this nature READ MORE
2. How to insulate the police from politics READ MORE

SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Scientifically Speaking | Our schools are destroying children’s curiosity READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. The world must live and work together again: The idea of our common humanity ought to be strengthened — and not destroyed as the ‘virus and the war’ have done READ MORE
2. Symbolism and beyond: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lumbini served a useful but limited purpose READ MORE
3. The world’s nasties READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. How to tackle the inflation spiral READ MORE
2. Inflation has jeopardized a global economic recovery READ MORE
3. Burden of wheat export ban: Strike balance between needs at home and imperatives prevailing abroad READ MORE
4. Sri Lanka’s economic tragedy has become India’s opportunity READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Pollution Killing 9 Million People a Year, Africa Hardest Hit: Study READ MORE
2. Why Sustainable Land Use Is Key To Achieve Our Carbon Neutrality Targets READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Knowing your real nature can make you friendlier READ MORE
2. Our Mimetic Desires READ MORE
3. Belief vs fact: A spate of legal petitions is seeking reparatory justice for temples razed during Mughal rule READ MORE
4. The world must live and work together again: The idea of our common humanity ought to be strengthened — and not destroyed as the ‘virus and the war’ have done READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Irrational freebies in an under-tax country like India are not economically viable in the long run.’ Critically evaluate.
2. “To be the fulcrum of the new paradigm of the world order, India needs to address its domestic social divisions “Explain

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• There is no food security without peace and no peace without food.
• The idea of our common humanity ought to be strengthened — and not destroyed as the ‘virus and the war’ have done.
• The phenomenon of “deglobalisation” has its regional implications.
• Fiscal and monetary expansion that happened during the pandemic has triggered an increase in debt and upward spiral of prices across the world. Global economy needs a coordinated policy effort to climb out of it.
• Supply shocks being the chief source of it means that central banks can’t do much to tame prices.
• There is a mismatch between school and children’s minds. Inquisitiveness is stifled and learning becomes an act of parroting facts.
• Proactive government intervention is needed to check food and fuel inflation, increase employment in rural areas, reduce income inequality, strengthen the public distribution of essential commodities among the poor and enhance the average daily wage rate in rural India.
• India has to strike a balance between domestic imperatives and security imperatives involving global partners.
• Indian women face multiple barriers in accessing finance in an equitable manner. Research suggests adding a gender lens to existing laws and financial products is crucial.

ESSAY TOPIC

• There is no food security without peace and no peace without food.
• Emerging threats to Multilateralism and Globalisation.

50-WORD TALK

• Size doesn’t matter, and stock markets don’t fall for hype or emotion – that’s the message from the disastrous debut of LIC’s IPO. This isn’t good news for Modi government’s disinvestment programme, already stumbling with other PSUs. But LIC investors shouldn’t worry. Markets respect performance. They’ll be rewarded if LIC performs.
• The prices of essential food items have increased by 50% in seven years, whereas the real wage rate has risen by 22%. These figures show that inflation has outsmarted the real income of the poor, making their lives miserable as the food basket constitutes a substantial proportion of the total expenditure on the poor. The net effect is that the poor earn less and take loans to maintain the minimum standard of living.

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.