How to study Current Affairs - Part 2

Sample on how to focus on CA: CA from The Hindu, 23/08/2015 (Sunday, so no opinion section)

• Personal opinion. I can not guarantee that this is the best way. I am only trying to give insights into CA prep.
• One needs to learn to draw parallels between CA and mains syllabus.

Understanding the Syllabus is the Key. Many beginners ignore this

Use Microsoft Onenote to arrange these CA notes syllabus wise for future revisions

NSA level talks are off

GS 2: India and its Neighborhood relations

• Talks were to be held in Delhi between the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan.
• Pakistan accuses India of fabricating terror incidents along the LOC.
• India accused Pakistan of unprovoked firing along LOC with intentions to derail talks.
• India wants Pakistan to restrict the agenda to issues of terrorism (should not meet any separatists – Hurriyat Conference), but Pakistan is against any such preconditions.
• India also wants to hold Pakistan accountable for housing Dawood Ibrahim. (India is got proofs like Dawood’s Pak passport, properties in Karachi etc.)

Background

• In August India captured alive a terrorist hailing from Pakistani training camps.
• India’s intention is to use the living proof to counter and corner Pakistan over the issue of ‘Pakistan’s proxy war against India’.

Consequences

• The chain of events pushed Indo-Pak relations to a new low with both the countries accusing each other of terrorism.
• This will adversely affect the peace initiatives for a long time ahead.

All Parties Hurriyat Conference

• An alliance of 26 political, social and religious organizations formed in 1993 as a political front to raise the cause of Kashmiri separatism.
• This alliance has historically been viewed positively by Pakistan as it contests the claim of the Indian government over the State of Jammu and Kashmir

Criticism

• Hurriyat leaders have been criticized for inciting youth of Kashmir for Jihad & stone pelting risking their lives while their own children and family members are getting the best education in other parts of India and even in foreign countries.

Road safety

• Can be considered roughly under GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
• Most importantly, it can be an interview question.

Example

• Roads accidents are on a rise. What steps would you take to improve road safety?
• What’s your opinion about recent SC appointed committee’s recommendations?

Background

• According to the National Crime Records Bureau report, 1,41,526 deaths occurred due to road accidents in 2014.
• PM Modi recently raised concerns about road safety in his radio speech.

SC intervention

• A Committee was constituted by the Supreme Court to monitor implementation of road safety laws.
• The Committee has directed State governments to suspend, at least for three months, driving licences of those committing offences such as speeding, driving under the influence of intoxicants and use of mobile phones behind the wheel.
• Imprisonment for drunk driving has also been recommended.
• All the punishments and rules come under Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC), CAG

GS 2

• Parliament and State Legislatures - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
• Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies

• CAG submits one more report on Commonwealth Games scandal.
• What the report says is not important, but few things related to PAC and CAG are.
• “The report is now being taken up by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) headed by K.V. Thomas”

Two points to be noted here

• K.V Thomas is from opposition party. So PAC and some other parliamentary committees are headed by Opposition Party Members and not ruling party. This is logical.
• CAG (guardian of public purse) only prepares reports but doesn’t have investigating powers. And CAG submits reports to PAC and other concerned parliamentary committee.
• This is just to help one understand on how to relate syllabus and issues.
• Read Laxmikanth for more detailed coverage.

FTII vs Information & Broadcast Ministry Issue

This topic is very general and can be viewed in different angles.

GS 1: Communalism (When communal institutions dominate decision making process, problems like these follows).

GS 4: Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration (The most important is impartiality and neutrality).

Political Science: Paper 1: Pressure groups. (In general RSS can be considered as a pressure group)

What is the issue

• Information & Broadcast Ministry appointments television actor-turned-BJP politician Gajendra Chauhan (names not important) as Chairman of FTII.
• Many view this as political largesse (money or gifts given generously)(This is not new though!!)
• The FTII students accuse the Centre of foisting its right-wing agenda upon the institute.
• Students are also enraged about reconstituted FTII panel which has some RSS propagandists.

Supreme Court’s Social Justice Bench

GS 2: Structure, organization and functioning of The Judiciary.

• SC opined that the welfare cess funds meant for the benefit of construction workers or daily wage earners were diverted into advertisements.
• The opinion was expressed by Supreme Court’s Social Justice Bench.
• Diversion of funds is common, so it is not important. But the term ‘Social Justice Bench’ is important.

Social Justice Bench

• The Constitution of India in its Preamble has assured the people a three dimensional justice including social justice (other two being ‘political and economic’).
• Under the domain of 'social justice', several cases highlighting social issues are included. To mention summarily,

• about the release of surplus food grains lying in stocks for the use of people living in the drought affected areas;

• to frame a fresh scheme for public distribution of food grains;

• to take steps to prevent untimely death of the women and children for want of nutritious food;

• providing hygienic mid-day meal besides issues relating to children;

• to provide night shelter to destitute and homeless;

• to provide medical facilities to all the citizen irrespective of their economic conditions;

• to provide hygienic drinking water; to provide safety and secured living conditions for the fair gender who are forced into prostitution, etc., these are some of the areas where the constitutional mechanism has to play a proactive role in order to meet the goals of the Constitution. (Preamble mentions the goals)

• In Supreme Court several cases relating to the domain of 'social justice' are pending for several years.
• In this perspective, CJI in 2014, ordered constitution of a Special Bench titled as "Social Justice Bench".

Court summons Mulayam over rape remark

GS 2: mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections.

• NETAJI Mulayam Singh Yadav said that a rape by four people was “practically not possible.”(What Mulayam or Lallu said is not important, but what part of the law their statements violate is important)
• Court said that the SP leader’s remark “seems to have violated the Indecent Representation of Women Prohibition Act 1986” (make a list of laws related to Women safety and women related issues)

Modi-Obama hotline is now operational

GS 2: Bilateral

• The hotlines or secure lines of communication between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Barack Obama and their National Security Advisers.
• The decision to have the hotline was made during Mr. Obama’s historic visit to New Delhi to attend the Republic Day on January 26, as its chief guest.
• “Hotline has connotation of some crisis management phone or system that was used during the cold war to defuse crisis”
• “This is a secure line between two very, very close partners so that they can exchange views at the heads of state level and co-ordinate approaches to solving real problems”
• Example: If Pak prepares to nuke India, then Modi can simply lift the hotline phone and the call directly goes to Obama.
• This hotline thing is simply another example of improving Indo-US relations.

What is hotline

• A hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the pre-selected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook.
• An example would be a phone that automatically connects to emergency services on picking up the receiver. Therefore, dedicated hotline phones do not need a rotary dial or keypad.

Gujarat HC stays compulsory voting

GS 2: Basic Structure of the Constitution

• Gujarat government issued a notification making voting compulsory in the local civic bodies and panchayat polls.
• This is opinion based question where one has to pick a side. Opinions needs to be backed by both legal and logical arguments.

Example

Arguments in support of Compulsory voting

• Developed country like Australia which is a highly cherished democracy has made voting compulsory. (Make a list of countries with and without compulsory voting; You can add these points in topics like “Comparison of Constitutions”)
• Justiciable (can fight in the court of law) ‘Fundamental Rights’ is meaningless without without Justiciable ‘Fundamental Duties’. (A man has some duty towards the country which takes care of his well being).
• Compulsory voting will make a person more sensitive and responsible towards country’s issues.

Voter turnout

Arguments against Compulsory voting

• ‘Right to vote’ provided in the Constitution also provided the right to refrain from voting.
• The right to vote cannot be termed as duty by the state and, therefore, the provision of compulsory voting Act is violation of the fundamental rights. (Fundamental Duties doesn’t mention about compulsory voting)
• Proposed law violated Article 19(1)(A) of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression which also includes the right not to vote. (It also violates ‘Right to personal liberty’)
• Abstaining from voting is way to express displeasure with the governance.

Good quotes

• The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.

SAARC moots participatory management of forest resources

GS 3: Conservation

• Faced with depletion of forest resources due to over exploitation and destructive harvesting, SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) have decided to join hands to promote community-based sustainable management of Non-wood Forest Produce (NWFP).
• Meeting of the SAARC Expert Group on Community-based Sustainable Management of NWFP and Income Generation for Communities held at the Kerala Forest Research Institute.

Indo-PIC relations

• Having reached out to the Pacific Island Countries to support its bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, India also wants to collaborate with them for combating the challenge of climate change, ahead of the UN Climate Summit in Paris later this year.
• These Islands are the most concerned about climate change as they are completely vulnerable to raising sea levels.

August, 2015

• PM of India addressed the second summit of the Forum for India Pacific Island Countries (FIPIC)
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi said climate change is clearly a pressing concern for all and combating it is India’s national priority.

Mutual benefits

• India, which has been trying to match China’s growing influence in the region, assured the PICs that India stands shoulder to shoulder with them for a dedicated seat for SIDS (Small Island Developing States) in an expanded and reformed UN Security Council in both categories.
• Rich in seabed resources, the Pacific Island Countries (PIC) are keen to partner with India in the area of exploration of minerals. China, which has made staggering investment in the region, is also eyeing to be a part of the venture.
• The PICs are also eager to give tourism a fillip using the Hindi film industry.
• Some Islands like Fiji have a significant Indian diaspora (30 – 40%. They were taken by Britishers as indentured labourers.)

Payment Banks (Very Important; Visit Mrunal.org for better understanding)

GS 3: mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
There is a lot of buzz about these banks and they are important for exam.

• Reserve Bank of India granted an in-principal approval to 11 applicants for launching payment banks within next 18 months.
• These banks are expected to penetrate unbanked rural areas accepting deposits and allowing money remittances. They would not be allowed to extend loans.
• This has triggered a debate whether these new entities would pose a threat to existing banks.

SBI coming up with low-cost models to tackle competition

• Ms. Bhattacharya said that the state bank was following the business correspondent (mrunal.org) model for reaching the unbanked areas and had already appointed 56,000 such correspondents, who operate through the points of service devices.

Though it’s a Sunday, there was good amount of news.
Thank God!! There was no Opinion section.

Use Microsoft Onenote to arrange these CA notes syllabus wise for future reference

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