WSDP Bulletin (19-09-2023)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Net direct tax collection rises 23.5% to over Rs 8.65 lakh crore on better advance tax mop-up READ MORE
2. ‘Stabilising core inflation shows ease in price pressures across economy’: RBI READ MORE  
3. SC questions Maharashtra Speaker, gives 1 week to decide on Uddhav Sena pleas READ MORE
4. UNESCO approves Hoysala Temples of Karnataka as new World Heritage Sites READ MORE
5. Hanging fire for 27 years: How Women Reservation Bill kept lapsing through its tumultuous journey READ MORE
6. Women’s Bill in the works again: Rollout likely after delimitation, probably in 2029 READ MORE
7. Bima Sugam: Is it a ‘UPI moment’ for insurance sector, and how will it benefit customers? READ MORE
8. Curtains for old Parliament building: The Madhya Pradesh temple believed to have inspired it READ MORE
9. BL Explainer: What is the Global Biofuel Alliance all about READ MORE
10. Sixth mass extinction more severe than estimated, 73 genera vanished since 1500: Study READ MORE

Main

GS Paper- 1

1. Karnataka hindered by drought manual READ MORE  
2. India’s forest policy needs revaluation READ MORE
3. Building resilient education systems: Evidence from five countries READ MORE
4. Focus on putting a halt to student suicides READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Developed by 2047 agenda: The administration needs to be retooled to reach this ambitious goal READ MORE
2. Culture of democracy READ MORE
3. An idea whose time has come READ MORE
4. Toughen the anti-defection law READ MORE
5. Indian Democracy and Simultaneous Elections READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Drug shortage shows Modi’s TB eradication dream needs more than just ambition READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. India-Middle East-Europe Corridor: The way to a new world order READ MORE
2. G20: Well done, but time for action READ MORE
3. Beyond the euphoria, G20 lessons for India READ MORE
4. How creative diplomacy won the day READ MORE
5. G20 Summit:Towards a just world order READ MORE
6. Counting India’s geopolitical gains and losses READ MORE
7. What the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor means for India and the world READ MORE
8. BRICS Expansion and the Global South READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. R S Sharma on PM-WANI’s potential to transform India’s digital public infrastructure READ MORE
2. In praise of growth that lifts all the boats READ MORE
3. Empowering MSMEs for export success READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Shadow of climate change over Indus Waters Treaty READ MORE   

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. AI could transform the accountant’s world READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Traits of a successful leader READ MORE
2. Civil Services Meaningless Without Ethical Conduct, Says Former UP Chief Secy Alok Ranjan READ MORE
3. Explained | Pigs with human brain cells and biological chips: how lab-grown hybrid lifeforms bamboozle scientific ethics READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. Electoral reforms ought to uphold the democratic values of federalism and an active citizenry. Comment on the statement in light of the recent debate about One Nation, one election.
2. Periodic elections are not mere technical instruments for electing political representatives; they are constitutional channels for expressing popular sovereignty, which lies at the core of our democracy. How would you justify this statement?
3. Information technology (IT) has proven to be a valuable and powerful tool for fostering development, growth, innovation, and competitiveness. Discuss.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Backwardness is the breeding ground of terror, and that is what we have to fight.
• Electoral reforms ought to uphold the democratic values of federalism and an active citizenry.
• Foreign direct investments tend to gravitate to nations with good governance. The quality of governance is largely affected by institutional factors such as control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stability, regulatory quality, rule of law, voice and accountability.
• Periodic elections are not a mere technical or procedural instrument for electing our political representatives, they are also constitutional channels for expressing popular sovereignty, which lie at the core of our democracy.
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an important driver of economic growth as evident from the empirical studies conducted across the world.
• Information technology (IT) has proven to be a valuable and powerful tool for fostering development, growth, innovation, and competitiveness.
• In an increasingly global environment where time and distance are no longer constraints, developing nations worldwide need to get connected and join the globally networked community.
• The expansion of the BRICS and increase in the influence of the global South come with certain critical challenges as well. The biggest challenge is to deal with the potential escalation of dominance by China and India on the global stage.
• Since successive governments have failed to strengthen the anti-defection law, it is high time we, the people, exercised our power to oust the defectors by not voting for them.
• In a parliamentary democracy such as ours, it is essential that the Election Commission of India (ECI) be independent and empowered with authority to regulate political parties, as is the case in some countries.
• In a country where every policy and every reform is intensely scrutinised, critiqued, and debated, the road to “One Nation, One Election” will undoubtedly be fraught with hurdles.
• The unveiling of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor on the sidelines of the G20 summit was a significant move. It has great potential, but only the future will reveal how it is actualised.

ESSAY TOPIC

• The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior.

50-WORD TALK

• Supreme Court data will finally get uploaded on the National Judicial Data Grid, an online warehouse launched in 2015. The move is promising and will bring public spotlight on long-pending cases. Joining the grid will bring transparency to SC’s functioning and help identify systemic gaps to reduce delay and arrears.
• Rabindranath Tagore’s Santiniketan has become a Unesco World Heritage site — a proud moment for the fount of arts and culture. Much politics, identity wars and one-upmanship have gone on around the institution. With the prestigious tag now, let’s allow it to rise above a divisive image gifted by political parties.
• Like past police encounters, the kneecapping of two men accused of killing a schoolgirl in Uttar Pradesh is drawing misguided applause. Encounter cultists, like sharia enthusiasts in Pakistan, imagine brutality will deter criminality. Letting police kill and torture with impunity, though, delivers a death sentence to the rule of law.

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.