WSDP Bulletin (20-09-2022)

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(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Death penalty case: Supreme Court refers matter to five-judge constitution bench to frame guidelines for courts READ MORE
2. The significance of Ethereum Merge and its impact on blockchain architecture READ MORE
3. ECI seeks restrictions on cash donations to political parties, writes to government READ MORE
4. How replacing coal with paddy straw in brick kilns can help address stubble burning menace READ MORE
5. What is the PM PRANAM scheme, likely to be introduced by the govt soon? READ MORE
6. Monsoon stretching longer, displacing more people in south Asia: Report READ MORE
7. Most Indian villages do not have any waste management infrastructure: Study READ MORE
8. Poland opens new canal for ships to sail from Baltic Sea to Vistula Lagoon ports READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. Increasing Costa Rica’s riparian forests can improve its water quality, carbon storage READ MORE
2. Has forest rights Act enhanced the lives of Adivasis? READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Scandinavian social democracy READ MORE
2. The CBI’s uneasy history READ MORE  
3. The hijab case and the essential practices doctrine READ MORE
4. Knowing the killer: SC has done well to seek norms to present mitigating factors for death READ MORE
5. Fali S Nariman writes: Supreme Court’s basic structure doctrine in a new context READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Worsening mental health of employees amid layoffs READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. With Russia’s declining influence, India needs a new strategy in Eurasia READ MORE  
2. SCO at crossroads of history: New international financial system taking shape in multi-polar world order READ MORE
3. Modi-Xi ‘cold war’ at SCO proves member relationships strained. India must stand on its own READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Why we need to build a framework for global digital governance READ MORE
2. Helping businesses to move READ MORE
3. Economic resurgence: Utilise fiscal gains to tackle unemployment READ MORE
4. From the economy, investments to agriculture and jobs: The many repercussions of India’s land woes READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. There are better ways than cheetahs to revive ecosystems READ MORE
2. Blame global warming for Pakistan floods; here’s why READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Don’t act under anger READ MORE
2. BODY is COSTUME of the soul READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Developing countries are entering a divergent social, political and economic period with sharp downside risks for the most vulnerable and regression in gender equality’. Critically examine.
2. ‘Changes and reforms, howsoever well-intentioned, will deliver beneficial results only if the implementing laws and machinery are appropriate’. In the light of the statement, enumerates the reasons for the failure of the government to attract FDI and Indian private sector investment for Make in India?
3. ‘The Indian state needs to address the ability to utilise technology as a credible foreign policy and diplomacy tool’. Analyse the statement in the light of recent developments.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• We are not going to achieve a new world order without paying for it in blood as well as in words & money.
• When hijab ban comes to an issue concerning a matter of faith, courts have the unenviable task of acting as an expert — on law and on religion.
• Any Court hearing a matter touching upon a matter of faith has the unenviable task of acting not merely as an expert on law but also as an expert on religion.
• Whether Delhi likes it or not, Russia is locked in an unwinnable war with the West, is increasingly beholden to China, and struggling to retain its traditional primacy in inner Asia.
• India’s G20 presidency is a chance to address common challenges of regulating Big Tech.
• Focus on digitalisation and interoperability across the logistics chain will help cut costs and make services accessible to even small and medium enterprises.
• The government needs to bolster the purchasing power of people in order to spur demand and consumption. This is achievable through optimum utilisation of burgeoning financial resources.
• China-Russia power struggle in Central Asia can bring many opportunities. India must keep track to make most of its 2023 SCO presidency.
• Unclear land titles, slow-moving courts and small landholdings, make buying land in India inherently risky. Bureaucratic and legal tangles add to this.

50-WORD TALK

• The Cheetah’s return to India is a brave conservation experiment and a biodiversity milestone. The real hard work of ensuring they survive and multiply begins now and it’s a good challenge for Indian wildlife authorities. If they could protect and revive the tiger population, they can succeed in Kuno too.
• China’s moves to block blacklisting of Pakistani terrorists wanted for attacks in India are becoming so predictable that it’s obvious Beijing just wants to poke New Delhi in the eye. Such rogue diplomacy doesn’t behove a ‘rising power’. Does China want to be known as a state that supports terrorism?
• Strong, statesmanly advice to Putin, dignified distance from Xi, Shehbaz Sharif, surprise patch-up with Erdogan – PM Modi played all the right geopolitical cards in 24 hours. It reflects India’s diplomatic confidence and the ability to hold its own on the global stage. Strategic clarity any day over strategic ambiguity.
• The anti-exclusion principle allows for due-deference to the ability of a religion to determine its own religious tenets and doctrines. At the same time, the anti-exclusion principle postulates that where a religious practice causes the exclusion of individuals in a manner which impairs their dignity or hampers their access to basic goods, the freedom of religion must give way to the over-arching values of a liberal constitution.

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.