WSDP Bulletin (06-09-2022)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Explained | The ban on conversion therapy for the LGBTQIA+ community READ MORE
2. Liz Truss to take over as U.K.’s next Prime Minister
3. India’s services activity rebounds in August, hiring at over 14-year high READ MORE
4. Ladakh to have India’s first ‘Dark Sky Reserve’ to promote astronomy tourism READ MORE
5. Quake of 6.8-magnitude kills over 46 in China, leaves trail of destruction READ MORE
6. PM Modi announces PM-SHRI scheme to develop 14,500 schools across the country READ MORE
7. Do away with forest clearance to explore mining activities: Mines ministry to MoEF&CC READ MORE
8. As the Fish Move Away, the New Zealand Māori Face an Uncertain Future READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. Overcoming Hiring Bias: Substantive Equality in Employment for Muslim Women Needed READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. A matter of trust: The Governor must end the uncertainty over the unseating of Hemant Soren READ MORE
2. Four years after landmark LGBT verdict: The march to full citizenship READ MORE
3. AIFF ban: Lack of coherent policy marks Indian sports governance READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Public health need not be led by doctors alone: It is a separate profession requiring a specific set of competencies READ MORE
2. Funding public education: The idea that higher education could be funded fully by students or their parents is grossly misplaced READ MORE
3. Learning standards READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. The difficult path to India-Pakistan peace: The failure to manage the domestic audience in Pakistan is a recurrent trope that has overwhelmed peace attempts READ MORE  
2. Oil prices & war profiteering: US wants to impose price cap on Russian oil in innovative weaponisation of curbs READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Should charges be levied on digital transactions? READ MORE
2. India and US must build a high-trust ecosystem READ MORE
3. Exports down, imports up: How India can solve its agricultural trade paradox READ MORE
4. The undeserving must not get food subsidy READ MORE
5. Dangerous divergence: Growing regional inequality must be addressed READ MORE
6. Shaping our digital future READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Sri Lanka’s devastating fuel shortage has put its wildlife at risk READ MORE
2. Loss and damage: 2022 Pakistan floods heighten need for climate reparations READ MORE
3. Want To Win the Climate Fight? Tackle Inequality, Among Others. READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Drones can play a critical role in smart farm era READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. The floods in Pakistan highlight the imminent need for friendlier relations with our neighbour READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Let’s celebrate interdependence day READ MORE
2. Be sensitive to life, not ego READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Sports governance needs concrete reforms based on well-designed and actionable policies’. Comment on the statement in light of recent developments.
2. How far do you agree with this view that government should focus on public spending to build up human capital rather than consumption subsidies to address the issue of inequality? Justify your view with the help of suitable examples.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them.
• Sports governance needs concrete reforms based on well-designed and actionable policies.
• Sports are no longer looked at as the abode of the useless; they are now being approached with a lot of seriousness across the world. Thus, the State must establish a mechanism to adapt to the increased aspirations of the public and its sportspersons.
• The most significant driver of digital transformation is business research and its development and adoption of frontier technologies.
• Internal migration acts as a safety valve and equalises labour and human capital allocation returns across regions.
• Drones can bring in quantitative and qualitative changes in agriculture, though cost still remains a deterrence.
• Drones can deliver substantial value to farmers. But it is high time to look at a larger collaboration among all stakeholders to derive maximum benefits out of its usage to take Indian agriculture to a higher altitude.
• Financial burden to implement the national food security law has clearly become a major burden for the Government.
• If we are not ready to put our talent and economic weight toward free enterprise and free people, the rules of the 21st-century economy will be written by regimes inimical to both.
• India has made commendable progress in the digital space, particularly in the retail segment of the payment and settlement system, following several initiatives by the RBI and the government.
• A Governor has no reason to try to tilt the scales in favour of or against any political party, through acts of omission or commission.

5O-WORD TALK

• CM MK Stalin’s demand to make Tamil the official language of the Madras High Court can adversely affect the efficiency of the judicial system. The legal profession has no geographical boundaries. Judges, and lawyers may not be familiar with all Indian languages. It would become difficult to deliver justice without using a common language.
• Liz Truss has become Prime Minister as the United Kingdom confronts a once-in-a-generation crisis. Truss gambling with massive tax cuts will re-energise the economy. But her plan risks growing the fiscal deficit and forcing brutal cuts to public services. As she toasts victory, Truss knows she’s been handed a poisoned chalice.

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.