Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for August 31, 2022. If you missed the August 30, 2022 UPSC key from the Indian Express, read it here FRONT PAGE SC no to Ganesh puja at Bengaluru Idgah ground, HC allows it in Hubbali Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. Mains Examination: • General Studies I: Communalism, Regionalism & Secularism. • General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- In two separate courtroom battles Tuesday, the Supreme Court said no to Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at the Idgah grounds in Bengaluru while the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka High Court late at night declined to stay an order of the Hubbali Mayor allowing the celebrations at the Idgah maidan in Hubbali. • First of all, what is Idgah Maidan? • What is the background of this whole issue? • What is Anjuman-e-Islam? • Anjuman-e-Islam and 1921 lease agreement-Connect the dots • What was the Supreme Court order in 2010 related to Idgah maidan and Hubbali-Dharwad Municipal Corporation? • What is the present case about? • What is a Wakf property? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍How Karnataka govt pushed for widening use of ground in Bengaluru 📍Bengaluru’s Idgah maidan and the legal battle over the use of Wakf land 📍Bengaluru Idgah row: A pot kept on steady simmer ahead of 2023 polls 📍Explained: A short history of the Hubbali-Dharwad Idgah controversy Punjab bans sarpanch proxies: ‘Male kin of women can’t attend meetings’ Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. Mains Examination: • General Studies I: Role of women and women’s organization and Social empowerment • General Studies II: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- ‘No more proxies for women heading panchayats in Punjab’. That’s the message from the state government after it was informed that male family members of several women sarpanches were attending official meetings on their behalf. • The term Panchayati Raj signifies what? • What was the 73rd Amendment Act of 1992? • The 73rd Amendment Act of 1992 has given a practical shape to which article of the Directive Principles of State Policy? • Reservation of one-third seats (both members and chairpersons) for women in panchayats at all the three levels- What are the challenges before Women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)? • The Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have not performed well or to the expected standard, despite being granted constitutional status and protection under the 73rd Amendment Act (1992)-Why? • What is ‘Sarpanch Pati’ ? • Why Sarpanch Pati, or spouses who exert authority in panchayats by forcing their women to compete, is a common occurrence in the Panchayati Raj Institutions? • The Prime Minister has acknowledged the issue of Sarpanch Pati and recognized it as a barrier to women's progress-How this concept impedes women’s empowerment? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍‘Sarpanch Pati’: The small steps, and giant leaps of women’s reservation EXPRESS NETWORK La Ninã conditions enter 3rd year, 6th time since 1950 Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography 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 (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-In what may be termed as an uncommon phenomenon, La Ninã conditions prevailing over the equatorial Pacific Ocean since September 2020 has entered the third year. There are only six instances of La Ninã lasting for more than two years since 1950s , data with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show. • What is La Niña in weather? • What are the conditions which causes La Nina? • What are the El Niño and La Niña? • EL Nino Southern Oscillation or ENSO impact on Monsoon? • Indian Ocean Dipole-Know in Detail • How La Nina Impacts-Know Sector and region wise • What is the reason behind an early heat wave in North India? • La Nina phenomenon, North-South low-pressure pattern over India in winters and Heat waves-Connect the dots • Factors Influencing South-West Monsoon Formation • What is Inter Tropical Convergence Zone? • What do you understand by the expression ‘Onset of the South-West Monsoon’? • Impact of Monsoons on Life in India-Economical, Cultural and Social • India Meteorological Department and Monsoon Prediction in India • How much rainfall does India receive on average in a year? • When is the Long Period Average (LPA) revised? • Why has it been downgraded? • Has the all-India quantitative rainfall reduced? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍What is La Nina – how it impacts India’s monsoon? THE EDITORIAL PAGE The Adani-Tata model Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc. Mains Examination: General Studies IV: Corporate Governance. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- Harish Damodaran writes: The Adani case is interesting, both for the sheer breadth of industries it operates in and how fast this group — unlike the venerable “salt-to-software” Tata conglomerate — has grown. • What is the old model of conglomerate diversification or “horizontal control” in India? • In “horizontal control”, a business group leverages its entrepreneurial reputation to enter into as many industries, as it can- Can you give some examples? • How Horizontal control is contrasted with ‘vertical integration’ in business literature? • Can you give some examples of ‘vertical integration’? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Ports & airports, power, media: Adani’s $137.4-billion footprint across businesses, explained THE IDEAS PAGE A cinematic demolition Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: General Studies II: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- Sanjay Srivastava writes: It would be a tragedy if the spectacle of the Noida demolition comes to stand for how to tackle urban malaise. That requires a different approach • Why were Noida’s Supertech twin towers demolished? • The demolition of Noida’s Supertech twin towers via a ‘controlled implosion’. What is ‘controlled implosion’? • Supertech twin towers demolition-What are the impact and concerns? • “As vast tracts of erstwhile rural lands are converted into gated communities promising a world of comforts, another cloistered world has also arisen. This is the largely opaque realm of kinship between the state and real estate companies”-what do you understand by this statement • “The August 28 dust-cloud in Noida neatly captures a relationship that is both opaque and also harmful to the political and social economies of a democracy”-Elaborate • How the government’s actions as a land monopolist in the Delhi region led private players to look beyond its boundaries? • “Since the 1980s, the history of new urbanisation in India is one of the new relationships between government mechanisms and private players where the visibility of planning methods acts as a curtain for constant post-approval alterations”-Critically Analyse Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍As Supertech towers crashed down, a mass of private tragedies became a public spectacle Spyware from nowhere Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance Mains Examination: • General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary • General Studies III: Basics of Cyber Security Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- Yashovardhan Azad and Anand Venkatnarayanan write: Technical committee did not probe origin and nature of the malware found on phones, and meekly accepted government's non-cooperation. • First of all, What is Pegasus Software and How does it work? • How is Pegasus different from another spyware? • What kind of devices are vulnerable and What information can be compromised? • Pegasus in India-What is the Controversy? • Pegasus case: What are the findings of the inquiry committee, which was set up under the supervision of retired Supreme Court judge R V Raveendran? • Pegasus case: What has the committee found? • There are only two ways to look at the report of the technical committee: It is either ground-breaking or completely wrong-Elaborate further • Do we know that Indian governments or state agencies purchased or used the spyware? • “In an era where data breaches, ransomware and other cyber-crimes have become increasingly common, widespread know-how on the examination of digital evidence is a key indicator if a nation-state is set to become a cyber power”-Decode the given statement • “The Pegasus case, hence, was not just about protecting personal privacy of the petitioners but was also an opportunity for all arms of the state to understand their critical role in making India a responsible cyber power. That opportunity seems to have slipped away”-Critically examine the role of Government in this entire Pegasus episode • Surveillance laws in India– Section 5(2) of The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009. • Cyber Security in India– Computer Emergency Response Team – India (CERT-IN), Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative, National Cyber Security Coordination Centre (NCCC), Cyber Swachhta Kendra, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Cyberdome (Kerala) • Snooping and Surveillance in the name of National Security-Where to draw the line? • Types of Cyber Attacks-Know in detail • Supreme Court of India on snooping and surveillance-People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) vs Union of India case in 1996, Rule 419A of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951 Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Explained: The findings of the Pegasus committee, and what we know about the use of the Israeli malware 📍Proof of Pegasus use on phones, Cyber experts tell SC panel 📍Explained: How Pegasus spyware infects a device; what data may be compromised 📍NSO says criticisms ’hypocritical, denies violation charges EXPLAINED INDIAN NAVY’S ENSIGN 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-Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil the new naval ensign (flag) for the Indian Navy in Kochi on September 2 on the sidelines of the commissioning of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant at Cochin Shipyard Limited. • What is an ensign? • What is the difference between an ensign and a jack? • What is the purpose of an ensign? • What’s the difference between the new and old naval ensign? • Is this the first time the naval ensign is being changed? • What is the Saint George’s Cross? • Countries which discarded George’s Cross as naval ensign? • What is the significance of the new naval ensign? • Why INS Vikrant is special for India? • Why is it important for India to have an aircraft carrier? • Why is it a big deal that this warship has been Made in India? • Why will this warship is named as ‘INS Vikrant’? • What weapons and equipment will the new ‘Vikrant’ have? • What indigenous components does the new ‘Vikrant’ have? • What else will be there on the new ‘Vikrant’? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍PM Narendra Modi to unveil new Naval Ensign during INS Vikrant’s commissioning in Kochi, ‘do away with colonial past’ 📍‘Vikrant’ to be re-incarnated on Sept 2: all about India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, explained Nuclear plant in war zone Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Mains Examination: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- For most of this month, the global attention on the war in Ukraine has remained nervously focused on Zaporizhzhia, an important town in the country’s southeast that houses the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. • Map Work-Zaporizhzhia • Ukraine has four nuclear power stations comprising 15 reactors but what makes the plant at Zaporizhzhia important and extremely volatile? • What are the Cooling systems and why they are extremely crucial to the safe operations of nuclear reactors? • Cooling systems and Fukushima disaster of 2011-Connect the dots • Why the Fukushima disaster had prompted a discussion on installing ‘passive’ systems? • The Zaporizhzhia station and ‘passive’ systems-connect the dots • Why there is the possibility of inadvertent, potentially disastrous errors by overworked and stressed out engineers in the case of Zaporizhzhia station? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Explained: How fighting in Ukraine has put an active nuclear plant at grave risk 📍Explained: How is Russia’s war in Ukraine going? ECONOMY Data gathering by public agencies picks up even as law hangs fire Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance Main Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- The customs department mandating airlines to share personal details of international flyers, the Civil Aviation Ministry’s facial recognition system DigiYatra, the MeitY’s proposal to share non-personal data collected by the government with start-ups and researchers, CERT-In’s mandate asking virtual private network (VPN) service providers to store data of their users: these are among a rising number of moves made by the Central government and its agencies to collect and process citizens’ data, all in the absence of a data protection law. • Why experts have raised concerns over this trend, questioning the government’s efforts of data collection and monetisation in the absence of a basic data protection regime? • What is meant by data monetization? • “The government’s primary concern should be service delivery and safeguarding the information it gathers from citizens towards this end. Its key objective should not be to monetise this data for profit”-Critically Analyse the statement • But why there is an issue if data is treated as a “wealth resource”? • Why did the Government withdrawn the Personal Data Protection Bill? • Why does data matter? • What is Data Protection? • Joint Committee of Parliament Report on the Personal Data Protection Bill-Know key highlights • What do you understand by the term ‘Personal and Non-Personal data’? • Supreme Court on Right to Privacy (Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India, 2017)-know the verdict • Justice B N Srikrishna committee recommendation on Data Protection-Know key recommendations • Personal Data Protection Bill 2019- how this Bill propose to regulate data transfer? • Key features of Personal Data Protection Bill 2019-know in brief • What is data localisation? Know the Case for Data Localisation in India. • What Srikrishna Committee Report says on data localisation? • Initiative/steps taken by Government of India for Data Protection and Data Privacy-Know in detail Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Report Summary on A Free and Fair Digital Economy 📍Explained: The issues, debate around Data Protection Bill For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com The UPSC KEY Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest Updates.
