[Insights Secure – 2019] Daily UPSC Mains Answer Writing Practice: 27 April 2019
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INSIGHTS NEW SECURE – 2019: YEARLONG TIMETABLE
Tomorrow’s Static Topic: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries
and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal
associations and their role in the Polity.
General Studies – 1
Topic : Role of women, Social empowerment.
Why this question:
In a historic first, the Indian Army has begun the process to induct women in military police, nearly two years after Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said women will be recruited as Jawans.
The Army started the online registration for recruitment for women in the Corps of Military Police and the last date for filing application has been fixed as June 8.
Key demand of the question:
The answer has to capture the significance of such step that would envisage the equality between Men and Women in the Indian society.
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin with importance of Women’s participation in Armed forces.
Body:
One must discuss the evolutionary changes in the role of Women and their participation in the forces from women only being allowed in select areas such as medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army to present status where women are being inducted as Jawans into Army.
Discuss how it will bring the factor of equality in the Indian society.
Explain the associated hurdles women face in forces- Physical issues, Physiological issues, Social and psychological issues, Conventional Barriers etc.
Discuss how women have overcome it over a period of time and that the step is welcome one.
Conclusion:
Conclude that the society has to be ready to accept that women too can play the crucial role of confronting the enemies.
General Studies – 2
Topic: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
D D Basu
Why this question:
The question is straight forward and direct from the static portions.
Key demand of the question:
The answer must evaluate the position of Rajya Sabha vis-à-vis Lok Sabha, discuss powers of RS and what are the factors that make its position weaker compared to LS.
Directive word:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by stating importance of Rajya Sabha in the parliamentary system of the country.
Body:
In brief discuss the following points –
- Provide for a comparison between the powers and position of the lok sabha and the rajya sabha .
- Rajya Sabha enjoys equal powers with Lok Sabha in matters like the impeachment of the President, removal of the vice-president, constitutional amendments, and removal of the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. In matter of creating All India Services Rajya Sabha enjoys special powers.
- Highlight how it keeps up the federal feature of the system.
- Discuss provisions where RS is at a disadvantage apart from money bill.
Conclusion:
Conclude with importance of Rajya sabha.
Topic : Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
Polity by Lakshmikanth
why this question:
The question is amidst the growing uncertainty of Oil imports for India amidst rising geopolitics that has encircled the oil rich countries and how it has changed the price scenario of India and created feeling of uncertainty.
Key demands of the question:
The answer must
Directive word
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction
Introduce with a brief on significance of these elements in polity.
Body
The body of the answer should address the following dimensions:
- CSOs can be defined to include all non-market and nonstate organizations outside of the family in which people organize themselves to pursue shared interests in the public domain. Examples include community-based organizations and village associations, environmental groups, women’s rights groups, farmers’ associations, faith-based organizations, labour unions, co-operatives, professional associations, chambers of commerce, independent research institutes and the not-for-profit media.
- Non-governmental organization (NGO) is a term that has become widely accepted as referring to a legally constituted, non-governmental organization created by natural or legal persons with no participation or representation of any government.
- A pressure group is an organization with shared aims which seeks to influence policy through political means, without seeking political office itself.
- Civil society is an organization formed in the society to push societal interest to the government without any political affiliation whiles pressure groups are groups formed by group of people with similar interest and mind to push their interest to the government for the benefit of their members only and sometimes have political affiliations.
- Discuss how these groups act as a check on instruments of democracy.
Conclusion
Conclude with significance of such groups.
Topic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Why this question:
The Article discusses specific issues being faced by the Indian universities, more so specifically the issues that hinder Indian universities to join the ranks of global world class initiative.
Key demand of the question:
The answer must discuss the detailed challenges that are being faced by the Indian universities and also should discuss what needs to be done to improve the current conditions of the university education in India.
Directive:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer
Introduction:
Introduce briefly the context of the question.
Body:
- Discuss specific issues that surround Indian universities which make them substandard to the International benchmark. Issues such as – abysmal infrastructure, Governments and their regulators have also weakened the abilities of universities by prescribing how every decision had to be made and how the lecture could be imagined, bad teaching quality, issues associated with autonomy, lack of quality standards in teaching faculties etc.
- Discuss specific policy failures – why and what needs to be done?
- What kind of cultural revolution is needed to change the existing system?
- Suggest way forward.
Conclusion –
Conclude with need for overhaul of the system, suggest solutions and best practices that need to be adopted.
Topic: India and its neighborhood- relations. Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
Why this question:
Recently China announced that the financial model for funding projects under its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) had been revamped, countering criticism that its mega-connectivity undertaking was opening “debt traps” for enhancing its geopolitical influence.
Key demand of the question:
The answer must thus evaluate the revival of ancient silk route and its impact on the geopolitics of the region.
Directive word:
Analyze – When asked to analyse, you have to examine methodically the structure or nature of the topic by separating it into component parts and present them as a whole in a summary.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Introduce by highlighting the present context of BRI.
Body:
- Discuss the details of belt and road initiative project – policy has two components:
- Belt– The “One Belt” refers to the land-based “Silk Road Economic Belt”. Here Beijing aims to connect the country’s underdeveloped hinterland to Europe through Central Asia.
- Road – The “One Road” references the ocean-going “Maritime Silk Road”. It is to connect the fast-growing South East Asian region to China’s southern provinces through ports and railways.
- Explain how One Belt One Road (OBOR) is arguably one of the largest development plans in modern history.
- Discuss whether this initiative is merely economic one or geostrategic step by China?
- Discuss whether India will benefit by joining this initiative or not?
- Discuss the Geostrategic aspect in CPEC, its implications on India.
- What should be India’s stand?
Conclusion:
Conclude by bringing out both advantages and disadvantages of OBOR on the geopolitics of the region and suggest what should be the way forward.
General Studies – 3
Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
6) World’s forests are in an ‘emergency room’. Comment. (250 words)
Why this question:
The article gives a detailed account of a report that states that world lost 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of tropical tree cover last year, warning the planet’s health was at stake. The report also quotes that it was the fourth highest annual decline since records began in 2001, according to new data from Global Forest Watch, which uses satellite imagery and remote sensing to monitor tree cover losses from Brazil to Ghana.
Demand of the question:
The answer must evaluate in detail the highlights of the report and discuss the alarming issue of decline in the forest area of the world.
Directive word:
Comment– here we have to express our knowledge and understanding of the issue and form an overall opinion thereupon.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction
Start with few facts/ stats from the report of Global Forest Watch.
Body
- Highlights of the report – The study highlighted new deforestation hotspots, particularly in Africa, where illegal mining, small-scale forest clearing and the expansion of cocoa farms led to an increase in tree loss in countries such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast.
- Indonesia was a rare bright spot, with primary forest loss slowing for two years running, after the government imposed a moratorium on forest-clearing.
- Indonesia has the world’s third largest total area of tropical forest and is also the biggest producer of palm oil. Environmentalists blame much of the forest destruction on land clearance for oil-palm plantations.
- The answer thus is straightforward , one has to discuss the causes leading to loss of forests across the world and the consequences and repercussions that it bears on the ecosystem. Discuss how degradation of forests in turn will intensify the climate change and vice-a -versa.
- Discuss what needs to be done to control this alarming situation, stress on need for Bold action to tackle this global crisis including restoring lost forests.
Conclusion
Highlight the importance and the wisdom that the report brings.
General Studies – 4
Topic : Dimensions of ethics.
Why this question:
The article highlights the need for Ethics in the time of technology. Recently An external advisory council, the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) — essentially an ethics council to guide new technologies was set up by Google in the last week of March, the article highlights failure of conception, planning and execution of ethics by the technology giant.
Demand of the question:
The answer must evaluate need of ethics in technology. One has to highlight that for the benefit of technology users, companies building technologies must make efforts to raise awareness of their potential human risks and be honest about how people’s data is used by their innovations.
Directive word:
Discuss – This is an all-encompassing directive – you have to debate on paper by going through the details of the issues concerned by examining each one of them. You have to give reasons for both for and against arguments.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction
Start by explaining need for ethics in technology.
Body
- Discuss what you understand by In technology ethics; issues arising from artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, information technology, biotechnology, and other emerging fields.
- Technology ethics is the application of ethical thinking to the practical concerns of technology. The reason technology ethics is growing in prominence is that new technologies give us more power to act, which means that we have to make choices we didn’t have to make before. While in the past our actions were involuntarily constrained by our weakness, now, with so much technological power, we have to learn how to be voluntarily constrained by our judgment: our ethics.
- Take cues from the article , throw light on Googles seven principles of ethics – (i) be socially beneficial, (ii) avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias, (iii) be built and tested for safety, (iv) be accountable to people, (v) incorporate privacy design principles, (vi) uphold high standards of scientific excellence, (vii) be made available for uses that accord with these principles.
- Conclude with what needs be done?
ConclusionHighlight the need for technology ethics.
NOTE:
