GS2: Polity and Governance
- India at 142nd rank on press freedom index(TH) The 2021 World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French NGO, has again placed India at 142nd rank out of 180 countries. This despite the fact that for a year, under directions from the Cabinet Secretary, an Index Monitoring Cell worked to improve the world rankings, including a meeting between Ambassador to France with the RSF officials to lobby for a change in the ranking in the index compiled by them.
- SC paves way for ad-hoc judges in HCs The court said the appointments can follow the procedure laid down in the Memorandum of Procedure for appointment of judges.
- Strengthening the process of choosing the police chief(TH) A balance needs to be struck between the government’s legitimate role and the police chief’s operational autonomy
- India’s new vaccination policy(IE) It seems certain that many recipients will pay more than in the first three phases of vaccination, but key questions about availability, distribution, prioritisation remain unanswered. Here's what is known so far.
GS3: Economy
- India’s Agriculture trade grows during 2020-21(PIB) India has consistently maintained trade surplus in the agricultural products over the years. India’s agricultural and allied exports during 2019-20 were Rs. 2.52 lakh Crores and imports were Rs. 1.47 lakh Crores. Even, during the difficult time of Pandemic, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export. The export of Agri and allied commodities during Apr,2020 - Feb,2021 were Rs. 2.74 lakhCrore as compared to Rs. 2.31 Crore in the same period last year indicating an increase of 18.49%.
GS3: Infrastructure
- A fresh push for green hydrogen(TH) India must address several challenges to enhance commercial-scale operations
GS3: Science and Tech
- Covaxin phase 3 trial shows vaccine has 78% efficacy(TH) The efficacy against severe COVID-19 disease was 100%, Bharat Biotech claimed, but that against protecting from asymptomatic COVID-19 infection was 70%
