0 2 0 2 - T S U G U A Criminal Contempt Balancing the right to free speech and upholding the S Judiciary’s dignity R I A F F A T N E R R U C Y L H T GST Compensation N O M C National Digital Quad GST Compensation Landslides in Health Mission Issue Kerala S P U Incredible Results CSE 2019 4 Ranks 13 Ranks 22 Ranks in top 10 in top 50 in top 100 Rank 3 Rank 6 Rank 8 Rank 10 Pratibha Verma Vishakha Yadav Abhishek Saraf Sanjita Mohapatra CSE 2018 CSE 2017 11 Ranks 28 Ranks 183 Ranks 5 Ranks 34 Ranks 236 Ranks in top 50 in top 100 in the final list in top 50 in top 100 in the final list Rank 11 Rank 16 Rank 21 Rank 3 Rank 6 Rank 8 Pujya Priyadarshni Dhodmise Trupti Ankush Rahul Jain Sachin Gupta Koya Sree Harsha Anubhav Singh Rank 24 Rank 31 Rank 9 Rank 10 Anuraj Jain Mainak Ghosh Soumya Sharma Abhishek Surana CSE 2016 CSE 2015 8 Ranks 18 Ranks 215 Ranks 5 Ranks 14 Ranks 162 Ranks in top 50 in top 100 in the final list in top 50 in top 100 in the final list Rank 2 Rank 5 Rank 12 Rank 20 Rank 24 Rank 25 Anmol Sher Singh Bedi Abhilash Mishra Tejaswi Rana Vipin Garg Khumanthem Diana Devi Chandra Mohan Garg Rank 30 Rank 32 Rank 27 Rank 47 Prabhash Kumar Avdhesh Meena Pulkit Garg Anshul Agarwal CSE 2014 6 Ranks 12 Ranks 83 Ranks in top 50 in top 100 overall selections Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 16 Rank 23 Rank 28 Rank 39 Vandana Rao Suharsha Bhagat Ananya Das Anil Dhameliya Kushaal Yadav Vivekanand T.S AUGUST-2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. POLITY 01 • ‘Haladi’ loses its flavour amid pandemic 31 • Jurisdictional conflict in the running of Delhi 01 • Honey Mission 31 • Arunachal groups push for 6th Schedule status 02 • Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM) 32 • Criminal contempt 02 • Harit Path 32 • ‘Consider more languages in govt.’says SC 06 • Krishi Megh 32 • National Recruitment Agency 06 • Bengal mulls ‘industry’ tag for logistics 32 • G.C. Murmu takes charge as new CAG 07 • Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) 33 • Maneka Gandhi Case 07 • Indra Sawhney Case 08 3. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 34 • Geo-balancing China 34 2. ECONOMY 11 • New political map of Pakistan 35 • World Bank’s forecast for India 11 • India & Pak. spar over Indus water talks 35 • Economic Impact of the pandemic • India- Bangladesh relations 35 and corrective measures 11 • India announces $500 mn package for the Maldives 36 • Attracting the FDI leaving China 12 • Quad 36 • Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI). 13 • Recalibrated approach to non-alignment policy 38 • Monetary Policy Review 14 • India-UK defence relations 39 • Vehicle scrappage policy 15 • China-Russia ties 39 • How to pay for the stimulus 16 • UAE- Israel agreement 40 • GST Compensation Issue 17 • Sri Lanka parliamentary election 41 • Centre’s Proposal for GST Compensation 19 • Territorial Dispute in eastern Mediterranean 43 • Reforming the GST System 20 • UNHRC 45 • Balance of payments 21 • Special Rapporteur 45 • Taxpayers’ charter 21 • COVAX Facility 45 • ‘Doing Business’ Index 22 • Loya Jirga 45 • Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 23 • Polonnaruwa 45 • Chemical industry’s infra shortcomings 24 • Export Preparedness Index 24 4. ART AND CULTURE 47 • Business Responsibility Reporting 25 • Warli Paintings 47 • RORO Services 25 • Channapatna toys 47 • Connecting Chennai – Andaman and Nicobar Islands • Lingaraj temple 47 (CANI) 26 • Pulikkali 48 • Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana 27 • Nuakhai Juhar 48 • Khadi Agarbatti Aatmanirbhar Mission (KAAM) 28 • National Handloom Day 28 5. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 49 • Organic farming in India. 29 • Immunity certificates 49 • Agriculture Infrastructure Fund 29 • Wolbachia method 50 • GI tag for basmati rice 31 • Fuel from Algae 50 • Hope Mission 51 For guidance contact us on +91 9243500460 AUGUST-2020 • Academic research in India 51 • Kerala barn owls 67 • Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) 52 • Indian Gaur 67 • IISER study on seed germination 53 • African cheetah 67 • Cataract 54 • Dhole 67 • Invisible shield for electromagnetic interference 54 • Andean Condors 68 • Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge 55 • Arabian Sea humpback whales 68 • Indian telescopes 55 • River Dolphins 68 • Barakah nuclear power plant 55 • New butterfly species discovered in Matheran 68 • Sputnik V 55 • Pokkali rice 68 • Virgo detector 55 • African baobab 68 • Starlink 56 • Sonneratia Alba/Mangrove Apple 68 • Project Kuiper 56 • TRAFFIC 69 • GAVI 56 • Wildlife Institute of India (WII) 69 6. SECURITY AND DEFENCE 57 8. HEALTH ISSUES 70 • Taking Nuclear Vulnerabilities Seriously 57 • National Digital Health Mission 70 • India can be weapons supplier: PM 58 • Reversing health sector neglect with a reform agenda 72 • Govt. issues draft policy to ramp up defence exports 59 • COVID-19 intensifying in Rural India 73 • Defence Ministry to impose import embargo on 101 • eSanjeevani 73 items 59 • Tuberculosis & Chikungunya inhibiting Flavonoid • DRDO lists 108 defence items for Indian firms 60 Molecules 73 • Drone based surveillance system for Railway Security 60 • Fluorosis 74 • ISIS 61 • Pinaka missiles 61 9. SOCIAL ISSUES 75 • Viraat Aircraft carrier 62 • India’s population trajectory 75 • Indian Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘Sarthak 62 • Reviewing the age of marriage for girls 76 • Hammer Missile 62 • Cyber Gender violence 77 • Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) 62 • Women in Science and Technology sector 77 • Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation • Impact of the lockdown on the reproductive (NIIO) 62 health of women 78 • BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group 62 • Permanent Commission for Women in the Indian Army 78 7. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 64 • Daughters have Equal Right to Inherit Property, • Tiger Conservation efforts in India 64 says SC 80 • Early Butterfly migration in southern India 65 • Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention of ILO 81 • Poaching of Leopards 65 • Centre sets up Council for transgender 82 • Forest loss threatens hornbills 66 • Regionalism 82 • Kerala’s first dragonfly festival 66 • Wancho 83 • NGT slams Ministry’s report on clean air programme 66 • Environmental Performance Index 66 • Solar Tree 67 For guidance contact us on +91 9243500460 AUGUST-2020 10. GEOGRAPHY 84 15. MISCELLANEOUS 99 • Sun’s coronal magnetic field 84 • Table Top Runways- Kozhikode plane crash 99 • Himalayan Geothermal Springs 84 • Illicit Liquor 100 • Omega Centauri 84 • Swachh Survekshan 2020 101 • Betelgeuse 85 • Srisailam project 101 • Santa Ana Winds 85 • International Youth Day 101 • Perseids Meteor Shower 85 • Millennium Alliance 101 • Mount Sinabung 85 16. PRACTICE QUESTIONS 102 11. EDUCATION 86 • Technology as an education enabler 86 17. ANSWER KEYS 118 • Three-Language Formula 87 18. MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS 121 12. HISTORY 89 • Mahatma Ayyankali 89 19. INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT 125 • Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak 89 • Renati Chola 89 13. DISASTER MANAGEMENT 90 • Landslides in Kerala 90 • Oil spill in Mauritius 91 • Odisha floods 91 • Tsunami Ready 92 • National Disaster Response Force 93 14. GOVERNANCE 94 • Right to Information 94 • PMO denies RTI plea seeking info on PM-CARES 95 • No need to audit PM CARES: SC 95 • Premature retirement 95 • States can have sub-groups among SC/STs, says court 96 • Need for cross ministry co-ordination and collaboration 96 • Trifood Project 97 • Swasthya Portal 97 • Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP) 2.0 97 • India Water Resources Information System (India-WRIS) 98 For guidance contact us on +91 9243500460 Click Here Click Here Click Here Click Here AUGUST-2020 1 POLITY Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure • The Supreme Court was called upon to determine the extent of powers of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. 1. Jurisdictional conflict in the running of Delhi • The constitutional bench made the following » Prelims: Article 239AA and special provisions for the observations: UT of Delhi. Representative government for Delhi: » Mains: Principle of collaborative federalism and harmonious functioning • Based on the argument that if the elected Government of Delhi could not usher in policies and laws over Context: which the Delhi Legislative Assembly has powers to Delhi riot cases: legislate for the NCT of Delhi, then it would ender democratic and representative form of government • The Delhi government’s move to appoint prosecutors ineffective in Delhi, the SC ruled that the Lt. Governor for conducting the Delhi riot cases in the High Court is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of has been annulled by the Lt. Governor. Ministers except in respect of ‘Land’, ‘Public Order’ and • The Lt. Governor referred the issue under Provision the ‘Police’. Article 239AA (4) to the President stating that there Executive power with states: is a difference of opinion between him and the government over this matter. • The Court had held that though the Parliament can legislate for Delhi on any matter in the State List • In the meantime the Lt. Governor appointed all the and the Concurrent List (Article 239AA (3)(a)) but prosecutors whose names were submitted by the the executive power in relation to Delhi except the Delhi Police and thus the State government’s list was ‘Police’, ‘Land’ and ‘Public Orders’ vests only in the State rejected. government headed by the Chief Minister (Article Background: 239AA (4)). Articles 239AA: • It held that the executive power of the Union does not extend to any of the matters which come within the • Article 239AA of the Constitution of India granted jurisdiction of the Delhi Assembly. Special Status to Delhi among Union Territories (UTs) in the year 1991 through 69th constitutional Special status of Delhi: amendment by the Parliament. • The judgment also noted that Delhi being a special • It provided a Legislative Assembly and a Council of category Union Territory there is the need to ensure Ministers responsible to such an assembly.