Matterhorn Mountain of the Swiss Alps

Switzerland has expressed solidarity with India in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic by projecting the tricolour on the famous Matterhorn Mountain in the Swiss Alps. It has been long time since a question on global mountains/mountain ranges has not been asked in the prelims. Gear up for the uncertainty. Make a special sheet of… Continue reading

Time for govt, RBI to rethink bank architecture

To deal with the damage inflicted by the corona crisis on the economy, both the RBI and the government are planning various monetary and fiscal measures. In its latest measures, the RBI has further reduced the reverse repo rate. This article discusses the impact of these measures and explains why the first round of measures… Continue reading

A virus, social democracy, and dividends for Kerala

This article is an analysis of Kerala’s success in dealing with the Covid-19. Factors that emerge are-strong emphasis on the social democracy, the participation of civil society and strong social compact between the government and citizenry. We have also covered the same subject in a previous article but focus there was more on the administrative… Continue reading

Institutional fixes and the need for ethical politics

The article discusses the recent event in Madhya Pradesh where a group of legislature resigned bringing down the government. A most important issue arising out such incidents is circumventing of the laws made to avoid such things from happening. Several such issues along with their solutions are described here. New method to bypass the anti-defection… Continue reading

Virus outbreak can potentially spur the next quantum leap for computing

The article suggests that the corona crisis would speed up research in the field of quantum computing. The tremendous speed offered by quantum computers will help us find a cure for diseases like Covid-19 in a much shorter duration. This article explains the limitations of classical computers, working of quantum technology, and how quantum computer… Continue reading

What nation can learn from Kerala in the fight against Covid-19?

With figures emerging of Kerala’s success in dealing with the Covid-19, the rest of the nation has lessons to learn from it. This article describes the approach adopted by Kerala, and how various factors like robust health infrastructure, past experience etc. are helping it. Kerala stands out in India: some figures and facts The COVID… Continue reading

What is Post-intensive Care Syndrome (PICS)?

Various news reports in recent weeks have pointed out that for some COVID-19 patients who needed intensive care, the journey to recovery is a long one. After leaving the ICU, they may suffer from what is known as post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), which can happen to any person who has been in the ICU. Infectious… Continue reading

[pib] Amendment to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006

To address unprecedented situation arising from the global outbreak of COVID-19 and to ramp up availability or production of various drugs, the MoEFCC has made an amendment to EIA Notification 2006. EIA is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health… Continue reading

Government must fix an upper limit for fiscal deficit

D. Subbarao in this article discusses how the government is facing the hard choice of choosing between saving lives and saving the economy. On the government’s response on economic front he argues that the government, unlike the rich countries should keep an upper limit on its spending because of the dangers involved in unrestricted spending.… Continue reading

How a dollar swap line with US Fed can help in uncertain times?

India is working with the US to secure a dollar swap line that would help in better management of its external account and provide an extra cushion in the event of an abrupt outflow of funds. What are Currency Swaps? A currency swap, also known as a cross-currency swap, is an off-balance sheet transaction in… Continue reading

[pib] Operation Lifeline UDAN

To ensure a steady supply of essentials, even in the most remote locations, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry launched ‘Lifeline Udan’. Don’t get confused or correlate this with Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) Scheme. The name clearly indicates that it is an HADR like operation. Whats HADR? Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Op. Lifeline… Continue reading

A plan for the aftermath

Context Everyone is agreed that the whole world is hurtling towards an unprecedented economic recession. India, already facing a massive slowdown, is going to get hurt perhaps more than the others, because our economic immune system is already weak. Three things that we must do in the present situation The first is containing the spread… Continue reading

Know all about the National Board for Wildlife

The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) hasn’t met since 2014. Policy decisions and clearances have, meanwhile, come from a standing committee to the dismay of experts. This newscard is all about the factoids on National Board for Wildlife. The fact that they haven’t met since 2014 makes it interesting for UPSC to quiz you on… Continue reading

Financing the pandemic rescue package

Context The priority for India is to ensure that it overcomes the COVID-19 pandemic and kick-starts GDP growth. Financing strategy for the 1.7 lakh crores package Rather than fix the weaknesses in the macroeconomy: a high fiscal deficit of 7.49% and government indebtedness that was 69% of GDP in 2019, the government wants to overcome… Continue reading

Is e-NAM portal capable of supporting farmers?

Context The union government has launched new features in electronic agriculture market platform (e-NAM), to decongest wholesale markets amid coronavirus threat. Whether these features would solve the problems of farmers is a matter of question. What is e-NAM? eNAM platform is an online trading platform for agricultural commodities in India. It was launched on April… Continue reading

Third mass bleaching of Great Barrier Reef

A survey has found record sea temperatures had caused the third mass bleaching of the 2,300-kilometre Great Barrier Reef system in just five years. What is Coral Bleaching? When corals face stress by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae zooxanthellae living in their tissues, causing them to turn… Continue reading

[pib] Biofortified Carrot ‘Madhuban Gajar’

Madhuban Gajar It is a biofortified carrot variety with high β-carotene and iron content developed by Shri Vallabhhai Vasrambhai Marvaniya, a farmer scientist from Junagadh district, Gujarat. The variety is being cultivated in more than 1000 hectares of land in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh during the last three years. It is… Continue reading

A niggardliness that is economically unwarranted

Context The Centre can afford to step up its COVID-19 assistance to a higher scale; fiscal deficit is no worry. Comparison with the US Unemployment benefit in the US: In the United States, for instance, where the lockdown has raised the number of persons filing unemployment claims from 2.8 lakh to 6.6 million in a… Continue reading

Restarting the economy after lockdown

(This newscard is the excerpt from an article published in the TOI, authored by former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan. It discusses a series of reformative measures to boost our economy once the lockdown restrictions are eased.) Context Economically speaking, India is faced today with perhaps its greatest emergency since Independence. The global financial crisis… Continue reading

Comparing current crisis with Great Depression, 1929

With the novel coronavirus pandemic severely affecting the global economy, some experts have begun comparing the current crisis with the Great Depression — the devastating economic decline of the 1930s that went on to shape countless world events. Looming depression ahead Experts have warned that unemployment levels in some countries could reach those from… Continue reading

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