UPSC Key-October 11, 2022: Why you should read ‘Caste Politics’ or ‘Urban Naxalism’ or ‘Ambedkar and Buddhism’ for UPSC CSE

FRONT PAGE

Samajwadi architect Mulayam is no more

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Three-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, eight-term MLA, seven-time MP, and ‘Netaji’ to all, who redefined Uttar Pradesh politics, Mulayam Singh Yadav, died aged 82 on Monday. He was in the ICU of a Gurgaon hospital since October 2.

• Personality in News-Mulayam Singh Yadav

• How Caste got integrated in Indian Politics?

• How Mulayam Singh Yadav used ‘Yadav caste’ as cohesive force in regional as well as in the national Politics?

• Mulayam Singh Yadav and Other Backward Classes (OBCs)-connect the dots

• In his CM tenure, Mulayam Singh Yadav introduced several social welfare schemes in which few were much-talked-about-What were those?

• Why does politics in Uttar Pradesh impact national level politics more than any other state does?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Mulayam’s legacy: 5 ways in which he changed UP’s politics

EC clears new Sena names, flaming torch as symbol for Uddhav group

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-IN AN interim order on Monday, the Election Commission (EC) allotted the name Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) to the party faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, while the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be called Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena. The Uddhav-led faction has been allotted the “flaming torch” (mashaal) as its poll symbol; the Shinde-led faction has been told to submit a fresh list of three symbols by 10 am on Tuesday.

• What is the stand of Election Commission of India on this entire issue?

• The Election Commission refused to allot the name Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Thackerey) to either side the first choice of both the factions-why?

• Why ‘flaming torch’?

• Any previous case when Election Commission of India (ECI) took a similar decision?

• How does the ECI decide who gets the symbol?

• But what happened in such cases before 1968?

• And what was the first case decided under the 1968 Order?

• Is there a way other than the test of majority to resolve a symbol dispute?

• What happens to the group that doesn’t get the parent party’s symbol?

• Election Commission of India and Article 324 of the Constitution-Know in detail

• The independent and impartial functioning of the Election Commission-How it is ensured?

• Election Commission of India- Powers and Functions

• Chief Election Commissioner and the two other Election Commissioners have equal powers-True or False?

• In case of difference of opinion amongst the Chief election commissioner and/or two other election commissioners, the matter is decided by the Supreme Court of India-Right or Wrong?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: When parties split, how does EC decide who gets the symbol?

📍Why Shiv Sena’s Uddhav faction gets the ‘flaming torch’ poll symbol

EXPRESS NETWORK

PM warns tribals: Urban Naxals here in disguise

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Linkages between development and spread of extremism and Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Warning the tribal community against “falling for urban Naxals who have arrived in disguise”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an apparent reference to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), said in the tribal-dominated Bharuch district on Monday that “they are bringing foreign powers to ruin your life”.

• What is Urban Naxalism?

• Urban Naxalism-does it really exits or it is a myth?

• But sometimes, many Left-leaning activists have been linked with Naxals-why?

• What are your views on Urban Naxalism?

• Naxalism in India-Know the background

• What is red corridor or red zone?

• Map Work-Red Corridor region

• How many states are affected by Naxalism in India?

• Maoism and Naxalism-Compare and Contrast

• What are Naxals fighting for in India?

• What are the socio-economic conditions the districts that make up the red corridor?

• ‘Naxalism is a social, economic and developmental issue manifesting as a violent internal security threat’-discuss

• What steps being taken by the Government of India to eradicate Naxal and LWE forces from the country?

• How the Government of India has taken several specific initiatives in LWE affected States with Special reference to expansion of road network, improving Telecommunication connectivity, skill development and financial inclusion?

• What do you know about the ‘Integrated Action Plan in Naxal-affected Districts’?

• For Your Information-In a media release, the MHA stated, “The fight against Naxals has now reached its final stage and it can prove by the fact that in 2022, in comparison to 2018, there has been a 39 percent reduction in incidents of LWE-related violence, 26 percent reduction in the number of sacrifices made by security forces. Civilian casualties have reduced by 44 percent.”

• Do You Know-The MHA on deaths due to LWE violence, stated that the death toll was at its highest 1,005 in 2010, which was down to 147 in 2021. “Their sphere of influence has (also) decreased significantly. Simultaneously, the area of influence of Maoists has also reduced significantly…from 96 districts in 2010 to only 39 districts in 2022,”.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Inventing the Urban Naxal

📍Urban Naxals and some global bodies blocking infra: Modi

THE IDEAS PAGE

Pakistan-US: The Bajwa reset

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-C. Raja Mohan writes: India should focus instead on the long-term consequences of Bajwa’s reign which has seen the army’s dominance over Pakistan’s polity weaken. Addressing Pakistan’s new internal instabilities might now demand a lot more Indian attention than Rawalpindi’s diplomatic reset

• Pakistan’s General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been getting a lot of attention-why?

• American engagement with Pakistan-Know in detail

• American engagement with Pakistan and India’s stand-know in detail

• According to the author, three factors explains the renewed American engagement with Pakistan-What are they?

• “Pakistan occupies a vital piece of real estate that sits between the Subcontinent, Iran, Arabia, Central Asia, Russia and China”-What author is trying to convey?

• “The Biden Administration has been eager to draw Pakistan away from Beijing’s embrace because of USA’s contention with China”-Elaborate

• India Pakistan Relations-Know the Historical Background

• While Delhi has a strong government in place, Islamabad is going through one of the more difficult moments in its history-Elaborate

• What makes peace elusive between India-Pakistan in present scenario?

• Current events shaping India-Pakistan Relations-What are they?

• Major ‘changes’ in Indian diplomacy in the last eight years of New Delhi’s towards Pakistan-What is that ‘Change’?

• How diplomacy worked under former prime minister of India’s like PV Narasimha Rao, H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi in the context of Pakistan?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Pakistan@75: Navigating the way forward

Their icon of convenience

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Social empowerment

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– Rakshit Sonawane writes: Political parties which claim to revere Ambedkar support his views as per their convenience

• Quick Revision-The participation of AAP minister Rajendra Pal Gautam in one such conversion ceremony where the 22 oaths were administered has invited the wrath of BJP leaders.

• Do You Know-On October 14, 1956, B R Ambedkar along with 3,65,000 of his Dalit followers made history when they decided to leave the folds of Hinduism and embrace Buddhism. The conversion had come two decades after he had famously said that though he was born a Hindu, he would not die as one. The announcement of conversion in 1935 had come after a series of agitations for human rights for “untouchables”.

• In his Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Ancient India, Ambedkar wrote that ancient Indian history was nothing but “a history of a mortal conflict between Buddhism and Brahmanism”-Discuss

• “Buddhism was a revolution in ancient India, ushering in an era of equality, compassion, non-violence and rationality”-Elaborate further

• “Ambedkar has been used as political currency by parties of all hues, who carefully select his views as per convenience.”-Do you agree with the same?

• Rise of Buddhism in India and Gautam Buddha or Siddharth-Know in detail

• Know in detail about Doctrines of Buddhism, the Four noble truths, The Five Precepts and Eight-fold Path

• What are the special features of Buddhism and why it spread rapidly and widely?

• When, where and under which King’s Patronage the first, Second, Third and fourth Buddhist Council held?

• Know about the two main schools of Buddhism-Mahayana and Hinayana

• Rajgriha, Vaishali Patliputra, Kundalvana-Know the Importance of these place in Buddhism

• Map work-Mark Important Buddhist Sites in India

• Account for the decline of Buddhism in India

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Three reasons why Ambedkar embraced Buddhism

📍Buddha Purnima: Why Ambedkar converted to Buddhism

EXPRESS NETWORK

Insurance for space activities, lenient Bill, needed for sector’s growth: ISpA D-G

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- A new space Bill — a legal framework for commercial use of space — will be “completely different” from the proposed Bill released in 2017, doing away with provisions for imprisonment, according to Lt Gen AK Bhatt, director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA)

• The Draft Outer Space Activities Act 2017-Know key highlights of the bill

• Space activities in India, which started in early 1960s , are hitherto pursued by which department as nodal agency for space activities in India?

• Why there is need for Space act in India?

• India is a State Party to major treaties of UN on outer space activities-What are those treaties?

• What is ‘Indian Space Association’?

• What are the issues and challenges with India’s Space policy?

• Can you suggests some points that you feel that should be part of new space policy?

• Does other countries have Space policies?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍IN-SPACe explained: what it means to the future of space exploration

📍New space policy soon, to focus on ease of doing business: PM

ECONOMY

International trade in Re: Big banks drag feet on mechanism

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Nearly three months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) put in place a mechanism to settle international trade in rupees, only two Indian banks – Uco Bank and Yes Bank – have opened special Vostro accounts to facilitate the process.

• What is Rupee Payment Mechanism?

• What is vostro account?

• What is Nostro Account?

• Nostro Account vs. Vostro Account: What’s the Difference?

• How rupee trade mechanism will benefit Import and export?

• The RBI has said the rupee trade mechanism has got a good response-Why?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Govt’s push for international trade in rupee: why and how

📍What Is a Vostro Account?

EXPLAINED

Banks’ role in financial crises

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. 

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for 2022 — popularly called the Nobel prize for economics — has been awarded to three US-based economists: Ben S Bernanke (former Chair of the US Federal Reserve and currently associated with the Brookings Institution in Washington DC), Douglas W Diamond (University of Chicago) and Philip H Dybvig (Washington University in St. Louis).

• Why have they won?

• What Bernanke said on what caused the Great Depression?

• What was Diamond and Dybvig’s analysis?

• How does society resolve this mismatch?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍3 US-based economists given Nobel Prize for work on banks

How China beat extreme poverty; and what lessons it holds for India

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to poverty and hunger

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-

• General Studies II: Issues relating to poverty and hunger

• General Studies III: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Last week, the World Bank released its latest report on global poverty. It stated that “economic upheavals brought on by Covid-19 and later the war in Ukraine” had produced “an outright reversal” in poverty reduction across the planet. The pace of poverty reduction had been slowing down anyway since 2015, thanks to a slowdown in growth rates but the pandemic and war have caused an outright reversal. So much so that the “world is unlikely to meet the goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030”.

• What is Poverty?

• How poverty is Defined by World Bank?

• Extreme poverty definition by World Bank?

• What has the World Bank stated about India’s poverty levels?

• Who can India learn from?

• What did China achieve?

• How did China do it?

• Classifications of poverty-Know in Detail (Hint: Absolute and Relative)

• Poverty estimation in India-How Poverty is defined in India?

• Alagh Committee (1979) Lakdawala Committee (1993), Tendulkar Committee (2009), Rangarajan committee (2012) and their poverty estimation.

• What do you understand by the term ‘head-count ratio’?

• What do understand by Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) and Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE)?

• Poverty Alleviation Programs in India by Government of India

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY)-Key Features

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍World Bank says 70 million plunged into poverty in 2020: What caused setbacks in India, world

What is Ujjain’s Mahakal corridor, to be inaugurated by PM Modi

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: History of India and Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times and urbanization

• What’s the ongoing story- Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to inaugurate the Mahakaleshwar Corridor, constructed in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain at a cost of Rs 350 crore, on October 11. Here is a look at the project and what it entails.

• What is the Mahakal corridor?

• First phases of the Mandir Parisar Vistar Yojna-Key Features (just a Cursory Reading)

• What is the second phase of the plan?

• When was the project conceptualised?

• Significance of Mahakaleshwar, who governs the temple

• Significance of Mahakal Corridor?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Ujjain’s Mahakal Corridor: PM Modi to inaugurate Rs 856-crore ‘Mahakal Lok’ project in Ujjain on Tuesday

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