WSDP Bulletin (07-03-2023)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Centre releases guidelines for celebrities, influencers, and virtual influencers on social media platform READ MORE  
2. South Korea pushes to end Japan disputes over forced labourers READ MORE
3. N. takes step towards new way of tracking greenhouse gases READ MORE
4. Record 6.37 lakh Olive Ridley turtles arrive at Odisha’s Rushikulya beach for mass nesting READ MORE
5. Salt flats around the world are covered in a similar pattern of ridges. Why? READ MORE
6. Indian Railways ties up with ISRO for real-time train tracking READ MORE
7. India to launch global alliance for big cats, invest $100 million READ MORE
8. Hindu rate of growth: Where does the term come from and what it means READ MORE
9. What is the SWAMIH investment fund and its affordable housing push READ MORE
10. RBI initiates 75 digital villages programme READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. Caste capital and myth of merit: What stops Dalits from accessing western education READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Role and remit: On SC appointing panel to probe Adani case READ MORE
2. The anti-defection law is facing convulsions READ MORE
3. Why migrant workers’ issues recur: The absence of data and coordination between states READ MORE
4. SC’s ECI order will help, but it’s not a magic wand READ MORE
5. One nation, one election and the multiple problems it cannot address READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Scale up Recognition of prior learning READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. India must revisit its position on Ukraine crisis READ MORE
2. G20 geopolitics and its many complexities READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. A new trade strategy: India’s performance on exports is a result of policy interventions READ MORE
2. Why India ducked stagflation but needs a plan for it now READ MORE

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. Generative AI and Large Language Models: The AI Gold Rush READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Climate change might lead to more wildfire-inducing ‘hot lightning’ strikes: What a new study says READ MORE
2. Unregulated Tourism in the Himalayas Comes at the Cost of Ecological Hazards READ MORE

SECURITY

1. India’s rapid digitisation has one major casualty—cybersecurity READ MORE
2. Dealing with the cyber threats 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. Why is Self-Analysis So Important? READ MORE
2. Jabala & Shandili’s forgotten legacy for women READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘The verdict of the five-judge Constitution Bench for CEC appointment is a significant step towards enhancing the credibility and integrity of the electoral process’. Critically Examine.
2. ‘The proposed one election concept creates more problems than it promises to solve’. Do you agree with this view? Analyse your view.
3. The Production-linked Incentive (PLI) has not only transformed India into a manufacturing hub but has also curtailed its burgeoning trade deficit in electronics and other manufactured goods. Analyse the statement.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• By education, I mean an all-round drawing of the best in child and man in body, mind and spirit.
• The proposed one election concept creates more problems than it promises to solve. It proposes that concurrent elections mean better administration and more development.
• Apart from impeding growth at a local level, this could be harmful to the growth of individual states (as it would overlook regional interests and aspirations).
• If political parties are keen to enact election reforms, they should keep the nation first and take a non-partisan approach. One nation, one election, tends to favour the mighty incumbent at the Union in the short term.
• The One nation, one election concept proposes that concurrent elections mean better administration and more development. However, there is no research to prove the same.
• Capital manifests in its most embodied form at the stage of even wanting to desire western education. To dream of studying, to believe, is a luxury for marginalised students.
• The suspension of the New START treaty has nothing to do with rights and obligations of the parties to conduct nuclear tests. The Treaty has no provision for banning and suspending nuclear tests.
• The requirement of semiconductors in India’s national security domain has become critical since they form the substrate of every important activity in the country – from the economic to the military domain.
• In the absence of coordinated implementation, huge differentials have arisen in the state of preparedness of the individual sectors of the cyber ecosystem.
• Considering the soaring importance of cyberspace in the landscape of national security, there is no choice, especially in the coming decade, which seems to be on the steep slope of rising geopolitical confrontations.
• The unanimous verdict of the five-judge Constitution Bench is a significant step towards enhancing the credibility and integrity of the electoral process.
• The Production-linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has been a game changer. It has not only transformed India into a manufacturing hub but has also curtailed its burgeoning trade deficit in electronics and other manufactured goods.

ESSAY TOPIC

• The secret of all victory lies in the organisation of the non-obvious.

50-WORD TALK

• A position of neutrality on Ukraine may have diminishing returns. A rigorous evaluation of the assumptions and calculus behind the current stance is important. While Russian support to India on the Kashmir issue may have helped at the UNSC in the past, the fact is that the context has entirely changed. A lot has changed as expending diplomatic capital on an issue that has long been pushed to the back burner at the Security Council has its costs.
• NAAC chairman Bhushan Patwardhan’s resignation after alleging corruption in higher education institute grading calls for a systemic audit. Can the young rely on ratings? Is the system gamed? Is there political interference? Aspirational Indians depend on the index to make decisions for their future. It’s time to review and reform.

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.