Daily Practice Sheet 14 September 2021

  • September 14, 2021
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPS
No Comments

 

 

Daily Practice Sheet

14 September 2021

 

Daily Prelims Topic

  • Thawing Permafrost
  • Software as a Service (SaaS)
  • Electricity usage by Bitcoin
  • Stealthing
  • Inflation
  • Basmati Rice
  • Suryamitra Skill Development Programme
  • Groundwater Contamination
  • Black Tigers
  • Asymmetric Federalism
  • Input Tax Credit and Inverted Tax Structure in GST

Daily Mapping

  • Simplipal Tiger Reserve

Daily Constitution

  • Article 371 C
  • Sixth Schedule

Daily Facts

Environment

Last Line of Defence Report

  • According to the report, 227 environment and land rights activists were murdered globally in 2020, the highest recorded for a second consecutive year. This is equivalent to killing of four defenders a week post signing of Paris Climate Accords, 2016.
  • As many as 1,539 environment and land right defenders were allegedly killed between 2012 and 2020.
  • Nearly 71 per cent of those who died had been working to defend the world’s forests (earth’s natural carbon sinks) from deforestation and industrial expansion. Others died for their work protecting rivers, coastal areas and the oceans.
  • The total number of documented killings per country in 2020 was: Columbia (65), Mexico (30), the Philippines (29), Brazil (20), Honduras (17), the Democratic Republic of the Congo / DRC (15), Guatemala (13), Nicaragua (12), Peru (6) and India (4).
  • The top five countries in terms of the highest death rate per capita (killing of human rights per million populations) were: Nicaragua (12 / 6.6 million), Honduras (17 / 9.7 million), Columbia (65 / 50.3 million), Guatemala (13 / 16.6 million), and Philippines (29 / 108.1 million).

Daily Mains Mantra

GS 2: Polity

  1. Discuss the challenges in implementation of the RTI Act. Has it failed to deliver an open government? How far resistance of Institutions is responsible for it. [Reference: The Print]

Approach

Context:

The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy’s 2019 report titled Sunshine in the Courts: Ranking the High Court’s on their Compliance with the RTI Act found that high courts across the country are using the discretionary powers granted under the Act to circumvent its provisions, adopting poor practices in their RTI cells and simply not disclosing and publishing sufficient information on their website.

You should elaborate how sec 28 of the Act has been misused.

Also highlight non-implementation of sec 4 of the act which is its heart.

  1. Discuss the nature of Indian Federalism. [Reference: TheLawExpress]
  2. One of major feature of Indian federalism is that it is asymmetric. What are different types of asymmetries found in Indian federalism? What are the historical reasons for these asymmetries in Indian federalism? Discuss in the light of recent Manipur controversy and Article 371. [Reference: The Hindu]

GS 2: IR

  1. Has SCO succeeded in deepening regional cooperation in Central Asia? What role it can play in stabilizing Afghanistan? [Reference: Indian Express]

GS 3: Economy

  1. What do you understand by financial inclusion? Why it is sine qua non for inclusive growth? Discuss challenges in financial inclusion. [Reference: Indian Express]
  2. Discuss the plight of small and marginal farmers in India. How had green revolution impacted them? How entry of corporate farming will impact them in future?

GS 3: Environment

  1. What do you understand by permafrost thawing? Why it is a cause of concern? [Reference: Indian Express]

GS 4: Ethics

  1. What do you understand by courage? [Reference: The Wire]
Daily Practice Sheet