Weekly Current Affairs Highlights – 22nd to 27th Mar.

On this page, you can read all the major news/Current Affairs of the week.

On a daily basis, we are covering all relevant Current Affairs under our various initiatives. For further reading, you can refer to our following initiatives:

1. 9 PM: Daily Current Affairs Summaries For UPSC 
2. Daily Editorials: Daily Current Affairs Editorials For UPSC 
3. Factly: Daily Current Affairs For Prelims

Updates on Bills, Acts, etc

Bills like The NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, Insurance(Amendment) Bill, The Medical Termination of Pregnancy(Amendment) Bill, Mines and Minerals Amendment bill were in news repeatedly. The important articles covered in this regard are,

• NCT of Delhi (Amendment) Bill is against the spirit of Federalism.
• Concerns with the Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021
• MTP Bill 2021 is not progressive enough
• Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill 2021- Explained, Pointwise
• Bihar Assembly Passed the “Bihar Special Armed Police Bill 2021”
• Rajya Sabha Clears “National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, 2021”

Updates in Judiciary and Judicial reforms

This week the Judiciary was in the spotlight with the updates like recommendation of CJI, integrated Judicial system. Following articles covered all updates

• Justice N.V. Ramana recommended as 48th CJI (Chief Justice of India)
• Shortcomings of the ‘In House inquiry Procedure’
• Collegium System and Appointment of “Ad-Hoc judges” in High Courts
• Need for an Integrated Digital System in Indian Justice System
• Pendency of Cases and Rising Vacancies in the Judiciary – Explained, Pointwise

Election-related updates

Last week Electoral Bonds came into the spotlight. This week the Remote Voting Facility, Postal Ballots replaced that spot. The important articles covered in this regard are,

• Madras High Court on Use of Public Funds for Campaigns
• “Postal ballot” extended to certain people in Tamil Nadu
• Why Electoral Bond Scheme should be declared unconstitutional?
• The Issue of Public trust on ECI or Election Commission
• Remote Voting Facility in India – Explained, Pointwise

The debate of Interlinking of Rivers

The Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh signed an agreement to implement the first phase of the Interlinking of Rivers project(Connecting Ken and Betwa). This once again stirred the ever ending debate on the Interlinking of Rivers. The important articles covered in this regard are,

• What is the “Ken-Betwa Link Project”?
• Interlinking of Rivers Project in India – Explained, Pointwise

India-Bangladesh relations

This week marks the 50th Anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence and also the 50th Anniversary of India-Bangladesh relations. Few important articles covered in this regard are,

• India-Bangladesh relations – Explained, Pointwise
• “Gandhi Peace Prize 2020” awarded to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
• Brief Analysis of India- Bangladesh Bilateral Relations
• Lessons from the Bangladesh’s Growth story

Human Rights violation in Sri Lanka

This week the UN Human Rights Council(UNHRC) adopted a resolution against Sri Lanka. India abstained from voting on it, for maintaining a balance between the Sri Lankan government and Sri Lankan Tamils.

• India abstains in the “UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka”
• India’s stand on Human Rights violation in Sri Lanka

Indices appeared in news this week

This week few important indices were released like Military strength, World Happiness Index. The Following are some important articles in this regard,

• “International Intellectual Property Index” 2021 Released
• Government Criticises “Oxfam Inequality index”
• United Nations SDSN published “World Happiness Report 2021”
• Military Direct releases “Ultimate military strength Index”.
• Pew Research study on Poverty in India

Other important topics on International Relations

This week the important updates in International relations include the Permanent Indus Commission, Istanbul Convention, etc. The important articles covered by us include,

• 116th meeting of the “Permanent Indus Commission(PIC)”
• India sealed “India-Myanmar border” entry points
• “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021” – SCO’s joint anti-terrorism exercise
• Turkey withdraws from “Istanbul Convention”
• Traffic in “Suez Canal” suspended
• The Issue of Cross Border Electricity Trade in South Asia

Updates in Economy

This week the economic topics in news include articles on Bad Bank, India as a global Investment Hub, etc. The important articles on Economy are,

• Bad Bank for strengthening the banking sector
• India’s potential as a Global investment hub
• Similarities between Disinvestment and fiscal deficit
• Discrimination in taxing provident fund (PF)

Important articles on Science and Technology

This week there were few important updates in the field of science and technology such as the Double Mutant COVID-19 virus, etc. The important articles covered in this regard are,

• POWERGRID Launches E-Tendering Portal “PRANIT”
• “Double Mutant” COVID Virus Variant Found
• “Indian Coast Guard Ship Vajra” commissioned
• IMD launches “Climate Data Service Portal” on World Meteorological Day

Important updates on Environment

This week there were certain important updates on the Environment like suspension of the Inter-state Tiger Relocation project, Namami Gange Programme, etc. The important articles that covered these topics are,

• NITI Aayog’s Great Nicobar Development plan – Explained, Pointwise
• “House Sparrow” population is increasing in India
• Initiatives under ‘Namami Gange Programme’
• The first “Inter-State Tiger Relocation Project” Suspended
• The emerging “Helium” crisis in India
• Water conservation is must for preventing another pandemic
• Vehicle Scrappage Policy: Challenges and Suggestions

Miscellaneous articles for Prelims this week

• Significance of Tulip Garden in “Zabarwan Range” of J&K
• What is “Shigmotsav Festival” of Goa?
• ‘Jaapi’, ‘xorai’ and ‘gamosa’ in Assam
• Jharkhand launched ‘SAAMAR campaign’ to fight malnutrition
• PM launched Jal Shakti Abhiyan: ‘Catch the Rain’ campaign
• CIC Annual Report on “RTI Applications”

Weekly Current Affairs Highlights – 15th to 20th Mar.