UPSC Podcasts

India received its first batch of heavy-lift Chinook helicopters at  Gujarat’s Mundra Port from the US..  These four Boeing CH-47F (I) Chinooks are part of a 15-helicopter order  placed by India three years ago  They will be assembled and flown to their base in Chandigarh where they  will be formally inducted in the Indian Air Force later this year..  The CH-47F (I) Chinook is an advanced multi-mission helicopter that will  provide the Indian armed forces with unmatched strategic airlift  capability across the full spectrum of combat and humanitarian  missions...  In today's In Depth we will focus on the salient features of Chinooks..  their operational history.. and the inventory of India Air Force'  aircraft.. and which are India's best fighter planes .. 

 Anchor - Smriti Rastogi

Indian system of medicine includes practices of healthcare such as  Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa. The Bill establishes a Central  Council of Indian Medicine with four autonomous boards to regulate the  educational standards of these four practices.By establishing a Central  Council of Indian Medicines, the Bill hopes to reform the medical  education system in India and bring in more transparency. The purpose of  this Bill is to improve access to quality driven services by  establishing a regulatory framework that sets standards for education  and practice of Indian System of Medicine.  

 Anchor: Chakshu Roy

At the Paris climate conference in December 2015, 195 countries adopted  the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal. The  agreement set out a global action plan to put the world on track to  avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below  2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.   By the end of the century, the Hindu Kush Himalayas will warm by around  1.8  degrees Celsius.   According to the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment report, even the most  ambitious goal set by the Paris Agreement to limit global warming would  lead to a 2.1 spike in temperature in the Hindu Kush Region, leading to  melting of one-third of the region’s glaciers, potentially destabilizing  Asia’s rivers.   Today's IN DEPTH analyses the changes affecting one of the greatest  mountain systems in the world, how increasing temperatures are impacting  our environment and the steps being undertaken at the global level to  prevent further damage to our planet...  

Anchor - Teena Jha

In an escalating standoff over nuclear weapons, Russia and the United  States have suspended compliance with the Cold War-era  Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, prompting fears of a new arms  race that analysts and politicians say could push the world "much  closer" to a nuclear war. The long-running dispute between Washington  and Moscow came to a head on Friday when US President Donald Trump  accused Russia of violating the 1987 bilateral treaty with "impunity",  and announced his government was suspending its obligations under the  landmark pact. Pledging to "move forward" with its own military response  options, Trump said the US will withdraw from the accord in six months  unless Moscow destroyed land-based missiles allegedly deployed in  violation of the treaty. In a tit-for-tat move on Saturday, Russian  President Vladimir Putin said he was also suspending Moscow's  participation in the agreement. Russia will start work on creating new  missiles, including hypersonic weapons, he said, adding that Moscow will  not deploy such weapons in the European part of the country or  elsewhere unless the US does so. The Russia, US standoff is developing  on another front as well, in South America’s Venezuela. On this edition  of The Big Picture we analyse the escalating tensions between, Russia  and the United states.   

Anchor: Frank Rausan Pereira

Guests:   Harsh V. Pant, Head Strategic Studies, Observer Research Foundation Sheel 

Kant Sharma, Former Ambassador 

Sreeram Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs

With the launch of GSAT-31, ISRO has carried out its third successful  mission of 2019. The communication satellite was launched from French  Guiana in the early hours of Wednesday. GSAT-31 is India's 40th  communication satellite..which will replace the InSAT satellite which is  nearing the end of its life. GSAT-31 will be used for supporting VSAT  networks, Television uplinks, Digital Satellite News Gathering and  DTH-television services among other such applications. Today in IN DEPTH, we talk about the high power communication satellite  GSAT-31, how will it facilitate communication in India and what is its  mission life... We'll also talk about the various communication  satellites that India has... We also take a look at the big launches  planned by ISRO this year...

Regulating and establishing a standard of training for allied and  healthcare professionals can reduce the cost of medical care and improve  access to quality healthcare services. The purpose of this Bill is to  improve access to quality driven services by establishing a regulatory  framework that sets standards for education and practice of Allied and  Healthcare Professionals.  

 Guests: Kavita Narayan, Public Health Expert,    

 Dr. Girish Tyagi, Registrar, Delhi Medical Council,        

 Dr. Divya Gaur, Director, Bump and Baby Club Antenatal,       

 Dr. Ashish Pandey,Consultant Physiotherapist, Body Balance  Clinic,   

 Dr. Divya Choudhary, Chief Dietician, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer  Institute & Research Centre,      

   Dr. Himanshu Kapoor, Consultant Physiotherapist, Physio We  Care Physiotherapy Clinic,  Anchor: Chakshu Roy

The Narendra Modi government has issued a clarification regarding the  upcoming Budget. There were reports that the government is likely to  present full Union Budget on February 1st. However, the Union Finance  Ministry has issued a clarification. “This Budget will be called Interim  Budget 2019-20 and therefore, don’t have any confusion on this issue,”  the statement read. Earlier, media reports had claimed that instead of  ‘vote on account’, the Centre is planning for the full exercise. This  would also be the last budget of the Modi government. The Budget Session  of Parliament will begin on January 31 and end on February 13.  Political pundits feel this would be the last chance for the government  to impress the masses. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok  Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan called separate all-party meetings. The  Chairman and Speaker called the meetings for the smooth functioning of  their respective houses during the session. The Budget Session will be  the last parliamentary session of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led  government, before the general elections due this year.