[Environment] Chipko Movement
Sunderlal Bahuguna with his wife, Vimla […]
[HIstory] 1942-Issur Uprising
ISSUR, is a hamlet in the Western Ghats in Shikaripura taluk of Shivamogga district of Karnataka, was the first village in pre-independence India to declare itself free from the colonial yoke. In September 1942, that is, 79 years ago, Issur’s people raised a banner of revolt against the British Raj [...]
[Environment] IPCC Report-“Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis”
Context The recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), titled ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis’, is the first of four that the Panel will issue over the next one and a half years. [...]
[Environment] Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules
Context:- The Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules notified by the Centre on August 12 acknowledge the gravity of pollution caused by plastic articles of everyday use, particularly those that have no utility beyond a few minutes or hours. […]
Fall of Kabul: On Afghanistan crisis
Key Points:- History came full circle on August 15 when the Taliban captured Kabul, almost 20 years after the U.S. launched its global war on terror. […]
Afghanistan’s centuries-old ‘Karez’ system of irrigation
The resurgent Taliban is on the victory march to Kabul. It has already taken provincial capitals as well as Afghanistan’s third-largest city of Herat. As the Taliban appear at the gates of Kabul again after two decades, fears have grown about what their conduct will be towards life and livelihood, [...]
[Environment] IPCC and the Science, Politics and Economy around Climate Change
Context Earlier this week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported on climate science, warning against the folly of a business-as-usual development model. Past assessments have been disregarded as sensationalist. For attention to shift from a day of front-page news to a more strategic conversation, we must understand what [...]
#Must Read-[Society] Why coercive population control measures are a bad idea
Syllabus Connect :- GS I ( Population and associated issues) Context Recently, population control measures are being discussed by the states of Assam and Uttar Pradesh. Many other states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Odisha have been following a two-child norm [...]
[Economy] Why Indian Railways failed to attract private players to run trains
Syllabus Connect:- GS III ( Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc.) On July 1, 2020, the Indian Railways launched the formal process of inviting private parties to run trains on the Indian railway system. Bids were finally opened last month. Hopes of a large participation were belied as there [...]
[IR] “Graveyard of Empires”-Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a notoriously difficult country to govern. Empire after empire, nation after nation have failed to pacify what is today the modern territory of Afghanistan, giving the region the nickname “Graveyard of Empires, ” even if sometimes those empires won some initial battles and made inroads into the region. [...]