UPSC Key-October 21, 2022: Why you should read ‘India-Russia Trade’ or ‘Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Google’ for UPSC CSE

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:

• What’s the ongoing story- Liz Truss quit on Thursday after the shortest, most chaotic tenure of any British prime minister, forced out after her economic programme shattered the country’s reputation for financial stability and left many people poorer.

• Personality in News– Liz Truss

• Less than a month after the Liz Truss government presented its now infamous “mini-Budget”, the Prime Minister has been forced to resign following a rebellion within her Conservative Party-What was there in Mini-Budget?

• Why widespread tax cuts led to Liz Truss resignation?

• How widespread tax cuts affected common people in Britain?

• “The mini-Budget spooked market participants because a sharp rise in borrowings at a time when the UK’s growth prospects have been iffy at best implied that the government may not be able to repay the debts it accumulated”-What you understand by this?

• How market reacted?

• Investors, unwilling to lend money to the UK government, started selling gilts (government bonds)-What do you understand by Gilts?

• Now, who could replace Liz Truss?

• How will the new UK Prime Minister be elected?

• UK Prime Minister election and Indian Prime Minister election-compare and contrast

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Five reasons why Liz Truss had to resign as UK Prime Minister

📍Liz Truss resigns: Who could replace her?

📍Liz Truss resigns: How will Britain’s new Prime Minister be chosen?

India-Russia trade soars to record high as imports of oil and fertiliser drive surge

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- Fuelled by a surge in import of oil and fertilisers, India’s bilateral trade with Russia has soared to an all-time high of $18,229.03 million in just five months (April-August) of this financial year (2022-23), according to the latest data available with the Department of Commerce.

• Data and Statistics– In contrast, the total annual bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $13,124.68 million in 2021-22, and $8,141.26 million in 2020-21. Pre-Covid, it was $10,110.68 million in 2019-20, $8,229.91 million in 2018-19, and $10,686.85 million in 2017-18.

• For your Information-With the sharp spike in trade, Russia has now become India’s seventh biggest trading partner — up from its 25th position last year. The US ($57,632.37 million), China ($50,792.83 million), UAE ($36,820.33 million), Saudi Arabia ($23,995 million), Iraq ($18,822.27 million) and Indonesia ($18,816.58 million) were the six countries which recorded higher volumes of trade with India during the first five months of 2022-23.

• How much trade does India have with Russia?

• Indo-Russia Relations-Know the background

• Russia plays a very important role in logistical as well as technological support when it comes to defence forces-Know India and Russia Military trade

• India’s bilateral trade with Russia has soared to an all-time high in just five months (April-August) of this financial year (2022-23)-Know the reasons

• Do You Know– India had a positive trade balance with Russia from 1997-98 (the most recent year for which comparable data is available) to 2002-03. But from 2003-04, New Delhi’s trade balance with Moscow has remained negative. Russia’s position gradually fell, slipping to 34th in 2013-14. It began climbing up from 2014-15, and was India’s 23rd biggest trading partner in 2017-18. After that, it remained between 25th to 30th place, before climbing to seventh place in 2022-23.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Russia deeply cherishes equal and respectful relations with India: Envoy

Pay Rs 1,337 cr for abusing dominance: CCI to Google

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a provisional penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore ($162 million) on Google for “abusing its dominant position” in multiple categories related to the Android mobile device ecosystem in the country.

• Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Google-Know the Background

• What have you understood by “abusing its dominant position”?

• What is the role of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in India?

• Competition Commission of India (CCI)-Statutory Body or Constitutional Body?

• Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act) and Competition Act, 2002-Compare and Contrast

• Composition of Competition Commission of India (CCI)-Members and their Appointment

• Functions and Role Competition Commission of India (CCI)

• Landmark Judgements of Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Why has the CCI fined Google over Rs 1,300 crore for its Android devices?

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

How not to measure hunger

Syllabus:

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Sonalde Desai writes: Global Hunger Index is riddled with inadequate and poorly described data and a lack of conceptual clarity. The problem with indices of this type is that it directs governmental attention to cross-national comparisons, sometimes resulting in the rejection of underlying issues and sidetracking the public discourse

• Quick Recap-India has ranked 107th out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022, down from the 101st position the previous year. Jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerlife, the GHI lists countries by ‘severity’. Yemen has ranked in the lowest position at 121, while the top of the list is dominated by European nations including Croatia, Estonia and Montenegro. Among Asian nations, China and Kuwait have ranked the highest.

• What is the Global Hunger Index?

• When was GHI started, and who brings it out?

• “The government has responded sharply to the publicity surrounding this, rejecting the methodology employed by the researchers and noting the substantial efforts made by the government to improve access to food grains by India’s
poor”-Why has the Indian government criticised GHI 2022?

• How justified is the government in its criticism?

• What about the use of 3 indicators that are related to children?

• What about the government’s contention that these indicators do not measure “hunger”?

• What about the government’s allegation that GHI is doing this to malign India’s image?

• “Gallup sampling methodology does not follow the usual processes used in India”-What is Gallup sampling methodology?

• How is hunger measured by GHI??

• The GHI looks at four main indicators-What are those?

• Why does GHI look at all these variables for hunger?

• What has GHI 2022 found?

• What is child wasting?

• What is India’s score relative to those of the others?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What is the Global Hunger Index and why is India trailing?

📍DON’T BE PRICKLY

THE IDEAS PAGE

The climate front

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization.

Mains Examination: 

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Ajay Tyagi writes: India should use its heft to apply pressure on developed countries to meet their financial commitments to the developing world vis a vis climate change

• What Is Climate Change?

• How Is Climate Change measured over time?

• What Causes Climate Change?

• Climate change is a global concern and requires a well-coordinated global approach to address it-How the entire World has responded to Climate Change crisis?

• According to the author, “what needs to be done is to assess and monitor the net stock of GHG (greenhouse gases) present in the atmosphere at any given time, and work out ways to contain/reduce it”- What are the greenhouse gases?

• “The Industrial Revolution in the 19th century and industrialisation in the world added to great volumes of GHG in the atmosphere over time”-How Industrial Revolution in the 19th century is also one of the main culprit in climate change crisis?

• “International climate change negotiations amongst different countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) framework started only in 1994”-What was decided in United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) framework, 1994?

• What is common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities?

• “Climate change is a tragedy of the commons”-Discuss

• “India should use its global stature, lobbying power and leadership to take the bull by its horns – make developed countries do what they should rightly be doing, be it during the COP meetings on climate change or in other forums like G-20. As India takes over the G-20 presidency, this should be our main agenda”-What India should do?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍G-20 presidency is an opportunity to position India as the voice of the Global South

EXPLAINED

October storm in Bay of Bengal after 3 yrs: When, where it is likely to hit

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 and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The first tropical cyclone of the post-monsoon season of 2022 is likely to form in the Bay of Bengal on October 24, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said. If realised, this will be the first cyclone to develop in the Bay of Bengal in October since 2018, and will be called Sitrang, as named by Thailand. The last October cyclone in the Bay of Bengal was Titli in 2018.

• What is Cyclone?

• Cyclone, Tornado, Hurricane and Typhoon-How they are different from each other?

• Cyclone and Super Cyclone-Compare and Contrast

• Cyclone and Anti-Cyclone-Compare and Contrast

• Types of Cyclones or Classification of Cyclones-Know in detail

• What are the Stages of Formation of Cyclones?

• What are Air Masses and Fronts? How they associated with the formation of Cyclones?

• India’s Vulnerability to Cyclones-Know in Detail

• Why October is month of cyclone for India’s eastern coast?

• The IMD issues warnings in four stages for the Indian coast-What are they?

• Cyclone Sitrang -Name given by which Country?

• How are Cyclones named?

• World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)-About, Role, Vision and Mission

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Aila, Amphan, Asani: What’s in a cyclone’s name?

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