WSDP Bulletin (17-03-2023)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. EXERCISE SEA DRAGON 23 READ MORE  
2. Poland to be first NATO member to give MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine READ MORE
3. National Institute of Ocean Technology to set up green, self-powered desalination plant in Lakshadweep READ MORE
4. EC’s proposal on allowing e-postal ballot for overseas Indian voters under discussion: Law Minister tells Rajya Sabha READ MORE
5. Global uncertainty rising, need to maintain margins of safety: CEA READ MORE
6. The Credit Suisse lifeline and its impact READ MORE
7. Japan, South Korea renew ties at Tokyo summit READ MORE
8. What can we expect from the final UN climate report? And what is the IPCC anyway? READ MORE
9. The amateur asteroid hunters giving NASA a run for its money READ MORE  

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. Are educated women likely to marry later? READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. State of head: Governors have been seen as partisan for decades. They should be accountable to Centre, state & Rajya Sabha READ MORE
2. Settling the debate on judicial overreach READ MORE
3. Governor’s ambit: Should exercise powers with circumspection, restraint READ MORE
4. Appoint persons of integrity READ MORE
5. Why the Supreme Court’s ECI verdict is jurisprudentially unsound READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. ASER 2022: Mapping School Children on Reading, Arithmetic, Other Learning Abilities READ MORE   

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Iran-Saudi deal: What the gambit can mean for China, West Asia, and India READ MORE   
2. AUKUS may transform the Indo-Pacific sphere READ MORE
3. India’s chance to change the world order READ MORE
4. India-US Strategic Commercial Dialogue READ MORE
5. Asia-Arctic Diplomacy a Decade Later: What Has Changed? READ MORE

 GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Will the national champions model of infrastructure development work? READ MORE  
2. Global law, local practice READ MORE
3. Rising National Income But Declining Welfare of People READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Artificial intelligence may make us work more, not less READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Build a new global agency to push climate financing READ MORE
2. Why the ban on plastic is self-defeating READ MORE

SECURITY

1. China-Russia cybersecurity ties taking darker turns. India needs to worry too READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Lessons from Turkey: How to make India earthquake prepared READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. The power of being still and silent READ MORE
2. Physics and metaphysics READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Any stimulus for growth should be undertaken while adhering to the fiscal consolidation road map to keep India’s medium-term story intact. Comment on the statement in the light of India’s latest growth prospects and fiscal challenges.
2. The China-brokered deal affirms Beijing’s role in West Asian affairs, posing new challenges for Indian diplomacy in the region. Critically Examine.
3. ‘China’s role in the Iran-Saudi rapprochement raises questions about India’s decision to shed its traditional policy of pursuing strict neutrality and going for bilateralism in West Asia’. Examine.
4. Digital training of healthcare professionals is an important step towards achieving the SDGs.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• It is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy.
• The Supreme Court’s decision to refer to a Constitution Bench the issue of granting legal recognition to same-sex marriages can be seen as an important step towards ensuring gender equality, despite apprehension that it is encroaching on the legislative domain.
• The China-brokered deal affirms Beijing’s role in West Asian affairs, posing new challenges for Indian diplomacy in the region.
• India will need to engage with China in West Asia where they have a broad gamut of shared interests in energy security, free and open sea lanes, logistical connectivity, and, above all, regional stability. Here, they can work together to further mutual and regional interests.
• A steady growth of 6% to 7% can be ensured over the medium term, only if the fixed capital formation rate is raised by another 2 percentage points. This is notwithstanding the global factors that are not encouraging.
• As our society and nation lurch towards a future in which even the rudimentary semblances of democracy and decency are defied, we are increasingly witness to a shrinking support base of persons who can struggle and assert the need for these indispensable norms.
• In very challenging times, India and Italy intend to give a strong impulse to their relations, united by a millenary tradition of exchanges, linked by the common recognition of the value of true friendship and solidarity.
• The lack of standardized healthcare practices hampers the objective of achieving SDGs which can lead to disparities in care and negative health outcomes.
• Digital training can provide healthcare professionals with a consistent, evidence-based approach to patient care.
• Digital training of healthcare professionals is an important step towards achieving the SDGs.
• Increasing access to quality healthcare education can play a critical role in achieving a more sustainable and equitable world.
• Investing in digital training programs for healthcare professionals can help to ensure that the SDGs are met and we are on track towards achieving our goals.
• A continuous evaluation of banks and other financial institutions would allow the RBI to focus on attaining the objective of price stability.

ESSAY TOPIC

• Women are ready to take charge of this era but they can’t leave their responsibilities behind.

50-WORD TALK

• Led by new boss Zhang Xin, China’s scandal-tainted semiconductor investment fund is set to spend $140 billion in a bid to beat crippling Western sanctions on advanced chips. Past public-sector investments, though, yielded nothing. Xi Jinping’s confrontation with the West has pushed China’s tech sector into a Great Leap nowhere.
• The Defence Ministry has presented a Bill in Lok Sabha for powering tri-service commanders to undertake disciplinary action, 22 years after the first such Command. What is actually required is Common Military Justice Code with inbuilt provisions for service-specific peculiarities as the Indian military moves towards theatre commands.

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.