Civil Services Chronicle March 2020

1 Annual Status of Education Report Flags Poor Learning Outcomes in Schools

2 End of Captive Coal Mining in India

3 National Strategy for Financial Inclusion

4 Deepening India-Brazil Ties

5 New T-cell Discovered: Universal Cancer Therapy in the Offing?

6 Understanding the New Forest Report 2019

Australia

1 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019

2 RBI Re-opens Voluntary Retention Route

3 Mission Purvodaya

4 Indian Railway’s 1st Waste-To-Energy Plant

5 National Infrastructure Pipeline

6 State Energy Efficiency Index -2019

1 Andhra Pradesh Assembly Clears Proposal for Three State Capitals

2 Health Ministry Releases Draft National Policy for Rare Diseases 2020

3 Govt signs accord with NDFB, ABSU to resolve Bodo issue

4 Supreme Court Accords Fundamental Right Status to Internet Access

5 Supreme Court Declares Private Property a Human Right

1 UAE Declared ‘Reciprocating Territory’ by India

2 India’s Curbs on the Import of Malaysian Palm Oil

3 India attends Hormuz Peace Initiative

4 USA Unveils West-Asia-Peace-Plan

5 Iran Rolls Back Nuclear Deal Commitments

6 Global Social Mobility Index 2020

1 NASA’s TESS Discovers Exoplanet TOI 700 d

2 GSAT-30 Successfully Launched

3 Indian Data Relay Satellite System

4 DRDO Launches Young Scientists Laboratories

5 3D Bioprinting: A Medical Marvel

6 Xenobots: World’s First Living Robots

7 Vyommitra: India’s Half-humanoid Astronaut

8 Truenat-MTB: Indian Diagnostic Tool in WHO Global Tuberculosis Programme

1 India Completes Phase-out of Ozone Depleting Chemical HCFC-141b

2 Centre Eases CRZ Rules for ‘Blue Flag’ Beaches

3 10 More Wetlands Declared Ramsar Sites

4 India Begins Coral Restoration in Gulf of Kachchh

5 Forest Committee Approves Green Credit Scheme

6 A New Archaeon Discovered in Sambhar Lake

7 SC Allows Introduction of African Cheetahs to India

8 Ophichthuskailashchandrai Discovered

9 Steppe Eagle Sighted

10 Chinese Paddlefish Goes Extinct

1 PERSONS IN NEWS

2 ON THE HOT SEAT

3 FACES ONLY IN MEMORY

4 DEFENCE

5 PLACES IN NEWS

6 STUDY/SURVEY/REPORT

7 SUMMIT/SEMINAR

8 MISCELLANEOUS

9 WORLD OF AWARDS

1 Tanhaji Malusare, the ‘Unsung Warrior’

2 1,500-year-old Sealing of Vakataka Queen Unearthed Near Nagpur

3 Victoria Memorial to Belvedere House: Kolkata’s new ‘Cultural Space’

1 SDG Index 2019

2 Crime in India Increased by 1.3% in 2018: NCRB

3 Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020

1 National Voter’s Day 2020

2 Bru-Reang Agreement

3 Reading of Preamble of the Constitution

4 KVIC to Protect Gandhi's 'Charkha' Symbol

5 Committee to Draft Mediation Law

6 National Startup Advisory Council

7 National Youth Festival 2020

8 Uttarakhand: First State to Implement Agricultural Land Leasing Policy

9 3rd Global Potato Conclave

10 India’s Africa Outreach

11 Guyana to Chair G77 in 2020

12 North Korea to attend Munich Security Conference

13 Amazon Council

14 IMO 2020 and Future of Arctic

15 International Summit on Women in STEM

16 Mobile Chipset Compatible to NavIC

17 Thirty-Metre Telescope

18 Juice Jacking

19 India’s First Snow Leopard Conservation Center

20 Arunachal to ‘Red List’ its Orchids at State Level

21 India Climate Collaborative

22 Allosaurus jimmadseni

23 WEF Initiative to Conserve 1 Trillion Trees Globally

24 Yarrabubba Crater

Sports Persons In News

1 Magnus Carlsen

2 Arjun Munda

Badminton

1 Indonesia Badminton Masters 2020

Billiards

1 National Billiards Championship

Football

1 Chuni Goswami

2 Bala Devi

Hockey

1 National Ice Hockey Championship

1 Commissionerate System of Policing Approved for Lucknow and Noida

2 India Slipped two Places in Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI-2019)

3 India Plummets to 51st rank in Democracy Index

4 India Not to Allow Imports without HSN Code

5 Farmer’s Innovation Fund

6 UN Court Orders Myanmar to Prevent Rohingya Genocide

7 Statue of Unity Finds Place in ‘8 Wonders of SCO’

8 Russia’s New Constitutional Amendment to Help Putin Stay in Power

9 India Joins Reskilling Revolution Initiative at World Economic Forum

10 Ganga-Volga Dialogue Held with Russia to Enhance Connectivity

11 Sagarmatha Sambaad

12 US to Impose Visa Restrictions for Pregnant Women

13 The Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Outbreak

14 Oldest Material on Earth Discovered

15 National Science Day: Popularising Science

16 ISRO and IIA Sign Pact for Space Cooperation

17 SC Backs Order to Demolish Villas on Kerala Island for Violating CRZ Norms

18 CDP India Annual Report 2019

19 Supreme Court Bats Against Transfer of Community Resources

20 Kerala to Curb Alien Plants’ Growth

21 “Operation Vanilla” Launched by Indian Navy for Disaster Relief at Madagascar

22 First-of-its Kind Turtle Rehab Centre Comes up in Bihar

1 STATISTICAL FACTS

1 Push to Electric Mobility

1 First In-depth Review of India’s Energy Policies

2 World Employment and Social Outlook-Trends 2020

3 Market Study on E-commerce in India

BUDGET 2020-21

1 Theme of the Budget

2 A. Aspirational India

3 B. Economic Development for All

4 C. Caring Society

5 Other Important Proposals

6 Direct Tax

7 Indirect Taxes

Topper's Interview

SWAPAN DEEP SINGHAL - 9thAIR - U.P. Higher Judicial Services Examination - 2019

Indian Economy & Socio-economic Development

1 Poverty

2 Recent RBI Committees/ Reports

3 Banks Consolidation

4 Measures to Reduce NPA’s

5 Differential Banks

6 Digital Economy

7 Crisis in NBFC’s

8 External Sector

9 New GDPMethodology

10 Indian Statistical System

11 Slowdown in Economic Growth: India’s Sep-quarter GDP growth slips to 4.5%, the lowest in over six

12 First Advance Estimates of National Income,2019-20

13 National Minimum Wage

14 Employment Scenario

15 PM Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojana

16 Pradhan Mantri Laghu VyapariYojana

17 Rising Fiscal Deficit

18 Goods and ServicesTax

19 Direct Tax Collection in the Negative Zone

20 Capital Gains Tax

21 Finance Minister Announces New Fiscal Reforms

22 Status Paper on Government Debt

23 Direct Tax Code

24 Regulatory Compliance by RBI

25 Financial Market

26 Overview of agriculture and allied sectors

27 Initiatives to Raise Agriculture Productivity

28 Farming and Food Security

29 Fertilizers

30 Science and Technology in Agriculture

31 Initiatives to Receive Remunerative Prices

32 Agri Marketing and Trade

33 Food Processing

34 Land Leasing Laws

35 Crop Insurance Schemes

36 Potential in Eastern States

37 Allied Sectors- Dairy, Fisheries and Livestock

38 Ease of Doing Business

39 Implementation of Business Reforms

40 Initiatives taken by DPIIT for the Reform Process

41 Resolving Insolvency

42 Logistics Reforms

43 Initiatives to Reform MSME’s

44 Innovations

45 Manufacturing Sectors

46 Overview of Real Estate and Housing Sector

47 Overview of Information Technology Sector

48 Tourism Sector

49 Multidimensional Poverty Index 2018

50 Human Development Index

51 Human Capital Index

52 World Health Statistics 2019

53 Global Gender Gap Index 2020

Mock Test Papers

Prelims

1 Prelims Mock Test 2020

General Studies Mains Questions And Answers

1 A faulty service delivery system could thwart any rural stimulus. Describe.

2 Cyber security a critical challenge for India’s digital payments ecosystem. Discuss.

3 Bilateral agreements are more desirable than multilateral deals. Examine.

4 Recently, The WTO’s dispute settlement panel ruled that India’s export subsidy schemes, including the provision for special economic zones, violated core provisions of global trade norms. What are export subsidies? How will it Impact India?

5 Recently, India decided not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). What were the factors contributing behind it? Enumerate the implications that will lead to it.

6 Recently, a trend has come up where Judges have been choosing not to hear some cases. In light of this, critically examine the phenomenon of Judicial Recusal.

7 Recently, World Development Report was released by World Bank with the theme “Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains (GVC)”. Critically examine whether GVCs are beneficial for trade.

8 Recently, government constituted a GST Review Committee. Do you think GST law requires any reforms? If yes, Suggest reforms to make law robust.

9 Vaccine hesitancy, which is defined by WHO as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services”, has been reported in more than 90% of countries in the world. What is Vaccine Hesitancy? Analyze the various factors which lead to it? What can be done to prevent it? Discuss.

10 The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)’s Committee on Science and Technology released a report which emphasised the importance of soil organic carbon (SOC). Write a short note on soil organic carbon. How can it help in preventing land degradation and desertification? Illustrate.

Essays

1 Role of Media in Good Governance

Survey

1 Wealth Creation: The Invisible Hand Supported by the Hand of Trust

2 Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation at the Grassroots

3 Pro-business versus Pro-markets

4 Undermining Markets: When Government Intervention Hurts More Than It Helps

5 Creating Jobs and Growth by Specializing in Network Products

6 Targeting Ease of Doing Business in India

7 Golden Jubilee of Bank Nationalisation: Taking Stock

8 Financial Fragility in the NBFC Sector

9 Privatization and Wealth Creation

10 Is India’s GDP Growth Overstated? No!

11 Thalinomics: The Economics of a Plate of Food in India

12 India’s Economic Performance in 2019-20

13 Fiscal Developments

14 External Sector

15 Monetary Management and Financial Intermediation

16 Prices and Inflation

17 Sustainable Development and Climate Change

18 Agriculture and Food Management

19 Industry and Infrastructure

20 Services Sector

21 Social Infrastructure, Employment and Human Development