UPSC Key-July 19, 2022: Why you should read ‘Right to MSP’ or ‘Dependency Ratio’ or ‘Chin refugees’ for UPSC CSE

Govt forms panel for ‘more effective’ MSP, invites three names from SKM

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies III: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Seven months after farmers ended their protest at the borders of Delhi after forcing the repeal of the new farm laws, the Centre notified a committee Monday to “promote zero-budget based farming” and to make the minimum support price (MSP) more “effective and transparent”.

• MSP (minimum support price) and effectiveness of MSP implementation

• Which are the Crops Covered under MSP?

• Public distribution system (PDS) and MSP

• How MSP is calculated (paid out costs, labour etc.) and Crops covered under the MSP

• What are the demands by Farmers in the context of MSP in the recent scenario?

• “Right to MSP”-is it possible to implement and if not, then what are the issues and Challenges?

• Recommendation of Ashok Dalwai Committee and M. S. Swaminathan Committee on MSP-Key highlights

• What do you understand by the term ‘comprehensive cost of production of a crop’?

• Demand for legal guarantee for MSP-Pros and Cons

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍 Tackling agricultural reforms after farm laws repeal

📍 Survey in perspective

📍 MSP for all crops is fiscally unfeasible

As it prosecuted Devas, ex-ISRO officials, Govt sought ‘settlement’

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Main Examination:

• General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

• 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 is the use of the S-band spectrum, what is its Frequency?

• Why S-Band Spectrum is Valuable?

• S-Band Spectrum and Long-Term Evolution-How they are related?

• Department of Space-About, Chairman, Role

• Department of Space and ISRO-Any Connections or Both are independent in their own Domain?

• Spectrum allocation in India

• A 2005 satellite deal between Antrix Corporation and Devas Multimedia Pvt Ltd-Background and entire Controversy

• National Company Law Tribunal decision on Devas Multimedia

• Supreme Court of India’s Decision on Antrix-Devas Deal

• National Company Law Tribunal- Quasi-Judicial Body, Established Under which Act?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: The Devas-Antrix deal and its aftermath

📍Explained: Why did NCLAT term the Devas-Antrix agreement as fraud

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Reading the population

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Population and associated issues

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Amitabh Kundu, P C Mohanan write: It’s not just size. Distribution of population by age will play a significant role in shaping development dynamics.

• What is dependency ratio?

• What does high dependency ratio mean?

• Why is low dependency ratio good?

• Why is a high dependency ratio bad?

• Which country has the lowest dependency ratio?

• Do you Know-World Population Prospects 2022 is the twenty-seventh edition of the official estimates and projections of the global population that have been published by the United Nations since 1951.

• World Population Prospects 2022- What are the main takeaways for the global population?

• According to the World Population Prospects 2022, Population growth is caused in part by declining levels of mortality, as reflected in increased levels of life expectancy at birth-true or false?

• According to the World Population Prospects 2022, International migration is having important impacts on population trends for some countries. How?

• The size of the population is intimately connected to the power dynamics shaping the relationship between nations, regions and generations-Do you agree with the given statement?

• What is ‘Demographic gravitation’?

• Can you highlight population transformations around the globe?

• In what ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all components of population change, including fertility, mortality and migration?

• How Population data provide critical information for use in development planning?

• What are the factors influencing the population growth?

• Most countries have population policies and programmes to influence fertility levels. What are the policies and programmes in India to influence fertility levels?

• What is Total Fertility Rate (TFR)?

• What does Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.1 mean?

• What National Family Health Survey 5 said about Total Fertility Rate (TFR)?

• What is Replacement Fertility Rate?

• How is the Total Fertility Rate calculated?

• What is the difference between birth rate and Total Fertility Rate (TFR)?

• Does an increase in births mean that TFR will go up?

• What is demographic dividend?

• The UN projections say that by 2050, India’s population will reach 1,668 million, far exceeding China’s declining population at 1,317 million. What will be its implications?

• What is the significance of India overtaking China?

• What pattern of population distribution is India?

• What are the policy implications arising out of these two trends?

• How reliable is the UN projection, and how do they compare with India’s Census?

• Family Planning in India-Issues and Challenges

• Population growth brings what sort of challenges for Indian public policy?

• Do you think that massive growth in population in India is blessing in disguise?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Reading UN population report

📍Global life expectancy falls after Covid years

📍The missing women

📍THE MOST POPULOUS

UNSAYABLE IN THE HOUSE

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Do you know-Hemant Tukaram Godse is the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) representing Nashik, Maharashtra. When the voters of Nashik first sent him to Parliament in 2014, he found himself in a peculiar position. His surname was considered unparliamentary. Parliamentary rules specify that presiding officers can delete words from the day’s proceedings that they consider defamatory, indecent, unparliamentary or undignified.

• What constitutes unparliamentary language in Indian Parliament?

• According to the Author, the current controversy surrounding the addition of unparliamentary words in a Lok Sabha publication raises three questions. What are they?

• For your Information-Article 105(2) of the Constitution lays down that “no Member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in Parliament or any committee thereof”.

• What Rule 380 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha says?

• Which words are included in latest list?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What are ‘unparliamentary words’ unfit for House, how are they listed?

📍What’s parliamentary and unparliamentary language?

THE IDEAS PAGE

Delhi to New Middle East

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- C. Raja Mohan writes: Joe Biden’s recent trip to the Middle East highlights the emerging trends in the region’s diverse political and strategic orientations. Diplomatic realism in Delhi means India can realise its potential in the region

• What author is trying to say in statement “Biden’s visit highlights not only some new trends that are reshaping the region but also eternal truths about international politics that are lost in the din of public discourse about the Middle East.”?

• What is “I2U2”?

• From ‘International Forum for Economic Cooperation’ to “I2U2”-Know the background and Evolution

• How India can contribute significantly to peace and prosperity in the West Asian region through I2U2 Summit?

• “The I2U2 marks the consolidation of a number of new trends in India’s Middle East policy that acquired greater momentum recently”-What have you understood by this statement?

• India and Israel Bilateral relations-Know the background and how it has evolved over the time?

• How India’s participation in the West Asian Quad brings Delhi in line with other major powers including Europe, China, and Russia?

• How The I2U2 sets the stage for a new and dynamic phase in India’s relations with the Middle East.

• The Abraham Accord is between which Countries?

• Map Work-Countries involved in Abraham Accord

• The Abraham Accord is the first Arab-Israeli peace deal-True or False?

• The India-Israel-US-UAE grouping-Know the bilateral relations between each one of them

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Why is the Israel-UAE trade pact more than just another international deal? 

A refuge in Mizoram

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Deepak K Singh writes: While Centre’s approach is security-centric, Mizoram government has a magnanimous, people-centred policy towards Chin refugees from Myanmar

• Who are the Chin refugees?

• Where did the Chin people come from?

• What exactly is a refugee, an asylum-Seeker and a migrant?

• Know about United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

• What is Global Refugee Forum (GRF)?

• What is India’s Refugee Policy?

• 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and India-Know in detail

• What do you understand by expression ‘right of non-refoulement’?

• Why Author says that “One of the spin-offs of the political turmoil in Myanmar has been an unprecedented schism between the Indian government and the Mizoram state government”?

• “Mizos and Chins and the unique social-political realities between the two people at the India-Myanmar international border”-Decode the statement

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: The ‘Blood Comrades’ of Myanmar, their violence targeting military junta’s opponents

EXPLAINED

Three terms: Glossary for the troubled global economy

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

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- With the US’ inflation rate at 9.1% in June, the highest in 40 years, Udit Mishra looks into three key terms: Yield inversion, soft-landing and reverse currency war.

• What do you understand by ‘Bond yield curve inversion’?

• What is the yield curve and why is it important?

• What is the current yield curve shape?

• What is Soft-landing?

• Soft-landing versus Hard-landing-Compare and Contrast

• What is Reverse Currency War?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍ExplainSpeaking | Forex reserves & rupee’s exchange rate: what are they and how are they related?

Clearing CMs’ foreign trips

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has questioned why the Centre has delayed the clearance of his trip to Singapore, where he has been invited to attend a World Cities Summit scheduled during July 31- August 3.

• What clearance do Chief Ministers require to travel abroad?

• What is political clearance?

• How often have CMs’ requests for political clearance been denied?

• Has the issue of political clearance been debated in government?

• Are any other clearances required?

• Do judges need clearance for foreign trips?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Singapore trip in limbo, CM reminds Modi of the time US denied him visa

THE WORLD

Britain declares ‘national emergency’ because of heat

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Two months ago, France experienced its hottest May on record, with record highs in some cities. A spring heat wave also affected Spain, Italy and other countries. Then, Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe suffered during a spell of extreme heat. Now temperatures across Europe are soaring yet again from Spain to the British Isles and spreading east.

• What is heat wave?

• What is criterion for declaring heat wave?

• Global warming and Heat waves in Europe-Connect the dots

• Other than global warming, what are the other factors, that may make Europe a heat wave hot spot?

• “Cutoff low” and Heat wave-connect the dots

• ‘Some studies found that heat waves in Europe had increased in frequency and intensity over the past four decades, and linked the increase at least in part to changes in the jet stream’-Elaborate

• World’s major ocean currents-Know their names

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Why Europe is becoming a heat wave hot spot

ECONOMY

DGCA flags recent snags, gives airlines 10 days to plug gaps

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Airlines are improperly identifying causes of reported defects on aircraft, and are not placing qualified engineers at all airports, spot checks by India’s aviation safety regulator have revealed.

• What is meant by air safety or aviation safety?

• Why is airline safety important?

• What is Rule 134 and Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937?

• What is aviation security in India?

• Indian Aviation Sector-Know the basic details like Total passenger traffic, Cargo Traffic etc.

• The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also Chicago Convention-Know its outcome

• The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a specialized agency under which organisation?

• What is annex 19 of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)?

• Has India ratified the Chicago Convention?

• What are the issues and challenges other than air safety and security?

• Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)-Role, Vision and Mandate

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India has one of the better air safety indicators in the world: Puri

 

For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com
The UPSC KEY Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest Updates.