UPSC Key-July 22, 2022: Why you should read ‘Custodian of the Constitution’ or ‘Fourth Pillar of Democracy’ for UPSC CSE

President-elect Murmu

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance and History of India and Indian National Movement

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– Scripting history Thursday, NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu became the first tribal woman to be elected to the highest post in the country, its 15th President.

• Who is Droupadi Murmu?

• Know in brief about Draupadi Murmu’s political journey

• Droupadi Murmu winning the Presidential election is first of its kind-Why?

• Who defends the Constitution of India and Who is the custodian of the Constitution of India?

• Before entering upon his office, the President has to make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation-In oath, the President swears what?

• What are the Executive powers, Legislative powers, Financial powers, Judicial powers, Diplomatic powers, Military powers and Emergency powers conferred to President of India by the Constitution of India?

• President of India is the supreme commander of the defence forces of India. In that capacity, President of India appoints the chiefs of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force-True or False?

• Veto Power of the President of India-Know in Detail

• Veto Power of the President of India and Veto Power of the President of the United States-Compare and Contrast

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍First tribal woman to be elected to highest post in country

📍SPIRIT OF A NATION

📍A president for our time

Previous Year UPSC Prelims Questions Based on same theme:
📍Who/Which of the following is the custodian of the Constitution of India? (Prelims 2015 GS Question Paper)
a) The President of India
b) The Prime Minister of India
c) The Lok Sabha Secretariat
d) The Supreme Court of India

In IIMs, few SCs, STs admitted to PhD, pool shallow over the years

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies I: Social empowerment

• General Studies II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are far from meeting the reservation norms for Scheduled Caste (15%), Scheduled Tribe (7.5%) and Other Backward Classes (27%) in their PhD programmes, but data presented to Parliament by the Union Education Ministry reveal that though the percentage of applications accepted out of total received is similar across social categories, the pool of candidates from the socially disadvantaged classes has remained shallow over the years.

• What is striking in the given data presented to Parliament by the Union Education Ministry?

• Why the intake of PhDs from SC, ST and OBC communities in IIMs has remained low over years?

• ‘The low intake in PhDs from SC, ST and OBC communities in IIMs has remained low over years which impacted the social diversity’-Discuss

• What is ‘Affirmative Actions’?

• What is affirmative action policy in India?

• What is affirmative action in Indian Constitution?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Exempt us from faculty quotas, IIMs tell govt

SC allows abortion at 24 weeks: Can’t deny it to unmarried woman

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary-Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Underlining that a distinction in law between a married and an unmarried woman should have no bearing on the right to terminate a pregnancy, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed an unmarried woman whose relationship status changed during the pregnancy to terminate her 24-week foetus.

• What was the Delhi HC’s decision?

• The constitutional right of women to make reproductive choices in India-Know Supreme court of India’s verdict

• What is India’s law on abortion?

• Why does the legislation have this gap?

• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 and The new Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021-Compare and Contrast

• Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021-Know the key provisions

• What is ‘Gestation’?

• For Your Information-Rule 3B of Rules annexed to the MTP Act, which was amended in 2021, specify seven categories of women who are eligible for termination between 20-24 weeks. These are: survivors of sexual assault or rape or incest; minors; those who have a change of marital status during the ongoing pregnancy (widowhood and divorce); women with physical disabilities; mentally ill women; women carrying malformed foetus that has substantial risk of being incompatible with life; and women with pregnancy in humanitarian settings or disaster or emergency situations as may be declared by the government.

• Significance and importance of Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021?

• Issues and Challenges associated with Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍UPSC ethics simplified: abortion rights vs ethics

📍What is India’s law on abortion, and why has a pregnant unmarried petitioner gone to Supreme Court in appeal?

MP forest staff get ready but why cheetahs may not roam free

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

Main Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Know the Background-The plan to secure the Asiatic lion as a back-up population in Kuno has been hanging fire since 1993. In April 2013, the Supreme Court shot down the cheetah project and set a six-month deadline for shifting a few lions from the isolated population in Gujarat’s Gir national park. As Gujarat held on to its lions, the Centre revived the cheetah plan in 2017. Finally, in 2020, the Supreme Court gave the green signal for the move — but only “on an experimental basis”.

• Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India-Important Highlights

• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)-Role, Area of Work and Chairman

• Wildlife Institute of India-Under which Ministry?

• Cheetah in India- Background

• Extinction of Cheetah from Indian Landscape-know the reasons

• Know the difference between cheetah and Leopard and African cheetah and Asiatic cheetah

• Know the Difference between Extinct, Extinct in the Wild and Critically Endangered

• Supreme Court of India on Translocating Animals

• Translocating Animals-Issues and Challenges

• Map Work World-South Africa, Namibia and Botswana

• Map Work India-Kuno Palpur National Park (Madhya Pradesh)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Why India wants to bring the African cheetah to India

📍Cheetah: The world’s fastest cat is returning to India

📍70 years after big cat’s extinction, India prepares to welcome cheetahs from Africa

IN PARLIAMENT

Centre rejects Press Freedom Index report, questions methodology

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

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

• General Studies IV: Ethics and Human Interface

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The Centre Thursday informed Parliament that it did not agree with the conclusions drawn by ‘Reporters Without Borders’ in the World Press Freedom Index that ranked India at 150 among 180 nations in its 2022 report.

• What is ‘freedom of press’?

• Why is freedom of the press important?

• What are the three key features of the freedom of press?

• What is the World Press Freedom Index?

• Who published World Press Freedom Index 2022?

• What is the rank of India in World Press Freedom Index in 2022?

• What World Press Freedom Index 2022 says about the Performance of India?

• For Your Information-The World Press Freedom Index 2022 described India as “one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media” and noted that “journalists are exposed to all kinds of physical violence, including police violence, ambushes by political activists and deadly reprisals by criminal groups or corrupt local officials.”

• Why India performed poor in The World Press Freedom Index 2022-Know the reasons behind the fall in ranking of India?

• What is freedom of press in India?

• Why Media is called as the Fourth Pillar of Democracy?

• How other countries including India’s neighbours performed in the World Press Freedom Index 2022?

• What are the responsibilities of Journalists or Media towards the Society?

• What do you understand by the term “Journalism ethics”?

• What are the Ethical dilemmas faced by Journalists anywhere in the world?

• What are the Issues Associated with Media and Journalism in India?

• What do you understand by ‘Yellow journalism’?

• How Media Is Regulated in India?

• What are the Loopholes in Media Regulation in India?

• What does Reporters Without Borders or Reporters sans Frontières stand for in journalism?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍World Press Freedom index: India retains 142 of 180 spot, remains “one of the world’s most dangerous countries” for journalists 

Opp not present, LS, RS defer debate on Bills at govt request

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- Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022, which seeks to extend the application of domestic laws to research stations set up by India in the Antarctic region.

• India has two active research stations in the Antarctic-Know them in detail

• What is Indian Antarctic Bill 2022?

• Indian Antarctic Bill 2022-Know key highlights of the bill

• For Your Information- The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 was introduced in Lok Sabha on April 1, 2022. The Bill seeks to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. It also seeks to protect the Antarctic environment and regulate activities in the region.

• What is the Antarctic Treaty? What is the purpose of this treaty?

• How does the Antarctic Treaty protect the environment?

• Map Work-Antarctica

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

GOVT & POLITICS

Pasmanda Muslims want ‘sammaan’, not ‘sneh’: Ex-MP Ali Anwar Ansari to PM

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies I: Social empowerment

Key Points to Ponder:

• Who are the Pasmanda Muslims?

• Are Muslims divided along caste lines?

• What percentage of Indian Muslims are Pasmanda, and where do they live?

• What do Pasmanda Muslims want?

• What is the history of the Pasmanda movement?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Who are Pasmanda Muslims, focus of BJP outreach?

THE IDEAS PAGE

A mixed bag of freebies

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Sudipto Mundle writes: PM Modi’s comment on ‘revdi’ culture raises questions — how to define freebies, how to make distinction between ‘merit subsidies’ and unwarranted subsidies. The answers are important for making policy.

• According to the author, “Curbing freebies may now be a policy priority. But freebies mean different things to different people”- Analyse this statement

• Freebies and Fiscal stress-Connect the dots

• Why the word ‘Freebie’ is almost sounds pejorative especially in political and policy circle?

• What goods and services should be selected for Freebie programmes?

• What should be the ideal mode of delivery for Freebie Programmes and Schemes?

• What should be a prudent fiscal limit for funding such programmes?

• For Your Information–Freebies typically conjure up images of free televisions distributed by the late J Jayalalithaa, free cycles distributed by Nitish Kumar or laptops distributed by Akhilesh Yadav. While these are the most highly visible and discussed freebies, they are fiscally insignificant compared to the much larger subsidies on food, fertiliser and petroleum.

• What do you understand by the term ‘Subsidy’?

• How the words “Essential” and “Merit “contradicts Freebie Programmes and Schemes?

• What do you understand by the term ‘Production-related incentives’?

• The macroeconomic stability of the Union is contingent on the macroeconomic stability of both the Centre and states-Critically Analyse

• The political dialogue built around freebies is fraught with danger. What ‘danger’ is associated with Freebies scheme?

• How Budget is managed for Freebies schemes and Programmes?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What India@75 needs: Education and skills, rather than freebies

📍Freebies are a passport to fiscal disaster

EXPLAINED

Kali Bein: why it matters, and effort to clean it

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: History of India

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been admitted to Delhi’s Apollo Hospital, days after he had drunk a glass of water directly from the Kali Bein, a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi.

• What is the Kali Bein?

• Do you Know-The Kali Bein is of great significance to Sikh religion and history, because the first Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have got enlightenment here. When Guru Nanak Dev was staying at Sultanpur Lodhi with his sister Bebe Nanki, he would bathe in the Kali Bein. He is said to have disappeared into the waters one day, before emerging on the third day. The first thing he recited was the “Mool Mantra” of the Sikh religion.

• How did the cleaning project in Kali Bein started?

• Sikhism and History of Sikhs

• Bhakti Movement and Sikhism

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Days after drinking water from Kali Bein, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann in hospital

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