UPSC Key-July 6, 2022: Why to read ‘Social Media Intermediaries’ or ‘Hybrid Militants’ or ‘Prosopis Juliflora’ or ‘Office of Deputy Chief Minister’ for UPSC CSE

Twitter takes Centre to court over some orders for takedown of content

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.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– Twitter has been given until July 4 to comply with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s orders. If this is not done, Twitter may lose its intermediary status, which means it will be held liable for all comments made on its platform. A day after the deadline passed, Twitter filed a lawsuit against some of the government missives ordering it to remove certain content from its microblogging site.

• What was the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s content-blocking orders issued under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000?

• Why has Twitter filed the lawsuit?

• What were the events preceding the lawsuit?

• How has the government reacted?

• What is Twitter’s track record on complying with government orders?

• What Section 69 (A) of the IT Act, 2000 says?

• The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021-Key highlights

• Social Media Intermediaries-What is ‘intermediaries’?

• In Shreya Singhal v/s Union of India judgment, Supreme court of India upheld Section 69A and striked down Section 66A of the IT Act-Why?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

📍Explained: Why Twitter has moved court against govt’s content-blocking orders

New worry in J&K: Officers say militancy entering a ‘secretive, dangerous’ phase

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- According to Top police officers in J&K, the militancy in Kashmir has entered a “secretive and dangerous” phase that has alarmed the security apparatus.

• ‘The militancy in Kashmir has entered a “secretive and dangerous” phase’-Decode the given statement

• “The command structure among militants is missing. There is no reigning force and that makes it dangerous. The separatist leadership is in jail and those who are out have lost their grip. We are fighting an invisible enemy now”-What is the main concern as per the police officer?

• What do you understand by ‘Guerrilla warfare’?

• Why is it called guerrilla warfare?

• What is the difference between insurgency and guerrilla warfare?

• What do you understand by the term ‘Hybrid’ militants?

• What is the difference between militant and insurgent? How militancy is different from insurgency?

• Know these terms-Terrorism, Insurgency, Belligerency and Civil war

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Tavleen Singh writes: Another exodus in Kashmir?

Cell therapy cancer centre takes shape in Bengaluru, trials are on

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 is Cell therapy (CT)?

• How cell therapy works?

• What are the different types of cell therapy?

• What are different Cell therapy strategies?

• Know the types of cells

• What is Stem cell?

• Is stem cell therapy the same as cell therapy?

• Have stem cells already been used to treat diseases?

• What are the potential problems with using embryonic stem cells in humans?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Research shows synthetic stem cells could improve therapy

GOVT & POLITICS

UP Dy CM, addl chief secy spar over doctors’ transfer

Syllabus:

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

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:

• The office of Deputy Chief Minister-Know in detail

• Deputy Chief Minister is a member of the state government and a constitutional position-True or False?

• ‘The position of deputy chief minister is used to bring political stability and strength within a coalition government’-Attest this statement

• What does a deputy chief minister mean in a state government?

• Deputy Chief Minister is equal in rank to cabinet minister-True or False?

• In oath-taking, the Constitution or convention does not provide for a separate oath for the deputy chief minister-True or False?

• What is the role of a deputy chief minister in government’s functioning?

• Are there any specific financial powers that lie with the deputy CM?

• All the official files that go to CM shall be routed through deputy CM-Do you agree?

• It has been alleged by the political experts that the political parties often adopt the practice of appointing deputy chief ministers to appease their allies. How far you agree with the same?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: The role of a Deputy Chief Minister in the functioning of state government

EXPRESS NETWORK

Former Mumbai top cop Sanjay Pandey appears before ED

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies IV: challenges of corruption and Corporate governance.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-  Former Mumbai Police commissioner Sanjay Pandey is under the Enforcement Directorate (ED) scanner in connection with the National Stock Election (NSE) co-location scam.

• What is the NSE co-location scam?

• What happened at the co-location facility of the NSE that is now being probed by law enforcement agencies?

• Do you know-The scam in NSE’s co-location facility occurred nearly a decade ago. It was claimed that between 2012 and 2014, one of the trading members, OPG Securities, was given unfair access that allowed him to log in first to the secondary server and obtain data before others in the co-location facility.

• What is co-location?

• What exactly are co-location facilities?

• How was NSE co-location scam uncovered?

• What is the magnitude of the loss or default caused by the NSE co-location scam?

• Who are Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramakrishna?

• What is the Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramakrishna’s role in NSE co-location scam?

• Why is Former Mumbai Police commissioner Sanjay Pandey being investigated?

• What did the probe by the capital markets regulator find?

• What did SEBI do?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: The co-location scam, its alleged link to former Mumbai police chief Sanjay Pandey

Jaishankar to visit Bali on July 7 for G20 Foreign Ministers’ meet

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s Interests

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is G20?

• Origin of G20-Know the background

• How G20 Works?

• G20 or Group of Twenty-About, Purpose and Member Countries

• G20 ‘Troika’ and India-Know in detail

• Procedure for taking over the G20 presidency-How it is Decided?

• G20-Relevance in today’s Changing Geopolitical Dynamics?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India and G20 : How India can reshape world economic and financial order

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Learning from deluge

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Disaster and disaster management.

Key Points to Ponder:

• According to the authors, this year’s floods in Assam have been merciless-Why?

• Why author is saying that the story of this year’s floods starts in the Bay of Bengal?

• How does the Bay of Bengal influences the monsoon in Northeast India?

• Try to decode this statement-“Two coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomena, one from the distant Pacific, La Niña and another in the tropical Indian Ocean, a negative dipole condition, combined to create high rainfall in the Bay of Bengal”.

• What causes mega flood?

• Why are floods an annual occurrence in the state of Assam?

• Why are floods so destructive in Assam?

• Map Work-Brahmaputra (Origin, Course and Drainage pattern)

• What do you understand by ‘Bank erosion by Brahmaputra’?

• How bad is the current flood compared to previous ones?

• Has the government tried to address the factors that cause floods?

• India’s flood management plan-Know in Detail

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Why Assam is prone to floods, and what the solution is

EXPRESS NETWORK

Restoring Banni grasslands, Gujarat battles invasive tree species

Syllabus:

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• Where is Banni grassland found?

• Do you Know-Banni grassland was declared a Protected Forest in 1955, under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.

• With respect to banni grassland, Forest department officials have said that over the years, the landscape of Banni has shown drastic changes with the deterioration of the grassland taking place due to certain reasons-Know the causes and reasons in detail

• What is Prosopis Juliflora?

• What is the Land Use Land Cover (LULC) assessment?

• What do you understand by Invasive tree species?

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

• What are the Causes of Desertification?

• Desertification in India-Know in detail

• What are the measures taken by India to Curb Desertification/Land Degradation?

• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UN-CCD)-Background and current status

• Global Efforts to Prevent Desertification Goal 15 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), 2030-Know in detail

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍With invasive species and soil degradation, Delhi is slowly losing its dhau trees

EXPLAINED

Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan: The Region, Status, Crackdown

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, Indian diaspora.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Who are the Karakalpaks?

• What is the region’s history?

• What triggered the recent protests?

• How has the Uzbekistan government reacted?

• Why do the Karakalpaks feel neglected?

• Map Work- Uzbekistan, Amu Darya, Aral sea and Karakalpakstan

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍A tale from Karakalpakstan

Nairobi Flies

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Why in news-Around 100 students of an engineering college in East Sikkim have reported skin infections after coming in contact with Nairobi flies.

• What are Nairobi flies?

• How are humans affected by them?

• Have there been outbreaks of the disease?

• What is the way to protect oneself against Nairobi flies?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍100 students at Sikkim college infected by Nairobi flies

The Bhagyalakshmi temple in Hyderabad, and the BJP’s push for ‘Bhagyanagar’

Syllabus:

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

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:

• Where is the Bhagyalakshmi temple?

• How old is this temple?

• When did the temple become a site of political contestation?

• Since when has the BJP sought to associate itself with the temple and the demands to rename Hyderabad after it?

• What is the process of renaming a city in India?

• Is the renaming of cities is a recent phenomenon?

• What are the administrative challenges after renaming a city in India?

• Renaming of city-any global examples?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Behind Bhagyanagar, a Hyderabad temple and the city’s name

Get an e-paper subscription via our special offer – click here

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.