UPSC Key-October 25, 2022: Why you should read ‘Rishi Sunak’ or ‘Cyclone Sitrang’ or ‘Oil and Dollar’ 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- Rishi Sunak will become Britain’s next prime minister after he won the race to lead the Conservative Party, leaving him with the task of steering a deeply divided country through an economic downturn set to leave millions of people poorer. Sunak, one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster and set to be the country’s first leader of colour, will be asked to form a government by King Charles, replacing Liz Truss, the outgoing leader who only lasted 44 days in the job before she resigned.

• Personality in News– Rishi Sunak

• Who is Rishi Sunak?

• Why Rishi Sunak appointment as Britain PM is historic one?

• The British political system is a two party system-True or False?

• What is two party system?

• What are the two main types of political parties in UK?

• Rishi Sunak is elected leader of which party?

• How is the new Conservative leader selected?

• Do Britons actually ever vote for their Prime Minister?

• How parties choose their leaders

• But didn’t Britain vote for Boris Johnson in 2019?

• What is the Election process in Britain?

• India and UK after Rishi Sunak-can you explain how both countries’ relationship will be?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:   

📍Who is Rishi Sunak, set to become the UK’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister?

📍UK PM race: Why the British public is not choosing its leader

Asked to resign by Governor, V-Cs get interim HC relief

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- In an interim order on Monday, the Kerala High Court allowed the Vice-Chancellors (V-Cs) of nine universities in the state to continue in office till the Governor, as the chancellor, takes a final decision on the issue. On Sunday, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had asked the V-Cs to resign by Monday morning, saying they were “either appointed from single-name panels or recommended by the search/ selection committee with non-academician as member”.

• The petitioners argued that there was denial of natural justice as they were not heard before being asked to resign-What is “Natural Justice”?

• For Your Information-As per Section 13(4) of the University Act, 2015, the (Search) Committee shall recommend unanimously a panel of not less than three suitable persons from amongst the eminent persons in the field of engineering sciences, which shall be placed before the Visitor/Chancellor. In the present case, admittedly the only name of respondent No. 1 was recommended to the Chancellor. As per the UGC Regulations also, the Visitor/Chancellor shall appoint the Vice Chancellor out of the panel of names recommended by the Search Committee”.

• Why Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had asked the V-Cs to resign?

• What role does the Governor play in the parliamentary system?

• What Articles 153-161 of the Constitution says?

• The Governor is appointed by whom?

• ‘The post of the Governor was envisaged as being apolitical; however, the role of Governors has been a contentious issue in Centre-state relations for decades’-Discuss

• Article 164(1) says state “Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor”- What is the pleasure of the Governor?

• So, can the Governor of a state sack minister?

• What attempts have been made to address concerns over the alleged partisan role played by Governors?

• The Sarkaria Commission, set up in 1983 to look into Centre-state relations, proposed certain points for the selection of Governors-Know them in detail

• What Punchhi Committee, constituted in 2007 on Centre-state relations said on selection the Governor?

• The Punchhi Committee recommended deleting the “Doctrine of Pleasure” from the Constitution-What is “Doctrine of Pleasure”?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Tussle in Kerala: Can Governor Khan dismiss a state minister?

📍The governors and their role, once again at the Centre of things

EXPRESS NETWORK

‘Orange’ alert for Bengal; state says all evacuated, relief supply on track

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-At least 24 people were killed in Bangladesh as Cyclone Sitrang slammed into densely-populated, low-lying areas of the nation. The first tropical cyclone of the post-monsoon season of 2022 developed in the Bay of Bengal and is called Sitrang, as named by Thailand. The last October cyclone in the Bay of Bengal was Titli in 2018.

• What is Cyclone?

• For Your Information-A “Cyclonic Storm’ or a “Cyclone” is an intense vortex or a whirl in the atmosphere with very strong winds circulating around it in anti-clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. Tropical cyclones are also referred to as ‘Hurricanes’ over Atlantic Ocean, ‘Typhoons’ over Pacific Ocean, ‘Willy-Willies’ over Australian Seas and simply as ‘Cyclones’ over north Indian Ocean (NIO).

• Classification of cyclonic disturbances-how they are classified?

• Structure of Tropical Cyclone-Know in detail

• What is eye of the Cyclone?

• What is the average lifespan of a cyclonic storm?

• Storm Intensity, Expected Damage and Suggested Actions-Know in detail

• Deep Depression (DD), Cyclonic Storm (CS), Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS), Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS), Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm (ESCS) and Super Cyclone (SuCS)-how they are different?

• 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:   

📍Explained: How are tropical cyclones named?

EXPLAINED

‘General consent’ for CBI

Syllabus:

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

Main Examination: General Studies II: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The government of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday (October 21) restored general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate cases in Maharashtra, reversing the decision of the state’s previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

• Why is the consent of states needed?

• What is the general consent for CBI?

• How Withdrawal of consent takes place?

• How the states acted

• The first state to withdraw consent was Mizoram in 2015-True?

• Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-Organisation, Role and Functions

• What Santhanam Committee said on Prevention of Corruption?

• What is Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946?

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) draws its power from which act/statute?

• Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)-Connect the dots

• Issues and Challenges associated with CBI-Brainstorm

• How Director of CBI is Appointed?

• According to former Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana “CBI had gone from being the people’s most trusted to the subject of deep public scrutiny”-discuss the transition of CBI

• However, citizens continue to believe in CBI, as citizens frequently request CBI investigations. What are your thoughts when the word “CBI” comes to your mind?

• What was the landmark 1997 Vineet Narain judgment of the Supreme Court (Vineet Narain & Others vs Union Of India & Anr)?

• The tenure of the CBI Director at two years is fixed-True or false?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The CBI’s uneasy history

📍Explained: What is ‘general consent’ for the CBI, now withdrawn by Meghalaya?

India’s fresh Ukraine advisory: What does it say, why it was issued

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- In a fresh advisory, India has warned its citizens against travelling to Ukraine and asked students who went back to their colleges in the country to leave, in view of the “deteriorating security situation”. The advisory, issued on October 19, has once again drawn attention to the popularity of Ukraine, which is locked in a war with Russia, as a study destination for thousands of Indians, who flock there mostly for MBBS degrees.

• What does the fresh advisory say?

• What prompted the new advisory?

• How many Indians are in Ukraine currently?

• But why did the students return to Ukraine?

• Why is Ukraine popular for Indian medicine aspirants?

• How many Indian students are there in Ukraine?

• Why eastern Europe is popular with Indian medical students?

• Why is Ukraine preferred for an MBBS courses?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:   

📍Explained: Why eastern Europe is popular with Indian medical students

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

The twin challenges

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- Madan Sabnavis: Policymakers have little control over the dollar and crude oil. It is impossible to take a call on how these prices will move

• “The two major irritants for India this year have been oil and the dollar”-How?

• With the winter months approaching and Europe dependent on natural gas for heating, there has been a twist in the tale-What is that twist which Author is talking about?

• “High oil prices mean many things”-Decode

• Another factor that will complicate matters is expectations-How and what kind of expectations will complicate the things?

• The rupee depreciation also leads to importing inflation-What is importing inflation?

• What causes imported inflation?

• This time, the rupee plunged to a fresh low of 83.02 against the US dollar-can you tell why this is happening?

• Why the Dollar is higher than the Indian Rupee?

• What do you understand by the ‘rupee exchange rate’?

• Why are the rupee-dollar exchange rate and forex reserves falling?

• Some experts also attribute “outflow of foreign portfolio investment (FPI) for rupee plunging”-What FPIs’ market exit means?

• How does outflow of foreign portfolio investment impacts the markets and the rupee?

• What will be the effect on the economy?

• What do you understand by Rupee depreciation?

• Appreciation vs Depreciation of Currency-Compare and Contrast

• “The theory that RBI can intervene and protect certain levels of currency has its limitations”-What kind of Limitations?

• The RBI and the Government of India have had to work overtime to mitigate the adverse effects of oil prices and Rupee fall-what are the steps taken by them?

• How RBI has been intervening from time to time to contain the volatility in rupee?

• What should policymakers do to prevent the fall?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:   

📍Strengthening dollar, weakening rupee: what the numbers show

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