WSDP Bulletin (26-10-2021)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Explained | What are India’s expectations from COP26? READ MORE
2. 18th ASEAN-India Summit (October 28, 2021) and 16th East Asia Summit (October 27, 2021) READ MORE
3. PM launches PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission READ MORE
4. SC directs panel to specify maximum water level at Mullaperiyar dam READ MORE
5. Greenhouse gas concentrations hit a new record in 2020: UN READ MORE
6. More studies show the superiority of hybrid immunity READ MORE

Main Exam   

GS Paper- 1

1.  India: Facebook struggles in its battle against fake news READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. End the impasse: A solution is needed for core issues concerning farmers, and not merely for road blocks READ MORE
2. Upgrading judicial infrastructure READ MORE
3. Internal Documents Show Facebook Wavered in Checking Misinformation, Hate Speech in India: Report READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. What makes a social movement tick READ MORE
2. Income support during lockdown didn’t just battle poverty – it might have helped combat Covid-19 too READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. A festering crisis in the Palk Strait: A moratorium on bottom trawling and support to the fishermen is a good first step towards a solution READ MORE
2. A ‘bubbles of trust’ approach: This offers a middle path between the extremes of technological sovereignty and laissez-faire globalization READ MORE
3. India must pay greater attention to its most difficult neighbor READ MORE
4. China’s new border law: De-escalation along LAC nowhere in sight READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Reforms needed to tackle power crisis: Improving efficiency of thermal plants, developing a regional market, and greater thrust on renewables are vital READ MORE  
2. The fuel crisis could be a wake-up call READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Time to declare war on climate change READ MORE
2. Atmospheric river storms can drive costly flooding — and climate change is making them stronger READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Explained: The SDRF manual on how to prepare for and tackle natural disasters READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. The individual is not really a single entity READ MORE
2. What the Facebook leaks say about social media ethics in India READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Being a developing country, India shall continue to rely on fossil-based power to meet the growing demands of the economy’. Do you agree with the view? Justify your opinion.
2. Critically analyse China’s new border law. How it will impact India.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Nuclear weapons offer us nothing but a balance of terror, and a balance of terror is still terror.
• For Delhi, the current crisis in Pakistan is not a moment for schadenfreude. It should be an occasion to reflect on the long-term regional consequences.
• A solution is needed for core issues concerning farmers, and not merely for roadblocks.
• Improving the efficiency of thermal plants, developing a regional market, and greater thrust on renewables is vital.
• Being a developing country, India shall continue to rely on fossil-based power to meet the growing demands of the economy.
• Unless we reclaim the language of the Constitution, secularism, and individual rights, violence, hate and bigotry will win.
• The issues of pendency, delays and backlogs can be tackled to large extent by strengthening the physical, digital, and human infrastructure of the courts.
• The Government should look for long-term solutions to correct the current situation of heavy reliance on imports and reduce these to 10-15 per cent.

50- WORD TALK

• The new claims, allegations and counter-allegations involving NCB in the Aryan Khan drugs case have made a murky scandal murkier. A premier law enforcement agency and its officer being entangled in such allegations badly damages its reputation. Headline hunting can turn into a slippery slope. It’s time NCB came clean.
• The internal investigation at Facebook against users spreading deliberate misinformation and religious hatred in India is indisputable proof that the social media company knew about it and has been unwilling, not unable, to act. Lives were lost in the Delhi riots and Facebook’s role should be probed and accountability fixed.

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 also 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.