WSDP Bulletin (14-08-2023)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. 14 States yet to join Centre’s flagship education scheme READ MORE
2. Metagenome sequencing is transforming pathogen surveillance READ MORE
3. Yelagiri hut shelters 200 years of hill tribe history READ MORE
4. Low human activity helps corals despite warm ocean READ MORE
5. UNFPA project in Rajasthan for gender sensitivity gets support from experts READ MORE
6. How to make Urea more efficient as a fertiliser, and why that’s needed READ MORE
7. Section 377 is gone, but some fear the proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita does not protect men against rape. This is why. READ MORE  
8. How the Indian Penal Code came into existence under British colonial rule READ MORE
9. Russia’s Luna 25 could land on the moon days before Chandrayaan-3: How the two missions compare READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. North India more affected by El Nino READ MORE
2. India’s centuries-long experiment with tree plantations should be a warning to all foresters READ MORE
3. The Earth Is Scorching Hot READ MORE
4. A uniform code could weed out outdated community practices READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Bulldozing the law and the Constitution READ MORE
2. Rebooting the codes: On the IPC, CrPC and Evidence Act READ MORE
3. Glaring omission: On the import of executive majority in ECI selection process READ MORE
4. Proposed Criminal Codes, while trying to break from colonial past, only emulate it READ MORE
5. Data protection law will turn RTI into – Right to Deny Info READ MORE
6. What new draft codes entail READ MORE
7. What the 2023 Monsoon Session of Parliament Tells Us About the State of Governance READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. India’s TB problem and the right to treatment READ MORE
2. Decentralise human development READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. India trying to be part of solution to world’s problems READ MORE
2. How conflicting interests of Russia, China, and US destabilise required equilibrium in Korean Peninsula READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. When equity conflicts with efficiency READ MORE
2. How can all of us deal with climate and food crises? READ MORE
3. RBI decisions on policy rate judicious READ MORE
4. How Accurately Do We Measure Poverty in India? READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Modi government’s new environmental laws a threat to India’s biodiversity and forests READ MORE  

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. In quest of a fiction called truth READ MORE  
2. Bridging hearts is as important as ending the curse of poverty READ MORE
3. Detached attitude READ MORE
4. Crumbling Foundation READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Abandoning the rule of law for ‘bulldozer justice’ is the first step towards an authoritarian society where ensuring a person’s safety, life and liberty will be at the whims and fancies of state officials. Examine.
2. Morality is simply utilitarian as far as society is concerned, but for the individual, it is not a utility, it is his joy. Comment.
3. Federalism creates a “dual manifestation of the public will” in which the priorities of the two sets of governments “are not just bound to be different, but are intended to be different”. Argue and justify with appropriate examples.
4. Collegium proposed by a new bill to select the election commissioner will be more effective if its decisions are unanimous. Critically examine.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.
• This is not the environmental stewardship and jurisprudence the country deserves, especially at a time when its forests and forest communities and its urban and rural ecosystems are already reeling from the impact of climate change.
• Morality, or moral behaviour, is simply utilitarian as far as society is concerned, but for the individual, it is not a utility, it is his joy.
• A society created by false morality is called a civilisation. A society consisting of men who have attained to real life is called a culture. This is the difference between civilisation and culture.
• Civilisation is based on utility; culture is based on inner joy and harmony.
• The governance and welfare of society to rise above their self-interest, bring justice to the wronged, and act in the interest of the common good, are signs of decadent times; these call for enlightened and righteous action for societal regeneration.
• The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21A, means that every child has a right to full-time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards.
• Federalism creates a “dual manifestation of the public will” in which the priorities of the two sets of governments “are not just bound to be different, but are intended to be different”.
• Collegium proposed by a new bill to select the election commissioner will be more effective if its decisions are unanimous.
• The demolition of homes as a form of frontier justice (as a response to political violence) has become a standard feature of administration.

ESSAY TOPIC

• Civilisation is based on utility; culture is based on inner joy and harmony.

50-WORD TALK

• When the system so comprehensively failed despite having the power of utilising criminal law to enforce environmental, forest, and biodiversity protection laws, one can only wonder what the outcome will be when such regulatory powers are completely removed and these vital areas are protected merely by civil prosecution powers.

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.