(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)
Prelim and Main
1. Vandalur Zoo gets endangered bird species from Uttar Pradesh in exchange programme READ MORE
2. Two new mammalian species recorded in Kaziranga National Park READ MORE
3. Astronomers spot unusual object falling in the black hole ‘mass gap’ READ MORE
4. IMF says global ‘soft landing’ in sight, raises 2024 economic growth outlook READ MORE
5. Philippines and Vietnam agree to expand cooperation in South China Sea, which Beijing also claims READ MORE
6. Centre starts survey to assess women participation in workforce READ MORE
7. First ever survey puts India’s snow leopard count at 718 READ MORE
8. India nominates 12 forts of Marathas for UNESCO World Heritage List READ MORE
9. Why Centre plans to replace the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 with a new law READ MORE
10. First penguin deaths in sub-Antarctic region attributed to bird flu strain READ MORE
Main
GS Paper- 1
1. Why younger generations in India seem so stressed READ MORE
2. Student stress: Prioritise a process of continuous engagement READ MORE
3. Stree shakti READ MORE
4. Deep Seabed Mining in the Arctic READ MORE
GS Paper- 2
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Aadhaar Job Card Linkages: Perils of Recentralising Governance READ MORE
2. Mission federalism: 16th Finance Commission will have to find a fair way through high intensity GOI-states fiscal disputes READ MORE
3. Road conditions hinder village development READ MORE
SOCIAL ISSUES
1. Are Anganwadis ready to provide quality early childhood education? READ MORE
2. The role of reviews and ratings in healthcare READ MORE
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
1. Wars, Geopolitical Transitions and Paradigm Shifts READ MORE
2. Reforming UN for a rules-based order READ MORE
3. On the brink READ MORE
GS Paper- 3
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
1. India’s human capital: Quality education vis-à-vis sustainable development READ MORE
2. Decoding AI in emerging economies READ MORE
3. After Interim Budget 2024, hand the baton over to the private sector READ MORE
4. Focus on fiscal discipline READ MORE
5. Need to assess economic implications of artificial intelligence READ MORE
6. Tread the WTO quagmire with caution READ MORE
7. Drones can revolutionise the agriculture sector READ MORE
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. COP28: Was the COP robbed? READ MORE
2. Governing Urban Wetlands in India: A Pathway to Sustainable Urbanisation READ MORE
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. Strengthening energy-health nexus for health security READ MORE
INTERNAL SECURITY
1. AI risks for international peace and security READ MORE
2. Myanmar: India’s strategic dilemma READ MORE
3. Charting a course for India’s maritime security READ MORE
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
1. In Morbi’s debris, the role of the State in PPP projects READ MORE
GS Paper- 4
ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY
1. An inspiring saga of selfless service READ MORE
2. A father’s courageous fight against girl’s sexual assault READ MORE
3. Ahimsa: The Path to Peaceful Existence READ MORE
CASE STUDY
1. How Aadhaar is strangling MGNREGA in a Maharashtra district and pushing workers to migrate READ MORE
Questions for the MAIN exam
1. Technology is being increasingly viewed as a way of ensuring effective delivery of government schemes by curbing corruption and bringing in efficiency and transparency in delivery, but viewing technocratic instruments as the default solution is problematic. Comment on the statement in light of the recent order to Link wage payments with Aadhaar-linked bank accounts for work done under the MGNREGA scheme.
2. Increasing public spending on early childhood care and education and empowering India’s Anganwadis is important to ensure that quality early education is accessible to all children. Discuss.
3. The provision of reserved seats for women at the local level of government in India has resulted in the political empowerment of women at the grassroots across the country. Critically comment.
4. India needs to evolve a realistic strategic blueprint in line with the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy to save Myanmar from China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Comment on the statement in the light of recent developments in South-east Asia.
5. Infrastructure development needs in rural areas should be promptly fulfilled through the Panchayati Raj Institutions because it plays a significant role in opening new avenues for development. Comment.
QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS
- Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. — Mother Teresa
- The geopolitical transition away from unipolarity is hastened by theatres of conflict in West Asia, Russia–Ukraine, and Indo-Pacific and their impact. Significant changes in the international power structures constructed after World War II are discernible and the global South is playing a significant role in this transition.
- Political and bureaucratic capture of the developmental process has been a major problem. The solution then is greater empowerment of the gram panchayat and ward, greater decentralisation, and strengthening of the local-level administrative and decision-making capacity.
- Decentralisation can indeed dramatically reduce costs and enhance welfare delivery by tackling corruption as well as elite capture and clientelism. However, viewing technocratic instruments as the default solution can be very problematic.
- Technology is being increasingly viewed as a way of ensuring effective delivery of government schemes by curbing corruption and bringing in efficiency and transparency in delivery.
- Increasing public spending on early childhood care and education and empowering India’s Anganwadis is important to ensure that quality early education is accessible to all children.
- For a developing nation like India, education emerges as a fundamental tool for creating the human capital necessary to sustain development in the 21st century.
- Despite being embedded in conservative societal environments, women leaders have emerged as instrumental drivers of social change in many villages across India.
- The provision of reserved seats for women at the local level of government in India has resulted in the political empowerment of women at the grassroots across the country.
- The hype on AI’s success in tech-developed countries like the United States (US), China, and India has influenced the discourse around their development organisations guiding AI’s rollout in emerging economies. This discourse should be taken with a grain of salt given the optimism for self-administered AI in emerging markets for both economic and non-economic forms of growth.
- The village’s most crucial need should be promptly fulfilled through the Panchayati Raj Institutions because the road is not just a means of transportation but plays a significant role in opening new avenues for development. It is not only a means of access but is also intricately connected to education, health, and the economy.
- India needs to evolve a realistic strategic blueprint in line with the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy to save Myanmar from China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
ESSAY TOPIC
- Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
50-WORD TALK
- Nine months into anarchy and violence in Manipur, a central team is sent to do what’s the state government’s first duty—maintaining peace. Centre’s support to Biren government despite grounds for President’s Rule is a political decision whose possible returns are already far outweighed by a swelling constitutional and human crisis.
- Maldives-bound Chinese research vessel is another bad signal for Delhi’s strategic ties with Male. The diplomatic divide between the two creates a gap that Beijing will want to exploit. Maldives must be careful to maintain strategic equilibrium — electoral politics may be a see-saw but regional diplomacy is a constant.
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.
