WSDP Bulletin (19-10-2022)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Japan seeks Geographical Indication tag for nihonshu, an alcoholic beverage READ MORE
2. Giraffes brought to India 150 years ago from Africa may be a critically endangered species READ MORE
3. International Solar Alliance approves funding facility READ MORE
4. S. returns 307 antiquities, valued at nearly $4 million, to India READ MORE
5. Dilip Mahalanabis: The ORS pioneer who helped save millions of lives READ MORE
6. Tussle in Kerala: Can Governor Khan dismiss a state minister? READ MORE
7. Govt hikes MSP of Rabi crops by 2-9%, lentils and mustard get better hike READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. World’s leading financial institutions continue to bankroll deforestation READ MORE
2. In Thar desert, indigenous systems that help preserve water are fast vanishing READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Whose pleasure? The Constitution has no provision for a Governor to sack Ministers READ MORE
2. Clean it up more: Electoral bonds ensure white money donations but fall short of full transparency READ MORE
3. Need to free cops from clutches of politicians READ MORE
4. Electoral Bonds: Non-Transparent and Unaccountable READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. How Direct Benefit Transfer scheme has transformed social welfare in India READ MORE
2. We can make India poverty-free, in our lifetime READ MORE
3. Less poor but hungrier: Two reports underline country’s complex problems READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES AND RELATIONS

1. Diplomacy Is India being abrasive with US? READ MORE
2. India-China War and unending security dilemma READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. India plays a crucial role in US semiconductor plans READ MORE
2. Insuring India: PM-JAY’s targeting problem READ MORE
3. Don’t blame Nirmala Sitharaman. India has a historical obsession with rupee value READ MORE
4. US-China tech rivalry will have spillover effects. India must hedge itself READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Paddy straw: A hurdle in the clean air dream READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. In Rama Tirtha’s woods of God-Realisation
2. Regulation to end unethical marketing practices of pharma hanging fire for 10 years READ MORE
3. NO ONE IS SMALL in God’s scheme READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Political parties are just representatives of the Indian people, but this is the Indian people, who are sovereign in India schemes like Electoral Bonds are making Indian democracy fragile. Discuss.
2. ‘Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity but an act of justice’. Analyse how philanthropy can be the catalyst for making make India a poverty-free country?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
• Political parties are vehicles of representation for the Indian people –the Indian Constitution makes the Indian people sovereign and not political parties of Government –and the Electoral Bonds Scheme takes away the right of people to know about the information related to political parties.
• Governors seem to have an exaggerated notion of their own roles under the Constitution.
• Governor are expected to defend the Constitution and may use their powers to caution elected regimes against violating the Constitution, but this does not mean that they can use the absence of a time-frame for decision-making and the discretionary space given to them to function as a parallel power centre.
• An enabling policy regime, proactive government initiatives and supportive regulatory administration allowed the private and public sector entities in the financial sector to overcome longstanding challenges of exclusion of a large part of the population.
• Philanthropy can be the catalyst for innovation and action, while markets and governments can bring the much-needed scale to on-ground efforts.
• The US doesn’t have the people to help industry grow. That’s where India can step in, with its high-quality innovators and researchers.
• While there may be reasons to quibble over terms such as ‘hunger’ or ‘nutrition’, the upshot of the reports is that India still has the world’s largest number of poor and the highest number of malnourished children.
• Gene-editing has been a major scientific advancement, but the limits of such endeavours must be known as there are inherent dangers in doing so.
• Trust deficit mars Sino-India relations, as the tense Line of Actual Control poses a big challenge for the leadership.

ESSAY TOPIC

• Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
• Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity but an act of justice.

50-WORD TALK

• The government can very well dismiss the findings on poverty and hunger made by international agencies, but its rejections lack credibility. The only way to convincingly counter such studies is by releasing official data. Endless delays in the publication of official data mean researchers are forced to use other sources.

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.