Civil Services Chronicle August 2019

1 Jal Shakti Ministry: Answer to Water Crisis?

2 Acute Encephalitis Syndrome: Litchi or Government’s Incompetency

3 Nandan Nilekani Committee: Towards Less Cash Economy

4 NBFC CRISIS

5 India-Sri Lanka-Maldives: Neighborhood still Remains First

6 Asia-Pacific Group Supports India’s UNSC Non-permanent Membershipc

7 G-20 (Group of 20)

8 Maharashtra Farmers Defy Ban to Plant GM Cotton

9 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought Observed on June 17

10 Gujarat – Drought Crisis

1 Cabinet Approves Extension of PM-KISAN scheme to all farmers

2 High-Powered Committee of CMs to Transform Indian Agriculture

3 On Tap Licensing For Small Finance Banks

4 RBI Relaxes Leverage Ratio for Banks

5 RBI Issues Revised Norms to Deal with Stressed Assets

6 SEBI Proposes Whistleblower Mechanism to Curb Insider Trading

7 SEBI Introduces Probability of Default Mechanism

8 Government Proposes WTO-Compliant Schemes

9 U K Sinha Committee on MSMEs

1 First Ever Conviction under Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016

2 Cabinet approves the SEZ (Amendment) Bill, 2019

3 One Nation One Election

4 Cabinet approves International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2019

5 Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019

1 India Supports Israel at the UN Vote

2 SCO Summit, Bishkek 2019 reiterates Shanghai Spirit

3 Tariffs and Counter Tariffs between India and the US

4 Hong Kong Crisis

1 India to have its own Space Station

2 The Cabinet Committee on Security Clears the Setting up of the DSRA

3 AWaRe- A WHO Tool for Safer Use of Antibiotics

4 World’s Highest Weather Stations installed on Mt Everest

5 Largest “Dead Zones” in the Gulf of Mexico

6 Wave-Like Cloud Formation Spotted at Australia

7 India gets new C-ATFM System

8 India Successfully Test Fires Hypersonic Cruise Missile

9 India Set to Join Heavyweight Torpedo Club

1 Cyclone Vayu S pared Gujarat Coast

2 Odisha comes up with Unique Flood Hazard Atlas

3 Japan in support of Whaling

4 New Tortoise Species Discovered in Arunachal

5 Scientists Discover New Frog Species in Assam

6 Kappaphycus alvarezii invades Gulf of Mannar

7 Miracle Plant ‘Arogyapacha’

1 PERSONS IN NEWS

2 ON THE HOT SEAT

3 FACES ONLY IN MEMORY

4 AWARDS

5 PLACES IN NEWS

1 Chaukhandi Stupa

2 Niligiri’s Rock Painting Being Destroyed

3 Sindhu Darshan Festival

4 Samadhi Buddha Statue

1 E-Governance Initiatives for ST Welfare Schemes

2 Government reduces ESI contribution rate to 4 per cent

3 Prison Statistics India, 2016

4 ICMR Recommends Ban on Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS)

5 Swachh Bharat Helped Reduce Ground Water Contamination: UNICEF

6 Amendment to Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964

7 Hike in National Defence Fund Scholarship Assistance

8 SDG Gender Index

9 Swachh Survekshan League (SSL) 2020

1 PIB Corner

2 PIB Corner

3 PIB Corner

4 PIB Corner

5 PIB Corner

Football

1 FIFA Women World Cup

2 Gianni Infantino Re-elected as FIFA Chief

Hockey

1 FIH Men’s Series

2 FIH Women’s Series

Archery

1 World Archery Championships 2019

Sports Persons In News

1 Asian Snooker Championship

2 French Open 2019

Cricket

1 Yuvraj Singh Retires

Athletics

1 IAAF to become World Athletics

1 NARA (National Ambition + Regional Aspirations)

2 Telangana Enhances Rythu Bandhu Scheme

3 One Citizen One Tree Campaign

4 Outcry over Article 371(A)

5 Retired Officers Digital Records Archive (RODRA)

6 Legal Person Status to Animals

7 Delhi Metro: India’s first metro to Receive Power from Waste-to-Energy

8 Ratification of OECD’s Multilateral Convention to Check Tax Evasion

9 National Freight Index

10 India Notifies Tax Info Exchange Pact with Marshall Islands

11 India to Add 500 GW Renewable Energy by 2030

12 GI Tag for Kolhapuri Chappals

13 India No Longer World’s Fastest Growing Economy

14 French Railways to Develop Indian Railway Stations

15 US-Iran Stand-off Escalates

16 Strawberry Moon 2019

17 ICANN, NASSCOM Collaborate to Develop Technology, Standards for IoT

18 IRENA released Report titled ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018’

19 New Wasp Species Identified in Goa

20 El Salvador Recognises Forests as Living Entities

21 Indian Navy Environment Conservation Roadmap (INECR)

22 Bihar Government bans Tree-Felling

23 Scientists Unravel the Fungus Responsible for Sheath Blight Disease in Rice

24 Jewel-weeds Yields 20 New Species

25 Vaishno Devi Shrine to have its own Disaster Response Force by 2020

26 Indian Army installs Air Quality Monitor at Fort Williams

1 Pension Scheme for Small Shopkeepers & Retail traders

2 One Nation One Ration Card

3 Jal Shakti Abhiyan

4 Constitution of Two New Cabinet Committees

5 Distribution of Fortified Ration

6 #Selfie with Sapling campaign Launched by Environment Ministry

Topper's Interview

KANIKA AGARWAL - 4thAIR - Delhi Judicial Services Examination - 2019

Case Study

1 Case Study

2 Case Study

General Studies Mains Questions And Answers

1 Discuss the role of women and problems faced by them in Indian agriculture sector.

2 Highlight the importance of MSME sector in Indian economy. Also, identifying the challenges, suggest some policy recommendations to ensure their sustenance and competitive growth.

3 Discuss the contributions of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar for Indian society.

4 What do you understand by an earthquake swarm? Elaborate the reasons behind the earthquake swarms being witnessed across India.

5 Agroforestry is key to achieve sustainability in agriculture. Discuss the benefits and the factors impeding the growth of agro-forestry in India.

6 The impeachment of judges is an ineffective way to tackle the issue of compromised ethics in judiciary. Analyse it in the light of recent examples.

7 State of women’s participation in Indian political system is an indicator of political inequality entrenched in our democracy. Analyse the significance of gender parity in polity of India.

8 Recently the world has been witnessing intense struggle between major economies for economic supremacy which has often been termed as New Cold War by experts. Elaborate. Also, explain the role that India can play in this estrangement.

9 US and Iran relations are witnessing a new low following which the US has lifted the waiver granted to India from imposition of sanctions. Analyse its effect on India.

10 Indo-Pacific has emerged as an important theatre of competition among rival powers of the world. In light of this statement, analyse the importance of Indo-pacific for India.

11 Although the island nation does not have a vast expanse but Maldives is of critical strategic importance to India. Justify.

12 Online media is one of the reasons behind the rise of right wing terror attacks across the world. Justify. Suggest some steps to curb the global rise of right wing terrorism.

13 Examine the significance of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)? Comment on its importance in mitigating farmer’s distress.

14 What is rat-hole mining? Is it illegal? Explain. How does it hamper the environment? Give a detailed explanation.

15 With the Paris climate deal set to come into effect in 2020, nearly 200 countries gathered at Katowice in Poland for Climate Change Conference. What does the conference mean for India?

16 Coal is responsible for 40% of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Mining coal wreaks havoc on the environment and on the people who live there. Despite these known facts, coal is still the largest resource for producing electricity. Comment.

17 The government has announced an outlay of Rs.10,000 crore for Phase 2 of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, or FAME 2 scheme, to boost electric mobility and increase the number of electric vehicles in commercial fleets. What are the salient features of FAME 2 scheme? How will FAME 2 scheme have an impact?

18 Coral reefs around the world face growing danger from a changing climate, on top of the historic threats from local pollution and habitat destruction. Comment. How does a coral reef help or benefit an ecosystem?

19 What is Emotional Intelligence? Discuss the pillars of Emotional intelligence.

20 What do you understand by ethical egoism? How does it influence one’s ethical behaviour? Discuss.

Economic Development

General Studies Paper III

1 What is Unemployment?

2 Measures of Employment

3 Relationship between GDP, Inflation and Unemployment

4 Current Employment Outlook

5 Reasons for current unemployment scenario

6 Government Initiatives for Employment Generation

7 Current Scenario of Indian Labour Market

8 Recent Steps taken by the Government

9 Skill Development Initiatives

10 The challenges of the Indian Global Economy

11 Trade Deficit

12 Ways to Increase Export

13 Multilateral Trade and India

14 Foreign Direct Investment

15 Fugitive Economic Offender Act, 2018

16 Ease of Doing Business

17 WTO Reforms

18 Why India Needs New Trade Policy

19 India’s Stance on WTO Reform

20 Overview of Agriculture Sector in India

21 Fragmented Land Holding

22 Irrigation Bottlenecks

23 Crop Failure Issue

24 Dearth of Capital

25 Seed Related Issues

26 Indiscriminate Use of Chemical Fertilizers

27 Post-Harvest Loss (PHL) (Storage Issue)

28 Marketing Related Issues