WSDP Bulletin (26-07-2023)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. The ultra-careful quest to find the shape of the electron’s charge READ MORE  
2. IMF lifts India growth forecast a tad to 6.1% READ MORE
3. IMF: India’s rice curbs could spur inflation READ MORE
4. President opens tribal arts gallery at Rashtrapati Bhavan as she finishes a year in office READ MORE
5. Lok Sabha passes contentious Biological Diversity Bill amid din READ MORE
6. Non-basmati white rice: IMF ‘encourages’ India to remove export restrictions READ MORE
7. What is a no confidence motion? READ MORE
8. What a scientist has claimed about finding ‘alien life’, and why his peers are irked READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. Moon missions offer tough tests – landers, the toughest READ MORE
2. Caste has no place in a modern democracy READ MORE
3. Opinion: UCC undermines autonomy of Scheduled Tribes READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. A welcome amendment: Sub-registrars have been empowered as well as made responsible for genuine registrations READ MORE  
2. Why Niti Aayog report must include disability data READ MORE
3. Free speech limits~I READ MORE
4. Free speech limits~II READ MORE
5. Multidimensional Poverty: How Do the Best States in NITI Aayog’s Report Perform? READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. India’s triumphs over poverty marred by an alarming hunger crisis READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. C Raja Mohan writes: Why India may not be averse to UAE rescuing Pakistan’s economy READ MORE  
2. India’s Turn to Mini-lateralism in West Asian Context READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Drawn from gig workers’ struggles, hewn in Rajasthan READ MORE
2. Moving away from the ‘take-make-dispose’ model READ MORE
3. Is the external sector resilient? READ MORE
4. SDGs are unlikely to be met. What comes next? READ MORE
5. Change economic growth strategy to banish poverty faster READ MORE
6. Changing hues of migration READ MORE
7. Unemployment crisis in India is an invisible epidemic READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. What’s the Biodiversity (Amendment) Bill passed by Lok Sabha & why it is facing criticism READ MORE
2. The eco collapse we were warned about has begun READ MORE

DISASTER

1. Explained | Himachal floods: a man-made disaster? READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Why Oppenheimer’s moral dilemma is as significant as the atom bomb READ MORE
2. A fearless conviction that conquered death READ MORE
3. To help girls, focus on oversight, social evils READ MORE
4. The pursuit of perfection READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Despite India’s consistent efforts in implementing nutrition programmes such as the ICDS, mid-day meals, and Poshan Abhiyaan over the years, malnutrition remains a persistent challenge for the country. How would you justify this statement?
2. The powers to promulgate regulations with respect to Union Territories rest with the President, undermining the role of parliament in rule-making. Critically examine.
3. Having only one elected Member of Parliament from each Union Territory does not compensate for the absence of local governance. In the light of the statement critically analyse the constitutional justification for Union Territories and their centralised administrative system.
4. As India finds common ground with the US in advancing a regional approach for addressing shared development challenges, it has to continue to maintain its independent strategic vision of its extended neighbourhood in West Asia. Comment.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking.
• To create jobs for so many people, the country has to boost its annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
• Despite India’s consistent efforts in implementing nutrition programmes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), mid-day meals, and Poshan Abhiyaan over the years, malnutrition remains a persistent challenge for the country.
• It is essential to critically analyse the constitutional justification for Union Territories and their centralised administrative system.
• The powers to promulgate regulations with respect to Union Territories rest with the President, undermining the role of parliament in rule-making.
• Having only one elected Member of Parliament from each Union Territory does not compensate for the absence of local governance.
• The unelected bureaucratic system is operating with a sense of entitlement, as if they have been given free rein over the archipelagos, disregarding their history, nature, and the local population’s sensibilities.
• The policies of successive governments in recording land rights have broken down customary land governance systems, intensified their marginalisation and created social conflict amongst the tribals.
• As India finds common ground with the US in advancing a regional approach for addressing shared development challenges, it will continue to maintain its independent strategic vision of its extended neighbourhood in West Asia.
• An inclusive policy demands that disability’s impact on poverty be addressed and includes a capabilities approach.
• The conventional growth strategy will take longer to remove poverty. The alternative strategy will do the job faster, provided it can keep inflation at bay.
• Political dispensation has little impact on crime rates, highlighting the need for effective prosecution to combat caste crimes.
• With growing need for a ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’ model, India’s G-20 presidency has focused on adopting resource efficiency and moving to a circular economy.

ESSAY TOPIC

• A secure and reliable cyber space is the key to national security.

50-WORD TALK

• Indian Navy gearing up for the maiden trials of India’s indigenously developed ocean-going multirole unmanned surface vessel is a huge step. This project is of extreme strategic interests and a successful completion would open up the Navy to a new paradigm in changing warfare, visible in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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.