GPSC GUIDANCE

Editorials 1) A SPUTTERING START CC is increasing unpredictability of seasons! Not only in delay & breaks but fewer rainy days and excessive precipitation last year surplus rains in June then 2 months dry spell till August end and then heavy rains till December so kharif crop first suffered moisture stress and then inundation. (Same happened with sudden temperature rise after mid March affecting wheat yield ) 2)GRIM REMINDER ISIL-K led attack on gurudwara. ISIL-K has many international members like Uzbek, uighur, but largely disgruntled Taliban. It's link with Haqqani group ( autonomous within Taliban) is well known and Haqqani group is close to Pakistan's ISI and now sirajuddin Haqqani who's Un designated global terrorist is interior minister therefore India's engagement with Taliban becomes much more complex 3)THE INFLATION TIGHTROPE -Depreciating ruppe is bad as it makes import costly and for India crude is main import hence starting vicious cycle of inflation. -Rising interest rate will slow down foreign portfolio investor which is not good as ruppee will appreciate which will hurt the exports, moreover RBI will start sterilisation in this situation where it buys excessive dollar to stabilise ₹ but then high liquidity may increase inflation hence sells gsec to absorb that hence the excess FOREX is not asset but liability ( So inflation targeting is always a tricky phenomena ) 4)AN OIL PALM FOR HOME : WTO ministerial meeting couldn't produce concrete results on TRIPS waiver, relaxing rules on public stocking for food security,removing fisheries subsidy, resolving contentious issues in e commerce & ultimately reforming WTO Pandemic/war/disaster poses challenge as inward looking countries impose export ban ie Wheat & sunflower oil by Russia, Palm oil by Indonesia which leads to high prices and food insecurity, hence now leading to self reliance ambition by many countries including India India's agri export is competitive as $50 bn export and $30bn+ import but 60% import is edible oil and out of that 50% is palm so need domestic production. Launched NEOM-OP ( 1mn ha area by 2025, reduce import by half by 2027) as self sufficiency through mustard, soya, groundnut will requires more additional land at the cost of cereal growing region so only palm oil is suitable as it has higher productivity. Challenges remain like 4-6 years of gestation period for palm hence have to support the small farmers for that opportunity cost Pricing formula for FFB ( fresh fruit bunch) And ensuring atleast 20% recovery by processing industry. But option of declaring palm as plantation crop where corporate players come doesn't seem viable as of now. 5)AN ACT OF ACCOMODATION -We inherited FPTP system from British but this leads to 'lost votes' and 'rule of majority' Hence delimitation commission in J&K tried to rectify it by ensuring that reorganized constituency will allow Hindus in Jammu, gujjar in poonch-rajouri, kishtawar & other community also gets say in J&K assembly, also reservation for ST for first time will widen it. FPTP is ideal for UK but in multiparty, multi religious region system has to be tweaked, just as UK tweaked it for Ireland region's assembly ( single transferable vote based power sharing) As democracy evolves! 6)POWER DIPLOMACY : India-Nepal has great potential for it, but past distrust and India's image in delaying works for too long has hindered it ( mahakali & upper karnali is still in limbo) But recent completion of Arun-3 by satluj Vidyut Nigam limited in 5 years has boosted our image. The proposed WEST SETI project can solidify this relation Ethics: US passed law to celebrate emancipation day on June 19th to celebrate end of slavery.

Inter-state council 263 | Empowers President to constitute | Sarkaria commission asked to establish permanent ISC so created in 1990 | PM chairman and all cm & LT.governor member - So far 11 meets, and only 1 meet in last 6 years ( in 2016) NEWS: TN CM suggested mandatory meeting for 3 times/year | discuss all imp bills before placing in Parliament He also appreciated recent restructuring like 10 Union ministers as permanent invitee & reconstitution of standing committee with home minister as chairman. FREEDOM OF SPEECH Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is wanted in US for leaking/whistleblowing on classified US documents that exposed civilian killings by US army. ( So developed countries shouldn't preach as national security triumphs in our country also ) A BELATED CORRECTIVE: - Wto finally eased IP restrictions on vaccines, though it's late as the waves have passed and vaccines have reached to almost all part - But PATENT WAIVER has little meaning without TECH TRANSFER cause vaccines can't be reverse-engineered like drugs, so commitment has to be there. ( Global cooperation & knowledge sharing is necessary to fight COVID as seen in Oxford, AstraZeneca, serum ) SOCIETY: The cheap internet has impacted society. The record price of IPL digital rights shows that in Urban areas more individual viewers are increasing & TV viewership is declining as we don't watch TV with neighbours/family/community A MONTH OF PINKWASHING : Corporations launches LGBTQ friendly products & campaign in pride month but the same corporation fund politicians who pass anti-LGBTQ bills, also these corporations have arbitrary firing policy ( Netflix fired majority LGBTQ ) hence the corporations are only PINKWASHING their products to maximise the profits and expand consumer base. Sol: Sensitive corporate governance VAV: violence, arson, vandalism has no place in modern democracy #Agnipath

Editorials: Prelude to 5G Though reduction in reserved prices have happened but it's not significant. Buying spectrum will cost more than 1 lakh crore to already indebted telecoms but Usage charges dropped, payment in installments allowed hence it'll boost to the sector In the shadows of sanctions Alternate route through Caspian sea ie Railway line between Caspian port of Rasht & Ashtara on Iran Azerbaijan border will connect Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia. Also chahbar port and 13 nation INSTC will be able to counter Pakistan led trans Afghan railways ( boost since Taliban takeover) Revival of nuclear deal will give filip to India's economic ties. Justice more complete Challenges in awarding death penalties where judge merely sees the nature of crime and ignores factors like socio-economic background, circumstances, mental health, age all of which were mandated by bachan Singh case in 1980 But the Manoj vs State of MP case recently have tried to rectify the ignorance of judiciary and built up on bachan Singh case by 1) It recognises reformation as integral part of CJS hence judge has to ensure that there's no scope of reformation before awarding Death penalty 2) Mandatory reports from prison, mental health experts 3)The right of accused to present all factors

Editorials 2 years of Galwan: The Galwan valley clash resulted in death of soldiers on both sides. While relations have improved with trade of $125bn, FDI, Chinese Foreign minister's visit, NSA's participation in SCO & BRICS security, Beijing lifted ban on visa of Indian students But disengagement was prelude to de- escalation but still Indian soldiers can't patrol along Depsang plains, hot springs also the bridge on the pangong lake's middle part ( at khurnak fort ) on Chinese occupied territory. This bridge is very critical as in 2020 India occupied kailash heights which gives strategically upper hand to India and china couldn't stop us as they couldn't deploy soldiers in time but this bridge will reduce the time for deployment of troops. ( Ethics : The agreement forbade the use of firearms but Chinese used clubs with nails embedded while Indians used baton keeping in spirit of agreement)

Inequality : Developed economy has higher share of Direct taxes in total revenue as it's progressive tax hence inequality between rich and poor is reduced India has 50% share of indirect tax in total tax revenue. We've seen reduction in direct tax ( corporate tax cuts in 2019,22 ) while high rates of Excise on petrol which disproportionately affects poor's purchasing capacity and ultimately increase inequality. ( HENCE INEQUALITY CAN BE ADDRESSED BY BETTER FISCAL POLICY )

Editorials 1) Inflation's uneven toll :While inflation is good if it's demand driven as it helps in demand creation & job creation but current inflation is supply side ( War led supply chain disruption, suboptimal agriculture output due to climate change ) Hence RBI's monetary measures will be counterproductive as low liquidity will impact demand and investment Need is of fiscal measures to reduce inflation and boost demand ( tax cut on fuel, subsidy on essential food items ) 2) Good and Bad freebies : Populism is the policy of appeasing masses by giving freebies often at the cost of fiscal prudence : Freebies are good when given in essential & merit goods like health , education, food as it helps the overall community and has positive externality like productive workforce, Demographic dividend But it's bad when given in power sector, transport where negative externalities like excessive consumption, misuse of freebies happen 3)The Job push: Employment in manufacturing is needed to absorb 1.2 crore entering workforce every year. As service sector absorbs skill intensive workforce Gig economy absorbs semi skilled and limited workforce. 4)Drawing closer :Better connectivity between Srilanka-India is very necessary The proposed project to link Jaffna with Trichy by air and Jaffna to Karaikal by water will -Reduce travel time and boost tourism -Integrate region and boost trade 5) Playing with Agni Current crisis of limited fiscal space to defence is due to populist policy of OROP -Agnipath is not reforming scheme but employment scheme -Debate of technology vs troops is relevant only when less troops are very well trained ( not possible in 6 months ) -Post 4 years, prospects militarised youth? - Too much politics in defence is not good ie CDS post is created but still vacant since 6 months.

Editorials: 1) Agnipath -New recruitment policy for defence to induct agniveers of 17-21 age to ensure tech savvy, young profile of force while reducing fiscal burden on pensions, gratuity 2)RBI's misdiagnosis -By law RBI's mandate is to tame the inflation but recently RBI is focusing on stabilization of ₹₹, dividend to gov, financing gov debt by buying large gsec hence not been able to focus fully on its core objective. 3)The expansion game of BRICS -While expansion is inevitable but currently it's happening on Chinese terms as it wants to project brics as alternative to g20, India has to ensure we get say in current expansion by 1) Consensus 2) shared interest with Brics charter etc.

Identify the following locations 1) Mount cotopaxi 2) Lawrence river 3) Great dividing range 4) Appalachian mountain range

Best of luck for all the candidates of UPSC prelims!

Budget figures of Gujarat. (22-23)

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1)In light of recent events elaborate on the reforms regulatory agencies need? (GS-2/REGULATORY AGENCIES) 2)Hijab row highlights balance between competing rights. Critically examine in the context of Indian model of secularism? (GS-1/SOCIETY) 3) E-Courts' charms and challenges. (GS-2/JUDICIAL REFORMS)

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Since India's goal is 33% of forest cover and scarcity of land we'll focus on out of forest tree cover as mentioned in draft NFP, 2021 - Environment Minister I.e agro, farm & social forestry, Urban forests ( woodlands, gardens, Avenue plantation, herbal garden ) through ppp as part of urbanism to address desertification, land degradation and improve ease of living Biennial India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 - Forest Survey of India . -3 cat of forests are surveyed 1)very dense forests (canopy density > 70%) 2)moderately dense forests (40-70%) 3)open forests (10-40%). Scrubs (< 10%) are surveyed but not categorised as forests. -First time tiger reserve forest area counted - pakke tiger reserve of AR has highest cover -😍 forest cover increased from 21.67%( 2019 ) to 21.71%( 2021) -Total forest area is now 7,13,789 square kilometres. Which is 1540 sq km higher than 2019. -😍 top 10 countries in terms of forest cover, with Brazil #1 (59.4%) Peru#2 (56.5%)… India is among top-10 -😍 Mangroves cover increase 17 sq km. total mangrove cover is now 4,992 sq km. -😍 The states that have shown the highest increase in forest cover are Telangana (3.07%), Andhra Pradesh (2.22%) and Odisha (1.04%) 😥 Five states in the Northeast – Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland have all shown loss in forest cover. 😥 Losers In NE: Arunachal Pradesh (418 sq km) and Manipur (158 sq km), (86 sq km) Nagaland, Mizoram (86 sq km each) and Meghalaya (36 sq km) also recorded significant losses of dense forests. -😥 Losers outside North East: Madhya Pradesh (143 sq km), Jammu and Kashmir (97 sq km), Assam (66 sq km), Uttar Pradesh (41 sq km) and Tripura (31 sq km) 😥 forests in all states (except Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland) will be highly vulnerable climate hot spots 😥 Criticism: Experts say the survey results could be misleading as it includes plantations – such as coffee, coconuts, cashew or mango and other orchards – under forest cover. -😥 The report, however, “does not make any distinction between the origin of tree crops (whether natural or manmade)”, and “all the tree species along with bamboos, fruit bearing trees, coconut, palm trees etc” on plots of 1 hectare and above and with “canopy density of more than 10 per cent” are included as forest cover. : The NE states account for 8% geographical area but 24% of total forest cover. 😥 5 Northeast states shown loss in forest cover 1)natural calamities:-particularly landslides and heavy rains 2)anthropogenic activities such as shifting agriculture, road-highway-dam projects, felling of trees. 3)😥 Unlike other states, where forests are clearly managed by the forest department , the Northeastern states follow a different system —community ownership, autonomous all accounts looking after protected tribal land – which makes conservation difficult #Environment #Biodiversity #gs3 #mrunal

Mere invocation of national security won't render the court a mute spectator - Supreme court in Pegasus Spyware case. #gs2 #judiciary

#agriculture #sugar #gs3