WSDP Bulletin (29-01-2022)

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Honduras gets its first woman President READ MORE
2. Centre appoints Anantha Nageswaran as CEA READ MORE
3. Explained: What is reverse repo normalisation? READ MORE
4. Explained | NeoCoV — what it is and what it is not READ MORE
5. IMF urges El Salvador to scale back its Bitcoin push READ MORE
6. Grey pelicans die in droves in Srikakulam READ MORE
7. Nepal’s Population Witnesses Lowest Growth In 80 Years: Reports READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. India needs a new social contract READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. To the poll booth, with no donor knowledge: Worries over the electoral bond scheme go beyond its patent unconstitutionality — it befouls democracy and elections READ MORE
2. A more meaningful commitment to the Indian republic READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Anganwadis should provide early childhood care and education READ MORE
2. Missing classes: There is still no clarity from any quarter on whether it’s okay to reopen schools READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. At the Centre: India must stay in step with the changesin the Central Asian region READ MORE
2. Central Asia: Walk the talk READ MORE
3. Central Asian outreach: India needs to do far more to match Chinese efforts READ MORE
4. How India and its South Asian Neighbours Fared During the US-China Trade War READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. How budget can generate higher growth, jobs READ MORE
2. Improving public service delivery by fixing payment systems READ MORE
3. Sovereign bond move is a welcome idea READ MORE
4. Job schemes needed to address distress in informal sector READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Solid waste management policy still suffers from niggles READ MORE
2. MoEFCC Must Withdraw Its Proposed Rating System for Impact Assessments READ MORE
3. Most vulnerable countries unable to access Green Climate Fund for adaptation READ MORE

GS Paper-

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. The pandemic showed us our collective power READ MORE
2. Why be reactive when you can be proactive? READ MORE
3. Acting in Uncertainty READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘India needs to adopt a proactive approach to further its interests and make its presence felt in the extended neighbourhood’. In the light of the statement discuss why India need to re-visit its neighbourhood first policy?
2. How India and its South Asian neighbours fared during the US-China trade war? What should be the way forward for these nations?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Leadership is about vision and responsibility, not power.
• Worries over the electoral bond scheme go beyond its patent unconstitutionality — it befouls democracy and elections.
• India will need to move nimbly to ensure it stays in step with the changes, and to make certain the future of ties more closely resembles the deep ties of the distant past.
• In the near term fiscal policy can play an important role by expanding fiscal space while fiscal deficit can be stabilised in medium term.
• In the Northeast, this means committing to the ideal of ‘equal’ and ‘group-differentiated’ citizenship rights and deepening constitutionalism and democracy.
• The pandemic exposed the horrors of the existing economic and social arrangements that privilege some but treat others as expendable.
• The first India-Central Asia Summit hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided a road map. India must now wean the five states off China’s largesse.
• India needs to adopt a proactive approach to further its interests and make its presence felt in the extended neighbourhood.
• A concession to the foreign investors while taxing the transaction in the hands of domestic investors would go against the principles of equity.
• For South Asia as a whole, one unexploited development opportunity lies in deeper regional economic integration – in the context of the current discussion.
• South Asian countries will need to do some dispassionate analysis of their trade and investment regimes.
• A common affliction in South Asia is high and rising protection, which hurts its capacity to become a core part of global value chains, even more so in a world in which reciprocity is getting to be the dominant mantra.

50-WORD TALK

• The Prime Minister’s meeting with five Central Asian leaders shows New Delhi wants to play the regional Great Game, with former imperial power Russia and big-spending China. Beijing has hit back with big aid promises. New Delhi can’t outspend the dragon, so it has to find ways to outsmart it.
• There is near unanimity that the Budget must signal a much higher level of healthcare spending to not just set right historical deficiencies but also address the glaring deficit in public healthcare that the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed. It is important to remember that India’s healthcare sector was severely deficient even before the pandemic came. Bangladesh, for example, is poorer than India but has a higher life expectancy.

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.