Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for October 26, 2022. If you missed the October 25, 2022 UPSC key from the Indian Express, read it here FRONT PAGE Rishi Sunak takes charge: ‘I am not daunted, difficult decisions to come’ 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- On Tuesday, Rishi Sunak took charge as the 57th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He is the country’s third PM in 50 days after first Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss were forced from office by a rebellion within the ruling Conservative Party. Sunak takes over the reins at a time when the UK is facing one of its gravest economic and political crises in recent memory. • Who is Rishi Sunak? • Why Rishi Sunak appointment as Britain PM is historic one? • What are the difficult challenge in front of Rishi Sunak? • Rishi Sunak takes over the reins at a time when the UK is facing one of its gravest economic and political crises in recent memory-How Britain is grappling with economic crisis? • How the decision of UK to leave the EU made matters worse when it comes to economic crisis? • The war in Ukraine set off an unexpected energy price inflationary spiral that this inflationary spike morphed into a broader “cost of living” crisis-What is meant by the ‘cost of living’ crisis? • Why is the UK in a cost of living crisis? • “The Truss-Kwasi Kwarteng decision to increase spending by simply borrowing more was the final straw that broke the camel’s back”-How increase spending led to extraordinary economic crisis in UK? • Do You Know- The Truss-Kwasi Kwarteng decision to increase spending (including giving tax cuts to the richest) by simply borrowing more spooked the markets; investors sold British assets such as gilts (government bonds) and currency. The resultant fall in the pound’s exchange rate made imports even costlier and the sale of gilts meant that interest rates across the economy skyrocketed. The increased interest rates are being referred to as the “moron premium” that all British borrowers have to pay. • Does India also facing the same economic crises as of UK? • Analyse India and UK bilateral relations • Enhanced Trade Partnership between India and UK • India and UK trade-know in brief • Significance of India-UK Trade Relations • ‘Rishi Sunak becoming the UK’s prime minister is likely to give much-needed momentum to ongoing FTA’-Analyse • India and UK after Rishi Sunak- explain how both countries’ relationship will be? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Accidental Prime Minister 📍Rishi Sunak’s difficult challenge 📍Political stability in UK may give impetus to India-Britain trade pact talks: Experts Saudi Aramco executive spent week in Chamoli jail for carrying sat phone 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’s the ongoing story- A senior executive of oil giant Saudi Aramco spent almost a week in custody in Uttarakhand after he was arrested by police in July for carrying a satellite phone without permission from authorities while on a holiday. He was released after paying a fine of Rs 1,000. • What is a Satellite phone? • What is the purpose of a satellite phone? • What’s wrong with carrying a satellite phone? • For Your Information-A notification on the website of the Department of Telecommunications says: “Satellite phones are permitted: (i) With specific permission/ NOC from Department of Telecommunications, Government of India; or (ii) As provisioned by M/s BSNL in accordance with license granted to M/s BSNL for provision and operation of satellite based service using Gateway installed in India.” • How does a satellite phone work? • What is the main advantage of a satellite phone? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Satellite phones: What are they, and why is their use restricted in India? EXPRESS NETWORK In longest global outage, WhatsApp services disrupted for nearly 2 hours Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies III: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- WhatsApp, the popular instant communication app owned by Meta that is used by many for quick texting faced a major outage earlier this week, when the app went down for almost two hours. This left millions of WhatsApp users across the globe unable to send or receive messages. • WhatsApp down: What did the company say on the outage? • Was the WhatsApp outage only in India? • What was the problem? • Why do these outages happen? • Are outages becoming more frequent? • WhatsApp services down-how it impacted? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍WhatsApp outage: why were services down? THE IDEAS PAGE Of, by and for Xi 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- The 20th Party Congress ended, predictably, on October 22 with Xi Jinping remaining as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CCP) for a third five-year term. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) 20th National Congress began in Beijing on October 16. Held every five years, the National Congress is a week-long affair that has three main tasks: to endorse leadership transitions; to approve changes to the party constitution; and to deliberate on policy issues. • This year’s Communist Party Congress, the 20th since the party’s founding in 1921 is of particular significance. Why? • The People’s Republic of China is run by a single party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-True or False? • Communist Party Congress in China-know in brief • What is Chinese Communist Party (CCP) political structure? • How is the party leadership chosen? • Who is the general secretary of Chinese Communist Party (CCP)? • The amendments to the CCP constitution have cemented Xi’s position as the supreme leader-What are those amendments? • Why General Secretary of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the most powerful person in China? • China under Xi Jinping-Know each sectors performance • It is said that under President Xi Jinping, China’s foreign policy became more aggressive and muscular-Discuss • Xi’s era marks a break from Deng’s. What are the standout features of Xi’s “new era”? • China under Xi Jinping and India-connect the dots • What will five more years of Xi Jinping bring for India? • Two key phrases, “Two Safeguards” and “Two Establishes” guarantee Xi Jinping’s power- What do understand by “Two Safeguards” and “Two Establishes”? • China is facing “a situation of unparalleled complexity, a fight of unparalleled graveness and tasks of unparalleled difficulty”-Analyse • The Author says, “India will have to deal with him from a long-term perspective”-Why? • Xi has declared victory over poverty, thereby claiming that China has achieved the first of two “centenary” goals-How China achieved this feat? • Xi Jinping has set the deadline of 2027 to elevate the PLA to a world-class standard, which has implications for India. There are three in particular-What are they? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Xi Jinping’s Congress: What are the implications for China, the world, and India? EXPLAINED The heaviness of rockets, why it matters in space flight Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies III: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) crossed an important milestone with the successful launch of the LVM3 M2/OneWeb India-1 mission on Sunday. The LVM3 rocket carried almost 6 tonnes of payload into lower-earth orbit, the most that any ISRO mission has delivered into space till date. • What is the LVM3-M2 mission? • What are the Salient features of the LVM3-M2 mission? • What are the Technical Highlights of the LVM3-M2 mission? • The LVM3 rocket, which used to be called GSLV Mk-III earlier, is meant to end that dependence- dependence on what? • India currently has three operational launch vehicles-What are they? • What were the constraints with LVM3-M2 mission? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍ISRO’s heaviest rocket successfully places 36 broadband satellites in low earth orbit ECONOMY CCI slaps Rs 936-cr penalty on Google for abusing its dominant market position 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) on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant market position with respect to its Play Store policies. Last week, the antitrust regulator had imposed a penalty of Rs 1,338 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple categories related to Android mobile device ecosystem in the country. • For Your Information-According to CCI, Play Store policies require app developers to exclusively and mandatorily use Google Play’s billing system (GPBS) not only for receiving payments for apps and other digital products but also for certain in-app purchases. Further, app developers cannot, within an app, provide users with a direct link to a webpage containing an alternative payment method or use language that encourages a user to purchase the digital item outside of the app. • What is Google Play’s billing system? • What happens If the app developers do not comply with Google Play’s billing system (GPBS)? • So, why CCI imposed penalty on Google? • 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? Windfall taxes on oil firms to fetch Rs 40,000 cr in FY23 Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development Main Examination: General Studies III: Government Budgeting and Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation, of resources, growth, development and employment Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- The windfall taxes imposed in July on domestic crude and export of petroleum products will likely generate additional revenues of around Rs 40,000 crore in the current fiscal, a senior official told FE, adding that nearly half of these taxes will likely be paid by private sector companies. • What is a Windfall Tax? • What is the rationality behind Windfall Tax? • Which country has windfall tax? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of the windfall tax? • What exactly is crude oil? • Factors that affect benchmark pricing of crude oil? • How world events can affect crude oil prices? • What is cesses? • What is the difference between levy and cess? • Base price, Additional excise duty (or windfall tax), Central excise duty, State tax and Petrol Prices-Connect the Dots • Why States in India have different prices for Petrol and Diesel? • Retail prices in India compared to global crude oil price-Know the basics • Types of Cess levied in India-Know in detail • Cess and Article 270 of the Constitution- Connect the Dots Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Explained: Why India has cut windfall tax on diesel, aviation fuel exports For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com The UPSC KEY Indian Express is now on Telegram. 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