MONTHLY EPIC! Supplementary reading material for MGP and Current Affairs classes of ForumIAS Academy AN EXCLUSIVE CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE FOR PRELIMS + MAINS PREPARATION FEBRUARY 2021 2 The Tenth Edition Dear Forumites, This is the tenth edition (February edition) of EPIC! Magazine. This edition comes on the eve of the first budget for the third decade of 21st century. The showcase article provides a comprehensive coverage for this year’s budget. We have provided a detailed analysis of various initiatives from the budget. Aggregating the various view points from our 9PM and 7PM initiatives, this edition contains interesting analysis and trends regarding the recommendation by the 15th finance commission on India’s municipalities, need for water governance in India, the new IT rules for OTT platforms, the rationale of digital services tax and its associated issues etc. The Factly section contains all the relevant information/facts of current affairs required for the preliminary examination 2021. The two-part format of EPIC! i.e. the Mains Magazine and the Factly, provides a segregated yet complete coverage of current affairs for civil services preparations. Our community and student engagement are the source of inspiration in our relentless pursuit of simplifying civil services preparations. You can contribute to the topic list/provide your feedback by writing to us at [email protected]. ForumIAS Guidance Center 2nd Floor, IAPL House, 19, Pusa Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi – 110005 | [email protected]| +91 - 9821711605 3 TABLE OF CONTENT TABLE OF CONTENT ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 SHOWCASE ARTICLE | BUDGET 2021-22 .............................................................................................................. 6 GENERAL STUDIES - I .................................................................................................................................................. 21 Floods of Fury ................................................................................................................................................................. 21 Reforming Land Titling .............................................................................................................................................. 25 Reproductive rights-Analysing MTP Act............................................................................................................... 28 GENERAL STUDIES - II ............................................................................................................................................... 33 Subverting Second Chamber .................................................................................................................................... 33 Anti-defection law and Ambiguities ....................................................................................................................... 38 Moving to a New City ................................................................................................................................................. 42 Water Governance ....................................................................................................................................................... 46 New IT Rules for Social Media and OTT platforms............................................................................................ 52 Digital Services tax ...................................................................................................................................................... 56 From the Budget-National Rail Plan....................................................................................................................... 59 Road accidents in India ............................................................................................................................................... 61 India-Myanmar-Changing Realities ....................................................................................................................... 65 GENERAL STUDIES - III ............................................................................................................................................. 70 Tapping the Blue Economy ....................................................................................................................................... 70 Are the bad banks good enough? ............................................................................................................................. 74 Indian Investments and BITs ..................................................................................................................................... 78 Geospatial Guidelines ................................................................................................................................................. 82 Hydrogen as an alternative fuel ............................................................................................................................... 85 DNA Technology Bill-Is India ready ? .................................................................................................................... 88 Disinformation in cyberspace ................................................................................................................................... 91 Disengagement on the border ................................................................................................................................. 96 APPENDIX - I | FACTLY ARTICLES ........................................................................................................................ 99 POLITY ................................................................................................................................................................................ 99 No postal ballots for NRIs this time: ECI ............................................................................................................... 99 NITI Aayog's "Governing Council" reconstituted. ............................................................................................ 100 law on draping National Flag over body of a deceased ................................................................................... 101 16th Census of India likely to postpone to 2022 ................................................................................................ 101 "3 Language Policy" is not applicable to the Central govt. offices ...............................................................102 Pointly for Polity ......................................................................................................................................................... 103 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 103 India and Pakistan agrees to observe "2003 Ceasefire agreement" ........................................................... 103 India hosts meeting of "BRICS finance and central bank Meeting" 2021................................................... 103 ForumIAS Guidance Center 2nd Floor, IAPL House, 19, Pusa Road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi – 110005 | [email protected]| +91 - 9821711605 4 What is "Extinction Rebellion"? ............................................................................................................................. 104 Indian IT workers to benefit from "U.S. immigration Act" ............................................................................ 104 "Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA)" between India and Mauritius ...................................................................................................................................................................... 105 US decides to rejoin "UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)" ......................................................................... 106 World Economic Forum launches "EDISON Alliance" .................................................................................... 106 Pointly for International Relations ........................................................................................................................ 107 ECONOMY ....................................................................................................................................................................... 107 "PLI Scheme for pharmaceuticals and IT hardware" Approved .................................................................... 107 Delhi HC stays Future-Reliance deal ................................................................................................................... 108 "Reform-based and result-linked scheme" to revive discoms ..................................................................... 109 POLICY ............................................................................................................................................................................. 110 INCOIS to go for bathymetric study of Andaman and Lakshadweep ......................................................... 110 "Swachh Iconic Places"-12 sites to be transformed into 'Swachh Tourist Destinations' ....................... 111 Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launches "City Innovation Exchange (CiX)" ............................... 111