WSDP Bulletin (20-02-2023)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Department of Fisheries to host Sagar Parikrama Phase III Program from Gujarat to Maharashtra READ MORE  
2. Recommendations of 49th GST Council Meeting READ MORE
3. Munnar sees rare weather pattern as mercury dips to sub-zero levels again READ MORE
4. Rhododendrons carpet Darjeeling, Sikkim Himalayas READ MORE
5. Why environmental surveillance for avian influenza is vital READ MORE
6. ‘Rare, unique’: Diyodar meteorite in 2022 was India’s first aubrite in 170 years READ MORE
7. Telangana’s Teja chilli is hot property in many nations READ MORE
8. Bankers remain optimistic on loan demand across sectors READ MORE
9. India’s sticky inflation: Causes and consequences READ MORE
10. Explained | Is there a need for an extra dose of polio vaccine? READ MORE  

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. To make educational campuses more democratic, address systemic caste bias READ MORE
2. Empowerment is the path to stopping child marriage READ MORE
3. Human values should matter in capitalism READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. The curious case of the disqualification of a politician READ MORE
2. Ensure primacy of child marriage prohibition law READ MORE
3. Two Decades After Muthanga, Kerala’s Adivasis Continue to Struggle for Constitutional Rights READ MORE
4. Higher Judiciary Appointments—A Civilian Perspective READ MORE
5. Perils of judicial monopolisation: Critiquing the judiciary’s (mis)use of constitutional morality as a double-edged sword READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Remove barriers for social justice READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Why China’s stand on Russia and Ukraine is raising concerns READ MORE
2. Afghanistan on the boil: India must avoid getting sucked into the Pak-Taliban-US ‘Bermuda triangle’ READ MORE
3. There is hope, still, for United Nations READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Explained | How is the stock market regulated in India? READ MORE
2. Ashok Gulati and Ritika Juneja write: Lessons from Madhya Pradesh’s agriculture model READ MORE
3. Build on the success of sovereign green bonds READ MORE

TECHNOLOGY

1. How can BTech students be future-ready in the age of Artificial Intelligence? Ex-IIT director explains READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Long-run impacts of tube well irrigation in India READ MORE
2. Timely Jal Jan Abhian READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Nagendra-haraya, one who has tamed the ego READ MORE
2. Think clearly, it’s easy READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Members of the judiciary cannot compromise judicial independence by trading it for a plum post-retirement sinecure. In the light of this statement, do you agree with the view that there should be a cooling-off period for judges after retirement?
2. Despite efforts to ensure their wellbeing, the Adivasi community remains one of the most deprived in India. In light of this statement critically analyse the steps taken by Government of India to address the issues of Adivasi community.
3. ‘India must put in place actionable policy to achieve Hydrogen Mission targets, which will depend on cheaper green hydrogen’. Discuss, why Green ports are key to achieve Green Hydrogen Mission?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The most ominous of fallacies: the belief that things can be kept static by inaction.
• Some of India’s largest cities with a population of a little more or less than one crore, have gone without a municipal government for several years.
• Members of the judiciary cannot compromise judicial independence by trading it for a plum post-retirement sinecure.
• As the current G-20 president, and as a vulnerable country, India has a key role in ensuring that AMR remains high on the global health agenda.
• A credible glide path to bring inflation down to the target level is of critical importance, particularly now with the national elections around the corner.
• Inflation is proving to be the Achilles heel of the Indian economy’s recovery from the pandemic and subsequent global disruptions.
• A Union of small states is a good idea is that such a political model addresses what’s going to soon be a source of tension in Indian federalism.
• Smaller or medium size states or small bits of one or two large states like Maharashtra and Gujarat are doing most of the economic heavy lifting – but it is the larger states with larger populations that wield political power.
• End child marriages is a challenge of moral suasion and Assam’s arrests were not a useful way to pursue this noble goal.
• The pandemic adversely affected the quality of employment. Further, higher the level of education, higher is the chance of being out of the job market.
• Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees the freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion to all citizens, subject to public order, health and morality.
• India must put in place actionable policy to achieve Hydrogen Mission targets, which will depend on cheaper green hydrogen.

50-WORD TALK

• The police have a role to play in preventing child marriages, but once these have taken place, police intervention is not the appropriate remedy. Rather than sending the husbands of the victim girls to jail and re-victimising them, it would be prudent for the cops to take stringent action against the religious priests who solemnise minors’ marriages without due diligence, and to sensitise the masses through them.
• The government’s economic advisers are grappling with the needs and rights of migrant workers, and they are struggling to provide social security to all workers. A new paradigm of economics must be built which gives precedence to the rights of human beings and nature over the property rights of financial owners.

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.